Padd Solutions

Bonjour! These last few weeks have been crazy for me, tests popping up like daises and just alot of events happening around school. Nando Parrado came to talk to AC this past week and it was pretty awesome.
So in the spirit of Halloween, I have decided to write about some of the scariest movies I have yet to see. As well as some good old classic non-scary Halloween movies. The very first scary movie I ever watched was the ever famous "The Ring" staring Naomi Watts and let me tell you I was scared for 7 days of my television.
A terrific classic is "The Shining" staring Jack Nicholson, based off the novel by Stephen King. It combines all the elements that a scary movie needs- shrieking music, ghosts, and a crazy story. Nicholson is fantastic and who can forget "Here's Johnny!" If you are just starting on your scary movie endeavor, I would recommend this be your first. King is a master story teller and the movie is fantastic.
And now on to the scariest movie I have seen yet- "Paranormal Activity." Let me tell you, that movie is crazy scary. When I went to see the movie, there were people walking out because they were so scared. I am not going to ruin it for anyone who has yet to see it, but it some sort of freaky.

I will leave this scary movie subject with a list of movies that will dare to scare you:

• Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 with Donald Sutherland)
  
• Jaws
• Psycho (the Alfred Hitchcock classic)

Now on to some good old Halloween classics that are there not to scare you. One of my favorites that is on every year is "Hocus Pocus." Yes, it shows itself every year on the Disney channel as well as ABC Family, but it is just a good classic.
I also enjoy "Interview with the Vampire" starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. But I do not reserve this movie just for Halloween, it's a good all-year movie. It is a wonderful movie based off the novel by Anne Rice. It's a good vampire story if you are looking for one.
And last but not least is "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." I have been watching this every year since I was little and it has become tradition to watch this once every year. And the Peanuts cast never fails to impress.

I hope everyone has a wonderfully awesome Halloween!

And those of you who are free this Thursday, Jonny Zavant is coming to AC. He is a mentalist, meaning he can read minds and do some crazy tricks. The (free) event will begin at 7:00 pm in the AC Concert Hall Theater, but free food and coffee will be avaliable at 6:30 pm.

Last Thursday in my Fundamentals of Photography class, we were given the assignment to go on Sixth Street and find certain items listed on a sheet of paper our teacher gave us before we left.

Miguel had an interview for The Ranger he needed to get done before we left and since I’m not too familiar with Sixth Street, I stayed with him to help out so we could go there together. After the interview we got in my car and headed for our destination.

When we got there we immediately started taking photos. After we walked about a block or so, we found some of our classmates and asked them how many items they had found. While we were talking to them, I turned around and there was a man in a Gorilla suit standing at the other end of the street wanting us to go over there.

So, Miguel and I go over to him and take a couple of photos of him sitting on a bench, waiting for a bus, then we both posed for pictures with him and as we were trying to leave, he kept motioning for us to follow him.

I kept thinking to myself “I’m not following this crazy Gorilla guy! Where is he going to take us?!” But we followed him anyway and he opened the door to one of the shops on Sixth Street and motioned for us to go inside. At this point, of course I knew it was a stunt to get us to buy something, so we went inside and realized it was a little restaurant and when we walked toward the front. I saw Gelato and remembered seeing a feature story about Cowboy Gelato on the news a while back.

There was a guy standing in front of us wearing a red jacket tasting all the different flavors of Gelato so Miguel and I joined in the tasting. I had never had Gelato before but my friend who always used to go to Italy told me how phenomenal it was, so of course we had to get some!

The lady who was serving us was having a hard time getting the cones out for our order and she apologized for taking so long because she said they weren’t open yet. So of course, without even thinking, the first thing out of my mouth was “we followed the Gorilla and he told us to come in here…I’m sorry we didn’t know you weren’t open yet…the Gorilla made us do it!”

While we were waiting for my order of white chocolate Gelato and some concoction of two flavors mixed together that Miguel ordered, I realized more and more people were coming in this little restaurant and they were all wearing red blazers, I guess they were official taste testers or something.

After we got our Gelato, I made the suggestion that we should stay there and eat it so we wouldn’t get it all over ourselves. But we didn’t and we started off on our scavenger hunt again…Gelato in hand.

At the time, it didn’t seem like such a bad idea, until the Gelato started melting like crazy! Miguel had most of his eaten while I was still working on the top part of the cone. We kept finding more and more of the items we needed but it was harder to take photos now that we had our hands full.

Then Miguel was finished with his Gelato and mine was completely melted inside my cone. The paper with all the items on it was all sticky because I kept spilling Gelato everywhere. I looked down at one point and realized I poured Gelato all over my pant leg and shoe and when we got in my car to head back to AC I looked at my right shoulder and noticed I had it there too! I have no idea how I got Gelato all over me! So, as it turns out we should have just stayed and ate our Gelato at the restaurant like I suggested because I knew it would be messy…I just didn’t know it was going to be THAT messy!

 

This past week has been pretty busy, having some of my first tests in some classes. Have you ever realized that tests always come in twos and maybe three? It's like they cannot be taken alone and must find a buddy from another class.

Anyway, this weekend I went to Arena Cross. Talk about intense. I did not know much about the world of motocross outside that really, really old Disney movie "Motocross." It was pretty cool, they do all sorts of races for all ages. When the pros raced, it was awesome, it was very fast and very cool. And then there was a monster truck that did a flip, complete 360. That was neat to watch. And the announcer was entertaining and excited about every little thing, I thought it was pretty hilarious. Overall, the event was pretty awesome and I learned a heck of alot. Like whoops, I thought that "whoop" was just a used in describing a sound but turns out its also the small hills on the track. Just think of Mario Kart for all you gamers out there, think of Wario Stadium and you have a dirt bike track. If you are able to go to Arena Cross next year, go.

Last week, the movie "Away We Go" finally came to dvd. This movie was one of my favorites from this summer. It stars John Krasinski (Jim from The Office) and Maya Rudolph (SNL star) as a couple trying to put down roots before their baby is born. The movie is very sweet and touching. I highly recommend "Away We Go" to anyone looking for a good movie and the soundtrack to the movie is amazing as well.

Some upcoming events around AC:

• Johnny Zavant- He is a mentalist, which is a guy who can read minds and play tricks on the mind. He is going to be here October 29th. I am getting some posters and flyers ready.
• Nando Parrado- The author of Miracle in the Andes will be here October 20th. This is going to be awesome, he is coming up from Uruguay. The book is amazing and anyone who can go should.
• THIS WEEKEND LEADERSHIP RETREAT: October 9th and 10th. Its going to be neat, its going to be based on the book Miracle in the Andes and if you can go, go. To register go down to the CUB Basement and talk to one of the student workers down there.
  

At the end of October, the Journalism Department is planning to go to a convention in Austin. This is a huge deal! There are going to be thousands of colleges and Universities from all over the United States. I’ve only gone to one other Journalism convention because we took a van to Dallas and every other time; they fly to wherever they’re going. Out of fear I’ve always opted out of the plane ride and I’ve gotten teased for it every time. They know if we’re taking a plan, I’m staying in Amarillo.

So yesterday, I read an e-mail saying we MIGHT take a plan to Austin or we MIGHT drive! At the bottom of the e-mail it said something like “Maddisun, if we go by plane, we’re talking you into it.” Road trips don’t bother me; I just sleep the whole way there anyways. But, I’ve never ever stepped foot on a plan and that’s what I’m having trouble with. I’m just scared I’m going to get thousands of feel up in the air and want off the plane and I can’t just get off because I’m scared.

When I was in the 5th grade, my friend Mandy and I thought we wanted to ride the Pirate ship at Wonderland. So, we got on and at first everything was fine. About 45 seconds into the ride both of us were down in the seat screaming and my mom actually had to get the boy controlling the ride to stop it and let us off.

I’m pretty sure I’ll be fine, but there’s this little part of me that says I’ll freak out as soon as we take off and I’ll want to get off. I couldn’t get to sleep last night because all I could think about was the ride to Austin. My friend Miguel might also be going on this trip and he said the flight won’t take long, so I’m hoping it won’t. He’s making me feel more comfortable with going on the trip…I have to say whether or not I’m going for sure by Thursday, so I have a couple more days to come up with a definite answer…wish me luck convincing myself!!

Hi, my name is Kaitlyn Banks and my major is Physician's Assistant for Pediatrics.
I have been going to AC for a year now and love it!

For my first blog I thought I would let you know a little bit about me with 30 random things!

1. I was born in Mobile, Alabama.
2. I have 2 yorkshire terrier pups.
3. I want to travel the world.
4. I have a younger brother who is about to graduate high school.
5. The beach is my favorite place to be.
6. My favorite superhero is Batman.
7. I have played the clarinet for 9 years.
8. Pride and Prejudice is my favorite movie.
9. I am currently in ceramics and it proved to be much harder than I anticipated.
10. I have always wanted to sky dive.
11. My favorite actress is Keira Knightly and my favorite actor is Brad Pitt.
12. I went to England this past summer and fell absolutely in love with the country.
13. I love art and film. My favorite painters are Michelangelo, Renoir, Da Vinci, Titian, Jacques Louis David, Seurat, and Van Gough.
14. The Office and Gilmore Girls are my favorite shows.
15. I would like to meet Clint Eastwood. He is fabulous.
16. I drive a Chevy Aveo, it's pretty awesome!
17. I love reading, I try to read at least 2 books a month.
18. I adore Italian food, I can eat it all day.
19. Yoga, swimming, sailing and skiing are my favorite forms of exercise. I like watching tennis but I cannot play it so well!
20. I want to be an extra in a movie, I think it would be neat.
21. I love coffee.
22. Losing my cell phone is common.
23. Zelda games are my favorite video games of all time.
24. Summer is my favorite season.
25. I have always wanted to go to Vermont in the fall to see all the leaves.
26. My favorite comedian is Demetri Martin.
27. Some of my favorite bands/singers right now include Coconut Records, Fleet Foxes, Alexi Murdoch, Cut Copy and Phoenix.
28. My favorite clothing stores are Jcrew, Gap, and Threadless.
29. I am currently the publicity chair for the Student Government Association.
30. I love shoes of any kind.

That's me in a nutshell! Hope everyone has a great week! I will keep everyone posted on what is going on around campus!

Chao, Kaitlyn

About three weeks ago, my Public Relations and Publicity professor gave the class an assignment to get a Twitter account, follow five people and post five PR related tweets by the following Wednesday. We were also supposed to write a paragraph about our Twitter experiences and turn it in.

I wasn’t all too excited about the assignment mainly because I didn’t really find Twitter to be as amazing as people carry on about. My desk buddy Zack on the other hand was ecstatic. He immediately gave me his user name and told me to follow him. I wasn’t familiar with Twitter at all. I first heard about it last Spring when I had to make a wrap about Social Networking for the AC Report.

I’ve had Myspace and Facebook accounts for three years now, but I hadn’t had the urge to get a Twitter, even though my friend Joey harassed me all summer to get one. I’ve heard from several people that Twitter is basically status updates like on Myspace and Facebook. But my status updates usually consist of random song lyrics I have stuck in my head. So, I didn’t know how to incorporate PR in there for the assignment.

So, I basically promoted the AC Blog in my first tweet. That same day I kept thinking about what my next tweet was going to be and when I was going to be able to post it. I couldn’t wait to get to a computer so I could tweet. Then I found out that I could send tweets from my phone by texting them to my profile. So, of course I was Über excited about that, because this meant I could tweet at Wal*Mart if I wanted to!

I started to feel that song Andy Milonakis sings “Let me Twitter Dat” was about me. However, I don’t get document EVERYTHING that I do throughout the day like he does…“I just woke up…Ayy, let me Twitter dat. Just took a hot shower…Ayy, let me Twitter dat. I’m feeling real crazy, I might get a haircut…Ayy let me Twitter dat.” The song is pretty hilarious!

One day, I was trying to get a hold of Joey so I could interview him for a package I was working on for The Ranger and I couldn’t get in touch with him, it was like we were playing phone tag! So, I posted a Tweet that said something to the effect of “Joey!!! Answer your phone, I need to talk to you now!!!” Within five minutes, he called me. So, I guess that proves Twitter isn’t just my new best friend.

Why is it that reading a textbook is the quickest way to fall asleep? I can feel 100% wide awake, open a textbook and BAM! drowsy as a drunk.

Quite frustrating when you're trying to get homework done. If nothing else, textbooks are good sleep aids at least.

So it's halfway through the first week of classes and so far so good. Although busy, I've managed to stay on top of things between yesterday and today. I know what you're thinking... "Yeah, uhm, it's only been two days..." but you don't understand. Every day is a victory when I get this busy. If I'm not behind on doing something it's a very huge accomplishment!

Today's practice was pretty rough for my girls. They really really struggled. Hopefully tomorrow will go better. We're having a terrible time with serving and serve receive. It's either on or it's off... there seems to be no in between. Alas, things aren't always what they seem. We will learn how to be consistant servers and passers if it kills us... and it just might.

In other news... Sen. Ted Kennedy died of brain cancer. The Kennedy family left a ridiculous political legacy. Check this out: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27440144/?gt1=43001 Also, this is a pretty good article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32572683
Read up. He pushed for some really awesome things for the people in our country. Specifically women, disabled, and elderly. There is a pretty good video summing it up that is on the same page as the article. It's only a couple minutes long, go watch it.

Chris and I went to the second to last Dillas home game tonight with his grandparents.
It was really fun except for my stupid allergies. They have been out of control since I came home from Corpus. I can hardly stand it! The only thing I've tried that really works is Benadryl and that knocks me OUT. I mean out cold. I could sleep for about 14 hours straight after taking just one Benadryl... yes, it's that ridiculous.
Anyway, back to the baseball game. We left in the bottom of the 8th when the Dillas were up 12-4. It was a close game until the 7th inning when the Dillas decided they really knew how to play baseball. hahah Even though I'm a die-hard volleyball fan (woohoo for indoor sports!) I enjoy the occassional baseball game. And football game. Actually, I really want to go watch WT play football Friday. WT football games are always a blast. :)

Anywho... well now that I've been on the computer for a little while I'm good and awake so I think I'll get back to reading my textbook. Goodnight!

Argh. Back to the grind of classes again! I really enjoyed what little break I had from classes this year. Now it's over until Christmas. Sheesh.

I do really enjoy taking classes... I DON'T really enjoy trying to find a parking spot at AC! I went up there today to finish up buying my books (which they still don't have one in stock) and there was quite literally NOWHERE to park. It was insane! I think that is the most packed I have seen it... ever. I wonder what enrollment is at for the fall semester? I bet it's high. Last year was higher than the year before and I bet this year is even higher still. I'll have to assign a story on that. :)

So I'm really excited about starting up with The Ranger again! Anyone out there reading this needs to be sure to read The Ranger... even if you just do so online (I know the statistics people).

OH GUESS WHAT?! I can't believe I forgot to blog about this...
I GOT AN APARTMENT! Yaaaaaaaaaay! I am so pumped! I move in on September 11th. The most awesome part of it all is that I have almost all my furniture, I just have to pick it up to move it in. Yes, I'm extremely excited!

Well, my little break from the world of news is over. I know, shame on me for even having one. But honestly, I've barely had time to breathe let alone keep track of anything in the news. I will officially begin catching up tomorrow.

Want to hear something funny? One class I'm taking this semester is Fitness Walking I Online. Bahahaha! I mean, the words fitness and walking to me are funny to begin with (I know walking is excellent exercise it's just too boring for me and doesn't say "I'm getting in shape") but when you throw in the 'online' that just cracks me up! I'm not too sure how it's going to work out (no pun intended haha) but I'm guessing I will have to just log my walking hours everytime I go to the gym. Guess I'll find out!

Okay so I have a million and one things to do... here's to another great semester! Good luck everyone!

Well, got back from Grandma's yesterday evening--btw, I made a 5 hr drive on 3 hrs of sleep. Not recommended, boys and girls!--and saw that my Summer term grades were ready. Made A's in Radio Production I AND Media Internship! [Media Internship is blogging for this site. :)] That makes all A's for me since I started at AC last Fall. I'm really psyched about that, because I want as good a GPA as I can get for when I transfer to a four year university after next Spring! It makes me feel good, because the first time I went to college, I didn't do so well, not because college was hard, but because I was lazy and didn't apply myself. Now I have a definite goal in mind, and I'm motivated. This is something I want really bad!

No rest for the wicked tho--Fall starts Monday. Ready or not, school is here!

What a slacker I have been on this blog last week up to now. To my loyal readers... I sincerely apologize.

LoL

That's right, I just laughed out loud at my own humor. Anyways, things have been crazy as of late! My life has thrust me back into a serious torrent of time crunching, and in a few short days it will get severely worse.

Classes start Monday. Monday. MONDAY.

Dear summer: Why did thou art evade me so?

Sad times bro, sad times.

Well, my volleyball teams are really improving! Our missed serves were absolutely out of control these past couple weeks, and we're slowly but surely reigning them in! We are officially missing less serves, serving more consistantly, and successfully serving to the zones I call on the court. Let me just say... hallelujah! hahah My Freshman team won the Silver bracket at the River Road Freshman Tournament this past weekend. It was a fun Saturday!

This past Sunday I decided to take the day off and go to the lake with Chris and friends. It was a blast! We tubed and wakeboarded. And by we I mean, well, I definitely can't get out of the flipping water on a wakeboard. It's quite annoying really. My competitive nature won't let me let go. I have to do it. I have to prove to myself that I can do it. Yet time and time again I fail. And then I get mad. Oh yeah, that Italian temper kicks in and I get frustrated with a capital F. Sometimes that capital F gets a few choice letters behind it.

Like...

Why the Freak*ng crap can't I do this?!?!

Yeah, you just thought.

So definitely didn't get up on the wakeboard. Even my mom can wakeboard. And she's over 40 (still looks young and is a hott mama, but still!). Argh. It's supremely annoying. I did, however, tube like a pro. I'm proud of myself. And I have the sore muscles, aches, and bruises to prove it. Lordy am I sore! It even hurts to put my seatbelt on in the car! hahah

But yes, definitely a fun day on the lake, soaking up rays of sun with friends.

Now here I am, at 2 a.m. I just finished planning a couple volleyball practices. Tomorrow I will be in the gym for almost 7 hours. Phew. It's tough, and I'm beyond tired, but I love it. I love my job. I love what I do. I love doing what I like and I like doing what I love. It's a pretty sweet deal if you ask me!