Lingering Hiatus

In Depeche Mode

2010-08-02T18:33:00.000-07:00

Woooooah - summer's flying by! I cannot believe it's August already. My mom, brother, his girlfriend and her family just came to visit this past weekend. (That reads confusing now that I read it. Sorry) We hit up a Springfield Cards game and happened to be behind a woman who tried to get in with St. Louis Cards tickets. It was unfortunate for her. She had 2 little boys with her decked out in Cards gear from head to toe. Anyway, in other interesting news, we saw KC & The Sunshine Band at Houlihan's that night, and I also received free dessert for lack of receiving my fish tacos for dinner.

I have not blogged the entire summer, mainly because after getting used to the whole 9-5 work schedule, I usually just come home lethargic and either watch tv or attempt to run in the crazy hills of the Ozarks, which is not easy. I truly have been living the life, however, since my online contemporary art class ended in the beginning of July.

The only thing that's really been going on are my internships, and they're going grrrr-eat. The one I've been going into work for is at Wannenmacher Advertising Company, and the other is for Fair City News, a satire newspaper in Springfield, MO. I don't know what the rules are as far as talking about internships and work things therefore, I'll just leave it at that!

I've got a float trip coming up this weekend with girls from the volleyball team, then only one more weekend in Springfield before it's back to The Ville for my super senior victory lap! The goal this year is to find out what I want to do with my life. I have a feeling I'm still not going to have a clue, so I'll just stick to graduating and see where that takes me! Anywho, I'll get back into the blogging thing someday. As for now, real housewives is coming on. I know, I know, I got sucked into it...I swear I didn't enjoy it this much when it first came out. However, now, I just can't get enough. Cue: Depeche Mode...

SUMMER!!!

2010-05-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

It's finally here! My senior year is over! Although I am making a victory lap by attending Truman a fifth year, I am excited for this summer. For one, I'll be moving in with a friend from high school in Springfield, MO, and also, I'll be doing a couple of internships. Get excited, real world, here I come! :)

I'd like to say that since it's summer I'll be blogging more, but I kind of doubt it. I'm going to try but it's never as easy to just sit down and do, as I once thought it was. Anyway, it's a little chilly at the moment, so hopefully it'll warm up soon! I'm ready for some sun and fun!

Papyrus...it's everywhere!

2010-04-08T10:51:00.000-07:00

I'm in motion graphics researching logo designs and typefaces and came across this guy's blog where he changed a bunch of Helvetica fonts used in logos to Papyrus...quite an extreme difference! Made me laugh...

http://www.logodesign.com/?p=104#comments

Elating Easter

2010-04-04T10:40:00.001-07:00

I just got back from a golf tournament in Iowa late last night, so I didn't go home for Easter. I made myself a delicious Easter brunch of coffee and a turkey & cheese sangwich. Yesterday(Saturday) was the first decent weather day we've had to golf in over the past 3 weeks. Friday we stopped for an hour after teeing off because of lightning, in which my team sat in our van and made music videos. Anyway, we got 2nd at the tournament, which was pretty baller considering it was really competitive. I believe my plan is to get some homework done today, along with write some cover letters for internships. Then, I'm off to Jason's for the night...

What an elating Easter! Oh yeah, I threw in a backwards photo of my favorite Easter candy for ya...

Golf Ball Logo Test

2010-03-25T11:03:00.000-07:00

I'm in Motion Graphics, researching logo design for an upcoming project and ran across this article which had some great tips. I'm considering designing a logo for a golf learning center, sports equipment company or sports coverage network. Can't decide, but these are still great tips for any logo design.

http://graphicpush.com/the-golf-ball-test

Drawing Downer

2010-03-24T15:12:00.001-07:00

I'm in my three hour drawing class and a little bored so I decided to blog a little. Haven't done that in a while. I've been a little slow to get going since coming back from spring break (Disneyworld, ahh, so magical).

I'm in the process of working on my independent project, which is a mix of one of my favorite things, argyle (shoutout to Jessica Endaya!), and one of my least favorite things, glitter (shoutout to the devil). I can't decide if I want to go classy (black, white, grey + glitter), or completely make it a hate project and go girly colors (purple, pink, yellow + glitter). As of now, I've been doodling in full out girly fashion (so unlike me), so it looks like I may have to just conquer my fears and go glitzy and girly.

I think I can have fun with the title of this...maybe something like "Facing My Fears", or "GLITTER IS THE DEVIL". :) *Can't wait to get that glitter out!

*sarcasm

Bye, Bye, February!

2010-02-28T20:10:00.000-08:00

Out with the old (Feb) and in with the new(Mar)! I can't believe it's March 2010 already! Where have the years gone? Just yesterday some friends and I were recalling songs and movies from the year 2000...then we realized that was ten years ago. I was 11! WOW.

Anyway, just one week of classes before SB2010! Off to Cape Canaveral for a week of warm(er) weather. At least there won't be snow there! It might not be swimsuit weather, but darnit, we're going to be wearing them! Just three days to study hard for my first marketing test...and that's pretty much it. OH, and pack! Maybe I'll put up a post from Florida...we shall see....

Hi, President's Day!

2010-02-15T23:10:00.000-08:00

Alright, so I'm not really excited about President's Day. I should be, but I tried to mail a package (which is over a week late getting sent anyway), and couldn't because, oh, it's President's Day. I guess Scott's g/f will get her Truman shirt 3 weeks after her birthday and 2 after Valentine's Day. It no longer serves as a gift for any certain holiday - just a package in the middle of the week now.

Anyway, I just (somewhat) finished my first Flash movie ever (just a few things to change). It's choppy and took forever to make, but I think it's pretty cool either way! I think I just like the idea of it finally being finished and the fact that I had to do everything in it, and it actually moves somewhat like I intended. Maybe tomorrow I'll learn how to upload it to Flickr and I can come back and post the link for you to watch and make fun of. :)

In other recent news, Jason was here for Valentine's Day, which was fun. He arrived in Kirksville on Thursday and stayed until Sunday. We saw that Valentine's Day movie. It wasn't horrible - but not amazing either. Some 'cute' parts, some serious parts. We also played a solid game of basketball with my roommates and their "significant others", haha. A "couples game", if you will. It was interesting. I made three 3-pointers, and still bought dinner, which was not the agreement in the first place. Lame. However, the new sweet chili sauce at Mickey D's is A-mazing. I definitely recommend it.

Soon I'll post some stuff I've been doing for my high school - a few t-shirts for different things. For now, off to bed before Motion Graphics in the morning!

AIGA Does Minneapolis

2010-02-07T19:11:00.000-08:00

AIGA has done it again! We headed to Minneapolis this time to visit design firms for the spring semester's design trip. We visited the following companies and events (I stole the list from Truman's VisCom blog):

Larsen Design -- Large design firm. One of the region's oldest and most well-respected firms.
Baker -- Very large firm, almost exclusively focused on designing CPG (consumer packaged goods), mostly for big-brand supermarket labels like Nabisco, Dole, General Mills, etc.
Duffy & Partners -- Small/medium design firm. They're the gold standard.
Cocktails with Creatives -- An opportunity to network with professional designers and view the design exhibit "17 Designers" at the American Swedish Institute.
Target -- Large retail chain. Meet with in-house design team to learn about what goes on behind the scenes at the national headquarters.
Little & Company -- Large design firm. Been around Minneapolis for 25 years; one of our town's most reputable and well-known design agencies.
Clockwork -- Large interactive firm, bedrock of the Minneapolis interactive community.
Periscope -- Large design firm. Largest independently-owned design/ad firm in the midwest. Unique in that they do nearly all of their production in-house (photography, printing, etc.)
Walker Art Center -- Arts center which features contemporary visual and performing art exhibits and programs.
Mall of America -- alright, I added that one to the list. It's not exactly a design firm or an attended event, but we did go for about 2.5 hours and visited maybe, oh, 5 stores. A lot going on there!

All of the places were very helpful in forcing me to get my butt in gear for finding an internship. I'm still looking, so if anyone has ideas, send them my way! I started tweeting again; I can't promise it will last long, but I realized that most companies are tweeting about blogs and inspirational things they find for their design needs, so I might be able to find something helpful there. Why not, right?

Oh yeah! And I went snowboarding yesterday for the first time! It was AMAZING, although I am sorer (word?) than I think I've ever been in my life. I will definitely go back sometime!

Currently I'm in the process of making a website to hold, hopefully, my future online portfolio. I'm thinking that shortly I'm going to have to buy some of my own online space so I can maintain my own website. For now, I'm just going to attempt to understand Flash and Dreamweaver...gotta have that web to get an internship it seems like! Back to work...

4-Day Weekend

2010-01-18T19:17:00.000-08:00

Well, it's Monday and there's no class thanks to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. It was a wonderful 4-day weekend. I think I totaled close to 36 hours in the past 3 days for sleep, which might be a record. Jason came Friday afternoon and just left this afternoon. We+Kels went to Pagliai's for some ronzas on Friday. I got the Hawaiian Ronza, which is equal to "deliciousness".

On Saturday we saw Avatar in 3D. That movie is so crazily cool, I can't even describe it in words. James Cameron directed it. I had to google him and watch clips on how he directed and created the movie Avatar because we were in such awe of it. A lot of the stuff they were showing in the clips of how the movie was created were things that are very closely related to what I'm doing in school at the moment (e.g. motion graphics), just at a very, very different level, so that was really intriguing to watch. If only I had the mind of James Cameron...

Anyway, check Avatar out here!

In other news, I officially beat Jason at something. We all went bowling yesterday at the classy Leisure World, and I bowled a 162 our first game. I won't mention the second game because I used all of my good bowls the first game, but along with some nachos&cheese I managed to kick some butt in the bowling department and it was a good time. *Note: I also used the same ball as Jason.

Well, it's on to school work for the week. I've got to get in the drawing mood and also learn some html coding. I'm going in to motion graphics like James Cameron tomorrow, so I'll let you know how that goes soon!

*minor detail

Back to the Blog!

2010-01-13T11:55:00.001-08:00

Finally! I get to blog in my own free time, whatever I want, and whenever I want. Last semester I was required to suffer through continuous projects all while blogging it publicly for the world to see. :\ However, the days of blogging for class have come and gone, for now at least, and I am starting a new semester.

This spring I am taking VisComm III: Web Design, Drawing III, Advanced Motion Graphics, and Principles of Marketing. 12 hours seems like such a small class load (ew, I don't like that word...load) but I've totaled up the number of hours I will actually spend in class per week and that number is very close to 21. Something's not right there. ANYway...

I've been working out and volleyball has started, so I'm feeling pretty good about being "up in the gym just a workin' on my fitness". The roomies and I started doing P90X, which is just a hardcore workout program that lets you choose from a bunch of different workouts. We've done kenpo cardio and the ab workout so far, and I know I'm definitely feeling it.

Gotta head out - I've got a marketing quiz to sign up online for...and then take. Eek.

This Old Blog

2009-10-14T21:33:00.001-07:00

I feel bad for neglecting this blog, however my studies force me to abandon this one and pay attention to the other two. If you haven't been directed to my other blogs they are as follows! Here's what I've been doing while ignoring this old blog...

Illustration Blog

http://illustrationelation.blogspot.com/

Viscom II Blog

http://viscomdos.blogspot.com/

Very Long Hiatus

2009-08-28T07:35:00.000-07:00

Alright, so this blog hiatus has lasted long enough. We just started classes yesterday, and I've been getting my room put together and making Walmart runs like a mad woman, trying to get supplies and food for the semester. Not to mention, the two weeks before I came back to school, our internet was out due to lightning.

Today I had my first 7:30 class of the semester and we are required to start a blog (Oh, Rusty), so this blog in return will probably suffer, and be abandoned more often. I believe you'll be able to see the new blog...it will be titled something along the lines of Viscom II, and basically will just document my suffering as a design major. :) Alright, it won't be that bad, but Rusty said he fully intends for this class to be the most frustrating one we have in our 4 (or in most cases 5) years at Truman. For now, I've got a break until 1:30, when I go back for Illustration with Rusty. Some golf might happen between now and then, and then it's the freakin' weekend, baby, I'm 'bout to have me some fun!

OH! I almost forgot, the first night I was here, I dropped my phone in some dewey grass, and of course it stopped working! So, I'm hopefully getting my replacement phone today in the mail. If not, I'll be receiving no calls until Monday sadly. Boo.

Torrential Tuesday

2009-08-04T08:52:00.000-07:00

Man, it is raining! I woke up to lots of thunder, lightning, and rain, thinking it was about 5 in the morning because it was so dark out. It ended up being 8:30! What a crappy day so far.

Yesterday was good, though. Jeris, Hofie, and I grabbed some lunch at Rusty's and then hit up the Lincoln Elks for some golf. Hofie just watched but Jeris and I got through the front 9 in about an hour and a half. Then Kendall, Kristen, and Charlotte met us for the back 9. (Charlotte and Kristen (from NY) had never heard of horseshoes, so that's what they had for lunch. Apparently it's a midwest thing.) I think we ended up playing 7 holes in a matter of 6 hours! It took foooorrreevvveer; but it was fun, nonetheless! I'm sure I'll have a picture shortly from that adventure.

After golfing we went down to my grandpa's pond, which is about a mile from my house, with my cousin, Bret, his girlfriend, Sami, and a couple of his friends. I drove my cousin Dusty's 4-wheeler down there, which was wonderful. I wish I had a real excuse to own my own 4-wheeler. Anyway, we took a couple canoes down there and Sami and I paddled in one and Kendall and the New Yorkers were in the other. We paddled around for a couple hours, drinking and eating Cheetos. I left to hang out with Jason when he got done playing basketball. It was a good Monday.

Now, I still have not packed anything for my trip, which I leave for in exactly 5 hours! I'm hoping for some good food tonight in Chicago. Maybe some Pequod's Pizza! Scott's friend, Jen, works there and the pizza is deeeelicious. Their "mascot", I guess you would call it, is a whale with a thong on it's head. I've got it on a t-shirt. I should probably ask the story behind that. Anyway, next stop Chicago, then Austin!

July? Check!

2009-08-03T07:49:00.000-07:00

Well, there went July. I cannot believe it's August. I haven't been blogging, and I'm not sure why. The float trip was awesome! We were on the Meramec River for 9 miles, and it took about that many hours, too! It was a gloomy day out, but we still got a little sun, so that was good! Here's me and Megan, my old roommate on our 6-(wo)man raft.

It's just starting to rain, so it doesn't look like I'll be golfing anytime this morning. My cousin, Kendall, has a friend, Charlotte, in town from school and we were going to have an afternoon of golf and beverages with Jeris, who's in town from Kentucky . I think we might be grabbing lunch somewhere instead.

Otherwise, my plan for the day is to pack for Texas! I'm going to be in Austin with Shocko for a week. She's already called with the plans! We're seeing two concerts, Roger Creager and the Spazmatics (Click on them, they do 80s covers!), boating, floating, maybe some shopping, and definitely some good eats! I'm going to my brother's in Chicago for tomorrow night since my flight leaves early Wednesday morning. Anyway, better get to packing...

Meet the Nephews

2009-07-24T08:10:00.000-07:00

Kara just emailed some pictures of the boys.

Little Cale was sick...he's still cute! He'll be 1 in November.

I won't crack any "cute, fat baby" jokes. Kara hears those enough. :)

Look at this little man, Connor. He'll be 4 in January. :)

This is definitely my favorite! Hahaha :D

REAL summer!

2009-07-24T07:59:00.001-07:00

I am DONE-zo with my online class. Now it's time for some REAL summer! :)

I just turned in a bonus assignment (which I reeeeeeally needed), and I am DONE studying for the summer! Now, all I've got to worry about is what I'm going to take to eat/drink on this weekend's float trip. I'm leaving in about 5 hours, so I'm going to pack my bag, go to the golf course, hit up walmart for food and beverages, and head to J-Ville to pick up my home-fry, Kels!

Look for pictures soon! and hope for no storms! I should probably add a water-resistant camera to my list for Wally World...

Mamma Mia! It's almost Friday.

2009-07-23T08:33:00.000-07:00

I'm watching Mamma Mia! right now. They're singing "Take A Chance On Me". I've seen it a bunch of times, but I still enjoy it. Oh, the sidewalk just broke and now they're playing in the water. How fun. ANYway,...

I went to the dentist yesterday. No cavities, yay. The lady that cleaned my teeth said the last time she did so, I was 4-years-old, and I gagged when she sprayed the water in my mouth. I found that funny, because from what I can remember, I've never truly had a problem at the dentist, except for maybe when I had my first cavities filled or something. I had about 20 when I was younger; I hated brushing my teeth. Gross, I know, but I hated the taste of toothpaste, and loved eating spoonfuls of sugar...literally.

I golfed before and after my dentist appointment. It was nice out yesterday, not really sunny but still warm. I also enjoyed a fish filet sandwich from Mickey D's, which I hadn't had in probably 5 years.

As for future plans, I work today at 2, and hopefully will have someone to work for me at 6 because Dirt Divas have a softball game at 6:30. I have to take my 2nd test for my online class tonight at 8, and turn in a paper tomorrow for a bonus assignment, then this class is OVER! This weekend I'm heading to STL for a float trip, which will be glorious. I'm picking up my roommate, Kels, and then we're meeting a bunch of our club volleyball girls and heading to a cabin, then floating all day tomorrow. I guess it's a 9-mile float, so we'll be there all day! And it better not storm, like it's calling for! Anyway, I should work on this paper before I even think about the weekend...

Spry July

2009-07-21T23:57:00.000-07:00

Why does it seem like July has come and gone already? I swear, last weekend was the 4th of July and all of a sudden I've got August booked with trips, weddings, work, and back to school planning. Where has summer gone!?

Anyway, I've been slacking (once again). My hiatus from blogging lasted a bit longer than I planned due to my busy-beeness (word? Now it is.). This past weekend was the long-awaited and dreaded State Elks tournament. It ended up not being so bad, apart from a few long-hour days and COLD weather. What's with Christmas in July? I showed up to drive the beer cart Friday morning at 8 in shorts and a t-shirt. My lips were literally blue by noon. I ended up changing into jeans and a fleece sweatshirt and still was freezing! As for the hours, I racked up 29 hours on the beer cart all weekend. The seniors and super-seniors played on Friday, so the beer drinking was kept to a minimum, hence, tips were lower, but Saturday...*long, plummeting whistle*, no complaints on tips! The younger crowd was definitely generous.

A few highlights from the weekend tournament:

1. Offered numerous drinks, took a few, including a SoCo Hurricane, which is heavenly. If you have not tried one, it is like drinking SweetTarts. The "Man In Black" that bought it for me also gave me a SoCo & Lime t-shirt, which I gave to Jason.

2. Saw a man with a hangover. And by hangover, I mean his stomach was hanging over his belt. He was wearing what I've been told to call a "fat boy shirt", one that buttons up all the way, and his stomach was clearly visible below the shirt. Probably the grossest thing I've ever seen.

3. OK, it wasn't at the tournament, but Sunday when I left the tournament, I saw a man pulling out of a gas station with his windows open and a chihuahua standing on his shoulders. When telling my dad this, he said the chihuahua would probably get sucked out once the guy started driving fast. I thought that was funny, haha. Funny padre.

The infamous Emden Homecoming was also this past weekend. I went Friday around 8:30 when I got out of work and met Jason at the Bulldog (bar, if you recall earlier post). We grabbed a corndog and fries and played a couple games of Bingo before resorting back to the beer tent at the Bulldog. It's always interesting to see who shows up; it's usually a lot of people I haven't seen since last year's Homecoming. Nevertheless, a good time. Saturday was more fun, though. Karaoke was a hit. I realize now that I never really did my own song. I just hung around whoever had the mic and rocked out if they handed it my way. Around 2AM everyone thought an MJ tribute would be a great idea. It was quite fun. Blaine, a kid from my high school class, and I did a glorious version of Billy Jean. Ask anyone there, it was terrible. It's hard to sing "hee hoo na na hee ha ow" off the teleprompter when tipsy and moon walking. Sounded easy at the time.

All in all, a great weekend, but I'm glad to be into this next week. I had the day off Monday, so I golfed with my friend, Marilyn Wheat, who is about 60 years old but looks 45. Yesterday (Tuesday) I worked 7-2 and it was slower than molasses. Brent and I played 15 holes after I got done working and it went decently. Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment, in which they'll ask me how often I floss, and when I tell them truthfully "maybe once a week" they'll punish me by making my gums bleed. I'll let you know how that goes.

Oh, Head Coach Nick had a softball party/cookout for our little Legal Eagles team, and we got our team pictures back, so here's that. Turned out alright! The girls look cute and well-behaved but don't let them fool you. They're crazy, wild animals that should be kept on leashes. OK, not really, but they are crazy.

For fun, I pulled out a picture of me when I played little league. Look at this little slugger!

I think I was a little young to play actually. I might've just been trying on my brother's hat and wanted to be official, "taking a knee" and all.

You Got Me, Twitter

2009-07-16T14:53:00.000-07:00

I was doing well. I had avoided checking out Twitter all summer. I wasn't even interested in it. And then, I just happened to go to the website 10 minutes ago, and now I'm "tweeting". I don't know how long it will last, and I'm not sure if anyone I know is on Twitter, but I'm there!

I didn't do much all day. Woke up around 10:15 and had some quiche. Laid out in my hammock for about an hour, got too hot, and came inside to watch TV. I was watching Wall-E when a wasp scared me out of the living room, although he was flying about 15 feet above me and was no real threat. I don't like to associate myself with large, stinging insects.

I drove my cousin to her friends house and decided to get some golfing in since it was on the way. I practiced some chipping and putting and hit some range balls. There were a bunch of people playing a practice round because of the State Elks tournament that's going on this weekend. It starts tomorrow and I'm not exactly psyched for it. I am, however, psyched to make some dollars. I'm really hoping the day flies by; I'm on the beer cart, and it's like watching paint dry when no one wants to buy anything. I'm guaranteed to be there from 8AM until 5PM, so there better be some nice bills in my pocket before I leave!

I have a Dirt Diva game tonight. The season is probably coming to a close. We've had quite a few games. I'm pretty confident we'll pull out a win; the team is really meshing lately. I mean, the most meshing a slowpitch league can do! Anyway, that's at 6:30, so I've got an hour to find something to do. I should be researching the current U.S. economy for my bonus assignment in Intro. to Financial Management. I'm not exactly looking forward to writing an essay over the current economic situation. I'm not into analyzing politics and financial things; or anything that deals with government for that matter. It's not my cup of tea. Maybe I'll just write on the topic of "how this course will affect my future". I feel like I'm taking the easy way out, but maybe I'll find some cool stats on how the economy and financial management affect the visual communications field. I'm sure there's stuff out there.

Speaking of research, I've been going to www.ted.com a lot lately. You can listen to cool talks over all kinds of topics from all different kinds of people. Some of the talks are really boring and lame, but you can find some good ones! I watched an interesting one about a woman illustrator. Her name was Maira Kalman. She was very "whimsy" and off-the-wall, but she had some interesting comments to make about her lifestyle. She doesn't seem to mind that she's not the most intelligent person; she likes who she is and is happy going with the flow of her lifestyle. Anyway, to watch the crazy woman, click here! I'm sure you could find something you like there, too.

Yay for Rain!

2009-07-15T15:55:00.000-07:00

So, I didn't end up having to work today. Of course, I should've, because I just laid around all day and watched movies. Jason finally got off work, so I'm at his house bugging him to entertain me now! :)

Boo, work.

2009-07-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

I'm am 100% completely opposed to going to work right now. I switched a kid the opening shift for the closing shift (because I had no excuse not to) and I'm absolutely regretting it. I've been laying around the house all day - such a loser, I know. I've been watching movies when I should be golfing before I go into work. I just can't get motivated knowing I'm going to be there until 8pm to close everything down. Secretly (although not anymore) I've been wishing that it would just start pouring all morning so I wouldn't have to go in. However, it's just cloudy, so there will be golfers needing my (un)assistance in the pro shop. Guess I'll get to reading that new Communication Arts 'zine that came in the mail a week ago. Maybe I'll grab an iced BK Mocha Joe before work; that might cheer me up. :\

Boo, work. I don't like you.

Argh! Me Miss the Windy City!

2009-07-14T15:08:00.000-07:00

It's been a couple days since we arrived back in the Burg from Chicago, but I had a golf outing (which we won) on Monday, so I'm just going to have to blog about the trip today. Basically, Liz arrived Thursday night and I forced her to sit through one of my slowpitch softball games. We then hung out with a few of my friends and watched inappropriate videos on the internet - always fun.

Friday, I gave Liz the grand tour of Hartem High - I was able to stretch the normally 2-minute long tour to about an hour due to people we met throughout the hallways and rooms that were working there. I used to work in the summers at the school. Horrible job - just doing maintenance and cleaning every piece of furniture in the entire school.

We finally got on the road to Chi-town around 11:30. (We read in a magazine that there was a pirate exhibit going on at The Field Museum. We later found that pirates were the city's main summer theme.) By the time we got to Chicago we were hungry, so we found our hotel (The Wit), and headed to Rainforest Cafe for dinner. Such a fun place to eat - it was quite humid due to the rainforest surrounding us, but it didn't matter. Fun was had by all. We checked out an art fair while there, which was pretty cool. We also were able to score some Jersey Boys tickets for the next night. I'm obsessed with them, so that made my night!

Saturday we shopped a bit in the morning. We hit the American Girl store, because what girl doesn't want to go there? We were sad to find that Samantha, one of the dolls we both have, had been archived. Apparently, even American Girls can die. :( We left the store. After shopping some more, we ran back to Gold Coast Hot Dogs and grabbed some Chicago Style dogs before heading to Mary Poppins. The show was really good! I expected it to be quite cheesy, but I really did like it (minus the obnoxious girl that sat next to me and asked her mom a question about every line in the show). I couldn't believe the kids in the show that played Michael and Jane; they were so good at their parts. They had everything down from their lines and songs to the dances and expressions. I was impressed!

After Mary Poppins, we wasted time deciding what we were going to do next, and ended up grabbing a bite to eat at Elephant & Castle, a nice little pub style restaurant a block from our hotel. Liz and I broke from my family's big group to head to the Bank of America Theatre to see Jersey Boys. Just as the first time I saw it, it was amazing. Honestly, the plot of the story isn't that great - just the story of how the guys were in and out of jail and debt, trying to make it big as a band. The music is what really makes the show. I just have a thing for Frankie Valli's high voice and the Four Seasons' dance moves. Overall, it was glorious. We grabbed some appetizers and drinks at a bar afterwards with my mom, aunt, and cousin.

Sunday we headed to Navy Pier, which is just a pier with lots of shops, restaurants, and a giant ferris wheel. Liz made a Build-A-Bear panda and we walked along the pier. What really topped the trip off were a couple of women dressed as lady pirates. One had a guitar and they were trying to create 50 "sea shanties", or songs. They sang me a song about coloring with the world's largest crayon, and Liz a song about riding a dinosaur, which got a dirty, if you can imagine. As we were leaving, we saw four pirates coming towards us. We wanted a picture with them so I greeted them with "Ahoy, mates!" Their reply, "Argh, she speaks the language!"

As I posted in an earlier blog, I knew I would miss the Windy City once we left, and I do. Back to working at the pro shop another week and working on the golf game. Summer is absolutely flying by, I can't believe it. On the bright side, only 2 more quizzes, 1 test, and a bonus project due in my online class!

Chicago, here we come!

2009-07-08T20:48:00.000-07:00

The last day of Jr. Elks is tomorrow. No wonder I can't sleep! Ok, so I'm not that excited for it to end, but it will be nice to be able to focus on my golf game for the rest of the summer, rather than that of the little tater tots' that don't really care if they hit the ball straight or in the hole for all that matters. It was nice for a while, but like every good book, it had to end. Tomorrow at noon I will watch those kiddies run to the pool, and I will be free! My plan is to head straight to the links and play, play, play.

Sometime tomorrow I've got to squeeze in a workout on Wii Active. Jason's grandpa got the game for his grandma, and she said she'd never use it (although she did this morning, and said never again) so I decided to try it out. I always used to think those games were for people who weren't active in any other way, so I thought it would be easy for me. WOW, was I wrong. I made my profile and started a 30-day workout and have been doing my workouts on high intensity. I honestly am working out, to the point of fatigue! I can tell it's really working; I've already been checking out my hamstrings in the mirror, and I've only done it 4 days! (They hit the lunges hard.) They give you rest days and goals and tell you how many calories you've burnt. I don't think it matters that right after my workout I have a soda and a chocolate pudding cake.

Another plan for my Thursday is another slowpitch Dirt Diva game. They're so much fun, even though they're not that intense. The real excitement is after the game, though, because my dear friend, Liz, is coming to the Burg! We've got a trip to Chicago planned for the weekend. We're seeing Mary Poppins with a bunch of girls in my family and hopefully Jersey Boys if we can score some tix Friday! Should be a grand weekend. We're staying at The Wit Hotel, which looks very modern and fun. (Just look at it!)I love Chicago and never want to leave when I'm there. I imagine this time won't be any different! So much to see, so much to do! Fun, fun, fun. Can't wait! Gotta get some shut eye! I'm sure there will be plenty of photo opportunities for next post, so check it out!

Slacker

2009-07-07T18:42:00.000-07:00

Alright, so I've been a blogging slacker. I've been semi-busy. I'll start with the Fourth of July.

It ended up raining the entire day. If you recall, I had the day off from work, and was planning on golfing all day and hanging out outside, possibly cooking out with Jason. Well, Jay and I ended up just laying around the entire day, being lazy. A few of the Burg crew came over and played shuffleboard, pool, and cards at Jason's for a while. Instead of the glorious cookout that was planned, I had pizza rolls and breadsticks, complete with a Diet Coke. Jason had soup. I know, random. It was fun, though. Nice and laid back. We went to the Bulldog (Emden's bar) later for a few beers. I danced around with a red, white, and blue boa on for a few songs before Jason and I decided we'd just go crash early and skip the party that night. We attempted to watch the movie Fracture but it kept skipping and so we just passed out around 10:30. What losers we were that night. We laughed about it the next day.

The next day I had to work the beer cart at the Elks at 8 in the morning. It was so gloomy outside and kind of cold, so instead of looking forward to getting a tan while driving the ole' beverage cart around I tried to stay warm with a sweatshirt on. It was kind of slow, even for a holiday weekend, so I didn't make a ton of tips which is kind of a bummer. Anyway, that was that day. I think I played golf in the afternoon.

Yesterday I played golf with this little old lady, Marilyn, at the Elks. She's like, 62, but she looks about 46, and that's pushing it. She's so funny, though. If she hits a bad shot she says things like "Oh, shoot!" and "Darnit! That was not where I wanted it to go! Oh well!" Anyway, it was fun. Then I had a Dirt Diva game that we tied 8-8. Bummer.

We watched Fracture last night, finally. What a good movie! Very suspenseful. It keeps you wondering what's going to happen and how the problem is going to be solved. I definitely recommend it. Anthony Hopkins, I'm convinced, could truly pull off a murder and get away with it. He's such a creepy and convincing actor...gotta love him!

Anyway, goin' to church! and by church, I mean Jason's house. Catch ya later!

This One's for You, Jess!

2009-07-03T17:15:00.000-07:00

Finally busted out my half/argyle-y vest! Took a picture after work for ya.

Freedom Fries

2009-07-03T16:43:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is again.

July 4th.

As I look back through my calendar to last Fourth of July, it looks like I was doing the exact same thing as I am this year, and that is...working. I'm splitting a shift with Brent, because who wants to work 7 straight hours in a pro shop on a holiday anyway? Most places of work are off for the day. Not mine. All of those people off work want to get their golf in because of that same reason. Hence, my name on the schedule from 5-8 pm. It's only 3 hours, so I won't die. It's supposed to storm all day anyway so I'll probably be done early. No complaints!

I think Jason's going to cook out tomorrow, which sounds wonderful. Better than those fries I had at Wendy's today. As I was eating them, the term "freedom fries" dawned on me. (Click to Wiki that.) That was so ridiculous of US conservatives to change the name of french fries to freedom fries. Terrible idea. As they tried to make the term more American, they almost ruined the American feel of the food. Although it's unfortunate that the French didn't support our invasion of Iraq in 2003; changing the name of french fries isn't going to stick it to them. Throw the Statue of Liberty back at them, that would make a greater impression than changing the name of fried potatoes.

Anyway, that was kind of fun. I'm watching It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Such a great show. I just watched "The Gang Finds a Dumpster Baby". Season 3, Disc 1. If you've never watched it, I recommend this episode for sure!

Country Youth Classic Update

2009-07-02T20:44:00.001-07:00

I forgot to mention the second day of the Country Youth Classic at Weibring. Definitely better than the first day - considering I wasn't golfing the first day. I shot an 84 yesterday. Putting well really is the key to shooting well. I feel inspired once again to watch some good golf movies and continue improving the old handicap. Just for fun, a list of my favorite golf movies, complete with tagline:

#4 Tin Cup: "Golf pro. Love amateur."

#3 Happy Gilmore: "He doesn't play golf. He destroys it."

#2 Caddyshack: "At last, a comedy that bites!"

#1 The Greatest Game Ever Played: "Everything begins with a dream."

Celeb deaths...what?

2009-07-02T20:12:00.001-07:00

So what's going on with all of these celebrity deaths? I've been known to bust out the moon walk numerous times, so I must pay my respects with a blog to MJ. I picked up the People magazine today and MJ is all up in there...literally, 50 pages of articles about him, not to mention the amount of pictures. However, poor Farrah, maybe 6 pages. I understand her death was expected, but still, I feel like she's being a little overshadowed. To add to the list, Billy Mays! Who would've guessed. Just crazy. I'm not normally into celebrity drama...but 4 deaths (forgot to mention Ed) is just too much to go by without a comment; I guess I felt compelled.

I worked Jr. Elks this morning. It's a program for Elks members' relatives - kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, etc... The kids, age 7-12, come to the country club Thursdays where I work and golf half the morning, play tennis the other half, then eat and swim in the afternoon.

The kids were all "jacked up on Mt. Dew" as Ricky Bobby's son would say. I'm pretty positive 3 children were almost seriously injured under my supervision. It's not that I wasn't paying attention to them and telling them what to do; they were so spastic that one second they would be standing nicely to the side watching a tee shot, the next second they're bending down to pick up a dropped Starburst right behind the other kid's backswing. I don't know how many times I yelled "stay behind [insert name]'s ball while they hit or else YOU'RE going to get hit". Today was just a crazy day - last week they were good little kids. Must be the weather. It was abnormally cool today; I think they had extra energy that the heat normally sucks out of them. Only one Jr. Elks Thursday left!

Oh yeah, had a Dirt Diva softball game tonight. We won 13-3. That's what I'm talkin' about.

Good Chi

2009-06-30T17:38:00.000-07:00

Played terrible at Weibring today - first day of two. Terrible.

At least my hair looks good! I got a chi the other day. It really is worth the $100. Geeky picture, I know.

I've been working with this Intro to Financial Management class all summer. By working, I mean struggling big time. It really, really is not fun. I've got a quiz tonight and normally they open up online to start at about 7:00, which is an hour early because they're supposed to start at 8:00 and allow you 30 minutes. Well, I'm a little concerned because it is now 7:41 and no quiz is available, which means it's probably going to really start at 8 this time, and not give me that extra hour to flip through my notes and re-read everything I've already read to find the answer. I wish I had a photographic memory.

Stoned Wallabies

2009-06-29T20:06:00.000-07:00

'Stoned wallabies make crop circles'

With a headline like that, you KNOW it's good. I want to go to Australia to see this firsthand.

Thanks, Liz!

Bad News Bears

2009-06-29T14:08:00.000-07:00

I just got back from Bloomington. B-Town. Great day for golf...NOT. It's glorious temp. wise but it's soooo windy! Everyone that knows me knows I go insane in the wind. I think I'm getting better. I didn't 100% want to commit suicide when I was in it today. I was at about 60%.

Anyway, I played Weibring Golf Course, which is ISU's home course. It's really nice, but tough - tight fairways, lots of trees, cement greens. Quite challenging. Anywho, Brent and I played a practice round today. We both are playing in the Country Youth Classic tomorrow and Wednesday. As long as it goes better than the State Am. for me I'll be in heaven! WOW, that was a bad tournament...rain the entire time and a tough course on top of that. Definitely got my money's worth in strokes that I took. I'm thinking it can't get much worse than that so I'm kind of looking forward to testing my game against Weibring.

Besides that, I've got a night of softball ahead of me. I assistant coach a little league 10 & Under softball team in Lincoln. I did it last year and really think I'd miss it if I hadn't done it again this year. The girls are goofy and they're at that age that they say dorky things, which is entertainment for me. They just won a double header the other night against our "rival", Mason City. It's so funny to say that they're our rivals, because it's just summer ball. But the girls are finally understanding that it's cool to be competitive, so they showed up to those games like "let's win!!! we have to beat them because they beat us last time and we can't lose anymore to them!" It's really interesting to see how some of them have changed since last year and how they really grow as players. Some of them couldn't throw a ball 15 feet last year and now they're throwing hard and hitting hard and really understanding the game. Anyway, we have pictures tonight and then a double header. Sometimes I think it would be hilarious to act like Billy Bob Thornton in Bad News Bears - but I would hate to see how the parents would react. I'd probably be asked to leave. I was going to include a team photo...but I seem to have lost it. Darn.

Google Me Green

2009-06-24T18:31:00.000-07:00

I know, terrible headline. A bit of a play on "tickle me pink"...google me green? It should mean something with the environment - going green and all, but it doesn't. Google me til I'm green with envy of other Erin Semples? No, but anyway...give me a break. It's summer. Brain is half-off.

After being completely inspired by the Jessica Endaya, I just googled myself. Here's what I got. Erin Semple must be a common name because zero of the results have anything to do with me on the first page. The first four or so are social networking sites, a LinkedIn professional profile and some New York, NY facebook accounts. It's after these results that things start getting interesting.

Government security, the number of arrests in the Hollywood Entertainment District in LA, and school shootings are a few of the headlines that stuck out to me. Unfortunately, I found that these were only topics I have written articles about.

The one that really gets me is my artist page. Apparently I've been writing since the age of 12 and my songs are emotional and heart felt. Yeah, there's definitely another Erin Semple in this world.

I was a graduate of Waldwick High School in Waldwich, NJ in 1987, and then Pope High School in Marietta, GA in 2000. You can find me on classmates.com.

I'm getting married to Jesse Beck! Bet you've never met him.

Ok, so I'm not the most famous Erin Semple in the world, apparently. I did finally run across the real Erin Semple (me) on Google Page 2 of my search. Just some golf scores from some college tournaments. Anyway, it's nice to confirm that I do exist in the Google world, in case anyone were to search me.

For some laughs, I googled images under my name. The "Charm of the Farm" pic is my fave. I thought the little girl was "Erin Semple", so I started laughing because I live on a farm and could picture that being me if we had sheep when I was little, but turns out it's the article writer Erin Semple that took the picture. Unfortunate, really. I laughed some more, anyway. Oh, and there's a picture of a glass of beer. Just thought I'd throw that out there. That Erin Semple and I just might have something in common, too. :)

'Tis the Season

2009-06-19T08:54:00.000-07:00

Tis the season!...for tornadoes, that is. Last year, or maybe two years ago, part of a tree in our yard fell on my bedroom in the middle of the night during a bad storm. I remember hearing a massive crash, jumping out of my bed instantly, and running to the basement thinking that our house was being torn apart by a tornado. Turns out, there was no tornado, at least not by our house...

I reminisced of that day last Thursday at about 5:20 in the a.m. I awoke to really loud wind, really loud rain, and lots of thunder and lightning. I was in the same sleepy state of mind as I was that time the tree tried to flatten my room, so I instantly thought it was a tornado. My mom was working (she works nights) but my dad was home. I was expecting him to be in the kitchen watching the weather, but noooo...he is in his room (right next to mine) sleeping through Hurricane Katrina of the midwest. Here's how that conversation went:

"DAD....it's, uh, windy."

"Yeah, it is. Go sleep in Scott's room."

"Shouldn't we go to the basement? The sirens are going off in Hartsburg."

"I think that's just the furnace."

I am no fool - the sirens were going off five miles from my house. We stayed upstairs, however, "whethering the storm". Anyway, a telephone pole at the end of our driveway snapped during that storm. I took a picture on my phone of them putting it back up...kind of an interesting Thursday.

Oh, summer...

2009-06-19T07:32:00.000-07:00

I've been horribly neglecting my blog, I apologize if it has affected you. I'm realizing that once school gets out, I quit going through my normal routine of "truman email, facebook, hotmail, blog, bank, and, of course, youtube" every single day. I have been somewhat busy. When I came home for summer, I thought I was going to have to find a new job aside from my pro shop duties for fear of having too few hours there. Turns out, after I took on coaching little league, taking two online classes, working the beer cart and playing slowpitch, I have just as many hours as I did last summer at the pro shop. Needless to say, I was a bit overwhelmed...and this is summer. So, of course the first to go was one of two online classes. Who wants to read 50 pages a night about contemporary art, anyway? Not I.

I had a pretty good May, though. First there was the trip to NYC for my cousin's graduation. I could definitely take that trip once a year. The city is just a whole different world - one where you can never be bored - and where you can see Rock of Ages the musical and drink beer with your mom. :) Had to throw that in there. Have you ever seen "My New Haircut" on YouTube? Met that guy at a bar called McFadden's. I bought him a jager bomb because I had to (watch the video), only to find out they cost $10 a piece. Luckily, I put that one on the credit card for dad to take care of. I know...I'm terrible.

My mom and I took a mini trip to Wisconsin one weekend in May for my nephew's school program. He's almost 4, but he looks pretty young compared to the other kids in his class. He insisted on having his shirt tucked in before the program, so of course he stood with his hands in his pants making sure it stayed that way while he sang...not to mention, in spanish. I was impressed! Goofy kid...

I also made $110 for caddying in the Pro-Am at the State Farm Classic. I'm a college golfer, and I just got paid to carry a bag - I don't think my scholarship is paying me enough!

So, that pretty much sums it up for the end of May! I'll update you on my June life when I get a little more motivated. Something about summer...ahhh.

Hair Blog

2009-05-13T15:40:00.000-07:00

This is a blog about hair. For all of those with similar experiences, I feel your pain. As for those who let their manes air-dry, don't worry about straightening, mousse, special concocted shampoo, or lots of bad hair days - I do not sympathize.

I love getting my hair cut, which I did last week. Just a little trim to get the dead ends off, ya know, but still, you can always tell that couple of inches is gone when you're shampooing. Your hand grabs for more hair, but it's gone - alright, you get it. I have quite a mane - a curly one at that, but this hasn't always been known. I used to hate my hair - it was wavy, and not the controllable, let-it-air-dry wavy. The wild, ratty, brush-gets-stuck, shampoo-condition-taming spray-blow dry-straighten-curl-hairspray kind of wavy. I found a way to control this craziness I call hair about three to four years ago; expensive shampoo/conditioner, lots of mousse, and the acceptance that I can never have bangs again. This on top of the knowledge that I do not control my hair - it will do as it pleases, it makes the rules.

Just as a little flashback, I'd like to go over a few of the things my hair has been through - or I should say, my hair has put me through that brought us to this day. Just so we're clear, keep in mind that my hair has won. I am beaten. It has conquered me. I now let it do as it pleases, except for the 4 times a year I straighten it against its will. I'm going to briskly go through the top 3 worst/dumbest things I have done with this hair. I am surprised it stuck around for all of this, but here we go...

#1 Curly hair does not need a perm to realize that it is curly. However, the perm will help bring out its inner-curliness. Back in 7th grade, I begged my mom to let me get a perm. Somehow, I had not realized that my hair was curly already. The chemicals during that perm really must have ticked those curls off though, because ever since that day, they have stuck around, whether welcomed or not. This was definitely my first hair mistake.

#2 Ah, 8th grade volleyball. We were young, I was into braids, and cornrows sounded like a great idea for volleyball pictures after taking runner-up at state. Never had I attempted more than 2 french braids; I thought I was pretty ghetto, I guess. Of course my best friend at the time had no problem putting 8 little braids in my hair - I threw in a picture for this one - couldn't leave it out.

#3 Christmas time, sometime around freshmen year of high school, seemed like the perfect time to throw some red highlights in my hair. Christmas cheer, maybe? Well, mom would never agree to pay for bright red highlights, and my friend Patty and I figured red kool-aid packets were the perfect substitution. If you've never done this before, it just takes some really hot water and a 10 cent packet of koolaid ground into your hair. Sure, it's a little choppy and white trash looking (especially at your church's Christmas dinner), but it fades within a week or so, and makes for a good story!

And so that concludes my hair blog; I've left out some of the hairy details. (Sorry, I had to.) Happy hair days to all, and to all a good night.

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

2009-05-06T11:11:00.000-07:00

Happy belated Cinco de Mayo! I am going to do a quick recap of my Cinco de Mayo for you. Apparently the popular thing to do was enjoy 99 cent margs at La Pachanga because everyone and their dog was there. The excitement really began as we were frantically trying to decide whether a 40 minute wait was worth it, or if we should try to beat traffic down at the other end of town for La Fuente. In the end we decided Mexican is Mexican, margs are margs, especially in little midwest K-Ville, so we opted for heading north to get our grub on. Of course, everyone (and their dogs, remember) decided to do the same, so after sitting at our table for oh, 20 minutes, the entire place was swarming with DZs starting their bar crawl (from which we stole their reserved table, ha), rando townies, and plenty of other Trumanites ready to go to town on La Fuente's supply of tequila. To make an entirely ridiculous experience come together in a short story...

paper to-go menus being passed out...they ran out of normal menus

margs in massive pepsi glasses (still costing $1, keep in mind)...ran out of margarita glasses

4 waiters serving about 27 tables

a 30-min-wait-wrap-around-the-restaurant line of people waiting to pay (including a girl that tried to cut, so 4th grade)

This of course was topped off on our ride back home, as our good friend read palms and told our fortunes. All in all, I would rate it #1 on my Cinco de Mayo Celebraciones list.

I proceeded to go out with the roomies to a glorious bar called Wrongdaddy's, where we talked our newly found friend (which we called by first and middle name) into giving us some Corona beads complete with flashing beer bottle, and 'beer ponchos' for our bucket of Coronas.

Ah, Cinco de Mayo. Cinco de Mayo is a regional holiday in Mexico, primarily celebrated in the state of Puebla, which commemorates the Mexican army's unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. According to Wikipedia, Cinco de Mayo is not an "obligatory federal holiday" in Mexico, but rather a holiday that can be observed voluntarily. That, I did.

Possibly my first legit blog...ever.

2009-05-04T01:23:00.000-07:00

I'm a little caught off guard as to what to write in this blog, as this is my first attempt at the wonderful world of blogging. I guess I'll just tell you what I've been up to today. I intended to have a steady day of working on projects, considering finals week is upon us. Instead, I chose the more hectic route of waking up a couple hours later than planned, flooring it back to school (I was visiting the boyfriend's school for his graduation), and writing my Walmart list on the ride home.

Visual communications seemed like a glorious major two years ago - the one where you get awesome assignments that are truly fun and worthwhile, you don't have tests, and the people you meet in the major are quirky, but cool. Turns out, the assignments are time consuming, expensive, and in the end seem more ridiculous than a 15 page term paper because half of the projects you've created won't even fit in your room and end up being pushed aside to the point of destruction. I do enjoy the "no tests" part of being a viscomm major, however, sometimes studying a couple hours for a test doesn't sound so bad - like when Liz and I pulled that all nighter to build a house out of 3/16" foam core strips. The good thing about that night was not that we finished our projects in time to make it to our 9:30 class to draw nudes, but that we learned that 5-hour energy does, in fact, work tremendously. Especially when followed by a couple coffees and a red bull - you want to know how fast you can get your heart beating? Try it. As for the friends, well, the major isn't lacking in this department. Where else can you find every different style of clothing, taste in music, and random vocabulary in a group of people? Not to mention those crazy-asses that will continuously pull all-nighters and serenade you to their shuffled playlist of Cats, Wicked, Rent, and In the Heights - my musical knowledge has increased significantly, not to mention my recent gained ability to pick out Frank Sinatra's voice on the radio and in elevators. I must say due to the variety of tastes in music I have increased my iTunes library by at least 1,347 songs in the past year alone. It is when reflecting on these accomplishments that I realize the true perks to my major. Yes the work is strenuous and tends to have negative effects on my sleep schedule, but in the end, I'm living it up one project at a time. As for tonight, I just finished transforming myself into a sundae.

Yes, I am 21 years old, expected to graduate in two years, and dressed as a delicious treat - it's fine, it's fine. :) I've got to get going so I can finish High School Musical 3. Yes, those crazy design friends of mine are still at my house as 4AM creeps up on us. And yes, considering we're on #3 of HSM, that does mean we've already watched the first two...and Mamma Mia.