This is gonna kill me..

The word: Curiosity.

This one is for my PW teacher.

When we walk into my intro to PW class every other morning, there are always two things we can guarantee we'll here before those two hours are over.

1. "How can you make your writing make you a dollar?"

2. "Why are you people not asking questions?! You've got to be CURIOUS."

Well, thanks a lot, Mel. I am now. And it's driving me bonkers.

See, there is a particular situation that is placed conveniently in front of me every day that, quite frankly, is none of my business. However, my new found curious nature is fogging up the common sense section of my brain. I want so many answers, but I might just have to settle with just asking myself...

Yes, I definitely think that is best.

Well now on to my main point!

I'm toying around with a new direction I could take with this blog. I find that writing about myself can become rather mundane, and I only imagine that reading about me all the time could be just the same. There's just one problem..

For the project I hope to embark on, I will need help from people. You people. People not afraid to take a chance. If that is you, please find me... Talk to me... Work with me.... We'll have a good thing going.

Go fly a kite.

An insult? Not to the people of Enid.

Over the past couple of years, a few wonderfully motivated people have challenged the rest of E-town's residents to participate in Kites Over Enid, a probably annual event with a few purposes.

1. Raise money for an awesome cause.

2. Get families to spend time outside together.

3. Outdo school children from the Gaza Strip.

Yes, you heard me. Kites Over Enid has been attempting to break the world record for the number of kites flown in an area at the same time. So who, you ask, are the current record holders? School children from the Gaza Strip set the most recent record of some 3,700 kites in the air simultaneously. Seriously. Can't make that up.

Now, breaking a world record where wind is a major component of success is definitely no easy feat when you live "where the wind comes sweepin' down the plains."

Luckily, mother nature smiled down on us kite flyers, and gave us perfect weather. It was so satisfying to see people from Enid actually coming together for a common cause, even if it is to stomp out a Gaza Strip record.

It was also an amazingly fun time to spend with my mom.. We had some great laughs, and I learned that she is wayyyy better at kite flying than I am... Oh well..

I don't say this often, so pay attention. Enid, I'm proud of you. In total, we flew 2,439 kites at the same time yesterday. Not the world record, but definitely nothing to spit at.

Hey, give us another couple of years and some more publicity, and those kids in the Gaza Strip will be shakin' in their boots, as we Okies say.

So, next year, if you have an interest in anything... Animals, BBQ, kites, quality time, live music, taking pictures, or breathing... Go fly a kite. It's a good time.

So... there's this cat...

I have no clue where it came from or who it belongs to. All I know it that it's decided that my mom's home is its new home. It's been hanging around for a while- last time I was home about 5 weeks ago, it would show up on our screened-in porch, surprising my brother, myself, or anyone else that would step outside.

It's a very very friendly cat, and pretty young too. It follows my brother and I around everywhere we go.. It's even gotten in the habit of walking right into the house when we open the

door. Heck, I went to leave my house earlier today the thing hopped right

up into my driver's seat and just looked at me like "Well, what are you waiting on? Let's go." This caused me to take extreme measures and put the cat in our back porch before I could leave.

It's a funny cat too.. It tries to climb everything.... my leg, my brother's punching bag... One of the funniest things I've seen is opening our door to the garage and see it crawling up the screened door.

The weird thing about this whole it that this has happened before.....

Several years ago- I can't remember exactly how long ago it was- there was this dog.. It started hanging around our house too... It would come through a broken screen on our porch and sleep out there. I remember it was winter time, so feeling bad for the poor thing, we put an old comforter out there for him to sleep on, and shortly after that we started leaving food out at at night for him too...

We called him Homeless, and he was our "not dog."

And so it went for about a year. We had just sold the back acre of our property, and the people that bought it built a house there, but conveniently forgot a fence.. So, in essence, we didn't have a real back yard for a long time. That meant Homeless could come and go as he pleased, and there wasn't much we could do about it because we were totally against chaining the poor dog up all day...

Despite our neighborhood being a relatively safe and undisturbed place, dogs were still in danger of being hit, so that thought always worried us. Luckily, one day a woman from our neighborhood came to us, and told us that Homeless was visiting her house too, and staying in her yard, and she just loved him. She decided to keep him..

Of course, at the time I was about 10, so I thought this horrible woman was stealing our dog, but looking back, I'm really glad she did.

That's the thing about my family... they're not really "pet people."

Don't get me wrong, we all care for animals.. In our family, though, we just didn't have the time or money to commit to animals like a lot of people do. Additionally, my mom has a no-animal policy in her house, which doesn't help much either. Plus, for many years of my life, I was terrified of dogs... Not sure why, I still refuse to watch Cujo...

Weirdly enough though, I've developed a love for dogs over the past year or so... I hope to one day have one of my own, and it will definitely be allowed to hang out in my house.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm looking forward to being a "pet person."

the coffee shop

There's a coffee shop in my hometown that, for all intents and purposes, could have charged me rent throughout high school.

It's a locally owned coffee shop. On any given afternoon, you can stop for a visit and the place will be bustling with all sorts of people, young and old. Musicians flock here every now and then to play, and the work of local artists and photographers line the walls of the place. It's a town favorite, and has been around for close to eight years. I myself, however, have been coming here for five.

I remember the first time I walked in. I was with my best friend and two other friends walked in while a band was playing. The place was full to bursting, and the drinks were sweet and cold. I loved it.

I came in here every now and then after that. It wasn't until about 4 years ago that I hypothetically signed my lease here. I was in here most days, if not everyday. I became friends with the girls who worked there, and all the regulars just like me.

I remember staying hours after the place closed, dancing around with music up really loud, or playing ridiculous games with my friends.

I remember once after hours one of the guys working broke the faucet in the back while we were washing dishes, and water gushed all over the place. Hilarious.

I remember another time we bet my friend five dollar to eat ground up espresso beans... Equally as hilarious, but still pretty gross.

I remember being able to walk in the door and everyone knew what drink I wanted before I had to say anything. I remember not having to pay for a drink for months at a time. I was one of those "regulars" and I loved the friends I made and the people I met and the conversations I've had in here...

But as anything else does, it changed. The atmosphere, the baristas, the regulars...

It's Friday night. 4 years ago this place would be packed with people laughing, playing music, and carrying on about everything and anything. Tonight, myself and 4 others quietly type away at their computers without a word mumbled among them.

It's so sad to me... I miss so much the laughter and life of this place. But, I think what is sadder is that some people believe this to be the status quo, good enough, and that works for them. No, not at all people, not at all.

I'm not sure what to do about it.. I love this place and don't want to let it go, but at the same time every time I walk in the door and realize that it's just not the same.

I guess for now, I'll revel in the quiet and remember the good ole days.

It's just been one of those days..

I've been laying in bed almost the entire day, completely lacking motivation in all aspects of everything. Almost.

Today, I ate my feelings.

If you've never indulged in comfort food, consider this your pat on the back from me.. And if you have... You understand what I'm talking about.

I have managed to immerse myself in comfort food and mentally justifying every ounce of it I put shameless into my body. Productivity win.

Soup, sandwich, day-ish old Mexican leftovers, chicken strips, and best of all- that pint of my favorite ice cream that I swore I would make last for about a week... Oops.

Another way I know it's just been one of those days? I am SO tired. Can I sleep? No. I've tried rolling over and taking a nap at random times throughout this day, but my mind won't stop compulsively spitting out images, scenarios, or thoughts, thus my contemplation of nothing continues.

What is the worst part of all this? I feel like I can't pull myself out of it.. I know full well that I need to.. I have friends, school, and a life to get back to. But if I can't do it, I know what will.

Reality. My life, my schedule, and my test tomorrow aren't going to slow down or stop because I'm having a pity party. I know that tomorrow morning, I'm going to show up to class with a smile on my face, ready to take on life like normal. I have to. We all have to.

I know I will snap out of it, let's just pray it's sooner than later. After all, I have a test to study for people..

It's a good thing.

Eventually, everything changes.

You may not like it.

But stay true to yourself and know that everything will turn out fine.

This ain't no bed of roses.

The Word of Today, Yesterday, Last Thursday, and Right Now...

Let me break it down.

I don't have any. It doesn't exist in my book of self. Complacency to me is nothing but a far away dream and desire that I could never obtain no matter how hard I try.

What a wonderful thing it would be to live day to day, satisfied, content, or relatively unaware and unabashed by harm, stress, or fear that could potentially befall me. I would never worry, I would never panic, I would never be anything other than a pleasant shade of satifaction. Oh, it sounds so wonderful.

Or does it?

Truly I do wonder what I would give for a day or two of simple complacency. A time when I have nothing to do, nothing to think about, nothing I want to improve on. But what kind of life is that?

[Un]fortunately for me, there is ALWAYS something to be done. Whether it's creating something brand spankin' new, or tweaking whatever crazy project or assignment I'm working on, I am never satisfied.

So in my wake of never-ending adjustments and diversifications, I'm going to write whatever I want. The Word of the Day will still have a dominant presence here, but at the same time, stay tuned for more and exciting things.

It's time to spread my wings and write.

Under my Umbrella-ella-ella-ay-ay-ay

I'm feeling musical today. So this is to kick things off.

So, with torrential downpours and apocalyptic flooding, I feel that the Word of Today should pay tribute to one of our biggest allies during rain like this:

Umbrellas.

I will pay you 10 buck if you didn't read that and automatically start singing Rihanna in your head. I mean, I don't blame you.. it's just that catchy!

Anyway. I love my umbrella. It does its best to keep me dry, even though on days like this, getting rained on is completely inevitable. In fact, I love all umbrellas. I think that you can tell a lot about a person by the color or design of their umbrella. For instance:

The Dreamer...

... The Hopeless Romantic...

... The Transparent One...

... Even the Lush.

I love walking down the shiny and slick South Oval on a dreary day and studying the color, size, or design of the different umbrellas. I love the brightness they bring to the sidewalk, especially on such a dreary day such as this.

However, with all of the bright colorfulness cheer added to a cold, wet, and blatantly gross day, one can't help but notice those poor, poor people that inexplicably attempt to bear the rain without a coveted umbrella. I see these people every time it rains. They all have the same, sad and damp face, and I just feel so terrible. Every time I see this, it takes everything I have to keep walking and not give them my own umbrella. It sounds so ridiculously lame, but I wish i could carry an excess of umbrellas around campus with me, and just give them away.

I wonder how many crazy looks I would get from people.

Would they take them?

Would they scream at me to get away from them?

Would i be 'that girl'?

Well, readers? If you were umbrella-less on campus, would you take one from me?

Blog renovation...Quality>Quantity

Hi friends.

I have all kinds of issues, some of the worst deal with complacency and

commitment.

And, unfortunately.. this isn't working for me.

I mean, you've been great. I just need to work on myself for awhile.

I just..... Don't want us to get stuck in something that might not be what's best for us..

Okay, that was my best attempt at e-dumping...

Now on to my point.

Posting something everyday is much more of a challenge than I expected. I mean, I doubt most (if any) of you have checked back on a daily basis and actually noticed that I haven't been keeping up with my dumb self-inflicted challenge. But believe me, that's totally okay. We all have lives- busy ones at that. So I think it's time to be a little realistic here.

I am still really looking forward to writing about the Word of the Day, but it just might not be everyday.

And, it's not just a matter of having time, but content as well. i don't want to bore you wonderful people to death by explaining to you why I like peanut butter over jelly or anything trivial like that.

I want to blog with purpose, people! :)

So in essence, I want to give you something worthwhile, something interesting to read. Whether that happens everyday or not is irrelevant to me.

Alright, ladies and gentlemen, the blog renovation is complete for now. But with my short attention span and lack of complacency, one never knows. :)

Love always.

lunch.

Despite the unbearable urge to just pull this blanket over my head and peace out from the world for the next ten hours, I'm DETERMINED to get on track with my words and my days.

I can't fail my own challenge, people. That's just sad.

So without further ado, the Word of the Day is...

Lunch.

One thing you should know about me before I continue: I love food. However, at the moment I can't catch and pin down the exact words to explain my love of food, so I will continue with lunch and save that for another day.

Forget this breakfast-is-the-most-important-meal-of-the-day business. One of the most important parts of my day is lunch. And by the looks of the Union between 11 am and 1 pm, I'm not alone in that sentiment. I love lunch not only for the food, even though that is a predominant aspect of lunchtime itself, but for all the happy and satisfying potential it shows everyday.

Alright enough rambling.

The point I'm trying to drive home here is that I love eating lunch with people. It means so much to me that someone would take time out of their lives to eat and converse with me. Whether it's been a plan for months, or an impromptu decision to not sit alone, lunch with friends brightens my day.

And today, that happened TWICE!

The first was one of those impromptu meetings in the Union that turned into laughs and quality time with people that make me smile.

The second, while not as last minute, was a pretty wonderful fluke. I took a friend to one of my favorite places near campus, to which she had never been. It was wonderful to laugh talk, and of course, eat with her!

So here's some food for thought. If you have a spare minute or two, ask someone to lunch. I mean, if it brightens my day so much, I must not be alone in that. It may brighten yours, or someone else's you may know.

Directions

The irony of this post is vastly expanded because of the timing of this post. You'll get it in a minute.

ANYWAY! Here it is! The first Word of the Day is....

Directions.

Directions take many forms, some in a big picture view, others in a very specific part of life. They tell you where to go and when to get there, or what to do and how to do it. And seriously, there are A TON of directions to follow during college. Let me explain.

Classes. The syllabus, for instance, is just one giant list of do's and don'ts for the next 16 weeks of your life. Attendance policies, lessons, homework, tests... All either working to teach you something, get you somewhere, or if anything they all come with... directions.

Campus. You cannot honestly look me in the blog and tell me that your Freshmen year you never cracked that campus map open and silently (or maybe not so silently) shed a tear or two.

Life After School. This is the deep, big picture directions that I was talking about. The entirety of college itself is one big, giant, humongous, push in one direction or another. Not only that, but advisors provide you with a concrete and detailed list of things to do from beginning to end.

Traveling. Well, sort of. I'm just using this section of my explanation to confess that I can't get to Bricktown without using my Garmin.

There are COUNTLESS other things I could add, but that confession leads me to my next point.

I am terrible at following directions.

It could be as intricate as quantum mechanics, or as trivial as assembling a two-piece kids' toy. Every now and then, the capability of following directions - whether it's getting things done the way they should be, or getting from A to B - escapes me.

This really hit me recently, when I just couldn't get my act together. Complicating an easy assignment, just flat out forgetting another, even losing count during the tango, are you kidding me?! It's my third year of college, man... Maybe someday I'll get the hang of it.

Anywho, I'm going to stay on the optimistic side of life and just scratch this mess up to jitters or something. To be honest, things are already looking up. T....A...N.G.O.

Now for the irony.

This word was actually intended for Monday, but apparently I can't even follow self-established directions.

Oh well. Have a super day. :)

I'VE GOT IT.

Finally. After about a week of tweaking and sculpting a theme and direction of this blog that isn't entirely narcissistic, I've got it.

Le Mot du Jour... The Word of the Day!

I was trying to figure out a happy medium between my love of words and language with my ridiculous and silly situations. My goal is to find an encompassing word that relates to my day, my life, or maybe I just might post a word that I like and go from there.

Hopefully this will accomplish two things:

ONE: Make me more aware of things around me. After a few days of trying out this word thing, I no longer just coast through my days, but revel in every minute, good or bad. Plus, this way I will force myself to post something everyday. Dun Dun DUN!

TWO: I will expand my vocabulary, and my love of words even further. And who knows, maybe you out there reading this will be encouraged to find your own words too.

AHA! THE CHALLENGE: So how about it? Try it sometime. Take time to notice everything around you for a day, or a week, whatever you wish, and find your word! And, if you choose to accept this mission, I would love to know what words you choose!

So the challenge is on, for me and you (if you are feeling adventurous)! My first word post will be TONIGHT, so stay tuned!

Love always.