maybe this year will be better than the last...

paris
Originally uploaded by hollybrekken.

Sunday is my birthday.
For the weekend my friend Lisa and I are going to Vegas. Fabulous! This is where we are staying. The reason we are staying here, and in fact, the entire reason for the trip, you can find here.
As many of you might already know, and if your didn't already, you know now, I am obsessed with Queen. The greatest band ever. I have 4 top bands. Queen, Aerosmith, Elton John, Billy Joel. The middle 2 I have already seen in concert. And... since it is really not possible to see my Queen live, this is the next best thing.
So with me a fabulous 22nd, and a fabulous Vegas!
Hope all is going well with all of you!!!

but he knows where she's going when she's leaving, she pulls away and leaves him with a smile

24 hours straight on campus. That is disgusting.
(minus my dinner break, thanks con)

I hit the wall. Time for a nap.

cuidado piso mojado

7.5 hours until the beginning of the end.

This academic spanking is taking its toll on me.

And the onslaught of strange varying smells in the extended study room does not help.
Maybe chemical highs are good for econ.

Back to the grindstone. Crap, I just grossed myself out.

I've been with you such a long time. You're my sunshine.

Sometimes I get blown away by the absolutely amazing people that I am blessed to have in my life.
Do you ever have revelations like that? You are just talking to someone and all of a sudden it hits you. Like a rock.
These people that are in my life...
Genuinely beautiful people that wish happiness to the world around them.
I don't even know how else to describe it.
But I have great friends.
I don't tell them enough how much I love them.
Sorry to be a sap. No, actually I'm not.


I still believe
...that generosity is its own reward
...that kindness will prevail
...that might does not make right
...that a soft answer turns away wrath
...that there is power in gentleness
...that there is more to us than flesh and bone
...that life will bring more happiness if lived for peace and not possessions

I still believe people of gentleness and faith can change the world one unseen, unsung, unrewarded kindness at a time and nothing in this world can make me stop.

Thank you for proving me right.

like a river bed run dry

I have this new theory now that if you spend too much of your brain's capacity on one thing- there is nothing left for everything else.
I think that is why I have been such an idiot lately.
I can't think about politics in chile at the end of the military regime, how to compute international balance of payments, real estate in honduras, the IMF's impact on the general population in bolivia, argentina, and ecuador, and analyze the history of economics and still be required to think in complete sentences....
Please forgive my idiocracy.
Oh. its a word.

By the by- if anyone feels like helping me celebrate my idiocracy and wants to be (or will be already) in the St. Cloud area on Saturday. Stop by my pad for a shindig. :)

Persistence: virtue or curse?

Sometimes the persistence of people amazes me.
It is also amazing how quickly persistence can cross the line from being admirable to annoying. As with many of these kinds of things- moderation and regulation is key.
This is a time when knowing how to read people comes in mighty handy.
In general- persistence is a virtue- but remember to know when enough is enough.

Tag team back again.

So it is crunch time. Finals week. Papers galore.

I have an alter-ego, as some of you may be well aware. She is not particularly useful however, just manages to get me into trouble.
Sometimes I think how nice it would be to have a double. For instance if you had something yucky to do- or ran out of energy- or needed to be in two places at once you could have your double help out. This time of year it would always come in handy- one of you could work all day- then tag team! the other could work all night. Think of the production possibilities! - eww, forgive the economic term-
I would always make my double do anything that had to do with economics. I think my double would abandon me after a while.
I read this series- Left Behind- about the ending of the world, second coming of Christ- and in it this guy (this is after his is killed and re-born as the devil incarnate) doesn't ever need to sleep or eat. Imagine the possibilities! Not worth the title that comes with it- but if I could get it without that- it would be a different story.
But knowing me anyway- I really wouldn't do any more work. I would just play more and cram my work in 'just in time' as I always do.

I know myself too well. I can't even be disillusional anymore... ha ha ha.

Feliz Cinco de Mayo

I hope you all have a wonderful day!!!
Celebrate!



Too many birthdays in one week...

But what does it all mean, Basil?

Something that I will never learn how to do:
Actually turn on my anti-virus software. If you click on it enough times it eventually turns back on... somehow... mysteriously...
Its lifes great debate- which is really wiser:
a- wasting 5-45 seconds everytime my software updates itself trying to turn it back on
b- wasting a while- 30 minutes- a couple hours- who knows?- all at once to figure out how to actually do it.
That kind of stuff is something I always thought I could pay someone to do for me- that and accounting, and cooking. Sometimes I forget that I am planning to be poor forever.

To Angelina:

OK- I hope you get this before you leave tomorrow. I tried to call you- but you must have turned your phone off already.
Anyway- you for sure have a ride. (I knew I would eventually come in handy for you some day. It just took a while).
Mauro will pick you up. He has seen some pictures of you- and will have a sign with your name on it. You will recognize him by the big Brazilian flag on his head.
The one catch is he demands a large US flag- like 4-5 ft long. I told him you will do your best- but I didn't know if I would be able to get ahold of you in time.
Buenos suerte mi amiga.
Vaya con Dios.

Hanging with the family

Hanging with the family
Originally uploaded by hollybrekken.

This past weekend Shady came to visit. I had to work ALL weekend- so Kait and Shady got to hang out a lot. On Saturday they went up to my cabin and made dinner for my mom and my sister and a few others. A real home-cooked Egyptian meal.
Here is Shady at the cabin with my mom and my little sister. Poor guy. I bet he is upset that he got stuck with the only non-blonde in the family.

Life is a road and I want to keep going. Wonderful journey.

Ang leaves on Thursday. Last night was a hoopla. The Olive Garden was a jolly occassion. We got to catch up- enjoy a few bottles of wine- and plan our next randevous.
Then back to our place to introduce a few new folks to the wonderful world of shisha. Shady fixed mine for me now- and it works beautifully. How many egyptians does it take to fix a shisha? Apparently 4. But the first 3 just sit on the corner, drink tea and watch.
Its my own fault too... I picked out all the pretty pieces instead of the ones that actually went together. But it IS beautiful. I told Trent to come with me and he didn't. Adham and Kasia can't be trusted.

Well Angelina- travel safely. We shall meet up on the other side soon.