Ruckus is No More

I don't know how many of you knew about Ruckus, but I loved it. It was a ad-supported site where college students had access to legally download over 3 million songs and all for free! It was great, especially for poor college students, and greatly decreased illegal file sharing. The only thing is that the songs were DRM protected, so you could not transfer them off your computer and on to your iPod or other portable music player. While this was kind of sad, it was still nice to get this free music. That is, until the unexpected happened.

A friend of mine was telling me about this group that she really liked, but I had not heard of them. Naturally I thought, "Hey, I'll just look them up on Ruckus." Unfortunately when I went to the site, it said that the service will no longer be provided. I was shocked. I didn't see this coming. It happened without any warning at all. I checked to see if my music that I already downloaded still worked. Some of it did, and some of it didn't. With this service, you had to renew your license to each song each month. All you had to do was sign into your account, and it would automatically renew them. Once the site shut down, you could no longer sign into your account. This means that once the license is up, the songs can no longer be played.

This all happened about a month ago, so the rest of my songs will expire on March 3rd. This makes for a very sad day. I have kept a list of the songs that I have now, so hopefully I will be able to find them somewhere else. Maybe I'll just break down and buy the CDs on ebay, Amazon, or another site where I can get them cheaply. If anyone knows of another site where you can download free and legal music, I would greatly appreciate it if you let me know about it.

Camping Adventures

Well, I did it. I survived the pregame campout. It was actually a lot warmer than I thought it would be, at least in the tent. We had all planned on freezing, so we brought as many layers and blankets as we could. It turns out we only needed about half of them. I got so warm walking over to Mackey that I had to take off a layer once I got there. I think two of the biggest reasons we stayed so warm were that we had a layer of sleeping bags underneath our own to cushion the ground and keep the cold cement away from our bodies and the fact that we had four people sleeping in a three man tent.

We also got some free food perks for our dedication. About one o'clock in the morning, the blow horn siren went off. At first I thought we were having a roll call to make sure that all the groups still had their representative and tickets there. Instead, they told us that it was not a roll call, and Regions Bank across the street was giving out free hot chocolate and popcorn. Of course we were going to take advantage of this opportunity. Another girl and I stayed in the tent while the others went to get food. When they came back, they also had Jimmy John's sandwiches with them. We then all decided that we loved Regions Bank and were all going to switch our money to there, ok maybe not.

The campers got another surprise for breakfast. The basketball team came out with boxes of donuts for everyone. Unfortunately, I had been relieved from my shift and had not come back yet when this happened. At least some of my group got to enjoy it though. Maybe I will be luckier this weekend when we camp for the Purdue vs. Ohio State game.

You may ask how much sleep we actually got with all the excitement going on. The next morning, my friends all said that they slept for most of the night. The only time they really woke up was for the roll call at 3 a.m., but they were still half asleep for that. I was up for most of the night though. The people next to us decided to camp out without a tent, and talk all night. I'm pretty sure they had been drinking, but their stories were pretty funny to listen to.

Once I finally got to sleep, I was woken up by a strange sound. At first, I wasn't sure what it was, but then I figured out what it was. It was rain. Immediately, I thought about our neighbors who were camping without a tent. Then I remembered them asking someone to find them a tent and hearing a bunch of crinkly noises over there earlier. They must have gotten one. The next morning when we looked over there we saw that they had a little one person tent set up, and I'm glad that they did. It would have been awful to sit outside all night in the cold rain.

After my night shift, I went back to my room to get ready. Since I had more time than I needed, I decided to lay down on my couch for a little bit. Since I was suffering from lack of sleep, I dozed off. I was so tired that my dad called me eight times, and I missed every single one of them! Luckily I woke up in time to make it back for the game. That would have been awful if I slept through it. I just had to really hurry to get ready.

My friend also texted me while I was sleeping. She said that while they were taking down the tent, it started to rain/sleet/snow, and they had gotten soaked. I asked if she wanted me to bring her some dry clothes, but she had already gotten a hold of her roommate to bring them some. The Mackey security was also really nice and let everyone inside for awhile to keep them out of the weather.

Overall, I think we all had a lot of fun on our "camping" trip even with the not so desirable weather and lack of sleep. One girl from our group even won the Fazoli's Dance for Your Dinner competition during halftime. I don't know about the rest of them, but I know I can't wait to do it again this weekend!

Only in Indiana

I'm sure that we've all heard the phrases, "Only in Indiana," and, "Crazy Indiana weather." You may have even heard them recently. This has been some pretty crazy weather we've been having the past couple weeks. We started off the semester and had that week with record windchill lows. It would be super cold during the week and then warm up on the weekends. This was good for our weekend plans, but it made our walks to class pretty miserable. There were times I couldn't even feel my face!

Shortly after this, we got all that snow. I asked a friend how long she thought the snow would stay around, and her guess was March. Obviously she was wrong. The weather turned unusually warm, and it all melted. The temperatures continued to rise into the 50s and 60s during the day at the beginning of last week, and people were even going to class in shorts, tshirts, and flip flops. I thought they were crazy. It might have warmer than what we had been having, but it wasn't that warm.

Then last Wednesday, we got that wonderful February rain. I wasn't just rain. It was more of a downpour with lots of wind. I don't usually mind the rain since I always carry an umbrella with me, but the wind makes it worse. It blows the rain under your umbrella or turns it inside out. This is never pleasant.

The rain came and went, and it took our warm weather with it. Yesterday the windchill dropped into the negatives again. I was glad to see that it warmed up a little today especially since I am camping out with the Paint Crew outside of Mackey tonight. We are going to have to be close together to use each other's body heat for warmth. There is a light wintry mix turning into snow in the forecast for tonight, so hopefully that won't be too bad. I don't really want to get sick from this.

We can just hope that the worth of the winter is over with. Spring break is only three weeks away with the official first day of spring that week too. Hopefully the change of season will bring the warm weather along with it to stay.

Mackey Campground?

As many people know, this Saturday is the famous Purdue vs. Indiana men's basketball game. As a member of the student section, The Paint Crew, you can imagine that I am pretty excited for this game. This year, The Paint Crew is allowed to have camping before four big games this season: Duke, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio State. This camping is not for tickets, but it is to get the best seats we can in the general admission section for these great games.

The Indiana game starts Saturday at 2pm with the gates opening between 12:30 and 1, but the line for seats starts Friday at noon. You can form groups of up to ten people, and anyone who has their group's tickets at Mackey by noon on Friday will be entered in a lottery to get their place in line. Anyone who shows up after this will just be added to the end of the line. In order to keep your spot, someone from your group must be in line with all your tickets at all times. This includes the whole night. Since none of us had camping supplies, my friends went out and bought a tent just for these camping events. Now that's dedication. We want to get the best seats we can for this Big 10 rival game.

Now you may wonder, what we are going to do while we wait in line for more than 24 hours. Well we have tried to come up with different things to keep us occupied. We have also set up a schedule, splitting our group into smaller groups, so everyone doesn't have to stay in line the whole time. While some of us are still in class, the groups are smaller than in the evening, but we are never by ourselves. This way, hopefully we won't get as bored. Insomnia Cookies is close to Mackey just off of Northwestern, and since I have never had them, they are a must for the night. We are also getting together the different games that we have for a night of fun for those staying during the evening hours. So far we have cards, backgammon, and some others. We also have Apples to Apples which we may play with some of the other groups around us. That could be really interesting. In order to collect cards in this game, you have to be able to read the judge and tell if they are in a serious or funny mood.

I volunteered to be in the group that spent the night at Mackey. This way I can spend my time doing something that I value. As you may have guessed, this is sleeping. What better way to pass the time than by taking a little snooze. Hopefully the other groups will also sleep, so they are not making too much noise all night. If they do, I will just have to try to block out all the noise. I am also going to be there once we get our spot to help set up the tent. Then I have another shift after I get out of class for the day. Hopefully all this waiting will be worth it.

The scouting report for the game went out to the Paint Crew members today. In it, we were told the strength and weaknesses of the Indiana team. Mostly what they are lacking is size and experience. They are doing well in steals, but they have the highest turnover rate in the Big 10. I think this will be a downfall for them in Saturday's game as Purdue will be able to take advantage of these opportunities to get the ball. Purdue should be able to add another win to their record after this game.

I am really hoping that everything goes well for us this weekend, for me, my group, and the team. No matter what happens, I am excited for the opportunity I have to spend time with this great group of people even if we do freeze. I want Mackey Campground to be something that I remember among the other fun times I have had here at Purdue. Make sure to watch the game, and Boiler Up!

The Great Egg Drop

While many college students are out having "a good time" on Thursday night, my friends and I from church have our own version of fun. Last night our HOOT (Hanging Out On Thursdays) activity was guys versus girls game night. We started off with some trivia games followed by four men on a couch. To finish off the night, we had The Great Egg Drop. Each team was given a package of bendy straws, a roll of tape, and five Exponents to build protection to keep our two eggs from breaking when dropped from a certain height.

Everyone got to work right away. We started putting the straws together in squares to make a cube for one of our eggs. We made two cubes and put newspaper on one side of each cube. The egg was then put between the newspaper on the cubes and taped in there. As long as it hit on one of the ends, this egg should be safe.

Our other idea was to wrap the egg in newspaper. If it was loose enough to make a cushion, it should absorb some of the impact of the fall. We also taped a bunch of straws to the newspaper hoping this would help. It may have looked like a mess, but looks didn't matter. We just wanted to protect our little egg.

The guys had their own ideas. They made a bigger cube than we did and filled it with newspaper with the egg in the middle. Then they wrapped the cube in newspaper to keep the egg from falling out. Their other design also had the egg in the center but this time with no cube. Then straws were taped pointing in two directions around the outside. The ends were then bent down to make "feet" to support the structure when it hit the ground.

Now it was time to test them. We all went outside to see them dropped out of the second story window. To our surprised none of the eggs were eliminated. We needed something bigger. Where could we go? We ended going down the street to the University Parking Garage. Surely this would do the trick.

We handed over our eggs, and they were taken to the top. Which eggs would survive? We got there just as an exam was getting done, so people were looking around trying to figure out what we were doing. Some of them even stopped just to watch. Once the sidewalk was clear, it was time for the drop. One by one they fell. Sadly, both of our eggs broke, and neither of the guys' did. If only they would have landed the way we expected, they would have been okay. Oh well. We had fun anyway.

I encourage you to go out and have some real fun with your friends. Think up some new ideas. Be creative. Have a good time that you will remember the next day. I know these activities are usually the highlight of my week. I can't wait to see what we will do next!

Body Image

People are becoming more and more obsessed these days with how they look and how people look at them. Why are people not happy with the way they are? They always want to be different. Society is putting so much pressure on people, especially females, to be skinny. This pressure is now coming at younger and younger ages. We see images on TV and in magazine which are unrealistic to most people. Many of those images are not even real. They have been digitally altered. However, young girls do not know this. They just want to become like those images and will try their hardest to accomplish this goal. Some of these girls even take this to unhealthy measures which only turns out badly in the long run.

The other night, my hall sponsored an event where we got free pizza for dinner. While we were eating, we had a chance to talk to the people around us. One of these conversations really bothered me. It came from a guy across the table. He was talking about how he viewed women and was saying that they should never weigh over 150 pounds. He then went on to say that his daughters better never weigh more than 140! He was going to force them to work out all the time, so he wouldn't have fat girls. The guys around him tried to tell him that he was being rude. They asked him if it was okay for them to weigh more if they were really muscular since they would be at the gym a lot. He countered this saying that he had seen some pretty "ripped" girls before which only weighed 125, so they would have no excuse to be much more than that.

This is just one example of something that causes people to have a negative body image of themselves. Everyone has a different body build. While 140 may be overweight for some, it could be unhealthy for others. A healthy body is so much more than a number on the scales, but when others are always pointing out your flaws, it is hard to stay positive. You want to listen to what they are saying even though it can be hurtful. It also harms your self esteem. You question why you are the way you are and even start to put yourself down. Instead, you should try complimenting yourself and those you come into contact with each day. Not only will you be building your self esteem, but it will also benefit those around you. Maybe they would even catch on and join in on the kindness. I mean, who wouldn't want to help spread positive messages. In increasing your self esteem, you will also improve your body image.

Do you think that a California girl is supposed to have curls and wear a jean size 3?
All the curves in all the right places, spray tanned faces just like on TV?
And we read in the gospel of Vogue that we're all suppose to dress and move and be
Visions of perfection
Such a misconception
'Cause the real connection is deeper than the eye can see.

As I was writing this, these words from Mandisa's True Beauty came on my iPod, and the lyrics caught my attention. They made me stop and listen since they went so well with what I was doing. In this song, she talks about how the world has all these expectations for the way we should look and act. This is not what is important though. We need to worry about our true beauty. In time, our looks will fade, but who we are will stick with us. The guy from the above story needs to be more worried about the way he raises his daughters rather than if they meet his pound expectations or not. A beautiful personality will allow your outward appearance to shine. Would you rather be remembered for your body or your character?

Do You Really Know a Person?

People go through many changes during their life. A big one is the change from high school to college. This is when many people go out on their own and start making decisions for themselves. You get to see who everyone really is. Students are often advised not to live with their best friend as freshman because they will end up hating each other by the end of the year. I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that you may not change in the same way and develop different values which may pull you apart.

Recently I found out about some of the changes my friends from high school have gone through. While some of them are still as wonderful as they used to be, others have gone downhill. A guy that I had almost every class with last year is now a heavy drinker. Another friend that I graduated with finished the semester with a GPA of .16! When I heard these things, I was shocked. They were both fairly motivated students in high school and were even in the AP classes, but their new found freedom here at Purdue got the best of them. I hope that they realize the mistakes that they are making and return to the people I used to know.

I encourage you to think of these examples as you continue to change throughout your college career. I thought that I knew these people, but it turns out that there was a side of them I hadn't seen. Don't disappoint those who care about you. One decision can change their opinion of you, and it is always harder to regain their trust than it is to lose it.