A real update, finally |
[Mar. 8th, 2013|01:27 pm] |
[ | Tags | | | bunheads, escapade, glee, los angeles, once upon a time, parenthood, parks & recreation, personal, regina is my queen, rl, the big bang theory, vidding, vividcon, whose line | ] |
[ | Current Music |
| | "22" by Taylor Swift | ] |
[ | Current Mood |
| | thankful | ] |
[ | xpost |
| | http://anoel.livejournal.com/148418.html | ] |
So I finally have time and the inclination to post here about some of the things I've been up to. The time thing is mostly because I'm not working at my job anymore. It wasn't working out on either end and I'm really looking forward to finding an in person, salaried job at a good company that can actually pay me decently. I was really overwhelmed at first in terms of looking for a job and sometimes still am but I'm feeling better about it now. It seems that the last year of networking I've been doing in the LA tech scene is starting to pay off as I now have a lot of people I can reach out for help and who have offered to help. There's a job I reeeeally want and I'm kind of terrified of being rejected from it but I'm getting better at feeling like if it doesn't happen, it'll all work out along a different great path. And happy coincidences like a job fair this weekend is extra awesome. I am ever so grateful to be in a field where there's high demand for my skills, it makes it a lot less stressful than it would for me.
Last weekend was a lot of fun! I went to Once Upon a Time Paley Fest with elipie and rhoboat and it turned my feelings of the show to mostly anger to full of FEELS! I still have major issues with what the show is doing (not enough gay, stupid blood > adoption family stuff, Regina's misery as a plot devise) but at a certain point I can let go of expectations and just enjoy the things I love mostly REGINA omg how does Lana Parilla exist? She's hot onscreen but in person she is an absolute goddess not to mention hilarious, adorable and kind. Of course we sat behind some of the most dedicated fans of Lana and Regina so it was good for me to have other people to cheer with and Lana kept LOOKING at us and giving smiles of encouragement and the Evil Regal sign and I seriously felt like I was going to melt with squee. At the end, I managed to crawl over the seats to get close enough to Lana to get her autograph and try to shout things up at her. I hope in the future to get another chance to actually talk to her. I got pretty close to JMo but she left so I talked with Jane Espenson and put in my plug for an actual gay fairytale couple on the show (and happiness for Regina). We'll see what happens...I also connected with one of the fans in front of me in the hope of finding in person Swan Queen fans and a couple of her friends were! So that's encouraging to not feel so alone in it.
Job hunting does make it hard to find time to vid so that's a problem as there's like 5 vids I'm trying to get done in the next two months. One of them is an epic Game of Thrones vid that's gotten me headfirst back into Game of Thrones love, just in time for S3 coming in 23 days eeee! I'm just worried about getting it finished along with two other vids before the April Vividcon deadline. I've also volunteered for Vividcon auction with an insane amount of fandoms so I'm looking forward to doing that for the first time. Reeeally can't wait to go to VVC! There's nothing like hanging out with vidfans. I did go to Escapade a couple weeks ago and that was wonderful! I met some awesome new people as well as got a chance to talk to friends from past years. The vidshow and vid panels and vid review were all wonderful as well and gave me a small taste of Vividcon.
On a dream come true note, I'm so happy about the news that Whose Line is coming back with the original cast! RYAN AND COLIN TOGETHER ON MY SCREEN AGAIN! This show seriously saved me from senioritis back in high school in 2006 and I've wanted a revival to happen for the last 7 years. It's my biggest RPF ship and getting new Ryan/Colin slash with the original games will be wonderful. I've also been loving Parks & Recreation which has been wonderful the last few episodes (except for the Ann plot ughh don't get me started). Unfortunately Glee has been frustrating me more and more with the bad song choices, plots I don't like and not getting me to a emotional place like it used to do. I knew my love for the show wouldn't last forever but it's still disappointing. At least it's no less gay and I'm still loooving Kurt/Blaine, Santana/Britney, Kurt/Adam and Santana/Quinn not to mention Unique <3 The Big Bang Theory has been funnier lately but it's been driving me CRAZY with the increased amounts of sexism. I'm so glad they added more female geek characters but it doesn't make up for that. On the new shows front, I have been convinced by beerbad to keep watching Bunheads which has gotten a lot better over the last few episodes and feels more like Gilmore Girls now along with Parenthood which I'm starting to like a lot more after the first few episodes.
Happy International Women's Day! I went to a Women in Engineering event last night and it was so much fun to be surrounded by women mostly involved in computer science all together. I had drinks with a group of women trying to help other women learn Ruby/Ruby on Rails and it was great to feel like part of a community that's trying to help solve a frustrating lack of diversity problem. It's a slow process but hopefully it can only get better from here. And I'm so thankful to be in fandom surrounded by so many amazing women (and awesome guys) all supporting each other and being creative. I am ever so thankful I found this wonderful place :) |
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End of Year Meme 2012 |
[Dec. 31st, 2012|10:52 am] |
Here is my annual End of Year Meme. I love going back and reading my old ones so I must always do it. I'm going to do the Vidding meme next week when I can reveal my OUAT exchange gift.
( End of Year Meme 2012 ) |
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End of the Year Fandom Meme |
[Dec. 31st, 2012|10:11 am] |
I'm back in Los Angeles!!! This was not the best holidays for me in NY with having to work and totally failing and feeling guilty AND having the Festivids deadline creeping closer and having a shitload of clipping and vidding to do and failing pretty bad at it. Add in a failed external hard drive and cancelled New Hampshire/cousins trip and I was not in the greatest moods and slept a lot and felt kind of depressed. But I had FIVE CATS and I spent a loooot of time with them (you can't talk to cats on the phone sadly) and hung out with my parents and friends so that was fun. It was good to get away at first but I always feel like I morph into a teenager/lazy college student when I go back to my parent's house and combined with the cold, snow and grey, it's a downer. That being said, I'm glad I went as now I have a HUGE renewed love and appreciation for Los Angeles and I'm feeling extra determined to make this the best year ever. Before I go out, here's the annual fannish end of year meme.
( End of Year Fandom Meme ) |
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The Olympics of life (no my life isn't that epic) |
[Aug. 2nd, 2012|08:54 pm] |
[ | Tags | | | breaking bad, fic rec, game of thrones, gymnastics, los angeles, olympics, one direction, personal, real life, the glee project, the la complex, vid rec, vidding, vividcon | ] |
[ | Current Music |
| | olympics | ] |
[ | xpost |
| | http://anoel.livejournal.com/138253.html | ] |
[ | Current Mood |
| | happy | ] |
Wow it's been awhile. But some kind of update is in order. Most importantly, VIVIDCON IS IN A WEEK!!! I'm still in shock that I'll be in Chicago this time next week. I'll be at the hotel sometime around 5pm or so and I can't hang wait to hang out with people! Not to mention get a ton of my favorite Pad Thai ;) I just can't wait for CLUB VIVID and PREMIERES and getting to forget about work and life and focus on friends and so many of my favorite people. I have a Club Vivid and Premieres vid this year that I'm really happy with (it took a little distance first though) and I'm planning on wearing an actual costume this year, should be interesting. It'll certainly be unique haha. I leave on Monday morning at like 5:30am....yeah work made me come back but I didn't want to miss the late night fun on Sunday as I deeply regretted that the first time I came to Vividcon. I just need my four days damnit, I want to talk to ALL THE PEOPLE.
The other big thing is I moved into a new apartment! I'm living with jetpack_monkey and echan in Downtown LA! It's aweeeeesome. I love living with other fans and even better VID fans so we can watch vids and TV and vid together whenever. I love having my own bedroom and the building is great with a pool and gym and parking which is soo nice after dealing with horrible street parking for three months. Plus I'm in DTLA!!! This is literally my favorite place in the entire world. I love being right in the center of everything, with all these tall buildings all around me. For me tall buildings make me feel like anything is possible, that your dreams can take you ANYWHERE. And there's so much energy, people and shops and amaaazing restaurants and life and growth. Downtown is in the middle of a renaissance and I can't wait to be part of it. There's something special about living in the place you want to help improve. And today I realized I really need to start getting involved in it.
Work is still going good (really time consuming though) and I'm really happy to be continuing to learn and grow and learn what startup life is like. Plus I'm making more money so it's really nice to have more spare money for fun stuff (like vacations! and fooood). It's also been a LOT of fun the last few months to hang out with and vid with elipie, jetpack_monkey, osaraba and rhoboat. It helps so much to vid when you have another vidfan beside you who you can show vidding stuff to as you do it and talk about vid struggles and watch TV and vids together. It's just great to have a little LA vidding community going and I hope it keeps getting bigger. I've also been watching a lot of Olympics lately, mostly gymnastics since it's my FAVORITE. I used to play gymnastics as a kid and I loooooooooved the uneven bars. Like part of the reason I quit (maybe the only one I don't remember) was because I was forced to do everything else and not just the bars. So during the Olympics I always get super invested in one person and the USA team as a whole. Last time it was Nastia Liukin and this time it's Gabby Douglas who is AMAZING and ( Spoilers for Women's All Around ) She's just so high flying at the bars and she just has the IT factor that I love. So happy for the US team. Wish Jordan could have competed but I'm glad Gabby made it in.
Fandom-wise I'm kind of behind and not as invested as I used to be but I do have a new fandom I'm in love with...Game of Thrones. I was into it before but after reading all the books and now I'm in the midst of vidding it and reading fic and I just loooove it. I have that fannish urge to get totally consumed by the books, TV, vidding, fic, actors, all of it but I just don't have time right now sadly. Hopefully when lianri comes to LA after VVC (!!!! sooo excited), we can geek out about it together and that'll help. I'm also loving Breaking Bad...except I'm an episode behind because of the Olympics and work and trying to get some sleep. I need to remedy this soon because I love this season so far! Ohhhh Jesse. And Walt is creepy and awesome and horrible and entertaining all at the same time. So glad to see all these people again. I've also gotten into One Direction fandom (thanks to elipie) for awhile now and I looove Harry/Louis. Harry is a freaking feminist prince (plus insanely pretty) and Louis is hilarious and cute and willing to do anything. I went to a concert (guess with who) and had a fun time screaming and going crazy over them and the serious slash. Other things I've been watching is Bunheads, Political Animals, The Glee Project (Nellie!! and Charlie!!), Newsroom (I've stopped, not sure if I'm going to try again) and I've been catching up on Homeland. Oh and I watched the LA Complex premiere and I totally totally am shipping Connor/Raquel!! Awww.
Finally, fic recs!! Because lately I've gotten some GLORIOUS fic from people that everyone should read. First up, two Jaime/Brienne fics of AWESOME. There is the spy who loved (to drive) me (crazy) ie the SPY AU and hold my hand as I'm lowered where Jaime never shuts up (awwww he doesn't, does he?). Both hilarious and totally true to character. And then.... thingswithwings wrote me my ultimate femslash fic!!! It's called Concession and it's LESLIE/JENNIFER!!!! Yeah you read that right, to the best of my knowledge the first Leslie/Jennifer fic ever and it's amaaaaaazing. God I love them. Leslie is just entirely Leslie and Jennifer is Jennifer and they are competing political advisors who are secretly attracted to each other and just read it and be amazed (bonus: it's really hot). While you're at it, go watch her Parks and Rec/Community female relationships vid as well, it's wonderful!
And for my birthday in October I'm going to Colorado to hang out with asuka14! I can't wait. Going to stop in Las Vegas on the way home to gamble a bit ;) Mmm traveling. |
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I came to win, to survive, to prosper, to rise, to fly |
[Apr. 2nd, 2012|03:54 pm] |
So I'm back in Los Angeles. SO HAPPY!!! There's something about this city that makes me feel alive, energized, inspired, whole and fulfilled. The beautiful, wonderful weather helps a lot too. Sunny and 70s!!! It makes me want to dance on the streets of LA or drive with my windows down and sing as loud as I can (I may have done one or both of those things). It's just really good to be back. I took the PCH down from San Francisco even though it took longer and it was SO worth it. It was so beautiful to see the hills, forest, mountains, countryside, cliffs and best of all, the ocean. Wow, it looked even more beautiful than I remembered especially around the Big Sur area. Also got a chance to check out Santa Cruz and Monterey although it sadly got dark before Santa Barbara. It was really nice to get to see the coast again, I haven't done it since 2007 (with a great WL roadtrip!). The night before I also had fun as I went to a gay club in the Castro as it didn't feel like a real San Francisco trip without that. I had too much to drink but someone who I thought was hot danced with me briefly so that was cool. Also I went to Yosemite a couple weeks ago and had fun climbing 5000 ft of mountains. My legs hurt like hell the next two days but it was so worth it and I got some awesome pictures. I did get lost a little in the dark one night but it turned out alright in the end so I can look back on it in a good light now. The falls were so pretty!
I was planning on going back to college but I've had some trouble getting into classes I need so I've decided to not do that and just try to get a web developer job instead. It may take me a few months so I'm going to look for something more temporary in the meantime. I'm really excited about it! The last month has been a lot of fun learning Rails and various parts of the stack and I'm excited about continuing to do it in a Los Angeles environment. Plus I can't wait to hang out with vidders in the area! It's sooo nice to be home.
On top of it, TV is back! I just finished reading Game of Thrones yesterday and although I tried to start the second book, I finally gave in and watched the S2 premiere. It's funny, when I read the 1st book I thought I would have enjoyed the first season more if I had read the books first but now I'm thinking it's better to NOT read the books. Reason being I'm a believer that TV/movies should VERY closely follow the books so little things like dialogue reeeally bother me when they change things or leave stuff out. Part of the problem is I'm reading the books way too close to when I see the TV show as then I remember and get annoyed at everything. For example, I enjoyed the last Harry Potter movie much more because I don't remember a lot of the little specifics of what happened and just enjoyed it for what it was. But anyways, I did love the GoT premiere. The books made me like all the characters a LOT more and now the only one I hate is Joffrey (omg I hope he dies soon). So that's awesome. Arya is still my most favorite ever and I can't wait to see more of her. Also enjoying Mad Men (PEGGY!) although I'm only half through the most recent episode. Sundays are SO awesome now! I do miss Parks & Rec :( Come baaaaaack. Thursdays suck now.
I also went to see the midnight showing of The Hunger Games and LOVED it. No movie could capture the magic of the first book but I loved that it did a great job staying true to the book (they did the smart thing and gave the author screenwriting duties). All of my worries about the casting were thrown away quickly as all the actors totally sold their characters. It was all really beautiful, fun to watch and great to watch with a group of people laughing, crying and making funny comments in all the right places. And I'm so happy it did amazing at the box offic, I KNEW it would. I'm hoping to see it again once I do a reread of the first book which I read in one sitting back in July. If you haven't read it yet, READ IT! It's so addicting and fun to read. Katniss is SO awesome although Cinna is my favorite.
I've been hard at work vidding...vids that are NOT my Club Vivid vid. OOPS. The good news is one of them is almost done and I'm out of the honeymoon phase so I can devote some more time to getting that done along with maybe some other vids I'm working on. It was so much fun to get addicted to vidding something without a deadline and just be into my ship SO MUCH and enjoy seeing them all the time while vidding. It's good to be more productive vidwise again. If anyone want a vid made to order, check out the Vividcon Auction vidders here, there's so many that I wish I had more money to buy!
I still can't believe I'm back here in LA after dreaming about it for two months. There's no place like home... |
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Escapade Con Report |
[Feb. 28th, 2012|07:21 pm] |
I'm going to be good this year and do a con report. It was probably my favorite Escapade ever so I had to write up some thoughts on it.
( Escapade 2012 Con Report-complete with the Mini Club Vivid Playlist )
Besides that, back to the same routine here in SF. Finally starting to learn some Rails so it's been a jump in the deep end. If you like comedies at all (or not), be sure to watch Cougar Town! It's on at Tuesdays at 8:30pm and this season is especially hilarious. The name is not relevant at all, it's all about friends with wine basically and it's just so much fun. Planning on visiting some new to me neighborhoods on the weekends and also really looking forward to going to the Apple Campus and getting a short tour :D I will probably die of squee as I have turned into a huge Apple fangirl over the last 5 months (my iPhone is still the BEST thing ever, highly recommended). So that is one good thing about being here. Still a little overwhelmed playing catchup but I got a lot of sleep yesterday so that helped and I'm hoping the next few days will also help.
32 more days until I go back to Los Angeles!! |
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Tumblr: take 2 |
[Feb. 19th, 2012|07:58 pm] |
So I've made a few efforts to set up Tumblr and start using it but those have failed miserably. I am trying again though because I feel like fandom is moving there at least somewhat and I don't want to get left behind and feel old which is just weird to say at my age. So my Tumblr is: here and feel free to follow if you like. I get bored pretty easily by a lot of pictures so I don't know how often I'll post but I'll at least check it every day. Please let me know what your Tumblr's name is if you have one. There's a poll in my LJ if that makes it easier.
I've been super busy these days so I feel kind of out of fandom. Still keeping up on a my shows for the most part at least Glee, New Girl, Modern Family, Happy Endings, Revenge, Parks & Rec, The Office, The Big Bang Theory, 30 Rock and The LA Complex. Speaking of, I definitely urge everyone to check out The LA Complex! I don't want to spoil anyone but there's a great gay plot on there that I'm currently in love with even when it destroys my heart. Plus it has Jewel Strait! It's all about a group of Canadien kids trying to make it in the entertainment industry in Hollywood. It makes me miss Los Angeles even more which I've been doing a lot lately. San Francisco is just no substitute. I don't think I've ever felt quite this homesick in awhile and it made me realize I almost always get homesick only for LA.
I'm all signed up for Vividcon! Cannot wait to go. Also looking forward to Escapade this weekend. It'll be SO nice to get to talk to fans again and watch vids. I'll be interested to see what people get out of my premiere vid this year. Escapade is much less panel heavy than Vividcon for me so I'm hoping to have more time to talk to people there. Also going to stop in Downtown LA after (even though its at least an hour drive) to see my city again as like I mentioned, I miss it like burning.
Been kind of tired lately, my body keeps finding ways to wake up and not getting back to sleep so it's been a struggle to get sleep which is hard when I'm learning all the time. Things are going good though and I enjoyed getting a chance to hang out with laurashapiro the other day. I've been enjoying all the delicious food here in SF as well and I found a great cafe/lounge here with a fireplace, good food, fast internet/outlets and colored lights which I love. I have so little time that I'm starting to have to prioritize more and only do the essential stuff. I am very grateful for my iPhone so I can keep up on social networking/fandom while walking around everywhere. We'll see what happens.
Thanks to everyone who sent me glass hearts! They are much appreciated. |
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Gleeee |
[Nov. 29th, 2011|09:44 pm] |
Okay so I have to post a couple things about this Glee episode.
( Glee 307 Spoilers )
In other news, proving there is a kink meme for everything, a new Parks & Recreation kink meme is now here. It's very Leslie/Ben right now but go fill and leave prompts for everything. I LOVE this show right now and there's so many great ships to choose from. I am pretty pro-Leslie/anyone she wants so I'm up for anything. The last episode of P & R was just....*happiness* I'm a little in love with Leslie right now, she's kind of my hero. She's Leslie FUCKING Knope!! And if you haven't seen the show, you should watch it. The first season isn't that good but S2-4 are all wonderful and it's even more geeky as time has gone on.
Just have to say I'm SO happy about the warm 70s weather we're having in LA right now. It reminds me why I love it here. |
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A new start... |
[Aug. 29th, 2011|12:58 pm] |
So things have been up in the air for the last couple weeks but I finally know what I'm doing this fall. Unfortunately although I applied again to appeal the decision (with some great people helping me), Chapman once again rejected my appeal. So I'm not going back to Chapman University. At least I tried my hardest to get back in and now I see it as their loss. After much angsting and thinking it over, I finally found a backup plan that has its own benefits. I'm going to be attending Los Angeles City College this fall and then look to transfer to Cal State LA or Cal State Northridge for Spring (waiting on results now) or Fall of next year. I'm going to be taking some GE and business courses this semester (a speech and health class, computer science for MIS, managerial accounting and Business Law at the moment) and I'm really excited to have a fresh start and do well in them. I also want to start looking for internships-paid would be best but even unpaid would be helpful for experience. Basically I want to not repeat my previous mistakes and actually make the most of college.
The best part is the college is near Downtown LA which is my favorite place in the city so I'm going to get an apartment in the city and live there. I'm soooo excited. For those unaware, downtown LA (referred to as DTLA) is undergoing a revitalization at the moment and there are a lot of people moving there along with new businesses, restaurants, etc popping up everywhere. It's really exciting and there's a lot of activism and the like there to try to improve the community. I love the aura of DTLA, it's so exciting and invigorating and I can't wait to live there. I love being around tall buildings, lots of people, events and fun places to go to no matter where you go. I already found a really cool coffee/sweets shopa, cute lunch place with great food and a beautiful bookstore to hang out in. The best thing that's happening right now is Artwalk which I haven't gone to yet because of conflicts but I'm going to the one in September and I'm dying to go. Basically they close off the streets, tons of people come out to check out the art galleries/restaurants and there are specials and I've heard it's amazing. I really want to get involved in the local community to help create more of a community and help prevent poverty, homelessness and any other social problem around here. I'm really interested in learning more/experiencing more of the educational system (for a few startup type ideas I have) so I'm looking to get involved in tutoring and after school programs that help enrichment. I want to really experience what it's like living there so I can use that knowledge to think of ways to help.
Fandom wise it's been hard to keep up internet wise since I've been going to a lot of free internet places (I'm waiting on money to get my own place). I'm working on reviewing source for a upcoming vid I'm dyyyying to do so that's taking a lot of time right now. One other problem is the PC side of my computer isn't working which is causing another delay in getting my vid up. I hate dealing with this kind of stuff argh. Glad my Mac can bootcamp though, probably need to reinstall Windows. I've also been catching up with Breaking Bad which is AMAZING. I stopped watching S3 in a slow part and then of course it speeds up after that episode. The end of S3 just destroyed me completely and now I have no idea what's going to happen. Jesse is still my total favorite and keeps me from being too depressed about it. But Gus is pretty awesome too and reminds me of Stringer in some ways. I really can't wait for Fall TV to come back (GLEE) as well as Mad Men which I miss a LOT. It's not the same without it and it's usually on in August so I miss it a lot (especially when seeing Banana Republic's clothing displays at The Grove).
I am really looking forward to getting settled here and not being so all over the place. But hey, I'm in LA, I'm looking forward to my future and I feel good about the possibilities of life so I'll take it. |
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It Gets Better |
[Jun. 2nd, 2011|11:13 pm] |
So in true rollercoaster fashion, I have gone from super low to on top of the world. So that's good :) Sometimes you just need the bad stuff to make you realize something is wrong in your life and encourage you to take action.
I have now decided that come fall, I'm going to travel! So far my plans are to see London, Paris, Belgium and possibly Italy or Spain if I can manage it. That's a month or less and then I'll spend a few months in Southeast Asia, starting out in Bangkok and we'll see from there. So I now have a goal to save for this summer while working which will be encouraging. I've been dyyyying to travel and I'm so excited that I'm going to finally get a chance to do it. I can't believe I didn't do it sooner. And if you live in any of the above places, I'd of course love to hang out with you :)
After deciding this and having a second crash, I finally figured out what I want to do with my life. I think ;) This will be the eighth time I've decided so I want to be sure this time. But I've now aligned my number one priority and what I believe is my purpose in life, to make Los Angeles the greatest city ever (preferences aside, we all have different favorites, blah blah blah) with my career goals. I am looking into getting a college degree in Urban Planning which somehow manages to combine almost all of my interests when it comes to cities. I was looking at the syllabi and websites and dying of love. Looking into Cal State Northridge, Cal State Pomona and USC since I want to stay in the LA area but we'll see what I can get into. Yeah it may take two or three years, it may require a lot of work but goddamn it I'll do it for my beloved city. And for me. Because I genuinely believe this is what I was put on this earth to do.
So I'm really excited now. I feel like I found my soulmate in terms of career. It just finally feels right. I'm so excited to read everything I can get my hands on, to talk to people, to get involved. I feel I can finally commit now and I have so many ideas on what to do and how to apply myself. In my many years of reading books and blogs, I know how to succeed in this and I know I've just got to take the initiative to make it happen.
It's funny, a large part of this revelation came while watching Kung Fu Panda 2. Don't want to spoiler it but there's a part where he realizes that despite a bad past, you can choose to be great in the future. And that's what I said to myself, I choose to be great. I can't help it, I'm an ambitious person and there's nothing that gets me down more than feeling like I will never accomplish my dreams and will leave this world with nothing but regrets. I don't think I've done a good job til now in actually doing anything to make these dreams happen so I want to start to change that now. I feel like I really believe in myself that I can do this and I will do whatever it takes to become a truly great person who really will change the world in a BIG way. I think there's a lot to say in being patient and not expecting everything at once while still taking this sometimes scary steps to make things happen and join things that matter to me.
I feel good. This sense of purpose is amazing. I just do so much better in this world if I have goals even if the goals eventually change. Stuff at work doesn't bother me as much because I know it's just something small on the road to something much bigger. My attitude feels so much more positive and I just want to make every day count and soak up every bit of development I can get my hands on. I want to share my good energy with the world!
With that, here is an appropriate meme: Post a comment, and I will reply with one or two reasons why I think you're great. In return, you have to post this same meme on your blog and comment for other people.
I am so thankful for my LJ/DW friends and all of fandom for providing me with so much happiness and support! |
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Running and RL |
[Mar. 25th, 2011|12:36 pm] |
So it's been a pretty epic week for me. Last Sunday I ran the Los Angeles Marathon and it was pretty amazing even if I was hit by a heavy dose of bad luck.
( More on the story of how I completed the marathon )
I also just created a new community, socalvids for vid fans in the Southern California area who want to get together to watch and discuss vids. I really hope if you're in the area that you'll consider joining as I'd love to help create more of a community of people who love vids in socal. I know we're out there, we're just spread out and it'd be so fun to watch vids in a group again!
I'm also really excited about Vividcon this August! I'm sure it's going to be super fun and I'm excited about the vids I want to premiere there.
I saw Sucker Punch last night and I'd definitely recommend it if you like to see girls kicking ass with guns, swords and other weaponery as well as super, AMAZING visuals and a great soundtrack. Story might not be the best but it worked enough for me. Also glad to see more people joining The Social Network fandom! It really is a great fandom. I really need to hurry up and finish my vid for it (or one of them).
Mostly I am SUPER excited about finally getting a car on April 1st. It is almost too good to be true after dying for one since October. I can get around anywhere! I don't have to take buses anymore! I can meet more people and go to events and have FUN! This is the best present I could ever get. Also work is going really well as I GOT THE SCHEDULING JOB! I was the only one to get the chance so I am ecstatic. And I'm getting along and becoming more friends with people at work which is really great in making me feel like I belong. I just feel I'm really developing as a person there and carying those lessons in leadership, initiative and social skills to the rest of my life. So yeah, haven't got as much done in my life as I hoped in the beginning of the year but I'm getting things done slowly and I'm positive about the changes in my life so I'll take it. Now I just need to find a way to make more money and I'll be really good...(suggestions appreciated). |
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Joy |
[Jan. 13th, 2011|01:26 pm] |
Happy More Joy Day everyone! I do not have anything special planned but I thought I'd write down a few things lately that have been bringing me joy.
I finished my Festivid! This is huge because it was a big burden on me but after many, many hours of frenzied vidding I finished it before the deadline :D And I really like what I made as well. Great way to start off the vidding year. I want to try to make a treat this year as well although I'm currently trying to finish my Escapade vid (deadline is January 15 if anyone else is working on a vid!) so we'll see what happens.
That being said, I'm going to Escapade! Really excited about being around other fans, both slash and vidding ones. Who else is going? I figured I couldn't not go, me being so close (yay LA!) and all. I am looking for roommates so if anyone needs another person, I am happy to share costs.
I also signed up for the LA marathon and I'm really excited to do it. I've been running pretty consistently the last month or so (rain not included) and I definitely think I can do it by March. I did my first real long run on Tuesday and ran 13 miles! So basically a half marathon so I was psyched was able to do it and run most of it. The great part is I'm running through LA where I can see all the great landmarks from Dodger Stadium to the Santa Monica Pier so that'll make it much more fun. It is also SO nice being able to run in 60s and today, 70 degree weather!
I am making small progress on most of my goals and I thought I'd share two websites that are helping me. The first is, Mindbloom that lets you put actions you want to take either daily or whatever timeframe you want and let's you check them off everytime you do them which gets you more points and grows your "tree". You can take it as seriously as you want, I just like that it keeps me accountable and it's fun to check things off. If you join, let me know your email (or use mine while signing up) so I can add you as a friend! The other is Mint which is an easy way to keep track of finances as it collects all the financial accounts you have (securely) and automatically keeps track of all debit/credit transactions and enters them in your budget. I love things that help you and save me time and work so I think it's great and it's helping keep track of things.
Work is going pretty good as I'm still enjoying the marketing meetings and now planning the crew party which is going to be AWESOME with lots of giveaways. Plus I'm going to go out clubbing with some people at work next week so that should be fun. I'm also finally getting a cafe shift so I'm really happy about that. I watched The Fighter the other day and as expected, it wasn't my thing nor did I think it was that Oscar worthy compared to my favorite but it was good at least and Melissa Leo was amazing and almost unrecognizable from Toni on Treme.
I'm also happy that my TV shows are starting to come back! Modern Family was funny last night especially the Cam/Mitchell parts (how are they so cute???) and I'm dying for more Glee after the Superbowl. Also I enjoyed the premiere of Shameless which was pretty funny and unsurprisingly loved Ian (and am shipping him with both Kash and Lip gah) so looking forward to more of that. And of course this picture is bringing me a lot of joy:

How are they so cute and in looooove? |
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Happiness. |
[Dec. 8th, 2010|09:49 pm] |
Know what's amazing? Feeling happy. I've been thinking a lot about the last year and where I am right now and it feels like I've come full circle but in a much better way. It's been awhile but finally things just seem to be working out for me. So consider this a belated Thanksgiving post.
I love LA and I am so happy to be here. It's hard to put it into words but sometimes it just comes to me when I look at a I Love LA T-Shirt and am filled with city pride or feel full of joy when seeing (or reading about) some aspect of the city I just love. I love the weather that no matter how much I wish it was warmer (my tastes have changed to liking 80s best-but I'll take 70's or 90's), it's still warm enough to wear a t-shirt and/or hoodie around and not feel cold. I love that the sun shines almost every day and that there's no snow and barely any rain (I did get caught in the rain the other day but only for five minutes). I love that there's always something to do even if I don't have the money to do it, it's still exciting and inspiring.
I love where I live right now. I love Manhattan Beach and the plethora of unique cafes, restaurants, bars, clothing stores, cupcake stores (sooo tempting) and surfing shops. I love being a block from the ocean and being able to see the ocean all the time, it's so comforting. And it's so much easier to get up and run when I know I can run on The Strand surrounded by fellow walkers, runners and dogs with the ocean filled with surfers on one side and the other side overflowing with some of the most beautiful, unique and modern houses I've seen. I love that it's so close to work that I can walk to get there and don't have to worry about taking the bus and the stress that comes with that or being stranded at work when it's too late for a bus to come. I love that there's an independent bookstore I can walk to and not only get complementary bakery treats (and coffee but I'm not a coffee drinker) but read to my heart's content. I love that I get along with my roommate and that we're moving to an even bigger space so I'll have both more room and more privacy (which are two of my only issues with where I'm living now) with the same super low rent.
I love my job. I love that I'm in a company that actually cares about it's employees and wants to help them develop and succeed. I love that they encourage everyone to learn and run the business and that they came true with that promise by letting me join the marketing meetings and help with marketing. I love that every Monday I get to be excited to go to work and that my mind becomes full of ideas and happiness at *working* on something important and interesting (ie marketing). I'm so grateful that one of the managers gave me the chance that's inspired me to find a new career direction to something I really love and enjoy working on, that makes me want to learn everything about it and do *more* with it. I love that I enjoy being with all my coworkers, that they treat me well, put me in a good mood, comfort me when I'm feeling down and that I can talk to almost all of them. I love that I'm learning skills in cafe that I've always wanted to learn-including bartending. I'm glad that no matter how boring my job can be sometime or how much I wish the pay was higher, I'm still happy to be here and excited about future possibilities. I'm glad I'm working in a place devoted to media, to entertainment and the power of narrative to move people because it's one of the things I love most in the world.
I love that I feel happy, energetic and motivated most of the time. I'm glad I'm still working on my goals even though I've made only a little progress this year. I love that I'm making it a habit to run each morning as soon as I wake up and that I'm following through with it and that it's FUN. I love feeling accomplished to start off my whole day. I'm glad that I finally like the way I look and I'm taking steps to be even happier with my appearance. I'm glad I stopped trying to force myself to learn motion graphics as a career and have focused on just trying to learn about whatever I'm interested in. I love being able to walk into a bookstore and go to any section to find books to read and then spending hours there reading just like when I was a kid. I love walking home and watching TV on my iPod, only the stuff I love whether it be Glee, Modern Family, Weeds, The Big Bang Theory or my Festivid source. I love that Glee is gayer than ever and it continues to find ways to make me the happiest person ever.
I'm happy that even when bad things happen to me (these days mostly money troubles), I'm able to not get stuck in a negative or hopeless mood and instead work on taking steps to make things better. I'm glad I finally feel ready and willing to take steps to find a romantic relationship. I'm happy that I finally feel like I love myself for who I am and not who I wish I could be and that I feel like I can change anything that I'd like to be different. I'm happy that I know I can make my dreams come true and change the world.
Happiness: it's an amazing thing when you think about it. |
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Brief LA update |
[Oct. 9th, 2010|10:30 pm] |
The good news is I found a job! I'll be working at the new ArcLight Theater in Beach Cities. Really happy as the company seems to value its' employees and want to help them develop so I'm hoping they'll live up to that. Mostly I'm just relieved that I can stop worrying so much about finding a job at least for awhile. It just feels kind of like fate that I found this job and I was so happy to make the cut (it was a group interview and they narrowed it from like 30/40 down to six, including me). It does make me feel good about myself though as I feel it's the best interview I've ever done.
Anyways, my birthday is this Monday and I just wanted to see if anybody in LA wants to go out to dinner or just hang out then. I'm planning on going to Disneyland that morning/afternoon (company is always welcomed!) but my evening plans are free.
And yes, I am still completely in love with LA. Even with it's ridiculous weather this fall. Seriously every fall I've been here it's ALWAYS been in the 70s-90s, always sunny with no rain (except for a morning drizzle or two). And now it's going from 90s/100s to 60s to rain downpours and now slowly back up to 90s again. I don't know what's going on but I'd like my sunny 80 degree days back now. Still getting to run at sunset with palm trees together with the moon makes me fall back in love again. |
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Let's Hear It For LA! |
[Sep. 24th, 2010|09:00 pm] |
[ | Tags | | | 30 rock, california, community, cougar town, festivids, glee, los angeles, modern family, rl, running wilde, the office | ] |
[ | Current Mood |
| | content | ] |
[ | Current Music |
| | Glee songs | ] |
I'm in LA! My trip was uneventful thankfully and I made it here on time and in a good mood. Already I've had free champagne and cake and went on a little happy run to let out my (slightly drunk) happy emotions. I can't believe I made it and now that I'm here, all the nervousness I was feeling has disappeared and I'm just deliriously happy. I'm going to be using that word a lot because I am in a great, fulfilled and content kind of way. I have a whole plan of what I want to do here and I'm determined to get it. My ultimate goal is to have my own little apartment downtown but we will see how things go moneywise before I get there. It's just good to break free from the chains of cold, boring town with parents I'm sick of and no roots to speak of. I can't wait to meet people here, make friends, see some old ones and create the life of my dreams. Here's the song I've been playing to describe how I feel:
In LA Concrete jungle where dreams are made of There's nothin' you can't do Now you're in LA These streets will make you feel brand new Big lights will inspire you Let's hear it for LA, LA, LA
Yes I will service that song for my own city. Also last night was great TV night with my comedies coming back!
( Spoilers for The Big Bang Theory )
Loved The Office for the first time in awhile. It was actually funny! And it wasn't even written by one of the original writers! Loved that it had heart as well. Thought 30 Rock was less funny but I still love Liz Lemon and it did have some laughs so it was alright. I miss Parks and Recreation, tried Community again but I still can't get myself to care enough about the characters and there aren't enough laughs for me. Also tried Shit My Dad Says which was unfunny as I heard it would be. Oh well. Also loved Modern Family on Wednesday although it wasn't quite as funny as I hoped, as always Cam/Mitchell were amazing and the cutest ever. I tried Running Wilde with low expectations as I have heard bad things but it was surprisingly good! The first half was bad and unfunny but all of a sudden the jokes started coming and they were funny and reminded me of Arrested Development. So definitely watching that one. Catching up on Cougar Town at the moment which has been unfunny but enjoyable and all of a sudden, it was funny! Much like How I Met Your Mother, it took til the 9th episode for me to really like it. Not super attached but I do need more funny shows. Still dying for Glee to come back, I have spoiled myself sooo much for the next episode (I am banned from spoilers after that one) but it's going to be SO good, dare I say it...legendary.
I managed to get my Festivids nominations in this morning thankfully. From what I remember I nominated The Wire, Treme, Little Miss Sunshine, Huge (2010), Nurse Jackie, United States of Tara, Be Good Johnny Weir, Project Runway, The Rachel Zoe Project, The Sopranos, Mad Men, Arrested Development, Damages, Beautiful People, Sex and the City (TV+Movie) and some other TV shows I'm forgetting. I'm so excited for it to begin! Hope we get a lot more vidders this year so there'll be more vids ;)
If anyone is in the LA area and wants to hang out, let me know!
Cause in the sun and in the weather No one else has loved me better California you’re the place for me |
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GLEE = Happiness |
[Sep. 21st, 2010|11:14 pm] |
Man I forgot what a night with a new Glee episode is like. PURE HEAVEN. There is just nothing like getting a new episode and obsessing over it, having the songs on repeat and being in love with everyone and all the ships. Almost every scene is pure gold or has some awesome part to it (and I'm saying almost just in case). I am dying to go to next year's concerts, just watching the episode's songs was making me scream and it's just going to be ecstacy next year getting to see it many more times. I love them all SO MUCH!
( Spoilers for Glee 201 )
Just preparing for LA at the moment. I found the PERFECT job for me with TV and social media which I'm hoping I'll get although my hopes are low. Also watching more TV, liking Boardwalk Empire so far, How I Met Your Mother was meh with potential, liked Lone Star and Hawaii-Five O is SO not my thing (bored by the characters AND plot).
Oh yeah, I didn't think I had a reason to use Tumblr but then I wanted to make a fashion blog with just looks I love. And so here it is. It's highly personal, just my favorite outfits and clothes but hey, if you're interested, feel free to check it out.
I am so creatively inspired right now, most since I got home from Vividcon. MUST VID GLEE. Thank god I have two projects to work on for it. |
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Vividcon 2010 Con Report (Much delayed) |
[Sep. 15th, 2010|06:15 pm] |
This has been started and stopped so many times it's ridiculous. But here it is, my Vividcon 2010 con report:
( Vividcon 2010 Con Report )
In other news, been feeling kind of withdrawy and procrastiny lately but trying to crawl out of that hole. At the moment, I'm totally in love with fashion which nicely coincides with New York Fashion Week. I've been watching The Rachel Zoe Show which is hilariously awesome and I am SO IN LOVE with Brad Goreski. Like, I keep saying I'd marry you (not literally cause he's gay) but like if I could create the looks of my future husband (hypothetically speaking), it'd be him (with a different personality although I do love his). He's just so cute and funny with perfect style. I die. I may now be saying this all the time cause of the show.
The biggest news is I'm moving to LA! I'm moving up the move date til next week which is kind of crazy but sometimes that is how the timing works out. I'm super excited, I really need to get away from this place which is cold after a delightfully warm 90s period (way too few this summer, barely got to the beach) and I'm sick of my parent's house and this city and just everything. I need a new environment, one that I love and that is completely inspiring to me. A bit worried about finding a job but I am determined to apply everywhere as soon as I get there and hopefully it'll all work out. I found a place though right near Hollywood and Highland that I'm really excited about. I really can't wait and I hope to get to visit with some LA people on my Flist.
On the new TV front, I'm FINALLY starting to get excited about this TV season. Started watching the new pilots and I'm surpringly pleased. Hellcats was cute but not my thing, Nikita was awesome in a girls kick ass and I like the two girl main characters way and Terriers was surprisingly lovable and possibly serial. Giving the latter ones a few episodes to see how serial they are which is going to be my main criteria this season besides funniness (for comedies). The shows I'm most looking forward to this season are sadly few but I'm going to check out Boardwalk Empire (should be a good replacement Treme), My Generation (exactly the kind of thing I like), Lonestar (supposed to be good and pure serial, I'm in) and Undercovers and I'm giving Hawaii Five O, Running Wilde, The Event and No Ordinary Family a couple episodes. Catching up on Gossip Girl now (I stopped early S3) and it's surprisingly enjoyable if only for the fashion (and the Lady GaGa appearance, DIE).
Oh yeah, we have two new kittens who are SO CUTE. Pictures to come in future posts. Going to be the worst part about moving. |
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Glee and Sadness |
[Dec. 2nd, 2009|09:51 pm] |
It's been a day full of ups and downs today. First the ups:
( Spoilers for Glee 112 )
In other great Glee news, both Adam Lambert AND Idina Menzel would love to be on Glee!! So hopefully Ryan will be able to get them both on this season or next at the latest. Next week I will be savoring this last pre-hiatus episode sooo much it's not even funny.
On the not so great side, motivation for college is fading very very quickly. It is getting very difficult to fight my screw it, I don't care side. There have been small victories though and hopefully I'll be able to get some stuff done this weekend. Going to LA this Friday to shoot some photos for my final project, do a gallery report AND hang out with some fans so hopefully that'll go well. Another bad thing is my bike got two flat tires AGAIN after getting them replaced a month ago and I don't have the money to get them replaced. The good news though is that I got a job as an assistant here! Also made some money in an economic experiment here so that helps a lot and lets me buy a hard copy of Adam's CD and not just my free Amazon digital one :)
In sad Adam news, ABC canceled his free concert with Jimmy Kimmel. I am so sad and angry as I had a ticket to go to it. Ugh it pisses me off so much. I am so sick of this kind of crap. Add that to finding out the NY Senate voted down the Gay Marriage bill, I'm disgusted and disappointed by the discrimination in this country. I know we'll win the war in the end but goddamn it losing all the time is depressing. On the good side, Dave Valesky whose my representative who previously was on the fence voted yes! Good to know that maybe my communication with him might have had a tiny impact. So I will have to support him in his next campaign as he's up for re-election and they're sure to use it against him.
sdwolfpup being the awesome person she is started a Vidding Love Meme and my thread is here. It is so great to see all the vidder and vid love going on over there! I am already feeling more motivated to work on my festivids vid this weekend :)
On a Fanfic Love note, I just want to thank ALL the writers out there who write fanfic for all of us in fandom. After reading amazing fanfic over at queenbitchfest, it reaffirmed my thankfulness of writers who create so many stories for everyone to enjoy. It reminds me that true romance exists in the world, that there are endless possibilities and so many different imaginary worlds to explore. I am in awe at the talent of the writers we have. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for bringing me and others so much joy, or dare I say it, glee. |
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