Jottin' It All Down

I definitely have not been able to post as much as I had before but that is mainly because I am back at school and classes have picked up but I still have it in my head to at least post once a week but preferably twice a week but we will see how this all goes.

Going with me talking about classes and the fact that I was an Orientation Leader at my school, I think it would be good to give some tips about taking class notes for new college students and/or for anyone who is having an epiphany that maybe the reason you failed that class was because your notes were 3 pages long for a quarters' worth of lectures.

First off, be clear in the way you are going to be taking your notes... In this I mean that from the first day of classes (WHICH YOU HAVE TO GO TO), make the decision of whether you will be taking notes on your laptop or on actual paper with a pen like they did in them olden days.  Whatever floats your boat, but really let's be real, it is fun to type notes on your laptop and hearing the click click of every letter you type... but Wi-Fi is pretty good in lecture halls and Facebook/Tumblr/Yahoo/Reddit is only a click away so unless you have a strong will against it... I recommend the old fashioned note taking way.

BUT IF YOU HAVE TERRIBLE HANDWRITING AND NO ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS AND RECOGNIZE THAT IN YOURSELF BY ALL MEANS TYPE IT OUT

(you the night before a final incapable of reading your own writing)

ALSO KEEP YOUR PHONE IN YOUR POCKET : I know it is very convenient and fun to pull it out and check your messages, check Instagram, check your email, and suddenly decide you want to color coordinate your apps and make them spell out funny things... but this ain't the time and you cannot honestly pay attention to your professor and also enjoy social media nonsense.

Yea, it is hard, trust me, you may think you "are listening while on your phone" but after about 30 seconds of being tuned into the lecture, you will find yourself 20 minutes behind the lecture and the professor 6 slides deep into their discussion.

Some more tips I found were these lovely quick tips that I found on StumbleUpon and cannot believe I did not write down the site but read them and enjoy.  I don't claim them as mine but would love to share them with you.

KEEP ON STUDYING!

Just Look At It This Way

So far I have been pretty good in crossing off movies off of my list of 250 movies to watch in my 'Just Add Popcorn' and the latest movie I saw was Life is Beautiful.

HOLY COW EVERYONE

That movie was amazing.  Like seriously.  It is on Netflix.  And if you do not have Netflix, you HAVE to find a way to watch this movie.  It's a foreign film from 1997 that was nominated for 7 Academy Awards and won 3 of them including Best Actor in a Leading Role for Roberto Benigni, Best Foreign Film, and Best Music Score.

The movie was incredible and made me feel so many emotions it was not okay at all.  It is a World War II Concentration Camp in Berlin type movie... except for not.  It was like no Holocaust movie I had ever seen and because it was so different and heartwarming it instantly became one of my new favorite movies.  

To put it into perspective, the day before I watched The Pianist and was ready to just die from the stress and so the next day when I started watching Life is Beautiful I was expecting death and tears and blood and me crying in my room but instead I felt really good from this movie.  The beginning part of the movie even had me look up on IMDB the genre of the movie because I was doubting whether it was a drama or a comedy.

Like y'all do not even understand, even finding this gif I just smiled remembering the sweet lovable character of Guido.

Also the movie reminded me of an awesome story that one of my high school teachers once told us all.

HERE READ THIS AND LET ME KNOW IF YOU WILL WATCH THE MOVIE FROM THIS STORY

"There were two men in a hospital room for two different types of symptoms.  One man's bed where he lay was by the window and he could sit up unlike the other man who was closer to the door and he could only lay flat due to his condition.  Everyday the man by the window would tell the other man about the beautiful sights of a park across the street from the hospital and of families walking around and having a good time.  The descriptions would amuse the man without the view but it also made him jealous that he could not see outside the window.  One day, the man with the bed by the window saw a parade and told the other man of all the smiles, colors, and happiness he could see and this enlightened the other man, but still made him more jealous.  The next day, the man by the window could not breathe and could not reach his remote to call the nurse.  The other man saw this but did not act upon this.  The man by the window passed away that day and as they moved his body, the man without the view asked the nurse if she could move his bed to be by the window.  She gladly moved his bed and left.  The man was extremely happy that he could finally see something else besides the room he has been in for many days now.  He somehow found the strength to lift himself.  When he looked out the window however, all he saw was a massive brick wall from the building beside the hospital."

I have always loved that story and all I could think about while watching Life is Beautiful was this story and how all it takes to make someone else happy is to change their focus from what it is making them depressed and keep them dreaming for more.  To change someone's perspective is a selfless act I wish one day I could do for someone else just as Guido and the man in the story did for someone else.

Twisting Your Tongue for Ice Cream

Try saying this 5x fast: Mr. & Mrs. Miscellaneous

For some it is easy, but for me it is terribly difficult mainly because I cannot get through the first two times saying it without starting to drool because Mr. & Mrs. Miscellaneous is probably my new favorite place to get ice cream in San Francisco.

Me every time I go there

Located at 699 22nd St. somewhat near the SF Giants Ballpark is a small corner shop that changed my life.  I was introduced to this place by my good friend who actually took me to the french sandwich shop I had posted about before.  Even though I was really full and completely satisfied with my meal, she urged me to go with her to get just one scoop.  HOLY CRAP am I glad that I did so.

Those are some shots of the inside of the ice cream place.  Not only do they sell amazing ice cream, but they also have chocolate malt balls, cookies, and all sorts of other goodies that make you loosen your belt just by looking at them all.

So the way it works, is everyday they have different flavors and most of those flavors are definitely a little more different than your typical ice cream shop.  So far I have gone twice and have been really happy with every flavor I have tried.  They make it there themselves and once they run out of a certain flavor, they simply erase that flavor from the chalkboard and don't serve it again until the next day you find it on the menu.

In case you can't read the flavors in those two pictures, here are the flavors that I have seen so far

• Banana with Sesame Brittle
• Sweet Cream
• White Russian (Kahlua, Cream, Vodka)
• Bourbon & Caramel
• Pink Squirrel (Chocolate with Almond Liquer)
• Sassafras (Root Beer)
• Cookies n' Cream
• Vanilla Bean
• Sour Cream Cheesecake
• Fruity Pebbles
• Cinnamon Chip (like the 'hot/spicy' cinnamon)
• Molasses Ginger
• Butterscotch & Butterfinger
• Salted Mango
• Fig & Marscapone
• Ovaltine
• Frosted Flakes
• Crema Cataline (Lime Custard with Burnt Orange Caramel

So far I have yet to be disappointed with any of the flavors.  I haven't necessarily gotten a scoop of every flavor but I do have the tendency to sample just about every single one of them.

(From Left to Right) Fig & Marscapone, Frosted Flakes, Fruity Pebbles with Cookies n' Cream

Another thing I love about this place is that they are not at all stingy when it comes to serving you and when you order anything to go and take home, they fill these little containers (they have bigger sizes too) all the way up to the brim... and then squish it down to fit more.  Both times now I have brought some home and made sure to bring home flavors that I did not already get served in a cone so I could enjoy something different.

So if you are in San Francisco and want to try something other than the typical Ghirardelli Chocolate Ice Cream (I am not bashing, I love Ghirardelli, just sometimes you need something different), go over to Mr. & Mrs. Miscellaneous and get some amazing ice cream before it runs out!

September Can be Spooky Too

It may still be September but as soon as I saw that the pumpkin spice latte was back in Starbucks, I have basically decided it is time to get into the Halloween Season!  Pumpkin flavored everything, orange leaves (in pictures, none outside where I live really), and watching Classic October Halloweeny movies!

[I have yet to see my neighborhood look like this]

Typically this includes The Nightmare Before Christmas, Hocus Pocus, Halloweentown Movies (Classics and you know it), and a bunch more!  But this year I found another one that I think needs a little more appreciation.  Mockingbird Lane is what I am talking about.

I first heard about it when I was on the Studio Tour at Universal Studios and had heard about an upcoming series.  1313 Mockingbird Lane was to be the home of a remake family of Munsters.

[Paul from the past took this photo on the tour in case Future Paul liked Mockingbird Lane and it turns out, Past-Paul was right!]

Mockingbird Lane was supposed to be a series picked up starting last fall but was found to lack enough potential to be a compelling enough series but not due to it being sucky, instead they turned it into a Halloween Special on NBC.  I did not watch it last fall when it premiered and instead watched it last weekend.  I actually enjoyed it even if it was only 40 minutes long and found it to be a cute family Halloween thing to watch that I would not mind keeping as a September/October tradition.

The special had Jerry O'Connell as Herman Munster (the Frankenstein Dad) married to Portia de Rossi (the Vampiress Mom) whose Dracula Dad/Grampa was played by Eddie Izzard and whose "normal" niece is played by Charity Wakefield. 

Above is the son of 'Frankenstein' and the sexy vampiress of this show is Mason Cook who is going through some changes of his own as he deals with becoming a werewolf... without knowing that he is the werewolf wreaking havoc on the innocent (not much of a spoiler that's how the show starts).  

In terms of the characters, the Dracula thing was a little over the top for me...

... but looking back I think it was more playful and meant to be over the top due to it being for families and kids more than being a horror version of the Munsters.  I mean, I never saw the Munsters original series but I am sure that this show did it justice in portraying the family the way they did as they took up an abandoned home originally set to be destroyed due to a homicidal past...not the house killing people, but the people in it ... hopefully you got that.

Anyway, in case you were interested in watching it here is the link to the NBC website 

http://www.nbc.com/mockingbird-lane/video/mockingbird-lane/n29651/

and if that does not work I am sorry but I am sure you have other ways of finding a way to watch if you really wanted to.  Personally I think it was a good way to kick off the Halloween Season and start dreaming of packing in candy.

HAPPY ALMOST MONTH OF HALLOWEEN!

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Just Add Popcorn

Although in my info at the top it only says that "I watch movies" I really need to emphasize just how much I love movies.  I never really realized it until this past year I think.  I don't really know what it is about movies either that attracts me to them.  Possibly because I wonder what it is I would do in such situations whether it be fiction or not, or maybe because I can't believe someone was able to come up with such a storyline just from inspiration/imagination or that something like this actually happened in history and was so greatly portrayed in a movie.

Also, I tend to make the effort to memorize the names of actors and actresses and am always the guy my friends ask when they wonder "where have I seen that person before?" as we watch a movie or TV show.  IMDB is one of my favorite websites (something I have never heard anyone else say unfortunately) because that's where I find the names and filmographies of all these actors and actresses. ALSO! They actually post a lot of information about upcoming movies, movie roles, and other movie crap that I love.

IMDB has also given me the Top 250 Movies of All Time which if you go into my tab of 'JUST ADD POPCORN' at the top, you can see that it is my goal to watch all of them (I know the list will be updated but for now I am going to complete the list of movies from August 2013).

The list of movies has a bunch of cult classics and oldies I have been meaning to watch for a long time so I'm excited to finally get to watch them instead of just saying "I've been meaning to watch it".  Also my roommate is a big movie buff too and my friends love a lot of the movies on the list so watching these movies with friends will be even more fun than just watching it to cross it off the list.

At the end of the list of 250 movies though I should note that I added some movies I recommend you watch that for some reason did not make it on the list from IMDB but I find to be great.  A bunch of them were recommended to me from friends or family and some others were movies I watched with people I care a lot about recently.

Seriously though, I really recommend going out to watch a movie with some people by the way.  I have a few friends who don't like watching movies at the movie theatre because they find it antisocial or something but my parents and I started a tradition late this summer where every Sunday night we would watch a movie and I  LOVED IT.  It was a lot of fun watching some new movies I hadn't seen and going to the movie theatre with my parents was fun too.  Especially since I am leaving to go back to college, I really liked that for sure, there was an afternoon in the week dedicated to family time.

So whether it be watching movies every Sunday or grabbing breakfast every other week, or even just making that phone call you push aside so often... Call or hang out with your parents (or guardians/role models/whomever you want) and dedicate some time to those who matter.

[No matter how you may feel about your family members, they are family... 

they will always be waiting for you and never stop loving you]

What is College?

A short post just to let you all know that I added a new tab at the top dubbed "What is College" where I identified what college means to me so far.

for real though... anyway!

I randomly started it at the beginning of my first year after so much was going on in my first year that I figured I should jot it down so as to never forget it all.  I kind of began imagining publishing a small book that you could find at the back of a Hallmark Store or in the discount section of your local Target but for now, I think this will do.

I remember around the time of graduating high school that so many of my friends would not shut up about moving away from home and becoming independent.  I remember getting tired of hearing it all because to most of them, being on their own meant they could not wait to live under the same roof because they were tired of their parents and yadda yadda yadda their lives are so difficult while they drive off in their new car their parents are letting them take to college.

 It honestly disgusted me a bit that they did not appreciate all they had received from their parents.  It is kind of sappy, but I really hope that they learned that independence is not solely living on your own, but it is taking what you have learned from your parents, and implementing it in the real world.

But besides all that deepness of knowledge I just bombshelled you all with, college is also the greatest years of one's life where you start on your way to your future... and there is nothing more terrifying than realizing you are growing up

Oh! And check out what it is college means to me in my new page DUH! that's originally what this post was supposed to be about


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One Note a Day, Keeps Unhappiness Away

Today I am going to discuss the importance of finding happiness in life.  HOLD ON HOLD ON! DON'T LEAVE I PROMISE I WILL NOT CONVERT YOU TO SOME NEW RELIGION

This post is about a little project of my own where everyday I recognize at least one thing that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

I took one of those "family-sized" Martinelli's Apple Juice jugs and after "my family finished it" (haha let's be real I downed that thing in less than half a week), I washed it out, and found some sticky note pads lying around.

 Every day all I do is take a sticky note and write down one thing that made me happy that day, put a smile on my face, and/or made me feel good/proud of myself.

I started April 6, 2012 and so far have been doing well.  Whenever I go out of town you won't find me lugging around a huge jug with pieces of paper in it but at the end of each day (or after the trip) I just look back on the day (or days) and pull out my phone and type in what I would have written on a sticky on my NOTES page in my phone and just write it on stickies once I'm back

Now that I have explained how to do it... I CHALLENGE YOU TO TRY IT OUT!

Seriously though, what have you got to lose?

SPOILER: The answer is nothing, you have absolutely nothing to lose except some sticky notes and a jug that used to have apple juice or whatever beverage you like to consume

If you have certainly NO IDEA of what you would write, this is your lucky day because I am sharing examples.  NOTHING YOU WRITE DOWN IS STUPID

EXAMPLES

• Finished reading ____________ after (only a day) [or] (four years of trying to read)
• Snagged the last chocolate croissant at Starbucks
• Took a nice warm shower and just relaxed after a long grueling day
• Long line of traffic on way home but radio played awesome tunes
• Was nostalgic and watched old TV Shows from when I was a kid
• Had (meal) with mom/dad/sibling/grandparent/friend
• Found a heads up penny!
• Made bomb tacos 
• Slept in until 4pm (Don't do that haha)

Once Again, NOTHING YOU WRITE DOWN IS STUPID

I myself am so excited for April 6, 2013 to come so I can see all that happened to me in a year and most likely start over for my next year of happiness to begin :)

Here is my jug with my favorite quote "Those who are most happy in life have no reason for being happy, except that they are so"... and if you really think you need a reason to be happy: Do this and when you look back in a year, you can find

10

27

172

365 REASONS TO BE HAPPY

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