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Monday, December 17, 2018

Writing Prompt #15

#15 Create your own superhero. What special powers would this hero possess? How would he or she use those powers? What would his or her name be?

My fiance decided to help with this one. 

Our hero will be female of the Amazonian build similar to Wonder Woman(trademarked). Her powers would be a combination of incredible strength and martial arts abilities as well as the ability to control the mind but only for purposes of a peaceful outcome. Basically she can only use her psychic abilities if her desire is for a resolution with less carnage. 

Her name is Sara Bella.

Monday, December 10, 2018

Writing Prompt #14

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

I have not watched cartoons in a really long time but back in the day one of my favorites was Doug. He was relatable back when I was in school. In the present time, I watch some animated films and I have quite a few favorites from those too. Merida from Brave is one of my favorite princesses of the Pixar/ Disney line. Followed closely by Belle. I know Belle had a Stockholm syndrome but the fact that she loved to read and grow her knowledge is what makes me connect with her as a character. Merida on the other hand is a strong Scottish princess that is forced to be a prize in a series of contests. They have to fight for her hand in marriage. I just love that they decided to make a movie about a Scottish princess.

Monday, December 3, 2018

Writing Prompt #13

#13 Describe your idea of a perfect vacation.

As a kid my perfect vacation would have been to Florida. Somewhere where there is a beach and maybe somewhere fun to go like an amusement park. As an adult this hasn’t changed much.

As you all know, I am getting married next year. Where will I be going for my honeymoon? Florida, of course. There are many reasons for this but mainly my fiance is in the military and can’t cross the border without express permission to do so. Another reason is because I really want to visit Universal and see the Harry Potter Parks. I think we would both enjoy that.

Vacation also depends on the time of the year and what the weather will be like. As an adult I also bare in mind the cost of going to different places and compare them before I choose. As a kid you don’t think about the cost of the trip, just the fun involved.

Thursday, September 27, 2018

Mini-Update

It's been about a month since my last entry. Nothing much has really changed since then.

I got to visit my in-laws. My fiance got deployed to a hurricane zone and then sent home early. I can't elaborate on that at all. As a result of it my first planned trip was cancelled. I will be going to visit him at some point in October instead. Best Birthday present ever.

While I am there and while he is at work, I plan to do some more writing. I will schedule the posts way in advance. Thank goodness I have that ability on here. 

I wish I could do more right now but it's just not possible to do it all.

I feel like I am constantly making excuses for not keeping up with some of my hobbies. This includes my music. I have not practiced properly in months. My family would not allow me to perform at the last Alive After event. There is another in October but I am not allowed. They think busking is begging and it really isn't. By state law, you are not allowed to put up signs or use amplifying devices. I just have my case out. I hope that when I move that I will find more and better opportunities for that too.

I hope to be back soon,

Melody

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Its Been a While

Hey there readers and viewers,
I have fallen behind on the Blog train. It happens. I do have future plans to keep writing. Its just that right now I have a lot on my plate.
Excuses excuses. But in all seriousness. I am getting married next year. My main priorities have been to work, pay off things and plan my wedding.
I hope to get back to writing really soon. I am currently doing the long distance thing with my fiance and its hard. Writing is a kind of therapy for me. I can't believe I forgot about that.
See you all really soon!
-Melody

Monday, June 18, 2018

Love Languages: A Useful Tool


So I’m sure you have all heard of The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman. I have studied love languages for a while now and I believe they are one of many good methods to really connect with your significant other. There is a nifty little quiz you can find in PDF format. My boyfriend and I both took the quiz and the results were not surprising.

The Five Love Languages are: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch. Each one involves a unique set of skills to show someone you love them.

For example, I have a friend named Eric. He studied Russian in college and ended up in a study abroad program. He fell in love with this one girl and the only way to tell her how he felt was to say it in Russian. The love languages work the same way. You have to find that unique way to communicate with someone otherwise they don’t understand.

My quiz results were Quality Time followed by Words of Affirmation which was tied with Physical Touch. My boy friend on the other hand got Quality Time but that was followed by Physical Touch. So we have some stuff in common. Physical Touch is the easy part. It comes naturally. Words of Affirmation, on the other hand, are a lot harder for someone that is an introvert like my boyfriend. It does take time to learn how to communicate with each other.

I think everyone can benefit from studying their significant others Love Language. It could mean the difference between a deep connection and a superficial one.

-Melody

Monday, June 11, 2018

Writing Prompt #12


#12 If you could have a party and invite anyone you wanted living or dead, who would be on your guest list? Why?

This is a difficult one, especially now that I am an adult. Just a reminder to everyone, these writing prompts were for the 8th grade writing level.

The question did not specify the number of people so I will list a few.

Firstly, I would invite Family members that have passed away. I still have so many questions about our family and what happened during the various wars that they lived through and about my family in general.

Next I would invite Jacksepticeye and Markiplier because those guys are really great and could help rig up the gaming section of the party.

Lastly, I would invite an actor from a movie. I am such a movie buff that I can’t decide which one but there are several that are really friendly and would be really cool to hang out with.

Oh and the band of choice would be Skillet or For King and Country. I mean what party can happen without music.

-Melody

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Quick Update*EDITED*

Its been a while!

I've been busy with one thing and another. At the end of April I went to New York to visit my boyfriend. I did some writing while I was there but I forgot to actually upload it. He also came home for 2 weeks so I got busy with that too. I have not had regular work in a couple weeks which is frustrating but what can you do.

At some point tomorrow I will be hanging out at a Starbucks and I will set more posts to publish for the next month or whenever I have the time to sit down and schedule the stuff I already wrote.

I have loads of news that I cannot share at this time. I will be doing more blog posts and Youtube videos in the future. The scheduling feature is really useful. I usually set it for a Monday at 12 noon. Something new should release on that day of the week. Youtube schedule is still to be decided. I'm thinking Thursdays but right now I simply do not have the time to record anything but I will be working on some material in the meantime.

Until then please bare with me as I am going through a lot of life changes and need time to handle them.

-Melody

Monday, March 5, 2018

Writing Prompt #11


If a classmate decided to write a book about you, how do you think he or she would characterize you? 

If anyone wrote a book about me they would characterize me as I am; the good and the bad. I believe that a biography or a story should describe the person as they are. We are unique beings. No one is the same as another. Our flaws are what make us extraordinary. I think that is what makes our lives interesting. I often sit and people watch and think about what their life might be like, what they might be going through, and what they are doing that day.

Let’s use me as an example. You can observe me sitting at a Starbucks right this moment. I am sitting at a sort of bar with booth seating facing the room and the coffee machines and baristas, with a glass wall behind me. I am wearing headphones over my head and typing away on a laptop. You can say that I look like a college student because of all the papers and a binder at my side. You over heard me talking to the cashier. I was at traffic court today and I have a headache. I must be pretty stressed out. I occasionally pause to think about what I am writing. My head sways to the music that I am listening to. Then you can branch out to the possibilities. This is where your imagination can go wild. Characterization is subjective. If three people observed me for 20 minutes they might come up with completely different characterizations.

 To answer this question, I do not know what someone would say about me.

-Melody

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

The Power of Words: Positive Mental Attitude

I have always believed in the power of words. What you speak out loud you tend to start to believe; the truth and the lies, the good and the bad. I strongly believe in positive self talk and general positive words and attitude. On the other side of things, the negative is very powerful and should not be taken lightly. Negativity is so strong that it stays with you longer than positivity. There is a tight bond that has to be broken for positivity to take root.


I don’t believe in superstitions but my culture is full of them. There are a few I grew up with. For example,
I could not hand my dad my car keys through a doorway. I had to step across the threshold for him to take
them. It is considered bad luck to hand something over a threshold. I still do that to this day. Another one
involves putting safety pins in your clothing to ward off jinxed and bad luck. I plan to find a silver one to
put on my necklace so I always have it with me. The funny thing is that my grandfather used to put them
in all of my clothes. Now I know why.


I guess you live and you learn.


May you all develop a positive mental attitude.

-Melody

Monday, February 26, 2018

Writing Prompt #10


What would you like to change about your town? How could you do it?

I live in a small historic town. As an adult, I would say that the price of living can be changed for people to live here more comfortably. Real Estate is really expensive the closer you get to all of the restaurants and bars. I guess it makes sense to a degree but what if I want a nice apartment or condo closer to all the fun? Even a one bedroom apartment is $1,040 a month depending on where you look. I pay half that staying at home. Either way one of my goals is to have a condo of my own one day.
How could I change this? This change can only happen on a government level. Basically the government would have to do what they do in Europe. A monthly allowance that pays rent and whatever is left for food. You can still work but at least most of your living arrangement is take care of. Either way, I do not work in the government so I do not know what would work and what would not.

-Melody

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Promise Ring: What does it mean to me?

Okay, so what is a promise ring and what does it mean? What is the promise?
Basically, a promise ring, also known as a purity ring is a symbol of a promise to remain abstinent until marriage. It is normally tied to the Christian faith but I have met people that decided this was the path they wanted, regardless of religion.

Let me start from my beginning. All through high school and college I attended a Messianic Synagogue. I was in the youth group too. There was a lot of talk about modesty. This came naturally to me but there was a time we talked about abstinence until marriage. I do not remember the exact time I learned about abstinence until marriage but it was shortly after that, I started wearing a ring. My ring was stolen in gym class and later that year my dad replaced it for me for graduation.

Anyways it was not until college that I started to really take thing seriously. I was never the type to sleep around either. I have been through my fair share of relationships and sexual temptations that followed but I never slept with anyone. Just to step back a little I was touched inappropriately when I was 15. I will not get into the details of it but he was a junior at my high school and it happened on school property. I was very aware of physical temptations after that. Then I nearly slept with my first serious boyfriend in college when I was 22.  I told him that I could not go through with it. It did not feel right and I am so glad I didn’t.

Shortly after graduation I remember going to a thrift store. In the glass case, I saw a sterling silver ring with a heart on it.
My promise ring today.
I immediately knew I wanted to replace my gold ring with this one because I don’t like yellow gold. Also I got my gold ring re-sized and a few years later I gained weight and could not wear it anymore. So the image above is the ring I currently wear. I even had to cut out a piece of the band to make sure it can expand with my finger. My hands have a bad habit of swelling up sometimes. For a few years, I didn’t wear it because of that.

Recently I made a huge decision to delete my dating profile and put my ring back on. This came about shortly after I watched Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2 and remembered the Jonas Brothers. So I Googled them and remembered the whole thing about their promise rings and the fact that they did not understand what it was about but were forced to wear the rings anyways. Well I do understand and I will keep my word.

The promise is more about self-respect and self-control.

I promise to remain pure until marriage. This is supposed to be a purity of body and mind but since we are all human beings and our bodies were made to feel things and our minds think things; this promise is more about self-control. As human beings we will make mistakes. I mean I messed around a little in college but the basis of my personal promise is to respect myself and not sleep around with every guy I date. That promise still stands.

All in good timing I will meet a guy that understand this and respects my decision. Until then, the world sees me as undatable because sex is not part of my relationships. I don’t care what the world says. 

My promise will stand for a long time.

-Melody

P.S. If anyone wants to reach out to me for further private discussion on this topic then please email me from my profile page.

Monday, February 19, 2018

Writing Prompt #9


If you could eliminate either crime or pollution which would you choose and why?

Well pollution can be made a crime so; I would eliminate crime and tackle both at the same time.

This is a rather complicated question. Crime harms everyone and Pollution harms everyone. The logical one would be pollution but crime is still a problem. I will examine both sides.

Eliminate Crime and you have a safer environment to live in. Crime can be defined in a number of ways: harm to another person, harm to an animal, harm to a business or harm to the environment. Those are basic definitions but there are so many more. I just simplified it. Pollution can be classified as harm to the environment. Crime in general is breaking the law. There are always consequences for those choices.

Eliminate Pollution and you have a cleaner environment to live in. This is beneficial to all people and creatures on earth. There are several types but air and water are at the top of the list. Cleaner vehicles eliminate air pollution and water filtration systems and ocean cleaning endeavors tackle water pollution.

So my answer is eliminate crime.

-Melody

Sunday, February 18, 2018

What Valentine’s Day Means to Me?


Okay so this year Valentine’s Day came and went but something rather odd happened the day before.

I play videogames online. You all know about that since I wrote about my favorite game. Anyways one of the guys I play with asked me to be his Valentine. I am not sure if he understood the meaning of the word, but I said yes. Just to give some more information. Valentine means you spoil someone for a day. They don’t have to be your significant other. Well I decided it was cute and moved on. The day before Valentine’s Day he told me he liked me. Well, there are many issues with that but this is where the story ends. I told him the truth and let him stew for a while. I am not into younger guys and long distance is not my thing either.

A little background to the story: This guy is 22 years old and lives 2 states north of me. This would not work out for 2 very important reasons. First, I am 29 nearly 30 and I would never date a guy 8 years younger than me. The second thing is that long distance rarely works out. In addition to all of this, I believe in some form of education or at least a really good job to support a family. I rarely see any guys really work at this part of their lives. That is a third reason not to date someone.

Basically, I have my preferences like anyone else. I also do not like leading people on and I do not believe that age is nothing but a number. My range is between 2 years younger and up to 5 years older. Otherwise it’s creepy and the generation gap is intense. I prefer having someone nearby to hang out with and talk regularly. I have seen several friends torn up by long distance and it did not end up working out. So my conclusion is that it’s probably not worth taking the risk unless I really like the person and we would be seeing each other regularly each month but with everyone’s busy schedule, it is really hard to travel a few states over to visit.

So anyways, my philosophy about Valentine’s Day goes like this. Love everyday not just one day a year and spoil someone at some point, just because you can. Do not lead anyone on when it comes to the affairs of the heart. Also make sure you know the definition of a Valentine so you don’t get your heart broken on the most heart filled day of the year.

Melody

Monday, February 12, 2018

Writing Prompt #8


What makes/made you unhappy about school? How could you change this?

Bullying made me most unhappy back when I was in school.
If I could, then I would love to have more school assemblies with guest speakers. When I was in school, guest speakers rarely made an impact on the student body. The anti-drug and alcohol rallies were always corny and awkward. As an adult I think that people that tell their story have the most impact. It hits close to home when someone tells you about something that happened in their school. It becomes more real. I wish I could speak at my high school and tell my story. I was not bullied too badly and I had a few friends. My message would be about being nice to each other just because it’s the right thing to do. You might not like someone but you have to work side by side sometimes. You should be nice especially to someone you think is different for one reason or another. Your act of kindness could make their day and change their life.

#smilealways (Tyler Sheid)
-Melody

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

My Newest Plans: Update


Okay, so I have been doing a lot of thinking and learning in the last month. I have hit a spark and I want to keep working at it and enjoying it. So I did a vlog about this recently. It can be found here:

I talked about everything going on with YouTube on multiple occasions but lately I have been forced to rethink my strategy. I still want to do YouTube videos but I want to add more to what I do. So I added in Twitch and a little sprinkle of gaming. On Twitch you can make the settings move your streams over to Youtube when you are done recording. Over the last month I have learned how to edit thumbnails on a program called GIMP. Its about as good as Photoshop so I am okay with that. I also downloaded Windows Movie Maker. Again simple enough but that's all I really need. I am so proud of myself for learning the things I wanted to learn. The last step is to actually start practicing flute again. Mainly the whole Youtube thing will become one of my many hobbies. I will do it because it is fun. Of course the blog will always be a thing too.

Another update I have is about work. I found a really great staffing agency that is really good about communicating. So 9 out of 10 agencies are garbage so you should really keep looking for what is right for you. My first assignment was in a warehouse but my next assignment is at a medical facility. I am okay with this arrangement for right now. The agency is called Express Employment; just in case you are looking for work. I just hope this will work out for a permanent arrangement at some point. My family might not be okay with this but I am. If I want to do the things I really want to do then the bills need to be paid. Work is work. I won't be totally miserable but at least I will not have to worry about the financial side of things. I have so many goals and dreams but I do not know how to make them happen. That is my biggest problem but I will figure it out. 

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
-Jeremiah 29:11-13

-Melody

Monday, January 15, 2018

Writing Prompt #7

Do you think it is ever a good idea to end a friendship? Why or why not?

I think there are two sides to this question.

It is a good idea because there are solid reasons to end a friendship. One good reason would be betrayal or serious infraction. While you can forgive, the friendship would never be the same after a tough situation. Sometimes people drift apart. That happens too. Some friendships were never strong to begin with. Those drift apart too. I personally do not keep friendships that are damaging or toxic in any way. This is just not a healthy relationship to have. As an adult I am getting pretty good at identifying them. The same rule applies in my romantic relationships as friendships sometimes develop into this. 

It is a bad idea to end a friendship over something silly. If the other person walks away, its on them. Romantic relationships are the worst reason to stop being friends with someone. Sure, your attention is spread thinner but true friends find time for each other. In other words do not fight over guys or gals. The bad reasons are subjective because I might think something is silly but someone else might have a different view on that. For example, I might think of a candle as a candle and blow it out. no big deal but someone else might think that its disrespectful to the host of the party. This is not only, subjective but also has a cultural significance. I agree to disagree in these cases.

I can't change the people around me but I can choose who I bestow with the honor of being called my friend. At the end of the day, taking offense is a what really ends friendship. Forgiveness is not easy but it is a step in the right direction. 

-Melody

Friday, January 12, 2018

The Laughing Emoji

Today’s society practically lives online. You may run into 1 or 2 people that despise all things social media. Then your face looks shocked like the painting, The Scream, or like the emoji with the oval mouth. Either way online interactions practically rule world, especially for younger generations. In these interactions we often react in a variety of ways. Facebook is one of the biggest social media platforms. Their developers came to a realization that we respond to things with more than just a thumbs-up or thumbs-down. So they decided to add additional reactions. They range from smiles to angry but the one that bothers me the most is the laughing Ha-ha reaction.

Here’s a little context for you. People have laughed at me and mocked me my whole life. Personally I don’t laugh when something is not funny. To me, it is immature to laugh when the topic is not funny or even meant to be funny. Jokes and anecdotes are funny. A comment/statement on Facebook is not always funny. Sometimes it is just stating a fact or having a discussion.

Sometimes people put the laughing emoji to laugh at you for saying something they perceive as stupid. Facebook has opened the door for bullies to make fun without saying anything. When I see a laughing emoji as a reaction to one of my comments, I am immediately bought back to the high school cafeteria where people giggle over the smallest thing. What are we? Kids? I am pretty sure that most of the interactions I have online are with adults over the age of 25. By this age most people don’t randomly giggle over things. A more mature reaction would be thumbs-up or a smile and move on. Why make people feel bad about posting something. I can’t count the number of times that I have deleted my own comments online because I felt so bad about what I wrote even though there was nothing inherently wrong with it. Sometimes I know it’s best to take back my words and just not continue the conversation. I have learned over the years that its best to avoid conflict and pick your battles if at all possible.

My main point is that before your react to something, you should think about how that person might feel. I catch myself in this often and try to make sure that I react respectfully.

Monday, January 1, 2018

Happy New Year!!! С Новым Годом!!

Happy New Year everyone!

С Новым Годом to all my Russian friends!

2017 is over! A new year often means a new beginning!  Well the number 8 in Hebrew numerology means just that. I'm hoping that this year will be a new start for me.

Currently I am jobless for the first time in two years. The last time this happened it was the beginning of 2016 and I had just totalled my car and needed to find a job and fast. So I took a job as a security guard. Fast forward to 2017 Exactly one year to the day I started as a security guard, I quit and went to work for a large financial corporation. I absolutely loved it. Sadly it was not to last. 9 months later, September 1st I got a call that they were letting me go. I was in a state of shock. For two weeks I did not have a job so my moms friend referred me to someone (they will remain nameless). I worked for that person for 3 months and quit because, long story short, I could not please him. So I remained jobless for the next month.

This past month I realized that I needed a break from all the craziness in my life. I spend time with my family and we even got a new kitten for Christmas. His name is Rico. So as you can probably guess, I have had my hands full. I forgot how destructive cats can be. Anyways, all of that aside, I am going a little crazy. Call it cabin fever or whatever, but I need to find a job and quick. I hate sitting around. Unproductivity is what truly makes me unhappy. Another thing I figured out is that I keep letting what people say get to me. This is so unhealthy. In 2018 I resolve to stop that. I need to be like a duck in water. let the water roll off me (maybe my new meditation should be called "be one with the duck").

So, I just found out that the party I was supposed to go to got cancelled due to house system failures. So I felt really bad for a few hours and then learned about what happened to the house and immediately understood that it's not about me. I have a really bad habit of jumping to conclusion that someone does not like me or is mad at me and therefore does not want me around. This is simply not true. Another thing I need to work on in 2018.

New Years Eve morning I went to church. I was late but I made it just in time. I had to sit in the back. My friends were not there so I left right after to go home and set up for my lifestream. This is the first time I have ever tried something like this. The internet disconnected 3 times. Turns out that my network adapter was connected to the power settings. so it would be put to sleep every hour. I just fixed that this morning just before I sat down to write this post. Over-all it was an interesting experience. I learned a lot about OBS settings and how to make sure my microphone does not echo. I ended up chucking my microphone and just using the microphone in my laptop. I also connected my second monitor. The next thing I need to sit down and learn is GIMP. I need to make thumbnails for my videos. Another thing I need to do in 2018.

After the stream, I settled down in the basement and set the table and had myself a peaceful New Years party at home. It was pretty awesome. This is what I needed. After the new year struck I plugged in a movie and laid back with some tea and sweets. This time last year I spend New Years in a cold drafty guard house at a Coca Cola Plant. The bright side to all of this situation is that I was not on the roads where there could have been a bunch of drunk drivers and I did not have to spend a drop of gas to go to my party.

Every storm cloud has a silver lining and the sunshine after a storm makes a rainbow.

Happy New Year,

Melody