I never went to camp.

Until university, that is. Living in a dorm, getting through first year in one piece, has definitely been an adventure. I will never forget most of what has happened to me in the past 8 months.
It's been like sleep-away camp, boot-camp for your brain, and camping when it comes to overall cleanliness and food quality.
And, in being ridiculously nostalgic (and procrastinating from studying), I choose to impart my newly acquired first year knowledge on the virtual world.

1. Long distance relationships will fail, generally high school sweethearts do not end up together. Especially if you're only 18. Especially if you're living in a state of delusion. I don't know what I was thinking really, going off to university believing that I could handle a long distance relationship on top of a major life change. I was meeting new people, doing new things, taking classes with hundreds of people, and generally having fun. When someone's in another city they are not a part of all that, and it's really difficult to force it.
2. Generally, time is spent with a group of people you will inevitably see everyday. They become your family, your world, and it becomes odd not to see a friend on any given day. Which brings me to my next point.
3. Time is just odd in university. While two days can seem like eons, weeks pass at warp speed. You just kinda have to get used to it and the fact that you no longer live in the "real world" and have entered some kind of "la la" Universityland.
4. You will find a balance, or fail. You can't be stressed out and work all the time, but then you can't be like that guy who got evicted and never went to class because he was smoking pot all the time. University means figuring out what works for you and what kind of person you are going to be.
5. The idea of going away and reinventing yourself is only half true. You are who you are. You are going to grow and change and figure out new ways of approaching things, but essentially you are gonna be the way that you have always been. And this is not a bad thing.
5. Mysterious marks/stains/etc. on any surface are better left that way. Whether it's your mattress, the ceiling, the chairs in the lounge, the carpet, the bathroom wall... those are all the places that I remember having found and discussed disturbing stains, but regardless it's best not to think about it and just move on, the possibilities soon become frightening.
6. It's really easy to go through life passively, but don't. I made the mistake of not being involved with clubs/societies/etc this year, and am going to remedy it this year. Living in this whole summer camp situation meant I still met people, but I had nothing to fill my boredom with but Facebook. Also, if you're going to just let life pass you by, then what is the point? All of my best memories are when I went out and did something.
7. You will make horrible, irrevocable mistakes. But you will learn from them, and you will grow, and you will surround yourself with people who support you no matter what. It's better to realize that these mistakes are going to happen then to try and avoid them.
8. Students are like sardines. They smell funny.
Just kidding. We live in tiny little boxes stacked on top of each other and beside each other. We take up space with our personalities, not our things. We have gotten used to close quarters and living in this little box. It means that we don't really stay in one place too long, which is I think something profound in itself.
9. You will begin to think in a "we" context. Even if you are not dating someone, the amount of time spent with your friends, the people you care about, automatically means considering the world from the perspective of "we". What "we" should eat for dinner, what "we" are doing this weekend, when are "we" flying home. As much as "we" are independent, there is a big part of you that relies on companionship and your friends. You don't really do much alone. You can, but simply do not.
10. You are going to surprise yourself. One day it will just hit you, and you'll realize you've made decisions you never thought you would, you've done things you can't imagine, and you've become someone like you and then wholly not. This isn't necessarily negative, it's just... surprising.

I'm packing up and leaving first year. Some of my close friends have begun to leave, and it's a really bittersweet feeling. One the one hand we're done and it's summer and it's just really great not to have to think and stress and do all the hoop jumping anymore. But we're leaving, we don't get to stay in Universityland anymore. It's back to the real world, and that means the loose, rag-tag bunch of us is being split up. For what is the first long time since we met. The Nicknamer pointed out something interesting (via Facebook, of course, people don't communicate real thoughts anymore... ) - it's really difficult to pack up eight months of your life. It means it's really over. Nothing will be the same again, and while change is amazing for you, it is truly difficult to say goodbye to something as wonderful as the first year of true independence, true friendships, and true memories.

Recession? Depression? Who cares?

I think "Recession" has just become trendy.
I noticed today as I was 'studying' (read: looking for magazines to buy and read once finished exams) that lately the media's attention have - finally - been turning toward Recession.
Perhaps I should clarify. I know that Recession (with a capital R) has been in the headlines for a while, I know stockbrokers and Joe the Plumbers alike have been focusing on what this means for investments and finance for months, and I know a lot of people are scared. However, Recession is not a world that exists in the glossy world of fashion. This is a world I like to escape to, filled with clothes I will never afford and eating disorders I do not have the willpower for. What I noticed today, however, was that on the glowing cover of Vogue a headline read "You're Fired!: Surviving and Thriving After the Pink Slip" and I think it was ELLE that also featured an article about what to do once you've been fired.
Talk about harshing the glossy mellow.
I know that magazines such as Vanity Fair (the "smart" fashion magazine) have been toting articles on the recession, and I know that Vogue itself devoted an entire issue to "smart" shopping, which had to be taken with grain of salt since the following issue contained furs, gold, and furs dipped in gold, but since when does on of the scariest "F" words make the cover? I think "Fired" is second only to "F***" and "Feminism". What I also know is that even magazines such as Vogue have to connect with their target reader, which is, presumably, every woman over the age of 16 and under the age of 90. However, seeing the word "Fired" on Vogue is like a giant slap in the face. It's either become hot to be in debt, or there's no choice even in the world of the privaleged.
Recession is now Real. It's not just the scary word in the headlines of the newspapers anymore. It's not just for businessman. It's invaded every part of the world, even the perfect glossy one. This means, of course, that now everyone has advice on how to deal with it, what to do, the worst case scenarios, you name it.We're supposed to be going back to school, investing smartly instead of pulling everything out, and keeping optimistic in the face of cutbacks, layoffs, and pink slips.
The thing about Recession is that its depressing, it's supposed to stay out of things that exist for the entertainment of the haute masses, like Vogue, because once it invades those things, it's a reality. And a bleak one at that. As a student who will, within a couple years, be looking for a career in what was a thriving market creating new jobs, changing old ones, and burning through cash, it's quite terrifying to think that if conditions worsen even a little bit I'll be stuck folding clothes for what could be the majority of my adult life.
I think that the most surprising thing about the invasion of the fashion magazines be the big R is that it means there's nowhere to hide, nowhere to stick your head in the stand. In a culture obsessed with escapism and a quotationed reality (i.e. "reality" TV), we're now stuck in the real world. The glossy fantasy is over, it's time to face "reality".

The New Rant.

My friends are always the greatest source of inspiration.
Today we talked about people smelling weird.
You know, the ones who smell SO strongly of perfume/cologne when you walk by it gets in your mouth and you spend the rest of the day feeling like the perfume counter lady has spritzed the inside of you mouth. Or the ones who smell oddly of pepperoni and staleness. Or the ones who smell like an old apartment building. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. Or the ones who just have really bad BO.
What I think is weird is that no one seems to notice they smell this way. I mean, there comes a certain point when you begin to notice all that stuff. Especially when people shy away from you.
Today I was sitting in one of the many study rooms at the library, after finding out my favorite spot had been occupied since probably 7:59 AM onwards, and "studying" which morphed into "glancing up and evaluating the people walking in". What had never occurred to me before today, even though it really should have, is that while I pick out clothes, do my hair, and judge myself in the mirror every morning, everyone else is doing the same thing.
It struck me between "Oh, I like those shoes" and "Why would he pick that". It's funny to think about, actually, that people judge themselves, picking out something that will say what they're all about to the world.
I know some people just roll out of bed, grab the closest garments, and leave, but that's making a statement right there. Something along the lines of "I don't care", "I look great in anything", or "I'm in Science and have 6 exams this week". It really all depends. Then there are those who meticulously pick out their clothes, matching everything, making sure it fits just right, and that it's going to say the right thing. "Yes, this cost more than your meal-plan", "Of course I look this good without even trying", "Daddy's. Platinum. Amex.". And of course there's everything in between.
The interesting thing is that what someone wants to say, and what other people decide they're saying can be completely different. How can something that you spend so much time figuring out go so astray? I suppose it has to do with the fact that everyone has unique perceptions of how the world appears, and read everything just minutely differently. Yes, within a culture we all generally follow the same patterns, but we're all going to read what someone's putting off differently, and that's when it gets interesting.
So maybe those people who smell like pepperoni really like pepperoni, or at least the smell, and think it's ok to smell weird... well, in their minds I'm sure it wouldn't be "weird", but pepperoni isn't exactly a regular scent.

Silly Miley...

Pop is for Michael.
You know, I think my favorite part of the Metric concert I saw was when Emily Haines began to discuss her music, and how everyone was telling her to lighten up. She bemoaned the fact that she couldn't write songs like, "I kissed a girl...". Of course, it was sarcasm, but that's what made it so damn amazing.
Then, just the other day, WBP and I were being bombarded with the sounds of silly pop songs and Miley Cyrus, a fate worse than Katy Perry, being to play. So, it's bad enough that she's brainwashed the minds of 7-13 year olds everywhere, and has become the new generation of Disney Kids, and will probably crash and burn just like the last idol did (Lindsay Lohan, anyone? Or worse, Hillary Duff, so boring she had to date a "badass" member of Good Charlotte). And it's also terrible that her lyrics are less than inspired, and she's 16 and somehow managed to sign record contract after contract, but now she's targeting speech impediments? I mean, really, she's not that classy anyways, what with having a mullet for a father and a backwater town for a home, but to target the speech impaired? It's just cruel.
To quote Miss Cyrus - "The last time I freaked out, I just kept lookin' down/I st-st-stuttered when you asked me what I'm thinkin' bout/Felt like I couldn't breathe, you asked what's wrong with me/". I realize she's talking about prepubsecent boy troubles. But I personally think it's just cruel to make fun of a stutter. I stutter sometimes, for some kids it's actually quite a sensitive issue, one that gets worse when they "freak out" and then feel like they can't breathe. Seriously, Miley, we're dealing with your most sensitive fans.
Pop has become so inane that I'm actually talking about the offensiveness of Miley Cyrus. I could make fun of Katy Perry and her "bold" lyrics (Alanis Morissette has so been there, done that). Or I could talk about the glory days of Michael Jackson, the Prince himself. Back when Billie Jean was just a knocked up chick who swore she had been with him, and when zombie dances were breaking out everywhere. Back when the lyrics were actually something that could be discussed. Like PYT - pretty young thing? What about cougars Michael?
I would even rather talk about the glory days of the boy bands and slutty blondes. God, how I miss Christina and Britney, and does anyone remember when Jess Simpson was lumped in with them? The only thing that keeps me going these days are the JT and Timba pair ups in a sea of High School Musicals.
Let's face it, pop is dead. And Disney Kids murdered it.