July 11, 2010

M&Ms

I love M&Ms.
The earliest candy I can remember eating is, in fact, M&Ms. My roommates love M&Ms. We all recognize the M&Ms commercials and characters. I've even seen personalized M&Ms at wedding receptions! I just tried the new M&Ms with the pretzel center and found myself wondering when and what the new M&Ms would be.

www.mms.com


M&Ms, a history:

1941 M&Ms are first introduced in small cylinder cardboard containers.

1948 M&Ms begin to be packaged in the little bags we know today

1950 The very first "M" is printed on the candies in black, begging the career of a very successful trademark

1954 Peanut M&Ms are released and the M&Ms slogan is born, "Melts in your mouth, not in your hand." The M&Ms make their first television appearance.

1960 Peanut M&Ms are made with colors: Yellow, Green and Red.

1976 The color orange is introduced into the color mix.

1980 M&Ms Chocolate Candies are introduced internationally to: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, The Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.

1982 M&Ms "rocket into space" and have been part of shuttle missions ever since.

1984 Named the official snack food of the 1984 Olympic Games in L.A., California.

1995 Over 10 million people vote to add the color blue to the color mix. Go Blue!

1996 M&Ms Minis Chocolate Candies are created, and Colorworks is launched, which gives M&M lovers a chance to make their own color mixes with 21 different colors.

1997 The Green M&M character makes a hugely successful debut and M&Ms World opens in Las Vegas.

1998 M&Ms are names the official candy of the new millennium.

1999 M&Ms introduces the new M&Ms Crispy Chocolate Candies and a new character names Crispy, who is obsessed with his own crispiness.

2002 The first ever Global Color vote is taken and millions for for the color purple.

2004 MYMMS.COM is made which allows consumers to custom print with 17 different colors on M&Ms Milk Chocolate Candies.

2005 M&Ms promotes the new "MPire" to tie in with the release of Star Wars Episode III and introduces the first dark chocolate M&Ms.


Yum.

Now I'm hungry.



July 02, 2010

Longhui; Long-Huways From Home

I got my acceptance letter a couple months ago to teach English in China, and I was incredibly excited and started to think about all of the different people I would meet and what places I would try to see. A couple days ago I got my placement letter explaining where and when I would be and who I would be teaching:

"We're very excited to inform you of your school placement in China for the Fall 2010 semester.

Your location is: Longhui, Hunan Province
Name of School: Longhui #2 Middle School
Age of Students: Middle School, 11-16

You two will be the only foreign teachers at this school teaching conversational English."

Aint it great? I can hardly wait to begin planning lessons and packing, but I don't leave until the 16th of August, and I still have another month left of Summer semester at BYU-Idaho! I will be returning the 31st of December, New Years Eve!

I am really excited to go, but as the time gets nearer I'm discovering that I'm actually a little nervous too. I'm not sure what I need to plan lesson-wise or how to go about it. Will the kids like me? I have to admit that I'm really (really) going to miss Jeff. I see him everyday and we spend a lot of time together; he is my best friend! How I'll miss that kid!

Despite these little anxieties, I'm sure I'll have the time of my life, and, most importantly, learn valuable life lessons. I'm aiming to become a better teacher and become more confident with reaching out and beyond my comfort zone. I also aim to influence the lives of my students for the better and, though I am not allowed to teach them about the gospel, try to teach it through what I say and do.

Until then, I'd better get some homework done; it comes by the bucket loads and I never seem to get enough done!

<3 Tessa Dior

March 07, 2010

Life Is Like A Pair Of Pants

Life Is Like A Pair Of Pants

Life is like a pair of pants,
According to my mother dear,
Regardless of your happenstance,
Let all with ears to hear, come hear!

A fresh new pair of pants- Exciting!
A call for all to see- Inviting!
You pull them on, posing away,
You know you'll have a good day today!
You skip, you jump, you roll about,
These pants make you just want to shout!

Then- oops! You trip, you hear a "Rip"!
And- there! A tear, right on your knee,
The hugest hole you did ever see!
Too big, too wide, too large to hide,
What can be done? What can be tried?

Well, you won't get much done complaining,
So dry your tears, and face your fears,
Find your tools and let's start mending!

There they are, good as new- Nearly!
Whose to say they weren't like that- Really?
In fact, that patch, it's quite a match,
To your unique and special style!
That really wasn't so bad a trial!

My mother once told this to me,
Life is like a pair of pants,
Cause just like in reality,
No matter what your circumstance,
No one is perfect, we all sometimes fall,
So dust off those pants, and try to stand tall!

-Tessa Dior



Just so you know the advice that life is like a pair of pants was given to me by a friend from middle school, but I couldn't think of a good rhyme for "Life is like a pair of pants, according to a friend of mine." And this poem is written with a children audience in mind, (though, of course, adults can benefit from it too!) I thought it would be better for a child to be influenced by my poem to listen to the advice of their parents more than their friends.Someday I want to publish it in the form of a children's book, (kind of like My CTR Ring!) can't you just imagine the cute illustrations?

I wrote this during Math class, and so I have proven that Math is not a waste of time, I mean, look at the wonderful poems I can write whilst learning the various APR rates and how they are calculated. Writing these poems and short entries on my blog are further inspiring my decision to change my major to Creative Writing. I'm just so happy when I'm writing! Thanks for all of your love and support!

February 19, 2010

Clean-Shaven Men


I had a friend who recently blogged a clever, and very dramatic, poem like entry having to do with the dangers and pain of shaving. In reply I wrote him this, and decided to post it here, hoping you would get some amusement from it. I sure did.


And yet...
A clean-shaven man is truly ideal,
At least in my opinion.
Silky smooth is so alluring to feel,
In a woman's dominion.
Whereas with stubble,
It's truly too much trouble,
Amidst with the fur,
And the unruly whisker,
It'd be better to dismiss,
Than to come for that kiss.
And so to conclude,
Forgive me if I be rude,
Dear boy, if shaving you continue
Then I shall raise no more hullabaloo!


February 03, 2010

Celebrity Look-alike

On facebook it's Doppleganger Week. For anyone who needs a definition of doppleganger, like I did:

In the vernacular, the word "doppelgänger" has come to refer (as in German) to any double or look-alike of a person. The word is also used to describe the sensation of having glimpsed oneself in peripheral vision, in a position where there is no chance that it could have been a reflection. They are generally regarded as harbingers of bad luck. In some traditions, a doppelgänger seen by a person's friends or relatives portends illness or danger, while seeing one's own doppelgänger is an omen of death. In Norse mythology, a vardøger is a ghostly double who precedes a living person and is seen performing their actions in advance.

Though, in our case, I'm sure the look-alike craze isn't nearly as ominous. Facebook users are posting images of celebrities they have been told they look like. It took me a while, but I finally have decided on my celebrity look-alike. Emma Watson, the young British actress who started her career as the loved Hermione Granger (one of my favorite novel characters).

My roommates are convinced that my doppelganger would be complete if you could somehow combine Emma Watson, with Dakota Fanning. I'll let you decide. :)


January 29, 2010

National Chocolate Cake Day



Yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to be informed that January 27th was a holiday! So, Happy National Chocolate Cake Day, for all of you who didn't get to hear it yesterday! Here is a clip from an article I found online at http://news.about-knowledge.com/national-chocolate-cake-day/.

"National Chocolate Cake Day is celebrated every year on 27th January across United States of America. This is the day for those who love chocolate cakes and other items which are prepared with the chocolate. On the National Chocolate Cake Day, people enjoy by sharing gifts of chocolate products especially chocolate cakes.

There is a special holiday to celebrate the National Chocolate Cake Day. People of all ages love to eat chocolate cakes; these are also very delicious and nutritional. Parents take their children to the stores and make them entertain chocolate cakes.

The National Chocolate Cake Day is not only for the kids but it is for all the people, from children to young and old love to eat chocolate cakes. The confectionary stores decorate the racks with different styles of chocolate cakes on the national chocolate cake day."

And here's a little gift for all of you who would like to celebrate, even if it is late!

Step-1

Butter3 Tablespoons
Sugar
1 Cup
Egg
1
Vanilla
1 Teaspoon
Powdered Chocolate
2 Ounces
Milk
3/4 CupCake Flour1 Cup
Baking Powder
1 1/2 Teaspoon
Salt
1/2 Teaspoon
Bowls
Mixing Spoons

Step-2

Put the butter in a bowl and cream it unless it becomes soft, then add sugar in it and mix it. Then beat the egg yolk and add it in the mixture, then add chocolate and flavors and add milk.

Step-3

Then take baking powder, salt and flour and sift together in another bowl, add this mixture to the mixture which we have mentioned in step 2 and mix it and beat it for 2 minutes.

Step-4

Now decant it, beat into an oily cake pan and bake it from 40 to 50 minutes if you want to prepare loaf cake. And if you want layer cake, then bake it for half an hour. You should bake it in the oven at 350 degree not more than and not less than 350 degree.


Happy Holidays from Pineapple Publishings!



January 13, 2010

Tunes are back.

I know it'll take a little longer to load the page, but due to popular demand, the music has returned. If you don't like the music, there is a pause button provided. :)

January 08, 2010

Professional Fool

Jokes, humor, to jest. All have a common purpose, to cause laughter. And, as we all know, laughter is the best medicine. The tricky part is learning how and when to crack a joke. You would think a joke is simply a joke, but there are certain "rules" that make our jests especially funny. Poetry and joking have similar rules, isn't that crazy? The common rules are timing, precision, synthesis, and rhythm.

Side note #1: Jesters made humor their way of life. Wouldn't that be an interesting career? Doing a little bit of research I learned that one definition of a jester is a "professional fool". Who knew being a fool was worthy of means for a living? There are so many of us fools out there, maybe we should look into our hidden (or sometimes not so hidden) potential for being a professional, and expand on it.


But learning about the mechanics of humor, doesn't make humor seem so easy-going and lovable. This reminds me of many of my friends who love music, but when I offer to teach them the theory behind it (how to read, write, and understand it) they shy away. I've heard several excuses like, "You don't need to learn all that to enjoy music", "I can write songs by ear", or "It's too complicated, I'll never be able to innocently listen to music and enjoy it if I know about everything that's going on." In a way it's true though. The more educated you are on a subject, the harder it is to please you, but I believe that this attitude is a sign of pride. But that is another discussion for another day.

Side note #2: Spiritually, knowing that God knows everything about everything, the most educated being in existence, it's incredible how he loves us. Think of the art professor, after years of experience has developed a critical eye, only giving his efforts to projects that he thinks are worth his time. God, gives his efforts to us freely, and encourages more from us.

Well, for your amusement, here are a few jokes to get you through the day. :)

A young brunette goes into the doctor's office and says that her body hurts wherever she touches it. "Impossible," says the doctor. "Show me."
She takes her finger and pushes her elbow and screams in agony. She pushes her knee and screams, pushes her ankle and screams and so on it goes.
The doctor says, "You're not really a brunette are you?"
She says, "No, I'm really a blonde."
"I thought so," he says. "Your finger is broken."

Mexicans cross the border 1....2....and 4 at one time, never 3. why?
Because the sign says - no tres passing.
A woman was telling her friend , "It is I who made my husband a millionaire."
"And what was he before you married him?" Asked the friend.
The woman replied, " A multi-millionaire".
*What do you call a dear with no eyes?
"Noeyedear"

What are some of your favorite jokes?

January 04, 2010

DAES


DAES

Drawn to Lonely Love's Duet,
Aparted from the Melody true,
Expressions I can not forget,
So I now begin Anew.


A poem I wrote while waiting for Sunday school. Like most poetry, there are many applicable meanings behind the passage. Ultimately it is about making a risky decision based on intuitive insights. I have titled it DAES, based on the first letter of every stanza. Though it is no masterpiece, it flows rather nicely, doesn't it?

Rebound

2010.
It has a nice ring, doesn't it?
It's almost a relief that we've gotten this far! With all of the yuckiness that has happened since the turn of the century, it's nice for a fresh start.
And so I have dedicated myself to the blogging arts. I hereby set a goal to update my blog once per week. As for my first rebound post, let's discuss the New Year.

Highlights of 2009:
  • 18th Birthday
  • Chamber Choir
  • Tour to New York
  • 1st Kiss
  • High School graduation
  • Senior road trip to Oregon
  • Touring Europe
  • Family Reunion in Canada
  • Moving out
  • 1st Semester of College
  • God's Everlasting Love Oratorio
  • Christmas with the family
Things to look forward to this year: My 19th Birthday, My 2nd and 3rd Semesters of College, Little brother, Britton, turning 18 (?!), Buying Avatar when it comes out on DVD, Total lunar eclipse on December 20th-21st, Making my 1st snowman (eventually)

Resolutions for 2010:
  • 3.5 GPA
  • Lose 15 lbs
  • Daily Scripture Study
In 2010 I hope you get:
12 Months of Happiness, 52 Weeks of Fun, 365 Days of Success, 8760 Hours of Good Health, 52600 Minutes of Good Luck, and 3153600 Seconds of Joy!
Happiest of New Years my friends! Let's make this one the best yet.

PS:What are some of your New Year resolutions?