Procrastinating...

Wikipedia: "Procrastination refers to the act of replacing high-priority actions with tasks of low-priority, and thus putting off important tasks to a later time. Some psychologists cite such behaviour as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision."

Such is my current occupation. My Semester 1 exam is on Friday and I ask myself "Self? How much studying is too much? How long does one study until the information is simply lost in cranium cyberspace??" Google says that you are supposed to spread it out over a week or so...oops. The test is 200 questions....all multiple choice so I really should be fine simply using the logical brain that God gave me. Thing is, unlike high school, I actually want to do better than fine. I want to ace it! So, here I sit. Books and notes sprawled out in front of me (blast, I forgot my cue cards at school). And I'm writing a blog about procrastinating because I don't want to study anymore, the dog next door won't shut up; effectively cutting short all brain signals and my sister keeps pestering me to go for a walk with her...somebody is asking for a smack in the face.

Wanna know what I have to study? Of course you do....Starts with Life Skills and Professional Image, then we move on the glorious topic of Infection Control: Principles and Practise. Next is the Properties of Hair and Scalp (which includes scalp diseases, yum), then we get to review Shampooing, Rinsing and Conditioning followed by Principles of Hair Design and Hair Styling. Now I'm at the part I always forget about, Braiding & Braid Extensions, and Wigs & Hair Enhancements. Finishing off with Hair Cutting and Communication for Success! Doesn't that sound fun.

Enough of that boring nonsense....Guess what?? On my Cutting/ Styling assessment last Saturday I got 95%!! Go me. Did a mighty fine job if I do say so myself. Next week I am out on the clinic floor taking real live clients, (not fake ones) yipee!

Oh boy, there goes that dog again. Makes me think such violent nasty thoughts and go twitchy all over...shudder.

Weelllll...now I'm looking to procrastinate from this post so I think I'm gunna shut 'er down for the night. Until next time...

Vomiting through the nose is a decidedly unpleasant experience...

That was me, last night at 12:30am. I suddenly woke up feeling extremely nauseous, with my room tilting around me. After waiting a short while to see if it would go away, I decided to take some gravel and melatonin to help me relax. Before they even reached my stomach I was over the toilette puking my guts out (it literally felt like it). I know, ew. Anyways once that episode was over I felt much revived and slept like a baby the rest of the night. I'm thinking it was food poisoning. Danae and I went out to Pizza Hut for wings last night before our movie and she felt ill during the night as well. Problem solved.
Speaking of Danae, she has very willingly become my practise model in my adventures with hair. This time I put my new skills with the round brush blow dry to work and voila! Instant celebrity hairstyle!!

To make the curls stronger I 'set' them using pin curls.

Finished product. Ain't she a hottie?

This was only one of the styling techniques I learned. You can do the same style using a medium to large curling iron as well (I will be trying this style on myself tomorrow hehe). I also learned to do finger waves and skip waves. The story is that most people cry when trying this since its so difficult. I determined to not be one of those people. I succeeded in not getting frustrated, letting myself try to do it perfectly the first time was a key factor in this success. So that behind me we start cutting again this week. My assessment (first cut on a real human) is in two weeks!!! Ahhhm, must. not. think about it.

Well that's all folks! Stay tuned :)

Jade Beat, Over and Out.

Look at me and my bad self...

So, I'm actually almost to tired to write, but I figured an update was in order. I am having a rip roarin' time this week. We have a new instructor, Anita, and she is a riot! We pretty much laugh our faces off from 10 to 4, its good times. This week I'm learning fun stuff like layering and face shaping and I LOVE it! Way more fun than Solid form. Though realistically, once we start cutting actually clients, we will be doing a combination of everything we've learned. Anyways, here is some pics of my Manny, Cleopatra, with some Face Shaping Increase Layers!

So ya, there she is. By the end of the week she will be very different though, with much more layers added in. Yay!

Well, I've got some kind of sickness...a sore throught...its icky...and it makes me tired. So I bid you an early Good Night.

An explanation...

I suddenly realised that I have never really explained my blog title and that some might be confused about where this seemingly random title came from. The history is not so long or even that clever. Making a blog was an idea my sisters and I considered a few years ago. Our reasoning was that since we are as a whole incredibly hilarious and witty, we should be sharing this with the world! So in my quiet moments I began to consider some options....we never did make a blog but one day I suddenly realised that the first letter in our names put in order from oldest to youngest could make a word J.A.D. I added an E on the end to make Jade because.....well, I like just like the word and the colour lol. The 'Beat' I think originally came from the idea to use the word 'heartbeat' in part of a name. Shortening to just 'Beat' was clearly more catchy.
I began this blog just to try out Blogger with Google and didn't actually do much with it for almost a year. Then I acquired a job that gave me ample time in front of a computer so, with the encouragements of my sister Analea, an experienced blogger herself, I started the 'Behind the desk of boredom' series of random things I found online. When I was laid off from that job and began school, the name shortened to what it is now for lack of a better idea lol. So there you have it. Not very exciting, not very innovative, but hey that's me for ya....hehe jk ;).

And now for an update on the mystery of Hair Design! This week I cut hair for the very first time (actually I just realised this in untrue since I have cut my own bangs many times)! Since Thursday I have cut Cleopatra's (my mannequin) hair 4 times, whoa! Ya, I still have a looonng way to go. I learned a SOLID form haircut, which is basically a one length cut. I think next week we're doing layering but not sure yet. Friday I almost lost my mind with frustration. For some reason the instructors didn't communicate or something because they taught us two ways to cut the same SOLID form hairstyle....the second is what is causing my frustration. First cut was pretty great after one minor mistake, but I was feeling good about myself. Second time round comes along and suddenly I can't seem to cut the hair even!! Arrgh! I may simply be over thinking or trying to be too perfect, so I'm taking a deep breathe to be ready to plunge into it all again this week!

Update on the social side...my class is getting along better and better. Some girls are closer than others. I find that I don't let people get too close right away though. I'm definitely more cautious whereas the others are diving in headfirst. I'm okay with it though, it only been 2 weeks!! Lol, we have another 9 months and 2 weeks to get to know each other. All in all its a really fun place to learn and be creative.

Oh! I have added a new PHOTO gallery page! This will be mostly hairstyles that I create and some other random moments thrown in there as well. I have also added new stuff to the Useless Knowledge page.

So until next time, au revoir!

Humans are digusting...

Okay. Regroup. Week 2. Day 7.

Today was hard. I can see now that it may have been because I did not spend time with my Heavenly Father this morning, praying or reading His word. Thing is, what is hard for me is no big deal for most people, so if your like, 'huh, what's the big deal with that?', don't worry I understand lol.

This morning the class got the lovely opportunity to expand our knowledge of little parasites called lice....and fleas. Delicious eh? I learned what a louse looks like up close, what a nit (the larva) look like dead and alive, how to find it in a clients hair and how to treat it. We were also regaled with many glamorous real live lice and flea stories. So gross. One of the students actually did find a lous ON her client's head while in the middle of doing foils! aahhhck!! I would so totally have freaked! Creepy crawlies are NOT my forte. When faced with such a situation we are expected to be completely calm, showing no feelings of the sudden itches or heebie jeebies....Lord please don't let me ever find lice in my clients hair!!.

So we got over that illuminating subject and moved on to the more invigorating topic of sanitation and disinfecting. Did you realize there was a broad difference in these two words? No? Well, let me inform you that there is, in fact, a bacterial difference! Sanitation, my friends, is simply cleaning, only reducing the bacteria, viruses and germs on the surface. This is when you use your nice little spray bottle and cloth to wipe down the surface. Disinfection is when you are killing most bacteria and some viruses on non-porus surfaces. Usually this is when you immerse an object completely (in school we use barbicide). So, you learned something new today :).
You are now wondering where the hard part comes in. Well it came in the form of the social aspect of this career. I knew this would test me spiritually, the most. Living in this world for a follower of Jesus is not simple or easy. He promises that. In the past I feel that I compromised my beliefs with my words just to fit. Making my peers think I was okay with drinking and partying by smiling and nodding as if I know what they were talking about. I promised myself and God that I would strive to be stronger in this area. Today I betrayed that promise. Wanting to so badly to be accepted and liked I let myself be drawn in again. I feel crushed and weary. I know that my Lord is full of grace and forgives me....I do need to forgive myself as well. I am glad this happened early on as a reminder of who I am in Christ. I am also reminded to not go it alone. With out God or without prayer support. If you think of me, pray that I would be humble, that I would serve and love as Jesus examples. That I would glorify God is all that I say and do. Thank you!

The show continues...

I learned yesterday in my homework that obstacles to staying productive are procrastination, perfectionism and not having a game plan. hmmm....well I score and A+ on all three of those so I guess I am not a very productive person, which would explain why I am almost 5 years out of high school and have only just chosen a career. But no matter, (I am also not allowed to be hard on myself, must be positive at all times!! lol) I am here now and after day 3 I am still pretty jazzed to be in this program. I don't even care that all I may be doing for 10 months is school, eating, homework and sleeping...I think once we start more practical work, we only get one day of theory (note taking/textbook reading) a week so that will be easier.
Back onto staying productive...as I was reading that over last night, it was like a spot light shone down on me, ah ha! Caught you! Yes I had just put something down in frustration and told myself "I'll do it tomorrow". Its all this paperwork for my student loans that is getting under my skin. I only had to complete one more task, one itty bitty thing...but my entire being rebelled at all that tiny fine print (you know the kind that's ALL over important official documents). I am a queen at procrastination. I want to stay I learned it at my jobs, but now that I think on it, I was like this in school too so, the blame is all on moi.......Getting to the point, I did it! I dragged my butt to Canada Post to verify that yes, I am a living breathing person residing at the noted address. Woot! Whew, it feels so good to have that done, I might just have a cookie...oh wait I already had 5, ugh.
So, little success aside, today was another full day for learning. I am now pretty skilled at a French Roll if i do say so myself. Can't wait to try it on a human now. My mannequin, Cleopatra, (I call her Cleopatra) is a stunning brunette who rarely says much but I just, like, know I am her go to stylist from now on. Today we learning parting. Yes parting. I learned that parting is very important for cutting. There is surprisingly a lot that goes into it, but I won't bore you with the details. Just know that I got a 'good' and a 'very good' from my instructor on my 4 and 5 section parting. Oh ya, can't touch this.
Thats alls I got for ya'll. Peace out.

I spy with my little eye...a giant raspberry statue..?

Okay, so it doesn't look exactly like this...but for a lack of a better photo, I thought this would pretty well give you a picture of what it could be like. All one has to do is drive down our beautiful freeway and they will encounter this astonishingly strange, but intriguing...piece of art? lol I will have to retrieve a photo of it, because no words can possibly describe it.

Anyways, moving on to the main reason I have written today after such a long time. The foremost reason being that...well I had nothing to write on, even random things were hard to come by...though there was that time about the sand castle....in any case here it is. I am now in school as most of you know. Today was, in fact, my very first day!! Woot.

So not much excitement happens on a first day...met my classmates; 11 girls in total. Lets see..can I get their names all right...Coral (she's from South Africa), Chloe, Bernadette (from Romania), Alexys (the American that has duel citizenship), Pamela (the youngest at 17), Alexandria, Kate, Josie...gah! what are the others......nope, don't got it. Obviously they were not as memorable hehe....

So we got talked to a lot, opened up our new kits...which was like Christmas!...then a lot more talking. I learned that these teachers mean some serious business. They are determined to make super star hairdressers out of us. Which is, you know, awesome! But whoa do I feel so incredibly overwhelmed! If the curriculum isn't enough...I know for certain that fitting in with this group of girls will be very difficult. They would be the ones that are the exact opposite of me. Most live with or have lived with their boyfriends, half of them smoke and have more than one tattoo...now I know that this is not how I should judge the situation but I felt very much out of place among these girls. My goal while I am at school is to focus of being the best I can be and making the most of the next 10 months. I do not want to get wrapped up in any drama or get so overwhelmed that I give up. So baby steps. One day at a time. Trusting God with every hour. This is the only way I will survive, for I know that this will be the hardest, most challenging thing I have done so far in my 22 years.

Thats all I have for now. I'm totally wiped out. My plan is to regal you with a lovely inside look at the glamour of hairdressing school, I know your stoked. Until next time, ciao!