Monday, March 28, 2011

College Culture: Long Distance Relationships

Because contrary to what the cynics say, distance is not for the fearful; it’s for the bold. It’s for those who are willing to spend a lot of time alone in exchange for a little time with the one they love. It’s for those who know a good thing when they see it, even if they don’t see it nearly enough. Yes, the long-distance relationship may be doomed. You can’t go on that way forever. But as long as you do, you’ll embody the twin virtues of independence and imagination. As you fall asleep alone, you’ll conjure the scent of your lover’s neck, the timbre of a voice over fiber optics, the ecstasy of seeing his face at the front door, which, thanks to him, is your favorite place in the whole house.

College is hard. And not just in the school way-- my love life sucks too. I do recall introducing HW|SW as not only a fashion blog, but a culture blog as well. I'd be writing opinions when I wanted to, as well as if I had to. I'm writing about the culture I know right now: college.

Every boy I know in college is either:
  1. Trolling for ass
  2. Gay
  3. In a long-distance relationship
Yes, in a long-distance relationship. Even when everyone warns you to, "Dump and move on!" Sigh. I'd consider myself in one right now, but to be honest-- I don't know where that stands. Nor do I want to know. People say that distance doesn’t matter, but it does. The feeling of arms wrapped around bodies, and warm embraces beats Skype dates and text messages any day. You can’t base a relationship off distance and technology forever. I’ll take a real date over one over the internet. While I don’t mind falling asleep next to someone on Skype— I’d rather fall asleep next to them for real. I’d rather stare into his eyes while he brushes his fingers through my hair, and tells me he loves me.

This is going to be weird, but after 3 years of being in on and off long-distance relationships, I’m sick of them. And while I don’t mind getting in another, I would prefer if the men did their share and at least closed the gap between the distance. It’s why I won’t move forward with the men I’m talking to— and it’s why they’ve pushed themselves away from me.

I know a few of them can’t really do anything about it. Living in Australia does that to you, of course. The distance between Australia and where I live the majority of the time, in Omaha is pretty sizable. WIth that distance, it’s kind of wishful thinking. Whereas the guy that I actually want to be with is six hours away by car. That isn’t that far— and since it’s getting warmer, you can actually make the journey. Is it so freaking hard for me to ask for someone to actually just take me out on a nice date and not pretend we’re on one through webcam?

Anyway, the point is: long-distance sucks. I hate it. But in any case, here are some gift ideas you can send your long-distance lover just in case the distance is hard. Or, at least essentials.
Logitech Webcam C905 (best HD webcam for laptops)
If you don't own a laptop with a built-in webcam, consider buying a webcam built especially for laptops. Nowadays, most laptops DO come with built-in webcams-- but your LDR will suffer without one of these puppies.

BoldLoft's couple pillowcase series
Couple pillowcases work well. Send your long-distance lover the other pillow case, and maybe spray a little bit of your cologne or perfume on so the smell lasts :)
"Pillow Talk"
If this actually existed, I'd be so much more down with being in an LDR. According to the project designer, "Pillow Talk by Joanna Montgomery is a project aiming to connect long distance lovers. Each person has a pillow for their bed and a chest sensor which they wear to sleep at night. The chest sensor wirelessly communicates with the other person’s pillow; when one person goes to bed, their lover’s pillow begins to glow softly to indicate their presence. Placing your head on the pillow allows you to hear the real-time heartbeat of your loved one. The result is an intimate interaction between two lovers, regardless of the distance between them."

Good luck with your LDRs, loves. I'm off to discover myself as a single, confident and sexy college fashionista ;)
XO.

1 comment:

callmecandi said...

those pillows are SO CUTE.
i might have to get one for my boyfriend and i :) he's not too far away during the school year (about two hours) but during the summer he's 17 hours away.

by the way, i love your blog! it's adorable and i love that you're two best friends doing it! my best friend and i also have a blog at http://call-me-candi.blogspot.com.
check it out if you wanna. :)

lovely blog, new follower. xo