My first attempt at "art"

September 23, 2008 By Leave a Comment

While I am in no means a designer, when I have an assignment to get done, I evidently magically pick up the ‘I can kind of design, I hope people like what I made!’ gene. I designed this print below, and while it’s not picasso, it has a meaning behind it. Read the post below please. All money that is donated for these prints (which will be 8×11.. not sure what paper yet, I have to run over to the store first and get more information) will be going directly to new hope for kids, for Edwin’s wish. Come on! Do a good deed :) It won’t kill ya! Although.. I’ll know you’re the devil if you make a donation and spontaneously burst into flames. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen to anyone, okay? We’ll make that something to NOT aim for.

ANYWAYS! Please take a look at my digital version, and if you feel so inclined to donate so I can send you a physical print (signed of course! Not that it matters, because all my signature is good for is free coffee at dunkin donuts/starbucks. You may have to give them a thumbprint scan. Not sure how their authorization tools are being implemented…. also, not sure who understood what I just said. You get a cookie if you do!)

Remember! I’m not pressuring you to sell organs on the blackmarket to donate hundreds to me, just donate even a dollar and I’ll send you one. Actually, the aforementioned joke was probably not a very kind thing to say, because evidently there is a blackmarket for organs… look it up.

TA DA!!!!! Email me (svn@knights.ucf.edu) if you want a physical print! I’m not sure why it looks squished on here, but I can assure you it’s perfectly in proportion. Thanks. Bye :)

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Give a wish!

September 20, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Hi there! To make a long story short, our group for our UCF cornerstone team is working with New Hope For Kids. We are sponsoring a child and are responsible for fundraising 1500-3000 dollars through the course of the semester. In case you haven’t dropped your jaw at that number already, we only have until november. Yup. Help pleaaase. The link up on top of my page will take you to our cornerstone page so you can learn some more. I understand that there’s a lot of people ‘trying’ to fundraise and just taking the money, but this is legitimate. If there are any questions, you can contact Rosie@Newhopeforkids.org and ask about our corner stone team “flight of the concords”. She will confirm that we are indeed sponsoring a child named Edwin.

So please visit my site. I’m designing a poster that will be up for donations, and you will recieve one if you donate to frame and put on your wall. You may give any amount you want as long as it’s over $1.00. It’s reminiscent of the “livestrong” bracelets, just in poster form. I don’t have the design up YET, but I should have it completed in a day or two. Please keep checking our page <GIVEAWISH>

If you decide to give a donation (nothing is too small! even a dollar helps!) please contact me at svn@knights.ucf.edu so I can give you my paypal address. I don’t want to post it on here in the open. If you need any more information (or even want to donate a service that we can raffle off on campus) please don’t hesitate to contact me! I really want to meet this goal and give edwin his wish. He wants to go on a disney cruise, and we are trying everything to help. Thank you!

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I'll meet you. Digitally.

September 20, 2008 By Leave a Comment

I’m sitting here in the scion dealership, waiting for my oil to get changed. As soon as I stepped out of my car, I was promptly harassed by a gigantic fan the size of a windmill. Had this been working in reverse, I’m fairly sure I would have been sucked in.

This was a very sad afternoon, because I got all pretty for my audition, and now it’s drizzling and fans apparently love me. Hair=disaster. Also! Everyone in here is on a laptop. While you smart asses might attempt to point out that I, too, must be using a laptop of sorts, you are wrong. iPhone does not constitute as a laptop, therefore I am not categorized in the ‘oil change laptop user’ category.

Wish me luck on my auditon! I have to slave over studying when I get home.

Also, my boyfriend is cute. The end.

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'Dreams are often most profound when they seem the most crazy'

September 15, 2008 By 3 Comments

Now, I’m not too sure about how truth can be contributed to Freud and his wacky theories. He had some interesting and applicable theories, but he also had some that were way out in left field [ie:the Oedipus Complex] I agree with him on this though: it is indeed true that dreams can be…well… crazy. Not that anyone reading this blog would know (unless you know me personally) but I dream… a lot. I’m talking to the point where I dream every night and remember mostly everything of it. That’s a bit unusual as you can imagine; only a small percentage of people can remember their dreams, let alone remember them every day. Shane never remembers his, yet I wake up practically every morning and I turn to him and say ‘I had the weirdest dream…’

I’ve been through my bouts of reoccurring dreams (which is scary because when I was traveling to a state I’ve never been before, I actually drove through and are that resembled my dream to the TEE. I had never been there before and I was majorly creeped out. THAT is for another day though.) There are dreams I’ve had that were so vivid, I can remember them like they were yesterday.

I had this dream the other night that stuck in my head, because not only was it just strange and made no sense, but I can actually FEEL the sensation that I felt in my dream. Still. In waking life.

In my dream, I was wandering around somewhere. I haven’t a clue where, and I haven’t a clue who was there. It was just me. I ended up in this completely white room, facing a mirror in which there was no reflection. [No, I am not a vampire, and yes, what my dream was inferring actually just materialized into a solid thought. My dream is even crazier than I thought!].

So I’m looking in this mirror, and I remember thinking something. I don’t remember what [helpful I know].

[OH MY GOD! I'm sorry I need to take a brief interlude here because my heart just jumped in my throat. There's this truck outside the apartment that has a freakin airhorn. He locked his truck two seconds ago and the noise from the horn made me jump. HE JUST DID IT AGAIN! I'm going to have a heart attack.]

So where was I…oh yes. Anyway- I was looking into the mirror when all of a sudden I felt this pair of arms wrap around me. I have no clue who they were, or what they were or if they were even arms. I’m just assuming they were because I didn’t smell any personification in my dream, where I can say ‘hey! this tree branch just wrapped its  creepy little branches around me, tight like a human!!’. THAT would be even crazier and most likely kick it up a notch. Sorry folks; it’s not going there.

I feel them wrap around me and I remember struggling a little. I was really confused but whatever had held me captive had a soft touch. It wasn’t forceful, just very tight and snug. It was almost as if I was being assaulted by a down comforter who had a vendetta with me and a really awful attitude. I start trying to grab out for the counter, or anything for that matter, but as I reach out… my hands are going through thin air. It’s as if my body was dematerializing in the grip of whatever this thing was. As I struggle, I realize that I’m lapsing into somewhat of a comatose state, and all I feel are pins and needles.  The more I try to save myself, the easier my body falls through everything around me, like a hot knife cutting through butter.

As the room fades around me, I give in to the sensation that I’m feeling. I start to close my eyes to drift off, and I realize how good it feels to just… give in.

The pins and needles get stronger until it’s overwhelming and lulling my body into submission. So strong that I feel if I woke up at that very instant, my whole body would be numb. It was like I was dying in my sleep.

I did wake up moments later. I was drained. Physically drained. It’s like I was pulling myself out of sedation.

So while most of your psychologist-esque people might think this dream denotes severe issues, I like to stray from the Freudian theory which insists all dreams have some strong and deep underlying meaning that you’re ignoring in your waking life; hence why they appear in your dreams. I don’t think there’s an ‘underlying’ message here. I’ve been stressed, but not enough to cause some haunting dream like this. Scratch that, not even a haunting dream, just a haunting sensation. It’s weird because it’s all I’ve been thinking about the past two days.

What on earth was it about? How can the craziest dreams with no strange images or misconstrued verbal vomit get to me THIS much!?

It’s funny; the strongest dreams are the ones that barely say anything at all. Maybe it’s telling me to stop being so head strong and stubborn. I never thought of that as a bad quality. Jenna loves it!!!!!! [I know you totally do, don't deny it. You love my bossiness!]

Anyway, that’s all. We’re getting ready to go to sleeeeeeeeeeeeep. I have to meet with the make-a-wish foundation in the morning for my orientation. Keep your eyes peeled because I’m designing something [or attempting to, it should be an interesting turn out] for the foundation. It will be neat, I assure you :)

Byeeee!

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Pretty Colors

September 13, 2008 By 1 Comment

I just got back from looking at paint samples for the new house :) I’m so excited! That is all.

Filed Under: Life

Coincidence!

September 12, 2008 By 1 Comment

I just noticed that I had about 8 visits from three different countries to my “Ode to deliciousness” blog. They were all looking up images of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Weird. Seriously weird. Must be something going on with them. Haha.

SO! I was moseying my way to my car today after class. I walked up to my car, put everything inside of it, then plopped down. I put my clutch in, turn the ignition, and pop it into first. As I start to leave the parking garage, lo and behold! You won’t believe what I saw!

I’m staring out my windshield towards the car in front of me, and I get this weird feeling like something/someone is watching me. Now, I know I’m on a college campus, and there very well is probably somebody looking at me, but I just couldn’t shake it.

All of a sudden I focus on these two beady little black eyes! There’s a lizard clinging for dear life on my windshield wiper staring at me with pleading eyes! As if he was saying “Help me!! Don’t let me fry in the sun or fly off your wipers into oncoming traffic!” And yes, I speak the truth, I see lots of fried lizards all around, Sunbathing gone wrong I suppose.

My first instinct was to turn on the wipers, because I usually do that when I see a bug (or god forbid a yucky spider!). But before I flipped the switch thing, I stopped myself. I couldn’t believe I almost did that! (BTW- I see why all this happened now. Jenna clued me in that today was the apocalypse. It explains my almost irrational behavior when dealing with this poor innocent reptile).

So I carefully putt along through school until I find a parking lot to pull over in. All the while, the lizard has wedged himself between both wipers so that it can rest his little fingers (suction cups?). As I open the door and get out, I reach over to him.

He wouldn’t move! It’s almost as if he had a homing device attached to my wiper! I poked and prodded a little, until he finally leaped away and scuttled towards my side view mirror. I tried to scoop him up about 80 billion times, but he wasn’t having it. Finally, he decided to launch an attack and pounced on my arm! The nerve!

(Actually I was a little giggly- I like lizards and I thought it was slightly cute that it wanted to sit on my arm),

So THEN, after targeting my arm, he leaped off onto the ground and ran behind my tire. Now, I finally left the parking lot, satisfied with my obvious intent of helping this creature. Then I realized… if he was under my tire and I backed up… did I run him over?

I opt not to think about that scenario, and choose to believe I saved his cute little self.

The end!

Filed Under: College, Life Tagged With: ,

negativity at its finest

September 11, 2008 By 1 Comment

Generally I’m a positive person but I feel the need to write some negative things. Not necessarily negative, per-say, but just keen observations when you’re around different people at different times.

Now, I love people. But there’s just some things that get to me. It seems everybody wants fortune or fame, or wants to be famous in their own right. Some people want all the glitz and glamour, but don’t want to work hard. Some people want their relationships with their friends to always stay the same, but aren’t willing to put in the extra effort. Some people want their relationships with their significant others to be all they’ve ever wanted, but they aren’t willing to do what is needed to achieve that level, or make poor excuses for things.

I believe that with all good things come sacrifice. I believe that when you want something, there is always going to be a choice that needs to be made. According to the type of person you are, you will choose some things over the other. Some people will choose doing the right thing and making so-so money, or doing something corruptive and be rich. Some people choose to be in the public eye, or some will choose to do what makes them happy and being only known in their own right. Some people will choose money over love. Everybody takes different paths. But the paths that you take are the ones that define you. Are you willing to lose everything to chase money? Are you willing to please yourself rather than just live your life to please a group of strangers? Are you willing to make the right choice, because YOU want it, not because you want to appear a certain way to people who don’t really know you, and probably won’t make any significant dent in your life?

It’s funny because the ones who really are in the public eye all the time, fight to keep it separate from their lives and retain secrecy. And the ones who feel the need to appear great, put themselves out all over the place, making everything about their lives known in hope of grasping somebody’s attention. Like those ‘myspace celebrities’.

People always said once upon a time that true happiness was sitting contently in a field, with the sun beating down on you and a gentle cool breeze passing through your hair.

Bullshit.

While peacefulness is happiness, it is also contentedness. Contentedness is not something to strive for. That’s like asking, “Do you like your life?” and somebody answering “Yeah, I guess. I’m content with it”. But why just be content? I mean, instead of spreading your eggs out in a few baskets (or a field, wherever you plan on having them… the proverbial eggs that is) and being ‘okay’ with everything, why not put your eggs in one basket, and work towards true happiness? Achieve what you want to achieve but don’t make lame excuses as to why your friendships fall apart, or why you lost your love, or why you feel as if you’re not happy with life. Why neglect people or things that are important to you to chase something you may not really want in the first place?

This sort of ties into the election as well. I know plenty of people who are voting for Mccain, merely because their family believes he’s the best. They don’t do research, and they don’t care about what happens to this country. They just vote mccain because, well, everyone else they know is doing it, and then when the country goes down in flames, they are the first ones to sit, whine, and cry about it while attempting to collect every possible penny from the government due to their lives being turned upside down.

You would think that our generation, being as free as it was, would learn to make their own decisions. Sadly, however, there are still people who just go with what the guy next to them says.

I feel sorry for them. Yet, I’ll also be laughing when you realize what a dumb choice he is. I believe everyone is free to make their own choices and live however they want. In no way, shape or form will I tell people that their opinion is wrong. You can guarantee I’ll have an opinion about their opinion though. Such is life.

Research properly. Make a difference. Vote for yourself, not for what everyone else wants.

I believe somebody once say “Work Hard. Play Hard. Love Hard”. And it is those words that we should live by.

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More like idiocracy

September 3, 2008 By Leave a Comment

What a JOKE. I’m watching the republican national convention, and listening to Giuliani’s ferocious speech. So let’s see…It’s going on 7 minutes, and I’m on my 5th tally mark of ridiculous low blows he’s thrown out towards Obama and Biden. Is that really what they’re going to stoop down to in order to attempt to win this election? The woman doesn’t have what it takes. She admitted she hasn’t had any economic responsibilities, and well… We all know McCain knows a minute bit about it. No foreign policy experience on Palin’s end..

This election is a joke. Seriously. Get your republican clowns off stage please until they find a more articulate and meaningful speech to give. Also, try not to resort to high school bullying, you babies. You can imagine how pissed I am because normally I don’t out right attack republicans… I still consider myself independent but on this election I’m on the democrat side for sure.

Then came what she said about Obama only being worried about if the terrorists get read their rights. Yah… Isn’t that part of being fair and abiding by the law? Since when was following the law such a negative trait?! Oh the dirty games they play. Who can’t see through it?! Do we want somebody who is going to be bias against another country, and pretend that they don’t have the same rights as human beings that us “americans” do? Yeah, they need to be read their rights. We have no right to treat them immorally, even if they fit the bill of a terrorist. That’s just our arrogant and egotistical side coming out, thinking that we’re above everybody.

She also brought up the point about how John Mccain is the only one who has ever really “fought” for our country. Let me state this again. Just because you’ve fought for our country, and you were a POW, does NOT mean that you KNOW how to RUN the country. Those are two totally different situations, and it just shows that his drive in this election is based mainly around war. Palin also stated that Obama wanted to sit down and discuss things with other countries without any boundaries …

She stated that Obama has never led people in crisis, yet mccain has. Well I’m sorry to tell you, but the president should be able to PREVENT the country from going into crisis, rather than know how to deal with it. If you’re putting us in a position where we have to be “led in crisis”, then your ass shouldn’t be sitting in the white house to begin with. Ever heard of being proactive? Improving national security? Oh wait haha Mccain/Palin don’t HAVE foreign policy experience, so why should they concern themselves with petty proactive endeavors? They can take us to war,  I FORGOT! *slaps head*

… SO what? Isn’t compromising an essential part of our human existence? And I’m really getting sick of all these people coming out of the wood work supporting palin. People are writing in saying “Wow, she really CAN do anything!” when nobody knows a damn thing about her history, other than what she’s said! All she has done in the past week is speak a speech that she probably didn’t write herself. I guess if you call walking on stage difficult, then by doing a public speech, she proved she really CAN do anything. She has just riden above them all, what with her 30 minutes of fame. All she does is speak well, it just shows how easily persuaded we are.

She also made a point to pick on how the republicans are all for alternate energy (ALL of a sudden), and the democrats were not. Ummmm http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/newenergy

Excuse me.. wait.. what was that? Is that a website stating the steps Obama is planning for alternate energy? Yes it is. The republicans are playing total blind politics, and it shows when they don’t even know their own opponents campaign. Silly republicans. Politics are for grown ups.

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Shoe-in

September 3, 2008 By 1 Comment

I would like to thank Mccain for making us MORE sure (or sure, if we weren’t already) that Obama is indeed it for the next president. If you’ve been keeping up with my blog, you know I’m an avid Obama supporter, and I think he’s exactly what we need to help this country flourish once again. I was watching the Democratic Convention, and his speech was AMAZING! I would throw some quotes in here but, really, there were so many awesome things that you may as well just watch it yourself. John Mccain conveniently picked the governor of Alaska (who was a hockey mom and a PTA mom… and happened to make her way up to governor.. of ALASKA) who also has children (one with down syndrome) and has less experience than Obama does, as his VP… Is that a little weird to you? I don’t really know what on earth he was trying to do. Republicans seem to think this was a good move on his part, but I just don’t see it.

What happens if she needs to step in and take up his chair for a while? Is she going to know what to do? I was told once in my politics class that essentially the VP does most of the decisions and the President is actually just a tie breaker. If that’s the case (and how it “really” works in there) then he’s in trouble. Obama chose Biden, who is fully capable of walking in there and taking over if need be. I haven’t even HEARD of Palin’s name before.

Brief interlude: I have a mosquito bite that is the size of a small tumor on my arm. it’s extremely itchy, a little disturbing, and really annoying.

Anyway, I switched so that I’m registered to vote in Florida, so I don’t have to do an absentee ballot in NY. I was watching the RNC last night… has anybody else noticed that Laura Bush is somewhat reminiscent of a Stepford Wife? Okay I should stop.  I know some of my readers are Republicans, and politics isn’t supposed to be about dividing people, but uniting people. Though doesn’t it seem that it’s taken that direction? The dividing path?

I’m well aware this blog is probably making NO sense (and less so than any of my other blogs) but I just woke up and I’ve taken three sips of my coffee. My brain is all jumbly and I SHOULD be going to the gym, but I can’t get shane up and I’m really nice and cozy under this blanket… I’ll probably expand/make sense of this once I get back from class.

On another note, my dad made an offer on a house! If everything goes well and the bank accepts his offer, then shane and I can move in this month! I’m soooo excited because I’ll finally have a place to decorate that isn’t massivly huge like my parent’s house in NY. This one is only 1600 SF as opposed to 4000+. So we shouldn’t have too much empty space in there. Though I must admit, when we were house hunting, all I wanted to do was move back to NY and back into our house after seeing the houses down here. What a difference. I really prefer the style up north to the style down here. But it has a FIREPLACE! Totally unneccesary, but extremely aesthetically pleasing.

mmmmm. cofffeeeeeeee. That is all for now. Be back later to edit this.

Filed Under: Life, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Oh the perils of caffeine

August 28, 2008 By 1 Comment

So, I’m sitting here sipping on my daily morning cup (barrel) of coffee, and decided to write a blog. It wasn’t so much that I ‘decided’ to write one per-say, but it just so happens I got up in a rush at 10 o clock to get to class, when my class isn’t until 1:30. Yup- welcome to the first week.

Anyways, since I’m such a avid coffee drinker, I always get people who don’t touch caffeine asking me what the hell is so great about it, why I drink it constantly, and that it’s a crutch and I can REALLY wake up in the morning if I wanted to without it. *Gasp* How dare they talk this way! Well, just to throw this in your faces, there are actually multiple benefits to drinking this perilous caffeine you speak of. For one, if you have low blood pressure like me, having a delicious mug-o-coffee in the morning thins your blood and helps to get it pumping. Yes, it’s true. It’s also beneficial to drink it before going for a run or before working out. Not for the sugar rush, but merely to start thinning your blood so it pumps faster and gets you moving.

(I’m not making this up- I’ve researched this)

More benefits! Many studies have shown that coffee/caffeine can reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease, where people are 80% less likely to acquire it… as well as reduce the risk of type-2 diabetes. Now correct me if I’m wrong (it was a LONG time ago that I took my pharmacology class) but I believe type-2 is the acquired diabetes, not the hereditary one. It also cures and helps prevent the onset of heavy headaches. I know when I get a headache I love caffeine. Running is also another thing that helps because it gets your blood moving, but honestly who wants to go thump around outside when you have a throbbing mass of pain in your head? Chronic migraines are treated with caffeine pills. They are horse pills mind you, but they work. I’ve seen it.

“Overall, the research shows that coffee is far more healthful than it is harmful,” says Tomas DePaulis, PhD, research scientist at Vanderbilt University’s Institute for Coffee Studies.

There is also evidence that it may help prevent asthma attacks, or also be a intermediary when there’s no asthma puffer thing available (inhaler).

“What caffeine likely does is stimulate the brain and nervous system to do things differently,” he tells WebMD. “That may include signaling you to ignore fatigue or recruit extra units of muscle for intense athletic performance. Caffeine may even have a direct effect on muscles themselves, causing them to produce a stronger contraction. But what’s amazing about it is that unlike some performance-enhancing manipulation some athletes do that are specific for strength or sprinting or endurance, studies show that caffeine positively enhances all of these things.”

And when you say people who NEED caffeine in the morning are liars, think again. There was also a study on the effects of caffeine on the brain that showed some peoples brain activity when they wake up ACTUALLY takes longer to process and start up. Having coffee in the morning speeds up that process and gets them up to speed so that they may function. I can attest to that. I am awful in the morning and don’t want to talk to anybody, nor can I think or function. See, I don’t take morning classes for a reason- not ’cause I’m lazy.

Coffee is also the number one source for anti-oxidants (they clean out your body). Black tea is the second. Anti-oxidants act as free radical scavengers which repair the damage left over from by-products that other foods leave behind in your body. I have to get ready for class now (the real one at 1:30, not the pseudo one at 12:30) so I’ll cut this short… BUT

Of course there are negatives to drinking coffee. You can’t very well have a debate on just the benefits without stating the other side of the equation. There’s the obvious… jitters, nervousness, anxiety. There’s also the fact that if you drink it after 6 pm you can’t sleep very well at night. (Not that THAT’S ever stopped me. Jenna and I have had plenty of 9 PM coffee/target dates). If you have high blood pressure it increases your risk for heart attack and cardiovascular disease. So don’t take my work on it and start funneling coffee like it’s your job. I just wanted to make you aware that I drink coffee for a reason. So stop hating. Lol.

Bye!

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: , , , , ,
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