Two Weeks From Today!

A lot has happened since I last posted, but school and extracurricular activities have got in the way. It's all good though, because in two weeks I will officially be done with my freshman year of college. This has definitely been the best year of my life. I can't put into words the amount of amazing experiences that I have had at LMU. I just finished reading the Princeton review on LMU for fun. It certainly doesn't do the school justice. Sure, it has one of the prettiest campuses in the U.S, the happiest students, and the small class sizes and friendly professors are great. What I think many people fail to realize is the amount of students here that are inspirations to each other. I feel that I have phrased that wrongly. I will attempt to elaborate. I have so many peers that are the most genuine people I have ever met. They have strong convictions and they stand by them. Many of my friends have done service in Africa, shot documentaries in Asia, and built schools in the Philippines. Countless people at LMU go on the De Colores service trips to Mexico, tutor children at local schools, work for social justice, and nitiate environmental programs on campus and off. The list goes on and on, but I won't bore you with it. My point is that, even though the Princeton review says that the "skinny, rich-beyond-belief blonde girls whose version of 'scrubbing it' is wearing their Juicy Couture sweatshirts with their Manolo Blahniks" are everywhere on campus, LMU is so much more. I think that Loyola Marymount is one of the most grounded and conscientious schools in L.A and it shouldn't be recognized as a refuge for bratty rich kids.

P.S Tomorrow I will be marching with hundreds of other LMU students for immigration reform. We will march from 3rd Street to McArthur Park.

Samarkand is Tomorrow Night

"For one evening Loyola Marymount University’s Sunken Garden will undergo an elaborate transformation into a world market, based on the work of Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka. With the Pacific Ocean, Los Angeles and LMU’s Sacred Heart Chapel as backdrops, “Samarkand” will be a uniquely memorable performance. “Samarkand” was written in 2002 and takes its cue from the ancient Yoruba saying that “the world is a marketplace.” It is choreographed by London-based artist Peter Badejo. “Samarkand” celebrates the primal sanctity of man in the context of rites and rituals old and new. "

Apparently Danny Glover, Mel Gibson, and Michael Learned from The Waltons are going to be there. I'll be selling Marians t-shirts and organizing the performances in Sacred Heart Chapel. It should be really neat. I'll try to take pictures and post them on Sunday.

I Ate Martha Stewart's Dog

And it was delicious. A group of fellow dorm buddies and I traveled up to the world famous Pink's Hot Dogs on Melrose Ave about two weeks ago and had a great time. The weather that entire week was very unusual for L.A as it was raining non-stop, but we felt that Pink's would be well worth it. We left at rush hour and spent about 45 extra minutes on the 405 North while rain was pouring down on my friends rinky dink Chrysler convertable (The back window was being held to the car by duct tape). After missing the exit onto La Brea and trying to use a broken navagation system that told us we were going South West the entire trip, we finally we made it to the small but cozy location that Pink's has been at since the 1940s. It was still raining and I think that was a good thing because the usually packed hot dog stand had a very small line. I guess nobody was as desperate as us to clog our arteries with a 1 1/2 foot long polish sausage and about a pound of mouth watering toppings in the stormy weather (Chris Farely would be proud). I got in line and squeezed myself under the awning. After placing my order-"One Martha Stewart Hot Dog Please"- I walked around the counter and was quickly given the most disgustingly beautiful meal I had ever seen in my entire life. I ended up asking for the Rosie O' Donnell Dog after I polished off Martha's.

The inside of the establishment is covered with the autographed pictures of hundreds of celebrities including William Shatner, the Cast of House, Lost, Grey's Anatomy, Cher, Gene Simmons, Steve Martin, ect. Some celebrities had multiple pictures... (they are either incredibly full of themselves or just really love Pink's) I am sure it is the later. My friend and I want to go back during the middle of the day and hand the manager our signed headshots to see if he takes them. We thought it would be really sad if an actual celebrity wasn't recognized and they refused to take their picture. Anyways, here are a few pictures our sinfully delicious hot dogs and Pink's itself. It's definitely a famous landmark in L.A and rightfully so. The food is great.