Category: My Musings

November State of the Union

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Every month, I give a status update on the books I’ve read and the progress I’ve made on personal goals. That said, I rarely make reference to what’s happening in the world. I like that the Internet is written in ink, and that to a degree, what’s published will be alive forever. It makes blogs and social media profiles like mini time capsules. I think that’s kind of special! For today’s post, I wanted to make a mini time capsule on what the world is like right now.

  1. The United States is in its eighth month (give or take) of quarantine, as a preventative measure against the coronavirus, AKA COVID-19. Other countries have lifted some restrictions due to decreases in cases, but upticks in cases as a result have put them back in quarantine. Currently, a vaccine is in the testing phases with an alleged 90% effectiveness rate, and is slated to be ready by fall of next year. Imagine that we have the same restrictions we have now until this time next year. It’s unimaginable.
  2. The United States has mostly chosen a new president! Projections indicate that Joe Biden will be our 46th president, with his vice president, Kamala Harris, becoming the first woman of color to hold the title (as well as the first woman, and first person of color to have the role). However, there are some margins of error to consider: due to the desire to not be in contained spaces (COVID-19 is mostly airborne and can be passed very easily in large groups), more people voted early through the post this year, rather than in person on election day in a voter booth. As a result, several states are in the process of recounts. Biden had a rather large lead over current President Trump, but “Parks and Recreation” has made it clear that recounts can change the game. There’s rumors that if President Trump did lose this election, he might run again in 2024. I think his supporters would love that, but I’m sure the President is ready to sit back, enjoy his wife, children and grandchildren, and the glory of retirement… from his massive resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Or his penthouse apartment in New York City. Wouldn’t you?
  3. Outside of the United States, Poland is experiencing its own uprising: a court decision was passed earlier in October that would outlaw almost all instances of abortion. Since that decision, men and women (and the nonbinary) have taken to the streets in protest. The police have gotten involved, and tensions are high, but it appears a final ruling has been delayed, due to the government’s surprise at how poorly this went over their constituents. The fight continues!
  4. In lighter news, Taylor Swift is allegedly recording again. After creating folklore in quarantine, Swift may very well be in the studio as I type. Last year, Swift’s masters were purchased by Scooter Braun, effectively symbolizing that she no longer owned her first six studio albums. She publicly spoke out against the purchase, claiming that she attempted to buy the masters on her own multiple times, only to be shot down by Scott Borchetta of Big Machine Records, her first label. The terms and conditions of the purchase stated that Taylor could rerecord those albums in November of 2020. She made it very clear that she would. It wouldn’t surprise me if we had all five albums by January 13, 2021 (the 13th month of 2020), or even her birthday this year (mid-December).
  5. The top social media streaming app right now is TikTok. I’ve mentioned it a few times now. It started out as Music.ly when Vine was all the rage several years ago. Since then, it has exploded, particularly as quarantine has put people in their homes with nothing to do but scroll! Rumors are rumbling that the most popular “TikTokers” (such as the likes of Addison Rae, who has over 49 million subscribers on that app alone) are being groomed for bigger popularity, even being paired with other minor or major celebrities for PR to further their careers. An even bigger rumor is that Addison Rae and her family are being prepped to become their own Kardashian-esque dynasty. The E! series about the Kardashian family (“Keeping Up with the Kardashians”) is coming to an end after more than ten years of their lives, and Addison and Kourtney have been seen hanging out regularly, even in quarantine! Who can say what will happen as the Kardashian era ends?

On this day in November, 2020, these are the top stories in politics, world news, and pop culture. Maybe this time next year, we’ll all be in line for COVID vaccines, listening to Taylor’s new version of 1989. Until then, I’m gonna go watch some TikToks before getting ready for bed!

 

 

The Hills: A Working Girl’s Lament

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As I opened up LinkedIn for the tenth time in the past two weeks, I had a sudden burst of inspiration: put on “The Hills.” For the uneducated, “The Hills” was the tipping point for modern reality TV. After “The OC” dominated the zeitgeist, MTV produced “Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County,” as a way to show the world what it was REALLY like to be a teenager in Orange County, California. Laguna Beach followed the lives of high schoolers Kristin Cavallari and Lauren Conrad, and the drama that comes with growing up, going to high school, and falling in love for all the wrong people. After graduating high school, Lauren Conrad (AKA “LC”) packed up her life and moved to Los Angeles to pursue fashion at FIDM, combined with an internship with Teen Vogue (may she rest in peace).

When I was a tween, going on teen, going on twenty year old, I wanted to be Lauren Conrad. She was the “good girl,” with good sense and great style. I loved that she worked hard, and reaped the benefits that come with hard work in a glamorous world. Spoiler: if you work hard in the fashion industry, EVENTUALLY you get designer clothes and front row seats at fashion week. That said, fashion was never my industry of choice back then. I wanted to be the Lauren Conrad of NBC!

Except, well… did I say “wanted”? I still want that!

So, there I was, sorting through LinkedIn job postings, with “The Hills” playing at the same time. I’ve seen the show at least five times over by now, but I think this is my first time watching in three years. Maybe even four! I don’t know what it was about this viewing, but certain aspects of the show drove me up the wall! I am here to share them all.

  1. “The Hills” is available for streaming through Hulu, but Hulu doesn’t have the rights to all the music on the show. When you’re an MTV show, the music is E S S E N T I A L. How do you get “The Hills” and not have the rights to “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield? It’s ICONIC. In the first episode, Lauren has an interview with “Teen Vogue” regarding her internship, and has to get ready and be there in twenty minutes! Her “get ready and go” montage is set to “Pon de Replay” by Rihanna… but when the scene happened on Hulu, THERE WAS NO RIHANNA. WHERE IS MY RIHANNA? To only have rights to half the music on this show, which went in tandem with it’s inspiration (“The OC”) in terms of defining indie/pop punk music in the mainstream is such nonsense.
  2. This isn’t so much a complaint as it is a notice on the passing of time: back in the early-oughts when this show was popular, LC and the gang were PEAK fashion. They were style icons. Their look now seems so faded! Nothing against them, because again, at the time this style was THE way you wanted to dress, but the eyebrows are so thin, there’s no contouring, black eyeliner on bottom and top, graphics sewn into the back pockets of jeans! I want to dress like this for a week IRL and see what people say. To be fair, I was heavily inspired by Lauren’s look and I think I still carry shades of what she wears even now. I’d say her style on the show is either dated (it was more than ten years ago) or classically pretty (how I attempt to dress now). There’s no in between! “Fashions fade, but style is forever.”
  3. Now let’s get to the meat and potatoes: THE FAKENESS OF THIS SHOW IS H I T T I N G ME THIS REWATCH. In the pilot, Lauren is assigned one job at a Teen Vogue party: guard the VIP table, and don’t let anyone sit there. At all. Not only does she help her bff/roommate Heidi sneak in with her bf and their friends, she lets them sit at the VIP table! She gets caught, and things are made worse when Heidi gets into a drunken argument with her boyfriend at the party. Lauren’s bosses sternly say “We’ll talk about it on Monday,” and she sees no repercussions other than a verbal warning. THAT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN TODAY. LAUREN WOULD’VE BEEN FIRED ON THE SPOT.
  4. Speaking of, Heidi is a piece of work! I had always liked Lauren more anyway, but this time around I find Heidi’s behavior even worse! Lauren and Heidi move to LA together to attend FIDM and be roommates, but Heidi skips the first day, and even drops out before attending a single class after getting a job. I get that school isn’t for everyone, but to drop out before even giving it a try! If you agree to go to school with a friend, you should at least stick it out for a semester. The job she gets is with a PR firm, and she expects that the role will let her be working in popular clubs, essentially getting paid to be a party girl. She is devastated and shocked to find that it’s a 9-5 assistant job of stuffing envelopes, answering phones, and getting lunches for the boss. At one point, she asks another girl working next to her what she does for the company, to which the other girl responds “I’m an intern, but I go to school full time at FIDM”. Heidi quietly replies “Oh… I just dropped out of there.” It’s just wild to me! She gets so frustrated that her day is spent doing remedial tasks, and thankfully someone sort of puts her in her place and tells her that she has to pay her dues before she gets to the fun stuff. I’ve been in the “paying my dues” phase of my career for four years, and Heidi wants to quit after one day! When she finally gets to work in the club at an event, she balks at it because it’s her and her boyfriend’s six-month anniversary! She’s twenty years old! I would have been thanking my lucky stars and making plans for the night before and the weekend after for my anniversary. The privilege and lack of gratitude. To have MTV connect you with an opportunity and to not send thank you notes for eternity. I CANNOT IMAGINE.

For all of this, though, this show is still just ADDICTING. It’s like a 2000s era time capsule. With that, I’m going to watch one episode right now, and then go do some productive busywork.

The rest? Is still unwritten.

 

Wanderlust Bucket List, Part 2

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Last year, I wrote a post about the places I most want to see in the world. Since then, I’ve been on a honeymoon and spent hours of COVID-19 lockdown time in bed, scrolling Pinterest. With these combined efforts, I wanted to take a second stab at this list! I’m certain there will be some overlap between the two lists, and by no means do I no longer want to visit the places mentioned in the first list. That said, these places are on my radar more prominently now, and some, dare I say, top the total list!

Currently, I most want to visit:

  1. Hawaii. I feel like all the girls on Instagram who have lives I want all have this US state in common. I actually think all of them live on Kauai, specifically! Between the mountains and tropical forests to the breathtakingly beautiful beaches, I have added a very specific trip in mind: I want to go to Hawaii, for a week, by myself. I want to get an AirBnB, rent a bike, and ride my bike every day to a different beach and swim for six hours. Eat fruit out of bowls made from a coconut. That’s what I want most right now, honestly.

    napali_coast
    Taken from Pinterest. Kevin Russ on Instagram: “From the trail today on the NaPali Coast. Kauai, Hawaii.”
  2.  Japan. I’ve recently discovered a desire to make my way to this lovely island! That said, I’ve targeted a few specific places to visit. For example, there’s a mountaintop resort that rests above a sea of clouds during the day! Then there’s the big cities like Kyoto and Tokyo, hotspots like Mt. Fuji, and eat real authentic Udon. At the tippity top, I want to walk to Chiringashima Island at low tide. It seems like a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

    mtfuji
    Image from Tumblr, taken from Pinterest. Cherry Blossom and Mt.Fuji, Japan

     

  3. Portugal. Basically, I just find pretty images on Pinterest and read the caption to find out where they are. After one too many photos of Lisbon, Portugal has been added to my list. I honestly don’t know much about it, only that it looks beautiful. I’ve got more research to do here, and I’m quite looking forward to that!

    lisbonarchitecture
    Taken from “Architecture Digest” through Pinterest. Portugal: Make your 48 hours in Lisbon truly memorable. Pallavi Mehra, 3 Aug. 2019

     

  4. Netherlands. I’m pretty sure this was on my list last time! I went to Amsterdam with my mom five years ago, and had a brief layover between flights with Aaron at the end of our honeymoon. This is one of the prettiest places in the world, to me. The canals are tranquil, the local food is tasty, and everyone there seems relatively clean and happy. I think it’s the bikes! Regardless, I’ve seen the city in the spring and in the fall. I’d like to see it in the winter. I’ve added, specifically, to spend Christmas in Amsterdam once in my life. I can just tell that it’s beautiful then.

    amsterdam
    Taken from Pinterest. Uploaded by Adriana Maarleveld.

     

  5. Canada. I know that this one was on my previous list! Just goes to show you that I can be consistent sometimes. I want to go back to Quebec (the last time I went, it was for a concert. I was there for maybe four hours. I didn’t have any money with me. My friends got dinner and I just sat there. Ya hate to see it), Vancouver (I went as a kid), and see all the places I haven’t been to yet. Last year I mentioned Whistler, but I want to add Banff, Bay of Fundy, and really all of the Canadian Rockies! Sounds fun, eh?

    LakeLouise
    Lake Louise Sunrise Photograph by Pierre Leclerc. Taken from Pinterest.

     

  6. Greece. I have now been to Greece! We went to Corfu on our honeymoon, but of course, that’s merely the tiniest dent. I have a trip mentally planned with my best friends where we start in Athens, go to Crete, then go to Mykonos, Paxos, and Santorini. I foresee beautiful beaches, fresh pita, and just three girls being able to dance, jive, having the time of your life. Mamma Mia!

    paxos
    Taken from Pinterest, “Heather on her Travels.”

     

  7. The Philippines. Tropical island with turtles. I’m in! More specifically, Cebu and Apo Island, Taal Volcano Lake, and the Underground River in Puerto Princessa. I’m thankful to have Pinterest to help me find these places! But something tells me I’m going to want to get my SCUBA license first!

    coronpalawan
    From Pinterest. Coron Palawan: The most beautiful island in the world.

     

  8. Australia. I feel like my inner desire to just surf and bike around Australia has grown stronger. If I get my SCUBA license to visit the Philippines, then I better use it to get to the Great Barrier Reef (or at least, what’s left of it). Before I’m thirty five? Maybe? Hopefully?

    pinklagoon
    From Pinterest/Boredpanda.

     

  9. China. There’s so much to see! The Great Wall, the terracotta soldiers, the colorful Reed Flute Cave… anywhere I can have a scenic view with some Dim Sum is all good in my book. Step one: learn Mandarin. Step two: hope that it’s enough, through the various versions of the Chinese language, to get me across the country.

    reedflutecave
    Reed Flute Cave! Taken from Flickr/Pinterest, courtesy of Christian Ortiz.

     

  10. Washington state. They say there’s no place like home. It makes sense to therefore add a place in the continental US to my list! People in Washington have been posting TikToks of their rainy, mountainous hikes. It makes me miss Vermont, but long for something similar but different. I’m also reading a book right now that takes place primarily in Washington… Forks, Washington. More on that later.

    wallacefalls
    From Pinterest, courtesy of The Mandagies. WALLACE FALLS HIKE IN WASHINGTON IS EFFORTLESSLY ONE OF THE BEST TRAILS YOU’LL TAKE THIS WEEKEND!

    Mountains, cities, and islands… all over the world. Check back with me in five years to see where I’ve been! Hopefully, when lockdown ends, I can start planning a trip to one of these places. Or all of them. Preferably, all of them.

     

     

     

Monthly Resolution Wrap Up – August

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August. Not my finest month.

If anything, I’m celebrating that I think this was my worst month. What a relief! I got my worst month done, and now the rest of the year can be great! Right? Right?! I’m right.

1. Read 52 books – I finished two books this month, and I’m working on two more right now! If I finish them by this weekend I’ll feature all four in a monthly reads post.

2. Do pull ups – I am excited that this resolution is slowly getting there. I’m feeling my muscles getting stronger and more capable each day. I’m steadily pushing and I think I’m going to make it by the end of the year. I really do!

3. Spend LESS. TIME. SCROLLING – I don’t think I tracked this a lot this month. I feel like it wasn’t overly bad, but I wouldn’t give myself a gold star? I should really start paying attention to my device metrics to see how much time is spent each week on certain apps (Instagram seems to be the biggest time suck. I also spend inordinate amounts of time on TikTok but allegedly that’s getting banned in the United States by the end of this month? I’m not going to blame Baby Yoda, all I’m saying is that 2020 started going south right around the time “The Mandalorian” ended).

4. Write 104 Blog Posts – Nailed it. Crushed it. Gonna keep crushing it. <- I wrote this last month. Still applies! Yahoo! <- I wrote this last month, too! Still applies! Double yahoo!

5. Romantic trip with Aaron from Dec. 26 2020 – Jan. 2 2021 – A distressing development: my mother cancelled our vacation for the end of the year. Very sad. BUT. She rebooked a beach resort vacation in the same timeframe! I will still be “of the sea” with Aaron to begin 2021. My 2021 New Years Resolution is going to include a new iteration of this resolution where he and I go all out for our two year anniversary. Hopefully by then this pandemic will be over and we’ll be back to a normal, no-fines-for-leaving-the-state society.

6. Stop engaging in schadenfreude – I think I did okay this month? I genuinely can’t remember. I know I did better than I did in July. I know I watched a few schadenfreude videos/read a few Twitter threads, but that’s it. It’s not about being perfect, it’s about being better.

7. Take better care of my skin – I went to a dermatologist! I got a prescription! I still have hormonal acne on my jaw and cheek and a few bad boys on my back and I’m hoping it’ll go away in a month otherwise I’m gonna lose my marbles!

8. Go stargazing – I have yet to seriously go stargazing. Aaron doesn’t like bugs but doesn’t want me to go to a dark place at night by myself. However, twice in the past week I’ve gone on a walk early in the morning while the stars are still out and it’s just… sometimes the sky feels like I’m in a dream. I’m not saying I got this done (I told Aaron I want a date night stargazing, and now that it’s September it better start cooling down and getting less buggy it better happen), but I have taken a moment (give or take twenty minutes) to just be in awe of nature.

9. Get a new job – I have kamikaze’d my way through job applications this month. Just full on Han Solo charge, knock out ten in one day, throwing my name out and seeing what happens. Do I have a new job? No. But I have new job prospects and I remain optimistic.

10. Do a handstand – Last month I said I was doing L-handstands against the wall. I have LEFT THE WALL. I have been practicing just kicking up on my own and almost every day I get further up, and further into a better stance! Some mornings I have left the gym feeling like air punching the world because I’m so proud of myself. That’s pretty neat.

11. Go see two of my favorite performers – This is still not going to happen and I’m very very bummed. I don’t think I’m an entitled fan, but if my favorites don’t look back at 2020 and think “I owe it to the people who suffered to give them what they want: live performances at relatively decent prices,” then they should reconsider. I’m just joking! OR AM I?!

12. Lose weight – WOW. What a dumpster fire of a month for this. I felt super sad about it. I FEEL super sad about it. I’m tired of feeling this way. I’m letting myself down and that’s so not Raven. I can do better. I AM better. Oof. No.

13. Give Aaron a great 26th birthday – Mission accomplished! I wonder if I should keep mentioning this one, since it happened and I can’t go back and redo it or improve on it. Meh. It’s a part of the list and it will stay on the list.

14. Be a better friend, wife, sister, daughter and granddaughter – I hung out??? With a friend??? Yes! I did! I saw a friend in person for the first time since lockdown this month. It was just for an hour, sitting on my porch and catching up on life. It felt so good to see a friend that I might? Do it again? Another friend wanted to go to this one restaurant where they make insane milkshakes with me when I felt safe to associate with other humans. Now’s as good a time as ever!
See, you look at sentences like that and then item 12 and you gotta think “Wow, the disconnect.” I know I do.
Aaron and I have been going on walks and bike rides together. I’m so grateful to have him as my husband and my partner through the dumpster fire that is 2020. I went home earlier this month and spent time with my family, but I feel like I’ve been on a different wavelength than them since. I also haven’t spoken to my grandparents in a month. I wanted to go visit with them, since I technically could be in the same house with them/quarantine for two weeks as the law requires, but that would still be too risky. I was so ready to go be with them and yet I didn’t call or email once. What is wrong with me?

15. Be happy – It’s weird. I thought this month was my lowest month of the year, but looking at my resolutions, this was a relatively solid month. I think that the family thing, the weight loss, and the job situation all just made me feel so low that I look at the month (maybe as an extension of myself) as a failure. I can’t tell if me being hard on myself is a good thing or a bad thing. Am I disappointed, because I know I can do better? Am I setting myself up for failure by having unrealistic expectations? Either way, the sad feelings don’t really invigorate me to try harder, so maybe just being sad about it is just a waste of time (gee, this sounds familiar).

I feel good about September. These will not be famous last words!

I love you three thousand.