Snowmageddon 2010

Well the Twin Cities certainly does not need to worry about having a White Christmas this year, Snowmageddon of 2010 has taken care of that for us!

For days, weather forecasters had been predicting inches of snow to accumulate and so far we have had about a foot and a half fall, and its still coming down... not to mention the -20 degree windchill. I don't think any body was quite expecting anything like today.

As the dinner hour approached, my roommates and I were getting hungry, so we decided to take an adventure out to pick up a pizza from Papa Johns- since NOBODY was delivering! With true Minnesotan fashion we put on our jackets, hats, boots and scarves and took Bridget's Jeep out into the frosty winter wonderland. We came across some interesting, and FUNNY sights...including a guy waiting at the bus stop who obviously did not know that the Metro Transit system had shut down for the day...

Here is our street!! its covered in snow. It only looks deserted because everybody that was out was trying to push a car out of a snow bank behind us!

This guy was outside McDonalds clearing the sidewalks...

OUR DESTINATION! WE ARRIVED!!

One of many cars that were stuck in the snow.

Washington was the only street that was plowed! We are pretty sure that is because it is an Emergency route to the University's hospital.

The corner of Washington and University!

That is some pretty deep snow at this bus stop....

Megan and Bridget with our Pizza!! we made it home safe and sound!

What makes you tick?

I was reading through my tweets this morning, and I came across something that caught my attention and I think it will yours too!

It is an iPod watch. Now, this gadget does not yet exist...but it is in the works. And it is all thanks to Scott Wilson, founder of the Chicago design studio MINIMAL. This studio has designed the new Xbox Kinect, as well as an assortment of Dell Smart Phones among other neat products.

This gadget has Wilson, and Steve Jobs, jittering with excitement with the possible places that this could go. For years, watch makers have been trying to develop touch screen watches, and leave it to Steve Jobs to have an influence on a new phenomenon. However, it has been harder than it would seem to get accessory makers on the bandwagon for funding. So, Wilson turned to another resource that until today, I was not familiar with. For those of you that find yourself in the same shoes that I was in this morning, let me enlighten you. Wilson has advertised his product on the website Kickstarter, which is a website that allows developers to post their products on a platform, and if readers like it enough, they can then pledge money towards the development of these products. The possibilities for this website are endless; If you create it, you can post it. Wilson posted his product on Kickstarter with the goal of the watch eventually making it into apple stores. And it looks like that just might happen. cool huh?

If you are interested in learning more about this product visit the "TikTok+LunaTik Multi-Touch Watch" platform on the KickStarter website:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1104350651/tiktok-lunatik-multi-touch-watch-kits

As I am writing this blog, this creation has almost 9,000 backers and almost $700,000 to go towards the project and product development. 10 days are left to pledge, so get out your wallets if you want to contribute to the makings a new sensation.

Macarooner

Cookie Monster meets SNL??

Well, I guess there really IS a first time for everything and if Cookie Monster actually does make the cut then, well, this only proves my point.

My question is this though...Does Sesame Street have what it takes to keep audiences entertained on late night T.V? I mean, sure, he can keep most 2 and 3 year olds entertained at 10 in the morning, but can he keep the attention of those who can actually stay up past 8pm? Just because most of us have grown up with Cookie Monster and the rest of the Sesame Street gang, does not mean that we should bring him over to the (sometimes) crude humor that would not reflect well on our dear friends from our favorite childhood show (unless maybe it was Oscar the Grouch...).

Nevertheless, I understand that having him on the show would be purely for fun and perhaps some of you are thinking to yourselves that I should lighten up. And hey, Betty White did it, why cant the Cookie Monster? I'm not against him being on the show, but do you really think the monster has it in him? I guess it would depend on the way the show was put on. We will just have to see!


In case you wanted...here is a link to a sneak peak that I found. It's Cookie Monster's audition tape! http://bit.ly/i4nc7l

A Royal Engagement..

Well.. its about time for Kate Middleton and Prince William to make the commitment "official". . .

In case you have not already heard (and if this is the case I would most definitely consider you completely out of touch with the world, because it is all over the news... you know who you are) Prince William and Kate Middleton have become engaged, as of this morning.
check out ( http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Royal-Engagement-Ring/ss/events/wl/111610royalring) for pictures of the ring.. its HUGE!!!

For some reason after reading articles all over the web today (I may have gone a little over board during my lunch break today), I have managed to feel the need to comment on this engagement. I guess there is something about royalty that I find very interesting. Besides the fact that this particular royal family are basically celebrities in the U.K, as well as the U.S, there is something about them that I find intriguing. Particularly William's new fiance....

While I was watching an online segment today, they described Kate as a girl that came from an normal middle class family, who went on to University after high school, met William, and boom bada bing, she's a queen. While it is much more complicated then that, I cant help but think of Cinderella (yes, from the fairytale) and the fact that she went from rags to riches in the matter of days. Although, she DID have a little help from her fairy godmother along the way. While Kate certainly hasn't come from rags, and this romance has certainly lasted longer than days (9 years, actually) she's certainly living her own, real life, fairytale...with a REAL Prince!

With this 'real-life' display of Prince-charming-meets-girl, girl-and-prince-charming fall in love is in news media today, and I am sitting in my living room with my mind full of fairytales, being the hopeless romantic that I am, I hope the best for Kate and William... as I would ANY two people that have become newly affianced. It certainly makes one excited for the adventures to come in the future.

Whatever kinds of adventures are in store for ME for the future, I hope that I can make the most of them. I'm DEFINITELY not thinking of getting engaged any time soon like Kate and William.. but maybe a trip overseas or taking on an internship sometime in the next couple of months would be just enough adventure for me, for now.


jusqu'à la prochaine fois mes amis!

Courtney

so much for consitency, eh??

So, I figured it was about time that I wrote a new blog post, I mean it has been a month. Although in my defense the last few weeks have been crazy in getting ready to move in (Which I finally am, and I am absolutely loving my new apartment and my roommates) and to start a new year at school. So much for consistency, eh?? This semester is going to be difficult in some respects, but I don't think it is anything that I cannot handle. I am just going to have a lot of reading, but that comes with the territory of being an English Major :) but my take on this could change, only the first week of classes is behind me and things could get much more frustrating, very quickly.

However, during my busy first week I for some reason decided to sign up to take a practice LSAT. It was a complete spur of the moment decision and happened on a whim, but I am sort of excited about it. This doesn't mean that I am going to go to law school, or even take the actual LSAT at all.. but eventually taking the LSAT and possibly going to law school is something that I have been going back and forth on for quite some time now. I'm not saying that taking this LSAT in October is going to help me decide if law school is something that I want to do or not, but it is a step towards figuring out what it is that I want to do with my life.

that is all for now, I have reading to do..
Court

Places to go, People to meet, and Things to do..

I've had a lot of trouble figuring out what my "theme" for this post would be. The only interesting story that has been in the news (and that I've given any of my attention too) is the crazy flight attendant that used the emergency exit of the plane as a farewell to Jet Blue, and his career in serving people crappy airline food. On the bright side of it all, I'm sure the passengers actually paid attention to the emergency procedures this time around... ohh, how crazy the world is that we live in!


Now, in the time between my last post and now, I have felt a lot of things shifting in my life. Not only do I move out of my house within the next month, but I am starting to make plans for things that will affect the direction that my life goes. For example, next summer I could possibly get an internship, or I could go to Paris. If I decide to take an internship, I could still study abroad and go to Europe...but that would be during the school year and for a much longer period of time and could potentially delay my graduation date :/ . Something else that has sparked my interest is to learn how to sail. Yes you read it right ladies and gentlemen, I want to learn how to sail a sailboat. It's something that I have always thought was cool, and to some I have expressed this interest, but now I want to actually do something about it. Ive even thought about going to a couple of sailing club meetings at school to see what it is all about and get a feel for it. If I like it, then traveling across the country to go to different competitions would probably be involved. If I don't like it, then maybe I will figure out what I truly have a passion for through that experience.

Either way, I am starting to realize how much I want to suck the marrow out of life and have absolutely no regrets. Isn't that what we all say though?? Maybe having regrets vs not having regrets is a complete state of mind and depends on where you end up in life. But I suppose I just want to be able to say one day that I lived life as much as I could, did as much as was within my means and tried absolutely everything. When I was younger, I thought that all I wanted was to do the "normal thing" and graduate college, get married, have children and do the whole soccer mom thing ( I do still want that, dont get me wrong I would absolutely love to have a big family one day...) But there is something else that I want mixed into that somewhere, I am just not sure what it is yet. I know that I will find it one day, and I'll just keep trying and doing new things every day in the process. Maybe I'll even write a book about it one day ;)

Why Just Let the Sky be the Limit?

I've decided not to go to Florida. At least this summer. I'm a little disappointed that I don't get to go down and spend time with my family, but there are a lot of things that need to be taken care of in the mean time before school starts in about a month.

For instance, this whole finding a roommate situation is getting pretty ridiculous. Its annoying, actually. Who would have thought that finding a 5th roommate at a school of about 50,000 would have been so difficult! Its not like my current roommates and I are hard to get along with. Or are we? Either way, we are meeting with yet ANOTHER girl tonight, and we can only hope for the best! And once we actually have somebody to rent with us, we have to figure out who is sharing a room with who, where the kitchen table is going to come from, and how we want to decorate the place. Decisions, Decisions..

(By the way.. the number of creeps on craigslist that are looking for a place to live in the area is quite entertaining. And most of them own 40 lb dogs, or are 45 year olds with three kids.. or so they claim. My friend Annika and I got a good laugh out of that last weekend).

In addition to getting the apartment ready to live in, I have to get ready for classes to start. This semester I will be taking about 16 credits. Although I am currently enrolled in 19, I have decided not to double major in English and Communications, and just stick with English. So, I will be dropping the 3 credit, Politics in the Media class that I had signed up for.

So..why English?

Over the last couple of months, any time that I have mentioned to someone that I am majoring in English, the most common response that I get is, "So what do you wanna do with that? Teach English or something?". On the contrary!

Getting a degree in English is much more than just learning about literature and how to write a good essay. Not only can you learn about history, people, and cultures through literature, but you learn how to dissect a thought, a theory, or an idea and understand the elements that make it unique. It is learning how to take these different ideas and share with others what the author or creater wanted people to get out of it, what he wanted out of it. Through all of that hoopla, helps people generate their own ideas! Studying the art of English also helps people acquire communication skills. It is in my opinion that learning this, the ability of communicating with others, is essential to success later in life.

So.. I may not be planning on becoming an English teacher, or having a career as a journalist. But acquiring these very technical skills now, is something that I know will benefit me in the professional world later. So there's your answer, folks. Maybe I'll be a business woman, or a free lance writer, or maybe I'll go to the moon (highly unlikely...I'm not sane enough to become an astronaut). But I am happy with the major that I have (finally) decided on and am excited for the places that it can take me.

Sincerely yours,
Court

88 degrees and Sunny Makes for a Great Day!

It's been over a week since I've posted a blog entry, but I have been going through what has seemed to me like severe writers block. I don't know if it was a combination of working, my birthday (20th!!), or just being distracted with every day things that has kept me from writing, but regardless I think I can get back on track now.

(I just want to note that it is hard to keep up with a blog. But I now realize that having consistency in your postings is just as important as the writing itself.)

Now onto my purpose for today's post, the fact that tomorrow has the potential to be a great day.

First of all, the weather is supposed to be beautiful. The 7-day forecast on my Mac's dashboard claims that it will be 88 degrees and sunny. Sounds like the perfect day to lay out and catch some rays to me! Also, I will be meeting with a potential roommate for next year with my current roommates, and (so far) she seems really nice! I have to say that meeting with all of these people that I could possibly be living with for an entire year, can be really nerve wrecking. Especially since its going to be a small 3 bedroom apartment on the outer rim of Dinkytown with 4 other people (5 including myself!). Obviously, we will probably get tired of eachother at times..but eliminating that as much as possible is important. So its obviously important that we all get along.

BUT, that meeting is not even going to happen until tomorrow night, the main event is all happening at Pablos.

For those of you that are not already aware, Pablos is the Mexican restaurant that I have employed as my second job for the summer. I try very hard not to complain about it, because I am a very fortunate college student to have TWO summer jobs. But, I have a feeling that tomorrow could make or break my attitude towards it for quite a while.

You see.. right at this very moment a good chunk of my family is on their way to Tennessee and Florida to visit my Dad's sisters and my Cousins. And I am missing out on all of the action. The original plan was for me to stay back at home and work because I need the money to be able to pay for that lovely, small (yet cute), overly priced apartment of mine. But now that they have left, I am not so fond of this plan. Lets be real here people, its FLORIDA!! Not very many 20-year-olds from Minnesota would pass the opportunity for a vacation in Florida, unlike yours truly.

So how does Pablos fit into this?? Well, early yesterday morning as a realized that I wanted to meet up with my family, I went to Pablos as early as I could to request the time that I needed off. Even though the schedule had not been posted or written yet, there is still a chance that I could be scheduled. GREAT! (not really...). It is SO unbelievably important to me that I am able to go down to Florida..I miss my family! All I can hope for is that my manager has enough people available to work that week, and a good attitude if she doesn't.

I guess tomorrow is sort of a glass half full, glass half empty kind of day...its all how you look at it. Either way, Im hoping for a week off from work, cheap airline tickets, a great prospective roommate and for the weatherman to actually know what he is talking about.

love, one hopeful gal,
Court

Campeones!

As many of you are probably already aware, Spain received the World Cup victory yesterday in a 1-0 extra time defeat over Holland. This is a first time victory for Spain, and it has re energized the country despite their struggling economy. When the football team arrived back in Spain on Monday morning, "Campeones! Campeones!" and the waving of Spanish flags was seen and heard throughout Barcelona. It is an especially happy time for Spain, due to their struggling economy and domestic issues. Some economists believe that Spain's newly found glory will offer temporary relief to the country's economic instability by aiding in consumption. Others, are not as optimistic.


Based off of the few articles that I have read by the Associated Press, I believe that not only will the win increase the rate of tourism, but it will also reinforce the confidence that the people of Spain have in their own country and provide a sense of unity. This is especially significant in their current 20 percent unemployment rate. According to an article by the Associated Press, the win may or may not affect the economy in the long run, but when Germany won the world cup in 2006 they had a GDP gain of 0.7 percentage points! If Spain were to be affected by the win to the same degree that Germany was in 2006, then Spain is definitely in for a treat. Not to mention the fact that Spain is the third most visited country in the world behind France and the United States. A (hopeful) increase in tourism, which accounts for 10 percent of the country's GDP, will just add to the delight.

The affects of the win for Spain may not last very long, but it will certainly help while Spain looks for other ways out of their national crisis. They are Europe's fifth largest economy and the domino effect is sure to fall into place eventually branching out to the other countries that contribute to Europe's wealth.

Another factor of the win that may play into Spain's economy going up is a possible newfound sense of unity. Since 1968, the region of Bilbao has been trying to gain independence from Spain. Before Sunday, wearing a Spanish football jersey was asking for insults and ran the risk of being assulted on the streets. Now, after Spain's win, some citizens have been seen freely wearing the red and yellow colors of the winning team and flags have been waved in support for Spain as a whole. The question as to whether this will be a permanent change still hangs over many Spaniards, but it certainly offers hope to some.

I believe a (proper?) Introduction is in order..

Since waking up this morning, I have become very excited about this blog. I am excited for what will come of it, and the discoveries that will be made not only for myself but for readers as well (whether its 5 or 50 readers? who knows!).

I did not sleep well last night. Ideas for where I can take this blog and the endless directions that I can go kept rolling through my mind last night. I also thought about the people that I wanted to read it (family, close friends, some co-workers etc.). Then, I thought about the people that I DIDN'T want reading it (you know who you are!). As these thoughts crossed my mind, I immediately started to worry about what people would think of my writing, and what I had to say. Then I thought to myself about how part of being a writer is putting yourself out there and expressing yourself. To Hell with those that don't 'like' what I have to say or would do something differently (or, 'better'). This is what I write, this is who I am. So for those of you who I may not know very well, or if you think you're in the category of people that I dont want reading this..please, keep reading!

okay.. maybe I should introduce myself a bit more before we get knee deep into the blogging process. I am a (almost) 20-year-old that attends the University of Minnesota. My Scheduled graduation date is in 2012, but I have changed my major from Nursing to English to Communications and back to English again so many times, that it may take a little bit longer then expected to graduate. If it weren't for the student loans that I have had to take out since beginning college and will continue to have to borrow, the extra time in school wouldn't be such a bad thing. In addition to a special interest that I have in literature and writing, I have the desire to travel. I know and understand that many share this same passion with me to see the world. But for me, it is not just the destinations themselves and the tourist attractions that beckon me to them..its the experience. One day when I decide to finally go over seas, I want to experience the culture as the natives do. I think that that is the only true way to completely understand what it is like in other countries and to fully appreciate the opportunities that I could have.

As of right now, the places that I most want to go to are: London, Paris and the French country-side,a tour all over Italy, Prague, Amsterdam, Ireland and Greece. Maybe even Cairo, Egypt or other countries in Africa.

I suppose the world is the limit, and I am a dreamer...but I plan on making all of this happen one day. How? well, that is still to be determined.

peace out,
Court

Here goes....something.

Well since this is my first official post, I feel like I should start with something dramatic, something that gives you a sense of who I am, something that would give you a glimpse into what is to come. Sorry to disappoint you, but I have nothing dramatic, nothing beyond ordinary to share and I have no idea of what is to come of this blog. Perhaps I will keep up with it for a few weeks, and maybe even for the rest of the summer if we are lucky. Maybe I'll post things about my day that sparks an interest, or maybe I'll eventually be able to travel the world one day and describe my experiences and what sort of meaning I feel that I get out of it. Or maybe this blog will be a total and complete bust. HA! I guess it is all just what i make of it, eh? Sort of like life itself..it really is what you make out of it.

I should warn you now, I am exactly like my father in the way that I am constantly using metaphors to get a point across and express my mood, and am very corny in that aspect. I like to reference back to quotes by famous authors or lines from some of my favorite songs from time to time (just check out my facebook status' and tweets...maybe you'll get a better sense of what is to come of this blog by checking out those!), but you'll get used to it.


you know what, that is exactly how I will christen my blog, with a clever (yet dorky) quote. This one may not be the most appropriate but it kind of goes along with my whole self-discovery theme...

"Why change? Everyone has his own style. When you have found it, you should stick to it." -Audrey Hepburn

and because I found this one on the same site as the previous quote, I couldnt resist. She IS my favorite actress afterall..

"For Attractive lips, speak words of kindness, For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people, For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry, For Beautiful hair, let a child run their fingers through it once a day, For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone. People, more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself and the other for helping others." --Audrey Hepburn


Hope you like what you see (so far),
Court