Procrastinating my serious post tomorrow

Felt the need to put in a picture because if I don't then it uses the same thumbnail each time I publish a post. And this picture makes me laugh :P



I've been trying to think of things to post for tomorrow and am coming up with very little, so I decided to think about what sort of posts I want to do over the summer.

Because I want to post more. Part of me wants to assign a type of post for a certain day, like I have for Wednesday, but another part of me knows that my work schedule is going to be crazy, I'm going to be taking two classes, I'm going to want to have a social life, and there are going to be days that I just don't want to blog. And the worst feeling in the world is not wanting to post because it becomes obvious that I missed a post or skipped a day and for some reason that never bodes well with me and that's why I've dropped three or four blogs already. I'm actually pretty impressed that I've been managing my current two as well as I have, even if I do sometimes cheat on the other one :P

So for right now I just want to talk about different things that I want to post about and hopefully gain the motivation to actually post them during the summer.

I'm definitely going to keep up "Reflection Wednesday" because I want that to be my starting point on reliable posts on this blog. I like the thought of finding current topics and giving my two cents, especially since that's how I started this blog out, I mean, I love being able to be blunt about something! And who knows, maybe it'll become a catalyst for more regular posts!

Last summer I wanted to blog about recipes and creations in the kitchen that I try. I started that on my Pinterest but I was only posting pictures instead of the recipes and steps I took. I think this summer I want to do blog posts that tell the recipe, step by step instructions, and pictures to guide through. I did that with a Chicken Taquito recipe not too long ago and I want to do a similar process to that.

Along the same page, I would love to have the time and money to try more things on pinterest! And if I did, then I would be wanting to post my experiences on here as well. Some of my favorite blogs are Pinstrosity and PinterestFail and even though I wouldn't be doing things just to see them fail (I actually would love to create something!) who knows maybe I'll be submitting posts there :P

I think it would be fun to do a post once a week as a vlog. I tried vlogging with my sister once upon a time and I feel like it just totally tanked. But again, we were just kind of existing in our lives with no actual script or footage to go on about. If I were to vlog I'd either talk about a certain topic or show snipets of random events throughout the week.

I also really like the idea of "Throwback Thursday" that's currently a huge crazy on Instagram where you post a picture from way back when...only instead of a picture I'd be doing a memory reflection, like when I was the NCC/HCC for RHA or my first student council leadership conference or when my parents took us to Disney World. I know you're not supposed to obsess over the past and look towards the future and blah blah blah but I love who I am and how I became who I am today. I feel like if I share more of my past maybe I'll be more open to people in the future.

I'd also like to do some posts in French. If nothing else it'll keep my written French up to par through the summer months! Unfortunately I don't think my France fan base is big enough for me to want to do this very often because I don't like confusing people :P

The last idea I had was creating a web novel. I have a story inside of me that I really want to get on paper. I know it's a great idea but I've been struggling extremely to get it down and phrased how I like. I currently have an intro and am starting on a first chapter, and I remember why I haven't written anything in almost six years! I know I'm the most critical of my work so part of me wants to get it out there anyway, but there's no way I could do a weekly update on that.

And of course there would still be all the random posts I do that do indeed talk about my life in the present moment as well as things I've accomplished or been recognized for, what I'm feeling, what I'm going through, what I've been working on, etc. Like I said earlier, I know I have a busy summer ahead of me so we'll see where this actually goes, but I feel like actually saying this gives me more motivation to follow through...we shall see!!

Anyway, feel free to click any of the live links to see me in other facets or see any of the sites I referenced! I think this is the first time that I've actually wanted a following and I want to get the word out there! I am a person! I have a voice! I am worth something!

...so on and so forth :P

Now if you'll excuse me, I have an article to find *le sigh*

Name in the Credits and Everything!

So Dustin and I were working on a web cartoon today and decided to make a music video for a band that he produced. He let me help him with it and I'm even in the credits! I'm pretty sure that's the first time I've been in the credits for anything...lol But anyway, I'm actually really excited for how it turned out and the song is CRAZY CATCHY! So...I thought I would share ^_^

The Joys of Being a Linguist

In Wreck-It Ralph, King Candy talks about putting Ralph in his "fungeon",

King Candy: "Fungeon, fun dungeon. You know, it's a play on words."

FALSE. It's a blended word. A play on words is a pun. Know your linguistic terminology.

That is all :)

Don't get me wrong, I love Wreck-It Ralph because it has French in it. But I felt the need to specify that one part :P

Disciplining Children: Then and Now

A friend of mine linked an article about how Time Outs are messing up kids (view the article here). The article goes on to talk about how time outs are making kids feel like they are rejected by their parents and alienates the child.

This is an interesting perspective but not too surprising considering the trends of child care these days. I mean back in the day teachers used to be allowed to strike you with a ruler or smack your behind with a paddle, and now the thought of a teacher touching a student in any way shape or form is looked at with a beady eye by the administration and parents. Beyond that, when I was growing up my parents would spank me, give me time out, put my nose in the corner, smack my hands if I grabbed something I shouldn't have, and took away "rewarding stimuli" when it was thought that I did not deserve it. And look at me now! I'm not heading to years of therapy because it was obvious my parents never loved me and I can never love someone because of it and blah blah blah...

I've always looked back at how I was raised and thought that my parents should write books on their methods. Because my parents did not stoop to bribing us kids to make us behave or continual idle threats of what would happen if we didn't behave. And they didn't abuse us to the point that CPS had to be called and they didn't NOT touch us to make sure that they didn't hurt us. Somewhere in the middle of that is the perfect amount of discipline and reward that got all three of us children to survive in the real world without any childhood issues or problems.

Personally, I think that this article and articles like this one are forgetting a key factor. See, they've made child discipline be completely black and white: Spanking is wrong, explaining to children is right, time outs are wrong, time ins are right, etc.

Here's a list of things that my parents did with their punishments to make sure we learned lessons from them:

1) We were made aware of exactly why we were being punished. There was no ambiguity of what we did wrong. We were also aware of the implications of the punishment. "Hit my sister and I will get in trouble. Don't hit my sister and I will not get in trouble". It's as basic as touching a hot stove.
2) The punishments were immediate. We weren't being punished for something we may or may not have been accused of doing a week ago.
3) The punishments were enforced. If we had to put our nose in the corner for five minutes, my mother would set the kitchen timer and stay in the room to make sure I actually kept my nose in the corner for five minutes. Punishments were never used to get us kids out of my parents' hair for a short amount of time, and they weren't set for an undetermined amount of time to where we were either forgotten about or free to run around when we thought it was long enough.
4) No idle threats. If a parent said "Emma, if you reach for that chocolate again I will smack your hand" and you reached for the chocolate, your hand got smacked. No "Emma, I'm serious, do it again and..."
5) The punishments were meaningful. My parents learned quickly that sending my sister and I to our room that we shared was not a punishment. So instead one of us went outside while the other went to her room, or something was taken away that we enjoyed like our books or our dessert, etc.
6) My parents told us that they loved us after every punishment. We learned our lesson and we were allowed to go about life freely afterwards, but we were reminded that our parents are doing these things because they love us and they want the best for us.


Now there is some controversy of enforcing punishments in the first place. Although I can speak from experience, I know that I am not the typical child of 2013 and my experiences, even if replicated, the results are not guaranteed the same. I suppose every parent has to go through a trial and error period to see what is effective and what isn't with their child. I suppose my point is that articles like this should not be so absolute. Can time outs traumatize a child? When ineffectively used, probably. But it is possible to have effective time outs. Trust me, I'm all for positive enforcement and kids learning from that too, but adolescence is when children are finding and testing boundaries, so discipline is an effective way to show those boundaries as well.

Want to Know What's Funny?

Last month I posted ten times...I usually just try to post once a month.

This month I have not posted until now...and the month is nearly over.

Oops...

...my priorities have not been what they should be as of late. I'm not saying that blogging should be a huge priority, but other things in my life that SHOULD be aren't...and even consciously writing this I don't know how to change that.

Probably because I don't have the desire to. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd love to be the perfect daughter and do exactly what I'm supposed to do, when I'm supposed to do it. I'd love not to procrastinate, I'd love to have enough time in my life to do everything that I want to do, and I'd love to be able to afford to do it all.

But back in reality, that's just not possible. Choices have to be made, and sometimes they're either not fun choices or bad ones.

I like to think that my bad choice streak is over. I like to think that I'm currently influencing myself to make the choices that are right for me, not the ones that are fun for me.

Unfortunately, those choices have led me to feel the most alone I've felt in a very long time. And it's killing me.

It feels like I had a couple shots of soma, got addicted, and now I realize they've taken away my stash for good.

I had three dreams last night, and each one was about being late in some way, shape, or form. Late to school, late to work, late to the movie theater, etc and so forth.

Although one of them was also about co-subbing a French class with my little sister who hates French...that one was a fun one.

I feel chained to some aspects in my life and that is leading me to be too far out of reach to other aspects in my life. I guess I'm still trying to figure things out.

Hilarious