This blog has been through a lot.

I started it in February 2005, the spring semester of my junior year of college. This blog has seen sixteen college courses, six jobs, one diploma, three states, seven countries, eight EFL classes, three weddings, one funeral, one car accident, four seasons of American Idol, and countless books, songs, and friends.

I've been feeling a bit weighted down by all the history for a while now and I think I need a fresh start. Although I really like the Xanga format (especially the Pulse and Currently Reading/Watching/Listening features), I'm moving to a cleaner, more efficient blog and I hope to step up the content a bit. This blog has often been a place for personal disclosures and rants, and while they will have their place on the new blog, I hope that the content will be a bit more professional as I move on to more professional endeavors myself.

From now on, I won't be posting here, though the blog will stay up until I figure out how to archive the posts I want to keep. But never fear! I have already begun my new blog, and I hope you'll stick with me as I "grow up." Please visit me at:

coalescence.wordpress.com

And thanks for reading.

- I should have watched Obama's press conference, but I didn't, and I have yet to find it online. I would have liked to hear what he had to say about his economic stimulus package. I keep hearing positives and negatives about it, without actually researching the issue. Basically, I'm for it if it stimulates my economy.

- I thought this year's Grammy performances were so-so, though I think most of the awards went to the right people. (Love always, Jonas Brothers, but Adele deserved it.) I did, however, enjoy the recreation of the Four Tops with Smokey Robinson, Radiohead's "15 Step" even though Thom Yorke creeps me out, Coldplay's combo of "Lost!" and "Viva La Vida," U2's spirited new "Get On Your Boots," and Jennifer Hudson's classy and heartfelt thank-you, "You Pulled Me Through." I was really hoping that M.I.A. would get her own performance spot, but no--they dressed her in some god-awful sheer maternity jumpsuit and made her play 5th fiddle to four egocentric rappers.

- Speaking of the Grammys, the whole Chris Brown/Rihanna debacle is pretty disgraceful, if indeed he was the one who caused her injuries and then fled the scene. Way to ruin a career in the course of an hour, dude.

- Christian Bale is an idiot. Nothing excuses that kind of behavior.

- As for my life's current events, I found out I might get cross-trained in other sections of the bookstore by next month! This could mean more hours, and certainly more variety in my work. I've been looking for another part-time job to supplement my income, but haven't had any luck so far.

- If you're into Jane Austen, you should really check out the newest BBC version of Sense & Sensibility. I know some people (coughAliciacough) who prefer the Hollywood version with Emma Thompson, and there are aspects of that film I prefer, but the cinematography and acting talent in the BBC take are simply superb. It just finished airing on PBS, but the DVD is already available.

This morning, I clicked on one of those tantalizing MSN links on Hotmail--this one advertising some press event with Oscar nominees, because I, as much as anyone else, get sucked into the celebrity vortex and convince myself that I must know what's going on in their lives, what they wore to that gala, how their kids are doing. But this article and accompanying video were different.

Apparently, every year, Newsweek asks some of the Best Actor and Actress nominees to gather for an Oscar roundtable, where they're asked candid questions about their work, but also allowed to simply discuss anything amongst themselves--politics, artistic inspiration, family, etc. If you find yourself getting too wrapped up in celebrity press and putting people on ridiculous pedestals like I do sometimes, I encourage you to watch this (link here) and find what I found: when you watch these actors and actresses at length in a very normal setting, you realize how normal they actually are. They all interrupt each other; they each have a story to tell; you can see them listening politely to each other even if they're a bit bored; they compliment each other's work; and, amazingly, they're all quite gracious and humble about their own careers. Behind their universally recognizable and bankable faces, they are all just people. It's something our country--and I--would do well to remember.