Awesome Blogsome

Use ALL the Social Media!

“Twitter is for people who have nothing better to do with their time and want to tell people what they are thinking about when they poop”

“Tumblr is the dumber version of blogspot. Why are people posting pictures and videos?! Blogs are for words”

“Pinterest? You mean the site where girls fantasize about their weddings? Why would I want to do that?”

“Facebook is like Myspace. But safer and without predators.”

“What the heck is Reddit?”

Oh, woe is me! With the creation of my pinterest account (aashleychen), I have finally caved into the pressures of social media. At first, I wanted to be hipster. I wanted to hate what everyone else was starting to love, and swear off of all future ways to make myself transparent on the Internet. If you wanted to find out who I was, you were going to have to figure it out for yourself! But, slowly and surely, I have come to voice my snarky opinions on everything, to everyone. I’ve become so “hip” that I don’t even use Foursquare anymore-the new thing is Path, guys. I swear on it. 

But now I am drowning! It is so hard to keep up with every application/website/whatever. It’s like I now have seven little kittens, all adorable and enticing from a distance, but launch themselves at me for attention. I suspect it is for the opportunity to make it onto Reddit-you know how much they love cats. Add this onto my everyday activities, this is putting quite the strain on my regular life. Most people, in this situation, would probably give up the very thing itself, and stop pinning things, or tweeting about their lives. Or they stop exercising. Not me. I’ve decided to give up my social life. If I can communicate with “people” while I am lying in bed wearing the same clothes that I was wearing for the past week, I’m all for it. My going-out clothes can now double as my gym clothes, I can order as much pizza as I want, and choose not to wear pants in bed just for the heck of it.

So follow me. Maybe I’ll be interesting. In any case, I am sure as hell not leaving the confines of my room, except for maybe pizza.

Kony 2012 vs Kiva 2012

SIGN UP HERE: http://tinyurl.com/7hj6yoo (cmu only)

OR HERE: www.internmatch.com

Within a span of 24 hours, #kony2012 has blown up my Internet and invaded my life. What’s interesting, though, and somewhat frustrating, is that for about 30 days, or 720 hours, I have been trying to get people to sign up for something so that I can personally donate $500 to kiva.org, a microlending non-profit company. 720 hours! What’s more mind-boggling, I do all of the work-I give the money. For Kony 2012, to make a direct impact, you need to shell out $30 for that “starter” kit that was stated in the video. Did you know $30 is a loan big enough to lift a family out of poverty at kiva.org? 

I will admit, when I first watched the video, I felt empowered to make a change for Invisible children. And so, I tweeted about it. But so did every other person in with a twitter. I fell into the mob mentality of wanting to be on the “winning” side. The “cool” side. Sadly, Invisible Children is not something that I am truly passionate about. What happens if/when Joseph Kony is stopped? What is going to happen to those who were raped, kidnapped, and forced to become something that they are not? They cannot unsee what has happened to them, and without the right type of help, they will be stuck in poverty forever. 

I am passionate about Kiva. Being able to lift someone out of poverty not only changes their lives, but the lives of their children, and their children’s children. It sparks a lifestyle change that has a direct impact. 

I will say this again: For every person that signs up with InternMatch through me (and my super janky google doc), I will personally donate $1 to Kiva.org. InternMatch is a website that allows you to search for more jobs, more opportunities for you to have a hands-on education and to allow you to further your own career. I’m just trying to do the same to those who won’t have the chance to. 

Crossword Puzzles

I always thought that people who were able to finish crossword puzzles were secretly child prodigies, or people who have photographic memory, or, most importantly, those who were well connected with the world that they live in. Crossword puzzles were for the cultured minds, the ones who know that there is a three letter synonym for the word “layer” (answer: ply).

I’m not going to lie, I really want to be cultured. I want to feel connected to the world that I live in and interact with. I want to feel, well, good at doing something I feel like only 60-year-old retired lawyers do. And so, occasionally, I attempt USA Today’s daily crossword puzzle. 

Recently, it seems that my plan of becoming connected to the world is working-I finally finished a crossword puzzle today! Granted, it also took two other people to help me out, but I didn’t even look at the Sudoku puzzle on the other page (which is what I usually do as a sign of defeat and resignation). Let us all raise our glasses in recognition that a college student has somewhat achieved her dream of self-importance! Huzzah!

One of these days I’ll actually finish one. Maybe I’ll throw a parade, or make that day a national holiday. Something that 60 year-old lawyers would do, I figure. 

A country club membership.

Friday.

I keep thinking about Friday, and how tomorrow is the dress rehearsal that is going to fall apart, and how Friday afternoon I will be running around like my hair is on fire, and how great it will be to finish, but how terrible I will be feeling during the show, and how it still seems like I don’t know anything that will happen during the show, and how I won’t even know what I will be doing during the show, and how my dress might possibly be see through, which means that I will have to find another dress at the last minute, and that now it is Thursday, which means that in less than 48 hours, everything that I have been working on for the past six months will finally turn into reality, whether it is ready or not.

…and it makes me want to throw up. 

God give me strength to do the impossible

Perspective

Okay, I’ll admit it.

I get caught up in petty drama. I really do. I get mad at people based on rumors that their people think they are better than my people-that their team is winning. I participate in making preconceived notions of people just because they belong in xyz house, and when we win, I feel good. I feel great.

But there are times when I am pulled away from the mess and take a look at what really is going on.  I think it is sad that, in the allotted time that we are allowed here on earth, we waste time, energy, and actions into creating these problems, dealing with them, and then implementing them so that they don’t exist anymore. It is really a load of BS-to believe that your problems or your house’s problems are larger than everyone else’s problems in the world is shrinking your world to the size of how often you think of someone or something bigger than yourself.

Therein lies the problem of this whole greek system.  I will come out and say that I am in a sorority.  I never would have thought that my world would end up this way, but I am glad it has.  I have seen why people hate this system: the sole reason that we make drama out of nothing, that we only care about having the best for ourselves, that we shrink our world to, well, just us. But to be able to see all of this happen around me helps propel me in the opposite direction.  I want to be connected to this world, to be connected with a community at a deeper level instead of just associating them with a general organization that fits under predetermined social norms. There are real people hurting everywhere, even in this greek system. To be able to set aside your own problems and make some room in your heart for others-I think that is the core of this system. Idealistic, yes, but, I’m not above thinking that I could use some help. 

God, my time here is limited, and you have put me here for a reason. What do I do? Where do I go from here?

A LOT of blessings

Thanks for a week of good weather here in Pittsburgh after a week of nonstop rain and cold. Thank you for memory foam mattresses. Thank you for pho and ice cream you for pumpkin spice lattes. Thank you for good friends, good fellowship, and good encouragement. Thank you for Your (difficult) lessons this week, and most importantly, thank you for always picking me up when life has KO’d me beyond my mind.

The eye of the storm

It is noon. I have a class in an hour, but my day has been pretty good. I paid attention in class, worked out, and enjoyed a hot meal of leftovers at home. After this post, I’m going to do some devos, head to class, and then go to the library to get some more work done before dinner.  It is sunny outside, which is a rarity in Pittsburgh, especially since it has been raining all week. I can hear one of the girls in the house singing (she is a vocal performance major), and it really amazes me how far a human’s voice can project.

It is noon, and I am already having a great day. To be able to stop in the midst of all of the struggles and worries that will take place within the next couple of weeks (and even throughout the rest of the semester) and enjoy the simple pleasures of life is really such a blessing. And isn’t it great to know that there is a God who will let you take a breather in the middle of everything?

PTL