Freedom!

Today was my last day of working at my job. I tried to find a picture that would capture the emotions and the joys that I felt the moment I left the doors, but I couldn't find any that was just right. The minute I stepped outside of the building and headed to my car, I felt a great big sense of relief and I laughed at myself--all the way to my car, because I can be such a drama queen sometimes. But I do swear, a huge wave of relief rushed over me, because now, I AM DONE.

I planned to be done with my job next week, but my boss had a talk with me today and about half an hour before my shift was scheduled to end I found out today was my last day. I immediately started playing the "last game." "Aww, this is going to be the last blizzard I mix...this will be my last shake....this will be the last tray of buster bars that I make" (In case you were wondering, I worked at a Dairy Queen...it feels SO good to use the word "worked" in past tense!)

It seemed almost fitting that the very last cone I made looked like a piece of crap. Almost like the first cone that I ever made...

Yes, that is me. Wearing onion rings and a hot dog as earrings. Now that is devotion.

Working very hard.

Anyway, despite the silly pictures, I did work at Dairy Queen pretty hard. I spent the last 4.5 years working there and have made lots of memories. :) I will kind of miss it I guess...

But still. I AM FREE. EEE!

Lilacs

The past week I have been doing a lot of running around and helping people get ready for their kids' graduation parties and just doing a lot of running around in general. Amidst all of the running around, I love stepping outside from my house where the fragrant scent of lilacs becomes overwhelming. I have three lilac bushes that came from my great-great grandma's house and they have just recently bloomed. Driving around town and some other parts of the area I see a lot of people have lilac bushes and they are all blooming magnificently.

I absolutely love the look and smell of lilacs. Something so simple as that, looks so beautiful and smells remarkable. It is definitely something that I love about this time of year. It is so nice to just go outside and smell them and it is also pretty relaxing.

A friend of mine on Saturday cut me a bouquet of lilacs for me to bring home, after making several comments on the way to get $1 flip flops at old navy on Saturday morning (Oh yeah, baby! I'm all for dollar flip flops!) and the bouquet still adorns the top of my dresser and makes my bedroom smell amazing. Especially since I have my windows open. :)

Käthe Kollwitz

Self-Portrait, 1924

I took an art history class last semester. Obviously it's really hard to go through the world's history of art in a couple of months, and I honestly found the class fairly (extremely) boring. By the end of the semester, I skipped more than I went. Maybe that's unscholarly of me, but becoming a scholar of art doesn't interest me much anyway. Being an expert takes away a bit of a person's creativity and passion in that area, I think.

But as I was saying!

As a person who has tried her hand at numerous mediums, I think I am safe in saying that I will never become a professional artist. Regardless of how much appeal that title holds to me, the greatest appreciator and historian of my artwork is myself. And that's okay.

Painting and sculpture are not my forte. While I am very impressed by people who are able to paint or sculpt elaborate works of art, I don't really have much desire to pursue that area myself. Maybe it's because I know the results would not be pretty. In any case, I much prefer a simple drawing to marble and fresco and whatever else.

That being said, one person whose work I was intrigued by during the course of my art history class was Käthe Kollwitz, a German artist who worked during the early half of the 20th century.

Death and the Mother

I really like Käthe Kollwitz's drawings; they have an unfinished quality that makes them a little rough around the edges, which I think kind of adds to the feeling one gets from the drawings. Clearly Kollwitz set out to portray an emotion rather to create something particularly beautiful. I am fairly positive she met her goal - her drawings are extremely evocative.

Death and the Mother is probably my favorite. I think it perfectly captures the emotion the woman must be feeling to have death breathing down her neck while she's holding her baby.

Plus, it's damn creepy. I can dig that.

So what about you? Do you have any favorite artists, art movements, works of art, etc.? You got anything to share that creeps you out in a good way? Do post a comment; we'd love to hear from you!

Memorial Day

I felt that memorial day needed a bit more recognition, so here is a bit from "Stars and Stripes Forever."

"Hurrah for the flag of the free!
May it wave as our standard forever,
The gem of the land and the sea,
The banner of the right.

Let despots remember the day
When our fathers with mighty endeavor
Proclaimed as they marched to the fray
That by their might and by their right
It waves forever."

-John Philip Sousa

Happy Memorial Day everyone, thank a soldier today.
And also, thank you again to everyone who have served or are currently serving in the Military.

Congratulations and Thank You!

'Tis the season of graduation! So for all of you graduates out there, whether it be high school or college, congratulations!

This is also the season of thanks. Being that it is memorial day weekend, a big "thank you" is in order for all of you who have served or are currently serving in the Military. If you are reading this blog, thank you for serving our country. :)

We must also honor those who have died fighting for our freedom.

Update

Sorry for the lack of posting. I have been feeling less than Sensational the past few days. It's sure to pass though. :)

I just wanted to take this opportunity and let you all know that here at Sensational-Sensational, we're so excited that the followers and subscribers to this blog keep growing!

With that being said, now that we know that some people out there read this blog, it is OKAY for you to make some comments on our posts. In fact, we highly encourage that you do! Some of the postings have some questions that is meant for all of you to answer so please, by all means, answer. :)

Regular posting will continue very soon.

Watermelon

One of my favorite parts about summer is that fresh watermelon is all over the place and readily available at all grocery stores, and not just all chopped up mixed with cantaloupe. Nothing wrong with cantaloupe,but if you mix these two wonderful melons they start to take on a flavor of their own and it's not particularly good. I'd rather just buy a huge watermelon and a cantaloupe and cut them up separately. But that's just me.

I remember when I was little and my family would get watermelon and cut them up into half slices and as a kid I would one of those half slices and go outside to play on my swing set and get all sticky from the watermelon juice and stuff and it was great.

Now a days, I just enjoy eating watermelon...(i'm eating a huge slice right now.) I don't get sticky anymore though. There's a lot one can do with watermelon, and i'm excited to try some things out, like from my very first post on this blog.

Music, with passion!

Music. As you can tell from Mindy's Post, we at Sensational-Sensational enjoy music. However each of us have a different distinct genre that we enjoy. For example, I was talking to Mindy the other day and she assumed when I redferenced "hyper" music that i was talking about pop. But in fact i was talking about my personal favorite genre of music. Music from Musicals. The passion in these songs is completely unrivaled to those of popular music. Let's compare.



If you don't have the time to watch the whole thing pay extra attention to the chorus. Located at 1:00 minute. While Rihanna's lyrics are very passionate, nothing could compare to:



Once again if you dont have the time pay attention to the bridge located at 5:00 minutes. The song from The Last 5 Years, loving known by its fan as L5Y is far more passionate than the previous. It just isnt possible for a song that is randomly just "there" to be more passionate than a song that has a story behind it. That is why I enjoy musicals far more than normal music. I do listen to popular music. Right now my radio is tuned into the Top 40 radio station of our area. However. Almost every song that i buy on iTunes or otherwise is normally from a musical. Passion is so important in music. Thats something that some people dont understand. Who needs passionate music when you can listen to Headbanger/Screamo?! I do. But it's just MY opinion that I think that Musical music is simply sensational.

Gardens

I am not someone who likes being outside. It really has nothing to do with the wind or the bugs or the weather; I'm just an indoors type of person. That said, I still enjoy some aspects of nature. For example, I really like overgrown, abandoned-looking gardens.

(source)

They are just so whimsical and summery looking. But now that I think of it, my indoorsyness probably has a lot to do with my love of big weedy looking gardens. Just let nature take its course, you know? No need to prune the shrubs if I'm not even going to be outside to enjoy (or whatever you do with a shrub) them.

(source)

Sadly, as much as I like the way this looks, I'll probably never have a garden when I get my own house unless I can find some Samwise Gamgee-esque friend who will do it for me.

Maybe this summer I'll make more of an effort to be outside, though.

Ah, Summer.

I woke up this morning (at an actually decent hour) to a bunch of little birds chirping outside my window. There was a light breeze coming into my room because I had left my window open all night and the sun was shining through my curtains. (Betsy would enjoy that-*link*) It was a glorious morning and I laid in bed and stretched and thought, "ah, summer."

Ever had some waking moments like this? What a way to wake up. :)

RLX

It has been so good these last few days to do nothing but relax. There have been little to no worries since school has been done. I've mainly been spending my days doing nothing--which sounds like a waste, and I agree, it kind of is, but it sure does feel good.

The first few days of summer are usually my extremely lazy days, I do nothing but catch up on my sleep, read books, watch movies and be on the internet until the wee hours of morning.

Tomorrow however, I actually have some plans and I'm thinking that it is time to get down to business and start doing stuff. :)

But right now I want to just focus on relaxing.

That picture says it all and has it all. It is like the ultimate relaxation picture. Except, it is missing me and a fruity drink with an umbrella in it...no matter, how lovely it would be to be on that beach, in that hammock on a nice, hot, summer day. *Sigh*

This brings me to another point in this post. Hammocks. I would like to find a nice, cheap one. I remember laying in a hammock at my grandparents house when I was little and staring up at the sky and falling asleep. And it was so nice, and relaxing. I want to do that again.

But anyway, I guess it's time to get back to reality. Sometimes however, it's nice to take a break and relax...if you are still in school, or work has really got you stressed out or you just need to take a break--please, by all means do so and just relax. It feels good and it's good for you and it's free. :)

School's Out for Summer!

Alice Cooper may look a bit scary but he knows how to sing a great song.

Today was my official last day of school. A bit odd to end on a Monday, but I'm digging it!

I just submitted my last final project today and immediately felt the burden that was upon my shoulders vanish and leave me. It is now officially summer! Woo-hoo!

It feels amazing to be done with school. Every year summer time becomes more and more anticipated and this year, it was really bad. I wanted summer back pretty much since the first day of school.

I don't have a whole lot of summer plans, except working at camp. There is also the lovely premier of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince that I must see, but other than that and hanging out with some friends, my summer is left open. Well, weekends anyway. And it feels so nice!

Tomorrow i'm going to sleep in as long as I want to and do absolutely nothing. Until I work. :P

On the Road

(via flickr)

I’m pretty sure I didn’t know about the existence of trains or planes until I was 10. Mine is an automobile-loving family. Of course, the earlier years of my life were spent within 100 square miles of Columbus, Ohio. But with the new millennium came new modes of transportation. The rest of the world was lamenting the non-existence of flying cars that could travel at the speed of light. I was celebrating them.

My family ventured eastward to a small New Jersey town, and in the summer of 2000, I took a train to New York City. The speed of the train amazed me. And when we arrived at our destination, the lights and noise and electricity left me momentarily stunned. The future had arrived. For about an hour.

Fast-forward nine years. My westward migration rivals that of Lewis and Clark, except for the fact that their voyage was a lot longer, and I often find myself returning to the idyllic pavement foothills of my childhood by automobile instead of horseback. From my current location, it’s about 800 miles to my family in Ohio. I have taken that trip at least 20 times in the past nine years.

To this day, I have never flown anywhere. Like I said, my family has a very healthy relationship with the automobile. All those hours in the car have allowed me to cultivate my own love. However, my love is more for the road than the car. I have always liked the idea of going on a road trip with one or two close friends, going where we may and seeing whatever sights we happen upon.

I’m sure this is not an uncommon desire. The United States is the third or fourth largest country in the world, and I’m pretty sure it’s an inborn trait to be fascinated with cars and driving and wide open spaces. It’s part of the American film and fiction canon, I think, so it’s really not surprising.

Anyway, while it did little to squelch my desire for an elaborate cross-country road trip à la Jack Kerouac, Mindy and I recently took a mini-trip halfway across our state. On the way there, nothing notable occurred. Just talk and driving, not that that's a bad thing. On the way back, however, a CD containing music suitable to both parties was proffered and some great sing-alongs occurred…


On an airplane you really can't really get the effect of having the wind blowing in your hair without being sucked out and dying. In a high-speed train, you can't view the passing landscape without feeling like you're in an impressionist painting. Traveling by car lends an atmosphere that simply can not be matched by newer, faster forms of transportation. Sometimes it's worth it to sacrifice time for something more aesthetically pleasing, don't you think?

Moms!

Today is the second sunday in May... which means today is... FISHING OPENER IN MINNESOTA! Oh. And it also means its Mother's Day. Personally I think fishing is boring. I don't have a problem if you want to be a fisherman. But its not for me it just seems like something really boring, sitting in a boat or on shore with a stick. With an invisible string attached. With an odd little thingy at the end, and a very sharp hook only intended to harm other animals. I think its very poopy to have fishing opener the same weekend as Mother's Day. Hopefully no idiot husbands will be out fishing instead of making their wives breakfast in bed (let me clarify that its multiple husbands and their wives - when I proofread this it sounded polygamistic).

Anyway.

I didn't want to rant about how much I don't like fishing. I do want to talk about moms though. What made me start thinking about moms was this email forward:

WHAT I LEARNED FROM MY MOTHER!

1. My mother taught me to appreciate a job well done.
"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside, I just finished cleaning"

2. My mother taught me about religion.
"You better pray that will come out of the carpet"

3. My mother taught me about time travel.
"If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week"

4. My mother taught me about logic.
"Because I said so, that's why!"

5. My mother taught me about more logic.
"If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."

6. My mother taught me about foresight.
"Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case your in an accident."

7. My mother taught me about irony.
"Keep crying and I'll give you something to cry about."

8. My mother taught me about the science of osmosis.
"Shut up and eat your supper."

9. My mother taught me about contortionism.
"Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"

10. My mother taught me about stamina.
"You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."

11. My mother taught me about the weather.
"Your room looks like a tornado went through it."

12. My mother taught me about hypocrisy.
"If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"

13. My mother taught me about the circle of life.
"I brought you into this world, I can take you out"

14. My mother taught me behavior modification.
"Stop acting like your father!"

15. My mother taught me about envy.
"There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do"

16. My mother taught me about anticipation.
"Just wait until we get home"

17. My mother taught me about receiving.
"You are going to get it when we get home.

18. My mother taught me about medical science.
"If you don't stop crossing you're eyes, they're going to freeze that way"

19. My mother taught me about ESP.
"Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"

20. My mother taught me humor.
"When the lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."

21. My mother taught me how to become an adult.
"If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."

22. My mother taught me genetics.
"You're just like your father."

23. My mother taught me about my roots.
"Shut that door behind you, you weren't born in a barn."

24. My mother taught me wisdom.
"When you get to be my age you'll understand"

And most importantly.
25. My mother taught me justice.
"One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!"

Mothers are extremely important to us. Whether they work in produce at Wal Mart, are welders, or managers. They help us grow into who we are going to be. They have shaped us into who we are. Regardless of how well we get along with them most of us still love them regardless. So give your mom a big hug today, or call her and let her know how sensational she is!

Bowling

Last night I went bowling for the first time in quite a while. It was a lot of fun! Just a group of ladies from my church and I.

Now, i'm not claiming to be a good bowler, but I won all two games that we played. With a score of 106 and 114. (See, told you i'm not good) I'm usually lucky if I break 100.

Bowling is a sport in which you roll a bowling ball along a slippery and flat surface into pins for points. There are a few forms of bowling and the most recent one is ten-pin bowling. The earliest form of bowling is dated back to ancient Egypt. Other places that bowling was first seen in were ancient Finland and Yemen and Germany in 300 A.D. The first set of standardized rules were established in New York City on September 9th, 1895. Today, over 95 million people in the world enjoy bowling in more than ninety countries world wide!

Bowling is a very fun activity, and after doing some research on bowling, I was quite surprised at how good it is for you.

Bowling is an anaerobic type of exercise. It is similar to walking with free weights. It helps you to burn calories and works muscle groups in your body that are usually not exercised. All of the stretching and flexing in bowling helps to work your tendons, ,joints, ligaments and muscles in the arms and promotes weight loss. Besides the physical benefits it also has psycho-social benefits such as strengthening friendships or creating new ones. :)

See, who wouldn't want to go bowling after reading all of that?
:)

Done Done Done

Today I had my last final exam.

Seriously, I don't know if anything more sensational exists. I haven't really got any specific summertime plans, but that doesn't even matter, man. Just the fact that school is done and I don't have to worry about tests and papers and projects anymore - it makes me a little giddy.

I've got some posts planned for this week, so I should be able to write some lengthier and more substantial posts soon. :)

Fans

Ah, fans! Several times today I have been in need of sitting in front of one of these. In fact, twice today I did.

It's so nice outside, and it is hot. Finally! There was a slight breeze which made things really really nice. However, i've been doing a lot more walking than usual today and was stuffed inside of a room with tons of other people (no air conditioning) so I was hot for a long time and about ready to die.

Today, I had orientation at my college, Betsy brought me with her because well, she goes to the school i'm going to in the fall. So it's been an adventure. I got my student ID today and got to ride on the Metro Bus. :) It was an exciting experience.

But anyway, back to fans. Fans are pretty much amazing and essential. I have a floor fan in my bedroom that is almost always on high speed, a ceiling fan that's on and sometimes I sleep with my window open on top of that. If I didn't have a fan in my room, I think i'd die.

Raisin Bran

What did you have for breakfast today? A nice poptart? Eggs 'n bacon? Count Chocula? If you answered yes to any of those suggestions, you are missing out on the best breakfast (or lunch or dinner) in the world...

Mmm, Raisin Bran. I had some for dinner tonight, actually, and it was tastee. I could go for another bowl right now, actually. For someone who doesn't drink milk extra curricularly, this is saying something. But what is it saying, you ask?

It is saying that Raisin Bran is really good. You should consider it for your next eating endeavor.

Fruit Strips

Only $2.50 at Target! Inside this box is 10 individually wrapped fruit strips, and this is what I've mostly been eating the last few days as I've been in a mad hurry to get all my final homework done.

Fruit strips are soo good, and they are good for you! Only 45 calories, 5 mg of sodium and 9 grams of sugar. Sure, they may look like flattened down poop, but it is very tasty, and they smell good too!

I'm pretty sure raspberry is my favorite. I have tried Apricot, strawberry, pomegranate and wildberry. I highly recommend the raspberry fruit strips! They are sensational!

Rain

I love rain. My favorite, non-vacation, weather moments, all have to do with rain. Some people think rain is depressing, this may be what contributes to the high suicide rates in rainy places. But I like rain. Without rain it would be extremely difficult for life on earth to happen. Below are my favorite "rain" weather events.

Thunderstorms are amazing. They never seem to last long enough. When its the middle of the day, but dark outside; when its the middle of the night, but its momentarily light outside; when booms of biblical proportions roll across the land; that's a sensational time. The power of nature, its just awe-inspiring.

Another rain weather event I like does not have a name that I know of. It's when there's black storm clouds, with obvious rain, and lightning in the distance. But there's sunny sky above. Or the opposite. When its storming, and there's a sunny sky in the distance, this is also amazing.
Especially at sunset.

Ocean rain. Ahhh. Just thinking about it makes me want to go on a vacation. The warm downpour of the ocean. I've experienced these in Hawaii, California, Texas, and Florida. It smells unlike normal rain. Its a peaceful kind of smell. With a dash of salt. And its so warm that it's just like taking a shower. This is a must have on any list of things to do on vacation. Get caught outside during a rainstorm.

One of the many places I want to live later in life is the Olympic Peninsula. The rainiest place in the continental U.S. Also the location of Forks. The town of Twilight fame. While that is a huge added bonus, just the rain is enough. Next time you watch Twilight, see Washington, or are in a rainstorm, pay attention to the weather. That's sensational weather.

Green Grass

It's spring! The grass is green! This is wonderful! It's been so long.

Doctor Who

Last night I decided to reward myself for all the hard work and accomplishments that I did yesterday. Which pretty much just included working on my research paper. (I got 14 pages of it done!) My reward you might ask? Watching a few episodes of Doctor Who.

Doctor Who is really what started this whole putting off the research paper thing in the first place. I became so absorbed watching episodes of this show online that I didn't do my homework. Oops. Procrastination at its finest.

Anyway, I now only have ONE EPISODE OF SEASON 4 LEFT! GAH! I'm saving it for a special occasion but it really bugs me! I won't give anything away in this post about episodes, so I won't spoil it for anyone, but the episodes I watched last night were A-mazing!

My friends are probably going to be like, oh great, a Doctor Who post from Mindy...shoulda known it was coming!

But seriously, this show is really good. I didn't think so at first, I thought it was really creepy and nothing i'd get into. But, nevertheless, I did get into it. And now I can't stop! Oh well!


There's something about David Tennant's smile that seriously makes me want to...well, I won't say, but it makes my heart jump. I'm sure he knows he has that effect on people.