I understand that fanning things on Facebook is totally useless and a complete waste of time but I find it so enthralling!  Sometimes I just see fan pages like Pretending to Text in Awkward Situations and I think to myself, “OMGZ THAT’S ME!”  I feel as if Facebook Fan Pages say something about me that I don’t have the ability to express.

Here is a list of my top ten list of things you should fan on Facebook if you haven’t already:

1. Thank you, Tapout Clothing, for helping me spot douchebags immediately
   because I’ve never heard a truer statement.
2. On a scale from Anne Frank to Osama Bin Laden how good was my hiding spot?
   I always hope I’m closer to the Osama side of the spectrum… Anne Frank got caught!
3. Sometimes I wish I lived in the 70s.  Preferably in Eric Foreman’s basement
   Seriously… who doesn’t?!
4. My sister said if I get one million fans she will name her baby Megatron
   I love when people use the internet to make important life decisions…
5. I hate becoming a fan of something when the title uses bad grammar.
   Sometimes I hate the internet because of how stupid it has made people.  This goes along with “They’re”, “Their”, and “There” have 3 distinct meanings.  Learn them.
6. Edward Cullen is a fictional character and he will never love you.
   Wait.  What?!?!
7. Petition to never allow Sidney Crosby back into the United States
   I know he won the Olympics for Canada and everything but I’m pretty sure that not even Pittsburg wanted him back.
8. There would be less drunk driving in the world if Taco Bell delivered.
   Anyone in college knows just how much truth there is behind this statement!
9. So awkward when you and Lady Gaga turn up to a party in the same outfit.
   Tell me about it!  It happens to me all the time!
10. Girly Nerdy Goodness
    because there is nothing wrong with a little bit of shameless self-promotion right?

true story

UPDATE (4/07/10):  This is one group that I’ll never become a fan of.  It makes me sick that it even exists… Officer “It’s not drinking and driving it’s sipping and cruising.”

I love Google… but I am unimpressed, to say the least.  But then again, I wasn’t too impressed with Wave either.

Google… Stop giving us new things to do and new things to learn.  I may have mastered most of what social networking has to offer but most of society hasn’t!  Give them time to learn and catch up.  We also have enough on our plates right now.  You should be taking what we already have–Facebook, Twitter, Four Square, Flickr, etc.– and making them more streamlined and easier for us to stay connected to them all at the same time.

The last thing we need is ANOTHER place to update our status, post a picture, and keep up with a conversation.  We have our hands full already!

Maybe I’m just missing what new thing Buzz brought to the table?  From what I can tell, Buzz is just all our existing social networking sites mashed together and repackaged.  Do you really think we are going to abandon Facebook, Twitter, etc for Buzz?!  Or do you honestly just think we have endless amounts of time to spend updating everything?

Oh and, what happened to Google Wave?  Did you guys already give up?  Or are you just going application crazy?  Most of society doesn’t move at such a fast pace when it comes to technology as Google would like to think.  We were still digesting Wave and trying to figure out how to integrate it into our lives when Buzz busted in and broke up the party!

Why couldn’t Buzz just be an add on to Wave?  Together, I think Wave and Buzz, along with Gmail, would be a force to be reckoned with!  But separately, they seem fall short (at least in my book)!

So which are we supposed to be using?  Wave or Buzz?  Personally, I’m using neither!

Like I said earlier, Google, I love you!  And I still love my G1.  No hard feelings!

1. Get a college degree
2. Take surfing lessons
3. Volunteer in an impoverished area overseas
4. Become ordained and marry someone I know
5. Drink out of the Stanley Cup
6. Have a snail mail penpal
7. Get a tattoo
8. Participate in Habitat for Humanity
9. Have a “Missed Connection” written about me on craigslist.com
10. Go into the Detroit train station
11. Paint a mural
12. Participate in a paranormal investigation
13. Write a book
14. Drive a 1967 Shelby GT500
15. Be in the Guinness Book of World Records
16. Start a business
17. Try out for a reality television show
18. Start a slow clap
19. Take a polar bear plunge
20. Become an “inchvestor”

But today was different.  I walked into my Theories of Communication classroom to find the board littered with quotes from communication theorists regarding learning.  And the words “Cult of Information” was scribbled in large letters in the middle.  I knew I was about to learn something different.

My professor begins energetically rambling on and on about learning, questions, answers, and information.  It was enough to make my head spin.  But once I really began to listen, I realized he was talking about things that no one professor has ever said to me.

He tells us that information and knowledge is not a “thing” and it cannot be collected.  He feels bad for students because we think we are just here to gather as much information and knowledge as humanly possible so that we can hold it in the “bucket that is our head” and show it off to others.  We think that when we graduate our buckets will be full and we will be satisfied.  But in reality, it cannot be collected because it isn’t a thing so we will always feel disappointed and let down.

Instead we should look at our education as a growing process.  A way to enrich our souls.  He asked the question, “What will you do with your life?”  Immediately I thought, “graduate, get a job, have a family, etc.”  But that’s not what he was asking.  Our time spent here is meant to mold who we are as a human being.  Jobs and money are great but who you are is even better.  And if you are happy with who you are (not necessarily with what you do) then that is the best thing of all.

He tells us how he has found that people go to college for two reasons.  The first reason is for a job so in their classes these students just strive for a good grade.  They play games in which they do as little work for the best grade.  But the other grouping of people who go to school do it for their lives.  They believe this education is much more important than the money or the job.  They want to better themselves, not their resume, with their education.

Then he asked us to think about which category we fell into.  I was kind of upset when I realized that I’m one of those game players who is only out there to succeed in the Game of Life.  I want to get a job, make as much money as possible, have a family, retire young, and travel the world.  It’s a depressing thought that I never once though about how this education is bettering me as a person–not as an employee prospect.

One of the quotes on the board was from Lee Thayer and it read, “Answers to questions you can’t raise, will be knowledge you can’t use.”  If you don’t have a question then how are you supposed to use the statements you obtain.  My professor explains that questions are the only way to access your mind (or his mind) and finding answers.

He allowed the room to get silent for a few seconds before yelling, “throw away your highlighters!”  This puzzled everyone including me.  “What you highlight is not the answer to anything,” he says next.  This is even more confusing.  He went on to explain that these are just statements but like Thayer said, if you didn’t have the question to begin with, these statements will be meaningless.

To be honest, I was really caught off guard by all of this.  I don’t know if he lecture left me dumbfounded because it was the first day of class and we never experience something so intense or if it was because it was a completely new perspective on college life.  All I know is that I really need to step back from my aggressive school tactics and really appreciate and enjoy my last semester before graduation.  And I’m really excited to see where this class goes and what else this guy is going to open my eyes to.

Why wouldn’t I want to get vaccinated for a pandemic that the president has now deemed a national emergency, that has already infected 20,000 and killed another 1,000 people?  First off, have you heard that there is a shortage of vaccinations?  This is my main reason for not wanting to get the shot.  I have insurance and I have no problem going to the doctor whenever I need to.  So I feel that if I became infected with the Swine Flu, I wouldn’t die because I have access to the proper healthcare.  I would much rather save the vaccine to be distributed to someone who does not have insurance and would not be able to afford the doctor bills in the event they got sick.  Plus did I mention I hate shots?

What is the one reason, other than my mother telling me I have to, that will most likely ensure I get vaccinated for H1N1?  Graduation.  I will be walking across a stage on May 1 to receive a piece of paper that cost me 4 years of my life and, more importantly, cost my parents over $40,000.  Or at least I will be graduating pending the completion of 36 credit hours between this semester and next.  I already spend December through March with one cold after another, do I really want to add the Swine Flu into the mix?  Unlike a cold, H1N1 will keep me out of classes for about a week during my senior year.  I really don’t think I can afford to miss class for a week while I am already struggling to keep caught up in six classes.

Like I said, my college is giving out free H1N1 vaccinations this week and I don’t think I have any other choice but to get vaccinated.  Not only will my mother yell at me, drive the 3 hours to my house and drag me to the nearest clinic, with my luck, I would catch a bad case of the Swine Flu that would cause me to fall so far behind in my classes that I would never catch up by the end of the semester.  Then I would be forced to postpone graduation and start my 5th year of college.  Getting a shot sounds a lot better than staying in school any longer, doesn’t it?

www.GirlyNerdyGoodness.com

If you haven’t already heard, the first episode of Girly Nerdy Goodness is days away from premiering!  Girly Nerdy Goodness is a podcast that I do along with Annie, Jordan, and Whitney.

What’s the subject matter, you ask?  Whatever interests us (or doesn’t) at the moment.  Pretty much whatever we feel like talking about is fair game.  We also answer questions and give advice to clueless boys in attempt to make them the perfect men who are suitable for dating.

This podcast isn’t only a way for us to talk about pointless and nerdy things but it is also to prove that girls can be on the internet without having to take off their clothes.  Sorry boys, no n00dz here.  But I guarantee it is still entertaining!

Click here to listen to the GNG promo!

WANTED: Personal assistant to help a college senior struggling to find time for her academic life as well as her internet life. The assistant’s responsibilities would include, but are not limited to: organization of the employer’s life, scheduling (of homework, appointments, and internet responsibilities), writing dictated materials (blogs, tweets, e-mail, etc), and select domestic duties. Assistant must be proficient with a Mac and have a vast understanding of iLife, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, podcasts and be all around technologically savvy. Excellent writing and grammar skills are a must.  Flexible with days and hours as long as 9 hours are worked during any 3 days of the week. Pay is semi-negotiable. You can gladly use the position for any college “internship” requirement, however it is not guaranteed that your college/university will approve. Please do not apply if you do not own (or are not willing to purchase) an internet ready smart phone.

I wrote this want ad because I am in desperate need of a personal assistant and in an ideal, fantasy world I would have one.

On top of being a senior in college, I have far too many projects going on.  But I love them all so there’s no way I’m about to give any of them up for some silly free time.

Besides my 18 credit hour school schedule and all the studying that comes with it… I run three blogs–my personal one, Wattlebird and four815162342.  I am a co-host of a podcast called Girly Nerdy Goodness.  I am an avid blogger and Tweeter and Facebook junkie.  I send no less than 5,000 texts per month.  I live in a two-bedroom townhouse with a roommate, which requires an endless amount of chores.  And I am maintaining a long-distance relationship.

People say that I have too much on my plate.  But the truth is, if I’m not this busy I’ll go crazy.  I love the fast-pace, hectic lifestyle that I have been building up the last few years and I have no intention on changing it.  To better cope, I’m just going to have to hire someone to help me.

Craigslist doesn’t allow the posting of unpaid positions so I listed pay for my assistant as “semi-negotiable.”  And by semi-negotiable I mean, it’s unpaid.  If Craigslist allowed it, I’d just call it an “unpaid internship” and students would be lining up for the job!  Nothing says “resume builder” better than some slave labor!

Technically, you could say yes.  Technically, someone can say “this is off-the-record”. But technically, someone’s off-the-record statement can be read by millions of people within minutes these days.

I’m assuming that in today’s information age that everyone is already aware of the Kayne West/Taylor Swift tussle at the MTV VMAs last night.  I feel that it is safe to say that everyone knows about it because even President Obama had something to say about it.

According to Politico:

ABC’s Terry Moran set the Twitter-sphere all aflutter when he wrote:

We’ve reached out to Moran and will update this post when we learn more.

Now, an ABC spokesperson explains to POLITICO what happened:

“In the process of reporting on remarks by President Obama that were made during a CNBC interview, ABC News employees prematurely tweeted a portion of those remarks that turned out to be from an off-the-record portion of the interview. This was done before our editorial process had been completed. That was wrong. We apologize to the White House and CNBC and are taking steps to ensure that it will not happen again.”

The White House had no immediate comment.

Whether it is because someone doesn’t have high journalistic ethics or because some guy is too stupid to use common sense, everything you say has a possibility of making it to print (or to tweet).  This is just more proof that “off-the-record” is a thing of the past… just like dinosaurs and newspapers.

I’m sorry Obama but I do not feel sorry for you.  What’s said is said and if it is remotely interesting enough it will make it to the internet.  And if it is really interesting it will be tweeted as you speak.

It’s ironic that this went up  on PostSecret last night… which was also my first night staying at my new apartment.

Today my mom and I tried out a new recipe for the great-grandmother’s 101st birthday party.  We tried this recipe because the fruit made it perfect for summer plus it was quick and easy to make!

flat-bottom fruit pie

What You Need:

• 1 ready-to use refrigerated pie crust (1/2 of 15-oz package)
• 1 tsp cinnamon sugar (3/4 tsp sugar and 1/4 tsp cinnamon)
• 1-1/4 cups half-and-half
• 1 package (4 serving size) JELL-O White Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding
  • you could also use vanilla pudding but I highly recommend the white chocolate
• 1 cup thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping
• a few cups of fruit (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, blackberries, kiwis, etc.)
  • we used strawberries and blueberries to make a red, white, and blue themed pie–(great for the 4th of July!)

Make It!

Preheat oven to 450°F. Unroll pie crust onto round baking sheet; sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned; cool completely.

Meanwhile, pour half-and-half into medium bowl. Add dry pudding mix. Beat with wire whisk for 2 minutes or until well blended. Gently stir in whipped topping. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Spread pudding mixture over crust just before serving and top with fruit of choice.

Cut into slices, serve, and enjoy!