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Post by Birdgirl90 on May 22, 2010 22:34:32 GMT -5
Nice blog. You do improv comedy? Like in front of real people, not just a mirror? That takes nerve. Thank you! Yeah, it can be scary. I'm the youngest member on my team, which is kind of fun. We practice in a church basement, and went on the local chapter of Daystar last Novemember, cause our whole principle is clean comedy. I have a DVD of the performance, but have yet to figure out how to upload it to youtube... I've been doing it for about a year and half now - once you get over the fact that people are watching, it's actually not bad peforming. It's a lot of fun just trying to get the others in the group to laugh. I used to be really shy and quiet, and doing it has helped me get past that. I recommend everyone try it at some point. And thank you for reading!
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Post by Birdgirl90 on May 23, 2010 23:50:41 GMT -5
Creative Writing Advice #2. Writer's Block Happens, But It Doesn't Have to Control You
This is one that kills a lot of writers, myself included.
Here's situation 1: You're completely ready to write down the great idea that you've had floating around in your head, you have your medium of choice in front of you (in my case, either my laptop or a spiral notebook), the noise level is perfect, and everything is ready to go, with one problem: you can't mentally get started.
Or, in a different senario, you are sitting with your medium of choice, ready to write, when everything in your head flies out the window and into the sky, leaving you with a hollow ringing in your ears and nothing to put down on paper.
Never fear, this happens to everyone.
I don't have a cure all answer for this, and there are many different approaches to curing writer's block, but here are some things that work for me.
1. Always write something.
Even if it seems really inconsequential (like how the bathroom is painted peach and it makes you want to light a fire), write something down. It wakes your brain up, and soon your brain will be generating ideas on it's own again. This merges in with...
2. Brain Storming is Good (aka Free Write)
If you are having trouble getting started with generating ideas, set aside five or ten minutes to just free write. In essence, it's the same thing as doodling in your margines while trying to decide what to draw as the masterpiece, only for writing. What happens is you start with one idea, like the color in the bathroom, and within those five or ten minutes, your writing will have jumped through several different trains of thought. From there, you can go through and pick out ideas that jump out at you, giving you something to work with.
This is also good for trying to write school/work papers when you are free to pick the topic, as well as for creative writing.
3. If you are having trouble starting, write it from the middle.
I'm one of those writers where I like my writing to be as close to perfect the first time through, as well as in order. I have learned, though, that it does not work like that. At first it would frustrate the living daylights out of me: I'd have a great story idea, I knew how I wanted it to go, and yet, I couldn't get the begining right, so I would give up. And then I realized that I don't have to write the first draft in order. It still annoyed me that I couldn't get it in chronological order, until I figured out a system.
I went and I bought a five subject notebook. Within this notebook, I put my outlines, my middles, my ends, and finally, my beginings for my story. It made it a lot easier. Now, when I have a great idea but can't get it started from the begining, I go ahead and write the middle portion out, because that's something I can go ahead and write. That way, I know I'm making progress without getting frustrated at the way the first paragraph turns out.
This is incredibly helpful, because if you give up on something cause you can't write the first chapter, it gets to be really discouraging, and that's the last thing you want. So go ahead and write the parts that you can, and worry about the begining and putting it together later.
4. Outline, outline, outline!
Outlining is one of the most important tools for battling writer's block. If you have a really good outline of what you are trying to accomplish, then when writer's block rears it's ugly head, you can shoot it down with bows and arrows. Even if it feels impossible to get anything down on paper or the word processor from your story of choice, or if you have to write about the bathroom, you will always be able to look at an outline (even a partial one) and know that you are capable. It's like a road map, and it will help you tremendously. (This is another thing that took me forever to learn. If I had realized this in high school, my fanfiction and school papers would have been completed faster and better...)
And finally...
5. Everyone can write, so don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
This is the worst part of writer's block - it strives to make you feel incompetent about your skills as a writer. In fact, the worse you feel about it, the happier writer's block is. The truth of the matter is that anyone can write, and anyone can write well. The more you tell yourself that you suck because of writer's block, the more you are going to believe it, and the less you are going to want to write. So even when you feel stressed and like a terrible writer, write something anyway, even if it's a paragraph about how the sky looked blue today. And if anyone criticizes you for writing, tune them out. You are capable, both of writing and defeating writer's block.
I hoped this helped. Writer's block is a nasty beast (I like to think of it as a medusa of sorts, but that's just me - use your imagination), and it can really kill the will to write. That's why it's so important to write anyway, even if it feels like it's going to melt your brain into goo. I'd like to say that writer's block will eventually stop attacking, but that's not the case. But at least you can have a plan to defeat it each time it comes.
And that's my advice for today.
~birdgirl90
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Post by Birdgirl90 on May 25, 2010 17:08:13 GMT -5
General Advice for Life as a Whole #2. Watch Out For Shopping Carts
For some reason, a lot of people don't put their carts away in the cart corrals, but rather leave them free floating in the parking lot. Go to any Wal-Mart across the country and you'll see what I mean - there will be carts in the corrals, but there will also be between 2 to 10 carts free floating or parked in the rocks/grass portion of the lot, depending on the weather and time of day.
This then produces a hazard for you, the unsuspecting motor vehicle operator, when you enter the parking lot.
Generally, the fear is that if you are driving, you are either going to hit the cart and damage/scratch your vehicle. It is easy enough to avoid having that happen, all you have to do is watch where you are going and drive around the carts.
What most people don't realize is that sometimes, the carts decide to attack you.
They attack without warning. They attack violently. And most of all, they attack when you least expect it.
Here's my true story of this happening...
Last night, I went to K-Mart with my family to get my sister a new bike helmet. It was an innocent enough trip, with the four of us packing into the car and going on the 20 minute adventure to K-Mart, which was epic, I might add. Once we got there, we found the helmet and checked out, in hopes of finding something for dinner on the way home. Easy and uneventful, right?
Wrong.
As we left K-Mart and got into the car, we were all unsuspecting of anything, talking about how windy it had been yesterday and just generally being...well...a family. I had just gotten my door shut and was about to buckle my seatbelt when my dad yelled for me to watch out.
I looked up just in time to see a shopping cart that someone hadn't bothered to put into the corral come barreling down the parking lot and slam into my just-closed door.
That thing was on a mission of death or something, I swear. Or maybe it just really wanted to dent my door. I don't know.
What I do know is this: if the front of the car wasn't plastic but was metal like a Wal-Mart cart, my car door would be in terrible shape. And if my door had been open, it would've hurt like hell.
So what's my advice for rogue shopping carts on a mission of destruction?
Keep your eyes peeled for them, especially if it's windy or you are parked on a hill. They have a tendency to show up the moment you turn your head or blink, so keep a constant vigilance.
Oh, and if you use a shopping cart, put it back where it belongs. It's common courtesy, and it may save a car's life from being shamed forever.
And that's my advice for today.
~Birdgirl90
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Post by afriendlychicken on May 25, 2010 19:02:42 GMT -5
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Post by Birdgirl90 on May 26, 2010 18:58:54 GMT -5
General Advice For When The Zombie Apocalypse Happens #1. Don't Look to the Government for Help
Because when society is crumbling around your feet and the last shards of humanity are falling into chaos, the government won't be there.
I mean, let's think about this a moment: where do you think zombies are going to come from?
The answer is fairly obvious, although when I tell people this theory, they give me weird looks and start to back away from me slowly. I wouldn't even be surprised if you are giving me an odd look right now from across your computer. But don't worry, when the zombies attack, you will thank me.
Seriously, a zombie apocalypse had better be how the world ends in 2012, or else I am going to be very disappointed.
Back to the topic. I get a little carried away sometimes...
Anyway. Zombies obviously don't create themselves, as they function in a manner than no form of life was ever meant to. Cannibalistic (even though some societies are that, we will get into that in a different topic), undead, needing neither to breathe nor to speak, but just eat. That is all they care about. And the fact that they don't need oxygen should be enough proof that they are unnatural.
So where do they come from?
The government. You can't tell me that you believe everything the government tells you. When the CDC alerts us to a new outbreak of some disease that leaves hundreds quarantined, is it really what they say it is? We have the technology for biological warfare at our fingertips, created in labs. There are so many projects going on, new developements that have such sketchy details about them, all being done with government funding.
What I'm getting at is the fact that there very well could be underground experimentation going on. I really wouldn't put it past the government. I'm not saying that I dislike our democracy, I'm not saying that I don't feel somewhat safe under the stars and stripes, I'm just saying it would not surprise me if they were doing under-the-table research.
Add with this the fact that it is a fairly simple process to mutate and modify human DNA, and you can see where zombies would come from.
Now, keep in mind that this is all just a theory, and I don't know for sure that a zombie apocalypse is how the world is going to finally end. I repeat: it is just a theory that I have been working on for a year or so in my free time.
So anyway, should the zombies come, and the world and all we know is falling to pieces, we shouldn't look to the government for help. Chances are, it's also going to be falling apart, becoming more corrupt than it already is, and it will be using whatever resources it has to save itself and cover up what is going on. (For examples of what I mean, watch part of Resident Evil: Apocalypse, and Diary of the Dead.)
What's my advice then?
Be prepared. Have a plan so that when and if the zombies come, you will be able to hold your own ground and not need to rely on military or government resources. Know your enemy. And most of all, be ready to fight. (These things I will cover in later blog updates.)
And that's my advice for today.
~birdgirl90
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Post by Birdgirl90 on May 27, 2010 11:19:28 GMT -5
General Advice for Life as a Whole #3. It's Okay to Eat What You Want
This is something that irritates me on an almost regular basis, and here's why:
Our society is so wrapped up in healthy foods, and organic foods, and working out to be in shape, that I feel as if we have almost completely forgotten what it's like to enjoy ourselves.
Then, to top it all off, the fashion industry and the magizines are all full of thin people, putting even more pressure on the young men and women (because while it seems like it's more on women than men, you can't tell me that guys don't feel self-concious either) to be that way. Cut calories, eat this, buy that, don't do this, excercise like this, don't be like that, you're too thin, you're too big, etc.
Stop it! Stop it, stop it, stop it!
Life is not about trying to fit into a size 0. Life is not about eating only organic foods, or exercising five times a day, or even trying to compete with the neighbors next door.
Ok?
So what is life about?
Life is about learning, about helping others, and about having fun along the way. Who cares if you live to be 110? If you didn't take the time to enjoy things along the way, would you really want to live 110 years only eating cardboard and working out?
Before I go any further, I would like to take a moment to say I really don't have anything against organic food. I just feel that it is expensive for what it is, and that only eating it does not make sense to me.
I believe that food, while necessary to keep our bodies going, is a way to remember things and a way to pass family down from one generation to the next. It's a way to bond with those around you, a way to share comfort with those who are hurting, and a way to help you get through the tough times and the happy times.
If you can't take the time to slow down and taste what you are eating, or if all you are going to eat is protein shakes, why bother?
I don't know how many times I've had a really bad day and my dad has made me fried potatoes and onions to calm me down. Terrible for me? Probably. But you know what? It works. I smell the stuff cooking and I almost always relax, because it reminds me of home and family and security.
I've been working at a bagel place now for three weeks, and I can't tell you how often I've had people come in wearing sports gear, and order a plain bagel with lowfat cream cheese, easy on the cream cheese. Ususally, these are the people who are rude, cranky, and in such a hurry that they don't even look at me as they order and start walking away while I'm still reading the order back.
The ones who are the happiest? The little kids who come in and order chocolate chip bagels loaded with stuff. They aren't afraid to eat it, because they don't know any better. All they know is that they like chocolate (or blueberry, or strawberry, etc.). I see them in the dining area, happy as can be, and usually their parents are in a good mood, too, as the parents usually order what they want.
And every once in a while, I get a full grown adult who comes in and orders either a cinnamon sugar bagel or a chocolate chip bagel - those people make me want to do the happy dance.
Now, I don't know if it's the fact that these people are trying to watch what they eat that makes them cranky. And maybe they really want the light cream cheese, I don't know. I just find that most cranky people are the ones who order the healthy, boring stuff.
As for myself, I'm a fairly big girl, but I am also pretty healthy. I will never be a size 0, even if I were to go on a diet, and I know that. I don't calorie count, and I don't monitor everything I take in. Instead, I eat when I'm hungry, and I eat what I like, which usually leads me to a mixture of fruits, salads, and fats, just because I like to eat colorful things. When I go out with friends and they all order salads, I go ahead and order a sandwhich or a burger. And I always eat chocolate in moderation.
If you can't take the time to enjoy chocolate, or are bent on depriving yourself of it, something is wrong.
So what's my advice? Eat the cookie. Stop counting calories, and eat what you want, just keep it all in moderation. Chances are, you're going to end up balancing it out anyway without realizing it because your body will naturally guide you to what you need as long as you remember to listen to it. If it looks good, and it smells good, then go for it.
And most of all, remember to actually enjoy what you're eating.
And that's my advice for today.
~birdgirl90
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Post by afriendlychicken on May 27, 2010 17:08:47 GMT -5
I eat whatever I want, too. I couldn't care less. This countries health problems has less to do with what we eat and more to do with the sedate life style we have now. They ate steak and potatoes covered with gravy, butter and lard in the 40's. 50's, 60's, and 70's and where was the overweight problem then? Not there, because they had active lives back then, so they burnt off all the fat and calories. Not like today's world, where we play video games, watch TV 10 hours a day while sitting in front of our computers...um... I think I'm going for a walk, while eating a twinkie...and avoid the zombies. When are they going to start dealing with this zombie problem? Is it just Hawai'i? ;D
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Post by Birdgirl90 on May 27, 2010 18:45:25 GMT -5
Afriendlychicken, you are completely right, and I'm glad someone else eats what they want - I had a fear I was the only one, lol. A walk while eating a Twinkie actually sounds pretty good right now... As for the zombies, I don't know when the problem is going to be taken care of... Don't worry, it's not just Hawai'i. ;D It's gonna be world wide.
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Post by Birdgirl90 on Jun 2, 2010 23:32:11 GMT -5
Hi, sorry for the update delay. I've been wiped (getting up at 4 am to work sucks sometimes), and I've been out of advice for a few days. But I'm back! So now, back to the blog... General Advice for Life as a Whole #4. Moms Are Always Right I don't care who you are or how old you are; your mom is going to be the most accurate person in your life. Somewhere down the road, things she's told you at one point or another are going to ring true. And somehow, moms just know things that baffle the rest of us - why you need to sort light colors from the darks before you do laundry, why you should brush your teeth twice a day, why too much of a good thing will leave you on your back. I am actually very fortunate. I have a great relationship with my mom, one that is almost entirely unique out of all my friends and their relationships with their moms. My mom is someone who I feel like I can almost always go to when things are hard, someone who I consider a friend as well as an authority figure, and who, even when I'm rebeling and slamming doors, I respect more than anyone. She's the one who is there with the tissues when I'm pissed off at boys, she's the one who makes me breakfast before I go to school, she's the one who helps me when I'm sick. Granted, she's also the one who gets mad when I don't clean the bathroom and who gets on my case for not having a clean room. But you know what - that's ok. Something had to give somewhere. The reason I got to thinking about why moms are right, though, is because my mom just spent over two hours helping me get my checkbook organized and balanced. She did it without complaining or yelling, too, even though we both know that if I had done what she had told me to do months ago, I wouldn't have needed her help to get it to balance. As stated before, moms are always right. You may not like what they have to say, but somewhere down the road, it's going to come about like they say it is. I don't know how many times I've not listened to my mom about things and have had said things blow up in my face. I know at this point that I should really just do what she tells me, but it's hard. It's hard because I feel I should be independent already, and because I want to be able to manage on my own. But the truth is? We should all listen to our moms (or other parental figure), because they've been through it all already. And some of the stuff they say really does make sense down the road. So my advice? Even when it seems crazy, listen to your mom. She will always be right, even if it doesn't seem like it now. And also, family is one of the best ties you will ever have in life, so don't take them for granted. And that's my advice for today. ~birdgirl90
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Post by afriendlychicken on Jun 3, 2010 2:07:22 GMT -5
Hooray for moms! I live in an extended family situation; which is very common here; that includes my parents, my sister and her three kids, with one of my relatives living next door. Almost always, when I need advice, I head for my mom. She knows, she knows...except for what causes lunar eclipses. No mom, the sun does not come between us and the moon to cause it. But, to my mom's credit, she figured it out half a second after she asked me. "Oh, wait...that can't be right." Again, great post birdgirl90.
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Post by Birdgirl90 on Jun 3, 2010 21:08:12 GMT -5
General Advice for Life as a Whole #5. Don't Buy Things Unless You Know You Are Going To Use Them!
Otherwise, they really just take up space in your room, hall, or closet.
I have personal experience in this matter, the big one being when I decided to buy Derby Skates a few months ago. Here's the story...
I had just recently discovered the movie Whip It, which is a movie starring Ellen Page as a young girl who goes from being a bookworm into a Roller Derby Queen. A year or two ago, I had read the book, so I was familiar with the story line, and at the time of reading the book, I was blown away by the concept of roller derby.
The idea faded from my mind until I saw the movie a few months ago. I promptly fell in love with the concept all over again, and decided that I wanted to do roller derby myself.
Ok, let me take a moment to add in here that anyone who knows me, also knows that I am scared of spiders in the sink, and I usually have to repeat things in normal conversations because I have a tendency to mumble in fear of raising my voice. I have never punched anyone or taken anyone out, except for when I'm doing improv shows, which is just in fun.
Basically, I'm a nerdy girl who is better with words than physical aggression, and I have a fear of things that are out of my control, like, say, falling.
Oh, and I haven't roller skated since I was 10.
Keep these things in mind as the story continues...
So, for some reason, I wanted to become someone who was tough and, in my mind, awesome and cool. Normally when I feel like this, I re-dye my hair a different color (either a shade of purple-brown, red-brown, or other dark color) and cut it drastically. Or I'll go on a shopping spree and re-do my wardrobe somehow.
Instead, though, because it looked so easy in Whip It, I decided I was going to do roller derby this time.
Ok, let's think about this for a second: Fear of falling (and almost everything else) + bad balance and not skating in almost ten whole years = Not going to end well...
So, a normal person would probably remember their lack of coordination and fears, and would've gone to the local rink and gotten lessons first to see if this is what they wanted to do.
Not me.
Instead, I went to Target.com and ordered a pair of men's derby skates (because the ones for women were stupid and not what derby is about) in a size 8. And I waited.
My mom told me right after the fact that while it was my money, I probably should've gotten lessons first. Proof yet again that moms are always right. (See previous blog entry)
Finally, my skates came in and I was thrilled! I had the cool socks, my bike helmet, and now I had the skates. It was like nothing could go wrong.
I strapped them on, and skated on the carpet in our apartment a little - no hardship there, and it made me feel like I could take the skates outside and become Bliss from Whip It overnight.
Wrong. Majorly wrong, actually.
Skating on concrete, asphalt, and parking lots is scary business. The few times I could actually skate on my own, I was so scared of falling that my palms were soaking wet. Luckily, my parents were very generous and walked around a few times while holding my hands, helping keep me upright.
After about three different attempts to skate, I decided derby probably wasn't for me. And the skates went next to the shoe cubby, where they have been collecting dust for the past month and a half.
So what's my advice after this incredibly long story?
Always make sure you are going to use what you buy. If you aren't sure, see if there's a place you can try out a product similar to the one you looking at. It will save you money in the long run, and also save you space.
And that's my advice for today.
~birdgirl90
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Post by Birdgirl90 on Jun 23, 2010 23:37:02 GMT -5
I'm alive! It's one of those things where life hit me with a mac truck and I menally flatlined for a moment, causing temporary amnesia where the world of blogging is.
In layman's terms, I got busy and developed writer's block, which lead me to neglect both this blog and my other blog. Traveling in a car across Kansas and Missouri hasn't really helped much either, lol.
But I'm back (at least for one update), so let's do this. Ready, folks?
Traveling Back Home Advice #1. Don't Over Analyze About How Things Were
Because if you do, you're going to end up disappointed. I'll elaborate.
I'm writing this blog from St. Louis tonight, where I lived for most of my life before moving to Colorado in 2005. When I lived here, my family had a house with a yard, my best friend lived five minutes away, the neighborhoods were all small and quiet, and I knew my way around without getting disoriented.
Things have really changed here since then.
Today we went driving through the various areas that we once called home, and everything was so built up that I seriously could not figure out where I was. Yeah, there are things here I still recognize, but mainly, I'm just seriously turned around.
The thing that bothered me the most though was when we drove by our old house. This was a house that I had lived in my entire life, and while I think I knew that the new owners had probably done something with it over the past five years, a part of me hoped otherwise.
It turns out that the old neighborhood looked almost entirely the same as it had the last time I was there, with the exception of my old house. It appears that the new owners of my old house have decided that blue and yellow are no longer fitting colors for a house, and have started painting the trim and back deck white. They also installed a basketball hoop, which is weird to me, cause it's located on a perfect bike hill, so why would you want to play basketball?
The nice things to see were that the new owners kept the front porch swing (a Mother's Day Gift my sister, dad, and I put together when I was ten or so), the garden in the backyard (the watermelon never did grow for some reason), my mom's flowerbeds out front (we had issues with wasps near the door because they loved the hostas), and all the trees that we planted before we left (I never realized how much maples grew in a few years).
In that breif period though, I realized how much I missed that house. I started mentally going through the rooms, wondering if they were all painted the same and who, if anyone, had gotten my room. There was a rainbow in my room that I painted with my dad when I was three - I vaguely wondered if it was still there or if they had painted over it for the sake of needing a blank wall.
And before I knew it, I had spent a good ten minutes dwelling on the changes that had gone on, and it had completely changed my mood.
The truth is, there is nothing I can do about the changes going on in my old house and neighborhood and town. I don't have any control over it all, and dwelling over it does not help. All I can do is be happy for the time I had there, enjoy the memories as they come, and strive to keep moving forward in the current life I have now. Angsting over things beyond my control is not worth the mental anxiety.
So what's my point and advice after all this rambling? If you go back to places where you grew up, don't overthink the changes that have gone on. There will always be changes, some for the better, some for the worst; there really is nothing you can do about it. Instead, just enjoy your time there.
And that's my advice for today.
~BirdGirl90
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Post by afriendlychicken on Jun 26, 2010 0:45:44 GMT -5
That's funny because in December I visited the home and neighborhood I grew up in and had the same response. We had an upstairs with a balcony and the new owners tore down the balcony. The worst was they haven't painted the house since they bought it...18 years ago! We did run into our old neighbor though, and that was great.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Jul 6, 2010 1:14:48 GMT -5
Okay, in regards to Whip It ( one of my favorite flick BTW) did you at least give yourself a kick-ass Rollerderby name?
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Post by Birdgirl90 on Jul 6, 2010 19:41:37 GMT -5
I wish I could say I did, but I couldn't think of anything remotely tough or awesome sounding that would fit. And when I asked my friends for help, they all laughed at me for some reason...
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