Go USA!

I cannot believe I just watched history being made....
Team USA's men swim team just did the unbelievable in the 4x100m freestyle relay.
You guys make us proud!
Nothing is more uplifting, more energetic, more patriotic, than seeing the underdogs from your country do the impossible, right at the last few meters. You could see how red their muscles were from the sheer exertion...but you could not find any happier people than those four young men standing on the edge of the pool.
Well, except for the millions of Americans glued to their TVs.

I'm in it for the volleyball...and you?

I haven't been blogging much (actually, none at all) but nothing has really happened to merit said blogging. But when watching the beach volleyball segment of the Olympics and checking up the results online, something caught my attention...
Dancers? Not just any dancers, but dancers in bikinis. And cheerleaders.
Why?
And I don't mean it in a derogatory way, but with already hot, fit men and women in the tiniest outfits out of the whole Olympic competition, covered in sweat and sand, slapping each other on their posteriors, aren't all eyes already glued to the TV?
I couldn't help but think Keri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor could take down the entire dance and cheerleader squads with one hand tied behind their backs.
Plus, while the men's teams may be spurred to victory by the dancers/cheerleaders, how is it helping the women's teams? Come on, at least give them some eye candy as well. Where's the equality? Of course, I would be less impressed with men out there dancing...what else could the men be doing to encourage the women's teams?

Just a rhetorical question to throw out there...please, feel free to contact the Olympic committees with suggestions.

Shame on Me

What a bad blogger I am! It has been weeks since I've said anything...oops.
Well, I am going to make a whole-hearted effort to be more consistent in the future so long as I have something worth while to say.
Needless to say, that does not mean things have not been going on. I am in a constant battle with Verizon...no need to get into that now or else I'll be too fire up to go to bed and sleep.
But, many good things to come in the future. I will make an earnest effort to stay more positive because it becomes draining being negative.
But do you think it is better to be negative than apathetic? Because you're just a waste of space if you go through life apathetic...what's the use of life if you have a lack of emotions or opinions...about anything? I dislike it when people say they are apathetic about something....I cannot imagine not having some sort of opinion or emotion, whether it's good or bad. That's just being wishy-washy.
Boy, it's been a work-filled week...
Here are some random, up-lifting pictures that I liked

Birthday!

I have to admit..I love birthdays. Not just mine, but everyone's birthdays. I get so excited because I love to plan things. So when my birthday just rolled around, my friends planned for me a wonderful day.
Jenn and Nicole came and kidnapped me and took me to the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. which consists of acres and acres of beautiful landscaping and scenery. I was very surprised...I had no idea D.C. had this to offer. And just like any other museum, it is free and open for all of the public...I suggest everyone take advantage of this.
And then, after acquainting ourselves with the many streets of D.C. (as I would like to call it, instead of being "lost") my friends took me to a wonderful, delectable French restaurant in Georgetown called "Et Voila". If heaven serves food, I'm pretty sure it would taste like this...everything we had was perfect and the atmosphere and staff could not have been any more welcoming. I am still thinking of my poached pear....
My friends know me very well....a day walking through exotic gardens and an evening dining on delicious food is my idea of a day well spent. Cities have so much to offer. Tomorrow I will blog about what they got me.
And on my birthday day, my mother cooked a wonderful meal for grandparents, parents, great-aunt, and me, a tasty chocolate cake, and my parents got me a beautiful Tiffany necklace. My sister called me to wish me a happy birthday, so it was a lovely day spent with family and dog. And a certain someone sent me two thoughtful books to familiarize myself with Paris and France.

I had a very satisfying and heartwarming birthday.

Fourth of July

Quick post...I am a bit sleepy tonight.
On July the Fourth, Jenn came with me to a picnic area in the mountains with my family and me. She baked brownies which she brought with her....which turned out much better than the cake she and I made for my birthday the last time we went to this picnic area. Stupid frosting...
I love this picnic area. It is called Bear Valley. No bears, though, but perhaps a long time ago. The most wild creatures Jenn and I came across were drunk men who whooped and hollered at us as we quickly walked past them when we went for a very enjoyable and relaxing walk.
In the area which we live in, there are many beautiful flowers that can be seen growing alongside the roads and in people's gardens that are called Tiger Lilies, or more precisely, Lilium columbianum. Even though they aren't rare and can be found in many places growing wild, I find them so beautiful and exotic, especially when they are nestled amongst other green foliage. I learned from Wikipedia, though, that when you pick the flower, it impairs the plant's ability to reproduce...I've picked a lot of these flowers when I was younger...oops.
I also learned from Jenn that if you were lost in the middle of the woods for some reason and you had no food, you could either eat berries that were dark in color and bumpy (like raspberries) or eat the petals off of a tiger lily. Curious, I plucked a petal off of a flower growing in a stranger's yard and started to chew it. Let me tell you...I wasn't missing out on anything before. It just tasted like lettuce with a floral aftertaste. Not bad, but I'll stick to my salads. I'm sure I also didn't look like the smartest person in the world, munching on a bright orange flower petal.
Aren't things that are bright of color poisonous? Like Amazon frogs?
Here are some photos of the fireworks my brother-in-law set off at the house and the carnage afterwards...they were quite impressive.

One fine day

Quick blog for today:

On Sunday, Nicole and I drove to Princeton to see La Boheme on stage and it was simply wonderful. The stage was lovely and the singers were impressive.
Growing up, I've always listened to classical and opera music, compliments of my mother and now, I find myself addicted.
The campus was gorgeous and the town was quaint, lined with tasty cafes and tempting clothing stores.
Nicole, you could make me a believer...seeing a place like that just toys with the idea of going to grad school more and more.
Sigh, so confusing...

It may be a while till I blog again...who knows when the internet is going to be installed at the house...
I went to see "Get Smart" at the movie theater with Jenn tonight and I have not laughed that hard at a movie in a very, very long time! It was completely hilarious! It was based on the TV series of the same name which was made to spoof James Bond and they also used the shoe phone in both the TV series and movie. I loved Anne Hathaway's wardrobe throughout the whole movie.
I've always liked Steve Carell and thought he was very funny, but this...this was one of his bests. I loved him in "The 40-Year Old Virgin", but this was even better...although it is hard to beat the "man-o-lantern" scene....
I've always loved spy movies. When growing up, I pretended to be a lot of things (Miss America, chef, surgeon, astronaut, Olympic swimmer), but I always wanted to be a secret agent as well. I even had a water gun in the shape and style of a .45 pistol (it looked extremely authentic, except for the fact it was yellow, pink, and plastic) and would hide behind trees and soak the dog and parents with it. Perhaps I owe it to all of the James Bond movies I've watched (I've seen every single one!). Bond could kick anyone's butt and still look very dashing and calm. I had a professor who was very surprised and impressed with my James Bond knowledge...I think that's why I got an A in the class!
Jenn: don't forget to look up "deadpanned". Good thing we never had this word during Taboo...
I was telling Jenn that Steve Carell had a very deadpanned way of delivering humor and she looked at me puzzled and asked, "What does that mean?"...I swear it's a word.