The year of 2010, to put it lightly, was not my personal favorite. Although 2010 was a year of unemployment and some personal disappointment, there were amazing moments. Rather than focusing on the unpleasantness of 2010, I'm going to focus on the good things about this year. For the sake of my readers: Positive Things 2010 in bullet point format.
My boyfriend was fantastic, per usual
My brother was cool, per usual
I am extremely blessed with people that really care about my well being
I received amazing Christmas presents
I used my camera a ton more than 2009 (See my PORTFOLIO or my Tumblr)
I got to see World of Color at California Adventure
I got to watch Conan live in jeggings with two of the best people I know
I got to experience Trapeze Arts first hand
I got to experience prom all over again with these crazy people
One of the similarities of successful people is their love of list-making. So, in my attempt to be successful at achieving my goals for the year, I created lists in 2008 and 2009, but somehow forgot to make a list in 2010. My goals for 2009 were as follows:
Graduate
Visit a foreign country (UK or Australia maybe?)
Learn to play the ukulele
Lose 10 pounds
Use my bike at least once a week (after rainy season)
Use my camera more
I gladly report that I graduated, went to London, learned to play a song on the ukulele, and I used my camera quite a bit more. I did not, however, lose the intended 10 pounds, or use my bike once a week. That being said, I have used my bike more than ZERO times and lost some weight in 2010. Below is a video I made of my British shenanigans:
Had I remembered to make a list of goals for 2010, I probably would have written the following:
Pass the NCLEX
Get hired for the RN New Grad Residency of my dreams
Go somewhere I've never been before
Shoot some more weddings
I passed the NCLEX, I have not been hired for a residency yet, I haven't traveled anywhere new this year, but I did get to shoot some weddings. Although, there's still a month and some days left to achieve my other 2 goals for the year! I had an interview last week with Kaiser Oakland, Emergency. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping with all the powers of 2010 that I'll be able to check off #2 in the list above very soon!
At the start of the game you will receive a manila envelope containing the following:
A picture of your intended target(s)
The home address of your intended target(s)
The work address of your intended target(s)
The name of your intended target(s)
Contact information of your intended target(s)
Upon receipt of these items, your (or your team's) mission is to find and kill (by way of water gun, water balloon or super soaker) your target(s).
You can hunt your target down any way you see fit; you can pose as a delivery person and jack them when they open the door, disguise yourself and take them out on the street, etc.
If you are successful in your assassination attempt, your team will receive 1 point. Assassinated players can no longer assassinate other players, but they can serve as intel or spies. This continues until you work yourself through all the players. New kills and team totals will be updated every day until there is one assassin left. The team with the most kills wins. Losers buy Winners dinner…but first live in fear.
RULES
Safe Zones:
The square city block where you work.
Buses and bus stops
Inside bars (not restaurants with bars, ONLY bars)
No parking lot ANYWHERE is safe, unless you work at a parking lot (ex: you are a parking lot attendant). The parking lot on the block of your office is not safe.
Weapons:
Brightly colored water guns.
Water balloons
Super Soakers
Any Other Water-Based Weapon that is conceptually similar to the above.
Nothing that remotely resembles a real firearm. Obviously.
Kills:
1 hit kills.
KILL QUOTA: You must have at least 1 kill per week. Failure to meet this quota results in your disqualification.
SUDDEN DEATH: In the event that the score is tied, and there is one player left for each team, ALL assassinated players will be able to come back and help in the assassination of the 2 players left standing.
So, what's brought me back to the world of blogging? If not a way to freely voice my opinions to an audience of complete strangers, it's simply that there is nothing better to do. Yet. With the extremely limited, near non-existence, of nurse residencies in the Bay Area (and about everywhere else), I've found myself spending the hours of my day having breakfast while scouting hospital websites for jobs, doing the Insanity workout some time before lunch, showering, lunching, more job scouting, "hulu-ing", dinner, sleep, and repeat. It is a dismal existence. Before anyone even THINKS about saying, "But there's a nursing shortage," let me enlighten you with the following information:
There is still a nursing shortage, but there's a bigger shortage of money
Many hospitals don't have a lot of money right now
Nursing Residencies cost hospitals tons of money
In the past few months, there has been no greater frustration than to address the above statement because it basically implies that I just did not know about the shortage, and now that I know, all my unemployment woes are magically dissolved. HOORAY. Or not.
A question that comes a close second to the silly statement "But there's a nursing shortage" is "Have you tried KP.org?" People, I have been LIVING in KP.org and Sutterhealth.org, among countless other websites.
It is a science to stay positive in this current economy with the kindly mailed reminders of student loans about to go into repayment, the promise of even more graduates to come in May, and not a scheduled interview in sight.
Below is a review I wrote for the first book of the series:
Twilight's a quick read, but it feels specifically calculated to make females lose their minds. It's no wonder this book is found in the hands of nearly every woman waiting to board their flights in airports around the world. It's a chick flick in novel form, multiplied by teenage angst, to the power of annoying redundancy. I mean, I GET IT, he's beautiful! Get on with it already. The references to the object of obsession’s beautiful features, his hard body, and his hypnotizing scent go on and on. They are squeezed into nearly every other paragraph in case the audience had a lapse of concentration the last time it was mentioned.
So, you ask, "Why is this book such a huge success?" There are bits of it that are appealing: the Romeo & Juliet-esque romance, the sexual tension, and it stirs the kind (or cruel, depending on your particular experience) memory of first love and/or lust. Girls are generally attracted to men that make them feel protected, men that are interested in who they are, men that only have eyes for one woman, men that smell good, and men that are "beautiful". The male character is all of those things, and women eat it up because he is crafted by the author as every woman's perfect man. It's genius on her part, and the millions she's raked in is obvious proof. (Grade: C)
OK, I gave it a terrible review, but the funny (or sad) part is that I continued with the second, third, and fourth book. If that were not enough, I bought the boxed set in secret because I knew I would be subject to ridicule if my boyfriend found out. Here, in an effort to redeem (or further embarrass) myself, are my reasons (aka excuses) for moving forward with the series:
1.) I saw the movie. It was far from great, but Robert Pattinson won me over with his face (bloke on the right).
2.) The chapters are titled obviously enough so that I knew which ones to skip over. Any chapters that didn't have vampires in them were skimmed, and any chapters that specifically concentrated on a werewolf named Jacob were entirely skipped over.
3.) I liked reading about what I call the "sexy wrong". She wants him even though she knows it's dangerous, and she pushes her boundaries to persuade him to get "intercoursical" with her. He responds with something like, "I want to but I can't because I might want you too much, and I may end up killing you." Now THAT is sexy wrong!
4.) I wanted to know if he would eventually do it with her.
5.) I was on winter break and I needed reading material to pass the time.
My recommendation:
Twilight would certainly not be the first book or series I would recommend to any female, teenage or otherwise, but if you have the time to read about vampire sexiness I do have a few recommendations.
Read the first book to understand what it's about, read the summaries for the 2nd and 3rd books because they're really not worth reading (but read the last 4 chapters of each), and read the 4th book because it is filled with vampire sexiness. If you're interested, I have the books on pdf. A sad revelation, but true none-the-less.
