All Gone

(pic:Threadless)

Hiatus is over, exams are through, and here now is the room to celebrate. Don't sit still too much over Christmas or you'll get swept overboard by the dizzy waves of sentiment that abound in December. I'm the Grinch though, fuck what you heard.

Monocle's Top 25 for Travel.

Yale said yes, four times for one family.

Is geography the new history?

Gawker.tv's fantastic end of the year video list

Someday

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Exams are a crush and the wind is bitter cold outside, even though it looks warm looking out the window. To sit still and study the one single thing on the desk in front of me goes completely against my human nature, which explains why studying equates out to be combat, real time combat like a titantic wrestling match between twin giants, with my soul at stake. Anyways, it's soul sucking to sit still and study for so long and when it's all over, I feel like I've just been gruelly interrogated. But what's worth that awful feeeeeeling is the incentive. It wouldn't even be bothered with if it wasn't worth it.

In the Wall Street Journal today, they ask this author of a new biography on Winston Churchill a few questions. I forget the guy's name, but he's an older british gentleman that is said to have written the smartest, concise biography of the man in only 196 pages, which says something. Apparently, this guy met Churchill when he was twelve or something and asked him, "What do you attribute to your success over the years?" Churchill looked at him and said "Economy of Effort. Never stand up when you can sit down and never sit down when you can sleep." To note as well, Churchill's father died at the age of 45, which lead Churchill to believe that since he too would die at a young age, he'd better get going on making his mark in the world. Three years later, he lead his regiment's polo team to three straight tournament victories while deployed in India. Four years later, while on a scouting expedition in South Africa during the Boer War, Churchill was captured by enemy troops and sent to a POW camp, only to later escape and travel through nearly 300 miles of enemy territory to safety.

I can't wait for Christmaspen. Also, my house someday will look like that there picture up above. You heard it here first.

Where You Want To Be

Early morning on the Amazon

Beauty

Only As Deep As I Look Can I See

Roll Tide

I mean, I can't hate anyone in the SEC, not even Florida. They don't look good in white and they haven't lost a game since September of last year. It is only natural to loathe who's on top (ie Harvard, Duke basketball, Washington DC) but as history goes, nothing gold can stay. As much as I hate houndstooth beer mugs and all the talk about "Bear and the good ole days", Alabama is going to win this game. If both teams do their job, it will be a grudge match of a great game and the first conference title game to match undefeated teams together. Plus, you've got the two best defenses in the nation. The matchup will also dictate the first time a team in the Top 3 will lose since early September. 

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Alabama's out for blood from last year's title game and is rolling off an incredible game against Auburn in the Iron Bowl. I still can't hate Florida though, even the UT in me. Florida is faster than fast. Tebow will be facing a defense determined to stop his run and he'll be forced the throw the ball. Florida will still dominate the short third downs and play strong football, even if its a bit one dimensional. Strong football isn't desperate football though, and if they find themselves in a jam, they'll have to gamble and they haven't had to do that in a long while. On offense, Alabama's got a host of backs that could start just about anywhere and they'll run to high heaven. They'll pull everything out to combat Florida's fantastic defense. The secret weapon is Bama's tight end who they've used to mix up their offensive scheming all season. But who knows? That's the best part about it. It's the SEC. Ingram for Heisman. Roll Tide. 

Cudoki

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Steve Aoki just remixed Kid Cudi's Pursuit of Happiness and it's a sound that can only come from a place we can't see. Somewhere on the most E soaked cloud of your imagination, you can't lose and it's lush. You just ran a kickoff back for a touchdown and it was nothing more than an obstacle course, coming at you in slow motion. Ease in high definition. Only you know it though. The Superdome is absolutely losing it, noise is deafening, and beach balls are dropping by the thousands from the ceiling to commence the end of the game and the beginning of a night that will take no prisoners, with a day at the beach come morning. There is no time for sleep. This song makes me want to go knock all these book shelves over because they're not moving or dancing. Nobody in here is doing anything besides studying, thinking and that would just fuck everyone else's studies up, plus the mousey looking girl probably named Dorothy shelving the fucking world behind me would do the right thing and pull the fire alarm, throwing us all outside to face the fucking elements. Nah, I'm happy rightcher feigning my studies to look up giant snakes in the Amazon but mostly mining energy off thoughts of better places in the world and this fucking triumphant astral space rave of a song.

Kid Cudi feat. MGMT-Pursuit of Happiness (Steve Aoki remix)(via)

No Worries

“It is easy to be heavy: hard to be light.” G. K. Chesterton

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When life gets chaotic, its only natural to crave order. Hard times can suppress a good man's common sense and in desperate moments, people will turn to anything in search of meaning and purpose. It was during the last Great Depression that horoscopes in newspapers and tarot cards exploded into the mainstream. As the financial world continues its crumbling and the weather gets gloomier, our search for order should be towards the tangible rather than the obtuse, especially now since school stress is on the upwards. Things aren't ever as bad as they seem.
Have Mercy on yourself, you're beautiful.
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The Strokes- Mercy Mercy Me

Almost

Are you happy yet?