Make Your Own Kind of Music

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44640208547104679132012-02-08T01:30:21.721-05:00Make Your Own Kind of MusicNikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.comBlogger651100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-27206433313070572322012-01-20T15:07:00.007-05:002012-02-08T01:19:28.846-05:00A Memory Experiment

One year in high school, I had to take an SAT prep class at a learning center during the summer. I was really angry about this class interfering with my summer, and I told my parents that I didn't want anyone else to know about it. At the time, I didn't understand much about how my memory worked, but I had this feeling that I could sort of "contain" the class, so that it didn't touch the rest of

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-79993484852551622052012-01-19T20:15:00.009-05:002012-02-08T01:27:58.776-05:00No Excuses for Sexual Assault

I'm really tired of hearing people's excuses for rape and sexual assault, as if it was the fault of the person who was assaulted. NO ONE has the right to push you into something that you don't want to do, whether it be by physical force or social or psychological pressure. My friend Eli created a webcomic about affirmative consent, which you can read here: Click here to read about affirmative

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-45461639216574756272012-01-19T03:22:00.012-05:002012-01-25T14:37:16.917-05:00To Hear What Isn't Said

Reading between the lines has never been my specialty, but I want to make a serious effort to hear what people aren't saying, to understand what people actually want even if it is different from what they're asking, because not everyone is comfortable asking for what they want directly. I mean, when was the last time you told someone that you wanted attention or to feel cared for? Probably, you

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-35901524005951646082012-01-19T02:53:00.006-05:002012-02-08T01:30:21.727-05:00Types of Pain

The way I see it, there are 2 types of physical pain: Type A: The pain you feel when you fall off your skateboard, burn your hand on the grill, or have a headache - pain that you do not want to experience again. You may be willing to risk some pain in order to learn a new skill, such as riding a unicycle, but you still wear safety gear and try to avoid falling. Type B: The pain you feel when

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-19727310041024779812011-12-30T22:23:00.004-05:002012-01-19T04:06:09.990-05:00Reasons to Bond Over

People often like to bond over things they have in common. The first kind of thing you might have in common is something that you both like. You may enjoy bowling or knitting or playing dungeons and dragons with someone who shares your interest. You may like to talk about your favorite books or watch a marathon of your favorite TV show together. Another thing you might have in common is

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-69010610924457907042011-12-30T16:10:00.014-05:002012-01-19T02:54:53.609-05:00Pride and Other Emotions

Back in high school, I participated in a state theatre competition each year. High schools from all over the state would prepare a play to perform and compete against the other schools. There were three rounds of competition, and at each round, a certain number of schools were selected to advance to the next round. My classmates and I never made it past the first round. Most of us had a high

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-63760263135188350942011-12-05T14:28:00.002-05:002011-12-05T14:31:00.513-05:00Holistic Experiences

This is sort of an add-on to my previous post about vegetables. Basically, I have holistic experiences with many things, including food, meaning that everything about the situation is taken into account. In the case of food, it's not just about the flavor, it's about the entire experience of eating, my ideas of the food and how I think of it. Like I said in my last post, part of the reason I like

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-76917547986206980142011-12-02T04:13:00.009-05:002011-12-02T04:40:03.037-05:00Vegetables

For most of my life, I didn't like many vegetables. It was only in the last four or five years that I started to like them. I wasn't born hating veggies. My mom said that when I was young, I loved peas and carrots so much that she would add more of them to my soup. She said I began to reject vegetables when I started watching Sesame Street and other kids' shows and got exposed to the idea that

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-33022737433381119272011-11-09T13:21:00.013-05:002011-12-30T16:16:29.359-05:00The Trouble with GPAs

I never knew how to calculate my grade point average until I started applying for college. We didn't have GPAs in elementary or middle school (just letter grades), so when I got to high school, I didn't see any reason to try to figure out my GPA. I was happy with my grades, so why should I try to calculate my average? I was okay with having to calculate my GPA in the second half of high school,

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-29517326726895347442011-11-02T02:04:00.006-04:002012-01-19T03:55:46.073-05:00Perfect Unbalance

I have never been interested in living a balanced life. Yet a lot of people I've met don't believe me when I say this; they can't let go of the notion that everyone must want balance. Here's an example that comes up a lot. Let's say there are three activities that a person can spend their time on: A, B, and C. So I decide to devote most of my time to thing A, but also do a little of B and C.

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-67644213753925288872011-11-02T01:05:00.008-04:002012-01-19T02:55:57.009-05:00The Unwritten College Dress Code

If you've ever been in high school and planning to go to college, you've probably heard that clothes and fashion are less important in college, and that there's less pressure to dress a certain way in college than there is in high school. And for a lot of people, that is true. It is much more acceptable in college to wear t-shirts, sweatpants, and other causal clothing. It's more acceptable to

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-70824021500866963702011-09-26T00:53:00.005-04:002011-10-16T02:27:10.136-04:00A Piece of Advice

I was flipping through American Girl's new book, A Smart Girl's Guide to Knowing What to Say, and came across a section about being supportive to someone who is grieving or going through a very difficult time. It gave examples of helpful and unhelpful things to say, and one of the unhelpful things was to compliment the grieving person on being strong and saying that you couldn't handle the

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-78400412018377206642011-09-10T01:01:00.006-04:002011-10-06T13:33:33.338-04:00Keeping it Real

I've always felt a little uncomfortable when I read suggestions on what to do on a first date. Not because I was afraid of doing what was recommended, but because it would have been false advertising for me to do a lot of the behaviors suggested; I would not have been being myself. Now that I'm in a relationship, I can already see problems ahead for people who follow that early-stage advice

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-48198963988269272132011-08-15T13:05:00.003-04:002011-08-22T22:54:36.789-04:00A Not-So-Happy Ending

In the book Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult, a character explains that the ending of "The Three Little Pigs" story is not a happy one at all.* We assume it's happy because all three of the pigs survive inside the brick house, but they won't live happily ever after because they would never get along living together based on their different personalities demonstrated by the types of houses they

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-52804172296222567382011-08-02T23:14:00.003-04:002011-08-03T02:52:36.088-04:00Where You Don't Have to Be Yourself

Acting involves taking on the role of someone else, someone who may come from a different country, culture, time period, or background than your own. A kind person can play an evil character. A smart person can play a foolish character. Yet for some reason, people just can't imagine that an introvert can play a more outgoing character, or sometimes any character at all. For some reason, directors

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-24104627329770443282011-07-28T18:11:00.007-04:002012-02-08T00:42:19.259-05:00Influence

Back in middle school, a lot of my classmates had braces and used to complain about them all the time. One day, my friends asked me if I would ever get braces, and I said no. I said that even if I needed braces, I wasn't going to get them because it sounded like a really bad experience. My friends then tried to tell me that braces weren't really that bad and were even kind of cool, after they had

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-43328516922335973982011-07-27T00:45:00.003-04:002011-08-09T23:20:43.413-04:00Making it Easier to Say No

Whenever someone asks me "Are you free on Monday?" my response is always "Why?" or "What did you want to do?" I won't reveal that I am free at a given time until I know what I'm being invited to do, because it's much harder to say no to something you don't want to do once you've revealed that you have the time. It doesn't give you the freedom to decide whether to make time for an activity based

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-84123602698790601002011-07-23T02:00:00.025-04:002012-02-08T00:57:13.242-05:00Absolute Validation

What is absolute validation anyway? The term does exist already, but I came up with this particular meaning. Basically, absolute value + validation = absolute validation. Let's explore these terms a bit further... Validation - When you validate someone, you're letting them know that what they think and feel is legitimate. Validation is letting someone know that it's okay to feel the way they

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-69099474721510873862011-07-22T15:06:00.009-04:002012-01-19T02:55:57.011-05:00Legitimacy

I said in a recent post that I don't approve of the term "legitimate" and thought I should explain further, because there are plenty of times when it's perfectly okay to talk about legitimacy. If you receive a phone call telling you that you've won a free car, you may question the legitimacy of the offer. If you're doing research, you want to make sure your information comes from legitimate

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-81940514156206286412011-07-21T15:34:00.009-04:002011-07-27T00:04:13.106-04:00Don't Be Careful What You Post

We've all heard people say that you should be careful what you post, that you shouldn't write anything online or even in an email that you wouldn't want your parents or teachers or future employers to know about. Well, that doesn't work for me because there is not a single thing I post online that I would want future employers to see, unless I am actually talking to them. It gets really

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-23214323430406426122011-07-20T21:41:00.011-04:002011-11-06T02:29:46.467-05:00Peer Pressure

A good friend of mine says that if a person says no to something 49 times and the 50th time you ask them, they say yes, that's not consent; that's pressure. I couldn't agree more, yet a lot of people think that it's okay to pressure someone into doing something that they don't want to do if the thing itself is positive. But I make no distinction between pressuring someone to try drugs or get a

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-15289512052452045972011-07-20T16:17:00.007-04:002011-07-27T00:46:30.001-04:00No is a Complete Sentence

Here is an example of "no" used as a complete sentence: "Are you coming to the talk tonight?" "No." Sounds simple, right? But nothing is this simple, because for some reason, we just can't accept no as a complete answer to a question. Yes is a complete sentence. If you replaced the "no" with "yes" is the above conversation, it would sound better. The way it is now, it kind of sounds like

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-34700401862087975742011-07-20T14:32:00.009-04:002011-08-24T20:51:54.781-04:00I Support Attention-Seeking

I am an attention-seeker. I absolutely love attention, and I support other people's attention-seeking. It really bothers me when people write off behaviors as attention seeking, like saying that a person only dresses a certain way to get attention, as if there's something wrong with that, as if that's not a legitimate reason. I was going to say that wanting attention is a perfectly legitimate

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-55197443052313441082011-06-16T16:16:00.006-04:002011-07-21T22:17:17.448-04:00When It's Okay to Change

When I first got my driver's license (summer after freshman year of college), I was very cautious. I drove about 5 miles below the speed limit and I refused to go right on red, even if there was no one coming. But it wasn't really my anxiety that was holding me back - it was that I had no reason to work on my driving. I was never in rush to get anywhere - my summer job had ended by the time I

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-17460227643020672732011-06-14T14:45:00.004-04:002012-01-23T01:28:12.830-05:00Why Play Ping-Pong Alone?

In many children's stories and TV shows, a kid will get into a fight with their friends, storm off, and then try to play ping-pong, badminton, or another game that requires a partner by themself to show that a person can't have fun alone. As a child, I used to hate having that message pushed on me that you can't have fun by yourself. I absolutely LOVED playing by myself as a kid, and I still

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-69921709889480003672011-06-10T22:41:00.008-04:002012-01-19T02:57:14.742-05:00Sweet Lemonade

As time passes, I often find simpler explanations for things I had trouble getting across before: Let's say my college serves lemonade that almost everybody loves. There's also a subculture of students who don't like the lemonade because they think it's way too sweet. So I take a sip of the lemonade and think it's horrible because it's not sweet enough - I would need to add at least ten cups

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-75285913770345740882011-06-08T23:14:00.013-04:002011-11-09T16:55:18.867-05:00What Works for Me

I always said that I would never let things like work or job interviews influence personal choices such as streaking my hair bright colors, getting a tattoo, or using whatever I want as an email address. I have done things a little differently than I imagined I would, but not to please other people. I used to think that using your real name as your email address was boring, but now I understand

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-71308000772769566372011-06-04T18:38:00.013-04:002011-12-25T22:31:43.465-05:00Relationship Compatibility

Most compatibility tests suggest that the more similar you and your partner are, the more compatible you are. I took the Big Five personality test on Facebook, which also calculates a similarity score between you and all of your friends who have taken the test. My similarity scores with everyone ranged from about 60 to 90 percent alike, and my closest friends and I are in the 60s to low 70s

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-23556039540826645972011-05-18T02:40:00.024-04:002011-07-21T02:32:54.108-04:00Why People Bother Coming

I've heard lots of stories about people who've gone a trip with someone who complained the whole time and ruined the trip for everyone else. Then the question that always arises is, "Why did they bother coming?" Well, I have a few answers: Possibility #1: When you invite someone on a trip, they may have no prior experience to know whether they would like it or not. They are probably basing

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-31630558525761610322011-05-16T19:58:00.011-04:002011-08-15T16:12:37.605-04:00The Evolution of Truth or Dare: How the Game Changes

I still remember playing truth or dare at recess in first grade, back when lying in the game seemed more serious than lying in real life. The entire feeling of truth or dare has changed a lot throughout the years. In elementary school, it was a mostly just a fun game, and we altered the dares into silly things if someone really didn't want to do something. Once we got to high school, most of the

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-27870739494849289262011-05-16T14:57:00.007-04:002012-01-19T02:59:04.057-05:00Questioning Motivations

When you donate blood, you're asked a lot of questions to make sure that you are healthy, but the one question they never ask you is why you want to donate blood in the first place. We probably assume that everyone who donates blood is doing it to help other people, but I can think of a number of different reasons a person might donate blood: -To avoid another commitment by attending the blood

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-19229698567120365502011-05-13T15:02:00.013-04:002011-12-30T22:26:52.753-05:00Dos and Don'ts of Party Hosting

You probably remember how parties worked when we were younger: you got an invitation in the mail telling you who, what, where, when, and asking for an RSVP. So you responded and arrived at the party, which was just as it was described on the invitation. Now that we’re older and we don’t send out invitations for non-formal parties and events, I think we may have lost some of the basic

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-84960338114650922042011-04-04T21:30:00.007-04:002011-12-30T22:27:18.392-05:00The Responsible One

Since the beginning of high school, I've been considered "the responsible one," and I've always hated that label. I hate it because it's not what I want to be. Deep down, I really want to be wild and crazy, but my role has always been to keep things under control. I thought about the logistics of our plans. I kept track of time when we had someplace to be. I suggested that we shouldn't walk

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-50511737454387303292011-03-29T01:56:00.008-04:002011-12-28T23:46:20.254-05:00Cosmetics, Memories, and Being 18 Again

If you ever revisit a place you haven't been for years, you'll probably notice right away that it smells familiar, even if you were barely aware of the scent before. In fact, the scent itself might take you back in time to when the place was a part of your life. Scents can be pretty powerful in triggering memories. When I was in sixth grade, I had some strawberry chapstick that I wore every

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-26324187138204141122011-03-22T22:24:00.010-04:002011-12-25T22:38:43.399-05:00Relationships, Cloud Nine, and Being Yourself

The other day I set off to go to the post office for my dad. First I went to the bank, then realized I didn't need to go there, then I headed back toward the post office but drove past it and came back home without my dad's mail. Explanation: I was distracted. I was daydreaming about my boyfriend and forgot what I was doing. And most people would say that that's a bad thing, but I don't see

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-86453132027199811972011-03-10T18:38:00.009-05:002011-11-02T01:22:25.587-04:00Not-so-fun Shopping

At first I was really excited about going bathing suit shopping today. When I was in college, I had to wait until spring break to shop, and by then, everything was picked over. This was the first time in a while that I've seen such a wide selection. So I grabbed about six or seven suits in my favorite patterns and headed to the changing room. But I was disappointed to find that having a

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-55496107929488172362011-03-04T19:15:00.009-05:002011-07-21T22:02:36.463-04:00Exercise, Endorphin, and Peer Pressure

Normally when you recommend something to a friend, it's because you think they would like it based on other things that they like. You might recommend a movie to someone who is a movie buff or a science fiction book to someone who loves that genre. But you wouldn't recommend a fictional TV show to someone because you saw them watching the news or a baseball game. The rules are different when

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-83905308352894248802011-02-22T22:25:00.005-05:002011-08-15T16:12:37.608-04:00A Craving for Desire

It's strange how much our desires define us. I figured this out two summers ago, just after I turned 21. It was that summer that I actually completed my list of life goals. Some of them were private, but one that I can talk about is nightclubbing. I had wanted to go nightclubbing since I was about 15, but none of us were old enough then. When I turned 18, my friends who would have wanted to

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-61196370682601841042011-02-16T22:43:00.010-05:002011-07-21T22:02:36.465-04:00Bad Parenting

When someone reacts to an instance of bad parenting by saying that people like that shouldn't have kids, I laugh hysterically to myself. Why? Because if those parents had chosen not to have children, the same people who are criticizing their behavior would probably be giving them just as much grief about why they don't have kids. As a girl who has never wanted kids, I can count on one hand the

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-76941867524024427952011-02-08T18:50:00.010-05:002011-08-02T23:22:20.836-04:00Dance Performances

This is a link to the dance I choreographed in Fall 2009. As of now, this is my only dance that is online, but I'm hoping to upload the others soon (once I learn how). The Voice Within

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-2794097084364202722011-02-07T19:04:00.016-05:002012-01-19T02:59:04.058-05:00Show and Tell

Most writers are familiar with the advice, "show, don't tell," but I've found that the more I achieve this in fiction, the more scared I am of doing so in real life. When we learned how to develop characters in fiction writing class, our professor talked about details that reveal things about a person, such as what kind of sandwiches they like. I've learned not to take lightly what my characters

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-48509695639669871332011-02-01T00:28:00.011-05:002011-07-21T02:36:17.534-04:00Word Problems

Some of the most highly respected people in this world are the fictional characters in word problems – those people who need to double recipes, buy enough fencing for their yards, or sell enough tickets to generate a certain profit, and ask for our help because they haven't learned the math themselves. And by "respected" I don't mean "admired." I mean a more basic kind of respect, like

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-82224880768681828032011-01-23T19:50:00.007-05:002011-03-01T01:03:08.543-05:00Thoughts on Finishing my First Novel

I finished my first novel two days ago, and I didn't think I would feel so sad about being done. I know this feeling - it's the way I feel at the end of anything that was really, really fun. When I'm in a show, I call it post-show depression. But I wasn't expecting it this time. I may have expected it a year ago when I first started, but recently I've just wanted to be done with this book. Not

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-58517185495281321492011-01-07T16:37:00.036-05:002011-08-15T16:12:37.611-04:00The Non-Drinking Culture

I don't like mayonnaise, mustard, or ketchup, and I think that really defines me as a person. It's a rejection of our condiment-obsessed society. My goal is to start an entire subculture for people who don't like condiments, a culture where people will have different tastes in music, clothes, and how to spend their weekends than people who do like condiments. An entire culture held together by

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-68272368845073940552011-01-04T18:30:00.015-05:002012-01-19T02:59:04.060-05:00Living Symbolically

Last year I sat down at dinner with a close friend of mine, feeling very alone. I told him that I wanted to get a symbolic exorcism once I left school, and that I felt lonely because no seemed to understand. Everyone reacted with that kind of polite tolerance, like, "Oh...okay, you do that. I won't say anything bad about it." My friend said that not everyone is into symbolic rituals. This

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-73093405862357175172011-01-03T16:11:00.008-05:002011-07-21T22:02:36.468-04:00A Note to Market Researchers

When you are trying to sell me a product that will make me feel better physically or emotionally, I would like to see someone using the product to feel good, and only to feel good. I would like to see that feeling good is the end in itself, not the means to an end. I understand that we all would like to be better able to do the things that make us happy, and that resolving physical or emotional

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-52866794646594800302010-11-07T23:18:00.038-05:002012-01-25T14:15:08.096-05:00Loving the Reader

When I share stories with other people, I'm most afraid that the readers will think the story is not important, or that I'm using false magnitude. My poetry professor told me that I need to love the reader if I want them to listen. This threw me at first, because I often harbor hostile feelings towards my readers. If I write a story about someone who lost a loved one to a drunk driver, I

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-83868874218886812812010-10-29T01:37:00.017-04:002011-07-21T22:19:07.184-04:00Telling Your Story

A few years ago I was looking through some stories I had written when I was younger, and out of all of them, the hardest story to understand was the one that was partially based on truth. This was a story I had written for a magazine contest in seventh grade, about a girl who gets a substitute teacher who seems mean at first, but the girl ends up developing a special bond with her. This is

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-89771537253854513632010-10-22T20:21:00.011-04:002010-11-04T02:22:03.964-04:00The Value of Psychology Statistics

I've been thinking a lot about regrets lately, mainly in terms of my college choice. I keep going back and analyzing what I was thinking at the time, how I could have ever thought that I would be happy with the choice I made. A lot of people choose a school for its academic programs, but my choice was based entirely on where I would have the most fun, be the happiest, and feel like I belong.

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-11411157388246192832010-10-12T21:31:00.006-04:002010-11-04T01:26:16.134-04:00Bedroom Secrets

I have always loved seeing people's bedrooms because I feel like I'm peeking into the person's soul. Last year I read about a study in which participants went into the dorm rooms of students that they didn't know and rated their personalities based only on the room. For traits that were not centered around social interactions, the ratings were about the same as the ratings that the students'

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-37589890136710737202010-10-09T20:23:00.006-04:002011-08-03T13:04:01.611-04:00Language

As language evolves, words take on new meanings. Sometimes a word that used to cover a variety of things can start to mean something more specific, like the way that "partying" usually implies drinking now, but as the word evolved, we never got a new word that included other types of parties. It's like if strawberries get so popular that when we say "fruit," we're only talking about

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-78246080406609816052010-09-25T19:34:00.014-04:002011-08-15T16:12:37.613-04:00The Math Gap

In my psych classes, we’ve talked a lot about the gender divide in math – the fact that girls are less likely to pursue math or science related careers than boys are. I’ve read tons of articles about stereotype threat, which means that people perform based on perceived stereotypes, like a self-fulfilling prophecy. The stereotype is that girls aren’t good at math, so when students are given a

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-4210940112097895332010-09-24T22:37:00.007-04:002011-08-15T16:12:37.615-04:00Eliminating Blank Space

So a while ago I wrote a long entry about my thoughts on different kinds of personality tests and how they could be combined. Specifically, I thought that the Big Five personality test, which is what psychologists use today, should just be presented in a less judgmental way. I ended by saying that I wanted to run a psych study on how people feel about themselves based on the way that their

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-68241262502623116442010-09-21T19:31:00.010-04:002012-01-20T15:09:05.080-05:00Caught in the Spiral

I always loved the holidays when I was growing up. Holidays to me were pure fun and I never understood why adults found them so stressful. As I got older, I figured adults must be stressed because they had so much to do, but in the past few years, I discovered another reason why holidays can be hard for people. I once read a theory that time is not linear - time travels in a spiral. We live

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-10423856461584775972010-09-19T00:35:00.017-04:002012-01-19T03:00:02.989-05:00How We Define Thinking and Feeling

Do you make decisions based on logic or your feelings? For most of my life, this was an easy question because I thought I knew what each of these choices meant. But last year, I began to question the definition of these terms. I grew up with the idea that logic meant doing what you should do and feeling meant doing what you want to do. This probably came from the concept of following your

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-30985154069303819572010-09-12T19:04:00.013-04:002012-01-25T14:05:10.527-05:00Personality and Writing Methods

People ask about the writing process a lot - whether it is better to outline a story first or to just start writing and see what happens. I've heard about an equal number of arguments for careful planning and for seeing where you end up as you're going. Here's what I think: I recently read about personality differences in the way that people answer questions: some people start answering right

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-61755079560778734012010-09-02T20:53:00.000-04:002012-01-19T03:00:02.992-05:00College Checklist

After my miserable experience as a college student, I have compiled a list of conditions that play a part in determining whether or not a person would enjoy the college experience. (By college experience, I mean attending a four-year college and living on campus).I hope that this will serve as checklist for students who are questioning whether or not they should go to college, as well as

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-28174319358867204752010-08-31T02:09:00.012-04:002012-01-25T13:57:14.559-05:00Dear Summer

Dear Summer,I know things haven’t been the same between us lately, and you have the right to know what’s going on. You and I have had the most amazing relationship for the past 18 years. I fell in love with you the day I started pre-school. From then on, when someone asked about my favorite season, I was quick to tell them about you. Our relationship wasn’t always monogamous – you understood

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-48032260108342019352010-08-13T14:44:00.010-04:002012-01-19T03:00:02.993-05:00Pressure to Be Passionate

We’ve all heard stories of three-year-old kids who saw the Olympics on TV and just knew it was what they wanted to do. Or perhaps they always sang and danced around the house or drew their first masterpiece on the inside of their closet door. But however it happens, it seems like everyone who’s made it big knew their passion from the day they were born. When I was young, I assumed that

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-74892825536527127542010-08-11T15:42:00.009-04:002011-07-21T22:20:09.505-04:00Are We Really Bored?

In the last few years, I’ve noticed an increase in the number of people who claim to be bored. It's not that we're complaining about it - it's that we use boredom as an excuse for doing things that we feel embarrassed about, perhaps because other people will think that what we’re doing is stupid or that we should be doing something better with our time. I first noticed this on the internet –

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-76293781975812778682010-07-23T19:45:00.010-04:002011-12-30T22:25:40.922-05:00Pictures and First Impressions

When we discussed first impressions in my social psych class and our professor asked us for examples, a lot of people mentioned facebook - meeting their roommates and other students on facebook before school began, forming an impression, and finding that the impression was not always accurate. I got facebook right when I started college, so I didn't have this experience. And I only accept

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-26619599508151612992010-07-15T12:45:00.021-04:002011-05-16T20:18:15.722-04:00Distance, Perception, and Third Person Narration

When Michelangelo carved the Statue of David, he made it to look accurate from the ground while it was on a pedestal. If you were to stand on the same level as the sculpture, it would look disproportional. Sometimes I wonder if all art is like that: Perhaps when an artist perfects their work so that it looks right to everyone else, it will look a bit distorted to them when they stand close to

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-85791239680476733842010-06-18T14:26:00.020-04:002012-01-19T03:00:02.994-05:00Personality Measurements and Self Concept

I've always been interested in personality psychology; I didn't get to take this class in college, but I like to read about it on my own. The first measurement I learned about was the Big Five, in which personality is defined by a measurement of five traits: Openness Conscientiousness Extroversion Agreeableness Neuroticism A person's personality is usually presented as a bar graph which shows

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-1855043310890227332010-06-17T02:38:00.014-04:002012-01-19T03:00:02.996-05:00Intrapersonal Intelligence

Senior year of high school, we took the Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence test in one of our classes. My highest score was for intrapersonal intelligence, or self-awareness (not to be confused with interpersonal intelligence, which has to do with social skills). I was really psyched to find that this was even considered a form of intelligence, but I was soon disappointed to find that there

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464020854710467913.post-24798195619883161952010-06-16T21:58:00.018-04:002011-07-21T22:20:09.508-04:00My First Blog Entry

It feels so weird to be writing my first blog entry when just a few years ago I said that I would never get a blog. My main worry at the time was standards: I had the impression that in blogs (as opposed to online journals), people didn’t just write whatever they wanted. Blogs often have a theme, such as travel, or they're promotional like the student blog at my college. And on blogs, most

Nikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09141542786584756860noreply@blogger.com0