Murphy's Law Gone Right

Viva La Vida

So after a ridiculously relaxing 2 weeks at home in which I hung out with my best friends from home, I had to pack up all of my stuff before moving to DC.  I can't remember if I mentioned this last time, but while my time at home was relaxing, I actually ended up getting sick right before moving.  What is with me, sickness, finals, and traveling?  We clearly do not go together.  In any case, it was better that happened at home than in DC.  So far living in DC has been really fun!  I don't know the city that well yet, but I'm learning about Georgetown and kind of know the Dupont and Farragut North/Golden Triangle area (the business section).

My house is in pretty much the best location ever, I'll be honest.  Although, it's location is kind of dangerous considering I live a block away from pretty much every place you might want to spend your money.  The two main streets in Georgetown are M Street and Wisconsin.  I live one block up on a street that parallels M.  So literally, if you walk to down to M then on the corner is Starbucks, there's Quidoba (the equivalent of Chipotle), Sweet Greens--a great salad and froyo place (like PinkBerry), Dean and Deluca, and Pizza Paradiso--they make gourmet pizza.  Also there are some of my favorite stores to shop at and some amazing boutiques.  To add to the amazingness of my location, there is a public pool 4 blocks away from my house and it's free if you are a DC resident or go to school here.  I couldn't have picked a better place if I tried searching for months.  The house was kind of mess when everyone first moved in here, but it's really shaping up and looking nice.  You can see it in the videos below, I would have had more, except it is very rare that no one is in my house...it's normally pretty noisy so I was trying to take advantage of the short amount of time I had.

Also, my work is really interesting.  I work for an organization that helps to elect pro-choice democratic women.  Most of my stuff is confidential, so I can't really discuss it, but my department is a lot of fun.  All of my supervisors are really nice, and we have a good time.  Last week they brought bagels from supposedly one of the best places in DC and in the past have bought us all lunch, starbucks, and milkshakes.  I'll be honest, I don't think all of the departments have as much fun as we do.  We have weekly meetings and my responsibility during the meeting is to provide the Celebrity Report.  Give them weekly updates on what's going on in the world of celebrities.  Pictures are always a plus!  I work in Major Gifts so I get to help research donors and write up profiles.  It's really interesting, and I'll talk more about this later.

While I love living in DC and working, I miss Hopkins and all my friends.  I've been writing emails and talking online to a lot of my friends who are in Europe. Although, I love being away and being a yuppie, which I've completely become, I do miss Hopkins and the beautiful campus.  Plus, they are adding new philosophy classes so I keep checking the website to see if they've updated it yet.  One of the best parts of going away is returning because Well, that's all I can think for now.  I'll hopefully have more pictures and/or videos in the next post.  Until next time...

In Transit

So I've been home for almost two weeks, and now I'm going to be off to Washington DC for the rest of the summer.  Here's a little video I made at home, since I will only be home for a few more days.  Just to clarify my Mom is holding the camera, and this is the first take, contrary to what you may hear.  One-take Murphy, that's what they call me.

Now for the end of the year summary.  I had 4 terrible finals, 3 of which were in less than 24 hours, and a 12 page paper.  I have to say, what I learned from this is to always ask for an extension if you don't think you can get your work in on time.  My paper was due the day after those 3 finals and it wasn't assigned long before so I literally had no time to start it.  Luckily, I asked for an extension and was given two more days in which I was immensely productive.  Lesson learned, always ask--it doesn't hurt. 

I spent most of reading period and finals in the library (as many other students can attest to), and really it was kind of refreshing.  I may have mentioned in the past that I never go to the library, but I kind of enjoy it.  It at least would force me to get out of my room and start working early.  The only problem is that I would run into so many people that I know that I would have so many study breaks and coffee breaks.  Well, at least it was fun in the middle of such a stressful time.

Ok so in case you missed any of my earlier posts, here's a summary to guide you.  Although, you really should just read all of them, they are all amazing.

How Good It Can Be: It's the beginning of the year and I am completely optimistic.  Read about some of the general Hopkins events I attend and my excitement for my new suite.

Paper Bag: I tell you my likes and dislikes for my new fall schedule.  Ch-ch-ch-check it out!

Break on Through:  My addiction is revealed.  I admit I have a problem.  Don't worry!  It's nothing serious, I"m addicted to the Stock Market.  Read about the stock market competition at Hopkins and my quest to win $500!!!

Never Smile at a Crocodile: It's my birthday!!! My family comes to visit and we go to DC for the day.  A wonderful trip to the National Gallery and the National Zoo.  If you like animals, impressionism, or  Edward Hopper, please read.

Good Day Sunshine: My friend from home comes to visit.  I provide her with a great tour of Baltimore (if I do say so myself) with a water taxi ride, a trip to Little Italy, Hampden, and Fell's Point.  There are some great recommendations for food and general places to visit in Baltimore.

Ghost of Yesterday: I take a ghost tour of Fell's Point.  Read for a general history of a historic section of Baltimore and for some spooky tales! 

Hello Goodbye: I go home for parents weekend and spot a celebrity on the train!  Also, I discuss the classes that are being offered for Spring Semester.

Over My Head: I interview one of my best friends at Hopkins about her studies that are completely over my head.  A Nice change for a Philosophy Major to hear all of the interesting things a Public Health Major who was able to observe brain surgery.  It's really nice having pre-med friends.

The Remedy:  A stream of consciousness post.  There is really no better way to describe it.

Blue Train: If you ever ride Amtrak or any other crowded trains, this post is a must-read!  I discuss 3 very important goals every passenger should have when riding a train.  Hopefully you can adopt these objectives next time you take a train.  If you accomplish all three, you deserve a gold star.

I'll Be Home for Christmas:  In fact, I won't be home for Christmas and I'll tell you why.  It's December at Hopkins and I update you with the various happenings, including the Lighting of the Quad.

She Has No Time: It's finals season and I literally have no time.  Here's a quick update about my favorite sports teams and my final schedule.

This is the End: My Dad thought I should have titled this blog, Notes from My Deathbed.  I get pneumonia at school, and I have never felt so terrible in my life.  Want to be depressed and pity me?  Read this blog.  The moral of the story is that if you are sick during finals, make sure you see Health and Wellness so you don't have to take your exams when you are suffering.  I can't emphasize this enough.

Lightly Shone the Moon that Night: Part One: I recover from pneumonia just in time to go to Europe for  Christmas.  My family goes to Prague and I tell you all about it.  We make it to Wenceslas Square on the Feast of St. Stephen!

Lightly Shone the Moon that Night: Part Deux: New Year's in Vienna.  While Prague was sparse with the decorations, Vienna is over-the-top.  The contrast between the two cities is interesting.  Read all about the Hapsburgs and their amazing treasury.

New Soul: A new soul and a new semester.  I discuss Restaurant Week in Baltimore and mention one of my new favorite places to eat.

Hard to Live (In the City): I discuss my new classes and what I really think of them.  I also leave you with a great clip from The Colbert Report.

The General Specific: I visit the Towson Courthouse in Baltimore County and witness a murder trial.  One of the most interesting things I have seen all year, it really made me think.

The Lesser-Knowns: I visit Washington DC with my family and go to the National Portrait Gallery for a  very special surprise.

JHU_Jackie's Favorites: Want to know more about me?  Read this blog for a few of my favorite things.

Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore: I go to NYC for a few days over spring break and see The View and The Daily Show.  Also, I  get some great shopping done in SoHo.

Hopkins Cribs: Charles Commons 709:  Holla boo!  Come check out my amazing crib in Charles Commons.

Tomorrow: I tell you what I did yesterday, what I am doing right now, and what I'm doing tomorrow.  A date party, a scrabble game, and Philadelphia what an exciting week.

Here it Goes Again: I visit one of my best friends at UPenn for their Spring Fling Weekend.  I get to see Gym Class Heroes, OK Go, and Ludacrisssssss!  It was kind of an amazing concert even though the line-up really had no coherence.  The next day I go to downtown Philly for some great shopping!

Sun Comes Up: I got to the Orioles vs. Yankees game with Julia!  I obviously root for the Orioles and so did my roommate who happened to be saying this out loud when she ran into Derek Jeter and ARod.

Summer in the City: I have an internship for the summer!  Extra extra read all about it!

Well, that's it for now!  I've actually been really sick this last week with strep throat, but am feeling better just in time to go to Washington DC.  I've been trying to spend as much time with my friends at home as possible, because some of them I won't see until next year (Because of when they are going abroad)!  Ok, well I actually have to start packing for DC.  Next time I write, I will be there!  Until next time...

Summer in the City

I am very happy to announce that I have a future.  Or at the very least, I have one for this summer.  After the long and tireless application and interview process, I finally figured out what I am doing this summer. 

I am living in Washington DC!  I recently found out that I would be working at an organization, or rather a Political Action Committee, called EMILY's List.  EMILY stands for: Early Money is Like Yeast in the sense that "it makes the dough rise".  The name is based on the notion that early money and donations will help legitimize a candidacy.  This often causes other contenders to hesitate (seeing if it is really worth it to run)and helps attracts later donors. 

Specifically, this group works to elect pro-choice democratic women candidates.  Since this organization has started they have helped to elect many many female candidates.  According to the website,

EMILY's List wins elections. Since our founding, we have helped elect 70 pro-choice Democratic women members of Congress, 13 senators, 8 governors, and 364 women to state and local office.EMILY's List has also become the largest financial resource for minority women seeking federal office.

I will be working in the Major Gifts section of the organization, and it will be very interesting this summer because EMILY's List will be supporting Hillary Clinton and working all the way up to the Democratic Convention.  I was considering other internships, but the people in this office seemed like the nicest, and this is probably the most amazing summer in terms of politics.  As cheesy as it is, it really is one for the history books, and I'm very happy I'm going to be a part of it. 

Here's a little speech that then- Michagan Attorney General Jennifer Granholm gave about what this "EMILY" meant to her.  I personally thought the speech was pretty inspiring.

So, once you have actually accepted an internship, you need to find a place to live.  If you are lucky enough, your internship will provide housing, but this is not typically the case.  The main dilemma is finding out late in the year that you will be interning in another city, having the organization want you to start as soon as possible, and then attempting to find a place whose lease begins early.  I suppose the easiest thing to do is contact your internship coordinator and see if they have any thoughts, if not turn to Craig's List.  Seriously, this is THE place to find an apartment, and yet it was mildly frustrating.  Once you decide how much money you want to spend, and which area to look you can search. 

At first, I was looking strictly in Foggy Bottom (the area around George Washington University).  It's close to my office building and right along the metro line.  I found this really great place that had a gym and a pool with a few other GW people that were graduating.  It looked so cute and they seemed really nice.  Unfortunately it turned into a bidding war, and I lost out.  Someone offered to pay the full 3 months rent, but only live there for 2 months.  I mean, I really can't compete with that.  So, although I was rejected early afternoon on Saturday, I returned to Craig's List later (around 7 pm) and found an intriguing posting.  It's a townhouse in Georgetown with a few other girls all currently sophomores at Georgetown.  I emailed them right away, inquiring into the place and heard back later that night!  Since then we've spoken and I am definitely living there. 

All in all I think everything worked out for the best, because I'm living with people my age, 2 blocks from Ralph Lauren, and 2 houses away from Starbucks!  I'm lucky because I'm going to be sharing my room for the first month, but then after that I will have the room to myself--essentially I will be paying the cheaper (2 person rent) to live by myself and get a larger room! 

Really this search for an apartment is what has been taking over my life in the last week, other than that I had a great time at Spring Fair.  I didn't think the concert was amazing, I mean I enjoyed Reel Big Fish, but left after Bone Thugs N' Harmony did their first song.  I actually didn't fully take advantage of all of Spring Fair, I didn't eat that much fair food or go on any of the fair rides, but it was enjoyable seeing campus so busy.  It might be best that I didn't eat all of that food, less money spent on Spring Fair food=more dining dollars spent (I happen to have a lot of dining dollars left).  In fact, I have so many dining dollars I've been buying people's groceries and lunch!

Well, this has been a very wordy post, and I have been terrible lately not taking any pictures with my camera.  This upcoming week is finals so maybe I will go undercover and photograph all the people struggling in the library.  Who am I kidding?  i will be one of them.  Four finals and one 10 page paper until going home!  Maybe next time I will explain to you my new and improved relationship with library.  I never use to attend, but lately it's been the place for me.  Until next time...

Sun Comes Up

This past week has been particularly busy, not necessarily in terms of school, but my life.  For someone who prides themselves on having such a great memory, I can't for the life of me think what specifically has taken up so much time  in the past days.  I guess if you add up all the papers, problem sets, and projects combined with the Open House, it was a busy week.  I also spent time catching up with a lot of my friends. 

Oh! I know what I did, I spent a lot of time on the Beach.  For those of you who don't know, the Beach is the large grassy lawn in front of the library and in back of the Johns Hopkins University sign.  The weather was spectacular and my spring wardrobe had its debut.  Haha, I'm totally kidding; but, it was perfect weather to wear dresses and skirts.   Not that you will necessarily be able to tell from pictures, I am an extremely pale person who burns ridiculously easily,  So, each trip to the beach was a whole process of putting on layers of sunscreen and angling myself in the right way so that I would avoid getting a terrible, terrible burn. 

On a random side note, as I was walking past the Beach on the way back from classes, I'm pretty sure I saw someone being tasered or zapped with something for fun.  A boy would be zapped and verbally react saying "Oh nooo, gosh nooo, okay okay...do it again, " and then they would do it again.  It was sadly amusing, and then they made everyone clap after the whole spectacle was finished.

As much as I loved spending time with friends out in the sun, the best part of the week by far was attending the Orioles game (and yes, I said Orioles game...the only reason I am calling the game in this manner is because they are playing the Yankees).   Well, after hanging out on the beach for a bit on Friday, I took the college town shuttle with Julia and her friend Jill to Camden Yards.  I'm really glad I ended up taking the earlier shuttle with them because the stadium was extremely crowded.  Seriously, I've never been at a game at Camden Yards that was that crowded.  Even the upper deck was crowded! 

Normally, it's so empty that I am able to sit along the 3rd base line.  I took a few pictures, but sadly I wasn't close enough to get any great ones.  I believe the final score was 8-2 Orioles.  Yay!  This was especially exciting since the Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers that same night.  Even though I am a die-hard Red Sox fan, it wasn't terrible to watch the Yankees.  Although, it was terrible to watch Jason Giambi.  He was horrible.  As Julia kept saying the whole game, "this isn't batting practice".  Really, he is a money pit that needs to go.  But for now, I suppose I can enjoy the fact that they are wasting money on someone with minimal talent.

It's kind of funny that one of my best friends from home is a Yankee fan and goes to Boston College. She went to Fenway Park last week and was rooting for the opposing team. I attended the Yankees game and rooted for the opposite team (in this case, the Orioles).  If only we were to switch places...

My suite-mate, Abby, also attended the game. She was with her friend Kelsey, who was visiting from another college. Since Kelsey had a room in a hotel downtown, they went to the Harbor much earlier. Apparently, as they were waiting in the hotel lobby, there were a bunch of tall men sitting on the couches.  She deduced that they were part of a bachelor party or something.  While they were waiting, Abby and her friends started talking about how excited they were to see a baseball game, but that they hoped the Yankees lost.  I think she even said that if she were to meet a Yankee, she would not deign to get his autograph. 

Well!  It turns out that after seeing many people approach and take photos of those "bachelor party people", Abby realized that it was actually members of the Yankee team.  She was two feet away from Jorge Posada, ARod, Derek Jeter, and Robinson Cano.  How cool is that?  I wouldn't be morally opposed to getting Derek Jeter or Posada's autographs...ARod is another story.

Well, I have more work to do and am going to try and get to bed soon.  I hope you appreciated my stories.  Last Open House on Thursday!  Please try and attend, it's suppose to be beautiful outside!!!  Until next time...

Here it Goes Again

I hope everyone watched the Red Sox game last night!!! At first, I was mildly depressed because Lester really didn't have an amazing start, but in the end, we pulled through.  Unfortunately, I do not pay for the MLB package, so I am unable to watch all the games like I do when I'm home.  As a result, whenever I see a game on TV, I have to watch it.  This week should be entertaining with Red Sox vs. Yankees games on ESPN.  I can't wait! 

So, this past weekend, I took a trip to the University of Pennsylvania and attended their Spring Fling.  One of my best friends from home attends Penn and actually, her brother does too!  So, on Friday, I took the short train ride (1 hr) to Philly to visit.  The whole weekend was kind of crazy.  I think it's because UPenn is twice the size of Hopkins, and there were so many people having a good time in such an enclosed space, but it was really entertaining.  They had vendors(not as many as our Spring Fair, but they did have fried Oreos), moon bounces, and annoying a Capella groups singing.  The next day, they had a carnival with free food.  The lines for the food were terribly long, so that was a bit disappointing.  Other than that,there was so much energy and noise on , it was electric.  I felt bad from Kristin's brother, Mike, who lives on the quad where this whole event took place.  It was the absolute noisiest place to live with for a couple of days AND they had to search his bag each time he wanted to go back to his dorm.  He wasn't even allowed to bring a sealed bottle of Gatorade inside.  I would be pretty frustrated to have to go through that ordeal everytime I wanted to get back to my room. 

When I first arrived at Philly, and before going to Fling, Kristin showed me around the school.  There were a lot of people on campus, and I was very  surprised to see that some of the frats were located directly on campus.  It was very foreign to me.  Apparently their Spring Fling began on Wednesday, but Friday night was when they were goint to have the big concert.  I was so excited/amused to tell people that I was taking the trip to Philadelphia to see Ludacris.  Said in that manner, I seemed like such a groupie.  It also seemed very out of character for someone who does not really listen to rap.  But, I did not just see Ludacris, I also saw OK Go and Gym Class Heroes.  You may remember the OK Go music video on treadmills.  If you don't please watch it immediately! 

I have to say, they were amazing live.  They were really clear and fun to watch, and they so obviously have a good time with their music.  I was  especially excited to see them because I didn't know they were going to be opening act.  It was the one band my friend, Kristin, could not remember to tell me about, so it was a great surprise.  Anyway, I'm not the biggest Gym Class Hero fan, but these boys in the stadium next to me were.  They were dancing like crazy and it was more entertaining to watch them than the whole performance.  Finally, when Ludacris came on stage people went crazy.  I mean, he was pretty amazing.  Once again, I'm not the biggest rap fan, but I appreciate Ludacris' music AND his acting.  If you haven't seen Crash, you also need to watch it now.  After watching Crash, even my Mom appreciates Ludacris' acting!  He did all the songs that you would recognize like Move, Stand Up, Act a Fool, and Glamorous.  It was a lot of fun and there were a ton of people there.

The next day, Kristin and I walked to downtown Philly which was really cute.  It kind of reminded me of SoHo with lots of small shops and boutiques; although, it did have some mallish stores like Gap and Ann Taylor (where I bought a dress).  We also went to this cafe called Naked Chocolate where everything looked amazing.  Kristin and I ended up splitting a frozen chocolate, which is basically the same thing as frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity in NYC (which has unfortunately closed).  It is such a refreshing drink, I highly recommend it.  Overall it was really cute!  The city, and Kristin's campus, has a much bigger and more urban feeling than Johns Hopkins.  Walking around, I kept comparing it to Hopkins.  They feel so different, yet similar.   The one thing I realized is that despite being a city, Baltimore is much smaller and more intimate.  I feel like it has more of a voice or personality.  In particular, the fact that we have such interesting neighborhoods like Hampden and Little Italy scattered throughout the city makes it feel more intimate.  Furthermore, Charles Village, where we reside, is much more personal.  It may sound funny, but it is more villagey.  While there are recent installments such as Coldstone, Starbucks, and Chipotle, we also have Eddie's Market and Carma's where it's more homey and unique.  One thing that I have to say is that I am completely jealous about this place called Insomnia Cookies.  Apparently, they deliver from 9 pm-2 am.  You can order a box which comes with six cookies and six brownies; it even comes with milk.  I think it is such a cute idea and apparently it was started by a Penn alum.  (Note to anyone who wants to tantalize poor college students who are forced to stay up late at night studying)

Anyway, I have to go work on an economics problem set, but I will write again soon!  Until next time...

Tomorrow

Okay, so this past week has seriously exhausted me.  I had sooo much stuff to do and so little time.  Today, I feel a bit more relaxed despite the fact that I have a midterm on Monday.  This week and next week are still infinitely better than last week.  Did you follow that? 

Also, today the weather was amazingly nice.  As soon as it hits 70 degrees, everyone goes out on the beach and pretends to do work.  This ritual is one of my favorite parts of spring.  In any case, I apologize for taking forever to write as I was also suffering from a serious case of writers block.  Maybe I should just ramble and have a stream of consciousness, James Joyce style? Perhaps I will tell you about what I did yesterday, what I am doing right now, and what I am going to do tomorrow!   

Yesterday (Wednesday): Yesterday, I woke up bright and early (7:30) in order to get to the Open House on time. (I'm pretty sure I ended up getting there 15 minutes late). I ate breakfast at the Open House and talked to a lot of people and gave directions to certain buildings.  It was a lot of fun, but very busy! 

We also gave out a lot of our Insider's Guide to Hopkins, "A Bird's Eye View" which I highly recommend to anyone who attends future open houses.  It's really helpful and it has recommendations to some great eateries.

After that, I left at around 10:25 to go to work where I put together packets and plugged important information in databases.  I did this for the next couple of hours before going to eat lunch with a couple of my friends and then I headed to my 1:30 class.  At 2:30 pm, I walked/rode over to the Fresh Food Cafe to continue working at the "Ask a Student Table".  After about an hour of that, I went back to my room and rested. 

Then it was time to be creative with clothes so I went to my friend's room to help her create an outfit for the Alpha Phi date party.  (I actually attended the party with Julia shown here in the picture).  Since the theme was 1978, it was a ton of fun to create outfits.  My friend Alex and I helped cut up a crazy shirt into a vest and create these weird boot/leg warmers.  In the end though, we all agreed that the outfit worked!  I wore a patterned dress with lots of jewelry.  After we finished our creations, I ate dinner and met with friends before heading over with Julia to catch the bus. 

The party was a lot of fun and I was happy to see some fellow SAABers, Lauren and Stephanie.  People's outfits were crazy though!  One of my good friends, Katie, was wearing an Afro and huge sunglasses and a white velour one-piece and tube socks.  It was kind of amazing.  Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures.  Overall, I had a great day, despite the fact that I was up for so many hours in a row. 

Right Now:  I am playing scrabble while writing this blog, and mentally thinking about the luggage I'm going to need to pack for tomorrow.  I am also thinking about how my bracket really wasn't too far off considering UNC lost to Kansas.  I did have most of the teams in the elite eight. Next blog, I will try to give you a sports update.  The Orioles are doing well so far, so maybe that will be something to talk about.

Tomorrow:  I am going to Philadelphia!  I am taking the train to Philadelphia to UPenn to visit a friend.  Apparently, it is their Spring Fling Weekend and they are going to have a concert with Ludacris and Gym Class Heroes.  I think it should be a lot of fun, especially if it does not rain.  Well, I'm going to get back to packing. I will let you know how everything goes on my adventure to UPenn.  Hope to see you at the Open House.  Until next time...

Hopkins Cribs: Charles Commons 709

It's that time of year again, time for Hopkins Cribs.  Last year I wrote about my room in AMRI Wilson House(one of the older buildings on campus), but now I live in the newest dorm on campus, Charles Commons.  So, let me begin by saying that not having to walk down the hall to the bathroom is one of the most wonderful things ever.  Seriously!  That may be my favorite part of my Charles Commons Suite.  Anyway, I will get to the rest later. 

Let me tell you a little bit about Charles Commons in general.  The building was finished 2 years ago, so I am only the second person to live in this suite.  It's nice and new, which is also wonderful.  The Charles Commons building is equipped with meeting rooms, practice rooms, a laundry room, common kitchen, exercise room (with a couple of treadmills, ellipticals, and bikes), a mail room, and Nolan's, an upperclassman dining hall.  Basically, you never have to leave the building. 

You have food, a place to sleep, and a place to exercise--plus you can receive contact from the outside world in the form of letters and packages with the mail room.  Can you tell I've contemplated never leaving?  In any case, I feel like all these amenities really benefit you when the weather is terrible.  The one thing that's mildly disappointing is that Nolan's is only open for dinner.  It would be really nice if you could grab lunch there too.

In terms of the residences, there are two sides of the building, the St. Paul Side (because we are closer to St. Paul's Street) and a Charles side (closest to North Charles Street).  The St. Paul Side rooms are mostly (if not all) 9-month leases.  The Charles side are either 11-month leases or vacation housing.  I also believe that the Charles side apartments are a little bigger, if only because they are paying for the 11-month lease.  I guess if you are going to live there for that long the architects felt you deserved more space.  In fact, next year my new suite mate, Danielle, and I chose to live in the 11-month because typically 2-person suites do not have living rooms, but if you are on the Charles side you do get a living room, which is nice. Ok, so now on to my own room.

First, my video and then a fuller description:

I live on the 7th floor of the St. Paul side.  Once you get out of the elevators, it's a long walk around until you reach my suite.  My two-person suite is one of the larger doubles on the St. Paul side.  We have a large kitchen with enough space for a small table and a couple of chairs. When we have people over for dinner, we usually move the table into the center of the room to fit more people around. 

So, my room right now is mildly messy--I just wrote a couple of papers--so the pictures in this blog are mostly of the artwork around my room.  I don't think you can really see my posters and photos in the video below, so I figured this would be a good place to display them.  At the beginning of the year, I had a lot of ambitions about cooking.  As a result, we have lots of cooking utensils, pots and pans, and other assorted kitchen goods.  While I really haven't found much time as I thought to cook, occasionally, I make a nice meal. 

Our bathroom is pretty straightforward, I really don't have a lot of stuff so it's pretty clean.  My favorite thing is the shower curtain which has cute hot and cold hooks for the shower bar.  While our bathroom isn't really anything special, I wish I could show you one of my friends bathroom.  Her suite-mates had a competition as to who could decorate and create the best bathroom.  Two of them decorated their bathroom with lots of seaside/water decorations.  They even had a real fish!  The other two decorated their bathroom with candles, plants, cool mirrors, and a cute shelf with canvas pull out drawers in order to create a spa-like atmosphere.  The moral of the story is that you can really do a lot with a custom decorations and have fun at the same time!

Out of all the things I like about my suite, my favorite by far is having my own room.  As much as I enjoyed having a roommate last year, it's great to have privacy.  Upon entering my room, the first thing you will notice is my comforter.   It's a raspberry pink and blue paisley that I combined with pink and navy blue striped sheets.

One of the first things I told my roommate last year was that I had this pink comforter, but I really wasn't a pink person.  It's true!  I'm not a pink person, I just need to say this so that you don't judge me based on my comforter.  It is really important to invest in nice bedding when you go to college.  It will improve your life greatly!  Although, you may not want to make it too comfortable or else you may never get out to go to class. 

Besides my bedding, my favorite things in my room are my books and movies.  I have favorite books such as The Great Gatsby, This Side of Paradise, Vanity Fair, and plenty of travel books.  Besides those, I also have a collection of assorted philosophy books.  My movies include Hook, The Devil Wears Prada, and A Knight's Tale.  I didn't really bring a collection of the classic movies, but just ones that are fun to watch and perfect if I need to de-stress. 

Oh and one more thing I need to tell you about is my desk.  My desk has drawers  that slide out to allow you more room to write.  They are great!  If you get a room in Charles Commons, make sure you make use of those drawers. I didn't realize until a month later and since then use them all the time.  Since you don't get any bookshelves you probably have a lot of stuff on your desk so this helps to create more room.  Obviously, I love them.  So, other than that, the video of my room pretty much speaks for itself and tells you a lot of information about my crib.  If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.  Until next time...

Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore

So, I've been very busy these last few days. But, now it is spring break! Since I don't have classes on Friday, I left last Thursday as soon as I got out of class. Seriously, I had all my bags packed and ready--sitting by my door-- so that I could get out of class at 4:00 walk over, grab my stuff, catch a cab, and get my tickets at the station for my 4:45 train. I'm pretty impressed with my own alacrity. It's just nice to be home and not have to worry about everything. In all honesty, I have been very busy. I can't even imagine going to San Francisco, which is what I originally was going to do for the second half of the week. I would have been extremely exhausted had I done that along with a trip to NYC. Tomorrow, I have a dentist appointment and then I am spending half a day at court observing for my business law class. So much too do, so little time! I actually have to write 3 papers. I should probably start those soon. Anyway, I suppose I will tell you about my exciting and whirlwind trip to NYC.

On Sunday, my Mom and I went to NYC to visit my Aunt Patti. Long complicated story, but the important conclusion is: we had tickets for The View on Monday. Because we knew we were going to go see The View, we went online and ordered tickets for The Daily Show. While The View wasn't the best thing we have ever seen--there was no guest-- it was interesting to see the members of the show. Actually, Whoppi Goldberg was sick that day so Barbara Walters actually showed up at like 5 to 9 while we were waiting in  line. She rushed past with no make-up on. Apparently she wasn't suppose to be there, but because she got the call that Whoppi was sick, she ended up hosting. It was kind of interesting seeing an icon like that, if only because she has met so many interesting people and is one of the most important female news interviewers (I feel like there is a better way to say that, but I cannot think of it at the moment). She seemed pretty fragile (I think she's 76), but she seemed to move surprisingly well (she sat down in a chair and hopped up with ease). The theme of the show was, "The View Goes Green". After all, it was St. Patrick's Day. They had a fashion show with Eco-friendly clothing and products. For example, shirts made out of bamboo, jewelry made out of recycled sterling and conflict free diamonds, and even great vegan shoes. They also had eco friendly furniture and paint for the house as well as lots of baby products. For example, they displayed a stroller themed with an endangered species and was made out of environmentally conscious materials.

Observing the process of taping a live show was interesting. During one of the commercials of the show, they set up a stage and runway for a fashion show. It was literally done in two minutes. Also, watching the director, Bill Geddie, run everything was cool. The worst part was the warm up comedian, who was not really a comedian but just someone that forced you to clap when the show began and when they returned from commercials. The best part was we were given over $1200 worth of prizes, but with extra coupons for some of the items not mentioned in the $1200 value, it added up to around $2000 dollars. We knew we were getting something good when they gave us a tax form at the beginning. They don't hand out those forms unless you are being given at least $600 worth of prizes.

After we left the show, we ate lunch at an Italian restaurant before heading over to The Daily Show. The Daily Show was much more fun. We waited in line for a bit, but once we sat down, we had the best seats. Our seats were basically "house seats". These seats are not in the first row, but elevated a bit, front, and center. The show had the funniest warm-up comedian. He was so mean, yet so funny. It was the perfect type of humor, he was quick with the jokes. He interacted with the audience for the most part and  basically made fun of everyone. He was telling the audience the basic rules of clapping and how they don't use laugh tracks etc. Apparently, my Mom nodded to what he was saying and he picked her out of the audience and was like, that lady knows what I'm talking about. He made some jokes about how they were going to meet up later and it would have been terribly embarrassing if it hadn't been so funny. He then asked, if I was her daughter and asked how old I was and where I went to school. I have to say when I told him Johns Hopkins, he was like, "Whoa, nice school". Since this is a blog about Hopkins, I feel as if I can somewhat brag or mention this. Our reputation proceeds us. Anyway, he asked what I was studying and when I said Philosophy and Economics, he asked if I was going to go to law school. I responded yes, and he said, "You know, I went to law school." I was surprised by this and said, "really", I didn't mean to be insulting, it's just that he was now opening for Jon Stewart, you wouldn't expect a lawyer to be doing that. He threatened to throw me out and get security. It was so quick, but so funny. He actually said he went to Georgetown Law school and then worked at a New York firm doing mergers and acquisitions. After he decided to let me stay, he made fun of some more people before Jon Stewart came out. Jon seemed like a really nice and funny guy. He had the same personality answering questions as he did on the show. Also after each segment with some of his regular reporters (I don't remember their full names), he hugged them. He just seemed like a good guy and the whole set was much more relaxed then the view. They actually blasted rock music during commercials and the producer would just say 5, 4, 3... before starting. It really was much more casual and much more fun. All in all it was a good day.

The next day I went shoe shopping in SoHo and bought a pair of black suede boots and the best pair of black heels from this cool boutique called Te  Casan. I'm so excited to wear them! After that we were suppose to eat lunch at Balthazar, but ended up going someplace close because we were so tired of walking and it was just too convenient. Our late lunch ended up being really nice. So, it has been a busy past couple of days and tomorrow I have to go to court. I hope everyone who is on break has a great time and a great Easter/St. Patrick's Day week.  Oh and by the way, this song title is from the band that played on The View called The High Kings.  Until next time...

JHU_Jackie Favorites

This week, my fellow Hopkins Interactive students and I have decided to change things up a bit and all present a common blog topic.  Through the blogs and message boards, we really enjoy providing you with a glimpse of our lives here at Hopkins while trying to show what your future could hold, if you choose to make the decision many consider the best of our lives to date--the decision to become a Hopkins student.   However, in addition to detailing life here at Hopkins, we also enjoy getting to talk about the totally random things we love.  We're people too!  Well, sorta...Anyway, just like we've done with the OFF-TOPIC DISCUSSION FORUM of the message boards, we're taking a break from talks about Hopkins and discussing our favorite things--all the aspects of our lives that make us who we are.

So here we present our personal answers to a common survey of our favorite things,including books, movies, television, and much more.  I suggest you check out some of the other bloggers' surveys as well, and head over to the message board to check out the surveys of some Hopkins Interactive members who don't write a weekly blog.  Be warned, we're about to get REALLY random.

Who is your favorite author?: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Notable Mentions: Charles Dickens, John Steinbeck, Oscar Wilde, Meg Cabot (I met her!), Sarah Dessen, any author that makes me laugh.  Poets include William Carlos Williams, Robert Frost, and T.S. Eliot.

What is your favorite website?: The Sartorialist a blog that takes pictures of people on the street with excellent fashion and personal style.  They had a showing of his pictures in NYC, but I was unable to attend.  The good news is it is coming to Washington D.C.  and they are going to have an "opening".  I'm definitely going to that.
Notable Mentions: Google, BBC, Post-Secret

What is your favorite item in your bedroom?: My bedding.  Nobody does stripes and paisley better than Ralph Lauren.  Haha, at least that's what the lady told me when I bought it last year.  In any case, it is critical that you have comfortable bedding.  There is nothing better when you are sleep deprived to fall into a comfortable bed and go to sleep.

What, in your opinion, has been the greatest invention of your time?: The internet
Notable Mentions: Cell phones, iPods, and any other Apple inventions

What is your favorite new source?:  Brian Williams. I get my news from everywhere, the internet and the TV.  Although, I love to hear the newscasters on TV while I work on other things.
Notable Mentions: Anderson Cooper 360, Erica Hill, and for humorous news: The Colbert Report and The Daily Show. I also love Google News.

What is your favorite movie series?: Movie series? This question leaves me feeling blank.  The only thing that comes to mind are the Harry Potter movies and while I enjoy watching them they are not absolutely wonderful. Hmmm, after careful thought the only reputable series is The Godfather, but it is kind of ruined by Part III.

What is your favorite time of day? Why?: Morning because you still feel like you have the whole day ahead of you: enough time to complete things, yet its not too early in the morning.

Who is your favorite one-hit wonder?: 99 Red Balloons or (99 Luftballons) by Nena. 

Which famous person, living or dead, would you like to have a cup of tea with?: This is a terribly difficult question, I might have to say Harry Truman.  I would just like to ask him about his ultimate decision to drop the atom bomb. 
Notable Mentions: Lewis Carroll, Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Grace Kelly, Coco Chanel, Stephen Colbert

What is your favorite quote?: "Had the price of looking been blindness, I would have looked." Ralph Ellison
Notable Mentions: Any quote by Oscar Wilde.  I also was always a fan of Sartre's, "Hell is other people" and Albert Camus', "In the depths of winter I finally learned that within me lay an invincible summer".

Are you a dog person? Cat person? An "other" person? Why?: I am an "other" person.  I feel as if that's because I have never had a pet in my life nor has my family.  Too be honest, I actually really love horses and I enjoyed riding when I was little.  But, overall I think it's because we didn't have any pets that I am pretty neutral between all animals (except for my love of horses).

What is your favorite game?: I interpreted this as boardgames because I basically love every sport.  Apples to Apples.  This game gives each person 7 nouns and you have to pair one of your nouns with the adjective that is uniform to all.  So, each round there is elected one judge who decides which noun best fits the adjective.  Whoever put down the adjective that won, wins the card and essentially gets one point!  So for example, if the adjective was amazing and someone put down the Red Sox and another person put down Pearl Harbor.  I would chose the Red Sox card and whoever put it down wins the point!
Notable Mentions: Taboo, Fictionary, Trivial Pursuit

Who is your favorite TV villain?: I don't want to give anything away so don't read this if you haven't seen the show, Dexter.   Favorite villain is Rudy from Dexter ... probably because he's the only TV villain I can think of besides the Republicans in The West Wing and they really aren't my favorite.

Where is the one place in the world you would want to visit?: The Arctic Circle. I just think that out of all the places I want to visit this would be the most important.  The world is changing, and who knows if I would be able to visit it in the future.  But, this is an extreme case.  If I wasn't looking to go somewhere crazy I would like to go to Greece during the summer. 
Notable Mentions: Ireland, Paris, London, Amsterdam, Cannes, Amalfi Coast, Argentina, St. Petersburg

What is your favorite guilty pleasure?: Searching for vintage designer clothes and accessories on eBay.
Notable Mentions: taking random quizzes online, looking at celebrity gossip online

To finish this survey, we will be stealing questions used at the end of every broadcast of Inside the Actor's Studio.  James Lipton, the host of the show, always finishes each interview with a questionnaire invented by the great Bernard Pebo.  Here goes:

-What is your favorite word?: lovely
Notable Mentions: craven, snarky, soporific, brilliant

-What is your least favorite word?: stupid

-What turns you on (creatively, spiritually or emotionally)?: great music

-What turns you off?: failure to try.  I hate when people give up before they even begin.  It is so dissappointing.

-What sounds or noise do you love?: the sound of the ocean on a windy day

-What sounds or noise do you hate?: the sound of someone rubbing their hand or anything against the ceiling of a car.  It's like the weird felt/soft part.  It gives me the chills.

-What profession would you like to attempt?: Travel Host (like Samantha Brown on Passport to Europe), but really I would like to hold some sort of political office, hopefully one with gravity.  I also would like to become a writer.

-What profession would you absolutely not like to attempt?: Physicist ... I'm just not into math or science

-Finally, if Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?: "You did good, welcome home Jackie."

To comment or debate any of my answers, or just to share your views and continue the discussion with me, be sure to hear over to my personal message board thread!   I look forward to hearing from you.  And as always, if you have any Hopkins-related questions, don't hesitate to ask them as well!  Until next time...

The Lesser-Knowns

By the way, this title comes from an educational song that I found on this website.  I wouldn't recommend listening to the clip, because the voices are kind of annoying, but I felt like the lyrics related. 

For example, it begins with,

" Have you heard about William McKinley, Zachary Taylor or Andrew Johnson?

Do you know about Martin Van Buren, James A. Garfield or William H. Taft?

These are some presidents
Some of the lesser-knowns
Who made a difference, who still gave their all.
These are some presidents – some of the lesser-knowns
So let’s try to remember them to honor their call."

I thought this song was appropriate and quite funny.  If you read below, you will find out why.

Currently, I am watching this video on slatev.com that compares Matt Santos (a candidate on The West Wing) to Barack Obama.  They even interlude actual speeches from Obama and one's from the show to form a complete speech.  Check it out...

If I haven't mentioned it before, I love The West Wing.  It's amazing the parallels between the show and real life and it just proves how smart the writers were. 

Ok, well let's get down to business.  In a previous post of mine I showed you a clip of Stephen Colbert's Segment, National Treasure: Portrait of Stephen.  Well, let me inform you a little bit more about what actually happens. 

In the Part 1 of the three part series, Colbert goes to Washington D.C.  He walks across the mall with his portrait strapped to his back and attempts to donate it to the Smithsonian Institute.  First he goes to the National Treasure Museum (National Museum of American History).  When he sees Abraham Lincoln's hat he says, "forget about the secret service, where were the fashion police?". 

Continuing through the museum they see Albert Einstein's pipe, Helen Keller's watch, the ruby slippers of Dorothy, and a uniform of George Washington.  Colbert asks the director, "how did Helen Keller tell time?"  The director's straight face response, "with this watch." 

In Part 2 of the series, he continues through the exhibits.  They even have Carrie Bradshaw's laptop from Sex and the City.  In response to Colbert's question about why they would have Carrie Bradshaw's laptop, the director said that it had influence on America's values and standards.  Colbert responded, "do you have the toilet where America's values went into?"  I swear, the show was more hilarious when he was writing his own material. 

When he makes a bet with the museum director, about whether or not a college age male would choose Stephen Colbert's portrait over the ruby red slippers, he loses.  Stalking out of the museum Colbert asks, "how will I give me to America now?". 

Finally in Part 3, he visits the National Portrait Museum and Museum of  American Art.  Taking a stroll around the museum, he quickly condemns the person in each of the portrait.  With rapid fire he finds something negative to say about everyone.  For example, calling people communist sympathizers, tree hugger, and "liberals the size of my pillow".  Going around he says, "Jackson Pollock, my kid could do that," and  "Jack Kerouac, couldn't punctuate."  Finally, his portrait is accepted.  It hangs right outside the Hall of Presidents...above the bathroom. 

While the portrait was originally only going to hang for 6 weeks, the date was extended until April 1st because admission to the museum has doubled in the past time.  You can see the difference in popularity below in the video.  American Presidents vs. Stephen Colbert, who will win?

This weekend, my family was in Washington D.C. because my brother and sister were looking at colleges down south (in VA and DC).  I took the Marc train--only 7 dollars-- and met them in the city.  I stayed in the hotel room for a majority of the time because I was kind of sick and because the weather was bad.  But, in the time that I went out, I saw my Uncle Terry and the Portrait of Stephen Colbert.  We went to my Uncle's apartment in Arlington, VA and it had a huge movie screen where we watched Man on Fire.  The movie was depressing overall, but I highly recommend it. 

In regards to Stephen Colbert, my whole family went to go take pictures with the portrait.  It was kind of hilarious to see the whole family identifying with a bunch of college-age males.  I joked that we should send the picture of our family as a Christmas card next year to Stephen Colbert.  Maybe we would end up on the show!

Anyway, it was a nice and relaxing weekend and was happy that I was able to hang out and see my family.  I won't bore you with the horrors of my midterms and the stress I had this week. 

Oh and for the videos below, the second one you can really tell the difference in popularity.  It's quite hilarious when you see the crowds around Colbert's portrait.  In the first video, I just have to point out my favorite quote.  One of the people interviewed says, "Colbert is essential to our existence, just like restrooms."

So, I hope everyone has a good week!    Until next time...