• About
  • First Amendment
  • Gallery
  • Resume
    • Clips
  • Useful Links
    • Social Media
    • Technical Communications Portfolio
      • Project 1
      • Project 2
      • Project 3
      • Project 4
      • Project 5

ejridener

~ "This above all; to thine own self be true." – Hamlet, William Shakespeare.

ejridener

Tag Archives: challenge

30-day writing challenge: Day 24

25 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by ejridener in Challenge, College, Life, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

challenge, College, friends, high school, personal, television, The Office, writing

Day 24: Write about a lesson you learned the hard way

You always hear adults say “enjoy it while you can” as you’re “struggling” through high school. The first taste of real life is choosing which college you’ll attend when you graduate. I don’t know that I really took the time to enjoy those days as I should have.

I hated high school. It’s not exactly as if I had a stereotypical misfit story but it was close enough. I wasn’t sporty because I have no coordination and trip over my feet walking. I didn’t dress like every body else because I hate bright colors and I listening to the type of music that is best played at an eardrum rupturing level. I was in the “smart” crowd and most teachers liked me because they never had to keep and eye on me.

Now? I started working a week before my freshmen year of college started and have been going like the Energizer Bunny ever since. The first semester of college was rough and I remember sinking onto the couch on my few days of no school or work and passing out mid-text to my boyfriend at the time. I did well that semester and the ones to follow but there are times, oh there are times, when I feel like my head will explode from the amount of school work that’s piles up. I’ve found I function best with roughly four hours of sleep.

Andy Bernard, "The Office."

Andy Bernard, “The Office.”

I wish I could go back to those simpler days and enjoy having time. Now when I want to catch up on a television I’ve missed a few episodes of I have to plan it carefully around an essay’s due date or an exam. If I want to hang out with friends the situation becomes a play-offs style game of phone hockey where the victory is finally finding a day, two weeks later, when everybody is off from school and work.

I guess learning things the hard way is what makes you appreciate those things so much more. Now all I have to do is figure out when the good old days are happening so I enjoy them while I’m still there.

30-day writing challenge: Day 23

24 Wednesday Jun 2015

Posted by ejridener in Art, Challenge, Travel, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

abroad, art, cat, challenge, dog, future, goth, personal, rescue, Tim Burton, writing

Day 23: A letter to someone, anyone

It’s a high school cliché to do this but why not? I’ve decided to write a letter to my future self seeing as I’m young and full of ideas and dreams that will likely fall to the wayside when life gets in the way.

Dear Future Self,

I swear if you turned into a square I will be so pissed.

Remember when things were much simpler? Back in the day in elementary school when you chose your friends based on whether they liked NSYNC or The Backstreet Boys? When you didn’t have to worry about bills? When you dreamed of traveling the world and taking enough pictures to fill a room’s worth of photo albums? Or when you swore to be the eccentric aunt who taught her nephew how to draw and cling to imagination because at the end of the day that’s one of the few things that we will always have.

Taken right after I had the dark teal peek-a-boo highlights put in.

Taken right after I had the dark teal peek-a-boo highlights put in.

Hopefully, you didn’t forget. I do hope you’ve traveled the world and filled each of the 22 slots in your memory card carrying case. I hope you choose friends based on whether they watch Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead. I hope you don’t worry about bills because you always pay them in a timely manner rather than at the last second. Finally, I hope Austin receives a scholarship to an art school because his talent and passion is so great.

Mostly, I hope you’re happy. Maybe living somewhere you’d never thought you’d visit or working for a magazine you’d thought was out of reach. Maybe there’s a guy, maybe there isn’t. But there better not be any cats; I forbid you. Rescue a dog.

Consider this a wake-up call from the ghost of your former self. The person looking through the window during a thunderstorm. The dreamer whose only surgery has been wisdom teeth removal. The student who hates partying and only drinks when curled up in front of her Macbook. The aunt who declares Wednesday a no-go for working because it’s the day she spends with her little man. The artist whose hair is black with dark teal peek-a-boo highlights. The Goth who goes to the grocery store looking like a Tim Burton character because she loves to turn the J.C. Penny loving housewife’s heads. And lastly, the writer who types for life.

Stay weird,

2015 Emily J Ridener

P.S. Seriously, if you have a cat there’s no hope for my future.

30-day writing challenge: Day 22

23 Tuesday Jun 2015

Posted by ejridener in Challenge, Music, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Black Veil Brides, challenge, Chris Isaak, drugs, Dynamite Boy, Foo Fighters, Icona Pop, MGMT, Music, nirvana, The Verve, writing, Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Day 22: Put your music on shuffle and post the first 10 songs

99494339-24FE-4318-AA5E-FB5FE7D36B5EI have a varied taste in music and I think having 2220 songs shows that variety. I put my iPod on shuffle without knowing what would turn up and thankfully it wasn’t anything too embarrassing though I will admit 32D008E7-0D60-4CA3-BCC8-73A8F9863BFDnumber 11 was the “Doctor Who” theme song.

MGMT – Weekend Wars
MGMT is the definition of guilty pleasure for my ears.
Icona Pop – I Love It (feat. Charli XCX)
This is one of those songs you here when watching your favorite show (in this case “Girls”) and can’t get the song out of your head. The solution becomes download the song and listen to it on repeat in an attempt to get it to stop making you hum the words you don’t even know. P.S. it didn’t work.
Black Veil Brides – F.E.A.R. Transmission 1: Stay Close
This isn’t really a song but one of four “F.E.A.R. Transmissions” that play on Black Veil Brides’ album Wretched and DE2BE4B0-E172-4CEE-99B6-715186B393E3Divine.
Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows (D.R.U.G.S.) – The Hangman
I really loved this band’s album and was happy one of the songs appeared in the first 10 of this challenge. Seeing as each member came from a different Warped Tour success band it’s a blend of different elements from some of the great bands that came off that tour.
Nirvana – Son Of A Gun
I’ve been very vocal about my love for 4820FC27-64B4-4233-8525-432DCAD36906Nirvana and with the amount of their songs on my iPod it shouldn’t be shocking that one showed up to the challenge.
Foo Fighters – Breakout
Ironic that the song to play after Nirvana was Dave Grohl’s band after Nirvana ended. I’m not the biggest Foo Fighters fan but I did download their grates hits album because all the songs I do love were on it. Given Grohl’s recent injury during a show I think we can all agree he’s a true rock star who powered through a broken leg to finish the show.
Chris Isaak – Wicked Game
I’ve no excuse.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll
I dare you not to want to dance.
Dynamite Boy – I Want It That Way
Seeing as I grew up with boy bands and pop princesses but I can no longer stomach them this is the best alternative. the Punk Goes Pop album can be a mixture of funny and frankly better versions of the songs you grew up with.
The Verve – Weeping Willow
I love The Verve and I was so excited when they announced a new album all those years after their first. I think they’re understated and mellow which is perfect when you’re trying to relax but don’t want to listen to orchestras.

← Older posts
Newer posts →

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

From the Archives

  • May 2019
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Subscribe Subscribed
    • ejridener
    • Join 71 other subscribers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • ejridener
    • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...