Favorite Emoticons!

I'll continually add to the collection as I observe creative emoticons.

(^_^) = Smiley Face
(_ l _) = Butt cheeks *lol*
(o.O) = Shocked
d(^_^)b = listening to music
(~_^) or (^_~) = wink
\m/^o^\m/ = rock star
x_O or O_x = punched in the face
[(- -)]ZZzzz = Sleeping

I think I found the perfect grad school!

While conducting a little research, I discovered an academic program that suits my intellectual interests. University of Southern California (USCLA) offers a master's degree in "Human Behavior".

One day, I hope to obtain the ability to influence consumer decisions when making purchasing decisions. Understanding the psychological process of the individual components that are effective on human cognition intrigues me.

However, the application process appears to be somewhat extensive. And there is a possiblity I will not only have to take the GMAT but the GRE as well and I'm not sure how that is going to work out. :(

Regardless, California in and of itself sounds awesome!

Mohawk Hat...How Friggin Awesome Is That!

What's Crackalackin Readers :p

Those that know me personally have seen me rock the mohawk earlier this year. Lemme tell you, I was feeling myself for a quick minute. I'm so used to sporting the "regular cut" and its not often that I get to experiment with an out of the ordinary style. nfortunately, as a senior, I have to prepare myself for the upcoming world ahead of me; that being said, mohawks will only hinder my potential to obtain the employment opportunities that I actually want.

Well guess what, I happened to be window shopping on AmericanEagle.com when I encountered this friggin awesome "Mohawk Hat". Shut the Front Door! A Mohawk Hat! Are ya serious!?, I will definitely have to buy me a couple for the cold season ahead.

Watch out peeps, I'm bringing sexy back!

Craigslist Scam Victim

Hey Readers,

Boy do I have a story to share. I was shopping around online for a vehicle on Craigslist when I came across an offer that was to good to be true and unfortunately it was. Posted was a 2002 Toyota Camry Sedan, white, great condition, 82k miles, clean interior...at a price within my means. The ad listed no specific details (red flag). No personal contact information was listed; however, I could send an email via Craigslist. So I decided to express interest in an email while requesting additional information.

The next afternoon I received a response from the assumed owner of the vehicle. I was excited for quick second. In the reply, the owner provided general details about the car including mileage and other specs. No VIN. One of my major concerns is that the owner mentioned that she and the vehicle were in Maine, when I was searching for vehicles in Norfolk, VA (red flag). Conveniently, the seller won a free promo from DAS for "1 free shipping"; so I wouldn't have to incur the shipping expense. However, it was listed that I would have to pay for the state inspection (red flag).

I was concerned because I recently seen an episode of Teen Mom where Farrah was scammed on Craigslist for $3k because she sent the supposed owner a check. By the time Farrah discovered it was a scam, it was too late. Fortunately, I learned to not forward any money until I physically have possession of the vehicle.

Next I tried the most simply thing, googling the owner, "Sarah Entilevi", which I retrieved from the email that was sent. Funny thing! There were only 4 results from my google search and the first two included the words "scam" and "craigslist" and that was all she wrote.

When you click on the second link in the results list, the article illustrates the same exact email that was sent to me. Only thing that was changed was the dollar amount and the location of the vehicle (remember in my situation it was Maine).

Moral of the story, be very careful when making online transactions.

Social Network Overload!!!!!

Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Youtube, Skype, and now Oovoo!

One by one, another social networking site is created and is the latest trend in the American culture. Even for someone of my generation, (which I consider to be pretty young) keeping up with all of these internet sites is becoming more & more difficult. These are not even including the several email accounts that I constantly monitor: Aim, Gmail, & MS Outlook.

So until last week, I have never heard of an "Oovoo", which my brother happened to mention on Facebook... or was it Skype? Anywho, I was initially reluctant to create yet another account for a social network. However, as a business major, I've been taught the importance of keeping up with emerging trends; therefore, I've found myself submitting to another internet site that does something very similar to what I already have.

Oovoo, apparently is Video Chat service which is the same exact thing as Skype. However, I think Oovoo differs in that it has the capability of video conferencing, which allows users to basically conduct a multiple chat video call. Whoopdeedoo! Why can't the people just wait until Skype upgrades.

I conclude this blog with a simple sigh (siiiigh) Now on to create my Oovoo account....my life!

I'm an "ESFJ" Personality Type

After taking a short Myers Briggs personality type indicator assemssment, the results listed that I was an ESFJ.

Extrovert-Sensing-Feeling-Judging

• Extroverts tend to be more outgoing, talktative, socialable, and assertive.
• Sensing types use an organized structure to acquire factual and preferably quantitative details.
• Feeling types consider how their choices affect how their choices affect others; weighing options against their personal values more than rational logic
• Judging types prefer order & structure in relationships with the outer world; enjoy control of decision making and want to resolve problems quickly.

Personalityportrait.com describes ESFJs as "The Caregiver". [see link for full description]

Myer's Briggs is designed to:

• identify the way people prefer to percieve environment
• obtain and process information
• measure how people orient themselves to outer world

For me, the Myers Briggs assessment has increased awareness about my character and behavior. As stated in previous blogs, I'm currently experiencing a high level of evolution in regards to my growth & development. One of the first steps is to understand yourself. If you ever have the opportunity to take the MBTI assessment please do so. I also encourage comment posts to share and discuss different personality types.

REFERENCES

McShane, S., & Glinow, M. A. (2008). Organizational Behavior. New York: McGraw Hill/Irwin.

My Dear Friend, Pandora!

Oh how I love my friend Pandora, she knows exactly what music to play during any given moment. Music is such a great reliever of stress.

Lately I've been listening to Pandora as I prepare for class in the morning, & I can testify that this certainly makes my mornings start of awesome! Playing air guitar in the mirror while brushing my teeth with my crest spin brush couldn't get any better.

Just in case you aren't up to speed. Pandora is an internet radio application that plays music tailored to the listener's taste. How so? First you select a genre, artist, or song and Pandora will play songs similar to that particular category. Then as the user continues to like/dislike a song selection, Pandora will take note of music that the user does/doesn't prefer.

Pandora, she knows me so well.