A Typical Day In the Life of an Unemployed College Graduate

Wake up to the sounds of Trevor Hall singing cheerfully about it being a brand new day. Hit the snooze. Repeat about 3 to 4 more times.

Finally dismiss the alarm. Blink a few time at the screen. Smile a little sadly at your background photo.

Scroll down to the Facebook app. Spend about 15 minutes waking up and checking the newsfeed and notifications.

Throw down phone, crawl out of bed and shut lava lamp off.

Halfheartedly grab clothes out of the appropriate drawers. Shuffle off to the bathroom. Drag laptop in and set up in the corner. Start up playlist entitled "Cheer Up, Kid." Take a long shower.

Dry your hair over the sounds of dubstep. Wonder about making music like that, complete with hairdryer sounds. Shake your head. That would be really weird.

Get dressed. Comb your hair. Stare at yourself in the mirror and realize you're getting a pretty grey outlook. Shake your head and throw your shoulders back. Stand up and give your mirror self a look full of sass. Pick up your laptop and take it out to the kitchen.

Prop it up and look around at what to eat. Scowl at the fridge. Grab eggs and other ingredients.

Try one of your many variations on scrambled eggs. Sit down and shut off your playlist. Watch an episode of the show you missed the night before.

Check facebook. Check the other blogs you read. Check the comics you read.

Check your e-mail. Delete messages. Eye message from student loan office nervously. Grumble to yourself as you calculate your bank account.

Open up job search websites. Skim through the old ones you already applied for. Find new positions. View details. Apply.

Have panic attack over the tricky questions asked in the applications. Growl at yourself to Suck It Up Buttercup.

Throw your dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Eye the overflowing sink. Mumble to yourself. Shuffle into the living room with your laptop.

Talk for a million years with your friends online. Watch another show because you're putting off work. Start reading a book. Get interrupted a million times by messages, notifications, texts, and phone calls. Finally give up on your book.

Peruse ebay for things you want. Calculate bank account again. Shrug. You don't need any of that stuff. Moving and Bonaroo are more important. Shuffle out to fridge for a Coke. Eye sink again distastefully. Sigh.

Drag laptop now blasting music again out to table. Prop it up and tackle sink. Fill dishwasher. Turn it on. Scrub a few pans. Get distracted by messages.

Get distracted by twitter.

Get distracted by Jenna Marbles.

Remember the dishes. Wash some more until the drainer is full. Lay a towel carefully on top. See....you did something productive in the house.

Remember money you needed to put in the bank. And that form you needed to mail. And the fact you need to go to the library. Grumble to yourself again. Check your mirror-self to make sure you look presentable.

Check wallet. Shove in purse. Glance at form.....realize you still need to fill it out. Shove library books in purse. Grab purse and keys. Trudge out to car. Start it up and frighten yourself when  bass is dropped in your face because you left the music on level 10 the day before. Turn the volume down to 6.

Make your way into town without hitting anyone. Congratulate yourself.

Swear loudly over the fact that there are no parking spaces in front of the bank. Drive around town hall and the post office to go back and try again. Still nothing. Eye the parking spaces across the street. Remember that time you almost had a heart attack trying to reverse onto the busy street out of that parking space. Drive around again and park way down by the post office.

Blink up at the sky as you open your door...... it has started to sleet. In April. Swear to the sky above that you're getting the hell out of Vermont as soon as possible. Shove your hands in your pockets and duck your head as you trudge all the way over to the bank. Manage a smile at the teller. Deposit your money. Check your account with glee. You had more than you thought.

Notice the sleet has turned miraculousy back into a spring rain. Still keep head bent until you get int the car. Head over to the library. Cheer to yourself as you fkind lots of parking space. Haul ass out of car with books as fast as possible before another car comes. Ascend to the library.

Peruse the shelves for the books to read that you'd made a mental list of last time you were there. Pick up a couple your mother might be interested in. Check them out. Head back out and notice the rain stopped. Drive back to your house.

dump the books and your purse on a chair in the living room. Turn on Pandora. Make some tea. Scrub the stove and countertops. Dry the dishes and pans and put them away. Bounce out to the living room again to make a list of all the jobs you need to call later. Make a To-Do list for the rest of the week.

Notice that the sun has spilled through the window. Glance up and see how pretty it is sifting through the clouds, as it starts to sprinkle again. It's actually kind of beautiful.

Decide that maybe......you should stop grumbling about the rain. The earth needs it after all. And besides......it's pretty.

Sit down and write your blog that you've been putting off. Try to decide how to end it with a good message. Realize you can't think of anything appropriate so cop out and decide to use a quote. It is the truth after all......even if it was written by someone else.

So smile anyway. Your days will get even better real soon.

"Do you know the saying 'You can only see a rainbow after it rains'? So if there is a storm in your heart right now, it is definitely a sign that you are going to become more beautiful." --Ouran School Host Club

Lessons From Cartoon Ponies: Friendship Truly Is Magic

The phenomenon that is My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic has spread widely across the internet over the past year. 

I was introduced to it last winter, after a couple of friends insisted that it was in fact a reflection of life as well as scarily accurate about our group of friends. I didn't believe them.

And then I saw episode one. The rest is history.

So late one night last week, I was watching a couple episodes trying to feel better about a situation and look for wisdom in the cartoon. And not only did I find some......I also came up with a fantastic idea. 

Why not summarize the lessons learned in each episode and tie it in with actual real life instances where that lesson came into play? Whoo genius!

At least, that's what I thought at 2 am. 

Still.....I think it's something to try anyway. So....bear with me if you're not a brony. It'll be fun and make sense after awhile. I promise. 

And if you are already a diehard fan, AWESOME! Enjoy and I'll see you at BronyCon!

This is the first blog of many to come. I'm thinking these will be interspersed in between other entries. I might even include more than one lesson in each entry....depending on the overall length. 

So ....let's begin. 

In the opening 2 part episode of My Little Pony FIM, the unicorn Twilight Sparkle and her baby dragon Spike end up heading off to the small town of Ponyville to oversee the preperations for the Summer Sun Celebration. Twilight also has a special mission from her teacher, Princess Celestia: Make some friends! Twilight is a very booknerdy pony and has no intention of wasting her time making friends. She has all of Equestria to save if the evil pony Nightmare Moon comes back as legend says she will! 


But over the course of the episode, in order to find the Elements of Harmony that can stop Nightmare Moon's plot of eternal night in Equestria, Twilight must depend on the help of five other ponies: effervescent Pinkie Pie, girly Rarity, daredevil Rainbow Dash, timid Fluttershy, and hardworking Applejack. Together, the six ponies band together in friendship to defeat Nightmare Moon, with the elements of Harmony that they each represent. 


Applejack: Honesty
Pinkie Pie: Laughter
Rarity: Generosity
Fluttershy: Kindness
Rainbow Dash: Loyalty
Twilight Sparkle: Magic


So I was sitting here, with a remix of Giggle at the Ghosties playing in my ears, trying to figure out how to relate this all to a real life situation. 


My friends and I have certainly never banded together to stop evil. 


But then I thought more carefully about it. We had come together to do other things. Like pulling off a near impossible Haunted Walk, which literally fell apart before we sucked it up and soldiered on. And putting on a ridiculously difficult play despite little props, few club members, no available funding, barely any theater experience with the majority of the group, a shitty director and a lighting display that was expected to catch fire at any moment. And also, surviving college at large, despite academic issues and social blowups.


Really, the message of the episodes wasn't just joining to defeat evil. It was also about finding friendship in those around you....and discovering what true friendship was really about. 


And I realized that over the past few years.....I'd learned just that with the help of my friends. *cue Beatles tune*


I've had a lot of friends over the course of life. I've actually had about 10 best friends. Not including those I'm closest to now. Some of my family members like to inform me of the fact that I've never been that great at picking friends. Trusting the wrong people is apparently a major flaw in my personality. 


This has left me feeling, for most of my life, rather bad about my ability to make and keep friends.....as well as my judgement in trusting others. 


But the fact is, no matter how much crap has gone down or how many people have screwed me over or ended up being jerks ....I can't help but give everyone the benefit of the doubt. I can't help but hope that the next person might not do that...or the next.....or the next. 


Over college, I became friends with a truly amazing group of people. 


From the first, I was pulled haphazardly into this group of people who were wacky, fun and didn't really care who thought they were nerdy weirdos. Most of them were Creative Writing majors like myself and we pretty much all clicked. I was afraid to count them as friends....afraid that maybe no one would accept me as readily as my friends in high school had. 


But after a few meals and joining anime club, I realized I did have friends. And as time went by, I found even more friends who were also pulled into the group or independent of them. And what's more.....they were all good friends. Who joked around about anything and made you feel better on a bad day and helped you out with your shit. 


College is about the time when big changes start happening. You're an adult but still have a childlike mindset ....which means getting wicked excited over sidewalk chalk, new Pokemon games and charming children's cartoons. But you've gotten a taste of freedom......and of alcohol, loud parties, the walk of shame, having security check your suite for craziness, truly bad food, and lots of papers and projects in a short period of time. 


You become used to not many hours of sleep, cat naps anywhere that's mildly soft, and loads of caffeine to keep you going. Besides the changes in your hours, your friends, and possibly morals.....your mind's changing. From class, discussions, news, shows, books, everything. Maybe you fight more with your family since you went to your "crazy liberal hippie" school. Maybe you change religions or cut loose from the cloth entirely. 


You start losing things. Respect for people. Pets. Old friends. Family members. Your rose-colored glasses. Your sanity (if you even had any to begin with).


Over the course of four years (or really just like the last year or so) I lost a grandfather I regret not getting to know better, a fiancee I regret not dumping sooner, and the idea that it was okay if I was miserable as long as others were happy. 


I wanted to be happy dammit. 


And a large part of that realization came later....after making drastic changes and losing a few things. The realization that I had a group of people around who gave more than two shits about me. 

tears of joy.....who knew?

I learned that true friends are there for you, even when you're being a emo asshole. They can rag on you for months about some embarrassing incident but tactfully let something go if they know you don't want to talk about. They'll also hound you until you spill what's upsetting you. They listen. They laugh with you....and at you, but in a good way.....like when you fall down in water......or trip up stairs......or fly into doors. They give advice  and help even when it's one in the morning because you needed them and suddenly had some kind of meltdown and you're apologizing all over the place and they tell you to just stop saying "sorry." They threaten to bitch slap you if you talk down on yourself one more time. They tell you to SHUT UP when you apologize for being useless. They hug you when you cry and make you laugh when you feel like you can't laugh anymore. They support you in just about everything and have the guts to tell you when you're wrong. They tell the truth, even when it ain't pretty. They go on attack for you when you can't fight bullies. They convince you into doing the craziest but most exhilarating things ever. They make you cry tears of joy....when you'd thought you were not the kind of person who was capable of that. You know they're there for you, even if they are not always physically there. 


And I think the greatest thing I learned about true friendship is, that a true friend wants you to be the best that you can be and does not demand anything from you. All they want is your friendship. No demands, no orders, no guilt trips, no expectations. 


They just want you to be you and to be their friend too. 


My friends taught me that....all of that. What's more, they taught me to see the strength inside myself that I didn't know existed. And I truly believe that we can do anything together. 




Love you Dash, Doppelganger, Spikey, Twi, AJ, Hikaru, Honey-sempai, Carrrrrrrl, and Ging. You're all the best......more than you know. 

Friendship is a group-glomp ^_^

(pics are property of Lauren Faust and the Hub)

Girls: A Guidebook For Guys

Seriously.....I'm thinking this needs to be made. Because all I've been hearing lately is, "I don't know how to talk to girls" or "I'm not good at this [this being relationships]" or "Girls ask where all the nice guys are and then they don't want me even though I'm a nice guyyyyyy."

Seriously guys. Stop whining.

Here is your guide to girls written by a girl. Although, I carry this warning: These are just some specific things. Sometimes those of my gender confuse the hell out of me too.

Lesson One: Girls Talk

When you start sending us horrible music videos and tell us it's your favorite band ever or say reaaaaaally awkward things to us in an attempt to be flirty......chances are, we're already copy and pasting it to our best friend. Usually to ask "How the hell do I respond to this??!" but there are the occasions where "What the hell? lmao" is more common.

You can't just tell us something like that and expect us to keep it in confidence. Unless you've seriously told us something that is specified as delicate or secret, we're going to share the rest with our female friends. And maybe even close male ones.

This is just a fact. Keep it in mind.

Lesson Two: When a Girl Says No, It Means NO

This is true for everything. If we say no to a) a night watching football, b) entering a mud wrestling competition, c) letting you stick your car in our exit only, or d) going out on a date with you in the first place.......we generally mean it. No. N-O.

Seriously.

We're not being cute or playing hard to get or just taking time to think about it. If it's a no, it's a damn no. Get over it.

Third Lesson: Take the Hint


See that girl there quietly sitting at her desk or over on that bench eating her lunch? She's obviously entirely engrossed in her noodles. So why is it that you insist on coming over and yapping at her?

Do you not see her eyes glazing over at your voice or the way she is pointedly ignoring you?

This is the key moment to read her body language and excuse yourself. Not internally freak out and try to backtrack and talk even more out of nerves or avoiding awkwardness.

It was already awkward from the moment you opened your mouth. Give it up. 

Fourth Lesson: You Are Not Her Mother

Stop asking for every single detail of our day. Stop checking in every hour upon the hour. Stop asking for everything we're up to or will be up to on a daily basis. Especially if you are not romantically involved.

This is why we moved out on our own. 

Fifth Lesson: If She's Drunk and Being Friendlier With You Than Normal, This Means Nothing

She is three sheets to the wind and going down. This is not the time to start raising your mainsail, sir.

Seriously. Don't get too excited. Alcohol lowers your inhibitions and makes you act a little more .....free with your personality.

If she's being friendlier than usual, it's a 98% chance that she's being friendly with EVERYONE ELSE. 
She's hitting on all of her close friends, despite the fact she is definitely straight. 
She's flashing strangers in Spain on Chatroulette. 
She just gave her ex a lapdance.

Dude.....you're not special tonight.

Sorry to be blunt, but that's kinda how it is. Sorry to disappoint but if she's not flirting or showing that kind of body language or giving you special attention the rest of the time........she's just not that into you.

Think about this: Have you ever been friendlier than normal while under the influence? Did you ever accidentally give someone the wrong idea?

This is exactly the same thing. Guys also get friendlier than they would be on a normal basis. That's just how it goes.

That, my friend, is the wonder of tequila.

Lesson Six: Dance Dance Revulsion

There's a bunch of girls out at the night club. They're dancing around in a circle, having a lot of fun.

What exactly possesses you to stare at one girl creepily for 5 minutes and then haul her by the waist to you and grind your erection against her butt?

Really? REALLY? Was she asking you to dance with her? Was she flirting with you? Or was she just out for a night of fun with her friends and you just made yourself at home?

If she's wide-eyed and mouthing "help me!" to her friends, this is a clear indication you are not wanted. Start acting like a gentlemen and think about her, instead of how much you want to get laid tonight.

And also, see above: No means no.

Stay classy, guys.

 property of Lauren Faust ^_^ (I just love Spike's  many faces)