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ejridener

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

ejridener

Tag Archives: Music

How to make a great care package for a friend studying abroad

04 Friday Sep 2015

Posted by ejridener in college, DIY, Friends, Life, student, Study Abroad, Travel, Uncategorized

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art, bookmarks, care package, College, DIY, France, friends, Grenoble, homemade, ideas, knitting, Music, peanut butter, study abroad

*Disclaimer: I’ve been waiting to post this until I knew my friend had opened the care package, as I didn’t want to take the chance she would see this.

It’s always nice to be a fun and caring friend.

That being said, a friend of mine is embarking on a study abroad program to Grenable, France from August 2015 to June 2016. I’m going to miss her to pieces as will the other two people in our immediate friend group and I decided to make sure she never forgets any of us.

So my friends and I brainstormed a care package and I put it all together.

I had no plans to post about it seeing as this was between the four of us and not for the purpose of being something put up on the interwebs but during the brainstorming phase I had a hard time finding good ideas on the web. I wanted to give people a look at something you can put together, and not break your already fragile wallet, that your friend will not only appreciate but also get great use out of.

At first, this was supposed to be more of a “Things you probably over looked when packing” box but it morphed into a practical and personal care package. A small note to start: all of these items fit into a Recollections Memory Box that can be picked up at Michael’s craft stores for $4-$6.

1.A jump drive
I bought a 16 GB jump drive while doing my back to school shopping and put some music and videos on it for my friend’s viewing and listening pleasure. I separated everything into folders because some of the videos were meant only for when she missed home i.e. Pure Michigan ads I saved from YouTube. For the music, I just took from my iTunes songs I figured she had never heard because where’s the fun in listening to a secret jump drive if you know all the tunes?

A screenshot of some of the songs that made it on the jump drive.

A screenshot of some of the songs that made it on the jump drive.

2.Scarves
I am a knitter and I’m not ashamed. I love to make scarves and have a box full of them seeing as I don’t sell them but continue to make them; let’s just say Christmas is a cakewalk for me. Because she’ll be in a region of France that does get a cold winter, though nowhere near as cold as Michigan, I put in one warm infinity scarf that I finger knitted (if you don’t know what that is click here) and one fashion black lace scarf. Putting in the scarves added practicality and a personal touch seeing as I made them myself.

3.Toiletries
This is one of the more practical parts of the care package. All of the following are travel size items: shampoo, conditioner, make-up remover wipes, bottle of hand sanitizer three packs of Kleenex and a first aid kit. Mostly we just wanted to make sure she had some basic supplies until she settles in especially seeing as she goes to Paris first for a few days and then she goes to her host family. The first aid kit was more because you can never be too prepared and it was tiny.

4.A Notebook
It’s the size of a Composition notebook and the same brand but it’s a more plastic-like cover rather than the cardboard because we needed it to be flexible enough to fit in the box. It could be a travel journal, school notebook, planner, etc.

5.Pens
You can never have too many pens, especially when you’re in college. Enough said.

6.Sony Headphones
If you’re like me and go through headphones like a runner goes through socks (what can I say? I like my music loud) then having a spare set is always necessary. I’ve been using Sony ear buds since I my first iPod’s headphones crapped out back in 2007. They are on the cheap side ($10) and the sound is great seeing as I normally go through them every six-nine months.

7.Ricola
We all get sick at some point during a year time span so of course I included her preferred brand of cough drops. Fun fact: I sent her a very odd Facebook message in order to find out her preferences for certain things I wanted to include such as “Halls or Ricola?” and “EOS or Burt’s Bees?” which leads us to the next items.

8.Burt’s Bees Lip Balm
I love this stuff and have a tube hidden in all my purses. She preferred Burt’s Bees over EOS so I stuck two tubes of the beeswax lip balm into the box. Not going to lie, I was tempted to keep them.

9.Basic School Supplies
Glue sticks, notecards, pack of paperclips, a Post-It cube, crayons (Crayola because they are our childhood), Wite-Out and tape because let’s face it, she probably forgot the basic stuff when worrying about her laptop, charger, clothes, and Nintendo DS.

10.Peanut Butter-y Goodness
She had done a six week program in May and June 2015 so she had an idea about the snack situation in France. Being from the United States, we have a lot of different chocolate, nutty, delicious candies. I had asked if there was any candy, in general, that she couldn’t get in France that she loved and she said mostly it was anything that had peanut butter in them. As a disclaimer, I would like to point out she wasn’t saying you can’t buy peanut butter items anywhere in France but it just wasn’t common. To solve said problem I bought a bag of peanut butter M&Ms and a bag of Reese’s Miniature cups (Not the newer super small ones but the ones individually wrapped and the circumference is close the size of a quarter) and we plan to send her more Reese’s as the year goes on because we’re good friends.

11.Bookmarks
Nothing says we love you like taking the time to make something from scratch. I handmade a bookmark that she could use for textbooks, notebooks or novels.

And there you have it! A care package for someone going to France for nearly an entire year. One thing to keep in mind is how they are traveling. I asked multiple times if she would be putting the box into her checked or carry-on luggage because that makes a huge difference in what you can and cannot put into the package. Even though I know she was putting it into her checked luggage, I still tried keeping all liquids until 3oz and nothing too suspicious which is why I didn’t buy green tea in a thin plastic tube at the Michigan Renaissance Festival due to its’ physical similarity to marijuana. I didn’t want her bag to get riffled through and that box, which is sealed with packing tape, to get broke open.

30-day writing challenge: Day 22

23 Tuesday Jun 2015

Posted by ejridener in Challenge, Music, Uncategorized

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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.

30-day writing challenge: Day 19

20 Saturday Jun 2015

Posted by ejridener in Challenge, Movies, Music, Uncategorized

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Tags

Anne Rice, challenge, eternity, Interview with a Vampire, Lestat, love, movie, Music, Queen of the Damned, Stuart Townsend, vampire, writing

Day 19: Discuss your first love

Stuart Townsend as Lestat.

Stuart Townsend as Lestat.

Your first love doesn’t always have to be a real person. It could be a character in a movie that changed you, made you snap or opened your eyes.

I’ve stated before in a previous post that “Queen of the Damned” was a wake-up call for me. I had always been terrified of horror movies and was nowhere near excited to watch the latest book-to-film adaptation seeing as “Interview with the Vampire,” Anne Rice’s first book in The Vampire Chronicles, had scared the bejesus out of me. When the opening credits faded in with statues and violins easing my fears, I was hooked into watching the film with my mom.

I’ve never looked back.

At the time, I hadn’t read the books and seeing as I was only nine I didn’t have high expectations for films that didn’t have animation involved. I know now that many of the fans of The Vampire Chronicles hated “Queen of the Damned” but it will always have a special place in my heart.

Scratch that, Lestat will always have a special place in my heart.

One of the smirks I still swoon over.

One of the smirks I still swoon over.

A while back on my private Instagram account I had posted a picture of Stuart Townsend as Lestat with the caption “seriously have been in love with him since I was 10.” I’m 22 and still hopelessly in love with that character.

Don’t ask me why either because it’s not as if he’s a knight in shining armor. I think it’s the combination of arrogance, mystery and self-loathing all in one and I was too young to understand what many have described as the erotic element of vampires. What I saw was a historic and handsome individual who survived from other’s life forces. I absolutely love the vampire turned rock star who makes makes music look good.

Stuart Townsend’s Lestat will always have a special place in my heart because I still sign like a schoolgirl when he comes on the screen and I still nearly swoon when he smirks. I love vampire movies and have seen many but my heart always goes back to Lestat.

Lestat playing the violin in a flashback.

Lestat playing the violin in a flashback.

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