Padd Solutions

Fernando's Restaurant (2028 Paramount) - Not my most recent find, but definitely my favorite to come back to. The food is fantastic, I've never had to wait for a table, and there's a 10 flavor salsa bar! I've never been disappointed with any entrée, but I will say that the spicy pancake enchilada is my favorite. Instead of being rolled up in typical enchilada form, this plate comes with a pile of ground beef or cheese between two flat corn tortillas, covered in sauce and cheese, then topped with a fried egg. Yes thats right, fried egg on top of an enchilada. Delicious. Of course the plate comes with a side of their authentic rice and beans which are more flavorful than most. 2 can usually eat here for around $18!

Jamaican Flame (4132 Business Park) - If you can find this place, you're in for a spicy treat! Located in the Western Business Park (across from the animal clinic west of I-27) this small restaurant serves up massive amounts of flavor that's not the norm for Amarillo. The plantain chips and spiced guacamole is a must for an appetizer, and depending on your level of spice, I suggest the pork pasta or 3 meat combo as a entrée. Don't worry there is a spice level chart on the menu so there aren't any surprises here. Jerk chicken, jerk shrimp, jerk pork, any many more flavors are available from the prior chef for The Shack on 6th street. Moderately priced to not hurt your wallet for exotic flavor.

Coyote Bluff Cafe (2417 Grand) - This is old news to Amarillo hamburger fans, but I'm shamed to say that I somehow haven't eaten here in the 21 years I've lived here until just last year. Besides is coverage on Travel Channels: Man vs Food (watch the Amarillo episode if you haven't already), this place has gotten rave reviews from locals! I put my mouth to the test with their Burger from Hell and was very impressed. The burger came out of the kitchen with about an inch thick layer of jalapeños and habañero sauce. The burn was intense, but I made it through enough to even try my girlfriends regular burger, and even then I was suprised at the flavor. The meat has a good ground beef taste and is so juicy it pretty much soaks the bun. A side of cheese fries is a must, or add chili for even more taste. Prices are higher than you fast food joint, but well worth the extra cost. Beware plastic carriers, as Coyote Bluff is a cash only establishment!

Since my last entry, I visited with my advisor at UTA (and saw a bit of the campus) and set up my courses for the fall semester, applied for an got enough financial aid/loans to cover almost my entire first year at UTA, applied for an apartment at UTA, and got a few more issues settled out within all that.

Starting with the beginning, I met with my advisor on March 5 down in Arlington. While it was all a bit overwhelming, we did manage to get the basics of my first semester/year down on paper. Thankfully, I have taken almost all of my basics (minus a stats class and a failed life science lab) at AC, meaning I pretty much get to jump right into major specific courses. I also discovered I have to choose a minor to go along with my major, so I think I'm leaning towards psychology for that, as I'm really interested in the research/analysis part of advertising. I don't get to register for classes until April 19, so I hope all the classes I need are still available by then.

After my advising session, I spent the next few days in Dallas (and Austin) with my best friend, where we saw John Mayer two nights in a row. It was fantastic and definitely two of the best shows of his I have been to (we're already planning two more in September!). After a few days in Dallas, I headed off to California for part two of my spring break. Unfortunately, the day I left Dallas, a friend who I was supposed to meet up and stay with a few days later bailed on me, forcing me to change my plans. I decided I would stay in California until Monday, and then go to Tennessee to see my mom and sister for a few days. California was amazing. The friend I stayed with lives in Paso Robles (near San Luis Obispo), which is GORGEOUS. We drove down to Pismo Beach, where I saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time. We stood out on the pier and watched some guys surf and then trekked down below and got our feet wet for a little bit. After two days in PR, we drove the three hours into Los Angeles, where we had tickets for the Glee Paleyfest panel that Saturday night, March 13. That night could possibly be considered one of the best nights of my life. We were shown one of the new episodes that doesn't air until next Tuesday, April 13, which was then followed by a Q&A with (most of) the cast. It was a very surreal experience to be with fans like me and being in this environment with the cast. I actually got to talk to two of the cast members after the panel was over for a few moments. Seeing my mom is always great. She was very excited to see me, even if for a short amount of time. It's difficult being 1,000 miles away from her sometimes, but I manage. It feels like I'm missing a lot being so far away, but I have my own things I have to do here in Texas. Getting back from TN to TX was rough, though. I missed my flight that Friday, meaning I had to stay the night in Nashville on my own. I got an early flight back to Dallas the next morning, but ended up getting stuck in Dallas overnight because of the snow here in Amarillo. Luckily, I had family in Dallas who gave me a place to stay for the night, but needless to say I'm kind of sick of airports for awhile.

Now it's back to getting caught up and trying to finish out the semester here at AC. I applied for an apartment at UTA last night. It seems really nice; it's one of the newer ones, so all of my bills (internet, cable, water, etc.) are taken care of, minus the electricity. It also comes with a washer and dryer so I don't have to worry about having enough quarters, haha. It's not a bad price each month, so I'm hoping I end up with one of those instead of the older ones. I've never lived on my own before, so it's going to be an experience no matter where I end up.

I hope everyone out there is making it through the semester and I promise I'll be around to update more now that things have settled down. I'm about to start on a campaign for my Intro to Advertising class, which I'm way excited about, and there's plenty more transfer wise to keep you guys updated on.

Chelsea

I knew who I would choose for my job shadow project right when we were given the assignment since I have a family friend in marketing, which I would say is a communication profession. To keep things confidential we can call her Jen and she has around 25 years in the marketing field. I spoke with Jen last Wednesday, and luckily she had a marketing meeting scheduled for Friday with a popular optometry company here in Amarillo, and I was invited to sit in!

The meeting was scheduled for 10am so I showed up to Jen's house at 9:45. We grabbed a few notes and a portrait picture of some of the higher-ups of the company we were working for then got in the car. On the way to the boardroom, Jen explained to me where she has worked previously and who her current clients are now. I found out she handles one of the largest accounts in Amarillo which happens to be a locally owned bank!

The meeting was much more relaxed than I thought it would be. When we arrived Jen introduced me to her clients as her intern/student, then we began the marketing process. Jen laid out her spreadsheet that listed all her clients objectives and what events needed to promote those objectives. Each tv ad, radio ad, promotional event, everything was compared to yearly sales for the company. Things like if June was a bad month for the company in sales last year, what particular television or radio ad should the company run to counteract lack of sales this year.

Overall I learned a lot! There are waaay more people than I expected involved from top to bottom when it comes to marketing for a company. From the CEO of a parent company, all the way down through Jen in marketing, and even down to the guy running the camera at the commercial shoot, everyone working on the same project.

This job shadowing has really helped me in trying to figure a more solid path for myself career wise. I thought I wanted to go into PR, and I guess marketing is a form of PR, but not really the same. I dont want to come up with the advertising ideas, really just coordinate the ads getting produced for the client. I've been in sales all my life, and I'm a very outgoing person so I really feel like this could be a good position for me! I guess we'll see when I finish school!

-MH

After food, we headed up to the condo which was about 25 miles north of Durango itself. When we got there I was surprised to find that there was no wireless internet and no cell phone service! Luckily there was a LAN line that had a 2ft cord, so internet was possible but very inconvenient. I cant believe that some places still dont have decent wireless coverage (*cough* Amarillo College *cough*).

The next morning we woke up to snow pouring down in whiteout conditions! The skiers in our group loaded onto a shuttle and hit the slopes, while B and I decided what to do for the rest of the day. We had planned to visit the town of Durango and do a little shopping and sightseeing, but due to the weather there was actually no way for us to get to the city. We decided to take the shuttle up to the ski lodge and visit the shops there on the mountain. After we arrived we met with the family for lunch, then when they went back up the lifts, we decided to have a few drinks at the bar on the mountain. I was pretty surprised to see a fully stocked bar right next to the ski lifts because drunk skiing sounds like a fairly dangerous activity. After trying a couple of the locally brewed beers, we went to a few of the souvenir/clothing stores and called it an afternoon. I bought a great snow hat that looks like a lemur, and B got a similar hat but with a white tiger pattern and wool moose shaped gloves. Everyone was pooped backed at the condo so we all just ate dinner then went to bed.

The sky was clear the next morning so B and I took our car into the city of Durango itself and hit Main Ave. The street was packed with art, clothes, candy, food, and souvenir shops. Our first order of business was food and we happened to find a fantastic Thai food place at the end of the block. After eating lunch we went to a few outlet stores and candy shops. B found a great pair of shoes at a skate/snowboard shop, and we saw some really great art that was definitely out of our price range. After grabbing a couple beers at a microbrewery right on Main Ave, we headed back to the condo to meet up with the family before dinner. Everyone wanted to eat back in Durango that night, so we showed them the brewery and all decided to eat there since they served food as well.

The next day, B's family woke up and left about an hour before we did since their drive was 13 hours and ours was only 8. We ended up getting an early start anyways because we wanted to stop in Albuquerque and visit their aquarium on the way home. B and I love going to aquariums and visit them pretty much any chance we get. The admission was only $7 each, and although it was a small facility, the variety of marine animals they had there was great! I have to say my favorite exhibit was a dark tunnel that a dimly lit eels swimming on all sides of the walls, some probably over 6ft long! The drive home was fairly uneventful and long feeling. Probably because I was ready to be back on my couch at that point.

Since then I have been working everyday and trying to prepare for the loads of homework and tests I have coming up. I'm about to start my convergence project which I am equally excited and terrified to do haha. Sorry to keep you all waiting for so long between blogs, but hopefully now that I am back on schedule I will be able to post more regularly! hope everyone has had a fun Spring Break!

-MH

So who witnessed all the weird weather we had yesterday? I remember leaving class, and it being sunny out, maybe 45-50 degrees outside. I was on the phone with my girlfriend later in the day and saw some flake-like objects land on my windshield as I was driving. I KNEW it was too warm outside for snow, so I figured it just fell off the bridge that I was passing under. As I pulled up to my house though, I could see very light snow was falling through the air, with the sun still poking through the clouds! I ran in to get my camera in hopes to take a good macro shot of a flake, but by the time I got back outside, the snow had already stopped. Amarillo weather never ceases to surprise me.

Today I had a short interview with one of the radio students about writing for the AC blog. The reporter asked some good questions and I gave honest answers. She said it would be aired this afternoon so I am currently listening to FM 90 to hopefully catch the recording.

Tomorrow I have an interview with the AC Ranger for what I believe is about my DJ alias Chiknbiskit. Either that or just being a student/musician at AC I'm not 100% sure. Keep an eye out in future issues of the Ranger for that feature!

I have a meeting scheduled with my advisor at UTA on Friday, right after I land, to discuss my schedule for next semester, as well as whatever else a transfer student like me might need to know. It was a time and a half trying to find an email for them, but my best friend (who has some weird knack for navigating and finding almost anything on a college website) found it within minutes, putting me to shame. I also have to finish up my financial aid verification documents this week and bring them with me as well to drop them off at the financial aid office at UTA. I finally got around to applying for the FAFSA, now all that's left is these documents and some more scholarship searching. Does anyone know of any good websites that have scholarship opportunities through different places? Sorry I can't be more specific, but I remember my mom found a few a couple years back, but I can't remember/find them again.

I'll hopefully be able to blog about my trip while on my trip, including my meeting with my advisor. It doesn't get too good until next Monday, when I head off to Austin for night one of John Mayer, then we come back to Dallas the next day and see him at the American Airlines Center. I've seen him four times before, but this is the first time I've seen him twice in the same tour. I could not be more excited. I'm using this vacation as kind of a last hurrah, since I doubt I'll be able to do something like this once I'm on my own in Arlington. Plus, it was part of my new year's resolutions that if I have the opportunity to do something, do it, no matter what.

Kind of bummed the Olympics are over. The last two weeks were amazing in so many ways. Team USA accomplished so much and there's always a feeling of unity during the Olympics. I'm a huge hockey fan, so while today's US vs. Canada matchup ended unfavorably, it was still a great game to watch. I can't wait to see what Russia brings in 2014.

I hope some of you got the opportunity to see Matt at the War Legion this weekend. I'm hoping to make it to one of his shows someday; I'm sure it's a great time.

When I first started playing records in Amarillo, the shows were very small and at the old hookah lounge/coffee bar Namaste. The people who attended mostly consisted of close friends and family, so it was never a large turnout. I guess it didn't help that I had to perform outside in the cold November night wind. Last October one of my friends told me about a DJ duo that plays music of the same style that I play, right in Amarillo. I didn't really believe him at first because most of the people around here haven't heard of many of the artists that I like to play. When I arrived at the concert, I was immediately blown away by what I heard. I recognized a lot of the music and saw a ton of people dancing! Much more than my small shows at Namaste.

After meeting the guys of Digital Style, I got them a demo CD of stuff I had done in the past, and they agreed to put me on Novembers show ticket. My first performance with them on November 14th (Digital Styleings 4.0) was one I wont ever forget. Over 100 people packed into the venue, some friends, but mostly people I didn't know (quite the change from Namaste), and EVERYONE was dancing the whole night! It was great, and the 3 of us decided to perform together monthly.

In January, my 3rd performance with them got cancelled due to the insane snow Amarillo was getting at the time, and we had to reschedule for this weekend, February 27th. This performance will be a little different for me because I am playing a newer style of dance music that I have never performed before live called dubstep. The best way to describe the sound of the genre would be to take a very basic hip hop or rap drum beat, but then add a very heavy electronic bass line, sometimes added to a familiar vocal melody where the words have been cut up and rearranged to make new phrases.

Besides not having played dubstep live before, I'm also a little worried about how the crowd will like the music. I know the core group of friends the DJs have like the style, but most people I have met in Amarillo just haven't heard of it. This is good because I will exposing people to new music and sound they possibly haven't heard before, but it could be bad because if they don't like that sound, then they wont dance, and a clear dance floor is not what you want to see when your playing on stage. I have already decided to split my performance in half. Start off with some good, recognizable, electro dance music, and then I will transition to the dubstep, reading the crowd energy level from there.

Crowd energy, the very best part about being a DJ. Please come to the show if you are interested! It is an all ages show, and there are more details on the flyer I've posted below!

Spring Break is coming up soon for all you students! My plans are still in the works, but as soon as they are set I will post about where I'll be this mid March.

-MH