Pledging

Pledging seems to be my theme of the last week. Last week, I pledged many things to myself. Personal pledges are always the most important due to their life changing abilities. I also honored many pledges that I made, no matter how much I really didn’t want to.

However, I wasn’t excited to make any of those pledges! Who wants to be forced into doing anything, even if it means survival?

Only this week did I make two very important pledges that actually make me smile:

1.       I pledged to the co-ed service frat APO

2.       I pledged to the It Gets Better Project.

Pledging to APO was one of the best things that I have done in my time here at Knox (three weeks on campus is such a loooooong time). I’m not the Greek life kind of girl, in fact, I kind of laughed at the stereotypical image of crazy “brothers” and “sisters” getting wasted in their houses. APO is different. It was actually founded to change lives and it continues to do so. It isn’t just about partying and meeting people; it is about a dedication to the community. Some of my suitemates and I were blind-folded, instructed on the frat and then (unblind-folded) welcomed like family. Hopefully I'll be posting lots of pictures from all of our events! Right now I am just a pledge, of course, but I look forward to being able to bond with these great people while helping the community and myself grow.

Sounds like a plug, right? I always do become a little sentimental when excited about something.

The second major pledge I made was last night. Randomly I was looking at positive, “it gets better” quotes to make me feel better about many personal events. Then I stumbled across the It Gets Better Project. I had known about the project (it is nearing its one year anniversary!) but I had never actually researched the project. It saddened me that those teens (and many others) felt that suicide was the only way out, to stop their pain. It also heartened me. Human kindness still exists, as evident by the reaction of the nation after those tragedies. Many videos were made, like the one below (made by the lovely Zachary Quinto):

I found this video to be more true to the nature of the project. Yes, it is mainly focused with aiding LGBT youth. I also found that the project speaks to youth as a whole. Life is difficult. We all struggle and yet, no one gets out alive. To feel that you are alone is to truly be alone. Coming from someone who has felt alone, (and not even due to the atrocity that is bullying!) there are wonderful people out there that want to help you.

Who knows? You might be able to help them as well.

So, I pledged to stop discrimination and hate in the World. Harassment is detrimental to anyone and everyone.

Go here to pledge:  http://www.itgetsbetter.org/

I’m usually not this deep with my posts, but this really struck me because it is all good things. To know that underneath the cruelty of the World, there is still beauty. You just have to find it. Difficult, I know but I believe in you.

The King of Chill

Sloths are not all that they portray themselves to be! http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7msk3_saturday-night-live-snl-digital-sho_fun I mean, SNL never lies.  

As you probably know about me (or should have guessed, based on my first post) I am rather infatuated with sloths. I mean, look at this face!

Seriously the most chill face ever. He doesn't even care that he is in a box!

Entertain the idea of being a sloth for a moment; you pretty much just sleep, eat and then sleep some more. When you have to be, you can be a speedy little devil, but people mostly just leave you alone because you don't ruffle any feathers. They are also awesome swimmers.

Did you know that sloths can turn their heads up to 270 degrees?

I mean, that's cool stuff. Almost owl status.

Also, they are amazingly cute. True story.

So the next time you want to be a jerk about sloths, think twice.

Why I finally gave in.

I can’t believe that I finally gave in. After holding out against the pressure for over a year, I caved and created a Tumblr. (If I can ever figure out the damn site, I’ll link it to this blog) It was created for those that are too lazy to actually follow All Good Things (don’t worry, they won’t get the full enchilada).

Tumbling used to bring forth this picture to my mind:

But now all I see are memes of Lady Gaga’s ass. A bit of an improvement, no? Now I have a place where I can safely reblog  all of the sad love quotes that often parallel my own love life.

Truth be told, I’m not sure how I am going to be able to “tumble” all the time without fully devoting myself to it. From what I have been told (and seen via Facebook), it is a rather consuming hobby. Now I also have a place to spam my own life with Jake Gyllenhaal.

I already find myself tied to a computer screen on a daily basis. Now with a blog and a Tumblr, what have I gotten myself into?

My Obsession with Being Poor

                This post is largely dedicated to Laura and Chris (stop bugging me about this!)

My parents have reassured me for the past couple of years that I would be a starving college student. While I did believe them, I had no idea what that meant in terms of my everyday life. Now that I actually attend Knox, I understand. Sure, I eat multiple times a day and still do fun things; I practically have a heart attack whenever I see my supply of cash dwindling. Thus, my obsession with free things was born.

Disclaimer: I totally blame my roommate Laura for the following events:

Every day (basically), I sign up for free samples online. Toothpaste, tea, Glade air fresheners, laundry detergent…you name it! I’m pretty positive that I have some free t-shirts on the way. It started off on a quest for random things on the internet and has become something more strategic and sinister. To be fair, this obsession is not something that runs my life. However, it is something that I delight too much in.

Am I going to end it?

Lolwut???

Being so far away from home, my need for mail has become more desperate, especially since I live in a place where the internet is constantly failing. Mail has become a source to the outside world. The thought of my samples randomly appearing throughout term is wonderful to me! Not to mention the fact that I am really excited for some of the awkpants stickers I requested.

Here is a picture of my first sample! I danced around my dorm after I returned from the mail room.

Here are a couple of sites that I like to use (coughcoughCHRIS)

http://www.shop4freebies.com/

http://www.sweetfreestuff.com/

If you are going to go hard on this, then I recommend checking them every day in the afternoon. Weekends are a bit slow though.

Happy hunting!

Why hello there!

  “Jenny, the squirrels are not scary!”

  No, I’m not Jenny. In fact, I have never even met Jenny. I hear that she is very nice. Jenny is the twin sister of my roommate, Laura (another cool individual but we’ll get back to her later). That is simply a snapshot of my life. Another creative writing major, starting into the land of freedom (college) and starting a blog.

  Sadly, you’re not going to read about the serious things that go on in my life.

“Sorry Maddy, but I’m in love with your boyfriend.”-Oh background noise.

  You only get to hear about the random things that amuse me, thus classifying them “good things”. You should consider yourself lucky.

Just to give you a taste of the good things that rule my life.