Manfull's Handfull

It is in times of tragedy that we often find ourselves questioning humanity. We begin to question the morals of the sickened society we live in, and we find ourselves lost as to how to bandage up the gaping wounds the tragedy's leave within our hearts.  After every evil act that is taken out in American soil I always find myself more shocked than the last time. I'm not saying one tragedy is greater than another, it just seems that each one becomes more twisted. It make my spine crawl thinking about those who do harm to others; but I won't give any recognition of the manic coward behind the weapons. The name of evil is not important; rather, it was those who faced evil without fear that should be remembered.  After the unspeakable trauma Newtown, CT just witnessed I think that we should take a minute and ask ourselves, "how can we help those in need?" Especially in the spirit of christmas, we, as a society, need to figure our a way to still spread smiles ac...

I didn't think people actually ran into poles. I was mistaken. Proven wrong by myself, obviously. Casually walking out of my last class I'm chatting with a guy in my discussion on his paper. I was very taken aback when he told me that he had already finished his ten page paper due next week. I was congratulating him on his accomplishment (while also kicking myself for watching Friday Nigh Lights for the last 16 hours instead of writing that paper) as I was opening the door to go outside. With my head turned to the right I wished my classmate a good evening and turned left. walking directly vag. first into a pole. The flustered classmate stammered his apologies and told me it was all his fault. With what dignity I had left, I just turned to him and said, "no this actually happens all the time." I stood there staring at the chest high pole. It had smacked me square in the center of my body. What a douchebag. I am still bruised. who in their right mind puts a...

It sucks that I think cats are so cute. considering i'm allergic to them. It sucks that I love ice cream, really anything with dairy in it. Considering I'm allergic to dairy. But then again, it all could be worse. A few days ago I was exposed to the triumphant man that was Drew Wall. A freshman boy from Kennedy suffering from a rare bone cancer, but never letting it defeat him. He lost his leg due to amputation from cancer complications, but instead of building a depression from his illness, he took it and embraced it. He wanted to still be active, but because running was so difficult in baseball and basketball, he took up golf and excelled with such speed it impressed everyone around him. He knew God gave a tough battle to him because he could handle it, he could take it and turn it into an inspiration. Sadly, a few days ago Drew lost his battle with the vicious cancer- but his spirit lives on. I had never had the pleasure to meet this magnificent young man, but he rem...

Not that I struggle enough in my core strengthening class already, but today was one for the books. On a normal day I suffer though the horrific workouts for two reason: 1. to stop sucking at running and 2. to impress my teacher. Holy hell balls this man is sight for sore eyes (lets be real, any eyes for that matter). I literally do my plank while smiling, so it looks like I actually enjoy torturing my abdomen. Hell no, it hurts like a bitch but i smile because i want to look like I'm really in shape and so much fun to hangout with. Alright, so I always pick heavy weights too (not because I can actually lift them, more so that it looks like i can. LOLZ). Well, half-way though today's work out I could just picture the weights smashing into my face, so I started to get up to get some lighter ones. As I was running out of the room Hot Teach Tom asked me where I was going. Attempting to be cute (yeah, because sweating balls and not being able to lift 20 lbs is cute) I chuckled and...

For halloween I decided that it would be an excellent idea to dress like a goth. I figured it's completely out of character for me and it would be a fun adventure. I convinced my co-worker Heidi to join in with me and my two other friends. The second I split my hair into a middle part, I knew I was going to be terrifying. Everyone in my house was getting ready, dressing as jazzercizers or pirates, actually looking cute and rather darling. Well the second I finished applying my drastic make-up, I turned around and a girl screamed. I walked into my friends room and she accidentally bumped into me and quickly said, "Oh I'm so sorry, I thought you were Manfull!" Awkward, I am. I was so unrecognizable that even the girls I live with every day had no idea it was me behind all the dark and morbid clothing. As we began our adventure downtown I was getting so many stares- it might have been the hot pink spiked color attached by chains to my wrists, but who knows. As I got ...

There's a lot of things that are wrong in this world. There are a lot of things I don't understand and I will never figure out. But the few things that I do understand are the most important things: Don't sweat the small stuff, if it's meant to be- it will happen, and most importantly treat others how you want to be treated. These are things we all learned in kindergarten, and that I have taken with me everywhere I go. Throughout the years I've noticed that some people have forgotten or disregarded these little facts of life, these little things that make the world better. Although the first two lessons are very important, it is the last one that I want to focus on today, and how what you say can really impact those around you. I am well aware that everyone is brought up in different ways, by different people, and under different circumstances. But that does not mean someone better than any other person. We all breathe, we all express emotion, we all have thoughts...

Not everyday is rainbows and butterflies.... Adam Levine you are so right (marry me?)  but its true. We can't have every day be perfect, things go awry, and the sun don't shine down. But even after something disappoints you, you still have to remain positive. Yesterday came at me like a boxer, throwing hit after hit. It was as if everything I touched turned to shit instantly. But after multiple hits I knew there was something I still had to look forward to; Caroline. HBO aired a segment on my dear friend who passed away in a tragic accident. I knew seeing her smiling face on television would make any bad day instantly turn around. It was magical, it was inspiring, it was emotion- but most of all it was reassuring. No matter what I'm going through in my day, good or bad, I know I have some beautiful people watching over me. There to pat me on the back for a job well done, or to remind me that everything will be ok. I have people above me to guide me through my mistakes and...

Today was an adventure. Not only did i strangely wake up chipper when my alarm clock went off, but i didn't fall back asleep. Alright, that doesn't happen. So I got ready, I even put a scarf on to spice things up and some zebra rain boots. Because every girl is required to wear rain boots if there's a chance of rain. Duh, it's like the rules of feminism! The rain boots came in handy because the weather was like a sack of soggy dogs, it was ruff. teehee. But really, walking two miles while rain is being pelted in your face is a fun game. Whatever I totally deserved a red velvet molly's cupcake with vanilla frosting on it. As I was sitting in Molly's with my friend Spector, I noticed two men sitting at a desk next to us. It looked as if they were in a deep, serious conversation. Then I saw it. A Bible. As Spector and I casually chatted about all our nights that ended in regret, confusion and copious amounts of vomit- These men were praying for us. They had the Bi...

Its been some time since exciting adventures had happened in my life- I mean obviously things are always interesting but sometimes Weeds take priority over everything (blogging, school, exercise- whatever it happens). So I will catch you all up.. Subway Bitch- Every day there are two men that sit on the corner of Washington and Clinton and always hold signs up that say "Anything will help". I was feeling extra happy and helpful so I asked our chef if he would have extra dinners I could take to them. RJ, being the sweet soul he is, took control of my mission to cure homeless hunger and packed them both dinners (napkins and forks included). I walked the mile down to the corner and of course one of them wasn't there. Alright coolio, this lucky dude gets two dinners (pulled pork is the shit too). As i was crossing the street I ran into my friend and had to chat for a little bit and catch up on her life.. literally 1.5 minutes of a meet and greet. Well, within that 1.5 minu...

It's been awhile since I've written about every minute detail about my life, a whole three days to be exact. But for those of you who have missed my stories (I apologize if my blog is the only thing that keeps you laughing- you must be a very sad and uneventful person). But great news, passed my kickboxing class- not without falling during my presentation, but whatever its done and I can kick your ass now.  I also took a mid-term last night (yes, one of the ones with stalkerboiiiiiii) and I failed to time it perfectly, to where I slide into class, unnoticed by Steve the Stalker (*Steve is not his real name...well I'm actually not sure). No, I of course got to class 15 minutes early... to study more I guess? Which gave him the prime choice of seating; row directly behind me, looking over my left shoulder. My spine tingled when I saw him ooze into the row, blah. He also tapped me on the shoulder, i did jump- yes that happened. And "had" to ask me what section we we...

Probably the best weekend at school so far. 2012 Barndance, APhi Pancake breakfast (to cure the hung ones) and dinner at mi casa with all my lady frans? Sweet deal if ya ask me. Getting to dress in cutoff jeans, cowboy boots and a flannel shirt and a red bandana tied in my hair- is always a good time. However having your wine explode in a purse (that wasn't yours...my bad Torto), is not ideal. Also, Pregaming the pre game is never the answer. Furthermore, pre-gaming the pre-game alone in your room drinking straight from the bottle is an even bigger no. But whatever, my excuse is that I'm young (I hate myself for even saying that...so much). But good times none the less, good times. My date was a superstar, even if he did pee in a water bottle and throw it out the bus window- hey, if it saved him from a hernia you go bro.  At the bar, I ordered mini corn dogs- that is all. Fell asleep on my date on the bus ride home. For future notice, I'm a good time. Woke up at 8 (...

I made the terrible decision to watch Pay it Forward the other night- alone. If you haven't seen it, its an inspiring tale of an adorable tiny Haley Joel Osmet who sets out to change the world one good deed at a time. Well, I cried uncontrollably (alone) for a solid 30 minutes because I wanted to be just like tiny HJO (lets just shorten his name shall we?). But it inspired me to do some random acts of kindness all around Iowa City. I mean, hopefully it wouldn't end up with me getting stabbed in the end like HJO (lucky for you, I survived my adventure-stab wound free). It started out that I was walking past the homeless man that sits on the corner of Washington and Clinton; the one I blogged about earlier. I saw his head hanging low and knew a cupcake would cheer him up. So I strolled into Molly's and ordered a mini red velvet with vanilla frosting (with little heart sprinkles of course!)which happens to be my favorite one. I walked back down to the man, and held out the c...

Happy Fall everyone! Or should I say, happy pumpkin spice latte season! Whatever you call it, that beautiful time of the year is here, leaves are changing colors faster than I can change my outfit for the night! In all honesty, fall has always been my favorite season, theres just so much happiness in the crisp air. It makes me want to go to a pumpkin patch, decorate the house, and go trick-or-treating (yeah so what if i'm twenty). But I know this fall will be spectacular, i have barn-dance coming up, a family dinner with all my Kappas, Halloween, HOCUS POCUS SEASON!!!! and my birthday of course! But I knew there was just going to be something to top it all (yes, even better than Hocus Pocus)... I went to bed last night thinking, "tomorrow is going to be a phenomenal day". I couldn't tell you what made me think that, or why tomorrow was going to be a day to put in the books- but i just had that feeling. Well, I had the luxury of sleeping in late (didn't quite make...

HE'S BACKKKKK. The stalker that is. I did a pretty good job of dodging, diving, and ducking him yesterday... I may have run outside the side door of Van Allen and hidden behind two people (a couple at that.. thanks Kat) in hopes that he would continue his walk far away from me. He stood on the corner and looked around for a bit but finally continued on his way. Thank God. However my luck ran out today. I was in a coma of a nap (my most favorite part of any day) when my alarm finally went off. When you wake up to a song with lyrics "ANOTHER ROUND GOING DOWN LIKE WATER, I WANNA GO ALL NIGHT LONGER" it's really hard to not get up. So i shuffled on my birkenstocks (no, I am not a lesbian) and looked at the clock- great 15 min to get to Burge, normally a 20 minute walk. Luckily my mom called and asked if I needed a ride to class, with 2 minutes to spare I strolled into class (you da best momma). However there were only two seats left because we combined discussion c...

Today I could write about the fact that I pulled my hamstring doing lunges (approximately 30 lunges at that), or that my boss gave me $5 for stopping into work for 20 minutes to help out with random things. I didn't tell her my original intent was to just grab a mini-red velvet to reward myself for doing lunges (logically), but hey I guess it all worked out in the end. But instead I think I'll share about something I learned in class today; poverty is something we see daily, but never really have to think twice about it because we're the lucky ones. As much as I joke around about how unlucky I am with life's curveballs, I have a roof over my head, I have a job (which I love), I have a family that supports me emotionally and financially (thanks guys, IOU..lol), and the best friends I often don't deserve. I may not be a millionaire, but looking at everything I have, I'm pretty rich in life. As we sat in class today, watching the documentary 30 Days , I couldn...

It was Thursday of last week that I met my stalker. He came from out of the woodworks, a shy little fellow- yet uncannily creepy. He followed me out of the doors as I began my walk home, and then he asked me about my day just as I was about to put my earbuds in. See right there is where I should have know this guy was problematic- do not disturb someone as they are about to be swept away in there own world of music! Well he continued to talk even though I clearly had other goals in mind (country music was calling my name), and ended up walking me far away from where he needed to be (oh yeah, he told me where he lived). I thought ok, maybe this guy just needed to talk to someone today- maybe he just needed someone to listen. I'm all for listening to random people's nags and needs, but if it happens more frequently it becomes a bit of a hassle. See it was only four days later that he popped up again- literally waiting for me outside of our lecture hall. He decided he needed to se...

As I sit in the Kappa kitchen, I can't help but let my mind wander toward this whole "blogging" thing. Obviously I should be studying for my test tomorrow but I just couldn't get this idea out of my head. I want to blog because i'm amused by my daily encounters and mishaps- and no one ever seems to listen to my stories verbally, so maybe they'll read? Doubtful, but hey- at least i'll have some documentation of my daily adventures. Welcome to a day in the life of Manfull, yes these stories are true.