Morgantown Weather!

Here is my widget forecasting the next week of my life. Could it be any better than this!? 

Sorry, I am just really happy about this.

P.F. Chang's Should Be A Religion

Umm holy cow. P.F. Chang's is AMAZING! Definitely my new favorite place to eat.

I went to Pittsburgh for an over night holiday of sorts to visit Kate. We went to P.F. Chang's that night to vent about our horrible weeks. Well, I was the one ranting I should say because this past week was definitely one of the worst ones I have had in a long time. 

Anyway, after Kate and I cracked each other up saying the stupidest things, we finally went to bed...where I slept like a baby for the first time in a really long time. However, yesterday I had a kink in my neck which was made worse because I played tennis on it in the cold air, and pulled it. Today it is a little better but it still hurts during certain motions. :( 

Anyway if you want to buy me an awesome Christmas gift, a $500 gift card to P.F. Chang's would be the perfect gift!

Also, I will be posting my wish list again this year and everyone can take heed. I'm stingy.

iLove Baltimore

So I just got back from a weekend in Baltimore with some good friends! I have to say it was definitely one of the best weekends I have had in a really long time.

Andrew and I wanted to have a weekend to just relax and chill out, so Baltimore seemed like the most obvious choice. We met up at my Dad's first so I could leave my car there, and took one car to this ridiculously nice hotel right on the Harbor.

Friday night we went to the Apple Store and I got an iPhone! Cellular One has been a really bad service, so for those of you interested don't get it. Anyway, we spent basically all weekend trying to hack the iPhone, so I could use it with Cellular One and didn't have to change plans. In the end we both (and by we, I mean Andrew) failed miserably. I decided that I would just go ahead and get AT&T. What the hell? 

Anyway, we met up with Laura, which was a lot of fun. We went to lunch on the Harbor, followed by a Starbucks stop in Barnes & Noble, before we walked Laura back to the Metro stop.

But anyway, we all had a great time this weekend, even though Laura was only with us for a few hours on Saturday. Hopefully, we'll be able to hang out with her longer than that in the future. I definitely foresee relaxing weekends away from WVU, at the Inner Harbor happening again in my future. 

Peace out homies!

J. Bernard Machen's Response To Me

So I wrote a letter to president J. Bernard Machen, expressing my personal opinion on the videos and reports regarding that disgusting portrayal of law enforcement (see post below). Below is my letter to the president followed by his response.

My letter to President Machen:

President Machen,
I am a student in my fourth year at West Virginia University, and
would like to express my view on the subject of Matt Meyer's arrest.
Though I am not sure where you stand, and I doubt that my e-mail will
contribute to any sort of conclusion of your opinion on the subject,
I feel that as a 21 year old college student, I am affected by this
circumstance, albeit indirectly.

I was not there during the situation, so I can only attest to what
I've seen through media outlets, such as The Huffington Post, as well
as your official letter to students on the home page of the
University of Florida.

I am sure that there are many complicated issues and rights
surrounding this situation, but I could not understand what Mr. Meyer
was doing to deserve being seized by police. Yes, I've watched the
video over and over again, but still can not see any clear evidence
of any illegalities. Though asking questions is usually frowned upon
by many governing forces, Mr. Kerry seemed more than willing to
answer the question, and not threatened by the situation, in my opinion.
Because I am an English major here at WVU, my free speech First
Amendment right is constantly exercised and encouraged. I also feel
that everyone, including Mr. Meyer, who as far as I know attends the
University of Florida, deserves this right equally.

After the dust has settled I would only hope that you, the
administration of the University of Florida, and/or Sen. John Kerry
would give Mr. Meyer the opportunity to finish asking his question,
about which he felt so passionately.

Thank you for taking the time out of what I am sure is your very
busy, and hectic schedule to read this e-mail. I look forward to
hearing from you soon.


Respectfully,
John N. Thrasher

President Machen's response to me:

Good afternoon,

Your message was among those I have received since Monday afternoon when
University of Florida student Andrew Meyer was tasered and arrested at a
town hall forum held by Sen. John Kerry.

I want you to know I hear you loud and clear and share many of your
concerns. What I regret most of all about the incident that occurred
during a political forum is the lack of civil discourse, which is the
keystone of an academic institution such as ours.

We have begun several steps to gain a full understanding of how events
unfolded on Monday and to determine what protocols need changing.
Students and faculty will play an active role in this process, and every
aspect will be open to public review. We have not and will not assign
blame until the investigation is complete.

Updates will be posted regularly on www.ufl.edu.

We appreciate your patience as we allow the process to take its course.

Sincerely,

J. Bernard Machen
President, University of Florida

Seems a bit like a generated response, but it did take a few days before I received it so maybe he did actually write it to me. Who knows. I thought it was worth mentioning at least for those of you that read the blog earlier.

A Disgusting Portrayal of Law Enforcement

There are a lot of stupid things happening in this country, and I wanted to share some of it for you. Some of you think this guy was being a jackass. I thought for a second that yeah, maybe he was a bit emotional, but then I watched the entire question being asked. The police follow this guy to the microphone before he even opens his mouth. Even John Kerry says that it's alright and he would like to listen to the rest of the question. 

I'll follow this up with as much info as I can find, because it made me sick to watch it.

Click here to read the article that makes the most sense on the Huffington Post.

The 2007 MTV Video Music Awards

...were lame.

MTV hyped the shit out of Britney Spears' performance that was to open the show today. I was actually really excited, considering that there were at least 3 other performances from her that really stuck out in my head. This one was LAME! First, the camera begins with her just standing off-center on the stage. She actually loses her balance a little bit as she starts to walk, if you notice. Feel free to check it out here on YouTube. Then, she just walked across the stage...then back...and then the song was over. 

This could have been a huge way for her to come back but she definitely didn't do anything impressive at all.

I turned the TV off after I saw that disaster.

The Spaghetti Fiasco

Man, it's so hot today! I am not sure what the temperature was outside. It was twice as hot inside, because the green house effect turns my home in to an oven, and for whatever reason my grandparents (who usually have issues with the temperature) always decide to never turn the air conditioning on. It's really annoying. I'm so used to living at my apartment in Morgantown, which either has the heat on all the time if it's winter, or the air on when it's summer. And if it's in between, I at least have the fan running to keep the air flowing, you know? Anyway, enough of this nonsense. 

What did I do today, you ask? Well, I woke up at Matt's, as usual. For whatever reason I've been staying there a lot more lately. Actually, the reason I stay there so often can best be explained in the following situation that occurred the very instant I walked in to my house for the first time this morning. Here's how it went:

Scene: my grandmother, my cousin Aurora who is 3, and me

Grandmother: "Oh look Aurora, there's Johnny! She's eating spaghetti Johnny!"

Me: "Awesome, that's what I made for dinner last night!" [smiles]

Grandmother: [not looking at me] "Yeah, and Johnny doesn't know how to clean up after himself, and tell Johnny that you do a better job of cleaning up after yourself than he does, Aurora!" [still not looking at me].

Me: [rolls eyes and sighs] [exeunt]

End scene.

Like what the hell? First of all, let it be known that I cleaned my damn spaghetti situation up. I dirtied one plate, one fork, and a pan...all of which were rinsed and put in the sink. Sometimes, I think that my family just thinks of things that aren't big deals, to bitch at me about because I do nothing wrong. I'm not just saying that. I mind my business, and I live a normal life.

Excuse the hell out of me for making spaghetti and then cleaning up after myself.

Anyway, summer is closing, and here is how much I have finished for my upcoming 4th of college: 0.

Enough said.

Tribute to Friends: Brittney Tyler

So I know I've done this before...I think back around Christmas or New Year's maybe, whenever I was feeling sentimental.

I was checking out Rachel's MySpace blog, and she had a very nice piece about her friends that helped her come out of her shell and make her who she is, and I was really inspired to write about my friends again.

Because, it's very true that my friends are my family. I don't think to separate the two at all. I love them both with my whole heart and would do anything for any of them. 

Brittney, in particular has been one of the most stabilizing forces in my life, if not the most stabilizing. The picture added to this entry was the first picture (as far as either of us know) of the two of us. We believe it was taken at our 7th grade Washington Middle School music concert. Brittney plays the flute and I play the cello and were in band and orchestra respectively.

I met Brittney in gym class in 6th grade. We sat next to each other on the floor because our last names were near each other (Thrasher, Tyler naturally). I didn't particularly like gym class. I mean I loved being athletic, I just didn't enjoy being sweaty and then having to go to other classes and such that day. But, I had a huge crush on Brittney, so she made going to gym class rather nice.

I would try to impress Brittney with my humor (what else?). I thought that by talking to a fictional character that was a ghost named Duke, would make her laugh. She would turn around and look at me, and I would be in mid conversation with something that was not there. She didn't think it was funny at the time, and in fact thought that I was really creepy and probably schizophrenic. In retrospect, it is one of the funniest things we've ever heard.

So apparently she got over it because in 8th grade, we held hands at a football game. Apparently we did it to make other people talk because everyone thought we were dating at the time anyway. We were basically like Brangelina, so...in your face.

Then we thought the other was disgusting by 9th grade, and went to a Blink-182 concert at the 9:30 Club, which was awesome! 

Anyway, Brittney and I have been through so much together. There is just something about being friends with someone so long that really makes you appreciate life. I have been so blessed to have met her, because she has completely been the single biggest influence in my life. She motivates me, and surprises me every time I talk to her, still. Our story never ends, and I know it never will, so Brittney, if you are reading this, I love you so much and thank you for everything that we have shared together.

A Giant Monkey

What the hell is this and why is it at a car lot?

Flat Canday!

Well, I went to Pittsburgh two nights ago with Matt. He knew some friends up there and so we had nothing better to do, and went.

It was a lot of fun. We stayed at Corey's apartment which was right across the street from this place called Tobacco Outlet which apparently sells cigars and "Canday." I thought it was absolutely hilarious, so enjoy that.

We ended up at some trashy strip club, where I got bitched at because Matt and his friend Bryce didn't tip. All I remember were a bunch of vaginas and nasty old men. I decided to go out to my car and see if I could get a wireless signal on my laptop. It was that bad.

So the ride home the next day was eventful. We drove to Morgantown which was half-way and had lunch. Then, I was about 20 minutes from Cumberland and I hear a really loud grinding noise. Then suddenly, I knew that it was my tire. Keep in mind that before this happened, when my car would hit 60m.p.h. my steering wheel would shake...to the point that it would hurt my arm. But what do I know! It'll be fine right!?

Wrong!

I pulled over to see my tired completely flat. I know how to change a tire, but as it turns out Honda makes it impossible for one to change one's tire. We got the spare out and realized that we didn't have a jack. So, I'm on the phone with my grandfather (ironically, his name is Jack...) and I'm like, "We don't have a jack! Should I call the police!?" I'm also screaming because I'm 3 feet from tractor trailers off of I-68. As I'm on the phone with him, we find the jack...which is BOLTED to the car apparently. So anyway we ended up getting it unstuck, 20 minutes later. 

Then, after we had the damn thing jacked up (haha) we couldn't get the damn wheel cover off! So, we spent another 20 minutes trying to find something that would pry the wheel cover off and eventually did. The last 20 minutes of the experience was happening in mild rain, I mind you.

Needless to say it has been a very interesting last couple of days. But, you know it's all in good fun! Yeah it sucks that my tire blew out but at least it didn't happen on some highway in Pittsburgh. Oh yeah, Pittsburgh...could you get some signs please? Thanks that would be great.

Blogger sucks, so check out the picture of Matt and my flat here!