How do I even begin? I don't. I have no idea how to because I know that anything I say will be nothing compared to what I have experienced today. Wow.
I needed to blog about this tonight [and since my photos/videos are still uploading, this is a great time to do so] because I have never been so overwhelmed and happy for so long in my life. Let me just start this by saying that the Harry Potter fandom is a place that I can truly let go and know that no matter what, I will be loved. That's the kind of people that are at this Con. People that don't judge you, open their hearts to you, and genuinely care about you the second they meet you. I love it and I can't get enough of these people! I've already made at least 7 new friends from the USA, Australia, Sweden, and Norway. I can't wait to meet as many people as I can and learn more about this community of people.
Now, for Lit Day. These authors are amazing. I can't help but admire the fact that not only are they here at a conference for Harry Potter nerds, but that all of the authors write Young Adult novels for a living. They enjoy reaching out to our generation, a group of young people, and showing us different ideas and collaborations and stories that can define us later. It's so powerful and basically throughout the whole day I was sitting there in awe of these amazing people in front of me. I sat in on "How Books Saved My Sanity" and how we can all share a common love for books and reading and how it affects or is affected by social media. That was fun, but it was more like a teaser to the rest of the day. It gets much more interesting.
We then decided to talk about vampires. A lot of people came in grumbling about Twilight, but yet they still sat down and waited to hear what would be discussed....it was awesome. We did discuss Twilight and why it is or isn't good, but we also went back to Dracula, brought up some Buffy, and learned that there are tens of thousands of novels written about vampires. My favorite part of it is someone telling us a story about her friend that hated reading before she picked up the Twilight books. Now she is an avid reader, and isn't any way in to a literate, appreciative world a good thing? I really enjoyed the insight that people gave to this panel because while it gave us some playful banter it also gave us a way to look past crappy vampire stories and in to the heart of literature.
I was coerced in to attending "The Scott Westerfield Experience" by some of my new Australian friends and I can honestly say that I am very happy that I stayed for that. I have never been more intrigued by war in my life, and that's saying something since my dad is obsessed with WWII. Grabbing a girly girl princess-lover's attention with an adventure about WWI is a feat and I do believe that he has gotten me curious. It was definitely worth the hour that I spent hearing an amazing way to look at war.
We had a short lunch break [I went for Starbucks and popcorn] and I returned to the "Love and Romance" panel. I know, you're shocked that I chose that panel to attend. I loved everything about this panel because romance novels and teenage literature are almost always intertwined and yet are also fought against just as much. John Green said that reading material given in school is not for the parents, but for their children and it really struck a chord with me because being from Alabama I completely understand what it's like to have parents fight for what their children should and shouldn't read or learn about and I think that it's a little crazy. We also discussed everything from the 'clean teen' type YA novels to the 'good blow job' YA novels that give details. Overall it was a great panel to sit in on and I had a nice guest with me. Libba. Bray. That woman, ahhhh. She is so sweet and we laughed a lot at what was being said on the panel today. I said it earlier today to a friend but it's so refreshing to know that authors [and famous people, YouTubers, wrockers, etc] are just as happy and excited to be here as we are. It's so good to know that they enjoy us just as much as we enjoy them and their writing. I honestly look up to Libba and I hope that I get the chance to meet her again.
The last panel of the day that I got to see was "I Was a Teenage Author" and let me just say that I haven't laughed that hard in a while. Each author read works they had written as a child or teenager and OMG were they hilarious. Stephanie Perkins read her journal and I feel like I write similarly, but that's okay. I'm not aiming to be an author, just a blogger. I cannot believe how funny it all was.
The last part of Lit Day was a keynote with Arthur A. Levine who published the US versions of Harry Potter and many other things. He was very inspiring and it really humbled me to sit in the room with one of the people that Jo Rowling trusts. Not only that, but to have him trust us as an audience, that was amazing.
I need to sleep but here are a few quotes from the day:
On asexual relationships:
"I'm surprised I only got one 'woo' for that."
-John Green
"You only need one."
-Scott Westerfield
On sex:
"I'm not that interested in [writing] it...I think it's pretty widely covered without me."
-John Green
On writing:
"You should never compare your first draft to someone else's final draft."
-Ally Carter
On love options:
"It's not about who you should be with, it's about who you should be."
-Ally Carter
The opening festivities of the con were AMAZING. A proposal, an amazing video, small performances by Hank Green, HatP, Potter Puppet Pals, StarKid, and one more....it was all awesome.
I'm ready for Day 1 of the con!!!
Current song - Accio Deathly Hallows - Hank Green
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Disney really is a dream come true!!
Okay, I'm writing this as my first Disney vacation of the month and my first day of LeakyCon pictures upload, so if it's short and sweet, deal with it. I'm running on low energy but I really wanted to blog tonight about one of the sweetest things I've ever seen in my life.
I think that this conference, not getting much Disney work, and the stress of playing the role of 'Tour Guide Kelly' in Orlando for the next 2 weeks is taking a toll on my emotions because I find myself on the verge of tears at very cute, but not very tear-worthy, situations. This one actually WAS tear worthy in my opinion, but I'll let you judge it for yourself.
So my cousin and her family got to Disney on Sunday and I took them [her, the husband, and their 2 girls] to Magic Kingdom for two days. These two girls are 16 months and almost 3 years old so I really wanted to make this a magical and believable vacation. We had a great first day in the park and headed back to the resort for nap time and then we met later on in the day to go to 1900 Park Fare which is a dinner with Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine, Anastacia, and Drizella. All 5 of the characters were so sweet and adorable with the girls and it was the first time all day I'd seen the older girl get really excited by characters.
At the end of the meal music began to play throughout the restaurant and an announcer said that it was time for a dance. I held the younger girl and we watched Cinderella and Prince Charming dance together while the stepsisters made fun and were awkward as usual. The song ended and it seemed that they would go back to meeting with the children. I looked up again and I see Prince Charming dancing with a little princess. Adorable, right? It gets better. Cinderella had chosen a dance partner too. The oldest man in the restaurant. He was so sweet, obviously having the best time he's had on vacation, and Cinderella is enjoying herself too and all I could do was tell Elliott how amazing it was, smiling my cheeks off with tears streaming down my face. Isn't that AMAZING?!
It might not sound too sweet in writing, but in person, I was melting. It was one of those nostalgic moments for me to realize that I really do work for a magical company and I know that everyone is a kid at heart, waiting to be recognized and loved.
Current song - So This is Love - Cinderella
I think that this conference, not getting much Disney work, and the stress of playing the role of 'Tour Guide Kelly' in Orlando for the next 2 weeks is taking a toll on my emotions because I find myself on the verge of tears at very cute, but not very tear-worthy, situations. This one actually WAS tear worthy in my opinion, but I'll let you judge it for yourself.
So my cousin and her family got to Disney on Sunday and I took them [her, the husband, and their 2 girls] to Magic Kingdom for two days. These two girls are 16 months and almost 3 years old so I really wanted to make this a magical and believable vacation. We had a great first day in the park and headed back to the resort for nap time and then we met later on in the day to go to 1900 Park Fare which is a dinner with Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine, Anastacia, and Drizella. All 5 of the characters were so sweet and adorable with the girls and it was the first time all day I'd seen the older girl get really excited by characters.
At the end of the meal music began to play throughout the restaurant and an announcer said that it was time for a dance. I held the younger girl and we watched Cinderella and Prince Charming dance together while the stepsisters made fun and were awkward as usual. The song ended and it seemed that they would go back to meeting with the children. I looked up again and I see Prince Charming dancing with a little princess. Adorable, right? It gets better. Cinderella had chosen a dance partner too. The oldest man in the restaurant. He was so sweet, obviously having the best time he's had on vacation, and Cinderella is enjoying herself too and all I could do was tell Elliott how amazing it was, smiling my cheeks off with tears streaming down my face. Isn't that AMAZING?!
It might not sound too sweet in writing, but in person, I was melting. It was one of those nostalgic moments for me to realize that I really do work for a magical company and I know that everyone is a kid at heart, waiting to be recognized and loved.
Current song - So This is Love - Cinderella
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
you would think i'd be less stressed...
School's done. I'm free to do what I want. I completely cleaned out my desk area and did a new puzzle along with hours upon hours of Shaytards watching. My brother is being super sweet and I have no responsibility whatsoever. Sounds great, right?
Wrong. What is wrong with me? I have the classic 'there's nothing to do so let's let my mind wander and freak me out' syndrome, and that is never a good idea. The last thing I need to do is to let my mind wander. I have too many things to think about. Finances, life in general, how I'll survive in Florida, friends, the dooming shadow in front of me that is school, the list goes on. And I don't want to deal with it.
Like Madeleine, I had an amazing day on Sunday. I got to wake up when I wanted, do whatever I desired, and basically have a care-free existence for a day. And now? I can only think about the issues in my head. And the worst part is, some of them I don't even want to share here. No matter how much I try to avoid drama there seems to be a shit ton of it in my life, and I'm tired. I'm utterly exhausted.
On the plus side, I have an apron to finish, packing for Florida, lots of healthy food to make new recipes with, and tons of movies, books, and sudoku puzzles to work on. I have things to distract me. So I'll be distracting myself for a while. I'll be trying to escape in to a world that I can enjoy, because this one is just tearing me down. I just want to enjoy my summer!
Current song: You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift [it was on an episode of the Shaytards....]
Wrong. What is wrong with me? I have the classic 'there's nothing to do so let's let my mind wander and freak me out' syndrome, and that is never a good idea. The last thing I need to do is to let my mind wander. I have too many things to think about. Finances, life in general, how I'll survive in Florida, friends, the dooming shadow in front of me that is school, the list goes on. And I don't want to deal with it.
Like Madeleine, I had an amazing day on Sunday. I got to wake up when I wanted, do whatever I desired, and basically have a care-free existence for a day. And now? I can only think about the issues in my head. And the worst part is, some of them I don't even want to share here. No matter how much I try to avoid drama there seems to be a shit ton of it in my life, and I'm tired. I'm utterly exhausted.
On the plus side, I have an apron to finish, packing for Florida, lots of healthy food to make new recipes with, and tons of movies, books, and sudoku puzzles to work on. I have things to distract me. So I'll be distracting myself for a while. I'll be trying to escape in to a world that I can enjoy, because this one is just tearing me down. I just want to enjoy my summer!
Current song: You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift [it was on an episode of the Shaytards....]
Sunday, June 19, 2011
feeling a little guilty...
So...I've kind of been procrastinating all day. I have two papers to finish up and I just used Father's Day as a study excuse. That wouldn't be a problem except for the fact that I gave myself Saturday off too....*sigh*
I'm planning on going to the library before and after class tomorrow to work feverishly on it. The other issue I have with these papers is that I have no reason NOT to be working on them right now. In fact, for 9:55pm, I'm feeling a little motivated to work on them. But I'm not working. My book for research is open and I just....am not working. I have to do something productive, but I keep making excuses.
I've decided to re-read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows recently just because the trailers reminded me how much I have skimmed over and only have a brief knowledge of. I've been limiting myself to only reading 3 chapters a day so that I DO do [haha I said dodo] my schoolwork, but with this whole procrastination method I'm thinking that the only way I'll be productive tomorrow is by reading 3 extra chapters today and denying myself that pleasure tonight. OR....I could read the books I'm supposed to be finding quotes for tonight and underline them so that when I'm sick of writing tomorrow night I can just go ahead and let myself read some HP to cheer me up. Do you see my dilemma?! Life is so hard sometimes.
I think that my biggest insecurity with papers is that I don't do research papers well. I'm not good at finding quotes, I don't like speaking in third person, my grammar isn't always perfect....and all of those things make me freak out and call myself a bad writer. I'm actually a good writer...when it comes to things like blogs or scripts or stories. But this lit paper is very straightforward and I'm so lazy about it because I hate finding quotes and I just am being negative. I'm determined to do it well tomorrow, so I'll probably start working on finding quotes tonight. *sigh* [again]
This is the last week of summer school and I cannot wait to finally enjoy my summer!!! I filmed footage for my WDW vlog last night but it sounds extremely cheesy and since SarahSnitch's channel got deleted I don't have her videos to reference. I feel like I need to make them more casual, but at the same time they need to be attention-grabbing. I think I'll put this video up as a test, and maybe change the formatting/style of my videos as I continue. I'm itching to buy a real video camera, but money is a big issue and since I've heard from some fellow Cast Members that no one is really getting hours right now, I'm a little worried that I won't be able to make enough money to meet my summer saving goals.
I didn't realize that I had so much to talk about tonight but it actually feels really good to get some of these thoughts out in the open. I'm excited to have the rest of the summer to get away from Auburn, but I need to have gas money, hours to work with, and savings for the numerous groups of people coming to visit throughout the month, LeakyCon, and my summer savings goals. [an iPhone, a video camera, and maybe either some Toms or some Rainbows] I guess we'll see what happens but for now I'm just hoping for a decent amount of work and for WDW to pick up crowd-wise so I can get lots of hours. I miss working my ass off and getting decent paychecks all summer!!!
Current song - I'll Be There For You - The Rembrandts
I'm planning on going to the library before and after class tomorrow to work feverishly on it. The other issue I have with these papers is that I have no reason NOT to be working on them right now. In fact, for 9:55pm, I'm feeling a little motivated to work on them. But I'm not working. My book for research is open and I just....am not working. I have to do something productive, but I keep making excuses.
I've decided to re-read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows recently just because the trailers reminded me how much I have skimmed over and only have a brief knowledge of. I've been limiting myself to only reading 3 chapters a day so that I DO do [haha I said dodo] my schoolwork, but with this whole procrastination method I'm thinking that the only way I'll be productive tomorrow is by reading 3 extra chapters today and denying myself that pleasure tonight. OR....I could read the books I'm supposed to be finding quotes for tonight and underline them so that when I'm sick of writing tomorrow night I can just go ahead and let myself read some HP to cheer me up. Do you see my dilemma?! Life is so hard sometimes.
I think that my biggest insecurity with papers is that I don't do research papers well. I'm not good at finding quotes, I don't like speaking in third person, my grammar isn't always perfect....and all of those things make me freak out and call myself a bad writer. I'm actually a good writer...when it comes to things like blogs or scripts or stories. But this lit paper is very straightforward and I'm so lazy about it because I hate finding quotes and I just am being negative. I'm determined to do it well tomorrow, so I'll probably start working on finding quotes tonight. *sigh* [again]
This is the last week of summer school and I cannot wait to finally enjoy my summer!!! I filmed footage for my WDW vlog last night but it sounds extremely cheesy and since SarahSnitch's channel got deleted I don't have her videos to reference. I feel like I need to make them more casual, but at the same time they need to be attention-grabbing. I think I'll put this video up as a test, and maybe change the formatting/style of my videos as I continue. I'm itching to buy a real video camera, but money is a big issue and since I've heard from some fellow Cast Members that no one is really getting hours right now, I'm a little worried that I won't be able to make enough money to meet my summer saving goals.
I didn't realize that I had so much to talk about tonight but it actually feels really good to get some of these thoughts out in the open. I'm excited to have the rest of the summer to get away from Auburn, but I need to have gas money, hours to work with, and savings for the numerous groups of people coming to visit throughout the month, LeakyCon, and my summer savings goals. [an iPhone, a video camera, and maybe either some Toms or some Rainbows] I guess we'll see what happens but for now I'm just hoping for a decent amount of work and for WDW to pick up crowd-wise so I can get lots of hours. I miss working my ass off and getting decent paychecks all summer!!!
Current song - I'll Be There For You - The Rembrandts
Monday, June 13, 2011
i want to kill this man
Seriously. I've never had a worse professor. I don't understand why people gave him a good rating on ratemyprofessor. May I smack him? He makes no sense, he doesn't teach well, he gives terrible lectures, and he makes me want to scream. WHAT THE HELL, MAN?! Why were you hired, why are you here, why is anyone making good grades in this class?! He's such an idiot and I really hate him. I'm sorry, I usually don't hate people at all, but holy crap I don't see how he survives with the way his personality is. He's so scatterbrained and he can't even follow his own train of thought half of the time. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!
Just kill me now. Please.
Current song - Fuck You - Cee Lo Green
Just kill me now. Please.
Current song - Fuck You - Cee Lo Green
Sunday, June 12, 2011
well...
that was....interesting. I had fun, but nothing's changed. Yes, it was awkward. Yes, I'm still the bad guy no matter what. Yes, that sucks because I did nothing to deserve that title. But no, I'm not fazed. Unfortunately, I have nothing else to expect in that situation.
I had a great time at the Tony's party and now I'm tired and cranky and really need to study for my midterm. I'll wake up at 6am to do that, no worries.
Current song - Anything Goes - Anything Goes soundtrack
I had a great time at the Tony's party and now I'm tired and cranky and really need to study for my midterm. I'll wake up at 6am to do that, no worries.
Current song - Anything Goes - Anything Goes soundtrack
Friday, June 10, 2011
100th post!
Hey guys! So this is kinda perfect, because I have a lot of great news for this momentous post!!
I had an amazing day today! I LOVED the ethics lecture today in class, [we talked about...well I don't remember much of it, but I really agreed with all of it] I think I did okay on my lit quiz, [first time I've felt okay about a quiz in the class] and I made some headway on my apron.
Oh, did I not mention? I'm making an apron. From scratch. My first ever sewing project, and it's going to be ADORABLE!!! I have a few pictures! The first one is the fabric I bought for it:
And the next one....well it's not uploading well right now, but it's some progress!!! I can't wait to see the finished result, and if you're interested in this project I can start putting more frequent updates, just let me know in the comments!
Tonight I'm at home having some margaritas with my mom and sister, watching a chick flick, and spending the night so I can go yard sale-ing with them in the morning!!!
Have an amazing night and I'll talk to you all later!!
Current song - Armory - Tron: Legacy soundtrack
I had an amazing day today! I LOVED the ethics lecture today in class, [we talked about...well I don't remember much of it, but I really agreed with all of it] I think I did okay on my lit quiz, [first time I've felt okay about a quiz in the class] and I made some headway on my apron.
Oh, did I not mention? I'm making an apron. From scratch. My first ever sewing project, and it's going to be ADORABLE!!! I have a few pictures! The first one is the fabric I bought for it:
And the next one....well it's not uploading well right now, but it's some progress!!! I can't wait to see the finished result, and if you're interested in this project I can start putting more frequent updates, just let me know in the comments!
Tonight I'm at home having some margaritas with my mom and sister, watching a chick flick, and spending the night so I can go yard sale-ing with them in the morning!!!
Have an amazing night and I'll talk to you all later!!
Current song - Armory - Tron: Legacy soundtrack
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