Mishmash Musings

Have you heard about the recent scandal involving the DePauw University chapter of Delta Zeta? That’s a national sorority, and they’ve been accused of kicking out overweight, ugly, or “socially awkward” sisters from their house on the DePauw campus. The original article appeared in the NY Times, but I read the reprinted version in the Chicago Tribune.

Of course all the officers of the sorority are denying that’s what happened, but the sisters say it’s true. There were only 35 Delta Zeta members at DePauw, and 23 of them were asked to leave the house because they were “insufficiently committed” to the sorority, whatever that means. As it turns out, the remaining members were those that fit the classic sorority girl stereotype as far as looks go, and those that were kicked out fit the overweight, ugly, or socially awkward categories.

This incident is reprehensible and makes me glad I never got caught up in all of that stuff when I was in school. I hope this is dealt with in an appropriate manner by school authorities. This is not the kind of lesson young women should be learning in school.

Today I’m going to go through all of the closets in my house and gather together clothes that we no longer wear. If they’re still in relatively good shape, I’m going to launder them and take them to the Salvation Army drop box over in the Wal-Mart parking lot. If they’re not usable, I’m going to throw them out.

With my son growing up and accumulating more and more toys, books, and clothes, space in our house is at a premium. We need to stop being such pack rats and just get rid of the things that we no longer use!

Well, the Oscars broadcast just wrapped up and I have to say that was one of the most boring shows I’ve seen in recent years. I didn’t like Ellen as a host; she didn’t seem to be able to ad lib as well as some of the other people that have hosted in the past and she just wasn’t very funny. Yes, I did laugh a few times, but mostly I was just cringing.

The song and dance numbers were annoying as usual. It amazes me how many people say those numbers are the worst part of the show, and yet they remain a fixture year after year.

Oh, and how scary did a completely bald Jack Nicholson look??

Anyway, here were the winners in the major categories:

Best Picture: The Departed
Best Director: Martin Scorsese (FINALLY!)
Best Actor: Forest Whitaker (I wanted Leo to win, but Forest is a good choice too.)
Best Actress: Helen Mirren (never heard of her)
Best Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson
Best Original Screenplay: Little Miss Sunshine
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Departed

I went to the chiropractor today, and let me tell you, I won’t be going back again! Part of it, I’m sure, had to do with the specific place I went to, but part of it was the entire experience, which is probably pretty similar across the board.

First, I’m not sure why I can’t get anyone to focus on my shoulder pain!!! When I made the appointment, I told the receptionist that I just wanted to have my shoulder looked at. When I got in, I reiterated my preferences. But that was pretty much ignored, with the doctor saying that he uses a more complete approach rather than limiting himself to one area (apparently problems in other areas can manifest themselves as shoulder pain).

Second, the guy blatantly tried to rip me off. His pricing structure is based on time (e.g. x dollars for 15 minutes, x dollars for 30 minutes, etc.) and I opted for the one-hour package, which cost $40. He worked on me for 40 minutes and then said we were finished. I didn’t say anything at the time because I figured maybe there was nothing left for him to do and he would just charge me less.

But no, the receptionist rang up $40. At that point I said that I was only in there for 40 minutes. The doctor was like, “Oh, you can come back in then,” and he did another 20 minutes of work, which was very awkward. He didn’t apologize or make excuses for sending me away after 40 minutes or anything…. it was quite strange.

As for the work itself, it did relieve my pain temporarily, but I’m already feeling sore and stiff again. I don’t have any other chiropractic experiences to compare this to, nor will I. Count this as my first and last visit!

I have been suffering from back and shoulder problems for years, but have never really had a doctor examine the situation. I go for a monthly massage at a local spa, and that seems to relieve my shoulder pain for a few days, but then it comes back again.

Someone finally suggested that I see a chiropractor, so I’m going to do it this Saturday. I don’t know what’s in store for me really, as the guy wants to run a few tests before deciding on a course of treatment.

Whatever happens, I hope I can get some relief from this pain. It’s difficult to sit/type all day with my shoulder strain, and it’s nearly impossible to get a good night’s sleep due to my back pain, so I’m in pretty bad shape here!

I took a look through my jewelry box today and saw that it’s high time that I updated my earring collection. I don’t wear earrings very often, but I do love how the right pair can really highight my face or eyes, or draw attention to my entire outfit.

About a week or so ago, I heard of a jewelry website called Heavenly Treasures. I initially went to that site looking for men’s jewelry, but at the same time I noticed that they had plenty of women’s items too. So I went back to the site today and started shopping for myself. I absolutely LOVED some of the gemstone earrings featured on the site, as well as some of the hoop earrings I saw. I’m going to have to mark down which ones I like and place an order very soon!

Check out Heavenly Treasures for yourself if you’re in the market for men’s or women’s fine jewelry.

I failed miserably at the two seemingly minor projects I set out for myself yesterday. I wanted to find an online creative writing course that focuses on the short story, but made only a half-hearted attempt to do so. As a result, I came up with very few options, and all of them cost a lot more than I was willing to pay. So I still don’t have anything as far as that goes.

The second half of my project was to bring my accounting spreadsheets up to date. Well, I didn’t even open those up at all, so that was a failure also. I’m going to try to get to these two things this weekend, but we’ll see how that works out. After all, there’s a reason I set Tuesday up as my project day to begin with (the reason being that I’m just too busy on weekends).

I just heard about a free flash media player that gives me the ability to stream podcasts, videos, music, and share other types of files right here on my blog. It’s called the Box.net Widget, and is completely free to use. I gave it a test run a few minutes ago, and liked how easy it was to set up and embed. It was also very easy to create an account on Box.net so I could start uploading files that I want to share, and now whenever I want to listen or view anything I’ve uploaded, all I have to do is retrieve it through the handy widget below (I’m going to put it in a more permanent location soon).

This is a very cool little player, so check out the Box.net site and sign up for a free account with 1Gb of storage today!

I am scared of flying, but not in the traditional sense. If I know I have an airplane trip coming up, I get extremely anxious whenever I think about it. I mean, my palms start to sweat and I get queasy and everything. But once I actually get on the plane, I seem to be ok. I’m not a white-knuckle passenger, but I can’t truly relax either. In fact, I can never sleep on planes (even though most of my flights are 12+ hours) because I think I might not wake up again. It’s irrational, I know.

Do you have any tips as to how I can view flying in a more logical, detached way? I tried reading up on the physics of flight to see if that would boost my spirits, but it didn’t. There are accidents, after all. And human error. And weather. And any number of other things…

It seems kind of silly to allow myself to think this way, but at least I’m trying to work through it!

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I actually don’t have a huge project that I need to take care of today, so I’m just going to assign myself to take care of a couple of minor projects that I keep pushing back. First, I want to find an online writing course that I can enroll in after my vacation in March. I’ve pretty much decided to look for a Short Story class because I really want to try my hand at fiction. All I’ve been doing for the last two years is keyword writing and blogging, so the change of pace will be good.

Second, I need to organize my writing files again. I haven’t been doing my accounting [properly] for the last several weeks, so I want to go back and start tracking that a bit better. I also want to identify how much money I’ve been making on each of my three blogs so I can better determine which ones to spend time developing and promoting.

Let’s see if I can get these two things done today!

If you live in the UK, then you’ve probably seen people using a very distinctive-looking credit card with the bottom right-hand corner removed. It’s hard not to notice a card like that, especially when everyone else has the same old boring design.

Anyway, that was a MINT MC2 credit card you saw, and if you’re interested in getting one of your own, the time to apply is right now. That’s because MINT is currently offering a special program whereby you can enjoy 0% interest on balance transfers and purchases until December. We’re talking 10 full months of 0% interest here, which is a deal you’re not likely to find anywhere else!

Another product you might be interested in is the MINT Gift Card. MINT Gift Cards can be purchased in amounts ranging from £10 to £250 and can be used anywhere that Visa Electron is accepted, thereby making the cards a very flexible option for both the giver and the recipient.

Take a look at the mint.co.uk website for more information on all the products and services they offer, as well as to apply for a credit card online or order gift cards.