Decidedly Obscure Human Complaints.

I’m now in Berkeley! It’s so nice here. There is green vegetation stuff galore, humidity, a cool breeze, I can breathe, bicycles all over the place… and, best part, when we went to Trader Joe's earlier there were shoppers wearing backpacks . In Utah? 99 times out of 100 I am the only person in the market with a pack - meaning, I either walked or peddled there. Here? I’m drowning in a sea of pedestrians and cyclists! Not to mention — aside from veg-friendly and veg places GALORE — there’s also an all-vegan cinnamon roll place and soul food place super close. Oh my. Food shouldn’t be so exciting - but, eating new vegan food is pretty much my #1 favorite thing to do when I travel. The flavors are always so new and exciting; and the neighborhoods harboring veg places are always havens for a slew of other awesome local cozy things. Oh, and I have a dorm room all to myself! It’s such a life saver. So, in general I switch between two binders — one for walking long distances or to ea...

Since turning my last paper for finals in last Tuesday at 5:59pm (due at 6:00pm) I have been celebrating with a Mass Effect (video game!), staying up late, pajamas, and 21 cans of Coconut Juice in bulk which my adorable parents purchased for me as a finals completion gift. Then last night, some friend took me to Scream 4 . Then the celebratory cherry on top - this morning Erin, Andrew, and I caught wind that Seabirds, an all vegan food truck, is in Salt Lake City today and tomorrow! They are parked from noon-8pm in front of a local coffee shop called the Coffee Garden. This is part of The Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race” and in addition to their normal menu they’ll have lots of other great things as well like breakfast burritos and cheesy potatoes. This was their breakfast menu this morning: I ordered the breakfast quesadilla, which was super delicious to the max. My friends ordered breakfast burritos and the “jerk jack fruit tacos”, which had an incredibly interesti...

This is what I got for lunch today:  P&B on whole wheat, mixed fruit, chocolate chips, and little gummy bunnies.  My mom is beyond sweet for making these lunches for me. I love it. My neuropsychology professor revealed during class that she was going to show us a "treat" tomorrow after our anxiety-inducing test. After class she admitted to me that she was going to attempt to take us to the lab where we'll get to see a real-life human brain. I really, really hope that this happens. With anatomy-like courses that require such a vast quantity of memorization, I feel anxious. My memorization is terrible, but I've discovered a nifty tool that is helping a great deal. It's called Anki , which is Japanese for "memorization". The method built into Anki involves a memorization algorithm called the SM2 algorithm: The SM2 algorithm, created for SuperMemo in the late 1980s, forms the basis of the spaced repetition methods employed in...

These past few days I have been moving.moving.moving - in with my parents. After 10 years of living on my own, moving in wasn't an easy decision to make... but, it's the one that will help me to succeed. I really want to take advantage of this opportunity to attend a private, liberal arts college. Which is a huge privilege. Even though my parents don't have a lot of room to spare, not having to pay rent while in school is an AMAZING opportunity and extremely kind of them. Not worrying about making rent will definitely help me to maintain the GPA that I need to hold on to my scholarships and to take full advantage of everything the McNair program offers. Admittedly, starting this whole process is really anxiety-inducing. I'm worried that I'm walking in to a world where I'll just end up being weeded out and burdened with a lot of debt. I am very tempted to bypass this opportunity and look for a full-time job, but I have to try. This is a really exciting one-time...

I have always celebrated my birthday by dragging my loved ones to something that they wouldn't otherwise do. For example, acouple of years ago I deemed that we all go to see a special screening of Rambo that had Sylvester Stallone rambling on for about 45 minutes before the movie even started. And, during this time, I noticed that one friend had fallen asleep before the movie had even started . See, I really like Rambo. And the fact that friends and family would sit through the horror of it just because they love me is a birthday gift in and of itself. Like they'd go to hell and back for me - which, sitting through Sylvester Stallone talking for 45 minutes is pretty much just that. Unless you're me. Then it's highly, highly entertaining. So this year? We went to the Renaissance Festival. Yesterday my immediate family and I went to breakfast, then returned to my home to throw on kilts before traveling onwards to "the village of Marriott-Slaterville" (abo...

Here are a few photos from my family trip to San Diego! Look at this cute little ol' guy - a "Tapocyon" hanging out over at the Museum of Man in a plastic tree. Apparently he's similar to what modern dogs and cats evolved from and has retractable claws, which kitties retained and pups lost along the way. Mom and I, enjoying our Spongebob Squarepants pops in Balboa Park Mmm! Vegan pizza from Stephanie's Bakery in San Diego! On the purdy beach at sunset with the mom and brother.

My massage last Friday was so.very.blissful . It went on for two whole hours . Afterward I was dehydrated to all hell and felt like I was on a muscle relaxed little floaty cloud. My gives-the-best-massages friend gave me a glass of water, then I floated off yonder to a local queer club where "femme women dress up as butch and compete". Femme? What? Where? I'm in. Anyhoo, the most recent post over at The Vegan Lunch Box was a little hope-inducing in regards to my puberty-ridden acne and backne development. The author's little son, Schmoo, has finally hit his preteens, which led her to blog the following: I've dealt with acne my entire adult life (they all told me I'd grow out of it, the liars). And although acne has been linked to milk and dairy products in several studies , going vegan did not clear up my skin at all. Of course, although it didn't contain dairy, my early vegan diet did include daily servings of things like soda, chips, candy, and ...

When I got home last night it felt like I'd entered the Twilight Zone. A backwards, pink, and glittery version with pop music. It was a whirlwind of teenagers and stereotypically teenage girl things - chatter, articles of clothing strewn about, hair products, makeup things, hair flipping, giggling, ohmygawd's. My roommate was sitting in the middle of it all in the front room, sunk into the futon with her laptop. She looked up at me and said, "I feel rude." And then I remembered: She had asked me some time ago if I wouldn't mind if her sister and some friends stay at our apartment for a couple of nights as they passed through town. I told her it was a-okay! I had to step over the objects and things with my bicycle to get to the kitchen where I propped it and replied, "Don't feel rude!". Then, while slinking to my room, I saw two teenagers in the bathroom - one doing her makeup, the other brushing her hair, speaking in some high-pitched barely au...