Driven

There's nothing like trying new things to prove to yourself you are living life.

Apologies to those who have missed my posts, but I apologize to myself for not updating as often as when I began this journey, this New Years Resolution to blog what I've learned every day.

Blog or no blog, I have certainly kept myself conscious of the changes I've made, the grand strides I've taken and the immense knowledge I have gained this semester, this past summer, and the year 2009 in general.

If you haven't heard straight from my mouth, or read on facebook, I'll give you an update on my life this semester and the changes I've been making. It's a long list.

1) I started eating meat again.
Over the summer I had some. I ate a hamburger two Sundays ago for the first time in six years and I liked it. I made venison burgers for my roommates and I last week. Tonight I went to Fuddruckers (another first) and had a crispy chicken sandwich (also yummy.)

2) I still stay away from drugs and smoking, but now that I am twenty one and feel adult, I feel I am responsible enough to drink. I am careful when and how much I do, so don't worry about me, but yes, I drink.

3) I love school.
I am in love with my life and my school and I have such passion and drive for what I am doing. It's a really wonderful feeling, unfortunately this past week or two I have realized that being this happy and driven can be exhausting. Only 4 more weeks left in the semester, and Thanksgiving is this week. So I shall survive.

4) Part of loving school includes the best class I've had, to date. Studio Lighting 1 with John Carlson. I love the class and the teacher is really helpful. I work really hard in that class out of my own drive and passion, and it has payed off. I was asked a few weeks ago if I wanted to come watch and help assist on a shoot at Carlson Productions Studio. I gladly accepted the offer and arrived on time, ready and willing to help out and see what goes on in a professional photography studio. That led to an assisting job this past Thursday with my teachers brother, the other half of Carlson Productions. It was kind of boring and easy work, but I'm really glad I was given the opportunity. I hope these opportunities continue.

The rest of my news is minor things that all add up to a major impact of "Hey life is great" kinda sappy crap. I'll save them for another day, or another time when they become major.

For now, I want to leave any readers with some cliched bits of advice that I believe in:

Hard work pays off.

When you're doing what you love, it doesn't feel like work.

Belief must come from within first.

Your life is what you make it.

-Roz

A summer full of learning.

With three days of work left I sit at my computer and contemplate all that I have gained in the past four months. [Wow, four months? I've had four whole months of summer!] Well then, I guess that explains how I've gotten so much out of it.
I had been fortunate enough to get an "internship" job as a photographer for my hometown newspaper. Unfortunately it was low pay and limited to 20 hrs per week. None the less, I have taken somewhere close to 6,000 pictures. Or snapped that many frames. I figure I've had somewhere between 200 and 300 photos in the paper.
I've met a lot of new people, some creeps and some really nice people. I've overheard a few times, "She works for the Alpena News." And I've had little kids say, "Hey! I saw you at the carnival/fair/parade."
I've learned a lot about the DSLR, Nikon D2H to be exact. Things I should have known a long time ago, considering I'm a photo major. But I am happy to know them now. I can confidently say I know my way around the manual settings and options.
{Side note on learning about cameras, two days ago a fellow CCS student taught me a trick to use a regular lens as a macro, not easy but very clever!}
More important things I've learned are about composition and cropping. Sometimes the editor I think helped me and sometimes I feel my photos weren't done justice with the allotted space and placement in the newspaper, but the papers main priority lies in the news.
I have learned to think about the subject matter and how there are so many factors into how to take a photo to accurately portray something. I've thought a lot about the importance of including or not including certain things.
Boy I could ramble on forever about the things I've learned with this job, and the experiences I've gained, but I shan't.

Outside of work, in my personal life, I believe I have reached my goal set back in late April. I had fun.
Without a doubt this summer gave me memories, new friends, and got me closer to some now great friends. I have absolutely had so much fun this summer. I have changed who I am, moved on from some old, yet still highly respected beliefs and life styles (vegetarianism and straight edge.) This is by no means a bad thing. I was ready for some time for a change and I could not have picked a better time to make these changes.

Looking back on this summer I am, least to say, satisfied. As far as the future is concerned, I have nothing but enthusiasm. I will walk into the coming semester with open arms and a new clean notebook and ink filled pen to take notes on all the great information that is available to me.

In these last three days of work I will be spending my time getting my Alpena News Portfolio ready. Check out my other blog for that. I am also looking to print out 10-20 photos that were in the paper, on photo paper, not newsprint, and put together a hard copy. I plan for now to use this for feedback on my work, but hopefully someday I will use it to secure a job! :)

Safe air.

Today I went to a garage fire for work.

Fires are pretty exciting, but of the two I've now been to, the flames are pretty much gone by the time I get there.

Anyway, I got an alright photo, one I think is good enough to share.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=692484241&v=info&ref=profile#/photo.php?pid=2044445&id=692484241

Also, I learned that the tanks the firefighters wear to go into the smoky fires to breathe make a really loud and screeching noise. Safety first, I guess.

Power outage bike ride.

I don't feel like I have much to say lately. But I hate that I haven't been updating, so here's a quick bit.

Today the power was out for a few hours, not sure why. But thank goodness for natural gas, because I was still able to make a fried egg and toast on the stove. And I even got coffee, cold, from a little packet and milk, it was good!

Then I did something I've been wanting to do for years.

I got on my bike and rode the 9ish miles into the Alpena city limits.

But I didn't stop there, I rode to my moms work, then across town to the post office, and then to get food in another part of town. Then to the beach to eat my food and read. I kept going all around town and read 3 chapters today. I figure I biked close to 20 miles today. My legs and butt were a bit sore, but not too bad.

Then I locked up my bike in a secret hidden location (Sytek park in the trees, haha) and hitched a ride home with my dad on the motorcycle. I love motorcycles!!

So this was all inspired by Warren, and Claire. Warren biked in 2.5 days to Alpena from Lansing. And Claire wants to bike to Alpena from Ann Arbor. She's invited me to go down there and bike up with her. I'm really really thinking about it, and I think it would be AWESOME.

I love living!

Staying Sharp

You know how if you don't do something for a long time you sort of loose your strength in it and forget a little bit?

Last summer I failed to keep myself up on art stuff, and I suffered.

This summer I've been fortunate enough to get an internship being a photographer for the Alpena Newspaper.

I hold a camera basically everyday. It's been great for my work.

The other day I noticed growth in my photos and I'm pretty happy with the way things are going. Sure I have a long way to go yet, but growth is growth and I'll take it by golly!!!

Tomorrow I'm going to go in to work a couple hours early to put photos on my external hard drive for my portfolio and I'll get working on putting photos on here. I have some on Facebook already. Also I need to get around to updating my other sites. I have a myspace for my photo work but I'm thinking about deleting my account, myspace is old news.

I might work on creating a new artists website.

So for now, check out my images on Facebook, and http://cu.thealpenanews.com

-Roz

Despite output, there's still input.

Based on lack of posts, one might think I have been locked in solitary or my brain has stopped learning. Not so. I just lost steam for a while, and I'm not promising I'll get it back soon. But I am acknowledging I need to get off my butt and making more out of my time this summer. 

(skip the next two paragraphs for a shorter & more meaningful read.)

I've been working for the Alpena Newspaper now for two weeks. I take photos for them. It blew at first, but I'm getting use to the cameras they have, which are Nikons like mine, but have different settings and different types of lenses. Also, I am trying to get more in the mindset of "Photojournalism" and out of the "Art" mindset. A few other struggles, if you are interested: 1 there isn't much going on in Alpena to photograph, less so on bad weather days 2 i feel like a creeper when i drive around peering out my windows for something to photograph 3 sometimes it takes a lot of courage to ask folks if i can take photos of them.

I haven't really accomplished much else since being home. I made a purse (see post below) I bought more fabric yesterday to make two more purses-I couldn't pick and there was a sale and I had a coupon, so I figured I'll make two and sell one maybe. I got some books prepared to sell online, but UPS was closed for the weekend, so it'll wait til tuesday. I've started cleaning out my bedroom and sorting my numerous belongings, but it's a daunting task.

I'm rambling.

Change is a part of life. I welcome it, and every so often reflect on how I have changed. I want to know that my changes are for the better, and if they aren't, I set out a path to better myself. [recent bad changes: laziness, gluttony]

In some of my younger years I was very stubborn in my ways. I wanted to make my own mistakes and learn everything on my own. I did things the tough way and taught myself some lessons. I've learned now to listen to others and take advise given to me. At random times in life I find elders giving me life advise and I listen carefully, remember and take into account.

Life is a struggle. Help from others is now welcomed. 

I've also learned to welcome the bad as much as the good. I think I've become an optimist. In some ways like the ones extremely portrayed on screen. When life gets tough, when I am loaded down with homework, stress, illness, breakup, hard work, penniless and the like I actually have the thought, "This is life, I am living, and I like it. I wouldn't have it any other way." See, I know that even if life is looking horrible now, it will look up, if not soon then eventually. The bad times will be in my past and life will be more pleasant again.

The lesson: I am happy.

In tough times and in smoother waters, I love life. I live. I am in control of my life. I wish this upon you.

-Roz

My first purse

I made a purse for my friend for her birthday. I used a pattern and learned a lot! In the past I've made a number of things but always with the help of my mom in sewing and measuring and pretty much I just sat there and watched her and sewed what she told me to sew. This time I did it all on my own. And I'm really proud of how it turned out. Next week I plan on getting more fabric and making one for myself.

It's not meant to be reversible, but I guess it works with the blue on the outside too.

There are a few things that I could have done better, but I don't have the experience and I didn't have the time. I did quite well on the darts, pleats, edge stitching, measuring and cutting and assembling. But some of my stitch lines are not perfectly straight, hey, I'm human. And my slip stitching is very amateur. That had a lot to do with the lack of time, and some to do with my skill level.

If you would like me to make you something, I might have some time this summer to make stuff, but I would charge you the cost of the materials and a little for labor. I'd like to think that after I make my own purse I'll make another one just to sell, but we'll see.

Bag Lady

A Brief History of the Messenger Bag

It All Started on a Telephone Pole

The bicycle messenger bag, as we know it today, has its roots in New York City in the 1950s. Legend has it that Globe Canvas, owned and operated by the late Frank Demartini, began manufacturing heavy-duty canvas shoulder bags for telephone linemen. These bags were designed for easy access to tools and supplies while the linemen  were suspended on telephone poles.

In the late 1970s, bicycle messengers in New York began using bags from Globe Canvas for their daily deliveries. In response to increasing motor vehicle congestion in rapidly growing cities, the bicycle messenger profession grew. The bicycle messenger community developed an identifiable subculture.

I found a website for messenger bags that will last longer than you will. The company is based out of San Francisco and has some really good looking bags. Timbuk2.com

I got the history from their site.

You won't get me down.

I Won't Be Left Behind

I run my fastest, but still get beat. 

I land on my head when I should be on my feet. 

I try to move forward, but I am stuck in rewind.

Why do I keep at it?

I won't be left behind.

The harder I am thrown, the higher I bounce.

I give it my all, and that's all that counts.

In first place, Myself, I seldom find.

So I push to the limit

I won't be left behind.

Some people tell me you can't.

Some say don't.

Some simply give up.

I reply, I won't.

The power is here, locked away in my mind.

My perseverance in my excellence,

I won't be left behind.

Make the best of each moment,

The future is soon the past.

The more I tell myself this,

The less I come in last.

Through out my competitions,

I've learned what winning is about.

A plain and clear lesson, 

Giving up is the easy way out.

So every night before I go to bed,

I hope in a small way I have shined.

Tomorrow is a brand-new day,

and I won't be left behind.

-Sara Natchman

(Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul)

A letter to the lady looking for a house-sitter, the managers of the restaurants I applied to, Student life, and everyone else interested:

You might think I don't have what it takes. You might think I'm not good enough, strong enough, qualified enough, or experienced. But listen here, I've struggled before and I count on struggling still. But I do not give up.

Hear that?!

I DO NOT GIVE UP.

Put me down, reject me, ignore me, disrespect me, doubt me, look down on me.

Don't let me play your reindeer games. 

It's your loss.

I know I've got something to offer. It's too bad you can't see that.

The more you put me down the harder I try. I will prove you wrong, just you wait and see.

-Roz

Make a Choice today.

I am beginning to think that everybody has the life they want.

You can say your life is horrible and you are unhappy, you can say you are stuck and there is no way out. You can even claim there is nothing you can do about any of it.

But the truth is you are in control of your life.

You just don't know it yet.

The 1995 movie Dangerous Minds teaches us that we all have a choice. We can choose to stay where we are when things are bad, or we can choose to do something.

This is stemming from all the complaints I hear (and think) being here at CCS. I get in the elevator, go to class, log on to twitter, or talk to friends and most of what I seem to hear is complaints.

We all complain about how school is so tough, we have too much to do, we are too stressed, and on and on.

We are all blind to this idea that we have a choice!

You could have chosen to work, or travel, or live in the woods. Nobody is making you go to school. You could have chosen to go to an easier and cheaper school. You could choose to stay off social networking sites that waste your precious time. You can choose to stay at your desk and do your homework, are your friends forcing you to hang out?

I am not trying to point fingers at friends that read this.

No way.

I am just as guilty as everyone I know.

But I am trying, I am working towards making choices towards positive, and limiting my negative.

Your life is what you make it.

Make a choice.

Food history.

I love college life and dorm life and conversations that happen between my friends and I.

While sitting at my desk in the living room with Cara and Nino we got on the subject of Dippin' Dots, and how long they've been around.

The answer, to which we arrived at in a race of computer searches between Cara and I, is 1988.

Then we revisited a debate about how long Rice Krispies Treats cereal has been around. 

And on my way to find the answer, I discovered you can buy cereal on Amazon.com.

Why would anybody want to buy regular cereal on Amazon, I have no idea. But I found it interesting.

-Roz

Word of the day.

Today I learned what the word MADCAP means.

WITHOUT CONSIDERATION FOR CONSEQUENCES, CRAZY OR RECKLESS.

I read the word on he back of the SLC Punk dvd case and recognized it from a band title on Atticus...Dragging the Lake.

Quality Counts

Today I learned how important good snowboarding equipment is.

My boots and bindings didn't seem to agree today, my heals kept coming up and my straps were squashing my boots.

I fell and was uncomfortable for a while. But the wonderful Will took a look at it and made some changes. The problem is that I bought my board, boots and bindings roughly 5 years ago used. 

So I have decided I am working my butt off this summer and in the fall buying all new equipment. Helmet (to try jumps, grabs, turns), coat, hat, gloves, pants, boots, bindings, and board. I'm going all out, new and great stuff so that I don't have to wear 4-6 layers to stay warm.

I have never boarding this many times at this many places in one season, probably not even in two seasons.

It's been really amazing and I'm really looking forward to the rest of this trip (currently at Crystal mountain on a CCS group trip) and next season.

Weekend photos are going up on facebook as I type, more will come next week. Also videos.

Take a look.

-Roz

Courtesy of my mom.

Did you know...The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the book that would ocupy the building?

Have a great day.

Return of Valentines.

I heard that in Japan, if some body gives you chocolate on Valentines Day, you return the favor by giving them chocolate one month later on March 14th.

How cute. :)

Slow Down

I've been missing days of this lately.

And so far some days have been difficult to find something interesting that I learned.

School is working me hard and I am learning skills and techniques every day.

From now on I'm going to write on the more important things.

I am going to continue to grow and learn and experience every day.

A day without learning or growth is a wasted day.

-Roz

PB&A

I have just invented peanut butter and applesauce sandwiches.

Forgoten Feb 3

Upon finishing my homework at 5 am today and getting into bed I realized I had forgotten to post for tuesday Feb 3.

But I did think about what I had learned.

I don't think I came up with anything good.

I only had one class, visual culture. The teacher went over the same material I read the night before, and we watched the beginning 30 mins of Citizen Kane.

I've flipped a mental coin and decided not to go to New York for spring break with the CCS advertising group.

I can't afford it and there WILL be other chances.

Right now I need all the time I can get to make money.

-Roz

Free pants, local soda.

Today in business practices I sat through two hours of fellow students talking about the laws of branding and how they pertained to the brand each student chose. 

Mine was Red Bull.

FYI, Red Bull is vegetarian, kosher, and halal.

Levi jeans will send you a new pair if yours ever rip, all you have to do is send them the ripped pair.

LG today stands for Life's Good, but when the company began it was Lucky Goldstar.

Faygo soda is based out of Detroit.

     (I was always under the impression it was Grand Rapids)

-Roz

Hiding spot.

In the hustle and noise of an apartment building, 

I have found homework bliss.

The back stairway is quite nice for a quiet reading spot.

No interruptions.

Guilt Breaks

I spent all day today working on homework.

Mostly typography. Drawing, erasing, redrawing, inking.

I've been working really hard and doing well.

But non stop homework is exhausting. 

When I went next door to take a five minute break I felt immense guilt. 

More than ever before.

I believe me and my studious ways are changing.

CCS is changing me, and making me stronger.   In a way.

In a way it's also sucking my soul.

-Roz

ID

Two hours spent in the library today reading through ID magazine.

ID stands for International Design

It's a really great magazine, thick, and expensive.

It showcases designers and companies around the world and they are really big on the NEW and the NOW.

The magazine began in 1954, it has come a long way since then, but hasn't changed their purpose.

Even though I can't afford the things inside, I enjoy looking at them.

http://www.id-mag.com

Bleach.

John Ganis taught us how to bleach black and white photographs today.

It's pretty cool if you have the right image to do it on.

The end.

-Roz

Star gazing.

I was born and raised in northern Michigan in the country.

On any given night I could look up at the sky and see a sea of stars.

They have always been there, and as far as I was concerned, always would be.

The summer after 8th grade my parents, brother and I took a trip to Vegas and the Grand Canyon.

While on a slow rafting type trip down a major river with a tour guide and other travelers one middle to late aged woman asked the tour guide, "Is it true you can see the stars out at night here?"

It took a lot for my family to not laugh.

How absurd a thought.

Why wouldn't you be able to see the stars? My parents later explained to my brother and I that maybe she was from a big city where the lights and pollution block out the stars.

Today while on break from Digital Fundamentals I chatted with Kristy, a classmate. She grew up in Warren, lived in NYC for 10 years, and now is back in Detroit area studying at CCS.

When I told her I'm from Alpena, she had the same sort of reaction, "I heard you can see the stars up north."

I said yea, and realized that for 20 years I've been taking stars for granted. 

It's true, in the city the stars are faint and few.

Next time I return home, I'll be sure to take a nice long look at the stars.

-Roz

Gentlemen take their hats off.

In visual culture class today Dr. Hart made the point that men used to take off their hats in elevators.

I never heard this before. I understand that they did to say hello, especially to a woman, and when in a restaurant.

But in an elevator?

In the era when men wore hats and tipped them, they took them off in enclosed spaces.

Part of the reason was out of respect.

I'm not sure I understand it fully.

But I like it.

And wish men still wore hats.

And tipped them to say hello.

That's sexy.

-Roz

Networking

Today I met a new person.

We share music interests.

Next of kin

I never really understood what it meant.

But then I read in my dictionary

 

          Kin-blood relation, member of the family, sibling.

What's that key?

On a standard QWERTY keyboard below the escape key and above the tab key is the ~` key.

It's called the tilde key. 

How to clean pennies.

Remember the experiment in grade school in which you had to clean pennies?

Well I do.

I remember boiling them, and I remember soaking them in vinegar.

Cara and I found about 30 pennies glued to a metal box that our previous roommate left behind.

I'm so broke we decided to take them off and clean them and put them to use.

First we tried boiling and it loosened the glue a little, but the pennies were still pretty nasty looking.

So we asked the neighbors and looked online.

What we found to work awesomely was ketchup. 

Yep.

Put pennies in ketchup for just a few minutes then rinse them off with hot water and they will look pretty shinny!

Relatively, from before to after, the pennies on the right are amazingly clean!

-Roz

Language Lesson.

Todays bit comes from John Ganis this semesters thursday teacher which I previously stated is brilliant and a renaissance man.

Avant is before in French.

Garde is the mass or people in French.

Not just a toy.

You know that toy that you see in tourist shops or on office desks that is a bunch of needles between two slabs of clear plastic?

The one everyone sticks their hand or face into.

Well I read in I.D. magazine today (killer mag if you are into design and expensive lighting, furniture, and the like) that the face mold toy is called Atomix. 

And it was developed by a man by the name of Francois Dallegret in 1966.

It purpose was to show complex atom structures.

-Roz

Dr. stands for "knows a lot of stuff"

I only had one class today, visual culture.

It was really boring because we have a new teacher and he didn't seem prepared at all.

But I realized that people with doctorate degrees are generally smart people and have a lot to teach.

Not only about their field, but about life also.

Dr. James Heart is a man of age and wisdom, he has a fascination with motorcycles, is a trained jazz musician, was born in Europe and has been and seen many places.

He talks quiet and can't hear the back row students, but I think I'll learn a lot from him if I sit near the front.

Let the learning begin.

-Roz

Long Train Runnin

There is a train station two and a half blocks from CCS.

A train to Ann Arbor is $6.

Shortcuts, shortcuts, shortcuts!

Today I spent a lot of time watching tutorial videos on Lynda.com

For digital fundamentals class I was forced to pay nearly $40 for this semester for a membership for Lynda.com

It's a little boring, but incredibly helpful.

If you want to learn basically anything computer related, go you Lynda.com and see about paying some money to learn a lot of stuff!

I think regular monthly membership is $25.

One thing I love about computers is the keyboard shortcuts and how there are about a thirty thousand of them. (jk, don't really know how many.)

The video I just finished is full of keyboard shortcuts. One is on a mac, press command and tab. That takes you from one application to another.

Keyboard shortcuts are a big time saver and really helpful. If you ever use a computer, I suggest finding out a few shortcuts for the actions you do most. Like opening Word, closing a window, opening a new tab or window, refreshing a web page, saving or printing a document..........

-Roz

E.T. and snowboarding

Yesterday Tom, Dylan and I left school and drove up north so that today we could go snowboarding.

It snowed all day and we had a really good time!

I did way better than we all thought I would since I haven't gone in 2 yrs. And maybe they just figured I'd suck. IDK

Last night I learned that the people making the movie E.T. wanted skittles or m&m's to be in the movie, but neither brand would agree, so the movie used resse's pieces instead.

And today I learned that I can not only pick up where I left off two years ago in snowboarding, but do even better.

Tom likes the black diamonds, years ago I'd only go on green slopes at Nubs. I think I only did blue today. 

I had a really good time!!

I'm pumped to go monday and whenever else I can with CCS students and have it paid for!

-Roz

Thursday is learning day!

I learned a handful of things today.

Like the DIA right next door to CCS is considered one of the top museums in the US.

And film developer turns brownish over time because it oxidizes but you can buy dark colored accordion style bottles that keep most of the air out.

And there is this word for story or question in Buddhism-koan.

 An example of a koan is "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"

My photo studio teacher is a smart and funny man, I'm looking forward to thursdays this semester.

-Roz

Typography

Today in Typography class I became aware of how much fun I am going to have.

Also how much hard work and time consuming it is going to be.

But the teacher is fun and knowledgeable, and there are some cool and some interesting ppl in my class.

One other thing, typography is not making pictures of objects out of letters, it is composing the typed letters in a manner that evokes an emotion or feeling.

When everyone had a maid.

So I was in the Park Shelton building down the street today and made a comment about the fat doors.

It's like a regular front door on each apartment, except on the inside and outside there is a bubble, or half cylinder. 

The girl I was with said that they were so the residences could put their coats inside the door and the maids or whoever would open up the outside of the door and clean the coats.

I found this very interesting.

But as always I was slightly skeptical, so I tried to look it up online. But I didn't know where to start, so I got nowhere.

If you know, share please!

-Roz

An important day of nothing.

Today I learned who three of my teachers are.

Two of them are male, one is female.

Two of them seem interesting, one of them put me to sleep.

Unfortunately those two sentences work respectively.

I've just made a connection.

Any design, math, architecture based teacher I've ever had was not only male, but a good and fun teacher.

Examples: Mr. Loyer for building trades, drafting, and graphic arts

                    Mr. Abram for math

                    Mr. Genshaw for computers

                    The short bald guy for ACC computers

                    Mr. Paris for math

And now Mark West and Chad Reichert

I think men make better design teachers and women make better english teachers, stereotypically speaking. 

-Roz

A move.

Today I learned that moving is tiring.

Maybe it was the 4 hour drive added to the move, but I was ready to go to bed at 7pm today.

That's a first.

My blog, my rules.

I'm breaking my rules today.

I didn't really learn anything new today.

I did experience something new though.

I rode down a trail I've never known of before and went to a restaurant I've never been to before.

My dad and I met up with the Nowak's and rode snowmobiles all day today, from about 9am til 4pm.

It was really awesome riding!

Snow was falling in beautiful large flakes.

It wasn't too cold for me, I had on lots of clothes.

2 pairs of socks

4 pairs of pants (leggings, jeans, scrubs, snow)

3 shirts (long, short, tank)

1 double layer winter coat

2 pairs of gloves

And my thumb didn't hurt too bad.

My double jointed thumb usually hurts after 30mins.

We started at Bolton, went towards Posen, Millersburg, and ate lunch at The Bluffs.

The trails were 992 and 99, if I recall correctly.

Between Millersburg and The Bluffs the trail was really awesome!!!

The turns were scarry, but fun. Took those 30-40mph

And the hills were tall!! That's the best part, best riding I've ever done!!

The fastest I clocked was 65.

We hit a few fields and ripped up some new snow.

I love snowmobiling!

-Roz

More on dreams.

Today I heard that Paul Harvey reported the following:

Smelling good smells just before sleeping can give you good dreams.

And smelling bad smells before bed can result in bad dreams.

Bad knees?

I'm only 20 and ever since last summer I have knee trouble.

Somedays my knees just feel sore.

It's really lame and uncomfortable.

The cold weather has made them worse lately, they both hurt all day today. :(

My fourty something uncle with seventy something knees told me that squats can help knees.

And my mom said that walking slow on no incline on a treadmill is not only good for knees, but pretty much the whole body and all joints.

A friend to call on.

I think I'm letting down any possible readers tonight.

I don't feel like I learned anything today.

But I did decide that a friend is a person you talk to and hang out with and call on the phone, and when they call, you answer the phone.

Friend wise, I had a shitty day. Multiple let downs.

I'm ready to go back to school now.

I could shut off my phone and it wouldn't change a thing, nobody calls it anyways.

How to kill a what?!

While reading an advertising book today I learned some really disturbing news.

Somewhere in the world at some time, people violently killed baby seals for their fur.

What I read is that in countries such as Canada and Japan people used baseball bats or stranded animals near the shore while the tide went down.

My internet has been slow today, so I didn't get a chance to look up as much information as I'd like on the subject.

But I did find one site that stated Europe placed a ban on the import of seal products.

This has been going on since at least the 1980's and still is today.

I find it very sad.

Here's to your health.

I picked up the latest USA Weekend today and read the health article.

Of the 12 tips, I found three to be interesting.

5. Ditch depression with D

Vitamin D was found in higher amounts in non-depressed people than in depressed people. It also helps calcium absorption and bone health.

7. Go from good to grape

Grape juice drinkers and enjoy the same health benefits as wine drinkers. Actually consuming grapes in any form can reduce the risk of heart disease. Grape juice improves blood pressure, grape-seed extract helps to lower cholesterol.

8. Go soft on sleep

Hard beds have been said to help back pain for years. But a Danish study showed people with chronic low back pain who slept on water beds or a body-conforming foam mattress reported less pain and nearly an hour more of sleep a night than those who slept on a harder beds.

On a drive back from Indiana.

I learned two things today.

1) Highway 127 in Michigan is curvy, confusing, and crappy.

2) The thermos my parents own keeps hot coffee hot for 6-7 hours.

Other things I learned or discovered or had reaffirmed today are all personal things. So if you don't care to read on I won't be offended. I will however be offended if you decide to preach to me. Save your breath and typing time, that argument with me is fruitless.

I don't like driving my moms vehicle. 

I think I have finally decided my answer to the rhetorical ago old question, "Can people change?" Is ultimately, like Limbeck say, "People don't change."

http://www.purevolume.com/limbeck

While in a text fight that revolved somewhat around my religious beliefs my mom and I ironically drove past a billboard that stated,

"Life is short. Eternity isn't. -God"

I read it and agreed. Life is short, I've known this for a long time. It's part of the reason I am doing this new blog. It's why I am going to school, it's why I have tattoos and piercings. It's why I am who I am and do what I do. It's why I make lists of things to do before I die and take steps towards them.

Life is short and I like it that way.

The point of this blog is to keep learning and growing each day. I feel it's what makes life worth living.

I decided today that the ability to learn is the greatest thing ever!

I want to learn as much as I can while alive. The way I see it is dying stops all growth. In an afterlife there is no more learning, no more growth, no excitement, no change.

You know what you knew and you are who you were when you died.

It's groundhog day forever.

It's futile.

Life on the other hand has change, excitement, chance, choice, disappointment, risk, growth, hurt, and so many other things.

If there is a heaven it'll be my hell.

I am going to live life. And when my death comes I want to say I've done what I wanted and accept my end. I don't want there to be more. 

Throw me in a hole and cover me up.

I will not rise or move on to afterlife, it will be black and darkness.

There I will decay.

I'm happy with that.

A personal day.

The most important thing I learned today was something more personal, that might not help anyone else.

I learned that I don't like large parties and I can't stand screaming children.

There were 30-45 people stuffed in my parents house for the Krawczak christmas.

Children ran around screaming, adults caught up on life and the temperature of the usually cold house rose and rose.

I got a headache and started to feel sick. 

Usually I like parties and gatherings, but that many people with no outlet was too much to take.

I'd like to think that'll be the last time I ever have to be in that situation, but as life goes on, I'm sure one similar will occur. 

At least I know I can make it out alive and in one piece.

-Roz

How to keep yourself from sleep.

When I returned home from school a few weeks ago I spent the first week home having bad dreams. 

Feeling frustrated I wrote a FaceBook note about it. 

One response I received was as follows:

Tom Florip at 1:52pm December 21

I happen to dabble in oneirology. Have you been eating within1-3 hours of going to bed? That's the most common cause of nightmares. Digestion triggers increased metabolism which triggers increased brain activity. Most studies have shown that 3/4 of all dream content is negative (the brain is attempting to purge "memories"--really just associations--that trigger fear as part of our human evolutionary process to better adapt to our surroundings), so any increase in brain activity will likely yield bad dreams. In other words, the odds are stacked in favor of experiencing nightmares as opposed to happy frolics through Candyland once your metabolism is up at night. Additionally, if you happen to sleep with the television on as I do almost every night, your brain activity will reflect what is being taken in through your ears and there's a good chance you'll end up "dreaming" about whatever happens to be on at 3am. Those damn knife infomercials can make for some scary slasher nightmares.

I thank him, I definitely learned something new that day. 

And last night/early this morning I learned something else new.

You see...

Shortly before heading to bed I made myself a de-lish bowl of nachos with hot sauce.

From previous knowledge I know that spicy foods help speed ones metabolism. 

From even earlier previous knowledge I know that 2+2=4.

So when I couldn't fall asleep for hours after many different techniques [another learned story] and then waking up at 5:27am and 6:50am, I put it all together.

I do believe that my choice to ingest hot sauce was an anti-sleeping death sentence.

My body and mind were quite awake and alert.

This all concludes to some advise I have for my readers.

When you find yourself wanting to loose weight, spice up your foods. (Including hot sauce, peppers, cinnamon.)

But when you think a midnight snack will help you sleep, think again.

-Roz

Learn. Shoot. Earn.

My parents got me interested in travel early in life.

I have been into photography for about 5 years.

Recently I have developed an interest for video.

There are commercials on the Travel Channel for

Travel Channel Academy

Today I looked into it online.

It is a four day intense digital film school for travel video journalists.

It seems like an amazing experience and I've decided to add it to a list of things I am striving for.

I'd hope that someday Kayla and I could go to this and come out with some awesome knowledge and unforgettable memories.

Unfortunately this mere four day experience is in either NY, CA, or D.C. and cost's $2000 for tuition alone. 

Oddly that doesn't discourage me that much. It actually encourages me to work hard at school and be determined to get a summer job and save, save, save.

Nice to meet you, 2009!

Hello all!

This is where I have set up camp.

I have given myself the challenge of recording at least one thing EVERYDAY that I have learned.

My grandma Krawczak always says, "You learn something new everyday."

For the next three hundred and sixty five (365) days I want to tell the world what I have learned.

Whether read by everyone or none, I am committed to sticking to this resolution.

My hope is that in doing this I will push myself to learn more everyday, to be sure I am getting my moneys worth at art school, to be sure that I am moving forward in life not just being static, to be alive.

Life is short and I want to learn all I can.

This is my way of tracking my progress and being proud of myself. 

I want to share what knowledge I have.

And maybe I can inspire others.

Comments and interaction are always welcome and encouraged.

Please enjoy.

-Roz