be frugal

frugal: economical in use or expenditure; prudently saving or sparing; not wasteful: a frugal manager.

frugality: The quality of being frugal; prudent economy; that careful management of anything valuable which expends nothing unnecessarily, and applies what is used to a profitable purpose; thrift; --- opposed to extravagance.

never again will i forget what this word means.
P.S. i hate spencer

Mail

I LOVE mail. Voicemail, e-mail, snail mail....you name it, I am probably in love with it. Think about it, someone actually took the time to write out their thoughts or record a little piece of information just for you. It's great. Many will argue that different types of communication are better, but let us consider these.

First, the phone. I almost always will greatly enjoy a phone conversation. I mean, if you can't see the person why not listen to their voice? It is probably the closest we will get to an in-person interpretation of the things people say. I used to feel awkward on the phone. You know, the pauses, saying something at the same time, it was horrid. Somehow I got over it. I used to talk to my friend Eric on the phone a lot. He was a good person to talk to on the phone. These days, I can easily spend an hour on the phone talking to someone, and quite often do. Now don't go getting the wrong idea. I don't sit on the phone like some 14 year old, spending all my time with the ear piece connected surgically attached to my ear (not that 14 year olds do that so much anymore cuz kids start texting when they're 7. it's disgusting), but, for a good friend I will gladly recount what has been going on in my life and then listen whilst they recount their endevours. It just so happens that that generally takes about an hour. My good friends Kara, Rachel, and Joel are hour conversation people. It's just great to hang up the phone and see the counter say something along the lines of 55:17 (my latest phone conversaton with Kara) and KNOW that that last hour of my life was totally worthwhile. And then there is voicemail. One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone, especially a number I don't know, calls, repeatedly, and DOESN'T LEAVE A MESSAGE! LEAVE A MESSAGE! If you cannot spare 30 seconds of your life to leave a message, and yet can continue calling me then shame on you. In my point of view, if you do not leave a message, you do not deserve my returning phone call. So kids, leave a message. Make it happy. Tell me something fun, AND tell me why you called. It's great I promise. Also, make your answering machine a little interesting. Mine is about my rocketship.

Second, texting. I am a big fan of texting. Usually. Sometimes it's just easier to hold a conversation with someone over text. Yes, I am supporting relationships through the technology wall. Texting came in handy a ton in high school. I was (and still am) incredibly good at forgetting things that I need to bring along with me, so when I did that, I'd just text my mother and she'd bring it to me. Or if I needed to stay after school, just text mom during class and let her know what's up without having to run and hide away from the school administration, or my loud friends. Sometimes, it is just easier to text.

Next, email. Now when I say email I am also including facebook messages and myspace messages, because those are most often the forms from which my email comes. Email is great because it can be anything from a simple question, to the equivalent of a three page letter. Plus, you can easily erase and rearrange what you want to say. I am also a big fan on email. I'm just better at thinking things out and typing them. I find that when I write, I often forget something I want to say because I can't write and fast and I can type. My good friend Ryan and I are emailers. It's rough now because since he's been out on the mish, I can't just send him an email and expect him to reply because of his limited time. But dang before he was gone, we were huge emailers. Emailing can become difficult though, because again you can't always tell the inflection in someones voice. Luckily for myself and Ryan, that isn't a problem. He's one of the few that I understand and can understand me.

And then there is snail mail. Oooooooh snail mail how you can so greatly boost or crush a college kids ego. There is nothing more devastating than going to the mail box while away from home, and having nothing there for you, but always things for other roommates. It's rough guys. But today I recieved my first letter from Ryan from the mish. It was great. I came home and my roommate had already gotten the mail, so there it was, sitting oh so nicely on the bathroom counter. Kids, I was pretty happy. What a great addition to my great day. It just gets better and better.

So in conclusion, mail is GREAT! I highly suggest using it more. Even if it's as simple as going on facebook or myspace and leaving a comment or wall message. The reciever will smile. I will smile. It'll be great.

P.S. Today has been a GREAT day! Woke up, and continued to sleep. Finally woke up about 45 minutes before class, was still able to take my time getting ready, went to class, got their five minutes late but I wasn't exactly in a hurry walking across campus in the wonderful sunny weather. Turns out class was optional again, so I went and read on the quad. Then I had to return a movie, so I walked to Albertsons. Ran into the missionaries on my way. Very nice guys. Stopped to chat, they make me smile. So i returned the movie, purchased a magazine and one of those catch ball sets which I am so very excited to use. Then I walked back. Then I had mail. Soon I'll go to dinner with my friends like always. Then maybe I can talk them into playing on the quad. And THEN, it's Movie Monday. Today: Curious George (which I have never seen) and maybe even Aladdin (which I had the urge to watch last week but we might put it off until later). I like when friends bring movies back with them to make me happy :)

Cereal

The sugary goodness in a bowl of cold milk. MMM kids, mornings don't get much better than that. Many would argue that it so can get better than cereal for breakfast. Think french toast, pancakes, bacon, and eggs. Nope. Just give me my bowl of cereal.

I know it sounds slightly ridiculous - cereal is probably the most common breakfast, so why would I get so much joy out of it? Well, when I got to high school, I stopped having an adequate amount of time to enjoy my wonderful bowl of cereal for breakfast. Instead, I would sleep too late, get ready for school, and leave, getting to school usually late for my zero-hour class. I would then eat breakfast during first period, a nutrigrain bar usually. I never ate cereal. I so much looked forward to the weekend when I could not only sleep in, but also have a wonderful bowl of cereal. To make matters worse, my mother would purchase GREAT cereal (honey bunches of oats, cinnamon toast crunch, apple jacks, etc.) and my siblings would EAT IT ALL before I had the chance to enjoy just one simple, delectable serving. So finally the weekend would come, I would awaken from, what my mother would call, 'a disgustingly long time to be asleep', I would head to the kitchen, and to the demise of my eyes there it would be, a large bowl full of pancake batter. Dangit. Don't get me wrong, I just love pancakes, but seriously today? I wanted cereal so badly. And yes, I could have eaten some, but then I miss out on those wonderful pancakes my mother makes. What to do?! Pancakes won. Everytime. And I would leave myself to fret until tomorrow whether or not I would get to eat cereal. Nope. Tomorrow is Sunday. Mom ALWAYS makes breakfast Sunday. Curse you mother. My toil over this subject was a common discussion topic between us.

But then it would come. The one wonderful Saturday morning when my mother would not make breakfast. My siblings would complain, but oh no not me. I had cereal. I'd go into the pantry, peruse my many many options, choose, and enjoy. Then I would get yelled at by my siblings for eating so much cereal. Well, I'm pretty sure I only eat out of the small plastic bowls and DANGIT I HAVEN'T HAD CEREAL FOR TWO MONTHS SO I WILL EAT TWO BOWLS AND FEEL NO REMORSE WHATSOEVER!

Last weekend I got sick and decided I needed to buy some food to lift my spirits. I went to the store and bought ice cream, sandwich food (because I feel even more strongly towards the sandwich than I do cereal, but that's a different topic completely), milk, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I've eaten it almost every morning this week. It has been a fantastic week.

Muggle Quidditch

As per request, I am going to attempt on writing in a more frequent fashion. Only problem: I often feel that I don't have anything worthwhile to write about, or, that the current topics being assessed in my head are of no importance to you, the reader. So where does that leave us? Well, it leaves you a bored reader and me, a writer who needs to pay more attention sometimes and write about better things. But today, I have something that might just blow your brains out. I just love it.

So thursday night I got sick. It was just super. I spent the entire weekend (with few exceptions) sitting in front of the tv, on the couch, in our apartments living room. Some may think that would be a horrible way to not only spend your weekend, but also spend being sick, but honestly kids, I could barely make it from my bed to the couch. A grand total of about 12 steps. ANYWAY, while watching MTVU, there was an interview with some college kids at Middlebury College. Just ordinary students looking for new inventive ways to have some fun on campus. Their solution? Quidditch. Thats right. Straight up Harry Potter quidditch. Ok so what about the whole brooms and flying part? They've got it all figured out, with official rulebooks, competitions, competing schools, and even their very own Quidditch World Cup.

I want to give you guys an idea of how this is played by mere muggles. On an ovular shaped field, the quaffle and bludgers are placed in the center of the field dodgeball style. When the game starts, teams run towards to balls and commence their attempts to score. But what about the whole flying thing? Oh they've got that one covered. Every individual must have a wooden broom held between their legs at all times. And no I don't mean you can go play with the broom you use (or at least I hope you use) to sweep your place, but a straight up wizards broom. AWESOME! Also, each player must wear a cape and safety goggles. Then of course there are three hoops placed at different heights at each end of the field, protected by the keeper, there are chasers who take the quaffle (a white volleyball) and try to score, and there are beaters to take their bludgers (red kickballs) and hit the chasers. If hit, the chaser must drop the quaffle. And last, but certainly not least, comes the snitch and the seekers. I don't know much about the rules for the seekers yet, but I can tell you about the snitch. Now in the books, we are told that the snitch is a very small, gold ball with wings that flies so fast you can hardly see it. How in heavens name are we supposed to translate that into the muggle world? Well one solution would be to throw a tennis ball or golf ball far away from the match and make the seekers go find it. That would be but childs play. So in true Middlebury fashion (it is said that Middlebury also began the wonderful game of, yes, frisbee), the snitch is a person, dressed in an all-yellow and gold outfit, who must, once the game has started, take off running. Running anywhere and everywhere. They can come back to the pitch as many times as they please, as their one objective is to simply not get caught by a seeker. One word: genius.

What would you think if you saw someone running by dressed in an all-yellow outfit, wearing safety goggles, followed by two individuals, with capes and their own pair of safety goggles, holding brooms between their legs chasing after the yellow blur? At first, I would probably be very confused and assume they were insane, until of course I found out they were playing quidditch. And it's not just Middlebury doing this. Princeton, Whitman, Marlboro, Bucknell, and Vassar all have teams.

Watching these kids on tv looked like one of the coolest things we could be doing with our college time. I mean, they call us college kids for a reason. As the Middlebury snitch explains...that's what we are - kids thrust into adulthood.

Moral of the story: Dont loose sight of your child-like qualities. They make our lives interesting.

If you would like to watch this video and get involved, maybe even start you own team, visit http://www.mtvu.com/video/?id=1584212&vid=219383.

happy flying

maybe writers block isn't so bad

There is a topic that recently has been reappearing in my conversations. Part of it may have to do with Kara being in town. And I've just had a lot of ideas for songs. I guess you could say I've been inspired a lot lately. I've just been in the mood to write, if you couldn't already tell from my writers block blog. And I'm not just writing songs, but just about my own thoughts. I try to write every night before I go to bed. Kind of like a diary, but really not. Just anything I've thought about. I get really bad about it though and don't write for weeks or months and a time. BUT, right now I just want to write. I think another influence on my writing desire is the recent change in weather. Kids, it is sunny and warm and gorgeous. Today, Kara and I went and played frisbee. It was great. I'm hoping to go play some baseball soon. I love baseball. I have a goal to see every MLB team play at their home stadium. I'm far from reaching this goal, but I've started.

Well that was a tangent a big, anyway, the recurring topic is coming up with great ideas (for anything really be it songs, blogs, things to do, whatever) and then forgetting and ALSO the inability to get thoughts and feelings out in a way that the masses would understand. AKA writing songs. So last night I was doing some blog reading. There's this guy named Ben Romans, he's the keyboardist in The Click Five (BIG FAN of their new sound, Kyle just makes it work), and he's involved with this blogging site called The One Love. Basically it's a bunch of artists and such that are writing about their lives and the things they are involved with, especially promoting new causes and such. Check it out. Anyway, this guy is just a great writer. He see's things, everything, in such a great way. Many times in the same way I see things, I just don't often voice it. But still. I just love his blog. If you go to his site, read his blog from January 25, 2007. I read that last night and it just had so much to do with many of my recent conversations about writing songs. I have all these ideas but can't put them into words etc. It was a great blog to read after writing "writers block". So after I read that blog I just had all these thoughts streaming through my mind. I had to write it down before I forgot. It goes like this:

ALWAYS carry around a pad of paper and a pencil, cuz you never know when an idea (good or bad) will hit, or you'll find something intriguing that you want to explore. I try to keep a full 8x11 notebook with me at all times (because sometimes my little notepad just doesn't cut it) so mI can write down everything:

quotes, phrases, a person, ideas, ANYTHING that strikes my fancy.

I have a friend who I once went shopping with. I found a skirt - this relates guys I swear - and asked her opinion before even trying it on. She told me,

"Do you want to know what my mothers shopping motto? If you look at something for more than a couple seconds, grad it and try it on."

I try to apply this point of view to every aspect of my life now. Yes, I tried on the skirt, and yes, I bought it. Still have it in fact. But consider for a second transfering this idea to the rest of your life. If I find my mind wandering, or my eye lingering, I write it down. Because even for a second, my mind was captivated. That's got to be worth something. I may not immediately write a blog or write in a journal or talk about this event, but later I will. Later, when I'm in a place and time where I can give things more thought and focus. Because don't we all deserve to focus out attention on things that interest us?

Maybe writers block isn't so bad, because the urge to write and get around the block is so great, that I spend more time writing about anything else, hoping that I'll find the answers to all my other questions in the process. Also, listen to Jose Gonzalez. I swear. I can't listen to that man without words flowing out through my finger tips.

writers block

Writers block...it's something I've become good friends with. He sometimes visits me, often times most inconveniently. It is increasingly frustrating. I guess part of the problem is my lack of experience with lyrical writing. It's just so difficult for me to get the thoughts and feelings I wish to express out in a way that would make sense in a song. I think I need to take a lyrical writing class. Or I just need to write more. I think that's it. I used to write songs all the time, about anything that came to mind. I once wrote a song with Kara about a cigarette butt we found at the park. It was a great song. You wouldn't have known it was about a cigarette butt. Thats the beautiful part.

Anyway, this weekend I watched Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and began writing about it in very loose terms. Mostly it's focusing on a good relationship that ends poorly and how you may want to forget it, but some things were just so fun. So should you? I don't know. But I wrote a couple lines, but past that I can't get my thoughts together in a fashion that makes sense in a musical sense. But writer's block isn't always as intense as my inability to get thoughts together. Kara is in town all week and today we finally got the chance to write some music together again. She had started a song recently and I was just really digging it, so we continued it, writing out the second verse, and got to the last line and completely died. We can't figure out for the life of us how to end it. To add to the frustration, all we have to do is write that line and maybe a bridge, and then we can record it this week. STRESS!! We decided to go on a walk instead of sit in my room and stress over it.

So oh well I suppose. The words will come to us. To me. Just keep writing and it will work out.

Well, spring break is over...I now have to get myself through 6 1/2 weeks of school. I can make it, however, things are about to get a little stressful. The dumb drug classes are done, so I don't have to worry about that or AA meetings anymore, but I still have to plan for on campus events and such. I have tests coming up in psychology and economics which I'm going to have to study incredibly hard for. I also have to write 4 papers for psychology labs before Thursday. Tonight I will be writing one about August Rush. Should be interesting. I have a new song for voice lessons from Jekyll & Hyde. It'll be good for me.

So spring break...I spent it at home in Boise which was great. I went to the gym, went skiing with the parental unit, hung out with people. I did get a MASSIVE bruise on my leg whilst skiing though! I went on a jump, caught an edge while landing on my inside left ski, and proceeded to hit my left leg with the side of my right ski. It's really sick looking. And huge. I also sang at a couple of my sisters dance performances over the break. I noticed a change in my singing. An improvement. It's odd because the only singing I've really been doing is at voice lessons, which haven't been that fantastic on my voice. But whatever I'll take what I can get.

Ok well, I could write about a couple more things from the break, but I'm not going to right now.
Have good days.