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More Career Development

2009-11-17T04:31:48Z

So, in addition to the Myer-Briggs, I have been on this road confirming my career goals and I think I just confirmed how confused and complicated I am. So, the first test I was recommended to take was the work values inventory from Donald Super. It has you circle a number between 5 to 1, with 5 being "very important" and 1 being "unimportant" for each "work value." First off, I hate putting things on scales like this. Unless they are numbers, I don't see how people can rank things. Second, you know what you want in work but is it really necessary to rank them?

Regardless, I tried my best to rank each item and then tally them up for each category. The categories included Creativity, Management, Achievement, Surroundings, Supervisory Relationships, Way of Life, Security, Associates, Aesthetic, Prestige, Independence, Variety, Economic Return, Altruism, Intellectual Stimulation. My highest was for Altruism... while I managed to get a seven-way tie between Achievement, Surroundings, Supervisory Relationships, Way of Life, Security, Associates, and Intellectual Stimulation. Um, what the heck? I guess I only strongly feel anything towards helping others, and otherwise don't feel the need to highly rank anything else? My three lowest categories were Aesthetic, Variety and Management, and Creativity and Independence. Prestige and Economic Return were in between. How overwhelming!

I then tried taking the the Self-Directed Search (form R, 4th edition) to find out my "Holland Code." It looks at Activities, Competencies, Occupations, and Self-Estimates among the five categories for occupations, Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. In activities, my top two scores were in Investigative and Social. In competencies, my top two were Investigative and Conventional. Occupations showed high numbers in Investigative and Conventional. Self-Estimates, however, showed high numbers in Conventional and Social. Somehow, in the end, I ended up with being the Investigative type, with a tie for Social and Conventional.

You know what kind of occupations that yields for me? Physician, Internist, Mathematical Science Teacher, and Market Research Manager. What the hell?! I am a Social Sciences major with an interest in computers... none of these fields work with me! I need to discuss this with the career center specialist next week because now I'm just going crazy over how my whole education process had not gone with what really interests me... sadly enough, I know I do like investigation, conventions, and social... and yet... oh dear...

P.S. Artistic was the following score, so part of me wants to consider ISA / ICA fields too, which would allow me occupations like Anthropologist, Mathematician, Psychiatrist, Medical Technologist, Nurse Practitioner, Physician Assistant, Industrial Engineer (Tech), Agricultural Sciences Teacher, Forestry and Conservation Science Teacher, and Health Specialties Teacher. I think I'm going to stick with Bank Teller and/or Secretary, with a focus on Social Science, hahaha.

Edit 11-18-09: So it hit me a couple of days ago... I could do SIC/CIS/CSI/SCI too... That would suggest Editor, Index, Patient-Resources and Reimbursement Agent, Ophthalmic Medical Assistant, Psychiatric Aide, Medical Assistants, Medical Records and Health Information Technicians, Financial Analyst, Claims Adjuster, Data Entry and Information Clerks, Credit Authorizers...

Yeah, I'm not taking this seriously anymore. All I know is that I need to do something that helps or could eventually help people and that I do some investigative/repetitive work in. Career center appointment is on Monday.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

2009-11-15T23:53:54Z

It's funny how I hate taking tests that make me choose between two items, especially if this is supposed to determine the type of person I am. Is it illogical or logical to try to consider the situation for each response, rather than what would "usually" apply? For example, the questions that confuse me seem to be oriented on emotion versus logic or structure versus freedom. Why can't there be both, one more at different times? There seemed to be some sort of stress caused by just choosing one or the other! In fact, just seeing only two choices for everything made me want to scroll through trying to find a question that had more options. Sadly that did not exist.

Do you usually get along better with
-imaginative people, or
-realistic people?
What does it mean to get along better with imaginative people? Are you talking about fictional characters such as those in books? What does showing a preference for imaginative people really mean? Laid-out characters versus realistic people who may be more spontaneous? Though, what is the definition of realistic people? Down to earth or just not laid out? I wish I could easily choose this response. Maybe I'll go with imaginative people just because I once had fallen in love with a character from a book, through had to return the book and did not note down the name of either the book or the character. Then again, I don't think people are as simple as characters, and so I prefer realistic people because they can give me a variety of emotions and expectations, if not highly affected psychologically or by society... so, it really is hard to pick!

Are you more attracted to
-a person with a quick and brilliant mind, or
-a practical person with a lot of common sense?
Why can't I have both?! What do I have to pick? Someone who has a lot of common sense can be against any conversation that makes them think abstractly or even about things to be opinionated on... and someone who is quick and brilliant can be totally clueless on social behavior. I think both aspects would bother me. Why is it hard to have a little bit of common sense and a little bit of an interest in things that make you think? Ugh, I may have to choose common sense because I guess I could put up with that more, even though I automatically have a tendency to go for guys who show immediate signs of being quick and brilliant. Okay, common sense makes more sense, because maybe that could include brilliance without them really knowing it? I mean social sciences and even some sciences are basically common sense...

Is it a higher compliment to be called
-a person of real feeling, or
-a consistently reasonable person?
Depends on who it is coming from! Why can't I be a person of real feeling, considerate and sympathetic, but also be a reasonable person? Isn't it reasonable to consider feelings and being a person of real feelings by looking at what makes most sense? Okay, consistently reasonable person seems better because then I'm taking into account both emotions and appropriate situations!

Would you rather have as a friend someone who
-is always coming up with new ideas, or
-has both feet on the ground?
If I am trying to come up with an opinion, I want them to come up with new ideas andd have both feet on the ground so I am both realistic and considering other ideas.... hm, new ideas compliment my personality more because I am not that creative. However, I am quite odd, and so having both feet on the ground makes me feel better.

Are you inclined to
-value sentiment more than logic, or
-value logic more than sentiment?
Again, why must I choose! If I am sad about something, isn't it logical to take into consideration why I am upset? Then again, sometimes it makes no sense why people prefer others to lie or just care about emotions... I am so leaving this blank.

In planning a trip, would you prefer to
-most of the time do whatever you feel like that day, or
-know ahead of the time what you'll be doing most days?
I want to know ahead of time WHERE I'll be spending my time, but in a casual manner. I want an idea of what I need to get done by the end of the trip and for the trip, but I don't want to know what I'll be doing most of the days. Is it knowing most of the days if you have a general idea rather than completely relying on spontaneous activity?

I think I'm just going to pick a lot of random responses and go with logic-related responses because in my opinion, you need to look at both what seems objective and how it affects people... and then choose the decision that has the most positives and least negatives. Obviously it seems impossible to integrate the two...

Sexuality

2009-11-13T04:52:09Z

Okay, what gives us the right to look at people and try to figure out if they are gay or not. Actually, why have I done this? I can understand the whole idea of me wanting the guy to even possibly want me, so hoping he is not gay, but if I truly believed in the sexuality as a spectrum idea, I would not think this! I do believe in that but my actions have begged to differ through the years. I've gotten better but it's messed up that I still thought, oh, a guy wanting to dress in "feminine" clothing often would mean that he is definitely gay... except it's okay for a girl to constantly dress up as a guy? What is this hypocrisy?!
I also hate how others do this to a bigger extreme, especially with guys. With girls it seems to be more like she just seems like a lesbian but with guys, it usually comes down to clothing, way of speaking, or for some even way of talking. Anything that just seems both off and "gay." The whole concept of "gaydar" baffles my mind, for I do not have such a thing, and I do not even know how much it truly matters in everyday life to know if one is gay or not. It almost seems as wrong as someone walking around going "hmm, I wonder how much she weighs" or "hmm, I wonder if he's a virgin." Honestly, it's none of our business! So, why is sexuality regarded as such an open thing?

Also, why is it that when I state how annoyed I am at how something is sexist or sexualized, there is always the argument "well, it's not us... I don't know what you're talking about buuttt most people III know." Jesus H. Christ, I am not talking about you! We wouldn't be friends if you were that demented... hence why I prefer being alone. I would not deal with your stupidity if that was the case and I refuse to deal with your micro-focused arguments right now. It's getting ridiculous that whenever I look at something at a sociological viewpoint, or just generally speaking, there has to be that SPECIFIC response. Fuck that. You may not represent the norm BUT IT STILL EXISTS. Ugh.

Please, Sorry, and Thank You

2009-09-03T03:49:44Z

For years it seems like my use of thank you and sorry has been excessive. Someimes people would understand my true feelings behind such overused words and other times some would only account the times used, rather than how I truly felt.

There are economic theories that show that the more exposed you are to certain things, the less you desire it. However, there are psychological theories on how you are exposed to some things, the more you like them. They are not talking about the same thing but they could make sense in some way, depending on the thing you are looking at. You may be sick of having tomatoes every day but because you saw the same person every day vending them, you are drawn to them, from either trust of their product or their concern in helping you. In my opinion, when it is not consumption, overexposure is a good thing, but with information it can be iffy. Then again, it is probably because I hate hating and I know my comfort level rises over familiarity. After that basic familiarity, it depends on how we interact, if at all, and from there on is further information evaluated as to how much my contribution matters. So, like the conflicting theories, even my own opinions can vary.

However, as someone who truly feels guilt and sorrow often for causing any sort of inconvenience about the smallest things, I somehow take offense when I am told that my excessive use of sorry is wrong. Why is that wrong when it is the word closest to expressing what I feel and my own connotations? You know why I say "sorry" when I go through a crowd, instead of "excuse me"? I always felt that "excuse me" made it seem like I had right of way. I am not saying that is how I take it when others say it but whenever I hear myself say it, I feel righteous for some reason. If I am late to class and you are blocking my way, I would rather blame myself for taking my time and taking that route (feeling sorry) than blame you and say "excuse me" pretending that you are the reason I am late. I realize my actions are under my own control and no matter how easy it is to blame, ultimately my body realizes that usually I am the one to blame. Still, I do realize that I need to stop feeling guilt so easily, but just because I do so often, does not mean that every time I say sorry, it hold the same or even no meaning.

When it is not up to me, or I was not the reason, I tend to let others know. Usually this occurs when someone does or says something that I consciously appreciate, because I view good things as a result of others and bad things as a result of my own views. There have been times where I looked back later and realized I never let someone know how much I appreciated them replying or even noticing me but when I do, I tend to thank them. You did not have to share that information that I found greatly pleasing or helpful and, after I took my time to thank you for something you considered so menial, you may not even want to continue. That is completely understandable but I do not get why I cannot find something special in something you find average? Just because editors and specialists get paid and are known for certain things does not mean I cannot appreciate when someone I know tends to do something of that nature, even if it is just one of their regular hobbies. I do try to thank less but what is the point of that? Just so you can feel less awkward and subconsciously less appreciated for things that others, mostly myself, truly enjoy about you? It amuses me when the same person who told me that I did not appreciate enough tells me that I make people feel awkward by making them feel "out of the ordinary." It is definitely my own view that I value what people do over how much money they spend on me. I appreciate the work put into earning money but if you know I would be a lot more content with something a lot more simple, you clearly are not thinking of me when you waste a lot of money on me. You are thinking of society and what is valued there. For me, there is a difference between surviving and having enough to reach creative desires than just buying something because I am *insert something here* when I told you how much I just appreciate certain simple actions you take daily.

Now "please" rarely gets any love from me and I have little idea as to why that is. It may be because it took me years to realize how demanding I seemed when I would go through a crowd, where I should be saying "excuse me," and how adding "please" could help a lot of my statements. It could also be that I have too much pride. There is also the chance that I feel that I do not deserve whatever I am asking for. "Please" is merely a polite way of extending a request, and if the person really does not want to do it, they may not do it anyway. In fact, there is the possibility that they may be annoyed... so maybe there is a subconscious realization that "please" seems to have very little content to hold. I have noticed I tend to use the word when I really need something but not for myself but for someone else. In a sense, it adds to the effect of urgency for me. It seems that simple words of niceness have come to mean something to me much more than just the act of being polite. I guess I need to try to do things that I know has no meaning at all, because that may be where one of my biggest weaknesses may be.

-This seems to be an anonymous letter to someone, or a couple of people, and basically just my own frustration in how I view things versus how they come off.-

Birth Control, literally?

2009-09-01T15:59:15Z

I always hated how dichotomy of belief and being makes life seem a lot more simple if you can just place yourself on one side. You are either religious or not, pro-life or pro-choice, agnostic or atheist, alive or dead, etc, and that is how you can base most of your views/opinions. What about the views and processes involved in between? Has the advances of information and technology sort of brought upon a greater desire to control, because it may make you question or support those given "facts" you thought you knew all along?

Earlier today, I sort of had this breakdown that I never really considered the gray area between being pro-life and pro-choice. I mean, I knew that even though I always thought of myself as pro-choice, there are always going to be people who will abuse being able to choose but what about the processes of giving birth and conception itself? Even then, most people are inclined to think abortion and adoption. Well, what about natural birth versus birth inside of hospitals? How about natural conception versus egg/sperm/surrogate donation?

I am suddenly somehow afraid that by advocating myself as a pro-choice, I can come off as someone who is okay with the idea of aborting or altering a baby/fetus/etc for any reason you find necessary. I am absolutely not. In fact, the idea really terrifies me and I know that I still need to learn a lot more about the topic. I was reading about genetic engineering and how you can not only find out the sex of the baby but also how you can see how likely they are to become mentally disabled, what kind of disability they could form, or even what kind of physical differences they might have. What happened to the days when you had no idea how or what the baby would be until the day of the birth? In a way you can argue knowing helps you become more prepared but then again, there is a price for that information. Not only is it more available to those with money but you may automatically start treating the baby differently if you knew right away that they were to have Down Syndrome or were just merely a girl. Which one is better and do the parents-to-be know from the start that as much as lack of information may hinder their parenting abilities, the information they may receive may change their whole way of raising or even wanting the kid?

I am not saying that genetic engineering can't be good at all, since there are people who try to use it only to determine the health of the baby but what worries me is the idea of healthy, which I realize varies from person to person. How did mothers and children go years without any check-ups and come out to be so normal/brilliant people and yet now, there is such a huge focus on looking out for the baby from the beginning? Speaking of brilliance, I don't get how there is such a huge demand for teaching the baby from the start when back in the day, they had nothing like "Baby Einsteins" where the baby could learn to read at such a young age. If social change is in order, how did we go from having people go from explorers and educators to people who just work for a living. Could anyone be blamed there?

Then again, I can't say I am all for natural way of conception and birth because then if anything goes wrong, you will take a lot more blame than you should as a parent. Not to mention, technology is there to help you make it easier, especially those at risk or those who just are naturally inclined to have more complications than others. It's just, who is the process easier for and why is there such lack of wide-spread education on conception and the actual birth process? Why do low-class families have to suffer for even one child when there are families who can not only choose their baby but also have it at an older age? I am glad that there are ways to help parents who want children somehow not only have a kid but have some biological relation to the kid but at the same time, why is there such a focus on giving birth to children rather than just having the joy of children, where adoption may come into focus? Do people think of the impact that the children and those involved in creating the child have?

I guess this note is mostly frustration from my lack of knowledge and how it is greatly confusing me but I felt like this was one of the few ways of letting it out and getting a start on becoming more educated by laying out where I end up far from the two-way line of thinking. Am I also inclined to control something by merely advocating my own views, no matter how much I emphasize that they are purely opinions that are still changing? When is control okay? Sometimes I still think that ignorance is bliss and I was better off when I had no idea how complicated the world was around me but at the same time, it seems everything gets decided for you almost everywhere you go and how it makes it easier to go in without knowing anything at all. Maybe that is my biggest problem.

Archie Bunker's Neighborhood from August 11

2009-08-24T21:11:32Z

Remember Stanford's prison experiment? This was very much like that, except not about prison inmates. Instead, this was to show the differences in classes/groups/statuses and how everyone was treated differently. Everyone sort of new what it was called and that it would help teach multicultural views and such but no one had anticipated as to how intense the experiment would be.

Everyone was split into the buildings they were from, with three or so buildings in one experiment. After that, as you entered, you were given a colored smiley face. I was given a green smiley face and proceeded to the corner of the room where there was a sign for the green group. I recognized some of the faces that entered the group with me, which was refreshing, but as time went on, you could easily lose recognition of those same faces.

Anyway, the rules were explained about how one could leave their area only when escorted by the deputy or officer and had a select amount of money and things to accomplish, with the jail being behind the chairs and hall. We weren't really sure what was going on but we started thinking that maybe it was about classes specifically, and we were the worker class, so we tried our best to get a school and factory. We were thinking about getting a place where people could live but then yellow group told us they were interested in doing business with us. Then someone else wanted to do business with us from the same group, it was very weird. This person clearly did not hear their own group member offering us less. Well, we sent someone to get things done officially while another member was called out for just stepping out of line. In fact, this member was called a scum to the yellow group.

So we thought not only were we the lowest class we had to be a race that they really despised, not even taking into account what everyone else was. In fact, the most we got was that yellow group was probably from the upper class. Well, once we heard certain stereotypes being called out, we recognized what everyone was. Sadly, at first, we thought maybe going with our stereotype would help us progress... but every wrong thing we did was called out while yellow group could wander the halls without any worry whatsoever. This actually started to frustrate us. When we received our school and factory finally, it said it really belonged to the yellow group... and the deal was only made once we agreed to open a nail salon. We were "very smart people" but we apparently never spoke english.

After we figured out it was stupid to go with stereotypes and who the yellow group was, we got a hint that the red group represented the LGBTQ community. Well, we were getting sick of this game. Our "land" was just expanded for just staying "smart" and sticking with stereotypes, but whats the use of having more land when we were told to not allow others to work in our factories? At first I wanted to follow orders of the game but it just got too serious, because everyone seemed to be in character. One girl from the yellow group ratted us out for getting out of line and another time we doubted one acting as a refugee (from the blue group) because we thought she might be out to get us or ruin things for us. I welcomed her easily but even I doubted "sales" done by just a worker at the main office where you got permits because we were told to leave only with deputies and such. So, it definitely had me more suspicious but everyone in our group showed suspicion in different ways.

So, our call of action was when one guy from the group suggested just pulling the tape of our land and becoming one with the LGBTQ group... basically combining our groups. What's the worst that could happen? We'd all go to jail? We asked if they wanted to join and after a little hesitation, they happily expanded their tape with us. We all united and became extremely proud of ourselves, so much that we had tapes on our head stating that we were either "gay" or "asian," respectively corresponding with what group we were representing. Well one of the deputies found out and started telling us that the LGBTQ group would have even less land now because of this act. We were the ones that initiated it so we refused to move and let this happen. We just sort of encircled the deputy for a while as she remained confused and overwhelmed. At this point, the jail sign was just put over us and we were now apparently all in jail.

After a few minutes, she just left us and ignored us. I guess because we were already in jail, what more could she do? Well, we tried to get the blue group to join as well, because joining with red seemed so successful. However, this time, the other group hesitated a lot more. Since the blue group got in trouble a lot more and had a lot more restrictions, there was a bigger desire to follow the rules when it came to staying in their group. At this point, this exercise was called off and everyone was told to stick with their groups and remain quiet as they walked back to the main building.

Surprisingly we all were quiet, for the most part, and once the discussion started, you got to see how intense this was for everyone, even the higher ups and yellow group. Some loved the power, some hated it because they were viewed as such anyway, and some hated how real everything seemed. Even though it was an hour or so long, it was really strong and had me realizing so much about myself that I did not realize before. It's easy to fall into command and stereotypes but it is when you find the little things to step out of that stereotype, that's when you make the most difference.

Our groups: Yellow (Caucasian), Green (Asian), Red (LGBTQ), and Blue (African Americans/Blacks)

More information on this exercise: http://islam-zwart.net/workstuff/Training/Diversity%20Training%20Material/ArchieBunkersNeighborhood.pdf

Education

2009-06-16T12:25:58Z

So apparently my research done on Indian women in technology is definitely true, at least when it comes to my family. It seems the main purpose of having women succeed in India is not to find a good, successful job, but to say you will be successful by taking part in a "major with a scope." My dad had an engineering degree (yet he's in banking) and my Aunt has some Law degree (and yet she is just a teacher here and had to further her education to do that). There are other members of my paternal family that apparently do not have matching education and careers but basically they are all obsessed with the IDEA of education, rather than the APPLICATION.

People of Kayastha, the caste our family is part of, seem to reallyy value education, so much that it is sort of wrong to step on an item involved in education, such as stationary and books, and you have to show honor to it for the disrespect. I may be horrible at explaining this but either way, the whole thing seems ridiculous because when it comes to the two sexes, the purpose of a higher education completely change.

In my research papers, I would always find articles talking about how America needs to find a way to get more females interested in math and science. In India, there are a lot more females interested in those fields. Heck, half of them are over here, getting their degrees in Medical fields. It just seems that after getting the degree, the next step is finding a suitable husband, rather than finding a suitable job that you may succeed in. You've GOT to be kidding me!

I got into an argument last night, not sure how it started, about how I do not want to go apply for law school because there are way too many lawyers and I want to do something I am good at. My dad COMPLETELY freaked, saying that I will regret my "B.A.M.A." after I am married in three years and living at my husbands. Um, WHAT NOW?! Apparently "B.A.M.A." is his way of saying, "Going from Bachelors of Arts to Masters of Arts." First, I am graduating with a Bachelors of SCIENCE. Sure, Sociology and Psychology do not seem like science to you, BUT THEY ARE NOT ARTS EITHER. What I hate is that they say Psychology is actually more legit than Sociology when honestly, I don't see why it matters when it is something I love.

Second, I was not even DEBATING going into an Arts major. ALL I WAS DEBATING WAS BEING ABLE TO CHOOSE. Fuck if you think me debating an issue about choosing means that I already have my mind set of going into arts. It sort of reminds me of the blind argument people see when someone says they are pro-choice. No, it does NOT mean they are AUTOMATICALLY choosing abortion for kids, or even LIKE THE IDEA OF IT, fuck that. It just means they want choice. I FREAKING WANT CHOICE.

I think what makes this a little harder is that there seems to be conflicting cultural views surrounding me. American and local social culture says that I am an (in)dependent woman who can survive on my own but may still be inferior to men. Indian and foreign social culture says that I am a (in)dependent woman who's true objective in life is to be married to a successful guy. I honestly want the former. I have dreams of being successful, DOING SOMETHING I LOVE, and living on my own. My parents want me out of the house, MARRIED NOT SEPARATED, in a few years after just merely getting a degree in something successful. I just want out.

Drinking

2009-02-19T01:49:20Z

For years I have not understood much concerning this topic. I could understand some of the choices being made and some of the reasons being stated but rarely could I get the overall purpose. There is cleaning alcohol, which makes sense to use to clean. Then there is alcohol that is consumed by most college students, for various reasons. Some of those reasons vary from "I like to drink alone when I am sad," to "I like to drink beer to get drunk," to the usual "it relaxes me."

I have actually known people giving me different reasons for their behavior. Some actually believe it is possible to drink away your problems, especially alone. There are others who just think it makes the night better, and most of their anecdotal stories consist of the verb "to drink" in one tense form or another. Then there are people who feel that their behavior and abilities will change if they consume some alcohol, such as at a party or bar, where magically drinking a glass or two will make them want to dance compared to the avoidance of humiliation/embarrassment while sober.

When it does not concern college students, I can sort of understand trying the drinks or having wine or champagne in addition to food or for some sort of celebration. That probably means that I only understand it when it calls for moderation. I guess I usually get thrown off when it seems to be a motivation for change in behavior/emotion or when it is merely for the effect of being drunk. I think you need therapy or some sort of reality-check if you are trying to drink away from problems... much like someone who is depressed/overwhelmed enough to sleep or work away their problems, which even I have succumbed to. Any activity that over-occupies your life in an effect for you to not see what you need to change in it seems like a bad idea.

Seeing how, unless done moderately, drinking can be harmful to your health, I am not sure I get any reason other than those that involve moderation. I mean, how "drunk" do you have to be to withstand humiliation that you would experience from dancing alone sober? Is there a moderate amount or does it vary from night to night? Also, to what degree does drunk mean that your liver is hurting itself, rather than doing anything that might be a productive effect of alcohol? What about humiliation that is experienced while drunk, such as a drunk call? I have received drunk text messages before and that was weird, but until recently, I could not say I was not part of a drunk phone call. I should note, I did not make the call nor was I the direct receiver of the call. I was just there to hear it and yet, drinking was chosen over any other safe way of dealing with the night.

I do not condemn drinking (who am I to say something is wrong or right?), or really look down on people who do it, but I honestly wish there were better context with the term drinking. Much like it is sad if all of your stories consist of "man, I played [video game] here last night!," it is just as sad when all of your stories consist of just drinking for the hell of it. Any repetitive behavior is sort of sad, and I know I am not one to speak seeing I rarely have anything exciting to say, but I just do not see why drinking is so accepted and even considered a good thing in college. It is not like I avoid everyone who drinks, seeing most of the college population drinks, but I wish there were better reasons for such amount of activity and acceptance.

I don't know. I've been meaning to rant about this for a while. I seriously just want to understand the social norm that is so highly associated with college students.

Flash Fiction [prompts] Can Be Funny

2008-10-22T03:01:19Z

Write a story that ends with the following sentence: Debra brushed the sand from her blouse, took a last, wistful look at the now putrefying horse, and stepped into the hot-air balloon.

Write a story that begins with a man throwing handfuls of $100 bulls from a speeding car, and ends with a young girl urinating into a tin bucket.

Your main character finds a box of scorched human hair. Whose is it? How did it get there? Write this as a short play.

Write a story that is an exchange between two individuals taking place on the "Missed Connections" section of craigslist.org. Alternately, two people meet each other on Craigslist, only to have one of them discover a terrible secret. Write a scene in which they run into each other at Qdoba the next day.

Write a story in which a forest fire is a good thing.

The Letter E is the most commonly used letter in the alphabet. The letters N, S, T, and R are the four most commonly used consonants. Write a story that either doesn't use E, doesn't use N, S, T, R, or doesn't use S, T, E, R, N.
Lack of... huh? I had my golf ball up Adam. Why? Fax did, madly. Mmm, fax. My fav. bud.

Chorea sancti viti is Latin for "St. Vitus' Dance." It is really a debilitating muscle disorder. Write the summary of a musical about this horrible ailment.

Jot down a work that does not have any word with more than four... letters.
He ran away. I gave him gift of pain. Body pain. A tear ran sown his side. It did not stop from his face but ran to his toes. He came back to me. Then, he took my hand and lead me to his home. Dots. A lot of dots on his wall. It just hit me what they were. I hurt him a lot. With a hug, I took a step away. I felt fine, then felt like I need more. Stop, I said as I told him I was done.

Write a college entry essay revolving around a very memorable sandwich. What kind of sandwich was it? Where did you get it?
September 20th was the first time I tried Arlington Stop. Compared to Annandale, it was something new. Looking at it, I thought of Subway, and I found this far more refreshing. I gave half of my sandwich to someone else. They were the one to introduce me to Arlington Stop. Now, I get reminded of him when I eat there. Oh, advertising man. How I miss watching television for the ads that had you. I got DVR September 28th. Now I pass by Arlington Stop wondering what could have been with the Chicken Teriyaki Sandwich.

Tom Stoppard's famous play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, revolves around two minor characters from Hamlet. Do something like that. You can't use Hamlet. And you can't use Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, or you'll break postmodernism.

Have you ever heard of a snowclone? Examples of snowclones are "X is the new Y," ("pink is the new black,") or "What Would X Do?" (What Would Batman Do?") where X and Y can be replaced by a variety of things to create an instantly recognizable trope by lazy writers and journalists. Pretend you're writing an ironic piece for the New Yorker in which you give suggestions for new snowclones. Make sure this isn't boring.

The year is 2031. Nick Nornby is 74. He is writing his 36th book. What is it?

Render a great work of literature into a limerick.

Write a story from the first person POV without using the word "I." Has to be grammatically correct.

Write a scene that takes place on a paddle boat in a state park. It may be any state park. The paddle boat may be shaped like any animal, but it must be shaped like an animal.

Write an epistolary (story composed of letters) between two or more characters. Teh first letter must be posted in 1993. All other letters must be posted after 1999. You may not include any details that could come up during a high school reunion (marriage, jobs, college, etc). If your story has four or more characters, one of the characters must have received the letter in error, and responded to it anyway.

Write a series of short journal entries as written by a literary/artistic figure. One of the entries must include the phrase (in caps) IT JUST MAKES ME SO MAD ARRRGGGHH, and another must describe a classified/personal/etc ad they wrote or responded to, and the results.

"Hoarding" is a form of OCD the acquisition of, and failure to use or discard, such a large number of seemingly useless possessions that it causes significant clutter and impairment to basic living activities such as mobility, cooking, cleaning, showering, and sleeping. Use this in a story.

Write a story that includes the following: a wedding, a divorce, a lovely trip on a boat, pasta salad, an Intro to Drawing class, incest, a harangue, a car chase, a deck of cards, Antonio Bandaras (may be substituted for other Latin American celebrity), a hand-rolled cigarette, a mention of the state of Kentucky (no characters may be from or have ever visited this state, nor may they know anyone who ever has), a tumbleweave, Lupus, an untouched bowl of candy corn (story cannot take place in the month of October), bedbugs, and junk mail. Your story must fit into the following box:
My brother just stood naked in front of me. He was posing. For some reason, during a lovely trip on a boat, I signed up for an Intro to Drawing class. I think it was because I was just saved by Antonio Bandaras during a car chase. Afterwards, we celebrated with a deck of cards. While holding an untouched bowl of candy corn, with a hand-rolled cigarette sticking out, he asked me to join him a harangue. I said yes because I had just had some pasta salad and he was recovering from Lupus of Kentucky. Ironically, he just got it from junk mail containing bedbugs which made him want to yell about a tumbleweave from his wedding. I am divorcing him tonight after I am done drawing my brother.

Credit, for the most part, goes to S. Clark.. or so I've been told?

Complete Story in Six Words

2008-09-09T12:07:07Z

For sale: Baby shoes, never worn.
-Ernest Hemingway from 1920s?

I have no idea what my story would be but the only thing I can come up with is:
Another day, in spite of feelings.

It almost seems true for my life... it also seems like a pathetic six-liner.

Credit for the idea: plotting_pen

Edit 10-01-08: I did not mean for it to sound as if I do not want another day. It was more of a "I'll do something another day, despite feelings of wanting to do it sooner" or something like that. I don't know what I was thinking. It was a horrible six-liner. I was not meant to speak/write, haha.

Generations

2008-03-14T18:50:53Z

Basic Accounts
Basic Account is an option available to accounts which were created before March 12, 2008. No account created after this date can be turned into a Basic Account. Basic Accounts will not have any advertising displayed on their accounts, but will have fewer benefits and features.

So like this would be like the middle-adopters? :-p Poor people who cannot get an ad-free livejournal and learn to socialize here... although they do have facebook to go crazy on. Part of me wishes i never deleted my old journal. Oh well.

That reminds me, I really see no point in the iPhone commercial about Facebook. Why would that be a motivation to buy it!?

Jay Leno talks to kids on Portland, Oregon

2006-12-17T05:20:31Z

Can I say cute?

The kids were around 8 years old and had written letters to Jay Leno about eating healthy after seeing his article on Parade magazine. This got him interested and had the kids contacted through a satellite. I loved how the kids were so happy throughout the whole interview and then when Jay Leno had his first vegetable things, the first thing they told him to eat was a broccoli. He actually ate it. One of the kids started chewing on his sleeve, haha. I think this was the sweetest episode in a while.

Dakota Fanning was the guest after Jay Leno's first vegetable bite since 1960-something.

Six Degrees of Separation

2006-11-26T03:22:23Z

"I'm hoping that some of you are curious about this idea, and may lend me a hand. I'd love to get in touch with an old friend, but Googling him has led me nowhere. So... if y'all could post about my search, and ask your neighbours and friends to do the same, we can test whether social networks will allow me to find him.

I'm looking for Justin Hans Zuber, Torontonian when I knew him, son of Swiss father and German mother.

Aaaaand.... GO!" --Nox

I thought I'd post the entry here even though not many people know this journal in hopes of helping the person out. Any idea? If not, ask around please.

The thing you dreaded...

2006-11-18T02:39:46Z