Monday, February 28, 2011

Technology Makes Me Anxious

Location: Radio Station Recording Booth
Listening to: Brad talk about baseball with some guys
Mood: Antsy


Well, hello there Blogosphere. How's it going today? What are you all up to?

I've been having another anxious day, which has gotten me thinking a lot about stress. I know this is what I talked about last time, but it's been on my mind a lot lately.

Does anyone else feel like technology, while helpful, just adds to the amount of stress we have in our lives? I mean, don't get me wrong. I love the internet. I love television. I love my car. But with all of these things come obligations. I have to update my blog. I should really make a new YouTube video. I don't have enough readers/viewers. I'm going to miss my favorite show tonight. I'm frustrated at these characters' decisions. I need gas. I need to fix my transmission. And the list goes on.

Sometimes I just wish I could go back to a time just a little bit more simple. Maybe before the internet had been invented. I am a Facebook addict, and I feel like that only fuels my stress. I feel like if I'm not on 24/7, I'm going to miss something crucial and important. When I see friends status updates that are about things they do that don't involve me, I get kind of petty and worry about why I wasn't invited. Things like that that don't seem significant really add on to the already huge amount of things I unnecessarily worry about.

There are so many little things in life that I never thing affect me, but end up just irking me enough to make me anxious. For those of you who don't know, I've had anxiety for about the past year and a half. It doesn't bother me often, but when it does, the effects are physical. I get a fast or weird heartbeat or strange breathing or shaky. None of which are exactly fun.

Well, stress. It's a factor. It's something to live with and deal with and get over. I hope all of you are having unstressful days!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Dear Weekend - Please Come Soon

Location: Dorm Desk
Listening to: "I'll Take That As A Yes (The Hot Tub Song)" - Phil Vassar
Mood: Stressed




When I googled "stressed photograph", almost every result was a person with a constipated expression putting their hand on their forehead or pulling their hair and screaming. I liked this one much better.

Well, folks, it's been a week. I am so ready for it to be the weekend and not having to do anything...except, I just realized this weekend will be busy, too. Ugh.

Last weekend, I went home to visit my family. Which was great. Except, I got a bad hair cut and the weather got all snowy and I ended up not being able to drive back to school until Tuesday because the roads sucked, so I missed work and classes and yesterday was another extraordinarily busy day (class, radio, lunch buddy, class, studying, class, meeting more of Brad's friends) and today I had a test. I am ready for a break.

Little things keep annoying me. Like, my roommate is in a metals art class and she has taken to bringing her projects back to our room to file down. Which wouldn't be terrible, except the copper dust totally irritates my throat and eyes and it makes our room smell all metallic which makes me kind of nauseous, but when I asked her if there was somewhere else she could do that, her solution was filing into a different bag instead of our garbage can so the filings wouldn't stink up our room. Except, they still do.

Whatever. I'll deal with it.

How do you guys deal with stress? I always try a million different things like drinking tea and reading and napping and just trying to relax, but it never seems to work. I think part of the reason is that sharing a 12x12 room with another person is just constantly stressing me out. Any tips or suggestions?

Friday, February 18, 2011

Never Poke A Sleeping Badger

Location: Couch (home)
Listening to: My computer whirr. And South Park.
Mood: Patriotic



Have you all heard about what's going on in Wisconsin? Governor Scott Walker is trying to impose a new budget bill that would essentially get rid of Wisconsin unions negotiating rights and raise the amount government employees would have to contribute to their own pensions and health care. Supposedly taking money away from state employees will help to lift Wisconsin out of debt without having to cut jobs.

Maybe this just strikes a nerve with me because I'm from that part of the country or because I have more democratic leanings or because I just think Scott Walker is a douchebag, but there have to be better ways to solve this problem.

Admittedly, I never really paid much attention to politics until I voted for the first time. It was then that I decided I should start keeping an eye on things and doing my research so I didn't make a decision while voting that could ultimately aide in screwing something over. And admittedly, I'm not entirely sure what the full implication of this bill would be. But I don't like it.

I feel like there has to be a better way for Wisconsin to level it's debts than taking more money from professions that do so much to give back and get so little in return. Take teachers, for example. Teachers in most public school systems get paid next to nothing. They take these jobs because they love teaching and they love their students, not because they're going to make extraordinary amounts of cash. Without teachers, we would all be illiterate and ignorant about so much.

I also feel like taking away unions rights to collective bargaining is in no way going to help anything. I don't understand how making it easier for companies to exploit workers and making it more difficult for the employees to stand up for their rights is going to save anyone money. Taking away the rights for union members to negotiate things besides wages just seems like a cowardly way to try and control people.

One of the main pillars of American society is the concept of freedom. Unions are a direct result of that freedom. Unions make give average citizens the power to have a say in their fate. Instead of being helpless at the hands of companies that could take advantage of them, they can negotiate their terms and fight what once would have been inevitable.

If Walker wants to make these drastic changes, he should put it to a vote. Not by the government of Wisconsin, but by it's people. Everyone who it's going to affect should get a say. And it will affect everyone in the state.

I am so proud of the Wisconsinites who are currently peacefully protesting at their capitol. I'm glad that the democratic leaders from other states are standing up for the Wisconsin dems and giving their support. I hope that these things will bring the change that the citizens of Wisconsin are looking for.

I also hope this will change the way politics work in our country. It seems that every political party is so invested in itself and it's own personal goals that they refuse to see when and where they are wrong and fail to compromise when it would seriously benefit them. Hopefully this will open people's eyes and make them see that if everyone is just looking out for themselves, nothing will ever get accomplished.

KILL THE BILL!




Friday, February 11, 2011

Lobster!

Location: Dorm desk
Listening to: Some obnoxious TV church show
Mood: Happy
Snickers Bars Eaten: Too many. Way too many.




This is my all time favorite picture. I am so excited I actually have a reason to post it. Is it cruel that when I have children, I want to dress them up like that for Halloween? Because I find food costumes for babies really, really adorably hilarious.

Anyway, last night was pretty great. I've had a really busy week. Monday I had classes, work, and my radio show with Brad. Tuesday I had classes, work, and a meeting for the radio station. Wednesday I had classes, my solo radio show, my Big Brothers Big Sisters lunch buddy thing, and then more classes. So life was pretty hectic.

Yesterday, I had classes and work, and then Brad and I went to his friend Seth's for dinner. It was kind of a double date with Brad's friends Seth and Whitney. They all work together and I guess he talks a lot about me, so they both wanted to meet me. So we went over there and hung out with them. I was really, really shy, but Seth and Whitney would ask me stuff to get me to talk, and every once in a while I would chime in with something by myself.

For dinner, Seth made fresh lobster, which was really good. I'd never had lobster before (save for one bite of someone's leftovers one time), but I love seafood. It was really messy, but it was a lot of fun. And then there was homemade raspberry and lemon curd tarts for dessert. Which were delicious. I love raspberries, so I was totally happy with the food choice.

It was really nice to meet some more of Brad's friends, though. All of the one's I've met have been really nice to me, which is cool, because I'm usually painfully shy around new people, especially ones who I really want to like me. And I really want his friends to like me.

I can't wait until he can meet some of my friends. He's planning on coming up to my hometown over Spring Break to meet my family and some of my friends. A few of my guy friends have already added him on Facebook and stuff and talk to him a lot, so I'm pretty sure they'll get along well. I'm excited.

Well, that's really all I have to say for now. I hope you guys are all having a nice week!

Friday, February 4, 2011

Snow Day!

Location: Dorm Desk
Listening to: L.A. Beach Bum by Subb
Mood: Alright



I want this ring. So badly. I just love everything about it. It's symbolic (a knot tied around your finger so you don't forget something) and pretty and just nice.

Anyway. This past week, my college had a snow day! I was so, so, so excited. The initials for my high school were D.C.E. and people always joked that it stood for "Doesn't Close Ever". It could be negative forty degrees and white-out snow and they'd still make us show up for class.

But my first winter at college and BAM - classes cancelled! We had a blizzard earlier this week. Maybe you heard about it? A lot of the midwest got smacked with this huge storm and we got lots of snow and wind and apparently driving sucked and the snow drifts were HUGE!!! So Wednesday they didn't make us attend anything school-related. Which was awesome. It meant I got to spend the whole day lounging around and hanging out with Brad, which is definitely how I prefer to spend my days.

This weekend I'm going to be working on a project for my mom. My mom owns a video production company and wants to make a documentary about kids who grow up in houses where methamphetamine is used and what these kids go through because their parents are using drugs. Anyway, they already made one version for a client and now she wants to make her own version for film festivals and such, but she needed me to go through the footage and pick new clips and a new order and stuff since she has the other one locked into her mind.

So, that's what I'll be doing with my free time. It'll be so fun and not depressing at all...

What are you going to do with this weekend? Let me know in the comments!