Bloggerstock: Spooky!

So it's that time again... where my blog gets hijacked for Bloggerstock! This month Brandie from The Muffin's Blog is taking over my blog. 

My post will be over at Nicole's Blog. I think you'll like it. 

And also, sign up for Bloggerstock. 

Enjoy, and have a happy Halloween!

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So I just recently joined  Brandie and I'm a Blog alcoholic! I am also Obsessed with Carving Halloween Pumpkins and May expand to Watermelons this Summer!

So I went Shopping for the right Pumpkins and I got extremely aggressive with my carving this year...I added Photo Carvings and Also Had a Pervy Pumpkin  carved for Ms Sara Swears a lots Pumpkin Contest...
Normally Id buy a pumpkin carving kit and patterns from the Walmart or Halloween Store...pick the hardest from their book and go to town! However after a morning Coffee and tutorial session on YouTube I decided Ill carve Photos this year... Cuz really How hard can it Be!? HA! Well it was hard and after 9 Hours my back was killing me! I also learned how to Roast Pumpkin Seeds and quite Frankly Im wondering Why I had to wait 41 years for thouse toasty tastey pieces of Heaven! So Enjoy! Give me Feed Back...I have One more to carve...For the Hunka...He wants a Death Star Pumpkin...Ugh! Star Wars! Really?

Placing my Photo on the Pumpkin

This one Damn Near Killed me Looks Pretty Good though!

Looks Better Lit!

Not so Pervy Pumpkin

 Thanks For Checking it out Hope You Have a Happy Halloween!

XO Muffin!

30DOT: Day 13

First things first... I'm part of a group of people who are writing on a blog... and we're all losing weight together. Read our journey here: Blogging Blobs

Also, Sunday is Bloggerstock and Halloween! So naturally, Bloggerstock's theme is Halloween related! So be prepared to read a bunch of scary stories.

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30 Days of Truth: A Band or Artist that has gotten you through some tough times (write a letter).

Luckily, I'm good at writing fake letters that may or may not get read by their intended audience. Here goes:

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Dear Scooter Ward, Sam McCandles, other members of Cold and rotating members of Cold, 

Cold was the first rock/grunge band I had heard since Nirvana. And to be honest, I never really cared for Nirvana like most other people did, and Kurt Cobain was not my hero. I first heard your Year of the Spider album in my brother's mini van on my way to school. And thought to myself ... I can see myself listening to this on my own. But I never really did. 

Then one day, out of nowhere. I got side swiped by teenage angst. I hated everything, everyone, I hated the sun, the moon, and XYZ. Except music. I went to my first official concert when I was sixteen. My brother had tickets to your concert at the Metro, here in Chicago on May 25, 2003. 

Ticket stub from my first Cold
 concert in 2003.
It's also autographed by
Scooter Ward.

I remember going into the venue not knowing what to expect. It was my first rock show and had no idea what would happen. My brother, Frank, did not want me to be in the ground level, because he thought that with all the people moshing and jumping around that I would get trampled. I remember only knowing the songs from Year of the Spider and one or two from Thirteen Ways to Bleed on Stage. I remember feeling accomplished because I called your bluff... you began playing the intro to Stupid Girl ... but then went into Goodbye Cruel World.

After the concert, Scooter and all the other band members were outside. Frank and I went over to Scooter and told Scooter it was my first show. Scooter wrapped his arms around me. And immediately knew that you guys cared about your fans. I felt like a little kid after the hug, I told Frank, Did you see that?! He hugged me! He hugged me! And for some reason, I started crying.

It wasn't until I was in college that your songs meant much more to me. After my first semester of sophomore year, I was required to withdraw, basically, I was sucking at school, and I had to take time off to reevaluate whether I wanted to be a student at that school or not. When I told my dad, he went apeshit. He made me feel like I wasn't trying, when I was. I really was. He made it seem like I was taking school as a joke, which again, I wasn't. 

The whole year I took off from expensive college, everything bad that could happen, happened. My grandmother got sick and had to have an operation, I lost friends, etc, etc. It was not a fun time for me. At all. 

I started hanging out with my brother again, because he was one of the few people who didn't make me feel like a failure. He was the only one who knew how hard it really was for me being three hours away from home, not being able to come home all the time like some of my friends could, not making the grades, not being able to stay on top of everything like I used to. 

We were in the car one day going to the mall, I decided to listen to Cold. And the song Wasted Years came on. I immediately started to cry. This song, could pretty much explain how I went from the depressed mess I was to the slightly less sad/mad at the world/myself person I am now. The lines from the chorus that really spoke to me were:

It's not hard to fail, It's not easy to win 

These lines, I felt, were exactly how I was feeling. Exactly how everyone around me was making me feel. It wasn't easy to get a C in that class... it wasn't hard to not go to class when it was 40 below 0, and you lived off campus. It wasn't easy being the person everyone always knew... but it wasn't hard to become the person they were making you feel that you were. I ended up getting those lines tattooed, because it's a reminder to me that I can do things I want to do, that I can accomplish things I set my mind to, although there are others that make me feel like I can't. 

I have never felt this way when hearing any other band. Even while writing this, I get a little emotional. I took out all my Cold cd's, my autographed poster from a concert you guys had in Champaign, IL that I wasn't able to attend,  but I got a phone call from Frank and talked to you guys for a while and could only remember one of the members of the band saying "hope you can make it next time". Sadly, I haven't been able to attend any of your recent shows. All the shows in Chicago, or even in the rest of Illinois or the ones close by in Indiana and Wisconsin have been impossible for me to get to. Then there was one you did in Appleton, WI ... and I wanted to go so bad. I was in Appleton too. But the show was the day before I was to go up to Appleton. 

Cold will always be one of my favorite bands. Whether you guys are touring and making new music or if you guys decide that making music is no longer for you. Cold has gotten me through the hardest times in my life. And I am forever indebted. 

Sincerely,

Lily A. 

Thirty Days of Truth (1) Something you hate about yourself. (2)Something you love about yourself. (3) Something you have to forgive yourself for. (4) Something you have to forgive someone for. (5) Something you hope to do in your life. (6) Something you hope you never have to do. (7) Someone who has made your life worth living for. (8) Someone who made your life hell, or treated you like shit. (9) Someone you didn’t want to let go, but just drifted. (10) Someone you need to let go, or wish you didn’t know. (11) Something people seem to compliment you the most on. (12) Something you never get compliments on. (13) A band or artist that has gotten you through some tough ass days. (write a letter.) (14) A hero that has let you down. (letter) (15) Something or someone you couldn’t live without, because you’ve tried living without it. (16) Someone or something you definitely could live without. (17) A book you’ve read that changed your views on something. (18) Your views on gay marriage. (19) What do you think of religion? Or what do you think of politics? (20)views on drugs and alcohol. (21) Your best friend is in a car accident and you two got into a fight an hour before. What do you do? (22) Something you wish you hadn’t done in your life. (23) Something you wish you had done in your life. (24) Make a playlist to someone, and explain why you chose all the songs. (Just post the titles and artists and letter) (25) The reason you believe you’re still alive today. (26) Have you ever thought about giving up on life? If so, when and why? (27) What’s the best thing going for you right now? (28) What if you were pregnant or got someone pregnant, what would you do? (29) Something you hope to change about yourself. And why. (30) A letter to yourself, tell yourself EVERYTHING you love about yourself .

Biology Lab with Dr. Bradley

Taking a biology class means alot of nasty things have to be done in lab. This week, we had to dissect 3 different animals. My lab group consists of me, a girl named Ariel, and this guy named Bradley.

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Bradley is a hilarious guy. Honestly. Like no on has ever made me laugh so much in class since like fifth grade when guys used to always make me laugh for the stupidest things. One day, class had been very very boring. It was about one hour of lecture. One hour of us standing in a line to write the title of our tentative research project for the class. And lastly, an other hour of standing in line to get said project topic approved.

During our 10 minute break ... Bradley decided to have fun with the skeletons that were in our class room. This was almost too hilarious to not take a picture of (see above). And since this day, I am glad that Bradley is in my lab group. If he weren't ... class would be so boring ... 3 hours of dissecting smelly dead animals. At least I get a laugh out of it with Bradley there.

This is Bradley. So... usually, Bradley generally doesn't do anything in lab. He just sits there while Ariel and I do all the work. Or he'll read something else ... or leave for half of the class period, or come in late. His actions make our professor come over to our lab bench, and she pulls him aside and asks "what is your contribution to this group?" or "are you doing anything today?" aaaaaaand my personal favorite "I don't want to give you points for the lab if you're not doing anything... it's unfair". So imagine all those quotes being said in a very heavy Italian accent. It's the cutes. Trust.
 
Our three dissections today were the grossest dissections ever. In the history of biology classes. First of all... I hate doing dissections. I don't know why. I've always hated them. Like in 6th grade ... my mom signed me up for this after school program where you'd get math and science thrown at you for like 3 hours after school. And it was supposed to get you prepared for high school. So by being in that class you got to do things that you didn't do in your regular science class... the one you were with your friends. For the first three weeks we cleaned owl pellets. The next weeks  we did alot of math. And then FINALLY we did the freaking frog. First off, the frog smelled. Because the freaking frog smelled horrible ... I ended up fainting. I fainted in the science lab. And everyone made fun of me. Oh... like beeteedubs - everyone in the program was in 7th grade, and I was the only girl. So yeah... hella embarrassing.

Anyway. Our first one was a crayfish. Who doesn't know what a crayfish looks like? Who doesn't know what they taste like? Me. I've never had one of these. Though, I hear they are good. Can someone deny or confirm this for me? Anyway... I didn't take a picture of our crayfish but here's one so you have a general idea of what one is. Hey! I'm not judging... being from a big city.... sometimes I don't know what things are.

That. To your left... is a crayfish.

So, Ariel and I decided that because we usually do all the work, that it would be appropriate if we assigned ALL of the dissecting to Bradley while we sit to the side and answer questions and play with the microscopes. (Technically... we had to draw things we saw in slides, so we were actually working).

Bradley agreed. But only if he could act like we were performing autopsies. He walks over with the dissecting pan with a crayfish in it and says: "Okay guys... this is Andy. Andy was an unemployed stock broker... He lost everything he had because he decided to hedge against the dot coms.... so really... he was an unemployed stock broker."

Then we had our grasshopper. But really we didn't have to dissect the grasshopper... so I don't know why we even needed to bring the grasshopper to our lab bench. But it went like this: "So this is Rupert. He was disowned by his wealthy parents for being a homosexual. He was an aspiring actor... but because he wasn't really making it, he began to sell drugs from his New York City apartment. He finally died from an overdose. Who overdoses on their own supply?"

 And lastly, our earth worm. Did you know earthworms have five hearts? Yeah, they have five hearts. I did not know that. I wish I were an earthworm... because though you have five hearts.... your five
hearts would never get broken. And hey, who could argue with that?

Bradley named our earthworm: Earl.

"Okay guys... this is Earl. He's the last one we have to dissect. So Earl ran an auction house. But before that.... he fixed jeeps during World War II. But after the war, he had no good skills, and couldn't find a job... so he ran an auction house."

Yeah, that little guy has five hearts.

Can I be a polar bear when I grow up?

The answer is obviously no.

I mean, wouldn't it be fun to be a wild animal and just do what ever you want to do?

No work. No school. No stupid people.

But, unless I was a polar bear in captivity, life would still suck. And I'm sure life in captivity sucks too. Just a little pool to swim in instead of an ocean, pacing back and forth, people watching me and throwing random crap into my area. I don't think I would appreciate that. I hate when people put my mail in my room. Yeah... I know ... my mail, my room.

So, no, I can't be a polar bear. I wouldn't even know what to do if I were a polar bear in the wild or a polar bear at a zoo or a stuffed polar bear in a museum. At least the last one is an easy answer.

Obviously I'm sadden that I can't be a polar bear. I'm also sadden that I don't know what I want to do with my life anymore. I've lost sight of what I'm doing. And who or what I was doing it for. Maybe it's just a funk I've gotten myself in. 

Maybe there is some other animal I can actually be.