Sunday, September 27, 2009

Color Personality

Saw this Color Personality quiz over at Colour Me Happy. It's supposed to determine what colors are around you most, and theoretically what colors you should dress in and decorate in (if you're in a rut or lost). I am a colour whoure (yes that's right), so I jumped right on it.

1. What's the first color you see in the morning?
Black: The color of my curtains


2. What color are your eyes?
Orangey Brown (see blog header)


3. What color do you wear the most?
Purple


Me in NYC last year

4. What color do you never wear?
Oatmeal



5. What color do you wear when you want to feel sexy?
Black



6. What color gets you the most compliments?
Blue



7. What color is your lipstick?
Plum Burgundy (sheer-ish though)


8. What color was your living room when you were growing up?
Forest Green


9. What color was your bedroom when you were growing up?
Purple


Yes I had one of these, LAWD. It was soothing though.

10. What color are your sheets?
White (ahhh so relaxing, like sleeping in a cloud)


11. What color was your favorite crayon as a child?
Green (it was always so crisp)


12. What color is your car?
Plum
Not this bright, more like a really deep midnight purple.

13. What color was your prom dress?
Orange


14. What's your favorite gemstone?
Opal (Would you expect anything other from a unicorn descendant?)



15. What is your favorite flower?
Blue Hydrangeas


16. What color makes you happiest?
Infinity Blue


Detroit airport tunnel, taken by me.

17. What color depresses you?
Muddy Brown


I also hate chocolate. The taste, the smell, BARF!

18. What color calms you?
Periwinkle



19. What color makes you grind your teeth?
Pepto Pink



20. What color would you like to try, but are scared to?
Acid Green



So, apparently your color personality are the colors that show up most frequently. To get to this, I edited out colors from the questions that don't have to do with everyday life and choices, or colors from questions with a negative, dislikey focus. So I eliminated questions 2 (can't choose your eye color), 4, 8 (had no control over living room color growing up), 11 (because I don't recall having a favorite crayon color; I just think back and am like hmm, green was kind of nice...yeah, that's the ticket!), 13 (one time choice), 17, and 19. This basically left me with variations of purple and blue as my color personality, not too surprising! To see this illustrated, I went to Flickr. Me eliminations make more sense because you can only pick up to 10 colors, so if you try this, keep in mind what colors surround you the most in your life in regards to the questions and edit out the others.

Here is the full link to my supposed color personality. *glances at my blog colors* Look familiar? Not too surprising, although I wouldn't decorate according to that color scheme. The clothes I am drawn to are usually those colors though.

Try it for yourself and let me know when you do so I can come see! Colors give me LIFE.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Pour Out Some Liquor for Cursive Handwriting

Charleston resident Kelli Davis was in for a surprise when her daughter brought home some routine paperwork at the start of school this fall. Davis signed the form and then handed it to her daughter for the eighth-grader's signature.

"I just assumed she knew how to do it, but I have a piece of paper with her signature on it and it looks like a little kid's signature," Davis said.

Her daughter was apologetic, but explained that she hadn't been required to make the graceful loops and joined letters of cursive writing in years.

The decline of cursive is happening as students are doing more and more work on computers, including writing. In 2011, the writing test of the National Assessment of Educational Progress will require 8th and 11th graders to compose on computers, with 4th graders following in 2019.

Students accustomed to using computers to write at home have a hard time seeing the relevance of hours of practicing cursive handwriting.

Text messaging, e-mail, and word processing have replaced handwriting outside the classroom, said Cheryl Jeffers, a professor at Marshall University's College of Education and Human Services, and she worries they'll replace it entirely before long.

"I am not sure students have a sense of any reason why they should vest their time and effort in writing a message out manually when it can be sent electronically in seconds."

For Jeffers, cursive writing is a lifelong skill, one she fears could become lost to the culture, making many historic records hard to decipher (Gem--this made me sniggle for some reason visualizing people throwing their hands in the air "Bob, I just can't read the damn thing!") and robbing people of "a gift."

But cursive is favored by fewer college-bound students. In 2005, the SAT began including a written essay portion, and a 2007 report by the College Board found that about 15 percent of test-takers chose to write in cursive, while the others wrote in print. That was probably smart, according to Vanderbilt University professor Steve Graham, who cites multiple studies showing that sloppy writing routinely leads to lower grades, even in papers with the same wording as those written in a neater hand. It's common for adults to write in a cursive-print hybrid. (Gem--this is actually what I do for mundane stuff)

Full article here.

I remember learning to write cursive and how important it was in elementary school. It was like a rite of passage when you could write in cursive, so "grown up". What are your memories of learning/using cursive? I have two types of cursive (besides the print-cursive hybrid). One is my scribbly cursive, which has no slant and looks pretty psycho due to my left-handedness. Then I bust out the fancy schmancy cursive when necessary, the kind that slants up to the left. My print handwriting however, could win awards. I am constantly getting compliments on my beautiful print handwriting, no joke. Crabby be hatin' because his cursive looks like one of the forefathers on the Declaration of Independence and stuff, but ER'BODY AIN'T ABLE, YOU KNOW WHAT I'M SAYIN?

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Warning To My Readers: Never Befriend A Blogger

Ok so I know I gave thanks and stuff a couple of posts ago but I want to recant at this time, my friendship with Karrie B. Bloggies, do not befriend people such as her and let them into your life, e-mail, and phone. Otherwise you subject your inbox to stuff such as this:




The subject title of this picture was: Gem Nomming.

I'm upset at so many things, as discussed with Karrie and QQ. Why does it look like a pony-sized bite was actually taken out of the tomato? Why is she gazing at the tomato so lovingly and smirking about how her lunch has more swagger than yours? The way her pink and white locks are in a breezy fresh roller-set style...

Let this be a warning to those who open your hearts to bloggers. Love is a losing game.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Pink Insects: The Cuntiest in the Land

A boy found a pink grasshopper in a nature reserve recently. Pink insects are rare, but can pop up from time to time. How much you wanna bet they J-set every Friday for no reason?


Pink grasshopper


Pink Katydid


Pink Dragonfly

Peeped here.

Also, have a song to take you through the weekend. I usually don't like "feel-good" songs, but this one is irresistable with the bass and instrumentation in the background combined with the floaty vocals and lyrics. Turn it up loud and jam. Ok, BAI.



Weather - Amel Larrieux

Friday, September 11, 2009

Feelin' It

Love, that is. In it's various forms. I just want to hand out some virtual wildflowers today (I don't eff with cut flowers anymore) to people who make life interesting.

I've mentioned before how I am constantly amazed at how technology brings together people who probably would never have met otherwise. I have met and "met" some dear people online; many who have turned into true friends who I know I can reach out to.

I was just reading the blog of a blogger who died very recently, and reading the comments on her last post reinforces the importance of the connection that so many of us feel to people we know online.

Knowing that I've inspired people in the virtual world to go natural, maintain their natural hair, and go vegetarian or vegan (or even reduce their meat) means a lot to me.

The virtual friend I've known the longest is a dude that goes by DJWaltd. We "met" on Blackplanet (LAWD) back in like, 2001 or 2002 (no funny business, just friendship) and are still friends today just shooting the breeze every now and then about music, books, TV Shows (always quoting The Simpsons for something), etc.

Muze is the first blogging friend I made. She was my very first consistent commenter on this blog, and always made me feel like I was saying something interesting when I didn't think anyone was reading. She linked me on her blog and is responsible for a lot of my early blog traffic because her blog was already crunk. She is an extremely talented writer and phenomenal woman all around. I love how she stays positive in almost every situation and retains a bit of mystique while sharing some of her most personal stories. We missed each other when I was in Detroit last time, but I know I'll see her one day! Thank you Muze, for being you!

Karrie B is my best blog homie right now. We are pixie twins; the shortest, fun-size bloggers you know. I lurked on her blog for a long time (I believe I found it through Muze), then we began chatting on Twitter about ain't shit type things. Months later, we talk in some form (phone, gmail, twitter, text, yahoo) every day. What I love about our friendship is we can say absolutely anything or share anything, and the other person will not even bat an eye. No judgment. Just honest assessments and advice.

QQ is another one whose blog I had lurked on forever. I lurked on C&D back in 2006 and 2007 and I remember her from there as well. She is one of the most forthright, intelligent, funny, and kind people I know. There are Gmail threads every day between her, myself, Karrie, Slaus, Bully, Sherri and Terri that keep us all wheezing for breath and cackling and for that I am thankful.

Vesper inspires me with her creativity and her expressions about life. We have e-mailed back and forth (I still owe you one!) about life, love, career, health, TV shows, whatever.

Mrsmarymack and I have also e-mailed and shared texts back and forth about family choices, careers, dreams, etc. She is my go-to person for advice and tips on certain areas of life and we can always make each other laugh with our Dallas vs. Houston rivalries in ain't-shitness.

TheJadedNYer, Kingsmomma, ChocolateOrchid, Chanel, BCU, Cheron, InnyVinny, and Sydney all keep me looking forward to our chats and their blog posts. I love chatting with Lina, and I hope she brings her blog back because she has a lot to say and I love how she says it.

Cas is a fierce warrior for righteousness and I learn so much from her everytime I read one of her posts. I look forward to continuing chats with her.

My Blisslife homies, linked in our admiration of one of the most inspirational artists out there (Amel Larrieux) provide a haven to come relax and share. I am thankful for the presence of 2Serenity, Ness, Sacha, Tanijoy, SoulReflection, and SS1.

To the peeps who follow and/or lurk on my blog, thank you for reading and finding what I have to say interesting or entertaining. School and work have left me little time to read as many blogs as I want, so know that I read your blogs when I can, even if I don't comment. Also, I chat with so many wonderful people on Twitter; too many to name. I have made friends with several people on there, even people from my own city. Bawse.

I'm also really feeling the love for Crabby. 4 years strong as a couple, and it's a nice feeling. We are at a point where THINGS and STUFF are closer instead of a distant horizon and it's a funny, buzzy feeling.

I'm also reading blogs from people who were in NYC on 9/11/2001. I was in college, in a class when it happened. A classmate was getting news updates on his phone and said out loud, "A plane has hit the WTC in NY." We turned on the TV in the classroom. As it became apparent what was happening, the buzz of people's voices grew louder. Class was dismissed. People poured out into the hallways from other classrooms. People left. Went home. My school was downtown, and it was jammed with traffic of other people leaving work to go home. People were confused and scared. Houston is a space, energy, and medical hub in this country. Could we be in danger too? The rest was a blur; I just remembered being glued to the TV once I got home. The fact that so much video was obtained forever stands out to me; as I am a visual person, I need to see things. My thoughts are with the people who experienced this first-hand and/or lost someone today. My thoughts are also with anyone who is hurting right now, be it from loss, heartbreak, disappointment, whatever.

One of my favorite Coldplay songs (and one of my favorite songs, period), Sparks:





Sparks - Coldplay

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Hump It

Check out these tasty morsels (always and forever ruined by QQ) I made *snobby voice* from scratch this weekend:


Strawberry-banana muffins

Also, let this license plate be your entree.
Hump It
Labor Day I got crunk in Spades and Boca chicken nuggets with veg. baked beans and homemade fries courtesy of my mother-in-law. Also contemplating big changes for the future. It's that weird time period where stuff is about to happen and you gotta ride the wave. But which one to ride? Hmmm.
I am also now hooked on Law and Order. I saw Benjamin Button for the 1st time and enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.

Friday, September 4, 2009

I Love the 90s Friday: The 1st Night

Monica was so cute and sassy in the 90s. This video and song are heavily linked to a lot of high school memories. Flirting with Crabby, basketball, summer changing to fall, and fashion. I just HAD to have a white and khaki outfit after being influenced by this video. I think I was trying to find a khaki skirt and couldn't, so settled for some khaki capris and a white tank top. LAWD.



Homegirl at the 2:18 mark was trippin' though. Bish, do you hear the lyrics to the song? All hot and bothered being a hussy on somebody's couch. Where are your parents? Anyhoo, I thought it was a nice message for teenagers since this came out my sophomore year (I think) of high school. It didn't avoid the fact that there is temptation out there for girls, but firmly said "not now" with a cute little beat.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Bleak

This is exactly why I do not support the death penalty.

In hindsight, it is nothing short of amazing the crap that was thrown together and presented as evidence to convict a father of murdering his 3 daughters by way of arson with NO MOTIVE, SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE REFUTING JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING IN HIS TRIAL, and other gems of truth. The death penalty does not deter criminals from committing crimes. The death penalty costs the state more than keeping a prisoner alive. Oh, and innocent people are murdered in the name of justice. Why? How can this be? How can I believe in people as a whole with this ceiling above everything? What can be done?

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