There are probably all kinds of articles about this, but I liked this one because it didn’t get too technical with the cookies and the phishing and the spyware. I, for one, am going to make some adjustments.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=anatomy-of-a-social-hack
thanks suzie for the reminder to post and the ideas, they were exactly what i needed. so here i am, with one last summer night in ithaca and as much as it seemed like a drag at first, i’m pretty glad i chose to come. (although that still doesn’t change how i’m mad excited to be headed back tomorrow.)
i think it helped to get my head straight coming here for a bit. visiting korea’s great but i tend to suffer from a post-korea-effect whenever i go. all those family dinners and the nice things that relatives say over the table start to weave their ways into my brain, eventually boosting my self-confidence level further than it should go. the small amounts of “allowance” money collected and spent guiltlessly on shopping transform me temporarily from being the frugal audrey who used to fight mike for the least sip of tea in my thermos into a greedbag for shirts, lipglosses, and the other million pieces of shit that’ll eventually just end up rotting in the closet. finally, the late night outings to clubs, live bands, and karaokes shake my premed determination and makes me ask those questions like “wtf am i doing here… this… what do you call it… studying…? for what? why bother? when i can just enjoy my youth?” and so forth. honestly, before coming here in june i literally broke down before my mom and said the words, “but mom, i feel like once i turn 25, i won’t be young enough to have fun anymore.” … oh lordy.
but then i caged myself up in colossal mount ithaca and took intro physics (shudders) and worked in a lab full of women ranging in ages from 24 to mid-forties. i spent a lot of my spare time in the lab talking to them and i realized that we still have such a long way to go. here i was, complaining about not having anywhere to go out at night, while these women were dealing with things like what to do after grad/med school and 27K wedding budgets (eek..! definitely not getting married until i’m 30.)
it seems like whenever i choose to write, it just becomes a personal rant rather than a post. i envy those of you who manage to post with wit and wisdom on a regular basis. even when i don’t find time (or motivation) to write, i’m always reading and adoring all of your words so please, don’t stop.
Greetings to the tea sippers in your tea slippers,
As we enter into the last month of our summer vacations, I send my deepest wishes that your London Fogs are frothy and that your chai’s are spiced to perfection.
First of all, let me express my utmost concern. A handful of you have been posting dutifully during these long summer months, but unfortunately, we have not heard much or ANYTHING from some of you (and you and you). (you are forgiven because I see that you have saved a draft)
Secondly, in hopes of enticing you, I propose two challenges. Please consider at least one, though two will earn you 10 gold coins.
(1) How Have You Changed This Summer? / How has this summer changed you?
How are you different from last summer? How have your goals changed? How has your vision of the future changed? etc
If you are extra kean: Apply these questions to the entire school year. Consider where you were last August. What hopes did you have for September and how did these visions change throughout the year?
(2) Summer Reading List
What have you been reading this summer? Novels, non-fiction, magazines, blogs, whateva! I am eager to hear your recommendations.
Alright. That’s all for now. You can expect my personal reply to these questions in the upcoming couple of weeks. I hope to hear yours too!
Teacozies,
S
Hi All. It’s been a month. I am done school now (aside from finals on Monday and Tuesday) and do not have any plans near or far. School was fun this semester, aside from strange characters making it their duty to harass me with doted-upon Audi coupes and Macbook Airs of Superiority and boasting unseen tattoos; but I’m fairly hard-skinned and can take the abuse of words and a couple runs of escape up a ten percent incline with a backpack full of textbooks in stride. Anyway, I have until August 31 to apply to various institutions for January Intake and am walking the line of wondering if I actually want to go or take another year off to explore the planet and all of its carbon-based life. I’m going to apply in case I change my mind later and to test the water in Lake Planning Aheadshire. I’ve also – I’d like to say accidentally, but no – applied for various writing and aupairing jobs and gotten various writing and aupairing job offers from various and exciting countries. I’m unfortunately more of a lines-in-the-sand person than an immortalized-in-drying-concrete person when it comes to making plans, decisions, and other important notions so I don’t know what I’m doing.
One of my students named her pet fish after me. She told me yesterday, bursting. I think that is awesome. Until recently, I liked working with kids because they were hilarious, easy to entertain, and the job paid well. Though, last week a new kid dropped in unexpectedly and, having the youngest group that day, I let her stay with me. Her name was Cassie. She spoke no English and was just a tiny kid whose means of communication was eye contact and reaching for my hand. I really couldn’t tell you her race, but her mother looked Korean and the woman translating for her looked Japanese and despite my Japanenglish tendencies, I couldn’t place the language she was translating from. That aside, I was kind of annoyed at having to take care of another under fiver – one who couldn’t stand up – as well as teaching the rest of my group something constructive but I decided to overcome it. AND I AM SO GLAD I DID because I improvised a very effective teaching method resulting in a SoccerMom rating of a perfect ten. Not to say that this girl isn’t talented and keen; she is remarkably so, but in one hour, she went from not being able to stand up to being the fastest in a group of kids who have been consistently at class for a month.
I may have looked and sounded like a fool saying things like “AIRPLANE! AIRPLANE!” (arms out for balance like an airplane) or “JUMP!” but using keywords associated with movement are extraordinary.
I have eight months until I turn 20 and not much clearly in the works to accomplish in a foetus-length of time. EEEEK.
