Shanna Suburbia

Are you still following this blog or have it bookmarked? Delete it and subscribe or bookmark Shanna Suburbia instead. Thanks!

Announcement: Indefiniate Hiatus

Hi everyone,

As you have probably figured out, this blog has been on hiatus. Now I am declaring an official indefinite hiatus on this project while I firmly ground my other blog, All Events Are Special Events. Once I'm on solid footing with that, I will revisit this blog. I still love the idea of "Full of Useful Information" but it's just not something that is both inspiring and lucrative at this time, whereas I am active in the events industry now.

If you using an RSS Reader, please don't unsubscribe just yet. I'm hoping to revisit this project within the year. Even if you are not in the events industry, please do check out http://shannachoungevents.blogspot.com/, because there will always be random cool stuff there.

Thanks and I hope to see everyone around soon!

Feedurner, XML, RSSB

I hate FeedBurner. Then again, this whole RSS thing wouldn't be nearly as confusing if Blogger didn't give both an Atom and RSS option. At least my AdSense is still working.

Ok, so, if you follow both this blog (Full of Useful Information) and my other blog, Romantic Reflections, you'll have noticed that subscribing to both only gave you posts from RR. They should be fixed now. If you follow both sites, please replace your RSS Feeds if you are using them and resubscribe. If you are seeing anything about weddings from FoUI or anything not related to weddings from RR (besides these posts about RSS and such), email me.

If you're following this blog on a RSS Reader, please leave a comment if you can see this. Thanks and sorry for the inconvenience.

Inspiration

I am feeling very inspired today. Obama is our president-elect and I'll take this moment to tell the Republicans to suck it up -- McCain accepted his defeat graciously, why can't you? Prop 8 may have passed but a lot of people are fighting hard to turn it over. (Please sign the online petition to re-open it.) I always felt strongly about the content of Prop 8 but after finding out that it actually passed and that no one is taking it lying down, my fire for the topic has been reignited and I realized just how wrong Prop is.

Two days ago, I met with the guy I'm working with on a start-up and asked for the "Director of Marketing" title, which he happily granted me. Today I'm going to a meeting for a 5-day conference at the San Diego Convention Center that I'm working/volunteering for.

I'm feeling pumped up! =)

Election Day Freebies!!

I hope everyone goes out and votes today! If you do, take your little "I Voted" sticker over to the following places today for freebies!

Krispy Kreme (all locations) - free star shaped donut with "patriotic sprinkles" (hey, that's what the website said.

Starbucks - free tall (12 oz) cup of brewed coffee

Ben & Jerry's (5-8pm) - free scoop of ice cream


UPDATED: LifeHacker has a more complete list of freebies being given out nationwide, in addition to a link to a forum discussing a lot of locational freebies which includes, but is not limited to free car washes, free tattoo removal, and free adult toys.



PS: No on 8!

Blame the Economy?

The Chinese have a saying that roughly translates to "With money, you can't do everything. Without money, you can't do anything."

Times are really tough right now. The job market is awful, which really hurts me being a recent graduate, and I feel really discouraged (yes, again) in this job hunt.

It's not until you don't have that you realize how much how your life relies on it. I'm not talking about little things like cell phone bills. I mean even trying to make long-term improvement to your life is hard. I'm taking classes to get a professional certificate, which I'm hoping will be the true key to opening doors for me, but the classes cost money. Gas to get to my classes costs money. Printing new business cards so I can properly network and find opportunities cost money. All of these things are investments so I can build myself a good future but am I in any position to fund it?

I read on SavvySugar that the bad economy might actually be really good for new graduates because not being able to find a job right away will give them the time and opportunity to figure out what it is they really want to do and not waste time in the first position they can find. I like this bright spin on it and I've always been the voice of optimism but I'm finding it hard to digest.

I keep a smiling face and always said that things would work out; I just have to be patient and keep working at it.

I'm sorry to sound so depressing but it's just so, so hard for me right now and for the first time in a long time, I am genuinely concerned that life won't just work itself out and my little bubble will get burst and I just won't know what to do when I'm down to my last dollar.

Chin up, right?

The Thought That Counts

I've said before that I'm a recent college graduate without a career or a job yet. That being said, I am lacking in all sorts of means to be green and simple the way I really want to be. Living in an apartment and not having solid cash flow means a lot of things are just really not feasible no matter how much I want to help the environment, save energy, or simply live better.

When No Impact Man wrote this detailed article about vermicomposting, the use of worms in composting, I got very excited about the idea of composting. As someone who is now cooking a lot of vegetables, the increasing amount of stuff being thrown away is disturbing. Never mind all the political connotations about our land fills, throwing something away that isn't actually bad just doesn't seem to sit right with me. So, I read the article and did a little more research on vermicomposting, but the more I read, the less this seemed feasible for me to do right now. For starters, an apartment is not generously spaced. Even though the composting can be done in a storage bin, I really don't have a good place to put it. Furthermore, I don't have any place to store anything else that might go with it -- extra paper for the bedding, the fertilizer when it's complete, etc. Another big point was that I read it would take about 6 months for the first batch to be ready. Now, 6 months isn't a really long time but let's consider a few other things... I have a lease on this apartment. I could be moving in a matter of months and to be realistic, probably a few more times in the next few years. Even though it's just one bin of worms, I have to move it several places before I have a real garden to use fertilizer in. That's the other thing -- I don't grow anything yet. I did start some tomatoes lately but they're not even big enough to leave their first pot and I haven't even started talking about all the little extra things I need for gardening. Again, living in an apartment, particularly one you won't be in very long, makes all these things very inconvenient.

Energy conversancy is even harder. Yes, I would like to have energy efficient things but I live in a complex. A tiny complex. I have to use their washers and I don't have any space or place to do line drying or air drying. So yes, it costs me extra money and to be quite honest, I really hate using laundry rooms anyway. They don't maintain the machines as well as they should, my clothes always smell funny, and don't get me started on laundry room drama. My dream is use solar panels but that's something that won't be realized for a long time.

The hardest part of it all is reading these blogs and hearing these suggestions I have thought of myself or great ideas that had never occurred to me before and not being able to do any of it.... right now. One prime example is water -- I've heard over and over again not to buy bottled water and a lot of suggestions of alternatives, but like I keep saying they are just not doable for me now. I do have a Britta water filter but I really dislike the taste of Britta water. Tap water tastes strange to me too. What I'd rather have is a filter straight from the sink, like my parents have at home, but again, I live in a complex.

So, I do the little things, as I can. I recycle the cans and bottles I use now. I try to get my groceries from the stores that buy local. I frequently avoid fast food. And one day, I'll be able to conserve the way I really want to... until then, I just have to keep wanting to.