Rock the Casbah

Sometimes you just have to rock the casbah.

I love this song for a couple of reasons:
a. It's catchy as ever.
b. It has historical background.

I love songs that have a story involved or about a real person. I guess this has to do with my journalism mind or the fact that I love that the world is so interconnected.

Supposedly, this song is about when rock music was banned in Iran. The song then urges people to "rock the casbah." For those of your who don't know, a casbah is a type of market/bazaar.

I love that. I love that they have meaning (of course, every song has some mean, but I like it when it is concrete).

This is another great example. I love knowing the story of how someone was the muse for a song. I loved this article talking about those women. One of my best friends, Amanda, introduced me to "My Sharona" when I was a senior in high school and I have loved it ever since. It's fun to know who inspired the song.

In other news:
I am in the process of writing my last story of the semester. It's pretty ironic because I had to interview the same guy I interviewed for one of my first stories. It's funny because I was so scared back then about asking questions. I know a lot more now and what is going on. That is a good feeling to have.

As I talked to my best friend, Sital, about that last night she pointed out, "We are going places! Look at us."

Huh.
I guess we are.

Weekender

This weekend I made a few things and I really wish I had had my camera.

I made a recipe from Pioneer Woman called Olive Cheese Bread. Holy moly, it was great! She has some amazing recipes that I want to try out in the near future. I also wanted to make her "Best Chocolate Sheet Cake," but I didn't get to around to it. Actually, I went to my great aunt's funeral and they had the cake at the lunch afterward. I decided I might as well eat it there and make it later.

I also made some really great chocolate chip cookies and also some really good hashbrowns out of extra potatoes from the night before.

I have not been much of a cook EVER, but I figure I really need to learn to cook food (good food at that) before I get out there on my own. Honestly, I couldn't tell you how long to cook chicken breasts or how to prepare a pot roast. These are the kind of things I need to learn.

Perspective

Sometimes you feel like you just can't do it anymore. I think God gives us little things to give us perspective.

Tonight, I received a MCJ (Mass Comm. and Journalism) Department scholarship. Perspective. Things like this reassure me that I am in the right place. I am glad to be honored.

Only a week and a half left before finals. After that, off into the big bad world to actually begin applying some of this "stuff." I am really pumped and ready to get out there.

Taaaagggg

I have been given the task of being "tagged." Back in the days of high school we did that all the time on the once popular Xanga (do you guys remember those??).

What was I doing 10 years ago?
I would have been 9, almost ten.
Ok... I am in the 14th grade so I would have been in the... 4th grade?
Ah, yes. I was in Mrs. Starkey's 4th grade class. I gave my sweet mother a very hard time because I wanted braces so so so bad. I would get paper clips and make a retainer-like contraption and try to where it everywhere. Why did I force orthodonture on myself? Your guess is as good as mine.
I, like everyone else, was like, oh my gosh, drooling over the cute guys at school (the one we really liked is at USM with me in one of my classes so I won't blow his cover).

Here's the music that was popular that I was listening to:
1. Hanson (My cousin Cary and I would have Hanson poster contests. She beat me by one poster and I still think she cheated)
2. The Boy is Mine- Brandy and Monica
3. SAVAGE GARDEN
4. My Heart Will Go On- Celine Dion (Wasn't that the year Titanic came out?)
5. Shania Twain (yes, I know)


Five things on my to-do list today:
1. Get Dr. Campbell to sign my internship packet
2. Go to work at the Printz
3. Finish article and mail to editor
4. Finish weather and climate project
5. Call mom

Five things I'd do if I were a billionaire:
1. Travel all over with my family and friends (Ellis family road trips with money involved? A new level would be reached for sure...)
2. Give back to my community (Jackson and Hattiesburg)
3. Pay off any debts by parents have (because I don't have any as of yet, thank goodness)
4. Buy a great house with lots of charm and fix it up (I really have been watching too much HGTV).
5. Invest my "workers" (A definite Truman Ellis term).

Five bad habits:
1. Biting my nails.
2. Freaking out mentally when people don't do things the way I do them.
3. Wanting to be in control (see #2).
4. Not really a bad habit, but, wanting to know everything about everyone, everywhere. If I see a car accident or a police with sirens blaring, I want to know everything that is happening and why. My mother calls this "rubbernecking." I call is "journalistic passion."
5. Buying things I don't need.

Places I've lived
1. Madison, MS
2. Hattiesburg, MS

Five Jobs I've had
1. Barista at Seattle Drip
2. Visual Arts Instructor at the Salvation Army
3. Hourly Reporter for Student Printz
4. Clerical Assistant for Wilson Events and Planning
5. Babysitter

Well, that felt good. I used to love those quizzes to fill out. If I still had my old Xanga, I would go pull one out for you. Alas, I deleted that sucker after the first time I "googled" myself and it showed up.

Craftster

I love the website Craftster.org.

One of the ideas I saw the other day, I really wanted to do. Button flowers!

How you guys heard of them?
All you need are buttons of various sizes, flower wire (the kind you use for stems of gerber daisies, etc), and scissors.

For a great tutorial, click here.

Mine turned out like this....


I think they are cute! I wish I had more colorful buttons, but that is something you learn with crafts I guess.

I also worked on my photo essay. I was at Hobby Lobby today looking for black cardstock. I could not find any without getting a 25 or 50 pack and paying $6+. I was looking in the bargain section when I find it- memory book inserts. They had this pack of hole-punched black paper that you just put into a memory book when you run out of pages. It was perfect. Since I had a paper cutter, it was no problem for me to cut off the laminated edge and cut it down to the size I needed. And it was a pack of 15 for $1.50. I love a good deal!

Also while I was out today I had a bit of a "star struck" moment. When I went to Walmart today, I saw Switchfoot there! I know, random. Switchfoot it playing here today and for whatever reason it was, their tour bus was parked at Walmart. As I was driving past I saw Jon Foreman (the lead singer) get in the bus. I was forclempt. I texted people. I freaked-the-heck-out.

After leaving Walmart and driving back onto the street where my dorm is located I saw Jon Foreman AGAIN. This time he was walking in front of my dorm looking at these kids playing football. Today they had this huge football camp for kids and they were playing in the practice fields across the street (the field you see in the post below). My little taste of celebrity today...

Hope you are having a good weekend!

This Devil Does NOT Wear Prada

I don't consider myself a fashionista by any stretch of the matter.

BUT, I am CRAZY about this bag. I have loved the Balenciaga Le Dix motorcycle bag for a few years now, having a red ("inspired") one for about 2 years now. The other day I was on eBay just piddling around looking for a bag that maybe, MAYBE I could use for for work (can carry all of my stuff plus my laptop and audio recorder).

I found this really cute inspired Le Dix bag I liked. Yesterday, I received it in the mail.

I am in love with this bag. Yellow? I am not a "yellow person" but I thought it was fun.

It might not really be the work bag I was looking for but it was really cheap.

Do I seem a little too excited? Maybe so...

Head-Fake

If you have never heard of Randy Pausch- you should. I can not describe to you how much I loved his lecture. I know you might not think you have 76 minutes of time to watch his last lecture, but you should make time for it. If you want to watch it, click below.

Pausch, a professor of virtual reality at Carnegie Mellow Univeristy, is actually dying of cancer. Though he know he is dying, he is living every day to the fullest. Once he found out he was dying, he gave his last lecture.

Maybe it just comes at the right time, but he really makes me think, "Why are you worried about so much? You are doing the right things with your life."

Watch the video. You will think so too.

Huh?

Come on Blogger! What's the deal? (grumble grumble)

Alright, this will be my third stab at this post. Let's hope it works.

I am in the middle of an "experiment" and I am pretty sure the results are not going to be in my favor. This may just be a personal question but, does it really matter what kind of laundry detergent you use? For as long as I have been washing clothes, I have always used Gain. This probably has to do with the fact that the waitress we had at Nagoya said they use to Gain to wash their towels. I just love the scent. Being the thrifty college student that I am, I decided that maybe I should just use good ol' Purex. Well... I just put my clothes in the dryer and I think I have figured out why I have used Gain for so long. Gain has a good scent! We will see how this turns out.

Why did I just post about my laundry?
Who knows...

Can't Start a Fire Without a Spark...

If there is one thing I have to say I really enjoy about Hattiesburg (and this is probably a bad thing) is Hudsons. If you aren't familiar- it's a salvage store, but in Hattiesburg it gets a lot of amazing stuff because the distribution center is here.
Today I picked up:
American Apparel shirts
Cups from Target
Once DVD
Bruce Springsteen Greatest Hits

I must say, I was so pleased. I have a secret thing for "The Boss" and was so excited to get the Greatest Hits. I had seen American Apparel clothing in magazines and my sister had a few of their pieces but I had never thought about them for myself. I really really like the v-neck t's. They are so soft and comfortable. I think everyone must try one!

The weather outside has also been so pleasant the past couple of days. Not to mention that it is football spring practice as well. Lucky for me, I get to see this out of my window everyday:

Crash Into Me...

This weekend was interesting, for sure. I went home this weekend to do my taxes, fill out my FAFSA, and take some pictures for a photo essay I am doing on my friend Rachel.

After doing some "rubbernecking" (As my mother would say that I am very good at it. I would like to add I am pretty much majoring in "rubbernecking.") looking at the storm damage around Jackson, I got into a little fender bender. Yes... I know. I was sick to my stomach. Not too much damage and the girl that I pulled out in front of had a '92 Buick. She didn't have much damage either (and if she did we would be able to tell from all the dings she had on her car). Ugh... just another thing to add to the list.

(For Ashley)(NOTE: This is not my car!)

On another note...
I am in love with this cake:


You can see more here.

Screaming Pug Rocket

I have really been on a YouTube kick lately and this is one of my favorites. It's a video called "Screaming Pug Rocket" and it is hilarious. I love pugs with all of my heart (my family has 2).


I have also been trying to get back into crafty mode lately and think of some ideas for my dorm next year. I was lucky enough to get one of the large rooms next year (They are really about 3-4 feet larger) which means extra space. I am thinking about having a couch area- one of the many things I miss out on with dorm life. That being said, I went back to this website that I used to visit all of the time, craftster.org.

I have been trying to get some ideas about fun stuff I can do and create to make it feel more home-y. Dorms can get quite bland because you are not supposed to do anything with the walls.
We shall see how it turns out!

Bleeding Love

While I am not one for super poppy songs, I have had this song stuck in my head for the past two days. Because I am a great person, I will pass this great song on to you. Now you can enjoy it just as much as I have (ha).

One Moment Away...

This has definitely been an interesting weekend to say the least.

Friday night the storms here and in Jackson were crazy. I keep hearing about how horrible the weather was in Jackson and that there was extensive damage. My friend, Carrie, lives right off of Ridgewood Road and they had a tree go through their home into their attic. They say it could have been a lot worse. My grandparents also had a tree or two fall down. How crazy!

Saturday, my dear friend, Erin, came and visited. Erin (left) is pretty definite that she is coming to USM next year so I showed her around campus and town. I am really excited that she will be here next year.

All of best friends went to separate colleges (Air Force Academy, Ole Miss, Millsaps, Holmes CC) which can get kind of lonely after a while. Not to discredit any of my fabulous friends in Hattiesburg, but it is nice to see my favorite faces now and then. For my own selfish sake, I am glad that one of them will be with me and be able to share in that experience.

Also on Saturday, my mom informed me that a brother of one a guy I went to school with since grade school was killed in a serious car accident. If you live in Jackson, I am sure you have heard of it. If you haven't, click here.

Scott and Ted have the sweetest mom (who still attends our church). They have had a lot of obstacles over the years and this is just crazy to have happened. Ms. Debbie always knows my name and was very sweet when she would come by the Drip to get coffee. Please keep all of them in your prayers.

What strikes me the most is how so many teenagers die around this time of year. Is it just a coincidence? For me it brings back all of those memories with Rachel (below) and Lanie. It is amazing to me that it has been almost three years ago. I am actually doing a photo essay on Rachel for my photojournalism class. Though it is has been an interesting experience, it has been a positive one.
I hope your week begins on a good start tomorrow. This week is going to be crazy!

-Sophie

Four Minutes to Save the World...

I would just like to say that my interview was great! I feel so much better about this internships and I feel like it is a great opportunity to go with JFP. They seem to understand that an internship is a learning opportunity and seem more engaged with interns.

I will be one of three (or possibly more) interns working there this summer. I am very very excited about this opportunity.

The office is in Fondren, which I love. The building is next to the Jerusalem Cafe (which might turn out to be a good thing or a BAD thing), Cups, Rainbow Whole Foods, and many other fun places. It's a good place to be.

The editor seems very interested in me and said that I was in a great position in my career to be interning there. She said it was obvious I had wanted to do this for a long time and this would be a good opportunity to become multi-dimensional (which I totally agree).

What I love about the publication is that they have intern workshops to keep everyone focused. The editor also teaches private writing classes and we can attend for free. The classroom is actually in the JFP office and it is very neat. The building has great views of North State St.- you can see the skate park in the backyard of Swell from the classroom (which will probably become the intern office)!

All in all, I am very excited about this summer and getting started. I had definitely been feeling the pangs of sophomore slump. This gives me a renewed sense that I can actually do this.

Hurrah!

Oh Canada...

As things come to a close for my Salvation Army SPA (School of Performing Arts) program, I have been having to put together some of my projects for their performance. Today I was putting together the kids' "quilt" that they made. Each kid took a square of paper and decorated it for a class quilt. The kids put this together on Lundi Gras (the Monday before Mardi Gras) when I was in New Orleans. Since I hadn't looked at all of them, I suprised when I read one that said "God Bless Canada."

This struck me as funny because you normally see "God Bless America," not "God Bless Canada." The artwork really made me chuckle.

In other news...
I have an interview with Jackson Free Press! I am very hopeful about this interview and hope it goes well. For those of you who don't know, I was also offered an internship with the MC Journal. We will see what happens!

More later,
S