My R&B column on Four Loko

http://www.redandblack.com/2010/11/28/use-your-judgment-with-four-loko/

So, my hashed out thoughts on the topic finally came to print. After being deemed a "wet blanket" by my friends regarding the topic, we'll see what the rest of the student body has to say.

The societal ill that is Four Loko may not be so important to r&b readers within the next couple of days, however.

I found out in class today that the EIC, Daniel Burnett, was asked to resign on Saturday due to some unbecoming drunken behavior and rude comments toward UGA President Michael Adams and other guests. As a fellow Grady Ambassador, I really like Daniel and I hope it doesn't damage his career prospects because he has made the Red & Black a really fantastic publication this semester. They are covering it on the front page tomorrow and Burnett will forever go down in Google history with that on his record. It's really unfortunate and hope the best for him.

Feel the rain on yooour SKIN!

"Surrounded on all sides by what she could become, Aura just wants someone to tell her who she is."

http://www.tinyfurniture.com

Wow. I'm not one for watching IFC movies, but this quote I pulled from the story hit home with me. Someone tell me who I am!

In non-indie film news, I also think Morning Glory sounds like a much better version, if not for a slightly older set, of that movie Alexis Bledel was in about graduating college and getting your first big break. Less cheesy, more about the ups and downs of a real life career. Finally, movies about my upcoming predicament!

After watching the trailer for Tiny Furniture, I do have to agree with the 'entitlement' quote by her quirky ex-friend. I'm such a millenial.

Morning Glory even includes a Natasha Bedengfield song, the artist perpetually known for her uplifting tunes for twentysomethings. Can't hate on a good NB song, even though I could never relate to those girls on The Hills. Having trouble doing basic functions at an uber-glamorous internship sounds like a good day to me.

I will have an enjoyable winter break watching these films. Hopefully they'll be more inspiring than depressing.

The name sounds like a very dangerous street drug...

... Unlike a drug, it's very legal and very cheap. Like many drugs though, it's incredibly dangerous. Probably why they call it Liquid Crack!
http://www.dailyfreepress.com/news/liquor-stores-reassess-four-loko-for-liquid-crack-reputation-1.2383718

Lately a bunch of college kids have been sending themselves to the hospital after consuming Four Loko. Some places it sells for $2.50 and the alcoholoic fruit flavored drink is equal to about 5 or 6 beers and 2 cups of coffee. Wow. One can is more alcohol than most college kids I know would consume on an average night out.

Caffeine and alcohol combined are already dangerous, but unlike red bull and vodka, this drink already comes combined and its bright colors make it look just like every other reasonably harmless energy drink.

I think we have to hold marketing teams and advertisers up to higher standards. From the picture, you can obviously tell it looks like they are targeting underage drinkers with the image on the can. The company argues that they are staying within legal advertising limits, but I beg to differ.

Just like cigarette companies have been banned from targetting younger smokers with their ads, I believe the alcohol industry should be under an equal amount of scrutiny. Yes, they do obviously display that there is alcohol in the beverage, but I'm not one to usually check the alcohol percentage of a canned alcohol drink or better yet the amount of caffeine, so I doubt many other students do either.

I think from now on I'll stick with mixed drinks, beer or wine. When I hear stories like this and realize the lack of regulation, it seems much safer.

Beautiful

http://rainbowsoflivingcolor.tumblr.com/post/1345751985/i-go-to-athens-because-it-reminds-me-of-why-we-are

When everyone's busy writing papers, studying for exams, checking resumes, applying for internships and jobs, it's really easy to get swept up by the chaos and forget to enjoy yourself here. It doesn't last very long.

I don't want to leave this gorgeous place. I am lucky as hell to get to wake up every day and go learn something from a great teacher, of which I have many.

This is the first time I've heard an adult this fall telling me to enjoy myself here, rather than ways I can prepare for the future and how to get ready for the real world.

The bottom line is the real world will definitely come soon. I will have my successes and failures and new opportunities. My college experience will never happen again. I don't want to look back and think I spent my entire last year worrying about what was next.

Time to just enjoy what is.

Horrible.

I need to be better at updating!

Latest news as far as finding my niche: Discovered the Washington Semester Program for journalism and new media. Sounds amazing, but would delay my graduation by a semester. What to do? I'm leaning towards going, I fell in love with DC on my labor day trip!

More info on that to come, because currently, I don't really have any...

"Right where you should be... in Capitol City"

Lots of travelling, little time to update.

This past weekend I went with a friend to visit another good friend, Bobby Woods, at Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Maryland, just a quick metro ride from Washington D.C. Bobby was injured in combat in Afghanistan a little over a month ago and there is a feature about him in the Red and Black. He is recovering astonishingly quickly and amazing all of us. When your life changes like that in an instant, or even someone else's life who is close to you, it makes you think a lot about what's important.

The point of this blog is to help me figure out where I should take my career, but I feel like I should also take some time to stop and smell the roses, right? If I work hard this last year of college and enjoy myself a little too, a job after graduation would just be icing on the cake.

And we had cake, too, in celebration of Bobby's birthday. Superman-themed, of course, because 1LT Bobby Woods is a real-life super hero.

"You can't know how you would behave in a crisis until it drops out
of the sky and knocks you down like a bandit: stealing your future, robbing you of your dreams, and mocking anything that resembles certainty. Sudden
tragic events and even slow-burning disasters teach us more about ourselves
than most of us care to know."

-Lee Woodruff, wife of Bob Woodrufff, a journalist who was seriously injured in 2006 while reporting near Taji, Iraq.

Well hello.

Part of my grade for Writing for the Web is maintaining a personal blog. I've only maintained one blog during my summer in Oxford and did a poor job of keeping it updated. I've decided to use this space to figure out what all of my professors are telling me I should already know: what do I love? What is my passion? What makes me wake up every day and think, "I have even more to say about this topic than I did yesterday?"

As an aspiring journalist, it's just not good enough to say "Hey employer, I am a fantastic writer!" I need to have something to say. I need to have a unique point of view on a topic of interest for lots of people.

That's not so easy, it seems.

I've never been one to have "favorites." When my friends order pizza, they ask what I like and I say "Everyone get what they want and I'll take a slice of each." I live for variety--it's the spice of life! However, this natural inclination has led me nowhere in the field of writing. "Cheese or pepperoni?" is the question, and "both" can not be the answer.

So it begins. I'll post whatever I like and try to figure out the common thread between it all.

Hey, if all else fails, we can still go get a pizza together. I'm very flexible when it comes to toppings.