Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Before Twitter, there was Upoc?

*Day 22* I'm blogging everyday till VidCon! What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com

I had absolutely no idea what to write about today. I kept thinking of topics, but then I couldn't think of anything to say about those topics. So, I started looking through my "stuff". I looked at old homework, essays I wrote for school, geology reports, short stories, poetry, just whatever, trying to find something to talk about. Then I came across a notebook I made in 1999. Basically, to make this notebook, I went through a bunch of magazines and cut out band biographies, cd reviews, book reviews, celebrity quotes and articles about fun websites. I pasted all of the clippings into the notebook in an organized way and decorated it with glitter and markers and such. The notebook itself is a sort of interesting look into the past, but anyway I was flipping through the pages and reading some of the clippings when one really caught my eye.

The following text is quoted from the clipping I had pasted in my notebook, word for word. (I think this came from a Seventeen magazine in 1999, but I really can't be certain, so I can't site it properly).

"MAKE THE CONNECTION: Getting in touch with your friends can be a hassle- do you ring their cell, dial their pager or e-mail them? With Upoc.com (which stands for universal point of contact), you can get your crew the urgent news about your date last night. Send messages through Upoc.com, and they'll reach your pals wherever they are. You can even subscribe to public groups dedicated to everything from celebrity sightings (so you know where Brad Pitt buys his coffee) to haiku."

That sounds a lot like Twitter doesn't it? My first thought was "wow, someone else had the idea first, but looks like the creators of Twitter got it going".... only I got on my computer and checked out Upoc.com. It still exists! Apparently Upoc Networks were the pioneers of SMS technology. They were asking "what are you Up2?" seven years before Twitter asked "what's happening?"

Did you ever text in a vote for American Idol prior to 2006? That text was powered by Upoc Networks. If you check out UpocNetworks.com, you get the idea that Upoc Networks is a massive company that somehow just doesn't get talked about much. (I have certainly never heard of them before.) However, you might notice that the Upoc Networks website is only current up to 2008! That is because Upoc was sold to Dada Mobil in 2006 and is currently still owned by that company (now called Dada Entertainment, LLC). I find it strange then that the website for Dada Entertainment is only copy-righted up to 2009. The only product of theirs that shows a current 2010 copyright, or any news as of 2010 is the music website Dada.net. It also made me laugh to see that you could "follow" Dada.net on twitter (that familiar blue [t] is in the top right corner of their homepage), but there are no links to Upoc.com (the site that is similar to twitter, and shares the same parent company as Dada.net.) Also, if you do go to Upoc.com, you will see that it is listed as a beta, a test, which was launched in 2007! I guess Dada Entertainment gave up on Upoc.com and gave in to the Twitter bird like the rest of us. It is sort of sad that the company that first imagined the short bits of info we now know as "tweets", has faded into obscurity, and is even neglected by it's own "parent". Awww, poor Upoc.com. At least the idea lives on in a rather amazing way.

So there you go a history lesson that I didn't even plan. We learned it together! Alrighty, this blog is long enough, goodbye till tomorrow.

P.s. I've only got a week left until VidCon starts. Are there any topics you want me to discuss in the next 7 days? Have any questions for me? Let me know in the comments.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

10 Things I Don't Leave the House Without

*Day 21* I'm blogging everyday till VidCon! What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com

I'm typing this blog from work today and trying to not get caught using the computers for non-work related things. So, to be quick I decided to tell you the 10 things that I never leave home without.

If I'm really in a pinch, I can do with just 7 things and I will tell you those first, but 10 is a nice round number so I'll add a few things to my list, anyway, having 10 things would make me more comfortable if I really could only have 10 things with me besides clothing.

The first 7 things are in no particular order, but I absolutely never leave the house without these 7 things.

1. Blistex (chapstick)

2. small spiral note-book

3. pen

4. hair-tie

5. cell-phone

6. my I.D.

7. cash/credit/ or debit card ( at least one of these three)

Really, if I have at least those 7 things, you could take me anywhere and I wouldn't complain. But if I could have just three more, I'd be even happier.

8. re-wetting drops for my contact lenses

9. pressed face powder/compact

10. I'm tempted to say my keys, but if someone else is driving, then I don't need my car keys and as long is someone is home to let me in when I get back, I don't really need keys, so I'm going to say a brush because I do always have a brush or comb in my bag when I leave the house.

And that's it. If I had at least those 10 things, I could leave my house and wake up in China and I'd be "ok".

What about you? Are there some things you can not leave home without? Feel free to share in the comments.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Team Summer

*Day 20* I'm blogging everyday till VidCon! What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com

Ok, so my friend Helen wrote her blog about 5 reasons why she hates summer (and is therefore a TeamWinter supporter - read her blog here). Well, I am a Team Summer person, so I have a few things to say in response to her arguements, and then I'll say a few things about why I hate winter.

It is really better if you go read Helen's blog first because I am going to address some specific things she says.

1. Helen complains about car trips during summer, her arguement is that she has no AC in her car. I admit, this sucks, however I have this same problem. I have no AC in my car and I live in a desert where it often gets to 118 degrees (that's 47C) in the summer. Yes the steering wheel gets super hot, so I bought a steering wheel cover that's made of cotton to protect my hands. Also, even though I wouldn't say that it is pleasent to drive around in 118 degrees with no AC in your car, I prefer to always drive with the windows down anyway. I feel stuffy driving in cars with the windows up, even if there is an AC, so I just deal with it.

2. Helen also complains about humidity. While I do admit that humidity absolutely sucks. I am still Team Summer, because I live in a desert, we have a very dry heat here. It is very rare for it to be humid in Las Vegas, so basically, humidity is not a problem here and therefore is not a factor in my choice of Summer over Winter.

3. The last point that Helen makes which I have something to say about, is sitting out sun-bathing and doing nothing. I don't sun-bathe much anymore, but when I did, I would always bring a book and read while I stayed out and got some sun. Anyway, it's hard for me to imagine people "doing nothing" in the summer. I live in a tourist city, summer means lots of travelers and pool parties and lots of fun.

Now for my arguement against winter, which honestly is nearly the same arguement that my friend Bobby gives in the comments to Helen's blog.

1. Snow and ice are extremely inconvenient. Too much snow can trap you in your house. It is difficult to drive in. Ice can knock out power lines and leave you stuck in your house with no heat or power or water for days and days.

2. People always say that if you are cold, you can always put on more clothes. When I get cold, I feel like my bones have turned to ice and it does not matter how many layers of clothing I put on, my bones are cold and I freeze from the inside out.

3. Freezing and being constantly cold and unable to move makes me depressed. For me, winter is the time that people sit around and do nothing, at least I don't do as much in the winter, because half the time I'm too cold to move.

4. Bobby also points out that winter is depressing for him because of it being a "family time" season. This bothers me too. For several years I would work two jobs during the holiday season while also going to school, so I rarely had time to see my friends. Then all of a sudden, there would be a holiday and I wouldn't have to work, and all that I wanted to do was see my friends, but I couldn't because it was "family" time. So holidays were/are irritating to me. I'd rather spend that time with friends, being forced to spend it with family makes me hate the winter holidays.


So there's my side of it. Mostly I'm Team Summer because I hate being cold, but I absolutely love the sensation of walking out into the sunlight and feeling the heat of the sun sink into my body and warm me up. Anyway, goodbye 'till tomorrow.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Randomness

*Day 19* I'm blogging everyday till Vidcon! What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com


It is Sunday and I am really tired. This blog is not about anything specific. It's just me rambling.


For the past six months I have been working evening shifts at work, usually 2:00 -10:15pm. So during this time I've been sleeping usually from 2:00-10:00am. Now, all of a sudden, they moved me back to morning shifts, 5:45am-2:15pm. Today was my first day back on morning shifts and it sucked because I could not fall asleep until 2am and therefore, I barely got any sleep last night and then had to work all day. Blah.

For this reason you do not get a very great blog today.

There are just two things I want to tell you about my life right now. I am obviously getting ready to go to VidCon and part of that preparation is that I am making a few Dr. Noise tote bags to sell during the convention. I wasn't going to do this at first, but more a couple of people requested that I have bags available at VidCon, and a couple people have already pre-paid, so I am working hard to get those completed on time.

Second, I think I have made a decision about what I want to do with my life immediatly following VidCon. I've decided that I really want to go to beauty school for manicuring, if I can, before I go back to grad school or get a real job. I still need to talk to my grandparents (they offered to pay for beauty school) but I think they have gone on vacation because they haven't been answering their phone. So hopefully soon that will be sorted out, if it all works out, I should be starting manicuring school about two weeks after VidCon. That would be exciting.


Alrighty, I need to take a nap or something. Goodbye till tomorrow.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Jewels In the Desert

*Day 18* I'm blogging everyday till VidCon! What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com

I don't know where I got the idea for this blog, but I like it. Today I am going to tell you about some interesting things you can find in the desert here in Nevada and in California. Some places you might like to check out if you ever have the chance.

The first stop on our tour is Racetrack Playa.
This place is so amazingly cool. It is essentially a dry lake. It only has water maybe two times a year, and even then it is only a few inches deep. The thing that makes this playa so cool is that large rocks move across the playa, leaving tracks in their wake, but the best part is that no one knows how the rocks move. No one has ever seen a rock moving or been able to film a rock moving at Racetrack Playa, but take a look at the pictures and see for yourself! This is definately one of my favorite places to go visit in Death Valley.


*PS- I'm too lazy to use my own photos so I did an image search on google and I found this, which coincidentally was posted by my some of my classmates from UNLV. (Yep, I had classes with everyone in that photo up there). I don't feel so bad stealing pictures from the internet when I am taking them from people that I know.




This is just funny:


Let's move on, shall we?

Stop Two: Ubehebe Crater (that's pronounced You-BEE-HE-BEE)

Ubehebe Crater is a massive crater left from the explosion of a Maar volcano. A maar volcanoe forms and erupts when hot magma comes into contact with groundwater, flash-heating it and the resultant steam blasts a crater in the ground. Ubehebe sits in a field of smaller craters, but Ubehebe stands out because it is half a mile wide, and 777 ft. deep. It is truely an amazing feature to see with your own eyes, though if you ever go see it for yourself, I advise you to be prepared for wind. It is always incredibly windy atop the rim of the crater.




Our trip continues to a man-made feature, but one that is well worth a look if you have the time.

Stop Three: Scotty's Castle

Scotty's Castle was built by a man named Albert Johnson in 1922. He moved to the area because a man named Walter Scott had convinced him to fund a mining venture, which later turned out to be a hoax. Somehow though, Albert Johnson forgave Walter Scott, and Albert built his house at the urging of his wife. See, Albert had a bad back from an old accident and his wife noticed that living in the heat helped him with muscle aches, so they decided to stay. Walter would joke that the house was his and that is how it came to be called Scotty's Castle. (The story of the house goes on, but this is enough for this blog.) The house is now owned by the National Park Service and is open to tourists.






The last stop on our trip today is well worth the reading, because this beautiful feature is on private property, and you will only ever be able to see it in person if you can manage to track down the owner and get his permission to go view it.

Stop Four: Fly Geyser

The story of Fly Geyser began in 1916. A drilling project was started in Northwest Nevada, they were hoping to reach water in order to create some farmland, only the drill encountered a pocket of geothermal water. This turned the area into a sort of marsh and eventually a natural geyser formed. This original geyser is now inactive, but others have come up more recently. Fly Geyser formed in 1960 and is still continuously active today. It is a breath-taking formation of earth and water. The minerals in the water give the geyser it's brilliant colors.






And there you go. The next time you start to think that the desert is only sand and heat, think again and remember these places. I have only shared with you four of the many beautiful things you can find in the desert, but there are many many more stunning scenes to behold. I have lived in the desert nearly all of my life and I absolutely love it. I hope you enjoyed this blog. Goodbye 'till tomorrow.

Friday, June 25, 2010

My Muses: Part 2

*Day 17* I'm blogging everyday till VidCon! What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com

I'm starting to run out of things to talk about. So today we'll finish up talking about some of the people who inspire me.

Next up on my list is the lovely TARINA TARANTINO:



Tarina started off her career as a model. Later she worked as a make-up artist. She made fun and sparkly jewelry for herself in her spare time that other girls would ask to buy off her, even when she was just walking down the street. Her husband noticed that she would always come home without any jewelry because people were always buying it up so he suggested that she should start her own business. She did and now her brand name is HUGE! You can check out her beautiful creations at www.TARINATARANTINO.COM.

Moving on....




This is Raquel Reed. She is an alternative model but she also has a day job working as a make-up artist at a MAC store in New York. She has recently started making music too. I admire her for her creativity with make-up and the crazy outfits that she wears.

The next person I want to talk about is someone that I am no longer a fan of, but he was the first person who inspired me to have the confidence to take risks with my make-up.



This is Jeffree Star, if you didn't already recognize him. He is one of the more original "internet celebrities". I first saw his pictures in 2007 when I noticed him on AFI's top friends list on Myspace. He is a genius with make-up, there is no doubt about that. In the beginning, his attitude and confidence just inspired me to be a stronger and more assertive person and to not be afraid to try new things. For that I am thankful to him, but over the years I watched from the internet as he exploited his friends and constantly acted like he was back in highschool. I offically decided to stop supporting him in any way back in 2008 when I happened to comment on a photo of him that I thought he looked better with pink hair than blonde hair. Apparantly he was offended somehow and he wrote me back calling me a bitch and "unfriended" me from Myspace, so that was the end of that.

Another colorful guy that I have followed and been inspired by is this blue-haired boy:



His name is kaiden Blake. He is a model and has worked a lot with Audrey Kitching and Clint Catalyst (the two people I talked about in my first blog about "muses"). I like Kaiden more because he really seems to treat his internet fans like family. He found me on Skype one day and that sort of blew me away. He is a really normal person, just trying to figure life out like the rest of us.

I wish I could go on and on about the people who inspire me, but I will leave off with this last one.




Her name is Hanna Beth. She is also a model. I wish I had hair just like hers. I think she is beautiful. I love her as a model, I think her pictures are just wonderful to look at. She is also a very real person despite having a more glamorous job. She is very family oriented and I like that about her.

So there you go, this is a pretty good list of the people who inspire me. Like I said, most of them are models, so I mainly look to them for fashion and make-up inspiration and sometimes photography inspiration as well. However, all of these people are constantly working on side projects, they are always being creative and that just inspires me to keep being creative too. Way back in 2007 (when I first came across most of these people) I was very undisciplined and I had lost my confidence and ambition to be creative, sometimes to even get out of bed. Everyday when I would wake up, I would think of these people and tell myself that none of these people would be who they are today if they didn't get out of bed in the mornings. So, ya. There might be better role models in the world, but these are the people who gave me the courage and inspiration to be who I am today.

So who inspires you? Tell me about it in the comments, and goodbye till tomorrow. :-)

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Getting Paid to Play

*Day 16* I'm blogging everyday till VidCon! What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com

This is another "I bet you wish you had my job" sort of blog. :-P

This past Father's day my friend Molly posted a video in which she told a story about how her dad once bought her the one Pokemon card she had wanted the most. Her video made me remember my obsession with Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. I used to watch Pokemon when I was young, but I was never interested in collecting the Pokemon trading cards. I started watching Yu-Gi-Oh! when I was 16 because it would come on right after Pokemon and I got hooked on that show. I think because that show was actually about a card game, that got me really interested in the cards and I started buying them like mad.

*Here's Molly's video if you want to watch


Collecting Yu-Gi-Oh cards was an addiction really, but I kept it quiet. I didn't hang out in the "anime" crowd at school, so I tried to keep my love for Yu-Gi-Oh! to myself as much as I could. Only a couple of my friends knew that I liked Yu-Gi-Oh and that I collected the cards. They sort of made fun of me for it, but they were still my good friends, so I never held it against them.

Anyway, I kept watching Yu-Gi-Oh even when I was out of high school and in college. I still loved it. One summer, we moved from Las Vegas to Henderson (Henderson is a suburb of Las Vegas, if you were a visitor here you would not be able to tell the difference). Anyway, since we moved, I needed to find a new job that was closer to my new house. Our new home was about 10 minutes away from a Toys R Us. I thought it might be fun to work there, and I saw that they held trading card tournaments on Saturdays, so I went in and applied.

I was called in for an interview and about halfway through the interview they happened to ask why I wanted to work there. I mentioned about the trading card tournaments and that I collected the Yu-Gi-Oh! cards and knew how to play and I thought it might be fun. When I told them that, they said "Why didn't you say that at the beginning?!?!" It turned out that they didn't have anyone at the time to run the Saturday tournaments, and none of their workers knew how to play any of the games. So they hired me as their special events co-ordinator. So, all of a sudden, I had a new job running trading card tournaments. I not only got paid to play Yu-Gi-Oh for two hours every Saturday, I had to learn to play the Pokemon TCG as well as the Duel Masters TCG, and a couple of years later I had to learn Zatchbell also. The best part was that the company would periodically send me several boxes of starter sets and booster packs so I could build my own decks (I wasn't required to have my own cards even though I did). So I got tons of extra cards that I didn't have to pay for! (I collected some Pokemon and Duel Masters cards this way too, but I don't think that I have any of the Pokemon cards anymore.)

Just as a side note so that you know that I worked for more than just a few hours on Saturdays, my job as the special events coordinator included a lot of other things, like organizing new toy demonstrations and sometimes we would have "character" meet and greets (for example we had a model come in once and dress as Barbie from FairyTopia, another time we had a Care Bear in the store... stuff like that.)

Anway, it was exciting to be getting paid to play a game that my friends had teased me about in high school. I still have all of my Yu-Gi-Oh cards! and some of the Duel Masters cards.

Before I say goodbye, I just want to say, as sort of a response to Molly's video. When I collected Yu-Gi-Oh cards, the one card that I wanted the most was a Dark Magician Girl card. She wasn't a trump card, but it was very difficult to find an English version of this card. For a long time, the only ones I ever saw were Japanese cards (which are not "legal" in US tournaments, so if you are a card collector, you know that it's better to have "legal" cards.) Anyway, one night I bought a few booster packs while I was working at Toys R Us. I went out to my car and opened the packs and inside one of the booster packs I found her! A Limited Edition, Gold Foil, Holographic version of the Dark Magician Girl!!!



I just about screamed when I saw the card. That was probably the happiest moment of my card collecting life! (I later got another Dark Magician Girl card, it was a "Secret Rare Promo Card" with a different drawing on it, though I don't know why they called it a 'secret' card, it was sold along with a special collectors tin and it was packaged so that you could see the card. I only bought the tin because it had this card!) Anyway, that's all I have to say about that. Goodbye till tomorrow. :-)

Question: Did you collect any trading card games? If you did, what was the one card you wanted most, and did you ever get it?

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

STAR WARS

*Day 15* I'm blogging everyday till VidCon! What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com

*omg! Only 15 days to go!

So yesterday I sorta promised you that I would talk about Star Wars. So why not? Although, be forwarned, this blog will be a bit long.

I am a Star Wars fan. I didn't grow up that way though. Actually, I hated Star Wars when I was younger, I even made fun of some of the nerdy boys at school who really did like Star Wars (I am so sorry for this now.) You probably wont believe it, but I did not start to like Star Wars until Episode 1 came out in the theatres. I know what you are all going to think "Episode 1 sucked!!!" Let me tell my story.

When Episode 1 came out, I was on vacation. I had gone with my aunt to visit my Great Aunt and Uncle who lived in a really really really tiny town in northern Nevada. Tiny town = population 500, it's actually classified as a village. Anyway, when you are used to the city, life in a farming community can get rather boring, so one day my Aunt decided to take me to the next town over to go to the movies. She said she was taking me to go see Star Wars Episode 1. To thouroughly convince you of my dislike of Star Wars at that time, let me pull a quote from my diary the day before the movie.

June 22, 1999 - "...tomorrow my Aunt and I are supposed to go the movies to see Star Wars Episode 1: the Phantom Menace, though I would rather she went and I stay here and help my uncle with the yard work."

*omg! Did you notice that date? June 22, so I first began to like Star Wars on June 23, 1999. That's exactly 11 years ago. What a coincidence that I am writing this today (I seriously didn't plan this!)

So anyway, as much as I didn't want to go, I went and I ended up really likeing the movie. You can say all you want about Jar-Jar Binks. I wont stop you. I was enthralled by Anakin, Queen Amidala and Qui-Gon Jinn. Those characters just grabbed my attention and stole my heart. To seal my love for the Star Wars universe, the next day, my Aunt made me watch Episodes 4-6 all in a row. The whole story finally made sense to me and I LOVED it!

Now, fast forward to June 2005, when I was in Japan. That was the summer that Episode 3 was released. By this time I was a complete and total nut for Star Wars. (I had taken to reading nearly every Star Wars book ever written.) So, two things related to Star Wars happened while I was in Japan. First, while I was there, the movie theatre on the Navy base was having a Star Wars marathon. All six movies being shown in the theatre for a whole day! What an awesome event! I couldn't miss that! But that wasn't even the best of it. Temura Morrison and Daniel Logan (Boba Fett and Jango Fett) were touring Japan to help promote the movie and they were going to be at the theatre just before the movies started. Aaah! So I got to meet them! Look 0_0



So that was the sorta cool thing I alluded to yesterday. But wait! My story goes on. In 2005 Myspace was still sort of new and it was a really big deal back then. Everyone was using it. So while I was in Japan, I would stay up late and go onto the myspace groups to talk to the American Star Wars fans. The largest Star Wars fan group on Myspace was run by a guy named Steven Greenwood. He was a co-creator of the Wookieepedia (a Star Wars division of Wikipedia). He was always online it seemed, and even though I was super busy during my stay in Japan, I seemed to be online a lot then too. So he and I ended up sharing a lot of opinions across the forums and eventually we realized that we were both the same age and that we were both geology majors in college, so we naturally became "internet friends".

Steven and I have been as close as internet friends can be ever since then. Over the years our conversations have started to focus more on our interest in geology and our future careers than our interest in Star Wars. Anyway, he lives in Clarksville, Tennessee and about two years ago now, my cousin moved to Clarksville because her husband joined the Army and he was stationed there. I couldn't believe it! So last year for spring break, I went to visit my cousin and I spent some time hanging out with Steven. I'm telling you all of this, because Steven has a Star Wars room in his house. It is absolutely incredible and I have pictures! These pictures hardly do the room justice, but have a look! 0_0









Yep, that is Steven's Star Wars room. He never told me about this room until I was at his house and before he took me to this room, he started acting like it was a big deal. Ha, I had no idea the awesomeness I was about to see. When I opened the door, it was just amazing! :-) (Anyway, Steven is a really cool guy and is a bit of a nerdfighter now. You can follow him on Twitter @riffsyphon1024 or find him on Facebook www.facebook.com/stevengreenwood).

Two quick stories I still have to share with you. First, when I came home from Japan in 2005 my sister got a new boyfriend. She showed me his picture and I instantly recognized him as a boy I used to go to school with in the sixth grade. He was one of the boys I used to make fun of for being a huge Star Wars fan. When I met him again, he remembered me from school too and I apologized to him for having made fun of him about likeing Star Wars. (I thought you all should know that!). LAST STORY: in 2006 I had the chance to meet Kenny Baker (R2-D2) and Matthew Wood (voice of General Greivous). I got autographs from both of them, but I will only show you the R2-D2 that Kenny Baker signed for me.



Okay, okay. I'm done now. Those are my Star Wars stories. Goodbye till tomorrow. :-)

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Japan and Boyfriends

*Day 14* I'm blogging everyday till VidCon! What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com

So I didn't know what to write about today. As I was sitting and thinking, I thought I might talk about the time I went to Japan for a month. I was going to tell you about the whole process of actually getting there. (I traveled there alone and I didn't speak any Japanese, so I ended up having some difficulties when I had to change planes). Anyway... I wasn't really sure if that was what I wanted to talk about.

Then I had the idea of maybe looking at an old diary or journal and re-reading what I did on this date several years ago and talking about that. Just out of curiosity, I picked up the nearest journal and flipped to June 22. The journal I happened to pick up was from 2005. I was in Japan in June of 2005. So, then I figured maybe that was a good sign that I should talk about Japan today.

June 2005: As I said, I was in Japan. I went there to visit my brother and his family. He and his wife were both in the Navy. They had a one year old son, my nephew Joeseph, and there were no 24 hour day care centers near their house, so they actually paid me to go to Japan for a month and babysit my nephew. They usually had a neighbor watch him, but she had just had a baby of her own and so they didn't want to impose on her while she was enjoying and taking care of her own baby. So that's why I was there. They paid for my tickets to go there, they paid for pretty much everything while I was there, and they paid me $500 before I went home for babysitting.

I had a lot of fun in Japan. I got there the day before my 20th birthday. 20 is the legal drinking age in Japan, so we went out to the clubs for my 20th birthday. My brother had set up a blind date for me. My date's name was Carlos. I really liked him. He liked me too. We found ways to hang out everyday for a whole week, and then he asked me to be his girlfriend. --This was a pretty significant moment for me, because, I'd never really had a boyfriend before. Technically I had my first boyfriend in the 8th grade when I was 13, but we were only "together" for about two weeks and then he was with someone else. So I never really liked to count that as a relationship.-- So anyway, I said yes and it was awesome. The whole time I was in Japan, I had a special someone to share every moment with. Also, I guess it's fitting that I'm writing this today because it was around 1:00am on June 22, 2005 that he asked me to be his girlfriend.

Anyway, I did a lot of fun things while I was there, but I think I was most excited that there was a military ball during the time I was there. My brother told me that we would be going to a ball during my stay, so I brought a dress with me. It was even better then that I had a boyfriend while I was there, because he was in the Navy too , so I went as his date. This was us on the night of the ball.



Eventually my stay in Japan ended and my relationship with Carlos also did soon after that. I came home in mid-July and he broke up with me sometime at the beginning of September I think. I was upset at the time, but it is easy to look back now and wonder why I even liked him at all. He didn't even like musicals! (Not even GREASE!)

I meant to talk more about Japan itself in this blog, but this is what you get. Some memories of my first 'real' boyfriend. There was another rather cool thing that happend to me while I was in Japan, but it has to do with the Star Wars films and I think I should save that little story to include in another blog about Star Wars. Maybe tomorrow. Ya, probably tomorrow.

Well, goodbye till then.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

My Alter Ego: PinkPixieDF

*Day 13* I'm blogging everyday till VidCon! What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com

Today I thought I'd tell you all the story behind my user name "PinkPixieDF". I first chose the name "pinkpixie" in 2003. I needed a new username for AIM. I first thought of using the word pixie because I have a personal preference for fairies and pixies. They are not a "huge" interest of mine, but I like them. Also, if you remember 2003 was the time when pink was the new black. The color pink was EVERYWHERE. I was wearing pink almost everyday because that was pretty much the only color of clothing that you could find in the stores. So I came up with "pinkpixie" because it was alliterative (and that's fun), it sort of described me at the time, and it was also a sort of commentary on the culture at that time.

The only thing was, somebody else already had the username "pinkpixe". So, my brother had the idea of replacing all of the i's with L's. So my AIM name was actually pLnkpLxLe, but if you type it this way PlNKPlXlE, it looks more like pinkpixie. As social media forms grew I decided I wanted to keep the "pinkpixie" name but I thought it was silly to keep spelling it with L's instead of i's, so I needed to add something to it to make it more personal. I started adding the "DF" to my username in 2007.

"DF" stands for "Despair Faction" which is the name of the AFI fan club. Yes, I am a huge fan of the band AFI and I am a lifetime member of their fan club. At some point I noticed that many AFI fans on myspace would add a "DF" somewhere in their myspace usernames and that is what gave me the idea to add DF to the pinkpixie. So there you go. I am "PinkPixieDF".

Everyday I have been so worried about writing blogs that are too long, and now I feel like this blog is too short. Oh well. If you like, share the story behind your username in the comments. Goodbye 'till tomorrow. :-)

The Big Bang

*Day 12* I'm blogging everyday till VidCon! What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com

So today I'm going to talk about the Big Bang theory, (the actual theory, not the television show). I feel like my blogs have been kinda lame the past few days, so I figured I should talk about things that I actually know a thing or two about and also that I am passionate about. That's not to say that I'm "passionate" about the Big Bang theory itself. However, I find that many people don't really know what the Big Bang theory actually is. This is frustrating to me on several levels. As a scientist, it irritates me that so many people "think" they know what the Big Bang theory is, but if you ask them, their definitions are incorrect. It also bothers me because I happen to be a Christian and it makes my life as a Christian and a scientist rather difficult because so many Christians understand the wrong definition of the Big Bang and therefore, they become upset when they find that I accept the Big Bang theory.

First, I have to admit that I didn't always know the actual definition of the Big Bang either. Since I was raised as a Christian, all that I ever knew was that there was some scientific theory called the "Big Bang" which suggested that the entire universe suddenly came into being at some point in time that scientists call "the Big Bang". (If you ask around, this is the loose definition that most people attach to the Big Bang, only it's wrong.)

I first read a more correct definiton of the big bang in 2003 when I picked up a copy of Stephen Hawking's book, The Theory of Everything (a really amazing book btw, you should read it some time.) The actual definition of The Big Bang is that at some point, all of the matter in the universe was at the same point (i.e. the distance between galaxies was "zero"). Hawking says it this way, "At that time, which we call the big bang, the density of the universe and the curvature of space-time would have been infinite"(*). Hawking then goes on to explain how all of the theories about space-time would be invalid at the point of the big bang, so that anything happening before the big bang (the time when all matter existed together at a single point) would be irrelevant to anything happening after the big bang. Therefore, since we can not say anything about events that might have happened before the big bang, then as far as science is concerned, we have to say that time began at the big bang.

Now, lets just stop there for a second and review. The big bang theory essentially says two things.
1) at one point, the distance between all matter in the universe was "zero", this is called a singularity, and we call this time the big bang.
2) If there were any events before the big bang, they can not be understood from our position in space-time after the big bang, so we say that time began at the big bang.

Got it? This is the definition of the big bang. If this doesn't sit right with you, go research it for yourself. (I did. I respect Stephen Hawking, but I didn't come to accept all of this just from reading his book. I have a habit of questioning everything. I had very good teachers who taught me to do that.) I do encourage you to research it though, because I do not have space in this blog to explain all of the evidence for why scientists believe that the big bang theory is the most accurate description of how time and space began. (Just for quick reference though I'll tell you, they accept the big bang model because the universe appears to be expanding as if from a single point.)

Now, the rest of this blog concerns Christians and their understanding or lack of understanding of the big bang, although even if you are not a Christian, you might want to keep reading. There are some surprising twists in the history of the big bang theory.

I think many Christians are afraid that scientists are simply trying to find ways to explain away God, and so they simply do not even listen to what scientists say at all. I for one, never wanted to be afraid of anything. I'd rather know the truth, even if the truth is ugly. So I had a look into all of this science stuff. I think I should quote Hawking again here, he explains this so well.

"... if the universe is expanding, there may be physical reasons why there had to be a beginning. One could still believe that God created the universe at the instant of the big bang. He could even have created it at a later time in just such a way as to make it look as though there had been a big bang. But it would be meaningless to suppose that it was created before the big bang. An expanding universe does not preclude a creator, but it does place limits on when He might have carrioud out his job." (**)

First I just want to say, that, as a Christian, it makes me happy that scientists who are athiests (Stephen Hawking is an athiest) still include in their publications the possibility that God might exist. This is something that I have tried and tried to point out to my Christian friends. They all assume that scientists are all athiests and are hostile toward the church, but they are not. Every scientist has his own personal opinion, but it is his duty to consider all possible theories unless there is sufficient evidence to exclude them. Basically, I'm saying that, if you are a Christian, don't be afraid to look at the science. Scientists are not out to convince you that God does not exist.

Later in Hawkings book, he goes on to say that there were a lot of scientists who did not like the idea of a big bang because it too strongly suggested that something or someone had caused time to begin (something had to trigger the matter to start expanding, it could have just stayed in the singularity) In fact, the Catholic church officially accepts the big bang as being in accordance with the bible. Are you Catholic? Did you know this? Can you believe this? Christians accepted the big bang, and scientists wanted to disprove it. (As far as I know, scientists have still been unable to disprove the necessity of a big bang.) So then, I wonder, how did it all get so twisted and mixed up so that today, the majority of people believe that on the one hand there are Christians who believe that God created the universe and on the other hand there are scientists who say the universe came from an event called "the big bang". Back in the 50's, 60's and 70's Christians were rejoicing and scientist were grumbling. I don't know how I came to be taught that the big bang was an anti-God theory, but I was.

I hope I have enlightened you a little bit. If you are not a Christian, I hope two things for you. One, that you would at least take away from this, the more accurate definition of "the big bang". Two, I hope that if you are an athiest, that you would not be hostile to those who do believe in God. So far in my life as a scientist, I have been encouraged to find that other scientists did not think less of me for believing in God. I only ask that you would do the same.

I know this was a really long blog, I've been wanting to write it for several days. I was afraid I would end up writing forever. I'm sorry, but I hope you enjoyed it. Goodbye till tomorrow. :-)

* the quote above is from page 35 of the The Theory of Everything by Stephen Hawking.

** the second quote is from page 15 of The Theory of Everything by Stephen Hawking

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Some Colorful People, a.ka. My Muses

*Day 11* I'm blogging everyday till VidCon! What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com

I am a girl. Obviously, but I love being a girl. I love to dress up in cute and pretty clothes. I love to wear fun make-up and paint my fingernails. Today I just want to share with you some of the colorful people who inspire me to have fun with the clothes and make-up that I wear. Most of these people are models, so I look to them for fashion advice and beauty tips.

A few years ago I came across this pretty face:





Her name is Audrey Kitching. She's done modeling for Jessica Louise, Skelanimals, and PETA (to name just a few). I adore her. Besides being a fashion inspiration to me, she has also convinced me to never get the Gardasil vaccination (which almost killed her last year). You can read her blog about that scariness here I would love to meet her someday, I almost did once. She was making appearances at all the Beauty Bar's on the west coast about two years ago. I went to the Beauty Bar in Las Vegas the night she was supposed to be there, but I waited for her to show and finally left because I was bored. (She didn't go to the bar that night until after 2am, I left just before that! Ah, oh well.)

Anyway, being a fan of Audrey led me to this wonderful person:



That is Clint Catalyst (with Audrey). Clint is simply one of the most amazing people I have ever known of. He is a model, an author, an actor and a fashion expert. He is brilliant with words and is quite possibly the only celebrity that I would completely freak out about if I had the chance to meet him. I have not met him yet, but thanks to social media, I have talked to him in e-mails and he knows my name! Clint subscribes to me on youtube and quite often lists my name in his "Follow Friday" suggestions on Twitter.

I think Clint Catalyst is just my favorite all-around artist. If you would, please check out these videos he has made. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I always do.

This one is like watching a water-color painting come to life and it's narrated by the amazing Pauley Perrette:




I had several more fashionably inspirational people that I wanted to talk about but I realize this blog is getting long, so maybe I'll talk about some others on another day. I'll leave you with one of my favorite photos of Clint Catalyst.



Goodbye 'till tomorrow. :-)

Friday, June 18, 2010

Art That Pays

*Day 10* I'm blogging everday till VidCon! What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com

First, OMG, it's 'day 10', that means there are only 20 days left to go until I can see all of my friends and meet so many new ones! This is very exciting.

Second, today was a really long day for me, as of right now, I have been awake for 17hours. I am very tired, but I am excited. Earlier this week a co-worker of mine asked me if I would paint her nails today for a wedding that she is going to this weekend. I sad yes, and today I did paint her nails,... and she paid me! This is the first time I have ever been paid for my nail art. So that was really awesome.

You may or may not know that I also make tote bags. I am currently working on four tote bags, two of which were commissioned. (Yay! I'm being paid to make tote bags too!)

Being paid for the things I create makes me so happy. A few years ago, I was living my life in such a way that who I was on the outside (what other people saw when they looked at me and my life) in no way resembeled the person that I felt myself to be on the inside. When I realized this about myself, I made up my mind to change my life so that I would truely "be" myself, in every way, and all the time. One of the things I felt inside, was that I wanted to be an artist in some way. I wished for a talent that would be worth something (at that time, I was very poor, and was wishing for any way to make money). It has been more than three years since I really set my mind to changing the way I lived, and in that time I started making tote bags and painting my nails simply because I thought it was fun. And now, people are paying me to do these things! Three years ago, I only 'wished' for an artistic talent. Even though I had gone to art schools for most of my life, and I had studied photography and ceramics, I didn't feel that I had any real talent. Though, apparently it seems I just hadn't found my niche until now.

I'm not exactly sure what my point is in this blog. I guess my point is that, I majored in a science in college because I wanted to be a scientist, but I wanted to be an artist too. So, I am glad and thankful that my bachelors degree in geology affords me the right to call myself a scientist; and the fact that people have paid for my art affords me the right to call myself and artist too. So, I guess what I'm saying is... I'm making the changes I wanted to make in my life. The person that I am now is so much closer to who I really want to be than who I was three years ago, and that makes me happy.

Ok, so I just hammered this blog out, and I'm really sorry if it is not completely coherent. I am so tired. I must go to sleep now, goodnight.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

The Longest Lasting Birthday Gift

*Day 9* I'm blogging everyday till VidCon! What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com

Today is my 25th birthday. So I figured I should write about something birthday-related today. At first I thought I would talk about the best birthday I've ever had. Only, I don't think I've actually had "the best birthday" yet. (I'm only 25, I'm pretty sure I have a lot more birthdays to go). See, I've had one or two awesome birthday parties in the past, but nothing that I would call "the best". Today has been a pretty fantastic day, and up till now, this has been one of my favorite birthdays of my life so far. Only, I don't feel that I can call this "the best" birthday because, even though all of my friends have wished me a happy birthday, and some of them even made me an awesome video on youtube, none of my friends are actually here to celebrate with me.

Now, please don't think that I am complaining. I have had a wonderfully awesometastic day and my friends have made me intensly happy with their tweets and facebook comments and videos. I'm just saying, that I think that I have yet to have "the best birthday ever". Someday, I will get to celebrate my birthday with my friends and look forward to that being my best birthday ever.

So, instead, I thought I would tell you about the best birthday present I ever received. At first I didn't even know the answer to this topic. When I started to think back to all of the gifts I've been given over the years, it only took a few seconds to remember the first diary I ever received. When I turned 8 years old, my friend Mike gave me a diary. I didn't particularly want a diary, and I wasn't exactly bursting with happiness about the diary I got when I was 8. However, I feel that I must admit, that diary was probably the best birthday gift I ever received. I say so, because I have been diligently chronicling my life in diaries ever since.

When my friend gave me that diary, he gave me more than a book with blank pages inside. He gave me a key to a habit that would allow me to remember my life. It's amazing that I still have that diary from my 8th birthday. So here I am, 17 years older, and I can still read through those pages and remember who I was way back then. That is an amazing and lasting gift. I have recieved many brilliant presents in my life, but I think that this gift of being able to remember who I was at any age since I was 8 years old is truely the best birthday gift I've ever been given.

What about you? Do you have a favorite birthday gift? Leave a comment and let me know. Anyway, goodbye 'till tomorrow. :-)

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The Most Fun I Ever Had While Working

*Day 8* I'm blogging everyday till VidCon! What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com

The best job I ever had only lasted one week and I have no idea how I could ever get hired into such a position ever again.

During the summer of 2006 I was working three different jobs (I never had a day off basically). One of the companies I worked for was called Camp Las Vegas. Their flashy pitch was that they offered kid-friendly 4-hour tours on the Las Vegas strip for children. Basically, it was a 4-hour baby-sitting service for tourists. There was a morning shift and an evening shift. Only, we never had a lot of customers.

I don't even want to tell you about my job with Camp Las Vegas, but it was because I worked for them that I got to work the most fun job I've ever had. While I was employed by Camp Las Vegas, a convention planning company contacted my boss and said that they needed some extra chaperones for their childrens entertainment. Basically, a convention was in town that encouraged guests to bring their whole family and promised that entertainment and supervision would be provided for children ages 7-17 for 14 hours of the day. Since we didn't have much going on at Camp Las Vegas, four of us were sent to work as chaperones for this one week.

On the first day, the children were diveded into age groups and split between 6 chaperones. I got the group of 17 year olds. I was actually very happy with this because I was only 21 at the time. I think the kids in my group were happy to have a chaperone that was so close to them in age. We sort of became 'friends'.

Anyway, we spent the whole week taking those kids to every kid-friendly attraction that exists in the Las Vegas area, and also every fun restaurant. We had two or three meals a day with them and we were truely with them for 12-14 hours every day. We went to gameworks, the mini gran prix (think race cars), the Hoover Dam, Shark Reef (that's an aquarium), Madame Tussauds wax museum, The Adventure Dome (Las Vegas's only theme park) and we ate at the most fun restaurants like Planet Hollywood and The Rainforest Cafe. We even had a pool party with them one day. Late at night we had a ballroom at the hotel where we would watch movies and play games. Some of us would all sit in a corner and paly Mario Kart on our Nintendo DS's and DS Lite's.

This job was incredibly fun because I didn't have to just supervise these kids while they got to have all the fun. I got to have fun right along with them. I played games with them at Gameworks. Ate lunch with them at Planet Hollywood. Got frightened in the wax museum by figures that turned out to be real. Rode alongside them on the roller coaster at The Adventure Dome, and raced against them on the track at the Las Vegas Mini Gran Prix. Not to mention, I was getting paid to do all this too.

Working as a chaperone for a convention was the best job I ever had. If I only knew where to start to be able to work this kind of job more often, I'd sign up again and again.

What was the best job you ever had? Or, what fun job do you know of that you would like to have?

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Where is the train station?

*Day 7* I'm blogging everyday till VidCon. What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com

Ok, I am really really tired today. I was at work for 9 hours and then I came home and cooked dinner for me and my sister. We ate dinner, cleaned the dishes and now I'm sitting down to write this, but all I really want to do is go to bed.

However, I don't want to miss a day of blogging if I really don't have to. So, you may be wondering why I titled this blog "Where is the train station?". When I was in grade school, I studied French for 4 years and I've continued to try and teach myself the language even though I no longer study it in a formal class setting. I've also been trying to learn Japanese and Spanish for many years, and for many years I have been frustrated with the books and cd's I have bought to help myself learn these languages.

So many of them start off with the assumption that you are traveling, so they teach you to ask for the train, the airport, or how to find a taxi, a hotel, your luggage, or a good resturaunt. I don't use any of this language in daily life, so I forget these phrases almost as soon as I learn them.

I work in a store where about half of our customers are spanish speakers. It would be great if I could assist them in their own langauge, but I'm always stuck thinking, "how do you say, "it's at the end of aisle ten"?". I know how to say, "I want to buy a train ticket" in spanish, but that is honestly, very unlikely to ever be a useful phrase for me.

Recently, I've realized that my job is very repetative and predictable. As a cashier and returns cashier, there are only a handfull of phrases that are absolutely necessary for me to know in order to do my job. I've become determined to write my own language program specifically designed for the job I do.

Eventualy I will be able to speak Spanish, Japanese and French, even if all I know is the phrases I need for my job, that's all that really matters to me anyway, because that is my daily life.

Okay,.... bed time :-)
QUESTION: If you could speak another language that you don't already speak, which one would you learn?

Monday, June 14, 2010

Poetry

*Day 6* I'm blogging everyday till VidCon! What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com

I'm sort of cheating today. I have two ideas for blogs that I want to write, but they both require a few hours of work to write. I need something easy for today, so I am going to share two or three poems with you that I wrote in high school. (They are all very short.)

The first one is called 'Longing For The Sea', I wrote it when I was 16. It was winter time and I was sitting in my chemistry class wishing it was summer vacation.

Longing For The Sea

I want to leave this place,
To be in the sun and sand.

These people here, they just don't know,
This passion comes from deep in my soul.

My longing for the music of the sea,
Is greater than any other feeling within me.
I wish to be out, on my way, and free.
On the beach, in the sun, is where I should be.

If you could only be told,
Of the pain this longing creates -
You would release me from the cold,
and open those frozen gates.

Then I could be free, to visit the sea.
I'd smile as the heat of the sun warms me.
And this longing that is a part of me,
This passion for the sea, would finally cease
to torment me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This next poem is called 'Darkness'. It is a bit depressing, but it was heavily influenced by Star Wars and other science fiction books I was reading at the time. Imagine this poem being written by a slave in the Star Wars universe and being under the control of the emperor. It might make more sense that way (at least, you'll understand why I wrote it, please don't think that I wrote it about my life.)

DARKNESS

I sit and stare out the window,
I can hardly see,
The world is covered in a cloud of muck.
Everywhere there is loneliness and suffering.
Hurt and hatred rule over our minds and bodies.

We are under the control of Evil,
It runs through my veins like an unstoppable river.
It burns under my skin like poision.
There is no good to replace the venom.

We are trapped in this dark world.
There is nowhere to go
and no reason to be happy.
I only pray that a glint of hope will come to me.
Maybe I will survive this curse and escape.

Someday, we will find the light.
We will.
And then, there will be no more darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This last poem is really short and kind of fun. I wrote this poem for a creative writing class. I wanted to write a poem that talked about the process of writing poetry. Weird, I know. It didn't exactly come out that way, but here it is.

Just Words

It starts with words on paper,
Flowing across the page.
Then imagination goes to work,
And I step out of my cage.

With a pen as your tool,
Color me happy in shades
of red, yellow, green and blue.
Paint my life a world of kindness,
Using words of love and happiness.

Write me a meadow with a sunny day,
A place where I can live and play.
Draw me a garden,
filled with roses and birds.
Finish the story,
and it will mean more to me
than just letters and words.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So that's all for today. I hope you liked the poems. Goodbye till tomorrow. :-)

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Listen to the Music

*Day 5* I'm blogging everyday till VidCon! What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com

How do I introduce the topic of this blog?... hmmm.... How 'bout this. About a year or so ago, I was at the movies and a preview for the Sherlock Holmes movie was shown. It was the first time I had ever seen it. My very first reaction to the preview after seeing it was, "Did you hear that music? I think it's the same composer who did Pirates of the Carribean."

This is my confession, I am obsessed with movie soundtracks. When I watch movies, I sometimes pay more attention to the music in the background than anything else. In fact, I was right in my assumption about the Sherlock Holmes soundtrack. The composer of the soundtrack for that movie was Hans Zimmer, who was the producer of the soundtrack for the first Pirates movie and the composer for the other two Pirates movies. He is amazing.

My favorite thing about soundtracks is that while a movie itself might flounder, the soundtack can still soar. Sometimes you find amazing soundtracks attached to the most unlikely movies. Today I just wanted to share and discuss some of my favorite soundtracks.

I think I first began collecting soundtracks in 1997. That was the year Fox released the animated film "Anastasia". I still love the soundtrack for this movie even today. I listen to it all the time, the songs are so much fun to sing along to and some of them are really emotinally deap and moving.

In 1998, I picked up the soundtrack for Disney's Tarzan even before the movie came out in theatres because I saw that Phil Collins had written the soundtrack, and Phil Collins is simply a musical genius. This soundtrack has 14 tracks, only 9 of them are songs with words, but it is still one of my favorites. Even Rosie O'Donnel and N'sync lend their voices on a couple of songs. :-)

There are two soundtracks from 1999 on my top 10 list. The first one is the soundtrack from Pokemon: The First Movie. This is an absolutely fantastic soundtrack full of fun, upbeat pop songs that are still fun to listen to today. This is absolutely one of my favorite soundtracks of all time, I'm always impressed with it everytime I listen to it. The second soundtrack from 1999 is from the movie 10 Things I Hate About You. So many amazing artists contributed to this soundtrack; Semisonic, Save Ferris, Sister Hazel, Letters To Cleo and several others. This soundtrack is a good mix of emo, pop and r&b, I like listening to this soundtrack when I go on roadtrips.

2001 was also a good year for soundtracks. I have two favorites from this year. First is Shrek. If you've ever watched the first Shrek movie, you can not deny that you find yourself singing along with "All Star" by Smash Mouth during the opening credits or with "Bad Reputation" during the scene where Shrek has to defend himself from all the Knights who are competeing to go rescue Fiona. Throw in Eddie Murphy's cover of "I'm a Believer" and even with just those three songs, this would be a great soundtrack, but all of the songs are fun. I don't own a copy of this soundtrack, but I wish so badly that I did. I love it. The other soundtrack from 2001that I highly recommend is a soundtrack that I first bought simply because David Bowie had a song on it. The song is "Golden Years" and the soundtrack is for the movie A Knights Tale. I am so glad that I bought this cd. Every single song on this soundtrack is fantastic, having them all together on one cd is brilliant. Queen, David Bowie, Heart, Eric Clapton, Thin Lizzy, and Third Eye Blind are just a few of the artists found on this soundtrack, and unless you are musically clueless, you have to admit, it is an awesome lineup.

In 2004, I was highly impressed with the soundtrack for the movie Blade Trinity. According to sales records, this was actually the least popular soundtrack of the three Blade movies, but it was my favorite of the three, probably because I found that the soundtrack kept me entertained when the movie did not.

The next soundtrack on my list was originally released in 2005, but I did not hear it until 2006. In 2005, the movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children was released in Japan. I first watched the film in 2006 and immediately fell in love with the music. I searched everywhere for the soundtrack only to find that it was not available in America. I had to order it from Japan. (Thank God for being able to shop online and order things from other countries so easily!) This soundtrack was composed by Nobuo Uematsu and he is simpley a genius. There are 26 tracks on 2 discs and according to wikipedia, Variety magazine noted that the styles of the songs vary between "sparse piano noodlings, pop metal thrashings and cloying power ballads" which I have to completely agree with. Perhaps my favorite song on the soundtrack is "Advent: One-Winged Angel" which is the theme song for Sephiroth (the villain) and it is absolutely incredible. It starts off with just orchestral drums, then succesive orchestra type instruments come in to play in a layering fashion all building up to.... BAM! An electric guitar! Rock music takes over the orchestra music and then.... a choir starts singing in latin with the music alternating between classical orchestra and rock, it is a fantastically wonderful and fun song to listen to. The whole soundtrack is amazing but two of my other favorite songs are titled "Battle in the Forgotten City" and "J-E-N-O-V-A". Check it out if you ever have the chance.

The last soundtracks I want to mention are very new. I am not much of a "twilight" fan at all, but have you looked at the soundtracks for Twilight and New Moon?! Muse, Paramore, Linkin Park, Perry Farrell, Death Cab for Cutie, Thom Yorke, The Killers and OK Go are just some of the names of artists you will find on these soundtracks. What amazing lineups. Really. I don't own either of these soundtracks yet, but I can't wait to get my hands on them. Sweet sweet music!

I know this was a long blog, but I tried to keep it to a top 10 type review and anyway, I happen to know that at least two people who read this blog regularly will probably appreciate this entry *ahem* Helen and James *cough*cough* :-)

Goodbye 'till tomorrow.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

"Downtown" - Taking Advice from Song Lyrics

*Day 4* I'm blogging everday till VidCon! What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com

Early in 2008 I was in a severe depression. I had lost all of my friends, I was suffering a broken heart, and at the time, I didn't even blame anyone. I felt that I had knowingly put myself in a bad situation and that I deserved all of the bad things that were happening to me.

Only, I didn't want to be depressed. I didn't want to hurt as bad as I was hurting. I realized that the life I had been living was not the life I wanted for myself, and I didn't even want to spend the time being depressed that I had lost everything. I wanted to move on, but at first I didn't know how.

One day, while I was at work, the song "Downtown" by Petula Clark came on in the store. I remember listening to the song and just thinking,... "you know... maybe this song is right. Instead of sitting at home all alone and depressed, I should just go out and look at the pretty lights and let myself be distracted from all the things that are making me upset."

Around this same time I had just bought myself a semi-professional digital SLR camera. I bought the camera in hopes that if I gave myself a creative outlet that would also help me out of my depression. So one night, I took my camera and I headed out to downtown Las Vegas. While I was there, taking pictures of neon signs and random, interesting things, I saw several flyers for upcoming shows. I saw on one of the flyers the name of a local band whose music I had been listening to on MySpace for some time. I really liked them and I remembered how much fun I used to have going to shows when I was younger and in high school. So I decided to go to their show. I would be going to the shows alone, but I didn't care. I was desperate to do anything that would keep me from sitting at home and being depressed.

So, I started going to shows again, and taking my camera with me. After a while, I started seeing people at shows that I had known in high school and I started making new friends, mostly with people in the bands because they got used to seeing me at every show. This is how I met two of my closest friends, Bill and Ricky.

Today, I live a much healthier and happier life and most days I feel like I have more friends now than I can possibly count. I don't miss anything about the life I had before 2008. I am glad that I was able to get out of my house and meet new people who became good friends and helped me to overcome my depression. I am also thankful and excited that I live a life now where I am constanly meeting new people and making new friends. (So excited for VidCon!) It sometimes makes me laugh to remember that my motivation to get out of the house and go hang out "downtown" came from a song. Thank you, Petula Clark, your lyrics led me to find a better life.

I kept mentioning that I had my camera with me, because I wanted to share with you some of the photos I took when I hung out "downtown":







When you're alone and life is making you lonely
You can always go - downtown
When you've got worries, all the noise and the hurry
Seems to help, I know - downtown
Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city
Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty
How can you lose?

The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares
So go downtown, things'll be great when you're
Downtown - no finer place, for sure
Downtown - everything's waiting for you









Don't hang around and let your problems surround you
There are movie shows - downtown
Maybe you know some little places to go to
Where they never close - downtown
Just listen to the rhythm of a gentle bossa nova
You'll be dancing with him too before the night is over
Happy again

The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares
So go downtown, where all the lights are bright
Downtown - waiting for you tonight
Downtown - you're gonna be all right now






And you may find somebody kind to help and understand you
Someone who is just like you and needs a gentle hand to
Guide them along

So maybe I'll see you there
We can forget all our troubles, forget all our cares
So go downtown, things'll be great when you're
Downtown - don't wait a minute for
Downtown - everything's waiting for you







Sorry, the pictures make this blog so long. I just really wanted to share them with you. Anyway, I'll say goodbye now, 'till tomorrow. :-)