Devouring Information. Part I:realizing who i can learn from

I have so many friends who know so much. I want to make more of an effort to steal this information from their brains. Like a zombie. a knowledge zombie.

From Angela: I can learn about thai language, culture, and politics. About politics in general. about lots of things smart people just seem to acquire so much easier than me. about how to acquire that information.

From Ben: I can learn about Spanish, South American, soil, farmer's markets, vegetables, and how to spend far too much time at Signs of Life.

I can learn about Religion and random bible verses and stories from Jono and KT walsh and from courtney who was in my management class and manages to smile and give her entire attention to the person she is speaking to.

I can learn about music from Trent and Jono

I can learn about nerd-dom from Jono as well! and computery things of awesome.

and from Trent I can learn also learn about gluten free bakeries.

From Craig I can learn about marketing.

From my mom I can learn how to be perfect, get people to tell you their life stories, be an expert at cameras, and stay optimistic.

From April I can learn recipes, driving directions and my entire family tree.

From Becky I can learn how to appreciate people, how to be more creative, how to kinda-like a dog, and how to view things from another's perspective and be able to portray that. also journalism.

And from Andrew I can learn about Japanese culture, random crazy news, zombies, mafia wars, how to care about someone, how to take a compliment, how to be a girlfriend. and how to kiss.

There are so many people I can learn from and this list doesn't even begin to cover them all. People have their interests for a reason. they are interesting. I want to help these people share that information. because I want to share my knowledge. I'm not exactly sure what people see me as specializing in via knowledge. hopefully marketing, trying to stay positive, and maybe I've picked up a few other things along the way.

also. i will be adding to this list as I think of more things. wanna teach me something?

Love and lifelong learning,
J

a pretty good monday.

Sitting at my kitchen table at home (the home I grew up in and one that rarely feels as such lately.) But when I woke up this morning (ok, I admit.. this afternoon) There was a bowl of grapes and all the best parts of the KC Star separated out for me. and it felt like home.

I know I make resolutions at the beginning of all things new. but I've made one this morning for 1247 1/2. (the house I will move into soon for this next school year. where I'll be living with people who are basically strangers.) I resolve to have open honest communication with all of them. to never go to bed mad at one of them. and to make them one breakfast, one lunch, and one dinner per month. It might be waffles or just some fresh fruit for breakfast. simple sandwiches for lunch or maybe some JDel, and probably a classic one of my recipes (hamburger soup, pork chops etc) for dinner. something simple, but I think they will appreciate it. And I think if we all make an effort to make each others lives better, and not just our own.. then it will be a home.

Free video on itunes right now - I'm only 26 seconds into it and I like it. It's Brooke White (who I believe was on American Idol) singing Radio Radio

I like.

I also am really liking Pandora, I should get my own account because I'm still using someone else's who signed in on my computer. When we were in Apron Strings (a cutesy kitchen store in Hutch, KS) they were playing Pandora - a station made of songs similar to Duffy

I'm still watching this video - I love the imagery. It's bright and summery and I love the part where she's running and dancing. I so do that :) when no one is watching! haha that's why I like running in the dark or not on the street :)

Also. Today is a big day. I'm wearing an AGD shirt for the first time since I officially quit. It seems little, but half my wardrobe disappeared into storage that day, and I'm finally being okay with wearing it again.

Love, newspapers, grapes, and music,
J

How's life?

Life is lovely.

you?

awesome instruments. ha.
Love and de-loveliness,
J

ok - for those who actually read this as a life update. these are the important facts.

1. I'm living @ my sister's place for the rest of July and then moving into 1247 1/2 (house close to campus w/ strangers who all seem awesome!) in August
2. I have my 1st boyfriend! (as my sister puts it: guess who is a girlfriend??? my sister! )
3. I'm still working @JDel and loving it.
4. I'm taking a Psyc class over the summer @edwardscampus (and running into classmates @PowerAndLight.. that was weird! haha)
5. I twitter too much which causes me to overuse the @ sign.
6. Softball season w/ JDel is over - we lost. a lot. but I'm glad I did it. good memories were made. (It's a dude!! It's a chick!!)
7. Life is almost prefect right now. I need some more hours in the day and really should diversify with the people I'm hanging out with. I miss a lot of people from school (esp bop it!) and wish it was easier to hang out with everyone.
8. I am officially no longer in my sorority, also really wondering how I'm going to deal with that come rush time.. I'll miss the songs. (For pep and vitality and lots of fun! you can't beat the girls that you're among.) and the girls. and the general feeling of being a part of it.
9. I don't think I've ever had a summer this full of awesome. or this full of good music. I love the new musics I've been listening to. love the old records too. Billy Joel for the win.
10. people I want to hang out with more: Bop it, Krista M, michelle, danielle g, ben/sofie/dara,Angela (o wait.. cant do that. damnit!), nolly, crabaugh, jess A, AGD girls (some of them.. not all of them. ), chad, Q, a-team, family (esp tiff and sienna and I need to finally visit Avery and Mitchell!) , the lake (yes, I want to hang out with the lake. mmmm), kourtney, audrey, my only sister thats in town that i never seem to see!, rosyln, Andy/amos etc, etc etc.
11. my places are now updated. Room 916 isn't even on the list. C302 is added. and so is Moundview house(sisters place). and i can almost call 1247 1/2 a place.. just a few more wt wednesdays and it will be!'

Dessen

So every once in a while, blogging comes in handy.. I know I just talked about how I win things quite often. a lot. but it's mostly because I enter a LOT of things. and I get cool stuff because I ONLY enter ones I want to win. especially if there is some effort involved.

Today - I am entering a contest to win a new Sarah Dessen book. (I get an extra entry for writing about my fav Dessen book)

Sarah Dessen is a young adult author, and her books speak to an audience younger than me.. but they still speak to me too. And I don't expect to win this - but if I do I bet it would be a good book to let my cousin borrow (She's a 14 year old who thinks reading is boring and dumb) because Dessen's are the types of books that you really get into the imagery and the ideas behind them stick with you.

Just Listen is my favorite Dessen. The part I most remember is the mix cds owen gives to the main character. And the last one. and how it was such a surprise and how he told her to 'just listen.' It's one of those books that makes you really feel that the main character is growing and coming into her own and thats something every teen struggles with. Loved it.

Love and good summer reading,
J

so excited for Kentucky Derby bday party for my cousin shawsh's 21st! I need a cute purse, considering spending some dinero on it.
anyone know how to make a hat less floppy?
I'm going pretty subtle as compared to this.


new musical obsessions.

Andy Davis - Brown Eyes
starring Frannie from GREEK!

Andy Davis - black keys


Eric Hutchinson- Outside Villanova

also jason reeves

Tonight I email the VPO and tell her no, I do not want to continue being in my sorority. This means I can't be an alum. This makes me really sad because I really loved *insert sorority here*. But I can't deal with some people. I can't deal with my sister hating it. I can't deal with it, so I'm quitting. I suck.

BEDA14th Kira.

I like watching trippy fashion show videos from russia.
This is a story about a random happenstance making me want to research a crazy concept.

Last summer I was in California with my cousin (12), her friend and her mom on a yearly trip we take to the LA gift show. It was our shopping day where we spend a lot of time in shops we can't afford but that sometimes have things on sale and are also just uper fun to look at !

So This day we saw a paparazzi and asked it he had seen anyone famous lately. That morning he had seen Katherine Heigl! except he pronounced it Hee-gull.

Then a bit later on the same street we saw him and a few other photographers outside of a shop. My cousin and I decided to investigate and there was a young pretty girl talking to some customers and looking around. I had my 12 year old cousin investigate by asking the cashier who she was -- She's the designer! We were in a Kira Plastinina store and this was Kira!

so cool! so we talked to her and I got a pic of my cousin and her friend with Kira, we bought a few things and left.
The store layout was really cool and it was surprisingly affordable, but the best part was the packaging. I bought a necklace and they put it in a Kira box and the little tank top I bought was put into a huge beautiful bag with hearts on it.

the dark pink bag is the one I got

So how does this 16 year old have her own fashion line? When I got home I put on my detective hat to find out.

Long story short: It turns out her dad is a bazillionaire because of orange juice.
Orange juice concentrate to be exact. It wasn't available in russia and he thought it would sell. it did. a lot.
And so he can afford to help finance a fashion line for his daughter and she has over 70 stores in Russia and had 12 newly opened in the USA and a few in other places too!

And now KP of USA filed for bankruptcy.

This is really the first thing the 'hard economic times' have done to affect me. They took away my new favorite, affordable, Californian botique where I could buy things and say 'I met her!' when people asked about it! and I lost the tank.

and on a sidenote: my cousin is adorable and still tags kira, her facebook friend now!, in notes and stuff on facebook.

yup. missed another day. oops.

Happy easter all ya'll.

I can facebook again (have been for the last almost hour.. and I'm bored.) don't like the new layout. and dont like the very few amount of actual messages i got. lame.

oh well. there were a few good things to be seen.

Looking for ways

Today I wrote down this quote from the book I'm reading, Ask Again Later by Jill Davis . Only a bit in, but I like it a lot, It's a little too easy to read. but I like the wording, very succinct.

"I was looking for ways to enhance my life without changing anything significant. "

This is how I feel right now. Life is not great, but I know that it has been and could be different. I know that I want to love the life I live.

I want to be able to inteact with people better. My coworkers, my friends, my family members, boys, baristas.

I want to be as stylish as my TA that I just saw walk into the shop next door to my coffee venue. (Vedrana, my Business Law TA from last semester. She made me want to go to Law school, which I just might do.)

I want to be able to concentrate better on my schoolwork, in and out of class. And find ways to fill my time when I don't have a lot to do that doesn't involve this wonderful computer.

I want to be able to concentrate on offline things for long periods of time. I can spend all day updating my website and archiving things online, but 10 minutes of Econ and I'm bored. This is a problem.

I want my abnormal psychology class to not make me self diagnose. Today we talked about people who are depressed , very mildly but almost constantly and always blame their sadness on life, not chemicals in the brain. And lately (since about October) I've been a lot sadder than I usually am... and have had a harder time dealing with little conflicts that I would usually just brush off and go back to my optimism. and I don't know.. I used to think depression was over-diagnosed, but I'm not used to doing normal tasks and having to hold back tears. And I've got a history of abnormal behavior in my family. and I just don't want to be my dad. And I don't know if it would be ridiculous to pursue this, but maybe drugs for a bit would help. Maybe I need it and treating it now could help so the other craziness won't come out. I don't want to be abnormal, but maybe I am. and maybe that's okay, as long as I take care of it and don't let it become who I am.

I want people to understand that I need affirmation and that I want to spend time with them, without me having to say so. Or maybe just learn to say so without feeling creepy.

I want to have better handwriting

I want to have more random unplanned adventures probably with the bop it girls. I want to go urban exploring and play in fountains and have random games of flag football.

I want to find a home for next year maybe on Mass street with one or two of my friends. People like Q, KT, or RA, people I can confront without wondering if they will hate me for it. Someone I feel comfortable being blunt with. Or could get to where I do. And who can get to be comfortable being blunt with me. face to face. No textual communication allowed. (update May 9-09 I found a place to live! )

People don't read this often - but if you do - what are some things you'd like to be able to change in your life - even if it meant changing something significant.


One Sentence of the day: My oldest sister once curiously asked my Grandma Helen why her phone number was written on her arm.

F**** my life of the day: Today, at the end of a really long day my boyfriend was rubbing my back. I told him I appreciated how sensitive he was being. His response? "I was just trying to figure out how to unhook your bra." FML

My final 25.

1.I love stories, which has made me love and hate these 25 facts things. no one can be summed up in 25 facts, but I like getting snippets of other people's lives - I hope you enjoy my snippets :)

2.My memory is pretty horrid. So I love hearing stories even if I was there. I like remembering the happy . And I apologize ahead of time if I start telling you a story and you were there for it. oops.

3. I deleted and re-wrote a lot of this because I know some people who will judge me for the things I wanted to write. If you don't like me in the first place, don't read this.

4. As a photographer I like to put people in their best light. Until you do something to prove me otherwise - my first impression of people is usually a positive one. But I usually think people's first impressions of me are negative.

5. My dating experiences are usually pretty traumatic, especially the blind dates.( senor navel, wrinkles, fingers in my ear, general awkwardness) But I think I'm getting better at flirting and at picking the ones who don't suck at life because my last dance I went to was quite enjoyable. (the bad date/suck at life thing is not directed at JD or JW! just for clarification.)

6.I've never been kissed for explanation-see number 5.

7. My all time favorite song is "Wild one" by Faith hill.

8. I believe in angels. I believe that certain people come into your lives right when you need them. And sometimes they leave before you'd like them too - but they helped you become a part of who you are. Thank you.

9. I call the remote control a 'changer'.

10. I'm Catholic My early Church/CCD memories I have are just me being goofy and probably annoying people - but still feeling like it was okay that I was being that way. I appreciate and value Oasis, good shepherd, and most of the people that came with it (all except MM, resident suckubus, actually) and attribute a lot of who I am to being a part of that community. Thanks for accepting me. Every hyper, photo crazy part of me :)


11. I'm very proud of my family and think they are all great and interesting people. I have one living grandparent, my mom's dad (G-caw) The street Albervan is named after him (Albert Vanlerberg - he thought naming a street after him was stupid.) I'm one of his 22 grandchildren. (me and most my cousins pictured above. Kristen, Patty, and Alex aren't in the photo :( )

12. I have 2 older sisters - becka and april. I appreciate them both for very very different reasons.

13. my parents are divorced and my mom has a boyfriend, Bob, Apparently Bob and I have the exact same sense of humor.


14. I love the lake of the ozarks and that going there means I get to see family, be warm, and sit on aunt Julie's porch. To me, the lake was where I first felt like an adult in my family. I needed that summer of transition.


baby king snake, one of our many strange pets!
15. I like weird pets. not the normal kinds. I'm allergic to cats and usually don't like dogs, except clean puppies - but I've had horses, snakes, birds, frogs, a pig, turtles, chickens, a canadian goosenamed jordan and a few other more normal ones... Oh and there was the buzzard too.. and the cows - but those werent technically ours..


16. I actually live in 910. with my bop it girls.


17. I'm a proud nerdfighter, go ahead - ask me about it. I won't stop talking - EVER. :) or just watch some of the links. hillarious.


18. I like free things. Like the Cds I took from the journalism room(they get sent CDs to review) my favorite I took was The Feeling I'd never heard of them before --- I also take books from the recycling dumpster behind a used book store in OP, sign up for free stuff online, and never pass up free things - even if they are useless.

19.I have a sword, a black belt, nunchucks, and a teddy bear named curly. why yes, I am badass.

20. I had a lot of ear infections as a kid, and as a result don't hear perfectly. But my eyes are 20/20, my teeth are mostly straight without ever having braces, and my skin is almost always clear.

21. I'm an Orange Blue . My love languages are physical touch and words of affirmation. I'm a hugger.

22. The best trips I ever took were both in 2004. NCYC in TX and Spain.

23. I really like pizza sandwiches.(if you've never had a pizza sandwich, this should be fixed.)


24. My favorite flowers are probably spray roses, the dandelions that you can blow on, or those other weed flowers that you can make into necklaces and crowns.

25.I spend a lot of time online- because I'm bad at time management. It's easier to just do this than attempt to be productive when I know I will have enough time to finish everything. I like being busy. So give me a call, let's hang out. I have far too much free time.

In high school I learned the importance of journalism.
I saw my sister succeed in something that she was proud of and really good at.
In college I saw my sister write blurbs about flavored condoms.
Today I saw my sister's feature article about the service dog she is raising.
I encourage you to read it here.
It's informational, emotional, and interesting. It's a good journalistic feature story. And it's not about condoms.
I'm proud of my sister. But I wish she had been able to communicate this to me earlier. I have given her crap about her dog and the way she expects people to help her with it. I'm ashamed of that in some ways... but also not. She didn't explain to me in a way that I understood why the eff she would want to do this. I think I understand better and I think that this is why stories are so important.
I know she wrote this knowing I would read it.
I know she wrote this knowing she would save it forever to remember this time in her life.
and I know she wrote this because she really does want to help people do good things like her and appreciate those who do do these things.
And I know she wrote this to encourage others to adopt more KSDS service dogs to raise.

my cousins xmas picture
and yes, i added an inch or so of wall to each side haha
and took out a wall socket and my sisters hand holding up drew-man's hat.

Sometimes I complain about my sorority and my friends in said sorority..

Sometimes i complain about my mom too.

but then they go and make me feel amazing and awesome, even when I'm not.

Today 2 girls told me I looked cute when I didnt think I did, and one told me that I had grown up and how much she remembered me from freshman year and how old she felt for remembering and such

I love my sorority. a lot. and my mom too :)

Wine Legs etc

I went to a wine tasting last wednesday and learned that wine legs are the lines that come down on red wines when you swirl it, the more the better the wine!
I enjoyed the riesling, one of the two white wines

---

facebook statuses of the day:

Jackie is currently accepting applications for a friend (besides angela) who will be excited about big words with me. like sagacious. please apply below. 22:40 - Comment

Jackie positiveness begets positiveness. there has got to be a better word to explain that. 21:48 - Comment

Jackie is at signs of life about to start homework and enjoying a delicious strawberry smoothie yumm!

Jackie has always had this idea that you should never give up a happy middle in the hopes of a happy ending. 14:37

that last one was a interpretation of a quote from Let It Snow, 3 christmas romances of awesome by 3 diff authors, but all kind of intertwined... by John Green, Maureen Johnson and the one I havent read yes, Lauren Myracle.

buy it, borrow it from me/library whatever, read it.

---

Dick, Albert (my grandpa)
Dale, Mary Alice, Clarence
This is my grandpa and his siblings.
Rest in Peace Uncle Dale, my mom told me yesterday morning that he passed away.
Now only grandpa and Mary Alice are left, it would be so sad to lose one of my sisters, I just can't imagine.
Dale and Clarence's wives are still alive though, Rosemary(Dale's) and Dorothy (Clarence's).
Dorothy makes awesome pancakes when we go to the lake. :) She's the closest thing I have left to a grandma.

---

Write what you know

I'm going to try to think of something to right about that isn't current events. because writing about them skews them in my mind.



Paper towns

I'm almost done. and I love it. I don't want to finish it because then it will be done. It will definitely be something I read again in a few months.. and I really only did that with a few books.. especially the kewpie primer.




I read this over and over again.
the kewpie primer




I think I'll buy a copy for sienna.



I wish I had good handwriting.



Inside I would write,



Sienna,

Grandma Cleo was a wonderful lady who always knew how to spoil us. Every time one of us grandkids was sick, we got a toy. One thing I shared with her was her love for kewpie dolls. They were marvelous little smiling things that seemed so magical! She gave me this book and I wore it down because I read it so many times! The cover was tearing off and it was just loved to pieces. I don't know where it is now, but I bought you your own copy to love. Hope you love the kewpies as much as I do.

Love always,

your godmother




p.s. this is sienna and I at a wedding last weekend! isn't she adorable!?

Charlie

Charlotte Ann was baptized on Sunday.

It was awesome because I got to play with this wonderful baby. she's my 4th cousin or something like that.. and being at college I never get to see my little kids.. so we played with mac photoshoot and watched her crawl around, she makes the best faces!

also if you can tell in the last 2... today is awesome b/c Charlotte got her hearing aids two weeks ago and it's miraculous how well they work!

during church:

Ashley (3yo): Why does Charlotte have those things in her ears?

Me: *struggling for an answer at first...* Well you know how some people have glasses?...

Ashley: but glasses won't help her ears!!!

Me: *laughing at her obvious correctness* Well like glasses help people who can't see all the way, those are helping Charlotte so she can hear better... Like when I whisper like this, she couldn't hear me before but now she can hear you even when you whisper! isn't that cool!



I thought I did a good job answering it.. Its such a blessing that they can catch the hearing loss early on and the technology in that tiny hearing aid is amazing... and since she's getting it before she talks, she'll have normal speech and everyone will see how perfect she is instead of just seeing her hearing aids :)

Appreciation of a year past: 2007

Went to Colorado w/ aunt, cousins, and mom





Found out my grandpa was anna nicole's babydaddy! haha





My cousin Katie got married! haha, this picture is awesome :)






Sienna Katherine was baptised, I became her godmother. She also learned to walk and talk! wow!






Went to Wisconsin for spring break!



Had some awesome neon nights and times w/ the floor-- mostly in the awesome lobby :)





Baby Drew (cousin) was born!



This was the newspaper on the day drew was born!





Threw chinny in the fountain! hahahah

My 4-20 was full of craziness, none pot related.. it seems to me that my 4-20s are usually awesome and sober. well.. the last few years at least.


accomplishment: I didn't get on facebook during lent, except for to remove a pic. cool I rock.




man, my family is cute! my cousin MK took this.. those are her toes! of me and her sister gabs.. I look so incredibly tan :)



I had a kid! Tara!





I miss this.



I discovered hookah ;) well.. not discovered it.. I think it was discovered in India ;9)






Charlotte was born!





awww, bye seniors! :(





Rode the best ride ever!!




had the best frosting fight ever!





ahhh, fun night! I think I was in the middle of a phone call!




Recruitment!






baby above actually looks a lot like my cousin!




got some awesome roomies



By living in apartments I realized I am quite the hypocrite when it comes to cleaning. I like doing things my own way, walk-in pantries are god's gift to man. alone time is awesome, but gets lonely when there's no one else around.




had another kid!




got a granddaughter!




got engaged! hahaha just joking!!!




Little Brecken was born (anything but little! healthy 11 pound baby!)




My cousin (actually granpa's cousin's grandaughter) Mary Alyson got married!




yay cousins and yay lake! two of my favorite things :)




got a haircut :) yay bangs!




yup, my goddaughter can pound it! she's the coolest kid ever!




Other awesome and other things:



By screwing up the roomie thing I realized I need to learn to forgive more and also pick the people I hang out with.



I also learned that sometimes being ostracized from your room means making new friends and loving the hash 6th floor lobby and neon-ing it up just to get away.



I love neon b/c it means escape and fun and all that. and it means friends. I had the best time I ever neon-ed. it was a million fun



Catch Phrase is the best game EVER. lake and lobby. awesome.



Love is when everyday is good weather -from the movie casanova



By Watching grey's with the girls, I learned that life is full of giggles and intenseness.



By doing better this semester in school I learned that I can do better and it's not all that hard. Sometimes its good to be stressed and Anshutz is the An-shitz! in a good way! haha



By watching Lost I learned that I am not very good at entertaining myself without getting addicted to something new



By coming home for winter break I learned that no relationship is perfect, I'm still afraid of phones, but friends can still be comfortable.