I'm feeling inspired.

I'm inspired by music. dance. theatre. art. photography. fashion. history. literature. the human condition. friendship. love. color. activism. passion. feminism.

If you've been in my room, you know that my wall is plastered with pictures of women. Many people walk in to my room and say: "Wow, you really like girls, don't you?"




And okay... you got me. I do really like girls. However, the women on my wall aren't just ANY women. As you might be able to see in this fuzzy picture provided by my iPod touch, my wall features inspiring women, Lea Michele (Broadway Star and most recently famed actress on the hit TV show Glee), Zooey Deschanel, Amy Adams, Lauren Graham to name a few.

Whenever I partake in the somewhat cliched albeit extremely entertaining "Top 5 Celebrities You Could Fuck Without Consequence" game, my list is full to the brim of women many people wouldn't even recognize, but that's because it is their specific talents or passions that make them positively irresistible to me.

The List:
1. Lea Michele. Duh.
Her voice could convince me to do absolutely anything.


















2. Jeanine Mason: Winner So You Think You Can Dance Season 5.
Her 'If It Kills Me' turned me in to one of those people that cries watching dance on TV.














3. Kristin Chenoweth
If you don't know why, you don't know me at all.























4. Mariska Hargitay
Yes, she's one badass cop...but did you know that she also started the Joyful Heart Foundation?























5. Ingrid Michaelson
She made "nerd chic" sexy. Her voice is consuming. And, most attractive of all, she's one of the most clever people I've ever come across.





















Look through my ipod and you'll see a smorgasbord of showtunes that never fail to get me in the mood to do some cheesy stage choreography and smile, compounded with hundreds of songs by female artists like Ingrid Michaelson, Sara Bareilles, Kate Nash, and Lily Allen that inspire me to think pretty thoughts, something I love to do. And alright, of course there's a ton of Jason Mraz, Jack Johnson and admittedly some Hanson, N*Sync & Backstreet... but that's neither here nor there.

My point is that I make certain some kind of inspiration slaps me in the face as often as possible, I think most intelligent people do. There's a whole market for inspirational posters to put in classrooms, dentist office waiting rooms and community centers, all intended to force a little inspiration in to the daily lives of the general dentist-going population.

So it only makes sense that the people in our lives should be at least as inspiring as the posters on our walls. And I think that is one of the greatest accomplishments of my senior year and even my college career as a whole: I have officially surrounded myself with some of the most fascinating, interesting, talented, passionate and hilarious people I've ever met.

Isn't it interesting to compare your group of friends in your hometown to the ones you made in college? The friends I prided myself on being "TWINS" with in my hometown are nothing like the person I've become, and vice versa. It's true that there are a few who've stuck around. The rare few who have the mindset to accept and celebrate our differences as reasons to learn from each other, and continued to grow in our friendship just as we have continued to grow in ourselves.

And... Here comes the over-sharing that only makes sense in the blogosphere:

My first love was comfortable. Exciting because it was my first love, but we were a practical match from the start. My first love and I had common interests and similar beliefs. My first love crashed and burned, as most first loves do.

Granted... I like to think that most first loves don't end in the torturous way mine did, soaked in deceit, disrespect and a pathetically extended recovery time on my part...but that is, again, neither her nor there.

Which brings me to now, to my present.

Five months ago, I found myself falling again, opening up to someone new. A rather odd, unexpected pairing, I am aware. But it happened and I couldn't stop it, which is how I knew it was right.

And I've been more challenged, inspired and excited in the last 5 months than ever before. We're different people, very different people. But that's the basis of what makes us work. You're athletic, a sports buff. One time you threw me a football and it hit me square in the nose. There's not a Broadway Classic to which I don't know all the words (and probably the names of every OBC cast member) and you've never even walked down 42nd street (though I plan to change that...) Though we're both feminists (I don't know if I could date someone who wasn't...), we have different views on philosophy and theology. And that's okay. That's more than okay. It's TITILLATING.

[Yeah, I was really just looking for a reason to use the word "titillating".]

I'm learning from you all the time. You're challenging me every day. I'm learning to understand you, breaking out of old habits. And you're giving it all back to me in laughter, fun and, most of all, respect.



And yeah, I said that Dillon style & snapped my fingers.