Keeping Up...

…with old friends. Did you think I would talk about the Kardashians again? Sadly, I probably keep up more with them than my old friends. And that’s the saddest thing I think I have ever said.

Keeping up with old friends is a skill, I’d say. As a kid, I had some amazing best friends who I played with every single day. Then, middle school came and I met new people and new best friends while keeping my old ones. High school – same thing. But once college happened, people who were once never more than a 5-minute drive away suddenly moved to places where spontaneous trips to the muddy creek were not as feasible anymore.

There is something about childhood BEST friends that make them best friends for life. They’ve hung out with you through ALL the awkward stages of growing up and still managed to love you anyway (And no, I will not be providing pics of those times). They know all the good hiding spots in your house and have seen how embarrassing your parents can be, and that will never go away. As a “real adult” though, it can be so easy to get so caught up in the hullaballoo of life that keeping up with those people gets stuck on the backburner forever.

Yesterday I got to hang out with a girl who was one of my main sidekicks since way before the turn of the millennium. We grew up together and went to all the same schools together until she moved a little over an hour away for college. Since then, I can count the number of times I’ve seen her on one hand.  But when we finally got to spend time together again, it was so fun to continue that parallel timeline we have together and make sure they don’t diverge too far again. It made me realize how awesome it is to keep in touch with old friends whose presence was vital to who I am today.  

My goal is to keep up with my dearest friends more than I do with the Kardashians…….can I get a cheers to that?!?!?

Toodle doodle,

RY

Lee Immune System

So, recently the first virus of the year has been going around campus and pretty much everyone's getting it in some form. As in, there's a circle of people who sits around me in my Psychology class that all have sore throats and bring in cough drops, medicine, Airborne, etc. to class. But as usual, I haven't gotten the bug (yet). Actually, RY and I rarely get sick, and if we do, it's just a minor stomachache or throat ache that heals really quickly. 

I think it's because we eat healthy (most of the time) and exercise. But it's totally genetics too, or because we traveled when we were little so we were exposed to more germs, or something. But anyway, we're lucky :P

RL

Airplane Speed Dating?

Update on the post about flying on airplanes – I did NOT get to rest and relax on either of my two connecting flights because as the luck of the draw would have it, I sat beside two of the chattiest people who both thought their life stories were worthy of taking up my naptime. Indeed, I enjoy learning about people’s adventures and misadventures (which is why I’m so guiltily sucked into reality TV), so it wasn’t the worst thing to engage in conversation with these people. But on my second flight, I even put in my earbuds and the Costa Rican guy still thought it was a great idea to ask me about my opinion on thunderstorms. I mean, really? Thunderstorms?

Then he proceeded to tell me about his entire family. Like, ENTIRE family. Which family members are currently in Virginia, who is currently in Costa Rica, which ones are in the army, which nephew just spoke his first word, etc.

What is it about airplanes that makes people wants to divulge such personal information? That lady on my first flight told me every single detail about every guy she’s seen. The guy on my second flight revealed all the struggles and accomplishments of all of his family members. It’s definitely got something to do with the fleeting nature of air travel – it’s kind of like a one-time therapy session, maybe? It kind of reinforces the fact that everyone around us is dealing with stuff and has some sort of baggage they are carrying around (pun INTENDED). No matter who we sit beside on the plane, they have something they want to get off their chest – it’s just a matter of whether or not they are comfortable doing so. And clearly, these people on my flights this past weekend were VERY comfortable doing so.

TOODLES!!!

RY

The Kardashians: A RAEview

They can seem like real airheads, I know. Kim bawls her eyes out when her nail polish chips and it seems like the hardest thing she has to do every day is choose what Givenchy shoes match her Balenciaga handbag. Still, I have to admit, I am fascinated by them and I get sucked into the K-frenzy sometimes.....

We’ve gotta give them some credit – they may not seem to have any standout talent, but they still have managed to build an empire for themselves. No matter how much we make fun of their lackluster personalities or materialistic obsessions, they are the ones out there in Calabasas adding 15 garages to their mansions while we are all here sitting on our Ikea couches watching their reality show and eating hot Cheetos.

It’s easy to assume that all they do is live their rich life simply by existing with a camera crew following them around, but it HAS to be more than that. They have so many things going on that it has to be exhausting to get up early every morning and have to face the fact that a zillion people will be watching their every move no matter where they go. They have clothing and makeup lines, sponsorship opportunities left and right, and have families of their own to take care of. Because of the lifestyle they’ve created, they are businesswomen and have to balance schedules that require them to be in 100 places at one time. Yes, they have private jets and they stay in 10-star hotel penthouse suites, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t hard-working.

In the end, the Kardashian clan are people too. They see all the shade that is thrown at them and they still power through their lives. I can't believe I'm even writing about them. But what the heck. They are celebrities for the sake of being celebrities and you know what? More power to them.

Toodle doodle,

RY

I'm a Researcher!

New exciting thing in my life--I'm starting work at a research lab in the Psychology department this year under one of the Psych professors I had last semester (for Stress and Coping--my favorite class) and again this semester (for Research Methods...not as fun). He primarily studies emotion, and has a few studies going on in his lab right now, headed by grad students.

At first I thought I was just going to work as a Research Assistant and be a confederate (the person in the lab who pretends to be a subject to influence the real subject in studies of social interaction) or the person who enters data. But nope! In one of the studies about stress and distraction in aiding recovery from stress, I stress out subjects by making them do a task as fast as possible. I'm not allowed to smile and I feel really mean, but it's kind of fun to watch them get scared when I walk in the room >:D I feel powerful haha.

The second study is about reflection. I am one of only 2 Research Assistants being trained to conduct the study. So it is a little more stressful...because after training, shadowing, and being shadowed next week, I will be able to schedule and lead subjects on my own. WHOA. I feel cool. 

Okay, so maybe that doesn't make me a researcher, really. I'm still just the Research Assistant and not the Principal Investigator or anything, but it's still way more than I thought I would be doing! 

The downside is that I have to work/train in lab at 8:00 AM four days next week. So stay tuned on how I feel after exhaustion hits ;)

RL

Frequent FlyRaes

Okay, flying is not everyone’s cup of tea. It does come with a certain level of anxiety – it just depends on how comfortable you are with giving complete control of your life to 2 strangers sitting in the cockpit of your airplane. But is that MUCH different from sitting in the back of a taxi cab with some random driver who has WAY less training and skill sets to shuttle you around? Idk but that’s not the point of this post.

I am leavin’ on a jet plane today (just for the 3-day weekend) and I could not be more excited. RL and I used to dread sitting on planes for hours (and hours…and hours…), but I’ve started to look forward to those hours on a plane when I have nothing to do. I think RL agrees. I wear my baggiest sweatpants and RL wears her weird toe socks with flip flops. I get to sit back, pop in my earbuds, and zone out without my phone buzzing incessantly or the guilt of knowing there is something more productive to do.

Yes, when we go halfway around the world, the plane rides can get overwhelmingly boring, but eh, it gives me time to write in my journal or read the book that’s been sitting on my nightstand for months. And so far, there is always something really awesome waiting for me at my destination that makes it all so worth it! Most of the time…it’s food.

Hope everyone has a good Labor Day weekend!

Toodle-oo

RY

Ding Dong Ditching

^It’s something that pretty much every kid does at some point while growing up in a suburban neighborhood. Strolling around with some friends, feeling like the next big thing in the world…oh hey, there’s a house that looks like someone’s home! Let’s ring the doorbell and, 1: Run away as fast as possible, or 2: Hide in the bushes beside the front door! And yes, it can be funny when someone comes to door and peers out of the door with a confused, yet apprehensive look on his or her face.

These days, though, people in general have a more heightened sense of security. The meaning of home security is evolving with daily reports of break-ins, robberies, vandalisms, and the whole shebang of suburban, middle-class issues. Most of the time, when someone who is up to no good is driving around a neighborhood, he or she will target a house where it seems there will be no push-back from anyone. So, in order to see if anyone is home, he or she will ring the doorbell. This is what happened when a stranger rang my doorbell, and no one was home. So they went ahead and broke through the garage window.

So what if you’re a kid wandering around and trying to be funny by ringing the doorbell of someone who is already wary of ANYONE who rings their doorbell? Technically, it’s trespassing. So they got you there. But also, what if they have some sort of system that catches you in the act and/or if they reflexively act against you? What if you’re hiding in the bushes and they come out with a weapon of some sort and start whacking behind the bushes to defend their home? These days, you just never know who you could be messing with. Plus, if you think about being on the other end of a ding-dong-ditch, you’ve had to get your butt off the couch and walk all the way to the door to find no one there? There is nothing funny about that, I think! Plus, it really could mess with your mind – especially when most people’s minds naturally go to the worst case scenario. I know mine tends to do that these days……

Toodlez!

RY