Sudden commotion on campus!
Another news van outside Ronald Reagan.
Reporting on the Young Hall student stabbing.
It seems that reporters are always rushing. Rushing on scene (or as close as they can get). Rushing to grab interviews. Rushing to report on the latest news!
Sometimes when you just need a bit of peace, the most eclectic set of activities can be the ones that are soothing and therapeutic. They all involve a certain amount of solitude, but have little else in common. Some require heavy thinking whereas others let your mind wander; some are more physically demanding while others are more mentally-challenging.
Take gardening, for example. It’s one of those activities that doesn’t require much thinking, but can be more physical as you forge a bond with nature. You can escape from the harsh noises in our lives and get a little closer to the life around you. It’s refreshing because it’s a change from the typical daily grind and it gives our eyes a rest from the artificial lights that tend to surround us. Growing up in the Midwest, I particularly love wandering around gardens or getting a little dirty because of the connection I get with Mother Nature. It’s fascinating to observe some of the plants that surround us, since most of us barely glance at them as we rush by. Taking the time to breath in the fresh air being produced by the plants, discovering some of the insects that cohabit with them, and really getting to understand where we came from is a great way to de-stress.
Making things can be so satisfying.
photo credit
Another thing I find really comforting is studying in a library. When you enter a place like that, there’s a certain level of silence with just whispers of sound coming from the movements of others studying alongside you. It’s kind of nice to be in such an academic setting, with everyone around you working so hard that it helps you focus too. I find that I need to be at peace to a certain extent before I have the patience to sit down and pore over my work diligently. The good thing is, you can really get on a roll and get a lot done when your focus is just right!
On the opposite end, when you get into the right rhythm for a sport, it’s truly a marvelous feeling. Runner’s high isn’t something restricted only to that sport; in fact, I’d venture to say each athlete can reach a point where the physical exertion of their body is in such peace and harmony that they’ve reached that state of flow. When you’ve hit the ball just right, moved your body perfectly, and attained something you never had before, there’s not much that can beat that feeling. The feeling that it’s just right.
See how fun it is?
So, what’s the activity that gives you your peace of mind?
I don’t know why, but they just fascinate me so much. And no, I don’t really stalk them, though it may seem like it. 😛
Look what I found in my backyard!
I love that they have these long thoraxes to be grabbed by.
He's looking at you!
I gave him a little saddle to ride.
Hanging off a branch.
I wonder if he can see color.
I gave him a chance to climb...
...and climb he did!
FREE!!!
Samples are awesome.
Panda and I have been signing up for a lot of free samples and the like lately. We’ve gotten everything from Burt’s Bees Acne Solution to Bear Naked Granola and Cereal (as pictured above). We even have many free full size bottles of shampoo, free candy and snacks, and weekly free food! I’ve created a Google doc just to record all the stuff we’ve managed to redeem (because I’m an information horder like that).
The most expensive food item was probably the Edible Arrangements chocolate-dipped fruit… 9 pieces for me and 8 for Panda. Our favorite was Menchies, which is the awesome version of Yogurtland. They’ve got an AMAZING buffet selection of toppings and flavors, everything is fresh and tasty, and the free samples were HUGE at 12 oz. per person. The most flavorful I would have to say was the Chick-fil-a burgers. We went way out of our way to get to the nearest one, but it was yuuummy and I wish they had a store in Westwood, or at least not 20 minutes away.
I thought it was a wildfire at first, but turns out it's just the normal marine layer.
Sudden gloom and doom! This was creepy.
Can't even see the ocean anymore...
I feel like I've entered into another planet's atmosphere.
I came across an article today detailing the dangers of giving too much away on Facebook. People are forced to make a choice between sharing whatever they want with their friends and not “friending” anyone at work or being very cautious of what they share on their accounts and allowing people from their company to view their profile. To a certain extent, I can understand why it is important to be more reserved and not let your wildest personal moments leak into your professional life. However, I think some companies have taken things too far and are basically stalking their employees. Are we not allowed a mistake here and there? A fun day/night/weekend out with our friends?
One of the unfortunate side effects of being involved in social media is that sometimes people get to know you too much. Whereas previously what you do on your own time rarely made it back to the office, now people don’t need to run into you to find out what you’ve been up to. Plus, since we list our professional affiliations on our profiles, we are judged much more harshly for what we do, since it also reflects upon the company we work for. It’s human nature to see one bad instance and suddenly discredit the person entirely, or even the organization(s) they belong to. And so, corporations begin to crack down on this to prevent their name from being tainted by an individual within.
I’ve always struggled with how much to share. I innately want to share much more than I probably should at times, but hiding aspects of my life just feels fake to me. I don’t want to go around living some sort of secret, underground existence! I don’t do things I’d be ashamed of and though I may not always do things I could tell my parents, I never do something I couldn’t tell my friends. Some people in the world may be too uptight to appreciate some of the fun I have, but should I limit myself just because of them? Am I not allowed to participate in silly things like Undie Run? Am I not allowed to express my femininity in a photo shoot? My actions aren’t always G-rated, but they’re PG-13 (which is probably the best you’re going to get from young adults!). That’s pretty mild, yet I still feel unsure sometimes about how older generations will view me from a single picture they may have seen.
I would hope that any employer who stalks me on Facebook would be realistic enough to understand that the two or three times a year I do something unconventional do not define who I am. I mean, I don’t curse, don’t drink, don’t smoke, and don’t even have a coffee/caffeine dependency! If I’ve got the discipline to maintain that despite everything that’s going around me, certainly I can be trusted to have some responsible fun occasionally. In the future when I’m running my own venture, I’d want to have a culture that accepts the alter-egos people sometimes have on their own time. I saw a company that gives two “I just didn’t want to get out of bed” days to their employees annually because they recognize that sometimes you may not have a family emergency or be sick enough to get a day off, but you really need one anyway. Now there’s a company that understands that employees are people!
Well, that must have come from the DEEP sea. I could even step on it without crushing it!
Microsoft has been working really hard to promote their newest operating system with their “Windows 7 was my idea” campaign. Though I think they’re trying too hard to some extent, I think their efforts are catchy enough to be interesting. In fact, that phrase really does hit on how many people must feel about the product. No doubt plenty of people look at the new features and think, “I totally thought of that!” And indeed, the combined wisdom of Windows users is something not to be overlooked. Certainly their suggestions were instrumental in the changes made for Windows 7.
I just got Windows 7 installed on my computer last night, thanks to Doc, who trekked out to Panda’s place to help me out. Opti kindly allowed us to use two of her CD/DVD-Rs so I could boot the new operating system from an external source. Thank goodness we had two, since the first disc Doc burned didn’t work! After many hours waiting for my computer to do its thing and process whatever it needed to, I was finally able to boot with my brand new system. Gotta love that Panda’s an engineer who gets access to a free version of Windows 7 Professional, courtesy UCLA.
Now that I’ve been using it for a couple of hours and have viewed the tutorial videos, I’m getting a good handle on its new features. One of my favorites is the rotating backgrounds, which makes so much more exciting. I’ve set my desktop background to change every 10 minutes, just to keep things fresh. It’s also so much nicer to scroll your mouse over things and get previews popping up before you commit to clicking. I kind of miss the long task bar buttons that would have the icon and first couple of words for each program you had open, but I’m getting used to remembering what each icon stands for (and I could always revert back to what I’m used to if it gets too confusing). Another thing is that the quick launch icons are gone and now any of the programs can be “pinned” to your task bar quickly and easily. They basically took the quick launch and made it the task bar, but also allow you to open up the open windows of a program using the same icon you use to open up the program in the first place. If that makes any sense.
One of the things I remember hearing about before the release of Windows 7 is the “clicking” into place. Whenever you drag a window to the left or right side of the screen and your mouse hits the edge of the screen, the window automatically resizes to fit the corresponding half of the screen. Saves me the work of resizing windows that they take up about half the screen whenever I want to see the contents of two windows at the same time. I think that’s a key feature that makes everyone exclaim, “I’ve wanted that forever!” They’re also much better with docking windows to the edges of your screen so you don’t have to approximate anymore.
Check out the cute little hummingbird!
The new library feature is something that will take some getting used to, since it’s another way of organizing things. From what I gather, it will be very useful because it allows you to group folders together without actually moving them into the same parent folder together. That way, you can access certain files across all of your documents, pictures, or videos and easily search within these libraries that you create and define. The preset ones are pretty intuitive too: Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos. Sometimes I have videos that are actually in folders within my Pictures folder, so having a Video Library makes it easier to find the videos I’m looking for without having to search all over the place. Another thing is, I can add an external hard drive folder to the library so that when it’s connected, the library will access the files in my other hard drive as well. Nice!
Seems like Microsoft is making a nice step towards better usability and functionality. I don’t believe that the Mac commercial poking fun at Microsoft is true at all. Sure, there may have been some empty promises in previous operating systems, but I never felt they were that bad. And even if they were, Windows 7 is truly a huge improvement. Besides, I don’t respect Apple for making a series of commercials where they just ridicule their competitor. Whether or not what they say is true, it’s unsportsmanlike to say it at all. If they are really that great, then they’d be just fine touting their strengths without stomping all over Windows. Yet another reason why I’m not a Mac person. But anyway, like I was saying, I think Microsoft’s done well with this new operating system and the corresponding marketing campaign.
This guy decided to drop me a visit one day. -___-
The larger they are, the clumsier they get (and easier to catch).
