I Appreciate the Cheesy Things In Life

I just finished watching the Fox Family TV movie, Lovestruck: The Musical. I know what you are thinking. Why would you watch that?! Ah you've touched upon today's blog topic. I am a big supporter of just enjoying the cheesy things in life. Sometimes the things you find most entertaining are also the things you know are truly terrible. You have to embrace the cheesy sometimes and just enjoy it.

I look for different things in my entertainment. Some things I enjoy for its quality. I like it because I believe it is great. Other things I enjoy knowing they are extremely terrible. I mean haven't you ever heard the term so bad its good?! That's the whole reason we have guilty pleasures. You watch it knowing and acknowledging it's bad.

If other people didn't feel the same as I do the Syfy channel wouldn't exist. Those Syfy movies are made for people like me who love watching things like Sharktopus and Ice Spiders. The cheap effects and terrible acting make the movie entertaining. Lifetime movies are the same way. They are so over the top yet you can't help but love to watch them. I'm not saying everything bad is entertaining. There is a fine line when it comes to fun cheesy and just plain bad. That's why cheesy bad entertainment should be respected.

Talking to some of my friends, I realized that not everyone can appreciate cheesy entertainment. I told my one friend they should watch this terrible movie and they looked at me like I was crazy. I know it's a terrible movie, but that's what makes it so fun! So that's why I watched Lovestruck tonight. Sometimes I'm in the mood to be entertained by something in all it's cheesy glory! 

So in defense of Syfy movies, Fox Family shows, or any form of entertainment that is cheesy to the core, lighten up people. Sometimes it's fun to watch these things.

(Total cheesy count: 7)

A Nerd's Fun Weekend

I had an eventful weekend. It was mix of fun and work. I will just briefly mention that I missed two days of blogging, but did I mention it was a busy weekend?! BSDA (Blog Some Days in April) people!!

Friday I worked until seven so I still got to enjoy my night. My friends and I went to trivia. We came in second place, but we were proud of our effort. Our arch-nemesis, The Springfield Isotopes, came in first. They win most nights, which is why we consider them our arch-nemesis. I wouldn't be able to identify any member of their team except for one man, who we call "the Penguin" (he looks like the Penguin from Batman). They are worthy opponents. Recently they went to World Tavern Trivia's National Championship, so us scoring a close second to them says something about our team. 

After trivia we played an old Jeopardy board game. My one friend bought it at a thrift shop. During my period of unemployment, I grew very addicted to Jeopardy. My friends and I began to watch it every night. I know super lame. But I love the show and trivia so this was fun for us. We took turns being Alex. The game even came with these cheap buzzers. They were a source of argument because at different times during the night someone always felt like their buzzer wasn't being heard.We ended up playing until like three in the morning.

Saturday I worked at the frozen yogurt shop in the morning and at the grocery store at night. It was nice out so the frozen yogurt place was pretty crowded. It was nice to finally interact with customers. Saturday, surprisingly,  is a known slow day at a grocery store. I actually prefer it to be busy. When it's slow time moves so slowly I die of boredom.

Sunday was my day off so my only plan was to visit a potential summer room rental. Earlier in the week I had signed up to give out surveys at Newsies, but I was listed as an alternate. With my last internship, I was added to a list of volunteers who hand out surveys at Broadway shows and in return get to see the show for free. In the Winter I did it twice and it was fun. What they do is email you the show and the dates they are administrating surveys and you email back if you are available. Since there are only a few slots available, you don't always get picked. Because of my work schedule I haven't been able to do the last couple surveys.

Since I was the alternate and thinking that nobody would back out of doing it, I had scheduled to see the room at 12pm on Sunday. I wake up to an email saying someone called in sick. I had to be at the theater by 2pm for the 3pm matinee. To make it on time I would have to take the 12:06 train. So I quickly called the landlord and asked if I could come early and got dressed in five minutes. The landlord showed us two houses he owns and rents out. The one house was with all male tenants so he didn't think that would be a good fit for me. The second house was a seven bedroom old house that was a perfect location. It was fully furnished and the rooms were nice sizes. (Also I had actually already been in the house three years ago for a friend of a friends party.) All the other tenants are college/grad students or people in their early 20's. Basically everything is perfect about the place except for the price. It's a little more expensive then I wanted to spend. So I'm stressing out a little. I'm debating the pros and cons.

 After seeing the room I went straight to the train station to head into the city. Giving out surveys consist of you approaching audience members trying to convince them to fill out surveys about audience demographic. During intermission and after the show we collect the surveys. When the show is about to start, the house manager gives the survey team any seats that are available. I got a great seat in the second row center balcony. The show was fun. The best part was the dance choreography. The dancers are full of energy and work so hard.  One of the perks of handing out surveys is that we get to see behind the scenes. Today we were in the theater when they were warming up and practicing a fight scene that's in the show. Handing out surveys is a great (cheap) way to see a Broadway show.

That was my busy weekend filled with trivia, work, and Broadway. Basically it was a fun weekend for a nerd like me.

A Super Short Recap of My Day

I'm going to make it quick today. It's late and my bed is calling to me.

Nothing of importance happened today. I worked both jobs. It was a nice day out so the frozen yogurt place was actually pretty busy. The grocery store was the same as always. I did find out that I am the second top seller of scratch-off tickets, so woo hoo! Who knew that working at a grocery store was my calling?! (I may or may not be trying to be number one. Hey, if I'm going to work here I might as well be the best. Don't judge. It brings a little excitement to my shifts.)

I also have been in contact with two people looking to rent a room this summer. One of the rooms is a little pricier, but it sounds like a nicer arrangement. I'll have to wait until I see the rooms to decide which one will be a better fit for me. I'm probably going to see the rooms this weekend. Let's hope I have better luck with these rooms than with my first experience. (Keep your fingers crossed there is no elderly woman playing an organ.)

Well to bed I go. I apologize for the short and rather boring blog post, but they can't all be winners. Especially during BEDA.

The Power of Guilt

This past week at the grocery store, we have been selling scratch-off tickets at the register. All proceeds from the tickets go towards cancer research. So after I finish a customers transaction I have to ask "Would you like to donate a dollar to cancer research?". This experience has actually led me to observe the power of guilt.

Nobody can just say no. A no is always followed by an excuse.  I've heard things like "I'm a teacher so I give money all the time." or "My (insert family member here) had cancer so I regularly give money to cancer related causes". I've heard long stories about personal battles with cancer. Some customers get angry. How dare I insinuate that they are bad human beings?! Just to clarify I only ask. I do not give any indication of my personal opinion in the matter. It's almost like they are trying to prove they are a good person. I don't know if they are trying to prove it to me or themselves but all the same the guilt is obvious.  Sadly this has been the highlight of my shifts lately. I, the lowly grocery store clerk, hold all the power. I can guilt customers into donating or make them justify why they did not.

(Update on my plan to get in shape. I went running today. It was hard at first because it's obviously been a while, but I enjoyed it.  It was a beautiful day out and the beach was so relaxing. I also drank more water today and only had one glass of soda at dinner. I would say Day 1 was a success.)

Becoming the Best Version of Myself

Starting this blog was my first step in trying to become a better version of myself. I was at a pretty low place and I knew I had to do something to get out of this funk. This blog allows me to voice my frustrations during my quarter life crisis and release some of my stress. So the next step, while I deal with work and finding a full time job, is to make me the best version of myself in every aspect. And that means getting in shape. (I eventually want to make a complete transformation and do something different like dye my hair, but I'm going to wait until I get a full time job aka come into money.)

There was a time in my life when I was a regularly active person who went to the gym five days a week. But with busy work schedules and the absence of a free gym(oh the perks of college) working out became something I kept forgetting to do. Even during my brief phase of unemployment when I had all the time in the world, I remained inactive. (I was in a bad head space people!)  So here is a list of my goals for getting into shape.

1) Reach my goal weight by the end of summer. I am not overweight, but I don't think I am in the best shape I could be. 

2) I want to run by the beach at least three days a week. I need to be active! Not only is this good for my body, but running could be a good way to release stress as well.

3) Watch my food intake/ eat healthier. I eat really badly and should probably weigh more than I do. I need to teach myself to eat like a normal human being. If I don't teach myself to eat better now. my bad eating habits will only get worse as I get older.

4) Drink more water. I don't smoke or drink, but my one addiction is soda. I drink soda almost every day. I can still drink soda (maybe not as much), but I need to make sure I drink more water. Everything I've read about getting healthier says drinking water is important.

I'm hoping that by writing my goals down for the whole Internet to see, I won't be able to make excuses and blow it off. When I was working out regularly, I had my friend that always went with me. I need someone to push me when I don't want to go. If I don't have a push, that's when I falter. So my blog is going to be that push. That persuasive voice to guilt me into doing what I promised.

I don't know why, but I just have this feeling that if I do everything to make me the best I can be and I'm completely happy with myself, than everything will work out. Besides, I am apparently in my prime so I want to look good for all the fellas out there. I'm looking at you tall, cute, nerdy guys.

So I swear to do everything in my power to be the best version of myself in the hopes that me being completely happy puts out a signal to the universe making everything work out! ( FULL TIME JOB!!!!)

(I should probably tell you that this passion to become a better version of myself may have been inspired by a Lifetime movie I saw yesterday. Don't judge.)

My Unglamorous Marilyn Monroe Moment or That Time a Homeless Man Saw My Underwear

Does the rather lengthy title intrigue you? It should because I'm sharing my "movie story". Everyone has a "movie story". It's that one story that is so unreal it would make more sense inserted into a situational comedy. It's not your go to small talk story, but if you are in a small comfortable group, swapping stories back and forth, this story is the one you tell. It's also a good story to share on your blog when you don't know what else to talk about. So even though at the time it was just mortifying, looking back I can appreciate the situation. At least it makes for a good story.

It was a Monday morning and at the time I was still working at my internship in the city. Since it was surprisingly nice out, I decided to wear a dress. [Aside To clarify for later purposes, I was wearing a long dress that went down below my knee. I was not wearing some short dress that makes you paranoid about it riding up and you spend the whole day pulling it down. Maybe if I had been I would have been better off. End of aside] I was running late for some reason that I have now forgotten and I missed the train I normally take to work. The next train into the city would still allow me to make it to work on time, but I would be cutting it close. So I was already starting the day a little on edge because I knew I would have to be quick getting off the train and walking to work.

If you’ve never been to Penn Station on a Monday morning, let me paint you a picture. It’s a hectic explosion of people, all with different purposes, trying to get to their destination on time. It’s hard to fight the sea of business men and women so you move with them almost like a school of fish. You can try to dodge and weave, but at some point you just have to stop and go along with the crowd.

As I exited Penn Station tightly wedged in the commuter crowd, I walked over a subway grate. Just like Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch, I was standing over a subway grate when the train passed underneath causing a breeze to lift my skirt up. Unlike her it was not a sexy, iconic scene in cinema, but an awkward flailing of arms as I tried to quickly push my skirt down from above my head. I hoped that I was wedged in the large crowd enough that nobody saw my cute, yet still appropriate, underwear. Besides everyone was focused on getting to work and not paying attention to me. Boy was I wrong.

After just beginning to think that I had avoided embarrassment, I heard the voice of god, or Morgan Freeman or maybe the Allstate commercial guy, whichever you prefer, yell “I JUST SAW HER PANTIES”. I glance back and there, pointing directly at me, was a homeless man. Well if people didn’t notice me while it was happening they sure noticed me now. Who could miss the booming voice of [INSERT WHICHEVER VOICE YOU PREFERRED]? Everyone in the crowd turned toward me. Some people were laughing or smiling, many people looked very confused, others just wanted to get to work and were annoyed by this distraction that disrupted the flow of the group. I like to think one business man out there was thinking “Damn girl!”, but that may just be wishful thinking.

After that mortifying incident, I kept my head down trying not to make eye contact with anyone, especially the homeless man. I continued to walk with the crowd until the first opportunity I found to exit the mob. Just in case you were wondering I made it to work on time and my co-workers and friends all enjoyed hearing about my morning commute. My favorite comment was from one of my co-workers who said “Hey that was probably the highlight of that guy’s day.” That’s me. Helping the homeless of New York one pantie shot at a time.

Looking back, I don’t know if I should interpret what happened as the cities way of saying “Welcome. You have been mortified in public by a homeless man. You are now a true New Yorker!” or “Get out of here Jersey girl. Give my regards to Chris Christie and the cast of the Jersey Shore.” I wonder how the story would have played out if that morning I had decided to put on a thong or even worse my period grandma drawers. But what puzzles me the most from that day is why the homeless man used the word panties? There are so many other words he could have chosen. Underwear, undies, drawers, intimate things. (well I'm glad he didn't say the last one. That would be even weirder.) I guess it will just have to remain a mystery.

So there you go my "movie story". I hope it was everything you wanted and more. Moral of the story always wear clean underwear because you never know when the world might see them.

 

People Let Me Tell You Bout My Best Friend

This January my best friend decided to leave me and move far away. I just got off the phone with her right now and it got me thinking about our friendship and how distance doesn't change anything. We still talk all the time even though we live far away and I would say we are just as close. I've had distance change relationships before, but when it comes to someone you really care about you make it work.

So how did we become best friends? I met my BFF Freshmen year of college. During my college orientation, I met this girl and we just clicked. So when the fall came around I kept in touch and hung out with her in her dorm. She had two roommates and my best friend just happened to be one of them.

Throughout college we were a tight threesome, me, the girl I met at orientation, and my best friend. Every year since Freshmen year, the three of us shared a room (for two of those years I was the top bunk to my BFF's bottom bunk.) It was a perfect situation. Even though we had a larger group of friends, they were the one's I told everything to. It was never weird being part of a threesome. No one was ever on the outs or felt excluded. We were all three equal friends. The third girl in our threesome graduated early at the end of our Junior year and went to grad school. Even though the three of us are still friends, this brought my best friend and I closer.

After college we both went back home. It was weird not living together, but we still talked almost everyday. Then, when I moved back to the area in the fall, we were only an hour away so I saw her pretty often. Come winter she decided to take a year-long internship far away and so here we are, the farthest/longest we've been separated from each other. I'm glad she's doing this cool experience, but of course I still miss her.

She is the one person I text everyday. I never feel bad texting her stupid silly stuff. I tell her everything and I know she does the same. Some of my favorite moments in college was our "pillow talks" late at night being silly. Me singing songs to annoy her and making bets to be her "Best Maid". We are pop culture equals loving the same, shows, movies, books. If she recommends something I always love it and obsess about it just like she did. She makes me laugh and she's always on my side in any situation. Laying the cheesiness on thick, I am very lucky to have such a good friend and I'm happy that no matter the distance we are close. So if she's reading this (which she's not because I haven't told anyone about my blog) thank you for being such a poophead.

BSDA (Blog Some Days in April)

I suck. I suckity suck. Once again I failed at my attempt to blog every day in April. I was getting all cocky too, patting myself on the back for a job well done! Just one busy weekend comes along and throws me completely off track. It was so hard to get back into the habit of writing after missing one day. Soon one day turned into a week. But let's just forget about that. It's over. I'm back. So here's what's been going on in my life since we last spoke:

1) This weekend a group of my college friends got together. Some of my friends still live in the area so I see them regularly, but most of them went back to their hometowns after graduation so I don't get to see them as much. On Saturday the street I live on, which is full of bars and restaurants, was having a pub crawl. I unfortunately worked so I missed it, but I got to hang out with my friends afterwards and we went out to breakfast the next day. It was nice to see everyone and hear what they are up to.

2) I started working at my other job. As you know I work at a grocery store, but I also got another part time job to make more money. This job is at a frozen yogurt shop. Right now its kind of slow, but once summer gets under way it's going to be crazy. I think it will be an enjoyable place to work over the summer and you make tips which is nice. My plan is to make as much money as I can this summer and I hope (for my own sanity) that I won't be working part time jobs for too much longer. (Again it all comes back to my deep hope that eventually I will be working a full time job!)  The manager at the frozen yogurt place mentioned that he could work me full time hours if I quit at the grocery store. So my current dilemma is should I work both jobs but probably shorter shifts or working long full time hours at one job. Ultimately it comes down to what will make me more money. It's something I'll have to think about.

3) I had more interactions with weirdos at the grocery store. An old women with a British accent, that looking back might have been fake, bought a bunch of cat food cans. She proceeded to tell me all about how she loves to rescue cats because they rescued her and how a little cat found her after her heart attack and brought her back from the dead saying "Mummy wake up." Then she told me how when one of her cats had kittens, she took one of the kittens between her breasts to warm it. Yes, just picture that. A kitten nuzzled between this woman's boobs just chilling there. I know I'm not a pet person so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, but whose first thought is to warm a kitten by putting it between your boobs?!  Another odd customer I encountered was an Italian man who kept calling me Bella and telling me how beautiful I was. Then he asked me if I've ever been to Italy. I told him yes and he said the Italian men must of "had there way with me" and asked "did they pinch my butt." How do you respond to that?! I just awkwardly faked laugh and tried to quickly finish his transaction. I guess my grocery store is the top grocery store for weirdos' food needs because I swear this happens every shift.

4) My roommate decided that she is going to live with her grandma for the summer so now I am on the hunt for a room to rent. I contacted a lot of people and some of them got back to me. Friday, I actually visited a room. Well, what a weird experience that was! I brought one of my guy friends with me just to be safe. As we drove to the house we were happy to see that it was in a pretty nice area of town. As we pulled up we saw a man outside of a house that was a number off from what he had told me. It was a cute little house and I just though maybe I mixed up the number. When I got out to introduce myself he actually steered me over to the house next door, which looked significantly more shabby. He explained that he lived in the house with his mother. As I entered the house I realized the inside was also old and not well kept. In the living room, we saw his mother playing the organ with headphones on. She just looked at us and didn't say anything. Her son showed me the room, which was right across from his room. The room was not clean. He also seemed like he just wanted us out quickly. Overall everything about the experience was weird and I don't know if I could spend a summer living with them. Even if I could get over the awkward living situation it wasn't very clean.  So it was a bust and I'm still on the hunt for a living situation. Just add that to the list of things I need to stress about.

So that's what I've been up to lately. Obviously my life is as odd as ever. But I promise to continue BEDA even if I'm treating it more like BSDA.

Kids Movies Are For Adults Too

I've been dying to see Wreck-It-Ralph ever since I saw the previews. They made me laugh and the adorable catch phrase, "I'm going wreck it!", got stuck in my head. Sadly, it's just too darn expensive to go to the movie theater nowadays. (What is it like $12 without any candy or drinks?!) I used to go to the movies all the time, but now, unless it's a really important film, I wait to see it when it comes out on DVD. So I decided to wait for Wreck-It-Ralph. I guess everyone had the same idea because every time we checked Redbox it was all sold out. Finally, today we were able to rent it and it was exactly what I had hoped for.

I love kids movies. Yes still at the old age of 23. I think what I like best about them is their perfect mix of being heartwarming and funny. This is a quality I like in adult movies too, but it's not as guaranteed. Most of my favorite TV shows/movies possess this mix of laugh out loud funny and shed a tear sad. I think this combo is what makes something truly great. Don't get me wrong I love things that are pure horror, comedy, and action, but I think they don't have as strong an impact. I have realized that kid movies do a great job of finding this perfect happy medium. Everything ends up OK, but the hero had to struggle and learn a lesson to get there.

One of my favorite kids movie, that does a great job finding this perfect line of emotions is Up. The first scene in Up, has no dialogue, but is one of the most powerful scenes. It was cute and yet it was sad in that subtle quiet way that real life sometimes is. The music was perfect and it definitely brought out emotion in me which is hard to do (and is maybe why I appreciate it so much). Then the rest of the movie is super funny and light, but also returns to it's heartwarming moments. If you haven't seen Up, rent it right now!

Another kids movie I love, and might be the kids movie that has made me laugh the most is Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. I know you're probably thinking, "Really that movie?" but trust me it's a funny movie! When I saw the previews I actually had no desire to see it, but my best friend and I wanted to go see a movie (and it was in 3D. For some reason we were really into 3D then). We ended up laughing so hard we were probably the loudest people in the theater (and maybe the oldest without children). But besides the laughs it also has heart! Rent it! I promise it's worth it.

I think as an adult you never grow out of watching a good kids movie. Maybe there is still a little child in all of us...(is a really creepy way for me to end this blog! I apologize. It was not meant to be creepy at all.)

My Top 5 Pet Peeves as a Grocery Store Employee

It's going to be a quick blog post today because I am close to finishing Battle Royale(page 459). If the act of putting down the book doesn't show you my dedication to BEDA, I don't know what will?! So what do you do when you're lazy and want to make a quick blog post? Make a list!

Here are my Top 5 Pet Peeves as a Grocery Store Employee:

1. Customers that bring up items to have scanned and then decide not to get them. One item, OK I'll let it slide, but a whole cart full of items! Really?! Unacceptable! You can find out the price of an item in the aisle. If it doesn't say its on sale, it's not on sale. If you don't think you have enough money or only want the items if it's on sale don't put the items in your cart.

2. Getting mad at the cashier for how crappy the plastic bags are/being out of paper bags. I am not in charge of ordering bags. I make minimum wage and have no say in how the grocery store is managed. I too hate that they break since I am the one bagging your groceries. All I can do is nod and smile and agree with you.

3. People who don't try to help bag their own groceries. I hate when people with two shopping carts full of groceries just sit there watching as I ring them up, bag, and check them out. And then they have the nerve to be impatient that it's taking too long. If you were bagging while I was ringing it would go so much faster. Also when you make weird requests like "Put these three items in the same bag", it would be so much easier for you to just put them in yourself. I of course will help you, its my job, but I can't ring up your groceries and bag at the same time. If you don't want to help just accept that it may be a little longer.

4. People who demand double/triple bagging. The rules are if an item is very heavy and straining the bag they should be double bagged. That is an acceptable time to double bag something. All your groceries do not need to be double bagged and especially not triple bagged! If you ask for extra bags I will smile and say of course, but usually we are close to running out of bags and I am actually thinking "Not my precious bags!" They are a rare commodity people, so please don't overuse bags. Besides it's not good for the environment.

5. A customer who is on the phone while I'm ringing them up. First of all you're not paying attention. It goes so much slower and then I feel like I have to interrupt you to tell you the total. Also its just plain rude! Didn't your mother teach you manners?!

So there you have it. Remember this next time you go to buy groceries. Now back to Battle Royale!

My Current Book Obsession: Episode 1

When I'm reading a book that I like, I become obsessed. I won't be able to put it down. I have been known to finish a book in one sitting. My current book obsession is all I can think about. I had to take a break to go to work which was painful. All I want to do is talk about this book! Since this will probably happen a lot, I decided to make it a regular blog post theme, My Current Book Obsession. More episodes will follow.

I was a big fan of the Hunger Games trilogy. I loved the idea of a dystopian world that put kids in a fight to the death for the world to watch. (I also loved that Katniss was a strong, independent female character.) While I was reading the series, I heard a lot of comments saying this idea was basically a rip off of a Japanese book, Battle Royale. Since I liked Hunger Games, I wanted to read this book that had a similar premise, but, I was told, was darker and more violent. So finally, I was able to get my hands on the book. And let me tell you, I can't put it down!

Right now I am about halfway through (page 263) and the action has been nonstop! At first, I was worried that it would be hard to keep track of 42 students, especially with their similar sounding names, but overall I think Koushun Takami does a good job of making the different characters easy to follow.  The story has two main characters, Shuya Nanahara and Noriko Nakagawa. Even though they are the two characters we root for, we still get a good look into the other characters. Even characters we meet for only a chapter right before their demise, are given a personality, a voice that makes the reader feel for them. So far, I think that Battle Royale, is action packed, but more than just the action it has great character development, especially for how many there are.

After reading something like this and getting so caught up in the action it always makes me think.  Why am I enjoying this? What does it say about me? I mean I am reading about 15 year old children killing each other. Even in the Hunger Games, what I enjoyed most was the tension and excitement of when Katniss was in the games. I am not a violent person. I've never been in a fight and can't say I condone fighting. I am not a big supporter of guns (but I won't get into that controversial topic). Yet, when it comes to entertainment I don't mind. I mean one of my favorite TV shows right now is Walking Dead, a violent zombie show that kills characters left and right. Yes, I love the zombie aspect, but I also love the development of the characters on the show. I like rooting for them. They make the show not just a show about zombies, but a show about people.

I think that's how I feel about Battle Royale. I like the idea of people being put to the test. If deep down they are capable of killing people they have been going to school with for years. You always think "I would never do that!" But are you actually capable of murder if put in the right situation? So maybe me enjoying the book is exactly what the author intends. It makes you stop and think.

I'll keep you updated on what I think of the rest of the book. But so far, I definitely recommend it.

Just One Of Those Days

And by just one of those days, you know what I mean. Not a classic bad day where a series of incidents make the day a huge mess, but a day where little things happen that make you question everything. Everyone can have a bad day, but one of those days usually happen when you are in a particularly stressful time in your life. Like for me, little things happened today that got me sad about my current job situation and all day I couldn't shake it. What I need to do is focus on these feelings and use them as motivation instead of getting discouraged.

Today was a gorgeous, warm day. It felt like Spring was here. People were wearing shorts and sundresses trying to soak in as much sun as they could. What was I doing you ask? Working. I was inside chatting with customers about the beautiful weather I was not experiencing. But that's just me whining in retrospect. At the time this wasn't the reason today was just one of those days.

As I got into work, a couple of my co-workers stopped me to say "I didn't know you were older than/same age(depending on the employee) as us?" I was like  "Eh yea I'm 23." One of the girls said she was surprised and thought I was much younger. I didn't know how I was supposed to react to this. I was thrown off guard. For some reason I started to tell the long story of how I graduated college and had internships, but nothing lead to a job. But why did I feel like I had to justify myself?  Is it my own insecurity that was bothered by it? Should I have taken it as a complement or an insult that they thought I was younger? Am I once again just overthinking everything? After I walked away, I felt confused and embarrassed. I was embarrassed that I felt like I had to justify myself, but also that I came off snobby. "Oh I don't want to work HERE. I'm a college graduate." So my shift started off with me overthinking the encounter and feeling embarrassed/annoyed/depressed.  But oh it didn't end there.

Later an older customer was chatting with me and she asked how old I was. The following conversation followed:

(This woman had an accent. I am not sure of its origin. To be as true to reality as possible when you read her lines, read them with a British accent. In movies, a character will always have a British accent no matter where they are supposed to be from. If they are not American, they have a British accent.)

Old Lady with the Indeterminable Foreign Accent- "What are you 19?"

Me-"Oh no, I'm 23."

Old Lady with the Indeterminable Foreign Accent-"Oh, I'm sorry. You look so young! You get that a lot, no?"

Me- "No actually because of my height I usually don't. It must be the uniform. *Insert fake polite laugh*

(I would like to add that I am not one of those people who look like a child. Actually most of my life because of my height, I usually was thought to be older. So hearing that I looked younger was sort of odd. It was probably the uniform. And why would a college graduate be working at a grocery store? That's the sort of thing I told myself to fuel my sadness.)

Basically the old lady with the indeterminable foreign accent shoved the knife even deeper into my open wound. Because apparently the first incident wasn't enough! And once that mood was set I just felt like a crappy person the rest of the day. On a positive note, I did find a couple positions to apply to that look like great opportunities. So keeping my faith alive. Today did not kill it. It was just one of those days!

I should probably end this blog on a positive note so you don't think I should seek out professional help.  While I was checking a customer out, I noticed that three police officers were in the front office. After asking the other cashiers what was going on, I discovered that someone was caught stealing boxes of magnum condoms. Apparently they stole enough condoms, to warrant an arrest, which I guess depends on the cash value of the item being stolen. My first thought was that it was probably a younger boy, but it turned out to be a college age boy. Though it is not confirmed, we think it might have been a frat prank or initiation. Unfortunately for him, he failed. After being questioned in the office by the police, he was escorted out handcuffed! Pretty epic. Safe sex is important everyone, but it does not excuse shop lifting. A life lesson for us all.

My First Craiglist Scam

Craigslist is a great resource when looking for an apartment to rent. I've tried other sites, but Craigslist just seems to be the best. Even though it is a good site, you have to be careful. Craigslist is known to have scams. Today I experienced my first Craigslist scam. It was momentous. I know for years to come I will be telling my grandkids the story of how I narrowly escaped a Craigslist scam! (I may be embellishing for dramatic effect.)

As I have previously mentioned, we are searching for a summer rental. After looking through apartment listings in the area,  I found a listing for a four bedroom summer rental for $1100. Now I know what your thinking, that is really cheap doesn't that seem like a red flag? And it did. But we decided just to look into. It couldn't hurt? So I sent an email asking for more information on the property.

The next day I received a long email response (containing many spelling and grammatical mistakes) explaining how the landlords are missionaries in Africa. They asked us to answer a couple questions before they would make a decision. Again we were a little suspicious, but they didn't ask any questions that required personal information or money. So we emailed back with a response that explained why we wanted the house and how many people would be living in the house. 

Out of curiosity, I drove by the house to check it out. It was clean and seemed perfect. It also had a for rent sign in the yard which was a good omen. Later they emailed us back, telling us that to receive the keys to the house we would have to send our security deposit to them by money order. We would send the money to Nigeria because, duh, they were missionaries in Africa!  And that's when we finally accepted that it was a scam, like we suspected all along. Don't worry, we did not send the money. We know the rules. It's a scam if someone tries to get you to send money. I think we were just hoping that it was real because it was so darn cheap!

So there you go. The story of my first Craigslist scam. Moral of the story, if someone asks you to send money to Nigeria, it's probably a scam.

Are You Socially Awkward? Take This Quiz to Find Out!

1. You bump into someone you know and they definitely know you. Not a close friend, but you are friendly. What do you do?

a) Make eye contact, give a friendly wave or nod of the head and continue with your business.
b) Go over to them and strike up a conversation. You can't wait to learn what's new with them!
c) Try to avoid them by quickly speed walking in the opposite direction. Phew! That was close!
d) Break dance fight

2. You are out in a social setting (party, bar, etc.) and someone you are not familiar with starts hitting on you. You...
a) Enjoy the attention and continuing talking with the person.
b) Flirt right on back! By the end of the night you will have a new phone number in your phone.
c) Freeze up. Not knowing what to do, you give the impression you are not interested.
d) Break dance fight

3. It's Friday night and your friends want to go out! The plan is to go to a party hosted by a friend of a friend. You say...
a) OK, I'll go. Even though you're nervous about not knowing anyone, your young. You decide to live a little.
b) HELL YEA! You love meeting new people!
c) Sorry guys I can't. I already put my pajama pants on. You know what that means? I'm in for the night.
d) Break dance fight

4. You are waiting in line somewhere and a stranger decides to strike up a conversation with you. You...
a) Smile and politely contribute to the conversation.
b) Actively participate in the conversation, adding your own personal stories. Man, don't you just love when this happens?!
c) After you realize it's not going to be just a short exchange, stiffly try to respond like a normal person while praying it will end soon.
d) Break dance fight

If you answered mostly a's- You are a normal person. Like a normal person, sometimes being in social situations makes you nervous, but you always try your best to make an effort. Good for you.

If you answered mostly b's- Hello, social butterfly! You are the type of person who is always bumping into people they know because you are so damn social! You can't get enough of social situations. (You make me sick.)

If you answered mostly c's- You are socially awkward and probably me.

If you answered mostly d's- If you 've ever taken a trashy magazine quiz, then you know they always have one crazy, totally out there answer nobody would pick. This was my attempt. If you actually answered mostly d's well then I guess you like to handle situations by break dance fighting. Good for you.

If you didn't get the gist by now, I am socially awkwardly. I mean not like all the time, but probably more than the average person. And if I do react normal it's because I made a conscious effort to be normal. My normal reaction to social situations will always lean towards awkward. I have to think  "What is the normal thing to do?" I think it says something that I recognize it and am trying to be better. The first step is admitting you have a problem.

Just recently, I went to get food with a friend and saw someone I knew. I debated if I should go say hi. He was at a table with people I was not familiar with. I didn't think he saw me so I decided not to go over and say hello. But then he came up to the counter and it was obvious I couldn't avoid saying something. I waited to say hi, but because he was talking to the clerk,  I hesitated awkwardly waiting behind him. The moment got weird and I just turned to leave. Basically, I made the situation even more awkward.

You think that's awkward? That's not even my worst story!  I was at the gym one day using the weights, when in the mirror I saw behind me this guy who I had been "talking to" (Get my use of parentheses? OK now I made it seem like more than it was. Now it's just awkward. Even in my blog I make things awkward!) So anyway, I literally without thinking dropped the weights I was using and ran out of the gym. Let me repeat. I ran out. And I'm not exaggerating. I ran. And I wasn't even finished working out!

So to recap. I am socially awkward. Don't be offended if you ever see me running away from you. It's not you, it's me.

A Rant About Ranting (and Friendship)

Today one of my friends received a mean text from someone they were friends with during college, but not that close with anymore. Even though they weren't too upset about it, I reacted pretty passionately. I was surprised because it usually takes a lot to get an emotional reaction out of me. I normally react to things by making a joke out of it.

This text started a discussion, between my friends and I, on friendship. Actually to be honest, it was more me ranting about my views on friendship. I should clarify something before I continue.  As I talked about in my last blog post, I am not an overly emotional person. When it finally does come out, it just pours out. Usually this pouring out of emotion results in me going on a rant. These rants are not scary or violent. My type of ranting just consists of me talking for a long period of time while pacing around the room and rehashing everything over and over again. It doesn't happen often and is something that not many people can say they have witnessed. The one person who has seen it most often is my best friend. She typically finds the whole thing quite comical. (I will probably talk about her in future blog posts.) Since I am not an angry person, it is always a surprise what thing will set me off.

Overall my rants are a cycle. Phase 1- rant sequence initiated. Phase 2-rant sequence in full force Phase 3- rant sequence completed. Phase 4-embarrassment sequence initiated. Phase 5- as part of embarrassment sequence, apologize to witness of rant (most likely best friend). Phase 6- embarrassment sequence completed. Make joke about rant. So this is how I deal with things. Odd maybe, but I think there are worse ways to deal with things,

Now that you know all about my ranting cycle, we can return back to my current rant. My opinion of the situation was that if the person who sent the text really saw my friend as a friend they would never have sent the text they did. They were angry at my friend, which is a valid feeling, but they went about dealing with it immaturely. I am sure everyone has said something hurtful to someone before. Usually it is not intended to be hurtful, especially when it is directed at someone you care about. That doesn't excuse it. You apologize and learn from your mistake. Because it wasn't intentional, it is more easily forgiven. What is harder to get over, is someone who says something with the intent to hurt you. In my opinion a real friend would never intentionally say something with the sole purpose of causing you pain. That is something I couldn't forgive. To me I would never be friends with someone like that.

I don't just call anyone my friend. There are different levels of people, strangers, acquaintances, class friends (people who you hang out with in class but never outside of it) and then friends. So I have no problem, as I bluntly put it, "cutting you out". Now I know my friends think I'm exaggerating and I will admit that it probably does depend on the situation (I mean never say never), but overall I couldn't let someone who hurt me deeply back into my friend circle. So for me if I was the one who received the text, I probably wouldn't consider the sender a friend.

I also can't consider someone truly a friend if I don't really talk to you or interact with you. I don't think drifting away from a person is a bad thing. People change and drift apart. For example, people I hung out with during high school I don't really talk to now. I think this is fine. I enjoyed their company and they are great people. I wish them all the luck in whatever they are doing and if I bumped into them I would catch up. But are we still friends? Not really. And I don't think that I'm terrible for thinking that.

OK well I've come to the end of my rant. Here comes the next part of the cycle. I apologize for sounding so extreme. I'm just very particular about who I consider a friend. OK. I'm going to stop before I start another rant. Wow, ranting is exhausting.

Everything You Need to Know About Me: An Abridged Guide

If I'm going to keep blogging, there are certain things you should probably know about me. Knowing these things will help my posts make more sense. So far, all you know about me is my current career challenges, but there is a lot more to me than that. So here is a list of things about me that will probably come up in future blog posts:

1) I am a pop culture geek. I love movies, television, and all forms of entertainment. I watch everything from old movies, to current hit TV shows, to nerdy Youtubers. You name it, even if I don't watch it, I am still aware of it. This love for pop culture also makes me a trivia fanatic. I am not a very competitive person, but when it comes to trivia I am cutthroat! My family is also very pop culture enthused. It must be something we are born with in my family. On Friday's you can usually find my friends and I at the local bar trivia. If you are looking for us, we are the super intense team with the serious game faces.

2) I am a theater nerd. I have been super lucky to have the opportunity to see live theater at a young age (Thanks Dad!). If you check my Ipod you will find a large number of show tunes. I have been known to perform productions in the comfort of my shower, which if I do say so myself are pretty spectacular for a shower production. I keep track of Broadway news and what's going on in the industry.  This love for theater is part of why I did marketing internships in the industry and loved every minute of them. I mean I got to go to an opening night party and see shows for free. Even if I don't work in the industry, I know if I live in NYC I will always go see shows. It's just something I will always love and appreciate. 

3) I love to read. As a regular patron at the local library, I read all kinds of books ranging the different genres from Sci-fi, memoirs, to YA fiction. I love it all. I am a big Jane Austen fan and have read all her novels. (The BBC miniseries of Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth is my favorite movie adaptation. Please marry me Colin Firth!) For anyone who argues that she is boring chick-lit, you obviously miss her witty satirical writing that so effortlessly conveys her confined world where, as a woman, she had no say. I am also a big John Green fan. One of my favorite books of 2012 was The Fault in Our Stars. (I of course watch him and Hank on Youtube. NERDFIGHTERS!) I will probably blog about books that I am currently reading or authors that I love.

4) I am tall, 5' 9" to be exact. Why is this something you should know? My height is something that I never thought about until college. Coming to college people would frequently comment on my height and it made me self-conscious about it. I've heard things like "Well you must have played basketball in high school!" and "Obviously he wasn't checking you out. You're taller than him." Now my friends joke that I have a height complex. That I am suffering from height dysmorphic disorder. I always assume that I am the tallest person in the room even when that is not the case. My height will probably come up in this blog at some point. When I am bothered about something I like to make it into a joke. It's just something that is part of my life and I am known to rant about it.

5) I am a feminist. As someone who only had sisters, I have always been an advocate for girl power. I know feminism has a bad rep for being extreme, but the true root of the word is wanting equality between the genders and that's all I want. I will probably talk on this topic more when current events or things in my life remind me of that we still have to fight for gender equality.

6) I am not a touchy-feely kind of person. I don't like being touched. It's not that I freak out or melt at human contact, but I do avoid it. I don't really hug people and if I do it is a pretty stiff embrace. I never had a pet growing up so I don't really feel connected to animals. I don't wish them harm, but I don't go all fuzzy and warm at the sight of a puppy. I don't cry easily either,  but when I do it's like the scene in Sense and Sensibility when Elinor holds in her emotions the whole book and finally loses it at the end. I am Elinor. I'm all sense, keeping my emotions inside until they explode. My friends joke that I am a robot. Emotions. can. not. compute. (Okay this is making me seem like a sociopath. I love people and I have emotions. I am just not an overly emotional person. I promise, not a sociopath.)

That's all I can think of for now. Now you know a little more about me and who I am. I won't have to explain about my love for theater when I write a blog post on a Broadway show I saw. Or my love for reading when I write about a book I just read.  I won't have to explain anything when I write a post about how much I hate men. And hugs. And baby animals. (Two of the last three topics were jokes. Can you guess which one was serious?)


ANSWER: It's hugs.

Home Sweet Home

One thing that I'm currently happy about it, is that I don't live at home with my family. Right now, I live with two roommates in an apartment in my college town. I debated for a while when I graduated about moving out. Was it stupid financially to leave my rent free house? I decided to take the risk and when I got my internship it made sense because my apartment was much closer commuting into the city. No matter my current bad luck, I am still happy I took the risk. My desire to not live at home has nothing to do with my family. Of course I love my family. I enjoy being home when I visit and I would say I'm pretty close to my family, but it would be a step in the wrong direction for me.

There are two major reasons I decided to take the risk and move out. My hometown is a far distance from all my college friends and most of my high school friends (well, let's be honest. the couple that I still keep in touch with) don't live in the area. Something you need to know about me is that I am a homebody. I will gladly stay in on Friday nights and I usually prefer that to social situations. So if I was home, with most of my friends not around, I would definitely be a shut in. And let's be honest that's a little sad for someone who is supposed to be in the social prime of their 20's.

The second reason is that my hometown is a small town. It is challenging to find jobs in my field in the vicinity. And if my goal is to move to NYC, living in my hometown is far away from everything. It makes going on interviews harder, since I'm not close by. So these two points are what convinced me to take the risk to move out of my family house and live with friends. Well for now anyway. I say that because at any time it could all come crashing down and I will have to return home. I will not relax about this until I have a steady full-time job.

My fear of going home has been particularly strong lately because my lease will be up in two months and my next step is still uncertain. My one roommate is leaving the area to start grad school so she is not interested in renewing our lease or finding new housing. My other roommate and I are considering our options. The problem is that because of the area our landlord wants us to sign a year lease (currently we have a winter rental), but for more money. Also, she only wants two tenants instead of our current three making it way more expensive for us. Since I'm still not sure what's going on in my life I don't think I should make a year commitment. I am applying to jobs all over and I just don't know what's in store for me a year from now. My roommate doesn't want to commit to a year lease either. So we have decided not to renew our current apartment lease. Which is sad because the apartment is really nice and a great location. I mean we've had our problems like finding out that the restaurant downstairs had a key to our apartment which we discovered when they just came in one day (yea I know creepy. And don't worry we quickly had our locks changed), but overall I loved living here. So it's been kind of stressful lately not knowing what's going to happen two months from now. It's so hard to plan something when you have no idea what's happening in your life!

That's why we both decided we wanted  to find a place just for the summer. Now my roommate and I have two options:

1) Look for a summer place in the area together. My roommate doesn't want to share a room so we have to find a two bedroom place, for just the summer, that is affordable. It might be a challenge, but I think we can do it. We've been hesitating looking because both of us really don't want to leave our current apartment, but I think we've finally come to the understanding that it's not happening.

2) My roommate has family in the area so she is thinking about living with them. If she decides to go live with her family, then I will be looking for a room to rent in the area. I have decided that no matter what I am not going home for the summer. I will do everything in my power to not return home. I can live with working at a grocery store, when I want to be doing something using my degree, but I can't live with working at a grocery store and moving back home! Also if I go back home I will have to leave my job and get a job at home which will just be a pain in the butt.

So this is what's been happening in my life. In work news, I saw some guy I went to college with, more of an acquaintance/ friend of a friend, at the grocery store. It was kind of mortifying. He tried to initiate small talk, but it was just awkward. Well that was my day. How was yours?

My Career Past, Present, and Future

Currently, I am working at a grocery store. And let me tell you it is about as fun as it sounds. People are nasty when it comes to their groceries. I have a new respect for the employees where I buy my groceries. I have had weird requests like being told to knot some of a customer’s bags and getting yelled at about which bags to knot. I have had to go over each item in a woman's bill because she couldn't believe she spent $40 on groceries! I had one woman bring a large amount of items to the register and after making me scan them decided she only wanted half of them. I've worked retail jobs before and met my fair share of customers in a bad mood, but this job definitely takes the cake. It amazes me how some people treat workers. Sorry to be prejudice, but I'm looking at you old people. In my experience you are not a very understanding bunch. You are inpatient and feel you can say anything because you are close to meeting the grim reaper.

So yes readers this is what you would call a low point for me. If you had asked me how my life was going during my senior year of college or even this fall I would have answered that I was at a high point. I was excited about my future. I felt like I was making steps toward where I wanted to go. So how did I get here you may ask? Good question. Like all good stories, let's start at the very beginning. A very good place to start. (Yes I did just drop a Sound of Music reference. You got a problem with that?)

My early career endeavors consisted of me working as a hostess at a BBQ restaurant and a sales associate at Polo Ralph Lauren. Both jobs were OK. A good way to make money and learn the value of working. They were typical high school part-time jobs.

Every summer I returned home from college, I worked as a sales associate at a resort. This job was probably my favorite out of my part-time jobs. I liked the people I worked with and it was great to know every summer I could return.

During college, I decided that what I wanted to do with the rest of my life was work in Public Relations/ Marketing. I liked that PR and marketing had a creative element to it, unlike Finance and Accounting. I liked that the field is constantly changing thanks to social media. It's young and fresh with so many options for me to go professionally. My classes were interesting and I felt that I was good at it. My school had a PR club which I joined. During my senior year I held a leadership position on the club's eboard.

Senior year I knew I needed to set myself up in a good place when I graduated and get some professional experience. I am a big advocate for doing internships. It gives you something to put on your resume, you learn a lot, and it allows you to see if this is a something you would like to do for the rest of your life. My first internship was in the fall of my senior year. I worked as the marketing intern at a local non-profit theater. I loved it. I love theater, so this internship was a perfect match for me. It was a very small company. I worked directly with the executive producer. There was no marketing department. I created Facebook pages for the different productions at the theater and helped promote the theater to college students and veterans.

After this great experience, I knew I wanted to do another internship in marketing and continue working in the theater industry. This time I set my sights to NYC. In the spring of my senior year, I worked at an off-Broadway theater in the city. It was definitely a bigger theater than my last internship. Working with the marketing department, I learned a lot about HTML, social media and researching and planning events. I got to attend some pretty cool events like a benefit for the theater and an opening night party. Highlights were having my picture taken on the red carpet and seeing my name in a Playbill.

As the end of college drew near, I knew so did the end of my summer job at the resort. I wanted to get a job in my career field and put my degree to use.  After having no success in my job search, I decided to do another internship. During the fall after graduation, I worked as the marketing intern at the trade association for the Broadway industry. This was the biggest company I had worked for so far. It gave me a completely different look at the industry. I got to attend departmental meetings and occasionally present the different projects I was working on. They have a really great intern program. Every Friday all the interns would get together and have a seminar with a different department head. It was a great way to learn about all the different departments and get a feel of all aspects of the company. It also was a great way to get to know my fellow interns. While I worked there, I got a second job at Barnes & Noble as a seasonal sales associate. I love books so this job was a fun place to be when I wasn't working at my internship.

I loved all three of my internships and wouldn't trade the experience I got from them, but come January I was jobless with no idea what my next step was. During the fall I was so happy and confident! I was doing what I wanted to be doing and I could visualize my future. I loved dressing up in business attire and commuting into the city (yes that's how much I liked what I was doing). I liked going to work! How many people can say that?

And here we are back to today where I am working at a grocery store. Don't take this sad tone to be me giving up. Oh it's quite the opposite. I am avidly applying to jobs. The job search is something I do daily. And I have gotten plenty of interviews, yet nothing seems to come from it. On the bright side, I've gotten pretty good at interviews. I even got an email talking about it. And I quote "We must have met 25 candidates and you stood out to us as someone who was poised, mature, well-spoken, intelligent, curious, and diligent. While we have decided to hire a different candidate for this position right now, I wanted to wish you the best of you luck in your continued search." So I mean it was nice to hear that my interview style is good, but it still sucked to not get the job. A very bitter sweet email. And even though working at a grocery store isn't what I had in mind for myself I feel like I am getting something out of this time in my life. I will hopefully look back at this moment and laugh. I mean you're supposed to be struggling and terrified in your 20's right?! It's teaching me a lot about myself and if working part-time jobs for minimum wage doesn't give you an appreciation for people I don't know what will? This is all a part of my journey. (Sometimes I'm not this positive so enjoy this optimism while it lasts.)

So we covered the past, present, now on to the future! What are my plans for the future? Below I give you my goal list. This is definitely a long term list and is open to changes. I'm not expecting everything right away. So here it is. My Goal List (in no particular order):

- Live in a major city (Preferably New York City)   
-GET A FULL TIME JOB, UTILIZING MY DEGREE, WITH BENEFITS LIKE AN ADULT!!!! (Does the all caps show my desperation?)
-Work in the theater industry

That's it so far. The big three. Overall all I just want is to be happy. I want to like going to work every day. As long as I can find that I will be grateful. But until then, would you like your groceries double bagged?

 

 

 

Better Late Than Never

Well I'm off to a rocky start of BEDA (Blog Every Day in April). I was so excited how I perfectly timed the start of this blog with BEDA. After my first post, I decided that doing BEDA would be a great way to get in the habit of writing. This blog can't become like my discarded diaries! And what do I go and do?! I miss the first day. THE FIRST DAY! It's not even like I missed a day after doing this for a while. I didn't even start yet!

So, I figure I owe you my excuses why I missed the first day of BEDA. Then you can see for yourself that I'm obviously not at fault:

1) I went home for Easter and I didn't bring my laptop (ignore the fact that my family owns a computer) so I couldn't post anything. Besides, I was busy bonding with my family and celebrating the resurrection of Christ. (And by celebrate the resurrection of Christ I mean watching The Ten Commandments. The two things I took away from the movie was the over-the-top acting and that the term burning bush is hilarious. *Insert STD joke here*) You can't argue with that. Jesus is a trump card. So it is written, so it shall be done.

2) I didn't post on purpose! It was my April Fools joke to the world. Ha, April Fools everybody. Whew, I got you good. (Don't ask me to explain the joke. I pranked you. End of story.)

3) I didn't realize April had begun. Easter was really early this year so I was all mixed up. Time has been flying by and I just couldn't believe we were already in April. Where did March go?!

So there you go. All three very valid reasons why I didn't post yesterday. Pick your favorite or believe it was a mix of all three. As long as you agree that it's definitely not my fault.

I promise to be better the rest of the month. Pinky swear. I'm going to blog the hell out of this month.

[AFTER NOTE: I just realized that I am typing this blog after midnight so technically it is April 3rd and I missed two days....From THIS day, April 3rd, I promise to BEDA. So it is written, so it shall be done.]