A Happenstance Encounter

Hello Readers,

So something really interesting and kinda exciting actually happened yesterday. No I didn't get a job :( but I don't even care about that right now because this is too exciting to put a negative on it. Yesterday I was hanging out at the art museum with my best friend, Betty (!). Its free on Saturdays so we've been trying to get out there to see it because we are both art nerds and yesterday we finally had a chance to go check it out again. We were in this almost circular room, sitting on a circle couch and sliding around to look at all the paintings because thats what you do when your in a room with a circle couch. Anyways we stopped in front of this painting called "Pear Pickers" and we were discussing it. Its a painting of these two women in dresses picking pears and we were discussing why this one woman would be picking a pear so small (I'm still trying to figure that one out because it was a very small pear). While we were discussing this an older couple came into the room and the man was talking about some of the other paintings but we weren't paying too much attention to it because we always ignore people; except for the guy who worked there who had really squeaky shoes because that squeak was so annoying it was impossible to ignore. So the couple goes around the room looking at the paintings (not while on the circle couch though--lame) and they get to where we are and the man starts talking to us about the picture. We think nothing of it but then he asks us if he could take a picture of us standing in front of the painting to show how much young ladies have changed as far as fashion and culture. We didn't really see why not so we agreed and he was very happy with the picture and starts telling us a little about what he does. So we find out he is an artist and he is hoping to use this picture in an art show in April at a place called "The Donut Hole" (I know this place very well). He told us a little about other shows he's done and said something about Tokyo and traveling and how his daughter does art stuff in New York and she'll be in the show too. He offered to email me a picture so I agreed, gave him my email (which I wouldn't normally do but I really wanted a copy of the pic), and we said we would definitely check out the art show in April. Well last night he emailed me a picture which he said he loved and will definitely be using in the show. Then he told me where I could find some more information about him online to understand a little bit more about what he does. So I googled it and it turns out this guy is kind of a big deal. His name is David Quick and he's from Kansas, just like me, and his art has been in art exhibits all over the world. I'm going to post the link on here (hopefully) and you can read for yourself but I was kind of excited when I read about the things he's doing especially for youth in Kansas. So here's the link and the pic that will be used in the art show at "The Donut Hole", in Wichita Kansas on April 27.

http://www.nakedcitywichita.com/2010/08/13/david-quick/

I wish you guys could see the incredibly tiny pear that is in the womans hand but I'm blocking it with my shoulder. I hope you guys found this as interesting as I did.

Love and Rockets,
Mags :)

New Semester

Hey guys,

So I have finally started my spring semester of college at WSU and so far its...okay. Parking is terrible but that was to be expected. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so cold! What happened to the lovely weather we were having??? Anyways, I think I am going to enjoy my classes this semester. I have been super excited for my astronomy class and I was not disappointed today. My Psychology Statistics class still scares the hell out of me but the teacher is really awesome. My Criminal Justice class seems okay, I'm not exactly sure how to react to that one yet...and I seem to have the same reaction to my English class. I have no idea what exactly this English class is because I keep calling it different names. I believe it is the Butler equivalent to American Literature II, but I called it American Writers/Authors II, but i believe the real name for it is Modern American Literature...I think. Whatever it's called its about American Lit. I think I'm going to like this teacher much better than my previous English teacher from last semester but, let's face it, that guy didn't have much competition if any. I'm not too happy about the 6+ page papers I will have to write this semester but I'm up for the challenge.
Hopefully the rest of this week will be okay and by next week I will be used to the schedule. I'm keeping this post short because I am definitely not used to getting up before 1pm so it is off to bed for me.

Love and Rockets,

Mags :)

It's been a while...

Long time no see my seemingly forgotten friends,

I realize it's been a while since I've posted anything but I have been distracted. To catch you guys up I had a great Thanksgiving. I actually ate food on this occasion so that is a plus. I am such a picky eater that I ususally eat very little on Thanksgiving but I must be getting better with foods that I will eat. It's not about the taste with food, its the texture. Something could taste really, really good but I can't eat it because the texture is unbearable. And I know I am not the only person out there who has the same difficulties with food in this way. I googled it. It happens.

I am finally done with the semester! I survived my British Literature class but I don't know what grade I recieved yet. I am a little upset about the "B" I recieved for my Creative Writing class. That was my fun class. Fun classes are supposed to be easy classes. I still don't know how exactly he graded for this class because I never once recieved a grade as feedback for my work...just criticism. Not cool old guy professor, not cool. I would like to say that I really don't care at this point because at  least it's all over buuuut I'm kinda sorta fucking pissed. I don't get "B's". I just don't. Not in classes I enjoy and actually try in. But maybe next semester will be better. I believe I will be taking:
Into to Astronomy
Criminal Justice
American Literature II
and...a Psychology class...(I will have to look that up later...)
I should also mention that I am no longer going to try for a double major in English and Psychology. I would have to take waaay too many English classes to get that doen so I am now going for a Psychology major with an English minor. Oh hey I remember now! It was Psychology Statistics...that is gonna suck. I was going to take more classes but Statistics and Astronomy are most likely going to take up enough of my time as it is, so my advisor suggested only taking the 12 credit hours. I took her suggestion but I probably could have handled the 15 credit hours. I mean, it's not like I have a job or anything taking up all my time (ha ha).

But enough school talk! What I should be talking about is Christmas! It is only 6 days away now and if I had actually been updating this thing like I should have I would have had a countdown to Christmas, but oh well, too late for that. I just finished my Christmas shopping today and I can't believe it took me this long. Usually I'm done before December! I guess I've just been slacking off lately. But at least I'm done now. I'm practically broke but at least I'm done. Being a jobless college student I could get away with giving gifts that are the epitome of worthless crap but I could never do that. Christmas is about giving, not recieving and I loooove getting gifts for people. And I really love giving people thoughtful gifts not just something from the Christmas aisle in Walmart. And I hate giving gift cards. I don't mind recieving them but I hate giving them. That doesn't make much sense but it's true. Gift cards are too easy and I like searching for that perfect gift for someone. And haven't you ever noticed that people's reactions are different when they recieve a gift card? It's more like "oh thanx this is really nice", as opposed to "oh wow this is really cool I love it". But I guess some people might not recieve such a great response from giving a gift if they are really bad a buying gifts. Like I would looove it if my dad just got me a gift card and left it at that. Ever since my parents seperated and my dad has done his own Christmas shopping I've gotten some crazy shit. There was the year of the recorder, and by that I mean the plastic musical instrument. Then there was the year fucked  up statue of a dragon on the head of a possessed looking lady with horns. Then there was the year of the other dragon statue, this one being broken. And then there was last year, the year of the snuggie. Last year I couldn't even hide my disapproval for this gift but I mean come on! Not only was it a snuggie but it was blue with clouds on it! He even brought up the fact that I didn't seem to like it later that day and I felt kinda bad. Whats even worse, I use the snuggie everyday...and I hate myself everytime I wear it...but I can't help it! As stupid as those damn things are, theyre so warm and comfortable. Luckily this year my dad decided to just give my mom money for gifts so I wont have to put anything next to the ugly statues. Yes, I still have those fucked up statues. I don't have the heart to get rid of them...

Well, I've been ranting for so long it seems that it is now 5 days until Christmas! So if you aren't done with your Christmas shopping by now I suggest you get on it and I urge you to steer clear of gifts cards and think outside the box this year.

Love and Rockets,
Mags :)    

This is Halloween!

Hello my Spooktacular Ghouls!

First and foremost, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! Once again I have been super busy and I am in dire need of a break. Too bad life doesnt want me to have one. I am exhausted. Sleep is definitely on the to-do list. I also need to volunteer some more at my old elementary school for my community psychology class. We need to volunteer for 15 hrs and then give a 5-10 minute presentation over it at the end of the semester. I havent figured out how I am going to talk about grading papers for 5 mins but I am going to have to do so eventually. I havent been to the school in at least 3 weeks, possibly even longer than that. I also need to write a paper over...something...for my British Literature class. And finish my take home test for community psych.

But anyways, so I have had all this to do and what have I been doing the past week?
--Not homework.

Ive spent most of my energy planning a Halloween party, that I had on Saturday, that did not go as planned. Thursday I picked up a few things for the party, food, decor, etc., and I did some cleaning. That night I went to a friends Halloween party (so much fun) and got home at around 4am (mistake #1). Friday I dragged my ass out of bed waaay later than I had originally planned and was still tired but I had to get up to bake cookies, cake pops, and brownie pops for my party Saturday. Then after I was on my feet all day baking, I went to a corn maze (mistake #2) and got home some time between midnight and 1am (mistake #3). So Saturday I woke up with red eyes from the massive allergy attack I gave myself from the damn corn maze, and I was tired as hell from not getting enough sleep for the past two days, and I had a ton of cleaning, cooking, and decorating to do before 6pm. But I was still really excited for that night and I couldnt wait for everyone to get there. My sister, brother-in-law, and nephew came first (mistake #4). Looking back I really shouldnt have invited them (mainly my older sister) because the only way my family knows how to communicate is through yelling. Normally I wouldnt have minded it getting that loud because I have really bad hearing (thank you Flyleaf concert) but I was trying to talk and hang out with my bestie, Betty (I </3 U!), so I was having issues hearing anything but their loud mouths. And then my grandma and dad came over (dad doesnt live with us, grandma lives next door) because they thought my nephew, Logan, was going to come over in costume and they wanted to see him. I didnt mind my grandma being there too much but my idiot father came over from a bar (he wasnt drunk but he was getting there). So he was acting like a moody idiot and he kept freaking out Logan because he doesnt see him that much so Logan didnt recognize him. And whats even more annoying is that Logan wasnt even in costume! So that whole mess could have been avoided. And just as my friends started showing up and the party finally started I was hit with a migraine. Yes, a migraine. A migraine that lasted through the food, the pinata, the movie, and hanging out afterwards (yes, college students can have a pinata at a halloween party! You are never too old for a pinata). All the time and effort and planning I put into this party and it was ruined mainly by a migraine. That and the fact that I can count my friends on one hand so my "party" was more of like a get-together that I put waaay too much effort into. But I still had fun. Betty stayed til like 3am and I always love just hanging out with her.

So after the party I basically died from exhaustion and guess what I woke up to?
--A migraine. FML. That is NOT supposed to happen. The migraine is supposed to go away when you sleep. But oh well, it eventually went away. I didnt do much tonite on the actual day of Halloween (who wants to celebrate that on a Monday???) except I ate a loooot of candy and then drove my family nuts with my sugar high ;)

But anywas I hope you all had an awesome weekend and a spooktacular Halloween filled with ghosts and ghouls and, of course, candy.

Love and Rockets,
Mags :)

P.S.: I was a flapper for Halloween :) I thought it went with the hair ;)

Makeover Magic!

Hey guys,

I have been very busy lately so I apologize for not posting for a while. So Thursday I gave myself a bit of a makeover. I dye my hair a lot but I have really weird hair so it fades very quickly and the dye doesnt like to take to my hair. But I have the best hairdresser in the world and she thinks she may have found the answer to my prayers. The hair dye we used is called Special Effects and we left the dye on my hair for 6 hours. Yes, I really left it on my hair for 6 hours! There is no peroxide in it and it conditions while its on so it did no damage to my hair (my hair is actually softer now). And contrary to what my family thought would happen, my hair did not fall out. If it had been any other hairdresser trying to get me to do this I would have been very skeptical, but Kim is amazing. She was there with me when I died my hair pink, purple, dark brown, black, and of course red. My hair looks amazing and hopefully (fingers crossed!) it wont fade as quickly as other dyes have done in the past.

The Before:

The During:

The After:

Little Sweden USA

Hello Rockstars!

So this weekend I was working in Lindsborg, Kansas (aka Little Sweden USA) at a festival thing they have every two years. Its a swedish festival that lasts two days (or at least I was there for two days) and the whole town shows up to celebrate this. They have swedish dancing, swedish food, a parade, and vendors (like me) selling stuff. It was pretty good except there were three huge downsides to working this.
1. It was an outdoor show.
2. The first day was completely dead.
3. Nobody knew our tent was there.

Having an outdoor show isnt completely terrible--depending on what time of the year it is. This time of year could go either way. This year it was soooo windy! And we were on dirt. Dirt and wind do not mix. Everything, myself included, was covered in dust the first day. No bueno.
Going to a show and having the first day completely dead--somewhat expected. The first day is never good but this was just pathetic. And I didnt bring anything to occupy myself in absolute boredom so I ended up doodling on boxes.
The location of our vendor tent was terrible--we were two blocks away from the other vendors and the rest of the festival activities. This was probably one reason why we did so poorly on the first day. The only reason people knew where we were the second day was because of the parade.

Now the second day wasnt horrible. It was a little chilly and it rained but I've worked through worse. And the rain brought in customers so I couldnt complain. Helping customers is way better than just sitting there doing nothing. Well, I guess that depends on the customer. I had one of "those" customers at that show. The ones where it takes all of your self control not to chuck a jar of salsa at the person. Now I could just be short-tempered and have no sense of humor (which is VERY true) but this one guy got to me. We were really busy and I had gotten into the flow of things so by this point the fake smile and happy voice came naturally. I asked him if he would like to try anything. His response: "Not after what I've seen it's done to your hair!" Now, I get hair responses a lot. Like A LOT! But this one rubbed me the wrong way. I think it was his tone of voice and the look of disgust on his face that did it for me. I dont know what people have against red hair but I get soooo many comments on it! Some good, some bad, some just plain weird. Like the time I had a guy ask me if I dumped salsa on my head to get it to that color-----that would be classified as weird (really weird). Maybe its just old guys trying to be funny. Because the majority of the comments come from old guys. Maybe I just need a sense of humor. Or maybe old guys just need to stop trying to be funny.

Overall it wasnt a bad weekend. I was mostly just tired from getting up early and going to bed late. And it was all worth it I guess because I got paid really well. Highest amount I've ever gotten paid before. Too bad that all has to go to car repairs....

Love and Rockets,
Mags :)

Arachnid Assassination!

Hello again,

I am pleased to inform you that I will be working two shows this weekend so that means money for car repairs! Even better I actually found someone to do the repairs for me. All I have to do is pay for parts and feed the guy. Its my best friends brother who apparently is more willing to help me with my car troubles than my own brother...But anyways, so hopefully I will be getting that taken care of soon. I talked to him about my car last night when my bestie came over with her brother to kill a spider for me. Yes I really texted her to come over and kill a spider. I must have the worst case of arachnophobia. And this wasnt just any spider, it was a black widow. And this particular black widow was guarding an egg sack. An egg sack, that I learned, could contain over 1,000 little baby black widows. So she and her brother came over armed with a can of raid. The spider had a web in the corner of the stairs on my front porch. During the day it would hide back into this crevice between the porch and a pillar. Disgusting, I know. My grandmother (whom I live next door to) tried to attack and kill it with a shoe and hairspray but that only angered it. It ran into its little crevice and we didnt see it for a couple of days. But once I saw it was back with an egg sack I had to call in reinforcements. So they came over at around 8 at night, so it was dark (obviously) and that meant that the spiders were out. My friend's brother attacked it with raid while I stood very far away. It ran off back into the crevice again but he said he got it really good with the raid so hopefully it is now dead. But afterwards while we were talking for a bit he pointed the flashlight behind me and guess what he found? A little brown recluse. What a lovely discovery. So I semi-freaked out and ran away while he smashed it with his shoe. Then he killed another spider close by the brown recluse with the raid. Apparently my porch and surrounding outside area is a breeding ground for spiders. My front porch hasnt been swept off in I dont know how long so God only knows how many spiders are lurking. I suggested to my friend that we get some more friends together, get some hazmat suits, and clean off my porch, rake some leaves, and spray the hell out of everything with bug killer. Something tells me this will never happen...but it would be nice. I mean, I wouldnt be helping because I could potentially come into contact with spiders so they would mainly be doing all the work...but I would love to supervise! ...From a safe distance ;)

Love and Rockets,
Mags :)