If you were to have told me, about a year ago, that I would be using social media on a regular basis, I would have thought you were insane. To me, social media was nothing more than Facebook and MySpace, nothing more, nothing less. I thought that blogging was just for nerds and people with just too much time on their hands. However, after one of my PR courses (Strategies and Issues), I found myself slowly getting used to using, and understanding exactly what social media and blogging were. The course was very social media heavy; understanding the use of blogs and social media sites, how to effectively use social media today, and about half way through the course, each student had to create his and her own blog.

At first, I could not be bothered, and my friend Dara and I would just roll our eyes with sheer boredom. As she became less and less interested in the class, I became more fixated on blogging and the Internet. I was one of the very few students who updated their blogs more than once a week because I was genuinely interested in what I was writing about (Public Relations and Popular Culture).

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Popularity: 3% [?]

When I went to see The Counterfeiters at Magnolia a few months ago, I saw the poster for The Fall.  It caught my eye as I was headed to the ladies room before the movie started.  I stood transfixed by the poster.  I’m not really sure why; I just stared at it a few moments, and then I saw the starring line, and great googly moogly, I couldn’t believe my eyes.  Lee Pace was the star?!  Then I got to see a trailer for it before The Counterfeiters, and I was speechless.  I HAD to see this movie!

Ok, so at this point, you’re probably thinking, “Who the heck is Lee Pace?”  Well, he’s only the cutest thing to ever hit the silver screen.  If it’s possible, I’m more enamored with him than Daniel Day Lewis and Hugh Jackman put together.  Yeah, I know; it’s probably hard to believe, but I think it’s got a lot to do with the character he was playing the first time I ever saw him: Ned, the Piemaker, from Pushing Daisies.

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Popularity: 5% [?]

In the battle of the bulge one of the greatest weapons that we have is the diet drink.  You see, in the past if you wanted a sweet refreshing drink you had to have sugar.  Thanks to modern science, with its unnatural and inorganic ways, this is not the case.  You can enjoy a sweet refreshing drink with little or no calories.  The same great taste with no sacrifice. It truly is the ability to have your cake and eat it too. 

The diet soda is a breakthrough in ways few problems have the ability to be solved.  Imagine if you will that it was possible to have more government spending and yet pay less in taxes.  Think of the possibilities, more programs for you and me, but not taking away our hard earned money, fantastic.  This is the gift that diet soda has given humanity.  

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Popularity: 6% [?]

It’s summer time and with this hot and sweaty season, most people go on some type of vacation and I’m proud to say I am one of those “most people.” I am heading to Destin, Florida in a week with my family and my boyfriend and I must say I’ve never been so ready for relaxation in my life!

This year has been a crazy and busy year. I just started a new job, I’m busy with my blog, my podcast and writing on Culture Feast, and I’m ready to just sit on the beach and stare at the ocean. What is it about life that gets us so stressed out that sometimes we get even stressed about taking a vacation?

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Popularity: 9% [?]

A good friend of mine recently quit writing. She was a member of my critique group and I learned so much from her about the rules and techniques of the craft. I always looked forward to our meetings every week and enjoyed talking books with her.

What’s so tragic is that she’s incredibly talented. She’s written a thriller that, I thought, rivaled and even exceeded some of the brand-name authors you can pick up at your local bookstore. So what happened? There were several reasons why she came to her decision, but the last time she came to our group, she boiled it down to, “I haven’t written anything in weeks and I don’t really feel guilty about it.”

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Popularity: 10% [?]

It's not often that I have the time to give my grandmother a shout-out, but  here it is. I want to give big props to my g-ma  for her helping me to reach my quest of 'World's Strongest Man in the Email-Deleting Finger Catagory'. Thanks to her, I have added millimeters of girth and amazing definition to my email-deleting finger.

On any given Monday, I could spend minutes a day deleting all of the unread emails that she has forwarded me. I don't mean any disrespect to my grandmother, but I pretty much got the 'Obama = terrorist' message in your first email. You know I am a well informed, educated man. I graduated from an accredited university (UNT '07); you were there.  I'm not amongst the undereducated masses that not only thought finishing high school was unnecessary, but also make up the majority of stereotypical Texans.  I just don't fall into that group of people that is swayed by propaganda whether it is political, racist, or fear based.
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Popularity: 14% [?]

Just yesterday, I had an Admissions Advisor ask me to make an exception and let a student retest again. She claims the student says she did poorly because her mother was texting her the whole time she was taking the test. The texting was distracting her, and it wasn't fair to her.  

This is what I can't figure out. The student was told several times by me and by the testing directions that her phone should be turned completely off. She either chose to ignore me, or she just didn't pay attention. Now if I were taking a college entrance exam, I would be darn sure to listen and pay attention. Wouldn't you? The student should have known about the rule, but she still thought it was okay to tell the Advisor she left it on and that is why she did poorly. Just by admitting that she broke one of the labs biggest rules, put her in jeopardy of never being able to take classes with us.

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Popularity: 12% [?]

I can’t even think where to begin for this blog, which, I’m sure, is partially due to how much I was completely shocked by my total adoration for this movie.

I saw a billboard for Leatherheads at the movie theater when I went to see Michael Clayton back in February, and by the time I actually saw it in the dollar theater a few weeks ago, I’d totally forgotten that it even existed.  Of course, I knew virtually nothing about it, but I like George Clooney and I LOVE John Krasinski (Where, oh where is the Jim to match my Pam in my real-life office?!), so I figured together they could cancel out my mild dislike for Renee Zellweger.

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Popularity: 15% [?]

There are many times that I need to apologize to someone, unfortunately, I suffer from a debilitating disease know as “foot in mouth” syndrome.  It is a terrible affliction where the words that come out of my mouth cause harm and pain when that was not their original intention.  If I like you, chances are I am going to tease you, in the course of teasing it has happened that the words that were meant to entertain actually made the person mad.  It is during these misunderstandings that the words “sorry” work very well.
 
I have perfected the art of the apology and usually do it rather well, I have had a lot of practice and as the old saying goes, practice does indeed make perfect.  In high school I used to keep a ready supply of apology cards on hand so I could write one out if need be.  I could offend someone in the morning, find out that I had done so by the middle of the day and have an “I’m sorry that I hurt your feelings” card in their hand before school was done.  I was an apology machine.
 
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Popularity: 15% [?]

Established in 1930, Easterbrook’s is a family owned diner famous for their foot-long hotdogs and impressive variety of ice cream flavours. Located on Spring Gardens Road in Burlington, Ontario (across the street from Royal Botanical Gardens), Easterbrook’s has served the Hamilton, Halton and surrounding areas, as well as helped to create and keep memories alive within its walls.

As you walk up the steps to the diner, there is a patio with red picnic tables where you can sit and enjoy your meal. As you enter the doors, a pinball machine greets you to your right, and the staff is busy placing orders and calling food numbers. It does not matter what time of day you visit, there always seems to be a crowd.
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Popularity: 18% [?]

Times Online reported Sunday that George Bush has given Israel the "amber light" for a strike against Iranian nuclear facilities. The amber light was explained as "get on with your preparations, stand by for immediate attack and tell us when you’re ready."

Pentagon officials have stated that President Bush will not instigate an American attack on Iran, but will seriously consider supporting an Israeli intervention. The scenario is further complicated by the likelihood of an incumbent Democratic President bent on negotiation versus military tactics. 

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Popularity: 20% [?]