On Data, Logic, and Summer Camp

Ad hoc, ergo propter hoc.

Forgive me for taking Philosophy classes when I was younger. Forgive me for being a dork about logical fallacies. And forgive me for the fact that I am always, therefore, hesitant to assume that just because two things have a numerical correlation, they must be related.

This fallacy translates to "with this, therefore because of this." It is probably the most irritating, in my opinion, of all fallacies, and I have to note a problem here. A consulting/research firm called Hunch released survey information recently that showed a correlation between kids who went to summer camp and kids who have seen a therapist and announced that "Hunch users who went to summer camp were 13% more likely to patronize a therapist."


http://hunch.com/explore/prospect/report/?e1=671884&e2=785033

Excuse me, HOW are these related? At all? Yes, I went to summer camp. And yes, I have sought care from a therapist. Do I think the two are at all related? No. There are about 30 different factors that, quite honestly, contribute to seeking a therapist aside from attending a summer camp.

First of all, there's the possibility that a student who was sent to summer camp was sent because both parents were working which, admittedly, could cause some emotional instability in a child needing more attention. But, quite frankly, I'd attribute this correlation to what is actually a positive factor: the kind of parent who would send their child to summer camp because they want what's best for their child is, in my opinion, also probably the kind of parent who would more likely advocate that their son or daughter seek help when they're struggling with something. Which, I think, ultimately shows a more positive environment than a negative one.

Hunch presents this information as if going to summer camp is in some way emotionally scarring. And I'm sure it could be, as much as going to the circus can be mentally scarring for a child with an irrational fear of clowns or going to visit a family member can be emotionally scarring for someone who has been sexually abused. It doesn't mean that going to the circus or visiting family are universally scarring experiences. But if this little piece of survey information, framed in the logically unsound manner it has been, gets out, parents may decide to stop sending their children to summer camp.

And I can tell you that the summers I spent at camp are some of the best memories and healthiest experiences I have ever had, and it bothers me that a company that specializes in statistics and analyses of human behavior could so blatantly misguide people about the data they're presenting.

Irritatingly yours,
Rachel Leigh

My day today has consisted of baking 5 dozen cookies and watching True Blood. I need to do more things.

On CG Bloodshed, Beating Up Hookers, and My Obsession with GLaDOS

Confession:

I have always loved video games, but I am terrible at them. Seriously. I think the only game I’ve ever been good at is Mario Party, and that game is about 85% chance. The only game I have ever beaten is Pokemon Yellow and I swear to god if anyone ever accidentally overwrites my game and I have to start over at the beginning I might cry because dammit I worked hard for that.

My favorite game, like any good video game nerd, has always been Ocarina of Time. But don’t let that fool you into believing that I have ever beaten Ocarina of Time. Are you kidding? People who are actually good at video games have a hard time beating the Water Temple. I just kind of sit there the entire game and pathetically whimper trying to play Epona’s Song until someone takes the controller away from me and saves me from my misery.

And what about FPS? I grew up getting shot to death playing Goldeneye 007 with my older brother. I try and play Halo and I end up running in circles because I can barely operate the controls, let alone actually kill somebody.

That has never changed my obsession with games though. I have always loved to watch people play video games, and I have always loved a game with good graphics, a good plot, or copious amounts of CG-bloodshed. The red death screen in an FPS is a guilty pleasure. Also, for some reason I’m obsessed with the countdown to respawn in Halo. Another favorite has always been Grand Theft Auto. I don’t really know why except that maybe I secretly wish I lived a life that involved stealing cars and beating up prostitutes. The world may never know.

I always felt like a bit of a fraud, because I am a professed video game dork. I love them. But because I’m so bad, if it weren’t for the YouTube “Let’s Play” community or growing up with a much more video-game-talented brother, I wouldn’t even know half these games existed. Is it possible to be a nerd for something you’re terrible at?

Also, I may be obsessed with "Still Alive" and "Want You Gone" from the respective endscreens of Portal and Portal 2. Just sayin'.

Geeking out,
Rachel Leigh

On Earning Your Masters in Business to Earn Your MRS with a CEO

There's a term that I had never heard before I went to college. Actually, there's a term that I had never heard until I started frequenting TotalFratMove.com. It's a term that I've spent a good portion of my time since then making fun of.

M.R.S.

The term "MRS degree" refers to a girl who goes to college with the intention of meeting her future husband and managing...not much else. Honing her skills in sandwich making, domestic skills, coloring, and husband-pleasing at the going tuition rate (and probably paying (or at least having her family pay) all of said tuition).

She probably looks something like this:

(photo credit goes to Sorostitute Stories, which, while being slightly teased in this post, is actually one of my favorite blogs on the internet)

Any time a girl goes out of her way to do something that really conforms to rigid gender roles (especially if it involves cooking, cleaning, sex, or being in the kitchen), she's working towards her MRS degree.

As someone who loves to bake, I frequently have reasons to crack jokes about my MRS. My second week home for the semester, I sent out a text that said "Earning my MRS, one batch of brownies at a time" after making what was my fourth batch of brownies since I'd been home. When, not long after, I asked for an apron for my birthday, the general response among my friends was that I was working towards my MRS. And whenever I end up baking or cooking or spending an entire night in my room coloring, I joke that I'm earning summer credits towards my degree.

The thing is, though, I'm beginning to wonder how much I really am joking. Clearly, I'm not someone who only wants to go to school to find a husband. But I do love to cook and bake, and I really enjoy taking care of people. And a lot of girls I know are proud to claim that they aspire to an MRS. Not because it's all they want, but because they want to do what makes them happy and the idea of taking care of someone and starting a family makes them as happy as the dreams that brought them to college.

I'm beginning to think there's nothing wrong with that.

Questioning some things,
Rachel Leigh

I think it's pretty rare to be able to say that you've had the same teacher for four classes in high school. I think it's also pretty rare to be able to say that that teacher had a profound and lasting effect on who you are as a person.

I wish I could have been around for his last year teaching. One of my all-time favorite teachers, who taught me for three years of my high school career and helped to shape my views of life, choices, technology, English literature, and the importance of play in learning, is retiring this week.

While I may have graduated last year, I am actually deeply saddened that no future students will have the experience of him touching their lives. Teaching them about the uselessness of Classics majors, how to be "brief but brilliant," to never start a sentence with "however," that all literature is about sex and death, and that a good gifted class reading ends with everybody dying or the Singularity.

He taught me how to say the things worth saying, to really fall in love with the work I was doing, and that sometimes the best projects are ones that you write the night before in a fit of brilliant inspiration. Also, that sometimes everyone decides to kill off their main character.

Remember Elpenor. Sleeping with a sword between yourself and that special someone. The Sick Rose. Childhood's End. Alexander Rybak.

...You will be missed.

Love,
Rachel Leigh

On Marilyns and Audreys

For a few weeks now, I've been thinking about the fact that, in life, there are Audreys and there are Marilyns.

When it comes to classy, ballsy, talented women that are nearly universally admired, there are no two names more ubiquitous than those of Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe. As a matter of fact, as many of my friends from home will attest, I've earned myself the nickname Audrey F**king Hepburn when I do something particularly "classy" (irony, I use it).

Both women had reputations for being outspoken and honest about what people expected of them and had any right to expect of them. Both have been idolized and quoted and misquoted by girls for decades. But, I've noticed, nearly every girl is either an Audrey OR a Marilyn.

Don't get me wrong. I adore both of them, but there are some key differences that make Marilyn more appealing to some people and Audrey more appealing to others. First and foremost, the fact that Marilyn is, pretty much universally, a sex symbol. On the other hand, the most iconic image of Audrey Hepburn involves an updo, pearls, and her representation Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Plus, I mean, some people just prefer blondes. Though Edward Cullen prefers brunettes. Please shoot me for that reference.

And maybe this whole post.

I believe happy girls are the prettiest.

Believing in pink,
Rachel Leigh

On Words and Unfinished Projects

So a few months ago, I began a post that I never published.

It started a little something like this:

This topic leaves little room to snark, but I was thinking the other day and I got curious, started exploring this grand little series of tubes we call the internet, and found something.

It all began in class the other day:

The title of this post was "On Linguistic Universals" and what I had intended it to be about was the way certain words are nearly universal cognates. I had been thinking about "mom" and how nearly every language's word for mother, or at least its shortened version, is incredibly similar. Mom, ma, mama, mami, mutter, madre...

I started talking to my professor about it, and he mentioned that there's a very similar trend with pa/fa in reference to fathers in other languages. He also pointed out that these universal words are part of the proof generally used to support to idea of a universal grammar.

But the discussion of this idea is less important to this post than why that post never got published. I had been initially fascinated by the topic, but in trying to research my post, I ended up losing steam and so this idea for a post simply sat in limbo for months.

I am disappointed to say that I may never finish that post, but it lends itself to a problem I have always had with this blog. I often come up with an idea for a post and then abandon it before it reaches full development.

Hopefully, at some point, I will be able to go back and flesh out several of my aborted posts in the future, because some of them were actually pretty decent ideas that might help to legitimize my blogging a bit more.

Until then, though, I'll be stuck writing posts explaining why I don't write better posts.

That's kinda metablog-y.

Loving you,
Rachel Leigh

On the fact that it's JUNE and I wonder where all the time has gone

My darling readers:

I wonder if there are still any of you out there. If so: hi. I've missed you. It's been well over a month since the last time I posted anything on either this blog or my class blog for 383. It's been over a year since I started this blog, and I guess I should catch you up on what has changed since this time last year.

I have finished my freshman year of college at the University of Richmond, where I attempted a foray into the Greek system that ended rather disappointingly. I made my share of mistakes as well as my share of excellent decisions, not the least of which included interning for a month at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, getting a job working in the Digital Scholarship Lab at the University, and pursuing a degree in pouring things into other things. (No, really, I mentioned to one of my friends that I've gotten to be quite good at that, and they have since decided that this is the real reason I pay tuition and spend nine months of the year in Virginia.) I wonder if that counts as an arts degree or a sciences degree.

My 19th birthday passed this Monday, which means...well, pretty much nothing. 19 carries with it neither the satisfaction of becoming an adult, nor the knowledge that you have defeated teenagerdom, does not legally allow you to drink, or rent a car, beach house, or other item which carries a 25-year-old age stipulation. So...it really serves no purpose. But nonetheless, it happened. Hooray. I am a year older and, hopefully, wiser.

It is now summer, a time in which I am working two jobs in an attempt to afford my textbooks and living expenses during the school year. I spend a few hours a day either doing research on colleges for a local college planning company (who helped me out during my college endeavors) or doing random office tasks at the financial planning firm where my mother works. In the betweenhours, when I am not sleeping, watching copious numbers of videos on YouTube, or working, I've been passing my time catching up with old friends, going on Facebook, and being generally derpy.

And that's...just about my life these days. Hopefully the blogging will be more regular. I've missed you guys.

Still missing you,
Rachel Leigh

On Listening

I'm highly auditory.

I still have yet to learn how to really incorporate images into my posts here because, well, they don't really click with me. I can stare at walls of text and, as long as I can hear the writer's voice, they don't bother me. A lot of times, I actually skip over images, which I know is a dangerous thing to start doing, because it eliminates a lot of important context for the things being discussed.

Why am I talking about this? Well, one of the blogs I follow for my English 383 class (I linked to MY class blog a couple posts ago, go check it out) did a post on learning styles. I feel like auditory learners get passed over in these discussions. Maybe it's because the traditional lecture-style teaching techniques actually work on us. I LIKE lectures. I like the way things sound.

God, if I could incorporate sound into my blog posts without violating copyright, I would. For now, I have to settle for the poetic way the words roll around in my head.

So how do you learn?

Listening,
Rachel Leigh

On "So go on, if this will make you happier..."

Dear Readers:

It is 4 am, and I can't sleep.

I haven't had insomnia this badly in quite some time, and, to be honest, it is kind of throwing me.

Luckily, I have the room to myself this weekend (so I don't feel bad for keeping my roommate up). You want to know the weird part? I can't sleep because I'm happy. Happier than I've been in a while. I would explain the details, but I would probably bore you and/or embarrass myself on the internet, so I'll spare you. The fact of the matter is that I laid in bed for an hour and smiled giddily and couldn't sleep. Then I took a shower and talked to myself and smiled some more and still couldn't sleep. And now I'm blogging because I still can't sleep. I always thought I couldn't write when I was happy because I had nothing to complain about.

I found out that I also can't write when I'm sad (especially not when I'm sad and trying to mask it by keeping myself busy). Things haven't really changed in the situation that made me sad in the first place, except that I found out why it happened. And knowing that has made me happy.

Speaking in broad generalities for the sake of protecting people and keeping personal information off the internet is fun.

I'm really tired. Class tomorrow should be fun.

Happier,
Rachel Leigh

P.S., Watch this video of silly college boys singing the song I'm quoting in the title of this post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V60d4EF3v6g

Oh dear. My lovely, lovely readers.

It's been months. If you're interested in what I've been doing with my blogging mind in the last few months, you should check out my writing center blog at http://richmondrachel.blogspot.com. Hopefully I'll think of more snarky things to talk about. Please don't give up on me.

Love you all,
Rachel Leigh

On Safety

Forgive me for ranting.

One of Richmond's major safety selling points, at least for my parents, was the Safety Shuttle. Affectionately called "The Raper" by U of R students, the Safety Shuttle was funded by a gift from a Westhampton College alumni to protect girls who were walking home alone at night. It only took girls and ran, by phone call, during nighttime hours and anywhere on campus. It say this in the past tense because Richmond has made some "improvements" to this shuttle.

The first of these was the gender desegregation of the shuttle. Which I can kind of understand when it's understood that the majority of assaults on campus first semester were on guys. I never really had an issue with that, but several of my female friends have admitted to feeling unsafe having guys on the same shuttle that used to guarantee them a safe way home. A friend of mine commented that "someone could get on and follow her off and back to her dorm," which is exactly what the shuttle is supposed to prevent.

The most recent "improvement" is the one I have an issue with. Instead of operating on a call-in basis, the Safety Shuttle now runs on a continuous loop around campus from 7 to 3 every night. At first glance, this sounds phenomenal. However, the Raper now only stops at 15 pre-designated stops on campus. You have to walk from your current location to the nearest stop and wait. For a long time. Then you can get on, but must get off at another pre-assigned stop, whereas you used to be able to get dropped off right at your dorm. This leaves a lot of waiting and a lot of lone walking that the old system prevented.

Then, there's the issue of where these stops are. First of all, good luck knowing. I had no idea until I looked it up online and when I tried to call the old Safety Shuttle hotline number, they did nothing to tell me except to refer me online. Second of all, there are a lot of places on campus that the Shuttle used to hit (like the off-campus but still school-owned houses at Bostwick) that are not a part of the new continuous loop.

I actually felt safer walking home by myself than waiting for the shuttle the other night, and that's precisely the opposite of what the Safety Shuttle is supposed to accomplish.

Hoping someone's listening,
Rachel Leigh

On Why Tumblr Has Ruined My Blogging

I love Tumblr and Facebook. That's not even a question. I am an addict of blogging sites, social networks, and internet phenomena. I don't know how to exist on the internet without deeply entangling myself in a web of internet interactions: message boards, Twitter, etc.

The problem with this addiction, though, is that it hinders my ability to produce original content. On tumblr, the ratio of my original posts to endless reblogs of other people's content is probably 1 in 50. On Facebook and Tumblr alike, when I go to vent, as I often do on here, the thoughts are often reduced to one to two sentence snippets of thoughts, rather than developed, lively writing as I hope people have come to associate with this blog.

And yet, those snippets and snapshots of my life and the small chances to reblog the things I've seen and post a thought I had seem to be enough to lead to a sort of catharsis that leaves me without the urge to write a several paragraph blog post.

I hope, my darling readers, that you haven't forgotten about me. Know that I haven't forgotten about you. I stopped multiple times to post on here, and found that I had forgotten how hard it is to share my perceptions of the world without that handy little "reblog" button.

Luckily, since I'm in college and have to turn out papers (and, oh, hey a blog for one of my classes) on a regular basis, I think I'm getting back into the swing of really fleshing out my thoughts and expanding on them. Even if it is just a large amount of pondering and pontification sometimes.

It's good to be back.

Still Tumbling, Facebook Stalking, and blogging,
Rachel Leigh

Good evening and welcome back to another moderately snarky, slightly pretentious, and pseudo-intellectual post.

I've missed you, my darling readers. I've missed sharing my thoughts on life, the universe, and everything.

College was taking over my life, and my internship over Winter Break didn't really want to share me either. But I'm back! With a vengeance! And...a keyboard!

Lovingly yours,
Rachel Leigh

On Exam Week

It's a Sunday afternoon around 12:30 and you're beginning to wonder where everyone is. Campus is completely deserted except for the occasional resident of the city of Richmond who has wandered over to campus to find a place to walk their dog and, for some reason, pay $8.50 to eat lunch in an overpriced cafeteria. You wander in circles aimlessly, stopping to get some food in said overpriced cafeteria (because meal swipes are cheaper than real money) until it gets to be 1 and you decide to get coffee in the library. It is at that moment, as you close in on a line of 30 people that has somehow formed in the 2 minutes since the coffee shop opened, that you realize where everyone is. The library. And then you remember that it's the day before finals begin and you should probably have spent your weekend doing something more productive that screwing around on tumblr, hopelessly refreshing webcomics, TFMs, and Texts from Last Night, or skypeing. Like maybe studying. Maybe.

...Just finished my last major (non-exam) assignment of the semester, which is due tomorrow at noon! Congratulations to ME!

And, to those of my readers who are:
a) Still reading
b) In college...

Happy Finals Week and Good Luck on Your Exams!

Random Thoughts

It's been a while, anonymous readers! Since then, I've found myself wasting a lot of time on sites like CollegeACB.

Why is it that people get so cruel when they're anonymous? I mean, seriously, the UR CACB page is just a bunch of trash-talking (particularly different sororities and fraternities bashing each other) and people talking smack about each other. I guess another major question is why I read it.


On another note: I REALLY love Blaine on Glee. I mean really. Darren Criss is adorable. And so talented. Have you heard his cover of "Baby It's Cold Outside" with Chris Colfer? It's amazing. Plus, I mean, I fell in love with "Teenage Dream." All. Male. Acapella. It's THE quickest way to my heart, I'm pretty sure.

Sorry. I'm just...guh. In. Love.

Lovingly,
Rachel Leigh

On ELECTION DAY

You might remember my previous Election Day post, made back when I was still blogging over at freedomofknowledge.org, a site which is now down for the count. You'll really only remember that if you've been reading my stuff for years. Which means you might remember it if you're Mike or if you're me, but it is otherwise largely unlikely that you will.

Well, it's that time again. Seriously, get out and vote if you haven't already today. I went through the somewhat grueling process of getting an absentee ballot. You can go stand in line for a little bit and vote. It's important. Richmond's having an election-results-viewing-party in the Westhampton Center tonight, so clearly people are taking this seriously. As well they should.

You have a patriotic duty to vote. You have a civic responsibility to vote. And, well, you have a personal interest in voting. You have no right to complain about the behavior of the government if you don't take the time and initiative to go vote. You could have changed things.

So please, go out today. Vote. Starbucks will give you free coffee, I think. And it's pretty cool. And Christine O'Donnell is not a witch, she's just like you.

Also, to our Californian readers, if you're out there: Vote "Yes" to Prop 19! ;)

Hope you had a wonderful Halloween. Happy Election Day!

Politically yours,
Rachel Leigh

New Rule

Gingers are not allowed to say "baller." Ever. Under any circumstances.

A Late-Night Post with No Real Thematic Content

Today, something interesting happened. I was sitting in my room with my roommate at about 4:45 when sirens started going off. Really loud sirens that really confused my poor, innocent brain because I was worried that campus was breaking. After the third or fourth siren went off, I decided to stick my head out into the hallway to see what was going on.

My RA was walking up the hallway, advising people to come into the hallway, close their windows, and not leave the building. Apparently the campus had gone into tornado lockdown. We have TORNADO SIRENS. WTF? Anyway, after promptly texting/facebook IMing several of my friends to get their endangered asses inside to safety, we went out into the hall to join the rest of our building in the first floor hallway.

Apparently lightning hit X-lot. Which is kind of dangerously close to our dorm. My friend told me he hoped it jump-started his dead car battery. I hope so, too. One of the girls on my hall was on her laptop (well, we all were, pretty much), and asked if she would be electrocuted if she left her laptop plugged in. I suggested she unplug it, though my reason was not that she would be electrocuted and shocked to death and die on the spot, but rather because if lightning hit the building and hit her laptop, her computer could very well be fried. But whatever.

After about a half hour in the hallway, the sirens stopped and we were allowed back outside. Just in time for my American Government class, ohjoy.

So that was my exciting day.

Near-deathlyly yours,
Rachel Leigh

40!

This is my fourtieth post on this here blog. I feel like that's actually a pretty decent milestone, though I find it kind of sad that it took this long to reach this milestone.

So right now, my psyche is in a state of conflict, because the solemnity I felt this afternoon after my trip to the Gay Community Center of Richmond for an exhibit on Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals has been contrasted by the music I have recently been rocking out to, courtesy of:
http://www.onlythefinest.org/
http://www.camelbackmusic.com/
http://www.dirtymexicanlemonade.com/

On the one hand, the trip to the GCCR for the Holocaust exhibit was amazing and sobering. Homosexuals were persecuted under Paragraph 175, a law put in place under Kaiser Wilhelm, which made "indecency" between two men a crime punishable by imprisonment (a repeated theme throughout the exhibit was the fact that lesbianism was virtually ignored by this statute). One of the things that I found the most disturbing about the entire exhibit was the focus on rigid, old-fashioned gender roles under the Nazi regime. They felt the need to reinforce the strength and masculinity of the German man, and blamed homosexuality and feminism for the declining birthrate and declining status of Germany in the world post-war. In the Weimar Republic, both the feminist movement and the gay community in Germany made huge strides, and the actions of the SA party in the Holocaust set both movements back decades. According to both the exhibit and the head of the Student Alliance for Sexual Diversity here at Richmond, the burning of the library of Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, a prominent sexologist in Germany before WWII, set the gay rights movement back almost a century.

...Paragraph 175 remained on the books in Germany until 1969. Similar laws are still on the books, though deemed unconstitutional, in states like Virginia and Texas today.

On the other hand, the bubbly, upbeat, dance-y music I've been listening to for the last few days (weeks) is making it really hard to maintain the sense of solemn respect I had leaving the exhibition.

Conflictually yours,
Rachel Leigh

On the LGBT Suicides and On Harrassment

I'm sure you've heard about it. Recently, the LGBT community and its allies have been up in arms about the group of 7 recent suicides that were the result of bullying and harrassment that they faced because of their sexuality. As well it should be. When people like Billy Lucas and Tyler Clementi are pushed to suicide by the harrassment they face at the hands of their peers, the community SHOULD be riled up.

I love the fact that people have been so responsive about this problem. Richmond held a candlelight vigil last Wednesday night. There have been huge surges in public service annoucements (including a beautiful project on YouTube called It Gets Better, which features prominent gay figures from both on and off of YouTube letting kids who are facing harrassment and confusion now know that it does get easier). Thousands of people plan to wear purple in honor of the lives that have been lost and in solidarity with those facing similar problems still. I am proud to know that my friends and family have been public about their concern for the problem.

But here's my issue, and the reason I'm posting. This is not, first and foremost, a gay rights issue. Yes, the LGBT community has jumped on this problem because it's clearly a crisis. But when a large number of kids are killed or driven to suicide because of bullying and harrassment they face, for any reason, the crisis is bigger than any one community. This is an issue that comes down to a very basic fact: for all the anti-bullying programs in schools, all the information about cyberbullying, all the discussions of fairness, tolerance, and respect, people are still capable of being so horrible to one another that death seems like a better option than continuing to deal with it.

This should not be a gay rights cause. This should be the cause of every parent, friend, sibling, teacher, and colleague of someone who ever faced harrassment that made their life hard to deal with. Yes, Billy Lucas committed suicide because he was harrassed for being gay. The fact of the matter is that bullying-related suicides are unfortunately common and, if anything, the focus on the gay suicides recently has dwarfed the importance and the tragedy of a lot of other suicides which stemmed from harrassment. My heart goes out to the families and friends of the boys who took their own lives because they were harrassed for their sexuality...and to those of every other harrassment-related suicide. Your loss is something I cannot even fathom, and I hope it never has to happen to anyone again.

--Rachel

Just a Random Update / On When You Shouldn't Be Surprised

Wow. It's been almost two weeks since my last post. Sorry, my darling readers! I have been trying to do better, but clearly I've been failing a little. The last five days have been part of a much-needed chance to relax known as Fall Break. Prior to said relaxation, there were about two consecutive Hell Weeks of a rather absurd amount of work and a mid-term that I felt certain I was going to fail, so the break was definitely appreciated.

What can I say about life recently?

Well, first of all, I've been shown the best possible site to check the weather, which I now use religiously. Seriously, check out http://www.thefuckingweather.com/. It makes my day.

I feel like all of my recent posts have been really UR-centric, which I guess makes sense because it's really my whole life now, but I also feel like it makes my blog insanely boring to read. I really hope I'll find other things to talk about.

A friend and I were having a conversation in the dining hall the other day, because we were watching CNN and a story about a lion in a circus mauling a man. We both seemed to agree that there really isn't a reason this should be news. Lions are fierce, ferocious, wild animals. You really shouldn't be surprised that one (even one raised in captivity) would attack someone. COME ON. They're predators. That's what they do. They attack things. Maybe you should be surprised if someone got mauled by a sloth. I mean, that would be unexpected. They're lazy and they're herbivores, so if one went insane and mauled somebody, THAT would be news. But don't be surprised when bloodthirsty predators decide to be bloodthirsty and predatory. That's dumb.

Carnivorously yours,
Rachel Leigh

On Metablogging (Again)/On Elitists

People who complain about facebook on facebook irritate me. If it really annoys you that people post about their lives on facebook, then what possibly justifies your posting to complain about it? I recognize that you might find the constant status updates annoying. You might be annoyed that I posted a facebook event to try and convince people to come play in the rain with me. You might find it all a bit trite and obnoxious. I respect that.

But if you are annoyed that people post their every thought on the internet and on facebook for you to read, then do not complain about it by posting on the internet for every person you know to read. That makes you look like an elitist, a hypocrite, and just straight up like a bitch. We give as little of a crap about your not giving a crap as you do about the things you're complaining about. I get it. You don't care about my life. So delete your facebook or remove me as a friend so you don't have to read about it. That is of no concern to me. But do not bitch to the world at large about the fact that you don't like to read the bitchings of everyone around you. We are as entitled to post on the internet as you are.

You don't understand why the internet has become a vehicle for everyone to talk about their lives and get attention for it? Aren't you inherently using the internet as a vehicle to get attention for YOUR life and for your elitist viewpoint? Screw you and everyone like you. You are the reason people hate hipsters.

Fuming,
Rachel Leigh

On Playing in the Rain

Virginia has been in a drought. Apparently a terribly bad one recently. In the last two days, however, we've been hit rather epically with rain. This is, most likely, thanks to Tropical Storm Nicole, which I think made landfall in Florida sometime today. I love hurricane weather. I really want to play in this rain. I did a little bit of rain-playing today but it's only so fun by yourself.

Great Weather-Controlling Cthulu (or...whoever is in charge of this stuff): I want a natural Slip 'N' Slide, damnit. I feel like this is not so much to ask. I just want a good quality place to play in the rain.

And I want people to play in the rain with me. Join me, people. It's fun.

This is not really a post.

Loving the rain,
Rachel Leigh

Even MorOn College

So the last couple weeks have been pretty hectic. I've had papers due left and right (thank you, professor, for making us turn in a two page written assignment analyzing every reading we do for the next 3 weeks. I appreciate that, especially when I have three other classes to do work for), and it seems like I have club meetings or lectures or chances to hang out every time I turn my head. So, needless to say, my blogging (and many other things) haven't gotten the attention they quite deserve.

So today, in between my 10:30 class, which ended early, and my 1:30 class, which I don't need to leave for for another hour, I have gotten in touch with my roots. Namely, I've spent the last hour on RollingStone.com catching up on all things musical. I just finished reading every album review they have posted since July. The fact that I had to go that far back should tell you how badly I've been slacking. The results were about what I expected: mixed reviews on Lady Gaga's Remix album, praise for Brandon Flowers' solo work (while mocking his hair...understandably), and a commentary on Of Montreal's new album that left me incredibly confused about what I might be getting myself into.

I then proceeded to walk myself to D-Hall (the UR dining hall) in the pouring rain (Thank god for new rain boots!), where I have set up shop with my laptop, a bowl of some kind of crab soup that smells delicious but I don't particularly want to eat, and a glass of delicious BLUE DRANK. I had intended to just sit by myself and blog, but a friend of mine and her big walked up and are now eating with me. We've been discussing...poverty! It's really interesting to be discussing this at a school where very, very few people have any conception of going without.

So...needless to say, college has been intertesting thus far.

I'm going to actually interact with the people I'm eating lunch with now.

Don't Stop Believing,
Rachel Leigh

On Things About College I Still Don't Understand

So I've been here for a month now. I had hoped I wouldn't still be really confused by things, but there are some that still persist.

-If lanyards are the mark of a freshman, what do upperclassmen do with their keys? Do they not HAVE keys? Is this possible? ...Actually, given the number of people who don't lock their apartments (HELLO TICKLER), that's actually a pretty reasonable assumption.

-Was the person who numbered the apartments on crack? So 1300 and 1400 are over here...but 1500 is on the other side of the apartment blocks? And 100 is somewhere in between? Knowing WHERE the apartment blocks are does not keep me from being deeply concerned about the logic behind numbering them.

-In a similar vein, why is the Health Center over by the apartments? Upperclassmen are far more likely than underclassmen to have cars. So let's put it close to the people who CAN drive, and force the people who can't to walk their sick/injured selves to the Health Center from across campus? Does this make sense?

-Why is the bathroom in the Quiet Study Section of the library? Doors slamming, toilets flushing, and god forbid if someone is sick... Let's put one of the most disruptive activities in the entire library right where people are trying to work quietly! That's a great idea, right?

-A question which I believe still confounds seniors: Why are 8:15 (the on-campus coffee shop) and Tyler's (on-campus fast food stuff) closed on weekends, when they could be making a lot of money from hungry/caffeine-craving people?

I'm not pretending to be the most logical person in the world, but this complete lack of logic in these areas completely confounds me. If anyone can explain, I'd love it.

Confusedly yours,
Rachel Leigh

On The Freshman 15

Maybe it's because I go to one of the fittest colleges in the country [ranked #10 in 2006...I have yet to find a more recent list (http://www.mensfitness.com/college_rankings/79 )] or because of personal behaviors, but to be honest, I'm not especially worried about the Freshman 15.

The food in the dining hall is relatively healthy and (kilo)calorie counts are pretty easy to access. I live RIGHT next to the on-campus fitness center, which is open (and, weirdly enough, in use) until midnight every night. Seriously, I've seen people in there at 11 at night. I regret to admit that I haven't yet used it, but to be honest, I really don't feel like I need to.

I walk everywhere on campus, and with the exception of a small portion of the population, so does everyone. Except when the GreenUR bikes are around. Then you see lots of kids on bikes. Because they're faster. (Drunk kids on bikes are funny. Really funny.) It also helps that the farthest walk I usually have to make in a day is actually to the Dining Hall. It keeps me from walking there to bored-eat, which has always been a problem, AND it helps burn off the calories I consume while I'm there.

To be honest, most college campuses are at least as big as this one, and it surprises me that there are so many people who gain a lot of weight their freshman year. I...don't see that happening to a lot of the people here.

We are fitness (Hannah!),
Rachel Leigh

More On (but not Moron) College

So, as a proud college student, I feel the need to talk about some things about being a proud college student in my blog.

In my previous post, I referenced being a Westhampton College student. Which, to some people, produces a "lolwut" response because, well, I'm a freshman at the University of Richmond. When originally founded (like most colleges), Richmond was an all-men's college. In 1914, they decided to incorporate a women's college into the University: Westhampton College. To this day, though classes, housing, and most activities are now not separated by gender, the women entering UR enter Westhampton College and the men enter Richmond College. The things that stayed separate? The deaneries, the student government, and a lot of the traditions. For example, the girls have a tradition known as Proclamation Night which is apparently a pretty big deal, but I don't quite understand it yet. Maybe I'll elabor (credit: Max) after Proclamation Night once I understand it more.

Other things about college:

Well, I just left the URMUN (University of Richmond Model United Nations) interest meeting. There are SO many interest meetings. Last week there was a Student Organization Fair and I, like most freshmen, signed up for about 10 different clubs. I do not fool myself into believing I will be able to participate in every single one. I will feel accomplished if I manage to participate in like...3. But it's just insane the number of things there are to do: activist groups (UR Body, UR Choice; Dems; Global Health), fun things (like Ballroom Dancing, which I wish didn't conflict with my Wednesday night class), general nerdliness (URMUN, Quidditch, etc), and...about a million other things. Like Meditation Club. Which sends out really funny emails. There is literally just more stuff to do than I previously imagined possible. Which is funny, because there are other things that have to have time, too.

...Like class. I have it pretty easy most days. Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday I only have one class. Friday I have two. But Wednesday? The same day that they have Ballroom Dancing, which I really wish I could participate in? Well, I have three classes on Wednesday. One of which runs from 6:30-9:30 every Wednesday night. Head, meet desk. Desk, meet head. The rest of the time, I love my schedule, but Wednesdays, I want to kick small children.

What I find with college stuff is just that I have so much I want to talk about, and so little of it that fits with what I'm trying to say. There is no overarching, deeper theme to this post. It's just college.

Future posts (honestly, this list is as much for my reference as yours, because I don't want to forget what I wanted to talk about):
-When really awesome/important people come to UR and what I think about it
-Why I'm not worried about the Freshman 15
-Probably some reflections on things I've learned in class

...Speaking of, my classes:
-Introduction to Public Policy
-Introduction to American Government
-Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies: Sexual Violence and War
-First Year Seminar: Shakespeare and the Politics of Leadership

...yeah, it's awesome.

Cheese and rice (the topic of the last Meditation Club email),
Rachel Leigh

On Freshmeat

So, this is the first time since having left for the University of Richmond (UR, Richmond, U of R, and any number of bad puns involving the abbreviation "UR") that I have taken a seat and flipped open my laptop with the intention of putting my fingers to the keys to blog.

I have been a college freshman for almost 3 weeks now. And everyone on campus can tell. Forget the obvious trademarks of the Class of 2014 (or, traditionally, any freshman class): an overabundance of lanyards, the green Westhampton College (I'll explain this in a later post) t-shirts (our class color), that predominant look of complete confusion and disorientation when you stumble outside of your normal stomping ground. And don't even get me started on the troves of lost freshmeat wandering around the University apartments, completely lost. Guys: there are maps. Find them. Learn them.

The fact of the matter is that, while I've tried to overcome these obvious freshman-markers, there are other things. Like, for example, the fact that I have braces. In college. I met a girl the other night who said it was cute and reminded her of Indonesia, because apparently it's a trend there to have braces into your 20s?

I just wish it weren't so obvious. It's like having a target placed on my back that says "I'm new, I have no idea what's going on. Please, take advantage of this." It's frustrating.

In future posts:
-Why I'm a Westhampton College student and how coordinate colleges work
-When REALLY Important/Awesome People Come to Richmond
...and more

Ta for now,
Rachel Leigh

On...Good-byes? Maybe?

4 is an absurdly small number when it comes to facing the biggest transition in your life. It hardly seems like enough time to pack and get ready to go.

It's astounding and disconcerting how soon I'm leaving. It's kind of scary that I'm saying good-bye. Last night, I said good-bye to several good friends (and a few acquaintances) who, in all likelihood, I will not see before I leave in 4 days. And then I may not ever see them again (though I sincerely hope this is not the case (I have found out that I can go to Philly from Richmond by bus in about 8 hours for about $35 round-trip (thank you Megabus.com for running from DC to Philly for $20!))). I never thought I'd feel this way. Of course I'm excited, but it's all kind of tinged with these negative emotions (anxiety, sadness, nostalgia). To be honest, I'm even kind of feeling regret about opportunities I've missed and things I wish I could have changed before I left.

I'm so ready to start my life: to be independent, to go by my own schedule, to live (and learn, and love, and laugh, and lose, and everything that goes with those things). It's just hard to reconcile that excitement, this beautiful feeling that this is the step I need and want to take to be who I want to be, with the fact that I have a life that I like, a life that I'm comfortable and happy in, which I'm going to have to leave behind to make this change.

In a way, I hope most people are going through what I'm going through. I know a lot of people are just excited, and it kind of surprises me, because I always thought I'd be one of them: ready to walk away and never look back and never regret a single moment that passed without me. I don't think that's true anymore. I still can't wait to go to college, to be a spider, and to live my life. I just don't think I'll be able to turn my back and pretend I don't miss my family and my hometown and my friends anymore.

Love, Love, Love,
Rachel Leigh

On Impatience and Opportunities

I'm a fan of the phrase "Patience is a virtue." Because, well, it is. I've been incredibly impatient and anxious recently, however, about an opportunity at Richmond that I'm really excited/terrified to hear back about. I received an email about two weeks ago about an opportunity to blog for the Spider Diaries, which is the student campus life blog.

The application process was pretty simple: 500-1000 words on who you are and why you chose Richmond. But now I have to wait while they process the other applications and make their decisions. To be honest, I really want this job. A lot.

Here is a list of reasons why I should get one of the Spider Diaries slots:

1. I already maintain a blog (this one), so I'm used to writing my thoughts down and posting them for the world to see. Plus, I've got some pretty loyal readers, some of whom are interested in UR, who I might be able to sway.


2. I'm fabulously fascinating, duh. (Just kidding.)


3. I've got a decent amount of free time this coming semester to both live life and blog about it.


4. I've been living for 18 years. I think I'm pretty good at it nowadays.


5. I've been blogging on and off for 5 years. I think I'm pretty good at it nowadays.


6. I'm going to be a Spider. I'm proud that I'm going to be a Spider. I'm really excited that I'm going to be a Spider.


7. I like talking.


8. I wrote my application post about spider waffles in the UR cafeteria, being an arachnophobe going to a school whose mascot is the spider, and wearing sunglasses at my graduation.


9. I wore sunglasses at my graduation. Cool, right? (That's me on the far left.)
   
10. I'm smart, driven, quirky, energetic, and snarky. I'm open-minded and forward-thinking, and with some of the changes UR has been trying to make to its image over the next few years, I'm a good representation of the slightly unusual Richmond candidate.

So, in conclusion:

a) I really want this job.
b) I'm terribly anxious to hear back about it.
c) I should be more patient.
d) EEEEP.

Spider-ly Yours,

Rachel Leigh

Follow-Up: On Walls

So, after I made my last post about my wall, I've been getting some feedback about my blog and my move and such.

First of all, it's really great to hear from people who actually like what I'm doing, so thanks guys. ^-^

Second of all, my friend Maya (she's a real sweetheart and an avid follower of ChartJackers and CharlieIsSoCoolLike (www.youtube.com/charlie) on YouTube) sent me a link to a really entertaining and related video, starring CharlieIsSoCoolLike himself, Mr. Charlie McDonnell, taking down...a wall very much like mine. Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uINiAbQdj0U . Maybe I'll make a video at some point chronicling some of the things coming down.

For the time being, though, you should watch Charlie being adorable about it.

On Change

Normally, I start my blog posts with a title and a clearly-defined purpose: “on…whatever.” Right now, if I were to do that, the resulting title will be “On…I’m not quite sure.” Maybe I’ll keep that title. For now, I just need to talk.

Last September, I was applying to college and I wrote an essay about a wall. Not THE Wall, not the Great Wall, but MY wall. My wall was a 68 square foot, multi-media (as in several media, not as in flashing, twinkling, music-playing) collage. I thought I had a picture of it. I don’t. I would take a picture now, but, as it turns out, in addition to my leaving for college in 2 weeks, my family is also moving.

So, long before I was ready, my precious wall has begun to come down. This is what my wall now currently looks like. About half of it remains on my now depressingly-periwinkle (previously not visible) wall. The other half is now in a silver plastic tub to be put in storage somewhere.

I guess it’s time for change. My wall has been a huge representation of who I am for the last two years, but I’m moving on to another point in my life, and maybe my wall won’t be the representation of who I am in this new stage.

Hey look, I found a slightly deeper angle! Sweet. I can now name this post something other than “On Wall.”

In Metamorphosis (Shedding my exoskeleton and growing some wings),
Rachel Leigh

On Extended Breaks and Razor Bumps

It has been over a month and I have yet to impart on you, my darling readers, any fun, moderately offensive, or sarcastic commentary on life, the universe, and everything.

I blame this partially on graduation and the rather hectic weeks leading up to it, partially on personal issues and illness, and partially on somewhat of a lack of things to say.

Part of me felt the need to blog anyway, but I found that nearly every time I tried, what surfaced was mostly just a commentary on whatever entry I had read that day on The Seventeen Magazine Project [http://www.theseventeenmagazineproject.com (which, while now finished, has been followed up by a new project run by the same somewhat fascinating mind, http://www.teenagerie.com)]. I found that while my interest in reading and frequenting other blogs increased and became more consistent, my ability to come up with somewhat original content was slightly hindered. (To be quite frank, the comments about my blog being apologetic, pseudo-intellectual, and offensive certainly didn't help).

I am (hopefully) proud to say that I am (hopefully) back, as the summer between senior year and college shows the potential for many reasons to rant and rave for a couple of paragraphs on a regular basis.

One of my more personal problems with the summer season is, I feel, actually pretty common. In all honesty, I do not like shaving. In fact, between razor bumps, cuts, dry skin, and general time consumption, I find it to be the least enjoyable part of my summer. Do not mistake me, I find smooth legs to be as entertaining as the next person, because soft skin is more touchable and fun. But summer finds me in need of shaving...pretty much everywhere. Bathing suits mandate a clean bikini line, t-shirts and tank tops and such require well-groomed underarms, and shorts, skirts, swimsuits, and pretty much any clothing suitable for 90 degree weather demand shaved legs. I, like many girls, find this whole process annoying and also find that, 9 times out of 10, my knees are still stubbly after shaving.

And you know what I've noticed? The only people who really seem to care are other girls or the ill-shaven themselves. The people asked to marvel at a well-shaven leg? Close female friends. The person most likely to comment on your hairy knees? Yourself. The one most likely to comment on your bikini line? ...Okay, a lot of the time that's a guy. I've just noticed that, assuming that nothing is absurdly grotesque, the only person who really cares about your shave is, well...yourself. So maybe it's not such a huge deal after all. No one gives a crap about your hairy knees. Go in peace.

Back and better than ever (hopefully),
Rachel Leigh

It has come to my attention that some people view my blog as pretentious, moderately offensive, and, to quote, "wannabe intellectual bullshit."

I recognize that with more than 500 friends on facebook, all of whom I annoy with links to my most recent entries, some people will have this view. I apologize. I have never claimed to be any more than a teenage girl with a penchant for pseudo-intellectual crap. I write about things that bug me and I do so in a way that I enjoy, and I apologize if I've offended anyone. I recognize that some of the things I say are controversial or uninformed, but I also write under the assumption that most people won't read what I've written. Even so, most posts written about things on which I'm not an expert have actually been researched. I am not a troll. I write what I feel, but I do not spew mindless, factless hate speech.

If you have a problem with what I've written, please tell me. I seek to offend no one.

On the other hand, if you don't like my blog title, you can suck it up and go elsewhere.

Love,
Rachel

On Emily Post and the Antiquated Art of Etiquette

Sitting outside on the grass today was a challenge. As spring has sprung, I have gotten into the habit that many girls my age adopt around this time of year: embracing the skirt and dress (sans tights or stockings) as the most fun and weather-friendly clothing option.


Needless to say, when one is wearing a skirt, her sitting options are severely limited. Especially if she is insistent on sitting on the ground. Basic etiquette says a young lady wearing a skirt must sit up, on a chair or other raised platform, with knees crossed. Let us return to our dear ground-sitting friend who wishes to be comfortable on the groud. Her options seem to be as follows:

1. Become a nuisance by stretching her legs out completely in front of her.


2. Risk the hopefully-avoided panty-flash by sitting either cross-legged or with her knees up in front of her.


3. Take a page from the Marilyn Monroe Book of Narrowly-Avoided Social Faux Pas, and use her hands to strategically hold down her skirt.

Why is it, though, that in 2010, we feel the need to characterize all of these sitting positions as "un-ladylike" and un-befitting of a young lady? I blame Emily Post. Born in 1873, and formally published as a "philosopher" of all things proper in 1922, Emily Post has been the go-to source for good manners for almost the last century. Though she died in 1960, the Emily Post Institute continues to release guides for proper manners and etiquette in social settings, at work, and even online.

It makes perfect sense, I suppose, to allow the 19th-century guidelines of someone who was born a decade after the Civil War to dictate the 21st-century Netiquette. After all, when much of interpersonal communication is now done over a screen, it makes sense to base its laws and rules on a set of standards established in the early days of the telephone.

Personally, I think Emily Post's world has been dead for years now.

When Playboy bunnies, rather than being hidden in paper bags in the back shelves of skeevy magazine racks, have their own television shows watched by over 2 million people, and the stars of Disney movies can continue their careers after naked photos of them have been leaked to the internet, it's time to stop judging girls by 1920's standards of propriety. So what if I want to wear a skirt without sitting like I have something shameful to hide? I'm not suggesting that girls should go around showing off their lady-bits to everyone they see. I'm just saying maybe it's time we stop judging girls who don't feel the need to subscribe to the old world etiquette of Emily Post.

Always lady-like (regardless of how I'm sitting),
Rachel Leigh

On Gaming

I hope you know what TED is. For the good of all mankind, I hope everyone with internet access knows what TED is. If you don't know what TED is, I hope for the good of all mankind, you go to this webpage (http://www.ted.com/) immediately and find out.

For a quick synopsis, TED is a website devoted to three things: Technology, Entertainment, and Design. The goal of TED is to promote the spread and growth of ideas through brief (usually 20 minutes or less) lectures on anything and everything related to technology, entertainment, and design.

Last year, one of my classes began to integrate TED lectures into the lesson plan, to help foster ideas and generate informed and empowered discussion. And, God, it works. Today, we began watching a talk by a female gamer (yes, they exist, as a matter of fact, according to a study by the Entertainment Software Association in 2004, they make up 34% of all gamers, and 43% of online gamers) who talked about the importance of playing video and online games in mental development in problem solving.

Jane McGonigal, PhD, the Gamer Girl to whom I am referring (smart, beautiful, AND a video game designer), said that she thinks the world's problems could be more easily solved if, worldwide, we spent 21 billion hours a week (that's approximately 1 half-hour per person) in search of gaming's fabled "epic win." This means, of course, that if all 6 billion people on the planet are expected to get their game on, we need...more Gamer Girls.

And this, my friends, is my point: if you know me at all, you know that I think girls can kick ass. From a young age, I was started on video games: Duck Hunt when I was very young, FPS's like Goldeneye 007 as I got older, Super Smash Brothers and its more developed counterpart, SSBB,... To this day, I frequently transport a device I call "The Brick"... a 1989 GameBoy, which, combined with Tetris, Super Mario Brothers, and Pokemon Yellow, served as my childhood.

There's some stigma against girls who play, especially in "guys games" like FPS's and, one of my favorites, Grand Theft Auto. It's almost like we've been relegated to games that need to have fairies or elves or princesses (though Link is pretty awesome and Peach kicks butt) in order to not be looked down on as inferior.

We don't need to be 34% of the gaming population, ladies. When women make up 51% of the WORLD population, we should be making up 51% of the gaming population...though maybe not WoW. I've seen too many people disappear down that path.

Girls...stop the mind games and pick up the video games. You'd be surprised what you can do. And if Jane McGonigal is right...maybe we can even save the world.

Stop reading and start playing,
Rachel Leigh

On Those Intolerant....Liberals?

My liberal friends: the Tea Party Movement has ruined us.

Now, before you go and get all confused on me, I am not saying that Tea Partiers have ruined America or ruined society...because I don't think they have. I think the Tea Partiers have turned us into monsters. Hateful, intolerant monsters.

I'll admit to having used the term "Tea Baggers" to describe the Tea Party Movement. It's shorter than saying "The Tea Party Movement," and I've admitted that I've gotten angry enough about things that have happened that I've used it as a derogatory term.

But when I realize I'm doing it, I stop myself. The reaction to the Tea Partiers has been hateful. Yes, there are racists in the Tea Party movement. Yes, the most outspoken voices (Limbaugh, Rand Paul, Glenn Beck) are crazies. But the fact of the matter is that there are some normal people who are scared by what has happened to the country they live in and have been dwarfed by the radical right, who really just want a different option from the ones they have now.

Let's face it: the very heart of the Tea Party movement is anti-corporate and anti...big. They don't want big business. They just want to know that their peaceful, quiet lives aren't going to be controlled by things bigger than themselves. At worst, you could call that misguided.

We've made the Tea Party so radical because they're under constant attack. When a child misbehaves, you get the best results for a change in behavior by ignoring them...neither positively or negatively reinforcing their behavior. It's basic psychology. When a movement misbehaves and we respond with press coverage and intolerant hate speech, the behavior is reinforced.

Let security handle the guns at rallies. That's their job. It doesn't need to be publicized and super-politicized. Let the hate speech sit with the people who are truly hateful. The solution to face a hateful movement is not by hating those people.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said that "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." Hate cannot drive out hate. It can't. The more hate in the world, the stronger the hatred and the grudges become.

D0n't blame the problems of the world on FOX News. Don't bad mouth people just because you believe their opinions are misguided. There is still a moderate Republican. Refusing to separate the individual from the voice of the party is an intolerant mistake we can't afford to keep making.

Peace and Love,
Rachel Leigh

On Blog Face-Lifts

So I've been playing around with a new layout, and with the exception of the fact that the title text does not adequately fit in its little box, I rather like this new minimalist one. I really like white text on black background. It's refreshing and it pops nicely.

Anyway...

Part of my blog tune-up included the input of an "About Me" section (YAAAAY!), a change in photo, and all sorts of other fun things.

I'm not sure why I want to give my blog a makeover, knowing few people will actually read it, but I like knowing that, were someone to stumble upon my humble blog, there might be reason enough to check it out a bit more.

On that note, to flesh out my About Me bio:
As of this moment, I am not yet 18, but will be in 6 days. I am a graduating high school senior in suburban Philadelphia with a strong interest in politics, especially international. In the fall, I'll be attending the University of Richmond, and who knows? Maybe you'll get a view of college from the inside. I'm a little scared to be going to school in the South when I'm a Yankee, born and bred, but I think I'll survive. I started blogging, or at least posting my personal thoughts on the web, when I was 14, and have done so on and off since then. I rarely post about my personal life. I love the internet. I currently have a laptop with a broken spacebar and "t" key. It also has Adobe PhotoShop CS4, which I love.

I think that's about it for now.

Love,
Rachel Leigh

On The Gospel According to Ann

Hello hello hello again, readers!

I'll admit it: this post is mostly a shout-out to my friend Jamie at http://www.theseventeenmagazineproject.com/. The idea is pretty simple: 30 days of fashion, beauty, and social commandments as issued by our Lord and Master, Ann Shoket, editor-in-chief of Seventeen Magazine.

I have a dirty secret: I'm a subscriber. Yes, I turn in my family's Coca-Cola Coke Points for 6 issues of garbage. I started getting it when CosmoGirl stopped printing and they moved my remaining subscription to Seventeen. Most of it serves as the basic material for my wall (including a really fantastic picture of Anthony Michael Hall smoking a joint in classy black Wayfarers from my favorite movie of all time, The Breakfast Club, from an article discouraging girls from hitting the THC), which is a 60-square-foot monstrosity of a collage done in a lot of shiny, semi-glossy magazine print.

Being my cynical self, though, I do have to question it. I keep most of my back-issues for collage material or just petty entertainment, but a lot of the girls and the lifestyles it promotes annoy me. For example, Whitney Port and Lauren Conrad have been cover girls for Seventeen multiple times in the last year. One issue I have, I blacked out both Whitney's eyes and mouth...which I kind of wish I could do to her in reality. These are two girls who gained fame for hook-ups, break-ups, and drama, and have used their not-so-earned fame to...what? Release a clothing line which they designed partially by themselves? Write two pieces of trashy teen literature about girls behaving exactly like they do? It's kind of shameful that these are the role models we as readers have been given.

What about Emma Watson's animal activism? She's beautiful, famous, AND has a cause that gives girls something to look up to. Or better yet, how about the young, female moguls and entrepreneurs they mention deep in the depths of the magazine in the 100-something pages, after the make-up tips and "Styles to Make You Happy"? Aren't THESE the girls we should be aspiring to be? Beautiful, independent, creative, strong?

So why Whitney and LC?

Waiting on the world to change,
Rachel Leigh

On Emotional Masochism (and why continuing the cycle is selfish)

Have you ever noticed how there are some people who seem to enjoy their own misery? It seems like someone who was nearly halfway as miserable as they say they are would go out of their way to avoid the people or things or places that upset them, yet they appear to want nothing more than to repeatedly wallow in things they know will do nothing more than depress them.

I just don't get it. Do people not realize that continuing to pick at scabs does not help them heal. It's not like the treatment for the flu is more flu virus or the treatment of post-war PTSD is to put people back in combat. You heal better and faster if you don't just keep poking the same old wounds. If you insist on doing that, there's a part of you (a part big enough to overcome your urge for emotional self-preservation) that for some reason (guilt, self-disgust, or irrational belief that things will suddenly change) wants to continue to suffer. And if that's the case, you have no right to be depressed.

When you're at the point when you're hurting or upsetting the people around you by your bad mood [which you will, because people who care about you are always going to be impacted by your emotions (you treat people worse, are less personable, and generally drain good moods when you are depressed)], it becomes selfish to continue to wallow in your own misery. To quote a terrible commercial, "Who does depression hurt? Everyone." Everyone who comes into contact with a depressed person suffers, so continuing to depress yourself when you could very easily desist the behavior which causes the depression is incredibly unfair to anyone who cares about you.

Cynically yours,
Rachel Leigh

On...Trending?

Okay, I'll admit it, internet community:
I'm a trending junkie.



Seems weird, right? But my desktop homepage [at least for the shared computer (I personally am an iGoogle nut)] includes the Yahoo! "Trending Now" box, and I check it several times a day.



Can someone please explain to me the sudden surge in searches for Val Kilmer?

I love trending because it gives me some sort of insight into the global universal consciousness, which is pretty damn cool, if I do say so myself. As an attempted intellectual and concerned global citizen, however, I have to voice a little concern that the brilliant technology which allows us to tap into the international collective overmind has revealed that the most pressing thing on the minds of many, many people around the world is...Pee-Wee Herman? Really?


I certainly wouldn't expect people to be searching for the answers to the great questions of life, the universe, and everything (because we all already know that's 42 anyway), but I feel like this kind of opportunity, the ability to find out what is on the minds of the world at large at any given moment by searching their searches is rather wasted on Heidi Montag's latest plastic surgery (she's already 98% silicone, is her new boob job REALLY that important?) or the fact that Miley Cyrus was caught on tape grinding at a party (WAIT, teenagers dance suggestively? Where has my wholesome America of the 1950s gone?!?!).


My point is pretty simple: I like trending. I like knowing what the people of the world are thinking right at any given moment, and trending analysis is a pretty fantastic way to achieve that. But come on, international cyber community: couldn't you have something a little more worthwhile on your minds to search for?


Like...my blog? (Kidding)


Psychically tapping into the global consciousness,
Rachel Leigh

Apologies

As you can tell, seeing as the title of this post does not begin with the word "On," it does not have a topic other than to apologize for my lack of posting. I guess I don't have anything to snark about. Sorry :(