Lessons From An Unlikely Source

Hello again, fellow internet addicts. Long time, no see?

I have a confession. I am a Yu-Gi-Oh! lover, and just all around nerd-girl. Over the weekend I went to a local store that holds tournaments, and has tables set up to battle. I had my own deck with me, but needed to relearn the rules (it has been a while since I've played). So I asked who to get to teach me, and went up to him. He was friendly, and happy to teach me. We dueled, me learning as we went, and he dominated me. MAJORLY. 5 turns, and I had negative Lifepoints...

Anyway, after wiping the floor with me, he helped me. He gave me a whole ton of new cards, enough to build a pretty strong deck. Also, another guy who was watching me lose donated some of his cards to my cause. I was surprised by the patience he showed while teaching, going over every card to make sure I knew what it did, how to use it, when to use it, etc. Also by the kindness he showed in giving me enough to get started.

My point? You never know how much a small action will mean to someone. Don't let greed prevent you from seizing an opportunity to make a difference. He didn't need those cards, he had at least a thousand. But he could easily have said he should keep them because he put a lot of effort into collecting them. If that happened, I wouldn't be sharing this story. Never miss a chance to change somebody's life, even with something you deem insignificant.

Carpe Kairos. <3

Jukebox The Ghost!

Today I learned something thrilling. Jukebox The Ghost (my favourite band) will be relatively close to me on fall break. I might get to see them in concert!!!!! This is ridiculously exciting! You have no clue. Unless you are also a fan of a somewhat-obscure band that is by chance playing a concert close to you on a school break. 

Moving on, I thought I would update you on my reading habits lately. Just because. I've gotten into the Scott Westerfield series, The Uglies. I'm on the last book, and catch myself thinking in the jargon used in the book. Saying things like happy-making and nervous-making. And rating things in mega-Helens. If you haven't read these books, you wouldn't get the reference. So you should read them. 

A few notes, this weekend I am getting a new 'sister'. My foreign exchange student arrives from Indonesia on Friday. So everybody give her a big welcome. Ratu selamat datang. (Indonesian for Welcome Ratu)

Also, I've noticed that I have quite a few readers from Russia and Germany. I'm not sure how this occured, but it's great. Welcome and enjoy! As always, comments and feedback is greatly appreciated.

Carpe Kairos!

Weekend recap

I've had about 7 hours of sleep total this weekend. I'm almost too tired to type this. Almost.
I visited a college that was 4.5 hours away. We had to leave at 4 am. 4!!! The college was great though, and full of interesting traditions. I got the usual weird looks when asked what I wanted to major in. (Mathematics+ Computer Science, minor in a language/ International studies) I would love to tell you all about it, but I decided I am too tired to finish typing. Goodnight, lovelies. I'll update this later with the rest of my weekend thoughts. As for me, it's back to work tomorrow....

Carpe Kairos.

Someday, I'll make it happen.

Recently, I've started a list of things I want to do in my life. No, not a boring list like: Get married, have kids, have a career. Not that there is anything wrong with those goals, they are perfectly good aspirations that I too hope to someday accomplish. It's just that my list is a little more along the lines of dreams.

Watch the sunrise on New Years Day from the easternmost point in the continental U.S.     

...preferably with my husband or significant other, but a best friend is also acceptable...

Backpack around India with my two great friends, William and Emily. This is a plan we have been concocting for some years now, and I am determined to see it carried out.

Visit what is left of the Berlin Wall. History is such an important and meaningful part of our lives today, and it's imperative that we never forget the past. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" George Santayana.

As you can see, a lot of my future plans are travel based. I would also love to visit both of my parents hometowns, as neither of them are from where we live now. Some people say that these are silly things to start planning now, that I should be focusing on finishing high school and getting into college. Well, I'm doing those things day by day. What's wrong with putting a little effort into planning for my future life? 

Carpe Kairos, and good luck on all your future endeavours.  

New York, New York.

You've missed a lot in my absence. Most importantly my trip to New York City with my school choir. I spent 4 days with a group of close friends in a wonderful city and had the time of my life. What more can a girl ask for? Not to mention I focused my trip on eating delicious food. 

A Gelato cart in Little Italy                                            Triple layer gelato: oreo, cappuccino, and chocolate.

 Panang curry and chicken satay at Roomservice Thai restaurant.       A hot dog vendor in Central Park

As you can see, food is a key to happiness for me. Next year, on Spring break, I'm going to Ireland with the same choir. My goal for that trip, and all future trips, is "No carb left behind." a.k.a. a food-cation. I took Julia Robert's advice to heart when I watched Eat, Pray, Love. At least the Eat part...

So dear readers, enjoy your food. Life is too short to live on lettuce and tofu. 

Karpe Cairos!......and enjoy life one dish at a time.,

What's the point of wearing clothes?

So, if you didn't already know, I'm in high school. We have a dress code that we are expected to follow. This includes things like:

No leggings worn as outerwear, i.e. pants

Sleeves covering from the base of your neck to the base of your shoulder, about 2 inches for me

Pants falling no higher than 6 inches above the middle of your knee

When did wearing a bandeau or bra with a completely see-through or lace top become appropriate? How did you make it out of your house wearing essentially just a bra? And what makes you think it's a good idea?

When did this become a fashion, to dress so that you really aren't fully clothed?

Everyone at my school says that they do this because the school officials don't care. I decided to test that hypothesis, and wore a white corset under a black lace shirt. Essentially I was just wearing a white corset....

Not a single teacher had anything to say about this. They also say nothing about wearing skirts or shorts that show off the bottom of your bottom. I've been walking through the hallway or up the stairs and gotten a look at way more than I wanted to see. 

I guess my point is what's wrong with our society that makes it okay to come to a public place such as school barely covering your private parts? 

Rant over.

Carpe Kairos. 

Operation No-Males-Required Complete

I am the third from the right, with the all black dress.

As every high-schooler does, I went to prom this weekend, and stayed out till 4 am. It was on Saturday, and I woke up way more excited for Free Comic Book Day at the local media store. I was sans date for the big dance, so some lovely friends, pictured above, who were also sans date, created a male free evening. We all took pictures before the dance, and went out to eat. I gotta say, going to prom with a group of friends was twenty times more fun than going with a guy. There was no awkward moments or lack of conversation at dinner, no worrying about having to dance with someone, and we all had a blast. In conclusion, Operation No-Males-Required was a success.

Just a note, the theme was A knight In Your Dreams, so the third girl from the left with wings wasn't just weird. She wore fairy wings and a tiara with a wand for pictures, like a boss. 

I feel as though I can say that for prom, I followed Karpe Cairos. 

Worth the Pain

My dance studio does a recital every May. This year the theme is Fierce, and let me tell you, practicing the dances has been a fierce experience. Our pointe dance alone is about 4 minutes, and it's to the theme song from Jurassic Park! I'm sure some dancer out there is reading this and saying "4 minutes, that isn't hard at all. why are you complaining?" Well, I complain because pointe is neither my strongsuit nor my favourite. It's painful, and I have a hard time making it seem as effortless and graceful as the rest of the class. Other songs in our show are:
Seven Nation Army
Micheal Jackson Mashup
Killer Queen
Cruella DeVille

You get the picture? There's more, but I don't want to name them all. But they add up to a full-body-sore-muscle and bruised knees the week of prom. Luckily my dress is long.... With as much complaining as I'm doing, I should say that it's all worth it to go out on the stage for our May show and think, "nailed it!"

Another thing: I start my job on Friday, since we have no school. I actually get to sleep in later when I have to get up for school. :/

Carpe Kairos, if you have the energy.

Alter Ego

This weekend while working backstage, a friend of mine (who was in the show) and I started talking about alter egos. Who we would be in another life, another universe. For some reason we were both drawn to the idea of a post-apocalyptic world, so we rolled with that. According to this friend, my alter ego would look something like a character from Mass Effect.  Shaved hair, tattoos, strappy leather outfits, not giving a $h*t what the world thinks.

Well, I didn't like the idea as a whole, but there were pieces I fell in love with. One being that if the opportunity ever arose, I would shave my head. The style we came up with was actually to get a short pixie cut and shave stripes in the sides. The other one, and the most likely one to happen, was me getting tattoos. Now, I've always  had a struggle over tats. I used to think I would never get one, but recently I've warmed up to the idea. Thanks to this conversation, I have a whole list of tats I would want to get if I could. My favourites are the word Love in cursive on my left wrist, and an infinity symbol on the inside of my ring finger when I get married. My husband would obviously get one that matched.

Of course, this alter ego would know some form of martial arts, be skilled at computer hacking, and fluent in several languages. Looks like I need to get started on learning those things.

On an unrelated note, my school's prom is the same day as Free Comic Book Day at the local media store. You can imagine where I'm going before prom. Dress and all if I have to.

Karpe Cairos 

Apologies

Dearest readers, I am sincerely sorry for neglecting you all. I will do better.
So much has happened since I was last here. I went to a wonderful dance convention with my studio and had the time of my life competing with our Bollywood-inspired dance to Moulin Rouge's "Hindi Sade Diamonds". It was one of those weekends that your body and mind are dead tired, and all they want to do is sleep for eternity, but your soul is invigorated and can't wait to do it again.
Other than that I've just been generally busy. School, work, dance, I don't have another significant aspect of my life to add.

I did watch a few movies that I loved, though. First, The Whistleblower. I loved this movie!! I can only say that I hope if I was ever in her situation I would have the guts and skills to do the right thing. And, in honour of the Avengers coming soon, I watched Incredible Hulk, Captain America, and Iron Man. I still have Thor left, but I am addicted to them so far.
What about you? Any favourite movies?




Well that's all for now! My quote of today comes from Elsie de Wolfe. "Be pretty if you can, be witty if you must, but be gracious if it kills you."

Karpe Cairos <3

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?

The Little Things

Have you ever noticed how it's the little things that make or break your day?
Like yesterday, one of my friends came home from college in Stillwater and brought me Chik-Fil-A, simply because I said it was my favourite fast food. I now have eaten 2 of the 3 sandwiches he brought, and couldn't be happier. Yes, I have plenty to stress over today, like a book I have to finish reading by Tuesday, or a poem I have to memorize by Monday (it's Sunday afternoon btdubs). I could, and should be, worried about finishing my homework. But instead I'm blissing out with Indie music and Chik-Fil-A.

Speaking of Indie music, if you want to listen to some really great playlists, check out my friend Kebree's radio mix. While you're at it, she does some fantastic photography, if you feel ambitious enough to go look at it. It's on Facebook, so I don't know if you'll need to log in or anything.

On another note, I've realized something lately. Almost all of my friends are immensely talented at one thing or another. I have a friend who sings in an Irish band, another who is into almost everything musical. One who is a beautiful dancer, and made things like National Merit Scholar and OU Honors. There are so many more, I could go on for hours. I'mm just not sure if having all these talented friends is a blessing or a curse. Most likely it's a bit of both.

So I know this post had no real substance to it. Even reading back over it, I am thinking it is a little wishy-washy. But you, my beloved readers, will have to accept that. I will put more effort into my next post. If you have anything you want me to ramble about, just put suggestions into comment form. I might take the into account!

Until next time,
Carpe Kairos.

Let's Get Down To Business

So, lately I've been thinking a lot about "the future" and all that it entails. I.E. college, majors, jobs, careers, bills, etc. The main thought that keeps popping into my head it something along the lines of "I don't know what the heck I want to do with myself after high school." I did manage to narrow it down to options of what I would study in college.

Mathematics
International Relations
Diplomacy
Cultural Studies
Dance (only as a minor)
Foreign Language (again only as a minor)

As you can see, I don't have a very clear plan. The only real goal I have in life is that I want to make a difference in the world. I don't want to just be a statistic on a population chart. I want to be one of the women who, 100 years from now, will have a paragraph in a history book and high-schoolers will have to write me down as a Vocab term. I want to be remembered for doing something. For changing something for the better.
I can't be the only one who thinks like this. For now, I will continue being the studious girl, keep my grades up, and start thinking about where I want to go to college....

Enough about that. *SUBJECT CHANGE*

Recently, I've become addicted to this song. Maybe if I share it with you, it will get out of my head. It's called Heavy Cross by The Gossip. I haven't seen the actual official video. Hope it's not anything bad. This is the one I usually watch. it's an edited version, but I love it for the dance. <3 

Well, that's my soapbox for tonight. Thank you for reading,

Carpe Kairos!

The Claddagh Ring

Probably about the most adorable piece of jewelry I've ever seen. How cute is it, seriously? It's basically an Irish promise ring. The pieces are supposed to symbolize love(the heart), friendship(the hands), and loyalty(the crown). It even has a tradition about how you wear it meaning different things about your romantic involvement.

When worn on the right ring finger with the heart pointing to the fingertip, the wearer is free of any attachment.
On the same finger but the other way round, with the heart pointing away from the fingertip, it suggests someone is romantically involved.
When the ring is on the left hand wedding ring finger, it means the person is married or engaged. *

This is almost as cool as the tradition behind the flower you put in your hair. If it's behind your left ear you are taken, it it's behind your right ear you are single. Anyone else heard of that? Anyone? No.... Moving on..

I guess my point is, what's your favourite romantic tradition? Or what traditions do you have a problem with? The Claddagh ring is definitely my favourite. My mum still has a Claddagh ring that someone gave her.
Now you might be thinking, "Well that's all well-and-good, but isn't it meant for Irish people?" Whether it's meant for those folks with Irish ancestors or not, I don't know. I'm sure there are no Claddagh-Ring-Police out and about that demand to see your family tree if you wear this ring. That would be an interesting exchange.

"Excuse me sir, is that a Claddagh ring on your finger?"
"Why yes officer, it is."
"How cute. I'm gonna need to take a look at your family tree. See, you don't have red hair or a whiskey bottle, so I can't be certain if you're Irish or not."
*runs away screaming* "I just wanted to wear the ring. It's not my fault my family is from Poland!"

As you can see, Claddagh-Ring-Police is a ridiculous notion. And before anybody jumps on me about mocking the Irish, I was born with that right. I am Irish myself. (So, my mum's safe to wear her Claddagh ring, police or no police.)

Well that's all folks. Go dtí an chéad uair eile,**
Carpe Kairos.

*( McMahon, S. (2005). Story of the Claddagh Ring, Mercier Press)
** Irish for 'Until next time', according to Google translate.

Powder and Poptarts

This morning, I was thinking about the utter unfairness of the amount of work it takes us girls to get ready compared to guys.

A Guys Morning:
Roll out of bed
Shower and get dressed
Eat breakfast.

That's it! Compared to...

A Girl's Morning:
Roll out of bed
Shower and do hair
Put on one outfit, decide you want to wear heels so you have to change pants, think another shirt will go better so you have to change shirts, lose one of your no-show socks so you can't wear heels, which means you can wear the original pants, which means your shirt doesn't match anymore.
Do your make-up
Change shirts again, you like this one better
Eat breakfast, and spill cereal on your pants, so you have to change to the other pair. Looks like you're wearing heels after all.
Run out the door because you are already late.

Do you see the unfairness?! It's madness, the amount of work us women go through just to make ourselves look 'presentable'. So ladies, I challenge you to skip the pounds of make-up in the morning, and maybe just relax a little bit. You are still beautiful without a face full of Covergirl. Enjoy your Special-K or Breakfast Essentials(or whatever you eat in the morning), and actually get to school/work in a good mood.

As you can probably tell, I had a bit of trouble getting ready this morning. Anyway, that's my rant for the day. Until next time,

Carpe Kairos.

Don't Cry Over Spilled Glue

Well, this blog is really just another way for me to waste time on the computer. But, since you are wasting your time reading this, I will try to make it interesting. Also, Blake and Collin, I am following you guys. Sorry.

Basically my day has consisted of nothing more exciting than buying a 50 pack of blank C.D.'s and making my own cover art for a mixed C.D. I made for a friend. Which by the way was great. I make a lot of play-lists for mixed C.D's but don't burn them a lot. Hopefully this recent purchase will inspire me to transfer my play-lists from computer to C.D.

The title of this post is random, but it was the first thing I thought of when I chose this background. I hope you enjoy my blog. Maybe I will include a neat-o poll, or find a way to post some music. Until then, it will just be me, ranting and raving about the monotonous life of a semi-American teen. Speaking of, I should tell you a bit about me.

So I'm pretty sure everybody who reads this already knows me but just in case, I'm going to attempt to keep my actual name off here. Unless the 'about me' section displays it, in which case my attempts will be futile. So, I'm K.Frog. I am a dancer, choir member (alto 2!), high school actor, and self proclaimed math nerd.

That's all folks, so until next time,
Carpe Kairos. (Kairos- Greek meaning the right or oportune moments. My personal alternative to seizing diems, inspired by this wonderful blog post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/glennon-melton/dont-carpe-diem_b_1206346.html)