Day 14: Get on your soapbox and rant about something

What do Paula Deen and Alec Baldwin have in common? She made a racial slur during a police deposition 31 years ago after being robbed at gunpoint and he wrote a homophobic tweet last month because he thought the paparazzi were harping on his wife for tweeting during James Gandolfini's funeral (as it turns out, the reporter mixed up time zones...whoops). The comparison really stops there because Deen has lost the majority of her butter empire while Baldwin got no more than a slap on the wrist. While both were definitely in the wrong, shouldn't they receive the same "punishment" from society and the media? Why wasn't Baldwin the leading story on every news program for weeks? Why didn't all of his endorsement deals go down the drain? 

I'm going to be joining the media industry soon, and often sing their praise, but they dropped the ball on this one. Good Morning America anchors kept asking "Why isn't Baldwin receiving the same treatment as Deen?" And to that I say, "You are the one who keeps dragging Deen through the mud, why don't you do the same to Baldwin. The ball is in your court."

Lessons learned from these scandals: 

1. When you find yourself on the wrong end of media attention...hire the real Olivia Pope from day one. Deen reportedly hired Judy Smith after realizing that, while her sons may know their way around a deep fryer, they know nothing about public relations and crisis communication.

2. If you want to become a public figure, every word you have ever said will come back to haunt you. Especially today, when everyone's thoughts are immortalized in texts/tweets/posts. Before tweeting, think "Will I want E! News discussing this thirty years from now?"

3. If you are Alec Baldwin, you can do what you want with little or no consequence. 

Day 13: Issue a public apology

Why yes I did just title a public apology

"Sorry I'm not sorry."

Is it contradictory? 

Perhaps.

But that's life. So you should start getting used to it. 

So here it goes.

Sorry I'm not sorry I:

+hashtag verbally and in text.

+lied and said I was allergic to chocolate as a child {just didn't like it.}

+laugh during movies. loudly.

+couldn't care less about football.

+prefer Aaron Tveit to Eddie Redmayne.
+am on my way to becoming an extreme couponer. 
the proof is in the pudding.

And on a completely unrelated note...

This website has the best desktop wallpapers. 

They're so good, you might be motivated 

to organize all of the icons on your screen

to see the wallpaper better. 

Not that I spent the past hour doing that or anything.

Day 12: What do you miss?

A few months I would have said hands down that I missed my time in Paris. It took me a long time to drag myself away from reliving those three months over and over in my head. I hashtaged HIP2012 long into 2013. I spent countless hours trying to figure out a way to move back to Europe. And this blog was originally started to chronicle the highlights of those 90 days.

I eventually had to tell myself that while I would always enjoy the memories and lessons learned abroad, it was time to live in the present.

So I would say that I miss the memories and adventures that could have happened while I was wishing I was anywhere other than where I was this past year. My head was constantly either in the past, thinking about lunching in the Latin Quarter or day trips to Versailles, or in the future, dreaming of life after graduation. There was little time spent focused on the present, on the now.  I went through the motions of school, but sometimes it felt like little more than that. I didn't reach beyond my comfort zone and enjoyed the familiarity of complacency.

Who knows who or what was waiting just outside of my tunnel vision? So embrace the joys and challenges of today because you can't repeat the past and you are not guaranteed tomorrow. 

Day 9: show a photo from a moment in your day. 

I'm at my grandparents house this weekend, which means that their cat Patches is going to sit on my lap as long as I will let her. And maybe a little longer than that. It's like she knows that I am allergic to her. 

Nothing like a rainy night sitting with a cat. 

Day 8: A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all.

I was reading Melyssa's post yesterday about the life lessons she has learned from her dog.
And it got me thinking: What has Dixie taught me? 

Besides being attuned to the sound of the electric mixer and carving knife, Dixie is extremely
set in her ways and her routine. She is most happy when everyone at home is sitting in one room and being relatively quiet. She cannot stand when dogs, children, bikes, mailmen drive past the front window, which she stares out all day, every day. And she can't do any tricks, to the despair of the girl who lives next door. {She once asked if she could take Dixie to show and tell at her school to do tricks.}

So while Melyssa learned valuable lessons from Monja, her dog, Dixie is a source of what not to do.

Don't become set in your ways. Be open to new people who may walk into your life. Mix things up a little bit. Enjoy the noise and the chaos that can come from an upset routine. Trust me, it will do you some good. Who knows, maybe in your spontaneity you will learn enough tricks to be invited to show and tell.

Day 4: Publicly profess your love and devotion for some of your favorite bloggers.

My mornings are filled with several of my favorite things: coffee, Good Morning America and blog reading. My mornings could only be made better if I had enough time to indulge in brunch, because it's my favorite meal of all time. But that's another story completely.

These four lovely ladies are bookmarked on my computer and I always enjoy catching up on what they have to say. And if I love their blogs, then I know you will too.

1. Lauren of Aspiring Kennedy

Lauren was the director of my study abroad program, which means that while she was enjoying the Swiss bliss, I was also tumbling down the slopes with her. Aspiring Kennedy was the first blog that I started reading on a regular basis {Before that, I didn't really believe that bloggers lived other lives outside of their internet persona.} I always love reading about Lauren, Tyler and Viola's latest adventures and I know that my next European vacation will be filled with her suggestions. Especially about places to eat. The first lesson I learned when studying abroad was to follow Lauren at meal times, because she has a sixth sense about where the best food is.

2. Katie of Kate + Nate

Katie is the faculty adviser for student publications and one of the pr professors at Harding. So we see a lot of each other. Our shared love of doxies, pink, paper products, typography and television is an added bonus. She write about all of her wonderful purchases, which considering Searcy does not have a mall of any size is quite the accomplishment, vacations, recipes and her fur baby, Kevin (who is my second favorite doxie behind Dixie.)

3. Michelle of On the Adventure

Michelle, while I do not know her in real life, is one of those that I feel like I have known forever after reading her blog. She writes a lot about her advenures living in Texas. I know Texans are always talkinga about how perfect and superior their state is above all others, but I never believed them. However, Michelle has shown that there are lots of places to visit that aren't swarming with cowboys and oil tycoons. We are also soul sisters where music is concerned, so I always enjoy her playlists and listen to them for days on end.

4. Casey of We Took the Road Less Traveled

Casey lives with her husband in Germany and it seems like they are alwaus traveling to one European country or another. I didn't make it to Germany when at HIP, so I live vicariously through her posts. I see expat blogs as being able to see the world without having to spend a dime. Casey is not afraid to go off the beaten path and find those hidden gems far away from the tourist traps. Also, she loves to go on cruises, too. I've decided that a cruise is the only way to visit the Mediterranean after reading about her trip.

Day 3: Favorite quote (from a person, from a book, etc) and why you love it

image

You can plan for every possible negative scenario 

until you last breath.

You can come up with every excuse not to start

living your dream (or writing your term paper.) 

But until you take that first step on faith

and continue on, you will never know what you are 

capable of accomplishing.

Do not let the fear of failure

keep you from accomplishing a goal. 

Some problems are only hard because we let ourselves

believe that they are impossible.

If you need a role model for perseverance and hard work,

look no farther than Nelson Mandela.

Day 2: Educate us on something you know a lot about or are good at.

I'd like to pride myself on knowing a little about a lot of things. Teenage television dramas, the quadratic formula, the French Revolution; I could tell you a small amount about all of them. However, if we're being honest, I could talk for days hours about teenage television dramas; my expertise is in The OC, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill and The Hills.

So what am I going to educate you on, you may ask? Spelling and grammar. Before you stop reading, just let me explain. I see this as a public service because, if you're like me, nothing makes you stop reading more than incorrect capitalization and the dreaded Oxford comma. Oh, That doesn't bother you? Well I don't know if we can be friends then. Just kidding. But please, next time you type something, at least go through and correct all of the words spell check catches. The world and myself will thank you.

Here are a few reminders: 

1. Alot is not a word. 

2. "I" is always capitalized when referring to yourself. Always. Now if you are one of those writers who doesn't capitalize anything, then I will give you a slide on this one because at least you are consistent. But for the rest of you, i'm watching. 

3. Ellipses should not be used to represent a period. The president may pause every few words during his speeches hoping they will be filled with applause, but that does not mean you need to include ellipses every few words in your writing. I'll tell you right now, unless you are J.K. Rowling writing "Harry Potter Book Eight," no one is going to be cheering after every sentence.

And finally, I am going to put the ongoing "who vs. whom" debate to rest with a simple trick. 

4. Who vs. Whom. Until a few months ago, I vowed to ignore "whom" because I thought that surely it was soon to be removed from the English language. Since that has not happened, and most likely won't happen any time soon, I needed to learn the correct usage. As a child, I thought you only used "whom" when you wanted to sound fancy or extremely educated. (Surprisingly, I was wrong.) TIP: Turn the question into a statement. Who/whom does he love? He loves me. If you answer the question with "me" use whom. If you answer the question with "I", use who. Make sense? 

For those of you who have read this far, thank you. Especially those who are not communications majors. I will reward you dedication with a few tips on "How to not look and sound like an uncultured American when in Paris."

1. Speak softly (or not at all) and don't make eye contact with other passengers when on the metro. The French are seen as rude and unkind because they don't talk a lot in public. While they are by no means as friendly as the Italians, the French are not rude. They are just reserved. If you don't want to stand out as American (as if your Northface jacket or Kavu backpack didn't give you away), then pull out your white Apple earbuds and enjoy the view out of the window as you ride through town.

2. Stand on the right side of the escalator; walk on the left side. While this is supposed to be a universal rule of etiquette, most American ignore it when at home and abroad.

3. Always attempt to speak French at first. Your Southern twang or Boston accent will most likely give you away, but the French appreciate your effort. Who knows, your pronunciation may even get a smile or chuckle from the shopkeeper.

Have you gotten tired of me yet? Hope not, because it's about to get pretty busy around here.  A lot of people did a "blog every day in May" challenge, and because I love writing prompts, I decided that I would give it a shot...just a little later than others. So I call this the "Blog every day in June/July" series. You know, because I hate conforming  jump on the bandwagon too late. And it has a nice ring to it, right?

And if we're being honest here, writing is my thing more than photography. Sorry I'm not sorry you won't find hundreds of photos of my weekend plans on here. This just isn't that kind of website. I've always been of the opinion that I would rather live in the moment instead of standing afar and taking photos. Don't get me wrong, a lot of my friends are incredible photographers and I'm amazed by their talent. And if you ever need someone to write copy to go along with your photos, give me a call.

So back to the series...I'm pretty excited about this. I don't live an extremely exciting life, nor am I a DIY crafter, and I'm not getting married or have a child so I can't give you advice on planning a wedding or raising a child. However, if you enjoy reading funny stories (like this one) then you should plan on sticking around for the next 30 days.