Tragic Scene

As I type sirens are going off on 15th Ave. I think a house fire happened. I've never experienced driving by a house that's burning, water pouring into the street by the fire hydrants. Firetrucks and ambulances were parked haphazardly down the narrow street.

Ash and I went out to Kroger and smelled the smoke before we saw it, curling its brown tail up and up into the blue sky. It's so sad and devestating. Of course the news trucks are there. That's why I could never do hard-hitting news. I couldn't deal with interviewing someone who just lost their house or doing a story that will give me more face-time and (maybe?) a bigger paycheck. Why should I advance on account of someone's tragedy? Nope. Never going to do it. I pray I never have to do that. I think if I compromised and did a story such as that, I would lose my sense of self.

Strong words but words I live by.

Whatchu lookin' at?

Currently listening to:



New favorite song! It's perfect for this week. Temperatures this week are going to increase to about the high 70s. I <3 global climate change!

This week is a three day week because of Easter. It feels like spring break is a million miles behind us. Weird. Because of the short week, I suppose the teachers got into a frenzy because everything except the kitchen sink is due! Tonight I have to study for my AVP test, do my video proposal and go over my speech that's due on Wednesday. It doesn't seem like much but walk a minute in my moccasins and you'll see. You'll see.

Anyway, this break is going to spectacular! With the beaut weather, my friends and I are planning to go to the park, chill out and read, go shopping in the Village, and look really cute doing it! The only things I'm wearing are dresses. It's time to put away the bulk and layers and say hello to bright, beautiful printed dresses.

You may be wondering why I titled this post "Whatchu lookin' at?" Aside from the fact it's a shout-out to Madonna's age-old song, Vogue, there was something that happened in Comm Law that was just way weird and I had to share it with ya'll. We're talking about copyright infringement and all that beautiful stuff. Well, Thom opens up the class with a question: Does YouTube infringe on copyright? I shook my head no and he called on me to expand on my thought. I said how YouTube has a list of music you can add to your video that is okay to copy. If you have a music bed that YouTube considers infringement they disable it. If you've uploaded a video, you've experienced this at least once or twice. Well, we have a guy in the class that's an adult student. I don't mind adult students so long as they act like students (ie coming in class acting as if you know more than the teacher isn't cool). As I'm speaking, people are looking at me (including adult student) and I don't really mind so much. Big deal. Thom starts speaking and instead of looking at Thom, the adult student is intent on STARING at me!

If I had any gaul like Ash does, I would've glared back at him. Instead, I rested my hand on my face, blocking my view of him. He finally turned to look at Thom. I told Ash this and she completely agreed it was creepy. I think it's a part of societal ediquette that you don't stare at people.That's why kids get slapped upside the head for staring. It's rude! It's obnoxious, uncomfortable, annoying. She wondered if he was thinking about what I just said or was so ignorant and blown away about what I knew. 1) Dude could think of what I said without gawking at me and 2) his time could be better spent writing down what I said and doing further research out of the classroom. Either way takes his beady eyes off me and onto his notebook or Thom.

Am I being too brash? Too harsh? I don't think so. Don't stare. It's a simple, polite thing. Look at someone when they're talking and when they're finished talking, go about your business.

Tell me what ya'll think.

Empowered, uplifted, ORGANIZED!

Can this post solely be about how organized I feel?

Because right now I feel very much organized and feel like I can breathe...at least into tomorrow.

I overread for philosophy so I don't have to read tonight. We had a group meeting for our Google business models last night. Don't let me get into that...the only thing I will say is I hate when people don't make an effort to meet group members and instead have their priorities (or what should be their priorities) out of whack.

We decided to do a powerpoint and I offered to throw something together. I came back last night at 11:15pm and got it done in an hour, took a shower, and crawled into bed. I woke up way sore all over. I don't know how in the world I slept but it wasn't good. Nope. Not in the slightest. My left leg is killing me! I think I rolled onto the muscle or something. Who knows! All my eyes wanted to do was close back up. But, I had speech class so I had to go. Jen and I were supposed to meet at 10am to pick up a video camera to start shooting our basic shots for our first video project. We were both a little intimidated by the project so we decided to walk around together and shoot individual shots. That way we could help each other figure it all out, too.

I decided to go back to my room after class and lie down for 30 minutes. Well, those 30 minutes did wonders because I was good to go when I woke up. Jen and I met at Gabhart and did some videotaping. We met back up at 1pm since I had class at 11-1 and she had class from 12-1. All except for three shots are completed. The only reason we didn't finish was because the battery went dead. We would've finished had it not been for that minor hiccup. It's all good, though. We're gonna meet up at 12 tomorrow and finish taping. Then in class we'll capture and then we can edit. Both of us should be done our individual projects by Tuesday, which is right on time! 

My speech is coming along very well. I'm almost done writing out the script. I need to finish that by tomorrow night (along with a case study for Comm Law...maybe I'll do that tonight after Synodia) so I can start practicing over the weekend. 

I think that's all the huge stuff. Our class is supposed to Skype Jeff Jarvis. It'll be really cool to ask him some questions and be able to talk to him face-to-face. Business of News is such a cool class, opening up opportunities everywhere! If we can't Skype him then our models need to be presented, which is why we were in a scramble yesterday and last night. It's all together though so breathing can happen again.

Phew...

Hola!

Sorry for not updating in forever. I wasn't able to log into my blog for some reason. I was starting to think someone hacked in and changed everything on me. But then I thought maintenance? In order to ease my mind, I think I'll stick with the latter.

It's always weird typing with semi-dry nails...

Spring break was last week. It was really good to see the family for a bit. My mom and I bonded again. Got together with Michelle and Mims at Olive Garden on Friday and then Friday night went to La Piazza with Jill, shopping for heels and then Starbucks. I love my friendship with Jill. No matter how long it goes without texting each other, whenever I come home, it's like we pick up right where we left off. Everyone needs friendships like that I think. They're just chill.

My flight was cancelled due to plane maintenance on Sunday night so I had to stay an extra day and a half at home which was fine by me! USairways didn't have any direct flights until Tuesday so I was a little behind in school, but now everything's okay. Easter break is soon and once again teachers are trying to stress us out beyond recognition so there's a lot to be done.

Oh, good news! Adam interviewed for an aerial photography job. He'd be the pilot who flies these photographers around as they take pictures for Google Earth, Maps, landscape pictures, etc. The company just got back from Haiti so it's a really cool job for Adam to get. If it's God's will...which I think it is.

I talked to him a few days ago, asked him how his interview went. On his way there (the interview was in PA) he got a flat tire! He called AAA who was very swift in fixing it and getting him on his merry way, arriving with three minutes to spare! If that's not God, I don't know what is.

I have a speech to give next Wednesday. It's a social action speech and has to be "persuasive". I'm doing mine on farmland preservation, supporting local farmers, etc. Hopefully it goes well. I got an A on my last one. Yea, I know! I thought I completely bombed it but I guess comparitively and by God's grace and mercy, He pulled me through and I got an A. Woohoo!

All my other classes are going well. I don't know. I have this feeling that in April I'm just gonna sail right through. We'll see...haha It is college. Maybe a tsunami of assignments will engulf me. Yikes...on second though, no gracias!

It's a rainy, cloudy, thundery day in Nashville today...bullocks.

Break, hair and technology

You're probably wondering why or how I'm typing a blog post when supposedly we don't have internet at my house.

Well, now we do.

Hughes Net has saved my parents from truly being out of the loop. It's a breath of techy air and I'm loving it. Sure, it's such a baby step compared to the fast-paced outside world, but considering we're out in the middle of nowhere with nothing but a highway and massive fields everywhere, this is huge. The boys were having a field day with the internet, looking at youtube and what-not. I'm just so glad we have wireless. I can now do what I wanted to do for a very long time: sit on the couch with a blanket, Smokey near, surfing the web at my leisure. Fabulous.

I got my hair cut! Ever since I originally cut my hair short, I can't seem to let my hair get really long anymore. It's kind of ridiculous haha. I would take a picture of me with my hair but I look so tired. So, you'll just have to wait til tomorrow. Oh, you can wait!

So far spring break has been really good. I've spent some time with family and my weekend is going to be spent with friends. Lunch with Michelle on Friday and La Piazza with Jill on Saturday. There's really cute waiters at La Piazza. Sort of like an Allentown, NJ Olive Garden.

Ciao, bellas!

One day away

Yikes-a-million! The days seem to fly by so quickly. I hardly know what day it is anymore. Thank God I always have my cellphone with me to check. Ha!

Ash and I just went to Sonic for the billionth time this week. Don't judge. We've had a really hard week this week. Sonic was our savior. God bless M&M blasts...

I finished packing about a few minutes ago. There wasn't much to pack. I'm going home for a week so I didn't want to go overboard. Plus, I'm bringing back my Carlos Santana's to show the girls and to show off with some outfits. I'm thinking of wearing them for one of my speeches. Who knows...

Break is going to be spent getting my hair cut, eyebrows waxed, lunch with Michelle, dinner with Jill, and getting money in order for Ireland.

Oh, did I say Ireland? Yes. I said Ireland which means I'm GOING TO IRELAND THIS SUMMER!!!!!

Let me give you the low down.

Remember the post where I said I wasn't going because the money was so tight? Get this.

I was in the art building with Ash as she was working in the photo lab and I was just chilling, texting Michelle about stuff. My mom called me with a very special surprise.

"Your grandparents are willing to give you $3000 for your Ireland trip. If you still want to go, you may want to call them and tell them."

I couldn't believe it! It took all my strength not to just collapse on the floor with gratitude.

"I told them how you saved up half but wouldn't be able to go this summer because it was more expensive than you anticipated," my mom said. "They asked if it would help your career and I told them it would tremendously. That's when they offered to give you $3000 for the trip."

I got off the phone with my mom and quickly called my grandmom and poppop. My grandmom said she was happy to do it and would help me whenever I needed it (within reason haha). My poppop said "The world is hard enough out there. You need all the help you can get." That is completely and utterly true.

So, $3000 is mine and now my summer is going to be more exciting than I planned. Isn't God something? You think you have everything situated out; you've made peace that maybe going somewhere wasn't in God's will and then He goes "That's really sweet you trust Me to give you a great life. But, here's you're desire of your heart, daughter."

It's so stinkin' awesome! He always manages to surprise me when I least expect it.

This summer it's the moorlands, Dublin and Galway for this lass.

Tomorrow though is New Jersey.

Ciao!