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That Ginger, Anna

That Ginger, Anna

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“I’m on Top of the Worlddd”-The Dude That Couldn’t Fit on the Piano

03 Wednesday Jun 2015

Posted by That Ginger, Anna in Personal and Fun

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

blog, enjoyment, film noir, fulfilment, girl, graduate student, happiness, happy, Italy, life, living, movies, noir summer, peace, personal, shellys cabaret, simple, single, student, Travel, traveling, WODW, woman, world, write or die wednesdays, writing, zen

Yeah, it was “king” but whatever šŸ˜

WODW

This week’s prompt asks us to recount a time when we were on top of the world!

Two things came to mind: hiking the Haiku Stairs in Hawaii as a kid (physically on top of the world) and a recent blog I read from last year.

NOT MY PICTURE

A week ago (thanks to that freakin’ Facebook flashback-which I both love and hate) I read a blog from my trip to Italy. I had experienced the definition of my perfect day, but I had forgotten about it until Facebook reminded me. I reread the blog and it made me excited all over again, but also sad that that day was so phenomenal and so great and I had already forgotten about it. I really was on top of the world. It was one of my many fantasies come to life and that does not happen often. Nevertheless, I started thinking and I am on top of the world anytime I have a good moment.

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I am high maintenance in some ways (I hate gross smelling places, I hate rude people, I hate public embarrassment, I like organization, etc.) but being happy is not one of them. I am happy sitting at home watching Netflix all day, happy going to see/experience new stuff, happy going to work and handling things correctly, happy watching a good YouTube video, happy going fishing, happy when nothing bad happens. I try to act chill and I do like doing chill things, but I am a very passionate person. This means I can get really mad and sad sometimes, but it also means simple stuff can make me really happy and make me feel on top of the world. I get overly excited about stuff and nerd out pretty hard. I really, really love many things: wine, I Love Lucy, hiking, snorkeling, clothes, books, cheese, chick flicks, farms, cows, accents, languages, movies, music, other cultures, food, etc. So anytime I get to do anything involving things I love, I feel on top of the world.

CHEESE+POTATO

That’s a a bubble of cheese, with potato in it…aka Heaven…aka Frico

Today, I went to the library and checked out a compilation of Walt Whitman poems. I opened it and saw that one of the poems in Leaves of Grass is titled ā€œTo a Historianā€ and I got a little giddy since I study history. (I also nerded out because Noah reads Whitman to Allie in The Notebook and on her first day at Sarah Lawrence her professor writes out Leaves of Grass on the board and my boss’ son works for that university…this is why I have no friends LOL) Anyway, this is just an example of the kinds of things that can make me feel on top of the world—even if it is for a short period.

Capture

The last time I was on top of the world for more than a few minutes was Monday! I slept in, cleaned my apartment, talked to friends, cooked, did dishes, washed and did my hair, laid out my clothes for tomorrow, did my nails, worked out, had a glass of wine, watched Gossip Girl and The Bachelorette and I started a new free online class about film noir. I accomplished all of my goals, got to rest, got to learn something new, and got to prepare for the week without any anxiety or looming deadlines. It was a chill day, but I was motivated and accomplished things, so I was really happy and relaxed. It is summer break!

SN: If you like classic movies or films noir, I encourage you to check out that free class. It takes like 5 minutes a day to participate. TCM and Ball State University organized it and it lasts 5 weeks. The professor provides a short clip and introduction to a film every Monday through Thursday for the next 5 weeks and on Fridays TCM airs each film in its entirety. You chat with classmates and other viewers via Twitter (#NoirSummer) and the TCM message boards. If you want to participate fully in the class, you can take a few quizzes and a final assessment and you get a certificate! Definitely something fun and free that gives you an introduction to film history/analysis!

NOT MY PICTURE

I could obviously spend two paragraphs describing some fantasy day on the beach with a man drinking, listening to music and eating good food. Or walking around Rome and going back to an apartment to watch old movies and smoke cigars, but through many disappointments I’ve learned that if your fantasies are the only things that put you on top of the world, you’re going to be miserable for a big part of your life-which kind of sucks. I am not going to lie and say my expectations never get in the way of being on top of the world. I am a normal female being and I do create ideal situations in my head that I wish would happen and usually don’t, which leads to anger and annoyance, but I do work hard all the time to try and be happy in everyday situations (like getting a Whitman book from the library).

That being said, situations like in my blog from Italy, when I am traveling and meeting new people and doing exciting things, put me on top of the world for a much more prolonged period of time than checking out a book-obviously.

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When was the last time you were on top of the world? Hopefully it was more exciting than cleaning and watching TV, haha! Well, I guess the better question would be how often are you on top of the world?

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An Adventurer Adventuring for Adventure’s Sake

04 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by That Ginger, Anna in Personal and Fun, Uncategorized

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

adventure, adventurer, adventuring, army brat, blogging, bronx, curiosity, david rodigan, food, hawaii, italia, Italy, New York City, NYC, openmind, Reggae, shellys cabaret, the bronx, Travel, traveler, traveling, twentysomething, WODW, world religions, write or die wednesdays, writing

So, one great thing about being an Army brat is the opportunity to meet so many people that you otherwise wouln’t have the opportunity to get to know.

My dad was stationed at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii from 1997 to 2003 and I made several friends during that time. One of the girls I got to know was from Texas and we hung out for a few years when we both lived there. We lost touch, but 5 years later when my dad was stationed at Ft. Hood, she happened to see him at the PX and we were able to reconnect. Several years later when I moved to Texas I was able to hang out with her again and I would go down to her house once every other month or so to catch up. During this time I got to know her older sister a little better and a few summers ago I was invited to her birthday party (you guys may remember that I stayed with her for a week in Aversa last summer, during my Italia in 40 adventure). We all went to a waterpark and I got to meet all of my friend’s older sister’s friends. Over the next several months I went down there several times for other parties and got to know a few new people each time. One of the people I met was a fellow Masters student and blogger, Shelly! 

It just so happens that Shelly aka Shelly’s Cabaret and one of her friends hosts a weekly writing prompt called “Write or Die Wednesdays.” It is open to all bloggers so feel free to link up and contribute! 



Adventure!

#writeordiewednesday



I’ve meant to contribute for months now, but I always worry that I won’t have anything interesting to contribute. 

Today is the day! 

“This week’s prompt is the word ADVENTURE. What has been your greatest adventure? What is the most adventurous thing you have ever done? Have you ever been on an emotional adventure? The writing possibilities are endless!”

While I would have to say that my greatest adventure has been my move to New York, I live for adventure. I’ve always loved hiking and traveling. By the grace of God, I got to take a 40-day backpacking trip to Italy last summer and loved every minute of it-despite traveling alone-and would do it again in a second.

My dream job would be documentary filmmaker or a photo journalist for a travel magazine. I love learning about people and having new experiences whenever I can.

This move to New York has definitely been my biggest adventure because everything in my life is completely different than it’s ever been. While I grew up in an apartment in a culturally diverse area in Hawaii, I was with my family and had a security blanket in my parents and pets. Here in New York I am completely alone, so everyday is an adventure. I never used public transportation (outside of traveling) in my life before moving here, so even going to work and having to map out my route and be able to adapt to route changes and delays is crazy for me. One of the big reasons I chose to live in the Bronx was because I knew it would be a big adventure. I encounter new cultures, languages, and religions everyday. 

Just today I was riding to work and saw a man on his balcony participating in a prayer ritual. He was rubbing his upper body with what looked like an ashen cloth and putting his hands up behind his head. He repeated this process several times before I drove off. I live a couple of blocks from several masjids and I see bearded men walking to prayers every Friday working through their Misbaha as they go along. There are african hairbraiding shops, bodegas, and various ethnic restaurants on every corner.

One of my favorite things about myself is my sense of advendture. A week or two ago, the Write or Die Wednesday prompt asked, “Who are you when you are in your element?” While I have many answers to this question, I would definitely say I am an adventurer at heart and my lifegoal is to go on as many adventures as I can.

I have to admit, when I was younger I was much more adventurous! I was a SUPER tomboy until about 10th grade and I was a daredevil in elementary school. I loved going fishing, skateboarding, building forts, swimming in the ocean, hiking with my dad, driving my four-wheeler…I don’t really know where that fearlessness went, but now I do worry about hurting myself and embarassing myself, which I never cared about in my younger days. I know high school stripped a lot of my self confidence away, so I really stopped trying to live outside the box. I had a crazy year in 2012 and had several of my security blankets ripped away at work and school, so I have slowly been getting back to being true to myself and going on new adventures.

I started Geocaching a few months ago and that has also inspired several recent adventures. It’s a global scavenger hunt of sorts and it is a great way to explore new areas!

Another adventure I’ve started since moving to New York is my job. I am a companion to an elderly woman with memory problems, so that is a challenging aspect of my life that requires adaptation on a daily basis. It’s such an interesting and rewarding job and I’ve been able to meet dozens of people that have really helped shape me as an individual these past few months.

I’m very adventurous in other ways too. I like learning new languages, watching foreign films, trying new foods, and listening to new types of music. I think trying new foods and branching out to different genres of music is one of the easiest ways to be adventurous in your daily life. 

I would highly suggest trying out Tunein and listeing to radio shows from around the world.

One of the best memories I have from a time when I decided to be adventurous was in 2009 on my way to Italy. I was flying from London to Milan and sat next to an older British guy, wearing a bright purple sweater over a red and white plaid button up. We struck up a conversation and he asked me to guess his profession. I guessed that he was a dentist or lawyer and it turns out he was a Reggae DJ. We talked the entire flight and I didn’t think much of it until I got home and Googled him. It turns out that it was none other than David “Ram Jam” Rodigan from BBC1! 3 years later I tuned into the BBC because I heard an advertisement for a Reggae program and he was the DJ! He’s worked with Bob Marley in the past and many other famous Reggae and Ska artists! 

I think a few of the keys to being adventurous are confidence, faith, and openmindedness. You have to be confident that trying new things will lead to fun memories and good experiences and you can’t close yourself off to things that are outside of your comfort zone. I think leaving my comfort zone is the the biggest difficulty for me. Once I make up my mind to leave the house and actually go out on an adventure, I’m never disappointed. Another big part of being adventurous is being able to find the fun in unexpected circumstances. This is a hard one for me too because I am not the most spontaneous person. I like spontaneity and I can roll with it if I am in that mindset, but I do get frustrated when things don’t go according to plan. 

Anyone can have adventures-big or small-with a little confidence!

What’s the best adventure you’ve ever been on?


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