Brilliant.

In between taking shots of Mucinex for the self-diagnosed sinus infection I have, I had a chance on Saturday to watch Saturday Night Live.

You guys, the cast completely redeemed itself for last week's terrible episode.

I laughed at almost every single skit.

Here is my favorite skit: http://www.buzzfeed.com/alisonvingiano/snl-the-fault-in-our-ebola#3fgitkd

I don't know what to say, except this is brilliant.

Brilliant.

On change.

It's the little things in life that make me happy.

I got a new keyboard today. It's wireless and a tad bit different from my other keyboard.

Sometimes different is better.

The main difference is that my new keyboard has a smaller delete key. When I go to delete something, my pinky finger has to really stretch to get there.

Yes, I'm aware that this is a first world problem. I'm definitely not complaining, because this new keyboard is kind of amazing.

Anyway, when I go to delete something, my little finger sometimes misses the key. For example, if I type the sentence 'Penny is a good Pugg' and I try to delete the second 'g' it turns out like this: 'Penny is a good Pugg\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'

Ha, ha.

Change is hard sometimes, but change is also good sometimes.

\\\\\\\\\\\!

Another first world problem: Trying to open lip gloss after putting on lotion.

Sigh.

(This was written last night, but I forgot to post it.)

Recap

I love everything about Saturday Night Live.

As you can probably imagine, I was pretty excited to watch it while I was snuggled up with my electric blanket over the weekend. After all, it's the season premiere!

It was both good and bad. The opening skit was lame and the flubbed lines made me want to change the channel.

I'm also getting to a point in my life where I don't know who the hosts are or who the singers are. Note: Who the hell is Weeknd, and why is it spelled like that?

Regardless of that thing he had on his head, I noticed he has a pretty good voice.

Anyway, one of the things I love doing when watching a total train wreck happening on television is to update Twitter constantly. I did this and was not disappointed.

Positive things that came out of the episode:

The skit that mocked a Nicki Minaj song was my favorite. It was hilarious. (More info here: 'SNL' recap: Chris Pratt Raps & Ariana Grande Acts)

A 20-year-old totally stole the show, and that skit was too dirty for me to write about. That kid is going to be good.

There was a skit that was so stupid, I was kind of mad at it for making noise.

Oh, Saturday Night Live. I think it will get better this season.

(On another friendly note: I still love Weekend Update. Colin Jost is adorable.)

Second favorite.

October is my second favorite month out of the year.

I love fall. I love seeing the trees change colors, I love fall football games, the spirit of homecoming, drinking hot apple cider and finally wearing long-sleeved shirts after a miserable summer.

And after a wet, cold and pretty awful time in Nebraska a few weeks ago, I'm excited to start wearing boots again. (I hope Nebraska wasn't offended by that comment.)

I've linked to this before on my blog, but I thought today would be a good time to post it again. I wrote this last October. It's probably my favorite thing I've ever written. I remember sitting in a coffee shop in a big(ish) city writing this.

I loved every minute of it.

Here's a link to the column.

It's kind of fun to think of what the past year has brought me, including the places I've traveled to, the things I've accomplished and conquered, and the things I've completely failed at doing.

I can't wait to see what the next year brings me. Hopefully it involves more travels, more great people, and a lot more laughter. Okay, I'm not going to lie. I want more beer, too.

Full disclaimer: Even though I love October, I really hate pumpkin flavored stuff. I had to make that loud and clear. It even deserves italics.

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Alumna shares advice with Southwestern students

I had my life planned out seven years ago.

I was finishing up at a community college and I was planning to transfer to a state university. I was set.

Then, life threw me a wonderful curveball. Once I made a campus visit to Southwestern and saw that beautiful building on top of the hill, that was it.

I knew I had to change my plans and go to school in Winfield.

If you’re a Southwestern student reading this, I need to talk to you. I have some advice that, if given to me a few years ago, could have saved me a few dollars, some sleepless nights and some heartache.

Here’s my advice to you.

You’re going to spend the rest of your life dodging those curveballs. It doesn’t matter what you have planned out, life will take you in another direction.

Let it.

I think you need to know that in the end, it’s all worth it. One day, a few years from now, you’ll look back and realize that you went through everything you did for a reason. If you try really hard and put your degree to good use, one day you’ll have a wonderful life.

You’ll have Southwestern to thank for that wonderful life that you love.

Tonight at sunset, sit on top of the 77 and watch the sun in all its glory. You’ll miss that and wish you did it more often when you move away from Winfield.

I also have some job advice for you. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want. And don’t be afraid to leave a situation if you don’t like it. The best decisions I’ve ever made in my professional life have been leaving situations I’ve been unhappy with.

If you’re brave enough to leave, life will greet you with a wonderful new hello.

You have a wonderful gift. You get to decide how your life will go. You get to decide who to spend the rest of your life with, what city to live in, and what career you want to have.

Those are all big decisions to make. Time your time.

It’s been five years since my class finished college. We’ve gotten married, had children, advanced in our careers and have had some wonderful things happen in our lives.

Achieving all of those things is not easy.

It’s my hope that every single one of my classmates knows this, and I want to pass it onto you.

You might not know that sometimes life doesn’t work out. Sometimes you’ll break, and it’s okay if you do. Before that happens, surround yourself with people who don’t mind putting the pieces back together for you.

Sometimes you can’t do it yourself.

And the next time you’re walking around the Southwestern campus, take a look around. You have an amazing network of people who want to help you achieve your goals. Talk to professors after class. Ask about internships, jobs and part-time jobs. Ask students, too.

Jobs fizzle out, cities can change and friendships you make can fade. Don’t let go of your friends from home or your friends from college – they’ll be there when jobs and cities change.

And that student sitting next to you in class? That person could someday be your boss. Be nice to other students, and don’t be afraid to network with them if you’re looking for a job.

Trust me.

The most important piece of advice I can give you is this: Be confident. Aggressively seek what you want in life, and don’t ever settle until you get it.

You deserve it.

Monica Springer

Southwestern College, class of 2008

A conversation with a Pug.

I'm a bad Pug owner. I ran out of chicken chewies and I haven't bought any yet.

My picky Pug only likes a certain kind of chewies, and it just so happens that I can't buy them in my hometown.

Dog, you're special, but you're not so special that I'm going to drive 100 miles specifically to buy you treats.

Of course, Penny doesn't understand this. Every day, almost every time she sees me, she asks for a chicken chewie. She looks at my bookshelf, does a little happy dance, starts whining, and gives me those big Pug eyeballs.

I wonder what she thinks sometimes. Does she think the chewies just magically appear on my bookshelf? Does she think if she whines enough, they'll appear out of nowhere?

I'll buy her some when I go out of town in a couple weeks. Until then, I'm going to have a very sad Pug on my hands.

That'd be great.

As much as I love shopping, there's a certain store here in town that gets on my nerves.

I can justify spending $45 on a shirt if I like it enough. But after that, I have to buy a shirt to go under it and a cardigan to go over it.

Really? I'm all for looking good and fashion. I'm also lazy and only want to wear one shirt.

Relevant:

Whoever invented feta cheese, I love you.

I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I just made delicious Greek pizza and made my own pizza dough.

I'm not saying I'm going to open a pizzeria soon, but it was pretty good.

In Nebraska a couple weeks ago we ate at a delicious beer and pizza place. I skipped out on the beer part, but did order a Greek pizza and added some chicken on it.

I can't even begin to describe how delicious it was. It had olive oil, sun dried tomatoes and black olives on it. The crust was perfect, thin, and crunchy.

And, oh darn, I had to eat it for breakfast one morning. What a terrible life I have, right?

I knew after that I was going to attempt to make my own pizza.

It started with a shopping list and several different recipes. In the end, I'll be honest, I just made my own recipe up.

I have no patience for recipes and I'm not really one for following written instructions anyway.

I knew I wanted to make two different kinds of pizza. The first one was my version of the pizza I had in Nebraska. My version had feta, black olives, spinach and onions, chicken, and roasted red pepper.

It was my favorite of the two. I did a pretty good job rolling the crust out in a circle, and it actually looked like a real pizza.

The second one, um, not so much. But it still tasted okay.

For the second one I added chopped up canned tomatoes for a sauce and threw some mozzarella with the feta.

This pizza wasn't round, it was kind of oblong, and I put way too many toppings on it.

Like I said, though, it was still pretty good. Whoever invented feta cheese, I love you.

A few pizza notes:

• As with many other things in life, I completely failed at some aspects of it. I didn't put enough flour in the dough and it wasn't as crisp as I wanted it to be. I also messed up and bought a roasted red bell pepper instead of sun dried tomatoes. Gah. Who does that? 
• Also, making your own pizza is definitely not cheaper than buying a pizza. 
• I spent an entire afternoon making two teeny tiny expensive pizzas. I have plans to do it again, too.  
• I have no idea how people on Chopped cook in 20 or 30 minutes. It took me 20 minutes to pit 15 olives. I could have used more, but I got annoyed and gave up.