Story of a Girl

Today I'm jumping back in with another Write on Wednesday prompt, after my newscast-type post. This is the prompt:

Write On Wednesdays Exercise 22 - Select a piece of music that reflects the mood of writing you'd like to aim for. Press play. Start free writing. Write the first words that come into your head. When the music's over, so is the writing. I'd recommend finding out how long the song is before you start the exercise. You may feel cheated in your writing time if you pick a song by The Ramones. Of course, if you feel like writing a short, punky piece by all means, go for it!


Appropriately, I have chosen "Story of a Girl" by Nine Days. Something about this song has always struck me. Somehow, some days, I feel like this girl. In high school, while I was with the colorguard/marching band, I had to do a solo routine, and this was the song I chose. I've always had it on my mP3, and it never leaves my playlist. It's my ringtone on my phone. Something told me, after scrolling through all my songs, to choose this one. Of all the songs, I don't know why this one stands out so much that I do so much with it, but I went ahead and chose it for this piece. Here goes:

There's a girl standing alone. She tries so hard to fit in, but she knows she never will. Waking up every day with hope, she finds herself facing disappointment at the end of the day, knowing she didn't get the expected outcome. She feels like a little bit of an outcast, but she doesn't know how beautiful and wonderful she really is. She cries herself to sleep at night, wondering if things will ever really change, if things will always be the same, but she's loved, and her life has a destiny.

Every day is different, and there is a light that is hard to see from her vantage point. She hides because she doesn't know what's out there. She's been hurt, and she's been disappointed. She's got more going for her than she knows though. Her beauty, talent, and personality far outweigh all the things she sees that are wrong with her life. She's never really seen all the people rooting for her in the background, and though she seems to always have a downtrodden appearance, she has a wonderful smile. Hidden behind that smile is the potential to change the world, the potential to do wonderful things.

She just needs to realize that potential. She can change the world. She can knock people off the feet with her words, or even with just a smile. She's brilliant, and she has passion that she hasn't openly expressed. You can tell she has this potential, this light, all these abilities, by the way she glows, the way she shines when she smiles. She doesn't always exude confidence, but it is there, buried deep. This girl needs to believe in herself.

Closet Country Music Lovers

Most have a specific type of music they like to turn to.

Living in Texas, you'd think I would like a bit of country music, right?

Not that we, like, put forth any type of image that we like it. Source

Really, though, country music isn't all that bad. BUT I won't say it's my favorite type of music. I can't be prejudiced against those other types of music. Really, though, I do have varied tastes. Anyone who touches my radio dial can tell you that I've got country, pop, rock, and alternative just on the first set of FM stations (and I haven't had a chance to set the rest since the last reset).

I really don't like stereotypes. Even if I didn't live in Texas, I'd still like country. Why? Because my parents listened to country. Some parents don't, and their kids grow up thinking it sounds like nails on a chalkboard (which, to me, actually isn't all that bad- chewing ice bothers me more, but whatever).

Thing is, the southern states get pinned with the country stereotype, people get the emo stereotype for dressing in black, but what does your geographical location or clothing have to do with what music you like?

I love some Linkin' Park. I can remember sitting in my childhood best friend's driveway listening to her older brother's CD of Linkin' Park and thinking we were the coolest thing around. I also remember having a cassette tape of "Follow Me," at the time considered "contemporary" music. Corky was fiddling with my tape player and pressed play and record at the same time- the horror!!! Those of us old enough to remember cassette players of the time remember what pressing play and record did, right? It ruined that portion of the song....now it's on my mP3 files. The full version, of course. At the time I was devastated- I didn't know that within a decade I'd be able to have it conveniently stowed in a pocket to play at a moment's notice.

This is a cassette tape. You might not recognize it if you're younger than 20.
It actually looks just like the one I had.
It will probably be rendered totally obsolete within the next few years. Except on the internet, where you can find images. Like this one, which is now immortal on my blog. Enjoy!!  Source

And what that change in technology has done to advance my tastes! Often I find myself surfing through songs, and I'll find a sweep of songs linked to each other that I like, which I then add to my phone. Now I have a phone, with my internet and music all right there too, and even some games...my computer is good for typing blogs. My phone, for some reason, cannot figure out that when I point at the box, I want to type in it. That's ok, I still have my laptop!

Oh, music. OK, my genres? And....go!- Alternative, Punk, Blues, Classical, Contemporary, Country, Dance, Electronic, Emo, Grime (?), Hip Hop, Indie, Latin, Mainstream, Movie Soundtracks, Musical, New Age, Oldies, Opera, "Other" (what could possibly go here??), Pop, Soul, Soft Rock, Rock, Jazz, R&B, Rap, Techno, World, "Unknown" (seriously? not going there....)

Kind of like this. This is probably where all the Unknowns and Others go to play. Source

Basically, I don't have a favorite song. I don't have a favorite artist. I don't have a favorite band. I don't even have a favorite genre! I like them all! Actually, I'm not as keen on some of them (Rap) as I am on others, but that's ok. I still have some instances of them. I don't judge a song by its genre or singer or anything like that.

I once asked someone if they had heard a song that was new, and they asked who sang it. I told them, and they weren't even open to listening to it, because they didn't like the singer. They said the song probably sucked. They didn't even give it a chance. It really brought me down a notch, because it actually had a message that I was trying to get across. I eventually got it across another way.

I'm honestly glad that I'm able to be so open-minded toward music. I've been able to hear some awesome songs I'd have never been able to hear otherwise, songs that I've been able to relate to. I've gotten my parents to where they turn the radio to other stations sometimes too. Of course, they do really bad impressions (sorry mom and dad), but at least they're more open about turning the music on, after the efforts of my sister, my brother, and me. They've found some songs they like that way, too.

And you know what? I've gotten some people who never would have otherwise listened to country to do so. And they liked it. And they were embarrassed when they found out that they actually liked country. You know why? They were completely wrong about what they thought about country- whiney, blah blah blah love songs about blah blah blah. If you've got this stereotype, stop yourself. Turn on some Lady Antebellum, Unkle Kracker, Brooks and Dunn, Toby Keith (he's actually kinda funny), or Rascal Flatts, and listen to a few songs. You may be surprised.

You may be a closet country music lover and not even know it. Expose yourself!!!!!!!!!!

The hat is optional. I've never owned one. You can wear one if you want, though. Lots of people do. Source

Boots are optional too. Apparently tourists, even when not in Texas, like them. Eden of Edenland gets them when she visits America from Australia. Amazing! I'll never understand the boot thing. I don't have any. Source

Day 3- Pet Peeves

Day 3- Your Top 5 Pet Peeves

Being the overachiever that I am (and the person with a lot of pet peeves) I'll go ahead and list....10.

1) Ice. Why do places always have to fill your drinks with expanded chunks of water, and furthermore, why do people like them so much that they ask for extra and/or chew on them? I'll never understand it. I have to ask for easy ice so I can actually get a substantial amount to drink, instead of a lot of expanded frozen water, and that annoys the heck out of me. Irk.

2) People who think they own the parking lot (and swoop in and grab the parking space you've been waiting for). Assholes...I'm sitting here with my blinker on, obviously waiting for the spot...and you take it? What's your problem? No, I don't have road rage, I'm Texan....

3) When the radio plays new things (particularly Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, or Justin Bieber) ad nauseum. I get the point, they have a new song. Please stop stabbing my eardrums and actually play music, like you were meant to do. Really, it gets old, and it gets old fast.

4) When things break and the wait time for them to fix is longer than a week. Really, do you have to outsource it that far? Do you not have anyone in the state that knows how to fix a problem? What happened to all these technicians that are going to college?

5) Jobs making you go online to apply and not accepting applications any other way, or even phone calls. I mean, I know this makes it easier for them, and it even helps when looking for a place that has openings, but it really makes it difficult to find out what their first impression is of you other than what they see on a screen, and it makes it really makes it difficult to give a first impression other than your application- in fact, you have to make it to the interview to really make any sort of impression aside from having the qualifications.

6) Speaking of jobs and their processes- the character interviews. They don't really tell you much about a person's character anyway. Did you know there are books out there about how to answer those, and people that "leak" how the answers work? Your character interviews are an ineffective and tedious part of the process.

7) People who claim to know things they really don't know (I won't name names here). There are things that don't happen for the reason that you claim they happen. You have backwards thinking. There are things that don't operate the way you say they do. Things have changed a little. Your beliefs are flawed.

8) Speaking of beliefs, voting- people who vote for someone because of the way they look, or because of where they're from- and I know people who do this. "I don't want to vote for someone from the north" or "I don't want to vote for someone white" or "I don't want to vote for someone black" (I've seen it both ways). "I don't want to vote for a woman" or "I don't want to vote for that person because they have a messed up nose"...people, really, is this what matters? I know, I'm not into politics, and I don't vote, because in the end...it's these kind of people that win out, and in my county/locality, my vote doesn't make any difference. If you have a very large group of Republicans, and add in one person who votes (any other way) (I don't have a party), their vote isn't going to make any waves no matter what it is. They aren't going to change the people who are stubborn in their ways, which number many. Stop trying to convince me! And stop voting in stupid ways, and maybe I'll consider it!!

9) Food touching. I don't see how people can just mix all their food together. I must separate them and eat them one at a time. I don't know why, I just must. My parents say when I was young I would "scream bloody murder" when my foods touch. I would still do this, if it was acceptable. However, I know acceptable table (couch?) behavior, and I don't scream, I just try to separate them.

10) Judgmental people. I know it sounds like I'm judgmental sometimes, but I'm not going to love or hate a person based on any of these things. In fact, I can't think of anyone I love or hate. There are some people that grind my gears, but I have a feeling that if I had some time away, it would be less stressful. Even if I dislike someone, most of the time I don't know why, and I tolerate them- they rarely know. There has been one person that I've expressed my dislike to- that I'd rather jump a cliff than see her again- and yet I tolerated seeing her. She stated that I was a very tolerant person, and had I not told her, she probably would not have known that I had such a dislike. Bottom line? Don't judge people, and even if you do, you don't have to make it known to the world, you should still treat them like humans. Better to not judge them at all though. I'm human, I admit I've done it, but it's not a practice I participate in regularly.



I think I could add more, but people might start thinking I'm bitter and have too many pet peeves. They might even start avoiding me. I don't want that to happen! It's actually really difficult to get onto my bad side (oh, spammers aren't on my list, and they should be way up there too....). I'm fairly easy to get along with and accepting. There are people who annoy me >.> They usually know who they are and why, because they instigate it, or they don't know because they really haven't done anything wrong and it's just a quirk of mine, in which case, there's no reason for them to think they've done anything wrong.

Things I Know- Not Feeling Well

Another uneventful week, really. The things I write this week are completely random because...well, that's the way my life is getting. Let's get this going, because I'm starting to feel like I don't know much just writing this post.

• I know that I like new things (like my mattress and my class ring) but I know that I can't always have them
• I know that I want all the stuff cleaned out of my room so things can at least go back to semi-normal
• I know that it's not resting that is making my head hurt- it's something in my nose-sinus-whatever area. 
• I know that there will be a lot of memorials this weekend (September 11th)
• I know that some people are EFFING HYPOCRITES AND HYPOCRITES GET ON MY NERVES and I shouldn't say any more about that, although I'll probably get asked about it. >.>
• I know that I love music.
• I know that a lot of jobs are going to turn me down now because I'm "overqualified" even though I'm just one piece of paper different than I was a month ago. Whatever. 
• I know that someone will probably cow upon reading this, but I also know that I've stopped caring what certain people think about what I write here because it's my blog and I can talk about what I want to talk about.

And that's it. I'm in a bit of an ill mood, too, to go along with this, so I'm going to shut it down here. I'm also feeling sick like I should lie down, although my parents would say it just means I should go out, because you feel sick if you don't go out enough. >.> Maybe I'll feel better next week? Let's hope so...

A Little Bit of Stubborn

Today, I had the opportunity to be one of the carriers of things to my sister at the high school for her marching band practice (yay for marching band!). Lucky little chick. I discovered when I got there I was not the only one- my dad was sitting directly behind me in the car park- with her dinner. I had her water. Spoiled rotten chick!! I love her the same. Where was my older sister? Oh yeah, I didn't have one...oh well, I can drive myself places now, so *check* I'm good.

Tonight is the first home football game for the Fighting Owls. You can bet I'll be there- to chat with old teachers and friends that may haphazardly show up, seeing as it's six years after graduation- I know of one teacher that will be there, proudly, but most of the people who went there have moved on to better endeavors. He still teaches there, and has a daughter there *and a lot of school pride, and shows up at every game, regardless of whether his daughter or any other relative is in the show*

It'll be nice the next few days, because we'll finally see a break in the 100+ degree temperatures...can I get a woot woot? Monday's high is forecast at 89...cold front!!! Break out the winter coats everyone!!! (Just kidding on that front...pun intended)

On that note...since when does the new month define a change in season? I was always taught that the autumnal equinox meant autumn, so the whole "September means it's fall" thing is news to me. Especially since it's still over 100 degrees for a portion of September, and over 90 degrees for another good portion. Then the winter solstice is supposed to be the beginning of winter, correct?

I know that people define "winter" by the beginning of the holiday season, which falls very close to the end of November because it tends to fall just before my birthday, sometimes on my birthday *cringe BlackFriday cringe* and then comes December, often snow. Perhaps I'm a bit old-fashioned and dead set in my ways, but this is how I define seasons- Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Autumnal Solstice, Winter Equinox. Not just months picked and chosen by their relative hot/coldness.

This is the way I will stick to, the way I was taught, although trends may state otherwise. People may tell me happy spring and I'll say "tell me that when it's really spring" because I'm not that trend follower. I may follow other trends, but not this one. As such, school returns in summer, but that's ok. School has always returned in the summer, in my mind- you know, with band camp and such- but even when there wasn't band camp. Winter break always starts in the autumn. I hate the way people define this stuff, society is so single and simple minded, making things easier for those who can't think about complex things- what's so complex about the winter solstice being on December 21?

Thank you, facebook, for inspiring a little bit of bitterness in me, but that's ok, because I'll get over it. I know that I have my ways, and I'll always have my ways, and that people will always define things a little bit differently than I do. They always have. I'm a little bit stubborn. I have people that can and will vouch for that. Stubbornness can be a good quality, when applied appropriately....or neutral, not a bother. In this case, I don't think it really matters when I define the beginning of a season, as long as I'm not a hard ass about it, which I'm not. I don't push and shove people into my will. I just nonchalantly tell people what I believe and leave it at that.

Is there anything you're stubborn about? Is there anything you believe others define differently than you do? And what kind of plans do you have for the upcoming season (whether it's spring or autumn)?

Keeping Time, Time, Time

The title is a bridge from a song I had to learn for a competition in high school- don't worry if you don't know it. It's just one that's stuck with me, from the rhythmic features of it, and it seems appropriate. I just happened to be thinking about time tonight, and how it's been affecting me lately. It seems so strange that August is almost over, and I'm still sitting in the house. It seems so strange that so much time can pass by so quickly, and I don't even notice it.

It seems so strange that it can feel like I started at the university just yesterday, and I've earned my degree.

It seems so strange that I can be singing a song from high school- even stranger, a song from when I was in high school in KILLEEN- that was in 2001, friends, the year of the attacks on September 11- and remember the rhythm, words, and notes, verbatim. I was cleaning out a filing cabinet today, and found the narrative to a parody assignment we did at the end of that year in choir- just before we moved to the Fort Worth area- and I laughed. I could not believe I still had it, and I remembered, and texted Jasri, a friend who was in that group with whom the parody was written- she couldn't believe it either.

Time, it passes us so quickly. Within the blink of an eye, we go from giggly teenagers, to college students, to adults with bills and jobs, and we lose all of that (I must interject- I do not have bills or a job yet, but I know it's coming. Only a matter of time).

I pulled out my clock and plugged it back in today. I've not been keeping track of time- once we removed all the furniture from my room, I didn't have a clock plugged in, and simply neglected to plug my clock back in. I just put it back in place tonight and plugged it back in. I have one of those über cool clocks that resets itself when the power goes out...well, the power didn't go out, but it was unplugged for almost a week. The thing was, amazingly, still able to set itself correctly! Amazing! (no, this is not a plug for Emerson, but damn, amazing!)

I got this clock back before we moved to DFW, not sure of the exact date. Sadly, there is no copyright date on it, or the book which came with it (I found that today too!). The company, though, was still Emerson Research, as can be seen on the clock face, when I bought the clock. I liked it because it had blue numbers. That was what I wanted. Setting itself wasn't my concern at the time...but it's great that the company had a product back then that still works that great today! It keeps time....unlike me.

Sadly, I do not keep time well. I stay up half the night, and sleep in. Or, conversely, I get tired and go to sleep early, and wake up super early and try to find jobs, to no avail. My circadian rhythm....has no rhythm. Please, no metronomes. I hated them in high school marching band (colorguard....woot!!)...speaking of...flag!!

I still don't look much older....

The flag is still in my room. Colorguard is all about timing. Colorguard and choir were two things I could actually do the timing thing very well with. It's timing over time that I'm not very good at- if that makes any sense at all! I even went to state with choir, and got a medal...which is in a box that I haven't emptied yet...and our colorguard also won the North Texas Colorguard Association Championships the one year (on the same board in the same box and also hasn't been unearthed). One day, I will unearth my medal board- I have tons of them.

Time, time, time. I still have that song in my head. That word brings up so many topics, so many. Timed writing, timed music, timed spinning (colorguard), time of day, how much time I have in my life (a colorguard show, Ars Nova 2006), what I'm doing with my time in my life (not much really, sadly), time of day (my time is all mixed up)...and that song, it keeps playing in my head....oh, and thyme, the spice, too.

Keeping time, time, time in a sort of Runic rhyme, keeping time, keeping time, keeping time, keeping time, to the tin-tinabulation that so musically wells with the bells.....(where they came up with the lyrics, I have no idea, but oooook!)

Oh, and senior year--- "Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, are you going to Scarborough Faire?" < I think they're gone for a bit. Maybe next year or something.

Me, actually at Scarborough Faire. No joke! (Summer 2010)

Day 12: Make it all right

Day 12: Something you are OCD about- Mom, dad, I know you'll see the timestamp on this, but this is a scheduled post- yes I can do this, and yes, I will show you how if I need to. I wrote it in the afternoon on the 12th.

My parents will laugh. My sister will too. They all call me a germaphobe (actually, that would be a mysophobe...but I digress).

I'm OCD about a lot of things, but not everything. I do have a way of order about a lot of things, and even in what might seem like a chaos (my room for instance), there is a way about which everything goes. I've been told I have it once, or twice, maybe a few times, but not right now. Of course, people with whom I work or study like to point it out too, and they really catch on quick, even without me saying anything.

So, I have to pick something that I'm really OCD about. Really? Let's see...how about some examples?

When I was at school, and I had to cross the road using the turning signals, I had to use an object to press the button, not once, not twice, but three times. Yes, three. I set my alarm three times every night, whether it was already set or not (although sometimes this proves to be unuseful, when my unconscious mind turns it off...or this is the only explanation I can come up with when I wake up and it's not set, since I have one that goes back to the settings after power outages).

If I can't finish a book within a few days, I have to start over. Completely. I can't put a book down and come back to it a few days later. Absolutely cannot. I also cannot start a song in the middle (so if a radio song comes on, I would prefer to go to a station that is just starting a song, and I get all jumpy if it's in the middle of a song, but I do feel a little relief if it's toward the end of a song). I try to keep my reaction to a minimum. I'm pretty good at it.

I don't sit between two people. If we're in a vehicle, I sit in the front sit or on the drivers' side, or I'm awkwardly uncomfortable. So much so as to shift and often complain and yes, get OCD about it. Again, I try not to say anything. I try to be polite.

During a shower, or when getting in my car, or brushing my teeth, or when getting dressed/ready to go somewhere, I always have to do things in the right order. Otherwise, I fret and worry the whole time that the day will be completely ruined because I did something out of order. Pitiful really, because in my rational mind, the mind that took psychology many times over, I know that won't happen, but the truth can't block out the way I feel. I also eat things in a certain order, and my foods can't touch. If they do, I eat around the places they touch.

The food thing...that's been since I was a kid. I hear tales from the parental units about how when I was younger, I would scream bloody murder if my foods touched each other, or about how they ordered a pizza, and it was square, and I refused to eat it, because it was not pizza, because it was not round.

Obsessions? I obsess about everything. My grades right now. My blog. My klout. My twitter. My clothes (believe it or not). My job (or lack thereof, for the past few years). My handwriting. I've gone back and rewritten entire assignments because I wrote one letter the wrong way. I keep things. I literally took a tape measure to my wall when we moved in to hang the plaques I got in middle school, and I would have taken a level, if we had one, but instead, I just measured the bottom of each one, and made each end equidistant from the top of the bay window. Literally.

I could go on for days. I think I'll stop. I have a lot to go on. I think I could write a book on it. For now, I think this is sufficient!

Day 11: Say WHAT?!

Day 11: Favorite band/artist

Say what? OK, this one is not at all easy. In fact, I may as well just say pick a random name out of your head, aside from Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, Justin Beiber, and a few other choice artists here and there that I haven't liked....I like most music.

Genres on my phone (Evo) include- Alternative, Alternative/Punk, Alternative Rock, Avantgarde, Blues, Classical, Country, Country Love Songs, Dance, Electronic, Emo (I didn't even know that was a genre...), Hip Hop/Rap, Hip-Hop, Indie, Karaoke, Latin, New Age, Oldies, Pop, Pop/Soul/Jazz, Punk Rock, R&B, Rap, Rap/R&B, Soul/R&B, Techno, and a gamut of "Unknown" (how the heck they couldn't put them in one of the above is beyond me, but hey! it's ok...)

I guess my favorite would have to be Pop or Rock. I change to Country stations all the time though, and I like Alternative and Oldies too, and I dabble in other areas. I don't really like to play favorites because I think every artist has something to say in their music, so I'm not going to be a fanatic and start following a single band or artist. You kind of miss out on everything else that's out there.

I did have a short time where I had a few favorites, and I do lean towards certain artists when I'm in certain moods...Nickelback, Blue October, Owl City, Green Day, Adele, Alanis Morissette, All-American Rejects, Bowling for Soup, Evanescence, Good Charlotte, Lifehouse, Maroon 5, Matchbox 20, One Republic, Paramore, Rascal Flatts, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, The Script, Three Days Grace, Three Doors Down....how to narrow it down? I have no clue. I just listen to whatever hits me as interesting when I'm flipping through shuffle.

And, when a new song comes out, I don't care who sings it. Generally, I can tell if it's an artist I don't like, because the voice makes my ears resonate this sound that makes me cringe. Then I change the station. Then I ask my sister (later) who sings it, or I wait until I have a chance to look it up, and...bingo, I'm usually right =P

If it's not one of my banned list of artists, I generally get a feel for the song, and if I like it, I'll take note of a line in the song, look up the lyrics, and get the song, and usually it's then that I find the artist. Favorite artist? Nah. If I judged by artist, I'd miss way too many good songs. I know sometimes, I get to listening to my music player too often, new songs will come out, and I'll be like "hey, never heard that song before, it's awesome!" wishing I had heard it sooner...meaning I shouldn't have listened only to my music player. Open mind, open ears, and you hear a lot more.

*steps down from soapbox*

30 days- Life lessons

OK, so maybe I'm a little late in jumping on the bandwagon, but usually I am when it comes to these things. Usually, I find out when I see someone I follow participating, then I hunt down the person who is posting the prompts, and follow them. This time, it is 30 Days About Me, by A Daily Dose of Toni (I have a cousin named Toni :) lol)

So, I caught on when we got to day 5, but I didn't get a chance to post it. I'm gonna make up for lost time, and go back and post all of them (short and sweet, of course, to make it simple) up until today. August 1st doesn't have a prompt, so August 2nd is Day 1. Then I'll be caught up with the challenge. So, here goes. (I'll start with day 5, since it's most pertinent, then I'll do the backlog).

Day 5: Yay, I've made it to today, August 6 (remember, August 1 didn't have a prompt): Favourite Quote- It's a kind of long Dennis Leary quote that I included in one of my recent posts.

“Most people think life sucks, and then you die. Not me. I beg to differ. I think life sucks, then you get cancer, then your dog dies, your wife leaves you, the cancer goes into remission, you get a new dog, you get remarried, you owe ten million dollars in medical bills but you work hard for thirty-five years and you pay it back and then -- one day -- you have a massive stroke, your whole right side is paralyzed, you have to limp along the streets and speak out of the left side of your mouth and drool but you go into rehabilitation and regain the power to walk and the power to talk and then -- one day -- you step off a curb at Sixty-seventh Street, and BANG you get hit by a city bus and then you die. Maybe.”

Now, some might say "how pessimistic!!" but it's real life we're talking about. Things happen, good and bad. Just when you think you're up, another obstacle comes along. That's how life works. Some have it worse than others. At the time I picked the quote, I was in one of those massive stroke, left side paralyzed, limping the streets kind of modes. Now I'm regaining the power to walk and talk. I like it because it really brings out the fact that we all stumble and fall and make mistakes, but we get back up, and that's part of life. Sometimes, life does suck, but then it gets better, only to get worse, only to get better again.

You never know what's coming next, and you never know when that bus will hit. Yes, you'll die eventually, perhaps by that city bus, but you never know when or where. It's uncertainty. It's the ups and downs of life. You will face obstacles. Things will be bad at one point or another. Life is not beautiful and perfect 100% of the time. This is not me being pessimistic, but realistic.

Second quote: "Never doubt that a small group of people can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has" -Margaret Mead

I see that one in the social work building every time I take the stairs on the one end of the building. Truly, every change starts with a small group of people. In our case, a small group of social workers. Together, we, as students and as licensed workers work to advocate for those who can't advocate for themselves, we go to bat for anyone and everyone that needs assistance, we will stand up for those who need a step up to get to a level playing field. An idea must start somewhere. From there, it must grow before it can change the world. No world change has just suddenly happened because of a mass global epiphany. No, it's always started with a small group of people

Last quote: "An expert in something was always at one time a beginner" -Source unknown

How true is that? Nobody walks out of their mother knowing how to walk and talk. Nobody starts college with the ability to counsel people, or to write a (powerful and effective) thesis. Nobody walks into kindergarten knowing calculus (unless they're some sort of child prodigy). People have to start somewhere. An expert had to learn to be that expert from somewhere. It didn't just fall out of the sky and hit them on the head, and it wasn't just genetically built into them. They began working on it, and they practiced, and they learnt, and they grew, and then they became an expert.

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Day 1: Favourite song- I hate playing favourites, but currently, Hot Chelle Rae's "Tonight, Tonight" is my fave. It's like...look, I've had a lot of problems, I don't know if I'm gonna do really well, but I'm gonna party hard and do the best I can, even if I have to fake it. There are other older favourites, like "Scars" by Papa Roach, because it shows raw emotion, and the line "my weakness is that I care too much" (and boy, do I care too much). There's also the All American Rejects "Move Along" with the lyrics "When all you've got to keep is strong, move along, move along like I know ya do, and even when your hope is gone move along, move along just to make it through"....heck, I know that sometimes, when hope is gone, that's hard to do. So many songs have meaningful parts that I really could write a whole post on song lyrics, and maybe one day I will. That's something to keep in mind.

Day 2: Favourite movie- do I have to pick one? I love humourous movies, I love scary movies, my favourite I guess, are ones that make you think. The most recent I liked were Insidious and Inception. I guess maybe they need to start with an I? Naw, just kidding about the last part. I'm not much of a movie buff, and I really hate picking favourites, but when it comes to movies, I either like or hate it.

Day 3: Favourite television show- hands down, Criminal Minds. I have a secret (not so much secret anymore) crush on Reid. He is so super intelligent, and up until the recent seasons, had the most awesome hair. He's everything I want. OK, after Criminal Minds comes The Big Bang Theory. Uh, more geeky people. LOL. I guess I'm attracted to them. I also like Law and Order SVU (more intelligent minds), and other shows where there are smart people. Definitely.

Day 4: Favourite Book- Dang, what's with all this favourite stuff? If I had to pick...it would be something Jodi Picoult...or "Elsewhere"....or "Her Lovely Bones"....or "Sharp Objects...or "The Time Traveller's Wife"....or "The Book Thief"...or I like too many books, lmao. I was a born reader. I've always been an avid reader, I devour books like they're food. They never last more than a day or two before I've read them cover to cover unless they're really bad writing.

And that's all I have for today (and it's a lot).

Deuces,