My Favorite Letter

My favorite letter, as I've discovered, is "J".

Here is a list of my favorite "J" things:

-John Mayer (delicious... when he takes his shirt off while playing at a concert... fab.)

-Juice (WAYYYY better than any other liquid that can be consumed)

-James Taylor (he's old, but FABULOUS in concert)

-Johnny Depp (self explanatory)

-Justification (you can justify anything if done correctly)

         -the root of the word... JUST... just be still, just because... can be used effectively every time

         -you can justify type while designing

-Jokes (they make me laugh)

-Jayden (LYNN is her REAL name)

-Jamaican looking girls (Kat)

-Juneau, Alaska (birth place of Alycia)

-Jack in the Box (has great curly fries)

-Jesus (he's holy... why not like him)

-Jumble, Juggle, Julep... all fun words.

Those are just a few... if I think of more... I'll let you know.

But as of today my favorite letter is no longer "E" (for EMILY), but "J".

It's Making Me Define Me

I truly believe that life comes in waves and those who are around you experience similar struggles and joys for a reason. Part of it is because when you genuinely care for someone you empathize with them. When a person carries their love for you in their heart and vise versa there's a strange connection that is formed. When you're hurting they feel your hurt and when they're hurting you feel theirs. Emotions are such a powerful aspect in our lives, but they're also the most confusing. There's such a vast range of emotions that can be felt. I believe that I have felt emotions on every end of the spectrum. Pure joy and utter sadness. Both are essential. Both are powerful. Both are worth it. 

But what happens when you feel both of them at the same time? 

When you feel extreme emotions you reach a point where you end up saying...

Have you seen (insert your name)?? I can't seem to find him/her (depending on your gender... if you're not sure of that... just say IT or THEM... THEM is, of course, if you think you might be more than one person because you feel like you're that far gone).

A friend of mine just said that to me and it got me thinking... Emotions are what force us to figure ourselves out. If we constantly ignore our emotions then how are we ever going to find ourselves? And WHEN do we reach that point where we don't understand ourselves and we have to start making ourselves define ourselves?

Yeah it's a cliche thought... "Emily I'm not up for your psycho babble right now."

But think about it... consider it... dwell on it... Search for silence. 

No matter where your heart is... whether someone carried it to India with them, Alaska, or South Africa, or if it's in Orange County or San Diego... My heart is split all over the world... I wouldn't have it any other way. Thank you for taking my heart with you. Thank you for speaking to it and making it question itself. Thank you for comforting it. Thank you for loving it.

You don't know what you're doing to me. How you are influencing me on your adventures. 

Thank you.

Grammar Lesson

My pet peeve:

The incorrect use of There, Their, and They're and other such homophones.

It was nice seeing you their.

When I went on a bike ride I used there bike.

I met his parents the other day. There nice people.

I went over they're.

No No No that is so wrong. 

Here is the correct usage:

It was nice seeing you THERE.

When I went on a bike ride I used THEIR bike.

I met his parents the other day. THEY'RE nice people.

I went over THERE.

I know that some people think it's just a weird problem I have, but the improper use of these can automatically make you look foolish to a stranger.

I was watching a very educational show the other day, Sex in the City, and in one of the episodes Carrie gets a letter from her Ex's new wife. In the letter, she wrote "I'm sorry I couldn't be THEIR." Carrie then calls her friend and says, "She's an idiot."

 So my entire purpose of this blog is to save you the embarrassment of being called an idiot because you don't know your homophones. Go ahead and incorrectly use a comma, but as for homophones...Learn them.

Extremes But We Relate

So I had a thought today... Well actually I have lots of thoughts everyday, most of the time way too many. Anyway, a good friend of mine just wrote a blog about her experience with discrimination and it just got me thinking... Aren't we all minorities in our own way? There are a rare few who could fit in anywhere in this world. I thought my friend was one of them. She's a beautiful half black, half white girl who gets mistaken for being everything from  Jamaican to Swedish. She's currently studying in India where she is a minority. I'm a blond haired, blue eyed, 75% German, some random percentage Jewish girl who lives in California. Yeah, based on my looks I fit in here. During the summer I can get an awesome tan and the more the sun shines on me, the lighter my hair gets. I am in no way exotic to California. BUT I've been all over the world and people know that I'm not from there. In South Africa that was an obvious one, in Italy they knew I was from California, in Germany they thought I was from there, and in the Philippines they just assumed I was American (rightfully so). Each place in this world has their ideas of what the "majority" should look like and what the "standard" appearance should be. But if looks were eliminated there wouldn't be a need for the words "minority" and "majority" in reference to society. I've learned that each person has hurts, each person knows how to laugh, each person has weird things about them. If I was alive during WWII think about how controversial I would be, I look like I fit into the Arian race, but I am Jewish, so which side would have won? Most likely my appearance, right? At least that's what I'd like to think... They'd take one look at me and ASSUME I was acceptable based on my appearance. 

One of the things that bugs me most about people is our ability to generalize and assume and categorize. I know that in America we're considered, by law, to be "free", but socially we are far from being free. Even a blond haired, blue eyed, 75% German, and some random percentage Jewish girl living in Southern California has assumptions made about her. They might not be as direct as a half black, half white girl living in India, but they're there. 

My Utopia: I wish that every person we saw was immediately stripped of their outward appearance. All we got was words and feelings from others. Once we got to know us then we got to see us. That way we'd see us for what we really are.

Let's make it happen.

And that's my rant today, in response to yours.

Love you!

My New Favorite Blog

Here's a man that knows his sarcasm, satire, and he's straight up sexual.

http:// www.johnmayer.com/blog

...

I've got no words right now...

and for some reason, I'm perfectly fine with that.

Hey Johnny

Little tin soldier

you finally found your drum

you don't have a uniform

but you look more eloquent that way.

I looked out my window today

and I saw Johnny Appleseed

walking barefooted 

without a pot on his head.

That part's just a myth

but I could see streams of floating colors

following him where ever he went.

I don't know if they were visible to everyone

but they were vibrant to me.

I went down to ask him what they were

but when I got there I realized 

I had them too.

I breathed him in

and let it be.

When in doubt...

... put on your roommates huge head phones and dance and sing as loud as you can.

... do the previous statement for your roommate who's in a bad mood.

... laugh.

... eat.

... don't shower.

... point your toes.

... complain irrationally.

... look at bumper stickers on facebook.

... do what feels good.

... draw.

... write.

... make fun of someone else.

... play with your cat.

... swim naked.

... look at old pictures.

... listen to Frank Sinatra.

... lay on the ground and stare.

Some Quotes

I've been here and there and everywhere lately. My heart is full of joy in being able to love with my friends these past few days. I think I've spent time with every type of friend I have. The crazy ones (they're all crazy), the artsy ones, the silly ones, the caring ones, the boyfriend ones (or ONE I should say), the random ones. I'm so extremely blessed to have these people in my life. Here are some of the things my friends say:

"If you don't do it Uncle Kramer I'll shit in your gin and tonic." (said in a 7-year-old British accent)

"Is that like a black bra and a white shirt?"

"You just flexed your muscles and I got whip lash from just looking at it."

"I'll come back for you... always and forever."

"Where's Hannah? I just want to see Hannah."

"I had a dream about you..."

It's so comforting to know that in the midst of a huge storm there are gusts of wind that sweep you off your feet and keep you going forward.