PREZI.

I have a secret.
I'm able to get perfect scores on speeches and presentations in any class because I use this tool: PREZI.
An advanced communications class, composition courses, multiple Spanish projects - I've made perfect scores. I may have been mediocre when it came to the meat of the class, but I aced those projects, dammit!!
Today I rocked yet another Spanish presentation. My profesora even mentioned to the class, "Oye, here a comes Ben-ha-mean witha hiz fancee program!" And that's what I like to hear.
So, for the few of you who read this blog - I'm letting you in on my secret.
There's a bit of a learning curve, as this ain't PowerPoint, but it's worth it! I can see myself using this program well into my adult-life/career.

The following link hosts my Spanish Prezis. Choose one, click 'more' and select 'full screen' and click the arrow to move the presentation!

http://prezi.com/lm1awgp5oens/spanish-ii-presentation/

Bella es mi perra, una pincher miniatura, y tiene tres años (Bella is my dog, a miniature pincher, and she's three years old). Bella nació en una granja en rural Iowa con seis hermanos y hermanas. Bella era la más pequeña de la camada y eso es por lo que me gustaba (Bella was born on a farm in rural Iowa with six brothers and sisters. Bella was the smallest of the litter and that is why I liked her). En el 2007, yo adopté a Bella y vivió en Iowa City en la Universidad de Iowa conmigo. Ella dormía muchas mientras yo estaba en la clase - a Bella le gustaba dormir debajo de la ropa de la cama (In 2007, I adopted Bella and she lived with me in Iowa City at the University of Iowa. She slept a lot while I took classes - Bella likes to sleep under the bedsheets). Cuándo Bella celebró su cumpleaños número dos, corrió cinco kilómetros conmigo en menos de veinte minutos - su primera carrera! La gustaba correr conmigo, y le encantaba una pelota de tenis (When Bella celebrated her second birthday, she ran a five kilometer with me in under twenty minutes - her first race! She likes to run with me and play w/ a tennis ball).
No hacía buen tiempo en Iowa, por lo tanto, a Bella no le gustaba nadar porque el aqua era más fría (The weather isn't warm in Iowa, therefore, Bella doesn't like to swim because the water is cold). En el 2009, Bella y yo nos mudamos a Austin, Texas a un apartamento peqeño. En la ciudad, Bella se hizo un "perro guardian" y tenía muchos amigos nuevos (In 2009, Bella and I moved to Austin, Texas to a small apartment. In the city, Bella became a "guard dog" and had many new friends). Bella visitaba Barton Springs y el Greenbelt y finalmente ella jugaba en el agua! También, iba a Town Lake para correr conmigo. Ella corría conmigo siempre - corríamos una mila en menos de seis minutos (Bella visited Barton Springs and the Greenbelt and finaly she played in the water! Also, she went to Town Lake to run with me. She runs with me always - we run a mile in less than six minutes)!
A Bella le gustaba Austin, pero visitaba a mi familia en Iowa para los días feriados (Bella likes Austin, but visits my family in Iowa for the holidays).

I still have another presentation yet this semester, so I'll be sure to share that one too!

Antebellum.

I'm in a history course right now and I recently wrote an analytical paper on a very boring non-fiction book titled, "The Colonies in Transition," by Wesley Craven. I chose this book because of the author ... however, it turns out that this Wesley Craven was born a lot earlier than the one most-known for his talents in horror storytelling and movie making.
But this book went into detail about how the colonies aided France in it's war against Britain and this war's effects upon the colonies. The end result was antebellum, which means that everything returns to how it was before the war.
My last entry was to give you the gist of my life since previous posts. I told you about working on myself while mild chaos surrounded me. I've got a grip on 15 hours worth of classes, I'm doing really well working 36 hours a week and have managed to become closer w/ family members I haven't spent much time with before... but unfortunately I spoke too soon in my previous post about my boyfriend, now my ex.
Without getting too into the details, I understand why we had to go our separate ways. Reeling back and trying to bounce back from job-loss, piling bills and challenging classes (Spanish), I totally lost myself.
Now, I really hate when people self-diagnose themselves (it reminds me of this awful roommate I had who did it to get attention), so I don't want to disclose much more, but one thing was said:
"You don't even want to kiss me anymore."
But that doesn't mean I want to kiss someone else...
He was one of the first people I had an honest connection with. He was my best friend. And I'm not ready for this to be over, but it is.
So, I'm taking some time to "do me," visit family, make new friends and return to how I was before my eight-month relationship - in essence, I'm going antebellum.

Catch up. **10/26/10 update**

Wow - I cannot believe that it's been almost a year since I've posted on this blog. This thing's only got 93 views in total ... that might be twenty more since the last time I checked back in 2009. To those "anxiously awaiting" another post, sorry I've kept you on the edge of your seat for so long. LOL - hopefully you can hear me saying that aloud drenched w/ sarcasm.
This blog was supposed to help me keep track of the memories, events, drunken nights, etc that slip my mind ever so easily... so thinking back to December 23, 2009 is tough!

In one paragraph, I will now update you on the year-to-date:

I moved into my own apartment in the ghetto and I love it. I officially entered into a relationship w/ a guy named Cody and am still with him. Bella's still here - that bitch. I was making good money at Palm Beach Tan, but was fired. Now I'm barely making ends meet w/ two jobs - one at a Media Assistant at Red McCombs Media (online advertising) and I also sell a line of salsas and spices by a company called Tommy's! at Whole Foods and Spec's here in Austin. And yes, I'm still a full-time student.

Great! Now that everyone is caught up, I thought I'd share some quick information I'd like to retain in the future - gotta replenish my own memory from time to time, as is the reason I began this blog...

So, I've made many conscious efforts to drink faaar less than I usually do. I'm not sure what exactly happens when I .... okay, okay - yeah, I sure do know what happens when I drink in excess. All emotions that I automatically suppress throughout the days/weeks/months bubble to the surface w/o any blocks - thus causing me quite a bit of drama and alienating a friend here or there.

Now, I actually like the fact that I 'forget' about things, because, I mean, c'mon ... why would one hold onto such hard feelings, it's a lot of work and it becomes so trivial after awhile - BUT, having said that - I do wish to remember something that is a staple reason to drink less:
Lady Gaga Summer 2010. I had done quite a bit of saving (AKA, not spending) the few short weeks before my boyfriend and our friend were to attend Lady Gaga's concert in Dallas at the American Airlines Center.
I have an aunt w/ some Hilton hotel hookups, plus another aunt that actually lives in the area. Now, as a bit of backstory, I personally hate concerts - thus, did not spend the $180 or early rising required to log on and purchase tickets before a 'sold out' status, but I sure did want to partake in a fun trip out of Austin for a whole weekend.
I spend money easily. I don't care about money. I spend money for the collective achievement of a memorable time - gas, drinks, mixers, hotel room - whatever! "We're making memories! We're going to have the best time this weekend (internal mantra)!"
Well, I had dinner w/ my aunt while the boyfriend and friend enjoyed the concert - and upon most memorable events - it turns out the friend had some drama going on and it totally got her down, and she was prepared to sulk the remainder of the weekend.
Automatically brought me and the beef (boyfriend) down.
And let me tell you - mixed drink after mixed drink, shot after shot ... nothing really helped the situation. The trip was a flop. Bumm-city, ya'll. Fuck.
So, naturally, tensions rose and miscommunications occurred. Beef left me at a club to go back to the hotel and that had me following him in a separate taxi, attempting to meet him at the hotel. No. Such. Luck.
Homeboy felt guilty and hopped out of his cab early, searching for me.
Well, by this time, I was already back to the hotel and didn't want to sit around watching hotel TV, so I took my boyfriend's keys to listen to the radio and possibly fall asleep in his car in the parking lot - I'll admit, not the wisest choice, but I was drunk.
I was all sorts of uncomfy in that Honda and went back to the hotel room ... Beef was already back and fuming. He thought I had just been joyriding in his beloved Mom-car and all kinds of Hell broke out.
I'll be the first to admit - sure wish I was clear-headed enough to just drop all accusations till the next day, but Drunky McGee (beef) and his bestie ended up packing their bags and leaving me in Dallas at 3 AM.
Now, I honestly don't panic. But my aunt that lives in the area had already flown North for business.
I take a taxi to the airport, rent the shittiest Jeep Compass Hertz has to offer and drive all the way back to Austin, hungover as balls. And ladies and gents, driving one-way when you're under 25 is not cheap at all ... let's just say I could have flown from DFW to Austin cheaper, but I didn't want to waste the booze I still had leftover! Hello - priorities!? But in all honesty, had a camera been rolling that weekend, it would have had more views than the reunion show of New Jersey Housewives and it's embarrassing. So, I'm being proactive so that I can have fun responsibly.

THEN the whole firing thing... let me say, working at a tanning salon sounds so pathetic, but wow - did I love that job! And I made pretty good money too (I'll keep this story shorter than the previous).
I was approaching one year at - rhymes w/ "Salm Leech Ran" - and loving it. I looked good (better) all the time, made lifelong friends, interacted and networked w/ some really powerful Austinites and made money by barely doing a thing... I was even contemplating management. The only negative aspect of said tanning salon, was this dictating, serial-killer-handwriting, midget of a woman who we'll call ... Bernice.
Total fun-hater who managed another two stores twenty minutes North, and obviously pissed she's thirty and still working for hourly wage. Long-story short, she loved crushing people. She checked cameras constantly and issued writeups based upon blurred, inaccurate recordings - she's a power triping ugly girl, that's all you need to know.
Being that she works at a completely different salon, she didn't really know the atmosphere at my store and everyone at my store was pretty chill, had a great sense of humor and we had fun.
In our Austin network of "Salm Leech Rans," employees can communicate to one another through profile comments or email. The most fun way was through profile comments, duh.
So I honestly left a comment on another girl's profile from said manager's store about the recent tirade that "Bernice" recently had.
ALMOST TWO MONTHS had gone by and "Bernice" comes to my store - had she not taken off her WalMart sunglasses, I wouldn't have known who I was peering at over the counter... Bernice's pupil's were huge! And she tells me she needs to talk to me in private - "Fuck, she knows I didn't mop that past three nights of closing... how will I talk myself outta this one?!" I thought.
"Is there something you need to share w/ me?" she asked, looking up at me.
"... ... uhhh ... no?" I state.
Bernice squints (her WalMart shades must not offer UV protection), "Really? Nothing about comments on customer or employee accounts?!?!"
-- Seriously, she has no eye iris! It's all pupil --
"Oh my gosh, 'Bernice!' I wrote something about you two months ago, but it was just about how you're a hardass!" I'm LOL-ing. "I'm sorry, I'll totally take a write up for that, it's just my sense of humor! It won't happen again."
Deni-- I mean, Bernice says, "Oh, I know it won't - because we're terminating you!"

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!
I'm the best associate at that store. I cover shifts from here to the Island of Lesbos off the Italian peninsula! Are you joking?! C'mon.

Nope, that bitch is a midget on a mission, better known as MOAM.
I bite my tongue so hard I tasted blood.
I sped home (just two blocks away) and immediately do two things: Virally send my resumé to multiple contacts I've met AND apply for unemployment. It was so disheartening.
Long story short - I have two jobs now and they collectively don't bring in the same money as my tanning position. And the tanning salon appealed my request for compensation, so I'm in a small battle through the courts of the Texas Workforce Commission at the moment. I'll be sure to keep you posted!!
++UPDATE++
"Salm Leech Ran" never followed through on their appeal, thus I was told by the Texas Workforce Commission that the company would be asked to compensate me, but that the company can appeal this decision, again!

**Sorry this blog hasn't been as creative as previous posts, I'm just getting you all caught up.**

Hmm, what else?
I've really warmed up to two new genres of music - country and dubstep.
I'm not going downtown anymore - this helps me save money and drink less!
Speaking of drinking, my tastes have really grown up - I love the grape!!
I love red wines, especially from the Argentinian/Chilean regions much more than whites (Pinot actually makes me gag).
I've come to the realization that I like school - I plan to travel abroad next fall to Spain to perfect my Spanish.

My ailing grandpa and my amazing grandma have returned to Mission, TX for the winter! Can't wait to see them.

That's all for now - I've got much more to talk about, and each post should be pinpointed on one/two subjects, I promise!