Pet Peeves (BEDS 415)

OKAY GUYS LET'S COMPLAIN ABOUT STUFF.

1. Books whose covers have little / nothing to do with the actual content itself. 

I mean just...why? Why you gotta have some random chick on the cover? What does this bracelet even mean? WHAT IS GOING ON?!?

Additonally...

2. Books with random girls / guys / faces in general on the cover.

Do these people get recognized? Like, on the street? Like, "Oh, hey, weren't you the girl on the cover of The Selection?" This is something I wonder about daily.

But actually, it kinda weirds me out.

3. People who crap on other people for their interests.

JUST LIKE?? DON'T??? Like you're welcome to disagree with me, that's chill, that's whatever. But if you're not even watching / experiencing / taking part in whatever it is that I'm currenlty obsessed with...you don't have to crap all over it. I mean, really. You're not even discussing the actual content, you're just taking it at face value and throwing it in the trash, along with all my respect for you.

4. Grocery store patrons who DON'T. PUT. THE. DIVIDER. BETWEEN. THEIR. GROCERIES.

I don't care how obvious you think the separation between your order and the next is. As a cashier, I also don't care who puts the divider down--but for the love of God, those plastic sticks exist for a reason.

(I could probably write a novel detailing all of the grocery store / retail scenarios that anger me, if I'm being honest...)

5. People who crowd the gate at an airport before their zone has been called.

I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND. This does not speed up the process. It will not get you to your destination faster. Last time I was in Orlando, people were crowding the gate so bad that people exiting other planes couldn't get to freaking baggage claim because of the utter mob that was lingering outside the gate--and boarding hadn't even started yet.

An airplane is not rushed seating, guys. I promise, you'll get the same seat either way. All you're doing is likely causing the airport staff a hell of a lot of unnecessary stress.

There are almost definitely more things that tick me off, but we'll just leave it there for now.

Until later,

- Justyne

How to Amuse Yourself in an Airport

Hello, friends! As I write this, I'm in a Starbucks down the street from my job, getting in a quick blog post before clocking in. As you read this, though, I've made the long trek down to the United States to visit a dear friend / buttface of mine. (Who just so happens to have a blog of her own.)

So as of now, obviously, I don't know what to expect from my journey, as I haven't started it yet. But what I do know is this--I have five hour layover scheduled in Minneapolis, which is sure to be one hell of a good time. (The sarcasm dripping from my fingertips is sure to fry my keyboard.) 

It's not my first layover, though, and it sure won't be my last. So here's a quick, simple, 8-step plan on how to amuse yourself in an airport:

Step 1: Find yourself a highly caffenated beverage.

The exact definition of this is obviously based on personal preferance, but I myself go for a double shot on ice from Starbucks. Gotta get them espresso shots in my system, because by this point I've already been up for a solid five hours and it's still only 9 AM. The alternative is, of course, to nap in your terminal, but sleep is for the WEAK. (And I'm going to nap in the air, anyway, so might as well focus on some productivity now.)

Step 2: Find yourself some prime outlet location.

This can be hard to find at times, but damn it, you're here for more than half a work day, so you have time to do some searching. Venture bravely outside the limits of your gate, and leave a trail of breadcrumbs behind you so you don't get lost.

Step 3: Make a list of everything you want to do.

This includes:

- Three (3) blog posts

- Seven (7) illustrations

- One (1) entire novel draft

And, if you have time, get a start on next year's taxes. (Me, overly ambitious? Noooo!)

Step 4: Check Twitter before you start.

I mean, you gotta let your loyal followers know what's going on.

Step 4.5: Update your Snapchat story.

It'll only exist for 24 hours, so make sure you spend a solid five minutes on that.

Step 4.75: Realize that you just spent, like, half of your time scrolling through social media and not actually doing any work.

My, time flies when you're procrastinating.

Step 5: FOCUS.

Put them earbuds in and tune the irritated travellers out!

Step 5.5: Okay, right after this song.

How does a bastard, orphan, son of a....

Step 5.75: Okay, right after this song.

Pardon me, are you Aaron Burr, sir?

Step 5.8: Okay but actually let's pick a different album because CLEARLY this isn't working in your favour.

You really shouldn't have picked such a catchy soundtrack, anyway.

Step 5.9: Realize that you won't actually hear the announcement on the PA when your flight starts boarding if you keep your headphones in.

You can tune out the busy crowds on your own, right?

Step 6: ACTUALLY GET SOME WORK DONE WHAAAAAAAT

Look at you, being productive! Look at you, making good use of your time! Look at you--

Step 7: Wait, is that your flight being called?

Huh. That went by faster than expected.

Step 8: Board your flight, settle in, and NAP.

You clearly earned it!

How do you guys amuse yourself during long waits, in airports or otherwise? Lemme know in the comments!

Until later,

- Justyne

Wangin' It, Take Two

So apparently, blogging in the airport means blogging on my phone for the first time. (At least for me.) So if there appears to be an abundance of typos / spelling and grammar errors, you can blame auto-correct. (No really.)

As of about 9:30 last night (again, going by Atlantic Time), I officially finished my first year of university. Exams, term papers...everything. Done. And now I find myself sitting in an airport, patiently awaiting my connecting flight to return home.

And I'll be honest, I have no idea what I'm doing.

I've always hated the looming pressure to decide what we're going to do for the rest of our lives; the expectation to have everything planned out, all the time, no exceptions. And the whole "back-up plan" thing, too, but you probably already know that.

So needless to say, I have been stressing a bit. I have no idea what I'm going to do this fall; wether I'm going to head back to school or stay home and bum around in my parents' basement while saving money to spend on who-knows-what.

And you know what? I SHOULDN'T be stressing. Nobody should be. There's nothing wrong with being unaware of the future, or with not planning out every little detail of our lives. We're not psychics, so why should we be expected to be?

My love for spontaneous-ness (shush, I can make up words if I want to make up words okay) shows through the way I write. I would rather just jump into a story than plan the whole thing out first; if I spend too much time planning it, the story bores me, and I lose the motivation to continue with it. If something changes or doesn't connect with something that happened before it, I can just go back and change it later, no big deal. That's what the editing process is for.

So if I decide that I want to change my character's name from "Amanda" to "Amelia" half way through a story, why can't I decide, "Hey, I wanna drive to Vancouver," as well?

Well, probably because I'm broke and don't know how to drive, but that's besides the point.

My point is that spontaneity (look, I used the actual word this time, happy?) is great. Making decisions on the fly and not over-thinking everything makes life more exciting. If we had everything planned out, and knew exactly what was going to happen, it'd be boring. Like when you know the ending of a book before you even read it; everything seems predictable and not nearly as exciting.

Now, let's see if I can figure out how to post this post.

Until later,

- Justyne