The Travel Blog of No-Traveling

I am astounded by the number of friends I have that have had (or will have, or are having) the incredible experience of studying abroad. Studying abroad is something that I have always wanted to do, but probably will not due to super strict Engineering schedules and mega expensive summer study costs*.

Anyway, these friends all have one thing in common (other than studying abroad). They all had study abroad blogs.

Every. Single. Person.

And the thing that really amazes me isn't the blogs at all. I mean, sure those are cool and nifty and a fun way to see what sort of things they do abroad, but, why don't they do that at school too?

So many people end up doing crazy cool things at school and you almost never get to see or hear about it.

Also, how many people would love to see pictures and read about things that happen on their own campus? It's kind of like rediscovering all the things that make college cool.

I've decided I'm going to do that with Pitt. I'm going to blog about the things I do and the people I meet as if I was experiencing Pitt for the first time (kind of)**. It'll be a way for other people to see and experience Pitt from wherever they are too (which, after all, is the idea behind a travel blog).

Plus, this will inspire me to put up pictures, finally, which is something I've been promising to do for a while!

So, I can't wait to get started. I can't wait to show you Pittsburgh: the good, the bad, and the downright crazy***. And to hang you over until the first entry of the No-Traveling blog, here is a picture of what campus looks like right now****:

Here's to Pittsburgh!

--R.

*I was recently accepted to study abroad in Australia for 6 weeks. The program would cover 6 credits of Engineering classes (that could go towards my degree) but would also cost a whopping $11,000. That's how much I pay for a semester of class , which is 15 weeks and 18 credits.
**Study Abroad in Pittsburgh! (How glamorous).
***Pittsburgh can be really fucking crazy. I'm not even kidding.
****This picture was actually taken a year ago. On my phone. But it was taken at roughly the same time (Late October/Early November) so campus really does look like this right now. Also, can you even tell we're in semi-urban Pittsburgh? Didn't think so!

Instant Gratification

Two posts in two days?!

Don't get too cozy though! Who knows when I'll remember to update next :P

Anyways, the topic of today's post is: instant gratification.

I recently (in the past year) started getting a bit more serious about my photography. At least, serious enough to create a Flickr account that I actually used*. Every time I posted new photos to my account, I wanted to see if anyone had looked at it. Had anyone commented?

Had anyone even noticed that I put up photos?!

One day earlier this semester I came across the term "instant gratification". The idea (in the context I read it) is that we post something online: a picture, status update, blog post, whatever, and instantly want some sort of response for the thing we have just posted.

I realized that this was happening every time I posted a picture on Flickr. I wanted to stop myself from doing this and attempted to become patient instead. I tried to stop clicking the refresh button on my page over and over again until a statistic changed, showing that finally someone had at least viewed one of my photos. But I still haven't mastered patience that much yet.

I still hit refresh every couple of minutes on my Flickr page until I am sufficiently satisfied that someone has appreciated my photos. However, I do acknowledge to myself the ridiculousness that I am fueling by doing this.

I hope to someday remove instant gratification from my mentality completely. I mean, when I take a photo, I'm not thinking about what other people will think. When I'm editing my photos, I'm not thinking about how many people will look at it. It's only when I bother to upload them to Flickr or Facebook, when I bother to share them with other people, that I worry that other people don't want me to share with them.

So, when I really think about it, is it instant gratification I'm worried about, or is reassurance that I'm not doing this all in vain?

I suppose it's something I'll have to keep thinking about, especially as I attempt to blog more often.

Meanwhile, I'm gonna sit here, eat fudge, and maybe watch some TV!

--R.

*If you want to feed my neurotic disease, here's a link to my Flickr account! - http://SEEE.it/emn

Music Memory

Do you ever listen to a song and it reminds you of a specific time or event in your life? This happens to me really often, especially when I decide to put my iPod on shuffle and listen to everything that pops up.

Last year, around the beginning of December, I decided that I needed to listen to new music. But not new in the sense that I go get new music, but new songs I already owned. I mean, I had over 10 gigs of musical material and I probably only listened to 1 or 2 on a regular basis. The way I would find new songs was that I set my entire musical library to shuffle, and every time something played that I really liked, I stuck it in a new folder that I called "Discovery".

I decided on "Discovery" because it was music that I "discovered" that I already owned and liked a lot, but never would have listened to without the help of iTunes Shuffle.

My computer crashed last January and due to laziness, I had never actually copied the Discovery playlist to my iPod. However, I did make a bunch of CDs which I had given away.

All except one.

I recently found that CD, and I had made a cover for that listed all the songs on the CD. I went through iTunes, found all the songs, and recreated my Discovery playlist.

I'm listening to it right now and it's pretty strange*. When I created Discovery last December, I would listen to it ALL. THE. TIME. But then my computer crashed in January and I lost the songs. So the playlist has a really specific time frame of memories for me: December 2009.

That time was filled with the post-Thanksgiving crunch and the rush to finals and going home for winter break. I can distinctly remember many nights of staying up late to finish papers, wandering the floors of the Cathedral looking for rooms, and waking up early to trudge to Benedum to take an exam.

I remember playing Discovery over and over and over again on my computer. Blasting it in my room when I was alone or with headphones on if my roommate was there. I remember singing along to all my new songs and working through difficult assignments while the wind blew outside and the sky turned dark.

Mostly, I remember laughing and hanging out with friends. Studying in the Cathedral or grabbing hot chocolate at a coffee shop. Making Ginger Bread houses or watching a movie in someone's room. Staying up late watching music videos and getting a last lunch in before our first long break apart.

Music Memory for me is an amazing thing. By listening to a song or a playlist, I can instantly start to remember events and memories that I had long forgotten or ignored. It allows me to become nostalgic and yet content as I play a video in my mind of all the things that I have done.

I guess listening to Discovery and writing this right now did just that: brought back a bunch of memories of things that happened almost a year ago at this point. And it's interesting to see how much has changed and what stays the same. And sometimes I wish I could go back and live everything again because it seemed so perfect and happy.

It's weird to think I'm already half-way through this semester. In exactly 4 weeks I'll be home for Thanksgiving break, sitting in my bedroom, probably watching something on my computer or just browsing the internet.

And before I know it, I won't even be in college anymore. And then what?

I don't want to think too far ahead. The end of college is almost as far away as the beginning of college was. And that's a weird thought for me.

So I guess I'll just leave it at that, and visit those worries another time.

But, I invite all of you to revisit a playlist that you associate with a particular time. What do you think now? Do you even like the music anymore? And what kind of memories and emotions do you feel now?

Until next time!

--R.

*If you would like to listen to Discovery, go here**: http://LNK.by/edsne
**Clicking on the link downloads a zip file from my Dropbox that contains all the songs in order!

The last of the 30 letters! (Finally!)

So, remember how I said I wouldn't remember to write all these letters? Whoops. Anyways, I was sitting here, not understanding my Energetics practice exam, and I decided, since I didn't want to do any more work, I would finish up these letters instead! GREAT plan!*

--

Day 20: The one that broke your heart the hardest

Dear creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender,

Thanks for making such an AMAZING show! The Book 3 finale had me tearing up in the library. Sometimes a show really can take the viewer on this emotional journey, and even though I watched most of the show quickly, I felt a sense of loss at the end of the series.

--

Day 21: Someone you judged by your first impression

Dear girl who is CLEARLY breaking the leggings-as-pants rule,

Ew. No. Stop.

Burning my eyeballs in liquid metal,

Me.

--

Day 22: Someone you want to give a second chance to

Dear girl who was CLEARLY breaking the leggings-as-pants rule,

I *want* to give you a second chance. But your leggings. They were jeggings. And they had a fake zipper sewn onto them. So...no.

Still burning my eyeballs in liquid metal,

Me.

--

Day 23: The Last Person you kissed

Dear Mom,

Sigh.**

--

Day 24: The person that gave you your favorite memory

Dear Yorkies,

We are an incredible group of individuals that respect and care for each other. More importantly, you guys really showed me how to have fun again, especially after such a rough first year at Pitt. Specifically, we survived a serial killer attack at the beach*** and returned to have a wonderful start of summer. So thanks. For everything.

--

Day 25: The person you know that is going through the worst of times

Dear Christine O'Donnell,

It must be really hard to hide the fact that you are a witch. How many spells did it take?

--

Day 26: The last person you made a pinky promise to

Dear Childhood friend,

Since I can't even remember what it was we promised, I suppose the promise was kept? Maybe?

--

Day 27: The friendliest person you knew for one day

Dear family from New Jersey who we hung out with when we were stranded at the airport in Jamaica for a full day,

Thanks for being so optimistic. And making fun of stupid people with me. Although the little kid didn't need to kick my seat the entire flight home.That was excessive.****

--

Day 28: Someone that changed your life

Dear Duff Goldman,

Thanks for showing how awesome baking can be. And also how much fun cakes are. Bakers Unite!

--

Day 29: The person I want to tell everything to, but am too afraid to

Dear Europe*****,

I like you, but I don't think you like me. So, I'll just sit here and keep liking you secretly until it goes away and I move on to the next person.

--

Day 30: Your reflection in the mirror

Girrrrrrrl, Dat hair make you look like Medusa right now! Fix that shit up!

--

So there you have it! I finished the 30 letter challenge (although it took MUCH longer than 30 days!) and can now move on to greater topics like my hate of UGGs (more like UGHs) and my OBSESSION WITH ALAN RICKMAN.

Ahem. What? Who said that?

Stalking Alan Rickman,

R.

*I might fail this exam. Luckily so will half the class. No sweat!
**The fact that that letter was to my mom only emphasizes how much I need to go on a date. PLEASE. DATE ME. DATE ME. BUT DON'T BE CREEPY!
***Seriously. It was dark and foggy and creepy and then our power went out. O_O
****Our plane got delayed and delayed and delayed to the point where we stayed overnight. The next day on the flight home, this kid would just constantly kick the back of my chair. Why? I don't know. I *do* know that it was annoying as fuck.
*****This nickname is one I came up with recently. It's actually a double-coded nickname (a reference to a code name). I figure it's gotten so obscure no one will know who I refer to when I say Europe. Heh.

Days 8-30 challenge

So, in my ingeniousness, I kind of....forgot to do the rest of my letter challenges. I'm sorry! Between moving home, moving to college, starting college, and having tests, I've been busy! My new (redefined?) challenge for the remaining days is to do one sentence (or similarly short) letters for all the remaining days. WHAT?! YES! HERE WE GO!

--

Day 8: Your favorite internet friend

Dear Twitter,

The whole reason I joined, really, was to make sure that these people I barely knew hadn't been killed. Or arrested. You know which one is worse.*

--

Day 9: Someone you wish you could meet

Alan Rickman,

This is Alan Rickman. Calling...Alan Rickman. Reminding you to move the pork chops from the freezer to the refrigerator so they defrost properly. Do NOT disappoint me...**

You get the idea. *suggestive eye brow*

--

Day 10: Someone you don't talk to as much as you'd like to

Dear person,

Your phone sucks. It's hindering our non-existent relationship. :P

--

Day 11: A deceased person you wish you could talk to

So, Mr. Feynman,

Were or weren't you joking?

--

Day 12: The person I hate most

Hey, assholes from Middle School,

FUCK YOU! *cue Cee Lo Green*

--

Day 13: Someone you wish could forgive you

Dear Mrs. Davis,

Sorry I quit piano. It was either that or fail school. So. Ya know.

AZN NERDZ LULZ.***

--

Day 14: Someone you've drifted away from

Hey you (yeah you, the one not listening!),

You don't really talk to me anymore. And I'm quite okay with that actually.

--

Day 15: The person you miss the most

Imaginary Friends,

When you give up on them. Do you give up on imagination?

I think I liked being crazy!

--

Day 16: Someone not in my state/country

Dear Gaspard Ulliel****,

You, Me, and a hot cup of tea? By which I mean babies?

--

Day 17: Someone from your childhood

Dear Ms. Hartt,

Thanks for letting me do whatever the hell I wanted all year. Best. Grade. EVER.

*runs outside during Math class to draw Harry Potter pictures*

--

Day 18: The person I wish I could be

Dear Emma Watson,

Let's trade lives. Because you're amazing and gorgeous. And my eyebrows could use a workout.

--

Day 19: Someone that pesters my mind (either good or bad)

Dear Newton,

Thanks for inventing your three laws. And thereby causing the basis of all the pain I endure in college. Damn youuuuuuuuuuu.

--

Okay so that wasn't letters 8-30. Because, in retrospect, that is a lot of letters. And I obviously always keep up with what I promise at the beginning of a post.*****

ANYways, the rest of the letters (20-30), should be up...probably tomorrow. As I procrastinate studying for my quiz and test on Wednesday (gah).

Toodle-loo!

--Rita

*If you caught the reference for this, you win 50 awesome points
**If you haven't seen this, go here and enjoy: http://WACH.it/ejf
***Found this gem today. Couldn't stop laughing: http://SEEE.it/ekQ
****Please drool over this guy with me. Only not too much 'CAUSE HE'S MINE! http://LNK.by/ecJFm

*****If you believe this, please also believe that you should give me lots of money. Or make me cake. Preferably cheesecake.