Keeping Up..

Exceedingly difficult task, but I'm SO doing it. I'm diving into social media and I'm really excited to learn more about it and incorporate it into my line of work (search engine marketing). They're already related fields, but I want to know how to bring that to clients in an accessible way.
And nooo, it's not that I want to Tweet all day and monitor facebook fan pages and actually have time to blog, vlog and develop my website (ResaMichelle.com, coming soon!)... Okay, so I can't lie, I kinda would love to get paid to be a new media socialite, but still. At least I know better than to say I'm an expert because god knows I'm new to this and I'm just scratching the surface, but I'm excited to learn.

Anyhew, like I said before, I'm running for Senator of the College of the Arts, and basically, my life has revolved around that pursuit this week. I've had a meet & greet, a couple org meetings this week and now I need to call Anthony about an interview/statement for his podcast, drop in on a couple rehearsals & meetings, and keep getting my name out there. On facebook? Join the campaign!! http://tinyurl.com/Resa4COTASen
Right. It's funny - I have a lot of support, but I really have no idea how much support I have in the actual College of the Arts (that's right - if you're not in the College of the Arts, you can't vote for me as much as I'd love for you to do so). But I've gotten a lot of compliments on my campaigning efforts. "I would think that you would be running for president!" from my girl Avis.
Woo!

Speaking of Elections, there are actually some really great candidates this time around, although none of the VP candidates have really stood out to me this year... or at least not so much as they did last year. And that's probably a good thing.
See, last year, this guy Jason was running for VP of ASI against Ruben and Chris. Now Jason talked a lot of mess and grasped a pretty lofty cause (rebuilding a football team at CSULB). Cool idea, though it was none to well considered, but it got him into a runoff with Chris who has served ASI in a few different capacities and knows his stuff as far as campus politics are concerned. Jason's idea of campus politics is based on mudslinging and a conservative agenda (read anti-immigration)... And CSULB is a liberal campus.
Anyway, to keep a long story short, this ended in a bloodbath run-off with a lot of online trolling and Jason attempting to sue Chris for changing his campaign picture for the runoff (because the original one that he submitted was edited incorrectly and half of his head was cut off in the pictures for the general election). And to tie it all off, Jason tried suing ASI for bias... or something. Some samples of statements after last years elections:

Vice presidential runner-up Aula expressed his disappointment after the announcement [of Chavez's win in the run-off election].

"I wasn't too surprised. Chavez had a lot of support and I think it was a good accomplishment that I still got 35 percent of the vote," Aula said. "I still want to move on with the football thing and hopefully I can get a committee together to get it going."

Aula also mentioned the struggles he said he faced.

"Obviously the people in ASI are against me. I'm not in the circle of ASI people and I think they're scared of a conservative voice," Aula said.

Aula also outlined his plans to keep tabs on the new executives.

"If Chavez makes any mistakes, I've got a network of people who are going to try to get him recalled," Aula said.

Aaaand..

"I won't stand for ASI not enforcing the rules... they are the ones that should be upholding ethics and enforcing the rules and they're not," Aula said. "I want to take out a literal lawsuit against ASI and Chavez in an outside court and get proper representation."

The AS Judiciary also concluded that should the Senate seek to pass "a more comprehensive campaign regulation policy," and that online social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and YouTube be "banned from campaign use by candidates and their staff."

Both articles were taken from the Daily 49er online (http://www.daily49er.com/2.292/chavez-named-new-vice-president-for-associated-students-inc-1.90378 and http://www.daily49er.com/2.292/as-judiciary-dismisses-suit-against-chavez-1.90303).

Kind of comical... right? Well, he's running again this year with a campaign base on facebook.. but he was barred from running for ASI office after last year's debaucle. Apparently he's depending on the write-in vote that no longer exists in ASI's online elections. Coooooool. Have I mentioned that the last few ASI presidents have been politically conservative? Yeah. Political affiliation isn't actually a part of campus politics...

But as far as real candidates are concerned, we have a great line-up of Presidential hopefuls, VP's and Treasurers. All seem well qualified for the job, so I'm really excited to see how everything will turn out (frankly, I'm incredibly anxious about the turnout and I just want the elections to happen already!!). Not to mention and the Board of Trustees and Senatorial candidates. Seriously, we have some great leaders running in this election and I'm really excited to be a part of it.


Like I said, elections are consuming my life.

Last week was spring break and I worked. A lot. Yayy for making up on hours. Got a lot of research in and started formulating ideas for my website. Pretty sweet.

Other spring break highlights and events:
-Attended my teacher's late husband's memorial service... I'm amazed by her strength and I was deeply touched that she asked for my help in planning it.
-I had a beach adventure with Jared which included beach rock/shore cliff navigation and cove exploration, as well as ass freezing beach water wading. Mind you I hate beach water. And sand. But I love divers cove in Laguna.
-Karaoke with Roni and the wine tasting gang!!
-Started watching The Office from season 1.
-Los Caballeros Poker tournament!! The office complex in which I work hosted a poker tournament, so I played.. and got 5th.. out of something like 60 players. Pretty cool for never actually competing at poker. Won $210. Yay. :)

So now I'm a week out of spring break and my eye won't stop twitching... Right. I should probably relax and take a vacation once this election is over. So I'll go wine tasting!! Yayyyyyyy :)

Okay, Resa - out.

Exciting times!!

I should probably get on top of this - with as much as is going on in my life, I don't think I take enough time to reflect on what I'm doing, nor do I take the time to express my opinions.

And lord do I have opinions.

Like right now, the polls are open for the Beach Legacy Referendum and I'm horribly torn. My personal opinion is that the referendum could allow us to utilize our Instruction Related Activities fees for Instruction Related Activities (which are deeply affected here in the CotA). On the other hand, it's more money coming from our students. The question is what will the actual end result be? We did get the parking structure up sooner than anticipated and it has been such a huge relief on campus. Strong athletic programs and modern facilities do yield high incomes for Universities, not to mention notoriety. With so much at stake, I couldn't imagine that ASI and the students themselves wouldn't demand timely results. But I question how much IRA's will really come back to the rest of us. I can't help but feel like my department always gets the short end of the stick. The arts are important too. We are in school for an education, just as everyone else is. In fact, we've chosen a difficult, competitive path that started even before we started college.

But I digress.

The arts, generally speaking, are underfunded. So how much of the IRA's would really come back to us if the BLR passes? Like I said. Torn.

Meanwhile, in other parts of my life, I went to OC's Largest Mixer today and had a great time with my coworkers! Good times and for anyone who stopped by the Local Splash table, thanks so much!!

SAI is incredible. I love my sisters and I'm so excited to spend time getting to know the new MIT's!! I've gained a lot great perspective from working so closely with a group of girls, especially about myself and my relationship with my real sister.
-I'm an ideas person. I have great ideas and I think creatively to develop solutions or simply to continue and maintain development.
-When we get upset with people we care about or with people involved with the things we care about, it is primarily because we have expectations of them that are not met. This could mean that we may have to sometimes swallow our pride to compromise or hear one another's criticism. This could also mean that we need to relax our egos and allow other people to do what they need to do, even though we may think we can do it better ourselves. This could also mean that perhaps instead of getting upset, we should ask not why someone is messing up but what we could do to make this work better. It is a great circle that takes humility and love - the cycle wouldn't exist without love, so naturally it is humility that takes the most work.
-It's okay to say no.

Speaking of saying no, my last Wind Symphony concert is technically tonight at 8 pm! I'm a little sad, but my life is taking such amazing turns and I'm so grateful for the opportunities that I have. I mean, I have a great job that is understanding of my incredibly strange (but stabilizing) schedule which is more than many can say right now. I'm involved with some incredible organizations who do so much for the school and the campus and I get to see first hand the difference that we make. My parents are incredibly loving, understanding and supportive and I'm lucky to come home to such a warm welcome every night (not to mention my sweet little dogs). So really, life is great and though I won't be performing for a while, I love music and it's always going to be a part of my life. In fact, I think this means that I'll be playing a lot more piano. :)

So anyway, my dogs are asleep (like out cold, babies don't sleep this well status) and I should be too. Night, all!


Love,
Resa


P.S. I'm running for Senator of the College of the Arts at CSULB!!! Please vote for me and Phillip Bustamante! He's a great leader and he's served the COTA with our best interests in mind - I hope you'll allow me to join him in doing so. :)
P.P.S. Follow me on Twitter: ResaMichelle <3

Slalom

These are all the instruments I play for a single piece. This is also the reason why I'm playing in wind symphony at all this semester.