What's in a name?

Although this post (and blog) is not endorsing any candidate or political party, I would like to simply take a moment to reflect on the collection of names that have happened upon our screens during the debates.

First, there is Newt. I'm sorry, but what kind of name is that? And can anyone really imagine themselves saying, "Oh yeah, the president of our country... yeah, his name is Newt." Hmm.

Then there is Mitt. Mitt as in a baseball mitt or mittens? Newt and Mitt.

Then there is Ron and Jon. Their names look alike and they rhyme. 

That brings us to Newt and Mitt, Ron and Jon.

How to bring this all together? Two candidates with the very same name, of course. (Duh).

Finally, we have: Newt and Mitt, Ron and Jon, Rick and Rick.

Or Barack.

Happy campaigning.

Meatballs

For about the past year and a half I have been, for the most part, a vegetarian. It really has been an interesting journey and was a switch that was not as difficult as it probably is for some. Honestly, even though I was brought up a carnivore, I think I was truly cut out to be a vegetarian. Lunch meat has always grossed me out. Just the thought of touching that slimy slice was enough to make me gag when I had to make lunch. Cravings for burgers or steaks weren't really crossing my mind frequently--or ever.

So, when I had the task of cooking chicken by myself for the first time in my life, the experience simultaneously became my last. After deciding I never wanted to have to touch raw meat ever again, it was a pretty effortless slip toward the road of veggies.

Up until now, it was the act of touching the raw meat itself that made my shoulders shake. Watching someone else do it wasn't a problem, but nonetheless I didn't really care to eat it, either. However, I recently was watching Giada on the Food Network (yes, she works with meat occasionally, but she's Italian and what can I say... I love food). Apparently, my raw meat watching tolerance had decreased significantly by the time I saw her recent show where she made meatballs.

Think about it: a BALL of MEAT. To meat lovers, that probably sounds like heaven. But to me, that sounds like a ball of slimy rawness that I do NOT want to be handling. At that point, I had to walk away from the television.

It was a day of mixed feelings. After all, I am Italian. And a culturally foundation was on the line. I've decided I will embrace seafood and cheese. I guess veganism is out of the question.

Goodreads Galore

Just under one month from now will be my two year anniversary with Goodreads. After an invite from a fellow book lover, I joined the site and wasn't quite into it at first, but that all changed when I discovered the necessary ingredient: more than one friend. The site is now approaching its 5th birthday and is the book-lover equivalent to Facebook (it's "Facebook for books"). So when I was only sharing the books I was reading with one other person, it wasn't as exciting as it could have been. You might say it was only one sixth of the fun it is now.

So not only am I now updated about what my friends are currently reading, I can see what ratings they give to books while keeping track of my own little reading records. I could easily have made a notebook into a journal to keep track of what I read and my thoughts, but how much fun is that when I can share it online with my friends? Plus, Goodreads has recently been giving away books as preview releases and I was the lucky winner of FOUR books. How unfortunate that they all arrived right as my semester started. But nonetheless, they're added to my reading list and are waiting patiently for me to pick them up in my spare time.

In this time when our society turns to the internet for everything, why not bring books with us into that realm? Whether we are reading the hard copies that we own, rentals from libraries, or electronic copies on Nooks or Kindles, we're still reading and Goodreads reflects that.

Overheard at Bagelz: "South Korea... is that the bad one?"

You do not have to be a historical or cultural expert to be aware of some of the issues revolving around North Korea. The country's military is one of the largest in the world; its development and possession of nuclear weapons is outstanding and terrifying; and its isolation from the rest of the world creates a secretive casing around the country's activities, which was recently seen when two American journalists were captured and sentenced for crossing over the border.

Without knowing many, if any, details about North Korea, most world citizens know that the country's situation is much different from its southern neighbor, South Korea. Apparently, and disturbingly, some college students do not.

The scene: Bagelz on a college campus

Time: Around 8:20 a.m.

Actors: Caucasian Girl, Asian Boy

Action

Girl: So, where are you from?

Boy: Seoul.

Girl: South?

Boy: Yeah, it's in South Korea.

Girl: Is that the bad one?

At this point in time I tuned out of the conversation in laughter that I attempted to restrain while Boy briefly explained the differences between North and South Korea, to which Girl's response was:

Girl: d'awww. That's so sad... It's not even like a real society.

End scene.

A decision for revision

So, this is not a revoking of my resolution but an alteration. After looking over the prompts I've determined the prompts are better fit to be used in my journal. So I'm going to use them to write in my journal and share progress I've made or perhaps share one response to a prompt that I feel compelled to share.

Finally making a resolution

Seeing as I haven't posted since 2010, which means I also haven't posted a New Year's Resolution, I figured it's about time to get back to my blog and maybe think about making one that is blog-related.

When I arrived home after finals this weekend, I managed to make my room a hazard zone in which my cat cannot roam without supervision. During the explosion, I spent some time sifting through collections of old papers I wrote and handouts I had saved from years ago. One packet I found, which I didn't remember ever having to begin with, was a photocopied calendar handout from writersdigest.com featuring an inspiration or prompt to WRITE something.

So even though it's almost halfway through 2011, I'm starting my resolution now and it will hopefully continue through this time next year: a 365 day blogging journey to go through each day and every prompt.

Tomorrow's preview: May 17 "Go out on the town tonight, but carry a notebook with you. Write down any intriguing turns of phrases, jokes or ideas that you encounter."

Dear musicians who do not practice,

Foul sounds emit from your instrument and you wonder why, incompetent fool who doesn’t practice! Your facial expressions seem to scrutinize your own work yet you continue to wonder why you cannot keep up with the tempo, why your fingers do not know the correct positions and why your ear cannot hear the correct pitches. Do you not have the discipline to lock yourself in a practice room for even one measly hour a week to work through difficult passages? Do you not have the patience for a metronome to beat out your rhythms and subdivide, something you clearly are lacking the ability to do on your own?

For heaven’s sake, consider the ears which are your audience! Spare them the horrendous squeaks and atonal sounds you call melodies. Not only is your lack of musicality on display, but your lack of any sort of talent what-so-ever. If not for the contentment of your audience, why do you not practice for yourself? Does it not embarrass and disturb you to struggle through every musical rehearsal? Or, fool as you are, do you simply not realize your idiocy?

You wish to become a performer? How I do laugh. Not only will your lack of motivation to practice keep you from this goal, but it will seep into every aspect of your life. Your unwillingness to commit to self-discipline and hard work will hinder any success in your future until you change your ways, you lazy fool!

If you shall not change your ways through effective practicing, it would be advised that you simply stop playing and cease your assault of our ears.

The Eagle, the Ass and the Bitch

Once upon a time there was a donkey and an eagle that fell in love. Donkey showed Eagle the ways of the land, introducing her to new friends and means of socialization while Eagle described the skies to Donkey, asking him to motivate and better himself, to get his feet off the ground.

For almost two years, Donkey and Eagle were happy together, learning from each other and enjoying the other’s company. However, Donkey began to realize that he could never truly live up to the expectations that Eagle had for him and he became depressed, but he did not confide any of these feelings with Eagle.

One day, Donkey met a poodle. Although Poodle could not compare to Eagle’s intelligence, sincerity, kind nature, beauty or success, Donkey found himself interested in her and began spending more and more time with Poodle.

After noticing some strange goings on, Eagle confronted Donkey about the developing relationship he had with Poodle. Suddenly, Donkey admitted all of his feelings and it came out that he no longer wanted to stay with Eagle. He left her heartbroken and alone by a tree.

At first Eagle was upset to be abandoned by the one she loved and to see Donkey fawning over Poodle with no respect or sincerity. She longed to lunge at them from the sky and tear them apart. But Eagle realized that because they were confined to lives on the ground, Donkey and Poodle would never be truly happy, while she had the ability to fly free and unfettered.

20 Things I've Accomplished Since Turning 20: #4

By now it is pretty common knowledge that most of the world is being affected by economic changes and difficulties. With that in mind, it is extremely important to focus on spending habits as well as saving for our futures. In the spirit of saving for my own future, I recently opened a ROTH IRA. As this decade's younger generation, we might not be able to rely on social security when we reach the age of retirement, which may be later than our parents are looking at for retirement right now. So don't let the economy get you down; join me and start saving for your future with an IRA!

A Traditional Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving is a day to spend with family and friends to give thanks for the blessings we have had during the year and for people that are particularly meaningful to us. Along with those traditions, most Amerians also know the "traditional" Thanksgiving dinner that revolves around turkey and includes stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, maybe some green beans and, of course, plenty of pumpkin and apple pie for dessert.

Every year when I was growing up my family followed the traditional Thanksgiving meal, either hosting the day at our house or going to other family members' houses. This year, a few weeks before Thanksgiving Day, my parents informed me that we would be having Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant. I wasn't quite sure what to think. First I thought, "Well that's fine... I won't have to do much as far as helping to cook." Then I started to think, "Wait, what about everything we only make just for Thanksgiving... I'm going to miss out on mom's candied sweet potatoes!" I started to panic. This was going to be a disaster. Who goes out to eat on Thanksgiving?!

Not only was I a little anxious about the change my family was making but I began to worry what other people were going to think; I instantly assumed that people would judge me and my family for this choice to not hold a "traditional" Thanksgiving. Some of my friends found it strange and this added to my anxiety about what we were doing.

At the restaurant I began to understand that it really was not such a big deal. In fact, I accepted that what my family was doing was OK. Aside from the fact that I haven't eaten meat since July, I had never been a big fan of turkey. So when I got my plate of diver scallops with mushroom risotto and asparagus I knew I wasn't missing out on that much. A couple of my family members ordered the restaurant's turkey dinner special but the rest embraced our Italian taste buds and indulged in seafood, other meats and pasta.

My family did come back to my house for desserts and oh did we indulge in pumpkin, apple, pecan and chocolate cream pies. At the end of the night, I was happy with our Thanksgiving because even though we strayed from what we had done every year before, our eating habits didn't change the fact that we spent the day together giving thanks for our health and each others company.

Politician Promotions: On Putting Yourself in a Positive Light

We're all well acquainted with the vast amounts of propaganda that surround political races, especially at this time of the year. The television and radio clips that seem to fall into two extreme categories: completely bashing an opponent or promoting one's self.

Choices that these candidates have made in the past are most definitely going to affect how they feel about certain issues. However, "judging a book by its cover" comes into play here and brings up the fact that you can't judge a person solely on their past actions or inactions. A commercial that spends 28 seconds claiming that candidate A doesn't support ______ and has worked hard to fight against ______ followed by two seconds of, "I'm candidate B and I support this message," does not make me want to vote for either of these candidates. First, it makes me want to research candidate A and look into what his or her past mistakes really were and what he or she is planning on doing differently now and in the future. Second, why would a commercial completely bashing candidate A and saying absolutely nothing about candidate B encourage me to vote for candidate B?

I have to give lots of credit to those candidates who choose to utilize their full 30 seconds by promoting themselves. By talking about their own mistakes and communicating how they plan to work on certain issues, they are putting themselves in a very high position. In my opinion, if you are a good enough candidate you should not have to put down everyone else in order to make yourself look good. You should be able to run on the appeal of your characteristics alone.

20 Things I've Accomplished Since Turning 20: #3

Yesterday I successfully completed RA training! Yay! It was an interesting two weeks, that's for sure! I learned all of the rules and regulations of our lovely campus and participated in all sorts of skits and activities. I stepped out of my comfort zone and attempted all sorts of new things all while meeting some pretty great people.

Honey, put that away. Nobody wants to see it.

Last night I experienced my first trip to a club. It really was everything I imagined. And much, much more. Take any high school dance scenario, cut the dresses shorter, add alcohol and allow high-out-of-their-minds older men to enter and presto, you've entered a hip club.

Don't get me wrong, it's great to be a sexy young girl. But when I see body parts that I did not intend to see, something isn't right. Maybe I'm naive or maybe I just don't get it. I feel like a club should allow you to have fun and dance the night away, not wear something you would have fit into when you were five years old and shake everything in a way that blatantly says you're asking for it. In my opinion, go to a strip club. Really.

And having that said, there really were not any guys in the entire place that were worth impressing. I have never seen more sketchballs in my entire life all congregated in one room. They literally stood in a giant circle around the dance floor, drinks in hand, visually raping every girl.

I did enjoy myself, but without a drink in hand or a barrier between me and the creeps it got a little old pretty fast.

20 Things I've Accomplished Since Turning 20: #2

So this definitely isn't anything award-worthy. But as it was a first for me, I found it pretty exciting. Just a week ago I got an e-mail from Amazon. That's pretty normal... I get them on a regular basis, advertisements for new items that I might like to buy. This particular e-mail, though, was different. This e-mail was an announcement telling me that I a textbook that I had posted had just sold!

Yes, I can hear you rolling your eyes at me. But I've never sold anything online before! So I went through all of the steps of packaging, shipping, tracking and confirming the book and today I received the payment. SO cool.

Please Whistle Elsewhere

So first, I must apologize yet again for my lack to follow through with my promise to be more consistent about writing on a regular basis, but this time there is good reason! (Perhaps this blog will turn into a long list of excuses...)

Due to my lack of internet... gasp... I have not been able to do my faithful duty of writing. I suppose that I could have made the 10 second walk to the "WiFi" area a little sooner, but I was quite busy, sprawling on a chair in the sun, forming tan lines and reading as much as I possibly could.

Onward to today's topic. While gaining internet access, signing into my e-mail and Facebook accounts and catching up on everything that I've chosen to avoid for the past week, I endured the most awful whistling. Starting out, it was not quite bad. However, after you hear a not-so-musical-man whistle the same 15 second portion of Seal's Kiss from a Rose, it starts to get just a little bit old.

After about a minute, I glanced up from my laptop to see just who was whistling to himself. He took no notice of my annoyance after a second glance another minute later. After three minutes, it was as if he was intentionally trying to make anyone in a mile radius glare at him in disgust. Which I did. And so I therefore [silently] say, "Please whistle elsewhere!"

As a side note, happy Friday the 13th.

A financial and social survival guide for college freshmen

I'm going to be a published writer in a newsletter for my job! Super neat-o. Here's the article I wrote:

As the summer comes to a close many of us are thinking about the start of another school year. Whether as a student, teacher or parent we are all anticipating school in some way. The 2010-2011 school year will surely bring changes and new experiences for everyone heading back to classes, especially for new college students. Making the switch from high school to college can be one of the most unnerving and exciting transitions.

Here is some advice for adapting to a new social environment as well as some tips for making and managing money while away at school!

Many colleges and universities have campus or local job fairs within the first couple weeks after students arrive for the fall semester. It is important to be aware of this and take advantage of what is available to you. Make sure to attend and apply for jobs that interest you. If you are living on campus, having a job on campus is convenient because you can easily schedule hours between classes and you don’t need to have access to a car in order to get to your job.

If your job—on or off campus—offers direct deposit, sign up! With this in place your paychecks will be going directly into your account to start saving instead of into your pocket where you’ll be more tempted to spend them. Keep track of money in your account and the cash you carry around with you. Be aware when you’re getting low on cash or near overdrawing with your debit card so that you can avoid getting hit with overdraft fees as well. Spending a few dollars here and there, buying coffee on your way to class and pizza or calzones with your friends at 2 a.m. may not seem like a lot, but these little splurges add up.

While you are handling your income and spending, adjusting to a new social environment is just as important at college. Skipping early morning classes and sleeping the day away is tempting, but it is important not to get lazy just because mom or dad isn’t there to wake you up in the morning. If you aren’t a morning person, you’ll learn very quickly that you don’t want to take an 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. class so make your schedule so that you can get to class without any trouble.

The “freshman 15” is a phrase we all cringe to hear, but with a little self discipline it is easy to avoid gaining the pounds. College parties, dining halls and dorm room snacks have the potential to bring your calorie intake to an entirely different level. But by eating normally and working in some exercise every day you’ll be able to keep that extra fifteen pounds away!

Also, don’t get caught up playing video games alone or with your roommate in your dorm. Get out and meet people in your hall, join clubs, go to concerts and explore the campus and the area. Being involved will keep you busy and will lead the way for all sorts of opportunities. Enjoy everything that your school has to offer and you will get the most out of your college experience.

On being a shameful slacker and perfectionist

So despite my attempts to be on top of this blog and write two or three times a week, I have already fallen into a semi-slump. Avoiding blogger for about half a month has proved me a slacker and has produced nothing but thoughts of blogs. My skewed perfectionist approach has let me down once again. It's shameful, I know.

Blog and potential blog readers: I apologize. New blogs are on their way, making the journey from sparks in my brain, through my fingers and magically appearing on your internet screen.

Hello? Hello? (You're wasting money!) - A call from my cell phone bill

Although cell phones have made our everyday lives much easier in many ways, the ease doesn't always mean cost efficiency. My parents agreed to buy me my first cell phone in my early high school years, allowing me to pick out my very own "Tracfone" which operated through buying monthly minute cards and adding them by calling a certain number. At first, this was fine. But then I had to pay for my own minutes and when each text equaled .5 units and one minute equaled 1 unit, texts and chatting added up pretty quickly and I found myself spending more than I'd hoped.

So, I followed the masses and signed my name on a piece of paper that chained me to Verizon Wireless's talk and text plan. At first I was blinded by the so-called benefits: free night and weekend talk-time as well as unlimited talk and text with other Verizon users. Sounds pretty great, right? Yeah! Until you realize that your friends with Verizon are friends you don't talk to all that often and that you're paying more to have texting benefits with everyone else!

While I just loove Verizon (sarcasm? no, of course not), after a year and a half into my 2-year contract I've made the decision that I won't be renewing my contract. Instead, I will be going cell phone free and can be reached by mail pigeon or Facebook.

Just kidding. I'm probably going back to a prepaid phone plan (gasp). But definitely not the same one I had before. Upon searching, I found that a company called Virgin Mobile sells some pretty sweet phones and for over $30 less than with Verizon, I would be getting the same phone services and more! PLUS, there is no contract to sign my cellular-life away for two whole years.

Yay for saving money!

A Horror Scene

I am the type of person who avoids most things that are stereotypically "scary" (dark rooms, horror films, walking alone at night...etc.)

Sometimes, I have no choice but to come face to face with my fears. Unfortunately, this happened twice last night. The first time while sitting on the floor in my living room and the second while looking at the calendar in my bedroom.

From the depths of somewhere in my house, an array of spiders always find their way out of spaces and around corners, crawling stealthily and speedily towards me. 95% of the time I am overcome with involuntary fright and an occasional scream in my attempts to relocate or squish.

The horror comes in one of three levels of seriousness:

1: Floor crawling > 2: Wall scaling > 3: Ceiling hanging

Level 1: For squishing, anything can be used! Which makes level 1 crawlers the least scary.

Level 2: While many things can be used for squishing, you must now take into account the color of the wall and whether or not you want the mark of the spider on the wall or a dent in the wall from whacking it too harshly.

Level 3: These spiders are the most horrific because they are most difficult to reach and they have the power of dropping themselves onto you or past you, therefore making an escape.

I'm sad to say that last night I had a Level 1 spider and a Level 2 spider. One was successfully squished. The other managed to jump past me and is now somewhere in my bedroom.

20 Things I've Accomplished Since Turning 20: #1

Tonight I met with E1 and E2 (for the safety of minors I'm not disclosing their names), two little girls who are starting on the oboe! Not only was this their first lesson, but also my first time teaching anyone the oboe!