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Nothing official here; just come chill! |
Welcome! ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Welcome to my little Den! Here you'll find all sorts of things- mostly blog challenges, but mixed in, you'll notice: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
[Embed For Use By Upgraded+] This is me? ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() I'm taking 2 dance classes this quarter- 1.5 hours each, back to back. First jazz, and then ballet- it's the only two classes I have on Tuesdays and Thursdays and people are all "I envy your schedule" ![]() ![]() There's the upper-division writing, my Taiwan class, and the Syntax class. A total of 16 units this quarter, which is honestly not much at all compared to the 28 I took last spring. ![]() This song also reminds me of Jumpstart from last year- we played this for the kiddos at my recommendation and they enjoyed it. I guess I'm the only one from my team last year who actually listens to this kind of kids' movie soundtrack music. ![]() Going back to the "dance" point, in a way, it's kind of my happy place. Sure, I enjoy writing, and sure, this is a writing site and all, but yeah, you're not burning calories when you sit in front of a computer and typing. Well, I guess you are, kinda, but not as much as if you were in a dance studio dancing it out to the music. This quarter, jazz is my "safe haven" in a sense. I go in, and the rest of the world disappears because I only have to care about what's happening in the studio. I'm kinda nervous, actually, because I have silks tomorrow morning from 10:15-11:30 and class starts at 12:30 at school. that means I'd have about a half hour to get back to school and park my car, because it takes about a half hour to get to campus by bus. ![]() So yeah, song #1 that would be "me". ![]() |
[Embed For Use By Upgraded+] I'm a big music copy-catter, I've noticed. Every time I take a dance class, I end up with some new song on my playlist that I really like from the instructor. This quarter was no different- I found this Australian band, Sheppard, because our instructor has their song, "Geronimo" on his playlist for our across the floor exercises. I added the song onto my Pandora because I really liked it, and Pandora gave me a bunch of other, similar songs- some from Sheppard, and some from other artists. This one, "Coming Home," is probably one of my favorite ones Pandora recommended to me. Firstly, I'm a sucker for a good Australian artist. There aren't enough of them on the charts, in my opinion, and when they do make it, it's always decided that Australia is too far, or the US is too far, and nothing happens with them to gain more popularity. Sure, bigger artists do world tours and hit Australia, but how many Australian artists have ever toured the US? And, I'm not talking about artists who reside in the US, of Australian background, like Keith Urban, but more like, Delta Goodrem. And now, Sheppard. Their songs are fun. That's the best way I can describe it. I watched the video for this song and I was bouncing around and dancing along to the artists as well, in the shower, after having done an ab workout and 3 hours of dance. ![]() Next, I was just on Facebook and apparently American Idol used this song for their commercial! ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
[Embed For Use By Upgraded+] Guilty pleasure day 6- Lauren Alaina. Mom and I have a thing between us where I'm not a huge fan of her 70s and 80s music, and she's not too keen on the newer music that I like. I chose this song because I do like 90s music, actually. Britney Spears, the Spice Girls, Christina Aguilera, and the 90s boy bands.... I do like those. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() I remember that getting into high school, there were days where Mom would be playing her music from YouTube, and I was more technologically adept than in middle school, so I'd ask her to put on some of the music I liked, and she's like "no, I'm trying to share part of my culture with you" ![]() ![]() ![]() This song, though... it's a fun one. I mentioned that I'm not big on country music right now, and that's totally true- I haven't heard this song in a while, but I still enjoy it. I like how she mentions all these 90s songs, and I do recognize most of them. ![]() ![]() |
[Embed For Use By Upgraded+] This came up on my Pandora so I figured I might as well. ![]() ![]() I don't actually remember this scene from the movie- we were in late elementary school when the HSM craze broke out, and early middle school for #2 and 3 I think. I do remember our local theatre group put together a rendition of the movie as a stage musical, and Mom took me and Sis to go watch it. There was a boy in my class who was an epic spinner, but I also don't remember if we found that out in that show or another one we went to watch. ![]() I'm putting this as guilty, since yes, it's another Disney, but also, I did enjoy it when it first came out. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Also, the video for this is pretty fun, dancing-wise. I always liked watching music videos to see what artists did with their songs, and this one's no different. Actually, on the topic of "no different," this song kinda reminds me of my tennis days. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
[Embed For Use By Upgraded+] If you knew you'd get away with it, with no repercussions at all, would you take the chance to exact revenge on all who wronged you? I only ask, because this song... it's not really about revenge, but it's about finding the inner evil in you. I know mine exists for sure- just, I don't usually act on it because I know the consequences and I'd rather not face them. ![]() Although, if given that chance, I really don't know if I would take it. ![]() ![]() So yeah, this is definitely a guilty pleasure- it's another Disney soundtrack. It really shouldn't be that surprising, honestly, but in a way, for me, it is. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Also, this song- the prince of Auradon (the Disney "utopia" of all the princesses, princes, and good characters) turns into one of the "Isle" people (the land opposite from Auradon where the Beast banished all villains and their sidekicks). So, I mean, if even the prince can turn dark for an amount of time, that means everyone can, right? ![]() I actually was rather hesitant about the Descendants franchise at first because it looked dark and somewhat strange, though now that I've watched the first and second movies, I'm eager for the third to come out this summer. ![]() ![]() Annd one more thing I realized as I did this- it's day 4 of guilty pleasures- 4 is considered unlucky in Chinese because its pronunciation rhymes with "death"- while there's no death in Descendants, it's still a dark-ish movie, which fits the dark-ish theme of 4 rhyming with death. ![]() |
[Embed For Use By Upgraded+] I'm calling this a guilty pleasure because I'll be the first to admit, I never really liked Meghan Trainor, ever. I really didn't like "All About that Bass" when it came out, and I'm still not a fan of it. I also didn't like "Like I'm gonna lose you" so that's pretty much 2/2 of her big hits that I was like "yeah, no thanks." ![]() This is probably the one song from her that I do like? Not including the Snoopy and Smurfs songs because those were movie soundtrack songs and not really for her/in an album (I could be wrong about that second part). The song itself has a fun beat and if you want a confidence boost or something, this is definitely the song to put on. The Jazz instructor uses this song for "across the floor" exercises and makes us show our personality with it. ![]() ![]() ![]() To go on a side tangent about Jazz class, I have so much fun in those 1 1/2 hours. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Going back to the song, I also saw the "commercial" the girls from Dance Moms shot with the song as background music, once when I was still kinda into the show. I'm not so much into it anymore, just because eh, Abby Miller, and the girls have left already, so I'm not interested. ![]() Annnd with that, I'll end this entry with a second "Me Too" video, this time from the Fitness Marshall. [Embed For Use By Upgraded+] |
Guilty pleasures day 2- you were probably waiting for me to slip a Hi-5 song in somewhere, and well, I hate to disappoint people, so we've got Hi-5 today! ![]() [Embed For Use By Upgraded+] I chose this one because firstly, I don't actually listen to the band that much anymore- Pandora doesn't have much of their music, and I'm trying to get the most use out of the free year of Pandora I got from T-Mobile. So, this song was the very first Song of the Week for the show, which means, theme song aside, this was the first song. Also, it sums up how I feel about school right now. Or, well, how school is treating me. ![]() ![]() ![]() At this point, I'm torn between wanting school to be over, and wanting a quarter where I can just completely chill and take dance classes for fun. I mean, logically speaking, it's definitely not worth it to pay $1,000+ for tuition and then another $3,000-ish for 3 months' housing for a total of $4K+ just for 4-5 dance classes. And I'm not about to drop the $3K in rent to drive back and forth on Tuesdays and Thursdays to dance at school. ![]() ![]() Another "Ready or Not" thing is that SILKS GOT CANCELLED AGAIN. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Yeah, so the Rec center was NOT ready for that plot twist. ![]() ![]() ![]() |
[Embed For Use By Upgraded+] I woke up with this song in my head, so I figured I might as well use it for Guilty Pleasures Day 1. ![]() I watched the Zombie movie about a month ago when Mom was out at a concert and I was waiting up for her. It wasn't a great movie, I'll admit. The soundtrack was fun- I heard the music before I watched the film and was interested. Plus, James from The Next Step was in it! ![]() ![]() I chose the song... as said, because it was in my head this morning. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() I wouldn't say I completely relate to it anymore- it used to be more like "aww that's cute, maybe I'll find that person too" but now I'm just "eh, love." ![]() ![]() |
[Embed For Use By Upgraded+] This. It's what I was referencing in the previous blog post. If anything, if you don't like country music, mute your speakers and watch the video because it's amazing. ![]() In short, Maddie and Tae address the misogynistic cliches often found in country songs- I would say there are at least 3 direct, unique song references in their song from male-sung (and likely, written) country songs that don't see females in the most promising light. I think it's a great way to address the issue, actually- put it in a song! I feel like more people pay attention to music than they would, say, politics, or news. Music is easy to listen to- you can listen as you drive, walk, read, do homework, or in general, when you're chilling. ![]() ![]() ![]() Also, history itself has a habit of objectifying women. Women were considered property, to be owned- and if they're your property, your belongings, you can do as you wish with them. That doesn't happen as much (at least I'd like to think) these days, but regardless, it's still an issue that needs bringing up, because that idea is also where the gender inequality starts playing (I think ![]() ![]() ![]() I personally don't agree with that, because, I mean, the world needs more diversity in all our professions, like female country singers, or male acrobats. I think we just need some celebrity to come out and prove that "hey, it is cool for males to be doing ballet, look at me!" or "hey, it is cool for females to be boxing champions, look at me!" I mean, for a while, it wasn't even cool for men to have dancing abilities, but now it's pretty normal. Which brings me back to the original point I was making about the song- first, they're female country singers (woot!) and second, they're pointing out what the guys got wrong (double woot! ![]() |
[Embed For Use By Upgraded+] All too fitting, because SILKS starts again tomorrow and I'm SO excited for that! ![]() ![]() I chose the song after going through my Pandora list and trying to find some good ones that I've thumbs-up-ed on the station I've been listening to recently. I got a bit bored of country music- it was pretty much playing the same songs over and over- so I switched over to a new, pop one that I anchored on XO-IQ (Make it Pop). Plus I needed a new headspace in January. New music, new headspace! Maybe it leads to happier me? ![]() ![]() For me, this is probably as far as I'd get from country music.... instead of middle-aged men singing about drinking beers and catching fish (or not getting the girl, which gave me an idea for the next one... ![]() I have something about activities where my feet don't touch the ground. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Anyways, yoga- it's boring, in my opinion. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() As for the song, it's catchy, it's confident, and it's just kooky enough to give you a double take and make you wanna listen again. ![]() ![]() |