Tapas

A dinner that I can remember the most prominently was when my family visited Barcelona. Every night we had tapas, which are little dishes of food that are meant to be shared by everyone. It was quite strange, in my eyes, agreeing on what should be ordered. Once the food arrived we all dug in, but since we were not used to such sharing while eating, we had to pay conscious attention to how much we were taking. Did I take too much, was constantly on everyone's mind. The meals were amazing, which made it hard to balance your diet in order to leave room for more food.

As I look back on that trip I see that we have kept some of the same dining habits that we picked up there. Whenever we go out to eat at a "fancy" restaurant, we always make sure that we, as a family, are happy with what we have. If someone can't finish their food, then we take small bites from their plate, similarly to how we ate the tapas.

P.S. If you're ever looking to go on a trip in Europe, visit Barcelona, Spain. It is awesome.

What is a name

The story behind my name is somewhat interesting. When I asked my mom about why they chose Lucas as my name they told me it was because they liked the director Luc Besson. I don't know why they made it into Lucas, but they did. They also told me that if I were a girl my name would have been Vivian, or Vivy for short. I am not quite sure how I feel about Vivian, but I think that it would have fit me had I been a girl. Just like how my current name fits me now. I can think of a few times when my name has made me feel insecure. For some odd reason every once in a while I will tell someone my name is Luc, but with a U and a C instead of a K. I assume that keeping the E at the end wouldn't make all that sense, but people continuously keep the E. My name ends up Luce, in that moment I think to myself, why did my parents name me such a weird name. Then I go about cursing myself for not telling them to remove the E. It is a quite the struggle.


I think Gogol's name is a hindrance to him because of a two reasons. The main reason being that it is so unique and strange, not to mention it doesn't exactly flow off the tongue. You kind of choke on your tongue while saying it. The second reason is that most likely no one else in the world has the same name as him. Gogol is a Russian last name, not even a first name. He will never fit into the Indian community because his name isn't Hindu. Not only that, but no one will remember his name on a grave stone because he will be cremated. Those are the reasons why I think Gogol is so aware of his name.

да, Руссиан (I hope that's proper Russian)

Heritage to me is where you come from. The countries that your ancestors lived in, until somehow they found themselves inside of you. Heritage is the blood that runs in my veins, the Russian, German, Austrian, and Welsh blood that makes me the mutt I am today. Tradition is something else. It is similar to heritage, as it is makes up who you are. The only difference is that tradition is which country’s culture you celebrate the most. Which celebrations and ways of life you honor the most. I am a third-generation American. Most of my ancestry having hailed from Russia, which inspired me to begin Russian classes so I could explore my family’s history. My parents and grandparents value this a lot, and they are very supportive of me doing this. My Russian teacher told me of how one of her students traced his DNA back to people in Russia. The past summer he and his family went to visit them, both of the families had no idea the other existed. They got to celebrate their amazing history, which is what I want to do with Russian.

SHARK

We are more defined by our irrational elements. You never hear someone bragging about how they stayed home where it was warm and safe, they brag about how they went paintballing or skydiving. Our irrational elements are the most interesting things about us and our rational ones are not unique because everyone can think rationally. My experience with this was in middle school, every week my friends would tell me about their crazy surfing experiences. Whether it be a shark swimming underneath them or a seal jumping on their board, it was always something insane. While me on the other hand had exciting stories about sitting in my garage playing video games all weekend. This started to take a toll on my mental wellbeing, so much so that I began to invent stories of my own to top theirs. Since I wasn't a surfer, I decided to try out bodyboarding. I got to be pretty good and the stories became real, I really did have a seal try and attack me out in the water and one time I swear I saw a shark. But my stories got to the point to where they were making my friends think I was lying. Then THAT got too much so I quit bodyboarding to go back to gaming, and that is where I have been ever since.

This is a contradiction.

One of my most major contradictions that plagues me almost everyday of the week is my love of learning, but my hatred of studying. I hate studying, but I love to sit down and read a good book about the ocean or watch a documentary about ginseng, but if I were to do a report or a test on one of those topics I would immediately begin to hate it. I do not beat myself up over this contradiction because I believe that if I truly love something then I will seek out more information on the topic. In doing so I will be preparing and it won't really seem like "studying". I've only just recently discovered this, so I will most likely be trying to convince myself that everything I learn is something worth looking into more. The ones who are most disappointed with this contradiction are my parents because it is hard for them to understand how one can love learning, but hate learning at the same time. I probably have more contradictions, but I'm going to try and fix this one before I seek out others.

MOST SUCCESFUL MARRIAGE COUNSELOR EVER!

Dear diary,

How do I begin? Well these have been the most frustrating clients I have ever had! I almost had to remove them from my client list they were so annoying. It is a huge surprise to everyone in the office that they managed to work it out. Donna told me on my way out yesterday that Petruchio and Katherine had managed to work it out and didn't need me anymore! I jokingly reminded her that this wasn't April Fool's Day, but it was legitimate! Usually when I see my clients I can usually identify one or two main problems that when worked out will relieve the stress that is being put on the marriage. That first meeting I had with this couple is one that I will never forget for as long as I live because they had more problems than I could count on all my hands and feet. It seemed like they genuinely did not like each other. I felt bad for them because on their own they were both lovely people, but not meant for each other. Let me give you an example of what I mean. Petruchio would say things like "Kate look at that hamster!" while pointing at a dog, Kate obviously knew it was a dog so she would try and fight it. Petruchio would not give up with his insistence that it WAS in fact a hamster, eventually Kate would get bored and give in. To which he would respond "Kate, have you gone blind? It is clearly a dog!". This would go on for hours on end, forgetting I was even in the room it seemed like. Kate would become livid and get into a insult match with him, filled with fantastic insults like "You are as ugly as a toad". It was quite amazing to me that two people could hate each other that much. Now that I think about it some more, I do not think I was able to give them any advice at all! The entire meeting had been them yelling and screaming at each other for two hours! Beginning to end! I remember being astonished, and trying to butt in at around an hour and a half, only to have them both focus their anger at me. Quite shocking indeed. I had to email them their tips on how to work their marriage out. I decided to start them out small and work towards a bigger goal.

1. Use kinder words when speaking to each other! It will help greatly when trying to fix a problem.
2. Try and stay away from each other as much as possible so that when you are together it will be similar to being reunited with a long lost toy.
3. Email me if you have a specific problem with your spouse! We did not get to talk much, and I would appreciate it if you could message me about anymore issues!

They had about 5 more visits after that, slowly I got to speak more and more, but they still argued for the better portion of the two hours.

Love,
Dr. Luc Levine

Does it matter?

I personally do not think that it matters which name you take. That name doesn't bind you for all eternity, and if you end up hating the man or woman you marry, then you can divorce them and rid yourself of that name. A last name is exactly what it sounds like. A name that comes last, a little tidbit at the end of your first name that most people ignore. It does not bind anyone nor does it keep people from living their lives freely. To me if I thought my wife had a cool last name, I would definitely take it. I believe that it is just something that you use to differentiate yourself from others. So at the end of the day, no, I do not think it matters which name you take. It just comes down to preference.