I totally met Tom Cruise

While strolling down Newbury Street with my cousin on a beautiful day in Boston, I happen to notice a small cluster of people on a corner. The curious person that I am, I obviously have to see what all the fuss is about, so I walk toward the crowd, and as I come closer and closer, a man in a white tshirt and jeans catches my eye. He looks uncannily like Tom cruise...but that would be too cool to be true. Well, shockingly it WAS Tom Cruise. Okay, I'm the first one to admit he's had his share of off-beat moments in his career, but come on, it's THE Jerry Maguire, the "Show me the money" man, one of the Few Good Men, Ethan Hunt himself...right in front of me.

A lot of people think that celebrities are no big deal. "They're just people," is often a comment that's said. But when you actually think about how much they've accomplished, who they know, what movies they've been in, it's a pretty cool experience to meet one. Anyone would be flat-out lying if they said they wouldn't want to meet a celebrity.

By some miraculous act of God I had my camera easily accessible. We hurriedly walked up right behind him and I waited for my moment with the big man, well, let's face it he's not that big, but at that moment his 5`7 stature seemed feet taller. Then a magical thing happened. We made eye contact. I can addmittedly say that this sounds completely 12 year-oldish, but come on...TOM CRUISE. I amazed myself by how calm and collected I appeared to be and said, "Tom, can I take a picture with you?" and in his Tom Cruise voice replied, "yeah sure, hang on one sec!" .....AHHH! So about a minute went by while these other obnoxious girls were leaping in the way, and finally it was our turn. I did a myspace pic, praying that it would magically have us both in focus which you all know, is a 50/50 shot. I was shocked by how smoothly this whole celebrity sighting experience was going because the picture was a success, but Tom (yes, I'm on a first name basis) asked, "did that come out okay?!" and I replied "Yeah!" but he insisted that we take another one anyway. My cousin handed me her camera and I handed it to Tom (Erika, never clean that camera, Tom Cruise had his hands on it), as he asked another girl to take one for us. Like, how much cooler could this be?

As we finished our photoshoot I came out with the most classic fan statement ever: "Thanks, Tom, I'm a huge fan, you're awesome!" Okay, I managed to keep my cool the whole time, and then I turn into Superfan. But hey, it IS Tom Cruise.

As we walked through the crowd which now seemed to grow immensely since we entered it, it instantly hit me what just happened and repeatedly, in what i'm sure was a sreechy, obnoxious voice, said "oh my God, oh my God, I JUST MET TOM CRUISE!!!!!!!!" The people waiting their turn seemed to enjoy my uncoolness as we continued our walk down the street.

This was definitely an experience for the books, and ladies, he really is that cute in person.

Rush Limbaugh: Can't Stand him!

If you had to paint a picture of a person who is the epitome of a racist, a sexist, and an overall jerk, Rush Limbaugh would be the finished product.

My political views couldn't be more opposing to Limbaugh's, but that's not even why I don't like him. There is a huuuggge difference between someone who is conservative, and someone who tries their absolute best to clash with the opposing side. To have an opinion about something, and to feel passionate about that opinion, is admirable. But when it reaches the point of erupting with rage and acting as though no one else's opinion even matters, it becomes just absurd, and that is what Rush does on a daily basis. I listen to his show from time to time, because I feel that everyone, especially aspiring journalists, should hear the other side of an argument. Remaining ignorant on the opposing views of an issue doesn't make one any smarter, but being educated on every angle is key to understanding how the world works.

Limbaugh never, EVER, allows someone to call in that would dare challenge his views. That's why, if you listen to him, you'll hear at the beginning of every phone call, "Rush, I admire you," or "Rush I just want to say that you are amazing," or "good thing we have you on the air to inform us on all this stuff." Well, it's too bad that there really are people dumb enough to believe the things he's feeding to his listeners. The fact that he never allows callers that disagree with him says a lot about his character, and how little he can defend his views. He can say anything he wants, go on for hours filling peoples' minds with lies upon lies, but has no real backing to anything he's saying. And he'll continue to babble on because there isn't a way for someone to interject. If anyone were to call and argue with him, how could he possibly stand tall in a conversation with an intellectual? That's precisely why he shies away from this situation; he knows he'll end up sounding even more ridiculous than he already does!

Now that there is a President in office with a high approval rating, he's struggling to find a way to make Obama look bad. In fact, he's giving off the vibe that he doesn't really care if the country fails, as long as Obama goes down with it. He has recently reached an all time low, poking fun at American troops because they support the withdrawal from Iraq, calling them "phony soldiers."

I don't know about you, but it looks to me like Limbaugh is getting so desperate to keep his ideals intact that he is making himself look bad, even to Limbaugh lovers. It's a hard thing to do, but I think he's managing to pull it off regardless. He used to look to the troops as a defense for supporting the war, but now that there are Iraq war veterans speaking out in support of the withdrawal, he's losing his audience. What will he do now?

Yes, I've fallen into the reality TV trap

Okay, one thing i'm not so proud of...loving reality TV. But come on, anyone who has watched a good episode of The Hills or Survivor in their prime would definitely admit they're addicting. But one show that has consistently been on my tv schedule is the Bachelor, or most recently, Bachelorette. Pathetic, I know, but the concept is pretty funny and entertaining. Just imagine being in this girl's shoes; having 30 guys fighting to spend time with you and hoping to put a ring on your finger at the end of the game...sounds like every girls' dream to me. I would imagine that it takes a lot of the anxiety out of dating, knowing that they're going to be into you no matter what. But I think that the funniest part of the show is watching these guys in the reverse situation. Usually women try to get the guys attention, they think way to much about guys' reactions and plan out every text message, phone call, and im with their friends. In this show, all of this still happens, but now it's the guys trying to win the girl over. It's fun stuff to watch!

I already have my pick for the winner, but I'm still going to watch it all the way through. I mean this guy has it all: Looks, charm, intelligence, success...and he flies planes. Enough said. I'm putting it in writing now so I can say I told you so later. Jake's the winner.

Oh, and my interests do run much deeper than reality TV, but the timeliness of the topic forced me to blog about it :)
Okay, gotta go get my dose of the Bachelorette....i'll give the details later.

New to this....

So this is my first personal blogging venture, and I think i'll get used to this fast. I've always loved the concept of blogging, but never got around to actually creating one. Being a journalism major, having an opinion on just about everything comes with the territory. So instead of keeping it all inside or babbling endlessly to my friends and family, I made the big move to blogging. I don't have a specific plan as to what I'm going to be posting about, but I'm sure I won't have a problem coming up with topics along the way. But if I had to look into the future and give a vague picture, I would say my topics are going to cover everything from the most heated politics to the best shoes, and probably won't stop there. I'm also looking forward to reading and commenting on other people's blogs, because there's only so much we can learn from the news media and social norms, but personal experience and opinion is a whole different insight and one that can be most informative in the long run. So here goes!