Mimsy's 26th Birthday is Upon Us

In the tradition of birthdays, we have decided to throw Mims a 26th birthday party complete with a cake with yarn frosting, ugly sweaters, and a whole lotta tuna fish casserole (just kidding on the casserole). We wanted to celebrate with Mims on this joyous occasion and all of his friends will be there. Now Mimsy's been around the block a few times (he's even older than we are) and we can't wait to celebrate. We will keep you posted and include pictures in the future! Breast milk will be served, no gifts please.

Hot Stillscape for Six Colors, 7th Avenue Style

Scatting- a form of improvising sounds in jazz (dapaodou-pido...)

Does UMD have a Scatting/Jazz Club? Lately I have found myself scatting here, there and everywhere... our art history professor even heard our musical genius today!

Ski-ba-doo-doodlily-bap-swee-do-dee-bop!

Quote of the Day

"Maybe some women aren't meant to be tamed. Maybe they just need to run free til they find someone just as wild to run with them."

-Sex and the City

Old Friends or New Foes

So- as many of you are probably aware, the day before Thanksgiving is the biggest and most popular day to go out drinking in the bars with your old friends... It is the time to catch up, talk about how great things are going (or are not going for some- and for those people, I am sorry), and laugh, and have a generally good time... Well, this year was the first time that I was legally allowed to partake in this tradition- so like the follower that I am- I did...

Well, there are the people that you want to see (a.k.a. your friends and acquaintances from high school), and then there are those who you do NOT ever want to see again EVER, like the "popular" people, the jerks, the wannabe jocks, and the people who were just asses to you for no apparent reason. Well, it seems that these were the people that partook in this Thanksgiving's Eve day, and I got to see them in their high school glory days- because they have yet to leave the mindset of high school. I went out with the majority of the people that I would want to see, but there were a few people still that if I saw, I would not be upset- however they must have been hibernating, because they were nowhere to be found, MIA, disappeared off of the face of the planet!

For these people who are out there that have yet to leave the high school mindset- grow up! You are in college now... Partying is fun, yes, but there is more to life than just that. You also don't have to act like you don't know who I am- we went to school together for 3, 6, or 13 years (depending on who you are) and I am not a leper. I was not part of your "elite cool crowd", no, but I did exist.

Anyways, I did get to see my friends, so it was worth going out... and it was definitely an interesting experience seeing how people have changed, or not changed.

My Life as a German Student

This semester I was forced to take a foreign language for my major and my advisor suggested that German would work well. So I thought, what the heck? Well that's where I was wrong. German is kicking my butt and I find myself either staring out the window at die Vogel (the pigeons) or schlafen (sleeping). I find ways to help memorize the hundreds of words I was supposed to have learned by now when really I can only remember one phrase: Mien Name ist McKenzie. Well done!

I have been making up songs in the English language that help me with German words. For example: ledig meaning single="all my single ledig, all my single ledig" or fieber meaning fever="you give me fieber... fieber in the morgens, fieber all through the nachts".

Here's a word of advice to all you thinking about taking up a foreign language-spare yourself the humiliation of being the one person in the room who is apparently oblivious to all things German and take up crocheting instead!

Quote of the Day

"I don't work for anyone... until I work for someone."

-Anonymous (a.k.a. Me)

Dumb and Happy

These two words some up our personalities perfectly. We are just plain ol’ dumb and happy and that’s the way we like it. You see, life throws so much at you everyday and our philosophy is to just be happy with what you got! So we have decided we would rather be dumb and happy than smart and sad. I think most would agree!!

A Day in the Life of a College Student

Any college student can respect this hilarious story. As a student low on cash, I despise grocery shopping. I hate buying the paper towels, the toilet paper, and any other necessity. Well my friend is not a fan of this ‘shopping’ either. She has been out of toilet paper for four days now! Guess what she’s been using…

Loose leaf paper! O.U.C.H!!! Just a typical week.

Quote of the Day

"I'm browsing, but disappointed with the selection of merchandise."

- Joan, Mad Men (talking about looking for a man)

Christmas Anyone... I Think So!!!

So... I am a FIRM believer in Christmas should start the day after Halloween, however, it seems that the common person disagrees with me on this issue. They think that the season shouldn't begin the day after Thanksgiving... I think that people need to get on board with my way of the season...

This weekend, I went to the Christmas parade in town, and it made me oh so very happy to see all of the lights and the music and the floats.

Now, I would just like to say to all of the people trying to kill my Christmas spirit- knock it off!!! I like the holiday, the general good feeling that you get, the merriment, the atmosphere and EVERYTHING having to do with this time of year. It doesn't happen any other time of year, so let me have my happiness- ok?

So, please... for the people of the world unite- stop killing my spirit, and let me enjoy myself, and you should try it too!

Library Pandemonium

After a few very unproductive nights in the library this week, I have decided that I am probably the worst student in the history of studying. Not only have I disrupted the entire 4^th floor (quite the hoppin’ place) but I have managed to make a fool of myself on multiple occasions. I should be banned from being anywhere silent and have duct tape handy 24/7!

Who finds this attractive? Anyone…that’s what I thought!

If this next blog turns into a rant- apologies ahead of time. You may be familiar with the ever-present booty shorts/Ugg boots combo that so many girls seem to wear around this tundra-esque campus. Not sure what is going on here ladies- are your feet that extremely cold and your legs that scalding hot? I’m sorry but this NEVER looks good on anyone and I am sick to death of seeing freshman girls wandering the halls in the cold days of winter with nothing on but an ugly top, shorts short enough to see the booty, bare legs and a pair of worn out Uggs. C’mon ladies-pull it together! We're supposed to be the fashionable gender, right?

Who Says Exes Bring Out the Worst in Us...

This is going to sound terrible, but I think we all take part… that is if you’re a normal girl with any emotions whatsoever! We all know that guys usually move on first from a relationship or dating experience- well the last guy that I was seeing (casually, but that doesn’t matter) decided to one-up me with a teeny-tiny, blonde chickadee. Now, I am usually the get-over-it-and-do-better kind of gal but I couldn’t help myself- so I christened her “skinny little blonde whore”, a.k.a B-DUBS. It sounds terrible, I know, but how else am I supposed to move on and feel better about my life- Mims is only good for so much!

"B-Dubs" are everywhere on this campus. They are the unavoidable frizzed-out, fried-out hair that is not one bit au naturale. I’m not saying that anyone with blonde hair is automatically a "B-Dubs", but we all know whom those overpopulated and over-bleached ladies are.

Dating No-No's

A friend of mine recently went out on a second date with a guy. Now this is where it gets important for all our male followers: never, ever shake a girl's hand at the end of a date. It makes the situation extremely awkward, yes, even more than a kiss that your unsure if she wants or not. The end-of-the-date sequence is always uncomfortable and there is no avoiding it so refrain from the sweaty palm handshake and stick with the ever so "comfortable" hug across the car console!

Just What Exactly is Fake Dating You Ask...

Since one of our avid readers/followers/fellow bloggers had a question about this particular phenomenon, and so I thought that I should follow up with a quick little baby post about what exactly "fake dating" is...

Well everyone, it is when the two people involved act exactly like a couple, and do all things relationship-like, and people perceive them as an "item", however one or more of the people involved in the "dating" does not want to "label" what they have for whatever reason.

In my particular case, it is not I who does not want the label... And, just to make it clear, I am not one of the girls who has to have a label on things- I simply am sick of being asked "what are you guys" and not having a response other than "no idea- ask him"...

So, I sure hope that clears things up a bit!

Fact or Fairytale? A Guest Blog from Our Friend Trudy Weigel

Relationships. What can one say about relationships? They are confusing, frustrating, messy, inconvenient, bring out the worst in people, and sometimes, just sometimes worth it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a hater of love (or what we mistake for love), but over the years I have accumulated chronicles of the what not’s, and the never go there’s in this treacherous world of dating.

The most infamous of dating urban legends is the “Fairytale a la Broad” also known as long distance dating. We all have that girlfriend, the one who comes home after meeting someone by accident, and all of a sudden she is seeing stars. After what feels like an eternity of explaining exactly how they met, she mentions that he is from Alabama and leaves in two days, but ends with the good news, which is that he promises to call her when he returns home. As a woman I feel it is my obligation to my fellow sex to say with confidence that this is never going to work. Let’s get real. You met him at a bar, most likely after throwing back a few drinks, you had great conversation, a couple laughs, and best of all “sparks,” which all too often is really indigestion, but tomato/tomato, or however that saying goes. You have one MIRACULOUS weekend, and before you know it he’s on a plane back home. Weeks go by with text messages, and the occasional phone call, and bam! The next moment your friend is talking about how she needs a change of scenery and is considering finding a job in Alabama after she graduates in May.

Now ladies, and gentlemen if this fits your scenario, let’s be honest. There are no jobs is Alabama. And the most disturbing of all is that you think you’ve found the “one” just because every Friday night he drunk texts you the oh so romantic line of “Goodnight Beautiful.” Let’s raise the bar a little bit, shall we? Quickly I will sum up the outcome of this one-sided relationship. He stops calling, and she vents about this to her uninterested friends for weeks on end. He goes out with the guys, no qualms about it. She goes out but checks her phone every 23 seconds to see if he has called. Long story short, it doesn’t work. If you’re lucky you might have a couple cousins marrying each other in a town near his own, and possibly you’ll have another romantic tryst, but the calls stop, so do the cheesy texts, and seven and a half months later she’s finally over it. All because of thirty hours or so with a man who she barely knows.

Whatever happened to having a great night with great company and enjoying it for that, with no strings attached? Well, I blame society for brainwashing us with all those romantic Disney movies, all those damn damsels in distress who get carried away by a prince on some snazzy horse, a modern day prince who just so happened to be the heir to the Super 8 motel chain. Well I say enough! It’s time we start approaching life with a little more reason, and a little less fairytale. That’s that, and I’m sticking to it.

Love Always….or at least until next week,

Miss M (aka Trudy Weigel)

Copyright: Reno Gazette in cooperation with the Reno Police Department

Reno Takes Duluth By Storm

Trudy, Clementine and Rae Rae took Duluth by storm on Halloween. Going all out with curlycues, cornrows and fanny packs- the girls of Reno were looking mighty fine in their get-up. Oh wait, they were us- we were those fine women of Reno 911... A successful night spent on the town- with all eyes on us! Check out our pictures and see for yourself...

Trudy, Rae Rae and Clementine

Trudy doing Americas Next Top Model

Check out our Reno 911 inspiration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZTIEJJYo3o&feature=related

Catso, Blue

Mimsy (sung in operatic voice) is the imaginary cat that Trudy and I share custody of. Mims came about one Halloween Eve. Now Mimsy isn't just any cat...He is a 25-year-old that just happens to breast feed, light your cigarettes, and keep you on your toes.

It's sort of a "you had to be there" joke but we thought we'd let you in on it because he may be coming up in the future. He's one feisty feline!

The "Nose" Incident

The person I am currently "fake-dating" and I were out for a night on the town, celebrating his roommates birthday. The night started out like any other, drinking, dancing and having a generally good time. Lets just put it this way- he likes to dance... As we were a movin' and a groovin', his elbow just happened to meet my nose. At this point in time, my nose started to flow like the nile river in summertime.

Being an athlete, he is rather strong and has a muscle or two. Not knowing his strength, he, being the gentleman he is, carried me out of the bar. We rushed to the little girls room, where I then tried to stop the flow. From the outside of the bathroom, he stood at the door giving me advice and tips of how I could stop it. Eventually, I convinced him to enter the bathroom, where he helped for about 2 seconds, until a drunk chic came into the restroom and ruined our "moment".

The bleeding stopped after what seemed like forever, and we went back into the bar, where we were eagerly greeted by our group. Not the typical night, but an eventful one in the least.

Salutations to The Joy of Life!

Salutations from the girls at "The Joy of Life"! We have decided to create this blog because there are a lot of people in our lives that inspire us daily, and we wanted to share them with the world... We are McKenzie and Sina, two twenty-something women going to school for Art History. This blog is going to include stories about our daily adventures through life, the people around us, along with special quirky postings here and there. Stay tuned, you are sure to be entertained!