The fine line between procrastinating and enriching oneself (Dani)

Hi everyone! Today was our extremely successful Open Mic in QRT and I want to congratulate all of the amazing writers and performers! The works were incredible and your talent is undeniable. 

And with that, one minute wasted.

Like most all students, the worst thing standing in my own way to academic success is myself. I have a great love of the Internet. Sorry, college, it's not very unique and valuable of me.

The key is to trick yourself into thinking you're actually bettering yourself and indirectly improving your academic performance while you sit online and allow your computer to suck out all your time and strain your eyes. It's an art, really. (Like self-deprecation.)

How I Spend All My Time:
A list of suggestions that are more like warnings because you will become an addict and always be behind on work

1. Use Lumosity.com! Whether or not you have seen its ads, you probably do not know that with the unlimited free trial (which is endless membership, just restricted), you can play 3 games a day and improve your memory. In this day and age, who plays Raindrops and actually studies mental math? Who works on mental "flexibility"? I get so much satisfaction from watching the little brain graph go up and tell me I'm getting so much smarter over time. Since Lumosity.com overhauled its graphics, all the games look beautiful and are fun. My favorite is the penguin race one, but I'm bad at it.
2. Tumblr.com because...the feels. (The feels="a wave of emotions that sometimes cannot be adequately explained." -urbandictionary.com) Look at photos of fashion, animals, the earth. Be deep (while actually laughing to death or being shallow and crying in jealousy over others' perfection). It's better than Netflix. (Maybe.)
3. Find an online PDF of a John Green book and go to town. This weekend I read Will Grayson, Will Grayson, which is co-authored by the great David Levithan (actually not just saying that, I have one of his books and as you can see, I don't just often buy books). Here's my favorite line: the mom is watching Pride and Prejudice and the son the 2nd Will (there are two Will Graysons) says "mom's maxiseries hasn't come yet to its austen sh*tty limits." And I had an epiphany because I just thought it was a great pun. "AND YOU TOO MIGHT BE SO LUCKY!" (–TFIOS) as to experience a literary mental explosion like that one.
4. Figure out what your favorite books, shows, and songs and movies are. It is a perfect and unbelievable drain of time because even just favorite songs is impossible. I go back and listen to all my favorite music and judge it based on content and whether it can be stomached on repeat. Do this and you've had fun and tried to define yourself, right? For giggles, I would like to share my favorite lines of all time. Maybe it can be a found poem. I don't know why they are all about sun or the stars.

"You look like a thousand suns, I wanna be the only one" –Neon Trees, "Your Surrender"

"Whatever happened to Amelia Earhart? Who holds the stars up in the sky? Is true love just once in a lifetime? Did the captain of the Titanic cry?" –New Radicals, "Someday We'll Know"

"I was there when the rain tapped her way down your face/You were a miracle, I was just holding your space" –Gregory Alan Isakov, "Big Black Car"

"The stars are blazing like rebel diamonds cut out of the sun/Can you read my mind?" –The Killers, "Read My Mind"

"Remember seeking moons' rebirth, rains made mirrors of the earth, the sun was just yellow energy" –Gavin DeGraw, "Chariot"

"The winds of change are blowing wild and free/You ain't seen nothing like me yet" –Bob Dylan, "Make You Feel My Love"

"I want a sunburn/Just to know that I'm alive" –Thriving Ivory, "Angels On the Moon"

"I wish I could do better by you cause that's what you deserve" –City and Colour, "The Girl"

"Let the rain fall/I don't care/I'm yours, and suddenly you're mine, suddenly you're mine/And it's brighter than sunshine" –Aqualung, "Brighter than Sunshine"

"We're burning down the highway skyline/On the back of a hurricane that started turning when you were young" –The Killers, "When You Were Young"

"Please don't try so hard to say goodbye" –Maroon 5, "She Will Be Loved"

"Another sun-soaked season fades away/You have stolen my heart" –Dashboard Confessional, "Stolen"

"And the decades disappear/Like sinking ships, but we persevere" –The Killers, "Dustland Fairytale"

"When I'm losing my control, the city spins around/You're the only one who knows you slow it down" –The Fray, "Look After You"

"Between who you are and who you could be/between how it is and how it should be" –Switchfoot, "Dare You to Move"

"There's no words to describe it/In French or in English/Cause diamonds, they fade/And flowers, they bloom/And I'm telling you/These feelings don't go away" –Citizen Cope, "Sideways"

There you go. Four hours well spent! P.S. Submit to Tapestry! It's the bomb-dot-edu.

-Dani Burton