Maine-ly Marvelous

My first year at USI, I went to a conference in November and found out about a service-learning program in which the Ohio State offered their students opportunities to make an impact by working on local, state, national, and global community service events. It was a great idea and one of my colleagues attended the program with me and said he was going to start something like the OSU program at USI. I told him I would be interested in helping and waited for two years while he never followed through with any of his plans (not really a big surprise - he was a major slacker).

During the summer, we hired a new guy and I was telling him about how I wanted to see a community service program started at USI. He said his passion was service-learning and said he was going to start up something at USI. Of course, I didn't hold my breath but told him I would be interested in helping him.

You may be wondering why I just didn't start the program myself - I was and still am too busy that I knew I could not take the lead on this type of massive program planning. I am taking a full load of classes, working on revamping the student government for our Housing students (yes, a flash back to my Northridge days - I like to restructure - what else can I say?!), and preparing for a job search in addition to my regular work responsibilities.

The colleague actually followed through, wrote the proposals, talked to the people we needed to get permission from, and actually made it so we could take a group of students (no more than 8) to Maine for a week. I handled the advertisement and crossed my fingers that we would get students to go (they have to pay $150 so some could not afford it) and that my CIS professor would allow me to take the midterm early.

Last week, when I got a pedicure, the polish I chose was Maine-ly Marvelous. It is a dark purple - not typically the color I would choose but it was a good luck kind of thing - had to use the polish. It worked! While we have one more day for students to complete applications, we have 4 students that are definitely going and one more who will know for sure tomorrow. On Wednesday, my professor said I can take the midterm next week (which means I have to study like crazy this weekend to be ready!).

We are leaving on Friday, October 7th at 3pm. It's about a 24 hour drive. We will be working at Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine helping the park build trails and prepare for shut down over the winter months. I cannot wait! The leaves should be changing colors by now so I plan to take a million pics (I will post some here when we return).

Happy Birthday!

Today is my friend Dave's birthday.

I miss him even though he would argue with me all the time about everything ;)

I blame the balloon

Last Sunday was our first Housing wide program. A group of RAs have to plan a program every month for all of the students to attend. The first one for this year was coordinated by the O'Daniel North RAs (The RAs are split into 6 groups - mine (the ones I supervise) are the Ruston/O'Bannon RAs - I am trying to provide enough info for those of you who don't know what I do exactly {which pretty much is everyone because no one really gets it - but alas this is a topic for another BLOG entry} while not boring those who do know because they did it before). Was that the longest, most fragmented sentence ever - eh, welcome to my brain- ADD baby!

The program consisted of an activity every 15 minutes - wheelbarrow races, balloon toos, musical chairs, etc. I talked one of my RAs (Emily - she is great, real nice girl, and willing to step out of her comfort zone when I ask here to try something) into participating in the musical chairs game with me. I think it is important that I, as a supervisor, participate so that the students see that they too should participate.

Now you may be thinking "Musical Chairs - what's the big deal" but alas (have I used that word twice in this post already?!) there was a catch to this game - if you got out, you got a pie in the face. So we played - Emily got out first, I felt bad for a second, then I got distracted by my need to win. I had my musical chair strategy - make sure you run fast till you are in front of a chair then be slow then fast to the next chair - and my strategy worked. It was me and Thomas, an RA I had on my staff last year but moved him to another staff for this year. I even got to pie Brett, one of my residents from last year who is now an RA.

The person sitting in the chair with a balloon tied to it was the person who got to throw the pie in the face of the person who did not get a chair. Now everyone knows that I still have a huge fear of balloons - they POP - loud noise - very scary!

Thomas and I are running around the chair and he hits the ballon. I freeze! The balloon floats off into the sky and I stand there looking at it. The music stops. Thomas sits down. I am still looking in the sky!

Damn balloon! Thomas throws the whip cream pie in my face. As he throws the pie in my face he says, "This is for putting me on Matt's staff" (the AC he now works with since I traded him). I took three showers before I didn't smell like spoiled whipped cream was coming out of my pores.

Peter Pan

I took one of those stupid computer tests that assessed if I acted my age or not. Well, guess what...I don't. The age I act...19. I suppose in part that is true. My favorite type of music definitely centers around teen angst - of which I don't have and can't really say I ever did have, but when someone writes a song about it - I am hooked....it's deep.

The stupid test said "College is over...time to move on". Ha ha - what do they know - I am still in college (three grad classes and a full time job - I am dying here!). I guess it does not help that I still live on campus - in a hall with 220 first year students. My job requires that I do so.

The people I have hung out with the last few years have been significantly younger (though Amanda is definitely an old soul). We just don't mention that I am SOOOOOOO old and I smile real BIG when I get carded. OMG! I have turned into that creepy old person that hangs around the campus trying to relive their youth.

I blame my parents...yeah, let's blame them. Seriously, if I looked 32 I might tend to act that way but I don't (JK MOM AND POP: I don't blame ya!).

I tried to date a guy my age recently and I was so bored. People my age are settled down - they have forgotten that life is full of so many opportunities. There is so much to experience - why settle? Plus they are balding - it's one thing to shave your head and be a bald hottie, it is another thing to try and fight it. YOU WILL NOT WIN!

Things Peter and I have in common:

1. We love Green
2. We are nice to our friends and listen to what they have to say:
Peter Pan: Tinkle Bell! I hereby banish you forever.
Wendy: Please, not forever.
Peter Pan: Well, for a week then.
3. We love our friends:
Peter Pan: Don't you understand, Tink? You mean more
to me than anything in this whole world!
4. We both might be a little full of ourselves:
Peter Pan: [singing] I gotta crow. / I'm just the cleverest
fella / 'Twas ever my fortune to know.

Alright, I admit it...I have a Peter Pan complex. I am Peter Pan...I accept it... I will not grow up...I will believe in crazy things (fairies rule!)

"Second star to the right and straight on till morning" :)

Happy Birthday!

Today is my mom's birthday!

I have a great mom. Hope she has a happy birthday.

What's in a name?

Tracy

Bold, courageous : Latin
Reaper : Greek

You are an inspiring leader whose originality, creativity and wisdom are applied to creating practical solutions to "unsolvable" problems. Humanitarian and idealistic, your vision is to make the world a better place and you will work to this end. Hardworking and tenacious people admire you for your honesty and integrity. You are a loved and loyal friend and partner. You have the potential to achieve enormous success in the world.

What does your name mean?

How sad is it that growing up I was told repeatedly that Tracy was a boy's name. Every time we looked it up in the baby book, it was translated to mean farmer. How depressing! This was why I always hated my name when I was younger. I am okay with it now. I like that it isn't very common and I am thankful that it doesn't rhyme with a lot of derogatory words

Well said...

The Bush Administration's Policy Problems

At least it is the same problem for both areas.


Not only am I addicted to posting, I also like to read strangers' BLOGS. I found this one at "Dig up Stupid" posted by Dr. Zero.

Listen Up!

I have the greatest shower radio CD player in the world thanks to Best Buy and "my discount" (he he THANKS Sarah!). It actually plays CDs so I can shower to the music I want to listen to, not the incessant chatter of morning disc jockeys.

Right now, I am listening to Everything in Transit by Jack's Mannequin. It is the side project of the lead singer for Something Corporate. He didn't leave the band and pursue a solo career like most artists who forget where they came from and the people that helped them get there (i.e. Gwen Stefani, Rob Thomas, Justin Timberlake). The album is great.

I don't know that I can say which song is my favorite but I do have an earworm from "Bruised" (In flight radio) and when I first got the album I listened to "Holiday from Real" 4 or 5 times before I went on to the next song. Andrew has such a unique voice.

The album art is fun and all the lyrics are included.

On a side note (for those of you who are not fans yet), Andrew is having a bone marrow transplant. He was recently diagnosed with cancer. Keep him in your prayers and go buy this album (but not from Walmart because they are selling a edited version).

Crazy Thoughts

If you make a living because something bad has happened (fireman, social worker for CPS, etc), should you be happy and/or thankful when bad things happen?

I copied (with small modifications) this from my friend Brett's blog (Love and Miss you BRETT!). It's too funny and sadly, too true.

You know you go to CSUN when...

• The line to the cashier goes on for 2 blocks
• The line to the cashier goes on for 2 blocks at 8 am and it is considered a SHORT line
• You have to get to school at 7:30 for your 9 am class and still can't find any parking (36,000 students and only 25,000 parking spaces!)
• Strange people ask to take you to your car (so they can be sure to take your parking space when you leave. Don't laugh - I have done this!)
• You have the first day of priority registration and all the classes are full
• Everyone you know is from NOR*CAL (not like that's hella cool or anything!!!)
• Everyone works as a server and pays for their own everything
• You are in a class of 100 students and the teacher takes roll because attendance is mandatory
• You can't find the damn Citrus Hall because last semester it was called Science 3 and the semester before that The Planetarium
• People drive their cars from the Res. Halls to the parking lot and bring a skate board to get from class to class
• Every place that serves food is packed at 12 pm
• The campus is empty on MWF because everyone goes to school TTH
• You are surprised when you hear someone has graduated in 4 years and still a little surprised when they graduate in 5!

You actually get these jokes and pass them on to your other friends who go to CSUN

What I am reading

Since my good friends Amanda and Chrisitna deserted me in E-ville (blah, blah, something about moving on with their life, chasing their dreams, being in a happy place), I joined a club for Newcomers to the Evansville Area. I have lived here already for 2 years (minor detail). I have yet to meet the ladies in this organization but am reading their book of the month for the book club.

"A Son Called Gabriel" is about a young boy growing up in Ireland. This is a review of the book:

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
An Ulster adolescent struggles to come to terms with his homosexuality in the 1960s and '70s in McNicholl's fine, compassionate coming-of-age story. Gabriel Harkin, the eldest child in a working-class family, is a sensitive boy: he gets picked on at school, and he'd rather play with girls than kiss them. When a predatory older boy introduces him to sex ("I'll be the doctor and examine you, then you do the same to me"), Gabriel's desires cause terrible guilt; such acts, according to the Church, are "abominations." Though eventually Gabriel overcomes the intimidation of his classmates, figuring out his sexual identity proves more difficult, as he bounces back and forth between dates with girls and clandestine trysts with boys. There are secrets, too, surrounding Gabriel's Uncle Brendan, a priest who left Ireland for Kenya after a family scandal. McNicholl paints a rich picture of Gabriel's life and all its conflicted messages about sex: while his mother is so prudishly Catholic she can't bear to watch a TV kiss, one of the priests at Gabriel's church sexually abuses him. Gabriel wants to be like the other boys, but when he gets himself a serious girlfriend, matters explode. Awkward, sometimes tender sex scenes—with both genders—recall all the clumsy uncertainties of adolescence. McNicholl is a graceful writer, and his is a worthy debut.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

It's a good read so far. Very easy to read (which is important since I am squeezing it in between the required MBA readings).

I am really excited to attend the book club meeting which is this coming Thursday. I wouldn't have expected a group from Evansville to pick such a book (We are in the Bible Belt).

I have about 60 pages or so left but do recommend this book.

Rant and Rave about...GAS

No, this is not a post about my friend Christina and my missing of the toxic fumes (Though I do miss her - that's her in the pic in Chicago). This post is about the price of gas and how I am just tired of hearing people complain. $3 a gallon is still a reasonable price when compared to other industrialized nations that don't even blink at over $6 a gallon. Gas prices when subjected to inflation were seriously underpriced as it was.

Quit complaining. Ride a bike. Get your local government to develop efficient public transportation. Carpool. Move closer to where you work. Lobby the car companies to build more fuel efficient cars.

Lots of countries have fuel efficient vehicles. There is no reason for Americans to drive huge cars other than because we need a place to put our big American asses and want to show off how affluent we are. No wonder other countries despise us.

Check out these websites. They can help you put your bitching and moaning to good use:

http://www.roadtodetroit.org/spreadtheword (The big convergence has passed but you can sign a Clean Air Car Pledge.)

http://www.jumpstartford.com/home/ (Ford is the auto industry's worst manufacturer for fuel efficiency standards and greenhouse gas emissions. In April 2003, Ford announced that it was breaking its promise to reduce SUV emissions by 25 percent by 2005. Tell Ford they suck and we aren't going to take this anymore!)