It's September . . .

Where the heck did summer go? Oh yeah, we didn't get summer in Seattle this year. Anyway, now that it's September, here's my randomness post of the month.

• I love Post-it notes. Like love them a lot; I go through them like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. OK, maybe not that much, but I do go through a lot of them.
  
• I hate bugs of any kind. Any. Kind. Hate. Them. Get it?
  
• I would rather eat fresh fruit than dessert (most of the time).
  
• I have to have the window open to sleep. (I can sleep with it shut, but I don't like it.)
  
• Speaking of sleep, I recently have been falling asleep with the radio on. If it's not the radio (music), it has to be silent. How's that for extremes?
  
• I've played the piano for 15 years. Doesn't seem that long and I don't play like it's been that long, but it has been.
  
• My first grade teacher and I still correspond with each other. It's pretty cool.
  
• I like taking the bus to Seattle. It's cheap, it's easy and there's no traffic or parking to worry about.
  
• I've never been to a football game. Ever.
  
• I never used to understand why people enjoy spas so much. But now that I'm older, I'd take a spa day any day of the week!
• I'm addicted to Red Mango frozen yogurt. Love that stuff.
  
• I've only ever owned (pretended to own) Toyota vehicles.
  

Randomness about me: August

1. I hate writing with pencil. The only time I write with pencil is if I'm writing in my music or if I'm taking a Scantron test. Since I'm finished with school, I don't have to worry about Scantron tests anymore, so I only use pencil when I'm writing in my music.
   
2. I cannot scream. Well, I guess I can, but I hardly ever do.
   
3. I think I'm becoming lactose intolerant. I've heard that 90% of Asians become lactose intolerant before age 30.
   
4. It drives me crazy when people leave their turn signals on forever. And ever. And ever. I only turn my signal on for about .125 seconds before I turn or change lanes.
   
5. My best friend and I have been friends our entire life. Literally. I love you, Paulina!
6. I have really random music tastes. Sometimes I enjoy listening to Katy Perry, when other days I enjoy Casting Crowns. Let's just say my Pandora station is really whack.
7. Although I eat meat, I don't love it. I could probably be a vegetarian if I wanted to.
   
8. I took two years of Chinese in college, but I hardly remember any of it. It's pretty sad when I think about how much grief that class put me through. Sigh.
   
9. Back to meat again; I hate the smell of cooking meat. The worst of them all is ground beef. Chicken is a close second.
   
10. I only like scrambled eggs if they are mixed really well before they're cooked. I know it's the same egg, but if it's partially white and partially yellow, I have a hard time eating it. Weird, I know.
    
11. When I type, I make weird facial expressions. If I'm typing something funny, I smile or laugh. If I'm asking a question, I make an odd smirk. I obviously haven't seen myself do this, but people who see me type always tell me that I do this.
    
12. I only like citrus if it's fresh. I love all sorts of citrus: lemon, lime, grapefruit, orange, etc. But if it is candy, I do not like it. In fact, if I have a bag of Skittles or roll of Starbursts, I will pick around the yellow, orange and green flavors.

Time Flew

Well, my wonderful internship at RPR has ended. Sad (no, really it is; I loved it there). I knew I'd miss the internship, but I wasn't sure what exactly I'd miss. Well, I've started a new internship with another agency, and I'm trying to get used to it. It's showed me what I miss about RPR.

I miss the people. I miss the types of clients. I miss the location. I miss being with other people (employees and interns) my age.

So what about this new place? It's not that I dislike it, but it is very different. Good or bad? Time will tell.

Life on Route 435

I meant to post last night, but I was too tired. So here is two days' worth of posts . . .

YESTERDAY:
I was on the bus from Downtown to the ID and of course there were a few bums on there. This one bum in particular was very noticeable from the time I stepped on the bus. He had gross, dirty, long hair. And his eyes were glazed over like he was high and/or drunk. He was sitting next to a fellow bum and they were talking quite loudly to each other. Oh wait, I think they wanted the entire bus to hear them. Anyway, so I'm sitting there on my way to lunch and I hear, "So how is Jane?" (Name has been changed, not to protect anyone's innocence, but because I forget what it actually was.) "Oh she's fine," the gross, dirty, long-haired man replied (we'll call him 'Scruffy'). "Yeah? Have you seen her?" asked the Santa-lookalike. "Well, I'm supposed to go see her today. Yeah, I was going to have lunch, but then she said dinner," Scruffy said. "Oh, she is good-looking," Santa said. "Oh yeah, oh yeah, she is really beautiful for her age," Scruffy said.

So that part of the bus ride was entertaining. But it gets better . . .

I was sitting sideways (some seats are front-facing and others are sideways) and there was this Chinese lady sitting across from me. She looked just like that girl in Spiderman who plays her instrument singing, "Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can . . . ." Well she was just odd. I don't know why I thought that when I first saw her, but I did. Anyway, then I see her digging for gold. Yes, in her nose. Gross, right? Yeah, well she found some gold but it got stuck in her fingernail. Guess what she did next? Yep. She flicked it off of her nail--into the air. I jumped out of my seat and almost let out a yelp, but I refrained. I just didn't want her mucus on me! Thankfully, I saw it land in the aisle. But dang, way to be gross! Then she held the railing in the bus. I will never hold a rail on the bus again!

One more story . . .

On the way home, I was blessed to sit in front of two ladies who were talking about fried food the entire ride from Seattle to Kenmore. I like food, but I just found it funny that they were talking about food like they've never eaten before. One lady was talking about going to some mini fair over the weekend and eating this huge barbecue sandwich. Then about how she saw a stand for fried Twinkies and how she "had to try one." She was talking about how they dipped the Twinkie in batter and then rolled it in cinnamon sugar. Then she made me laugh even harder when she said it was so good she got another one. And then the other lady started talking about how she tried fried pickles at another fair. Then the first lady started talking again about fried Twinkies. Like what the heck?! She said she can't wait for our big state fair to come in the fall so she can get an elephant ear and a Twinkie. Wow. Entertaining bus ride to say the least!



TODAY:
I got off of work a bit early today and since it finally decided to be somewhat nice this afternoon, I walked to a different bus stop. Well, as I was waiting at the stop, a different bus stopped and let down the handicap ramp. No big deal, right? But as the ramp came down, I saw an "it" standing there. For those who don't know, and "it" is a nicer (at least I think it's nicer) way to say a gender-confused person. Normally you can tell if and "it" was a "he that went she" or a "she that went he," but I couldn't tell with this person. Want to know why? First, "it" was wearing a mid-length skirt. Then I saw hairy legs. As I continued to glance upward, I saw that "it" was not only wearing glasses, but also lab goggles. Over the glasses. I am not kidding. "It" was wearing plastic lab goggles like those that chemists wear. I am still wondering if "it" was a he or her. But oh well, I guess I won't know.

Well, my bus came and I was sitting in front of some girl who was talking really loudly on her phone. She was super excited for some reason about getting car insurance and her driver's license. I mean, good for her. Haha.

Anyway, life never ceases to be interesting. Friday is my last day (for now) on the bus, so this series might end until further notice, but we will see . . . .

Later.

Life on Route 435

I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again: these posts technically shouldn't be "route 435" anymore, because I don't even ride that bus now, but whatever. I'm keeping the name. So on to the post . . .

Yesterday was a pretty normal day. Until I got on the bus (of course). I was on ST Route 522 from Seattle, and the bus was full like usual. Thankfully by the time I get on, there are still seats on the rig; it's not unusual for people to be standing the entire ride. (This is not like a quick ride at high speeds, it's 40 minutes, folks.) Well, halfway home, as someone was *attempting* to get off the bus, she rammed right into me. What do I mean? Like she stood up while the bus was still moving and then when the bus jerked a bit, she lost her ability to balance and rammed me with her big backpack. Of course she was totally ignorant to what just happened. I might have been forgiving if she would have noticed and apologized, but since she didn't, she has earned herself a permanent mention on this blog.

Moving on . . .

Everything was going OK, until I (and everyone else on the bus) heard this high-pitched, kid-sounding music coming from somewhere. My first thought was that it was coming from a dude's earbuds that weren't quite in his ear. Well, after I noticed him looking around in disgust from the noise, I figured it wasn't him. So I looked around some more. Couldn't quite pin where it was coming from . . . UNTIL . . . a short, odd-looking girl/lady/female stood up to let someone out of her row. Picture this person in your mind: frizzy hair, black knee-length socks with pirate skulls all over them, short (like short, short, short) black leather mini skirt. Got that picture in your mind? Good. Now add to it her holding a netbook (you know those tiny computers that are popular now). She stands up, trying not to drop her computer. The person leaves. The bus starts moving again. The sound gets louder. And louder. And now it is non-stop.

Yes, the sound was coming from her--or should I say from her computer. All the way from Downtown Seattle until Kenmore (probably farther than that, but that's where I got off). As I got off the bus, I passed where she was sitting and glanced at her screen. I am not kidding, she was playing some stupid computer game and those noises were from each little thing eating whatever other thing in her game (looking like Tumblebugs if you know what that game is). Yes, she was playing her game, ignorant of all the stares, glares and angry looks from everyone else on the bus, and she was playing with the sound on.

I was so glad to get off the bus. I feel bad for the person sitting next to her, but I also wonder why she didn't ask her to turn down the volume or plug in her earphones or whatever. Some things (and people) I will never understand.

P.S. I forgot to mention the girl/lady/female on the bus the other day who was standing the entire time (scroll up for an explanation about people standing up). Yeah, she was holding the handle on the back of my seat, which would've normally been fine, except she was holding my hair with it. I pulled forward several times to try and get my hair out of her grip and also to try and get her to notice she was pulling my hair. Yeah, didn't work. Not-so-funny thing about this story, is that another intern and I ride the same bus every morning, and she was sitting behind me. She told me when we were walking to the office that she kept getting knocked by the same girl's backpack, the entire way from Kenmore to Seattle. Some people . . . .

Randomness for June

More random things about me . . . .

1. I have never had a manicure. Never. I have, however, had pedicures and I love them.
   
2. Speaking of hands, my thumbs are so short that I cannot sign "M" or "N" in ASL. I'm not kidding, have me show you sometime; it's impossible.
   
3. My new favorite show is Glee. Right now, I'm pretty behind on it (since I just started watching it), but I like it a lot. One of the best lines in Season 1: "They can't fire me; I'm a minority." --Ken
   
4. I never thought I'd own an Apple product, but now that I have a MacBook Pro, I will never go back to a PC. Ever.
   
5. In the last six months, I've gone from being an extreme night owl to being a morning person. I used to stay up until at least 2:30 a.m. every day, but now I cannot stay up past 11 p.m. (even 10:30 p.m. is pushing it).
   
6. I seriously get the chills when I see the following: the bottoms of artichoke hearts (after you pull the "hairs" off) and backs of fern fronds (where the seeds are).
7. My dream job would be to do PR and/or marketing for a non-profit organization that works with kids in some capacity. (Like Childhaven, Children's Hospital, March of Dimes, etc.)
   
8. Someday I will travel to Japan, China, Korea, Greece, Ireland and Africa.
   
9. I like it when guys wear pink. I don't like it when they wear light pink, but I do like it when they wear bright and dark shades.
   
10. When I was little, my siblings and I called our different sets of grandparents "different" and "regular" since we got them confused. The "different" ones were my mom's dad and his wife, and the "regular" ones were my mom's mom and her husband. Now we call them "house" and "condo" (respectively) since they, well, live in a house and a condo. (It's not like English when you name them distinctive names like nana, grandma, memaw, etc. In Chinese, if it's your mom's mom you call her one name and if it's your dad's mom you call her another name.)

Randomness About: Me

Thanks to my bestie, Paulina, for the idea of blogging random information about herself . . . I'm going to copy her and add my own here. Enjoy!

1. At at whooping 5' 3", I am the tallest in my family. No joke.
   
2. I've played the piano for 15 years. Asian stereotype? Sure, why not!
   
3. Since age 14, I have babysat more than 90 kids from about 35 different families.
   
4. I hate LOTR, Harry Potter, Twilight and Jane Austen. I know, random genres and topics, but don't like any of them.
   
5. I'm half-Japanese and half-Chinese, but people often ask if I'm a) Mexican, b) Hawaiian, c) Samoan or d) Filipino.
   
6. I've never had a manicure. Just pedicures. And I love them!
   
7. I love to sew, but I always rush and end up ruining my projects.
   
8. I enjoy reality TV shows.
   
9. I've never had a retail job.
   
10. I'm extremely indecisive. It's an annoying characteristic to have.
    

There is my first attempt. I'll see how many more random things I can come up with.

Later.

Life on Route 435. Again.

Today was interesting. First off, it was hailing this morning so it made waiting for the bus miserable (I was wearing a skirt and it was windy and cold). I woke up a bit later than usual today, so I was putting my makeup on at the bus stop. As I was putting my eyeliner on, some super friendly lady walked up to me. "Good morning," she said. "Can I get you to read this magazine? We're trying to get people into their Bibles." I knew right away she was probably a JW, so I asked her, "What is your organization?" And sure enough she was a JW. I told her I wasn't interested and she walked away.

Nothing too much out of the ordinary in terms of the bus ride down to work. I walked on the opposite side of the sidewalk this morning so I could purposely avoid that newspaper man who is ALWAYS there on the corner of 4th and Union.

On my way to the bus stop to come home some dude was walking and he had--not kidding--5 watches in his hand. Not on his wrist, in his hand. Dangling. Like he jacked them from someone or something sketchy like that. Anyway, I was trying to avoid getting too close to him since I was paranoid that he was stealing people's watches from off their wrists (even though I don't currently wear a watch). Well then he started talking. I've gotten really good at pretending like I can't hear the person who is talking to me (it's easy to do Downtown since the street noise is so loud and there are people everywhere). "Hey, is that Chanel for her perfume you got on?" he asked. Well I don't know how he could smell anything on the street, let alone the perfume he thought I was wearing. Oh, and since I woke up late today I didn't put mine on. And for the record, I don't wear Chanel!

So today wasn't too horrific, but like most days I came home with stories to tell of the weird people I "met" while going to and from the office. Later.

More stories

Today my sister drove me to the office this morning, so I don't have any stories from the morning commute (and anyway, the riders on Route 435 are pretty normal, it's the route on the way home that is full of weird people).

But this afternoon I met Kristine and my grandma for lunch in the ID, so I took Route 36. As I got on, some dude (apparently drunk) was yelling so everyone on the bus could hear him: "My apartment, I don't know, my apartment, I don't got my apartment." Well, sorry dude, I don't know what happened to your apartment, but I don't really care.

On that same bus, something smelled horrible. Like pee. I figured it out that it wasn't the bus that smelled that way, it was someone on the bus. Once he got off it was fine (almost).

Then tonight after work, I took the Route 36 again but this time I took it to my grandparents' condo. As I was walking from the stop to their condo (about three blocks), I heard this voice. I looked around and saw nobody. Oh wait, I saw someone on his balcony. And yep, it was that man talking. To me. "Hola ¿Quieres venir aquí. Te ves tan linda," he probably said. (It was hard to hear, but I know he was talking to and about me.) Oh, and that roughly translates, "Hey, want to come over here? You look so pretty." Thanks, Google Translate! Anyway, so he kept talking as I was walking past. He was waving and blowing kisses. Not kidding.

I made it to my grandparents' safely and then Kristine and I drove home. So there is today's excerpt on my life on Route 435.

New Series: Life on Route 435

A *certain friend* of mine told me to write blog entries about my experiences on the public transportation system, so here you go. I'll try to update this series as funny, odd, random or scary things happen while I'm on way to or from the office (some entries may include things that the street bums say on my way to or from the office from the bus stop).

So far, some big burly man told me as I boarded the bus, "Hey girl, you look like Cleopatra!" What? Really? Do I really look like Cleopatra? Then if that wasn't bad enough, he tells the girl next to him, "Doesn't she remind you of Cleopatra? She does, huh?" Yeah dude, whatever!

And then, the next day a bum on the sidewalk was trying to get me to buy one of his newspaper things (you know, the small papers nobody knows about and the ones that are filled with random biased news you never knew could be classified as "news"?). I guess he thought I was too interested in my lunch (which I was), because I ignored his, "Hi!" His second attempt? "Why hello pretty lady!" OK, so maybe my outfit was cute that day, but umm . . . .

Well, that's my first entry in this series, "Life on Route 435." More to come.

Word of the day: Assistant

I stayed up way too late last night (or this morning) watching old episodes of The Office. If you're familiar with that show, Dwight always says his job title is "Assistant Regional Manager" when it is really "Assistant to the Regional Manager." Big difference? Yeah.

Well that example along with my ongoing job search made me think of the different ways we use the word "assistant." I saw a job posting for "Assistant Editor" which is obviously different than "Editorial Assistant." The two words that make up those jobs are pretty similar, but the jobs are quite different.

What are other words that are used like "assistant" that have similarities yet strong, obviously differences when placed in certain word order?

Trust

I had a random thought going through my head today: there are so many people we don't know, yet we trust. It's good to trust people, but seriously think of individuals you run into each day . . . most of them we pay to do something for us. Weird. Just a few that were in my mind today:

• Doctors; sure maybe you have one doctor you've seen all your life, but really, you trust them to examine, operate or prescribe things for your body. Most of the time, they're a complete stranger with whom you share your most confidential information.
  
• Roommates; well most of us don't have a choice when it comes to roommates, but we share a room with up to three other people we've never met. We leave our valuables in the room and trust that those valuables will be there when we return for the night.
  
• Car mechanics; I have a hard time trusting these people, but still, I try. I've never met them before and yet I trust that when they say my air filter, brakes, lights and tires need replacements, they really need replacements.
  

Those are just a few. What are some that you can think of?

I love my brother!

My brother, Andy, is one amazingly talented designer. I know he'll go far in whatever he ends up doing after college. I can't believe the things he's designed. I took these from his Facebook to share with you! Enjoy!

*Disclaimer: Many of his designs are for academic projects, therefore the brands depicted are not real advertisements.

A typography project he did

A dramatic performance poster he designed

A recital invitation he made

A graphic design project he did (not a real advertisement for Old Spice)

His latest design--a typographical map from our house to his school

A column that never really became a column

As young children, my mom never wanted us to use the word “hate,” because of its strong and negative meaning that, as youngsters, we probably wouldn’t fully understand. So my siblings and I learned to say that we “didn’t like” something instead. That worked for a little bit, until I realized there were things that I could truly hate.

One of those things is casseroles. I absolutely hate casseroles.

When we were growing up, my parents had this philosophy where each of us kids had to try everything set before us—twice. Yes, not one bite, but two. This mild form of torture was supposed to ensure that we weren’t letting our mind say we didn’t like something before our taste buds told our brain it really was okay. That was probably a good rule to establish, and I’m not a picky eater today thanks to this philosophy, but everyone in my family knows when it comes to casseroles, I really struggle to get my fork up to my mouth.

My mom is one amazing and talented cook, so thankfully, casseroles do not make it onto our dinner table very often. Most of my experiences with casseroles have been either at potlucks or friends’ houses.

It’s always amusing to see the variety of casseroles—chicken and rice casserole, chicken and pasta casserole, green bean casserole, tuna casserole, broccoli and cheese casserole—the list could go on and on about all these one-dish-mix-it-all-together-mystery-meals.

You may be wondering exactly what types of casseroles I hate. Basically, any combination of creamed soup, meat, veggies, cheese or bread crumbs that is then assembled into a Pyrex pan and left to bake itself to death in the oven, or “until the top is golden brown and the cheese is melted.”

I never understood why one would concoct such a meal. I’ve heard it’s a good way to use up all those leftovers from the week. In my family, we still eat leftovers, but never in the form of casseroles. I’ve also heard it’s economical. Well, I’ll leave that up to you to decide, but I think there are plenty of other food choices that would be just as appealing to the checkbook as they are to the palate. And then finally, I’ve heard it’s quick. However, zapping something in the microwave for a minute sounds much quicker to me than waiting for a casserole to bake an hour at 350 degrees.

But before you conclude that I’m simply and ungratefully rambling on about food I don’t like, believe me when I say that I’m thankful for all the food that is set before me—I’m just trying to find a way to be thankful for something that I hate so much. 





Kalyn Kinomoto
Column
Spring 2009

On the hunt

With Father's Day soon approaching (too quickly, I might add), I'm searching for that perfect gift for my amazing, yet not-so-perfect Dad. I love him dearly, but he is so hard to shop for. You'd think after 22 years of celebrating this holiday with him that I'd have this gift-giving thing down. Wrong. Every single year I'm plagued with this inability to find a gift for him.

To aid me in this traumatic experience, I ask him, "So, what do you want this year?" Without fail his answer is, "Oh, I don't need anything. I'm just glad you're in my life." Aww, now isn't that sweet? Maybe, but it doesn't help me! Those who know me (even just on the acquaintance level of the friendship scale) know I'm very indecisive. I'm so indecisive, I even wrote a column about it!

Since my dad won't help with my gift-hunting efforts, I decided to check the media. After all, there are always articles about "Top Dad's Day Gifts" or "Trends for This Father's Day." Sure enough, I found this article. The headline? "11 Great Gadgets for Father's Day." Wonderful! Dad can use more gadgets. But if you look, you'll quickly notice that most of these "great gadgets" are not very college-budget friendly.

So, I'm stuck again. I don't want to pull an "Oops, I forgot it's Father's Day," and resort to giving him yet another necktie. Oh! He loves doing laundry and frequently mentions that we don't have enough clothing hangers--but I give them to him for part of his Christmas gift every year. I will not be buying more hangers for him!

Well, while I'm "jogging in oatmeal" on my gift hunt, I might read more news articles in hopes of finding that perfect (and budget-friendly) gift. This is going to be one long marathon!

I made the big switch

to a Mac! This change, however, didn't come without its problems--or complications. I have to agree with a friend who wrote this column about her new Mac experience a few months ago, that switching from a PC to a Mac is different, but I don't regret it.

Although my switch was a bit complicated. You see, there was this sale and I'm Asian, and I love sales. So I waited patiently for this student promotion (buy a Mac get an iPod) to begin. The day after I buy my new Mac, I read in the Seattle Times of a newer Mac that had been released that day. Yep, the this always happens. Right after I fork over (or more like swipe the plastic in this case) the money and hope I won't regret my big purchase, something bigger and better comes out. I know the marketing strategy behind that, but seriously, the DAY after? Come on!

Well it's no big deal that there's a new Mac, right? Not exactly. This newer one is faster. And has an illuminated keyboard. And has a battery with the potential 7-hour charge. And is not only a Macbook but a Macbook Pro. And lastly, but most importantly, it was CHEAPER. What? How could this be? I could save more money? What was I going to do now?

I look at my receipt and find that I can return my opened Mac, but I would be charged $120 because it was already opened. Hmm . . . was it worth the trouble? We would soon find out. Skeptical of my ability to return and re-buy, I went to the Apple Store and talked to their "specialist." Sure enough, I could return my open Mac and purchase the newer Mac. Believe it or not, even with the 10% restocking fee, I would still get money back--for a better computer!

So, now I'm the owner of a newer Macbook Pro. And I saved money. That's what I call a deal!

Just because I'm bored

I used to enjoy doing these dumb little surveys, but since then I've had too much "other stuff" to do. But, I figure since I'm a bit bored at the moment, I'll let you know a bit more about myself via this dumb little survey. 

What is your salad dressing of choice?
Soy ginger or raspberry walnut

What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
Cheesecake Factory or Fuji Sushi

What food could you eat everyday for two weeks and not get sick of?
Rice

What are your pizza toppings of choice?
Sausage, olives, onions, peppers

Chocolate or Vanilla?
Dark chocolate

How many televisions are in your house?
Two

Do you have a laptop?
Yes, my HP is practically broken, so I'm buying a Macbook! 

How about a desktop?
Yes, but it's not functioning quite right

How many cell phones do you own?
Three, but only one is activated

Are you right - handed or left- handed?
Right

Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
Umm, like parts of my body? Only teeth

What is the last heavy item you lifted?
A bookshelf

Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
If I have, I don't remember

How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
Two

Last time you had a run-in with the cops?
A year ago when I locked my keys in the car . . . with a child in the backseat . . . completely unintentionally

Last person you talked to?
On the phone? Kristine

On chat? Molly

Last person you hugged?
Eli

Favorite Season?
Summer, but before it gets too hot

Favorite Day of the week?
Friday

Missing anyone?

This is not supposed to sound cliche, but I really miss my Collegian family

What are you listening to?
The wind blowing the trees outside. Exciting, huh?

Watching?
Nothing

First place you went this morning?
Eli's house

What's the last movie you saw?
UP

Do you always answer your phone?
I'll confess, I screen my calls and ignore the people I don't care to talk to

You get a text message at 4 a.m. Who is it?
One of my Twitter friends (tweeps)

If you could change your eye color what would it be?
Someday I'm going to have purple eyes

What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic?
Strawberry limeade, light on the ice

Do you own a digital camera?
Yep

Have you ever had a pet fish?
Unfortunately

Favorite Christmas song(s)?
Jingle bell rock

Can you do push ups?
Yeah

Can you do a chin up?
Potentially yes, probably no

Does the future make you nervous or excited?
Excited

Do you have any saved texts?
Yep, lots

Ever been in a car wreck?
Yeah

Do you have an accent?
Thankfully no . . . at least not a natural one. I pretend I'm boater sometimes though and can make myself have an accent

What is the last song to make you cry?
There Will Be A Day

Plans tonight?
Sleep is last on the to-do list for today

Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom?
Several times

Have you ever been given roses?
Yep

Met someone who changed your life?
Lots

How did you ring in the New Year?
I don't remember, isn't that sad?

Would you go back in time if you were given the chance?
Sure, why not? 

Have you ever dated someone longer than a year?
No

Who was the last person you took a picture of?
Some random lady at Target who sported one heck of an ugly mullet

What kind of music did you listen to in elementary school?
Steve Green

Are most of the friends in your life new or old?
A few old, a lot new

Do you like pulpy orange juice?
Yes

What were you doing at 12 AM last night?
Outside in my tent watching The Office 

"The Game of Life"

I've always liked playing this game. That game being the board game. OK, so I've been enjoying myself in the real deal too, but I'm beginning to wonder which number I'll spin next. Which spot am I going to land on? Will it give me money or take it away from me?

So in the game, you choose one of two paths of life: the college or the career (something like that). I clearly have chosen the college. Now supposedly, I'm supposed to be ahead in the game, theoretically making more money in a better career than those who chose to just tackle life and its problems without a degree. Props to them. Maybe? The way things are looking now, I wonder if the $68,000 I will have spent by December for my degree will set me apart that much from my peers. Let's be optimistic and hope so because that is a lot of money that's come from my pocket in the last four-and-a-half years. Oh wait, I've never had that much money in my pocket, so add a few loans and a large percentage of interest to that number.

The game continues and you choose an occupation, a house and a car. Well, I know I want my occupation in the fields of journalism and public relations--preferably together. I've been researching, contacting and keeping reference files for each organization I would like to work with. It sounds like great pre-planning now, but December is only six months away. As for a house, I have no clue. None whatsoever. I want to move out on my own after graduation, but again money plays a big roll in this factor. Do I rent from someone? Do I share with roommates? Then a car. I have a nice car that was given to me for graduating from high school, but it's not really mine. So do I lease a car? Do I buy a clunker? Do I walk? We'll have to wait and see.

Then we're all familiar with the bumps in the road, unexpected costs and taxes and other "pay this amount" spaces you potentially land on in the game. I've already experienced quite a few of these in real life, and I know they'll just keep coming.

Game continues. Marriage. Job promotions. Kids. Taxes. Vacations.

Anyway, you get my point -- I'm beginning to wish life was as simple as the game. But since I know it isn't now and won't ever be, I might as well be happy with what I have now and plan as best as I can for the future.

As scary as it is, I think I'm ready to tackle life. Bring it on!

Who knew bleach was for cleaning?

So I just finished cleaning the upstairs bathroom. It definitely took long enough. No, not because I'm a slow cleaner, but because my sibs have saved so much JUNK in there.

Seriously, how many bottles and tubes of shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste and hairspray does one person need? OK, so there are four of us, but there were enough of these half-empty bottles to start our own discount convenience store. I mean, if they were half-full, I would have kept them, but these were clearly half-empty! Ridiculous.

I'm definitely not a pack rat. I hate keeping things. So I had a lot of fun (or at least I tried to tell myself it was fun) throwing all my sibs random stuff in the trash. I hope they won't miss their stuff!

The next enjoyable part of cleaning was bleaching. Yes, I like the smell of bleach. And no, I don't sniff bleach for fun. I promise. But after bleaching the shower/tub, counters, sinks, toilet and floor, I think I'm done smelling bleach for a bit!

Another reason it took so long is because I got distracted by Twitter texts, Facebook updates and the radio. But I limited myself and continued cleaning.

So now that the bathroom is neat and bleachy-clean smelling, I need to go find something really fun to do!

It makes my head hurt

Since I'm a relatively poor college student, I think about money. I think about money a lot. And in the process of thinking about it, I wonder: What makes these 2.61" x 6.14" (yes, I looked it up) pieces of glorified paper worth anything?

I know, I know, there is supposed meaning, significance and worth to these legal tenders, but really, how can a piece of paper really do that much?

Take it to yet another level--plastic. One swipe here, another swipe there and all of a sudden I have debt to pay. All because of my spending via a magnetic strip on the back of a piece of plastic.

I'm not interested in the scientific explanations for the logic of the financial world, and I'm probably taking this too far, but it really makes my head hurt to think about it.