MJ on my mind

***A Post from Courtney's Friend Gary***

Hello, world!

You know, it's a little ironic that Courtney introduced me as "the travel expert," considering that I'm far less-traveled than at least one of my fellow guest-bloggers. But it's definitely not a title I mind; there's really nothing I enjoy more than travel, and I'd like to think that I'm pretty well-versed on the subject. Heck, I'm even typing this post on an intercity bus from Washington DC to Philadelphia! Plus, as if that's not enough, just yesterday I got the go-ahead from work to take the trip I've been dreaming of for years. Yep, come the fall, I'll be headed to Pakistan! It's bound to be something I remember for the rest of my life, and I can't wait!

One of the things I like the most about travel is the way it shapes your memories--the way it defines an era of your life. The winter of 2004 was when I was in Europe. Winter '09? Hockey trip through Quebec with my dad. Way back in 1991? My last family vacation before my parents split up: Disney World!

Of course, there are other things I like about travel, too, just as there are other events that mark chapters in life. My grandmom died in the fall of 2008. I'll never forget the 2004 baseball strike, or the summer of 2003--when I held not one, but two of the best positions of my life: an internship that became my dream job, and a RA training at Syracuse, where I met Courtney, my fellow guest-blogger Nikki, and a handful of other people who I wish I hadn't fallen out of touch with. Those are definitely definitive events for me.

I'm sure Courtney will always remember Summer '09 as her first trip to China. Maybe, like Mari said a few posts ago, this will be the summer she saw the eclipse. Or maybe this will be the summer she got to witness the world's most crowded swimming pool:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1200986/Is-worlds-crowded-swimming-pool- Thousands-try-escape-Chinas-scorching-heatwave.html
(I hear they have a lot of people in China.)

For me, Summer '09 will be the Michael Jackson summer. Not so much because of the circus surrounding his death; I really couldn't care much less. Don't get me wrong; it's a shame. But the tabloid-fodder is just not something I can be bothered with.

No, I just like that his music is everywhere. I've never really even been an MJ fan. I like a lot of his music, but I never even noticed that up until a few weeks ago. But now, you can't go anywhere without hearing it. Walking down the street, in a taxi, in a restaurant. MJ's there. And, to me, that's pretty cool. Just like how you couldn't escape the Olympics last summer, this summer, you can't escape Michael Jackson.

I'm a little bit jealous of Court's Journey to the East, which she will certainly never forget. For me, though, the omnipresence of Michael Jackson will be the way I remember the summer of 2009. Cheers for now! Gary from www.garybutterworth.com.

Goin' to the Chapel and I'm gonna get married...

****Linda's returned again to post for me. Read it and weep people!*****

I’m getting married next May to my fiance Matt. I can’t wait to be part of his family. I love them all, especially Matt’s mom, who calls me “my Linda.” She took me under her wing right away, defending me against any comments that could even remotely be perceived as negative. She speaks up for me because she knows I’m shy, and she never makes me feel like there’s anything wrong with that.

This weekend, we had our longest phone conversation yet, about two hours. We talked about wedding plans of course, and just about things in general, like family. Matt told me his mom always wanted a blue-eyed grandchild, especially a grandson, and it looks like that’s not going to happen as all of her kids are dating people with dark eyes. I asked Matt’s mom about that, and she said “At least I have Lucy” (Lucy is Matt’s two-year-old niece). All of Matt’s family has blue eyes, and I guess his mom wanted to see that continue in the next generation. But she also told me she can’t wait to see what my children with Matt look like. She’s already a great mom and grandmother, and I have no doubt she’ll be just as doting with my kids.

Matt’s sisters. He has three of them, and he often tells me (horror) stories about growing up with them and all of them being on their periods at the same time. I guess being around women constantly has prepared him well, because he is very caring and generous. He also has infinite patience. This comes in handy especially when I’m in one of my ranting moods. You can also tell a lot about a person by how their family treats them, and Matt’s sisters treat him like a king. They trust him. They come to him for advice (particularly computer advice). They listen to him. Matt’s mom told me his older sister Kate constantly brags about her brother. I was touched to hear that, and proud that I was marrying such a guy. :)

I was looking up wedding vows and poems a few days ago, with the idea that each of our sisters (including my own) could read something at the ceremony. It would be really fitting and beautiful, everybody sharing their vows and contributing to our union. Matt and I don’t have a lot of friends—we tend to stay home and watch movies and occasionally I’ll drag him up to dance with me—but we are very close to our families. They say that when you marry someone, you marry their family, and I for one can’t wait. Did I say that already?

She's a crafty one!

Guest Post from C's friend Nikki!

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Ever since I was a little girl, I've been a crafter. My favorite activity at summer camp was making friendship bracelets. I became so good at it that I started selling them to my schoolmates for 10 cents. (Clearly, I undervalued my work.)

As an adult, I keep trying to get back to it. But projects aren't as simple as making friendship bracelets. I currently have a rug that I have been working on for about, oh, 4 years or so. It should have been done quite some time ago. I go through periods where I forget all about it and focus on other, more pressing needs. But whenever I go through a troubled time (as I am now after having my car totalled), I come back to it as a source of comfort and stability. It's a calming, simple, repetitive motion to keep my hands busy and my mind off other matters. In the times when I'm with my craft, not much can bother me.

It is at this point in my life that I wish I knew how to quilt. I come from a family of quilters--all the women in all the generations of my family quilt. It's something I've always found to be fairly
boring until recently, when my mom agreed to put together a quilt featuring all my favorite album covers. You can see some of the blocks here: http://bit.ly/N3Ewy

As you can see, it's going to take some time to complete. But when it's done, I will own a priceless, one-of-a-kind work of craftmanship made especially for me. I will honor and cherish this quilt, much like the other quilts I have received from the other women in my family. And now, I want to learn this important craft so that I can pass this gift to others. I have but one obstacle in my way: distance. You see, everyone else in my family learned to quilt from their mothers at a younger age. I didn't take advantage of that when I was still living at home, and now I live 2,500 miles from my mom. I will have to learn from a stranger.

Although, maybe I can convince my mom to teach me via webcam.

A short list that got long

5 things I liked about today:

1) I got birthday cake at work (yes, my company is that sweet/corny/unusual) - one of them was a homemade vanilla cake with vanilla frosting and sliced strawberries on it! And this was made by a guy!

2) I got lunch with coworkers and I got to COMPLAIN about our head of accounting. The hilarious thing was that the accounting girls actually complained about her - more than I've ever heard them complain before, but then just like in "The Devil Wears Prada" they would all the sudden get this look on their faces like they were paranoid that word would get back to this woman and they'd start backtracking and saying what they liked about her and that they respected her sooo much. I got a really big kick out of it.

3) My co-worker George making me feel better about not having life figured out yet, despite the fact that I am hitting the milestone b-day, the big 2-5. My golden birthday. He told me he felt pretty down on his 25th birthday. He had just gotten into the oil industry after having left law school after 1 year. He was wondering what the heck he was going to do next 'cause he didn't have a plan 'B'. But see, I respect the life he's lead and he's a genuinely-at-peace-with-life person, so maybe there's hope for me.

4) Starting to figure out my own plan 'B'...maybe?? I dunno, its really more like plan 'H'. In my whole life, in about this order, I've wanted to be a pediatrican, a storm chaser (I loved the movie Twister), an astronaut (I loved Apollo 13), a doctor, an eye surgeon, a theologian, a counselor, a "do-gooder" volunteer in a sort of U.S. based/church run "peace corps" type thing, a counselor, and for a couple months this year: a massage therapist. Wanna know where I actually work right now: an oil company. BUT now I've got the reeaaal answer...how about i go become a nurse...or a nurse practicioner? Clearly I have a passion for medicine. But will I be able to hack it? How long will this career goal stick around? I do not know....
5) Nice weather. Its sooo hot here. I love it!

Oh and I got a futon for cheap this week. I've wanted a futon for awhile. Yay me.

Now I just need to stop being bitchy and hormonal and try to go out with friends for my b-day this weekend and I'll have all I need.

-M

10 things...

To see a quick update on Court's trip (and discover another cool blog written by the author of yesterday's guest post) check out: http://livininoilcountry.wordpress.com

Blog Swap

So! Court signed up to be part of a blog swap that's going on this week...her swap partner's contribution is below.



-m

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No Doubt "Rock Steady" in RexallJuly 16, 2009.

No Doubt held a concert down in Rexall Place, Edmonton as a part of their Summer Tour of 2009. As a concert junkie, I was determined to go. I took an interesting route, went with someone - a total stranger that was the fanclub member - she contacted me over an ad that I put, but she only had 1 ticket. I spoke to her on the phone, convinced she was a nice person to go with.. and that was set.The concert started at 7:30 with Bedouin Soundclash. I had no idea who they were at first but for sure they have great music. Somewhat alternative with a touch of reggae, soul and ska. Jay Malinowski, the vocalist, has a very crisp and sexy voice.. probably the sexiest voice of the night, I must say. Not to mention he's very cute as well. My favorite song from that night is "When the Night Feels My Song" and I'd recommend it to everyone.Done with Bedouin Soundclash, the crew redecorated the stage for the next opening act.. Paramore. I think it's weird though, if the Bedouin Soundclash has opened the concert, Paramore shouldn't be called an opening act anymore..



The band started with Misery Business, one of my favorite tunes. Hayley Williams was so lively. Her voice is undoubtly beautiful and strong. That morning though, she tweeted that she really need a shower and she can't do it until she get to the hotel that night.. or the next day. Errr.. so I guess she hasn't taken shower for few days by the time she was performing. Eeuuuw Hayley!!I would say Hayley Williams stole the performance. Listening to Paramore is like listening to Avril Lavigne.. only better and not over the top. Maybe because there are guys in it. But still, the guys seemed to be camouflaged by Hayley Williams. She was all over the place. Maybe in several years they will be like No Doubt, with Hayley having a solo career but still in the band, and the rest are getting more noticed.I learned most of the songs few days before the show so I could sing along. The list can be found here, including the list of No Doubt songs. But the one the Edmontonians were waiting for was the one that made Paramore famous: Decode, original soundtrack of Twilight. They saved the best for last of course, accompanied by deafening screams from the audience.No Doubt came next with an awesome intro. They hung up a huge white curtain on the stage, showing the shadows of No Doubt band members. The curtain dropped and the music played. Spiderwebs opened the big concert.I really like the way No Doubt presented themselves. The stage was pure white and glossy, and each of them wore white except for Adrian Young who was mostly topless. A gigantic screen is put as a backdrop, showing graphics and pictures made specifically for every song. I really liked it when they played "Running". It's a great ballad and the screen showed their old days. Very sweet.







I can't put in words how I'm so jealous of Gwen Stefani. Her beauty, her voice, her life and her body, especially her abs. God knows what she's been eating and how she's been resting with a husband and two kids, and still super fit, jumping up and down on the stage every night, living in a bus..Two fans went up on the stage. One man had a shirt on that says "Pull me up on stage", which I thought was very clever. Gwen let her up and hugged her. Again.. jealous! The next man reminded me of Hiro Nakamura from the Heroes tv series. He had messenger bag on, blouse and bermuda shorts, and a poster that says: "I challenge GWEN for a push up competition". Video of that can be found here.Gwen changed twice. From the white tank she changed to a checkered romper. Then, she changed to a flashing black polo shirt with acid wash jeans. Fashion forward, aren't we? I really like her fancy romper. Something out of her L.A.M.B. collections, maybe?





A little disappointment, I was expecting Hayley Williams to join No Doubt on stage for "Stand and Deliver". "Stand and Deliver" was an interesting performance though.. I love the intro. Adrian Young was standing with his percussion, wearing only a thong and a tutu. Boy, how I love this interesting creature.

"Sunday Morning" was sung last. Unfortunately the show was interrupted by the appearance of Gavin Rossdale on the left side of where I was sitting. I was busy taking picture of him with my cellphone. All pictures are courtesy of No Doubt.

My BFF

*****Hey ya'll, this is guest post #1 by my NYC favorite Linda...HOLLA!*******

Courtney asked me to guest-blog while she was away in China, and I was happy to help. I currently blog for 8Asians.com, and I used to have a Xanga. Anywhosers.

It’s absolutely fitting that my first post here be about how Courtney and I met. We were in a few classes together in college freshman year, but I don’t think I really got to know her until sophomore year. We were brought together by mutual friends, Nikki and Gwen. Back in college, I had a different rotating group of four friends each year. Someone always rotated in or out. Courtney was in that rotation for my last two years in college, along w/ Sarah and Gwen.

I don’t remember how we started hanging out. I think we started chatting on IM, and we’d run into each other at the dining hall or something. We always brought our own Tupperware for takeout.

Courtney and I have an inside joke. It came about when we were hanging out in my room senior year. We were on my computer talking to this guy Rob she knew who lived in my building. Courtney had talked about him before so I wanted to see what he looked like (besides just on Facebook). So I made Courtney ask him if we could visit, and he said sure, he just needed a minute. Before Courtney could stop me, I took the laptop and IMmed him, “Are you getting dressed?” We started laughing at picturing him naked. When we went downstairs, we couldn’t knock on his door right away, because we were laughing too hard. Ever since, we have called him Nekkid Rob.

I have a picture on my desk that I look at every once in a while. It’s me, Sarah, Gwen and Court. We are in the Lawrinson lounge on Super Bowl Sunday. Sarah is holding an Eagles pennant and Gwen, who is obsessed w/ the team as well, was wearing an Eagles T-shirt and hat. I am carrying the Donovan McNabb bobblehead doll Gwen loaned me. That was a really fun night of watching the Super Bowl together. I think of them every year during the big game.

On my last night in college, I celebrated with my old roommate Stephanie and Courtney. The three of us met up for Chinese food and Insomnia Cookies, where Steph worked. Those cookies were right out of the oven and warm and delicious. Afterwards, me and Court went back to my room and looked around. Almost everything was packed. It was sad to see how empty it was. Court and I were both wearing Syracuse sweatshirts, and we took a couple of pictures for old times’ sake.

College wasn’t that long ago, but it feels long ago. Still, Court and I have kept in touch, talking nearly every day on Google chat. She has come to visit me in NY, and we went to Paris together. She is one of my best friends, which can be hard because she’s so far away. She’s the person I tell everything to, and she knows she can do the same with me. :)

G'day

Dear Blog World, its me Mari. The Mysterious M reporting here for Courtney while she goes gallivanting around the world...and I haven't much to say...this morning anyway. I'm one of those sneaky people who sneaks on to the internets while at work! So my time here is limited. Just wanted to let you all know that Courtney made it safely to China.

And that I and other scheduled bloggers will be back. Soon.

And that I hope Courtney gets to witness this: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32011724/ns/technology_and_science-space

Going, going, GONE!

Okay guys you know that I'm on the other side of the world right now and that I won't be back for awhile. But don't fret, I won't leave ya'll alone. In fact, I've asked some of my closest friends in real life to guest post for me. So get ready for some freakin' awesome blog posts, k? Thanx.

You'll hear from the infamous M, whom I've mentioned alot here. You'll hear from L aka Linda, my bff living in NYC, Gary, the expert on travel, and Nikki, my West Coast lover.

You'd better read & comment--kapeesh?

xoxo,

ME

Whew, that was a close one

Okay, so I haven't had much time to blog in the past 48 hours or so, but here's the recap. I'm gonna keep it short & sweet people. I've got things to do, like pack. Yes, I'M GOING TO CHINA! My visa got approved yesterday, and so I should have it in the mail today. YAY! Talk about last minute, but that's how I roll sometimes. At least I getta go.

Other than that, I saw the Harry Potter movie with M on Wednesday night, followed by a short trip to Walmart. My Dad requested that I bring him some peanut butter, jelly, and Honey Nut Cheerios. Yeah, I'm dead serious. Apparently China doesn't have that. And me being the wonderful daughter I am, I said okay, sure Dad. I'm betting that TSA will have a laugh or two when they scan my luggage and see a bunch of food in there. Oh well, as long as it fits.

I saw B last night. I know I said I wasn't going to but I figured since I'll be gone for two weeks, I should at least say goodbye to him. We had a late dinner and talked about life. It was nice to actually talk about something worthwhile for once. I didn't get home until late, and then today I overslept. My alarm didn't go off (totally my fault). But I made it into work today. Whew!

Wish me luck on my China trip. I just need to make it there and then I'll be golden. I doubt I'll be able to blog, so I'm probably going to have guest posts and might even schedule a post or two myself if I have time. So make sure you come back and read me, er my blog. Thanks!

Back to myself

I'm doing better than I was before. I had honest conversation with M on Sunday...we got ice cream and I tried an Earl Grey milkshake. Sounds very odd, I know, but it was really good. We needed the time to just hang out and clear the air, and I'm glad we did.

So things with friends are back on track, and work is busier than ever. Our deadlines have moved up, so I have plenty to keep me busy.

And I've been enjoying housesitting for my uncle. I think part of the reason why I'm unhappy is because I live at home. On one hand I want to move out. I found $400 apartment deals. But when I look at the big picture, I think twice about moving out. Because if I can just make it through the rest of the year and pay off my student loan, then I can afford a down payment for a condo (hopefully). I don't want a house at this point because I don't want to take care of the lawn and stuff. I need it simple, and I figure I can always move. The thought of me having my own place is really exciting, and so I think, yeah, that could be worth the wait. And maybe things at home will be better once my brother goes back to college. Then I'll just have my 9-year-old brother and my mom to deal with. And once my Dad comes back from China, that should help too because then I won't feel like a second parent.

I know it'll all work out, but in the meantime, I'm just happy to feel better about things.

On the other side

So, I haven't really mentioned it here, but I'm going to China on Saturday. Yeah, as in that big country on the other side of the world. I'm gonna be there for two weeks, and see my Dad, and visit Beijing, and see where Michael Phelps swam in the Watercube, and see this Hello Kitty house in Shanghai. And of course go shopping, and take a bazillion pictures.

Only, it seems as though their government hates me. You see, in order to visit, even if it's just for vacation, you have to apply for a visa. So you fill out a bunch of paperwork, detailing out where you're going, where you're staying, etc. and then you send in your paperwork and passport and they send it back to you with a visa in it. At least that's the way it's supposed to work.

In my case, I did all of the above, except then I got a call last week, saying their government wanted more details on what my job entailed. I filled out a statement promising not to write about China. I even wrote a 3 paragraph letter detailing my job description. I thought okay, this is going well. I'll expedite the process, get my visa by Wednesday, and be all set.

Um. No. I get into the office today, check my voicemail, and get a message....

"Hi, this is __ with the office. I have bad news for you. The Chinese government isn't going to process your visa request because of your job. I know you wanted this expedited, but at this point, I might not get it to you until Friday night or Saturday depending on shipping and when you are leaving. I will try to get them to reconsider, but at this point they are saying no. Please call me back at xxx-xxx-xxxx. Thanks."

I'm not okay. It's just starting to hit me that I'll be on the other side of the world in less than a week, and I'm worried as it is about traveling there. I'll be fine once if I ever get there, but this sucks. I'm sorry that I have a job. I'm sorry I know how to write and use the internet. I just don't get it. Why me? Nothing is ever easy. All I want to do is see my DAD, to see my FAMILY. Is that too hard to understand? Why must they hate me? What if I was Asian? Would that have made a difference?

Please pray/send positive thoughts that they will reconsider and that I will get to go.

My dad is trying to talk with the processing people to see if he can do anything, and my mom said that if worse comes to worse, I'll just have to come a little later and fly there alone.

I don't know what to do. I want to cry, but as my friend Linda said, I can't do anything--its out of my control. Which doesn't set well for me, because we all know what a big control freak I am. *insert sarcasm here* I couldn't resist. I had to do something to lighten up this post.

Cheap thrills

Since it's Friday and I'm ready for this week to be over, I've complied a list of things that assume me. Consider it my gift to you--laughs for free.

1. Chick-fil-A Cow Appreciation Day. Apparently if you dress up like a cow today, you get a free combo meal. What cracks me up is that on their website, in case you don't own a cow costume, you can print off a "costume kit" and make your own. I would love to see someone do this! Actually, I'm tempted to do this, but I need a wingman....
   
2. 7-11 Day. If you are cool enough to have a 7-11 near you, you should go there tomorrow. Why? Because I said so. Nah, because you can get a free slurpee, and let's face it, slurpees are like the must have drink of the summer.
   
3. Free Chocolate. Thanks to the “Real Chocolate Relief Act,” every Friday starting at 9 a.m. Eastern Time, you can register for the opportunity to receive a coupon for your choice of any Mars product — like a Milky Way, Twix, Snickers or bag of M&Ms. This lasts till September so if you missed out this week remember to do it next Friday, k?
4. Dogs will be dogs. This totally entertained me the other day, because that's exactly how my dog would be. She'd be the one in black, tryin to play with the other dog, and not even getting the hint that the other dog isn't interested in playing. Enjoy.

That's all I've got, enjoy your weekend!

A update of sorts

I'm not sure what's going on with me, but suffice it to say, I've been pushing people away on purpose lately. Let's run down the list, shall we?

Peter- Yeah, I might've had a crush on him, and was planning on flying to AZ to spend the weekend with him next month...but not so much now. I totally forgot his birthday. Like, I knew what day it was, but on that actual day, I didn't piece it together that it was his birthday, so I never called, nor sent a card. And that never happens to me, usually I'm the good friend, with all the details. I even did this this year with my mom's birthday. Oy. By the time I remembered, I wished him a belated one and said sorry, but it wasn't enough. He's still "disappointed" in me. Which I can see why he is, but honestly, it doesn't make me want to send him a card now. I know I should, because it's the "right thing to do," and I keep telling myself I should, but I just haven't. Obviously, I don't want to. Sad.

I also ruffled his feathers too when I got reacquainted with my ex, B, and in return he's interested in another girl now. Good thing I never booked my flight.

M- I don't even know why I'm pushing her away, but I am. She's like my bff, and I just can't seem to get over my drama and be happy for her.

KS- I haven't talked to him in awhile, but actually did call him the other day, and it felt good to speak with him again. I didn't feel judged, and he had some good insight into things with B.

B- I've been all over him lately, and I have no idea why. I don't know if it's because I just want to fit in with all my couple-y friends, because I know he will give me what I want, or if I just like the idea of him, or if I just needed some affection. Either way is, I know we aren't together, so I can't keep pretending we are, because we aren't, and I have to remember that we aren't together for a reason (which I keep ignoring). In fact, I'm hanging out with him tonight. I know, bad idea. But, I don't care...at least that's what I'm telling myself. And I'm going to reform and totally not initiate anything for awhile after tonight.

Myself- I haven't had any alone time lately, especially with a full house at home, and I miss the alone time. I've been really bitchy lately to my family, and I know it. I don't apologize for it though. I don't understand where all this hate is coming from, or if it's anything specific, but I'm happy to report that my uncle's going out of town for 10 days, and I get to housesit. Aka I'll have 10 days of alone time. Which I hope is a blessing. I hope I don't feel lonely and I hope I can remember what it's like to be on my own again. And, I might even make plans with friends again...like I might actually WANT to see them. We'll see.

Weekend Recap

I know I had a long weekend, but once you get an extra day off, it's like a huge letdown to have to work an entire 5 day week. But I am proud to say that I did make the most of my lovely 3-day weekend.

Thursday night I went to this amazing happy hour at this fancy restaurant where I got huge 22oz beers for $3, and because we had 6 people at our table, the bar manager gave us an entire huge platter of nachos for FREE. Score!

Friday- Slept in, went to the pool, and then met up with an old grade school friend who found me on Twitter. Yeah, small world. We ended up pretty much spending the entire night drinking. Remember my post about needing a drinking buddy? Yeah, I'd say after that night, that position has been filled. Oh, and we saw fireworks.

Saturday-Learned that I'm too old to be drinking too much. Slept off my hangover, got some lunch, went to a bbq, and to the Rockies baseball game. They lost but I saw an amazing 15 minutes worth of fireworks.

Sunday-Slept in, actually made it to church, went on a bike ride, got 4 tacos for $1 from Taco Bell, and went to jazz in the park with friends. It was a good way to end the weekend.

Hope you all had a fun weekend...I don't know about you, but I'm still wishing I had today off.

Sorority Life

Don't misunderstand this post. I am not in a sorority, nor will I ever be in one. I have friends who are in them from college (who doesn't? They are everywhere) but I never wanted to be in one. Especially the ones at my college back East. Each house was so stereotypical- you had the house with all the Jewish girls, the house who was the richest and who were also drug dealers, the house with the reputation for only selecting big-boned girls, etc. And rush, don't even get me started on rush. You could tell who were rushing because they all dressed alike--with the black pants and whatever name brand swag they could carry.

But here's my confession. I am in a sorority. A virtual one that is. On Facebook. The past 48 hours I've been playing "Sorority Life" on Facebook. And it's totally addicting. I'm already on level 13, working as a research assistant making $1,000 per paycheck, using all of my energy to organize social events, such as blind dates, spring break trips, and freshmen ice breakers. And did I mention all the swag I have? Oh my goodness, I have gorgeous outfits, expensive shoes, two ipods and cell phones, a ton of confidence, and the house mom has awarded me with 15 brownie points. Am I so cool or what?? Now if I could only win a few fights...but I need more "sisters" in my house first. Wanna rush my house? Look for me, I'm Olivia Hudson, dressed in the hot pink tube top, black leggings, and DKNY saddle pumps.