So far

How to get a nerdy white girl to say "Awww hell nawh!!"

2009-02-18T00:42:00.004-05:00

I'm so excited.

Today, in SPJ (of course), we learned about the Freedom of Information Act and how it relates to journalists. I basically peed myself the whole time. Media Law does that to me. After I peed myself listening to Aimee Edmondson and her explanation of the Sunshine Laws, I continued to ruin my Bailey jeans (from Delia*s) when the president of SPJ told us the organization was going to focus on this law for basically the rest of the school year.
OH.
MY.
GOD.

This is why I joined the club. It was a little so-so at first but I know it is going to be SO WORTH IT now. And let me tell you why.

Basically, SPJ found out about 4 years ago that Ohio University does not follow the state's Open Records Law. At all. And now the big bobcat cheese's are bitching about having to follow this law.

SPJ isn't having any of this. We are going to...I'm not sure yet. But we are going to do something about this, and I am going to love every second of it.

It. Is. ON!!!!!!!!

(I am so bad at proper grammar in this.)

A College student doesn't have any money??? How captivating!

2009-02-10T00:34:00.009-05:00

I really need a job.

One thing that excited me about coming to college in Fall 2008 was the prospect of not having a part-time job while being a student. I decided that my first quarter of college would be a time for me to accommodate to my new surroundings and adjust to a heavier workload than I could ever imagine. (At least according to my 11th AP Government teacher, who everyday told the class how "freaking" hard college was and scared me to the point where I didn't want to pursue a higher education for a while.) I also thought I deserved a much needed vacation from working. I've had a part-time job since I was 15, sacrificing precious after school activities that wealthy parents force their children into because "school and getting good grades is their job." Totally the opposite view in my household. At my house, I didn't HAVE to get a job, but if I wanted something that wasn't vital to my survival, and that includes a car and the expenses associated with it, I needed to find a way to pay for it myself.

So I've had a job for a while. I was working almost full-time over the summer, in fact. However, I decided to use fall quarter -- and the two weeks prior to that, since I took my leave of absence early -- to just focus on school. And I did. I was overwhelmed the first 7 weeks or so of college, only getting used to the workload towards the end. The break was a smart decision for me.

Now comes 2009.

I decide I'm ready to handle a job at college. I don't want anything major; 10 hours a week, food service orientated since I have a crap ton of expierence there. But after looking at multiple places my first week back, I realize that IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO GET A JOB IN ATHENS, OHIO.

Seriously, it is tougher than I ever imagined, and it has nothing to do with the economy! Back home, I could walk into almost any restaurant-type place and get an interview right away. Here, they want resumes. Resumes for working at a nonskilled job! It's crazy!

Want to hear how bad my search has been going? I couldn't get a job at Jeff. That's right, I fail so much that THE DINING HALL DOESN'T EVEN WANT ME.

After that, I've momentarily paused my search to wait for some places to start hiring. I've made a resume and am trying to make my spring schedule more flexible than my winter schedule, w (I'm not available until after 5 pm on weekdays.) Hopefully, I will have better luck. Until then, bitching on the internet, while earning Blogger money, is the closest action I can get to a paycheck.

Well, except selling myself on Ebay.

That's Plan C.

Because I know the anticipation was killing you

2009-02-04T12:44:00.002-05:00

After re-examining my blog and reading some past posts I've posted, I noticed something: I have yet to mention Barack Obama. Oh, I have definitely mentioned the election, but nObama.
From what I've read so far on the internet, it seems like one cannot run a blog without occasionally (or more like constantly) mentioning or hinting at their political opinions. In order to officially establish myself as a serious blogger, I believe my opinion on the president of the United States of America -- the country where I reside -- should be known. Ladies and gentlemen of the internet, I present you with my opinion on Barack Obama:

He's pretty hot.

Not sexy like some may think, but he's definitely up on there on the hotness scale.

I give him a 7 out of 10.

Well, well

2009-02-01T01:20:00.003-05:00

I know, I know, it's been awhile. You probably thought I had given up on blogging for good, haven't you? Well, you were kind of right.

First off, I completely forgot that I ever even wrote in a blog until about the 2nd week back from winter intersession. Secondly, when I did realize I had forgotten about the blog, I didn't care. Bob Stewart wasn't around anymore to scare me into writing a blog for the sake of my future career so I just did not care. However, Paul Matson instead stepped in.

About two weeks ago, I dashed out of Vico 140 to Scripps 111 for my consistently entertaining and informative weekly meeting of SPJ. This was the first "workshop" meeting I've ever attended, and I must say, it was fairly badass. This Matson guy, though still a student, knew his shit. And his shit was social media. (Or is it Social Media? Apparently capitalization is a big deal when referring to this stuff.) Anyway, he came in and talked about the Internet and what to do on it. Two of these "s(S)ocial m(M)edia" stood out to me: LinkedIn -- the professional version of Facebook -- and RSS.

I have still yet to make a profile on LinkedIn (let me make a resume first), but I finally got the hang on RSS feeds. Which I now declare be called SS feeds because once Paul Matson told me how to do it, it was easy. But I tried it once about a year ago on my own and I was CLUELESS. So it's not really simple; just simple.

But anyway, turns out Blogspot automatically puts the blogs I follow on my subscriptions list. So as I was building my S(s)ocial M(m)edia reputation, I was constantly reminded of my unupdated and uncared for blog.

So basically, Google Reader guilted me into coming back to the blog.

I'm ba-ack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just a heads up

2008-11-09T21:55:00.003-05:00

You're probably not going to be seeing anything new from me for a while. It's finals week and I'm actually going to concentrate on school and study! Amazing! (Not really; I'm a huge nerd and study all the time anyway.) Then it's winter intersession where I'm working, volunteering, designing for Athena and probably doing some service work for SPJ.

I know, you're devastated. I'll probably be back sometime around January 5th so try not to overdoes on Prozac while I'm gone.

The real deal inside Halloween at OU

2008-11-02T19:06:00.005-05:00

Ahh, time to sit back, relax and reflect on the absolutely out-of-control/wild/life changing/if I only I could remember it all weekend that is the infamous Ohio University Halloween weekend.

Not.

Well, I'm relaxing and reflecting, but not on the craziness of the weekend. Sure, Court Street was crowded. Sure, girls were pretty much naked in the streets. Sure, there was booze readily available every 500 feet. But that doesn't automatically equal greatest night ever, not at all.

Don't think I didn't have a good time -- I did -- but there are some things no one told me about this weekend that I believe many people should be aware of:

Not matter what the actual temperature outside is, no matter how insulated your costume is, no matter how many people radiating body heat in close proximity to you there are, you will be cold. And cold = miserable.
There is a significant portion of people on Court Street who are not dressed up and old and probably drunk who spend their night watching the college students and their friends. CREEPY.
Though alcohol is abundant, you will be reluctant to drink due to the mass numbers of cops patrolling, and because of that one story you hear about that one person you kind of know getting in trouble, and for fear that the super anal RA of your dorm will be the one watching the door at the exact time you decide to head back.
And apparently, unless you see about 18 other people with your costume, no one will have any clue who you are even though you were an incredibly famous and fairly recent cartoon character relevant to the age group you are surrounded by, with obvious similiarities as demonstrated by the costume!!!!

But really, I had fun.

Really.

I feel like a list

2008-10-27T22:30:00.004-04:00

Melis' list of top 5 movies (so far):

5. The Dark Knight/Spider-Man
Duh.

4. Mulan
Do NOT give me shit for this because I know this movie almost line-by-line and I can almost line-by-line describe to you the awesomness of this movie. This is the one Disney movie where the heroine doesn't need to rely on a man for shit and even kicks his ass a little. What a great movie to show to little girls to prevent self-esteem issues, and to little boys to give them some. Plus people (more specifically evil Huns that have come to invade China) actually get blown up in this movie, making it by far way more violent that Mufasa getting trampled to death or Bambi's mom getting shot.

3. Donnie Darko
I don't quite fully understand this movie, but that's what makes it so amazing. You're just so intrigued with what is going on and it's not TOO confusing to the point where it's just frustrating. The movie's greatness is only heightened when coupled with my also #3 favorite song, "Mad World" by Gary Jules. This song is the Cinnamon-Honey flavored cream cheese from the Dining Halls to the toasted Plain Bagel also served in the Dining Halls. What I'm saying is that they go together perfectly. What I mean is they fit nicely to one another, I'm trying to tell you that the song and movie are meant for each other, etc.

2. Garden State
Great romantic movie. Great not only because of Zach Braff and Natalie Portman (love them!), but because the love the protagonists have for each other is REAL. Well, I know it's not real because it's a movie, but the love is more realistic than any other romantic movie I've seen. There's no social force forbidding their love, no oh-so-lucky coincidence/fate that brings them together after a separation; it's just real. They meet, they fall in love, they presumably stay together forever. There isn't much challenge in the way of their love but it's still an excellent movie that nevertheless keeps me interested every time I watch it.

1. Back to the Future
This is probably the most random and unexpected movie I could've picked for my number one. I usually don't care much for old movies, and pretty much hate sci-fi movies. But Back to the Future just has IT. It - the special somethingorwhatever that makes a movie the best ever - it's the it that makes me like it even though I usually don't like movies like it.

Alright, I confess: it means Michael J. Fox.

ryanmichelwelsh

The upside down pyramid that brings the bacon (barely)

2008-10-22T00:29:00.002-04:00

I think I've realized the reason behind my blog's essential failure and unpopularity. I mean besides the irregularity of updates and lack of awesome graphics. My blog entries are short.

Whenever I visit fellow J-schoolers slash successful blogs, I notice at least one trend of them all: they're super long. Yes, super. Even the most interesting entries get boring after 8 long paragraphs. This is why I love journalism so much: you don't need to read the whole thing, or listen, or watch or whatever. You can read about half a page, listen to about 20 seconds of TV, and you pretty much got all you need to get from that story. If you need to know more, they will tell you later. The introverted pyramid is genius. Whoever says advanced technology is behind the populations A.D.D. is completely off because journalists have realized this has existed for many, many years.

I'll make brevity my signature, the most stand out characteristic of my blog, and appeal to Ritalin users worldwide! (Or at least ones that can read U.S. English.)

It's sad to see someone getting her sole entertainment from a textbook...

2008-10-17T17:42:00.003-04:00

When I bridged from high school to college, I expected many differences in receiving my education, including the times I went to class and more career-training focus I would have in my education. What I did not expect was for my textbooks to ROCK HARD. And when I mean textbook, I really mean textbook. Not some American literature classic for English 152 or something. This is an actual textbook. It's called Mass Communication: Living in a Media World by Ralph E. Hanson. This is book is for my Journalism 101 class. I know there are some (many...well I'll be honest here: vast majority) of my classmates who would criticize the class, but the book for it is amazing.

So far in this book I have learned the Beatles did admit their songs referenced drugs, viewers of The Daily Show are better education in politics and overall than O'Reilly Factor viewers, Joseph Pulitzer did more than start the Spanish-American war, and probably the best information I have received yet: Lost is available for free on the internet!!!!! Hanson agrees, Lost is the best TV show on right now (or at least at the time of the publishing of the 2nd edition of his book) and you can see every episode ever aired here. This is great for me because I'm behind a season, and with this website I won't be anymore! I can watch every episode of season 4 and be able to watch the new episodes of season 5 when they come out "early 2009." This is great, screw studying!!

Also, He calls me "Rerun." *swoons*

Everything you already know, and then some

2008-10-15T19:42:00.002-04:00

I saw Joe Biden speak today.

Bet you're expecting me to do an in depth analysis of the messages, hidden and obvious, he transmitted to the audience, right? Well, it's not going to happen because I don't feel like doing that. Mostly because you already know what I would say to that.

Seriously, the speech was nothing new; John McCain sucks, Barack Obama rules, yay! That was about it. Not to say it was boring; it wasn't. My blood was pumping throughout his speech -- Biden knows how to rally a crowd. I guess I'm just getting bored of the election. Honestly, I have been hearing about it for what, a year and a half? This is old news. I'm fairly certain Obama will win because of California and New York, and the fact that the present President is Republican and pretty much universally hated.

One interesting note though, while he talked extensively about Obama and his positions on the economy and veteran care, Biden made no mention on the War in Iraq. Hmmm.... What do I know though, I'm only a first quarter freshman. Athens citizens may be for the war, we ARE in Appalachia after all.

SNL and le français

2008-10-06T19:22:00.012-04:00

I realize this blog is still pretty pathetic, bear with me.

Anyway, let's talk politics.
I was recently sent a link to this clip from CNN about Sarah Palin and the SNL parody of her. I didn't think much of the newscast, but the comments about the clip are what surprised me. Oh Jeez! Some of those comments have to be fake, MOST of those comments should be fake. I'm not talking about all the stuff against Obama or all the things said about McCain, but everything. The stuff these people claim...Obama on crack?? (And this example does not make me biased, it's the only specific one I can remember right now.) It's so outlandish there is no way there can be any truth. I really hope these people aren't voting. It's calle EDUCATION. Get some. Hahaha inuendos.

And for some international flavor, my new french vocabulary is so ironically appropriate. It's not even on purpose either. Some sample words are: la pauvreté, un marché boursier, la crise économique, la banqueroute, le chômage and avoir des dettes. In English, my vocabulary is: poverty, stock market, economic crisis, bankruptcy, unemployment and to be in debt Love it! The irony, I mean, not the current state of our nation's economy, that sucks.

Writing not coming so easily

2008-09-18T18:46:00.006-04:00

I went to my first Speakeasy meeting on Monday. Speakeasy is OU's online magazine with an alternative, underground vibe. Most of the editorial staff wears thick rimmed glasses and there are almost more blogs on the website than articles.

I was one of the two people who signed up to be a copy editor and was also placed in the "Behind the Scenes" section of the site. As a reporter for this section, I have to bring three story ideas to the next meeting on Monday. And thus far, I have none.

See, Behind the Scenes is divided into four subsections. One of them is Religion and Spirituality. No story idea for this section will be magically (or miraculously) popping into my brain anytime soon. I know pretty much nothing about any religion. I went to church maybe twice in my life, and all I remember about it was there was a lot of repeated standing and sitting. Not my ideal way to spend a Sunday morning, or Saturday evening, whatever sabbath day. In writing an religious story, it will have to involve me deeply investigating what spirituality is associated with the article in addition to researching the actual article. More work than necessary, I will save that section for people who know what they're writing about.

Two other subsections of Behind the Scenes are People and Places. If my story ideas involve either of these, it's going to be an especially difficult challenge. I am a freshman, I barely know the scenes, let alone behind them. Finding people who everyone else on campus doesn't already know, or places that are not on Court Street will be harder than any investigative report for me.

I'm not even going to go into detail about the last subsection, Spotlight. Even after reading the articles and blogs contained in it, I am still clueless as to even what constitutes as an appropriate story for that subsection.

Anyway.

That's my college life so far.

Enjoy.

Peer Pressure

2008-09-12T19:18:00.000-04:00

After taking my first self-guided tour as a new Ohio University bobcat, I noticed something unique about the campus. It wasn't the picturesque red brick buildings or the ridiculous leg toning hills - I already figured that out my tour here as a junior in high school.

It was the advertisers.

Or at least that's what I call them.

They would probably consider themselves public servants, but their annoyance level is par with any storm of internet pop up ads. Fellow students know what I'm talking (or rather, blogging) about.

It's those people who rush up to you when you're with your friends or on your cell phone, the ones with a clipboard and pen in their hand shouting, "Are you registered to vote?! Have you registered to vote yet? Huh? Huh?!?!?"

My god.

Okay, I KNOW it's my civic duty as an American citizen to vote, I KNOW this election is going into the history books, but seriously, you only need to register once. ONCE. In your entire life. Just once. These people were at precollege too, that's where I signed up. There's only so many times you can send your recruits out on campus for so many hours a day before you start seeing and bugging the same people.

I can't even think about what it's going to be like on November 4th.
Chaos.
Pure Chaos.
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