As in there is a zero percent chance I'll ever do a challenge like the A to Z Challenge EVER again in my life.
While it was fun in the beginning, soon it became a daunting task. Those who kept up daily without a problem... that's amazing.
For me, blogging (and writing in general) has always been something I enjoyed and used as a stress-reliever and a way to express what I'm thinking. With that said, there is no way I could do this every day... and
While I was able to read other people's blogs for the first couple of days, soon it became impossible. Which means, I'll probably spent the next month reading other people's A to Z Challenge posts haha. Not even kidding.
My next blog post (whenever it may be) will be back to normal. No more challenges (or at least not long-term ones)!
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
Yes, I got up at 4 A.M. this morning to watch the wedding of Prince William and Kate.
Did you?
How could I not? I LOVE weddings! AND it's a royal wedding!
I have to say, I loved Kate's dress and its simplicity.
I was quite surprised her dress was able to remain a secret until the revealing moment in this day and age of technology and up to the minute news.
And how about those hats? Definitely saw some weird interesting ones. Some were nice, don't get me wrong, but others were... not my taste? I thought it was interesting that pretty much 99% of the women that they showed were wearing a hat at the wedding.
Here's to hoping for a long and happy marriage for the two of them!
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
Raise your hand if you've swallowed MULTIPLE coins? Anyone? Just me? Oh....
As a young child, one day I was playing with coins (money) on my bed (don't ask me why) at night. Sometime soon after, I fell asleep. When I woke up sometime later that night, the coins weren't next to me anymore.
I asked my parents whether they had moved the coins (they hadn't, obviously). I guess there weren't many other reasons the coins would no longer be there, so they figured I had swallowed the coins in my sleep and off to the hospital we went.
An x-ray or so later, we saw right where they were... in me.
The long and short of it was that the doctors told my parents that the coins would come out within a few days... from the other end.
Moral of the story: don't swallow coins. Got it?
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
I don't think there is anything I HATE more than waiting.
I don't think I'm impatient in most cases, but waiting for something or someone drives me crazy.
People wise, I think many people don't value time these days. When did always being late because the normal?
And then how annoying was it to wait for your scores for those standardized tests for SATs, LSATs, or whatever you took? Those three weeks were way to much for me! I need to know how I did and I need to know now!
With my luck, things always get delayed and cancelled numerous times so the wait turns out to be extra long for me!
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
Is it just me or do people lack basic values these days?
I could go on and on about this one -- it's so frustrating to see examples of this every day.
Has showing respect to our elders became a thing of the past? Is there no difference between how one should act around friends and how one should act around others (adults, parents, etc)?
I am not talking about joking around with the elders. I'm talking about kids not having the courtesy to hold the door open at a mall or at an eatery when they see an older person making their way through... or when they see a mother with a stroller or holding the hands of multiple children. I see it all the time -- instead of doing so, some actually go out of their way to rush past it all.
How about the simple words like "please" and "thank-you"?
Observe, if you will, at a retail store next time you are there: it's unbelievable how many consumers go up to a employee and pretty much demand "this in blue" or "this in a size 8". How about politely requesting, instead of demanding?
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
There are just some things that I think should be universal because they are a right, not a privilege.
Two of these things are healthcare and education.
The poorest of the poor and the richest of the rich deserve the same, so why is it that money (or lack their of) dictates instead?
I don't care that rich people can afford a house which three times the amount of bedrooms and bathrooms they need. I don't care that rich people can afford to have multiple cars each and choose which car they feel like driving that day. I don't care that rich people can waste thousands of dollars on a meal.
I just don't care.
You know why? Because that's a waste. It's not necessary. It's foolish.
I don't bother thinking twice about that.
What frustrates me is the lack of quality education or education altogether for so many people because of where they live or because they can't afford it.
Just think of how many people die on a regular basis because they couldn't afford to be treated or purchase the necessary medicines... or live for years untreated when there is a treatment readily available.
It shouldn't be this way. People deserve better.
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
It took us about seven hours yesterday to make a trip down to Virginia, when normally it takes 3-4 hours. We were stuck in traffic for pretty much the whole drive unfortunately. Can you imagine on how annoying that was?
Traffic is probably one of the things I have very little patience for. If there was a car accident or construction that closed off lanes leading to the traffic... fine, at least there is a reason for it. Traffic for no reason for a long drive is quite annoying.
Or what's worse is when everyone slows down to look at someone that was pulled over by the police. Seriously? Is that necessary?
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
I don't know why, but I've always been a really sensitive person. My first reaction to pretty much everything is crying balling my eyes out.
Whether it be a great piece of news someone shares, a memorable moment or of course something sad... you can bet I am probably crying.
Just to name a few off the bat - graduations (mine AND everyone else's), wedding, movies (not just the incredibly sad ones). The funny/sad thing is that I cry about things that don't effect me.
While I don't mind being so sensitive most of the time, it can definitely be pretty embarrassing a lot of times. Like when I am crying for something that doesn't even effect me or those I know.
I am not talking about just shedding a few tears. I am talking about being a basket-case :)
But you know what? At the end of the day, I would rather be TOO sensitive rather than not be sensitive (to others) at all.
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
Remind me to never do another one of these blog challenges EVER.AGAIN.
While I like the idea of it, and applaud those who can do it each day without a problem...
It's proving to be too much, and I hate the idea of HAVING to write a post every day. I would rather just write when I have something substantial to write about like I had been doing for the past several years. It's always quality over quantity if you ask me.
In the beginning of this, I was afraid that I would get annoyed about writing which is something I never want to happen. While the first week or so went by great, boy has it become increasingly a TASK (especially in the last few days)!
Why not just stop now, you ask? I've never been one to do something half way. It's like as assignment that I must complete.
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
Public Speaking. Probably the best class I took in high school. Before I took the class (and during it actually too) I DISPISED talking in front of people.
I just hate(d) the idea of everyone staring at me which I talked. I just basically hate when all the attention is on me in a group setting in general.
Not taking an easy way out or anything for the A to Z Challenge but out just fit perfectly for O. I'm out for the whole day a second day in a row to Manhattan.
Boy what a difference a day (and the weather) makes! Yesterday was full of crazy rain, crazy lightning and thunderstorm and A LOT of wind. Which made for the drive through Times Square and Manhattan in general so incredibly easy in comparison the usual insanity that we all know and love as NYC.
Today, it's great weather out... Which means it's packed as usual and the traffic is back to the regular annoying self.
Will post pictures later though and an update so check back then!
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
The more I look for a job, the more I believe it’s all about networking. It’s not what you know, it’s WHO you know.
Is that fair? I don’t know.
I'm all for the importance of networking and whatnot on a regular basis (as in you should not be selective in the people you meet with and/or talk to regularly). Of course there are some people who you will be better friends with, but that doesn't mean you totally ignore everyone else. Or don't mind being rude and obnoxious to others because you won't have to deal with them again.
But I've never been one to appreciate or even understand when some people get something based on who they are or who they know. And I'm not just talking about getting a job. This applies to a lot of aspects of life.
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
I went to see Rachel Maddow speak yesterday morning bright and early at Rutgers (my alum!). The event was a part of a series of events the Eagleton Institute of Politics is holding (I went to see Nicole Wallace speak several weeks ago as well and plan on going to see Valerie Jarrett next month also).
Nicole Wallace was the Former Communications Chief under President George W. Bush and also served as the Communications Director for John McCain's presidential campaign. You can see what she said at RU in the following video:
Anyways, back to Maddow's visit: Yesterday's program was called "A Conversation with Rachel Maddow" and it was basically a Q and A forum that lasted about an hour and a half. Initially Ruth Mandel (the Director of the Eagleton Institute) asked a bunch of questions before turning it over to pre-approved questions from RU students and then finally opened up to a few questions from the rest of the crowd.
I liked what Maddow had to say for the most part and one of the lines that resonated with me was that she said she had an opinion and a point of view on things that she expressed, but not an agenda. She went on to explain that her past work involved a lot of activism -- and at that time she did have an agenda -- to get more attention to the causes she cares for so deeply.
If you've ever seen her show, you probably agree that her team researches like no other to prepare for the show. It was quite surprising (to me at least) when Maddow told the RU crowd today that they always choose what stories they are going to use for the day's show on the day of at their meeting that starts around 2 PM and then everybody on the entire team from the producers down to the interns research and how disorganized everything is.
That and the fact that she is apparently a big "downer" of a person, "depressive" and a "big grump"? Certainly did not come off as one today. Sarcastic, maybe -- but we all already know that.
One of my favorite questions asked today probably was when Ruth Mandel asked Maddow who she imagines she's talking to when she's looking directly into the camera and passionately making her points. Maddow's response, however, was 'no one in particular'... just others who agree with me.
Another point I just remembered was that Maddow did point out that when she accepted the contract with MSNBC one of her only requests was that she had the freedom to choose what she wanted to talk about on her program and that MSNBC could not tell what she could or could not talk about... but also noted that she fears on a daily basis that it could be her last show and that she could be fired any day.
Oh, and of course someone asked whether MSNBC and FOX News were actually two sides of the same coin, but she dodged the question saying something to the likes of she doesn't watch much television or something, She also wouldn't comment on the Olbermann's situation and just said in due time Olbermann himself would tell his story -- probably after he's settled with his new network.
One of the biggest things I disagreed with Maddow on would be her take on Pakistan. To preface, someone (I believe Mandel?... anyhow when the video is uploaded, I'll post it here) asked Maddow that she claims to talk about the stories that no one else is talking about and wanted to know what was the number one story that no one else was talking about? Maddow's answer was Pakistan. This is a whole another VERY LONG blog post so I'll just leave that there.
I've said before that the only show I regularly watched on MSNBC was Keith Olbermann's, but my brother Ayaz absolutely loves Maddow's show. I will have to ask Ayaz what he thought of what Maddow said though because he agrees with Maddow on pretty much everything.
I didn't take my camera because but here are some pictures from my phone -- but I'm warning you they came out terrible especially because of the lighting:
Fortunately, Rutgers (for the most part anyways *cough* Snookie *cough*) invites pretty interesting guests, and today was no different.
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
Life is too short too waste over petty things, don't you think?
Why do we make minute aspects of life into such a big thing?
And the things that actually matter? Many don't even think twice about.
Why does belittling others help some people feel better about themselves? Don't you think using that energy for something productive and POSITIVE would be... better?
For example, a person who deliberately twists someone else's words to negate them is going out of their way to make that person look bad. WHY is that necessary?
I remember reading a quote a very long time ago and it has stuck: "Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive." How true is that?
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
If there is one thing I've learned in my life so far, it's to not give up hope.
No matter how stressful things become. No matter how negative things may seem. Not even if everything seems to be going wrong.
It's something I struggle to work on daily as I get frustrated looking for a job. I know I am not alone -- as many people in my graduating class are in the same boat... but it does not make it any less frustrating! What's the point of the degree if it is not helping me get a job? Did I waste all that time and effort AND MONEY?!
If I didn't have student loans over my head, I'm sure I wouldn't be as frustrated and annoyed... but I do. And they are not suddenly just going to go away.
It's been almost a year since I graduated (May 2010), and if someone told me a few years ago how difficult it would be to get a job even with a degree, I am not sure if I would have believed them.
Naive of me? Maybe. But it doesn't change the reality of things.
But hope? I refuse to give up. And as I have pretty much every day for over a year -- the first thing I do daily is look and apply for jobs. Tomorrow will be no different.
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
Family Gatherings are probably one of my favorite things.
Fortunately, I have such a large family and it's not just on holidays that we all gather.
In my opinion, the best kind of weekends are those that are family-filled. Fortunately, I have a lot of family that live nearby and some in other states and Canada that visit often.
You know what I love more than planned family events? The kind of weekends where one family drops by, then another... then another... and we are all just hanging out.
Speaking of gatherings, I invited a bunch of my cousins and friends for a girls' potluck dinner tonight. Definitely looking forward to that!
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
Last October, my friend Maria introduced me to a local frozen yogurt place called 'Fruity Yogurt'.
Before this, I had only tried frozen yogurt once in my life and I did not like it one bit. It was that lumpy kind with fruit bits mixed into it.
So when my friend kept insisting that I try this, I was quite hesitant. If you know anything about me, it's the fact that I'm VERY picky.
Let me tell you, it is absolutely DELICIOUS. I love it, and when I got my parents to try it -- they loved it as well. So has everyone else that I've taken with me (after much convincing, may I add). It tastes just like ice cream (if not better because its lighter) AND it's healthier!
What I especially love about it is that you get to pick and choose what you want. There's tons of topping choices (from candy to fruits) and about 10-12 frozen yogurt flavors that they keep rotating and bringing in new flavors from time to time.
Here's a photo I had in my phone from a while back of one:
Frozen Yogurt from 'Fruity Yogurt'
Looks great doesn't it? This particular time I had Chocolate and Vanilla yogurt, with strawberries, M&M's and pomegranate seeds. Yum!
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
What is it about human nature that makes so many of us so empathic?
When you see something happen to somebody, do you get that feeling as if it happened to you? I certainly do. Or just hearing about a devastating event is enough for you to want to do something. anything.
What makes strangers show kindness to strangers... even going out of their way to do so?
Or let's look at it the other way around: does witnessing an act of kindness automatically bring a smile to your face?
There are some really great people out there, don't you think?
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
Let me start off by noting that I'm not talking all drive thru meals. Of course there are circumstances where you are just getting a quick meal/drink on the go. Or its easier to go through the drive thru lane instead of getting all of the kids out of the car just to put them back in. I get that. I'm not even talking about that!
What I am talking about is everyone being so engrossed in the everyday things in life that people don't even slow down to eat together anymore.
Instead I've seen and heard of so many scenarios where parents are grabbing quick meals for their family and dropping it off to each kid wherever they are.
Wasn't that the one thing you could always count on? Sitting around the dinner table eating (whether it was home cooked or take out) and catching up on the day's worth of events?
At least for me, it has always been the one part in the day where it seems everyone stops whatever was consuming their time to eat together... because before you know it, everyone is much older and has a million things pulling at them for attention (school work, work-related stuff, or whatever it may be).
Isn't it time we all slow down a little? If not for own health's sake, at least for the sake of maintaining some family time values?
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
I don't understand it, I don't like it, and I certainly don't have the patience and/or attention span to watch it. Do you know how long those games are? 8 HOURS! Sometimes, they take FIVE days!
That means 8 hours X 5 days = you must be crazy if you think I'm going to watch that.
The rest of my family LOVES the sport. The World Cup just ended on Saturday and so around my house it was cricket time, all the time lately for quite a while. Pakistan (where I was born) lost in the semi-finals, and the final game was between Sri Lanka and India.
All I've heard lately is about cricket, and frankly I'm over it!
Before I end for the day, I'll share a related joke my dad shared with me yesterday -- Just saw a Sri Lankan drinking tea from a plate, he said the Indians took the cup.
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
If you saw my tweets yesterday, you would know how difficult of a time I was having coming up with a prompt for B. Then I came up with a couple of them... and couldn't choose between them. Finally, I narrowed it down to 2 (or 3?). You'll see what I mean.
1. Bracelets. I LOVE them. I don't think there's even such a thing as too many bracelets.
Here's a picture of my Bracelet Tree that sits on my dresser. This is by no means all of my bracelets (they overflow into the drawers).
My Bracelet Tree
What's one thing you can't have too many of?
2. Isn't the blogosphere a cool thing? Just think about this currently activity alone - there are almost 1000 individuals, most of whom don't know each other, who have formed a community taking part in this one activity. The chances of us connecting otherwise are/were very slim.
Blogosphere. A cool thing indeed.
Oh, and I have to throw this in :) Do you know I design blogs? Hey it's a B, isn't it? :)
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
As I said yesterday, I wasn't sure what I was going to talk about today to start off the challenge (some start, huh?). So I used the first A-word that popped in my head... and it happened to be about blogging :)
What do you think of Anonymous commenter's who leave negative comments on blogs?
I personally haven't had such an experience, but every time I read one on someone else's blog it makes me cringe. If you don't have the audacity to take responsibility for what you are saying, then you lose your credibility.
You have something to say on the contrary to what you read? Fine, but take some ownership for what you are saying!
Don't you think it's fair to say that when people know their identities are going to be kept anonymous (whether offline or online), they behave much worse than they would have otherwise? Or when dealing with someone on an one-time basis that you know you'll never see them again?
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
I'm a recent Rutgers University graduate, where I majored in Psychology and minored in Political Science (May 2010). I love reading, and am interested in politics - local and elsewhere.
Click here to read more about me and why I started blogging!
What's for Dinner
Click hereto see some of the things I have cooked/baked/made recently. Click here to see a list of all the recipes I've posted. Feel free to ask for recipes [if they aren't already there] (and share your favorites)!
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