October 2011
2 posts
Purple shampoo: something to really rave about
My hair was eight weeks from its last visit to the salon and two before I could get an appointment. I was desperate. My once-honey toned highlights had faded into a brassy, near-copper hue. If you ask me, the worst part about waiting between salon visits isn’t the roots, it’s the dire need of toner to redeposit the proper color on bleached hair.
Toner typically lasts six weeks, and...
Graphic reports on Pepperdine fin aid policy →
So occasionally a news story falls into my lap accidentally. I was at work when I received an email on my phone from Pepperdine’s Office of Financial Assistance alerting me that my financial aid award had been revised. Upon inspection, I realized my departmental scholarship — a merit scholarship from the Communication Division for my work at the student newspaper — had been reduced from...
November 2010
5 posts
"I have an eating disorder. Not Bulimia or... →
” I have an eating disorder. Not Bulimia or Anorexia but EDNOS (Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified). This means that I alternate between puking and starving. I also have rules. Bread has to be eaten in even numbers. Cake is evil. Carbohydrates are secretly plotting against me. Diet Coke is the elixir of youth and beauty. My EDNOS is 19 years old. It started with Anorexia when I was fifteen....
“The first draft of anything is shit.”
– Ernest Hemingway (via kari-shma)
Nothing Indeed!: George Orwell’s 5 Rules for... →
holy-moly:
1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase.
“It’s no good pretending that any relationship has a future if your record...”
– High Fidelity, by Nick Hornby (via stupidmansuit)
October 2010
2 posts
Excerpt from Aaron's Blog: "Is Disney’s The Little Mermaid a parallel to John Milton’s Paradise Lost? It’s a vague idea that I began thinking about because Ariel was in my dream last night."
Aaron: Did you read my comparison [of Disney's The Little Mermaid to John Milton's Paradise Lost]? It wasn't written well. I'm hungover. But what did you think?
Jessica: So Ariel was in your drunk dreams?
August 2010
1 post
Pledge your support to Write Bloody today. →
Sup followers,
My blog’s been pretty dull this summer, partly because I’ve spent a lot of my time interning at Write Bloody Publishing under the direction of El Capitan Derrick Brown (Many of you know him as one of the raddest modern poets ever.)
Write Bloody has just been offered a distribution deal that will help your favorite poets get on more library and bookstore shelves and...
April 2010
12 posts
1 tag
cool story about blink 182 dating advices. love...
Thanks.
Ask me anything
Graphic: Discovering diversity at Venice Beach... →
By JESSICA ABU-GHATTAS
Published: Thursday, April 8, 2010
Updated: Thursday, April 8, 2010
Pepperdine’s culture is certainly a unique one. Some students know their ways around Shanghai and Buenos Aires before even experiencing the urban jungle of Los Angeles just down the road. African street performers dance, amateur jewelers weave and decorate their goods, a world-famous drum circle and...
Top 10: Tips for text message etiquette (THE LAST... →
By JESSICA ABU-GHATTAS
Published: Thursday, April 8, 2010
Updated: Thursday, April 8, 2010
In a few short weeks, summer will be upon us. You know what that means: beach, beach bodies and meeting and talking to beach bodies. But courtship sure has changed since mom and pop used to wait beside the phone on the kitchen wall. The first crucial step, after the awkward number exchange, has...
Yogacore: A new kind of movement →
By JESSICA ABU-GHATTAS
Published: Thursday, April 1, 2010
Updated: Friday, April 2, 2010
Pepperdine alumna Jessica Gray graduated only last spring, but she has spent the year hard at work founding her own nonprofit early childhood education program— yogacore.
A business and economics major, Gray combined her skill and passion for yoga with the spirit of volunteerism to make an impact in...
Top 10: Should-be April Fool's jokes →
By JESSICA ABU-GHATTAS
Published: Thursday, April 1, 2010
Updated: Thursday, April 1, 2010
No offense to April Fool’s Day, but sometimes reality is funnier than practical jokes. If you’re anything like me, you’re constantly clicking around the Web. The following is a compilation of what I consider the biggest jokes of the week. As it turns out, we’re April’s fools.
1. If Heidi Montag’s...
“I don’t know anything except that parts make a whole. And that though the world...”
– Jack Kerouac (October 19, 1949) (via smut-to-go) (via morethanwebargainedfor)
“If Congress is mostly Democrats, why is there an anti-abortion-rights majority...”
– Sarah Kliff: You can be a Congressional Democrat and be anti-abortion rights, but if you’re a Congressional Republican you must be anti-abortion rights. A look at how that skews our politics. (via newsweek)
“Can toads predict massive earthquakes? http://su.pr/1ZQVws (for mobile:...”
– TIME
“When you blame and criticize others, you are avoiding some truth about yourself.”
– Deepak Chopra (via yearslater) (via quote-book)
I officially survived 40 days free of streaming my...
March 2010
20 posts
CollegeCandy: Decoding texts from boys, lol. →
Summer bucket list: No. 1
1. Get my blonde on. Summer’s that time that hair gets lighter and skirts get shorter. I’m planning on hitting up one of my favorite spots, Enchanted Hair Salon and Spa, located in the Victoria Gardens shopping center in Rancho Cucamonga, for my hair’s make-over. I’m feeling Lauren Conrad’s honey hues with a little Jennifer Aniston base thrown in for good measure.
...
Top 10: Dating advice from Blink-182 lyrics →
Top 10: Dating advice from Blink-182 lyrics
By JESSICA ABU-GHATTAS
Published: Thursday, March 25, 2010
Updated: Thursday, March 25, 2010
Let’s be real. We still blast Blink-182 songs that were on MTV’s “Total Request Live” when we were in the fifth grade. And shamelessly, we sing every word. But did you ever think those pop-punk jokesters could actually give us reasonable dating advice?...
ARThropology event celebrates the arts →
ARThropology event celebrates the arts
By JESSICA ABU-GHATTAS
Published: Thursday, March 25, 2010
Updated: Thursday, March 25, 2010
After two months of collaboration between the Student Programming Board and ArtRUSH, the annual art show, ARThropology, plans to display the creative projects of students, alumni, Malibu locals and professionals at the Malibu Lumber Yard Friday, March 26 from...
Top 10: Quick comebacks to rude questions →
Top 10: Quick comebacks to rude questions
By JESSICA ABU-GHATTAS
Published: Thursday, March 18, 2010
Updated: Thursday, March 18, 2010
This week’s “Top 10” addresses the age-old question: How does one respond to an awkward question in public while still keeping his or her cool? A difficult task on the spot, but here are some ideas.
1. Are you still single? Flash your best smile and...
Convocation with Sister Helen Prejean
Author of New York Times Bestseller “Dead Man Walking” and “The Death of Innocents,” Sister Helen Prejean spoke at Pepperdine’s convocation this morning. Having served as the spiritual adviser to six individuals on death row, Prejean is an advocate against the death penalty and is an inspiration to Catholics and Christians worldwide.
“Then said Jesus, Father,...
MEPA's Forum on Arab-Israeli Peace
Last Thursday. Interesting update for those who heard the discussion of Biden’s recent visit: http://www.newsweek.com/id/234972
2 tags
Lester Holt at Dean's Disntinguished Lecture...
Yesterday at Elkins. So awesome! He spoke on the democratization of journalism and citizen journalism, the changing face of news and the impacts of technology on the news cycle. His advice to graduating seniors stuck: “Work somewhere you can learn something from someone.” Seems obvious enough right? He also stressed the importance of knowing how to do a lot of things: writing, camera...
Cosmo: 10 Love Lessons We Learned from Brangelina →
I admire the form. (As I write my top 10 for this week’s Graphic…)
“That’s just the thing about you. You’re dainty, or you portray...”
– Ashley Herring, the best friend, on my dating style.
CNN: Biden calls for Palestinian state →
Go Biden, it’s your birthday.
http://www.formspring.me/jessanswers →
Call me an open book.
Top 10 mispronounced foodie words →
easilyportable:
pho (fuh)
Letter to the editor response to last week's... →
It’s usually a satisfactory feeling to receive letters to the editor or feedback on my articles and columns. I mean, I’ve ruffled a few feathers in my day, but I knew I’d be displeased with any responses to my column published in the Graphic two weeks ago, “UCI students protest human rights abuses” (Read:...
February 2010
36 posts
Graphic: Students tour the holy land →
Top 10 (Pepperdine) language and lingo failures →
By JESSICA ABU-GHATTAS
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Published: Thursday, February 25, 2010
Updated: Thursday, February 25, 2010
Walking around campus leaves ears highly susceptible to improper lingo. Not sure if your Pepperdine slang is uncouth? Check out some samples.
Also, if you like my weekly Top 10, look for it, and more, on my personal blog. Astoldbyjess.tumblr.com.
1....
Finding 'Fish' in Elkins →
By JESSICA ABU-GHATTAS
Published: Thursday, February 25, 2010
Updated: Thursday, February 25, 2010
As a part of Craig Detweiler’s “A Social Science Perspective on Film” class and, in honor of Black History Month, Pepperdine welcomed acclaimed screenwriter and author Antwone Fisher to a screening of the film “Antwone Fisher,” a heartbreaking account of his life directed by Denzel Washington....
Fasting tumblr
That’s right, peeps. I’ve figured out my main excessive habit: Scrolling endless pages of my tumblr stream. Inspiration, information, and sometimes, fornication. Gotta go.
I’ll keep updating my news stories and occasional musings, but I will not under any circumstance view posts, check out my favorite blogs, or view my tracked tags — no matter how many +10s I have.
See you...
Top 10 things to give up for Lent
This Top 10 got shot down in the newsroom last week. I only made it to three.
Lent officially began Wednesday Feb. 17 and many devout Catholics and Christians may be thinking about how to execute their fasting this year. In the tradition of my weekly “Top 10,” here are some suggestions.
1. Your boyfriend or girlfriend. I know this is Pepperdine and you’re all celibate angels, but it...
Interview with Antwone Fisher, uncut
This is probably my favorite interview of all the dozens I’ve done this year. Fisher’s story is so impacting. I invite you to read the interview as I transcribed it last night in the Graphic newsroom (there will be some grammatical errors). An edited copy will be published in this Thursday’s paper and online at pepperdine-graphic.com.
Thanks, and happy reading,
J
As a part...
My life, in a nutshell:
Taylor: Why don't you guys wait to hear about this on the news?
Scott and Jessica (in unison): WE ARE THE NEWS!
Jessica: Huh?!
Ashley: Well clearly Jess was paying attention.
Jessica: Sorry, I just had you guys in the background and it was helping me study. Like music in the background, but it's the voices of my best friends.
Ashley: Awww. That was really sweet. Are you gonna write a sappy poem about it?
Brandon: HEY! I like Jess's poems!