Sunday, October 25, 2009

P - Procrastination: Everybody needs a play-by-play...

There is no time that I like Facebook more than when I am supposed to be doing my homework!
I am working on a personality profile that is due tomorrow at 8:00am, and I can't seem to stop changing my Facebook status what seems to be every ten seconds!

9:10:01 Shelley is working on her personality profile! :)

9:10:22 Shelley is getting a lot done!

9:10:47 Shelley thinks that it's time for a break!

9:11:07 Shelley is going to take a short nap, and come back to her personality profile soon!

4:37:01 Shelley is freaking out because she took a nap and needs to finish her personality profile!! OMG, it needs to be in Vogelsang's hands in less than 3 hours!!! AHHHHHHH...

(Okay so those aren't my actual status messages, but the night is young; I'm sure there is still a very good chance that a catastrophe could occur as the hours go on, and my Facebook status messages will indeed be a frantic train wreck waiting to happen!!)

I am not sure if I do this to myself because subconsciously I love the feeling of almost not making it, and having a mild heart attack on the bus while wearing no makeup. Or perhaps its the fact that I am simply forgetful of the last time (which was likely just days ago) that I was overly confidant in my writing ability and time management skills, only to kick myself for it in the end for just barely squeezing something out...Or maybe, just maybe I am lazy.

I'm not sure.

What I do know is that right now, I am trying to piece my Journalism assignment together with little apprehension, while periodically changing my status message so that everybody in my Facebook realm knows exactly what I am doing, and how I am feeling.

Somehow I feel that it is important that they know; they are after all deserving of the eight million status message changes I do on any given day, aren't they?!

(Narcissism at it's finest folks!)

But really, right now I ought to be doing my Personality profile, so that I can at least get a couple hours of shut-eye before I frantically run up to the third floor office at the Princess Street campus at 7:58 tomorrow morning...

Ugh.

Back to the ol' drawing board for me!

P - PR, and the magical people who are REALLY, REALLY good at it...

As I sat in my messy, MESSY, apartment this morning, I got to thinking about PR, and how good at PR some people can actually be.

Me, I am still learning the craft, and as of right now I am not a very good "spinner". Although, I hope by the end of CreComm I will have amassed enough understanding about the craft of PR to be able to spin my way into, and out of ANYTHING...

I look at other people, the ones who are PR masters, and they can make anything sound fantastic, or make any conversation or interview go in the direction that they want it to without making it seem like they are...I am fairly certain that these people are magic.

Here is an example of what I was talking about...

Me: "Tell me about yourself"

Exceptional PR Person: "Well, I have been doing whatever it is that I do for a really long time, blah, blah, blah...However now I am going to flawlessly change the topic to whatever *I* actually want to talk about, and you aren't going to notice, because I am relating it back to me somehow..."

Me: "Wow! So you did all that, tell me more!?!" (notice now that the topic of the interview is now about what the PR person wanted to actually talk about, and *I* am the who changed it...CLEVER!!)

Exceptional PR Person: "Yes, well this (insert PR person's topic here) is very important to me, blah,blah,blah...You can actually learn more about it if you go to our website, blah, blah, blah...And they key thing that I really want to emphasize is blah, blah, blah..."

Me: "So what your telling me is that the thing that you have just talked about for twenty minutes that I am not actually looking for at all, is really important to you!?"

Exceptional PR Person: "Yes. Yes it is."

Me: "Fantastic! Now lets talk about..."

Exceptional PR Person: "Oh you mean, lets continue to talk about what I want to talk about?! Okay!"

Later on in the evening, as I am writing my story...

Me: "Hmmm...After talking to that person for a long time, and feeling rather inspired about them and the story I was going to write about them, I now realize that I have pretty much nothing to go on...I do however have a TON of information on the topic that is important to him/her...I guess I'll have to change my angle to that." *sigh*

I am not sure if this kind of skill can be learned, or if it is just some kind of magical PR gift that some people are born with. However, that being said, the little scenario that I posted made me (the aspiring journalist) look quite passive...Obviously if I want to be a journalist (which I do), I am going to have to learn to be comfortable with asking tough questions that even the most magical of PR people will have a tough time not answering with some level of...Uh...'Non PR-ness',

Hmm...Perhaps one of the best ways to become a better journalist is to learn as much as you can about PR. (*light bulb moment here folks*!)

I still have a lot to learn in my next couple of years in CreComm...



Let's all learn about the Daddy of PR himself; Edward Bernays! Thank you sir, for showing us how to manipulate the masses!

Tonight, at my sister's house, I watched part of one of my favourite movies of all time: Amelie!!

I always get so inspired when I watch this film, because it is probably one the prettiest movies that I have ever seen. (And when I say "prettiest film I have ever seen", I mean to say that Amelie goes far beyond the just visual beauty; the entire story is incredibly beautiful...)

If you haven't already watched this movie, I suggest that you do; it is honestly great.

Friday, October 23, 2009

D - Dr. Mom...

Yesterday I watched my mom graduate from the U of M, with her PhD!

I know this video doesn't really pertain to my blog a whole lot, I thought I should post it anyways...CONGRATULATIONS Dr. MOM!!!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

T - The Terrified Blogger

So here we are, mid-semester, and all 75 CreComm students (as well as some of our instructors) are entangled in the wonderful world of blogging!

I love the fact that I am required to have a blog for school; extra marks for something that I love doing, and have been doing for years anyway?! (Heck yes, I'll have an order of that with a side of awesome!)

There is however a downside to this blog-mania that has taken over Red River College.
You see, since I am in CreComm, and professionalism is of the utmost importance in this program, and in the 'real world' outside of this program; I am now terrified to write anything that I might be too risky, too 'out there', too 'unprofessional'...Yep. I am now essentially too scared to write anything that is actually interesting...
My blog now, I will admit, is a little bland. It's like to oatmeal of blogs; decent, but nothing to get too excited about. (Seriously, how many people wake up in the morning -- besides me -- and say; 'Heck yes, I'm having oatmeal for breakfast! -- I suspect that the same amount of people log onto their computers and say: 'Heck yes, I'm going to read Shelley's blog today!)
Ugh! (A big fat "Ugh" at that!)

Years ago, before I realized that there would be any recourse for my blogging actions, I wasn't afraid to put my thoughts out there in the unforgiving abyss of the Internet...Heck, I actually craved a good scandal on my blog. However, once I became a student, and was warned and informed by so many people in the professional and academic world of the ramifications of putting myself out there, I got scared.

And now, I am beyond scared; I am terrified!


I don't want to miss out on job opportunities because of what I have posted on the net; I sure don't want to have to eat my words, or have someone use them against me; and I sure as hell don't want to seem ignorant, or ill-informed to -- in my mind -- the millions of people that might, and probably, read my blog! Yet at the same time, I don't want a blog that is just so oatmeal!!
I want a blog that stands out; and I want something that people will actually read, and enjoy reading; and most of all I want to be able to blog without the intense paranoia that I am essentially screwing up my life and my potential career by what I post! -- I miss the freedom that I used to have as an "ignorant blogger".
Ugh, what a conundrum!

I guess I should find a balance. (At least that's what all the people who have peace of mind about what they blog about would tell me. But frankly my dear blog-friends) I just don't know how.

Suffice to say, I am still indeed trying to make my blog awesome, funny, clever, well written...etc, but I think it will take me a little while longer to break free from the terror that has been embedded in my thoughts by people who feel so inclined to warn me about recourse for my blogging-actions.
Well, now that I am panic-stricken, and about to have an anxiety attack about what I have posted on my blog thus far, I must say, I still really do love the idea that we are blogging in class!

Thanks Kenton!
The joy of tech courtesy of www.theeastvilliageidiot.com

Sunday, October 18, 2009

G - Go away Jon, Kate, Octo-mom, and everyone else that is trying to get rich by making a reality TV show...


I am so sick of Reality TV celebrity-mongers.

Jon and Kate; they just make me uncomfortable. -- I am both surprised, and not, to see all of the publicity that they are getting...

"Jon stole all my money"

"Kate and her backwards mullet were mean to me..."

"Jon stopped production of our show, and now my kids are sad..."

Arrrrgh!

Seriously, these two fame-whores should take their brood of meal-tickets, and just go away.

Take what you earned, go far, far away and give the poor kiddies a childhood for goodness sakes!!

And then there is Octo-mom; poor lady wanted to be famous so bad that she opted to have eight babies live in her belly for nine months, just so that someone would pay attention to her! (That my friends is what you call dedication! -- I have seen people who have been pregnant with ONE kid, and it was a traumatic enough experience for them...But eight...Wow.)

Octo-mom had her moment, living the glamorous life of a reality star, until Jon and Kate stole it from her by deciding to have a nasty divorce (which saw Jon take off with the plastic surgeon's 20-something daughter, Kate have an alleged affair with the body guard, and lots and lots of petty and awkward publicized fights)

Poor Nadia; she doesn't even have a baby daddy to fight with on national television and on the Internet. -- Since she promised her "donor" (AKA baby daddy x 16) that she wouldn't out him an all...

It's only a matter of time Octo-Daddy...It's only a matter of time.

Perhaps I am being far too cynical towards these people; I mean they do all have TONS of kids to feed, and need to make money to actually feed all the kiddies that they've made. And If I were offered tons of money to let someone film every aspect of my life, I too might consider it...And yes, I suppose that people like me (who dedicate an entire blog post to train wrecks like Octo-mom and the Gosseln's) are to blame for perpetuating this reality frenzy even more...

But damn, I think it's time that we put a stop to this insanity!! (If we don't, it will only be a matter of time until 'Balloon Boy', Falcon Heene, and his fame-craving family gets their own reality TV show too...Well, that's if ma and pa Heene aren't in the clink for too long after their idiotic publicity stunt gone wrong...)

I miss Full House, and the Brady Bunch, and all of those made up TV families that were better than all of us...Let's bring them back -- Sans the Entertainment Tonight exposes on the behind the scenes shenanigans of course.)

Okay, I am done ranting for right now; but to close, I think that I am going to put it out there (in the vast world of the Internet, to the 4 people that read my blog) that we should just boycott TLC, and dysfunctional reality TV families as a whole.

It's time for a change my friends. It is time for a change.

P, Projector



So far, while in school, I have had two articles published in the Projector.It's an awesome feeling to see your work printed in newsprint...I've never been published in a newspaper before, so this is exciting for me!!

Friday, October 16, 2009

Buyer Beware: Gym Contracts and Memberships


In this day and age, where up-sizing meals is the norm, driving to the corner store is considered acceptable, and obesity rates are rising faster than grandma's famous bread recipe, staying active has never been more detrimental.

For a recent group project, Lauren Feilberg, Lindsey Enns, Nicole Dola and I did some buyer beware research on gym memberships and contracts. We selected four local gyms, and each undertook the task of researching one of the four gyms extensively.

Lauren chose Shapes Fitness Centres, Lindsey chose Curves, Nicole chose Good Life Fitness, and I opted for the YMCA-YWCA of Winnipeg (The Y).

While on our field work, assuming the role of potential gym customers, we made sure to pay close attention to customer service; membership and contract options; prices; as well as selling techniques and up-selling strategies used by facility employees.

We each tried to obtain a copy of our respective gym’s contract, for closer examination of contractual membership obligations. (Note: I was the only one who was able to get a copy of a contract; Shapes, Curves and Good Life would not allow us to have one, and Shapes would not even allow Lauren to see one unless she agreed to sign up.)
Our main objective was to find out which gym had the best customer service, the cheapest rates, the nicest facility, and an overall good reputation. As well, we wanted to uncover any beneficial or deceitful tactics used by gym employees, or embedded into gym contracts.

Once Lauren, Lindsey, Nicole and I combined our findings, we were all rather shocked at how different each facility was.

Here are some of the key points we discovered in our findings:


Cost : $22.84 bi-weekly, or the entire yearly sum of $548.16 up front.

Start up fee: $50 (Unless they are offering their free sign up promotion)

Duration of membership: 12 months.

Cancellation of membership before 12 months: Members who sign up at Shapes Fitness Centre must either pay the entire amount ($548.16) of the membership up front, or have money ($22.84) directly taken out of their account on a bi-weekly basis. As well, Shapes Fitness Centre does not offer a discounted student rate.

Once a person signs up for membership at Shapes Fitness Centre, they have seven days to cancel their membership if they change their mind. This cancellation process must be made at the Shapes Head Office location. If the member does not cancel their membership within the first seven days, they are obligated to pay for the full year of the contract, with no reduced buy out option.

If a member wants to get out of their contract after the duration of a year, the member must submit a written letter with their signature on it to the Shapes head office. If a member does not do this, the membership will automatically continue.

Curves:

Cost: $51.45 monthly ($617.40 annually)

Start up fee: $100

Duration of membership: 12 months.

Cancellation of membership before 12 months: $52.50

Curves only allows members to sign up for 12-month increments. The cost of a Curves membership is $51.45 per month, with a one-time start up fee of $100.

Curves does however have a student plan which allows students (with proper documentation) to sign up for only four months at a time, if they pay the amount of the four month membership (in full) in advance. The price of the student membership is $159 plus taxes.

To cancel a Curves membership, there is a cancellation fee of $52.50. If the membership is cancelled in the middle of the month, members are required to pay for the full duration of the month that they cancel.

Good Life Fitness:
Cost: $19.00 – $24.50 (plus taxes) bi-weekly, depending on location and services. ($456 - $588 (plus taxes) annually)

Start up fee: Typically "just over $100" however they have monthly promotions that see join up fee's as low as one cent.

Duration of membership: 12 months

Cancellation of membership before 12 months: In order to cancel a membership at Good Life, members who have not been in their contract for more than one year must pay $99.00 and give 30-days notice. However, after a year of membership, cancelling a membership at Good Life is free, and does not require 30-days notice.

To become a member of Good Life, a person is automatically locked into a contract for the duration of one year. The charge for the program depends on the type of plan a member opts for, and the specific location of membership.

The member has the option of paying nineteen dollars (plus taxes), bi-weekly for access to only that specific location that they have signed up at (as opposed to all three locations), and the provided group exercise programs. Or members have the option of paying 24.50 (plus taxes), bi-weekly to have access to all the locations, plus group exercises, as well as unlimited tanning for one year.

Membership payment automatically withdrawn from a member’s bank account on a bi-weekly basis; once the member has signed a contract, they are asked to set up the payment process with a void cheque and a bank account number.

The YMCA-YWCA of Winnipeg (The Y):
Cost: Various membership types:

*Note: all prices are subject to applicable taxes.

§ Adult (18+) $38 monthly/$456 annually
§ Teen (13-17) $24 monthly/$288 annually
§ Child (12 & under) $19 monthly/$228 annually (Includes access to all Youth programs)
§ Family Casual $58 monthly/$696 annually
§ Family Advantage $68 monthly/$816 annually (Includes access to all registered programs)
§ Full-time Student $28 monthly/$336 annually
§ Senior $35 monthly/$420 annually (60 and retired, or 65)
§ Membership Plus $64 monthly/$768 annually (Downtown location only, includes locker and towel rental)
§ Membership Plus Senior $61 monthly/$732 annually (Downtown location only, includes locker and towel rental)

*The Y offers also offers a Membership Assistance Program for people who are unable to pay the entire portion of their membership fees. The Membership Assistance Program is partly funded by the United Way, and clients are assessed on a case to case basis. The application process is confidential, and requires applying members to fill out an application form, make an appointment with the Membership Sales & Service Desk, and provide proof of income and expenses (paystub, bills, receipts, etc).

Members who are part of the Membership Assistance Program are required to make a commitment to participate in the Y programs; a minimum of twice a week, as well as make a financial contribution towards their membership.

Start up fee: $50.00 (Waived for students, teens, kids and members of the membership assistance program. As well it only needs to be paid once for an entire joining family.)
Duration of membership: Membership will not expire until the member notifies the Y, in writing, that they would like to cancel their membership.

However, memberships that lapse for three months will automatically be considered new memberships, thus the member will have to pay the $50 start up fee again.
Subsidized members under the Membership Assistance Program will have an expiry date determined by the YMCA-YWCA of Winnipeg.

Subsidized members must renew one month prior to their specific expiry date by booking an appointment with the Sales and Service Desk to review their financial situation.
Cancellation of membership before 12 months: Members can cancel their membership at any time. The only requirement is that the member request (in writing) that they would like to cancel their membership, and return their card.

Memberships must be cancelled 7 days prior to the next payment date in order to be exempt from paying for the duration of the month. As well, the Y will reimburse any unused portion of the membership fee, less $5.00 + GST to the member.

And in the end, Shapes lived up to it's bad reputation, by providing horrible customer service, using deceitful sales tactics, and being very allusive about the product that they were trying to sell.

The Y proved to be the best deal, because they offered various contracts that meet the specific needs of a variety of people. Plus, their facilities offered the most in terms of equipment. (The Y was the only gym to boast a pool at every location, as well as amenities like a rock climbing wall at two of their locations, and family programs...)

If you would like to read more of our report, please send me a message, and I would be happy to get that information out to you.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

H..Help, I need some technical awesomeness...

Okay, I am not technically inclined like so many of my CreComm friends. (Seriously, just ask poor Tracey Seida and Leslie Pura, who have both had the terrible misfortune of teaching me the wonderful world of photoshop. I give them credit for their patience...)

Anyways, here's the deal: I want an awesome looking blog with a pretty background and a cool customized banner. -- Heck, maybe we could throw some butterflies up in the background, or a rainbow or something...

Help me Technical wizards of the internet; HELP ME!!

If anyone is willing to help me with this, I will be extremely grateful, and maybe even buy you an ice cream....

P; Praying for a troubled child (WFP article, 10.15.09)


In today's Winnipeg Free Press, Mike McIntyre wrote an article;Praying for a troubled child: Mother agonizes over decision to place daughter with Child and Family Services, about a desperate mother's plight to save her out-of-control teenage daughter, by having Child and Family Services intervene.

Though I can empathize with the mother, I believe that her candid interview with the Winnipeg free Press does nothing to help her cause. Instead, I think her open criticism of CFS served to further discredit the hard work and dedication that the majority of the over-worked case workers that are employed by CFS undertake on a regular basis.

the mother's complaint; "My daughter is in major danger in the hands of CFS" discredits the very system that she failed to thoroughly research, when she decided to place her daughter in their custody in 2007.

If you read the newspaper, or have read the newspaper in the last five years, you have probably read a story about the crippled state of the CFS system; it baffles me that she, the mother, felt that this system would be able to rehabilitate her daughter.

The system itself is on life support, and it's not a secret, but rather a bold-faced tragedy.

None the less, in 2007 the mother, in her desperate state, opted to call CFS with the hopes that they could reform her troubled daughter.

I don't get it...

Perhaps she didn't understand, or notice the fundamental issues plaguing the current state of the CFS system before concluding that they would be the most beneficial option to "save" her daughter.
CFS is a bandaid solution, it is not a rehabilitation centre.
Regardless, the woman feels as though she and her daughter are victims of the system.

In fact, she has gone as far as to state in an open letter to CFS: "If something happens to my child, I will hold you responsible. She cannot be another statistic of the children that die in the hands of CFS."
Which is extremely brazen in my opinion, since she was the one who entrusted the girl into a system that i is already overwhelmed in the first place.
Unfortunately this mother's plight will serve to further tarnish the already dirty reputation that CFS already has.
Hopefully for the sake of everyone, this mother and daughter will be able to find the help they need down another avenue...
Picture courtesy of the Daily Mail.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

C is for Chaos...CRAZY FRIGGIN CHAOS!



Okay, so here I am blogging, even though I have a bazillion things to do.

Why you ask?!

Because I'm trying to be a dedicated blogger, and not lose out on perspective comments. (I love comments. I LOVE LOVE LOVE them.)

Plus, as bad as it sounds, there is no better time to blog than right now; when I have a million things running through my mind, and I am pumped on pure adrenaline, knowing that tonight (like almost every night these days) I am going to be up until all hours of the morning trying to finish all of the tasks I have at hand.

Oh CreComm!

A lot of people told me that CreComm would be intense, but this intensity is a lot different than I expected. This kind of intensity -- the CreComm intensity -- is more like chaos.

Complete and utter chaos.

Just when you think that you have finished the bulk of your workload, something else pops up (if your lucky it's just one thing), and you have to find a way to complete the task at hand in the 24-hours that you have during any given day.

If CreComm was my boyfriend I wold have broken up with him by now for being so damn demanding!

However, in a strange (sick and twisted) sorta way, I am actually enjoying this chaotic side of life.

I mean yes, I am working my butt off, and have given up the luxury of a full night's sleep for short little naps in between assignments and school...And sure, I have never worked so hard in my life, only to be "rewarded" was a six or a seven out of 10 on any given paper that I pour my heart and soul into. And of course I understand that my stress levels are comparable to that of a high-risk heart attack victim...

But let me tell you, I have never felt more alive in my life!!

This course is unforgiving, and will chew you up and spit you out if you let it; but I am fairly certain that there is no better way to prepare for the career path ahead than to take it like a champ, and not crack under the deadlines and pressure.

That being said, it is time for me to get on with the bazillion things that I have to do before I can take cat-nap.

Wish me luck folks, tonight is going to be CRAZY!!!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

R - The R-word.

Last year my sister told me that I had to stop using the R-word..."Retard"/"Retarded".

She told me that I had to take a pledge not to use that word anymore, because it is derogatory to people living with special needs.

Hmmm, good point sister...

I said okay, and she directed me to the Special Olympics website, where they have an online pledge for people to sign up and commit to not using the r-word anymore.

I signed up, pledging that I would stop using the r-word in my everyday conversations.

Initially I found it very difficult to refrain from dropping r-bombs. -- I never realized that the r-word was a staple in my vocabulary, and that I dropped it about a thousand times a day! It took me quite awhile to come up with new ways to express myself.

Crap!

Anyways, now I am a changed woman.

There have been a couple of times that I have slipped, and the r-word has come out of my mouth, but for the most part I am doing pretty good...

Anyone else interested in taking the r-word pledge?!

Friday, October 9, 2009

B - Bad chocolate covered idea...


I am still awake.

Ugh!

I got the bright idea to get a start on making chocolate covered cherries for our Grad Committee bake sale on Wednesday (chocolate covered cherries are best if they sit in the fridge for a few days before consumption...)

Anyways, I got this bright idea at 10:30 tonight, thinking that it wouldn't actually take me that long. (Earth to Shelley, it takes FOREVER every time you make them...)

So now it's shortly after 1:00am, and I still have a whole whack of cherries to choc-li-fy. (Yes, I made up that word...What of it!?)
But I'm tired, so I am going to put them in the fridge, and continue tomorrow.

Oh, and when I was feeling energetic, and full of bright ideas at 10:30 tonight, I also decided that it would be a fine time to start on my eight thousand loads of laundry that I've been putting off...

And now, shortly after 1:00am, I have a pile of clean clothes, unfolded on my couch, and two loads in the dryer...

I'm going to bed.
P.S. I think I can feel my chin getting bigger.; I ate like three chocolate covered cherries tonight.
Ugh.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

U - Uncool man...Super uncool.

So yesterday I had to take my car to school. (I had an appointment before class, and didn't have time to drive home, drop my car off, and hop on a bus...)

Anyways, I took my car to school, and paid seven dollars to park it in this parking lot up the block from Red River. (Which is actually not even too bad, considering that I once parked in the parkade, and it cost me $12...)

After school, I offered my friend Maeghan a ride home, since she is always nice enough to offer me ride home when she brings her car. (Plus, she just lives a couple of blocks away from me, so even if she didn't always offer me rides, I'd be real jerk if I didn't offer, and made her take the bus...)

So we get into my car (which is an absolute mess!) and I start the ignition, not realizing that I have left my "for my ears only" CD in the CD player.

At first the songs on the CD are okay; nothing that I am embarrassed to admit listening to anyway, but as we keep driving, and the CD keeps laying, the songs start to get a little questionable...

Cheesy. Really, really cheesy.

By the time we are stuck in the downtown traffic by the MTS center, I realize that we are listening to this particular CD, and that I am not comfortable enough with myself to share my awkward musical tastes with her yet.

To my horror, the sugary lyrics of Leona Lewis' 'Better in Time' started to play.

"It's been the longest winter without you, I didn't know where to turn to..."

The song, a sappy little ditty about a girl trying to get over a guy, isn't a bad one really. However, it is something that is definitely worth making fun of me for, considering the extent of the song's mushy implications. (I would make fun of any of my friends for listening to it...)

Maeghan didn't even notice the song, since we were talking and all, but I ended up outing myself by quickly switching from CD to radio, and confessing my love for cheesy songs like this...

Ugh.

I am so embarrassed.

(And Maeghan didn't even care, but I am still so embarrassed!)

I know that I shouldn't care what others think about my peculiar musical taste, but just imagine that you are getting into your car with your new school friend, and Celine Dion, or Backstreet Boys (or something of that calibre) starts playing...

Awkward!!

Monday, October 5, 2009

B, Baby...My pseudo-baby..

My sister's little girl Kennedy never ceases to amaze me.

Since I started Cre Comm, I haven't been able to see her as much as I used to; and to me that is probably the only downfall of taking this program.

I am not sure that I will ever have kids of my own (Lets face it, I'm thirty, and there are really no perspective boyfriends, or baby daddies looming in my life...And, my biological clock; well it's pretty non-existent.)


Kennedy is likely the closest thing to motherhood that I will get, and I am quite pleased that I can have the best of both worlds in that respect. (I am her special Auntie, who was the first one to hold her when she was born, aside from her mom and dad. And I do consider her to be like my own kid to a certain degree, if that makes any sense...)


I still see KJ (that's what we call her) often, but my school life does take away from my Auntie life more than I'd like. (Kudos to the people in Cre Comm who have kids, it must be really difficult to find that balance...Keep it up!!)


Ahh well, I have homework, time to get crackin on it...

Saturday, October 3, 2009

S - Streeter.

It's 7:13 in the morning, and I am procrastinating.

Much to my dismay, I have to work today. (Hey, that rhymes!!) -- I don't hate my job or anything, but today feels like a day that staying in bed for most of the morning, and then catching up on laundry (and other chores) would be crucial!

I thought about calling in sick, but I just can't bring myself to do it. (One of my biggest pet peeves is people who call in sick when they're not...)

So instead, I am just procrastinating, until I absolutely have to get ready for work.

Yesterday we had our first "streeter" in journalism class. For those of you who are not familliar with what a streeter is, it is essentially this...

1. Steve Vogelsang says: "You'll have a streeter today"

2. We all groan, and begin to panic.

3. Steve gives us an outline of the assignment. (Topics that we can write about, word count of article (+/- 10%), a time limit, and some kind of warning of sorts; "Leave yourself enough time to write your article, it must be in by 10:50am, otherwise it's late...")

4. We all scramble out of the classroom, and desperately search for people walking, sitting, hanging around the downtown area to interview. (We need quotes, and at least two sources that are willing to give their first and last name!)

5. We (hopefully) get our story, and rush back to the classroom to write it.

6. Steve announces the time every so often, and many of us begin to panic even more.

7. A couple minutes to deadline, we all pile around the printer, many of us freaking out.

8. We (hopefully) hand in our stories, and pray that we have no misspelled anything.

9. We try to calm ourselves down, and (in my case anyway) start to feel this insane rush...

And that my friends is what a streeter is.

It was actually kind of fun (in hindsight), but holy cow, it was INTENSE!!

Okay, I have to get ready for work now...

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Since We're reliving the 80's anyway...



Dear Cre Comm friends,

Since I am the elderly one in the class, and this song is from when I was a kid (way back in the 80's...) I think it's only fair for me to share this with you...

Since we're reliving the 80's right now, how about we give ol' Tiffany another chance?!

I bet she is probably available for a mall appearance, so we could totally pull this off...

What do you say!?

I...INSANITY!

It's been awhile since I've posted.

They were kidding when they said that Cre Comm was going to be intense, wow!

I am working on two assignments right now; an article for the Projector, and a personality profile for my Journalism class. (well, not the actual personality profile, rather the assignment is a memo to my Journalism instructor requesting to write a personality profile about someone. The personality profile comes later...)

I still haven't found someone to do the personality profile on! (I've got a couple of e-mails into my contacts, and am awaiting replies from them...I figure I won't start panicking until about midnight...)

Anyhow, School. INSANITY!

I failed my first journalism assignment yesterday because of a spelling error! (My friends in section 3 consoled me by telling me that everyone in Cre Comm fails something, but as grateful as I am to my friends for the pep talk, I am still disappointed in my careless mistake. -- I spelled "lightning" wrong! How could I spell lightning wrong!??! At least if my error was a difficult word like "gubernatorial" or "schizophrenic" I think I would be more comfortable with my F...)

It's strange how strict this program is; it's like military training camp for the creative...(Awwe, I can totally picture Kenton and Steve in their cammo-gear...How adorable is that!?)

Spelling error = automatic fail.

Aside from school, I am excited that my sister will be coming in for Thanksgiving!

I had to book time off from work to make sure that our visit was more than just passing one another in the hallway of my parents condo. (Seriously...I think her last visit was probably like that...)

I am so excited that she is coming home; the Cook girls are going to reunite!! And, as an added bonus, I get an extra day off on Monday!

How fantastic is that!?

I already have big plans for when CJ comes home; they include ice cream, wearing sweat pants, and watching girly movies! (Maybe we'll even invest in some face masks if we decide to get fancy!!)

Ahh life is so chaotic right now, but to be perfectly honest; I am so happy about how it's all going!!