It's been awhile hasn't it?
I'm sorry, I'm still recovering from Spring Break. I'm mentally not at school right now and I'm physically ill, as in sick.
This is literally the worst part of the school year because I don't know about everyone else, but I've definitely checked out for the year and have zero motivation to do anything productive. This is unfortunate because I've got like 4 projects due this month, plus finals in a few weeks. I just want to coast the rest of the year. This feeling will be much worse once it actually gets warm out.
I suppose it's ok that it's not warm out because right now, I just want to sleep. I managed to come down with this cough/cold/sore throat/fever/weird combination of things the last couple days of break and now I feel like death. That may be a bit of an exaggeration. Anyway, now I'm losing my voice because I can't stop coughing so after class I went to Walgreens and spent a good chunk of money on orange juice, cough drops, and Nyquil. Nothing like drugs and Vitamin C to make you feel better right?
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
L-Town.
I'm currently involved in a long-term, love-hate relationship. It's hard to believe it's been 12 whole years. I've thought about leaving so many times, but I never have.
It's not that I don't like Lincoln. I really do. I love it actually. It's big enough to be interesting, but small enough not to be overwhelming (I moved here from a farm outside a town with less than 700 people). Downtown and the Haymarket are full of fun little shops and boutiques and coffee shops. There's a pretty good local music scene, an amazing ice cream shop, bookstores, restaurants, you know, your typical college town. Add in all the bike paths, Husker sporting events, college, and all my friends that live here, well it's pretty much great.
I'm just tired of it. My family has lived here since I was in 3rd grade, so I don't even get to go farther than across town when I go home. I've grown used to it.
Usually, I get to go somewhere cool over the summers. Last summer, it was a week-long bike trip across the state and another week or so in Haiti. The summer before that, Minnesota and New Orleans. Before that, northern Idaho and South Dakota. Another summer was San Antonio. One summer was even Chicago, Niagara Falls (the Canadian side), New York City, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Virgina.
This summer, so far, is nothing. Absolutely nothing. I have to take 2 summer classes, so I'm stuck in Lincoln until July 8th. Everything I was planning on going and doing happens in June (read: plans ruined).
At first, I was pretty upset about this. Most of my friends are going somewhere cool for internships or study abroad stuff or something, if not this summer then the fall semester. I'm going to be stuck here in Lincoln all by myself the entire summer working. Ickk.
Then, I realized that I'm not going to be stuck here the whole summer. I'm only stuck here for half the summer. I have an airline voucher that has to be used by September. I have an entire month when I don't have to take class, and I've got an under-used passport collecting dust on my shelf. I'm going to go somewhere cool this summer. I don't know where, and I don't know with who, but I kind of want to go to Europe. Actually, I really really really want to go to Europe.
They say that you just have to go and do things or you'll regret it. I've been kicking myself all semester for canceling my study-abroad trip to France. I know I always say I'm going to go do stuff like this, but it's happening. I don't care what happens or how much money it'll be, I'm going to hold myself to this or I'll hate myself forever. So in July, I'm going somewhere. I'm coming back in August for school in the fall, and I'm going to have the most amazing summer adventure ever.
Anyone want to come with?
It's not that I don't like Lincoln. I really do. I love it actually. It's big enough to be interesting, but small enough not to be overwhelming (I moved here from a farm outside a town with less than 700 people). Downtown and the Haymarket are full of fun little shops and boutiques and coffee shops. There's a pretty good local music scene, an amazing ice cream shop, bookstores, restaurants, you know, your typical college town. Add in all the bike paths, Husker sporting events, college, and all my friends that live here, well it's pretty much great.
I'm just tired of it. My family has lived here since I was in 3rd grade, so I don't even get to go farther than across town when I go home. I've grown used to it.
Usually, I get to go somewhere cool over the summers. Last summer, it was a week-long bike trip across the state and another week or so in Haiti. The summer before that, Minnesota and New Orleans. Before that, northern Idaho and South Dakota. Another summer was San Antonio. One summer was even Chicago, Niagara Falls (the Canadian side), New York City, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Virgina.
This summer, so far, is nothing. Absolutely nothing. I have to take 2 summer classes, so I'm stuck in Lincoln until July 8th. Everything I was planning on going and doing happens in June (read: plans ruined).
At first, I was pretty upset about this. Most of my friends are going somewhere cool for internships or study abroad stuff or something, if not this summer then the fall semester. I'm going to be stuck here in Lincoln all by myself the entire summer working. Ickk.
Then, I realized that I'm not going to be stuck here the whole summer. I'm only stuck here for half the summer. I have an airline voucher that has to be used by September. I have an entire month when I don't have to take class, and I've got an under-used passport collecting dust on my shelf. I'm going to go somewhere cool this summer. I don't know where, and I don't know with who, but I kind of want to go to Europe. Actually, I really really really want to go to Europe.
They say that you just have to go and do things or you'll regret it. I've been kicking myself all semester for canceling my study-abroad trip to France. I know I always say I'm going to go do stuff like this, but it's happening. I don't care what happens or how much money it'll be, I'm going to hold myself to this or I'll hate myself forever. So in July, I'm going somewhere. I'm coming back in August for school in the fall, and I'm going to have the most amazing summer adventure ever.
Anyone want to come with?
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Gas Boycotting (Or "An Easy Way to Change the World")
So I was going through my Facebook newsfeed, (because let's face it, college kids have nothing better to do and creeping on my "friends" is more interesting than my paper that is due tomorrow) and I saw an event for "Don't Buy Gas on March 31!" or something like that. Ok cool.
Then I saw it again, except for March 14th. I figured they just changed the date or something until I saw one for March 10 and I realized there are several different events of essentially the same exact thing for the same purpose, just on different days in March.
After a quick scan of my newsfeed, here are all the different (but same!) ones that I found:
Don't pump gas on March 14 2011 "GAS OUT"
No Gas Day on March 31
Gas Strike on March 10
All of these events had at least a hundred thousand people marked as "attending" and a quick facebook search of "gas boycott" brought up several more results including one set for St. Patrick's Day, one during March Madness, and a lot still protesting the BP oil spill last April. A Google search of "gas boycott 2011" the same thing also brought up results for a April 15 gas boycott. The idea is that by not buying gas for one day, it will influence the oil companies to lower gas prices.
While these people have the right idea, it's not going to change the world. Why not?
First, if there's anything I've learned from being on student government at a Division 1 university, if you're going to plan the exact same event as someone else, coordinate efforts. Trust me, it'll work better that way.
Second? "Sure, I'll boycott gas on March 14th. I'll just make sure to fill up on the 13th." See the problem here? It's not going to change the amount of gas bought. Just because people refuse to buy gas on one day doesn't mean that they aren't ever going to buy gas again.
I finally found one group that seems to have it right. It's called Gas Boycott-MORE THAN ONE DAY. You don't like the price of gas? It's getting too expensive to fill up your car (or Expedition)? Don't buy it. Not just for one day, don't buy it EVER. Invest in a bicycle. Or a bus pas. UNL students get them for free (the bus pass, not the bike).
I'm serious. Granted, Nebraska winters don't have the best biking conditions, but I can definitely get by in the summer without driving, at least not very much. And I take the bus everyday to class and carpool to my practicum off-campus. I buy gas maybe once a month, if that, and in the summer when I can ride my bike, it's a lot less.
According to an About.com article, a gas boycott probably won't lower gas prices much anyway, since gasoline only accounts for 20% of each barrel of crude oil. Unless you can reduce the demand for OIL that much, gas prices aren't going to go down. Oil is 55% of the price of gas, so even if the oil companies are hit hard (which they won't be after only 1 day of boycotting), it's not likely that gas will suddenly be less than $2 a gallon (and remember when we thought that was expensive?)
Even BP, the oil giant that saw mass boycotts last spring after the oil spill, wasn't affected much. The gas boycotts mainly hurt the people who owned and operated the local station, said an article in the Boston Globe published in June. The boycotts hardly made a dent in BP's overall earnings.
The same Boston Globe article said that Greenpeace wasn't endorsing the boycotts. The best way to make a difference was to actually move "beyond petroleum."
So as the Beatles put it,
Then I saw it again, except for March 14th. I figured they just changed the date or something until I saw one for March 10 and I realized there are several different events of essentially the same exact thing for the same purpose, just on different days in March.
After a quick scan of my newsfeed, here are all the different (but same!) ones that I found:
Don't pump gas on March 14 2011 "GAS OUT"
No Gas Day on March 31
Gas Strike on March 10
All of these events had at least a hundred thousand people marked as "attending" and a quick facebook search of "gas boycott" brought up several more results including one set for St. Patrick's Day, one during March Madness, and a lot still protesting the BP oil spill last April. A Google search of "gas boycott 2011" the same thing also brought up results for a April 15 gas boycott. The idea is that by not buying gas for one day, it will influence the oil companies to lower gas prices.
While these people have the right idea, it's not going to change the world. Why not?
First, if there's anything I've learned from being on student government at a Division 1 university, if you're going to plan the exact same event as someone else, coordinate efforts. Trust me, it'll work better that way.
Second? "Sure, I'll boycott gas on March 14th. I'll just make sure to fill up on the 13th." See the problem here? It's not going to change the amount of gas bought. Just because people refuse to buy gas on one day doesn't mean that they aren't ever going to buy gas again.
I finally found one group that seems to have it right. It's called Gas Boycott-MORE THAN ONE DAY. You don't like the price of gas? It's getting too expensive to fill up your car (or Expedition)? Don't buy it. Not just for one day, don't buy it EVER. Invest in a bicycle. Or a bus pas. UNL students get them for free (the bus pass, not the bike).
I'm serious. Granted, Nebraska winters don't have the best biking conditions, but I can definitely get by in the summer without driving, at least not very much. And I take the bus everyday to class and carpool to my practicum off-campus. I buy gas maybe once a month, if that, and in the summer when I can ride my bike, it's a lot less.
According to an About.com article, a gas boycott probably won't lower gas prices much anyway, since gasoline only accounts for 20% of each barrel of crude oil. Unless you can reduce the demand for OIL that much, gas prices aren't going to go down. Oil is 55% of the price of gas, so even if the oil companies are hit hard (which they won't be after only 1 day of boycotting), it's not likely that gas will suddenly be less than $2 a gallon (and remember when we thought that was expensive?)
Even BP, the oil giant that saw mass boycotts last spring after the oil spill, wasn't affected much. The gas boycotts mainly hurt the people who owned and operated the local station, said an article in the Boston Globe published in June. The boycotts hardly made a dent in BP's overall earnings.
The same Boston Globe article said that Greenpeace wasn't endorsing the boycotts. The best way to make a difference was to actually move "beyond petroleum."
So as the Beatles put it,
You say you want a revolutionThere's a lot of talk and we all want to make a difference, so what are we going to do about it?
Well you know
We'd all want to change the world
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Groupon.
I have been on a quest for a new hairstylist for a couple years now. I had a fantastic girl back in high school, but junior or senior year she just kind of fell off the face of the earth (left the salon, stopped returning phone calls, etc).
I thought I found a haircut guy earlier this year, but he texted me the day before an appointment and said he no longer worked there and that my appointment was canceled.
So anyway, because of the unreliability of hairstylists (and a bit of bad luck), I have not had a haircut since December. (Yes I realize how terrible that is, but my appointment for January was canceled, and I haven't had much luck finding a new place).
A couple weeks ago, I bought a Groupon for $60 at a hair salon downtown. For those of you unfamiliar with Groupon, it's basically a coupon website. They have "Daily Deals" for your city where you can buy gift certificates at a lower cost. My $60 to the hair salon only cost me $25. You get the idea.
Of course after I paid for my Groupon, I read the "fine print." I had to use all $60 in one visit. Haircuts are not $60. This may sound a little strange, but I'm terrified of coloring my hair. I've always kind of wanted to color it brown, just for fun, but I've never colored it or even gotten highlights. I really like being able to say "This is my natural color, I've never dyed it" and I'm a little paranoid that I won't be able to get it back to my normal color.
So as much as I like saving money and all, I now have to do something drastic to my hair. I'll let y'all know how that goes.
I thought I found a haircut guy earlier this year, but he texted me the day before an appointment and said he no longer worked there and that my appointment was canceled.
So anyway, because of the unreliability of hairstylists (and a bit of bad luck), I have not had a haircut since December. (Yes I realize how terrible that is, but my appointment for January was canceled, and I haven't had much luck finding a new place).
A couple weeks ago, I bought a Groupon for $60 at a hair salon downtown. For those of you unfamiliar with Groupon, it's basically a coupon website. They have "Daily Deals" for your city where you can buy gift certificates at a lower cost. My $60 to the hair salon only cost me $25. You get the idea.
Of course after I paid for my Groupon, I read the "fine print." I had to use all $60 in one visit. Haircuts are not $60. This may sound a little strange, but I'm terrified of coloring my hair. I've always kind of wanted to color it brown, just for fun, but I've never colored it or even gotten highlights. I really like being able to say "This is my natural color, I've never dyed it" and I'm a little paranoid that I won't be able to get it back to my normal color.
So as much as I like saving money and all, I now have to do something drastic to my hair. I'll let y'all know how that goes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)