Louisa May Alcott, The Avett Brothers, Sisters, etc.

"Then as now, thirteen is a critical age for a girl.  It is at this age, as feminist writer Carol Gilligan among others has explained, that girls begin to lose their original voices.  They are mercilessly pressured by the world around them, the impossible models provided by society, their parents' expectations, and the landslide of feelings and opinions released by their emerging, delicious, and unconscious sexuality.  Under this onslaught of expectation, many young girls are pushed away from their original childhood selves and become silent hybrids, creatures molded so much by their environment that it is hard to recognize who they really are."

                                                       - Susan Cheever, Louisa May Alcott (publishing next month)


Ever wonder who you might have become if the rules & expectations surrounding you when growing up had been different?  Or even different now?

As for my mentioning not having free time because of a boy I liked... well, scratch that.

At the least, the end of a relationship does do amazing things for opening up your ears to fantastic "break-up" songs.  As if The Avett Brothers weren't cool enough already.  Speaking of, I get to review their new live album - just got my advance copy.  Can't say the week didn't go down as a win.

"I say it's not that simple - but then again it just may be."

Also - my step-sister Amy's birthday was this week - and I got to go out on the town with too many beautiful girls to handle at any given time.  I have pictorial proof.

My sisters!  The birthday girl is in stripes.  I am clearly checking out a hottie across the room.  We went to see the Josh Abbott band.  I had so much fun - wish these gatherings happened more often!

One of those bullet pointed "where I've been" posts + my ACL photo pit pictures!

I haven't quit blogging!  I think...

Alright, here's what I have been doing:

• Training to run the Austin marathon on February 20th.  I'm at 13 miles now.  The eventual goal is to get sponsorships to raise money for the Boys and Girls Club of Austin.
• Yoga.  A lot of yoga.  "Cross training" is my excuse for spending the money on classes (yoga isn't cheap... anywhere, but Dharma Yoga is totally worth whatever they charge).  
• Prepping to teach a children's yoga class at one of the neighborhood BGC clubs once a week.  I totally know what I'm doing...
• Prepping to lead the poetry club that a few English teachers want to start at my school (because I don't do enough being the club director and leading Keystone and Torch Club... don't ask me to be a swim coach because I'd say yes to that too and then I might explode).
• Working.  A lot.
• Spending more time with a boy I like than I should.  I need my free time to blog, etc.
• Reading... sometimes I go through long periods where I forget how, or so it would seem.  I just finished Holy Cow by Sarah MacDonald.  Loved it.  It was Eat Pray Love on steroids.
• Being a bad dog mom - I finally took Bella running with me today and now she has a limp.
• Going to see LUDO!!!! perform at Emo's.  (exclamation points are my own addition).
• Not dressing cute.  I'm really tired of pictures of my own face.  Plus, oddly, the more I run and feel in better shape, the less I feel the need to dress nice.  I feel great in everything.
• Working - did I mention that?  Running a program alone (I had a partner in crime last year) is a beast.  I'm probably going to get written up soon for letting some data entry fall by the wayside.  I hate data entry.
• Not playing guitar.  Bad Amanda, bad.  I probably couldn't strum a C chord after this long without practice.
• Getting ready to be the world's most awesome bridesmaid for the love of my life - Joanie!  Her bachlorette party will be here in Austin (she's in Georgia), and a champagne table at La Bare will be going down.
• Oh - and did I mention running?  We run three times a week at 7:30 AM.  I forgot what that side of the day looks like.  This means I got to bed about... now, as opposed to 2 or 3 AM like I did last year.

The best thing I've done, though, is get a photo pit pass to the Austin City Limits Music festival to take pictures for Venus.  I don't care if I'm in no way a professional quality photographer, it was amazing, and I'm so excited I got to do it and go see a festival I would have otherwise never have been able to afford a ticket to.

From the Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zero's show photo pit.  See all 69 (I totally did not submit that specific number of photos on purpose...) of the photos they published here.