Sand Dunes and Book Binges

Hello bloggy world! Guess what?! Summer's here!


That photo is from my recent trip to Jockey's Ridge with Dennis. Jockey's Ridge is the largest sand dune on the east coast. We had an amazing time. We packed a picnic lunch and ate it in the backseat of my car, thanks to the wind whipping the sands around so much. Ah well. It was still a great time.

I've really been enjoying my summer so far. I'm trying to pick up my old job as much as I really don't want to work there anymore. Our area really doesn't have much to offer in the way of jobs right now, considering the state of the economy. So I figured the best decision was to start working my old job again where I have more or less a definite in, not to mention the best possible pay of any job I could have found.

Last night, Dennis and I made a trip to Barnes & Noble since we were in the area, and I started to regret my decision, wishing desperately that I could have gotten a job there. The likelihood that they were actually hiring, though, was slim to none, so I'm probably better off at my old job. Not to mention it would take my paycheck to drive to a job at Barnes & Noble anyway. Maybe next summer. :)

I'm going on a book binge. Don't worry, it's completely healthy. Just a lot of heavy reading to make the most of my summer. :) Here's my list so far:
+ The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath****
+ Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
+ Swan's Way by Marcel Proust
+ Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
+ Emma by Jane Austen
+ Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
+ A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
+ A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
+ Several books by Jodi Picoult
+ Many more. :)

**** Strikethrough means I've finished reading

Wish me luck!

Star Trek and Actin' the Fool

I know what you're thinking. Two consecutive posts? Impossible. Absolutely, utterly, and entirely impossible. You don't have to lie to me. That's definitely what's going through your mind right now. That or, "Kara, get to writing already. Your pathetic attempts to be funny and clever are failing miserably." Well, geeze. Fine, then. No need to be rude.

Ahem. I saw Star Trek tonight and let me say, as someone who has never really even attempted to be a Trekkie (i.e. watched a single episode...), that movie left me wishing I'd been one my whole life long. It was nothing short of incredible. I have to admit that my favorite character was not Spock, not Kirk, not McCoy, but rather, Chekov. Oh man. He was absolutely precious. I couldn't get enough of him. I made the mistake of sharing that little fact with Dennis on the phone tonight. Here's how that went:

Dennis: He had an absolutely over-the-top accent. I mean, that was unnecessary.
Kara: Aww, come on. He was my favorite character!
Dennis: Really? Well, that's fine. But still. It's really annoying when movies have characters with unbearably heavy accents.
Kara: I think all girls kinda have a thing for accents...
Dennis: I don't think I like where this is going.

Hahahaha. I'm sure I said something to assuage his discomfort over that particular topic, although I can't remember what it was at the moment. I also think it's much more entertaining to leave the conversation there, don't you? :)

So, if you didn't catch the main points of that:
1. Star Trek was awesome enough to make me want to be a Trekkie.
2. I have an itty-bitty-not-a-crush on Chekov.
3. My fascination with accents makes my boyfriend uncomfortable.

I've actually just remembered what it was that I used to cheer him up. I reminded him that every now and then his Irish heritage surfaces in his speech when he least expects it in words such as "potato," "portion," and "life." It's undeniably cute. I'll stop being gross now.

Dennis and I have a way of making people, well, not gag, but wince. Case in point -- Marybeth. Marybeth is my roommate for the 2009-10 school year. Last night, after studying for a few hours for our Survey of British Literature exam, I showed her Dennis' cover of "I Will Follow You into the Dark" as well as my copy of the same song with my vocal harmonies recorded into Dennis' track. She shook her head halfway into the song, buried her face in her hands and uttered a part-squeal, part-wince, part-disbelieving giggle and sighed, "You guys. Ugh. Too cute." We don't exactly intend to cause these reactions in people. It just seems to be what we do. I'm not sure whether we should be proud of this or not.

I've avoided singling people out to tell that Dennis spent all of today writing a song for me again today. Mostly because this song is particularly personal as it arose from a rather sad night the two of us had. I love the way he will go so far out of his way to make sure I'm okay. He's so loving. I'm so blessed to have him in my life.

Tonight, I probably shouldn't write a novel on here, since I'm already wracking my brain for more topics to write about from today. Not to mention, I'm distracted by listening to the afore-mentioned song on repeat. :)

I love you all! I hope all of your tomorrows are beautiful. <3

Bonus material -- A line from the song mentioned in the post:
"And I know: It takes an average of 21 seconds for you to burst out laughing when I tell a bad joke."
:)

Well, gee. This is awkward.

I feel like you, my dear little blog, are the poor lovesick girl and I am that dreamy hunk of a guy you went on a date with once and never called you back. Except, maybe not so dreamy. Or hunky. Or a guy. But you get the point. I've neglected you and you have every right to be upset with me. Forgive me?

Right, then. After a two month unintentional hiatus, I've returned. I've been reading blogs this entire time, just not writing. You're not all that surprised though, are you? I somewhat blame it on what I will call my blogging lessons. I've been reading the blogs of Angie Smith (over here), Kristina Horner (over here), and Hayley Hoover (over here) and learning just what a blog should look like, be like, sound like, you name it. If you don't already read any of these three blogs, I highly suggest it. Angie is one of the biggest inspirations in my life, though she may have absolutely no idea. Kristina and Hayley are just two of the girls I wish I was on a daily basis. They're Monday and Thursday respectively of the fiveawesomegirls of Youtube fame. I've been more or less obsessed with their channel for well over a year. I'm not ashamed and you can't make me be!

So, yes. I'm trying to become a better blogger. I've realized that the only way to do so is to, well...blog. You'd think that would be intuitive, but, well, it's taken me a whole two months to figure that out. I'm a little slow to catch on sometimes.

Speaking of the 5AG (we were, weren't we?), my freshman year of college is coming to a close. Wait. How are those related? It's actually pretty simple. My college friends and I are more or less scattered across Virginia, so, this summer, we're taking up a 5AG-style vlogging extravaganza. It would help if we had a fourth of their creativity, spunk, and general awesomeness, but, well, we'll entertain ourselves at the very least. Feel free to join us on our summer adventures, if you'd like! (Over here, at our Youtube collab channel.). It should be great fun.

I only foresee a few issues at the moment. My friends Katie, Kristin, and I (all of the K's. Funny how that works.) are all very much into the project whereas our other three are a little less enthused. Or so it seems at the moment. Mary, Corinne, and Maria haven't exactly gone coocoo for Nerdfighteria the way the rest of us have. Additionally, Maria's going to Africa for the summer, so we've more or less decided that she'll be a guest Saturday vlogger when she returns home. Mary has said little on the subject and Corinne has...well, the same. I guess we'll see how it goes! I might ask my roommate for next year to jump in on the project if she so chooses. Here's the lineup as it stands right now:

Monday -- Kristin
Tuesday -- Kara, your truly
Wednesday -- Corinne
Thursday -- Katie
Friday -- Mary
Saturday(sometimes) -- Maria

In other news, I am SO ready to be back home. We're in our final few days of finals right now. I don't have any until Tuesday and Wednesday when I have two each day, but, I'm studying early, surprisingly. My boyfriend, Dennis, is already home for the summer, seeing as he goes to my school's rival college and just has to one-up me. I'm just aching to be home and spend the summer with him and my family. I miss them all so much.

I'm going to be doing a lot of missing for the next year, actually, seeing as my dad's leaving for Iraq soon. I'm not exactly happy about this in the least, but, I love him and support him and will suck it up. I'm just worried about my mom. I know she's tough, but raising a lot of kids on her own for a year is going to be rough on everyone.

Ah, well. I'm off to dinner with my dear Marybeth before studying for our British Literature final! Love you all!

<3