qop xo

As of my run last night, I’m at 11.52 miles for the month so far!  So….18.48 left to go   Being that this month has already been super busy for me…that is great!!

Also….something AMAZING happened yesterday!!!

 I got an email from Alyse & Jamie at Fit Approach informing me that I had been chosen to join the Sweat Pink Ambassador community!!!!!   I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am to have been picked to join!!  More to come on this opportunity soon

Hope everyone has a great day!!

Not really sure how this stuff goes but I’m sure I will catch on!

Just five months ago, I set a goal just to challenge myself – competing with myself. My own race, my own numbers, my own mission. I called it #Mission2013 – To run as many 5K Races as I can! And taaadaaa! Tomorrow, will be my second race.

Now don’t go on thinking “Oh.. I wish I’m as motivated as you are!“, “Me? 5K? *sigh* Walk round the block already want to pengsan (faint)!“, “No la.. I’m not a runner. I walk only.” , “I don’t think I can be that disciplined!“, “Naaaah.. I’m not that crazy la. I Love My Food Too Much.. I’m a foodie.”  - Seriously.. All those – were exact words out of my own mouth – some just in my head; when I gave that negative chatter a chance to be louder than the RealMe.

I’m not a Professional Runner or anything though I may aspire to be one day perhaps *wink* but for now, I”m just embracing and Livin’ItUp the Way I Am and I Am SO Lovin’ It!

Okay.. I can’t recall which exact point that made me accelerate a lil further in this lifestyle but all I know and am accepting that it is all of my own doing, my own effort and with Allah’s blessings too of cos – Though I may get the support and love from my family.. But that didn’t make me any stronger cos really, it’s still just me breaking away from my comfy blankie at 5 in the morning.. It was just me creatively sneakin’ some MeTime here and there just to walk. Yes. Walk. BriskWalk.

Don’t believe me? Here’s how I ‘entertain’ myself..

Walk! Walk! Walk! Walk! Even if it means melting in the hot humid day..

Then I kinda clock in some of this too..

Ooooooh I Love the Numbers! *lol*

That sure got me kickin’ more walks in my daily life.. and then I scour the app store for more Free Apps! I have to say the C25K App is a pretty good thing.. I’ve tried it and it’s pretty awesome.. It’s like having a trainer in your hand!

Let’s Go, Baby!

So.. To all my ladies who’d like to give this Walk / Jog / ActiveLiving a go, I’d say this weekend sounds just perfect to begin it with. It’s Mother’s Day Weekend! Perfect excuse to claim that ‘Me Time’, Easy Date to remember your Start Date and if you’re the visual type of person, here’s a pic I took this morning.

“All the Morning Runners/Joggers/Walkers in All Shapes and Sizes and Outfits Too!”

So there you go! See.. There really is no rules to it! Don’t be shy now.. Put on that sneakers, Play all your favourite tunes, Just get out there and Have some fun! Cos seriously, no one ever takes count of the number of rounds you made at the tracks..

Before I go, this one goes out to all those who’d prefer the factual type of info to move ya..

WhateverMotivatesYou, WhateverMakesYouHappy – just keep on doing it.. And feel free to share your success with us all here at SGRunningMoms!

Keep it happy y’all & Cheers! xoxo @justbeingarlyn

Anatomy of Walking – taken from everybodywalk.org

With the disappearance of Ricoche and the lack of resources for newbie Gyaru, I’ve decided to compile some advice.

Brutal my words may sound, but I’m not going to sugar coat it and make it seem anything more than it is.

In my opinion, Gyaru is NOT something you can just waltz into and be good at, it is NOT something that anyone can do, so here’s my advice for anyone out there who’s thinking of jumping into the shark pool.

1. Get With The Basics & Choosing a Sub-Style.

Basically if you’re new it’s a case of Sit down, Shut the fuck up and Listen because you don’t know shit.

You listen to those who do and you absorb everything – No Arguments.

Which is why rule number is always, ALWAYS – Get With The Basics.

How many times I’ve seen “Hi, my name is X, I’m X years old and I really love X gyaru!” I can’t even count. Because of the increasing inactivity of Ricoche, I was one of the few Gals who had been around for a longer time and was able to say “STOP. GO NO FURTHER.”

Newbie gyaru don’t know shit. Do you think all of us veterans just went “Hey I’m gonna do Rokku/OraOra/Hime style right now!”  NO! Every single one of us started with the basics. We learned how to do our makeup. We learned how to contour properly. We learned how to mix clothing from H&M and TopShop into a Gyaru styling before any of us ever owned a piece of clothing from a Gal brand.

Money is not the issue here. You can have all the MA*RS clothing or Diamond Lashes in the world, but if you don’t know what the fuck you’re doing you’ll look like a dog’s dinner regardless.

The reason everyone starts off with Gyaru-kei (or Manba, whatever it was when you started) is because once you do that, you then have the ability to branch off into other sub-styles – but if you start off in one sub-style, it’ll be so much harder for you to switch to another style and believe me – very few Gyaru stick to just one sub-style, we all drift between them depending on what we feel like wearing that day. Except Pin, I’m pretty sure she’s been Manba forever – but I’m not criticising her – she does it and kicks all of our asses in the process.

For example, if you start of with Hime style – chances are the only thing you’ll be rocking is frilly dresses and lace gloves. If, however, you want a dramatic change to Rokku gyaru – you won’t have the basic skills to know how to mix the various articles of clothing in such a way as to make it look gyaru and you’ll have to start from the bottom again, or very near it at least.

So – in short – whatever sub-style you like – forget it until you have the basics down. Then sub-style all you want.

2. Do NOT Watch Gyaru makeup Tutorials on YouTube

Gyaru according to a YouTube Beauty Guru

The main reason being you’ll end up looking like that.

Right, I’m not hating on Bubzbeauty – she’s from my city – home girl love etc etc – but in all seriousness I have one rule for my Gal circle which is:

NEVER EVER FOLLOW GYARU MAKEUP TUTORIALS FROM FAMOUS YOUTUBERS.

Why?

They’re not gyaru.

A bunch of subscribers have asked them to do a Gyaru tutorial and they’ve looked up pictures and deduced a look out of it. That look above was supposed to be inspired by Tsubasa. Compare the eye makeup below and you’ll see the relatively massive difference between the person who doesn’t know shit and the person who does.

Gyaru according to a Gyaru

Again – I’m not hating on Bubzbeauty – because there are many many more offenders out there – I’m just saying – Learn Gyaru makeup from GYARU on YouTube.

Lhouraii, Pin, Okashii, Chaudie, many more plus even myself have channels on YouTube. We may not be famous, but we sure as hell know what we’re talking about.

In short, we spend a heck of a lot of our time, it takes between several months to years for some to finally find a style that works really well for them and refined skills are developed over that time. The fact that some famous youtuber can just look at a picture and think they can suddenly do a Gyaru look because someone asked them to is just downright insulting.

3.  Buy Magazines

Or at least download scans if you can’t afford them.

The reason I say this is basically because:

1. It’ll help you learn how to mix clothes.
2. You’ll probably get a favourite model, who then will become your main style icon and hence someone you can improve by.
3. They have good makeup tutorials – you can learn how gyaru do their makeup.
4. You can see how they do their hair. If you’re in Japan they usually list the hair salons they use.

4. Learn Japanese

You probs don’t.

Look, learning Japanese makes life a hell of a lot easier for you if you’re a Gyaru. It makes reading tutorials easier, it makes finding out which piece of clothing is from where in magazines easier, navigating Mbok, Rakuten, 109, Fashionwalker websites etc easier and in general is just very useful for Gals.

I say this casually – but I began learning Japanese from the age of 14 – I’m 20 now. It’ll probs be harder for people my age now because y’all don’t have German language classes in high school to sit at the back of and use to learn to read and write Japanese. (Still aced my German exams with no notes and without turning in Homework) Okay, I admit, I’m naturally good at languages, so it may be harder for some of you out there.

I’m not fluent – no way – but I can blog and say what I want. I can read and write Hiragana and Katakana fluently as well as bunch of Kanji. At that time, gyaru never even crossed my mind – but it sure as hell came in handy.

In short – just do it, okay?

Good.

5. Gal is an Investment

If you’re serious about Gyaru you’ll be investing a whole lotta mula and a huge chunk of your time – in the beginning at least – into Gyaru style.

Makeup costs money.
Lashes cost money.
Lenses cost money.
Clothing costs money.
Nails cost money.
Extensions/Wigs cost moneeeeeey.

You’ll be using stuff you never even knew existed.
Contouring powder?
Eyebrow mascara?
Eyelid glue?
Lip concealer?
Lower eyelashes?

Learning how to use all of the new shit you get costs you hundreds of hours of your time.

Remember, though, playing with it = learning how to use it.
I will guarantee you this: You will become far superior to regular women by the time you’re a fully fledged Gyaru in terms of makeup application.

6. Confidence&Criticism

Someone says something negative about you and you react like the above?

If this applies you to you, then I advise you get the fuck away from this fashion style.
Run fast.
Run far.

Basically, if you don’t have a bedrock of confidence before you begin Gyaru – you’ll be a crumbling mess and there’s a fair chance you’ll give up.

Because you WILL be criticised by other people and if you’re too sensitive, if you can’t differentiate between constructive criticism and destructive criticism – if you take things personally and get defensive, then just leave now and don’t even bother getting into this style.

You will NEED criticism from others if you are to improve.

But – take criticism from established Gyaru – not from anonymous people or other newbies.

Basically, if it’s destructive, ignore it. But the problem is that many newbie Gyaru are easily hurt because they’re not tough enough.

Gyaru was founded on the “You think I care about what YOU think of me? Shut the fuck up, you arrogant little shit.” principle.
The most successful Gyaru – the ones who have been around for a long time, famous or not, have endured it this long because we genuinely don’t give a shit about what anyone thinks of us. Thankfully I’ve always had that mindset, and I’ve gone through my learning process, so now I’m able to sit back and be like

..when anyone bothers to say negative things about  me.

We do Gyaru because we want to. If we worried about what other people thought of us, we’d all dress in Hollister or be Hipsters (whatever the fuck that is.)

This is why I said before that I don’t think anyone can become Gyaru.

Anyone can do the style.

Only a precious few can step outside the house.

So, be prepared for criticism – Gyaru is one hostile, hostile world – a catty one at that.

Take all the help you’re given.

Last Words

If you’re lazy – don’t even bother getting into this style.

It is NOT easy, but many unsuspecting girls think that it is and just jump in and then become overwhelmed when they realise this is a serious style and it actually requires, y’know, effort.

I’ve seen so many people who’ve gone from

“I’m a Gyaru!”

to

“I’m not Gyaru anymore, it wasn’t for me, but I still admire the style.”

In reality it’s

“I’m just too fucking lazy to be bothered with it.”

And that’s fine – But that’s where my argument of not everyone can be Gyaru comes in again.
Lots and lots of people just can’t be bothered with the effort and time it requires,
Lots and lots of people just don’t have the self esteem/confidence to do the style.

And that’s fine – many people don’t want a fashion style that requires this much effort.

You can be Gyaru if you can get over that shit – but improving self confidence – I’ve heard – is a very difficult thing to do and giving yourself a kick in the arse can, at some points, be hard.

Basically if you put in the work – you’ll get the results.

Usually.

The journey to becoming a Gyaru is not easy, it is not plain sailing and it is not constant improvement. There will  be ups and downs and they can be due to: lack of money, lack of time, family issues, becoming unmotivated amongst other things. If you stick with it, it’ll become more natural and won’t require so much effort – the better you get at mixing clothes and doing makeup and hair, the less time it takes to complete, the less of a challenge it is.

Overall – Gyaru is an enjoyable style, and if you find that Gyaru is more of a chore than a joy, then it’s probably not for you.

Made Your Mind Up?

Other Gyaru could easily give you different opinions about what it takes to become a Gyaru and may give you alternative, better advice, but this is just what I think is the bare bones. Not all Gyaru are bitches – Most of us are very nice people!

The Gyaru world can be very unforgiving though, thanks to a certain website, which I won’t name, but if you’re an established Gyaru you’ll know which one I’m talking about. The reason I’m not naming it is because if there are any newbie gyaru reading this, or contemplating this, I don’t want them to be completely scared off and because I think every inch of that site is disgraceful and really, really sad.

So, you ready to jump in the Shark Pool?

Black Diamond members. Photo from tokyo fashion.com

Hope you’re all well! xxx

First, I would like to go ahead and go through these freelancing tips that I have learned so that if you don’t feel like reading all the way through, you can at least gain this knowledge.

1. As I have said before on my blog, there are people literally working for $1.00/hour. Being from the USA there is no way that would be worth my time. If you are bidding for an hourly job on say an Administrative or Writing type job, there will be HUNDREDS of applicants from other countries that are submitting a rate much lower than yours. You need to learn how to sell yourself in your cover letter so that the client feels like you are worth the higher pay.  Read further down to see a screenshot of my most recent successful application to see an example of what I mean. I know the  $8.00/hr that I took for that job is not much, but look at my next tip for explanation of that.
2. If you are beginning like I am and are bidding on hourly jobs rather than fixed-price jobs, you will need to start low and build your way up just like with any job. It would be hard to ask for $15/hr if you do not have any experience to show.  I have only worked $8.00/hr so far and I will work quite a few more of them as I build experience. I will never work for less than that, though, as that would take me backwards. Once my experience is built up, I will increase my rate and use that experience to back up why my rate is what it is.
3. Do not be generic in your cover letter. How many cover letters do you think the client reads that say “I am reliable and excellent and blah blah blah…?” You can showcase your skills, but do it uniquely rather than just coming right out and STATING WHAT YOU ARE like a dry piece of toast.
4. When you are bidding for fixed-price jobs, you need to realize just how much work is being asked of you. I have been in the situation where I was awarded a job for $25.00 to list all of the trails in the Smoky Mountain National Park along with the latitude and longitude of the trailheads. There are only AROUND 100 trails in that park, so I though that would be a piece of cake. However, there is no single free source that has all of them listed, especially not with their latitude and longitude. The job did get completed, but it took far longer than I had expected it too. I know it is hard when you are new and don’t exactly know how to gauge how long a task will take, but as you get experience you will be able to estimate better.
5. In both your cover letter and your profile, be sure that the attention getting information about you is in the very first and second sentence. You need to write something in those sentences that will make the client want to read more about you. When they are looking at all of the applicants, they can scroll over your name and see the first few lines of your profile. If you don’t have any useful information that tells the client about what you offer, then they may not even look at your cover letter. When they do look at your cover letter, if they don’t see anything they like in the first few sentences, then you have lost their attention and they are on to the next contractor.
6. Put out as many applications as you can. As LadyBird-Ink has said in a comment to one of my other posts, “…Law of averages has to work in our favor…” That is so true. You can’t put in one application and expect to get hired for that job. This is easier to do if you are bidding on Administrative and Writing type jobs, as these jobs have a lot more options than the specialized fields. I have three days that I am completely available to work. So a day or two before each of those three days, I will pump out ten to twenty applications and get hired by at least one of them.
7. Do not get discouraged. There are thousands of people trying to work from home just like you are by freelancing. It is inevitable that you will get rejected A LOT, but you can’t let it get to you. When I first started out, whenever I would see “application rejected,” I would let it bother me and think, “Why don’t they like me?” The truth is, they don’t even remember you once the hit reject, so move on and apply to other jobs. Most of the times I have found that they end up hiring a person who offered a ridiculously low rate, so nothing I would have said would’ve made them hire me with my rate. It just happens like that sometimes.
8. Look readily available to the client when you send your application. There is no need to write your whole schedule out in your cover letter, “On Monday, I can work from 3-7 and Tuesday from 9-2 and Wednesday….” If it is an hourly job, the client usually lists the hours that are needed to work if it is set hours, so if they conflict with your schedule, do not apply. If it is hourly and not set hours, they usually allow you to work whenever you have time anyway so there is no need to list that in the first letter you send to them. If it is fixed-price, unless it says “URGENT,” I have found that most people give you anywhere from three days to a week to complete their task. All you are trying to do with your cover letter is get the client to at least message you. Like I said, unless the advertised hours clearly conflict with your schedule, go ahead and apply and appear completely available and whenever they send you a message you can get into specifics.

These are a few things that I have learned so far in my short time freelance writing. I do hope some of these are helpful. I wish I would have known all of this when I was just starting out, but that is why I am telling you. Now, let me show some of my cover letters so you can see the differences.

Here is my very first application. It was short and sweet and shows that I obviously did not have any idea what I was doing. I figured that translating would be a good easy job to get my ratings up. Unfortunately, I didn’t have an excellent cover letter to let the client know what I was fully capable of.

This is my most recent successful application cover letter. Notice how I do say that “I am a superb internet researcher…” but I do it in a unique way by not really saying it. Also, my first sentence is to pull them in. Instead of them seeing my rate and moving on, I want them to understand that I know I am higher than other people, but I have my reasons. I want them to read further to find out why.

Here is a shot of my profile overview. This is the part that the clients will see whenever I apply to a job. Notice how the first sentence is used to give the contractor information that they can use to determine if I am right for their job. Try to keep your profile organized and to the point. Do not detail things that have no relevance to your work behavior.

I could have kept all of this information to myself, but I am honestly trying to help out freelance writers like myself. I know this isn’t much, but these are the key things that I have picked up since I have been freelancing. If you have anything to add, please do so. If I like it enough, I may feature it in a post! Enjoy!

I’m gonna try to do the splits by the end of the month… probably won’t be able to but I may as well try, right? Omg… I do the weirdest things… I am seriously bored all the time. And I chew everything! Like, I have serious problems! Man, my legs are fat… I can’t focus, I apologise. I basically just do anything when I’m bored, I mean I can’t cope if I’m not doing something. It’s weird and annoying. I’ve noticed it before. It’s like little impulses to just move. BORED. BORED. BORED. BORED. DO SOMETHING. BORED. That’s basically what happens in my head like all day! It’s so annoying! I wish I could just do nothing and be all relaxing and calm… But I can’t. I swear I never used to be like this. Even these posts are completely scattered because I get so bored of my own self! You know what I love? Owls. They’re so pretty! I have an owl mirror (it’s awesome), owl blanket and owl pillow… I sound like I’m obsessed. I promise I’m not, it’s just decoration. I’m not kidding when I say that I actually LOVE my room. I would attach pictures but it could be a bit creepy that strangers know what my bedroom looks like… where I sleep…

I think I’m a terrible person and woah it’s getting late! I was going to go to bed early tonight! That plan didn’t work out did it? Anyway… yeah, I’m a horrible person because I am awful at being nice! I seriously hate giving compliments to people. Well… I don’t hate it; I just find it really hard to give them. Especially when you know you’re supposed to give a compliment but you don’t mean it. See? I’m horrible! I’m also kind of a bitch at leading people on… Well… I’m not, I’m just nice (and that is why I’m not nice anymore because it gets mistaken as like flirting? It’s stupid.). But I seriously, I don’t think guys get my sense of humour that well… Some do! But others not so much… I guess I am kinda flirty but that isn’t a crime! Gah! My mind is going completely blank because I’m really tired… YAWN.

LALALALALALLALALALALALALLALALALALALALALLALALALALLALALALALLALLALALALLALA…. Knock knock. Who’s there? Banana. Banana who? Knock knock. Who’s there? Banana. Banana who? Knock knock. Who’s there? Orange. Orange who? Orange you glad I didn’t say banana? I didn’t even find this funny, but I decided to put it down anyway because I couldn’t find any good knock knock jokes. They all pretty much suck to be honest. If you find any good ones let me know.

I’m going to sleep now because well… it’s late and I’m tired. And I’m not even going to re-read what I’ve written in this post so there are probably a billion mistakes but I’m tired okay? Don’t judge me for my bad grammar or incoherent sentences! Haha, the paragraphs in this post just got smaller and smaller! Anyway, I’m weird, deal with it. Night Bitches xoxo

P.S. I love you

The day started off like any other Family-Fun-Friday for the Williamsons. Mark went to work as normal, Molly and Michael unpleasantly made their way to school, and Martha busily cleaned the clutter around the house. Mark made it home by lunchtime, one of the perks of owning your own furniture empire, and was welcomed by a lovely lunch and his wife’s stunning smile. As he walked through the backdoor and into his handcrafted kitchen, he couldn’t help but admire his handy-work. The polished wood was always a hit at holiday parties, as was everything else he built. The tables, desks, clocks and chairs scattered around the house were all made by this excellent carpenter. Everything was wood, he didn’t tolerate any of that IKEA crap.

Midway through the meal, Mark was phoned by his secretary describing a large group of protestors outside the Williamson’s Woods headquarters. They were picketing a new section of forest the company had recently purchased in order to create some new bedroom sets. The CEO, not wanting this to ruin his day and knowing there were plenty of capable people to handle the problem, blew it off and focused on the wonderful family night he was determined to have.

“Who was that honey?” asked his wife Martha as she cleaned up the kitchen.

“No one. Some stupid kids playing protest outside of the office. They wanted me to come handle it.”

Outside their two Labradors, one black and one yellow, were wrestling near the pool, edging closer and closer with each nudge and tumble. Mark watched them for a moment, smiling at the youthfulness of the game, before he turned back to his wife.

“Well why don’t you? You have plenty of time to go take care of it and make it back for the movie.”

“Martha,” he said with a smile, “I’ve left the office for the day. I’m not going back.”

She decided not to fight him on the subject. Their marriage had been strained lately and the thought of spending quality time with her husband rather than seeing him come home angry later was all she needed to be convinced.

He reached over, turned up the volume on the iHome, and pulled his beautiful wife into his arms. They danced to Michael Bublé’s smooth voice. The couple drifted into a groove that reminded them of their first dance, blissfully happy and unaware of the struggles of marriage. Their happy haze was broken by a loud bark followed by a splash the confirmed one of the canines had lost the match. Bailey, the yellow lab, had triumphantly knocked her opponent into the pool. Mark and Martha smiled at each other before letting go and making their way outside to dry off the pups.

The Williamsons went about the rest of their day as planned, doing mediocre house chores and enjoying a day off. The kids arrived home, with all the angst of two teenagers, around 4:30 and the family headed to the movies at precisely 5:50. Mark was always a stickler for getting to the theater on time and finding the perfect seats. As the Williamsons rounded the corner they were taken aback by the horrendously long line that sprouted from the ticket booth and wrapped its way around the side of the building.

“Are you kidding me?! I’m not waiting in this line just for a damn movie,” spat Molly.

“You will wait and you’ll enjoy the time you’re spending with your family. I know,” encouraged her father, “why don’t you tell us how your presentation went today.”

“I’d rather not,” she grumbled, rolling her eyes and putting her headphones in her ears.

“Well then, Michael, who don’t you tell your mother and I how baseball practice was? Has coach finally put you on the mound?”

“Nope. I don’t think I’ll get any playing time this semester. Unless someone gets hurt. But, I highly doubt all five pitchers are going to severely injure themselves. I’m not that lucky.”

They pressed Michael for a bit longer about his social life and the unlikely prospect of a girlfriend before noticing that the line hadn’t moved. “This WOULD happen on the one night I get to spend with my family. Why can’t family night ever go as planned?!” Mark thought to himself. The Williamsons tried and tried to spend quality time together about once a month but something always seemed to come up. Either Molly was throwing a fit, Michael was intent on hanging out with his friends and playing video games, or Martha and Mark were having some fight about taxes or how much time he spent at work. It was fairly easy to say the family enjoyed spending time away from each other.

“I heard a pipe burst in the women’s restroom and it flooded the lobby and some of the theaters,” a man whispered to a friend in front of the Williamsons.

The other young man responded, “Yeah, someone said it might take over an hour to fix and get back up and running.” Stubborn as he was about making family night a hit, Mark decided they would stay.

An hour and a half later, he paid the price.

As his wife tried to pry more conversation from their son and Molly continued to blare her horrible music, Mark began to feel a tingling sensation crawl up his calves. When Mark tried to lift his legs, he was unable to move them. He wriggled and squirmed but no matter how hard he tried, he was frozen in place. Just as he was about to cry out for help, leafy vines sprang from each heel and wrapped around his feet. They traveled across the ground like something taking root. He heard his wife and children complain about the lengthy line when his arms ran high into the air and sprouted branches and limbs. Then right upon his chest, two hummingbirds decided it would be a quite lovely place to make a home.

They settled in their nest, made of twigs and twine, and suddenly from off one elbow dropped two ropes with a tiny little swing. It was just like the one Molly used to play on as a kid. Mark tried to turn his head to look at his daughter when five children came to play in the lovely shade created from his arm branches. They played with their flutes and horns and practiced their Sousaphone, which was actually quite good. He let them stay and enjoy their fun because from out of the line a squirrel raced up his legs and into his hair. He ate pleasantly and discarded his nuts without a care in the world.

“Darling, how much longer do you think it will be?,” someone asked from somewhere behind him. Mark thought it was the voice of his wife but he could no longer see beyond his thick canopy.

He wanted to answer, he knew how much she hated when he ignored her, but his voice was no longer there. As he tried unsuccessfully to reach her, two men caught his eye. They were headed straight for him

Politicians. He hated politicians. Especially the eco-friendly ones. They climbed up into some of his higher branches and began to discuss some sort of environmental issues that had them both frazzled. “Typical” he thought in disgust. Mark didn’t care much for such stale hot air, but his trousers had grown a dark brown hue like bark that is thickly grooved.

At this moment a terrible thought came to mind “This line had still not moved!”

Then a man in bright red plaid and heavy denim pants walked up and looked Mr. Williamson up and down.

“Good day, Mark” said the man with a bright cheery smile. Mark was about to return the salutation when he noticed the shiny red ax in the man’s hand and the Williamson’s Woods logo on his shirt. A dark cloud grew over Mark’s head as he realized what the man was here for.

“Please don’t fire me sir, but I’m here to chop you down.”

The squirrel looked down with a frightened stare then ran away as if to say, “Your chances here look slim.”

The humming birds just shrugged and said, “We build our homes rather quickly, we’ll go and find another tree that isn’t so busy. Good-bye.”

The politicians yelled away without worry. Their environmental debate would surely been put to rest if they simply looked down and realized what was about to happen. But Mark decided not to bother them; he thought he was probably doing the world a favor anyways.

The kid quintet had just then ran out of classics to play and decided they should start playing something fitting like the theme from Jaws. “Good choice,” thought Mark.

And just before the man’s ax hit him, a tiny voice from dead ahead said, “Who’s next in line please?”

This story was inspired by a poem written by my wonderful uncle. I took creative liberty with some of it, with his permission of course. But the essential story line of the man turning into a tree was his. Thanks for being so crazy creative!

I do want to apologize for any grammar issues, I’m not a pro at this and like my friends point out often…i’m ESL (english as second language). ‘lol’

My name is…Call me Marlz. Since we going to get close from now on with me writing all about my life and feelings that I might have to get out of my system here and there…

So I ran my first 10k in a dog’s age two nights ago. So far in my run training I have done speed and hill drills but haven’t worked on my distance until now. I felt a little slow and I lost some of my pacing due to traffic in my neighborhood which is always frustrating. I want to run loops in Prospect Park this weekend to compare my time. In any case, I am progressing steadily by building up my running endurance.

#progress

Claire Wolfe Photography strongly supports the cause of The Breast Cancer Foundation. I know first hand there is nothing more important than having lots of cherished photos of your loved ones, especially when they can be taken from you. I am offering families living with someone battling with cancer $50 portrait session with their family, to capture those precious moments with their loved ones. $10 from every shoot will be donated to the Breast Cancer Foundation.

After many years of wanting to get back into blogging, it’s finally happened and here we are: my first post.  As a reborn newbie it’s not going to be epic it’s going to be a bunch of me rambling on about pointless happenings or nonsensical ideas. At the end of the day I’m dipping my toes back in the water and taking my chances and that’s what life is all about seeing an opportunity and taking it.

Granted my main influences for having a place to pour my ideas out has been from media such as Vampire Diaries (books and the show) and Awkward. Just seeing how they expressed themselves in their various ways whether it was a simple pen to paper diary or sharing their thoughts on an online blog, it was so appealing.

Welcome to my blog, my life and I hope you enjoy what I have to say.

G.

There is a lot of (largely good) information on how to learn programming. However, for someone new, it’s still very difficult to know the right way to start. The amount of information is simply staggering—enough to scare anyone new. This article hopes to simplify some of it and show you a way to get started quickly.

[I’m not going to talk about HTML/CSS which, in my opinion, is fairly easy to learn. There’s a lot of great information out there concerning HTML and CSS that should help if that’s what you are looking for.]

So, here’s how you should approach programming, in my opinion:

First off, you need to know why you want to learn programming. Learning bits and pieces of programming without a purpose or a plan will not take you anywhere. It will be really helpful to have an immediate (or short-term) goal that you need to achieve. Programming should help you reach that goal. That will keep you motivated along the way.

Okay, what if you just want to learn programming for the heck of it? There’s no real purpose but you think it’s fun (which it is) and you want to delve into it. That’s not a bad thing either; in fact, it’s great. Learning how to program will help you get a lot of things done easier. Where do you start?

You need a project!

You have heard this often. You learn a lot more very easily if you have a project that you can work on. Most people don’t, and that’s not a problem. You can start off by building something as simple as a contact form or a to-do list app.

The purpose of the project isn’t to make you an expert at programming. It’s just to give you some direction and a set of problems to solve. So, anything that’s simple and unknown to you is okay.

So, let’s say you set out to build a to-do list app. What next?

Stay away from language and editor wars!

There is a lot of debate on the best programming languages, the best text editors, the best environments and so on. It’s easy to get distracted (and scared) if you read these just now and you won’t achieve anything useful. So, my advice: stay away from these for now.

All of these—languages, editors, environments, OSes—are just means to an end. It’s the end that is more important. Every means has its own drawbacks and you will do well not to dwell too much to this. Just use them as tools and later on, when you are more comfortable with one of them, just upgrade to a better tool, one that suits your work better.

You don’t have to worry about Python vs. PHP. Just pick something to get started. It’s not very difficult to switch languages once you have a good grasp of programming fundamentals.

PHP is easy to set up on just about any OS. You can also use MAMP or XAMMP to set it up on your machine to get started. I’ll not be able to help you with the setup. There are a lot of very informative articles that do the job very well.

Or, if you want to use Python, you can download it from Python’s website. It comes prepackaged with OS X if that’s the OS you use. On Windows though, it doesn’t come prepackaged and you will need to download it from their website. The setup is very easy and there are detailed instructions on the website as well.

Break the problem down!

Remember the project we chose? Yes, the to-do list app!

It might seem like a big ask right now but it’s actually pretty simple. You should start by breaking it down into simpler parts.

What will the to-do list app have? It will have a list of to-dos, of course. Maybe you want to add a due date to each todo.

What will it allow you to do? It will allow you to add new to-dos, edit and delete previous to-dos.

You will need to store the to-dos with their due dates somewhere so you will need a database. You can use MySQL for this—it has a large community and the biggest benefit from your perspective is that most of your problems can be solved with a quick search.

There are a lot of other databases (different types of databases as well!) but you don’t need to concern yourself with any of those right now.

Okay, so back to our app. We should break down its functions in a way it will help us build it.

For instance, first, you may want to create something that allows you to enter a to-do (which will be a sentence most of the time) and a date (which will be a, um, date). How do you do that?

Since we are creating for the web here, you can use HTML to quickly create a form with two input fields: one that asks for the actual to-do and one that asks for the due date.

Once you have the form ready, the next step is to take that information when you click submit and store it somewhere. That’s the job of your MySQL database.

Before you are able to edit and delete any to-dos, you need a place where you can show them all. So, you need another page that shows you all the to-dos with their edit and delete buttons. That’s easy to do, again.

See how breaking the problem down helps? I’ve not gone into excruciating details here but I’m sure the picture is a lot clearer than it was before. You know how you would implement a simple to-do app even if you don’t know the exact details (or the code) yet. That’s okay—you will learn as you go.

The thought process doesn’t change much, if at all, even when you are developing some of the more complex applications. You will still want to break it down into easily digestible pieces, build them individually and then put it all together.

Understand problem solving is the key to understanding programming.

What next?

Now, you have an idea of how to approach programming. Your expectations need to be right, too. You aren’t going to become a world-class programmer in a week but if you take one step at a time, you would have made considerable progress a month from now.

One of the best ways to learn programming is to learn it from others who are in a similar situation. There are many channels where you can interact with people who are starting to learn how to program, share your problems and listen to theirs. Such collaborative learning will help you get a wider perspective of things and strengthen your grasp of it as well.

You should now sign up to places like Stack Overflow and ask questions if you have any. Don’t be afraid to ask questions that may seem dumb. Nothing is dumb, really; as long as you are making an efforts towards learning, people will be willing to help you. You shouldn’t, again, expect someone to hold your hands and make you a programming wizard. That won’t happen and you will come across as rude if you ask others to do your work for you. Having said that, feel free to ask questions.

Also: don’t leave your app in the middle of things. Make sure you complete it, however difficult it may seem. Once you have completed it, add a level of complexity and embark on another project. A couple of months doing trivial projects like these will give you the perfect launchpad to get into the more advanced stuff!

In fact, go ahead and ask questions in the comments! I’ll make sure to reply to them as fast as I can.

[I've intentionally left out most of links in places where I could have provided one. It's better to do these simple searches yourself and get yourself in the habit of doing it the right way. :]

There’s only one minor snag in my boundless love of worship – I am absolutely, positively, without the doubt the worst singer you have ever heard in your life. Seriously, calling me tone-deaf would be too kind. When I was a teenager in church, all of my friends used to be in stitches during hymns if they had to sit next to me. It didn’t help that, for a long time at my home church, the choir sang in a key that I’m pretty sure only the dolphins could hear, and that I could never in a million years reach with my (rather masculine) singing voice.

Nevertheless, religious music holds a very special place in my heart – without the power of worship music, I might never have met Jesus.

When I was about twelve, my church decided to hire a youth worker, and her name is Sara. If you ask her what I was like when she first met me, she will probably tell you that I was very challenging. I wasn’t receptive to her at all, and honestly I didn’t even like her very much to begin with (sorry Sara.) I felt poisonous; I was loud, and defiant, and really stubborn – but I was also incredibly insecure. I definitely wasn’t making life easier for myself, or anyone who happened to cross paths with me.

When we talk now, she often brings up what I like to call, ‘the car story’. (She even brought it up on my last blog post.) This is it:
I don’t remember where we were headed on this particular day but there were four of us squeezed in to Sara’s tiny convertible and church music was playing on the CD player. I figure I probably hadn’t spent a lot of time with Sara at this point because I now know that she almost always listens to worship music in the car (except when she’s listening to something incredibly inappropriate like Lily Allen’s “Mean” or Snoop Dogg’s “Sexual Seduction”, to name a few favourites) because she once told me that she often prays when she drives. It took me a while to figure out that it was church music, and being the tactless cow i was at the time, I was particularly disparaging of God and His existence. I turned to Sara and incredulously asked her why on Earth would she listen to worship music in her spare time?!
I didn’t get it – I literally could not compute why anyone would choose to listen to worship music unless they had no choice in the matter. As far as I was concerned it was for music made specifically for mumbling reticently on a Sunday morning and no other time, ever. Full stop.

Fast-forward to Spring Harvest 2006, my second trip there. I hadn’t gotten a whole lot out of my first year there (probably because I didn’t put much in to it) and was pretty much looking forward to a week off away playing laser-quest and messing about with my friends. The teen sessions that week though…there are no words. I watched a man break down in tears as he spoke of best friend, glorified to Heaven unexpectedly. I went to bible study in the morning and wanted to listen, wanted to know about the book of Malachi. I was completely riveted to the learning experience. I felt like something was building up inside me that week, something I couldn’t explain and couldn’t really comprehend.

On the penultimate night of the trip, the worship band played Tim Hughes’ Almighty God and I felt God’s presence inside me for the first time in my life. They sang that if we did not praise, the rocks would cry out, and I could hear Jesus in my head, telling me to surrender. My burdens weren’t mine alone to shoulder – they’d never been mine in the first place. I raised my hands above my head and I cried as I begged God’s forgiveness for my ignorance.
Creation joins as one to sing, “What a glorious God, so far above all Earthly things.” I committed my life to Jesus that night. I went back to my chalet that evening and told Sara about my experience in session. I remember how it felt when she hugged me, to finally let my guard down.

Psalm 59:16 says, “But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.”
God didn’t bless me with a great singing voice – He didn’t even bless me with an okay singing voice, and yet He calls me to sing for Him anyway. Nowhere in the bible does it ask us to have the voice of Whitney: actually, Jesus could not care less about how we sound when we sing. The only thing that matter is that we are singing, worshipping His glorious name.

I believe that worship is ingrained in to all humans. Go to a concert and you’ll see people from all walks of life, united together over one common interest: they jump and they scream and they sing along with the band and they go wild when they hear that one song, their song. I get excited to think that one day all of those people will be united with me, and my friends and my church, worshipping our one true God the way women do when they watch Magic Mike, or the way every person you’ve ever met reacts when they hear ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ come on the radio. I get excited when I think about Jesus’ return, and I like to imagine that it will be like a world tour in which the Lord headlines the world’s greatest worship concert…and everyone has front row seats.

Can’t wait to see you there.

Being a military wife, it’s hard to keep in touch with friends and family while moving around. I would prefer to put information here instead of blasting it all over Facebook.

I don’t have a specific focus for this blog. I mostly want to share my life.
At the moment, I’m in the process of figuring out some things:

• Coast Guard Life
• Moving to Clearwater, FL in June
• Home owning / Home buying
• Possibly starting a family
• Finding a new job

These are just a few things off the top of my head.

So here goes…

Im a 20 year old student who has a obsession with makeup, clothes, and food. I created this blog to share my views and opinions as well as learn from you guys.

Instagram: uranooos

Tumblr:  iwilnevergrowup.tumblr.com

Hi I’m Kelley! That’s me up there.  I’m a 20 year old college student who’s got a lot to talk about and whose friends are tired of listening!

I’ve got absolutely no clue what this blog is going to turn into.  They say to have an idea of what kind of blog you want before you start but I’m a rebel.

I like to talk about relationships, fashion, food, coffee, tea, humor, current events, fitness, and nutrition.  I’ve got a whole hell of a lot to say and you’re welcome to read it all or just mosey on by.  Take your pick!