Nicknames

Thanks to volleyball over they years I have developed a unique ability. This is the ability to create nicknames. It may not seem like much, but I assure you that it is a gift unlike any other. I have made nicknames out of just about anything possible, the actual name, the way the person looks, a funny incident, I've even made a nickname for a couple (Move over Brangelina!). I have learned that this is indeed very creative. I thought I would share some of my nicknames for you. I realize that they won't make much sense to you so I will try and explain them some.


Carlita- Taken from the name Carly. Must be said in a heavy Spanish accent.

Basset- Given because of the sad and stoic look often seen on their face.

Ragin Agyn- (pronounced Ragin' Agin') my favorite couple's name!

Rebs- Becca, Rebecca, Reba, Rebs. Duh.

Lana- Taken from the name Caitlin. Must be said in a heavy German accent.

Jolly- A blend of someone's first and last names. Especially hilarious because this person is not the happiest person in the world. My crowning jewel.

Hope you enjoyed!

F My Life...

I have already shared with you my most intense online obsession, Postsecret, and now I would like to share with you my newest web love. It's called "F My Life" and the premise of the website is people write in hilariously horrible things that have happened to them that make them want to "F*** my life". Everyone writes the abbreviated version of "FML" at the end of their post. I must admit, some of them make you feel really bad for laughing. But at the same time, you just can't help it. I thought I'd share a few with you to brighten your day!

Today, my parents left for work before I had to leave for school and I decided to skip. I stayed by the phone, expecting the school to call so I could pose as my parent and excuse my absence. The phone rings and I pick up. It's my Mom, calling to leave my dad a message on the machine. FML


Today, I was walking down the street when a homeless man asked me for some spare change. I told him I didn't have any. I then tripped. Not only spilling the soda I was drinking all over myself, but also spilling the spare change I had from buying it. FML

Today, I was laying with my girlfriend on the couch. I looked at her and says "You're so beautiful. How did I ever get you?" She replied, "I was drunk." FML

Today, I was serving a table full of drunk people. They used the candles on the table to set the table on fire. Noticing this I ran to it and poured a pitcher of water on it. Then other tables complained saying I caused a disturbance. I got fired for putting out a fire. FML

Today, I overheard my daughter compliment my mother by saying "My mom is way flabbier than you, Grandma." When I told her later that she hurt my feelings, she told me to "man up." She's seven. FML

Not in this weather

Ok so I found another one that I thought was HILARIOUS, but I understand that it couldn't, and shouldn't be played on tv. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi47UcyK4Ms&NR=1

Funny Commercial!

I found this hilairous commercial on youtube, and was sad to find that it had been rejected before it got air time. It's a commercial making fun of blondes, which I am sooo all for. Supposedly the commercial was rejected before it had air time because they thought that it might seem like the car was bought by dumb people...a view which I do not share. I think that the point of the spot is very obvious, but let me know what you think!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l38blGqVeHc&NR=1

Horrible

In light of the lecture on bad advertising, I thought I'd share this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsbBLXhP49Q

So it supports violence and cheap laughs is just about the only thing I took from this commercial. What do you think?

Dance It Out

Ok, time for me to admit something a little bit emberassing (it seems I do that alot here). I absolutely adore dance movies. I don't know what it is but it an be the cheesiest, silliest movie in the world and I will still walk out of the theater smiling and recanting minute details with my friends. It's not just me either, it seems like most of the female population around my age has a simliar sof spot in their heart for feel good dance movies...so why has this not transferred over to advertising? I know it wouldn't be the easiest of concepts in the world for a product that wasn't related to dancing, but with all the great minds out there I'm sure they can think of something brilliant and inspiring. Dances make things memorable, they should definately be used in advertising. Apple has somewhat gotten a hold of this idea with it's dancing outlined people, so where are the followers?

Bellow is probably my favorite dance scene ending of all time from Step Up 2. I know, I know completely corny...but still sooooo amazing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4n8FEmEoMk&feature=related

Do you believe?

One of my teammates on the volleyball team has deceloped a new addiction to an application on her cell phone. Instead of it being the usual teen application addiction like Crash Bandicoot or some other mind numbing game, she has become obsessed with her horoscope. Before every practice (mind you this is 6:30 in the morning so she has got quite some love for a horoscope to do it this early) she checks her horoscope and the horoscope of some of the girls on the team. I just can't decide how I feel about horoscopes. I would never take them seriously, but I do believe that they are strangely accurate sometimes. But, I also think that they are accurate sometimes because we are more aware of what the horoscpe has said after we read it. Take my horoscope right now, it says "I am wonderful because I am so easygoing, sensitive, intuitive, a lover of beauty...you're practically an angel. A really cool, artistic angel". Although I admit most of those things are true for me(hey, I'm not going to refuse a compliment...) I also recognize that this can be applied to most people. The part that gets me is that it goes on to say "Why you're impossible: How about getting that head out of the clouds once in a while? If you "forget" you have plans with a friend one more time, you'll tarnish that angel image". I must admit...not me at all. I believe that horoscopes are a fun and harmless thing that shouldn't be taken to seriously.

What's your take?

Oh SMU...

Ok, I have to say it. The advertising at SMU is horrible. You know you were thinking it, I just said it. Come on! There is absolutey no school spirit, which I realize can be blamed partly on the students, but the advertising has done nothing to help it. The main focus of our advertising is on football which is understandable because of how huge football is, especially in Texas. But even that advertising is scarce to come by and ineptly done (not to mention the fact that our football team hasn't had the greatest of seasons as of late). What about the sports who actually do amazingly well. Both the men's and women's swimming and diving teams just won conference for the 13th time, and the women's basketball team just won conference. Our soccer team was ranked third int he nation at one point. What about thier advertising? And in terms of just advertising for the school in general, it is quite pathetic. What is this "unbridled" that they are promoting? And why is it just a bunch of people sitting and talking? Do they really think that will draw potential students to the school? I guess I just figured that a school that is this prestigous would know how to handle it's advertising. Hey, I'd be willing to accept the challenge in a few years...

It's a secret...

Have you heard of Postsecret? It's been my obsession for well over three years now. It's an art project that was started by Frank Warren. He began by posting fliers inviting people to send him thier secrets on a postcard for an art project of his. The response was overwhelming. Pretty soon news spread and he started getting mail from across the U.s., then from across the world. Every Sunday he posts new secrets at postsecret.com and there are a bunch of published books with secrets in them. It is probably one of the most creative things I have ever come across. The secrets are things as silly as "In the dentist waiting room I suppress my desire to play with legos", as sad as "I will never ever forgive you" or as simply poetic as "I don't care where I'm going as long as she's riding shotgun". I must admit, I stay up every Saturday night frantically clicking refresh on the page until the new secrets show up, and I am also an owner of some of the books. I will also admit that I myself have made a few postsecrets. I urge you to become obsessed just like me. It's amazing really, how universal some "secrets" are.

Here's a tiny tiny tiny sample of the hundreds of postsecrets that I have saved throughout the last few years because they intrigued me for some reason. Enjoy!

Bzzzz...

While in my Marketing class my teacher (Shout out to Mrs. Corbin!)was teaching us about the value of Word of Mouth. Word of Mouth, or WOM, is when people spread their thoughts about a product or service to those around them. It can either be a great or horrible thing for a company. I learned that someone who is happy with their service tells 3 people while someone who is unhappy tells 9. Talk about making a difference! WOM really does affect a company's image. My teacher showed us a website, bzzagent.com, where you sign up to be a "bzz agent" which means that you are part of a WOM campaign. You can get free stuff and big discounts as long as you give them feedback on how you are talking to people about the product and how this person feels about the product. Wait...did she say free stuff? Naturally I signed up as soon as I got home. But the thing is I have to work my way up to the free stuff stage. Right now I have to do some boring work in order to tally enough points to get to the free stuff part. How genius are they? They have me completely wrapped around their finger. I'll do anything for free stuff!

CHEEEEEEEZ ITTTS!

I must admit, I am a huge fan of spoofs as long as they are done well. I am a fan of a Scary Movie, and some of the sequels (or atleast parts of them) and I love whenever comediens do impersonations. I even love when my friends impersonate me in an embarassing or hilarious way. But my absolute favorite spoof that I have seen so far is the spoof on David Blaine. So, so, so funny. There are two parts to this video and I hope you watch both. Definately worth it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTqsV3q7rRU&feature=channel

My Bucket List

I'm sure you all have heard about the movie The Bucket List starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. It's about two older men who realize they are going to die soon so they decide to accomplish everything on their "Bucket List" which is basically a To-Do list for life. Now I must admit that although I have wanted to, I have not gotten around to seeing the movie. It looks interesting enough I just haven't had the time to sit back and watch it. But the movie is not the reason for the post, the bucket list is. I have had a bucket list since I was about 12 years old. I got the idea, believe it or not, from an episode of Growing Pains where the father of the househould reveals that he has a to do list for life. Shortly after I decided to make my own. I think it's a great way to make sure that you sit back and enjoy life a little bit more. I'll give you a very small sample of the things on my Bucket List and encourage you to make one of your own. What do you have to lose?


Go skydiving
Kiss a celebrity
Visit every continent
Witness a miracle
Ride a motorcycle
Be someone's miracle
Bring someone to Christ
Do a job I truly love
Get married
Have children
Adopt a child
Spoil my grandkids

Who know what else I'll add. The list gets longer everyday! I'll keep you updated if I cross any off!

Creative

Since being a part of this Intro to Creativity class, I have learned that being creative comes in many different shapes and sizes. It's not just a painting or a photograph, it can be something as simple as wrapping a present in a unique way. I have been thinking alot about that lately, and how many different things involve creativity and I realized something somewhat shocking. One of the most creative things I come across is the tabloids. Once you think about it it makes perfect sense, who else but an insanely creative (or desperate) person could possibly think to make up a story that Jennifer Aniston was an alien? Or that Paris Hilton has a secret love child? It's definately a different knid of creative than I am used to, but creative nonetheless. What else do you see everyday thats creative even though you never thought twice about it? Let me know!

Circus Freak

Something that most people don't know about me is that I pride myself on being able to do strange things. If you were a close friend of mine, you would know that I would fit right in at a circus. Why you ask? Because I can do all of the random things required to be in the circus (I would guess). As a way to pass the time on a long bus trip with my high school team, I bought air baloons and learned how to blow them up into things like giraffes, flowers, swords and dogs. By the end of the trip everyone on the bus had a hat, some so intricate that they trailed after them when they walked. Another reason I could join the circus is the fact that I can juggle. It all started because I was bored at a volleyball practice. I just decided to try my hand at it, and surprisingly I was a natural. I love to see people's expressions when it randomly comes up in conversation that I can juggle. The look of surprise and admiration in their faces is awesome. Another reason is because I am almost a pro at face painting. After years and years of working at fairs and things like that I have mastered face painting, something I would consider a plus for the circus. The last reason that I would be a great fit for the circus would be because I have zero shame. I will do anything in order to be funny. I don't care if I completely embarass myself in the process, I will do it. As an example, my volleyball team recently had a televised match in which they did an individual spotlight section on me. During this section they were supposed to just get some film of me warming up a few hours before the game, but when the camera came on me I broke out in some pretty awful dance moves. Let me remind you that this is on national television. Lts just say that I got a few calls and texts after the footage aired, my family was embarassed for me.

I guess that the meaning of this entry is to encourage you to challenge yourself to learn new, stupid, pointless talents. Trust me, sooooo worth it. And don't be afraid to embarass yourself, it also is worth it. Live your life not caring what other people thing. And, if I all of a sudden disappear...the first place you look should definately be the circus. It's like my home away from home!