This year, some of your most-loved (or love-to-hate) celebs are giving up their digital life until their fans donate 1 million dollars by “buying life.” But you don’t have to be a celebrity with 5 million Twitter followers to make a difference.

As you sit in your dorm room (or lecture hall – we know you’re reading this in class!), you might be questioning what you can possibly do to make a difference – after all you are only one person. But, if everyone takes action, then collectively we can make some major strides. Even from that teeny, tiny room you call home.

Print out and put a poster on your door
I’m sure a lot of people walk by your room each day and chances are if there’s something different up on your door, they might take a second to stop and think about what the poster means, and maybe even generate a conversation with you about the topic.

Do your research
Read up on World AIDS Day. The best protection is knowledge. Spread what you know by talking to friends, or the random person who stops by your room after seeing your poster.

Test your knowledge
AVERT has lots of games and quizzes for World AIDS Day. Try one out and pass it along to your friends.

Wear a red ribbon
You can pick one up from your local MAC store. If you pick up a Viva Glam product while you are there, every cent of the selling price will go towards the MAC AIDS Fund.

Practice safe sex
If you’re going to have sex, don’t do it until you’ve had a conversation with your partner about safe sex. If you’re unsure about their sexual history, or they don’t want to talk about it, don’t do it. Once you’ve had a talk about HIV and STDs then make sure you use a always use a condom.

Get tested
If you’re having sex, go get tested. If you don’t know where to go, text your zipcode to “KNOWIT” (566948) to find a testing centre near you.

Get connected
If you’re reading this, chances are you’re connected online. Tweet about it using #WAD2010, post a statistic as your status on Facebook, or post a picture on the Facing AIDS flickr page. Use your connection to spread awareness.

Go to an event
I know this time of year is really busy, but if you have time, check out a World AIDS Day event in your area. Grab your friends and get out there. What else is there to do on a Wednesday night anyway?

There are good ideas and there are BAD ideas

How to handle a guy who will ONLY text you

Paris Hilton smuggles drugs in her vajayjay?!

Do you care how long he can last?

Doubt that Suri actually does chores

Can college life and faith co-exist?

How to identify a  bargain

This is just so ridiculous!

The Money Tree is AMAZING

So you met a boy. A perfect boy. A boy who loves True Life marathons and Frosted Mini Wheats as much as you do. A boy who kissed you on the cheek after walking you home and took your number (instead of drunk-friending you on Facebook). You totally heart him.

After coming in the house and telling your roommates all about how sweet and funny and “OMG he was wearing the hottest jeans,” you lay in bed thinking about him. And make a mental note to get a bikini wax ASAP, because you will most definitely be seeing him (in the buff) sometime soon.

You spend the next day clutching your phone, willing it to ring. You take it to the library, the gym and even into the bathroom. You jump every time the phone rings and mentally prepare yourself to turn on the charm, only to realize it’s a friend or, of course, your mom. Finally, you receive a text message:

Hungover in the library. Not fun

OMG OMG OMG. You run – no, skip – to your friend and show her the text.

“Aw, he totally hearts you!” She says. You blush, excited that someone else thinks this is a good thing, too.

“What should I say back?!” You spend the next 10 minutes crafting the perfect response: witty and cute without looking like you spent 10 minutes coming up with it.

You should try hungover on a treadmill.

You hit send then sit with your friend as you wait for a response. A few minutes go by. Then another few minutes. You start getting impatient, worried.

“What if he meant to send that to someone else? I know he’s got his phone with him – why isn’t he responding? Do you think he thinks I’m an alcoholic? I shouldn’t have responded so quickly. Oh god, he hates me.”

Your friend reassures you that you are being crazy, that he wouldn’t have texted you if he hated you and that he’s probably just doing something else. But you don’t believe her; she has to say those things. You want chocolate.

Finally, the familiar text alert rings from your phone. You flip it open quickly and there’s a message from the boy.

This is bad enough. I wish someone would bring me a Gatorade.

“What do you think that means?!” You ask your friend. “Does he want me to bring him a Gatorade? Should I be cute and bring him a Gatorade? What flavor do you think he likes? If there was a winky or smiley face I’d know he was asking me to bring him one…”

“Yeah, if there was a wink I’d think that would mean he’s asking you. Maybe he’s just making small talk.”  Your friend reasons. You IM another friend, give her a brief summary of what’s going on (including what the texts said word for word) and ask her opinion. She agrees that it’s small talk, that you should not go visit him with a variety of Gatorade flavors and that he’s just being cute and chatty with you.

“Yeah. Ok, what should I say back?” You spend another few minutes (longer than you usually spend answering a Blue Book question) working on a response. It is the perfect blend of flirty and cute, topped off with a smiley (obvs).

And then you wait for his response once again.
This goes on all day: read, evaluate (“do you think he really LOLed?”), contemplate, respond.

Yeah, we’ve all been there. You’re not the only one trying to decode the boys.

Dear Tuffy Luv,

I went out with a guy a few weeks ago. We had a really good time (I think?). We had a few drinks, then he drove me all the way home, even though I told him I could walk. The convo was great, we had a lot in common and I thought he was a cutie patootie. I don’t want to be all annoying girl in “He’s Just Not That Into You,” but I really don’t understand why he never called? Aren’t all those things signs that he’s interested?

Perturbed.

Dear Perturbed,

Number one: If I catch you drinking and driving again, I will cut you in the face. Seriously, not cool. You heard, everyone?! No matter how short the distance, it’s NEVER okay to risk others’ lives.

And now to address your actual question. Okay. This is tricky because there actually is no answer. Let’s look at a couple o’ scenerios.

Numero unoski: He likes you and is too shy to make the next move. Actually, this is the most likely. Maybe you should give him a call and see if he wants to go out again. You never know what might happen.

Number two-oo-oo: Something happened in his life that made dating his last priority. Maybe there was a family emergency, or maybe he just flunked a test. Either way, a text message saying hey couldn’t hurt.

Numberino three: He thought he was gonna get laid, and when you didn’t put out, he gave up.

or:

Number four: Yeah, it wasn’t working for him.

Anyway, any way you slice it, contacting him casually to feel it out is worth it if you thought you guys really had something. Just a “hey, wanna grab a slice?” would do. Nothing longer than that, or you risk freaking him out if the reason was in fact number 4.

Good luck, girl!

Hearts & Skulls,

Tuffy Luv

You have a ton of stuff to do this weekend. There is studying, packing, cleaning, erranding, plus at least a good two hours of lying on the couch and relaxing. And all of that must fit into a short two-day span.

Oh, and most of your friends are already done with exams and are using their time left on campus to party it up before heading home for the summer. And it’s 75 and sunny out.

Awesome.

You set a schedule on Friday and vow to stick to it. There will be 9am wake-ups, trips to the gym, then off to the library for serious study time. During study breaks, there will be grocery store runs and throwing some of those winter clothes into suitcases. You will break for meals, but nothing else.

Midway through Saturday, though, you get hounded with texts about a party that you “HAVE TO BE AT.” It might be a birthday, or the last time you’ll see a few friends before they leave for the summer. Whatever the reason, “YOU BETTER BE THERE, BITCH.”

You convince yourself that you can go. You know, just to make an appearance. You will use that as your motivation to get through the next few hours.  You’ll only stop by for an hour, which is not a big deal at all; you weren’t going to sit in the library all night long anyway.

So you start pounding out those flashcards. Before you know it, it’s 10 pm and people are calling to find out where you are. You are quite proud of all the work you’ve gotten done and you’ve reached a good stopping point, so you pack up all the notebooks/books/empty Red Bull cans and decide to reward yourself with one beer. Just one beer. Then you’re going home.

On your way to the party – over-stuffed backpack in tow – you go over the list of things to accomplish tomorrow: gym, few more hours of studying, plus all that errand running and packing you neglected today. Totally doable.

That is, until you actually enter the party chock full of extremely happy, extremely free and extremely drunk people.

“OMFG! LOOK WHO’S HERE! We haven’t seen you allllll daaaay.” Suddenly you have 12 drunk friends giving you too-tight hugs and handing you beers.

“Thanks,” you take a beer. “I’m only having one and then I gotta get home.” So you have one. And then, before you know it, there is a fresh beer in your hand. Two beers isn’t a big deal, though. You can handle two. You’ll just finish that one and leave.

But the beer feels so good after a long day in the library. And so does socializing with someone other than your Psych textbook and the smelly guy who asked to share your table with you. You are having so much fun that you don’t even realize when you are suddenly in your 4th round of flip cup (“There’s not THAT much beer in the cup,” you tell yourself), or when you are getting high-fived after a record-breaking keg stand.
Soon it’s 4am, your backpack is soaked with (what you hope is) beer, and you are sitting in a corner sharing a medium pizza with your friend.

You know at this point that tomorrow is totally shot, that you’d be lucky to make it out of bed before 3pm, that “just making an appearance” is not possible.

And you want to care, really you do, but this is college and you’re young and, OMG, that pizza is just so. effing. good.

And, really, you can just order in for the next week and pack on Monday night. You’ll be fine.

We’ve all been there…and we turned out ok!

If a guy says he’s gonna call, then he should call. And if he’s not interested, then he should just suck it up, be a man, and tell me. I’m an adult – I can handle it. I who would rather have a definitive answer than be left wondering.

And wonder I do.

I can’t help it. As much as I know in my head that guys would call if they are interested, my heart takes control of the situation and I am left laying by the phone, willing it to ring. Or running to it every time it does in hopes that said boy has finally mustered up the courage to give me a buzz, only to be left disappointed when it’s my mother…again…calling to ask me what I thought of American Idol.

And then the tables turned.

I met a boy at the bar and in my booze-y haze I thought he was charming, cute and hilarious. We talked the whole night, went home together and had some fun in his living room. Why we couldn’t wait to take it to the bedroom I’ll never know, but I learned a valuable lesson that night about sex on a leather couch: don’t have it.

But I digress. The point is, after spending some time with him in the morning I realized that he was none of the things I was attracted to the night before. I just wasn’t that into him.

I gave him my number in the morning knowing full well I would never call him back. What else was I supposed to do? Refuse when he asked for it? Lie and tell him I don’t do that whole cell phone thing? Yeah right. Then I kissed him goodbye and told him we’d talk soon. I know I didn’t mean it, but  I didn’t know what else to say.

When he called me two days later to see if I wanted to come to his house party, I didn’t answer the call. Or the text. Or the Facebook friend request. “He’ll get the point,” I thought to myself. And so I never called back and awkwardly avoided him every time I saw him thereafter.

I didn’t realize what I was doing until a friend pointed it out to me. “You’re doing the same thing to him that you hate when guys do to you.”

Hm. I had never thought of it that way. It just felt so much different on this side of things; it made sense. Why hurt someone’s feelings by telling them you aren’t interested (or even figure out how to tell them that) when you can just ignore them and hope they get the point? Everyone knows that if you are interested you’d call back, so they should totally know that a lack of call-back means you aren’t into them. And you didn’t have to say anything/have an awkward conversation! It’s the perfect scenario.

Well, minus that whole “suck it up and be a man” thing. But I can’t help it; it’s just. so. easy. And they’ll get the point…eventually.

So tell me: what do you do in this situation? Do you tell them or just let it die?

Toothbrush still tucked in your cheek, you fish your Blackberry out from under your pillow, detach it from the charger cord you expertly wove around your bedpost, and cringe. You definitely texted him. Twice. Okay, more than twice, but you essentially said the same thing every time, so it really only counts as twice right?

It’s tipsy texter’s remorse. Drunk dialing’s quieter, slyer little sister. Drunk texting is even more perilous, simply because your chosen target has a tangible message to remember you by the next morning. A tangible message that could very well be forwarded to all your mutual friends. And why stop there? Mutual or otherwise, they don’t have to know you to get a laugh out of your arbitrary capitalization and creative spelling.

And of course, no one ever just types out “hey giRll hye, i mis ur face!!!!@! mylife wud sukc witouh u!” Not even near incriminating enough. No, it’s always a text to that douche face ex-boyfriend you never really gave up on, or that dreamboat in your stats lecture whose number you covertly acquired under the pretense of a review session. And you always have a killer intro, like “jst so u know, i nevr do tihss,” or “HELLLLLLLLO! gues where I amm rhgit now?” or “i’m soooooio hppay u hireD me for the smmuer!”

Okay, so it’s obviously not exactly ideal to piece together your evening by reviewing your outbox in the A.M. But it’s so easy, not to mention drunkenly satisfying, to type out a quick T9 letting your high school nemesis know exactly what you think of her and her stupid Lacoste gym shoes. How do you avoid the temptation to broadcast just how much fun you are having to your entire contact list?

The Designated Dialer

This is where the DD swoops in. In addition to her role as designated driver, she moonlights as the designated dialer. A multitalented catch, not only does she haul your tipsy tush home, she proofreads your impromptu SMS sonnets before you hit send. If need be, she might even conveniently lose your phone in her wristlet, only to restore it to you the next morning with an eyebrow raised, you-so-owe-me face.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

And if your DD doesn’t want to babysit your booze intake AND your outbox, then it might be time to leave that cell at home. You may have to work up to it – you know, ten-minute intervals without checking your texts before graduating to half-hour windows. As long as one of your friends has a phone, do you really need it? I don’t want to leave girls open to shady situations (the art of a faked phone call is still my escape route of choice) but maybe bury that ‘berry in the bottom of your totebag, or away in some interior pocket with extensive, complicated zippers?

Unfortunately, until Apple creates some sort of breathalyzer application in addition to iCal, drunk texting will always be a late night pitfall. Resist the urge—I don’t know about you guys, but I am so much wittier sober.

Alright, I wanna hear them. Drunk texting horror stories? Alternative methods to avoiding embarrassing cellular situations? The funniest drunk text you’ve ever received? Yes please.

[Picture courtesy of AmyMichelle on Flickr]

Hope you stopped by the card store on the way back from class because today we are celebrating proper punctuation, spelling and, of course, the ever important verb-noun agreement. I don’t know about you, but nothing grates on my nerves more than bad grammar. My eyes bug out, my brow furrows and I forget what I was reading as all the words seem to melt into that one misplaced apostrophe.

Maybe I’m a nerd but I just can’t get passed it. For this reason, I think we need to celebrate National Grammar Day the right way.

Being that the local bars don’t seem to be offering any specials for this momentous occasion (what, can’t a girl get a shot for outstanding English?), I thought we could celebrate by learning a few things. Yeah, we’re all in college, but judging from my recent IMs, emails and texts, it looks like our higher education left a few things out.

So open the Tostitos, check out these 5 common grammatical errors, and let the party begin!

So, in an attempt to avoid an ulcer or an unfortunate road rage incident, I vent to you, dear reader. Please feel free to join in and comment about anything–really, anything–that pissed. you. off. this week. Let it all hang out. I feel you.]

Budget cuts: It seems as though the recession has finally infiltrated the college bubble. We’ve been hearing about this horrible turn the economy has taken, but the closest we’ve come to experiencing it are reduced bar admissions. (And come to think of it, there hasn’t even been a decline in those prices…) All kidding aside, though, the economic crisis gripping the nation has, of course, affected our schools. And countless e-mails entitled “Budget Crisis Committee Meeting,” or “Plans to Cut Spending by 10% before July” skimmed over my threshold of awareness for quite some time. My professors, picking up on the general apathetic attitude, took it upon themselves to explain just what all of this meant. Apparently it means taking classes that require an intimate setting to be effective in lecture halls. It requires removing all of the phones from the English Department (yep, e-mail only!). It entails salary cuts for professors, some of whom have such prestigious reputations that they’ll gladly take their New York Times’ Best Selling butts elsewhere. Which also means that my degree won’t be as respectable as it would be if I’d had those professors or their letters of recommendation. And yet I have noticed no shortage of construction, new bronze statues or spanking new parking garages scattered around campus. Maybe if the budget were a little more prioritized we wouldn’t be facing these issues…

Line Cutters: It pissed me off in the 2^nd grade lunchroom on Chicken Nugget Day and guess what, folks? It still does! Seriously people, we learned how to mind our P’s and queue’s in kindergarten, so why am I still frustrated DAILY by some guy who called his bros and asked them to save him a spot in the 45 minute line to pick up basketball tix? And I have some advice for that girl last night who thought her urinary needs were greater than everyone else’s in line for the only bathroom at the bar–  HOLD IT! Just like everyone else in line. And no one ever said there was a rule against having your friends bring you more vodka tonics while you’re waiting…

Over-Zealous Party Hosts: It starts with the Facebook invite. It’s totally tricked out with hyper-precise directions, a really intricate theme and very specific directions as to just what B one should Y.O.B. But you know it’s not going to stop there. The party-thrower is most definitely going to text you “Hey guys! Don’t forget about my AWESOME kegger/rave/pregame/ shindig this Friday!!!!!”— every day of the week leading up to the party. Should you actually make it to said party after Happy Hour, you can rest assured that a red Solo will be practically shoved into your hand when you walk in (which isn’t such a bad thing now that I think about it…), followed by an in-depth questionnaire about the amount of fun you are having at their party. Eventually something will go wrong (as it only can when a large number of drunk people are gathered) and the host will go into full meltdown mode, kick everyone out during a huge tantrum and swear to never throw a party again. I mean, I’m all for enthusiastic recreation, but a party is supposed to relieve stress, not cause it!

Wow, it’s official: even parties piss me off. How about you? What pissed you off this week?

Looks like Valentine’s Day in the 21st century looks a lot different than it used to. Whereas candy and cards used to be the only way to go, now we can email, IM, video chat, or text the people we love. But even with all those new avenues of communication, what you say and how you say it are still very important.

Since so many people will be sending texts this V-Day, you are going to need 2 things to get by:

1. An understanding of appropriate textiquette.

2. A phone that makes sending and receiving texts a whole lot easier.

Well, lookie here; we got em both for ya.

CollegeCandy teamed up with AT&T again to give one lucky reader a brand new Samsung Propel. This phone is pretty sweet, if we must say so ourselves. It is small and handy, but slides open to reveal a full keyboard! No more T-9 mishaps for you!

All you have to do is tell us your biggest texting do or don’t. Ever texted the wrong person? Ever sent a naughty picture that got around? Ever been asked on a date by the boy you love via text? Tell us everything. We’ll vote on them and announce the winner on Saturday, February 14th. Then you’ll have yourself a brand new cell to text all those important people in your life.

But, you must make sure to know what is OK and what is not OK to send. So, watch this little video courtesy of AT&T explaining the ins and outs of textiquette. Trust me; you can learn a lot!