(no subject)
finally, the sun!! and what do i end up with? a splotchyish burn. i should go outside again to try and even it out, but alas, i just ate and i'm feeling lazy.
finished In Her Shoes. Good book, thank you ren :) Mildly scandalous, funny, touching. I've read so much this summer!
To list (1st two were tchnically more end of school but we'll let it go):
Deception Point
Devil Wears Prada
Memoirs of a Geisha
Kite Runner
The Secret Life of Bees
Girl with a Pearl Earring
Because of Winn-Dixie (haha.. kinda doesnt count)
Pledged
In Her Shoes
ok maybe not. but it feels like a lot! and to go, I have Rebecca, Something Borrowed, Something Blue (remind me to send that out ren, I have to find a box, hopefully I can do it monday, I also need your address), Joy Luck Club, Tuesdays With Morrie, The Day After Tomorrow (not the movie one, diff story, i think some kind of thriller?).. yay. I haven't read for pleasure in soo long. It is such a delight.
Moving on, Busch Gardens with the fam last weekend was ridic amounts of fun... so many hilarious photos. Sam, I will forever thank you for "inspiration photos". My cousins are really good at reacting to things.. therefore i experience bouts of hilarity whenever i choose.
I think the house phone prob is finally solved. Not that too many people call my house for me anyway, but heres a fun story. Our phone has been messed up for over three months. Completely impossible to talk on because of ridiculous static and interference noises, plus no dial tone half the time. This angers my mother more and more by month, bc of high cell phone bills (minute overages, having to fwd the house phone to the cell, plus still paying for this stupid house phone (why? noone knows)). THEN, i dont know how exactly, we start getting calls at our house for Nancy!! lolz.
Apparently, the people calling her house are somehow getting connected to my old phone line which has been disconnected for 4 years and its ringing on our phone?? So anyway, my mom went all boca on them, bc half the time they say "its an inside prob, contact supra telecom" and then other people say "its an outside problem, contact bellsouth" and according to them during the hurricane is when the lines got messed up (hence, nancys calls in our house) and yeah i dunno so she demands credit for the past three months and for technicians to come out and such. i think she got what she wanted? anyway this led to several other peoples yards being dug up bc they were messsing with our line. teeheedles. but its fixed now?
Oh and get this, fellow subscribers to Adelphia cable internet or whatever it is that we have- I went to go online last night when i got home after passing out at jons, and it wont go. it says im connected to the wireless, but AIM wont sign on and when i try to open the internet it won't load. so i'm like, wtf cable people. so my mom calls today- apparently they shut off our line because someone in the house was about to receive a virus or something?!?!?! can they do that? how do they even know? what nonsense. so we all had to do three virus scans and now im finally connected to the internet again. but watch out. apparently they have craaazy power.
today has thus far been.. sadly unproductive. it has consisted of the following-
- finishing the book, as i said before
- making myself a delicious panini because i am super skilled (and by superskilled i mean i love my george foreman)
- editing a lot of pictures that will soon be on facebook (now that the internet is back)
- enjoying some pineapple (HOW COULD I HAVE MISSED OUT ON THIS DELECTABLE FRUIT MY WHOLE LIFE)
- umm learning that a black inner tube is the worst kind for the pool because after you float in it with your book for 10 minutes you cannot move your arms or they will be badly burnt on the hot black plastic... mm yeah.
- returned a diffuser and other thingy for my blowdryer to Sally Beauty (finally) bc I bought them and came home only to find that the head of said blowdryer is oval shaped and therefore NO generic diffuser will fit it bc they’re all round. I’m destined for frizzy curls, people.
- bought new Dove shampoo and conditioner (for extremely dry, damaged hair) and new deodorant (we’ll see how it works lol) and more curly hair products. Herbal essences has completely changed up their products.. good thing I guess?
thats pretty much it.
Oh, and i would also like to take a minute to say that Pledged, while entertaining, made me oh so angry at the end that I finished it only on principle (you cant read all but the last 15 pages of a book, its just wrong). Yes, some of it was true. Yes, some of it was funny. But only the most mild of parts. And half the time, what she writes about is to be expected of any giant building filled with teenage girls. All the book accomplished, for me, was making me proud to be a part of my sorority, where none of this bullshit goes on. Where relationships such as those in the book do not exist. Where older girls do not treat younger girls like they don't matter. For all I know, this stuff could be true of whatever university she went to. But it certainly is not true of my chapter at UF, and most probably any other chapter there. I don't know just how much stricter Panhellenic has gotten in the past 4-5 years, but there is no way in HELL some of the stuff in that book would ever be allowed in a sorority house at UF. no. way. and theres no way the majority of the girls in my house (or any house) would want it to.
What angered me most is that the author claims that she's giving "an unbiased view of sororities" - an objective look into the lives of "normal" girls. That, my friends, is an outright lie. First, the girls she uses were not “normal”. Two of the four had been date raped. I’d like to know the actually statistics on that. Second, she claims that she has no personal bias, but it's clear halfway through the book that she thinks of them negatively. Actually it’s clear in the preface (see a few paragraphs down what I have to say about that).Yes, she does say "I can't generalize this to the entire greek population" more than once. But how is a mere three mentions of that going to overshadow the disgusting picture she paints of some houses and traditions throughout the entire novel? It won't. And I'm sure she's aware. And to top it off, she spends almost the entire last chapter criticizing the National system on nearly everything, proceeds to define what sororities are and are not, and then gives her personal opinion on how they could improve (on nearly every aspect of rush, living in the house, pledging, charity events and community service, etc).
What angered me almost equally were the reviews all over the book, such as "Every parent with a college bound daughter should read this book" or "A juicy expose!" or "Alexandra Robbins rips into the secret, sordid underbelly of sororities". Sigh. Guess what? My parents have no clue what college life is like, and even less of a clue about what Greek life is like. If they had read this book, there's no WAY I would've been allowed to rush. And for that matter, for any parent who is as conscious and overprotective to look into things like this, this would've been the biggest deterrent to joining the greek system if there ever was one. Lets be honest here- some things in this book are so completely outrageous that I'm not even sure I can believe them! Drug rooms inside the house that the house mom is aware of? a very good number of girls being date raped and then encouraged to not talk about it for fear of a loss of popularity? girls missing classes and failing them because they interfered with chapter meetings? No way. People should not expect this to be a dead honest report of what goes on inside a sorority house, and I feel like many people uneducated on the system will just accept it as fact. And even if they don't accept all of it, the ideas will still be planted in their minds! It's rather unfair.
Beyond all that, she also revealed some secrets of certain houses (and actually NAMED them, didn’t give fake names to them like she did to the chapters she was privy to), which really put me off as well. No, it doesn't seem like a big deal, and it's true that a lot of people don't really take all the sacred things as seriously anymore, but I always thought it was a really fun part of being in the sorority. If my chapters password, or secret handshake, or secret knock, or sweetheart song, or any sacred song really, had been revealed, I would've been truly upset and offended. She even went on to say that the meaning behind some of these rituals is "trite" and considered a hassle to most girls. Yeah, it's a bitch to memorize all the stuff at once [it must be done that way- you are not allowed to leave the ritual room to memorize/practice ritual] but I'm glad I know it and I'm excited to help the next pledge class learn it.. and I enjoy the feeling of being in a room with my sisters, reciting what Alpha Chi's have been reciting for over a century. Maybe that’s lame, but I do. And I feel that it’s a right to want it kept sacred and secret.
What angered me also was the fact that she had a preface to the book with a mock-up letter to show the “average response of sorority girls” which was basically a snotty, childish rant about how “she’s a liar and her book is stupid and she’s probably just mad because she didn’t get into a sorority because she was a journalist and therefore a loser and she’s just jealous so she’s writing a nasty book of lies and everyone knows this and so they refuse read it” (insult #1 to sorority girls). Not to say she didn’t get some letters that were like that.. I’m sure she did, I obviously can’t speak for everyone. But why would you NOT want to read the book to find out for yourself? That’s just ignorant, and I’m sure that the majority of intelligent female college students would do what I did and read it for themselves instead of just saying “well I know it’s just a bunch of lies and I’m boycotting it”. But what gave me the first hint that this would not be an “unbiased” account was the fact that she, number one, even felt that she needed to put that in her book, and then number two, DEFENDED herself against it. “I didn’t rush because the greek system wasn’t big at my school and I was more involved in other things, I was not rejected.. “ etc etc. If she felt the need to openly criticize “sorority girls” by putting in that mock up letter and then basically stooped down to the same level and defended herself (to these girls who are supposedly so childish.. if that’s in fact the truth then they probably wouldn’t listen to/believe what she said in there anyway) then she’s clearly not mature enough to just write it off, as any author who wants to be considered decent probably should have. She sounded just like the girls she criticized throughout the book. She even said that some houses forbid their sisters to read it, and that if they were caught with it in the house they’d be punished in some way. Sorry, but that’s not how things work. My sorority will never forbid me from doing something I want to do. Especially not something like that! They’d probably encourage people to read it to see what it’s about/discuss/etc.
Anyway that ends my rant. Which was longer than intended. Point is, Alexandra Robbins sucks, but her book did entertain me for a while. SO while it may be biased, you should def check it out for yourself anyway.
Now it is late and I kinda smell and I’m no longer babysitting/needing to do errands so I should shower and do something fun with my life. Much love! Facebook albums to come!!
heart,
e
finished In Her Shoes. Good book, thank you ren :) Mildly scandalous, funny, touching. I've read so much this summer!
To list (1st two were tchnically more end of school but we'll let it go):
Deception Point
Devil Wears Prada
Memoirs of a Geisha
Kite Runner
The Secret Life of Bees
Girl with a Pearl Earring
Because of Winn-Dixie (haha.. kinda doesnt count)
Pledged
In Her Shoes
ok maybe not. but it feels like a lot! and to go, I have Rebecca, Something Borrowed, Something Blue (remind me to send that out ren, I have to find a box, hopefully I can do it monday, I also need your address), Joy Luck Club, Tuesdays With Morrie, The Day After Tomorrow (not the movie one, diff story, i think some kind of thriller?).. yay. I haven't read for pleasure in soo long. It is such a delight.
Moving on, Busch Gardens with the fam last weekend was ridic amounts of fun... so many hilarious photos. Sam, I will forever thank you for "inspiration photos". My cousins are really good at reacting to things.. therefore i experience bouts of hilarity whenever i choose.
I think the house phone prob is finally solved. Not that too many people call my house for me anyway, but heres a fun story. Our phone has been messed up for over three months. Completely impossible to talk on because of ridiculous static and interference noises, plus no dial tone half the time. This angers my mother more and more by month, bc of high cell phone bills (minute overages, having to fwd the house phone to the cell, plus still paying for this stupid house phone (why? noone knows)). THEN, i dont know how exactly, we start getting calls at our house for Nancy!! lolz.
Apparently, the people calling her house are somehow getting connected to my old phone line which has been disconnected for 4 years and its ringing on our phone?? So anyway, my mom went all boca on them, bc half the time they say "its an inside prob, contact supra telecom" and then other people say "its an outside problem, contact bellsouth" and according to them during the hurricane is when the lines got messed up (hence, nancys calls in our house) and yeah i dunno so she demands credit for the past three months and for technicians to come out and such. i think she got what she wanted? anyway this led to several other peoples yards being dug up bc they were messsing with our line. teeheedles. but its fixed now?
Oh and get this, fellow subscribers to Adelphia cable internet or whatever it is that we have- I went to go online last night when i got home after passing out at jons, and it wont go. it says im connected to the wireless, but AIM wont sign on and when i try to open the internet it won't load. so i'm like, wtf cable people. so my mom calls today- apparently they shut off our line because someone in the house was about to receive a virus or something?!?!?! can they do that? how do they even know? what nonsense. so we all had to do three virus scans and now im finally connected to the internet again. but watch out. apparently they have craaazy power.
today has thus far been.. sadly unproductive. it has consisted of the following-
- finishing the book, as i said before
- making myself a delicious panini because i am super skilled (and by superskilled i mean i love my george foreman)
- editing a lot of pictures that will soon be on facebook (now that the internet is back)
- enjoying some pineapple (HOW COULD I HAVE MISSED OUT ON THIS DELECTABLE FRUIT MY WHOLE LIFE)
- umm learning that a black inner tube is the worst kind for the pool because after you float in it with your book for 10 minutes you cannot move your arms or they will be badly burnt on the hot black plastic... mm yeah.
- returned a diffuser and other thingy for my blowdryer to Sally Beauty (finally) bc I bought them and came home only to find that the head of said blowdryer is oval shaped and therefore NO generic diffuser will fit it bc they’re all round. I’m destined for frizzy curls, people.
- bought new Dove shampoo and conditioner (for extremely dry, damaged hair) and new deodorant (we’ll see how it works lol) and more curly hair products. Herbal essences has completely changed up their products.. good thing I guess?
thats pretty much it.
Oh, and i would also like to take a minute to say that Pledged, while entertaining, made me oh so angry at the end that I finished it only on principle (you cant read all but the last 15 pages of a book, its just wrong). Yes, some of it was true. Yes, some of it was funny. But only the most mild of parts. And half the time, what she writes about is to be expected of any giant building filled with teenage girls. All the book accomplished, for me, was making me proud to be a part of my sorority, where none of this bullshit goes on. Where relationships such as those in the book do not exist. Where older girls do not treat younger girls like they don't matter. For all I know, this stuff could be true of whatever university she went to. But it certainly is not true of my chapter at UF, and most probably any other chapter there. I don't know just how much stricter Panhellenic has gotten in the past 4-5 years, but there is no way in HELL some of the stuff in that book would ever be allowed in a sorority house at UF. no. way. and theres no way the majority of the girls in my house (or any house) would want it to.
What angered me most is that the author claims that she's giving "an unbiased view of sororities" - an objective look into the lives of "normal" girls. That, my friends, is an outright lie. First, the girls she uses were not “normal”. Two of the four had been date raped. I’d like to know the actually statistics on that. Second, she claims that she has no personal bias, but it's clear halfway through the book that she thinks of them negatively. Actually it’s clear in the preface (see a few paragraphs down what I have to say about that).Yes, she does say "I can't generalize this to the entire greek population" more than once. But how is a mere three mentions of that going to overshadow the disgusting picture she paints of some houses and traditions throughout the entire novel? It won't. And I'm sure she's aware. And to top it off, she spends almost the entire last chapter criticizing the National system on nearly everything, proceeds to define what sororities are and are not, and then gives her personal opinion on how they could improve (on nearly every aspect of rush, living in the house, pledging, charity events and community service, etc).
What angered me almost equally were the reviews all over the book, such as "Every parent with a college bound daughter should read this book" or "A juicy expose!" or "Alexandra Robbins rips into the secret, sordid underbelly of sororities". Sigh. Guess what? My parents have no clue what college life is like, and even less of a clue about what Greek life is like. If they had read this book, there's no WAY I would've been allowed to rush. And for that matter, for any parent who is as conscious and overprotective to look into things like this, this would've been the biggest deterrent to joining the greek system if there ever was one. Lets be honest here- some things in this book are so completely outrageous that I'm not even sure I can believe them! Drug rooms inside the house that the house mom is aware of? a very good number of girls being date raped and then encouraged to not talk about it for fear of a loss of popularity? girls missing classes and failing them because they interfered with chapter meetings? No way. People should not expect this to be a dead honest report of what goes on inside a sorority house, and I feel like many people uneducated on the system will just accept it as fact. And even if they don't accept all of it, the ideas will still be planted in their minds! It's rather unfair.
Beyond all that, she also revealed some secrets of certain houses (and actually NAMED them, didn’t give fake names to them like she did to the chapters she was privy to), which really put me off as well. No, it doesn't seem like a big deal, and it's true that a lot of people don't really take all the sacred things as seriously anymore, but I always thought it was a really fun part of being in the sorority. If my chapters password, or secret handshake, or secret knock, or sweetheart song, or any sacred song really, had been revealed, I would've been truly upset and offended. She even went on to say that the meaning behind some of these rituals is "trite" and considered a hassle to most girls. Yeah, it's a bitch to memorize all the stuff at once [it must be done that way- you are not allowed to leave the ritual room to memorize/practice ritual] but I'm glad I know it and I'm excited to help the next pledge class learn it.. and I enjoy the feeling of being in a room with my sisters, reciting what Alpha Chi's have been reciting for over a century. Maybe that’s lame, but I do. And I feel that it’s a right to want it kept sacred and secret.
What angered me also was the fact that she had a preface to the book with a mock-up letter to show the “average response of sorority girls” which was basically a snotty, childish rant about how “she’s a liar and her book is stupid and she’s probably just mad because she didn’t get into a sorority because she was a journalist and therefore a loser and she’s just jealous so she’s writing a nasty book of lies and everyone knows this and so they refuse read it” (insult #1 to sorority girls). Not to say she didn’t get some letters that were like that.. I’m sure she did, I obviously can’t speak for everyone. But why would you NOT want to read the book to find out for yourself? That’s just ignorant, and I’m sure that the majority of intelligent female college students would do what I did and read it for themselves instead of just saying “well I know it’s just a bunch of lies and I’m boycotting it”. But what gave me the first hint that this would not be an “unbiased” account was the fact that she, number one, even felt that she needed to put that in her book, and then number two, DEFENDED herself against it. “I didn’t rush because the greek system wasn’t big at my school and I was more involved in other things, I was not rejected.. “ etc etc. If she felt the need to openly criticize “sorority girls” by putting in that mock up letter and then basically stooped down to the same level and defended herself (to these girls who are supposedly so childish.. if that’s in fact the truth then they probably wouldn’t listen to/believe what she said in there anyway) then she’s clearly not mature enough to just write it off, as any author who wants to be considered decent probably should have. She sounded just like the girls she criticized throughout the book. She even said that some houses forbid their sisters to read it, and that if they were caught with it in the house they’d be punished in some way. Sorry, but that’s not how things work. My sorority will never forbid me from doing something I want to do. Especially not something like that! They’d probably encourage people to read it to see what it’s about/discuss/etc.
Anyway that ends my rant. Which was longer than intended. Point is, Alexandra Robbins sucks, but her book did entertain me for a while. SO while it may be biased, you should def check it out for yourself anyway.
Now it is late and I kinda smell and I’m no longer babysitting/needing to do errands so I should shower and do something fun with my life. Much love! Facebook albums to come!!
heart,
e