Homeless but helpful

This morning I got ready to go workout and headed to campus. I had to stop in downtown to get something first so I parked my car and started walking. Athens has its share of homeless people and some of them live in a world of their own.

As I was crossing the street I saw a homeless man walking the opposite way rambling loudly about who knows what. As we got closer to one another I heard what he was saying and he kept saying that I looked cold in my shorts and t-shirt. I smiled and said that it was a bit chilly out but I was alright.

And then he offered me his pants.

He literally asked me if I needed his pants to get warm. Something about a homeless man asking if I needed his torn up jeans kinda shook my foundation. And I liked it. I like that there are people out there that will give whatever they have even if it isn't much of anything.

For today, my faith in humanity has been restored.

If only I could rent a car...

The past few days I've been celebrating 21st birthdays with some of my closest friends. I can't help but think back to when I was a wee youngling, just turning 21. AKA January 3.

As I've mentioned before, I'm not exactly a caviar and fine wine kinda girl. I'm also not a high heels and downtown kinda girl. But I've very much a sweatpants and stay at home kinda girl.

So what better way to spend my birthday than playing flip cup with my parents on my kitchen table? Exactly, there is none. So some neighbors and friends gathered around with my whole family to bring in my 21st birthday with a bang.

Let's watch, shall we?

**Coolest frat house in Alpharetta**

**The "other" team**

**Team Awesome**

**The girls and their boys**

**My whole fam damily!**

Outlet employee

This semester I have no classes on Fridays (three cheers for strange scheduling!) so the roommates and I decided to get our shop on. What better way to shop than at outlets? So off we went to Commerce to try our luck finding formal dresses.

We eventually made our way around all of the outlets but we started at the Polo store. As I was waiting for one of the mates to try something on I was sitting on a bench outside the fitting rooms. This older woman came up to me and asked me if I could open one of the fitting room doors for her. I was a bit confused until she asked, "Do you work here?" I understood the mixup as I'm about the age of the other employees there and had to say that no, I didn't work there.

So we continue to shop and a few stores later end up in Banana Republic. Again, I'm waiting for one of the mates to try something on and the SAME lady comes up to me and asks if I work there. I kind of stare at her for a second because she definitely wasn't old enough to be senile yet (though mom and Bob do have their moments...). After a minute I again said that no, I didn't work there. And then AK and I dissolved in laughter because we're already 21 getting older by the minute. We only have so long to laugh at the antics of old people until people are laughing at us.

LGBTerrified of Christianity

Last semester I took an awesome class called Women in Christian History and loved the professor. So I told her I'd take whatever she taught this semester. Turns out she's teaching Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Transgender (LGBT) Spirituality. We all know I'm a fan of the sexually eclectic so I was pretty pumped. Turns out, I was rightfully pumped. This class is going to be awesome. Plus, there are some very nontraditional people in the class and it's always good to be thrown out of your comfort zone.

Anyways, the point is that we have tons of online articles to read and respond to and we recently got to read one from the always sardonic news site, The Onion. Here's the article:

GAY TEEN WORRIED HE MIGHT BE CHRISTIAN

LOUISVILLE, KY—At first glance, high school senior Lucas Faber, 18, seems like any ordinary gay teen. He's a member of his school's swing choir, enjoys shopping at the mall, and has sex with other males his age. But lately, a growing worry has begun to plague this young gay man. A gnawing feeling that, deep down, he may be a fundamentalist, right-wing Christian.

"I don't know what's happening to me," Faber admitted to reporters Monday. "It's like I get these weird urges sometimes, and suddenly I'm tempted to go behind my friends' backs and attend a megachurch service, or censor books in the school library in some way. Even just the thought of organizing a CD-burning turns me on."

Added Faber, "I feel so confused."

The openly gay teen, who came out to his parents at age 14 and has had a steady boyfriend for the past seven months, said he first began to suspect he might be different last year, when he started feeling an odd stirring within himself every time he passed a church. The more conservative the church, Faber claimed, the stronger his desire was to enter it.

"It's like I don't even know who I am anymore," the frightened teenager said. "Keeping this secret obsession with radical right-wing dogma hidden away from my parents, teachers, and schoolmates is tearing me apart."

According to Faber, his first experience with evangelical Christianity was not all that different from other gays his age.

"Sure, I looked at the Book of Leviticus once or twice—everybody has," Faber said. "We all experiment a little bit with that stuff when we're growing up. But I was just a kid. I didn't think it meant anything."

Faber's instinct was to deny these early emotions. But recently, the Louisville teen admitted, the feelings have grown stronger, making him wonder more and more what life as a born-again right-wing fundamentalist would be like.

"The other week, I was this close to picketing in front of an abortion clinic," the mortified teenager said, his eyes welling up with tears. "I know it's wrong, but I wanted so badly to do it anyway. I even made one of those signs with photos of dead fetuses and hid it in my closet. I felt so ashamed, yet, at the same time, it was all strangely titillating."

Faber's parents, although concerned, said they're convinced their otherwise typical gay son is merely going through a conservative Christian phase.

"I caught him watching The 700 Club once when he thought he was alone in the house, and last week, I found some paperbacks from the Left Behind series hidden in his sock drawer," his mother, Eileen Faber, said. "I'm sure he'll grow out of it, but even if he doesn't, I will love and accept my son no matter what."

Faber's father was far less tolerant in his comments.

"No son of mine is going to try to get intelligent design into school textbooks," Geoffrey Faber said. "And I absolutely refuse to pay his tuition if he decides to go to one of those colleges like Oral Roberts University where they're just going to fill his head with a lot of crazy conservative ideas."

He added, "I just want my normal gay son back."

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/gay_teen_worried_he_might_be

Watch your back (bumper)

So today I was driving home from class, minding my own business when someone cut me off.

On the back of the car was a bumper sticker that said "Jesus is a liberal."

Now, I'm not sure how Jesus voted back in the day but I'm pretty sure he never cut anyone off in his car.

Just sayin.

Another "don't judge" post

So it's the first day of school at ole UGA and I'm already learning lessons.

My first class has something to do with international journalism.

The teacher walked in and looked a little frump-tastic; white hair, extra pudge, glasses. And then she opened her mouth and spoke. I kinda laughed to myself cause it sounded a bit like she had downs. Not that there's anything wrong with downs, but it was gonna be a long semester with a voice like that.

And THEN she explained her travels as a journalist. She said that she's a bit hard of hearing because while writing for a newspaper in Trinidad she caught a virus that took away a bit of her hearing, hence her voice.

Basically, I thought she was lame and she's actually really cool. If she can fight off a virus from Trinidad, she can teach me journalism.

Just got out of the shower and can't wait to cut my toe nails! LOL!!

Let's talk about Facebook. We've all heard of it and most of us have given into its seduction. It is the social network of my generation. Which has now become our parents generation. Which is fine cause if I were old I would want to laugh at the homecoming queen that got fat and ugly too.

Because I just said that, I am bound to be fat and ugly. Karma.

Anyways, the worst part about the FB is that some people get obsessed. Now you might guess that my weakness is posting pictures. I'm the one at the party with the camera and I have pictures from anything and everything online. And luckily my lifestyle makes these pictures acceptable for parental viewing. So, yes, we all have our weaknesses.

The worst Facebook-obsessers, though, are the Compulsive TMI Status Updaters. It's a special breed of Facebookers that are convinced we all care about their hourly activities.

Now don't get me wrong, I've been known to update the status quite regularly. Hourly? Not so much.

My updates are more along the lines of "Bob set the oven on fire" or "Running around in a onesie" and not so much "Can't wait to kiss my .:*wOnDeRfUl BoYfRiEnD!*:. XOXOXO" or "Gym then shower then lunch then shopping then talking on the phone then dinner then kissing my .:*wOnDeRfUl BoYfRiEnD*:. then bed!!"

Or even better, the CTMISUs that express their emotions openly via status. For example, "Can't believe he would do that with her when he knew that we were like totally dating. I can never trust another guy again." Or the ever popular, "Thinking of HIM."...we know you're not referencing God. Or the more nauseating but ever so obnoxious, "I think I have the best boyfriend a girl could ask for. How did I ever get so lucky to meet such a wonderful boy? Love you honey bear! Kisses!"

We get it. You managed to find the one man that enjoys watching back to back episodes of Say Yes to the Dress popping Bonbons and sipping apple martinis. Maybe you should think about that one...

Anyways, you know who I'm talking about. And you know if you're a CTMISU.

So to all you CTMISUs out there...we just really don't care. Unless something remotely interesting and out of the ordinary happens, don't update your status. Just let it sit there. Even press "clear" if it's outdated. If this seems like too much to handle, I'm positive a Facebookers Anonymous group will be starting soon if it hasn't already. So good luck to you.

..."Just updated my blog, now pulling the covers up to about chin height and turning off my light! Maybe rolling over and then off to sleep! LOL. xoxoxo"

Hey, good lookin...

You all got a little sneak peek at how I like to dress in public with that incredible psychedelic vest I posted earlier. Thought you all might want a look at other things I've dressed as for socials, date nights, and just for fun sometimes. Nothing better than making a fool of yourself.

**Nerd day for high school homecoming week**

**Dressed as road signs for our church halloween party**

**Michael Vick for our Welcome to Atlanta social**

**80s skating party for a friends birthday**

**"S stands for..." social. Spice girls, of course**

**Fake prom 2008**

**Leopard and zebra for Hunters vs. Hunted social**

**"Shoulda been a bulldog" social... MIT and Georgia Tech**

**Asian tourists for an Olympics themed social**

**Dazed and Confused social**

**Peter Pan and Tinkerbell for Disney vs. Nickelodeon social**

**Cindy Lou Who and the Grinch for our famous couples date night- best costume winners!**

Left side! STRONG SIDE!

I'm sitting here on my couch watching my most favorite movie ever, Remember the Titans on TV when I decide that I actually need to watch the whole thing commercial free so I pop in the DVD.

I can't help but remember how my high school team, the Northview TITANS, would chant "We are the Titans, the mighty might Titans!" whenever we got a first down (luckily it wasn't often enough to get annoying).

Because of my small large obsession with T.C. Williams finest, I was pretty pumped to see The Blind Side over Thanksgiving break. Have you seen it? Cause it's awesome.

Mix of races, determination, over coming circumstances and football pretty much make up the recipe for a good movie to me. Extra credit if it's a true story.

So with that movie critique, I will leave you with some incredible quotes from Remember the Titans so that you'll be inspired to watch it.

"If we get to Rev once, just one time, I swear to God I'm gonna hit you so hard, by the time you come to- oooo boy you gonna need a new haircut!" -Bertier

"Man I just gave your momma a piggy-back ride and she weighs twice as much as I do!"

"I don't want them to gain another yard! You blitz... all... night! If they cross the line of scrimmage, I'm gonna take every last one of you out! You make sure they remember, forever, the night they played the Titans!" -Coach Yoast

And maybe my favorite of all time...

"You're a Hall-of-Famer in my book"

Now back to letting Bertier and Sunshine help me study theology...

This just in: North Pole relocated

My house has now turned into a winter wonderland. Santa came very early to decorate 2157 in the 72 degree weather. Not only do we have a four foot christmas tree but we all managed to return after Thanksgiving with boxes full of our moms' old Christmas things.

Included:

- a string of M&M themed Christmas lights

- an awkward amount of garland that almost covers our front porch

- wreaths that hadn't surfaced in a number of years

- multiple wooden gingerbread men made many years ago by my grandfather (thanks gramps!) that are now hiding in various places around our house

- an extra slippery rug that caused some awesomely embarrassing moments before it was angrily thrown into a corner

And because we knew we had to add our own special touch, a night was spent cutting out snow flakes and tacking them to the ceiling to complete our North Pole motif. So if you drive down South Milledge anytime soon, try not to be too jealous. We're pretty legit.

2am and I'm still awake writing this...blog.

It's 2 in the morning and I just finished the 8 hour process of taking 45 minutes of audio and editing it down to 90 seconds. It included background noise and such. And I think it's awesome. I think it's so awesome that I am blogging at 2 in the morning to say how relieved I am that it's done and I finally have a hold on my final photojournalism project.

Basically it's a multimedia project- audio put over a slideshow of pictures. I did it on my superwoman friend Amanda. She's a UGA cheerleader, visitor center tour guide, sorority chaplain, Jesus lover and all round superstar.

Hopefully I'll be able to somehow post the final project but until then you can all just stare at this awesome picture of her face.

She's adorable. You're welcome.

Groovy.

A few weeks ago my roommates and I decided to forget that we're too old for frat parties and went to a rave at SipEp. In our defense, one of the roommates is dating a SigEp. The point is, we thought it'd be great to dress appropriately for said rave.

I lied. IIII decided it'd be great. So what do I break out? The most colorful piece of clothing I've ever laid eyes on. It's been worn to Tacky Day at school a number of times and it pretty much an outfit for all occasions. Observe.

I thought it'd be best to pair it with a tall tee and New York glasses. And I looked good.

This awesome piece of polyester love was actually made by my grandmother. Made and WORN by my grandmother. Needless to say, she is awesome. So I will continue to rave in this psychedelic vest in her honor.