Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day to all! I don't understand the people who don't believe in Global Warming or that our landfills could essentially kill the planet. Are you absolutely insane? Or can you just not read?

People need to start realizing that the actions we are taking can and will either kill or maintain the Earth. We've only got one planet to live on...so far...but we seem to take for granted what we have at our fingertips. I hear too many people say, "Well, I won't be around when the Earth dies." Wow, what great humanitarian ideals you have. It shows maturity and care for your kids, nieces, etc.

I tweeted some easy green tips today. That EVERYONE can do:
1. Recycle your plastic bottles/aluminum cans!
2. Turn off the lights if you're not in the room!
3. Don't leave the water running when you're brushing!

Sadly, I got the inspiration to tweet this today, because 3 of my best friends DO these things, and it drives me absolutely insane. I have never and will never tell them to change what they do, but it doesn't mean that it's not any less important. Everyone making small steps can make a huge difference. I watched Oprah this morning and couldn't believe some of the things I heard.

One family left lights on from 6am-11pm, even when they weren't home. The air conditioning was set on 68 with the windows open at the same time. Oh, and the external temp was colder than the A/C setting. This family also had 3 garbage cans of trash but no recycling. Oprah ended up doing her version of a green "Wife Swap" with a family from Oregon, and that eco-friendly Portland mom taught the new family to recycle, turn off lights and don't waste what you don't need at the time (i.e. electricity). All these things are easy to do and can conserve valuable energy.

Another part of the show this morning dealt with the huge aquatic landfills we've made of the oceans. There is plastic and garbage so sever that it can be as much as 90 feet deep. This debris is killing and contaminating our aquatic wildlife.

My parents have raised my brother and I do be aware of the little things we can personally control. My mom has a green thumb, and I remember having mini-compost bins at our house. The upkeep became overwhelming, and it ended up only lasting a couple of years. But I remember my mom saving our veggie and fruit "scraps" to feed the bin to create fertilizer.

Recycling was never a thought in our family--it was natural for us. My dad installed a pop can crusher in our garage right next to our recycling bins. And I remember my brother and I having a jumping war when we would crush the gallon milk jugs before tossing them into recycling. The sound they made as we both crashed our feet into the plastic was s0 loud. Back in the day before pop cans came in convenient sleeves, they came in 6-pack plastic rings. When we had finished a full ring, we would cut the rings because my dad would say we didn't want a seagull to get caught and die.

I just want everyone to care. Which is sometimes too much to ask. My brother says that people will live in the way they want and is most convenient for them. It just sucks we're killing mother nature doing so.

Standardized testing shouldn't determine educational worth!

As a whole, I think of myself as an intelligent, well-spoken and confident individual. Yet, today, I feel as stupid as I can feel, and it is all because of today's LSAT. After the test, I felt like vomitting.

For those of you unfamiliar with the LSAT, it is the Law School Admissions Test and consists of five sections and a writing sample (which isn't scored...of course, my best area isn't even scored!). There are three types of sections that make up the LSAT--reading comprehension, logical reasioning and, my personal enemy, analytical reasoning. Every LSAT has 2 logical reasoning, 1 reading comprehension and 1 analytical reasioning. BUT...there is one more open section that could be either another reading comprehension or an analytical reasoning.

Just my luck, today I had two analytical reasoning sections. It is truly my worst nightmare as my brain doesn't think in the confines of this section as quickly as the 35 minutes allots.

For the past two years, I've been contemplating, dreaming about and analyzing going back into graduate school. Going back and forth between music, advertising, business and veterinary medicine, I keep returning to law school as it has been a repeated calling of mine. Even my General Manager has stated to me a few times that "(I) should be lawyer."

Five years ago before graduating college, I took the LSAT but decided to move to Phoenix instead of going straight into school. When Phoenix didn't work out the way I wanted, I came home and immediately found a job in Chicago. I put off returning to graduate school, because I wanted to prove that I could make it in the real world, which I did. However, the pride I felt at paying my own bills was stifled by my repeated questioning if "sales" is really my professional calling. Quite frankly, I don't want to be in sales forever. Regardless of my success, it's not something I feel I could sustain for the next forty years and remain happy.

Still, the thought of sitting for the LSAT has really made me nervous due to its end-all decision whether or not law schools see you as a viable and deserving candidate for acceptance.

You see, every law school puts more stress on the LSAT score than it does on everything else a student and/or working professional has accomplished. So, when I realized that I had 2 analytical reasoning sections, I felt screwed from the start. On top of the analytical reasoning, there was a time during section 2 that I could not focus on the questions, which resulted in me spending 5 minutes reading and re-reading one page of questions. And not even attempting to answer them!

This frustration only reaffirms my hatred at the United States educational systems. More indubitably, standardized testing. From high school, my hatred of standardized testing has been a recurring theme of my life. What is that test that we had to take before college? The ACT (the one that scores up to 36)??? Yeah, that I got a 22...twice.

I had a 3.75 GPA in high school and was in English AP, which was the first time any AP class was offered at my high school. Do you think that the ACT concretely and accurately gauged my intelligence and capability? No, it obviously did not.

This fact is proven that in college, I became very active in organizations, residence life, IM's and graduated in honors with a 3.61 GPA.

When I was younger, I was clinically diagnosed with ADD. I was told that I could grow out of many of the prepubescent symptoms with proper dedication, teaching and focus. And I did. Nevertheless, I still could not focus during testing and quiet restrains of classes. I contribute this to be a leading factor at my overall impediments and shortcomings to my performance.

Leading into this LSAT as adult with involvement in two philanthropic organizations (one of which that asked me to be on its board-as the youngest board member), supportive upper management, successful professional experience and my previous collegiate GPA, I still don't feel confident that these components will be enough. Perhaps its the fact that I always think I could have done something better and different.

But I know that I'm better than what that test may be. I know my worth as not only a student but also as a formidable candidate for law school. I just hate that rejection or acceptance can be as impersonal and biased on a single score.

Furthermore, I hate the fact that those that scored well on the LSAT but had a much lower GPA than others will have an easier time of acceptance. Just because they scored well on a test. You can see this if you research some law school's acceptance requirements wherein the LSAT must be 155 or higher, but the GPA minimum could be 3.20!!!

Which is more important? The person or the test? It is my personal believe that a test should not be deeming one adequate.

My friends keep encouraging me to remain positive, and I will. My life isn't defined by this test. My life is defined by me, and me alone. And I choose to not let this LSAT be my end-all decision.

ILLINOIS PRIMARY ELECTION 2010

Illinois' primary polls opened at 6am this morning and close at 7pm tonight. Get your cute little caboose to that poll, people.

VOTING IS A PRIVILEGE THAT YOU SHOULDN'T OVER LOOK AS SO MANY OTHER COUNTRIES DON'T ALLOW/EXTEND THAT PRIVILEGE TO THEIR COUNTRYMEN!!!!

Grammys, or should I call them "Schammys"

I turned on the Grammys at exactly 7:02pm CST to see the ending of Lady Gaga's "Pokerface" with the transition into "Speechless/Your Song" with Elton John. I love Gaga but find her live performances to be a bit confusing to me. And while I love the theater and musical expression, I still don't completely understand her.

Some of the award winners weren't exactly who I would have thought deserving of the Grammy, but it is not my job to decide. To be nominated in the category alone makes them worthy, I guess...

What I have most been disappointed with is the quality of performances. Specifically focusing on Taylor Swift. While I believe her to be wise beyond her years as a lyricist, I find her vocal quality as low as you can imagine. Still, she has dominated the music scene this year winning numerous awards. Should I not feel duped when this happens? To award a singer for her inability to remain on key while performing live?

Seriously? Do you think the Grammy Committee was contemplating a polite course of action for asking for the Grammy back? Because if I were them, I would be embarrassed.

I understand the purpose of the Grammys is to celebrate ALL music forms; however, I feel as though it's an excuse for horrible performances.

People complain about performances and have no merit to their critique. These people base it off of what they've seen/heard by the judges on "American Idol," but let me be clear. I wouldn't take advice or direction of critiquing musical capabilities by people who use the word "pitchy." I do understand music and have been surrounded by it since birth and studied it. Which probably isn't a good thing when you want to just sit back and enjoy a performance.

Still, I think there needs to be some responsibility put on "performers" when it comes to tonality, rhythm and creativity.

Now, let's end on a positive note of the evening. I enjoyed Pink's aerial expression and choreography. The fact she dipped herself into a pool a la "Flash Dance" was AWESOME! Also, Beyonce in her military "Don't Mess With Me or You'll Go Home a Hen vs. Rooster" get-up was sweet. When she broke out into "You Oughta Know," I thought I had died. I had heard she performed this song while on tour, but it was awesome to have it on the Grammys. I was surprised how much I enjoyed David Foster, Andrea Bocelli & Mary J Blige's performance. It really did move me. The ice and fire of the two genres/sounds was great.

Most surprising fact about tonight's performers...Bon Jovi had never performed before tonight! What? You're telling me that during all the Grammys of the hair band years, Bon Jovi NEVER performed? Well, I was shocked. It was a great touch to allow the public to vote on which song Bon Jovi performed. Of course I voted. When my friend, Jennifer, told me it was open voting. I hopped on www.cbs.com/grammys to vote. When I saw "Living On a Prayer" was one of the 3 songs, I knew it would win. Even still, I voted for "Always." Can't beat a rock ballad.

Each year, the Grammys puts together a year in review of all the musicians and executives who had passed. I was a bit upset that Ellie Greenwich didn't get any further respect than her name at the end. A lot of well-known music has her influence.

When Les Paul's RIP came up, I thought of my dad. And when they paid a tribute playing a Gibson Les Paul electric, I remembered my dad. From when I was younger, I remember my dad jamming out in the basement with his Les Paul.

***BREAKING NEWS: Taylor Swift just won for album of the year.***

On that note, I need to go. I seriously cannot believe that. I like the girl but come on...that's some BS.

Contemplation of a rhinoplasty...

Are you perturbed about the thought of plastic surgery? Or the fact that many people (especially in L.A.) look nothing like they were supposed to? Yeah, I am, too...except for the fact I've been contemplating a rhinoplasty, aka nose job, for the past 8 years and totally understand why people go under the knife to correct their insecurities.

Granted, Heidi Montag's recent nip/tuck/plump/pull procedures were a tad much (as there were TEN of them), but I don't agree with people passing an arbitrary judgement that everyone should be happy with what God gave us and learn to deal with it. Well, not all of us were born with some of our current appearances...so, does that mean some of us are ok to go under the knife to get it back???

***WARNING: TMI in the following posting. Abort now if you don't like to hear a girl talk about gross things...***

For those of you still with us, this blog will detail why I've considered plastic surgery and why I feel that no one has the right to tell you if you should/shouldn't feel badly about going under the knife.

My story begins when I was eight or nine years old. As a young kid, I was an athletic, rambunctious tom boy having a hard time learning to grow into my quirkiness when all the other "pretty" girls were so different looking than me. This is the place where my nose was altered for the rest of my life, which has caused me physical and beauty-related problems. Furthermore, I have broken my nose twice and truly know how it feels to wonder what I would look like if it hadn't happened.

Aaaaactually, the first time my nose broke was because of my BITCH of a next door neighbor's purposeful maliciousness. Before a softball game, Mandy (bitch neighbor) agreed to help me warm up. She was three years older than me and thought she was hot shit. As we threw back and forth, Mandy kept throwing harder and harder. Because I knew she was doing this on purpose to watch me flinch or to ask her to ease up, I kept acting as though I didn't notice. When my mom and dad came to get me from the front yard, I threw Mandy's softball back to her. I told her I'd see her later and thanked her for warming up with me. Then I hear her semi-yell...

"Hey Meridith..."

As I was turn around, I felt the softball *SMACK* right into my face. I hadn't even got completely turned around. So, I KNOW she had thrown the ball while she called my name. I staggered backward clutching my nose and looked up to see Mandy smirking at me. She snottily said, "Ooops! Catch!" and started smiling. Knowing that she had done this on purpose for her own amusement, I started crying my eyes out. My parents were getting into the car, which was in the garage, when Mandy threw the ball at my face and didn't know what had happened until they heard me whaling in pain. I remember the heat of my body surging to my face, the metal taste in my mouth and blood running through my fingers and down my red jersey.

As my family and friends know, I snort when I laugh/cry. Even though I have a better control on it now, back when I was a kid...I couldn't stop it. There I stood, hyperventilating and snorting blood back into my throat. It felt as though I were choking and suffocating.

My dad, my hero, rushed out of the garage and asked what had happened. Turning my face back toward the softball's line of flight, I took my shaking pointer finger and indicated with bloody certainty that Mandy, who was sauntering up her stairs as if nothing had happened, had done this. From the lovely, malevolent attitude of her mom and brother just like her, I still, to this day, have no doubt this was for her own enjoyment and entertainment.

Sadly, this wasn't my first adventure to the ER, because I was quite "graceful" as a youngster. I had been in three times before for stupid, idiotic occurrences. Like dancing in the freezer aisle at the grocery store and ramming my head into freezer case door handles, or twirling in the living room and tripping on the carpet and landing my eye on the corner of the TV, or playing on top of our playhouse and falling off onto a cinder block lying next to our deck. (True definition of a klutz.)

Still, this broken nose was the first time I had truly broken something.

The nurse and doctor told my parents that the bridge of my nose was broken right under the bridge between my eyes. I distinctly remember the click, and resulting rush of pain, as they set it back in place. After taking an x-ray to ensure it was aligned, they inserted some tight gauze roll up each nostril. I had to breath through my mouth that night and couldn't do anything physical for about 3-4 weeks. Being the fact it was right before summer, I was PISSED. There went softball, hide & seek, kick the can, basketball and swimming. And for that following month, I tried to avoid Mandy as best as I could. However, because our neighborhood consisted of only 3 blocks and had only ten kids at the time, it was difficult to avoid her.

The result of my break left me with an elevated, and quite distinct, hump on my nose that looked like a "camel's back." I was in my formidable years and already extremely self conscious of my face.

Four years passed before the second nose break. It was during a basketball game. Oh basketball-it was a love/hate relationship. I LOVED the game and was actually pretty good. I started playing when I was in 5th grade and found I had good instincts for the game. I still was klutzy, though, and tended to get a lot of bruises during games.

Our team's point guard and I would always end up smacking our heads or tripping each other...didn't matter if it was during practice or a game. It was bad, and quite painful. Clarification on this, I should say that I was the one responsible for this, due to my klutzy nature, and Becky was the innocent bystander in the wrong place at the wrong time...every time. To this day, my mom talks about Becky and basketball saying, "Didn't matter where on the court they were, Meridith and Becky had a magnet that led them to disastrous collisions. Oh, and the SOUND when they ran into each other...!!!" *insert cringe face here*

So, during a basketball game, I went up for a rebound and was literally butted out of bounds, which caused me to lose my balance and trip over my feet. My balance was lost and I couldn't find it quick enough. My face met the "padded" wall with a terrifying CRUNCH, and I instantaneously felt my nose crack. Another trip to the ER.

From my second nose break, the hump got bigger and resulted in a soft spot on the ride side of my nose. Any time the weather gets worse, it gets softer and causes horrible sinus problems and congestion. I have suffered from migraines since I was 12, and I find that my nose only escalated the level of intensity. Even worse, I haven't been able to breathe out of both nostrils at one time since I was 8 or 9. Imagine that...l-o-v-e-l-y.

During my freshmen year at Millikin, my parents urged me to talk to my ENTA doctor about my nose to see how bad the damage was from his perspective and to ask for a plastic surgeon referral. After an x-ray, the doctor told me that there was a deviated septum but it wasn't the worst he had seen. Well, YEAH! It hadn't been crunched into a million cartilage bits. But it definitely was causing some airway constriction and added "height" to my once pretty curvature of my nose.

But my decision to NOT get a rhinoplasty came when my ENTA doctor told me the surgery could alter my vocal range and tone. Because I was a vocal music education major and was performing in opera scenes, I opted to deal with my large schnoz. However, that didn't stop me from feeling extremely sensitive and conscious about my nose. To me, it is my worst feature. From it, I have a hard time looking into peoples' eyes for an extended period because I don't want them looking at me back. I don't want them to look long and hard and see the huge bump on my nose that shouldn't be there.

I've learned to deal with it, and it's almost as though my broken nose stories are my battle stories. Looking in the mirror every day, I think about my nose every day. And I would opt into rhinoplasty if I could afford it.

If people can afford corrective/plastic surgery and choose it is right for them, more power to them. I just wish people would be more tolerant and stop peremptorily judging people they do not know.

(Except, I did judge Heidi Montag because I thought she looked prettier before. Bad, I know. Eat my own words!)

***FOOT NOTE: The debate is still out whether or not I broke my nose for a 3rd time while in my junior year at Millikin. I tripped and fell into my friend's buttock area. My nose clicked a bit and started bleeding, but I didn't go to the doctor. My dad thinks it was broken, but I think ti wasn't. ***

Official Review of an amazing product...Shoes Under

As you can see in my previous post, I am known for my footware. And while most people would tell me to halt my addiction and save my money, I now have a whole new reason to continue my pursuit of orthopedic merriment...

THE SHOES UNDER



We've all seen this product advertised on TV. This product seemed as obvious as "green means go;" however, no one had really put this out as a consumer product. So, as my move-in day came to an end and I was stuck unpacking all my clothes, bags, purses and belts, the four boxes of shoes I had sitting in the middle of my room almost appeared to be a feat to difficult too overcome.

While on a quick dinner break, I ran up to Walgreens to grab some basic fridge fillers and ended up walking by the "As Seen on TV" aisle. On the end sat Shoes Under, promising me a place for all of my shoes to fit...under my bed whilst taking no extra room in my closet. I thought, "What the hay. If they don't work, I can take them back." For $9.99 per Shoes Under, I thought this would be the cheapest and most appropriate solution.

I bought two Shoes Under to start, thinking this would fit all my shoes. Each Shoes Under fits up to 12 pairs of shoes. I opened my first moving box full of my shoes and began the process of unpacking.



The first Shoes Under was filled quicker than I expected, but I was a bit frustrated at the fact that some of my taller heels had to be split between two separate sections, which led to me losing a whole space for another pair of shoes. And then I got to thinking, "How would a man's shoe even FIT in here?" Not like most men are rushing out to get their very own Shoes Under, but I just thought this product is definitely leaving out a whole demographic...gay men. I would totally give this to my GBF for the holidays or his birthday.

With the first Shoes Under filled and filed under my bed, I started getting creative with my shoe boxes, and started making SHOES JENGA by stacking all the individual boxes before sorting them in the Shoes Under:



In the end, I had to go get an extra Shoes Under since my shoe collection was extensive as a stamp collector. Overall, this product is amazing. I have a platform bed and have never been able to really keep anything under it...until now. My Shoes Under's will probably double.

I thank you, Shoes Under creator, for giving me a product that frees up space in my closet, provides an obvious solution and a way to keep my shoes addiction/spending from my mother. GO GET YOURSELF A SHOES UNDER!

Mommy's Day, celebration of birth

My friends who know me and how I feel about children know that I probably won't be a mother any time soon...if at all. As many of my friends/family tell me, it is hypocritical to despise small children/babies considering I used to be one. Blah blah blah...you can't tell me that parents don't wish they could give their kids away every now and then, especially when they're acting like a-holes.

What I do appreciate is my family, especially my mom for birthing me from her loins. I came back home tonight to spend this weekend with my family. My mom, dad and I were sitting around watching "Baby's Mama" and comically reliving the birth of my older brother and me.

First thing to know about my older brother is that he was almost a month LATE. He wouldn't come out. Lazy bastard was stubborn as a mule from his zygote stage. But when he decided to grace the family with his presence, he was out in 45 minutes. My brother was born on June 11, 1981, and my mom's birthday is December 11th. So, there is some number connection in the cosmos with them. My brother was the CUTEST baby I have ever seen. He was like a rolly-polly teddy bear baby.

I, on the other hand, was NOT the cute baby. I came out kinda weird lookin' (and some would argue that the stage is not over yet). I was 2 days early, because I believe to be early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late and if you're late, don't show up. My mom was telling me tonight that she didn't really feel any pain when her water broke and she felt fine until she got into the hospital. But, like my brother, mine was a quick birth--1 hour baby! I was born on April 15, 1983...and my dad is CFO/CPA. Take THAT for karma! But my dad, speaking as a CPA, believes I am the best tax break he & my mom ever got, and I don't disagree.

Growing up, my brother and I had BLEACH blond hairs. Yeah, have no idea how that happened. Look at my picture...I have dark dark brown hairs. My brother looks like my mom's dad, may he rest in peace. While I look like my dad, even though I don't see it and still feel like the milkman's baby.

Many arguments, broken bones, sports teams, traveling and school later, my brother and I are adults. My parents are empty nesters...until I come home with Will and Grace, and then it's game on. Spending time with my family while I'm home is relaxing and needed. Work and Chicago can really distract me from being appreciative and contemplative of the blessings I have been given and have worked for in my life.

My mom has had her times...there were times I didn't know if I could look at her without wanting to tear her face off. But in the end...in the reality of it all...I respect her and thank her for my life.

Mother's are a force to be reckoned with. Their power, strength and intelligence is insurmountable. I would challenge any man/father to do half of what their wife/mother has done for them and their children without being asked or told. It is an internal, natural ebb and flow. And while I cannot see myself with children, I hope that if the blessing comes along that I can learn from my own mother and my friends who are mothers for guidance.

Rain turns Chicago into London?

You know, the only time I was in London was back in the Summer 2004 while on an immersion trip with my university. Our class took British Airways, and whilst on our airplane waiting to take off, the BA pilots went on strike. True story...I was ON the plane. But alas, I am getting off track.

I suffer from migraines, and have been affected by this since I was 12 years old. My headaches also stem from barometric pressure, which is basically when the storms are coming. Well, the past 10 days have been fun. At one point, it rained off/on for 6 days in Chicago. It was NUTS!

At one point, I saw a yuppy mom with her little toddler-both wearing their wellies. Don't get me wrong, I thought it was completely cute; however, we're not in London. It made me think-"I mine as well just get some fish and chips and buy a ridiculous poncho." I'm hoping this rainy season turns into the beautiful Spring weather I love so dearly.

Plus, my hairs look awful with the wet and humid weather...so, now my hair gets to look like poo for the next 4 months with the humidity! HOORAY!