Second-Hand Dreams

Where HAS the time gone? It's escaping way too quickly. Tomorrow is the first day of the summer semester for me, so I'm a bit anxious, I'll admit. Going back to school still kind of puts my nerves in a tailspin, even all of these years after kindergarden. And it doesn't help that the one class I'm taking this summer is astronomy. WHEN AM I GONNA HAVE TO KNOW ABOUT OUTERSPACE?? (probably on one of the many days that the world is supposed to end, 2012 at the latest, as a kamikaze meteroid destroys the planet).

I went to Barnes & Noble recently to find a good book (something I rarely have time to do anymore, but I was persuaded by a gift card I received), and I randomly found a book called Stiff, the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, by Mary Roach. I'm sure the book's subject and my interest in it reflects poorly on my character, but I'm willing to take that risk. I've always had an interest in pathology and forensics, so this book had me hooked. Roach discusses her visits to cadaver disections, body farms, crash test labs, and the likes where she discovers what happens as bodies decompose and also what happens as a body undergoes traumatic experiences like fires and crashes. Morbid, yeah? It's written in a very honest, comedic, yet respectful way, and I think that's what I like most about it. Anyway, check it out, or don't. I won't judge you either way, girl scouts' honor.

I've done a lot of thinking lately, and I've realized that I put myself down quite frequently for just about everything. I have often avoided my passions because I didn't consider myself "good enough" at them. I'm not a big fan of the phrase "Follow your dreams" because it's painfully cliché, but it's a concept of been toying with for the past couple of days. Specifically, I've realized the extent of my love for things vintage, antique, and ecclectic. Just today I spent an hour and a half at the thrift store (before 9am. Early bird gets the ceramic worm from 1967, right?). That wouldn't be so crazy had I not gone to the thrift store the day before as well. But I was eager to find some projects to work on, so I went back to look at everything with fresh eyes and a new perspective. I found some incredibly unusual items, and I can't wait to jazz them up.
Here's some of my favorite items I've found on past second-hand adventures:



Hopefully I will have some pictures up of the before and after photos of today's purchases. We shall see.


"I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're going and hook up with them later."
-Mitch Hedberg

Motivational Speaker Services

Since I do not work until the fall semester and thus have free-time, I'm currently offering my services as a motivational speaker. I also tell knock-knock jokes and point out your friends' flaws to make you feel better about yourself.

For more details, contact me.

One-Hundred Followers and a Comic

Slowly, but surely, this blog has reached 100 bloggers as of 6:30 this morning. Wooo! Even better than the number, I took a look at the stats of visitors, and I noticed that there is some major diversity among everyone. I love it. This means we can talk about interesting topics and get some different, but enlightening input.

This week, I've learned so much about myself (not all positive realizations, but they needed to surface), and I'm going to take the information and use it to better myself. Without going into major detail, I've basically come to grips with the fact that I am insecure about myself and that I owe it to myself to silence the negative thoughts that enter my mind. Don't get me wrong -- I generally like who I am and don't go around blatantly putting myself down, but I have a tendency to belittle myself and feel inferior to others. I know, I know, everyone feels that way sometimes, but it shouldn't keep a person from meeting new people or avoiding certain social situations. I don't exactly have a social anxiety disorder since I do go out a good bit and don't completely avoid people, but I have those tendencies. Which is probably why I blog, lol.

I've also realized this week that I have a lot of uncommon interests/hobbies. Normally, I try to downplay my nerdiness, but I think it's time to embrace my idiosyncrasies.
For starters, I know more about psychology than any non-major should. I love learning about why people think, speak, and act they way they do (which is also why I love anthropology).
I like to analyze poetry.
I have been crocheting and knitting since I was seven, and I have just taken up couponing to save my hard earned cash for my own place. Old lady alert! I am one FOXY GRANDMA. I think that would make a nice bumper sticker. When I qualify for seniors' discount, I want a foxy granny bumper sticker for my car. Or maybe I'll put one up now.
Oh, today, I went to the thrift store today (another weird thing about me, I love the thrift store!) and got some awesome things to decorate my room. I'm going with a shabby-chic, woodland, earthy, organic theme. I have a small obsession with mushrooms (the cute ones for decor. Not the other type. I always get weird looks when I say I love mushrooms) and owls (again, cute ones. Not the creepy, "Ima gonna snatch you up with muh talons" owls). I shall post pictures later of my finds.
And now, I leave you with a cartoon I drew a week or two ago when I was super bored.

The Panhandling Panda-Handler:


Oh, just a reminder, if you don't want to have to keep checking your Blogger dashboard for new posts (I hate looking through the long list constantly), you can subscribe to my feed via email (see far right side module). I've never actually subscribed to anyone's blogs through email, so I don't know how clear the format is. If you do use it, lemme know if there is anything you would like for me to change and I will see if there is a way to customize it. Thanks!

Hodge Podge: Fish, Tornado, Coupons

Greetings,

I have an exciting announcement. The boyfriend showed me how to fish, and after a couple of minutes I caught my first fish! I'm sorry, that's not terribly exciting, but I was ecstatic because the boyfriend and his dad fish all the time and win competitions and stuff. Now I can say that I fish too. I'm practically a pro. I still won't touch the fish after I catch them, though. Slimy things with beady little eyes make me skittish.
I also caught a branch, but it wasn't as impressive.

Stream of consciousness, GOOO: A tornado rudely slashed through my town last week. Crazy stuff. The last storm (which was about two weeks ago) brought about a tornado that did not touch down, but it did rip through my neighborhood and dump a tree on my house (minor damage, no one was hurt). The more recent storm sent a massive tornado about ten miles from my house, and it leveled a huge part of this town (we could see it from my house. My mom went upstairs to watch it from my brother's window. Best place during a tornado? Not upstairs or by a window). We are in a major college town in Alabama and we received an insane amount of damage, so the media has gone crazy over covering the story. It's kind of annoying, actually. My Facebook exploded with a bunch of statuses about how everyone was volunteering and donating. Just a tip, self-promoting the fact that you volunteered or donated is super irritating. To me, at least. I could just stay off Facebook since it gets on my nerves so badly, right? WRONG. Facebook has wrapped my little attention span around it's finger and won't let go unless I promise it my first born child. I would, but I've already promised it to the oil industry.
Wow. Somebody's got a bunch of built up ill-feelings. I didn't mean for that rant to be so long, and in fact, I have more to say on that subject, but I'll close the lid on the matter.

Have you seen Extreme Couponing? It's my guilty pleasure show, and I'm falling victim to couponing. It requires the perfect amount of detailed obsession and a fine-toothed comb of iron. Most people would cringe at the thought of clipping, sorting, making lists, checking them twice, stockpiling, etc, but I'm just the uptight white girl for the job.

I'm definitely working on not being so uptight. Since I finished school (first year of college down for the count, babyyyy), I have embraced this notion of "nothing to do" and have tried my hand at fun things. It's been quite a long time since I've done nothing but unproductive, yet fun, things.

So, I've taken a look at the blogs of those of you who have so kindly commented, and I'm loving all of these thoughts and poems that are being produced. I've also noticed that many people are new bloggers and, generally, about to start or have recently started college. If you guys have any questions about blogging and/or/but not limited to college, definitely throw them my way. I can't give a supreme answer over all other answers and reveal hidden insights about life, but I can surely give my opinion and share with you how I deal/dealt with things. And, if it's pretty applicable to most people, I just might incorporate it in a blogpost.

Now go and hug yo mamma and tell her happy mamma's day. Or, go hug someon else's mamma and tell them that they are the best someone else's mamma ever.

I'm Decluttering and Slowing Down

After reading some enlightening posts from Zen Habits and Institute of Not Doing Much, I've resolved to slowing down, take time to get lost in activities I enjoy, and rid my room of unnecessary "stuff". Everyday, from the moment I wake up until the moment I collapse on my bed, I try to cram as many productive things into the day as possible. I've always valued efficiency and productivity, which are two inherently positive traits to have, but at the end of the day I'm not satisfied. I always undermine the day's accomplishments and convince myself that I could have done more or spent my time more wisely. Simply put, that's moronic and masochistic thinking. You'd think that I could stop doing something I know is stupid and harmful.
Now that school has ended (prematurely because of the horrific tornadoes that swept through my community) and I don't have to work again until next semester, I will have insane amounts of free time. And for me, it would probably be easier if I just poured salt in my eyes or shoveled a spoonfull of cinnamon in my mouth than have to deal with all of that down time. But I'm determined to do several things within the next few weeks that will, hopefully, reduce the amount of stress I create for myself and let me enjoy the simple things in life once again. The list:
1. Read a book, and don't just skim through it. Really absorb it.
2. Wait until everyone is out of the house, then turn my music up loud and belt out my favorite songs. I LOVE singing (just not so much when other people are around).
3. Practice doing nothing. Yes, I have to practice this. It's insanely difficult for me to "waste time"
4. Declutter my room. Out with old, ill-fitting clothes. Rearrange/get rid of the furniture so that it's simplistic and functional. Etc.
5. Declutter my Facebook. This one is big. I can't muster up the courage to delete it altogether because it does come in handy sometimes, but I shouldn't have to look at my friend's list and ask, "How the heck do I know this punk?" Also, those kids from my old schools that didn't even talk to me when we had classes together? De-friended. Shwang.

That's a good starter list, I think. What would you put on your list? Or are you already laid-back and need to make a to-do list to get things done?