Jan 19: Taking Care of Business

Kate Bosworth and JewelMint by bunni711 featuring clutch handbags

This is my entry for the Kate Bosworth/JewelMint contest on Polyvore.  The top five sets get a year's subscription to JewelMint.  I would love to win!

So, I'm close to finishing Wicked today, but may not be able to finish until tomorrow.  I'm ready to move on!  I just haven't been reading that much lately.  Now I'm going to be pretty busy with homework, too.  The upside is that it's only this week that is going to be ridonkulously busy, and the rest of the semester should be relatively relaxed as far as work goes.  I mean the frequency, not necessarily the difficulty.

I got my grade for the letter of intro and got a 90.  The teacher left comments, but I'm not sure why she took off so much.  I'm debating e-mailing her about it.  I think if I do the workshopping, it will help my grade.  James and I are also thinking of dropping the class (before the Ws of course!), but I think we should probably just take it.  It will save me in loans and I think I can do better with workshopping and with the help of the books - we didn't have them for the first assignment, after all.

I spent most of my day working on the networking homework.  The labs turned out to be pretty easy and maybe a little fun.  Or, at least not boring.  The quiz wasn't hard either, so I'm only worried about how much homework I have to get done before Sunday.  I have to do 4 chapters worth of labs and quizzes (ch 1 got knocked out today), plus a summary paper on one of many videos about Windows Server 2008.

Jamie and I got some sandwiches in town today because his mom was making Kielbasi, which neither of us are particularly fond of.  We also got some chocolate and I ate too much glorious, glorious chocolate.  Mmmm...  See, this is why I'm having trouble!

We watched some Warehouse 13, which is becoming a favorite show, and we watched the new 30 Rock and The Office.  I have yet to start the new Face Off season, and by now there is another episode online.  Eep!  Ah well, life is swell.  : )  (Curse my quickly changing moods!  And sometimes bless them, I spose...  They do make life interesting, at the very least.)

I haven't crocheted in what feels like forever.  I'm going to have to find some time soon to finish up old projects and get back into my hobby.  Unfortunately, it's going to be work, work, work for me for the next few days.  I also have to work through ch. 1 of Javascript and make a graphic on Microsoft Expressions.  Those shouldn't be hard, but I hardly have time it seems.  I shall get it done, though, as always.

Love,
Christen

Jan 17 & 18: Losing Track of Time

Birdies in a Tree by bunni711 on polyvore.com

I made this one a few days ago.  I'm pretty excited because it got a like on Polyvore.  Pretty much I've been entering all the contests I can on Polyvore lately.  There are quite a few going on right now.  I've already entered 4 and there is one more going on that I have yet to make a set for.

Sorry about not posting yesterday, it got away from me!  Not much went on; we went to my house to pick up my prescription and my wallet.  We visited and loved on Teddy bear.  James and I played some cards and we watched our Tuesday shows:  New Girl and Raising Hope.  I wasn't in that great of a mood most of the day, but I think it's mostly anxiety for the new semester and stuff.  We had one of Jamie's favorites for dinner:  chili cheese dogs.  They were pretty delicious.

So, today I haven't really been feeling that great.  I was having trouble breathing earlier for some reason; I think it may have been a stuffy nose and congestion.  I feel fine now though.  I spent a lot of time on Polyvore today making sets for their contests.  I've been making almost exclusively fashion sets lately.  Well, I will get creative again with them soon.  I noticed today how much time I spend on there.  The time completely passes me by.  I was on for a little bit (less than an hour) and noticed it was 9:30.  Then, I looked again and it was suddenly 10:30!  I had no idea I had been on that long!

I watched this week's episode of The Bachelor.  It was pretty interesting, but some of the stuff really does seem planned.  One girl goes home and another girl shows up out of the blue?  I don't know...  Jamie and I started season 2 of Warehouse 13.  I really like that show.  They always have cool artifacts popping up and such.

Ah, not much else to talk about.  I've been reading more and am getting towards the end of Wicked.  I'm also losing the lead I had on my book reading.  : (  I'll hopefully catch up, though.  Two of my books came in, finally.  Actually, one of them got here on the 12th, but it was being held at the UPS place because Jamie has all of his packages held there.  But I got my online access code and we got our book for networking, so we can do that homework we had missed.  I'm not quite in school mode yet.  It's very strange taking all online courses, but I kind of like it.  It makes me want to get an at-home job.  I'm not sure if I'm ready for freelance web design, though.  It would be fun, but I think I would have trouble networking to get clients and such.  Also, I really want to have a steady income; that's very important to me.

Welp, I'll leave you there.  I've had a strange day.  I have been very tired and, for some reason, very sensitive to sounds.  Well, I'm feeling alright now, so hopefully there won't be any more silliness tomorrow.  I will have to start on that networking homework.  Oh, and it seems like Javascript is going to be more like Visual Basic, eep!  I think it'll be alright though; I really hope so!  I'm not much for programming languages...  I liked html, though, so hopefully making websites will distract me from the fact that I'm programming.

Love,
Christen

Jan 15: Make a Wish

Make a Wish by bunni711 on polyvore.com

I made the artwork above today.  I'm pretty happy with it and decided to post it before some of the stuff I made before.  I am so ridiculously tired!  It's been one of those days.  : P

So, the cell company never called me back.  I'm going to have to call them yet again.  I am beyond over this whole deal.  Ugh!

I'm back at Jamie's.  We watched the Golden Globes and Ricky Gervais was awkward.  I think he's funny, but I think he rubs people the wrong way sometimes.  It was pretty boring, though.

I haven't read much today because I've just been out of it and I've been hanging out with James.  I made a couple of things on Polyvore - actually both were elephant themed.  I made another one, but didn't publish it yet.  I'm not sure if I'm happy with it.

My refund finally came through for that book.  Now I can order another one, but I'm not sure where to order it from.  Some of the sites that have the book for cheap have pretty bad online reviews, and the more reputable ones are more expensive.  Plus, I left my wallet in my mom's purse the other day and realized it after she had already left for work today.  Silly me...

Well, I think that's about it.  I'm not looking forward to calling the cell place again.  I'm pretty put off by the whole deal.  Anywho, at least I don't have any homework due in the immediate future and I can (try to) relax a little.

Love,
Christen

Jan 14: Contest Submission

American Idol Audition by bunni711 featuring via spiga coats

So, I submitted the artwork above for a competition on Polyvore today.  The contest is for the best outfit to wear to an American Idol audition.  I really like it, so we'll have to see how it does!

I have been very fuzzy and tired today.  I spent a lot of time worrying about getting my homework done but not really wanting to do it/ feeling like doing it.  Well, I actually just finished it, so I'm feeling really good now that it's out of the way.  I really have to work on this homework anxiety thing.

Other than all that, I did make a few more pieces of Polyvore art today.  You shall see more in upcoming days.  I may end up with a backlog of these if I keep making so many of them. I made a cute cupcake themed one, and one about what a puppy dreams of.  They are both really cute.  I also got a like on my Birdies in a Tree artwork, but I don't think that one's up on the blog yet.  Well, you'll just have to wait for it, then!

I didn't do much else besides play around on Polyvore and read today.  My nephew is over for the weekend again.  Teddy has taken to jumping up and down all the time now.  We have to grab him really quick before he goes for it (with little or no notice), and it doesn't always work out.  Confound that dog!  But dang, that dog is so adorable!  You can't help but love him.  <3

Well, I think that's it.  I didn't have time to watch the first episode of Face Off season two, although I may stay up.  I probably shouldn't since I've been so tired all day, but we'll see.  I had to watch a video for my homework assignment (the one I just finished), and it was a bit confusing and also narrated by a British man, which didn't help.  I think I wrote a good paper on it, though.  We'll see how nitpicky my teachers turn out to be.  Anywho, gotta go call James back before bed.

Love,
Christen

Jan 13: Friday the Thirteenth!

Frame Bookshelves by bunni711 featuring black pearl jewelry

Well, I stayed up pretty late last night making that french travel journal (see previous day's post), and I was still full of ideas and inspiration when I went to bed.  I made five more pieces of art on Polyvore today, which sounds nuts even to me.  I don't know why, but I find it a lot of fun and I'm getting a lot of ideas.  I think they all look really cool, and since I made so many today, there will be new ones coming out on the blog each day for a while!

I also found out that there are competitions on the site, so I think I'm going to submit something for it.  The theme is what you would wear to an American Idol audition.  I don't watch the show, but I used to watch the tryouts a few years ago.  They can be pretty funny. I think I should try to get to bed at a better time tonight, though, and it's already getting late.  I'll tackle that tomorrow, I guess.

So, apparently our other book for the networking class won't be here in time to do our homework this week.  I'm going to have to write to my teacher again about it.  We're going to be a bit behind and I'm just hoping that she will understand and let us take the quizzes late, too.

The cell company never called me back, so I'm going to have to call them, AGAIN.  It's getting so ridiculously old.

I'm about halfway through Wicked.  I like it so far.  I think it's really cool that the author included political turmoil in his land of Oz.  He shows the story in a different light, but I think it will end up in the same vein as the original story.

Teddy is feeling much better and is now jumping on and off the furniture whenever we turn our backs.  It's so frustrating because as soon as he feels better, he starts again.  I just really don't want him to hurt himself again.  We are working on ideas for stairs and I already have a plan on how to teach him to use them.  It involves looots of treats.  You know, that gives me an idea for another Polyvore artwork, hehe.

Other than that, I finished the first season of that Face Off show.  I wish there had been more than four episodes online, but I enjoyed what there was.  I'm probably going to watch the first episode of the new season tomorrow.  And, I should probably get that networking homework (what little I can do!) out of the way.

Well, I'm super tired.  I'm gonna read and then hit the sack.  Hope you have a wonderful day!

Love,
Christen

Jan 12: That Kinda Day

Paris Travel Notebook by bunni711 featuring a cashmere beanie


Well, today hasn't been that great.  I woke up tired and foggy, read some, and mostly loafed around all morning.  I am liking Wicked better, though.  It seems most of the racy stuff was in the first part of the book.  I think it was just a shock, seeing as I have been reading mostly Jane Austen books recently.  Anyway, it's getting pretty interesting, so I don't think there will be a problem finishing it.

After my mom got home from work, my sister Shaina came over with some presents - groceries and a new vacuum cleaner for us since our last one went kaput a while ago.  Then we went and picked up a few things at the store and stopped by the bank - nothing special.

After we got home, I settled down to write that letter of introduction for my technical writing class.  It was frustrating.  A lot of people in the class did the "workshopping" on the discussion boards, but I didn't have time to.  We don't have the text books yet, either, so I didn't have a lot to go on.  I also worry a lot about the stuff I write.  The teacher seems like she is married to grammar rules, so I'm a little worried that she will find faults where I didn't think there were any.  I think I generally don't like to take writing classes.  Oh well, I'll manage.

I'm not really in the best mood.  It's been a stressful day for various reasons and I just want to keep this post short.  Nothing interesting is going on, really.  Teddy is better, but still hurting, I think.  I touched his back earlier and he yelped a little.  It's hard to see your baby in pain.  We are doing our best to take care of him, though, and making sure he gets his medicine and takes it easy.  He jumped down off of the couch a couple of times, which means he's feeling a bit better; it's so hard to watch him all the time when he's so sneaky.  I hope the stairs thing works out.

I'm going to try out that Face-Off show on SyFy.  I guess only episodes 4 and on are available online - oh well.  It looks really interesting.

I stayed up pretty late because I couldn't sleep.  But I did make a pretty Paris-themed travel journal on Polyvore.  It helps me feel less stressed.  I think I'm just not ready for the semester yet.

Love,
Christen

Jan 10: Having Fun with Fashion

Colorful Accessories with Neutral Clothes by bunni711 featuring antique jewelry

This is a fun little fashion board I did on a new site I found called Polyvore.  I think I spent way too much time on it, but at least it was fun and relaxing!

I've had an interesting day today.  *sigh*  I found out that one of my books was cancelled because the site was out of stock.  I can't imagine why they wouldn't tell me that BEFORE I ordered it and paid for it.  I'm worried that I won't get the refund back, order a new book, and get it shipped out before my homework is due for that class on the 15th.  I e-mailed my prof about it, though, so hopefully it will work out and she'll let me turn it in late.

I woke up in a bad mood today.  I'm having a lot of trouble getting my sleep schedule right and I'm just tired all the time.  Ugh.  Other than that, I called my cell company again and was able to get my minutes.  I awkwardly mentioned the "compensation" I was promised but the lady (a dif one from yesterday) said she didn't know anything about it and couldn't do anything.  At least I tried, though.

I'm almost done with Persuasion - last chapter.  I'm going to read Wicked next.  I know it's been very popular in recent years, especially the play (or musical?), so I am excited to check it out.  I think after that I will read 1Q84 - hopefully it will still be at my library!

I spent ridiculous amounts of time today on Etsy, pinning stuff onto my Pinterest boards.  It was a lot of fun, though.  I hardly ever let myself actually relax, so I think all the weird messing around online was actually good for me.  Nothing much else happened except that Jamie's parents brought back pizza, which was a really nice surprise for a weekday.  Now I should really get on that homework calendar, but I think I'll go finish my book first : )

Love,
Christen

Jan 8 and 9: A Long Time Waiting

First of all, I'm going to add one thing that happened last Friday which I forgot to add in my last post.  James and I were going to make chocolate chip pancakes for lunch.  I switched on the burner and we started getting stuff out to make them when we started smelling something burning.  Well, I had switched on the wrong burner and James had happened to set the pan on it while we were making the batter.  The whole burner caught on fire, which is very weird because it is an electric stove.  The fire went out when we switched off the burner, too, and there wasn't any residue left behind.  It was very strange and I like to think it is a problem with the stove and not my silliness that caused it.  We ended up buying sandwiches at the market, though.  Mmmm...

Jan 8: Not much happened today, just trying to enjoy my last day of vacation and not get too stressed about the new semester.  James and I watched some Warehouse 13 on Netflix and hung out.  He played God of War III until it went kaput on him for no good reason.  The disc looks fine but it keeps freezing up at this one part, which is actually pretty late in the game, I think.  He's in the Labyrinth part with Pandora.  I spent most of the day online - blogging, surfing, and playing around with this new site, Pinterest, which my friend Amber introduced me to. You pretty much pin up pictures of anything and everything you find online to some virtual bulletin boards of your choosing, and you can look at what other people have pinned up and add it to your collection, too.  It's pretty fun and addicting.

I am still working on Persuasion, but I'm getting near the end.  I'm really liking it and I just read a very interesting part, so I'm happy on that front.  The only thing really worth noting about the day was that I had to call customer service for my cell phone because the code for my prepay minutes wasn't working.  I was on hold for pretty much ever.  I think they may be based in India, just from their accents.  They aren't too hard to understand, but the connection seemed bad.  : P  The first guy almost immediately transferred me to his supervisor and I was on hold again for a while.  The next lady I think I have spoken to before, actually.  I think I actually recognized her voice.  Well, they were having all kinds of trouble with it and couldn't get it to work.  I was on hold a lot and waiting around while she worked on the computer with it.  They finally ended up telling me that they would be working on it and to call them back in 24 hours if I still didn't receive any minutes.  I was promised "compensation" for my trouble.  All in all, I spent about an hour on the phone.  It wasn't fun, needless to say.

Jan 9: Even though classes officially started today, I didn't have anything to do for them.  I need to get all of my assignments written down on my big calendar, but my first assignment isn't due until Thursday.  I have to write a letter of introduction for my technical writing class, which, from what I can tell, is a really basic-level writing class.  I mean, we are going to do resumes and that kind of stuff, which I learned long ago in high school and have no need of relearning, except that the class is required for this degree.  Ugh!

I ordered my books today and was pleasantly surprised to have saved money on two of my books and didn't have a bad deal on the third.  James is buying the books for the classes we share; he's such a great guy!  <3  I looked up coupons for them, too, and actually found one that saved me $5!  I know it's not a lot, but you can really get some good deals if you just look up coupons online.  I saved 30% on my HP laptop (which I am happily typing away on right now!).  If you're curious, I blogged about it before.  Oh, one note for those earlier posts, though:  the Design Destination blog has been discontinued, so the links to it will not work.  Anyway, I hope my books are here in enough time.  I do have some homework due on Sunday for which I will need my books.

It's been a pretty good day, overall.  Since Jamie's game broke yesterday, I got to spend a lot more time with him today than usual.  We cuddled a bunch on the couch and watched some Pawn Stars.  It was quite an enjoyable evening.  : )  Well, that's all for now, I think.  I guess I should try not to be afraid of saying more about how I felt throughout the day or what I thought of rather than just events - I always used to do that whenever I kept a diary.  This is a double post though, so I wanted to keep it shorter.

Other than that, I'm feeling excited about my new website classes; hopefully they will teach me a lot about web design and will be lots of fun.  I have the same teacher for my two web design classes and she seems really nice.  I tried to pick good teachers this semester, but I do have a word of caution:  do not use ratemyprofessors.com!  That site has tried to give me viruses several times before.  It's very useful, but there are many other sites to find info about profs, which are much safer!  Just google prof ratings or something, and you should be able to find some good ones.  I installed a little thing on Chrome which shows safety ratings for every link I come across on the Internet -  it's called WOT and it is very useful.  If you have Chrome, you should give WOT a try.

I almost forgot!  I never did get my minutes for my phone, so I have to call customer service once again.  I was supposed to do it today, but got caught up doing other things.  I will update you further tomorrow!

I think I shall leave my faithful readers for now.  Adieu, adieu!  (I am really reading too much period literature right now!)

Love,
Christen

Blogging 2012

First of all, obviously I have not been blogging about losing weight!  Honestly, I think I've scrapped the idea.  My weight has been the same for a few months now, so I think maybe I'm plateauing, which hopefully means I'll be on the way back down soon as long as I actually try not to overeat.  It's a challenge sometimes, because god I just love food, but I also like feeling good about myself.  It's not that I need to feel skinny to feel good, because honestly I don't buy into that nonsense (well, more on that later, I suppose!  There's really too much on the subject that irks me to go into it now...)  Anywho, it would be really good for me to build up some more self control in my eating habits, plus it just feels good to eat better.

So, my plan here is to try and make a post for every day of the year.  I would ideally like to post every day, but I will have to do it at least once a week, more likely a few times a week, especially after the semester starts and I get busy.  I did not come up with this idea, however; I owe it to my good friend Amber, who has a blog called Photo a Day 2012.  I think it will be good for me to do it with her, though, so she can stay accountable.  Plus, I really need to be writing more.  I'm working on a book right now, so I really need to be practicing every day (like all good writers should), but of course I'm lazy about it.  Maybe not so much lazy as flaky with my hobbies.  I'm a swinger when it comes to hobbies.

There have been a few changes since I last posted on this blog, namely that I started my associates degree.  I've already finished the first semester and numero dos actually starts tomorrow.  The degree is in computer technology and my concentration is Internet/multimedia which pretty much means web design!  I already posted a few months ago (yikes!) about my reasons for starting the degree, so I won't go into it again.

Let's see about what's happened so far this year.  New Years:  Jamie (that would be my boyfriend of 6 years) stayed over at my house because we have better food for New Years (i.e. there was sauerkraut at his house : P)  Now don't be offended if you like the stuff; I've actually never tried it but I can tell you, it smells pretty gross.  We had a hard time sleeping at my house because it was hot and my dachshund Teddy insisted on taking up the entire bottom half of the bed.  I normally stay over at his house (about half my time is spent there) and we have no trouble sleeping (usually).  Anyway, he won't want to stay the night again any time soon, I can guarantee it.

Jan 1-4 (Sun-Wed):  I stayed at home for a few days and mostly hung out with Teddy and watched tv and played the Sims 3.  I started a new game which is like The Bachelor.  I got the idea off of one of those forum thingies (I'm not much into those but James uses them all the time).  Pretty much I made a dude Sim and a bunch of lady Sims (6 of 'em) and put them all in the same house.  I set all their relationships with him to zero and then tried to get them into socializing situations like the hot tub and dinner, going to the movies and touring the movie studio, etc.  Whoever has the highest relationship with him after the "group dates" gets a one-on-one.  Well, I haven't gotten to the first one-on-one yet, but I'll let you know how it goes.

I worked some more on trying to knit (I started to learn on Christmas because I asked for needles), but I'm having a lot of trouble with it.  Whenever I drop stitches, I have a lot of trouble picking them back up - it's a lot easier with crochet!  I think I'll get better, but I don't think I'll knit as much as I crochet.

Jan 4-Jan 7 (Wed-Sat):  Jamie picked me up and we spent a few hours at my house, but he wasn't feeling well so we went back to his house earlier than usual.  I like to stay for dinner at my house, which is usually kinda late, because my mom works until 8:30.  I finished this book:

The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


View all my reviews



And I started this book:

Persuasion by Jane Austen


View all my reviews





Which I am liking so far.  I've been reading a lot of Jane Austen books lately and have a newfound respect for them.  For example, the first time I read Pride & Prejudice, I rated it 2/5 stars ("it was ok" on Goodreads).  I had just seen the 2005 version of the movie, which I absolutely loved and which is still my favorite movie.  Anyway, there were several scenes from the movie that I really liked which were not in the book at all, so I was quite disappointed in the book overall.  When I read it again, though, I hadn't seen the movie in a while and I could enjoy the story for what it was.  I ended up rating it 5/5 stars this time around:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

View all my reviews




Oh, in related news (but I really am getting off topic by now; please bear with me), I reached my reading goal for last year of 31 books (one of the books I read was actually a novella, so I added one for good measure).

Back to the subject!  I really haven't been doing much of anything this week.  I start classes tomorrow, so I've been trying to just relax and enjoy my vacation.  I've been oversleeping a lot, which pretty much blows the rest of the day, so now I'm trying to wake up earlier so I can actually function.  I started watching The Bachelor - it was pretty interesting to say the least.  I'd like to see where the whole "lady lovers" thing goes.  I may actually have to start thinking these shows are scripted.  I've also been watching James play the God of War games (all 3), which are really cool and very good-looking in my opinion.  I can overlook the (often minor) discrepancies from the myths (I took a class 2 semesters ago on Greek mythology).  He's also been playing the Uncharted games, though not nearly as much.  He just got a PS3; he's an XBOX guy.

Other than that, we went up to Mentor yesterday, which was a change.  I usually sit at home and am happy about it, but it's nice to go out once in a while.  We went up to Sears so his mom could buy some new work shoes.  They had soo many clothes I wanted to buy and some very cute boots.  *sigh*  If only I had some money!  Then we went to the Home Town Buffet, which I haven't been to in a while.  It was pretty good, but Jamie's nephew gets antsy when he has to go on long car rides and sit still at restaurants.

Alright, well I will post later about today because this post is already really long.  If you made it this far, congratulations.  You get a prize!  Not really, but if you did actually read the whole thing, please comment and let me know and I will honor you as a very diligent blog reader.

Love,
Christen

A Change of Heart

I think I need to go in a new direction with this blog.  Since I started, I've pretty much written about political and social issues, but to be honest, I'm not super interested in writing about that stuff all the time anymore.  I'm not getting the paper while I'm at home (and probably won't next year, since I'm going to a branch campus) and I'm not watching political shows, either.

I think what I need to do is get back to the heart of this blog - why I started it in the first place.  The blog is supposed to be all about how writing things out is the best kind of therapy.  So maybe it's time to make this blog more personal and write about my actual life!

I guess I could start somewhere a bit obvious.  If you've read this blog before, you may have noticed that it originally stated on the homepage that I was an aspiring therapist.  That is now gone because I've changed directions and am going back to school next year to get a degree in computer technology!  I know, it's a big change.  I had been so sure about wanting to be a therapist for a really long time, but I had a change of heart this past year.  The thing is, I'm really not that great with talking to people.  It seems like an odd career choice for someone who has felt socially awkward her whole life, right?  Well, the thing is that when I got into the one-on-one counselling situation, everything changed for me.  I just relaxed, got down to business, listened, and let those wheels in my brain spin.  

I have to admit, counseling was very fun for me when I was at Johnson.  Once I got to Kent, however, it was like reality striking.  I was ready to go to grad school for 5-7 years to get a fancy doctorate for a while.  Then I realized that was a huge waste and was going to get my master's in counseling.  The problem is, counselors don't make much!  However, I am willing to do what I love for less money.  I think the most important thing is that you love what you do.  The thing is, I lost my enthusiasm for psychology and counseling!  Somewhere along the way, reality struck me hard and I realized this job was going to be taxing, emotionally draining, stressful, rarely fruitful, and I decided it wasn't worth it.  I can't imagine going in every day to try to help broken people and not feeling broken myself!

So, I was searching for other options and came across this computer program at Kent Ashtabula.  The concentration is Internet and Multimedia and I'm hoping now to become a web developer/ web designer.  It's a way different field than psychology, I know.  I'm a little scared that I won't fit into the field, besides already knowing the psych field so well!  But the thing is, I have always been interested in creating web pages.  When I was younger, I spent hours and hours planning and working on web pages.  And, as you can see, I'm obviously still into it, since I have two blogs!

I think this job will fit me better.  I think it's going to be a good mix of problem-solving, technical work, and creativity.  I love that I'm going to be able to (hopefully!) be creative in my job every day.  In my spare time, I'm always painting, drawing, writing, crocheting, and just expressing my creativity.  And I love love love solving puzzles!  I've recently found a great site with a bunch of matrix puzzles:  www.puzzlersparadise.com.  Plus, I love doing cross-words, hidden object games, sudoku, word puzzles, and more.  As far as the technical side, I've had a web design course before, and I kind of like the coding.  The other elements are more fun, of course, but I wouldn't mind doing that every day.  Another plus for this job is that I can possibly work from home in the future.  We'll have to see if that would be a good or bad thing!

Well, I think this post is already pretty long.  I'm going to try to write on here more often and write about my life more.  I'm thinking most of my life is a little boring to blog about, but I'll try to find interesting things to talk about!  Hopefully I still have some readers or maybe people who stumble on this site will find it interesting.  I'm thinking a mix of personal posts and issues posts will work out best.  Oh!  I almost forgot.  I'm writing this post on my new laptop and it is fantastic!!  Yeah, I'm pretty sure I made a great decision!  Love love love it!!

Thanks for reading!

Christen <3

Technical Dilemma

So I recently found out I'm going to be able to buy a laptop soon, but I don't know which one I want!  I think I've narrowed it down to two, but I'm open to other options.  I've looked at some Toshibas, but I don't like their style and I can get more for my money with an HP vs. a Dell.  So it's down to an HP or a MacBook Pro.  I want a laptop I can use for a little bit of gaming (online games, the Sims 3, downloadable games) as well as web design stuff for the program I'll be starting this fall.  I also like watching movies, listening to music, general web-surfing, photo-editing, possible video-editing, and general school-related stuff like powerpoint and word documents.  So I'm looking at high-performance laptops, and I will not be dissuaded from this (unless there is a very good argument otherwise).  I want something with a really good graphics card (although I'll admit I don't know much about them), something super fast, and if possible more portable.  I've been looking at 15 inch models, which I think will be fine, but I'm also willing to go with a 13 inch for more portability.  I really don't want anything bulky, so I don't want to go over 15.  Anyway, on with the pros and cons lists!

HP Pavillion dv6t quad edition

Specs:

• 2nd generation Intel(R) Quad Core(TM) i7-2630QM (2.0 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) w/ Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz
• 1GB GDDR5 Radeon(TM) HD 6490M Graphics [HDMI, VGA]
• 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 640GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
• FREE upgrade to Norton Internet Security(TM) 2011 - 15 month subscription
• 6-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (standard size) - up to 5.5 hours of battery life
• 15.6" High Definition HP BrightView LED Display (1366x768)
• FREE blu-ray upgrade, plus Lightscribe SuperMulti DVD burner
• webcam, mic, and fingerprint reader
• weighs about 5.8 lbs

So I really like this computer.  It has a quad core processor for crying out loud.  I'm willing to upgrade the processor, though, if that will make a big enough difference in performance.  The problem is, that's a lot of money and I want to make sure I'm getting my money's worth.  The battery life is really not fantastic and I've heard about problems with the keyboard and touchpad, although I have no problem with using a mouse.  This is such a hard decision!

MacBook Pro 13 inch

Specs:

• 2.3GHz Dual-core Intel Core i5
• 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM 2x2GB
• 320GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
• SuperDrive 8x (DVD+R DL/DVD+RW/CD-RW)
• Backlit keyboard
• Intel HD Graphics 3000
• built-in battery (7 hours)
• mic and camera
• bluetooth included
• weighs about 4.5 lbs

The specs on the mac are nowhere near the level of the HP, but there are other important factors involved here:  I already know that the keyboard and touch pad are comfortable and easy to use.  Actually, the touch pad is pretty much amazing.  I also know that macs in general have less problems with crashing and get less viruses.  So, is it worth sacrificing that much power for more stability?  I have experience using this model, too; in fact, I'm using it to type this post!  So I already know I really like it.  It multi-tasks pretty well, it plays movies excellently, but I've yet to see if it handles the highest specs on my Sims 3 game.

The other problem here is that there are several other HP models that could probably work.  For example, there are other dv6t models, such as the base (which comes in other colors) and the special edition.  There are also some ultra-portable options such as the dm3t, dv5t, and dm4x (an entertainment pc).  The first and third of those have a 7.75 and 8.0 battery life respectively on the 6-cell.  (All of the HPs can also come with over-sized 9-cell batteries).  The bigger, performance computers run about 5.75 hours on the 6-cell.

So there are a lot of different factors here.  I really have no idea where to start in this decision.  Please help!

Columns Galore

So, I'm finally getting around to posting my columns from the paper last semester.  These are in no particular order, except I did put the government and media columns in order since they go together.  Also, these do not seem to be all of my column articles, so I will have to post the rest whenever I can get them from my computer, which will probably not be this summer due to internet snafus at home.  Anywho, here are the links:

6 Reasons Not to Finish That Pesky Math Homework - websites to waste your time on


Let's Keep it Civilized - disagreeing on religion


Cheap and Easy: Halloween Edition - costume ideas you can make yourself


Gender Identity: Normal or Disorder 


Make Time for Things You Love 


Can the Government Force You to be Healthy? - graphic images on cigarette packaging

We Need a Media Invasion - solutions to the growing problem of youth smoking (goes w/ above)

How to Love the Way You Look - loving your body the way it is


Changing Gender Stereotypes - male gender stereotypes


End of a Love Affair - how I fell out of love with politics


You Have the Right to Remain... Totally Confused - religious stereotyping

In other news, I'm starting a new blog about design, which will perhaps include clothing, shoes, and the like.  I'll post the link when I've decided on a name!

Move Along

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I was thinking recently about how much things have changed for me in the past year.  Yes I'm happier and yes I feel more confident than I ever have before.  Things are good.  But I just got to wondering how I left things behind - things that had been my life for as long as I can remember - so easily.  And people who I had known and lived with for two years...  I missed things at Johnson for a while, sure.  But it was really easy to separate myself from that life and just shoot full-speed ahead in this new one.  Like maybe somehow it all glanced right off my shoulder.


The thing about being in psychology is that I'm always analyzing myself, too.  I think what it is, is that I was so unhappy there and so lonely and so caged - I really got to the point, psychologically, where I had to leave.  I needed the opportunities and freedoms of a big university.  Bottom line is, I have big dreams for my future.  I love planning things out, and I cannot tell you how many times I have written out the next six years on paper, visualizing the kind of path my life will unfold into.  I just keep writing out the list, over and over.  I have been filling some of my empty free time with making budgets for after I finish school, looking at houses, researching places to live (I really should be looking at schools, but I'll get to it).  I feel excited again instead of lost and confused.  I didn't fit in there.  And maybe things won't be as good with James only visiting on the weekends, but I think that's really only part of the equation.  I'll be working at the paper, doing research, getting ready for grad school, taking more classes than I'm really looking forward to.  But I do think I'll be happy.  And hopefully, I'll have the time to make some friends.  Hopefully people who I can count on and who won't just be around when it's convenient or when they have no one else to hang out with or because they feel bad or something.  I've always been that person who befriends people because they're good people and maybe they don't have other friends.  I've never cared about popularity.  I just want to be a good person and reach out to others, no matter what other people think of them.  I don't know, I've gotten burned too many times for trusting people.


So I just feel as if there should be some deeper answer to how I made that transition so easily from Johnson to where I am now.  I think the real answer is that I was always how I am now, but I was afraid to be myself. I thought it would be wrong to just be me.  Because it was all so strict and tight-laced; I had no breathing room.  I guess I never felt like I would be good enough for any of it.  But I know that being me is enough.  And it's really more than enough because I'm being true to myself and not pretending to be something I'm not. I've never been much for lying or dealing with people who lie.  It's just not something I'm cool with.  So I'm glad to not be pretending to be perfect anymore.  I'm glad to just be myself and let that be enough.  I'm glad to not have to pretend like people who never talked to me were my "friends."  I'm glad to have more options for my future and a better chance at achieving what I want in life.  I'm glad to have the heavy weight of expectations off my shoulders.


Sometimes I wonder if this change came about because I left it all behind, or simply because I grew up.  I guess there's really no way to know.  And I don't plan on ever going back.  I just wish that everyone was okay with my decisions and thought that I was enough, too.  But I only need to have the confidence in myself. If no one else can see the good this has done for me and how this is how I was always supposed to be, well it's a pity, but I don't need anyone else.  It sucks, but sometimes you just have to keep on blazing your own trail, and just leave those people in your dust.

Pick a Job, any Job

Today I feel like I hit a wall.  I feel like I've known for a while now what I want to do with my life.  At least, I knew I wanted to do something in psychology.  Before it was counseling, then it was clinical, and now what?  Well, I've become so passionate about women's issues that I realized I need to incorporate this and other social issues into my career.  But psychology is focused mostly on the individual and I'm talking massive social change here.  Is there a way to incorporate the two?


I'm going to come back to my personal career struggle later.  I think this is a problem for a lot of young people in college.  We go through high school, putzing around, maybe trying to get good grades, but with little direction.  Suddenly, in college, we have to pick a major - out of thin air sometimes.  Then, if we want a higher degree, we have to specialize even more, which can be a nightmare if you have ill-defined interests or very general ones.  So if you have broad interests, how do you pick a specialty?  The career world, at least from my perspective, seems a lot more specialized and specific than I ever imagined before college.  


Really, I think most kids are ill-prepared for making these decisions.  It's like going from a kid with no cares, to suddenly being a full-fledged adult who has to make life-altering decisions with little help (like career decisions!) and who is responsible for those decisions and all of their actions (many of which had few consequences for them as a kid).


College is a beautiful thing.  We grow and change, open our minds up to new ideas and ways of thinking about the world.  But in the midst of the bombardment of new ideas and developing interests, we have to figure out a very narrow set of interests which we will pursue for the rest of our lives!  No pressure, though.  It drives me a bit crazy some times, honestly.


So what do I want to do?  I want to be a part of social change for the poor, for women, and for minorities.  I want to work with people in therapy.  I want to give tests, do interviews, get creative in therapy with writing, art, and a bajillion other things.  Is there any way I can put all these things together?  


Earlier I was thinking of other jobs I could do regarding my social interests - politician, sociologist, social worker, experimental psychologist, journalist, professional writer.  But I have this hesitancy to leave the field that I've come to know and have fallen in love with.  Do I really want to start over in a completely new field?  I don't think I do.  Because I really do love psychology.  And a search earlier today has given me some hope.  There's a program at BGSU for clinical-community psychology, the description of which perfectly describes me.  


I feel excited about the thought of this program, but these Ph.D. programs are ridiculously hard to get into.  What if I don't make the cut?  I'll have to keep searching for other programs that fit.  And trust my decision, and my abilities, in the end.


Songs/ albums I listened to while writing this:  Haunted by Holly Brook, Death Cab for Cutie (Plans)

A New Mystique?

Alright everyone! Here's the sample column I submitted with my application.  Let me know what you think of it!  And wish me luck!!

Last semester, my RA gave everyone on my hall a survey to fill out and post next to our doors. It had the standard get-to-know you type questions, but it also asked, “What are your hopes for the future?” I gave this a lot of thought and answered, “To become a Clinical Psychologist, run my own business, and publish my writing.”

Over the next few weeks, I noticed that most other girls wrote variations of “I hope to marry a hot guy and have kids.” I was amazed that the majority of the 60 girls on my hall seemed to have no hopes for the future besides marriage and children. I’m not saying that these are unworthy aspirations for a young woman – but they are certainly not ambitions.

This trend makes me a little dubious. Are many young women still coming to college just to find a husband? This is the 21^st century! We are way past the tight-laced Victorian era, the fight for women’s suffrage, the “Holly Homemakers” of the 50’s, the era of the Feminine Mystique! Yet many young women still don’t have well-defined ambitions for the future.

Maybe I’m wrong that their only wish is to get married and have kids, but this trend at least brings to light a surprising lack of goals for the future among young college girls. After all those years of fighting for women’s rights as equals in the workplace and in the political arena, a lot of women still show ambivalence at best toward the idea of committing to a career. And this commitment plays a vital role in forming our identities as individuals moving in the larger world.

Feminism is becoming a dirty word again, but ladies, we still have a long way to go. When I attended Susan Faludi’s talk on feminism earlier this semester, she explained that women today still earn 15% less than men doing the same work, and they still work the same top 10 jobs as 30 years ago, most of which are not full-commitment careers.

I want to see more young women aspiring to be doctors, lawyers, scientists, businesswomen. I want to see more women breaking into male-dominated fields. I want to see more women pushing themselves to stretch their boundaries and test their intelligence through challenging careers. Yes, more and more women are achieving this, but many people today ignore the fact that we still have more progress to make.

We live in a time in which having a family and investing ourselves into challenging careers don’t have to be mutually exclusive. So let’s break free of the stereotypes and let ourselves become immersed in an exciting and fulfilling career, too.

Let’s cast aside the fear of failure, ignore the people who say we can’t, and take hold of our futures, push our boundaries, expand our minds, and enter that crazy, scary, exciting world of work with our heads held high – because we are women, and nothing can stop us, not even ourselves.

Don't Govern Me!

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First of all, I'm going to start off with something completely unrelated to my topic for the day.  I am sooo soo excited because the Stater (on-campus newspaper) is looking for columnists for next fall, and I have been thinking lately about how I'd really love to do a column in the paper.  And now I have a chance!  All I have to do is submit a 500 word sample before Monday, along with a resume, and short note (and by e-mail too, so no scary interview - at least yet).  I cannot say how excited I am about this.  And I soo hope I can do it!!


Okay!  Now back to the topic at hand.  I was reading USA Today during my break this morning and came across yet another article about a Supreme Court case.  And yes, I am miffed about this one, too!  Here's the gist of the article.  The Court was ruling on a law which was "used to prosecute a Virginia man who advertised videos of dogfights" and which "covered 'any depiction' in which 'a living animal is intentionally maimed, mutilated, tortured, wounded or killed.'"  The Court voted 8-1 against the law, saying it was written "too broadly, potentially covering hunting and other activities that would not always be deemed cruel."  That's fair.  I'm not upset about this because it's a logical argument, and the Court's opinion "invites Congress to craft a law targeting only 'crush videos'" which they explain "typically show women's heels digging into small animals."  I agree that the law was too broad and the language should be narrowed, but read what comes next.


Okay, here's the juicy part.  USA Today describes the opinion, written by Chief Justice Roberts, as a "forceful, often derisive, rejection of the government's arguments."  Roberts even described them as "'startling and dangerous.'"  I don't see how this law warrants that kind of a reaction.  How is it dangerous?  Or startling?  The law was crafted for the protection of animals, and that's not exactly an unworthy cause.  Think of young, angry boys (or girls, perhaps) watching videos of someone that they look up to who mistreats animals.  Those little boys are going to go out and do the same thing.  (And as a side note, it's actually a symptom of conversion disorder, which is often later diagnosed as a more serious psychological disorder).  We all emulate those we want to be like.  So yeah, I see a problem here.


It gets better!  Roberts also gives us this little gem, "'Our Constitution forecloses any attempt,' he wrote, to outlaw speech on the basis that it simply 'is not worth it.'"  He also called the law "'a criminal prohibition of alarming breadth.'"  Uh, don't you get the feeling that he's going a little far.  Like the people who wrote the legislation were purposefully trying to take any rights they could get away from the American people?  Um, yeah, everyone knows that elected officials undergo a werewolf-like change as soon as they enter office, becoming tyrannical overlords of the type that spend the majority of their time practicing their evil laughs, rather than leading the country, right?  Or am I getting this all jumbled up...


There are just too many people today who are trying their hardest to paint the government as some Big Brother type organization constantly scheming up new ways to screw over the American people.  And yes, a lot of politicians are corrupt, but a lot of other ones are just trying their hardest to make the country a better place and a more equal place.  I won't get started on this, though, because I could write a whole other post.  Back to the point!


The Virginia man from whom this whole debacle originated, says that he was selling the dogfight videos for education on pit bulls, not the promotion of illegal dogfighting.  And yes, that argument makes little sense at all.  I will concede that the government came back with the weak argument that "prosecutors would go after only the most 'extreme' cruelty."  There is just no way to ensure that, and the weak language of the law could be used abusively.  But this is my favorite part!  Stevens then said, "'Not to worry, the government says... But the First Amendment protects against the government:  it does not leave us at the mercy of noblesse oblige.'"


Shock!  Awe!  What did he just say?  Yes, he said the government is trying to practice their noblesse oblige on us.  Um, wait, isn't noblesse oblige a reference to the 19th century French concept of the king's right to take whatever woman he wants, regardless of her marital status?  Yeah, I can imagine you smacking your forehead right now, too!  


The only dissenting justice said in support of the law, that "the court could have upheld the law to cover only crush videos and dogfighting videos."  Okay, so why didn't that do this?  Maybe I don't understand court rulings that well, but I've had some exposure to how the process works, and the judicial branch was given rights to effect legislation through their rulings.  So it really shouldn't have been a problem to specify the reach of the law or at the very least recommend changes to the language of the legislation.


Other arguments in favor of this ruling:  "'The mere fact that speech is offensive doesn't justify banning it.'"  Even though it was mentioned earlier in the article that the Supreme Court has approved stipulations to First Amendment rights regarding obscenity.  That's why you can't swear on television.  And that's offensive, but it doesn't really cause little kids to go out and kill other living animals.  Also, "'We don't say we're only going to allow speech when it has social value or speech that we all agree with.'"  Okay, well this is different.  Because it has to do with actual lives.  Living animals.  Who are tortured and killed for entertainment.  And it is wrong. So I sincerely hope that a new law is passed, with more specific language, that can protect harmless animals from being abused for others entertainment.  


Maybe the Virginia guy had a good, albeit twisted, intention for his videos.  But does that give him the right to exploit dogfights?  Some people have huge gambling problems connected to dogfights and thousands of dogs are killed through this "sport" every year.  Maybe he was trying to raise awareness about the problem, I don't know.  But the real issue here is the ridiculous, hostile, and, honestly, infantile language given by the Chief Justice, and I'm sure, other members of the Court.  The law was created to protect animals and stop the spread of violent videos depicting animal cruelty.  I agree that the language needs to be tweaked, but the essence of the law is benevolent.  And a simple, 'the language of this law needs to be narrowed and specified,' would have sufficed.

Injustice System

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*Before you read, I'd just like to let you know that I've made it so you don't have to sign in to comment now.  But I do ask that you please put your name at the end of your comment if you don't sign in, so that I know who wrote it.  Thanks!*

Every morning, I pick up the Daily Kent Stater and USA Today (and throw away the Sports section).  Today, there was a big news story in the Stater about the ongoing murder trial of a Kent State student.  The details of the trial are quite interesting and I've been following them since the news of this student's hospitalization after the assault which took place near campus.

But the murder trial is not my concern for this post.  I was reading the latest news about a key eyewitness testimony in the case.  The young man in question had been driving the defendant and another young man also being charged with murder on the night that the assault took place.  But one of the sort of side details tucked into the article reads like this:  "[the young man] first appeared in front of a grand jury Nov. 24, 2009 and pleaded "the Fifth" on the advice of his attorney, [name].  As he left the courtroom, he was charged with two counts of obstruction of justice and then booked and sent to [the county] jail, where he stayed until Dec. 24." 

Maybe I don't know that much about the justice system, but I do have an innate sense of human justice which is frantically waving red flags at me every time I read this.  The Bill of Rights was designed to protect the people's rights.  The fifth amendment is supposed to protect people from self-incrimination.  How is it possible, then, that they could charge him with obstructing justice right after the trial?  How is that justice at all?  So he is allowed to plead the fifth in the court room, but as soon as he is out of that "safe haven," they can instantly arrest him for using his rights?  This smells like a devious loop-hole; like those who are supposed to be protecting our rights are playing the system in order to take those rights away in the name of, I don't know, "justice."  It's absurd!  And besides that, he was put in jail for an entire month for this "crime."  When reading the text of the amendment, it seems this is not actually against the law, per se:  "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury... nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law..."  But I have to say that it goes against the spirit of the law.  Judges and policemen should be there to protect our rights, not take them away.

I've always had a problem with the way the justice system works in regard to the amount of time criminals have to serve.  Sometimes murderers get 20 years in prison.  Sometimes they are put to death.  Does taking another life have gradations like this?  (And, just as a side note, I'd like to say that I am against the death penalty, but that's a subject for another post.  And I'm also against unnecessary jail time, but, again, let's save that for another day.)  I understand that not all crimes are equal and that every crime has to be judged based on the circumstances.  But sometimes the rulings really make absolutely no sense.  Does it sound right to you that using your Constitutional rights can land you in jail for a month?  Let me know what you think.

The other case I read about today in USA Today was about the Supreme Court case in which a Christian organization at a law school is suing the school because they took away funding from this organization for denying gays and non-Christians membership or participation in their group.  The school had anti-discrimination laws set up for every organization on campus, so they weren't treating them unfairly.  The group's argument was that "its members had a First Amendment right to limit participation to people who subscribe to their beliefs, including a ban on homosexual relations."  And that "making groups admit students who do not accept their message is a 'frontal assault on freedom of association.'"  But what angers me about this case is some justices are using the argument that 'you wouldn't want an atheist coming in and leading Bible studies or a bunch of atheists taking over the group.'  That kind of thinking is not even pertinent to the discussion.  The question was really, do they have a right to discriminate based on sexual orientation or religion.  And the law says that no one should be discriminated against based on race, sex, sexual orientation, religion or disability.  No one should be exempt from that.  Not only that, but some justices have made the argument that allowing atheists or gays into the Christian group would be similar to allowing racist skinheads into the NAACP!  That was actually a comment by one of the conservative justices in USA Today.  I didn't make it up.

The whole argument is ridiculous.  We are talking about basic human and social rights.  And no one has the right to discriminate.  It is a slippery slope once we start condoning discrimination for religious organizations.  Conservatives hem and haw about how we came to this country for religious freedom and we fought the Revolutionary War for these rights.  (Which, I might add, was just not a huge reason that we fought the war.  But people like to make it out to be more of an issue than it ever was.)  Well, does their right to Christianity then trump others' rights to be Muslim or homosexual or atheist?  It's a joke, and it lessens even more my faith in our justice system.  Certainly some of the justices' views are colored by their religious affiliations.  Colored to the point where they often cannot see past them.  And when these justices are making rulings about important national issues that effect every citizen of this country, I would like to see a little less blindness and a little more impartial justice.