And Here I Thought I Was Done!

What a wild semester this has been. Having no free period, I managed the workload of 6 classes plus the added stress of an Italian course at the University of Illinois and the impending doom of my standardized tests. Before I launch into the virtues of this semester's Non-Fiction Writing class, some apologies are in order. I truly apologize to Ms. Majerus for walking in late every Monday-Thursday and spending the first ten minutes of class fanning myself from my mad dash from my Italian class. I apologize to Annie Rong for always eating her chocolate covered almonds when she got up to get a tissue. I apologize to Seth Bull for harmless inside jokes. I also apologize to the 8th hour class for being incredibly obnoxious (guys, sorry for all the outbursts!) Well, I feel MUCH better now!

This class had turned out to be a really good experience contrary to what I thought going into the class. Personally, I have always been bored by essays published in journals and books partly because I could never really relate to the readings. Unfortunately, this still persisted. However, a bright spot was came from reading the college essays and "The Botany of Desire". Both were excellent choices and I could feel myself being pulled into the story and I felt that I had gained some knowledge about how to write essays after reading those works of art.

As weird as it is to say this, I have actually somewhat enjoyed keeping a blog. It allows all of my thoughts to flow directly onto a computer screen for me to analyze and reflect. At the start of this project, I thought to myself, "OH GOD. I hope I don't become one of those people who see something and think, ' Hmm, I could blog about that!'". Well, sadly I have become one of those people, but I think it is for the best. I now process everything I see and think and viewing it on the internet gives me some weird satisfaction in knowing that others can revel in my magnificent thoughts.

I honestly believe that this class has made me a better writer and has allowed me to become passionate about something. Though I know I will never become a professional writer, I have discovered that writing is an activity that allows me to forgot about the world and delve into my brain. Thanks for a great semester guys!

UGH Y'ALL

As this year is coming to an end, I have found it extremely odd to think that in twelves months, I will be graduating and leaving Uni High behind as I go on to college. Despite this sadness, y'all, I am ready for these next two weeks to end.



Even though the school year is coming to a close, these last two weeks seem to be crawling to an end. While my homework load has been reduced significantly, I sit in class counting the minutes and agonizing seconds till that glorious bell sings its releasing song. Then I realize that I have to spend an agonizing evening slaving over a small amount of homework.

Watching the sun peek from behind the fluffy white clouds and warm my face as I sit in this desk writing the last (required) blog post, I am experiencing the same feelings that have pestered me over the last few weeks. Summer just within reach I stare at the clock, 3:18. Are you kidding me?

Granted, the second summer does come in contact with my hand, I will probably be wishing for school again from the ridiculous amount of free time available. What a life I have.

I am the best medicine.

At a recent play, I was told to laugh at all the funny parts. I did as I was told, rather well if I may say so. However, I felt that all the eyes in the audience rolled as I struggled to contain myself when certain euphemistic lyrics were sung in the musical. My laugh is both piercing and jolly, interruptive and welcoming, and always resulting in stares and eye rolls.

I have found that one of the best ways to portray yourself is through your laugh. Your laugh is a portrait of who you are in its purest form. For those few blissful seconds when the air rushes out of your lungs resulting in fits of laughter, the walls holding back your true personality crumble releasing your true identity. What I can't stand is when someone had a quiet giggle to themselves. While I'm sure it is being nice and polite, I believe that a laugh should be thunderous and cause others to stare at you with bewilderment. In fact, I suppose that is how I tend to live my life. Never crossing the line of what I believe to be obnoxious, rather just toe-ing the line enough to provoke a response.

I love hearing a domino effect of laughter. After all, laughter is quite infectious. The gradual build up of sharp pangs of cackles is music to my ears as I sit back and bask in the carefree attitude of the group. That's what laughter is really about to me, yes it is about enjoying yourself, but I think the real purpose of laughter, in addition to revealing a true personality, is to promote a carefree attitude. Those fleeting moments of laughter provide a respite from the crushing pressures of our day. Without laughter, our day would just turn into a mundane schtick.

A Little Nip/Tuck Never Hurt

As I heard wonderful stories from the spring breaks of my friends, I looked at myself, vegetating away in my bed. Time to watch television, I suppose. Over break I became addicted to a show that I had heard about from friends and in the media for it's "racy" content. Naturally, I had to watch it.

WHAT A SHOW! Nip/Tuck, a drama about the wild, adventurous lives of two top-notch plastic surgeons, has easily become one of my favorites. From the pilot, the show just seemed to draw me in. The twisting plots, the risque content, and the clever dialogue have cemented the show as television gold. I am used to watching comedies and of course the healthy dose of reality television, but dramatic shows seem to have a special place in my heart. They have the power to draw their viewers in with tempting twists and plot turns keeping viewers at the edge of their seats. I find myself caring and really connecting with what will happen to the characters and generally screaming at the screen when something takes a turn for the worse.

Nip/Tuck really is one of the most fun, attractive, and thought-provoking shows I have seen. The show brings up issues of morality concerning marriages, sex, relationships, the pursuit of money, and the morality of plastic surgery. Often, I would end up pausing in the middle of a show and just think about how surreal this world created on the screen is but then I would immediately connect it to something in my life. I think what drew me to this show is how the it makes a point to try and de-glam the world of superficiality. The show tries to show that underneath the layers of Botox and money everyone has problems. The show in a way, seems to be arguing that with the luxury of money and vanity comes a price to pay. Every character at some point in the show has problems that they must deal with most of them stemming from the lavish lifestyle they all live in.

A truly wonderful show, I highly recommend that the next time you have an hour to kill, watch an episode of Nip/Tuck, but be warned; Once you start, you will never want to stop.

Life in Tabs

Sitting in the English building waiting for my Italian lesson to start, a college student sits down. She opens her laptop up and goes straight to the internet. Being the eavesdropping individual that I am, I decided I should extend that quality to view what she was doing on her laptop. I mean, what else was I supposed to do?

She had several tabs open. From the Compass (UIUC online center) to her Flickr stream. All the while she was constantly chatting with her friend on iChat and searching for, "yummy cookies" on Google and reading about the Wisconsin Union situation. Soon, she read a Jane Austen novel online and finished her session with a quick stop at her mother's Facebook page to wish her a happy birthday.
I never realized how much you can learn about someone just from seeing their "tabs". A brief look at my browser will yield a fairly accurate conclusion of my personality. First tab-Bloomingdales Sale. Actually, about 25% of my tabs were related to clothing, from Gilt Groupe to Nordstrom. Not to worry, Socially Conscious Individual! In addition to there materialistic indulgences were: The New York Times, Fox News (Fair and Balanced!), Bloomberg.com, and The Huffington Post. Rounding out this "electronic template of Rohit Palekar" were tabs leading to Goop.com (for more cookie recipes) and 30 Rock on Hulu.

An admirer of my browser can gather that I obviously enjoy idling at online boutiques.  Not only a true consumer, I crave current events almost as much as I crave television and baked treats. Though our personalities are obviously deeper than what our internet browser tabs display, they represent who we are on a surface level and serve as the launching point of more to come.

Blackened Cherries

Recently my friend was sprung from jail. He walked out, drained, tired, abused, and lonely; an empty shell of what he used to be. He used to have such a strong and efficient personality, but as he left jail, quivering and breaking out into fits of surges, I felt he would no longer be the same. 

On the ride home he was quiet. Not a peep out of him. Poignant reminders of what we used to be dotted the landscape of the barren wasteland of time. I could no longer tell time. Seeing others on the street jovially playing with their beloved and caressing their darling's sleek, buxom curves with sharp giggles at the cool vibrations of elation emitted by their counterpart. How I missed those days. My formerly incarcerated partner did as well. I could tell my sidekick was trying his hardest to revive the luster of his former life, but nothing. We drove on, staring into the dismal abyss of the future ahead. I wondered how I could have let such a tragedy occur? Should I not have used him so much? My love for him had grown stronger and stronger till the day he was locked up causing the time spent apart to be unbearable. How could I go on? I lay awake at night wondering how he was coping, sitting all alone in the cold second floor cell. Was he shaking and jittering, wishing he was back in bed? Now I don't have to worry. I should be thankful that he was back in my hands. I should not get too greedy and ask for more. But I want more. I want my old partner-in-crime back.

Home. Such a joyous place. Desperation and desires seem to be kicked to the curb as the last vestiges of negativity are exhausted. We walk in. Up to the room so he can recharge his batteries. I plug him in and without warning he flickers back to life. Hope. A new life has been reborn. 

"Hello Blackberry. Long time no see."

TF

To be honest, this post was originally going to be about my constant fatigue, but in my procrastination of writing that post, I stumbled upon an interview (in Interview Magazine) of Tom Ford. Tom Ford is someone who I would not consider an inspiration or an idol to anyone but me. He is someone who I would describe as a visionary. This really isn't going to be a "greatest hits" of his life, for that, feel free to ask me. Instead, as I was reading the interview, something he said got me thinking.

"... But as an adult working in the fashion industry, I struggle with materialism. And I’m one of the least materialistic people that exist, because material possessions don’t mean much to me. They’re beautiful, I enjoy them, they can enhance your life to a certain degree, but they’re ultimately not important. Your connections with other people are important, our connection to the earth. "


Now, I rather unfortunately consider myself to be a fairly materialistic person. I spend a great deal of my time lusting away at the perfect version of an object, wishing and hoping that I can one day own it. I convince myself that I will become a better person if I own these pants, or my luck will run out if I don't buy this beautifully crafted iconic shoe. My life is so consumed in labels, designer anything, and lust for these items that I even started making pneumonic devices using brand names. I'm not saying that this is ultimately a bad thing, I do believe that a certain degree of materialism is healthy and even necessary, but it "shook" me to my core to hear that one of the most successful, iconic, and brilliant sartorialists of  our time essentially renouncing the importance of his own profession and the glamour that is associated with the world he lives in. 


Granted, this quote probably won't change the way I view the world or even make a change in how I behave. What it did do instead is plant a seed of doubt in my mind that may eventually spread into changing the way I view the world. Materialism still has a rather special place in my heart, it's the one thing that gets me out of bed in the morning to drink my premium coffee and puts me to bed in my ridiculous thread count sheets. Without materialism I would be lost, but what Mr. Ford has me reconsidering is the importance I place on the simpler yet more complex aspects to life, and the relationships we maintain with others.