Thoughts on Facebook and People Needing to Grow Up

I have always been really tolerant of people and their opinions. If they strongly believe in their religion, power to them. If one of my guy friends loves guys, power to him for being happy with who he is - self-acceptance FTW.

But what I don't have a tolerance for is people that come onto my Facebook wall when I've posted something and state their opinion so rudely. Congrats to the fact that they have an opinion, but did they ever listen to their mother? If you don't have something nice to say, don't say it at all.

Thoughts on Disappointment, and Youtube Song!

I really get tired of being rejected. It seems to be a major, reoccurring theme in my life.Yes, it's a terrible idea for me to be a writer if I don't like being rejected, but I file that under a different type of rejection.

But every time I try to better myself, my life, or my career, things never seem to go my way.

I don't know whether or not I'm just "doing" life wrong, or that I don't have any luck or good karma on my side, but obviously, someone karmically doesn't like me. I feel like I must have angered someone somewhere to make it so that nothing ever goes right.

Thoughts on Hope, Sites, and Lady Is A Tramp

I grew up attending church. In fact, it was common for me to attend every Wednesday and Sunday with my mom. Not to mention participate in various activities put on by different groups within the church body.

But as I got older, it became less and less a "thing" for me. It's not that I was sprinting away from the idea of a higher power. In fact, that is something I do still believe; along with the other morals I grew up with. However it's that I've been continuously losing faith in just depending on a giant spaghetti monster on the dark side of the moon that would answer my prayers. I'm not just going to sit around and wait for things to happen for me; instead, I'm much more of a do-er. I'd rather put my own effort behind what I want done than just have faith it will happen because of karma or blah blah blah.

However, the one thing I haven't lost, is hope. The idea that tomorrow will be a better day, or that things won't always be this hard financially. It's that silver lining or the light at the end of the tunnel -- and no, that's not a train. But it's seeing the glass as half-full instead of half-empty. It's all about staying optimistic and hopeful that another day will come and it will be brighter than the last.

Thoughts on New Shows, Donating Books, Steve Jobs

Normally every season I find another show to add to the list I follow. Of course, I have my staples: Castle, Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, Parenthood, Rizzoli & Isles, and Glee (yes, I know, I do follow that show, but I have my reasons). But of course, there's all the new shows that crop up and turn out to be really fantastic. This year I have fallen in love with: Raising Hope, Necessary Roughness, and my most recent addition, New Girl.

Plus, there are still shows I have yet to see  because they have a later debut; or they've already been cancelled. But I still need to check out Pan Am, and once it comes out, Once Upon A Time.

But the star rookie of the new shows is definitely New Girl. With Zooey Deschanel as a recent single, she's a new roommate to three guy friends who are just trying to find "the one", get a job, and get over an ex. While coping with her own break-up, she's helping them with their problems, mostly by accident and also gaining friends that are helping her. She's quirky, geeky, and just loves being herself, Jess, is definitely one of those characters I relate to automatically.

Maybe it's the fact that she's comfortable being herself, but will try and fit into a different shape when her friends want her to. However even after a while she needs to break free and dance to the beat of her own drum/kazoo/instrument of your choice. So this show is certainly a keeper for me.

Here's a plus: geeky references and Miss Deschanel's whimsical singing included.

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A while back I had done some cleaning out of my room. Mostly getting old books off the shelves and storing them in boxes. I planned on having a garage sale for them to try and get some spare cash in hopes of getting us either a real couch or replacing our slowly deteriorating television.

My mom inquired about all the books - two boxes worth - and asked if some people at our church could look through my books and pull stuff out for donation. They needed things for specific grades to send to China - why China needs our books, I don't know, but do they honestly need them?

Well, a few weeks had gone by, and I asked my mom if she got the books back. Anything that they weren't going to send to China, was supposed to be returned to me. Because those were my property. It was my choice what I wanted to do with them.

Low and behold, I inquire about it today, and find out the person collecting the books took all my extras and turned them into Half-Price Books. So essentially, I just lost out on extra cash on items that should have been returned to me because they were my property. Those books were in my collection for 21 years and many were even older than me. A simple apology won't do in my mind. Cause honestly, we had said the extra books needed to be returned to us. And it was agreed upon that I would get them back. So since they're long gone, I at least deserve the money from them.

That's the last time I ever donate to some stupid church thing my mom tries to convince me is for a "good cause." Humanity continues to disappoint.

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I'm not a fan of Apple products. Well, mostly just the company and how they are with their products.

However I can't say anything bad about Steve Jobs. He was a true innovator, inventor, dreamer and creator. Many of the items we rely so heavily on today were innovations from him. Continually pushing technology, he really knew what people wanted.

A true visionary, I'm sad to see him go, but happy to know that he passed peacefully with family nearby. I'm sure he's already working on how to make improvements to heaven. Can anyone say iPeter?

Rest in Peace, Steve Jobs.

Thoughts on Affection, Justice, and Writer's Block

I always feel really weird about affection.

I'm not someone that acts a particular way to entice guys, or be a girl that knows what she's got and how to use it. Honestly, I'm just being myself.

Thoughts on the College Life

It's a lot of little ideas under one heading, which means it totally counts as at least three.  Plus, I'm a little preoccupied - leaving the country tomorrow, and all.  But I wanted one last post before I left American soil, to really tie the blog together.

I played foosball before.  I won't be able to do that again until January, and that's killing me.  I'm sitting on my friend's dorm floor, surrounded by my luggage and distracted by my friends.  I'm still thinking about starting a travel blog, but I still feel like people might think I'm a jerk for doing so.  Or maybe someone will actually care. Or maybe I'll just post everything on Tumblr and try to remember to make more funny pictures to share.

I finally set up my Internet here on campus, but that's pointless, seeing as I'm going to the Netherlands.  And the castle got struck by lightening recently.  So Internet might not exist there, just as I feared.  No Skype, no Twitter, no Facebook.  And my phone won't work and I can't text a lot on my crappy European phone.  Pretty much, I'll be so out of touch, it's insane.

But I'll try to keep writing and remembering, trying to find things to write about and talk about and send letters home about.  And I'll just keep dreaming about foosball.

Thoughts on Words Without Thought, Applications, Comparisions

It's official! Katie and I are working on a writing vlog with three wonderful writers! We call ourselves Words Without Thought. Please give us a view!

We have a lot of fantastic topics planned for the future. If nothing else, at least comment with tips on how we can improve or any topic suggestions!

Thoughts on College, Crushes, and Drinking

I've been saying for the past few years that I'd go to college. Or that I'd get back to school and start at least working towards a degree. But every year, nothing would happen. And I do regret not getting involved in the whole application process for college in high school. Then again, it makes sense why I didn't.

College was never a high priority to my mom. She, to this day, thinks that a person should be able to learn a trade via an apprenticeship like she did. I've tried time and again to explain that things don't work like they did for her.

So after three years of working and struggling with what I wanted to do, it's finally time to take the plunge. Yeah, I'm late on this, but I have the drive and the perseverance to get me through to the end.

Thoughts on Loss, Packing Up, and Something Adorable

Note: The first [and second] topics can be depressing. Feel free to skip to the second topic or straight to the bottom for adorable pandas.

I've had quite a few friends and coworkers discover they're pregnant this year. It's a strange concept for me to grasp, I suppose.

I don't imagine myself in either circumstance until I'm in my late 20s. This is that time in your life when you should discover who you are, do something spontaneous, and just live.

But just living isn't the same when you've heard news that literally takes your breath away.

Thoughts on Time, Homesickness, & 100 Posts!

I know, I know; time is relative.  But it feels like it's been quietly helping me along recently, giving me a few extra minutes where I need them and speeding along the process when I can't stand the boredom anymore.  Work (knock on wood) seems to fly nowadays, whereas I would have died of exhaustion, frustration, and sleep deprivation at the beginning of the summer.  Maybe it's because I'm down to the one, slightly less demanding job.  Maybe it's because I'm more confident now at the pool.  Maybe it's because I read a lot.  Whatever the reason, thanks for the boost, time.

Time can slow down, too, and I'm equally as thankful for that.  The minutes can take their sweet time passing into the wee hours and into a new day.  I don't mind the quiet of the night, the cool breeze.  I don't mind sitting down in the middle of the day to commit ideas to paper, realizing writing two and half pages took hardly any time at all.  I like looking my goals in the face and saying, "That looks easy."

Time.  It's a beautiful thing.

Thoughts on Hurricane Irene, Timothy, & the East End

A tree was uprooted on our block.  We were thankful to find that as the largest catastrophe to greet us on Cambridge Drive when we arrived home from mandatory evacuation on Sunday afternoon.

Sure, there were branches to clean up around the house and a den to reassemble, but we didn't flood, which is quite a miracle, and we didn't have any trees in our house, which was beautiful.  Also, our cats don't hate us all that much for stuffing them in the traveling cage and hauling ass to Granny's in the city.  Which can only be an act of God.

Thoughts on Fantasy, Cereal, & Why Can't I Ever Think of a Third?

The genre; not the daydreams.

I was obsessed with the fantasy genre for the majority of my childhood.  Aside from the usual dalliances into young adult drama and Are You There, God?  It's Me, Margaret to get all the "answers" to my burning questions, I devoted myself entirely to talking animals and people with wings and creatures that spoke made-up languages.  Ironically, I've never been able to finish a book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy - I only read The Hobbit in sixth grade, for fun.  I remember doing some kind of kickass book jacket for it.  I drew a dragon.

An explanation, an apology, & a promise I hope to keep

So.  H-h-hey, there.  How are things?

Thoughts on Childhood Foods For Guests, Entertainment, and New Glasses

It's been interesting finding foods that our two exchange students like. Sometimes they'll like one food, and then a day later, not prefer it. Lunches have been interesting, and so have breakfast. But dinner they've been pretty okay with. We've been doing a mix of various foods with rice, classic "American" foods.

But one thing I know, is how to make foods that kids will eat. Call it having a love for the "classics" or just figuring that like all kids, they love something that's tasty, even if it's healthy.

So tonight we had Chicken Noodle Soup and Grilled Cheese. My mom had said she thought they wouldn't like the Grilled Cheese since they didn't like cheese for their tacos or some other things with cheese in them. But we made an extra grilled cheese just in case and cut all the sandwiches into triangles. After trying one sandwich each, they ended up eating a good portion of them.

Julia Child was right. Butter makes everything taste fantastic. But melted cheese and butter? Now we're talking real amazing food.

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Thoughts on Birthdays, E-Readers, and Age

So this is actually super random, and I don't think my cousin reads my blog, but he's turning 15 today. If you live in Western Washington, watch out. There's going to be a new driver on the road.

Happy Birthday C!! May you have a fantastic fifteenth! And let's have a blast watching Deathly Hallows Part 2!!!

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Thoughts on Karma, Return of the Jedi, and Concussions

While hanging out with Lolo, we were chilling outside Tully's grabbing a drink after having spent an hour or two playing tennis. And we noticed a guy wandering around searching for something.

He stopped by us and inquired if we had any idea where he could get gas vouchers. After talking and hearing that he lost his wallet, was here with his girlfriend, and was basically out of gas, we tried to figure out where he could get gas vouchers. It's a concept neither of us had ever heard of. He had a long drive back to Arlington - which is way up north.

Thoughts on The Magic School Bus, Alpha & Beta, and Catching Up

I used to love The Magic School bus as a kid. And honestly, who wouldn't? It was a kids show that taught you a lot about the world you lived in - unless of course that was under a rock. Who wouldn't want Ms. Frizzle as their teacher?

Thoughts on Wearing Glasses, Disappointment, and Pen Pals

Glasses are super handy. Especially for those like me who have a hard time seeing. But this started way back in junior high when I didn't have to wear them full time. Sophomore year, and I was confined to glasses.

Sure there are snazzy contacts, but I have a fear of touching my eyeball - which I think is pretty healthy - so I have no intention of getting contacts. I'm alright with my glasses.

But the tough part about glasses is playing sports. If they get knocked off, hopefully they don't get stepped on, and if they do hit the ground, or get ripped off your face, let's hope they're not too bent.

Which is like tonight at frisbee... They're bent and make it difficult to drive.

Peachy.

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Thoughts on Reminiscing about High School, Dreamworks, and My Celebrity Dream Family

Some of my friends only remember the terrible things about high school. The bad relationships, tough teachers, brutal classes and just the emotional turmoil they went through. And while that seems like the typical teen angst - and to some, might be - it occurred to me that I don't have very many - if any - bad memories about high school.

So reminiscing about friends, events and just fun, happy memories always make me smile. Especially when I'm still in contact with those people, and that's something we can all look back on. There were plenty of moments where I couldn't have been happier being among close friends and just having a blast.

Thoughts on Lack of Posts, Farmer's Market Food, and Hospitals

I know I've been slacking. And some of that is due to the lack of things I've taken notice of. And probably laziness. But I haven't really had anything significant happen lately that I've wanted to write about.

I do have a few topics noted for future nights - and hopefully a guest post or two - but I'm trying to make sure I don't ramble about the same topic multiple nights in a row.

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