Fast Food Abberation

It’s not easy for me to reminisce about the presence of fast food during my childhood, partially because it didn’t play a large role. I come from a family of 8 kids and a single mother, so more often than not our meals were made with generic ingredients and/or came frozen or in a box. At the time, I resented my mom for settling on such a low quality of food to feed all of us, but I was just too young to understand how the enormity of my family made it a little more difficult for a single mother to manage to feed that many mouths on such a fixed income. When we would all venture out to a park or an event that kept us from a kitchen, our meals would be sandwiches and snacks made that morning. The majority of the time, I had a very poor attitude with my brown bagged lunches. I remember having to watch all the other kids run off to buy food when we would go on field trips, and would be ashamed to have to bring my own food. I saw this as a stamp of my below average socioeconomic level. I felt like the poor kid. Looking back, I realized that I wasn’t the only kid who had that sack lunch, but that I shared my below average-ness with so many others.



This pattern extended through my childhood into my teenage years and came to a shattering halt when I was grown and had my own job. I dove headfirst into fast food consumption. For the better part of a year, I lived off of Burger King. This was primarily due to the fact that it was the only food place within walking distance of my apartment, but also because I wanted to treat myself for going years and years eating such generic and boring dinners. I also hated washing dishes more than anything in the world, because as one can imagine, constant in kitchen cooking meant a steady flow of dirty dishes and thus a daily chore that I grew such disdain for. When I lived on my own I ate it all. Jack in the Box, McDonalds, there was no fast food place that was beyond or below my level. I currently exercise the fast food as a “treat” method. For example: I finish my homework, I get Taco Bell. There is little on this planet that I wouldn’t do for a bit of Taco Bell. I no longer live around the corner from fast food, and that fact alone has greatly decreased my intake of it. But I’ve also learned the nutritional value, or lack thereof, of all kinds of foods and I’ve simply made a conscience decision to steer clear of the junk when I can. It helps that I live in a house where getting fresh food and well cooked meals is all but a problem. Rarely am I left to fend for myself, so I don’t go reaching for fast food like I used to.

Wishlist

Feel free to provide me with any of the following:

1. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
2. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
3. Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk
4. Choke by Chuck Palahniuk
5. Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk

More to come :)

*Note : I've actually read all these books, I've just lost my copies of them over the years of moving across southern cali.

Outlier

outlier -
1: something that is situated away from or classes differently from a main or related body.
2: a statistical observation that is markedly different in value from others in the sample.

Exert from Chapter 2: The 10,000 Hour Rule

"Do you know what's interesting about this list? Of the 75 names, an astonishing 14 are Americans born withing 9 years of one another in the mid-nineteenth century. Think about that for a moment. Historians start with Cleopatra and the pharohs and comb through every year in human history ever since, looking in every corner of the world for evidence of extraordinary wealth, and almost 20 percent of the names they end up with come from a single generation in a single country."

Outliers is a non-fiction text by Malcolm Gladwell (a.k.a. the GREATEST non-fiction author EVER). I didn't start my evening reading his book, I attempted to read Fast Food Nation and failed miserably. I honestly don't care much for non-fiction at all, but Gladwell hits all the right notes for me. He examines the world from such interesting angles and makes connections between the most unexpected things in life.

:) highly recommend reading something by him in your lifetime.

Tuesday TV

Tuesdays always demand immediate decision making skills that I lack.

I dunno what to watch on tv!

_Rachel Zoe Project
_Rescue Me
_Chopped
_Teen Mom (tonight's a repeat!, therefore it is not included in the decision making process)

I have not been able to make a choice, so I've just been on Facebook all evening.
:)

I haven't slept-in in weeks. I'm so tired, I think I'm over tired and can't get my body to settle down enough to sleep a full night. It's no bueno.

Now, I'm off to find my s.o (significant other) and get goodnight kisses and quesadillas

Dum dee dee dee dum

Basically

Eminem - Love The Way You Lie ft. Rihanna

Megan Fox = Goddess

I ONLY watch this because of her.

YOU, The only Exception

Yuuummmyyy

I'm pretty proud to say that I've been SO productive this week. I'm on top of my homework (ok so that's not really saying much since it's only the first week of school, in the process of getting my textbooks, and my room is nearly spotless.
These little things make me oh so happy.

I can almost forget _______.

*Note, I filled in this blank again and again and erased it everytime. I currently refuse to aknowlege the situation. I think I might be in denial

Oh yea, yummy. Hm.. I'm watching the Food Network. I don't have many, well any, addictions other than this channel. It keeps me oh so happy when I'm feeling down.
:)

Agenda for tomorrow:
-Go to work, get paycheck [$=:)]
-Spend some [hopefully] happy moments w thee s.o.
-Board train @ like 10ish
-See Bear
-Self beautification [mani, pedi, shopping, mhm]
-See my c's!
-uhmm.. celebrateeee! ;)

lets go lets go.

My Loves
I miss this life :/

This is my famBAM. We may not have all shared blood, but I have learned that family isn't based on that. It's about the love and growth you all share.

Skype Lovin

Dear ________,
Remember when we first started? You made me laugh this hard. I don't care if it looks silly now, because at that moment everything was perfect even though it was hard. I miss this too.

I'm happy for you.

Then, Now, and Later. (a.k.a assignment #1)

A year ago, I had never heard of Oxnard. I was born and raised in the Valley, and other than traveling to a few other states I generally stayed there. For those who are familiar with the area, I was born in Mission Hills, grew up in San Fernando and Sylmar, and since from June 2009 til June 2010 I lived in Northridge. I'm 19 years old. Shortly after my 18th birthday, my mom kicked me out. I'll spare the details, but I won't sugar coat the experiences. To say it was rough would be an understatement. I hadn't even graduated high school yet, and i had to find a place to live? This wasn't the way things were supposed to happen. But I prevailed. I found a small apartment with my twin sister (who was kicked out along with me) and our mutual friend. That year I did everything I ever wanted. I indulged in an authority free lifestyle and had the time of my life doing things that I'm technically too young to participate in, I went crazy. And then my lease came to an end, and I had to stop and examine the consequences of the lifestyle I had led. Bills were piled higher than i could handle, and once again, I had to find a new place to live. A miracle, in the form of a family came to my rescue.
I presently live happily rent free with the parents of my significant other (further known as s.o). These people are my angels. Although I've only been with the s.o for 6 months, they've opened up their home and their lives to me. They're the ones who feed me and talk to me and ask me how my day was. They're become the family I lost, and because I've learned that you can lose it all in a moment, I can truly appreciate the sacrifices they are making me. They're truly heaven sent. I'm going to school, taking Speech, Geology, and Anthropology along with this class. I'm very proud to be a full time student, not going to school last fall was definitely a huge regret of mine. I work at Joann's, and I love it. I worked at a large store in the Valley since i was 15 and transferred to the Oxnard store when i moved out here. I don't have time for much of anything else aside from school and work, but i am going camping Labor Day weekend.
As much as i would like to have a plan for my future, I don't. When i was younger, i mapped out every detail i could from friends to school and careers and obviously nothing has followed that agenda. I would love to continue working where i do, and as far as a career goes it's definitely in the cards for me to be a Registered Nurse. I can't imagine anything I'd like to do otherwise. I'm a huge people pleaser, one of my few character flaws, so being able to help people despite the exhaustion that is said to come with such a career is a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

BTW

Liyer - bright light :)

Friday Night

It's almost 11 on a Friday night, and i just got off work. I'm definitely sitting on my bed getting an early start on homework. This is slightly depressing. Not the serious psychological, need medication, depressed. It's more like the eat a whole pint of ice cream by yourself, depressing. Oh wells, it's the price I'm paying for all the other luxury I have.

Also, I'm craving fried oreos like no other. I would almost offer my first born child for them.

Almost