I am a NERD.

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I didn’t even know that I was a nerd.  A girl doesn’t think too much about how her favorite movie at 5 years old was Superman.  I just thought it was tomboyish to want to play Ninja Turtles with the boys instead of making sand castles with the girls.  I was reading fan fiction at 10 because I just couldn’t get enough of Star Trek on TV… that James T. Kirk was soooo dreamy.

I assumed that the bold colors and striking lines was the reason why I based one of the biggest college projects on Marvel Characters.  Although, I think I might have had some kind of notion.

When I became drippingly obsessed with the LOTR series… to the point I had to get a tattoo based on the book… I knew.

I’m different from other people.

I’m a nerd.

Thankfully I had found someone who not only could understand my nerdiness, not only relate… but ENHANCED it.  My hunger for graphic novels and the Batman cartoons were crumbs compared to the loaves of boardgames, fantasy movies, myths and legends and metal background (or foreground!) music that he had fed me.

Sometimes my entire life is made up of dwarves and spaceships.

Love, Olla

Getting it Together: Gym

photo from liketotallyeighties

Hello folks!  So, I am on day one of project: Get It TOGETHER Olla.  First thing I wanted to get squared away is my gym habits.

Problem:

I haven’t stepped into my gym for about a week.  I wake up at the correct time in the morning so I can go before work but my gym clothes are no where to be found and I don’t have enough time to get my work clothes packed, breakfast ready and all that fun stuff so that I’m out the door.  Usually I try to get all that stuff ready right before I go to bed the night before, but I’ve been either too lazy or too exhausted to organize my thoughts and things to do it at that time.  Also, even though I wake up at the right times, I still seem to roll over and go back to sleep.  It’s like I don’t even care in the morning.

An easy solution would be to find a better time for me to go to the gym, like during my lunch hour or after work.  But I like to go home and do a little cleaning during my lunch hour.  Not to mention, I need at least an hour and a half to feel like I did anything productive at the gym, 1 hour doesn’t cut it!  And after work is a better time for me to do the other stuff I’m struggling with: unpacking, cleaning, working on music…

Solution:

I’ve already implemented this plan and I’m excited to tell you that it’s working!  Right when I got home from work I pulled together my gym clothes and shoes and piled them on the bathroom floor where I could find them, put the next day’s work clothes on a hanger and bagged up a bottle of water and some fruit for breakfast the next morning.  Doing it right after work is a great time because I’m still running off some work steam and I’m not exhausted yet!

Results:

So I didn’t want to wake up and go to the gym at 5:45 in the morning.  Most of my brain was fighting to stay in bed but the little engine that could in me reminded myself that I set everything up so easily: all I had to do was get dressed, pick up my stuff and go.  I did it and made it to the gym.  Yay!

Tweaking:

I need to motivate myself to just get the fuck up!  I’m thinking a note to myself or something.

What do you guys suggest?

Love, Olla

Get it TOGETHER Olla!

photo by yyellowbird

My life has drastically changed in several different ways in the past two weeks.  Some better, some worse, some… well it’s just a change:

MUSIC:Nick and I are no longer practicing with my brother.  No, there is no feud between us and my brother… just practice space circumstance and a hiccup because of outside sources (ooh, sounds mysterious, but it’s not that big of a deal.  I just don’t want to out people that don’t feel like being outed).  But, our inspiration level has heightened astronomically (okay that’s an exaggeration but you catch my drift, right yo?).  My disorganized self can’t get all my ideas into one song.  Grrr.

BLOGOSPHERE:I don’t care for that word so much.  Anyway, I created another blog about a month ago called Girls Guide To Burning Man.  I was going to give up on it since I felt I just didn’t have enough time.  And then… Jack Rabbit’s newsletter (the official Burning Man newsletter) set up my link and info in a mass email and I’m getting ridiculous hits that I would never have imagined.  I’m getting about 30-50 emails a day from people that want to help, send me stuff to review, be interviewed for their expertise, invitations for Pre-Burn events, and other great and interesting stuff.  So, Girls Guide To Burning Man is back on!  But there is so much work all of a sudden!

WORK: The job that pays the bills has let go a few people that I considered very close to me.  I don’t feel like talking about economy.  I don’t really feel like talking about how much more work that means for me.  It’s just complaining.  I’m happy that I have a job and that I feel like I’m valued here.  I’m just a little afraid of how crazy it’s going to get.  I’ve already noticed my bulky workload.  I’m anticipating exhaustion and disorganization.

HOME:The boy and I moved into the place we have now in March.  It is May and I still am not moved out.  Grrr… Do you have any idea how lazy that makes me feel?  Anyway I think I’ve written about how I really want to just get moved out, but I really mean it this time!

Those are the four big things that are going on in my life.  But alas, I’ve hit a road block in personal organization and it’s called laziness.  I’ve been so bad about leaving my planner everywhere except in my purse, eating horribly, skipping the gym and taking up too much time on things that don’t really matter (like spending two hours on experimenting in my culinary prowess, reading magazines, watching bad movies… you know the drill).  I woke up this morning to this:

• a thrashed kitchen
• a keyboard that I promised to play that night but went ignored
• a belly in knots from eating too much junk
• a clusterfuck of a desk at my job
• 57 new emails
• sore legs from being out of shape and then going on a hike

I need to get it together.

So, this week I’m going to be working on plans to get my home cleaned up and moved out, continue working on my blogdom, organizing my desk at work, getting down and dirty with music and eating/working out better.

A big bill for such a little girl, but I think I could do it… it’s all in moderation right?  haha, anyway everyday this week I shall unveil what I’m doing to get my shit together.  Follow me if you want!

But here’s a little thing I would like from you:

What advice do you have for me?  How do you get organized?  I want your help!

Love, Olla

Sexting Made It Too Easy

photo by crescentsi

Before the digital age it was a bigger risk for us ladies to take sexy pictures of ourselves.  Some stranger would have to develop it at the 1 hour place and a lot of us didn’t want to risk their prying eyes checking our bodies out.  But now with cameras attached to our hip and the ability to send our sexy photos to the only person(s) that they were meant for, we are taking pictures with what we thought is no risk.

My heart goes out to Vanessa Hudgens, Rihanna, Antonella Barba (remember her!?), Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian or any celebrity that took sexy photos or film that got leaked to the public.  Think about it if you were one of them: you do something sexual in front of a camera that was meant for a few people and then by whatever chance happenings, everyone in the world can see it.  And not only strangers: family, friends, enemies… their mothers.  How humiliating.

While you and I may not be risking as much, there still is a chance that your sexy pictures can get into the wrong hands.

Use Discretion

Who will have a copy of your picture or film?  Is it someone you trust?  Is it someone that you know very well?  If you become rich and famous, will this person use your picture to for capital gain?  If you’re giving it to a boyfriend, are you sure that if you break up he won’t do anything wrong with it?  Where will this picture be stored?  In your computer or phone?  Does anyone else other than you have access to the pictures?

You see where I’m getting with this.  Be very very careful with what you’re doing with your picture or film.  Imagine if they got into the wrong hands and what someone could do with information like that.  Isn’t it bad enough when a rumor is started about you and it gets blown way out of proportion?  Well, imagine that but with photo evidence.

Have Self-Respect

You are a beautiful, sexy, charming girl.  You don’t have to send pictures of your hot bod to some creep just to get his attention.  And if you do, he’s not worth it.  Such easy words to say but on the other end it’s empty advice to a girl that just wants to get noticed.  Think about it this way… who are your favorite female role models?  Do or did any of these women take off their clothes for money?  If the answer is no, then try to follow their path in your own way.  You noticed these women for reasons other than how awesome they look naked, that means you can get noticed without being naked too.

If you answer is yes, these women get paid to take off their clothes.  My response is: then you should get paid to take your clothes off for money.  Don’t do it for free.

Protect Yourself

If you want your sexy pics to be seen, here’s an idea: keep your picture in your phone and show it to whoever you want through your phone.  Don’t send it to them.  Open the file up and keep your phone in your hand (can’t risk someone sending it to themselves!).  If you do send it to someone and start to regret it, ask them to remove it from their files.  They might keep it anyway but it can’t hurt to try.  It’s your body and you should have a chance to protect it.

Cheesecake

I love taking sexy pictures myself.  The female body is something to look at and it doesn’t hurt to check girls out… and to be checked out!  If you want to be sexy, keep your clothes on.  It’s so much less of a risk and it can be more fun too.  The pin-up girls of the 1950’s, photographed in cute little outfits, those were called cheesecake.  They were sexy, enticing and clothed.  You can be too.  Get some of your sexiest lingerie, fix up your hair, put on your face and have a private photoshoot.

Live With It and Yourself

Many of us (like me) have already done the deed and put our sexy pics in potentially wrong hands.  If you really want to do something about it, get in contact with this person and ask for the evidence be destroyed.  You can even get legal on them and have them sign a privacy agreement, if it’s that important to you.  What you don’t want to do is beat yourself up about it.  Acknowledge that you made a mistake and learn from it.  Consider the situation over and don’t sweat it.  Deal with the consequences when it happens.

Taking hot pictures, making XXX films and sexting seem like innocent and fun games but it’s much harder to deal with when the wrong people come upon your naked body.  My general advice regarding this is: if you can’t live with that picture plastered all over the world, then keep the pictures to yourself.

Love, Olla

Dealing With “Hunger”

photo by Kade

Disclaimer: I am in no way pro-ana or pro-mia.  I am pro-fasting and pro-detox for health and weight-loss purposes.  The advice I’m about to give is for people who have unnecessary hunger.  Never ever restrict eating when you need the food.  Go to a doctor or an expert if you want to go on a weight-loss, detox or fasting plan.

I gained a lot of weight because I thought I was hungry.  I gained 50 pounds in 4 years because… OH! I haven’t eaten in 3 hours, I need a burrito!  Wow, as a side note, I’m looking at “50 pounds” with a dropped jaw.  That’s almost half my weight now.  Anyway, I equated hunger to needing to go to the bathroom.  To me, hunger was my body telling me what to do and if I didn’t do it, bad things would happen.  Well I listened to my body, and bad things happened.

There is someone out there saying: Well you have to eat when you’re hungry!  You’re body is trying to tell you something and you need to listen!  Well, consider this: You know that scene in Atonement (spoiler warning) where Kiera Knightley and James McAvoy are totally having sex in the library?  Did it make you want to have sex with James McAvoy in the library?  We all have different tastes, but there must have been a time where you saw a hot man (or woman) that you don’t even know and you wanted to have sex with him.  But you didn’t because that would be a bad choice.  You see where I’m going with this… sometimes our body desires things it just shouldn’t have.

When we think of hunger as a feeling (like love, happiness and anger), rather than a command, it’s easier for us to cope with the troubles that hunger can cause.

Say for breakfast you decide to have an orange.  You consume it’s juicy sweetness and afterwards you do not feel satisfied.  “I’m still hungry.  I want a bagel,” you think to yourself.  Normally you do one of two things: eat a bagel filled with carbs and smooth cream cheese (delicious but you know it was just wrong) or you don’t get a bagel but sit around hungry and waiting to eat.  When we think of hunger as a feeling, skipping that bagel becomes a choice you want to make, instead of loathe.

But how you ask?  First understand that sometimes, feelings are wrong.  When we get happy because someone we don’t like is in pain we correct ourselves.  When we are angry at others when it is ourselves who are at fault, we apoligise.  The emotions that we know we are not supposed to feel can be easily squashed.  Now take that mentality and transfer it over to hunger.

Sometimes our bodies feel hungry and we’re not supposed to be.

With this type of mentality, the hunger pang that you get and bagel craving will be eliminated quickly.  After thinking, “I’m still hungry.  I want a bagel,” say something like, “But I shouldn’t be hungry.  I just ate.  No.  I’m not hungry.”  Repeat it to yourself if you have to.  For me, once I understood this, I was able to control my hunger.  Mind you, I just figured this out last week.  I spent a lot of years dieting and beliving I was famished.

This way, you are in control.  It’s a great feeling really, to have control of your own body.  This coming from a control freak, but I love it.

Controlling hunger this way is different from the old standby: ignoring hunger.  Ignoring hunger is potentially dangerous.  You have to eat when you are actually hungry.  Controlling hunger is different because what you’re doing is telling your body the truth when your body is telling you lies.

And of course there’s embracing hunger.  Embracing hunger manifests itself differently at times.  One day you’ll just go ahead and eat something you shouldn’t be eating.  Another day you are complaining and bitching about being hungry, even though you really aren’t.

Recently the boy and I had a conversation about hunger.  He saw something on TV about over-eaters and an expert on it said that a lot of people who claim to be “famished” or “starving” are, in fact not.  Coincidentally these people probably never have been famished or starving in their entire life.  They just want a reason to eat.

Next time your body claims to be hungry or “famished,” think to yourself logically and make the judgement on your own.  Actually, for practice, do it now.  Are you hungry?

Love, Olla