75 Most Empowering, Inspirational Quotes for Sassy, Kickass Women

 Source

Or Men. Inspirational in general. My sister sent this over to me earlier since I've haven't been feeling quite my best. It's a list of inspirational quotes to help you get over those moments when life has ceased pushing you down and is now laughing mirthlessly as you attempt to get back up.

http://www.yourlifeyourway.net/2011/10/10/75-most-empowering-inspirational-quotes-for-sassy-kickass-women/

Here are a few of my favorites:

I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back. – Maya Angelou.

Forget about the fast lane. If you really want to fly, just harness your power to your passion. -Oprah.

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, champagne in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming….. WOO HOO…. What a RIDE!”

Always go with the choice that scares you the most, because that’s the one that is going to require the most from you – Caroline Myss.

If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love. Don’t be surly at home, then go out in the street and start grinning ‘Good morning’ at total strangers. – Maya Angelou.

 Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold. – Helen Keller.

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. – Anais Nin.


Life is short, wear your party pants! – Loretta LaRoche.


Remember, no matter how bad it gets, there are always blue skies ahead.

Cheers,

N. Riazi

Nerd Moment: Wind Turbines

Last Friday, Nassim and I volunteered at a local 6th grade class to show them "science."  Guess what we did? We made "mini-explosions" (which was baking soda and vinegar in plastic baggies....you can guess what happened), and we did the lovely Mentos-and-Coke....errr...experiment :-)

On our way back, total nerd moment by my part.  I was driving, dumpty, dumpty, dum.... and then I said, "WIND TURBINE BLADES! WIND TURBINE BLADES!!!!"

Nassim was like, "What? Where? There? Here?" She hadn't seen them before, hehehe. Well, this is what they look like.

Yep...they're massive.  So if you see massive white fixtures like these....that's how big the blades are.


Sidenote: I had awesome tacos this weekend (seen below), and even gained some weight. Was it worth it? Heck yes. Now I gotta work out...haha

Totally off-topic. But you should still be jelly. :-D
-Serena

The Truth about Breaks

Study Breaks.

We all take them. But we all know how easily a 10 minute study break turns into a 1 hour waste of time. Or longer. Trust me I do it all the time and I always regret it later.

Last week I told myself I'm going to watch the first 10 minutes of the 7th Harry Potter movie while I ate dinner. I ended up staying up til almost midnight to finish the movie and by that point I was too tired and had to go to bed to get up early to do the work I had neglected. What did I learn? 1) You cannot "just watch 10 minutes" of anything Harry Potter. 2) That movie is 130 minutes long, longer if you pause in the middle to see what actors/actresses are playing in now on imdb. 3) The enjoyment was not worth the colossal waste of time my night turned out to be.

So I give you this:


Nassim's list of appropriate study breaks that won't sabotage you:

Book: Completely not engineering (or whatever your major is) related. My current choice is Void by Rhiannon Lassitor. I've read it before so it's easier to stop and its a whole lot more exciting than my before-finals reality. 1 break = 1 chapter. Stick with that. Exercise self control and don't go beyond it.

Workout: A quick workout gets your blood going and gets your brain to focus once again. I'm not saying run a marathon, you can get in your full workout either early in the morning to wake yourself up or late at night when you just can't study any longer. I usually go for my run earlier then save my weight training or yoga for these times. Set a goal for these or just set a timer. Some ones I use are goals like 20 reptile pushups/60 sumo squats, or my 8x1 (8 exercises, 1 minute each) abs workout, or I run through a short Yoga circuit.

Make a Snack: Don't stand in front of the fridge and drool and wish someone would make you a sandwich. Actually make one and eat it. Don't read, don't sit around on facebook, just eat and go back to work. Smoothies are also fun. (I need to use this more, my breakfast time has become my catch-up-on-cop-shows time. Rookie Blue is back for Season 2!).

Draw: Doodle, you know how it works. It's how I made it through AP English without falling asleep.

Write: preferably by hand, away from the computer. Write whatever floats your boat. 

Clean: I am not a clean person. I keep things sanitary (I don't like bugs) but my room is usually at a state where it looks like a hurricane hit it. Putting a few things away at a time during breaks helps me clear my mind, keep me from injuring myself again tripping over something I can't see, and it keeps my roomate from strangling me in my sleep :) All things that make me happy. I also usually end up finding things I've been looking for.

You get the idea. The most important point is self control, it become easier with time. I have found for instance that I cannot play video games as a study break. I have no sense of self control when it comes to them and sometimes "I'll just stop at the next save point" lasts several hours. If I die before I get there (how is there always a boss battle before a save point) I feel it's unjust and I must keep trying until I get there.

If you really feel you need it, use a timer. I just find them irritating when I'm trying to focus on something actually enjoyable.

Cheers,

N. Riazi

Trying Study Methods

Source

Let me say from experience that the best way to study is whatever works best for you. I tried molding my study habits to others standards and suggestions because that was "what worked for them" and this did not bode well for my grades. When you find a study habit that works for you, stick with it.

For example, I don't have the longest attention span, but when I get in my zone I am really focused. I tried doing the 9am to 9pm starbucks days, I tried making myself sit in the library, study between classes, listen to podcasts, etc but all I was doing was wasting countless hours of effort and time in hopes that it would magically pay off because it had worked for other people.

Eventually I figured out that I cannot study for more than an hour at a time and I like rewards. So I started timing myself and giving myself an x on a sticky note every time I did.  1 X = 15 minutes. It was like the little gold starts they gave you for behaving in grade school. If I built up to 4 X's I would get a short break, around 10 minutes or so. It may seem like a lot in the long run, but for me that was what worked. I'm actually doing it right now, or else I probably wouldn't have gotten around to writing this for some time.

As long as I stick with this, I'm focused. When I start to stray from it I start noticing a lot of wasted time.

So my advice is that if you have something that works for you, stick with it. Not every study method works for everyone, you can only take it into stride and try it and if it doesn't work then try another. 

Cheers,

N. Riazi