My life from A-Z

A. Age: 23

B. Bed size: Full

C. Chore that you hate: Taking laundry out of the dryer/folding hot laundry. I just can't do it. That whole cotton phobia thing comes into this. 

D. Dogs: None for me, thanks!

E. Essential start to your day: Taking my basal body temperature. If I don't get it at the start of the day, I have to skip that day so I think it's pretty essential! 

F. Favourite color: Green.

G. Gold or Silver: Silver or white gold.

H. Height: 5'4. 

I. Instruments you play: I played the flute/piccolo a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

See? Told you.

J. Job title: Astronaut.

K. Kids: None yet.

L. Live: Florida.

M. Mother's name: Christine.

N. Nicknames: Hufflepuff.

O. Overnight hospital stays: None that I can remember.

P. Pet peeve: IRL: People not getting into the turn lane until the very last second. Online: People who don't break their walls of text into paragraphs. 

Q. Quote from a movie: "Once word leaks out that a pirate has gone soft, people begin to disobey you, and then it's nothing but work, work, work all the time." (Picked this one because I was just talking about it with Josh the morning in reference to a scene in Breaking Bad.)

R. Right or left handed: Right

S. Siblings: Two sisters, Felicia (25) and Sierra (12). 

T. Time you wake up: Sometime between 6am and 6pm, usually. 

U. Underwear: Microfiber bikinis almost exclusively. That good ol' cotton phobia, again.

V. Vegetable you hate: I actually had to look up a list on wikipeida because I couldn't think of one off the top of my head. There are a lot of vegetables I don't like or don't prefer, but hate is a pretty strong word. I'm going to go with onions because while I don't mind the flavor (and will cook with onion powder or salt) the texture and sliminess skeeves me out. Just so you know, there is apparently a vegetable called Fiddlehead, and Chrysanthemums are technically vegetables.

W. What makes you run late: Not being able to find things like keys or shoes.

X. X-Rays you've had: I honestly couldn't tell you. At least: mouth, head, wrist, chest, and ankle. 

Y. Yummy food that you make: Lo Mien! I'd actually rather make it at home than get it from most Chinese places. I use a variation of this recipe and usually add in some chicken or left-over pork chops.

Z. Zoo animal: Definitely zebra. I also love me some penguins. 

Is there such a thing as internet privacy?

Google+ has started to crack down on their real name policy. Some people are against this, as they feel having a fake name keeps their account more private. Others respond that there is no privacy on the internet. You shouldn't post anything that you wouldn't want the world to see.

The topic of internet privacy has been brought up many times before, mostly when people have to deal with the real life consequences of what they post online. Things like teachers being fired over a rant on their blog. I've heard over and over again that it's their own fault, because the internet isn't private. It just isn't. Doesn't matter if what you got in trouble for was in a "private" email, if it was posted on the internet you should expect someone else to find it.

I don't really agree with this line of thinking.

Is most of the internet private? No, it's not. I take part in an online forum and I know that basically anyone could go on there and find my posts. I divulge personal information that may not be wise, and talk about political beliefs that could be detrimental when looking for a job. If someone happened to randomly come across the postings I would have no one to blame but myself.

However, I think that is different than someone purposely seeking out information just to hurt me, or someone giving this information just to hurt me. I also think it's completely different than getting access to non-public posts on my social networking sites or my email. If I say something incriminating in an IM, and then that person screenshots the IM and starts showing it around, I don't think I should be told "well nothing's private on the internet - it's your own fault".

If that is true then it should also be true for anything you say, write, or do anytime anywhere. When posting information that is supposed to be private online, those who gain access to such information do so with the understanding that such information is not to be shared. Because not everyone has access to everything online (without hacking) I do think there are some spots within the internet framework that should be considered just as private as a home, car, office, etc. Just like people can take screenshots on the internet people can take photos, videos, sound recordings, etc IRL. To me sending an email about a medical condition should be no different than telling someone about it in person. Entering my social security number into a webform should be just like physically writing it down on a paper form. Employers should have no more access to my private social networking page than they do to my diary. I really don't understand the concept that anything I do on the internet is public information, when that doesn't apply to other things such as my telephone conversations. Maybe one of you can enlighten me?

I would like to note that I don't have an issue with police looking at private posting on the internet, as long as they have a warrant. If they need a warrant to search my home they should need a warrant to search my facebook.

Basic Instructions

A week or so ago I started reading a web-comic called "Basic Instructions". Three times a week Scott Meyer uploads a comic with the premise of teaching you how to do something. The title is always "how to" something, such as "How to Sway Someone to Your Political Opinion". Nine times out of ten the title seems like something you might actually want to know. Then comes four panels "teaching" you how to do whatever the title says. The instructions are often believable enough, but the characters portraying the instructions do so in a way you wouldn't expect. The instructions for the above title were, "When faced with disagreement, lay out your position as clearly as possible." See? Sounds like good advice. But one of the guys in the comic is trying to explain why having the murderer in a cop show be the bad guy is offensive and biased. Here, I'll show you an example:

That picture turned out a lot smaller than I thought it would, so for my vision impaired friends click [here] to go to that comic's page.

Scott employs a really neat way of drawing his comics, using all real people for his models (called rotoscoping). He takes pictures of his friends in the poses needed and then traces over them using Photoshop and Illustrator. Since each pose and costume requires a real person to pose for it, you'll see the same poses used different ways throughout the comic. His wife has written a blog post about the process [here].

I've really enjoyed them so far, and I still have a few years of archives to go through. Hopefully you'll enjoy them as well!

How I Shop

I don't like shopping. Not just clothes shopping, but any kind of shopping. If at all possible I like to order things online instead of visiting a brick and mortar store. This has been to my advantage since I've been ill and thus stuck at home all day.

When I do have to visit a "real" store it is usually for one of 4 reasons:

1. Groceries. It's pretty difficult around here to shop for groceries online. We also lack any kind of ice cream delivery service, depressingly.
2. I need new clothes. Some clothes I'm able to buy online, but often times new work clothes have to be bought at a physical store to make sure they are flattering.
3. We need something that can't be found online, that would cost too much to ship, or is cheaper to buy in person. Usually before this happens we do whatever comparison shopping we can online first.
4. There's a deadline. Sometimes we just can't wait for something to be shipped, and can't afford overnight or second day delivery. In these cases we have no choice but to go searching through brick and mortar stores hoping we can find it that way.

Getting into Swagbucks has actually made my online shopping habit worse. Instead of going to Target and buying my sister's wedding gift off of her registry, I was able to buy the exact same thing on Amazon using the gift cards I've earned. If only I could buy *everything* on Amazon.

Why am I telling you this? Check out [this post] for explanation.

Why I Love My Hometown

There is only one reason why I love my home town, and that is because some of my best friends live here. When we do finally move somewhere cooler that is likely the only thing I will miss. Perhaps I can convince them to move with us?

Hurricane Season also has it's perks. The really bad ones (Category 3 and up) and no fun, but the tropical storms and low category ones can be nice and exciting. Not everyone gets to meet Jim Cantore.

Why am I telling you this? Check out [this post] for explanation.

Why I Hate My Hometown

There are many reasons why I hate my hometown. The first and most obviously isn't limited to just Panama City, but the whole region. It's too freakin' hot. Not only is it hot, but it is also humid. Summer lasts pretty much from March till November. During this time if you cannot leave your air conditioned house even to check the mail without breaking into a sweat. It's horrible.

The second reason is it's proximity to Panama City Beach. Spring Breakers and college kids off for summer flock here like their lives depend on it. The whole city panders to them, so if you're *not* into the party scene there's not much for you to do. There are certain main streets you cannot go down after dark without the risk of some skank flashing you. I don't know how many times Girls Gone Wild has gotten in trouble for filming underage girls here. One more reason it's horrible.

And if you're not dealing with drunk college kids, it's illiterate rednecks. These people sure do love the Confederate Navy Flag for some reason. SMH.

One day we will finish school and be able to move somewhere that doesn't have these problems. I do know that everywhere has it's own problems, but some of them are more bearable than others.

Why am I telling you this? Check out [this post] for explanation. Image from [here].

The Story of My Most Serious Injury

I've had two very serious injuries. One of them happened when I was a child and I don't even remember it. The other happened in high school or just after and I remember it clearly. The first one still causes me trouble today, while the second does not.

When I was in pre-k or kindergarten I fell off the monkey bars. My mother was told that I had bruised the bone on my ankle by the emergency room doctor. They didn't take an x-ray. They didn't put it in a cast. They just said to keep it elevated for a few weeks and alternate hot and cold packs. It took me much longer to heal than it should have.

My freshman year in high school I joined the marching band. A little while into the school year I started to have a lot of pain in my ankle. When I went to see a podiatrist I found out that I had not bruised the bone after all, but actually broke it. Since it wasn't in a cast or anything it didn't heal properly and will probably always cause me some problems. I ended up getting tendinitis while in the marching band, and cannot run long distances without the risk of getting it again. I had to wear special insoles for a while but don't anymore. As long as I don't take up any sports that require the use of my feet I should be fine.

The second injury is why I put the picture of the chicken soup in this blog post. One summer day either right before my senior year or right after I made some chicken soup and then sat down at the table to eat it. I've always like my soup hot so it was boiling when I took it off the stove. Apparently when I put it down on the table it was slightly off the edge so the whole thing spilled on my thigh.

Thankfully my older sister was home taking a shower at the time. She heard me scream, ran out of the bathroom, and dragged me into the shower. After cooling down the burn a little bit she put toothpaste on the burn, then a washcloth, then an ice pack. I don't remember if she called Mom or if she was already on her way home, but mom came home shortly after that and took me to the emergency room. The doctor said that I was really lucky Felicia responded the way I did, as otherwise I could have needed a skin graft. I had a really bad, ugly scar on the majority of my thigh for many years but it's almost gone now. I can only see it if I look for it and other people probably can't tell at all.

Even though the memory of the burn is still vivid in my mind I still like my soup boiling hot. The difference is now I always make sure it's on the table properly.

Why am I telling you this? Check out [this post] for explanation. Image from [here].