Earring Magic Ken

Barbie isn’t the Only One with Style

Commercial:

(2 girls are playing with their Barbie and Ken dolls)

girl#1: Why do all my Ken dolls dress in the same old boring suits.

girl#2: I know! It is soooo boring. I wish they could have more style like my barbies do.

(Third girl enters carrying Earring Magic Ken Doll)

Girl #3: Not anymore! My Ken Doll is super stylish and he even comes with an earring!

Cuts to tagline: Barbie isn’t the only one with style. As the camera shows a closeup of Earring Magic Ken.

Narrator:Earring Magic Ken comes dressed in a stylish mesh t-shirt, fabulous purple leather vest and wears a super cool earring. Not all Ken dolls have to wear a boring suit. So, if you want to have the most stylin’ Ken doll order now while supplies last.

Camera then shows a cartoon version of Earring Magic Ken dancing with a bunch of Barbies. The dolls are moving without being controlled by people. Music playing in the background is I’m sexy and I know it by LMFAO

Narrator: Order your Earring Magic Ken Doll before supplies run out. Ask your mom or dad to call today!

1-800-KEN-MAGIC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Profile: Kara Goucher

 

Born: July 9, 1978, Queens, N.Y.

 Height: 5 foot 7

Weight: 119 pounds

Coach: Jerry Schumacher

(photo provided by killthepavement)

Many people would find running for 50 minutes to be a daunting task, this is not so for Olympian, Kara Goucher. In fact, she completed a 50 minute run only hours before giving birth to her now two year old son. Kara Goucher has been a major part of the running scene in the United States for years, and at the age of 34 she shows no signs of slowing down!

This past August Goucher competed with teammate Shalane Flanagan at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England. Goucher finished a disappointing eleventh closely behind Flanagan who finished tenth. But, Kara did not let that race get her down, she is determined to work harder than ever to be the best she can be. This Fall Goucher plans to take a step back from her high mileage training to concentrate more on regaining some of her leg speed. She will drop her mileage from 120 miles (per week) down to 90 in an attempt to increase leg turnover and knee lift. She plans to run a couple 10ks and qualify for the World Championships before running the Boston Marathon in April. A race where she is in contention for the win.

Kara Grgas was born in Queens, New York daughter of Mirko and Patricia. Mirko died in an accident involving a drunk driver when Kara was just four years old. After this tragedy Kara’s mother moved her and her two sisters to Duluth, Minnesota. After her mother remarried, Kara and her sisters took their stepfathers last name and she became Kara Wheeler.

Kara Wheeler attended College at the University of Colorado where she studied Psychology and ran Cross Country and Track under established coach Mark Wetmore. During her college years Kara was NCAA outdoor champion in the 3000m and 5000 m, she won NCAA Cross Country Championships and even made it to the Olympic trials in the 5000m where she placed eighth. The University of Colorado is where Kara met her current husband, Adam Goucher. He too ran under Coach Mark Wetmore.

Kara and Adam currently lives in Portland , Oregon with their two year old son Colton Mirko Goucher. After graduating from college both Adam and Kara turned their running careers professional. Adam had a successful college career, he also won NCAA Cross Country Championships. After turning professional his carrer was plagued by injuries but he did manage to run some successful races and fast times before retiring last year. Running is still a big part of his life and he recently wrote a book called Running the Edge.

Kara has over came many struggles in her life, one that stands out was a serious knee injury that left her unable to run for an extended period of time. It was extremely difficult for her because she felt useless. She had just made running her career, and she could not do it. Seeing her husband run so well only made her feel worse. She soon sank into a deep depression and turned to food for comfort. She ended up gaining some weight, and felt even worse about herself. When she was cleared to cross-train on an elliptical she went at it like mad. Cranking out two hours a day at her highest intensity. This resulted in yet another injury, a stress fracture. The doctor told her she was the only person he had ever seen suffer a stress fracture from a non-impact machine like an elliptical. She was then forced to return to total rest. Eventually, she overcame her struggle with food, by learning to cook. Instead of eating entire boxes of cereal she would spend hours creating a delicious meal for her and her husband. This made her feel better about herself, and gave her something to do. Eventually she was able to resume running and has since made a name for herself as one of the best U.S. female distance runners of all time.

Kara’s hobbies include running, cooking and spending time with her family. If she could share one piece of advice with the world it would be to always believe in yourself and never give up. She is an inspiration to runners, mothers, women and people in general!

Some of Kara’s Accomplishments Include:

2006 USA Outdoor 5,000m runner-up 2000 NCAA Outdoor 3,000m (9:02.15) and 5000m (15:54.30) champion

2000 NCAA Cross Country champion

(15:14.13)

2007 World Outdoor 10,000m bronze medalist (32:02.05

2008 Olympic Trials 5,000m champion  (15:01.02)

Three-time USA Outdoor 10,000m runner-up – 2007 (32:33.80); 2008 (31:37.72); 2011 (31:16.65)

2008 New York City Marathon, 2:25:53, 3rd place

2011 Boston Marathon, 2:24:52, 5th place

2012 USA Half Marathon Championships, 1:09:46, 1st place

3rd at 2012 Olympic Trials Marathon (2:26:06)

2012 London Olympic Marathon, (2:26:07)

To stay updated on Kara’s life follow her on twitter and facebook!

triOS Students to Compete in XMG Studio Gaming Challenge

Ontario, Canada – Students of triOS College will compete this weekend in a 48-hour gaming challenge hosted by mobile game developer XMG Studio. Winners will receive a large cash prize, a chance to have their game published and potentially a job with the company.

The competition will kick off Friday at 5p.m. at the triOS College GCA Hub, located in Market Square on 110 King Street East in Kitchener. Students will work in small groups of one to four to see who can build the best addictive mobile video game.  XMG designers will be available for encouragement and support throughout the two-day competition.

Dean of Technology for triOS College, Jackson Eckert said, “Intense video game development competitions such as the Great Canadian Appathon allow students to quickly tune and build their skills in a collaborative and focused environment. It is a vital event for all of our video game students, as well as anyone who wishes to enter the game industry.”

The competition will conclude at exactly 5pm on Sunday, September 30^th. At this time games will be judged on criteria including level of fun and entertainment, art design and stability. The top three finalists will go on to compete in front of a panel of judges at the “Grande Finale” in Toronto on November 8, 2012. This event will be sponsored by KPMG.

The grand prize- winner will receive $25,000, the chance to have their game published in the app store and possibly a job with XMG Studio Inc. The runner-up will receive $5,000.

Profile Questionaire

1. What is your full name?

2. Where are you from? Do you still live there now? If not, where do you currently live?

3. How old are you?

4. What is your career and how did you decide to do this?

5. What are you short/long term goals?

6. Where did you receive your education?

7. Have you ever overcame a difficult struggle? Explain.

8. Give me a little background on yourself. (culture, religion, philosophy, etc.)

9. Describe your family

10. Do you have any hobbies or interests?

11. Explain one lesson you learned that you would like to share with the world.

12. Fun Fact about yourself?

Five Possible People to Profile

1. Kara Goucher: an american olympic distance runner and idol of mine. I would love to get a chance to learn even more about her.

2. Brianna Johnson: A fellow transfer student at the College of Saint Rose. It would be interesting to hear her perspective on the school.

3. Alicia Silverstone: You may know her from her role in the movie “Clueless” but she is now a huge advocate for a vegan lifestyle. I am currently not a vegan (just a vegetarian) but would love to hear more about her position on the matter.

4. David Swanson: A famous teacher and practitioner of Ashtanga yoga. It would be interesting to hear his take on the benefits of ashtanga versus other types of yoga.

5. Jodi Picoult: She is one of my all time favorite authors. It would be wonderful to profile her and learn about her writing methods.

The Murder of Cherry Hill

Jesse Strang of Putnam County, New York was hanged to death August 24, 1827 after confessing to the murder of John Whipple. This event marked the last public hanging in the capital district.

Strang worked as a handyman on Cherry Hill Farm after meeting John’s wife, Elsie at a local bar. Soon after, Elsie began plotting a conspiracy to kill her husband and run away to Montreal with Strang. After a failed attempt to poison Whipple’s tea with arsenic, Elsie looked to Jesse Strang for assistance.

Strang climbed to the roof of the shed and shot Whipple with a rifle Elsie had paid for. Strang immediately fled to a local store to secure his alibi, but police remained suspicious. Strang later confessed to the murder but blamed Elsie for conception of the plan.

Due to the time period of this event, Elsie was thought of as a victim in the crime based on her gender. Jesse Strang did not get off easy He was told by The District Attorney, Edward Livingston, “You are guilty, you must be convicted, you must die!”

To this day the verdict of Strang’s trail remains highly controversial.

Reflection

A recent post I entitled “Who am I as a Writer” was my attempt at giving readers a glimpse into what my writing is all about. A classmate of mine, Abbey Barker (a fantastic and already published writer!) wrote up her own take on me as a writer that she later posted on her own blog. After comparing the two posts, it is clear they are completely different. Abby does a wonderful job of giving information about me, in terms of my interests and past experiences. I also enjoyed the way she alternated between listing facts and writing them out. I on the other hand mostly discussed my writing process, and what draws me to writing. I provided more information about myself on the About Me page. Abbey mentioned that I planned on gearing the blog towards health and fitness, which is what I originally planned on but  have decided against. Instead I plan to make this blog broader with less of a focus. Thanks again, to Abbey for writing a great post about me! To check out her fantastic fashion blog click on the link below.

http://coffeestainsonwhiteclothes.tumblr.com/

Meet Jennifer Zinis

Last Thursday during my freelance writing course, I had the pleasure of interviewing a fellow classmate, Jenifer Zinis. Jen is currently a freshman from Oneonta, NY and is majoring in psychology at the College of Saint Rose. She is a new writer who recently started her own music blog. Jen has always had a passion for music and enjoys listening to mostly alternative and rock bands. Two of her favorite groups are Bright Eyes and Modest Mouse.

Another interest of Jen’s is studying youth culture from a sociological standpoint. She greatly admires Donna Gaines, a sociologist and writer for Rolling Stones Magazine. In her blog Jen hopes to include some entries with a sociological focus. Jen views writing as mainly a hobby for herself. In the future she hopes to put her psychology degree to use by working in a prison or rehab as a counselor.

Fun Fact: Jen was named after Genny Light Beer by her parents who share her taste in music.

Jen’s blog will be up and running soon and when it is I will post a link to it from here!

“Everybody Knows” (a short story)

During Johnny’s first three years in college, he was the big man on campus.  He was devastatingly handsome, standing just over six feet tall. His dark blonde hair and muscles so strong that they could be seen through his clothes made him irresistible to the ladies. Johnny was the starting quarterback for his division one school. For the last three years he led the team to win three consecutive conference championships. He always made the deans list and even tutored other teammates in his spare time. He was smart, funny, charming, handsome and athletic. Every girl wanted to date him while every guy wanted to be his best friend. When Johnny showed up for pre-season his senior year he felt extremely confident; little did he know his whole world would be turned upside down and nothing would ever be the same.

A new freshman joined the football team Johnny’s senior year. His name was Curtis; and he was more than good, he was phenomenal. Now most freshmen wouldn’t be considered much of a threat, especially to a returning three time champion senior. However, Curtis was the exception. He could run as fast and as graceful as a gazelle; he had both speed and endurance. He was bigger and stronger than Johnny and clearly just as handsome. Curtis could throw with more accuracy than an archer and never missed an opportunity to make a great play. As Johnny watched in awe he could not believe how every ball thrown in Curtis’s direction was caught. High, low, long, short; Curtis jumped, dived, reached and caught them all. The coaches were amazed; the other players watched him in awe. Day after Day Curtis excelled in practice; while Johnny’s self esteem and confidence fell.

The first game of the season Johnny started, everyone knew that Curtis deserved that spot but the coaches let the senior start in his first home game. Johnny no longer felt the confidence he had before. He did not feel quick on his feet and his legs were heavy. When he wound up throwing the football, he could not think as fast as he needed to before completing the throw. Needless to say his performance was abysmal. The score was 6-0 then 13-0 then 19-0 before you knew it they were down 45-0 in the second quarter. Johnny did not know what was wrong with him but he could no longer keep his composure; anger and embarrassment consumed him. Johnny knew that he needed to do something big in order to win the game; for more was at stake than just the game: his starting position, his popularity, his confidence and his self-respect were all on the line. He was no longer thinking clearly; every throw he made could not be further off if he tried. He looked over at his coach, who was telling Curtis to get ready to sub in. He looked into the stands and saw his father get up and leave. He looked at the players on the field and the ball in his hand. Apparently Johnny stood still looking around for a second too long. He was hit with a force that felt like a truck crashing into him. As he hit the ground hard everything went dark.

When Johnny opened his eyes he was in a hospital bed. The room was filled with cards, flowers, chocolates and balloons. Apparently he had landed on the bottom of a ten-man pile up. The Doctors told him that he was extremely lucky not to have suffered a more serious injury. Johnny severely broke his right leg in three places and had a minor concussion. He was lucky to be able to walk; but to Johnny this was the worse thing ever. He could no longer participate in his final football season and he would never be able to play football again. Now Johnny had lots of people who cared about him, many people visited him during the six days he spent in the hospital. No one thought any less of him for having a bad game, or for not being the quarterback anymore. He had many friends who loved him for his personality not his athletic skills but Johnny had trouble seeing that.

Johnny stopped feeling good about himself after that day, he became depressed. He did not want anyone to know the pain he was feeling, so he tried to put on a cheerful face. He went to all the games and watched Curtis lead the team; they were undefeated and broke every school record possible. Although he wanted the team to succeed, for some reason on the inside he was hoping they would fail. He was jealous and he hated himself for thinking these awful thoughts. What kind of friend was he? He needed to do something to relieve, the terrible ache in his heart but didn’t know how. Johnny decided to go for a walk, he just needed to get away for a little while.

He did not know where he was going but he just needed space. He moved slowly on crutches but the pain in his leg was nothing compared to how he felt on the inside. When he saw the local bar, it seemed like a good idea to have a drink. Although he was 21, Johnny never drank alcohol. He never wanted to do anything to negatively affect his athletic performance; but now he didn’t need to worry about that. As Johnny finished his first beer he suddenly felt just a little bit better. As he finished his sixth beer he even started laughing. Was he feeling happy? Was it that easy? Would drinking be the magic solution to make the pain go away?

The next weekend Johnny went to the bar again and got drunk. As the weeks went on Johnny went to the bar more and more. He still spent time hanging out with his friends, tutoring his teammates and watching the home football games. He tried as hard as he possibly could to appear happy in front of the team. He would say all the right things and make jokes, everyone found hilarious. On the outside he was the Johnny everyone knew and loved but on the inside he felt empty. No one needed to know about the pain he felt, no one would understand anyway. Before long he no longer limited himself to only going to the bar on the weekend. He started going out some weekdays as well; before long every night Johnny was at the bar getting drunk. He told no one and he drank with no one from school; just the other fellows he met at the bar.

As time went on Johnny spent less time with his friends and more time getting drunk. He did not want to spend time with his former teammates. Football meant everything to Johnny and he could no longer play. The team didn’t even miss him; Curtis was far better than he ever was. Whenever he could Johnny made excuses not to hang out when his friends. After all he would rather spend time with his new friend, Alcohol.

As Johnny went to the bar more and more often he began to feel the only friend he needed was Alcohol. He went to the liquor store and bought a few bottles of liquor, which he strategically hid around his apartment. Under his desk, in his bottom dresser drawer all places no one would look. He would drink first thing in the morning when he woke up, and any chance he got throughout the day. He never talked about his developing addiction; it was his secret. After all he could stop whenever he wanted to, or could he?

He doesn’t remember when he stopped being in control of the alcohol and when it started controlling him. Johnny stopped caring about anything else; his grades fell. When he showed up to class he reeked of beer and before long he stopped going to class altogether. He rarely spent time with his old friends and he didn’t volunteer or tutor students anymore. He craved alcohol all the time and he could no longer get through a few hours, let alone a whole day without it.

One day a group of Johnny’s former friends, the football coach and his parents knocked on his door and when he did not answer they knocked it down.  Johnny was drunk and passed out on the floor as they searched the room and found hidden bottles of alcohol everywhere. Although Johnny had tried to keep it all a secret, everybody knew that he had a problem; they were just unsure on how to act upon it. Johnny rarely spent any time with his friends but whenever he did he smelled of alcohol. Whenever his mother called him Johnny either didn’t answer or spoke in a slurred tone. His football coach got a list of all the players’ attendance throughout the last semester and it was clear Johnny wasn’t going at all; he was failing all his classes. Not to mention the multiple times Johnny had been spotted stumbling out of the bar late at night, were a dead give away of his dark secret.

Johnny was lucky that everybody knew. He was a good kid who just went down the wrong path. He was lucky that he had friends and family who cared about him enough to get him help. Johnny went to rehab after the intervention but his road to recovery will not be an easy one. He is getting better and has finally realized how fortunate he is for having so many people in his life who care about him. Although he tried so hard to hide his drinking, Johnny was glad that everyone knew. If they did not know, he could have drunk himself to an early death. He knows now that although drinking can temporarily make him feel better; it doesn’t make his problems go away.

Who am I as a Writer?

 

I push open the heavy door and enter the library. I walk over towards the window and seat myself in a comfy chair, open my laptop, and take a sip of my coffee. My body may be still but my mind is moving a million miles a minute. thinking…thinking…thinking.  Moments pass sometimes hours before any thoughts worth writing are formed. Sometimes I can write an entire story or paper in one sitting, other times it takes much longer. Writing is not black and white. A piece of writing that one person loves, another will hate. Quite the contrary from other subjects; take math for example. You receive a problem, you attempt to solve the problem and in the end it is either right or wrong. Writing is different, it is a never-ending gray area, and perhaps that is what most draws me to it.

For as long as I can remember I have enjoyed writing. It has been a way to express myself, take a break from reality or just share something I find interesting. I don’t have a particular area that I feel compelled to gear this blog towards. I love to write creative fiction pieces. I also try to live a healthy lifestyle and greatly enjoy writing articles related to yoga, running, and sports. I may throw in some pieces on music or cooking as well. Basically anything that I find interesting is fair game for this blog. I have never had my own platform before so as I write more posts, I hope to find the  writing style that suits me best and learn more about who I am as a writer.