Facebook is the Devil

I'm tired of being tagged in Facebook notes by acquaintances from high school that would lead me to believe that Facebook is the anti-Christ, and I've only been tagged in two of them.
How closed minded of someone to deny themselves the right to something they enjoy doing. How simple and naive to believe that deleting your Facebook account will bring you closer to God. If Facebook is your biggest "sin", you haven't been living in the real world very long and honestly if that's distracting you from being religious, you're going to have so many more issues if a real distraction ever presents itself.
People use Facebook. A lot. It's a rampant social networking tool and love it or hate it, most people use it on a daily basis. It's a form of communication between people who otherwise would never take the time to keep in touch. Much like these two people I know from high school, I would probably forget a lot of people exist because they just don't play any part in my life. Why would I take the time to write a letter to someone I haven't talked to in 3 years? It's just not feasible.
If we're assuming Facebook is causing you to sin and not do the things you're supposed to do, how is eliminating it going to help? Aren't you just going to find something new to distract you from God? These things are completely unrelated. Why don't we assume then that the Internet, television, rock music, dancing, caffinated beverages, books about witches and wizards, and women wearing pants are also going to distract you from God and cause you to sin. Are America's Christian youth really heading in such a Puritan direction? As far as I know, people who cite Facebook as being religiously distracting are still doing all of these things. Who's to say that it's really any different?
Rejecting new media is a huge landmine that journalists are trying to diffuse. The mass majority of people turn to the Internet because it's instant and accessible at all times of the day. This is why people use the Internet for everything from pornography to Bible verses. It's a tool. It's there. Rejecting something will not make it go away or make your life easier.
Why wouldn't a good Christian try to salvage their already dependent relationship with Facebook in order to foster new Christian friends by using a tool that can be a distraction for good. You could do a number of things to make your time spent on Facebook much more fulfilling for yourself, but mostly for the people in your life who need to hear about God. Leaving a massive group of sinners who are readily available to be subjected to your words completely isolated from you is selfish. Dare I say, un-Christian?
And after I read a note about a girl deleting her Facebook for religious reasons at the end of the week, she then continued to update her statuses. If it's so important to quit, why would you continue to compromise your faith by allowing yourself to repeat your addictive habits?
In conclusion, deleting Facebook for religious purposes is a really dumb idea and is very closed-minded. I don't agree with it and I feel like people who do so are being selfish to their friends, religious and non-religious alike.

I Hate You SO Much Right Now

I thank God every time I hear my roommate yell on the phone that the tumultuous chapter in my life has ended. The fighting, the phone arguing, the ignoring, the uncertainty, the mistrust, the insecurity, the crying, and all the bits and pieces of a disconnected relationship are completely in my past. How did I, the least confrontational person on the planet, put up with 4 1/2 years of bickering and major arguments?
I'm thankful I'm with someone who loves me (possibly for the first true time in my life) and that I have the sense to put past relationships where they belong- in the past.

Tina Fey: I Salute You

The more I watched 30 Rock the more I realize that the show is incredibly clever and is full of fantastic characters and spot-on humor. At first, I kind of arbitrarily watched it after The Office was finished because it was on and Tina Fey was on my T.V. and I like her. After my slow immersion and tuned out watching, I started to actually enjoy the show for it's uniqueness.
After watching an episode of 30 Rock with 3 guys and listening to their reactions, though I was already a fan, I must salute Tina Fey.
She has brought the allure of geek chic back to the mainstream, reinstating the time-honored fantasies of the sexy librarian or school teacher. She is desired not only for her body, but for her wit and intelligence. Men like funny women. She is bold, quirky, confident, intelligent, and hilarious. As far as I can tell, this drives guys nuts and that leaves hope for the rest of us normal women.
I like to imagine that Tina Fey is low-maintenance, down-to-earth, and can keep up dissing insults with the boys, much like myself (or so I try to be).
And her hair is fantastic and so low fuss. Adorable.

Welcome to the Dumps, Population: Me

My hormones have me under their command sometimes and it's days like these I wish I had a y chromosome.
I've been very on edge and easily upset.
I feel like I'm not able to access my full creative potential.
I feel academically inadequate and unable to comprehend simple things.
I feel physically incapable of being beautiful.
I feel really sad and crappy and I really just want to cry and for someone to say that I'm wonderful and everything will get better.
I'm scared that I will never have a decent job and will live in debt the rest of my life.
These are all real fears I have that really shouldn't be relevant at this point in my life, but they are.
I'm sad and scared and forgetful and uninspired.

"I've been around a mirror enough
to know it's hard to change.
We're like magicians when we dream
but we wake up... nothings different."

The Faint, Mirror Error

Mother Would Be Proud

It's the eve before spring semester begins and I must say, I am surprised. I'm feeling anxious. Not nervous or excited, but anxious. I don't know what the semester will bring, but I've already made some fantastic steps just today.

• I dyed (part of) my hair red. Not my whole head and not a vibrant, bright red, but the underneath part is now red to some extent. I like it a lot. I've always wanted to do it and it didn't turn out disastrous. I'm sure my mother will be less than thrilled, but she doesn't have to see it until I come home.
  
• I am now a photographer for the Daily Gamecock! If you're not familiar with USC campus life, the Daily Gamecock is the school newspaper at the University of South Carolina. I haven't actually done anything yet, but my first meeting is tomorrow. I'm very excited about this, you have no idea.
• I'm in the midst of starting a photography group on Facebook to effectively cater to my friends' and acquaintances' needs for nice looking pictures, be it to promote recitals, headshots, or just a new default picture. This is purely for the joy of taking pictures of my friends and allowing myself to get some good field experience. The only roadblock I've encountered is that I don't know what to call it. While I figure I'll be shooting primarily musicians (as most of my friends are music majors), I don't want to narrow it to only that. The title says it all, really. It needs to be memorable, elegant, and not totally cryptic. I really like Ars Nova Photography. While it is a stylistic period in music of the Middle Ages (this is how I found it), it's Italian for "new art" or "new technique". Digital photography is a new technique and new art form, in relation to more traditional forms of art like painting or sculpting. I'm going to sleep on it I think.
  

I actually think I'm going to enjoy all of my classes this semester. I'm taking:

• Speech
• Intro to Econ
• Psych of Marriage (don't ask me why)
• Journalism Writing
• Graphic Production (Journalism)
  
• University Band

My primary objective is to get my Life Scholarship back and that can only be done by getting a cumulative GPA of 3.0 this year. I'm teetering at a 2.75 right now and it's taunting me. My frame of mind is leading me to believe I might actually enjoy learning this semester (gasp!) and for that my momma would be proud.