Post #68: Thanksgiving, William Shatner, and Career Goals

Wow. November sure got away from me. It's almost time for my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving! Huzzah! Turkey and mayo sandwiches here I come.

 I registered for all my classes for the next semester, and I have one 8am class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. But that's okay, because I get to take a creative writing class next semester, too.

There's nothing real big to report here, life's been quiet. Lots of school. It's been cold. I always forget how cold it gets, and then November rolls around, and I wake up, and it's sub-freezing outside. BRRR! I wore the mittens I made today, but I was still cold and miserable. 

I've been working on Christmas gifts for my family and friends, and I gave my mom the sweater I knitted her for her birthday last week. It turned out fabulous.
Over the weekend, I went to our local Comic-Con with my sister, and among other things, I talked to William Shatner (and a room of 500+ people) about my desire to be a police officer. I asked William Shatner if people had told him stories about being inspired to pursue careers in science, technology, and aeronautics because of Star Trek the way Adam-12 inspired me to explore criminal justice. He asked what I wanted to do, and I said I'd like to be a cop, and he asked why. I hmmed and hawed for a few seconds, and then I admitted that I had a politically correct answer and an honest answer. He asked for the honest answer and I said (with an awful lot of pride and confidence I might add) that being a police officer was the closest I was going to get to joining the justice league, and I obviously can't be Dick Grayson (which, along with being in a movie where I get to be Matt Damon's kid, and being a princess, is my life goal), I can sure be a cop, and that's the next best thing.
I was answered by uproarious applause and cheering. I have never received such positive reinforcement for saying I want to be a cop. An older gentleman came up to me and said "I was a cop for 35 years, and you know who inspired me? The Lone Ranger," Usually people ask me why I don't want to be a lawyer. On person has even asked me what I'm going to do when I get  *miming kicking*  out of the police academy. This really happened. But on Saturday, that did not happen. No one assumed I wouldn't even make it through the academy, or if they did, they did not say it to my face. They just cheered. Everyone should have that happen at least once when they share their goals. It's nice to know people are with you, and not doubting you. (Mom, you don't count. You're my mom. Sorry)
Shatner ended up telling us all what inspired him to be an actor, which wasn't what I asked, but that's okay. I also won art from Jimmie Robinson with writing from Steven Grant! I'm really excited about that.
Because thanksgiving is on Thursday, I'd like to take a moment to say I am thankful for my family, my friends, and those who are on the front lines keeping us safe. This includes veterans  and those currently serving, fire fighters, EMTs and paramedics,  and police officers. We often forget how important they are until we need their services.
"If you're worried and you can't sleep, just count your blessings instead of sheep, and you'll fall asleep counting your blessings." - Count Your Blessings
-D.

Post #67: Fun-sized Post

Today's post is fun-sized, because I am trying to finish up some English homework. Hopefully there will be a full-sized post later in the week.
Where did the year go? It's November all of a sudden, and I'm not sure how I feel about that.
My Halloween was swell. I settled on Black Canary, and no one got it, so there's that. But I had fun dressing up, so that's all that counts.

I also discovered that there is a spanish version of "The Monster Mash"

"When you stop doing things for fun, you might as well be dead." - Ernest Hemingway
-D.

Post #66: Some Tips From Your Friendly Neighborhood First Responder

Big news! I am officially a Certified First Responder! Woot! I got my official certificate and card in the mail a couple weeks ago and I am super proud of myself. Mr. Mackey said I probably shouldn't share this fact with people, because then they will want my help, but I'm pretty sure that's why I got the cert, so I could help people. Also-if you want to ask me for medical help, please keep in mind that I can really only put pressure on stuff and call 9-1-1. And if it's not an emergency, I will most likely tell you to go to the doctor's.
I keep missing First Responder opportunities on campus by 5-10 minutes, and part of me is relieved, but the other, mildly terrible and easily excited part of me is disappointed. I HAVE A CERTIFICATION! LET ME HELP YOU!!! (But please don't get me sick).
 There have been two medical emergencies that I have encountered in the past couple of weeks. The fire dept./REMSA has had it all under control, but I noticed that crowd control was, well, not under control.

I'm going to get on my soapbox here, so be forewarned. 

Please don't stop and stare. Just don't. I know you're curious/concerned for the patient's well being. I get it. Stare as you walk by if you have to. But don't stop and crowd around. That makes the Responder's work harder, and it can make the patient feel uncomfortable or embarrassed. It's rude. I know you don't think that it's rude, and I know you have the patients best interests at heart, but just keep walking. My first responder text book says at least once per chapter "put yourself in the patient's shoes" or "consider how you would feel if you were in their position". I know it sounds corny, but it's a solid tip. How would YOU feel if you woke up on the ground surrounded by people in uniforms and curious onlookers?
And please don't tell the people around you that you "see this kind of thing all the time. It's not that big of a deal." (Somebody said this to me. I'm not joking.) Even if you do "see it all the time". REMSA/The Police Department/The Fire Department are in my condo complex all the time. I am still not used to it. It still makes me a little nervous. And it is a big deal. Even if it's just to the patient. My other favorite was "Well, you'd better get used to it. We're all Criminal Justice majors, so we'll be seeing this a lot." (This was the same person, after someone said something about being worried about the patient.) I don't care if I see this three times a day, every day. It's still a little unnerving. That's why emergency services pay counselors to be on call to talk to their employees. This isn't always stuff you get used to.
Don't do anything you're not willing to explain to the paramedics.
-D.

Post #65: 20th Century Foxes, Radio, and The Return of the Amazon

It's October! Yay! That means it's time for Halloween! This year, I'm going as She-Ra, Princess of Power! It's going to be rad. Halloween is my favorite. It's been getting cooler, so I've been wearing the fun stuff I knitted over the summer including my cute fox hood! I named the pattern "20th Century Fox" after The Doors' song.

Ta-da!

But apparently it's still warm enough for shower shoes. But it's cold enough for Uggs as well. I don't really understand that.

School is in full swing, and my favorite class is (surprise, surprise) Intro to Criminal Justice. I love it. I get up on Mondays (and Wednesdays and Fridays) looking forward to taking notes in CJ. And also what's going to be on TV that night. It is really the only class that I genuinely enjoy. I am also really enjoying my DJ position for Wolf Pack Radio. If you want to listen to my show (which you totally do) it's on Wednesdays from 1:00pm to 2:00pm on wolfpackradio.org and it's awesome.
Gracepoint started, and I am totally sucked in. WHODUNNIT?! I can't wait to find out. I never watched Broadchurch, so it's all new to me.
I ordered some CDs from Amazon, and I think they read my blog, so this time they sent envelopes instead of folded boxes.  I ordered Bringing In The Darlings, a Josh Ritter EP; Upside Down Mountain, the new album from Conor Oberst; Shangri-La, Jake Bugg's latest; and Big Lizard In My Backyard, The Dead Milkmen's first. My favorite songs are "Make Me Down" (Darlings), "You Are Your Mother's Child" (Mountain), "Storm Passes Away" and "Me and You" (Shangri-La), and "Gorilla Girl" (Lizard).  I also found an album by Drake Bell (remember him?) at the library. It was surprisingly wonderful. The cover of "Sunny Afternoon" is great.
"What a thing to be a witness to the sunshine, what a dream to just be walking on the ground." - Conor Oberst
-D.

Post #64: Television Returns

My favorite part of fall is the return of all my favorite shows. It really is. Gotham and Scorpion started Monday. Gotham was great, but I think I might be predisposed to like it, as it is Batman (sort of) and it has Ben McKenzie from The O.C.! I think the set for the Gotham PD Station is awesome! It looks like it fell out of a comic book. The rest of the sets are effectively seedy and grimy, and I really like who they picked for Kid Wayne. I don't like Alfred as of right now, but hopefully his character gets better.

Last night was the return of Chicago Fire! It was a predictable, emotional mess, and it was AWESOME! Severide made squinty sad faces, Casey tried to glue things back together, and stuff caught fire! Woo! Tonight is the return of The Goldbergs. If you aren't watching that, you should be. It's hilarious AND poignant! And Chicago PD is on tonight too! Is Voight the killer? Is Atwater going to make a fool of himself in Intelligence Will Ruzek break Burgess' heart? I can't wait to find out. I love Chicago P.D.
I started my radio show today on the college radio station (wolfpackradio.org) and the show went pretty well, but my recording did not, so I'm not super pleased about that. But hey, I made my radio debut. If you want to listen, my show is Wednesdays, 1-2pm. Tell your friends. Tune in.
I bought a sketchbook last week, and some pencils. I'm going to sketch stuff. *slams fist onto table*. I'M GONNA! And also, I need to stop sketching on lined paper. I also bought some more yarn. It'll be hat weather soon enough.
"Wyatt Earp and Big Cheyenne, comin' through the TV, shootin' up the land." - The Olympics
-D.

Post #63: Birthdays, TV, and Radio

This past Tuesday was The Cupboard Under The Stairs' first birthday! I'm going to get mushy here, so heads up.

I am really excited that I made it to the one year mark! I'm not going to lie, sometimes this project was a bit of a chore, and sometimes it still is. It's a lot harder when you don't have a set prompt each week. But in some ways, it's easier. 

I really love this blog, and I enjoy sharing my thoughts with you, dear reader. 

Today was awesome. We're finally getting into the interesting stuff in Criminal Justice, I found some Tiffany blue Sperry's at Savers for $5, I got to wear the birthday crown at buffalo wild wings and eat wings with my Mom, and I did really well on today's math quiz. But the best part of my day was getting hired on the spot for Wolf Pack Radio. I filled out the application Thursday night, and there was an audio component that was required, and they said if I was feeling ambitious, I could drop off a mixtape/compdisc, so that's what I did. I did a "get to know me" pilot episode with songs that meant something to me, or had a connection to me. I went by this morning, and I walked in and introduced myself and Mr. Station Management said "that's so funny, I just finished putting you in the Wednesday slot you requested!" I'm not going to lie, I was more than a little surprised, I mean, they hadn't even heard my CD or talked to me! But I accepted and tried really hard not to jump up and down and wave my arms like a broken octopus.  So I dropped off my CD, got a tour of the station, and left feeling pretty great. I am one step closer to fulfilling one of my life goals of becoming Ira Glass. I am so excited!
It's September, which means new TV seasons! Yay! In addition to my regular shows, There is a new Ken Burns special on PBS. It's about The Roosevelt's. I can't wait. And I'm looking forward to Gotham on fox. It's got Ryan from The O.C., and it's all pre-Batman, so I think that'll be interesting. And of course, Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. are coming back, along with The Goldberg's. Yay!
"Do you remember lyin' there, with the covers pulled up over your head, radio playin' so no one can see?" - The Ramones
-D.

Post # 62: Shower Shoes, Raising hands, and Italians

So I've started at UNR, and I managed to find my classes okay, and I'm doing pretty okay. I can't believe how many kids and teachers wear shower shoes on campus! I wore my super-industrial tac-lites on Tuesday and my feet were still killing me. And those are like military grade shoes. I don't understand how their feet haven't just fallen off like those terrifying dolls.  I need to pick up a pedometer so I can see how much I'm walking. Because it's definitely a ton. And I'm definitely not the only one thrilled about the lack of dress code rules. I've seen some... Things.
My classes are okay. They aren't anything spectacular, but they aren't terrible either. Math is, well, math, and my English teacher tried to tell me that police stations aren't places and thus I can't use them in my research paper. I'm pretty positive that Police Stations are places. They occupy space on a geographical plane. You can go there. But, maybe I'm wrong. Criminal Justice is pretty cool, and my Substance Abuse class seems cool. We have to give up something for the semester in order to understand what it's like to give up an addiction, so I chose cracking my knuckles as my "drug of choice".

Because my financial aid was going to be revoked if I didn't take another class, I signed up for a Political Science class. World politics. I have never been so thankful for Mr. Burge's chat's with me about raising my hand. I tried to listen, to varying degrees of success. I wasn't always great at keeping my hand down, But at least I tried to bring something to the conversation (I hope) rather than screaming extremely political veiwpoints whenever someone disagreed with me. The person in my world politics class excels at sharing their tree-hugging extremist views. Today they decided to share their views on our military. That ended the class conversation pretty quickly. And I think they might spontaneously combust before the semesters out. 

I went to see Sultan Bathery last Friday at The Holland Project, and boy was it awesome! The band is an Italian punk band, and it was one of the best concerts I've been to in a while. It was really intimate, because there were maybe 40 people and the Holland Project is pretty small. It was so much fun! The guys signed my CD, and I got a picture with them, and I bought a shirt. It's pretty cool and I wore it on Monday. The whole album is kick ass, but Mirror is definitely one of my favorites.
"It's great to learn, 'cause knowledge is power!" - Schoolhouse Rock
-D.