Different Outlook

Rui's newest assignment was given to us this week in class. We had to do 2 different things from our daily routines and talk about them, as well as choosing one object we encounter often, but look at it in a different perspective. He used the example of water, and as lame as it is to choose something the teacher mentioned briefly, it has changed for me recently and I'm thinking about using that if I can't think of anything more substantial.

First off I'll list one of the things I did differently this week: Halo 3 Launch Party.

Ya, ya I know tons of people would go, "Oh great..more videogame junk.." but as ridiculous as this may sound, September 25th has been a long awaited day for the past year or so. Now playing games itself isn't the different thing I did. It was the having a party and staying up for almost 2 days playing it that was out of routine. My friend decided to hold the party at his house so he decorated the room with all the posters and merchandise we've received from work from all 3 of the games releases and every magazine he had was spread out across whatever flat surface he had.

My part came in with the food. I decided to make some cupcakes for the event (which I also don't do often..not too great at baking) and they actually came out really well. My drawing skills with icing isn't that wonderful, but it was a good try if I must say.



Anyways, the act of staying up without any sleep is still kind of fun to experience. You get into this constant daze and jump from being overly tired to the point where you're beyond hyper and then crashing. Also hunger is not something I feel when I'm that tired, my brain is probably focusing too much on keeping me awake! However, it was well worth staying up late and being a zombie the day after at school, only to go right back and play some more. Having the 2 tv's, playing with co-workers and close friends and just playing ridiculous amounts of an amazing game as if there were no responsibilities in our life for that day was great to experience again. Haven't done it probably since..Halo 1 first came out.

Second Different Thing: Inventory

I work at Blockbuster Video. Not the greatest job of all time, but enough to get me by especially during school. During the summer I usually work morning shifts, which ends up being much slower in regards to customers, but full of specific duties for me to do for the store. I have switched to nights more so since school started again, but this week I got an inventory shift. This starts from 11 pm to approximately 4 or 5 am if we're quick. My boss along with 3 or 4 other employees spend the night scanning absolutely every..single...thing in the store, which I'm sure is the same for every company.

The reason why this is different is because of the lack of formality throughout this shift. There's no dress code or uniform, no customers and although we are doing a serious job, there's really no feeling of superiority or that typical work feeling. Sometimes we put in a movie to keep us entertained, we take breaks every hour or so with our boss and chat as if we're just friends hanging out. It's actually a really fun environment and a great shift if you can prepare yourself for the long night. We even get to go to McDonalds for breakfast since we finish an hour before it opens and it takes about that time to walk there. All in all, inventory isn't as bad as people make it out to be.

1 Object

My one object if it is allowed will be my skin. As odd as this may sound, this year my skin has gone through drastic differences and just in this last month my perspective on my skin has changed drastically. I have been diagnosed with a skin condition called Dermagraphia. Basically it's just a cousin to hives, but without any sores or marks until I actually scratch at myself. The reason why my outlook has changed is mainly because of the change of season. I'm on pills everyday for this in order to control the itchiness, but with winter approaching and after being given this assignment, I've noticed the changes more. My skin is so easily irritable that at school I had friends writing on me with their nails just to prove how much it reacts now. It puffs up so it ends up making whatever they wrote stand out from the rest of the skin..cool, but itchy. I have to take care of it through using lotion, drinking extensive amounts of water, avoiding certain foods and although it's kind of a double edged sword...keep my room cold when I sleep. It's the worst at night and although the cold air makes it dry, the cold itself keeps my skin at bay and I always need to have some ventilation going on. It sucks because I love hot things. I love being warm (I get cold really easily), I love hot showers, which I can't take anymore especially now that our heating turned on this week, and I love almost all the foods I have to avoid. So as you can see, I really took my skin for granted until recently when I realized it is going to change my life drastically, especially if this gets worse considering there's no cure for it.

I was considering water as my object because I've noticed how much I enjoy anything and everything related to water. This weekend I was able to still enjoy my friends heated swimming pool and I absolutely love being in water. My boyfriend hates it, which makes me laugh because I love being able to just do nothing and feel so soothed and calm in it. If I have a chance to swim, I always go for it..unless it's freezing cold. There's also the fact that, as previously mentioned, although everybody knows water is healthy for you, it has become an absolutely necessary item for me to have constantly to the point where I barely ever drink pop anymore. It has helped me lose weight though! Another part of water that attracts me is usually the colour. Almost everything I have is blue, and my mind instantly associates it with water, I just recently painted my room with a blue and teal colour to have an ocean theme. I also am a water sign in my zodiac and as silly and unrealistic zodiacs are, I enjoy the thought of my element being water and it shows through my artwork and even to the artwork, stories and even shows/animes of others. My favourite character in a recent cartoon I watch is the Water Elemental character and I know a substantial amount of that love for her is because she uses water as her weapon/defense. So as lame as it is to use the teacher's example, I do actually look at water in a variety of ways.