This rubs me the wrong way..

..when people assume stuff.

I mean, I get it. I go to a pretty good school that is way too expensive. That does NOT automatically mean that mommy and daddy are paying for everything.

NEWSFLASH: not all of us drive brand new mercedes or lexus cars, or can spend mommy and daddy's money like it's their own, and some of us are even PAYING FOR SCHOOL THEMSELVES.

Fine, maybe I shouldn't let it get to me, but I hate it when people AUTOMATICALLY assume crap like this. I went to this school because they have a great advertising program, not because I could afford it. I'm at this school because I busted my butt in community college and got pretty decent scholarships. I'm at this school because I work hard every semester/summer/break saving money to pay for the tuition.

It just really pisses me off when I run into people who are shocked that I have a job or whatever else is NOT like them. If there is one thing about SMU that I don't like it is the stereotype. But at the same time, I am very thankful and blessed to be at this school, I just wish people were more open minded about stuff like this.

My summer to-do list..

..consists of several things.

!) The internship that I find out about soon (I REALLY want this!) - or a different full-time job.
!) I have 15 books on my reading list and another 5 that I want to buy after the 10!
!) Spend more time outside.
!) Cherish my time with my family.
!) Find out what I want to do after I graduate.
!) Look at grad schools and portfolio schools.
!) Spend at least 20 minutes every day drawing. (I'm getting so much better).
!) Sleep! :)
!) Plan a couple of mini-road trips with my best friends.


I realized something today, which is something that I have probably heard a million times. Let it go. When there is nothing you can do about a particular circumstance you need to let it go. I'm really good at helping others come to that realization, but I have a hard time keeping it in my heart. I'm glad I have wonderful friends who remind me about this. I really need to let the future fall into place.

All I know is that I am really excited about the semester coming to an end! I really need a break!

Fail Harder - Wieden + Kennedy

David Kennedy came to SMU today. It was really interesting to hear him talk about how their business came together after reading Where the Suckers Moon: The Life and Death of an Advertising Campaign, which is about the Subaru Campaign that Wieden+Kennedy had a while back.

This was a project that a group from their 12 program worked on. They spent almost 400 hours decorating this wall.

I think it goes to show that sometimes failure is okay. The harder you fail the better you will succeed in the long run.

running?

tWO tHOUGHTS oF tHE nIGHT:

One was brought up in a lecture during one of my psychology classes:
are you running life, or is life running you?

Another one my pastor said the toher week:

saying yes to one thing is saying no to another.



Both very true, and very brilliant. What are you saying no to?

Why pay more?

I was reading an article on NYT.com the other day about the sticker shock in the organic aisles.

I thought it was quite interesting. I definitely don't have anything against organic food (I eat some organic things), but I just think that the demand of the organic supplies is increasing the costs way to high.


They wonder why 1/3 of the U.S. is overweight. Who wants to pay over $7 for a gallon of milk? Not to mention over $4 for a loaf of bread. I mean..seriously? Eat healthy and go bankrupt, or eat enjoyably and have a couple extra lbs? I'll take the later.

I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that there is this "organic craze" going on in the celebrity limelight and consumers are flocking towards it like mad geese. Just a thought.

What do the arts have to offer?

"POWER" - according to Dean Jose Bowen.



We had an event this morning with MAPS (Meadows Ambassadors for Perspective Students) and Si Puedes (a student run organization on campus that hosts a group of middle school age students every Saturday on campus).

The last part of the event was with Dean Jose Bowen doing an interactive musical piece. For those of you who haven't ever heard of Jose Bowen, you need to go to his website, Jose Antonio Bowen. He is the most phenomenal pianist I have ever met. Not to mention an amazing person in all regards.

He was speaking to the students about the Meadows School of the Arts and what all the different fields of art have in common (performing, visual, and communication arts). I loved the way he put it.

"What do advertising and music have in common? What do journalism and dance have in common? - They are all about telling a story, they are about getting your voice out there in whatever way, shape or form you throw it out to the world."

I love the way he organizes his words. All the arts are truly about telling a story, and using the power that is instilled inside of you to do it. I never really thought about comparing advertising to theatre or music. I mean I realized that there are parts of theatre and music in advertising, but hearing him speak about the way they all correlate is so interesting.

All the arts are truly full-blown stories. Whether you are in advertising, theatre, music, CCPA, journalism, or art: all these people are artists in their own way and they are trying to tell THEIR story.

So get out there today...and tell your story.

Here's what I discovered...

So, a few weeks back in my introduction to creativity class Dr. Griffin gave us the idea to do a blog on an issue that we are completely against, but do research about it and try to see it from the other side of the issue.

I chose a difficult one: abortion (pro-life or pro-choice)



I am pro-life and will always be, but I wanted to try to see it from another perspective. It was really difficult, and I'm not sure I was able to fully see it from another person's shoes. I can't picture myself sitting in the clinic about to do something like that. I relaize there are people who say, "you don't understand until you are in that situation." But then when I look back to the people who I went to high school with who used abortion a "safe way" to have sex it makes me sick. If you are going to have sex with your partner be ready to suffer the consequences. Not that having a child is a negative consequence that will cause suffering, but it will if you are in college and not ready for it. I think Norma McCorvey, who was the "Jane Roe" in the Roe v. Wade suit said it best when she was interviewed USA Today she stated that once, while employed at a clinic when no one was in: "I went into the procedure room and laid down on the table... trying to imagine what it would be like having an abortion... I broke down and cried." On ABC's World News Tonight, Norma McCorvey said: "I think abortion's wrong. I think what I did with Roe v. Wade was wrong."


If found this quote from a pro-choice fundamentalist Dr. Malcom Watts, he was writing a pro-abortion piece for the California Medical Association said: “...it has been necessary to separate the idea of abortion from the idea of killing, which continues to be socially abhorrent. The result has been a curious avoidance of the scientific fact, which everyone really knows, that human life begins at conception and is continuous until death.”



RU 468 "It works by blocking progesterone, a crucial hormone during pregnancy. Without progesterone, the uterine lining does not provide food, fluid and oxygen to the tiny developing baby. The baby cannot survive. A second drug is then given that stimulates the uterus to contract and the baby is expelled."

Suction-Aspiration "The abortionist inserts a hollow plastic tube with a knife-like edge into the uterus. The suction tears the baby’s body into pieces. The placenta is cut from the uterine wall and everything is sucked into a bottle."

Dilation and Curettage (D and C) "This is similar to a suction procedure except a curette, a loop-shaped steel knife is inserted into the uterus. The baby and placenta are cut into pieces and scraped out into a basin. Bleeding is usually very heavy with this method."

Dilation and Evacuation (D and E) This is done after third month of pregnancy: "A pliers-like instrument is inserted through the cervix into the uterus. The abortionist then seizes a leg, arm or other part of the baby and, with a twisting motion, tears it from the body. This continues until only the head remains. Finally the skull is crushed and pulled out. The nurse must then reassemble the body parts to be sure that all of them were removed."

Prostaglandin Abortion "Prostaglandin is a hormone that induces labor. The baby usually dies from the trauma of the delivery. However, if the baby is old enough, it will be born alive. This is called a “complication.” To prevent this, some abortionists use ultrasound to guide them as they inject a “feticide” (a drug that kills the fetus) into the unborn baby’s heart. They then administer prostaglandin and a dead baby is delivered. This type of abortion is used in mid and late term pregnancies."

Dilation and Extraction (D and X) Used on mid to late term babies: "The child’s body is then pulled out of the birth canal except for the head which is too large to pass through the cervix. The baby is alive, and probably kicking and flailing his legs and arms. The abortionist hooks his fingers over the baby’s shoulders, holding the woman’s cervix away from the baby’s neck. He then jams blunt tipped surgical scissors into the base of the skull and spreads the tips apart to enlarge the wound. A suction catheter is inserted into the baby’s skull and the brain is sucked out. The skull collapses and the baby’s head passes easily through the cervix."

It is hard for me to sit here and read these discriptions about the medical methods of abortion and be even remotely okay with the idea. I mean sucking out the body in pieces? Sucking the brain out? I just don't understand how someone can be okay with that.

Then I realize that people comment about what if someone was raped, and I realize that is already a hard position, but there are so many things you can do. Yes, I realize that it would be difficult to bring a baby to term after being raped, but wouldn't it be hard to kill it too? I've talked to several people who have had abortions and gotten the same response back: it was the worst mistake they have ever made and a day doesn't go by when they think of their lost child.

I tried hard to see it from the other side, but after reading all the methods and policies about abortion I think my understanding of the issue and what I think is right is more firm after reading the research.

Bioscleave House

Can I build a house like this? I always wanted to know what it'd be like to live in a house that was extremely multi-colored, not to mention with moving floors! Okay...well maybe these floors aren't moving, but the waves give the appearance that they are moving! I just think it's soo cool!!


But then the question is....does it really prevent death? I think that is a bit of an exaggeration.

Is there a point to this?

What is with all these fake threats? I mean do people REALLY have that much spare time on them?

I read this on the Tarrant County College Website:

"The TCC Police Department would like to inform our campus community that a barely discernable, small in print, message was found scratched on the stall of a men's room on the second floor of the library at the Northeast Campus. It stated, "There will be a shooting here on April 19th." The Police Department takes all threats and indications that harm may be done seriously. To this end, additional safety and security measures have been activated and will continue as long as deemed appropriate to preserve the safety and security of our campus community."


I mean seriously...can we grow up?

Really, this is normal?

Polygamy? We were talking about polygamist sect issue in West Texas the other day during one of my psychology classes.

The government went in to this compound and took out over 400 children. Apparently minors were being forced to marry old men and they were being sexual abused.

The mothers returned to the compound this Monday and are confused as to why the government removed their children from the compound and why there is all this ruckus about it. Do they not understand that living a life like that isn't normal? It's soo sad to see that they were taken advantage of and manipulated to believe that living in a polygamist relationships is normal.

What makes someone beileve that this could be normal? Not to mention why would you want to SHARE someone you are married to, I mean seriously..

Getting to know me...

I just finished an assignment I have for my psychology class. "100 Things About Me"

1) I am one of six kids in my family.
2) My middle name, Moira, means “Sea of Bitterness” and it’s the Irish form of Mary.
3) I am a transfer student from Collin County Community College.
4) I like to read all sorts of books.
5) I just learned to knit over Christmas break.
6) I love to scrapbook.
7) I have two nephews and a niece.
8) My parents call me “pooh.”
9) I am the first kid in my family to make it to a university.
10) I am a Christian.
11) I teach Sunday School at my church.
12) I have the best Bible study ever.
13) I am going to be a RA next year in McElvaney.
14) I work in the Diversity and Community Outreach Department of Meadows.
15) I love to cook.
16) I have really awesome parents.
17) I love my major, Advertising.
18) I want to go skydiving before I turn 25.
19) I love listening to people.
20) I am a helper.
21) I love to serve God and others.
22) I want to learn how to play the guitar.
23) I struggle with my weight, but hate talking about it.
24) I am an expert multitasker.
25) I always have orange bubble gum on me.
26) I love dark chocolate.
27) I am a good friend.
28) I love to do random things for others.
29) I love to bake.
30) I am energetic.
31) I am always busy.
32) I am compassionate.
33) I am funny.
34) I love to laugh; it’s like a medicine.
35) I enjoy learning new things.
36) I love being a student.
37) I am so glad I came to SMU.
38) I was missing half of my front tooth for almost six years.
39) I used to be the biggest tomboy ever.
40) I love to wear sun skirts.
41) I love wearing ballet flats.
42) Sometimes I hate being tall.
43) I love event planning.
44) I love to write.
45) I want to write a book before I’m 45.
46) I think I have fat knuckles because I pop them all the time.
47) I love reading my Bible.
48) I enjoy learning from others.
49) I love giving and receiving advice.
50) I want to teach English in a Spanish speaking country.
51) I want to be fluent in Spanish someday.
52) I want to be in school for a really long time.
53) Going out into the real world scares me.
54) I am very much a family-oriented person.
55) Moving out next semester scares me.
56) I am the third oldest in my family, but the oldest living at home.
57) It’s really hard for me to say no to other people.
58) I hate drama and gossip.
59) I love to drive, but hate traffic.
60) I enjoy talking on the phone to my good friends.
61) I love coffee.
62) I love having girls’ night.
63) I love to try out new recipes.
64) I love working.
65) My favorite holiday is Christmas.
66) I love learning more about God.
67) My favorite television show is Extreme Makeover Home Edition.
68) I love family time.
69) I like to play board games.
70) I went through a rough time my first semester of college.
71) I’ve been forgiven for my past, and I am so blessed for that.
72) I enjoy doing yard work.
73) I like to go swimming.
74) I love being outdoors.
75) I wish I had more downtime.
76) I like doing yoga, but wish I had more time for it.
77) I learned to play tennis a year ago, and fell in love with it.
78) I love jewelry.
79) I love roasting marshmallows and catching them on fire.
80) I hate being alone.
81) I have at least 10 books waiting on my shelf for me to read this summer.
82) My favorite colors are orange and green.
83) I like sappy Lifetime movies.
84) I hate that people automatically judge me because I’m a Christian.
85) I love sushi.
86) I wanted to pursue a theatre career, but I was afraid that I wouldn’t make it.
87) My favorite flower is the lily.
88) I have a red freckle on the palm of my hand.
89) I was saved two years ago this month.
90) I have been blessed with a wonderful family.
91) I am almost 100% Irish.
92) I took my step-dad’s last name when I was a senior in high school.
93) I talk with my hands.
94) I hate bees.
95) I have a newfound love for anything spinach.
96) I love shopping for handbags, especially at Target.
97) I love buying new shoes.
98) I sometimes have a hard time dealing with anger in traffic.
99) I am going to LeaderShape this May.
100) I went to Taos, New Mexico this Spring Break with Alternative Spring Break and volunteered with Habitat for Humanity.

Maybe that's too much. I had a lot of fun, but I never realized how hard it was to think about ONE HUNDRED things about YOURSELF.

Finding faith after seeing the Pope?

I was watching the news this morning and saw a story about this lady who came to Washington D.C. to see the Pope.

She was interviewed and told the broadcaster that she came all the way to D.C. because she thought that seeing him would renew her faith in God.

I just found it interesting that she was relying on another HUMAN BEING to reclaim her faith in God. Our faith doesn't rely on other people. I do hope that seeing the Pope helped her, but I hope she finds out that it's not about the people, it's about GOD.



Not to mention....if I wore that much white all the time I'd be the biggest mess ever. End of story.

You're handicapped?

One thing I have realized this semester that really pisses me off..

when people pressing the handicap button to walk into a building.



I mean, COME ON....you don't sit in a wheelchair, have crutches, a prosthetic leg, or a cast...and yet for whatever reason you can't open the door yourself.

I have seen soo many people do this in the last couple of days and it really ticks me off. Please, can someone explain this to me.


Thanks.

Hal Curtis is amazing.

Last night was the BRAND HEROISM lecture with Hal Curtis.

I did a bit of reading up on him while I was at work yesterday afternoon. He is an advertising genius. I love his work.


Though I really, really dislike coca-cola, I really liked the way he created the campaign for it.



Not to mention his NIKE work is phenomenal. Especially the Evolution ad.


He definitely has proved that advertising is definitely an artform.

Why Tuesdays?

I just finished reading Tuesdays with Morrie and can I go ahead and say that was one of the best short stories I have read. In a long time.

If there is anyone that I really wished I would have met is this guy; Morrie seemed to be a guy so full of love and joy it's amazing.

This book pulled me into the study that most of it took place. I felt that while I was reading it I was actually taking part in the events that were going on and the conversations that were voiced.

I am going to go back through the book and pull quotes that I really liked. Morrie was a genious. I wish there were more people like him in this world.

But then again, there are more people like him, but it's a matter of letting yourself be like him. He was real, he was natural. Why are we all so afraid of being who we are?

Just food for thought.