Twerk Miley, Miley Twerk

Let's talk about the VMA's shall we? N'SYNC GOT BACK TOGETHER. How are we STILL talking about some girl being inappropriate while singing her song...which, by the way, is also inappropriate. Nothing makes me want to fork my own eyes out more than hearing people talk about Miley Cyrus. Look, she's not trying to be Celine Dion. She's trying to be shocking and get your attention. She's a genius. She won. N'sync got back together and we are talking about her scrawny self shakin' it on Beetlejuice. Also, yeah it's inappropriate for kids. WHAT ARE YOUR KIDS DOING WATCHING THE VMA'S ANYWAYS? It's trash city. I feel like that's the most illegitimate response to that. The song is inappropriate. MTV is inappropriate. There's a reason they aren't playing that on ABC or CBS primetime. You don't let your kids in a club and then complain about the fact that people were being trash-nasty (the behavior in a club is just as bad, if not worse, and they ain't even bein' paid!) Foolishness. Ugh. Rant over.

It's been another great week here. No complaints. I've written a lot of stuff that is (well, what I believe to be) pretty good! I'm getting more of a schedule. I've been getting back into the gym, which is looonnggg overdue. I signed up for a 5K. No, that's not a glitch. You're on the right blog. I, Danielle Durbin, am running a 5K. So, to my California friends, when we said goodbye was probably the last time I will ever see you. I'm fully prepared to meet my Maker. Speaking of which, I'm really feeling my church I've started going to, which is exciting. I met a very nice girl the first week I was here who brought me there and I'm really thinking it could be where I call home. I am enjoying the night life here. There are a lot of places to go and all kinds  of people to interact with, which can be a good or a bad thing. I got twerked on last night and was asked out by my cab driver from the South siiidddee. Chicago came to play. WOOF.

Completely unrelated side note: why do people feel the need to let you know you have the same name? That happened to me this week and I didn't now how to respond...smile and a thumbs up? Nothing magical happens. No bond is formed. Unless you have a CRAZY name, there's no need to get excited. I've never understood the importance of that. WHOA! You have a generic white girl name? ME TOO!  I'm over pretending I think it's a cute coincidence. It's not. Also, I had no say in the matter. Neither did you. So maybe our parents should high five and celebrate over the success of our, obviously kismet, meeting. Thanks, mom and dad!


I'm hitting my "Miss" phase. I miss LA. I miss my LA life. I miss my LA people. I miss my Sundays. I miss my cute little apartment. I miss the traffic. I miss the bad hip hop music. I miss driving through Glendale, Burbank, North Hollywood and then heading over to Santa Monica or Brentwood and the trips to Beverly Hills and the Grove. I miss day trips back to the Central Coast and my goodness, do I miss Coffee Bean. (also, my parents, but don't tell them. They have big enough heads.)
I've had the fortune of seeing two of my favorite California ladies this week, which was great and a nice taste of home! I have a few more weeks until my boys come to visit and I'm already looking at getting my ticket home for Christmas, which is crazy. It's not that long that I'm gone. It feels like all the time and no time...I don't get it either.

Sittin' on top of the world with your legs hanging free.

Chi-town is myyyy town. Alright, y'all. I made it to Chicago. I obtained my belongings, thanks to my parents mailing me my clothes. That's really all I needed. Clothes. DO you know how hard it is to not spend money when you have nothing to do all day? Uh. VERY. First world problems.
I feel like this place is home. I miss my dogs. I miss my family, but mainly my dogs and I feel like I have every right to say that because my parents love my niece and nephew more than they ever loved me or my sister. You can fact check that.
 So I just wrapped up my first week of college and WHOA. I mean. Wuh-oa. I am pretty much a fossil in college years. I'm old. I should be graduating. One of my required classes is a freshman class, which is precious because one of my classmates just turned 18....and just to put that into perspective for you, she couldn't see R rated movies, but she was in college. Soak that up. She's sweet as can be, my entire class is, I just walked into the room and was like, "oh. wow. they sent me a lot of nurses to make sure I made it to the 4pm Shuffle Board tournament."
Things I have learned since being here:
1) Sleep is needed and wanted...but no one indulges in it.
Now, you're thinking, "Danielle, everyooonnneee knows college kids don't sleep. DUH." But no. it's not the same. You want sleep...all day and THEN it's 3 AM and you think you're drunk because you're that hyper. WHY. All of a sudden I have a desire to gym it up at 2AM...what is happening?
2) Infectious accents. Much to my dismay, I am noticing a slight development of a mid-west accent (which, by the by, my roommates believe isn't a thing...I'll leave that there.)
3) I drink an obscene amount of coffee. That's it. That's the realization.
4) The train is the best way to make friends.   Ha. kidding. these people are crazy, but it is a good way to get dates! So far, I've been asked out by a middle aged security guard who had more than one loose screw, a girl, and a guy who sang me Drake and made sure the lyrics, "you're a good girl and you know it..." were reaaalllyyy creeptastic.


Awesome things that happened this week?
I found out Allison Janney has a new TV show. ANNDD I was able to buy a CJ Cregg worthy trench coat.  THAT'S ALL MY DREAMS COMING TRUE.

 My classes are really, pretty freaking awesome. My classmates are awesome anndd at the same time, it wouldn't be school if you didn't have that ONNNEEE classmate. There's always one. Everyone entering into a classroom is unanimous in the fact that you're there to learn, but there is always ONE that is there to teach YOU. They are only at this school to impart their wisdom on you...uh. thanks, bro. I can only hope I obtain a fraction of the knowledge that this 18 year old savant has to offer.

All in all, it's been a pleasing experience. I feel really good about being here; this is an experience I will not waste. I heard in church today, "If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world." There's no connection between this and anything I've said. It's just a brilliant quote. CS Lewis is where it's at. 

Lost at Sea

So, I'm kind of overwhelmed as to how to finish explaining my journey across the country. I feel like there's a kind of serenity and a kind of wisdom that comes from getting to see where you're from...granted, Im not from all those states, BUT, you always talk about other places and make up lives for those people. Ya know? Being from California, everyone assumes everyone else is miserable and that they have no lives because they're not in California, because we're a very cocky state, but that's not the case. I explained the first part of my trip which was pretty bleh, but as soon as we hit Oklahoma, we were walled in by trees. Green, bubble-topped trees blowing in the wind that stretched as far as the eye could see and this sky that seemed be unrolling in front of me. It stayed that beautiful for pretty much the duration of our drive. When we hit Memphis we were so excited to see a city, mainly because we felt like we weren't around ANYBODY. We couldn't understand where these people lived....like, the ones at the gas station...where is your house? I can't...whatever. We didn't even see a Starbucks until Georgia, which is crazy. Do you know how many states that is that we passed? A LOT OF MANY. I realized the reason we were so excited to see such trivial things, like you know, buildings and Starbucks, is because that's what reminded us of home. That's what we knew and what was familiar. That's when it hit me. These people here are different. WHOA. I mean, revelation of all the magnitudinal (made up word) proportions. While, I get excited to see buildings and the beach, these people are comforted by the trees and the breeze and the cicada bugs (even though I find them to be THE WORST.) It’s so different being in a place where it’s ok to just be in one place your whole place because California is filled with places that are all about progression. The city of LA is filled to the brim with hopefuls and has beens that are just waiting for their dream to happen or reliving the dreams they’ve already had the pleasure of living. These states aren't like that and this is the first time I realized that that isn't bad. These people were content. Not saying Southerners don’t have dreams, but their terms of happiness seem based on different things and that’s not necessarily bad. There’s nothing wrong with being content; that was probably the most shocking thing I learned in Arkansas, the people here aren’t crazy, bizarre or different... they’re just content and who am I to tell them that they need to be a business person, singer or lawyer to feel differently?   This trip was the best. I learned that I have the best family EVER. These people I barely know, haven't met or haven't seen in years, opened their house to me and two other ragamuffin looking creatures and let us stay, gave us food and offered to let us stay more. How cool is it to have friends willing to drive that far and family willing to house you and said friends? I have both. What a blessing. Now I'm here in this city, alone. Scary, kind of. It gets lonely. I walk around alone a lot. I eat a lot of meals alone. I see a lot of nature alone. I talk to God a lot. I worry a lot. I get nervous a lot. I question what I'm doing here...A LOT. And then I come to my senses and say what does it matter? This place feels like home to me. I love what I'm doing. What does it matter how long I stay out here doing my own thing? Eventually I will find my way to where I'm supposed to be. I will be found and that's a beautiful realization to have.