2012: The Year in Review

2012 in Review: Or, as I like to call it, a year in the life of a grad student. I don't really remember specifics much beyond the births and deaths.  My day-to-day life was just...there.  Same job, same school, same house, same car.  Not a banner year.

Although, this was the year of INCREDIBLE ELECTRONICS KISMET.
I got an iPhone.
Got a new iPad.
Won a Kindle Fire for $4 from an arcade machine.
Found a Wii at a garage sale for $20.
Managed to snag a Refurbished iMac for Christmas.

Also the Vera Bradley, T-Shirt, and Toy collections got a little out of hand.  A little.

January * February * March * April 
The time in which I learned that taking Teen Library Materials and Reader's Advisory at the same time is a VERY BAD IDEA.  I read 5 books a week. Every week.  That's a lot of words, people.
Got a new tattoo.
Got a new ear piercing.  Learn that 11 is the magic number of piercings before strangers start commenting on your ear hardware.

May * June
Exhausted from schoolwork.  To hell with school, decide to have fun over the summer.
Make bromance with Kat official.  Fake wedding officiated by Tiny Hulk.
Have fun (Color Run!)

July
Have fun (Chicago! Six Flags! Vera Bradley Outlet! IKEA!).

August
Have fun (Dallas! Zombie Run!)

September * October * November
Back to school.  Commence more reading.  Write papers that progressively get worse as the semester goes on and still manage to get good grades.
Officially decide I have a work spouse.
Start fake fight between bromantic life partner and work wife.  Hilarity ensues.

December
Relax.  Prep for school.  Hunt for apartments.  Work.

And some list-y items:
Favorite Book of 2012: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  I extolled my love for it on my <a href="http://1year100books.blogspot.com/2012/08/52100-gone-girl.html">other blog</a>, but man on man, this book was just something else.  I haven't felt so....viscerally about a book in a long time.  I love books where characters are awful to each other, yet you relate to them despite their awfulness.  I HIGHLY recommend the read, especially before the movie out.

Honorable mention goes to Lois Lowry's Son, the final book in The Giver series.  Great conclusion to the series (conclusively answers what happens at the end of The Giver while still managing to allow it to retain the mystery that made it so popular in the first place.

Favorite TV Show of 2012: Once Upon A Time.  This show gives me the feels.  ALL THE FEELS.  However, How I Met Your Mother comes in a VERY close second, if for nothing else than Barney's declaration of love and subsequent proposal to Robin.

Favorite Movie of 2012: Pitch Perfect. I didn't know much about this movie when I went to see it, and just thought it was going to be a cutesy send-up of the college acapella scene.  BUT IT WAS SO MUCH MORE.  Not only was it clever and funny, but it depicted POSITIVE FEMALE RELATIONSHIPS.  That is, the women in that movie behaved as women actually act in real life.  Nobody cheats to win, nobody steals somebody's boyfriend.  It demonstrates how strong personalities often overrule weaker personalities, even if the former is wrong.  And when the group finally imploded, they solved their problems by TALKING THEM OUT.  No deus ex machina, just good old fashioned conversation.  I just loved it.

Best Musical Discovery: iTunes Match.  My one true love.  Haha.  I usually reserve this space for the artist or group that I like the best, but I simply couldn't think of one this year.  But I got iTunes Match in March (in preparation for getting my iPhone in April) and holy crap, it is SO CONVENIENT to have all your music right there on your phone whenever you want it.

Favorite Song of 2012: Hands down, "Drive By" by Train.  I realize that they lyrics are cheesy, but you totally have to respect a band that clearly knows they are famous enough to get away with writing the most ridiculous lyrics possible.  I also really liked "50 Ways to Say Goodbye," because I can remember being positively entranced by the lyric "Fell and no one caught her" the first time I heard it.

Most Valuable Life Lesson in 2012:
Not so much a lesson as a reminder: Que sera, sera.  It's why it's tattooed on my wrist now.

And why will 2013 be awesome?
Moving out of my parents's house and in with the bromantic love of my life, Kat.
I will finish my Master's Degree IF IT KILLS ME.  Which at this point, I highly suspect I will.

Archery Crazy

2012 is the year of ARCHERY MADNESS.

I mean, really, archery plays a significant role in SEVERAL movie tentpoles this summer:
The Hunger Games
The Avengers
Brave

Not to mention it's getting some play in TV as well, in two new shows for the fall:
Arrow (CW)
Revolution (NBC)

I mentioned this on Facebook the other day, but I felt the topic merited further examination. What is it about archery that we find so appealing?

When I was in middle school, by far the most popular intramural sport was archery. I mean, there's something inherently badass about shooting a bow and arrow. Compared to other projectile weapons, there's some degree of skill involved. It's not as simple as "point and shoot." There's proper breathing, form, etc....not to mention that when wearing the proper gear, you do look like a badass. Okay, well maybe not a badass, but you certainly look like you know what you're doing, and that adds badass points.

And it's not like it's some new craze, either. Robin Hood is closely associated with a bow and arrow, and I think we can all agree that the most badass scene in The Odyssey (especially the Armand Assante version) is when Odysseus strings his bow and is like "Fuck yeah, it's me. Prepare to die." And then proceeds to kill everyone.

That scene didn't sound so dark in my head, but then again, ancient times were a very dark place.

However, I think there's a big caveat to this archery craze. It's only cool in context. I mean, compared to every other Avenger, Hawkeye is freaking lame. I mean, sure, what he does with a bow and arrow is pretty cool, but when he's standing next to ScarJo and her 9mm Glock, even his badass arrows seem ill advised. Like, dude, just use a gun. It's way more convenient. And you can carry way more ammo. I mean, compared to guns, using a bow and arrow in a FIGHT AGAINST AN ALIEN INVASION seems...well, it just seems like you're showing off instead of being practical. Also, next to Iron Man, you look practically useless. Even Captain America, super soldier, uses a gun. I'm just saying.

But in context, it can be the most badass thing ever. In Brave, Merida participating in an archery competition serves as a brilliant show of defiance:


See? Totally badass.

I suspect that Arrow might have the same problem as Hawkeye. Sure, Green Arrow, it's cool what you're doing and all, but YOU ARE FIGHTING A DUDE WITH A GUN. Your bow and arrow just looks stupid next to that. But in Revolution (which takes place in a world without electricity), a crossbow makes more sense (guns don't need electricity to work, but fabricating bullets by traditional means takes a lot more energy and time than fabricating arrows. Just saying).

I guess my point is that archery is ostensibly cool. We all think that the ability to shoot a bow and arrow is awesome. Watching it happen is cool. But in the context of a broader world, archery can be seen as, well, antiquated. A vestige of a simpler time, and we believe that as society, we've moved beyond that. (Well, sort of. I know people bow hunt and many view that as "real" hunting. It's a greater challenge. But I think the pride in that has to do with that whole back to nature thing that some people are in to). But in other contexts, it's the most badass thing ever. It just depends.

I totally forgot until just now that I saw an archer on America's Got Talent the other night.

See? ARCHERY CRAZY.

ETA: Snow White almost shot the Evil Queen with a bow and arrow on Once Upon a Time. MOAR MADNESS.

I'm Always Terrible at this Resolution

Seriously? Did I just straight up forget to blog last week? Sigh. I've made this "blog once a week" resolution every year for the past four years and I don't think I've ever sucked so hard at something IN MY LIFE. I mean honestly.

But, to be fair, between my last post and now, I've been a busy little bee. And by busy I mean working and procrastinating (heavily) on all the reading I'm supposed to be doing for school.

Not unlike what I'm doing right now.

Much Love, Dolly Parton

So I've been on a bit of a Dolly Parton kick lately. I think it started with this article on Jezebel about how Dolly Parton seemed impervious to the fashion police. Which is totally true. It's not that Dolly isn't tacky--she owns that tackiness and makes it part of her image.

I've always loved Dolly Parton. My childhood Christmases are marked by Power Rangers toys and that immortal Dolly Parton-Kenny Rodgers hit, "I'll Be Home With Bells On." Which my brother and I listened to on my mom's record player. Nice, I know. And if we were listening to records, we always had to break out that other awesome classic, "We Didn't Start The Fire" by Billy Joel. Okay, not very Christmassy, but it is what it is. Anyways, my point is that I've always thought Dolly was awesome, and the appreciation started early.

Warning: What is about to follow makes my childhood sound sketch. I can assure you it wasn't.

So my favorite movie as a little kid was Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. I must have seen that movie at least 50 times. TO BE FAIR TO MY MOTHER, we thought the movie was called "Chicken Ranch" and we were watching the tv-edited version that my mom had recorded. When I finally saw the original version of the movie when I was about 13 or 14, I turned to her, completely bewildered that she had let me and my brothers watch this movie. Repeatedly. Her response: "YOU LIKED THE SONGS, OKAY? YOU HAD NO IDEA WHAT THIS MOVIE WAS ABOUT!!!"

Okay, we really didn't, that's true. But now that I'm older and wiser and do know what the movie is about, it's entirely possible that I love it EVEN MORE.

Why, you ask? Well, first of all, the music really is amazing. And second of all, IT'S A MUSICAL THAT TAKES PLACE IN A WHOREHOUSE AND BURT REYNOLDS IS A COWBOY WHAT MORE DO YOU NEED FROM A MOVIE.

I digress.

But now that I'm getting into Dolly's music for real, I'm starting to develop a whole new appreciation for her.

Take the song "Jolene," which, to be honest, I first heard on Glee. DON'T BE HATIN. But as I listen to Dolly's version, I can see what a complex song it is. This is a song about a girl who has some serious self esteem issues and knows it. And she knows that her man could leave her at any time, so she's begging this tramp Jolene to not stir the pot. And ostensibly, this makes this girl sound like a total schmuck, but the way Dolly sings it, you can really hear the desperation in her voice and know that she's barely holding it together. It's a song about a vulnerable time in someone's life, and I think we can all relate to being that desperate.

And then, of course, there's Dolly's most well-known song, "I Will Always Love You." I never really liked the Whitney version. Too 90s-power-ballad for me. But hearing Dolly sing it just breathes a whole new life into the song. Whitney sings it with such fierce determination, like this man was the love of her life and she's letting him know it; baring her soul for the world to see. More often than not, this song is used to show the connection between two people.

But the song is just as much about disconnect as it is about connection. It's far more introspective than Whitney's version suggests. Dolly's version gets this. Her singing is much more thoughtful, as if she's singing more to herself than the ex-lover. She's telling herself those things as much as she's telling him. It's quite deep, actually.

Anyways, that's my little geek-out about Dolly Parton for you. She is awesome. That is all.

Be A Sister

A few months ago, I posted 10 Awesome Things They Don't Tell You About Being a Girl Scout, which was prompted by a news story I read about how the Girl Scouts were allowing transgendered individuals into the program. I was never so proud in my life to be a Girl Scout Alum.

And then I saw this:

This girl, who says she wants to take a stand but is unwilling to allow comments and tapes over her troupe number, is so unbelievably ignorant that it saddens me greatly. And as a sister, this hurts. I mean, I know this is one person, but I really thought that Girl Scouts could avoid the drama that Boy Scouts often face. And not to mention, this girl is TOTALLY uniformed about the concept of gender and what it means to be transgendered. At times, she's bordering on accusing young boys of a conspiracy to join Girl Scouts just so they can assault young girls. Okay, so she doesn't say that exactly, but it's totally implied. The Girl Scout Law starts out by saying that girls should be honest and fair--and this girl is anything but fair. She only presents one side of the argument and doesn't even seem to consider the other.

What I learned from Girl Scouts is that they want you to be yourself. It's all about supporting your fellow sister on the INSIDE, regardless of what her outside looks like.

Women have been on the forefront of so many progressive movements. It is totally and completely within the spirit of Girl Scouts to support the LGBTQ community.

I was kind of down about this, until I saw this response:

And my faith in humanity was restored. His argument is from the heart, and he uses both logic and emotion in tandem to completely shut the girl in the video down. So thank you, kind sir. Way to be the change you wish to see.

Girl Scouts is not about ignorance and bigotry. It is not about exclusion--and if you look at the history of Girl Scouts, it was formed so girls could have a place where they WOULDN'T be excluded. This girl has obviously missed the spirit of Girl Scouts. And I hope that she finds it soon.

As Good a Time as Any

The time has come: for me to commit to The Allisonian Institution, fully. I have decided to blog here at least once a week in 2012.

I'm no stranger to this blogging thing. I had a LiveJournal for...well, ever, but that community had a time and a place for me, and that time is mostly over. I still value and treasure the friends I've made over there, but it seems like as I change, my writing habits need to do so as well. It's not like I don't have a lot to talk about--I've got PLENTY to talk about. But I never knew where to start. I felt my first quality posts had to be something special. But if I keep waiting for that something special, I'm never going to actually write anything.

So I figure now is as good a time as any. However, this first post of 2012 will actually be about 2011. I've done a year-end meme religiously since 2004, but that meme came from LJ and I feel that I may have outgrown it as well. So I'm just going to do the summary-ish thing I've seen floating around other blogs. And I may add in a few of my favorite questions from the old meme, because well, it did have its merits.

2011 in Review:
2011 was tough for me. I mean, nothing wildly dramatic happened (you know, in the grand scheme of things), but it was just tough, especially during the first part of the year. I was out of college, but most (if not all) of my friends were still in school. Okay, well, I was still in school, but it was online and that's just a whole different animal. And then there was work...oh work. But through all that, I still managed to end the year on a positive note. And that is totally fine by me :D

January
-Started graduate school for library science.
-Got a job as a page at the library (the same job I had in high school. As you may be able to ascertain, not the best thing for my morale).
-The Monster High obsession began to germinate.
-Met my lovely work wife, Rachel :D
-Become obsessed with Community, the greatest TV show you're not watching.

February
-I literally cannot remember anything significant happening in February. We'll call it a wash.

March
-I start watching the People's Court. My life becomes very sad very fast.
-The Fab Four reunites for the first time in years. Hilarity ensues.

April
-Applied for and was turned down for promotion #1
-Read part of my senior thesis at Scholar's Forum! And won the creative writing prize, thank you very much.

May
-Turned 22! Got an iPad <3
-Walked at my college graduation. Almost passed out from dehydration.

June
-Was in the Library Information Systems class FROM HELL. Well, it wasn't hellish as much as it was pointless. It was a class about technology and we were using a book from 2002. AND I PAID $1000 FOR THIS. And I'm sure other things happened this month, but all I can remember is this STUPID CLASS. And the fact that I worked ALL THE TIME.

July
-Turned down for promotion #2
-Started working Sundays at the library (it's the one thing I miss from my page job)
-Laptop battery craps out on me. Vow to only buy desktops from now on.
-Dressed up as a cow for free food at Chick-fil-A. Feel no shame
-Bought my first car! A 2008 Ford Escape, named Firefly. Admittedly, she does love to om nom gas, but there's something about driving an SUV that makes it all worth it.

August
-Turned down for promotion #3
-Bought the most perfect Blythe doll, courtesy of the lovely Alice :)
-Had to buy a new tire. Discover true joys of car ownership.

September
-FINALLY GOT A PROMOTION!!!!
-Bought my tickets for BlytheCon 2012!!
-Salted Caramel Mocha Frappucino at Starbucks. Enough said.
-Declared Literary Overlord of the World

October
-Cards won the World Series. Hells yes.
-Started my new job at my new branch. Love it there, and library love is back :)
-Was Carmen Sandiego for Halloween. Total awesomesauce.

November
-Came to the startling but stunningly beautiful realization that I am perfectly content with being by myself. Just because I'm alone doesn't mean I'm lonely :)

December
-Had surgery to open up my nasal passages. Will know if this was a good investment come allergy season.
-Wrote a 10-page, single spaced paper in a little under 12 hours. Officially decided that grad school turned me into a MAJOR procrastinator.
-Just generally enjoyed my life. After an emotionally draining year, this was really nice.

And some list-y items:
Favorite Book of 2011: Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares. I was kind of "over" the whole Sisterhood of the Traveling pants series, but I felt like I had to read this book out of obligation. BEST OBLIGATORY READ EVER.

Favorite TV Show of 2011: Well, Community was my best television discovery, but Bones finally gave me everything I wanted and more this year. I think the advantage has got to go to Community, though, considering I watched something like 19 episodes in a 24-hour period. Don't do the math. It's just sad.

Favorite Movie of 2011: What's Your Number? Okay, so this movie is textbook chick flick, but that's part of the reason I loved it. I think the reason I liked it so much is that I saw it right after I saw Bridesmaids, which I feel is HORRIBLY overrated. I kept reading all these reviews about how Bridesmaids was empowering to women and that's how women actually act and...well, no. I felt like it was self-consciously trying to prove it could play with the boys. But What's Your Number didn't pretend to be anything it wasn't. The relationships in that movie were more realistic than in Bridesmaids, and I don't know. I felt it captured certain aspects of the female psyche far better than Bridesmaids did. And it was just fun! Also, naked Chris Evans.

Best Musical Discovery: Tough call. I don't think there's one person who I just fell totally and completely in love with every song of theirs. This year, it was more individual songs that I feel in love with.
"Love is Requited" by Elisa
"Wicked World" by Laura Jansen
"Colors" by April Smith and the Great Picture Show
"Up Up and Away" by Lights
"My Racing Thoughts" by Jack's Mannequin
"Arms" by Christina Perri

Favorite Song of 2011: "What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger)" by Kelly Clarkson. So it wasn't released until late in the year, but this is my JAM. Plus, it does sum up my epiphany from November: "Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone."

Most Valuable Life Lesson in 2011: Learn to enjoy things as they are. So, admittedly, I was inspired by an episode of Bones for this life lesson, but it seemed like as soon as I would make peace with whatever situation I found myself in, my issues were resolved. It's tempting to try and change things, and sometimes I do feel an urgency to get things done NOW. But it's important to remember that there are certain experiences that we're meant to have. And if we don't take the time to enjoy them, then we won't get the lessons we're meant to learn.

And why 2012 will be awesome?
In just six days, I've finished my first real crafting project, successfully started a 365, and bought a Kindle. Boom goes the dynamite.

10 Awesome Things They Don't Tell You About Being a Girl Scout

1) Selling cookies becomes WAY easier once you hit high school. I mean, from 1st-9th grade I sold maybe 18 boxes a year, tops (my parents weren't into the whole bringing order forms to work thing). I hit high school and BAM, 150+ boxes a year.

2) You develop cookie snobbery. I think we can all agree that Little Brownie is clearly the superior bakery. I once paid something like $6 a box just to get some SAMOAS, not those "Caramel DeLites" or whatever the heck they're called.

3) The Girl Scouts recognize that you were Born This Way. It really is an institution where no matter gay, straight or bi, lesbian, transgendered life, they really do accept girls for who they are.

4) Sashes and vests will work awesome as Halloween costumes throughout your life.

5) Gold Award pins? Made of real gold. And you don't even have to buy them. That's legit.

6) People will marvel at your ability to rifle off (and understand) long acronyms. GSCGSL represent!

7) While it may seem unnecessary when you're seven, the buddy system has practical real life applications. Frat party? BUDDY SYSTEM. Sketch dude at the bar? BUDDY SYSTEM. Black Friday shopping? BUDDY SYSTEM.

8) From its inception, Girl Scouts has always been run by, for, and about women. For an organization created in 1912, this is incredible.

9) When you're 18, there's nothing more impressive than saying you've been a member of an organization for over half your life. And considering that the only other thing I've done for half my life is watch Big Brother, it sounds REALLY impressive.

10) Although they might not realize it, it's the first sorority for many girls.

For this girl, it was her one and only :)

I will do my best to be
Honest and fair,
Friendly and helpful,
Considerate and caring,
Courageous and strong, and
Responsible for what I say and do,
And to
respect myself and others,
respect authority,
use resources wisely,
make the world a better place, and
be a sister to every Girl Scout.