Missing the Obvious

Today, I had to stay late at school to work on a project. This morning, when I got to school, there weren't many parking spaces, so I had to park on the top level. Before I went to work on my project that afternoon, I figured it would be a good idea to drop off some of my books to make the five-flight climb to my car easier that night. Unfortunately, the elevator wasn't working, so I had to climb the stairs with my heavy backpack after carrying it around all day. I got to my car and put my books up as I had planned. Then, I called my dad and started going back down the stairs. I got down to about halfway between the first and second floors when he said, "Why don't you just move your car?" I stopped for a second and thought about it. That was such a good idea. It made so much sense. Did I seriously just go all the way up to the fifth level and not realize that there were almost no cars up there anymore? And, more importantly, did I just come all the way back down without seeing all of the parking spaces on the lower levels? After I thought about it for a second, I decided now would be a better time to climb the stairs again than at night, so back I went to move my car to the second level. Sometimes you just get so caught up in what you're doing that you completely miss the obvious.

Venus de My Family

My family does Christmas a little differently. We have a tiny tree that's about two feet tall, and every year we whip it out of storage, plug it in (We just leave the lights on it.), and enjoy. I don't feel that we have any less Christmas spirit because we don't make a big production out of decorating. However, this year we wanted to do something outside too, instead of just bringing out our tiny, yet wonderful, Christmas tree. My mom has a statue of Venus de Milo in front of her house that was looking awfully cold, so our solution was to create a Christmas outfit for her. We bought a pair of little girls' socks to make the cap, and a pair of tights to make the scarf. Who says culture can't be fun?

Bo Knows

My cat, Bo, always knows exactly where to get. I'm starting to think that cats can sense the best place to get, so they'll be right in the way. It amazes me how good they are at sensing the focus of your attention and making sure it's them instead. If I'm working on homework, Bo comes and plops down right in the middle of it. If I need my backpack, Bo's sitting on it. If I need to put some shoes in a shoebox, Bo knows.

When I really need to look at some papers, and I see Bo coming, I've devised a way to make sure he doesn't sit on them: I have a decoy pile. I shuffle the papers around and make them look important, so he'll think that's the place to be. Sometimes, he catches on to my trick and still knows exactly where to sit. But you know what? I'm ok with that. It's a welcome distraction.

The Magical House

Every year about this time, something magical happens: THE Christmas lights on THE house go up. It's a neighborhood tradition. This one house hires a lighting service to put up a beautiful display of lights, featuring the nativity scene and gorgeous trees. Every year, they add something new, so it's always a spectacle.

I get so frustrated when I see Christmas displays in stores right after Halloween. Can we at least get through Thanksgiving first before we start Christmas? Thanksgiving gets pushed to the side, and Christmas loses some of its mystique when it starts so early. Therefore, I propose that we have a signal for when the Christmas season should start. For me, it's the magical house in my neighborhood.

A Work in Progress

Every day as I go to school, I pass by this house that's being built in my neighborhood. For the longest time, it was just an empty lot, so I was surprised to see the concrete foundation one day as I drove past. Every few days, there would be some major addition to the house. First, there were pipes. Then, there were walls. Now, there's a roof. I always look forward to seeing how the house has changed since I last saw it. It's cool to see something being made through the entire process. It kind of reminds me of an idea. Sometimes the process can be just as cool as the finished product.

Water, Water Everywhere

A few years ago, my family and I had just finished eating at Friday's when we saw sprinklers going as we walked to the car. It was a summer night, and every kid wants to go running through sprinklers on a summer night. It doesn't matter where they are. I was so tempted, but I didn't want to ask because I thought she would say no. I jokingly mentioned that it would be fun, and to my surprise, she said, "Do you want to run through them?" Of course I did, but it was in front of Friday's, not at home. Then she said, "Let's do it." I thought she was kidding, but she started walking toward them. So there we were running through the sprinklers in front of a restaurant at night in the middle of summer. Then we piled into the car and drove home soaking wet. I loved every minute of it and learned that it was ok to be a kid sometimes in the process.

A Hybrid of Commercials

I've been really impressed with the Toyota commercials I've seen recently. First, I saw this one:



I think that's such a cool idea. The visual goes so well with the idea, and it really makes you think about the impact you're having on the environment and what you should be doing to fix it. I realize that a car can't biodegrade like that, but the idea of making as little impact as possible is greatly enhanced.

Then, I saw another ad for the Prius:



Although the commercial looks completely different, it still shows the impact humans have on the environment, this time in another innovative way. They made the interaction between humans and the environment so beautiful.

Puns with Words

I love puns. Every day, I get excited when I create new puns because I get to share them with my friends and family. I feel so accomplished when I make a pun that I know is brilliant. Sometimes they're groaners, but they still make me happy. It's like a puzzle to me: I have to find just the right words that will convey the meaning and be funny. When other people laugh, I know it's a good one, and sometimes they even turn into jokes. Two of my favorite ones that I've come up with in the past couple of years are:

(My take on the Bob Dole Depends joke)
In the 2008 presidential elections, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Barack Obama were all asked, "Do you prefer boxers or briefs?" Hillary Clinton said, "Briefs, of course," John McCain said, "I'm a boxers man," and Barack Obama said, "What does it matter? I'm going to be commando-in-chief anyway."

Does Sam Walton still run Walmart? Isn't he dead? Well, it's an underground operation.

Harmony: Striking a Chord

Whenever I'm driving in my car, I always turn on my radio and listen to my favorite station. They play all of the current hits, including pop and rap. However, my interaction with the station is not like that of your average listener. Yes, I crank up my volume and sing along, but I do so much more than that. I make the songs my own. I change them every time I hear them. I sing harmony to pop and rap songs. Luckily (for me and the rest of the world), I usually do this with the windows closed. It's just not enough to me to sing along with the song the way it already is. I have to interact with the song and add my own parts to it to truly enjoy my experience. Sometimes I make it different, and sometimes I sing a harmony that I already know I like. Maybe it's the nine years I spent in choir, or maybe it's because I have an incredibly musical family. Either way, if you ever see me driving, you can probably guess what I'm doing: I'm creating a song.

The Sidewalk Less Traveled

Today was Homecoming at SMU. I didn't think that I'd have an opportunity to be creative at a football game, but today I did, and it made the game so much better. After watching the parade and unsuccessfully wandering the Boulevard in search of food before the game, my friends and I decided to head over to the stadium. One of my friends decided that he needed to get there early, so he could save us seats, so he strode off, vanishing in the thick crowd before we could catch up with him. Seeing the slow-moving crowd, and not wanting to try to push our way through, I suggested to my other friend that we take another path to get there. The sidewalk we ended up on was almost empty, so we were surprised to find that so few other people had decided to stray from the crowd. We ended up getting there much faster than if we had stayed in the crowd.

Another opportunity presented itself later in the game. It was an incredibly sunny day, and because of where we were standing, the sun was directly in our eyes. Looking over to the end zone, I saw a shady area covered with grass. There were a few people sitting on it but not many. I didn't think my friends would go for it, since we were in the student section, but I suggested it anyway. To my surprise, they started to pack up, so we could relocate. I'm so glad we moved. It made the game so much more fun because I didn't have to shade myself from the sun, and we could actually sit down. I still don't understand why more people don't sit on the grass. What's wrong with having a slightly wet butt from grass if you get to sit in the shade? It's totally worth it.

This Post Contains No Artificial Flavors

Think about the number of artificial smells and flavors that we have in our lives. I find it amazing that we try so hard to reproduce things that already exist. "Fresh vanilla scent!" "Banana flavored!" Why don't I just go smell some vanilla and eat a banana? I'm sure it's much better for me than all of those chemicals that they put in there to try to make me think I'm smelling vanilla or eating a banana. And then we get so excited when a scent or a flavor is true to life. The funny thing is they usually smell or taste nothing like their inspiration. Now, if they could make something that smelled like rain, that would be a different story. Otherwise, there's no need to reinvent the wheel.

Monarch Butterflies Staying Home for Winter Because of Higher Gas Prices

By VALERIE GROSSMAN

DALLAS, Tx. - As monarch butterflies' migration season approaches, monarch enthusiasts are left asking, "Where are all of the butterflies?" Normally, during the fall, thousands of monarch butterflies head south from Canada and the United States to Mexico for the winter. This year, residents in the migration path haven't been seeing as many of the butterflies in their area.

Many attribute the low travel rates of the butterflies to increasing costs of transportation. The butterflies have been especially affected by the increase in prices because of their long flight. As gas prices rise, more monarchs are forgoing their annual trip to the warmer states of Mexico to save money and conserve energy.

"They'll have new families in the spring to take care of. With the economy the way it is, there's no way they can fly all the way down to Mexico. Oil's too expensive," a monarch travel expert said.

Those not canceling their travel plans will have to deal with increased prices on their winter homes due to deforestation in Mexico.