Monday, October 31, 2005

A Time of Celebration!

I have reached the 200th person mark for new people who have viewed my blog. I am thrilled and very thankful to the 200 people who have found their way to my humble a-blog. As for the 200th person, a new 2006 Ford Mustang is awaiting you. If you respond within 24 hours of this post, there is a possibilty that I will still give it to you.

I'm not sure why all of you fine folk read my ramblings, but I am honored. Thank you.

Sunday, October 30, 2005

A Ponderment...

I feel as if I should post something, but I really have nothing to talk about. So, I suppose I shall be random.

I'm too awake to go to sleep and yet too tired to do anything productive, and I didn't do anything particularly rigorous today.

Let me recount.

I woke up, much to my dismay, at about 12:00PM today. I hate when I do that. But, I also have a dilemma. I hate alarm clocks and feel that they shouldn't be used unless I have a specific time that I must wake up. I also hate going to sleep. All of this I must work on, to make a better me.

Anyway, I rolled out of bed and made my way over to my computer, as I do, to check my e-mail, facebook, myspace, blog, etc. Frank IMed me immediately when I got on, as he does, and asked if I wanted to watch Batman Begins at his place.

I felt it would be a good idea to get out of my apartment, and I also wanted to see that movie again, so I got dressed and mosied on over to Frank's apartment. We watched the movie (it was fanastic again). Frank made his famous cheese dip, which I ate way too much of and then I made my way back to my place to get ready for the Monster Bash Extravaganza (aka Halloween Party) at Womack/Scarlett.

I dressed up as a hick, clad with pigtails, freckles, a shirt with a car on it with a western-style shirt over that with the buttons messed up. Oh, and I blacked out a tooth. First, Wally, Charity, and the moms and dads (dressed as a clown in a suit) and I walked with the Womack kids over to Scarlett to pick up some candy on a trick-or-treat adventure. Then later, the college kids came back over to Scarlett to have a karaoke party. I sang a couple of songs (because nobody else would), but then it turned into a dance party. I learned the Bunny Hop. This is a new one that is more like a line dance. It was fun.

I decided to leave and make my way to my parents house in Nashville. I got here and my dad hugged me like crazy, as he does, and I found my mom and gave her a hug. Then, I got online and chatted with Dee and Noah and Jeff and Dan and Frank and Wally.

Pretty exciting, huh. And, I bet you're thrilled that you just wasted your time reading this, because I know I would be.

End recount.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

This is cool.

Your Birthdate: June 3


Being born on the 3rd day of the month is likely to add a good bit of vitality to your life.
The energy of 3 allows you bounce back rapidly from setbacks, physical or mental.
There is a restlessness in your nature, but you seem to be able to portray an easygoing, "couldn't care less" attitude.

You have a natural ability to express yourself in public, and you always make a very good impression.
Good with words, you excel in writing, speaking, and possibly singing.
You are energetic and always a good conversationalist.

You have a keen imagination, but you tend to scatter your energies and become involved with too may superficial matters.
You are affectionate and loving, but sometimes too sensitive.
You are subject to rapid ups and downs.


go to www.blogthings.com to do yours.

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

The Speech I Gave This Morning

The speech I gave this morning is also the speech I wrote this morning. I don't know what it is, but apparently I work best under pressure. I wish I wasn't that way, but so be it.

During the speech, I added my own little embellishments, but for the most part it went something like this...

You've probably these types of commercials before. Lose 80 POUNDS in 4 DAYS with the newest and greatest diet pill on the market. I'm sure that we all wished that we could take a pill like that and poof! all that excess weight was gone, but unfortunately that doesn't happen. I want to talk to you about how diet pills are not effective but can be dangerous and how diet and exercise help in losing that extra weight that you don't want.

First, I would like to talk to you about the ineffectiveness of diet pills and also the dangers of taking them. When I see the diet pill commercials on TV I just have to laugh because they're so fake and they have that little disclaimer in the bottom corner that says, "when combined with diet and exercise." So, what's the point of diet pills? If it takes diet and exercise to lose weight why not cut out the middle man and just try diet and exercise?

America today, is a very fast-paced society and we also want to do things the quickest way. Diet pills claim that they help you lose weight fast, but one source stated that some diet pills can make you gain weight if not used properly.

According to www.annecollins.com, "Diet and weight loss drugs are not a cosmetic solution for weight loss, neither are they intended to replace convention[al] diet and weight loss programs should not turn to pills as an easy weight loss solution."

Also, according to Lisa Brownlee of teenwire.com, a lot of people don't if they're over weight or just right. This has to do with what people see on TV.

Brownlee states, "Many of the women on TV have body weights that are more indicative of an eating disorder
than of normal weight."

So, when we are watching TV and we see how skinny they are we think that we should look that small, or at least I have thought that before.

Sometimes when people feel like they just need to lose a few pounds, unfortunately they sometimes go for the diet pills.

A good reason not to choose diet pills is because of all of the major side effects, which include high blood pressure, heart palpatations, irregular heartbeats, dizziness, blurred vision, headaches, insomnia, anxiety, depression, gas, diarrhea, temors, bulging eyes, heart attack, tachycardia, stroke, seizures, heart failure and death.

Now that I've talked with you about the dangers and ineffectiveness of diet pills, I would now like to talk to you about how diet and exercise can help you lose weight.

Wouldn't it be a strange world if we heard this when we were little. "Young lady, you better eat all those cookies off your plate or your not getting any vegetables!" Hopefully, it was the other way around. Our parents tried to teach us good eating habits when we are young so that we can use them when we get older. That, unfortunately, doesn't always carry over to college. It's hard to find healthy food on campus. So, we would rather take the easy way out and dial 898-0028 for a pizza because it's quick and easy.

We just need to take a little time and think about what we're putting into our bodies. According to Joe Mullich of health.com, there are nine simple ways to lose weight. 1. Eat dairy daily - dairy helps speed up your metabolism which helps you burn calories. 2. Have an apple before dinner - the roughage (skin) of the apple makes your feel fuller, so you don't eat as much at dinner. 3. Be wary of white foods - like bagels, potatoes, breads, rice, and creamed corn. 4. Drink water with a twist - when I started drinking more water I had trouble with it, but if you put a little lemon in it, it doesn't taste as bland. You can also but the flavored kind. My favorite way to drink it is ice cold. 5. Act like a kid - if you have kids dance around with them to the Wiggles and if you don't have kids turn on some of you favorite music and dance around. You'll look like an idiot, but you'll be burning calories. 6. Munch on a handful of M&Ms - this sounds contrary to what I been saying but a half a regular-sized bag of M&Ms gets rid of that sweet tooth and is only 100 calories. 7. Be picky about bread - choose high-fiber whole-grain with at least two grams of fiber. 8. Eat breakfast - We've heard this all our life but it actually works. Choose whole grains for breakfast and it wil start up your metabolism for the day. 9. Brush your teeth after every mean - not only is that sanitary and good for you teeth, but it serves as physical and psychological cue to stop eating. Not to mention, drinking orange juice after brushing you teeth is the worst.

Physical activity is very important to weight loss. According to Tim Mcilvain, without the proper techiniques like calorie control, diet, and exercise the weight will come back. All you have to do is get up off the couch. Stop watching all those skinny people on TV and go out and take a 20 minute walk or run. If you don't like either of those try frisbee or soccer. It doesn't really matter what physical activity you do, it's just important that you get off your butt and go and do something.

In conclusion, I hope that you understand the ineffectiveness and dangers of diet pills and can now see how diet and exercise can improve your way of life and help you to lose weight.


Sources:

Brownlee, Christy. “The Skinny on Diet Pills.” 2003. 25 Oct. 2005.
http://www.teenwire.com/infocus/2003/if-20030429p222-diet.php.
“Diet Pill Dangers.” 2005.
25 Oct. 2005. http://chetday.com/dangerofdietpill.htm.
“Diet Pills.” 2005. Oct. 2005. http://www.annecollins.com/diet-pills.htm.
Mcilvain, Tim. “Diet, Caffeine Pills Pose Health Risk.” 2003.
25 Oct. 2005.
http://www.yourlawyer.com/practice/news.htm?story_id=5801&topic=Xenadrine.
Mullich, Joe. “9 Little Ways To Be a Big Loser.” 2005.
25 Oct. 2005
.
http://www.health.com/health/article/0,23414,1047383,00.html.

Monday, October 24, 2005

We Made Out Like Eskimos

What a fantastic weekend that Last Minute had in Atlanta, Georgia!! We went down there to help out the Song of Atlanta sweet adeline chorus with their first Festival of Harmony for young barbershop singers. We stayed at Becki Hine's house (the director of Song of Atlanta). She has the most amazing house. Three floors, a HUGE kitchen and living room, and a downstairs that I wanted to take home with me and attach on my apartment. The downstairs had a ping-pong table which we played many a game on. Their dog, Harley was a fan of ping-pong balls, and I skinned my elbow tackling her trying to get the ball back. For the rest of the weekend I thought that it would be best if I told everyone, "I hurt my eblow!" sparatically and then show where I hurt it.

On Saturday, we were helped with the high school girls and a collegiate quartet called New Release was helping out with the high school boys.

All the kids were so great and so supportive of us. They were amazingly excited to be there and I think in all there were about 160 kids. I think the girls won with about 115. We learned Yesterday, Lean On Me, and Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better (which we sang with the boys).

The show that evening was fantastic. Last Minute sang Goody Goody and We Go Together (I did the robot). The high schoolers were so funny because they were so loud when they cheered for us after every song. The kids did great on the show and asked us after the show if we would sign their shirts (they got shirts so they could look uniform) and music. It was so cute. I always go away feeling like a celebrity because of all the attention that we get.

After the show, we went back to Becki's for an after party where we laughed and talked and had a ping-pong tournament. Me and the baritone from New Release were the doubles champions. We met a lot of great people and had a fanastic and extremely quick weekend. It was sad to come back to the real world, but when we got ice cream this morning it made the transition a little easier.

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Rebecca needs...

I'm copying Frank, because I think this is fun...

Go to a search browser and search for "(insert your name here) needs" and put down the 5 best ones. Here goes...

Rebecca needs
to make a speach about supporting McDonalds..... perhaps she could be coherent when it comes to food. (the beauty of cut and paste)

Rebecca needs
help finding temporary foster homes for her 12 cats.

Rebecca needs support as this is a difficult job and Rebecca is working very hard at the job.

Rebecca needs to admit a big secret before she can blow those sneezes away.

Rebecca needs happy faces more then she does depressed and sad faces.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

I'm So Blessed

I just wanted to express how thankful I am for my wonderful family and friends. I can't even begin to describe how blessed I am to have you all. I talked to a girl today who has had the roughest life I think that I have ever heard about, and while she was talking I was thanking God for my wonderful life. God is so good.

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Youth in Asia

My speech teacher was talking about how the youth in Asia are a bad thing, but I just don't see it. I feel that there should be youth in Asia.

Wait.... What? Euthanasia?

OH! No! No way.

Euthanasia is completely different than youth in Asia. Support youth in Asia, don't support euthenasia.


P.S. Also support meaty urologists. 'Cause, hey, their job isn't so great and on top of that they're fat. They need support.

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

This doesn't have a happy ending...

Planning ahead tends to be a difficult thing for me. Let me prove it to you.

Where to start...

Last week on Monday, I was in my Civic when it decided to stop on me. I took the family van, and I remembered to get my parking tag out of the Civic. I drove to school in the un-airconditioned automobile and parked in my normal spot. School happened throughout the week, and then I went back home on Sunday morning.

I've been needing to take my bike with me to school (last week would have been perfect because I had the van, but who knew the Civic was going to go out on me), so Dad and I shoved the bike into the trunk of the Civic.

When I leave, my parents and I go through a routine. I hug Dad and Mom, and then Mom procedes to ask me if I have everything that I need, this time reminding me that I need to get my parking pass out of the van. I had forgotten so I thanked her for reminding me.

I drive back to school with a carload of clothes, books, and bike. Before I get to school, Frank and I decided to grab a bite to eat, so I went to his place first. When I pulled into his apartment complex, I noticed it. No...I noticed the lack of it. My parking tag was not hanging on my rearview mirror. Blast.

Taco Bell was good.

I decided to leave my car at Frank's apartment, as to evade a ticket, and then come back and get it on Monday. Frank drove me to my apartment, bike and all was well until I had to pick up my car back up from Frank's place.

I have chorus on Monday nights and I needed my car so I could go because Mom was bringing my parking tag.

Frank was over at the indoor pool, scuba-ing, so I rode my bike over to get the keys to his truck so I could drive back to his place to get my car. I collected Frank's keys and began to ride over to Frank's truck. And then the thought occured to me..."I can't get my bike in the back of my Civic by myself." As I neared Frank's truck, I decided to ride back to Womack to drop off my bike. My plan was to walk back the whole way to Frank's truck, but I remembered that someone owed me a favor. Thankfully, they were able to drive me back.

I must say that I quite enjoyed driving that truck.

I got my Civic and drove back to MTSU to give Frank his keys back, but I had to park. I looked for an open metered spot but I didn't see any, so I parked in faculty parking because I was only going take 3 minutes to give Frank his keys back.

When I was walking back to my car, I smiled at a guy walking towards me, but then I noticed something in his hand. It was one of those ticket-giver-outer-thingys. I thought to myself, "He was just at my car! What a wasted smile..."

Sure enough, after all that, there was a ticket on my windshield...

Saturday, October 01, 2005

Let's Talk "Frank"ly

For all of you out there who don't know Frank, it is a great sadness to you.

I have decided to use Frank's voice and make a cartoon out of it. There is no need for real words because Frank has enough amazing sound effects to make a hilarious cartoon.

For example:

While at Camino Real yesterday, Frank ordered 3 beef tacos, no lettece (at first, then ordered 2 more, but that's not the point). When they arrived, no intellegent speech came out of his mouth, only (and I wish you could hear me say this), "Ooo! mmmmm... lalala".

I can understand the "Ooo" and the "mmmmm", but it's the "lalala" that makes this conversation he had with his tacos the most interesting. So, you can probably see how from this one example how a cartoon would be a great idea. I need to get started on this. I could be a millionaire.

A Walker's Thoughts #2

While walking to my Fundamentals of Communications class (a.k.a. speech), I noticed a hot set of spinners on a car that is not seen that often on the MTSU campus, the mustang.

Since I walk everywhere to class (and don't drive my mustang), I decided that I should get a set of spinners for my pants. I think, perhaps, near my ankles would be best, and if I had enough money maybe some for my wrists, as well, but that may be just taking it too far.

But then I thought as I walked back to my apartment from class, what about the runners, the bicyclers, the skaters, the skooterers? What about those rich people who can afford those Segways? Don't they all deserve to have spinners? WE SHOULD START A REVOLUTION, PEOPLE!! Start now!