Accepted!!

Very exciting news for today's blog... I officially got accepted into Regent's school in LONDON!!! I pretty much knew I would be accepted into the school, but it is sooo much more comforting to actually have a definite answer. Also, I found out that I got all the classes I wanted for the semester over there!! So excited -- I'm taking Biology, Media Productions, Art History, The Civilization of London, and Contemporary Theatre. In my art history, civilization, and theatre classes we get to go on field trips around the city! I'm super excited for that, I love history and theatre :-). I can't wait to go to London, and I'm hoping this semester will continue to fly by -- speaking of which, I can't believe November starts this weekend, it's crazy.



In other news, tonight I'm going to a concert! In my last blog I told you about the band The Bridges and tonight I get to see them again! I'm so excited, I absolutely love concerts.... and I have 2 this week :). Joan Baez is on Saturday! Sounds like it's going to be a great week... music-wise.

Unlike all my friends, and everyone in America, I am not celebrating Halloween this year. This is actually a pretty good decision money-wise because costumes are sooo expensive, and since Halloween is on a Friday I'm sure that a full weekend of going out for Halloween celebrations would be pretty expensive as well.

As for classes, not much is new. I had my group presentation on Arrow of God today and I think it went pretty well. We did a powerpoint and had a class discussion of the book as our presentation. Last Tuesday I passed in my PR project so I'm waiting to hear about that... hopefully I did well, I'm pretty nervous because the project kind of confused me. But other than that, things are pretty good and I'm definitely looking forward to this week of concerts!

Have a great week everyone.
*R

My Back Pages..

Helloooo everyone,

I can never really think of good blog titles, so I just chose the title of a Bob Dylan song that I've been listening to a lot lately. Anyways, it's been a lonnnng time since I last blogged. Sorry about that, I've been kind of crazed lately. I'll try to remember what's happened since I last blogged.



We've been having midterms the past few weeks... which was stressful. But I got 2 exams back and I got A's on both! :) I haven't really had many other grades in those classes so getting a good grade on my exam was important. Tonight I have to finish working on part 1 of a huge PR project. Part 1 is due tomorrow, and of course, I've been procrastinating. I also have a group presentation to work on for my World Lit class; we're presenting info about the book we're currently reading, called Arrow of God. It's an interesting book about the native people of Nigeria and how the British started to take over their land and convert them to the British way of life. Seems like the British do that to a lot of different cultures around the world...


15 days until November 4th. Why a countdown to that day? That's when people will cast their votes, and let their voices be heard in this extremely important election. In 15 days we will finally end all the sleezy/dishonest advertisements, and all the lies about each candidate will come to a halt. On Novemeber 4th we will have declared a new president! I am so excited, and very nervous at the same time. Yesterday, my friend Melissa and I volunteered at Head of the Charles for the Obama-Biden campaign. It was a great experience, and in spite of the cold, we had a really fun time getting to talk to interesting people about our current political situation. A lot can change in just 15 days, as the McCain-Palin campaign keeps telling us. Honestly, I just want the 15 days to go by fast so America can finally have an answer. As Obama said over the weekend,

"One thing we know is that change never comes without a fight. We've seen it before, and we're seeing it again today: the ugly phone calls; the misleading mail and TV ads; the careless, outrageous comments. But we're not going to be distracted. We're not going to be diverted -- not this time, not this year."

Well said, Senator.

On a completely different note, the Jason Mraz concert on 10/09 was absolutely amazing!! I wasn't a huge Mraz fan before the concert, but I am now! He is such an amazing performer, and such a nice, down to earth guy. Me, Haley and our friend Kirsten volunteered to help out before and after the concert, which was a lot of fun. On top of getting free food, and amazing seats, we got to meet Jason and take a group photo with him! If Jason ever comes to tour in a city near you, I HIGHLY recommend going -- even if you're not a huge fan it is such a fun and energetic show to go to. Also, if you go to Jason's website, you can read his blog about life on the road, recording, and all the other fun stuff he's doing. Here is his new music video for his single I'm Yours. Also, I wrote an article about his concert for The Suffolk Voice... so check it out if you have time :)

I just love live music at concerts, clubs, shows... anything. Next Monday my friend Alaina and I are going to see a band called The Bridges. I interviewed them a few weeks ago and am currently writing up an article about them for the Suffolk Voice online paper. They toured with my favorite band, Rooney, this summer, which is how I learned about them, and I instantly fell in love with their unique sound. Then, on November 1st, I'm going to a Joan Baez concert at Berkeley! Hopefully everyone has heard of Joan, but if not, she's a legendary folk singer/peace activist from the 60s, who's voice is still as beautiful as ever. I am so excited to see her!

That's all for now. Have a great week everyone! :)

*R

October 1st!

Hi everyone :-)

Happy October! I love the fall, and all fall decorations. All the ambassadors have helped to decorate the office, so we have some wonderful arts and crafts hanging from the ceiling and on the wall. Looking around I see a Frankenstein, a pirate pumpkin, a haunted house, a ghost, a spider and a black cat -- as well as some fun Halloween jokes.

So this week has been really stressful so far, and it's only Wednesday. Last night I tried to figure out what flights I'll be taking to and from London. Three of my friends who are going to London with me already booked a flight together, so now I really have to figure out my stuff so I can take the same flight as them. My mom is coming out after my semester is over to do a 10 day travel vacation to France(for 5 days), Belgium(for 2 days) and then Amsterdam(for 3 days). I'm so excited, but we haven't made any finalized plans yet, so it's hard to decide which day my return flight home will be. Very stressful considering I've never booked flights before or anything like that. But besides that, I'm so excited for London... and I can't wait to travel after the semesters over! During the semester I'm planning on traveling as well, but mainly staying on the British Isle and of course making the trek over to Ireland for spring break!

Also, for all of you who are interested in, or looking to get more involved in politics, the vice presidential debate is Thursday!! So excited for it. The best thing about debates is that they can really go either way - there's not teleprompter telling the candidates what to say, and even though they do tons of preparation, the answers are still completely spontaneous. As I said in my first blog, I wrote an article on both Governor Palin and Senator Biden for The Suffolk Voice, our online newspaper. Here's a link to my article, if you're interested in learning some background info on the VP picks.

Today, Whitney left us an envelope of square cloths, and asked us to decorate a square to contribute to a quilt being made for St. Jude's Hospital. Jill and I both made some really cool square :) On mine I quoted Eleanor Roosevelt, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." And I cut out little pink and purple hearts to jazz up the cloth a little bit.

That's all for now, have a great week and weekend everyonee!

rachel