So I got a new queen-sized bed, a headboard, and I reinvented my room entirely. It looks pretty good so far. I still need to hang a few pictures, and re-arrange a few random things here and there, but for the most part it's coming together really nicely.
I'll put up pictures eventually.
Class is still taking over my life, along with work. But this summer is gonna be filled with a ton of things to occupy my time, so I doubt i'll have a ton of time to post more blogs than usual. So yeah. Have a nice day.
Thought I'd give a quick update. :-)
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Terms of Endearment
I really don't know what it is, but I can't stand it when people call me by an endearing term. "Baby" "Sweety" "Honey" "Love" - any of them. It bothers me to no end.
I think that maybe I have some kind of inferiority complex about it. I see "baby" as belittling. Like I'm a weak-minded, naiive girl who can't think for herself without a male counterpart. That's the feminist in me I guess. I mean, I know that no one ever means it that way. And generally people call me those things to be nice, or polite, or whatever else. But I feel like I don't need that comfort. It's not comforting to me.
A friend of mine was helping me through a rough patch. And he wouldn't stop calling me by those things. It was his way of "comforting me" or "being there" or something. But all it did was tick me off. I ended up telling him so, and I hope I didn't hurt his feelings, because he's a good friend. But when everything is kind of complicated, and out of whack, I'd rather just be called by my name. I don't need the sweet talk. Just give it to me straight up.
Another thing about it all, is that I associate it with some kind of romantic or relationship status. When my relations with someone are far from, or no where close to a "relationship" or anything in terms of romance, that's just going to make me uncomfortable. I hate discomfort. Especially when it's unnecessary.
But really. I don't need it. I don't want it. I'm weird, I know. But just call me Abby. Please. lol
I think that maybe I have some kind of inferiority complex about it. I see "baby" as belittling. Like I'm a weak-minded, naiive girl who can't think for herself without a male counterpart. That's the feminist in me I guess. I mean, I know that no one ever means it that way. And generally people call me those things to be nice, or polite, or whatever else. But I feel like I don't need that comfort. It's not comforting to me.
A friend of mine was helping me through a rough patch. And he wouldn't stop calling me by those things. It was his way of "comforting me" or "being there" or something. But all it did was tick me off. I ended up telling him so, and I hope I didn't hurt his feelings, because he's a good friend. But when everything is kind of complicated, and out of whack, I'd rather just be called by my name. I don't need the sweet talk. Just give it to me straight up.
Another thing about it all, is that I associate it with some kind of romantic or relationship status. When my relations with someone are far from, or no where close to a "relationship" or anything in terms of romance, that's just going to make me uncomfortable. I hate discomfort. Especially when it's unnecessary.
But really. I don't need it. I don't want it. I'm weird, I know. But just call me Abby. Please. lol
Monday, May 14, 2007
My Favorite Flower
Ok, so I figured out what my favorite flower is: the Chrysanthemum, daisy: meaning fidelity. In some countries of Europe and Spain, chrysanthemums are symbolic of death and are only used during funerals to put on the grave. Wow, not a pleasant fact... I may re-evaluate my favorite flower. Ha, no just kidding. It's still my favorite.
They were titled the official flower in the state of Chicago in 1966. It's also the flower of November. (Good old Wikipedia) It's in the daisy family, so I wasn't really far off when I said that my favorite flower was a daisy (before today).
The ones I like best look like the ones in the picture. I really like the brighter colored ones, like the magenta, or orange. I found that out when I bought my mom some flowers on mother's day - it was a bouquet of chrysanthemums. I bought them for her, specifically, but only because I liked them so much. ;-)
It's funny though, I never pictured myself as a flower person. I thought they were frivilous and tacky because it would be a waste of money to just buy something that's already dead, you know? But now I think I rather like them. I wouldn't want them all the time, but every now and then would be nice. :-)
National Health Care: Solution to a Brighter Tomorrow?
National Health care is a system in which direct provision of health care and other services given by the government is not required because within the system, every resident of a geographic area is mandated to have health insurance. Sounds pretty great, don't you agree? It ensures the health of all citizens and benefits the entire nation economically because we'll all have to spend less on health care if it's a set amount.
"In market-based systems...the mandate is coupled with a private insurance market. In government the mandate is coupled with a government agency that pays for a wide range of health benefits" (Wikipedia, 14 May 2007).
There are a lot of countries worldwide that use this system of national health care: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Spain, and the United Kingdom to name a few.
Although this is such a widespread and growing idea, the United States fails to recognize the importance of such an implementation on our current system. The reason is simple: they haven't come up with an ideal plan for opperating it. Sure, it's a good idea, and it would definitely be a nice thing for people who are sick and just need a simple procedure or treatment to be able to go in scotch free and come out feeling fine. However, what about the people who need major surgery? Triple-bipass? A heart, or lung, or liver transplant? What happens to them? I'll tell you: they get put on a waiting list, and might just die in the process of signing up.
Patient: "Oh, I need a new liver. This one isn't working, and I think I could die any second"
Doctor: "That's too bad... Just put your name on the waiting list among the others and we'll see when we can get to you"
I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound like such a great scenario.
The idea itself, and the system works. And it could potentially work for a place like the United States, but there's no way we could do it any time soon, just because of our current system and our government. Their solution for everything is to throw money at it. Go deeper into debt. More funding. Etc.
What happens to the medical students who realize that because national health care is in effect, that they only get a certain amount of money, and they need to make the most of it. People are going to stop trying to develop new medicines. They'll want patients to keep coming in for old ones that don't work as well so that they make more money. What happens when they all realize that it's not worth going the extra mile to treat people? They're all going to be about the money. Not your health. This is where a nationalized health care plan would go totally wrong in my opinion, which is why it needs to be handled very seriously. I just think that nationalized health care is going to lead to poor performance on our physicians parts.
Several states are already implementing nationalized systems for semi-national health care: California, Maine, Pennsylvania and Vermont are a few of them.
So for now, we can hope that some day the United States can adapt some system that relates to the idea of nationalized health care, but I truely think that it's not a very likely outcome, and it would be close to impossible for us to actually pull off. Accurately. Something would go horribly wrong, and I think the ultimate outcome would be chaotic.
It's a nice idea, and I'm a lot of other countries use it. As for the United States, I might have to laugh a bit at that idea. (heh)
"In market-based systems...the mandate is coupled with a private insurance market. In government the mandate is coupled with a government agency that pays for a wide range of health benefits" (Wikipedia, 14 May 2007).
There are a lot of countries worldwide that use this system of national health care: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Spain, and the United Kingdom to name a few.
Although this is such a widespread and growing idea, the United States fails to recognize the importance of such an implementation on our current system. The reason is simple: they haven't come up with an ideal plan for opperating it. Sure, it's a good idea, and it would definitely be a nice thing for people who are sick and just need a simple procedure or treatment to be able to go in scotch free and come out feeling fine. However, what about the people who need major surgery? Triple-bipass? A heart, or lung, or liver transplant? What happens to them? I'll tell you: they get put on a waiting list, and might just die in the process of signing up.
Patient: "Oh, I need a new liver. This one isn't working, and I think I could die any second"
Doctor: "That's too bad... Just put your name on the waiting list among the others and we'll see when we can get to you"
I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound like such a great scenario.
The idea itself, and the system works. And it could potentially work for a place like the United States, but there's no way we could do it any time soon, just because of our current system and our government. Their solution for everything is to throw money at it. Go deeper into debt. More funding. Etc.
What happens to the medical students who realize that because national health care is in effect, that they only get a certain amount of money, and they need to make the most of it. People are going to stop trying to develop new medicines. They'll want patients to keep coming in for old ones that don't work as well so that they make more money. What happens when they all realize that it's not worth going the extra mile to treat people? They're all going to be about the money. Not your health. This is where a nationalized health care plan would go totally wrong in my opinion, which is why it needs to be handled very seriously. I just think that nationalized health care is going to lead to poor performance on our physicians parts.
Several states are already implementing nationalized systems for semi-national health care: California, Maine, Pennsylvania and Vermont are a few of them.
So for now, we can hope that some day the United States can adapt some system that relates to the idea of nationalized health care, but I truely think that it's not a very likely outcome, and it would be close to impossible for us to actually pull off. Accurately. Something would go horribly wrong, and I think the ultimate outcome would be chaotic.
It's a nice idea, and I'm a lot of other countries use it. As for the United States, I might have to laugh a bit at that idea. (heh)
Intro to Graphic Design: Day 1
So today was my first taste of my graphic design class for the May semester. It's only a 3 week course, and the class is every single day. Intense? We shall see.
In any case, I'm actually pretty excited about it. It's definitely in my field: photoshop, illustrator, and some other program I've only heard of. But I'm pretty good with photoshop, and I've briefly experimented with illustrator. So I really like the idea of all the design aspects and techniques involved in stuff.
The only let down, really, if I can call it one, is that only 2 students (including myself) are actually Mac users. Everyone else is new to it. It's not to say that it will take them long at all, but I was a little frustrated at the professor having to go through every little step to get through things. And then there's this girl next to me (here we go again...) who seems technology challenged. She kept hitting the "eject disc" button on the keyboard, and wondering why the disk drive opened every time she did. (Hmm...I wonder...)
Anyway, this won't be too bad, I hope. After this though, my summer is REALLY gonna start.
Someone take me to a party or something where I don't know anyone. lol I can get social pretty quick these days. ;-)
In any case, I'm actually pretty excited about it. It's definitely in my field: photoshop, illustrator, and some other program I've only heard of. But I'm pretty good with photoshop, and I've briefly experimented with illustrator. So I really like the idea of all the design aspects and techniques involved in stuff.
The only let down, really, if I can call it one, is that only 2 students (including myself) are actually Mac users. Everyone else is new to it. It's not to say that it will take them long at all, but I was a little frustrated at the professor having to go through every little step to get through things. And then there's this girl next to me (here we go again...) who seems technology challenged. She kept hitting the "eject disc" button on the keyboard, and wondering why the disk drive opened every time she did. (Hmm...I wonder...)
Anyway, this won't be too bad, I hope. After this though, my summer is REALLY gonna start.
Someone take me to a party or something where I don't know anyone. lol I can get social pretty quick these days. ;-)
Sunday, May 13, 2007
A Bad Day Getting Worse
This has really been a day for emotional meltdowns. And letdowns for that matter. I had this huge presentation all set up for the Mother's Day service in church this morning. I even had a backup disk in case the first one didn't work. What I didn't plan on happening was the sound totally kirking out and not working at all.
I was thoroughly disgusted at the whole issue. I know there was no way it was anyone's fault, but I was pretty upset the entire time. I literally cried probably the whole service over it. It wasn't enough that I had spent so much time on it, but that it was specifically for Mother's Day. It would've been the perfect touch, you know?
Anyway...I'm bummed about the whole thing. They're showing it next week, but it won't be the same. What can ya do?
I was thoroughly disgusted at the whole issue. I know there was no way it was anyone's fault, but I was pretty upset the entire time. I literally cried probably the whole service over it. It wasn't enough that I had spent so much time on it, but that it was specifically for Mother's Day. It would've been the perfect touch, you know?
Anyway...I'm bummed about the whole thing. They're showing it next week, but it won't be the same. What can ya do?
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Mother's Day
My mom is so hard to shop for. She generally goes out and buys things she needs/wants when she sees it, or as soon as she realizes that it's something she needs/wants. So this year, when she was about to buy something for herself, I forced her to put it back, and said, "No Mom, Mother's Day is coming up."
Not doing anything extreme this year...it's not like we do anything "extreme" any other year. But in any case, we're just going out to dinner, and then they always do something at church on Sunday morning for it. I made a video of all the children and young adults saying why they love their mom, and put music underneath it. Not just any music, the kind of music that just forces tears from your eyes the second it starts. Needless to say, it's gonna be pretty emotional, and I made sure of it. I even tested the final product on my mom. She was crying about 2 minutes in. And it's 15 minutes long. haha
So appreciate your moms. I hope you all have one. :-/ But in any case, they do a lot for us, and went through a lot for us. I won't turn this blog into a sappy hallmark card, but just go out of your way to do something nice for her tomorrow. Anything, really. Doesn't take much.
Not doing anything extreme this year...it's not like we do anything "extreme" any other year. But in any case, we're just going out to dinner, and then they always do something at church on Sunday morning for it. I made a video of all the children and young adults saying why they love their mom, and put music underneath it. Not just any music, the kind of music that just forces tears from your eyes the second it starts. Needless to say, it's gonna be pretty emotional, and I made sure of it. I even tested the final product on my mom. She was crying about 2 minutes in. And it's 15 minutes long. haha
So appreciate your moms. I hope you all have one. :-/ But in any case, they do a lot for us, and went through a lot for us. I won't turn this blog into a sappy hallmark card, but just go out of your way to do something nice for her tomorrow. Anything, really. Doesn't take much.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Feeling Strangely Fine
Okay so the sickness is wearing, im 200% better than I was 4 days ago, and I'm soooo happy that this semester is finally over! Woo!!! Well, I do have a May class, and that starts up this week... bummer... but other than that, things are really looking up right now. I'm hanging out with people more often, seeing more of everyone, and getting out there and just having fun. It's really great.
In July I'm going on a road trip with my best friend Adam, and my sister Hannah. That is totally going to be amazing. I'm going to knock off so many things from my list of things to do before I die, so I might just die in the process. haha no, not really. But I'm really excited about it. We might even tour along the way or something, and hand out demos, or just try to find small scale venues to play at. The end destination is going to be San Diego. It'll be a little hard to accomplish all this in only 10 days, but I'm pretty sure we can make it all work out. ;-)
Work is looking up too. I'm the last key carrier in the store right now, so basically everyone's being really nice to me because they want to keep me there. lol I'm totally gonna take this for all it's worth too. I won't let them pull me into anything I don't want to do. But it's awesome because they're all like kissing my feet now. haha not that much. But there's a definite shift in perception these days around the store. I feel like they all respect me now, and they don't give me any of the crap I used to go through there. Not that it was really that big a deal, but stuff used to just piss me off about all that because sometimes they can all just be so hypocritical. It's definitely nice to be appreciated there though. I came in sick the one day, and I couldn't talk. They sent me home and asked me to take the rest of the week to myself and just come in early on Friday to make up for it. How awesome is that? lol
Other than that, I'm looking forward to vacations, and going out on the weekends, and all this planning that's already in progress. I'm psyched! There will be tons of photos. Which reminds me, I'm getting more and more into photography too. Just like setting up shots, and taking really good ones. I'll be taking a photography course next semester. That makes me happy too.
Give me a call. You're sure to catch me in a good mood. :-)
In July I'm going on a road trip with my best friend Adam, and my sister Hannah. That is totally going to be amazing. I'm going to knock off so many things from my list of things to do before I die, so I might just die in the process. haha no, not really. But I'm really excited about it. We might even tour along the way or something, and hand out demos, or just try to find small scale venues to play at. The end destination is going to be San Diego. It'll be a little hard to accomplish all this in only 10 days, but I'm pretty sure we can make it all work out. ;-)
Work is looking up too. I'm the last key carrier in the store right now, so basically everyone's being really nice to me because they want to keep me there. lol I'm totally gonna take this for all it's worth too. I won't let them pull me into anything I don't want to do. But it's awesome because they're all like kissing my feet now. haha not that much. But there's a definite shift in perception these days around the store. I feel like they all respect me now, and they don't give me any of the crap I used to go through there. Not that it was really that big a deal, but stuff used to just piss me off about all that because sometimes they can all just be so hypocritical. It's definitely nice to be appreciated there though. I came in sick the one day, and I couldn't talk. They sent me home and asked me to take the rest of the week to myself and just come in early on Friday to make up for it. How awesome is that? lol
Other than that, I'm looking forward to vacations, and going out on the weekends, and all this planning that's already in progress. I'm psyched! There will be tons of photos. Which reminds me, I'm getting more and more into photography too. Just like setting up shots, and taking really good ones. I'll be taking a photography course next semester. That makes me happy too.
Give me a call. You're sure to catch me in a good mood. :-)
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Losing touch
So for the past two days, I've been highly medicated for my sore throat and sinus problem. It's making me kind of out of sinc with the rest of the world, and I'm having trouble concentrating on anything. This blog too.
Anyway, this should be interesting for finals. I have my second hardest tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.
Since I've totally lost interest in this all together, I'll leave it at the fact that I'm really really out of it, and will be for about a week or so.
Anyway, this should be interesting for finals. I have my second hardest tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.
Since I've totally lost interest in this all together, I'll leave it at the fact that I'm really really out of it, and will be for about a week or so.
It's gonna be a good day...I hope.
Today I'm going on a venture to find a new job. Or atleast get applications or something. I didn't really want to go by myself, but nobody's home, and I don't know who isn't busy. I don't like bugging people either. It's weird. I love it when people call me, but whenever I want to do something with someone else, I can't bring myself to just call them. lol Maybe I should stop that. It's silly.
Anyway...
I don't know exactly where I'm going yet, or where I want to go. I have a few ideas, but nothing imparticular. I'm basically up for anything at this point.
The offset in all of this is that right now my throat is really sore, so it'll be hard for me to talk. That might not look so good when I'm asking for applications, but whatever. Wish me luck! I really want a new job.
I'm also going to the apple store in annapolis to figure out how to get more memory for this stupid computer. It keeps crashing on me, and that no es bueno.
So that'll be my day. I'm a little excited, a little nervous. I don't know why I make a big deal out of getting applications and make myself worry over it. lol What are they gonna say? No? lol
Anyway...
I don't know exactly where I'm going yet, or where I want to go. I have a few ideas, but nothing imparticular. I'm basically up for anything at this point.
The offset in all of this is that right now my throat is really sore, so it'll be hard for me to talk. That might not look so good when I'm asking for applications, but whatever. Wish me luck! I really want a new job.
I'm also going to the apple store in annapolis to figure out how to get more memory for this stupid computer. It keeps crashing on me, and that no es bueno.
So that'll be my day. I'm a little excited, a little nervous. I don't know why I make a big deal out of getting applications and make myself worry over it. lol What are they gonna say? No? lol
Saturday, May 5, 2007
I need to stop being good at things...
I recently got into video and filming. I never thought I'd like the field at all, but I've been putting together compilations of videos for my family, filming some myself, and editing the media within all of them to make pretty well thought out presentations. (If I do say so myself)
But any time I get myself into a new field or hobby, I get myself all the more confused. Because that makes me wonder, still, and again, what in the world am I going to do for a career? I can't just do everything I'm good at. There's not a major for that. lol
In any case, I really need to stop finding more things to occupy time with, and start honing in on one specific thing to work on. If I don't, I'll be the one trying to sign up for "The Renaissance Man/Woman" major with a minor in "Everything Else."
But any time I get myself into a new field or hobby, I get myself all the more confused. Because that makes me wonder, still, and again, what in the world am I going to do for a career? I can't just do everything I'm good at. There's not a major for that. lol
In any case, I really need to stop finding more things to occupy time with, and start honing in on one specific thing to work on. If I don't, I'll be the one trying to sign up for "The Renaissance Man/Woman" major with a minor in "Everything Else."
Cinco de Mayo
So I know you're all DYING to find out what I did this weekend.
On Thursday night I went to a Hot Rod Circuit concert downtown. It was really really good. I didn't get any pictures, unfortunately, because I couldn't find my camera charger, and my battery was already dead. Boo. Either way, it was a good time.
I went and spent the rest of my weekend in PA with my sister and my parents. It was all right. We went to the Gaither's contert up there by Penn State. The thing that wasn't all right was that the concert was over 4 hours long, and it was all a bunch of old people. I have video footage and pictures to prove it. Anyone who was my or Hannah's age was mentally handicapped, and anyone younger was probably forced to go. Haha. I think I saw this one little boy start crying come to think of it.
But no, overall it was a good time. There were a lot of funny parts to the concert that made it a little more worth my while, but it definitely wasn't what I'd call "my scene." Let alone anyne under the age of 25. I made a slideshow for my mom on a DVD and one of the pictures is of the crowd and the caption says, "Bingo anyone?" - that made her laugh.
After the concert, we drove to the hotel. It was about 12:30am. I was pretty beat, so I went right to bed. We got up the next morning, went out to breakfast, and then went to Lewisburg to do some shopping. Surprisingly enough, I didn't spend a dime. The entire weekend. So, I'll have to blow it all this week. Maybe this weekend. Who knows.
All in all, it was an eventful weekend. Not the greatest, but atleast I didn't spend the whole thing at home, bored. But even if I did, I'm sure I wouldn't spend it at home. Id find somewhere to go.
Speaking of which, I'm gonna get out of here. When you wake up, this town's gonna be red. Maybe blue. I can't decide. Have a nice evening. :-)
On Thursday night I went to a Hot Rod Circuit concert downtown. It was really really good. I didn't get any pictures, unfortunately, because I couldn't find my camera charger, and my battery was already dead. Boo. Either way, it was a good time.
I went and spent the rest of my weekend in PA with my sister and my parents. It was all right. We went to the Gaither's contert up there by Penn State. The thing that wasn't all right was that the concert was over 4 hours long, and it was all a bunch of old people. I have video footage and pictures to prove it. Anyone who was my or Hannah's age was mentally handicapped, and anyone younger was probably forced to go. Haha. I think I saw this one little boy start crying come to think of it.
But no, overall it was a good time. There were a lot of funny parts to the concert that made it a little more worth my while, but it definitely wasn't what I'd call "my scene." Let alone anyne under the age of 25. I made a slideshow for my mom on a DVD and one of the pictures is of the crowd and the caption says, "Bingo anyone?" - that made her laugh.
After the concert, we drove to the hotel. It was about 12:30am. I was pretty beat, so I went right to bed. We got up the next morning, went out to breakfast, and then went to Lewisburg to do some shopping. Surprisingly enough, I didn't spend a dime. The entire weekend. So, I'll have to blow it all this week. Maybe this weekend. Who knows.
All in all, it was an eventful weekend. Not the greatest, but atleast I didn't spend the whole thing at home, bored. But even if I did, I'm sure I wouldn't spend it at home. Id find somewhere to go.
Speaking of which, I'm gonna get out of here. When you wake up, this town's gonna be red. Maybe blue. I can't decide. Have a nice evening. :-)
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