Deuces, Y'all

Adios, Thiago!

Well, it is with a heavy heart and a sad few fingers that I type this page.
My meetings with Thiago have come to an end, as well as this semester. I knew it would happen eventually, but how was I to be prepared for the speed at which the end came hurtling at me?
Why, it seems like just yesterday that I was sitting outside 1873, nervously twiddling my thumbs and waiting for a Brazilian to stop by and sweep me off my feet.
It wasn't a date, remember?
Yet, here we are, coming up on the end of the semester. The end of a year. The end of so many things, and the beginning of this end was my last catch up with my one and only Brazilian man.
We're creatures of habit, and decided to meet for our final chat at our favorite booth in 1873.
I arrived early as usual, and Thiago, keeping with his repertoire for making me wait, arrived 15 minutes late. Lucky for him, May makes me nostalgic and I ain't even mad.
We decided to finally break bread together and actually order from 1873. I swiped in for a healthy lunch of chicken tenders and curly fries because the Freshman Fifteen is REAL, people. Thiago bought himself a wrap and we sat down to discuss and divulge our respective lives for the last time.
Like I said, nostalgia is my thing.
Thiago still doesn't exactly know what he is going to do this summer, between going home for a little and potentially finding work at a summer camp here. He still plans on chasing his dream of being a professional photographer and name dropped his company a few times to me. He has enjoyed his year here, and really, that's no surprise because who couldn't. We essentially live in paradise. 
We discussed our favorite aspects of TCU's campus. Thiago is a fan of the classic Frog Fountain. Obviously I am too, but I couldn't just agree. I described to him my favorite scenery at this beautiful school.
Well... it's a bit of a hike. You start at the bottom, and ascend. Let me be more specific. My new favorite view here is On Top of the World. 
by the world, I mean the stadium.
You have to walk around the inside and marvel at the feats of architecture that went into constructing our mega-stadium, and then ascend the unending stairs at the optimal location. You then have to run up the frozen escalator, and wind around the ramps until you find yourself at the peak. The highest possible point of the establishment, which, as STUFO tours would like me to remind you, is still not as tall as Robert Carr Chapel, but I digress. I would recommend going to this specific spot at 8:14 this week, right as the sun sets in the West. Right before and right after the sun is gone, if you glance to the East you can see the expanse of TCU's beautiful yellow brick illuminated in a purple haze. Beyond that is the captivating skyline of downtown Fort Worth, which reminds you that you're not completely in a bubble. It's the most breathtaking sight, and I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. It puts your place in this world into perspective 
I digress. I think I convinced Thiago that it would be a prime spot for some picture taking, at least that was my goal. I'm a sucker for skylines and sunsets, and this view encompasses them both.
Thiago promised me he would try it out, if he could make it to the top. The stairs seemed a bit daunting to him. I believe in him, though. Not only in this aspect, but in his life. He has a good heart, and big dreams. He'll go far.
We finished up our respective meals and shook hands before parting ways for the last time.
As I walked away from 1873 with a full stomach and full heart, I reflected on this semester.
I was given the opportunity to befriend someone from a completely different background, culture, language, and country. I have never been given this chance before, and I loved it. I was tested in small-talk at the beginning, but then I learned to appreciate Thiago for everything he is. His soft smily transcended all cultural boundaries, and a kind hearted laugh sounds the same in every language. I really enjoyed this aspect of the class, and it will be an experience that I will look back on fondly.
So, thanks Dr. W, and thanks Thiago, for never failing to show up, even though I doubted you at the beginning.




The End. 

Adios.

Blogging is a Habit

Attention Y'all:
It's FINALS week.
You know what that means. Charge up your phone, computer, iPod, iPad, Mac, PC, Tablet, Gameboy, PSP, or absolutely ANYTHING that can provide ANY sort of distraction for ANYONE.
It's crunch time. Now is the time to be completely updated on everyone's lives, or at least what they post through their social media outlets. Read up on those tweets you usually overlook. Stalk someone new on Facebook. Explore every single one of your pictures in every single Instagram filter. When you're done with that, start on over, because the beauty of Finals week is that everyone is doing the exact same thing as you!
Some, okay, most people dread this week. The hours spent in hunched over a table full of books, computers, coffees, and notecards are considered to be awful. Who would enjoy being locked up and cramming information from an entire semester into one caffeine filled study session?
Uh....me.
Wait, what? Did I just admit to liking finals? 
A little bit.
The camaraderie shared by the entire TCU population to buckle down, plug in their headphones, and rock out to their favorite classical Pandora station GETS me. I love it. We're united in our desire to further our higher education, to glean new knowledge, and make a 4.0 to secure that cumulative GPA we've always wanted. We're united in our stress, our fatigue, our lack of hygiene, and our community of crammers. 
I love it.
Maybe that's because I'm what you consider a walking study break, (refer to my earlier blogs to see the shenanigans I pull in Club Lib)  but I love the bonding of the last week of school. Also, everyone starts to be really nostalgic, and Throwback Thursday is on POINT. Don't get me wrong, I definitely am not about this "summer" thing, where we all have to travel back to our respective hometowns and leave each other for 2-3 months, but I love the buildup. Where everyone cherishes every last minute they have together, whether it is spent spread out in a random building's classroom studying, or sprawled out at the Bluu, or especially if it's spent dipping, then finally submerging one's ankles into Frog Fountain. 
It's these minutes that I live for, and that only come about during the last week of school. 
So, finals, I want to thank you.
First and foremost for being especially kind to me this year by only giving me one cumulative one, but more importantly for bringing together everyone I love at this school under the bond of horrific examinations and horrendous studying. Thank you for making us take a moment to realize the last moments we have together, and thank you for existing, because without you, I wouldn't have this beautiful opportunity to procrastinate my Stats studying to blog this post.
So, over 'n' out, I'm headed back to the Grind.


Wait, is that a new tweet?

The Tale of the Broken Rib

So, I was worried that Thiago and I had run out of topics for our meeting today, but boy was I in for a treat. I started off the meeting by arriving late (payback) at 1873, and opened with a classic overview of the weather patterns that Texas was experiencing. We shared a few sentences about that, before Thiago whipped out his iPhone to show me the weather for the weekend, which shocked me because tomorrow was a high of 18!
Celsius, Sarah, Celsius.
Anyway, after that, Thiago congratulated me on my recent SGA win, and we briefly discussed what that entailed. I told him basically what I do is take complaints and try to fix them, so if he had any, lay them on me! Thiago and I share the basic philosophy that we don't enjoy complaining, so that conversation ended quickly.
I don't know how exactly we got started on rugby talk, but let me tell you I'm glad we did. Thiago played rugby for a few years, up until some injuries prevented him from continuing. I probed in and asked the specificity of his pain, and was I in for a treat!
"Don't judge me...." he started off his story. When those are the first words, you know you're in for a treat. He proceeded to tell me the tale of his broken ribs.
(Don't mind my creative writing mind embellishing a few details)
It was a dark and stormy late afternoon in San Paolo, Brazil. Our hero, Thiago, laced up his shoes and popped in his mouth guard, the only protection allowed in this hellish sport. He wiped his brow and strutted out of the locker room onto the field - his oyster, his battleground. Around him was his team of burly young men, anxious for an opportunity to express themselves in the only way then knew - rugby.
Who dare challenge these men?
Who dare place themselves up to the task?
"No man can beat us!" Was the team's battle cry, which, after this match, turned to an ironic Macbeth-esque flaw.
Suddenly, the other team appeared out of the mist.
20 burly, brawny, muscular, and terrifying players appeared... all harboring two X chromosomes.
Yeah. You read that right. The women's rugby team.
Never one to disrespect an opponent, the teams got to playing. It was soon seen that the women were in a league of their own, much stronger and faster than anyone could have imagined.
Our hero, sensing an opportunity to bring back glory to his team, ran toward the woman with the ball, and tackled her full on. Her weight and the ball came crushing down entirely onto our hero's right ribcage with an intensity that only a female rugby player can bring. Our hero, though in immense pain, did not cry out. In fact, he didn't stop playing. In fact, he rode home on the bus after the game. In fact, he went about his daily routine for the next two days. In fact, he went to a party the next night, and only after realizing that he was unable to laugh did he finally consider maybe a visit to the physician. In good spirits, he went to the doctor and was given a crushing blow to his ribs and ego- broken ribs. That meant no more rugby for him.
The end.
Thiago's version was a little less detailed, but I figured he deserved a real story.
After delving deeper into his past rugby life, I found out that he is really just "terrible" (his words, not mine) at sports. He injured his ankle in a game of volleyball about a year ago, and it still gives him some trouble to this day. Sports. Not his thing. Fair enough.
What IS his thing, though, is photography, as I said last time. He was generous enough to provide me with some business cards, which was super kind of him.
I told him I'd review his work and get back to him for our next and last meeting, where we will actually eat lunch together. We're both super psyched about it.
So, even though I'm getting ready to say bye to Thiago, with these cards I can always say Hello to Motta! (bad jokes on me tonight, everyone!)

Mr. Thiago Photo

Good news! My lack of preparation today actually paid off!
How so might you ask? Well, I scheduled another meeting with Thiago, finally, and did not use my months absence to create any sort of questions, themes, topics, or anything.
I was going in more unprepared than a native French speaker into the AP Spanish exam, but hey, I was going to do it live, and I did.
I comfortably slid into the warm and inviting booth at my favorite cafe and sports grill, 1873, and posted up to wait. Always fashionably late, Thiago jauntily strode in 17 minutes later, after braving the cold winds from outside. I waved, he waved, it was like nothing had changed, which it hadn't. I immediately dove in, searching my brain for bits and pieces of our previous conversations to draw upon. 
Darts.
What? yeah. Darts. Thiago went to Pittsburgh for a dart-throwing convention last month to help out one of his friends. There are such things as dart-throwing conventions. 
Bullseye, my friends!
So, Thiago spoke to me about his time spent there, and casually mentioned his interest in photography, of which I had previously been unaware. 
I jumped onto that topic and threw myself in. 
We discussed the nuances of film photogaphy, and the time and talent it takes to attempt to capture life on a slip of film. I don't know if you're well-versed in the art of photography, but it's pretty flashy.
Ok that was a terrible pun. Anyway,
Think about life pre-digital, and especially pre-iPhone. I have conveniently blocked out all memories of my life before Apple, and it's for that reason that I don't recall anything before the Christmas of 2011. How would you know if your picture turned out? How would you know if your sorority pose was perfectly thrown? How would you know if your hand wasn't awkwardly placed in an unflattering way?
YOU WOULDN'T.
Not until you took the effort to go through the process of developing your film, which, in my high school photo class, took days.
I "shutter" at the thought(!)
^not apologizing for that one, it's genius.
Anyway, Thiago and I continued to pour our feelings about photography out, and then he let it slip that he had a Facebook page dedicated to his art. I whipped it open in a "flash" (another one, check!!!) and pulled up his most recent pictures from the aforementioned dart convention. After looking through them, I can definitely say that Mr. Franca has an eye for the art. His use of depth and lighting really made his pictures stand out from just those of what the iPhone can take, or anything else. I praised his work and complimented him profusely. I was impressed!
I'm very passionate about photography, and I''m glad I was able to rekindle my obsession.
After that, we simply discussed plans for the future, summer, and everything in between. We're both very "in-the-moment" people, as in we don't exactly know what we'll be doing next, but I know for the both of us, it will be great.
We scheduled our last two meetings and said our goodbyes before he walked out the door into the frigid cold wintery April air, that I am currently procrastinating in 1873 to try to avoid.
All good things must come to an end, though, both this semester, and with this warmth. 
And I think something's burning in here.
Over n' Out!

Where in the World is Thiago Franca?

Good question.

We haven't met in a month.

It's okay though, we're working through it, and to quote Mr. Conversation Partner himself,

"One day we will be at the same place at same time"

One can only hope.

Until next time, when I hope I will have more to report.

Over 'n Out.

Too Much Wit for Just One Quote

This was probably the most difficult assignment that I've had to do for this class. 

How on EARTH am I supposed to pick ONE Mark Twain quote? That's like trying to pick out one gigantic diamond for your picture perfect wedding ring when you're swimming in a pool full of gems of equal weight and size, just different enough in tiny ways to be appreciated on different levels, both initially when one first views it, and then later, after given thought you see it in a completely new light, sending different sparkles outward into your world... 
whoops, got carried away.
Anyway, it's impossible to pick one. 
I could go with the classic Twain-ism, a simple one-liner that is easy to read, easy to remember, and easy to smile at his easy genius. For example

"A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read."

Classic Mark Twain, the man who himself composed at least 2 of the most widely read "classics" of the past few generations. Typical.

Or perhaps, a satirical comment on society itself, that leaves more than just a smile on the readers face, but a thought placed in their head. Example: 

"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society."

Obvious cognitive shift. We were expecting a more literary second half of the quote that delved into how commodities and materials govern our lives and our status, but then he throws you for a loop and gives you the physical opposite. What a clown.

Mark Twain is also so well known and loved because of his personality.I can see him as being the "Juha of the USA," by the way that he is filled with quips of wisdom combined with bouts of hilarity and exaggerations, all rolled together with a one of a kind disposition. For example,

"I have been complimented myself a great many times, and they always embarrass me- I always feel they have not said enough"

His obvious ego is satirical and sarcastic, but it adds to the idea of his Juha-jokester persona. Also, cognitive shift and misdirection. How great.

Mark Twain was also a genius. He understood the world enough to make fun of it, like in my next example.

"where was the use, originally, in rushing this whole globe through in six days? it is likely that if more time had been taken, in the first place, the world would have been made right, and this ceaseless improving and repairing would not be necessary now."

What a timeless reflection on the state of the world that can be applied to any generation. That's why Mark Twain is such a classic- because he's such a classic. Redundant? Maybe. Repetitive? Possibly. But it's true- his quotes are ageless and always applicable. He's a fantastic humorist in the way that he can make his readers twist and turn their interpretations of his words to fit whatever state in which they find themselves. He makes smarter readers, which is a gift indeed. He rocks.

He also would be a really good teacher's assistant in this class, based on this quote about humor and how to properly tell a story: 

"To string incongruities and absurdities together in a wandering and sometimes purposeless way, and seem innocently unaware that they are absurdities, is the basis of the American art, if my position is correct. Another feature is the slurring of the point. I third is the dropping of a studied remark apparently without knowing it, as if one were thinking aloud. The fourth and the last is the pause."

Even Mr. Twain refers to the beautiful cognitive shift. Then it MUST be legit, right? 
Right.

I could take one person, living or dead, out to dinner, I would pick Mark Twain, and we would discuss just how greatly the reports of his death were exaggerated back then, and how accurate they were the second time around.