#2: Tips From A College Student- When expecting a camp out in the library, go prepared!

When I came to the realization that I would most likely be spending just about every waking moment of the next 2 days in the library, I decided I needed to come up with a plan.

This was of course after i finished mentally gagging at the thought of the library.

In an attempt to help a fellow college student or maybe to have this to give to my future children, I have prepared a photo essay of sorts to show my preparation process. May I note, however, not each step has been documented, for it is a long mental and physical process. But I give what I have. Enjoy!

1. Begin with some really good coffee... You will need it!


2. Insert said great coffee into coffee maker (if you know how to make coffee, skip to step 5)


3. Add the appropriate amount of water


4. Begin to brew!!


5. Gather the necessary resources and tools


6. Insert said materials into carrying device. Backpacks usually work best.


7. IMPORTANT! Don't forget snacks! Other useful items: Water, Ibuprofen (or Advil), Kleenex, a crochet project for short mind breaks, etc.


8. Woops! Don't forget about your coffee! You should have a delicious brew waiting for you by now!


9. Fix up your coffee to taste.. I love CoffeMate French Vanilla cream... and you're ready to head out the door!


Happy Studying and Good Luck!

#1: Tips From A College Student- Finish your homework when it is due

You know how they say that sometimes, you just have to learn it the hard way?
Well, that's not always true.
Take it from me and don't find this one out for yourself...

Get your homework done.

I know, sounds like a no-brainer, but it gets so easy to just keep telling yourself that it won't be a huge deal if you miss this one assignment, and then the next week another assignment, and pretty soon, you are having to make up 10 papers in the span of 1 week and spending 11 hours in the library frantically searching for commentaries.


A lesson from a college student stuck in the dungeon of the library, with 5 more papers to go...

Well Isn't That Just Iconic..?

The Hallmark Channel is currently filming a movie called "The Class" on Biola's campus. They are literally everywhere; in the library, on Metzger, IN Metzger, the mailboxes, commons... all over the place. It's a pretty exciting and interesting atmosphere.

Today I was sitting outside of the library, just taking a breather and observing some of the filming, maybe secretly trying to get into a shot with my bright red sweatshirt... and I noticed something peculiar. I've noticed this specific thing in movies before and it has always seemed weird but to see it within the context of Biola being the set, was really intriguing.

Now, I don't know what this movie is about, but it takes place on a college campus ("Morgan State College") so naturally, many of their background actors are supposed to be everyday, regular college students. Yet, like in most movies involving high school or college age subjects, the actual actors are not even close. They look like they are about 28 years old and the backpacks they are carrying, casually slung over one shoulder, are pitifully empty, have they ever even been to college?

this is what average college students typically look like during finals..

I just love the fact that this company is filming on a college campus, yet their actors look nothing like the reality they are trying to portray. While this is a small and minute detail of movie making, and, sure maybe in the big picture of things, who cares if they look a little older? This becomes a more serious issue when the images being portrayed are negatively influencing young minds. Or even middle age and old minds! Our media is constantly trying to portray people as older, more beautiful, smarter, more confident and much more put together than the majority of real human beings actually are!

For example, the most recent Miley Cyrus music video for Party in the U.S.A. features her, a fresh 17 year old young girl, flaunting her long skinny legs and flashing her black bra which happens to be sticking out of her shirt the whole time. The backup dancers are all probably in their mid- late 20's, women who are dressed pretty high fashion and acceptably for their age, but definitely not what young teenage girls should be epitomizing.

All of that to say, it's just about finals week, and what kind of student would I be if I didn't have something to rant about and procrastinate with!?

Dabbling in Multi-Media

Among the many things I have gleaned from my classes this semester, I seem to have come out with an abundance of projects! While I was in the midst of it all, I didn't really think about the fact that all of the work I've put forth could be used as portfolio work. Although I'm not a pro yet and most of my work is still considered "novice", I figured this would be a great forum to share my work, even if no one ever sees it. =]

This is technically a multi-media project, combining both photographs and audio and it was initially created for my Intro to Photojournalism class. To capture the audio, I used a handheld Panasonic digital recorder which ended up producing much better sound than I was expecting. For the pictures, I used a Canon Rebel with a 10mm-22mm wide angle lens and shot on Aperture priority.
For final product, I used Audacity to edit the audio, iPhoto to edit the pictures and then compiled it all together with iMovie then exported it to a QuickTime file!

Check it out and enjoy the Christmas Cheer!

It's Blowing Up!!

I just ran across this article today on CNN.com about Yarn Bombing and it made me so excited!!
I've blogged about this particular activity on another blog (read it here), so to see an article on it out in the "big" world was pretty exciting!

I have yet to actually take part in this new and growing form of Urban Beautification, but one of these days, you just might stumble upon some knitted trees or street poles and you'll think of me!

Check out some pictures on the yarn bombing website and give the CNN article a read!

Also, here is a link to the blog of the group that started it all, Knittaplease! Check em' out!

Photo from http://knittaporfavor.wordpress.com/the-knitta-book/

A Photo-Full Weekend!

This past weekend was a doozy!

It consisted of 372 miles of driving (plus a few for getting lost multiple times), 4 locations, 3 different climates, 3 lenses and 1 camera. While all of that seems pretty exhausting, which it was, I definitely got a lot of really great pictures out of it and I was able to begin building my portfolio with some portrait shots (thanks Tyler, for letting me practice on you)! I got to use a lens baby, so many of the photos I have show a bit more of an artistic side, with a sweet blurred effect!

Makahiki Floor Retreat: Apple Valley & Lake Arrowhead

About 10 girls from our floor made it up to our lovely RA's house in Apple Valley for a weekend of fellowship and relaxation. I drove up late on Friday night, along with Meghan, Chelsea, Emily and Juliet. We got a little lost a few times, missed our turns because of our chatter, but made it there just before midnight. The next day, all of us stuffed into cars and drove up to Lake Arrowhead for the day, where Autumn was in full swing. Beautiful colors in the trees, crisp cool fall air and scarves galore!

Ally's Bridal Shower: Temecula

With an early departure time on Saturday and the most delicious Mocha I have probably ever had in my life, Meghan, Juliet and I packed back up into my car and began the tumultuous drive back down the mountains, Biola bound. About an hour and a half later, we arrived in La Mirada sleepy and probably kinda dirty. I had about a half an hour to re-pack, gift wrapsome lingere and hit the road to Temecula. Ally's bridal shower was great, full of yummy food, good people and laughter.

Tyler's Senior Pictures- Take 1: La Mirada

A good friend of mine asked me a while back to shoot his portrait for him to send out with his graduation announcements. Although he thought I was doing him a favor, he was actually doing one for me! I've been hoping to start doing portraits & photography for students or folks who need affordable quality photos so that I can begin building a portfolio and gaining experience. We decided to do another shoot next weekend since the sun had begun to set and I didn't really come prepared with very many ideas. The few pics we got on Sunday turned out pretty good, I'm excited for take 2!!

That thing called distraction...

It all began with a well intentioned homework trip by Meghan and myself to our local Barnes & Noble and it ended with 2 containers of hand soap, one bottle of lotion, a pair of chucks and one cup of coffee.

Turns out our room is not a conducive atmosphere for sitting down and doing some actual homework, why, we do not know. All I can say is that every time either myself or Meghan have attempted to seriously get something done, we find our selves napping on the couch, watching a movie, knitting/crocheting or doing some other distracting activity. Last night, we concluded this was most likely due to the size and dimensions of our room. That, combined with an extremely comfy couch and cozy ambient lighting, makes for a deadly cocktail of complacency. Our room literally sucks you in and leads you to believe there is no real world.

It also turns out that Barnes & Noble is also NOT a conducive atmosphere for successfully completing homework. After driving 15 minutes to the closest B&N in Fullerton, we wondered became distracted by other venues in the adjacent shopping center. We rationalized that a trip to Bed Bath & Body Works was necessary since we were just about out of our favorite hand soap, and since we were here....
We then found ourselves meandering in a shoe store next door, it wouldn't take so long, right?

By the time we actually made it to B&N, we wandered around for another 20 minutes looking for somewhere to sit but we were only greeted by stiff wooden chairs. The decision was made. We had to go somewhere else and we really needed to start homework!

Starbucks was our answer, a glowing cozy chair and soothing warm cup of coffee.
However, by the time we got settled in, got the homework out, and cooled the coffee off enough to take a sip, the clock had struck 9pm, giving only an hour to accomplish what we had set off to do!

It is now necessary to do either 1 of 2 things (or both!)

1: create a better space in our room for the doing of homework, considering we still have a whole semester and a half left to go!
2: if #1 isn't possible, find a more conducive homeworking atmosphere (library exempt) that is much closer to school & actually confirmed to be so.

and now, in the 40 minutes I have until Starbucks closes, I will begin my homework...
It only took a 15 minute drive and a 2 hour adventure to get here.

This is a tester blog from my cell phone... Wow this world is high tech! Hopefully now i can be more consistent in posts even when im not around a computer!

Finally! I can start being a Student again!

This blog post is a momentous thing!

Not only is it the first post in a really long time (although not my longest absence..) but it also doubles as a symbol of my freedom (don't think too deep into that one, check out "Freed Will" blog for that). I am finally free to be a student, the job I love most! This weekend was officially the end of my summer, although it has technically been over according to most students for about a month now...

My last set of weekend shifts as Splash concluded on Sunday, a day that couldn't come soon enough. As I was explaining to my roommate Meghan, it's not that I didn't enjoy working at Splash, in fact, it's the best job I've had thus far! I love the people that I work with and the management/supervisors are really wonderful at their job and at relating with employees. It's just that once school started back in August, I was really ready to just be a student and jump into school, but since I was still working, my weekends would transform into summer! Not to mention, working 16 hours on Saturday & Sunday alone definitely put a damper on my mental capacity to sit down and do homework.

Let's just say, I'm super grateful that I had the opportunity to work at Splash and I look forward to another summer of chlorine & sunblock baked days, but right now, I am so grateful to be a student! I actually get to do homework and study and drink coffee at outrageous times of the day and submit papers and projects!

It's an amazing time, my friends....

happy, happy, happy

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!!

Since I'm not there to congratulate you two little love birds in person, I figured I would do it on my blog (practically the same, right?). After 9 years you guys are doing better than ever and I can't wait to watch your love grow through the years ahead!!
Congrats!!

p.s. be on the lookout for a homemade card from yours truly...

Oppsies...

If there were a Guiness Award for being the most inconsistent person, I'd definitely be in the running for it.

Today I am taking advantage of the time I have. I had a crazy early shift today, 5am-9:30am, and now that I'm armed with a Venti Iced Coffee and a shower, I feel as if I could conquer the world! (or at least the amassing pile of dirty, smelly camp stuff I have clogging up my floor space).

This will sort of serve as my digital "to-do" list. Knowing that I've written this blog, I now feel held accountable to the trillions of web surfers whom may or may not stumble upon my noted fresh ambition.. or at least to my dad who will EVENTUALLY read this... thanks my #1 fan!

I swear, there are so many days that go by in which I think of truly intelligent or interesting things to post about, yet when it comes to the end, my fingers loose all tenacity and seem to curl up in a sort of physical snarl directed towards my keyboard. So, while I'm here, a quick update:

I was gone at YMCA camp for a week and returned last Saturday. It was emotionally and physically draining but I had one of the most fun weeks that I can think of in my 7 years on staff there. It was very exciting to see how most of the counselors and directors have matured and grown together, although we may only see one another once a year. My campers were a handful, but their ability to find joy in life despite the worst family and home circumstances was truly inspiring.

This week, I'm working a really odd schedule that I'm just not used to but I'm still getting my 40 hours in which is always sweet. Then I'm packing it all up again to go visit Erik up in Grass Valley for a week, which is the main event of my summer! I am extremely excited and very very much so looking forward to the trip. I'm not even really nervous about flying because I know it's going to get me there quicker!

Now it's time to go feel what freshly blow dried hair is like and then hit up the matinee of Harry Potter: The Half-Blood Prince with my good friend Casey!

Thank you E.E. Cummings!

I now have a new name for the blog!

"The Syntax of Things"

I really like this one, hopefully you will too because it definitely sticks for me. I'd like to share the inspiration for the title, a poem from E.E. Cummings, one of my favorite poets.

"since feeling is first
who pays attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you

wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world

my blood approves,
and kisses are a better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don't cry
-the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids' flutter which says

we are for eachother: then
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for lifes not a paragraph

and death i think is no parenthesis"
e.e. cummings

What's in a Name??

My dad recently commented that I should really consider changing the name of my blog.
Now, he didn't explain why (although I'm very sure he has a perfectly logical reason) but I've decided that I do want to change it. The title never quite fit, however, I need something that works.

And here is where the suggestion box comes in.. any ideas for the premise of my new blog title?

yes, dad, you can also make suggestions.

My Home for the Summer!

Ok, I finally got around to snapping some pictures of my new home for the summer... as a side note though, I'd like to say these do not accurately demonstrate my photographic skills. I needed to take these quick so I could have something to show sometime before I moved out! Enjoy!

The view from the driveway...

The entry way and our couch filled living room... there are 6 to be exact...

This is our "fireplace" filled by a turtle tank of tranquility...

One view of the kitchen... the house has many odd corners...

One of the 2 bathrooms that the 8 of us share =] ...

And this is the master bedroom which I was lucky enough to get along with my summer roommate, Erin!

And that's it! It's a really great house for a bunch of college girls to be living in. We also have a really great backyard, full of beautiful vegetation but it was too dark for me to get any pictures of it this time around. We have definitely had some interesting experiences so far, including having to share just 1 of the bathrooms/shower for about 3 weeks, but the longer we live here and the more quirks we figure out how to work with, the more we love it!

Dusting off the Rust...

An update!

This blogging thing is turning out to be a lot harder than I thought it would be... I always figure that I'll update my blog at the end of the day so not a moment of my ever more exciting life gets missed! However, when the end of the day comes, many other things, including my love of sleep, seem to fill up the gaps of time I set aside for blogging.

But this update is for you Dad.
An early Father's Day present (I hope you weren't expecting like a card or a gift or something like that...)

I know that I have promised a couple of times that I would update this and I have failed miserably. So now, instead, I will just commit to you (and all my many multitudes of blog fans, ha) that I will do my best to be consistent so as to not leave you with false hopes of new blogs. I know it sounds silly, but it comes down to me being integrous and actually following through on doing what I say I will.
I will begin with a small update because I'm learning how to be a more responsible adult by getting 8 hours of sleep, especially when I have work the next day!
Today was a wonderful day, I worked a double shift which ended up almost being shorter than a single shift because the water park was dead today, and go figure- it was freezing outside! But I am really loving work! The people are amazing and I'm getting such a good leg workout walking back and forth on the river. Tomorrow I work from 9:30am-5:45pm, a shift that I am covering for someone else which means more hours on my paycheck... me likey.

In other news, King Henry V (the turtle version) is still missing in the wilderness of the backyard at 14522 Florita. He escaped from the holding tank while I was cleaning the aquarium 2 days ago. I have not given up hope for his return though, I miss him, he was my favorite- he was agressive and would bite my fingers... the tank is so unlively without him.

I will try to post pictures of my new house in the next few days, it's real cute!