The "In My Daughter's Eyes Project"

As you can see by the logo on the right -----> I'm a member of 20 Something Bloggers.

Last night I came across a post about this fun, interesting project that one woman - Janae from Pink Moss - is doing, where women can submit a letter they write to their 12 year old self and she'll include it on a website and maybe even a book. It's called the "In My Daughter's Eyes Project" and sounds like a really neat idea.

If you could send a letter to your 12 year old self, what would you say? What life lessons have you learned so far that you would tell yourself?

Janae from Pink Moss has six, beautiful daughters. She realized that society was sending her daughters mixed messages about their beauty, and wanted to find a way to show them how beautiful every woman truly is.  She decided to reach out to all the women in her life and on the internet, asking them to contribute to her project.

And you don't even have to have a blog to participate - you can just type up your letter in Word or Notepad and email it to Pink Moss.

Right now it's only for women (sorry guys!), but who's to say a guy can't still do it and post it on his blog?

Here's the rules for it  if you're interested in participating.

Basically,

1. Write a letter to yourself that you wish you could have read when you were 12 years old. Give yourself advice on how to feel happy and beautiful as you start going through the normal changes we all go through in adolescents, teenage years, marriage, mothering into grand mothering..or never having children of your own. Whatever the case may be.
2. Get a portrait picture of yourself OR with your kids/family/mother....whatever.
3. Send it to her via the "Send a Note" tab on her blog.
4. Share it on your blog if you have one by linking back to her.

"I am so excited about the response already, I can hardly stand it! I was worried at first that nobody would be interested, but I can see now after not even a full 24 hours that this is something people need and want to read about. THANK YOU for helping me make women feel just a little bit better about themselves, one letter at a time!"
                                                                                    -Janae @ Pink Moss

There currently isn't a deadline on it, but I'd suggest doing it soon, as she first posted the project a few weeks ago.

I'm planning on participating - are you?

Music Shuffle Monday (05.03.10)

1. "Judgement Day" by Saliva
This song is off Saliva's latest album "Cinco Diablo." To be honest, I hadn't listened to the entire album, but this song doesn't sound too bad. Sounds like typical Saliva - nice and heavy. Not really a whole lot to say about this track, other than I recall the songs I've heard off this album have been good so far (minus Saliva's obligatory "hey we're back, this is our new album!" opening track, which drives me nuts to no end!)

2. "Take a Picture" by Filter
This is one of those "classic" feel good, melodic new millennium songs, as I'd like to say I was in high school when it came out, however at least 10 years later, I still this hear this one on the radio from time to time and you can hear it played in a lot of movies and on soundtracks that came out around year 2000. Definitely one of Filter's lighter songs, if I recall - the first time I heard Filter was in Jr. High and I recall the album I heard being A LOT heavier - when this song came out I had a hard time realizing it was the same band, as this song is pretty different!

3. "Laser Cannon Deth Sentence" by Dethklok
Dethklok is probably one of my favorite metal bands and what makes them even more awesome is that it's a cartoon band, like the Gorrillaz! Yes, I'm a fan of the dark comedy cartoon Metalocalypse which airs on Adult Swim - I find Brenden Small's satire on metal bands to be quite humorous, and to be honest, both of the albums they've put out since the show first aired have been really solid as metal albums. Unfortunately I've missed both times they've come to Chicago on tour, as I hear it's set up similar to how the Gorillaz would tour - the live studio band on stage, playing under the animated band on a giant screen above them. While I've listened to the first Dethalbum more and am more familiar with the songs on that one (which most were from the first season), I gotta say, Dethalbum II is just as solid.

4. "Secret" by Audio Adrenaline
This is one of the Christian Rock bands I grew up listening to in Jr. High and the first half of high school, and the album this one's on (Bloom) was one of the first Christian Rock albums I had too (the first was dcTalk's Jesus Freak). Gotta admit, for being mid-late 90s, it wasn't bad, as it's just as heavy as a lot of the "secular" rock bands you hear on the radio.

5. "Binge" by Papa Roach
This is off Papa Roach's first big debut album "Infest" and it's basically about a guy wallowing in his problems by binging. It's got a catchy guitar riff though and it's one of those songs where it's like "here's what I'm doing, here's what I should do, don't do what I'm doing." I've always liked Papa Roach since their debut though as they're songs are easy to relate to and can be used to help motivate to better yourself.

This totally made my night!

So a HIGHLY amusing thing that I just learned tonight (via my college roommate) is that my ex, after us breaking up over 3 years ago (December of '06), finally has a new girlfriend.

The fact he has a girlfriend isn't the amusing part though - the amusing part is the information we gathered from her Facebook page, as my old roomie is still listed as a friend of my ex's on there and his new girlfriend's page must have it so friends of friends can view her stuff, as my former roomie could.

So his new girlfriend is clearly into anime, which doesn't surprise me as that was pretty much the only thing that could pry my ex away from WoW. She lists that one of her main interests is "Vidya Gamezz." She lives in Texas (we live in Illinois) so it's apparent he most likely met her online (probably playing "vidya gamezz"). Oh and there doesn't appear to be a single actual photo of her in any of her albums, as they're all filled with anime character photos and Farmville-type app photos.

Now I got nothing against female "vidya gamezz" players as I'm female and play "vidya gamezz" (although I think this spelling of it is ridiculous). And meeting each other online, okay well, the first 2 weeks prior to meeting in person him and I would literally pull all-nighters on AIM, however we only lived an hour and a half away and visited each other weekly and once school started up again we saw each other 24/7 practically - quite a bit different than living 15+ hours away. And I got nothing against anime - I used to watch it regularly and even cosplayed at ACEN all the years I went (minus the first year).

But, based off her profile page, she seriously sounds like one of those overly hyperactive anime obsessed girls who acts like they're 12.

There was one girl like that that my roommate and I knew from some of our art classes in college. She was nice and her art was pretty neat, but... she was a bit extreme at times. I remember my roommate had like an 8am class with her one semester and she seriously wanted to kill the girl at times to get her to shut up, as she'd start with the high pitched anime voices that early in the morning.

My ex's new girlfriend sounds a lot like this.

Which I guess is fine if you're in junior high, high school and maybe even in college... but not for anyone older. (Granted her age wasn't on her page, but he's almost 30).

I'm sure she's probably nice, however not knowing her (and not really caring to know her), we only know what her profile page tells us and I gotta say, this little bit of info totally made my night as I can't stop laughing since my roommate told me and sent me the link to her profile! Thanks Jeny!! I wish hubby was awake so I could show him, as I know he'd probably get a good laugh out of it too.

I mean seriously - not to sound like a bitch, but he's turning 28 this summer, still lives at home with his parents, and is dating a girl that sounds like she's 12 whom he probably only knows online as she lives nowhere near him. Talk about not growing up!

Have I mentioned before that I'm soooo glad I broke up with him?

Don't you just love finding out information like this about your exes?  Totally made my night!

Is Entourage the male version of Sex and the City?

Here's an observation I came to tonight - Entourage is like the male version of Sex and the City.

Hubby and I decided to watch a few more episodes of Entourage tonight, while loading up the next episode, I ask him if the fact I actually really enjoy this show means I have my "man card"* back. He looked at me funny and I explain "well... it's a show that focuses on the adventures of 4 dudes - it's like the ultimate bromance show... it's kinda like Sex and the City... but with guys!" He gave me this look like he wanted to deny it, but couldn't as it's true. Instead of making an arguement for how it's not like Sex and the City though, he just added on the words "... but it's not gay!"

I thought my synopsis of the show was pretty on track though, I mean really, when you break it down, Entourage is EXACTLY like Sex and the City, only it's the male version - you got 4 friends that go way back, one of them is pretty famous and the rest of them have plot lines that fit in with the main overlaying plot and they don't let anything get in the way of their friendship and it takes place in a major city. Oh and they all seem to have a constant need to hook-up with the opposite sex and buy expensive things. I mean really - you can't argue the fact that that's basically what Entourage is.

Now don't get me wrong - I really enjoy this show, so I'm not dissing it. I just think it's funny that it pains the male viewers to have to accept the fact that it basically the male version of Sex and the City!

What do you think? Is Entourage the male version of Sex and the City?

*at the theater it was a running joke that I was basically the female on staff that was considered to be "one of the guys" as they often dubbed me as "the dude with long hair" which is a reference to the movie Eurotrip, where Jenny (Michelle Trachtenberg) hangs out with her brother and his friends so much that they often forget she's a girl and carry on male conversations in her presence. When she points out to them that they're in mixed company and she's a girl they often answer her with the response of "no you're not - you're cool dude with long hair!" Because of this, they joked that I had an honorary "man card" due to my interest in a lot of the same things they guys were into - the same movies, the same TV shows, the same music, video games, etc. Anytime I showed interest in or said something girly though, they'd revoke my "man card" and I'd have to earn it back by talking about or having an interest "guy" related topic or something similar.

May To-Do list

A handful of bloggers that I read do this thing at the beginning of each month where they set goals for themselves for just that month, post them on their blog, and then on the last day of the month, share how they did in reaching those goals.

It seems like a neat idea so I figured I'd try it for this month, so here goes my list.

1. Read 4 books this month

I spend too much time online as it is, while I have a bookshelf full of books I want to read, so why not do that instead?

2. Exercise at least twice a week

I've been slacking on this one a little bit this past week and a half, as one of my brother in law's has been sleeping on our couch and so I haven't been able to use the Wii or exercise bike at night while hubby's at work, but we think he's leaving tomorrow, so I should be able to get back into this habit.

3. Get caught up on Entourage

Hubby and I started watching this series on SpikeTV, although the new season starts in June and we decided that since Entourage and True Blood are on the same night, why not get HBO for the summer and watch them when they first air, rather than wait for someone to put them up online? Spike's only halfway through the 3rd season, so we downloaded the rest of the series in hopes that we'll be caught up by the new season premiere at the end of June.

4. Work on design stuff

I have a few projects my dad asked me to work on for him and the company he works for, so that's exciting, and I'd like to do more stuff on Zazzle too.

5. Call Mary Kay corporate and get the ball rolling on sending back the rest of what I have

I've sold a good amount of what I have left onhand, but there's still a lot left and I need to get money for that to pay off the MK Visa I used to purchase it all. The company will buyback 90% of what I've purchased since I started, so I should be good, I just need to get the ball rolling on it.

6. Finish my panels for above the stove

I bought a few little canvas squares awhile back to make my own artwork for above our stove as I couldn't find any in the stores that I liked well enough. I got the solid colors on em but I haven't gotten around to finishing them.

7. Put together a centerpiece for our table

Our kitchen table is kinda bare, save for our cat sometimes lounging on it, and I've been wanting to put together something nice for it but haven't really decided on what. I have a few ideas though...

8. Try a new food

We eat out from time to time, so why not try something new?

9. Spend sometime with friends

I have too much free time and hubby works a lot so I'm home alone a lot and it gets boring! I need to spend more time around friends - I'm starting to feel like a loner away from my computer! How sad is that??

Awesomely fun, interesting and entertaining things

So I was going through my Facebook links I had posted, looking for an article I had posted a link to so I could share it with someone that mentioned it and noticed I had posted some interesting and amusing things on there, but never shared them on here, so here goes!

First up - How a Web Design Goes Straight to Hell

 

I personally find this to be hilarious and sad, but true, being a graphic artist. So many times you'll meet someone that wants you to fix something design-wise, so you talk it over with them and appear to be on the same page so you go and design them something AWESOME. You show it to them and... it's not what they had in mind. They keep making suggestions and by the time you get to the final version, it looks just as terrible as the original and you don't want to take credit for it.

2. The Mosquito Ringtone
I first heard about this at one of my Monday night Mary Kay get-togethers, as one of the girls had mentioned it, but it wasn't until hubby came across this site that we actually got to try it for ourselves. Supposidly kids with cell phones are using these ringtones in class, as it comes in several low-wave frequencies that emits a high-pitched noise where anyone over a certain age can't hear it, kind of like a dog whistle. When hubby was working at the mall, he'd get bored sometimes, as a lot of the traffic was teenagers, so he'd set off the ringtone just to watch them freak out at the high-pitched noise - it was pretty funny!

3. The YUDU
I saw this product on HSN a week or so ago and then saw a late-night infomercial for it a few days later. Basically, it's an at home silkscreen printing machine. I took an Intro to Printmaking class in college and when we did silkscreen printing, I wish we had this product! We had to do everything the old school hard way and our results weren't nearly as crisp and clear as it looks like you get with this product. If it weren't nearly $250 I would definitely get one of these for myself!

4. How to Write a Nicholas Sparks Movie (by Cracked.com)
This is another "funny, yet true" - start with 2 pretty white people, include an obstacle between them that makes love seem impossible, have them fall in love anyway, throw in a completely out of left-field exploitative awful disaster that only serves to jerk tears and turn an otherwise forgettable romance into a tragedy, go for the only poster design you know, and then count your money! The page has pictures too from some of Sparks' more well-known movies/novels to help illustrate and drive these points home. The rest of the page has some pretty funny Nicholas Sparks-related articles on it too.

5. An article that Men Create More Housework for Women
I don't know about you, but I found this to be true! It goes on to say that guys create 7 hours of extra work around the home for us women each week, from picking up after them, to making them food, to putting their clothes away, and countless other chores. I thought it was an interesting article.


Saving the best for last - 9 Awesome Star Wars Propaganda Posters

 

A friend posted a link to this on Facebook and I just had to share it! These are just a few of my favorites, although they're all neat! Check em out!