Gone curling...

Hey everyone, just a reminder that if you are murdering time this weekend by reading this blog...or watching "Wagon Wheel," *cough*Chris*cough* ...instead...go to:

What the hell is Curling?
2009 Curling Regionals

On the second website, each match will be updated end by end (8 ends per game).

Good Curling!

Feminism isn't just for the lesbians and man haters anymore.

Tiff is in a Women's Studies class where she reads...a lot. There will always be those comments where as a woman, I have to say something and what better place to do it than on a blog for all to see. Every time I form a rebuttal, my views are not always coming out as word vomit from my mouth as "Karen's words," but as a woman, as a human being. I am not even talking about comments made earlier in the week but just in general. Both men and women need to be more conscientious about what they say and do in everyday life, we naturally become haters of the opposite sex and this-- is not very non-violent of us, (thank you mom for teaching me the difference, eventually I will put your teachings into action).
Before I begin to really dive into this incredibly deep subject, I will begin with my three good things of the day (and it is just 9am!).
1)I was up till 4am drinking coffee and talking to an awesome friend of mine
2)I woke up at 7 and took a really hot shower
3)When I got back to the room, coffee was already made and...oh BONUS...
4)Classes were canceled until 1pm today
Anyway, Katie Roiphe wrote a book in 1994, The Morning After: Fear, Sex, and Feminism that clearly states her views on rape victims. In an article brought to my attention by Tiff, "Roiphe denies the existence of a rape epidemic on campuses and in society. She believes that sex does and should involve power, pursuit, and struggle and that the term 'rape' is being misused to describe normal sexual relations." Roiphe later continues by explaining that participants in a march against rape on college campuses are just "whining" and that "proclaiming victimhood" is self defeating because it does not project strength. To me, there is nothing more empowering than being able to wake up each morning and say you are a stronger person because you are not the one sitting in the corner blaming yourself. Women waste too much time blaming themselves for something completely out of their control the problem is when women feel that if they say something their family/friends will be disgraced or even worse-- their family/friends will view them in a different light.
As a woman, I feel that even remotely considering women are the only ones using sex as a tool for mind games against the opposite sex is just ridiculous. I am at a complete loss of words.

"Nothing is so embarrassing as watching someone do something that you said could not be done." -Sam Ewing

All Grown Up With A Very Firm Grip On Life...

Some people say there is a difference between women and girls and that, that difference is maturity, sex, and respect. This statement holds a lot of truth behind it however there is one very false accusation men make about being a women and that is it automatically makes you a "controlling man eating bitch." Everyone knows that famous phrase "it's not you it's me" well there are times in life were you just need to say, "you know what, it is you and i cant take it anymore!!!" Being a women doesn't make me a bitch, a whore, or an unsympathetic brain ninja that just swoops in pulls some strings and swoops out like nothing ever happened, it just makes my bullshit tolerance a little less and my standards a little higher. I cannot even begin to count the amount of times a women has been hurt by a man and no one gives a shit so why should the world all of a sudden stop turning when a guy's "meaningful" short term relationship comes to a screeching halt? Everyone knows life is a bitch, but they also know that complaining about it doesn't make it better. One of my biggest pet peeves is people who are never happy no matter what they do. This is a personality trait that cannot be fixed if you don't want to fix it no matter what anyone does or says to try to help you... On a different note if my past experiences have taught me anything it's that working at a primary school dealing with 3-6 year old's is tiring and full of reverse psychology tactics yet its still so surprising to me that there is little difference between the average 5 year old and the average male college student. So to end this blog on a high note today i had the most amazing coffee, kicked ass at curling practice, and came home to an AWESOME roommate who I can share my frustration with!! Now tell me 3 good things about your day?

What do you see?

I will be doing this for the next couple of days as my prepare to Vice-Skip my team.

Not early enough but perfect timing none the less.

"80% of the final exam will be based on the one lecture you missed and the one book you didn't read. "

In between classes I would just like to take the time to say that I am so extremely "sqeek" happy for my best friends who have finally found one another. If it happened any sooner it would have been too late. I keep my chin up in the world of dating and such while walking between classes for the hopes of having what they have. Chris, "give her two red roses, each with a note. The first note says 'For the woman I love,' and the second, 'For my best friend.'" (Then you can mail me a red rose and it BETTER say the latter! :D I love you both and that is totally and completely enough. Congratulations.

Dear Mr. President

This is an interesting song.

Erin, I miss you

Erin and I spent a week on her family's private Island for Spring Break back in Upper Elementary and I will never forget singing this song while pushing her on the rope swing. That week ended with me discovering my parents were divorcing but even though my life was falling apart, Erin stuck by my side. I haven't seen her in a while and I thought I would just send her a shout out.

"I've got a daisy on my toe
It is not real, it does not grow
It's just a tattoo of a flower
So I look cute while taking a shower
It's on the 2nd toe of my left foot
It has no stem, it has no root
'cause it wouldn't look cute
I got a daisy on my toe
It is not real, it does not grow"

Why go to pre-school, just skip onto college!

I don't believe in snow angels.

After 6 days of being sick I have decided...no more snow angels.



Anyway, that is about all I am going to talk about snow angels or being sick, I figure if I put something about Curling in the title-- no one would read this post except for Carl. The Student Club played the City Club today from 9-2pm and the City Club pretty much taught us how to play the game. I had a rock land on the button (it was a take-out shot, so even better...) and then get guarded by my teammates rocks, it was my first scoring rock! They say you will always remember that. I got compliments from some of the best players in the City Club which is amazing considering I have only been playing for three months. I had a blast playing with some of the best Curlers in the Student Club, thanks for having me guys!
Curling Regionals are January 30th-February 1st!

Don't hate the sport, and please don't hate the addict.

It's not just a rock. It's forty-two pounds of polished granite, with a beveled underbelly and a handle a human being can hold. Okay, so in and of itself it looks like it has no practical purpose, but it's a repository of possibility. And, when it's handled just right, it exacts a kind of poetry - as close to poetry as I ever want to get. The way it moves.... Not once, in everything I've done, have I ever felt the same wonder and humanity as when I'm playing the game of curling. ~Paul Gross, John Krizanc, and Paul Quarrington, Men with Brooms

I have a sneaking suspicion I am addicted to the sport but my excuse for why I have been practicing in class two days, one extra night for a private lesson, and attending Sunday night practice every week is because regionals are fast approaching. Tomorrow the Student Club is playing the City Club and I am prepared to do one of two things: 1) have amazing line and make every shot I attempt or 2) fall on my ass and make a fool out of my team. We will see.

Please welcome...

Red High Heels

My ex-boss and now personal chef came up to BGSU this past Thursday to cook for Tiff and I. We had chicken stuffed with manicotti cheese rolled in bruchetta next to fancier-than-normal alfredo noodles. He brought a bottle of wine and we were all just planning on relaxing...
Until...
Chuck and Tiff started talking about my style (or lack there of). In one night I was told to never wear 1/2 of my wardrobe, that I should wear make-up more often, I need to do something with my hair each day, and after all that-- they threw away a pair of my shoes. I have never been one to really care what people think, I mean, once you're called trailer trash by your roommate (not Tiff, this episode was Christina), you tend to get a thick skin and let everything just roll right off of you. I know I really don't look like I try each morning but the fact of the matter is I would rather spend money on bills and food than nice clothes, before coming here, the bars I went to with Chris were jeans/t-shirt material and occasionally I would find something a bit nicer to wear. In one night, we decided I needed a complete makeover...Tiff jumped online and bought be a few shirts for going out and I realized that maybe...the red heels in the BOTTOM of the bucket-- needed to go.

Yet another semester...

"Hello, my name is Karen, I am a Sophomore double majoring in English and Theatre Tech."

I am taking 15 credit hours spread between 6 classes this semester and today was spent getting to know the professors and the other students. I had no problem finding any of my classes until I had to go to Eppler Center. Now, to understand my dilemma, you have to know that this building has North, South, and Center wings that look as if they are connected on the outside but once you step into the building, you feel like a rat in a maze chasing a hunk of cheese. I got to my Spanish class where my teacher only speaks...German...just kidding...Spanish (AHH!) just in time. As I was walking out of the building my iPod somehow got tangled in between my legs, around my neck, and stuck in my zipper. I was focusing on my iPod and texting-- forcing me to walk like a drunk driver and BAM! I walked into a glass door full force. All I could do was laugh until I realized a guy was holding the actual door and I had walked into the window next to it.
Him: While holding back uncontrollable laughter, "Are you OK?"
Me: "Ha! Ha! Yeah, you did not see that."
Him: "See what?"
Somehow that cheesy line made me feel a whole lot better, something about knowing he was at least nice to my face is great regardless if he went to his next class and said, "BAHAHA! I totally just saw this ugly chick walk into a window!"
UFFDA.

Finale

As excited as I am to see my friends in Columbus tonight, it is going to be hard leaving my mother back here in Knoxville. Ma and I haven't lived together this long since before the divorce and I was nervous as to see how we would work it out. Only a few tears were shed and all two of them were due to extreme sleep deprivation while we were talking about non-violent communication with other family members. It is difficult to put into words how much I truly miss having ma around, I know she will/is reading this and without getting too sappy I just wanted to say a few words.

Ma,
What a year! Whew. We made it to 2009 and as your 50th birthday FAST approaches, I find it totally and completely necessary to let you in on a few secrets...I stole your long black scarf about two years ago when I came to visit and you are never getting your CD player back. I apologize but that is a really nice scarf and the CD player picks up radio stations. After spending a few weeks here I have decided that you are not a Minnesotan any more; the "unreasonably cold" 50 degree weather here in Knoxville threw me off so much that I am still trying to figure out if I missed Christmahanukwanzicolstice or not. Though the red and green holiday pizza was awesome, I prefer you give up cooking all together, you are too much of an awesome person to waste away in the kitchen. Please stay away from all sharp, hot, or otherwise dangerous objects including the blunt ones. I know you would prefer not to but please get rid of the "hello, 80's" sweater you wore the other day or I will have to report you to What Not to Wear and they will make you start dressing for style not comfort. I am unsure how you do it day in and day out, sixteen 2-6 year olds is a lot to deal with and I cannot say it enough how proud I am to be your daughter. I now realize I was running away from my life and problems by looking into the Air Force, it was incredible that you drove to BGSU to save my ass two weekends in a row. I still want to fly, but strengthening the wings you once gave me is more important right now than what grade I get in biology or if I work this next semester. Thanks to you I can pour blue water from one cup to another, tell you the capital of Zimbabwe, separate my clothes for wash correctly (each color a separate load), and of course, wash dishes by hand. I will never understand why after having a hellion like me, you would choose to teach, but more power to you ma. We might have had our differences about how to look at life, but ma, you're stuck with me.





"Our final developmental task is to value ourselves without our gifts." -Dr. Mary Jurisson

Cat Purses...EW.

Do you think you are having panic attacks?

"I rarely have nightmares anymore"...famous last words right God?!
I have been working with my mom at her school all week but have been going upstairs and sleeping the majority of the day away; this means one of two thing, 1) I am not sleeping at all at night but instead playing online or watching television, or 2) I am sleeping at night but the sleep I am getting is worth nothing more than a penny paid against our debt built up during this war we have recently found ourselves in. Night before last I had a nightmare that was so scary that when when questioned, I did not want to talk about it but instead just turned the question around on the one asking. I guess now is probably a good time to talk about it considering I use this blog as a form of really really cheap therapy as well as an informative piece. I woke up drenched in sweat after (in my dream), dying my hair blond while in some sort of witness protection group, joining a drug counseling group and living in a "safe" house where keys weren't used but instead codes to every door including my bedroom and the bathroom. I remember standing in my house doing this and that and someone who eerily looked like Mr. Big from Sex and the City walked in. I guess somehow I knew he shouldn't have been there and I ran but before I could get the back door code in, my finger was blown off by a gun shot. I woke up shortly after all this happened and have absolutely no idea what could have set that kind of nightmare off. Today, I was exhausted in the classroom and did not really see any child in desperate need for attention so I went upstairs to read, I read a few chapters and fell asleep. This time, the nightmare flip flopped between two scenes. In one scene, I was at a basketball game desperately searching for a paper fan in the shape of a sun, I was much younger and without this fan I think I could not properly cheer for my team. Strange...ya think?! The other scene was at a water park in an innertube with two other people and we were on a water slide that seemed to be a skate park 1/2 pipe. The innertube would go up one side and then down and to the other side but would go to far and flip over, the water was soapy and the bubbles kept getting in my face to only suffocate me like at the foam party in BG. Every time we would flip over I would nearly drowned. Today I woke up with all my muscles sore as if I had been flexing for the previous two hours and I was still exhausted. I am sure there is an underlaying reason or meaning behind these nightmares but I am really just getting tired of them. I am happy, quite frankly, it's about damn time that I am happy...these past two years have sucked but the last two days have just been weird.

Montessori friend, not Monastery

It wasn't until I was in High School fighting ladies twice my size and paying $2.25 for 1/2 a lunch that I did not have to explain every day of my life that I did not go to a Monastery for school but indeed, a Montessori school. I have a week left of my vacation but already my mother is back at work with 12 pint sized children whos favorite thing to talk about is that girls have a vagina and boys come with a penis (to think with). I have been babysitting a few of the children in her class over the last few weeks for some cash to get me through next semester but I have somehow forgotten that dealing with one 5 year old is a whole lot easier than dealing with 12 5 year olds. It is interesting how frustrated they get when multiple people talk to them at once but they continue to believe that all adults have super powers and can listen to 2 or more high-pitched voices at once and completely understand every word. Even though I joke, I really do enjoy being in the classroom, we take for granted that we know how to pour water from one glass to another and that we can read without thinking about it anymore but to watch a two year old learn all the countries in Europe better than I is just astounding. I think it is remarkable how well children learn in this environment and adjust to the real world. It wasn't until High School that I sat at a desk and used a text book; it wasn't until High School that I wore shoes inside.

"We taught you that the Earth is round, and red and white make pink, and something else, that matters more, we taught you how to think," -Dr. Seuss, Hooray for Diffendoofer Day

Whore frost, lip rings, fairies, and ghosts

I was thinking about what to write in attempt to avoid all real work and I came up with a fair list:
1.Whore frost
2.Lip rings
3.Fairies
4.Ghosts
Now, I know what you are really wondering..."what the hell is whore frost...she made that up." I did no such thing. With my hands on my hips and my reading glasses perched on the edge of my nose, I explain, "whore frost is when ice grows up out of the ground like a flower...well, really there is no good way to describe, here is a picture."

This whore frost, sometimes mistaken for 'hoe frost,' just blankets the mountains in the Smoky Mountain National Park.

..........

I am sorely mistaken...though this is incredibly lamer than whore [hore] frost...this picture is apparently just a picture of "ground frost." [w]hore frost is indeed ice that looks like what is viewed in the picture above but jets off trees and other plant life...

This blog post just became incredibly boring, I apologize.

New Years 2009

I spent last night, New Years Eve, in my bed while reading Ellen Wolfe's Walking the Dream. It is a phenomenally well written novel about Wolfe's thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. It is my own plan to thru-hike the AT in three years after I graduate from BGSU and picking up tips and learning the tricks from "Wolf Woman" will help me every step of the way. 126 text messages were received and sent from my phone last night, 90% of which were just "Happy New Year, Be Safe." The other 10% were me telling Tim how to play Risk, the board game. I gave him one rule: "Take Zimbabwe first," and he couldn't even follow that one simple rule...we will see about him! Though my New Year's Eve was totally uneventful I enjoyed just relaxing by myself and avoiding all trouble with the police.

"In all fairness, I had Zimbabwe at the end...because the World was MINE at the end..." -Tim Baughman