As I welcome 2014 I embark on my new journey with Sunday Obsessions. Last year around this time this blog was created as a class assignment. Then the class ended and my Sundays turned to laundry, last minute homework, and Netflix instead of laundry, last minute homework and blogging.
Well don't call it a comeback, but this neophyte blogger is back!
I want 2014 to be a year of adventure! A year of curiosity! A year of embracing my obsessions and discovering new ones. But most of all, I want this to be a year where I fill my days with commitment. Commitment to myself, to others, and to my fellow Obsessionites.
A new year brings new opportunities. I want to transform Sunday Obsessions from the class assignment, checklist type dictation it was into an opportunity to bring you along for the sporadic Obsessionite ride that is my life. So, with my predictable procrastination habits in hand I hope you join me in this adventure, that will of course include my frequent obsessions with the random wonders of life, but will also include days where my posts come from days other than Sunday, like my last post, because class has ended and I'm taking the wheel.
All in all, I want my journey to be our journey. I hope you're up for the ride!
In honor of the last Sunday of 2013; well I started this on Sunday and than the usual procrastination and distraction set in, but I have decided to return to my Obsessionite ways and write again. To embrace my passionate disposition and share with you all my obsessions; the good, the bad and the especially random.
So, as I spent these last days of the year exploring my mental inventory of all my obsessions, passions, and fascinations I decided to return to the life of a witty neophyte blogger and dish out my
13 Favorite Frivolous Obsessions of 2013!
1. True Life: I'm Addicted to Netflix!
So, this year really transformed this obsession. As Netflix added its own shows like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black it completely stepped up to the plate and showed the world that they are no Blockbuster! Netflix has been there for every one of my random media cravings. Especially when I was interested in finding a TV drama to dive into that was fast-talking, intellectual and full of witty banter; that's when I found The West Wing in my suggestions line on my Netflix homepage. A show my father raved about, but I never thought anything of. Well it only took 3 months after that first episode for my eyes to see the credits roll up the screen of episode 22 of the final season and my addiction to be eternal. 2. Latin Music
I may not know any of the words, but I sing along to practically every song on my Danza Kuduro Radio on Pandora! I dance around like a fool and mumble over ever lyric, but 2013 was the year of Latina music in my own little world! If you also have the Latin fever I would definitely suggest this playlist to anyone! 3. College Football Rivalry
My undergraduate institution was a basketball school, so after many games of chanting behind the hoop on the floor of Madison Square Garden, I thought I knew what rivalry was in the world of College Athletics; but a little taste of the Southern ways and wow my eyes flew open. College football; I have never seen such fury and uncontrolled passion from students, administrators, and community members than on game day in Columbia, South Carolina. On average over one hundred thousand people come out to tailgate and cheer on the Gamecocks; and the stadium only holds 80,250 seats! Flat screen TVs, generators, full size roasters/grilles, and party busses fill the mile and something radius of the stadium for hours and hours. It wasn't until my first game that I realized that ESPN calls it Game Day for a reason; it literally takes up the entire day! 4. Sisterhood!
This year I made the decision of a lifetime to join a legacy that spans 101 years. I joined an amazing bond of sisterhood! Women who showed me what it meant to be a friend, to be an individual, and to be a leader! My love for these ladies and this organization can never be expressed in the perfect arrangement of words, so instead I say "From the outside looking in you can never understand, and from the inside looking out you can never explain it." Ever loyal, everlasting. 5. Military Family
This year my family was able to celebrate a major accomplishment. This Veteran's Day my baby brother was contracted into the United States Army as a 2nd Lieutenant pending his college graduation! This also was a dual excitement because this year is the 30th anniversary of when my father became retired from the United States Navy! Their is nothing better than living a life where you fight for the citizens of this fine nation! I am so proud to be related to these two fine men!
6. Southern Lifestyle
Well as I left the Big Apple for the Dirt South I encountered a culture shock I was not prepared for. Slower walking, talking, and overall living was the first wave of new encounters I experienced when I moved down to South Carolina. Then came the fried food, thick accents, and a love of grits I will never understand. But the large school lifestyle of this SEC institution, Southern hospitality, and beautiful scenery are an added bonus this New Yorker is not accustomed too. 7. Apple Products
At the end of 2012 I got my first Apple product, an iPhone 5, and two days ago I got a MacBook Pro! I have to say, I have conformed to this very popular brand loyalty and it is definitely worth the investment; but no endorsement is necessary, especially from me, for the brand who spends a million, if that, on advertising each year! 8. New York
The city that never sleeps will always be my home and this has never been more evident until I left. There is nothing like this amazing city. And if you have never been, well first shame on you, this will need to be on your 2014 bucket list. Especially this view from the Empire State Building over the Macy's in Herald Square!
9. Travel
I have never left the east coast of North American. A shocking and embarrassing fact. But this is all about to change, because before I ended this fall semester I registered for a class that is a Global Classroom which includes a 10 day spring break to Ireland!!! 100% Irish, I figured I have to go at least once in my life. I do have the travel bug, but have never lived the life, well as I start my 23rd year that is all about to change. You can tell simply by my Pinterest board Breaking out the Brougue you can tell I am more than excited for this adventure. 5 cities in 10 days!!! 10. Diana Nyad!
Yeah, so if you didn't feel like your 2013 was lazy or unproductive that you didn't hear about Diana Nyad! She is the 65 year old woman who swam from Cuba to Florida. Yeah, that happened this year. Needless to say she is an amazing human being! 11. SnapChat are NOT Selfies
I do not selfie, I SnapChat. I feel like I spent a chunk of this year correcting peoples accusations that I was taking selfies, when really I was simply SnapChatting. I am not one of those people who take pictures of myself making weird faces because my hair is fabulous or cause my half naked physique is looking particularly good that day and then post those pictures all over Twitter, Instagram and Facebook; no I leave that for the preteens to obliviously overuse. 12. Family Christmas Video?!?
This family is beyond epic. No intro or caption necessary for this #XMAS Jammies wearing family! Just watch the clip! 13. Yes, I speak in hashtags.
2013 was a year full of hashtags. And no matter how many people make fun of it, which yes it is well deserved, I still can't help it. Sometimes a situation just calls for a hashtag convo. My favorite convo does go to this dynamic duo of JT and Jimmy Fallon.
Hope everyone had a great 2013 and is ready for an epic 2014, 14 is my favorite number so I'm feeling good things lie ahead.
Hello Obsessionites, Sorry to bombard you with another class project, but here is a 30 second commercial I created for Oreo. Full disclosure---This is courtesy of myself, 18 Oreos, and my iPhone 5! Hope you all enjoy a taste of amateur hour!
Hello Obsessionites, If you haven't caught on to the theme already, my class is working on projects in relation to the Boston Marathon Bombing that happened a few weeks ago. Here is my Man on the Street video where I interviewed five St. John's University students on the topic.
If you have anything to add to the questions asked please join in by adding to the comments below! Until Next Sunday! --CaitShannon
I recently posted about the death of Brown University Student Sunil Tripathi.
His death; although the exact causes are unknown; is seen to be related to the
online frenzy that happened about him while he was missing.
In case you aren’t up to date on the
matter here is what happened.
After the bombings, photos were sent out
by the FBI, nationwide, of what was believed to be the two suspects. Students
at Brown University began to talk and rumors began to spread that one of the suspects;
now officially identified at 19 year old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; was their fellow
Brown classmate Tripathi.
Tripathi was mysteriously missing since
March 16th and this only fueled people’s ideas that he was one of
the Boston Marathon bombers. When Tripathi’s body was pulled out of the
Providence River by the Brown University crew coach on April 25th
the body was said to have looked like it was there for some time.
Twitter and another website called
Reddit were the platforms used to spiral the speculations that Tripathi was one
of the Boston Marathon bombers. Reddit apologized to Tripathi’s family for
fueling “online witch hunts and dangerous speculation which spiraled into very
negative consequences for innocent parties.”
In today’s society everyone is wired in
to at least one social media platform. While these sites like Facebook,
Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest allow for people all over the world to come
together and stay connected it can easily be missed used.
When social media makes the news; and not
for another software update; it regularly has a tie to bullying. With one
status, video, or tweet hundreds to thousands to millions of people can
instantly be in the loop. It is so easy for anyone, especially kids, to get
angry or sad and post it on the internet. It is not understood that these posts
never go away no matter how much you hit the delete button. When it comes to
the World Wide Web nothing is secret and nothing goes away.
In the case of Sunil Tripathi, it was
college age students who were misusing social media. They saw a photo that was
distributed by the FBI; one student claimed it looked like Tripathi and people started
to “jump on the bandwagon.”
This notion that Tripathi was missing
because he was the Boston Marathon Bomber spread like fire and with every
person who claimed it was him the hatred comments that followed grew worse. So,
with no evidence, only one student claiming it was Tripathi and then posting
that online the ignorance of individuals followed.
It is easy to believe that if you see it
on the internet it must be true. But, as the internet grew into what it is
today it became easier for whomever to post about whatever, whenever they
wanted. Not everything that is written on the internet is credible.
This situation could have been stopped
if only a handful more students bothered to look at the picture or speak up on
his behalf, instead of trusting one kid who racially profiled a missing kid to
being the Boston Marathon bomber.
In the universe that is the internet, it
is easy to become a victim and no one knows it better than social media’s
latest victim Sunil Tripathi.
As I am sure you are all aware of, a few weeks ago there was a bombing at the 2013
Boston Marathon. This incident injured over two hundred people and killed
three. But, those who lost their lives as spectators of the event were not the
only ones; another individual lost his life because of what happened after the
bombing.
A 22 year old student at Brown
University was found dead in the Providence River on April 25, 2013. This young
man is Sunil Tripathi, the third of his brothers to attend Brown University and
an excellent saxophonist.
After the bombings, photos were sent out
by the FBI, nationwide, of what was believed to be the two suspects. Students
at Brown University began to talk and rumors began to spread that one of the suspects;
now officially identified at 19 year old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; was their fellow
Brown classmate Tripathi.
Tripathi was mysteriously missing since
March 16th and this only fueled people’s ideas that he was one of
the Boston Marathon bombers. When Tripathi’s body was pulled out of the
Providence River by the Brown University crew coach on April 25th
the body was said to have looked like it was there for some time.
Twitter and another website called
Reddit were the platforms used to spiral the speculations that Tripathi was one
of the Boston Marathon bombers. Reddit apologized to Tripathi’s family for
fueling “online witch hunts and dangerous speculation which spiraled into very
negative consequences for innocent parties.”
Hello Obsessionites, In case you couldn't tell by the grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, or basic blog layout, this semester I started blogging for the first time. Thanks to this class I have learned how to create a voice, share audio and video, and use both compost and HTML in my blog. It was rough some weeks when I couldn't find an obsession to talk about, but this is a hobby I have grown to love. In honor of the end of the semester I will use this blog post to share with you all the three things I am obsessed with when it comes to blogging. Maybe this will encourage a few of you to come up with a quirky title and start your own! #1 I love how easy it is to upload videos from YouTube. This especially came in handy with my "The Wondrous Life of YouTube" blog post! I have never loved extended content online with tons of copy to look over. The only way to keep my attention is to add a picture, meme, or video into the mix!
Adorable Children = Guaranteed Winner
#2 I have to give it to my boy Blogger.com! For a newbie this was the perfect platform to start my first blog. Clean layouts, easy to design, and simple to use edits and upload capabilities.
Create a Blog Today!
Thanks to you Blogger, I have now become a believer in my own inner blogger!
#3 This might sound weird, but having an outlet where I can be myself. Having the opportunity to create a voice, a concept, and a vision for something that is totally my own is something I am defiantly obsessed with! I thought it would be hard to have a relatively one way conversation with the world every week; but as the weeks passed it became easier to stick with my voice and share my obsessions.
My advice to you all, give blogging a chance! Blogging can be a great way to celebrate the simple things or vent about the frustrating moments. Either way, it never hurts to try!
Are you already a blogger extraordinaire? Comment in the space below about your reasons for blogging.
