Just when I was starting to think that I was never going to get a look in, I landed myself my first job interview this week *insert excited fangirl type scream here*

It’s for a charter school in the LA area, and I’m super excited. I’ve been researching the school and I think it’s a place I’d be super happy.

Now all I need to do is nail the first round interview. Wish me luck, blogosphere!

About two months ago, I sent out a stack of query packets to literary agents in the hope that someone would think Empathy Underground was worth representation. So far, I’ve had no takers, so I’m starting again. Re-writing the query letter, scouring the Internet for possible suitable candidates, and mentally preparing myself for the cohort of rejections that seems to accompany such a process.

I knew it was going to be tough – all published authors tell you that it is – but still, its frustrating nonetheless.

Who knows … maybe I’m not as good as writing as I thought I was?!

As I sit here and type, my girlfriends that are doing the South Beach Diet with me have all lost in between 6-8 pounds, as of yesterday.

Wanna know how much I’ve lost? 2. I lost those two pounds while I was sick, as well, so I’m assuming it was because I wasn’t eating, and spent a whole lot of time in the bathroom.

I’m fit and healthy already, I just happen to be carrying a little more weight than I’m comfortable with. It looks like losing that weight is going to be doubly hard for me. Where my friends started dropping weight right away, mine hasn’t budged. In fact, when I got on the scales this morning, I had put on a half a kilogram. I’ve been eating so well and exercising my heart out. It’s incredibly frustrating.

So my question is, what lengths do women like me – who are muscular, and cardiovascularly already fit – have to go to in order to slim down?

I spy with my little eye, a potential freelance article topic. I wonder if Women’s Health or Shape would be interested in running it?

PROJECT!

Stay tuned for more South Beach success/failures to come.

Last week, I decided enough was enough – it was time to lose all the weight I had piled on over the past eighteen months. So I did what any girl embarking on an horrendous weight loss mission would do … I enlisted the help and support of my girlfriends (the only friends I’ve made here, mind you) and we decided to put ourselves on the unbelievably strict South Beach Diet.

You know the world really hates you when you decide to make healthier lifestyle options and you almost instantly come down with one hell of a bad case of Strep Throat.

Declaring not to be beaten by the damn infection that is Strep Throat, though, I kept to my diet while I lolled around on the couch in a sickly stupor. Needless to say, I lost no weight last week (the first week of my new eating plan) because I was unable to barely open my eyelids, let alone raise my heart rate to a fat burning level. I did, however, enjoy a Buffy marathon, watch stacks of X-Files, and acquaint myself with Arrested Development.

So I’m resetting and starting again. Strep Throat – you will not beat me and my plans for slender summer legs!

Although i’m not completely better (note the green gunk I coughed up this morning when I got out of bed) I feel its time to kick this infection in the butt and sweat it out once more. Boo to spring time sickness.

Stay tuned for progress reports, and no doubt, many grumbling, moaning updates about how hard the detox phase of the diet is…

Okay, how come no one told me Hayley Williams teamed up with BOB and Eminem? Check out this collaboration ‘Aiplanes’ – it’s spectacular. Can that girl do nothing wrong?

Airplanes

For those that don’t already know, on May 17 (that’s six days from now, people) Muse are releasing their new song Neutron Star Collision for the upcoming Twilight film, Eclipse.

As an enormous fan of Muse, I can’t wait. I am, however, slightly resentful of their attachment to the Twilight Saga films. There were lots of girls at the Muse concert in Seattle a few weeks ago who were there because they were Twilight fans – including the girls who were next to us.

I’m going to the Paramore concert tomorrow night in Seattle, and I expect much of the same thing: teeny Twilighters running around screaming out Edward Cullen’s name. I can’t wait, though. I’ve been waiting to see Paramore for years. The only question remains: do I elbow my way to the front of the pit and compete with the Twilight kiddies for a prime spot, or do I hang back and thrash around where there’s space and breathing room?

Muse played at Key Arena here in Seattle. They’ve just released a video of the show. Click the link below to watch.

Muse – Live in Seattle (April 2010)

Love the glasses, Matthew Bellamy!

According to Perez Hilton, Lady Gaga originally wrote the song Telephone for Britney Spears. At the time, Brit passed over the song and Gaga recorded it herself with Beyonce.

This weekend, the Britney version was leaked via the Internet. Check it here:

Telephone – Britney Spears

I gotta say, I think I kind of love Britney Spears!

Stay tuned over the next few days as I upload copies of my published feature articles, a synopsis and sample chapter from my completed novel, and an excerpt from my academic thesis.

Did you watch Glee on Tuesday night? I did, but I almost wish I hadn’t. It was an episode I feel was long overdue, but unfortunately, left me feeling underwhelmed.

In case you missed it, I’m talking about season one, episode seventeen. Mercedes is ordered to lose ten pounds in order to keep her place on the Cheerios and embarks on a dieting mission from Hell. By the end of the episode, though, all is right in the world again as Mercedes regains her self respect and belts out a rendition of Christina Aguilera’s song, Beautiful.

Mercedes was the wrong character to deliver this message. As Quinn says during the episode, she’s always been so comfortable in her body. It seemed out of character for a strong, self-aware girl like Mercedes to let the likes of Sue Sylvester unravel her self-esteem, especially when she has track record of standing up for herself and what she believes in. Using Mercedes as a platform to deal with this issue was superficial and, I thought, very un-Gleelike.

This issue of self-respect and loving oneself has enjoyed much coverage by the media in recent years, and I always thought that could only be a good thing. But now I’m not so sure. When the size zero epidemic crash-landed in Hollywood a few years ago, people started pointing fingers at the media, blaming it for a causing a global self-esteem crisis in women. It’s true, instances of eating disorders among women are at an all time high, but whether the media is actually to blame isn’t something that can be determined lightly. Certainly not by me in one single blog post.

Around the same time that size zero became a household term in the Western World, the media started responding with zeal. Talk shows began challenging doctored images, and advertisements and campaigns supporting the notion of inner beauty began popping up everywhere.

While it can only be a good thing that women are at least talking about their self-esteem problems, if the media is going to weigh in on these issues, they need to afford consumers enough respect to deliver honest information. We all heard about the scandal surrounding the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty.

This is what Glee did last night. They gave us a half-truth. Mercedes was an easy example because she’s African American and she’s a bigger girl, but the image doesn’t match up with the package. She fits the stereotype, just not the truth. There are other characters on that show that I believe would have provided a much stronger, more realistic example of the issue.

Don’t get me wrong, as a woman who has always struggled with my appearance and self-esteem, I’m glad that society is beginning to address the issue. However consumers of media today are much smarter than we’re given credit for, and we see the holes. If you want us to believe in your message, stop contradicting yourself and give us the truth. We’re strong; we can handle it. What’s more, we’re ready for it.

Hello world!

Although this is my first official blog post here on nikkiLea(dot)com, you can check out all my previous Internet activity over at yaReads.

Peace out.