Every single thing I'm going to talk about in today's blog could probably have a blog post of it's own.
Story 1: To start it off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNIE RALAINE!!!!! I miss you tons and I wish I could've seen you today, but I hope today was as beautiful and charming as you are!!!!
Story 2: Today started out a little slow. My Scene Study class was a bit of a make or break point for me today though. I finally volunteered to do my Truth/Lie exercise assignment, so I presented that to the class along with four other of my classmates.
I don't know if I explained it before, but we were given an assignment to find an object that contains a lot of significance to us. Then, we'd have to tell the class, in just 3 minutes, why it's significant, and what the story is behind it. The more unbelievable (yet true!) the better! Except, half of us were assigned to make the entire story up. The class had to try to decide, from each performance, who was telling the truth and who was lying.
I've been quite a naive sucker for all the presentations: I've said the stories were true for practically every single one.
But mine was a lie. I decided to tell a story of how I got a tiara I had in my room. Long story short, it involved me having a quincenera themed sixteenth birthday party, but not having a tiara. I wanted one, but didn't want to go to the trouble to ask for one, but my mom figured it out, so she and my older sister went on a big adventure all throughout town to find one for me just in time for the party, because they love me dearly.
I admit, some of the details were based in truth- my parents do love me dearly, I do adore the idea of being a princess (especially on my birthday!) and I did really like the idea of a quincenera when I was in middle school (not high school, and I knew from the start I would never have one. It was an absurd idea, even for me at the time).
I know that this is totally absurd, but I couldn't help but feel like I would have failed in my goal if the class thought I was telling a lie. This is a pretty bad objective to have when telling a story, in retrospect, "Believe me! Believe me! Believe me!" Wow. I'm going to make a lousy actress. Anyways, when the class was asked if they believed me, I crossed my heart that they would.
Luckily, they did!!! Haha, suckers!!! My ex-boyfriend gave me that tiara, not my mom! You all fell for it!! Muahahaha.....
Ok, I didn't have that big of a reaction (on the outside....), but I still felt pretty good about myself for being able to pass off the story as believable.
Story 3: The next item on the agenda today was a writing conference with my Writing 150 professor to talk about my thesis statement for the upcoming paper. The conversation left me feeling frustrated and a bit manipulated... but at least I'm writing about what I'm *supposed* to write about... right?
The problem with the writing class is that race is a touchy subject. If you have any one idea that is in any way new or a bit out of the box, you're wrong. Well, that's what I learned today. I was also practically laughed at for having an idealist belief. It was a, "Awww, you're so cute. I used to think that way, but now I know better" vibe that I got from my professor. I'm sure she meant well... but ouch.
So, it inspired me to write the following short rant. (WARNING! ASCENDING SOAP BOX! IF YOU DON'T WANT MY OPINION THEN SKIP DOWN TO THE OTHER CAPITALIZED LETTERS!)
(There is a soap box and microphone downstage center. Rachel enters, stage right, takes a slow look at the audience, and sighs. Then crosses to soap box and ascends.)
There is a time and place for idealism. It's true that if you're consuming rotten food that, in the moment, idealism would do you no good. It's true that if you did absolutely no studying for your final exam on the class that's going to make or break if you graduate, firm idealist beliefs will not help you. Idealism will never lead to a sudden epiphany that will change the world or a sudden miracle that happens if you just pray and believe (unless either God answers your prayer very specifically or you're really really lucky).
But in spite of all these scenarios, idealism has it's time and it's place. Where would we be without the idealism of the American colonists in 1776, who believed that it was possible for a little new country to defeat the mighty powers of Britain all for some unattainable dream of a freely governed land? Where would we be without the idealism of Abraham Lincoln, who believed in a strong, united country where brothers helped each other, not fought each other? Where would we be today without the idealism of people like FDR, who knew that America did have a bright, beautiful tomorrow at the end of the great depression? What about him and Winston Churchill, who believed it was possible not only to defeat the deafening powers of the Axis alliance, but to end all wars somehow? What about artists and inventors like Thomas Edison or Walt Disney who pursued new goals and boundaries of science and the imagination when the world told them it was impossible?
What about people like Martin Luther King Jr? His dream was ideal, but here we are living it.
It is idealism that keeps people dreaming, and it is dreaming that gives them hope, and it is hope that keeps them motivated to fight for that dream and that ideal way the world ought to be for them. There is not a single one of these situations I just listed where these people did not have hope that their crazy ideas could actually be a reality, and so they didn't give up.
If we're going to continue to tackle problems like race today, we're going to need this type of determination. And we're going to find this determination in the hope that someday, we can have an ideal situation where all men (and women!) are treated equally.
So don't you dare tell me not to be idealistic. Don't you dare tell me that these dreams and ideas aren't worth my time. Because if everybody that cared about this cause had these same dreams, then honey, we'd be moving mountains. Pass me a shovel and then pass them around. It might take a couple of days, weeks, months, years, lifetimes, but it can be done if we all believe in what we're doing. You don't get that belief unless you've got an idea to believe in. I've got one, and I think it's a great one, so I'm already one step ahead of you. Want to hop aboard? Then grab a dream of your own and lets get going.
Because, as Walt Disney once put it, "It's kind of fun to do the impossible."
Thank you.
(Rachel again breathes a large sigh, steps carefully off the soap box, and exits, stage left.
Black out)
END OF SOAP BOX RANT.
Judge me as you will. That's what I think about it.
Story 4: I made a funny joke in Sociology class.
We were talking about family values in the 50's, and I mentioned that, contrary to the previous comment, not all of the men's actions in the film depicted that women needed to depend on them for every single thing. For instance, the men pulled out chairs for the women not because they couldn't do it themselves, but because it was polite. Politeness and cordiality were highly emphasized in the video.
Professor Biblarz said, "Very good point!" and as he was taking notes, decided "We'll call that... chivalry."
He began to type it up, and then said, "I don't know how to spell chivalry...."
"Well that just proves that it's dead," I responded. Ba dum, tish.
The girl in front of me cracked up. Professor Biblarz said, "Good one."
Boo yah.
Story 5: The rest of the day passed fairly uneventfully until around 7 or so. A huge group of us girls got all dressed up, then took a cab to Beverly Hills for a Korean food dinner!!
Because it's Sneha's 20th Birthday!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SNEHA!!!!!!!! I'm so glad I got to be there with you today to celebrate your 20 years of living!!!!!!
The food was pretty good, but the company was wonderful. I just felt bad because we were the last people to leave the restaurant after closing since there were complications with how we paid for our food. But it all got straightened out and we left as soon as we could, thanking the workers profusely.
It felt like a Friday, since we went out. It was so much fun though!!! We laughed a bunch and enjoyed ourselves and ate food that wasn't cafeteria. I hope we get the chance to do it again!!!
Since I've gotten back, I've finished homework and now here I am. Whew. Today was an adventure. Let's see what tomorrow holds!!
Fight on, friends.
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