Honesty

Several occurrences as of late have prompted me to write this post. Honesty means the world to me. No matter how much something hurts or how you think I will react, I really value honesty above any virtue. Anything that is built on lies or has a lie involved is doomed to fail. I feel that no matter what the situation is you need to have the courage to be honest. I also value courage. It takes a lot to stand up to people, especially the ones you love. I try to encourage and foster the growth of courage in my friends and family. It is an essential virtue that is needed in order to be successful in life. I truly hate the fact that in order to get honesty or courage from people that I love that I need to provoke them. I hate the fact that I need to be angry and fight with people in order to hear the truth or get people to stand up for themselves. I think I should just host a seminar on courage and honesty and invite everyone to come. I can't wait to hear all the excuses (lies) why people can't come. I'm sure that they wouldn't have the courage to face their weaknesses and improve themselves.

Surgery

I am involved in research here at USP. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving break I walked from my apartment on 46th and Linmore over to 38th and Spruce. I was going to be assisting on the surgery of rats at 7 am. The animal research and surgery center on University of Pennsylvania's campus was located behind a heavy metal gate. I stood for a moment trying to figure out how to get through the gate. I decided on try to open the gate using psychokinesis. While deeply engaged in trying to move the gate with my mind, a Penn vet student swiped her card to open the gate. I scurried right behind her and made it through with perhaps milliseconds to spare as the metal clanged back into a locked position. I wandered up to the building and opened the glass door. What happened next can be best described as a "labyrinth" as seen in David Bowie's Labyrinth. Somehow, after climbing countless stairs and crossing over countless door frames, I ended up in front of the double-doored surgery suite. Jamie was standing there waiting for me and invited me to gown up and then join her in our surgery room. After I scrubbed up, I pulled on a hair cover, shoe cover, gown, gloves and mask. I felt like a blue smurf. I opened the doors with my butt so I didn't contaminate my gloves and waddled over to the room. Jamie was shaving the 2 rats that we were going to be operating on. After shaving, we placed one rat back into the cage and one rat into a glass box. The glass box was then filled with anesthetic gas pumping from a tube. The rat soon looked like a drunk pirate sloshing about on a ship. Jamie injected the rat with more anesthetic and we positioned the rat on the table. After about 2 hours of surgery, the rat was now the proud owner of 6 electrodes and a head cap. With a quick swipe of my sweaty brow, I made my way through the labyrinth and back out towards that metal door. I pushed the red exit button and breathed in a gulp of fresh air. I tiredly made my way back from 38th street back to my apartment on 46th street. As I collapsed on my bed for a nap before classes, a satisfied smile tugged at the corners of my lips.

Clothes!

I ordered some shirts from a website about 2 months ago. I got them today! I was so excited when I got home. Ripping open the package was harder then I thought it would be so I used scissors. I got 2 Boondock Saints t-shirts and an Omega Chi Psi t-shirt (my fraternity). I also got a Boondock Saints shirt for my 5 year old soon to be nephew. I wish I had more time today. I have to go to work in about a half and hour. However, I have off this weekend and I am hopefully going to get a tremendous amount of work done. I feel motivated, and I am hoping that that feeling lingers so I can be successful this weekend. I wish there was like a freezer full of motivation and I could just reach in, grab a portion, nuke it on high for 30 seconds. I would then eat it and feel extremely motivated. It would be made of chocolate and in the shape of an elephant. Delicious!

Live Free and Prosper

I am so excited that Star Trek 2009 is now out on DVD! Earlier this year, my boyfriend and I took my brother and his girlfriend to go see a movie. I glanced through the movies and just picked one based on the length. I had heard of Star Trek but I did not know any of the background. I was completely entranced by this amazing world. I became obsessed. I started watching The Original Series of Star Trek with William Shatner/Leonard Nimoy on the CBS website. I continued to become even more obsessed and in love. I now own all 3 seasons of the TOS. My boyfriend and I ordered T-shirts from Kellogg's. I got a blue science t-shirt and he got a gold captain t-shirt. We plan on wearing the shirts as well as the pins that come with the movie this Saturday when we watch it!

My outerworldly 21st birthday experience

Sunday was my 21st birthday. My car insurance went down. More importantly, I celebrated this wondrous occasion on Saturday with my family...in a graveyard. How did this joyous affair end up in a dark gloomy cemetery? Well, my cousins Diana and Jen as well as my mom and I were all sitting around my Grandmom's dining room table munching on birthday cake. Diana mentioned that she wanted to visit my Aunt Emily's grave the next day; this sparked my desire to go have a birthday drink with my Grandpa. My Grandpa died 10 years ago and I miss him dearly. I always wonder if he is proud of the woman I have become. So I presented my idea to the table and was surprised when I heard the unanimous chorus of "YES". Piling in my mom's car, we put the environmentally friendly grocery bag in the trunk filled with wine coolers. We reached the graveyard and pulled in; the gates were open despite the fact that it was 11pm and it closes at dusk. I popped the cap off of my Bahama Momma and took a pull. I also removed the cap to my Grandpop's drink, a fuzzy navel. I place drink beside his grave and though there was no wind, it tipped over. In the pictures there was a substantial sized orb between Jen and I. I think Grandpa really was there, drinking it up for my birthday.

The semi-annual stress of registration

Leaning at the edge of my seat, my heart slamming in my chest, my contacts swirling in my eyes....yes, its time for registration. I dread this time every semester. I get so stressed out and worried that I will not be able to get the classes that I would like. I constantly push refresh to see how many seats are left in the classes and silently curse everyone who gets to register before me. Days before registration, I send out emails to the professors that have classes I want to take. They do not understand my paranoia. "Don't worry about it, there are still 10 seats left. Come see me if they run out." Why do they choose to feed my paranoia monster by not humoring me and just sign me into the classes? After the 5k marathon of registering, I feel exhausted but oddly hyperactive. I want nothing more then to just lie down in my bed and dream. Oh no. Sleep is a distant possibility on a registration night, so I must be content with hooking myself up to an IV of coffee the next morning. I guess its good that I'm an IV technician. Can someone pass me an 18G needle?

Profile Piece

The first thing you want to do when you write a profile piece is to find someone you would like to interview. You want to find someone who is "newsworthy", or worth reading about. Next, do some background research on the individual. Do google searches or talk to people who might now them. Then send out an email/telephone call to that individual. State that you would like to interview them. Cross your fingers and hope they accept! When they do, because everyone likes to talk about themselves, start brainstorming interview questions. Come up with an angle for your story and base the questions off of that. Talk to other people and see if they can think up any questions. Finally, have an interview. Enjoy getting to know the individual and look for details that will describe the individual's personality. Compile all of your information and begin to write a draft of your article. If you have further questions as you write, call/email that individual and ask for a follow-up interview. Good Luck!

How My Writing Has Changed

My writing has not had monumental change this semester, however, I do see positive development in my writing style. My strength in writing lies in the scientific branch of writing. This is proven by my position at JYI as well as my scientific writing course I took freshman year. I really don't have a significant interest in the creative writing branch. I do see the benefits of creative writing and I would like to develop those skills this upcoming semester by taking Creative Writing:Fiction. Journalism is definitely its own branch of writing. I have enjoyed feeling like a reporter and getting the scoop. It is difficult for me to just go up to people I don't know and talk to them. This class is helping me overcome that weakness.

Registration

I was reading Leslie's blog earlier today about Spring 2010 registration. I understand her frustration with the number system that SGA uses to be able to register for classes. Though she is a 9 and I am a 5, the whole system really is not fair. Even though I am a 5, I still have had a hard time registering for elective classes. This upcoming semester won't be an issue however, because I am a 3rd year and the classes I'm taking are pretty much set. I am taking 4 credits of research, 3 credits of Independent Study, Physiology II, Molecular Biology and 2 electives that I am not sure about yet. I probably am going to try to take Creative Writing:Fiction and Marriage, Family and Sexuality for my two electives. I am basing this more off of the time they are offered then the classes themselves to be honest. They fit seamlessly into my awesome schedule. Here's to an awesome Spring semester!

The Value of a Blog in the World Today

Blogs are a great way to present your perspective on life to the world. Within a blog, you are limitless to what you can provide your readers. You can share your thoughts and feelings, vent about an issue or share some tips based off of your experiences. Blogs are also a fun way to show friends and readers pictures, links and or videos that you like. It is also a way to keep track of all the crazy events that occur in your life. Blogs can be in text form or a "vlog" which is a video blog. It can be professional or personal. It is a valuable asset that definitely seems to be growing significantly as time progresses.

The remote control

So I tried out the new little remote control that I received with my new computer that I previously blogged about. Talk about super crazy awesome power that I now wield in the palm of my hand. I can be just lingering in my door way with a bag of Healthy Pop Popcorn in my hand, flick my right wrist and BAM! A song melodiously fills the air and a smile tugs at the corner of my lips. I love how I can just change my mind and then the song can change as well with little to no effort. What fun!

New Computer

After my computer decided to betray me and run out of memory, I decided to invest in buying a new computer. I just received it yesterday in the mail. It is a HP Pavilion dv4-1433us Entertainment Notebook PC. The little chocolate swirls and the awesome web cam have brought great joy into my life. Just last night I decided to try out the new web cam with my boyfriend. What an amazing experience that was. It felt like I was sitting in his living room with him watching the Phillies game. I really appreciate the fact that I now have a web cam because sometimes I truly do miss seeing him and hearing his voice. My new computer has opened up so many fun and exciting opportunities and I can't wait to try out more options! Next: The remote control I was given!

Hunger

I am very hungry at this moment, and I just realized I have not had a single thing to eat all day. It's funny how stress can mask hunger. The stress of my computer not working really quenched any hunger pangs I had earlier. Now that the situation is fixed and I am in the process of reinstalling McAFee and Google Chrome, I am really starting to experience some pretty crazy hunger pangs. Right after I conclude this post I plan on going into my kitchen, grabbing the can opener and opening up a can of Spaghetti O's. I know some people might be thinking, "Why Em, aren't you a mite bit old to be still eating Spaghetti O's?" To that I respond with a heartfelt "NO!" I have had Spaghetti O's since I was extremely young and I see no reason to stop. The delicious scent of meatballs and sauce when I finish making that last crank on the can opener is to die for.

Restore to Factory Settings

Yesterday I came back to my apartment and as I was walking through the door in to my room, I noticed a blue error screen on my computer. I tried countless numbers of restarts. I finally called Dell tech support and they told me I was going to need to pay a fee of $49 to fix it. I declined at the time. The next morning I woke up and tried to restart my computer again. It still did not work. When I got home later, I called Dell again and had them restore my computer back to factory settings. I have lost countless amounts of documents, pictures, music and more. The situation really is displeasing; the only thing I can look forward to is the fact that my computer now has a fresh new start. I can take this as an opportunity to start again with this "new" computer and hopefully not have to deal with another blue screen error.

Physical Appearance Profile Piece

A Fall Breeze: A Physical Appearance Perspective
A woman 25 years of age approaches the garden near Woodland. Her steps are light in her ballet slippers and her curly brown hair lifts with the Fall breeze. Wearing green capris and a red top, she arranges herself on the middle of the three black benches. A green bag sits on her right and she reaches in for a reading book. With a cross of her legs she opens the novel and begins to read. She stops to pull out a 20oz bottle of soda out of her bag. Her lips curve into slight smile as and it is obvious that she has delved into a completely different world.

10 Tips for Profile Pieces

1. To prevent a reader from being bored, switch up the scene by incorporating relevant dialogue
ie: The writer of “The Longing” incorporated quotes from both Suzi and people who know her/know of her such as Nancy Hamilton
2. Increase the pace of the story in order to prevent predictability.
3. Use the 5 W’s in your piece. It is not essential to cram all of this information into the first sentence, just let the information weave itself together early in your article.
4. Let people be the “captain” of their story and you are the guiding navigator
5. Vary sentence structure often as to make your story more realistic and engaging
6. Try to get the true emotions behind the person’s story and include quotes that convey these emotions
7. Create images for the reader to expand on in their minds as they are reading (pg 82 paragraph 5).
8. “The Longing” switches scenes very often and goes back and forth between her younger self and her current self. This helps keep readers interested and engaged
9. Add depth to your profile and do not narrow a person down to one part of their life (ie: their job, their awards/recognitions) focus on capturing the person as a whole by finding out their roots, past experiences, goals, ambitions, downfalls
10. Use trial and error. Try new things such in the longing, where the writer is not writing for the audience, the writer is actually a part of the person he is profiling. He is in her mind, experiencing her experiences and feeling her feelings.

Internet-You don't Know What You've Got Till Its Gone

Yesterday I spent nearly 5 hours getting Internet at the apartment. I handed the Comcast guy tools while he stood on a ladder outside of our apartment for about 2 hours and then I spent the next 2-3 hours on the phone with both Comcast and Belkin trying to get the router to communicate correctly with the modem. It was definitely worth it when I was able to sit down at my desk in my own room and hop on the internet. I am so happy that I can now sit at my desk in a pair of sweatpants with my music blaring from the computer speakers and access the Internet. The old phrase "you don't know what you've got till its gone" is so true. I have definitely learned to not take technology for granted!

The Profile

If it wasn't for free graduate courses in exchange for teaching English Composition courses at Emerson College, Christine Flanagan might never have become the amazing professor at USP that she is today. “It was like having a book club but I got to pick everything we read,” says Flanagan. Professor Flanagan has a very upbeat and down to earth personality which makes her very easy to talk to. Her favorite weekend activities include hanging out with friends and going to the movies. Most recently, she was nominated in 2008 for a PushCart Prize which is an honored literary project published since 1976 for her short story “Return to Ithaca”.

The Magical Movement into Autumn

I love the transition into the season of Autumn. The air becomes lighter and cooler and the sound of the wind brushing against the tree branches sings in my ears. I always get this fluttery feeling in my chest and I feel like twirling in the freshly fallen leaf piles. Colors of red, yellow, and orange blend into an array of beauty. I love curling up in my lounge chair with my chihuahua and sip a hot cup of coffee as the brisk air wraps around the setting sun. Such a joyous feeling fills my heart and I am just so thankful for all that God has blessed me with. I feel a greater closeness to nature and with my family.

Preventing the Atrophy of Relationships

My boyfriend and I have been dating for more than 4 years now. Our relationship has progressively grown since 9th grade, when we first became friends. In 10th grade we developed into best friends and by 11th grade we were exclusively dating. He gave me a promise ring our senior year and then college happened. The new and vibrant aspects of college life put a tremendous strain on the quality of our relationship, but nevertheless, we made it through freshman and sophomore years. Now in our 3rd year of college, I am more in love with him than I ever have been and we are planning on getting engaged later this year. The journey to get this far has been anything but easy. It has taken massive amounts of time, compromise and a lot of faith. One of the hardest obstacles we had to overcome was the "comfortable monotony" phase. This is a phase that majority of couples (married or non married) get themselves into all of the time. Every time we would see each other we would do the exact same thing: he would come over my house or I would go over his, we would watch a movie, we would talk, I would go home or he would go home and then night ends. There were a lot of excuses we used to justify this routine, the most prominent one being the financial issue. Finally, we realized that we had fallen extremely far into a rut and needed to get back the passion and spark in our relationship. Agreeing to "date night" at least once a month, we set out to rekindle our relationship. There are actually a lot of fun things to do locally that have little cost or are free. We went on an afternoon hike and picnic at a local park one week and then to a Saturday morning movie the next. These dates made us feel like we were just getting to know each other again and we began to treat each other with more love and respect then ever before. So my suggestion to anyone who is in a long term relationship is to make sure you make time for "date nights". It helps you rekindle the love and passion you once shared and develop a whole new perspective on your significant other once again.

Family Nights

Every Wednesday night my apartment-mates and I all sit down and spend quality time together. We watch TV, talk, and sometimes we play a game afterward. Its purpose is to remind us how important we all are to each other and to make sure we don't let the nuisances of life get in the way of friendship. I savor the moments we get to spend together because as we continue our journeys as college students we have less and less time for each other. As we graduate, we will obtain jobs and start our lives. Spending time together now and thickening our friendship bonds will hopefully help to prepare us for when we get enveloped in the daily aspects of life.

overcoming obstacles

This week I was faced with a colossal moral dilemma in one of my classes. I was put in a situation that I felt extremely uncomfortable in and felt that the assignment went against everything that I believe. However, there was nothing I could do...this was an obstacle that had to be overcome in order to leave class for the day. It was an impossible task that I myself was not able to complete. The only way I got through the ordeal was with the hand of God which guided me. For the next few days I felt like a horrible person because I had abandoned what I hold sacred just to pass a class. However, after much thought plus a lengthy and encouraging discussion from my mom, I realized that I am not a horrible person. God had heard my prayers and got me through the situation. Though there are going to be many more times this semester when I am going to be faced with very similar obstacles, I have faith that God will deliver me through those times as well.

To be or not to be... remastered

While soaking up the precious moments of Internet at the library today, I saw in my inbox a TV box set offer from amazon.com. Star Trek:The Original Series is now offered in a fresh and digitally remastered edition. Being a huge fan of the series, I hungrily ate up all of the advertising slogans that shouted, "See the Enterprise like you've never seen it before!" and "Feel like you are in control of the Bridge with these highly innovative graphics!" Personally, I would rather experience my favorite TV show with all of its low technology graphics and resolution flaws. It got me thinking, what if I had the opportunity to "remaster" my life...would I? Probably not. In theory, remastering involves restoring a film/picture to what it originally looked like when it first aired. Over time, the quality of the film/picture has gradually deteriorated and has lost some of its detailed features. Likewise, my life experiences have indeed molded me into a unique and matchless being. I have grown into an adult with continually expanding knowledge and would not "remaster" my life. Though I definitely have lost some of my naive features, I have gained more mature attributes that make me much more valuable...just like non remastered Star Trek.

Addiction to Technology

I never quite realized how significant a role technology played in my life until the commencement of this semester. Since I moved officially into my apartment on August 31, 2009, I have been lacking Internet service, have atrocious reception in regards to my cell phone service and no television. I have been incapable of fully tackling my studies and almost completely oblivious to the happenings of the outside world. The highlight of my day is picking up a copy of the New York Times every morning before classes and then eagerly rushing home to unravel my newspaper across my bed in sections. Where once my mind had succumbed to the euphoria of streaming bandwidth, it now must yield to the minute satisfaction of scanning headlines in the newspaper. Not having access to Internet on a daily basis has its advantages; however, they seem to pale in comparison to the disadvantages. I have gotten a chance to catch up on novels by my two favorite authors, Janet Evanovich and Nora Roberts. Spending time with my apartment-mates and talking has become a habitual convention as well. Some of my time is now dedicated to meditating and hypnosis, which are great ways to relieve stress and relax. I do always come back to one thought……

How did people manage to survive before technology??

Story Ideas

Dinner with 10 people living or dead: God, Anne Frank, Derren Brown, William Shatner, Michael Jackson, Leonard Nimoy, Noah Wyle, Jason Statham, Mr. Franz (my 10th grade English teacher) and Brad Pitt.

list of top 10 favorite things: chicken, Star Trek, medical based dramas, romance novels, Ireland, accents, day dreaming, clean rooms and lots of space, Internet and not having to drive!

Things that irk you (10): inconsiderate people, being late, driving short distances, long lines, hot and humid weather, dishes in the sink, not having something to do, unproductive people, losing my keys, green foods.

Health concerns: Breast cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure