Well, this is it, the final day of April. That means I've managed to write 750 words every day, and you know what? I loved it. Truly, I've enjoyed just writing out a stream of thoughts every day. They haven't been that organized, they repeat often, but I don't even care because I feel great about what I've done. I've found it surprising therapeutic to just spew out my thoughts to the multitudes that will have access to it from the internet. It's also made me think that perhaps I can continue this blogging thing. We'll have to see.
Since it's the last day of April and I plan to go to bed as soon as I've finished writing all of these words, I figured I should give a final update on my April goals.
1) Write book for a musical (That totally didn't happen, I think I might need to outline for this one to work, I can't jump around like I do when I write novels and stories)
2) Write 750 every day (FINISHED)
3) Restart YouTube watching and keep up (SUCCESS)
4) Post one video on each channel (COMPLETED)
5) Figure out Guest Service job (GOT IT)
6) Find place to live in July (Well, I have here, but a new place is still up in the air)
7) Write Wrockbox show (Guess that needs to move to my May goals)
8) Storyboard "Lovely Lily" video (DID IT)
9) Read 2 books (I did, but since one was "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", I may have cheated a little)
10) Put $200 in savings (I will be doing that right after I pay bills tomorrow)
Looking at the list I completed 6.5 (or 7.5 if you count the apartment), of my 10 April goals, and I'm pretty damn proud of that fact. According to my rewards list I can get a Nook book and a trip to Coldstone with those goal points. Of course if I keep saving those goals up I can go to a movie or get a teefury shirt or a video game or eventually order the HP DVD collection or even get the Star Wars Xbox 360 with Kinect. Of course for the big ones I'd have to successfully save $200 every month and then spend it all on the reward, but that's a possibility right? I'm going to continue to hope that it can be. Besides, what else am I saving up for if not something fun that I want?
Finishing April, and those goals, means that's it's probably time to start thinking about May goals, but I really think that I'm going to leave that for tomorrow. I know that one of the things on my list will be to write 750 words every day. I've enjoyed this too much to stop now, and having a goal I'm pretty sure that I will achieve is a nice thing to have on the list. Other than that I have a few ideas running through my head, but I'm going to wait until tomorrow to take a serious look at them. After all, it's still April for awhile, so May goals shouldn't be bothering me yet.
I can't say that there's been much else on my mind today. I went to work, which was fine and fun, and then after work a bunch of people from Mummy went to SeaWorld. It was a ton of fun to get away from home and hang out with people for awhile. That's not something that I have a chance to do very often, because I usually have something else that I need to come home and work on. Today, I said forget all that, and decided to just have some fun. I can always catch up on the work tomorrow. We rode roller coasters, petted sting rays, saw polar bears, walruses, beluga whales, and countless different types of fish. All of those are things I quite enjoyed, and the people I was running around with were a blast. We were all there to have fun and blow off steam, and that meant that we could be a little silly. We rode on the virtual simulator and pretended that we were in Star Wars and gave commentary on what was happening. Then we ran to the kids zone and spent almost and hour climbing in the nets and tubes and sliding down slides. It was silly, and it was absolutely what I needed in my life at this moment. Sometimes being silly and carefree is just what the doctored ordered.
Tomorrow starts a new month, and I can't wait to wake up and face it, which means it's time to leave this blog and go to bed.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Sunday, April 29, 2012
April 29th
You're going to be completely shocked, I actually have something I want to write about. This is something work related, but since it's general to any workplace and not specific to Universal, I figured I would be fine posting about it here.
Something that bothers me, apparently more than I realized until recently, is people who spend their time at work complaining. If you're just going to spend your whole day whining about how you don't want to be at work, then DON'T COME. That's what sick days, personal days, vacation days, and calling in are for. I understand that sometimes work seems like a drag, I've been in that boat. I also understand that sometimes it seems like you just left work and you have to go right back, and sometimes you basically have just left. I know that people get hungry or tired or burnt out, or just plain bored, but you have to get over it.
The instant I make the decision to come to work, I've decided to be present and to WORK. Maybe before I came I wasn't that interested in going. Maybe I was sick of the whole thing. Maybe I was tired and just wanted a day off. But I didn't take the day off, I came to work. As soon as that decision is made I have to suck it up, plaster on a good attitude, and work like it's any other day. It's not my coworkers' fault or my boss's fault that I was in the mood for work, so I have no right to take it out on them. If I go around with a sour look, a whiny attitude, and I slack off because I don't want to be there, then I shouldn't be at work. I should go home, plain and simple. Work and your personal feelings shouldn't overlap like that, not in a way that affects others. If I'm vocal about not wanting to be there then pretty soon others don't want to be there and then, perhaps, my boss finds out I'm complaining that I don't want to be there and suddenly I don't have to worry about not wanting to be there, because I don't have a job anymore.
This is an issue that I had with some people I work with a few days ago. I understand their pain, we've all had crazy long hours these past two weeks, and very little (if any) time off between shifts. This can wear on someone, and eventually you get tired. There has been more than one occasion lately where I have not wanted to go to work, but each time I've chosen to go anyway, and then I have to clean up my attitude. It's likely that no one else wants to be there any more than I do, but we all have to plaster on a mask of contentment, because we did this to ourselves. When we make the decision to come to work, we have to remember that also means we came to work. It's just something to think about.
Now that that rant is out of my system I suppose I can move on to happier things. I had a fantastic day at work today (despite the issues above). I spent my entire day in the control booth, which means that I have no interaction with guest and very little interaction with other team members. The work isn't bad, and I hardly ever get to be in controls so it's really good for me to have the experience, but I've realized that a job like that isn't right for me. I missed being around the guests and interacting with them and the other team members. I'm a social creature by nature, and I like to talk to people and make connections. Doing work on my own is fine as long as the option is there to speak to people if I want to, like studying in a public place. If I'm truly alone I have a tendency to sing to myself, or narrate what I'm doing aloud, or monologue, or tell a story aloud (usually one I make up on the spot), just to have some sort of speaking. Perhaps that makes me crazy, but I'm alright with that.
If nothing else today brought with it some realizations about my character, and a nice group of things that I could blog about today. Only one more day left in April, it looks like I'm going to make it.
Something that bothers me, apparently more than I realized until recently, is people who spend their time at work complaining. If you're just going to spend your whole day whining about how you don't want to be at work, then DON'T COME. That's what sick days, personal days, vacation days, and calling in are for. I understand that sometimes work seems like a drag, I've been in that boat. I also understand that sometimes it seems like you just left work and you have to go right back, and sometimes you basically have just left. I know that people get hungry or tired or burnt out, or just plain bored, but you have to get over it.
The instant I make the decision to come to work, I've decided to be present and to WORK. Maybe before I came I wasn't that interested in going. Maybe I was sick of the whole thing. Maybe I was tired and just wanted a day off. But I didn't take the day off, I came to work. As soon as that decision is made I have to suck it up, plaster on a good attitude, and work like it's any other day. It's not my coworkers' fault or my boss's fault that I was in the mood for work, so I have no right to take it out on them. If I go around with a sour look, a whiny attitude, and I slack off because I don't want to be there, then I shouldn't be at work. I should go home, plain and simple. Work and your personal feelings shouldn't overlap like that, not in a way that affects others. If I'm vocal about not wanting to be there then pretty soon others don't want to be there and then, perhaps, my boss finds out I'm complaining that I don't want to be there and suddenly I don't have to worry about not wanting to be there, because I don't have a job anymore.
This is an issue that I had with some people I work with a few days ago. I understand their pain, we've all had crazy long hours these past two weeks, and very little (if any) time off between shifts. This can wear on someone, and eventually you get tired. There has been more than one occasion lately where I have not wanted to go to work, but each time I've chosen to go anyway, and then I have to clean up my attitude. It's likely that no one else wants to be there any more than I do, but we all have to plaster on a mask of contentment, because we did this to ourselves. When we make the decision to come to work, we have to remember that also means we came to work. It's just something to think about.
Now that that rant is out of my system I suppose I can move on to happier things. I had a fantastic day at work today (despite the issues above). I spent my entire day in the control booth, which means that I have no interaction with guest and very little interaction with other team members. The work isn't bad, and I hardly ever get to be in controls so it's really good for me to have the experience, but I've realized that a job like that isn't right for me. I missed being around the guests and interacting with them and the other team members. I'm a social creature by nature, and I like to talk to people and make connections. Doing work on my own is fine as long as the option is there to speak to people if I want to, like studying in a public place. If I'm truly alone I have a tendency to sing to myself, or narrate what I'm doing aloud, or monologue, or tell a story aloud (usually one I make up on the spot), just to have some sort of speaking. Perhaps that makes me crazy, but I'm alright with that.
If nothing else today brought with it some realizations about my character, and a nice group of things that I could blog about today. Only one more day left in April, it looks like I'm going to make it.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
April 28th
I've spent the last four hours (which is how long I've been awake), debating on when I should write my 750 words today. On one hand I haven't done anything worth writing about yet today, but on the other hand I'll be working until 2:30am again tomorrow, and, as we've experienced, that kind of delirium isn't always the best thing for my writing. Of course I don't have to only talk about what I've done today, I can discuss other issues, things in the news (if I watched the news, which I don't), or thoughts on my mind. Yet, somehow I have trouble coming up with ideas, and also remembering what I've already talked about, because I currently refuse to reread my old posts.
The reason I refuse to read them is that I know that the instant I did, I'd want to take them all down. They ramble, they aren't pretty, and they undoubtedly repeat and excessive amount of information. They cry out for editing, but as a rule I've forbidden myself from doing that. I know that the posts aren't the greatest, but the purpose is to encourage me to write something every single day. This something isn't supposed to be fantastic fiction, or a diary of my personal thoughts, or a detailed observational journal of my daily life, it's just supposed to be words on a page, and in that way I've succeeded. These words exist, and just that simple fact means that I'm writing, and that is an accomplishment.
The other thing I've been thinking about a lot is how much my life has changed, and how different it is than what I might have planned. One of the YouTubers I follow, EmilyTheBrave, made a video talking to her future self, specifically herself exactly one year in the future. This video was made a year ago, yesterday. Today (or last night after I quit watching YouTube), Emily made a reply to this video. She watched the original video and then responded to it. She marveled at how many things had changed in a year, the things her past self valued that no longer mattered, and the plans she had made that never came to pass. This project fascinated me. It got me thinking about where my life was a year ago (finals at college), and all the hopes and dreams and ideas I had, and where I am now. I don't think me a year ago could ever have predicted where I would be now, but I'm happy with where I am. Emily's video has inspired me, and I'm planning to make my own video to my one year in the future self. Perhaps I will make it a yearly thing, just to look back and see what sort of things have changed. I think it will almost as fascinating as looking back on these blogs a year in the future.
Anothing (there's that word I made up again, seriously, I can't stop typing it), that I've been thinking about is cooking. I used to think that once I moved out on my own, I would magically learn how to cook through a combination of dire necessity and previously undiscovered talent. This has not happened. In fact, it seems quite likely that my eating habits have gone from decent to "make my mother cry" terrible. When I was in college I always lived in the dorms, and as a result ate at the dining halls. This worked well for me since I had things to do pretty much every second of every day and barely made the time to get down to the dining hall and grab some food (which I often did while still doing homework). When I moved to Florida I thought that the large amount of free time I would be gaining would mean that I would actually cook some food, but that's not the case at all. I have more time, but pretty much 90% of my meals are eaten at work, where I have access to a fridge and sometimes a microwave. That means that my diet consists largely of PB&J sandwiches and a fresh fruit (usually apples). When I'm not at work I usually make Ramen, rice with black beans, occasionally a grilled cheese, and VERY rarely something that actually takes more than ten minutes to prepare. I almost always include some sort of veggie or fruit with these meals, but honestly that's about it. Even with the time, I can't find the inspiration to actually make meals, or really I can't convince myself that it's worth the time that could be spent on other projects.
Those are the things on my mind today, you'll hear more from me tomorrow.
The reason I refuse to read them is that I know that the instant I did, I'd want to take them all down. They ramble, they aren't pretty, and they undoubtedly repeat and excessive amount of information. They cry out for editing, but as a rule I've forbidden myself from doing that. I know that the posts aren't the greatest, but the purpose is to encourage me to write something every single day. This something isn't supposed to be fantastic fiction, or a diary of my personal thoughts, or a detailed observational journal of my daily life, it's just supposed to be words on a page, and in that way I've succeeded. These words exist, and just that simple fact means that I'm writing, and that is an accomplishment.
The other thing I've been thinking about a lot is how much my life has changed, and how different it is than what I might have planned. One of the YouTubers I follow, EmilyTheBrave, made a video talking to her future self, specifically herself exactly one year in the future. This video was made a year ago, yesterday. Today (or last night after I quit watching YouTube), Emily made a reply to this video. She watched the original video and then responded to it. She marveled at how many things had changed in a year, the things her past self valued that no longer mattered, and the plans she had made that never came to pass. This project fascinated me. It got me thinking about where my life was a year ago (finals at college), and all the hopes and dreams and ideas I had, and where I am now. I don't think me a year ago could ever have predicted where I would be now, but I'm happy with where I am. Emily's video has inspired me, and I'm planning to make my own video to my one year in the future self. Perhaps I will make it a yearly thing, just to look back and see what sort of things have changed. I think it will almost as fascinating as looking back on these blogs a year in the future.
Anothing (there's that word I made up again, seriously, I can't stop typing it), that I've been thinking about is cooking. I used to think that once I moved out on my own, I would magically learn how to cook through a combination of dire necessity and previously undiscovered talent. This has not happened. In fact, it seems quite likely that my eating habits have gone from decent to "make my mother cry" terrible. When I was in college I always lived in the dorms, and as a result ate at the dining halls. This worked well for me since I had things to do pretty much every second of every day and barely made the time to get down to the dining hall and grab some food (which I often did while still doing homework). When I moved to Florida I thought that the large amount of free time I would be gaining would mean that I would actually cook some food, but that's not the case at all. I have more time, but pretty much 90% of my meals are eaten at work, where I have access to a fridge and sometimes a microwave. That means that my diet consists largely of PB&J sandwiches and a fresh fruit (usually apples). When I'm not at work I usually make Ramen, rice with black beans, occasionally a grilled cheese, and VERY rarely something that actually takes more than ten minutes to prepare. I almost always include some sort of veggie or fruit with these meals, but honestly that's about it. Even with the time, I can't find the inspiration to actually make meals, or really I can't convince myself that it's worth the time that could be spent on other projects.
Those are the things on my mind today, you'll hear more from me tomorrow.
Friday, April 27, 2012
April 27th
I've slowly begun to realize that while the job I'm getting in Guest Services is going to be phenomenal and just the stepping stone I've been looking for, being in this transition period is not good for me. I've always been the type of person who decides to do something, works towards it, finishes it, and moves on. Being in this dead space where I've achieved something, but haven't been able to move on really frustrates me. I feel like I'm just marking time, and I have no idea when things will be moving on. I really dislike not knowing when things will be happening, and it makes me less excited to go to work, which is a bummer because I enjoy my job.
I'm having a similar issue with the apartment, which is still up in the air. I don't know if a place is going to become available and so I just have to sit and wait on it until I decide it's too late. The issue is that I really want to move into a three bedroom, because it will be much better overall. Now that I actually decided that it would be a good idea and my mind is set on it, the opportunity is basically ripped from my fingers. The issue has become that we need a move in date late enough that we won't be charged a transfer fee, but also early enough that we have enough time to make the move. Plus, we have to decide when it's too late to continue waiting because potential roomie's current lease will run out and she'll need to have a new place figured out. After that date we're pretty much stuck just renewing our current lease and staying where we are. This is fine, I like my apartment, but I'd much rather get the three bedroom.
Looking at the two things that bother me, I realize that one of my biggest pet peeves is being in limbo. I hate waiting for communication and not knowing what's happening. If things aren't going to work out (not getting the apartment, not getting the job, not getting the rehearsal space, not getting the footage), then that sucks, but it's something I can work with. I can get over it and move on from there. If things ARE working out, that's even better. Then I can complete whatever I wanted to do, and be proud of what I've accomplished. The issue comes when I don't know it things are or aren't working out. When no one has told me anything and any day the news could be terrible but I can't really plan for that because the news could be good and I'm optimistic so I hope for the best, but I can't move on in that direction either. Then I just have to sit there like a lump and I HATE it!
It's funny, because I'd always thought that I was one of those people who can really go with the flow, but now I'm not so sure. True, I'm never so set in my ways that I can't adapt or change at a moment's notice when the situation calls for it, but that doesn't mean that I'm totally without a plan. For me, going with the flow only works if I actually know where the flow is going. I can adapt to anything you tell me I need to, as long as you tell me what I need to adapt to. Yet, I seem to constantly get stuck in these situations where I can't go anywhere because no one can tell me what is going to happen, and it drives me insane.
Now that I've wasted enough time on things that frustrate me, I suppose I should talk about some things that I'm enjoying as well. We can start with Community, which is a hilarious show that everyone should watch. If you're into comedy I'll also tell you to check out Don't Trust the B**** In Apartment 23, which is quite witty and involves James Van Der Beek playing himself, something I happen to always love in shows. I'm also really loving The Help (the book) both for the content and because it's nice to read again. I'm addicted to Character of the Week at conceptart.org. I'm not, nor will I ever be, an artist, but the characters they create are really inspiring for me, and I've been collecting them on Pinterest for possible stories later. I'm really digging listening to pop radio stations as well. All in all life is more positive than negative, but today the negative was really weighing on my mind.
I'm having a similar issue with the apartment, which is still up in the air. I don't know if a place is going to become available and so I just have to sit and wait on it until I decide it's too late. The issue is that I really want to move into a three bedroom, because it will be much better overall. Now that I actually decided that it would be a good idea and my mind is set on it, the opportunity is basically ripped from my fingers. The issue has become that we need a move in date late enough that we won't be charged a transfer fee, but also early enough that we have enough time to make the move. Plus, we have to decide when it's too late to continue waiting because potential roomie's current lease will run out and she'll need to have a new place figured out. After that date we're pretty much stuck just renewing our current lease and staying where we are. This is fine, I like my apartment, but I'd much rather get the three bedroom.
Looking at the two things that bother me, I realize that one of my biggest pet peeves is being in limbo. I hate waiting for communication and not knowing what's happening. If things aren't going to work out (not getting the apartment, not getting the job, not getting the rehearsal space, not getting the footage), then that sucks, but it's something I can work with. I can get over it and move on from there. If things ARE working out, that's even better. Then I can complete whatever I wanted to do, and be proud of what I've accomplished. The issue comes when I don't know it things are or aren't working out. When no one has told me anything and any day the news could be terrible but I can't really plan for that because the news could be good and I'm optimistic so I hope for the best, but I can't move on in that direction either. Then I just have to sit there like a lump and I HATE it!
It's funny, because I'd always thought that I was one of those people who can really go with the flow, but now I'm not so sure. True, I'm never so set in my ways that I can't adapt or change at a moment's notice when the situation calls for it, but that doesn't mean that I'm totally without a plan. For me, going with the flow only works if I actually know where the flow is going. I can adapt to anything you tell me I need to, as long as you tell me what I need to adapt to. Yet, I seem to constantly get stuck in these situations where I can't go anywhere because no one can tell me what is going to happen, and it drives me insane.
Now that I've wasted enough time on things that frustrate me, I suppose I should talk about some things that I'm enjoying as well. We can start with Community, which is a hilarious show that everyone should watch. If you're into comedy I'll also tell you to check out Don't Trust the B**** In Apartment 23, which is quite witty and involves James Van Der Beek playing himself, something I happen to always love in shows. I'm also really loving The Help (the book) both for the content and because it's nice to read again. I'm addicted to Character of the Week at conceptart.org. I'm not, nor will I ever be, an artist, but the characters they create are really inspiring for me, and I've been collecting them on Pinterest for possible stories later. I'm really digging listening to pop radio stations as well. All in all life is more positive than negative, but today the negative was really weighing on my mind.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
April 26th
I don't have much to talk about today. I had the day off, and unlike
some of my other days off I actually spent a lot of time goofing and
less accomplishing things. Of course I do still have a few hours to turn
that around. And I have done I did manage to make and post two videos
and I started working on my Lovely Lily storyboard. That adds two more
accomplished goals to my list, so...go me.
I have been enjoying some wonderful YouTube videos and watching them continues to inspire me to do more and create more. And while I'm not sure how effective these feelings will be, it is nice to have them. The thing about YouTube is that it's something I CAN do in stops and starts, and every time I come back I find things that are fantastic and beautiful and inspiring. And every once in awhile I can make something I'm proud of to add to that pool of creative energy. Plus, there is no pressure there that I don't create myself, so I can be free to make what I want and do the things that make me happy, and that's a beautiful thing.
There are lots of creative pursuits that I really wish I had more time for, but the truth is that work takes up a lot of my days, and more energy than I'm willing to admit. It's very different than college, where I would come home from class and have a ton of homework or projects and feel like I had no time. Then my creative pursuits were often a form of procrastination, and were a bit more active. Now, when I come home from work, I don't have a lot of other work weighing on my mind (besides Ascendio stuff). Yet, somehow the lack of constantworkthatneedstobedonerightnow has made me more lazy. Without the pressure to do homework, I don't feel like procrastinating with creative projects. Instead, the things I should do are creative projects and thus I procrastinate with things like Hulu, YouTube, and sleep. And before you say anything, yes sleep is a form of procrastination, even if it is supposedly necessary for life.
In a total jump of subjects, a few days ago I talked about dreams and keeping a dream journal. I have been doing that, but it seems that my dreams aren't as epic currently. I don't know if that's cause I'm always exhausted and don't dream, or because my usual epic dreams have been largely replaced by "what could go wrong at work" dreams. Those are the type of dreams I'm totally boss at. Seriously, if it realistically, or unrealistically, could go wrong at my job, I've had a dream about it. I made a decision last night to try and think of something fantasy as I fall to bed to see if that can help encourage my unconscious to jump away from reality. I don't remember any of my dreams from last night, but I'll keep you updated.
Do you like random jumps from thought to thought? Apparently I do, because I want to talk for a second about opossums and possums. Sara's fiance ran over an opossum yesterday, it's the first animal he has ever hit *coughcityboycough* and he was quite devastated. However, when he went to post about this sad occurrence on Facebook (which is what people in my generation do with any big news) he posted that he had run over a POSSUM. Although I felt bad for his apparent sadness, I couldn't let him continue posting that he had hit this
For those of you who are completely confused, I want to point out that a POSSUM and an OPOSSUM are NOT the same creature. Opossums live in the US, they are grey/white, with pointed faces, naked rope tails, and resemble large rats with rounded ears. Possums live in Australia, are red/orange/brown, have large pointed ears, a more rounded nose, bushy tails, and look a lot more like flying squirrels or red pandas than rats. I realize that colloquially people often call opossums just possums, but this is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, because they aren't the same species at ALL.
Just in case this blog hasn't been random enough already I figured I should mention that I miss seeing movies at the theater. I used to go every week, but lack of time and money have prevented that since I moved to Florida. However, I do plan to go see Safe next week and I'm excited for that. Hope you enjoyed this episode of randomness in my head, and I'll see you tomorrow.
I have been enjoying some wonderful YouTube videos and watching them continues to inspire me to do more and create more. And while I'm not sure how effective these feelings will be, it is nice to have them. The thing about YouTube is that it's something I CAN do in stops and starts, and every time I come back I find things that are fantastic and beautiful and inspiring. And every once in awhile I can make something I'm proud of to add to that pool of creative energy. Plus, there is no pressure there that I don't create myself, so I can be free to make what I want and do the things that make me happy, and that's a beautiful thing.
There are lots of creative pursuits that I really wish I had more time for, but the truth is that work takes up a lot of my days, and more energy than I'm willing to admit. It's very different than college, where I would come home from class and have a ton of homework or projects and feel like I had no time. Then my creative pursuits were often a form of procrastination, and were a bit more active. Now, when I come home from work, I don't have a lot of other work weighing on my mind (besides Ascendio stuff). Yet, somehow the lack of constantworkthatneedstobedonerightnow has made me more lazy. Without the pressure to do homework, I don't feel like procrastinating with creative projects. Instead, the things I should do are creative projects and thus I procrastinate with things like Hulu, YouTube, and sleep. And before you say anything, yes sleep is a form of procrastination, even if it is supposedly necessary for life.
In a total jump of subjects, a few days ago I talked about dreams and keeping a dream journal. I have been doing that, but it seems that my dreams aren't as epic currently. I don't know if that's cause I'm always exhausted and don't dream, or because my usual epic dreams have been largely replaced by "what could go wrong at work" dreams. Those are the type of dreams I'm totally boss at. Seriously, if it realistically, or unrealistically, could go wrong at my job, I've had a dream about it. I made a decision last night to try and think of something fantasy as I fall to bed to see if that can help encourage my unconscious to jump away from reality. I don't remember any of my dreams from last night, but I'll keep you updated.
Do you like random jumps from thought to thought? Apparently I do, because I want to talk for a second about opossums and possums. Sara's fiance ran over an opossum yesterday, it's the first animal he has ever hit *coughcityboycough* and he was quite devastated. However, when he went to post about this sad occurrence on Facebook (which is what people in my generation do with any big news) he posted that he had run over a POSSUM. Although I felt bad for his apparent sadness, I couldn't let him continue posting that he had hit this
When he had in fact hit this
For those of you who are completely confused, I want to point out that a POSSUM and an OPOSSUM are NOT the same creature. Opossums live in the US, they are grey/white, with pointed faces, naked rope tails, and resemble large rats with rounded ears. Possums live in Australia, are red/orange/brown, have large pointed ears, a more rounded nose, bushy tails, and look a lot more like flying squirrels or red pandas than rats. I realize that colloquially people often call opossums just possums, but this is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, because they aren't the same species at ALL.
Just in case this blog hasn't been random enough already I figured I should mention that I miss seeing movies at the theater. I used to go every week, but lack of time and money have prevented that since I moved to Florida. However, I do plan to go see Safe next week and I'm excited for that. Hope you enjoyed this episode of randomness in my head, and I'll see you tomorrow.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
April 25th
Still nothing on the apartment front today, but I'm going to keep at it until something sticks. I really want to move into a three bedroom, so I'm going to work to make that happen. I know that changing all of my addresses will suck, but I feel like the location change will be a good thing overall. It will give us more space and, most importantly, it will give Sara a chance to actually "move in" which is something she never did here. When we moved into our current apartment she didn't have much in terms of furniture (and by not much I mean nothing) so she never really moved in. And then life was always too busy to get furniture or truly move most of her stuff in. For me, it will be a chance to get rid of stuff that I'm really keeping for no reason. So I'll be calling the office everyday to find out if there's another 3 bedroom. If we can't get that then Sara & I might switch rooms, which will give us a chance to sort of move without moving.
Today I was scheduled to work from noon to six, but they didn't actually end up needing me, so I was off work by about one and had the rest of the afternoon free. Naturally, I went to Disney World. I went with one of my coworkers and we had a pretty good time. We rode Tower of Terror, The Rockin Rollercoaster, Star Tours, and Toy Story Midway Mania at Hollywood Studios. It was a ton of fun! We also did some walking around and looked through the Man With a Dream, which is sort of a Walt Disney museum, and tells his story. Watching the video and reading all about Walt's life gives me two conflicting emotions. On one hand it makes me incredibly excited to do creative things, and inspires me to no end. On the other hand it makes me feel like a serious underachiever, because I feel that I have accomplished very little in a time that others have accomplished so much.
After our time in Hollywood Studios we went on to Magic Kingdom, where we rode Space Mountain, and participated in my current favorite Disney obsession, Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. This is a fantastic twist on a card duel game. You sign up at one of two training stations in the park, where you receive a key card, a map, and your first five spell cards. After leaving the training center you walk around to stations throughout the park, which are indicated on your map. When you get to a station you activate it with your key card and a screen is revealed. Then you use your spell cards to fight the enemies on the screen by holding up your spell cards. The general story line is that Hades has gathered a group of villains to steal the Crystal of the Magic Kingdom from Merlin and he has enlisted you to fight the villains and bring the crystal pieces back. Currently there is a set of 70 spell cards, and thus far I have 25 of them. It's a bast to play the game, and trading cards is fun, and the technology used in the game is pretty incredible. If you ever happen to be at Disney World be sure to check it out. And if you don't think you'll be visiting again...I could use the extra cards. =)
Aside from a foray into the wonderful world of Disney, today didn't have a lot going for it, but I'm alright with that. It was a nice and fun day and that's just what I wanted it to be. Tomorrow I have the day off and I'm really looking forward to tackling more things on my to do and goal list. Speaking of the goal list, with only 5 days left in April, I suppose I should update you on my goal progress.
1) Write musical book (I've resigned that this was not the time for this goal, but it will still happen sometime)
2) Write 750 words everyday (Bam!)
3) Restart YouTube watching and keep up (I'm doing quite well at this actually)
4) Post video on each channel (plans for this tomorrow)
5) Figure out Guest Service job (GOT IT!)
6) Figure out living arrangement for July (In flux, but working on it)
7) Write Wrockbox show (might not happen, but I'm still working on it)
8) Read Two Books (got one under my belt, but two might have to be super short to meet this goal)
9) Storyboard "Lovely Lily" video (this WILL happen, the ideas in my head just need to find some paper)
10) Put $100 in savings (with all the overtime this will be happening as well)
So 6 goals will happen, and at least 2 more can potentially be finished, which I'm pretty proud of.
Today I was scheduled to work from noon to six, but they didn't actually end up needing me, so I was off work by about one and had the rest of the afternoon free. Naturally, I went to Disney World. I went with one of my coworkers and we had a pretty good time. We rode Tower of Terror, The Rockin Rollercoaster, Star Tours, and Toy Story Midway Mania at Hollywood Studios. It was a ton of fun! We also did some walking around and looked through the Man With a Dream, which is sort of a Walt Disney museum, and tells his story. Watching the video and reading all about Walt's life gives me two conflicting emotions. On one hand it makes me incredibly excited to do creative things, and inspires me to no end. On the other hand it makes me feel like a serious underachiever, because I feel that I have accomplished very little in a time that others have accomplished so much.
After our time in Hollywood Studios we went on to Magic Kingdom, where we rode Space Mountain, and participated in my current favorite Disney obsession, Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. This is a fantastic twist on a card duel game. You sign up at one of two training stations in the park, where you receive a key card, a map, and your first five spell cards. After leaving the training center you walk around to stations throughout the park, which are indicated on your map. When you get to a station you activate it with your key card and a screen is revealed. Then you use your spell cards to fight the enemies on the screen by holding up your spell cards. The general story line is that Hades has gathered a group of villains to steal the Crystal of the Magic Kingdom from Merlin and he has enlisted you to fight the villains and bring the crystal pieces back. Currently there is a set of 70 spell cards, and thus far I have 25 of them. It's a bast to play the game, and trading cards is fun, and the technology used in the game is pretty incredible. If you ever happen to be at Disney World be sure to check it out. And if you don't think you'll be visiting again...I could use the extra cards. =)
Aside from a foray into the wonderful world of Disney, today didn't have a lot going for it, but I'm alright with that. It was a nice and fun day and that's just what I wanted it to be. Tomorrow I have the day off and I'm really looking forward to tackling more things on my to do and goal list. Speaking of the goal list, with only 5 days left in April, I suppose I should update you on my goal progress.
1) Write musical book (I've resigned that this was not the time for this goal, but it will still happen sometime)
2) Write 750 words everyday (Bam!)
3) Restart YouTube watching and keep up (I'm doing quite well at this actually)
4) Post video on each channel (plans for this tomorrow)
5) Figure out Guest Service job (GOT IT!)
6) Figure out living arrangement for July (In flux, but working on it)
7) Write Wrockbox show (might not happen, but I'm still working on it)
8) Read Two Books (got one under my belt, but two might have to be super short to meet this goal)
9) Storyboard "Lovely Lily" video (this WILL happen, the ideas in my head just need to find some paper)
10) Put $100 in savings (with all the overtime this will be happening as well)
So 6 goals will happen, and at least 2 more can potentially be finished, which I'm pretty proud of.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
April 24th
The apartment situation is back in flux again. Apparently the three bedroom wasn't really available and/or disappeared overnight so the only one currently available would require us to move in the next 10 days, which really isn't something we could conceivably manage. That means that we have to start playing the waiting game. We call every day (at least I will be) and see if any 3 bedrooms appear on the roster. Then we can chose to take them. The problem is that if we don't get any then we're going to stay where we are and the TBD roomie gets sorta screwed, which makes me upset. Of course there is the issue that potential roomie won't be joining us until june which means shouldering the cost of a three bedroom by ourselves for a month potentially. Of course I'm willing to do it. Swallow the cost now for a much better situation later. Hopefully one will come up with a later date, but only time will tell.
Aside from a slightly frustrating apartment situation, today was pretty good. I had an opening shift at work, which was fine, and consisted mostly of me excitedly telling people that I got the job in guest services. I think that people will miss me, and I'll miss them, but this is going to be good for me. It was a relatively slow day, so work was pretty relaxing.
When I got off work at 3 I picked up Meg so we could work on some stuff before going to Dungeons and Dragons. We had to level up our characters and Meg had to write a back story. Luckily for me, I had already written a back story for my character (Riley) earlier this month, so I didn't have to worry about it now. It's always fun to level up a character though, because I love the feeling of getting more and more powerful. Plus, I'm playing a head on fighter type, which is something very different from the sneaky assassin or rogue that I usually play. It's been fun to experiment with a different sort of character, and I've fallen in love with Riley, so I hope to keep her around for a very long time.
The funny thing is, that because we will be switching DMs for the next leg of this campaign, we didn't actually play Dungeons and Dragons last night. Instead we got to play other things, and for me that meant Magic the Gathering. I've been slowly learning to play Magic, and then last night the guys that we play D&D with helped me build my own Magic deck. It's blue and red (not for any reason other than I had a lot of blue and red cards), and I actually won the one game I played with them. Of course it will take some actual testing to see if this deck will hold out over time, but I thought it was fun. I'm a thinker, a strategist, when it comes to game play, so they helped me build a deck that lends itself to that type of play. It's mostly sorcery or instant cards (less creatures) but it builds nicely and allows me to stop other player's creatures even though it's unlikely I'll have many to defend myself. It was fun, and as I get more comfortable with the idea of deck building, perhaps I will build some other decks (with other colors) as well.
It's funny because being a thinker is apparently less usual. A lot of people (including the guys I played with) make burner decks that are very creature heavy and brute force. There is no strategy, games are often quicker, but the luck of the draw is much more important. I think part of the reason that I'm so big into strategy is because the luck of the draw rarely goes my way. Also, because I spent a lot of time playing my little brother, and the luck is ALWAYS with him. I had to learn to use my wits or I would never win at anything. My brother can draw an entire hand of perfect cards and wipe me out in one go, unless I'm able to think and work my way out. I think that's also part of the reason my D&D characters are often not very strong fighters, but really good at talking their way out of things. Of course Riley is the exception to that rule, but she's intriguing in her own way.
Just before I go, I have to mention one other thing. I got the "save the date" for my younger brother's wedding (yep, my younger sibling will be getting married before me). It's really pretty, with a couple of pictures of my brother and his fiance, the information on their wedding, and a tree graphic with their initials in a heart. The absolute best part though, is that it's a magnet! I think this is a completely brilliant idea, because then the card doesn't get lost in the shuffle or thrown out, it's there, on your fridge, reminding you every day to prepare. So props to them for having such a fantastic idea, and I can't wait for the wedding.
Aside from a slightly frustrating apartment situation, today was pretty good. I had an opening shift at work, which was fine, and consisted mostly of me excitedly telling people that I got the job in guest services. I think that people will miss me, and I'll miss them, but this is going to be good for me. It was a relatively slow day, so work was pretty relaxing.
When I got off work at 3 I picked up Meg so we could work on some stuff before going to Dungeons and Dragons. We had to level up our characters and Meg had to write a back story. Luckily for me, I had already written a back story for my character (Riley) earlier this month, so I didn't have to worry about it now. It's always fun to level up a character though, because I love the feeling of getting more and more powerful. Plus, I'm playing a head on fighter type, which is something very different from the sneaky assassin or rogue that I usually play. It's been fun to experiment with a different sort of character, and I've fallen in love with Riley, so I hope to keep her around for a very long time.
The funny thing is, that because we will be switching DMs for the next leg of this campaign, we didn't actually play Dungeons and Dragons last night. Instead we got to play other things, and for me that meant Magic the Gathering. I've been slowly learning to play Magic, and then last night the guys that we play D&D with helped me build my own Magic deck. It's blue and red (not for any reason other than I had a lot of blue and red cards), and I actually won the one game I played with them. Of course it will take some actual testing to see if this deck will hold out over time, but I thought it was fun. I'm a thinker, a strategist, when it comes to game play, so they helped me build a deck that lends itself to that type of play. It's mostly sorcery or instant cards (less creatures) but it builds nicely and allows me to stop other player's creatures even though it's unlikely I'll have many to defend myself. It was fun, and as I get more comfortable with the idea of deck building, perhaps I will build some other decks (with other colors) as well.
It's funny because being a thinker is apparently less usual. A lot of people (including the guys I played with) make burner decks that are very creature heavy and brute force. There is no strategy, games are often quicker, but the luck of the draw is much more important. I think part of the reason that I'm so big into strategy is because the luck of the draw rarely goes my way. Also, because I spent a lot of time playing my little brother, and the luck is ALWAYS with him. I had to learn to use my wits or I would never win at anything. My brother can draw an entire hand of perfect cards and wipe me out in one go, unless I'm able to think and work my way out. I think that's also part of the reason my D&D characters are often not very strong fighters, but really good at talking their way out of things. Of course Riley is the exception to that rule, but she's intriguing in her own way.
Just before I go, I have to mention one other thing. I got the "save the date" for my younger brother's wedding (yep, my younger sibling will be getting married before me). It's really pretty, with a couple of pictures of my brother and his fiance, the information on their wedding, and a tree graphic with their initials in a heart. The absolute best part though, is that it's a magnet! I think this is a completely brilliant idea, because then the card doesn't get lost in the shuffle or thrown out, it's there, on your fridge, reminding you every day to prepare. So props to them for having such a fantastic idea, and I can't wait for the wedding.
Monday, April 23, 2012
April 23rd
Today was a completely lovely day off, well off from work at Universal anyway. It certainly wasn't much of an actual day off by any means. Felix woke me up bright and early at 7:30am, but luckily for me I did manage to feed him and then lock him out of my room so I could get a couple more hours of sleep. By 10am I was dressed and showered and ready to tackle my to do list. I moved the comfy brown chair into my room so that I could work on stuff on my laptop and be comfortable while I watched Hulu and YouTube on my PC. I've gotten quite good at completing the type of work I had to do today while watching something else. This helps me cut down on my to watch list along with my to do list.
Aside from about 60 emails for Ascendio (that had been put off due to Universal work) that needed replies, organization, and filing, I also had to work on Ascendio scheduling. Luckily for me there are lots of people willing to help me out with that part, so it went just fine. I'm getting incredibly excited for the different types of programming that are going to be happening at the conference, especially some the informal programming I'm in charge of. Aside from a fantastic Wizard Rock lineup (with 11 bands), we have a live Wizard's Chess Match, Quidditch, two musicals, a fashion show, a variety show, and a bunch of amazing fanfilms that I get more and more excited about by the second. If you have any interest in Harry Potter check out hp2012.org and come hang out will us in Orlando in July.
The other thing I had to work on today was figuring out where I'm going to live when the lease on my current apartment runs out. For awhile I was considering a house or condo, but after a lengthy discussion with my father and my roommates, we decided that the best decision for now was to move into a 3 bedroom apartment with another TBD roomie. It's not finalized yet, but the place we're hoping to get is on the second floor across the apartment complex from where we live now. Rent will be cheaper for everyone, and there will be more space, so overall it's a good decision. I just hope it works out. If not, we'll just stay where we are, which is alright too I guess. I'm still a little nervous about all the stress of moving. Not the moving of all my items, which is stressful, but nothing I haven't done every year since I started college. What really stresses me out is the multitude of things that have my address and have to be changed. Electric, internet, car insurance, renters insurance, drivers license, work, magazines, my bank, the vet clinic, and that's probably not everything. What makes me nervous is that I'll surely forget something, and that one thing will be terribly important because that's the way my life works.
On a much happier note, one thing that had been in flux for me for awhile, a job in guest services at Universal, is no longer something I wonder about. I GOT THE JOB! There's no word yet on when I'll start (it depends on when my current supervisor at the Mummy releases me), but I WILL be starting. The most wonderful thing is that as soon as I start my new availability will go into effect, which means that I might start having Mondays and Tuesdays off sooner. Once I get released from Mummy I might have some extra orientation and then a pretty extensive training process (almost two weeks I believe). It's gonna be a totally different world, but one I'm incredibly excited to join. I'll still be part time (for now) but they told me at the interview that they place a big emphasis on development, so I'm hoping I won't stay part time for long. Plus, from there, I can go to the communication center or VIP tours, both of which I'm incredibly interest in.
Basically today boiled down to a lot of happiness, excitement, and accomplishment. I finished a huge chunk of tasks, watched some fun shows, and got some fantastic news. I really should have days off more often if they work out like this. I still need to figure out my apartment situation but for now the future is bright and sunny here in Orlando.
Aside from about 60 emails for Ascendio (that had been put off due to Universal work) that needed replies, organization, and filing, I also had to work on Ascendio scheduling. Luckily for me there are lots of people willing to help me out with that part, so it went just fine. I'm getting incredibly excited for the different types of programming that are going to be happening at the conference, especially some the informal programming I'm in charge of. Aside from a fantastic Wizard Rock lineup (with 11 bands), we have a live Wizard's Chess Match, Quidditch, two musicals, a fashion show, a variety show, and a bunch of amazing fanfilms that I get more and more excited about by the second. If you have any interest in Harry Potter check out hp2012.org and come hang out will us in Orlando in July.
The other thing I had to work on today was figuring out where I'm going to live when the lease on my current apartment runs out. For awhile I was considering a house or condo, but after a lengthy discussion with my father and my roommates, we decided that the best decision for now was to move into a 3 bedroom apartment with another TBD roomie. It's not finalized yet, but the place we're hoping to get is on the second floor across the apartment complex from where we live now. Rent will be cheaper for everyone, and there will be more space, so overall it's a good decision. I just hope it works out. If not, we'll just stay where we are, which is alright too I guess. I'm still a little nervous about all the stress of moving. Not the moving of all my items, which is stressful, but nothing I haven't done every year since I started college. What really stresses me out is the multitude of things that have my address and have to be changed. Electric, internet, car insurance, renters insurance, drivers license, work, magazines, my bank, the vet clinic, and that's probably not everything. What makes me nervous is that I'll surely forget something, and that one thing will be terribly important because that's the way my life works.
On a much happier note, one thing that had been in flux for me for awhile, a job in guest services at Universal, is no longer something I wonder about. I GOT THE JOB! There's no word yet on when I'll start (it depends on when my current supervisor at the Mummy releases me), but I WILL be starting. The most wonderful thing is that as soon as I start my new availability will go into effect, which means that I might start having Mondays and Tuesdays off sooner. Once I get released from Mummy I might have some extra orientation and then a pretty extensive training process (almost two weeks I believe). It's gonna be a totally different world, but one I'm incredibly excited to join. I'll still be part time (for now) but they told me at the interview that they place a big emphasis on development, so I'm hoping I won't stay part time for long. Plus, from there, I can go to the communication center or VIP tours, both of which I'm incredibly interest in.
Basically today boiled down to a lot of happiness, excitement, and accomplishment. I finished a huge chunk of tasks, watched some fun shows, and got some fantastic news. I really should have days off more often if they work out like this. I still need to figure out my apartment situation but for now the future is bright and sunny here in Orlando.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
April 22nd
Today was a much less stressful day, and I'm actually home early enough to be writing this on the actual day I'm talking about. Of course less stressful doesn't mean that I have something to actually talk about today. I worked from 11am to 7:30pm. I came home and tried to catch up on a little bit of Ascendio work, a little bit of Hulu, and a little bit of YouTube, but mostly I was totally exhausted so I gave up on that stuff and decided to write stuff up my 750 words and then try and get some much needed sleep. We'll see how the second part of that goes.
One of the things I've been watching lately on Hulu is Betty White's Off Their Rockers, which is basically a punked or hidden camera show where elderly people play pranks on younger generations. Usually I'm not a big fan of these types of shows but I find this one both hilarious and fascinating. Hilarious because of the pranks that they decide to pull and fascinating because of the way that people react to the elderly playing the pranks. Some of the things they do are completely crazy and ridiculous and would normally make people terribly angry, yet because they are done by the elderly everyone just laughs and puts up with it. I'm not sure if this is respect for the elders or just that people figure it's not worth getting upset with a crazy old person, but the pranksters certainly use this attitude to their advantage.
There are two basic kinds of pranks that they play. First there are the "I can't believe and old person did that" type. These are things like pretending to have gone to a wild party, sexting a young boyfriend, running around nude, doing crazy skateboard tricks, or saying bad words. Those are hilarious, but not nearly as intriguing for me from a social behavior stand point. The second kind of pranks are the "expected behavior exaggerated" type. This type includes things like runaway ECVs, failing at technology, ignoring signs, pretending to be blind, and my personal favorite, over entitlement. This type is my favorite because it presents the most fascinating social commentary.
My absolute favorite skit takes place in a grocery store. An elderly women is wandering around with her cart, and she removes things from other people's carts or baskets, comments on her like or dislike of each item, and then proceeds to either replace to take the item from the other person's cart. Basically she shops from other people's carts rather than the shelves. This seems like a completely crazy thing, and you'd figure that people would get angry, but they don't. Usually they stare, or chuckle, or make that fish face where you think they're trying to speak but they cant, but NOT a one has demanded the food back. That FASCINATES me. I'm willing to bet $20 that if I went to the store and did that someone would yell at me, or tell a manager, or demand that I return the item they took. Yet, apparently, once you've reached a certain age that behavior becomes, if not accepted, at least tolerated.
Watching that makes me wonder about how the elderly are treated as a rule. I know that often people feel weird around older people. That the physical representation of aging makes them uncomfortable, but are they so uncomfortable that they would rather put up with normally unacceptable behavior than risk a confrintation? That would appear to be the case. If you're reading this blog, I want to challenge you. The next time you go to the grocery store, find someone and remove and item from their cart and then walk away. See how they react. Then comment here and let me know your general age, type of store (chain, local), whether it's a small town, city, or the country, and what reaction you got. I'll be interested to know if there is a change based on more than just age. It should be mentioned that the pranks on the show take place in LA. If people in a city like that just let someone walk away with their groceries it's got to be fascinating in a small town.
That's probably enough social theory for today, plus I'm super tired and I want to go to sleep. I have the day off tomorrow and I'm planning to sleep in. Plans that will surely be ruined by Felix, but hey, a girl can dream.
One of the things I've been watching lately on Hulu is Betty White's Off Their Rockers, which is basically a punked or hidden camera show where elderly people play pranks on younger generations. Usually I'm not a big fan of these types of shows but I find this one both hilarious and fascinating. Hilarious because of the pranks that they decide to pull and fascinating because of the way that people react to the elderly playing the pranks. Some of the things they do are completely crazy and ridiculous and would normally make people terribly angry, yet because they are done by the elderly everyone just laughs and puts up with it. I'm not sure if this is respect for the elders or just that people figure it's not worth getting upset with a crazy old person, but the pranksters certainly use this attitude to their advantage.
There are two basic kinds of pranks that they play. First there are the "I can't believe and old person did that" type. These are things like pretending to have gone to a wild party, sexting a young boyfriend, running around nude, doing crazy skateboard tricks, or saying bad words. Those are hilarious, but not nearly as intriguing for me from a social behavior stand point. The second kind of pranks are the "expected behavior exaggerated" type. This type includes things like runaway ECVs, failing at technology, ignoring signs, pretending to be blind, and my personal favorite, over entitlement. This type is my favorite because it presents the most fascinating social commentary.
My absolute favorite skit takes place in a grocery store. An elderly women is wandering around with her cart, and she removes things from other people's carts or baskets, comments on her like or dislike of each item, and then proceeds to either replace to take the item from the other person's cart. Basically she shops from other people's carts rather than the shelves. This seems like a completely crazy thing, and you'd figure that people would get angry, but they don't. Usually they stare, or chuckle, or make that fish face where you think they're trying to speak but they cant, but NOT a one has demanded the food back. That FASCINATES me. I'm willing to bet $20 that if I went to the store and did that someone would yell at me, or tell a manager, or demand that I return the item they took. Yet, apparently, once you've reached a certain age that behavior becomes, if not accepted, at least tolerated.
Watching that makes me wonder about how the elderly are treated as a rule. I know that often people feel weird around older people. That the physical representation of aging makes them uncomfortable, but are they so uncomfortable that they would rather put up with normally unacceptable behavior than risk a confrintation? That would appear to be the case. If you're reading this blog, I want to challenge you. The next time you go to the grocery store, find someone and remove and item from their cart and then walk away. See how they react. Then comment here and let me know your general age, type of store (chain, local), whether it's a small town, city, or the country, and what reaction you got. I'll be interested to know if there is a change based on more than just age. It should be mentioned that the pranks on the show take place in LA. If people in a city like that just let someone walk away with their groceries it's got to be fascinating in a small town.
That's probably enough social theory for today, plus I'm super tired and I want to go to sleep. I have the day off tomorrow and I'm planning to sleep in. Plans that will surely be ruined by Felix, but hey, a girl can dream.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
April 21st
Once again it's technically a day late, but I'm going to make sure blogger lies to you again. I worked until 1am and now it's a little after 2. I would love to say that since I didn't work until 4pm I did all sorts of things that I can write about, but the simple truth is I had to leave for work at 2 because of how far away we had to park and I slept until a little after noon. This doesn't make for very interesting writing, but it did make for much needed relaxation. I regret nothing.
I suppose I can just write about a few things that have been on my mind. One of the things I've been thinking about lately is YouTube popularity. I watch more than a few YouTube channels, and many of the channels I watch are just bloggers. I often wonder how they manage to get the audiences they have. I have put quite a lot of work into my videos, and some of them are quite good, yet they have 30 views while poorly or unedited vlogs that ramble and have no purpose have hundreds. I'm not complaining, if I didn't love what I was doing I wouldn't do it, but I do find it interesting. Looking at how things get noticed on YouTube is sort of a petri dish of how you would get jobs and things in real life.
What I mean is that it isn't always about the talent of the YouTuber or their content (the skills) it's often much more about who you know. Often all it takes is a larger YouTuber mentioning your channel for subscriber count to sky rocket. From there as long as you provide decent content (or, it seems, give people something pretty to look at) you continue to gain viewers. On the other hand you can have amazing content and be incredibly talented, but if you don't know the right people you might sit unnoticed forever. This is EXACTLY the same as the current job market. You can have skills, talent, and intelligence coming out of your ears, but if you don't have the experience or know the right people you get nowhere. It's a fascinating phenomenon.
The nice thing about the microcosm of YouTube is that you can still do it for fun. Unlike the job market, where if you don't succeed you might be without a food or a home, on YouTube you can continue to have fun without much worry. Of course if you do succeed on YouTube you can turn that into a career, and then you win on all accounts. But even if you don't succeed, it's a platform for expression and excitement. As long as you're having fun there's no reason not to continue making videos regardless of your lack of success (or at least what society views as success).
Anothing (which apparently is my newly invented word meaning "another thing" since I've tried to type that 3 times and anothing has come out each time) that has been on my mind a lot is housing. My current lease runs out at the beginning of July and I'm tentatively looking for a new place to live. I say tentatively because I might just end up staying where I am for another year, but it's still up in the air. I'm considering adding another roomie and would then need a three bedroom place. Also, I dislike moving and would like to move somewhere that I might stay awhile. That means I'm going to be looking at condos and townhouses (and maybe even actual houses) as well. I'll be shopping around to find my best options, and to make sure that I'm getting something that I both like and can afford. The big thing for me though is finding a place that I can really settle into. I want to stay in Florida awhile, and I'd rather not keep moving every year (or every couple of years). I'm hoping that if I do move in July that if I move again it will be at least 5 years in the future.
That's basically all that's been on my mind, except that I need sleep. That's been on my mind for days. For now I'll sleep, and maybe tomorrow I'll actually have something to write about. Of course that's not a promise, so don't hold me to it. We both know that in all likelihood I'll be back here with no ideas.
I suppose I can just write about a few things that have been on my mind. One of the things I've been thinking about lately is YouTube popularity. I watch more than a few YouTube channels, and many of the channels I watch are just bloggers. I often wonder how they manage to get the audiences they have. I have put quite a lot of work into my videos, and some of them are quite good, yet they have 30 views while poorly or unedited vlogs that ramble and have no purpose have hundreds. I'm not complaining, if I didn't love what I was doing I wouldn't do it, but I do find it interesting. Looking at how things get noticed on YouTube is sort of a petri dish of how you would get jobs and things in real life.
What I mean is that it isn't always about the talent of the YouTuber or their content (the skills) it's often much more about who you know. Often all it takes is a larger YouTuber mentioning your channel for subscriber count to sky rocket. From there as long as you provide decent content (or, it seems, give people something pretty to look at) you continue to gain viewers. On the other hand you can have amazing content and be incredibly talented, but if you don't know the right people you might sit unnoticed forever. This is EXACTLY the same as the current job market. You can have skills, talent, and intelligence coming out of your ears, but if you don't have the experience or know the right people you get nowhere. It's a fascinating phenomenon.
The nice thing about the microcosm of YouTube is that you can still do it for fun. Unlike the job market, where if you don't succeed you might be without a food or a home, on YouTube you can continue to have fun without much worry. Of course if you do succeed on YouTube you can turn that into a career, and then you win on all accounts. But even if you don't succeed, it's a platform for expression and excitement. As long as you're having fun there's no reason not to continue making videos regardless of your lack of success (or at least what society views as success).
Anothing (which apparently is my newly invented word meaning "another thing" since I've tried to type that 3 times and anothing has come out each time) that has been on my mind a lot is housing. My current lease runs out at the beginning of July and I'm tentatively looking for a new place to live. I say tentatively because I might just end up staying where I am for another year, but it's still up in the air. I'm considering adding another roomie and would then need a three bedroom place. Also, I dislike moving and would like to move somewhere that I might stay awhile. That means I'm going to be looking at condos and townhouses (and maybe even actual houses) as well. I'll be shopping around to find my best options, and to make sure that I'm getting something that I both like and can afford. The big thing for me though is finding a place that I can really settle into. I want to stay in Florida awhile, and I'd rather not keep moving every year (or every couple of years). I'm hoping that if I do move in July that if I move again it will be at least 5 years in the future.
That's basically all that's been on my mind, except that I need sleep. That's been on my mind for days. For now I'll sleep, and maybe tomorrow I'll actually have something to write about. Of course that's not a promise, so don't hold me to it. We both know that in all likelihood I'll be back here with no ideas.
Friday, April 20, 2012
April 20th
Technically, as I write this, it's a little after 3am on Saturday, but I'm going to lie to blogger so this still posts on Friday. Besides, seeing as I haven't slept yet I firmly believe that it's not a new day. And I didn't really have an opportunity to write anything earlier today. Really, you may ask, no time at all? Friday lasts for 24 hours you know, there had to be some time in there. Well, you see, I spent 15 of those hours at work and the remaining 9 asleep so that I could be awake for the 15. So, yes, really, I had no time.
I can't say much about work except that I manged 17.5 hours pretty well. Of course that means I'm dreading working the next two days because I feel pretty tapped out. But, that's what I signed up for and when my paycheck comes and I see all the extra money I made, I have a feeling I'll be much happier about it all. Besides, it wasn't terrible, and I wasn't the only one pulling a crazy shift, so we all had fun. The reason I was able to work from 9am Friday to 2:30am Saturday was that Universal was hosting Grad Bash. Grad Bash is basically a night in the parks for graduating seniors, so it's a bunch of high school seniors running around and enjoying the parks from about 7pm to 2am. As you can imagine they're a little rowdy and a little hyper, but overall it didn't seem too bad to me. Plus, I had a lot of fun working and it was so fast paced that there was never a dull moment.
The problem is that with my entire 24 hours been spent at work or sleeping, and my current state of exhaustion, I really can't think of a single other thing to write about. Hold on a sec and I'll look around my room for inspiration....alright I'm back. I didn't really find anything inspiring. Even Felix (my usual source of filler updates) is fast asleep on my bed. I suppose I could talk briefly about sleeping and dreaming, cause that's all I have on my mind right now.
I watched a YouTube video recently about different sleep cycles and that the most productive and effective consists of talking 30 to 40 minute naps about every 6 hours. This means you sleep between 2 and 3 hours a day in TOTAL! That's WAY less than the 9 I slept today. You would think that this would be a crazy idea and people that followed this cycle would be exhausted, but it's not true. What little naps like that do is train your body and brain to fall immediately into REM sleep and you usually have more vivid dreams and wake feeling quite refreshed. If you've ever taken a 30 minute nap during the day you know this feeling. The issue with this cycle is it doesn't really fit with the way we function as a society. You can't really hold a normal 9-5 and nap every 6 hours. It's also difficult to be with people and have a social life because your activities are dictated by this sleep cycle. If you miss (or even delay) one of the naps, it can cause serious exhaustion. On the other hand, if you don't have a typical job, or a family, getting 21 or 22 workable awake hours might be a pretty good deal for you. It's not something I'd ever consider, I like my long night of sleep, but it is an interesting thing to study.
The other part of sleep that has been fascinating me lately is dreams. I recently did a "mission" for ZeFrank (the YouTuber I mentioned before) that involved narrating a dream you had that could potentially be chosen to be animated. I really wasn't sure what to narrate, so I went and grabbed my dream journal (which I haven't written in in ages). I started flipping through that pages and reading the dreams that I found interesting enough to write down and came to a simple conclusion...I have really freaking weird dreams. I'm being completely serious. Maybe it's because I read a lot of fantasy, or because I find the other dreams boring and don't write them down, but either way my dreams are all fantastical and epic. They're tales of good fighting evil or monsters living in stairwells, or tiny dragons, or secret societies, or theater sets, props, and costumes that come to life and wage war, or any other number of crazy adventure tales. I'm thinking I might make it a goal next month to take each of those dreams and write a short story.
And look at that, I managed 750 words. Which means that I can crawl into bed and enjoy my normal, mundane, 9 hours of sleep. Perhaps I'll dream of something interesting.
I can't say much about work except that I manged 17.5 hours pretty well. Of course that means I'm dreading working the next two days because I feel pretty tapped out. But, that's what I signed up for and when my paycheck comes and I see all the extra money I made, I have a feeling I'll be much happier about it all. Besides, it wasn't terrible, and I wasn't the only one pulling a crazy shift, so we all had fun. The reason I was able to work from 9am Friday to 2:30am Saturday was that Universal was hosting Grad Bash. Grad Bash is basically a night in the parks for graduating seniors, so it's a bunch of high school seniors running around and enjoying the parks from about 7pm to 2am. As you can imagine they're a little rowdy and a little hyper, but overall it didn't seem too bad to me. Plus, I had a lot of fun working and it was so fast paced that there was never a dull moment.
The problem is that with my entire 24 hours been spent at work or sleeping, and my current state of exhaustion, I really can't think of a single other thing to write about. Hold on a sec and I'll look around my room for inspiration....alright I'm back. I didn't really find anything inspiring. Even Felix (my usual source of filler updates) is fast asleep on my bed. I suppose I could talk briefly about sleeping and dreaming, cause that's all I have on my mind right now.
I watched a YouTube video recently about different sleep cycles and that the most productive and effective consists of talking 30 to 40 minute naps about every 6 hours. This means you sleep between 2 and 3 hours a day in TOTAL! That's WAY less than the 9 I slept today. You would think that this would be a crazy idea and people that followed this cycle would be exhausted, but it's not true. What little naps like that do is train your body and brain to fall immediately into REM sleep and you usually have more vivid dreams and wake feeling quite refreshed. If you've ever taken a 30 minute nap during the day you know this feeling. The issue with this cycle is it doesn't really fit with the way we function as a society. You can't really hold a normal 9-5 and nap every 6 hours. It's also difficult to be with people and have a social life because your activities are dictated by this sleep cycle. If you miss (or even delay) one of the naps, it can cause serious exhaustion. On the other hand, if you don't have a typical job, or a family, getting 21 or 22 workable awake hours might be a pretty good deal for you. It's not something I'd ever consider, I like my long night of sleep, but it is an interesting thing to study.
The other part of sleep that has been fascinating me lately is dreams. I recently did a "mission" for ZeFrank (the YouTuber I mentioned before) that involved narrating a dream you had that could potentially be chosen to be animated. I really wasn't sure what to narrate, so I went and grabbed my dream journal (which I haven't written in in ages). I started flipping through that pages and reading the dreams that I found interesting enough to write down and came to a simple conclusion...I have really freaking weird dreams. I'm being completely serious. Maybe it's because I read a lot of fantasy, or because I find the other dreams boring and don't write them down, but either way my dreams are all fantastical and epic. They're tales of good fighting evil or monsters living in stairwells, or tiny dragons, or secret societies, or theater sets, props, and costumes that come to life and wage war, or any other number of crazy adventure tales. I'm thinking I might make it a goal next month to take each of those dreams and write a short story.
And look at that, I managed 750 words. Which means that I can crawl into bed and enjoy my normal, mundane, 9 hours of sleep. Perhaps I'll dream of something interesting.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
April 19th
Today was perhaps even a less interesting day than most of my days lately. I didn't work! That was a wonderful and welcome change from what has basically been the norm for a few weeks. However, since it was my first day off in awhile, I basically did nothing. I tried to sleep in, with only marginal success. Felix awoke me at 7:30am, because he can sense that I wanted to sleep in and so it became his mission to make sure I got up early to feed him. I did get up and feed the cat...and then I climbed right back into bed, cause I was tired. Much to Felix's disappointment, disappointed he shared quite vocally until I kicked him out of my room.
When I eventually saw fit to truly get up (about 10am) I showered and put on some comfy clothes. I then spent the next four hours watching Hulu while I caught up on some emails, some facebook, and some other things I needed to check out. Then I made lunch, and ate it. Shortly after that it was time to get ready for the only truely exciting thing happening today, my interview for guest services. I dressed myself quite nicely, black pants, heels, white sleeveless shirt, and a black sweater. I put my hair half up and wore a cute necklace. Then I arrived for the interview about 20 minutes early and sat in the waiting room and read The Help.
I knew going in that the interview that it was going to be a group interview, but it was not what I expected. The only other group interview I had been to consisted of the interviewer asking a question and the group of interviewees speaking up to answer as they choose. It also involved some group activities. Basically it seemed to be a way to show who was most outgoing and good at leadership and prepared. That's what I went in to this interview expecting. Instead it was more like a regular interview with spectators. The interviewers asked a question and then we went around the table and answered the question in order. It wasn't a bad way to do the interviewer, but it wasn't what I expected. At the end they informed me that I would have an answer, yes or no, by next Tuesday. So, I suppose I'll tell you more about it then.
Then I came home from my interview and watched some YouTube and talked to my parents and ate some popcorn and then I sat down here to write my 750 words. Of course I'm only 440 words in with all of that, so I suppose I'll have to sing of something else to say. Wait, sing? I meant think, that's what happens when I try and type this while I'm also watching YouTube videos. This is something that used to happen to me all the time, writing words I'm hearing when I try to multitask. I used to write papers in college and high school while listening to music, and you'd be surprised how often lyrics would find their way into my papers. That's what editing and second drafts are for, but here it's a one shot. I don't like to go back and change, that's not the point of this writing.
Something that has been all over my internet forums lately is The Cabin in the Woods, a new horror movie. It's interesting because a lot of the people who are talking about it mention that they don't normally go to horror films. I fall into this category. I don't go to horror movies ever if I can avoid it. I don't really enjoying them because what usually draws me to a movie is an interesting plot and witty or engaging dialogue, which horror movies aren't usually known for. Well, that and I may or may not often have terrible nightmares due to an overactive imagination, and I generally like to avoid that. However, I'm actually considering seeing this movie. Why, you ask? Because of two simple words Joss Whedon. Joss is the mastermind behind Firefly, Dollhouse, Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Blog, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Angel, all of which I adore. He has a fantastic style and his writing is always intriguing. After seeing what he can do with those shows, I think I might be willing to risk horrific nightmares for a chance at a unique horror movie. Plus, a lot of people I respect have seen and enjoyed the movie even if they didn't like horror movies. I'll let you know how it goes.
When I eventually saw fit to truly get up (about 10am) I showered and put on some comfy clothes. I then spent the next four hours watching Hulu while I caught up on some emails, some facebook, and some other things I needed to check out. Then I made lunch, and ate it. Shortly after that it was time to get ready for the only truely exciting thing happening today, my interview for guest services. I dressed myself quite nicely, black pants, heels, white sleeveless shirt, and a black sweater. I put my hair half up and wore a cute necklace. Then I arrived for the interview about 20 minutes early and sat in the waiting room and read The Help.
I knew going in that the interview that it was going to be a group interview, but it was not what I expected. The only other group interview I had been to consisted of the interviewer asking a question and the group of interviewees speaking up to answer as they choose. It also involved some group activities. Basically it seemed to be a way to show who was most outgoing and good at leadership and prepared. That's what I went in to this interview expecting. Instead it was more like a regular interview with spectators. The interviewers asked a question and then we went around the table and answered the question in order. It wasn't a bad way to do the interviewer, but it wasn't what I expected. At the end they informed me that I would have an answer, yes or no, by next Tuesday. So, I suppose I'll tell you more about it then.
Then I came home from my interview and watched some YouTube and talked to my parents and ate some popcorn and then I sat down here to write my 750 words. Of course I'm only 440 words in with all of that, so I suppose I'll have to sing of something else to say. Wait, sing? I meant think, that's what happens when I try and type this while I'm also watching YouTube videos. This is something that used to happen to me all the time, writing words I'm hearing when I try to multitask. I used to write papers in college and high school while listening to music, and you'd be surprised how often lyrics would find their way into my papers. That's what editing and second drafts are for, but here it's a one shot. I don't like to go back and change, that's not the point of this writing.
Something that has been all over my internet forums lately is The Cabin in the Woods, a new horror movie. It's interesting because a lot of the people who are talking about it mention that they don't normally go to horror films. I fall into this category. I don't go to horror movies ever if I can avoid it. I don't really enjoying them because what usually draws me to a movie is an interesting plot and witty or engaging dialogue, which horror movies aren't usually known for. Well, that and I may or may not often have terrible nightmares due to an overactive imagination, and I generally like to avoid that. However, I'm actually considering seeing this movie. Why, you ask? Because of two simple words Joss Whedon. Joss is the mastermind behind Firefly, Dollhouse, Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Blog, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Angel, all of which I adore. He has a fantastic style and his writing is always intriguing. After seeing what he can do with those shows, I think I might be willing to risk horrific nightmares for a chance at a unique horror movie. Plus, a lot of people I respect have seen and enjoyed the movie even if they didn't like horror movies. I'll let you know how it goes.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
April 18th
Today was a day spent at work more than others. I had a mid shift instead of an opening or closing shift. That means that I was at work from 11 to 7, which basically eats up your entire day. On the plus side I got rescued out to "The 8th Voyage of Sinbad" a show in Islands of Adventure (the other park at Universal Orlando). That made my day a lot easier, and it was fun to do something different after so many days of just Mummy. It's fascinating to see how differently a show operates versus our ride. The most interesting thing for me is that since we're in a slower season Sinbad was operated with only three people (two attendants and a lead). Compared to Mummy, which regularly has nine attendants and a lead, it's kinda mind blowing. It was fun though, and the wardrobe was super comfortable, and I got to be outside quite a bit, and the two people I worked with were fun, and I got to see the show a bunch of times.
Of course eventually work had to end and then I had to find something else to do with my day. I came home and made some Ramen for dinner. I eat quite a bit of Ramen actually. It's easy, quick, and I find it quite delicious. My mother is probably shaking her head as she reads this, but honestly it's nice to have something that's so easy to make cause I often don't have a lot of time. I usually cook up some frozen veggies to go with the Ramen as well. Then I drink some milk or water with dinner. It's yummy and it's not terrible for me, but I imagine it's not the healthiest meal. Still, I spend a lot of time moving at my job, not to mention riding my bike there, so it balances out.
After dinner I manged to squeeze in some time with my brother. We played Portal 2. I still suck at it, but I'm getting better. It was fun anyway, there's something about Kellen constantly sighing as I continue dying that makes for a funny time. Of course even if Kellen isn't being funny there is always GlaDOS who is THE FUNNIEST video game characters ever. Seriously, whoever writes her lines is a total genius, I love pretty much all of them. It was really nice to hang with Kellen (virtually of course), since he's been pretty busy with classes and VEISHEA and finals lately. We didn't talk much about life, but we did banter and have a good time.
Kellen has actually gotten me quite a few video games lately. Not that I have a ton of time to play any of them, but it's still really really nice of him. They are really fun when I do get a chance. Eventually my schedule is going to become more regular (with set days off) and then I might have some time for video games. My favorites currently (besides co-op Portal 2 with Kellen) are the Nancy Drew mysteries. They are an interactive adventure that involves finding clues and solving puzzles. I own a bunch of them now. They're super complicated and take quite a bit of time, but that's what makes them so good. There's hours of play time for each game.
After gaming with Kellen it was pretty much time to go to sleep. I watched some Hulu and sat down to write 750 words. And with that I've wrapped up my day and still have about 150 words to write. So I guess we'll have to continue with a bit of filler. Hmmm, how about a Felix update. Post declaw he's doing much better. He's stopped limping and licking at his paws, which means he's healing. It's a wonderful think that he doesn't tear at the carpet anymore, and it's much less risky to play with him. His appetite has also returned, which is a huge relief to me. Of course it also means that he's back to insistently waking me up in the morning to make sure he gets fed. There's a downside and an upside to everything I guess. When it comes to upsides though, Felix is full of them. He's so incredibly adorable and manages to do cute things on almost an hourly basis. Playing with the pointer on my computer screen, adorably rolling around on the ground, doing this adorable jump sideways when something startles him, and generally just giving me the "I'm so cute you can't be mad" look. Which works every time. And there's my 750 words.
Of course eventually work had to end and then I had to find something else to do with my day. I came home and made some Ramen for dinner. I eat quite a bit of Ramen actually. It's easy, quick, and I find it quite delicious. My mother is probably shaking her head as she reads this, but honestly it's nice to have something that's so easy to make cause I often don't have a lot of time. I usually cook up some frozen veggies to go with the Ramen as well. Then I drink some milk or water with dinner. It's yummy and it's not terrible for me, but I imagine it's not the healthiest meal. Still, I spend a lot of time moving at my job, not to mention riding my bike there, so it balances out.
After dinner I manged to squeeze in some time with my brother. We played Portal 2. I still suck at it, but I'm getting better. It was fun anyway, there's something about Kellen constantly sighing as I continue dying that makes for a funny time. Of course even if Kellen isn't being funny there is always GlaDOS who is THE FUNNIEST video game characters ever. Seriously, whoever writes her lines is a total genius, I love pretty much all of them. It was really nice to hang with Kellen (virtually of course), since he's been pretty busy with classes and VEISHEA and finals lately. We didn't talk much about life, but we did banter and have a good time.
Kellen has actually gotten me quite a few video games lately. Not that I have a ton of time to play any of them, but it's still really really nice of him. They are really fun when I do get a chance. Eventually my schedule is going to become more regular (with set days off) and then I might have some time for video games. My favorites currently (besides co-op Portal 2 with Kellen) are the Nancy Drew mysteries. They are an interactive adventure that involves finding clues and solving puzzles. I own a bunch of them now. They're super complicated and take quite a bit of time, but that's what makes them so good. There's hours of play time for each game.
After gaming with Kellen it was pretty much time to go to sleep. I watched some Hulu and sat down to write 750 words. And with that I've wrapped up my day and still have about 150 words to write. So I guess we'll have to continue with a bit of filler. Hmmm, how about a Felix update. Post declaw he's doing much better. He's stopped limping and licking at his paws, which means he's healing. It's a wonderful think that he doesn't tear at the carpet anymore, and it's much less risky to play with him. His appetite has also returned, which is a huge relief to me. Of course it also means that he's back to insistently waking me up in the morning to make sure he gets fed. There's a downside and an upside to everything I guess. When it comes to upsides though, Felix is full of them. He's so incredibly adorable and manages to do cute things on almost an hourly basis. Playing with the pointer on my computer screen, adorably rolling around on the ground, doing this adorable jump sideways when something startles him, and generally just giving me the "I'm so cute you can't be mad" look. Which works every time. And there's my 750 words.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
April 17th
I actually had an exciting enough day that I have things to talk about, or at least things I'm excited about. Today started with work (I know you're shocked) which was good as always. I got to be in controls which was good for me as I don't get to be in there often enough. And the other positions in my rotation were some of my favorites too. AND I got to open greeter! Opening greeter (the position at the entrance of the ride) is my FAVORITE. The line is short so people often ride a few times and you start to develop a bit of a relationship with them. It's fun to get a banter going. Plus the supervisors and all sorts of people are walking by in the morning and I get to say hi to everyone.
Then after work I got a call that I'm going to have an interview on Thursday for the job I want in guest services. Which is incredibly exciting because this is a job I want (and I think it might pay more which is always a welcome change). I'm a little nervous about the interview because it's a group interview with the supervisors. That makes it different from the interviews I had before, but I'm hoping I make enough of an impression to make the cut. I'll arrive dressed to impress and make sure I have ideas. Listen to others then speak. Try and talk first if I can, and think before I do. I want to show that I can be good at giving people what they want while still doing what I need to (which is what guest services is all about). If I do get the transfer I'll miss the people at Mummy, but I think I'll be happier overall. Plus I can still visit and ride anytime I want. =)
After all that I came home to find Meg on my couch, very sick. That put a bit of a damper on the evening. She had a tough day full of standardized tests and was sick on top of all that. We covered her with blankets, forced her to drink water and let her sleep. While Meg slept I worked on stuff I needed to get done. We decided that it was better that she went home rather than going to dungeons and dragons. Besides her not really being in the mood there is a tiny baby at Dungeons and Dragons and I didn't want him to get sick.
I, however, went to Dungeons and Dragons. For those of you who don't know D&D is a table top role playing game. Basically you have a character sheet with stats, a map, figures to mark your place, and a bunch of dice to make sure you can hit. Tonight we fought a lich king (an undead wizard). It was difficult, but since we had a party of seven we managed. I love the people I game with and the game itself is a blast. I already wrote my character backstory for you earlier this month.
The best part of the day happened after D&D though. Since we killed the lich king in record time we had about an hour extra to waste before the store we play at closed. I've been learning to play Magic the Gathering (a card based battle game). Some of the guys from the game and I played after we finished our D&D session. I lost, not horribly but still. Honestly it's surprising how well I manage to hang in there considered I knew nothing about Magic when I built my deck. I picked the colors (red and blue) cause I like them and most of the cards because they had pretty pictures or cool names. It's amazing I didn't die in turn one. Either because I'm actually good at strategy or because the guys took pity on me (the latter is more likely true), I managed to hang around until almost the end. We played a four way free for all and I made it to the final two. Still, once I got there I was decimated.
On the plus side though, the guys agreed to help me build a new deck that might actually have some sort of playable strategy built in. I'm still sticking with red and blue, but I'm going to try and add cards that build on each other so that I can actually have a deck that gets better as I play more cards. Someday I might even win.
Then after work I got a call that I'm going to have an interview on Thursday for the job I want in guest services. Which is incredibly exciting because this is a job I want (and I think it might pay more which is always a welcome change). I'm a little nervous about the interview because it's a group interview with the supervisors. That makes it different from the interviews I had before, but I'm hoping I make enough of an impression to make the cut. I'll arrive dressed to impress and make sure I have ideas. Listen to others then speak. Try and talk first if I can, and think before I do. I want to show that I can be good at giving people what they want while still doing what I need to (which is what guest services is all about). If I do get the transfer I'll miss the people at Mummy, but I think I'll be happier overall. Plus I can still visit and ride anytime I want. =)
After all that I came home to find Meg on my couch, very sick. That put a bit of a damper on the evening. She had a tough day full of standardized tests and was sick on top of all that. We covered her with blankets, forced her to drink water and let her sleep. While Meg slept I worked on stuff I needed to get done. We decided that it was better that she went home rather than going to dungeons and dragons. Besides her not really being in the mood there is a tiny baby at Dungeons and Dragons and I didn't want him to get sick.
I, however, went to Dungeons and Dragons. For those of you who don't know D&D is a table top role playing game. Basically you have a character sheet with stats, a map, figures to mark your place, and a bunch of dice to make sure you can hit. Tonight we fought a lich king (an undead wizard). It was difficult, but since we had a party of seven we managed. I love the people I game with and the game itself is a blast. I already wrote my character backstory for you earlier this month.
The best part of the day happened after D&D though. Since we killed the lich king in record time we had about an hour extra to waste before the store we play at closed. I've been learning to play Magic the Gathering (a card based battle game). Some of the guys from the game and I played after we finished our D&D session. I lost, not horribly but still. Honestly it's surprising how well I manage to hang in there considered I knew nothing about Magic when I built my deck. I picked the colors (red and blue) cause I like them and most of the cards because they had pretty pictures or cool names. It's amazing I didn't die in turn one. Either because I'm actually good at strategy or because the guys took pity on me (the latter is more likely true), I managed to hang around until almost the end. We played a four way free for all and I made it to the final two. Still, once I got there I was decimated.
On the plus side though, the guys agreed to help me build a new deck that might actually have some sort of playable strategy built in. I'm still sticking with red and blue, but I'm going to try and add cards that build on each other so that I can actually have a deck that gets better as I play more cards. Someday I might even win.
Monday, April 16, 2012
April 16th
What do you want to talk about? Seriously, I'm open to suggestions. Nothing? Really, you don't have any ideas either? Well then next time I say I don't know what to write about you can keep your comments to yourself because obviously you can't think of anything either. Oh, you're not answering because you're just a blog page and don't have any thoughts of your own? Well, that sounds like an excuse to me.
Since you're not going to be any help I guess I have to think of things to write on my own. I turned in my availability change form today, which means I should hopefully start having two days a week off soon. I can't wait for planned days off so I can start to plan things to do on those days. I also can't wait for Thursday cause I can sleep then. I'm really really looking forward to sleep. Friday I'm a little worried about my 750 words since I work from 9am until 2:30am on Saturday. I guess I'll have to write super early...or something. That 17.5 hour shift is intimidating, but the idea of over time pay was too tempting to pass up. And that's what work has been like without talking about what work has actually been like.
I picked up Meg after work so we could chill like we do almost every Monday. I helped her with some homework at her house, which mostly involved me cutting coffee stains off the edge of her script. Then we went shopping at Publix where I got apples and some soda pop. After that we got some dinner (with money provided by Meg's lovely mother Jill) and went back to my house. We proceeded to watch a bunch of YouTube videos of Meg performing in shows in middle school and high school. Then she decided she wanted to show my a hilarious video by one of our friends (Alyssa) and has spent the last 45 minutes trying to find that video. That was about the time I decided it would be best for me to write 750 words than just watch Meg search through YouTube. Of course I really don't have anything to write about, but nothing is new there.
I suppose in lieu of my day I can talk about Meg instead. Meg is basically my little sister here in Orlando. She played Young Lily in The Final Battle (a musical I co-wrote and directed about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows). Since I moved to Orlando she and her mother Jill have really helped me out with everything. Jill is even helping me figure out where to move (if I'm going to move) when my lease runs out in June. Meg and I have a total blast hanging out every Monday and I've been able to get her interesting in Dungeons and Dragons and a lot of other things I love. She's very talented and has been a ton of help with most of my creative endeavors. It's been a true blessing to have her around because she is full of energy I don't have and she really pushes me to do things. Meg is only 15, but she has done a lot with her life. She's in a theater magnet at her high school and is basically in every production. She wants to be a Broadway actress and I honestly think she'll make it. She makes me want to do more theater and film and that's a good thing.
The best thing about hanging out with Meg is that lots of people I know here actually believe that she's my sister. Since people in Orlando know basically nothing about my life before I moved here (unless I tell them) it's given me a bit of chance to reinvent myself. Not that I've changed terribly, but it's been fun to see what things people here think of me versus people that knew me growing up. Making Meg into my fake sister has been fun though. It's fascinating how we can tell people we're sisters and they'll look at us and declare that they can totally see the resemblance. Really we don't look much alike at all, but if we say it people believe it and they want to prove that they believe it. We have had some good times tricking people with that. Plus, it's become a lot easier to say I'm hanging with my little sister than my 15 year old best friend. That's all I can think of for today.
Since you're not going to be any help I guess I have to think of things to write on my own. I turned in my availability change form today, which means I should hopefully start having two days a week off soon. I can't wait for planned days off so I can start to plan things to do on those days. I also can't wait for Thursday cause I can sleep then. I'm really really looking forward to sleep. Friday I'm a little worried about my 750 words since I work from 9am until 2:30am on Saturday. I guess I'll have to write super early...or something. That 17.5 hour shift is intimidating, but the idea of over time pay was too tempting to pass up. And that's what work has been like without talking about what work has actually been like.
I picked up Meg after work so we could chill like we do almost every Monday. I helped her with some homework at her house, which mostly involved me cutting coffee stains off the edge of her script. Then we went shopping at Publix where I got apples and some soda pop. After that we got some dinner (with money provided by Meg's lovely mother Jill) and went back to my house. We proceeded to watch a bunch of YouTube videos of Meg performing in shows in middle school and high school. Then she decided she wanted to show my a hilarious video by one of our friends (Alyssa) and has spent the last 45 minutes trying to find that video. That was about the time I decided it would be best for me to write 750 words than just watch Meg search through YouTube. Of course I really don't have anything to write about, but nothing is new there.
I suppose in lieu of my day I can talk about Meg instead. Meg is basically my little sister here in Orlando. She played Young Lily in The Final Battle (a musical I co-wrote and directed about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows). Since I moved to Orlando she and her mother Jill have really helped me out with everything. Jill is even helping me figure out where to move (if I'm going to move) when my lease runs out in June. Meg and I have a total blast hanging out every Monday and I've been able to get her interesting in Dungeons and Dragons and a lot of other things I love. She's very talented and has been a ton of help with most of my creative endeavors. It's been a true blessing to have her around because she is full of energy I don't have and she really pushes me to do things. Meg is only 15, but she has done a lot with her life. She's in a theater magnet at her high school and is basically in every production. She wants to be a Broadway actress and I honestly think she'll make it. She makes me want to do more theater and film and that's a good thing.
The best thing about hanging out with Meg is that lots of people I know here actually believe that she's my sister. Since people in Orlando know basically nothing about my life before I moved here (unless I tell them) it's given me a bit of chance to reinvent myself. Not that I've changed terribly, but it's been fun to see what things people here think of me versus people that knew me growing up. Making Meg into my fake sister has been fun though. It's fascinating how we can tell people we're sisters and they'll look at us and declare that they can totally see the resemblance. Really we don't look much alike at all, but if we say it people believe it and they want to prove that they believe it. We have had some good times tricking people with that. Plus, it's become a lot easier to say I'm hanging with my little sister than my 15 year old best friend. That's all I can think of for today.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
April 15th
It's funny that I come to this page every single day with no idea what to write about and yet I've managed 750 words every single one of those days. That either means that the 750 words are filler and have no value, or my life and opinions are actually more interesting than I originally thought. I'm going to vote for the latter for the ego boost, but feel free to contest my decision and point out that this entire paragraph was basically filler. Ah, honesty.
Work, work, and more work is what I feel my life has boiled down to lately. That said, I'll be incredibly happy when my checks arrive and I see all the money I've made and can promptly spend it on ice cream. Plus, I'll probably miss it when my hours drop to almost nothing in a few weeks. I'm also changing my availability so that I'll have guaranteed days off (Monday and Tuesday) EVERY SINGLE WEEK! This is very exciting because it means that I can start to plan things in my live. Like making videos on Monday and going to Disney on Tuesday. Or writing on Mondays and cleaning on Tuesday. Or basically anything I want to do on those days. Plus hanging out with Meg and going to Dungeons and Dragons which I already do. There was some debate on what days I would choose to have off, but honestly getting out of the house to do things like shopping and chores work WAY better on a weekday.
Gosh do you think I talked enough about work without actually talk about work? Have you noticed I do that a lot? Have you wondered about it? Basically Universal has a blogging/vlogging/posting policy that loves to be infuriatingly general, so I'm never sure what I can and can't post. Not that anyone would probably discover it considering I never post about this blog and the only people who are read it are my parents who don't care much about anything I might have to say about what's up at Universal. Still better safe than sorry, so I'll stick with work was fun and I got to be in Greeter rotation (which is non safety and I feel less stressful).
Currently I'm waiting for an Ascendio meeting so I can report on how far I have and have not gotten on thousands of things that I need to do and hundreds of other things I wasn't aware of until this moment. I have loved working for Ascendio and being a part of this amazing process, but I will NOT be sad to see it end and I will not be signing up for this craziness again. I will be going to Potter conferences for the foreseeable future (I'll make the money somehow), but I want to go as an attendee. Maybe I'll do something small (like a small production or a single presentation) but nothing like what I've been doing basically since conference number one. Of course you can't hold me to that because I like being busy too much to truly give up on being involved, but I think cutting back a little will make things more fun.
There's not much else to update in my life since yesterday. I'm going to start keeping a dream journal again. This was brought about by the reading of my old dream journal which is full of fantastically epic adventures. I imagine not all my dreams are this epic but the ones I remember and write down are quite incredible. Making those into short stories might be a plan for someday. It's interesting to me because I can't actually think of a dream I've had in a few months. I'm not sure if it's because I've stopped dreaming, or stopped remembering the dreams, or simply don't sleep enough for it to matter. I'm hoping by making a conscious decision to write them down perhaps my subconscious and unconscious will decide to provide the dreams I need to write down.
There are still like 80 words left to write and now I'm seriously grasping at literary straws. So, naturally, I'm going to turn on Vlogbrothers videos and type almost nothing but filler words to get the last few words finished. I'm enjoying catching up on Vlogbrothers. It feels like an accomplishment. That's right, I consider spending hours watching YouTube videos to be an accomplishment. I can hear my mom groaning and sighing from here. But hey, I go to work, I pay rent, if I want to spend my other time watching YouTube, I think that's totally cool.
Work, work, and more work is what I feel my life has boiled down to lately. That said, I'll be incredibly happy when my checks arrive and I see all the money I've made and can promptly spend it on ice cream. Plus, I'll probably miss it when my hours drop to almost nothing in a few weeks. I'm also changing my availability so that I'll have guaranteed days off (Monday and Tuesday) EVERY SINGLE WEEK! This is very exciting because it means that I can start to plan things in my live. Like making videos on Monday and going to Disney on Tuesday. Or writing on Mondays and cleaning on Tuesday. Or basically anything I want to do on those days. Plus hanging out with Meg and going to Dungeons and Dragons which I already do. There was some debate on what days I would choose to have off, but honestly getting out of the house to do things like shopping and chores work WAY better on a weekday.
Gosh do you think I talked enough about work without actually talk about work? Have you noticed I do that a lot? Have you wondered about it? Basically Universal has a blogging/vlogging/posting policy that loves to be infuriatingly general, so I'm never sure what I can and can't post. Not that anyone would probably discover it considering I never post about this blog and the only people who are read it are my parents who don't care much about anything I might have to say about what's up at Universal. Still better safe than sorry, so I'll stick with work was fun and I got to be in Greeter rotation (which is non safety and I feel less stressful).
Currently I'm waiting for an Ascendio meeting so I can report on how far I have and have not gotten on thousands of things that I need to do and hundreds of other things I wasn't aware of until this moment. I have loved working for Ascendio and being a part of this amazing process, but I will NOT be sad to see it end and I will not be signing up for this craziness again. I will be going to Potter conferences for the foreseeable future (I'll make the money somehow), but I want to go as an attendee. Maybe I'll do something small (like a small production or a single presentation) but nothing like what I've been doing basically since conference number one. Of course you can't hold me to that because I like being busy too much to truly give up on being involved, but I think cutting back a little will make things more fun.
There's not much else to update in my life since yesterday. I'm going to start keeping a dream journal again. This was brought about by the reading of my old dream journal which is full of fantastically epic adventures. I imagine not all my dreams are this epic but the ones I remember and write down are quite incredible. Making those into short stories might be a plan for someday. It's interesting to me because I can't actually think of a dream I've had in a few months. I'm not sure if it's because I've stopped dreaming, or stopped remembering the dreams, or simply don't sleep enough for it to matter. I'm hoping by making a conscious decision to write them down perhaps my subconscious and unconscious will decide to provide the dreams I need to write down.
There are still like 80 words left to write and now I'm seriously grasping at literary straws. So, naturally, I'm going to turn on Vlogbrothers videos and type almost nothing but filler words to get the last few words finished. I'm enjoying catching up on Vlogbrothers. It feels like an accomplishment. That's right, I consider spending hours watching YouTube videos to be an accomplishment. I can hear my mom groaning and sighing from here. But hey, I go to work, I pay rent, if I want to spend my other time watching YouTube, I think that's totally cool.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
April 14th
I know you're going to be shocked to hear this, but once again I don't know what to write about. I woke up at reasonable hour this morning, so I could get some stuff done at home before my afternoon shift at work. I managed to do a bit of cleaning around my room, change Felix back to normal litter, and do my laundry. Having Felix back on normal litter takes a lot of stress out of my life (it's so much easier to clean and he's back to being allowed outside). Doing my laundry felt good, although it did nothing to help get all the cat hair off of my sheets. In fact, all it seemed to do was spread the Felix fur onto everything else in the washer. Apparently, I need to use a roller or some tape and not a washing machine to rid myself of Felix hair.
Speaking of Felix and his fur, I should really start brushing him more. I brush him once a day, but he only sits still for so long and I don't often try again. This is something I need to change, because the hair is getting crazy. I vacuum once a week or so and I have to empty the collection bin about 6 times doing just the kitchen, living room, and my room. Not to mention that I try to vacuum the furniture every few days AND my bed is basically made of Felix fur. Granted I love him like crazy, but sometimes I wish that Felix wasn't a long haired cat. I feel like everything in my house (included my clothes) are fighting a losing battle with my kitten.
Aside from my long standing war with cat fur and a few domestic chores my life amounted to an episode of Fringe, an episode of Community, ten YouTube videos, and 6.5 hours at work. Work went just fine, I enjoyed the positions I was in and two of my favorite leads (our direct bosses in attractions) were working today so that proved to be fun. I picked up some shifts that will firmly put me in overtime next week. Money I will surely appreciate when my hours diminish starting in May. As much as it's wonderful to work and make money, I'm looking forward to the few days off that May will bring. I need some time to relax, refresh, and recharge before returning to crazy hours. And hopefully I'll find my way over to guest services before the end of May. I plan to continue to pursue the job even if I don't make it this time.
The shows I watched today were fun but nothing special. YouTube on the other hand brought me a lot of happiness. I watched some VlogBrothers (which I apparently stopped watching THE DAY I was hired at Universal) and was reminded how much I love the Green brothers and the entire Nerdfighter community. I was also reminded that I've missed out on more than a few projects in the past few months. That makes me sad, but in the end priorities change, and I'm working to find a balance in my life that will allow for a good mix of work (Universal, Ascendio, and My Hogwarts), chores, and creative pursuits. Perhaps, I might even squeeze a bit of sleeping and eating in there too.
The other videos I found incredibly interesting were by ZeFrank, who is the YouTuber who originally inspired the Vlogbrothers. I never watched him before, and he hadn't made videos since his original series, until a few days ago. I figured that I might as well see what all the hype was about, and I was pleasantly surprised. It's not exactly what I was expecting, it's more like videos to inspire others rather than tell his own story. This makes it different than most vloggers I watch, but it's a welcome difference. One thing ZeFrank does is missions. They are usually simple things, which you can complete on his website ashow.zefrank.com, but they all involve actually doing something. That's part of what ZeFrank is about, going from zero to one. He wants to encourage people to actually do things instead of just think or talk about them. Like my April goals. I need to actually DO them, and I'll admit I'm feeling much more inspired after watching his videos. Not sure I'm script frenzy musical inspired, but I'm certainly 750 words and make a YouTube video inspired. Till tomorrow.
Speaking of Felix and his fur, I should really start brushing him more. I brush him once a day, but he only sits still for so long and I don't often try again. This is something I need to change, because the hair is getting crazy. I vacuum once a week or so and I have to empty the collection bin about 6 times doing just the kitchen, living room, and my room. Not to mention that I try to vacuum the furniture every few days AND my bed is basically made of Felix fur. Granted I love him like crazy, but sometimes I wish that Felix wasn't a long haired cat. I feel like everything in my house (included my clothes) are fighting a losing battle with my kitten.
Aside from my long standing war with cat fur and a few domestic chores my life amounted to an episode of Fringe, an episode of Community, ten YouTube videos, and 6.5 hours at work. Work went just fine, I enjoyed the positions I was in and two of my favorite leads (our direct bosses in attractions) were working today so that proved to be fun. I picked up some shifts that will firmly put me in overtime next week. Money I will surely appreciate when my hours diminish starting in May. As much as it's wonderful to work and make money, I'm looking forward to the few days off that May will bring. I need some time to relax, refresh, and recharge before returning to crazy hours. And hopefully I'll find my way over to guest services before the end of May. I plan to continue to pursue the job even if I don't make it this time.
The shows I watched today were fun but nothing special. YouTube on the other hand brought me a lot of happiness. I watched some VlogBrothers (which I apparently stopped watching THE DAY I was hired at Universal) and was reminded how much I love the Green brothers and the entire Nerdfighter community. I was also reminded that I've missed out on more than a few projects in the past few months. That makes me sad, but in the end priorities change, and I'm working to find a balance in my life that will allow for a good mix of work (Universal, Ascendio, and My Hogwarts), chores, and creative pursuits. Perhaps, I might even squeeze a bit of sleeping and eating in there too.
The other videos I found incredibly interesting were by ZeFrank, who is the YouTuber who originally inspired the Vlogbrothers. I never watched him before, and he hadn't made videos since his original series, until a few days ago. I figured that I might as well see what all the hype was about, and I was pleasantly surprised. It's not exactly what I was expecting, it's more like videos to inspire others rather than tell his own story. This makes it different than most vloggers I watch, but it's a welcome difference. One thing ZeFrank does is missions. They are usually simple things, which you can complete on his website ashow.zefrank.com, but they all involve actually doing something. That's part of what ZeFrank is about, going from zero to one. He wants to encourage people to actually do things instead of just think or talk about them. Like my April goals. I need to actually DO them, and I'll admit I'm feeling much more inspired after watching his videos. Not sure I'm script frenzy musical inspired, but I'm certainly 750 words and make a YouTube video inspired. Till tomorrow.
Friday, April 13, 2012
April 13th
Oooo it's Friday the 13th! How spooky!
Naturally as I fell into sleep last night I realized what I should have written about. The Casual Vacancy! For those of you who ignore the news and don't care one lick about literature or Harry Potter, you're probably wondering what the heck I'm so excited about. The rest of you know that The Casual Vacancy is the title of JK Rowling's new book for adults. The title was announced yesterday morning along with a short description and a release date of September 27th. The book is about a small English town where a town council member ends up dead. Then the town is thrown into chaos because all the groups are competing against each other for the spot. I expect a good amount of dirty play and some skeletons in the closet. I also expect that the death of the council member wasn't entirely natural.
There has been a lot of discussion about the book in my Harry Potter circles. First because the dead council man is named Barry Fairweather. The lovely Lauren Fairweather was incredibly excited and everyone immediately thought of her when they read the description. Of course we have no evidence that Jo named the character Lauren, but it seems likely that she heard the name through all the HP stuff Lauren does and remembered a unique last name. Suppose that can go on the list of questions to ask JK Rowling one day.
Then of course we spent a lot of time trying to figure out what the book is all about. As Harry Potter fans we are pretty adept at theorizing about possible story lines and plot twists and everything else that could possibly be written. Of course lots of our HP theories and predictions turned out to be completely wrong, but that wasn't the point. It's a thrill to be back at guessing and posturing and pretending that we have some sort of idea what is going on in JK's head.
The most interesting thing for me is that this is NOT a book I would normally pick up. It's for adults first off. I spend most of my life reading teen books, so I probably wouldn't even see it on the shelves. On top of that it's a political intrigue (and perhaps mystery) story which isn't really remotely close to my almost exclusive fantasy and science fiction reading list. Yet, I preordered the book first thing yesterday morning. Why? Because I spent 10 years being thrilled by JK Rowling, and I have no reason to doubt her now. Maybe it won't be my kind of book, but her writing has proven brilliant thus far, and I'm willing to give it a try for only that reason. And I know I'm not alone in this, as a lot of other Harry Potter fans will be joining me. I'm sure the sites will be full of reactions, and I'll have the book in my hands at midnight so I can read it like everyone else and comment and react as quickly as possible. We're Harry Potter fans, that's just what we do.
250 remaining words and I've pretty much exhausted my speculation on The Casual Vacancy. Today I worked from noon to eight, and since I didn't get out of bed until almost ten and since I got home I've just been writing, I don't really have much else to talk about. I have plans to go see the Hunger Games movie again (which you should see if you haven't already). I was pleasantly surprised by that movie and I'm excited to see the next installment (even if they are going to change directors). Going to movies reminds me how much I really wish I was involved in film. Which in turn reminds me of the script frenzy musical that is still sitting at a stunted two and half pages. Somehow the words just don't flow like I want them to. I'm not sure if it's because I didn't have a truly fleshed out idea, or I can't write lyrics quickly, or musicals maybe aren't my thing, but I'm stuck. Yet, I've been watching a lot of movie trailers and shorts and web series on YouTube and all I keep thinking is, I could totally do that. A lot of them don't even involve many special effects. Hopefully the music video project that I'm working on will help me get over my creative hump. And maybe from there I can come up with a web series idea. Something simple but intriguing. We'll have to see what tomorrow holds.
Naturally as I fell into sleep last night I realized what I should have written about. The Casual Vacancy! For those of you who ignore the news and don't care one lick about literature or Harry Potter, you're probably wondering what the heck I'm so excited about. The rest of you know that The Casual Vacancy is the title of JK Rowling's new book for adults. The title was announced yesterday morning along with a short description and a release date of September 27th. The book is about a small English town where a town council member ends up dead. Then the town is thrown into chaos because all the groups are competing against each other for the spot. I expect a good amount of dirty play and some skeletons in the closet. I also expect that the death of the council member wasn't entirely natural.
There has been a lot of discussion about the book in my Harry Potter circles. First because the dead council man is named Barry Fairweather. The lovely Lauren Fairweather was incredibly excited and everyone immediately thought of her when they read the description. Of course we have no evidence that Jo named the character Lauren, but it seems likely that she heard the name through all the HP stuff Lauren does and remembered a unique last name. Suppose that can go on the list of questions to ask JK Rowling one day.
Then of course we spent a lot of time trying to figure out what the book is all about. As Harry Potter fans we are pretty adept at theorizing about possible story lines and plot twists and everything else that could possibly be written. Of course lots of our HP theories and predictions turned out to be completely wrong, but that wasn't the point. It's a thrill to be back at guessing and posturing and pretending that we have some sort of idea what is going on in JK's head.
The most interesting thing for me is that this is NOT a book I would normally pick up. It's for adults first off. I spend most of my life reading teen books, so I probably wouldn't even see it on the shelves. On top of that it's a political intrigue (and perhaps mystery) story which isn't really remotely close to my almost exclusive fantasy and science fiction reading list. Yet, I preordered the book first thing yesterday morning. Why? Because I spent 10 years being thrilled by JK Rowling, and I have no reason to doubt her now. Maybe it won't be my kind of book, but her writing has proven brilliant thus far, and I'm willing to give it a try for only that reason. And I know I'm not alone in this, as a lot of other Harry Potter fans will be joining me. I'm sure the sites will be full of reactions, and I'll have the book in my hands at midnight so I can read it like everyone else and comment and react as quickly as possible. We're Harry Potter fans, that's just what we do.
250 remaining words and I've pretty much exhausted my speculation on The Casual Vacancy. Today I worked from noon to eight, and since I didn't get out of bed until almost ten and since I got home I've just been writing, I don't really have much else to talk about. I have plans to go see the Hunger Games movie again (which you should see if you haven't already). I was pleasantly surprised by that movie and I'm excited to see the next installment (even if they are going to change directors). Going to movies reminds me how much I really wish I was involved in film. Which in turn reminds me of the script frenzy musical that is still sitting at a stunted two and half pages. Somehow the words just don't flow like I want them to. I'm not sure if it's because I didn't have a truly fleshed out idea, or I can't write lyrics quickly, or musicals maybe aren't my thing, but I'm stuck. Yet, I've been watching a lot of movie trailers and shorts and web series on YouTube and all I keep thinking is, I could totally do that. A lot of them don't even involve many special effects. Hopefully the music video project that I'm working on will help me get over my creative hump. And maybe from there I can come up with a web series idea. Something simple but intriguing. We'll have to see what tomorrow holds.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
April 12th
Since it seems to becoming a trend for me, I feel like I need to tell you I have no idea what to write about. It has recently come to my attention that I am participating in BEDA (Blog Every Day in April). The person who pointed this out to me doesn't actually read this blog (because who does?) but when I told them about it they reminded me that this was already kinda a thing. So...now I feel wholly original and stuff. Still I think that this blogging every day has been good for me, and should be interesting to read in future days. Just to see what I did with my life (which is mostly work and watch Hulu).
One of my favorite parts of work is watching people at Unload. When you work at a theme park it's almost like not existing. People will say things around you they wouldn't normally say around other humans, and that is very interesting. Unload gets a little more recognition, cause you actually speak to the guests, but not much. Still, I think it's fascinating listening to and watching people. I've made a lot of observations about the social behavior of different groups. Plus I've grown a knack for recognizing country or region of origin based on the clothes they wear. For example the British wear very different shoes than most Americans, and a lot of the central/south Americans like to wear USA shirts (not sure why).
The other thing that I notice is that people who get off the ride fall into three categories. First, there are the people who got on the ride knowing it was a roller coaster, like roller coasters, and get off satisfied and willing to ride again. Then there are those who get on perhaps knowing perhaps not knowing it's a roller coaster, are a little nervous or scared, and get off incredibly pumped and rush to ride again. The final group gets on with no idea that they're riding a roller coaster and get off shocked and upset. Usually people in the third category are tricked on by a family member or friend.
Today I had a category three that I thought was incredibly funny. The car pulled into unload and when the lap bars came up one man continued to sit and stare. This is a sure sign of a category three. He was surrounded by a group of children (his kids it seemed). The eventually coaxed him off the car, but when they went to comfort him from the obvious trauma he'd experienced he said "Don't touch me. Y'all are sleeping the garage tonight!" I watched as they all tried to look appropriately ashamed and giggled behind their hands. I couldn't blame them, I wanted to laugh as well. Something about category threes always makes me smile. Maybe it's the look they give me at unload, or the way their family smiles and laughs, or that they almost always exclaim loudly about the evil people who put them on this roller coaster. And before you ask, yes there are signs and video everywhere that say it's a roller coaster, but you'd be surprised what people can miss.
Talking about people who miss signs reminds me of something else I want to do. I want to create a Theme Park Ed course (similar to drivers ed) specific to Universal. It would include lists of things to bring and not to bring, rundowns of what can go on what rides, locker rental training, a crash course on different lines, diagrams of the locations of important things like height check sticks and restriction signs, a list of tricks and tips for making your day easier, and pocket guides for where to find lost and found, first aid, and other important things. I would also want to lay out something reminding them that it is NOT the fault of any of the workers when a ride doesn't function. That way guests and workers would be happier overall. Can you tell I've thought about this before?
The only other thing I've been thinking about lately is how if I was hotter I'd have more YouTube subscribers. Seriously, I watched a 20 second video of rain today to that had like 2,000 views. Now granted, me watching it almost cancels out my objection, but it's not the fact that it has that many views that I object to. I think that's fantastic. What bothers me is that I can put hours of effort into a funny skit and someone else can just throw up 20 seconds of rain fall and get 200 times more views. The internet is weird.
One of my favorite parts of work is watching people at Unload. When you work at a theme park it's almost like not existing. People will say things around you they wouldn't normally say around other humans, and that is very interesting. Unload gets a little more recognition, cause you actually speak to the guests, but not much. Still, I think it's fascinating listening to and watching people. I've made a lot of observations about the social behavior of different groups. Plus I've grown a knack for recognizing country or region of origin based on the clothes they wear. For example the British wear very different shoes than most Americans, and a lot of the central/south Americans like to wear USA shirts (not sure why).
The other thing that I notice is that people who get off the ride fall into three categories. First, there are the people who got on the ride knowing it was a roller coaster, like roller coasters, and get off satisfied and willing to ride again. Then there are those who get on perhaps knowing perhaps not knowing it's a roller coaster, are a little nervous or scared, and get off incredibly pumped and rush to ride again. The final group gets on with no idea that they're riding a roller coaster and get off shocked and upset. Usually people in the third category are tricked on by a family member or friend.
Today I had a category three that I thought was incredibly funny. The car pulled into unload and when the lap bars came up one man continued to sit and stare. This is a sure sign of a category three. He was surrounded by a group of children (his kids it seemed). The eventually coaxed him off the car, but when they went to comfort him from the obvious trauma he'd experienced he said "Don't touch me. Y'all are sleeping the garage tonight!" I watched as they all tried to look appropriately ashamed and giggled behind their hands. I couldn't blame them, I wanted to laugh as well. Something about category threes always makes me smile. Maybe it's the look they give me at unload, or the way their family smiles and laughs, or that they almost always exclaim loudly about the evil people who put them on this roller coaster. And before you ask, yes there are signs and video everywhere that say it's a roller coaster, but you'd be surprised what people can miss.
Talking about people who miss signs reminds me of something else I want to do. I want to create a Theme Park Ed course (similar to drivers ed) specific to Universal. It would include lists of things to bring and not to bring, rundowns of what can go on what rides, locker rental training, a crash course on different lines, diagrams of the locations of important things like height check sticks and restriction signs, a list of tricks and tips for making your day easier, and pocket guides for where to find lost and found, first aid, and other important things. I would also want to lay out something reminding them that it is NOT the fault of any of the workers when a ride doesn't function. That way guests and workers would be happier overall. Can you tell I've thought about this before?
The only other thing I've been thinking about lately is how if I was hotter I'd have more YouTube subscribers. Seriously, I watched a 20 second video of rain today to that had like 2,000 views. Now granted, me watching it almost cancels out my objection, but it's not the fact that it has that many views that I object to. I think that's fantastic. What bothers me is that I can put hours of effort into a funny skit and someone else can just throw up 20 seconds of rain fall and get 200 times more views. The internet is weird.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
April 11th
I really don't want to write 750 words today. I worked for 10 hours and I just want to go to sleep and rest up for my morning shift tomorrow. Still, I made a goal, and since one of the rewards for keeping my goals is Coldstone ice cream, here I am writing 750 words. In case you were wondering about my other goals, here's a updated rundown.
1) Write 750 words every day (so far so good)
2) Write a 100 page musical script (still no progress but I'll get there)
3) Figure out Guest Services job (still waiting to hear about the interview, but I am actively pursuing it and if I've heard nothing next week I'll call)
4) Restart YouTube watching and keep caught up (going strong, just a few videos to watch to keep up, and it's been nice to get back into it)
5) Post one video on each of my two YouTube Channels (This is what I'm doing with my day off next week)
6) Find condo/house to move into in July (have some ideas and Jill is going to get me in contact with a realtor)
7) Write Wrockbox show (all kinds of ideas just need some time to work on it)
8) Storyboard & Organize "Lily" Video (had a huge brainstorm with Meg and I'm working on it next Monday)
9) Read two books (The Help has been slow going, but I'll make this happen)
10) Put $100 in savings (working 41 hours next week. I WILL make this work)
So there you have it, my April goals. None of them are completed yet, but hopefully by the end of next week at least a few of them will. Soon it will be time to make May goals, which might be similar, but should be equally fun to work through. The nice thing is that I've made goals that are related to different aspects of my life. I have a work goal, a home goal, a financial goal, and then a few creative goals. The balance makes it easier to achieve them because if I'm bored with one thing I have all sorts of other options.
Still 400 words left and that was pretty much all I'd thought of to talk about. I guess I can do a quick Felix update. He managed to use the newspapers as an actual litter box, which was a call for celebration. His paws seem to be doing better as he isn't limping around as much. However, his appetite hasn't returned. Despite the fact that I was gone for twelve hours he had only eating about half of the food in the bowl. That has me a little worried, but maybe it's just an adjustment. Only a little over 24 hours left in the newspaper litter cycle. Friday morning I get to put the regular litter back and I'm really looking forward to it. It will be easier to clean and I think it will make Felix happier to have things back to normal. I've already noticed that he doesn't destroy things as much, and playing with him doesn't involve me risking my fingers.
A little over 200 words left now. What do you want me to talk about? Seriously, you can ask me about anything...nothing? What? Oh, that's write you're not actually there so you can't answer my question. However, if you happen to be reading this now, after the fact, feel free to leave topics and questions in the comments section. I like to answer questions and I'm incredibly candid about everything. I mean that in all seriousness, I pretty much don't consider any topic off limits. I think this is because my life isn't interesting enough for me to bother having secrets. If I ran for political offices the smear campaigns would really have a hard time finding anything to say about me. Not because I'm and incredibly virtuous person, but just because I don't actually do anything which means that there is nothing bad to write about.
With my final 75 words I guess I can tell you that I enjoyed my day at work today. I made friends with some Hunger Games fans who were saluting in line. Then I met a Nerdfighter from Wisconsin. He was wearing a Pizza John shirt so I flashed him the Nerdfighter sign, and then we talked a little as I loaded him into the roller coaster. It was really fun. It's nice to meet nerds from around the country, and they always seem really tickled when I respond in kind to their nerdy shirts, words, and signals. =)
1) Write 750 words every day (so far so good)
2) Write a 100 page musical script (still no progress but I'll get there)
3) Figure out Guest Services job (still waiting to hear about the interview, but I am actively pursuing it and if I've heard nothing next week I'll call)
4) Restart YouTube watching and keep caught up (going strong, just a few videos to watch to keep up, and it's been nice to get back into it)
5) Post one video on each of my two YouTube Channels (This is what I'm doing with my day off next week)
6) Find condo/house to move into in July (have some ideas and Jill is going to get me in contact with a realtor)
7) Write Wrockbox show (all kinds of ideas just need some time to work on it)
8) Storyboard & Organize "Lily" Video (had a huge brainstorm with Meg and I'm working on it next Monday)
9) Read two books (The Help has been slow going, but I'll make this happen)
10) Put $100 in savings (working 41 hours next week. I WILL make this work)
So there you have it, my April goals. None of them are completed yet, but hopefully by the end of next week at least a few of them will. Soon it will be time to make May goals, which might be similar, but should be equally fun to work through. The nice thing is that I've made goals that are related to different aspects of my life. I have a work goal, a home goal, a financial goal, and then a few creative goals. The balance makes it easier to achieve them because if I'm bored with one thing I have all sorts of other options.
Still 400 words left and that was pretty much all I'd thought of to talk about. I guess I can do a quick Felix update. He managed to use the newspapers as an actual litter box, which was a call for celebration. His paws seem to be doing better as he isn't limping around as much. However, his appetite hasn't returned. Despite the fact that I was gone for twelve hours he had only eating about half of the food in the bowl. That has me a little worried, but maybe it's just an adjustment. Only a little over 24 hours left in the newspaper litter cycle. Friday morning I get to put the regular litter back and I'm really looking forward to it. It will be easier to clean and I think it will make Felix happier to have things back to normal. I've already noticed that he doesn't destroy things as much, and playing with him doesn't involve me risking my fingers.
A little over 200 words left now. What do you want me to talk about? Seriously, you can ask me about anything...nothing? What? Oh, that's write you're not actually there so you can't answer my question. However, if you happen to be reading this now, after the fact, feel free to leave topics and questions in the comments section. I like to answer questions and I'm incredibly candid about everything. I mean that in all seriousness, I pretty much don't consider any topic off limits. I think this is because my life isn't interesting enough for me to bother having secrets. If I ran for political offices the smear campaigns would really have a hard time finding anything to say about me. Not because I'm and incredibly virtuous person, but just because I don't actually do anything which means that there is nothing bad to write about.
With my final 75 words I guess I can tell you that I enjoyed my day at work today. I made friends with some Hunger Games fans who were saluting in line. Then I met a Nerdfighter from Wisconsin. He was wearing a Pizza John shirt so I flashed him the Nerdfighter sign, and then we talked a little as I loaded him into the roller coaster. It was really fun. It's nice to meet nerds from around the country, and they always seem really tickled when I respond in kind to their nerdy shirts, words, and signals. =)
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
April 10th
I'm not entirely sure what to write about today. I got up early, showered (that's actually worth mentioning cause I'm often too lazy to shower in the morning), and worked for 7 hours. After work I picked up Meg, went grocery shopping, got Felix from the vet, and did a little bit of work for Ascendio. Then I went to D&D. Came home from that and here I am writing my 750 words.
One thing that is a little interesting is Felix. As you (I say you even though I know there's likely not a true you out there) know Felix got declawed. This means that his paws are really tender. He limps around a little, won't stand for long, and licks his pays constantly. He has some kitty pain killers to help with the pain and should be back to normal in a couple of weeks. The most interesting part of all this is that kitty litter can be very bad for him if it find a way into his stitches. What this means is that they wanted me to replace his litter with shredded newspaper, for the next 48 hours. This seems easy enough, and making the switch wasn't hard. The difficulty stems from the fact that the ever lovely Felix decided to nest in the litter box full of newspaper rather than use it for litter. I'm not sure where he plans to do his business, but I'm sure I'll find out tomorrow when I get home from work. At least it's only 48 hours.
I'm hoping that declawed Felix will be a little less destructive around the house, and that the carpet, at least, will be better off. It will be interesting to see how he adjusts once he's had a little time to heal up. I feel sad that he's in pain, but I know that it needed to be done. If he could have learned to use the scratching post we wouldn't have to worry about this, but some cats just can't be trained.
Still 400 words to go and I've basically exhausted the only exciting thing to happen in my life today. I'm sore, I'm tired, I have to work 10 hours tomorrow, and I'm totally ready for bed. Of course I can't sleep until I finish this, so I better come up with something to talk about.
I suppose I can talk briefly about reading. I used to inhale books, but I've sorta drifted away from that recently. I don't know if it's that I don't have time, or that I spend my time doing other silly things *coughhulucough* and reading gets forgotten. It's something I would like to work to change though because I do think that reading is important, and I miss immersing myself in the world of a book. I've been telling myself that if I stay caught up with Hulu, YouTube, emails, writing, work, then I'll have time to read, but it just seems like there aren't enough hours in the day for that.
Which reminds me of something else interesting. I recently watched a short documentary about different sleep cycles. Apparently the best sleep cycle is one where you take twenty to thirty minute naps every six hours. That means you only sleep for like two hours a day, but by training yourself to sleep in short bursts like that you actually enter REM sleep faster and get more out of the rests. That would free up 22 hours for me to do whatever I wanted or needed. Of course the issue with that is I can't really take a 30 minute nap at a specific time when I'm at work, and so every six hours isn't really plausible. Now if I get a job where I can go to lunch when I choose (and could spend it sleeping) this might be something I'd look into. I wouldn't mind those extra six or seven hours of time, and I certainly wouldn't object to being more awake and productive on less sleep. Plus, as an added bonus, this cycle is supposed to give you incredibly vivid dreams, and I happen to be a huge fan of dreams. I have quite strange and vivid dreams as it is, but having them so quickly would be pretty awesome.
Only 30 words left now, so I suppose I need some sort of finishing thought. Not that one single moral can really tie a crazy post like this together. I guess I'll settle for see you tomorrow. =)
One thing that is a little interesting is Felix. As you (I say you even though I know there's likely not a true you out there) know Felix got declawed. This means that his paws are really tender. He limps around a little, won't stand for long, and licks his pays constantly. He has some kitty pain killers to help with the pain and should be back to normal in a couple of weeks. The most interesting part of all this is that kitty litter can be very bad for him if it find a way into his stitches. What this means is that they wanted me to replace his litter with shredded newspaper, for the next 48 hours. This seems easy enough, and making the switch wasn't hard. The difficulty stems from the fact that the ever lovely Felix decided to nest in the litter box full of newspaper rather than use it for litter. I'm not sure where he plans to do his business, but I'm sure I'll find out tomorrow when I get home from work. At least it's only 48 hours.
I'm hoping that declawed Felix will be a little less destructive around the house, and that the carpet, at least, will be better off. It will be interesting to see how he adjusts once he's had a little time to heal up. I feel sad that he's in pain, but I know that it needed to be done. If he could have learned to use the scratching post we wouldn't have to worry about this, but some cats just can't be trained.
Still 400 words to go and I've basically exhausted the only exciting thing to happen in my life today. I'm sore, I'm tired, I have to work 10 hours tomorrow, and I'm totally ready for bed. Of course I can't sleep until I finish this, so I better come up with something to talk about.
I suppose I can talk briefly about reading. I used to inhale books, but I've sorta drifted away from that recently. I don't know if it's that I don't have time, or that I spend my time doing other silly things *coughhulucough* and reading gets forgotten. It's something I would like to work to change though because I do think that reading is important, and I miss immersing myself in the world of a book. I've been telling myself that if I stay caught up with Hulu, YouTube, emails, writing, work, then I'll have time to read, but it just seems like there aren't enough hours in the day for that.
Which reminds me of something else interesting. I recently watched a short documentary about different sleep cycles. Apparently the best sleep cycle is one where you take twenty to thirty minute naps every six hours. That means you only sleep for like two hours a day, but by training yourself to sleep in short bursts like that you actually enter REM sleep faster and get more out of the rests. That would free up 22 hours for me to do whatever I wanted or needed. Of course the issue with that is I can't really take a 30 minute nap at a specific time when I'm at work, and so every six hours isn't really plausible. Now if I get a job where I can go to lunch when I choose (and could spend it sleeping) this might be something I'd look into. I wouldn't mind those extra six or seven hours of time, and I certainly wouldn't object to being more awake and productive on less sleep. Plus, as an added bonus, this cycle is supposed to give you incredibly vivid dreams, and I happen to be a huge fan of dreams. I have quite strange and vivid dreams as it is, but having them so quickly would be pretty awesome.
Only 30 words left now, so I suppose I need some sort of finishing thought. Not that one single moral can really tie a crazy post like this together. I guess I'll settle for see you tomorrow. =)
Monday, April 9, 2012
April 9th
Today I want to talk about Pinterest. If you have no idea what I'm babbling on about, allow me to educate you. Pinterest is a site where you can pin pictures and videos from around the internet to different boards. Basically it allows you to categorize photos and videos all to one space so you can look through them easily. I, for example, have boards for my dream house, hair styles, crafts, jewelry, clothes, things that make me giggle, HP stuff, and pretty art. It's really nice to have one place to visit to see all of those things. I even started a board where I pin things that inspire me for plays or stories. Then you can follow other people and see what they've pinned. You can repin things to your own board, comment on them, or like them. The best part is that Pinterest retains the original site for the photo/video so that if you need to source it or look up more things all you have to do is click.
This is a website I've been a part of for a few months, but when I first got it I wasn't sure how to start, it just seemed a little overwhelming. However, some of my friends were members of the site and suggested I start with a single board and then work from there. The best thing about this is I don't need to be a member of a lot of other sites (like Deviantart) in order to save favorites, I just pin them. The only bummer about Pinterest is that it only works for video and images and doesn't allow me to pin posts or test that I find particularly interesting. Guess I'll have to stick to old fashioned bookmarks for that kind of stuff.
The board that really got me started was one of pretty art. Alissa got me interested in a site where they do character of the week art contests, and I started pinning the ones I liked best. It's become a slight obsession, but not a terrible one. Having all of those characters gathered is actually wonderful for me. It means that I can find them quickly if I need character inspiration for a story or something else. Everything is right at my fingertips. AND I can still visit the original site if I want to find the artist to ask them about their work and if I can use it for something.
Aside from pinning WAY TOO many things, I spent today working on some other projects. I've come up with this idea to film Wizard Rock music videos, and today I talked to Meg about it and I think we're really going to come up with a plan of action. I'm very excited to see how this goes, cause I think it can be a ton of fun. Plus I think the Wrockers will appreciate it, and I might even be able to get some press on Leaky or Mugglenet and actually get a few YouTube followers. I mean I own CDs for like 100 bands. If I can do 100 music videos than I'm well on my way to stardom. And might actually make some money off of my YouTube obsession. =)
Even if the videos don't gain me any followers, it's something I've wanted to do for awhile and I feel like I really can put effort into them and make something beautiful. Perhaps I won't make them as frequently as some people (twice a month maybe), and I need to hunt down a good group of people to film with, but it's a possibility. Plus even if they don't work the way I want them to, laying them all out will be a ton of fun regardless. And it will encourage me to explore some areas of Orlando that I haven't been to before (to find filming locations).
The other thing Meg and I did tonight was see Mirror Mirror. I know that people are worried that fairy tales (and especially Snow White) are being overplayed, but I disagree when it come to Mirror Mirror. If you like comedies, fairy tales, or Julia Roberts I HIGHLY recommend seeing this movie. It was absolutely hysterical! I haven't laughed that much at a movie in quite awhile and I enjoyed pretty much every moment of it. I won't post much here because I don't want to spoil it, but I will say that it is fun for all ages. So if you can spare the time and want a laugh, go out and get a ticket to Mirror Mirror.
This is a website I've been a part of for a few months, but when I first got it I wasn't sure how to start, it just seemed a little overwhelming. However, some of my friends were members of the site and suggested I start with a single board and then work from there. The best thing about this is I don't need to be a member of a lot of other sites (like Deviantart) in order to save favorites, I just pin them. The only bummer about Pinterest is that it only works for video and images and doesn't allow me to pin posts or test that I find particularly interesting. Guess I'll have to stick to old fashioned bookmarks for that kind of stuff.
The board that really got me started was one of pretty art. Alissa got me interested in a site where they do character of the week art contests, and I started pinning the ones I liked best. It's become a slight obsession, but not a terrible one. Having all of those characters gathered is actually wonderful for me. It means that I can find them quickly if I need character inspiration for a story or something else. Everything is right at my fingertips. AND I can still visit the original site if I want to find the artist to ask them about their work and if I can use it for something.
Aside from pinning WAY TOO many things, I spent today working on some other projects. I've come up with this idea to film Wizard Rock music videos, and today I talked to Meg about it and I think we're really going to come up with a plan of action. I'm very excited to see how this goes, cause I think it can be a ton of fun. Plus I think the Wrockers will appreciate it, and I might even be able to get some press on Leaky or Mugglenet and actually get a few YouTube followers. I mean I own CDs for like 100 bands. If I can do 100 music videos than I'm well on my way to stardom. And might actually make some money off of my YouTube obsession. =)
Even if the videos don't gain me any followers, it's something I've wanted to do for awhile and I feel like I really can put effort into them and make something beautiful. Perhaps I won't make them as frequently as some people (twice a month maybe), and I need to hunt down a good group of people to film with, but it's a possibility. Plus even if they don't work the way I want them to, laying them all out will be a ton of fun regardless. And it will encourage me to explore some areas of Orlando that I haven't been to before (to find filming locations).
The other thing Meg and I did tonight was see Mirror Mirror. I know that people are worried that fairy tales (and especially Snow White) are being overplayed, but I disagree when it come to Mirror Mirror. If you like comedies, fairy tales, or Julia Roberts I HIGHLY recommend seeing this movie. It was absolutely hysterical! I haven't laughed that much at a movie in quite awhile and I enjoyed pretty much every moment of it. I won't post much here because I don't want to spoil it, but I will say that it is fun for all ages. So if you can spare the time and want a laugh, go out and get a ticket to Mirror Mirror.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
April 8th
Today I want to talk about something that sneaks into my posts quite often, television shows. As I’m sure it’s become obvious to you in the last week, I rather like watching TV. I’ve found that because of my love for TV and movies, I have almost a sixth sense when it comes to them. I can often foresee endings, figure out twists, and predict romances, long before they happen. It’s always been a bit of a game when I watch stuff with my father to make a guess out loud so he can award points of make fun of me depending on the outcome of the show. More often then not I walk away with bragging rights. My ability to predict where things were headed is what first made me think I would enjoy writing for movies and TV.
This ability also means that I’m incredibly excited when movies or shows come around that surprise me. It’s why year after year, even though I know from experience the shows will drive me crazy, I’m drawn to anything by JJ Abrams. His shows are always twisted and involved, but often far from formulaic, making them less predictable. I enjoy the suspense, and it becomes even more fun when I can figure out where something is going (even if it’s something very small). I also enjoy some of the current teen dramas, which are unpredictable in a different way. They don’t have the same thought behind them, or the intense stories, but they keep you guessing. The main difference is that often there are no clues, the shows aren’t planned to leave a trail of breadcrumbs you could piece together if you thought about it enough, they just keep everything hidden till they’re ready to reveal it.
Then there are the shows like Scandal, the one I started watching today. It’s not a procedural crime drama, but it is a “different case every week” sort of show. Those are the ones I find it the most fun to predict. They always have the clues lying out there, and if you’re paying enough attention you should be able to figure it out. The characters never know much more than you, and often, if you pay attention, you actually know more than them. One of the episodes I watched today involved a young man who was suspected of killing his girlfriend. By the language and they way that the story was being told, I was sure by 20 minutes in that the guy was gay. I called my dad to tell him my prediction, so that I could get my points, and sure enough I was right. The wonderful thing about shows like this is that the clues that lead the characters to their conclusions can lead you there just as easily. It’s like being Sherlock Holmes.
Of course there’s a little bit of luck and imagination involved as well. You have to have a gut instinct for these kinds of things and it doesn’t hurt that I’m a writer who likes to think up twists. You get a feel of the things to look out for, the way a movie is shot, the music they play, the scenes that it seems strange that they’d show, the scenes that are left out, and the language that the characters use. They can all point to a potential twist. Then it’s all about going with your gut and deciding whether or not any of these twists will come to pass. Then make sure someone knows what you’ve predicted. It’s a lot more fun when there’s a witness to attest that you indeed have the bragging rights for predicting the end of The Tourist, or whatever else you happen to be watching at the time.
In the world of TV I don’t really predict, I’ve been obsessed with the show Community (watch it if you don’t already). One of the characters on the show also watches a lot of TV, although more of the comedy and drama genres than I do. The funny thing is that there was one episode where this character was making short films about the people in his study group (basically making Community, the show is very meta). The best part was that he was making these episodes before the actual episodes happened, basically predicting what would occur in the show. The idea was that he’d watched enough TV that he knew the formulas and what would potentially happen in those situations. I found myself really relating to that (although sadly my real life isn’t actually a TV show…I don’t think), and it’s what really got me hooked into the show.
The basic moral of this post is, if you pay enough attention to anything, you can become well versed enough to predict things. I assume the same goes for books, sports events, and the stock market. I’m not saying that I’m always right, but I have a much better chance than the average Joe.
This ability also means that I’m incredibly excited when movies or shows come around that surprise me. It’s why year after year, even though I know from experience the shows will drive me crazy, I’m drawn to anything by JJ Abrams. His shows are always twisted and involved, but often far from formulaic, making them less predictable. I enjoy the suspense, and it becomes even more fun when I can figure out where something is going (even if it’s something very small). I also enjoy some of the current teen dramas, which are unpredictable in a different way. They don’t have the same thought behind them, or the intense stories, but they keep you guessing. The main difference is that often there are no clues, the shows aren’t planned to leave a trail of breadcrumbs you could piece together if you thought about it enough, they just keep everything hidden till they’re ready to reveal it.
Then there are the shows like Scandal, the one I started watching today. It’s not a procedural crime drama, but it is a “different case every week” sort of show. Those are the ones I find it the most fun to predict. They always have the clues lying out there, and if you’re paying enough attention you should be able to figure it out. The characters never know much more than you, and often, if you pay attention, you actually know more than them. One of the episodes I watched today involved a young man who was suspected of killing his girlfriend. By the language and they way that the story was being told, I was sure by 20 minutes in that the guy was gay. I called my dad to tell him my prediction, so that I could get my points, and sure enough I was right. The wonderful thing about shows like this is that the clues that lead the characters to their conclusions can lead you there just as easily. It’s like being Sherlock Holmes.
Of course there’s a little bit of luck and imagination involved as well. You have to have a gut instinct for these kinds of things and it doesn’t hurt that I’m a writer who likes to think up twists. You get a feel of the things to look out for, the way a movie is shot, the music they play, the scenes that it seems strange that they’d show, the scenes that are left out, and the language that the characters use. They can all point to a potential twist. Then it’s all about going with your gut and deciding whether or not any of these twists will come to pass. Then make sure someone knows what you’ve predicted. It’s a lot more fun when there’s a witness to attest that you indeed have the bragging rights for predicting the end of The Tourist, or whatever else you happen to be watching at the time.
In the world of TV I don’t really predict, I’ve been obsessed with the show Community (watch it if you don’t already). One of the characters on the show also watches a lot of TV, although more of the comedy and drama genres than I do. The funny thing is that there was one episode where this character was making short films about the people in his study group (basically making Community, the show is very meta). The best part was that he was making these episodes before the actual episodes happened, basically predicting what would occur in the show. The idea was that he’d watched enough TV that he knew the formulas and what would potentially happen in those situations. I found myself really relating to that (although sadly my real life isn’t actually a TV show…I don’t think), and it’s what really got me hooked into the show.
The basic moral of this post is, if you pay enough attention to anything, you can become well versed enough to predict things. I assume the same goes for books, sports events, and the stock market. I’m not saying that I’m always right, but I have a much better chance than the average Joe.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
April 7th
750 words, I will beat you down! Today I was incredibly busy. I worked all morning then I picked up Meg after her rehearsal and we went to Universal. We rode all the water rides (what can I say I have a soft spot for my little sis), and got completely soaked. We ate Panda Express, which was delicious. Then we realized that Meg's legs were getting stained green and debated whether it was caused by her green pants. It turned out to be an old stain on her purse that had begun spreading once it got wet. That started us into a fit of giggles outside Universal that was so severe people stopped to watch. One of those people was a six year old girl with a stuffed unicorn. She stared at us with big wide eyes and looked so shocked that it sent us into fits of giggles all over again. By the time we finally moved into the park my abs were sore from all the laughing.
At USF (Universal Studios Florida for those in the know) we rode Men In Black three times, and each time improved our scores, though neither of us beat our current best. It was fun, especially cause we rode single rider and ended up in cars with people who had no idea what was going on and at times shot random walls and each other. All in all it was a blast though. Then we rode Mummy, where we decided to speak all the lines, laugh hysterically, and pretend we'd never ridden. Not all at once mind you, we rode four times in a row. Then we made them show us all our pictures in the store so we could laugh loudly, but of course we didn't purchase any of them.
Then it was time for the parade, where I learned that Meg can't catch a Mardi Gras bead to save her life, but it was alright because I was pretty darn good at it and got her a fair collection. Then I traded out some of her doubles to try and get her as many colors as possible. We watched the concert, danced like fools, got tricked into going to a merch booth that didn't actually exist, and got completely turned around leaving the park. However, we still managed to make it to Coldstone before they closed and finished off our night with some delicious ice cream.
We came home, changed into dry clothes, and lounged about watching YouTube for awhile. We've been especially enjoying watching the talented and funny Caleb Meek Bradley known as TheAwkwardLyricist on YouTube. We giggled even more until finally Meg decided it was time to sleep and I figured I'd better starting writing my 750 words before time ran out. And now here I mean.
That was actually a pretty thorough description of my day and it still only amounted to a little over 450 words. Part of the problem is my desire to be suscint. I have never been very verbose when it comes to writing. I prefer to find the perfect words and wrap everything up with a fancy bow. I like it to flow nicely, make perfect sense, and not take to long (so that people don't stop reading). Of course when I have to come up with 750 words each day it might actually be to my benefit to fill up with space will all those space fillers that I normally avoid. Like adverbs, and extra adjectives, and unneeded conjunctions, and any other filler language I can possibly think of. That and a little stream of consciousness can go long way.
With my last 140 words I want to mention something I hate. Bug bites. I've managed to mostly avoid them in the 7 months I've lived in Florida, until this week. Currently I have one on my cheek, one on my left hand, and a smattering on my knees, elbows, and ankles. I've killed more than a few mosquitoes that I found buzzing around my bedroom, but still they keep coming. I was really hoping that the bug bite situation would get better once I got to Florida, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Still it's not as bad as it could be, and I am grateful daily for anti itch cream and other modern wonders that keep me from scratching my skin off. Now if only I could allow Felix to go out on to the screened in porch and still keep mosquitoes out.
At USF (Universal Studios Florida for those in the know) we rode Men In Black three times, and each time improved our scores, though neither of us beat our current best. It was fun, especially cause we rode single rider and ended up in cars with people who had no idea what was going on and at times shot random walls and each other. All in all it was a blast though. Then we rode Mummy, where we decided to speak all the lines, laugh hysterically, and pretend we'd never ridden. Not all at once mind you, we rode four times in a row. Then we made them show us all our pictures in the store so we could laugh loudly, but of course we didn't purchase any of them.
Then it was time for the parade, where I learned that Meg can't catch a Mardi Gras bead to save her life, but it was alright because I was pretty darn good at it and got her a fair collection. Then I traded out some of her doubles to try and get her as many colors as possible. We watched the concert, danced like fools, got tricked into going to a merch booth that didn't actually exist, and got completely turned around leaving the park. However, we still managed to make it to Coldstone before they closed and finished off our night with some delicious ice cream.
We came home, changed into dry clothes, and lounged about watching YouTube for awhile. We've been especially enjoying watching the talented and funny Caleb Meek Bradley known as TheAwkwardLyricist on YouTube. We giggled even more until finally Meg decided it was time to sleep and I figured I'd better starting writing my 750 words before time ran out. And now here I mean.
That was actually a pretty thorough description of my day and it still only amounted to a little over 450 words. Part of the problem is my desire to be suscint. I have never been very verbose when it comes to writing. I prefer to find the perfect words and wrap everything up with a fancy bow. I like it to flow nicely, make perfect sense, and not take to long (so that people don't stop reading). Of course when I have to come up with 750 words each day it might actually be to my benefit to fill up with space will all those space fillers that I normally avoid. Like adverbs, and extra adjectives, and unneeded conjunctions, and any other filler language I can possibly think of. That and a little stream of consciousness can go long way.
With my last 140 words I want to mention something I hate. Bug bites. I've managed to mostly avoid them in the 7 months I've lived in Florida, until this week. Currently I have one on my cheek, one on my left hand, and a smattering on my knees, elbows, and ankles. I've killed more than a few mosquitoes that I found buzzing around my bedroom, but still they keep coming. I was really hoping that the bug bite situation would get better once I got to Florida, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Still it's not as bad as it could be, and I am grateful daily for anti itch cream and other modern wonders that keep me from scratching my skin off. Now if only I could allow Felix to go out on to the screened in porch and still keep mosquitoes out.
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