IT Field Career Week Presentation for High School Students

For those of you who are ever speaking to students who are in high school about pursuing an IT career, here's what I said for mine. It would have been helpful to be given an example of what "exactly" people present besides an outline because I made everything up and hoped for the best instead of having an example to base my content off of.

I was given the advice to explain more of what I do at my job on a day-to-day basis, as opposed to providing advice on how to be successful in college/land an internship successfully and whatnot.

The presentations were aimed at a 50 minute class towards the student who is most likely to fall asleep/get bored (meaning I tried to be entertaining and informative by what I said and providing videos for the students to watch to give further insight and something to watch besides me talking). I also wanted to be funny because I'm sure high school students don't want to listen to some monotone person blabbing for awhile and because I was giving this presentation on the last week of school.

I also removed some of my personal information from the presentation. Enjoy!

Quick and Healthy Garlicy French Onion Dip Recipe

1/3 package french onion soup mix
1/2 tsp freeze dried chives
1/2 tsp garlic and herb seasoning
1 5.3 ounce tub plain greek yogurt


Stir all ingredients in the greek yogurt tub and enjoy! Best served with veggies or Triscuit crackers

Recipe for Enhanced Italian Wedding Progresso Soup

Here's my recipe for the randomly enhanced soup I made. By randomly, I mean I pulled random ingredients from my house that I knew would all work well together and threw them into a pot to make something that tastes way better than soup from a can. This recipe works perfectly for those who are busy and want something quick and tasty, a broke college student, a young adult with lots of activities, etc.

Healthfully speaking, here's what I put in:

1/4 cup red beans
1 piece of bacon (minced) -- or 1/2 tsp bacon bits will work too
1/2 tsp freeze dried chives
2 small anchovy filets (that you'd find in the cans), cut into tiny pieces
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp lime juice
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 tsp chili garlic sauce
1 tbsp shredded (or grated) parmesan cheese
2 big pieces of seaweed (nori sheets) - ripped into tiny pieces
salt/pepper to taste

Mix ingredients in while cooking the soup on the stove. Enjoy! It's actually really good!

Open Mic Nite Performance Of "Progression"

I went to the Heartland Cafe again in Rogers Park, Chicago and performed "Progression" on 5-21-14! I'm basically describing what it feels like to be someone who is just dying to make progress in life and doesn't want to be held back by anything or anyone!



For exact words to this poem, check out: http://dbzmaron.blogspot.com/2014/04/progression.html



Pardon my lack of memorization. Enjoy!

Why I Like Drug Store Makeup

If you've ever looked at my instagram, I have posted a fair number of pictures of my uses of drug store makeup. That's because I try not to spend an extravagant amount of money makeup (even though I do have some makeup that's on the higher end, such as Bare Minerals foundations) and I like to use a wide variety of everything to decorate myself. No, I don't get the stuff that's a dollar because it's not going to work too well because you sometimes get what you pay for. I purchase products that are on the higher end of the drug store makeups that are waterproof (for eyeliners and mascara because I hate when makeup smears and starts flaking all over my face), pigmented decently (for eyeshadows), and of course look like they're of a decent quality. Here are some examples of what I use:

These are Physicians Formula eyeliner (yes, this works better than Landcome for me because that one flakes and sometimes gets dry, as opposed to Physicians Formula, which stays on all day doesn't flake, and never has issues with the application), Hard Candy (nail polish and eyeliner), Maybelline (waterproof 7x mascara with purple font and yellow tube), Wet N Wild eyeshadow (the multi colored palettes), and much more!

With nail polish I often like to use a Sally Hansen clear bottom coat and an OPI top coat to preserve the colors for longer (even though those are more expensive). For eye shadow, I would always recommend using some type of primer (I like the Landcome nude, even though that's on the pricer side too… yes, I mix cheap and expensive products to make a happy medium of pretty).

If you're looking for cheap while wanting to beautify yourself, drug stores are the way to go! With drug store makeup, one of the only downfalls is that you sometimes have to reapply more frequently or the color fades, as opposed to nicer products, such as Urban Decay (which I love, by the way). Other than that, I think it's pretty worth it. Mixing the cheap eye shadow with the expensive base preserves the color all day (and you only use a little of the base too)!

This is some of what I do with my drug store makeup. This was done with Wet N Wild eye shadow (the hot pink palette and the orange palette), Physicians Formula eyeliner, and Maybelline Mascara (waterproof 7x mascara with purple font and yellow tube). More is on my instagram -- instagram.com/superandroid15 - Enjoy!

Chicago Open Mic Nite Reviews

Last Updated: May 15, 2014

***NOTE: Before attending open mic nites, make sure to CALL BEFORE YOU HAUL (or communicate somehow)!

I am on a quest to find the hottest and most legit open mic nites in Chicago. I will attend as many as I can and post a review after each place I visit or call, and if I attend, I will list whether or not I decided to perform.


Places I've Attended

Place: Heartland Cafe
Address: 7000 N. Glenwood Ave, Chicago, IL 60626 (Rogers Park, right off the Morse Red Line)
Phone Number: 773-465-8005
Frequency of Events: Weekly on Wednesdays, signup starts at 9, the event starts at 10 and generally runs until around 1:30am

Rating: 5/5

Reason: This was actually the very first open mic nite I ever attended and so far, it's definitely my favorite. I called prior to driving all the way over there because I lived in Bucktown at the time and the man who picked up seemed very friendly and even let me sign up over the phone. He was like "come on in" and I was like "of course!" After getting there a little bit after it started, I walked up to the man to make sure I was signed up, he gave me a lowdown of everything, and said that I get about 5 minutes to perform (but they're not super strict about it). When it was my turn to perform, I was a little nervous, but when I got up there, the MC was like "…for the very first time", which is pretty cute. I did my thing (spoken word poetry) and the crowd seemed pretty engaged and polite, as they did with everyone. Some people brought stuff to sell too. There was also a featured performer, who did an excellent job. The level of talent was there, all categories are welcome (poetry, comedy, music, monologue/skit that's funny, etc.), and there's even a piano if you need one! The bar staff is friendly, drinks not too expensive, food is pretty tasty, bathroom is clean (and single stall), and the open mic nite is in a separate area from the bar, which is pretty neat! There's also a 3 dollar cover and you have to be 18 to get in and 21 to drink. If you're looking for a pretty solid open mic nite that caters to all performance categories, this is definitely a nice place on the north side!

Perform? Yes

Also, here's the facebook page to this lovely place: https://www.facebook.com/pages/In-One-Ear/210844945622380

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Place: Friendly Tap
Address: 6733 Roosevelt Rd, Berwyn, IL 60402
Phone Number: 708-484-9794
Frequency of Events: Weekly on Wednesdays from about 8:30pm until close (1am)

Rating: 2.7/5

Reason: Right before I made the long haul over there, I gave this place a call. The lady who answered the phone seemed really nice, I felt a pretty welcoming vibe, made sure to see if they were open to all performance genres since I perform poetry (with a piano player by my side sometimes with one of those times being now), which "they said they were mostly music, but have had all sorts of acts come and perform". I was pretty cool with that… until I walked into the bar. Of course my friend and I both have to use the bathroom. While the women's bathroom didn't have any jarring problems to me, apparently the men's bathroom was teeny, in a corner, and the sink was outside the bathroom stall… that's weird. When I sign up to perform, some super nice guy greets me and hands me the signup sheet, and I write my name down. As I'm about to want to start settling in, my friend felt significantly more awkward than I did (probably because I'm an extrovert and he's not). Neither one of us started a conversation with any of the other bar attendees. The people who were on stage when we got there seemed to be doing a nice long set of music, which was pretty ok at best. To top it off, the people on stage were middle aged men, which isn't even my type of bar scene anyways or ideal open mic performance to watch. The more I stood around, the more I felt the vibes of "this isn't the right crowd to perform in front of". I have come to learn that there are "open mic nite" crowds and then there are "bar crowds". I found the latter at this place, but whenever I find a bar crowd, I generally end up feeling like my performance would be very out of place. Probably the last straw was that the piano was in a very poor location… and not even on the stage. My friend (who was the piano player), ended up feeling more awkward and wanted to dip. I unfortunately have no remarks about the bar because I never even hit them up for a drink. As we were walking out, one of the men running the open mic nite wanted to know why we were leaving. I just made up some BS reason because I'm not going to blatantly say we felt awkward, and then we left. All of this happened within about a 20-30minute time frame. Moral of the story is that the bar area looked kind of meh and don't try to perform poetry for a bar crowd where people go up on stage and jam music for awhile. I'd like to maybe check the bar out again at some point, but I don't think I'd go back to the open mic nite. I'm also not in Berwyn too frequently either, but it's not a huge deal!

Perform? Nope. I signed up and bailed shortly after due to feeling uncomfortable around that audience

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Place: The Elevator Sessions at the Justin Pauly Art Studio (Shivalya Hindu Cultural Center building)
Address: 318 W. Grand Avenue, Chicago, IL 60654
Phone Number (Facebook Page): No idea, but people were pretty prompt about responding to a post I made on the Facebook event page, which the Facebook group is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1475335516057027/1485152495075329/?notif_t=like
Frequency of Events: The fourth Friday of every month. Facebook says it starts at 8, I got there at around 9pm or so, most of the people hadn't performed yet, and the list signups were fluid and there likely won't be an issue with being able to get on the list. It ended at around 10:30pm

Rating: 5/5

Reason: Coming out of 3 months having not been able to perform due to being busy and having pretty bad luck with open mics, I was still persistent about wanting to perform. I randomly found this open mic on Facebook and spontaneously decided to go a few hours prior to the event actually happening. Besides for the fact that I need to stop losing my car, I had no issue parking and it wasn't difficult to find. Being new to the poetry scene, with my very first performance being in January (and it's August now), I'm just looking for the most fun places to perform where I get to entertain a decent sized crowd. But then I stumble upon this lovely gem. When I walk in, there are maybe about 10 people in the room… right away, I KNEW it was going to be quite the intimate show. I had never been to one like that for any type of art, so I knew that I was in for quite the ride. I also had no issue signing up on the list (thank you for that, because I've been to places where there's issues). Thank you for the little tasty drink too by the way. When the first person performs… inside of an elevator shaft with some blue painting and an elephant head kindly propped on the back of the elevator, we were to use it as our stage. Inside of this random elevator shaft, I am immediately blown away by the pure raw emotions that is brimming from these artists. I feel like I was surrounded by such powerful people that I was literally moved to tears by the words that came from these people's hearts… says the person who has never cried from a movie… glad I was wearing a scarf! Thank you also to Andy Karol, the oh so lovely feature, my eyes turned into a waterfall due to how much I can totally relate to everything! When it was my turn, I have to admit, I was more nervous than I usually am for these types of performances because I'm used to performing and speaking in front of large crowds, but in front of a small group, it's not as comfortable to me, as well as being a new experience. I did it, especially because I'm on a quest to "fight all fears" as I would say. I would definitely come back to this place. Everyone was friendly and inviting and I actually felt intellectually challenged by these people… especially after coming off of a path of hanging with people who I felt were killing my brain cells and wasting my precious knowledge. I hope more people show up to this, because of the super open atmosphere. Thank you to these lovely poets, I have been able to realize that with my current struggles, I am definitely not alone in my feelings and I am humbled to be surrounded by such wonderful artists. I can't wait to get more involved in this poetry scene and thank you for restoring my faith in open mic nites! I guess it was meant to be that my attempt to setup this volunteer event that I was supposed to be at tonight fell through… because I wouldn't have been free tonight!

Perform? Yes!!!!!







More awesomeness coming soon!

Nature Wallpapers

Here's some images (that can be used as wallpapers) of some cool looking pictures that I took on random drives, photoshopped them to make them look a little better, and am posting them here. Enjoy! I mostly captured these for the rainbows! 

Douse the Despair Flash Fiction Story

Remember when I posted a preview to a short story back awhile ago? The inspiration finally came to me to write this, with lots of revisions and changes to the idea, and this is what I came up with. Note that this is my first time EVER writing flash fiction! Enjoy! Updated on 5-11-14!

Weightless… the incredible rush Shira receives each time after she performs. It is now her turn to take flight on stage!

The stage... a place to grab the spotlight, place it upon your heart, and spill your guts to an audience, is where Shira frees herself from the daily mundane and releases life’s pains for others to relate to.  

…”And it is when we all become one functional unit that evil can cease to exist and life can be free of despair and negativity from others.”

The audience roars with excitement and snaps their fingers while being motivated by her powerful words!

After gleefully walking home, she receives a text from Kylie, her nightmare roommate who allows her freeloading boyfriend to rein the place and allow the foul stench of 3 week-old dishes, telling her to “stay out of my apartment”.

“Now I understand why so many people run away from their place of residence”, Shira mutters to herself while smothered in tears during her pitch-black stroll.

Shira silently opens the door in her attempts to sneak into her room to enter her personal lady cave.

"Why does this darn place have to feel like a witches den?" This prevalent thought fuels the ammo brought to the stage. She closes the door and painfully expels her tearful desire for a more stable place to call home…

The next day, after an extraordinarily difficult day at work, Shira wants to channel the previous night’s pain and use it to create… a spicy stuffed jalapeño popper with a side of raw poetry.

The sound of electronic music screams through her cellphone as she answers the phone with great reluctance while seeing her mother’s name appear on the screen.

“You’re such a failure… why do you consistently end up in conflict?” Her mom continues to bicker about nonsense and point out her weaknesses. Shira holds back tears to be able to mutter, “The only issue is terrible luck with a touch of impatience.”

“You’re so fat!” Shira exclaims, “I’ve lost 25 pounds so far… quit undermining all of my accomplishments” as she later receives a letter in the mail informing her that she won a nationally recognized prestigious award for poetic excellence.

“You’re so smart, but *insert flaw here*” is a frequent phrase that comes out of her mother’s mouth due to the need for her mom to always make herself feel better by putting others down, mainly Shira.

To maintain balance and sanity, she releases her inner child by frolicking outside every so often, practicing martial arts, channeling creativity through mediums such as cooking and music, and drawing pictures with words… And of course, remaining positive and strong at all times.

Every Wednesday night, Shira attends an event called “The Pencil Pot”, which is an amateur performer night for people who like to experiment with the arts and have fun, while free bacon is given to all performers and attendees! It’s the one place where she’s been practicing her spoken word poetry for “Talent Universe”, which is an international talent show that’s as widely broadcasted as the Olympics are.

It’s everything Shira dreams of whenever she’s trapped inside her bedroom when Kylie and her boyfriend are taking over the place and she doesn’t want to feel like she’s invading someone else’s space.

Every time an unpleasant emotion comes about, the words “douse the despair… douse the despair… douse the despair” are the words that Shira hears pounding through her head when she tells herself to smile, even when it’s a struggle.

It’s the week before the big audition and another successful performance at The Pencil Pot has been completed.  Frolicking in the midnight darkness, she smiles, grabs optimism by the hand, and tells herself “the world is mine, I can do this!” With that, victory emerges!

Jepoardy Meme

Like, share, and spread the awesomeness if you agree with this statement!

Stop Feeling Sorry For Yourself

Dear beautiful universe,

Stop feeling sorry for yourself… please! But why am I randomly coming out and saying this?

In a world where younger and younger people are emerging as instrumental prodigies, 10 year-olds becoming finalists on talent shows, 23 year-olds are signing deals with Mark Cuban, and general success is coming at a younger age for people, everyone just wants to be the best and make something of themselves.

Unfortunately, this may come at a large cost. While seeing all of these super successful people as inspirations, you yearn to see the same success within your own endeavors. You think that they rose to the top without any major blockades because they make it look easy. Although that could be true, there’s always another side to the coin… the side of which you have to fight adversity every day in order to accomplish the ultimate goal of yours. That may be more prevalent for individuals who classify themselves as “different”, but that’s more than ok. If you’ve heard of the stories of athletic stars rising from being homeless or that person’s magical idea that was rejected 26 times until someone decided to give them a chance is true. Success doesn’t magically appear with the snap of your fingers. You need to realize that lots of hard work, passion, and resilience are involved in climbing the ladder. Keep fighting, because it will happen as long as you don’t give up!

The more that you think of these young superstars, it may sometimes cause you to feel sorry for yourself because you aren’t achieving the ultimate success as early as they are… and you know what? That’s TOTALLY FINE! Not everyone finds their genuine passion as a young teeny bopper because there is no set age or timeline for success. There’s no one saying that “if you’re not successful by age 25, you’re going to be screwed over forever”. That’s completely false because everyone takes their own amount of time to truly find themselves and you need to understand that life isn’t a race. Be patient. As long as you keep trying and working towards your goal, just keep going and it will happen when you least expect it!

Not only that, but many people also come with quite the painful backstory. You are not the person with the backstory, but you are the person who overcame many challenges. If people bullied you, don’t let their problems adversely affect you. If you think you’re “fat” because we live in a world where people only claim that skinny and being ripped models are beautiful, don’t listen to society because you’re beautiful as long as you’re not some creepy criminal or something. With self-esteem issues flourishing up the wazoo, you need to realize that everyone’s path is different, everyone will reach success when the time is right FOR THEM, and the only way to win is to work. Even if you accomplish a smaller milestone, you should feel PROUD of yourself and realize that you’re one step closer to what you want. If you appreciate your accomplishments, you will become happier.

Most importantly, STOP DOUBTING YOURSELF and STOP THINKING THAT YOU’RE NOT GOOD ENOUGH. The more your attitude shows that, the less happy you will be. Not only that, but people flock towards confidence. If you present the world’s greatest idea and you’re like, “here’s my idea, but this sucks” you won’t receive as much support as you would if you presented your idea proudly and with style. Most of the time when we doubt ourselves, it’s because we want the utmost greatness. However, with failure comes lessons and with lessons come progress. Also, with your own self-doubt, other people can undermine you and not believe in you as much as they should. If you don’t believe in yourself, others won’t either. If you think your best isn’t good enough, you’re going to create discontent in your world, as well as create a blockade in your own progress. Just take a moment and APPRECIATE everything that you do because even if you don’t realize it, there are likely many people who are quite thankful for everything you have done. Your best is only your best and as long as you realize that you’re doing a good job, others will concur.

Please just take a moment, close your eyes, and think… think about all of the wonderful things you have accomplished. Even if you’re not a millionaire at 18, take your time, enjoy life, work hard, and success will come to you when the time is right FOR YOU! Don’t worry about them, worry about you! Don’t go comparing your life to someone else’s because it’s your life. Go rock it, appreciate everything you've accomplished in your unique life, and tell yourself how beautiful you are today!

From the bottom of my heart and with lots of love,
Rebs McDuxler

The Shortest Flash Fiction Ever!

If I were to tell a story in exactly 6 words, here's 4 different stories that I'd tell:

#1: May there be magical dragons flying

#2: The volcano vigorously erupted, ravaging Shermantingletown

#3: A song beautifully sung has begun

#4: The holy sword has been summoned

Enjoy the epic shortness!

Early May 2014 Updates

Before I go on an epic camping trip, the following posts have been edited:

6 Ways to Thrive at an Internship or Career Fair

I got published again to Thought Catalog :) (click here to see)

I also just posted this recipe to Deviled Egg Salad here and this poem revision for "Better to a Hallmark Card" here!

Enjoy and happy May everyone!

Deviled Egg Salad Recipe

5 Hard Boiled Eggs
1/4tsp Mustard Powder
1tsp Freeze Dried Chives
1tsp Paprika (for color)
1tbsp Minced Onions
1tbsp Dill Relish
2tbsp Yellow Mustard
2tbsp Light Mayo
1tsp Honey Mustard

Mash up the eggs in a large bowl, combine all ingredients, and stir. Serve chilled and enjoy!

Synchronized Hearts: Edit to "Better than a Hallmark Card"

I wrote the original back in August 2013 and I found another poetry contest that asked for something that you'd put on a card for some sort of monumental life moment (ex birthday, anniversary, whatever) and just decided to revise that one heavily to see where it gets me. Here it is:


An anniversary is a beautiful milestone…
It signifies the proud relationship that’s been developed over time,
Powerful feelings that are embodied through synchronized hearts,
And the permanent love that’s unites a couple as one through the ties of genuine bonds.

Togetherness will forever exist even after the travels to eternal life!
Through absolute turmoil or trivial fog that tries to cause a high tide,
The battle will continue through every state from misery to triumph!

No matter what,
Your beauty radiates to the world with a persistent smile and a childish glow!
Our flame will forever sparkle in the fields of love
As we continue to harvest the seeds of passion for the future!

The adventure is ours!
Let’s go make a precious monument out of it!