Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Some Guy's Phone Rang.

I'm at the library right now, and a few minutes ago, someone's phone started to ring. It was one of those really loud rings that's actually a ring, not your (current) favorite song or your friend's voice saying, "Pick up, dude, it's me! Pick up!!!" The phone kept ringing until people around me and I started looking around thinking someone must have walked away and left their phone, or else someone was too embarrassed to accept responsibility for the obnoxiousness of the situation. Finally, the guy at the table behind me starts rustling around in his coat, which is hanging on the chair next to him, and he pulls out his still-ringing phone and shuts off the ringer. Then he said, to no one in particular, "I thought the vibrate was on...guess it's not." Why did it take him so long to get to his phone? Has he blocked out the sound of his ringer? Or did he just hope it would go away? I'll admit that my phone has gone off at rather inopportune times, but I'm usually scrambling immediately to shut it off or smash it to smithereens.

On a different but related note, at the table on the other side of me sits a guy who's reading a book. (I know, reading a book at the library?! What will people think up next?) 15 minutes or so ago, another guy came up and sat at the other side of Guy 1's table and began reading a book, as well. Guy 2, however, has ear buds in and is listening to music so loudly that I can hear it from where I'm sitting, a good 15 feet away. I feel bad for Guy 2's eardrums, and bad for Guy 1's concentration. Then that cell phone went off...it's not Guy 1's day.

I've become aware lately of how unaware people (and I include myself in this) are of what is acceptable and what's not. For example, playing the cello in your apartment at 3 in the afternoon: pleasant! Playing hard rock in your apartment as loud as you can at 3 in the morning: obnoxious. (Playing the cello in your apartment at 3 in the morning would also be obnoxious, but it hasn't happened yet.) Reading a book in the library: acceptable (expected...). Playing tag in the library (this happened while I was here the other day when a high school group came in): not cool. Sometimes I want to ask the people having a party in the apartment above me at 1 in the morning on a Thursday night, or the guy sitting near me singing along with his headphones, or the person coughing on my neck in line behind me if they were raised in a barn. But I don't, because I don't think that's acceptable, and I am trying to be more aware of that. In the mean time, I'm practicing up on my evil eye and dirty glare. THOSE, I believe, are still quite acceptable.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Robot Tuesdays

On the second floor of Kendall (where I'm going to school now) they renumbered the classrooms over the summer. In order to aid the students in finding their classes, they provided maps with the old and new numbers on them, which were placed in a plastic sleeve on the wall with a post-it note saying "Take one!" When I was walking to class last Thursday night, I noticed an addition someone had made. Is it immature that I thought that this was hilarious?? Ridiculous, yes, but the fact that a college student did this made it all the funnier to me.
In other news, I went and saw "Whip It!" last Friday night, and was SO excited to finally be seeing it after waiting for over a year. How do celebrities do it? Below is a photo of Sarah, my partner in movie crime, and me in front of the "Whip It!" poster at the theater. We're pointing to my leg, which is just visible in the corner of the photo from the movie! I saw myself 3 or 4 times in the movie, shouting and pantomiming with the best of them! I'm famous! Sarah and I are in a scene near the end very prominently on the screen. We're famous! I highly recommend seeing the movie. Just plan on going to the bathroom during the pool scene. A little ridiculous.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Favorite Songs

I'm sitting at my parents' house going through some of my
playlists on YouTube and wondering why I don't listen
to some of these songs every day! I've gathered these
songs over a few years and though some are very old,
I still love 'em!

The first one doesn't have embedding enabled, so you'll
have to go there to watch it. It's Rufus Wainwright
singing the Beatles' "Across the Universe." I love to hear
the Beatles perform it, too, but am particularly fond of the

This song by Munchener Freiheit, a German pop band,
came out in the 80s and was one of my favorites when I
was younger. The harmonies are really beautiful, though
the video is a little odd (though artistically interesting).

The last one I'll share for today is a classic from my
childhood: "The Rainbow Connection." This version
is performed by Jason Mraz, one of my favorite singers,
and is, I think, particularly well-done!
What are your favorite songs (past or present)?
Share! (Please!)