I believe it is time for another installment of Things That Annoy The Crap Out Of Me: War on Women Edition!
But first - a couple of hot topics I've been meaning to blog about but forgot. The Egyptian revolution! Oh man, how exciting has this been? I've been sort of loosely following it, and I am pleased that Mubarak stepped down and all, and I'm very excited to see how things go from here. And now there are all these other things happening in other places, so it's a very interesting and exciting time.
Also, all that crap about "redefining rape?" Yeah, WHAT THE EFF IS THAT. If it's sex with an individual who does not want to have sex with you, IT IS RAPE. And it is NOT OKAY. And if you get pregnant, you should not be FORCED to have the baby. Grr. >_< Which actually leads right into my TTATCOOM rant! Yaaayyy segues.
So, as some of you may have heard, the House of Representatives just voted on whether or not to remove federal funding from Planned Parenthood, which is the largest provider of abortions, sure, but ALSO provides much-needed and often hard-to-obtain health services for countless women, men, and children. It is much more than abortions. It is birth control, which would eliminate the need for so many abortions, you geniuses; it is health care for poorer women and children, which they can't get any other way; they provide screenings for several serious diseases, sexual and not, for men and women; and they are often the only resource for teen mothers or single mothers. So obviously, it's a bigger deal than abortions. And now they're trying to cut the funding for it, which just doesn't make any sense to me at all. I understand that you don't want people to ever have sex ever, conservative Christian Republicans, but newsflash - THEY'RE GONNA. And when they do, they should have access to birth control, STD tests and medication, screening for reproductive diseases and cancers, and general health care for pregnant women and infants. Good to know you're trying to take that all away.
On a similar note, JUSTIN FREAKING BIEBER. Have you guys heard about this? He was interviewed for Rolling Stone and asked, for some ungodly reason, about abortion. And he said he didn't believe in it, which is all fine and dandy, whatever Justin Bieber, UNTIL they pressed him about it and asked "What about in cases of rape?" and HE REPLIED THUSLY: "Well, I think that’s really sad, but everything happens for a reason." ... SERIOUSLY, JUSTIN BIEBER? I mean, okay, if you're saying that you shouldn't abort the baby because the pregnancy resulting from the rape happened for a reason, that's slightly better, but STILL. It could have been worded better. BUT THEN. (Disclaimer: I don't know if this is actually true, but I saw it on the internet, so it probably is, right?) Apparently he tweeted, "To all of my fans who are getting mad over my views on abortion: if you were true beliebers (what he calls his fans, I know, right) you would agree with me." Yes. If you were truly FANS OF MY POP MUSIC, you would AGREE WITH EVERYTHING I SAY. This is how cults happen, people. He's got 7 million followers on Twitter, most of them teen girls who will soon be voting, and he's feeding them this crap. Awesome. Screw you, Justin Bieber.
Third, Lara Logan, the reporter who was sexually assaulted in Egypt last week, and the comments surrounding her attack. Specifically, the ones who are saying she SHOULD HAVE EXPECTED IT, or that she is SOMEHOW TO BLAME. Victim-blaming is never cool, okay? EVER. No one should EXPECT to get raped - people shouldn't have to assume that if they do something, they will get raped. It should not be like this in our world. And the people saying that it's because she's an attractive female who was in a Muslim/Arab area? NO. Just NO. So many things wrong here - first, not all Muslims or Arabs are rapists, you idiots; second, because she was in this area, she deserved to get raped? I don't think so; third, we don't even know who the attackers were - for all we know, it could have been a white Christian man; and fourth, SHE WAS RESCUED BY MUSLIM/ARAB WOMEN AND SOLDIERS. So eff that theory right there. I can't even believe that these things are being said. A woman is BRUTALLY ASSAULTED and people are making it about her looks, her being in the area, the attackers' presumed religion? I cannot even believe this.
What kind of world are we living in where these things have to be issues? It is TWO THOUSAND AND ELEVEN, PEOPLE. This is NOT the fifties. This is NOT the 1800s. Women are PEOPLE, and we have RIGHTS, and people shouldn't be able to just take them away like this. We're living in a country that doesn't want to allow abortion because SOME of our citizens believe in a God who thinks it's wrong (though they don't follow all of the rules that God laid down), but they don't want women to be able to access birth control or health services. We're living in a country that thinks it's the victim's fault if he or she gets raped or attacked, but allowing gay marriage would destroy our morals. We're living in a world where ONE IN SIX WOMEN has been sexually assaulted or raped, and somehow that's all right? Somehow, we're focusing on redefining the terms of terminating pregnancies caused by rape, instead of focusing on, I don't know, STOPPING RAPE FROM HAPPENING? We are more concerned with the "lives" of these parasitic, clump-of-cells fetuses, than we are with the ACTUAL LIVES AND SAFETY OF THE WOMEN CARRYING THEM.
What is wrong with this picture? What is wrong with the world?
I can't even think about this anymore.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
How I Spent My New Year's Eve
Once upon a time, last night I went to a party! I don't usually go to New Year's Eve parties, being that I'm not a drinker or a partier in any way, but last night a bunch of people got together specifically because none of us wanted to drink, so it was okay. We were hanging out, playing games and just talking and having a good time. My friend Jamie was telling everyone that it was now 1990 instead of 2011, just 'cause he's weird like that and the 90s were awesome. ^_^ So we were playing Spin the Bottle and Truth or Dare, your basic 90s movie party games, and one of my friends dared me to eat a spoonful of cinnamon.
Apparently this is a thing, the Cinnamon Challenge. I didn't know it was a trend. But I agreed to do it, thinking it would be a small spoonful - but no, it was a heaping tablespoon of cinnamon. And though I was aware it would be hot, and thought I could handle that, I didn't take into account the fact that it's a super-fine powder. =/ You guys probably see where I'm going with this.
So I put the spoonful into my mouth, holding my breath for some reason. I realize I can't swallow it all at once, and I exhale, preparing to swallow it bit by bit. I just exhaled. I didn't choke, cough, anything like that - I just breathed out.
Aaaand a cloud of cinnamon goes *poof*ing out of my nose, which makes everyone else laugh, but BURNS. And I try to breathe back in, which causes a bunch of cinnamon to be inhaled into my lungs and the back of my throat, which makes me choke. Choking with a mouthful of cinnamon, by the way, is a terrible, horrible plan. Don't do it if you can avoid it. =/
So now people have noticed that I'm legit choking, and I'm freaking the eff out. I can't swallow, I can barely breathe, my nose and throat are burning, my eyes are streaming. I'm trying to wash the cinnamon out of my mouth because I can't actually swallow any water. Eventually, I do get enough out so I can swallow a little water, and I'm breathing, though I can barely talk. By the time it was over, everyone was laughing again because we were all so relieved that I didn't die. And apparently if you almost die in a game of Truth or Dare, you win and that gets you exempt from the rest of the game. So yay for me!
But seriously, it nearly killed me. There was a moment or two when I was actually honest-to-God afraid that I was going to die, right there at my sort-of friend's house with a bunch of people I didn't know and a couple of boys I thought were cute. What a way to ring in the new year, huh?
I blew my nose about thirty thousand times, and it was really gross for the first ten or so. It got steadily less gross all night, and by the time I woke up today, almost all of the cinnamon was out of my nose. :D But last night was freaking TORTURE. I had to drive my friends home, and I was burning and sniffling and choking the whole time. The first thing I did when I got home was chug a glass of water and take a Tylenol Extra Strength dude because my head was killing me, probably from the lack of oxygen and pressure from blowing my nose so much. I couldn't fall asleep for a long time because of the pressure in my head, behind my eyeball, and the clogged-ness of my nose. I was having trouble breathing because the left side of my nose was clogged, and then I finally cleared it but my nose was so chapped and my throat was so irritated that breathing hurt. And to top it all off, I felt like I was going to puke for the whole five hours after I did it to the time I fell asleep. It was awful.
Other than the whole nearly-dying thing, though, it was a terrific party and I had a great time. :D
Moral of the story: No matter how much someone offers to pay you, no matter who dares you, or who you're trying to impress, it is NOT WORTH IT to do the Cinnamon Challenge. Seriously, it is dangerous - I could have actually died. And it was unpleasant enough without dying, thank you. So don't let anyone you know do this, and please don't be the one suggesting it. It is not fun, nor is it funny to watch someone almost choke to death. So don't do it. :D
Apparently this is a thing, the Cinnamon Challenge. I didn't know it was a trend. But I agreed to do it, thinking it would be a small spoonful - but no, it was a heaping tablespoon of cinnamon. And though I was aware it would be hot, and thought I could handle that, I didn't take into account the fact that it's a super-fine powder. =/ You guys probably see where I'm going with this.
So I put the spoonful into my mouth, holding my breath for some reason. I realize I can't swallow it all at once, and I exhale, preparing to swallow it bit by bit. I just exhaled. I didn't choke, cough, anything like that - I just breathed out.
Aaaand a cloud of cinnamon goes *poof*ing out of my nose, which makes everyone else laugh, but BURNS. And I try to breathe back in, which causes a bunch of cinnamon to be inhaled into my lungs and the back of my throat, which makes me choke. Choking with a mouthful of cinnamon, by the way, is a terrible, horrible plan. Don't do it if you can avoid it. =/
So now people have noticed that I'm legit choking, and I'm freaking the eff out. I can't swallow, I can barely breathe, my nose and throat are burning, my eyes are streaming. I'm trying to wash the cinnamon out of my mouth because I can't actually swallow any water. Eventually, I do get enough out so I can swallow a little water, and I'm breathing, though I can barely talk. By the time it was over, everyone was laughing again because we were all so relieved that I didn't die. And apparently if you almost die in a game of Truth or Dare, you win and that gets you exempt from the rest of the game. So yay for me!
But seriously, it nearly killed me. There was a moment or two when I was actually honest-to-God afraid that I was going to die, right there at my sort-of friend's house with a bunch of people I didn't know and a couple of boys I thought were cute. What a way to ring in the new year, huh?
I blew my nose about thirty thousand times, and it was really gross for the first ten or so. It got steadily less gross all night, and by the time I woke up today, almost all of the cinnamon was out of my nose. :D But last night was freaking TORTURE. I had to drive my friends home, and I was burning and sniffling and choking the whole time. The first thing I did when I got home was chug a glass of water and take a Tylenol Extra Strength dude because my head was killing me, probably from the lack of oxygen and pressure from blowing my nose so much. I couldn't fall asleep for a long time because of the pressure in my head, behind my eyeball, and the clogged-ness of my nose. I was having trouble breathing because the left side of my nose was clogged, and then I finally cleared it but my nose was so chapped and my throat was so irritated that breathing hurt. And to top it all off, I felt like I was going to puke for the whole five hours after I did it to the time I fell asleep. It was awful.
Other than the whole nearly-dying thing, though, it was a terrific party and I had a great time. :D
Moral of the story: No matter how much someone offers to pay you, no matter who dares you, or who you're trying to impress, it is NOT WORTH IT to do the Cinnamon Challenge. Seriously, it is dangerous - I could have actually died. And it was unpleasant enough without dying, thank you. So don't let anyone you know do this, and please don't be the one suggesting it. It is not fun, nor is it funny to watch someone almost choke to death. So don't do it. :D
Friday, December 31, 2010
Top 5 Records Presents - Obligatory End of the Year Post!
Wow, where did December go? It feels like finals week has just ended, but somehow it's the last day of the year and all. When school is out, it just feels like time has no meaning. I make the same to-do list for days and days, but just end up sleeping forever and then staying up all night on the internet. XD But one thing on my to-do list has a deadline, and here we are at the end of the year, so I can actually check this one off: End of the Year Blog Post. :D
Top Five Movies of 2010
I haven't actually seen a lot of the ones people keep raving about, so these are the top 5 of the ones I saw.
5. How To Train Your Dragon - release date: March 26, 2010
This was such an awesome movie, and not just for little kids, either. It was well-done, hilarious, and heart-warming. Overall it was a great movie, and a good time for everybody. :D
4. The Lovely Bones - release date: January 15, 2010
I went into this one expecting the worst, since I loved the book on which it was based, but it did an incredible job telling the story. The acting was pretty amazing - Stanley Tucci, has he ever been anything than amazing in anything he's done? - and the special effects and camera work were breathtaking. It was such a beautiful movie.
3. Kick-A** - release date: April 16, 2010
This was a freakin' awesome movie - kids being irl superheroes, a little girl just generally being a bamf, THIS GUY:
Yeah. Look at him. :D I was pretty decently pleased with this movie. Apparently they're making a sequel, though, and I don't know how I feel about that. =/
2. Scott Pilgrim VS The World - release date: August 13, 2010
Um, how freaking awesome is this movie? Answer: the most. :D It was so funny, and so sweet, and RIDICULOUSLY RIDICULOUS, and nerdtastic, and beautifully put together... I'm definitely buying this movie at some point. And also, Michael Cera! Come on! It's MICHAEL CERA.
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 - release date: November 19, 2010
You guys knew I'd pick Harry Potter for number one, didn't you? XD But seriously, this movie was the best movie of the whole series. They're all crap, especially the sixth one, but this one was... nearly perfect. It was heart-wrenching in all the right places, they got most of the story correct, the acting was even decent in parts. There was a scene, guys - there was a scene where I didn't hate DanRad. I KNOW. But it happened. There were even a couple of moments when EmWat was all right. And yes, there were a few things I would change, because they can never just get the freaking movies right, I mean come on, the book is RIGHT THERE, just READ IT and FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS, you don't even need to write a SCRIPT, but overall, it was a fantastic movie, and I cried forever and ever. But I would have even if it was horrible, so that's not really relevant. XD
RUNNERS-UP:
1. Easy A - oh, man, this movie was fantastic. It's seriously almost tied with HTTYD. I laughed, I was invested in the storyline, the acting was great... it was such a creative premise, too. I enjoyed it immensely.
2. The Social Network - this was a pretty funtimes movie, and it has Michael Cera's older dark-haired brother, Jesse Eisenberg. It was entertaining and well done, but I don't know if I would buy this movie. I might, though. I do love Facebook. :D
3. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief - THIS WAS SUCH AN EPIC MOVIE. I haven't read the books yet, but I intend to because this movie was so awesome. Plus, sexy-Zac-Efron-lookin'-kid, Logan Lerman:
4. Youth In Revolt - not the best movie ever, but entertaining and sweet, plus, you know, Michael Cera. Even better, TWO Michael Ceras and one has a mustache:
Best terrible horror movie of the year - Splice. I don't even.
Runner-up - The Crazies. It was just ridiculous and irritating after a while.
Top 5 Best Albums and/or Bands I Discovered in 2010
I don't really keep up with music like I used to, so I don't pay a whole lot of attention when new albums come out, unless it's a band I'm really into at that moment. And most of those have been wizard rock or internet musicians for the last few months. XD I could probably do a better list if I paid more attention to the music of 2010 and had more time, but if you want to read that kind of post, I'll link you to my friend's blog when he posts it. XD
5. The Bird and the Bee - I don't know a whole lot about this band, other than they are ADORABLE. They came on my last.fm one time, and I was intrigued, so I downloaded their self-titled album, and I kind of love them a lot. :D Her voice is just freaking awesome, and I love how bouncy and adorable their songs are. GOOD TIMES.
4. Portugal. The Man - Their album Church Mouth is the one I'm most familiar with, and it. Is. AWESOME. A couple of friends introduced them to me on a road trip this summer, and I liked what I heard so I got a couple of their albums. They pretty much rock. That is all. :D
3. The Gregory Brothers - The Autotune The News guys! They're a real band, and they're REALLY AWESOME. Their voices are all just amazing, and their EP is five songs of awesomeness. I quite like them. They're a little folksy-bluesy-poppy-rockish, and it's a good time.
2. The Mountain Goats - Thanks, John Green, for turning me on to this band. They are just... basically, if Endless Mike and the Beagle Club and the Decemberists had a baby, it would be the Mountain Goats. Lyics and music like Colin Meloy, voice and style of song like Endless Mike. Oh man, this band is great. :3
1. Ministry of Magic's new album Magic is Might is the best album I have heard all year, probably. I cannot stop listening to it. It's amazing. Not only because I love Harry Potter and I love the Ministry of Magic, but also - the songs are just amazingly written, the music is so good, and it's just a fantastic album. Gah, I love them.
RUNNERS-UP
1. The Black Keys - I was introduced to them at a party this summer, and man, they are cool. The album Brothers is a pretty good album. I really like their voices, as well.
2. Freelance Whales - Darren Criss's brother is in this band, and while that's not the ONLY reason I got their album, it was a little of the reason. ^_^ But seriously, they're SO CUTE. And their music is REALLY good. They also sort of remind me of the Decemberists, maybe if they weren't so depressing and stuck in the 1700s in England (or on ships, as they often are). XD Really good, solid indie rock band.
3. Weezer's new album Hurley, though I haven't listened to it much... I listened to it all the way through a couple of times when I first got it, but haven't really since. But it was very good, and a lot of people have agreed, so I'm putting it on the list. ^_^
Top 5 TV Shows I Watched in 2010
5. Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Oh, Joss. I know I'm like, seven years late or something, but STILL. I wish I'd been a fan when it was on. It's so good - even though I hate half the characters, it's still so funny, so interesting, so well-crafted, so unique... it's definitely one of the best shows that has ever been on television.
4. How I Met Your Mother - Ahhh, this show is soooo gooood. I don't even care what other people say, this show has been consistently awesome since the first season. It's had some not-so-great episodes, but even those were better than most shows' best episodes. I love this show, and I want it to go on forever. :3
3. Dexter - Oh man, Dexter is a great show. It's SO GOOD. I could have lived without season 3, but whatevs, all the rest of it is so brilliant it makes up for it.
2. Doctor Who - I AM SO GLAD I STARTED WATCHING DOCTOR WHOOOO. Oh my god, this SHOW. It is so AWESOME. IT'S RIDICULOUS HOW AWESOME DOCTOR WHO IS. And I'll leave it at that.
1. Community - Probably my favorite show right now, for reals. Even more than Glee or HIMYM, even more than Buffy or Doctor Who. It's SO FUNNY. You guys. SOOO FUUUNNNNYYYY. And so clever and well-written, too, it's not just stupid jokes. All the actors are fantastic, it never feels forced, it's always ridiculous but somehow seems plausible for these people, and it's still got the right amount of drama and romance and all that other stuff. :D It's truly a terrific show, and I hope it stays on the air forever and ever, as well. ^_^
RUNNERS-UP:
1. Glee - I'm not so impressed with the first part of season 2, but there were some excellent episodes, so I'm not going to write it off yet. :D Besides, it still makes me really happy, so. Yeah.
2. The Big Bang Theory - Funny, smart, nerdy, at times irritating, but mostly adorable and hilarious. This is a GREAT show.
3. Pushing Daisies - Awww, this show was so adorable. :3 I wish there had been more of it - Kristen Chenoweth was brilliant on it, and it was just such a cute premise. I really really liked this show. ^_^
Top 5 Books Read In 2010
5. Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson - This was such a cute book! Maureen Johnson is hilarious and a little crazy, but her books are so well-written, and her characters are so fleshed out, it's awesome. This is a really good sort of coming-of-age quest-type book, one of those teens-on-a-soul-searching-road-trip type books, and it's amazing.
4. Looking For Alaska by John Green - John Green's book are all sort of along the same vein, the teen-taking-a-life-changing-road-trip vein. This one in particular doesn't have a road trip, per se, but it's a kid going away to school and all, so same diff. XD But it so fully embodies the kind of memories and feelings that I want to have from this time in my life, and it's so sad and poignant and John Green is such a good writer... it touched me, okay? It might not be your favorite, but it's mine. ^_^
3. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman - I just finished this a couple of nights ago, and holy crap. It takes a while to get into, but boy howdy, does it keep you turning pages once you do. SO GOOD. It's such an interesting premise, and you get so attached to the characters and so affected by what's going on in the book, you just can't put it down. I'm excited to start the next one.
2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - Man, this series. THIS SERIES. Definitely the best series I've read in the last year, though really sad and kind of horrible. But it's so fast-paced and thrilling! It's like a quest but without the questing. It's AWESOME.
1. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins - The sequel to The Hunger Games, I think I liked it better than the first. It was just so much more intense.
Okay, I can't think of much else to do a list of, and this has gotten really long, and it's 6:15 in the morning, SO... I will leave you with a few of my goals for 2011.
* Edit my NaNo novel and get the free copy from CreateSpace
* Get all As and Bs this semester (a C is okay for Math XD)
* Blog more!
* Finish our Twilight musical and film it
* Stop drinking soda
* Stop eating so much fast food/junk food
* Learn to actually play an instrument
* Start doing yoga and/or dance classes or something active
Happy New Year, everyone. I hope you have a safe and joyous New Year's Eve, and hope 2011 is better than 2010. What are some of your resolutions or goals?
Top Five Movies of 2010
I haven't actually seen a lot of the ones people keep raving about, so these are the top 5 of the ones I saw.
5. How To Train Your Dragon - release date: March 26, 2010
This was such an awesome movie, and not just for little kids, either. It was well-done, hilarious, and heart-warming. Overall it was a great movie, and a good time for everybody. :D
4. The Lovely Bones - release date: January 15, 2010
I went into this one expecting the worst, since I loved the book on which it was based, but it did an incredible job telling the story. The acting was pretty amazing - Stanley Tucci, has he ever been anything than amazing in anything he's done? - and the special effects and camera work were breathtaking. It was such a beautiful movie.
3. Kick-A** - release date: April 16, 2010
This was a freakin' awesome movie - kids being irl superheroes, a little girl just generally being a bamf, THIS GUY:
Yeah. Look at him. :D I was pretty decently pleased with this movie. Apparently they're making a sequel, though, and I don't know how I feel about that. =/
2. Scott Pilgrim VS The World - release date: August 13, 2010
Um, how freaking awesome is this movie? Answer: the most. :D It was so funny, and so sweet, and RIDICULOUSLY RIDICULOUS, and nerdtastic, and beautifully put together... I'm definitely buying this movie at some point. And also, Michael Cera! Come on! It's MICHAEL CERA.
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 - release date: November 19, 2010
You guys knew I'd pick Harry Potter for number one, didn't you? XD But seriously, this movie was the best movie of the whole series. They're all crap, especially the sixth one, but this one was... nearly perfect. It was heart-wrenching in all the right places, they got most of the story correct, the acting was even decent in parts. There was a scene, guys - there was a scene where I didn't hate DanRad. I KNOW. But it happened. There were even a couple of moments when EmWat was all right. And yes, there were a few things I would change, because they can never just get the freaking movies right, I mean come on, the book is RIGHT THERE, just READ IT and FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS, you don't even need to write a SCRIPT, but overall, it was a fantastic movie, and I cried forever and ever. But I would have even if it was horrible, so that's not really relevant. XD
RUNNERS-UP:
1. Easy A - oh, man, this movie was fantastic. It's seriously almost tied with HTTYD. I laughed, I was invested in the storyline, the acting was great... it was such a creative premise, too. I enjoyed it immensely.
2. The Social Network - this was a pretty funtimes movie, and it has Michael Cera's older dark-haired brother, Jesse Eisenberg. It was entertaining and well done, but I don't know if I would buy this movie. I might, though. I do love Facebook. :D
3. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief - THIS WAS SUCH AN EPIC MOVIE. I haven't read the books yet, but I intend to because this movie was so awesome. Plus, sexy-Zac-Efron-lookin'-kid, Logan Lerman:
4. Youth In Revolt - not the best movie ever, but entertaining and sweet, plus, you know, Michael Cera. Even better, TWO Michael Ceras and one has a mustache:
Best terrible horror movie of the year - Splice. I don't even.
Runner-up - The Crazies. It was just ridiculous and irritating after a while.
Top 5 Best Albums and/or Bands I Discovered in 2010
I don't really keep up with music like I used to, so I don't pay a whole lot of attention when new albums come out, unless it's a band I'm really into at that moment. And most of those have been wizard rock or internet musicians for the last few months. XD I could probably do a better list if I paid more attention to the music of 2010 and had more time, but if you want to read that kind of post, I'll link you to my friend's blog when he posts it. XD
5. The Bird and the Bee - I don't know a whole lot about this band, other than they are ADORABLE. They came on my last.fm one time, and I was intrigued, so I downloaded their self-titled album, and I kind of love them a lot. :D Her voice is just freaking awesome, and I love how bouncy and adorable their songs are. GOOD TIMES.
4. Portugal. The Man - Their album Church Mouth is the one I'm most familiar with, and it. Is. AWESOME. A couple of friends introduced them to me on a road trip this summer, and I liked what I heard so I got a couple of their albums. They pretty much rock. That is all. :D
3. The Gregory Brothers - The Autotune The News guys! They're a real band, and they're REALLY AWESOME. Their voices are all just amazing, and their EP is five songs of awesomeness. I quite like them. They're a little folksy-bluesy-poppy-rockish, and it's a good time.
2. The Mountain Goats - Thanks, John Green, for turning me on to this band. They are just... basically, if Endless Mike and the Beagle Club and the Decemberists had a baby, it would be the Mountain Goats. Lyics and music like Colin Meloy, voice and style of song like Endless Mike. Oh man, this band is great. :3
1. Ministry of Magic's new album Magic is Might is the best album I have heard all year, probably. I cannot stop listening to it. It's amazing. Not only because I love Harry Potter and I love the Ministry of Magic, but also - the songs are just amazingly written, the music is so good, and it's just a fantastic album. Gah, I love them.
RUNNERS-UP
1. The Black Keys - I was introduced to them at a party this summer, and man, they are cool. The album Brothers is a pretty good album. I really like their voices, as well.
2. Freelance Whales - Darren Criss's brother is in this band, and while that's not the ONLY reason I got their album, it was a little of the reason. ^_^ But seriously, they're SO CUTE. And their music is REALLY good. They also sort of remind me of the Decemberists, maybe if they weren't so depressing and stuck in the 1700s in England (or on ships, as they often are). XD Really good, solid indie rock band.
3. Weezer's new album Hurley, though I haven't listened to it much... I listened to it all the way through a couple of times when I first got it, but haven't really since. But it was very good, and a lot of people have agreed, so I'm putting it on the list. ^_^
Top 5 TV Shows I Watched in 2010
5. Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Oh, Joss. I know I'm like, seven years late or something, but STILL. I wish I'd been a fan when it was on. It's so good - even though I hate half the characters, it's still so funny, so interesting, so well-crafted, so unique... it's definitely one of the best shows that has ever been on television.
4. How I Met Your Mother - Ahhh, this show is soooo gooood. I don't even care what other people say, this show has been consistently awesome since the first season. It's had some not-so-great episodes, but even those were better than most shows' best episodes. I love this show, and I want it to go on forever. :3
3. Dexter - Oh man, Dexter is a great show. It's SO GOOD. I could have lived without season 3, but whatevs, all the rest of it is so brilliant it makes up for it.
2. Doctor Who - I AM SO GLAD I STARTED WATCHING DOCTOR WHOOOO. Oh my god, this SHOW. It is so AWESOME. IT'S RIDICULOUS HOW AWESOME DOCTOR WHO IS. And I'll leave it at that.
1. Community - Probably my favorite show right now, for reals. Even more than Glee or HIMYM, even more than Buffy or Doctor Who. It's SO FUNNY. You guys. SOOO FUUUNNNNYYYY. And so clever and well-written, too, it's not just stupid jokes. All the actors are fantastic, it never feels forced, it's always ridiculous but somehow seems plausible for these people, and it's still got the right amount of drama and romance and all that other stuff. :D It's truly a terrific show, and I hope it stays on the air forever and ever, as well. ^_^
RUNNERS-UP:
1. Glee - I'm not so impressed with the first part of season 2, but there were some excellent episodes, so I'm not going to write it off yet. :D Besides, it still makes me really happy, so. Yeah.
2. The Big Bang Theory - Funny, smart, nerdy, at times irritating, but mostly adorable and hilarious. This is a GREAT show.
3. Pushing Daisies - Awww, this show was so adorable. :3 I wish there had been more of it - Kristen Chenoweth was brilliant on it, and it was just such a cute premise. I really really liked this show. ^_^
Top 5 Books Read In 2010
5. Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson - This was such a cute book! Maureen Johnson is hilarious and a little crazy, but her books are so well-written, and her characters are so fleshed out, it's awesome. This is a really good sort of coming-of-age quest-type book, one of those teens-on-a-soul-searching-road-trip type books, and it's amazing.
4. Looking For Alaska by John Green - John Green's book are all sort of along the same vein, the teen-taking-a-life-changing-road-trip vein. This one in particular doesn't have a road trip, per se, but it's a kid going away to school and all, so same diff. XD But it so fully embodies the kind of memories and feelings that I want to have from this time in my life, and it's so sad and poignant and John Green is such a good writer... it touched me, okay? It might not be your favorite, but it's mine. ^_^
3. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman - I just finished this a couple of nights ago, and holy crap. It takes a while to get into, but boy howdy, does it keep you turning pages once you do. SO GOOD. It's such an interesting premise, and you get so attached to the characters and so affected by what's going on in the book, you just can't put it down. I'm excited to start the next one.
2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - Man, this series. THIS SERIES. Definitely the best series I've read in the last year, though really sad and kind of horrible. But it's so fast-paced and thrilling! It's like a quest but without the questing. It's AWESOME.
1. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins - The sequel to The Hunger Games, I think I liked it better than the first. It was just so much more intense.
Okay, I can't think of much else to do a list of, and this has gotten really long, and it's 6:15 in the morning, SO... I will leave you with a few of my goals for 2011.
* Edit my NaNo novel and get the free copy from CreateSpace
* Get all As and Bs this semester (a C is okay for Math XD)
* Blog more!
* Finish our Twilight musical and film it
* Stop drinking soda
* Stop eating so much fast food/junk food
* Learn to actually play an instrument
* Start doing yoga and/or dance classes or something active
Happy New Year, everyone. I hope you have a safe and joyous New Year's Eve, and hope 2011 is better than 2010. What are some of your resolutions or goals?
Saturday, December 4, 2010
None of this makes sense or has a point. :D
Oh hey, blog. 'Sup? What's new with you? Oh, that's cool. Me? Ah, you know, schoolwork, hangin' out, wrote a book...
Yeah that's right. I WON NANOWRIMO 2010! :D! I finished on Tuesday, the last day, with 50,025 words. YEAAAHHHHHH! ^_^ This is my second time winning, out of four attempts. I'm glad I won this year 'cause 1 out of 4 is a terrible ratio of win. =/ BUT YAY I DID IT. :D I WROTE A BOOK!
Other than that, not a whole lot has been happening. Thanksgiving was good, excited for Christmas now... got like, a week left of school, so yay. :D I'm planning my garden for next year, so that'll be fun to blog about. I AM SURE YOU GUYS CAN'T WAIT.
I have a couple of things I want to make posts about, but if you guys have any suggestions I would be open to them. I feel like this blog is all over the place - personal stuff, political stuff, ridiculous stuff. XD I can't decide what I want to do with it. Ah, well. It's completely random and insane, just like me! :D
One thing that has been on my mind lately - those Facebook things where people post stuff in their statuses or change their profile pictures to "raise awareness" or whatever for different causes? What is up with that? How does putting your bra color in your status, without explaining what it means, do anything to raise awareness of breast cancer? Furthermore, who in this day and age is NOT aware of breast cancer? What does raising awareness DO? I mean, I could understand if it was like, a new thing or something people don't usually think about, or something happening in a different country, maybe... but I still don't see why people think changing their profile picture is going to make a difference.
Currently there's a trend going around where everyone is changing their photo to a picture of their favorite childhood cartoon character. It's supposed to raise awareness of child abuse, somehow. I don't really understand how, exactly. But it's happening. =/ Child abuse is a problem that there really isn't a good solution to. I mean, we as a country or a planet cannot police child abuse because it goes on in the home, and often there's no way of knowing for sure. The only thing we can do is what we have been doing - if you know someone is abusing a child, report it. Then get the child away from that person. And that's really all we can do to fix the problem. But we all know it happens, and it's really sad and everything, but what is Facebook going to do about it? How does this help?
I don't know. I just get kind of annoyed sometimes at the silly things people do. =/ But whatever - if you want to participate, that is fine. Good for you. If you really think it does some good, that's good, too. I hope it does. This is just my cynical grouchy old lady opinion. :D
Also: I really love the character Giles on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, but I really hate the actor, Anthony Stewart Head. I think he's gross and dumb and irritating, but Giles is sexy and awesome and adorable. Does anyone else feel this way? O_o
Yeah that's right. I WON NANOWRIMO 2010! :D! I finished on Tuesday, the last day, with 50,025 words. YEAAAHHHHHH! ^_^ This is my second time winning, out of four attempts. I'm glad I won this year 'cause 1 out of 4 is a terrible ratio of win. =/ BUT YAY I DID IT. :D I WROTE A BOOK!
Other than that, not a whole lot has been happening. Thanksgiving was good, excited for Christmas now... got like, a week left of school, so yay. :D I'm planning my garden for next year, so that'll be fun to blog about. I AM SURE YOU GUYS CAN'T WAIT.
I have a couple of things I want to make posts about, but if you guys have any suggestions I would be open to them. I feel like this blog is all over the place - personal stuff, political stuff, ridiculous stuff. XD I can't decide what I want to do with it. Ah, well. It's completely random and insane, just like me! :D
One thing that has been on my mind lately - those Facebook things where people post stuff in their statuses or change their profile pictures to "raise awareness" or whatever for different causes? What is up with that? How does putting your bra color in your status, without explaining what it means, do anything to raise awareness of breast cancer? Furthermore, who in this day and age is NOT aware of breast cancer? What does raising awareness DO? I mean, I could understand if it was like, a new thing or something people don't usually think about, or something happening in a different country, maybe... but I still don't see why people think changing their profile picture is going to make a difference.
Currently there's a trend going around where everyone is changing their photo to a picture of their favorite childhood cartoon character. It's supposed to raise awareness of child abuse, somehow. I don't really understand how, exactly. But it's happening. =/ Child abuse is a problem that there really isn't a good solution to. I mean, we as a country or a planet cannot police child abuse because it goes on in the home, and often there's no way of knowing for sure. The only thing we can do is what we have been doing - if you know someone is abusing a child, report it. Then get the child away from that person. And that's really all we can do to fix the problem. But we all know it happens, and it's really sad and everything, but what is Facebook going to do about it? How does this help?
I don't know. I just get kind of annoyed sometimes at the silly things people do. =/ But whatever - if you want to participate, that is fine. Good for you. If you really think it does some good, that's good, too. I hope it does. This is just my cynical grouchy old lady opinion. :D
Also: I really love the character Giles on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, but I really hate the actor, Anthony Stewart Head. I think he's gross and dumb and irritating, but Giles is sexy and awesome and adorable. Does anyone else feel this way? O_o
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Procrastination Station, indeed.
This is me not working on my NaNo novel! :D YAY.
You guys, I am so far behind, it's not even funny anymore. O_o I don't know if I can make it, but failure is NOT AN OPTION THIS YEAR. I HAVE to do it. I don't even know how I got so far behind!
The first week of November, I had a lot of stuff that I had to do for school. It was pretty hectic. But the very first day, I wrote nearly 2,000 words. I was like "I totally gots this, whatevs" and then I did my schoolwork and didn't touch the document until a week later. =/
That week, I added another 3,000ish words, a few hundred here and there, a thousand that night, and so on. It was progress, slowly and somewhat steadily. But I was still very behind. -_-
And then this past week! Miracles! I finally broke 10,000, even 11,000, and all it took was actually sitting down and writing! Who knew? I hit 11,100 and thought "Well, this was a good night! I'll take a break!" And then I didn't touch it again for four days.
Now I am up to 13,783, when I SHOULD be at 35,000. It is a huge, staggering gap, and I am determined to close it in the next couple of days. I have school tomorrow, but then I have a week off - yes, the holiday and family and working Black Friday, but STILL. SIX WHOLE DAYS in which I can close this gap. AND I SHALL. I am determined.
I can take some solace in knowing a few of my friends have given up, and a few of the people who ALWAYS win are behind, as well. I look to Kristina Horner (of the Parselmouths and ALL CAPS), four time winner, who is currently behind schedule at around 27,000, as my biggest inspiration - she's behind, but she never loses. And there's not so many words between us. I could easily catch up to her in a couple of days. And from there, I could easily catch up to NaNo's suggested word count. And from THERE, it's just a hop, skip, and a jump to finishing!
When I look at it like that, it seems easy. But then I think "I'm writing all these words in a blog post when I should be writing my novel!" and I get all discouraged again. XD
Share your NaNo stories! Inspire me! Tell me how awesome I am for trying! Give me comments to read when I should be writing! :D
PS - also, would you guys be interested in a post about my Harry Potter experience? 'Cause I'll probably do it anyway, so just figured I'd ask. XD Do I even still have any readers?
You guys, I am so far behind, it's not even funny anymore. O_o I don't know if I can make it, but failure is NOT AN OPTION THIS YEAR. I HAVE to do it. I don't even know how I got so far behind!
The first week of November, I had a lot of stuff that I had to do for school. It was pretty hectic. But the very first day, I wrote nearly 2,000 words. I was like "I totally gots this, whatevs" and then I did my schoolwork and didn't touch the document until a week later. =/
That week, I added another 3,000ish words, a few hundred here and there, a thousand that night, and so on. It was progress, slowly and somewhat steadily. But I was still very behind. -_-
And then this past week! Miracles! I finally broke 10,000, even 11,000, and all it took was actually sitting down and writing! Who knew? I hit 11,100 and thought "Well, this was a good night! I'll take a break!" And then I didn't touch it again for four days.
Now I am up to 13,783, when I SHOULD be at 35,000. It is a huge, staggering gap, and I am determined to close it in the next couple of days. I have school tomorrow, but then I have a week off - yes, the holiday and family and working Black Friday, but STILL. SIX WHOLE DAYS in which I can close this gap. AND I SHALL. I am determined.
I can take some solace in knowing a few of my friends have given up, and a few of the people who ALWAYS win are behind, as well. I look to Kristina Horner (of the Parselmouths and ALL CAPS), four time winner, who is currently behind schedule at around 27,000, as my biggest inspiration - she's behind, but she never loses. And there's not so many words between us. I could easily catch up to her in a couple of days. And from there, I could easily catch up to NaNo's suggested word count. And from THERE, it's just a hop, skip, and a jump to finishing!
When I look at it like that, it seems easy. But then I think "I'm writing all these words in a blog post when I should be writing my novel!" and I get all discouraged again. XD
Share your NaNo stories! Inspire me! Tell me how awesome I am for trying! Give me comments to read when I should be writing! :D
PS - also, would you guys be interested in a post about my Harry Potter experience? 'Cause I'll probably do it anyway, so just figured I'd ask. XD Do I even still have any readers?
Saturday, November 13, 2010
NANOWRIMOOOOO.
So I haven't posted in a bit. =/ Sorry. November is a busy month - midterms and papers and whatnot, plus we are right in the middle of NaNoWriMo, so I'm a bit stressed.
This is the fourth year I've done NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, which is a month-long sprint to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. It's pretty awesome. :D I've only won once, but this year I intend to finish, even though right now I'm horribly behind. =/ If you're interested, their website is http://www.nanowrimo.org, and you can follow my progress or friend me at http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/221272.
That's basically all I wanted to say. Life is going pretty well, but I've been busy, so I haven't had a lot of time for things. Hopefully when the semester is over and I've written my novel (IT'S GONNA HAPPEN I SWEAR) I'll be back with some interesting things to talk about. :D And who knows, maybe for Christmas I'll get a camcorder so I can fully pursue my dream of being internet famous! :D HOW EXCITING.
So I'll probably be back in a couple of weeks. :D Be good while I'm gone.
This is the fourth year I've done NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, which is a month-long sprint to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. It's pretty awesome. :D I've only won once, but this year I intend to finish, even though right now I'm horribly behind. =/ If you're interested, their website is http://www.nanowrimo.org, and you can follow my progress or friend me at http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/221272.
That's basically all I wanted to say. Life is going pretty well, but I've been busy, so I haven't had a lot of time for things. Hopefully when the semester is over and I've written my novel (IT'S GONNA HAPPEN I SWEAR) I'll be back with some interesting things to talk about. :D And who knows, maybe for Christmas I'll get a camcorder so I can fully pursue my dream of being internet famous! :D HOW EXCITING.
So I'll probably be back in a couple of weeks. :D Be good while I'm gone.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Attention, today's LGBT youth - It Gets Better.
If you have a Facebook or a Twitter, I'm sure you noticed that yesterday was the Spirit Day thing, where (according to Facebook) 27,990 people wore purple in honor of all the gay teens who committed suicide recently, as well as just to show support to the LGBTetc community. There have been several suicides recently, cases in which these kids were being bullied and picked on for being gay.
There's also a project on YouTube that's been going on since September, the It Gets Better Project, where dozens of celebrities have made videos telling LBGT youth that life gets better, that getting bullied right now sucks, but it's not worth killing yourself because as you get older, as the world becomes more accepting, and as you come into who you are and become proud of it, life does get better. I think it's part of or associated with The Trevor Project (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trevor_Project), which is also just amazing.
These projects are beautiful and awesome, and some of the videos in the It Gets Better project made me choke up a little, but the fact that they have to exist is sickening. The fact that children are killing themselves because their peers are so close-minded is just awful.
This subject makes me so angry. The people who say being gay is a choice, the people who don't want gays in the military or to be able to marry or adopt children, it's all just so frustrating. There are some things I'd like to say to those people:
First of all, IT IS NOT A CHOICE, YOU IDIOTS. Did you ever CHOOSE to be straight? When were you offered this choice? Birth? How can a baby make such an important decision? And I was never offered the choice - maybe I would have liked to be gay. God knows there are some things I would have liked to change, had I known we got a CHOICE. Were you also offered a choice on skin color, religion, gender? And why in the WORLD, with people like you walking around passing judgment on others for things they can't help, WHY would ANYONE choose to be gay? Or black? Or speak any other language besides English? With people like you making everyone who isn't JUST LIKE YOU feel like an abomination that doesn't deserve to be alive, WHY would anyone choose anything else? Also, sidebar - someone explain to me where the "God doesn't make mistakes" line of thought comes in.
Secondly, SHUT THE EFF UP ABOUT GAYS IN THE MILITARY, OH MY GOD. Seriously, there are people willing to go and die for their country, and you're going to tell them they can't? WHY? What could you POSSIBLY have to lose? I thought being in the military was just about the best thing an American could do, and here you guys are not letting everyone play. That's not fair. Women are allowed. Blacks are allowed. Asians are allowed. People not even from this COUNTRY are allowed, so why not gays? Woman isn't catching, and as far as I know neither are black, Asian, or foreign, so why are you so afraid that people will "turn" gay? Furthermore, what does being gay have to do with your ability to hold a gun, fly a plane, and drive a tank? The more people willingly signing up for war, the less likely your perfect straight-as-an-arrow sons will be drafted. Isn't this a good thing? Or do you just want to keep the glory of being in the military away from the gays? That's pretty selfish. =/
Third, Neil Patrick Harris and his boyfriend of like, five years, David Burtka, just adopted twins:
Look at these two. Just LOOK at them, and tell me that they shouldn't be allowed to be married, to be parents, to be IN LOVE. Look. Look at all the cute:
How can they possibly be wrong? :D <3 And there is just no argument about the babies turning out gay - I'm pretty sure NPH's parents aren't a gay couple. I don't think David's are either, actually. Hmm. How strange. I don't think Ellen DeGeneres was raised by two gay parents either, nor was her wife, Portia De Rossi. This is so weird! It's almost like the parents' sexualities make no difference on a child's sexuality! So, if we assume this is true, just, you know, based on all the evidence around us as seen in just about every single family in the world, then it simply CAN'T be true that gay parents would make a gay child! Wow. Learn something new every day, huh?
Seriously, though, it's just disgusting that there are people out there who treat their fellow human beings like this. In Sarah Silverman's It Gets Better video, she says that adults go around banning gay marriage and protesting adoption by gay couples and talking about gay people like they're the scum of the earth, and then they're all surprised when their children start bullying their gay peers. You're all shocked at the hatred and anger your children are expressing - WHERE DO YOU THINK THEY LEARNED IT? Why is it so bad to just let people be happy? Just let people love, whoever or whatever they want to love. How can it POSSIBLY hurt you if two men you don't know get married? What harm could POSSIBLY come to you and yours if two women decide to raise a child together? Do you really think that child will turn out any worse than your 14-year-old-daughter's kid?
I am so tired of hearing about these idiots. Listen, if there are any gay kids out there who happened upon this blog (thanks for reading, btw :D), pay attention: THERE ARE PEOPLE OUT HERE WHO LOVE YOU. There are people ON YOUR SIDE. There are people willing to fight for you, who've never met you but want you to be happy anyway, who never want to see you go through this pain. There are people you can talk to. Please, please, if you're a gay kid or teen being bullied at school, please don't hurt yourself. There are so many things out here to live for. And there's so much you could do. Please don't give up.
Personally, I am not homosexual, but inside, I am as close to a gay man as a woman can get. XD Many, many of my friends are LGBTs (is that a term? I guess it is now.), including one of my very best friends in the world. He is amazing and beautiful, and being gay is only a part of who he is, but without that part, he just wouldn't be the same glorious person. :D And neither would you. One of my other gay friends in high school once wore a dress to a football game, no joke. It was hilarious, and amazing, and he's just that kind of person. He actually dated my bff, and they were one of the only (possibly THE only) openly gay couples, and no one seemed to have an issue with it. And I live in South Carolina, y'all. =/
My point here is this: a) gay people are people, plain and simple; b) people who hate gays are stupid jerks and they make me sad and angry; c) The Trevor Project and It Gets Better are terrific projects and it makes me feel a little better seeing all the people who DO care; and d) if you are a gay teen being bullied, or, actually, ANYONE of ANY AGE being bullied and hurt, don't stand for it! And don't let them get you down! Talk to someone, tell on them, call the effing cops if you have to. Show them how much stronger you are than their close-minded words, and if they hurt you physically, I'm serious - go to the principal or even the police and get some help. And please, before you think about hurting yourself or someone else, please talk to someone. There are people who will listen, and people who care. Don't let the bullies win - if they keep winning, this world will never accept peoples' differences and we will all lose. =/
Go check out some of the It Gets Better videos on YouTube - Neil Patrick Harris's, Ellen's, and Sarah Silverman's are all good. Darren Hayes's (from Savage Garden) is good too, and YouTube's own Sassy Gay Friend made one as well. They are all pretty touching and emotional.
And here's the Trevor Project's site, where you can donate money, find helpful resources on suicide, and also find their suicide hotline number: http://www.thetrevorproject.org/
There's also a project on YouTube that's been going on since September, the It Gets Better Project, where dozens of celebrities have made videos telling LBGT youth that life gets better, that getting bullied right now sucks, but it's not worth killing yourself because as you get older, as the world becomes more accepting, and as you come into who you are and become proud of it, life does get better. I think it's part of or associated with The Trevor Project (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trevor_Project), which is also just amazing.
These projects are beautiful and awesome, and some of the videos in the It Gets Better project made me choke up a little, but the fact that they have to exist is sickening. The fact that children are killing themselves because their peers are so close-minded is just awful.
This subject makes me so angry. The people who say being gay is a choice, the people who don't want gays in the military or to be able to marry or adopt children, it's all just so frustrating. There are some things I'd like to say to those people:
First of all, IT IS NOT A CHOICE, YOU IDIOTS. Did you ever CHOOSE to be straight? When were you offered this choice? Birth? How can a baby make such an important decision? And I was never offered the choice - maybe I would have liked to be gay. God knows there are some things I would have liked to change, had I known we got a CHOICE. Were you also offered a choice on skin color, religion, gender? And why in the WORLD, with people like you walking around passing judgment on others for things they can't help, WHY would ANYONE choose to be gay? Or black? Or speak any other language besides English? With people like you making everyone who isn't JUST LIKE YOU feel like an abomination that doesn't deserve to be alive, WHY would anyone choose anything else? Also, sidebar - someone explain to me where the "God doesn't make mistakes" line of thought comes in.
Secondly, SHUT THE EFF UP ABOUT GAYS IN THE MILITARY, OH MY GOD. Seriously, there are people willing to go and die for their country, and you're going to tell them they can't? WHY? What could you POSSIBLY have to lose? I thought being in the military was just about the best thing an American could do, and here you guys are not letting everyone play. That's not fair. Women are allowed. Blacks are allowed. Asians are allowed. People not even from this COUNTRY are allowed, so why not gays? Woman isn't catching, and as far as I know neither are black, Asian, or foreign, so why are you so afraid that people will "turn" gay? Furthermore, what does being gay have to do with your ability to hold a gun, fly a plane, and drive a tank? The more people willingly signing up for war, the less likely your perfect straight-as-an-arrow sons will be drafted. Isn't this a good thing? Or do you just want to keep the glory of being in the military away from the gays? That's pretty selfish. =/
Third, Neil Patrick Harris and his boyfriend of like, five years, David Burtka, just adopted twins:
Look at these two. Just LOOK at them, and tell me that they shouldn't be allowed to be married, to be parents, to be IN LOVE. Look. Look at all the cute:
How can they possibly be wrong? :D <3 And there is just no argument about the babies turning out gay - I'm pretty sure NPH's parents aren't a gay couple. I don't think David's are either, actually. Hmm. How strange. I don't think Ellen DeGeneres was raised by two gay parents either, nor was her wife, Portia De Rossi. This is so weird! It's almost like the parents' sexualities make no difference on a child's sexuality! So, if we assume this is true, just, you know, based on all the evidence around us as seen in just about every single family in the world, then it simply CAN'T be true that gay parents would make a gay child! Wow. Learn something new every day, huh?
Seriously, though, it's just disgusting that there are people out there who treat their fellow human beings like this. In Sarah Silverman's It Gets Better video, she says that adults go around banning gay marriage and protesting adoption by gay couples and talking about gay people like they're the scum of the earth, and then they're all surprised when their children start bullying their gay peers. You're all shocked at the hatred and anger your children are expressing - WHERE DO YOU THINK THEY LEARNED IT? Why is it so bad to just let people be happy? Just let people love, whoever or whatever they want to love. How can it POSSIBLY hurt you if two men you don't know get married? What harm could POSSIBLY come to you and yours if two women decide to raise a child together? Do you really think that child will turn out any worse than your 14-year-old-daughter's kid?
I am so tired of hearing about these idiots. Listen, if there are any gay kids out there who happened upon this blog (thanks for reading, btw :D), pay attention: THERE ARE PEOPLE OUT HERE WHO LOVE YOU. There are people ON YOUR SIDE. There are people willing to fight for you, who've never met you but want you to be happy anyway, who never want to see you go through this pain. There are people you can talk to. Please, please, if you're a gay kid or teen being bullied at school, please don't hurt yourself. There are so many things out here to live for. And there's so much you could do. Please don't give up.
Personally, I am not homosexual, but inside, I am as close to a gay man as a woman can get. XD Many, many of my friends are LGBTs (is that a term? I guess it is now.), including one of my very best friends in the world. He is amazing and beautiful, and being gay is only a part of who he is, but without that part, he just wouldn't be the same glorious person. :D And neither would you. One of my other gay friends in high school once wore a dress to a football game, no joke. It was hilarious, and amazing, and he's just that kind of person. He actually dated my bff, and they were one of the only (possibly THE only) openly gay couples, and no one seemed to have an issue with it. And I live in South Carolina, y'all. =/
My point here is this: a) gay people are people, plain and simple; b) people who hate gays are stupid jerks and they make me sad and angry; c) The Trevor Project and It Gets Better are terrific projects and it makes me feel a little better seeing all the people who DO care; and d) if you are a gay teen being bullied, or, actually, ANYONE of ANY AGE being bullied and hurt, don't stand for it! And don't let them get you down! Talk to someone, tell on them, call the effing cops if you have to. Show them how much stronger you are than their close-minded words, and if they hurt you physically, I'm serious - go to the principal or even the police and get some help. And please, before you think about hurting yourself or someone else, please talk to someone. There are people who will listen, and people who care. Don't let the bullies win - if they keep winning, this world will never accept peoples' differences and we will all lose. =/
Go check out some of the It Gets Better videos on YouTube - Neil Patrick Harris's, Ellen's, and Sarah Silverman's are all good. Darren Hayes's (from Savage Garden) is good too, and YouTube's own Sassy Gay Friend made one as well. They are all pretty touching and emotional.
And here's the Trevor Project's site, where you can donate money, find helpful resources on suicide, and also find their suicide hotline number: http://www.thetrevorproject.org/
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
TRIPLE RAINBOW AWESOME TOUR
Hey, remember that time when I used to update this? Let's bring that back. :D
Once upon a time, around 3:30 Monday morning, my friend Carmen and I set off for Washington DC for the Triple Rainbow Awesome Tour! :D It was a long drive. A loooong drive. =/
We get to DC around 12:30ish, having stopped to eat and getting lost once or twice. :D Then we still have to find parking, which is just ridiculous, because it was Columbus Day so forty thousand people decided to go to DC and just take up all the parking spaces. =/ A nice meter maid lady told us it was free because it was a holiday, but thanks to stupid jerkfaces who can't park, we just ended up paying $10 to park in a garage. We figured it was less frustrating, and thus worth the money and the walking. It wasn't far to the park, anyway, but then we decided to eat. It was around 2 (yes, it took us THAT LONG to park) and we had seen a Subway somewhere while circling looking for parking, and a security dude in an art museum directed us to Pennsylvania and 7th, which was really close! Yay! So we set off!
And then we got to PA and 7th and didn't see a Subway or ANY restaurants, in fact. =/ I asked a lady, but she thought I meant a real subway, not the food Subway, so that was useless. Then I got attacked by a bug. Then we found a Starbucks, rested, and decided to try a place called Au Bon Pain, I think. I was deeply unimpressed. It was $8 for a crappy little ham sandwich and a Pepsi, and I didn't even get refills, and they didn't even get it right. =/ Not a fan. Oh well. There isn't one here, so it's not a problem. :D
ALSO: walking back and forth between this place and Starbucks, there was a LEGIT CRAZY LADY. On the way past the first time, we thought she was talking on a bluetooth thing. She didn't look crazy. She wasn't dressed horribly, and she had a roll-y suitcase guy with her, but she was just sitting on this wall thingy talking to herself. It was kind of terrifying. =/
Then we hung out in Starbucks charging our phones for an hour or so, waiting for 4:00 to happen. We were sleepy, but by the time we made it to the park, I was pretty excited again. ^_^ And guys - I've never been to a YouTube gathering or a Nerdfighter meetup, and the other two wrock concerts I went to were kind of small, so it was freaking AWESOME to see like, 70 people in HP, Doctor Who, wizard rock, Nerdfighter, YouTube people, and generally nerdy t-shirts, all hanging out together and being awesome. There were two groups when we came up, and then by the power of the Sons of Admirals and Doctor Who, we joined together (two girls in one group were wearing those shirts and I went to compliment them and said they should come join the other group). :D WOOT. It was fairly awesome. Everyone introduced themselves, even though there were far too many people to remember names... it was fun.
AND THEN. The stars showed up! :D Luke Conard, Kristina Horner, Mike Lombardo, Alex Carpenter, and Jason Munday. Weeeee! :D We relocated to another bit of the park, and then the concert started. Highlights:
* I am TOTALLY IN LOVE with Mike Lombardo. Seriously guys, go look him up on YouTube. :D SOOOO CUUUUTE. :3
* ALEX CARPENTER WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE. Why didn't I love the Remus Lupins before now?! Everyone was right - he's pretty much a god. :D <3
* Jason Munday is frickin' adorable and played two songs I love, but unfortunately not California Dorks, which has been stuck in my head for about a squillion years.
* ALL CAPS acoustic was pretty good, and even though I was sad I didn't get to hear them/MoM in all their glory, it was a really cozy familiar setting, and it was really nice. :D
* Mike Lombardo solved my Rubik's Cube, which sounds like an innuendo, but it's just a fact. XD In one of his songs he says he can solve it in 2 minutes, and I wanted to see if it was true, and he didn't do it in 2 minutes so I felt bad, but he did eventually solve it so it was okay. :D
* Nerdfighters will clap at anything - parrots, fire trucks, some guy shaving in the park...
* Did I mention how cute they all are? 'Cause they are. SO CUTE.
I talked to Mike Lombardo, and guys, he is just so sweet. He's one of the sweetest guys ever. :D He was so nice to me even though I'm a crazy fangirl who was like "HELLO MIKE I LOVE YOU YOU'RE CUTE AND I LOVE YOU SERIOUSLY I LOVE YOU AND YOU'RE CUTE. I LOVE YOU. :DDD" And they were all pretty impressed that we drove so far to see them. ^_^ So that made us feel special.
Then we napped for about three hours in the rest area right outside DC on the way back to Richmond. Totally didn't even die. :D And then we drove home, and it was mostly okay, but the last 3 hours were just torturous. We were hallucinating and cranky and just wanted to teleport home. And we saw a weresheep. D: For reals. It followed us. ;-;
Anyway, so that was my adventure to DC for one day! :D It was a good time. People who performed:
Mike Lombardo - http://www.youtube.com/user/MikeLombardoMusic
ALL CAPS - http://www.youtube.com/user/ALLCAPSBAND
Ministry of Magic - http://www.youtube.com/user/ministryofmagicmusic
Luke Conard (ALL CAPS, Ministry of Magic)- http://www.youtube.com/user/LukeConard
Kristina Horner (ALL CAPS)- http://www.youtube.com/user/italktosnakes
Jason Munday (Skyway Flyer, Ministry of Magic)- http://www.youtube.com/user/JasonMundayMusic
Alex Carpenter (The Remus Lupins)- http://www.youtube.com/user/AlexanderCarpenter
Check them all out, they're all amazing musicians and really great people. :D
Once upon a time, around 3:30 Monday morning, my friend Carmen and I set off for Washington DC for the Triple Rainbow Awesome Tour! :D It was a long drive. A loooong drive. =/
We get to DC around 12:30ish, having stopped to eat and getting lost once or twice. :D Then we still have to find parking, which is just ridiculous, because it was Columbus Day so forty thousand people decided to go to DC and just take up all the parking spaces. =/ A nice meter maid lady told us it was free because it was a holiday, but thanks to stupid jerkfaces who can't park, we just ended up paying $10 to park in a garage. We figured it was less frustrating, and thus worth the money and the walking. It wasn't far to the park, anyway, but then we decided to eat. It was around 2 (yes, it took us THAT LONG to park) and we had seen a Subway somewhere while circling looking for parking, and a security dude in an art museum directed us to Pennsylvania and 7th, which was really close! Yay! So we set off!
And then we got to PA and 7th and didn't see a Subway or ANY restaurants, in fact. =/ I asked a lady, but she thought I meant a real subway, not the food Subway, so that was useless. Then I got attacked by a bug. Then we found a Starbucks, rested, and decided to try a place called Au Bon Pain, I think. I was deeply unimpressed. It was $8 for a crappy little ham sandwich and a Pepsi, and I didn't even get refills, and they didn't even get it right. =/ Not a fan. Oh well. There isn't one here, so it's not a problem. :D
ALSO: walking back and forth between this place and Starbucks, there was a LEGIT CRAZY LADY. On the way past the first time, we thought she was talking on a bluetooth thing. She didn't look crazy. She wasn't dressed horribly, and she had a roll-y suitcase guy with her, but she was just sitting on this wall thingy talking to herself. It was kind of terrifying. =/
Then we hung out in Starbucks charging our phones for an hour or so, waiting for 4:00 to happen. We were sleepy, but by the time we made it to the park, I was pretty excited again. ^_^ And guys - I've never been to a YouTube gathering or a Nerdfighter meetup, and the other two wrock concerts I went to were kind of small, so it was freaking AWESOME to see like, 70 people in HP, Doctor Who, wizard rock, Nerdfighter, YouTube people, and generally nerdy t-shirts, all hanging out together and being awesome. There were two groups when we came up, and then by the power of the Sons of Admirals and Doctor Who, we joined together (two girls in one group were wearing those shirts and I went to compliment them and said they should come join the other group). :D WOOT. It was fairly awesome. Everyone introduced themselves, even though there were far too many people to remember names... it was fun.
AND THEN. The stars showed up! :D Luke Conard, Kristina Horner, Mike Lombardo, Alex Carpenter, and Jason Munday. Weeeee! :D We relocated to another bit of the park, and then the concert started. Highlights:
* I am TOTALLY IN LOVE with Mike Lombardo. Seriously guys, go look him up on YouTube. :D SOOOO CUUUUTE. :3
* ALEX CARPENTER WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE. Why didn't I love the Remus Lupins before now?! Everyone was right - he's pretty much a god. :D <3
* Jason Munday is frickin' adorable and played two songs I love, but unfortunately not California Dorks, which has been stuck in my head for about a squillion years.
* ALL CAPS acoustic was pretty good, and even though I was sad I didn't get to hear them/MoM in all their glory, it was a really cozy familiar setting, and it was really nice. :D
* Mike Lombardo solved my Rubik's Cube, which sounds like an innuendo, but it's just a fact. XD In one of his songs he says he can solve it in 2 minutes, and I wanted to see if it was true, and he didn't do it in 2 minutes so I felt bad, but he did eventually solve it so it was okay. :D
* Nerdfighters will clap at anything - parrots, fire trucks, some guy shaving in the park...
* Did I mention how cute they all are? 'Cause they are. SO CUTE.
I talked to Mike Lombardo, and guys, he is just so sweet. He's one of the sweetest guys ever. :D He was so nice to me even though I'm a crazy fangirl who was like "HELLO MIKE I LOVE YOU YOU'RE CUTE AND I LOVE YOU SERIOUSLY I LOVE YOU AND YOU'RE CUTE. I LOVE YOU. :DDD" And they were all pretty impressed that we drove so far to see them. ^_^ So that made us feel special.
Then we napped for about three hours in the rest area right outside DC on the way back to Richmond. Totally didn't even die. :D And then we drove home, and it was mostly okay, but the last 3 hours were just torturous. We were hallucinating and cranky and just wanted to teleport home. And we saw a weresheep. D: For reals. It followed us. ;-;
Anyway, so that was my adventure to DC for one day! :D It was a good time. People who performed:
Mike Lombardo - http://www.youtube.com/user/MikeLombardoMusic
ALL CAPS - http://www.youtube.com/user/ALLCAPSBAND
Ministry of Magic - http://www.youtube.com/user/ministryofmagicmusic
Luke Conard (ALL CAPS, Ministry of Magic)- http://www.youtube.com/user/LukeConard
Kristina Horner (ALL CAPS)- http://www.youtube.com/user/italktosnakes
Jason Munday (Skyway Flyer, Ministry of Magic)- http://www.youtube.com/user/JasonMundayMusic
Alex Carpenter (The Remus Lupins)- http://www.youtube.com/user/AlexanderCarpenter
Check them all out, they're all amazing musicians and really great people. :D
Sunday, September 26, 2010
I like the internet.
I have totally failed at blogging this week, huh? -_- Oh well. What can you do?
I've been thinking a bit about social media stuff, partly because of my last blog and partly because everyone makes such a huge freaking deal when any part of the internet is broken. Of course, I'm just as angry when Facebook goes away or something, but people are always saying stuff about how my generation can't do anything because we're so wired up and always have our phones and iPods and whatnot, and honestly, I don't think that's true.
For the most part, yes, we're constantly texting or tweeting, checking Facebook or IMing, blogging or emailing (yeah, like anyone emails anymore! [that's a joke, I still email]). But that doesn't mean we don't know how to interact with people. It doesn't mean we sit inside all day and do nothing but stare at a screen. A lot of our time may be spent that way, but why does that have to be a bad thing? I spend a LOT of time online, but I still have irl (in real life) friends and hang out with them often. We do things that don't involve screens at all, sometimes, and occasionally we even go to that place without walls or ceilings, where it's all hot and bright and there's plants and stuff. But yes, I do text and tweet sometimes, and I have been known to check Facebook more than a few times a day (more than that, if I'm trying to do homework), and even sometimes remember to post on my blog.
And the internet, aside from being an amazing time-waster and source of "knowledge" and useful tool for pirating, is also a fantastic way to meet people and make friends. I have several friends I've met online, who I feel I know pretty well, from all around the country, and even around the world. Someone I would consider a very close friend lives in Wisconsin, and I've never met her. We've talked on the phone, as well as various places on the internet. In fact, I've made more online friends than I have friends at college, and I consider them to be just as important as my real life friends. So it's not all bad. It's not all posting pictures of drunk friends or updating everyone we know about what we're eating at the moment. There are some legitimate uses for the internet. And the internet is the only way I can communicate with most of my online friends, so yes, I do spend a lot of time on Facebook and Twitter, but it's not like I can't function without them.
That's what I feel a lot of people think about my age group - that we literally cannot do anything without our phones or laptops. And it's a little insulting, because not all of us are like that. A small percentage, yes, but not all of us. It just really bothers me. I'm a pretty well-rounded person, I think, and I read, I write, I like to play games, I do a lot of things that don't involve a screen or wires of any sort. And I don't think it's a bad thing to like video games, movies, or hanging out online. Honestly, I think as long as you can go without it, as long as you can function without it in your life, as long as it isn't your entire life, anything you like to do is okay.
I don't know. I probably shouldn't blog at 7 AM when I haven't been asleep yet. =/
I've been thinking a bit about social media stuff, partly because of my last blog and partly because everyone makes such a huge freaking deal when any part of the internet is broken. Of course, I'm just as angry when Facebook goes away or something, but people are always saying stuff about how my generation can't do anything because we're so wired up and always have our phones and iPods and whatnot, and honestly, I don't think that's true.
For the most part, yes, we're constantly texting or tweeting, checking Facebook or IMing, blogging or emailing (yeah, like anyone emails anymore! [that's a joke, I still email]). But that doesn't mean we don't know how to interact with people. It doesn't mean we sit inside all day and do nothing but stare at a screen. A lot of our time may be spent that way, but why does that have to be a bad thing? I spend a LOT of time online, but I still have irl (in real life) friends and hang out with them often. We do things that don't involve screens at all, sometimes, and occasionally we even go to that place without walls or ceilings, where it's all hot and bright and there's plants and stuff. But yes, I do text and tweet sometimes, and I have been known to check Facebook more than a few times a day (more than that, if I'm trying to do homework), and even sometimes remember to post on my blog.
And the internet, aside from being an amazing time-waster and source of "knowledge" and useful tool for pirating, is also a fantastic way to meet people and make friends. I have several friends I've met online, who I feel I know pretty well, from all around the country, and even around the world. Someone I would consider a very close friend lives in Wisconsin, and I've never met her. We've talked on the phone, as well as various places on the internet. In fact, I've made more online friends than I have friends at college, and I consider them to be just as important as my real life friends. So it's not all bad. It's not all posting pictures of drunk friends or updating everyone we know about what we're eating at the moment. There are some legitimate uses for the internet. And the internet is the only way I can communicate with most of my online friends, so yes, I do spend a lot of time on Facebook and Twitter, but it's not like I can't function without them.
That's what I feel a lot of people think about my age group - that we literally cannot do anything without our phones or laptops. And it's a little insulting, because not all of us are like that. A small percentage, yes, but not all of us. It just really bothers me. I'm a pretty well-rounded person, I think, and I read, I write, I like to play games, I do a lot of things that don't involve a screen or wires of any sort. And I don't think it's a bad thing to like video games, movies, or hanging out online. Honestly, I think as long as you can go without it, as long as you can function without it in your life, as long as it isn't your entire life, anything you like to do is okay.
I don't know. I probably shouldn't blog at 7 AM when I haven't been asleep yet. =/
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Internet rights?
I failed at blogging yesterday 'cause I was busy with Real Life Things. O_o I know. It happens sometimes.
However, today I come to you with A Story. :D Apparently some kid brought a gun to my old high school and shot the security officer dude, and then I think made a bomb threat or something. The officer is fine, and the kid was taken away, but several schools had to be locked down because of the bomb threat. This whole story has circulated around Facebook today, and now people are passing links to his Twitter around, too. And this kid... let me tell you, he's a real winner.
I'm not going to post a name or a Twitter account, or quote him directly, but there were at least 15 tweets involving guns, bombs, and death of some sort. I just glanced over the first page, all the tweets before the shooting occurred, and as one of my friends put it: this probably could have been prevented. But that's where I find issues.
On the one hand, if the authorities had access to this kid's tweets, they might have been able to keep the shooting from happening. They would have had to have access to his location, full name, and school information, but they could have prevented it theoretically.
On the other hand, would it have been an invasion of his privacy? It's a public place, his tweets aren't protected, so anyone can see them. But his information, unless he makes it public, should be protected by Twitter, right? And he should be allowed to say whatever he wants on his own Twitter, right?
So what should be done about these kinds of situations? Everyone's always saying that the world has become obsessed with social media and the internet and instant everything, and it's true. I'm part of it, of course, and I love Facebook and Twitter, but even though they're on the internet I still consider it sort of private and personal. It's my own corner of the internet. And no one can tell me what to post, or not to post, and if I don't want you to have access, I don't think you should be able to see it, police, government, or not.
In a case where monitoring social media could potentially save lives, is it better to protect our freedom of speech, or to violate those rights but keep more situations like this from happening?
However, today I come to you with A Story. :D Apparently some kid brought a gun to my old high school and shot the security officer dude, and then I think made a bomb threat or something. The officer is fine, and the kid was taken away, but several schools had to be locked down because of the bomb threat. This whole story has circulated around Facebook today, and now people are passing links to his Twitter around, too. And this kid... let me tell you, he's a real winner.
I'm not going to post a name or a Twitter account, or quote him directly, but there were at least 15 tweets involving guns, bombs, and death of some sort. I just glanced over the first page, all the tweets before the shooting occurred, and as one of my friends put it: this probably could have been prevented. But that's where I find issues.
On the one hand, if the authorities had access to this kid's tweets, they might have been able to keep the shooting from happening. They would have had to have access to his location, full name, and school information, but they could have prevented it theoretically.
On the other hand, would it have been an invasion of his privacy? It's a public place, his tweets aren't protected, so anyone can see them. But his information, unless he makes it public, should be protected by Twitter, right? And he should be allowed to say whatever he wants on his own Twitter, right?
So what should be done about these kinds of situations? Everyone's always saying that the world has become obsessed with social media and the internet and instant everything, and it's true. I'm part of it, of course, and I love Facebook and Twitter, but even though they're on the internet I still consider it sort of private and personal. It's my own corner of the internet. And no one can tell me what to post, or not to post, and if I don't want you to have access, I don't think you should be able to see it, police, government, or not.
In a case where monitoring social media could potentially save lives, is it better to protect our freedom of speech, or to violate those rights but keep more situations like this from happening?
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