What does it mean to be 21?

Well,
In the states it means being able to legally drink at a bar.. Well I've been able to do that since 19 living here in Canada.. so no news there

And according to my Parents, "Apparently" at 21 I am "supposed" to be "responsible" and use the wisdom of my years to make good choices, stand firm on opinions I should have already formed on topics relating to religion, politics, society etc. as well as pass judgements not only on myself as a person but also on my life and my choices in it.

Funny how I've been doing that since my late teen years but no one ever really took notice of it until now..

21 means not being able to get out of or escape making mistakes, bad choices, or anything else damning or condemning..

It means I am supposed to kill the child within me and then live out my life as a tired, over-worked, depressed, cheated member of the adult world

21 means saying good bye to childhood/teen dreams and kissing the life you wanted for yourself good bye

it means going out and getting a job, getting your drivers licence ( if you haven't already done so) and working towards a career going no where so you can pay off debts that are now staring at you blankly with hands reaching..

Considering I am not much of a drinker, my initial ideas of how to be properly celebrating being 21 Do Not include grabbing a bunch of loud rowdy drinking buddies and going to Buffalo to drink in a bar in the States...

My idea of 21 doesn't involve me purchasing, leasing or in any way shape or form owning my first vehicle or apartment, or being the assistant manager of a clothing store or other commercial establishment either.

It doesn't bring up any desire to one day have made memories to look back on and keep the hope alive of being "forever 21" and enjoying the year of my life living recklessly, stupidly or immorally all "because I can"...

I'd have to say that at 21, I am now quite content to live in this world continuing to take one day at a time and enjoy each moment before it passes me by.. 

If my biggest goal is to walk with my head up and one foot going in front of the other than I think 21 will suit me just fine.

It seems to me that at 21 the biggest thing anyone can hope to achieve is the very tiring very demanding deeply humbling but completely gratifying accomplishment of working towards Finding Yourself.

So, all I intend to do from now on til the end of my days is spend every moment of every hour of every day of my life hunting for who I am and who I want to be... with all the bruises, scrapes, bumps, trips, slips and falls that come with it.

it is 10:21am and I am honoured that this post is the first thing I have written today, my twenty-first birthday.

Now I've got to  go write a large cumbersome essay for "spectacular bodies" which I will post in all its horrific-ness once it is finished.

XOXO
Cristina-age 21

Hallowee'en replayed!

 SO I got an e-mail about costume labeling and I have posted here a picture of the group from hallowe'en night with each person assigned a number and explanations will correspond to each person.

So if you're interested in meeting the crazy characters I interact with daily/weekly and their costume choices/ie alter egos... keep reading down

1-Cousin Erica dressed as a spider mistress/sorceress 2- cousin Vicky dressed as an 80's flash dance girl, 3- Me dressed as a rose vampire, 4- my friend E dressed as Rorschach from the watchmen, 5-"aunty mary" as a she-devil, 6- my sister T as the Corpse Bride, 7- cousin Daniel dressed as golden mask ghoul, 8- sisters fiancee pedro as a Private Eye, 9- brother M dressed as himself I.E Death, 10- sister S dressed as a dead punk-rocker 

1- cousin E again as spider lady, 2- cousin V again as flash dancer, 3-cousin Dan again as golden masked ghoul, 4- cousin C as the Ace of Spade card, 5- Grandma the housecoat witch, 6- Cousin Nessa as a dead nerd, 7- sister T Corpse Bride, 8- brother m as (blending in with darkness) Death

As Above: 1-friend E as Rorschach, sister S=punk, 3-cousin dan the golden ghoul, 4- pedro the private eye, 5- me the vamp, 6- T the corpse Bride, 7- Bro as Death

Hope that clears it up, sorry for the repeats and if I missed you in my pics (of my readers who were present that night) I apologize.  Wish you all could have been there it really was spooktacular! muhahahaha!

XoXo
Cristina

All Hallows Eve

So here are the long awaited pictures of my Hallowe'en fun!

I spent it with family and friends who are like extended family and we had a spooky ole' time, everyone in costume lined up on a dark driveway that is on the side of a house next to a parking lot..  It was a lot of fun, and even though we didn't have very many children come to receive free candy this year everyone enjoyed dressing up and wandering about..

Four Spooky Cousins

Grandma and(some of) her little ghouls

My Sister as The Corpse Bride

Sibling Devilry

The Vamp and the Spider Queen on a Date with Death

Cugini Love: Punk/Rocker and the Golden Ghoul

The Lady is a Vamp!

Death meets Rorschach (a Watchmen)

Family&Friends Having a Frightfully Good Time!

The Corpse Bride And Her Brother Death

Forever Engaged, only a Corpse Bride!

SO I did a lot of make-up Hallowe'en night but the best person I worked on my the above picture, my sister whom I make to look as the Corpse Bride! Now it isn't exactly the Tim Burton Corpse Bride but its the closest I could come to the real thing... and I made her entire costume!

         Well, to be honest with you, I cheated a little...
We went to a local thrift store called Talize and purchased a wedding dress for $7.99 and the blue material I used for her veil I had purchased a few years back for $5 a yard at discount fabric on Ottawa Street.  The Blue on the lace and the at the bottom of the dress was done with blue sparkle hairspray which i purchased at $2.50 a can and I used 4 cans...and I just cut up  so altogether I spent about $22.99 on a totally fantastic costume that my sister loved and everyone else that saw her loved as well!!!    Please scroll back up through the pictures to see the full view of the dress. and Let me know what you think about it!

So we enjoyed ourselves, we laughed, we danced, we sang, cheered, and did our annual traditional "Hocus Pocus" witches walk arm in arm down the drive way Capes and Skirts billowing in the wind! It was a night of splendor, wonder, fantasy, magic and horror and we loved every minute of it!  Even Granny got in on the fun (see the second image from the top) and it was awesome!!!...

We had all sorts of costumes, scary and other from the Ace of Spades, and 80's chicks, Nerds and Private Eye's,Punk Rockers and Watchmen, Vampires, Witches, Devils, Ghouls and Corpse Brides!  It was definitely a night worth remember and I'm happy you can all be privy to it thanks to the magic of technology!  

So there you have it, enjoy the look into one of my everyday moments...and please keep reading and leave me your commentary!

I'm off to do some writing now for NaNoWriMo now.. Until Tomorrow

XOXO
Cristina 

Some Catching Up To Do...

So I know I haven't posted in 15 days but I intend on making up for it this week...

For those of you who took the time to read through my Spectacular Bodies essay about  the Lady Gaga/Lady Liberty image, I can imagine you are all dying to know the grade I received!  Well, although it was a last day done type of assignment I was able to pull a wonderful grade of B!!! I'm pleased with it and terrified of the  next essay(s) that I will be writing this month.. If any are good, I will post them....so once again to those who read a giant THANKS!!

Now I had intended to post about thanksgiving and that didn't happen... and I wanted to post about Hallowe'en and that didn't happen.. YET!

Stay tuned folks as later this evening I will be submitting a post, with pictures, of the festivities so you all get to see what I dressed up as along with the costumes of my friends and family.

Right now I am sitting in the humanities library on campus as I am waiting for my night class which will begin at 7pm.  I started my day at 9:30am and sadly it will not end until 10pm but I intend to use this break between classes to get work through an assignment so that I won't have to work on it when I get home and therefore will be free to post about Hallowe'en.

!!Calling All Writers!! 

 Did You Know???
-Did you know that you could write a novel  in One Month?
-did you know that there is a writing  contest that takes place online? and its participants can get the chance to have their written work read and known by people around the world have little, no or much consequence to the literary world?
-Did you know that you could spend your entire November writing a novel?
-Did you know that there is something called Literary Abandonment and that it is sweeping the writing nation?
-Did you know that all of this is taking place in your own backyard and in surrounding yards in Canada, the US and various European countries???
-The contest is called NANOWRIMO which stands for National Novel Writing Month and you can sign up on the website listed here:

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

Some Inside Info:
      The contest is for anyone ages 13 and up, and it involves you giving up all excess time (and work/school/gaming/family/eating/sleeping etc time) to writing 50 000 words in ONE Month! Thats Right! From November 1st to November30th your sole task is to complete a 50 000 word novel.  You pick a genre, choose your title, can upload a book cover and then you just write!  and the best thing is, you are not allowed to edit your work until the final submission!  Seriously, imagine just writing without editing end? Awesome! 

Through the website you set up a profile, have the chance to meet and chat with other writers in your section as well as in your genre, and you keep track of and update your word count as you input the sections of your novel that you get written. 

I know 50 000 words seems like A LOT.. well that's because it is!   It averages to about 2000 something words that need to be written per day!  It is a monumental task which -to no surprise for some of you- I am undertaking as of yesterday! 

I know you are probably questioning my sanity and reasoning abilities and thinking "Why the Heck is a university student going to be trying to do a silly contest that isn't for credit! Especially during the semester's busiest month!!"

Well I haven't lost my sanity (not that I had much to being with hehe) but I have been attempting to complete this contest since November of 2008.. and to date have only ever reached 25000 words.   This year is going to be different.  I Intend of making the 50 000 word goal and I hope you will all be keeping up with me as I document my journey.  I am thinking about posting parts of my novel, or at least a synopsis and that some or most of you out there will read it.

So now I am going to return to my assignment so I can get it finished ASAP and then I am going to grab dinner before night class... am feeling like chicken teriyaki .. mmmmmm

Keep reading, I promise to keep up with my blog better this month as I know I really slacked off in October and some of you ( Ange&Faffles mostly) were saddened by it...

Cheers to university assignments in critical reading and interpretation!

XOXO
Cristina