Erin Swann's band Streamer Bendy and their debut single 'You're So Cool'
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
"Relation-shits."
"I learned a lot this year. I learned that things don't always turn out the way you planned, or the way you think they should. And I've learned that there are things that go wrong that don't always get fixed or get put back together the way they were before. I've learned that some broken things stay broken, and I've learned that you can get through bad times and keep looking for better ones, as long as you have people who love you."
Lately I've been doing a lot of thinking about relationships. I went back over my past few years and thought about all the guys I've dated, met at a party, or texted late at night. If I think hard, my track record is pretty terrible. God awful, even.
I consider myself to be a good person. Someone who loves with all her heart, and is willing to forgive the flaws that make up people that are rough around the edges. I also consider myself to be a good girlfriend, especially from learning from all of my past mistakes which are far from miniscule. I have now come to realize, after many nights of pining over guy after guy, those men with those big flaws don't deserve a part of my regular dating schedule.
When I think about it even more, and think about my girl friends and their past relationships, I see a trend happening. As college students, and as girls in their late teens and early twenties, we are surrounded by babbling idiots who think more with their smaller head than their bigger one. There are very few guys who are genuinely sweethearts, and they almost always finish last. Yes, there are a bunch of good guys that are in steady relationships but in my past experience, a few drinks or a fight with their girlfriend and some of them might end up straying.
So what is it that attracts us to the assholes? I think it's the danger. The desire to find a messed up guy, fix his flaws and then stride around showing off the fact that we actually switched the jerk into the knight in shining armor. Let me tell you, even though you probably already know, it hardly ever turns out that way. Instead, you have to buy your friend, or yourself, a pint of Ben and Jerry's and rent a really good chick flick and mull over all of the warning signs you didn't see until you were smack dab in the middle of the fire pit and only then realizing you're getting burned.
I am no hero when it comes to relationships and good dating habits. I am prone to find the guy with the smile that makes me forget all my prior relationship pains for the "what ifs" that come along with a new attraction. The first date, the first kiss, and the first time you leave him and you smile all the way home.
Don't get me wrong, there are guys that don't actually mean to be assholes, but end up hurting you anyway. There are warning signs attached to them too, but you think to yourself that because they don't mean it it doesn't really count. Well it does, and even the guys with good intentions can still be wrong for you. Again, in my past experience, I fell head over heels for a guy that I had very little in common with. I was captured by him in an instant, and for months made excuses for him by saying he hadn't committed any crime when it came to our relationship and furthermore that he made me SO happy it didn't matter that we didn't have much in common. I saw the warning signs, but I didn't heed them and in the end, I was left more broken than I had ever expected.
I'm not saying that being single is something we shouldn't strive for. There is a lot of fun that comes along with being single and free of having to care about another person's feelings when you do something idiotic. I'm saying we should, as girls, avoid the traps set out for us at the get-go with 20 something guys that are so attractive. We shouldn't think that being single is us settling, and shouldn't run off into the sunset with any guy that wants to take us out on a date. One act of romanticism hardly calls for thinking he's wonderful or worse, "the one."
Sometimes there are no warning signals, and that's the absolute worst. I recently started to become attracted to someone who was chasing after me so hard that I didn't even stop to think his intentions were anything but good. He seemed mature, able bodied, and on the right path to becoming a real man. But instead, I was blindsided and left dumbfounded as to how this guy who was chasing me suddenly disappeared. Even more so when I realized there was absolutely nothing manly about him, and instead he was a guy with the emotional maturity of a 15 year old boy.
If anything, this year has taught me that no matter what country you are in, guys are all the same. Whether you are in America, England, Scotland, or Australia there will be assholes. I just wish there was a handbook at successfully avoiding them. I know a lot of girls that would line up at the bookstores for it, or buy it on amazon which is far less embarrassing.
Lately I've been doing a lot of thinking about relationships. I went back over my past few years and thought about all the guys I've dated, met at a party, or texted late at night. If I think hard, my track record is pretty terrible. God awful, even.
I consider myself to be a good person. Someone who loves with all her heart, and is willing to forgive the flaws that make up people that are rough around the edges. I also consider myself to be a good girlfriend, especially from learning from all of my past mistakes which are far from miniscule. I have now come to realize, after many nights of pining over guy after guy, those men with those big flaws don't deserve a part of my regular dating schedule.
When I think about it even more, and think about my girl friends and their past relationships, I see a trend happening. As college students, and as girls in their late teens and early twenties, we are surrounded by babbling idiots who think more with their smaller head than their bigger one. There are very few guys who are genuinely sweethearts, and they almost always finish last. Yes, there are a bunch of good guys that are in steady relationships but in my past experience, a few drinks or a fight with their girlfriend and some of them might end up straying.
So what is it that attracts us to the assholes? I think it's the danger. The desire to find a messed up guy, fix his flaws and then stride around showing off the fact that we actually switched the jerk into the knight in shining armor. Let me tell you, even though you probably already know, it hardly ever turns out that way. Instead, you have to buy your friend, or yourself, a pint of Ben and Jerry's and rent a really good chick flick and mull over all of the warning signs you didn't see until you were smack dab in the middle of the fire pit and only then realizing you're getting burned.
I am no hero when it comes to relationships and good dating habits. I am prone to find the guy with the smile that makes me forget all my prior relationship pains for the "what ifs" that come along with a new attraction. The first date, the first kiss, and the first time you leave him and you smile all the way home.
Don't get me wrong, there are guys that don't actually mean to be assholes, but end up hurting you anyway. There are warning signs attached to them too, but you think to yourself that because they don't mean it it doesn't really count. Well it does, and even the guys with good intentions can still be wrong for you. Again, in my past experience, I fell head over heels for a guy that I had very little in common with. I was captured by him in an instant, and for months made excuses for him by saying he hadn't committed any crime when it came to our relationship and furthermore that he made me SO happy it didn't matter that we didn't have much in common. I saw the warning signs, but I didn't heed them and in the end, I was left more broken than I had ever expected.
I'm not saying that being single is something we shouldn't strive for. There is a lot of fun that comes along with being single and free of having to care about another person's feelings when you do something idiotic. I'm saying we should, as girls, avoid the traps set out for us at the get-go with 20 something guys that are so attractive. We shouldn't think that being single is us settling, and shouldn't run off into the sunset with any guy that wants to take us out on a date. One act of romanticism hardly calls for thinking he's wonderful or worse, "the one."
Sometimes there are no warning signals, and that's the absolute worst. I recently started to become attracted to someone who was chasing after me so hard that I didn't even stop to think his intentions were anything but good. He seemed mature, able bodied, and on the right path to becoming a real man. But instead, I was blindsided and left dumbfounded as to how this guy who was chasing me suddenly disappeared. Even more so when I realized there was absolutely nothing manly about him, and instead he was a guy with the emotional maturity of a 15 year old boy.
If anything, this year has taught me that no matter what country you are in, guys are all the same. Whether you are in America, England, Scotland, or Australia there will be assholes. I just wish there was a handbook at successfully avoiding them. I know a lot of girls that would line up at the bookstores for it, or buy it on amazon which is far less embarrassing.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Crikey, Mate
So, if you've seen my facebook pictures recently, it is obvious that I went to the Australia Zoo, otherwise known as the Steve Irwin zoo. I've had to decide on an Australian celebrity to write about in my Australian Popular Culture class and when I was at the zoo I really, really wanted to write about him.
However, writing about Steve Irwin is SO cliche I didn't think I could bring myself around to do it. I've been looking up random Australian celebrities and thinking of one that would have actual academic links I could research and the only ones that really popped out were Mel Gibson, Miranda Kerr, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, and Steve Irwin. If you think about it, who really wants to write a paper on all of those random actors and actresses who have to pose for the camera and give interviews where they refuse to talk about parts of their personal life?
I watched an interview on youtube of Steve Irwin and after the first 5 minutes I knew I had to write about him. He is SO unbelievably entertaining that I was hysterically laughing with my headphones in staring at my computer. It made me realize that we didn't appreciate him and what he did for the environment enough when he was alive. If you make it passed his vivacious personality, you can see passion. Passion for his family and for wildlife. This guy is truly amazing.
Here's the link to the interview. It was in 5 sections.
I hope you've fallen in love with him like I did after watching these videos.
CRICKEY!
Mimi
However, writing about Steve Irwin is SO cliche I didn't think I could bring myself around to do it. I've been looking up random Australian celebrities and thinking of one that would have actual academic links I could research and the only ones that really popped out were Mel Gibson, Miranda Kerr, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, and Steve Irwin. If you think about it, who really wants to write a paper on all of those random actors and actresses who have to pose for the camera and give interviews where they refuse to talk about parts of their personal life?
I watched an interview on youtube of Steve Irwin and after the first 5 minutes I knew I had to write about him. He is SO unbelievably entertaining that I was hysterically laughing with my headphones in staring at my computer. It made me realize that we didn't appreciate him and what he did for the environment enough when he was alive. If you make it passed his vivacious personality, you can see passion. Passion for his family and for wildlife. This guy is truly amazing.
Here's the link to the interview. It was in 5 sections.
I hope you've fallen in love with him like I did after watching these videos.
CRICKEY!
Mimi
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Oh, how a year changes things...
“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” – Cesare Pavese
I got the bright idea of going back on my facebook page to a whole year ago. I put my life in rewind and kept clicking "older posts" until I reached last April. It's astounding to me how different I was a year ago and it is scary to imagine myself a year from this very moment.
A year ago I had just watched my little, Chris, cross over into the AKPSi brotherhood. Unity was close by and the last semester of sophomore year was coming to a close. I was living with one of my best friends, Silvana and I had yet to meet so many people that have changed me.
I hadn't started my internship at McGladrey, I hadn't worked at Omega with Iszy, Hannah, and Chelsea. I was still 19 and just starting to realize that college isn't forever.
I was taking Dance and Society, Astronomy, Managerial Accounting, ITEC, and Finance. I had been getting tans outside on the quad during breaks.
Nobody tells you that going abroad isn't just about traveling and seeing new things. It's about seeing new parts of yourself, getting homesick, getting depressed, and feeling like you're losing touch with reality. I don't know many people who have done what I'm doing, but if you're reading this I hope it's bringing back memories of self discovery.
I thought being abroad would be a good way to run away from my problems and start a new life. They don't tell you that the movies are lying when they take an actor and put them on the sunny beaches of Mexico and they're life has a whole new beginning. There is no such thing as completely starting over because your past will always, always catch up with you. The real change begins when you turn around, face your past demons and grow and learn from your mistakes. Being a teenager and being in college is such a difficult time - that's why we drink and we do stupid things. Because actually taking responsibility for your actions is a scary thought. It's much easier to procrastinate and watch youtube.
Here I am. Alone on the other side of the world and I'm in the process of taking responsibility for my actions, for my future, and for myself. I haven't been in the same country for more than 5 months in a year. I've been around the world (yet to go back) and I admit that I am feeling lost. Feeling like I'm losing touch with reality. My feet haven't stayed on the ground enough for me to feel like I've got ahold of something real, so my only option is to float in the clouds until landing back in New York at the end of June.
This isn't a post crying out "save me." This is me telling the world I am in the process of saving myself, and being a better person for it. I do not regret anything I have done and I am wildly happy that I chose to live in London and Brisbane. This is me saying there isn't anything I would change.
I got the bright idea of going back on my facebook page to a whole year ago. I put my life in rewind and kept clicking "older posts" until I reached last April. It's astounding to me how different I was a year ago and it is scary to imagine myself a year from this very moment.
A year ago I had just watched my little, Chris, cross over into the AKPSi brotherhood. Unity was close by and the last semester of sophomore year was coming to a close. I was living with one of my best friends, Silvana and I had yet to meet so many people that have changed me.
I hadn't started my internship at McGladrey, I hadn't worked at Omega with Iszy, Hannah, and Chelsea. I was still 19 and just starting to realize that college isn't forever.
I was taking Dance and Society, Astronomy, Managerial Accounting, ITEC, and Finance. I had been getting tans outside on the quad during breaks.
Nobody tells you that going abroad isn't just about traveling and seeing new things. It's about seeing new parts of yourself, getting homesick, getting depressed, and feeling like you're losing touch with reality. I don't know many people who have done what I'm doing, but if you're reading this I hope it's bringing back memories of self discovery.
I thought being abroad would be a good way to run away from my problems and start a new life. They don't tell you that the movies are lying when they take an actor and put them on the sunny beaches of Mexico and they're life has a whole new beginning. There is no such thing as completely starting over because your past will always, always catch up with you. The real change begins when you turn around, face your past demons and grow and learn from your mistakes. Being a teenager and being in college is such a difficult time - that's why we drink and we do stupid things. Because actually taking responsibility for your actions is a scary thought. It's much easier to procrastinate and watch youtube.
Here I am. Alone on the other side of the world and I'm in the process of taking responsibility for my actions, for my future, and for myself. I haven't been in the same country for more than 5 months in a year. I've been around the world (yet to go back) and I admit that I am feeling lost. Feeling like I'm losing touch with reality. My feet haven't stayed on the ground enough for me to feel like I've got ahold of something real, so my only option is to float in the clouds until landing back in New York at the end of June.
This isn't a post crying out "save me." This is me telling the world I am in the process of saving myself, and being a better person for it. I do not regret anything I have done and I am wildly happy that I chose to live in London and Brisbane. This is me saying there isn't anything I would change.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
An evening with Johnnie Walker
Erika sets the style standard in Shakuhachi at the Evening with Johnnie Walker which took place at the Carriage Works
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Vote for Michelle as Cosmopolitans Fun Fearless Female!
Michelle Bridges’s no-BS approach to weight loss and wellbeing has made her one of Australia’s most popular TV presenters. As trainer to The Biggest Loser’s red team and the author of three bestselling books on wellbeing (including her most recent, Losing the Last Five Kilos), Michelle, 40, is considered Australia’s leading expert on health and nutrition.
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