Reasons Why Group Projects SUCK:

1. It is virtually impossible or organize a convenient time to meet (outside of class) when you are working with multiple school and work and life schedules. "well looks like 3am it is!"

2. No matter what, one person always ends up doing most of the work: whether it's you because you're anal compulsive, or your partner because you're being lazy...either way it sucks balls.

3. Due to lack of meeting time, there is always some sort of scramble at the last minute to throw it all together, causing unneeded stress and anxiety to the group.

4. Sometimes you just fucking hate your group members: newsflash! they are probably lame.

5. There is always some struggle with difference of opinion: two hours into the meeting you realize you're fighting over whether to use glitter glue or paint pens, and that's a serious disagreement.

6. They're expensive: i don't know if it's because teachers think that since you are in a group it must magically mean everything is cheaper. lies. especially if you opted for those glitter glues.

7. It always seems they are due in the middle of midterms and finals: teachers seem to be under the impression that group work is not nearly as hard as writing papers and taking exams. so you'll have no problem doing both, right? oh yeah no worries, looks like i have some time between 12am-6am that i have been wasting sleeping...

8. You get to meet new people: yes, but that doesn't mean that it's improving my life. if anything it just feeds into my anger management issues. why is bob such an idiot? no, but seriously...

9. Sometimes you get grouped with people who do not share the same ideals on communication as you: wait, so there are people in the world who don't check their email compulsively twenty times a day? well how am i supposed to get a hold of you?

10. Despite what they say, I do not feel better equipped for the real world: if i was assigned a group project at work, everyone would be into it, because it would be their JOB. they would be getting paid for it.

Well there's a thought....i should be getting paid to do group work. Well in that case...s-i-g-n me u-p!

random ramblings

i'm not mean. at least i never mean to be.
i'm not rude.
nor am i snobby.
i'm just sarcastic.
and dry.
i wish i could be outgoing
and friendly, and have everyone love me.
i wish i could carry on a conversation with anyone
about anything.
i wish everyone liked me,
and weren't so quick to judge my actions.
i hate that i have to be so sensible,
which people misconstrue to mean dull and no fun.
i wish i could be spontaneous,
or even girly and giddy,
i wish everyone didn't always assume i was a bitch
or that i didn't like them.
because odds are, i probably thought you hated me.
i wish i could be as comfortable around everyone
as i am with my closest friends.
i hate that i let people intimidate me.
people who are so undeserving.
i wish i could be the best.
i want to do it all with the best intentions,
and for all the right reasons.
i'm smart, and i want people to see it.
i'm happy, and i want to be able to show it.
i wish everyone could understand the anxiety i sometimes feel
in social situations.
i embrace my awkwardness.
and i wish everyone else could too.

POP!

i love poporn.

and i love my family.

now you might wonder how the two go together, or even how that connection formed in my mind. well the real question my friend, is how don't the weldens go together with popcorn. i wanted to write a little anecdote about my parents to hopefully give some insight into the bizarre world i live in. my parents rock. i mean they are awesome and the best parents anyone could ask for. and boy do they LOVE popcorn. must be where i developed my love as well. i can remember all the way back to elementary school, when we would sit and watch tv, my dad would pull out this ancient air popper and make himself a giant bowl of popcorn. and of course, he would melt a quarter stick of butter to drizzle on top. mr. welden loves popcorn so much so, that he proceded to purchase a popcorn machine. (just one of the many quirky things we own) and you better bet, any time we sit down on the couch to watch something, he will pop some corn in that machine, and sit and eat it, stripped bucket and all. but that is just the amatuer rounds. it's when the weldens hit the movies when things really get serious. here's a normal welden movie endeavour:

as a family we always arrive to movies at least a half hour before it starts. (the previews are the best part! duh! plus we like to sit in the back center, and those seats are hot commodoties) but most importantly, there must be time to do a consession stand run. and this is how those go: one parent and one child stay behind to guard the seats, while the other parent and child take the drink orders and proceed to the stand. they will order four drinks, and the biggest popcorn, whichever comes with the free refill, and also two of those nifty cardboard trays. with skill and technique they will carry the giant popcorn and all four drinks (plus napkins!) up to where the other parent and child remain. napkins will be passed out accordingly, and the trays will be placed in the hands of each child. (we're not important enough to eat out of the bucket). a parent will then dump out the popcorn evenly into the two trays, and then take the empty bucket downstairs for an instant refill. (who wants to risk missing five minutes of the movie to refill popcorn! so efficiet, i know). the three who remain in the theatre will all cross their fingers in hopes that they don't mark the bag, so we can get, thats right, a SECOND refill. two giant bags of popcorn are not enough for us weldens. but sometimes its a risky game, many times we have gleefully exited the theatre with a third full bag of warm popcorn for the drive home, and others we have left with our heads hung solemnly, stomachs growling for just that little bit more of salty goodness.

bet you never knew how serious popcorn can really be.

and yes, there is reason one of a billion of how i became me.

Oh My God!! Like Totally Gag Me With a Spoon!!

in middle school, i thought it would be the coolest thing in the world, if i actually used phrases from Frank Zappa's song "Valley Girl" in my real life. obviously there are a lot of problems with this, but the first i would like to clear up, is that i am an actual valley girl, born and raised. one time my brother's cousin (they're half brothers) came into town from nothern california and told me he was excited to go back to his friends and tell them he met a real live valley girl. at the time i didn't think anything of it, but looking back, that was probably a quiet slam against "my kind." i'll admit that the time in my life where i was like totally using like after like every sentence, and like referring to things like being totally like grody to the max, was definitely not one of my finer moments in history, but hey i was young and didn't know any better.

as i grew up the exaggeration of my valley girls speech shrank, and came what it is today. what i thought is a normal way of speaking. still living in the valley no one ever said anything about it, because that was how everyone spoke. that was the dialect that belonged to our community, and we all used it the same. surprisingly i even survived a year or two in san francisco where people never bothered me about it for the most part. maybe it was because i befriended a lot of people from southern california, more importantly other valley girls. (i wonder now if there was any rhyme or reason to that) anyway, it was not until recently that i have become completely fed up with all the flack people give me for the way i talk.

i came to san francisco because i hated the valley and i wanted out. i absolutely love it here, because it's beautiful, and accepting of all sorts of people, except southern californians i guess. i just don't understand how a group of people who say things like "hella" and "hyphy" all the sudden have the right to make fun of the way i speak. i understand that saying like often, and oh my god, is not one of the most elite ways of speaking, but that is how i learned to speak, and it is in no way wrong. i can't imagine how they think they sound less stupid saying they are "hecka tired" than someone saying they are "like totally tired." to me they sound one in the same.

also for clarification being a valley girl and being a snob are two completely different things. i may have grown up loving the mall, and not wanting to break nails etc, but i have never once been snobby towards someone. according to dictionary. com, a snob is "a person who imitates, cultivates, or slavishly admires social superiors and is condescending or overbearing to others." aka, i think you actually have to be popular to be a snob.just because you are a valley girl, most definitely does not make you popular. (which is a whole different post on its own). so please don't call me a snob. i do not appreciate it.

and just as a last fyi, there are a lot of people from southern california who do not consider themselves better than nothern californians. just some simple folk who want to fit in up in the north and enjoy the beautiful atmosphere.

i'm getting CRAAAZY.

i'm twittering now too. i really like it. it's more my kind of thing. i tend to have a hard time writing long posts. i like to sum my life up in sentences. haha. it's like facebook status updates. only on twitter no one judges you for changing it three times in one day. anyway, you can check it out.

www.twitter.com/elleeuu


long winded posts to come. get excited.

UGGHH

i hate money. and that all of my life problems seem to stem from the fact that i never have any.