It's Halloween, yes, but more exciting than that--what could you more exciting than Halloween you ask--it's the eve of NANOWRIMO. I cannot begin to describe how excited I am to begin my novel.

That's basically all I had to say.

Halloween was so-so. Walking, candy, costumes. Seems pretty normal by now.

I should be doing school. I am very behind. *head falls on keyboard* dskflcggfgfffgfvjk

Jo Bro haterz

I'm angry, and what do I do when I'm angry?

If you guessed write a rantish blog post, you would be correct. You win a cookie.

What spurred this emotion? (direct quote below from two unmentioned FB "friends")

"95% of teens would cry if they saw the Jonas Brothers at the top of a skyscraper about to jump. Copy and paste this if you are part of the 5% that would sit there with popcorn and a camera and yell "DO A FLIP!""

When I first read this, I didn't even know what to say. That's unusual for me. I was just so shocked.

My first reaction was to leave a lengthy comment on the person's status. It went something like this:

I just want to say that I think this is really mean.
You don't have to like their music, but wishing death upon them? That's pathetic, sad and just plain awful.
I'm really disappointed that this message is being passed on. I mean, come on guys, seriously?
It isn't even funny. Do you really want to watch someone kill themselves? Suicide is not a laughing matter.

Go f....ly a kite.

After that, I posted a status update about how disappointed I am in these people.

I don't like the Jonas Brothers. I don't like their music (save for Love Bug) and I'm not too thrilled with about the time they said they'd have a special interview with home schoolers and then advertised to us instead. But I don't want them to die. I don't want anyone to jump off a skyscraper.

What's is wrong with the world? Sometimes I worry.

Just don't sing

Two things today. I'm not going to number them, because I want to grant you your proper intelligence. If you can't differentiate the two, specifically separate, things I write about in this blog, you should go back to kindergarten. Or you could try good old fashioned homeschooling. I'm leaning towards option 2.

I got a pirate kite. Actually, I won it. Technically, I didn't play any part in the winning, but still, it's in my possession. And I flew it. Only it didn't really fly. Whenever I stopped running, it plummeted swiftly towards the ground. Maybe pirate ship weren't mean to fly. Or maybe the wind just hates me and wants to mess with my mind.

--------*

Advice: don't ever sing in the shower. Or in the bathroom. Or as you do housework. You will be mocked mercilessly. A sample conversation:

Singer: *singing*

*Singer comes out of the shower.*

(People are sitting at dinner table)

Person 1: Are you okay, Singer?

Singer: Uh... yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?

Person 1: I heard you kind of wailing in the bathroom.

Singer: Oh... *pauses awkwardly and tries to collect self*

Person 1: What were you doing? Were you crying?

Singer: *silently calls Person 1 a mean spirited b**** * No, I wasn't crying. Dinner is great, Person 2.

Person 2: Oh, thanks. Let's talk about the parakeets at the zoo.

*Singer attempts to forget incident ever happened, while also making a note to never sing anywhere again, until completely alone*

I'd like to inform you, Person 1, that there is such a thing as tact that would have prevented this painful conversation and the after effects, and maybe you should try and get some.

This is incredibly sad. Now the only time I'll be able to express myself is when I'm alone. Instead of enjoying the freedom of having access to whatever television channel I want, I'll have to have karaoke sessions just so I can outlet my singing habits.

*This is for the people with low intelligence--I didn't feel like now was the time to give you self esteem issues.

ignore me

I am trying out this banner thing. I have a basic theory of how it works so forgive this lapse of oddity.

I'm a Popsicle (a survey)

Are you a sir or a ma'am?
I'm a Popsicle.

How do you feel when people call you sir or ma'am?
This only happened to me once when I was in a mall in Seattle and a woman was trying to sell me a cell phone plan. I'll be honest, it was kind of awkward. Then again, maybe she was talking to someone else and it's extremely weird that I responded.

Do you keep a diary or journal?
Not really. Sometimes I write stuff down in an unintelligible manner when I'm mad about killing people, but that doesn't happen too frequently.

What's the favorite thing about what you're wearing?
They have stripes which could mean three things: I'm a convict, I'm a baseball player, I'm a girl who likes stripy pajama pants.

What movie has the greatest soundtrack?
Juno, Love Actually, Pride and Prejudice, The Holiday. I'm sure there's more but that's all I've got at the mo'.

Do you watch educational TV (like National Geographic or Discovery)?
Only when my mom forces me. Being home schooled is a wonderful thing sometimes, but not after lunch when I have to watch Planet Earth.

Have you ever watched a local Christian channel?
We have a local Christian channel? Holy crap. No way!

Are you even Christian? If not, what is your religious affiliation?
This question is so lame. But I'll answer it anyway. No and not applicable.

Fiction or non-fiction?
Seriously? You have to ask?

What's so great about the city you live in?
Not much, not really. That's a lie. I'm sure there's tons of ways I could answer this question but I'm watching Supernatural and it's distracting.

Have you ever been confused about your sexuality?
Well there was that one girl with the cherry chapstick... but other than that no. Pretty damn clear.

What would have people labelled you in high school?
The most awesome girl ever in the entire world.

Do you dislike people who are different from you?
No. Unless there's something to dislike in the difference. For example I dislike people who don't care about the environment and kill kittens. But if you wear a yellow hard hat I'm going to give you a chance to prove yourself before I go about hating on you.

Were you a cute baby?

Duh.

How do you feel about premarital sex?

I don't know how to phrase this. It's a funny way to ask something. How do you feel? Like, uh, I feel sad when I think about premarital sex. I guess I feel like if you're safe, it's all good. Go ahead. :)

Have you ever been a loner?
Kinda. I've sat on the bus alone, before. I've eaten lunch alone before. I never carried around a duffel bag. Depends on your definition, I suppose.

Do you like '80's music? (It's great!)
I wasn't alive in the 80's. I don't know what the music was like.

Have you, or would you ever smoke pot?
No and most likely not.

What do you think about harder drugs, like heroin, meth, and coke?
It's sad that people are unhappy with their lives and feel the need to escape using drugs. :(

Do you have asthma?
That's pretty random question. No.

Homosexuality: is it nature or nurture? Or just a straight out choice?
Is being a girl nature or "nurture"? Oh wait, let me think: should I be gay today? Homosexuality is a fact, not a choice.

What's the awesomest planet? (Besides Earth.)
Honestly? I refuse to answer this on principle.

Blogging vs. Vlogging

I've been watching a lot of vlogbrothers lately, which, apart from being insanely entertaining and giving me lots of time to play Frecell, has also made me think about my [non-existent] history as a vlogger.

So today I am going to be comparing the two forms of internet journaling and partaking in both. First I'm going to write this blog post, and then I am going to talk about the same thing in a vlog. It should be interesting. Should is the key word in that last sentence.

You should note that I've tried vlogging a few times and never found my niche. Also it always felt a bit awkward to me, talking to a camera. I'm willing to give it another shot, but I make no gurantees about the end result...

From my experience, I've compiled this list of things you need to be a successful* vlogger:

1. A topic/point of view
2. Basic video editing skills
3. Some place that you can be alone and talk to yourself/the camera
4. Creativity
5. A good quality camera

You also need some confidence. Putting a video of yourself on the internet is easier said than done. In theory, people are going to be watching that video, and you have to believe you aren't wasting their time.

To be a blogger you need less things, in my opinion:

1. A topic/point of view
2. Writing ability
3. A computer

Again, you need confidence in yourself. Making you inner thoughts known the the internet at large? It takes an ounce of courage. Especially if you realize that maybe no one will ever read it.

After that, everything else is bonus points.

My point here is that, for me, vlogging is harder. I'm sure it's different for everyone, depending on your personality, but it's much easier for me to type quietly at a keyboard than try to charismatically capture attention with a video camera.

When people read my blog, I'm not on display, gesturing my hands and stumbling over my words. If I don't know what I'm about to say next, my fingers pause over my keyboard. Vlogging seems a lot more personal, and with that a lot more scary. Maybe sticking to blogging is a it cowardly, but if you're good at it, why not?

*By successful, I don't mean insanely popular. I just mean being a good vlogger. I'm sure there's lots of under-watched, under-rated, yet awesome vlogs out there. Bonus points for views.