Thats Really Saying Something

Last Post

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 16:59:25 -0400

Wow its definitely been a crazy year, but also in some ways probably the best of my time at the UofL. There have been very few classes that I can say I will have learned something and will keep that information on hand for a very long time because I feel like it will apply to the real world….. my tops this year being; social cognition, sex and gender diversity, sociology of digital culture and society, and loss grief and bereavement. These classes, and profs have made my fourth year a pretty darn good one.

What I want to do with my life has changed a lot in the past two years… it went from a definite plan that I set out in high school for myself to an evolved plan because I don’t want the same thing I did when I was 18. I want to go into social work or counseling, I want to help others, live in a cute apartment and get a cat that is the cutest thing ever. Those are some things that I want….. and even that has changed a bit.

I had dinner with my friend the other night and she was telling me about this program called SWAP, you get to go and work abroad for a year and get to pick from a number of different places all over the world.

So after initially being like “i could never do that, I have to stick with a plan” last night I seriously looked into it and I want to go and teach in Thailand for ten months! I want to experience a new culture… someplace where new with different values and a different part of the world to see. This messes with my only take 1-2 years off plan, but I no longer care. If i take 3 years off then go do my masters I will still have a career by the age of 27, that’s not bad at all.

So I think the best thing I have learned in 4 years is that life will take you where ever you want….. I don’t need a 10 year plan… Im still young and I want to get more life experience before settling into the monotony that will eventually come with a full time career. So finishing my undergrad isn’t the end of something, its really just the beginning and I could not be more excited.

Just Keep Swimming

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 16:11:48 -0400

So there are two weeks left of hell… and then I am officially done my undergrad (THANK GOD). I have learned a lot in my time here; how to be away from home, how to live on my own, how to be responsible for myself, how to be successful and all that good stuff.

This semester was by no means easy but I guess I quickly want to say that digital culture (class) has added to my university career as a whole. It is not often that profs force us to read actual books that will be relevant to us in the future, I have a ton of text books from previous years that are currently supporting my bed so it doesn’t squeak anymore, and thats about all I can see them being used for in the future. But I think a book like Shirky’s and Kelly’s for that matter project a future that takes us to new heights. I have already recommended that my friend who is in communications read both books because they are not only informative but they make you think past where and what we have today.

My older sister just moved to Spain to do her Masters in architecture and she can’t use a phone over there, so we have to rely on things like skype, facebook and she has a blog as well. And all of those things work great, I especially love skype, but I’m also super excited to see what comes in the next 5-10 years for virtual communication. Its nice that this class has even “taught” me to think ahead with some renewed excitement.

Hahaha I’m writing a paper right now and I thought this...

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 15:55:57 -0400

Hahaha I’m writing a paper right now and I thought this was too cute

Hahaha my roommate and I went to shoppers for some study/dinner...

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 21:47:42 -0400

Hahaha my roommate and I went to shoppers for some study/dinner food, she bought this garlic bread and it reads;

Origin of Garlic;

“Garlic has been a prized ingredient for thousands of years. Ancient citizens used garlic for many reason including its ability to ward of vampires.”

Working Like a Dog

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 23:14:21 -0400

Holy crap march is over. I have no idea where it went, the only number I keep thinking about is #8. That is how many days of classes I have left in my undergraduate degree (YAAY!) I seriously wonder why I want to do a masters degree after this craziness. Other than the stress of school, I’ve finally come to some life decisions after this weekend when I had a small meltdown.

So this list is now on the whiteboard beside my bed just in case of future panic attacks:

1. I don’t need a job directly after school is over (can take a week or two to myself)

2. If my final grades suck, upgrading is possible (although not preferred)

3. If I decide lethbridge isn’t the place for me, I can move (home or somewhere else).

4. I can take more than one year off before grad school, there are no set deadlines

5. I can choose to do what I want in my life, nothing is set in stone

Lists are awesome and calming, feel stressed? DO IT.

I guess I didn’t realize cheetahs were this nimble…

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 17:17:23 -0400

I guess I didn’t realize cheetahs were this nimble…

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12852237 Oh my gosh, another earth quake, it was in...

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:35:21 -0400

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12852237

Oh my gosh, another earth quake, it was in Burma :(

Always a Competition

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 00:47:00 -0400

I was talking to my twin sister on the phone today and she told me she was thinking about getting a new phone because her pink samsung was on the fritz after three years… so I was like alright that sounds good, my keebo is doing me just fine, its durable (because I drop it all the time) and I’ve only had it two years. At this point in time I was not jealous because it was hypothetical, but sure enough I called her back about 2 hours ago and she got a new phone! I guess its an HTC desire… not that I know what that means but for 30 bucks she got the phone and a hot pink skin for it. Sooo I am officially jealous.

(mine)

VS.

(hers)

It usually happens that her phone plan is up about a year before mine so she ends up getting a cool new brand of technology and I always feel like I’m carrying around something from the dark ages (even though realistically I’m not) IT DRIVES ME MENTAL. I think its partially due to that urge for new technology, the latest version of such and such…. but mostly I think its the twin competition thing. For our whole lives we have had to share everything; womb, room, clothes, friends, birthday parties, and we have pretty much always had the same ‘stuff’ to be “fair”.

That’s probably where a good chunk of the jealousy over the phone thing comes into play…… BUT this time I am going to stand my ground a) because I’m broke b) because I have a perfectly good working phone. The funniest part about the whole situation is that even though my phone is an older model…… at least I know how to use it….

She has NO IDEA how to use hers :)

#Bp

Thanks Stumbleupon

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:32:43 -0400

How to write a paper in college/university:

1. Sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a well lit place in front of your computer.

2. Log onto MSN and ICQ (be sure to go on away!). Check your email.

3. Read over the assignment carefully, to make certain you understand it.

4. Walk down to the vending machines and buy some chocolate to help you concentrate.

5. Check your email.

6. Call up a friend and ask if he/she wants to go to grab a coffee. Just to get settled down and ready to work.

7. When you get back to your room, sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a clean, well lit place.

8. Read over the assignment again to make absolutely certain you understand it.

9. Check your email.

10. You know, you haven’t written to that kid you met at camp since fourth grade. You’d better write that letter now and get it out of the way so you can concentrate.

11. Look at your teeth in the bathroom mirror.

12. Grab some mp3z off of kazaa.

13. Check your email. ANY OF THIS SOUND FAMILIAR YET?!

14. MSN chat with one of your friends about the future. (ie summer plans).

15. Check your email.

16. Listen to your new mp3z and download some more.

17. Phone your friend on the other floor and ask if she’s started writing yet. Exchange derogatory emarks about your prof, the
course, the college, the world at large.

18. Walk to the store and buy a pack of gum. You’ve probably run out.

19. While you’ve got the gum you may as well buy a magazine and read it.

20. Check your email.

21. Check the newspaper listings to make sure you aren’t missing something truly worthwhile on TV.

22. Play some solitare (or age of legends!).

23. Check out bored.com.

24. Wash your hands.

25. Call up a friend to see how much they have done, probably haven’t started either.

26. Look through your housemate’s book of pictures from home. Ask who everyone is.

27. Sit down and do some serious thinking about your plans for the future.

28. Check to see if bored.com has been updated yet.

29. Check your email and listen to your new mp3z.

30. You should be rebooting by now, assuming that windows is crashing on schedule.

31. Read over the assignment one more time, just for heck of it.

32. Scoot your chair across the room to the window and watch the sunrise.

33. Lie face down on the floor and moan.

34. Punch the wall and break something.

35. Check your email.

36. Mumble obscenities.

37. 5am - start hacking on the paper without stopping. 6am -paper is finished.

38. Complain to everyone that you didn’t get any sleep because you had to write that stupid paper.

39. Go to class, hand in paper, and leave right away so you can take a nap.

Dear god I want to do something like this to my roommates...

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:21:44 -0400

Dear god I want to do something like this to my roommates sometimes, either because they piss me off or because it would just be really funny. For instance my roommate does not have a concept of actually cleaning up after herself, especially in the kitchen which drives me mental but I’m not sure what buttering the floor would teach her…… plus I would have to clean it up.

Irish Night Life

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 22:50:28 -0400

Last night after class I was up pretty late studying (according to my friends I was being lame and not celebrating my heritage) and so I decided to make my own fun while catching up on the linguistics that I have put off for two weeks. Here’s how:

First step:

-leave my bedroom as there are too many distracting wonderful things in there (computer, cell phone, pictures on the wall, a window to stare out)

Second step:

- overtake the kitchen table with the dreaded work ahead

Third step:

- Turn the tunes on low and find some ambient lighting to set the “mood” (In this case my roommates lava lamp that lives in the kitchen that I have NEVER seen plugged in)

fourth step:

- make some hot chocolate and get down to work!!!

*This four step system seems like it would work perfectly, however when you start at 10pm you get tired faster

So I got about halfway through the work I needed to do and I think it was a solid start, although I hoped I could be heading to bed with a finished product. It wasn’t as painful just sitting down and pounding out some work as I thought it would be, but I guess it never is… starting is usually the hardest part. Paul was definitely right about not only ritualizing reading, but also homework in general. This system has been working for me for the last couple of weeks, and honestly who can say that lava lamps don’t make homework fun?! It was about 1:00 am when I rolled into my room to find that my bed (with brand new sheets since the cat scratched holes in the last set) had not been neglected while I was gone……….

At least someone had the best St.Patty’s day ever :)

here it is!

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 18:59:02 -0400

here it is!

High on grades

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 18:58:40 -0400

So today was awesome! (and by today I mean the last 2 hours or so) I finally started doing well on tests and stuff and I got an A- on my psych test. I am particularly proud because I actually studied and read all the articles and watched all the movies that were on the test. In the past I have done a half ass job of studying and have been rewarded for my laziness with pretty good grades so its nice that I can do even better when I try (who knew?). Anyway I wanted to scream from the rooftops today, so this is my rooftop.

Also I found this ridiculous video, I think it is hilarious. (adding it right after this because I still haven’t figured out how to put videos in a text post….)

Believing

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 03:16:00 -0400

Well after a really nice weekend (weather wise) I almost feel like I have a renewed hope about life. Winter time seems to suck some of the life out of me for some reason but this weekend I finally felt like there was an end in sight, and a I had a new energy to actually kick some serious butt in the next 5 weeks. I went for a walk both yesterday and today, went about 2 km and tomorrow I’m going to bump it up to 3 km.

The reason why I have to get my “walk on” is because I am doing the walk for MS on April.16th and I’m hoping to do the 10km walk for my dad. About 7 years ago he was diagnosed with primary progressive MS (multiple sclerosis) and it has definitely affected the lives of my family since. There is no ‘cure’ for MS and I’m really hoping one day there will be. My dad has tried so many experimental treatments in the last few years; chemotherapy, pure oxygen chambers, drug trials but up until about 2 years ago all the doctors could offer was pain medication to keep him comfortable. My dad finally got in touch with some doctors in Israel who were doing stem cell treatment and seeing as this was really one of his last options of slowing the disease he took it. He was gone for about 3 months, he went to Israel where some of his cells were removed and cleaned, he waited around in Europe for a bit and then he went to Greece to get the new stem cells injected. After an initial scare from a poor reaction I am so proud to say that he is still walking today. The doctors in Israel said that he had a 5 star recovery; meaning that the progression had stopped and some of his symptoms were actually reduced which does not happen in that many cases so he was very lucky. Anyway I guess the whole point of the story is that my dad did find a treatment (crazy expensive) that gave him more time with his family, 2 years ago they said he would be in a wheel chair within 12-14 months and he’s not. Stem cells aren’t seen as a cure because they cannot reverse damage however sometimes they can alleviate some of the symptoms for a period of time. That is why this walk is so important… because ultimately the outcome of MS is the same, and if by raising money I can help find a cure I will do it.

So here’s the pitch I guess, if anyone wants to sponsor our team (True Believers) I can send you the information, of if anyone wants to participate in the walk you can go to mswalks.ca and check it out. Hopefully I’m not over sharing but this is a great cause and this weekend got me pumped for the walk!

#Bp

Doing Me

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 23:43:26 -0500

Just finished class for the night, some of the things Paul said about our Tumblr’s really stuck out. Its about showing a part of myself, what I want and what I am interested in. I feel like I haven’t lived up to that. I don’t like sharing a lot about myself so this has been a very different project. So a few updates:

-got a new theme for the page! the other one apparently lacked organization and took away from the cohesiveness of the blog, so I found another one that still has a lime green background and hopefully shows my usual level of organization.

-I appreciate blogs with cool pictures and what not but if I have what I think is an awesome story I will write my heart out, not short novels or anything

- bottom line I’m going to continue and enhance “doing me” on tumblr

ALSO I decided I’m going to do 5 quick facts about me on a weekly basis:

1. I have a twin sister, she is going to university in St.Johns for political science

2. My favorite colour is lime green

3.This year I worked with Lethbridge Family Services working with people with disabilities

4. I am a neat freak about kitchens

5. My other sister is only older by 13 months and is going to spain in a month to do a masters in architecture (I’m very proud)

This has happened to me a few times where I will think someone...

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 17:06:18 -0500

This has happened to me a few times where I will think someone is talking to me and they DEFINITELY are not haha. The most embarrassing is when you give them a long winded speech back, they don’t hear you, you repeat yourself and then when they finally realize you are talking to them they give you a dirty glare.

The good OL' days

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 19:35:00 -0500

So since I missed a few weeks of school I also missed watching a movie for one of my psych classes. I was so stressed about missing it but my TA was more than willing to help me out considering my circumstances which was awesome but ANYWAY….

before I found out she was going to let me borrow it I literally scoured the internet for something online. I think I looked everywhere and I’m usually pretty savvy at finding shows since I don’t have cable…. but I came up with nada. I thought to myself at that moment how much I rely on the internet and how irritated I become when something isn’t in reach. I had a bunch of stuff to do that day and I think I spent 2 hours searching….. my friend kept telling me to just do something else for a while but I couldn’t I thought I could for sure find it. nope turns out its really hard to find and the copy my TA lent me was a VHS from the 90’s. The movie is called one nation under god and this is what the cover looks like:

I remember when I was about 11 or 12 and DVD started getting really big and I always told my friends that we would never get any because VHS were just as good and we had a hand little machine that did the 60 second rewind so technology wise I thought we were stylin’. Little did I know that that kind of think has almost become almost obsolete in most households in north america. Needless to say we jumped on the DVD bandwagon eventually and I was lucky that my roomate still had a VHS player instead of having to sit in the library to watch the 1 1/2 hour movie.

That’s my story for the day.

#bp

Stinker

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 22:43:48 -0500

I think its time I finally blogged about a particular member of my household. I live with two roomates and emily. Emily is my roomate’s cat and her and I have had a very interesting relationship since I moved in in september. Erin is gone a lot due to work, school, etc so I end up spending a great deal with emily or as I like to call her; stinker, goober, stink bug, emy, ems or emerson ( I think its because I’m not huge on people names for animals…) anyway some of ems favorite past times drive me INSANE

- scratching walls, doors, pictures, beds

- eating/biting books, tables, homework

- stealing ALL of my hair ties as play toys

- meowing outside my door for upward of ten minutes

- waking me up in the morning because as soon as she hears me move even an inch she wants to play

and my personal pet peeve:

- window licking (she will sit there and do this for 30 minutes)

She is so weird because she doesn’t really like to cuddle, she wants to be pet every now and then and will come and rub her cheek on you but other than that she would prefer to lay at the foot of my bed or a few inches away from me. Ems is really different from my family cat but I have learned to love all of her “endearing” qualities, for instance this is how I found her the other day:

As you can see she is laying in my purse, at times she was also multi-tasking and playing with the plastic bag in from of her. About a half hour later I caught a video of her in her prime, I’m going to try and post it in a sec.

In conclusion over the last few months her and I have come to an understanding: I put up with her snoring, biting, scratching, meowing and stealing and in turn when I’m having a bad day she will come nuzzle my face, purr in my ear and show me that she loves me.

So my goal this week is going to blog 5 times by next saturday,...

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 00:07:03 -0500

So my goal this week is going to blog 5 times by next saturday, maybe I will be more consistent if I set goals for myself! Also I’ve decided if I get enough work done by then I’m going to actually spend money to go to the movie theater for once and take a night off. Lets see how this goes.

That Mountain Just Got a Little Bigger

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 00:29:43 -0500

So a couple a days ago at one of my 2:00 am freakouts I went and collected some pics and what not about the joys of stress. By that point I had already made a series of lists, checked and recorded on my class syllabus’s, tried watching part of the big bang theory to calm me down, cried, called on of my best friends, scoured my day timer and made completion check boxes. There has been a ton going on for me lately, not just with school, and my anxiety has become a ridiculous needy companion so I’m hoping it decides to give me a break sometime soon. anyway by the time I got these I was finally tired so I took advantage of the situation and passed out. here are some of the fruits of my efforts.

****personally I like this one

and somehow I labeled this one in my documents as a part of these photos, must have been the 2 am exhaustion because I have no idea what I was going for…