Wreck this Journal? Art Never Sounded so Delightfully Destructive

You ever hear of a book called Rosie the Pug Goes on an Entire Day Behaving? Strangely, we haven't either. What can we say? Sometimes pugs and their humans just have to do a little wandering, a little toy snatching, and a not so little second and third breakfast eating.

Have you ever heard of Wreck this Journal? It's by Keri Smith but it's not a story. It was one thing on my (apparently) short and frustrating Christmas list this year, and I was delighted to tear off my mother's mistletoe paper to find this book within. The entire point of this journal is to create art by being destructive: something Rosie and I are particularly fond of.

Each page contains instructions on someway to alter the book. Here are some of the pages I'm really looking forward to.

Sounds like a blast, no?  As my journal continues to be evolve, I'll show all of you the progress on it. So far, not so much. But as soon as I can, I'm gonna start dropping it off of high places and collecting fruit stickers and using the book as a shoe.

Wanna get your own Wreck this Journal? No problem! You can find it on Amazon right [here] for a very reasonable price.

-Spencer

The Apocalypse. Book Style.

I love the smell of old books. Their slightly yellowed, worn pages. Some dog eagered at a favorite spots, some kept lovingly in mint condition, some with cracked bent spines, some without their jackets. All exuding the love their previous owners held for the tale. Even more I love standing in a bookstore and running my fingers over the spines and walking along the shelves. Leathery spines, glossy spines, papery spines. The texture, the contrast, the letters, the size... It's all slightly fascinating to me.

I suppose it would come as no surprise then that I'm the type of person who will stay up until 3 am when I have class at 8:50 the next morning just so I can finish the book I picked up at the library that afternoon. I'm such a bibliophile. Book lover. Do you think I could get paid to read books all day? 'Cause I think that'd be my dream job. In any case, here's what I've been reading lately along with my personal rating.

Graceling by Kristen Cashore
The story is about Katsa, a young warrior, and her journey of self-discovery as she seeks to unravel the mystery of who is behind the kidnapping of an elderly noble.
YA Fantasy
Rating: 2.5/5

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
The book follows two teens, a girl that has always lived within a protected city and a boy that has the powers of a seer, as they attempt to survive.
Fantasy
Rating: 4/5

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
16-year-old Katniss Everdeen lives in the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem. The Capitol, a highly advanced metropolis, exercises political control over the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games are an annual event in which one boy and one girl aged 12–18 from each of the twelve districts are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle to the death.
Rating: 4.5/5

Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien
In a future world baked dry by the harsh sun, there are those who live inside the wall and those, like sixteen-year-old midwife, Gaia Stone, who live outside. Gaia has always believed it is her duty, with her mother, to hand over a small quota of babies to the Enclave. But when Gaia’s mother and father are arrested by the very people they so dutifully serve, she is forced to question everything she has been taught to believe.
Rating: 3/5

Clearly I've got a theme going on. Post apocalypse. I dunno. It's just fascinating. And I will prolly devote an entire post to my reactions of The Hunger Games series at some point. But for now, a nice short list that may have something to catch your eye. Enjoy!

-Spencer

Drive Thru Curiosities

I am currently employed at a Quick Service Restaurant. What's Quick Service? Quick service doesn't start making your food until you order it. Fast Food? Fast food makes the food ahead of time and then leaves it under a heat lamp until it exceeds its hold time. Clearly your life has been improved by that little tidbit. ;)

Anyways.

I've been at my job for 1 year and 5 months. That makes me a veteran. So I find myself rotating between the more difficult stations in the restaurant typically. The first position is Set. That's where we take the food the kitchen staff makes and then sends down the appropriate chute and put it into the proper bags or onto the trays with the proper side items, condiments, and utensils. The second position is First Mate. This person takes money, hands out drinks and custards, and parks cars appropriately in the drive thru. The last position is Captain. Captain is the order taker and drink and custard maker for the drive thru speed team. Needless to say I get my fair share on all three. And after this nice long winded intro, I give to you the entirely true stories of a drive thru Captain.

---
"Hi, thanks for choosing [restaurant], this is Spencer, how may I help you?"
"Yeah, I'll have a double deluxe basket please."
"And what would you like to drink with that?"
"Cheese curds."
"I'm sorry but cheese curds aren't a drink."
"Oh. Really? Well I'll have a pepsi then."
---
"Hi, thanks for choosing [restaurant], this is Spencer, how may I help you?"
"Hi Spencer! My name is Margo!"
"Well hello Margo, how are you doing today?"
"I'm really good! Thanks! Do you want to be friends?"
"Margo, that would really make my night awesome. I definitely would like to be friends."
"Oh, I'm so glad. I was worried you'd say no. Anyways. I'll have a kids cheeseburger meal..."
---
"What size shakes do you guys have?"
"We have a short, medium and a tall size for all of our shakes."
"You only have two sizes?"
"No, we have three sizes. Short, medium, and tall."
"What's tall?"
"Tall is our largest shake size."
"Yes, I want a shake! What sizes do you have?"
"We have three sizes of shake. A short size. A medium size. And a tall size."
"Oh. You do have shakes don't you?"
---

Classic, huh?
-Spencer

Weird Stuff my Dog Eats

Have you heard of Dog Shaming? It's pretty funny. You can check it out over here. Basically, you take a picture of your naughty dog with a shameful sign saying what naughty thing they've gotten into now.

...

Some days I think Rosie could have her own site.

But instead I'll just make a list of the odd things she's eaten in the last few weeks. I try to stop her, believe me I do.

Weird stuff my dog eats:

-Pomegranate seeds
-Foam ball (only chewed to oblivion)
-Grass. So much grass.
-A bajillion or so of those little helicopter tree seeds
-Snotty kleenex
- 1/4 full Dr Pepper bottle (mostly just spilled all over my car mats)
-Carrot (but just one, and she won't eat any after that one time)
-Cheddar Cheese Rice Crisp snacks stolen from my backpack
-Grass
-Pizza crust nabbed from the box on the table that is 3 feet off the ground (Still have no clue how she dragged the box down)
-Pack of graham crackers
-Hobo sock (Nasty sock that mysteriously appeared in our yard, managed to get her to drop it AFTER she brought it in the house)
-More grass.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is only the abridged version. Lucky she's so cute and has a stomach made of titanium huh?

-Spencer

I was Patted Down by the TSA

Remember how I mentioned that I went to Costa Rica? And I'm planning on going to Puerto Rico in like... less than three weeks? Well, I'm dreading a bit, going through security. Because I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to be patted down again. Except last time, they didn't do it right. Not one bit. Here's how it went getting on the plane to go to Costa Rica.

We got to the airport at the buttcrack of dawn (literally). And we waited a smidge because the ticket counter wasn't open and for some reason, we hadn't been able to print my ticket from home the night before. We figured the internet was just fussy. So we got our tickets at the counter, checked our bags and headed to security.

And then they scanned us. And looked at our tickets. And let us proceed to our gate.

...

We sat at the gate for a good 45 minutes before boarding began. But it's better to be early than late, especially in an airport amirite? Of course, we were in the last group to board. I let Mom and Gramma go ahead of me and sleepily shuffled forward with the line. Gramma's ticket was scanned and she went on down the umbilical. Mom's ticket got scanned, and off she went too. My ticket got scanned and-"Oh. Ma'am I'm going to have to ask you to step to the side." Uhm. Whaaaat? But I did as he asked. My mom noticed I wasn't behind her and headed back up to see what the problem was. Finally the ticket guy turned to me and said, "You've been selected for additional screening. You actually shouldn't have made it here at all. They should have stopped you in security, so I'm going to have to call two agents up here." Well that's comforting. So we waited. And waited some more. And then we waited a little longer. I was delaying the plane.

Finally two agents came up and asked if I wanted to be taken all the way back to security to a private room for a screening. I said no, I had nothing to hide and it'd just waste more time. I was already cranky from the lack of sleep. And so I stood in the terminal, feet shoulder width apart, arms out to the side, sweatshirt off in front of all the other travelers that happened to be in nearby terminals or passing through, letting a woman with blue gloves pat me down. The other woman took my bag and took out everything. And opened every pocket. And every flap of everything inside my bag. Tampons, tablet, fruity gum, and all got removed from my bag and set down on those stiff, awkward terminal seats. It was awesome.

In the mean time, my Gramma had realized that neither my mom nor I had boarded the plane. She had convinced the stewardess to let her off to see what the problem was and came flying up the ramp looking for us. The look on her face when she saw me standing there, being patted down by one agent and my bag disassembled by the other, was pretty priceless.

Finally, they apologized for the hassle and thanked me for being a good sport (though most of the terminal was giving me shifty side long glances now) and let me board. I had delayed the plane for quite a bit, though saved a few stragglers running late from missing it entirely.

And that, ladies and gentleman, is how I was patted down by the TSA. Let's hope leaving for Puerto Rico starts a little differently.

-Spencer

Meet Rosie and Other Updates!

Sooo.. yeah. That last post promising more frequent posts... written in November... clearly I held true to that. Ahaha. I'm a horrible human being. So let's do some updates.

The blog will be getting a makeover soon ish. Something a little more fitting. Perhaps a map theme. And hopefully some more posts amirite? :P

I've got a solo trip planned to Puerto Rico for seven days! Whee! I'm so excited. Expect lots of news about that. And if anyone has any advice or tips after visiting there, please feel free to let me know! Or if anyone is gonna be there at the end of July maybe a day trip meet up??

The most important update to inform you guys of... I got a dog!! Everyone meet my little pug, Rosie!

Isn't she just the cutest little pugapillar you've ever seen?? I'm in love with the little girl. There's nothing like coming home to someone who's always excited to see you. And she makes the best cuddle partner. Cuddles whenever I want! Yeah, yeah. I'm a little nutty over my dog. But hey, did you see all those wrinkles?? I love her.

So this time I'm actually gonna try and keep up with my posts. We're gonna shoot for at least one a week. And I'm really gonna try hard. It's gonna be like my... June 24th Resolution. That's a thing right?

-Spencer