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.