In class "Notes"

Note to self: Avoid laughing out loud when people ask stupid questions in class. They get angry.

(“Does freelance journalism pay a lot of money?”)

I couldn't hold it back.

Really- if you're looking for a lot of money, journalism is really not the field to go into.

But I did feel a little bad afterwards. That girl probably thinks I'm a real bitch now.

As Dr. Cox in Scrubs said- "Worth it."

<3-r>

Now that I'm Vegetarian, I should really learn to cook

I'm sure my mother is rolling her eyes heavenward at that title, wondering where she went wrong with her youngest child. I know- she did the same thing not too long ago when I had to ask her to sew a hem in a dress I was wearing for my brother's reception.

The thing is- I really can cook and sew (In fact I've actually been sewing a lot recently- personalizing my purse). But in both cases- I just need a lot more practice. I am actually not a bad cook when I actually do it- I just still, as of yet, haven't figured out how to get started. (plus I don't have that much time....)

It's even harder now that I've been keeping to a vegetarian diet (except for a few cheating times involving fish- yummy fish). The easy recipes I could make in the past (we're talking about at my parents' house, where they actually stock food beyond microwave meals)- involved mostly meat- like easy chicken parmesan or tuna noodles or beanie weenies.

The food I have in my apartment right now that I can eat? (discounting the yummy things my amazing roommates Kate and Lara have, because I actually avoid eating their food unless it's offered)

Noodles.
Makings for Fluffernutters (I checked the marshmallow fluff- it's vegetarian safe- uses xanthan gum instead of gelatin, which by the way, is made by a completely awesome lab method involving the fermentation of glucose or sucrose)
Various saucy things for toppings- like ketchup, jelly...
Stockpiled vegetarian microwave meals from the convenience store. (I've grown to really love the vegetarian meatloaf)


Clearly, my cooking and eating habits are pathetic. I'd like to change- but I don't even know how. I looked through Kate's vegetarian cookbook- it involved so many ingredients and time that I was like um...no.

I'll find something soon. But 'til then, I'm eating my "meat"loaf. mmmmmmmm yummy.

-Rach

Palin Baby Name Generator

It's a Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator. Pretty fun. : )

My name would be Puck Mule Palin. Haha.



<3-Rach/puck mule

Wow this Book is Old

A book I'm reading for my fabulous history class (studying hoaxes throughout time) has an entire chapter on a hoax from 1835 in which the New York Sun convinced tons of people that there were winged men and women living on the moon in a paradise of trees and water and beauty. Unicorns and a variety of other animals were also mentioned.

And at the very end of the chapter, it says,

"In a few years astronauts and cosmonauts will head moonward for the first manned landings on our gleaming companion in space--and the odds are very much against their finding the unicorns and bat men that dazzled our believing great-great-great-grandfathers in the summer of 1835."


Wow. The moon landing getting talked about as a future event. This book is OLD. (1965)

Good fun. : )



And I made myself a wordle for this blog (I don't know why it came out so small- I made it bigger so you can read it but now it's blurry, hmph). I don't think it worked very well, because all of these words to me, look like things I've said in the past 10 or so posts, but certainly don't represent all of the posts on this blog.



But I do really say actually a lot, and maybe I have discussed virginity a lot, so cool. And okay, I do say awesome a lot- it's not for nothing that my website's called hyperbole girl. It's for amusement purposes only, of course.


Woohoo!

<3-Rach

For the Win

So I'm so busy sometimes with stuff this semester that I forget how busy I really am and freak out, doing nothing except watching old episodes of ABC shows (Grey's <3) style="font-weight: bold;">moved out. So for the time being, I have a double room to myself. Even though I know it probably won't last (there's like a waiting list for rooms or something), this is extremely awesome to me. I can actually WORK in my room instead of having to retreat elsewhere. FOR THE WIN.

3. My boyfriend is awesome. My family is awesome. My brother is Married now and I have a new sister. Other assorted greatness continues on this list.

4. I'm actually kinda keeping it together, despite all the craziness. I've only skipped two classes this semester (except for unavoidable things I worked out with the teachers like attending political rallies, flying off to another state etc....)- I'm keeping up with all my work pretty well- my grades are good- my room is clean and my laundry is getting done at the proper time. And I got some really hot pants in Houston with my mom that actually fit me really well- they're getting tailored now for the low low price of $36.

5. And most importantly- I'm happy. How much does that rock?


And.....Grey's Anatomy and Ugly Betty starts up again this week. Of course I'll be in class when it actually happens, but it's the principle of the thing. I'll get to watch my shows in the next week. Yay.

andiwillkillanyonewhotriestotellmeanyplotpointbeforeiwatchtheshows. Seriously. : )

And now off to Journalism Law- a class I actually very much enjoy, despite my mom's fears that I'll turn into a bloodsucking lawyer.

<3-Rach



And new facebook still sucks. But I'm dealing.

updating-ishness

New Facebook won and ate Old Facebook.

Lame.

In other news, my brother got married and the wedding was beautiful. Photos will be going up soon.

Busy busy busy with school and stories for my various jobs. It's crazy.


-Rach

Mwahahaha: Avoiding New Facebook

I feel so proud of myself- simply by never ever ever accepting the "New Facebook will soon be the only Facebook" remark at the top of my facebook home page- it seems I have been able to put off switching over to the horrendous new layout- at least for now.

I would post the news on facebook, but I'm scared the developers will see it and fix the bug- landing me in their ugly ugly ugly remake.

<3-rach

Should Sex be a Legal Commodity in our Society?

I came across this story online the other day

Student auctions virginity, sparks online debate

"LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A 22-year-old woman in the United States is publicly auctioning her virginity to pay for her college education, sparking a heated online debate about sex and morality.
....

"I don't think auctioning my virginity will solve all my problems," she told celebrity television show The Insider on Wednesday. "But it will create some financial stability. I'm ready for the controversy, I know it will come along. I'm ready to do this."

"We live in a capitalist society. Why shouldn't I be allowed to capitalize on my virginity?" she added."

What do y'all think?

McCain/Palin Rally, Amazing New Camera

So I went to the McCain/Palin Rally in Fairfax today early- had an awesome time- got amazing pictures with new camera (more on that in a bit)- played a little acrobatic reporter to get out of the crazy crowd (differing reports estimate the crowd at between 23,000-27,000)- meaning I jumped over three fences and got down from the press stand by climbing down through the bleachers....in a skirt and heels (lesson number 1- never wear a skirt to an outdoor rally), it was insane- and wrote a 1,300 word story for UWire Youth Vote '08 and turned it in.

BAM.

It was a crazy insane morning but probably one of the funnest times I've had at a political event. And I'm really happy with my story- it's not a 'typical' news story, but I think it came out really well.

I am so elated over my new camera! After I turned in my camera to WPNI, I was left with nothing- since my other camera imploded like, back in May sometime (It's cool though, it was getting old and becoming less useful). So yesterday I tooled out to Circuit City and tested cameras- meaning I was the weird girl in the store zooming in as close as I could on distant things and seeing how the photo came out when I took the pic. This camera cost $200 and is AMAZING. It's not an slr, it's not huge- it's very little actually- but I took really really good close-up photos from 100 yards away at the rally.

I can't post any up yet because of a first publication agreement with the blog- but once it's up, I'll put a few up to demonstrate the AWESOMENESS of this camera. Really. It's amazing.


What a cool week! Covering Biden, then McCain/Palin, and Friday Bob Barr (I know, less important, but still kinda cool).

Weeeeeee

Rach

-EDIT-

My story is up online! Go see!

Now- Photos from the Rally!!!!

(I only had two posted up in the story and they're both tiny- these are more fun)

And keep in mind- I took these from probably 100 yards away, with a small non-SLR camera I bought yesterday. This camera is BRILLIANT.

When McCain first stepped up to the podium- the thumbs up signs! It was really bright outside so I thought it was pretty perfect that Cindy McCain insisted on wearing sunglasses.

The only person who didn't speak out of these four was Todd Palin- and Sarah Palin and John McCain talked about him enough to make up for it. : )

One of my favorites. They look like they're in a sea of signs.

I love Palin's expression in this one. I'm not certain what McCain's doing.

Former Senator Fred Thompson! AKA District Attorney Arthur Branch off of Law and Order. Love.


I took TONS of other pictures but I'm really really tired and sore all over so I'm just going to put one more up before I go to sleep- maybe more crowd pictures tomorrow.


This is my absolute favorite amazing picture of the day- I call it the hero shot. The guy in front just started yelling- "Wave your signs for the helicopter" and everyone started throwing them around- the symmetry of this just came out so wonderfully. He looks like he's leading a revolution- a Republican revolution. Ahhhh I love it so much.

So yeah. In short- the new camera is a complete success. Brilliant.

Time to massage my poor aching feet (don't wear heels to an outdoor rally- lesson number 2) and go to sleep.


Rach

Ten Happy Thoughts that Make Me Fly

If you didn't get the Peter Pan reference, go and rent a Disney movie- you clearly missed out on some important facts of childhood.

1. Aram loves me! He loves me like crazy!

2. ABBA songs of all shapes and sizes. And musicals of all shapes and sizes.

3. Fun hats! I bought a really cool fedora the other day that I got many compliments on. And now I want a moose hat to represent my love for Sarah Palin's awesome moose hunting-ness.

4. Internet cartoons weeee I <3 questionable content, xkcd, dr. mcninja, penny arcade, control alt delete, and least i could do. : ) (And the fact that I have signed personalized drawings from qc and xkcd creators is ten times cooler)

5. Joan Hess's Claire Malloy and Maggody mystery books. Mmmm they're yummy.

6. My gorgeous beautiful amazing Mac.

7. Sugary candies which kill my teeth but hug my soul. Including but not limited to- gummy bears, fun dip, ring pops, m&ms and the really fake gummy hamburgers that I should probably not any more because gelatin isn't vegetarian.

8. The thought of traveling abroad next semester to England and interning somewhere awesome in the journalism field. EEE I want to see the world. : )

9. My life as a journalist - the joy and thrill I get when crafting an article or seeing my name in print/online is incomparable to anything else in the world!

10. My amazing family and my awesome friends and the wonders of technology (cell phones and Internet) that keep us together!


: )

<3-Rach

Palin makes my life more exciting

Now I'm not saying here which way I lean politically or who I'm voting for (I used to put that kind of stuff up online but I went around and deleted it all when I started politically blogging)- I mean, if you know me in person you can probably figure it out, but god, I certainly hope no one can tell from my writing. I do everything I can to avoid that.

However, I do happen to think that Sarah Palin makes this campaign season so much more exciting to be in- she's new, fun, brings in a whole bunch of controversy that hasn't been gone over a million times already, and adds some teeth to a GOP race that had until this time, been pretty normal. I think she's brought some color to the race- her pairing with McCain is going to give Obama/Biden a run for its money.

I'll probably have more analysis later, but that's the short version for now.

: )

-R

So Biden's talking at Mason today

On the Prince William Campus. I'm chilling in Verizon Auditorium waiting for him to come out. It's supposed to be set up as a discussion where a bunch of citizens can talk to him. I'm writing up a piece for UWire Youth Vote '08 on it- which is awesome, since I've barely been able to break through the CONVENTION MADNESS coverage of the last two weeks.

This area's small- it seats only 300- and it doesn't even look half full. I think the reporters crammed back here in the tiny press space make up a quarter of the audience at least.

Can't tell if the crowd's friendly or not. Many seem to have Obama shirts, but many more seem to be dressed in nondescript clothing that doesn't seem to cry democrat or republican. I know some of the republican blogs posted something about this event to try to get some people to come out to question Biden on issues the GOP and the Dems disagree on.

I sincerely hope Biden's not the only person to come speak at Mason- omg I would kill a moose to be able to see Sarah Palin speak. McCain too, but Palin- holy crap.

And Obama would be nice, but hey, I've already seen him speak live twice, how much more can a girl take?
This should be fun. More people are coming in. Looks like this party's getting ready to roll (I say in jest, as most of the people in the audience look over 40).

-Rach



-EDIT-

I sent out an e-mail to all my teachers today explaining why I'd be missing their classes (Biden's talking- have to sit around and wait for him to talk for multiple hours)- and this was really funny. Both of my journalism teachers were like "Wow that'll make a great news story! You should turn it in for class!"

And I'm like.......no shit Sherlock! This is for my job though, so I won't be able to turn it in for stories for class- lame.. The rule apparently says you're 'plagiarizing'....from yourself. when you do that. huh.

Biden's still talking now (he's been going for a long while)- something about electric cars and green jobs.