life: as known by traci

"‘Fat’ is usually the first insult a girl throws at another girl when she wants to hurt her. I..."

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 13:42:39 -0500

“

‘Fat’ is usually the first insult a girl throws at another girl when she wants to hurt her.

I mean, is ‘fat’ really the worst thing a human being can be? Is ‘fat’ worse than ‘vindictive’, ‘jealous’, ‘shallow’, ‘vain’, ‘boring’ or ‘cruel’? Not to me; but then, you might retort, what do I know about the pressure to be skinny? I’m not in the business of being judged on my looks, what with being a writer and earning my living by using my brain…

I went to the British Book Awards that evening. After the award ceremony I bumped into a woman I hadn’t seen for nearly three years. The first thing she said to me? ‘You’ve lost a lot of weight since the last time I saw you!’

‘Well,’ I said, slightly nonplussed, ‘the last time you saw me I’d just had a baby.’

What I felt like saying was, ‘I’ve produced my third child and my sixth novel since I last saw you. Aren’t either of those things more important, more interesting, than my size?’ But no – my waist looked smaller! Forget the kid and the book: finally, something to celebrate!

I’d rather they were independent, interesting, idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, funny – a thousand things, before ‘thin’. And frankly, I’d rather they didn’t give a gust of stinking chihuahua flatulence whether the woman standing next to them has fleshier knees than they do. Let my girls be Hermiones, rather than Pansy Parkinsons.

”

- J.K. Rowling (via amandadarling)

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Fri, 01 Jun 2012 22:32:43 -0500

things i will miss most about usf this summer

Wed, 02 May 2012 19:06:47 -0500

1. group shower jam sessions
2. the solid ass mofos i’ve become family with
3. the soup
4. my bros (very similar to the mofos, but even more so)
5. my puppy
6. my foreign friends
7. my red headed step child (oh judy)
8. training
9. netflix movie nights
10. sitting on the floor until 1 am
11. the marmadillo

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Sun, 29 Apr 2012 17:19:47 -0500

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Sat, 03 Mar 2012 20:33:13 -0600

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Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:34:44 -0600

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Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:30:57 -0600

I'm not going to be cliche

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:23:00 -0600

I’m not going to be like every other person out there today and be extremely gooey, sappy or depressed. I’m not even going to refer to today as “Single Awareness Day” like I have for the past few years. Today I am my own Valentine.

I don’t need a man in my life to tell me how special I am, nor do I need friends to bombard me with messages of “I love you” “You’re my Valentine” etc. (although it is nice to have that). What I’ve come to realize is that when it comes down to it, there are a lot of times your friends can’t be there for you.

No I’m not saying I don’t have good friends, I do. I have some pretty amazing ones. I’m also not saying that you can’t have a friend that is there for you a lot of the time, I also do have one or two of these. What I am saying is that no matter what, people will let you down, irk you off, or break your heart. Sometimes it will be in the middle of the night, sometimes you won’t be able to talk about it, sometimes the one you need can’t be there, and sometimes it will even be your friends that are the ones bringing you down and there is no one to turn to for comfort.

So to all of you people out there, take a moment and show yourself some love today. Be your own Valentine because no matter what, you have ALWAYS been there for yourself. You talked yourself through a tough time, even if you talked yourself into a hole, you managed to talk yourself into talking to someone. Also take time to thank your friends who have been there for you through a lot, a little, or none at all. It’s helped shaped you into you, and quite frankly, YOU are amazing just as you are (don’t the proverbial “they” say that beauty lies in imperfections, both in personality and physical beauty?)

I promised I wouldn’t be gooey, sappy or depressed. The last one may be slightly present in this post, but I see it more as the honest truth, (you know the kind that many people claim they want to hear but ignore it when it’s not what they wanted to hear - but more about that in another post) empowerment, and a very important lesson.

As always I promise to keep blogging, eventually this will become more continuous instead of my bursts of random posting!

Peace. Love. Popsicles.

Okay, so I don’t really reblog a lot of stuff, but I had...

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:59:00 -0600

Okay, so I don’t really reblog a lot of stuff, but I had to reblog this one.

Some of the NICEST guys I’ve met. Seriously, go see their show, you probably won’t get to meet them (at least from my experience here in Chicago - their fan base is CRAZY). I am so glad I got the opportunity I did. One of the best night of my life. Real blog to come soon about these mates (;

#10. Host a radio show

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:02:00 -0600

#10. Host a radio show

#32. Wear my school’s mascot costume.

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:19:00 -0600

#32. Wear my school’s mascot costume.

#20. Go to a concert on my birthday #21. Do something big on...

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 23:48:37 -0600

#20. Go to a concert on my birthday
#21. Do something big on 11-11-11
#24. Have a band sing me “Happy Birthday”

Thanks to Chelsea, Jade, Kate, Marissa, and Action Item

#17. Mini GolfIt was a long time since I’ve mini golfed...

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:07:00 -0600

#17. Mini Golf
It was a long time since I’ve mini golfed and I wanted to add it to my bucket list! This was taken after we played!

Now Playing

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:35:28 -0600

I Blame You - Plug In Stereo
Honestly - Hot Chelle Rae
Hollywood Dream - The Ready Set
Dress for the Weather - Action Item
Crystal Ball - Weatherstar
Lightning - The Wanted

Action Item

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 11:54:42 -0600

These guys taught me lessons that may not make sense to anyone else, but I owe them a huge thanks. The frist time I went to see these 5 guys was the first time I ever heard of them. I literally had flash cards because I didn’t want to look stupid at a LRT (private show kind of thing). Yes, I originally went thinking, “Hey why not? It’s a once in a lifetime thing right?” Little did I know that that day would change my life.

I won’t go into crazy detail, but because of this band, I am a lot more confident and not afraid to stand up and get things done. I also have learned to be myself because that first night, I didn’t care what they thought of me - I figured they wouldn’t remember me. I saw them a few more times and it wasn’t until I met them (for a 4th time) in California and Anthony remembered me, by name, that I finally got my second big lesson from them: Be yourself, you can be just as memorable.

Jonas Brothers

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:39:00 -0600

Now don’t go hit that unfollow button, hear me out. I’m not telling you to go listen to these guys, they aren’t for everyone - that’s why there is different music out there.

They have taught me many things though. First, they taught me to be myself. There is something about watching someone you look up to be a complete and udder goofball just because he can. Honestly, that’s one of the things that drew me to the band. They also didn’t let the public bring them down, they stood up for what they believed, and they knew that not everyone was a fan.

They also taught me to find people that respect me for who I am. Being a high school student who liked the Jonas Brothers wasn’t easy, but I never denied it because my true friends would be people who didn’t discourage my interests. It was like saying right up front “Oh hey, most people don’t like this, but I love it!” Yes, I did have my moments where I wouldn’t shut up about them, but live and learn right?

Finally, the last big thing they taught me was to help others. Their foundation, Change for the Children Foundation, is one of my favorite organizations because it is meant for young people to help young people by donating whatever you can - your change. I always throw my spare change in a jar and donate it after it builds up. They also taught me not to expect anything in return because just the gratitude of helping out is enough.

See, now I told you I wasn’t going to tell you to go love them. I just wanted to share some lessons I’ve learned for being a fan myself. Lessons I think everyone could benefit from.

Do you know any individuals who have helped you learn these lessons?

First semester...

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:07:22 -0600

Done! And so far, grades are good! I am still waiting for two more professors to post my grades but, so far I am very happy!

Okay so I said this blog would be about everything in my life, so first let’s talk about music. If someone would have told me that my best friends would have been made because of the concerts I went to one summer or that I have been on multiple road trips to go see a concert or even that I would know bands, I would not have believed them in the slightest. But it’s true. This music I listen to isn’t just a hobby, it’s a lifestyle.

Music is the reason I am who I am. I have been involved in music (formally) since 4th grade, but I’ve been singing since I can remember. For the next few posts, I will let you in on my lessons from the “silly bands” I follow. But overall, the lesson I’ve learned is to be yourself. Do not let others control what you enjoy because nothing can compare to the feeling you get when you experience the things you love most.

finals.

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:26:22 -0600

This probably wasn’t the best time for me to start a blog because next week is…dundundun…finals week.

So I am crazy busy getting my study on, well… mainly writing a research paper I have to present on Monday and working on my production work.

BUT I made some time to let you know a little bit about what I’m studying!

As I said, I am a mass communications major. At my school, mass comm is divided into two sections - PAJ and MAB. PAJ stands for “Public relations Advertising and Journalism” so that’s all your “paperwork” side of mass comm. I am MAB, or “Media Arts Broadcasting” so I am radio, TV, and website design type of mass comm. Currently my focus is on the radio part, I will have to take classes in each section but right now it’s radio. I LOVE IT! I didn’t always love it though, and once my show starts up again I’ll probably be singing a different tune. As part of radio, I have to have 4 hours a week on air, broken into 2 - 2 hour shifts. We had very little freedom on the show because we had to play what the station wanted and break when the station said. We did however get to talk about whatever we wanted during our “breaks”. Next semester though, it’s all me (and my co-host Lindsey). We choose the music, the structure, the content, EVERYTHING. It’s exciting and scary at the same time.

I’m also in a class called DARA, or digital audio recording arts. This was a chance for me to follow one of my dreams - producing. Now this class was nothing like what I thought it would be in the beginning. We had to compose our own music - all I wanted to do was record people, not write my own music, but we had to learn the program ProTools. Our final project is what I thought the whole class would be - creating songs and recording. I choose to recreate the song “Home” by Action Item. I still didn’t really like having to recreate the instrument parts because I had to do it all by listening, not my strong suit. In the end, recording my best friend singing the vocals was my favorite part. That’s what I was expecting in the class.

Those are my only classes you guys probably would care about, I mean math and speech aren’t that interesting and introduction to mass communication is a general class to learn about all the parts of mass comm. It’s hard and interesting and it has a paper that needs to be written…

Until next time!

A little bit about me...

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:27:40 -0600

Hi, I’m Traci. I’m a freshman in college and I am studying mass communications. I love the media - especially music. I have been to more concerts in the past couple of years than I ever thought I would. Somewhere along the way I realized I wanted to do tour management, you know after I decided I wanted to be a vet, a teacher, a singer, a producer….
Okay, so I’m a dreamer, but I have accomplished more dreams and crossed off so many things from my bucket list, I’ve learned never to let anyone tell you that you can’t accomplish something.

You might be asking, “What is this lady going to blog about?” Well, here’s your answer: I don’t quite know. A little of everything I guess. My bucket list, my adventures - concert and otherwise, dorm life, music. I’m letting you understand me…and if you do, please let me know, I’m still confused as to who I am (;