Tuning In

 Whether it’s Thursday at 8pm, Monday at 7pm, or every twenty-third Tuesday of each month, every now and then a TV show comes along that captivates us and in only a few episodes we are hooked.

Drawing us into an alternate reality, these shows offer everything anyone could be looking for. Humor, horror, suspense, excitement, drama, romance, you name it, you can find it on TV.

From an intriguing plot to gorgeous characters we find ourselves tuning into these shows and eating up all that it has to offer. But what is it about these shows that have the ability to draw us from the real world and make a scheduled commitment to tune out our surroundings and tune into our programs?

Is it an opportunity to not have to think about the pressures of life and be able to just sit back and watch others deal with pressures? Is it an ability to momentarily surround yourself with people who say and do all the right things? Is it a chance to feel better about our situations when we can see others who have it worse? How about a moment to feel an adventure or thrill we think we’ll never face?

While everyone’s motives are different, for now this remains an ongoing question of why we drawn to watch what we do and what are we setting ourselves up for in the long run?

If you have a show that has you in attendance every week (or close to it) leave a comment... What show is it? And what is it about the show that has you hooked?

What a Niche

The key to any successful blog is to find a niche and fill it.

Find one specific topic that appeals to you and publish new posts that are centered on that given topic. 

While many focus in on one main subject matter to write about for each post, I find myself unable to do so.

A characteristic of mine that defines who I am is the fact that I am always willing to try out new opportunities and something a little different. Why should my blog be any different?

Why focus on one main topic when my mind is a boiling pot for hundreds? Why settle for just one focal discussion point when so many come to mind? Because of this I am faced with a obvious conclusion. 

My niche is straightforward and limitless. It is all-inclusive and reflects the odds and ends of everyday life.

My niche includes journalism, photography, college, work and life lessons. My niche is life.

Wrapping Up the Semester

It's almost time, I can sense it and I can just hardly reach it....which is probably the worst part about it. Only four more days of classes left until the end of the semester and still a pile of work to get done. Now is the time to really focus and get caught up once and for all. I keep repeating it to myself because with the amount of work to get done, it does not feel like the truth but it is a fact....only four more days left of the semester.  :)

Surrounded by Smiles

Where can I possibly start? Have you ever had one of those days where you just felt on top of the world? Today was my cloud nine. Although it started off with homework and research papers today had a different mood, that set it apart from the others. Inspiration, excitement, humor, you name it, it was all there.  And to top it all off, I received my scholarship award, had a two page spread in the Las Vegas Weekly devoted to only my photos, and was able to enjoy free food all day, (definitely a perk considering how much of a foodie I am).

One moment in particular I would love to share is during the award reception at the school. When I arrived I quietly walked in and stood at the back of the room looking around. I saw scholars, writers, achievers; all my peers. For a half a second I thought to myself, do I really stand with the rest of them? Then my stomach chimed in, and sure enough those around me heard to. I quickly left my place against the back wall and went outside to eat a cereal bar before my stomach had the opportunity to give an acceptance speech. (You may laugh, but most likely it is because of one of two reasons; either you know exactly what I'm talking about because; 1- you have been in a situation when you have been interrupted by a screaming stomach who budding into every conversation just wanting to be heard by everyone in the room or 2- because you find it hilarious that I am actually sharing a story about my embarrassing moment caused by a loud screaming stomach.) Never-the-less.... For a half a minute I stood there wondering if I did truly measure up to the greatness of those around me and suddenly I looked down at my phone and saw a text message from my mom that read "Way 2 go! Love u, we r so proud of all u do!" and that was the end of the momentary self-doubting. 

Everyone is created to achieve greatness in some way, shape or form. It may be something life altering or it may be something humble and quiet. Either way one thing is for sure; fear and self-doubt....there is just no room for them in the big picture.

If you are achieving great things and people are recognizing you for what you do, then by golly...  you are doing great things! No questions about it. 

Today was cloud nine, tomorrow will be too, and so will the next.... because regardless of what awards I win, photos get published, or articles I write one thing never changes... my parents love me and are proud of all I do, and that is enough to leave me with a smile on my face.

Hip Hip Hurray!!!

Such an exciting day today! I found out that I won a journalism scholarship from the Greenspun School of Journalism at UNLV. Tomorrow there is going to be an afternoon ceremony where they hand out awards to all the students who won a scholarship, and I get to be part of that! Yea!!

As for the rest of the day at school, a typical day, but a good one. And now it is complete crunch time. time to pick up the slack and get hopping on some research essays and papers that are due next week and the week after. Now if only I can stay focused and not get distracted by Facebook or any other fun boredom busting online sites.

Keeping Up With Life

I use to be really good at this whole blogging thing, and was really keeping up with writing down my life story, but I realized something. The more I kept up with writing my story and what happened way back when, the more I missed out on things that were happening right here and right now.

Don't take this the wrong way. I am committed to finishing my story, but because time is tight in a busy schedule I don't want to devote free hours and minutes trying to get up to date with what happened in the past, and stay up to date blogging about last year, I want to be able to relay information and updates as the occur each and every day.

I will finish my story and I will post it as I finish each chapter, but it will not be the only posts that will be published. I am going to write about today, about tomorrow and about right now, before I find myself writing about today's exciting events in the past tense.

What's happening right now: I am free writing on my laptop amongst piles of post-it notes, cds, memory cards, pictures and pens. I am listening to the fan racing in circles over my head, and I am completely inspired and excited to jump head first into a list of stories and essays to write over the next week and a half. (ok so maybe the excitement is only geared toward the stories and not so much the essays, but hey, they have to get done too.)

What I'm looking forward to this week: Registering for classes for my very last semester in college! That's right I will be a college graduate....for a second time come this December. I will have my photos published in the Las Vegas Weekly when it hits newsstands on Thursday morning!! It's really exciting so be sure and grab a copy. I will also be finishing up four news articles this week and covering two more photo assignments for the Las Vegas Weekly. I am also really looking forward to working on developing my photography website a bit more. Here's a sneak peek at a little bit of my site.... but not enough to give it away :) 

My realization for today: Some times things happen in our life for a reason, we may be offered an opportunity, we may loose an opportunity, we may meet someone or say good-bye. Regardless of the situation, things do happen for a reason and we do have the potential to make the best out of it. 

Waiting For Tonight...

And now a quick interruption from the chronicles of 20-something year old tussles. Tonight will be a night I am sure I will throughly enjoy. It will start out with an  awesome Muse concert, which unfortunately I will be leaving early from, but then I will be photographing my first assignment for the Las Vegas Weekly.

It will be a lot of fun and I am looking forward to it. I have my camera gear set and ready to go, now the most important struggle and question....what to wear, what to wear?  My only hope is that my favorite songs; the songs Super Massive Black Hole and Uprising, will be performed before I have to leave to go shoot. If not..... I will cry. :'-(   However even if I do miss them, there is always the opportunity to rock out to the songs in my truck while driving to my photo assignments :)

Now, as far as the rest of this gorgeous Saturday is concerned, I will be enjoying the fact that it is a day off and relax, catch up on some homework and do as little as possible.