365 Days of Happy - Day 274

When I was a sophomore, I took creative writing. It was a night class that met every Wednesday. My friend Cameron was in my class, which made it a hundred times more enjoyable. Cameron was really the first - and only, now that I think of it - person who I ever read my journal writings to. For many of our class exercises, we had prompts, and for others, we had to write nonstop. Just keep the pen going, keep writing the same word over and over again until you knew what you wanted to write.

I was looking through my notebook I had for that creative writing class and came across this post. I wrote it on Sept 10, 2010, at my desk in my dorm room, at 9:38pm.

Strangely enough, the dreams and goals I had when I was 19 are very much the same now.

When I grow up, I want to

join the Peace Corps. I want to own an amazing fancy camera and take pictures of different countries, of villages full of families, of volunteers and inspirational people. I want to help. I wan to live in Africa and become a great leader, someone who children look up to. I want to follow in Mother Teresa, Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela's footsteps. I want to change lives. I want to save the world.

(Enough of this serious stuff)

You will see me in the sky with a tiara on my head, a pink cape, and moccasins, flying around like an angel, and people will exclaim, 'Look, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's Superwoman! Kelsey is here to save the world!' I want to write wonderful children's books and maybe even a novel or two if my writing is up to par. My photographs will change the world. I will teach in helpless countries, and I will earn many teaching awards, and any money I receive will go toward the schools and education and maybe a new cape for me if mine gets ratty.

I will give, give, give, because I truly want to. And one day all my good deeds will turn into great karma and in my next life I will actually be an angel and when I wear my tiara and cape no one will make fun of me.

Song of the Day - Music Video Mondays

This is magical. They say it took 7 days to shoot 350+ faces and 10 days to assemble them all.

The Paper Kites - Young

365 Days of Happy - Day 273

Aww! This makes me so happy. And yes, uncomfortable. But also inspired, mesmerized, and I'm getting those warm fuzzies. 

Richard Renaldi is a New York photographer who asks strangers to pose as if they're family or a couple, titling the series 'Touching Strangers.' Just watch the video, courtesy of On the Road, and check out some pictures below.

365 Days of Happy - Day 272

'When artist Mica Angela Hendricks got a new sketchbook a while back, her 4-year-old daughter was insistent upon being able to try it out herself. Hendricks tried to say no, but her daughter used a phrase on her mom that she must have heard a few times before...

If you can't share, we might have to take it away...

Well, that did the trick and Hendricks had her little girl finish one of the characters she'd started in the new sketchbook. This turned out to be an accidental stroke of genius. Hendricks now regularly draws faces for her daughter to finish. After the younger artist completes her confident pen strokes, the older the fills them in with color and their collaborative work is done.' via 22 Words.

365 Days of Happy - Day 271

So, I wrote this a few years ago for my creative writing class. I don't know if it's good or not, but I spent a lot of time on it, and I read it in front of my class (which I was SO nervous about), and it's a Day of Happy because I really enjoyed that creative writing class and all the writing prompts our professor gave us.

I'd love some feedback. What do you think of this?

Save This For A Rainy Day

“What is the rain?”  The blind child of the desert asked me.

Rain is Latin for “rigare” meaning to wet, to moisten, to water.

Rain is water absorbed from lakes and oceans to create dark, heavy cumulonimbus clouds.

Rain is liquid precipitation; melted ice elements falling from the sky.  It is evaporation in reverse.

Rain is the baby of the thunderstorm, whose brother is hail and sister is snow.

It is a universal language understood all around the world.  Pluvia.  Lluvia.  Chuva.  Pluie.  Regna.  Reën.  Rain.

Rain is parts of a whole, plotting together to create thunderstorms, oceans, typhoons, or with a little help, acid rain.  Acid rain will definitely rain on your parade.

We mustn’t disregard the beautiful things that rain can create, such as rainbows with treasures at the end, ponds for kaleidoscopic colored fish and glassy-eyed frogs, and muddy puddles for children in slick polka dotted rain boots to jump in.

When it rains, it rains cats and dogs, sometimes men, and on rare occasions, if you follow Prince, it is the somber tears of purple rain.

If you don’t know Prince, you probably know Lil Wayne.  He can actually make it rain.

Perhaps rain is angel tears.  The guardians who cry because one of their own has fallen to the fiery well of the inferno.

It could be glitter and tinsel falling from the clouds, left over from the universe’s New Year’s celebration.

It is diamonds that were dropped from the palms of angels.

It is the sweet salvation to all animals and the satisfying drink to vegetation.

Rain is a sparking shower to cleanse the Earth, to wash it away of all its sins.

It is the metallic song of fresh cut grass and damp laundry hung out to dry in the summer sun.

It is the appreciated result from a ceremonial Native American rain dance.

It is independent music notes; a symphony of gloomy sonatas.

Rain is little worlds falling from the heavens, prepared to splatter on a sidewalk at any moment and destroy its universe.

It is spitballs shot from the mouths of aliens located outside the atmosphere.

It is rounded daggers ready to assault an innocent person on his long walk home from work.

It is fallen see-through stars shaped like teardrops.

Rain is a vanilla ice cream cone dribbling off a child’s hand.

Maybe rain is slippery cloud babies descended from the heavens.

A saint to areas where there has been a drought.

A devil to places where there has been a flood.

Rain is the days where you just want to snuggle up in your bed and sleep for hours, and say,

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day.

Song of the Day - Friday Favorites

Caro Emerald - Back It Up

365 Days of Happy - Day 270

And people wonder why I'm obsessed with my cat.

Song of the Day - TBT

Vertical Horizon - The Best I Ever Had

365 Days of Happy - Day 269

31 Ways to Live Life on Your Own Terms: A Fourth of July Manifesto
By Tiphani N. Montgomery

I was born on the Fourth of July... 31 years ago. When I was little my mom told me that all the red, white, and blue shenanigans were just for me. The fireworks, she confessed, were a gift from President Reagan, and he had called every American, on my behalf, to celebrate.

July 4th, as I had known it to be, was special only because I was born.

Can you imagine what all the family reunions, BBQs, and parties can do to a little girl's ego when she thinks that the only reason you're having a great time is because she is alive?

Well, I can tell you firsthand that you feel like a star. A queen. Untouchable. And then one day, somewhere in between me learning about the tooth fairy and my beloved Santa Claus, I found out that my life was all a hoax. That the Fourth of July was actually America's birthday. And the 40th president? Well, he had no idea who I was!

My life as I had known it was all a scam. And it cam tumbling down from there. The invisible crown I wore disappeared, and the life that once filled me with the feeling of being special was now replaced with the cold reality that I was normal like everyone else.

And because I believed what seemed to be a fact, I settled into a life of mediocrity.

Because it was easy.

Comfortable.

Safe.

But something funny happens when you get older. The time flies by and the fear of not going after 'that dream' - the one that keeps you up at night - starts to sink in. Reality becomes your enemy and you realize that the life you sat back and watched happen... sucks!

Well, my friend, I had had enough. I chose to design a lifestyle that would capture the beautiful, jaw-dropping firecracker that I am and it all gets done with no apologies!

My life is good because I designed it that way. I didn't give my life over to fate and sit back twiddling my thumbs, hoping that my dreams would fall into place. No! I decided to live a life free from everyone's expectations of me. Wild. Free. Full of integrity. And an insatiable desire to edify everyone who cam into contact with me.

I'm bold.

Fearless.

And a voice for people who don't have their own.

So in the spirit of me turning 31 years old, I want to share with you 31 quotes that I live by, and I challenge you to live your life on your own terms. Break all of the rules and make your own as you go along.

The 'Life Life on Your Own Terms' Manifesto:

1. First rule of business: Stay out of everyone else's and be about yours!
2. Keep your circle small and honest. Everyone is not for you.
3. Stay away from people with questionable character.
4. Closed doors are really a blessing. If you can't pray a door open, don't try to pry a door open.
5. 'Don't do shit you don't believe in.' - Russell Simmons
6. 'Not sure what to do next? Ask how you can help!' - Chris Guillebeau
7. Wear your invisible crown. Daily.
8. Pick your battles.
9. 'No one on earth can do what you do, in precisely the way that you do it!' - Alexandra Franzen
10. If you want to know where you'll be in five years from now, listen to your words. You're prophesying your future.
11. 'If you're not willing to go all the way, don't start the journey at all.' - Charlemagne
12. If you're feeling guilty, embarrassed, or ashamed about the blessings of God, let that go. You were created to show off His goodness.
13. 'Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.' - Mother Teresa
14. Work for a cause, not for applause.
15. Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure you aren't, in fact, surrounded by assholes!
16. You are more important than you realize.
17. Be the type of person you want to meet.
18. 'To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.' - Steve Prefontaine
19. Be so good that they can't ignore you.
20. Don't ever be too prideful to ask for help. Asking for help when you need it is one of the wisest things you can do.
21. Commit to not giving a fuck what people think. Daily.
22. 'Excessive fear and self-doubt are the greatest detractors of personal genius.' - Robert Kiyosaki
23. 'When your work speaks for itself, don't interrupt.' - Henry J. Kaiser
24. 'You can either throw in the towel, or you can use it to wipe the sweat off your face!' - Gatorade
25. 'Don't change so someone will like you. Be yourself and the right people will love the real you.' - DailyLove.com
26. Examine what you tolerate.
27. 'Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder.' - Rumi
28. Stop waiting on God to drop a blessing in your lap. Get on your knees and pray, then get on your feet and work!
29. I always wondered why somebody didn't do something about that. Then I realized: I am the 'somebody!'
30. Repeat after me: 'I can do this!'
31. Never, never, never, never, never give up. Never!

This is your life. Commit to living it passionately. Don't let the world dictate what this means for you. Show up. Show out. And rise to the occasion every single time.

Song of the Day

Kate Earl - Golden Street

365 Days of Happy - Day 268

I love words. I'm a journalist, I've been writing since I was 14. I have stacks of notebooks filled up with stories, thoughts, ideas, and opinions. Little did I know that writing silly things (mostly about boys, I'll have to admit shamefully...) would help me become the fabulous writer I am today! (I got jokes) That is why I love this series so much. Here are my five favorites.
11 Untranslatable Words From Other Cultures

Song of the Day - Covers

This is just fantastic. I think the components of a great cover song is that is sounds different than the original, that it incorporates the cover artist's voice and personality into the song, but you can still tell that the artist covering the song respects the original artist. This song is one of the best cover songs I've heard in a long, long time.

Angus & Julia Stone - You're The One That I Want

365 Days of Happy - Day 267

I had a dream last night that I was being exiled to Houston, Texas, for some reason. I was wandering around the streets of Houston in my Delta Zeta sweatshirt and backpack when I came across a sorority house. It was huge! Like eight stories tall! 

I was homeless and decided I wanted to live there, so when three Delta Zeta sisters came out of the house and saw me, I declared that I would like to live with them in this magnificent house. Turns out that the mansion housed sorority women from all different sororities! It was like a Panhellenic Council house! Such a brilliant idea, I thought. If that isn't Greek unity, I don't know what is.

I've been on Panhellenic Council e-board for the past few months, and I absolutely love it. I've gotten to know women from different sororities and I even got a cross-campus little, something I've wanted ever since I joined a sorority five years ago!

Sorority recruitment just got over with, so now we can all breathe. One of our Greek advisors was telling us that sorority recruitment brings out the worst in affiliated women and the best in disaffiliated women. I was disaffiliated, which means I could not wear my letters or tell anyone which sorority I belonged to. All of PHC e-board was disaffiliated, along with 20 or so recruitment counselors. I was disaffiliated last year as a recruitment counselor as well.

I guess this post is just to say how much I love Greek life, Delta Zeta, my little Leah and my cross-campus Johanna, and everyone I became friends with during sorority recruitment this year. I'm also really proud of the PHC Facebook page and Twitter accounts I created. I've been having so much fun with this position so far and it's really reinforcing my love for Public Relations and social media management.

Song of the Day - Music Video Mondays

This was the first song I ever heard by Ed Sheeran, and when I looked it up on YouTube, it all made sense. The lyrics are so rich and true, and the music video is so beautiful and sad.

Ed Sheeran - The A Team

365 Days of Happy - Day 266

'The term 'bokeh' is derived from a Japanese word which means 'blur.' In photography, bokeh is the aesthetic quality of the blur. This technique is usually done in order to make the main subject stand out in the photo. (Fun Spill)

365 Days of Happy - Day 265

A few of my favorites taken from 70 Reminders To Help You Break Any Barrier.

+ Believe that even the smallest compliment can save someone's life

+ To be creative is the most valuable thing in the world; don't let anyone tell you otherwise

+ People conform because there is strength in numbers, but true strength comes from the person brave enough to stand alone

+ Everyone has a weakness

+ Stereotypes don't come out of thin air; all that is left for you now is to disprove them

+ Do not screw around with your time. It is the only thing within your absolute control

+ Don't carry everything on your shoulders. That's what friends are for

+ Using old-age methods to solve new-age problems is setting yourself up for failure

365 Days of Happy - Day 264

Today was BID DAY!! EEEEE! Bid Day is one of the most exciting times during sorority recruitment. Potential new women get bids, which is an invite to join a sorority, and then they reveal which sorority they got accepted into. People like me, who were on PHC e-board or recruitment counselors, also reveal themselves. We were disaffiliated, which means we did not wear our letters or tell anyone which sorority we were members of during recruitment, so from mid-August to today!
We are the main women who help potential new women through the sorority recruitment process, and we try to be as unbiased as possible. While I loved being disafilliated, I also loved coming home to my love, Delta Zeta.

Here I am with my two littles, Johanna (who is my cross-campus little, which means she is in a different sorority than mine) and Leah!

The Gentlemen of Delta Chi gave the disafilliated women flowers before Bid Day :)

Here we are walking back to our house after Bid Day. Every year there are more than a hundred of us cheering, singing, laughing and dancing all the way down to our house.

I took this video of us! It's terrible quality, I know.

Song of the Day - Friday Favorites

Ohh the cello! The singer's cheekbones! The violinist's bangs! So many beautiful people!

The Airborne Toxic Event - All I Ever Wanted

365 Days of Happy - Day 263

Things that make me happy, part V.

(Check out I, II, III, and IV)

This print.

This comic.

This funny.

This nook.

Me pretending to be a turtle on Mackinac Island.

Song of the Day - TBT

Tonic - If Only You Could See

365 Days of Happy - Day 262

I don't remember where I found this, the Maptia Manifesto, but my goodness, I absolutely love it. 

Do you want to see the world? Sleep with unfamiliar stars? Follow a map to its edges? This is our manifesto. It is a pledge to be open to new things, to always stay curious, and to go explore the world - whether it is just around the corner at home or on the other side of the globe.

Song of the Day

Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High? - Arctic Monkeys

365 Days of Happy - Day 261

I like this because it reminds me of horoscopes, which I love. Mine is cereal, and it's 100% correct. I only wrote down my favorites, so check out the link for more if your breakfastscope isn't listed.

What Your Breakfast Choice Says About You

By Christopher Hudspeth

Eggs, bacon, toast, etc

You're an old, retired person or your name is Walt Jr or you have a butler/generous parent because ain't nobody in the coveted 18-34 year old range got time for a full blown breakfast these days. Between waking up and getting 5 more minutes of rest and checking Twitter and checking Facebook and checking Instagram and going back to check Twitter so you can clarify what one of the Instagram posts was in reference to, most of us are just far too busy for a full meal. I mean, rumors swirled about these alleged 'complete breakfasts' and the parts that composed them years ago on cereal commercials, but they were hard to hear over the chomping of Cap'n Crunch.

Toaster Strudels

You're an artist? You're a five year old who is looking forward to folding sheets of construction paper hamburger and hotdog style at school today? Those are the only two viable options here.

Cereal

You are a promise keeper, which is why you're fulfilling the requests of the 12-year-old you, who always wanted this to happen. They said 'Grow up,' and you said, 'Meh, I guess I will, but Toucan Sam is coming with me, so deal.' It's worth noting that NOBODY eats just one bowl of cereal for breakfast and then leaves it alone for the day. Cereal in the morning means cereal will be making cameos throughout the day for a second, third, or sixth serving as a snack.

Donuts

You are taking advantage of being a free, decision making adult to the maximum. And hey, even the food pyramid says to use fats, oils and sweets sparingly, so consider every single morning sparingly. If it's jelly-filled, even better. Strawberry is fruit, the donut is basically bread, and you're essentially the healthiest of the unhealthy.

Song of the Day - Covers

Song is originally by the Violent Femmes.

Nouvelle Vague - Blister In The Sun

365 Days of Happy - Day 260

They Were In Bed
Under The Ceiling Light,
He Was Drawing Circus Animals
She Was Reading About Debutantes

By Anis Mojgani

I told her
Our love is our heads
placed inside the mouth of a lion
but the lion would not ever lion-bite down.
His breath is hot. We can feel it over our ears
but lion won't lion-bite down.
She responds by saying So
you are saying
we can get a baby bear?
I say
No.
Maybe a baby lion.
But the lion would be so sad
and dream of Africa she says.
What would the bear dream of then I ask.
Trees I guess. And napping.
Hmmmm I say.
She answers this non-commitment with But bears are so cute.
He could sleep in our bed.
He could sleep in our bed until he ate it, I point out.
She sighs,
turns a page in her book
and head down, says I still love you.
I can see there is something about a Russian ballroom
on the page she is reading
She asks What will you dream about tonight?
The Mediterranean I answer.
You?
Telephone poles she says. And bright blue houses
on Irish cliffs.
That's pretty I tell her.
The lion, our heads still somehow both fitting in its mouth,
manages to purr.
My whole body is warm.
My whole body is something that happens
when the trapeze becomes just a chandelier watching.

Song of the Day - Music Video Mondays

I know - at first you're like, what is going on?! This looks like a very depressing movie. And then you're like, oh my goodness she is so beautiful but she sounds like a child. And then you're like, dayumm this is going to be a good song. And then you're like, oh look a color run! At Coachella! And finally you're like, can I have her cheekbones and eyebrows?! And her headband and hair? And her voice?? God can I just BE her?!

Angus & Julia Stone - And The Boys

365 Days of Happy - Day 259

I think Lolita is one of those timeless novels. Something about the way it's written, or the characters, or what happens, is immortal. I've never read it, but that's what I imagine it's like. I found a couple of these book covers online, and this definitely contributes to why I think this novel is timeless. Look at all these beautiful book covers! There is something very soft and delicate and sensual about them. It's incredible.