My Summer as A Ride Operator

Hey everyone, I've been MIA for awhile and I apologize wholeheartedly. This post is long overdue. I planned on posting it in September, but things came up. Over the summer I worked as a ride operator, sounds exciting right? It was definitely a unique experience. I met people from all over the world, both fellow workers and guests at the park. Being on the other side of the theme park setting, working the rides rather than enjoying them, I noticed quite a few things that I'd like to share with you guys. Please be aware of these thoughts the next time you're at an amusement park.

1. Do not argue with the ride operator if your child is denied access to a ride. 

Ride operators are not denying your child access to a ride because they don't like the way your child looks. They have your children's safety in mind. Your child is probably being denied because they are too short, too tall, or don't have the right amount of tickets/valid wristband. Do not argue with the ride operator. Ultimately, the ride is under their jurisdiction and if they feel your child's safety is on the line, they have every right to turn them away. Also, don't try to get onto a ride for free if they use tickets! The money made from ticket sales is used to fund the park and the workers. This is someone's business, how would you feel being cheated out of money? My best advice is to check the postings near the entrance of the ride that tells you how tall the child should be and medical information that may prohibit them from safely enjoying the ride. That way, you do not have to wait on line for an hour only to be told that your child can't go on the ride.

2. If the Ride Operator tells you to keep your hands inside the ride, do it.

I won't link any videos but if you search it on youtube you can find several accidents on rides. If a ride operator is telling you to do something, or not do something, heed their warning. You are riding in a metal contraption, and while it is usually safe and ride operators are trained to step in if danger ensues, it can be dangerous. You're told to keep your hands in for a reason. Whether it be to protect the other riders in front of you, keep your body parts in tact or keep the ride in it's best shape, it is always with your safety in mind!

3. Don't talk to a ride operator while the ride is in motion.

If something happens to the ride and the operator isn't paying attention, they won't be able to step in and fix it in time. The ride operator must watch the ride at all times in order to ensure things run smoothly, please do not distract them.

4. Do not stand anywhere near the ride operator's control panel or seat.

I absolutely hated when people did this. Sometimes I was assigned to a ride in which there was an umbrella covering the area near the control panel. It was extremely sunny out and I understand that some people may want to avoid the sun, but there will most likely be umbrellas scattered all over the park. Do not stand in the area designated for the ride operator. Their job is much harder than yours. You may be waiting for your child to get off the ride but the ride operator is there FOR HOURS, sometimes the entire day. I worked ten hour shifts on some days, is it too much to ask for some personal space? It should also be a given not to sit in their seat. Why is it fair for them to be uncomfortable, when they're already giving up their summer to make yours enjoyable?

5. Do not try to convince the operator to wait for family members to get off other rides before they start their ride.

It is unfair for those already waiting on line. Your child is not special. They have to wait on the line with everyone else. The person behind you paid just as much as you did for your ticket so please have some common courtesy.

6. Warn the ride operator of any problem your child may have before they are loaded into the ride.

The ride operator will be more than happy to accommodate a child with special needs. If you'd like to buckle your own child in, ask the ride operator. Just please be wary to let them know before they your child's group into the ride. Otherwise the ride operator will be checking the seatbelts of the kids already on the ride and you trying to talk to them will make them distracted. For the safety of those riding the rides, it is important for the ride operator to be focused on one task at a time.

7. Do not be embarrassed to ask for help.

Ride operators are there to help you. If you think your seatbelt isn't on right, let them know. We're all humans and humans make mistakes. If you feel like they didn't securely fasten your belt do not be embarrassed to tell them. Alo, do not assume that they fastened you in the right way. Due to the magnitude of people on the ride, it is possible that the ride operator makes a mistake. It is not often but it can happen. You know better than anyone else how you feel and it will only take a second for the ride operator to double check. They will never take your safety lightly.

7.  Always be courteous to the ride operator. 

Sometimes a simple thank you will brighten their day. After countless hours of loading your child or you on the ride, buckling them up, starting the ride and then unbuckling them when it's over, the ride operator will most likely be stressed. Remember, even though they are getting paid, they are giving up their summer to help you enjoy yours. Ride operating is much different than other jobs. They are working longer hours and more days to make the summer season spectacular. A "thank you" will mean all the difference.

Thank you for reading and don't be afraid to leave a comment! What are some theme park experiences you've had?

"O Captain, My Captain"...Has Sunken Ship

Robin McLaurin Williams, age 63, died Monday August 1, 2014 due to asphyxia by hanging--a suicide.

Devastation does not even begin to mask my feelings. Confusion is another emotion I'm feeling. Disbelief, yeah that's a good one. Maybe I'll wake up and find that he's still alive...

Known to everyone as the wisecracking genie from Aladdin, the squinty-eyed, raw spinach munching Popeye, the hilarious Mrs. Doubtfire, the nerdy guy from Flubber and everyone's favorite English teacher Mr. Keating from The Dead Poet's Society and many, many more characters, this extremely talented, comedic man is now gone from this earth. No longer exists. MIA permanently. I'm talking about went to the restroom and will never come back to pay the bill and his date are all of us fans out there shaking our heads and asking around to try and understand why he left us the way he did.

Depression can do a lot to a person. He was found with a belt around his neck and cuts on his arms. He was sharing a home with his third wife who didn't even share a bed, much less a room with him. There are speculations that he was withdrawn for a while before his death. If so, why wasn't there anything done to help him?

I'm not the kind of person who follows the lives of famous people. You know, the whole who slept with who, who divorced who, who had an affair with who crap is of no interest to me. I don't have a favorite musician, actor or anything...but Robin Williams meant something to me. He is...was different. And I was very saddened to hear of his death, the cause of death and how he was feeling before he felt that he had no choice but to end it all.

We will never forget you Robin. You were inspirations to a lot of comedians after you. They looked up to you and your fans will always remember you. In your memory, I will forever seize the day.

#1 College Survival Tip for High School Seniors

Tip One: Be Realistic

You've been reading since you were two. You've been in a competitive dancing school since you were three. You've been playing piano since you were four. You've been playing tennis since you were nine. You skipped two grade and entered high school at age twelve. You've only ever taken honors and AP classes. You're a straight A student. You're the star of your high school's tennis, bowling and dance teams. You're president of the science club. You've done approximately two hundred hours of volunteer work at your local hospital. You've taken college courses at your local community college. You've won the Peace Maker award. You've found Amelia Earhart's skeletal remains while on vacation to Mexico. You found the cure for cancer in your senior year--

--Now you've woken up and you realize that it's report card day and you start writing your will because your parents are going to beat the crap out of you when they get home with your abysmal reprt card of three C's, two D's and an A--in gym.

With your grades, do you honestly think you can apply to Stanford? NYU? Harvard? Or any other Ivy League for that matter?

Lesson? Be realistic. Get out of your meaningless daydreams and get to work. Your record sucks, you've screwed up nearly seventy-five percent of your high school career, but there's still hope. Unless you want to wind up a a homeless person like my pal Sherman down the block with his two front teeth knocked out and a missing toe on his left foot, I suggest you do those summer assignments your mother has been bugging you to do, those assignments of which you vehemently argue do not exist.

_____________________________________________________

Hey, y'all, so....it's been a while. A loooong while. I really apologize. I've been on a three month hiatus and it was totally unannounced and I'm really sorry for the abrupt absence.

What you just read was a college survival tip taken out of my novel in the making College Adventures with Sheila Green. In this story are 20 tips on how you high school seniors out there can survive your last year of of secondary education and walk into your first day of college with ease and some cautious trepidation--just kidding! College is fantastic, but some youngsters, (look at me talking about youngsters as if I wasn't in the same place a year ago, HA!), enter college and just go absolutely nuts. Unless your like yours truly over here, who for the first few months went the class and then went straight home, you're going to need some advice, so SHANNON TO THE RESCUE!

These tips are comedic, but the general message should be taken seriously. If there are any seniors out there slacking, cut that out and get to work! It's August and before you know it, those back-to-school commercials will be in your line in vision when you're watching Pretty Little Liars or Switched at Birth or whatever other show you youngsters watch these days, (there I go with the "youngsters" again, hehe).

Over and out!

Trichotillomania OCD

I’m wondering how many people have heard of the word, “trichotillomania” or any other type of OCD’s. The reason I ask is because OCD’s affect many people, and sometimes without the proper treatment and diagnosing, these impulsive behaviors may go undiagnosed and untreated which is in no way beneficiary to the person with an OCD.

For those of you who didn’t know what trichotillomania was, trichotillomania is the irresistible urge to pull one’s hair (or in some cases as I’ve researched, eat one’s hairs). Hair pulling for different people can be either the scalp, eyebrows, and/or eyelashes. There are many instances in which people may choose to pick from more than one, but it seems that most just stick with one.

Ever since I was twelve, I could tell you my first time picking my hair. The day it happened, I was on my way back home from a baptism in Syracuse, when all of a sudden, I started playing around with my hair and I tugged hard on one strand and out it came. I remember thinking first, “ouch” but only to look down at the strand and then look at the end of the strand and see the hair follicle attached to it. While nobody was looking, I started picking a strand by strand and kept pulling more consistently, fascinated. As weird as it may sound, I didn’t really think anything of it. Yes, I was embarrassed for my weird fascination but I was too hooked to stop.

Over time people at school, at home, and just about everywhere else started noticing my patches on my head, even when I tried really hard to cover up. This cover up caused me to feel ashamed for what I was doing and the more I told myself to stop, the harder it was. I was like a machine, and I felt so gross. Towards the end of my seventh grade, I lost two friends because of my hair pulling, them telling me that they couldn’t be friends with me because I pulled my hair. I became even more discouraged and depressed, that I felt like something was legitimately wrong with me. My parents and I tried everything at first, we tried hair drops, we tried head injections with a dermatologist and nothing seemed to work. I used to wear bandannas to school from until the seventh grade to the eighth grade. Once starting high school, I would just tie my hair but no matter how I styled my hair, I still pulled.

While going to therapy, I came to realize that my depression and my trich came hand in hand. Okay, let me explain. When depressed, we are all aware that there are people who do harmful things to themselves to relieve the pain/sadness/anger that they have within themselves. Pulling my hair was my equivalent to someone else’s cutting. While keeping a journal log of when I pulled, I came to realize my pulling moments where when I was highly agitated, depressed, angered, or bored. So together with my therapist we worked out a way so that I could stop.

Unfortunately for people with trichotillomania and other OCD’s most of these OCD’s have no cure. BUT… just because you can’t find a cure, there is a way for you to stop with these impulsive behaviors, you just have to find the way to help you stop.

I would advise anyone with any type of OCD, to keep a journal and log in moments when they pull. For example, I was watching tv during my first attempt at the journal logs, and I had the urge to pull and no matter how hard I distracted myself, the urge was getting to strong so I started playing with the stress ball my therapist gave me. Whenever, you feel the urge to pull or to bite your skin or nails or to wash your hands 50 billion times, just do anything to distract yourself from doing what you shouldn’t be doing. I know it’s easier said than done but once you acknowledge the factors that cause your OCD, you can work through it and hopefully find a stress relieving way to get rid of these urges.

I think that when it comes to OCDs, people who are unaware of these behaviors have to realize that these behaviors are like an addiction to those suffering. Once you’re reeled in, you’re hooked. The more you try to stop, the harder it becomes. OCD’s are just like any other type of addictions that other people have, such as those addicted to gambling or nicotine or drinking. Most people with OCDs are in denial, which is what happened to me initially, I refused to accept the fact that I had an “addiction”. I felt like if I didn’t acknowledge it, it would go away eventually. How wrong I was.

The first step is always accepting your problems and working towards eliminating them and getting better, there are many therapists who specialize in helping people with these behaviors and helping them either to lessen these behaviors or manage to eliminate these behaviors. For those of you who don’t have these behaviors, but know people who have an impulsive behavior I’d suggest being there for them and helping them actually get better, and not criticizing.

Teen Issues

Hello there, I’m Francis and I’m a high school friend of both Shannon’s and Anna’s. Just like my co-authors, I’m also a college student who’s always enjoyed writing. Ever since I can remember, writing has always been a way of life for me. It has always been a way of expressing my feelings and emotions, especially when my mouth can’t get the words out at times.  There are moments when I’m not very verbal with my feelings and writing about it, helps ne deal with it. Writing has always become very easy for me and it’s proved to be very helpful because it’s helped get me out of very dark places. These dark places were caused by my depression. Wait a second… did she just say depression? Yes, yes I did.

I’ve been diagnosed with chronic depression ever since I was sixteen. I mention this because after a lot of topic ideas running through my head I’ve decided to write about something that I’m passionate about, besides writing, which would be teen issues. I’d like to write about issues that concern today’s youth and would like to offer any guidance that I can.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my short post and I hope you guys will continue reading our work and leave positive criticism so that we may improve.

~Francis

New Writer!

I just want to let everyone know that we have a new addition to the Lovely Writers team. Her name is Francis and she has a passion for writing just as much as Shannon and I have. We've all known each other from high school in case you're wondering. Francis and I always used to talk about writing, so I know she cares about the quality of her work and will be a fantastic addition to our team! So, say hi to her in the comments if you'd like and her first blog post will be up soon :D

Writing a Novel

This has been something I've been trying to do for a while. Writing a novel is no way a small task. It takes years to perfect and complete a novel and even then, you have to find a publisher to pick up your work. Unlike with blogging, writing a novel does not grant instant feedback. Once you post something, people can see it instantly. When you're writing a novel, you're mostly relying on yourself and a few select others for feedback. You have to spend an immense amount of time changing things and removing them based on what you think is good. I haven't completed a full scale novel yet, and honestly I'm not that close but I can share my insight on what I think would be helpful in writing a novel.

1) Find somebody who will read your drafts. Consider this person a beta tester. They're going to be the one to read your crappy drafts and tell you whats wrong with it and what isn't. This is someone who you'll trust with your ideas and who won't go and run off to write their own novel with your plot points. They'll encourage you to keep writing and you'll have someone who is looking forward to what you're writing.

2)Don't start from the beginning. Unless of course, you really want to. Start from the scene that pops into your head. There is no rule that says that you have to start from the beginning before you get to the climax. You can work backwards, and still send it to your beta reader who will be happy to read it. Just make sure you fill them in on what happens prior to that event in the story.

3) Write everyday. This is something that I'm struggling with right now. Nobody has time to write every single day. You know your schedule. If you have ten minutes to kill before you go out, then just write then. It doesn't have to focus on your novel either. Even blogging will help you strengthen your writing skills.

4) Get a blog. Getting a blog will create a fan base. With a fan base, it'll be much easier to get a publisher's attention.

5) Decide whether or not you want to self publish. Do you want to go through an agent, or avoid the hassle and publish it yourself? I'm no expert in publishing, therefore you must do your research on which is the better option for you.

Those were just some quick tips that have helped me in my writing journey. I hope they'll be of use to you. As always, thank you for reading!!

Blogging

Before I started this blog, I did a lot of research. I've always been a little weary of sharing my work with others when it isn't face to face. But, really there are a lot of benefits to blogging and though this blog isn't super popular (yet!) I'm still glad that I'm doing it. Here is a scripted FAQ to give you an idea of what blogging is about and if its for you.

Why should I blog?

Why not? Blogging allows you to put your thoughts on a page. You have things to say about a certain topic and not everyone you know is interested in the same things you are. By putting it online, you have now networked with people who are interested in the same things as you. You have people that care about what you're writing and people you can interact with. [But by no means is this a valid reason to go out and give all of your personal information to people you meet online, remember Catfish everyone]

I'm not a writer, I can't blog can I?

Of course you can. You can do anything you set your mind to. You can not improve your writing if you aren't doing it often. Blogging gives you the motivation to write daily and improve your skills as a writer.

What about people stealing my work?

There are always trolls on the internet trying to steal your spotlight. Don't let that stop you. Opinionated pieces (such as journals and most articles) are basically untouchable. While someone can steal your opinion and use it in their piece, they'll never be able to write it like you can unless they copy it word for word which is plagiarizing (but by then you can go and take legal action if the troll doesn't take down your work).

Ok, I'm convinced. But...what do I blog about?

 Blog about something you're passionate about. Shannon and I had no idea what to blog about but we both knew that we wanted to blog, so we collaborated to create this awesome blog. We don't have set topics that we blog about. Right now we're just putting out pieces on an array of topics and just feeling out the whole blogging thing. By doing it this way, we're seeing what we like to write about and what the public responds to most. If you know what you want to write about, great. By all means, go out and read other blogs based on that topic to get some ideas and inspiration. But if not, why not try writing about something you're passionate about (for me its gaming and writing if you couldn't tell)? You can also just blog about what's happening in your everyday life.

I have what I'm going to blog about, but which site do I use?

I'm only going to talk about the three main blogging sites that I know about. Blogger, Tumblr and Wordpress. Tumblr, to me, is more casual. If you're just blogging for fun then thats the site for you. More serious bloggers should turn to blogger or wordpress. Having only used blogger, I can vouch for this website because it's really convenient to follow other's blogs, put links and pictures and see the stats of your blog. 

What do I name my blog?

This one is all you. I can't tell you what to name your blog, but I can say that you better think long and hard about it before you enter it. On Blogger, your website url is not changeable so make sure it's one you're happy with. Do not settle because all of your original blog names are taken. It took us a while to get our name perfect so keep trying.

How do I get more followers?

Well, we're not exactly popping with a bunch of followers but the best advice I heard about this is to share your links everywhere. Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, through friends, as much as possible.

As always, thanks for reading. I hope this has been informative and helpful. If you have any other questions, feel free to drop them in the comments below. Follow our blog if you'd like! We'll follow yours back. Happy blogging!

To Eat or Not to Eat

I've seen a lot of posts that read along the lines of, "Skinny girl problems..." and people commenting such hate on them. There should not be any hate towards people who are skinny. In fact, there shouldn't be hate on somebody who society deems "fat" or anyone in general. Why do we feel the need to troll the internet looking for such openings to exploit people? We are all entitled to our opinion, yes. That is our right since birth. But, we have to learn to exercise self control. We all judge. All of us. You could be reading this at home and shaking your head, "That isn't me." But it is. We all do it, it's human nature. So, instead of defending our innocence, lets own up to it. I'm not telling you to stop judging people because you can't, especially in a society like ours. I'm just suggesting that you take a step back and look at whats deeper than the surface. 

Yes, you judged someone. Accept it. You thought that person was too fat for the tight shirt they were wearing and you laughed or whispered to your friend about it and pointed. Or, you made fun of someone for the way they walked, or the speed that they did things. I've had it happen to me recently, and though you tell yourself not to listen to the whispering, it's probably about someone else...it isn't and it hurts. Even if you're whispering about something totally unrelated, the self conscious person's mind wanders. What did I do? Oh no...they're totally making fun of my makeup or lack of makeup today... You just destroyed that person's confidence that they worked so hard to build up. What do you do? Maybe walk past them and compliment them on something else that they're wearing and draw their attention away from what they're obviously self conscious about. Instead of thinking, "Man...I'm too fat for this top" they'll be thinking, "wow...my hair looks great today!" I'm not asking you to lie and sugar coat things to people, but I am asking you to be sensitive about it because there are days that you feel the exact same way whether you're willing to admit it or not. 

DO NOT BULLY. EVER. This is the golden rule, especially on the internet. ESPECIALLY ON FACEBOOK. First of all, if you're trolling behind a computer screen, do not use your real name. That is just ridiculous and you're making yourself look ignorant. I'm not hinting for you to troll at all. You shouldn't even be doing that. Stop hating on people who are skinny, showing off their bodies, have children, who are fat, who have thin hair, etc. Do not comment, "Thirsty B*tches" because someone has skimpy clothes on. Whether they want attention, or that's just how they like to dress, you shouldn't be judging them on the internet. Do it in your head. They don't need to know. You're openly destroying somebody's confidence and not everyone can move past terrible hate. If you don't like the picture, scroll past it. If they're not physically harming themselves, children, animals or anyone else, ignore it and be the bigger person. 

You didn't mean for your comment to come out that snide. Your sarcasm wasn't caught over the internet. What do you do? Apologize. Always apologize. You're not above any of that. Do not sit there and start a fight because of something YOU said. Please. Save yourself the embarrassment and trouble.

Lastly, don't sit back and let someone get hate. (I'm not talking about celebrities...they're professionals who get hate everyday but also get twice as much love.) But, if somebody comments "You look fat in that picture" you write back "You look great, don't listen to them!" Foster love and not hate. Don't spread negativity, instead take a negative situation and pour in positivity.

As always, thank you for reading. Remember, spread the love around and keep the hate to yourself. 

The Evolution of Sims!

Hey everyone! Its been awhile since we posted anything. I've got some free time now and every Thursday I will be posting something.The Sims is my absolute favorite game franchise. I can play Sims all day long honestly.With the Sims 4's new building scheme announcement a few days ago, I thought it'd be nice to take a walk down memory lane and see just how much the Sims franchise has grown. (Disclaimer: None of the pictures belong to me! Most of the information is either from Wikipedia or my own personal knowledge of the franchise!)

The Original Sims (PC):
It is often referred to as The Sims 1. It came out in February of 2000. By 2002, over 2 Million copies had been sold worldwide. In fact, the Sims Franchise is the best selling on PC. There are a total of seven expansion packs released for the original sims and 2 deluxe versions. These original versions have all been made by the gaming company Maxis and not Electronic Arts. (Wikipedia).

Source: Wikipedia

The graphics were primitive, but still good for their era. I remember getting the Sims deluxe which came with the base game and the House Party Expansion. 

Source: http://thesims.neoseeker.com/wiki/File:SD03.png

The Inflatable chair was my absolute favorite. I had these instead of couches. In the Sims, the object of the game was the same as the later games, control your sims and lead them to a life of riches and luxury or rags and crime. The expansion packs were a huge plus because they kept adding more and more to your game play.

The Sims 2 (PC):
The Sims 2 came out in 2004. It takes place 25 years after the original Sims. The game itself was a transition from 2D graphics to 3D graphics and therefore had to be built from scratch. The SIms 2 introduced six distinct life stages, ranging from infant to elder. Weekdays were also introduced where vacation days from work and school were available. Along with 8 expansion packs and 9 stuff packs, there has also been over 400 exclusive items that could have been purchased from the sims 2 store. (Wikipedia). The was also an exchange on the Sims 2 website that allowed players to upload their own creations and let other players download them. Custom Content and mods have also been introduced where players create their own things for the game and allow other players to add them to their games as well. Many people still play the Sims 2 today.


The most prominent expansion pack had to have been Seasons, which basically added weather to your game. No more constant sun. It made the game more realistic for many fans.

(Source: EA.com)

The Sims 3: 
This is the newest installment in the Sims franchise. There have been 11 expansion packs and 9 stuff packs released. Exclusive content is still being sold on The Sims 3 store. There are TONS of custom content and mods available to download created by fans of the series.

Source: Gamespot.com

The graphics have significantly improved and many new game features have been introduced.

The Sims 4:
This game has yet to come out but it has been officially announced by the Sims team. The newest addition to the franchise is emotions that affect how your sims interact with each other. In the Sims 4, creating a sim and building a house have become easier.You can check out the trailer below: 

These sims have a more cartoony feel to them than others in the franchise.

Console Games: 
The Sims, The Sims Bustin' Out

Urbz Sims in the City (Starkly different than the games in the original series. You did not create a family or have the opportunity to create one. Instead you visited several different cities and changed your style to gain reputation with the people there in order to be allowed access into their exclusive club rooms).

The Sims 2, The Sims 2 Pets, The Sims 2 Apartment Pets

The Sims Castaway (You play as a sim, or group of sims who were travelling and got stranded on an island. The objective was to get off of the island and back home.)

The Sims 3, The Sims 3 Pets

Android/Iphone games:
The Sims 3, The Sims 3 World Adventures, The Sims 3 Ambitions and Sims Freeplay (Time is based on actual time and not sims fast forwarded time. For example, showers take fifteen minutes and not five seconds.)

Other Versions:
The Sims Online (An online game where players created their own sims and interacted with others over the internet. It is since discontinued.)

The Sims Life Stories (It had the Sims 2 graphics but was created to be more laptop friendly. It introduced a story mode as well as freeplay.)

The Sims Medieval (A standalone Sims game. You control a kingdom of sims in the Medieval time period. It has one expansion pack: Sims Medieval Pirates and Nobles.)

The Sims Social (A discontinued Facebook game. You created a sim and had to do little quests. It was very friend oriented in which you had to constantly ask your friends to send you things in order to advance.)