Feel Good Friday

I'll admit, this was a pretty crummy week. All the more reason to write another Feel Good Friday post, right? This week's awesome happenings...

1. The death traps, aka gigantic icicles, finally melted!
2. My friends and I made plans to see a potentially awesome play this weekend.
3. Lunch date with a friend who I hadn't seen in forever.
4. The wonderful people on hnet loved my idea to have "Shout it out" promotion day on Hanson Day. (We're a special breed of fanatics. More to come later. Maybe).
5. The deadline for a homework assignment was extended! Thank goodness. X' theory is awful.
6. As mentioned in Ten Word Tuesday,  I ran into an ultra-attractive classmate ;)
7. Bounce rate of my webstore decreased by 10%!
8. I got a partner for my psych project
9. The weekend is officially here!

What were the great things that happened to you this week?

I find hope in your hate for me.
"Great Divide" 

Nerd Level: 5

I never denied being a nerd, but until recently I would have said my nerdiness was mild.

I like video games. OK, so I like the older video games like Pac Man, Mortal Kombat, Spyro, and Pokemon.
Math jokes are always enjoyable.
Physics or Engineering were once appealing majors.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is hysterical.
And I work at renaissance faires, for goodness sakes.

However...
I've never watched Star Wars
I've never been a Trekkie
Rocky Horror Picture Show is one of my least favorite movies. 
And I can't fix most computer problems. 

See? Mild. But my nerdiness has increased exponentially, and Python is partly to blame.

Intro to Computer Programming gave me a new appreciation for computers. They're a lot more fun when you have some understanding of how they work. So much that I've decided I'm going to take what I learned from last term and apply to a project for this term. For my Science Fiction class, I will be building a "Choose your own adventure" program. And there will be GUI involved. Bear in mind that I've never used GUI before and so, will be teaching myself as I'm building this program and writing the story.

But don't crack your nerd jokes yet! There's still more! I'm currently in the process of making an RSS feed for my entire webstore, a data feed that will be uploaded onto a wonderful search engine that will hopefully bring me more business. With that said, I'm slowing learning HTML. While I can't design an amazing blog (yet) I can make a spiffy button. Go ahead, click it. I dare you.



(I promise to make a separate blog for the store. But until then, you'll have to endure my shameless plugging).

Now, here's the horrifying thought. For the first time in my life, I'm considering watching Star Wars and Star Trek. Yeah...my Sci Fi classmates might be rubbing off on me. I'm not sure if I really want to complete the nerd transformation just yet...

Ten Word Tuesday

The best part about today was seeing my sexy attractive classmate.

Newest award

Mucho thanks to Misadventures of Mom of 3 for giving me this award! If you haven't checked out her blog, you need to do so. Right now.

Now that I've accepted this award I must:
- link back to the blogger who gave me the award
- write about where I would like to be in 10 years
- pass it along to 10 bloggers

Ten years from now...oh boy. Do I really have to do this? Seriously, just thinking a couple weeks ahead makes me nervous. Ugh, ok, here it goes. In ten years I will be completely done with school, have an actual career and will probably be married. And I will be the next Patrick Jane or Emily Prentiss. They make psychology bad-ass super cool.


I have chosen, in no particular order...
1. Rachel's Ramblings
2. The Snyder 5
3. Blackberry Jam Cafe
4. Providence
5. Mural Maker & More
6. Confessions of a Fitness Instructor
7. Just Thinkin'
8. La Fin DuMond Farm
9. EmcogNEATO
10. Life on Sunshine Street

Looking forward to what you all have to write! Have a happy Monday.

Holy Potatoes Batman!

So many records have been broken, and I'm not talking about the Winter Olympics.

1) I have officially written more this year than in all of 2009.
2) My list of followers reached a number that I never thought I would see.
3) This Friday Follow brought more new followers than the last two weeks combined! Go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back for making this possible :)

Of course a big thanks also goes to Midday Escapades, One 2 Try, and Hearts Make Families for hosting such a great event. It's going to take me a little while, but I honestly can't wait to read everyone's blogs. I will (hopefully) be blogging more regularly--about two to three posts a week--and already have a few treats planned for you. In other words: keep your eyes peeled. Looking forward to hearing from you and reading your blog!

Hope you have a fantastic week!

Feel Good Friday

Life is too short to focus on the negative events in our lives. Instead of dwelling on the fight with a friend, the rude bus driver, and yesterday's embarrassing scenario, think about all the good things that happened this week. You might even surprise yourself, finding that the last few days weren't as horrid as they had seemed. The awesome happenings this week were:

1) I got an A on my Physics exam
2) I had dinner with a good friend of mine
3) None of my professors will have a "make up" class on a Saturday.
4) I accidentally got on the wrong bus and still got close to home
5) My first attempt at making an rss feed was a sucess
6) Hanson finally announced the release date of their new album!

In the world of emoticon, I am colon uppercase d.

What were the awesome happenings in your week?

Ten Word Tuesday

Please read the asterisk at the bottom to learn more.


* Every Tuesday I will use 10 words, no more or less, to sum up the day. I'm not sure how successful I will be, but I never turn down a good challenge (especially when the challenge is my idea, lol).

The price of chapstick

I sat there, staring blankly at the wall. What am I forgetting? I looked around and bit my lip. The feel of cracked skin was the reminder-- Chapstick! I swung my backpack over my shoulder and walked out. Snow was falling lightly, adding to the two feet that had already accumulated. So the weatherman was right. Again. How much longer is his winning streak gonna last?

The closest drug store was about three blocks away, but that wasn’t my destination. That drug store is crap; it has a bunch of low prices for stuff I don’t need and doesn’t carry the items I do need. Therefore my destination was the good drug store, the one that was just a couple more blocks away. Or so I thought.

The weather had discouraged many pedestrians but there were still a few out with a mission-- hot food, fuel, medicine, chapstick…
My steps quickened as the building came into view, and then slowed again when I saw that it was the wrong store. I stood there for a moment, contemplating my next plan of action, the cold weather encouraging me to turn around and grab lunch. But then I felt the broken skin on my lip. I kept on. Besides, it can’t be that much farther. 


The sidewalk’s condition worsened with each block and the buildings became more sparse. My foot slid as it stepped on pure ice. Good news, the good drugstore was at the end of the block. Bad news, the entire sidewalk was covered in ice. I kept on.

My steps were slow, measured, carefully maneuvering around other pedestrians. It was the longest block of my life but at long last, I was inside the store, browsing the aisles. It took me forever to find the brand I wanted--Why the heck is it next to nasal allergy medicine?--but the vanilla-flavored lip balm was worth it.

Price of chapstick = $3.96 + 9 blocks in the snow, 1 of which was pure ice.

Having a snow story to tell your grandkids = priceless.


“Well when I was your age, I had to walk nine 10 blocks in the snow just get to chapstick! On unsalted sidewalks, mind you.”


Yup. I am totally telling that story when I'm old.

The Snowpocalypse continues

I guess Old Man Winter heard my challenge because, according to the radio, we are to get another snow storm on Monday. Super fantastic.

My university is notorious for remaining open despite ridiculous conditions. In the last 30-ish years, the school had only closed thrice, twice because the mayor made them and once because political leaders from all over the world were coming. Even when it did close due to snow (aka, when the mayor told him to), it was only for a day. Never three days like last week. Man did I love those three days. Confined to my apartment, listening to music, watching the icicles grow, and not doing homework. Yup, I was the definition of "bum." Unfortunately my bum days came to an end Thursday, when the school finally opened. 

The news of classes resuming was bittersweet. I was happy to have an excuse to leave the building but I knew my trip to campus wouldn't be pleasant. The city is notorious for not clearing the roads and sidewalks. I caught a bus at an earlier time, anticipating difficulties and, well, I was right. It took 45 minutes to go two miles. Chancellor, if you're going to insist on having class can't you at least make sure the roads are clear? Or maybe even salt campus sidewalks? Please and thank you.

Ah, but his craziness doesn't end there. He wants us to go to school on two Saturdays to make up for the lost days...two Saturdays that aren't for at least another month. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that my professors are against Saturday school as much as their students. In other words, for once I'm hoping that the chancellor won't close the school again.

But if individual professors cancel a class, hey, I won't complain.

One final thing to mention. I've made memorabilia for this Snowpocalypse: Posters, buttons, and bumper stickers. Let me know what you think? More (non-blizzard related) products to come soon.

I've been beautified?

 

A big thanks to La Fin DuMond Farm for the nomination! (Amazing blog, by the way. You should check it out!)

I'm new to this but apparently the rules are as follows:

1. Thank the person(s) that nominated you; link to the person that gave you the award!

2. Pass this award on to 15 bloggers you’ve discovered and think are fantastic.

3. Contact said Blogs; let them know they've won!

4. State seven things about yourself

My must-read blogs are:
1. One2Try 
2. Textual Times 
3. On Tour With ShaeLaurel 
4. Midday Escapades 
5. The Moody Mix 
6. Simply Stacie
7. Oh, hey Kristina 
8. Westerblog 
9. TPN Photo 
10. TPN Media 


I know, I know. I fail epically at posting 15 blogs. But again, I'm sorta new to this. I mean, it wasn't until very recently that the blogs-I-follow list surpassed three. I promise to do better next time, if there's a next time. 

 Seven Amber facts:
1. I will never, ever, understand the rules of football. Many different people have explained it to me in many different ways, but I'm just football stupid. 

2. I was once convinced that I was going to marry Zac Hanson, but that dream is gone now. Not so much because I grew up, but mostly because he's off limits now. Sigh...That Kate is one lucky chick.

3. With that said, I absolutely love Hanson! Fanson since '97 and darn proud of it!

4. Do not come between me and a slice of pepperoni pizza. You will get hurt.

5. My favorite ice cream? Vanilla with a scoop of gummy bears thrown in. Delicious, I tell you!

6. I will listen to any band at least once before I form an opinion. My opinion of the Jonas Brothers? They're like Hannah Montana-- a product that needs to be sold. Nothing more.

7. It's not often that I use the word "hate" but I hate linguistics with the passion of a hundred burning Florida suns. Sorry professor, I really don't care about a language spoken by 200 people in the Pacific, regardless of their rich morpheme system and their odd syntactic structure. It's just not something I can get excited about.

Homework status: Done! Wait, there's an exam tomorrow? Shit

You're a traitor to the Florida race

Snow Day #3 is quickly coming to an end. With over a foot of snow on the ground, ice-covered roads, and temperatures barely making it to the double digits, it's like Old Man Winter is saying "Take that, Floridian! Go back to the Sunshine State where you came from!"

"Bring it, old man!" is what I say. "I have yet to fall on you're slippery roads. Your snow makes even the ugliest of neighborhoods pretty. And I happen to like the cold!"

Florida Girl say what?

I'm not lying- I really do like cold temperatures. There's just something invigorating about it and I will take this snowy weather over the heat and humidity any day. After living in Florida for 18 years I can tell you this much: it is much easier to warm up than it is to cool down. 


I never really understood the Florida appeal. I mean, the weather sucks for 11 months of the year, the summer being the worse. Not only are temps and humidity high, but it rains just about every day. In fact, I can even tell you when in the day it is going to rain-- between 2:00 and 7:00 PM.

Then there's whole lack of seasonal changes. You know, the leaves changing, the snow showers, the brisk Spring air. There are essentially two seasons in Florida: hot and less hot.

So why do my classmates think me odd for leaving the sunbelt? The way I see it, they have been the lucky ones.

 

Homework status: Almost done!

Hello Snow Day, Goodbye Productivity

I made a promise to myself last night, in those last few moments before I drifted off to sleep. I would be productive today. I would wake up before 11:00 and be on campus by 1:00. And on campus I would remain until I got some work done.

That promise was broken about ten minutes after I woke up.

I looked out the window to find that, for once, the weatherman was right in his prediction: we got about ten inches of snow last night. Ten inches! I've never seen that much; not in the city, anyway. Still I checked the bus schedule only to find that none of the buses are running today. In other words: No trip to school for Amberlynn.

Of course, I got nothing done today. The reasoning behind last night's promise was so that I could do my work without being surrounded by distractions. I mean really, do you know how hard it is to read a chapter on Syntactic Theory when access to youtube, Facebook, and various forums lay at your fingertips? It's darn near impossible. Therefore a trip to school was necessary.

Now only a few hours of the day remain and still there is a pile of homework mocking me. Call me crazy, but I honestly think it grew in the hour I was outside enjoying the snow.

 

Oh my goodness! How could I have forgotten? I took pictures while out. Whew! Now I can't say that I did absolutely nothing today :) Enjoy the pics.

 

Novel Accidents

Every November, for the last four Novembers, I have participated in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). And in the weeks leading up to the challenge, I work hard to plan out my novel, constantly adding to and readjusting my outline. Every year I say to my characters "You are not going to hijack my plot. You're going to do as I say and you're going to like. Do I make myself clear?"

And every year my characters hijack the plot. Those little rebellious beings are just so confident that they have a better idea for my storyline. Before I thought it was a female thing, that somehow, the character's sex influences their rebellious-ness. This time around my MC was male and, well, here is a non-exhaustive list of the little surprises that came while writing Bounded.

1. Sir Bushy Tail, Gift of Gab. Also known as my talking squirrel with a sarcastic sense of humor. I love this character, really I do, but for awhile he made my sci-fi story look more like fantasy. Not to worry, though. I found a way to keep him and still keep the sci-fi.

2. The Sanders kicked my MC out of their home. How dare they do that to their own son! Now how is he supposed to find out that you’re cyborgs instead of humans?

3. Speaking of fake humans, that’s what his American Literature teacher ended up being. And here I thought it was just Mr. Johnson, the Advanced Engineering teacher.

4. Detention. I didn’t think that would need to exist in this city, but apparently it does.

5. The introduction of Caleb and Ike. Resulted from number four.

6. Sam, the main character, no longer talks like a guy. I read his dialogue and, to me, it sounds so much like a girl. And it sounds like he has a crush on Caleb. Then again, I can’t blame Sam. Caleb, after all, looks like a cross between Steven Straight and Taylor Lautner ;)

Of course, most of these accidents worked out for the better, but for once I would like to have complete control over my characters. Is that too much to ask?