I went to Dubai over spring break. After looking back through my journal, I found ten impressions of the city.

1. There is no old, no ghetto, no broken, no ugly.
2. Everything is under construction and I’ve only been to one place so far that is complete (Madinat Jumeirah resort).
3. On paper, the city is logical, but it doesn’t flow like a normal city, so in that sense it is illogical. There is no definite downtown area. You can’t walk to anything.
4. The only thing to do here is spend money. I guess you could drive to the beach. Shopping is the only acceptable activity for Muslim women to do.
5. It feels like I’m in Scottsdale, but a huge Scottsdale.
6. Arabic and English are alongside each other on everything. Even numbers. License plates from the rest of the UAE have Arabic and Western numbers, but plates from Dubai have only Western numbers. Maybe an attempt to be more Western than Eastern?
7. High ways run everywhere. There are very few intersections. High ways lead to off ramps, which leads to a roundabout, which will take you to a building.
8. There is little uniqueness here. The only art I’ve seen is a spin on other famous works, classical Arab art, or sculptures that are non-expressionistic and realistic (people on camels, birds, horses, etc). I saw a camel on a base, it was white with painted blocks of color, but it’s like those cows that we have in the States that I began to see 10 years ago. (I was referring to this.) There are no art museums, only galleries. This could be a reflection on the consumer culture—why would you only want to look at art? Why not buy it?
9. No chai tea. But there is lime juice and fresh mint, which tastes like a botanical garden. Amazing.
10. The city and everything in it is meticulously planned by a master designer. It’s unnatural, and it is extremely visible that nothing was left to chance or the plight of humanity. Things are counter-intuitive because you can’t see a natural progression of growth, different centers, nor randomness. It feels generic because of that.

Upon closer inspection, I found that there is a broken and ugly, organic part of the city. Old Dubai, the birthplace of the city, feels like China Town meets my imaginative version of Beirut, perhaps. I felt like I could live there and be happy, because I could see signs that other people lived there, and that communities had formed. Communities have not yet formed in Dubai, there are no certain characteristics of different parts of the city, and that may be because it is all so new, or it may be because “birds of a feather flock together” unless they are not given the opportunity to build their own nests.

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To see all of the photos from my trip, click here.

Now that midterms are over I finally have a chance to sit back and think about things.  Things that are finally allowed to sink in and soak up a while.  I’ve reached the point where I can be compared to a sponge, saturated in every pore, and now I must start letting the stagnant water seep back out.

First, no matter how great my roommate is, and how thankful I am to have a good roommate, no two people are ever perfectly compatible.  She does a lot of little things that just don’t make a whole lot of sense.  For instance, she will throw cutting knives together with the rest of the eating utensils all in a heap.  This dulls the blades of the cutting knives and makes nicks on the other things.  Also, her sense of style is pretty good, but her sense of decorating sucks.

Second, brick walls are not soundproof.  Even though my apartment has brick walls, I feel intimately connected with my neighbors’ lives.  The girl in #2304 just had a messy break up, which she blamed on her boyfriend, but the night before the screaming match over the telephone she was making out with some wannabe Abercrombie and Fitch model.

The chick in #2302 moved into these apartments to be closer to the university, but actually I’m pretty sure the move was made to get out of her parents’ house.  I met her mom, and that lady is super defensive of her daughter’s high standards.  Little does she know her daughter is consistently out until 2am.

The Australian exchange student down the way just spent a couple thousand dollars on a new laptop, but all she’s going to use it for is checking her Facebook.  What a shame.

A girl who I almost roomed with, also had a recent break-up.  But I saw that coming because she slept with a random guy the very first weekend of school.

Third, I am no longer sure of what I would like to be when I grow up.  One thing is for sure though: I hate writing essays.

Fourth, nothing really makes up for family.  I’ve tried to create a family, but it doesn’t work.  Ninja, my beta fish, is very affectionate, but he is only a fish.  He hits his head repeatedly on his fish bowl every day because he hasn’t quite figured out how to eat his food.  He had it figured out for a while by using his dorsal fin to keep the food circling in the middle of the bowl until he could eat it, but now he seems to have forgotten his trick.  I love my computer, Stapplin, and I can make him talk to me, but he only says what I tell him to say.  I had a rat, but she bit me.  So much for love.

Over the weekend I went to a swim meet with my camera. Swim meets are good to practice photographing because:

1. You have to not only be quick with your finger, but you also have to practice anticipation and timing. Swimmers only breathe every so often, and unless the swimmer’s face is out of the water then it’s a boring picture.
2. A wide range of emotions are present. Nervousness, excitement, determination, disappointment…it’s all there.
3. A lot of swimmers like being in the spotlight; they aren’t camera shy.

That being said, I shot old friends but I went to the meet to shoot emotions.

Johnny, looking over a list of his opponents’ seed times:

Daniel, after gaining a couple seconds on his personal best:

Jamie after being told that he dropped 10 seconds (!) off his previous personal best:

1. Go as a press person with a big camera lens.

2. Dress impartially (i.e. don’t wear red).

3. Find the media room.

4. Be sent to the media will-call booth.

5. Be denied media access, but be sure to get a hint of where to go to gain access.

6. Find a sympathetic gay man in charge of ticket sales.

7. Explain plight to sympathetic gay man in charge of ticket sales.

8. Wait patiently until sympathetic gay man in charge of ticket sales appears with front-row ticket in hand.

9. Thank sympathetic gay man in charge of ticket sales and use the phrase “You’re fabulous!”

10. Enter stadium unquestioned.

I was homeschooled almost my whole entire life––ever since first grade. People ask me a lot of questions about it, mostly because I think I’m more approachable than the average jumper-wearing, loudly-conservative, homeschooling mother.

1. Do you have socialization issues?
   No. When I was younger I was part of a very active homeschool group. If I went to every activity that was offered, I would never have the time to do book work. Then there were church activities on top of that. When I was in high school I swam for the public high school’s swim team. I went to Friday night football games. I was editor of a newsletter. I volunteered. I worked summer jobs. Once I started taking college classes, I earned extra credit because I participated in discussions so much. I don’t think I had a problem.
2. How does your school work?
   My parents would pay a few hundred dollars every year to Christian Liberty Academy in Chicago. That school would send a box of workbooks, teacher manuals, and scantron tests. My mom would teach me things, I would do the workbooks, and when I was ready I would take the tests. Then my mom would send the tests back to the school to be graded. Sometimes the workbooks had to be sent back too. After grading, the school sent us report cards. I earned a real diploma, too.
3. Do you wear pajamas all day?
   No. My mom wouldn’t let me. Once I got older and could make my own decision about that, I found that I worked faster if I was not wearing pajamas.
4. Do you ever wish you went to public school?
   When I was in 9th grade, a lot of homeschooled kids that I knew started going to public school. They wanted a diploma, or a better chance at scholarships, or their parents were afraid they couldn’t teach them well enough for college. But after watching those kids for a year, I’m glad I didn’t go. It seemed like they wasted so much time, and I got to do all the extra-curricular activities that the high school provided anyways.
5. How did your mom teach you enough math to prepare you for college?
   I really can’t answer that question. I hate math. She hates math. We struggled through elementary algebra (my school provided an online tutor). When I was 14 I tested into College Algebra at a local college. I don’t know how I did that either. It turns out that College Algebra is the highest level math that I need for a Journalism major. Most community colleges make you take placement tests, and those colleges also offer math classes for people who failed 7th grade math. Also, most community colleges are homeschool friendly and they’ll let 13-year-olds take college level classes (as long as they have okay placement scores). Check into it.
6. Math is one thing, but science too?
   No, not science too. I wish I had a better science background. I took a couple biology classes at the college, and let me tell you, I failed that first test that involved a lot of chemistry. I ended up staying in the class (even though more than half the students dropped within the first week), keeping my 4.0 gpa, and learning what biology is really about.
7. What was a typical day like in highschool?
   8am: Wake up, do chores, eat breakfast, get dressed
   9am: Family devotions
   9:30am: Start school– Theology, Math, English, Literature, Government, History, and Science
   12pm: Lunch time, leave for college
   1pm: College class - usually Spanish or Biology
   3pm: Swim practice
   6pm: Dinner
   7pm: College homework
   10pm: Brain shut down time
   12am: Bed time
8. Did you like being homeschooled?
   Yeah. Overall, it was fun. I don’t think I will homeschool my kids, just because I don’t have the patience. But I’m glad I was homeschooled.

If you didn’t have a question answered, feel free to ask.

I made the switch from Blogger to Wordpress. I did it. It was quick, relatively easy, and about as painful as a light shower in Seattle.

I had been looking around at hosting plans for a while; trying out themes; reading other bloggers’ cross-over stories. I would go to sign up, and then I’d pull back out.

Tonight I decided that I don’t have any hobby right now. I quit World of Warcrack, I don’t collect stamps anymore, I don’t really buy clothes (I’ve spent a total of $45 on them this year)… It just made sense to me that it might be okay if I spent some money on what I like doing. So I did.

Things about Blogger were just getting under my skin.
1.  This new “Blogger Beta (oh we’re just kidding, we’re not in beta any more but now we’re going to make web design a royal pain in the rear for anyone who likes to code in html)” didn’t work with me. Originally I made the switch, then I switched back to Old Blogger, then I switched to the new Blogger, and then I found out that some bugs were still there but I couldn’t go back to Old Blogger any more. It was frustrating and confusing.

2.  Blogger has served me decently well since 2004. In 2004 I tried lots of different platforms (livejournal, xanga, even geocites to name a few), and found that I like Blogger best. I wasn’t interested in paying for anything. I didn’t know what CSS was. All I knew was that Blogger looked the best and acted the best. But now I do know how to use CSS. And I do know more about MySQL, Apache, etc., and I think that I would like to further my education. The best way to do that is by hands on playing around. You can’t learn html out of a book. Basically, I was feeling Blogger’s limitations.

3. I was constantly aware of the fact that Blogger owned my site and not me. Stupid Blogger logos are plastered everywhere. There’s the infamous navbar uptop. The credits in the footer. The .png on the sidebar. It was like a bad disease.

4. I wanted to take the next step and use a website as more than just a blog. In the future I would like to put my website on a business card. Or perhaps develop a photo page. Or post a resume. Or anything, really. But Blogger just wasn’t giving me that (plus, .blogspot.com looks tacky on a business card).

We’ll see how this Wordpress thing goes, but I’m keeping my eye on the Habari Project.

1. Battery life (or lack there of)

2. Touch screen. Because, oh yeah, I wanna watch a movie that has a fingerprint in the place of Tom Cruise’s head.

3. Lack of buttons. Sure it’s slick and nice, but when you wanna type an A and you type SDF instead….

4. Zero removeable memory. Every other phone on the market has some type of removeable memory. What happened to Apple?

5. Cingular only. A little bird flock of birds told me that Cingular sucks.

1. I was born in St. Louis, Missouri.
2. I prefer wearing flip flops over any other type of foot wear.
3. I have a stamp collection.
4. I’ve been to Mexico, but only because it’s a few hours away.
5. I rarely call people on my cell phone; I use it mostly for the internet.
6. I’m good at producing essays on demand.
7. I have perfectionist traits.
8. I’ll read whatever is set in front of me.
9. I can speak Spanish.
10. I love pens and unlined notebooks.
11. I am an Apple fanboy girl.
12. I think that pajama pants are one of the best inventions.
13. I have strict rules for myself about what clothes I can wear to certain classes on certain days (i.e. I only wear jeans on Fridays, after a minimum of 1 month into the semester).
14. I’ve been able to play the piano since I was eight.
15. I pretend that I can play the guitar.
16. I swam in many swim meets in my day.
17. I collect dolls.
18. I am left handed.
19. I have not seen London, I have not seen France, but I have seen someone’s underpants.
20. I only eat cooked tomatoes.
21. I like being outside.
22. I don’t like artificial light.
23. Current obsession: World of Warcraft
24. I like reading classic books.
25. If I see a vinyl record by any band that I have even remotely heard of, I’ll buy it.
26. I work pretty well under pressure.
27. I can run fairly fast if needed (read: almost late to class).
28. I know just enough about HTML/CSS to get me by. I wish I knew more.
29. Six hours of sleep is all I need, but I usually take seven for good measure.
30. I’ve had braces.
31. I have never broken a bone.
32. I have never had stitches.
33. I’ve been a Christian since I was five.
34. A blanket and a book is all the hibernation preparation I need.
35. I am a grammar snob.
36. I believe what goes around comes around.
37. Skinny jeans? Most retarded idea ever.
38. I love jackets.
39. I have a Boston Terrier named Bella.
40. I was raised on Mary Poppins, 101 Dalmations, and The Sound of Music.
41. I participated in the discovery that setting off a dry ice bomb, underwater, during swimming lessons, is not the best idea.
42. If I got a nickle everytime someone mispronounced my name, I could pay for my college education.
43. I have a gimpy, magnetic Spiderman who guards over my magnet board on my bedroom wall. I’m not sure why he’s missing an arm, but I think it has something to do with the Green Goblin.
44. I can’t sleep in bed if I have socks on.
45. If I am sitting down in a car, my femur is long enough to lay down and rest my head on.
46. I don’t like needles.
47. I have been stung by bees so many times that, as far as I can tell, I’m becoming imune to them.
48. Believe it or not, but one of my favorite photographers is Heather Armstrong.
49. Painted nails just don’t work with me.
50. I can’t work if I’m not multi-tasking.
51. I was home schooled from first through twelfth grade.
52. I like baking but I don’t like cooking.
53. Out of all the American cities I’ve been to, San Diego is my favorite.
54. I’m not really worried about terrorists.
55. I am a political moderate.
56. I like rock concerts.
57. One of the only t.v. shows I watch is Seinfeld.
58. Math makes my head hurt.
59. I like wearing the color brown.
60. I’m a lot taller than your average girl, and I like that.
61. I guess I’m a Yankee because I like oatmeal but not grits.
62. I’m lactose intolerant.
63. I’m a first-born child.
64. My favorite newspaper comic strip is Get Fuzzy.
65. I could live on pasta.
66. I take pictures everyday.
67. I’m a nerd.
68. I never got over Pokemon.
69. I like watching Indie and Foreign Films.
70. I keep my finger nails short.
71. I think dark chocolate is real chocolate.
72. I dislike people who talk during movies.
73. Previews count as part of the movie.
74. On my list of detestable creatures, snakes are less detestable than crickets.
75. I wish Americans played rugby instead of football.
76. Soccer and water polo are the best games to play.
77. Knick-Knacks are not cute.
78. I am sarcastic.
79. I like rain on Sundays.
80. I am goal oriented.
81. Someday I would like to fly a helicoptor.
82. I like mixing sweet and salty together, such as chocolate and pretzels.
83. I like puns, inside jokes, and sarcasm.
84. I love scarf weather.
85. I will spend more time and energy figuring out how to make a chore easier than the time and energy I will need to spend on the chore.
86. I respect art in all of its forms.
87. Cotton Polos are my favorite kind of shirts.
88. I like school.
89. Maalox tastes better than a lot of candies.
90. I only pretend to understand British humor.
91. I like asking, “If…would…?” questions.
92. I have five birthmarks.
93. I love eating.
94. I use a knife as much as I use a fork.
95. I am an expert present guesser.
96. I think that drinking hot tea is more about looking classy than drinking it for its flavor.
97. I like reading things about my personality.
98. I like watching cartoons on Saturdays.
99. I almost always finish what I start.
100. Lazy days, warm afternoons, and cozy nights are what make the world go ’round.

Here’s what you do:

1. Go to your URL field and type the letter “A”
2. Copy + Paste what comes up
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 until you get to the end of the alphabit
4. Post for others to see

So here are the ABC’s of my URL’s:

A. alistapart.com
B. blogofalisa.blogspot.com
C. centralaz.facebook.com
D. digg.com
E. en.wikipedia.com/wiki/Humboldt_Current
F. flickr.com
G. gmail.com
H. hotmail.com
I. ie7.com
J. jonswift.blogspot.com
K. krisandapril.us
L. last.fm
M. myspace.com
N. nationalgeographic.com
O. odeo.com
P. photobucket.com
Q. no Q for you!
R. ratemyprofessors.com
S. statcounter.com
T. themes.wordpress.net
U. utata.org
V. vanityfairmusings.blogspot.com
W. worldofwar.net
X. xanga.com
Y. youtube.com
Z. zug.com/pranks/credit

Freshmen. We’ve all seen one. We’ve all acted like one. We’ve all been one. We’ve all treated one like trash. Now that we are no longer one, we needn’t act like one. If you are currently a Freshmen, allow yourself to be enlightened.

1. Don’t act like a sheep. Freshmen are sheep. They need a leader, they don’t know where they are going, their primary mode of defense is to scream and hope someone helps them. Freshmen, like sheep, always look dazed and confused. If you act like a sheep, non-Freshmen will treat you like a sheep. Which brings me to my next tip.

2. Don’t look dazed and confused. Close your mouth, don’t cock your head to the side, and remember to blink once in a while. Don’t walk around with your head down, shuffling your feet. If you are lost, stand up tall, look someone in the eye and ask for help. A sure sign of a Freshman is a mumble and a hanging head.

3. Don’t mention Myspace in real life. Ever. No one cares how many “friends” you have, what your profile looks like, or how many comments you have. No one even cares that you added another photo that is grainy and taken on your camera phone. Just don’t even think about Myspace when you are out in public. The only possibly acceptable mention of Myspace would be if Google was mentioned first. If you are a Freshman, you wouldn’t know about that anyways.

4. Don’t bring up a crappy television show unless an upperclassman brings it up first. In which case, they are probably talking about how crappy it is and you should agree with them. Examples of crappy television shows are: The O.C., anything on the Disney Channel, anything that involves Paris Hilton (or Hillary Duff or Lindsay Lohan) in any way, My Super Sweet 16, and etc.

5. You never went to any party. Even if you did go to a party that was hosted by an upperclassman, it was probably a crappy party because an underclassman was invited. If you went to a party hosted by someone in your peer group, it was probably a crappy party because someone from your peer group hosted it. It’s not cool to hear “I was so totally wasted, dude,” from an underclassman. If you say that, your hopes of impressing anyone just went out the window.

6. You never hooked up with anyone. Not in the upperclassman sense of the word, anyways. Okay, let’s say you are an underclassman and you really did hook up with an upperclassman. Now you’re a slut. Good going, Froshie.

7. He really isn’t that into you. This one is particularly for girls, but it could very well be “She really isn’t that into you.” Just remember that one, and stop obsessing about him/her. Go home and watch Lizzie Mcguire like you normally do.

8. If you don’t know what is being talked about it, just agree. This goes back to tip number 2–don’t look dazed and confused. If you ask a bunch of questions about the unknown subject, then you look dazed and confused. If you pretend to know about the unknown subject, the other people will recognize that you are a phony and then once again you will look dazed and confused. The best way to respond in this type of situation is to agree. Don’t say why you agree, just agree.

9. So you were a valedictorian/class president/4.0 gpa student in your institute of lesser learning, huh? That’s nice. Please realize that a) this was in an institute of lesser learning, and b) valedictorian/class president/4.0 gpa student translates as brown noser/suck up/no-social-life in your new institute of higher learning.

10. You aren’t that mature, so stop pretending to be. Girls, acting like a snob won’t get you anywhere. Boys, following the popular guys around won’t make you be one.

That about wraps it up. Remember these tips, and have a good school year, bottom feeders.