Hawaii Rocks

( This is me last week on the North Shores of O'ahu. It's where they filmed the show, Lost. )
Week one of non-traveling unemployment is uneventful. My two best friends in Atlanta are finishing their master's degrees, while little ol' me only has my Bachelor's to hang with pride.
The thought of going back to school excites me, but then I remember that would require taking out loans....again.
On a side note- I don't feel guilty seeing the movies from the last 6 months which I was too busy to see while I was working-- Besides, the $1 theater doesn't exactly break the bank. I've indulged quite a bit this Thanksgiving week.
Batman: The Dark Knight-- 2 hours of amazingness
Burn after Reading-- Dark humor- my favorite
The Women-- An all female cast: a feminist's dream!

We WON!

UNC beat GaTech for our homecoming in the TarPit this weekend. I was happily surprised. Obviously, I had a amazing time visiting old friends. This was the best game of musical futons I've played in a while because, as we get older, people's apartments get cleaner and cleaner. Makes a visitor l like me feel like I'm touring 5- star resorts.
I can't believe it's been six months since I came up for the beach week visit. I've decided to make the drive up there every 6-mo to keep in touch. Of course, each time I come, fewer and fewer people I know are there- so I feel kind of old. The one-year anniversary of graduation is on the horizon. Although, I did still run into acquaintances as I walked through the pit, so my status as CH citizen is still alive.
We ate at the new Indian restaurant, Mint, on Franklin, which was delicious. It's official: my favorite food is Indian. I still don't have an official favorite flower, but orange Gerber Daises may be the winner. I'll keep you all posted because I know you're rivited.
Thanks to all my peeps who drove down from Raleigh for drinks at West End bar. You may think it's silly that I have the bartender choose my wine based on my Zodiac sign, but I've always been impressed with their selection for me. Try it some time.
Apparently, fire signs prefers crisp reds. Yum.

Georgia Runoff Election

I am so impressed with the speed of reply for absentee ballot requests, that I thought I'd share the love for the Run-off Election to occur December 2nd.
For the main election, I faxed in my request form just 8 days before the presidential election, and I got my form just four days later. I sent if off that Friday, and even got a call on Monday (November 3rd) checking to make sure my signature was really mine (I don't remember what my signature must had been when I registered to vote when I was 17). Is that fast or what? I'm doing the mail-in again for the run-off, and you can too. See below.
http://sos.georgia.gov/ELECTIONS/elections/voter_information/absentee.htm

Go Heels!

Tomorrow is our Football Homecoming game (UNC vs Georgia Tech).
I've always considered UNC a basketball school, but we have been doing quite well in football the last few years. The game should be exciting! Thank you Lori, for getting me an extra ticket.
Truthfully, I prefer basketball to Football (and even then, I'm just not that into watching sports)
Atlanta is my home-town and Ga Tech is in my blood. My parents went there and quite a few of my friends, so I'm wearing a yellow tank hidden under my sweater--- a little secret only I will know. shhhh.
Beforehand, I plan to "climb the bell tower" a tradition I did not partake in when I was a senior because I was thrifty and graduated early. Oh, I wish I could had been on the 5 or 6 - year plan. I heart Chapel Hill.
Technically, you have to be a senior to get in line to climb to the top, so I plan on bringing some big bills to bribe my way up there. Everyone who ventures up there signs their name in Sharpie, so it's one big scribble inside. It's doubtful you could ever find it again, but you know it's in there somewhere.

My experience with Twitter

If I were reading a blog post written by someone at work whist blogging, I would think "shame on you for wasting paid time when you should be doing work," but then look at me, blogging at work. I'm still temping, and I've learned that short-term temp work usually means a lot of waiting around for actual work. No joke, my boss brings me books to read between the few moments of work assigned to me, so I have the green-light to surf the web while sitting here looking productive. (aren't my bosses sweet?)
I've exhausted all the productive things I could possibly want to do online, so I've resorted to trying any new site someone recommends. I've updated all contacts at Linked In, which I think is a great networking tool. Researched all online job postings (even the creepy ones on Craigslist). Sadly, my computer has no audio, so that rules out UTube. I think my "keeping up with old friends" points have gone sky high because I check Facebook daily, and send out birthday cards for those celebrating their 23rds. Steph suggested I check out "pink is the new blog," so I now know way more about celebs than necessary.
Lastly, I've joined Twitter. I read on a job description for a "media savvy" coordinator that wanted someone who checked Twitter constantly. I thought to myself, "I consider myself media savvy, yet I have no Twitter account." I immediately researched what it was all about. You can "tweet" blurbs under 141 characters long, and whoever is "following" you will see your post. You too can follow people/groups and their updates will show on your screen. You can then easily read sentence-long updates from people/groups that you enjoy. I have quite a few news sources on mine (Breaking News, Reuters, Daily Tar Heel) that show a headline and a link if I want to read more. I also have a few friends that post updates like when they dye their hair a new color or start a new job. I've learned the etiquette for personal accounts is to update no more often then you eat. A maximum of three posts a day, and keep a few hours between each post. I've alerted the Twitter world of my visit the UNC this weekend, an opening at Turner that looks promising, and the current price of gas in Atlanta. As you can tell, I'm not quite sure what the Twitter world wants to hear.

Hitch-hiking? I like to call it carpooling

I'm driving the 6 hours to UNC today with total strangers.
I'm not worried, I've done it dozens of times before.
I just have to pick them up at the Dunwoody Marta station, and off we go!
This is the first time that I'm the driver in these little meet-and-rides I like to do.
I like to think that I'm a safety-savvy lady with an excellent judgement of character. First, I'd like to you know, that I only do this with college students who obviously underwent some criminal background check before they were accepted into their university.
While at UNC, poor, over-charged out-of-state students set up a website where we could sell each other furniture, share storage units, and, yes, offer rides to our respective places of origin. Consider it a type of Craigslist for only those with a UNC email address, so you know have some sense of security. After graduating, I submitted a "Good-bye, wonderful ride board" post stating that I'm a recent grad that plans to make weekend visits from Atlanta, but would love company. I got emails and facebook "friended" by two young lovers (UNC and Ga Tech first-years) wanting to visit each other. And so, I am giving Jack, the little Techie, and his friends a ride up for the Homecoming game. Call me an environmentalist, cupid, whatever, but don't call me stupid for taking/giving rides to strangers, because there is a safe way to do it. I am actually staying at my friend's apartment at UNC that I met on a street corner in Atlanta for the first time to ride-share back to school. You never know where you are going to meet your new best friend.