Week 1: Introspection

Top Left: Normal Gabe... | Top Right: "Sports Gabe"... | Bottom Left: Gangsta Gabe... | Bottom Right: A small sliver of my shoe collection

I successfully survived my first week back. My class schedule, now that I have begun my major, is quite rigorous so it's a good thing I like what I'm studying. This week has also been filled with reunions between tons of friends, dancing, movies, decorating rooms and apartments, ice cream runs, ultimate frisbee, basketball, and clubbing. Yes, I Gabe have been clubbing. I've wanted to go since I was a wee freshman here at school at the age of 18 but alas, I had no one who shared a desire to go. Four years later I found those who share this desire and we made it happen last night. It was a BLAST! Everything I had wanted and much more! Four hours of dancing to the hippity-hop beats of rockin' tunes in sweet outfits (it was neon night therefore everyone was decked out in bright colors, body paint, and/or white clothes to glow in the black lights). I should also mention that I love to dance. I love swing, hip hop, tap, jazz, ballroom, and breakdance, to name the big ones. Last night fed my desire to learn to breakdance so that will be my goal this year. I want to learn because I think it's just the coolest thing ever.

And on a tangent I go....

I was pondering about myself the other day and how I appear to others. What do people think of me when they initially meet me and then how does that change the more they get to know me? I'm a very diverse person. Diverse in that I like LOTS of things. Overall I aspire to be an elegant, classy, and respected woman like Jackie O, Audrey Hepburn and the like. Feminine with strenghth of character I guess would be the best way to describe it. However, I refuse to let people think that because I am girl I am fragile and vulnerable. Don't get me wrong, I'm human and therefore OF COURSE I am fragile and vulnerable; we all are! But just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I am. I'm a dare devil. I like to try new things, the more adrenaline the better. Anyways, my point is I'm also a bit of a tomboy. I grew up with 2 younger brothers and a preference for hanging out with my boys cousins over my girl cousins [at the age of 7, how my hair looked and what cute boys were around weren't really a priority; tag, tackling, sports, and anything competive were definite priorities]. I try to be a tough guy, er, girl. I guess I'm a bit of a feminist in that I strive to be as independent as I can. I fail of course because, I believe, it's human nature to be dependent on others. I have scars that I'm proud of. It shows I've lived a little. Plus the stories are awesome. I like classical music, smooth jazz, instrumental jazz, classic jazz (the Rat Pack and Michael Bublé will always be my absolute favorites), country, and then you'll find a portion of my iTunes library dedicated to hip-hop, R&B, rap, and pop. Each genre serves a different purpose and is for a different mood. It fits me. AND I like sports. I keep up with sports semi-religiously (Red Sox first, the top contenders who might beat my boys in the World Series, the Cetics and almost all basketball teams because I LOVE basketball, and then the Patriots and the top football contenders---in that order). I prefer action-packed, adrenaline-pumping movies over chick flicks, but I do love chick flicks. So you see, I'm very diverse. I think I do the girl thing pretty well. I like high heels and getting all "dolled" up but I also like sports, getting dirty, and hanging with the guys. I prefer guys to girls actually. I know I'm not alone in all of this but with the new semester and all the newness around me, I've already discovered a lot about myself:
1. I've underestimated my maturity.
2. I've underestimated my confidence. I'm a fairly confident person but NOT cocky. Trust me, I'm humbled pretty darn easily.
3. I respect myself.
4. I've got some things to improve upon...who doesn't?
5. I'm happy with who I am. Take it or leave it.

:)