Mosaic Monday

1. all the fabrics for my DIY sofa, 2. Kim_6, 3. Vintage Lotto Game, 4. Inspiration board, 5. New letterpress owl art, 6. [Perdido Key FL] 08.07 {boat}, 7. boston, 8. daria werbowy, 2006 chanel spring campaign, 9. Snapshot 2009-05-22 08-44-03

Independence Day.

Happy 4th of July! Happy Independence Day America!

The 4th of July for me has always meant family, cook-outs, cornfields, picnic blankets, a festival or 2, fireworks, friends, and music. I am always reminded of Martina McBride’s song “Independence Day” on July 4th.

Whatever you do to celebrate this day, be safe and have fun!

Sarcastic Wednesday

Instead of Wordless Wednesday today, you get Sarcastic Wednesday! These guys are a hoot.

I actually really feel this way today – no joke! Because I know that at the end of the day, I’m heading to KEY LARGO until Sunday night! Yeah! Ya’ll have a great weekend and safe 4th of July! And except for a scheduled post on the 4th, I won’t be blogging. Internet access is sketchy in the Keys, which is a good thing so I can actually escape), but feel free to follow me on Twitter for updates – assuming my phone will be working.

Mosaic Monday

June 29th. I can’t believe it’s almost July!

1. Untitled, 2. Untitled, 3. Untitled, 4. Untitled, 5. Anniversary, 6. New clothes!!!, 7. Fall, 8. at my parents’ place, 9. kokeshi and books on living room table

golf adventures

Recently, with Kevin’s influence, I’ve gotten into golf. My grandmother gave me her clubs when I moved to Florida almost 3 years ago, but other than the occasional trip to the driving range, I hadn’t used them that much. A couple weeks ago, we went to the range two days in a row, and then I went to a women’s golf clinic, where I learned a lot.

We went to the range again on Friday night, and I had the worst time (at the range part anyway – my chipping and putting was great). I couldn’t hit consistently and I couldn’t get my form right. A big part of the problem was that my arms were incredibly sore from my intense workout earlier in the week, and I was hurting and afraid to loosen up.

But yesterday, I had a great experience. I couldn’t figure out why my first couple of drives weren’t going very far, and I was already getting frustrated when Kevin told me to move my body a little more. He can tell me all he wants, but until I realize on my own what the problem is, I can’t fix it. I tried watching him for a few swings, but still nothing clicked.

A couple swings later, things were working much better for me, and I figured out my problem: I was keeping my arms way to close to my body and wasn’t allowing for a full swing. I was too tense and tried to hit the ball too hard. Once I eased up and got a wider swing, there was a world of difference in my drives. Success!

Kevin worked out his own issues too so the experience was positive for both of us. (I hate going home frustrated!)

We went through nearly 200 balls between the 2 of us!

Sorry about the quality of the photos; I took them all with my blackberry.

Jon & Kate and the great debate

I didn’t want to add to the media hype. I really didn’t. We have trouble in Iran and so much violence, a tough economy and 3 (THREE!) celebrities dying in one week’s time. We shouldn’t really be focused on Jon & Kate and their 8 kids.

But I feel compelled. There is so much debate out there about what actually led them to file divorce papers, did they cheat on each other, why they believe it will work to keep their home and trade off staying there, and most importantly – what about the kids?

My first thought upon hearing of the divorce on Monday’s TLC special was “those poor children.” They are already in the limelight (thanks mom and dad) and have had to deal with so much paparazzi in the last 4 months or so since the rumors started flying about Jon having an affair. It was getting to the point where the show wasn’t really about the kids anymore, which is what Kate maintains was the reason for doing it all along – “for my kids.” So she could provide for them. I’m not so sure.

Providing for her kids would mean pulling them out of the limelight – especially now. No one expected this show to make it this big, but as is what happens with most reality shows – the couple gets in over their heads. It’s not really about documenting the kids’ lives anymore.

TLC announced that it is putting Jon & Kate Plus 8 on hiatus until early August so the family can “regroup” after the news of the divorce. Kate said on Monday’s special that she feels like a failure, and that now her family is just a statistic (parents of multiples have 3 times the divorce rate, she has said before). I don’t understand how she is going to be providing for her kids while under such emotional distress. I don’t know how my parents raised my sister and me after divorcing. I haven’t been in those shoes, and I hope to god I’ll never have to be, but as the child of divorced parents, I don’t think it’s the right thing to keep the show going. As Jon himself said, it’s going to be a tough adjustment. Why would you allow TVs into your home while your kids are in such a vulnerable state?

It’s time to pull the plug on Jon & Kate Plus 8.

What do you think?

Social Media and Journalism

I recently found a post on Mashable – “10 Ways Journalism Schools are Teaching Social Media” and it made me think about my journalism education.

I graduated in April 2006 with my journalism degree, and I know for a fact my experience in j-school would have been completely different had Twitter been around then, and had Facebook been more popular. I joined Facebook in 2004, when it was only open to select schools, and not many of my friends were on it. I admit that I did surf Facebook for leads or potential people to interview for certain stories I was given, but it was in no way the tool then that it is today. I see Twitter as being a great place for leads, for people to interview, for story ideas, for fast news…I could go on and on.

I think that while social media can provide journalists with valuable information, I also think it’s slowly making them obsolete. That’s very hard for me to say, having a journalism background, but unfortunately it’s true. Of the friends I went to school with and still keep in contact with, I only know of 2 people who are actually working as journalists. The rest of us are in advertising, marketing, or some other communications-related career. 

I say they are making journalists obsolete because I get news much faster through Twitter than I do from The Wall Street Journal, or any other news outlet really. Take the recent happenings in Iran. I didn’t learn of it until my boyfriend gave me Twitter updates. So I logged on and sure enough, there was the story. Unfolding in real time, and at that point, had not even been picked up by CNN. In fact, Twitter blasted CNN for not reporting the news. (In true Twitter fashion, using the hashtag CNN Fail.)

I am so glad I didn’t get a job at a newspaper; I’m fairly certain I’d be praying everyday to not be laid off.

Share your thoughts.

History repeats…

I was pointed to a great opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times on Sunday called Are the Millenials the new GI Generation?, and I have to agree with it.

Being 25, I am most obviously a Millenial (Generation Y is the more common term for Millenial; people born between 1980 and 1988), a product of the Baby Boomer generation, meaning my grandparents were the GI Generation. My grandparents grew up during one of the worst periods of time – during the Great Depression (and the wars). For a high school history project, I interviewed my grandparents about life during the 30s, 40s and early 50s, and I remember their answers being that they didn’t have cars, cell phones, computers. They were lucky to have jobs (that they walked to), to have family, and to have food on the table at night. I remember thinking to myself, “okay, at least I’m growing up without any major wars, with computers, cell phones are just coming out,”…etc. You get the picture. I was lucky to grow up in the 1990s and to graduate from college in 2006. OR WAS I?

See, history is repeating itself right now. I didn’t grow up in the 30s so I can’t say for sure that it’s as bad now as it was then, but this is one horrible economic climate we are living in. I have read about this in other articles, and I know it to be true, that Gen Yers are the first generation to be making the same or less than their own parents. It’s so true. However, I know I’m young and that’s a blessing right now. Because I’m young enough for things to turn back around (several times if history continues to repeat), I know that if I can get through right now – the next 5 years - I can get through anything.

Thanks to Dan Schawbel for pointing out the article.

UPDATED 6.24.09 – USA Today has a great article about the new “Recession Generation.” This paragraph nailed my thoughts above:

“The Millennial generation, or Gen Y, ranges from people in their 20s to those still in grade school. But what they all have in common is the knowledge that the recession has in some way shattered the world they thought they knew. And, depending upon how long the downturn lasts, historians, economists and psychologists say it could shape Millennials’ values and attitudes in much the same way the Depression shaped the attitudes of those growing up in the 1930s.”

Read the article here.

Monday Mosaic

Recent Flickr favorites.

1. REE_0758, 2. Mint Chip…..10:Things, 3. Untitled, 4. don’t weave me. :], 5. Blue jay, 6. Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower, 7. <3, 8. waiting for a cruise…, 9. Berry Bokeh, 10. Curved, 11. dishes i love, 12. Untitled

The power of music therapy

I have always loved watching the national anthem performed, before sporting events or other performances. Sometimes I don’t really even think about the words and what they mean, other times I get chills actually thinking about them. Sometimes I think the performer really makes the song overdone and complicated, sometimes I think there isn’t enough energy in the performance.

And sometimes, I’m blown away.

Like last week when the NBA Finals were on TV. Full disclosure: I don’t like basketball, it’s my least favorite sport to watch, but when the Finals are on, I don’t mind so much. But I can never watch the entire game, and certainly not without also trolling the Internet or something else. But for some reason, I happened to catch the national anthem before the game, and saw 7-year-old Gina Marie Incandela, a girl with autism whose mother was told she would never hear her daughter speak. But through music therapy, she started speaking, and singing. And singing. And singing.

She has now sung The Star Spangled Banner at several Orlando Magic games, and even some MLB games as well. She is incredible. I had tears in my eyes watching her on TV last week. You have to see this.