People say that here. Often. Instead of ..”Hey, what’s up?”
I don’t really remember what I wanted to write here. It’s late and I should probably sleep, because, as usual, in the morning I never get enough.
Well..yeah..today by the question “How’s it going?”, Michael Smart actually meant “How is the presentation going?” and the answer was “Yeah, fine, I just have to patch some pictures and that’s about it.” – I was asked to give a presentation here…

I am sure this is of absolutely no interest to you, but I thought I should just check in, because I haven’t done it for some time now. I have reached some sort of a plateau..things are happening, but they don’t excite me so much anymore. I cannot wait for this weekend. 2 days of sailing at the Great Barrier Reef..just me and my book and the sun. Hopefully things are gonna settle a bit. It’s just too much information coming from everywhere and it’s exhausting. Sometimes I wish I were…it would be nice if things would just be plain and simple from time to time.

This morning Josh and I woked up and just hung out. Pretty much. We watched the end of Twilight and the special features and then took the babies out to use the bathroom. They are sooo cute! You have to see then. =].

So basically we took Josh’s sister around to go and get some apps at Pizza Hut and Blockbuster. But it didn’t work out too well so we went down Camp Bowie to see if there are any other places that are hiring and we went to this one place called Jakes. She talked with them and showed them a little personality and filled out an application so hopefully they will give her a call. When we went home, we went straight back out. I just picked up my laptop and Josh and I went to the mall and I applied for some jobs. I would really liked to be hired somewhere that valued… scratch that… paid me what I’m worth. That would be nice. Then maybe I wouldn’t get bored with it. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job very mucho grande but I just wish that there was a little bit more I could be getting. I’m sure.

Josh and I are gonna start looking at apartments soon too. Hopefully close to my job. And I hope that its cheap. Itd be super nice. Josh could probably get a job that’s close to the apartment. Or maybe if we move into the apartments that my cousin lives in, Josh will get a job babysitting for my cousin and we’ll both have incomes. Thatd be amazing. We most definitely need the money. I’m gonna be mad if we don’t get them. We most definitely need a place of our own.

Oh gosh. Josh and I had a really good time tonight. =]. If you know what I mean. It’s been a really long time since we’ve done anything like that and let me tell you that it was great! It made me feel… a lot better. I don’t really know how to describe it more than I’m extremely happy that we did it? Lol. I don’t know the proper word for it.

I have to go to sleep soon. I have to work in the morning. But I don’t really want to go to work. But I need the money. Ughh. It’s a never ending cycle of “I don’t”. But oh well.

Oh! Yesterday Josh and I took family pictures! It was so exciting! We took pictures with his family and it was exciting. Except for the fact that I had to friggin find a shirt for it. My favorite damn color is red and I don’t even have anything red to wear! How ridiculous! So I borrowed a sweater but that’s okay. It all turned out great and I was very happy with it. Our picture mostly. =]. So when we get the pictures I’ll definitely post them. =]. They look great. But for now. Here’s one of us. =]

So I’ve been studying… and studying… and studying, and I still feel quite hopelessly unready. I have my final exams in a week, and for the most part I’m okay, but Financial Mathematics is driving me insane. I missed the midterm when I was sick, and didn’t miss anything but an 11% class average. I tried the midterm after getting the questions from my teacher, and i might have even done lower! I study and study, and everytime he puts a question on the board, I see a string of words with derivatives, options, brownian motion, black scholes etc and just get conufsed all over again. It makes me feel a little … helpless? That course is definitely my biggest fear, hopefully it all works out for the best :S

This weekend (which had potentials), I missed an amazing dance workshop, and Sanjay Subramanian in concert. Atleast I got to spend time with my family friends who visited from New York! For the next three weeks my posts are going to be short, boring, and about studies. Quite a bit like this one

P.S: I still have fun don’t worry- tomorrow is our club’s movie night, and on Tuesday I’m going laser tagging for the first time! On Wednesday we have our yearly MG potluck- me and 5 of my closest girls. I also have a string of secret santa get together’s this week! Hopefully the fun times make up for the rest of my life, which I will most likely spend in the math building

Amazing stories are being told in many buildings across every town and city across the world on stages big and small this week. I’ll call it the local church, it’s my source of great stories and they really are great stories, but really, it’s just your life, adapt as necessary.

I’ve heard so many great stories since Lyn told me to go to church 7 years ago. Really inspiring stories, that leave you in a sense of wonder and awe. About people who have had a dream or a vision, about their journey to overcome so much to accomplish even more.

Then I hear other people tell me their stories about hearing great stories. Often you’ll even hear the storytellers tell stories about storytellers who told stories to the storytellers at a storyteller’s conference.

And all of a sudden you realise … this is just a film festival … where all the best stories are told, then some more come in, and after many frozen Cokes and boxes of proverbial popcorn you find yourself still sitting in the cinema of life watching all these great stories yet your bum is slowly grooving itself into the seat like a crazy cat.

The film festival has its merits. The films are good, entertaining and very well made, usually inspired by actual events that were great in their own right. It’s also really good to get them in the one place; it’s rather convenient and doesn’t put you out too much.

It’s also nice to see the films with those you love and care for, friends, family, neighbours. You can talk about the films afterward in the café, even hold a little movie review club where you talk about all the good films and what they mean to you, you’d meet in someone’s house and have cake.

But somewhere along the way we strolled down the path of least resistance. Paying our way through the film festival, laughing at the right moments and then quoting the all right parts when with our friends so we can all laugh and cry together. It’s best that way.

After all … who would consider actually living a life worth telling a story about. That’s crazy talk, especially when you’re fully engaged in the film festival and the cinema tickets are going cheap.

It’s more than probable that no one else would be really supportive of the idea … after all they have really good movies for us to watch, with really entertaining stories. Maybe there’s no more room for good stories anymore?

I started out hoping to encourage you, or I, one of us at least, to go out and live a life of great risk, high adventure, great cost and extreme danger. A life that they would write about in the weekend newspaper magazine. The kind of life that a filmmaker might pick up one day and make a film about. But maybe that’s too much to hope for, considering there’s another film starting soon …

No that’s not me but it’s how I’m feeling after the last couple days.  meh.  It’s Saturday night 9:06pm and I am going to the gym.  woot fucking woot.  I forced myself to socialize last night for a couple hours with some friends.  Again, woot fucking woot.  Then another friend stopped by and we watched some stupid movie.  Wait for it… Woot woot.  The bright spot was seeing my friend mini cooper today   I <3 her.  I will dedicate an entire blog to that conversation later. So back to me because it really is all about me.  What’s my point?  My fucking point is it’s a Saturday night at 9:09pm, took me 3 min to type this much, and the most exciting thing I’ve got going on is a trip to the gym.  Notify the papers, call the police, launch the blimp it’s sooooo exciting.  Sarcasm is my friend.  I don’t know where my head is.  I lost the receipts to my new laptop and office so I can’t get the rebates. I left my 1/2 & 1/2 and hazelnut creamer out this morning so I had to throw it away when I came home.  I took a running leap onto my bed and heard something break.  I quickly jumped up and ran out of the room, I’m hoping whatever broke will fix itself before I crawl into bed tonight.  I tried to wax my brows tonight and ended up taking off half my left brow.  Obviously my head is either: 1) up my ass 2) the blonde dye has finally reached my brain and caused perm damage or 3) My mind is not a safe place right now.

Why a man and woman? Why the man first? Why is the woman pretty, and the man looks like a pedophile?

Don’t read into it too much, but these were indeed inspired by the Rorschach test images.

Just another filler post.

So I’ve spent most of my Thanksgiving holiday moving my wordpress.com blog over to a new server (well, in addition to having dinner with the parents) in the meantime my more ambitious new website is finished some time in the future.  I’ve got the basics all up but it’s been a learning process.  I’m SO not a techie person; I’d rather spend my time producing copy and content rather than spending hours figuring out how to set up the HTML code, installing widgets, unzipping files,  … BORING! LOL.  Anyway, hopefully all my work will pay off in the end.  My new blog site is not finished for sure: I’m not happy with the template and layout of it and I’ve still got to install a bunch of things on it.  Anyway, if you’d like to take a peak, please click here.

So, the first show I hit up is a little acoustic gig.  Nice and intimate.  Just what I need after a hard week at work. Quickly, I grasp the barkeep by the lapels and demand beer.
“And keep them coming,” I grunt, tossing him aside.  He obliges.  I see terror in his eyes as a trickle of urine runs down his leg.

The first artist is a solo musician.  Usually I can be bothered to muster up a kind word or two about his type, but I’m well into my third beer and haven’t eaten all day and the only thing that comes to mind is how boring he is.  Afterwards, he proceeds to rant about the fucking G20 Summit for 2 or 3 minutes over a fingerpicked chord.  There is literally a point when I begin to  ask myself if this the actual song.  Thanks for the civics lesson, fucker, but I’ve already seen Zeitgeist.

The next band comes up and proceeds to do their thing.  The first song is nice, if a little derivative of Low.  I think to myself that it might not be such a bad performance.  Sadly this was not to be.  I stayed through maybe 2 or 3 more songs before thinking, “there is not enough beer in this world to make this enjoyable”.  With that I walk out of the Parade of the Saddest Bastards in the hopes that there will be something more enjoyable going on.

I head down the street before finding my nose assailed by a cloud of patchouli and pot smoke, universally known as Ol’ Hippiestank.  I notice where it’s coming from and enter, hoping I can pack my buzz with a contact high.  And what do I find but even more acoustic whinging!  Fabulous.  However, I am determined, so I stay.  At least until Whitey McCrackerstein pulls out an African thumb piano and starts jamming on it.  Now, I’m all for multiculturalism, but nothing good can come of White Dudes Playing Thumb Pianos.  And soon enough, I’m proven right when the hippies break out into jam mode and begin dancing around.  Luckily, I’m close enough to the door that I can make my escape without being pulled into their orgy of greasy dreadlocks.

Next, I hit up my old standbys downtown in search of music.  Standby 1 DOES have a band playing, but because it’s almost 11, the band has to get off the stage soon.  Standby 2 has no band, but I go inside and have a drink anyway to refuel before hitting up standby 3 who has a band playing, but are unfortunately completely inoffensive.  They play well enough though, and in comparison to the rest of the offal I had to endure, it’s a small comfort.  I take off my coat, sit down, and proceed to drink myself into a stupor.

-Aaron

On a boring saturday, in my messy room.

This year is so much better, perhaps because my head is clearer, last year was tough after losing my father to the CANCER!! I didn’t realise this was affecting me at the time but whenI look back and compare myself now to how I was then, I was  actually going crazy and telling everyone I was hunky dori, I couldn’t have been further away!!! I was indulging excessively, not getting enough sleep, working every single night and going out afterwards where possible, I just wanted to block out reality anything to escape the truth!!

I’m so glad I did what I did as it really has set a standard for me this year, I’ve got most of it out of my system and believe I have potential to do better, if I passed everything last year whist in another world then imagine what I could do this time around!! I only work for money once/twice a week and only at the weekends, I don’t go out alot too and to be honest I’m really enjoying feeling good, being able to get up and having more focus, self belief and hope.

I have however found that even more of my time is taken up, with work, I’ve been trying my best to get a blog going hence this!!! Maybe I’m getting an idea!! I’m constantly trying to think of stuff to write about, I often think of things but frequently don’t make  a note sooooo now I’m taking notes when I have an idea…only problem is, my notes have been on random bits of notepad or whatever is around and has a writable surface!!! So a little notebook is what I need to get, I really don’t help myself do I????!!! Blogs such as problogger have helped me, I’m starting to really undertsand the tips.

Believe it or not I have spent quite alot of time being consumed by this blog, it’s time consuming and when you’re on the internet you just don’t realise how fast time slips by you!!! Perhaps I should not be focusing so much effort on this but it is part of my portfolio. My tutor seemed to imply it wasn’t such a priority, to me it is though.

My blog from last year was so pants and embarrassing I really want to succeed, I truly think it’s important and can be a real door of opportunity if used in the correct way. At this moment in time I’m still trying to get a feel for it, develop my own style of writing and ease that door to my mind open!! Having worked for reTWEAK records I have realised that you really can be yourself, before I have not been myself as I have been concerned about how I soundetc. I sound boring so its time to be me, anyone can be academic but if you have personality that’s more than a brucey bonus!!! I suppose it does depend on where and what you’re writing, like for reTWEAK, we want to remain chilled, give a take it or leave sense, there’s no pressure and I think thats great and it suits the industry as that is how people are, we’re not in finance….thankfully!!!

I have missed a couple of lectures…not cool?? or cool?!! Not cool I suppose but to be honest I find reading the best way to get anything, I just zone out in lectures and find them a waste of time unless it’s financial accountancy, the most uninteresting and hardest module this term!!! Most things are on xstream and examples can always be found through books and online info. Tutorials are the best, you’re part of a smaller group especially when people don’t turn up, you can get more attention, focus and general deliverance in that you can learn more to present in your work.

Oh balls I lost about 20 odd pages of research for my PPE assignment, I saved it all to a disc but the disc is bare now, dammit my mum had told me to save work on two discs but did I listen….ur no, as usual I’ve learnt the hard way!! I save my work as an email attachment, god forbid I forget my passwords, anything is possible in my dizzy world!!! Oh well look like I have to go over everything again, can’t be a bad thing and I know exectly where to look.

I’ve been dreading financial accountancy this year, ah I just don’t like it and I’m not to great at it another good reason to not like it, I am reading a delightful book for non accountants to help me through, I begrudge having to do this!!! Bore off FA thankyou!!!

This years presenting has been easier, I put effort in last year but this year I seem to be doing better, I feel more at ease partly because I am getting used to being in front of people and partly because my new tactic for taking in information is at work!!! I used to take endless amounts of notes thinking I would take things in but actually just reading a chapter two or three times is by far more effective, please don’t say I told you so!!! I’ve been too set in my own weird ways, change is on its way, yes CHANGE!!!I accept it now!!! Finally!!

I’ve found group work lots more enjoyable this year although I have concerns for my FA presentation as my goupr are very vague and not great with connuicating and meeting with me, I’ve remained chilled about it though, last year I went off the rails as I find it really irritating that people say one thing and do the complete opposite, guilty occasionally mysef…yes call me a hypercrit, the words there to be used dammit!!! No excuse!! Anyway we all have to work with people at some point that we may not gel with so well, it’ testing but I think it’s a skill, you shouldn’t let these things get to you, just do your best and ….PRAY, PRAY ALOT EVERY SECOND OF THE DAY!!! Only Joking hobviously!!

I’ve not been reading newspapers enough, I have heard the news alot and have taken to listening to radio 4 sometimes, ha ha as if, i tune in tothat, I swore I would never when I was younger!! Oops….hypercrit!! It’s great you can learn alot from it, you’ll be surprised, now I have more to bring to a debate, solid facts from suppposedly relaible sources. Also hearing an organisations Directors or other positions speak is interesting in comparison to what is said in the news, still what is the truth and what’s not, that we will never know unless we’re the ones behind it all!!!

I do photography with Soonnight.com, it’s great, everyone is your best friend when you’ve got a camera so it’s a fabulous tool to network with!!! It can be annoying too though, there’s always one that stalks you down and wants to be infront of the camera constantly grabbing any old person for a quick snap!! ha ha bless them!! and the there are the not so attractive people, you have to keep going and not one picture will be appealing as they just aren’t photogenic!! Nightmare, always blame your…not yourself, the shocking camera!! obviously!!!

Oh and just got photoshop, what a grrrreat program, although I am teaching myself, it’s fun though and useful for PR.

Right well thats enough blurp I’m busting this joint to seek a nice glass of red wine, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Dupa cum toata lumea stie, bugetarii au avut luna asta 4 zile libere. Stiti voi… criza, politica, solutii idioate si multe altele, cu toate adunate, au facut ca noi sa luam vacanta. Mica, mica vacanta asta dar am facut lucruri “mari” in primele zile… Ce? Pai:

1. Am fost sa-mi fac analizele la sange… mi-a luat nenea doctoru’ 4 eprubete de sange… mai, mai sa lesin acolo cand am vazut cat imi ia )

2. M-am tuns… da… NU MAI AM PARUL LUNG… nu m-am tuns scurt… am fost doar sa-mi mai ia din el, si m-am trezit ca am ramas cu 1/4 din lingime. Poate inca visez… sper ( Poate pana maine creste iar… poate… ah… mi-e si frica sa ma mai uit in oglinda :| Nu ma mai tund nici de-al naibii pana la vara.

Culmea… maine mai am si excursia la targul de carte si teatru. O sa ma vada o groaza de lume cu parul asta ( Mi-e ca ma rasgandesc acum si nu mai merg… in fine… aiurea. Nu conteaza… o sa merg… sper ca o sa ma simt bine (si nu se va distra nimeni pe seama mea si a parului meu… Edy, vezi cum le dai idei!).

In rest? Plictiseala…

Si acum s-o fac pe Adelina fericita:

I’m bored and this is what keeps me entertained.
Galenskaparna & After Shave’s parody of ‘Linus på Linjen’ (‘La Linea’)

   Today was one of those days that just happened. You know the type of day I mean, when nothing really happened !! Everything went without a hitch. I got all the jobs done that I had to do, with time to spare, and even had chance to write up by ‘to-do’ list for tomorrow. Boring and much the same tomorrow.

   I got the posters printed and laminated. S**** was supposed to be dropping the disc, with the tickets on, up at the directors house. Either he was going to drop them off, or Mrs H was going to do it. However, neither of them realised the disc was there (on top of his wallet), so it will have to be tomorrow now. Fingers crossed, that I get the programme details soon, but I can see them turning up at 11:00pm on Sunday evening. They will need them as soon as possible though, as the first performance is Wednesday, so I’ll not have much time. It should be okay, if I can find a template for a single fold, double sided A4 booklet !!

Sometimes it can be possible to change a boring photo into a more interesting one… I fooled a bit around with this photo… just for fun… and this is what came out. I kinda like it… what do you think of it?

Paramore – Brick By Boring Brick

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website.
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Good songs usually present a balance of unique ideas with tried and true techniques. Usually, you’ll want that balanced in favour of the predictability that tried and true offers. A song that is too unique will often leave listeners confused, and boredom quickly sets in. However, the opposite situation of too much predictability also causes boredom. What’s a songwriter to do?

Getting a song out to the listener actually requires two important steps. Step one relates to song structure: you need to write a song that is architecturally strong. Step two relates to song presentation: the way you perform the song can often have as much or more impact on the listener’s reaction as the solidness of the songwriting technique.

Good songs exhibit a rather nebulous quality called momentum. That attribute refers to song energy. Energy keeps listeners interested because when energy slowly builds, it causes the listener to stay with it in much the same way that a good drama keeps people watching by building to a dramatic climax. Good lyrics have a way of forcing the audience to keep listening for “what happens next”. Good chords present tension and resolution at all the right moments in a manner that keeps listeners hooked. Good melodic development, hand-in-hand with instrumentation, usually provides a contour that works with lyric and harmony to entice the listener forward.

Boredom sets in when one of those elements is neglected. Why songs fail can be a complicated issue of one element simply not working well with another. There are things you can do to ensure that your song keeps listeners hooked. Here are some of the regular suspects that keep listeners from connecting positively with your song. Some of the factors relate to song structure, while others relate to the final presentation:

1. Chord Progression with Too Many Chords. A chord progression takes the listener on a journey, and too many chords is like trying to see too many landmarks on that journey. Your brain just can’t process it all. If you find that you’re using 16, 17 or more chords in your song, try to scale back.
2. Chord Progressions that Don’t Offer Resolution. A chord progression is a bit like breathing in the sense that a breath inward causes a “tension” that is resolved with a breath outward. Success is when there is a balance of tension (breathing inward) and release (breathing outward). Good chord progressions offer the sonic version of the same thing. Chord progressions will have moments of tension (dominant chords, suspensions, etc.) and then release (tonic chords or other harmonic resolutions). Check your chord progressions to be sure that moments of creative license are balanced with a good dose of predictable resolution.
3. Instrumentations That are Boring. If your song structure is strong, but you then present the song with a mindless strumming guitar from beginning to end, you could be short-changing your song’s effectiveness. Look for ways to involve other instruments. It’s amazing what simply adding a few french horn notes, a flute solo, or using a different chording instrument can do to the success of your song.
4. Melodies That are Too Flat. Some songs, if the lyric is making an important social or political comment, will do nicely with a flat melody. But if your melody is boring you, it will likely bore the listener as well. Find ways to incorporate leaps into the melodic structure, and do it at moments that support emotion-laden words in your text.
5. Songs That are Too Slow or Too Fast. Experiment with the tempo of your song. You’ll see that tempo has a major impact in the overall effect of your song’s presentation. If it feels that the energy of the song never rises enough to support the lyric, try a faster tempo. If the whole thing sounds energetic but frantic, slow it down just a touch.
6. Songs That are in the Wrong Key. Most singers like to place a song somewhat comfortably within the outer boundaries of their vocal range. But if a lyric is intense, you may be missing an opportunity to support that lyric with the proper intensity in the voice. (Peter Gabriel singing the end of “Supper’s Ready” on their Foxtrot album is a perfect example of how a high tessitura can add to the effectiveness of the voice.

So once you’ve written your song, your job is just beginning. Now you need to ensure that the listener gets the full impact of what you’re tying to communicate to the world.
________________

Gary Ewer’s songwriting e-books are designed to help unleash the songwriter within you. If you’re struggling, trying to get your songs working, you’re wasting time. These songwriting e-books will get you going in the right direction: CLICK HERE.

I am a freak. For the reason that late at night, when I can’t sleep, I listen to music and make up dance moves as I’m laying down.

I’ve been trying to read all of the Harry Potter books — except for book numbers one and three, due to the fact that I cannot find them. I’m trying to figure out why so many people are obsessed with these books. Personally, I have never been a huge fan of the whole franchise; then again, I’ve only seen a few of the movies.
Many people are comparing the Harry Potter series to the Twilight series. Of course, being a teenage girl, the Twilight series has had more of an impact on me. However, I’ve always been a tad bit interested in Harry Potter. The truth is, whenever I try to read the books, I can’t even get through the second book because it is just so boring. Case in point, I read it all day yesterday and am only on page 122. Last week, I read all of New Moon (Twilight book number 2) in a few hours. That book is 547 pages — of pure bliss, might I add.

Maybe it’s just the contents of the novels? Maybe I just need to keep reading for the good stuff to come. Either way, this mission will be a hard one for me. Snoozemania.

Well, it was a long, boring day. I watched TV. I ate food. I did a bunch of nothing.
Boring Boring Boring!!!
Tomorrow is jam packed enough I guess.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!

ad omnis par
Toni ⊕

I really like this QuickPress blog feature, as it makes it real neat to quick throw a blog say, right in between two boring conferences (where you can write about how boring the past conference was!), and under the Tags, you need to place commas instead of enter.

I think this sums up as to how I can be defined at the moment. My life isn’t close to anything remotely interesting, so I think that explains why I’m lagging on the updates, here. Like I had mentioned before, I’m saving up to buy a digital SLR camera (still debating Canon v. Nikon), and I hope after that I’ll go picture shots crazy. =D

But since that won’t be happening for a while, the life nor the camera, I’m going to dedicate to filling up my page with (mainly) fashion/beauty posts of things that appeal to me… maybe don’t appeal to me… I know I’ll be throwing music in there a bit, and all else may make an appearance once in a blue moon.

Busy marking and so no time to even attempt to be remotely interesting, either in my post or in my outfit.

Thank god for these tights– without them, this outfit would be boring beyond redemption. Wait– I think it’s too late…

Cami: Smart Set
Wrap Sweater: H&M
Skirt: Jacob
Tights: Mura
Shoes: 9 West
Earrings: gift from LHR

Post title for you, CYSN.