I have become the luckiest English student ever this week. My teacher decided we are watching The Great Gatsby in class as a grade. :D  She thinks she is punishing the classes for talking too much? She doesn't realize how much of a Fitzgerald lover I am. I <3 The Great Gatsby

I haven't had much time or energy to post recently. Sorry, dear readers. I'll give you something extra as an apology gift.

Here are the red velvet cupcakes I made for Valentine's Day. I didn't manage to get pictures of my other creations before they were eaten. That's a good thing, right?

A little bit of Gatsby-ish inspiration for all those classy men out there. Mostly the white pants. (EXPRESS SLIM FIT STRAIGHT LEG ROCCO JEAN - WHITE, $98)

I have been a little obsessed, and having stayed home sick today, I will probably do something as productive as re-read The Great Gatsby and watch season 1 of The Big Bang Theory. I've got my T.V. and movie arsenal, as well as a fully stocked bookshelf and a box of cold pizza. I think I'm good for a few hours. 

What do you do when you are stuck in bed on the couch sick and are dying of boredom? Even if you really have all sorts of work you could be doing but no motivation for that kind of stuff. 

That's all for now. Until next time dear readers,

Carpe Kairos 

"I believe in all paths to God"

In history class the other day (OK, it was a month or so ago) my friend introduced me to an interesting theory. It is out of a book, so I take no credit for it, but it goes something like this:

Let's assume God created the earth, for arguments sake. The sky, the ocean, everything. Even the trees. Now, God didn't just make one perfect tree that he spread over the entire earth. No, He made hundreds, possibly thousands of different types of trees. They all have different trunk shapes, or leaves, or shapes and sizes, but they are all still called trees. And all of these different trees were still created by Him to, no matter how different they may seem, still reach up to him with their branches. 

Once again, I didn't come up with this. Also, this is a paraphrase, not an exact quote. You know how word-of-mouth works. But once I figure out the name of the book it is from I will tell you. 

Reshma Shetty, better known as Divya Katdare from Royal Pains, said this on a commercial once. "I believe in all paths to God." 

I'm not entirely sure if I agree with the tree metaphor, but I LOVE the quote. To e, it doesn't matter what God or gods you believe in, how you worship, or if you worship at all. Haven't we all seen people who claim to be Christian's, then treat everyone like dirt? Religion has become a sort of label that the world uses to identify what kind of person you are, when there is no way to accurately describe a person based on their religion. They may act according to the tenants of their religion, but that isn't what makes up their character. It's based on their actions, there morals (which, I still have a question as to the definition of morals), and their values. While these might coincide with whatever religion they are labeled with, that label is not a barcode. It shouldn't be used to judge a person at a glance. To me, the way you treat others and yourself are more important than whether you celebrate Easter, Ramadan, Hanukkah, or nothing at all. 

Do you agree? 

Food for thought,

Carpe Kairos.

Extremely Sad & Incredibly Intense

As you could probably guess from the title of this post, it's about the new movie Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I just watched it in theaters today with a girlfriend of mine, and we both cried our eyes out. The plot of the movie itself was good, and the acting was good(in my opinion). It is a complicated movie to explain though, so I won't try in case I mess it up. I would recommend this movie for a girls night, or maybe a Mother-Daughter movie night, but guys be warned. This isn't a chick flick. It's a(very sad) story of how 9/11 affected one family, and how that one family touched so many other lives. I would definitely recommend seeing it to everyone, though, just not with a person you don't want to see you cry.

And now because I'm in a media sort of mood, and also have been wanting to start reading again, I will ask you help.

The Mission: For you, my dear readers, to comment with the title of any book you think is moving, heart-warming, thought-provoking, or life-changing. Also, to leave a small description if the whimsy strikes you.

The Reward: I will do my best to read your book, and will create a post just for you with my thoughts on aforementioned book.

My Example: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. This is a story of life in Afghanistan. It is told from the perspective of two different girls, whose lives cross in a very unexpected way. This is a book about the daily sacrifices a daughter makes for/ because of her family, a girl makes for her heart, a wife makes for her husband, and a mother makes for her children.

Now go forth and accept this challenge if you dare. Please don't disappoint me, I really need new material!

Carpe Kairos.

Bad Day Blues

Ever had one of those days where it seems like everything is going wrong? Or maybe, not even everything but just a few things that create so much frustration they ruin your mood all day? Well today was one of those days for me. To start with, I'm hungry, and have been all day. That will put a damper on anyone's mood. Then, last night I stayed awake till 1:30 reading and writing Cornell notes over This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald. (Which is a truly fantastic, thought-provoking book that should be read in more than one day so you can take the time to fully appreciate what was written.) I finished my eight pages of Cornell notes, and got everything ready to turn in only to find out, lo and behold, my teacher pushed the due date back to tomorrow. OF COURSE she did! So I spend all of English thinking about the extra 3 1/2 hours of sleep I could have gotten last night, and don't even bother concentrating on the meaningless assignment she gave today as busy work. Also because of those stupid notes, I lost a day of work on the now two Calculus assignments I need to finish and understand by Friday. And on top of that, my Mum just chopped up an onion to make soup, so now my eyes are watering from the smell as I type. *GAH*

OK. Rant over. I was going to drop a little something extra into this post, but have lost a lot of inspiration due to an excess of frustration. Here is my interesting D.I.Y. craft of the day. It's a pin cushion made out of a tea-cup. How adorably vintage? I have several friends who love vintage-y things and D.I.Y. projects just as much as I do, so hopefully several of you will, too. I also love feedback, so any comments, critiques, or dare I say criticisms are appreciated. *hint hint*

I will try my best to figure out how to make these, and will post a tutorial if I'm successful. If I fail, I will probably post a picture of my failure, so don't say I didn't warn you.

Until next time,
Carpe Kairos.  

P.S. If you are having a frustrating day like mine, just breathe. I promise things will get better soon! Already I am calming down. Doing something as menial as typing is a great form of therapy.

P.P.S. I apologize for the rapid change of background. I will get my ideas ironed out soon, and eventually settle on a format. Bear with me?