Hey,
Today starts my adventure of moving into my first apartment. Well, without a bed. My bed is coming on sunday. I'll probably be staying at my boyfriends place or, to my parents knowledge, on the futon. I have a 3 hour long drive to get back to Lock Haven University. My car hasn't even begun to get packed and it's going to take forever. Summer is officially over :( I'll post some pictures of my new place and my new roommate soon!
-Lindsey
Friday, August 24, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
Food Trucks for an American Recession!
Hey,
Through the recession my dad has gone through a lot of jobs. He owns his own video rental place but evil forces known as blockbuster, netflix, and redbox have made it difficult for much progress. Eventually he plans to shut down the store in the coming couple of years and move onto something more. Since 2008 my dad has worked for Wal-mart (I'm ashamed to admit that I was a little bit embarrassed about this when I was in high school), realtors agency, electrician, and an orderly for a hosptial. Most recently he has worked for a funeral home company picking up dead bodies in a hearse and bringing them to the funeral home whenever they... well, croak. This means that he is on call at all ungodly hours of the night. When he is called to get a body at 3 a.m., he has to drag himself out of bed, put on a suit and drive out to who-know's-where Pennsylvania and make the delivery. He tends to love this job because he loves to talk to people. He can make anybody laugh even with a dead body in the room.
However, he just got fired from this job last month for arguing over salary. This put enormous stress on my family, especially my mother. While he still has his video store and the hospital job, together they both barely make ends meet. Don't be worried though because he was offered a full time job at another funeral home with less strenuous hours on my 50 year old daddy.
While that is a God send my father has higher ambitions for himself. Bigger dreams that you and I would say to them "um, what?" In fact I did. I walked into the kitchen, and right there on the table was an unmistakable copy of "Starting a Food Truck Company: For Dummies" and "50 Great Food Truck Recipes." Yes. My father wants to start his own food truck company and have me work summers for him. I looked through the pages of the books wondering where on earth this idea could have come from. Immediately my dad pulled up a video online called Food Truck Revolution. I must admit that I was a lot more impressed than I thought I would be.
People who don't have the money to start restaurants, start food trucks. More often than not the food truck becomes an actual eating establishment but the truck lives on. I didn't realize how amazing the food that comes from them can be. It's funny because you can name your food anything you want at a food truck whereas a restaurant you would want to name your food something sophisticated. One food truck named one of their choices "Big Ass Sandwich" solely based on the fact that it really was a humungous sandwich.
There are setbacks however to running a foodtruck. If you have a truck with only one window, it limits you to one side of the street. The trucks themselves are the most expensive cost. For Dummies says that you should spend no more than 15,000 on your truck but the ones that sell for good are at least 25,000. Not only that but then you would have to have a mechanic check out the truck for fear of fault machinery. An ice cream truck is more expensive than burger truck. A pizza truck needs to have a ceramic oven in it, which makes the temperatures in the truck unbearable hot. And the time tested question, where do you go to the bathroom?
BUT THINK OF THE GOOD STUFF. You can take your business anywhere. If you have to move, your business moves with you. Festivals and fairs often hire food trucks because the mess is easier to clean up. There is less customer attitude because they don't sit down to eat... they leave. When there's a concert in Philadelphia you can drive your truck right up to it and serve food to the multitude of people. Food truck food is less expensive but have more customers than an average restaurant. With the great social networking of the generation one can simply tweet "#LarrysBurgers Going to be in front of Lincoln Financial field between 12-3. Go Eagles!" and you will find a swarm of hungry costumers coming to your truck from wherever they are. It's becoming a wildly popular idea among the masses. One that I hope happens for my dad.
The other night my dad got all excited about this food festival on Germantown Avenue, in Philadelphia. We took my friend Matt who is always excited about new food. Me, my dad, and Matt arrived on the street and all you could see among the huge crowds were food trucks. As many that could meet the eye. There was your standard, italian, burger, and ice cream trucks. But then they got creative. There was a vegan truck, a Mexican bar-b-que truck, Native American inspired truck, grilled cheese truck, a hot doggery truck, and even a beer distributor truck. All of the food was delicious. The Native American inspired food truck even had blueberry soup, I didn't taste it for fear of wasting 3 dollars. But I did have one of their bean and cheese empanadas. 3 dollars well spent.
My favorite truck was called Vernalicious. I had the most amazing mozzarella and pesto grilled cheese. The service was friendly, the food was great, the truck was adorable, all sorts of sauces were available at the ready. This particular truck also appeared at the Train concert just recently in Philly much to my delight. This is one truck that I would follow around on twitter... if I had a twitter. If you ever get a chance to try food truck cuisine, I say go for it.
Yours,
Lou
Through the recession my dad has gone through a lot of jobs. He owns his own video rental place but evil forces known as blockbuster, netflix, and redbox have made it difficult for much progress. Eventually he plans to shut down the store in the coming couple of years and move onto something more. Since 2008 my dad has worked for Wal-mart (I'm ashamed to admit that I was a little bit embarrassed about this when I was in high school), realtors agency, electrician, and an orderly for a hosptial. Most recently he has worked for a funeral home company picking up dead bodies in a hearse and bringing them to the funeral home whenever they... well, croak. This means that he is on call at all ungodly hours of the night. When he is called to get a body at 3 a.m., he has to drag himself out of bed, put on a suit and drive out to who-know's-where Pennsylvania and make the delivery. He tends to love this job because he loves to talk to people. He can make anybody laugh even with a dead body in the room.
However, he just got fired from this job last month for arguing over salary. This put enormous stress on my family, especially my mother. While he still has his video store and the hospital job, together they both barely make ends meet. Don't be worried though because he was offered a full time job at another funeral home with less strenuous hours on my 50 year old daddy.
While that is a God send my father has higher ambitions for himself. Bigger dreams that you and I would say to them "um, what?" In fact I did. I walked into the kitchen, and right there on the table was an unmistakable copy of "Starting a Food Truck Company: For Dummies" and "50 Great Food Truck Recipes." Yes. My father wants to start his own food truck company and have me work summers for him. I looked through the pages of the books wondering where on earth this idea could have come from. Immediately my dad pulled up a video online called Food Truck Revolution. I must admit that I was a lot more impressed than I thought I would be.
People who don't have the money to start restaurants, start food trucks. More often than not the food truck becomes an actual eating establishment but the truck lives on. I didn't realize how amazing the food that comes from them can be. It's funny because you can name your food anything you want at a food truck whereas a restaurant you would want to name your food something sophisticated. One food truck named one of their choices "Big Ass Sandwich" solely based on the fact that it really was a humungous sandwich.
There are setbacks however to running a foodtruck. If you have a truck with only one window, it limits you to one side of the street. The trucks themselves are the most expensive cost. For Dummies says that you should spend no more than 15,000 on your truck but the ones that sell for good are at least 25,000. Not only that but then you would have to have a mechanic check out the truck for fear of fault machinery. An ice cream truck is more expensive than burger truck. A pizza truck needs to have a ceramic oven in it, which makes the temperatures in the truck unbearable hot. And the time tested question, where do you go to the bathroom?
BUT THINK OF THE GOOD STUFF. You can take your business anywhere. If you have to move, your business moves with you. Festivals and fairs often hire food trucks because the mess is easier to clean up. There is less customer attitude because they don't sit down to eat... they leave. When there's a concert in Philadelphia you can drive your truck right up to it and serve food to the multitude of people. Food truck food is less expensive but have more customers than an average restaurant. With the great social networking of the generation one can simply tweet "#LarrysBurgers Going to be in front of Lincoln Financial field between 12-3. Go Eagles!" and you will find a swarm of hungry costumers coming to your truck from wherever they are. It's becoming a wildly popular idea among the masses. One that I hope happens for my dad.
The other night my dad got all excited about this food festival on Germantown Avenue, in Philadelphia. We took my friend Matt who is always excited about new food. Me, my dad, and Matt arrived on the street and all you could see among the huge crowds were food trucks. As many that could meet the eye. There was your standard, italian, burger, and ice cream trucks. But then they got creative. There was a vegan truck, a Mexican bar-b-que truck, Native American inspired truck, grilled cheese truck, a hot doggery truck, and even a beer distributor truck. All of the food was delicious. The Native American inspired food truck even had blueberry soup, I didn't taste it for fear of wasting 3 dollars. But I did have one of their bean and cheese empanadas. 3 dollars well spent.
This was the menu for The Dapper Dog. At food truck conventions
they only offer 2-4 types of their food. On regular work days just driving around the
menu is more complete. Food truck only put out their best selling products
when they are competing.
This was the best truck in my opinion. Look for it if you're ever in Philly.
Delicious grilled cheeses.
Yours,
Lou
Friday, August 17, 2012
Camp. Camp Tockwogh.
Hello,
Well I'm back from the depths of summer. I love summer vacation but with summer vacation comes a summer job. Dun dun dun. However, I have the best job of all during the summer months. Summer camp! Not just any summer camp, Camp Tockwogh on the Chesapeake Bay. A place where magic ensues for children ages 7-17. Younger kids are comforted by caring and patient counselors, while the older kids have older role models and good influences to look up to.
I live in the middle of those two ages. I have 11-13 year old girls in my cabin every session. The best of times and the worst of times. There are tears over boys, bodies, and missing denim abercrombie shorts. That's actually a real story I had to live through. It's a funny age for kids to go through and my experiences are living proof. I never in my life realized the pressures that pre-teen girls go through, and it might seem so silly to us but it's a very real concept for them.
For example, we have a dance every session for the 11-13 year old age group. The counselors had to live through about 5 of these dances through out the summer, so we start to lose our steam after the second one. We always have a theme for the dances that only the counselors get into because we love to dress up! Besides, what pre-teen wants to dress up as a pirate for our pirates vs. ninjas theme? Not many. So instead of dressing to the theme, there is a certain protocol that apparently all 13 year old girls must adhere to.
Here it is:
~ Plain colored flip flops
~ Denim or colored shorts
~ Sugar lips (or other tight fitting tank top)
~ Cammy with cute top over it
~ Crop top
~ NO JEWELRY
~ Black eye liner, mascara, and eye shadow
~ Straight hair or some type of braid
*Dresses may be suitable as long as 1 to 2 of friends are wearing them as well
I had no idea that this was such an important part of going to the dances that this shocked me. I was taking my cabin to the dance after an hour and a half of getting ready, pictures, and comparing outfits. We're halfway to the rec hall when a girl comes bawling out of her cabin wearing a pink top and running shorts. She started going on and on about how she didn't have jean shorts and no one in her cabin was her size and she didn't want to go to the dance looking like THIS. I said "Come to my cabin we'll find you something!" So of course none of my clothes fit her because she's a size 2 and I'm a size 8. When I told her I had dresses she sobbed even harder about how none of her friends were wearing dresses. In my head I rolled my eyes... but I felt sorry for her. I grabbed another counselor from a cabin that hadn't left yet. She looked about the same size as the crying camper. I explained to her why she was upset and if she could lend her any of her clothes then she would stop crying. She had just the right pair of jean shorts for her that were from american eagle. Perfect. Then the girl turns to me and says "Do you know how to french braid?" No I don't. So that meant another trip to find a counselor who could. Finally, hair french braided and jean shorts on, she asked me to do her make up because she didn't have any. This girl warmed my heart.
I didn't realize how sensitive girls were to these kinds of things. I was a girl and I don't remember caring all that much about how I looked. I often times showed up to school with wet hair from showering that morning while other girls had dry, straightened hair. It just goes to show that this is a reality for them, no matter how silly we all think it is.
I love camp. I really do. It has nothing to do with selfish means and everything to do with FTK (for the kids). And if you're in it for the money, you're in the wrong place because some of the things I do, like helping a crying girl with the peer pressure to fit in, is something I'll never get paid enough for.
In this economy, you'd think it'd be more cost effective to stand out instead of fitting in. Just a thought.
Love,
Lou
Well I'm back from the depths of summer. I love summer vacation but with summer vacation comes a summer job. Dun dun dun. However, I have the best job of all during the summer months. Summer camp! Not just any summer camp, Camp Tockwogh on the Chesapeake Bay. A place where magic ensues for children ages 7-17. Younger kids are comforted by caring and patient counselors, while the older kids have older role models and good influences to look up to.
I live in the middle of those two ages. I have 11-13 year old girls in my cabin every session. The best of times and the worst of times. There are tears over boys, bodies, and missing denim abercrombie shorts. That's actually a real story I had to live through. It's a funny age for kids to go through and my experiences are living proof. I never in my life realized the pressures that pre-teen girls go through, and it might seem so silly to us but it's a very real concept for them.
For example, we have a dance every session for the 11-13 year old age group. The counselors had to live through about 5 of these dances through out the summer, so we start to lose our steam after the second one. We always have a theme for the dances that only the counselors get into because we love to dress up! Besides, what pre-teen wants to dress up as a pirate for our pirates vs. ninjas theme? Not many. So instead of dressing to the theme, there is a certain protocol that apparently all 13 year old girls must adhere to.
Here it is:
~ Plain colored flip flops
~ Denim or colored shorts
~ Sugar lips (or other tight fitting tank top)
~ Cammy with cute top over it
~ Crop top
~ NO JEWELRY
~ Black eye liner, mascara, and eye shadow
~ Straight hair or some type of braid
*Dresses may be suitable as long as 1 to 2 of friends are wearing them as well
A Picture of my 2nd session girls before the dance. Notice the attire.
Then notice the counselor in the background wearing a super hero costume.
See what I mean?
Here are the counselors. Notice how I am the only
one not in costume (I am holding a Thor hammer though)?
I didn't realize how sensitive girls were to these kinds of things. I was a girl and I don't remember caring all that much about how I looked. I often times showed up to school with wet hair from showering that morning while other girls had dry, straightened hair. It just goes to show that this is a reality for them, no matter how silly we all think it is.
I love camp. I really do. It has nothing to do with selfish means and everything to do with FTK (for the kids). And if you're in it for the money, you're in the wrong place because some of the things I do, like helping a crying girl with the peer pressure to fit in, is something I'll never get paid enough for.
In this economy, you'd think it'd be more cost effective to stand out instead of fitting in. Just a thought.
Love,
Lou
Thursday, May 24, 2012
College Boys.
C is for college boys.
Notice I say boys and not men or guys. They are boys in every possible meaning you could get out of the word. Let's compare the two.
Let us take 11 year olds, an age I'm familiar with because of my younger brother. 11 year olds like to get dirty and not shower for days. Play video games well into the night until their eyes itch. Make fun of girls while wishing girls talked to them on the playground. They are perfectly fine with dirt. Lot's of dirt. Dirt in their hair, in their clothes, on their bed, on the floor, in the sink, and especially on their hands which in turn gets on everything they touch. They like instruments but they won't bother learning how to play them. Play dates often turn into sleepovers, which often turn into extended-weekend long interactions. However, don't be fooled, they've just been playing video games for 72 hours in a dark basement. They'll eat pizza and soda for the rest of their lives unless you hand feed them something else. They never stop eating either, hours and hours and hours later they will still be eating. They think farts and burps are just hilarious every time they happen. Finally, they pretend they don't care about what clothes they wear but secretly their outfits have to be just right.
Now college boys.
Exactly the same except replace soda with alcohol and playground with facebook chat. It's not that fair of me to judge them so harshly just because I'm not one. They enjoy each others company and that should be good enough for half of the population despite their many flaws. Most of them have many good qualities that get overlooked because of the bad ones... and the many layers of dirt. I just recently heard someone tell me that most males don't calm down and become better gentleman until 25. Well that's a little long and inconvenient.
I must tell my future daughters to wait until their 25, and then shop around for the ones who shower most frequently. Thanks for letting me rant.
-Lou
Friday, May 6, 2011
B.
B is for Books.
I am a reader. My mother has always said that I practically taught myself to read and write at the age of 2. Words captured me in a way nothing else really did. The bookshelf in Beauty and the Beast was my favorite part of the movie until I saw the Beasts' library and then I was really glued! Like a cross country athlete running to get that natural high, I read for the adrenaline rush. My very first chapter book ever was the original story of James and the Giant Peach which has lots of beautiful illustrations. I will lose myself in the young adult section of the library at school, a place all to myself. My favorite part of reading is when I find that one book, the one I can't put down, the one I just have to finish before I do anything else. One day I'm going to have a huge library in my house full of classic books and new books and books I've collected over the years. Books are a very good thing.
Lou
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Bullied.
I know my blog has been a little blah lately because I'm trying to only write when I have something to say. Well I do. It might be a little morbid and a little broken-record, but I really want to talk about this and hear what you have to say.
Everyone, I don't care who you are, has been bullied at one time or another. We all do it. We all talk about someone behind their backs, maybe not as much as others, but we have committed a social crime. I'm 19 and I'm still bullied, I'm just mature enough to handle it better than I did in middle school.
In middle school I was a target of my ex-boyfriends NEW girlfriend. She wanted to make damn sure that I wasn't going to steal him back from her... which I never had plans to in the first place. She got her volleyball team to jump me in the hallway one morning and tell me that I was so ugly that no guy would ever look at me. They told me that if I ever talked to her boyfriend again that they would be back and hurt me again. I was so afraid of these muscular tall girls that I didn't say anything. I thought it was funny that she had sent her volleyball team because they were bigger than her, but she wasn't even there. She would write terrible things about me online, post conversations she had about me that were horrible to places where I could see, and created an online hate page about me.
Me and my friends were just appalled about what was going on. We tried to fight back, say equally mean stuff etc. but it never ended. I can promise you that I never even considered hurting her or posting hate pages. I did bump shoulders with her in the hallway a lot, sometimes she would come out of nowhere and jam into me. Besides venting about it to my friends a lot, I didn't really know how to make it stop or "even the score" so to say.
Then one day this boy had dumped her and that's when I got hurt. She and her friends found me in the bathroom at lunch and started screaming things I couldn't hear. "You had something to do with this" and "you're the reason she's heartbroken" and "home wrecking slut" and many more. Then someone grabbed my arm and swung me around into the sinks and then into the towel dispenser. The girls were scratching my arms where they grabbed me and were just swinging me around and around into things. That's when I hit my head on the edge of the paper towel dispenser and started bleeding all over the place. When I started to cry they all scattered. A teacher found me.
I can still remember my mothers face. It was a mixture of anger, horror, revenge, and sadness. She asked why I didn't tell her and I said that I honestly didn't know it would get to that point, and it wasn't like I hadn't been mean back. My mother demanded to know every name and for someone to pay for my stitches. I can still remember my mom chewing out the other girls mother, waving around the print-outs of the hate page her daughter had written, and then demanding action. The other girls mother tried to defend her daughter but the bruises on my arm and the cut on my forehead silenced her soon enough. She was expelled, the volleyball team was suspended until further notice, and there was legal trouble for her about the website she made about me.
I still remember crying over the mean stuff that not only her, but people I thought were nice, people I didn't even know were saying about me. I still remember feeling anger and resentment at everything that had happened. I didn't handle it well... because by the time I had it was too late. I just remember crying so much because it was so mean.
Now I'm older, in college, and there are still mean girl everywhere. There's no beating them, no running away. I can handle myself better now. I roll my eyes at the immaturity. The way I see it, is that I've already dealt with it once before with girls who were at least acting their age... 13. I am not willing to act with college girls being bullies. Never again. I'm a lot stronger.
If you've ever been bullied, how did you handle it? I'd love to hear your story.
Lou
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