What's the deal with Twitter?

If you see me typing away on my BlackBerry, odds are that I'm not texting. I'm probably tweeting.

Yes, tweeting. Tweeting is the verb used when referring to the social media site Twitter.com. No, its not "twittering," its "tweeting." If you're not familiar with the site, I'm sure the first thing you thought was, "What's so great about Twitter? Its just a bunch of [Facebook] status updates."

Wrong.

The original purpose of Twitter was like status updates - a quick way for all of a circle of friends to stay connected. Study session on the campus library, anyone? Happy hour at Blu Sushi?

However, Twitter has fluidly evolved with how its users communicate and if you know how and when to use it, can be essential in staying connected with in the ways you choose: locally, nationally, even globally.

How I use Twitter:

I have a few core group of friends I know personally, (@danakay, @sarahreaves, @gunk, @burdladii [my mom!], @beachmuscles, @Peter_Murphy, @ccchristopher, @matthewashton,@celisseb, @kpbabyy, @devils_girl23, @lolngiggle, @naticus, @rodrigosbrown, @brewcbaby, @CVClyde, @MarcellaSchmidt, @Keeeer, just to name a few) that I tweet back and forth with daily.

Example:

@caitykauffman: My milk expires today - can I still drink it?

replies:

@brewcbaby: yes
@CVClyde: its probably fine, but dairy is bad for your throat.
@burdladii: yes, milk is good 7 days after the date
@Rodrigosbrown: yesss hurry! unless it smells funny.
@foochuck: smell it first! but you should have a few more days to drink it.
@ccchristopher: god no. I have to finish mine like 5 days before.
@Lindros97: dont drink milk if your sick..makes phlem into sperm-like substance..or....go ahead and drink it!!

You see, had I not consulted my dairy-farmer followers, I very well could have poured the semi-expired milk into my Raisin Bran Crunch (I didn't) and consequently irritated my tonsilitis-infected throat (which, today, feels significantly better. Thank you, followers.)

Aside from avoiding phlegm build-up, Twitter is the quickest way I hear about the latest headlines. I follow @nytimes, @cnnbrk (CNN), @ndn (Naples Daily News), @TIME and @redsoxcast, to name a few.

I follow @redsoxcast, and they gave me play-by-play updates to all the redsox games and final scores.

@cnnbrk was the first way I heard about Michael Jackon's death.

As an intern for Naples Daily News, their Twitter account,@ndn, posts articles (including mine) and when I re-tweet them, they show up in my friends' timelines. More re-tweets = more views on my article.

So, really, Twitter isn't a status update (they recently changed their update prompt from "What are you doing?" to, "What's happening?") but a way to produce and consume the news thats happening around you.

And hey, if you had a fabulous turkey and swiss sandwich on marble rye at the corner deli - tweet that, too.

Would you get arrested for your job?

Last Friday, Alex and I almost did.

If you're an FGCU student odds are you spend your weekends at the (yes, Alex, THE) Gulf Coast Town Center. However, they just changed the hours of liquor sales from 2 a.m. to 1 a.m.

The rumor is that the goal is to make the Gulf Coast Town Center more "family friendly," but with establishments like BAR Louie, Miller's ALE house, and Cigar BAR, the bartenders are going to have to invest in a Chuckie Cheese costume to get those six-year-old birthday parties booked anytime soon.

Alex, his friend Jake and I met up in front of Border's without much of a plan. We had a camera and our makeshift press passes so we set off going bar to bar to ask for interviews.

An intern's rite of passage... high school football.

In any career, you've gotta start at the bottom and work your way up.

Most interns working at office jobs find an endless stream of faxing, brewing bitter coffee, and random monotonous tasks that would make even the Wal-Mart greeter's job look stimulating. But if you find yourself in the environment you love - going home every night with more paper cuts than decimal places on your paycheck (if you are lucky enough to be paid at all) is absolutely dandy.

The journalism world, I've discovered, requires less faxing but still has its own rite of passage: high school football.

Why high school football? Its relatively easy, there's usually more games than reporters, and if misspell the 3rd-chair trumpet player's last name, no one really notices.

Its usually pretty simple stuff, fan photos with a point-and-shoot camera or experimental projects.

When it comes to covering high school football games, I'm no rookie. This is my sophomore season; I spent the 2008 season shooting highlight videos for the Fort Myers News-Press and this year shooting video for the Naples Daily News. Regardless of newspaper or county, school or season, some things never change.

The notebook experiment

Being an intern, I'm not blessed with the universal media passport a.k.a. press pass, and until recently I didn't even have a name badge. So more often than not, I have to do a little convincing to get admitted into the games. After a while, I started to notice that when I carried my pink notebook under my arm, it was like my credentials skyrocketed.

Almost every time, the band booster parent taking tickets at the gate would knit their brow and purse their lips, but as soon as their eyes fell to the notebook under my arm, I could almost hear them think: "Oh, okay, she has a notebook. She's legit."

"Yearbook staff?"

I can admit it - I look really, really young (I'm 20). Wipe off the mascara, throw a Hollister t-shirt over my head and you'd probably ask to see my driving permit. Every Friday night, I always get at least one person - sometimes a student, sometimes a parent - thinking I'm on the yearbook staff. Usually the conversation goes as follows:

Fan: Can I see the picture?
Me: Uh, yeah, okay.
Fan: COOL! Are you gonna put this in the yearbook?
Me: Well... no.
Fan: Aw, why not?
Me: I work for the newspaper.
Fan: Really? They hire high school kids?
Me: I'm not in high school... I go to FGCU.
Fan: ...oh.

Everything aside, covering high school football does have its perks, and I actually really enjoy going to the games. I don't mind hot dogs for dinner every Friday (I really love hot dogs), and getting to make a trip to my alma matter is always interesting (and, thankfully, the one school I didn't have to argue my way into.)

I'm also a PR intern for the Florida Everblades... except that requires more faxing.

I'm really good at embarrassing myself in front of celebrities part 2

Having a birthday in the 1980s has thankfully lead me to avert the current frenzy of Disney’s factory-produced, long-haired, skinny-jeans-clad trio the Jonas Brothers. I assumed that my graduation from high school immediately excluded me from hyperventilating at one sight of a young(ish) male with a musical instrument... Until last August.

One night, I was hanging out at Derek’s house, when, between facebook chatting, I came across an ad on a local radio station’s website. The front banner read, “ SEE JOHN MAYER FRONT ROW!” Previously, I thought I had a better chance of my Macbook instantly transforming into solid gold and spitting Gucci handbags out of the CD drive than meeting John Mayer. I frantically clicked the link, wondering how quickly I was going to be able to make the doe eyed, tattooed, blues singing, guitar player my boyfriend. As the page loaded, I discovered the fine print. The lanky singer is featured on the gossip blogs as quite the Casanova, so it was no surprise the contest was advertised as a,“ John Mayer ex-girlfriend look-a-like contest.”

“Caity!” Derek exclaimed. “ You should so enter this!”

College students & health care reform: what does it all mean?

Every night before I go to sleep, I turn on CNN. My evening ritual isn't for the glow of the television to put me to sleep, but so I see the day's headlines before I get out of bed the next morning.

Lately, the fist four words I've been hearing before my Cheerio's are "Obama's health care reform." Alright, I get it, clearly something in our health care system isn't working - but what? I fall in the college-age demographic (18-24) and being in that "leaving the nest" transition category, I'm used to being too old for some things and too young for others.

When it comes to health care, many people in my demographic are sometimes too old for be covered under their parent's insurance (provided their parents have coverage, many don't) and too young to have a job with full benefits. Many college campuses do have health services with routine and preventative care, as well as STD testing. FGCU even has health insurance available for domestic students - for $1,200 a year. However, anything above routine care just isn't covered. I, like other students, can barely cover the cost of rising tuition - any hospital stay would put my bank account in the red.

Here are the basics:


Why is everyone making such a big deal over health care?

For the Americans that have health insurance, 25 million are under insured and up to 46 million have none at all. With so many companies cutting back, many employers are limiting or eliminating health insurance for their remaining employees. in 2007, Americans spent upwards of $7,000 per person.

Let's put that $7,000 in perspective: that's 2 1/2 years of college tuition in a Florida public university, 35 iPhone 3Gs', or 1,400 pitchers of Miller Light at Miller's Ale House.

One year of health care in the US costs 52% more than the next most costly nation, Norway. The median income in 2008 declined 3% from 2007 - to $50,303.


That means health care costs almost 14% of the average American's yearly income.


What's all this talk about a "public option"?

Obama would like to create a health care system that is federally funded, similar to Medicare; a plan that would give affordable health care for all Americans. Obama is also insisting his plan would prevent those with pre-existing conditions to be denied health care.

Canada can do it, why can't we?

Private insurance would still be available, but Republicans are concerned that the public option would decrease the overall quality of health care and many employers would choose the public option to save money. Its always a possibility - busier doctors with more patients could mean less face time and and more rushed visits.

There's debate that the public option would mean the onset of Socialism... However, there's also a reason we have a President, not a dictator. If we had Fidel Castro hanging out in the oval office, smoking cigars and insisting on a public option, I'd be more concerned. But Congress has plenty of seats filled with conservatives to keep the argument balanced.

How does it affect you?

Resume

Click to enlarge

HIATUS

Taking a 2 week road trip to Maine.

Of course, I'm blogging about the whole trip.

Here's the link:

http://caityandcourtney.blogspot.com/

xoxo

Jack London

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club."

Reject Prop 8

The U.S. government is a secular institution. The fundamental idea of the first amendment is the separation of church and state. Then why, California, is proposition 8 being upheld?

This past November, I took part in a march in downtown Seattle supporting the reversal of Proposition 8 - the bill that bans gay marriage in the state of California. No, I'm not gay, and I don't have an immediate family member who is gay. To me, supporting gay marriage is about supporting equality.

Thomas Jefferson felt the first amendment was the "wall" separating church and state. If that is truly upheld within our government, then why is the banning of same-sex marriage supported by the Christian beliefs of the sanctity of marriage only being between a man and a woman?

I support anyone who devoutly follows their religion, I admire finding faith and sticking to it. I, however, have never been one to follow one particular religion. I think the bible is an amazing text from our history, but to me, it is a text that is somewhat outdated.

Times have changed, our society has evolved. Religion and faith is about love and acceptance, and I think sometimes that is forgotten.

Banning gay marriage will not prevent gays and lesbians from being out and proud of who they are. Banning gay marriage will not prevent them from having families and children. Banning gay marriage only further oppresses our country and its citizens.

Same-sex marriage is the LEAST of our worries here in the United States.

Poverty, hunger, drugs, lack of health care, lack of employment?




Here's a few photos I took from the march in November 2008:

The best place to be during a recession? College.

The 2009 recession is the guy to blame these days.

Can't find a job? Damn recession! Credit card interest rate sky rocketing? Damn recession! House losing its value? Damn recession! Retail store/restaurant business slow? Damn recession!

I've had my share of beating the recession horse, but of every demographic in the United States -I'm pretty happy to fall into the "college student" category.

Keep this in mind: less than 5% of college graduates are unemployed. High school graduates make up 10% of those without work, while those who did not graduate high school make have over a 15% chance of being unemployed. (source: Time Magazine.)

Being a college kid without a steady job, my dad supports me fully. Rent, utilities, car payment, insurance, gas, 3 a.m. Taco Bell trips, Red Sox tickets, bar tabs (just kidding, dad!).

He paid for the large mocha (no whip) I'm drinking, the Macbook I'm typing on and the BlackBerry vibrating in my purse. I'm lucky because he works in the one and only recession-proof job in this country - the U.S. Government.

If the job market turns up empty post-graduation, the options are much more flexible for the under-25 recent graduate.

First being grad school; furthering your education never hurts, and then its buffer for a few extra years to wait out the recession. Second, many will also have access to government loans - at least enough cash to get a few extra packages of Ramen noodles in the pantry. Finally, there is the always available entry-level or minimum-wage paying job. For the typical single, childless college grad, the pressure to bring in the financial income is less. As long as there is peanut butter, jelly and beer in the fridge, things aren't too shabby.

For now, I'm not going to over think it. As much as I would love a job at the New York Times to brag about at my 5-year high school reunion (or a famous boyfriend, a.k.a. John Mayer), a lot could change before my graduation in 2011.

Until then, thanks dad!

Happy Birthday, Miss California. You're keeping your crown.

Happy 22nd birthday to Carrie Prejean. Your 15 minutes of fame is about over.

Donald Trump announced yesterday that despite the (semi) topless photos of Prejean that were a breech of her contract, she would keep possession of her title.

In case you are living somewhere in Antarctica, here's the latest on the Miss California contoversy. When asked by openly gay celebrity blogger Perez Hilton about her stance on same-sex marriage, Prejean responded:

Well I think it's great that Americans are able to choose one way or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. You know what, in my country, in my family, I do believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, no offense to anybody out there. But that’s how I was raised and I believe that it should be between a man and a woman."

Many people criticized her response, saying she should "know her audience" and should have promoted same-sex marriage. While I don't agree with her, I don't understand why she was criticized for telling the truth.

She definitely could have worded it a little more accurately (opposite marriage? huh?) but she isn't the only person on the planet to have those same feelings. Sure, she upset Perez - most definitely a liberal - but who's to say that maybe a supportive stance of "opposite marriage" would have upset a more conservative judge. Even Donald Trump said at the press conference that announced his decision, "It wasn't a bad answer, that was simply her belief."

On the topless photos, I definitely call B.S. She knew what she was doing. Carrie, little miss Christian, you should know better. Don't take your clothes off. Ever. Unless your lifelong goal is to get a bedroom in the Playboy mansion (although, Hef's birthdays are a little more numbered... the future bunnies of America have limited time) then my suggestion is to keep it PG-13 when adding photos to your portfolio.

Although if losing the Miss America pageant, getting called a "dumb bitch" by Perez Hilton and almost losing the Miss California title gets me a date with Michael Phelps (who Prejean is supposedly dating) then SIGN ME UP!

Rant

Apple: your iTunes bandwith sucks.

Scenario:

I am sitting idle in the airport on my surgical mask safari and decide that because I will be spending the next 12 or so hours on a flight, I should download "Marley & Me" ("Milk" was a close 2nd) to watch on the plane.

download time? 4 HOURS.

Now I am $3.99 poorer and increasingly more annoyed with the misleading idea of "instantly" downloading movies.

AND, as I was looking up movie reviews on the iTunes store, I discovered that MARLEY [the dog] DIES.

Thank you, irresponsible iTunes movie reviewers - Steve Jobs now is even more wealthy, I am without entertainment on this cattle car i.e. airplane, and even when it finally does download, I know the ending.

SWINE FLU IS STUPID (this is why)

Borderline hysteria is quickly rising over this swine flu, and I think its nonsense. It absolutely blows my mind because as much as yes, this is a "cause for concern" (and I quote President Obama) but the sudden onslaught of medical masks and school closures is a bit ridiculous.

Here in Fort Myers at the FGCU commencement, graduates were not permitted to shake the hand of the University President, Dr. Wilson Bradshaw.

I'm not concerned, so let me break it down:

--800 people (as of Sunday, reported by the CDC) in 11 countries have been diagnosed with H1N1, also known as swine flu. Now, keep in mind, there are 6,000,000,000 people in the world, so the percentage infected is .00000133% of the global population.

--The highest number of deaths has been reported in Mexico, and, to me, there are several outlying factors that have to be taken into account. In some of the poorest parts of the country, there is a lack of healthcare, widespread malnutrition and crowded conditions. Keep in mind that in the 19th century during the influenza outbreak, the flu was called the "crowding disease."

--Thousands of people die yearly from seasonal influenza, virtually the same disease with just a different source (i.e. not from pigs). In fact, rarely people die from the flu itself. Seasonal flu, just as swine flu, is fatal most often from the complications that arise (most fatally being pneumonia.)

That being said, tomorrow I will be doing the one thing that would put most hypochondriacs into unprovoked anaphylactic shock: flying on an airplane. 

This is my swine-flu-can-suck-it act of rebellion. I'm going to be on a surgical mask safari because I will be flying through some of the most central airline hubs from Fort Myers International Airport to Seattle-Tacoma Airport.

Things I am more concerned about than contracting swine flu:

• Heidi & Spencer procreating.  

These two just got back from their honeymoon in Mexico, and were spotted making out with their masks on. Let's hope that there aren't any mini-famewhores mid-gestation in Heidi's spray tanned mid-section.

• The United Airlines $15 bag-check fee for the first bag. Really? I'm flying United Airlines tomorrow, so I plan on bribing the bag check guy with $10. 

(bribing works. Last year, I came back from Seattle with two bags that weighed over 50 lbs and was facing a $150 fee to check my bags. $20 cash to the dude at curbside saved me some serious bills.) When traveling you are forced to bring at least one bag, so don't charge for the first one. To me, charge the people who find the need to bring six suitcases for a weekend trip to Montana.

• Latest reports that Paula Abdul kicked her painkillers habit. American Idol is going to be seriously less entertaining. Somebody bring back Sanjaya so I have someone on that show to make fun of for a straight 60 minutes.
• Lee going to Pakistan. 

My favorite half-Paki (a.k.a. Sarah's boyfriend) is making a trip to Pakistan this summer, and amid all the craziness going on with the war on terror I would like the XY chromosome in my third wheel trifecta to return to the US safely.

Off to Seattle tomorrow. See you soon, swine flu.

RED SOX GAME ON SATURDAY

Me & Amanda are going to the redsox game on Saturday!

We are sitting in section 109.. SICK seats.

Social networking overload

I have only had my new Verizon magic machine for less than 24 hours, and I am already being sucked into its tiny LCD world.

I got a tweet from Chris that read as follows:

ccchristopher@caitykauffman how many forms of Internet social connections is truly necessary? Text, pin, blog, tweet... I'm overwhelmed.

Its true. Society is completely reliant on electronic forms of communication.

I went to Chili's with Lee over the weekend, and as we devoured chicken fajitas (mine grilled, his buffalo.. seriously the best), we had this social networking breakdown. How the HELL did people get by thirty years ago without cell phones, internet or even those tacky early-'90s pagers??

Lee: "Seriously, when you were going to someone's house, you had to call them on their landline, ask for directions, and then write them down. Then, if you got lost, you have to pull over somewhere and call them on a freaking pay phone? No way dude, no way."

Even my dad, who is in his late sixties, was the one who was all about me joining him in the cult of the CrackBerry. He admits that now he can't imagine life without his BlackBerry & e-mail.

My list of social networking/communcation addictions & accounts:

-Cell phone
-Texting
-Facebook
-MySpace (not so often anymore.. but, true to form, I can't bring myself to delete it)
-iChat (AIM)
-E-mail (personal & school)
-Twitter
-Digg
-Blogspot
-Last.fm
-Linkd In
-BlackBerry messenger

whoa.

New Toy

I have no clue how I've lived 20 years without owning a BlackBerry Storm.

I swear to you, this phone could only be improved upon if it also did my laundry and drove me home from the bar at 2 a.m.

The touch/tap screen still takes some getting used to, though.

Today was the first, and only, time I've ever felt even semi-technologically baffled.

The first few times I made an attempt to send a text message, I was stabbing the screen with one finger the way an 80-year-old lady would. The first few texts I sent were only slightly comprehensible, but as time has gone (i.e. about 4 hours) on they are improving.

I downloaded a few cool apps: Pandora, Google, Twitterberry, Boston Red Sox newsfeed & Viigo.

If you're curious, here's some of the specs.

Buy one. Now. Waaaaaaay cooler than the iPhone.

Redship.com

Check out this website, Redship.com. Its a friend of my sister Heidi's. Its a really cool site where you can order care packages packed with snacks! They come stocked with things like Famous Amos cookies, microwave pop corn, Sunchips, Starbucks coffee, M&M's, Chex Mix, Trail Mix and any other sort of random snack.

There's even a neat healthy pack with raisins, granola bars and other yummy organic snacks.

Good gift idea to mention to your parents or other family members.

Super cute!

Today is something much bigger than 420

Today is the anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado.

I distinctly remember that day. I was nine and living in Iowa at the time. It was just two months before our family's move to Florida.

I had just gotten off the school bus after the last few days of the 4th grade, when I walked into the kitchen and saw my mother. She was watching the small television we had over the counter, and she was visibly upset. I remember seeing the television and seeing some of the images that are synonymous with Columbine even today.

Groups of students running out from the tan brick building, shielded by the SWAT team and police officers. Bloody victims hurling out of broken windows. People crying, news casters solemn.

It was the first time I can remember hearing the terrifying term, "school shooting."

To all of you celebrating "420" today, I challenge you to instead remember the victims of the 10 year anniversary of one of the most indelible marks on American history.

If you want to read more, check out this article by CNN.

"impeccable grammEr" is an oxymoron

I always randomly browse Craigslist for really no reason at all, and one posting I found was pretty amusing.

notice the part where it says "impeccable grammEr" is required. (FYI, its grammAr.)


ohhh the irony.

Coffee shop creepster

Tonight I went to my usual spot to get coffee, work on my book and finish other various writing assignments. I sat down facing the door with my usual order (large mocha, no whipped cream) and set to work on my macbook.

I like sitting facing the door no matter where I go, just because its this freaky control issue. I like to know who's in my surroundings, and tonight that natural intuition and obsessive OCD trait paid off.

I was a couple pages in to my work when I see this 6'3", dark haired, lanky guy in khakis belted at his waist and a blue button-up shirt walk inside. The way he walked, sort of this Forrest Gump-ish hunch, just radiated gawky. If you've ever seen the movie Superbad, he was the epitome of "McLovin'." (see photo)

He was socially awkward at its finest.

He sat down directly in my line of vision in one of the large armchairs by the front window. I peered up over my laptop screen, and he sort of raised one bony pale hand up and half smiled at me. It may seem sort of bitchy of me to not even give the poor guy a smile, but there are a few reasons why I did not:

a.) I'm a writer. I'm not friendly.
b.) I really, really didn't want him to come talk to me. How would that benefit me? There is a 50% chance he's a totally lovely fellow. There is also a 50% chance he's a total creep. I happen to be pessimistic in those types of situations.
c.) I had a bad feeling about him.

So a few minutes later, he gets up and gets a cup of coffee. Conveniently, I happen to be sitting right behind the bar where the newspapers are.

Fan-freaking-tastic.

He is leafing through the paper, and even though my back was to him, I got that weird feeling that he was looking at me. Know what I'm talking about? I was also concerned he was looking at my laptop, so I made sure I kept any of my facebook, twitter, etc. off the screen so he didn't see any personal info. (I know, a little extreme... but seriously you never know.)

Finally Forrest Gawkward sits down at the table directly behind me and starts reading his newspaper. It was almost 9 and I planned to stay until 9:15 (I had plans at 9:30) but by this time my creative juices had been replaced with creep juice so I had to cut my writing short.

I get up and walk out, when he gets up really quickly leaving his newspaper on the table and tries to (awkwardly, of course) hold the door open for me even though he is a.) behind me and b.) I'm already nearly out the door.

By this time I'm wishing I had asked for a taser for Christmas, and I start frantically calling/texting anyone who would answer. I walk towards my car and he is just steps behind me, so I re-think that plan of action and just decide to stand in front of the coffee shop. Creepster McLovin' notices my suspicions and then starts practically running in the opposite direction.

Thankfully I knew one of the regulars who then walked me out to the faithful Cruiser.

Maybe I'm being totally paranoid, but, cliche as it is, its better to be safe than sorry.

Remembering an old friend

Ever hear a song that reminds you of a certain place, time, or person? It brings this memory that is incredibly intense, so much if you close your eyes you find yourself back in that time where you first heard that song. I'm a particularly visual person, so I have an assortment of songs in the back of my head that I can't listen to without thinking about that particular memory. A few minor ones, like the random Akon song that I always think about doing my make-up with Sarah at her dorm before our nights out.

Tonight I was listening to Pandora, a website that has customized streaming music. I love it, because I can specific one artist or song and it matches other types of music for you. I was listening to the John Mayer channel (shocker) when I song came on that I hadn't heard since last August.

The day of Curtis' funeral.



I knew Curtis for close to five years, we met my freshman year of high school which was his senior year. At only 22 years old, we lost him to cancer on August 1, 2008. I'll never forget his laugh, bright green eyes, or the way he walked. I always remember Curtis when I go to Rumrunners, the restaurant he used to work at. I can never see a Jeep Cherokee the same way or listen to any song by Alabama without him crossing my mind.

The day of his funeral, I went alone. I sat towards the back and it was entirely surreal. That song is so strangely positive, and I sat and I watched the slide show of pictures that were projected on the wall of the church. That song that played was so peculiar and positive, I couldn't think about rainbows, this was a funeral. But at the same time, the song carries the spirit of Curtis. He always just wanted to have a good time. That's all he wanted from life, and I admire that from him.

I feel his presence sometimes, I know he's there.

Maya Angelou

A woman should have enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own, even if she never wants to or needs to.

A woman should have something perfect to wear if the employer, or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour.

A woman should have a youth she's content to leave behind.

A woman should have a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to retelling it in her old age.

A woman should have a screwdriver, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra.

A woman should have one friend who always makes her laugh, and one who lets her cry.

A woman should have a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family.

A woman should have eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a recipe for a meal, that will make her guests feel honored.

A woman should have a feeling of control over her destiny.

Every woman should know how to fall in love without losing herself.

Every woman should know how to quit a job, break up with a lover, and confront a friend without ruining the friendship.

Every woman should know when to try harder... and when to walk away.

Every woman should know that she can't change the length of her calves, the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents.

Every woman should know that her childhood may not have been perfect... but its over.

Every woman should know what she would and wouldn't do for love or more.

Every woman should know how to live alone.... even if she doesn't like it.

Every woman should know whom she can trust, whom she can't, and why she shouldn't take it personally.

Every woman should know where to go... be it to her best friend's kitchen table, or a charming inn in the woods when her soul needs soothing.

Every woman should know what she can and can't accomplish in a day, a month, a year.

Quote of the day:

"She's as awkward as an Eskimo on South Beach!"

The 1 reason why I love Miami:

Dana.

Reasons why I hate Miami:

• Every six feet they force you to pay a toll, and every single toll is a completely random amount.
• The nearest Taco Bell on Alligator Alley is either in Naples or Eastern Miami. Nothing in between to eat at except one Indian reservation that has terrible chicken fingers.
  
• In the hospitals, security guards outnumber nurses. No joke, Kendall Regional Hospital - they even take a picture of you when you visit a patient.
• It is the birth place of one of the most annoying American Idols ever. Suck it, David Archuleta.
• The people aren't friendly. Just buying a coke at the 7-11 and the lady next to me completely stops her phone conversation in Spanish to stare at me like I'm deranged.
  
• A Bloody Mary is cheaper than a Coke (okay, maybe this isn't such a bad thing....)
• HOMELESS PEOPLE ARE EVERYWHERE. I totally understand why the homeless would flock to one of the largest cities in the southern US, however. No need to sleep outside in snow, living on the beach can't be so bad, and there are ample tourists to panhandle from.
  
• Traffic. Angry drivers. Lack of turn signals.
• Everything just feels dirty.
• This song:

to be continued..

Frank O'Hara

I am not a painter, I am a poet.
Why? I think I would rather be
a painter, but I am not. Well,

For instance, Mike Goldberg
is starting a painting. I drop in.
'Sit down and have a drink' he
says. I drink; we drink. I look
up. 'You have SARDINES in it."
'Yes, I needed something there.'
'Oh,' I go and days go by
ad I drop in again. The painting
is going on, and I go, and the days
go by. I drop in. The painting is
finished. 'Where's SARDINES?'
All that's left is just
letters, 'It was too much," Mike says.

But me? One days I am thinking of
a color: orange. Pretty soon it is a
whole page of words, not lines.
Then another page. There should be
so much more, not of orange, of
words, how terrible orange is
and life. Days go by. It is even in
prose, I am a real poet. My poem
is finished and I haven't mentioned
orange yet. It's twelve poems, I call
it ORANGES. And one day in a gallery
I see Mike's painting, called SARDINES.

Wtf Pope?

Can someone tell me why, in Africa, a country where more than 22 million people are infected with HIV, nine out of 10 children with HIV in the world live in the region, which has 11.4 million orphans because of AIDS, and 1.5 million people there died of the disease in just 2007, the Pope BANS condom use?

click here to read the article

I've never understood the religious stance on banning contraception, especially in a place where more people have a sexually transmitted disease than clean water. I'll give the Vatican props, they are the largest private supporter of HIV/AIDS treatment in Africa. However, if they put so much financial support into helping the sufferers of HIV and AIDS, why wouldn't they want to take the necessary steps to help the people in Africa slow the spread of it?

I find it ignorant and irresponsible to hold the same morals of a time when HIV and AIDS did not exist.

EDIT:

love the commentary by this guy on CNN.com

T.S. Eliot

"Poetry may make us from time to time a little more aware of the deeper, unnamed feelings which form the substratum of our being, to which we rarely penetrate; for our lives are mostly a constant evasion of ourselves."

One last desperate plea in the world of grammatical blasphemy

Chuck Palahniuk

"We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will."

Ghandi's version of the 7 deadly sins:

* Wealth without Work
* Pleasure without Conscience
* Science without Humanity
* Knowledge without Character
* Politics without Principle
* Commerce without Morality
* Worship without Sacrifice

which ones are you guilty of?

Christopher Morley

"Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, everyday, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity."

7 reasons why I probably hate your facebook status

I, like most other college students, am mildly obsessed (yes, obsessed) with my facebook profile.

However, sometimes when I read my news feed, it makes me want to reach through my internet cables and suckerpunch half of my facebook "friends".

I have compiled the following:

1. The I-have-no-friends-so-text-me status
"X is bored. Text it. ###-###-####"
First of all, didn't your mother ever tell you not to post your personal information on the internet? Further more, if you have to beg your friends to text you, you should probably invest in some new friends.

2. ANYTHING involving "Twilight" status
Yes, we know, you love Edward Cullen. What is that you say? Everyone isn't in love with a fictional vampire? Yes, we all have/had our celebrity crushes (I was in love with Zac Hanson until I was like... 16), but planning your wedding with a fictional character? You need therapy, stat.

3. the "X IS SO SCHMAMMERED" status
Its friday night, you're drunk. awesome. Do I care? No. & "schmammered" might be the most obnoxious word ever.

4. The song lyrics status
Put down your razors, emo kids. I've never understood why people tap dance around their feelings with obscure song lyrics. You THINK that Pete Wentz and the rest of Fall Out Boy wrote specifically about your break-up with your lame high school boyfriend, but really, no they didn't. Get over it.

5. The i-feel-the-need-to-update-my-status-500-times-per-day status
you're walking your dog, molly. You're going to the mall. You're hanging out with Tina. and then OMG the Jonas Brothers are on MTV. I don't care. Check your newsfeed. If you have more than 5 status updates per day, you are abusing the facebook status privilege.

6. The I!! am!!! so!!!! excited!!!! about!!! every!!!! status!!!!! I!! have!!!! status
A million exclamation points does not make you look intelligent.

7. The passive aggressive facebook status
Now, can you expect that the object of your hatred is going to see your status, figure out it is them, alter their behavior accordingly and all will be well? Nope, probably not. Probably will never happen. Broadcasting such on your status is more than likely ineffective.

1)
2)
(statuses courtesy of passiveaggressivenotes.com)






p.s. I am probably guilty of one or all of these at one point in my facebook career (except Twilight. Twilight sucks). Just sayin'.

Emily Dickinson

The Duel


I took my power in my hand
And went against the world;
'T was not so much as David had,
But I was twice as bold.

I aimed my pebble, but myself
Was all the one that fell.
Was it Goliath too large,
Or only I too small?

girls, please, listen to me.

Eventually, he will stop calling you.

You can beg and plead and insist things "were going perfect", but the truth is that it is inevitable.

I know, I know, it typically blindsides you on an idle Thursday afternoon when you realize that your inbox hasn't been flooded with messages from (who you thought was) Mr. Right. The Friday night invites out begin to dwindle down to random Tuesdays; and there is an unidentified girl in a sorority leaving suspicous comments on his facebook wall.

Without warning, the paranoid cyber-stalking increases and you realize you are incessantly checking your iPhone praying for a text message.

Its inescapable. Its part of the male DNA. I'm constantly trying to shove my theory onto my friends, I promise its valid.

Delete his number, get the ever faithful rebound men of Ben&Jerry, and get back in there.

Gail Devers

“Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.”

Can you have a mid-life crisis at 19?

More often than not when people ask me my major and I tell them "journalism", I get negative reactions.

I will agree that the newspaper industry is on a heavy decline, and typically writers don't fall into the highest income bracket. Becoming a writer takes a lot of work, frusteration, rejection by editors, and, if you're a perfectionist like me, long hours to perfectly articulating your thoughts on paper (or blogosphere).

I'm stuck right now deciding whether I want to dive headfirst into a publicly crumbling industry.

Props to all of you medical or finance majors, your job security is much higher than mine. You will get to work your 9-5 desk job, come home every night to your suburban house, and, provided the economy builds back up, collect your 401k and retire here in southwest Florida like the rest of corporate America.

I spoke to one of my professors today not looking for the definitive answers to my questions, but just a little insight. She told me that journalism is a tough career and like anything else, worth pursuing if it is something you're passionate about.

I'm not interested in society's textbook definition success, I just want to be happy.

Is that so much to ask?

an original:

Bellis Perennis

A little girl
Sees delicate daisies
Peek between the sharp blades of turf.
A modest smear of gold and ivory
Is her greatest discovery.
She sees simplicity in tiny stems
As she plucks them with frail fingers.
She laces her halo
Of weeds.

My God I think I'm becoming a liberal.

I was working on yet another one of my professor's abstract demands in regards to writing a paper, and as always her topics always lead me off on a tangent I become mildly obsessed with. First, it was my two-week Nietzsche obsession and now it is the concept of "culture jamming".

In my quest for books in the FGCU library, I came across a book by Kalle Lasn titled "Culture Jam". The topic of my paper was "my generation" and my generation is very culturally connected, so I figured I would give it a shot.

Despite the dated references to President Clinton and "eventually in the year 2003", it was a still very relevent book to 2009.

I did some googling (I love how "googling" doesn't come up on my macbook's system-wide spell check) on the author, and I found Lasn's Canadian based website Adbusters.org. Basically, it is a network of creative, and, dare I say, liberals who have a passion for "culture jamming".

Let me define.

Culture jamming is best defined more as an art movement. A group of people who poke fun at popular culture and promote civic engagement.

Basically, get your True Religion Jeans wearing butt off the couch, away from your 50" Sony plasma screen TV, turn off the latest episode of The Hills(I love making fun of that show), and go stand up for something you believe in.

The thought of culture jammers is that America has evolved into a brand, overcome by capitalism and its citizens are grossly consuming anything corporate America shoves down their throats. (They call televisions "idiot boxes"... love it!)

I personally enjoy the corporate flag they sell in their online store, pictured above. Instead of "stars & stripes" they call it "brands & bands".

Don't get me wrong, I'm just as guilty of falling into the corporate cult as anyone else. It is incredibly difficult to find your way out of the superficially obsessed society that most of us grew up in.

Take a look at what they have to say, its interesting.

#1 way a surprise party can go absolutely wrong:

When a beach party turns into 60 degrees with a 90% chance of rain.

Happy 20th birthday, Jenna!

Also,

Irony pisses me off. I enjoy it to a degree, but not when it makes guest appearances into my love life.

However, knowing I was previously correct in my predictions and all it took was a little bit of time to pass to make my prognosis true makes me pretty happy.

"Men play the game; women know the score." -- Roger Woddis

I met a guy today

named Francis Rooney.

He is the former US Ambassador to the Holy See (The Vatican).
His resume is more impressive than anything I could ever imagine.

I was ten feet from the a man who has worked directly with people such as: former President George W. Bush, Condoleeza Rice, The Pope Benedict, former Prime Minister Tony Blair and powerful people throughout the entire globe.

Anyone who can begin a story by saying, "So I walked in the Oval office and the President says..." is my hero.

Dad's finger incident 2009: UPDATE

One prescription of Percoset later, my Dad's left index finger is on its way to healing to a healthy stub.

I told him to be careful with those heavy pain pills, I had a prescription to Percoset once ended up hallucinating stray cats & smoke.

He e-mailed my sisters & me some photo updates of his wound after he lost the battle with an aluminum chair at the Hi-Vee deli in Columbus, MI.

The photos aren't that graphic in my mind, but then again this is coming from a girl who owns all of the "Saw" movies.

Click the link at your own discretion!

Pic 1
Pic 2

This totally made me cry!

More Charles Bukowski

"Trapped"

Don't undress my love
you might find a mannequin;
Don't undress the mannequin
you might find
my love.

What a day!

Every eight years, January 20th is one of the most important days of our calendar year.

This morning, Americans ate their breakfast under the leadership of one President and will go to sleep lead by another. The inauguration today was profoundly historic and despite President Obama's fumble on the oath, (Who could blame him? Talk about nerve wracking), I was elated to have participated in the election that put our 44th President in office.

I was out the other night, when I heard a comment from a girl that really caught me off guard. I was at dinner with some friends, and a girl I didn't know well made a comment regarding the election. She barely looked up mid-text messaging and said, "Oh the Inauguration is Tuesday? I thought it already happened. Oh well, I could care less who our President is. I didn't vote, I'm not even registered. I don't care. I don't wanna be bothered with stuff like that, I have better things to worry about."

Now, I get that not every person that voted in the 2008 election can recite the preamble on command or know the names of every senator in Congress in backwards alphabetical order.

But really, is it that painful to flip to CNN while The Hills goes on commercial break?



a quote by the former President who inspired much of Obama's inauguration today:

"Let us at all times remember that all American citizens are brothers of a common country, and should dwell together in the bonds of fraternal feeling."
--Abraham Lincoln

This is what happens when I hang out with Jenna.

Baked ziti + oreos + brownies + pasta salad + ice cream = not a good combination.

The finger. Or lack thereof.

I didn't post the photo directly on my blog, because it is a little bit graphic.

Click the link below to see the remaining fingers on my Dad's left hand. It was taken by one of his buddies in the emergency room.

CLICK HERE

Not the kind of e-mail you want to get.

Today I was walking with Rebecca going to my car, when I get an e-mail notification on my cell phone. It was from my Dad. No surprise there, my Dad works out of state (he's currently in Missouri) so we often e-mail back and forth usually throughout the day. This e-mail, however, was a little out of the ordinary.

SUBJECT: A weird day..........
BODY:

You won't believe what happened to me today. I went to lunch with the guys.

Now I'm misssing the end of my index finger on my left hand. From the start of my fingernail all the way to the end. It was a freak accident. The whole end is gone. I spent 3 hours in the ER and with a plastic surgeon and they can't reattach it. It was on a chair at a restaurant. More later, but I'm fine. FEMA has been great.

Dad

I probably read this e-mail about six times. I thought it was a joke. I immediately called my Dad to verify the story behind his e-mail. My Dad, in fact, is now missing a part of his finger. He somehow managed to cut it clean off. Not only that, his work buddies picked up the piece of his finger & brought it with them to the ER.

I'm still trying to figure out details.

Regardless, he spent 3 hours in the ER & went right back to work. What a guy.

Crazy.

2 Things I currently despise:

• Cold weather. I don't care if it is -40 degrees in Smalltown Minnesota, 40 degree weather in Florida is borderline insanity. I wear flip flops year round and enjoy it. If I wanted to suffer in cold weather, I would live somewhere in God forsaken Wyoming.
• That new Akon song, "Beautiful". Its terrible. All he does is say "you're so beautiful" seventeen times per minute. Maybe its just me, but the way to my heart certainly isn't by saying "I'm gonna spend them grands, but after you undress/not like a hooker, more like a princess" Love songs just shouldn't include any form of the word "hooker".

Helen Rowland

"A wise woman puts a grain of sugar into everything she says to a man, and takes a grain of salt with everything he says to her."

--Helen Rowland

Why I think Starbucks is evil (& you should too).

My last post inspired me to explain why it is I haven't had a cup of Starbucks coffee in the past three months.

I saw this film in my documentary filmmaking class called "Black Gold" (for the movie's website, click here). The basic synopsis of the film is to give the audience a look into the production of coffee and its import from Africa.

here's the trailer:

Black Gold:


In the United States, it is no secret that a vast majority of our goods are imported from overseas where often raw materials and labor are significantly cheaper. While we know sweatshops and impoverished countries exist, it is easy to not fully understand the exploitation that happens to produce that $4 grande caramel macchiato.

One of the most powerful scenes in the film for me showed a mother in Ethiopia bringing her child to one of the medical stations in her village. Doctors had set up a tent in the village to help the impoverished families get the medical care they needed for their children. The doctors weighed the fragile, bony, frightened dying toddler and gave her mother their decision. Her child was dying, but not dying "enough" and because of lack of resources was denied medical care.

Her mother spent hours a day sorting coffee beans, making about $2 a week in salary. The coffee she helped produce was then purchased by the kilo from companies such as Starbucks, where they turn a profit in the United States for nearly 10 times what they purchase it for.

From that day on, I haven't had a single cup of Starbucks coffee.

I'm well aware that Starbucks isn't the only company that lends a hand in the exploitation of overseas workers, and to fully boycott everything would be next to impossible.

It is only my one, tiny little way of making a difference.

Besides, Starbucks coffee sucks.

one of many quotes by Sarah Reaves

"Seriously, how are you going to booty-call me when I'm not having sex with you?"

Sheriff: Parents didn't report boy missing for a decade

Seriously??

from CNN.com

-- Authorities in Kansas are looking for a boy who disappeared about a decade ago, but was not reported missing until a few weeks ago.

"We don't know what happened to Adam Herrman past '99, when he was last seen," Butler County Sheriff Craig Murphy said at a news conference in El Dorado.

"Is he alive, is he dead? That one I can't answer because we don't know," he added.

Adam was 11 or 12 when he was last seen, Murphy said. At the time, he was living in a mobile home park in Towanda, a small town in southern Kansas, with his adoptive parents, Doug and Valerie Herrman. The couple did not report him missing, Murphy said.

A few weeks ago, a person notified Sedgwick County Exploited and Missing Children's Unit of a "concern" regarding Adam, Murphy said.

The agency did not immediately return CNN's phone call seeking additional information.

Wichita attorney Warner Eisenbise, who is representing Adam's adoptive parents, said the couple "really rue the fact that they didn't" report the boy missing.

"They feel very guilty" about not doing that, he said in a telephone interview. The couple told him the boy had run away frequently, he said, and they believed him to be either with his biological parents or homeless.

Although the Herrmans did not report him missing, "they were very worried about him," he said.

Authorities have searched the Pine Ridge Mobile Home Park, where the family had lived, and discovered an "answer" to one of their questions, Murphy said, without explaining.

"We did find one of the answers we were looking for, but I am holding that one very tightly," he said.

Eisenbise said authorities also executed a search warrant on December 15 at the Herrmans' home in Derby, a town just outside of Wichita. They took the couple's computer, he said.

Murphy said the couple is cooperating and had not been charged with anything.

Citing a relative, the Wichita Eagle reported the Herrmans had taken Adam into foster care and later adopted him.

Michelle Ponce of the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, which oversees adoption and foster care, said she could not release any details regard Adam's case, and could confirm only that he had been in foster care at some point, but was no longer in foster care in 1999.

Adam had been placed in the Herrmans' care when he was about 2, Murphy said in a phone interview. He had been named Irvin Groeninger III when he was born on June 8, 1987, Murphy said, and it was not clear when his name was changed.

His biological parents relinquished their rights as parents about two decades ago, and Adam and his siblings were put in different foster homes, CNN affiliate KWCH reported.

"I thought what I was doing for them was in the best interest of the children and evidently it wasn't," Irvin Groeninger told KWCH. "If he was still in my custody this would have never happened."

Adam's sister, Tiffany Broadfoot, 22, said she last saw her brother about 14 years ago at a birthday party.

A year or two later, he sent her a Christmas card, she said. "And that was the end of my contact with him," she told KWCH.

"He had the cutest little round face, little bitty freckles right up here on the tip of his cheek," she remembered.

"I'm just awestruck as how something like that could actually happen, and how he could be missing as long as he's been and nobody say anything," she said.

Murphy said Adam's name appears on a legal document later than 1999. "We know that he was listed in a legal action as if he was still living at home, and I'm not certain of the date, but it was beyond 1999," he told CNN

George Bernard Shaw

"If you can't get rid of the skeleton in the closet, you'd best teach it to dance."

Charles Bukowski is crazy... but genius.

"Pull A String, A Puppet Moves"

each man must realize
that it can all disappear very
quickly:
the cat, the woman, the job,
the front tire,
the bed, the walls, the
room; all our necessities
including love,
rest on foundations of sand -
and any given cause,
no matter how unrelated:
the death of a boy in Hong Kong
or a blizzard in Omaha ...
can serve as your undoing.
all your chinaware crashing to the
kitchen floor, your girl will enter
and you'll be standing, drunk,
in the center of it and she'll ask:
my god, what's the matter?
and you'll answer: I don't know,

I don't know ...

Classes resume Monday.

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."
--William Butler Yeats