Ash Wednesday

Today my boyfriend and I went to the Ash Wednesday service that was held on campus.  It was neat.  The service itself was very Catholic, which I enjoyed.  (Catholic services always seem to have that extra special pen ash around holidays.) The communion wine tasted like saki though... 

So, the big question is: What should I give up for lent?  A lot of people are giving up food or drinks, but the only things that I eat/drink routinely are chicken and coffee.  Chicken because it is the only meat that the school does a good job at cooking, and coffee because due to my body's chemistry caffeine tends to work as a relaxant on me and when I don't drink some when under stress, I need serious drugs (like Benedril) to deal with the withdrawal symptoms.

Back to giving up something though.  I really don't know what I can give... 

• I can give some more time for prayer, though I fear I'm too often distracted.
  
• I can make an effort to do a better job of attending church, though I know I'll miss the extra hour of sleep.
  
• I can actually finally get around to pulling some money to give to the church from my pay check's meager leftovers.
  
• I can try to read my Bible more.  It's pages were starting to get dusty.
  

That is all I know to offer.  I have little time during the day and am overly easily distracted at night, so I will try this little though it is.  It's not giving up chocolate, but it is my own small attempt.  Hopefully I will pull through and do all of these.  If not, then I can only hope that God will understand.

Dear Professor,

I don't get class, and it isn't the subject matter either.  The subjects are simplistic.  You repeat yourself... a lot.  You give me death glares if I walk into your 9 o'clock one minute late, but then you are 10 minutes late to your own 1 o'clock class.

You don't remember where you stopped at in your notes during your last lecture, but find it unthinkable that I forgot this ultra important busy-work assignment that you handed out along with three other similar assignments earlier in the week.  You expect me to sit in rapt attention, yet you babble on in circles, constantly returning to some technical mumbo-jumbo.  You say that I should try to learn in your class, yet you review so much that I couldn't even say what the "new material" was in the last class.

You speak in abstracts, then say I don't explain enough in my papers.  You claim yourself as a revealer of higher education, yet you test me over the same things that I learned in 10th grade.

Where is the challenge?!?!?  Why am I here?!?!?!  Quit lecturing me on respect and accountability because until you learn to respect my intelligence, I don't think I will be able to fully respect you.  If you respect me, I will respect you; if you treat me like an uneducated fool, then I will play the part in your presence.  That isn't a threat; that is a fact.

Sincerely,

   Some kid from class

Screenplay Feature

I got published this week. :)

Read what I wrote here.

Picture

At about 11 pm my neighbor from down the hall came and knocked on my door.  She was tired, had had a long day and still had a lot to do.  Of course, I wanted to help if I could.

10 min later I am standing by the floor lamp with my tank top pushed up and my pants sitting low on my waist so that my neighbor can take a picture of my back for a project that she is working on for her portfolio.

She said the pictures were good, but I still think I look poofy in them.... Maybe I should get back to that whole running thing.

Tired but not sleeping

That simple saying seemed all too true today: 

Good grades,

Social life,

Sleep.

Pick one.

Welcome to college

I am trying to do too much this semester.  Class, work, clubs, friends, boyfriend, sleep... I'm pretty much a zombie right now, so I don't know why I'm writing except perhaps in some vain attempt to put off tomorrow for a little bit longer.  

Alas, I fear the inevitable is already on my doorstep as I run my fingers over the keyboard.  The new day sits outside the door, softly singing, "The moment's no more, it is time to meet the day."

Invader Zim

Today the unthinkable happened at work: 

Me: *wonder around trying to figure out what to do that doesn't involve alphabetizing*

Co-worker: What is that on your shirt?

Me: Hmm? Oh, that's Gir from Invader Zim.

Her: Who is Invader Zim?

Me: *pause* It used to come on Nick.  It is, pretty much, the random-est cartoon ever.  

Her: Like Spongebob?

Me:  Oh, far far random-er.

Her: *looks at me skeptically*

Upon further consideration Invader Zim is basically what you would get if you threw Seinfeld, Men in Black 2 and Batman Beyond in a blender.  The show has practically no plot line, lots of random alien stuff and a captivating art style.  

What more can I say about it?  I mean, besides that it is awesome.  In my experience, Invader Zim is to people who grew up in the 90s what Ghostbusters is to people who grew up in the 80s.  (And by growing up, I of course mean watched lots of television and became emotionally attached to the characters seen there.)  It is a cultural identifier.  Don't get me wrong, I love Ghostbusters, but Gir is my homeboy... errr... dog, robot, thing...

Oh, and my favorite quote of the day came from the computer lab assistant (who is a girl, since in this context it does matter):

"I love your shirt!  Give it to me now.  Take it off!"

Ha ha.  If she hadn't been joking then that would have been awkward.  

Career Placement Results

I took a career placement test today.  Here are the results.  They make me giggle.

Career Inventory Test Results Extroversion ||||||||||||||| 46% Emotional Stability ||||||||||||||| 50% Orderliness ||||||||||||||| 50% Altruism |||||||||||||||||| 60% Inquisitiveness |||||||||||||||||| 53% You are an Idealist, possible professions include - information-graphics designer, college professor, researcher, legal mediator, social worker, holistic health practitioner, occupational therapist, diversity manager, human resource development specialist, employment development specialist, minister/priest/rabbi, missionary, psychologist, writer

Take Free Career Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

Charlie the Unicorn

So, show of hands, who has seen Charlie the Unicorn?  (Uh huh, yeah, you might want to put your hand back down now before people start staring.)

So, just because Charlie is wonderful, it seemed appropriate that I do at least one blog on him and his friends.

Now on first glance Charlie the Unicorn is hilarious.  You have to feel sorry for Charlie, as you laugh at his misfortune.  

Upon a second glance though, there are some interesting underlying themes that didn't become entirely clear to me until after I watched the youtube live video.  It seems that Charlie the Unicorn has some elements of anti-communist propaganda in it that is reminiscent of Disney's cartoons when the US was at odds with Russia.  Just for giggles, lets consider the evidence for this idea:

1. Charlie's liver is taken by the community. (aka blue and pink)
2. Charlie's tv, game system and blanket are also taken by the community.
3. Group thought contributes greatly to the events that occur.
4. Charlie (if seen as symbolic of the US) is understandably wary of his friends with communist-like values (not unlike Russia and China), but finds himself on the bandwagon with them on the adventures anyway.  This could easily be compared to the way the US sometimes enacts policies similar to that of its larger "friends" that, while they have the country's self-interest in mind, ultimately lead to less then desirable circumstances.
5. In video 2, there is a hammer and a banana that look suspiciously similar to a certain country's former symbol.
6. In the youtube live video, pink and blue are wearing Soviet Russian hats, and the hats seem to freak Charlie out almost as much as any of the other strange events surrounding him.

And then there is the possibility that all of the videos were made purely for entertainment value....  That isn't as fun to analyze though, so I guess I'll stick with communist vs. democracy symbolism.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go put a banana in my ear.  (Oh, the Freudian comments... another day.)

Talking to the President

Tuesday night, Berry opened up to questions from its students about new dorm policies among other things.  

What the meeting came down to though was a form of free speech that is to often forgotten in this age of political apathy.  All students who went to the meeting got to voice their opinions and ask whatever questions they felt were appropriate.  There was no time limit.  No over-riding censorship (though a few comments by the administration were self-censored).  No topics barred.  It was wonderful.

Now lets just hope that the administration listens to what was said because if it doesn't then this great conversation means nothing.  The meeting would be nothing more then dumb show and noise.  A nice gesture, as they pick our pockets of whatever money we, the student body have left.

Campus Carrier

I got published.  Yeah!

To read my article, click here.

I also got most of this weekend's to do list done.  This is what I was attempting:

[X] Make a spread sheet for Executive Round Table attendees

[X] Watch sports dvd for photojournalism

[X] Write project proposal for visual communication

[  ] Print and fill out internship form

[X] Apply to Kennesaw

[X] Find a story to write about for the Carrier

[X] Water plant

[  ] Send Berry transcript to Kennesaw

[  ] Check out media outlets near Kennesaw

[X] Clean room

[  ] Check on summer course options at home

[X] Cut fingernails

[  ] Read 2 chapters in Irresistible Revolution

[X] Go to church

[X] Run

[X] Put away clothes

[X] Check e-mail for stray reservation for ERT

[X] Develop a good running plan for the week

So, most but not all.  I still have all week to get the rest done... well... besides the requirements of the new to do list that seem to spring up at random. :P  Oh, well.