So ...

I've been away for a while.  What have I been doing? Mostly going insane.  Once I got back from Canada, I spent a week harassing people on the phone with my mom and got an apartment! Then I quickly had to go to Boston to say hi and bye to my friends which was a shit-show.  A few days later, Mother and I were off on our five day road trip to Austin.  I've been here exactly a week so far and it's going well. Can't wait for my roommate to get here in about two weeks and for my parents to leave because they're exhausting.  Also, my sister dropped the bomb on us that she's expecting. I'm going to have a niecephew in April! Coincidentally, it's birthday will be the same week as mine.  That little shit.  Take a look at what I've been up to in my absence.

I've been back on "vacation" for a week now.  The reason it's written in quotations is that it doesn't feel like I'm vacating anything other than a big comfy bed and a consistently strong wifi signal.  Due to this "vacation"I am currently missing my longest and dearest childhood friend (or as I commonly refer to her as the Wife)'s graduation party.  I feel unbelievably guilty about this but hey, what can I do?

Other life updates

•  I saw The Heat and it was hysterical. Highly recommend for a good laugh.
• Also saw World War Z which was much better than I had anticipated. 
• Turned out that my car's registration was up in June and no one noticed until yesterday so I've been illegally driving it for almost two months. I live life on the edge!
• Went on another Unfollow-spree on Facebook and I have no bother's to be found about it.  I'd unfollow more but then I'd only be friends with like 30 people. 
• And I think I'm PMS-ing. Which isn't at all noteworthy but this is my blog and I can write what I want. And right now I want peanut butter and chocolate popcorn.  

Unpopular topic/opinion of the day: Headaches!
I've always gotten them. At one point I was on medication for them.  The doctor could not determine how or what the cause was so I was on a trial and error medication plan which ended after the drug that worked the best was taken off the market for being highly addictive.  It's fine, 8 Aspirin and a few hours of nothing strenuous usually does the trick.  My stomach hates me and my blood is probably water but I can't be bothered with that while my head pounds constantly.
According to MayoClinic, causes could include meningitis, brain tumors, stroke, or a failure of pain signals working properly.  This is why no one should Google their ailments on the internet.  You go to look for something as mundane as a headache and end up closing your web browser convinced you have a rare genetic disorder that gives you -at most- 5 days to live.
I'm curious, as I seem to suffer from chronic headaches, does anyone else? Or what tips do you have to help get rid of yours? This is of course only if someone reads this which chances are, I'm simply indulging myself.

No book recommendations today.  Still moseying through A Feast For Crows.  Review to come soon.

Vampires Are Real

I've just returned from the land of maple syrup and Mounties. Although we have hi-speed internet, my computer decided it didn't want to connect to the wifi so I had to use an ethernet cable.  It's remarkable how we take small things such as a good wifi connection for granted.  The future generations will be so spoiled.  If I have kids, I'm going to make sure that they spend time outside and reading actual books.

Fun fact: Wifi doesn't stand for anything. Whoever came up with the name was probably on drugs.

So not only did I come back from Canada appreciating wifi, I also learned that mosquitoes are progressively taking over the world.  These little blood suckers attacked me severely over the past few days to the point that I Googled them.  I found out some lovely facts that I wish I didn't know because now I'm petrified as well as itchy and annoyed.

Mosquitoes are at a possibly all time high this summer due to our quite humid and warm spring.  This also applies to ticks.  If you're going camping, just sleep in a bubble that's coated in bug repellent. Also, due to hurricane season, there has been a certain type of mosquito that has come back from being dormant.  It's roughly the size of a quarter which is 20x the size of your average mosquito. These can be found primarily in Florida.  For the first time in a year, I'm happy I don't still live in Florida.

They're also getting more aggressive, giving off more deadly diseases and being more of a pain in the ass.  Those who claim vampires don't exist, they haven't been paying attention to mosquitoes.

Side note: Got my license finally. Personal victory and one more thing off my Resolutions To-Do list. And I'm half-way through A Feast For Crows and now that everyone's been introduced it's starting to pick up and I'm really enjoying it.

I Suck At Being A Human

First of all, I have Pandora. Back in December I added a Lil' Wayne playlist as I was in a rap kind of mood and was joking with my friend that I was going to take a "Ghetto" bath.  Well I can't delete the station. I have been trying to delete this station for 6 months and it keeps coming back! Karma? I don't even know. It's like Pandora's own personal joke on my life.

Secondly, I fail at human emotions.  I got in to two discussions this week over how I may or may not appropriately express emotions.  I hate emotions, they get in the way and add fuel to the fire.  As any other female, I am emotional but my emotions are usually that of annoyance or rage, or anger, or anything negative because as I've previously stated, I hate people.

My mother, my sister, and my two best friends are highly emotional people. Almost to the point of being over emotional.  Everything is taken so personally like an attack and everything is a big deal.  So clearly I don't take half of what they're upset about seriously because I'm an asshole.  I'm a sarcastic person and I try to be logical and yes, when I'm upset I'll vent and get it off my chest and then come to the realization that there's nothing I can do about it now and move on with my life. With a few exceptions of course.  I have gone crazy in the past when dealing with an ex-boyfriend.  He's one of the reasons why I'm not pursuing relationships. I hated myself for being an emotional wreck.

But those people who tear up over a greeting card that their sister's friend's older brother's ex girlfriend's aunt sent them in the mail 3 years ago, can you not? It doesn't have anything to do with you, you didn't know them, why are you sad?

The topic I have the most trouble expressing emotions with is death.  I have never been able to deal with death and I've known a lot of people who've passed away.  I don't cry, I get headaches and I get sad but I don't cry.  It comes off as being insensitive and It's not meant to, I just don't have the typical reaction.

Today we had to put our dog down which was sad. My parents were wreck's and I'm sad but I'm fine.  My sister had the gaul to call me the other day and tell me that if our parents get upset to try and not say something snarky. Why would I tell them to suck it up and stop being sad? Does she really think that little of me? And then she proceeded to say other things against my character which naturally I tuned out until I realized how she was being a hypocrite and then I just got pissed.
Hypocrites irk me. I don't respect them and I can't take you seriously if you're not being sincere or are contradictory or hypocritical.  This isn't just for other people, I apply the same standards to my own life.  I get furious at myself constantly for breaking my own rules.  My confidence and self-esteem is awesome!

In other news, I finished The Casual Vacancy. Started and finished Bared to You by Sylvia Day and have started A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin.

Next post will be more uplifting. Maybe.

A Book By Any Other Name ...

I don't know if anyone reads this or it's just for my own state of well-being to write and get things off my chest.  Nevertheless, I'm going to ask for suggestions.

I'm an avid reader. I have loved the idea reading since before I could read.  I used to take loads and loads of picture books to bed when I was little, look at all the pictures and make my own stories. If I did recognize a word, I'd base what I thought the story was around the few things I could decipher.

I am a nerd. Deal with it.

I love reading books that are in series or trilogies and am always sad when they come to an end. Lately I've found that the books I've been captivated by are full of drama and violence and scandal and sex.  Which reading this back sounds great.  However, reading the actual books I always find myself asking "Why am I reading this? This is so sad! Why can't I find a happy book?" Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the novels which is why I keep reading them.

This is where the suggestions come in.  If anyone who happens to stumble upon this has a suggestion for a more upbeat story I could read, please let me know! Or any books you think that are worth checking out.

As for me, I'll leave you with my current reading endeavor.  The Casual Vacancy by J.K Rowling.  If you're a J.K. Rowling fan, I suggest you read it just because of how drastically different it is from Harry Potter.  Gives you a sense of how magnificent and complex of a writer she really is.

#Hashtags

When did hashtags take over? I understand their purpose and when used correctly helps group together an idea or a topic, but now... hashtags are out of control.

Twitter- Hashtags are used to help start trending topics. Usually.
Tumblr- Hashtags are used to tag the post so people can look for similar posts.  Usually.
Telephone- It's a pound sign. You use it when you're trying to get your voicemail.  Usually.
The "Ironic Use"- Hashtags are used to just be an asshole but in a joking, sarcastic manner.

EXAMPLE: #OMG #YOLO #FML #howmanyhashtagscanIputbeforepeoplegetannoyed #LOL

Instagram- Hashtags are used similarly to how they're used on Tumblr, but to find pictures.  Usually.

But now Facebook? Really? I don't even know what the point of having a Facebook hashtag is.  They made them to pop up like a link, but what are they linking to? I'm convinced that Zuckerburg is just riding that gravy train to the latest fad and decided to add them to his repetoire.  Want to know when something stops being cool? You see it on Facebook.

Now when I want to tell people who don't actually care about my life about my "status" I can go a step further and annoy them even more.

EXAMPLE: "It's so sunny out today! Working on my tan. #summer #tanning #yourejealous"

NO!

Fandoms

I, like most people in today's society, am a member of certain fandoms.  If you don't know what a fandom is then you should probably get off the internet. I mean really? Do you live under a rock?

But I digress.  Certain members of certain fandoms always have to take matters to the extremes and go just a bit too far.  This results in stalking, cyber-stalking, bullying, NSFW fanfiction and any other form of general creepiness imaginable.  These individuals tend to be generalized until the whole fandom is thought to be relatively crazy.  Think of us what you will, I don't care too much. I like what I like and the extent to which I like something has never bordered on crazy to my standards.  I have a degree in Psychology so I feel like I know when too far is too far.

What bothers me about fandoms is when they feel threatened.  Most of these groups of people find each other on social media platforms and once someone causes drama, it tends to implode the internet for a few hours.  Everyone assumes something and blows it out of proportion and soon, they end up causing distress to the person, or people involved who or what their fandom is based around.

Then there are the people who say something just to be like "OMG guys, this is so dumb. Ur arguing over nothing and its stupid so u should just shut up."  Yeah... This doesn't help.  They end up getting hate comments and inevitably prolonging the discussion.

Another problem I have is how these individuals (who lack moral fiber and a sense of privacy) choose to justify posting personal information and photos and videos that clearly the source has said or done something to make it hard to find.  We forget that celebrities on any scale, are people.  They have private lives and if they don't want to share with us, they don't have to.  Or if at one point in time they tweeted something, posted a status, or a picture; it doesn't mean that's how they feel or act now.

People are constantly growing and learning and developing.  No one is in the same situation today as they were a few years or even a few months ago.  As situations change, people adapt.  Don't go digging up things from the past that are no long relevant just to prove a point and be a nuisance.  How would you like it if someone dug up an old photo of you and plastered it all over for the world to see when you deliberately tried to make it hard to find?

Yes, we are curious and interested about the lives of those we idolize or fancy.  We can continue to do so however, try to be respectful about it.

I could go on about this all day so I'll end it here.  Moral of this post:

Come on fandoms. Get your shit together. Just let the drama die. Respect people's privacy.  Don't be that asshole.