Day 21 – Something that makes me happy

I have decided to finish this challenge on arbitrary days. So today is Day 21.

Harry Freaking Potter. Courtesy of Google images.

Harry Potter makes me happy. I have read all of the books at least 3 times each, I have seen most of the movies at their midnight premiers and I adore the magical story. Of course, I'm not as crazy as this guy, but I could challenge anyone to Harry Potter trivia. My friends and I even read the seventh book out loud to each other on a a roadtrip from San Antonio to Columbia, Mo. Not only did it keep us awake, but it also made for an entertaining ride home.

This is even a newsworthy post because I went to the midnight showing of HP Thursday night. I loved being in a theater with hundreds of people that also love the franchise as much as I do. Being there with some of my besties would have been even better, but I'll take what I can get. I ended up going with one of my co-workers and his girlfriend, and it was actually pretty fun.

It's crazy that the story is almost over. When I finished the book, it kind of felt like the end, but not really because there were still movies to be made. Now, though, is really is nearing the end. It's bittersweet, just like the ending of Toy Story 3. I have grown up with these characters, and seeing the ending come to life will be exhilarating. I will see the last movie with Jayme if it kills me.

I love Harry Potter. It makes me happy.

Day 20 –- What you really want to know

One of the biggest questions I have gotten about my blog is what it means in the first place: "My life in CMYK." I feel like this could be a good design lesson, too. So, here goes.

Most people get the "My life in" part; it's kind of a no-brainer. CMYK throws them for a loop, though. In television and Web, only three colors are used to make any color you see. Those colors are red, blue and green -- RGB. However, in publishing, the colors are cyan, magenta, yellow and black -- CMYK (the K standing for black). All photos, colors and text for print has to be formatted to CMYK because the printers only use those tones.

Have you deciphered it yet? So what my blog name really means is "My life in color" or something along the lines of "My life in the publishing world." Clever kind of, right? Although, I have gotten some flack about the name closing me of to the Web side of things ... It's just a name, people!

For a more in-depth description, go here.

Courtesy of Zazzle.com

Killing three birds with one ... blog post.

I am not really good at these daily blog offerings, am I? Two jobs, Harry Potter and my newly foster kittens have been taking my attention. But fret no more! I am almost done with this thingamabob, and I am not going to quit now!


Day 17: A photo of your family

It is kind of hard to get a picture of my whole family. My parents are divorced and don't exactly get along at all times — not to mention the fact that we all live in different states now. The last photo that would have been taken of my immediate family was at my college graduation, which, miraculously, went by without any major tears. However, I found no pictures of my mom, dad, brother and I, and I don't feel like photoshopping anymore today. So, here are two pictures that you can imagine together.

And just because I love this picniked photo of my college family, here it is!

Day 18: Something you crave a lot

See Day 2. (This is probably a cop out.)

Day 19:  Another picture of yourself

This is a picture of me after a day full of designing data pages. Still alive!

Days 15 & 16 — If only I could call Paul Rudd on my phone...

Since I am so far behind on this blog challenge thing, I have decided to combine days 15 and 16. Deal with it.


Day 15: Something you don't leave the house without

These days, it is definitely my HTC Hero phone. It is my link to all the people I love back in Missouri and wherever else they are. Plus, I have other cool things on the phone, too: Facebook, Twitter, games, music, Internets. I really feel disconnected without it, which is kind of sad to say about this society. It's a good thing that people can have information when they want it, but I think it's easy to develop a dependency on the technology.


Day 16: Your celebrity crush

NAME THAT MOVIE! Courtesy of Google images

I have been known to start sentences with, "If there was one man," and end them with, "it would be Paul Rudd." No, it doesn't make much sense, but it was funny at the time. I adore Paul Rudd, though. I think is comedy is brilliant and subtle, and I like that he seems like (and I have read that he is) a down-to-earth, nice guy. So, it's not really an "OMG he's so hot" kind of crush (I have Joshua Jackson for that), more of an "OMG this guy just made me pee my pants from laughing" kind of crush.

Day 14 — High School Musical for big kids

Courtesy of Google images.

Glee is by far my favorite show on TV.  I love that a singing and dancing television show on FOX has taken the world by storm, and what is funny about it is that one of the few differences it has from the Disney original High School Musical movies is that they use popular songs. And more adult themes, I guess.

Anyway,  I love everything about this show. I love that I recognize the songs the characters sing, I love that the producers re-hash old classics, and I love that Glee has taken on all forms of media. Not only are they on TV, but they also sell their songs on iTunes, perform concerts and have released several public service announcements as seen from the characters' perspectives. If you haven't seen Glee, I suggest you check it out on Hulu.

Day 13 – Let me hold your crown, babe

Courtesy of SaraBmusic.com.

Sara Bareilles has been one of my favorite singers/artists for a long time. I love the way she sings; she puts so much emotion into her songs, and I love to sing along. She is kind of like my new-age Kelly Clarkson only less poppy. In case you haven't heard from Sara, here's a video of one of her latest singles:

Day 12 – Home sweet home ... kinda

Today, I am to post a few photos of the town in which I live. These photos are from the first time I visited the city, on my interview for the paper. I really liked the atmosphere of the Historic District, and I don't think you can take a bad photo from that area.

This is one of the theaters I have yet to visit.

And this is Forsyth Park. Gorgeous.

The beauty of the city aside, I still have very mixed feelings about living here. It has been a lot harder to meet people than I thought it would be, and I am having a hard time relating to people at work now that one of my friends has left. I'm going to stick it out for a while, but I miss having close friends nearby more than I can even explain. I tried to fill the void by those silly dating sites, but I haven't found anyone worthwhile (or who has thought I am worthwhile). I'm just kind of sick of it. At least I have Maia!

Day 11 – Make-up bag? Really?

Yesterday, I was supposed to write a blog about what is in my make-up bag, but how freaking lame is that? So, I am going to brainstorm a bit by blogging about my upcoming Jimmy Carter Flash project. It was my idea to come up with something to present to the world either before he dies or in the wake of his death. Carter is a former governor of Georgia, and he even announced his bid for presidency at a local restaurant in Savannah. I wanted to do something that would honor his memory, and we have been collecting a lot of things pertaining to him.

• More than 100 AP and local photos of him throughout his life and political career.
• A timeline of the books he has published along with book covers. (He has actually written a lot of books.)
• A general timeline of his life
• And a lot of back issues and archived stories the Savannah Morning News has written about him.

My job, now, is to figure out how to organize the material in a cohesive, yet aesthetic, way. I don't know if I should make the project HTML- or Flash-based, and I am at a loss of how to even start this huge thing. I know I want a timeline of events – with photos included – but I think the book timeline is a little much. I want a way to view the photos at pretty decent size and be able to scroll through them, too. It looks like this is going to be a huge project.

Day 10 – Zunzi's or bust!

Courtesy of Tripadvisor.com

If Savannah is good at one thing, it is definitely food. Don't get me wrong, Savannah is good at a lot of things. Food just stands at the top in my opinion. One of the coolest places I have found to eat here has been this place called Zunzi's. It is a little hole-in-the-wall take-out place that serves a combination of South African and Italian flavors, and it has the best chicken I have ever tasted. Literally melt-in-your-mouth chicken. Now, don't get turned off by the South African flair on the food. It gives it just enough of an exotic flavor to make it really unique, but it's not like you're eating pigs feet or anything. If you are ever in Savannah, I would highly suggest taking a trip to Zunzi's. (After seeing me, of course.)

Day 9 — The stuff of life.

Courtesy of Google images

The only thing I bought today was coffee this morning. If you want to get specific, I got a grande skinny vanilla latte. It was amazing. Coffee really is one of my favorite things in life. It might even have to compete with cheese for my favorite ever.

Day 8 – It's game time!

So, I realize that this post was supposed to be yesterday, but yesterday was insane. (Election day, people.) If you have never been in a newsroom on election day, you are definitely missing out. At the paper, we have five times the amount of people in the newsroom until deadline, 12 a.m. There are so many people doing so many different things, and I am sure it is entertaining to watch. Everyone is pumped up, and thankfully it was all decided last night. (No runoffs!) The song that I would have picked yesterday, though, definitely would have been this one:



(You might not recognize it until 43 seconds ... Also, what a strange video ...)

Day 7 — My dream wedding

Short, sweet and simple.

(This is not a cop-out. It's irony. Get it?)

Day 6 — I wanna puppy!

Today, my charge is to talk about an animal I want as a pet. I'm not going to go obscure and want a koala or anything (though that would be awesome), but I really do want a puppy. Right now, I have Maia, and she is really all I can take care of, so I am happy. But if I ever settle down somewhere and have a yard and more cash, I really want to get a dog. I'll get it from a shelter, and it will probably be a mutt of some kind because of the great experience I had with my childhood dog, Chrle (spelled that way, my spelling has since improved, but his name stuck). He was recently put to sleep at the age of 15. He was really the best dog ever.

Here's my younger brother, Erik, myself and a very young Chrle.

This photo was taken last year. Isn't he handsome?

Day 5 — Be profound!

For Day 5 of the 30-day blog challenge, I am to post a picture of me two years ago. This was as not a challenge because I was in a very cool place in 2008. I went to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games (read my Beijing blog here) as a volunteer. I lived in China for two months, and it was one of the most life-changing experiences I have had. Not only did I get to help out and make connections with people for the Olympic Games, but I also got to live in China and experience a culture that is so different than my own.

The picture is from my solitary adventure through the Olympic Green, where the Bird's Nest and Water Cube were located. I was taking my own photos of the Bird's Nest, and this guy walked up to me and wanted a photo with me. I gave his friend my camera to take the same. (Yeah, I had black hair, get over it.)

The peace sign became a staple of pictures from China ...

I have been wanting to get a tattoo with my name in Chinese for a long time. Some of the Chinese volunteers taught me how to write it, and I think it would be a good commemoration of my trip. I just have to suck it up and do it. Also, sometime after I got back from China in August 2008, I set myself an e-mail to be received in 2010. I had completely forgotten about it, but I got it a few weeks ago. I told myself to not forget what I learned in China and to be profound. I think I might incorporate that into the tattoo, too.

Days 3 and 4

Hello, friends. Time for another round of the 30-day blog challenge. Because I missed yesterday's posts (in my defense, I posted design-related things, so I am fine.), I am going to double up tonight.

Day 3 – Thwarted by the rain

I could have seen this yesterday!
(Courtesy of Coastal Empire Fair)

On Day 3, I was supposed to describe my idea of the perfect first date. The truth is, I had every intention of posting this blog yesterday complete with a photo of my own. The Coastal Empire Fair began yesterday, and I wanted to go on a photo adventure on my day off. Then, it started to rain. Oh well. That pretty much answers the question though. A carnival or fair would be an awesome first date. It's not (too) corny and it's not a cliche dinner and a movie. Its fun. There is always something exciting happening, and it's a great way to get to know people. Take it from someone who has gone on MANY first dates these past few months. It's gotta be fun to be memorable. You also have to not suck at life.

Day 4 – One of the best nights of my life

I didn't even have to think twice about the photo I would pick for Day 4's blog: my favorite photo of my best friend. She had I both gone through some hard things our senior year, and we deicded that our senior prom would be ours. Needlesstosay, we had a lot of fun.

That's me, my friend Sarah and my friend Hannah.

Day 2 – You can't go wrong with cheese

So, for my second installment of the 30-day blog challenge, I am supposed to post a photo of something that I ate today. Well, I eat this food almost every day: cheese. I always tell people that if I were trapped on a desert island, and I could only choose one food, I would pick cheese. It is by far the most compatible and versitile food out there, and it tastes AWESOME! So here is my picture of cheese:



Courtesy of Google images


BONUS! In my search for a cheesy picture, I also found this sweet website. Cheese.com separates cheese into countries, textures and milks and even offers CHEESE FACTS. More than you wanted to know about cheese? Probably. But isn't it awesome?

Day 1 — The experience of a lifetime

I promised to start this blog challenge after my awesome weekend, and I need to tell you guys about my awesome weekend, so we are killing two birds with one stone. I am also sorry about the run-on. Technically, I am supposed to post a picture of me today and tell you how my day was, but I am going to post a picture of me this weekend and tell you how that was. It's similar enough that I'll accept it.

That's me! Thanks Allie for taking this photo!

I went back to Columbia, Mo., this weekend for Homecoming. I did so much while I was there, so I am going to bullet point it for you.

• On Thursday, I made my long journey from Savannah, Ga., to Jacksonville to Dallas to St. Louis and then to Columbia, Mo. I took several planes and several cars, but I managed to make it to Columbia before band practice. At practice, I was tackle-hugged by many of my favorite people, not to mention the two favorite people I was staying with. It felt really awesome to be known by people. Seeing my friends was unbelievable, and that was only the beginning.

• I hung out on campus and at the J-school on Friday, which was another form of catching up with people. I went back to some of my journalism professors, and they were all so proud of me. We talked journalism, which is kind of all I talk about besides football these days. Friday night was rally night, where the Missouri Band Bunch plays at bars downtown and has a generally amazing time. 

• The next morning, I went with some of my best friends to the live broadcast of College Gameday on the Francis Quadrangle with the columns and Jesse Hall in the background. It was the first time the program had come to MU. We had roughly 18,000 people there, and we broke the Gameday record of participants. 

• I participated in the Marching Mizzou Alumni Band for the football game, and it was incredible to be back on the field even though the practice was unbelievably long and all I wanted to do was tailgate. It's OK though, because the football game was totally worth it. 

• Just in case you have been living in a box or you don't follow college football, we beat the No. 1-ranked Oklahoma team. It was the first time in 40 years that MU has done that, and it was well deserved. The crowd rushed the field, the goal posts came down and the whole town partied. It was one of the best football games I have ever been to!

So that was an extremely shortened version of the major events of the weekend. I was so lucky to have been there! I will definitely remember this weekend for years to come. Next year is the 100th homecoming celebration. Could it get even better?

On a more serious note, though, I am still happy to be back in Savannah. I didn't think I would feel this way at all. I really have left the college lifestyle. I live on my own, with my own responsibilities, apartment and  my own bills. As much as I love my friends back in Columbia, I can feel myself moving on from that part of my life. I won't move on from the people, just the lifestyle. I'm glad to be home. In Savannah, that is.

30 day blog challenge

In an effort to update my blog more often, I have decided to steal this challenge from someone I went to high school with, who keeps a blog of her family. I figure that not only will I have a reason to post here every day, but I can also give the general public a little info about me. Tomorrow is Day 1.

Day 1 – A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was.
Day 2 – A photo of something you ate today.
Day 3 – Your idea of the perfect first date. 
Day 4 – Your favorite photograph of your best friend.
Day 5 – A photo of yourself two years ago.
Day 6 – A photo of an animal you’d love to keep as a pet.
Day 7 – Your dream wedding.
Day 8 – A song to match your mood.
Day 9 – A photo of the item you last purchased.
Day 10 – A photo of your favorite place to eat.
Day 11 – What’s in your makeup bag?
Day 12 – A photograph of the town you live in.
Day 13 – Your favorite musician and why?
Day 14 – A TV show you’re currently addicted to.
Day 15 – Something you don’t leave the house without.
Day 16 – Your celebrity crush.
Day 17 – A photo of you and your family.
Day 18 – Something you crave a lot.
Day 19 – Another picture of yourself.
Day 20 – The meaning behind your blog name.
Day 21 – A photo of something that makes you happy.
Day 22 – A letter to someone who has hurt you recently.
Day 23 – 15 facts about you.
Day 24 – A photo of something that means a lot to you.
Day 25 – What’s in your purse?
Day 26 – A photo of somewhere you’ve been to.
Day 27 – A picture of you last year and now and how have you changed since then?
Day 28 – Your favorite movie.
Day 29 – Something you could never get tired of doing.
Day 30 – A photograph of yourself today + three good things that have happened in the past.

I actually do have a few design-related posts to put up eventually. I have a few projects that are coming to a close. Stay tuned!