Nasrin Aboulhosn

This is what I do.

I’m currently ripping my boss’s nine-year-old daughter’s CDs so he can put them on her iPod. I’m now indirectly working for a child.

Currently ripping: Cat Songs, with such hits as “The Cat in the Window (The Bird in the Sky)” by Petula Clark, “Walkin’ My Cat Named Dog” by Norma Tanega, and “The Pussy Cat Song (Nyow! Nyot Nyow!)” by Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae.

Don’t be jealous.

My 24th Birthday

My friend Marisa surprised me tonight with a delicious Mexican dinner and happy hour and a ticket to the Taylor Swift concert at the Staples Center. My friends drove from miles around to spend the day with me at the beach on Saturday, and treated me to a yummy dinner and their lovely company (and even some awesome gifts!). My boyfriend drove me around all weekend, never missing a second. And he remembered a poster I mentioned months and months ago of my favorite book, and bought it for me. My family took me out to lunch and got me a Kindle so I can do one of my favorite things everywhere. 

I’m not really sure what I did in my life to deserve all the amazing love I have, but it makes me cry thinking of how blessed I am. Thank you to everyone who made this birthday, and every day, special. I love you all.

Update!

Eek, I am really falling behind on updating this thing. But I’m excited to announce that I GOT A JOB! Actually, two! Each is 20 hours a week and the beginning of exciting things. The first is a personal assistant position with Christopher Noxon, a great writer who has already begun to teach me more about the field. I’m really excited to be working with him. I started the job a week ago and it’s basically organizing and finishing projects that have been on his mind. But along the way he’s given me great advice. I’m excited to get down and disciplined with my writing and utilize what I’ve been learning.

The second job is with an upcoming nonprofit called Communities for Teaching Excellence. It’s a paid (score!) social media internship for the summer that could possibly turn into something more if I do a good job. I’m hoping since I’m on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr etc all the time, I can take what I already know about the sites and their potential and apply it to the nonprofit world. I’ve been researching more about nonprofit-specific marketing, because, let’s face it, people have degrees in this stuff and I have a Twitter account. I start the job next Monday and I’m excited to get my feet wet in the nonprofit world and see what’s in store down that path.

I’m still doing Alhambra Source work, and actually just started a side project related to volunteering in Los Angeles. It’s a blog with the goal of helping people in LA find volunteer opportunities that only take one day to complete. Once I get more settled and whittle down some to-dos, this will be a big priority. Right now I’m a little overwhelmed by how busy I am out of the blue, but I’m also excited. I get way more done when I’m busy. And making money is always a big relief.

I know this is an ad…

but it’s just so good. The Nook Color ad:

Til all the books I read are read

 and all the pens are put down

and everything there is to learn is learned

Til tears are no longer shed

and the ziggers have all zigged

and the irony is all ironed out

Til the heroes retire

and the monsters return to their dens

and all the plots are wrapped up

Til there are no more twists and turns

No more guns in drawers

No more shaggy dogs

Til rhymes stop rhyming

and pots stop boiling

and everyone is happy and there’s nothing more say

Til that day

By hook or by crook

By book or by nook

I will read

Recap

I’m not being a very good blogger at the moment, but life is wonderful.

I was waiting to leave a voicemail for a recruiter last week and his greeting didn’t end with, “Have a great day,” but with, “Make it a great day.” 

I’m trying not to wait for my life to happen but to make it happen instead. Still working on a few things, some big and some small. But I try to follow the advice of people I look up to and hope that they are amazing things, too.

“Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.” -Conan O’Brien

100 Ways to Motivate Yourself - Part 2

I finally finished Steve Chandler’s 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself, a book about the top 100 concepts, strategies and simple ideas he’s used in his life and with his clients to create motivation and success. Below are the quotes from the second half of the book that touched me the most.

The last one, ”Never accept no at face value. Let rejection motivate you to get more creative,” is something I’m working on right now. Up until recently, I had never been rejected from a job where the decision-maker had met me and talked to me in person. In a matter of a few short weeks, I scored three great interviews. Things were really picking up! And then I received three rejections, something I just wasn’t used to. But I’ve been trying to always look and move forward. I’m not going to lie and say that disappointment and discouragement haven’t clouded my thinking, but when they do I try my best to remember some of Chandler and other great leaders’ words. 

This wasn’t in the book but is a quote that’s helped me: Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out. -Coach John Wooden

I’m waiting to hear back about a job this week, and am going to try to live by these words regardless of the outcome.

——

“Nobody cares how old you are but you. People only care about what you can do, and you can do anything you want, at any age.” - Chandler

“You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.” - Coach John Wooden

“There is absolutely no difference between succeeding today and having a successful life.” - Chandler

“When you face the sun, the shadows always fall behind you.” - Helen Keller

“The way we choose to see the world creates the world we see.” - Barry Neil Kaufman

“Let positive reinforcement and compliments be a mere seasoning to your life. But prepare your life’s meal yourself.” - Chandler

“If you see yourself as a masterpiece-in-progress, then you will relish small change. You’ll be excited by a tiny thing you did differently today…There are no unimportant changes, no matter how small.” - Chandler

“You have much more control over your environment than you realize. You can begin programming yourself consciously to be more and more focused and motivated. Get to know your control panel and learn how to push your own buttons. The more you know about how you operate, the easier it will be to motivate yourself.” - Chandler

“You can be the master of your own fate. You can make choices all day long about what you are going to learn and what you are not going to learn.” - Chandler

“Never accept no at face value. Let rejection motivate you to get more creative.” - Chandler

Part 1

<3

Don’t be a drag, just be a queen 
Whether you’re broke or evergreen 
You’re black, white, beige, chola descent 
You’re Lebanese, you’re orient 
Whether life’s disabilities 
Left you outcast, bullied or teased 
Rejoice and love yourself today 
‘Cause baby, you were born this way 

No matter gay, straight or bi 
lesbian, transgendered life 
I’m on the right track, baby 
I was born to survive 
No matter black, white or beige 
chola or orient made 
I’m on the right track, baby 
I was born to be brave 

I’m beautiful in my way 
‘Cause God makes no mistakes 
I’m on the right track, baby 
I was born this way