Facebook is turning into Myspace

I’m getting a little tired of websites like Myspace and Facebook. Although I still use Facebook a lot, I feel like it’s turning into Myspace! The main reason I stopped using my Myspace was because creepy guys would always message me and cause it caused drama. Now it’s happening on Facebook. Seriously, I don’t want to talk to a person whose first words to me are “Hey there sexy!” Seriously? Get a life. Do they really need to go online to find someone? If that’s the case, then I truly feel sorry for them. I also hate when people ask for my screen name, my phone number, to hook up, or chill. I don’t have that kind of personal information on my website because of creepers like them. And no, I don’t want to go meet up with someone who I don’t know. Oh, and you know what I really hate? When random people message me and tell me that I'm hot or something then follow up by asking me how they look and if I like their "pix". Um, no, I don’t. I'm not the type to indulge in that type of conversation, especially with a random who I met online. And then there are all those new applications to decorate your page. I admit, I have a few applications. But at first it was cool, now a lot of them are just stupid and make the site take forever to load. Plus you can totally stalk on Facebook. Also, now everyone can get a Facebook whereas it used to only be college students. I still love and use Facebook, but it's getting ridiculous.


www.myspace.com
www.facebook.com

Dorm Life

I don’t know about the rest of the students in this class, but I’m not a big fan of living in the dorms. I thought I would really enjoy it. In fact, all summer, all I thought about was getting out of my house and living on my own. Well, okay, I still enjoy the living on my own thing and having all the freedom in the world to do anything I want. But I’m not even totally living on my own. I have a room mate, although she is always gone anyway. But I also have sixty people on my floor. I’d mention something about my CA, but he’s never around either. So I still really don’t have rules. But I did not realize that living in a dorm would be more of a hassle then it is fun. I have friends who absolutely love living in the dorm. I think it has a lot to do with what dorm it is and what kind of people you have on your floor. I’m in Grant C. Grant is the oldest dorm, so it doesn’t look very nice. Also, my floor is kind of obnoxious. I am very school focused. I spend a lot of time worrying about my classes and doing my homework and trying to study. The people on my floor aren’t like that. They just like to drink and party and yell and blast music. It’s so hard to concentrate here. And it goes on until at least three in the morning. There is even one girl who always has her baby sleeping here! Crying all night! I don’t know about anyone else, but dorm life did not live up to my expectations.


http://www.niu.edu/housing/reshalls/grant/index.shtml

Fine Print

I hate fine print. I personally think that stuff that is important to the consumer should be in big bold words. But unfortunately, companies care more about making big money then whether or not the customer can afford it. I recently learned a lesson with fine print when I tried to purchase VIP Rascal Flatts tickets through a fan club that I got for free for purchasing their new CD.

I invited three friends to go to a Rascal Flatts concert. VIP tickets mean VIP section, right up close. Tickets went on sale on November 14th at 9am. So, I decided that the second it turned nine, I would buy the tickets. The night before, I randomly read some fine print, and I realized that VIP members were only allowed to buy two tickets. So I had to spend more money to make another membership for a friend. This also meant that the four of us would be separated. Then the next morning when I go to buy the tickets, I get a notice that says that because I got my membership for free, I couldn’t buy the tickets. They were only for paying customers. That wasn’t even in the fine print! So I had to renew mine, and spend more money. I ended up spending way more then I could afford, which sucks. This better be an amazing concert.

Basically, I think it should be illegal to steal people’s money like that. I’m a broke college student! I know I wasn’t forced to actually buy memberships but I wasn’t just not going to do it when my friends were so excited. That will teach me to read fine print from now on.

www.rascalflatts.com

Limited Admissions Programs

I do not see the point in limited admissions programs. I understand that sometimes there aren’t enough teachers to go around, but why cant schools hire more professors and create more classes? Pretty much everything now-a-days are limited admissions programs. The only exceptions I can think of are general majors such as Math or English. Why is that fair? I think that the more specialized or specific a major, the more opportunity a student should have to get into the program.

And then there are Academic Advisors. Sometimes they seem more useless then helpful. One of two things can happen. They either tell you not to bother, effectively dashing your self-esteem and making you feel like you can’t do anything, or they give you false hope. They tell you as long as you work hard and do well, you’ll have no problem getting into the program. That is such a lie. You can still work hard, get good grades and not get in. That’s because the program is so limited, that you pretty much need a 4.0 to know for sure. Does anyone else feel like their killing themselves for nothing?

I’m a Nursing student, and I’ve never felt more stressed and frustrated in my life. What especially confuses me is that, if there is such a demand for Nurses, how come the program is so impossible to get into? There should be thousands of opportunities to learn if it’s so needed, instead of students fighting for the chance to be taught. If someone is willing to learn, especially something as complicated and important as medical related fields, then that person should be able to.


http://www.niu.edu/Admissions/limitedadmission.shtml

Radiohead - OK Computer

The album OK Computer by Radiohead is considered to be one of the best albums of all time. The album debut in July 1997 and quickly rose up the charts. It won album of the year when in first came out and was also remade into a reggae style album entitled Radiodread by Easy Star All-Stars. The album has been considered to be of the same caliber as Pink Floyd’s album Dark Side of the Moon. Many bands such as Muse and Coldplay have used Radiohead as a major influence in their music.

This album got me into Radiohead and now they are my favorite band. The album has many different styles to the music; it may change from being quiet and laid back, to being loud and more of a hard rock feel. The song “Paranoid Android” started out as three separate songs, but the band members decided to combine the three separate parts much like 'Happiness [Is a Warm Gun] by John Lennon. There is not one song on this album that I do not enjoy listening to. It is one of my favorite albums of all time and shows the true listener the capabilities of Radiohead. Click here to purchase the CD.

Time to go back to work!

It's hard to believe winter break is basically here, and the time to go back to work is getting closer and closer. Although many people choose to work while they are in school, I have not and I'm surprised that I'm looking forward to going back to work full time over winter break. Like most college students, I can't wait to have money again. Hopefully I'll be getting a raise when I return to work so that I can make as much money as possible working full time. I really like my job because it is only open during the week, so I don't ever have to work on the weekends, and it's really easy. I do not think I could ever work retail like a lot of college students. I would be very frustrated starting out only at minimum wage, and having to deal with annoying customers. I also could never work at a restaurant, even though making tips as a waitress is a great way to make a lot of money. There are a lot of jobs that my friends have that I would never have patience for. I think I got pretty lucky with my job, and maybe that's why I am so excited to go back.




These websites discuss jobs for college students, job tips, internships, and more.


http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/191442/reasons_why_college_students_cant_find.html

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/teenstudentgrad/Job_Search_for_Teens_Students_and_College_Grads.htm

Cell Phone Help! PLEASE READ

I received an email the other day, forwarded around to many people. It was all about calling *77. Everyone should remember this number when they are driving, especially at night.
There was a story that a girl was driving at night in her car, she was being pulled over by an unmarked police car. She wasn't sure if she wanted to pull over, so she decided to keep driving around slowly. She remember *77 and called the number. She was connected to the local police station and told them that she is being pulled over by an unmarked "police" car.
The dispatcher checked to see if there were police cars where she was and there weren't, and he told her to keep driving, remain calm and that he had back up already on the way. Ten minutes later 4 cop cars surrounded her and the unmarked car behind her. One policeman went to her side and the others surrounded the car behind. They pulled the guy from the car and tackled him to the ground. The man was a convicted rapist and wanted for other crimes.
So remember *77!

Sports and Steroids are OK

Berry Bonds has just been charged by a grand jury and is being accused of lying about ever taking illegal performance enhancing drugs. I'm getting real sick and tiered of hearing about all of these athletes in the news and listening to all these stories about how they may have cheated. The only way that I think we can get rid of all this talk is by making steroids in sports legal. The more and more I think about it the more i feel like this is a good idea. Whats not to like about bigger, stronger,faster, and better athletes. This should make all the games more entertaining and more fun to watch. Records would have chances of being broke every season, and with these great athletes fans would always be on the edge of thir seats.
Another benifit by making it ok that athletes do steroids is that all the money spoent every year trying to find the person that does steroids can be spent for something else more important. Now I understand that there are some harmful effects from doing steroids. Athletes shouldnt be forced into taking the drugs, but if they want to keep there job, and make millions and millions of dollars a year there might be something they need to do. To find more information about the Berry Bonds case visit BONDS.

Adrian Pederson

Has anyone here ever played football for real. I don't know if you would be able to handle what this NFL player does each week of the season since coming into the league. For the first couple of weeks he was not even a starter for the Minnesota Vikings. The fact is that two weeks ago when the Vikings were playing the San Diego he was able to set the all time rushing record of 296 yards. I would love to see any other average person that would criticise him try to do what he had done two ago. I have terrible news for all of AD fans out there he is hurt now. In last weeks game against the Packers he was hit and hurt his knee. This was the first game that he was held under 100 yards. I think that the only reason is because he got hurt early in the 3rd quarter. if he were not to of gotten hurt last week i think that he would have a very good chance of breaking the rookie season rushing record. He is questionable for this weeks game against the Oakland Raiders.

Barry Bond's indictment may cost him.

There has been a lot of Barry Bonds talk for a couple years now. With him breaking records and putting up higher numbers, everyone has been blaming it on steroids. Now, facing a indictment by a federal grand jury, Bonds might have really done himself in this time.
According to ESPN.com, in December 2003, Bonds met with the BALCO grand jury for steroid use. After 3 hours of asking Bonds questions, all that really can out of him was "I don't recall" or "Not that I know of." So after all the testimony he got out and never got charged with anything.
This all may change soon though, because Bonds has to meet again with a grand jury and he may be found for obstucting justice along with various other crimes. If he is found guilty this will put a dark stamp on his already marked career. He will join the long list of various other players that have been found to use steriods and all of his records could be stripped away from him. To learn more about the most recent case go to http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3113231 for the entire story.

The Curse of #2

This College Footballs season has been a wild one, especially for those ranked number two in the national AP poll. Last night marked the fifth time that a number two ranked team lost to an unranked opponent. This time it was Oregon falling to PAC-10 opponent Arizona. In addition to Oregon; USC, California, South Florida and Boston College have also lost to unranked opponents at the time they were ranked second. Nobody was hurt more by their losses then Oregon, who was battling for a shot in the national championship. Their loss all but secured that they would be left out of the BCS National Championship. All of the previous 4 teams have been hurt greatly since their loss at number two. USC has fallen to 11th in the polls, Boston College to 18th and California and South Florida have fallen out of the polls all together. To add insult to injury, Oregon lost their starting QB and a Heisman front-runner Dennis Dixon. You could tell how much Dixon was hurt by his injury after he left in the first quarter as he was seen crying on the sideline. Kansas or Oklahoma are likely to move up to the second spot after this week; will they fall next? For more on Oregon's loss you view the game Recap on ESPN.com

Steel Saucer Sleds

Winter is right around the corner, which means that sledding will soon become a part of my life once again. Last season was rough; I broke two or three plastic saucers and popped two tubes due to the sharp ice on the hill. It was apparent that I needed to step up my sledding gear, instead of relying on the comfort of a tube and the speed and accuracy of a plastic saucer. I called the local sporting good stores to see if they had steel saucers in stock. Each store replied with, “we don’t carry those anymore; we are not that hard core I guess.” I could not believe my ears. Taking the back trails for sledding was a passion of mine, but the plastic saucers could not take my gnarly, off the wall, unorthodox sledding style. I began to search on ebay.com and froogle.com; to my surprise I found a brand new red steel saucer twenty-six inches in diameter weighing 7 pounds, clearly built for speed, accuracy and durability. Comfort is not a huge issue to me, I have snow-pants and can always install some kind of cushion myself. My search was over. If you too enjoy taking the back trails while sledding, using a steel saucer may make it more enjoyable for you. Here is a link to the website where the steel saucer is available.

Friendly Roommates

When I first came here, I thought that my roommate and I would never get along as friends. From the first impression she was a reserved, tomboy who didn't talk much at all. I couldn't tell if it was because she was shy or if she didn't like me. I quickly found out that her best friend was not only going to NIU, but she was living on the floor above us. So this left little time for us to spend getting to know each other. At the beginning, my roommate was always with her best friend. She was hardly in the room and if she was, her friend was with her. When we were in the room alone, there were many times of awkward silence. That is one of the things I hate most, awkward silences. We didn't seem to have much in common or much to talk about, so we just didn't talk. Now that it is getting later in the year, we are spending more and more time together. We have discovered that we have a lot in common, we have many of the same interests and share the same opinions on issues. We have actual conversations now, and there are hardly and awkward silences. One of the things that has really helped is having mutual friends from our floor. This way we can all hang out, usually in our room, and this helps us feel more comfortable and talk more. By no means are we "best friends", but we are definitely becoming friends. In fact, just last week, she asked me what my plans were for where I was going to be living next year. She hinted toward the fact that she wanted to live with me again next year. I was actually pretty shocked by this. I know that we get along and we haven't had any real fights or roommate problems yet, but I was still surprised that she is already considering us living together again next year. I guess I really can't complain. I keep hearing the horror stories about roommates and the problems that many people have. When roommate issues get brougt up, my roommate and I just laugh and say "Well we haven't fought....yet."

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving I am ready to stuff my face like all ways. This Thanksgiving is special because I can not wait to get away from dorm food for a little bit. Having a big home cooked meal is something I seriously need. Just thinking of all the food makes my mouth water. I can picture the big juicy turkey on the dinner table now. I also get all the desert I could ever want. I am ready to fill my belly with some of my cousin’s famous cheese cake. I will eat so much food it will hold me until Christmas time. The seasons are my favorite time of the year. Partly because of the food I get but also because it is a time I can spend with my family.

It is also a time to see my family. I have not had a chance to see a lot of my family since the summer. I have been at NIU since June and missed many family get togethers. Family has always been a big part of my life and I enjoy spending time with them. Because I am so busy I college I never get to spend as much time as I would like with them but I try to talk to them over the phone once a week. This year Thanksgiving will be at my grandmother’s house. It will feel good to have the whole family back in one place again, socializing and having fun. Thanksgiving to me is all about family and food.

Seascape is not a Job. It is a Pastime.

I have had a number of jobs in my short working career. I have answered phones and prepared food at Rosati's Pizzeria, hosted at a fancy restaurant called La Strada, and helped those with special needs. I had many unforgettable experiences at each of these jobs, but none can compare to lifeguarding at Seascape.

Seascape is an Ellis Certified family aquatic center that is located back in my hometown, Hoffman Estates. I have been a lifeguard there for three summers, and plan to make it four. Not many people actually know what lifeguarding is all about until he or she has had the experience. I have dedicated many hours to water rescue, CPR, and First-aid training every year, as well as others working at my pool.

Many may not know this, but pools get audited three times in a summer. This is when a person unexpectedly comes to test the lifeguard's skills. Our facility has done an exceptional job, and has won the platinum award for aquatic safety two years in a row. Sitting in our bathingsuits and getting a dark, sexy tan is not all this facility is all about, but it is deffinatly a plus!

I would recommend that everyone work for a facility like mine. There is a young management staff, as well as over forty high school and college kids working. Walking into Seascape does not feel like I'm walking into my job. It feels as if I'm visiting friends who all have the same common interest as I do. Seascape is not a job. It is a pastime.

Bowling: A Part of my Past That Shaped my Future

Bowling has been a big part of my life since I was a young girl. I participated in leagues and tournaments until I reached high school. I tryed out for my high school team, and made varsity as a freshman. That year my team had done the best of its career, and kept improving from year to year. Individually I was becoming an asset to the team.

By my senior year, I was one of the strongest members on my team. The Daily Herald posted an article about me in their paper which stated that I was going to be a big help to the team that year. You can check out some pictures that were placed in the paper. High school bowling was not only one of the greatest times of my life, it was something that shaped me into who I am today.

Through my four years on the team I learned:

• Leadership skills
• How to work with a group
• Sportsmanship
• Time management
• How to stay dedicated

All of these qualities have shaped me into an all around better person. This sport has taught me work hard for what I want, and that if I put my mind to something, I will be rewarded with success. I can see these qualities rubbing off in other areas of my life; for instance, in my school work. There have been a number of times where I have been motivated to studying for tests, and I have received many good grades. Motivation starts with a passion, and that passion for me is bowling.

How many pet lovers are on here?

Well I am a pet lover, mainly dogs. In my lifetime I have had 4 dogs. The first one my family and I got was when I was about three or four years old i believe. Well we could not keep her unfortunately, she was too protective of my brothers and I. Her name was Kodia and she was a beautiful doberman-sheperd mix I think, we got her from a shelter. It was really hard on my mom to have to give her up, I was too young to understand really.

Then a year or two later, we got another dog. He was a beagle named Corky. We got him from a breeder when he was eight weeks old. He was so cute we could not stay away from him. I basically grew up with him. Well about three years ago, he got sick when he was ten years old. We would take him to the vet, but they did not help much. He was getting sicker and sicker. My mom and I made the decision to put him to sleep. It was heartbreaking on that dreadful day and both my mother and I were complete basketcases.

It took us about a year and a half before we got a new dog. We finally started looking at dogs again and fell in love with a picture we saw of a golden retriever, german sheperd, and yellow lab mix named Sam. We found him on the Anti-Cruelty Chicago website and went and got him the next day. We've had him for almost two years now and he is one of the best dogs I have ever met.

When my brother got home from the navy and moved back in, he wanted a dog of his own. We looked around, but did not have much luck. We were on the website for Heartland Animal Shelter and found a spunky eight month old puppy named Angela. We did a meet and greet with Sam and Angela, they got along so we decided to get her. When we brought her home we changed her name to Oreo becuase she was black and white. She is a pitbull, dalmatian, and terrier mix. She is crazy. Legally she was my brother's dog, but my mom and I fell in love with her just like with Sam. Well Eric, my brother is moving back to California and cannot bring Oreo with. My mom cannot handle Oreo by herself, so we have to give her up. This all happened this past week and a half, that is why I am writing about it. Well I knew she was going to have to be given away, but I did not think it would be this soon. This weekend when i was home for a little bit on sunday, my brother said Oreo was not coming back from the overnight stay at her new owner's house. This killed my mom and I. I did not even get to say goodbye to the little hairball that would crawl into my bed in the morning and cuddle up next to me. That is a picture of Sammy and Oreo at the top.

Northern Illinois University needs more Houses for Students

The majority of off campus living at Northern Illinois University are apartments, townhouses, and fraternity and sorority houses. However, there seems to be a major lack of houses that are available for students to rent for the year. I have personally wanted an old house with a yard and a basement when I went to college for quite some time. Now that I am here and currently looking for a place to live off of campus for next year, I have realized that most companies only rent out apartments and townhouses, but they have quite a lack of houses for rent. If they have a few houses for rent they are either, connected to apartments or rented out by room and not the whole house. Today I went driving around to look for houses for rent and only saw but a few. It seemed as if real people with families lived here right by campus. For example, Western Illinois University has many houses that are available for rent by students. I have heard wonderful things about the social life there. The houses had yards and basements; the tenants of the house would have bands play in their backyards. This is also the case at many other schools but seems as if NIU is lacking. Here at NIU, people are unable to have bands play in their non existing backyards. When people have parties it becomes quite overcrowded and can become quite a fire hazard. Neighbors may also become quite angry because it is but a wall that is between their apartment and another. The solution is quite simple; rezone the houses around campus to be rented to students only much like what was done in the movie old school. This would create a better environment for many students, like me, that enjoy living in a house. Another benefit to living in a house is that many of the houses, such as those on Russell and Normal are much closer to campus than the apartments and townhouses in College Park.

Westboro Baptist Church: Hate Group of America

In Topeka, Kansas lies the Westboro Baptist Church. This church is not one’s every Sunday church service, but is actually one of the top hate groups in America. The Westboro Baptist Church is an organization that expresses hate towards gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual and many ethnicity groups. This organization thinks that many of America’s tragedies, including 911, Virginia Tech shootings, and hurricane Katrina was a result of god shunning us Americans for accepting all groups equally.

Followers of the church do not only protest gay pride events; they go as far as showing up at military funerals and tragic events picketing. They carry out daily picketing, holding signs that say things such as, “It's too late to pray for America. It's a sin to pray for America” or “The Lord God Almighty killed [the people who died on 9/11], looked at them in the face, laughed and mocked at each one of them as he cast each one of them into hell.”

Personally, I had no idea about this group until I started to watch the news. These people are absolutely crazy! I can not even imagine anyone being so cruel towards America. We have our soldiers fighting over seas and this group just disrespecting their deaths! If you would like to go more in depth about the Westboro Baptist Church and what else they do, visit www.godhatesamerica.com.

Who Really Matters..

“There comes a point in your life when you realize who matters, who never did, and who always will, and in the end you learn who is fake, who is true, and who would risk it all for you.” (unknown).

I came across this quote on the internet and thought it was so true. I feel like in the past nineteen years of my life I have had many acquaintances with many different people. Some of them who I talked to for a few years and lost touch, others I tried so hard to be friends with so I could be “cool”, and best friends I still have to this day by my side. I have learned that it is not the quantity of friends you make; it is the quality of your friendships.

Back in the past, I tried so hard to fit in and hang out with the “popular” crowd. Looking back at that, I have learned that those friendships were not real, they would not be there for me when I needed them, they were just fake. These friendships were not true and the people today don’t matter to me anymore.

Since first grade, I have had the same close group of friends. Still to this day, even though we are at different places in life, we all still look out for each other and help each other every step of the way. When I am down, I know I can count on them to be there for me. Being apart from each other this year really tested how far our friendships were going to go. Surprisingly, we have all grown a lot closer. I know my good, close friends are going to be there for me forever, and I will risk it all for each of them.

Going through college, many of us will experience the same thing. We will all meet a ton of new people, but in the end, only a few will be there for you. If you would like to find more quotes, simply visit http://www.whudat.com/gumbo/pages/gumbo_605.html

My Christmas List!

I know this sounds really funny and I know Thanksgiving has not passed yet, but I am already making my Christmas list to give my family at Thanksgiving time. All four years of high school, I never knew exactly what I wanted besides money or gift cards to stores.
Well, this year for some reason it is completely different. I am so prepared for "What do you want for Christmas?" Hopefully I will be asked this year considering the last four years I said, "I don't know."
I guess this year I am so prepared since I would really like things for my dorm to either keep me busy or make the room more homey. I know this things that I am asking for will last me awhile and last for the next four to five years of my college career, even though I will not be staying in a dorm all my college life.