ice breakers

"If your life were a tv show, what show would it be?"

My old roommate told me that mine would be "Fraser". I'm okay with that. I just love it.

Fraser and Niles are so smart. The dad keeps a touch of reality, and I love that a Brit is one of the main characters.

heck yes

I get to see my grandparents more since I moved nearer to family when I came back from London. I don't mind summertime at their house and the pool either.

answering that question

I really dislike the small talk question, "So, what kind of music do you like?" Besides that it is always exactly how the question is framed, this question makes me nervous.

I don't understand the motive behind this question, besides the obvious to-get-to-know-you motive. As less than average music enthusiast, I don't really know where to take you in answering this question. It's a dead-end for me.

Do I just list off a few people? I'm not into music, so I already know I can't take you there. If I quickly answer and turn the question around, then again it won't be helpful because I can't parry when you answer with something that would spark a conversation with a music enthusiast.

I used to say I really liked Sarah Brightman but then I either got "who's that?", or was mocked. I don't care. Sarah Brightman is awesome.

I also don't know the rules for describing "the music you like". Do you list genre, band, album? Singer? (I also have issues with calling singers, "artists", but I'll hold back). And are you allowed to list people everyone likes, like the Beatles?

Personally, I think this is a boring question. But I know this is just because I'm not a music person. So if we're conversing to get to know each other, there's that.

I've been trying to work out a decent answer for next time this comes around. Since I don't live in the music world (I'm more of a talk radio, podcast kind of girl), I need to think. Usually, I just say whoever comes to my head that doesn't sound ridiculous, you know, like saying you used to love Steve Green.

I probably should memorize to aid in my interpersonal exchanges.

Sarah Brightman
Mumford and Sons
Sondre Lerch
Abba (Mamma Mia)
Jacob Simmons
Andrew Peterson
Fernando Ortega
Journey
Regina Spektor
Soundtracks
The Beatles
Sara Evans
Death Cab for Cutie, that one song

But just because I say I like any of these people does know mean I know the band member's names, all of their songs, or any of the lyrics.

I know everyone has already seen this.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008)

But it's so great, that I don't care.

Plus, I saw he (of course) has a website and looked it over. There is just something about the whole idea that I like, plus his "about me" is pretty well written.

the loneliest whale

This actually made me kind of sad.

And I'm not an animal lover.

Everyone empathizes with being alone.

image source.

this past year

2010 was more of the most notable years I've had to date. Mostly, I moved a lot and spent way too much time digging through boxes. But I consciously made the decisions I did and I stick by them. I do hope there's a bit more stability in 2011, though.

Here's 2010 in review with pictures from each month.

January
I got back to the UK just before New Years, and my American roommate and I spent the holiday with some great friends in Sheffield, England.

While we were there, besides freezing (because Steph and I are both from Florida), we got to see the Peak District, York and lots of countryside. Then it was back to work in London.












February

For my birthday in February I got an awesome package from my friend, Hannah, a teacher living in Taiwan.

January and February, and even into March blend together in my memory. They were dark, cold, and short days. The outside was so cold but when underground on the tube it was hot with all the people.






March
We climbed the Fire Monument. I'd been planning to go up the monument for a while and one day we just did it.

My favorite part of being in London was just roaming the streets. The monument is right over London Bridge on the north side of the Thames. Of course, they give you a certificate for climbing all the stairs to the top.

Before I went to London, I didn't know they had a massive fire in 1666.








April
I finally understand why in books and movies people love to rave about spring. I was so glad to see color and blue skies again, even if it was still cold.

In April, I did a lot of exploring on my own around the city.






May
We went to see a play at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. If I had remembered my Shakespeare, I would have remembered how gory Macbeth is but it was fun all the same.

If you are willing to stand for the performance, you can get five pound tickets.






June
I think June was my happiest month in London. It got warm and sunny. I got a nice sunburn in Greenwich Park the first Saturday we had great weather.

In good weather, everyone comes out to lie in the sun and have picnics. It gets really crowded and you have to claim a spot of ground. It's like the beach.

I finally felt comfortable with the city and how to navigate around my favorite places... I actually had favorite places. I had found some good friends outside our little team, and there was weekly frisbee at the park.






July
July was a little more manic but cool. We had good, even hot, weather.

At the end of the month, Steph and I went to Nice.We had been planning this trip for a while. With all of Europe so close by, it was hard to decide where to go. My only stipulation was it had to be on the Mediterranean.So we went to Nice and I saw the Mediterranean for the first time!

Then one of our teammates got married. She let me make the cake - such a scary job- and she asked me to be a bridesmaid.

July was also really scary though because I was getting ready to leave some great people and a nice situation and I wasn't sure what I was going to come back to in the US.






August
In August, I travelled all over. But I was mostly in Florida.

I counted- 4 different cities in August, 9 different hosts - 7 days was my longest stay in one place. 2 weddings.

I was job searching. My friend Kristi was getting ready to go to Norway. At the end of the month, I left Florida, my home area, and went to Maryland.






September
I got offered a job in Maryland and decided to go for it. Instead of going back to the familiar Florida, I decided to take the challenge and relocate. I took the job. Besides my family, I knew no one. I spent a lot of time on skype and the phone with friends.






October
Nothing says diversion like a sibling getting married. My older brother got married to this wonderful girl. We all went down to Florida for the event.

For me, it was awesome to be back in my home state, feel the warm sun. But especially to see friends, some I hadn't seen since before London.





November
Really cold and working hard at settling into a new job. I had to get warmer shoes, especially since I had to paperclip-rig them.







December
Two of the best times I had in the fall was when I had friends come up to DC. I went down to the city twice for the weekend to see old friends from Orlando.

vitas, counter tenor

Forgot how awesome this guy is.

check it out.

If you've been following the Chilean miner's rescue, check these two articles out.

This and this.

My dad used to work for this organization, and I fully support their mission and vision.

across the world.

it's five o'clock in the afternoon where I am. many of my friends are far-flung across the globe.

my friend in japan is probably already facing monday's work.

in saudi, she's probably getting the kids to settle down.

american friend in norway just heading to bed.

the english teacher in korea probably will wake up in an hour or two.

in england, they're ending the evening and getting ready for monday.

when i'm away.

It's nice to see family.
It's frustrating being away from friends.

Here's to hoping a compromise here soon!

i keep this log.

Sometimes, I have what I call "a good interpersonal interaction". That is, a very beneficial or enjoyable encounter with another person.

This sprang from my college days when I was studying Interpersonal Communication, so my coinage sprang from there.

I started this document in Word in 2008. Its title is "a most excellent interpersonal interaction". It's a log, like a ship's log.

It is where I record the best person-to-person interaction I have had on a given day. I used to do it daily, putting down the best one of the day. But I don't do it daily, just the most epoch ones go down, because I get distracted and don't always remember to do it.

It is currently 16 pages long and growing. I'll let you know when it goes to publishing.

phases

I'll save you the introspection.

The upshot is, in three weeks, these two little boys, their sister, their brother, and their parents will be headed back to the Middle East.

And I will be very sad.

good things to photograph

Easter festivities on Saturday with my friend's kids.

They have been one of the best parts of my entire year.

daily muse

If you want something to mull over today, here are some light thoughts on gender inequality and perspective on it from another part of the globe. I promise it's interesting and not a rant.


And otherwise, here's a picture to make radical feminists recoil: two of my roomies sheathed in aprons.

{L: Katie in my IKEA apron. R: the newly-become Mrs. Anna Pryor of Fancy is Free}

st. patrick

I'll post this now so you may be adequately prepared to observe tomorrow.

St. Patrick was not Irish. I know, bummer. Fold up the four-leaved clovers wall decorations and save the money you'd have spent on beer. Just kidding. About the beer.

I'll put some links below, so you can get the scintillating details. But here's the skinny:

He grew up in Britain and was kinapped from his village by Irishmen when he was in his teens (this was all towards the end of the fourth century). He had grown up with a strong Christian family, but by his admissions, was a rather wild kid. It was while he was in Ireland working as a slave that he grew to know God.

Years later, he escaped from Ireland. One night, he had a vision in which the Irish were calling out to him to come and work among them again, God telling him to return. Some of what happened in the time between his escape from Ireland and his return to it seem disputed by scholars. But he did return.

Patrick and his monks are largely attributed the credit for lessening the influence of the pagan worshippers and also for spreading Christianity over the island.

These give you some more of the meat: Good, better, best. Seriously, Patrick was one cool dude.

{appearing concurrently in Philosophizings from the Flat}

sights in the AM

So we've covered that I'm a morning person.

I stopped to get coffee on the way to work (don't worry; I'm keeping this splurge in good regulation) this morning and the chat I had with the girl behind the counter will probably be as amiable as any converstaion I'll have today. Seriously, people can be so jovial in the morning, as long as they aren't morning-haters. Those people are next to heathens anyway.

I noticed a girl sitting at a table with her mom. She was in the neighborhood of ten years old, was well-dressed -down to juvenile purple rubber boots- and had two plaits of brown hair. Most impressively, she was quite absorbed in a book at least two inches thick -and it wasn't Harry Potter.

If appearances are any grounds for inferences, she looked quite grown-up and self-assured. She didn't stir when her mom got up for the restroom and left her unattended for the space of several minutes.

As I watied in line, I snuck a peek back at her and saw her split the biggest grin -it had to have been something she read, nothing else amsuing was happening. She paused and partially closed the book, as if to reflect for a moment on whatever had made her smile. Then she took a bit of her bagel, perhaps sipped her iced coffee* when my back was toward her, and austerely continued reading.

You don't see that happening anywhere at 7pm.

*She must be grown-up if her mom is buying her iced coffee. And in the nature/nurture debate, I'd say she acts like a grownup because she is treated like one.

big brothers

I don't know what I'd do without them. Mine's named Nathan.

{This was after my twenty-second birthday dinner, and apparently I have issues with standing up straight. I won't despair, though. I'm taking yoga and can really tell a difference in my posture already.}

IKEA

One of the gifts I got was a giftcard to IKEA. I love IKEA. It's a Swedish company and my Swedish friends loved going there when they were here in the US, because they could buy lingonberry jelly.

Here are the top two things I'm considering getting:


1. Rolling pin

2. Teacups and saucers

Interview with Rachel Liz

1. Why a new blog?
I love my original blog, Philosophizings from the Flat. I like what it does, but I also had other things I wanted to blog about, outside of the scope of Philsophizings.

2. So your name must be Rachel? Indeed. I have no clever ideas for a nom-de-plume. Feel free to suggest one.

3. So how old are you exactly?
Currently, 21. But next month, I move onto the dignified 22.

4. And what are you up to?
Ah. I'm finishing university in May and then hoping to move to London in the fall. That's plan a number one, but you never know. I have lots of ideas, and I'm excited to start crossing things off my list.

5. What are some of your favorite blogs?
Top on my list right now are Coast to Coast, Miss Marie, Your Wishcake, Holy Experience, and Unruly Things.

6. Why do you blog?
Beyond absolutely loving it, I just feel the need to do it. I keep notebooks and journals and lists, but I really like this medium, and there is just something that writing does for me that doesn't get met any other way. Besides, blogs can be so pretty.

7. Do you think that online social applications like blogger, wordpress, facebook, etc. actually serve to lessen interpersonal interaction and real life interactions with friends?
No.

8. Why the name "Mythopoetic"?
I first came to know the word when reading about J.R.R. Tolkien's work and studies with literature. It means giving rise to myths. Or the creation of myths. I am very interested in literature, literature, philology, and the relationship between story, myth, and reality. So the word represents all that for me. Besides that, I just thought it could be charming name for a blog.

9. What are your goals for Mythopoetic?
Readership. Excellence. Sponsors.

10. Anything else you'd like to tell us?
This might fit up under question six, but I just wanted to expound on my reasons/intentions for this blog. By creating we are mimicking our Creator and living out a vital part of our experience as humans. This is just one way that I feel I can add to the creation.