Final Blog

How do I begin… (I really like those little marks “…” I use them a lot as you have probably noticed ☺)

This semester has definitely been a growing experience for me as I writer. I’m what I would describe as a “Lone Ranger,” in the sense that I’m not a very good “team player”. It was really difficult for me to get into flow of working with another person on stories. I just like to do everything because that way I know it will get done and that I won’t have to worry about it. I guess it’s a trust issue. I have a hard time trusting people to get things done, so I just do them myself. Thankfully my first partner was one of my best friends, and she really helped me grow in this aspect. (Thanks Laura!) Learning how to communicate with my photographer was another challenge for me – one I hope to perfect next semester.

Another area I grew in was learning to write under deadlines. I have discovered that I hate them. I am a creative writer, but I’m a creative writer only when I want to be, not when I have to be. It was really difficult for me to get into a creative mindset, when I didn’t feel creative. As the semester progressed though, I feel as if I was able to get a better grip on my creativity and my stories reflect that.

Overall this semester was a great learning experience for me. I wouldn’t say it was fun, but it has helped me prepare for real life, and real jobs with real deadlines. I hope next semester I will be able to buckle down and get everything in time every single deadline.

"I Need Africa More than Africa Needs Me"...

"I was asked by the Mocha Club to write on the concept of why 'I need Africa more than Africa needs me.' Mocha Club [www.mochaclub.org] is a community based website where members can start a team and invite friends to join them in giving $7 a month -the cost of 2 mochas- to support a project in Africa. Mocha Club's vision is to provide a way for people who don't have hundreds or thousands of dollars to make a difference in Africa".

"I NEED AFRICA MORE THAN AFRICA NEEDS ME"? Uhm... What can Africa possibly have to offer me that I can't provide from myself? I mean really, I never see Africa helping to support America. We are the ones who are constantly giving them food, and money, and missionaries, etc... So how could I possibly say that "I need Africa more than Africa Needs Me"?

I'm sure 99% of the time that is the first response people have to the phrase "I need Africa more than Africa Needs Me". I know it was my response. I honestly couldn't see how that could be possible, but that is because I was looking at it all wrong.

I was interpreting "needs" with a purely monetary definition, but it actually can have a moral definition as well. Every time I support a child in Africa, I am not only helping that child, but I am also allowing myself to grow morally. 

You see, it takes compassion, and selflessness to even begin to think about caring for someone other than yourself. Yeah, you can support a cause in Africa for the price of only two mochas, but are those two mochas you are willing to give up? Be honest with yourself. Next time you find yourself heading to Starbucks to fulfill your coffee fix, check yourself. Walk away and tuck that money into an envelope to use to support the Mocha Club. 

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Random Thoughts from a wannabe Fashion Teen

So basically I looove fashion, but I have neither the eye nor the funds to be considered "fashionable," but that doesn't mean I can't pretend to be fashionable. Apparently though, I'm not very good at pretending either. Sometimes I read fashion magazines like Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. While I'm reading I try to pretend to like all of the hideous new clothes designers are coming up with these days, but the truth of the matter is I really don't. I think most of the new fads are absolutely ridiculous. I mean who actually wears the clothing you see in magazines like that? Honestly? Space looking sits, entire dresses made out of feathers, shoes made out of money? If an average person went out in one of those outfits they would be laughed off the streets. Street.. Now that's something...

I have just discovered that I love street fashion. (Check out this blog and you'll see why http://stylescout.blogspot.com/.) I think the truly "fashionable" people are the ones who have street fashion. Why? Because street fashion is so completely and entirely random - it's unique. While I was in Europe this summer, I had the opportunity to witness true street fashion. You see us Americans think we are fashionable over here because we shop at all the trendy stores like Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, Forever 21, etc... but that's just boring cuz everyone looks the same. In Europe you are considered fashionable if you don't shop at all the trendy stores, and if you rate your own style using a random combination of old and new, hip and chic, you get the picture. The more random your style is, the more fashionable you are considered. Some of the outfits I saw were so incredibly brilliant I wish I could have though of them myself, but other outfits I saw were absolutely ridiculous.

Some people are so creative, it's not even fair. I have this one friend who goes around to different thrift stores buying cool looking silverware. Then she takes them home and bends them into bracelets, armbands, and anklets. They are one of a kind, but that's not the only cool part, most of the cost like a $1. I wish all cute fashionable accessories were that cheap. I found this blog with an anonymous poster who does the same type of thing that my friend does. Some of the stuff she finds and uses are so creative (http://dcgoodwillfashions.blogspot.com/).

Okay so to give this blog a little bit of pizzazz I decided to end on a rather random note. While I was in Paris, I bought this really cool scarf that all the Europeans were wearing. It has since moved on over here, but in a different sort of way. Most people I see wearing it, wear it like a normal scarf, but the point of the scarf over in europe is to wear it in the most creative way possible. So I took a couple pictures showing you a couple different ways how you can wear this very trendy new scarf. The funny thing is though, I really had hard time coming up with interesting ways to wear my scarf. It was kind of sad, but like I said in the beginning, I'm not that fashionable. It was still really fun though...

Here is one last random cool blog: http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/. It's a mix of high and street fashion, but it's still cool.

You call that a Presidential Debate?

Disclaimer: Last night was the first time in the history of my short life that I ever watched a Presidential Debate. I've always heard people talk about them but, I really didn't know what to expect - certainly not what I saw.

Last night I watched the funniest show ever. There were only three characters in the the show: two girls, and a psychiatrist. These girls have been rivals for quite sometime now, and they have a lot of hard feelings towards each other. They were suppose to be talking about a list of national issues, but that was kind of forgotten after they got on to the subject of "feelings". It started off with one of them saying that the other had personally hurt her feelings, which prompted them to start talking about how not only had the other person hurt them, but their supporters, and propaganda had hurt them as well. All the important issues they had to talk about before and after this little meltdown was lost in the irony of it all.

I didn't mean to be rude by my comments above but, seriously? What kind of a nation have we become, if our highest politicians cannot even keep their "feelings" out of politics? I don't care if the other person hurt your feelings; suck it up and be a man. All I know is that America has a tough four years ahead of them, unless the next president can learn how to be a man real fast.

The Wonderful Ashtray

If you have never been to Edinburgh, Scotland, you must put that on your list of "places to visit before I die". They say Paris is the most beautiful city in the world, but I must disagree; Edinburgh is. It pretty much looks like San Diego except for the fact that there is always this huge castle looming over you whenever you look up anywhere in the city, and the architecture is also quite different. The only bad thing about Edinburgh, is that every one smokes. I have never seen so many smokers in my life. Young boys, teenage girls, sophisticated young women, and dreamy looking men, you name it; they were smoking. Once I got over this fact I was blissfully happy. Despite their smoking, the people there are so fun and friendly. They leisurely walk around, and are more than willing to stop and talk to you if you express an interest in doing so. And the accent...I think that's what I miss the most about Edinburgh. I love the accent. It make you want to smile cuz it's so light-hearted and playful sounding. I must say though, you must stay away from haggis. It doesn't taste that bad, but once you find out what is in it, you want to gag. I can't understand how such sweet people could like something as horrible as haggis. It's beyond me.

Anne's Theme

You know the feeling. Sometimes it makes you want to cry, but it can also at times make you feel blissfully happy. It's that feeling that occurs when you listen to a piece of music that really moves you. For me, that piece is Anne's Theme by Hagood Hardy from Anne of Green Gables by Sullivan Productions. I'm really not the sentimental type, but each time I hear this song it strikes a cord I never knew existed in my heart. I grew up watching the Anne of Green Gables movies with my family once a year or so. I still remember the first time we watched the last two tapes in the series. It takes place during WWII. My friend Natalie was there watching it with us, and every time something blew up we burst out laughing, not because it was funny, but because laughing was the only way we could portray how incredibly scared we were at the time. Good memories. Now I call the series my "sick movies", because I only have time to watch them now when I am really sick and bedridden. Despite my advanced age (at eighteen), those movies still have a sort of magic for me. The place the director chose to shoot the movie is so beautiful it seems surreal. I love the way Anne talks with all her big words, and how she gets so emotional over the stupidest things. I always cry when she tells Gil she won't marry him, and then I cry again when she does. Although I don't have time to watch those movies anymore, I do love to listen to "Anne's Theme" from time to time on my computer. Instead of sitting for eight hours watching all three movies, I can listen to a brief 4:35 song, and invoke the same feelings I feel when I watch the movie. "It's truly a lovely thing", as Anne might say.