Iron-Jawed Angel

Taking my exploits one day at a time...

November
16

scary (harry-potter-related) realization:

Loves it. Too true. Thanks Anna Crabbe for making me laugh and thanks hp-lexicon.org for making me feel like I have done NOTHING in my 21 years :P

annacrabbe:

James and Lily Potter were only 19 when they married, 20 when they had Harry, and 21 when they were murdered by Voldemort.

that shit is messed up.

i’m currently 21. and haven’t battled any dark lords yet. much less BIRTHED a MAGICAL WIZARD CHILD of DESTINY.

just sayin’…. amiright?!

ps - thanks for helping me avoid studying hp-lexicon.org

(Source: vom-dot-com)
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June
20

Fits Together Like a Horse and Carriage

So tonight I had the latest of many debates with Michael and a new addition (Aaron) on the meaning and validity of marriage. Once again I remain skeptical of the institution and question whether a ring or a piece of paper really shows how much you love someone or merely condemns what could be a blissful and perfect relationship to somewhat tyrannical rules and expectations of the society that created the concept. Michael, as always, made a valid point that saying “I love you” makes a relationship seem more real somehow… more concrete… more legitimate in taking that next step. Similarly, marriage is something that makes a relationship more legitimate.

I would say that words have a power all their own- but that marriage itself only serves to restrict and limit versus expand possibilities. This is not true for everyone… but this is just the way that I see it. Now this might change as I get older or even find someone that I might take the ultimate plunge with, but I still am terrified of the concept. Who says that because you love someone- you have to suddenly be with them always? That you have to share your bed and share your room, share your finances, share your every thought, share your career, and compromise.

I hate that word in some ways- compromise. Is it ever really a compromise rather than a surrender? You give up things to get married… for women, it seems, you often have to give up freedom. If I get married, I am obligated to be with this man no matter what. No matter if he wakes up one day and wants kids and I don’t or wants me to change and become more conventional and I don’t. Are there men out there who would really accept me for who I am? Someone who doesn’t want kids, who’s devoted to my career, who doesn’t want to stay at home and cook and clean and bake and sew?

Theoretically he’d know who he was marrying and we’d make all sorts of deals on how our life together would be… but if it’s one thing you can count on it’s that humans always change. When people change and their lives are bound by law- what becomes of those deals and those initial promises? COMPROMISE- that’s the answer. But compromise on what? WHO compromises? WHO wins? WHO loses? WHO gives in? WHO’S less happy? WHO’S more content?

And why does it ever have to come to this? Why can’t we just accept that people change and that relationships don’t have to last forever? Why must we bind people forever and ever with papers and rules? WHY? And even if I’m wrong about everything… that most people can stay together and want to stay together forever… why does EVERYONE have to be like that? Are there no acceptable exceptions to the rules?
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June
16

Today marks the one year anniversary of the start of my journey last summer on Semester at Sea. I had the time of my life and even though I missed my friends terribly, I made other friends and memories that will last a lifetime. I got to see things and experience the world in ways I had never imagined… and I was only 19 years old. I wanted to relive those memories to remind not only myself of how absolutely amazing the world is and all the things it has to offer, but to hopefully appease my mom who was NOT happy that I didn’t maintain my blog :). Well… here’s to the memory of the most amazing summer of my life…

Last summer I went to Spain, Italy, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovenia, Montenegro, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Egypt and Morocco. I covered 4 continents in 2 months and crossed the Atlantic Ocean, meandered through the Mediterranean, glided through the Bosphorus, gazed out over the Black Sea, sailed along the Nile, and swam in the Aegean where the greatest warriors of Greece once did the same. I walked through the smallest country in the world decorated by Michelangelo himself. I marveled at the bluest water settled in the most breathtaking mountain range that I’ve ever seen in a country I didn’t even know existed in Eastern Europe called Montenegro.

I stood in a Colusseum over 2,000 years old. I prayed in the 2nd largest mosque in the world on one side of the Mediterranean and walked through the most beautiful mosque one on the other side that had both a church and a temple within it. I ate the best lunch of my life in Florence at the tiny Amore Del Vino. I was served by the most beautiful male bartenders that I’ve ever seen one night in Cordoba. Yes, beautiful is the only way to describe them. I touched paint in tombs over 3,000 years old (much to the chagrine of the Egyptian government).I saw the most amazing sunset that I’ve ever seen in my life while walking down a mountain to dinner in Mykonos. I was taught backgammon by a gorgeous young turkish guy while drinking a White Russian at a pub.

I jumped off a 150 foot bridge with nothing but bungee cords attached to my feet and the guardrail in Bulgaria. I drank the best white wine I’ve ever had the day before at a castle overlooking the Black Sea. I flew to Abu Simbal in Upper Egypt to see the most amazing pharohs carved into a mountainside. I walked through the temple of the first female ruler in the history of the world. I saw Harry Potter VI and got a turkish bath and oil massage right after. I traced the path of Achilles inside the walls of Troy. I crossed the bridge of peace that symbolized the end of the 1991 conflict in Bosnia. I drooled over the famous statue of David while walking through an exhibit of photographs from the 1960s too graphic to hang in America at that time. I experienced one of the largest museums in the world that houses the original Rosetta Stone. I got henna and saw the fire-eaters and snake-charmers in the Merrakesh I first experience as a child in Aladdin. I offroaded through the wild of Bulgaria and shot a gun after drinking a shot of the most potent whiskey in the country.

I really LIVED last summer. I tasted a side of life that I had never experience before. Reliving it, standing with my roommate gazing at a map of the world, I can’t help but feel an itch to go exploring. There’s still so much to see and almost no time to do it all. I want to explore the jungles of Africa, celebrate carnival in Brazil, meditate with monks in Nepal, walk the Great Wall in China. I want to journey through the concentration camps of Germany, walk along the same path of French kings at Versailles. I want to bike through the medley of Thailand, look at the largest monument to love- the Taj Mahal- and watch the sun set over the Ganges. I want to explore the Tower and roll down the hills of Scotland. I want to freeze my ass off taking pictures of polar bears in Antarctica. I want to experience romance on a Gondola in Venice.

But more than all of that- I want to experience all of the sights and sounds and love and laughter that life has to offer but I don’t even think to look for. Because if it’s one thing that last summer taught me, it’s that the best things in life are ones that you didn’t even expect. It’s so easy to become jaded, to think you’ve seen it all, to think you know it all, when you really didn’t even begin to scratch the surface. Traveling helps me remember what it’s like to discover something new and remember how little I actually know. It brings a new perspective- one that I had when I was younger- where you feel like everything is new and unknown and just waiting to be found. It’s a sense of wonder that life sometimes takes away only to be found again in the journey along the road not just less traveled by, but less expected.
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June
15

First Job!

So I’ve decided to try to keep this blog up to document everything that’s going on/keep everyone up to date. Bear with me everyone- it’s hard to start any kind of online habit that’s not facebook, but I’ll try my best.

Anyway, so I had my first day of training at work today and I have a feeling that I will LOVE my job. It’s at the DC Volunteer Lawyers Project, which I’ve included the link to in case anyone doesn’t know yet. I’ll get to do everything from grant research and writing to blog upkeep to legal assistance to social media management, which to me seems really, really fun. Since I’m one of three people who work there, I actually get to help shape a vastly expanding organization that does great legal work. It’s hard to believe that I’ve actually gotten a pretty awesome job right out of college but hey… I guess I’ll just appreciate what I have.

Other than that I’m studying for the LSAT which is about as fun as it sounds and working out/eating healthy. I really hope that the next two years are as intense an emotional, intellectual, and spiritual journey as they appear. This is why I took time off before law school. I want to experience life, get myself together, and do something that I truly love and that will give back. I want to take part in all of the activism that I could before pursuing a legal career full-time. I want to truly live life with arms wide open, like in that book Eat, Pray, Love (which I’ve been meaning to read by the way!) Everyone needs some time to find themselves and these next two years are my time.

I have to go help Wes out with Program Board stuff right now so I’ll write more later… but I hope this is a good start :)
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February
25

Whale grabbed ponytail, pulled trainer into tank, SeaWorld says - CNN.com

Ok so I don’t heavily comment on a lot of stories- but I CANT DEAL WITH THIS ONE!

ONE- WHY has noone killed this bitch yet? He has killed literally 2 people and injured several more. HELLO?!?!?

TWO- You call that playing? You call that a mistake? They’re called KILLER whales for a reason!!!!

THREE- Why are there so many different cover up stories?

STORY ONE- Sheriffs office says a highly trained trainer “slips”

STORY TWO- Park officials say the whale “grabbed her pony tail, which tapped him”

STORY THREE- An employee and customer who WITNESSED THE EVENT say the whale “jumped out of the tank, grabbed her around the waist, and shook her with his teeth until she lost a shoe and dragged her under water.”

This is absurd. I’m so tired of people making excuses for sharks and whales and dolphins. Bottom line- they’re WILD animals who KILL things smaller than them and should be kept in the WILD or heavily sedated in an enclosed tank fed by a robotic arm. THE END.
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February
17

GMH

givesmehope:

In November, I noticed that the first African-American had joined our school.

In January, I discovered that the kindergarten teacher had adopted her from Ethiopia when her parents died. A few days ago, I discovered that she had adopted her sister so that they could be together.

Mrs. Loveday GMH.
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February
16

GMH

conrog:

mquintano:

givesmehope:

I volunteered at my local hospital and saw this old couple; a man sat in a chair, holding his wife’s hand on the bed and I heard her say,

“Promise you won’t waste your last years missing me when I’m gone, Bill?” and he smiled and said,

“Sure. Promise you won’t blame me when I break it?”

They GMH

Grammy & Pop <3

This is so beyond cool that it tempts even a cynic like me to believe that love can last a life time
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February
15

(via omegleshit)

Haha
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February
15

(via fuckyeahvoldemort)
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February
15

Just stop, you’re a flop, Voldemort will blow you up.

omegleshit:

You’re now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!

Stranger: hey

You: is this ke$ha?

Stranger: no this is p diddy

You: oh

You: crucio

You: now that we’ve got that out of the way, i’m trying to find a filthy muggle whore (commonly seen swaggering around downtown L.A. like a rejected jack sparrow impersonator with downs) going by the alias “ke$ha”

You: (i don’t know what the dollar sign is supposed to prove, either)

Stranger: hahahahaa who the fuck

Stranger: im afraid i havent seen her

You: FML, i ask wormtail to round me up one sleazy rockstar bitch and he can’t even accomplish that.

You: i mean, just charm a goblet of butterbeer into a bottle of jack and the harlot’ll sniff it out in minutes!

Stranger: lol im laughing so hard

Stranger: why do you want kesha?

You: well, i was on my wonkyputer watching Cousin Skeeter reruns when an e-mail from lucius titled “URGENT!!!” popped up

You: it was something about needing to watch “2 mudbloods 1 goblet”, but when i clicked the link it was just some homosexual ginger nerd dancing about like an opprobrious gaylord

You: anyway, i thought maybe lucius had sent the wrong link, so i checked the “related videos” section in search of squalid-looking tarts

You: however, i accidentally happened upon the live performance of someone named ke$ha and after watching its entirety i knew the killing curse was in order

Stranger: you dont know how hard im laughing

Stranger: it was that bad huh?

You: oh, it was one of the worst things i’ve seen on the interpets in quite awhile

You: but it wasn’t just her abhorrent singing voice that deterred me, or the inebriated dancing or the fact that she probably replaces her shower water with glitter

You: it was the BAMF claim

Stranger: what’s a BAMF claim?

You: a BAMF claim is when someone who is not a BAMF tries to act like they’re a BAMF

You: however, as kesha is a wealthy L.A. drunkard who’s only real threat exists in the shape of a rehabilitation center, it’s impossible for her to be a BAMF and must therefore be shown how much autotune and a bottle of jack counts for against avada fucking kedavra

Stranger: is this voldemort?

Stranger: i would KILL to see voldemort vs. kesha

Stranger: shed probably run away

You: really? because she so boldly claimed how she was going to “fight until the sunlight” in the performance i had the misfortune of seeing.

You: i thought about giving her a wand to make the fight fair, even though she’s a heinous creature not even respectable enough to be called a muggle, but then i remembered her appalling vocals and i think they’re just as formidable

Stranger: rofl. you are awesome, lord voldemort.

You: 50% pleasure, 50% pain, 100% reason to remember the name

You: oh, i have to run. i imperiused the homosexual ginger nerd to bring her here, and i think snape just let them in (i figured why not kill this rick fellow as well since lucius seems so fond of him)

Stranger: oh my gosh, i am dying

Stranger: let me know how it goes with ke$ha, lord voldemort :D

You: it’ll be easy, specifically after kanye

You: but yes, i’ll be sure to do that. until next time, little omeglian.

You: (i wonder if she’ll wake up in the morning feeling like p. diddy when she’s an inferi)

You have disconnected.

TOO FUNNY!
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