Unless you’re going to college in the South where the lowest temperature hovers somewhere around 50, you’ve been walking around your campus bundled up to your ears in the cold all day, every day. And it sucks.

So as the weeks come closer and closer to spring break, the last thing you want to do is celebrate your spring break in the cold at home. Well, for some of us in today’s economy, there isn’t much of a choice. And maybe it’s not such a bad thing, anyway!

Here are some of my reasons for not doin’ the Spring Break thing this year. Read More »

[Like a magpie, you gravitate towards things that are shiny: cell phones, TVs, anything that allows you to play Rock Band. But just because you love ‘em doesn’t mean you know much about ‘em. That’s where we come in. Every week we will be highlighting the best, coolest and shiniest in technology. Consider us your personal Geek Squad. And let us tell ya; with CC on your side, geek has never looked so chic.]

So who’s a fan of Adult Swim? I know I am.

Ever wonder who the rapper with the high pitched voice is on ATHF? You know MC Peepants/MC Vald. That would be real Nerdcore rapper, MC Chris.

I know what you’re thinking right now: what the hell is “Nerdcore”? Well think Weird Al Yankovic’s “White and Nerdy,” but, you know, BETTER.

Nerdcore is a genre of hip hop, but instead of rapping about ho’s, bling, and money, they rap about games, computers, and other fun geek stuff. I mean they talk about boobies too, but it’s just different. Read More »

(In the second installment of our Expert Series Understanding The Economic Situation, we continue with the Q and A with a VP of an Investment Banking Firm. He knows his stuff and he’s gonna break it down for us in ways we can finally understand. Pay attention; he offers great advice for us college ladies for saving, spending, and not getting depressed. In case you missed the first part, read it HERE]

Do these recent economic waves mean college students and recent grads should stay away from investing in the stock market right now?

No – they should DEF participate and now is the time to do it. Recent and current grads should look to NON-financial stocks. Everything is down right now and there are so many bargains. Look to other tech and retail stocks. Buy stock and just let it sit. Don’t start trading regularly like I did when I was in college. I didn’t really make anything off of it, and if I had held onto the Google stock that I bought at $15, I would NOT be answering this email right now – I would be on a beach drinking fruity drinks with umbrellas.

How does one actually start to make smart investments?

Smart investments are ones that are based off of information, not emotion. An emotional investment is, “OMG, everyone is selling off finance stocks – I should sell mine too!” An informed one is made by reading 10K reports, poking around the internet for info, maybe even emailing or calling an investor relations representative of a company (they HAVE to talk to you and actually like doing so). Then you say, “Oh, Lehman is f*cked but JP Morgan is still in a strong position.” Read More »

We’ve sorta been freaking out lately about this whole economy thing. What the hell is going on? How bad is it? Should we start stocking up on non-perishables?

Depending on what channel we are watching, or what paper we are reading, we are hearing very different things. Most of which we do not understand.

So, we at CollegeCandy decided to bring in an expert: a VP of an Investment Banking Firm. He knows his stuff and he’s gonna break it down for us in ways we can finally understand. Pay attention; he offers great advice for us college ladies for saving, spending, and not getting depressed.

(Note: We had so many questions that it was just way too much info for a single post, so we will be breaking this one down into two. Come back tomorrow at the same time to find out the rest!)

CC: We keep hearing the words “Recession” and “Depression” – What’s the difference between them and which one are we REALLY dealing with now?

VP:The market, especially now that it has been globalized, is very cyclical. It goes through growth periods and reduction periods. A recession, in its most simple terms is an extended and significant contraction of the market that is evident in several indicators that are generally accepted as representative of the market. The REASONS for contraction are endless; everything from housing to taxes to the results of Rose Bowl affect the market, but it is important to note that a recession refers to SIGNIFICANT losses across the country for over 1 quarter (3 months), but – this part is important – it should be visible in the GDP. A depression is simply a sustained recession. Read More »

Lots of people in the USA like to complain about the drinking age. And by lots of people, I mainly mean those who are under the legal drinking age of 21.

This included me when I was underage. I used to rant continually to any listening ear around me about how hard it was for me to get into bars. I despised the injustice of the photo ID and the fact that I had to constantly verse myself in the full name, birthday, and address of the older friend I was always pretending to be while out on the town.

I had a boyfriend in London and HE was allowed to drink already. It drove me, as he would say, mad. However, now that I’m a few years past the drinking age and a few years wiser, I have come to understand how detrimental a legal drinking age of 18, for instance, could have been to my life.

If I had been drinking (legally) when I was 18, things would be different for me now, I reckon: Read More »

Unless you are looking for a few weeks of summer lovin’, relationships eventually get to the point where the issue of God/religion/burning in hell will most likely arise. That is, if religion is important to anyone involved. And if your religions are different? Well, that is cause for some serious talkin’. As much as you want to avoid the topic and live in that dream-world where it doesn’t matter, different beliefs can create some serious problems. So what’s a girl to do when your guy thinks differently about the Big Questions in life, the amount of wives a man should take and just what happens when you don’t pray every day?

Look for common ground.

In today’s modern world, even religious leaders are beginning to emphasize the common ties of religion rather than the differences. It’s important for you to learn to do the same, if you really want to make it work with a guy. If one of you is Protestant and the other Catholic, you’re already halfway there toward reconciliation, really; the fundamental points of doctrine are the same. If you’re interested in religious discussion, make an effort to point out where you agree. For example, Jesus is a prophet and a holy figure in Islam as well as Christianity. Sufis and Buddhists agree that meditation techniques are important for reaching higher spiritual states. Jews and Muslims agree about dietary restrictions and the importance of respecting God through very similar laws. There’s common ground for everyone! Read More »

After growing up in a world where sins absolutely meant Hell and Jesus absolutely meant Heaven, I never want to use the word absolute again. Except to say that I was absolutely mistaken.

I was raised to believe that there was a god, one god, and that Jesus Christ was his son. I accepted him into my ‘heart’ and was baptized at an early age. Then I was taught that anyone who didn’t move forward with those two procedures was going to go to Hell; even if they were a good person. Oh, Hell. The fiery pit where bad people burn with the devil.

I once believed this place was real and I could quote scriptures from The Bible as my own little way of reassuring myself that I wasn’t gonna be one of those bad people going to that bad place. I prayed when things weren’t going my way and I prayed when things were going my way. Come to think of it, I spent more time chatting it up with God when I was young than I did my friends.

I knew nothing about earning money, but I knew you were a selfish person if you didn’t give at least 10% of your income to God and your church. I knew that Halloween was for Satan and witches, that Jewish people believed in the same God that I did but were still going to Hell, and that Pulp Fiction was a very, VERY demonic movie that I was never allowed to see.

When I entered adolescence, I started to embrace my Christianity in new ways. I listened to rock bands who screamed lyrics you couldn’t understand…but they were Christian, so it was okay. I wore punky clothes and was straight edge. A straight edge jerk, judging everyone I knew who did drugs or drank or — god forbid — had sex. Read More »

Dear Jeff Buckley aka Scotty Moorhead,

You passed away during this month, 11 years ago. And I still love you. Someone’s gotta love dead rock stars, and I guess it’s me. But let me assure you, Jeff, you are at the top of my list of boys I want to date in the afterlife. Your voice is like honey, your song writing like gold…and you are…err…were…..beautiful. Drop dead gorgeous.

You graduated from high school the same year I was born, but I don’t think that our age difference should really be relevant in the afterlife, do you? I love the way you play guitar. Even if you don’t know this, I’m pretty sure a lot of your songs were about me. I’m sure you didn’t even consider the possibility that the girl for you wouldn’t figure out that she was, in fact, for you until long after your death…but it’s a crazy world we live in.

Basically, what I’m trying to say is that I would really like to go out with you in the after life. You’d probably know where we should go better than I, but to be honest, I don’t really care. Maybe we’ll take a stroll down streets of gold? Perhaps we can toast marshmallows in the fiery pits of Hell? The problem really is that I don’t know exactly WHERE I’ll end up, but I have a strong confidence that it will be the place as you. Send me a sign, let me know what you think, or just holla at yer girl when I’m hanging out post-death style with you.

Love you ETERNALLY,

Your sweetheart, the drunk.

As if I weren’t a big enough sinner already, last week, the Pope released his new list of Things That Will Make God Super Pissed.

I’ve been using the Lord’s name in vain and partying hard on Sundays for a while now. So I already knew I’d bought my ticket to Hell, but thanks to The Pope, I’ve got a first class seat now on an express train to the fiery flames of evil.

Here are the new sins that were literally INVENTED this week. (By the way, who really believes this sh*t anymore?)

YOU ARE NOW A SINNER IF…

-You support bioethical violations; like birth control (CHECK) Read More »

Hooters? Depressing? You don’t say. All I’ve ever had to do was take a look at the horrible orange and white paint job adorning the outside of most Hooters restaurants to know those places are a bevy of bad taste and depression.

Oh yeah, and fifteen year olds.

In my town, Hooters was the place adolescent boys with fake IDs and too much cologne spent their Friday nights when no one their own age would date them.

Hooters was the place high school’s biggest assholes went to feel superior to women who would never look at them in real life, as well as the place a friend’s friend once tried to work at but quit after some perv threw a popcorn shrimp at her boobs.

In conclusion: Hooters is drenched in grossness. Read More »