Pushing Forward

January 22, 2012

WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD

“She turned her can’ts into cans and her dreams into plans.” –Kobi Yamada

To be honest I took a bit of an escape from the real world this week!  As it is only the second week of classes, things are still moving fairly slow so I have not been stressed to get all of my work.  This free time has given me the opportunity to go for runs, read my textbooks, and clean my room read Harry Potter.  What can I say? I’m a sucker for Harry!  Anywho, while this week did not prove to be particularly productive, it was very exciting…here’s why:

#1: Distance does make the heart grow fonder but lack of distance makes things a whole lot funner!! (Yes I know that’s not a word but I’m trying to make it happen.)  This weekend, my friend Paulina and I made the trip to Clemson, South Carolina to visit our friends Grace, Elizabeth (who go to Clemson), and Ginny (who goes to South Carolina).  It was so fun to reunite, if only for a couple of days, and to explore the very small beautifully compact town of Clemson! Love you guys…and your dance moves!  A special sidenote to Miss Shelly Mann: While Grace and I were visiting and enjoying our dinner, we sadly realized that there has been a shortage of your addictive toffee this year.  A girl sure would be lucky… ;)

Ginny, Paulina, and Me

Silly Grace and I forgot to get a pic but luckily we have plenty!!

#2: Younger people are cooler people.  Two of my wonderful cousins, Violet and Bo, celebrated their 11^th and 9^th birthdays this week, respectively.  I’m not sure when they got so old and so cool but I must have missed out on it because when I called to wish them Happy Birthdays, Violet was making dinner reservations and Bo was preparing for his video game party…say what now? After a quick life evaluation, I realized my inability to speak to strangers on the phone and inability to operate any tech item, qualifies me as a huge dork.  Thank you and happy birthday to Vi and Bo, two of the best cousins eva!

Me, Bo, and another great cousin, Walter

Me and Violet in Wyoming

#3: America means three things to college students: cowboy boots, red lipstick, and Tarheels!  This past week, Tri Delta and Alpha Delta Pi sororities celebrated a “Go Heels Go America” mixer with Beta and Phi Delt fraternities, and let me just say our country was well represented.  Everyone showed up decked in their best red, white, and Carolina blue ready to dance to country music and have a good laugh at everyone’s costumes.

#4: “You must welcome change as the rule but not as your ruler.” –Denis Waitley

When I stopped in Charlotte on the way home from Clemson, I realized that the Hollingsworth family is certainly abiding by these wise words as the demolition of our former kitchen/dining room/living room continues to progress.  When I think of our family’s kitchen I think about Whit and I laying in the middle of the cork floor and all the delicious pot roasts made in my mom’s ancient crock-pot.  I think about my dad, mom, brother, and myself sitting around our small dining room table playing “best and worst of the day” at dinnertime.  The kitchen is where we greeted our guests, where we got our mouths washed out with soap for letting swear words slip, and where we opened college acceptance letters.  It’s a little sad to think that this kitchen is gone, but hearing about the big plans Craig and Ash have for our new one gets me pumped for all the new memories it will hold…and all the yummy meals it will help my mama to cook! So stop by the Hollingsworth household and check out the progress and the makeshift porch kitchen. 

#5: Dancing cures all of the real world’s problems.  As many of you have heard/ witnessed, I LOVE to dance.  I like to shag, boogy, invent, and do really any kind of dance!  This is why I am participating in UNC’s Dance Marathon, benefitting the North Carolina Children’s Hospital on February 17^th-18^th!  I will be putting my dance skills to the true test by dancing for 24 hours straight and I would love y’alls support!  How can you do this?  By sponsoring me of course…here is the link to my sponsor page; if I can get seven people to donate $1 for every hour I dance, I will surpass my fundraising goal of $150.  I would really appreciate any donations or dance move suggestions…youtube anyone?

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/kanehollingsworth/unc-dance-marathon-2012

Things to brighten your week:

Just hangin' out...

We don't stop playing because we get old.

We get old because we stop playing.

Can't wait to hear about what has been happening in your real worlds! Love you. Miss you. Mean it.

Kane

Ringing in the New Year!

WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD

“Whatever you are, be a good one.” –Abraham Lincoln

            The absence of blogging is due to the absence of real world my friends.  For the past month I have been entirely checked out from school.  I sprinted away from left Chapel Hill with a drained brain and an eagerness to see old friends, spent time with my family, and catch up on some reading sleep.  Yes, Christmas break could not have come at a more perfect time and the break itself could not have been better!  I stayed in Charlotte with the fam this year and Whit, whom my friends believe is a figment of my imagination, finally made his way home to get some quality Kane time.  I spent Christmas Eve at my Nana and Granddad’s house eating my weight in DELICIOUS food and anxiously awaiting Santa’s arrival…and boy did he spoil us!  After a quick trip to Richmond Virginia to visit my suitemate Shannon, I rang in the New Year with some friends in Charlotte!  Heading back to school was made easier when I realized that the demolition of our current kitchen was beginning.  The demolisher you ask? Craig…ta ta Charlotte, hello Chapel Hill!  I was welcomed back to the hill with smiling faces, an old carton of juice in the fridge, and lots and lots of work.  This semester is off to a roaring start-I think it will be a pretty hard schedule but so far, so good.  The real world experiences since reentering the world of college are as follows:

#1: Juice goes bad.  Despite my repeat warnings, Mackenzie’s beloved mango juice was left in our mini fridge over break.  In case you were unaware, juice goes bad after three weeks…it also grows fur.  No worries, our fridge has been entirely disinfected and restocked with Fresca, humus, and 6 bags of frozen edamame…Target was having a sale, which brings me to my next point.

#2: The real world is sooooooo expensive!!!!!!  I know that this is a recurring point but someone really should prepare you for how much things cost!  After living in the Hollingsworth lap of luxury for three weeks over break I had forgotten how expensive cheese and Triscuits are.  And forget Coke.  I had to buy Fresca this week because it was on sale; I can only hope that it will be enough to sustain me.

#3: Never underestimate the power of a good dancer.  If boys would let me coach them in their lives, the world would be a better place.  Recently my friend Paulina and I were complaining about the lack of dance skills in Chapel Hill.  We were pleasantly surprised when our friend Elizabeth introduced us to her friends from Clemson: Brooke, Lindsay, and Ben, also known as the greatest shag dancers of all time. Paulina and I have spent the past week raving about Clemson dancers and insisting that everyone here start to practice the following moves:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBpNMyAUOc0&NR=1&feature=endscreen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krHQseHUrfI

I have high hopes that 2012 will be the best yet, for you and me both my friends.  2011 was pretty great too though.  Here are a few of my fave moments from last year, the final goodbye I guess you could call it.  Please message me and let me know how y’alls holidays were, crazy stories and all!  Hope you and yours are doing well J

Kane

1. Spring Break

2. Senior Prom

3. Graduation

4. Bid Day

5. Meeting the gals on my hall

6. Reunions

7. Lacrosse State Finals

8. Carpe-ing the heck out of the diem

Things that I have to look forward to this week:

1. "Go Heels, Go America" mixer that i will be wearing my jorts and cowboy boots to!

2. "Make your own pizza" Tuesday at the Tri Delt house with my friend Paulina!

3. Laundry day!!

4. Friday

1. 

Thanksgiving and all the fixins!

November 28, 2011

WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD

“Some days in life are hard. But most days are pretty good…yup, most days are pretty good.”

            Hello loved ones! I’m sorry for the delay on the blog, but I have been consumed by Thanksgiving break, as I hope you have been as well.  I have had some pretty good days in the past few weeks and once again, I hope you enjoy hearing about them.

#1: In the real world, when it is uncharacteristically warm outside, you must make it REALLLLLL cold inside.  This past week, it was pushing 70 degrees in the hill and it was no surprise to me that winter had not hit Charlotte or my thanksgiving destination, Nashville.  When I arrived in the country music capitol, I was rushed over to “Ice” extravaganza, a wonderland in which gigantic sculptures are made entirely of ice.  And if that weren’t enough, they make slides made of ice, yes slides.  While Whit and I were freezing our flippin booties off not bold enough to face the ice slide, the prospect of a frozen tush couldn’t stop the rest of the Hollingsworth-Adams-Conner-Whitsitt-Sharp clan.  Shout out to Uncle Lew for getting us tickets to the super fun, super cold kick off to the Thanksgiving celebrations, which leads me to my next real world story…

#2: There is one thing my Thanksgiving is notorious for: having the most disgusting food in the entire world…bahahhahahahah WHAT A JOKE!! I know everyone thinks their families have the best Thanksgiving feast but they’re delusional and need to be committed to an insane asylum.  My family makes the most delicious food you have ever laid eyes on and the only thing that beats the grub is the company. This year, I was sat with Whit, my aunt Stephanie 2A, my cousin Sydney, ANDDDDD a “Rhodes scholar”, our very own Forrest Conner.  The day was spent eating our weight in gourmet foods, playing Canasta, and witnessing some of the best dance moves I have seen thus far in my life, compliments of Walker and Elizabeth Conner.  The day was truly one to be thankful for.

#3: For those of you who are not lucky enough to see Whit Hollingsworth all that often because of his fairly recent relocation to Cleveland, or “Clevegas” as he fondly refers to it, I feel sorry for you.  June was the last time that I was blessed with his presence and I was well overdue for another good laugh.  The purpose of Whit’s existence is to make you laugh; sometimes I wonder if he plans it all out or if life just conveniently presents him with material for his next comedic gesture.  There is no real way to recount my time with him so I will just share a few brief moments of laughter inducing:

1.     As previously mentioned, the fam made a trip to an ice sculpture show.  While the rest of us bundled up in cable knit scarves and thick sweater, Whit donned the ever-popular khaki shorts…to a flippin ice show. The comedy was found in Whit’s sporadic sprints through the ice sculptures and continual exclamations of “It’s Cold!!”.  Brava big bro.

2.     Somehow I got tricked into was lucky enough to ride with Whit to Asheville, where Whit met some friends for a concert.  On the way there, we had to compromise on the music selection.  As I tend to listen to a lot of musicals and Kelly Clarkson, and Whit prefers the ever-endearing lyrics of Lil Wayne, middle ground is hard to come by.  Luckily, Whit and I were raised in the 90s and can therefore always be pacified by the angsty-ness of Counting Crows, the quick raps of the Spin Doctors, and the overall freakiness of “Ice Ice Baby”.  Listening to Whit sing these songs is enough laughter for a lifetime and if I can record the tunes next time, I’ll try!

Anyways, it’s hard to remember all of the things Whit does to make me laugh, but if you haven’t had a dose of him lately, give him a call! He particularly enjoys discussing the STATE of Rhode Island and the need for a 46-inch TV.

#4: Sometimes in the real world, you meet people that are truly good. From their perfectly self-manicured lawns to their coveted costume jewelry, it’s just all good.   This type of person is a rare gem and when you come across them, you must cherish their company; this is why no trip to Charlotte is complete without a visit with my truly good neighbor, Ms. Nel Nielson.  Ms. Nielson is the kind of woman who will always refer to her husband as “My Johnny” and scoffs at the idea of beginning one’s evening festivities past 11pm.  Anyway, I was lucky enough to have time to pop into her warm home, smelling of yummy orange slices, for a few minutes and listen to her compliment me, something I will never grow too old for J During my visit, I was entrusted with the quote for today’s “Real World” and she told me that most days really are pretty good…just like her.  Ms. Nielson’s refreshing message was a perfect seal to my trip and I was able to head back to the thrill with a hopeful heart and mind, ready to embrace the chaos that will be exams.

A few other highlights of the last couple weeks include the anxiously awaited Clef Hanger Fall Concert (yes, it was everything I hoped for!!), more attacks from domesticated Chapel Hill squirrels, and many a fiasco at Habitat for Humanity (seriously, you people gotta stop letting me use a hammer!).  I might fall off the planet for the next few weeks as exams approach and require my Christmas distracted undivided attention!! Love you. Miss you. Mean it.

WRITE ME BACK!!!!!!!!!

Kane

Mom braving the ice slide:

Me and the laughing man:

P.S: sorry no one gets too see our glorious feast.  I had all intentions to take pictures of it but my stomach was opposed to postponing the feast for taking pictures...sorry!

Week 11

WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD

“Dawn to dawn, dusk to dusk, life is short, so party we must.”

            This week has had many causes for celebration! Once again, I hope you are all well; I have missed you all dearly! As Thanksgiving break quickly approaches, holiday spirits are high and work ethics are low…the first Christmas tree lot has even been erected in Chapel Hill, a little premature in my opinion, but nonetheless true.  Anyways, expectations of breaks have put a positive spin on my week so without further adieu, I give you my adventures in the real world.

#1: Redesign can revamp your life.  It may be beating a dead horse by restating how DISGUSTING my college bathroom shared with three other girls is, but you will hear it no more!  This weekend, I decided that I had had enough! With a ten-dollar contribution from each of my roommates I marched my little booty over to Target and bought our suite a new shower curtain, bath mat, and fragrance diffusers.  After an hour and a half of scrubbing the tile floors with bleach and a scrub brush, I am pleased to say that room 2221 and 2223 now have a beautiful and clean (for now) bathroom! Yay

#2: A spoonful of sugar does not help the medicine go down when there is no medicine to be taken.  This weekend, I had planned on making my way to Athens, Georgia to visit some of my friends at UGA.  Unfortunately, I came down with a rather unfortunate cold/stomach bug and had to tend to myself, which entails lying in bed and watching Mary Poppins.  I make it a general rule to never do anything for myself that could be done by others so when someone tells me to look something up on the internet, I usually just call my mom.  This applies especially towards the likes of medicine and its uses.  I must have called my mom four times this past weekend inquiring about what types of medicines exist out there that would miraculously cure me.  As I sit here, pretty much recovered, I can laugh at the thought of asking my mom whether or not there was a medicine that would make my eyes stop twitching.  Fever and exhaustion causes dementia, and WebMD knows there’s no meds for that…my apologies mama.

#3: Dine-in facilities are stressing the dine-in policy in the real world.  For those of you who have not experienced the pleasures of dining in my dorm’s cafeteria, the Agora, consider yourselves among the lucky ones.  While the food is generally delicious, the staff is typically less than hospitable.  The problem with the Agora, aside from the ill tempered persons working there, is that you CANNOT take food out of it-this means cookies of any type, fruit, drinks, nothing!  This is a huge nuisance and we typically try to bend the rules on this a bit by sneaking food in our pockets and book bags…it’s a hard knock life.  This week, my very bold suitemate Shannon decided to attempt the impossible: sneak out a chocolate chip waffle…on the plate.  We had almost made it to the exit when we heard an angry employee approach from behind and request that Shannon kindly not take plates.  In response, Shannon returned the plate, keeping in tow her handcrafted waffle.  Apparently we missed the memo that the Agora truly is a dine-in facility.  We’ll get ‘em next time Shan!

            This week is sure to be eventful my friends, as it is scheduled to include a few Italian quizzes, colder weather, and a climactic close: Clef Hanger Fall Concert! Yay! Until next time! Love ya. Miss ya. Mean it.

Kane

Pictures from Parents Cocktail...finally!

Some Tri Delts Tailgating!

Me with the convict suite mate :)

Happy Birthday Weeble

WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD

“I think I’m finally growing up-and about time.”

-Elizabeth Taylor

            Happy Birthday Weeble! Yes, today is Ashley Hollingsworth’s birthday!!! In honor of her, I’d like to share a few stories and lessons, so enjoy and be sure to call my mama with a birthday greeting!

Things my mom has taught me:

•         “Failure to plan is planning to fail.” You always loved a good cliché mom…
•         Never fill the detergent compartment in the dishwasher with liquid soap.
•         Disney World makes everything better.
•         A little shimmy dance can brighten a day.

Things I’ve taught my mom:

•         It is ALWAYS advisable to tell your daughter when her skirt is tucked into her backpack, particularly in public department stores.
•         Snakeskin shoes do not in fact go with everything.
•        Telling waiters, flight stewards, salespersons, or any other stranger about your personal life is inadvisable.
•        The lyric people are wrong.  The words to “She’s In Love With The Boy” by Trisha Yearwood are not “Katie look at Tommy like I still look at you”. They’re really: “Katie look at Tommy like Esther look at you.”

While I believe I’ve taught you some valuable lessons mom, you have undoubtedly taught me more priceless ones.  To the best mom I ever had…

HaPpY bIrThDaY mAmA! LoVe YoU!

Week 10

WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD

“Halloween is not the same if I can’t bewitch you!”

Two reasons for the suspense this week loved ones! 1-Halloween was yesterday and I wanted to wait until today to tell y’all about it!! 2-The blog is officially up with, which required a few tweaks yesterday! So once again, hello, hope you are all well, welcome to the real world!

#1: Halloween!!!! While some people in the 27514 area code think Halloween is an excuse to wear your skimpiest or scariest outfit, I used it as an excuse to bond some more with my awesome hall…and to have a blast of course!! My initial plan this All Hallow’s Eve was to dress up as a hot air balloon, an idea that I thought was absolutely ingenious! Others disagreed so I ended up conforming to the trend of my hall: Dalmatians. We were 101 Dalmatians and our RA was Cruella.  The costumes were precious and we instantly became a hit at school!  Fraternities even put us on their lists as “hall of spots”.  Success I think!

 

#2: Charlotte Invasion!!  This week some of my best high school friends came to visit Chapel Hill for the UNC vs. Wake Forest game and we had such a fun weekend!!!! We spent our time tailgating, cheering on the heels, and watching power walking YouTube sensations (if you’ve never seen one of these races, you MUST check it out!!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2urNVmKnEaQ&feature=relmfu The girls left me with a happy heart, an ache for home, a toilet paper-less bathroom, and a phone…uh Carter, forget something? Come back soon guys!!

I don’t want to let anyone down but I’m feeling less than interesting this week and am setting a personal goal to do something exciting between now and the next time I talk to y’all.  In the meantime, stay tuned for a special Thursday edition of the real world in honor of my mama’s birthday!!!! Happy week to all! Love you, miss you, mean it!

Kane

Week 9

WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD

“The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.”

-Maya Angelou

            Alright, I have a good excuse for the delay on the issue this week: today is my dad’s forty fifth 21^st birthday and I wanted to give a special tribute that would only make sense today…plus I spent most of last night unpacking from fall break and studying for my lit class. Er… Anyway, I’m back in action, sans blog because being the least technologically gifted person that I am, that is taking longer than expected as well! Regardless, welcome to my week:

#1: Fall Break!!!!!! After days of studying for exams, taking exams, and awaiting grades on exams, I finally packed myself up on Wednesday and returned home to Charlotte for the first time in two months!!  As I walked through the front door of 3901 Brookfield Dr., I half expected a Kane shrine to be erected in our living room, but I quickly realized nothing had changed at the Hollingsworth household: our fat yellow lab Fiona was still snoozing on the couch where I left her two months previously, and the same sound of the dryer and smell of shepherd’s pie greeted me.  While I had big plans of getting ahead on the mountain of work I brought with me, I spent my weekend watching a high school football game, eating way too much frozen yogurt with high school friends, and sleeping in!  It was just what I needed and when my friend Claire pulled into my driveway on Sunday to bring me back home (?), I bitterly loaded up my fall clothes and returned to my house at the Hill. 

#2: Working with other people can be hard in the real world.  Case in point: I had to meet with three other people for my “Intro to Fiction” class to compose a class presentation this week. While organizing a meeting around 4 people’s schedules is difficult on its own, it is particularly difficult trying to organize a meeting when one of the group’s members is also involved in “Humans vs. Zombies”.  Yes my friends, that is real thing, and before you burst out into hysterics let me give you some reasons to laugh.  First of all, when the group finally decided on a place to meet, the member in question told us to look for him, he would be wearing a yellow armband.  I thought to myself, weirdo!!!!!   alright, maybe he just wants to make it easy for us to get together.  I was wrong.  When I arrived at the entrance to Davis library, I found my yellow armband clad classmate crouching behind a column.  I wandered over to affirm that he was in my group and inquire about the odd accessory.  The spiel began: “I am participating in ‘Humans vs. Zombies’, a lively game in which three zombies are appointed to attack the humans and try to wipe out the population.  Zombies wear a brown headband and humans wear yellow armbands to signal to the others that we are involved in the mission.”  You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me.  If the initial shock of this peculiar task was not enough, my attention was then drawn to the three pairs of socks clutched in my “human” classmate’s hands.  “What are the socks for?” I asked.  “Socks are used to stun the zombies so that you have an opportunity to escape.”  Shut. The. Front. Door.  I mean this kid was being serious!  I had to resist bursting into fits of laughter as he proceeded to explain that humans would walk around campus surrounded by bodyguards equipped with nerf guns to protect against the zombies.  Needless to say, I am now an expert on this type of sci-fi enthusiast and I will be choosing my group more carefully come next time…

#3: Daddy is growing up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Happy Birthday to the best dad I ever had!  These are just a few of the things I have learned from Craig:

--Cars have this thing called oil in them…it has to be changed.

--It is never a good idea to jump the curb on your bike.  No good gonna come of that.

--It is inappropriate to talk during a NASCAR race.

--Things can be replaced.  People can’t.

You’re irreplaceable Nacho Libre ;)

(Pictures attached!!)

Ta ta for now friends!  Let me know what is the latest scoop in your lives J

Love,

Human (for now) Kane.

Dad and Whit:

Dad and Me:

Dad and Mom: