Getting over sickness

I don't know about anyone else, but I love the way I feel right after being sick. That first real meal tastes so good, that first showering feels so refreshing, and the whole being up and out thing feels fresh and new. It probably has more to do with being in bed while being sick, than actually being sick. You've been in bed for so long that getting back into the swing of things feels even better than usual.

Well, I can say I'm totally over the cold or whatever I had. I got an amazing night's sleep (Nyquil, it works wonders) and work up and had the best bowl of Froot Loops ever. Got to linguistics class early and re-read the chapter, which led me to acing the pop quiz we had. After class I went to McDonalds and now I just got back. I'm eating some delicious Teddy Grahams and washing them down with a glass of orange soda as I type. (And I wonder why I get sick....haha.) I have the whole rest of the day to work on schoolwork for dead week. Since I got so much rest lately, I feel energized to work on it.

So thank God for the occasional cold bug!

End of term sickness

Have you noticed how near the end of the term, you almost always get a cold or something? It's usually right before dead week, and it's usually very painful and hard to recover from.

Sadly, this is happening to me right now. Last night I had a sneeze-fest, but figured it was just my usual allergies or something. This morning when I work up, I knew it was much worse. My sneezing had turned into a painful nose issue, hardcore headache, and an inability to keep my eyes open. I went back to bed until about 1, and then went out to get Nyquil, since it wasn't getting any better. I came back and went right to bed, and now I just work up. I still feel like hell, but my sneezing and runny nose is at least controllable. I should be decent enough tomorrow to resume regular class attendance, and in a couple days be back to normal.

Have you guys noticed this trend? I feel like I always get something bad towards the end of the term. It's usual something that hinders all schoolwork, too. Well, I got my blog post in for the day. Time for another dose of the good stuff and back to bed to sleep this off. Good luck, and remember to take your vitamins.

4 day weekend

Thanks to the snow, I have been given the gift of a 4 day weekend. I got my only class today canceled, and don't have any on Fridays, so I'm not back until Monday. I'm so happy about it. I had a quiz today in my class, but now it's postponed until Tuesday. I'm totally ready for the quiz, but a delay is always nice. It's been a long week, so I think I'll perform better next week anyway. Now I can spend all day today working on my paper for my other class. It's nice.

As for the snow, I really don't care. I get to spend all day in my pajamas in my warm apartment, so I'm good. I also get to spend some snuggle time with my cat, who I miss a lot when I'm gone. He's spent the whole morning following me around the apartment, since he usually is alone during the day. Luckily, I just got all my groceries 2 days ago, so I don't need to go anywhere. Today is going to be one very lazy day for me.

My mom is a Gleek now

I never thought I'd see the day, but my mom is a total hardcore Gleek.

It's my fault, really. I'm not a Gleek myself, but I introduced the show to her. We both knew about the craze but managed to avoid it. Until, that is, Britney Spears had a cameo episode last fall. I was required to watch that episode, so my mom watched it with me. We  both kinda liked it, and decided to check out the other episodes, just for fun. We blew through the first season pretty quickly, and we enjoyed it. I thought that was all. Then my mom started updating me on the cast member's projects, and wanting to know what songs they're gonna cover and the truth finally came out...she became a Gleek. She denied it at first, but now she accepts it. So now we DVR the episodes every Tuesday, and I watch them with her whenever she comes home. It's a decent show, but I'm nowhere near obsessed with it.

So lazy lately...

The buzz that I had in the beginning of the term has officially worn off.

I began this term with such a strong attitude, and I was so on top of things. Now I'm lucky if I can find my binder in the morning before class. I've totally slacked off on my reading, too. That's not good, especially for an English major. My organization system went from total order to "cram everything in my backpack and sort it out never." I've made a list, and I have 2 essays, 2 quizzes, one final, and the web site left. That's the whole rest of the term before I can rejoice in spring break. The problem is that I think my mind is already on break, or at least it's acting that way. Even my blogs have taken slower paths. I'm starting my 3 for the week on Tuesday night.

This whole weekend is being spent getting a head start on the close of the term. I'm gonna write one essay and polish off the web site, in addition to catching up on readings. It's a very well needed weekend of work. I'm actually a little excited. I usually love getting things done and being productive, so I think it'll help bring me out of this lazy haze.

Spaghettios and Chocolate Milk

I'm sitting here eating one of my favorite meals for dinner: a can of spaghettios and some chocolate milk. It made me realize that all my favorite foods are the stuff that little kids at daycare eat. I mean, this morning I had Froot Loops and apple juice for breakfast. I also eat pop tarts like they're going out of style, and I'd die without milk. I blame my parents. They're exactly the same way, and I get it from them. When I go home, we have things like mac n cheese for dinner. I called my mom, and she had a PB&J for dinner. I don't think we'll ever go high-brow for our food tastes.

I have a nine year old nephew who will sometimes laugh at me for eating the same stuff he does. He swears that when he's a grown up like me, that he'll eat grown up stuff. I don't know if I should take offense to that or not. haha. Every time I get groceries, I always wonder what the cashiers think of me. I always get stuff like pop tarts, spaghettios, chips, mac n cheese, frozen pizzas, and cereal. If it wasn't for making pizzas, my oven would get no use at all.

Britney Spears has a new video!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Edv8Onsrgg&feature=player_embedded
Everyone should click on the link above to experience one of the most amazing videos in the world.

That's right. Miss Britney Spears has released her music video for her new song "Hold It Against Me." I love it. She looks beautiful (as always) and it's perfect. It includes a scene where she is in front of a ton of monitors, and each one shows one of her old music videos. For those of you who don't follow Britney as much as I do, she has a total of 32 music videos. That's a pretty good 12 year career. Then she tosses paint all over them, and begins beating up a replica of herself. It's a not so subtle kick at her media image. People are so obsessed with her celebrity, so she's beating up that side of herself. Her real self and her famous self end up both falling to the ground, and it cuts to her dancing. She's always said she just likes to dance and perform, and that's who she is. This is her stripping away all that media craziness and just being what she wants to be. It's been out for like half an hour and I've played it I think 6 times so far? I'm gonna leave it on repeat until I go to bed.

I'm happy in life right now. Every time life seems dull, Britney will give me something to be happy over. Life is good again!


(I hope Dr. Artman will excuse my use of exclamation points in this blog. I'm too excited to not use them.)

Ke$ha

Last night, I saw Ke$ha in concert. It was at the Ballroom in Portland and it was so much fun. I had never seen her before, so it was so exciting. Everyone who went to the concert brought glitter, and threw it everywhere. I had to take a shower when I got home because I had glitter on every inch of my body. Some people came in costumes with animal themes, but I wasn't one of them. The songs were amazing, since I love each and every one of them. But the music was so loud and it was such a small building that I got a major headache afterwards. My ears still hurt, but I'll live. I got to go with my sister, which was so fun to spend time with.

The whole experience was so awesome. She's one of my favorite artists and now I've seen her live in person. Next up is Katy Perry this summer, and I'm majorly excited for her.

Barbie

Barbara 'Barbie' Millicent Roberts.

When I was a kid, I had a major Barbie obsession. I had all the other classic toys, like Legos, Lincoln Logs, Hot Wheels, and My Little Pony...but nothing could come close to Barbie. Her power and her influence are unimaginable. No toy could ever be as famous or as powerful as she is. Before I go on, yes, I'm well aware that Barbie is not real. Yes, I know that she's just a toy. When I talk about her, I am talking about the fake toy. 

Anyway, this blog is inspired by something my mom said. We were watching TV and a Barbie commercial came on. She said, "I remember back when you used to love Barbie." I sat there awkwardly, because I guess she doesn't know that I'm still hardcore hooked on Barbie. Barbie is always my avatar when I have online accounts (like in this blog). I still have several of my Barbie addons and the original doll I had. I still have the Barbie CD-ROM game which I still play from time to time. 

Simply put: I love and look up to Barbie. She's so perfect (again, I know she's not real), and I love how she could do anything. People talk about all the negative vibes she  gives to young girls, but I never saw that. I saw a woman that could literally do anything, and still look amazing. Plus, she could hold attention like nobody's business. She's by far the most famous toy, and makes it look effortless. I could go on for days about how amazing she is, and how much I wish I could be more like her. 

Oh, and Ken can pop off. Barbie don't need no man. 

Critiques for our website: Creativity Time

Here is our website, which we named Creativity Time. Let us know of anything that you like or dislike.

Note: The banner is being changed. We had a different color scheme which matched it, but now it doesn't. We're working on a new banner that's dark green.  Aside from that, it's mostly the same.

http://www.creativitytime.webs.com

We haven't gone through and done a final check yet, so keep that in mind for any little things. Most importantly, let us know how the Photo Viewer works. It loads super fast for me at home, but sometimes slow at school. I'd like to know how fast it works for everyone.

Sleep is good...sometimes.

With midterms, moving, and other issues, I haven't been getting much sleep lately. I guess yesterday was the last straw for my body or something. I got out of class at 3:40 and grabbed some Little Caesar's on the way home. I was done eating by a little after 4, and decided to lay down until that uncomfortable "too full" feeling went away. Well, next thing I know it's midnight.  Somehow I managed to sleep for like eight hours, in my full clothes and shoes, with the lights on, and without the heat on. My cat, who I always take into the bedroom when it's time to sleep, was confused as hell. I had a small paper to write for class the next day, so I opened my laptop to begin writing. This was at midnight when I had woken up. I managed to write less than 2 lines before I fell asleep again. This time, still in my clothes and shoes, and now with a laptop on my lap. I woke up at 6 in the morning, only because the laptop vent was burning my stomach. This time I was rested enough to get up. I had just enough time to take a shower and finish my paper before class. I was well rested for once, but starving. I hadn't eaten since the pizza at 4, and it was now 8AM the next morning. When I got home from class, I had mac and cheese and a Lunchables.

So now my sleeping and eating patterns are way thrown off. Usually, a 16 hour nap would be a blessing, but it's kinda screwed with me for now. Luckily I don't have class again til Monday at noon, so I have plenty of time to get back to normal. Word to the wise: take care of your body's needs in moderation. Or eventually, it'll take care of it for you.

AT&T Fail

I've had AT&T since I was a teen, and it's a pretty good provider. Yesterday, not so much.

Around 11 o'clock, I tried sending a couple text messages. They didn't send, so I figured I had no signal where I was. It was the corner of HSS, so I figured once I got outside it'd be fine. Once I got out, I still had nothing. Called AT&T and spent about an hour talking to them. I gotta give 'em props for not making me wait, though. There was no hold time, I was able to speak to someone right away. Too bad the person I spoke to knew absolutely nothing about her job. She told me to take the back cover off of my phone and remove the battery. Since I have an iPhone, it's pretty clear that that's not an option. Then she told me she meant to say "sim card" instead of battery. Sarah used a staple and managed to pull the thing out...but then we were kinda stuck again. All the while, the "technician" (I use that term very loosely) kept telling me that she was "looking up how to fix it." I could Google on my own time, I don't need her for that. She kept telling me over and over again that there's nothing wrong on her end, so it must be the phone. The phone that I just got not even 2 months ago. The resolution was "this is an Apple problem, not an AT&T problem, so you need to see an Apple representative." Took an hour to get to that.

On my way to Salem I randomly received signal again. Now it's kinda in and out of service, and I think I'll keep it for now. I may get a new phone next weekend, but no big hurry. Thank God for warranties, right?


So AT&T, you fail. Hire people who actually know what they're talking about.

Neighbors

Is there anything less fun than being woken up at 2am to the sound of your neighbor stomping up the stairs and slamming their door? In my last apartment, everyone was super quiet and I guess I got spoiled fron it. In my new place, my neighbor works late nights and comes home in the middle of the night. I guess he has no sense of sound because he was incredibly loud. I honestly thought there was an earthquake happening. My cat was asleep on the bed near me, bug he got so scared of the noise that he ran and hid under the bed. (I guess if something ever goes wrong, the cat will save himself and I'm on my own. Good guard cat, huh?) anyway, I guess I gotta adjust to my neighbors. I'm sure after enough time I won't even notice it anymore. Vent over.

No Internet :(

I have finally moved onto my new apartment, and I love it to death. only problem is...no Internet yet. Minet couldn't even give me a hookup date. On monday they will let me know, so I'm just supposed to sit tight. This sucks for so many reasons. One reason being this class. unless I make my blogs while I'm at school, I'll have to do them from my iPhone (which I am right now). Another reason is because web design is what I live for. Yeah. I can build up some HTML's without Internet, but I can't get certain data online now. If I want a picture or URL, I have to get the link on my phone and type it ip. That sucks. Also, I cant remote into my office desktop. That is like cutting off my legs. The biggest issue is that I can't updat my websites now. I can't log into my web hosting service to update. I may have to go to the school computer lab to get things done. God, you never know how much you need something until you lose it.

As a closing note: does anyone know why iPhones auto correct "internet" to "Internet"? I don't get the caps.

Hand Coding

Sorry, had to say it. I can't believe some people think that programs like Dreamweaver are useful for learning how to build websites. It's basically a generator that does all the work for you. If you can't do math without a calculator, then you're not that good of a mathematician. Same with web  design. If you need anything more than a notepad, then I don't think you're prepared to be a web designer.

I've been building sites for a couple years, and I can't imagine using programs like that. I looked into computer science jobs, and they always require hand coding knowledge.

Allergies

Does anyone else have to deal with them? I've had my whole life, and they flare up at the most random times. Today is a very bad day with them, as I can barely get through a sentence without sneezing. I had a bloody nose earlier from rubbing it with Kleenex so much. I'm really hoping that tomorrow they cool off, since I have my presentation to give in this class. If not, you guys may be in for a real treat tomorrow, since I can't even speak clearly with them.

If you have allergies, what do you do about them? I've tried everything. The over the counter stuff, prescription stuff, cold wash clothes, everything. I think I may have to deal with them forever, which really sucks. :(

NES and SNES

This post may show my true nerdy side, but I'm not worried about keeping it hidden anymore.

I have an Xbox that I personally modified to maintain all my favorite games. I loaded it with about 50 NES games and probably a dozen SNES games. It can hold way more, but I didn't want a lot of clutter ones that I barely play to mess up my home menu. It's nice to have all my favorite games on one console, but I don't like the Xbox controller, especially for NES games. It's hard to achieve certain tricks without having the regular controller.

Now, the point of this post is...how much do NES and SNES games kick ass? I mean, really? Now that the Nintendo 3DS is about to be unveiled, it made me realize how much games/gaming systems have really evolved. Though, some evolutions have been for the worst (not naming names on that one).

Will there ever, in the rest of humanity's time, be a game to top the greatness of Super Mario Bros 3? Say what you will, that game has a place in every 80s/90s kid's heart. Remember how accomplished you felt when you finally made it to world 9? Remember how using the Warp Whistle felt like cheating? The Super Leaf was probably the most badass thing Mario could have with him (except for his faithful dinosaur pal).

As for recent Nintendo games, I recently purchased Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Wii. Can't say I'm all that thrilled with it, though it's nice to add to the collection.

As a last note, it must suck to be Luigi. No matter what, he'll never be hailed as the hero. If you've ever played The New Super Mario Bros on Wii, you notice that no matter who defeats Bowser in the end (I was playing  Blue Toad my first time and I was last man standing to beat him), Mario will still be the one in the animation that carries Peach off. Man, it must be hard coming second fiddle no matter what.

Music.

Since I have nothing else to update on, I think it's time to talk music. I recently got an iPhone on top of the iPod I've had for a while. Music has never been that big of a deal to me, but it's starting to grow on me. I used to only ,listen to the mainstream stuff, but I'm starting to get into the other genres, mostly rap. I can't deny, though, that pop music takes up a good half of my library.

I've only been to one mainstream concert so far, but I'm hoping to go to more. I'm  gonna be seeing Kesha in concert next month, which is so exciting. I love Kesha so much. Katy Perry is about to start a tour, but she only has a couple American dates posted so far. I'm hoping she'll come to the northwest.

For upcoming music, I'm looking forward to new releases from Lady Gaga very soon. Her new song will come on the day of the Grammys, with the album in May. Now the most important artist to me, whom I've loved forever, is Britney Spears. She's always been my favorite, since she was singing Baby One More Time in that school girl outfit. She was the one concert that I went to. Her new album is coming sometime in March, and that will fulfill her contract. She probably won't re-sign, at least not yet. This means I could have a great depression once she disappears from the music scene. Yeah, that's how obsessed I am. :)

Apartment Living

I've lived in apartments for the past three years, and now I'm moving to my last "college apartment" in 2 weeks. I just found out today that the new place is mine, and I get to move in on the last weekend of January. The new place is so beautiful that you wouldn't even think it's in Monmouth. My past places have all been kinda cheap and cheap-looking, so this is a huge step up. It's more square-footage than I've ever had, and has a patio for my cat to play in and get fresh air. Most of all, do you wanna know what the most amazing thing about my new apartment is? I get a labeled parking spot, just for me. If you've ever lived in big apartments around here, you know how hard it is to get a good parking spot, especially at night. In the apartment I'm living at right now, if I get home after nine PM I have to park on the street around the corner. It sucks, and I can't wait to have a reserved spot.

I was offered to take a one bedroom house in Independence instead, but I don't think houses would be all that comfortable. Despite all the flaws that apartments may have, they're still so much better than houses. I'm too forgetful to remember to bring out my trash once a week...that just wouldn't happen. And having a yard, of any size, is too much to ask. I'd probably pay someone to take care of it, as sad as that sounds. I like that in apartments things like that are taken care of for you. All in all, I really can't wait to move in 2 weeks. I'm excited to have a real, nice, grown up place :)

Going back to the blogs....

The blog that I looked at between classes was one of my favorites, tmz.com. I don't really have a future profession picked out, so I had to pick something random that interests me. Since I like to stalk so many celebrities, tmz seemed perfect.

Concerning the blog, there were pros and cons. I liked hearing all the gossip, but I didn't like when it would turn too negative. And sometimes the comments would go way out of line.

Looking back on the blog, it's not as nice as it seemed before class. It's easy to  navigate, but it's very light on content. They're there to "break the news" but they don't do much else. If I want any further information, I have to go somewhere else to find it. The don't even link me to longer stories or updates, I have to find those myself.

My Topic Idea....

In my little free-writing exercise, I thought of a couple different ideas for my presentation. Since most people are doing "younger" things like Facebook or Twitter, I wanted to do something that not a lot of people would think about. I chose GoToMeeting.com as a safe bet.