Some things you don't forget

So, I still haven't written a post on my trip to NYC. I need to get on that. It's one of those things I keep telling myself I need to do, but never get around to actually doing. Just like I've been telling myself for about two weeks that I needed to e-mail one of my former profs, who I'm friends with, since we never got together like we were planning. I told myself this so many times that I had a few dreams in which she was featured. My subconscious was even getting on me to e-mail her! Granted, she e-mailed me this morning ... so problem solved. I don't think that's possible with a blog post though. Too bad!

For now, I have something much more random to ramble about. Since I was thinking about writing a post, I got to thinking about when I used to journal. Despite the amount of time I spend on my laptop, I'm a paper & pen kind of gal. I LOVE office supplies. My favorite type of pen is a Pilot EasyTouch fine point. I usually have black ink, but also love blue ink. I'm a huge fan of yellow legal pads. Honestly, I have an obscene amount of pens, pads of paper, etc. When I was younger, I always had a surplus of journals. Family members would get them for me, I would pick up one that I liked in a store.

I went in & out of phases with journaling. Sometimes I would write every day, sometimes there would be long stretches where I didn't bother. For a while, there was a constant though. I would name my journal. I progressed from writing "Dear Diary" or "Dear Journal" to "Dear Grace" "Dear Kendra". (I did use those two names. Not sure where Grace came from, but Kendra was after my 7th grade English teacher who gave me that particular journal as a Christmas present.) Back then, the words seemed to flow better when it was more like I was writing a letter to someone instead of just writing for myself.

I still have some of my old journals, although I did toss some of them. Really, who wants to look back at those middle school journals that are ALL about the boys you had crushes on? Sometimes I can't believe how boy crazy I was! (And then I remember that I still am sometimes.)

The few memories captured in those discarded journals that I would want to look back on, those are still etched in my mind. Like the first time I danced with a boy -- a boy I had a huge crush on that entire year. We danced to I Can Love You Like That ... the Boyz II Men version, of course, not the lovely John Michael Montgomery version I heard on the radio a few weeks ago. Ryan's hands were around my waist and he sang along to the song. Twelve years later, I can still picture it clearly.

That's actually an elementary school story, not middle school, but you catch my drift.

On a completely different note (I think), I want to pimp out my alter ego: @JoyfulHeart87 on Twitter. I started a second Twitter account because I had a dream that my family decided to get on Twitter & knew I was on there, so I had to hurry up & create a new account & Tweet a ton so it didn't look suspicious. Since I'm massively paranoid about things, I was like ... it wouldn't hurt to have a second account. So now I have my regular Twitter account & this new one, which I'm using mostly to Tweet about activist/advocate related things. Just FYI. :)

Saturday Blogging Marathon

Hi everyone!

Okay, as you may have gathered from the title, I'm participating in a blogging marathon on Saturday. I'm blogging for RAINN -- the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.

This is a cause to which I am dedicated. So many women, children, and men (yes, men) are affected by rape, abuse, & incest. It takes a lot out of a person & they aren't weak if they are broken by the experience. However, there is help out there. RAINN provides important information for people on a national level. They can put someone in touch with a local rape crisis center or provide support online for someone who feels more comfortable behind their computer than on the phone.

They provide so much, but they can't do so without help. If you would like to sponsor me for Blogathon 2009, visit this website & find me under "with a side of Whimsy" in the alphabetical listing. I know this is short notice, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to raise any money.

I hope that I'll be able to help raise awareness about RAINN & the support that is out there for survivors.

The goal is to post an entry about every half hour for 24-hours. I will be starting at 9am on Saturday & hopefully going until 9am on Sunday! (Good thing I'm not on hotline this weekend!!)

Told You So

I never said I was going to be good at keeping up with this blog. In fact, I pretty much said the opposite.

Here are my reasons for my lack of blogging (I don't claim that they're good reasons haha):

I Tweet.
A lot.
Which you probably already know.

This is not a SVU & Bones blog, & that tends to be all I have to talk about. (Plus that's what Twitter is for.)

This is not a book or Harry Potter blog. I've been doing a lot of reading ... of Harry Potter. Somehow I'm only on Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire, though.

I've become a texting whore & thus spend a lot of time with my thumbs on my BlackBerry. Which sadly does not have internet access. Because I'm poor.

I've been incredibly frustrated with my job search, which makes me cranky. Do you want to read cranky blog posts? Me neither.

I get really easily distracted by behind the scenes pictures of SVU now that they've started filming the new season. Not my fault*. Seriously.

So now I present you with the quick & dirty (oh, stop with snickers!) of things I could potentially have blogged:

I burned my finger while cooking. I am my mother's daughter & my nonna's granddaughter.

I chased a bunny down the street trying to get closer to it.

I was followed by a stray cat who was so cute & kept meowing at me.

The trip to NYC which will happen in the next couple of months.

Why I will always love my college.

Newest blog suggestion (because she actually updates hers & writes ridiculously well): Confessions of a Hollywood Addict

*Tell me how I'm supposed to overlook something like this. IMPOSSIBLE!
So ... um. How do you conclude a blog post about absolutely nothing?

Oh! Right. I am kind of trying to hold a contest. The prize is knowing I will be reading a book which has been deemed fantastic by your fabulous self. All you have to do is go here & tell me what book you think I should read. Hell, you can even Tweet it to me! I don't know about you, but I think the contest will be a lot more interesting if more than one person enters. It's harmless. It won't hurt. You can suggest as many books as you'd like, just make sure you use separate comments/Tweets so that I can number them individually. The cut off is at 4pm on Friday, 17 July. Get on it!

This isn't my first time ...

I'm notoriously bad at blogging. During middle & high school I had various short-lived affairs with online journals. Things would start off hot & heavy, but then they'd fizzle out. Last year when I spent a semester in London, I kept a blog to update my family and friends. Easier said than done! C'mon, I was gallivanting around a new country, more than enough of an excuse.

However, I love writing. I'm hoping that plus my new found free time (they don't tell you a job isn't guaranteed once you have that college degree) will make things different this time around. I have a bit more motivation now that I'm regularly reading other blogs. I'm not ashamed to say that I love mommy blogs, even though I get weird looks from some of my friends when I say so. They're endearing, hilarious, and well-written.

Also, I'm addicted to Twitter*. It's fun, but I can get wordy and those 140 characters just aren't enough sometimes!

I guess I should include a little info on myself, other than my terrible blogging past ...

My name is Kimmy. I'm 21 (22 on the 26th) & I just graduated from college. I majored in sociology, minored in international relations. I'm currently unemployed & looking for a job, preferably in the human rights or social services field. I've been volunteering with Amnesty International for 7 or so years & I'm a rape crisis counselor. I have an intense relationship with TV, especially Bones & SVU. I'm a book worm & have the baby pictures to prove that I always have been.

I don't know where this blog is going to go, but I'm interested to see and maybe you are too.

*You can find me on Twitter @Kimmy6313