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 |  Nothing official here; just come chill! |
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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:  I'm a bit of a fangirl  My life is very busy I enjoy using emoticons  I don't tend to swear, but stuff happens. |
| [Embed For Use By Upgraded+] When I was younger, in middle/high school, I was pretty big on following people and trends. It was a thing... I knew I was different, in the sense that I definitely didn't fit in, and I mean, I was smart, but not extremely smart to where it was "cool", but enough to where I definitely stuck out. I didn't care too much about it, but at the same time, it wasn't like I cared about being in the popular crowd, because they weren't smart.  I liked being smart, in a way, because unlike popularity, it was something I could control- and use in life. Even when I first joined WdC, I definitely wasn't myself- I acted super scholarly, just to disguise my age. Naturally, I'm okay with it now, 5+ years later, but at the same time, 5+ years ago, the internet probably wasn't as safe back then? Plus, I think when you enter a new space, it's a good idea to sit back and observe what's going on before you completely immerse yourself into it. Now that I have, though, and I've determined what it's like here, I can be myself. And that's kinda what this song is about. I also chose this version of it because the performance is super cool. I loved the choreography in the performance. The chairs were awesome, and I love the ripple effect they use throughout the choreography. To be honest, I'm not sure how to interpret the performance, but I do like the use of the chair props. And that reminds me, I need to get back to writing my reflection on the dance show so I can turn it in next week or the week after.  |
| [Embed For Use By Upgraded+] Another Sheppard song, because they're good.  Ummm I really liked the music video for this song. They're in the clouds and jumping around from cloud to cloud. Granted, I'm aware that it's highly unlikely that it would actually work that way. If you jumped onto a cloud, I think you'd probably fall through it.  Assuming the world in this video was accurate, though, that is totally something I would do. I'm pretty sure I mentioned that I have a thing for activities where my feet aren't touching the ground- climbing, dancing, flying (silks), trampolines....  There's something about the feeling of being in the air that I really like . Possibly, it's because I'm a dragon and dragons fly, but I think I like the feeling of weightlessness you get from being in the air. That moment when you're aware your body is just levitating in the air and nothing is holding it up, before gravity pulls it back down to the ground. I remember the other day, we were doing a jump of sorts and somehow I managed to get really high, because I felt myself at the top of that moment where I wasn't touching anything for a second, and was all "whoa" Granted this is kinda more of a love song than anything and I'm not one for love songs, but I like this one because of how it's presented, I guess. Also, lots of love songs are all "let's go to bed together because I love you" but this one is more like, "I love the time we spend together and I want to spend more time with you doing things," and that's a message I like. Plus, their lyrics for this song, is more like the "storm" aspect of "the calm before the storm"- which is definitely something I can relate to with everything that's been happening in life recently. I think I'm more of a storm at this point as well, with my fury frustration at not getting the job I wanted. They said they'd keep my file there and definitely let me know if anything opened up in or after April, but I'm honestly not holding my breath for it. |
| [Embed For Use By Upgraded+] I like this song- it's day 3 of who I am.... Yeah, this is pretty me. You want to impress me? Work hard, be smart. Actually, you don't even have to be smart. You just have to work hard. I find it annoying in dance class when there's students who hardly make an effort. There's some people who are on their phones in class. I mean, seriously, we're moving around and doing exercises and you're standing there, texting someone on your phone?  If you want to be on your phone, go somewhere else. Go to a normal class where everyone's on their devices and you'll fit right in. The syllabus specifically says that phones aren't allowed, and if you're on your phone all the time, I mean, really, no wonder that you're not getting the steps. You're not watching everyone else and trying to figure out how to do things correctly. I think this song is great at showing who I am because, contrary to my previous post, I do enjoy learning. I just don't like how learning gets in the way of me doing what I want and/or need to do. Granted I don't need to be a yard supervisor, but it's a step in the right direction of me being in the district. I'd be employed by the district and it'd give me a foot in the door for being a substitute teacher in the district, which would let me (potentially) be a kindergarten teacher there. Mom is actually still asking me when I plan to move over to Australia to teach, and honestly, I'm not sure. Granted, I don't necessarily want to stay here in the US, but I'm also not sure I want to be in Australia at this point.  It's too close to everyone, I guess, and seeing that I don't think people know about my aunt and how serious her condition was, it'd be hard to be so close to the org. At the same time, I'm not keen on staying in this area, just because... eh. I love the area of the district, but I'm also not sure I'd want to stay there- life is a little slowly paced there, in a way. I do love teaching in Chinese School, and I think it'd be fun to teach kindergarten here, but I'm thinking still, after the experience I had at the Baby and Toddler Show all those years ago with Hi-5, I'd like to work with their production team, in terms of how kids learn, and perhaps be a consultant on the show of sorts, and help them figure out what's best for kids to learn from the screen. Alternatively, I'd also love to work at the Hi--5 House of Learning, but those are in Southeast Asia and that's also not somewhere I'd totally like to live. |
| [Embed For Use By Upgraded+] I guess right now my feelings are kinda the opposite of "Longer"... I want everything to be shorter, to be over. I'm done sitting in classes for school because I don't want to be in class anymore. I just want to be done. I got rejected from the yard supervisor position today because I'm still in school and they needed someone right away, and it kinda stings, honestly.  I mean, I would've been perfect for the job. I went to the school where they need the yard supervisor, firstly, and secondly, I know all of the other yard supervisors already. A couple of them are Mom's friends because Sis was friends with their kids. The rest of them, I met while working in the kindergarten classroom. I'm legit a familiar face at the school, and I'm friendly with everyone. I know the kids. Some of the first graders there recognize me from when I helped out in their kindergarten classroom last year and would run up and hug me on the playground during their recess or lunch. On a daily basis.  We're in Week 8 with school, and a quarter is 10 weeks long. I technically have 2 more weeks of school and a week of finals, so 3 total weeks, but yeah, I don't want to go through all that time. Also, I still have that thesis I need to write, which is giving me all sorts of anxiety-like, "nope I don't want to do it" feelings. My thesis advisor is supposed to be a really good person for feedback and such, but what she gave me wasn't that specific so I don't know what she wants out of me and what I'm writing. I'm just so done with school in general that I don't want to do anything. Maybe this is what senioritis feels like, though it could very well also be burnout. Regardless, it's not a fun feeling and I do wish it'd go away.In a sense, I guess this "longer" is also... I wish the school could hold out a little longer. I mean, they've gone without a yard supervisor for what, 5 months, now? What's another month or two in comparison? Mom keeps saying that her friends complain about how the school doesn't want to hire another yard supervisor, even though they definitely need one. And honestly, I mean, they've had this issue since at least last year, so really, a year and 5 months, and you can't wait a month or so? What's up with that? Seriously. |
| [Embed For Use By Upgraded+] This is me? I do feel better when I'm dancing.  If you didn't know that about me by now.... Now you do? I love dance, I love music, and I love art. 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" Actually, no, they shouldn't, because I still have other classes aside from those 4 units of dance- that's what they don't know. 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. Knocking on wood, I should be doing much better this quarter, grade-wise. I got high grades on my two midterms in the Taiwan class, and the professor really likes my group in the upper-division writing class. Syntax, I'm struggling a little, but I'm doing well enough that I think I'll be okay. 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. Regardless, though, I also like it because it's from Peanuts, and really, how can you not like Snoopy?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!  Deservedly so for Sheppard, honestly. I feel like this song is just bursts and bursts of energy. The chorus just builds up, explodes, and then the beat drops and you just lose it.  That's what I do, at least, and that's also why it's a guilty pleasure. Not to mention, I'm one of those people who, if I like one song from an artist, chances are I just like the artist, and not just that one song. You'll find out in the next few soundtracker entries. |
| [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. Back in late elementary and early middle school, Mom would pull up playlists of songs she liked, and Sis and I would consider it a treat of sorts, that we'd get to have pop music in the house. Fast forward to 7th and 8th grade, and I'm starting to find my own music and also download it all illegally. I don't remember what the site was called, but there was this website, I believe it was almost a palindrome, and it had pretty much all the music I liked and I ended up downloading from there. Annnd upon further brain-wracking, it was called dilandau. Upon Googling, the site still exists. Free mp3 downloads, essentially. One of our aunts had given me and sis each a tiny Mp3 player  and then I'd download the music I liked and put it onto there. 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" Even now she admits that's a bogus excuse. I wanted to share my likes and my "culture" with her, too! 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. As said, I do like Britney Spears, the Spice Girls, etc. Their music is fun, I guess, and it's not as extreme as today's stuff, in terms of how they dressed and such. |
| [Embed For Use By Upgraded+] This came up on my Pandora so I figured I might as well. Yes, it's another Disney, and at this point, the last two guilty pleasures will likely be Disney as well, so brace yourselves. 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. I don't know if I would watch it again- maybe if I was mega-bored one day and it was on Netflix or something, then I would? Otherwise though, probably not.  Alternatively, I'd re-watch it just to refresh my memory as to what it was about. I remember Gabriella, Troy, Sharpay, and Ryan, but that's about it. And Chad, Corbin Bleu's character. I think these Disney Channel movies typically follow a formula- the plot is essentially an "us vs. them" type of conflict, or "who am I?" and then a happy ending. If the movies are a series, then yeah, movie one is "us vs. them," in the second movie, the main character starts debating if they should really follow their heart, and in the third movie, everything is resolved. 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. I used to choreograph little dances in my head while on the court.  Mom sent me and sis to afterschool tennis, and 3-4 years afterwards, when I quit tennis, she told me, that the coach had told her, there was no way I'd make it in competitive tennis. I was always there for "social tennis". Honestly? I don't blame him for saying that, because considering I no longer play tennis, I think he was pretty correct. Not to mention, I always imagined I was dancing instead of playing tennis. Yeah, I don't think I was even there for social tennis. Maybe my physical body was there, socializing, but mentally, my mind was in a dance studio. |
| [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. It is very tempting, yes, but at the same time, there's still that part of your conscience telling you it's probably not a very good idea. 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. I didn't exactly imagine myself as a Disney person- I mean, yes, I enjoy Disney movies and such, but I'm definitely not one of those Disney fanatics who will have everything Disney and know every trivia about every movie they made, ever. Also, I may just be a fan of the live-action movies, as opposed to their animations. Sure, the princesses are cute and all, but eh, I'm not a huge fan. I much prefer talking animals like Winnie the Pooh. 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. I actually just re-watched #2, and I also re-watched #1 a couple weeks prior.  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. I don't usually do the personality part of it because I really don't know what type of personality/attitude I have that can be shown off and be "sassy". It's easier to embody this attitude over a screen than through movement.  To go on a side tangent about Jazz class, I have so much fun in those 1 1/2 hours. Despite my lack of personality/sass/attitude, apparently, I'm experienced enough to be considered "advanced" in this class. Though, I mean, I'd say at least half of our class is made of international students from China who barely give an effort to do what we do in the class. If we're jumping, they'll lower and raise their body, but that's about it. Their feet don't actually leave the ground, and if we're turning, they don't bother to actually turn, just kinda step around, to where our instructor's like "okay, you don't have to turn, just do these three steps" and they can barely manage that. Once they get to the other side of the studio, they simply recongregate and begin jabbering in Chinese. Little do they know, I understand about 95% of what they say.  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. Anyways, it was a fun video, which also made me like the song more. 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+] |
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I wish you all the best, my friend. May all your dreams come true. 
