Wiki-Wiki-What?

I am definitely guilty of turning to Wikipedia whenever I come across a subject that I'd like to know more about. Where else can you go to find out the basics about everything from adult comics (naughty comic books for adults) to an article on Children's Day around the world? (If you were curious as to why I mentioned those two seemingly random topics, they just happened to be the first two that came up when I clicked Random Article.) At the very least, a few times a week I will hop onto Wikipedia any number of reasons: when someone mentions something in conversation that I know nothing about, when watching tv or a movie, or even when I'm doing some reading for class. Of course, I would never think about using Wikipedia as a serious source for an academic paper or project, strictly because it exists as a database of information that can be edited by anyone. I sure don't trust Average Joe to give me the purest, most accurate information on anything that matters, but when it comes down to it I have some faith that the people who spend time adding information to Wiki articles are doing so because they are actually interested and knowledgeable on the subjects they take on.

I was (naturally) a bit skeptical of Wales' claim about "collaborative campus parties devoted to making thousands of quality improvements to young articles in one night". I mean, come on. Like college students don't have anything better to do than to sit around editing Wikipedia articles on a Saturday night? Get real. For me, one of the upsides to using Wikipedia is that I don't have to supply any information in order to make use of what others have contributed. I know, I know, I'm terribly lazy, but aren't so many of us? What would we have to do if there were no high-speed internet and Wikipedia to turn to when we have a brain fart? Well, we'd have to physically go to the library and seek out one of those thick, outdated encyclopedias in order to get the info we wanted. (What's a library, you ask? It's this wonderful place filled with books...) There's just something a bit too idealistic about Wales' description of how great Wikipedia is, but I hardly think that it is eroding our intellect. I prefer to think of it as enhancing.

Media Project

Here's a link to my Cheap Eats website:

http://supagrl1211.googlepages.com/eatforcheap

Community Standards

One community that I still consider myself a part of is that of Sidwell Friends School, where I went to high school. Sidwell is a Quaker school located in NW Washington, DC (with a lower school in Bethesda, MD). I only went there for four years, and despite the fact that I initially was unhappy about going there, during that time I found myself developing a strong affinity for the community that exists there. I guess one reason that I still see myself as a part of that community is because the school tries to keep its alumni involved in events long after they graduate. I have already been back to Homecoming at Sidwell three times since I graduated, usually with a friend from my graduating class, and mostly in order to see teachers and classmates that I normally wouldn't see.

The values that are important within the Sidwell community are essentially Quaker values. At Sidwell, each and every person is accepted and encouraged to embrace their uniqueness. Kindness and respect towards others are highly valued. These values are upheld, not only by the school administration, faculty, and staff, but also by the students as well as alumni. Meeting for Worship is a time that Quakers come together once a week to sit together in silence and contemplate whatever it is might be on their minds. Meeting is a time when anyone can stand and speak to the group, or maybe even pose a query, without fear of being judged. While I was still a student at Sidwell, I never noticed the fact that it is its own little bubble removed from the outside world. After graduating, I realized that everything in my life revolved around Sidwell while I was there. I would wake up at 6 am every morning in order to take the Metro and bus to school, after school I always had sports, and on the weekends I would have practice and get together with friends from school.

As a community, I think we were strengthened even more at the beginning of my senior year in high school when a classmate and friend of mine, Tyler Rusch, was killed in a car accident on his way home two nights before the school year started. On that Sunday before Opening Day, my classmates and I had been planning on coming to school and decorating as most senior classes did before the new year started. Instead, as word spread around about the terrible tragedy that had happened, we all just showed up at school anyway, not to decorate, but to gather together in an impromptu Meeting for Worship with parents and students alike. We had gathered out of sorrow and a need to address what had happened; not knowing what else to do we just gravitated towards Sidwell, the community that we all shared. This was probably the day that I knew I would never really stop being a part of the Sidwell community, because if this feeling of togetherness we all felt, even during something we all wished hadn't happened. I guess it sounds a bit weird that something like the untimely death of one of my friends and classmates is what brought the Sidwell Class of 2004 together for life, but it's true. Whenever everyone is home, we all get together and it almost seems as if no time has gone by. We all have a bond between ourselves and our school that can never be broken.

Riff on Opening Lines

I picked up a book I have been meaning to read for a few months, Requiem For A Dream (incidentally I have also been meaning to see the movie for a few years now), and opened it to a random page (page 157 in case you were curious), which just so happened to be the beginning of a new chapter. Here's what I saw:


"The honeymoon was over."


It had only been four days since they'd run out of the chapel together, hand in hand, the two of them against the world, and already they were on the run. So what if they had eloped to Vegas without so much as even leaving a note for their parents or friends; they were married now and could be together no matter what anyone thought. After their wedding ceremony, as they stood beneath the lights, gulping down the cool night air, he had flagged down a taxi and ushered her quickly inside.


"Airport, please."


And just like that, hours later they were on the beach in Hawaii, soaking up the sun like it was going out of style. She couldn't believe how fast everything was happening. It was almost too easy to get caught up in his spontaneous, fast-paced way of living. She had never met anyone who would get as excited as she did about travelling to new and exciting places just for the sake of exploring them. It was exilarating, but at the same time frightening how intense he could be about everything. It had never occured to her that their rushing around and keeping on the move was because of something more.


Four days into their honeymoon, and she was frantically packing while he made arrangements for them to get to Mexico by the next day. How could she have been so naive? How could she have not noticed the late-night phone calls and his muffled voice coming from the next room? The way he tensed up whenever they would pass a police cruiser on the street. She'd thought that maybe he'd had a run-in with the cops during his teen years or something like that, never that he'd actually been on the run. It had taken her five long years to find the man she wanted to marry, and in five minutes he had turned into a wanted criminal, the prime suspect in a bank robbery from before they'd even met.

Part-time consumer

I can't really consider myself to be a full-fledged consumer at this point in my life, mostly because I don't have a job presently. Despite that minor detail, I still manage to spend money on various things when I get the chance, namely gas, food, cigarettes, books, and entertainment-related activities. Being a smoker has definitely had a horribly negative effect on my spending habits, especially with the increase in prices as of the new year. This will probably sound really bad, but since I just turned 21 this past December, I have recently been spending a good deal of money on alcohol and alcohol-related things. Going out to bars can be expensive, especially if the trip involves cab fare to and from the bar. I think that my willingness to spend money at the bars shows the part of my personality that is fun-loving. I like to have a good time and socialize with friends, and being legal (finally) has meant that a lot of that socializing has moved to the bar scene. As sad as it is, one of my priorities during college (aside from doing well in my classes, of course) is to have as much fun as possible before I have to face the real world. What can I say? I love to have a good time.

In the future, I would like to see myself spending money on things like home decor and travel. As a college student, there are certain things that I am less concerned with because where I live is constantly transitioning. When purchasing decorative items for my room, I gravitate towards the less expensive because I know that later on in my life I will be able to replace these things with items I like and not worry about the price. For example, the comforter I currently own is from Ikea, my sheets are jersey from Linens and Things, and my desk lamp is from Target. If it were up to me, I'd be shopping at Pottery Barn or somewhere similar. Well, okay, so maybe I would still frequent Ikea, but I would buy tons more than I can afford to now. I really enjoy visiting places I have never been before, as well as visiting friends that live across the country, but it's something I cannot afford to do presently. After college, I see myself spending a good deal of money on plane tickets to various places where I know people - Oregon, Wisconsin, New Orleans, and places I have always wanted to go like Australia (can't get enough of that accent!), New Zealand (I need to go Zorbing), Amsterdam (do I really need to explain this one?), Alaska (I have to see the Northern Lights before I die), Spain, etc. Until then, looking at pictures of far-off places will have to suffice.