Slanted Rays

Hello! In just a week, I will be embarking on my flight to Paris. My excitement is tempered by the chilling dread that comes with unknown experiences. I feel like I won't fully be "ready for study abroad" until I get there. Since I am currently staying away from social media, I have been using NPR's Up First and the NPR Politics Podcast to keep up with what is happening in the world. Friday was such a wild day in the news. Like, first of all, Roger Stone was indicted in the Russia investigation. Roger Stone is one of the strangest and most intriguing figures in politics today. If you haven't heard of Roger Stone, I highly recommend watching the Netflix documentary Get Me Roger Stone . The film discusses his biography and his role in the rise of Donald Trump. Roger Stone worked for the Nixon campaign and was involved in the Watergate scandal. (He even has a tattoo of Nixon on his back!) He also worked for Ronald Reagan's presidential campaign. Roger Ston

Hello! I just watched the most recent episode of Riverdale ( Season 3, Episode 11 ), and I'm writing this blog post in the hopes that I will be able to stop thinking about Riverdale and get to work. Riverdale is one of those shows that I think is objectively pretty bad, but that I just can't stop watching. In a thoughtful, well-written show like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend or The Good Place, the writers and showrunners seem to have a clear idea of where the show is headed. With Riverdale, I feel like the writers had a clear idea of what they wanted to do with Season 1, and they have been flying by the seat of their pants ever since. Also, like, the characters are not well-developed. I have seen every possible combination of the main characters being shipped together, which is probably because none of the characters are given enough meaningful character details for us to feel deeply invested in their existing relationships through the source material alone. *** Riverdale Spoilers

Hello, friends! I hope that life has been treating you well. I lowkey made a new friend today? Like, I was lurking in the planner section of Michaels (as you do), and this girl was like "How is it that all the things to organize your life just make my brain more chaotic?". I helped her to pick out a planner, we got to talking, and wound up spending a couple hours together. Now we're friends, which is absolutely wild. In other news, this past week has been a nightmare as far as sleep is concerned. I have struggled to make myself sleep when I want to, and I have tended towards oversleeping when I can sleep. Also, my brain is apparently populated with anxiety nightmares that emerge when I ultimately get to sleep. Still, I've had some quality time with both myself and my friends this week. I think that lack of sleep amplifies the highs and lows of my life. When things are going well, Sleep Deprived Lydia is like "This is fantastic! I've never felt this good

Hello! A few years ago, I started a new blog. I wanted to mature from the content I had written at 15, and write about Serious Topics. And then...I didn't really do anything with it. However, I haven't been using social media lately, which has been great from my mental health, but has left me in need of An Outlet. So, here I am, trying again. The past week has been my first week back from break. I'm taking a four-week course on James Baldwin's literature before I leave for my study abroad in Paris. If you ask me, I'll say that I'm looking forward to study abroad, but, in reality, I am caught between being scared out of my mind and in entire disbelief that I will be going on study abroad at all. To cope, I have filled my spare time with films and television. I spent winter break binge-watching Brooklyn 99. My only previous exposure to Andy Samberg was watching The Lonely Island's  "I Just Had Sex"  video in incognito mode more times that I w