ciao for now

As Christina said the time has come for us each to (in addition to AH) have our own separate blogs. Unfortunately my classes this term have been consuming all of my blogging time, so it's taken me a while to form mine. I hope you enjoy. I will write my first post tomorrow...hopefully.

Farewell Blogger

For a little more than a year, Ariel and I have been blogging together. The time has come, however, for us to go our separate ways, as far as blogging is concerned. We originally started blogging together because neither of us was sure we could maintain a blog of our own. Since then, we have both developed different blogging styles and habits and as we are in two different places, we now have different audiences.

I am not only leaving AH, but also blogger. I am moving to wordpress. I made this decision in response to some peer pressure, but also because wordpress had my name open as a URL and it was easier to blog from my phone. This is what my blog could have looked like if I stayed with blogger.

But I moved. My new blog is here.

I imagine that much of my posting will remain similar, but I am going to try incorporating more images from my cell phone as I can. Ariel and I will keep this blog as a place to share our exploits when the two of us are together. As much as I hate change, I am sad to leave AH, but the time has come.

I hope you all enjoy my new blog.

Summer movies

I watched Prince Caspian and Across the Universe yesterday.

Watch Narnia for an entertaining movie, but not because you love the books. Also, I thought the prince was a huge wimp.

I continue to be a fan of Eddie Izzard, who happened to be in both films. I liked Universe, but feel like I should watch it again before I decide how much.

Another week at Ferdinand's

Grossest thing someone ordered last week: a mint pineapple milkshake (I checked three times to make sure I heard the customer correctly.)

Best mistake of the week: a co-worker accidentally poured the raspberries in the blackberries. The mixture created a delicious milkshake.

My new favorite flavor: huckleberry (we also added watermelon to our milkshake flavors this week and it was quite popular)

In other news of the week, FFA arrived in town Wednesday night and took over the campus. Beginning Thursday at 11 a.m.ish, we had a line out the door until closing. On Friday, we had a line out the door from open to close. Some of the kiddies returned multiple times each day. That's how much there is to do in Pullman.

Bookstore Woes

There is a lovely used bookstore in downtown Pullman, perfect walking distance from my summer apartment, or so I discovered yesterday. I decided to head back this morning to do some purchasing instead of just browsing. I thought the store opened at 11 and arrived promptly at said time. The store actually opens at noon.

What to do in downtown Pullman on a Sunday morning during summer? I couldn't come up with anything, but I didn't want to walk back to my apartment and then back downtown again. I spent a good 20 minutes trying to write a post for the blog from my phone while sitting on a bench, but I failed. It would not work. I spent the rest of the time circling around the block with the bookstore over and over again. That's right, a half hour walking in circles.

And this is only week one of my summer in Pullman. O what joys future weeks must hold.

I'm glad to be returning to work tomorrow because I'll have something to do.

Summer work begins

I have just finished my third full day of work at Ferdinand's. I'm not sure this summer's work stories will be as quirky as those from last summer, but there is the occasional incident worth sharing.

Training Day
- I get to experiment making all the different drinks and ice cream dishes. When it comes time to practice banana splits, my supervisor told me banana, one scoop of ice cream, one topping, whipped cream, nuts and a cherry. I get to pick the flavors. I put raspberries on peppermint because then the topping and ice cream matched. It was gross. It sat in the break room all day and no one would eat it.

Days 1-3
- I put my apron on backward.
- I made an old man very sad when I told him I can only use shake base, not ice cream in his milkshake.
- I watched a child lick the glass front of the cheese cabinet. I had to clean the slobber off later.
- I couldn't watch as an old lady walked up to the doors after we had closed. Ferdinand's has a very strict closed at 4:30 rule. I imagine it looked very sad.
- An grumpy looking woman came in and ordered a banana split. She had a dark cloud overhead but I figured the split would cheer her up. I was wrong. Split in hand she was still grumpy. I wondered what kind of grumpy person wants a banana split. She came in the next day, but I hid in the back and let someone else serve her.

Day 4 begins tomorrow.

I leave work each day smelling of a strange mixture of Windex and ice cream. I do not have internet (or T.V.) in my summer apartment so blog posting will be occurring on days I stop by the newsroom.

Dork Day

Mine is today. Watch out.

Have you ever had a dork day? Mine are actually pretty frequent and usually pretty funny.

Go cry about it

Have you ever felt like you needed to have a good long cry, but couldn't because there's nothing to cry about? Maybe it's just a girl thing...maybe it's just an Ariel thing.

Always with the changes

We're almost done, done with the last issue of the semester. While waiting for my last stories as News editor to come in and avoiding my poli sci paper due tomorrow, I cheated and read the senior columns in jetset. Individually, none of them really got to me, but collectively, they made me feel sad. I know it's probably much harder on the seniors, since they're the ones actually leaving, but I too am sad to see them go.

I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm worried about being lost without their guidance. I'm scared about not being ready to fill the shoes they're leaving. And most of all, I'm concerned about how much I'm going to miss them. And worst of all, there's nothing I can do about it.

This is why I hate change.

Finally some summer plans

I'm staying in Pullman over the summer. After a month of not knowing what I was doing this summer, the decision was essentially made for me in two days. I called Ferdinand's to see if they had any job openings, they called me for an interview the following day, and yesterday they called and offered me the job.

It was either serving ice cream or going back to the plywood plant. While I think last summer's job was a valuable life experience, the idea of experiencing it again isn't entirely appealing.

So I'm staying here. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this turn of events, but it's how it's going to be. I've already found housing via subleasing from a fellow co-worker, thankfully. It will be hard not to see my family this summer. That's the biggest down side. I haven't seen them since spring break and with my youngest sister entering high school in the fall, I wish I could be there for her.

Things at home have been a little rough and I feel guilty for not being there to help. My father has accepted the new arrangement and is supportive as always.

I sign paperwork on Tuesday. My finals should be finished by then so I may start right away.

Who needs some funny quotes? You do.

I've got some good ones folks! Are you ready? Here we go.

Mom [in response to one of my dumb questions]: "Does a bear shit in the woods?"

Ali:"That frickin' hurt!"
Me:"What?"
Ali:"I kicked that cookie!"

Me [about my crush on "Hot Biology Guy"]: "It's about time it was with a real guy."

Ali [in response to me laughing at the above quotation]: "Shit I'm funny."

Ali: "It's either the $24 hat or the $12 in cash. So, basically I'm buying my own birthday present."

Me [in church]: "Mommy...I'm choking on Jesus!"

Father Dave: "Our mass has ended. Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord."
Church People: "Thanks be to God."
Me:"It's like we're thanking God for ending mass."
Mom: "I don't think that's the intent."

Bio Prof: "endoplasmic reticulums are fun but genomes are funner."

Bio Prof: "Cells are much smarter than that."
Me: "Yeah, I don't give my cells enough credit. Good work boys [cells]."

Bio Prof: "...Bubbling mud pot..." <--my new favorite insult

Maggie: "What happened here?"
Me: "Basically...I'm just a big fat dork."

Anth Prof: "We'll have a movie about chimpanzees, everything you ever wanted to know about chimpanzees. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll probably have to leave to go to the bathroom...I guarantee at least one but probably all three of those things will happen to you."

Lab Partner: "Where's your bump man?"

Anth Prof: "It's just...it's total bullshit."

Anth Prof: "So short people don't get any love basically."

Chem Prof: "I think I was making up crazy chemistry in my head."

Chem Prof: "water can be an acid and a base at the same time! WOAH huh?!"

Chem Prof: "Let me take a deep breath here...pheeeeew inner peace..."

Chem Prof: "Buffers are fuuuuuuuun!"

Something for my personal ad

Todd says:
you attract drama like nobody ive ever seen
Ariel says:
I KNOW!!!!!


Fair Warning.

Song of Day

"Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson

Ch-Ch-Changes

Have you ever felt desperate for a change (positive change) in your personal life? Maybe you're tired of being single (or not single), of being around the same few people day in and day out, of your hair, of your clothes, of your location, or all of the above.

When you get to this point what do you do? I usually just wait until the feeling passes. I'm not one to be impulsive. But some people can just go out and get a tattoo, or a piercing, or dye their hair, or pack up all their stuff and move across the country. There must be a way to induce change without going to any of those extremes. What is it?

Another series of fires

It is frustrating being a student journalist. This is something I've pointed out before. I mention it again because it continues to be true. Remember the fires in Pullman last November? I got an early morning phone call about the fire, skipped my first class, and spent the morning covering the fire with Lisa and Victor.

Last night, or early this morning if you prefer, I got a phone call from a photographer at 2 a.m. Apparently, a series of small fires had been set around campus. I got out of bed, don't even change out of my pajamas, and headed to the largest residence hall on campus, which had been evacuated. On the way I call Lisa and Victor and they head to campus to help.

I needed to find out what happened exactly, but the firefighters were busy. Unwilling to give up, I waited outside the residence hall until 3:30 to speak to the Fire Captain on the scene. I got my information, went back to the office, wrote an online story which went up at 4:11 a.m. and returned to my bed by 4:30. I spent the next hour lying awake trying to thaw from my exposure to the elements.

I share all this not to complain. Sure it was difficult, but breaking news is the kind of stuff journalists live for. I was simply disappointed because all my effort wasn't enough. I came into the office this morning at around 8:30 only to discover that an arrest in relation to the fires had been made. A couple hours sleep and we were already behind on the story again, and rather than updating the web version, I had to go to class. There was no skipping possibility this time.

Luckily, Lisa was able to work on the story all day. In the end, I think we made up for the late morning update, but I still wish we hadn't had the gap in our coverage. I ended up having to cancel my news meeting in the afternoon so I could go to the courthouse for the first court appearance of the suspects.

Lisa and I shared a byline for the November fire article and we'll share another in tomorrow's paper. Victor has also been on scene with us both times. He's great for moral support and is always a back up notetaker and helps edit online updates. Apparently we have become quite the reporting trio when it comes to arson coverage.

Your own personal ad

A couple days ago my friends jokingly made a personal ad for me on Craig's List. At first it was a little funny because I knew they weren't being serious, but after I read it I was a little disappointed. Even though I knew their description of me was only half serious I really hoped that the way they wrote me wasn't they way they actually saw me.

I was a little annoyed because I would never put any of the things they included on my person ad. Which led to this thought, "What would I put on my ad?" Then this, "What aspects of my personality would I want someone to respond to? I mean I can't put everything about myself on an ad, that would be like writing a book and would require too much explanation. What about me do I want men to be attracted to? What kind of men do I want to attract?"

Having never actually written a personal ad I spent a great deal of time thinking this over and still I only have a little bit of an idea of what I would say.

That's a man

Thanks to an excellent IB history series and a collection of political science courses at WSU, I consider myself fairly well versed in America's 20th Century history. But despite the many courses, somehow I have never learned very much about President Eisenhower. He was casually mentioned in two of my courses this semester and he piqued my interest. I'm looking at his 1952 campaign strategies for one of my final projects. He is quickly becoming my favorite president. Below are the passages that began my fascination.

The first that struck me:

"Upon first encounter," one observer noted, "the man instantly conveyed one quality – strength. ... There was one feature of his face impossible to ignore or to forget – the blue eyes of a force and intensity singularly deep, almost disturbing, above all commanding. ... Always they would speak of the moment and the mood: icy with anger, warm with satisfaction, sharp with concern, glazed with boredom. And always somehow – was it their eloquent explicitness of feeling? – they conveyed an image and a sense of strength."

Then this passage in a different book for a different course a couple days later:

Eisenhower was extremely confident of his own expertise compared to that of Dulles, a point he noted during an interview, commenting: "The fact remains that (Dulles) just knows more about foreign affairs than anybody I know. In fact, I'll be immodest and say that there's only one man I know who has seen more of the world and talked with more people and knows more than he does – and that's me."

And the most recent passage I like from a third book:

Eisenhower then told Brownell that he'd once met with Taft and assured him that he, Eisenhower, would not run for president in 1952 if Taft would support the internationalist view of NATO and the protection of Western Europe. Taft replied that, "in good conscience," he couldn't make such a deal. Eisenhower apparently did not know that as Taft left the meeting at the Pentagon, he told companions, "By God, that's a man."

Being perfectly honest, I think part of my fascination may come from the fact that I often find myself drawn to powerful, confident, blue-eyed males.

Portland Part Three

Sunday morning we returned to Pullman. The drive was long and Mother Nature apparently hates Washtucna. Snow/hail/sleet caused the car in front of us to spin off the road. Dan and Victor pushed the car back onto the road and the young driver followed behind us until the Colfax turn off. The rest of the highway 26 had similar bursts of awfulness followed by completely normal stretches.

We made it to Pullman in time for budget and worked to put out Monday's paper. After a couple hours at work, Pullman looked like it was December, not March.

I was going to take photos from my phone to document the trip, but I forgot. All I got was a photo of a dirty van at a rest stop, Victor driving, and a blurry train. I failed to get a photo of a sign for the town Rufus.

Portland Part Two

We woke up Saturday morning and Victor's adorable parents had prepared a breakfast spread for everyone. We returned to the conference, just missing the keynote speaker. Some of the sessions were good, others were boring and useless. One in particular, where the speaker and member of the audience bonded over having awful childhoods, was odd and uncomfortable. We spent the last session of the day sitting in the back of the room working on the Tony Bennett story. This post and this post were written during the session.

When the conference ended, the group of us sought food. While waiting to be seated, Mel and I went to the Nordstrom rack that was right across the street from the restaurant. We bought shoes, as did Dan, but they unfortunately gave him two right ones. Once fed, we returned to Victor's house and I tried to snuggle with his cat which would have none of it. But it adored Victor.

Portland Part One

One week ago today, a group of us at the Evergreen headed to Portland for the regional Society of Professional Journalists conference.

Part One: Friday

The journey began early in the morning with three staffers each in two cars. The drive was long and not particularly pleasant. I have nothing else to say about it.

The other car arrived at Victor's house (where we were staying) first. My driver got a bit lost and we arrived about a half an hour later. We changed our clothes and Brian hogged the iron. We then headed to the awards banquet. The Evergreen picked up seven awards, 3 for columns, 3 for photos, and one for breaking news reporting. Much my horror, The Daily from UW won best student newspaper.

Conference organizers tried to get the 30 people or so at the banquet to mingle, but we would have none of it. We left after the awards and walked to the mall so Melanie and I could take advantage of no sales tax. We both bought dresses. When the boys had enough, we returned to Victor's.

New Quarter

I'm back. Well, I never actually went anywhere, just home. Unfortunately our computer at home is beyond slow so writing one post takes hours. I'm back at school now and have started a new term. I am taking biology, chemistry, and biological anthropology. Yes, that also means I have three labs. Hopefully, when summer finally gets here I will still be alive and relatively sane.

I wanted to share with you a ridiculously cool video my biology professor showed us today. It was made by the crazy kids at Harvard and shows the inner happenings of a cell. Seriously rad.

More to come soon

Where have I been? Same old place, except for this weekend when I was in Portland, but I haven't felt like blogging lately. It's too bad because interesting things have occurred, like this and this.

I wrote a few blog posts out by hand during my classes, but then I never feel compelled to actually put them on my blog. I'd be better at keeping a diary than a blog, as Lisa pointed out, but that means little now.

Posts about Portland will be up shortly. I was going to put them up now, but just realized I forgot the notebook in my room. Photos from my phone will also be delayed because I hate technology and Bluetooth confuses me.

I'd hoped for a smile ...

Yesterday, I was elected to be The Daily Evergeen's editor-in-chief for fall 2008. The experience was surprising. I became more nervous than I thought I would be and I didn't feel at all like I thought I would when I heard I had won.

I thought long and hard about the decision to run. The paper has become my life. As I noted in my presentation, this past year I've spent more time in the newsroom than out of it. I ran for editor-in-chief because I believed it was the best thing I could do for the paper I care about so much.

More experience would always be nice, but I know myself well enough not to do something I'm not ready for. Reactions were not what I expected, but at the end of the day I'm looking forward to next fall.

I know I can do it, and not just because I have to. I wouldn't have run otherwise. I'm glad to be editor-in-chief. I've had great examples to learn from and I hope to be as successful as the editors before me.

Farewell Diamond

My father called this morning, when he knew I would still be sleeping, to tell me my cat died last night. I was relieved that she wasn't attacked or sick, but simply died in her sleep. She was a very old cat. I remember holding her when she was kitten and I was about 3. That made her 16 when she finally went to sleep and never woke up. She was a barn cat and an excellent mouser. I named her Diamond, because the way she had different colors of brown in her coat reminded me a scene from the Rescuers when a flashlight hits a diamond. It will be strange to feed the animals without her trailing after me.

On catching my attention

As News editor I get 20 to 50 e-mails a day, depending on the day of the week. I am annoyed by most of them and delete at least half. Others I flag to return to at a later time and the handful of useful ones I print and add to my clipboard.

Today I got a cute little card in my real mailbox about the College of Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition. "I guess I'll send a reporter to this," I said to Lisa. She in turn pointed out how this is a perfect example of contradictions in my character.

"If you had been e-mailed the same information, you would have deleted it," she said. "But because they sent an actual invitation, you're going to send a reporter."

This is true. Had it been an e-mail, I would have ignored it and the student body would never hear about the poster competition. But because the College of Sciences put in the extra effort to make me feel like they really wanted the Evergreen to be there, I'm more willing to comply with their request.

I should note that telling me in an e-mail that a story is VERY NEWSWORTHY does not count as putting in extra effort to catch my attention. When I receive 50 e-mails a day, if you want coverage your event better actually be newsworthy or you should do something to make me like you better. Cute cards are apparently effective, though nothing can make up for a story that has no relevance to our readers.

Snow in March

That's right. It's snowing.

I will post updates from spring break and my first week back after I get the bluetooth set up on my phone. The posts won't be complete without the photos I have stored there.

However, I had to share that it is snowing outside. It was nice enough this morning that Victor didn't wear a coat when he came to campus, but then, coming back with dinner from the newly opened dining center, we got snowflakes in our sandwiches.

Mother Nature has issues.

Song of the Day

"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones. They still got it.

Song of the Day

"TNT" by ACDC. Just get outta my way.




The guitar player is definitely on something.

Song of the Day

"Voodoo Child" by Jimi Hendrix. This isn't the best version of the song, but I love watching him play.

Life This Week

So much time and so little to do. Wait. Strike that. Reverse it.

Song of the Day

"Revolution" by the Beatles. Last night I watched Across the Universe for the first time. Now the songs are stuck in my head and I have a new appreciation for the music of the Beatles. I liked a few of their songs before and now like a couple more. I think that the actors in the movie did a better job with several of the songs. Aside from a couple of over the top phychedelic moments I recommend it.

Chance of a lifetime

Many of the players on the WSU basketball team are tall. One is particularly so. I have long desired to stand next to him to see just how tall he is. Lisa, her brother, and I went to watch basketball practice today. The last home game of the season is on Saturday and then the seniors will graduate. I mistakenly thought the very tall player was graduating, and the thought that I would never have the opportunity to ask again, gave me to courage to request a picture with him. Thankfully, Lisa takes her camera everywhere with her.


It made my day and I was so happy to get what I've wanted for some time. I couldn't stop smiling I was so pleased. I also got to shake hands with Tony Bennet.

Once I returned to the newsroom, I realized he is only a junior and not graduating. He did not correct me though, which was kind of him.

WSU Elections

We made it through ASWSU elections last night. It didn't feel as stressful as I remember last year being, but perhaps that was because I was on the other side of things. It may also have been because I was not as enraged by the results.

I know exactly how Jimmy felt as he sat at the computer frantically flipping through his notes. The ASWSU reporter, Alex, was surprising calm. Rikki and I both covered elections night last year. One year later, we're both in editor positions. It seems like a fast transition and it makes me nervous to think where I'll be another year from now.

I made it back to my room at around 11:20 p.m. and I discovered that the Elections Board did not call senators who won. A write-in candidate was stressing out in my suite and thought he'd have to wait until tomorrow to find out the results. I told him that he had won and said I was surprised no one had called him. "How were they supposed to get my number?" he asked.

I thought it was funny that people unfamiliar with tracking down contact information for individuals don't realize how usually, it's pretty easy.

Song of the Day

"Rock You Like A Hurricane" by Scorpions. NASCAR has started again and with it (like baseball season) comes great commercials. I give you one of the best ones so far. Starring Kasey Kahne, one of my favorite drivers.

"I think we're satisfied." Genius.

Journalism and College

Yesterday, I did something I haven't really be able to do in a while. I wrote an update to the fraternity in trouble story the Evergreen broke on Thursday.

In the middle of my day of reporting, making phone calls and waiting for people to return them, I had to go to COM 295 (the news writing class), where I was supposed to learn to do exactly what I was already doing. It was speech writing day, so I had to listen to a speaker for 30 minutes. All I could think about was how my time could be used much more beneficially elsewhere. I had my article for the class finished before the speaker was done talking. I waited for him to finish before I turned it in, but the prof still gave me a very skeptical look for being done so quickly. At the time, I didn't care. I had more important things to care about.

This is part of the difficulty of being a student journalist. We try to do everything any other newspaper would do, but we have to fit classes in each day also.

In the evening, I moderated The Daily Evergreen ASWSU Presidential Debate. Brian was the timer. Afterward, I had another rare experience. Someone interviewed me for his broadcast class. I didn't want to, but in the end, decided to help him out. It was weird to be on the other end of the questions.

Song of the Day

"Everybody" by the Backstreet Boys. Classic.



Why you ask? Because I can and because it's SWEET! This is my childhood. Gotta love those mad choreographed dance scenes!

Cereal diet continued

I had my breakfast dry this morning because I was running late. I tried it first yesterday morning. It didn't make the cereal taste more appetizing, but it did force me to eat the cereal more slowly.

Today's problem was that I tried to eat during my first class. I ended up giving up because I wasn't sure how loud my crunching was and I didn't want everyone listening to me eat. I know from experience how obnoxious that can be.

So far the diet has not really been difficult. Yes I'm hungry, but as I've mentioned, I can always eat fruit. The diet is really just more annoying. I don't hate eating a lot of cereal, I would just prefer other food.

I also feel no lighter.

Special K Day Three

Written at around 3 p.m. so tenses are odd.

I had my boring Original Special K breakfast. It doesn't taste good but it doesn't taste bad so it's not a problem to eat. I also still try to race the effects of the milk so I eat it rather quickly.

Due to classes and a trip to the clerk's office in Colfax, I don't get to eat anything again until 2 p.m. Cereal is not meant to tide you over that long. I was quite hungry and though the second meal of cereal helped somewhat, I don't expect its effects to be long lasting.

I still get to have a snack today so I imagine that will help get me to dinner.

Later

I made it to dinner without a snack, but because I was busy not because I wasn't hungry.

Special K Day Two

Original Special K is still not very tasty, but not too bad. I had an apple before lunch so I wasn't hungry during the morning. I forgot to bring milk to the office, so I had my second meal of cereal dry.

At 2:30 I was very hungry so I had my first snack of the day. Special K cereal snack bars do nothing to satisfy hunger.

I watched the clock until dinner time.

The lack of variety in the diet isn't that bad because I get to have as much fruit as I want. I've been eating apples and oranges. Unfortunately, I think I will run out in the next couple days and then I will just be hungry.

Getting Eachother

Have you ever thought about why you're good friends with someone? I've often wondered that about my being good friends with Christina and with my mother. They are my best friends, but why? The answer is simple. They get me and I get them. I rarely need to explain myself to either and vice versa.

It's not that we are similar, which my mother and I happen to be to a weird extent, but that we are different. I like to think that Christina and I complement each other. We balance our two personalities by overlapping them slightly. Someone once said that we "make at least 1.5 eccentric personalities." It's so true. I think all close friends are like that. We are each enough of our own person to be unique but when we come together it's like another mini-personality if you will.

I hope that made a little sense.

Trains

At OSU last year there were train tracks about 300 yards from my dorm. The train was loud. It came by frequently (several times a day) and blew it's horn the whole way through campus. Sometimes it would come at 6:30 AM sometimes 11:30 PM, those were rare times but did happen. At first the train was a nuisance, but then it grew on me. I liked waking up to it in the morning and falling asleep to it at night. I liked hearing it while I was watching a football game or studying outside. It was a comforting constant throughout my day.

There is also a train here. It is not so frequent. On my birthday it came through town. It was about 1:00 and we (my friends and I) had just laid down to sleep. I smiled as I laid there remembering the train from the previous year. The familiar sound lulled me to sleep and filled me with nostalgia.

The next morning at breakfast my friend asked if we had heard the train. I told her with a smile that I had. My other friend responded angrily and said that she as too. I was confused. I asked them why they were angry and they said because it had gone by three times in the night and had kept them awake. When I explained that I liked the sound and how it helped me fall asleep they didn't understand. I found it interesting that something that was such an annoyance to them was like a birthday present to me.

Rejection

I am rejecting winter. I'm sick of it and I'm pretending it doesn't exist anymore. When I told my father this he said "let me know how that works out for ya." Thus far, it's working. Thus far, it hasn't rained. Thus far, I've only been uncomfortably cold twice.

How am I rejecting winter? I'm cutting down my clothing layers from three to two and every morning I think about wearing flip flops. I've also started to wear t-shirts that are visible to others. I'm betting it rains tomorrow.

Song of the Day

"Could You Be Loved" by Bob Marley.

Special K Day One

I was excited about eating cereal for breakfast because as it was only the first day, the diet still seemed novel. The excitement wore off as soon as I add the 2/3 cup of skim milk to the cup of cereal. All the flakes instantly went limp. I hate soggy cereal with a passion so I shoved the cereal into my mouth by the heaping spoonful as quickly as I could before the flakes completely dissolved.

The first meal was Original Special K. It tasted like slightly soggy air. Lunch on day one was a bit better. I had Vanilla Almond flavor. These flakes had a sugar coating which acted as a better milk barrier.

The roof of my mouth is getting torn up from the frantic flake chewing.

After lunch snack, I have an apple.

2:30 p.m. I was hungry again so I had a snack bar. Snack bar disappoints. They crunched up a bunch of Special K flakes and held them together using a little bit of frosting on top. Couldn't they have put oats or granola in the bar or something else soft?

A real dinner came as a welcome relief. I ate pasta and broccoli.

A Question of Hue

My random thought for the day.

Pink is really just a light red, like a light green or light blue. Why does pink get its own designation as a new color and light shades of other colors do not? Not that I'm complaining. I like pink, but it seems curious to me. Also, why have I never noticed this before?

A Newsroom Experiment

For the entertainment section, MiX, the newsroom staff has decided we will each try "Fad diets" for a week. I have volunteered to try the Special K diet where I replace two meals a day with cereal and get to have a normal third meal. I am into day one, and hungry, but I suspect most of the hunger is probably in my head at this point.

My first complaint:

Part of the appeal of the Special K diet is that although you are eating cereal for two meals a day, there are a variety of cereal flavors. I do not like fruit in my cereal, so that eliminated many of the options for me, but I had high hopes for their Chocolatey Delight flavor. Unfortunately, it was not in the two stores I looked and I am now bitter about it. This means it'll be Original and Vanilla Almond for the next week. I was, however, able to find Chocolatey Delight Special K cereal bars. I get two snacks a day.

More complaints will follow in the coming week.

Other diets staffers are trying include a raw diet, a red, green, or white diet excluding food from countries with flags of those colors, and a grapefruit diet.

By the end of the week the staff is going to be very crabby.

Song of the Day

"American Girl" by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. This is my favorite song.

Happy Birthday!

It's Ariel's birthday today.

She's the best friend someone could have. Being separated for most of the year, we don't talk as much as we used to, but that never seems to matter. Friends are easy to find, but the same is not true of best friends. It might be a little corny to say, but thanks for being there Ariel. I'll do my best to return the favor.

Not a morning person

I am not skilled when it comes to technology. I am not a morning person. Thus, I am even less skilled with technology in the morning. I am even less of a morning person before coffee.

Now that these premises are established, the following story hopefully sounds a bit less mean.

When I came to the office before class this morning, a reporter was trying to get in. I unlocked the door and went to check my e-mail and drink my coffee. The reporter need to print something.

"The printer is not working," he said. "It cut off the page. Can you fix it?"

This reporter knows I do not do technology.

I gave him a blank look, which soon became a silent glare. He left my desk, which was my goal all along.

Don't worry though, the glare impact will not be long lasting. He'll be back soon enough.

Recent Thoughts and Things

Chemistry

"...they decided to shake the poop out of the milk." ~ prof. It grossed me out a little.

"Woods are pretty bad places for humans not just because of the vicious raccoons but there are dangerous chemicals in the air." I'm sorry but are you kidding me??!! I always thought the woods were good for you but if the air is worse in the woods than in the city then my whole life has been a lie.

I truly wonder how many times my chem. prof. has almost died. He's told so many stories...it's unbelievable he's made it this far.

For biology lab I had to collect a sample of dirt and bring it to the lab. Well I forgot and had to get it on the way to lab. I happened to have a plastic bag in my backpack. So I put the dirt in the bag and put the bag in my pocket. For some reason while I was sitting in chemistry with the bag of dirt in my pocket I found the situation hilarious. That was a bad story. I'm sorry.

This week we had a guest lecturer in chemistry. We were each given a sheet and asked to evaluate her presentation. Let me just say that debate has destroyed my ability to evaluate presentation givers. I've become way too critical. Everyone around me was giving her 5s (high rating), but I was giving her tons of feedback and rating her a bit lower than everyone else. Now that I think about it however, that might not be from attending all those debate meets but could just be my critical personality...

Math

"Don't worry. These are going to get trickier." ~instructor Andrew about trig problems. I was so worried.

"We're multiplying 3 things to get zero! Either 2 is zero...unlikely..." ~Andrew

Have you ever wanted to turn to someone and say "Dude, you're obnoxious"? I have.

I like the word "compose."

Biology

The word "parasite" gives me the shivers.

The word "fungus" is weird.

How did people figure out which mushrooms were okay to eat? Just trial and error? I hope not.

Did you know there is a thing called "mushroom prospecting"? It's true.

Me: "It's like, a peanut."
Friend: "That was deep."

Other

"Yay for fat girls!" ~ Davielle Taken out of context that sounds way worse than it actually was.

Song of the Day

"February Song," by Josh Groban. This song is beautifully confusing.

Best Presidents' Day by far

Over 800 miles in four days
In a wet and moldy car
With a friend I see every day
To visit a friend we haven't seen in a while

The CD player was annoying
Lisa read aloud from Unreasonable Behaviour
I tried to turn up her volume
It did not work

I had Irish cream
But not in coffee
To celebrate St. Paddy's Day
He is better than St. Valentine

After grilled cheese, we visited the ocean
Played in the waves and on the rocks
Then looked at Tom Cruise while eating burritos
Before learning where the blood will be

We ate ice cream at Billy's
And felt like small children
But we beat Oregon
And later mocked a stupid truck

I visited home
To de-mold my car
So my friends could visit my farm
Where a goat skull greeted us

Later there were guns and a goose
Thumbless emus and a green egg
We visited the bone yard
My father offered Jacob a cow pelvis

We began our return early
Got giant pancakes at The Rusty Tractor
Lisa took someone's drink (by accident)
Adventure over, we made it back in time for work

Song of the Day

"Here Comes The Sun," by The Beatles. This is one of the few Beatles songs I like. It's quite fitting for today. Go play outside.

Song of the Day

"Drive" by the Cars. Because I'm driving home...tonight. The girl in this video has issues. I'm sorry.

Song of the Day

I wanted to do something in honor of Valentine's Day. This is the best I could do without being corny. "Whole Lotta Love," by Led Zeppelin.

Different Valentine

My Valentine this year goes out to Les Schwab, for coming and bringing my car back to life and not getting mad when I turned it off, right after they jumped it. Thanks to them, I can now travel home for the three day weekend. Their customer service is amazing and I applaud them.

Song of the Day

"These Dreams" by Heart. In honor of the many I had last night.

Dream Marathon

Last night I had about 5 dreams all rolled into one. I'll give you a quick summary.

Dream 1) I was on a school bus with all my friends and we drove past Josh Groban who was walking along the side of the road. I pulled down the window and told him happy birthday.

Dream 2) It was my birthday and all of my friends from the clinic and elementary school were there. Mom, my friend, and I drank champagne.

Dream 3) I was in a restaurant and some people were smoking next to me and the people I was with. They kept blowing their smoke in my face so I stood up and challenged the "leader." He yelled some profanities at me and blew more smoke in my face so I beat him up. Then a bar fight erupted. My group won.

Dream 4) It was Bear Festival. I was walking around McCleary and seeing all of my elementary school friends.

I know there were more, but those are the ones I remember.

I know I had the first one because I was talking about that guy yesterday. I also chatted with an old friend from McCleary last night so that could explain the Bear Festival and birthday dreams. My birthday is coming up so that could also explain my birthday dream. The fighting dream however, I have no idea. This is the second one in a week. Well the first one I didn't physically fight anyone but I did use some offensive language.

Pause

If life can't have an undo button, then I think a pause button would also be useful.

It would be nice to once in a while pause life and take the day off. This may in fact sound just like taking a day off, but the problem with vacations and weekends, is that life continues to move forward while you are relaxing. You have to do a lot of catching up once you return. With a pause button, you could actually escape your worries for a time. You could take a moment and collect your thoughts without neglecting any other duties and obligations. That'd be nice.

Song of the Day

"The Way I Am" by Ingrid Michaelson. This is the song from the Old Navy sweater commercial and it always gets stuck in my head. I like it. It's got a need little melody.

That Josh Groban Guy...

There's a guy who goes to school here who looks just like Josh Groban. I see him all the time and he intrigues me, naturally. I wonder if anyone has told him he looks like Josh. My friend and I were walking into the library today and he walked past. I always feel like I stare at him when I see him, but he never looks back so I'm safe. Anyway, my friend said "Wow, that guy looks like Josh Groban!" I explained to her that I often see him and think the exact same thing. I really want to say something the next time I see him, but don't want to come off as a creeper/stalker.

Recent Decisions

I've decided that because I should write a song of the day. After I start my rock 'n' roll career.

I've decided that I have really good problem solving skills and that's why I do so well in math. So, I'm going to start applying those skills to chemistry and thinking about the whole class the same way I do math class. If I change the way I view the class maybe it'll change how ell I do in the class. Perhaps this way I'll do better.

This isn't really a decision, but more of a person observation. I tend to forget the 'e' at the end of "change" and I tend to add and 'e' to the end of "both." Isn't that weird?

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

My chemistry professor looks just like Mr.Rogers. He talks similarly, he wears the sweaters, it's weird. However, based on the strange stories he's told us about the chemistry experiments he's done I would definitely not want to be his neighbor. Here's a story to better illustrate my point.

He used live in Colorado and his drive way would freeze in the winter making it impossible to drive on. So, he decided that the logical way to get rid of the ice would be to pour gasoline on it and set it on fire because gas burns and fire is hot thus the ice would melt. Well, he lit his drive way on fire but the ice didn't melt. Know why? Because heat goes up not down. Apparently it was cool though. I'm sure, but I still don't want to be his neighbor.

Song of the Day

"Anticipation" by Carly Simon. I'm going home on Friday and I can't wait. The anticipation is making me CRAZY! The anticipation of my upcoming chemistry exam is also making me crazy, not to mention the anticipation of the sunny weather that seems to be taking its sweet ol' time getting here. Perfect song for today, for my life basically.

Sorry about the psychedelic colors. It's the only good one I could find.

This Week's Quotables

Quote of the day: "I can basically kill one bird with two stones...I'm bad at aiming." ~Jacquie

"I'm getting off on a bit of a tangent." ~Math prof. We were talking about sine, cosine, and...

"but nobody does long division anymore! We've got calculators!" ~ Math prof.

"This is just saying 'Hi I'm theta - pi/2. What's my x-coordinate?'" ~Math prof.

Note to teachers: Don't try to be tricky on tests and exams. Unless the trickiness was discussed in class it's just not cool.

Chem Prof: "You usually have a lot of solutes. So my breath has-"
Student: "Ew."
Prof: "I understand that."

"Dog comes by and licks it [antifreeze] he'll be dead. Cat comes by...that's all right. We'll forget about that." ~Chem. Prof.

"The senility in old folks, kinda like what you're seeing in me, is not natural. It's from lead." ~Chem. Prof.

"I have so many stupid stories I wish we could have a class on stupid chemistry stories." ~Chem. Prof.

"All I can do is apologize and laugh when you miss it on a test!" ~Chem. Prof.

I think it's interesting that whenever my professor says the word "alcohol" in lecture at least two guys laugh.

It bugs me that my chemistry professor says "all-gebra" instead of algebra and "molecliar" instead of molecular. It bugs me a lot.

During biology lecture my professor was talking about autosomes and I started thinking about autobots. Nerd.

There's no such thing as a stupid question unless you're the kid who sits a few seats down from me in biology. And boy can he come up with 'um.

"They're largely small...no that doesn't make sense..." ~Bio Prof.

My teacher said tertiary during lecture and I thought of Seven of Nine (Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero-One'). Nerd. Again. I'm sorry. It just happens.

Me: "I'm definitely a hybrid. I'm in flannel jammies so there's the inner redneck...I'm wearing two hemp bracelets so there's the inner wanna be surfer...I'm wearing black nail polish so there's the wanna be rock chick...I've got my chemistry book open in front of me so there's the inner nerd...and I've got my cross on so there's my inner church girl...I think I'm just confused."
Mom: "I'd say so."

Undo! Undo!

I think the Staples commercials with the Easy button are stupid, but I've decided life would be much improved if people had Undo buttons. Like the use in word documents, you'd only be able to undo so far back into the future, but at least if you made a mistake and immediately realized it, you could undo and try again. The world would be better for it.

... as long as it wasn't used for evil, as most useful things seem to be destined for.

Song of the Day

"E O Mai" by Keali'i Reichel.

Superior Footing

Campus pathways are icy. Slipping and falling is common. I have fallen once. Today, as I was walking from class to the newsroom, I was behind a guy wearing tennis shoes. He started slipping as he tried to walk up the hill and couldn't catch his footing. He slipped down and had to choose a different path. I walked up where he couldn't in my hiking boots and it made me happy to know my footwear was superior. I felt like I had triumphed.

I've decided this story illustrates a not so pleasant aspect of my character.

October Tragedy

My original intention for posting was to write about the very strange dreams I have been having of late. However, just before I posted, I went through my daily ritual of checking the state's top newspaper headlines and discovered some shocking news.

In October, a woman died at the plywood plant where I worked over the summer. I learned this now because the plant was fined $3,850 by the Department of Labor and Industries. When I saw the headline, I wondered if it was the same plant, but didn't think it could be. I'm not familiar with the area where the accident happened, but I know where I worked in the plant, safety was always stressed as the highest priority, often annoyingly so. Accidents like this just go to show you why.

My condolences are a bit late now, but I wish her family and co-workers the best as they struggle to overcome this tragedy.

Courage

Courage is a funny thing. It's there when you least expect it but when you want it, it's impossible to find. There are times when I feel brave enough to polca across red square and times when I'm brave enough to answer a professor's question in front of the whole class. What about when I'm not brave? What happens to me? I feel like I disappear or become someone else watching my life. What gives one courage? What gives one fear?

There's a quote from a Josh Groban song that is "someone I am is waiting for my courage." How long will I let myself wait? When will I finally just jump into the water knowing full well that I can swim? How will it feel? Will I be satisified or will I be slapped down? It's the not knowing that gives me fear. The possibility of failure.

"Jump!" I tell myself. Then I reply "I don't think I can."

Song of the Day

"Feel So Bad" by Elvis Presley. "Feels like a ball game on a rainy day..." Sorry, I don't usually post the slide show ones, but I don't own the song and this was the only decent video.

Snow Day 2

Campus will be closed tomorrow too and this time I won't have to work. I actually did fit in a little bit of play time today though.

Snow Day

We have yet to determine when was the last time the university cancelled classes, but it was at least a decade ago. All week was spent trudging through snow but today it finally became too much. Campus was closed at 10 a.m. The newsroom is currently staffed by five, those of us who could make it in. The rest of the staff is covering their respective locations however so it's like we have mini bureaus. I don't know if I'll have any time to play in the snow, but at least I don't have to go to class.

Song of the Day

For Clinton and Kyndra, to educate you.

"Centerfield" by John Fogerty. I love this song. I makes me want to play ball so bad. Anyone want to play catch?

Song of the Day

"Over My Head (Cable Car)" by The Fray.

Internal Conflict

This is why I do so poorly in chemistry.

Me1: "Okay time to study!"
Me2: "Gimme a sec."
Me1: "No. Come on."
Me2: "Just let me check my Facebook really quick."
Me1: "Okay, really quick."
Me2: "Oh, and I need to write a blog post."
Me1: "We're going to fail."
Me2: "Would that really be so bad?"
Me1: "What? Failing? YES!"
Me2: "Oh look! A new email! I should check that. It could be important."
Me1: "*sigh* Fine."
Me2: "Spam."
Me1: "Study, study, study, study!"
Me2: "Let me go warm up some coffee first!"
Me1: "Oh! I love cof- NO! YOU ALREADY HAVE COFFEE!"
Me2: "Crap. Fine. Where's my book?"

note: this conversation didn't actually take place.

First Set of Winter Quotations

My math teacher has been great so far for good quotes.

"This is the meat of the set notation sandwich, you just need to put the buns on there right?"

"What's another way to say born? Birds aren't born..."

"Does the wingspan go on forever? I hope not, that would be like a scary Alfred Hitchcock movie."

"IT'S LIKE MAGIC! Math magic..."

"Wait a second...that can't be right...I must have plugged something into my calculator wrong...ohhhhh that's embarrassing..."

"Oh boy! Look at all of these solutions!"

"This is kind of a guess-what's-in-my-head kind of question."

This guy get so enthusiastic about what he's teaching us. One time it was so bad I said (to myself and the people near me) "My. God. This is blowing my mind." I got a couple chuckles.

My chemistry professor isn't nearly as funny as last term, but he has some really good stories that he likes to share. I managed to get a couple of quotes.
Prof.:"There are three phases (i.e. liquid, sold, gas)...well actually four but we won't talk about that."
Me:"WHAT?! Everything I ever learned about science is wrong!"

"Gotta be careful about putting yourself in a a vacuum."

He also tends to say "all-gebra" instead of algebra, and molecliar instead of molecular. It bugs me.

There have been quite a few good quotes in my biology class but I'm always too shocked to write them down. They're not from the professor, they're from this obnoxious kid that like to ask the most bazaar questions. Not only are the questions odd, but he takes forever to actually get to the question. That too bugs me. Here is the only question I managed to write down.

Kid: "Do you think reptiles will ever fly again?" (There was a picture of a turtle on the overhead. That's the only connection I could find.)
Prof.: "I doubt it."

I'll try to write them down from now on. They're crazy.

Troubles With Anecdotes

Everyone loves a good story but what everyone loves more is an anecdote, good or bad. Not only do I love hearing anecdotes (especially from relatives), but I love telling them too. They add sometime special to a conversation (i.e. comedic relief). My problem is that I forget my best ones when I have the perfect situation in which to tell them. When I finally remember the short story I'm usually in a different location with a different group of people, so telling my story is pointless. Sometimes I'll tell it anyway just to get it out of my system. I would provide an example, but naturally I can't think of one. It's interesting that I'm so fond of something I have trouble properly executing. And still I try.

Song of the Day

"Leather and Lace" by Stevie Nicks and Don Henley. I couldn't find a video of the duet, but here is one of just Stevie. This song is dedicated to my parents. For some reason it brings tears to my eyes...yup here they come...

Calm and Peace

I was hanging out with friends over the weekend and talk turned to the topic of yoga.

"Do you think you'd like yoga," I was asked.

"No, I'm not a very peaceful person," I replied.

I meant to say I'm not a very calm person. I'm just a little bit high strung. You would think yoga would be good for me and help me relax, but I think my frustration at trying to relax would cancel out any of the good. I can't turn my mind off to go to sleep. I doubt I could do it for yoga.

Tale of the Tudors

Winter Break Post 3 - sometime over break

As I was tucking my youngest sister into bed last night, she asked me if I had heard of the book, The Other Boleyn Girl. I said of course I had. It’s a book involving King Henry VIII. “Did you know they’re making a movie from it,” she asked. That bit of information I did not know.

I have had a fascination with King Henry VIII since middle school. One of my expository speeches during high school was on him and his wives. I wrote a 14 page paper on his second and my favorite of his wives, Anne Boleyn, during my senior year. Last year I wrote an 18 page paper interpreting Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale as the story of Anne Boleyn. Over the years I’ve continued to learn more about Henry and his wives as I find his story to be an intriguing one.

I have mixed feelings about the author Philippa Gregory. I was excited to read a book set during the Tudor period of England. She seemed to find Henry’s story just as interesting as I did. I enjoy her books. On the other hand, I feel like she beat me to the punch. I doubt that when I grew older I would have written books about Henry VIII, but it was a daydream I had more than once in my years. Now if I did it, I would feel like I was just copying her. Similarly, I’m excited for the movie, because I did like that book, but I also think I’ll be a little bitter about it.

I didn’t think I was the only one in the world who knew about King Henry VIII, but I knew more about him than anyone else I knew. It was an interest that made me unique. Now, with the popularity of her books and possibly the movie, more people will be familiar with the tale and my knowledge on the subject will no longer make me stand out.

I will continue to read her books and I plan on seeing the movie, but I want it known, for the record, that I liked and knew about King Henry and his wives before they became popular entertainment.

This Commercial Makes Me Sick, Sick, Sick

I drew a picture on my white board of Mr. Yuk. The picture was placed under "I HATE CHEMISTRY." Then I decided to research Mr.Yuk. Here is what I found (among other things).

The Man on the Bus

The man on the bus was asleep.
I didn't know he was asleep.
Then he started to snore.
His arm was wrapped around the back of the seat.
He did not want to fall.
He snored again.
The bus when over a bump.
Still he slept.
"Buchanan Towers," the bus driver said.
The man woke up.
He looked around.
Went back to sleep.
"Seahome High," the bus driver said.
The man woke up.
He looked around.
He grabbed his sack.
Full of prescription pills.
He tried to put his arm back behind.
He touched me.
It scared him.
It scared me.
"Oh, sorry," said the man.
I nodded.
"Birnam Wood," said the bus driver.
The man went back to sleep.
I got off the bus.

Midnight Trivia and Song of the Day

At a quarter to 12:00 last night I received a text message from one of my friends. The text read "What Disney movie is the song a dream is a wish your heart makes". My reply "Cinderella." Next message received "When does she sing it". "In the beginning. When she wakes up to the clock." Then I wrote "Any more questions (I wanted to go back to sleep)? I'm glad I'm your go-to Disney guide." The response: "Lol no thank you...I'll facebook you an explanation." I'm still awaiting an explanation, but it makes me happy that my extensive knowledge of Classic Disney movies is useful to somebody.

Song of the Day

"Imagine" by John Lennon. It's not as good as the original, but Josh Groban recorded a version for "Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur." It's nice. And for charity.
This song makes me a little sad. I'm not sure why.

Schnitzel and Song of the Day

I went out to dinner with my father again last night. We drove to a little German restaurant in Everson. It was called Black Forest Schnitzel and Steakhouse. If you're ever on your way to Canada and need some food go here. You can sit and watch the chef prepare the meat through a window in the dining room. The food was AMAZING! In fact, I can't wait to get back to my room and heat it back up! The red cabbage was sweet and delicious, and the schnitzel makes my mouth water just thinking about it. It was stuffed with blue cheese and ham and the smokey goodness was beyond delicious.

This new exposure to the food of my family has inspired me to make the song of the day...
"Wooden Heart" by Elvis Presley.