Debt Ceiling Bill : How this impacts students (and screws grad students)

I'm the first to admit that I am not savvy enough to instinctively understand all this talk about debt ceilings and defaults. I'm still really proud that I can figure out how to do my own taxes.(go me!)  I also can't really fathom the "blah-blah-blah" trillions of dollars that the US is in debt for. However working in a university setting makes me acutely aware of when things affect university students.

That being said this debt deal bill royally f**ks graduate students. As part of the deal, Congress has decided to scrap the subsidized portion of the Stafford Direct loan. For those fortunate enough not to have to deal with loans, the subsidized loan means that the government will pay the interest on the loan for the duration of time that a student is enrolled in school full-time. By eliminating this benefit, when grad students enter repayment they will have on average 6% more debt to repay, which at the end of the day, amounts to thousands of extra dollars to repay.
On the upside, they are using the money that they save to continue to fund the Pell Grants for extremely high-need students but that still seems completely lopsided.

At the end of the day people will still be able to go to graduate school but they will be in crippling debt by the time they come out.

*Sigh* There ends my rant.

P.S. if you want to read more about all the ways in which financial aid has been affected click here to go to an article on Fastweb.com

The end of an era: ode to Zinnia

Today was the last day at my second job (the one that I got specifically to keep Sallie Mae from taking the shirt off my back). In the way of all endings I have mixed feelings about moving on from the job. Its a great feeling to realize that you no longer have to work 50-60 hours a week just to keep your head above water but starting a whole new chapter in life is really difficult.

I started looking for a second job roughly a year and a half ago because I just couldn't see myself paying my bills without it (Sallie Mae is a harsh taskmaster) . I also happened, incidentally, to be really depressed because in the transition from college student to real live adult, I felt like I had been left behind by all my friends. In my mind, everyone was doing something better, cooler and more awesome than me and I was just struggling. Once I got this job something totally unexpected happened. I made friends with my coworkers. Perhaps it is because I was working in a jewelry store but I became friends with some really creative, interesting (sometimes off-the-wall, in the best sense possible) people completely by accident. 

Over the year I've had so much fun, seen so many crazy people , and gotten so much great jewelry that it makes me sad to go. Oh well, they can't get rid of me that easily... I'll still be shopping there I'm sure. 

Btw a quick shout out to two Zinnia girls on the interwebs. You should check them out.

Cat at http://www.catcraig.com/

Clare at http://confessionsofablonde-clare.blogspot.com/ 

I love this!

This may be the cutest beach bag that I've seen in all my life!

H&M Beach Bag

Met Gala 2011

The Costume Institute's Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a great excuse for celebrities to get away with dressing like Lady Gaga does on a regular basis. They push wear haute couture straight off the runway and they hope that their vision of cool translates through the camera. It is perhaps my favorite fashion holiday ever! (That's right... its a fashion holiday. Just like the Globes and the Oscars and any other excuse for people to break out their designer gowns.) 


 That being said... while I respect them pushing the envelope, sometimes I don't agree with their vision. Here are my top 5 best and "worst"* dressed of the evening so far.

*Disclaimer: I reserve the rights to my opinions and really I don't think that there can be any worst-dressed people at this event. It's just too fun. :-D

FAN

Janelle Monae - I love that she wears a tuxedo everywhere she goes and I'm still intrigued by what she is wearing

Christina Ricci - fierceness personified! 

Seriously the best that I've seen her look! I love this dress!

Ashley Greene - Very pretty

Dakota Fanning - I'm not sure why I'm obsessed with this dress but I am, So there! 

Crystal Renn (ok so I had to include her because this was literally more awesome than I could take)

            

NOT A FAN

Rihanna (only because of her hair. what was up with that?!?)

Lucy Liu - tons of feathers, oh my!

Leighton Meester - somehow she just looks really awkward

Blake Lively - Makeup flawless... dress makes her look like she just threw a sheet on.

I know this is totally her style and to each her own but its just SOOO big! 

HONORABLE MENTION

Ciara - pretty

Matthew Morrison- Mr. Shue! 

Miranda Kerr

Pharell - yum!

Jessica Stam

The Birther Movement makes no sense

This whole movement to discredit President Obama has really ticked me off.  I am soo very tired of all the news articles that are focusing on this. I don't want to hear it anymore! The man has released his birth certificate, his "long form" birth certificate, had Hawaiian officials swear that they are authentic and yet there are still people in this movement that persist in believing that he was not born in the US.

C'mon people! If you dislike his politics, have some integrity and challenge his issues rather than his basic qualifications. He was sworn in as President! Don't you think that they would have checked that before they put him in the Oval Office???

Underhanded acts like this just a bad taste in everyone's mouth and make you lose allies.

That is all. Rant complete.

PUPPY CAM!

The Shiba Inu Puppy Cam is back in action! This family films their new-born puppies during the workday and they are the CUTEST!





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Summer Movies

My boyfriend (who will henceforth be referred to as Boyfriend) and I love to watch movies. One of the reason we work is because, at our core, we are just two nerds looking for someone who understands.

We watch an astonishingly large number of movies each year. Since our nerd specialties are completely different (his being video games; mine being books) we meet in the middle with the wonderful movies that have been made from both. So you may imagine that summertime might just be our mecca.

Here are some movies that we're really excited to see and their trailers. Enjoy!

1. Captain America: The first Avenger


2. Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon


3. The Hangover 2


4. X-Men: First Class


5. Green Lantern

6. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II

7. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides


8. Thor

9. Fast Five