Christmas in July

So, July has been a pretty busy and fun month. Lots of exciting things happened, like seeing the workers at Costco wear elf ears, to celebrate Christmas in July.

I feel pretty bad for neglecting my blog. Like, I've majorly neglected it. It seems that writing two articles a week for my internship (articles like this), on top of running around and doing stuff, generally fills my writing craving for the week. So, I will try to summarize my summer in this one post.

To start off the month of July, I went down to Houston on July 3rd, and spent a week there with my grandparents and relatives. For several years, my grandma has had July 4th be everyone's birthday. The whole family gets together, exchanges cards and gifts, and then it's not such a big deal if you forget someone's birthday later on in the year. This was the first year I went down there to participate, and it was fun. I will probably try to head down to Houston in future summers, mainly because it's a great reason to see family, and July 4th is a holiday, so it's pretty plausible.

 I then came back and celebrated my birthday with my family and boyfriend. I spent most of the weekend hanging out, watching movies, and playing board games. I'm pretty chill like that.

But, I did turn 21 on July 12th, so my sister bought me my first legal drink. She is a pretty fun person, and spending time with her has definitely been a positive side of me spending the summer at my mom's house in DFW.

#crazysistersatfunkybajascantina

I spent the next week, the 14th through the 18th, out in Lubbock. It may sound strange, but Lubbock is my home. Not only do I spend the majority of my year out there, but most of my friends stay/live there year round and it just feels right when I return.

Anyhow, I went to Wild West that Thursday, and it was the first time I didn't have to get the giant Xs (well, usually hearts) on my hands, and I got the 21+ wrist band. Exciting stuff. I had to buy a drink, of course, because it was my 21st birthday week. So, I asked for something strong and fruity. Man, drinks are expensive! (But they're also pretty yummy. . . especially when they're fruity and strong.)

Since I'm such a party person, I only had that one drink at Wild West, and my friends and I left around midnight. The next morning, I drove back to DFW to make the final meeting with my mission trip to mexico team. . . .

Somehow, the phrase "mission trip to Mexico" always makes me think of this song:

It's been years since I last listened to those old, Christian CDs, but this is just one of those iconic songs, I guess. Is it stuck in your head now?

So, that Sunday, July 20th, we got up early, piled into vans, and drove down to Reynosa, Mexico. That week was a blast. The team was filled with great people, and we were able to interact with fantastic people in Mexico.

Our sports outreach team had 60 teens participate, the VBS team had 280 children show up, the Bible Study had 35 ladies attend, and the medical team was able to provide eye care to several people.

We stayed at Big Heart Orphanage for the week, and we were able to hang out with the kids there, which was lots of fun. One of the girls was pretty upset that we were leaving so soon (possibly because I had the magic phone which played the VBS songs we sang and danced to every day), but was pretty ecstatic when I told her I was planning to come back in December with the house building team. That is one promise I really can't break now.

We drove back to the U.S. on Saturday, the 26th, and I've been chilling this week. I was actually pretty sick for a few days, all congested and coughing and headaches, and all that fun stuff. I had started losing my voice on Wednesday, it was really bad on Friday, and it's taken almost a week to get to get it back. That was mostly just annoying when I would try to sing, and nothing would come out. Singing is a part of my life (I start singing randomly without thinking about it, if there's no music to distract me), so that was lots of fun (sarcasm).

My boyfriend finished his 7-month internship last week, so we were able to hang out some this week, which was great. I think we watched six hours of Sherlock on Wednesday, and then we played board games with  my brother and his girlfriend yesterday (Thursday) evening.

Today, August begins, and July is a fun month of the past. I also finally got motivated to write this overly long blog post. You are welcome.

A fan of July (and Christmas),

The Purple Writer

A not-so-fun spring

This past Spring, I've been dealing with a bit of stuff. Well, a lot of stuff. Not-so-fun stuff.

One of the biggest things has been my thyroid.

Now, I've had doctors watching and treating my hypothyroidism since I was about eight years old, when my blood was first tested for thyroid problems. It's always been part of my life, but I've been on medication to help balance my thyroid deficiency, and it's worked well. I've lived a pretty normal life in that regard.

Well, about a week into 2014, I went in to see the general physician about the results from my blood work, like always. However, instead of hearing that everything was the same and getting my prescription, like it was supposed to go, I got a surprise.

The doctor told me that I had abnormally low TSH levels, and that she had to immediately lower my dosage of thyroid medication, or I would start having heart and bone problems. (Low TSH levels as in, the doctors at that clinic will allow patients to get down to 0.3 or so, but I was at 0.015.)

When the thyroid gland doesn't produce enough T3 and T4, the hypothalamus tells the pituitary gland to send out TSH, which literally 'stimulates' the thyroid so it will produce more T3 and T4. Low TSH indicates high levels of T3 and T4.

Especially in the previous three years, I had been feeling great. I had started martial arts again in high school, was finally able to mange my weight decently well, hung out with friends a lot, and had started to really enjoy life. I even had moments when I got excited and jumped or ran around just for fun.
So, when my doctor said my TSH levels were so low because my thyroid medication was too high. I sighed to myself, and figured that sure, with all my energy and hyper moments in the past months, maybe my thyroid medication was too high. I'm not supposed to have extra energy, and never had until recently

So, I went along with the doctor's advice (although I didn't have much choice, as she only wrote me  prescription for 120mg of Armour Thyroid, instead of 180mg), and by the middle of February, I was feeling pretty bad. I was tired all the time, was more stressed than normal with classes and my groups, got mad/upset more often, and felt depressed.

I saw one of the university's doctors, and he confirmed the low TSH problem. Then I went back to DFW in March, for Spring Break, and met with a doctor who focuses on hormone balancing, and she reaffirmed the problem and lowered my thyroid dosage again, this time to 90mg.

After however many years on 180mg of Armour Thyroid, I was down to half that amount in three months.

No worries, I was sure the doctors knew what they were doing. After all, I was dealing with a lot of stress from classes and my parents' divorce, so I kept telling myself I was fine, and went back out to Lubbock.

I cried a lot in March and April. Not because anything bad in particular was happening, but because I couldn't keep myself from crying. My emotions were a mess, and I couldn't focus on anything. My brain felt like it was in a fog, but I couldn't even try to clear it out.

I went to counseling. I started taking anti-depressants. I kept putting one foot in front of the other, but it steadily kept getting worse throughout May. I had lots of stuff going on, and to be honest, maybe the anti-depressants were finally working, because I just didn't really care anymore. Everything was painful and I just kept trying to ignore it.

My dad wanted me to see a thyroid specialist that one of his neighbors recommended, so I got an appointment. I went to see him the week after being told by the hormone doctor that I had to go down to 60mg of Armour.

You know what this new doctor said? Using TSH levels to treat thyroid, in the way that my other doctors were doing, was about fifteen years behind, in regard to research and studies.

He told me that he would treat my symptoms, and while the low TSH levels indicated an overactive thyroid, I definitely have the symptoms of an underactive thyroid. Therefore, he raised my thyroid medication back up to 120mg, added lots of vitamins and supplements for me to take daily, and is running other blood tests that the other doctors didn't bother or know to do.

It will probably take three to six months for my thyroid and blood levels to balance out again, and I'm pretty relieved that there is a way out. but it isn't an easy fix. Going up to 120mg of Thyroid hasn't appeared to do much, besides giving me some stronger headaches. My hair is still coming out in small clumps. I'm still not sleeping well, and I'm probably not going to come off my anti-depressant medication any time this year. However, at least it shouldn't get worse.

I'm pretty mad at myself for letting this happen. I should have done more research earlier, and maybe have seen more doctors throughout the spring, instead of figuring that two normal doctors and one hormone specialist would be enough. I think the only thing I'll have gained from this whole experience, besides a distrust of doctors, is knowing that I don't have Hashimoto's auto-immune disorder, which is good, I suppose. That extra blood test was worthwhile.

 Also, I now have some boring, medical stuff to write about for my blog. Small wins, right?


Apologetic for the lapse in writing so far this summer,
The Purple Writer

All the boxes.

Literally, all of the boxes.

I have been moving, along with my mom and brother, to a new house. It is crazy.

First of all, you should understand that we had lived in our previous house since I was five years old. That's about sixteen years in a single house.
It was nice. I enjoyed the house. But now, as we have been moving out of it, I see how much stuff we have accumulated over the years. A LOT OF STUFF.

When I came back for Spring Break, I cleaned up quite a bit in the two closets in my bedroom - Yes, that's right, two closets. I stayed in the ridiculously large bedroom that we used as a guest bedroom and with the pull-down bed and my trundle bed, could house four people with minimal inconvenience. - My first two weeks home from college, I went through and either threw out, packed up, or put everything in the ginormous give-away pile.

(and that was just in the beginning stages of the piles' growth)

Moving is a healthy thing. I think it is a good plan to move every couple or five years, if for nothing else than having to go through all of your belongings and decide what you really want to keep or not.

I had a lot of stuff with me both my years at college. In fact, I rented a storage unit for this summer, so I could keep most of my college stuff there, as I didn't want the hassle of carrying it around in this move (and it would never all fit in my car in a million years).

I thought I had just about everything I needed out there in my storage unit, besides my clothes and the other few things I thought I would need to have this summer (like my computer, my comics, my Doctor Who Monopoly game, my writing beret, etc.).

I even left two of my pillow pets. That's right. I left pillow pets behind in Lubbock. I've never left them behind before. I have to be satisfied with my other three pillow pets for these three months.

But, actually, when I came back and started packing up my stuff that I had at home, I came to a realization. I have too much stuff. I don't need all this stuff. I never needed to have all of this stuff at one time. That's craziness.

So, I have gotten rid of and given away lots of stuff. Yet, there have still been plenty of boxes to move to the new house. Quite a few have already been unpacked, but there are still boxes everywhere. Boxes in the garage, boxes in the living room, boxes in my closet, boxes in my car. SO MANY BOXES

This is not even mentioning the boxes of stuff left at the house that we have been packing and moving to my dad's storage unit here in DFW. I'm glad that we have boxes, because they make moving stuff much easier, but it would be nice to not have so many around right now.


Living out of boxes,
The Purple Writer

My brother graduated from high school this weekend.

If you haven't been spammed by me already, about my brother's graduation, on some social media site, then here you go.

(He's the handsome fellow in the middle)

Charles graduated from Coram Deo Academy this past Friday, having earned summa cum laude (overall weighted 100-point GPA of 98 or higher).

He is an impressive guy, and has had a very successful high school career. He's a star athlete, a math genius, an eagle scout, and lots more, including martial arts and playing piano. He can succeed at just about anything he sets his mind to, and is also a pretty funny guy, who can make anyone laugh.

He is going to Texas Tech with me in the Fall, with the top tier Air Force ROTC scholarship (as well as Tech's top Presidential scholarship). 

It will be good to be out there in Lubbock with him. Our paths will likely never intersect, as he will usually be in the engineering key while I essentially live in the English and MCOM buildings on the other side of campus. 

However, we will be a lot closer, living in the same town, instead of five hours away, across Texas, and fun times will ensue. 

Watch out Lubbock. The Clinkscales invasion is beginning soon.

We've always been cool kids

I really like my brother. It was too easy for me to get disconnected while off at college, doing college-y things, but I'm really excited for him to come to Tech. We will have several more opportunities to talk/play games/chillax together throughout the school year.

I know Charles will enjoy being at Tech. He has already accomplished so much in high school, and I look forward to seeing how much more he will do, in college and beyond. 

Anyhow. . . I feel like I digressed a bit, but yes, my brother is finished with high school, and everything is awesome.

Never done bragging,

The Purple Writer

So, I've abandoned you for a month.

I could try to excuse myself with the fact that I had finals, packing, moving, etc. But really, the main reason I didn't update my blog for a while there was probably my News Writing class. (JOUR 2310 at Texas Tech, with Mr. Wernsman.)

Sure, I should be good with writing, since I'm an English major. However, I am #notajournalist


I am so glad I am finished with that class. We had to write so many informative news stories and sidebars, with the occasional service journalism. We were constantly told to use the least amount of words, to make our writing clear and concise.

That is all good, but the reason I love writing is having the ability to create something beautiful, and putting together words in ways that give shape to my thoughts and ideas.

I felt so restricted in this class, and then we had a multitude of assignments to write over the semester. I only had enough energy left to complete my papers for my superheroes seminar, before being unable to write anything more. Hence no posts for my blog for the last month of school.

I have attempted to follow the advice (pictured above), which was taped to the bubble wrap given out in our dorm by a few CAs, trying to help their residents deal with stress.

As a heads up, I am planning on updating my blog on Wednesdays (and occasionally Sundays), since my deadlines for pieces for my College-Social Magazine internship are on Monday and Thursday.

Glad to be done with journalism classes,

The Purple Writer

How to make hateful comments a positive thing.

Honey Maid received a flood of negative criticism and hateful comments after releasing a commercial with non-traditional families being presented as wholesome.

This took place almost immediately after the backlash against Cheerios’ advertisement with biracial families in it, as well as the resignation of Mozilla’s CEO, Brendan Eich, when he was faced with outrage about his opposition to same-sex marriage. 

However, instead of shutting down, firing someone, or disabling comments on the video, Honey Maid turned the obstacle into an opportunity, with a very successful result.

Honey Maid’s launched their “This is Wholesome” commercial on March 10, 2014, which presented biracial and homosexual families in a favorable light. The speaker said that Honey Maid products are “everyday wholesome snacks for every wholesome family.” This video was aimed toward families, one of Honey Maid’s largest audiences, regardless of their traditional standing or not.

Honey Maid probably did not expect their audience and supporting network to react so strongly. But, in response, Honey Maid hired two artists to take the negative comments and make a piece of art out of it. 

The artists rolled papers with the negative comments printed on them, and glued them to the ground to form the word ‘Love.’ The artists then took all of the positive comments about the video, which greatly outnumbered the negative comments, and glued them to the floor surrounding the word ‘Love.’ 

Honey Maid released a video on April 3 showing the process of how the bad comments were turned into a positive thing.

“Love” has received over three million views.

Honey Maid also received feedback from other companies, such as NILLA Wafers and Betty Crocker, publicly encouraging and praising the video “Love.”

Through turning this obstacle into an opportunity, Honey Maid gained a tremendous amount of good publicity. Not only are their videos now seen by the families they were originally designed to encourage, but also to a diverse audience across the nation. These viewers are more likely to now connect Honey Maid’s name to family values and support for non-traditional families.

It can sometimes be discouraging to see such hate and negative reactions to things that should be wholesome, but I'm glad that some people and groups, such as Honey Maid, are taking a stand and responding gently with love.

Hoping to see more of this,

The Purple Writer

I like politeness

Maybe it's because my public relations classes focus so much on bad examples, but I'm pretty tired of the advertisements and campaigns that tear down other companies or organizations.

Why are we, as a society, so quick to tear down other people? Don't we realize that, even if we cut down other people, we are really not making ourselves grow any taller.

Yes, I realize that it can be hard to be creative, but if you are really so similar to another group, and can't emphasize why you are different, then maybe you shouldn't be in business. If your only option is to try to badmouth other groups, then you should spend that time to go find or make a niche for yourself.


I find it so refreshing when advertisements and campaigns are nice to others.
My favorite may be one in the series for the new Samsung Galaxy Pro Tablet. The owner of the Samsung tablet allows the other dad to save face when he tries to salvage some of his dignity. In response to the remark on having 'Pony Princess Hair Salon,' the Samsung owner says "I hear there's amazing hairstyles in there."

It communicates the point of the advertisement, the Samsung tablet features, while being nice to the owner of the other tablet, and being humorous. Samsung didn't have to tear anyone down, because they legitimately have a cool feature to tell their audience about.

Now, most of the other videos in this series of advertisements for Samsung do make fun of the other brands in a rather harsher light. They still focus on humor, though, and the idea that Samsung tablets have new features that would be helpful.



Wishing we could all be a little more polite,
The Purple Writer

A blast from the past.

The other week in my honors seminar on superheroes, we watched an episode of the old Batman TV series. Man did that bring back memories! I remember watching the old Batman movies over and over again with my dad and brothers. So much good, cheesy fun.

"Holy forgotten memories, Batman!"

So, I was cleaning up my room at my mom's house over Spring Break, and found a picture from a couple years in the past. It brought a flood of great memories. 

It's only been two years, but it's almost sad how quickly I've forgotten my life when I was in high school. I remember my friends, of course, but sometimes I forget exactly how close we all were.

Most of my friends were fantastic artists. It must have been one of those funny things, like how now I'm an English major and yet have a bazillion friends in engineering.  Anyhow, I think it was the summer before my senior year, I got this drawing for my Birthday.

Team Awesome Forever! #tbt

Isn't it so cute!

My friend Greer drew it for me (she's the red-head on the left). She drew the three of us (I'm in the middle, and my best friend, Laura,  is the blonde on the right), and included our favorite mythological creatures, of course, in our favorite colors.  The red dragon, the purple pegasus, and the green gryphon. Pretty fitting.

We were going to be team awesome forever! We still get together over breaks, and have tons of fun together, but then we go back to our separate universities and don't talk to each other for another couple months. The same things happens with my other close groups of friends.

We knew each other so well that a few months or years doesn't change us enough so that we can't enjoy jumping right back into having fun together. But, I'm not sure how much longer that will last, and that is a bit scary. I love my friends, and although I continue making fantastic new friends as I move through life, I definitely don't want to lose my old friends.

I guess it's a bit of a balancing act. I don't want to stay stuck in the past, but I don't want to be looking so far into the future that I forget who I used to be.

That's why I'm glad we have little things like this drawing to bring up these memories, even if only for a few days. So, I posted this drawing on "throwback Thursday" and shared the memories with my friends.

I plan to try to find something like that to share each week, if I can. Spending a few minutes remembering the past can only help me stay grounded in the past as I keep moving forward.

Enjoying fun memories,
The Purple Writer



I now own a humidifier.

I had never really expected to say/type that sentence in my life, but there it is. I remember my parents having humidifiers for us to have in our rooms when we got sick, but I never really remembered them being especially helpful or cool or anything.

But then I got sick this past week. It was "just" a cold, but it wasn't any fun. Especially when I would try to sleep and wake up completely dehydrated and stuffed up and feeling miserable. I get sick a lot, but that doesn't mean that I don't still feel awful every time.

A visualization of the virus attacking me

Anyhow, I was talking to my awesome friend Emily, from English classes, and she suggested that I go get a humidifier. I think she had also gotten one not too long ago, so she told me I could get one for $16 at Walgreens, and I thought "why not?" I drove over to Walgreens before my SigTD meeting and picked one up. It wasn't like it could hurt, and $16 isn't that much for a potential help.

Let me just say, humidifiers can be a giant help! Maybe it's more noticeable because I currently live in Lubbock, which is usually very, very dry.

I filled up and plugged in the humidifier, and then I slept soundly, all night long. Which is unusual, especially when I'm sick.
There was no tossing, turning, or waking up because there is no more moisture in my body. Instead, I woke up completely refreshed and ready to face the world (although my congestion came back pretty quickly throughout the day, as I was away from my humidifier).

Thank you humidifier, for clearing up my day

So, yes, I am still slightly sick, and have an ugly-sounding cough. But really, each morning after I run my humidifier, I feel 100% better, just because I was able to get a good night's sleep. Never underestimate the power of sleep (and humidifiers in a desert)!

Glad you can't hear my cough as you read this,

The Purple Writer

I'm addicted to my smart phone.

I know it's pretty sad, but what do you expect? I got a smart phone for the first time last week, and I haven't been able to put it down.

I'll try to blame it on my majoring in Public Relations and needing to be in constant contact with social media and news and all, but let's be honest. I spend a lot of time playing games. A LOT of time.

Before I got this smart phone, I had a prepaid phone, which was pretty reliable for calling people. I also had an iPod Touch that I could basically use as an iPhone when I had WiFi. I always carried both of these devices around with me, and they worked pretty well, even though it could be a little awkward to carry both of them around when wearing dresses without pockets, and all.

After all, most of the buildings here at Tech have WiFi throughout them, so I could check social media and everything on my iPod in between classes and when going to meetings that have been cancelled while I was walking across campus in areas without WiFi.

But now! I no longer need to switch between my devices to text and be connected to social media. I have it all on one marvelous android device.  And I'm addicted to it.

It is easy to make phone of people absorbed in their phones and not socializing with people right in front of their faces. However, it is all too easy to become one of those people. The important thing to remember is that there is not substitute for face-to-face communication and socializing. Even if we have the power, through these small devices, to keep up with every constant update in world events and friends' lives, not to mention apps that provide entertainment galore.

I enjoy watching dog shows.

The sequence of my favorite cooking-competition dogs was over, so I switched from the Food channel to watching the dog show tonight. Well, to be more exact, it's a rerun of the 2013 dog show (137th Annual Westminster Dog show), before the 2014 dog show starts tomorrow.


So many pretty (and some not-so-pretty) dogs! It reminds me how much I want to have a dog. Someday I will be finished with school, have a stable job, and have a house so I can have a dog (or three, along with some cats, who even knows).

Looking off into the distance -  not just for human models

Anyhow, one of the announcers for the dog show mentioned
that one of the dogs was the state dog for some state (I forget which state). That made me wonder if Texas has a state dog, and guess what - we do!

Texas' state dog is the Blue Lacy.

That is one pretty dog.

Apparently this breed was developed in Texas in the nineteenth century, so it makes sense that it was made the state dog breed in 2005.

The "Blue" Lacy dog can actually be several different colors , but the charcoal/gray coats look a bit gray-ish, so the breed name still makes sense.


According the Wikipedia, the Blue Lacy breed is a mix of "English Shepherd (or perhaps coyote), greyhound, and wolf." So, that's cool.

They're pretty dogs, so I'm glad that Texas has the Blue Lacy as the state dog breed.

He looks so friendly

Looking forward to dog-sitting this next weekend,
The Purple Writer

It's amazing what one more layer can do.

Baby, it's cold outside.

Really.

It's cold and I don't want to go outside. 

Okay, I'm generally pretty weird because I've always loved cold weather. And I live in Texas. But after enough time at college, I've realized that I enjoy cold weather a lot more when I don't have to trudge through it to classes across campus. 

One of my biggest wishes right now is that it will snow. Yes, that may seem strange to you, especially if you live somewhere up North and are surrounded by a ridiculous amount of snow right now. But just a little bit of snow here, and classes might be cancelled. We get plenty of freezing weather during the Winter out here in Lubbock, and every once in a while there is enough moisture to create ice, which is a pain to deal with. But usually there is not enough freezing weather and moisture at the same time for classes to be cancelled. 

Just last week, the weather jumped from a high of 34 degrees one day, to the high 70s for a couple days, then back down to the 30s. Today the low was 9 degrees, and on Saturday it will get up to 60 degrees and melt any remaining snow that we might get tonight. 

Lubbock weather is confusing, but one thing you can always count on is the wind. Lubbock is windy. And usually very dusty as well, but mainly windy. No matter what other kind of cold-weather clothes you bring out here, a windbreaker is probably the most important. It's the wind that can take an average-temperature day and blast you with deathly chilliness. (Although rain boots are also very important to have in Lubbock - whenever we do get rain, everything floods because there is no drainage)

I generally just walk around with my wind-breaking coat when it gets cold. I can wear boots, a scarf and a hat to add some warmth, but usually a wind-breaker is all I really need. Today, however, it was too cold. After walking around to classes all day, I came to the conclusion that I needed another layer. So, before heading back out to go to my Sigma Tau Delta meeting, I put on a sweater underneath my windbreaker, paired with a warm-knit scarf and hat, and I was much happier. I guess it doesn't take too much to combat coldness, especially in Texas, but it is good to be prepared and know how to add some layers.

Although, even knowing how to layer, I really hope classes are delayed tomorrow. I don't want to walk to the Rec tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. That would not be fun.

Wishing for snow,

The Purple Writer

P.S. It started snowing while I was writing this post! <3

I guess I'm becoming a good PR student.

I had a moment of realization today, while working with my classmates from PR Strategies to decide what our group project should be. My realization was that I am up to date with current events. Maybe for some people that would not be such a shocker, but I was pretty surprised.

I mean, through high school and even through my first three semesters at college, I really didn't know much about current events. They bored me. I didn't care what celebrity did something dumb last week, or what was going on in politics. I would know the president's name, and whatever random bit of news that my friends talked about. I suppose my reasoning was that whatever is "current" one day will be old news the next and it would therefore be pointless to try to keep up with everything.


Last semester, sometime in late August, I got a Twitter account (@LydiaClink). I didn't really think about it much, but my awesome roommate tweets pretty frequently, and I figured I might as well join in. I followed my friends and a couple different Texas Tech groups, and left it at that.

Then, I went to the amazing Career Development Conference in Dallas, held by Tech's College of Media and Communication. I heard about the importance of having a Twitter, and the importance of keeping up with social media altogether, from multiple successful PR professionals. I realized that it was probably a good idea to be a little more professional, and to be more active with Twitter.


It hasn't been a full month yet, but I now follow about 300 people on Twitter and actively keep up with news, announcements, and releases. Apparently it is possible to go from being completely clueless about current events to being aware of national and international news within 5 minutes of events occurring, in just about three weeks.

Now I just need to get through my News Writing class this semester, and I think I'm on my way to becoming a decent Public Relations student.


Returning to my Twitter feed,
The Purple Writer

Sometimes it's hard to live on campus.

Mainly because I do not have a stove in my current residence hall. Not a single stove for student use. In an upperclassman dorm. I suppose that's my fault for choosing this dorm, instead of the others that do have kitchens, but I wanted to live with my awesome roommates, so here I am. A person who loves to cook and bake, without an outlet.

At least this semester should be better. I got a small crock pot from my parents for Christmas, so I can make chili, meatballs, pasta, random meat things, dips, etc., and I want to try making a cake in my crock pot. I'm not sure if that's a good idea, but that won't stop me from trying it.

Anyhow, I moved back out here to Lubbock last Monday, and have been settling in and starting my classes and all. I still need to go get most of my textbooks, but I think I might do that Tuesday. Until I start filling up my schedule with tutoring hours, I just have aerobics for an hour in the morning, and then have the rest of Tuesday off. Yes, it's pretty sweet. The rest of my days are awful, but let's not focus on that.


So, last Friday, I did my last baking of the Winter break. Now, just to clarify, I never make a single batch of cookies. When I make cookies, I make at least double batches of my main kind of cookies, and usually end up making multiple different kinds. I already have the baking stuff out, have my apron on, and am blasting the music, so why not? This last time I made Egg Nog cookies and M&M cookies.

I have a system for cooling cookies

Both were super yummy. I hadn't ever made Egg Nog cookies before, but there was egg nog in the fridge, and I didn't want to just drink it, because I would drink the whole thing, and that's really not good. I found the recipe on Pinterest, of course, and here's the link to the wonderful recipe -> link

The M&M cookies are just generic, M&M cookies, but then I ran out of M&Ms, so I added semisweet chocolate bits, and just filled the cookies with chocolate goodness. It was a success.

I love baking. Especially cookies, because they're so easy (almost foolproof) and I can turn out multiple batches in one afternoon. But now I must wait until my next break at home before I can bake again. I love the convenience of my residence hall, but I really wish it had a stove/kitchen for student use.


Wanting some cookies now,
The Purple Writer

I knitted a hat today.

Well, correction, I've been working on this hat all break. Kind've. It's one of those things where I have a project but I only work on it while watching Netflix, and while not also playing computer games or doing anything else.

This afternoon/evening I finally got to the point of lethargy where I went to Netflix and watched Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, Avalon High, and some of Lego: The Adventures of Clutch Powers. I enjoyed the first, although it was a bit unnecessarily bloody. I would not recommend that anyone watch the second. For the third. . . just don't. Unless you are at the point where anything mindless is amusing -- such as a sleepover with your best friends when you've all had way too much sugar and caffeine -- there's not much to gain. But while watching these movies on Netflix, I remembered that I had an almost-finished hat sitting in my knitting bag. I picked it up again and kept knitting.

It's purple.

Now, I learned how to knit last Thanksgiving from my grandmother, because one of my best friends was knitting at school, and I thought it would be cool to pick up. I had crocheted forever ago, but have no current understanding of the process. My grandmother showed me a stitch, and I copied that stitch, somehow doing something completely different from what had been shown to me. Apparently I invented my own stitch, but I thought I was doing what she showed me. I don't know. I'm just special sometimes.

Look at my hat, not me.

So, I know one stitch, which is apparently a weird stitch, but it works. I've looked at instructions and seen other people doing other stitches, and purling and all that jazz, but it's too complicated. I stick with my one stitch. I've been doing pretty well with it. I can whip out long, fluffy scarves pretty easily while watching the multiple TV shows that I regularly keep up with, and all the other Netflixing, of course.

Oh, side note -- my friends and I started a knitting club at Texas Tech. We meet, knit things, watch movies, eat food, and generally be awesome. We're going to have yarn sales to support our chosen cause, Big Brother Mouse, and will eventually start doing some cool things like knitfitti. Yes, you should be jealous for a moment, and then come join us. Unless you don't attend Texas Tech, in which case you should start your own knitting club.

So yes, I am not a great knitter. I realized this while looking at my hat. It has multiple botches, a very visible seam, weird lumps, etc. Because it was made with a single color of yarn, instead of the colorful blends I prefer, every mistake is quite a bit more obvious. But you know what? I like my hat. Why?
1. It's purple. I love purple.
2. It's comfortable, and fits my head perfectly. Which makes sense, as I sized it around my head.
3. I made it. Somehow that makes all the mistakes okay. Also, it's purple.
4. It will keep my ears warm as I walk around campus in the snow. And yes, I do plan on wearing it out in public. I am proud of my purple hat.

Knitted purple hats are cool

I like purple

Just kidding - I love purple!

Experimenting With Selfies,
The Purple Writer

Smoothies are messy.

I mean, I've made messes while drinking a smoothie, absolutely, but not while making a smoothie. Then again, I guess I've never really made a smoothie before. That's probably the problem right there.

I asked for kitchen appliances for Christmas this year, and I got them! I got a convection toaster oven, a small crock pot, and a food processor/blender. Pretty exciting stuff. I probably won't use them much until next Fall, as I will still be living in a dorm residence hall this next semester, and will have dining bucks to spend. I can still get in some smoothies and chili and such. I think crock pots are one of the best inventions ever. You can put food in them, go to classes, forget about it, and come back to a wonderfully yummy meal.

But it turns out that it's not quite so easy to make smoothies. Or maybe I'm just pretty bad at it.

First off, I open up the box, and there were all these different pieces. Two different types of blade-contraptions, and lots of cups in plastic bags. Yes, I realize that it would be very difficult to do cool stuff without those things, but I wasn't expecting quite so many different parts.

Why do plastic bags make things smell odd?

But no matter, I washed the components, tried to put them together, found the manual and read it, then put figured out how to put my blender together. I cut up my mangoes and made sure I had all the ingredients. Now I was good to go. Except, I wasn't sure how much each different plastic cup/mixing container thing could hold, so I decided to split the recipe up (after already cutting it down, because I only had one mango), and put equal amounts in three different cups. That was interesting

It's not good to spill gooey liquid.

After pouring the smoothie liquid from cup to cup, adding more ice, water, and then honey, I think they turned out pretty well. I had a healthy lunch and both of my parents had refreshing afternoon snacks, but it was not worth it. I think I need a lot more practice, and preferably not with greek yogurt, coconut milk, and honey all at the same time.

They look so innocent, but don't be deceived.

Here is the original recipe, in case you don't have super vision which would allow you to read the card in the picture. The card said that it was "Compliments of Round Rock Honey Company and Panera Bread Co."

3 mangoes, peeled, pitted, and chopped (abbout 4 cups)

1 can (14 oz.) light coconut milk

1 cup plain low-fat Greek yogurt

1 cup ice

1/4 cup Round Rock Honey

1/8 tsp. grated nutmeg

Pinch of salt

Mint Sprigs (optional) <- I don't understand this part

Anyhow, it said to mix the stuff together and blend it all (except the mint, which you add later as a garnish). Maybe I will come back to this recipe when I'm a pro at blending and smoothie making, but that is not anytime soon.

Admitting Failure In The Realm of Smoothie-Making,

The Purple Writer

This is just another reason why Texas Tech rocks

I mean, I was already impressed with how great the English department was, since Texas Tech is mainly known for it's engineering opportunities. Who would have thought it was a great school for English majors, too? Now, I want to share a taste of how wonderful the college of media and communications is.

Yesterday was the third annual TTU Career Development Conference in Dallas. Basically, it was a large group of Texas Tech alumni from the Dallas area, giving up a day to talk to current students in the TTU College of Media and Communications. There were multiple panels that gave incredibly useful tips and advice, as well as casual tabletop discussions with groups of students and alumni, and of course, interviews.

It was a great networking opportunity, and a time for students to interview with or learn about companies and agencies that Texas Tech alumni either work at, run, or own.

Unfortunately, I was unable to get any interviews, since I am a Sophomore. Apparently seniors and recent graduates need job interviews a little more desperately. But no worries, I plan on coming back for at least the next two years, if just for the networking opportunities.

I enjoyed the panels, which were, "How to Benefit From Today's CDC," "Job Hunting in the Digital Age," "Business Etiquette 101," and "Innovating Your Career Path." All of the panelists had some great advice and statements, all with laughter. It was easy to see that the alumni were at this event because they wanted to be, and that they truly wanted to see us succeed.

I especially appreciated listening to Tony Wright and John Confer, owners of WrightIMC. Tony Wright gave some great tips in the "Digital Age" panel, and I have already made sure to install the Google apps that he recommended. John Confer sat at my table and talked with us about what we wanted to do, and gave us suggestions in reaching those goals. WrightIMC also has a great intern program, which I may definitely look into, and would suggest that you research them if you are interested in online marketing. Their blog is http://wrightimc.com/blog/

My favorite tabletop discussion was with Rich Flora, owner and creative director of Flora Creative. He talked in the panel about career paths, and well, I enjoyed listening to and talking with him because he is a writer and had gone through some interesting job turns and disappointment and challenges but said, "you can build a portfolio in any job, depending on your motivation." I hope that can be my outlook, as I enter the workforce, either through internships, PR jobs, or whatever else; no matter what I do, I can always continue writing and building my portfolio.

Then there was Michelle Bleiberg, an independent consultant, who sat there with a rotating group of students who did not have interviews in whichever time slot. She gave advice on interviews, took the time to look over my resume and help me figure out what to change, and was just fantastic. I really appreciate her spending her time to invest in us MCOM students. It meant quite a lot.

There were many more people and talks and great things that happened, and it can only be better next year, when I can continue networking and have interviews. Texas Tech alumni are the best!


Spreading the Red Raider Spirit,
The Purple Writer

I didn't wait.

I just couldn't. It was too tempting. Yes, I know it may have been more rewarding to wait until I could watch it with friends, but the first Sherlock episode kept calling to me until I gave in. I couldn't wait until Sherlock aired on Masterpiece. Not after that mini-episode that reawakened the curiosity and excitement. I mean, really, was that fair, Moffat? I don't think so. I would almost rather not have seen the mini-episode for Sherlock's third season.

I did like the mini-episode for the Doctor Who 50th, with Paul McGann. That was great. I really wish the U.S. had known what was going on back in 1996 and liked his movie/pilot more. I mean, ratings in Britain were great, and Doctor Who was so close to having more series but was dropped instead. So many wasted years, due to non-enthusiasm in the U.S.. But, at least McGann could come back in the mini-episode. That was great. . .

Going back to Sherlock, I watched the first episode of season 3 this morning. It was good. I will  not spoil anything for those of you who are waiting until the 18th or later to watch it. But that means I won't have very much to write. This will be a short post. Probably.

I've got to say, the too long, two year hiatus between seasons was painful. But it came at a pretty good time. It made us wait in agony for as long as John Watson had to. It also made the references to the two long years in the show be more relevant to us, the audience, most of whom had to physically wait that long. Also, after waiting so long, we are fully invested in the show, and may never leave, regardless of where the show goes.

Also, I do like that Moffat kept the idea of the fall at Reichenbach, from "The Final Problem," by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. To be fair, Doyle was actually planning on ending Sherlock Holmes once and for all, as he was sick and tired of having to write about this character that he didn't particularly care for. Of course, like any person who writes for a living, when offered a large enough amount of money, Doyle gave in and brought Holmes back to life. Now, I don't think BBC were legitimately trying to end the popular show, but with their dramatic cliffhanger and dreadful hiatus, they have not hurt Sherlock's popularity in the least.

I may be annoyed with Moffat multiple times a day, what with his ridiculous 'tying up loose ends' in the Doctor Who Christmas special, his numerous errors that could be caught and fixed with a little polishing and editing, and the mere fact that his episodes were so much better when he was writing under Russell T Davies. However, he does have good ideas, and honestly, if I were head writer of two of the most popular BBC world, I doubt I would be perfect and mistake-free either. The world might hate him at times, but we also love him, so I guess Moffat's shouldn't go anywhere.

If you have not seen any bit of  BBC's Sherlock, and have no clue what I am talking about, go watch it now. It is my favorite adaptation of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. I suppose everybody could claim their own personal favorite Sherlock Holmes movie or series or what have you, but I have read almost all of Doyle's stories of Sherlock Holmes - I even took a class on the rise of the detective novel in fiction, which focused on Sherlock Holmes - and have seen most of the old TV series as well as the new movies and series (all except Elementary. I thought about trying it, but I've heard some not-so-great things, and my friend actually forbade me to watch it, so I'm obeying her orders). So, I might have some small clue of what I'm talking about, looking back and forth from the stories and their numerous interpretations and adaptations, and I love BBC's modern take on the classic stories.

There is just something about this detective who has excellent powers of deduction, which we try to mimic, and yet has some flaws, which make him more relatable. Sherlock Holmes is not the only literary detective, and not necessarily the best, but he has been loved by every generation since he was created back in 1887. So now, in the year 2014, I highly recommend that you watch Sherlock - and read at least some of the original stories and novels. They are well worth it.


Wanting To Spread The Love Of Sherlock,
The Purple Writer


Here is the mini-episode for Season 3, in case you haven't been able to watch it yet.

2013 was like a mango.

That metaphor may be inspired by the fact that I am eating a mango right now, but that doesn't make it any less relevant.

Have you ever peeled and cut up a mango? It takes a while and can be very messy, especially if you want to get as much fruit as possible off that annoyingly-shaped seed. But if it is a ripe mango, the result is morsels of light, refreshing, and heavenly perfection. No exaggeration. (Also, as a bonus, mangoes are healthy too, containing large amounts of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, dietary fiber, and antioxidant. So go eat one today!)

It tastes much better than it looks.

Even if most of the mango is disappointing, a little green, or what have you, if you get one small bite of perfect ripeness, it is all worth it. At least that has been my experience. 

The year 2013 has been like a mango for me. Some frustration, a couple bloody cuts, a good amount of mess to be cleaned up, a little depression or despair, numerous ordinary and unmemorable bites, and several perfect chunks that made the year wonderful. Perhaps the perfect chunks were usually smaller than normal, but they were so lovely that one could have made up for an entire year of disappointments.

I won't bore you with listing events that have happened to me in this past year, but I do wonder if you've experienced the same phenomenon of just a few perfect events making all the mess and scrapes of the year worth it.

I'm planning to have an even better mango of a year in 2014. <-quote of the day?

In Love With Mangoes,

The Purple Writer