February 2012
12 posts
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I have ambivalent feelings about The Help but this...
Mr. Blackly [interviewing Skeeter for a job at the newspaper]: Murrah High Editor, Ole Miss Rebel Rouser Editor, double major. Woohoo. Junior League editor. Damn girl, don't you have any fun?
Skeeter: Is that important?
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I had to write an op-ed in defense of true love...
I’m not really good at defending love (be still, my cynical heart), but I tried. However, just as I finished writing my agonizing piece on why love still exists for young people, I found this advice column on Spectrum, Columbia Spectator’s blog:
Dear Emily,
I am totally interested in having a boyfriend right now, but afraid of the time commitment it may involve. School work alone...
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paris wine&tea: One last tumblr moment before I go... →
pariswineandtea:
Noel Duan is an incredible writer. Some of you may recognize her from her blog, Miss Couturable. And others may recognize her as the passionate Columbia University student, fearless in her pursuit to achieve her dreams and her passions in the often-seen-as-not-lucrative publishing and writing industries. I really admire her and her writing.
I’m beyond belief angry at...
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“Americans do not hate their cities. Rather, they are ambivalent about them, and...”
– Robert Beauregard, How America Became Suburban
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Disgustingly racist anti-Asian Michigan campaign →
The 30-second ad opens with the sound of a gong and shows the Asian woman riding a bike on a narrow path lined by rice paddies.
Stopping her bike, the woman smiles into the camera and says, “Thank you, Michigan Senator Debbie Spenditnow. Debbie spends so much American money. You borrow more and more from us. Your economy get very weak. Ours get very good. We take your jobs. Thank you, Debbie...
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Amy Astley of Teen Vogue, on Valuing a Work Ethic →
I also find that if you ask someone in an interview, “Are you a morning person?” the truth always flickers across their face, no matter what they say.
(via The New York Times)
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Feelings feelings feelings
I am deeply frustrated because my generation did not break this economy but every day, I see my peers working themselves to death trying to do everything possible to compensate. We’re told that it’s harder to find jobs in this economy so just-accept-this-unpaid-internship-and-move-back-home-with-mom-and-dad. We’re told that we’re ungrateful and lazy and unrealistic, but how...
An education
I feel that there are few careers that allow you to directly spark and shape the world (yes, yes, I’m sure you, brilliant reader, could name quite a few, but still…), which is why I become sick to the stomach when teachers from my high school die. When you’re 16 years old and you just got in a fight with your parents because you crashed the car and your SAT score doesn’t...
January 2012
19 posts
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“We are the girls with anxiety disorders, filled appointment books, five-year...”
– Courtney Martin (via air-light-time-space)
I guess what frightens me, is how much this hits home.
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“People sterilized against their will under a discredited North Carolina state...”
– NC Panel: Sterilization Victims Should Get $50K (via honeyandsun
)
They always leave this out of the history books.
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4.0
I’m going to reward myself with working harder. 2012, you’re only going to get better.
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The 27 Rules of Conquering the Gym →
This is the time of year when even people who hate the gym think about going to the gym. Many of us are still digesting whole floors of gingerbread houses, and jeans that fit comfortably in October are now a denim humiliation.
Sweating is a good way to begin 2012. Exercise, like dark chocolate and office meetings that suddenly get canceled, is a proven pathway to nirvana. But if you’re...
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Unsolicited advice from a 21-year-old college...
I get a lot of sweet emails that I don’t deserve along the lines of: “Noel! I don’t know you in real life, but I think you’re fantastic anyway. How do you do it all?”
Well, I am here to offer to you my unsolicited wisdom which you probably did not ask for, unless you emailed me asking for advice. I am not any wiser than you and I seek advice from my friends on a...
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December 2011
24 posts
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Stressed beyond belief
Paris in one day. I need to do laundry. And review my French.
Just found out I am going to have to pay for my grad school myself/get a scholarship. And I will find a way because it’s my dream, and when do I ever say no to a challenge? But that also means I won’t be sleeping earlier than 3 a.m. anymore.
Grades still haven’t completely come out yet. I have two As and two…I...
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What are your new year's resolutions?
I’m genuinely curious.
My always overly ambitious list includes:
Get a 4.0 GPA both semesters. (I’m not expecting to get perfect grades, but if you shoot high enough, you get pretty close).
Keep track of all my expenses and email my monthly record to my mom for accountability. (Around midterms this past semester, I became more stressed than I should have been and I stopped...
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Hoot Magazine Fall/Winter 2011
Like a proud mama bird, I am pleased to announce (with much delay) the release of the Fall/Winter 2011 issue of Hoot, Columbia University/Barnard College’s fashion magazine! It’s been out for about a month, but I’ve barely had time to flip through it myself. I am no longer involved with the campus publication, but I was the co-founder and editor in chief for two years, and I am...
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petals, apparitions: Last night, my mother brought... →
jumiyori:
Last night, my mother brought up marriage again and mentioned in passing something about a “good husband.”
(When she says “good husband,” she means a very successful guy who makes a lot of money. And is Christian. But above all, he has to make a lot of money. Of course, she assumes that there would be a guy out there who, in spite of his flaming success, isn’t a total a dick with an...
All I want for Christmas/my 21st birthday:
A 4.0 GPA, a new camera for Paris, a new Chanel bag, and peace on Earth.
Maybe also a bottle of champagne. It’s been a long journey getting to 21.
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“I fell in love and my eyes couldn’t read.”
– Columbia University English professor Julie Crawford’s answer to “What’s the craziest student excuse/extension story you’ve heard?”
(via Bwog)
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Finals
Last night, I sat on the floor in the library, listening to a really sad Taylor Swift song, sniffling back tears (grades! boys! the world!) as I typed loudly on my laptop. I’m pretty sure this was a variation of my life when I was 16.
I think Paris will be good for me because I need to learn to be a functioning adult again.
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