Tim O' Brien, Halloween, Pumpkin Patch

It was a little over week ago, when I went to see Tim O' Brien speak here at Santa Barbara City College. After my sociology class and long hours at work, I headed back to school just in time to see the author of The Things They Carried. The room, in which it was held, was packed; People had to start sitting on the floor. What I really enjoyed seeing was a room of students and English Professors all eager to see this inspirational Vietnam veteran. 

He introduced us with a brief background of where he came from, which helped us understand what influenced him to become a writer. Raised in the dull town of Worthington, Minnesota, the Turkey Capital of America, he began to escape his town in books he read. He said, one of the few things young boys could do in Worthington was play baseball and unfortunately he wasn't great at playing. 

There was many laughs in the audience when, O'Brien explained that his first novel he wrote was a baseball novel. There wasn't much of his own writing in this book because he copied it from another novel he read; He just rewrote himself as the main character which was a talented baseball player.  My favorite part of his introduction was when he explained to his audience that, "You don't need to go to wars or climb mountains to be a writer you just need to breathe," basically implying that anyone can be a writer. The rest of his time he was able to answer questions from the audience members regarding his Vietnam experience. 

Santa Barbara City College really enjoyed his visit; We are lucky to have such influential writers and speakers come, which is another great reason to come here. 




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On a different note, Happy Halloween to everyone! I hope everyone has a fun, but safe Halloween. Yesterday my sister and I were able to go to pick out our pumpkins at Lane Farms. Yes, it was last minute and were going to crave them today, before the trick-or-treaters knock on our door. 

In this particular Pumpkin Patch, there is a corn maze my friends and I go to every year. I suggest you go at night because it's more challenging. I remember when I was a sophomore in High School, my friends and I went during the day. My guy friends decided it would be fun if we all ran through the maze. I was the only girl who agreed to this, so I ran after them in the maze. We were going at a really fast paste and soon they started sprinting.  I couldn't keep up so I stopped and was left in the maze alone. Of course I was laughing the whole time because I thought this was a stupid idea and why did I listen to these idiots, but fortunately I stood where I was for a few minutes and I found my other friends. After we got out of the maze we went on a tractor ride, which is aimed for the younger kids and went to see the farm animals in their cages. Good times.

Anyways, I hope Midterms went well for everyone!

-KIKI REYES 


 

Dancing, Bashh, Running, Hiking, Typical Weekend

When I was six years old I started dancing for my elementary school dance team; I did that until I was eleven. Within those years I was able to meet one of my favorite dance teachers who unfortunately, due to school budgets, only taught my team for a year. I ran into her a couple years later. I was about 13 when started taking ballet with her dance company (Fusion Dance Company) while taking guitar lessons. And like that Katy Perry song, "I chose guitar over ballet." My sister now dances for Fusion Dance Company with our dance teacher. I'm so proud of her she is such a talented dancer. I myself have considered on and off again to become a dancer again. I even sometimes take classes at her studio just for a nice work out, but I'm thinking right now isn't the time.

My sister had a dance performance this weekend for a showcase entitled, BASSH (poster on the left). I unfortunately wasn't able to go attend the show because it sold out so quickly. What I did attend was the cast party, which was different than your typical party. So basically everyone there was a dancer skilled in different types of dance (Jazz, Contemporary, Swing, Salsa). I literally walked in and everyone was swing dancing, it was like walking into a 1920s club. I really enjoyed it because the meaning of real dancing has been fading away this generation. Next thing you know the music and the mood changes and my dance teacher invites me to salsa on the dance floor. What an experience it was! I'm considering taking some salsa lessons now, well I did meet a salsa instructor.

I also went for a run with my friend on West beach, by school. It seem like the temperature was heating up on that run and we didn't drink enough water before; so lesson learned. Always drink two bottles of water before running! Fortunately, we stopped under a shady palm tree to stretch and relax. It turned out I am still quite flexible from my dancing days (To the right my handstand on a palm tree, excuse my sickle feet).

Again, I was able to run at my old jr. high to walk my dog and I ran into our graphic designer from our blogging site; She was walking her dog as well. Since my sister was here my family and I went hiking. We up tunnel trail to Inspiration Point (On the left: my older sister, Jasmine and I)This probably the hundredth time we've done this, okay I'm over exaggerating haha. We do hike a lot. A few summers ago I used to hike four times a week and run during the days I didn't hike. It was intense. Anyways, my family and I really love hiking because it all about becoming aware of your natural surroundings and keeping your mind off things. Since, I've been working out lately it wasn't challenging at all.   

Hopefully I'm not to sore tomorrow from all the exercise I've done. Its a great lifestyle you know? (on the right: That's where SBCC should be by the tiny cruise ship)
 
I hope you guys had a fabulous weekend, time to get back into focus. Let's make Monday a great day! That was meant to be enthusiastic :)

- KIKI REYES

PS. Random fact today 4 years ago Paramore released their Brand New Eyes Album...

Stressing, Music, Paramore, Zedd, More Stressing, Paradise

I have to admit I was sort of stressing a couple days ago and I had to take a moment. It was not like those snickers commercials where they're like need a moment? Eat a snickers. It was sort of serious I was feeling overwhelmed from  TOO much pressure; so instead I took a step back and thought about where I wanted to be in a year. After I came to a conclusion, I ran to my guitar and sang my heart out.  I seriously don't know where I'd be without music and I'm so content that many people can relate to this passion of playing or listening to music. (Left: me and my guitar Photocredit: https://www.facebook.com/cejaephotography)

Speaking of music my favorite song at the moment is my "Stay the Night" by Zedd featuring Hayley Williams. If your a fan of the alternative rock band Paramore (my Paramore vinyl on the right)  than you'll like this song. If your into the mainstream techno movement that's happening in this time period you'll like this song. The music video to this song is the most artistic and unusual video I've ever seen! It features two talented contemporary dancers as well as the artists themselves. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-gyZ35074k)

Anyways, I'm feeling much better like I can achieve anything, cliche right? For those of you who are feeling the pressure and stressed out of your minds you should go to the "Stress Management" workshop on December 5th  in the CAI Lab 2 in the LRC from 1:00 -1:50 p.m. I know December is many weeks away but time goes by so quickly! I think we've been in school for about five weeks already thats insane! The day after my little meltdown everything went well and I decided I wanted to make amends with people I've stopped talking to because: one) most of them were a huge part of my life two) because I'm going to be transferring soon and who knows when I'll ever seen them again.

Today was pretty good too. I got my midterm back and I was pretty happy with my score. I was able to take a nice walk around campus with my friends I just met the beginning of this semester. It's amazing how you can meet someone here and feel so connected to them right away. So literally we walked in a circle around campus, while walking I was thinking I can go to school in paradise. Its like what my friends and I say to each other when we seen tourists, "We live where they vacation."
(Left: The Garden on the East Campus; Right: My friends Skylar, Theresa, and I)


I'm happy to share Santa Barbara with everyone as long as they admire it and take care of it as us natives do. :)

-KIKI REYES

P.S: Yesterday I was able to meet my fellow co-bloggers.
These people have some very unique personalities and you should make sure to tune into their lives as well: http://www.sbcc.edu/socialnetworks/studentstories/

Procrastination, Evening Walks and Runs, Running Playlist, Songwriting

 
 So I've been trying so hard not to procrastinate.  I have a bunch of reading due on tomorrow and it seemed kind of  impossible to have it all done by then- its about 100 pages of reading I need to get done from different subjects (Creative Writing, American Lit, History 101, Sociology). Its a challenge I was willing to accept, and I managed to get half of that reading done. I also have an essay due by 9pm tomorrow morning, lucky I finished it earlier today (my Essay on the right... its a draft). I guess moving away from procrastination really makes you less stress. ...C'est La Vie!  

With my extra time, I was able to go on a walk and a run every evening this week. Its so relaxing. Especially with the fall weather is present now, not to hot not to cold, its perfection. I could feel the cold air brush gently through my skin like a whispers being told cautiously in ones ear. That's my poetic description of how amazing it was. I take my dog for a nice run at my old Jr.High and later in the evening I walk to the grocery store, than I get back to homework.
(On a Walk at my Jr High W/ Cookie on Left and a sunset on the right) 

Also good music= good run. My running play consists of a lot of alternative/Indie music such as:
1. "Reptilia" - The Strokes
2. "Perfect"- Flyleaf
3. "A Certain Romance"- Arctic Monkeys
4. "Radioactive" Imagine Dragons
5. "Stay the Night (feat. Hayley Williams of Paramore)" - Zedd
6. "Something Good Can Work"- Two Door Cinema Club
7. "Supersoaker"- Kings of Leon

Anyways my songwriting is taking off again. It seems to be during fall when I write my favorite songs. I recently wrote a song called "Still and Always," I was inspired about past events that occurred and as well as my friend's experiences. The best thing about writing a song is that it doesn't always have to be about a person, it could be a general thing or something that should of occurred. It can be pure imagination. Here is my song your interested in listening: https://soundcloud.com/kikisrey/still-and-always-original-kiki
those of you who aren't maybe my running playlist will interest you. :)

Monday is the start of a new week hopefully I wont embarrass myself too much tomorrow.

-KIKI REYES

Adjustments

I wouldn't say I was on a extremely long vacation this summer because I decided to enroll in summer classes. Yes most would dread it but I decided this after my last final during the spring semester. I remembered walking across to the beach and realizing it wouldn’t be entirely bad, after all my ideal summer would be staying here in paradise. It was quite distracting because of the perfect days, but fortunately I was able to push through and finish off hard in my classes. I  can now say I have finished my math and english requirements and it only took a year and a half. So after many weeks of summer school I finally had my vacation... I had an audition for Rising Star USA-which is a singing competition I was able to gain audition experience from, I ran with a group of friends at Run or Dye (image to right: my

good friend Billy and I), I went kayaking (image to your left: my friend Jack, My sister Jasmine, and I) and paddle boarding with my friends, and all of this spontaneous activity helped me prepare myself for this fall semester and what it has to offer.   

So far it has offered us a few more weeks of summer because of the unbearable heat. Being a Santa Barbara native, I have seen this occur several times before and its not something we natives are used to.This weather is not helping my concentration so I'm resisting its power of its warmth that can be so heavy it can put us all of asleep. My first week of school I noticed on the East campus many students sitting on the grass under palm trees reading pages from their class textbooks as well as sleeping-this was by the gateway building. So since I had an hour until one of my many classes I joined them. It was very refreshing; I could feel the wind lift my concerns for school away.

           My concerns circle around the idea of not transferring on time and because of this fear I have become a full time student at SBCC with a part-time job. I'm trying to get as many credits as I can this semester as well as to save enough money to transfer. And  I'm sure there’s many people around this campus that are like me, an English major, a musician, a writer. (This point was beyond proven in my Creative Writing class) Hopefully this semester exceeds past our expectations improvements,school wise (glad be apart of a smoke-free campus) and academic wise.

            And as always heading into our second week of school my birthday falls into that week. I've been talking about for a week now to everyone (for example I told the cashier at the SBCC Bookstore who circled the return date on my receipt which happened to be my date of birthday. At least he said "Happy Birthday: to me right?). Of course its all just adjustments, school schedule, work schedule, a new age, a new outlook, a different routine, you could say its overwhelming but I'm sure changes like these happen to everyone.  

- Kiki Reyes