3-Minute Shower Challenge Day 5: I Tweet Now

     I tweet now. Yes, that's right. I am officially on Twitter and it all started with a dirty word. My best friend, Kenny, tweets everything I say. So today, she said something gross about fellatio and I sought vengeance. The only problem was that I didn't have a Twitter. I threatened to start one but I've been saying that for months and had yet to do it. And I was bluffing again, of course. So she pretty much started it for me.

     I never cared to tweet before, but my Advanced Magazine Writing prof, Erica, suggested it was a great way to generate story ideas and create a network of people and ideas. The more I heard that, the more I was convinced that Twitter was not just a tool for young narcissists to brag about all the "cool" things they do and feel like people give a shit.

     So my song choice for this shower was Rihanna's "California King Bed." I'm not a huge fan, but I enjoy this song and the fact that her vocals have shown tremendous growth. I used to hear Kenny play this when Ri-Ri's album first came out and I kind of liked its swagger. It's 4:12 but I was washing my face for the first minute or so before I hopped in the shower. Also, I was talking to my fellow e-board members today and realized that my showers are obnoxiously long. I may be in a state of mental anguish but I'm kind of glad I'm doing this thing.

     Oh, one last thing: Larry Stains came to my class this morning, gave us copies of his taxes, shouted out my 3-minute shower challenge and newfound popularity (not really), and then shook my hand quite fervently. Oh, Larry.

3-Minute Shower Challenge: Day 4

     *Sigh* Ten. More. Days. I feel like a smoker who just quit cold turkey. I'm starting to wonder if I should have taken it slowly. Going from half an hour in the shower to three mere minutes is a huge jump. I used to look forward to my evening showers the same way young, hip college students look forward to OD-ing on body spray and cologne on Thirsty Thursday. No lie.

     Today I had class, then I worked on a paper, then I went to an ESA's (Entrepreneurial Student Association) last general body meeting of the semester. Then I proceeded to congratulate my friends who had made the BYOBB (Be Your Own Boss Bowl) and were getting ready to present their business ideas and I went to work. Then I went to a teaching gig that's part of a program I work with called Urban Roots. We teach the youth of North Philadelphia business through gardening.

     Of course, they're young, rowdy kids and because I care for them, I had to stop today in the midst of all their disrespectful side-chatter and give them a speech about respect. A wave of silence befell the classroom as they listened intently to me. I was glad to see them opening up more. I walked into the class initially believing there was no way I could get through to these kids. Then, week after week, I see them laughing, smiling, taking it in, and reaching out of their comfort zones and it makes it all worth it.

     Anyway, I don't feel like explaining the rest of my day. All I want you to know is that my shower sucked and I wish it didn't. I was attempting to jam to Amanda Jenssen's "Do You Love Me?" but found myself racing to finish my shower in time instead. I feel like I'm in Survivor or something. I've never seen that show.

3-Minute Shower Challenge: Day 3, After Zumba!

     Yo. So I cheated today. My shower was about 6 1/2 minutes long. In my defense, today was my last day at zumba for the semester. *womp womp* For those of you who have fallen victim to the zumba craze as I have, you understand that there are three things one typically wants after a kick-ass calorie-burning hour-long session: a cold beer, ice cream and a nice, long shower.

     Thankfully, today was not as hot or humid as yesterday was, so I didn't feel like committing suicide afterward. Otherwise, I might have slipped back into my old habits and been under that sweet warm water (for all my Philly peeps: wooder) for a good half hour.

     The song of the evening was none other than the radiant VV Brown's "Shark in the Water." That song is all kinds of good. *When I'm in doubt, I open my mouth and words come out. Words come out like: baby there's a shark in the water.* Gah, couldn't have put it better. I love Brits. On that note: pip pip, cheerio.

Three-Minute Shower Challenge: Day Two

     Hello earth lovers. Today marks day two of my 3-minute shower challenge. For those of you who live in Philly, I suppose I don't have to tell you how disturbingly humid it was outside today. For those who don't: it was disturbingly humid outside today and I had the pleasure of going to work only to be stuck in a hot building with no air conditioning.

     On top of that, the workload was really piled on me. Today was the first day of a series of interviews HCTU is conducting for our new e-board members, I've got a paper to work on, blah blah busy college student blah. Oh, and I stayed up last night writing a paper that was due today...and that I didn't begin until 1am this morning. I even had to call out of my internship today (which I don't do unless I am absolutely on my deathbed). Needless to say, I'll never amount to anything. Just kidding, mommy.

     By the end of the day, all I wanted was to take a nice, long shower. I could have caved, but the badass-ness of my being would not allow me to do so. I took that shower in three minutes, baby. What's that saying, "Shower now, cry later?" Exactly.

     I know I mentioned in my last post that the shorts have yet to be broken out. Well, the shorts are about to be broken out. Seriously, you guys, it's hot as balls outside and I'm not getting any more toned so whatever. So I had to shave in the sink today. I was a trooper about it. My shower today was super fun because I got to jam to the playful tune of "Sexy Silk" by Jessie J. Meow.

The Start of My Three-Minute Shower Challenge

     Hey guys, so I wanna thank those who still read my blog even though I've become really poor at updating it as frequently as I should. One reason I haven't been as faithful to my sweet baby as I should be is because I've been writing/editing for our brand new organization at Temple, Her Campus Temple University! This organization is just one branch of a larger one, Her Campus, but we really needed a magazine publication at Temple since our only other choice is the Temple News.

     So this idea of a 3-minute shower actually comes from Her Campus. They picked a few college women to blog about their experiences cutting their shower down to a mere three minutes for two entire weeks. I had initially planned to be a part of this troupe, but I should have known with my luck it wouldn't happen. Anywho, I decided "Why Should that stop me?" and went ahead with my own two-week, three-minute shower challenge as a way to do my share of earth-loving.

     I pitched this idea to the editor of Grid magazine, Philly's sustainable living magazine and he liked it! So, for the next two weeks I will be keeping an electronic journal (I think they call it a blog) of my pursuits here and, at the end of that two weeks, I'll put everything together.

     Now, before I started a blog, one of my journalism professors, George Miller, would yell at me constantly: "Go start a blog!" True to George fashion, he insisted that the blog not be a whiny account of the trials and tribulations of a college student, but rather a sort of portfolio. I'm breaking this vow for a good cause. Shout-out to Geo.

     For those who know me (hey, Kenny), you probably know how long my showers take. I have a YouTube playlist made specifically for my showers. It's like a movie with an accompanying soundtrack. And I typically blow through four or five songs to complete a shower. I'm in there for a good half hour. For two weeks, I'll be blowing through one 3-minute song.

     My journey began today. I picked Jace Everett's "Bad Things" as my song of choice. Many of you may know it as the theme song to HBO's "True Blood." (Side note" that song is pure sex.) The song is technically 2:46, but whatever. I ended up adding on about 2 minutes to it anyway. Not because I'm a cheater, mind you, but because my current bar of soap has whittled down to a stub and it's really hard to get a good lather going with that. (Note to self: open up a new bar tomorrow.)

     I had to skip on shaving my legs for today, which probably doesn't matter anyway: I haven't broken out the shorts yet this year...for several reasons. It felt pretty awful, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. I still smell good. Until next time....