The ups and downs of summerhood (but mostly ups)

The best way I know to do a catch up post is via pictures. So that is what we'll do since I've been neglecting the 'Luff for way too long now. Last time I posted I had just finished school and was about to head back to Atlanta for the summer: unemployed and open for suggestions.

Right when I got back I got to watch this guy graduate from Georgia Tech after a mere five years with his industrial engineering degree.

Although I'm a UGA girl through and through, I will brag on Tech for a second because Wall Street just named them the Number 1 engineering school in the nation.  That's decent I guess.

But I still got a little pleasure out of these people who were dressed in red and black for whatever reason.

A week after the graduation we headed to the Bahamas to celebrate on a cruise! 

Since then I've been busy doing really important things.

Like fishing.

And letting my friends give me and my mom fake tattoos.

She's the coolest.

And, on a not-so-fun note, I finally got allergy tested.

21 shots in my arms and a bunch of grids with needles pressed into my back. And guess what I'm allergic to? (HINT: I've had allergies throughout my life with no idea what the cause is.)

Answer: DOGS.

I am allergic to dogs! That is terrible news. I love dogs. I want a gaggle of them. I want to use puppies as a duvet when I have my own place. But it makes a good amount of sense, seeing that I've lived with dogs forever and my allergies get worse when I'm home.

PHOOEY.

But, alas, I have landed a summer internship! So that's better news. I'll be working in corporate communications for Turner Broadcasting (TBS)! I'm pumped cause it sounds like the work is right up my alley. Chances are pretty good that I'll have more ridiculous intern stories to share soon, I start in a week. CNN Center, here I come!

Tent City Temperaments

So you may have caught on by now that I advocate for gay rights. No, this isn't another gay rights post, but I need to preface this by saying that I think people should be treated fairly and I'm a general fan of human rights.

Now let's talk about prisoners' rights. Prisoners are in prison because they have broken the law badly enough, or enough times, that they are now locked up. This is what sets them apart from any other human that falls under "human rights" (color, sexuality, gender, religion, etc.).

We don't torture our prisoners. We don't starve them or deny them medical help. We give them three meals a day and a roof over their heads. We even give them recreational time. I get that prisoners are still people that should be treated humanely, but you don't become a prisoner by being an upstanding, law-abiding citizen.

I've been to countries where, if you're in prison, someone outside of the prison has to bring you food if you're going to eat at all. I've also been places where the people would give up a limb to live in the conditions of an American prison. Also, there are American soldiers fighting places that are hotter, dirtier, and more confined than any American prison.

This is all leading to the fact that Jason and I like to watch prison shows. So the other night we were watching one about the toughest sheriff in America who runs a prison with a "tent city" as part of it. Protesters love to line the outside of the tent city to rant about the terrible conditions.

The tent city is an outdoor collection of large tents with bunks lined up under the tents. In the summer, the heat can make the temperature spike to 120 degrees. That's pretty high. I can get why people would be unhappy with that. The catch? If you don't want to be a part of the tent city, you don't have to! You can refuse your assignment and be put in a cell inside like normal prisoners. You can leave at any time. So you can literally choose your prison conditions. I no longer have sympathy for the tent city people.

Then, the show features a prisoner who is just appalled with the conditions and thinks everything in inhumane, etc. He's well spoken. The sheriff comes around to talk with the prisoners about the tent city. When the sheriff talks to this particular prisoner, does he complain about the high temperatures? Nope. Does he complain about food or shower schedules or anything else that might be ever considered inhumane by anyone? No.

And I quote:
"How come we only have a few channels on the TV? I wanted to watch the Clippers game last night but the only one we got is the Lakers."

I'm sorry....WHAT?!

I have exactly one and a half channels on a lucky day, when my digital antenna is in a good mood. I don't pay for my own cable and you want my tax money to go to cable for a prison so that you can get ESPN2!? Boy you must be out yo mind.

If I ran a prison, by the time the people got out, they would have forgotten what a TV looks like. How's about we give prisoners BOOKS? It's this old technology where people learn things through reading words on a page. Then you flip the page, and there are more words to read. Repeat.

I might also make the prisoners work all day to keep the prison running, so that taxpayer money didn't have to go to paying civilian employees. Outside of prisons you have to work to feed yourself, why not inside the prison?

I'm not saying we should torture anyone or be inhumane. But the fact that prisoners are complaining about not having a deluxe cable package is insanely frivolous. Read a book. Learn a skill. Start a therapy group. Take the offered GED classes. Play cards. Think about what you did wrong and how you'll rectify it at the end of your sentence.

A rabbi and a priest...

Y'all.

I love religious jokes.

I love funny ones, I love offensive ones, I love ones that I would never repeat.

I may be in grad school for journalism, but I will always have a soft spot in my heart for my religion major. And when I share religious jokes for people, sometimes they just don't get it.

For example, Jason knows nothing about religion. Today he's been working with his project group all day, who just happens to be a very diverse cluster of people. Georgia Tech in general is known for its overwhelming population of Asians and Indians. So when I saw this picture, I had to send it to Jason.

Of course, it's hilarious. Racist? Maybe. But hilarious nonetheless. So then Jason texts me about it, and this is the ensuing conversation:

And of course, I'm laughing myself to tears cause I think I'm so funny. But Jason has no clue what on earth his crazy female is rambling on about. This is a frequent occasion.

And so, because I'm pretty sure some of my blog readers are more in tune with religion, I am going to share some of my favorites in terms of religious humor on here. Hopefully the response will be better than Jason's.

Pit bull PR

So as I mentioned before, I've been working on a semester-long project on pit bulls as pets. I've finally finished the video portion of the assignment and thought I'd share. The first is an interview with a pit bull owner and the second is a little informational bit on the SPCA of Wake County Pit Crew.

Enjoy my limited Final Cut Pro skills!

Mother knows best

There are few things that I like more than witty banter or unexpected jokes. Essentially, I've been screenshotting text messages and threads that make me happy, and I decided that it's about the time to share them with you all. The first half are with my mom, who is surprisingly funny as I get older, and the others are bonuses from my darling manfriend.

My mom, talking about the possibility that Lisa and Matt would have a Dirty Dancing tune as their first dance song. I said I didn't know that song. She said...

Always a good influence.

My mom has to wear "Caribbean blue" scrubs to work now instead of whatever she wants. I don't like that idea...

Mom is always right, right?

My sweetie just bein a sweetie...

Me complaining about my teacher who may or may not underestimate the intelligence of her class...

And, alas, he is trained so well...

Hope they made you smile! I anticipate more rounds of this same post in the future.

Daily Dose of Cute

For my multimedia class we have a semester-long project that includes, audio, video, photography, animation, illustrations, etc. I chose to do mine on pit bulls as pets, partly because pit bull owners swear they're a misunderstood breed and partly because it means I get to hang out with dogs while I "work." A couple weeks ago I got some video at the SPCA in Raleigh. I went into the puppy room and turns out some of them were a little curious. 

So here are a couple clips I got of the curious puppies. Enjoy your daily dose of cute.

The Week I Went Blonde

So about a month ago, I decided it was time for a change. I do this periodically and it usually involves my hair, i.e. donating my hair three times, and semi-permanently dying it about five times. This time, I decided, was a chance for something more drastic. I've been faced with the idea that once I go into the "real" world, I won't be able to drastically dye my hair as I wish and still remain respected and professional. And so, if I were going to do something drastic, while I'm still in school is the only choice.

And so I decided to go blonde.

I threatened to do it for a few weeks and kept checking Groupon for good deals on color. But THEN I called the Aveda Institute, right here in Chapel Hill, to see what their prices were.

Now, as you may have guessed, the stylists and colorists are cosmetology students. I figured I'd be going back brunette in a couple months anyway, so I mind as well help a student learn how to turn someone blonde, while at the same time not breaking bank. So last Tuesday, I marched into the Aveda salon channeling Marilyn Monroe, with this picture in hand:

I was ready. I was anticipating walking out of that salon a new woman. They told me something about having lots of dimensions and layers of highlights and doing a full foil. I've never had my hair professionally dyed so I just said, "Yea sure! That sounds great!"

And thus begins the photo montage:

After FIVE HOURS of highlighting, I leave Aveda looking like this:

NOT. REESE. I do NOT look like Reese!

So I called them back a couple days later, realizing that I really only wanted to be blonde a few months and didn't have time for four highlighting sessions six weeks apart. So I went back in on Friday to make them fix it and came out looking like this:

Blonder, but still not Reese.

By the time Monday rolls around, I'm pretty positive I don't like being blonde. Blondes don't have more fun. Fun people have more fun. I can be fun without being blonde. I wanted my brown hair back. And so Jason (visiting on spring break) and I go to Wal-Mart to buy boxed hair dye. What better way to fix a bad dye job than $3 Wal-Mart box dye? None. Exactly. So we buy this:

And my hair comes out looking like a leopard. Like a bonafide jungle cat.

Yup, that's my feline self walking through Wal-Mart - looking for another box of dye. This is about the time that the jokes started flying.

Me: The dye says it has to stay in at least 25 min, but 45 for lighter hair.

Jason: So how do we know what to do with yours?

Jason: Look on the bright side...

Me: Which one!?

Me (talking about something else): If you don't like something change it, right?

Jason: And then change it three more times to get it back to how it was originally.

So this time we got something darker to try. And this box was $7, so you know it's legit.

Once this one went in, it was very clear that the dye was actually purple. After rounds 1, 2 and 3, however, purple sounded alright - I felt like I could be a purple-head if it meant I didn't have to put anymore chemicals in my hair.

When I was rinsing it out, I realized how purple the water was and thats when I started to really worry.

But, alas, my hair came out all dark brown. And I look much more normal today than I have for the past ten days. And thus, thankfully, ends The Week I Went Blonde.

Wild and Rowdy: SB12

I am back in Chapel Hill and almost recovered from the most ridiculous spring break of my life. But not the drunk-n-naked kind of ridiculous.

My spring break at age 22 included a cruise to the Bahamas with 16 girls in my sorority. My spring break at age 23 included a weekend looking at wedding venues for my sister, an academic conference, and watching my high school best friend walk down the aisle.

And, per most of my long breaks from school, and thanks to the iPhone, I am going to explain my spring break in pictures.

Stop 1: Wilmington, NC. Here's a sneak peek at Lisa's wedding location. Eek!

We also went to a wedding showcase, where mom and I found a photobooth!

Stop 2: Alpharetta/Atlanta, Ga. I got to see my dogs!

And my mom made me go to the dentist. Part of a filling had fallen off so they had to fix it. This is what my half-numb face looks like when it's smiling.

And Jason made me caprese salad. Or at least his version of it. Proportions negotiable.

Stop 3: Blacksburg, Va.

I dragged my man friend to the AEJMC Southeast Colloquium where I presented a paper on student online speech rights. Thrilling, right? I thought so, actually.

Count on UNC students/professors to be gathered around a TV showing the game - even at an academic conference.

Stop 4: Auburn, Ga. to see one of my best life friends, Locher, get married. Luckily she kept Locher as her middle name so it's still legit to call her that. Congrats, Lauren Locher Carnes! And Chip, too, of course.

Getting ready!

Watching his bride walk down the aisle!

One of Locher's closest friends couldn't make it to the wedding because she's in Italy for a year. But she still made it! Thanks to modern technology...

Getting married!!! (My "honorary bridesmaid" status got me a front row seat, I couldn't help but get a couple pictures.)

The first dance!

Bob helping them make their getaway.