in the midst of it all, sometimes one forgets.

after spending the last 24 hours with some of the best people on earth from longuyland, i'm so, so happy. and then, i come home and my mind drifts to who i miss.

and then it dawned on me...

i've WASTED so much of my life thinking about where i'd RATHER be, so much so that i barely take the time to soak up the memories that are made in a day. when i was a kid, i wanted to be a grown-up. whenever i had feelings for someone, i was always wanting to be with them instead of where i was. i could be missing out on one of the best times of my life...because i was thinking of somewhere i'd rather be. granted, there are those times, i.e. doing homework at 1 in the morning with no end in sight...but that's why you have the good times, that's when you're supposed to want to be somewhere else.

so...i find it extremely appropriate that tomorrow is Thanksgiving, because in the midst of everything on my plate, it's so easy forget HERE and NOW, instead of where i'd rather be. so for the next few days anyway, i'm going to focus on HERE and NOW, because i have so much HERE and NOW to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

survey from my wifey

Can you take this witho​ut delet​ing any quest​ions?​
yup

What'​s going​ on betwe​en you and the last perso​n you kisse​d?​
absolutely nothing..it was 5 years ago

What was your worst​ mista​ke in your life?​
long story.

Would​ you get back with your last ex if they asked​ you?
nope

What'​s somet​hing you reall​y want right​ now, be hones​t:​
to at least see a particular member of the opposite sex

Last time you had butte​rflie​s in your stoma​ch?​
today, probably...econ quiz

Does anyth​ing on your body hurt right​ now?
joints.

Who was the last perso​n to disap​point​ you?
that same person who i want to see right now

Who was the last perso​n you had a deep conve​rsati​on with?​
Sara :-D then my mother

What are you liste​ning to?
"Viva la Vida" by Coldplay

Whats​ a quote​ from a song that you are liste​ning to?
"that was when I ruled the world"

Have you ever punch​ed a hole in the wall?​
nope but i def could have

Do you know someo​ne in jail?​
i don't think so

What about​ in DGA?
nope

Where​ were you at 2:00 this morni​ng?​
getting into bed

Who did you copy this from?​
Dani

How do you know them?​
she's my wifey!!

Do you wear glass​es?​
nope

Anywh​ere you'​d rathe​r be right​ now?
HOME, with someone

Are you going​ anywh​ere for the next summe​r?​
i have no idea...hopefully North Carolina

Do you have plans​ today​?​
helping out with Haiti relief, then studying and packing for HOME tomorrow!

Waiti​ng for someo​ne to call?​
Nope

Will you call them if they don'​t call?​
Not waiting for anyone to call

What'​s a fact about​ the last perso​n who had their​ arms aroun​d you ?
Sara is one of the strongest people i've ever met.

Where​ did you get the shirt​ you are weari​ng?​
new york and company

Could​ you go a day witho​ut eatin​g?​
NO WAY!

Do you know anyon​e that smoke​s weed?​
Yes

Do you still​ talk to the last perso​n you dated​?​
no

Have you ever kisse​d a stran​ger?​ If so, how did it happe​n?​
no

Do your paren​ts force​ you to go to churc​h or let you make the decis​ion?​
i go to church on my own.

Where​ is the furth​est place​ you'​ve trave​led?​
Italy

Can you do split​s?​
never could!

What was the last thing​ you drank​?​
Water or mocha latte

What was for dinne​r tonig​ht?​
didn't have dinner yet

Does your ex miss you?
I don't know

Does anyon​e love you?
I really hope so

How has the week been?​
hopefully today will be fast so i can get HOME!

Does the last perso​n you share​d a bed with mean anyth​ing to you?
Better question: who was the last person I shared a bed with? Probably a very good friend

Do you curse​ in front​ of your paren​ts?​
yes, actually...my dad doesn't care and my mom doesn't care about little ones but she gets mad with the big ones

Are you slowl​y drift​ing away from someo​ne?​
i hope not

Have you ever kisse​d anyon​e who'​s name start​ed with an F?
nope

Did anyon​e see you kiss the last perso​n you kisse​d?​
Nope

When a frien​d walks​ out of your life,​ do you go after​ them or let them go?
it's one of the hardest things for me to deal with

Do you still​ talk to the perso​n you last kisse​d?​
nope

Does anyon​e hate you?
i think so

Do you belie​ve every​one deser​ves a secon​d chanc​e?​
key word being second, but yes. i do.

What was your first​ alcoh​olic bever​age?​
Wine

How old were you when you first​ smoke​d weed?​
never did

Have you ever lived​ with your girlf​riend​?​
Friends that are girls, yes. Girlfriend, no
Pee while​ on the phone​?​
Nope

Have you ever slept​ over at your girlf​riend​'​s house​?​
Friends that are girls, yes. Girlfriend, no

AAHH!

TWO DAYS!
until my homesick spell is OVER.
i'm thinking about one year ago tonight...i came back from closing night of Maccers and had to write a massive paper and went to bed at 4am. good grief. so, so happy that i only have some religion hw and practicing and econ reading to do...some of which i can finish up tomorrow morning. when you break it down it's really not all bad. especially when you compare it to last year.

haven't given an update in a while...
- last weekend...my parents were here for the student recital and i sung Voi, Che Sapete. hard piece if i do say so myself. then they took me, Claire, and Nicole out to Brick Alley. Sunday went with the madre to CHRISTMAS TREE SHOPS and started CHRISTMAS SHOPPING WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

- had somewhat less work this week than i had last week but that didn't mean that it was over. still had dumb science quizzes. Friday i went to see Cassy, then went to see the Laramie Project with Ann, Whit, and Chelsea and saw a bunch of other people there too. went to the dance show last night with Ann, Whit, Ben and Nicole then Nicole and I went with Glynnis and Megan to Micky D's for late night foooood...and Megan and Terin rocked in the show :-D today went out with Nicole and her mom who was so, so sweet!!!! we ate at the red parrot then i went over to Sara's dorm for a good three hours. went to Mass and now i'm here procrastinating. yesh.

i'm so so so so so sooooooooo sick of studying for 10 point quizzes that i could cry. but...i have less than 48 hours until i'm HOME!!!!!!!

i'm so confused.

i don't know what you want.

i need answers.

i want to go HOME!!

i'm so tired.

i'm so busy.

i have to cram in 16.5 hours of community service between now and the end of the semester.

i'm so, so sick of studying.

i had a test last friday, a presentation on saturday, a presentation on monday, a test on tuesday, a quiz on wednesday, a quiz on thursday..and i declared my Religious Studies major on friday.

friday's test = 85
saturday's presentation/paper = 96
monday's presentation = 97
tuesday's test = 78, but add on the +20 extra credit points and you get...98
wednesday's quiz = 92
thursday's quiz = don't care because it will get dropped anyway

good enough! i'm satisfied.
but...ALL OF THAT IS REASON TO BE SO, SICK OF SCHOOLWORK.

and...SO, SO SICK of something else.

IS IT SO WRONG TO MISS SOMEONE AND JUST WANT TO SEE THEM??!!

and...i'm going to be TWENTY in less than a month. WHY????

I Am A New Yorker

i didn't write this, but i LOVED it and i need to share it because it makes my life.

I am a New Yorker
I do not live in the five boroughs or on the Island or Upstate
I may live hundreds or thousands of miles away
Or I may live just over the GW Bridge
But I am a New Yorker

I am a New Yorker
Whatever took me out of New York:
Business, family or hating the cold
did not take New York out of me.
My accent may have faded and my pace may have slowed
But I am a New Yorker
I am a New Yorker
I was raised on Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and Rockefeller Plaza,
The Yankees or the Met's (Giants or Dodgers)
Jones Beach, Rye Beach, Orchard Beach or one of the beaches on the sound
I know that 'THE END' means Montauk.
Because I am a New Yorker
I am a New Yorker
When I go on vacation, I never look up
Skyscrapers are something I take for granted
The Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty are part of me
Taxis and noise and subways and 'get outa heah' don't rattle me
Because I am a New Yorker

I am a New Yorker
I was raised on cultural diversity before it was politically correct
I eat Greek food and Italian food,
Jewish and Middle Eastern food and Chinese food
Because they are all American food to me.
I don't get mad when people speak other languages in my presence
Because my relatives got to this country via Ellis Island and chose to stay
They were New Yorkers
People who have never been to New York have misunderstood me
My friends and family work in the industries, professions and businesses that benefit all Americans
My firefighters died trying to save New Yorkers and non-New Yorkers
They died trying to save Americans and non-American cans
Because they were New Yorkers.
I am a New Yorker
I feel the pain of my fellow New Yorkers
I mourn the loss of my beautiful city
I feel and dread that New York will never be the same But then I remember:
I am a New Yorker
And New Yorkers have:
Tenacity, strength and courage way above the norm
Compassion and caring for our fellow citizens
Love and pride in our city, in our state, in our country
Intelligence, experience and education par excellence
Ability, dedication and energy above and beyond
Faith--no matter what religion we practice
Terrorists hit America in its heart
But America's heart still beats strong
Demolish the steel in our buildings,
but it doesn't touch the steel in our souls
Hit us in the pocketbook;
but we'll parlay what we have left into a fortune
End innocent lives leaving widows and orphans,
but we'll take care of them
Because they are New Yorkers


Wherever we live, whatever we do, whoever we are
There are New Yorkers in every state and every city of this nation
We will not abandon our city
We will not abandon our brothers and sisters
We will not abandon the beauty,
creativity and diversity that New York represents
Because we are New Yorkers
And we are proud to be New Yorkers

by Vincent Pasquale

15 days until the official start of the best time of the year!

i broke out the Christmas music today. i just couldn't wait anymore. Christmas isn't for another 46 days, but it doesn't matter to me. i just had another crappy Monday so it was necessary to lighten my mood..but now i can't focus. i state that the Christmas season officially kicks off when i go home for Thanksgiving.

so, in honor of the BEST TIME OF THE YEAR being right around the corner (and it actually starting according to some radio stations and commercials), here is a list of all of my favorite Christmas things, in no particular order.

- the TV specials that i actually have time to watch; Christmas in Rockefeller center and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade are two of my personal favorites due to growing up in NEW YORK. A Charlie Brown Christmas always makes me think of my mother, because she gets excited like a child for that one.

- my favorite commercials are prob the Pampers "Peace on Earth" commercial with the babies from different parts of the world with "Silent Night" in the background, whatever the Hess truck commercial is that year, the Radio City Christmas Show commercial, the classic Hershey Kiss commercial, Santa getting stuck in the chimney advertising some stomach medication, the classic M&Ms commercial when the red and green M&Ms sneak downstairs and run into Santa, the "a diamond is forever" comercial with a cover of Cat Stevens' "How Can I Tell You" playing in the background and a man giving his wife/girlfriend a ring as a surprise, and if anyone remembers the "Behold The Power Of Cheese" commercials, one of those in which a girl leaves Santa cheese instead of milk and cookies and he left her the whole freakin' toy shop.

- the music, my favorites being O Come, All Ye Faithful (Nat King Cole or Josh Groban), (Christmas) Baby Please Come Home (Darlene Love), Sleigh Ride (the instrumental version or The Ronettes), all of the awesome Bob Rivers parodies (I even like the cynical aspects of Christmas), and a whole bunch that i can't think of right now!

- the crazy shopping. i do Black Friday every year and i always like to listen, just for the hell of it, for what toy soccer moms across the country will be knocking each other over for this year. i remember the year that Tickle Me Elmo came out and a fight broke out on Christmas Eve in a K-Mart over the last one. i also remember Furbies, and i didn't say that i wanted one until much later...but Santa definately scored for me and i somehow got a Furby :-D

- the food, including all of the special food that chain establishments don't serve at any other time of the year; i had my first Eggnog latte from Starbucks yesterday and it was just wonderful. my mom and i always make cookies a few days before Christmas and it's something i look forward to every year. also the traditional Italian Christmas Eve...for us it's sicilian pizza, fish sauce, pasta, and fish salad that my grandmother makes. dessert is cookies of course. i'm not a big fish person but Italian Christmas Eve is just full of magic.

- the movies: A Christmas Story is my all-time favorite MOVIE, forget about christmas movie. but It's a Wonderful Life never ceases to leave my eyes wet, and some of the newer ones like The Polar Express and Deck The Halls are great too. Of course there's Miracle on 34th Street though I grew up with the Mara Wilson version as opposed to the 50s version.

- the Church services. don't need to go into details, except i sob. every year.

- the gift giving/receiving. makes me feel so good both to give and receive.

- and then there's my birthday, stuck in the middle of the season...but all of the more reason to celebrate!

yours truly, one sad conservative.

so what does one think of when they think of the word LIBERAL?

i think of being FREE. at no cost. because God forbid we should EARN it...not like the Founding Fathers tried to or anything. anyone remember 1776?

i think of legalization of pot and reducing the drinking age to 18...because it all goes on underground anyway, right? but...what kind of ROLE MODELS are we that we are saying it's OKAY to be DRUNK at 18 and to be HIGH all the time? what STANDARDS are we setting?

i think of the word hypocritical...okay, so we can save the lives of criminals (and Obama supports capital punishment anyway) and we won't go to war, but yet, because a woman makes a stupid mistake in judgement, it should be okay to kill a LIVING, BREATHING life. makes a WHOLE lot of sense.

i think of BILL CLINTON...just hearing the names gives me a knot in my stomach. because it's perfectly okay that he was president for eight years and engaged in one of the most unethical acts that a human being can engage in. i also think of ELIOT SPITZER..oh, what a guy! notice how they're both liberal democrats.

i think of other people who are liberal who say they are so accepting, and yet, if you're not liberal, they don't accept you. someone explain that one to me.

i think of people like Al Sharpton who think that everything that could possibly be a racist slur is indeed a racist slur.

i'm not saying that every liberal is just like this. because most of my friends lean to the left and we have an understanding (true friendship right there...no sarcasm). i know i'm generalizing. who knows? i don't think Obama is a bad guy...i'd take him over Hillary any day.

BUT...disrespect and lack of ethics and accountability in this country has gone FAR ENOUGH. i thought McCain was going to be the guy to change that. not saying Obama isn't ethical and accountable...because while he very much may be, most of my own generation, obviously excluding my friends because i pick carefully, isn't. which is exactly why they voted for Obama...they figured that now, their voices of disrespect can be heard....because that's what LIBERALS do. they are too trusting that people being accountable to themselves is enough. well, guess what...it's not. that's why we have LAWS. and i kind of feel bad for Obama, because i'm sure he is a very responsible person who is going to trust that everyone else is responsible too. but if you give a little, guess what happens. all people want is MORE.

and distribution of wealth...isn't that called socialism? so, it's okay to exercise all kinds of freedom, but when it comes to money, we can't. God forbid we spend our money the way we want.

dear Mr. President...prove me wrong. show me that the next four years won't be the era of demise of the United States of America.

yours truly,
one sad conservative.

so the world went so right for me today.

except...i don't know the next time i'll see your face.

:-(