100

This is my one hundredth post! Now, drop the urge to start lecturing me on how this-would-have-happened-a-long-time-ago-if-you'd-just-apply-yourself-and-spend-more-time-on-the-internet-and-less-studying, and just enjoy it!

My initial idea was to do ten top tens of images from my blog's past, but that seemed too... predictable. Instead I will do eight top somethings. Well, maybe I will split that into two posts so you don't get bored.

Without further ado...

The Top 7 Best Winks

7. Winks are just plain nerdy when you are reading.

 That book was about art history too, I think that makes it even worse.

6. Accidental wink

So kill me, it was really sunny out!

5. The stray bang wink

May I deem the stray chunk from my bangs a "bang"? I do this a lot. And for all my (someday?) international readers, I'm talking about "fringe."

4. The wink that arises when you can't smile (REENACTMENT)

Damn, that's sexy.

3. Winking with GUNS

And horns for that matter. This is a pretty quality wink. As you can see, folks, the man has committed his entire body to the wink, even if he is a tad crazy about Christmas.

2. Winking with headgear

Wow, Brian, another classic move. When my photography teacher saw this one, he said it was one of his favorites because you looked so "coy." 

Drumroll... (yes, of course there is going to be a drumroll before every one! And I want to see you slapping your knees before you read them.)
1. My specialty: unflattering winks

Read 'em and weep! No wink can top this one in jankiness!

What's next? I suppose, since this is an omellette related blog and all, we should go with:

The Top 4 Eggs

 4. Classic egg(s)

 Aww, this is from one of my first posts, that's why it's so itty-bitty. And what a gorgeous picture of those white domes, courtesy the artist.

3. Decorative egg

In Middle School we had "Exploratory Day" and I signed up for a class on how to make these decorative eggs. It is a complex process involving crayons and knowing which color is darkest. Needless to say, I did not make this particular egg.

2. Not sure why my family owns this egg nicknack.

Don't you wish nicknack was spelled knicknack?

Drumroll...
1. The most eggciting egg. (What did you eggspect in an egg countdown?)

Delicious.

Okay, so maybe I was a little desperate when choosing these countdowns. I was trying to be creative or something! You know, out of the box...
But that leads to my next countdown of course. 'Twas a planned insecure rambling.

The Top 9 Faces of Desperation 

 9. Apparent unibrow desperation

Otherwise known as very little chin desperation.

8. Costume desperation

In the next few minutes you will find that this particular type of desperation is widespread among animals, human-animals, and human-foods alike. Costumes just aren't as fun as one would think.

7. Costume desperation is real, everyone!

It was very cold, I had nothing else to wear.

6. Indecisive desperation

  After all, what's a wee girl like myself standing in front of an eagle picture supposed to do?

5. I'm too old for this desperation

Not even dalmatians could cheer me up at this party.

4. An extraordinary case of costume desperation

3. Clenched neck desperation

2. Zoomed in desperation

The bulging eye is what brings this face up to number two. It's not your typical bulging eye but a prime example where the eye we see to our right bulges just a bit more than the left. Actors: study this.

Drumroll...
1. You're taking another picture? desperation and outdated glasses desperation

This one is an instant classic. I think the jumper makes it all the more successful. Winner! Mom, I would totally link to your blog right now if you had one.

I know you are all anxious for one more countdown. Put on your reading glasses for this next one. There will be some fine print, if you know what I mean.

The Top 10 Glasses

First eggs and now glasses?! I know, right? That's just how it is around here, the party never ever stops.

10. Harry Potter, beloved

Hoodwinked again! I know you all thought I would put Harry at number one, but as the first movie is not very good, you were WRONG.

Suckers.

9. Anthropology professor glasses

Not bad, Harley, not bad.

8. Reflective glasses worn by sweaty people

This blurry, shiny, unflattering thing was taken on a rickshaw in India. How can it not be number 8?

7. Smart glasses

Without these extra large peepers, I'd be nothing next to the wise owl. Instead, I stare him down like it's nothing! And for 19.95, these brilliant-makers can be yours too.

6. Justine glasses

Justine eating quesadilas beats most glasses pictures.

5. Creative glasses

Doesn't the phrase "turn that frown upside down" mean anything these days? Artists: study this, you are expected to dress up for gallery openings.

4. Puns

It's just juice, stop freaking out.

3. Anime glasses

... in the cornfield!

2. Really hip glasses

I will also accept "cool" and "rad."


1. Cutest glasses-wearer ever (sorry, Brian)

There's more where this came from! So I hope you liked it! Comment? Follow? Plus one? (Whatever that is.)

Homeward Bound

January 22^nd-ish

Extreme Binge Traveling

Yep. We drove. We waited in lines. Finally we got to the first flight. 10 and a half hours, it was. For some reason going west always takes longer, I think it has to do with the turning of the earth.

It wasn’t so bad, I slept most of the time.

Not that sleeping on a plane is fun, but it went by fast at least.

About 70% sure these pretty pictures of Brussels were taken during landing (as opposed to take-off)

 [GORGE]

[peek-a-BOO]

[whoops, didn't realize how low quality this here one is]

Then we were in Europe. Brussels, Belgium. So close, yet so far.

We all bought expensive chocolate and pigged out.

The next flight was 8 hours.

Rachel and I (eternal seat buddies) decided it would be fun to watch a movie at the same time! First we watched The Time Traveler’s Wife—good and sad. Next we watched The Informant! which was pretty lame.

It had only been 4 or 5 hours and we were bored!

We played two truths and a lie and Golf (the card game) and ate yucky airline meals. Eventually, we arrived. That pilot was a crazy driver though, the landing was so fast and bumpy I actually felt sick.

 [New Yoiwk! I adore accents]

Yes, America, USA, red white blue!! We got lucky and customs was quick. During our 5 hour layover, we all excitedly pulled out our cell phones.

Harley gave us $20 for dinner and I got delicious Bdubs! My stomach was not as ready for it as my mouth, unfortunately.

Then there was another 3 hour flight. It felt like 2 or 3 am to us so everyone slept. Hardcore. There was a bit of drool on my neckrest thing.

FINALLY after hours of travel we arrived! Brian picked me up and we got to go home and SLEEP :D

I slept for days.

The end. (of my trip)

The End is Nigh

January 21st, 2010
Goodbyes, Beaches, and Traveling

This morning when I woke up, I was ready to get to work! All I had to do was read over my paper and correct it, email it to Harley, write a poem for my super-Secret Friend who already knew I had them, and eat breakfast. I allotted just enough time to do so.
Then Harley came to our door and told us we had to pack everything up before meeting! Needless to say, I was forced to scurry around a bit.

[hello, little friend who jumped out from behind my shampoo and made me scream because I thought you were a giant bug. once I discovered your true, cuter, nature, I was no longer scared, but you ran down the wall and under the bed, which really seemed to bother Shannon.]

At breakfast, as I chewed down a croissant with apple-cinnamon jelly and wrote my acrostic (yes, I am that lame) poem for ANDREW LADUE, one of the women working there decided she really wanted the email address of me, Megan and Kayla. Huh.

Then there was our lovely closing ceremony. We all had to give a 5-minute presentation on our paper. Most of us winged it. It was obvious. I did globalization and its effects on Indian women, if you were wondering. I tried to point out the fact that there are both costs and benefits, but I sounded really negative compared to everyone else (except Andrew, who hates globalization).

Next was Secret India Friend giveaways and poems! Wooo! Laura had me and gave me an owl because I am “wise” and know a bajillion facts about India.

 [am not wise]

I had Andrew, who figured out I had him when we were in Delhi the second time. He told me to give the 300 rupies to the poor, but I got him an elephant and some tea and gave the leftovers away. He really liked the poem ("Poem for a Surprise Ruiner"), which was grand. Plus, he used to live in Japan, so I wrote one of my classic, very un-poetic haikus on the back (you know what I mean, Justine).

Then there was more beach time! Though we had to be ready by 5 and NO LATER to travel our freaking minds out.
This time Andrew was invited to hang out with Francis (our tour-guide intern) for the day. Who would swim with me? I started out tanning, but Christopher and Bryan ended up swimming in the ocean with me, and even Megan and Kayla too!
After swimming that much, tanning was pretty fun. I don’t actually tan though. I just get red and peel or I wear enough sunscreen. This time I chose the latter. Laura told me I look like a porcelain doll.
Heheheh.

Ooooh, and we (Rachel, Bryan, Christopher, Kayla, and I) built a sandcastle! It was ugly, but fun to create. Then we buried Bryan.

[classic merman]

[boobs]

[me, Laura, Christopher, Bryan, Kayla, Rachel]

I got to shower before we left—yayyy!
Then, something amazing happened. For the first time the entire trip, we were all ready BEFORE 5!!!
But the bus was late.
Hours late.
Then there was traffic.
Dinner was hurried.

Now, technically, a lot of the traveling was on this day, but it all blends into one never-ending day for me, so I’ll just put it in a separate post.

Mahabali-WHAT

January 20^th, 2010

Sunny Daze

Today was SO much fun! It was hot and sunny and we were at a BEACH RESORT (the perfect place to be when it is hot and sunny, of course)!!

With Morgan and Shannon as my new roommates I ended up waking up early, not bad. I went to breakfast and walked on the beach, thinking I would get my feet wet before we left. Not being used to the ocean, practically my whole leg got wet when a few big waves surprised me. It’s never the ones you expect. The waves that look huge crash early and the ones that you don’t pay attention to splash you silly. 

["mornin', Pacific Ocean"]

[fisherman work next door to the resort]

Anyway, off we went to see the sites in Mahabalipuram (I thought this was only the name of the monuments, but I guess it is the whole town, there are just lots of ancient temples and things here).

Yay!

First we went to a big cluster of rock carvings from the Pallava Dynasty. Now there were three big important dynasties in the south, the Pallava, the Chola (inventers of the gopurams at temple entrances, like the one I saw…), and the third one is a very long and hard word that starts with a “V.”

So the Pallava is the oldest, the dates are something like 3^rd-9^th century.

At this first site we saw mostly stuff from the 7^th century. 

[dis one is NICE]

Also, there was “Krishna’s butterball” a giant rock that is just balancing on a hillside. Krishna is one of the incarnations of Vishnu (the protector). Vishnu has 10 incarnations, but Krishna is known as the playboy one. There’s a story about the boy involving a butterball, so this giant rock is named after it! Our guide Stanley says it was not carved, which is believable based on how misshapen it is, but Harley says a few guidebooks he read say it was carved. I happen to believe Stanley, but you can decide whatever you want!

[calendar worthy]

[look at the little BABY hanging nearby!]

And carvings galore!

[a pretty roof on a carved cave]

[those notches were how they split big hunks off of rocks back in the day]

[yo just me and a temple carved 1.4 thousand years ago. no big deal.]

[Parvati, pretty sure she is Vishnu's wife. the giraffe in the background makes me wonder if they used to live in southern India?]

[hello Spinx! no one knows if they were inspired by Egypt or invented separately. spooky.]

Next we went to these ancient temples called the Five Rathas. I believe they were copies of wooden ones that were used to parade through the towns on holidays. I tried to take it least one photo of each of the five. Count with me…

[UNO]

[TWO]

[TROIS]

[IV]

[WU*]

*Teeny tiny worry that I missed number five and this is actually number three from a different angle. :/

[not just a baby but a freakin' newborn!!]

Finally there was the Shore Temple. It used to actually be right on the shore, but the government wanted to protect it, so now there is a fence and stuff.

It showed a lot more wear and tear than the others, perhaps due to its seaside location. 

[majestic, eh?]

Also, inside one of the parts of the temple is a phallic symbol representing Shiva. I got to teach Bryan that phallic means “penis-shaped” which was pretty hilarious. He told me he would have gotten me one of those if I were his Secret Indian Friend.

Here’s a photo.

[huge]

We got home about 12:30 and the rest of the day was beach-tastic!! I don’t even like swimming that much, but I was so EXCITED to jump in! Hence this quote from my very own lips, “I have never been so excited to swim in my entire life!”

We ordered pizza by the beach first, which took a very long time. Afterwards, all the girls wanted to lay down and tan so only me, Andrew, and Kayla went body surfing in the ocean. It was so fun! We also tried out the pool for a bit, but since a foreign man told Andrew diving was “forbidden” he didn’t like it too much. Then we played a short, unscored game of beach volleyball.

A very very fun day. 

 [cow parade on the beach!]Ind

Finally, as it started to get dark, I began my paper. They are due tomorrow, you know.

Then there was dinner with Dr. Julius and his family (Sheela, Christopher, and Jocelyn). Oh, and Carl—Harley’s son—with his wife Jamie. Carl came here to a fancy physics school to learn about the physics of glass. Hehe.

After dinner, Jocelyn had brought his guitar so we were convinced to go outside and sing songs. We sang a bunch of Christian songs, Bryan sang My Heart Will Go On, Chris and Jocelyn sang their Eye Care Musical Message Commercial, and Janice (Harley’s wife) had a solo too.

It was very fun!

Plus, Megan had the great idea of going around and thanking the Julius family for specific things. They loved it.

Instead of going to bed, I stayed up nice and late writing my paper. You’ll be happy to know it was not as late as some people.