Today's rambling: A culture lesson, and more!
Written on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2002 at 3:19 a.m.
while feeling a bit

BestPlaces.net told me that the best place for me is in Boston, Massachusetts. That's total spiftiness. Now don't get me wrong, I'm probably going to live my entire life here in Penn's Woods because I like it so much, but I'm also in love with the New England area. If you've never been up there, go. It's gorgeous.

The second ranking was Charlottesville, Virginia. I love Virginia, too. Only the rural areas where my mom's family lives, though. There's a lot of Virginia that really does nothing for me. But areas like Luray, Harrisonburg, Front Royal...those places are gorgeous as well. If you've never been out there, go to Skyline Drive. It's closed in winter (for fairly obvious reasons, since this is a mountain road), but autumn is great if you want to see the turning of the leaves. I love going up at night, looking down at all the twinkling city lights...*le sigh* I wish I could go down to VA with Mom in October, so I could try to persuade her to drive me up there (assuming it hasn't closed already; I forget when exactly it closes). Or maybe someday I'll convince Geoff to go. ;)

Amanda and I went out to Walmart today (well, technically yesterday, but we'll call it today). I asked her if she was going home on our 3-day weekend during Autumn Leaf Festival, and she gave a very emphatic yes. When I told her that I couldn't seem to find a ride home, because the nearest bus station is like an hour away, she said her family could take me down to Pittsburgh, and I could catch the bus there. Then she was like, "Or you could just stay with us!"

Soooo...It's been decided that I'm going home with her for that weekend. She was so excited about it! And even though I'm uneasy staying with people I don't know, I'm really excited about getting to see Pittsburgh. Getting Geoff out here to give me a guided tour is like trying to pull teeth, but Amanda seems willing to take me out, hehe! I told her to ask her parents first, but she was like, "They're ALWAYS telling me to bring my friends home with me!" Still, I hope she asks them about it the next time she talks to them. ;)

To be completely honest, I'd still rather go home. I want to see Mom and Geoff, and sleep in my own bed for a couple of nights. But even more depressing than not getting to see them is the idea of staying here, by myself, for three days with nothing to do. That's where the depression sets in, so I'm very happy that Amanda invited me to go home with her. She, Lauren, and Kevin are my dearest friends on campus, and I think I'd feel comfortable going home with any of them. Well okay, it'd be a little weird with Kevin, since he's the opposite sex. ;) But I think hanging out with Amanda will be fun.

I watched "The Patriot" with her and Lauren tonight. I've seen that movie before, and it's good, for the most part. Just depressing. I liked "Braveheart" better, even though THAT one is depressing too! They invited Josh over, we all ordered Chinese, and it was a fairly good night. Except that Josh annoys the heck out of me. I have never met anyone as naive, gullible, and dense as him. And he's got this whole 'touchy-feely' thing that really grates on my nerves, too. Tonight, he kept rubbing Amanda's leg, and massaging her shoulder, and laying his head on her lap...all this stuff that was just weird. I mean, it would be one thing if it was a boyfriend, or even a really really good friend, but to just have some random guy...When he left for a few minutes to use the restroom, Amanda was saying how uncomfortable she was with it. Lauren took Josh's spot for awhile so he couldn't keep doing it, and Amanda laughed, "Now he'll start doing it to Amber!"

"I won't let him," I replied very firmly. And it's true. If someone started doing that kind of stuff to me, I'd very firmly push him away and tell him to knock it off. It's just creepy. Bleh...*shivers*

After the movie, I went back to my room (which I've begun to call 'home' in conversation...how odd)..and watched "A Hard Day's Night". *laughs at herself* It wasn't nearly as good as my memories had led me to believe. I knew before I bought it that it was a bunch of nonsense, and it was basically just an excuse for them to sing songs onscreen, but..I thought there was more to it than just the singing. :P My favorite line, however, will always be "Put your tongue away! It looks disgusting, hanging out all pink and naked.." Oh yeah, and when John's playing with little plastic submarines in the bathtub, and Paul yelling "SHAZAM!" and falling out of his chair...Those are the classic moments. :P But other than that, I'd rather have watched "Yellow Submarine". THAT one's good...and I own it, so it's more than just memories talking, hehe! I wonder how good "Help!" actually is...I haven't seen that one in a long time, either. The only part I can remember is them falling into some water thing and ending up in a public swimming pool (?).

I found this great site called YesterdayLand.com. Found it because I was searching for 70's fashion, but I ended up being more interested in the 60's fashion! I would've definitely been a hippy back then. I'm still kinda wishing for some love beads...

As it says on this site: "The hippies rejected convention, had contempt for money and work, and refused to succumb to the mass commercialism prevalent in TV, music and fashion." There were two separate groups at first, the psychedelic group (who loved their drugs, hehe), and then there were the 'folkies'; who "returned to the earth, went barefoot, and listened to Peter, Paul and Mary and Joni Mitchell. They formed communes, embraced their fellowmen and sharing themselves, their beliefs, and their belongings with each other. They revived folk handicrafts, making their own clothes out of old vintage pieces, reworking them with patchwork construction, or handcrafting crochet or macrame clothes." Are you enjoying this lesson? Hehehe...I guess I'm kinda putting this here for my own future benefit...

"The new socially conscious youth culture expressed its distaste for the new society via a homogenous dress ethic of naturalness and freedom. They let go of the style scene, and celebrated equality and brotherhood. Upper class, middle class, lower class� it didn�t matter in the hippie worldview�everyone was equal, and accepted for themselves."

I'd definitely have fit more into the folk half. But I definitely would've been one. Thinking about it, in some ways I almost feel like a modern-type one. I know that sounds really dumb, but it seems like the basic idea to their beliefs was going with your own interests and values, rather than turning yourself into just another trendy clone. I've always been like that, dressing in clothes that were comfortable and attractive for me, regardless of what the current trends were. And as far as music goes, I listen to what I like and couldn't care less about whether it's 'cool' music or not. I've never been a conformist, and it's something I'm proud of. I might be a shy and reserved sort of person, but I've never been short on passion or strength in my beliefs.

I kinda wish some of those fashions would come back. We've got the nifty ones, like flares and such, but I kinda think those Empire waist dresses were neat, too! Nowadays, girls just don't wear dresses unless they're getting all dolled up for some special event. I have no interest in having to wear dresses all the time, but every once in awhile I wouldn't mind feeling a little more feminine!

This site taught me all about 'bullet bras', which made me realize exactly why women did that whole "burn your bra" thing. I wouldn't want to wear those terrible things, either! I've got a bit too much upstairs to be comfortable going without any kind of support (and I mean that physically, not in the "I don't want to be seen flapping around!" sort of way, hehe), but given the choice between nothing and those sorts of bras, I'd definitely choose the former route. Eesh.

Aside from the neat 60's and 70's stuff, I had a LOT of fun searching around the 80's TV programming section. Do any of the 80's children remember Zoobilee Zoo? LOL! I used to watch that show all the time, and I don't know why, because it was the most ridiculous show! People dressed up like animals and frolicking around on-screen...

I love the last line under the ThunderCats page: you can still get a group of 80's kids' blood pumping simply by starting off the chant... "thunder...Thunder...THUNDER...THUNDERCATS...HOOOOOOOO!"

I loved that show as a kid! And yes, I totally remember that line from it, hehe! It's funny, though, 'cause when I started watching the reruns on Cartoon Network, I had to ask myself "What the heck did you see in this show? It's terrible!" :P

Hmm. Wonder how long my MSN Messenger's been turned off...I guess it's been like that for awhile, eh? Well, it's after 3 am now, and I don't plan on being here much longer, so I'm just going to keep it off. Sorry, if anyone was on there! : I haven't really felt much like chatting the past couple of days. I think I need another chat with Geoff. That always cheers me up. I miss not being able to talk to him every day like I used to. He's one of those guys who kinda puts work in front of everything, but I don't understand why he does it, since he doesn't even like his job. Oh well.

Mom said that everyone she's talked to is completely surprised to hear that I'm getting into the radio scene. Even though I really opened up toward the end, I'm still penned as being the quiet one, and so the thought of me being a DJ is shocking. But they aren't getting the fact that on the radio, no one can actually see you, and that's totally liberating! I should tape myself and let them hear one of my shows. ;) Jess, who's really vibrant and bubbly in person, sounds completely blas� on the radio. It's like she's 'camera-shy' or something, and doesn't really know what to say. I'm not saying I won't be the same way, but it's really weird to hear her sound so...boring.

Anyway, I'm going to shut up now. I can't believe I've stayed up this late! I need to go to bed....I'm so glad it's chilly! I love sleeping in chilly air, so I can wrap up in my blankets and be comfy. ^_^ Amanda said it snows a LOT out here, and that the snow usually lasts from October or November all the way into March sometimes. Will I get sick of it by March? Probably. But the idea of having so much snow that I get sick of it THRILLS me, since I hardly get any back home! Berry loves the snow! :D