Hello world! For those of you who are new, welcome to the Luminstruct blog! I am currently working on a "365 Word Project" where everyday I will be posting a reflection on a word and today's word is "Simple".

I don't feel very well, so I'm going to try to keep this short. Over the weekend, I went ahead and purchased all of the seasons of the TV show "Sherlock". I really enjoy these episodes because they are so well written, the characters charm their way into your heart in a very unforeseen way, and it pays the perfect tribute to the original  book series! I had originally became a fan of Steven Moffats's work (the director) when I watched Dr. Who, but you can tell this is where his talents lie more often. In Dr. Who, he builds and builds and builds up to a huge season finale and looking back, you realize he wasted 20 perfectly good episodes as he was trying to create the perfect twist and background story that would mislead his audience and tear at their heartstrings. Although I enjoy his work in Dr. Who, I still think his talent lies in the Sherlock series. With each episode being about an hour and a half, things became remarkably more simple.

Although Sherlock himself appears to be a very complex character, you realize he is actually a lot more simple than people try to present him. Just like a magic trick which blows your mind, you are trying desperately to figure out the way the trick was done. Although in actuality, there was a simple lever or slot in the back, you have created a very complex solution which grants you the same outcome. In many ways that's why a magician never reveals his tricks, it is so much more fun to figure it out on your own. In a similar way I could take the next three pages to explain Sherlock's character and how simple it really is, but that would just ruin the magic :) Goodnight all!

Question time: Have you ever made something more difficult than it needed to be? What was it?

About the video: It would be a sin for me to let you go without revealing how one trick was done! Below I have posted a very old video of Penn and Teller who show a magic trick and how it is done. Penn and Teller are two famous magicians who have a knack of getting in trouble. I hope you enjoy :)

Hello world! For those of you who are new, welcome to the Luminstruct blog! I am currently working on a "365 Word Project" where everyday I will be posting a reflection on a word and today's word is "Proud".

There are certain moments working in residential living where you become very proud of your students. It is important to remember these moments because in many ways, these are the moments which are good reminders why you do the job that you do, plus they come in handy when you are woken up at 4am! :)

The picture above is one of my favorite memories as an RA. Where most people would think the big awards and events that I won/hosted would be my favorite, in actuality, my favorite is really a "man night" program I did my first year as an RA. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my other work a lot as well, this one program sits a bit higher than the others because of this very picture. 

The purpose of this program was to discuss what "being a man" meant in today's society and how it is our job to reconstruct this belief. After talking about stereotypes and personal images, I had the participants go through an obstacle course with different elements including strength, academics, chivalry, and determination. The final part of the course was sitting on a desk chair and pulling yourself across the length of the hallway to eventually cross the finish line. I had about 15 people attend this event and the picture shows one of the last guys to make it across the line. This was one of the first programs that overcame the normal hall "cliches" and everyone came together to root on each other. It was a bit bonding moment in the hall and everyone seemed to have fun doing it! I don't really have much of a moral for tonight's post, mainly wanted to just share this story and explain the picture. Goodnight all :)

Question time: Is there something you have done that you have been particularly proud of?

About the video: I don't believe I have shared a video by Lindsey Stirling yet! Normally I wouldn't say that I am much of a fan of this kind of music, but Lindsey just makes it work! Becoming "famous" from "America's Got Talent" as well as YouTube, Lindsey mixes her love for violin playing with an electronic/dance and sometimes dubstep beat! She also makes her performances come alive with the amount of moment and dancing she does while she plays. This video in particular if probably one of her most popular videos with over 98 Million views! Even if you aren't an artist, you can easily see how proud she is in her work and how much passion she has when she plays! Enjoy :)    

Hello world! For those of you who are new, welcome to the Luminstruct blog! I am currently working on a "365 Word Project" where everyday I will be posting a reflection on a word and today's word is "Hug".

How do you show love to others? One of the best tests I have found to figure this out is by taking the "5 Love Language" test. The test is completely free and you can find it here. This test shows how you like to show love and how you feel appreciated when love is shown back to you. The five main ways to show love are:
-Acts of Service
-Physical Touch
-Gifts
-Words of Affirmation
-Quality Time

Although this philosophy is primarily used when dealing with a spouse, it can also be useful when looking at a staff, friend or significant other. Most of the time when we aren't aware of the other person's languages, we try to treat them the way we would want to be treated. It's the golden rule and it has a lot of power behind it, but maybe the step after treating them the way you want to be treated is to treat them the way THEY want to be treated. There are no two people who are the same, so it makes sense that they would want to be treated different than you would. 

For example, my top three love languages are quality time, words of affirmation and physical touch. A girl I was dating a few years back had physical touch at the lowest level of her placement. After a long distance part of the relationship, I was so excited she was coming to visit me. It had been a month since I had last seen her and when her car pulled in, I ran over to her to give her a hug. She didn't seem to notice and thought I was there to help her with her things. That relationship didn't last too long afterward, but if you look at it closer, we were speaking different languages! When I was excited to fulfill the physical part of our relationship, she was excited to have me fulfill the acts of service part of our relationship (which was at the bottom of my list). Although I'm not saying it is impossible to be in a relationship where your love languages drastically contrast, it is important to have that discussion and realize how the other person may feel appreciated. 

When you are in the position (like I am now) where you are coming into a staff of new people, it is important to test these different love languages with others you work with. For instance, I gave my staff cookies (gifts), spent one on one times with each of them (quality time), told them they were doing a good job and was specific about what parts they did well (words of affirmation), and did a job for them so they wouldn't have to worry about it (acts of service). Once you do all of these, be observant of how they respond and which response is the most strong. You may have noticed I left physical touch out of this equation. I'm a firm believer that the work place is a very tough place to fit this love language in. Especially working with all females, the last thing I want to do is send the wrong message. It is important to develop a strong relationship with that coworker that is built with trust before you bring in the physical aspects. If there is any doubt in your mind that it is a good idea, don't do it! That is an easy way to get sexual harassment cases. If your love language is strongest in physical, possibly communicate with members of the staff that you enjoy hugs and then let them come to you. It may seem like you are walking on eggshells, but the way this world works, you want to be safe before you are sorry. 

Question time: What is your love language? 

About the video: The love languages are based off a book written by Gary Chapman. There is an audio book version on YouTube for free here. This clip below is mainly just him explaining the love languages in more detail and why he came up with the idea in the first place! Enjoy :)  

Hello world! For those of you who are new, welcome to the Luminstruct blog! I am currently working on a "365 Word Project" where everyday I will be posting a reflection on a word and today's word is "Ecstasy".

Well I had a hard time finding content about the word ecstasy that didn't deal with the drug, so I think today will be a good day for a question and answer blog. We haven't had that in a few weeks, so let's just dive in!

Q1. If someone gave you the power to save just one animal species on earth, which would it be? 
A1. I feel like this is actually a lot tougher of a question than it looks! If this was the ONLY animal left on earth, I feel like it would have to be a very basic organism to sustain itself on its own. This would probably be a sponge or other marine animal which is an autotroph, phototroph or chemotroph which doesn't need to get its energy from other animals. If this animal did not need to worry about getting energy from other animals, I would do something a bit bigger like a dog (man's best friend) or should I say humans? I guess we are still trying to figure out the rules to this world. Next question...

Q2. Would you rather be a giant or microscopic?
A2. I think being microscopic would probably be more fun, but a giant would absolutely be safer! Going with microscopic though, who wouldn't want to ride an insect to work?

Q3. If you had to pick a new first name, what would it be?
A3. I actually like Mark a lot. My German name in high school was Kevin, but that never really caught on. I have never really met a bad James or Matt, probably would go with those.

Q4. Do you think the best part of your life has already happened? If not, what's your guess about when the best part will come?
A4. So many people have told me that college will be the best part of my life, but personally I have two problems with that statement. First, I enjoyed grad school much more than I enjoyed my undergrad, and also I now work at a college, so that makes things significantly different. Personally I'm really looking forward to the time in my life where I meet the future Mrs. Jestel and getting to know her as a person to eventually have kids and raise them with her. It might not always be the "most enjoyable" moments, but I am looking forward to that part of my life. 

Q5. What is your favorite number?
A5. 13! With so many people avoiding it because it is unlucky, there should be more luck in it than other numbers right?

Q6. What music do you want at your funeral?
A6. Personally I'm just going to leave that up to the people putting it on. I've always been a fan of piano music, but the way that I see it is that a funeral is more for the people left behind than for me, I probably won't hear it. I would much rather plan the music for events that I will be at :)

No question time today since the entire post was questions :)

About the video: I found this video the other day and really liked the message. I'm not typically one to be on board with #hashtags, but I thought it was cool how the younger girls REALLY ran, threw, or fought. It makes you wonder when that image gets distorted... 

Hello world! For those of you who are new, welcome to the Luminstruct blog! I am currently working on a "365 Word Project" where everyday I will be posting a reflection on a word and today's word is "Legend".

Tonight I joined a coworker for dinner at one of the restaurants in Clarkesville, called The Copperpot. With this being the first time I've been to this eatery, I was very impressed by their food as well as their overall eating environment. Throughout the week they have various events going on such as trivia nights as well as "open mic" nights (which were going on today). I don't typically "review" restaurants, but that was the best pasta and meatballs I have had in a long time and felt like I should share my experience! The sauce was made in house as well as the meatballs and although I had to get a take home box because there was so much food, I'm look forward to eating the other half of the meal tomorrow. I'm very excited to go back in the future and try their pizza and other meal options.

As I mentioned above, there were also various locals who got to perform during The Copperpot's open mic night. This even included my coworker who has apparently been hiding a beautiful signing voice from us since I began work almost a month ago. Although listening to amateur musicians is not typically "my thing" (probably because I don't typically know the songs they are singing), I enjoyed hearing these covers of musical legends and would be very interested in bringing any guests to this establishment in the future to enjoy the local talent Clarkesville and the surrounding community can provide. The last few posts have been a little lengthy, so I think I might end my post here. Long story short, if you are in the north Georgia area, check out The Copperpot, it will be well worth your visit! 

Question time: What is one of your favorite local places to eat?

About the Video: For those of you who are not familiar with the YouTube community, a huge conference called VidCon is currently underway! What is VidCon you may ask? This is the fifth year that the Vlog Brothers (Hank and John Green) have run a conference which is designed to bring together the YouTube community on many levels. Being sold-out since the opening day and also being in California, sadly I will not be attending, but the conference is designed to bring together the content creators, viewers, and supports on every level to participate in signing with your favorite online stars, sessions to get your own channel up and running, as well as countless other opportunities to become involved with the online community. Conferences like these really help non-YouTube people realize how big of a deal YouTube has become over the past nine years. This is also the reason why I would like to eventually start a video series for this website to join this community. In addition to many many many many other famous YouTubers, Jon Cozart will be in attendance at this conference. If you have never seen his videos on his channel (Paint), Jon is a very talented singer who mixes his musical talents with a good (if not morbid) sense of humor. Two days ago he posted a sequel to his "After Ever After" Disney Music Parody. If you haven't seen the first one, be sure to watch it first here. Otherwise, sit back and enjoy this sequel which looks at the stories of Mulan, Tiana, Elsa and Cinderella! Enjoy :)