Monday, September 8, 2008

The 8 Irresistible Principles of Fun

While stumbling the other day (Don't know what stumble is? Read one of my older posts) I came across a site with a flash video called, "The 8 Irresistible Principles of Fun." Followed by the link below, which I suggest that you check out so you have some understanding as to what I'm talking about, are my comments about the video. It is very funny that I stumbled this site since I've been doing a lot of self examination as of late.

http://www.eightprinciples.com/

Personally I enjoy having fun. In fact I at least hope most people do. I feel that if you did a survey about the fun people have in their lives there would be a vast majority of people that don't feel like they have enough fun. The video points out that "It's not absolutely necessary that you have fun...but life it better when you do!" Now this a a phrase that I could definitely live my life by. I try to have as much fun as possible, because when I'm not having fun I feel that life sucks. I think that's why I could never be one of those people that does a job that they hate just because they can make a lot of money doing it. I have a few close friends that are in or are going into professions that will earn them a shitload of money, but they hater and honestly I feel bad for them. I mean its not that they bad people at all I just feel that they have so much to offer the world and that they shouldn't be sitting behind a desk in the corner office. But, hey that's their call not mine.

1. Stop hiding who you really are...I don't really feel that I need to go in depth with this. I am who I am and that's all that I am. A very wise woman I met recently put it like this, "I don't have any flies around me and all of my skeletons are out of the closet."

2. Start being intensely selfish. Pay attention to the things that mean the most to you. Think about "the legacy you want to leave." With my life in a bit of a spiral (upward or downward have yet to be decided.) I've been thinking a lot about the important people lately. The ones I can't live without that ones that mean something to me. I'm trying more and more to keep in contact with. I'm tired of sitting around waiting for people to keep me around. I want to keep people around. I decide who stays in my life and no one else.

3. Stop following the rules. Well, this is something that I'm a bit of an expert at. Don't get me wrong, I follow the big shit. I mean I'm not going out shooting people and robbing banks. But every once in a while you've gotta let loose and if that means breaking some rules then so be it.

When I was young I had a lot of rules to follow, which were thrust up me by my controlling mother. I've been slowly breaking away from those rules as time has gone by. Since I recently moved out I've nearly broken free...and I feel great!

4. Start scaring yourself. Be adventurous. Be outrageous. Do the unthinkable. Check. I'm doing ti right now! I'm in the midst of an adventure I call love. It just started and I plan it going on for a long time. I'm working towards my dreams by applying to grad school and taking a job in a place I knew zero, nil, nothing about definitely qualifies as scaring myself. (Side note: they never said that these things were suppose to be good ideas.)

5. Stop taking it all so damn seriously. Okay so this is something I struggle with. I always have. I take things I do seriously mainly because everything that I do matters to me. The people I deal with (okay not all of them), the things I do, it all matters to me. Somethings shouldn't but they do. I guess its just who I am.

6. Start getting rid of the crap. Oh the crap. Everybody's got crap. Baggage. Skeletons. Whatever you want to call it get rid of it. Its hard. Trust me I know. I have only recently been able to get rid of a few things that have been bogging me down. But let me tell you I feel a hell of a lot better, and you will too if you just let it happen.

Like I said, I recently got rid of somethings. One of these things was a person that just was a pain in my ass. She was not a good person and the only way she made herself feel better was to put others down. I dealt with her shit to keep the air clear for the mutual friends we shared. Now that I have moved to a new place I don't need to deal with her issues. And if I'm ever around and she pulls the same crap. I can tell her what I feel. I'm done with it. And it makes me feel better.

7. Stop being busy. Alright now, this one I just can't follow. I enjoy being busy. The people and things that are important to me get the time and attention they deserve. That's all that matters to me.

8. Start Something. Right now I'm starting a lot of things. A new job. A new place to live. Applying to grad school. Trying to accomplish my goals. Name something and I'll start it. While I'm kinda freaked out about starting my "new life" I'm ready for the challenge and I'm starting to have fun with it. And isn't that the point of it all anyway?

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Let's begin it on This

Below is something I wrote within the last year. When I write my book I want to make it the introduction because I feel it gives the reader a little bit of information about who I am and how I write. So I hope you enjoy it. Please leaves comments and let me know what you think.

I can't write in my room. I don't know why but I just can't. There are too many distractions. Between AIM, the people that live in my hallway, my iTunes, and all the shit I have covering my walls. (Not that I think it's shit, but its what most people categorize it as. Posters, random things I've collected over the years, tickets from plays, concerts, and the movies, cards, photos of friends both old and new, I could go on and on.) Writing in my room is down right impossible. So, I moved.

Now I'm sitting in Group 1, a large building on campus made of nothing but concrete and hair. I sit in a gody semi-modern ugly chair. The shades of purple and orange in the shapes of circles within squares are distracting and at the same time completely easy two tune out of my vision. That’s what I attempt to do while writing, tune out the world around me. This is very difficult to do because it is so hard to find a place that has just the right level of noise and at the same time has few other distractions in the immediate area.

The best places to write I find are locations that don't allow me to touch anything, someplace where I'm not 100% comfortable to do whatever I want. A place that if I get and pace around the room I look like a crazy person. If I'm in my room I'll get up and pace and dance. If I'm in my room I'm usually sitting around in my underwear. I'm not a big fan of clothes. They're constricting, but once I take them off I'm too comfortable which causes me not to want to write or not concentrate on writing.

I also need a place where I don't have things to play with. My desk in my own space has too many toys on it. I swear I'm like the biggest little kid you'll ever meet. I've got Slinky's, Silly Putty, a hamster that dances to “I'm too Sexy,” tons of photos that I've flipped through so many times its difficult to see through the finger prints on them, and a billion other work delaying junk.

Out of all the clutter on my desk the bottle caps are what distracted me the most. They're everywhere. Between the beer I illegally drink to get the creative process started and my spontaneous collecting of them I would guess that I have around 300 of them. To pass the procrastinating time I usually build things with them. Little bottle cap houses frequent my desk and usually exist until the door slams hard enough to shake the surrounding area. I also make necklaces and earrings out of the bottle caps, so when trying to writing I usually have my little pick in hand to puncture small holes in the tops to I can string fishing line and hooks into them. I made these really bad ass red music note earrings that I finished the other day. The other day I had a beer from the bench warmer's brewery and the cap was a baseball. I'm working on making that into a necklace.

Anyway, as I sit here slouched down in my chair, my feet propped up on another hideous looking monstrosity of furniture. My eyes begin to wander off of my computer screen and people watching becomes my current distraction. Although there aren't many people in the hallway the ones that are seem so interesting. The first to walk by is a relatively tall guy wearing a navy blue t-shirt. His right arm was covered with a tattoo that I couldn't make out from the distance between us. He had white headphones in. I assume he was listening to an iPod. He walked in a hurried manner with a long stride. As he passed me I thought, “I wonder if he's good in bed?” Today was definitely one of those days when you're so horny that you look at people passing by that you find attractive and the first thought in your mind is if they'd be a good sex partner. If you're thinking that I'm the only person who feels this way you're wrong. I know a bunch of people that admit to doing the same thing. I mean it's not like I act on any of these horny questions, they're just thoughts. Besides I'm sure people think things way worse than this.

I've been sitting here for about two hours now zoning in and out of my word filled wonderland, and just like Alice I'm lost and have no idea where I'm going. When I sit down to write something whether it be a paper for a class or something I come up with myself I just wing it. I mean obviously there is some sort of thought behind it, but there's really no process to it. I don't really tons have ideas and plans when I first state, I just go. I'm sure most of my English professors would scold me for not having a plan going into it, but whatever, they can suck it. It’s my writing not theirs and when I get a bad ass book deal then they'll realize that although it may not seem like it, there is a method to my madness.

In fact, my madness is what makes me the type of writer that I am. With my brain constantly darting from one topic to the next it gives me witty side thoughts to add to my writing and by putting these on that page it gets my reader into my head. Maybe even a little further in my head than some people would like to travel. But I feel that everyone should go places that they find uncomfortable because by going outside of your comfort zone it helps you to grow as a person. There’s one person in my life that I try to help do this all of the time.

Her name is Lila. Lila works with me as an RA (Resident Assistant) in the building that I am the ARD (Assistant Resident Director) for. This year is her first year as an RA and when I first met her she was ridiculously quiet. She’s still pretty quiet if you don’t know her, but not around me anymore. I always push her out of her comfort zone, and while sometimes I know she hates me for it, most times she learns from the experiences she has because of it. Don’t worry you’ll hear more about Lila in some of my later readings…hopefully.


Writing! Must write something worth reading…but what does that really mean? How do you categorize what is and is not worth reading and who gets to make that call? Why wouldn’t someone want to just read about my thoughts? In the past I have found myself constantly worrying about what other people will think about my writing. Recently, I have come to the conclusion that I’m going to write about whatever that fuck I want and if people don’t like it, well; it doesn’t really matter does it. It would be fantastic if people did, but at the end of the day I’ll be okay if I’m not on the New York Times best seller list.

One day all the meaningless nothings that I write done will become something incredible. All of the slips of paper that I have written on, everything I've ever scribble in a notebook during class, and all of the random napkins and other scraps that I have scribed on will be used. All of it will become part of something amazing that I will have created, and this will be the start of it. This random writing that doesn't mean too much, but is merely a glimpse into my continuously roaming mind while I write, will be the first thing people read when they pick up my first book. They’ll pick it up and get a fantastic look deep into my strange and interesting thoughts.

So on that note, I hope you enjoy what I have written. This book has taken years and to get to this point I have been to hell and back. Okay maybe not hell, but definitely to limbo and back. These are my thoughts on life. I’m not saying they’re right or wrong, just that this is what I think and what I have learned from my experiences in the past 21 years.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

A new job, a new city, and a whole new me?

So here's the deal as I have graduated from college it seemed like I should get a job that didn't involve me supervising 15 year olds and smelling like fried seafood at the end of every night. I started applying for jobs a few weeks after I moved back in with my parents, which, I'm not going to lie was even more of a motivation to get a new job. I trolled website after website. I'm not lying when I tell you this, I checked higheredjobs.com and studentaffairs.com about 5 times a day to see if there were new postings. On top of that I'm wonderful Wesley did the same. Frequently giving me URLs for jobs I already applied for or ones I was in the process of applying for. (Seriously, how cute is he?)

Anyway, around the second week in August I got a phone call from Becker College in Worcester asking if I would like to have a phone interview with them. Umm, yeah, duh? Well one thing led to another and before I knew it I was loading up my car and trucking to Worcester. I moved into an empty Residence Hall/Old House. Into an apartment with no furniture and I was scared out of my mind.

I will have been here for a week as of tomorrow, and I still don't know how I feel about. I've been lucky enough to have Wes, who has been through the same situation...except he was 4,000 miles from home (He's from Ohio) in Alaska and I'm an hour and a half. I've had a really tough time here getting used to the a city I know absolutely nothing about. It took me 2 hours to find the fucking Target the other day!!! Seriously, who the fuck does that? I do!

On top of all that I've been contemplating a few things. I mean, ok so in College I was Eve the RA, Company Manager of the Theatre Company, the person in charge of organizing so many things. People knew who I was and they knew if I was involved with something it would at least be organized. At times I felt like a go to person. Here, I don't know anyone. I don't know anything. Hell, I don't even know which direction to drive in to find Stop & Shop! I'm starting all over again. For me going to college was as easy as pie. I knew it was too easy for me in the beginning. I'm paying for it now. I'm not a fucking adult! Ok, sometimes I am. I don't know what I like the least about not being a college student: Not being around my friends or Not being involved with everything I could ever want to be.

I know its just going to take some time to adjust, but I feel like its going to be a long process. Ok maybe not too long, but I have a feeling that I'll at least last until I get a bed to sleep on.