Stack the States

What’s up with me? I’ve officially collected all 50 states in “Stack the States.” On to “Stack the countries!”

It’s been a few days since this aforementioned achievement. While I initially faced this self-imposed challenge with blind optimism, I was soon forced to confront the inevitable truth: I had gotten bored and, as a result, essentially given up.

The face of pure shock

Really, I think it had something to do with the sheer amount of countries in the world. While that’s a fact that usually doesn’t get to me, in this context, all I could think about was the overwhelmingly large amount of rounds of geography Tetris I would require to collect all the countries I needed. I could only do it so many times before giving up, and this dreaded tipping point announced its arrival as celebratory stars filled my screen; I had just finished my third continent. I quickly added Oceania to my small but mighty arsenal of North and South America, seeing all the smiling territories look up at me as if to say, “I’m proud of you, Violet.” (I know it’s wrong: I still usually wind up calling Oceania Australia instead. What are you gonna do?).

Still, all hope is not lost. I did gain something from this past week’s adventures. Now, I can place all fifty states on the map in under two minutes. (While this may not seem like a big achievement to you, I assure you, it took a lot of practice and almost a couple of tears shed from frustration) (Hey, they never said I wasn’t persistent).

Related but not (In the slightest)

Question for the masses: I was thinking about this on my walk home the other day. I’m not sure if it’s just a coincidence, but I’ve assumed the fact that we drive on the right side of the street and pass on the left is connected to the tendency to keep to the right of the sidewalk when walking.

With this logic, do British people walk on the left side since they drive the opposite way? Or is it a fully separate thing? (Also, I wonder why the switch of the driver's side occurred. Did someone just say, fuck it, I want to be unique?)

Also: I was thinking about how fun it would be to have a highlight reel when you die, especially all the stuff you don’t remember. This got me wondering.. what else? After reading the book Homegoing for my English class, I was thinking about family history. On top of the highlight reel for your own life, imagine having a highlight reel of your family’s?? Cause honestly, I feel like it would be so sick to have a little preview of what it was like to live a day in the life as my great-grandmother. What did she even do?

Speaking of the brain: my last burning question of the night. (TVD inspired) Since vampires live thousands of years, do their brains just continue “expanding” and learning new information? Or do they stagnate, only allowing them to hold so much after a certain point? If so, I wonder how much you can cram in there. If you were to plot the “brain size,” I wonder what it would look like. Is it an exponential function? What’s the derivative?

Westmount Walks

There's been some very exciting stuff in the mix these past few days.

First off - I’m officially a voter. 💅 And … for free too. Didn’t even have to spring for stamps, thanks to Celeste.

I guess you can’t say official voter yet - nothing has been mailed, but still.

Too bad I threw away the “I voted” sticker they gave me - it would have presented another opportunity to tell people who couldn’t give less of a shit that I gave in my say on who should be in the senate.

Now, on to more important things.

Well, actually, side note: I’ve spent many a minute recently staring at this wall while waiting for someone to let me into McConnell, and I’ve yet to figure out what anything on it does. (Except for the small ID card reader on the left). (And the phone) (really it's just the green screen that I'm curious about).

Another side note: I’ve been working on my accents (very intently). After a stint of trying my best at Canadian, I’ve moved onto bigger and better things. (Massachusetts).

How have I been practicing? Watching Wayne. And, I read a whole entire wiki how article on it. Good news is, in December I can take my skills for a walk in the real world, exploring the depths of Boston, and talking to my grandparents.

See, I already have a grasp of the lingo - clicker, blinker, packie. I also have a grasp of the cultural influences (Martha Stewart and the Red Sox), but the former might be more centric to my grandma.

Back to the original point:

On Monday, Celeste Lola and I made the trek to Westmount. I had never seen so many Porsches in so little time.

Again, much like Saturday, we passed many a questionable choice in landscaping, but mostly the houses were pretty (albeit massive).

I will say though, this did not come without exception.

This house, for instance:

While I didn’t get a picture of the overall architecture, I remembered to take one of the front porch, which makes a girl think; it's funny that the most frightening part of their Halloween decor is the fact that they keep up those stone face planters year round.

Speaking of frightening decor, I felt a wave of unease wash over me when passing this house. Who, in their right mind, would buy this many pumpkins?  And why? I would usually ask how much it cost, but I’m gonna make a wild guess and say I assume it wasn’t really an issue.

It contrasted well with this house a block later. Really says something about the world. Deep stuff.

To end it off on the topic of saying a lot about the world, I thought this boulder in the Adams building told such a vivid story. So complex and nuanced!!

-Violet

A Bone To Pick: Hardy Mums

I've recently been reminiscing about the elevator; it's been almost a week. (Four days to go).

We had some good times, us two.

Another thing: I HATE fall landscaping. Hardy mums??? So ugly. The cabbage plants that are popping up left and right?? Hideous.

What I don't understand is who sees these plants at the store and decides, "Wow. Those need to be added to my garden!"

Other than being nothing short of unpleasant to look at, they don't mesh well with each other. What happened to a cohesive narrative?

It looks like each seperate sphere of flowers is fighting for your attention, trying to win the competition of which jarring group of "fall" colors draws your eye the most quickly.

Don't even get me started on the cabbage. Why? Is the question that first pops into my head. I'd honestly rather see the dead plants of the summer than be assaulted with this every time I go outside.

In Better News

Also spotted: this innovative patch. Don't knock it 'til you try it, as they say. They even matched the new plank with the old stairs' paint color. Baller!

Ohhhh!! And, Celeste brought me cinnamon gum all the way from the great state of New York, so my hopes and dreams have been refufilled. Feeling blessed 🙏.

Last but not least - I finally talked to the porter so my light is gonna be fixed in like a week. Kiiiiiilling it.

-Violet