In this town we call home, everyone hail to the pumpkin song

Arg! I just wrote a long post and it erased it before I could publish, so here I am rewriting it. My mom and I went to disneyland today. I really needed to get away from school and I've had a very crazy Thursday and Friday night. I wanted nothing more than to relax, go somewhere else, and get my mind off things. I know I am missing some really cool Halloween parties at school tonight and that people are going to tell me all about them and I'll be jealous, but oh well. I've had my fill of parties lately and sometimes you just need to transplant yourself for a day or two and rethink things. So after sleeping in a bit my mom came down and picked me up. We stopped for lunch at what is quickly becoming my favorite restaurant...a hole-in-the-wall vegan restaurant on figueroa. It's nice to discover a place with good food that I can actually eat and that my friends and family like going to also, even though they arent vegetarian. It's a nice break from the Easy Mac macaroni and cheese that constitutes about 70% of my dinners. Easy Mac + microwave popcorn= quintessential college meal.

We took advantage of the one time both my brother and dad decided not to come by going shopping on downtown disney. Matt and dad hate being dragged around and get antsy. I bought my usual caramel apple and a rather funky alice and wonderland bag that I think I'll make good use of. We also lounged on main street and drank raspberry mochas. There's this one area right outside the entrance to CA Adventure that always smells like burnt coffee...it's awful. One nice thing about having a season pass is that we can decide to go on one ride or all of them. Today we only made it to Pirates of the Carribean, which was fine with us. We went to watch the Electrical Light Parade which was lovely. So many twinkling lights. Seriously, Im like a moth. You hold up something sparkly, colorful or shiny and I'm drawn to it, but then again I think most designers are.

For some reason, my mom and I decided that cheetos and diet coke was a perfectly acceptable dinner. I love cheetos. As we were sitting waiting for the parade to start this guy walked by us and flicked his lit cigarette into a nearby bush without even caring. The bush started smoking a little and we had to pour diet coke on it to extinguish it. It worked. Yep, we saved disneyland from being burnt to a crisp. I take great pride in that. I got worn out pretty quick...another sign I need to cool it and rest instead of going out, and probably start taking some vitamins. Overall it was a great day and I'm looking forward to Halloween tomorrow. Lots of scary movies hopefully. I helped out on Friday with the Panhellenic Halloween carnival that was put on for the local elementary school kids. It was a lot of fun. I was at the Go-fish booth where kids put their fishing poles through this canvas thing that looked like the ocean and a "fish" aka another ADPi girl stuck on a piece of candy. The kids were all adorable, even when they were trying to run by you to look under the canvas and exclaim that they "saw people back there, not fish!"

The most memorably thing about today's disneyland trip besides the asshole smoker guy:

1) while we were watching the electrical light parade, a snail crawled onto and attached itself to mom's diet coke bottle. She didn't want to pry to snail off and keep drinking (smart move) so she just let the snail have the diet coke. Good thing Tasha wasn't there...

2) When I was getting off the tram a guy who worked on the tram noticed my ADPi sweatshirt, walked all the way over to me and said "You're in a fraternity? Which fraternity are you in?" No, no i'm not a boy sir. My hair was up in a pony tail, maybe I looked like a boy. Who knows.

Halloween!

Halloween is this Sunday! I've determined that as much as I love Christmas, Halloween is my favorite holiday. When I was little, my family would get really involved in the costume making process. I remember this one halloween my brother and I dressed up as bumblebees and my dad was the flyswatter and constructed this gigantic swatter and chased us around with it. We'd always go to Lombardi's Pumpkin Patch a week or two before Halloween and pick out the most perfect pumpkins we could find. Then we'd lay down the newspaper and carve the pumpkins into fun faces. I never liked touching that gooey pulp inside the pumpkin, but it was fun to line up all our pumpkins outside, stick a votive candle in them, and watch them glow. Then when I got to high school I was obviously too old to trick or treat but we always did this trick or treat for cans which was cool cuz you could still dress up and go out, but this time you were helping a cause and didn't end up with a pillowcase of candy that would sit around for a year uneaten. Last year was raining and I had a cold. This year I have a cold again, but I've got a few fun things lined up for this weekend. Tonight ADPi is having a bbq with Kappa Sigma. Hopefully I'll feel well enough to go to it. Then tomorrow night is a halloween costume party at Angie, Hilary, and Leona's apartment. Saturday I am going to disneyland with my mom. We want to visit the Haunted Mansion and the electrical light parade. Sunday I'm heading home to hang out with some friends, pass out candy, and watch scary movies that will surely give me nightmare for weeks. Sorry this is such an uninteresting blog entry, I'm in a rush to get to a store before it closes. But I'll update on all these events as they happen and I leave you with this ummm....fun list.

Top Ten Reasons Trick-Or-Treating Is Better Than Sex

10. You're guaranteed to get at least a little something in the sack.

9. If you get tired, wait 10 minutes and go at it again.

8. The uglier you look, the easier it is to get some.

7. You don't have to compliment the person who gave you candy.

6. The person giving you candy doesn't fantasize you're someone else.

5. If you get a stomach ache, it won't last 9 months.

4. If you wear a Batman mask, no one thinks you're kinky.

3. It doesn't matter if kids hear you moaning and groaning.

2. Less guilt the next morning.

1. If you don't get what you want, you can always go next door.

It runs in the family

About a year ago I taught my mom how to use AIM instant messenger and now I'm glad I did because every once in a while she'll come on and chat with me. We have the most outrageous, strange conversations. And people wonder why I'm so odd? I was lamenting to my mom about boys and the usual crap that I can only talk about with my mom, and instead of offering solice and realistic advice, she usually comes up with things that are of no help whatsoever. Here's a conversation with my mom where it starts off just about boys in general and then...yeah. Taz is our pet dog btw:

jumpingzebra13 (10:51:11 PM): so, the way to boys' hearts is thru their stomach. bake him a side of cow ( barbacue of course )
PrityLittlePixie (10:52:01 PM): ewwwwww, that would be against my principles
PrityLittlePixie (10:52:04 PM): i dont bake cow
jumpingzebra13 (10:52:17 PM): ok...then send him a greased pig
jumpingzebra13 (10:52:34 PM): sue eeeeeeeeeee pig pig pig
PrityLittlePixie (10:52:47 PM): NO ANIMALS
PrityLittlePixie (10:52:55 PM): has the vegan restaurant taught you nothing?
jumpingzebra13 (10:53:20 PM): ok then....construct a fucking chicken out of tofu and see where that gets you
jumpingzebra13 (10:53:42 PM): by the way, i'm eating taz for lunch tomorrow
PrityLittlePixie (10:54:16 PM): WTF?
jumpingzebra13 (10:55:19 PM): yup, and alfred packer was my mentor
PrityLittlePixie (10:56:23 PM): whos alfred packer?
jumpingzebra13 (10:57:40 PM): was a colorado native who went out oh some hiking expedition with a bunch of people. they got stuck in a severe snow storm and he ate them. fight on alfred! they even made a song about him
PrityLittlePixie (10:58:59 PM): FIGHT ON? God, i hope i never get trapped in a snowstorm with you
PrityLittlePixie (10:59:41 PM): why are you so insane?
jumpingzebra13 (11:00:11 PM): because you fool girl, alexander kwasnieski is my cousin and he's the president of poland!!!!!!!
jumpingzebra13 (11:01:29 PM): oh....wait a minute....you are in the family. hahahaha....just a matter of time for you


And there you have it. Im doomed to insanity. Might as well accept it.

If you want to court the little lady, you've gotta be a straight shooter, do ya follow me?

I just woke up from a dream where I had to write a 10 page paper today, but first I had to wander through a giant hardware warehouse looking for flowers with an anonymous frat boy. It was very Eternal Sunshine with people popping up places that they shouldnt be and nothing making sense. Thank god it was just a dream. Lately, Ive been having these dreams that continue all night it seems, sometimes I'll wake up not wanting to fall right back into the same dream, but then I inevitably do when I fall asleep again. Last night and the night before have both been like that. In other things, I wish I didn't get crushes. My crushes change quickly (ive learned by now that it doesnt do well to dwell on them for long periods of time), but theyre always on invariably perfect boys, they never ever work out but I'm always stuck liking these people who either don't like me (about 99% of the time) or are pretty much incompatible. I'm tempted to enter the nunnery (if only i was christian) or just send off for one of those mail order husbands and be done with it.

Yesterday was the USC vs Washington game which wasn't all too interesting to watch. The final score was 38-0 USC. My brother Matt and 3 friends came to the game. I was glad they came (albeit 45 minutes later than they said they would) because I enjoy showing off my school and especially how much fun the football games can be. They seemed to have a good time cheering for SC and we were all secretly cheering for Dan, who we watched play for Washington. It's a very strange thing to see a family friend play college football in a giant coliseum and the whole time youre thinking "wow, he used to sleep on our couch and practically live at our house growing up." Afterwards, A few of the dtd guys decided to get "heart attack dogs" after the game which are basically grease-fried hot dogs with greasy bacon wrapped around it and drizzled with grilled onions. Definitely clogged the arteries a bit more. I dont understand the eating patterns of boys. Sometimes I feel so weird about being vegetarian. Not ever in my choice to be one, but just being around people who don't understand and then they'll usually ask why I do it, and I'll respond that I'm very interested in animal rights and I just didn't like meat that much. They'll look at me like I'm crazy but the part that worries me is that I sound like I'm propogating it or condescendingly telling them they should do it too, which is something I try to avoid. I hope people don't get that impression when I explain my reasons. Andy said he felt bad eating the heart attact dog right in front of me, and I dont want people to feel that way. After the game, I decided to go get Korean BBQ with 3 girls from my house Nancy, Debbie, and Heather and three Delt guys, Andy, Marc, and Phillip. I hadnt planned on going out after the game, but the idea came up and it sounded like fun. We drove out to korea town and I managed to find a vegetable + rice plate at the BBQ and it was very delicious. Afterwards we headed back to school and were still not ready to go home so we went over to the Delt house and hung out and watched people play pool (almost got a row run out of it). Overall it turned into a really fun day and I think more days will turn out like that if I just open up to going to places I normally wouldnt go to on a whim.

It's raining...no other way to say it

I probably shouldnt write an entry when Im as frustrated and in such a pissy mood as I am tonight (mainly due to my failed attempts to study for my french test and just because after a night of homework Im always pissy). But i feel an update is needed.

It's been raining on and off for a few days now. I usually love the rain because it reminds me of running around in the rain for fun in high school or curling up with a good book and sipping hot chocolate. It also brings images of places like London, by far my favorite place in the world and my future residence in exactly one year and two months...walking along in Hyde Park and how everything is brilliant shades of green offset with the gray sky. This week, however, I'm not enjoying the rain as much as i usually do. I have class all day so I'll step in a puddle early in the morning and get water all over my shoes and on the bottom of my pant legs, then I will have to sit through all the rest of my classes with uncomfortably wet feet. I also get cold if it drops below 70 degrees. I know...pretty pathetic, eh? I just do. Later in the Southern California winter (which at its lowest reaches about 50 degrees), I'll bundle up in three layers and end up looking like a giant marshmellow. Another dreadful thing that the rain has caused this week is my hair to curl beyond control. I have naturally curly hair that I hate and try to straighten whenever possible so I will dry and straighten my hair in the mornings and after a few hours in the dampness my head is a mass of frizzy curls Hopefully I'll start to enjoy the rainy season a little more and be thankful that I dont live somewhere that is ACTUALLY cold like my friends in Chicago, Pittsburgh and New York.

Last weekend's sorority presents was rained out but was moved indoors at the last second. We had to squeeze 130 sorority girls, escorts and parents into the house and did an impromptu ceremony. My brother was nice enough to be my escort, though most of the time he talked about how he was hungry and wanted to sleep or go home, but I was happy to have him there anyway. My family is coming to the Washington game this weekend because Dan Howell is playing, I'll still be rooting for USC obviously, but I'll cheer for Dan when I see him play. Hopefully the weather will clear up so Im not sitting in a puddle for 3 hours at the game.

Ok, I was going to write more tonight but my eyes are starting to get heavy so I should sleep while i have the chance. I'm tempted to run over to ADPi and join in on middle of the night slip and slide, and I probably would if I werent in pajamas and didnt want to catch neumonia. A more in depth post tomorrow for sure.

Like a memory long since past, here in an instant, gone in a flash

I saw this floating around various people's IM profiles, etc, and thought it was an interesting new tribute to usc. I can't make it to the game tomorrow because I'm going home to see Jessica who's visiting this weekend from NYU. I'll probably watch it on tv though and cheer from my couch. When did I become such a diehard football fan? I think you'll be hardpressed to find many students who don't love it here. I love college and I love my school!!

Our Father, who art in Coliseum,
Victory be thy name.
Thy title come, thy will be done,
in game as it was in practice.

Give us this day our daily reception,
and forgive us our penalties, as we forgive
those who jump offsides against us.

Lead us not into the neutral zone,
but deliver us from all interceptions.
For thine is the Cardinal, the Gold,
and the spirit of Troy
now and forever.

Amen.


It's parents weekend here at USC and Im always surprised at the number of parents walking around campus. My family doesn't really participate in that because they live so close anyway so it's kind of a perpetual parents weekend. Not that I see them every weekend, I probably only go home every 4 weeks now for a visit, but there's no need for them to come out and do school activities that are meant for parents who live 2000 miles away. Michael Moore was on campus last night and I decided to go check it out. There was a gigantic crowd that filled McCarthy Quad and spilled out into other sections of campus. It was surprisingly interesting to see him speak and all the other speakers come out. Some people hate him, I personally like him (he seems jolly and reminds me of the vision of santa clause i had when i was little), but I understand you can't take all the things he says as fact because he's trying to make a point and tends to exaggerate quite a bit. But he made me laugh and they had a soldier come out and talk and also a guy who had recently lost his brother in the war which i found interesting. There was a group of republican protestors there who stood in the back and chanted and it was the first time on the USC campus that I've felt some sort of political activism and conflict. We live on a pretty docile campus full of very very rich people so it was kinda nice to see so many people get riled up.


I don't know...some recent conversations with friends and their summer plans have made me a little sad. I know that people are eager to jump into their future lives and all that, but to me the college period is something quite different. Yes, it's a time to branch into the career you are heading towards and make connections so that when you graduate, you aren't left in the dirt, but that's not all it is. A lot of people I have talked to are already planning where they are moving for summer or how they are staying at their colleges and taking summer classes full time so that they can graduate early, etc. That's all fine and good, but I'm starting to get that sense that it's all going too fast. I guess the different factor between me and a lot of my friends is that after undergraduate school I'm jumping into the work world. Most all my friends are going to grad school so they have an extra 2-4 years after undergrad to be in this scolastic period of their lives. The decision wasn't based on not loving education, because I do and would stay in college forever if I had the opportunity, but the design world that I'm going into doesn't require it so I'd be going to grad school mainly to add more time that I wouldnt have to be in the work world and be tacking on an additional $40,000 dollars to my college payments. I still may decide to go to grad school, esp if I want to be a design professor at a good university, but Im undecided right now. But it just makes me sad because while I look at this transitional period as our last chances to be young college students (because the real world is only 2 1/2 years away for me), get breaks every once in a while, and enjoy our last remaining time when it's considered ok to visit parents and friends and hang on to our youth for a few fleeting summers and winter breaks, it seems that pretty much everyone else I know is in a huge hurry to speed it up, become "adult", push away any semblage of youth and jump headfirst into the next phase of what will be their careers for the next 40-50 years. It's not necessarily a bad thing to do that because I'm sure they are still appreciating the time at hand, but besides perhaps a local internship at a record company or design firm, I don't see myself leaping into the world right away because im not ready for this. I'm moving at a slower pace than most people, but I think I'm ok with that. Because in 20 years when I've been working for 15 years in design, Ive got my own family, and i'm living in some far off area of the world (England, please), I'll look back on this period and be happy that I used this last remaining time to soak up the goodness of friends and family that might not be there in the future.

It must have been the altitude change

I wrote an entire lengthy blog the other day about the Holiday Bowl and the things I had learned about it, but as soon as I finished writing it and right before I pressed "publish post" the internet died and erased my entire post. So frustrating! I will rewrite the blog about the holiday bowl tomorrow, but for now I want to talk about my weekend in Big Bear.

It started out normal enough. I drove up there, ate camp food with my family, sat by the fire in the lodge, walked around amongst the trees and breathed in the clean, crisp mountain air. I spent a few hours Saturday afternoon locked in the car with the radio tuned in to the USC/CAL game which I was pretty much glued to for its entirety. I spent the evening sitting in the lodge with my mom. She read harry potter while I attempted to make a dent in the daunting pile of homework that was assigned that week and that I hadnt even begun due to initiation and my invite. Late saturday night is when I suddenly lost all sense. I blame it on extreme lack of sleep over the past few weeks and a brief stint of insanity.

Luckily, we got to stay in these beautiful cabins with heaters so that while it was really cold outside, we were snug under our covers inside which a lot of the cabins didn't have. My dad and brother were staying together in a room across the hall and my mom and I stayed together. My mom was the official camp nurse, so if anyone got sick or if there was an emergency at any time day or night, they would come to my mom for help. She hadnt gotten asked to do anything the night before so I figured nothing was going to go wrong, but around 1 AM saturday night I hear a knock at the door. I was completely passed out at this point, but I woke up just enough to hear a guy at the door sounding really freaked out and asking my mom first if she had any clothes for him to wear and then if she would come with him. Something about it seemed off or somewhat sinister in the middle of the night when my mind was playing tricks on me, but i fell back asleep. I thought it was very strange that a mysterious guy would ask my mom for clothes and sound so desperate and in my illogical half-asleep state I started thinking about the Lacy Peterson case and the book "In the Lake of the Woods" and I convinced myself that this guy was up to no good. So, just to be sure, I hop out of bed and walk outside to see if the light in the nurse's cabin is on. Nope, it's not.

I go back to bed thinking it's no big deal, but then after about 30 minutes and my mom hasnt come back I start getting worried that either 1)this guy was actually a serial killer and has lured my mom into the woods and killed her OR 2) she was eaten by a bear on her way back from one of the cabins. Keep in mind this was 1:30 am and i was sleepy and not in my right mind. So i wake my dad up and tell him mom has been gone a really long time and I fear she's been slain by a deranged woodland serial killer and he shrugs and tells me to wake him in 20 minutes if she's not back.

Twenty minutes later she's still not back and at this point I have paced up and down, gone outside and then back to my room about 6 times I am 100% sure she's been killed and I go back to my dad. He and Matt get dressed, grab their flash lights and check out the nurses station...scaring this staff worker who was sleeping there half to death. They check out the lodge too, no sign of her and I can tell I've started to freak out Dad and Matt just wants to beat the crap out of someone...anyone. It's freezing outside and we're all standing outside with our flashlights and pajamas thinking about what to do when my mom comes sauntering along totally unscathed and clearly not eaten by a bear. She just laughed at us and we all went to bed...but I felt more stupid than I have ever felt before. A SERIAL KILLER IN THE WOODS? Good one Sarah.

Turns out one of the kids got sick with a cough and she had to wait around and lend her nursing expertise and the guy I thought was so creepy at the time turned out to be the dad who had walked over in just a thin shirt and that's why he had wanted clothes or something warm to wear. The next morning my mom told pretty much the entire camp the story of our late night search party because she thought it was hilarous and now I can never show my face around that camp again...because I'm retarded.


The end.

But I still think he'd have made one swell bear

I feel like a princess this week. A very sleep-deprived princess. This is the week of initiation into the sorority, so we are having a few days prior to the initiation called Diamond Days which is supposed to be really fun and where we are supposed to spend our free time and nights over at the house as if we lived there. Monday night we had our monday night dinner, deliveries, and chapter meeting as usual but then afterwards I brought all my bedding over to the house and spent the night. I hung out with Sara and Doreen and we made a late night Taco Bell run. I ended up staying up really late until about 3:30, for no good reason besides having a lot of people to hang out with. Diamond Days is filled with gifts and it feels exactly like Christmas. On Monday night we all got these plastic bins from our Diamond Sister decorated with our name and filled to the brim with goodies. Everyone got something different, but Sara got me some cookies, a little football kit complete with field goal stand and football, a book about Northern CA versus Southern CA, and a bunch of snacks. I noticed that some girls got playdough and movies too. I had a great time Monday night and felt like i got to know a few more girls than I knew before, but I woke up the next morning sooooo sleepy and dragged myself to classes all day.

Yesterday, Tuesday, I had to drive all the way home to Valencia because I had an appointment to get a dress fitted. I also got a haircut while I was there because Ive been letting my hair grow for a long time and it was starting to get shapeless and ugly. I cut a few layers in it and added some side bangs which are cute when i have time to style them but tend to get curly as the day goes on which I'm not sure I'm happy about...but I already did it so its too late. I also had a midterm to study for and a design critique to prepare for so I was busy studying almost all evening and into the hours of the morning. The studying paid off though because I feel really confidant about the test. I missed all the diamond days stuff, but heard we got our first gifts from our secret Violet sister so I stopped by the house this morning to pick it up. It was a stuffed lion with a clue that said "I love puppy chow." Don't ask me what that means cuz I dont know. Tonight's clue said "I love trojan football" and I don't think there's a person at USC who doesnt love trojan football so that doesnt narrow it at all. I have a feeling of who it is but I dont want to say in case I'm wrong. We find out tomorrow so it will no longer be a mystery. Everyone is being so nice to us, I keep waiting for them to bring out the embarassment or something, but it just doesnt happen.

I'm debating about whether I want to sleep in the house tonight again too. It was fun, but Im worried Ill be up all night again and I dont want to do that with a late night initiation being tomorrow. Tonight at midnight I am taking an ADPi written test about the history of the organization, blah, but everyone has to do it before theyre initiated. Tomorrow is finally initiation and I will be a delta! Im really excited but am also kind of looking forward to a little free time after this week. I will update and tell all about the initiation ceremony soon.

And there's a semi-formal invite on Friday! I am ready to party.

Here is a picture of me and two ADPi's (Aubrey and Shauna) before our exchange with Sigma Chi 

I'm just experimenting with posting pictures and I thought this poster was kind of funny. More pictures to come 

The old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress

So I had an hour break in between my politics discussion and going to see Angela perform in the jazz forum (which rocked my socks btw). I love these little breaks because it's not quite a long enough time to go back to my apartment, so i usually end up either wandering campus or sitting on a hidden bench next to Bovard and watching people as they walk down Trousdale. Today, I decided to find a table outside of Commons and write a letter to my pen pal. Yes, I have a pen pal. Anyway, I was writing my letter and just kinda relaxing with the weight of midterms off my shoulders when these two guys sit next to me. They were the typical USC guys. I have a problem with listening to other people's conversations, I cant help it. So i was listening to theirs and they happen to be talking about their girlfriends. Guy #1 said something about how he found out his "fucking girlfriend" had been cheating on him and he was over with the whole thing. Then Guy #2 said that when dealing with a girlfriend you have to show them who is in charge and just yell really loud one time and it'll show your girlfriend you're the man. Then he went on to talk about how all girls only treat you nicely when youre a jerk to them, but when you are nice to them they step all over you, so it's best to be a jerk. And that's what he likes about those girls, it's more fun that way. WTF? I felt like turning to him and dropping my iced mocha all over his sleezy black hair. But their conversation did make me think. Why do SO many relationships that I witness thrive on conflict and fighting between the two people. It's all about the drama, but it really seems to be what people want. I don't understand why you can't just be happy, laid-back, nice and have fun in a relationship. Being genuine and real is very important to me, I dont like doing anything that feels fake (aka excessive flirting) and maybe that's why a lot of things that might drive some girls crazy with their boyfriends doesn't really bother me. Like, if I were with a guy, I'd just want to go out and have a good time and talk and not make a big deal about every little thing, but apparently a lot of guys would prefer a dramatic girl who flirts constantly and is so high maintenance that they guy has to sit and second guess the double meaning in everything the girl says. Is it more fun? Hopefully a guy will explain this to me one day.

Oh, so I went out to a few parties last night and one guy I met noticed I had a tongue ring. And he actually said to me 2 minutes after meeting me for the first time that his girlfriend used to have one, but she'd never go down on him. And then was like "why else would you get one?" ARG! I hate that response. It's not unexpected because Im not naive and I know that's people's impressions, but sometimes people just like piercings and tattoos, etc, for unexplained or their own personal reason. I was annoyed, that was the first time someone has said that to me. hhaha, but i wasnt that pissed cuz it was a little funny too because I am obviously not that type of girl. hahaha.

Anyway, im slightly disgruntled today but am looking forward to the Sigma Chi exchange at the 9-0 tonight. I will update on how it goes later. Hopefully no tongue ring comments from anyone. :)