swim play dance and dress up

as i sit here on the third of december listening to christmas music on repeat, i cannot help but ask myself where the month of november went ! i knew it would be a busy one as i had planned trips to scotland and spain and brittany was coming over from copenhagen to dublin for thanksgiving. but i must say time here has flown by in the blink of an eye. if my lack of blogging is any indication of the fun i am having, then i certainly had a wonderful november =) first of all, on halloween morning, some friends and i decided to go swimming in the atlantic ! now, it clearly was not as cold as it has been recently (it hailed last weekend !!) and i must say it definitely woke us up... I used to think lake tahoe was cold !

pre- and post- atlantic swim in dublin bay

that night, after a failed attempt to be pebbles flintstone for halloween, my friend kate and i decided to be farmers together. the costume basically consisted of a plaid shirt, our hunter boots, and pigtails. because the city is such a hassle to get to and everything would have been incredibly expensive to get into, we decided to have our own halloween party in blackrock. a little different than our usual halloween in irvine or san francisco, but an eventful one to say the least !

two farmers and audrey hepburn... naturally

the weekends following halloween are kind of a blur now, but for a little recap here are some photos::

laura, eilis, kate and myself needed a bathroom stop one night in the city... and decided to take a photo?! ha strange i know, but i thought it was cute

after we watched new zealand beat wales in rugby one night, the pub set up for irish dancing !

and then ben got chosen to join in !

one morning on my run, i ran into liam o'kelley, an older irish man who had dropped his mitten and asked me to pick it up for him. after thinking i was irish (mission: complete ! ) we continued to talk for two hours ! his stories were fantastic: full of adventure, drama, and gossip about all of the characters that come down to the beach where i was running. he introduced me to his friends (one man was 84, and the lady was 92 ! ) who come down to the beach, rain or shine, to swim in the atlantic ! i told them that i had taken a dip a few days earlier, and they were convinced that they were going to get me to swim with them that day as well ! granted, it probably dropped at least 10 degrees as i was running in fleece and mittens and was still freezing. so no atlantic swim for me that day, but i so enjoyed meeting them as they all said that their morning swim keeps them all alive. it was so wonderful speaking with them and hearing about all of their crazy adventures in ireland and elsewhere =)

what a random bunch of photos and adventures i had from november, but of course i wouldn't trade any of it ! i have met some amazing people that have made my time here in ireland that much more wonderful.

as i welcome december (and finals...), i cannot help but be so excited to welcome my family to ireland as well in a matter of weeks ! so anxious to see my parents and my brothers and show them around the city that i have called my home for more than three months now.

well check back soon for new adventures from edinburgh, scotland and madrid, spain !

a journey is best measured in friends

rather than miles

[tim cahill]

galway: neon green hills, local music, and torrential rainstorms

i just got back from quite an exhausting weekend in galway on the west coast of ireland. i will spare you some of the dramatic details, but if you want to know more just ask mom because she knows it all ha. in any case, i made my way across the country by train with seven other students from my halls. i absolutely love traveling by train, especially through irish countryside as you pass by thatched roofed houses scattered among the endless hills that seem to look almost neon green. we made it to galway mid afternoon on saturday and explored the town on the harbor after one of many many hot chocolates at a local pub. we found that the historical sites of the town lacked a little umph as the 'town castle' was now an AIB bank branch, and the spanish arch was just a stone arch about eight feet tall. however, galway is pretty much how you picture a quaint irish town to be with a beautiful harbor filled with what they call the 'galway hookers' (the traditional sailing boat, also the name of their beer). as we were exploring the harbor we got caught in the most intense wind and rain storm I have ever been in! the hurricane-like winds almost blew us away (as seen below by my friend kate and her now demolished umbrella). we were so drenched and windblown that the only thing we could do was laugh our way all the way back to the pub to dry off, and maybe have another hot chocolate =) we stayed inside the rest of the afternoon and evening playing cards, writing postcards and making frozen pizzas to avoid the rainstorm outside. not to mention massive amounts of kit kats on sale that became a significant staple throughout our trip (wow... chocolate became its own food group in galway, huh?!). we ventured off that evening to meet up with basically the other half of our hall at an apartment they had rented that evening. it was pretty fun, although it felt basically like we were back home: same characters, just a different setting.the next day was our bus tour to the cliffs of moher and other sites around county galway and county clare. the tour was awful actually: our tour guide could not have been more uninteresting, monotone, and annoying. we stopped at very touristy sites that were hardly worth stopping at. some of the stops were actually quite cool, but we would only get to run off the bus for five minutes to take photos.

but once we made it to the cliffs, the long bus ride and the obnoxious tour guide was definitely worth it. have you ever been somewhere so remarkable that it made you feel so infinite and yet so small at the same time?! these cliffs are what people come to the west coast of ireland for, and for good reason. the sheer cliffs are absolutely terrifying especially when you are past the 'no trespassing sign' that everyone seems to ignore. but of course my camera battery runs out right as we are exploring the cliffs. luckily i managed to take a photo before it died. though i don't have visual evidence of the cliffs themselves, i assure you any photos that are taken at the cliffs of moher hardly do them any justice at all.that night after an incredibly long and exhausting day, most of the group headed back home which left julia and me still in galway. my friend jake came up from a small town south of galway and we spent the evening at the crane bar. we went to the top floor of this pub to find a local band playing for the small crowd upstairs while random locals would go up to the band and sing beautiful irish songs. it was the perfect way to spend our last night in galway. the next morning, julia left for the aran islands off the coast of ireland... and then there was one. luckily jake had come up for the night and we spent the morning eating delicious breakfast crepes, walking along the oceans edge, and visiting the massive galway cathedral. the four hour bus ride home was hardly a burden as i was just thrilled to be on my way back home. what an eventful weekend to say the least, but all in all i definitely enjoyed my time on the west coast and i am so looking forward to showing my family around when they come to visit! until next time...

copenhagen: living in a fairy tale

from the moment brittany picked me up from the copenhagen airport with a danish in hand welcoming me to denmark's capital city, i felt like i was walking around in a storybook. it was the perfect time to escape the wet weekend in dublin and spend it roaming around a new city and exploring all that it has to offer with one of my best friends. the city itself is perhaps the most sophisticated I have been to ! from the people to the fashion to the architecture, copenhagen screams elegance and style.

but more than that, i felt as though a story began to unfold with every visitor that chose to explore its cobblestone streets and famous ny haven harbor. for me, copenhagen was the setting of the perfect fairy tale; even as we were exploring the streets there were violinists and carolers serenading us as we passed by. there was something about the beautiful people, the polished architecture and the charming shops and cafes that made the city almost surreal.

first day was spent roaming the city like tourists... although, besides the language barrier, brittany might as well have been a local ! it was so great to have her guiding me around the harbor, the shopping streets and all of the places that she loves to go.

we spent the evening catching up, eating too much nutella and gummy bears, watching jim and pam's wedding on the office (cried throughout the whole thing..) and just enjoyed being in the company of a best friend. oh and lots and lots of laughs... obviously =)

the next day was packed with sightseeing, adorable cafes, and of course an evening at the happiest place in copenhagen: tivoli ! in the morning, we visited king's garden and the round tower which gave us a perfect view of the entire city of copenhagen.

after a boat tour of the harbor, we stumbled upon a medieval market in which these men welcomed us back to the 14th century ! They offered us fertility baskets and love potions... it definitely made for some good laughs ha.

we had a delicious lunch at perfectly hip kind of underground cafe and then shopped through the afternoon. we went to la glace, the sweetest and most delicate bakery with the best hot chocolate money can buy (well... we did spend about 12 dollars each for a cup...). The whole time i was telling brittany how much my mom would have loved it here at la glace. everyplace we walked, every cafe we entered solidified how perfectly adorable life in a fairy tale really was.

we spent the evening at tivoli, basically the danish version of disneyland but even cuter ! there were billions of pumpkins everywhere for halloween.. it was like living in tim burtons halloween town from the nightmare before christmas ! so perfect... the whole time i couldn't help but think how much pat (and any other disney lover) needed to come and visit tivoli.. it is too adorable to miss in one's lifetime.

oh ! and they were giving away free samples of this 'cider' that we wanted to try.. after tasting it, brittany and i both cringed.. she responded, 'why does this cider taste like medicine?!?' we found it it was globb (sp?!) basically free samples of alcohol and the amusement park.. no wonder they were only offering it to the adults ! hmmmm the europeans...

in the morning, we went to the laundromat cafe and had the second best breakfast of my entire life (behind firesign of course.. right dad?!) and walked around the local park before i had to leave back to dublin.

the parks that are scattered throughout copenhagen were absolutely perfect: the reds and oranges and yellows of the falling leaves are what make autumn the most beautiful season of the year.

i must say i absolutely loved copenhagen: i loved the size of the city and that it was not overwhelming or overpopulated, i loved the wonderful shops and cafes, i LOVED the danishes (best things i have ever had...) i loved how the little babies and children would be dressed in puffy onesies that looked like marshmallows, i loved how everyone spoke incredible english but only after they greeted you in danish, i loved how i got to go to elisa's homeland (oh how i miss the darner family.. this photo was taken in honor of you! basically because she was blond and christmas-y ha) i loved how perfect and efficient everything in the city was, and i loved how fashionable everyone dressed. but more than anything, i LOVED spending the weekend with brittany.. it was just amazing ! so i was sad to leave the wonderful storybook land that was copenhagen and, of course, to leave brittany. but we will be reunited for thanksgiving in dublin =) so until next time, brittany ! lots and lots of love to all !

life itself is the most wonderful fairytale of all

[hans christian andersen]

kilkenny: lets never come here again

it has taken me almost a week to recover from the strange and crazy adventure i had in kilkenny, ireland. though we were only there for twenty five hours total, it was packed full with disgusting hostels, strange encounters with the locals, and plenty of laughs to follow us all the way back to dublin. kilkenny is about two hours southeast of dublin city and lonely planet described the city as 'a dream'. a little less than a dream, we thought, but it did provide us with many a story that only those that went can really understand. we really had no idea what we were getting into..

we had to pack eleven students, yes eleven, into a hostel room that was probably only meant to house six people. the room was a mess ( i will spare you the details..) and some of us even ended up sleeping on couch cushions. we then ventured to the town to find some pub food because by the time we finished negotiating a better price for the room, our stomachs were empty. we got ripped off again by our waiter who charged us way more than we ordered (much like the hostel). at this point, we are all a little fed up and extremely confused about this town that was seemingly trying to steal from us ha.

kilkenny castle is beautiful from the outside and stands on a hill overlooking the small city itself. but the 13th century castle was filled inside with a modern art exhibit displaying photos and movies of new york and london. not exactly what we were looking for inside a medieval castle: beautiful on the outside, unexpectedly strange on the inside. after that, we returned to our less than sanitary hostel to play some games and laugh about everything that we had just witnessed. we spent the evening roaming the small town and ended up at kyteler's inn, the mideval tavern that was established in 1324. the pub was originally owned by a witch, which explains the halloween witch hat that randomly found a place on everyones head throughout the night.

all in all, i think everyone had a pretty great time in kilkenny. would i go back?! we decided that our experience in kilkenny could, and should, never be replicated again. the countryside was beautiful and when you have eleven students traveling around, you are definitely due for some crazy adventures. this post definitely does not paint a completely accurate picture of how interesting our experience really was in kilkenny.. but, you kinda had to be there..

this may be the most underrated city in europe

so i am clearly not the most efficient blogger as i can barely find the time to fill you in on all of the wonderful adventures that i am having here in ireland. i will do a quick recap as i am heading off to grafton street with my friend kate to plan our next weekend vacation to kilkenny, ireland. before i left the us, everyone wondered why i would want to live in rainy dublin rather than places like london, barcelona, or rome (sorry dad..). now i have yet to travel to all of the major cities in europe, but i must say i have been in awe of this city since i have arrived some three weeks ago. and i hope through my inadequate photos and imperfect words you can perhaps see how lovely this city really is.

so in the past two weeks...

• i traveled to bray, a coastal town just south of dublin. the beach was made of all rocks, the water was frigid, and the sun set behind the classic green irish hills.

• i found the perfect irish pub, o'neill's, in the city centre. when the band found out we were american, they invited two of my friends onstage as we all sang along to 'american pie'. probably the best ten minutes ive had in ireland thus far.
• tried whiskey at the jameson whiskey factory (never again.. gross)
• i watched the boys of our hall beat botswana in a pick up game of soccer at ucdublin
• i began my semester as the awkward international kid in a class full of irish students. i have also had to catch up on hundreds of years of irish history on my own. i have a list after every class of events, dates, and organizations that i must look up because i have little idea of what the teacher is speaking about.
• i lost an earring sadly. lost my voice unfortunately. and lost myself in the music on the streets of dublin.

it is safe to say that i am thoroughly enjoying myself in the city and taking advantage of what dublin has to offer. but next weekend? its a weekend excursion to the countryside ! Slainte !

international escapades

i find it difficult tonight to recap all that has happened to me since moving into my dorm in blackrock, dublin some nine days ago. the semester has yet to begin and i feel as though i have lived a lifetime in a matter of a week ! i am back in the dorms at UCDublin filled with students from all over the world: germany, france, italy, australia, spain, new zealand, whales, denmark, and of course the us. i have so enjoyed getting to know each and every one of them as we all add a little something to the melting pot of our halls. we have shopped grafton street and wandered st. steven's green, spent lots of time in pubs, on public transit, and exploring our seaside suburb as well as the city center itself. We danced to old nineties music in 'the wicked wolf' (a pub down from our halls), spoke with many local irish people and we even decided to go down to the ocean for a night swim (and no, i did not go in). so far, so great here in dublin

classes started this week and i must say i feel much like a freshman again (or a 'fresher' as they call them here). UCDublin is a huge school of about 20,000 students or more, so naturally i am very lost and quite confused i must say ha. it is nice, though, to be on a campus of so many students and to see so many familiar faces from blackrock. it is such an interesting perspective, being an international student among mostly irish classmates. my classes seem really great already; i am taking twentieth century history, irish folklore, feminism in ireland, intellectual history, and myths and legends. random, thoughtful, and they should be a lot of fun !

i hope all is well back home.. i apologize for the lack of photos, blogger is not letting me upload any at the moment. but i will post them as soon as i can. cheers !

first days in dublin

so i have only been here for a day and a half and it is safe to say that i have loved every minute of exploration and relaxation here in dublin. perhaps it is the excitement of a new city or the ability to do as i choose, but i could definitely get used to this! I have wandered around the different neighborhoods of the city center numerous times already, and because the city is so compact, it is easy to walk everywhere. it reminds me a lot of london (of course with it's own charm) but even more accessible because of it's size. every street and every alleyway is exactly how i pictured dublin: shops, cafes, and pubs everywhere you turn. the weather is super sporadic too, it has rained on me eight times today alone and no one seems to care.. they don't even put up their hoods!

i was on full tourist mode today as i took a quick city tour this morning and gerry, the tour guide, even offered to tour my family around when they come for the holidays! i then went on a tour of trinity college and saw the book of kells. the library was my absolute favorite part of the

university. as you walk into this amazing two floored library filled from floor to ceiling, it feels as if you have entered the 17th century.

i also walked through st. steven's green which is the main urban park here and toured Christ Church Cathedral (photo). the people i have met here are super friendly and will strike up a conversation with you anytime anywhere. its nice, being on my own and having people actually acknowledge that i exist ha. some kid even gave me a high five as i was walking along!

one more day of sightseeing and then it's off to UCDublin. but being a tourist these past few days has made me even more excited to spend the next four months here. until next time!

ireland is where strange tales begin

and happy endings are possible

[charles haughey]

well it's about time...

to my family, friends, and anyone who cares to read this terribly overdue blog entry,

i know i have been a horrible blogger lately (notice the date of the last post...) but now i definitely have something to write about! in just a few hours, i will be on my way to dublin, ireland.. the setting of my most exciting (and lengthiest) adventure yet. i have no idea what the coming semester will bring, so i will just have to wait and see what life throws at me this time. i sure hope you will be a part of it too! i will try to blog as much as possible, and will keep you updated on my life overseas and my upcoming travels (i.e. a much anticipated trip to visit brittany in denmark-- see 'even better links' on the right hand side). as i leave the comforts of home tomorrow, i hope to find a little bit more of myself in the new and exciting and unpredictable days that lie ahead of me. wish me luck !

lots of love

amanda

so goodbye for a while, i'm off to explore

every boundary and every door

[missy higgins]

back to japan.. sort of

clearly, it has been quite a while since i have last shared my thoughts with these pages er this web window i guess.  much has happened since my trip to the southeast and the far east and im sad to say i do not have enough time nor web space to fill you in completely. ill do my best to give you the cliff notes version..

my summer in irvine was much needed, to say the least.  there is something about being 'home' that makes so much sense to me and i think after such a life changing trip it was important to adjust

back to the familiar.  but in reality, i was hardly in irvine for very much of the summer at all.  i enjoyed the 110 degree heat with the allen family at lake mead, nevada, i line danced with the entire kemp family in vail(see photo), colorado and 

i got to hike the switzerland-like mountains of lake tahoe. (by pass the switzerland reference please.. definitely a story for a later blog entry..)

it is easy to say that last summer was the best summer of my life, thus far anyways.  its amazing to see how each place you travel to,that each new adventure that you experience makes you not only appreciate what you have but makes you yearn for the familiar. its incredible the way the mind of a young girl works..  meeting new challenges every day and then finding that what you most desire, or what makes you feel most at home, is, in fact, what you knew all along.  i think many people know this fact to be true, and find it slightly elementary that i am just now figuring this out.  perhaps i really am growing up huh?

in any case, i am back in san francisco and loving (almost) every minute of it.  school is stressful for me, as always, and i am taking so many psych classes that i fear i will

 in fact go crazy.  but other than that i have been loving the idea of living in my apartment in the city and actually being one step closer to 'real life living.' a few weekends ago, my roommate and i made our way down to golden gate park to the japanese tea gardens (see photo).  it felt so great to experience this after having been to japan and how tranquil and peaceful the elements of that country and culture really are.  and i know this is strange, and i do realize that i was not even in japan, but i couldn't believe how much it really did feel like i was back.  the serene atmosphere, the beautiful japanese temple like structures, and even the day of overcast weather.. i might has well have been back in japan.  i don't really know what to make of this actually.. i guess perhaps asia is more familiar to me after all..

things do not change;

we change.

[henry david thoreau]

lost in translation

i have been back from my asian adventure for more than two weeks now, and i am still struggling to find the words to sum up an experience that was simply indescribable.  for those of you who do not know, i spent two weeks traveling in bangkok and the northern hills of thailand studying social justice issues with a group of students from the university of san francisco.  after my program ended, pat came over and we traveled to phuket, thailand and then spent another week touring tokyo,japan.  to try and explain to you my month in asia would not only be impossible, but there aren't enough words in the english language to even be probable. but i guess i will give it a shot anyway.  here it goes...

amazingly heartbreaking  completely empowering  absolutely gorgeous  thoroughly humbling  constantly thrilling   obviously emotional  truly intense  unbelievably friendly  sadly hopeless  clearly enjoyable  instantly wonderful  always new  strangely familiar  extremely luxurious  incredibly life-changing  continuously terrifying  endlessly eye-opening and  simply incredible.

i realize these adjectives are probably vague, contradictory and in desperate need of an explanation.  but until i can find a way to take you all with me, these loose translations will simply have to do.  

there is nothing like returning to a place

that remains unchanged to find the ways

in which you yourself have altered

[nelson mandela]

grateful for (ten things)

the top ten things i was grateful as told to my friend cristina for her book-binding project.  she put together a two edition book entitled, "grateful for (ten things)" and compiled the lists of people she has encountered in her life.  here it is...

1. the only solid and crazy constant in my life: my family

2. my three best friends: they are the people who know me, appreciate me, and love me exactly as i am

3. the possibility of peace and positive change within our world

4. laughter: truly the only thing that keeps me grounded and enjoying life day by day

5. my past: the good memories, the bad times, and everything in between that shaped the person that i am today

6. the uncertainty of the future and the endless possibilities that i am so fortunate to have

7. my journal(s) and the therapeutic effect that it has on my sanity

8. traveling and the chance to experience and expose myself to nations, cultures, and people so different than myself

9. every smile that i come across on a day to day basis: it is the easiest and most sincere way to connect with others

10. this school and the opportunity to get a second chance at something that i value so deeply: my education

april twenty sixth two thousand six

in honor of my grandpa's passing two years ago, each of us found a unique way to connect to him and his everlasting presence in our lives. i decided to do what i love doing the most: thinking, writing, and reflecting. here is an excerpt of the extremely rough and incomplete letter i began writing to him.

dear gramps,

well... it has been two years now since you've left us. i'm not really sure why you had to go, but i guess you were part of a bigger plan than all of us could imagine. i can't tell you that 'i know you are in a better place' because i am being selfish- and i don't see how you not being here makes any sense at all. i guess i don't really have a choice, though, huh? so i've decided to fill you in on everything since we've left off. i think the hardest part is not writing to you, but realizing that i won't get a letter back. i think that is alright though... maybe it's more poetic and beautiful this way... leaving life open-ended an

d free for all possibilities. in any case... here i go...

[insert two years of the unpredictability and uncertainty of life here]

after a graduation, a new school, a trip to britain, years of making new friends and keeping old ones, a family lawsuit, annual tahoe trips, and a few years without you here, i think i am ready for whatever life decides to throws at me. i miss you, gramps, and i truly wish you were here to watch me live it and help me along the way. life is not the same without you, but i am trying to make you proud. in your famous words, i will constantly strive to be a leader and as always, i'll be keeping up the high standards.

love,

amanda

coming home

spring break came and went, and after watching many a basketball game, friends rerun, and blockbuster rental, i am back in the city by the bay.  its fun for me to go home, though i do love my life here in san francisco, there is something so pleasant about losing yourself within the comforts of the home you grew up in.  like i said, it was a week of continuous march madness games and relaxation on the couch.  however, i had the opportunity to watch 'into the wild', a fascinating movie about a young college graduate who leaves his family and the comforts of his home to live a complete natural life in the alaskan wilderness.  not only was the music, scenery, acting, and story absolutely incredible, but two weeks later i still can not seem to stop thinking about this man's story.  

*caution: spoiler for those of you who have not seen the movie coming up! this young man left all that seems comfortable to all of us, he gave away all that makes us feel secure, safe.  He wanted to find what was real, what was true behind this protected society that we live in.  he left it all to survive within the wilderness only to die of starvation.  many people i speak with about this movie explain how sad and depressing it was, but i tend to disagree.  there is something so beautiful in this man's search for the pure truth in his life and his extreme measures in finding it.  he wanted to weed away all of the things that contaminated the honesty of his existence.  sometimes i think how freeing and pure it would be to live a life as he did... no money, no career, nothing fake or forged about it.  it would be pure simplicity, pure independence, pure honesty.  

but i don't think i could do it...no.  though pure truth is what many of us, including myself, tend to search for, i do believe there is something so real and so authentic about coming home.

i'll paraphrase thoreau here: rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness... give me truth

[into the wild]

run fat boy run

when I read that they were screening a new movie at the apple store downtown entitled 'run fat boy run', a british comedy about a man who leaves his pregnant fiance at the alter, i was vaguely if not at all interested.  you see traveling to downtown san francisco consists of waiting around at the bus stop for what seems like forever, sitting on a questionably sanitary seat next to a guy who strangely talks about horseradish(true story) only to get to your destination ten minutes late exhausted wondering if it was even worth it.  But when i saw that my favorite 'friends' star, director david schwimmer (aka ross) was going to be there, i had to take that chance.  

and i am so glad that i did!  not only did i get to stand within ten feet of a guy who consistently makes me laugh through ten seasons of my favorite show, but i also got to see clips of his new movie, which looks hilarious by the way.  it was hard to look at him as anyone else but ross, the goofy paleontologist that i came to love from the show.  but he really was a serious and engaging director, though i definitely still saw a hint of ross in his smile.  coincidentally, patrick had seen matthew perry (aka chandler) at a ducks game earlier this week.  we're just covering all the cast members of 'friends' lately!  i wouldn't be surprised if we came across phoebe sometime soon...

the most wasted day of all is that during which we have not laughed

[sebastian roch nicolas chamfort]

my unfinished stories

i've wanted to start a blog for a while now, and as i sit here in my dorm room neglecting the numerous bio psychology notecards sitting next to me, i thought now is as good a time as any.  I must warn you, the contents on this page are hardly anything too noteworthy, fascinating, or spectacular so for the few people that are reading this, i thoroughly appreciate your patience and curiosity.  

I guess I just have some unfinished stories to tell.

I promise to fill this page with as many interesting stories, thoughts, and photos that make up my life as i know it today, and everyday.   i guess this is just a new way of journaling for me, but instead of those used up written pages and ballpoint pens, i am resorting to a self-created webpage with html graphics and a URL.  so here it goes... my new online blog.  wow we really are in the digital age huh?

there is no agony like bearing an untold story inside of you

[maya angelou]