Wherein you learn that I go for the nerd...

Dearest readers, I learned a few important things tonight that I feel need to be shared post haste on the interwebs.

A) NEVER under any circumstances, no matter how tired one might be are, should anyone drink a large Diet Coke during a James Bond movie. You will spend the entirety of said flick doing your best not to pee just a little every time a gun shot goes off. And if you haven't been to a Bond film recently, let me clue you in: that happens a whole darn lot. (Maybe this is more specific to me as the caffeine made me a touch jumpy as well).

2) Daniel Craig has the ability to make just about anything look hot. I'm not even exaggerating (which I will now admit that I am prone to do in most cases). Whether he's trying to live the life of a drunken beach bum or is walking into a mob run casino in a perfectly tailored tux to seduce a... erm, lady of the night, the man does it with class and sheer perfection. It's why he's my favorite Bond (SHHH! Don't tell Sean Connery. He held the top spot until just recently).

III) Even when the above mentioned perfection is clamoring for my attention, I will still go for the nerd.

Allow me to explain for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of feasting your eyes on Mr. Craig's baby blues in the most recent installation of the International Man of Mystery's story; you finally get to meet Q, who has morphed into the perfect blend of hipster and tech nerd. And I think that I might be a little bit in love with him. (Hint: Hold the little).

I loved everything from his heavy framed glasses (I have a similar pair in the bathroom at home) to his messy hair to his cardigans to his skinny tie. I thoroughly enjoyed his snarky banter with Bond and the fact that he's wicked smart. While Bond maybe hot... oh let's be honest, we're all friends here: there's no maybe about it. Bond is smokin'.  So, while Bond is hot in every sense of the word, Q is wonderfully quirky and just dorky enough to appeal to a total nerd girl like me. Don't misunderstand me: nerd does not mean lack of social skills or an extreme dislike of sports. I have learned through painful trial and error (read: loads of awkward blind dates) that I couldn't ever spend a ridiculous amount of time around a guy who hates sports. It's just not a thing in my world (speaking of: GO UTES! Way to finally win a game. Now back to our regularly scheduled ranting). But I most definitely appreciate a nerd. And that, my darling readers, is what Q is. Total and complete geek chic.

Why, may I ask you, do men like this only exist in fictional worlds?

Quotables...

I've been horrible at keeping up on quotes of the week. I know. I've been horrible at blogging in general. I wasn't going to bring that up for the second post in the row, but it was just hanging out there in the ether begging to be said. So, as I am wont to do, I said it. Anyway. Today I am stuck at work for an extraordinarily long period of time so to entertain myself, I started looking through all the completely fantastical stuff I posted on Pinterest. I should become a professional Pinner. They should pay me. (Something to look into...that and getting paid to read). Without further ado, here are this week's (erm, more like month's) quotes:

"There isn't anyone that you couldn't love once you've heard their story."

-- Mary Lou Kownacki

"Life has many ways of testing a person's will. Either by having nothing happen, or by everything happening all at once."

-- Paulo Coelho

"There is nothing interesting about looking perfect."

--Emma Watson

"When you stop doing things for fun you might as well be dead."

--Ernest Hemingway

"My experience has been that this is, surprisingly, always hope."

--The Doctor

"Courage is not a man with a gun in his hand. It's knowing you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do."

--To Kill a Mockingbird 

Why I Majored in History...

"History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it." -Winston Churchill

I've started this post about three times. And every single time I go through and erase everything that I've written and stare at the Churchill quote again. I won't lie to you, I tried to find one from Doctor Who, but I couldn't find one that I liked well enough. And Churchill? He's my hero. And only partly because he's famous for saying wonderfully snarky things.

This is the thing about being a humanities major: you know from the get go that you're never going to make any money at it. At least if you're smart, you know you're never going to make any money. That's not why you do it. This isn't business school. If you're a true blue history major, you've had more than one person try to take you aside and tell you how worthless your life goals are. Try to talk you into doing something more sensible, like getting your MBA because you're good at analyzing or becoming an elementary school teacher because you're great with kids. While I firmly believe that I would be good at both of those things (both of which are worthwhile goals to pursue), I'm not passionate about product distribution or dividing fractions.

"Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is more people who have come alive." -Howard Thurman

What these well meaning people don't seem to understand is that just because you're talented in a particular area, doesn't mean that's what makes you come alive. And what, may I ask, is the point of spending your entire life doing something that you don't really love?  There isn't one. It's a silly and narrow minded way to view the world. I majored in history because every single time I sat down in one of my classes, I was thrilled at the idea of reading, learning, and absorbing everything that the professor had to offer. I always tell my students at the tutoring center that history is really about people. People just like them. Sure, you have to remember their names and a whole list of dates on which they did all kinds of random things, but if you really look at history for what it is, you see a story. It's someone who lived their life in such a way that you are forever changed by their choices, good or bad.

"It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped.  Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope." -Bobby Kennedy

I majored in history because someone needs to remember them. Who are 'they', you ask? They are anyone. They are infantry soldiers who slogged through the jungles of Vietnam, unnamed women who marched in the streets of New York City demanding the right to vote, immigrants who lived in the poorest conditions you could imagine, mothers who raised their children alone after their husbands were killed defending their country, ordinary people who went about their quiet lives. These people deserve all of the respect that history has to offer them, yet their stories are so often discounted as being 'boring' or 'useless' in the 'real' world. 

"History is our guide to navigation in these perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are." - David McCullough

Last year I was lucky enough to be part of a seminar focused on the Holocaust taught by my favorite professor at the U, Ronald Smelser. If you ever have the chance to take a German history or World War II focused class from this man, run, don't walk. He's amazing. During the course of the class, we discussed the idea that as the termination of the Jewish race grew more prevalent in Hitler's Germany, that very few people stepped in to help or stop the Nazis. It wasn't the focus of the class, but it became my focus as I wrote my final paper. The last paper I would ever write as an undergraduate history major. The more I thought about those people and what they sacrificed, the more I realized that they are why I spent so many years pouring over dusty old books and memorizing dates. It's because these people, whoever they may be, deserve to have someone willing to search for them and their stories. Many of these good men and women suffered and died along with the very people they were trying to help. Their efforts mean so much more than their numbers, because they have permanently and vividly colored the pages of the story of human kind with something redeeming. And all at once it came to me, the real reason that I picked a major that seems completely useless and absolutely senseless to so many people: I studied history because it taught me who I was and where I came from. I studied history because I love learning about people. I studied history because without it you have no math, no engineering, no science. I studied history because the past is prologue. The past teaches us what to repeat and what to stay far away from. I studied history because the world needs all kinds of people to help it run. I studied history because it made me come alive. 

 I studied history because I believe that everyone deserves to be remembered. 

The Day of the Presidents' Birth...

Can I please just share with all of you that I adore Monday holidays more than other types of holidays? I love that I get to sleep in. I love that I don't have class. Mostly, it just all around rocks. Today was particularly fantastic because I got to see my darling Alissa. We decided to have an Italy in Salt Lake day. We went here:

And I had this:

Alissa had this:

Oh and I'll give you a picture of Alissa because she's darling:

Sorry, it's a little dark, but isn't she cute?

Here's a little more fun:

Um, just so you know, that focaccia bread changed my life. 

Then there was some of this:

"Snow suit up!"

 "It's gonna be ledgend-wait for it and I hope you're not lactose intolerant because the second half of that word is DAIRY!!"

"Dang it, Past Ted!"

"Tell me that I'm your best friend!"

"'Booger!' 'Yes, hello Barney.'"

"It tasted like freedom. No, it tasted like pennies."

Are you jealous? Be jealous. I am awesome. I was also lucky enough to get a little time with this chicky:

We mocked people's blogs. We talked about how she was going to come see me when I get my tonsils yanked. Mostly, I love her and seeing her made my day even more fantastical.

Dear Presidents, 

  I really appreciate you being born. I'm sure grateful for the day off work and the extra time to become addicted to TV shows that are hilarious and amazing and see my incredible friends. 

Love and rockets, 

 Mals