Liz & Violet Take On The World

Studying/Writing Papers... So Much Easier When You're Not Doing it Alone

2012-02-10T23:02:00.007-05:00

i need to find someone new to study/do work with regularly. for some reason i am so much more motivated when i have someone next to me also working. i know that's what a library is for. but... i still need someone to accompany me. haha.

I Have To Start Eating Healthier

2012-02-10T22:59:00.002-05:00

Can You Imagine Living Somewhere Like This?

2012-02-10T22:57:00.000-05:00

2012-02-10T22:56:00.000-05:00

girls are so much better than boys.

2012-02-10T22:55:00.001-05:00

Howl's Moving Castle Barn

2012-02-10T21:01:00.002-05:00

Lions and Tigers and Bears. Oh My.

2012-02-10T12:16:00.002-05:00

‘What do you think is going on?’ ‘I feel too much. That’s what’s going on.’

2012-02-09T22:27:00.004-05:00

My favorite book of all time, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close--where the quote is from--was made into a movie. and it's coming out soon. and i can't decide if i should go see it or not. i'm worried there's absolutely no way that it can compare to the book. most movies don't... but here it's going to be particularly different because the book is just so amazingly poetic. and the style of how it is written is honestly one of the best parts of the book. but at the same time... i love it more than any other book i've read.

one million more amazing quotes (i wrote them all down when i was reading it) from the book here: http://lizandviolet.blogspot.com/2011/06/book-quotes.html

Awesome Headboard Alternative

2012-02-09T22:10:00.001-05:00

Ain't She Pretty?

2012-02-09T21:54:00.004-05:00

My Dad and My Dog

2012-02-09T21:54:00.002-05:00

goofy freaks.

I'd Like To Spend My Whole Life in a Moment Like This

2012-02-09T21:48:00.002-05:00

OHCHECKHEROUTTTT!

2012-02-09T21:47:00.000-05:00

my mom!!

my parents are on vacation in florida. i'm jealous. yep.

Still In Love With Home Decor

2012-02-09T21:45:00.000-05:00

BECAUSE APPARENTLY LOTS OF PEOPLE ARE CONFUSED!

2012-02-09T21:09:00.004-05:00

1. Rick Santorum does not believe that Palestine exists.
2. Rick Santorum compares homosexuality to bestiality.
3. Rick Santorum thinks that Don't Ask Don't Tell should not have been repealed.
4. Rick Santorum does not believe in climate change.
5. Rick Santorum has implied that he wants to make pre-marital sex illegal and does not believe in birth control.
6. Rick Santorum is against abortion in ALL cases. Even for medical issues, rape, or any other reason. He thinks any doctor who performs and abortion should be arrested. He also claims abortion causes breast cancer.
7. Rick Santorum does not believe in the right to privacy
8. Rick Santorum thinks the "fight against homosexuality" is as important as "the fight against terrorism"
9. Rick Santorum does not think evolution should be taught in schools and that it is not accurate.
10. Rick Santorum has absolutely no informed beliefs about foreign affairs. It is not even worth recognizing the things he says here.
11. Rick Santorum does not believe that women and men are equal.
12. Rick Santorum wants to end medicare and privatize Social Security
13. Rick Santorum has no issues with tax breaks for the rich.

The fact that so many people are voting for him is shocking. i once made a joke-bet that he was going to win Iowa. And then he actually did. I never even actually got to collect on that bet, so this is disappointing in every possible way.

I'm fully aware that this is good news for Democrats because it means Republicans are split--not a good thing for them--and also because there's just no way Santorum could win a general election... but i just cannot possibly comprehend how so many people out there think this guy is fit to be the President of the United States.

myohmy!

2012-02-09T21:01:00.000-05:00

be silly. be honest. be kind.

2012-02-09T20:57:00.003-05:00

good photographs.
good quotes.
good music.
good movies.
good art.
good tv shows.

they really do just make you feel so good about life. reminds me why i went was so unbelievably determined to go to emerson when i was 17 years old. yep.

I Feel Like This Sometimes Lately

2012-02-09T20:54:00.002-05:00

Scared. Excited. Overwhelmed. Exhilarated. Determined. Falling. Failing. Terrified of the Future. Happy. Free. All of that.

There is Just Something About Old Men

2012-02-09T20:52:00.003-05:00

i have QUITE a thing for boys in general. but i just occasionally have a feeling old men really do know all the secrets to the world.

Haha!

2012-02-09T20:50:00.000-05:00

What is up with big dogs liking small beds?! this is exactly how Violet is!

Hair. Clothes. Shoes.

2012-02-09T20:43:00.004-05:00

You know what i would love? Some new personal style in my life.

the hard thing about being a girl is that we were all born in love with fashion/making ourselves look pretty. but not necessarily born with tons of money to spend on doing that. and also being in school(or work or taking care of children or whatever a girl happens to be doing)... it makes it difficult to spend the time you'd like to on yourself.

but i think that a good goal is to focus more on looking good. because looking good = feeling good. and i waste lots of time doing unproductive things. so why not?

i think i'll try to make this more of a priority. commitment #1: no more leaving the house wearing shoes that look like slippers.

OH MAN I MISS VIOLET

2012-02-09T20:40:00.002-05:00

Violet is home with my mom and dad until February 25. And i am DYING without her. good gosh if I ever have children I may go full on crazy, because the love i have for this dog.......

Love.

2012-02-09T20:24:00.000-05:00

Oh, Life.

2012-02-09T13:51:00.002-05:00

Law school is insanely hard. I am getting really overwhelmed lately, and it's scary and frustrating and challenging. This semester seems like 5x the work of last semester.

Altogether, this has has been a tough year.

Looking for positivity, though.

Oh I Miss Virginia Tech

2012-02-09T13:49:00.001-05:00

Cool Wall Art!

2012-02-08T00:00:00.002-05:00

Graffeo Men!

2012-02-07T23:59:00.001-05:00

Awesome

2012-02-07T23:58:00.002-05:00

Looooove

2012-02-01T22:49:00.000-05:00

When I Get My Life More Organized

2012-01-26T21:28:00.002-05:00

I'd like to start doing yoga very regularly. So someday I can do something as beautiful as this:

man sleeping in the background and all.

i have a feeling this is years (and years and years) away. even if i do start going regularly again soon. but still. how incredible?

but she's so cute when she sleeps!

2012-01-25T21:19:00.001-05:00

standing lunch date

2012-01-25T21:15:00.004-05:00

last semester my classes were all early and really close together, so i could just wake up, go to class, and then come home and hang out with violet/do work for the rest of the day. it was pretty convenient and worked perfectly for scheduling my life with a dog.

this semester? completely different. i start a little later, my classes are all spread out, and i get like 3 one or two hour breaks between different appointments and classes. it makes life much more stressful and having a dog wayyyy more difficult.

that said, on really nice days (which we've fortunately been having a lot of for DC in January!) it makes my day a little nicer to have a lunch break (and sometimes two or three in a day) with my Violet.

so me

2012-01-25T21:12:00.001-05:00

2012 Goal

2012-01-25T08:08:00.002-05:00

Learn Spanish (fluent) and French (proficient). Impossible? Most likely in 1 year. Going to try? Yep.

Spring Forward, Fall Back Down

2012-01-24T08:15:00.000-05:00

Feel Good Decor

2012-01-15T17:53:00.001-05:00

http://www.etsy.com/listing/62060890/three-vintage-posters-85-x-11

3 Days In To Semester #2

2012-01-11T12:28:00.005-05:00

And this is how I feel.

Read a couple hundred pages? Stay on top of the work for 5 classes and (this is key) actually LEARN/understand all the material? Start this massive research project? Research/Apply/Interview For/Get Hired for a summer internship? Start prepping for the next big law school competition? Grocery shop and do all the normal house things? And take care of a 70 lb dog? All while I have a nasty cough/cold/runny nose?

Yep, no problem. On it.

Cutest Present for a Dog Lover

2012-01-11T12:19:00.001-05:00

http://www.etsy.com/listing/84767535/hand-painted-personalised-mug-perfect
It can be personalized to look like the person and their dog! And they add a special message, too. I love it!

Hardwood Floors = The Love of My Life

2012-01-10T17:41:00.000-05:00

Snowing (OK Flurries) in DC!

2012-01-09T13:15:00.003-05:00

Ok... I did not take that picture. And it is not snowing that much. But it is flurrying today and it's actually just making today even better. :) I hope we don't have an insanely snowy winter--because it would not make walking to class fun--but snow is so nice and pretty on occasion.

I'm Obsessed, Sorry!

2012-01-09T13:11:00.000-05:00

This Website is Too Cute

2012-01-09T13:09:00.001-05:00

http://www.momentjunkie.com/

2012-01-09T10:17:00.001-05:00

Can You Tell I'm Bored?

2012-01-06T16:20:00.001-05:00

school doesn't start until Monday so I have nothing to do but hang out with violet, surf the internet, and read.

my newest etsy treasury

2012-01-06T11:11:00.002-05:00

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTU2MTY4MjR8MTcyMTMyOTI0Mg/home-5?index=0

2012 Manifesto via Apartment Therapy

2012-01-03T12:19:00.000-05:00

2012-01-02T16:52:00.001-05:00

new years resolution

2012-01-01T23:45:00.003-05:00

i love interior decorating

2012-01-01T18:45:00.002-05:00

so i browse apartment therapy/other apartment web sites all the time...

unfortunately, my apartment is not looking cute. if only i was better at this!

i literally cried watching this. oy.

2011-12-30T13:30:00.002-05:00

ESPN: The Finish Line 2 - Short Feature from Evolve Digital Cinema / IMG on Vimeo.

Home...Vegas...Christmas

2011-12-16T08:32:00.002-05:00

I'm on my way home right now (on Amtrak with free wifi!) and I am so excited. No more studying! No more homework!

And as if that wasn't awesome enough... in a couple days, I'm going to Vegas with my sister for her 21st birthday!! And then we get back and Christmas is only a couple days after. So excited.

Separation Anxiety

2011-12-16T08:21:00.003-05:00

The past 2 weeks have probably been the most scary/studious/difficult of my life. The worst thing about law school is the grading. All semester you're required to go to class every day, do insane amounts of reading, study hard... and all of that is expected/normal. But the whole time, all that work is not graded. Attendance is required, and you'd get a lower grade if you didn't go... but participation doesn't help you at all. And except for in one (truly horrible) class, you just don't get any grades! There are no assignments, no tests, no nothing.

Until the last two weeks when you have a 3 hour test for every class that is completely comprehensive of everything you learned all semester. And that one test on that one day counts for 100% of your grade. Oh, and did I mention that employers higher almost entirely based on your grades? Terrifying? Yep.

But it is finally. over. I'm worried that I didn't really study right, didn't know the information as well as I could have, and had no idea what the "right" way to answer a law school final question is.... but I'm just going to work really hard next semester and do better. Hopefully my grades don't end up being too awful for this semester.

Because I was so terrified for exams and literally spent hours and hours studying every single day, my parents agreed to watch Violet since I live alone and just couldn't handle all the work and Violet at the same time. I felt so awful not having her around, I missed her so much, and it really sucks to realize that you can't handle your own responsibilities... but I am so unbelievably lucky that my parents were so understanding and helpful.

And it looks like Violet had an awesome time on her little vacation:

2011-12-12T15:35:00.001-05:00

First Assignment Due!

2011-09-24T13:18:00.005-04:00

Tomorrow at 10pm my first HUGE legal research & writing paper is due!!!!!

Saying I'm unbelievably nervous about what grade I'm going to get on this is putting it lightly. I feel like in undergrad/grad school I always knew what the teacher expected and did the work... but with law school I am completely out of my element. not to mention only FOUR PEOPLE get an A on the paper! ahhhhhhhhhhhh

**Note: please check out my new count downs on the right navigation! bahah**

Which Pillow(s) Do You Like the Best?

2011-09-24T13:11:00.002-04:00

I ordered some pillows recently from a site I found online and they got here a couple days ago and are AWFUL! The front of the pillow is really cute and exactly how it was represented on the website I ordered from... and then the back.... IS AWFUL! It is not the same fabric! It says on the site that it is the same on both sides... but the front (you can see it in an entry below) is really cute, but then the back is literally a similar to a kimono. Bright red, horrible, shiny, not similar to the front in any way at all. It makes no sense! So, I'm definitely sending those back and ordering new ones. Which of the below do you like best:

My mom had a really good idea to get 2 of the same color with different pictures--so that's an option with some of these.

My Etsy Treasuries

2011-09-18T15:44:00.002-04:00

Etsy has a really cool feature where you can compile a bunch of different items that you love into a treasury list, name it, and let other people see what you've put together. This is definitely my #1 way to procrastinate on school work... and also my #1 way to waste money because I end up buying a ton of it...

Check out my treasuries:

You can see them/link to them here, too: http://www.etsy.com/people/lizgraffeo/treasury/?sort=create_date&order=desc

I think this is going to make buying Christmas/birthday presents for me insanely easy for everyone from here on out. And some of these things cost less than $10! Haha.

She Knows Which Birds are Singing

2011-09-12T23:47:00.001-04:00

Top 10 Favorite Things About DC

2011-09-12T22:12:00.005-04:00

1. The Thai restaurant down the street from my apartment.
2. My apartment
3. How nice the people in all of my classes are
4. Reading about really interesting cases (criminal law is my favorite class so far)
5. The awesome awesome huge dog park 3 blocks from my place
6. Trader Joe's being 2 blocks away
7. Georgetown
8. Getting to walk to school every day. Except when it was pouring for 7 straight days.
9. All the fun clubs/organizations/clinics to get involved in at school
10. Being right in the center of the capital of the United States

Law School!

2011-09-12T21:59:00.004-04:00

So, things have picked up and are going swell.

1. I finished all my reading for tomorrow and Wednesday! And last night our first big paper was due, and I think I actually did well. I guess we'll see.

2. On Wednesday, I'm going to the GW Law Human Rights Law Society first general meeting. This organization sounds awesome:http://www.gwhrls.webs.com/. I'm so excited to get involved because they work on issues that are relevant to exactly what I'd like to do with my degree someday.

3. On October 2, I entered a big Negotiations Skills Competition that the law school hosts to get onto a Skills Board. Only 10% of the people who get compete get accepted, but I'm really excited! I was worried I wouldn't be able to find a partner, but I did and he seems like a really awesome guy.

4. I signed up for another organization, GW Street Law (http://docs.law.gwu.edu/stdg/streetlaw/), that works in DC public schools to teach students basic civics and legal lessons. I'm going to my first training this Friday!

5. I am so excited to get all the clothes and apartment things I ordered in the mail!

IN OTHER NEWS!!!!!! I just realized that I have TWO REALLY STUPID ASSIGNMENTS due by 1 pm tomorrow... what was that I was saying about being done with all my work? lame.

Shopping

2011-09-10T14:13:00.004-04:00

I'm really trying to make my apartment look good!

also... please note my last post is about being lonely in DC. shopping is clearly my coping mechanism. shopping and eating shit tons of candy.

Gah

2011-09-10T14:05:00.001-04:00

moving to a new city can be really lonely. but it's been less than a month. i'll make some friends soon. right? yep.

Because All I Can Think About Lately is How To Decorate My DC Apartment.

2011-07-19T16:42:00.003-04:00

To Watch: Documentaries

2011-07-16T16:30:00.002-04:00

I made a list of all of the documentaries I really want to see over the next few weeks:
1. Inside North Korea
a. Kimjongilia
2. Iraq in Fragments
a. No End in Sight
3. After Innocence
4. Hiroshima
5. America: The Story of US
6. Life + Debt
7. Ken Burns: The War (WWII)
8. Time of Fear (Japanese internment camps during WWII)
9. Aftershock: Beyond the Civil War
10. The War on Democracy (South America/US)
11. Fidel: The Untold Story (Cuba)
12. CheVolution
13. Ken Burn’s America: The Congress
14. The War At Home (Vietnam, at home)
15. South of the Border (South America/Hugo Chavez)
16. The Madoff Affair
17. Inside the US Secret Service
18. Inside Iraq: The Untold Story
19. The President’s Photographer
20. Howard Zinn: You Can’t Be Neutral
21. Power and Terror: Noam Chomsky
22. Iraq in Fragments
23. Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action
24. Pictures from a Revolution
25. Good Fortune (Africa, modern)
26. A Powerful Noise
27. Auschwitz

I have a serious obsession with lists.

2011-07-05T14:20:00.002-04:00

my to do list--which includes work, personal, and school related things--is pretty overwhelming right now.

Breathe.

2011-07-04T01:42:00.004-04:00

I Wish I Could Sing Like This

2011-06-30T18:46:00.001-04:00

Apartment Ideas

2011-06-30T18:06:00.002-04:00

Check.Out.Freak.Out.

2011-06-30T17:34:00.003-04:00

I am moving to DC really soon, and I've developed an insane problem. I keep building huge online orders on different websites (Amazon, anthropologie, Urban Outfitters...) and then... right before I go to order... I completely X out! I have ordered absolutely nothing new.

It's probably a good thing because I'm pretty low on funds. But I need some new things! Maybe thrifting is in order.

who wouldn't want to hang with us?

2011-06-30T17:31:00.001-04:00

fuckheads.

Funky, Fresh

2011-06-30T17:27:00.001-04:00

So, one of the main things I need for a new apartment is a kitchen table and chairs. I think I'd really like an old, wooden table with some funky chairs around it. What do you think?

I Love Ray La Montagne's Voice

2011-06-30T17:25:00.001-04:00

the sea. 大海

2011-06-30T17:18:00.002-04:00

Legends

2011-06-28T00:30:00.000-04:00

My New Favorite Book

2011-06-28T00:28:00.002-04:00

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
- “’I want to know everything,’ I told him, but that isn’t true anymore either.” p. 2
- “It’s that I believe that things are extremely complicated.” p. 4
- “She could tell that I was zipping up the sleeping bag of myself, and I could tell that she didn’t really love me.” P. 6
- “Even though it was an incredibly sad day, she looked so, so beautiful. I kept trying to figure out a way to tell her that, but all of the ways I thought of were weird and wrong.” P. 7
- “Dad always used to tuck me in, and he’d tell the greatest stories, and we’d read the New York Times together, and sometimes he’d whistle ‘I Am the Walrus’ because that was his favorite song” p. 12
- “Being with him made my brain quiet. I didn’t have to invent a thing.” p. 12
- “Just because you’re an atheist, that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t love for things to have a reason for why they are” p. 13
- “I’d think and think and think, I’ve thought myself out of happiness one million times, but never once into it” p. 17
- “…old people who sit around all day because no one remembers to spend time with them and they’re too embarrassed to ask people to spend time with them…” p. 42
- “’You’re incredibly beautiful,’ I told her, because she was fat, so I thought it would be an especially nice compliment” p. 44
- “I will be a good person, quiet, out of the way” p. 77
- “She was funny and full of life… Nothing embarrassed her” p. 78
- “She had fallen in love so many times that she began to suspect she was not falling in love at all, but doing something much more ordinary” p. 79
- “All that mattered was him looking at me. I was prepared to fall apart if it came to that” p. 83
- “Hilarious. But I don’t eat anything with parents” p. 87
- “’Oskar.’ ‘I’m OK.’” p. 104
- “I hid behind a mound of earth that had been dug up to make a grave for some old books, literature was the only religion her father practiced, when a book fell on the floor he kissed it, when he was done with a book he tried to give it away to someone who would love it, and if he couldn’t find a worthy recipient, he buried it” p. 114
- “I promised myself I would stay until I found her, but as night began to come in, I knew I had to go home, I hated myself for going, why couldn’t I be the kind of person who stays?” p. 114
- “The books had been buried, so I hid this time behind a group of trees, I imaged their roots wrapped around books, pulling nourishment from the pages, I imaged rings of letters in their trunks” p. 114
- “’Things keep getting worse’… ‘What things?’… ‘Everything. The world.’… ‘Since when?’… ‘Since the beginning.’” p. 116
- “I had so much to ask her, ‘Do you like to lie on your stomach and look for things under the ice?’ ‘Do you like plays?’ ‘Do you like it when you can hear something before you can see it?’ I went again the next day, the walk was exhausting, with each step I further convinced myself that she had thought badly of me, or worse, that she hadn’t thought of me at all” p. 116
- “’I was walking to you,’ I said again, as if to push my nose into my own shit, ‘because I wanted to see you again,’ she laughed and laughed, ‘That explains it,’ she said when she was able to speak. ‘It?’ ‘That explains why, each of the last six days, you weren’t at your house.’ We stopped laughing, I took the world into me, rearranged it, and sent back a question: ‘Do you like me?’” p. 117
- “everything felt on the verge of bursting into flames, without any experience I knew what to do, it was exactly as it had been in my dreams, as if all the information had been coiled within me like a spring, everything that was happening had happened before and would happen again…” p. 127
- “She wants to know if I love her, that’s all anyone wants from anyone else, not love itself but the knowledge that love is there” p. 130
- “I’m sorry for my inability to let the unimportant things go, for my inability to hold on to the important things” p. 132
- “I thought, it’s a shame that we have to live, but it’s a tragedy that we get to live only one life” p. 133
- “I can’t live, I’ve tried and I can’t. If that sounds simple, it’s simple like a mountain is simple. Your mother suffered, too, but she chose to live, and lived” p. 135
- “A lot of the Blacks that I had met in those twelve weekends were there” p. 143
- “I felt that night, on that stage, under that skull, incredibly close to everything in the universe, but also extremely alone. I wondered, for the first time in my life, if life was worth all the work it took to live. What exactly made it worth it? What’s so horrible about being dead forever, and not feeling anything, and not even dreaming? What’s so great about feeling and dreaming?” p. 145
- “because I am making so much sense” p. 146
- “So many people enter and leave your life! Hundreds of thousands of people! You have to keep the door open so they can come in! But it also means you have to let them go!” p. 153
- “Thinking about her is the next best thing!” p. 154
- “It’s not a horrible world… but it’s filled with a lot of horrible people!” p. 156
- “I’ve lived long enough to know I’m not one-hundred-percent anything!” p. 156
- “You could write a book about Manuel Escobar! And that would leave things out, too! You could write ten books! You could never stop writing!” p. 157
- “It’s that at the end of my search I wanted to be able to say: I don’t know how I could have tried harder” p. 160
- “Did you know that in the last 3,500 years there have been only 230 years of peace throughout the civilized world?” p. 161
- “I wish I’d understood myself earlier!” p. 161
- “My boots were so heavy that I was glad there was a column underneath us. How could such a lonely person have been living so close to me my whole life?” p. 163
- “…Everyone could know what everyone else felt, and we could be more careful with each other” p. 163
- “I’m happy! That whole time I was actually happy! What a relief!” p. 163
- “What are we? Something or nothing?” p. 178
- “Touching him was always so important to me. It was something I lived for. I never could explain why. Little, nothing touches. My fingers against his shoulders. The outsides of our thighs touching as we squeezed together on the bus. I couldn’t explain it, but I needed it” p. 181
- “My thoughts are going down a chimney and burning” p. 183
- “Sometimes he would sleep in there. On the floor. He wanted to save the world. That’s what he was like” p. 183
- “He promised us that everything would be OK. I was a child, but I knew that everything would not be OK. That did not make my father a liar. It made him my father” p. 183
- “I understand, now, the tragedy of my childhood. It wasn’t the bombing. It was that I never once liked a photograph of myself. I couldn’t” p. 183
- “’I’m here, Dr. Fein, because it upsets my mom that I’m having an impossible time with my life” p. 200
- “I end up crying a lot, usually in private. It’s extremely hard for me to go to school. I also can’t sleep over at friends’ apartments, because I get panicky about being away from Mom. I’m not very good with people.’ ‘What do you think is going on?’ ‘I feel too much. That’s what’s going on.’ ‘Do you think one can feel too much? Or just feel in the wrong ways?’ MY insides don’t match up with my outsides.” p. 201
- “Maybe I’ll try to be more patient with morons” p. 203
- “If my heart starts going crazy, I’m not gonna tell everyone in the world about it. It doesn’t help anything. It just makes everyone’s life worse” p. 203
- “It’s the tragedy of loving, you can’t love anything more than something you miss” p. 208
- “Through the sounds of collapsing buildings, I heard the roar of that baby’s silence” p. 213
- “I’m so afraid of losing something I love that I refuse to love anything” p. 216
- “I hope you never think about anything as much as I think about you” p. 224
- “I told him he wasn’t the only one who needed” p. 225
- “I thought it would feel different. But even then I was me” p. 232
- “When your grandfather left me forty years ago, I erased all of his writing. I washed the words from the windows and the floors. I painted over the walls. I cleaned the shower curtains. I even refinished the floors. It took me as long as I had known him to get rid of all his words. Like turning an hourglass over” p. 233
- “We had been searching together for six and a half months when Mr. Black told me he was finished, and then I was all alone again, and I hadn’t accomplished anything, and my boots were the heaviest they’d been in my life” p. 234
- “Well, then why do you love everybody so much?” p. 239
- “Y’all’re the first visitors I’ve had in more than a year” p. 239
- “What a lucky girl I am” p. 240
- “’There won’t be a tonight tonight.’ He said, ‘In which case you won’t feel anything anyway.’ I thought about that” p. 240
- “Mark Black was crying when he opened the door and saw us, because he had been waiting for someone to come back to him, so every time someone knocked on the door, he couldn’t stop himself from hoping it might be that person, even though he knew he shouldn’t hope” p. 243
- “’What is it about this building?’ Mr. Black asked. She said, ‘If I had an answer, it wouldn’t really be love, would it?’” p. 251
- “I’ve been searching for more than six months, and I don’t know a single thing that I didn’t know six months ago. And actually I have negative knowledge, because I skipped all those classes with Marcel” p. 255
- “He just looked at me. Not even at me, but into me, like his detector sensed some enormous truth deep inside me” p. 255
- “The world is so big and small, in the same moment we were close and far” p. 272
- “I waited and tried again, I sat on the ground, not knowing what would happen next, not even knowing what I wanted to happen next, I tried once more” p. 273
- “I couldn’t believe the honesty as it traveled down my arm and came out my pen” p. 275
- “I left so you could be you” p. 277
- “It broke my heart into more pieces than my heart was made of, why can’t people say what they mean at the time?” p. 279
- “I wanted to touch him, to tell him that even if everyone left everyone, I would never leave him, he talked and talked, his words fell through him, trying to find the floor of his sadness. ‘My dad,’ he said, ‘My Dad,’ and he ran across the street and came back with a phone, ‘These are his last words.’” p. 280
- “I wish we could have sat across a table and talked about nothing for hours, I wish we could have wasted time, I want an infinity blank book and the rest of time” p. 281
- “Why didn’t I learn to treat everything like it was the last time, my greatest regret is how much I believed in the future” p. 281
- “Who were they? Where were they going? What were they looking for? I wanted to hear their heartbeats, and I wanted them to hear mine” p. 288
- “He wrote about how happy he was, and he wrote how sad he was, and all the things he wanted to do but never did, and all the things he did but didn’t want to do” p. 297
- “It was simple. Highs and lows make you feel that things matter, but they’re nothing” p. 297
- “It’s not that I wasn’t curious. I was incredibly curious. It’s that I was afraid of getting confused” p. 300
- “’That’s not it.’ ‘Then what?’ ‘I found it and now I can’t look for it.’ I could tell he didn’t understand me. ‘Looking for it let me stay close to him for a little while longer.’ ‘But won’t you always be close to him?’ I knew the truth. ‘No.’ He nodded like he was thinking of something, or thinking about a lot of things, or thinking about everything, if that’s even possible. He wrote, ‘Maybe it’s time to do the thing we’ve been planning.’ I opened my left hand, because I knew if I tried to say something I would just start crying again” p. 304
- “It’s so beautiful at this hour. The sun is low, the shadows are long, the air is cold and clean. You won’t be awake for another five hours, but I can’t help feeling that we’re sharing this clear and beautiful morning” p. 305
- “He said, ‘I cry all the time’” p. 315
- “I rolled down the window and stuck my arm out. I curved my hand like an airplane wing. If my hand had been big enough, I could’ve made the limousine fly” p. 316
- “’He told me he was on the street, that he’d gotten out of the building. He said he was walking home.’ ‘But he wasn’t.’ ‘No.’ Was I angry? Was I glad? ‘He made that up so you wouldn’t worry.’ ‘That’s right.’ Frustrated? Panicky? Optimistic? ‘But he knew you knew.’ ‘He did.’” p. 324

2011-06-24T09:32:00.001-04:00

Tell Me No, I Say Yes

2011-05-20T10:28:00.001-04:00

Summer Reading List

2011-05-20T09:10:00.004-04:00

1. Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
2. Ubik by Philip K. Dick
3. Rules of Attraction by Brett Easton Ellis
4. X’ed Out by Charles Burns
5. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
6. We Don’t Live Here Anymore by Andre Dubus
7. Strong Motion by Jonathan Franzen
8. The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
9. White Teeth by Zadie Smith
10. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
11. The World According to Garp by John Irving
12. Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk
13. Incendiary: A Novel by Chris Cleave
14. World War Z by Max Brooks
15. A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
16. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
17. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
18. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
19. Kafka on the shore by Haruki Murakami
20. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: A Novel by Jonathan Safran

Update:
21. The Game by Neill Strauss
22. Stranger Than Fiction by Chuck Palahniuk

some i have read, some i haven't--but this is the start of my summer reading list. any suggestions for others to add?

2011-05-20T09:09:00.001-04:00

My Dad and My Dog

2011-05-20T08:35:00.001-04:00

both completely insane

Oh, Obama

2011-05-17T10:59:00.003-04:00

During college I worked for Barack Obama's presidential primary campaign in Manchester, New Hampshire. It's something I'm proud of and really enjoyed.

I also really enjoy that our President is such a hilarious, intelligent guy.

I know this is a little old now, but I felt like I wanted it on my blog. So here it is.

Current Addiction

2011-05-17T10:48:00.006-04:00

Delicious. Convenient. Healthy.

2011-05-17T10:34:00.000-04:00

those who escape hell
however
never talk about
it
and nothing much
bothers them
after
that

--Charles Bukowski

Washington, DC

2011-05-17T10:21:00.005-04:00

To anyone who lives/has lived in DC--what are your thoughts? How is living in DC? Thoughts on prices? Neighborhoods? Lifestyle? Community? Quality of life? Nightlife? Is taking the metro every day a hassle? Is there any affordable way to live in the city? How are the people? Are there lots of things/organizations to easily get involved with?

Hmmmm

Summer Reading

2011-05-17T10:02:00.005-04:00

I don't have a ton of friends in Virginia Beach, so I've found myself with not that much to do lately. But the weather has been great so I've been spending a lot of time over the past month hanging outside and reading.

Liz Rating: 9/10
I loved this book. It is such an interesting story about the intersection of two women's lives that started one day on a beach in a moment of such intensity it changed them and their relationships with others forever.

Liz Rating: 9/10
I loved this book. It's probably 700 or 800 pages, and I read the whole thing in 2 days--twice. It's definitely a book for women, and I couldn't put it down. You really feel like you've been dropped into the world of African American female servants in Jackson, Mississippi, and by the end you want to know each of these women even more than you already do. It's always inspiring to me when people remain so positive in the face of hardship, and the women in this book do just that. I can't wait for the movie to come out.

Liz Rating: 9/10
I think you definitely have to be more interested in the subject with this book, but I am--so it was another really quick read for me.

Liz Rating: 8/10
This was purely for fun, and both my dad and I got hooked instantly. I read the entire series--and I was very happy with who Katniss ends up with in the end.

Liz Rating: 10/10
I've thought about this book every day since I've read it. It's written like poetry, and I just connected to it.

Liz Rating: 9/10
For anyone who has a dog or who has loved a dog--definitely read this. I cried like a baby.

Liz Rating: 6/10
To be completely honest... I wanted to love this book a lot more than I actually did. I find that if a book doesn't excite me in some way during the first 20 pages, I tend to just not get as into it.

Liz Rating: 9/10
Amazing.

Please note that I gave almost every book a 9/10 rating. I can't really explain why other than that I just loved every one of these books.

Any suggestions for more summer reading?

Mmmmmm

2011-05-17T09:50:00.004-04:00

I love summer for one million reasons, but one of the top is summer bar-b-q food. When I saw this recipe on the PETA Living blog, I kept thinking about it. So, the other night.. me and my sister made it for our family.

It was delicious! I would suggest less blueberries and more pepper. Also, a "food processor" is not the same thing as a "blender" for anyone as cooking ignorant as I am.

http://www.peta.org/living/vegetarian-living/blueberries-in-my-salsa.aspx

Brace Yourself for Weird.

2011-05-17T09:37:00.002-04:00

So, a while back I was dating this guy. And as most couples do... we talked baby names. I had my heart set on a couple of names, who knows why, and he knew what they were and liked them too--so in my fantasy future in my brain, everything was great.

That is until his sister used 2 of my names (she had no idea that we even liked them) in naming her children.

I told my brother and sister about it and we decided to make a list of names we 'claimed.' It really started as a complete joke--but we still bring it up from time to time. Yesterday we updated our lists and it is hilarious how completely different they are:

Mine--
Quinn
Riley
Madeline
Max
Jonah
Finn (i am fully aware this rhymes with Quinn, and I would not use both.)

Hannah--
Sam (boy)
Sam (girl)

Chris-- (this is where shit gets hilarious)
Linus
James
Zooey
Lawrence
Henry
Jerry
Edith
Franny
Lindy
Virginia
Marie
Alice
Emily

I swear... if Chris ends up with Linus, Jerry, Edith, and Lindy for kids...

why is it that 90s music and summer go together so naturally? (in virginia beach)

2011-05-17T09:35:00.002-04:00

maybe it's a virginia beach thing.

tomorrow i will be

2011-03-16T21:42:00.000-04:00

in Colorado! sooooooo excited.

i'm going crazy

2011-03-16T21:40:00.000-04:00

with some serious anticipation.

GO TECH!

2010-12-05T14:35:00.000-05:00

Final Countdown

2010-11-30T13:45:00.002-05:00

Tuesday, November 30 -- Study
Wednesday, December 1 -- Go see Dead Confederate! (so excited)
Thursday, December 2 -- Study
Friday, December 3 -- Study
Saturday, December 4 -- Write paper
Sunday, December 5 -- Write paper

Monday, December 6 -- Final Paper/International Relations Posts Due
Tuesday, December 7 -- Study
Wednesday, December 8 -- Study
Thursday, December 9 -- Study
Friday, December 10 -- Thesis Defense/Oral Exam
Saturday, December 11 -- Take the LSAT!
Sunday, December 12 -- Party

Monday, December 13 -- Party
Tuesday, December 14 -- Party
Wednesday, December 15 -- Party
Thursday, December 16 -- Party
Friday, December 17 -- Graduation!

I seriously can't wait for the next 3 weeks to be done. In the meantime there is going to be a lot of paper writing, studying, and LSAT prep.

Even though I feel kind of overwhelmed with how much is going on lately (in addition to all of this... work at PETA has been really busy/stressful lately), I feel like everything has been going incredibly well. The Thanksgiving holiday was so much fun, I'm crazy excited to be graduating so soon, and I just feel really content with where everything is in my life right now.

Liz + Megan + Roller Derby

2010-11-30T12:20:00.003-05:00

So, I've wanted to join a team sport for a while now, and after watching Whip It last night (awesome movie) I decided to check out roller derby online.

There is a boot camp training class coming up! I mentioned it to Megan and she said she's been thinking about signing up for roller derby for a while... so now I just have to convince her to actually do it and we are in! There is an event on December 18, so maybe we'll check that out first just to make sure it looks as fun as the movie. Hahaha.

I just hope that if I join I don't get hurt because I am not ruining snowboarding for roller derby. Speaking of which... when are we going!!? Dad?! Chris?!

Note To Self

2010-11-30T00:53:00.002-05:00

Charge your camera!!!

I seriously have 0 pictures from the entire break... yet I have an incredibly awesome new Nikon camera. I need to read that manual!

So Cute

2010-11-19T12:57:00.001-05:00

http://www.etsy.com/listing/62356237/keychain-mark-your-calendar-keychain-tm

I think I'll get this for my next friend who is getting married. I think it's so cute!

What Is My Thesis About?

2010-11-18T15:31:00.004-05:00

Honestly... lately everyone keeps asking me what my thesis is about, and I've been really struggling to explain it. Mostly because I think I've spent so much time on it that it has just become a really awful mess that makes no sense.

I just rewrote my entire intro today. Maybe this will help explain it some:

“Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. And overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life.” --Nelson Mandela

Introduction

During the Holocaust approximately six million European Jews were torn from their homes, relocated to filthy ghettos, forced to perform slave labor, denied everything natural to human existence, stripped of their dignity, and systemically exterminated. When the veil of secrecy that hung over Germany was pulled back and the world witnessed this horrifying abuse, states, government officials, and individuals realized the urgent need for change. In the aftermath of the atrocities witnessed during the Second World War, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This document was the first global expression of the rights to which all human beings are entitled, stating that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood” (United Nations). This declaration was made with a vision about the end of genocide, poverty, war, violence, and abuse. After its adoption, human rights became an issue at the forefront of the political sphere. Several international organizations were developed to work on identifying and combating human rights violations and a global grassroots movement towards achieving human rights was set into motion.

As nonprofit organizations began to investigate human rights issues internationally, seemingly endless violations became apparent. In developing countries entire communities are suffering from extreme poverty resulting in hunger, malnutrition, lack of water, high infant mortality rates and disease, and rising violence. Education and literacy rates are shockingly low in these communities and the availability of modern technology is almost nonexistent. Violence against women and girls has been identified as a global priority—at least one out of every three women worldwide has been beaten, coerced into sex, or abused in other ways during her lifetime. In some countries domestic violence is reaching rates of up to seventy percent (Amnesty web site). Transnational organizations and groups profiting from sex trafficking, child labor, weapons trade, and terrorism have been identified. In addition to these worldwide problems that are entrenched into society, human rights groups have identified specific countries where government regimes have oppressed their own citizens as a result of political, racial, ethnic, and economic beliefs. One example of a repressive state is the government military regime in Burma that has created a police state with no freedom of speech, assembly, or association. The military is targeting ethnic minorities for extermination and they have restricted internet access, forced women and children into sex slavery for their military, and cut their citizens off entirely from the global community.

In reaction to these mounting global issues that have been identified over the past several decades, the third sector has expanded rapidly and the number of nongovernmental organizations operating internationally has grown significantly. During the 1980s, the number of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) doubled and by 2000 there were 45,674 of these organizations operating (Ahmed, and Potter, p. 19). The UN defines an INGOs as “any international organization which is not established by inter-governmental agreement” (Ahmed, and Potter, p. 8). In addition to this basic criteria, an INGO “cannot be profit-making, it cannot advocate the use of violence, it cannot be a school, a university, or a political party; and any concern with human rights must be general rather than restricted to a particular communal group, nationality, or country” (Ahmed, and Potter, p. 8).

This research focuses on INGOs that work specifically on human rights issues. These organizations often operate in several countries and, as opposed to simply delivering services like many aid and development organizations do, they tend to focus on identifying existing human rights issues, developing solutions to large and small scale problems, and community building. As a result, human rights INGOs are able to help create and contribute to a growing network of communication and dialogue amongst individuals globally.

As the growth of human rights INGOs has continued, researchers have begun to investigate the possibility of creating a global civil society which would govern itself in order to maintain peace and create global solidarity. It is theorized that this type of global civil society would increase the probability of achieving complete human rights. It is likely that human rights INGOs can play a significant role in helping to achieve a global civil society which would in turn help them achieve their mission. In order to do this, INGOs must dedicate energy and funds to working with activists, volunteers, and individuals in order to build a coalition against injustice and towards transnational cooperation and dialogue.

This paper first attempts to explain the importance of global civil society and its potential to help achieve human rights. It details the various ways that human rights INGOs can work towards creating a global network of dialogue and action to end violence, oppression, and poverty. Next, I specifically discuss the connection between the work of human rights INGOs, individuals in developed countries, and individuals in developing countries. After analyzing this relationship, I investigate the three leading watch dog organizations monitoring the nonprofit industry. These organizations are responsible for providing donors in the US with information to help in the decision making process of what organizations to support financially. Unfortunately, in part due to these organization’s rankings system there is a building amount of pressure on INGOs to focus on finances, budget, and short term victories that are easily understood by donors and the public. An organization’s ranking from these watch dog organizations influences their financial income greatly. In this research project I analyze the limitations and shortcomings of this analysis system and propose an improved method.

My Countdown is Getting Seriously Intense

2010-11-17T16:15:00.002-05:00

8 Days Until Thanksgiving
24 Days Until I Take the LSAT
30 Days Until Graduation

soooooo nervous/excited/antsy/everything all at once.

Song Of The Day

2010-11-17T14:46:00.004-05:00

Juan sent this to me, so awesome. I've been listening on repeat pretty much all morning.

***update!!! Juan just got us tickets for a dead confederate concert!!!!!!! sooooo excited!***

Dessssiiiiireeeeeee

2010-11-17T14:07:00.003-05:00

One of my best friends ever, Desiree, has been in Burundi for months. Her family is originally from there so she decided to go back and has been teaching English in schools. Luckily, she still has MSN and facebook so I get to talk to her and catch up on everything she does and also complain to her about all the annoying really trivial things in my life.

She just posted pictures from what she's been doing on Facebook, so I figured I'd share them because they're really awesome. It's weird to be sitting here working on my thesis about human rights INGOs while one of my best friends is really out there working on important issues. Very cool.

Christmas Wish List

2010-11-17T13:50:00.007-05:00

So, I don't really know what I want for Christmas, but soooomeone asked me to make a list of things I kind of want... so here it goes.

1. A record player just one of those really basic silver ones and a bunch of records from bands I love (see my facebook, ahem).
2. Art for my apartment (see previous post for ideas).
3. New clothes. SERIOUSLY. This one is something I'm desperate for.
4. And shoes!
5. Make up (though I think I'm going to be buying this pre-graduation).
6. A new snowboarding jacket/tickets to go snowboarding.
7. A new book. (check out this list of books i really want to read: http://blog.amnestyusa.org/waronterror/top-10-summer-reading-list-for-human-rights-advocates/)oh, AND a new COOK BOOK. one with really good healthy recipes.
8. Some pretty clips and things of my hair.
9. A yoga membership to calm me.
10. New clinique face wash stuff.
11. Pajamas and underwear and work out clothes.

I can't think of anything else right now... but this should be good! I'd be happy with any of those things. :)

No Cancer!

2010-11-17T13:49:00.001-05:00

Violet doesn't have cancer!!!!!! She does still need surgery, but she's going to be ok.

Party.