#nerdlife.

Hello world.

My name is Asante, and I am a self-proclaimed certified nerd.

I often find myself researching for fun. I read ahead in text books. I know weird facts and words that normal people don’t care about. I’m going to graduate school to study MORE random facts that only I care about (as far as my friends are concerned, anyways). I read. A LOT.

BUT… I know when to turn it off.

You know, like that self-awareness kicks in at some point and I realize there is more to life than showing people how intelligent I am. I’m realizing now that in this regard, I am an anomaly.

I’ve spent the past 3 weeks getting to know quite a few nerds as I navigate the uncomfortable realm of grad school interviews, and let me tell you: in 3 weeks of these there have not been more that 4-5 “normal” applicants per pool. Seriously. The rest are charmingly, but blatantly socially awkward. To the point where I felt awkward for NOT being awkward. How twisted is that?

I mean I appreciate a person who can really delve into the significance of a single cell patch clamp response. Or the consummatory dopamine circuit. Or even the molecular significance of a missing post-synaptic transporter. (Getting away from you there? I know, fear not, I’m coming back. And yes, your eyes are supposed to be glazing over.) But for the love of everything that is good, approachable and non-awkward, give it a rest sometimes! I love my work and I love the brain and all that, but if you can’t find a balance between your academic motives and your personal life, I don’t know what to say for you.

Even the professors I’ve met, after I  ably describe/discuss the complex parameters of our study and what I do within it, have asked me “What else do you do? Like, when you’re NOT in the lab?” It would surprise me if some of these folks had an answer to that question. Like, seriously.

I love being a nerd, don’t get me wrong. I enjoy being in the company of such intelligent and driven people. But when the professors are gone and the grad students are offering you a beer, TAKE IT. And then relax. We all know you’re smart. Now show us that you can be a normal person. At least until the beer wears off.

♥

i ♥ dc.

…And always will. Yes, technically I was raised in “The Area” (never actually lived within the DC borders) but I love DC like it was my own, because it’s an amazing city. You can routinely find me telling people I’m from DC, talking about different parts of the city I’m familiar with, before mumbling the requisite side-note that I actually grew up in Maryland…. #shrug.  I still rep the District. And pretty much every DMV-raised person I know does the same.

So when I saw this, my heart did a little nostalgic happy dance:

¤ Source: http://www.OrkPosters.com¤

I’m in love all over again.

And they have other cities too! New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Philly, Boston…. All with really cool typographic style of ID’ng the neighborhoods. Check ’em out and  see if they have your city! Meanwhile I’ll be buying this one… and putting it prominently in my new home come the fall…. (more on that soon ;)

♥

My Favorite Love Songs…

Yes folks, it’s that time of year again. When everyone you know is either cuddling up to the one they love or really like, or cursing this ill-begotten red and pink holiday.

Valentine’s day :)

I’ve spent the majority being mildly (ok more than mildly…) bitter at the entire concept of this day, but with a glass of wine in my system, I’m ready to be a bit more civil. I’ll admit, my first single V-Day in 4 years was awfully strange. You know how you don’t notice certain things in others until you don’t have them? Yeah well it seemed like EVERYONE was getting flowers or obnoxious balloons or surprise gifts. Like, everywhere. *vomit*.

I think the low point of this day was when an aging hobo asked me to be his Valentine. Talk about rock bottom. lol. #singlelife.

Anyways, back to the point, where was I?…. Right, love songs. Most days of the year, I’m perfectly optimistic about the concept of love, and I am a big fan of great love songs. So below (after the cut) are some of my favorites, and if you’re late on the boat and haven’t put together a playlist for your special someone or other, hope this helps. Celebrate the Love :)

….or if you’re still bitter, holler at my good friend Modi for his Singles Awareness Day Mixtape #3, which is a great ode to those of us without someone to snuggle with tonight. (Or check him out anyways, he’s mad talented!)

Anyways, Happy Valentine’s Day, folks. I’m off for a much deserved bubble bath. And to refill my glass. lol.

despite my slightly gloomy mood, as always…

♥

“Valentine’s Day: By The Numbers”

I busted out cackling at these graphs, no lie! Originally posted [here], author Wylo takes a hilarious approach to the lead-up and fall out of the year’s most emotional holiday, Valentine’s Day. Enjoy!

¤ Visit the whole site, Cool Material! ¤

♥

I’m baaaaack!

Hello lovelies :) Didja miss me?

I know, I know. It’s been forever. :-x But like I said before, my life has been in shambles lately, a whooole lot of mess pulling in a bunch of directions. So what have I been upto? Lets run through it.

1. VEGAS. Yes. I was there. It was unbelievable, I had the most amazing time! Me and 3 of my very good friends jetted out to beautiful, sunny Nevada to live out our own version of “The Hangover”. We went out, saw a show, played tourist, gambled (I won $7.14 y’all. Can we say ballin’?), had In-N’-Out Burger for the first time in life (Dear Lord. If I can eat nothing else for the rest of my life… I’ll never complain again. Amen.), spent WAY too much money, and bonded with my Wolfpack. Vacation of EPIC proportions. Can’t wait for the next one :)

2. Grad School. One interview down, 3 to go! The first one went REALLY well, I have high hopes that  I showed Vandy without a doubt that I am AWESOME. Like, seriously. lol. And Nashville was actually a LOT of fun. A friend of mine was nice enough to take me around town and show me a great time, I had a blast. Who knows…. I may be moving to Tennessee y’all :) lol

3. My Poor Pookie.

Yes. That is the formerly sleek and unblemished driver’s side of my Pookie, otherwise known as my ’09 Camry. *cue the hot salty tears of depression… and pour out a little Turtle Wax for her.* Note to all: I don’t care how little regard you hold for your piece of $#!? car, but I LOVE mine. Blind turns in parking garages have 5mph speed limits FOR A REASON. *sniff*. Stupid ’96 Cavalier. At least the cop was fine though. Officer Jones….. #yesplease. lol.

4. Workworkwork…. and BS co-workers. Any of you who follow me on Twitter knows that I faced quite the debacle with a co-worker last week. #deeeeeepsigh. Lets get one thing straight, shall we? I am many things, but a pushover is not one of them. When I ask you to do something and you don’t, just because I don’t say anything, doesn’t mean I’m not aware of your bull. So don’t act all shocked and surprised when I stop asking you to do stuff. There is NOTHING on this planet I despise more than people who don’t have the decency to follow through when asked for a favor. If you don’t want to do it, SAY NO. Seriously! So that I know not to bother next time. Because I will only put my work integrity in your pathetic, incapable hands so many times before I relegate you to a box reserved for the lazy and irresponsible. Do NOT mess with my job. I take my image at work VERY seriously, and don’t appreciate those who can’t do the same. < /rant >

5. SuperBowl Commercials …meh. Except for these two!:

Greatness. And no, I’m not going to comment on the game this year. I was bored to tears. And the Steelers…. just…. fail.

6. New Ink …Yes I know. I’m an addict. But I can’t help myself lol. Officially saving up for tattoo #6… Once I finalize the design, I’ll share. :)

7. BookyWooks! I’ve been reading up a storm in my web-absence. “The Unnamed” (Joshua Ferris),”Bitch Is The New Black” (Helena Andrews), “Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self” (Danielle Evans), “Naked” (David Sedaris) and always more to come. Each VERY different, but I like the variety. Hit me up for more detailed reviews if you’d like, but I’d recommend them all! Long Live REAL books!

8. Tiger In the wake of the insanity that is my life, I had to give up my baby boo, my dog Tiger. Still miss him something FIERCE! :( Hopefully once my schedule dials back I’ll be able to get another dog…. But I miss my Punkin’ Face. I really hope he found a good family though.

Anyways I should really get back to work… Though this was a nice break, time to mosey on back to the craziness that is my work day. Later folks :)

♥

my life on pause….

To all 3 of my frequent readers, I apologize :-x

I have a LOT on my plate and very little space at the moment in my brain for writing stuff that I want, and as usual the blog has fallen by the wayside. But fear not! Once a few of these grad school interviews (!!!) are laid to rest, I’ll be able to focus on the brighter side of my life :)

There has just been SO much going on lately! Work is nuts, trying my hardest to be a good friend/family member/academic/employee/human being is kind of draining me. Not to mention the weather is freakin’ depressing in GA lately (finally starting to turn around though, did you witness this past weekend?! Gorgeous.).

But yes, suffice it to say…

*Pause.*

But I’ll be back soon. Promise :)

As always,

♥

self-lovin’.

Raise your hand if you can confidently and without a doubt say that you love every single minute thing about your body, yourself, who you are, etc.

Don’t worry. I’ll wait.

Nobody? alright then. That’s what I thought. Why is that?

It’s frustrating and sad. Even the most outwardly confident of us all have something they take major issue with.  Too big, small, loud, quiet, sticks out too far, too short, too long, yaddayaddayadda. And then we try to justify all of this in the name of “self-confidence” “conceitedness” by throwing in “well at least he/she/it has it worse than me.” WTH? That’s not self-confidence. That’s petty and destructive. And it’s not going to work anyways.

So why do it? Sure, at the end of the day you’ve created a booster seat with the pile of dashed self-lovin’ of other people, but if you have to KEEP DOING IT, clearly it’s not working.

My dear sister, who makes her home on the interwebs over at Les Coeurs Solitaires posted this fabulous quote the other day. Thought I’d share with y’all :)

“At some point in your adult life, you’ve probably walked into a party and felt a frisson of relief upon discovering at least one woman there who was fatter, uglier, and/or dressed more inappropriately than you. We sure have. But if you want to have any hope of making peace with your own body, you need to knock that shit off.

We’re not even telling you to stop just because it’s nasty, petty, and beneath you to judge other women so harshly; it is, but because you’re not a saint, and neither are we. We’re telling you to stop because it’s actually in your own self-interest to stop being such a bitch. ‘Cause you know what happens when you quit saying that crap about other women? You magically stop saying it about yourself so much, too.

Judging other women negatively creates a constant stream of nasty thoughts in your head. It is inevitable that you will end up applying those same standards to yourself. We think we’re building ourselves up when we do this but, really, we’re just tearing other people down to our level. And we hate to go all Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood on you, but tearing other people down isn’t really productive. It leaves you in the same place you started, which is full of loathing for your own body. “

–Excerpt from Screw Inner Beauty, by Kate Harding and Marianne Kirby

And the church says AMEN. Let 2011 be the year we let go of petty crap, self-destructive thoughts, and unnecessary negativity about ourselves, and everybody else for that matter. Please and Thank you.

♥

good music!

Short pointless post. Stumbled across this and the concept alone blew my mind. Nirvana x J*Davey. #YesPlease.

Great original, epic cover. I love J*Davey!

Listen and enjoy :)

♥

Another year gone by…

Another turning point;
a fork stuck in the road.

Time grabs you by the wrist;
directs you where to go.

So make the best of this test
and don’t ask why.

It’s not a question,
but a lesson learned in time.

It’s something unpredictable
but in the end it’s right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

–Green Day

2010 has come and gone.

May the upcoming year bring you bigger and better things than the one before it.

[in 5…….. 4…….. 3…….. 2…….. 1……..]

 

happy new year!

♥

it’s the holiday season….

… and I’m  freakin’ exhausted y’all. Been working like a dog up until today, and now I’m madly laundering and cleaning and packing my apartment/things (because I leave EVERYTHING until the last minute. *sigh*) Tomorrow will be interesting…. Still planning a 6am departure! Hah. Yeah right. lol

Knowing that I have a whirlwind holiday season ahead of me, including a 10-hour drive to the DMV and about a zillion people back home to visit, I know my blog steez will be darn near turned off for the next few weeks.

However….

I want to make sure that I wish all 3 (lol) of my loyal followers/readers the happiest of holiday seasons :)

So to you and yours, Happy Christma-Kwanza-Festivu-Channu-Solsti-NewYear*!

love you all. See you when I surface from the holiday madness :)

♥

*I think I got ’em all… And if you don’t like Winter Holidays, just get a lil buzzed and have fun! Nothing better than not having to work for a few days ;)*