Five More Journaling Prompts

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be, and what would you do if later on you changed your mind?
I mean, I like to tell myself I can change whatever I want about myself. But I know that's not entirely true. I assume this question is one of those wave-a-wand-and-change-this questions. In which case I'm going to be totally vain and say I'd chance my appearance. And if I didn't like it later, I'd change it again. And again. Etc.

What are your religious beliefs? Have they changed, or have they always stayed the same?
I was born and raised Catholic. But I don't like to talk religion. Mostly because religion and politics are many times deeply rooted within one another and both are topics that I don't like having conversations about in any other venue but face-to-face. Because I believe both are increasingly touchy subjects and by writing my views I am having a totally one-sided conversation about such matters. And I don't want anyone to feel attacked in their beliefs nor do I want people attacking me. My personal philosophy is believe whatever you want to, whatever you need to to be happy and it's not invading other people's rights to do the same. If you want to believe a master-race of jellyfish spaghetti monsters planted us here as an energy resource, than go right on ahead. Who am I to tell you you're wrong. Because really, we can fight about it until the end of time, but until we pass, we'll never know who was right. And by that point, it'll be too late to rub it in anyways. I think religious is a beautiful thing for people and there's no denying faith has done incredible things for people. Personally, I'm just wanderin.


When was your last food craving, and what did you crave?
I mean, I'm pretty sure my last food craving was leftovers. I LOVE leftovers, cold, for some odd reason. And obviously at school there are none available to me. Before that (and currently) it was tomato and mozzarella. And Mike-n-Ikes, now that I think about it...


Who was your first crush and what made them special?
Jordan. Jordan M from kindergarten through second grade. I remember it like it was yesterday. Basically, he paid attention to me and played tag with me on the playground and may have given me my first pokemon card. A Pidgy. <3 And damn it, if that's not the way to win my heart I don't know what is. And damn me if my mom ever will drop this boy either. She still runs into his mother periodically even though we moved, so basically I don't think I'll ever live this one down...


Name your most cherished childhood memory.
(Okay, bear with me on this one). I remember a lot of small details from being a kid, pieces of memories and experiences, but nothing I would categorize as 'most cherished.' The one thing I miss the most is the imagination that I used to have. The feeling of anything being possible, the lack of a grasp of reality. The feeling that on my eleventh birthday that it was completely and totally realistic to expect a tawny barn old to swoop down from the skies and whisk me off to wizarding school and that Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen could quite feasibly be my best friends (I used to love them). I miss being able to conjure quests and adventures from nothing, whip up plot lines and create characters and play pretend and no one gave it a second thought, least of all myself. I guess my most cherished memory of being a kid was...being a kid?

Please forgive any errors, it's late and spell check isn't working. I'll revise tomorrow.

Krysti vs. Personality Tests

I love doing personality tests. StumbleUpon always sends me to the best ones, but I think over the course of two years of being a bored, short-attention spanned college student, I've taken my fair share. But you know what's terrifying about personality tests, is when they know more about you than you do. Cause even though you try and not "lie" in any certain terms, but...answer questions the way you WISH you were (ie "Are you a risk taker?" "Hell yeah!" - False- I am a pansy) they always fucking know exactly who you are - more than you do! And the thing is, whenever you get a result that you're like - dang! that's not me at all! then you start freaking out because then it's like "oh snap is this how other people see me? How did I not know I was a micromanaging, predictable shell of a human being? Does everyone else know? Why didn't they say something? Will they still like me?!" It's a terrible anxiety, being personality tested. For example, Misters Myers and Briggs classified me as ENTJ or "The Executive." Now, at first I was like "hellz no bitch, you don't know me! I'm a teacher, a warm-hearted caring, personable - ahh who am I kidding." But I didn't think I was 'an executive' by any means. Then, today I was elbow deep in defrosting fridge because no one else in my room had time to clear out our damn fridge today (love you guyssss) and as I dumped out old congealed coffee, milk, OJ - I'll spare you details - I realized how managerial I can be. Not in a CEO Devil-Wears-Prada kind of way, but more like a mom-ish kind of way. As in our floor would never get vacuumed, trash never get emptied, fridge would be festering with mold by now. Needless to say - MIND BLOWN. Those dang psychologists know me better than I do! So I decided to be honest with myself. And the best way I find to do this is to write (stream of consciousness of course, you know me). Now, ladies and gents, please put away your world's tiniest violins, this is not a cry for help or attention, nor is it an invitation to my own personal pity party (trust me, only one invite goes out for that - Mr. Jack Daniels....KIDDING KIDDING. Alcohol is yucky). But, it's terribly therapeutic to just write shit out. So here goes. This is my inner monologue trying to be honest with itself. Prepare yourself. Actually, in all honesty, you can just skip down to the bottom if you want to. It's kind of just journaling (it's actually quite healthy. Just kind of narcissistic to post it online like I do...)

I micromanage like it's my job. I'm condescending. Small talk annoys the shit out of me I make terrible first iimpressions because I'm terrified people wont like me.I care too much whether or not people like me.I don't know who I am other than a composite of my best friends. I don't know what I want to do with the rest of my life. I don't know how to flirt. I can't put in contacts because I can't touch my eyes. Taking risks scares the shit out of me and I never do it. I avoid confrontation like the plague. Sometimes I feel like I get walked on all the time. I plan incessantly, I can't just let life come to me. I'm afraid of being a horrible daughter and older sister. Failure terrifies me. I don't want to die alone but other people stress me out. I have no censor on what I say. I lack the patience and perseverance to try anything too hard - like music. I give up too easily. I'm too organized in all the wrong ways and not organized when it counts. I have little patience for others incompetence. I worry far too much. I waste too much time on the Internet. Blogging is my tiny little Internet space where people are just paying attention to me and I relish in that. I can't do anything without a plan. I can't talk to boys. I'm terrible at comforting people when they're crying. Often I think I'm a terrible person to others cause I tend to make most of my jokes at the expense of  others. I make more references to YoutTube videos than famous literature.  I deal with things by avoiding them. I've been told I give great advice but none of it is firsthand. Meeting new people stresses me out because I don't know what they've heard about me and I don't want to disappoint. I can't be funny when people are expecting it, I just stutter and slur my words. I wonder how much of myself is genuine but stop wondering for fear of the answer. I worry about being alone for the rest of my life. I want to travel so bad. Sometimes I feel small-minded and feadon't want to dream too big for fear not achieving it. I don't wear my hair up because I think I look like a boy. I pretend that I know harmonies to songs, even though I have no idea what I'm talking about. Sometimes I feel like all my classes are common sense, then I feel like a complete asshole. When I do group work I have to be in charge because most other people don't know how to make Power Points. I can't make public speeches because I'm afraid of having everyone in the room judge me at once. I can't stand people with underformed personalities. If you drive me nuts chances are I won't tell you. If I try and be honest with you I'll demand eye contact because I feel like I compliment people so often that sometimes I seem insincere and eye contact is my remedy for that.

Phew! That was oddly refreshing after being cooped up for so long either taking or studying for finals! Moral of the story. Take personality tests, be real with yourself and admit your flaws. Not only is it intensely cleansing, putting them out there for someone or no one to read adds a thrill to the whole thing. My personal favorite personality tests (though I'm no psych major...):

Briggs Myers
The Big Five - as recommended by a psych friend :)
True Colors - use this quiz to get your color and look it up elsewhere, unless you want to buy their book..

Krysti's Tips for Taking Finals

So, considering this is my fourth round of finals, I consider myself to be a bit of an old hand. So, for those of you second (or even first?) timers, and even some fellow veterans, I'm putting this list together. Partially because I like to blog to debrief from studying, partially because my view-count is plummeting because I never post but mostly because I love you all and care deeply about your mental well-being.

1. Snacks. Snacks are a vital part of any studious kids survival kit. They are equal parts practical and distraction and make you the hit of any study session (hint: if there will be girls, bring chocolate). Make them more relevant by picking snacks that fit your material (ex: Loof and I enjoyed chocolate milk and sushi while studying for our Botany final because both contain seaweed, which is a plant). Generally my go-to snack is tortilla chips, Mike-n-Ikes or anything from Sugar Bowl.
2. Breaks. I when I mean breaks, I mean stop all work. Not like, oh I'll stop reviewing special ed to start reviewing math. I'm talking leave your desk, close your computer (SAVE ANY CHANGES FIRST!) go on a walk, stand up, chat with your roommates, etc. If you're just looking for something shorter, watch a youtube video or something. Anything to de-stress your brain and stretch its muscles before another intense cram-session.
3. Music. A strong, studious playlist is important. It must factor in the intensity of material (reviewing/teaching yourself shit because it was never covered in class), your mood and the extent of your iTunes. Currently my three main playlists are as follows: Star Wars/LotR soundtrack playlist, Ke$ha, acapella music or a genius playlist based on "Dog Days are Over." Maybe I'll post a playlist for you guys later tonight.
4. Facebook. Sign yourself off if you plan on doing work. No excuses. That's my advice.
5. Markers. Even if there is absolutely no system behind it, for some reason writing with fine-point markers (I like the PaperMate ones best) improves my neatness in note-taking by leaps and bounds. Plus you can actually use the color to your benefit, whether it be sorting information or highlighting key ideas.
6. Study Groups. Like snacks, they are equal parts motivation and distraction. While helping you to both stay sane and understand shit you may have missed in class, study sessions (provided you actually like the people you're with) can provide a nice balance between sanity and studying. Note: only effective until like 2am maximum. After that, all usefulness deteriorates pretty quickly.
7. Time Management. Let's be real, you can't know everything. It's impossible. It's stastically been proven that your brain would explode. Prioritize information and only study the big ideas that you'll get the most mileage out of. Especially for essays. Most of that is BS anyway.
8. Energy Drinks. A Pepsi max, a Starbucks caffenated drink, and some crazy energy drink, all at one computer. Clearly this kid's got the right idea.

Sorry this was terribly practical and not very entertaining, that's pretty much how my brain is right now. But good luck to all on finals! More entertaining shit later.

An Attempt at Actually Writing a Post

As opposed to just spamming you with funny videos and links to random shit. GLaDOS just showed me these 80 journal writing prompts (probably as a hint my blog's been boring as shit lately - sorry guys!!). My current goal is to write at least a little bit on each of them. Starting now, as I retreat deep into one of my frequent study breaks....

Name something you lost or gave away that can never be replaced.
I don't really have anything deep or scandalous to put here like "my dignity" or "my heart" (although, it's debatable that they latter is on lease...). But, for some reason the first thing other than the typical deep answers to come to my mind was my Loony Toons water bottle. It was this awesome purple thing with Daffy Duck's head on top and a straw. When I was maybe, nine years old or so, I was waiting outside my house for my mom because we were going to Boscov's (I distinctly remember all this, I don't know why). I noticed my best friend at the time, was down the street so I jumped off the step and started running down our forty five degree driveway. Needless to say, I tripped, splitting my chin open in the process. My parents rushed me (clutching the aforementioned water bottle) to the emergency room for stitches. I don't remember anything at all - the pain, the blood, the panic, the surgery - all I remember is screaming bloody murder when I arrived home water bottle-less. I made my parents go back to the emergency room and look for it and for weeks afterward scouring every store I entered looking for another one, to no avail. Obviously still a sore spot...


What 5 websites do you visit often, and why?
Facebook is obviously number one. If you can say with any sincerity that Facebook is not your number one, or even in your top five, I idolize you. As much as I'll sit there and say that social networking sites are destroying our ability to communicate and are getting a little out of hand, I'm as hopelessly addicted to Facebook as anyone. I am not currently succumbing to any of the others (formspring, tumblr, twitter, myspace -is anyone still on myspace?). I think it stems from an innate desire of mine (I'm not here to project or to guess at anyone else's life tonight, this is about me) for attention, to have people care what I say, think I'm witty and pretty and briiiight. And by 'I think' I mean, I know but I'm still coming to terms with saying it for certain out loud. After the big FB would probably be yahoo and Marauder Mail (my email accounts) then DeviantArt (art website - dur) and then probably a tie between this blog, freetetris.com, stumbleupon, collegehumor.com/dorkly.com and dearblankpleaseblank (all of which have gotten shout outs here before).

Name a totally useless possession and how you came to acquire it.
Oh gosh, I'm such a collector, I have so many useless possessions - which is terrible. I'll try and think of one...okay. I own a college-level genetics textbook. I am not nor have I ever been a science major nor have I or will I ever need to take a genetics course in high school or college. I am just a fucking weird kid and as a high school sophomore found it in the FREE bin outside the library and really liked the genetics we did in Biology so I took it. Haven't opened it since. Although I think I once used it to flatten something out for an art project...I wonder if I can get any money for it on Chegg?!
What music album would be used for a movie about your life?
I've often pondered the movie of my life, which scenes would make it in, who would star opposite me (Ryan Reynolds, hands down), what the soundtrack might be...though not a preexisting album, I would definitely want Alan Menken in charge of the soundtrack to my movie. Maybe with some guest tracks by Regina Spektor or Lady Gaga for some variety, but mostly Alan. I adore every Disney movie he wrote the score for and feel like he and Disney made a significant enough contribution to my life to merit getting the job. Although, I also wouldn't turn down a score done by John Williams, Klaus Badelt, Howard Shore or Johnathan Coulton (so so so many awesome points if you know all four).

List your bad habits and/or addictions and what you have tried to rid yourself of them.
Facebook - As previously mentioned, I am  kind of an addict to Facebook. But although I spend an alarming amount of time on it, I don't think (correct me if I'm wrong) that it's negatively affected my social skills. I can still just as easily call you up on the phone and talk your ear off as I can mercilessly comment-assault your status. I try my hardest not to be awkward in live-interactions and I don't think my comedic timing and sometimes witty responses have been at all defrayed by technological advances. I haven't really done anything in particular to rid myself of this one, but I did delete all the rest of my superfluous accounts on other sites and don't plan on joining any others anytime soon.
Talking too much/Being offensive - I mean, if you've met me this one probably won't surprise you...depending on who I'm around (you probably know who you are and aren't) I talk...A LOT. And if I just downed an energy drink? Forget about it. I once talked to my roommate for 40 minutes straight after drinking a Monster. I'm working on more of a give-and-take conversation style though, especially with people who are less outspoken than I am and tend not to challenge me for the floor. If I'm around people chattier than I am, I tend to hush up and be more of an active listener. I can also be terribly mean and offensive sometimes for the sake of comedy/winning. Recently I've tried censoring myself because I've been told I can come off as condescending. The problem is that I always announce when I've stopped myself from saying something mean, in which case the other party involved usually demands to hear the remark...so as you can imagine, that's going really well.

Those were the first five kids, only 75 more to go!! Hooray for goal-setting!

Quad-O-Vision

Quick post, cause I'm trying to get back into the habit and my laundry's in.

We in the quad enjoy YouTube. We enjoy it A LOT. And every semester or so, we pick a favorite video (or series of videos) and anytime someone has a shitty day or is feelin down or just needs a distraction, we play said video. Sometimes said video may or may not be loaded at all times on some people's computers to avoid inconvenient loading wait times...maybe. So, as I finish out half of my college career (talk about terrifying), I reminisce on the videos of bygone semesters.

FALL 2009: Our first love.

MOST QUOTED LINE: EVERYTHING SHE SAYSSSS

SPRING 2010: Damn youtube and copyrights
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xd2orx_saturday-night-live-new-alarm-clock_fun
MOST QUOTED LINE: "Hiiiilo"

FALL 2010: Be careful, of them all, this is the least appropriate. This guy is on some drug in a room by himself just...chatting.

MOST QUOTED LINE: "Not mah chair, not mah problem."
RUNNER UP: Surprise Kitty <3<3<3<3

SPRING 2011: Omg, this man is our hero...recommendations: Dom vs Hipsters, Drunk Girls, Parties, Being Fresh

MOST QUOTED LINE: "Is today gonna be a good day? Yes. Double yes." and really anything he says.
RUNNERS UP: "Pug Can't Get Up" and anything with a weatherman in it...

We are now accepting applications for FALL 2011 videos....any suggestions? Keep in mind that between us (well, mostly me) we've seen a lot of viral videos in our day. Impress us.

Holy Spit

It's been over a week since I last posted!! And I'd been doing so well. Well, for me. But don't worry, I have several very good excuses, on rhymes with Schmodspell (<3), one rhymes with schmomework and one rhymes with Schmortal Shmoo. In conclusion, I love you all, I'll be back soon!

Whooooo Wants to Help Me Out!?

Please Take this! And pass it along to any teachers you may know!

Games I Learned At College

Don't worry, this isn't what you think. Mom, Grammy, you can keep reading, don't worry. These are just some of the games I've learned to play being a college kid.

• Chivialry Yahtzee: This game is played by walking behind one or more people while your arms are full of food, books, packages or other assorted large unwieldy objects. You try and guess whether or not the people/person in front of you will wait and hold the door or make you stand (most likely in the rain, cause people rarely hold doors in the rain) and fumble blindly and one-handedly in your pocket for your ID card to get into your dorm.
• French Fry Jenga: This is also a game played when your hands are full. When walking back from somewhere (usually Late Night) with a bunch of food in your hands, and you're STARVING and you REALLY REALLY want that french fry on top of the pile on top of all the food your holding so you use your tongue/lips to maneuver that single fry out from the pile of fries and into your mouth without A. tumbling the pile B. dropping fries or C. having fry fall down your cleavage. Sorry to say I've lost this game a few times...
• YouTube Scramble: This is the stupid, shorter name for a game I like to call "How-Many-Games-of-Tetris-Can-I-Play-Before-This-Video-Loads." Self-explanatory
• That's All I Got In the Fridge: Sprinkle sprankle bitches.
• Did I Wear This Last Class?: Yeah, I hate laundry. And if you wear layers, sometimes you can get away with the top shirt twice. Don't judge me, I know you've done it.
• Bus Bingo: This is when I just kinda saunter off to the mall/the city/Goodwill/the movies without really actually looking to see when there are buses and just pray that there's another one coming.
• But I Had a Reason! This is when you sit down, sign off Facebook, disconnect your Internet and get pumped for some hardcore working time, and then you realize that you absolutely had to [insert something you "need" Internet/facebook for here]. Then you end up spending 40 more minutes on Facebook/YouTube/Skype/Stumbleupon/CollegeHumor/this blog before you actually start your homework.
• Don't Wake Roomate!: A classic, that's even more high-stakes if you're an insomniac whose sleep schedule is three hours off from the rest of the world (who, me?)
• New Class Clue: This is when you get stuck in some class where you literally know no one and the proff makes you pick groups or partners on the very first day. So you have to eye up everyone around you and evaluate their intelligence, group work ability, commuter-status, personality and general usefulness in one glance and then calculate how best to not-awkwardly ask them to be partners. [Note: variations of this game include "You're the best looking in this class, let's work together" and "I-Spy the Class Workaholic. Partners?"]
• Registration-opoly: Players must weigh the benefits of a great prof vs the inconvenience of an 8am class! Try and get a set of classes in all the same building in a row so you don't have to walk back-and-forth!
• InconvienceLand: Nothing like it's jolly counterpart (true life: there's no Queen Frostine in the real world), this game occurs when you need to know something about hours, services on campus, regulations, etc. All you have to do is ask yourself the question "Would it be convenient?" If the answer to that question is 'yes', the answer to your original query is 'no'. [Note: I can only vouch for this game's accuracy at my school, but with 50% budget cuts, the rest of the PA schools might get better at this game soon enough]
• Bidd-I-Spy: You can pretty much play this one anywhere. Basically, grab a window seat or lawn chair by housing on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night (PSU: any night works for you) and watch the Uggs/leggings/Northfaces roll on by in droves. Play with your friends by making bets on how early into spring semester you'll start seeing bare legs again (my money's on February).

MLIB: My Life is Bizzzaaayyy

Hey kids, quick post tonight, it's late and I have first grade bright and early tomorrow then class then have to assemble some more costumes, write some more papers, plan some more lesson, do some more shit. But, I noticed I haven't posted in a week (SAD, I know) and I love you all so much, I wanted to check in. So, here's a quickie.

This is kind of epic. I don't care if you don't really know what Starcraft is (it's a video game, beyond that, I'm on the same page as most of you - noooo idea). But you cannot deny the awesome mash-up power that these two random-ass pop culture items have when, well, mashed up. It's the audio for the video game trailer dubbed over clips from the 'My Little Pony' TV show. WHO THINKS OF THESE THINGS?!



Speaking of mashups...guess whose favorite blogger got to see the Beelzebubs (AKA: the Warbler's from Glee/the guys from 'The Sing Off') this weekend. That's right, your favorite blogger (ie - me). Ph.D. (sorry girl, it's late and that's the best codename I could think of after our lovely car ride talk) and I road tripped it up to PSU to see the 'Bubs' perform with NOTA, PSU's equally awesome acapella group (GLaDOS, kiddo, ya did great!). So, basically as if the Warblers were not already my favorite part of Glee....


The Beelzebus on 'The Sing Off' (if they don't make you melt you don't have a soul - add that to my list!)


PSU's NOTA (Think they sound good? They're even better live. Espesh when they do 'I'll Follow You Into the Dark, one of my favorite songs of all time. And I've been told 'Helena' isn't too shabby either.)

More or less the Bean kinda nailed it down today during our two hour discussion of acapella music: "NOTHING IS MORE ATTRACTIVE THAN A MAN WHO CAN SING" (granted that was one of the more blog-ppropriate comments we exchanged, but let's leave it at that...acapella music is incredible. The performers (both male and female, haha) have such an extreme degree of talent in every fiber of their being that just being around it makes you feel so great. Bottom line: GO SEE YOUR SCHOOL's ACAPELLA GROUP(S)!!! Or, if you're at a lame-ass school like me without one, travel an exuberant amount of time to see someone else's!! I'm pretty sure my total travel time for acapella music is fast approaching the 10hr mark. Addiction? Maybe.

Wow, this was supposed to be a quickie post...now look at it, three videos and a small inner monologue/soapbox speech later and here we are. At the end, I swear. G'night lovelys. Sweet, acapella (singer) filled dreams!

Krysti @ College: Hipster or Not?

Reasons Why I am a Hipster

• I own a shirt from Urban Outfitters
• I own and regularly wear berets
• I have brightly colored wayfarer sunglasses
• You might not recognise half the stuff on my iPod
• I write in serif-ed fonts
• I wear my slip-on Vans and Converses until they are literally held together with duct tape
• I blog
• I have band shirts from bands you've probably never heard of
• I shop in thrift stores
• I changed the font of this list to Georgia because Times New Roman is too mainstream
• I wear plaid button downs regularly
• I've been to concerts at the TLA, World Cafe, and WXPN's Summer Music Fest
• I use reusable bags
• I make/design/deconstruct my own clothes fairly often
• I tend to"shun mainstream societal conventions that apply to dating preferences and traditional "rules" of physical attraction" (thanks Urban Dictionary)
• I know what PennyArcade is 

Reasons Why I am Not a Hipster

• I shop at Target for 90% of my clothes
• I own one pair of skinny jeans
• You probably know 50% or more of the music on my iPod
• I've bee to two Jonas Brothers concerts
• I don't drink really fancy brand name water
• I can't really hold a very long dialogue about art
• I am not vegan or vegetarian
• I think that in moderation, consumerism actually drives the economy and thus we kind of need it
• I don't own or wear anything made from hemp
• I don't have an androgynous yet edgy haircut
• I like to share my music
• I don't live in New York or some other urban, bohemian area
• I don't smoke or drink coffee
• I am not very trendy nor am I a setter of trends
• I am not persuing a liberal arts degree nor a degree in anything close (ie art, music, english, philosophy, etc.)
• I really don't give off the required "aura of effortless cool" (thanks Urban Dictionary)