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Academia, We Hardly Knew Ye

Posted by Ryan R. on Friday, May 22, 2009
Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm back! Enter stage right.

This has been on my mind for roughly a week. At what point does College, the greatest time of you life [citation needed], become dull and drag? Well folks, I can tell you the answer to that question, it's when you go out and look at nice things you can't afford without a 75k+ job.

I'm going to be flying solo before the start of the fall semester and have been recently looking for places to live. The first place I looked at was a $1350 2br/2baths Industrial Loft. Not everyone is into these converted warehouse spaces, but I fell in love with this place. I cannot accurately describe it in words, you would have had to witness it first hand, but it was ME! Almost as soon as I left, I knew that there would be no way I could afford it and this got me thinking about my life...again.

Just wanting one thing, made me want to leave College right that moment and begin my life as a career man. Putting my hours in between 9-5 and coming home hating my boss. I want that! I want to be able to afford nice things and make them all mine.

College has its moments and it has been a fun ride, but I'm ready to get off Conductor. Let me loose to find my own way in the world. Through stumbles and struggles, I know my Industrial Loft and 5 speed Boat are out there waiting for me! Kidding about the boat part, who the hell wants a boat?!


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I will, I won't. I do, I don't.

Posted by Lizzie on Tuesday, May 19, 2009
This morning I was looking into purchasing dinosaur sheets for my bed.

And then I went to look at a loft apartment with Ryan and I felt the desires to have a real job and be married to someone in 3 to 7 years explode inside of me.

I'm turning 22 in a month and two weeks or something like that.

This is the first birthday I'm actually really really ok with since I turned 17. The nostalgia of leaving 20, 19, 18, and 17 was especially traumatic. But I actually can't wait to be 22. I have no regrets about leaving 21. Not that it was bad, because I loved it. It's just that I'm ok with being 22. 22 is a nice number.

But when I turn 23, I know I'll just die. For no rational reason. I just don't want to be 23.

Conor knows: "So, I go back and forth forever. All my thoughts, they come in pairs."

Dinosaurs and settling down... How can I have both?

Why do I even want the settling down part? And so soon? THAT'S NOT EVEN ME.

Sometimes I hate this age.

Also, I wish I could talk about all the things of substance that actually matter in this blog. I'm exploding with actual real problems too. Mostly just caring about the real problems of other people. Why does it seem like everyone's going through complete shit right now? I love you guys.

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Things That I'm Obsessed With: Machu Picchu Edition

Posted by Lizzie on Monday, May 04, 2009
Ardent curiosity and uncontrollable fondness for life experience are two of my defining characteristics. As such, I'm obsessed with a lot of things. There exists an infinitely long list of things I just can't get enough of. Sometimes it wears me out because there's not enough time to pursue everything, do everything, learn everything, etc. The only solution is immortality and that's actually kind of unappealing in my opinion. So the best I can do is indulge in little bits of surface preoccupation, try to keep my thoughts calm and my head from spinning, and subsequently pick up an eclectic mess of interests.

As some kind of twisted life validation, I would like to self-indulgently share my obsessions with anyone who happens upon this blog from time to time. Because absolutely NOTHING is more self-indulgent than a blog and thus it's the perfect outlet for said endeavor.

First up, Machu Picchu.

It nicely unites both my obsession with South America and my obsession with non-fiction. (It's in Peru and I got a book out of the library about it once)

Machu Picchu has it all. Prime real estate with an old skool flair. Established in the 1400s, it has Amazon rain forest proximity and sits on the eastern side of the Andes. Have you ever been to the Andes? MINDBLOWING. Really, I almost cry every time I think about them. (See also, http://sundrenchedelsewhere.blogspot.com/2008/06/death-in-andes.html) The Incas freakin knew what they were doing.

Oh, yeah. And holy isolation. I imagine if it wasn't swarming with tourists all the time, being there would make you feel like you were absolutely alone in the world. It's in a naturally ideal defensive location. Like crazy ideal. When you're on the top of a mountain, surrounded by treacherous Andes terrain, with two steep valleys on either side and a water source that's really really hard to cut off, consider yourself safe from almost all threats. And I'm telling you, the Incas are tricky and had their shit together. Not only were the terraces designed for growing food, but they make the slopes even MORE impassable to menaces of all kinds! I hope some day I can be a global dictator and make Machu Picchu my primary living venue for 6 months out of the year, a.k.a. my personal residence of natural peace. No one else can come. Well, it kind of belongs to the Peruvians so they can do what they want with it. I'll just chill out there and go about my business as unnoticed as possible. Just Peruvians and myself living in blissful tranquility. In the freakin sunshine. This is what I mean:


Click the picture to see it in a bigger size or Google "Machu Picchu panorama" for a worthwhile experience. You might die on the inside... in a good way. Look at the mountains in the background then look at Machu Picchu (the small bit on the rightish side of the photo), then be overwhelmed with the comprehension of how big and incredible those mountains are. You can't describe that in words.

I need to make a brief aside here and point out that the other half of the year I will be sharing Machu Picchu with the rest of the world. So obsessors like me can get their fix. You gotta give back to the community.

Ok, back to the content. I don't even know what to say about the stone structures that the Incas built there. Other than the fact that pictures of them make me stop breathing because they're so aesthetically alluring. Oh, speaking of breathing. Downside: altitude. If I live there, I might get the dizzies.

And if you haven't been convinced of its appeal yet, go read the theories about what purpose it actually served. It is likely too long of a discussion to get into here, but if you're interested, run to Wikipedia or some expert resource and investigate. The mystery of it is half the intrigue.


Long story short, Machu Picchu is quality. You know it's serious business when it's on the new official list of Seven Wonders of the World. (That means it's pretty wonderful)

Photo Sources:http://www.cry.org.uk/img/main/Machu_Picchu_Panorama.jpg, http://photoblog.pixinn.net/index.php?showimage=31

Speaking of the Incas and Cuzco (I think I forgot to mention that Machu Picchu is close to Cuzco), I'm also conveniently obsessed with The Emperor's New Groove. It may disguise itself as a stupid kid movie lacking in any reasonable value. Oh, no... no, no. It's so much more. You need to Netflix that shit ASAP.

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