So I was sitting here painting my nails and watching the International TableTop Day livestream when suddenly it struck me that me, sitting here painting my nails and watching that stream, could be considered an oxymoron to some. Painting your nails is generally seen as something girly, and watching this stream is probably considered geeky, and to a lot of people "girly" and "geeky" contradict each other.
However, I'd like to think that I can be girly, and geeky. I think Felicia Day put it really well when she mentioned that our definition of the word geek is changing. It's becoming a cliche, and I have to agree with her when she says that a geek should not be defined solely by what they like or what their hobbies are. A geek is instead someone who doesn't care about the judgement of others - and that's why I can sit here and paint my nails and watch Geek and Sundry and not care if anyone thinks I'm a geek or a poser or whatever.
As a side-note, Sean Plott AKA Day[9] just retweeted one of my tweets (@amyleighallain!) regarding his coming in not last on TableTop and I got so excited that I just felt I had to share it with anyone willing to listen (or read about it)! :)
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
On Enjoying Life
So, as you all know from my last post, I am a fan of being busy. But I have had some time today to think things over, and I've realized, sometimes, it's important to not be busy. Now, this is a topic that I am completely conflicted over, and as an 18-year-old it's kind of hard to figure out what a fulfilling life really consists of, but I am doing my best.
It is especially hard to try to figure out what you need in life when you have nearly everyone in your life trying to pull you in a different direction and forcing you to make decisions about the rest of your life. Honestly, I'm not even the legal age to make a responsible decision about alcohol, and I'm supposed to decide what I'm going to do for the rest of my life? I'm barely even old enough to vote! The best part is, if I make the wrong decision, I'm like, 20,000 dollars in debt already. WOOHOO.
Of course, thinking about all of this sort of drives me into an existential crisis. Who cares what I do with my life? So I'll go get my university degree, I will or won't get a job, I'll have a good life or a bad life, I'll be a mother or a wife or an aunt or none of those, and eventually I will die and nothing that I have done will matter. I will not exist any more, which is a hard concept to grasp. Eventually, none of us will exist. No one will. We'll all be gone and none of these breakthroughs we've made or the things that we've done, the flying to the moon or the technological advancements or even the little things like that youtube video you posted that went viral, none of it is going to matter, it will all be gone. So who cares if I spend my time writing a blog, doing my school work, writing travel articles for a website, working at a gas station? I might as well do what makes me happy at the moment, right?
So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, I would really like to be busy. But at the same time, I would really like to relax and enjoy what I'm doing, because in the end there isn't much point in doing anything but that.
Also, as a little end note, I'd like to take a moment to say to Tara: Enjoy life especially today! Happy birthday to one of my very best friends!
It is especially hard to try to figure out what you need in life when you have nearly everyone in your life trying to pull you in a different direction and forcing you to make decisions about the rest of your life. Honestly, I'm not even the legal age to make a responsible decision about alcohol, and I'm supposed to decide what I'm going to do for the rest of my life? I'm barely even old enough to vote! The best part is, if I make the wrong decision, I'm like, 20,000 dollars in debt already. WOOHOO.
Of course, thinking about all of this sort of drives me into an existential crisis. Who cares what I do with my life? So I'll go get my university degree, I will or won't get a job, I'll have a good life or a bad life, I'll be a mother or a wife or an aunt or none of those, and eventually I will die and nothing that I have done will matter. I will not exist any more, which is a hard concept to grasp. Eventually, none of us will exist. No one will. We'll all be gone and none of these breakthroughs we've made or the things that we've done, the flying to the moon or the technological advancements or even the little things like that youtube video you posted that went viral, none of it is going to matter, it will all be gone. So who cares if I spend my time writing a blog, doing my school work, writing travel articles for a website, working at a gas station? I might as well do what makes me happy at the moment, right?
So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, I would really like to be busy. But at the same time, I would really like to relax and enjoy what I'm doing, because in the end there isn't much point in doing anything but that.
Also, as a little end note, I'd like to take a moment to say to Tara: Enjoy life especially today! Happy birthday to one of my very best friends!
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
On My Busy Life
So, as I mentioned, I am a student at university and I also work at a gas station. I decided I wasn't nearly busy enough, so now I am working an unpaid position as a writer for www.excitingworldtravels.com. I haven't published anything on there, but my first article is due Friday if anyone wants to check it out.
Now, I am far too busy for my own good, as the end of the semester is rapidly approaching. I have a million things to do for school, I have my articles, I'm trying to work as many hours as possible... And on top of all that, I have my running, my yoga, my friends and family, and my boyfriend. AND I am trying to plan my trip to the Netherlands at the same time!
Thank goodness I love being busy!
Now, I am far too busy for my own good, as the end of the semester is rapidly approaching. I have a million things to do for school, I have my articles, I'm trying to work as many hours as possible... And on top of all that, I have my running, my yoga, my friends and family, and my boyfriend. AND I am trying to plan my trip to the Netherlands at the same time!
Thank goodness I love being busy!
Friday, March 15, 2013
On Snapchat
Yeah so I got snapchat today and it is taking over my life already. I only have three or four people on there and I'm just spending far too much time on it. It is so much fun! I've just been sending ugly selfies to all my friends, and one of my old friends saw on twitter (I have twitter by the way: @amyleighallain) that I got it and he's sending me pictures now too! It's so much fun. If anyone reads this, and wants to interact with me, you can go ahead and add me on there: amyleighallain.
Yup, that post turned into shameless self-promoting awfully quickly!
Yup, that post turned into shameless self-promoting awfully quickly!
Thursday, March 14, 2013
On Time Management
So. As a full-time student and a part-time worker, I'm usually a pretty busy person. This week, I happen to be even busier than I usually am - I worked last night, tonight, and for the next three days (a lot in a row for me). I just wanted to take this opportunity to let any future college students that read this know: time management is extremely important. It's hard to find a balance between a social life and a school life, and it gets even harder when you try to throw work AND sleep in there. It isn't impossible, and by no means should you feel discouraged. But figuring out what you need to do and how to use your time effectively is pretty much essential.
On an unrelated note, happy pi day! Also, today is supposedly Hug an Engineer/Engineering Student day. So happy that, also!
On an unrelated note, happy pi day! Also, today is supposedly Hug an Engineer/Engineering Student day. So happy that, also!
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
On Running
No pain, no gain...
But if only that weren't the case! I went running on Monday for the first time in a long time. I had every intention to go out again on yesterday, until I woke up to the pain in my legs from doing something I hadn't done in so long. Yesterday, I decided I needed a new pair of running shoes because my old ones were falling apart. I made the mistake of showing my little brother when I got home, who decided we needed to immediately go for a run to try them out. I went, despite the pain in my legs.
Long story short, I woke up today barely able to function like a normal human being. Which is unfortunate, because all I want to do is go out running!
But if only that weren't the case! I went running on Monday for the first time in a long time. I had every intention to go out again on yesterday, until I woke up to the pain in my legs from doing something I hadn't done in so long. Yesterday, I decided I needed a new pair of running shoes because my old ones were falling apart. I made the mistake of showing my little brother when I got home, who decided we needed to immediately go for a run to try them out. I went, despite the pain in my legs.
Long story short, I woke up today barely able to function like a normal human being. Which is unfortunate, because all I want to do is go out running!
Monday, March 11, 2013
On Permanence (Or Lack Thereof)
Lately everything has been feeling awfully temporary to me. I am leaving for Europe in less than six months, and I'll be gone for a year, and so I think I have developed the mindset that nothing in the next year and a half is permanent... maybe nothing at all.
Along with all the excitement of leaving and going to a new country on another continent for a year, there is a certain sense of sadness that comes with too much temporary, not enough permanent. I keep thinking about holidays that I will not be spending at home, and I'll be missing both of my brothers' birthdays as well as my mother's. I'll miss my family, of course, but on the flip side, it'll be nice to be so completely on my own for a while.
And then there's my relationship. We've only been together about a month and a half (officially anyway), and we went into this knowing that I would be leaving in August. Still, it makes me sad to think that this has to end in not even half a year. I'm going to miss him a lot, and it sucks to know that this is temporary, but I guess all I can do - all we can do - is make the best of it while I'm here. The least we can do is make some good memories (I hate the idea of being forgotten).
Don't get me wrong, I am so, so excited to study abroad and live an entirely different life while I'm gone. It will be so much fun to learn another language and another way of life. But I'm also kind of excited to get back so things can start feeling permanent again.
Along with all the excitement of leaving and going to a new country on another continent for a year, there is a certain sense of sadness that comes with too much temporary, not enough permanent. I keep thinking about holidays that I will not be spending at home, and I'll be missing both of my brothers' birthdays as well as my mother's. I'll miss my family, of course, but on the flip side, it'll be nice to be so completely on my own for a while.
And then there's my relationship. We've only been together about a month and a half (officially anyway), and we went into this knowing that I would be leaving in August. Still, it makes me sad to think that this has to end in not even half a year. I'm going to miss him a lot, and it sucks to know that this is temporary, but I guess all I can do - all we can do - is make the best of it while I'm here. The least we can do is make some good memories (I hate the idea of being forgotten).
Don't get me wrong, I am so, so excited to study abroad and live an entirely different life while I'm gone. It will be so much fun to learn another language and another way of life. But I'm also kind of excited to get back so things can start feeling permanent again.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
On My Name
As you probably know (I mean, you are here, right?), the title of this blog is Go Loving By. It has occurred to me that if anyone ever actually reads this blog, this might be considered a kind of weird name, so I thought I would explain it now.
One of my favorite poets of all time is Robert Frost (original, I know) and he has a poem called Carpe Diem. The poem starts out: "Age saw two quiet children/ Go loving by at twilight" and as you may have guessed the phrase "go loving by" really stuck out to me. Not necessarily because that happens to be what the quiet children happened to be doing, but rather because I feel these are good life instructions. Go loving by. Don't stop, don't get tangled up in anything. Don't hate or resent or hold grudges. Go loving by.
So that is why the name of my blog is Go Loving By. As a side note, I highly recommend the poem and the poet.
Carpe Diem: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20520
One of my favorite poets of all time is Robert Frost (original, I know) and he has a poem called Carpe Diem. The poem starts out: "Age saw two quiet children/ Go loving by at twilight" and as you may have guessed the phrase "go loving by" really stuck out to me. Not necessarily because that happens to be what the quiet children happened to be doing, but rather because I feel these are good life instructions. Go loving by. Don't stop, don't get tangled up in anything. Don't hate or resent or hold grudges. Go loving by.
So that is why the name of my blog is Go Loving By. As a side note, I highly recommend the poem and the poet.
Carpe Diem: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20520
On Amy-Leigh Allain
Hello, world.
I am Amy-Leigh. I am a fan of the impossible and afraid of the unknown. I suppose I am here because I have something important to say - I'm just not sure what it is yet.
I would love to tell you all about myself, but the problem there lies in that I don't really know myself well enough to have anything to say.
I can tell you that I am 18 years old, that I am Canadian, that I have a family and friends and a loving boyfriend. I am a sister, a daughter, and hope never to be a mother. I am a student, a gas station attendant, a cashier.
Honestly though, I am made up of little bits and pieces and shards of every person I have ever met, some more than others, and I haven't the slightest clue how to be myself without being everyone else.
Regardless, that's a little bit about me. Whoever I am.
I am Amy-Leigh. I am a fan of the impossible and afraid of the unknown. I suppose I am here because I have something important to say - I'm just not sure what it is yet.
I would love to tell you all about myself, but the problem there lies in that I don't really know myself well enough to have anything to say.
I can tell you that I am 18 years old, that I am Canadian, that I have a family and friends and a loving boyfriend. I am a sister, a daughter, and hope never to be a mother. I am a student, a gas station attendant, a cashier.
Honestly though, I am made up of little bits and pieces and shards of every person I have ever met, some more than others, and I haven't the slightest clue how to be myself without being everyone else.
Regardless, that's a little bit about me. Whoever I am.
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