NOVEMBER PLAYLIST

^^^^ That is a link to a playlist of songs which have really stood out to me lately. I've decided to try sharing some of my favorite tunes with you and speak through music rather than always words. Each song has a special meaning, but don't try to analyze it too much :) Just enjoy some good jams and possibly some new artists for you!

As always, thanks for following! Quick shout-out to a couple of new blogs I love:
http://www.takethelocalglobal.com
http://www.dormliberation.com/

I will be posting soon about all of the fantastic Turkey Day festivities.

I just wanted to post a quick "thank you" here to everyone who follows me and especially to those who send packages according to our needs/wants lists. I have received two anonymous packages which seem to come at just the right time when I'm about to run out of something. I take this honestly as a blessing and sign of God's provision. For those of you wrapping us in prayer and encouragement, I thank you from the depths of my heart. I haven't felt much loneliness since I've been in the city, and I've been overwhelmed by the general success that I've had here. I don't take any of that lightly, and I give all the credit to God. Your prayers (and gifts of course!) do mean the world to me. 
My roommates would also like to thank whoever sent us the coffee! We go through the elixir of life more quickly than anything.
So keep following my posts, subscribe to me, click on my ads (an effortless way to make me money!), and feel free to look at the bottom of the page for more ways to follow me! I look forward to posting things here, and I don't know that many people actually pay attention to it, but it's a nice way for me to feel like I'm sharing all the fun I'm having with everyone I love! Now that I've gotten your feedback on what you'd like to see on my blog--though feel free to keep commenting on my page--I'll do my best to deliver what you'd actually like to read! God bless, and keep sharing my blog with others :)


Hope and the girls in 9C

 This weekend, Kacey and I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art! It was extra credit for two of her classes and one of mine. 

The satirical drawing above is done by Thomas Nast. The Renaissance painting with Kacey next to it is by Jacopo Amogini. I hope you enjoy these goofy pics! It's a great museum (go if you can). The entrance is by donation, so we actually paid $1 total for the two of us. (Give more if you can!) 
Thanks for keeping up with the 9C shenanigans :)

Synthetic Sausage Nightmare

Beginning in middle school, I knew more than any sixth grader should ever know about commercial animal slaughtering for food chains and grocery stores. Needless to say, I acquired an aversion to almost all meat products not advertised as free-range. This habit remains with me; though on occasion, out of respect for others’ cooking efforts, I break my own code. Since I’ve been in New York, street vendors and friends alike hound me to “let loose” and try such authentic local foods like halal food, Philly cheesesteaks, and hot dogs. This weekend, I am venturing out for the first time to get one of Nathan’s Famous hot dogs.

            Now, this whole idea of avoiding vendors serving tortured meats began with several PETA videos. So as I walked the two blocks from my Midtown apartment to Nathan’s, I had to overcome mental images of persecuted cows raised in confined unlivable conditions. Totally unrelated to the situation at hand but adding to the challenge ahead of me was that I had to march twenty-five minutes in the cold down slush covered streets with chilling winds biting my cheeks. My adventure was already off to a great start.

            As I walked into the shop, a short Indian woman called out to “Hector” for “more dogs on the grill. ASAP.” (These were lovely words for my already overactive imagination.) When I stepped up to the counter, I asked for a number one combo—including one hot dog, fries, and a drink—with their “Old Fashioned Orangeade” since I was feeling especially spontaneous.

            After waiting only a few minutes, a brown bag was placed in my hands, and I walked quickly back to my toasty abode. Once securely comfortable in my living room chair with orangeade in one hand and “dog” in the other, I sunk my teeth into the all beef hot dog smothered in ketchup.

            First, I saw a vision of Elsie, the Bordens Dairy cow, begging for her life. (Okay, so a little too dramatic.) Then, I tasted the almost foreign flavor of burnt meat like the hot dog sandwiches my grandpa made when I was in elementary school. I had forgotten how chewy those little synthetic tubes of packed meat are. After the first bite, I chugged about half of my fizzy orange soda at once.

            Disgusted by what I did, I offered my roommate the rest of the hot dog. She laughed and told me I had to finish what I started. Then, she looked at me and said, “It’s all in your head, you know.”

It has often been said that christians are  

so heavenly minded as to be of no   

earthly good. Every time a follower of  

Jesus Christ forsakes a so-called secular  

occupation and claims to an intention to 

go into "full-time Christian service," she 

is in effect relegating a huge portion of 

the total fabric of human life to  

something or someone other than the 

Savior of the world. For the biblically  

astute Christian, there are no "sacred" 

and "secular" occupations, only obedient  

and disobedient ones.

Dear People of the city of Plano,
You have your beautiful parks and your neatly trimmed yards. There are four malls within fifteen minutes of each other and dozens of overpriced salons on each coerner. Yet a drift has come between us. Those of you "Westsiders" are obsessed with your Gucci, Mercedes, and Ugg labels. But you "Eastsiders" have taken pride in being the West's antithesis! Plano West Senior High School is known for the exorbitant club fees and slutty cheerleaders drunk off daddy's money. Plano East Senior High School is "the pharmacy" and gang school whose only positive attribute is the minority's academic achievements. 
The city is consumed with an insular mindset concerned only with image and status. Can't we stop this tiff? However it started, none of us know, but shouldn't one of America's safest and most prosperous cities set a better example? My first week in New York, a professor asked where I was from and when I said, "Plano, Texas," her first thought was mass suicide! While this isn't accurate or directly my point, it's time we gave ourselves a better rep. The teens are killing each other in a war of stilettos and weed. And the parents fight over mansions and job titles. Perhaps our generation won't kill themselves over this, but regardless, things are out of control. It's time we make peace, the East and the West, and just become plain-old Plano.