kayleyhyde

Booktuber Channel?

2012-02-19T08:25:00.000-08:00

Since discovering the booktuber community, I have sort of become obsessed with watching book hauls, reviews and various book-related discussion videos. I discovered them around the same time as I received my Kindle and they have just been a massive inspiration to start reading again after a bit of a book-related drought last year. As a further motivator to start reading, I have decided to add booktuber to my YouTube resume and dive into the style that I've been admiring from afar. But I need your guys' help with how you think I should do this.

The thing about wanting to fit into a certain community on YouTube is that it won't always make sense to people outside of that area. I started an entire beauty channel because the format of those videos is just so specific, that it would be been awkward for people unfamiliar who are just tuning into a random video on my channel. Also, you know, I didn't want to alienate the small male audience of my videos (though a few of you boys have commented on my kayleyscloset videos, which is great! I'm happy I can be entertaining when talking about things that don't necessary pertain to your gender!) So. Anyway. The point is that if I was going to do book related videos, I'd like to take on a specific format that is seen in booktuber videos. It's a bit like a book club. Basically, it'd be book hauls (where I should what books I've bought, give a summary and show you guys what I'll be reading), reviews (more in-depth, but spoiler-free) and then sort of book-related discussion. For instance, ChapterChicks have 'Novel Notions,' theReadables has 'Let's Talk' and CassJayTuck has 'Random Thought,' just to name a few. I'd like to develop my own style within that sort of format. But that doesn't really have a place on my owlssayhooot channel.

Essentially, what I'm asking, is whether or not you guys would hate me for starting ANOTHER channel? I know it's annoying when YouTubers have liked six channels for their iPhone and blahblah. But I sort of like to think that all of my channels have their own purpose (except for kayleyhyde, which, um, is in hibernation at the moment.) I like being able to organise myself in that way. I'm sort of an organisational freak, so it's sort of like having folders of different videos, you know? Also, I'm sure I'll get "she probably just wants to make more money etc" comments, which, I just want to confirm, is far from the truth. By starting a new channel, I'm actually doing the opposite. I could just start doing these videos on my main channel, where I already have 40,000+ subscribers, but I just don't think it'd be fair to people who aren't really into that sort of thing and don't understand the format. So. Yeah. It's never been about money and never will be with me. I just really like talking about a wide variety of things and sometimes it just doesn't all fit in the same channel. I just really like things, you guys. And I like sharing them with people and if I can inspire other people who may be in a reading slump to read in the way booktubers have inspired me to start picking up more books, I would be ecstatic.

SO YES. I have rambled a bit, I am sorry. I intend to mention this blog post in a video where I discuss this topic in an abridged fashion (or, if I get loads of positive feedback, I'll just go ahead and start the channel without asking in a video, who knows). Let me know your thoughts. I am posting this on my blogspot blog, which has still not resolved the whole can't-respond-to-comments thing, so if you really have any questions, you can ask on my tumblr. By the way, this blog post sounds like I take myself seriously. But really, I just want to constantly insist to people who enjoy my content, that I really don't take anything obnoxiously seriously. Except the temperature of my hot beverages. Once they are cold, they're in that microwave within seconds. I ain't messing around.

Okay, right. I'm going to go now and READ, ha, see what I did there? You guys let me know if you'd like a channel for books and if not, why? Also, if the agreement is 'no,' than I'll probably try to work in short snippets of reviews, like I have in the past. It'd just be a very condensed format.

Hope you're all having fantastic weekends and I'll talk to you soon. Thanks for reading x

Train journeys this year: 6.

Flights this year: 1.

Videos posted this year: 12.

I think I'll post edits to things I want to respond to in the comments...

Edit: For the person worried about my not being regular with content. You have such little faith! :P I have uploaded consistent content for years and I've never really had a problem with that unless I just haven't had a video idea. No need to worry. I am busy, but videos are a thing I plan, just like I put time aside to hang out with friends or write an essay. I'd like to have one video for each of my three channels (owlssayhooot, kayleyscloset and this one) per week. Unless I haven't got something specific for one, of course. I never force content out of myself.

Also, to the person who is worried about it getting less attention, that really isn't a problem. If people don't want to watch, they don't have to. I'm not worried about it being less popular than my normal content. I just want to give the books justice and discuss books more thoroughly and in the format of my choice, which just doesn't fit on my main channel. I may not have a style on my main channel, but trying to squeeze in a specific format out of nowhere would be awkward, haha. It is totally selfish, but I want to be able to utilize the whole booktuber format because I think it would be fun. People on my main channel don't want to watch book hauls and an entire video on one book. The thing about having a channel with loads of subscribers is that you DO, to a certain extent, have to take into account that not everyone watches every video. I don't want people turned off from my channel that I have had for years because they start seeing this new, random format of videos that they aren't used to. Plus, as I stated before, it's just FUN to have different channels where I can organise things differently :)

In addition, I am considering using the playlist function on YouTube so that I can have a playlist of my kayleyscloset and book channel videos on owlssayhooot. So even if you don't want to subscribe, you could just go to my channel from time to time to see what's up and have them all collected there, if that makes sense! x

Man, I'm starting to feel like I'm repeating myself...Sorry if I am. Also this blog post is super weird. IT'S LIKE A LIVE STREAM BLOG POST. Anyway, like I said, I'm not decided. There are ways to incorporate it into my main channel, but it'd just be less fun and I'm selfish like that. I'll probably decide in the next week or so. We shall see. Thanks again for your input :) x

Fun Book Survey

2012-02-14T15:56:00.000-08:00

Here's a super long survey that a girl I follow on tumblr named Lynsey posted that I had some time doing. Let me know what you're reading right now! :) x

1. Favorite childhood book?

Harry Potter by Jo Rowling and Holes by Louis Sachar.

2. What are you reading right now?

Shades of Grey by Jason Fforde.

3. What books do you have on request at the library?

I don't use the library. Never really did, really. I always liked having my own books, as I enjoyed marking them up/highlighting/etc.

4. Bad book habit?

Starting and not finishing. Awful.

5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?

None.

6. Do you have an e-reader?

Just got a Kindle last week because books are too expensive in this country and it just isn't practical for me to have loads of books while I'm over here, even if I'll be here for a few years. The less, the better, much to my dismay. But I really like the Kindle!

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?

I prefer one at a time, but I have a habit of reading two or three.

8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?

Well, my blog is not devoted solely to books. But since checking out more book blogs and finding the booktubers community and things, it's reinvigorated my excitement for reading :)

9. Least favorite book you read this year (so far?)

I haven't read enough books this year to have a least favourite, as it's only February, haha.

10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?

I suppose not too often, but there are just so many books in the genres I like, that I like to stay on top of new books in those genres and such.

12. What is your reading comfort zone?

YA, fantasy, sci-fi and bits of adult fiction here & there.

13. Can you read on the bus?

It's sort of hard on London buses, as they tend to be really jerky, but trains, definitely!

14. Favorite place to read?

Long train rides, my bed or my couch back at my parents house in Seattle.

15. What is your policy on book lending?

I love sharing books.

16. Do you ever dog-ear books?

Not really, no. Unless it's a paperback and not something I love a lot or anything.

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?

Yup, but mostly I highlight.

18. Not even with text books?

…Still yes :P

19. What is your favorite language to read in?

English. I’m not bilingual, unfortunately.

20. What makes you love a book?

The characters. Or really, really good backstory. For instance, while I didn't find the characters in The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson particularly compelling, I adore the story and history so much that I love the book.

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?

Friends, hearing about it more than once, videos/blogs/etc.

22. Favorite genre?

YA fiction, especially dystopian. I was terrible at keeping up with releases last year and so it's SO incredibly thrilling to see how the genre has grown over the last couple of years when I've been "away," so to speak. The genre used to be so small and it's growth is daunting, but exciting.

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)

Historical fiction.

24. Favorite biography?

I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles. I read loads of Elizabeth I biographies when I was about 14 and this one I remember fondly.

25. Have you ever read a self-help book?

Not that I can recall.

26. Favorite cookbook?

I usually just use blogs for recipes, if I'm honest. My mom has a few that I've used, but nothing I cant think of.

27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I really haven't read enough books this year for this survey, if I'm honest. :P

28. Favorite reading snack?

Goldfish crackers, probably. Though I can't really get those here. Anything that doesn't make my fingers dirty/gross. I tend to

29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.

A lot of the time, the hype has come after I read the books and made up my mind (HP, Twilight, The Hunger Games, etc.) But Confessions of a Shopaholic was so incredibly infuriating to me and I don't understand the appeal. I can watch a 20 minute fashion haul video, but that book was painful. :P

30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?

I don't read critic reviews, really.

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?

I am really good at knowing what I like, so I don't read a lot of books I don't like. Therefore, I luckily rarely feel the need to give negative reviews.

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you choose?

French, or Russian. French just because it's a more practical language in general, though I'd love to read some Chekhov in the original Russian.

33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?

The Lord of the Rings trilogy, especially because I was quite young.

34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?

Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. I really didn't like the show, but I've still heard great reviews of the books and I'd like to read them one day.

35. Favorite Poet?

I do sound so uncultured when I say this, but I'm not a huge fan of poetry. I did a play about Dylan Thomas' life, so I grew fond of his writing, but other than that, I generally stay away from poetry. I'm awful, I know. It's just not a form of story-telling I enjoy.

36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?

None.

37. How often have you returned book to the library unread?

Yes! I just searched for it because I couldn't remember the full title. But it's The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill. I was so upset when I realised I had my libraries copy after leaving primary school, but I never returned it. Still have it back home.

38. Favorite fictional character?

Please refer to this blog post.

39. Favorite fictional villain?

Sauron and Voldemort.

40. Books you’re most likely to bring on vacation?

Some of the YA in my to-read list.

41. The longest you’ve gone without reading.

God, too long. Last year, I went a couple months.

42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.

More like a series, but (don't yell at me) Phillip Pullman's Northern Lights trilogy. I'm going to try again after I get through some of the YA titles I've got backlogged, but yeah. Read the first one, it took me like multiple start overs and have just never continued.

43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?

Just my thoughts. Or thinking about things I "have to do" on the internet.

44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?

Lord of the Rings, Atonement and Hugo. Also the Princess Diaries because those books were PAINFUL and I couldn't put up with her whinging past the first one, while I adore the film.

45. Most disappointing film adaptation?

Into the Wild and Goblet of Fire. Ugh. I am not a stickler for the details in adaptions, it's all about the feeling and spirit of the book. The Into the Wild film was turned into an annoying romance with Kristen what-are-facial-expressions Stewart and just lacked the spirit of the book. Goblet of Fire was legitimately a film bulleted list of *some* of the major events in the book. The graveyard scene was alright, though I am in love with backstory and that was missing a lot, but just the rest was so bad.

46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?

God, when I was younger and my family was more well off, my mom would take me to Barns and Noble and just randomly spend like $100 on new books. She has always been a huge reader and was such a massive support in that area, always buying me new worlds to fall into :)

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?

Never. I read the blurb and make the first page before making a decision in a shop. Though I tend to go in knowing what I want, to prevent spending too much!

48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?

Lack of commitment to the characters or just a really slow, nongripping plot.

49. Do you like to keep your books organized?

I have about fifteen books here, so just by size. At home, I reorganised all of the time. I would put authors together and then vaguely by genre, the size within each shelf.

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?

Keep, but lend.

51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?

Not that I know of. Though I find Cassandra Clare books unappealing because of her history re: the Harry Potter fandom, as I remember that whole thing pretty clearly. (For more information, read Harry: A History by Melissa Anelli.) I just can't disassociate her from that.

52. Name a book that made you angry.

Breaking Dawn. Though, I'll be honest, I didn't really actively dislike it, because that would be more than the book deserved and I read it, thought it was awful and moved on. Mostly I'm just angry that shit like that could get published and sell so much.

53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?

I don't think I've ever gone into a book not expecting to like it. I don't waste my time on things I don't think I'll enjoy, haha.

54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?

One Day. I liked some of it the writing, but I just found the characters really whiny.

55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?

I never really feel guilty about liking books. I think that as long as I am reading and experiencing new forms of writing, new styles, meeting new characters, than it's worth it.

Train journeys this year: 6.
Flights this year: 1.

Videos posted this year: 10.

Also, it snowed last night.

2012-02-05T05:20:00.002-08:00

Missed Opportunities

2012-02-05T05:06:00.000-08:00

I really should be used to not being able to attend things or afford things. I spent most of my life living hundreds or thousands of miles from the events my friends were going to, be it a con or a gathering. I did not have time in high school for a conventional job, so I didn't go to too many things because I always wanted to save my minimal money for cinema tickets or travel. But somehow, I still get upset every time. IMATS was today. The International Make-Up Artist Trade Show is something I have always wanted to go to. There are panels from professional make-up artists, massive discounts on brands I'd love to try, but cannot afford and just loads of people who are interested in learning about make-up, which is a field to commonly patronised in my common environments. It was, however, £40. I have £40, but I do not care to part with it in favour of, you know, food for the next few weeks. I spent ages going back and forth on whether or not I wanted to just shell out the money on something I'd wanted for ages and in the end, decided that I just couldn't do it.

I don't know why I am writing this. I guess it's just a way of telling all of the people who are constantly telling me how jealous they are that I get to go to loads of things or that I live in London, that I still have to pick and chose my battles. Money sucks, man. Until then, I will watch videos from previous IMATS and patiently await the day when I'm ridiculously rich and can go to everything. (Speaking of picking my battles, I will very likely be at Vidcon this year, but no way will I be at LeakyCon. Just putting that out there.) (Also, to the person who commented on my last post saying how lucky I was to live near the National Gallery and MoMA, um, the MoMA is in New York City. Which is thousands of miles away from London. And I'm not really 'lucky' to live in London, because I worked VERY hard to get here. Just wanted to clear that up. :) )

Train journeys this year: 4.
Flights this year: 1.

Videos posted this year: 8, but I'm exporting a new one right now for kayleyscloset.

Visit to the National Gallery

2012-02-02T08:12:00.000-08:00

I am taking a class on art and society this semester. I'm not a typical conventional art fan, if I'm honest, and the class was a bit of a last resort as they decided not to let me know they'd never received my registration email with class selections. However, I'm really enjoying the class because I love history lectures and obviously, every piece of art is tied with its history. So I may not be one for art discussion or be able to really pull it apart, but these are a few of my favourites from today's visit to the National Gallery.

J.M.W. Turner. Ulysses deriding Polyphemus - Homer's Odyssey, 1829.

Honestly, if you can look at this and tell me it doesn't remind you of the Grey Havens, then you're probably lying. Into the West began playing in my head the moment I set eyes on it. Such beautiful brushstrokes and colours.

John Constable. Cenotaph to the Memory of Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1833-36.

This painting is nothing without the texture, really. I've known Constable for a while because he has a very unique style. This was my favourite because of the way it draws your eye in with the trees. So interesting.

George Stubbs. Whistlejacket, 1762.

There were so many gorgeous depictions of horses. I think they are one of the most beautiful animals and this panting was just so lifelike. (The lifeSIZE nature of it helped, of course!) Stubbs spent loads of time studying the body of the horse for both sculpture and painting. Whistlejacket here was a well loved, incredibly skilled and fast horse. My favourite part of this painting was the lack of a background. The horse is the focal point and doesn't need a background to distract from it. There was apparently a rumour that the work was unfinished, but the shadow beneath his back hooves seem to prove otherwise!

Bartolome Esteban Murillo. A Peasant Boy leaning on a Sill, 1670-80.

The placement of this painting was really interesting. It was in a room full of Spanish paintings, but about 90% of them were of religious idols or royal commissions. This still life of a young boy was so small, yet powerful, and definitely stood out.

Henri Rousseau. Tiger in a Tropical Storm, 1891.

I haven't seem this picture since it hanged in my, I believe, fourth grade classroom. It was so strange to see it in the flesh! So beautiful.

Vincent Van Gogh. Van Gogh's Chair, 1888.

Many of you may have expected to see the famous Sunflowers here and while, yes, they are beautiful, this is one of my favourite Van Gogh paintings. This is one of the paintings Vincent painted to represent himself and that's why I find it so beautiful. He's always been my favourite artist since I was introduced to him through The Bedroom in that same aforementioned fourth grade class. I have seen loads of his works in the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) in New York, but it never gets less powerful.

Hope you enjoyed this mini tour of the National Gallery :P Have a lovely afternoon. x

Train journeys this year: 4.
Flights this year: 1.

Videos posted this year: 8.

February

2012-01-31T15:16:00.000-08:00

Things that are lovely about February:

Not having to worry about my transfer application, as it has been sent off. When I say "not having to worry," I mean, "panicking an insane amount but knowing that it is out of my hands." Or something. Right.
Visiting the campus of my hopefully third (and last) university. (No, I'm not going to say which it is.)
Loads of great films.
I turn 20.
The Academy Awards.
Edinburgh.
Something I ordered will arrive and it's really exciting (blog or video to come.)
The fact that it is no longer January which is universally, by Rosianna and I, acknowledged as the worst month of the year.

Not a hugely long list, but at least it's not January anymore. Such a barren month, you know? Speaking of barren, here are some pcitures I took today in the cold, wants-to-be-snowy air.

Train journeys this year: 4.
Flights this year: 1.

Videos posted this year: 8.

January Things

2012-01-24T08:51:00.000-08:00

Just some things that I like, want or crave.

Train journeys this year: 4.
Flights this year: 1.

Videos posted this year: 4.

Oscar Nomination Choices

2012-01-24T07:09:00.000-08:00

Alright, the Oscar nominations were released today and I thought I'd do what I did for the Golden Globes and post who I would like to win. These aren't my predictions, just my opinions. You can click the tabs above to see which films I've seen to get a better idea of why I made these choices. Let me know your top picks in the comments! I'm particularly excited to see Hugo up there so many times. Have a great day! x

Actor in a Leading Role
   •   Demián Bichir in "A Better Life"
   •   George Clooney in "The Descendants"
   •   Jean Dujardin in "The Artist"
   •   Gary Oldman in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
   •   Brad Pitt in "Moneyball"
(Though I'd love to see Oldman receive an award; I just have ashamedly not yet seen Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I know. For shame.)

Actor in a Supporting Role
   •   Kenneth Branagh in "My Week with Marilyn"
   •   Jonah Hill in "Moneyball"
   •   Nick Nolte in "Warrior"
   •   Christopher Plummer in "Beginners"
   •   Max von Sydow in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
(Extremely Loud has yet to come out over here, but Sydow is my top pick, followed by Plummer.)

Actress in a Leading Role
   •   Glenn Close in "Albert Nobbs"
   •   Viola Davis in "The Help"
   •   Rooney Mara in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
   •   Meryl Streep in "The Iron Lady"
   •   Michelle Williams in "My Week with Marilyn"

Actress in a Supporting Role
   •   Bérénice Bejo in "The Artist"
   •   Jessica Chastain in "The Help"
   •   Melissa McCarthy in "Bridesmaids"
   •   Janet McTeer in "Albert Nobbs"
   •   Octavia Spencer in "The Help"

Animated Feature Film
   •   "A Cat in Paris" Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
   •   "Chico & Rita" Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
   •   "Kung Fu Panda 2" Jennifer Yuh Nelson
   •   "Puss in Boots" Chris Miller
   •   "Rango" Gore Verbinski

Art Direction
   •   "The Artist"  Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
   •   "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"  Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
   •   "Hugo"  Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
   •   "Midnight in Paris"  Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
   •   "War Horse"  Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Cinematography
   •   "The Artist" Guillaume Schiffman
   •   "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Jeff Cronenweth
   •   "Hugo" Robert Richardson
   •   "The Tree of Life" Emmanuel Lubezki
   •   "War Horse" Janusz Kaminski

Costume Design
   •   "Anonymous" Lisy Christl
   •   "The Artist" Mark Bridges
   •   "Hugo" Sandy Powell
   •   "Jane Eyre" Michael O'Connor
   •   "W.E." Arianne Phillips

Directing
   •   "The Artist" Michel Hazanavicius
   •   "The Descendants" Alexander Payne
   •   "Hugo" Martin Scorsese
   •   "Midnight in Paris" Woody Allen
   •   "The Tree of Life" Terrence Malick

Documentary (Feature)
   •   "Hell and Back Again"  Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
   •   "If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front"  Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
   •   "Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory"  Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky
   •   "Pina"  Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
   •   "Undefeated"  TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

(I haven't actually seen any of these!)

Documentary (Short Subject)
   •   "The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement"  Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
   •   "God Is the Bigger Elvis"  Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
   •   "Incident in New Baghdad"  James Spione
   •   "Saving Face"  Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
   •   "The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom"  Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

Film Editing
   •   "The Artist" Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
   •   "The Descendants" Kevin Tent
   •   "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
   •   "Hugo" Thelma Schoonmaker
   •   "Moneyball" Christopher Tellefsen

Foreign Language Film
   •   "Bullhead" Belgium
   •   "Footnote" Israel
   •   "In Darkness" Poland
   •   "Monsieur Lazhar" Canada
   •   "A Separation" Iran
(Haven't seen these, either!)

Makeup
   •   "Albert Nobbs"  Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
   •   "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"  Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin
   •   "The Iron Lady"  Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Music (Original Score)
   •   "The Adventures of Tintin" John Williams
   •   "The Artist" Ludovic Bource
   •   "Hugo" Howard Shore
   •   "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Alberto Iglesias
   •   "War Horse" John Williams

Music (Original Song)
   •   "Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets" Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
   •   "Real in Rio" from "Rio" Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett
(But really, though? Ugh. Haven't seen either & there should definitely be more nominees.)

Best Picture
   •   "The Artist" Thomas Langmann, Producer
   •   "The Descendants" Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
   •   "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" Scott Rudin, Producer
   •   "The Help" Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
   •   "Hugo" Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
   •   "Midnight in Paris" Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
   •   "Moneyball" Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
   •   "The Tree of Life" Nominees to be determined
   •   "War Horse" Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Short Film (Animated)
   •   "Dimanche/Sunday" Patrick Doyon
   •   "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
   •   "La Luna" Enrico Casarosa
   •   "A Morning Stroll" Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
   •   "Wild Life" Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Short Film (Live Action)
   •   "Pentecost" Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane
   •   "Raju" Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
   •   "The Shore" Terry George and Oorlagh George
   •   "Time Freak" Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
   •   "Tuba Atlantic" Hallvar Witzø
(Haven't seen any.)

Sound Editing
   •   "Drive" Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
   •   "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Ren Klyce
   •   "Hugo" Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
   •   "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
   •   "War Horse" Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Sound Mixing
   •   "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"  David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
   •   "Hugo"  Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
   •   "Moneyball"  Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
   •   "Transformers: Dark of the Moon"  Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
   •   "War Horse"  Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

Visual Effects
   •   "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"  Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
   •   "Hugo"  Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
   •   "Real Steel"  Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
   •   "Rise of the Planet of the Apes"  Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
   •   "Transformers: Dark of the Moon"  Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
   •   "The Descendants" Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
   •   "Hugo" Screenplay by John Logan
   •   "The Ides of March" Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
   •   "Moneyball" Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin Story by Stan Chervin
   •   "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan

Writing (Original Screenplay)
   •   "The Artist" Written by Michel Hazanavicius
   •   "Bridesmaids" Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
   •   "Margin Call" Written by J.C. Chandor
   •   "Midnight in Paris" Written by Woody Allen
   •   "A Separation" Written by Asghar Farhadi

00:43

2012-01-20T16:44:00.000-08:00

"And yet the place establishes an interest in people's hearts; go where they will, they find no city of the same distinction; go where they will, they take a pride in their own home." - Robert Louis Stevenson.

Blanketed

2012-01-20T16:12:00.000-08:00

These are phone pictures that my parents took of my hometown this week. It sort of feels like Thanksgiving all over again what with me missing it there. I've spent nearly the last five days wishing I was snuggled up in front of my fire with my parents and dogs. London and independence and everything that comes with both of those things...I love them. I love my life. I just have to keep reminding myself of those things. In other news, if it isn't going to snow, I'd quite like to be somewhere sunny right about now. The rain isn't quite doing it for me.

Train journeys this year: 4.
Flights this year: 1.

Rainbow for thoughts

2012-01-12T06:09:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I come to this blog with every intention to write something relevant to my life or something I've been thinking about a lot recently or something that I would only like to share with a small following on the internet, since this is my outlet with the least viewership.
And then I realise I don't really have anything to say and forcing something out for the same of saying things isn't really worth my time or your time or anyone's time, really.
In lieu of words, stories or thoughts, have a rainbow.

Train journeys this year: 3.
Flights this year: 1.

Films in 2011 & 2012

2012-01-06T14:51:00.000-08:00

In 2011, I saw over 50 films in the cinema. I saw good films, bad films, okay films. I reviewed some of them on the blog or I privately enjoyed them and shared thoughts with friends. Regardless of whether or not I shared the film, reviewed it, or liked it, I appreciated every experience. There's nothing that can compare to how I feel when I go to the cinema to see a film. It is an experience yet unmatched and one that I hope never gets diluted. To see a (nearly) full list of films I saw in 2011 in cinemas, go here or just click the tab on the top of this page. The starred ones are my favourites of the year.
In 2012, I plan to see even more films. Or, at least, that was my intention before going through the full IMDB and Wikipedia lists of films coming out next year. Honestly, the first half of the year is mostly shit-looking comedies starring washed-up C list actors or never-before-acted singers. Seriously, that shouldn't be a thing. However, I'm hoping to find far more independent films to experience as the lists are not all to promising. Regardless, if you are interested in what I intend to see this year, click the tab above or here. The ones I'm most excited for are starred. Additionally, I'm going to try my hardest to get back into the swing of writing reviews. I've just been in a creative slump, as of late. All of the ideas, none of the motivation. Let me know what you're looking forward to the most and what your favourite films of last year were!

EDIT: Also, I think I'll be doing the 365 Films Challenge this year. I'll try to keep track of it on the tab above or I'll do it all in a journal of mine and periodically remember to fill in the blog tab. Either way, I think it'll be fun. I'll try to do mostly new films, but I'm going to keep track of all films. (Though possibly not ever rewatch of Lord of the Rings, because that'd be unfair.)

Train journeys this year: 1.
Flights this year: 1.

My Golden Globe Picks

2011-12-20T13:08:00.000-08:00

I am a huge fan of film awards shows and as the list of Golden Globe nominations has recently been released, I thought I'd share who I would like to win. I have not seen all of the nominations, which is why I do not have the right to say who I think should win, but from what I have seen, these are my choices. I've also eliminated a few seconds that I did not have opinions on or hadn't seen enough of the choices. And now, my choices! Let me know your top picks in the comments :)

Best Drama

The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
War Horse

(To be fair, I haven't seen War Horse, but I have a very strong feeling it will be incredible, which is why I have chosen it in addition to Hugo, which was brilliant.)
Best Comedy/Musical

50/50
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris
My Week with Marilyn

Best Animated Film

Arthur Christmas
Cars 2
Rango
Puss in Boots
The Adventures of Tintin

Best Actor in a Drama

George Clooney, The Descendants
Brad Pitt, Moneyball
Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March
Michael Fassbender, Shame
Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar

Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical

Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Brendan Gleeson, The Guard
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50
Ryan Gosling, Crazy, Stupid, Love.
Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris

Best Supporting Actor  in a Motion Picture

Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Albert Brooks, Drive
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method

Best Actress in a Drama

Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin

Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy

Jodie Foster, Carnage
Charlize Theron, Young Adult
Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Kate Winslet, Carnage

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture

Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
Octavia Spencer, The Help
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help

Best Director

Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
George Clooney, The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Best Screenplay for a Motion Picture

Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, Kaui Hart Hemmings, The Descendants
Steve Zallian, Aaron Sorkin, Stan Chervin, Michael Lewis, Moneyball
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon, The Ides of March

Best Original Score in a Motion Picture

Ludovic Bource, The Artist
Abel Korzeniowski, W.E.
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Howard Shore, Hugo
John Williams, War Horse

Best Original Song in a Motion Picture

“Hello Hello,” Gnomeo & Juliet
“The Keeper,” Machine Gun Preacher
“Lay Your Head Down,” Albert Nobbs
“The Living Proof,” The Help
“Masterpiece,” W.E.

Best TV Comedy or Musical

Enlightened
Episodes
Glee
Modern Family
New Girl

Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture

Cinema Verite
Downton Abbey
The Hour
Mildred Pierce
Too Big To Fail

Best Actor in a Mini-Series or Made-for-TV Movie

Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey
Idris Elba, Luther
William Hurt, Too Big To Fail
Bill Nighy, Page Eight
Dominic West, The Hour

Best Supporting Actor in TV Series, Mini-Series, or Made-for-TV Movie

Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Paul Giamatti, Too Big To Fail
Guy Pearce, Mildred Pierce
Tim Robbins, Cinema Verite
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

Best Actress in a TV Musical or Comedy

Laura Dern, Enlightened
Zooey Deschanel, New Girl
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Laura Linney, The Big C
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

Best Actress in a Mini-Series or Made-for-TV Movie

Romola Garai, The Hour
Diane Lane, Cinema Verite
Elizabeth McGovern, Downton Abbey
Emily Watson, Appropriate Adult
Kate Winslet, Mildred Pierce

Best Supporting Actress in TV Series, Mini-Series, or Made-for-TV Movie

Jessica Lange, American Horror Story
Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Evan Rachel Wood, Mildred Pierce

Days till Christmas: 5!

Christmas Playlist

2011-12-15T14:50:00.000-08:00

The playlist I promised I'd make in this video. Woo!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year - Andy Williams.
Christmas Lights - Coldplay.
Fairy Tale of New York (cover) - Stars.
Mele Kalikimala - Jimmy Buffett.
The Cold, Wild Yonder - Oliver Boyd and the Rememberall's.
Happy Xmas (War is Over) - John Lennon.
Your Song - Ellie Goulding.
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Judy Garland.
Winter Lady - Beck.
Christmas at Hogwarts - John Williams.
Another Christmas Song - Stephen Colbert.
Jingle Bell Rock - Brenda Lee.
White Christmas - Bing Crosby.
Believe - Josh Groban.

Days till Christmas: 10.

Christmas Doodles!

2011-12-13T04:27:00.001-08:00

I posted a video last night where Liam and I draw things that were requested on Twitter. It was really fun to make and so I wanted to make sure that everyone got to see the drawings up close!

You'll be seeing this again before the week is out, so stay tuned for this weekend ;)

Days till Christmas: 12!

Flights this year: 22.

Sleep Playlist

2011-12-11T16:50:00.000-08:00

So if you have watched my video Sleep Strangeness, I mentioned that I created a playlist in my sleep to help me...sleep. I don't understand either. So this is that playlist. May it bring you nice dreams or something. Also, forgive me for using this blog for mostly just playlists as of late. For those of you who just read my blog, I don't know if those people exist, I'm making a video every day on my YouTube channel and blogging is just not something I have any time for with that schedule. Also, my next blog is likely going to be another playlist of my favourite Christmas music. You have been warned!

Rivendell - Howard Shore.
Runaways - Adrian Johnston.
Love and Some Versus - Iron & Wine.
The Letter that Never Came - Thomas Newman.
May it Be - Enya.
Forget About - Sibylle Baier.
Skinny Love - cover by Daniela Sings.
Clair de Lune - Debussy.
I Heard You Looking - Yo La Tengo.
Flightless Bird, American Mouth - Iron & Wine.
We All Complete - Alexandre Desplat.
The Fellowship Reunited - Howard Shore.
Fawkes is Reborn - John Williams.
A New Beginning - Alexandre Desplat.
Denouement - Dario Marianelli.
A Last Reading - Andrian Johnston.
Something Dark is Coming - Bear McCreary.

I'll be honest, the original one had 12 or 13 songs (still impressive!), but I added a few more when I was awake the next day and don't remember which ones, so I just put the whole playlist as it is in my iTunes.

Days till Christmas: 13 (it's after midnight of the 12th, sooo.)
Flights taken this year: 22.

Winter-y Playlist of the Moment

2011-11-09T02:21:00.000-08:00

So I thought it was about time that I did another playlist of the moment post. Forgive the Christmas music. I know it's early, especially for Americans who actually live in America and still have Thanksgiving to look forward to, but I watched Edinburgh go from Halloween to the Christmas season in a matter of days and the holiday spirit is BURNING LIKE A YULE LOG INSIDE OF ME. Liam is not amused.

The Cold, Wild Yonder - Oliver Boyd & the Rememberall's.
Dead Hearts - Stars.
Let it Snow - Dean Martin.
Timshel - Mumford & Sons.
Your Song - Ellie Goulding.
Christmas Lights - Coldplay.
Cityscapes - Katie Costello.
I Must be in a Good Place Now - Vetiver.
Can't Help Falling in Love - Ingrid Michaelson. Or here, as it's featured in the Like Crazy trailer.
White Wine in the Sun - Tim Minchin.
Hush - Eddplant.
It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year - Andy Williams.
The Christmas Waltz - She & Him. (This whole album, really.)
Fairytale of New York - Stars.

Let me know what you're listening to right now! I'd love some new sounds. Actually, speaking of new sounds, listen to my friend Luke's song here. It's really lovely. Can't wait till he puts out more music. Also, if you're a musician and would like to send me Christmas music (covers or originals!), that would be lovely. I'm working on a project and as much selection as possible would be great. Just email it to kayleyhyde@gmail with your channel/site/wherever you post your music in case I do use it! Any time before or at the beginning of the December would be lovely. Thank you and enjoy listening!

Flights taken: 20.
Days til Florence: 9. (Leave Florence restaurant/places/experiences in the comments!)
Days til Christmas: 45.

Kayley Hyde, not owlssayhooot

2011-10-26T05:36:00.000-07:00

If you look up, you may notice that the URL for this blog is no longer owlssayhooot.blogspot.com, but rather kayleyhyde.blogspot.com. This is the second, first being my tumblr, change of this sort in my various social media outlets. I really like the video of consistency, I do, but in the past year or so, I've developed a bit of an issue with being constantly associated with owlssayhooot. Also, prepare for a rather humiliating amount of self-indulgence and rambling on something you probably don't care about, but something I want to address. Now let's go back a bit...
I created this username when I was twelve years old. I liked the idea of owls, mostly due to Harry Potter and thought owlssayhoot was cute and clever (twelve years old, remember), so I went to make my new AOL instant messenger screenname. To my distress, owlssayhoot was taken, so I just extended the hoot to have three o's and called it good. Always being a creature of consistency to a certain extent, when I went to make a YouTube username in 2006, I used the same one and it was fine. Now, as you probably know, sometime between 2006 and now, the username and the person behind it (that's me) developed a bit of an internet reputation of sorts. Reputation is not the right word. Perhaps, recognition? I don't know. I'm not too great at self-reflection when it comes to what's taken place in my internet life. At any rate, I now have thousands of people who know me on the internet as owlssayhooot and while it's great that thousands of people care about what I do in my life…I have a bit of a confession: I don't really care about owls. I think they're really pretty, they are fascinating, I appreciate their associations with Harry Potter, but that's about it. I'm not some owl fanatic. I don't buy everything I see with owls on it. However, over the past few years, owls have become my 'thing' and like…I don't really know why. I mean. It's not like I talk about owls in my videos or make it a big deal, but the amount of owl paraphernalia I have received from not just people who watch my videos, but my friends and family, is rather insane. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I must reiterate. Oh, my life is so hard, people give me things. No. I'm just saying that I don't know why it's always in the form of a creature I almost never talk about and just happened to put in a username. I like owls. Theyare probably my third favourite animal (after orcas and domestic dogs), but just... I don't love them. It leaves me believing that people like Khyan1 should be given things in the shape of the numeral one or MorganPaigeLoves to get…I don't know, hearts? I'm getting off-topic here.
It's common YouTuber practice to resent their username. I can assure to you that I am neither the first nor last person to be super annoyed with the offhanded choice made five years previously. But the least I can do is try to separate myself from it in the outlets I can change. YouTube usernames are set in stone, but others are not and I am just using that to my advantage. I've made a name for myself online and I'd just really like that name to be, well, you know, my name.
And now that I sound thoroughly annoying, I'm going to end this. I will not apologize, because I didn't make you read this, but I will say that I'm really not as much of a dick as I sound like in this blog. I'm a relatively pleasant person, I think. Generally. Maybe. You'd have to ask my friends. Actually, don't. That could end poorly for me. Okay. Catch me on kayleyhyde on the internet. Bye.

Reality

2011-10-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

At what point should reality set in? Now, I'm not admitting to some existential crisis or trying to start some deep discussion, but sometimes things just don't feel real. You go about your day, something happens, you don't really experience it. Did that just happen? No, it couldn't have. It could be as easy as seeing a man run by in a chicken suit. There is that moment where your not sure if you were briefly lost in your own mind or if a man legitimately just ran by looking like poultry. Moments like these beg the answer to, forgive the admitted tumblr reference, what is reality? Reality is defined as 'the state of being real.' If we can't acknowledge reality, where are we? What are we? Surely reality exists even if we can't or won't admit it. Surely, despite your hesitation to believe it, that man did actually run by in that chicken suit. We cannot decide what is reality. Or can we? Can we convince our subconscious of things so much so that we can distort our own reality? Do we even have our own reality? One question after another, I know, but sometimes things happen and they don't feel real. That can't be real. I tell myself they aren't or that I will adjust to them, but I'm not certain that I can. Uncertainty plagues the subconscious that I try to distort and I'm left not knowing what to believe. Maybe that's a good thing. Maybe reality should constantly be in question. Maybe it's our job to keep it in check. Our job to decide what is real and what is not without the rules of definition or existence. If we continue to question all that is real, the world will always be a bit of a mystery. Maybe it's better that way. Maybe.

On missing dogs, books & scarves

2011-10-17T13:03:00.000-07:00

The thing about living in London and having it be everything I've ever wanted and more is that it doesn't leave a lot of room for blogging. Or making videos, for that matter, which I'm sure you've noticed. I feel like I wear myself out so much that when I do have free time, I'd rather spend it relaxing, skyping and watching television. Go figure. My creativity levels are incredibly low while I'm here. Not just writing and video, but also photography and drawing. I just have not spent time creating and while that is not something you push, it also troubles me quite a lot when I sit down and think, "alright, so that next video..." However, I am planning on setting aside all morning tomorrow to go through footage from the Netherlands and try to piece it together, as well as film a sort of catch-up vlog where I just talk about some of the things I've seen or don't in the last few weeks. It's a mix of theatre and film reviews, a couple experiences and a story or two, perhaps. So if all goes well, those will be up this week or next.
However, I thought I'd start out this creative surge by writing up a blog post tonight. Also, Marion has been amazing about blogging over here, which has motivated me this evening. I talked to my family yesterday for the first real time since getting here. I am really, really close with my family. If you have been following this blog, you will have seem my worries about missing birthdays and all of the sort of thing. Well, last night was the party for my youngest cousins birthday and even though I was extraordinarily nervous to see if I would just sort of break down on skype, it was really nice. It felt like I was there, which is not something I can say I ever feel on skype with my friends. It's strange how that happens. However, the moment my dogs came on screen, I barely kept it together. I talked a long time ago about how insane it is that people even get pets. We grow so attached to them and they live such short lives, but for those few years, they give you such joy. It really is incredible. But yes, seeing my dogs was hard and it took a couple hours of recovery after that. Overall, I think it was something that had to happen, so that I could get it out of my system. I miss them and thinking about them for too long makes me tear up a bit, but they still know my voice, so it's alright.
Now yesterday, you may have seen me tweeting to ask about secondhand bookshops here in London. I haven't ever really been to too many over here, so I thought I'd remedy that since I had no plans today. For those of you who don't know, which is perhaps everyone, I collect editions of The Hobbit. Whenever I go to a used bookshop, it is the first thing I look for. So I just decided to go on a little journey to find one, since I almost always come across Tolkien's work in secondhand shops. But that was not the case. I walked all the way down Charing Cross Road (about 10 shops), a shop on Gloucester Road, a shop on Euston, a couple Oxfam's...I pretty much exhausted every twitter suggestion. No hobbit's to be found outside of a lovely copy of Return of the King, which I probably would have picked up if I hadn't been in the early hours of my hunt; eager to find what I was actually looking for. So. That was a bust. That coupled with the fact that on this quest, I lost the scarf I purchased this morning to keep warm, I'd say today was a bit of a failure.
In retrospect, I think the last two days have been necessary. This experience has been so good. Sometimes you need shit things to happen to even life out a bit. Other than those minor setbacks, everything is going well. I'll try and write a blog with the happy stories sometime soon, but I sort of want to save that for the video I'm making soon. Until then, though, I will leave you with this picture of my friend Khyan in the Netherlands. Because. Um. Because of reasons.

Flights taken this year: 20.

you do me good

2011-10-03T15:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I'm happy here. I've kept myself overwhelmingly busy; more than ever before. Downtime for things such as blogging has been minimal. But when I have the time to share an adventure, I'll be sure to return. Until then, these are flashes of a Thames River cruise I went on last week. For a couple different ones, click here. Until next time. x

I've arrived!

2011-09-13T16:10:00.000-07:00

This is a blog post I wrote for my blog on King of the Web. Continue to vote for me ten times a day if you think I should win & remember, if you vote consistently, they'll give you an extra ten votes after a few days :D If you haven't registered, it's supoer easy & they'll never send you spam! Registration is just to ensure there is no cheating. Now on with the post...

Wow! Guess I'm keeping up with my pattern here of updating whenever I hit increments of 15(000) & saying THANK YOU SO MUCH. I've got pretty intense competition & I'm really not a competitive spirit, so this whole process has been sort of hard for me, but you guys are just incredible. I'm so lucky to have such wonderfully awesome people voting for me.
A little update on my life, I've made it to London! Got in yesterday & I'm currently staying in a hotel with my parents & doing the touristy things (for the first time since I'm normally here staying with friends, haha) until moving into my new home on Saturday. It hasn't really set in that I'm here to live, not just a visit. For those of you who don't know, I'm studying abroad for a year before I hopefully transfer here for the rest of university, where I hope to either study film or journalism/new media (the latter is my first pick because courses sound brilliant, but the former is my second pick of uni!) If I win King of the Web, the money will be going to making that happen, as well as seeing the rest of Europe. Probably mostly just making sure I eat, though. London is freaking expensive. But I do honestly love it here so much. I cannot wait to settle in & everything. I'm also excited for classes for the first time in many, many years.
Alright, time for me to head off to bed. My parents have been keeping a ridiculously busy schedule since arriving, as they have only a week to see the city for the first time, which means I'll probably be woke up early. So one more time, thank you so much. I can't tell you what it means to me. While I'm getting a lot of messages saying that there's no way I can win against the guys in first & second, that's not really what it's all about. It's about seeing just how strong of a community I have behind me & knowing that there are people out there that I don't know who think that I deserve to win. That's what's so amazing about it all. Money's great, but nothing can top that knowledge. See you guys next time! xx

Days til London: -2 :)

instagram

2011-09-08T12:37:00.000-07:00

Due to the fact that I am moving to a different country in three days, I needed to get a new phone. I decided to finally shell out and get an iPhone and while it will not work until I get a plan over in the UK, that has not stopped me from becoming an instagram addict.

1) Cylon and raider at the Battlestar Galactica Exhibit in Seattle. 2) sunset in Edmonds. 3) random ship on Lake Union. 4) Gasworks Park. 5) latte. 6) Viper from the BSG exhibit. 7) skyline during the day. 8) a photo from my first DnD campaign earlier this week. it was so much fun.

King of the Web (#owlssayvote)

2011-09-01T15:41:00.000-07:00

Just updating you that I am, indeed, running for King of the Web. My campaign (the Kayley Kampaign) is announced in this video and do not fear, I’m going to limit my posts about it as much as possible because I know that’s super annoying. Just wanted to initially put it all out there to you guys! So don’t worry about me being obnoxious :) At least not until the very end of the month. You can vote ten times a day and it's super easy to get an account. Thank you so much guys. For reading my blog, watching my videos, voting, whatever. You're all so supportive and wonderful. So thanks. #owlssayvote

This Star Won't Go Out Foundation:
http://tswgo.org/

To register:
http://kingofweb.com/users/sign_up

Kayley Kampaign :D
http://dft.ba/-kingkayley

YouTube channel / Tumblr / Twitter.

Favourite YouTube Videos

2011-08-31T07:46:00.001-07:00

Note: This is a blog I wrote for BEDApril this year, but never finished in time or never needed it or for some reason, just never posted it. Decided to use it as my last post of this month of BEDA. Now you know and may proceed.

In order to compile a list of favourite videos on YouTube, it required me to go back through my Favourites. This mean crawling through TJ Thyne interviews, covers of Selena Gomez songs and Free People fashion videos to find some unique, wonderful content. While this was fun for me, it took ages. So long, in fact, that these will not be put in order because it would take too long and I don't want to offend any of the video makers. Oh, these are also videos by YouTubers, rather than bands, companies or things like that. So here are my favourite videos on YouTube.

marionhoney - The Condition.

This video is just beautiful. Marion has always been one of my favorite YouTubers. This video really sums up what I love about her and her videos. She is creative, thoughtful and beautiful. Not just in looks, which she totally is, but just in personality. More recently, she posted this amazing video, which I find really inspiring.

ElectricFaerieDust - High School.

Hannah is FANTASTIC. I had the hardest time trying to pick one of her videos for this list because I just think she is so great. All of her videos are hilarious, relatable and so clever. She is very communitychannel-esque but with a twist of her own and is a nerd. Which is a +10 awesome in my book.

xOphoeniXfeath3r - Confessions of a Hipster.

This. Video. I had been a fan of Lauren's for awhile, but the day she put this video up, I fell in love. I love over-the-top stereotypes for some reason. I mean, let's face it, they're almost always true to a certain extent. I'm a full believer that stereotypes do not come from nowhere. This video actually went viral on tumblr and you know that it's all true because people LOST IT and were freaking out about how no one acts like this. They are all just ashamed. xD Anyway, this video is well-done, hilarious and I wish she posted more videos for me to lol at.

tyleroakley - Fannypack of Pain.

Tyler is a good friend of mine and the first time I met him, I told him "did you know Fannypack of Pain is one of my favorite videos on the internet?" He insists that it is not that great, but oh my god. There is just something about it that leaves me with tears in my eyes from crying every single time. This used to be the video I would show people when I told them about YouTube and what people do on it and such. It's a classic in my book.

mememolly - are you anybody's favourite person?

Another classic. Molly was one of the original video bloggers and I find that so amazing. I love this generation of YouTube more than any other, I think. The days when you could turn on a camera and vlog about something you just saw that meant a lot to you and people who watch it and love it. Just harking back to the good old days, if you will.

missxrojas - Perfection.

Rosianna would hate me putting this here, mainly because she pronounces "Camus" wrong, but also just because she thinks it is not that good. I, however, will never forget this video. It is gorgeous, was so unique and just reminds me of the early days of our friendship. Rosianna was actually the video blogger that I first saw and got me into making videos, so she had to be on this list. But this video is definitely my favorite.

vlogbrothers - How Nerdfighters Drop Insults.

Picking one vlogbrothers video was an absolute tragedy, There are just so many brilliant ones that it took hours of rematches to narrow it down and, ultimately, chose this one. This represents all of what Nerdfightaria was created about and for. This is John Green, before all of the fancy editing techniques were learned, talking about how cool it is to be a nerd. Who doesn't love that? Brotherhood 2.0 is still the best project on YouTube, in my opinion, and so I had to choose a classic 2007 video.

ifancythetrio - What impact has Harry Potter made on YOUR life?

Bre Bishop. The girl who made video blogging about Harry Potter cool. If not for this girl, I would not have seen Rosianna's videos (because Rosi was inspired by her), would not have met HP friends, would not have made my own videos and, essentially, you would not know who the hell I am. Bre is the reason so many of your favorite people on YouTube do what they do (for instance, the other fiveawesomegirls). She really opened a new door for the fandom and created the path for all of us to follow and eventually arrive at where we are today. I do miss Bre making videos, but this is a good representation of what she did for the internet and I know we'll see great things from her in the future.

littleradge - Easter Egg.

This video is so clever and funny and involves one of my favourite episodes of Doctor Who. Also, it was posted on my 16th birthday, so way to go, Liam! Two points.

communitychannel - random hello/harry potter/outtakes.

"I'm wearing a jumper and look it has a lamb." Guys. It's Natalie. She is basically the funniest person on the internet. She has this totally original style (when she started, that is), has been around forever and has never failed to make me laugh. Every video she has a near scenario for you to relate to. I have no idea how she thinks of all of the things that she does, but she is just brilliant. She's one of the few YouTubers who has been around since the beginning and it's so much fun to watch over time how much things have changed in her videos, yet also stayed the same. I chose this video because I'm sure a lot of you missed such an old video of Nat's and I think it is hysterical. A couple other videos of hers that I love are this one and this one. JUST SO FUNNY.

jennamarbles - How To Avoid Talking To People You Don't Want To Talk To.

It's Jenna Marbles, guys. Therefore, it is hilarious and earns a spot on my list.

kickthepj - Adventures with PJ - Ep 1.

PJ's work is just beautiful. Every video he puts up makes me feel inferior and incompetent in the best way possible. This video in particular is just so great because it's just an afternoon turned into a work of art. Anyone else could have taken this footage and made it into a normal sort of 'follow me around' video, but he made it beautiful and it is so impressive.

‪corporalcadet - VCR - Levi Beamish - 고장‬.

Levi is in the same category as PJ, where I just find everything he does absolutely breathtaking. This video is a sort of self-portrait and I find it really compelling. I really adore this video of this, as well. He makes such beautiful videos.

livelavalive - Everything Out Of Context.

Mitchell is not only hilarious, but he has never strayed from himself in videos. He has a really unique, crazy, I'll-do-whatever-I-want style and it's fantastic. In addition, he is just a really great guy who is fun to hang out with. This video is a more recent one that I just love because it's such a good example of that style and I just love out-of-context jokes. And apparently hyphens.

losergoescrazy - the travelers.

Another huge inspiration for me, nessa k doesn't post too frequently, but always posts beautiful videos. This one is particularly perfect because it combines two things I love, traveling and photography. Besides, I may not be too much of a romantic, but how adorable is that video? So precious.

So yes. Watch, enjoy, check out their channels and let me know what some of your favourite videos are in the comments! Thanks for joining me this month on BEDA and I'm sure I'll blog again soon. Happy September!

Days til London: 11.

Injuries & Potential Kingship

2011-08-30T13:01:00.000-07:00

I know. That is twice in one week that I had guest bloggers. However, I'm pretty certain Liam stressed the importance of my absence: eggrolls needed to be procured. Even though I walked all the way up there and the Chinese restaurant was *closed*…I'm still bitter. But not bitter enough that I'm writing off going to get some today.
By the way, someone commented yesterday who did not know what an eggroll was. Once I got past the disappointment that you have never experienced such bliss as an eggroll, I was baffled by it all. Essentially, it's this. Inside of that delicious fried roll of generally cabbage, carrots, sometimes noodles and other deliciousness. They are beautiful. Unless you order them and find out they have meat, which is just the worst thing in the world. So deceiving.
Did I mention that I am currently suffering through my latest battle wound? Also, let it be noted that "battle wound" is code for "what the hell happened to me?" So I woke up the other morning in a rather severe amount of pain and after talking to my aunt, who is more or less a doctor, we determined that I either bruised or slightly cracked one of my ribs, completely inexplicably. I swear I have absolutely no idea how this happened. I just went to sleep and woke up with an injured rib. So. That's just a day in the life of Kayley Hyde, guys. Waking up with injured bones. The usual. Luckily the pain is now mostly restricted to when I cough/sneeze/burst out laughing and no longer limits my breathing, so that's good. It should be healed up in a week or so. Nor real harm done, I suppose.
If you follow me on Twitter, you'll have seen a week or two ago that I mentioned wanting to run for King of the Web in September. This has sort of been a source of stress and anxiety for the past few days because I just don't know if I can do another contest. Running for NextUp was probably my least favourite thing I have ever done on the internet because I cannot and do not enjoy selling myself in any way. I didn't like reminding people to vote, didn't like being open about the fact that I needed money and didn't like feeling that I could not win if I didn't keep badgering people about it. It just sort of sickened me and, at the time, I told myself I'd never do another contest again. However, King of the Web spans over a month, so it's not has high-tension and stressful. In addition, it is sort of a cool idea for a contest and the people who work for KotW seem really awesome. I'm going to a gathering tomorrow in Seattle hosted by them and I'm thinking that I will decide there if I am or am not running. However, I wanted you guys to weigh in. Would you hate me if I ran for another contest? I promise, I wouldn't be annoying about it. If anything, it means more uploads from me so that in the annotations, I can remind people to vote or something. I just wanted to know what you guys thought. As you know, I'm moving to another country and I could really use the money because England is a freaking expensive place to live. So just let me know what you think in the comments and that would be great!
Thanks again to that Dryden kid for his post yesterday and I don't know if you read the comments, Liam, but the people want you back in their lives. Go make a video or something, yeah? It'd be much appreciated by us all. As for everyone else, I'll see you tomorrow for my LAST BEDA POST of August 2011. No idea what to post and I have a really busy day planned, so we shall see. Until then! x

Days til London: 12.

Eggrolls and Preparation

2011-08-29T19:11:00.000-07:00

HAY.

So due to an unforeseen and regrettable situation involving a lack of eggrolls in her system, Kayley can't come to the blog right now. Fortunately, she has a myriad of friends to summon from their Poké Balls to fill in for her, and today I am one such loyal fuzzy friend. Really I'm just a Growlithe with a nickname. I'm Liam Dryden.

You might know me from such achievements as "being chastised for watching My Little Pony", "Haha you liked Dream Street", "this gif", and many other little notes amongst Kayley's so far stellar attempt at BEDA.

I'm actually very envious of people who can commit to regular blogging, actually; I had a normal text blog a while back, but gave up on it after I got overly angsty (but now I have TUMBLR, where I incessantly post mostly .gifs of animals doing weird things with the tag "gpoy").

In fact, keeping up regular content in any shape is a massive Achilles' Heel for me, and many other people in my position. For those reading this who are familiar with my YouTube channel, you'll notice I haven't uploaded anything in over a month. And due to a need to make this entry more engageable, rather than go off on a self-indulgent tangent explaining why, I guess I ought to pass on to anyone who has been inspired by awesome BEDA writers like Kayley, one of the greatest lessons I've learned from other vloggers and bloggers and nerds (oh my); preparation.

Other people I know put a LOT of preparation into their schedule. Folks who upload videos weekly often have their next bunch of videos mapped out, or at least briefly noted down, weeks in advance. Some know they'll be doing something or going somewhere that will compromise their schedule, so they'll film and edit a whole bunch of videos at once, or they'll write a few blog drafts to systematically post later.

And if push comes to shove, they'll just get a friend to do it (HI KAYLEY).

These are just a few obvious examples, but preparation for content creators comes in lots of forms. If you're a beginning or aspiring blogger or videomaker, the best thing to do is figure out what method suits you; but for the love of god do SOME form of preparation, lest you end up in a blank funk of next-to-no content like me!

Alright, Kayley just got back and the eggroll place was CLOSED. So I guess I'd better go console her over Skype. Nice talking to ya!

Final Countdown

2011-08-28T09:26:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to start this post by thanking you guys for the wonderful response to the blog I posted yesterday to my friend. For those of you who didn't know, one of my best friends was killed in a car accident when we were twelve and it has been something I have struggled with ever since, so writing that letter a few weeks ago was a big step for me, but as I said, it didn't feel like I could truly moved on until I admitted it to the world in some way. So I did and it felt good and thank you for letting me do that.
So what have I been doing the past couple of days, let me tell you…Well, on Friday, when Adam blogged for me, I was busy doing really important things, such as baking french toast muffins and watching old episodes of Braceface and discovering Santa. No seriously. I spent a significant chunk of Friday waiting for things to happen on this ustream because that is apparently where Santa Clause works. It was a thrilling experience that simply could not be put on hold for blogging. Then yesterday I had a pretty long day. Woke up early to walk downtown and get coffee, go to the bank and post office, stop by the farmers market for some delicious nectarines and just other errands. After that, I watched "Let's Kill Hitler" and was exceedingly disappointed (TARDIStacular video reviewing it will probably be filmed/posted tomorrow) and the new episode of Torchwood…which was surprisingly really good, as I haven't been super into this season. Last night, I went over to my grandmother's house and had dinner with a lot of my family, chatted to my cousin (well, more or less, her mom and my uncle have been together for years, so she sort of feels like a cousin) about her engagement and said a few goodbyes. Actually, my uncle is never around for Christmas, so I don't even know when I'll be seeing him next. Not till next summer, at least! Crazy. By the way, posted a video on why I'm studying abroad yesterday, if you're interested.
My final fortnight in America has arrived, at long last! It sort of hit me yesterday how much I do have to do. I will have plenty of time to do it and I am not remotely worried, but still have people to see, videos to film and a mountain to climb (both metaphorically and physically with Kristina). This is the day I have been anticipating for so long and it is insane that I am here, two weeks away from doing something I have been wanting since I was about seven years old. I guess the lesson here is to never tell yourself that you can't do exactly what you want, because I am about to and it is invigorating.
It also occurred to me for the first time, believe it or not, that I am also about to go back to school. Well, I have a month till classes begin, but still. I have been so excited for the traveling and the friends, that it has pretty much completely slipped my mind that I have a whole new style of teaching to become adjusted to. I will have to write papers and attend classes again! University summers seem so long and the concept of going back to school is becoming incredibly daunting and I'm nervous. Luckily, I've always been a pretty decent student, but every country treats education differently, so I don't quite know what to expect. I'm quite happy I still have that month, at any rate!
Alright. "Clean room" has been on my to-do list for a week and still has not managed to get crossed off, so I better do that before I begin the packing! Also, my dad is making Swedish pancakes; my faaavourite. Hope you all have nice, relaxing Saturdays and if you are on the east coast, stay safe and all of that good stuff. To be honest, I don't really know how it's going over there, but I'm rooting for you. Go team human! I'll see you guys tomorrow. x

Days til London: 14.

Twelve

2011-08-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

I wrote this earlier in the summer (by hand and typed it up to remember), but it didn't feel honest until I put it out into the world. So this is me, shouting to the world and writing to an old friend. Hope you enjoyed Adam's post yesterday and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

When we were twelve, nothing seemed overly important. We learned about the moon and Egypt and took turns pushing the cart around to pick up trays at lunch. When we were twelve, we fought about music because I liked rock and you liked rap. When we were twelve, we always chose opposite kickball teams so that we could each be captains and dominate the field. You usually won and I was a graceful loser…insisting that I would most definitely win the next game. When we were twelve, you thought I was silly for going to the midnight premiere of the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. You told me it was for nerds and I told you that Zoolander was still not funny. When we were twelve, you hid from the camera that I over-enthusiastically flashed at anyone who walked passed. When we were twelve, we'd spend all afternoon on your trampoline and I would steal your blue hat. When we were twelve, you told me that no matter what middle school you went to, you'd always be around. When we were twelve, we finished primary school and you went to visit family and you got in that car and you left. Not just this state, but this world. You left me, when we were twelve.
I waited. They told me it was your brother at first and I worried for you. I wanted to talk to you, but you wouldn't answer your phone. The phone you had gotten three months before me. Our first cell phones. Your last cell phone. I called and I text messaged and you never got back. Because it wasn't your brother, it was you. There was no more kickball and no more trampoline. The pictures never held your face because you refused to show it and the trays were left to me and the others to collect. And, most importantly, you were not around.
When we were twelve, we didn't fear what we had no concept of. I did not worry because you promised. When I was twelve, I did not understand anger or fear, until you weren't there to talk about them with me. The confusion set in, then. The confusion and fear and sadness that I did not shake for many years. The day they told me, I didn't believe them. Broke down and fought it with every fibre of my being because you could not be gone. Every day that you didn't call was another reminder that you were never going to. Did I mention that your name is still stored in my phone? Three phones later and I still can't part with the familiarity of your name in there. I would write you letters and sneak out in the middle of the night to set them, not beside your grave, but under the fence hear the grave that we would climb over to get to the short-cut. Funny how close the two were, really. I think you would have liked that, if you weren't only twelve. If you had done more, seen more, been more, you would have appreciated the irony of the location a bit more. I thought the letters would help. I convinced myself that they did help. Every letter to you was one step closer to letting you go and, in turn, letting me go. Letting me grow.
You've missed a lot. My letters stopped in 2008 when it happened. You know what "it" was, no doubt. One of the few, even. Still haven't opened up about that to many people. I promised I would, but hey, you promised a few things, too. I still think about you and how you'd react to seeing me now. You'd still call me a nerd and you'd be more right than ever, but you'd look at what I'm doing and remind me that this has always been it. This was always the dream for the both of us: enjoying here while it lasted and getting out.
I just wanted you to know that it's been seven years to the day that they told me and, you know what? I'm happy. It has come and gone in stages, and nothing ever goes just right, but none of that matters. Seven has always been and will always be my lucky number. It took my seven years to finally admit that I don't need to hold on anymore. You hurt me more than anyone has since and because of you, I did plenty of my own hurting, as well. But not anymore. To quote Martha Jones, a character from a show called Doctor Who that I know you would never watch, "this is me…getting out." Thank you, for everything, and I hope you're proud, I really do. I always did have an affinity for impressing you. Everything you have taught me will be with me through the rest of my life and no longer will those lessons be a reminder that you're gone, but a reminder that you were here and that, as a result of them, you always will be. Thank you for being there until we were twelve. xx K.

Days til London: 15.

youraverageblog

2011-08-26T21:52:00.000-07:00

Kayley: ADAM
Kayley: WRITE MY BLOG
Kayley: FOR BEDA
Adam: REALLY?!
Kayley: YES
Adam: okay!
Kayley: YES
Kayley: you can write aaaanything
Adam: that's exactly what i was planning on!

Hello, my name is Adam. I am the unfortunate bearer of the bad news that I am not Kayley Hyde and, no matter how I try, will never be (unless you count my Sims character). However, I am her substitute today. Think of it like this: Kayley is the accomplished, beloved English teacher who is off on some radical vacation in Cabo or something and I am the fresh-out-of-college substitute who is terrified of the students.

This blog post is now about substitute teachers.

When I was in middle school, there was a legendary substitute teacher named Mr. Beck. He was everyone’s favorite because halfway through class he would stop everything and read from the Darwin Awards. Also, you know that episode of Boy Meets World where Eric lives in the wilderness and carries that lollipop on a necklace? Mr. Beck totally did that. Now that I think about it, that was sort of disgusting because he had a pretty hairy chest, but at the time we thought it was the best thing ever.

My worst substitute experience was in 7th grade science. We got one of those aforementioned fresh-out-of-college subs. He came in wearing a t-shirt from some band we had never heard of, skinny jeans, and Chuck Taylors. He didn’t look like an authority figure and we didn’t treat him like one, because at age 13, children are horrible and ruthless. We had a science question that we would have to answer at the start of each class, usually something like “Explain subduction zones” or “Give an example of an igneous rock”. This guy’s question was “Are there any absolutes?” and then attempted to lead a class full of 7th graders into a deep philosophical discussion. It did not go well. He spent the rest of the class looking dejected and reading a book about taxes.

Substituting seems like it would be an awful job. You never get a chance to establish any sort of reputation or relationship with the kids and just sort of drift from place to place. I think that middle school substitute ranks right up there with stablehand in terms of unpleasantness.

So the moral of this blog post is be nice to substitute teachers or something. I dunno. I’m just a sub, don’t expect too much out of me.

Anecdotes of Sorts

2011-08-25T21:13:00.000-07:00

Today is the day on my blog where I'm just going to give you little snippets, little anecdotes, little insights as to what is going on in my life today. Here we go.

Earlier in the summer, I completely cleared out my room and rearranged the furniture because it had become incredibly claustrophobic after a large, relatively empty residence hall room. After this, my older dog, Winnie, became accustomed to sleeping on my floor. This was fine up until she decided to start gnawing her leg off (well, not really, but she gets stressed and bites her leg and it's gross.) So, we have to put medicine on it and that medicine happens to smell like spoiled milk. Honestly. For weeks I thought I had SOMEHOW lost a glass of milk in some corner of my room. Upon figuring out what it was, I sort of had to ban her from my room or else I would honestly feel ill. And now, she still sometimes comes to the door and tries to push it open like she used to. Every now and then I just head her sort of crash into the door and then saunter off. It crushed my soul, but also makes me less nauseous. And the point of this story was to tell you that it just happened again. Sad times.

I am currently watching Casablanca for my second time ever, first time in years. I definitely have to be in certain moods for old films, but when I am in the right mood, god, do I love them. This film is just so charming and beautiful.

Sunday is the day I am finally going to let myself officially pack, as it means that I am two weeks from departing. Therefore the next three days will be spent mentally packing and trying to decide what I will and won't need abroad. Essentially what this means is that when I walk into my room, I do a brief inventory of everything I own and contemplate my attachment to it. It's strange.

To the person who asked yesterday what I intend to study, it will probably be either film or journalism/media. Both things obviously very prevalent in my life as it is, so why not turn them into a career path? Or something.

Editing video from when I went to the fake Stonehenge. This is the first video I have ever made with the intention of being similar to a Thoughts From Places video. I find it slightly annoying that any video where you share thoughts and go places is considered a TfP video these days because, let's be honest, people were making videos from places with thoughts long before John and Hank put a name to it. However, this video has the same format as one of their videos, so I would say it was inspired by them. It's the only one that I have thought of them while editing, though.

My best friend is currently studying abroad in Florence, Italy. As I mentioned yesterday, I was looking at American universities in London. My first pick has a study abroad program in Florence and I just didn't think anything of it until I talked to her today, sent her the website and found out that it is the same school she is at. Typical. The whole world of universities and we look at the exact same one. One mind.

Currently, I am craving eggrolls and mozzarella sticks. The closest Chinese food place is right next to the closest places that sells mozzarella sticks. As in, they share a parking lot that is only for the two places. It's meant to be, right? That wouldn't be too unhealthy...right? I'm gross.

Introduced Liam to Dream Street. For those of you unaware as to what Dream Street is...I'll let you YouTube that. He was totally into it (lie), wanted to hear more (lie) and said that if he had known about them when he was their age, he'd "totally want to be a part of it" (truth). If you read this blog and would like to comment on his channel that you'll find him down on Dream Street. Well. I wouldn't complain.

I am currently trying to sell some of my things that have been sitting around, not getting the attention they deserve. I have a video here showing them and I bid you to email me at kayleyhyde@gmail if you're interested. I don't mean to sound like I'm selling things or anything, I just figured asking people who watch my videos was a cooler way to get rid of nice things, rather than putting them up for random people on eBay. If you disagree, that's cool, you just don't have to watch the video or buy anything :P Also, bear in mind that while the prices are sort of high, most of them are at least, usually more, than $25 more on eBay or anything like that. Since typing this I've made two sales, so wonderful!

I got the eggrolls and mozzarella sticks. Only ate one of the mozzarella sticks, so I don't feel too ashamed in myself. Or at least that's what I'll tell the internet.

This will haunt your dreams. You've been warned.

This plan would have worked between if I hadn't spent the last five or six hours in a skype call. Oops. Um. Guess I'll see you tomorrow! x

Days till London: 17.

Academia

2011-08-24T15:57:00.000-07:00

This has been a really question filled week. Between the two blogs here to the faq/q&a video I posted yesterday, I feel like I have divulged so much information about myself, haha. Due to that, I think I'll keep this blog pretty short. I've spent my last couple days pretty much doing a lot of nothing. Yesterday I made peanut butter and jelly bars and we took them over to my grandmother's house. Today, I've spent all morning looking up universities to transfer to next year. For those of you who don't know the specifics of my academic life, that's good! That means you aren't stalking me! Essentially, I went to a university in Seattle, did not enjoy myself, am studying abroad this year and intend to stay abroad after that. So, yes, I've been looking at American universities abroad, as well as just European universities. I would like to maybe remain in London or go to Edinburgh, but who knows? I sure as hell don't. Side note: I'm an academic mess. I'll figure it out at some point. Maybe.
Other interesting things from today include getting tickets to see Greg Holden in London in October (with Lex, Marion, Liam and hopefully Rosianna), re-watching The Doctor's Wife ("did you wish really hard?" is still my favourite line) and the season finale of The Hour. What the heck, UK television? Why are your seasons so short, bro? Lame. Alright, I have an episode of Alphas to watch and clothing to sell at Plato's Closet. Apologies for lame-ness! Sort of. Here's an image of the Elliot fan club, or something.

Days til London: 18.

Friendship Advice

2011-08-23T14:04:00.000-07:00

Once again, I am not the expert at friendships. I care deeply about my friends and try to be the best friend I can be, so I figured I'd answer some of the questions that I get frequently. Here we gooo...

Pretend you have two good friends, but these two friends hate each other (we'll call them X and Y). You're at a party that X put on and you've been there for a few hours now, X only invited Y to the party because shes attempting to be friendly and accepting. Y gets there and stays for a while the and the other friend asks you to leave what do you do?
Well, it depends on your relationships with the friends and the type of party. From this situation, though, I'd say that X invited you to a party and if Y doesn't want to be there, than they can leave and you can make plans another night. Not everyone will always like each other and it sucks, but you have to work with it. Make plans on different nights. Be honest with both of them that you care about them and don't want to lose either of them. It will be annoying and tedious, but they're probably worth it, so if they are really not willing to put up with one another, you have to just go with it.

How do you make new friends? / How to make friends in your first year of university?
For university, go to all of the bullshit events. I know, they almost always suck, but that is where you make friends. Those first few weeks are CRUCIAL. Put yourself out there, share what you love with people, find people with similar interests. Maybe wear a symbol of something you like (DFTBA or band shirt, Deathly Hallows necklace, etc), so that people will see it and comment on it. Maybe join a cool club because even if you don't keep going to the meetings, you may make a friend or two in there. If you can't find people with the same interests, than try to meet people who seem genuine and awesome and you guys can learn things/interests from one another.
For making friends in general, the advice is similar. Confidence is key. If you reassure yourself that you are awesome and that you'll make friends, you probably will. Just never miss an opportunity to hang out with like-minded people. Go to book events or gigs of your favorite bands. PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE. I just want to scream that to the world. I spent so long, my entire academic career until this point, being upset that no one I met was as great as my friends online. I sat in my room and was miserable. Don't be like me, okay? I was dumb. Now I am wise in this area…or something.
If you want to make friends online, try and find people who watch the same YouTubers or hang out in the same blogtv shows. Give yourself a presence by commenting and even making videos. Also, don't go into it hoping to become best friends with Charlie. Because, let's be honest, that not really how it's going to work. Don't seek out 'famous' friends online, just find people you think are awesome and do not be a crazy, fangirl-y (read: creepy) person and you'll probably find someone.
For more on making friends, see Paige's videos, because she is pro at making friends both in real life and on the internet.

Could you give advice about toxic friendships? Like how to know you're in one, how to deal with it, etc. The easy answer is to say "get out of it", but if you've ever been in one you know it's more complicated than that. Because there's still a reason why they're your friend, you may see them a lot, and they're friends with your friends.
I have a unique experience with toxic people in my life and my advice is not really what anyone wants to hear. What I do to put up with it is to simply, well, ignore it. I am a confident enough person that I never let the person in question impact what I think about myself. I will say, however, that I very often leave their place feeling incredibly drained at their amount of negativity and that can just be exhausting. Another tactic I try is to keep them positive by making a lot of jokes when things go wrong and that person is particularly stressed.
More than anything, I think you have to remember that it is almost never entirely their fault. Toxic people (I really dislike that term, but it is easy for the sake of this blog) are not trying to be that way. Most of them are dealing with anxiety, depression, self-loathing or a combination. This is just a coping mechanism and while you cannot treat them like they are mentally unsound or something, you have to remember that they are, most likely, not meaning to hurt you. Trying talking to them. Many people do not realise that they are being offensive or tearing you down and they are just naturally pessimistic or sarcastic. Maybe they think they're being funny and do not realise you aren't laughing along. Just make sure they know you are unhappy with what is going on. From there, see what happens. Maybe they will be more honest about what is really going on or maybe they'll be more offensive. If the latter does happen, you'll need to learn how to distance yourself. I'm not saying get out, I'm saying go to another room. Metaphorically. You probably don't want to just hang around their kitchen or something. Just go a few days without talking to them and see if they want to contact you. Try meeting in public where they are less likely to tear you down so much and test the waters. It's a lot of trial and error and I have dealt with it my whole life. Just, and this is really corny and important so listen up Nicholas Sparks (and readers), go into it loving yourself. If you love yourself, there is nothing that anyone can say to break you. Think of the perfect prison in Doctor Who's "Day of the Moon." You are impenetrable and no one can tear you down.

I’d love to hear your tips on reconnecting with friends you’ve lost touch with. And on a similar level, how to keep in touch long distance?
These are my specialties! Fantastic. Alright, so, in most of my friendships, these two things go very hand in hand, so I will sort of address them at once to begin with. I have a lot of friends all over the world, but I also have friends here at home. This means that when I am at home, I have a lot of people to keep in contact with and when I am traveling, there's a lot to catch up on when I get home. It becomes a huge balance, but I find that a simple "I saw this thing and it reminded me of you because of that thing that happened once, how are you?" text/email is sometimes all it takes. Maybe apologise if it has been awhile and say that you want to catch up. Make it clear that you genuinely care about their life, which I hope you do, and they will understand if time as passed and they will want to do the same. However, you also have to realise when it is time to give up. If you have tried to make plans over and over and the friend doesn't seem to care or want to make it work, then it may not work. I've lost plenty of friends because some people just aren't willing to try. Communication and friendship is a two way street. Never lose sight of that. If you are pulling all of the weight, something is wrong and you either need to talk to them about it, or move on and see if they make an effort.
Specifically focusing on long distance, well, it's hard. Luckily the internet is a wonderful device and has things like Skype, email, Facebook, twitter (direct messages are essentially international texts!), et cetera. Set up times when you want to "hang out" with a long distance friend on Skype. Otherwise, just sort of follow the same reconnecting strategies and they usually work for me!

How much is it acceptable to contact friends or potential friends? (Skype, text, phone call)
This really depends on the friend, you know? Some people are weird about being over-contacted and may get annoyed thinking that you're clingy or something. I think the best thing to do is just test the waters. IM them on Skype from time to time and see how responsive they are and then build towards texting when things remind you of conversations you had or something. I am not a huge phone talker, so phone calls are usually not my area of expertise. I always like being asked before friends call just to talk, because I definitely have to be in a certain mood, haha.

Is there a way of becoming friends with someone you think is cool on youtube without sounding like a stalker?
I will refer you to Paige's video.
And also add that it is hard online these days. I've become friends with people who watch my videos, but rarely online unless I sought them out because I like their videos. There are just so many of you awesome people out there and it's hard for me to, you know, be all of your friends. I don't mean for this to sound like an I'm better than you thing, but I just want to be honest. I have met a lot of people in real life that I did not know previously and watched my videos. It mostly depends on how a person introduces his or herself. I can always tell which people I meet are really happy to meet me because I'm owlssayhooot and who is excited to meet me because I am Kayley. It's hard to describe and it is not something I can teach. Just remember that we are normal people with lives. Many of us are in school or working full time and do not respond to every email. But also, never miss a chance to put yourself out there. You never know where you could make a friend! (I have a feeling I'll get a lot of "putting myself out there!" emails after this…That's probably not a good time, guys. I think that would be contrary to what I'm currently saying xD)

What to do if somebody who doesn't fit in with your 'group' or whatever stays and never leaves?
I won't lie, I tend to just let it happen and ignore them if it's really that bed, hoping they'll get the message. If it really is unbearable, all you can really do is talk to them. Maybe try and get them more involved with conversation and figure out why they don't fit. They could have something great to bring to the group if you give them a chance to show it!

Does a girl have to "step down" being a best friend to a guy if he's dating another girl? One of my friends seemed to think that it causes drama. Who takes the back seat, and why should anybody have to?
I don't think so, no. I think that girlfriend and best friend fulfill very different roles and one should not be dependent on the other or anything. I guess it is up to the guy in question, but from my experience, a girl best friend isn't different from a guy best friend and it is really silly when girlfriends get jealous. If there is drama, just make sure she knows that you're not trying to steal her boyfriend, simple as that. Don't blow it out of proportion and just make sure everyone is on the same page. No one should have to take the back seat.

Did you keep a lot of your high school friends when you went to college?
I didn't have a lot of close friends in high school, but I still have four good friends from my childhood/high school and a few others I hang out with, occasionally. Keep in mind, most of my friends during high school, like now, were on the internet. So. Yup. Most people who went to my high school are all still close friends with one another, though. It's just like any friendship where if you want to maintain it, you can do so if you make an effort.

Hope these help. The feedback on my relationship advice post was incredible both on the blog, to my email and on tumblr. So thank you so much! I'm happy to help and all of that. Now, off to edit sixteen minutes of q&a footage. Eeek...

Days til London: 19. Oh, hey less than 20 days. What's up?

On Hold

2011-08-22T18:41:00.000-07:00

I get a lot of people commenting on how exciting my life is and how much they wish they could have it. Sure, I guess I understand that to a certain extent, but it's days like today that have me really questioning the sanity of those people. xD It is currently 6pm and I'm trying to reflect on what I've done today and there is not much to share. Watch An Education, skyped with friends, danced on iChat for my friend Matt's video and now I'm sitting here watching the pilot of The Lying Game on ABC family and it is just awful. And funny.
A huge part of me knows I'll look back on days like today and wish they were still around. No obligations, no pressing tasks, nothing planned. However, for the time being, I'm sort of miserable. I've hit the point where I cannot even read or make videos. Reading is what I do to chill out and I cannot be more chill. Making videos is starting to feel forced and I haven't liked the last couple that I've made (they won't be posted, no worries.) I've just hit a wall and I sort of feel like I'm losing my mind. It's all internet loops, slippers and tea. Luckily, I just have about one more week of this before I can start packing, have a few things planned with friends and, you know, leave.
So that is me today. Just letting you guys know that I am not always interesting. For interesting things today, I give you this site, alcohol really close up and this gif of Liam. You're welcome. I'm going to go watch Torchwood. See you tomorrow.

Days til London: 20.

Relationship Advice

2011-08-21T10:49:00.000-07:00

Well, I think it is safe to say that I cannot believe that I am writing this. It is honestly something that I have been asked for years and while I never wrote it off, but just could not see myself sitting down to write it. Though I guess now is as good a time as any…let's talk about relationships.
Now, before you get excited, or whatever, we're not talking about my relationships. That would not only be way too personal, but also really awkward. For everyone involved. I just thought I'd try my hand at a little advice, sort of. I do not, by any means, claim to be an expert at these things. I'm not exactly bringing all of the boys to the yard (oh god) and the boys are, regrettably, not wishing their girlfriends were hot like me. However, I have some experience with different kinds of relationships and I know a bit about how what not to do in certain cases. Bear in mind: I am only nineteen, I am not a reliable source and it is not my fault if everything goes horribly wrong. Just…so we have that covered. So, I went to tumblr for some questions…let's do this…

How do you stay on good/decent terms with an ex?
Now, we're starting out in an area that is not exactly my expertise. The thing I cannot stress enough, however, is time. Do not hang out the day after you break-up. Even the week after you break up. You need to give it time to set in that the relationship is over. This doesn't mean you cannot talk to the other person, but do not go out the following day on a would-be-date-if-you-were-still-together. It will almost always lead to awkwardness and questioning the break-up. There was a reason you and that person broke up and no matter how comfortable it feels to just keep hanging out all of the time, you need to acknowledge that you are no longer together. I know it will feel like losing a best friend, but time will make the transition smoother. Also, it absolutely depends on whether or not you were the dumper or dumpee. If you ended the relationship, be very careful about the friend-zone, so that you do not give the wrong impression. You don't want the ex to think you regret the break-up. If you were the dumper, you don't want to seem like you're banging on the persons door wanting them back. Just give it a few days and feel it out slowly. If it was meant to work out, it will. And if the friendship ends up feeling forced and uncomfortable, than it wasn't really meant to be and you'll both feel it and move on.

How do you just say it already? How do you just tell someone (who isn’t clueless) that you like them as more than a friend?
As any of my friends will tell you, I am not an advocate of beating around the bush. I will always give the advice to just do it, or else you'll regret it. I understand that others have a harder time being as forward, but there is never a better time to break out of your shell than when you want to start a relationship. Entering a relationship or testing the waters with confidence is always better than being shy and awkward because you may give the wrong impression. Now, I'm not saying you want up to the person and start making out with them, though, I mean, if you want to…go for it and report back. I'd like to hear the story. What I'm saying is that you should make it known that you are interested. I think this was a girl who asked, so I'll add that you probably think guys are clueless about this sort of thing, but I've found that they usually aren't (unless they are fairly young). They are just as nervous as you and don't know if they are reading the signs right. Guys, same goes the other way. So much miscommunication can happen during this point of a relationship, so just be forward, confident and honest. That's really the best advice I can give without specifics. Ways of doing this could be asking pointed questions, planning on doing things and making it clear you'd like to do them together, without others, or just body language (moving closer to the person, touching their arm, things like that.)

Just let me take a pause right now to let you know that I do not take myself that seriously, so this blog is incredibly difficult for me. Alright, next one…

How do you get over someone?
There is nothing I can say that you haven't heard before. Time. It will suck for a while, sometimes a really freaking long while, but it will pass and you'll meet someone else who will make you a priority in the way the previous person did not. In the meantime, do fun things, hang out with friends, find creative projects, forget about that person. Don't read their blog or stalk them on Facebook or whatever the kids are doing these days (see what I did there?), just do your own thing. You are your own, awesome person who doesn't need him/her. In fact, if you really want to go all out, do something REALLY fantastic that will make them realise what they missed out on (write a great song, travel, etc). Just remember that if they did not appreciate you, they are not worth missing and you'll find someone - probably loads of someones - who will.

How do you make sure that your relationships with your friends and your boyfriends are balanced?
See, this is a really good question that I have definitely struggled with. There is that honeymoon period in a relationship, right when everything is new and interesting and you're both super into it, when everything else tends to go wrong. You slack on work, lose touch with friends, get behind on things, et cetera. I'd say the number one thing is to make sure you tell you're friends that if you let yourself get caught up in the relationship, they let you know. Sometimes a good kick is all we need to remember there are things other than holding hands and forming new inside jokes with a cute boy/girl. In addition, keep yourself in check by sending texts to your friends. Even if you are busy with the significant other for the time being, keep up with all of your friends' lives via text so that you don't fall totally behind. Also, remember how much fun it is to TALK about the significant other to the friends? Yeah. I know. It's the best. Make time for it!

Similarly…

What would you do if you want to spend more time with a friend but they are too focused on their boyfriend and keep turning you down?
Tell them! Be honest! Don't be a bitch, just let them know that it is bothering you or hurting you and ask if you can get together for coffee or a movie or something. If they are still turning you down, ask them when would be a good time for them. Put the ball in their court and see what happens. Also, keep in mind the honeymoon period I mentioned before. It sucks when our friends get so caught up in new relationships that they lose sight of their friends, but it won't last forever! They'll realise after a couple of weeks or months that they have isolated themselves and will likely come crawling (read: stumbling) back into your life. Greet them with open arms and let them know it is okay. And maybe slap them upside the head a bit. Just because it may be necessary.

I’ve liked this guy forever and we’re good friends. I thought I was getting somewhere and then he got a girlfriend! Was I not good enough?
That is not it at all. This situation could be one of the following a) he was too shy to go for you and didn't want to mess up the friendship, so he went for someone else, b) he was oblivious to your hints (see above) or c) he just didn't feel the same way and liked the other girl. Sometimes the answer cannot be found in a Disney Channel movie. Sometimes guys just like girls who aren't their best friends, but that does not mean he is a jerk or that you aren't good enough. It just means he liked someone else. I know it sucks because you like him, but just make sure to keep him as a friend and be happy that he found someone he likes and is, presumably, happy. That's really all you can do. Support him and he'll support you when you find someone new who likes you the way you deserve to be liked.

What do you do when you fall in love with your friend who only sees you as a friend?
This sort of goes with a previous answer or two, but I guess I just thought I'd answer it separately, as well. This happens all of the time, you aren't alone and it will be unpleasant. However, let's be honest, love is at its finest when reciprocated. Any feelings you have that are unrequited will never be quite as wonderful as when you meet someone who cares just as much. So just try to let it go. Hold that friend dear and don't let them go, because there is obviously a reason you care so much, but go out and meet other people. Just, again, let time pass and see what happens. (Broken record, Kayley, GOD.)

How can you distance yourself from building a certain criteria-checklist for a relationship?
Oh, this is interesting because it is not something I have ever had an issue with, to be honest. I suppose that you just have to relax a bit. Maybe shorten the list to two or three basic things and then just see what happens. The thing with lists is that if everyone you date checks off the same boxes, you more-or-less end up dating the same type of person. Just find someone you like talking to and go with the flow - start there. Things may not work out, but at least you'll have broken away from that list a bit.

How to communicate a problem to your significant other that might upset them?
Oh, this is tough. I think a lot of people would tell you to sugar-coat it, but I just say get to it. Let them know that it is a problem, but do make sure they know that it isn't a huge threat. Just be casual about it. Honest and casual. Do not blow it out of proportion, because that will just upset them more. If you're upfront, but not abrasive, they'll be more willing to work with you and try to understand.

How to flirt without using the shameful, cliche whore tricks?
Okay, this made me absolutely LOL. Well, here we go, flirting 101. (quick moment: I REALLY HOPE NO GUY I HAVE EVER BEEN INVOLVED WITH, AM INVOLVED WITH OR WILL BE INVOLVED WITH IN THE FUTURE READS THIS OH GOD.) Something a lot of my friends will tell you about me is that I am a massive flirt and I almost never know that I am doing it. I'm just a friendly person! What this probably means is that when I actually am attempting to flirt, I may be completely over the top. I'm not certain, though. So…take that into consideration. Flirting is something that is really dependent on the person and the location. Ask questions. "Favourite book: go." Things like that. It finds common ground, gives you a conversation and it's just fun to listen to people talk about themselves. People always say they don't like talking about themselves, but once you get them to open up, they'll appreciate you for it. In addition, questions like this can often lead to more telling things that are good to know before throwing yourself at someone (for example, they may hint that they are already in a relationship and you haven't yet embarrassed yourself too much to pull out of flirt-mode, yay!). Do not be afraid of being let down and do not be afraid of them not liking you. Confidence, confidence, confidence. It gets a bad reputation because it is often associated with cockiness or whatever, but honestly, it's attractive. It's just another thing you'll have going for your when you go out ON THE PROWL. Or whatever. Yup.

What is the best way to tell a really sweet guy that you just want to be friends?
I mean, I never got this hesitation. I'll be honest. I think you just said it perfectly. Obviously no one ever wants to hear the dreaded "let's just be friends," but I'm fairly certain there is really no way around it without giving the wrong impression. And even when saying that people get the wrong impression. You just have to tell it like it is and make sure they know that you actually want to be friends and not just that you know a line or two.

How do you know when you're ready to have sex?
Woah, this just got R-rated, or something. Children, step away from this blog post right now. You gone? Good. There is no hard and fast rule for this. What I can tell you is that if you are asking me this, you're probably not ready. What I can also tell you is that every year, almost 750,000 U.S. women between 15 and 19 become pregnant. So contraception is your friend. Your best friend, even. Do not have sex because you feel pressured by anyone at all, including yourself, or for the sake of having it. Have sex because you want to have sex with someone specific and feel comfortable and safe with that specific person and want to share the experience with them. I'm not saying wait until you're married, because not only is that sort of outdated, in my opinion, but I don't want to be a hypocrite. Just...take it slowly and make sure you're always on the same page with the person you're with. Be safe, be honest and trust your mind and your gut, not your hormones.

How many of you have I scared away or aliened after that one? Yeesh...

Every night at 11:11 I wished for this girl who's a close friend to be mine and after a few months it actually worked. But then during our relationship we began to talk less and less and we became more and more a part so I dumped her because I'm a stupid guy and thought everything would just go back to normal. Now we're pretty much strangers, is there any way I can become friends with her again?I think you definitely need to talk to her and tell her what you just told me. Tell her why you did what you did and how you feel now (once you figure out how that is). She should understand if you make it clear that you wanted to save the friendship above all else, because that is was is most important.

What is the protocol on liking somebody your friend likes? Seriously? What the hell do I do?
Alright. My answer is not going to be the answer most people would give you, but here we go. I have never been partial to friend codes along this line. I get bros before hoes, but I do not think it is up to you or your friend. It's up to the person you like. If he/she is into you, then go for it. If they're into your friend, be happy for your friend. Significant others will come and go and if you let something like this get in the way of your friendship, well, that's ridiculous. Obviously, results may vary because there could be back story or your friend could not be as accepting, but I just think that's silly. We cannot determine how others feel and why rid them of the opportunity of having a nice relationship because you have a crush? There are plenty of people out there and I think we all need to accept that sometimes people like other people. Rejection is good; it gives us new experiences and feelings to learn from. So essentially: no protocol, in my opinion. Let what will happen, happen and just roll with it. Also, talk to the friend if a relationship does form. Make sure they know that hormones come and go, but their friendship is important and that you hope that won't ruin it.

Is it inappropriate to tell a friend you don’t think his girlfriend and him are great together?
Yes, if you think it's really true, I'll always advocate for the honesty. Just be prepared to agree to disagree, because people generally don't take to such comments well, no matter the circumstances.We like comfort and we like to overlook the bad things in favour of keeping it.

Do you think a relationship can work when one person goes away for college, and the other is still in high school?
Honestly? I think it can, but don't recommend it. That is such a massive step in a persons life and I think going into it as a sort of clean slate is the best way to go about it. Where's the fun in starting fresh and simultaneously being held down? Man, I sound awful. While I know that is harsh, the one still in high school will understand. I do not hold the illusion that you'll be with your high school sweetheart forever; I'm not much of a romantic. College is a time for new experiences and the people I've know in relationships with girls/guys still in high school don't tend to have as much fun and the relationships don't tend to last long anyway. (Turkey dump, anyone?)

Porn. Love, hate, indifferent? Watch it sometimes? If someone does watch it does it change your opinion of them?
Hate. I do not use that word often, but there you go. I think it is disgusting, never realistic and, frankly, I don't find it hot at all. I don't really talk to people about their porn usage, as a general rule, but it doesn't change my opinion on them. It just sort of baffles me that people find it appealing, but to each their own and all of that.

Is it bad to not have had your first kiss by sixteen? I feel so behind everyone else.
No, no, no. Loads of people don't have their first kiss by sixteen or even later. Let things happen naturally and don't worry about it! You're not alone, promise.

No but seriously, HOW DO YOU DO long distance relationships? I just said goodbye last night, and it was heartbreaking.
I do/have done just about every kind of long distance friendship or relationship you can and I wish I could say those goodbyes get easier, but they don't, not really. It is all about prioritising one another. Finding times that work for both of you to come online and talk and give the relationship some sort of consistency and a bit of routine. Keeping a frequent dialogue via text or email or whatever really helps because it reminds you that even if they are across the world, you can still make it happen. So yeah, I suppose that's the general advice. I'll also add that if they are worth it, you'll never question what you're doing. It is when you start wondering why you're doing it if they are not bothering to put in the effort or you're thinking more about how far away that person is, rather than how great that person is, that you need to talk to that person. Get on the same page and figure out what is or is not working and where to go. Communication and honesty, like I've said for basically every question, ha.

And finally, the inevitable...
Are you still with [insert name here]? Who are you dating?
No, but now that this post is done, I got a hot date with this guy. Jealous?

This was fun/interesting. I have another list of friendship-related questions that I'll put up either tomorrow or in a couple of days. However, I may do another relationship one at some point. If you have more questions, feel free to submit them as comments on this post or here. I hope something in here helped and that I didn't just waste these few precious hours in the middle of the night (it's 2am). Sorry, again, if I sounded like a broken record or anything. Have a great Sunday!

Days till London: 21. I leave in three weeks! Packing will be acceptable soon.

Playlist of the Moment

2011-08-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

I've been staring at this post for ages, without much to say. We're taking my brother to the airport today and he is off to teach in Greece (after stops in Rome and Istanbul - jealous doesn't quite cover it, if I'm honest!) Other than that, I don't have anything exciting to share and I'm not really in much of a bloggin' mood. So I thought write my current playlist. These are the songs I've been listening to a lot in the past week or so, check 'em out!

Si tu vois ma mère - Sidney Joseph Bechet.
Time After Time - Margaret Whiting.
Forget About - Sibylle Baier.
Smile - Nat King Cole.
Ripchord - Rilo Kiley. (Also, check out Nessa's AMAZING video.)
Daydreamer - Adele.
Sing Sung Saing - Peggy Honeywell.
As Time Goes By - Casablanca version.
The End - Sibylle Baier.
Untrust Us - Crystal Castles.
Debut - Eddplant.
Moon River - Audrey Hepburn.
Atlantic - The Midway State.
As Far As I Can - Greg Holden. (Live version with Lex, yay!)

Oh! One more thing! My friend Tom (Milsom) recently released his new album, Explorers 6, and it is fantastic. My other friend, Ed (Blann/Plant), also released an EP entitled Picture Unrelated which is also fantastic. Check them out and admire how much more talent they have at everything compared to me, yeah? Sounds like a plan! Enjoy the tunes. x

Day til London: 22.

American Stonehenge

2011-08-19T13:11:00.000-07:00

"Let's do something really, really American."

"Okay, okay…Like what?"

"Well, Montana is really American. You can't find Montana anywhere else in the world."

"This is true…But we're not going to Montana."

"…Did you know there is a Stonehenge Memorial in Washington?"

"Get in the car."

That was, more or less, the conversation that Emma and I shared before heading off on our adventure yesterday. We hopped in the car and drove for four hours, stopping once at a view point to view all of the points and eventually, after getting briefly lost, ended up in Klickitat County, Goldendale, WA. Along the way, there were a lot of rocks and even more signs informing us of them, we drove so far the temperature increased over 20 degrees and we left civilisation for a rather extended period of time. Seriously, Central Eastern Washington is pretty barren of life, from what I gathered, and those who do live there have acres and acres of farmland, whose cows we spotted. (Mostly Emma spotted them, I was much better at 'horse!')

So yes, at the end of the journey…there was Stonehenge. A brief history of this monument is that it was built by a road builder named Sam Hill, who was inspired by the original Stonehenge and the fact that it have been used as a sacrificial site. He constructed the American one as a reminder that "humanity is still being sacrificed to the god of war."

Unlike the original Stonehenge, which is aligned to the midsummer sunrise, this one was fixed to the astronomical horizon purely for the purpose of being a good vantage point for an eclipse that occurred on June 8th, 1918. Which just essentially means that it is pretty much impossible to use at an astronomical calendar, but that it was a PERFECT spot to sit for that one astronomic event. Good going, boys.

We could not have picked a more perfect day to go, to be honest. We arrived around 6pm, the sun hit the monument perfectly. Right on the other side of the monument was the Columbia River and, on the other side of the river, Oregon. With giant turbines above on the hills, spinning in the sunshine, very few cars driving along the dirt roads on the bluff…so picturesque.

However, due to the fact that before we left, we didn't really know where we were going, I didn't even think to bring my actual camera and only had my camcorder. Hence the less-than-great photos in this post. Ah well. There will be a video, at some point. After some of the most serene moments of my life, we hopped in the car, drove an hour in before stopping at a Denny's to order a heart attack - I mean fried cheese sandwich composed of bread, cheese, MOZZARELLA STICKS, cheese, bread - and made the final three hour journey back to Seattle.

Some of the hi-lights of the drives there and back were almost deciding to go to Montana instead once we saw there was another car driving there (or we assumed so because he was driving east and had a Montana license plate.) Signs every few miles claiming 'ROCKS' whenever there was a cliff-side with, you guessed it, rocks. A warning that the highway would be closed for 'rock blasting,' because this was a very rock-heavy roadtrip. Goldendale's Main Street, which consisted of...next to nothing. The Nomad Mountain Outlaws. Some chicken roadkill. Mamma Mia sing-alongs. Fruit stands every thirty seconds while going through Yakima. And all the while, chastising Liam on both Skype and Twitter for watching My Little Pony.

Just another Thursday. I'll see you guys tomorrow. x

Days till London: 23.

Autumn Sweater

2011-08-18T12:31:00.000-07:00

Jo Rowling really is a remarkable woman. I am currently watching her "Who Do You Think You Are?" special, where she tracks through her family history to learn more about her great grandfather and it's just a really beautiful story. She comes from a long line of Gryffindors, to say the least. The link I have found to watch it is here, but don't count on it being up long! Other than that, I am just drinking some tea and looking forward to seeing a good friend this afternoon. While the summer sun that has been (finally) shining in Seattle this week is fantastic, I can't help but long to bring my autumn wardrobe out. As you can imagine, I don't really have the most ideal clothing for summer time and find myself getting bored with wearing the same things over and over. However, I've never felt it necessary to build a large summer wardrobe since it's so short here. (A decision I did regret while packing for weeks in Florida and Los Angeles, but I digress.) I thought I'd just do another style inspiration compilation post. Till tomorrow! x

Days till London: 24. I'll have just spent my first night in my new room one month from now.

Half Asleep / Half Awake

2011-08-17T12:25:00.000-07:00

It is currently 2am, I have been editing since about 9pm and I decided that this would be an appropriate time to write my BEDA post for tomorrow. Today. Whatever. Want a sneak peak of what the video is about? Well, I'll just tell you regardless of your answer may have been. The footage was taken last weekend when I went to spend time with family at my grandfathers cabin on Lake Cavanaugh. I was really excited to get a lot of footage and while I did get plenty for the video, the weather was not really optimal and I didn't get specific things that I had intended on getting. Sigh, oh well. The video is turning out fairly well, I think/hope. I am having one giant issue with a cropped/recentered shot not showing up in playback, which is driving me crazy. I even exported the video to see if it was a playback issue and it was not. So I've had to call it a night until I can get a hold of MHoney to tell me what I messed up on. As per usual. By the way, the video is set to the beautiful music of this guy right here. His name is James and as you can see if you check out any of his videos, he is extraordinarily talented. I'm very fortunate to be using his music, even though I am only using about a third of the song for the video, since I didn't have enough footage for a four minute video. Travesty, I know, but I tried to make it work.
Alright, no one cares about a video they aren't going to see for…I have no idea when it will be posted. My lack of social life and general activity at all has lead to me creating a pretty decent backlog of videos. As in, I have enough videos for the next couple of weeks. And those that aren't completed have at least been filmed or planned out in great detail (I don't really script vlogs and such, but I do always have decent notes.) In addition to the borderline obsessive recording/editing, I have been baking. It's getting a bit out of hand. There have been cookies, a pie, delicious vanilla honey pound cake and I am making dinner tonight, which means mac and cheese cupcakes. You read that right. I am so excited. May also make these peanut butter and jelly bars for dessert.
Man, this post makes me feel particularly lame, for some reason. If anyone happened to click on my blog today thinking 'hm, wonder what Kayley's up to?' they'd probably agree. 'Oh, she's just…talking to a camera and making baked goods. Hm. Thrilling.' Alright. I'm starting to invent characters that dislike me, I think that means I need to stop blogging. If you want something a little more intellectually stimulating than the likes of me sitting on my couch, or something, go read the post I wrote yesterday. Actually, I wrote it a couple of weeks ago. But posted it yesterday. Unimportant details. Alright. Sleep. I think I'll come back to this in the morning.
Well, it's morning. Actually, it's noon. I went for a walk and got 88% dark chocolate and iced coffee and that has been my morning. Nothing else to report, so I'm BEDA'd out for the day. xx

Days until London: 25.

Home

2011-08-16T15:45:00.000-07:00

When you spend frequent, fairly extended amounts of time away from the place you consider home, you came to find a definite sense of serenity in the warmth of your own bed or the reliability of butter to make cookies with in the fridge. It becomes a place you come back to after dealing with a crazy vacation or a long day. Living in the same house my whole life, sans a few months when I was 9 while it was being remodeled and technically living in a residence hall this past year at school, my home has never wavered. I have never not known where I would always belong and be loved. And while the latter will always be true, I hope, the former seems to have changed.
Maybe it was the fact that I was meant to be moving out of this house for good a year ago and have had to come back for the summer, maybe it is because this house was merely a refuge to me at the end of all of those miserable weeks at school between my adventures or maybe I just spent too much time in June sitting around, but this no long feels like home. It was something I noticed after LeakyCon, even though I was definitely aware of it before I left. However, it didn't hit me until a friend from high school came round between LeakyCon and VidCon. He said to me "I'll see you when you come home" and I had this moment of "I don't think this is home anymore. But I don't know what is." I think of it as a bit of an anti-Harry moment. I was right with him on that train leaving Hogwarts, except I wasn't leaving my real home, but realizing I did not really have one anymore.
There is all sorts of home-related bullshit out there. "Home is where the heart is" and all of that. But when you have as many different people around the world who you care deeply about, you know that is not really the case. If home is where the heart is, my heart is split far more than Voldemort's soul. I have always seen home as where my parents and dogs are. Where most of the crap I've had since I was an infant and don't want but have to keep for the children my mother thinks I will have but that I know I won't is hidden away in the attic. To be honest, it has been a while since I have held any sort of fantasy of staying in one place for an extended period of time again. There is a HUGE FREAKING WORLD out there and I want to live in all of it's little cracks and corners at some point (though, hopefully not actually in a corner somewhere. I would like a bed of some sort at each location.) But this house in a suburb outside of Seattle was always going to be my technical home.
Don't get me wrong, I think it could very well be a product of an over-enthusiastic traveler who has gotten lucky this year by flying all over the country at least once a month, but I think it is more than that. I've written before how we convince ourselves that places can change us. We think that by going to a certain location and having those experiences there that we will come out a different person. I worried that they wouldn't, but I feel as though I've proved myself wrong. Maybe so much happens to you when you leave your home that coming back means that you're bring with you this new sense of self that your home could never understand. Perhaps every time we walk out of our doors is just one step away from our childhood home. One step towards something else, whether we know where that is or not. I certainly don't. What I do know is that now I have a Visa in hand and the next flight I board will hopefully take me to a place where I can hopefully find that sense of home once more. Till tomorrow.

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."

Days till London: 26.

My Place

2011-08-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

I posted this video today and so I figured I'd just attach a really short blog post to go with it, since I'm not up to much today except dealing with personal issues. This video started as a test video. I have about five test videos in FCP just waiting to become something. Somewhere along the line, this video went from some footage and effects to something more, so I decided to write a little bit about what Disneyland has always meant to me and turn it into a video. Yes, it's short, but it didn't really need more.
Disneyland was a getaway when I was younger. We would go as a family once or twice a year for about five days and never got bored. Sure, we fought, but at the end of the day, we were happy to be there together. As I grew up, my family and I stopped going places together and I went alone. It never feels the same, though. I love visiting with my friends, but it really is an entirely different experience. I no longer feel that I want to be there for five days. I can go one day and year and it will keep me happy all year round. It was my first second home, if that makes sense. The first place, other than my house, that comforted me and reminded me how lucky I am to be alive. I owe Disney and Disneyland a lot, I do. And while I feel I have grown out of my intense Disney phase, I will never think less of this beautiful place. I hope my short video represents that.
Let me know if you guys have a place of this sort. It's really interesting to see what places mean a lot to others. See you tomorrow. x

Days till London: 27.

Game of Thrones Opinion

2011-08-14T12:49:00.001-07:00

Today, I wanted to talk about Game of Thrones. I've been trying to watch this show for about a month now, but I have been watching it incredibly slowly. The reason being that I just did not like the first couple of episodes and having just finished the sixth, well, nothing has changed. This seems to have taken a lot of people by surprise, so I guess I just wanted to explain why it hasn't appealed to me.

The characters. I don't really care about…any of them…And when I said this to a friend, she said it was one of the most character driven shows ever. Having watched a hell of a lot of television, I cannot say I agree at all, but I think I know why I don't. GoT has a lot of characters with a lot of backstory and I cannot care about that many people in a show. There is a reason most shows have principle casts of six or seven people and that is because most television watchers like to relate and form emotional connections with a small number of characters, not the entire bloody show. I can't remember most of the characters names, let alone form any sort of attachment to them. In addition, they all sort of suffer from what I see as the River Song complex, which is to say I am meant to care. The writers want me to give a shit about every little backstory and I feel like I'm being forced into it for some reason and I just don't.
The shock value. It's HBO, so let's be honest, I saw this coming. I do not have a problem with sex or blood or gore, but this is just ridiculous. Every fourth shot is blood GUSHING from a body or blowjobs or rough sex or boobs and I don't feel like it adds to the story. There is a way to show gore and make it feel real. There is a way to have sex be sexy and not just there to show that THE MEN LIKE IT ROUGH AHHH MEN ARE TOUGH. You can write it off as historically accurate or whatever, but that doesn't make the format and way of going about the sex and the violence classy. HBO is a big fan of just over the top for the sake of shock and that's all I really feel when I watch these scenes. Blood does not squirt like that. God.
And finally, I suppose the hype may have played into it. I was super excited by everyone talking about it and Sean Bean, who I adore, being involved. This definitely is not the only reason, though, so don't write off my dislike of the show as too much hype.

Overall, I think the acting is great and the writing is pretty decent, I just think it lacks emotion. I like the Stark family. No, well, mostly just Ned, Bran and Arya. And mostly just the latter two because they are sort of adorable and have interesting story lines going for them. I think I'll probably watch the remaining few episodes and watch when it comes back. Let this day be remembered as the day where I gave a bad review and did not enjoy a television show. History in the making, guys. See you tomorrow. x

Days till London: 28.

Hyde Family Gathering Tales

2011-08-13T21:54:00.000-07:00

Well, well, well, I believe this is my latest VEDA this month! And it's not even because I was lazy, guys. I was doing real things with real people. I know, you're all impressed. So today I went up to my grandfather's cabin on Lake Cavanaugh today with some of my family. I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but my older brother, Andrew, is going to Greece this summer to teach an introductory level Greek class from his university and he leaves next Saturday. He'll be getting back to Seattle about a week after I leave, so essentially this is the second to last day that I will see him until Christmas. (I'll be taking him to the airport with my parents on Saturday). So in honor of the fact that he is leaving soon and two of my cousins are headed off to universities in Oregon and I am going to London, we wanted to have a last hurrah of sorts at the cabin.
The cabin is somewhere that I spent a lot of my childhood, but children have a tendency to block out the less than ideal bits of memories and all I can remember is climbing the giant hallow tree stump thing, inner-tubing and doing flips on the dock. However, as a young adult or whatever I am now, I have slightly more dismal memories of overcast days and waiting for a break of sun so that I can go seadooing real quick before the rain comes down. Today was no different, I'll be honest. It was lovely for about an hour, but before long, we were ushered indoors by a chilly wind because, you know, it's only AUGUST. Ugh, freaking Washington, get it together. Other than that, though, it was great to hang out with my family and all of that good stuff.
I do have two brief stories to tell. Firstly, we always stop at this old school burger place on the way home from the cabin for ice cream and despite the cold, we never fail to hold that tradition. So we went in and crammed my parents, brother, grandma, one of my cousins, my aunt and myself into a single booth. Something to note about my family is that, well, we're hardly PG-13 when it comes to our discussions and language. (What, Kayley isn't 14 and SWEARS? I know, you're shocked.) My brother, in particular, is really loud and pretty foul mouthed and he happened to find a magazine containing the article "How to tell your children about sex." He began to read his favorite excerpts out loud, much to the dismay and objection of the table, and there was a certain bit about a parenting class that took it to a whole new level. I believe it went something along the lines of "some parents at these meetings cannot believe I would utter the word 'masturbation,' while others go so far as to ask 'can you teach my child to masturbate?'" While it was not surprising that my whole family burst into laughter, what was really great was that the man sitting across the fairly empty restaurant LOST it and was laughing harder than we all were. It was just incredibly perplexing and my dad and grandmother decided they had been humiliated enough (all in good fun, not really upset) and darted out before he could continue reading. We dispersed shortly after, all still chortling.
Another interesting anecdote was when we were getting back on the highway and I halted STOP to my mom, ripped out my camera to film THE MIRKWOOD AND SHIRE CAFE. After a bit of googling, I realized that this little building was entirely named after Middle Earth locations, like Mordor Tattoos and Rivendell Hair. I cannot believe such a place existed and I never knew. The Shire Cafe, which is vegetarian!, even calls it's menu the Misty Mountain Menu! Insane! I must go back before I head off to London because that is just too awesome. I really hope I don't go in and find it's a huge letdown. Judging by the website alone, that is a distinct possibility, but who knows? I am willing to give it a shot.
And with that, I am off. I hear my brother talking about Easy A and how he hasn't seen it, so I think I may convince him to watch it. I'll talk to you guys tomorrow. x

Days till London: 26.

The Help (review)

2011-08-12T10:43:00.000-07:00

I generally don't like reviewing things just after I have seen them because emotions lead to bias which leads to a review I may not necessarily agree with the following day. However, I just got back from The Help and my feelings towards it are not really likely to change, so I figured I'd just go for it while it is still fresh.
I'll admit that I did not read the book when I walked into this film. There are certain films in which I feel alright doing this because I know that neither will really impact my viewing experience. I'm really good at separating books from films and not letting one or the other change the way I feel. Even after seeing the film, I'm not entirely sure if I want to read the book, despite hearing that it is incredible. I do not really know why this is, but I felt like this was just a short snippet I should throw into this review for those of you who may ask. I may read it yet, but I have a tall stack of books to make it through before considering it. Sorry if I have alienated book before film purists, but I feel art can be experienced in any order and still be enjoyable. Do what you want with your lives and all of that. Now, onto the review.
I went into The Help the day after its release knowing absolutely nothing about what others had been saying and with only the trailers explanation on what it was about. (If you, too, know nothing about it, go read the non-spoiler 'plot' on the wikipedia page here since I have a tendency to not really give summaries in my reviews.) I am not ashamed to admit that I will pretty much see any film that Emma Stone decides to take part in and I have not been shaken on that stance yet. I'll let you know once I've seen Crazy, Stupid, Love, I suppose. There is something really incredible about walking into a small town cinema full of middle aged book club lovers, all jabbering excitedly about what they hope from the film - it really gave me perspective on what my friends and I must have looked like on that fateful Deathly Hallows release date last month. With the energy high, I sat back to enjoy what I did not realize would be a nearly two and a half hour film. The best part? I didn't feel for a second that the film was dragging or wonder how much longer it was or anything. I mean, sure, I have a pretty fantastic attention span in cinemas most of the time, but that is pretty damn long for a non-epic film. And it was good.
Some films are appalling. Not because they poorly made, not acted well or terribly written, but because they make us face the reality of who and what we are or once were. In this way, and no other, The Help was just that: appalling. It dealt with sensitive issues with ease and difficulty all at the same time and had you picking sides more excitedly than I ever do when I watch sports movies. This film was carried beautifully by Emma Stone as Skeeter, who *can* do drama brilliantly, and Viola Davis as Aibileen, whose powerful voice also served as narration. Tearing apart 1960s white supremacy in film has never been so badass with them at the forefront. Other particularly impressive roles were that ofJessica Chastain, who played Celia Foote and was just so hilarious and tragic, as well as, believe it or not, the little girl who played Mae Mobley (or, as I just found out, twin girls Eleanor and Emma Henry). They were just heartbreaking.
While there were a few major leads, the writing had you caring for or wishing a rude awakening on even the smallest characters. The only major issue I had with the writing is that sometimes, so much can be said without saying anything and I will never write a review without praising silence. (Although, slight spoilers, there was an absolutely brilliant moment of silence as Aibileen left towards the end). Other than that, each character was full to the brim with personality and life, which i one of the major reasons I felt like I was in the middle of this world for two and a half hours, not sitting in a poorly-cushioned old fashioned theatre chair.
As for actual cinematography, I have to admit I did not notice anything particularly impressive. The score is also not too memorable just a couple hours later. But with the story as rich as it was, these things did not detract from the experience. Though I can see how the filmmakers sort of tried and failed to make the city itself, Jackson, Mississippi, a character in its own right. While the setting was integral, I would not say it was much more memorable outside of the fried chicken one of the characters prepared with such love.
In two sentences for my Flixster account, I wrote the following: Bursting with life, empowerment and honesty, I found The Help to be extraordinarily appalling, in the best way possible, and beautiful. Carried so brilliantly by Emma Stone and Viola Davis, this is a film to remember. Maybe not a must see for everyone, this is definitely for those rich story, character lovers, it is something I'll remember for a while. Let me know what you think if you have seen it!

Days till London: 30.

Seeing Films Alone 101

2011-08-11T16:54:00.000-07:00

I got a comment the other day from a guy named Odi and it was as follows:

"Hey, Kayley, do you often go to the cinemas alone? I'm not sure whether it's more normal to do that in the US than here, but in England (at least concerning the people I know) it's pretty weird. There are usually a bunch of films I want to see out, but I end up missing them and having to wait for DVD because none of my friends want to watch them (they only ever want to watch Captain America-esque stuff).
I've been toying with the idea of just ignoring this social convention that seems to have materialised, deeming it necessary to have company at the cinema, and just taking to the screens alone, but I don't know. If you do do it, how does it feel? Is it lonely or is it better to concentrate on the film? Does it feel like people are judging you because you're alone?"

I actually get asked this a lot, so I figured I'd write up a quick blog post answering it before I go see The Help (with my mom, not alone.) Essentially, the answer is yes.
In America, I suppose it is probably just as strange to go see films alone, but I'm a big believer in doing things by yourself from time to time and I understand that sometimes people don't want to see certain things, so I just go alone. If I have the choice between going alone or not seeing something, I will obviously pick the former. I'm really passionate about film and I like to see as many films as I can. Also, and I'm not looking for sympathy here, I don't have that many friends in the area I live. As you guys know, my friends are scattered across the world and I don't really have the privilege of calling them up to go see a film. I learn to make do.
In the past year, especially, I have seen about 80% of the films I have seen by myself. It's not really a conscious decision for me, to be honest. It's just me thinking 'I want to see this' and I go see it. Sometimes, if I think a family member or a friend would be interested, I'll ask them to come along. It's just something I've always done and being walking distance from four cinemas while living in the city was a special kind of heaven for me, so I would see things whenever I could afford to, pretty much. I never really feel lonely. It always confused me while people go on first dates to see films, because films are not a time to get to know someone. I'm not paying anywhere between $7 and $12 to hang out with a friend, haha. I am paying money to have an experience. I also like to take notes when I see films, and people I take with me tend to find that a bit strange. But generally, I feel like I have pretty much the same experience whether or not there is someone I know sitting in the seat beside me. And lastly, if people are judging me, I don't really care. I'm self-sufficient and if they are wasting their ten dollar ticket analyzing my motives for seeing something alone, then that's really their issue, not mine xD
That was an incredibly haphazard answer. To summarize, yes and it's pretty much no different to me than seeing something with someone. But then again, I like to get lost in films and have a pretty solid attention span. So…results may vary. Or something. See you tomorrow! x

Days till London: 31, one month from today, yaaay!
Miles walked today: 3.

Withheld

2011-08-10T20:37:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot about how much of ourselves we give to other people. I think we live in an unusually closed off world, where we are afraid of saying too much or acting on our feelings more than is socially acceptable. There's also a certain amount of fear involved. Whether it's opening up to a friend or to the entire internet, it is hard to tell how much is too much and what the right time is to let others know certain things. We build walls or bridges or whatever metaphoric structures you prefer and only let others in when we're sure that they are worth it. And while, yes, this is a practical method, I think we spend too much time thinking about the consequences of telling people things verses the consequences if we don't.
I don't know if that really makes sense. I suppose this was brought on to the fact that I got a comment on a video from a non-troll, genuinely asking what my hobbies were outside of re-reading the Harry Potter books. Now, I'll be honest, at first, I laughed at this. But after a couple hours, I remembered it again and I get a little worried that there is someone out there who thinks one of my hobbies is actually sitting around re-reading Harry Potter. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Potter, but it's not like I just sit in my room all day going through the books. And this lead me to thinking about how much of my life I share with the internet. I suppose that if you just watch my videos, a lot of them ARE about Harry Potter. You may not see that lately, I've spent most of my day drawing, watching television and talking to my friends on Skype. You don't know how important my friends are to me or how worried I am about money or how great the cookies I just made are. Which isn't the fault of anyone. These aren't really things that I need to share with people who, yes, care about me, but don't really know who I am when I'm not on a screen. And because of the fact that I hold things back, people tend to assume things about me that are not true, or at least not fully. Despite my trivial example involving a commenter thinking I spend my days curled up on my bed with a good book I've read hundreds of times, it's more than that. There's just as much of a risk when withholding information as there is with sharing it.
This thought pattern is not really going to change anything about my videos, in case you were wondering. I'm not about to get really personal with you because, you know, it's the internet and you can only tell strangers so many things before you have creepers knocking down your door (your metaphoric internet door and, like, your actual door.) But I am an incredibly hyper-aware person when it comes to divulging personal information and so these are the types of things I think about. And besides, I think I'm pretty damn honest with you guys as it is. Seriously, what more do you want from me? (For the record, my Social Security number is off-limits.)
I guess the moral of this story is to not be so sheltered with yourself. Whether it be your friends or someone who you may really care about, open up. Sure, it's a risk, but what's the use in being alive if you aren't going to celebrate exactly who you are with people you care about? You're probably pretty freaking awesome, so share a little more of yourself with the world and see what happens. If it's good, report back and if it's not, um, hey look a puppy! Secrets are great, but sometimes it's even more fun to share them with people. I'll talk to you guys tomorrow.

Days till London: 32.
Episodes of The Hour watched today: 4, all caught up & it is SO GOOD.

Excuses, aka the one where I have friends.

2011-08-09T18:37:00.000-07:00

See, I would really like to blog today, I would. I even had a fun night which I probably could have written about. (Game night at Mammoth Caves, aka Kristina's house, was super awesome.) But instead I have spent the day catching up on Secret Life (don't judge, it's hilarious), Torchwood (the latest episode OMGWTF) and Alphas (so gooood). I also rewatched an episode of Sherlock (still amazing everytime). And then, Marion and Sanne called me and I simply cannot turn down girl talk to blog! That would be rude and anti-social of me. And now, Emily and Kassie are calling me and Emily is moving to Italy soon and I can't miss any opportunities to talk to her. So, you have to understand why I can't blog today, right? …Right? That's what I thought. I will be a good little BEDA blogger tomorrow, unless I catch up on The Hour (spies are brilliant, so this must be) and finish catching up with Game of Thrones (only on episode 4 - don't quite get the appeal yet.)
I know. My life is thrilling. Once again, here is a Vidcon photo, or set of phootbooth photos, with Sam, Liam and Matt. Aren't we just adorable? :P Till tomorrow. x

Days till London: 33.
Episodes of television watched today: 4.
Predicted for tonight: An unhealthy amount.

Paranoia

2011-08-08T12:08:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I worry about letting you guys into my insane inner psyche, because weird things happen and some of them really don't deserve to have the audience of thousands of people. However, today is not a day to worry about that because I want to talk about irrational fears. Well, they're not really fears. See, I have this thing with fears and that thing is that I think they are stupid. You should not fear something until it's a threat. There is no use fearing a shark unless the shark is about to eat your foot. There is no use fearing heights unless someone is forcing you to be perched on the edge of a 50 story building. Sure, you can argue that things like the losing someone, death, et cetera make sense to fear, but I have faced those and while they are awful, I cannot fear them. Fearing them won't make them stop happening.
However, I have this sort of…thing. Where I worry about weird shit happening and I don't know why. Let me give you an example so I sound less ridiculous. I have this weird sense of paranoia over things I care a lot about. I wear these bracelets that say 'Kayley' and 'Andrew' on them and I am very protective over them. To the point where a few weeks ago, I took them off in the car before I went to get my nails done and ACTUALLY thought 'if this car blows up, I don't want to lose those' and put them in my pocket. Like. What. If this car, sitting here in the parking lot, completely off, BLOWS UP, then the worst case scenario is that my leather bracelets are lost. If that isn't weird enough, I sometimes almost fall asleep while watching things on my laptop. Don't lie, you do it, too. And the other night, I was too tired to go put it on my window seat or chair, so I went to put it on the floor by my bed. Much to my dismay (not really, though, cause I love it when this happens), my dog was asleep next to the bed. So I slid the laptop, Hodgins is his name, past where my dog was stealing its spot and under the bed and turned around to go to sleep. After about two minutes of slight panic, I got out of bed, clambered over Winnie, the aforementioned dog, took the laptop out and put it on my chair. Why, you may be asking? Because I was actually thinking, 'if this bed falls, my laptop won't stand a chance.' If the bed I have been sleeping on for years and years suddenly, for no reason at all, collapses…my laptop would be under it, in pieces.
I don't know why you read this stuff, guys, I'm freaking crazy. Hope you enjoyed this brief glimpse into my paranoia. It only seems to exist with my dearest material objects, though. Fiercely over-protective, I suppose. Have a great day!

Days until London: 34.
Lists made today: 3.

Troll 4ever

2011-08-07T22:07:00.000-07:00

My day has consisted of coffee, listening to my brother complain about things and rediscovering The Veronicas on my iPod. Remember them? Classic. (Not really. But I like them. But don't tell anyone.)
The only thing of real interest that happened today was that I went into a bookstore in a town near where my brother lives in northern Washington and found nerdfighter notes in John Green's books. One of them even suggested that the reader check out the new Chameleon Circuit album, Still Got Legs. After digging for a pen in my bag, I realized I must have made the terrible mistake of leaving one behind and therefore could not add to this note. When I told Liam about the notes, he asked what I would have written and I confessed that I hadn't thought that a far ahead. We decided I should have just written troll comments on the notes and hopefully start a flame war that I would never see come to fruition because I do not live near the bookstore. I may have to do this in a more local bookshop, just to see what happens. You see my trollin'…
Alright, apologies for this less than riveting tale, but I think there is food somewhere in this house and it is calling my name. Can't keep it waiting! Below is another attractive photo of Jimmy, Mike, Sam, Hayley and I dancing on stage to "Don't Unplug Me" at Vidcon. You're welcome.

Days til London: 35. Speaking of which, I hope everyone in London is safe and sound despite the riots going on! I do not know much about them, as I have just gotten home and haven't had a chance to look into it, but I hope all is well with you.

When it Strikes

2011-08-06T15:47:00.000-07:00

This post was going to start with the question 'do you ever have nights where you feel really, truly inspired?', but I realized I would be too worried if you answered 'no,' so I'm starting it with a rhetorical question. You know those nights where you are overwhelmed with inspiration? Well, last night was, in fact, one of those glorious nights. While I wish I could say that a lot came out of this night of inspiration, I cannot. I did, however, do a lot of brainstorming and getting excited. But that happens a lot and follow through is not really my thing when it comes to video ideas. I'm weirdly persistent in every other area of my life, however, so can't complain too much.
However, I thought I'd just talk a bit about the things that are currently inspiring me in various areas of my life. Music-wise, I've been listening to a lot of Admiral Fallow, The Head and the Heart and The Social Network score. I can't believe after all of this time, I can listen to "Hand Covers Bruise" and "In Motion" and still feel invigorated and creative. The former is a song which haunts my video maker dreams and were it not for copyright infringement, I would be spending night and day making the perfect video around it. Currently, I am reading Miss Pettigrew's Home for Peculiar Children and, as always, Ransom Riggs is a dream in both video and prose. As you know, I saw Midnight in Paris the other night (I have decided to review it when I feel like sitting down and thinning about it for a while) and I found that to be weirdly inspiring, as well. I mean, it is a beautifully shot film, but there was something else about it that had me reeling as I left. Video-wise, as ever, Marion continues to put out brilliant work even though she will never agree with everyone. Also, I found this series of videos on moving, learning and eating the other day on vimeo and I am just in awe of them. So fantastic and so gorgeous. Content I could only dream of creating. There are also random places I feel compelled to mention, like this artist, the new Like Crazy trailer and old videos by Levi.
As a result of all of this artistic stimulation, if you will, I've just been going between creative endeavors. A little drawing, teaching myself new tricks on Final Cut and, as ever, list writing on videos I plan to make and places I need to go. Thoughts of flight and travel have also been filling my mind, which is nothing knew. But this time, the thoughts have been shared with Marion and we are making real plans to do real things when we are really living in London and it's all just too much. I cannot wait to let it all begin, for reality to come sprinting, full-force, into me in a way it only does at the start of an adventure. If you're tired of hearing me talk about it, you better leave now because I will probably only be getting more obnoxious as the month rolls on.
Let me know what is currently inspiring you and maybe it'll do the same for me. Until tomorrow! xx

Days until London: 36.
Variations of the word 'inspire' in this post: Too many.

Double Rainbow

2011-08-05T12:33:00.000-07:00

Since today is going to be spent going through bags of old clothing and figuring out what to sell versus what to donate, I thought I'd share with you this picture to make up for lack of actual interesting content. It makes me laugh so much. WE'RE JUST SO INTO IT. So, yes, I hope you enjoy that. I saw Midnight in Paris last night and it was exceptionally lovely and I am still decided if I'll actually bother to write a full review or not. I would recommend catching it while it is still in cinemas, though. Also, I finally booked my flight to London and now it is actually happening and omg so excited. All I need is my visa and I'm outta hurrr. See you guys tomorrow!

Days till London: 37.

Anger Management

2011-08-04T18:50:00.000-07:00

These are things that I do when I am angry and frustrated, or at least what I did last night when I was both of those things, lolz. I'm fine now, but I thought it'd make an interesting, quick blog:

Watch Jenna Marbles videos over and over. That girl is a freaking genius, guys, I can't even handle it. She makes me laugh more than anything else, recently.
Blast Florence and the Machine. Not entirely sure why this one worked, but it did.
Write lists. I find list writing soothing, even if the list is "things I need to buy before London" and they are all things I cannot afford.
Plan videos I will record when I acquire the camera of my dreams (Canon t3i because it's just fancy enough to be perfect, but not over the top. Let's remember, this is YouTube, I'm not filming The freaking Hobbit with it.)
Tea. Lots of it.
Share secrets with Paige and Todd.
This video. SO. HYSTERICAL.
Julie & Julia. Seriously, that film calms me for some reason. So does An Education. And the cast commentary of Lord of the Rings.

I'm usually fine after the Jenna Marbles, but I figured I'd make a full list out of it. xD What do you guys do when you are angry or frustrated? Let me know and I will file it away for future reference. Okay, gotta dash now. Finally seeing Midnight in Paris. Not an Owen Wilson fan, but I'll take an hour and a half of eye candy in the form of Paris. Blog ya tomorrow!

Days till London: 38.

AccioDragon197

2011-08-03T10:42:00.000-07:00

I felt like I wrote a lot last night, so I'll balance it out today by saying that I am officially a part of the Pottermore Class of 2011 as AccioDragon197. I would have been on sooner but my reasoning is that the first night I was dancing my ass off all night, next night I was recovering and then Tuesday morning, I had important things to do and couldn't be up at 3am registering and such. But that doesn't matter because I am here now! And happy to be so. Going along with that, here is a conversation I had with Liam that he shared with tumblr and therefore I will share with this blog. I swear, I am normally a good person. Sort of. Maybe.

Kayley Hyde: I feel like a selfish bitch, but I wish that only the first million got Pottermore xD I don't want everyone being magical
Liam Dryden: LOL
Kayley Hyde: BITCHES AIN'T MAGICAL.
Liam Dryden: I get where you're coming from. xD The world isn't ALL WIZARDS
Kayley Hyde: exactly! we can't just GIVE the title away!
Liam Dryden: God.
Kayley Hyde: what were they thinking?
Liam Dryden: It's fine, the first million are real, the others are Squibs
Kayley Hyde: LOL, what if it said that?!
Liam Dryden: HAHAHA it'd be too perfect. xD
Kayley Hyde: "welcome to Pottermore, sorry you aren't ACTUALLY a wizard, but you can look at some pictures and shit."

(Someone suggested I count some sort of food I eat regularly, but I...don't really eat anything regularly. So more suggestions would be awesome.)
Days till London: 39.

Vidcon 2011 recap

2011-08-02T21:43:00.000-07:00

Yeah, yeah, I'm doing BEDA. It's not as if I have anything else to do this month. I wish I was kidding with that last statement, but I honestly have the most empty August of my life. Of course, I thought last August was going to be pretty mundane until I went on a spontaneous trip to the UK, so WHO KNOWS? Anything could happen. But, let's be honest, nothing will probably really happen.
I suppose now is the most opportune time to do a VidCon recap type blog, but I really don't know what to share. Loads of things happened, it's true, but a lot of them are fairly personal, both good and bad and probably should not be on this blog. So I suppose I'll just do what I did for LeakyCon and make a list of the fabulous things that happened, because that's the only way I know how to do things, it seems.

Tuesday:
- Seeing Robyn and Sam. Despite the fact that I had seen Robyn in February and Sam at LeakyCon, it was fun to hang out with them.
- Sam's crazed hunger and how quickly we ate our In-n-Out grilled cheeses.
- Saying I was going to go to bed at 11:30 and ending up talking to Liam on skype with Robyn till some time that I don't remember because days are long.

Wednesday:
- DISNEYLAND with Same, Robyn, Cade, Adam, Zach, Voldey (happy Voldey appreciation month!), Quieten, Miggs and Morgan.
- New Star Tours for the first time.
- Little Mermaid ride for the first time.
- Seeing Zach and Cade freak out and panic over Tower of Terror.
- Winnie the Pooh ride in one car with everyone and getting a honeypot afterwards.
- World of Colour for the first time. Lots of Disney firsts!

Thursday:
- Taiwanese pastry place. Yummm.
- Thrifting with Robyn and Sam.
- Arriving at the VidCon hotel and immediately running into so many friends. That feeling never gets old.
- Moist Factory Reunion.
- Meeting Tom, at long last.
- Photobooth adventures with a bunch of people at the District Lines party. Some funny, some ridiculous and some not so pretty.

Friday:
- Coffee and lolz with Shawna, Tessa and Liam.
- ...Okay, I honestly don't remember exciting things from this day. I mean, I spent time with friends, which was awesome. But nothing big during the day. Except...
- Vendor room time with friends and meeting loads of lovely people who watch my videos!
- And becoming best friends with Meghan Tonjes.
- At night was the first concert and the highlights were Driftless Pony Club and autotunethenews. Sat on the stage couch with John, Hank, Katherine and Liam and we had tons of fun singing along.
- Glow stick lolz.

Saturday:
- Breakfast with my roommates, Paige, Robyn and Karen.
- Ed's open mic!
- The final show. So, so amazing.
- Meeting and hanging out with Elliot, who is the coolest guy around. I wish I was as cool as him at 14.
- Dancing on stage again with All Caps and tons of fantastic friends.
- Chameleon Circuit. They were so brilliant and I am really proud of them all. Great performers and loads of fun.
- Telling Toddly secrets.
- Dancing my ass off for about four and a half hours straight including the shows and the dance party. Alex Carpenter gave me 100 points for being the most enthusiastic dancer of the night; so proud.
- Being with Marion on the dance floor and preparing ourselves for clubs in London together.
- Searching for friends and parties and never really finding one.
- Last night, late night cuddles.
- NO SLEEP TILL BREAKFAST. Actually getting about 45 minutes.

And then I was up and out of the hotel, only saying goodbyes to my roommates and a couple others and now I am home and lonely and and and yup. That was VidCon. As I said, I had a really wonderful time and it was a really great experience. I'm glad I got to go, since there was a time where I didn't know if I'd be able to make it and especially since next year it is going to be SO different over at the convention centre, I don't know. It'll be a very different type of event.
I am officially too tired to be blogging, despite the fact that it is only 9:30. I feel like I am recovering from the last three weeks, which included very little sleep. So...yeah, excuses and stuff. Got any favourite VidCon moments if you were there or you watched anything from it online? If not, here is a rather explicit, but hilarious video. You're welcome. See you tomorrow!

Countdowns: I should do some.
Flights: 16, but I am probably not flying anymore in August, so this may not stay.
Days until moving to London: 40.
Any other countdown suggestions?

Blog Tease

2011-08-01T15:30:00.000-07:00

So I only just sort of realised that it was August first and I could not remember if I had promised the internet or just myself that I was going to do BEDA this month. Breaking promises is not something I am about, so I decided to post something while I decide who I promised and whether or not it is one I am willing to break. Let's be honest, I'll probably do it. But I just want to maintain some shred of control, so I will just tease it a bit. Consider it teased. Now here is a picture of Tom, Paige and I looking adorable (& a bit shiny) at Vidcon. I miss them and our group dance parties very much.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, continued.

2011-07-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

Hello there everyone! This blog is a continuation of the video I posted above because I am absolutely awful at remembering everything when I review, no matter how many notes I take. So this is a blog post listing the things I did not mention in the video, but that I would like to say something about. I'll probably come back and add more to this after seeing the film again, but WHO KNOWS. :)

- McGonagall was amazing. I don't know how I forgot to mention Maggie Smith, but that woman is incredible. She played the role brilliantly despite her illness and she was just stunning. She is Minerva McGonagall. TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR.
- I think Dan's acting was at its finest and he did really, really well. Almost my Harry. Almost. The whole trio was really impressive.
- Harry and Ginny never got less awkward. I think it is a mix between the writing on their story being strange, but also Dan and Bonnie seem to have a disconnect. Like they hadn't really rehearsed their scenes together and talked about their passionate connection in the books, I don't know. Ginny is a character whom I probably identified the most with when reading the books and the one who I may be most like now and she was never done justice in the script of the films, which is upsetting.
- I don't think I mentioned The Forest Again, but it was so, so lovely. Tons of lines directly from the book and it was just beautiful.
- Something I didn't notice until I discussed the film with other people was the incredible way that Ralph Fiennes portrayed Voldemort as sort of gaining humanity when each of his horcruxes were destroyed. They all gave him back a bit of his old self and I think that is ultimately why in the final battle scene, he has taken to sort of beating Harry rather than the inhumane method of just killing him on the spot. He wants physical revenge, which is very human. Ralph Fiennes knows his character so well.
- This video at about 2:30 shows more lines from the scene where they bring back Harry dead. Actually, if you watch all of these videos, you'll see tons of bits and pieces taken out of the film. One of the ones I wish was in the final cut the most was Voldemort accusing Harry of running away and Ron yelling "liar!" showing that his enchantments had broken. I would have liked the emphasis on the fact that nothing Voldemort does in binding. Also, I would have liked Harry to tell Voldemort how narrow-minded he had been and how wrong he was about the Elder wand. And "try for some remorse." Gah, the chapter.
- As you can tell "The Flaw in the Plan" means so much to me and mostly I just wish that the film was exactly like the book, even though I'm normally quite fine with making things more cinematic. I think the scene in the book would have looked fabulous, so I'm just forever bitter. (Also, no Firenze + centaurs or Kreacher + house elves, which was upsetting. It would have been nice to see familiar creature faces instead of so many shots of the troll/giant things.)

THAT IS ALL. Sorry the video was long, but I went back and looked at my last review, which was 10:30ish and it had 20,000 views or something insane like that. So I just figured I'd go for it and leave as much in as I could, because It will be nice to have these videos to look back in 20 years when they're doing a remake xD Let me know what you thought in the comments of this blog or the video! :)

LeakyCon Recap List

2011-07-21T11:44:00.000-07:00

I could definitely sit ever going through every day of LeakyCon and tell you how fantastic it was and all of the madness and the tears and the laughter. But that would be a bit overkill and I don't think my emotions could take it. So I'm going to do what I do best and make a list. These were my favorite and most memorable moments at LeakyCon. Sorry if this is chaos. But hey, so was LeakyCon.

Tuesday:
- Getting picked up by a group of friends at the airport and going straight to Downtown Disney.
- Sitting around with said group of friends critiquing the Harry Potter films.
- Walking into the Royal Pacific for the first time.

Wednesday:
- Harry Potter and the Conflict Resolution Line.
- Meeting Abby.
- Seeing Scarlett Byrne, who plays Pansy Parkinson, about twenty times before realizing that she was an actor and not a mutual friend whose name had escaped me.
- Opening festivities. Seeing so many people I know and love on stage or on the screen. Paul DeGeorge snubbing one of the young HP actors for a handshake.
- Open at the Close. The build-up to walking in the park and just that moment where I felt like I'd fallen into the films. (Yeah, I didn't feel like I was in my beloved book-world, but more like the world the films had created. But it was still wonderful.)
- Meeting up with Hank, Katherine and their friend from college and going through the whole park together. (Some hi-lights being Hank NOT throwing up on me on Dragon Challenge, Katherine yelling "Son of a bitch!" as soon as the dragon opened its mouth on Forbidden Journey and seeing Lauren get chosen in Ollivanders.)
- Standing in line for about an hour to get free Butterbeer behind Starkid and with Hank. I'm thinking that the line would have moved quicker were I surrounded by any other group of people.
- The taste of the frozen Butterbeer foam and John making me take his non-frozen one because he said it was disgusting…which is sort of was.
- Sitting at a table in the Three Broomsticks with old friends and new friends.

Thursday:
- The panel with all of the young Potter kids.
- Finding Hogwarts. Seeing the culmination of the last few years of my friends hard work and getting to hug Bre, John, Rita, Frankie and everyone afterwards.
- Walking past a Potter Puppet Pals signing and have a line literally form in front of my eyes to take pictures with me or sign autographs. Insane.
- Live LeakyMug.
- The film. Oh god. Seeing the film with nearly every person who has been a part of making my Potter journey so beautiful. Being in the same cinema as so many others who feel the same. Having Evanna, Scarlett, Starkid, the whole Leaky staff and everyone else in there. Having the young cast of the film two rows ahead of me while I watched them on stage and being told later in the evening that it was the best screening they went to because we were so genuine and expressive.
- Starting to cry the second Harry steps out into the Room of Requirement.
- The sounds of choked sobs, suppressed gasps, laughter and cheers.
- Talking animatedly about the film with Katherine, John and Hank as we walked back to the hotel. There was a lot of screaming.
- Night one of wizard rock.
- Spending the evening between meriting and the "VIP" section right behind the table.
- Playing limbo using Evanna's scarf with her, Starkid and tons of others.
- Eventually becoming friends with Scarlett and making plans to hang out when I move to London.
- This picture. Because Tom and I are being adorable and AJ is just passed out on the table and it makes me laugh a lot.
- The final Remus Lupins show. :(
- Bababa's with Eia and Andrew Slack.
- Passing out with about 20 people in the room and waking up to hilarious conversation with Hayley, Kristina and Eia at about 5am.

Friday:
- Live Pottercast. #LeakyCountry
- POTTERMORE. Oh my god, it's going to be so brilliant, guys. I cannot wait to sell my soul to it.
- The final Parselmouths show and going on stage to do weird things like tape streamers and throw party blowers. :D
- The best Whomping Willows show EVER.
- Evanna being all over the stage for Draco and the Malfoys and then playing bass for Harry and the Potters. So epic.
- Dancing on chairs behind the merch table with Abby.
- "That's why I watch porn, for the romance."
- Hayley signing Adam's "boob."

Saturday:
- Coming down early for the Luna, Percy and the Kids keynote and seeing people actually SOB after taking awkward group photos with Starkid.
- HP trivia contest between the actors.
- All of them talking about how cool it was to be in the cinema with such devoted, loving fans and knowing I was a part of that experience.
- Friends and family of Esther Earl meet-up. Meeting such a beautiful, kind group of people who are doing an amazing job at keeping Esther's spirit alive.
- Rosianna doing my hair for the ball.
- These people.
- Asking Rohan Gotobed, aka young Sirius Black, to dance with me. Getting rejected. By a 13 year old. Awkward. Then being told by everyone that "he'll regret in three years, just wait!"
- Dancing with Helena Bow and Ellie Darcey-Aiden, Rose Weasley and young Lily Evans, instead.
- This picture.
- Total Eclipse of the Heart. Three times.
- Post-ball chaos in Jake's.
- Eia coming over having caught a FROG. Convincing her to let it go because we could not take a frog home with us.
- So much love from all of my friends in one of my lower moments.
- After party in the Starkid suite and everyone insisting on "no sleep till breakfast." Until leaving before we all fell asleep on the floor.

Sunday was a day of exhaustion, sadness and goodbyes. The last day of cons is always the worst because I never feel like I get to say goodbye to everyone and it's just a lot of chaos. This was no different. I don't really have much going for me here in Seattle, so being around SO many friends at once, while a bit stressful, was just so wonderful for me. I had such a brilliant time and just thinking about it being over has me welling up.
I'd like to thank Melissa for being a warrior, the Leaky staff for following her lead and just every single person who made me smile over the week. And a special thanks to Kristina and Eia for letting me be a merch girl. Even though I sucked. I am so thankful for everyone and so happy that tons of you came up to say hello! If you were at Leaky, share your memories in the comments. If not, tell me what you thought of the film! I'm seeing it again soon and will have a video up after that.
Cannot wait for VidCon next week and Leaky 2012! (If we keep saying it, it'll be a thing, right? …Right?)

Calling all musicians!

2011-07-02T18:52:00.000-07:00

Earlier today, I tweeted the following:

If any of you make music you wouldn’t mind me using in a video, link me here or at kayleyhyde@gmail! :) Particularly softer stuff <3 Thanks!

I have since gotten quite a few emails of people sending me their music (all of it wonderful) and I was responding to one particular email where a lovely guy named James (man, I hope you’re not a girl named James, because that would make this VERY AWKWARD) offered to write me some music as he is studying music in university and has hopes to become a composer. My response sort of ended up being a blog post, so I decided to reword it a bit and just post is here. I would like to reiterate that if you have music you think would fit behind a video, send it my way! I’d love to hear your music and possibly, at some point in my video future, use it in a video! And now onto editing my response to make it more of a blog post and less of an email response. Here we go…
So I’m just learning how to use Final Cut and I have hours (no exaggeration) of footage I have collected while traveling, around my hometown, et cetera that I want to edit together in different ways now that I have the chance. Having so much creative ability is sort of frightening to me after using Windows Movie Maker when I began making videos and iMovie for the past two years. I am sort of at a point where I have to impress myself with the video video I edit using FCP, more than impress anyone else. Music seems to be what I think will inspire me at this point. Honestly, I don’t really know what I want at this moment. I just sort of want to start collecting lovely music that may shape videos and help me create a certain style of editing.
I love the idea of gathering music from people who watch my videos because I know there are so many talented people out there and I would love to give people like you an audience to appreciate your art. (Much like how I love to mention great YouTubers in my videos to share with the people who watch my videos.) I feel like far too many people out there support me already and I feel I hardly deserve the outpouring of affection I get every time I post a video. More than anything else, I’d love to be known as one of the YouTubers who created a sense of community and encouraged creativity in all forms to everyone who comes across one of my videos. Does that sound snobbish or anything? That isn’t my intention. I just really enjoy promoting those who I think are good at what they do and seem to love doing it.
I do not know exactly what I’m looking for and I hate to ask you to go out of the way to *create* music for me. But if you wanted to put together anything you think might fit behind videos or if you already have written something of that nature, I would definitely try to form a video around it. I guess I’m looking for music you’d think would be behind more arty videos. Acoustic, soft, I don’t know…emotional? Clearly, as you may be able to tell, I know very little about music besides what I know I like! Honestly, I guess just something you’d like to hear behind a video and I will do my best to incorporate it into my favourite form of artistic expression.

The Art of Getting By (review)

2011-06-21T08:03:00.001-07:00

Let me start by saying that I feel like because I made a whole video about my feelings from this film and because I didn’t give an opinion on the film in the video, a majority of people are likely going to think that I really loved this film possibly more than I actually did. I can understand why someone would not like The Art of Getting By. It was not the best film I have ever seen and it is not the most impressive piece of cinema, but I’ll just say right now that anything that makes me think as much as this film as deserves my adoration and stamp of approval.

The Art of Getting By is the story of eighteen year old George, played by Freddie Highmore, who reminds me all too well of my brother and other boys I have known in that he sees no value in anything. Caught up in a bit of Holden Caulfield syndrome, he is approached by never single, fairly typical classmate Sally, played by Emma Roberts. One of the wonderful things about this film is that you know these characters, yet they definitely have something to bring to the table. You knew them once, but they have come back in trendier outfits, smoking cigarettes with a bit more mystique. The story follows their senior year in which they grow to be close friends, he slowly realizes that he may not graduate and they both deal with issues at home. It sounds typical and, in a way, it is, but this film felt unique.

The backdrop of New York City cannot go unmentioned, for it starred alongside Highmore and Roberts, who did not do too shabby themselves (except for Freddie’s accent, that was pretty bad). The film looked pretty beautiful, to say the least. The acting of some of the adults was hard to buy and there were a few named characters that were fairly pointless (her friends Zoe and…something else), but I really did enjoy the film. But what I found most fascinating about the film is how much it felt like high school and how much it felt like experiences I have had.

The cinematography, with help by (more or less) first time director Gavin Wiesen, really put you in the middle of these experiences. This is an opinion you will not likely find elsewhere in the midst of its one star reviews, but I found the realism really potent. I could relate. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that I grew up in the same generation and age as George and Sally and therefore understand what they are going through more specifically. I feel like a lot of older reviewers who grew up without cell phones may not realize what it is like to struggle to form the perfect text or to jump at every phone vibration. They may not understand to the same extent that I do how living in a city means that you practically have to have a fake ID to have a good time with other teenagers at night and when you don’t, as I do not, you end up spending a lot of nights on Netflix. Just little things that are written off as silly, over the top and unrealistic by others are seen by me as relatable in some ways. This is a film for this generation in that way. A film for those who still remember exactly how firsts felt and how hard it was to get up and go to school when it all seemed pointless.

So that is how I see the film. I did not just see George get drunk for the first time, I felt it. I did not watch the two of them grow closer, but felt it as I have felt with so many dear friends. It was a film to feel and remember and for those who cannot remember those first because they are blocking them out, because they were too long ago or because they simply aren’t willing to open their memory a bit, they may not enjoy this. They may only see the awkward scenes, Freddie’s awful accent and another story about teenagers. I saw more and I felt more and while I will reiterate, this is not a film that I will watch over and over again and fall more in love with, I can appreciate it for what it was and what it made me think about. Which, in my opinion, is enough.

Summer thus far

2011-06-16T23:03:00.000-07:00

Things that come to mind...cleaning, Lord of the Rings extended theatrical release, Clemence Poesy's style, re-watching Sherlock, the end of SIFF, excitement for The Art of Getting By, vague incompetence, PressPausePlay adoration, Merlin, painting, lens flare appreciation, Lymelife, trench coats, open windows, Phoebe in Wonderland, Martin Freeman, Super 8, Pottermore, dust in the air, Oh the Times and Places You'll Go, endless coughing & tissues, taking out loans, finally watching the It's Kind of a Funny Story film & liking it despite the negative things I have heard, playing my new ocarina, excitement for Marion to come in a week, longing for trees and warmth, dark cinema bound afternoons, this video, The Head and the Heart, the sound of trains, Somewhere, Topshop emails, too much exhaustion & trying my best to follow Kerouac's words...
"Be in love with your life. Every detail of it."

Taking a step back

2011-06-02T13:11:00.000-07:00

As you guys may have noticed, over the last month or so, I've been very distant on the internet. There are plenty of reasons for this ranging from my need to focus on the work I had neglected while traveling the country, bring up a calculus grade that was plummeting due to missing classes, spending more time on art in various forms, et cetera. But the main reason was just that I had been feeling like I was suffocating online and was severely lacking in creativity on the home-front. After making so many videos this year about the exciting adventures I was having, being creative amidst the mundane was just not really working for me. On top of my videos slowing down a bit, I found that there were certain sites online that were only really leading to me feeling annoyed or frustrated, rather than, I don't know, what are social networking sites supposed to make you feel? Interested? Facebook and Twitter are the sites I am referring to. I've never been a fan of Facebook and really only ever used it for the SAFT (Secret Awesome Facebook Thread - the main for of 5AG communication). But the SAFT has slowed down a ton and so I just sort of took facebook off my bookmark tabs and started to not use it.
Next was twitter. Now, there is a fine line on Twitter between sharing bits of your life and just being damn annoying, let's be honest, haha. Call me a bitch all you want, but it got to the point that I was following too many people because I felt obligated to (friends of friends, etc) and I just don't care if you're hungry or you have to write a 2000 word paper. There should really be a Twitter 101 on the do's and don'ts of the site and what is interesting to people who are not you and what isn't. I do not enjoy putting negativity on the internet, especially to people who genuinely want to hear what I have to say, so I don't understand why other people feel the need to complain to ten, a hundred or even thousands of people. Despite the fact that I make videos on the internet, I've never been the type of person who craves praise or attention. I just like making videos and blogs. I was doing those things when my IRL friends were the only ones reading and/or watching. At any rate, I was just sick of the amount of complaining on that site, so I quietly just removed myself for a bit. In addition, I found that the only things people were @replying me on Twitter anymore were people asking me to do them favours* or asking personal questions. I understand that I make myself accessible, but I just started feeling used, like the people who followed me on that site had access to my personal life, which they don't. Very few people have access to my personal life and mostly those are the people in it.
Taking a step back was good for me and not only did it feel nice not to feel obligated to check so many sites, it meant that whenever I had a funny anecdote, I could just send it to my friends, rather than the whole internet. More communication with those who are close to me if never a bad thing! Not spending as much time online has allowed me to get a lot of work done, paint for the first time in a long time (I'm working on a painting video pretty soon, actually!), make a lot of lists, see about 15 films, spend time with my family and finally watch Sherlock and start Pushing Daisies. May was the most uneventful month of my year so far, it's true, but I was very busy for pretty much all of it with stuff here at school and home.
I'm sure there will be at least one person out there who will inform me of what a massive bitch I sound like in this post and how I should just "get over myself because no one cares," but I hope the rest of you awesome people understand. It is not you guys I was taking a break from, it was just the whole internet experience that I needed to part with before I throw myself back into more videos this summer. I'm not sure if I will start using Twitter again, though. Funnily enough it is sort of like cutting something out of your diet. Once you don't tweet for a while, you realise that nothing is really that pressing to share with 9000** people on the internet. But we'll see!
But now I want to hear from you because the voice inside my head it lonely and tired of talking to itself. What have you been up to? How are you currently feeling about the internet and specific sites? I gave to dash off to my second to last Western Civilization class. Man, I am so ready for summer! This quarter has been an exhausting one, to say the very least. Blog ya later, bros. xx

Films seen in cinemas in May: 14. 9 SIFF, 2 independent, 3 Hollywood.

* I was actually getting complete strangers asking me to make collab clips for them by the following day. I mean, chances are unless I was completely free, I wouldn't do that for my close friends. It just feels a little disrespectful to ask a favour of someone without even giving them time to CONSIDER if they want to help. On or off the internet.
** Just went to twitter to check how many followers I have and oh my god! I had no idea *that* many people followed me. Now I feel vaguely as though I've let 9000 people down...They'll probably get over it.

My Seattle

2011-05-24T19:48:00.000-07:00

Someone asked me back during BEDA if I could share some of my favourite places in the city I basically grew up in. I started the list last month, but I found it in my drafts and descided to finish it up and post it for you guys. Especially because I'm moving back to my home town outside of the city for a few couple months at the beginning of June and then leaving the country in the autumn. If you're ever in the city, I definitely recommend these places!

- Victor Steinbrueck Park, right down by Pike Place Market.
The Market is great, but I think the park across the street overlooking Elliott Bay is just so beautiful. I have many fond memories here, including a YouTube gathering I hosted.
- Lola.
Lola is a Tom Douglas restaurant that you may have seen on Food Network. It has the most amazing donuts in the world and, for that, it is a must see in my book.
- Harvard Exit Cinema.
My favourite place to go see films. It is a Landmark Theatre right off Broadway, on Roy St. It's small, adorable, has a balcony and there is a fireplace in the lobby. So lovely.
- Paramount Theatre.
Gorgeous theatre where most big performers and shows come through in the city. I adore it there.
- Lakeview Blvd.
There is an overpass that runs parallel to the freeway (I-5) at the bottom of Capitol Hill where you get the most beautiful view of the city. I cannot remember the street name, but from searching around Google Maps, I think it's Lakeview.
- Cafe Flora.
My favourite restaurant in Seattle. It's down on Madison and has the best vegetarian options ever. Just thinking about it has my mouth watering.
- Golden Age Collectables.
I never realised until googling that they spell collectibles wrong, but hey! This is the oldest comic book shop in America and it is freaking awesome. It has toys, cards, comic books, posters and tons of other nerdy paraphernalia.
- Dick's Drive-In.
I'm a vegetarian, but I still feel obligated to share this one because they make amazing fries. And, for the record, when I did eat meat, I preferred Dick's burgers to In-n-Out. Just sayin'.
- Twice Told Tales.
This would be my favourite bookshop, if not for the cats. I adore it here and the owners are so passionate about books, but I definitely cannot be in here too often because of my allergy. However, if this is not an issue for you, I definitely recommend hitting this shop up for some fantastic editions of books at great prices! It's on the corner of Harvard and Denny.
- Cupcake Royale.
Loads of people will tell you that there are other great cupcake places in the city and yes, there are, but Royale has always been my favourite. They always have the best cupcakes of the month, they're never dry (even at the end of the day) and the frosting is mouth watering.

I think I'll add to this over time, if I remember. It's a nice list to have written down, I think :) Alright, off to...no, actually I have no plans once this is finished. I'm just done here. Glad you liked my last post. I'm sort of obsessed with collecting images that inspire me in some way, which is one of the reasons tumblr is so great. I'll post more in the future, I think. Have a great evening, guys! xx

This could be history, blink & you'll miss it

2011-05-22T19:29:00.000-07:00

"& how every time you take my hand I feel your whole life vibrating with mine."

"You were a person before I fell in love with you. You don’t have to prove that."

Things I'm loving, thinking about, wanting.

My Style

2011-04-30T20:23:00.000-07:00

So for my final BEDA, I decided to blog about something I have always gotten asked about a ton and never really talked about. So here we go: I get a lot of questions about my style. I've always been really interested in fashion and it's something that I really wanted to pursue for quite some time. The weirdest thing about my style is that people see me from the waist up and yet, somehow, always tell me how fashionable I am or how they wish they dressed like me. I could be wearing sweat pants below that camera frame but damn, do I have stylish shoulders! Haha. I'm not saying I don't appreciate it, and I actually don't even own sweat pants, but it's just crazy how I've sort of gained this reputation and a stylish person on YouTube out of nowhere. But I thought it would be fun to tell you guys a bit about my style, why I dress the way I do and things of that nature. As usual, it is going to be in list format.

Whenever people ask who or what inspires me, I sort of divide it up into three sources: Keira Knightley, fashion blogs and hobbits. Yes, you read that right. I have this strange habit of constantly buying or loving items of clothing which look like something Frodo would trek across Middle Earth wearing. I mean, I love Lord of the Rings, but this is just taking that a little too far. It's totally unintentional, too! Keira has always been an over-all inspiration of mine and whenever I see pieces that remind me of things that she has worn in candids, I automatically want them. Fashiontoast has been my favourite fashion blog for years; Rumi dresses like I would if I had the money. I also love beautycrush's style and she is the only guru I still watch on YouTube. Oh! and I take a lot of inspiration from Free People's blog.
As a quick side-note, I don't wear that much make-up. If I was better at applying it and maybe if I wasn't so pale, I'd probably wear more eyeliner, because I love how it looks when applied right. But pretty much all of my make-up is MAC, which is not too cheap and not too expensive. I don't wear foundation, just some concealer and tinted moisturizer. I used to wear a lot of lipstick, but now I only do when I actually do something interesting. Also, Rosebud Salve is magical. I'll just throw in this note about my hair, too: I'm a natural blonde, I get my hair dyed at the salon I've gone to my whole life and say "Jen, make it bright red, please" and she does her very best. It's also naturally straight, but I'd been perming it since I was twelve. So now it doesn't know what it's meant to do.
Back to clothes. Basically all of my shoes are either boots or heals. I own a pair of black and white Converse's from long, long ago but never really wear them. I don't like flip-flops at all and I was so annoyed when I had to buy a pair last year to wear in the residence hall showers. I am just perfectly happy wearing my beautiful All Saints boots, which were a very generous Christmas gift from my mother this past year, super old We Who See heeled boots or one of my other pairs.
If I could, I'd shop at Free People, All Saints and a little Anthropology. However, I get most of my clothes from the $10 or less sales rack at Urban Outfitters (finding good things there is like a game to me). Very occasionally I get clothes at Target, Forever 21, thrift stores, et cetera, but I don't really shop as much as I did when I was in my early teens and I'm still relatively the same size, so I don't need too much. Also, I'm cheap. And broke. It's a good mix.
I am still wearing the same pair of jeans I bought when I was about 13. Well, not right now. But you get the point. They are from Urban Outfitters (go figure) and there is a part so worn on the butt that I worry at any day that they it will wear away. But I just do not like wearing jeans and so they aren't worn too often.
The person who invents indestructible, or unsnaggable, black tights will be my hero. I go through at least a pair every two months, if not more. My favourites are DKNY, they are $11 at Nordstrom and pretty good. Also, occasionally my mom buys me Spanx and those are amazing, but too expensive for me to buy myself.
I really love the idea of tshirts and own way too many (like, I have a whole drawer at my parents house filled with novelty, Harry Potter, event, etc tshirts). But I almost never wear them. I've essentially cut myself off. I even resisted buying this baby from Comicon. Now that is self-restraint.
I've been in love with maxi-dresses forever and recently found one that ACTUALLY looks good on me. It's glorious.
About 85% of my wardrobe is black.
I do not have my ears pierced. When I was younger, it was because I had a petrifying fear of needles that was so strong the word sent me into minor panic attacks (this actually only faded away about two years ago - I think it was all of the television because those babies are everywhere.) Then as I got older, it was because everyone wanted me to and that is no fun at all. Now, it's mostly due to the fact that I'm too lazy to clean them and I would spend way too much money on earrings. I have been given a few lovely dangling pairs in the past (these and these, for instance) and have converted them into clip-ons, but those hurt so I don't wear them too often.
I love asymmetrical clothing. It makes me really happy for some reason.
I'm a sucker for sheer clothing.
Most of my wardrobe is useless in the summer; too many bulky sweaters and knee-high socks.
My favourite designers are Alexander Wang, Marc by Marc Jacobs and Chloe. Favourite models are Lily Cole, Vlada Roslyakova and Chanel Iman.
Size means nothing almost nothing to me. The sizes of my clothes are all over the place. Some large, small, extra large, medium, it's weird. I just never wear the right size of anything, really.
My essentials/favourites: black tights, black shorts from American Apparel to go under skirts, baggy tops, oddly shaped sweaters that are almost wider than they are long, interlock miniskirts, tall socks of any colour/material, weird dresses, aforementioned combat boots, ponchos and wraps instead of jackets or coats.
Ponchos. I am developing a collection and I cannot stop. I just love them so much.
I recently got my first pair of Toms. Previously, I was never really a fan because they didn't look comfortable and freaking EVERYONE at my school has them and basically thinks they are saving the world every time they put them on. However, I was totally wrong about that first notion and while I am definitely right about the second, I just ignore it. I quite like them and they have elephants. So that's nice. And I'm happy to support a good cause. Not sure if they are worth the slightly painful amount of money ($50 for casual shoes? I'm cheap), but telling myself I actually bought two pairs helps a bit.

I think that is everything. I'm sure very few of you made it through that mess, but if you did, I hope you enjoyed it! BEDA was fun and I hope you had fun, as well! Sorry to any males that may have been rather disenchanted, but I did like talking about fashion/girly stuff :D xx

Flights taken: 10.
Films watched in April: 15.

I don't even know

2011-04-29T14:01:00.000-07:00

Sitting in history and discussing Alexander the Great's successors. From what I can gather, it was a bunch of his old friends fighting and trying to prove their phalanx was bigger than everyone elses. Oh men, you never change, do you? xD
Anyway, hi. So BEDA is almost over. That's pretty crazy. I've shared with you some of my favourite things, discussed forced creativity, discussed my focus issues, shared some pretty big news about my future...It's been fun. I was thinking today about whether or not I'd do this again in August and I think I probably will. I am planning on doing a ton of traveling in July, as in almost the entire month, so I think it would be cool to write blogs most days while traveling and post them exactly a month later. But now that I have said that and some of you may get excited...it may not happen. Also, I was thinking of doing more photo diaries. Maybe a photo a day in August? Or just in general, I don't know. I'll also be planning to move to another country in August, so I'm sure that will be stress free and easy.* We'll see where life takes this blog.
As for me post-BEDA, I will be spending a lot of time, hopefully, off of the internet. All of this Open Letter to YouTube drama has sort of run me down a bit. I've spent the past week watching SO many videos about that and simultaneously trying to cut back on the negativity and spread some YouTube love and it's just meant a lot of time on the internet. Not complaining, though! I've watched SO many awesome video responses and it's been incredible finding new people to watch, it's just been a bit overwhelming. Also, I really should remember that I am a student from time to time and this quarter has not been a very good example of that, what with the Nintendo thing, Miami, BEDA, et cetera. I will still be putting up videos and everything, it will just be nice to take a small step back from the internet for a bit. Except tumblr. Let's talk briefly about tumblr.
There is nothing about tumblr that isn't totally selfish for me. The reason I don't have an ask box over there, as some people ask from time to time, is because it is like my playground. There is very little I find less stressful and more fun than digging through tumblr to find things that interest me. I find myself getting inspired a lot over on that site and while I do spend too much time there, the benefits totally outweigh everything else. I'm just a huge nerd and I love me some Doctor Who graphics or Battlestar Galactica quotations. So basically, I don't want to treat it like a formspring where I see that I have questions and hesitate to look because someone may have just called me some silly name for no good reason. Basically, I have so many other ways for people to contact me that I never want it to become a place of negativity or somewhere where I feel obligated to respond.** This is also the reason I post so much. I have a system for my tumblr and so I basically just queue everything I see or like, unless it is clothing-related inspiration, which I 'like' because then it's easier to go back and find. There is a method to my madness and yes, I do overthink this. I'm painfully over-organised sometimes. But my tumblr has been my getaway on the internet since I got it back in 2007. (That's right, I'm an old-school tumblr. How hipster is that?)
This was just a weird post. I don't know how we got to this point but to sum it up:
- BEDA was fun.
- I'm going to take a sanity leave from most of the internet for a few weeks.
- Tumblr is my favourite thing ever.
Sorry if this was hard to follow. I'm just having a rough couple of weeks and therefore my mind is all over the place, all of the time. Let me know if you guys had this fun this BEDA, whether you did it or were just following others. And reassure me that I'm not the only crazy one who organises her interneting. That's not a word. See you guys tomorrow!

*I am full of lies.
**The reason I deleted things like formspring and vyou was just because I'm obsessed with responding. I hated knowing that there were questions waiting. It's like knowing there is mail and not being able to go get it. I'm ridiculous and it was frustrating.

Recently on YouTube

2011-04-28T21:03:00.000-07:00

So instead of blogging today, I decided to share a few videos that have been uploaded recently that I have really enjoyed. Of course I planned to do this and I am not stressing about the international politics exam I have in eleven hours, what are you talking about?

In addition, Bones tonight was so fantastic, I got a lot of really good news today and studying terrorism while sick and tired will lead you to believe that everyone is out to get you as a result of your efforts to integrate democracy into their nation. Or something.

Flights: 10.
Films: 14.

Andrew

2011-04-27T13:25:00.000-07:00

Today, my dear readers, is my brothers 22nd birthday. I was going to write some long, sappy post about how I've always looked up to him and how he has inspired me to do so many things and always makes me laugh, but you know what? I already wrote that in his birthday card. So instead of that, I'm just going to list some of the most memorable moments the two of us have shared. Most of which you, reader, will not understand. Forgive me for that, but let's proceed...

Andyland: the theme part Andrew created in our backyard. Being pushed around in a wheelbarrow, sliding down the tarp slide, Beep and Bop's treehouse and hammock, et cetera.
Mr Crabs and the other characters in the stories he would create for our cousins and I to journey around their beach house listening to.
Him letting me win 007.
Dicks v McDonalds jokes.
Seeing him on stage in The Whole Darn Shooting Match.
The Grand Canyon and how he FREAKED out anytime I got near the edge.
Harry Potter film releases.
When he stole the remote, shoved my face into the couch, put a pillow on top and sat on me. (Didn't say they were all good...)
The first time he let me borrow a Harry Potter book.
Bend, Oregon.
Christmas shopping.
Disneyland, so many times.
The Lost Bar with Mermaid Mists and Pirates Treasures.
Stories of Yoshi.
Rusty the Rooster.
Reggie and Winnie.

And I am officially too tired to continue. Time to relax and study for an international politics exam. Exciting stuff, my friends. Any memories with your siblings?

Flights taken: 10.
Films watched in April: 14. Watched The Terminal for, believe it or not, the first time last night. It was really good and I am so shocked that I hadn't seen it before.

Hanna (review)

2011-04-26T13:49:00.000-07:00

Every now and then I see a film that rekindles the flame of film-school desire and makes me want to make a drastic change in my life. A film that makes me want to change the style of my videos or change something about myself or my creative intuition. This time, it was Hanna. Joe Wright is, after Peter Jackson, my favourite director. Atonement is one of the films that has changed the way I see the world and even the films whose scripts I don’t necessarily care for, like Pride and Prejudice (not an Austen fan) and The Soloist, are so brilliantly directed and wonderfully constructed. Hanna was no exception and damn, it was good.

First of all, it is so rare to walk into a cinema and know nothing about a film. It is equally rare to thoroughly enjoy a film with an original screenplay. All I knew about Hanna was the director and the stars and that was enough to get me through the doors. Hollywood seems to be losing more and more interest in silence as the years go on. I do not mean dramatic pauses because there is no such thing as a dramatic pause when there are good actors involved, I mean silence. Real, meaningful silence. Seth Lachhead brilliant executed such moments throughout his story and screenplay and I just wanted to take a moment to pass on my deepest thanks. The writing was quick, clever, intelligent and beautiful. All in all, a gorgeous screenplay.

Speaking of gorgeous, this film was nothing short of beautiful. Saoirse Ronan, one of my favourite actors for years now, has the most penetrating eyes in all of cinema, only possibly rivaled by Elijah Wood’s, and she knows how to use them. The set in the middle of the woods was absolutely ethereal. Every set, not just the Brothers Grimm, was stolen from a book of fairytales. Saoirse is a swan in the middle of a blizzard; the picture of grace in the harshest of settings.

Not normally an Eric Bana fan, I have to say that I loved him. Perfect mix of trainer and loving father. For those of you who are this far into my little review and still have no idea what this film is about and are wondering what I mean by “trainer,” well, that is sort of purposeful. I think this film is better when you don’t quite know what you’re in for. Anyway, add the magnificent and chilling Cate Blanchett and this cast is just a recipe for success.

The editing in this film was impeccable, bouncing around the fight scenes with absolute ease, and so wonderfully paired with The Chemical Brothers’ intense electronica-rock soundtrack. This music simultaneously calms my nerves and riles me up; it is insane. Speaking of the fight scenes, my god. My knowledge on hand-to-hand combat mostly stems from a self-defense class I took at a community college, but the choreography was more realistic than I have seen in any action movie, despite it technically being super-human. The whole film was swift, exciting and waited for no one.

Hanna was the perfect mix between whimsical and haunting, charming and abrasive. It has a lot to say about humanity, the choices we make and what they can become. Whether or not this film was intended as an allegory to examine our inner-psyche, it is worth a viewing. Or two. If there weren’t so many other films out vying for my attention, I would have seen this film twice already. Let me know if you’ve seen Hanna and what your thoughts on it were and I’ll see you guys next time.

Flights taken: 10.

Films watched in April: 13, but my meeting was canceled tonight and my latest Netflix DVD just arrived. (Don't remember what it is, though.)

EDIT: Just realised that I didn't press 'post' on my blog yesterday -_- It's up now. Sorry, I'm dumb.

Focus issues

2011-04-25T12:59:00.000-07:00

It occurred to me recently that I have some serious focus issues. I seem to be unable to focus in classes unless I am focusing on more than one thing at a time. I can participate in discussion, sure, but not unless I am simultaneously checking my tumblr or writing my to-do list for the day. Lectures are a breeze as long as I am thinking up ideas for blog posts or reading my email. But when forced to do one solo, I am just a mess. I cannot focus on my notes, half an hour goes by and I'll have completely missed the lecture, discussions will come and go. I just cannot get a grasp on why it is. I do not think I have some sort of ADD or ADHD, it's just that I cannot NOT be killing two birds with one stone.
My director in high school always used to make fun of the IB kids who would spit their lines so fast because they are essentially trained to do everything quickly. No time to slow down. While I was only in one IB class by senior year, I certainly had residual IB pace issues. Maybe this is just left over from that. Maybe the reason that I cannot do my readings without music or background noise is because I never did. Similarly, I cannot just do one thing online. If I'm in a Skype call, I'll be browsing through tumblr or planning out my schedule.
I am meticulous about multitasking and for some reason, I have this fear that it will be an issue in the future. It already holds me back in my international politics class, where the professor is not a fan of laptops. How does she expect me to focus at all at 8:15am, without a computer, no less?! How dare she. But seriously, guys, it is an issue. I only manage to catch about half of the lectures each day and my handwriting is pretty poor in the morning, so it's just a big old mess. Sigh. I seem to be feeling rather dramatic today, so you'll have to forgive me for that.
Do you guys have focus issues? What are your opinions on multitasking? I'm a big fan, obviously, but I'd like to know if anyone feels differently. Blog to you tomorrow!

Flights taken: 10.
Films seen in April: 13.

Easter times

2011-04-24T12:11:00.000-07:00

Re-reading over last nights blog makes me laugh a bit. I wish that I could say I felt better, but I am much less exhausted and filled with antihistamines. There is just a lot of sneezing. It feels as though I am allergic to everything within a fifty foot radius of myself, at all times. Which doesn't make sense at all. It's Easter today and while I am not a religious person, I love any event that gets everyone together. My Easter basket from my mom included candy, Goldfish crackers and...wait for it...Zelda! For the 3DS! She gave my brother and I both a note saying she'd get it for us when it comes out in June, which is awesome. I hope it's as fun as we both anticipate.
I am currently baking some brownies, uploading my TARDIStacular video and watching Battlestar Galactica* while waiting for family to arrive, so I have to cut this short. However, I want to know two things from you. First, if you watch Doctor Who, did you like the new episode? I will not spoil anything on this blog since I have TT to discuss it, but if you don't want to be spoiled, ignore the comments, haha!
Also, despite being totally out of it last night, my second bullet point *was* something my brother and I had been discussing earlier in the day. To reiterate, that bullet point was: "Former President George W Bush was almost killed by joking on a pretzel two different times. Two separate occasions, two separate pretzels. My thoughts regarding this mostly stem from the idea of what would happen if, instead of minor throat laceration, he actually choked and died on these pretzels. Would that be his formal death? Or would they cover up that humiliating end? These are the things that plague me." So, what do you think? It doesn't have to be specific to this situation. If any big figure, specifically in America but I suppose it doesn't have to be limited to that, died in some pathetic way, would that be made public? I do not know of any similar stories or anything have come out in the past, it's just something we were thinking about. Let me know what you think! xD
Just had one of those terrible have-tosneeze-but-didn't moments. Worst. Hope you guys have a great Easter and/or Sunday! xx

Flights taken: 10.
Films watched in April: 13.

*Currently re-watching season 2. I forgot how angry Cain makes me. That bitch be crazy. Ugh.

Benadryl haze

2011-04-23T23:04:00.000-07:00

I am currently lying on my couch, willing my body to not get any more ill and just hoping that when I want up in the morning, I will feel less like I've been dragged in the dirt with everything I have ever been allergic to stuck on my face. Because of that, you get a list of Benadryl-induced thoughts.

I just watched the first episode of season 6 of Doctor Who...twice. It was brilliant, but I have my issues and everything. TARDIStacular video will come...before next weekend.
Former President George W Bush was almost killed by joking on a pretzel two different times. Two separate occasions, two separate pretzels. My thoughts regarding this mostly stem from the idea of what would happen if, instead of minor throat laceration, he actually choked and died on these pretzels. Would that be his formal death? Or would they cover up that humiliating end? These are the things that plague me.
BBC America is starting a Supernatural Saturday series, where they show sci-fi episodes every Saturday. Including new Who episodes and Battlestar Galactica re-runs. I'll probably be busy...every Saturday...until further notice.
Easter is great, but 2011 seems to be the year that my family cannot get together ever. Only about half of my dads side will be at the lunch/dinner at my house tomorrow and this makes me endlessly sad.
Speaking of which, I think that my aunt is making an egg hunt for us. Despite my youngest cousins not being there. Meaning it will be for me, my 17 year old cousin and my 22 year old brother. We're...so awesome. That'll be so much fun, and challenging, I'm sure.
Is there a non-chocolate alternative to brownies? Other than cake or something. Like...whiteies. But less racist sounding.
Sean Astin got a twitter account. SAMWISE TWEETGEE. Gamtweet? Wut?
My cousin goes to school in Oregon, but he was playing a baseball game in Tacoma today and so I went to go see him play. Baseballs games bring back all sorts of emotions and memories for me and they always make me miss playing softball.
I just want to sleep.
I actually fel asleep while scrolling through tumblr a while ago. A while ago meaning right before I woke up and somehow remembered to write this.
My brother keeps trying to have intellectual conversations with me regarding DW and it's history and everything, but I just can't think straight. Why does he have to take so much interest NOW of all times? Oh, life.

Flights taken: 10.
Films watched in April: 13.

Summer 2011 films

2011-04-22T22:24:00.001-07:00

No time or mental capability to blog this evening and none of the remaining extra posts seem appropriate. A tad ironic after my past couple posts, no? So here is just a quick list of films I am excited to see this summer:

-May 6th: Thor, directed by Kenneth Branagh, starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins and Kat Dennings.
- May 20th: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, starring...well, you know. I'm slightly ashamed to be excited.
- June 10th: Super 8, directed by JJ Abrams and starring Elle Fanning.
- June 17th: Green Lantern, with Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively and Peter Sarsgaard.
- June 17th: The Art of Getting By with Freddie Highmore and Emma Roberts. This one looks so good!
- June 24th: Cars II, because I am one of the five people who loved the original Cars.
- July 1st: Monte Carlo with Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester and Catherine Tate. Such a weird cast.
- July 1st: Larry Crowne, directed by and starring Tom Hanks, with Julia Roberts.
- July 15th: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 2. Maybe you've heard of it? No link to a trailer because I still haven't watched it.
- July 22nd: Captain America: The First Avenger, starring Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving and Stanley Tucci.
- July 22nd: Friends with Benefits, with Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis. This looks like the better version of the one with Natalie Portman.

Oh, and I'm sort of interested in X-Men, but I probably won't see it. I just love James McAvoy and want to see more Jennifer Lawrence in action.

Flights taken: 10.
Films watched in April: 13. (Went to see Water for Elephants earlier tonight. I'd love to promise a review, but I am just so busy. I really want to write one for this and Hanna, though! Will try so hard. Overall, I think they are definitely both worth seeing.)

Follow up on BEDA/VEDA

2011-04-21T14:25:00.000-07:00

I usually don't reference previous posts too much because I like stand-alone blogs, but so many of you had some wonderful opinions on my post yesterday, so I'm going to talk about that again.
Most of you seem to mostly agree with me that if you don't have anything to say, don't tell people you don't have anything to say. Also, a few of you added that a lot of people step up to the plate to make something creative when you don't have anything to say, which I agree with. That's what I do. I don't always have interesting things to say, but if I dig inside my brain, there's always something to share. I just think that most people are really lazy about it and just end up telling us that they walked their dog and watched television. That's great, it really is, but those are details about your life that I don't really need to read in your blog about. How about a story about a squirrel WHILE you're walking your dog? That'd be awesome.
The arguments with my blog tend to fall into two categories. One, you guys like seeing YouTubers or bloggers with their walls down, not putting out big production stuff. I have two things to say to this. I think, as a general rule, you should just assume that we are all normal people outside of the blogs or videos. You should not have to read a blog about me doing laundry to know that I do it. Does that make sense? I think a lot of you fool yourselves into thinking that our lives are just SO CRAZY that we never do normal things, haha. The reason we share the fun stuff is because the mundane is not as cool, you know? Secondly, I am not saying every single blog or video has to be a big production. I don't always spend hours and hours on my videos, but that doesn't mean that I am no proud of them or think they are interesting. There aren't only big production or boring. I get that sometimes, during things like VEDA or BEDA, people have to have an easy out for a day or two somethings. I am not saying everyone should put perfect things out into the world (which was the whole beginning of my post yesterday). But there are ways of doing an easy video or blog without saying the words "I have nothing to say" or something like that. Never apologise, vloggers/bloggers! Just work it and people will probably like it. :)
The other half of arguments seem to, reading between the lines, kind of imply that you guys would like anything I, or other people you follow who do BEDA/VEDA, put out. Which, I mean, you guys are awesome. There are certainly people who I could watch paint a wall and be happy (see: Andrew Garfield, Keira Knightley, Peter Jackson, Jo Rowling...) and I will love anything they do. But that doesn't mean I'm going to encourage any more Bend it like Beckham's or King Kong's (apologise if you're a fan of their of those...I'm just...not.) Does that make sense? Haha. xD
I would like to reiterate that I do think that all of these things have benefits that outweigh the negatives in the long run. BEDA and VEDA encourage more frequent content in the future. NaNo gets people writing. I just generally do not like most of the content put out because I feel like people are more concerned with the amount of material, rather than what is said. I want more people to *say* things. To share things. Not to tell me they have nothing to say and how they did not do anything. It's so easy to just share a random story or, you know, write a quick list (though I am ridiculous and put way too much thought and time into mine.) These are such great opportunities to get to know other people online and it is sort of wasted in the mess of empty words, you know?
Oh, and to the person who said I was whining, I think there is a huge difference between sharing an opinion and whining. I wasn't saying I don't appreciate the support I get, I just think it sucks that anything you put online in the month of April gets less attention than any other time. That goes for everyone, not just me. Which is why I try to tweet about and bring attention to awesome videos I see during times like this when people may overlook them. It is unfair to people who put a lot of time into things for them to be overlooked because there is too much being put out.

With that, I think I'll end this discussion on my blog. Thanks for sharing all of your thoughts! It was great to hear from all of my readers, as well as Hayley's! You are all really fantastic and it was fun chatting :) xx

EDIT: Here's an awesome video response to my blog from an awesome vlogger named Savannah. Check it out!

Flights taken: 10.
Films watched in April: 12.

Reasons why I dislike BEDA

2011-04-20T16:36:00.000-07:00

I am not a perfectionist. I do not slave over things till I think they are perfect. In fact, one of my biggest academic faults is that I am really bad at re-reading and editing my own work. You can probably determine that by reading my blogs. However, I really do not like putting things out into the world that I am not proud of. In the past, I have definitely made videos that I did not work hard on or that I just threw together to put something up. A few months ago, I stopped allowing myself to do that. I make videos for myself and if I am not happy with a video, why put it out for others to see? That is one of the reasons I do not upload two videos a week like I used to.
The reason I am thinking about things like these sort of stems from the fact that the longer I do things like BEDA or watch VEDA videos, the more I dislike them. They encourage people to put things that they wouldn't necessarily put on the internet. They glorify content that is really not that, for lack of a better word, good. If you're going to do BEDA or VEDA or anything else, I think you should go into it with a plan. A theme. Something. But far too many of the people whose videos I watch did not and I have just found myself really disenchanted with the internet this month. Normally, I'd love things that encourage creativity, but I think that for the most part, they stifle it. Does anyone else feel that way? Is anyone else really tired of the "I don't really know what to blog about…" blogs? BEDA is a great idea, but if you're not actually going to *say* anything, then why bother?
I don't know. I do not mean to sound like some pretentious, high-and-mighty blogger. I certainly haven't put my all into every blog post this month, but I am really trying. I have pre-written some blogs I am proud of, spent a lot of time making some fun lists and I'm just having a good time hearing from you guys. I just think that a lot of people go about this all wrong. I think it's just a big quality versus quantity issue. It's the same way I feel about NaNoWriMo. Good in theory, but I know way too many people who just write a ton of crap and then never even go back to it. Sure, it's a lesson in discipline, pushing creativity, et cetera, but it's supposed to get you started in writing and it seems to stifle a lot of the writers I know and make them take extended breaks and often never come back to their books. Which sucks for them as writers and me as a person who would really like to see her friends published one day.
As a side note, another reason I am not a huge fan of BEDA is that it means my posts get a lot less attention than they would if they were less-frequent. I put a lot of time into some of these and, completely understandably, they get looked over due to the high-volume of posts everyone is putting out there. As you guys should know, I do everything I do on the internet first and foremost for myself, but that does not mean I don't love hearing from everyone who reads my blog and I feel like I hear a lot less in months like these.
So those are just some of my opinions. Let me know what you think about BEDA/VEDA/NaNoWriMo in the comments. Sorry if I seemed like a brat or anything in this blog. I honestly did not mean to sound like I am elevating myself or anything like that, just voicing my opinion. Hope you're having a good Wednesday! xx

Flights taken: 10.
Films watched in April: 11.

Stress, panic, repeat.

2011-04-19T09:18:00.000-07:00

So for the past week, I have been a ball of misery over a bunch of different things that I don't really want to drone on about right now. Including this impending illness I have. However, I received some news this morning that has sort of reformed my misery into nervousness, panic and excitement. As a side note, when I say "this morning," I mean this morning. I have a tendency to wake up at weird hours in the middle of the night and impulsively check my phone for the time and then continue on to check my emails and messages that I have missed whist being asleep. I don't really know why I feel compelled to do this or why they cannot wait till morning, but I have been waiting for this particular email for weeks, so I had to look.
Drum-roll, please...I got into the school in London where I applied to study abroad. This means, essentially, that I will be moving to London for a year in September. Maybe longer if I fall in love with the program or something. But...yeah. London. I don't really want to say where I'm going, as per usual, but I should be living in the south-central London-ish area, I think. I actually haven't heard where I'll be living and the buildings are spread across the city, but that's where my first pick was, so we'll see.
Now, as someone who spends every weekend hanging out with her mother, you can imagine why I'd be a little worried. Sure, I can go off on extended trips and be totally fine without anyone there, but I am *such* a family person. I am busting with excitement that it's Easter this weekend and I get to be with all of my cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents. And I get to see my brother! It's not like I don't see these people pretty often, but I just get so excited to get together. I missed a birthday party earlier this year when I was in California and it killed me, guys. KILLED ME. How am I going to handle missing, like, Thanksgiving? And Easter next year? I am hoping beyond hope that I will be able to afford going home for Christmas, because that it one holiday that I just cannot miss. I just hate that I'll miss so many get-togethers and birthdays and oh my god. My dogs. How can I survive that long without my dogs? It's hard to go a week without seeing them! See what I mean? Panic and fear and way too much emotional attachment. It is of those that I am currently comprised.
Also, did I mention that Visas are scary? Because...they are. I am slightly terrified of immigration, which is stupid, because I haven't had a problem with them since I was 16. (I didn't have a note from my parents, I had to sit in the scary little room, it was traumatic.) But just reading over all of these things that you need to do for a visa and I don't even understand half of them and ahhh. Terrifying.
I did not mean this to be a negative blog. Really, I am absolutely thrilled to have this opportunity and I can't freaking wait to meet new people, travel as much as possible, take some cool classes, et cetera. I've been looking forward to studying abroad in London since I was about ten years old and the fact that it is actually happening is incredible. But in addition to fears of missing out on family stuff and visas and money, there's always that nagging fear that things won't be as I imagined them. I really, really don't want to regret this at all in the way that I regret coming to the school I am currently at. I cannot deal with another year of this, especially when my mother isn't working 12 minutes away. Here's hoping for the best, right? I'm going to be making the most out of everything. Trying new things, opening myself up more and all of that good stuff.
So. That's where I am right now. I have a textededit to-do list open and my mom just emailed me with a to-do list and clearly I am her daughter. That was precious. I should also add that the final bullet on her list is "set up mom on skype and practice until she is proficient otherwise you can’t go."
Anyway, I have to go to class now. I hope you're all a little more emotionally stable than I am this morning and I will blog again tomorrow. Oh, also, if you missed my post yesterday, it was a pretty cool list of what I would do if I could travel with the Doctor. I hope to record a video of the list for TARDIStacular later this week, but things always seem to get in the way. Laterrr.

Flights taken: 10.
Films watched in April: 11. Have any of you seen The Lincoln Lawyer? I think I'd like to see it but I cannot decide if it's worth the money. Let me know if it's any good. Also, I'm excited to hopefully see both Soul Surfer (Bethany Hamilton was my idol when I surfed, okay?) and Water for Elephants (despite my dislike for RPattz acting) over Easter weekend.

Traveling in Time and Space

2011-04-18T18:26:00.000-07:00

Not better, stock blog for you. xx

I was asked recently 'if you became the Doctor's companion, what are the top 10 places you would most like to visit?' Now, my first impulse was to just ignore the question because, to be honest, my first pick would just be "somewhere I've never even heard of before." I'd love to go to some unknown planet in some distant time. I want to see things I don't even know exist and I want to go places that I could never imagine. So I'm going to center my choices on Earth, past and future. They are sort of in order, but mostly just sort of as they came to me from the bottom up. I didn't put as much time into this list and numbering as I have with others. Also, I have omitted some person situations that I would have like to go back and alter the slightest bit, if at all possible. I may make a video of this list for TARDIStacular, actually. Enough rambling, though...

10) 20 years from now.
I just want to see how technology will have improved by then, I suppose. This is sort of an uneventful one, but I just want to go a bit into the future and see what things will be like later down the line, just in case for some reason, I don't see them for myself. (Morbid Kayley is morbid and such).

9) 4 September 476, Western Roman Empire.
The fall of the Roman Empire, partially because it would be incredible to see the reactions of everyone and mostly because I'd love to rub it in my brothers face. Or, you know, just share the experience with him, haha.

8) 13 April 1896, New York City, Koster and Bial's Music Hall.
First film screening ever!

7) 17 November 1558 – 24 March 1603, England.
For any of you history buffs, you'll know that those dates are the beginning and end of Elizabeth I's reign. I think she is very possibly the most badass women in history and I'd love to see her or meet her or just be in the same country as her at the same time.

6) 19 July 1969, the Moon.
Just so I can be the first person on there, beating Apollo 11's lunar landing by a day. Selfish? Maybe a little bit.

5) 21 July 1954, United Kingdom. The original publication date for the very first Lord of the Rings installment by JRR Tolkien. I'd love to have a Harry Potter-like experience with these books. I know release dates were probably not a big deal at all back then, but I'd just like to see what it was like.

4) 2517.
In Firefly canon, that is when humans apparently have a new star system they call home. I want to see for myself :P

3) London, 1940 or 1941.
Call me crazy, but I would love to see the London Blitz. I find the extent to which that city was destroyed and built again just incredible. The reason London is my favourite city, among others, is the history it holds. I'd like to see a little of that history in action. Hopefully sans creepy children in gasmasks. But hey, if it gets me closer to John Barrowman, then why not?

2) 3 September 1783
The day the United States was recognised as its own, independent country. I think that'd be a pretty incredible time to party, you know what I mean?

1) The end of the Earth.
I want to know when, how and why. May be morbid, but I like to think that by the time the Earth is coming to a close or dying or however you want to put it, that we will be so spread out through the galaxy that it would not mean the end of the human race.

Flights taken: 10.
Films watched in April: 11.

Willow Rosenberg

2011-04-17T19:02:00.000-07:00

I'm having a less than ideal (see: awful) past few days. I have tried to stay away from the internet because I don't like spreading negativity and I have found it hard to keep optimistic with everything wrong going on. It happens sometimes. However, since I used one of my lists/pre-written blogs yesterday, I wanted to put something different out there, despite not having much to say. Except that a lot of you really seem to like Mulan. Who I don't dislike, but also think that outside of her family-loving nature, she doesn't have too much personality. Hence not making my list. Anyway, moving on.
Well, if you have been reading Kristina's blogs, you'll know that she is currently in production of a Buffy music video and despite the fact that I'm not a Buffy fan, I've had the awesome privilege of playing Willow in it. We filmed my bits yesterday and today and they were both really fun. The guy who plays Xander (his name is Nater), Kristina and I had a lot of fun both days telling jokes, keeping warm by jumping around and looking tough on camera.
Other than that, my weekend has been all about trying not to get sick and spending time with my parents. I love my parents more than I think you guys may realise. I spend most weekends when I'm not traveling across the country just sitting around at home watching movies or making dinner. I am a family girl, through and through. Oh, and I saw Hanna on Friday night. I want to review it, but I just have so much going on and I'm in a terrible place in school right now because of getting so far behind while away. This has definitely added to my less-than-happy demeanor as of late. Sometimes the world really gangs up against people. This week, it was me. I think I'll leave it at that because the negativity radiating from my pores is seeping out and I don't like spreading it. Hopefully I will be a tad better tomorrow. Have a lovely evening.

Flights taken: 10.
Films watched in April: 11.

Top Five Disney Heroines

2011-04-16T15:02:00.000-07:00

When reflecting upon the princesses, I realised that I don't...really...like them very much. I mean, this is not a huge surprise, I never liked any of the princess films too much. This is is the part where your little commenting fingers hit the keys and type "then why, Kayley, are you making a list of them? Can't think of anything better?" And you know what I have to say to that? Because I can and maybe not. Essentially, I feel really strongly about the first three of my choices and then sort of hit a wall. But after thorough deliberation as to whether or not Kanga could be considered a heroine, I finally managed to compile a list that I'm happy with, so here we go. (Also, if you want more interesting and articulate Disney videos, please check out my friend Sarah!)

5. Rapunzel from Tangled.
So I honestly don't love Rapunzel as much as everyone else on this freaking planet seems to. I liked Tangled, as you may remember from my review, but I did not buy into the hype as much as everyone else. However, Rapunzel is really lovely, loyal and wants to see the world. I can relate, obviously. She follows her dreams, despite fear and nerves and everything else. And she has magical hair and that's pretty damn awesome.

"I've been looking out of a window for eighteen years, dreaming about what I might feel like when those lights rise in the sky. What if it's not everything I dreamed it would be?"

4. Jasmine from Aladdin.
Jasmine was my favourite when I was really young. She is really passionate and doesn't like to do what she is told or what is expected of her. She isn't concerned with superficial type things and is not overly judgmental about others. Also, her outfit is pretty fierce.
"We humans appreciate your creations. The beauty of a flower, the shade from a tree, the joy of planting a seed and watching it grow. We care."

3. Nala from The Lion King.
Don't be giving me trouble about this one, Nala is totally a princess and a damn good one at that. She's totally down for any sort of adventure, is really brave and doesn't need a man...or a lion...to keep her happy. If Simba hadn't come pawing back, she totally would have been the Beyonce of lions. All the single lions, all the single lions...

"It's like you're back from the dead. You don't know how much this will mean to everyone. What it means to me."

2. Tiana from Princess and the Frog.
Princess and the Frog was a film that I was not looking forward to. I thought it was silly of Disney to go back to old school style because we have all of this new, amazing technology and there is no need to try and improve on something that was always beautiful. However, when I walked out of that film, tears streaking down my face, I was fully prepared to admit I was wrong. Tiana is driven, honest, independent, passionate, loving and essentially all of the good traits of everyone else wrapped into one. She is definitely close competition to my number one favourite, who is....

"My Daddy never did get what he wanted. But he had what he needed. He had love. He never lost a sight what was really important."

1. Belle from Beauty and the Beast.
I could go on and on about why Belle is my favourite, but this tumblr here recently blogged about her and she really just summed up all of my thoughts in a witty and, well, perfect way. For all of those too lazy to click a link, she says:
"She was kind of a loner, but she wasn’t sad over it or desperate to fit in. She didn’t give a shit that the hottest piece of man-ass in town wanted her, because he was a total semi-retarded douchebag and she knew she could do better. She wasn’t motivated by love or the need to have a significant other to do anything. In fact, even when she began to fall in love with the beast and she got news that her father was sick, she was like “iight I’m feelin you Beast but my dad is like dying in the woods so I should prooobbably go”. And then when Gaston was like being a complete asshole by getting everyone to raid the castle and kill the Beast, she broke the FUCK out of that cellar and rode a horse to rescue her man, after she nursed her father back to health. And we don’t even need to mention the fact that her man was an 8 foot Chewbacca/buffalo hybrid, she saw that he was a kind person who loved her and she fell in love with him. Like, seriously, Belle is basically the coolest woman ever."

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere / I want it more than I can tell / And for once it might be grand / To have someone understand / I want so much more than they've got planned."

Let me know who your favourite Disney heroines are in the comments and I will talk to you guys tomorrow!

Flights Taken: 10.
Films watched in April: 9, saw Hanna last night. So, so good. Hoping to review it soon.

Instannoyances

2011-04-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

I'm annoyed and frustrated and do not feel like blogging. Therefore, today I will present you with ten easy ways to annoy me. Here goes...

Using the word "dog" or"dawg" seriously outside of the context of the animal or the University of Washington, where their mascot is the husky and they are the "dawgs." (My parents are both proud UW alumni.)
Complain about wanting the internet, finally get online and check your facebook. I will never understand how people spend so much time on that website.
When people get annoyed over split infinitives. I love grammar just as much as the next person, though I generally blog like I speak so this may not be entirely evident in this medium, but "to go boldly" pales in comparison to "to boldly go," okay?
"How are you?" about 95% of the time.
Being asked about money. Ever. By pretty much anyone.
River Song in Doctor Who.
Spending time on a video and having most of the comments revolve around something in frame or something I am wearing.
The Phineas and Ferb theme song. It's one of the main reasons I stopped watching Disney channel a few years ago.
Double standards.
Extremes. How people seem to either HATE SOMETHING SO MUCH or have NEVER LOVED ANYTHING MORE. Both "love" and "hate" are terribly overused words, in my opinion.

Flights taken: 10.
Films watched in April: 8.

My Hobbit Heart

2011-04-14T11:50:00.000-07:00

Alright, guys. Let's talk The Lord of the Rings. The Lord of the Rings is something that I haven't ever directly talked about before, as far as I can recall. The reason being that there was nothing new to talk about and it'd just be me geeking out over things I've been geeking out over for about 8 years. However, The Hobbit released a video today about beginning stages of production and although I've been excited since they announced this film, it's just now sinking in.
The Lord of the Rings films are my favourite films of all time, hands down. From the second I stepped into Middle Earth through the worlds of JRR Tolkien, I was in love. Peter Jackson took that world and made it into something better than I could have ever imagined. Never before had I felt so strongly about a film and that is actually where my love for film sprung from when I was about eleven years old. I cannot tell you how much of my life I have given to New Line Cinema and how much of my heart I have given to this world. I saw Return of the King in cinemas fourteen times. Admittedly, this was when a ticket cost $5-6 and not the $10-15 it costs now, but that is a lot of times to see a film that is four hours long. I know every word to every scene in the extended editions, know the cast commentaries by heart, have seen every production image and cast interview. Their inside jokes are my inside jokes (with myself and my best friends). Peter Jackson has been one of my number one heroes, alongside Jo Rowling, for many years. I feel as though I've know the cast for years and that we're great friends, as creepy as that same. In case you haven't noticed, I'm a massive nerd. Very little can cheer me up in the was these films do.
Due to my passion for this franchise, I'm just having a really hard time conceptualizing the fact that right now, probably this very minute, they are currently working on new film canon and are knee deep in Middle Earth. It would be lying to say that does not make me more than a little emotional. I have abandoned any pretense that I was going to get work done and have spent my entire morning going through tumblr, rewatching the video above, sharing it with my friends and family and twitter followers and just being a total freak. I could really go on for days, but as I said, I'm feeling stupidly over-emotional and just want to go get a latte and listen to Howard Shore. However, I actually have to go to class in a couple hours, so I guess I'll do that. But my head will be in New Zealand, right along with my heart.

Flights taken: 10.
Films watched in April: 8, but I hope to watch a couple tonight.

"One more time, for the racism!"

2011-04-13T21:29:00.000-07:00

I think it is a fairly safe assumption to if you read my blog, you probably read Kristina's. If not, however, go over to her latest post to read more about the event I'm going to write about. Basically, earlier tonight, we were at a meet-up for our friend Jimmy Wong who is in Seattle for a few days. It was rather strange assortment of people who seem to have all found him via his Ching Chong video. The title of this post is something he said while playing the chorus of said song.
At any rate, the story I have to share is about a guy who happened to attend this event. First of all, this guy was Jimmy's number one fan. He made a point of coming over as soon as he got there, shaking his hand, taking a picture with him, basically fangirling him. Did I mention this man was probably in his 40s? After getting his picture, he proceeded to join our table, interrupting the conversation we were having with our new friend Caity, to ask for the seat between us. There were about a hundred tables in the room, but he HAD to sit at the table with Jimmy and if that meant sitting in the seat between two people who were clearly having a conversation, then so be it.
After a few awkward moments in which he was totally reading what Caity was writing on a peice of paper for the two of us (her name and contact information so we could hang out again), Kristina and I told Caity to come sit next to us and we pulled up a new chair. The second she moved, basically, he took her water glass, re-filled it with the water jugs on the table and drank from it. The table was FILLED with cups that were upside-down, clearly unused. But nope, this guy went for the closest empty cup that was already used. He proceeded to take creepy phone picture of Jimmy from his *prime* location across the table and got thoroughly excited when Jimmy went to play music.
It was just so strange. He seemed to pick up no social signals and just made for such a unique table situation. Needless to say, the three of us were holding back laughter quite a lot and couldn't stop talking about him the moment he left. The moment he left also being the moment he asked Kristina to save him a table at the front for Jimmy's 21+ show that I will not be attending. (Oh, to be the youngest...) Sorry, sir, I think their table is full. xD
Let me know if you've ever had slightly creepy people make situations awkward for you in the comments, haha! I'll talk to you all tomorrow.

EDIT: A lot of you are suggesting that he had Aspergers. I assure you, that was not the case. I have a family member with it, so I know how it affects people. This guy was just socially awkward.

Flights taken: 10.
Films watched in April: 8.

Farewell Miami

2011-04-12T08:25:00.000-07:00

I'm having one of those mornings where all I can think about it how hungry I am and how much I really do not want to write a blog post. I say that like the latter is a feeling I experience frequently, which it is not. Mainly because there is normally no obligation or anything like that, so I never have to conscientiously think such negative thoughts. However, today I am just starving and tired and slightly annoyed and frustrated with myself and I just HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS, OKAY? So I'm just going to leave you with two of my favourite videos from Miami that my friends have put up so far. This one represents the fun and friendships of this trip. And this one represents how freaking weird and ridiculous we all are. Also, as a side note, I am not drunk in this video. Everyone seems to have their judgmental fingers out in the comments, but that's just how I am. People learn to love it. Or tolerate it. Whatever. Have a great day! I'm going to go soak up as much vitamin D as possibly before we fly out this afternoon back to Seattle, where I am told by weather.com that it is 40 degrees. Swell.

Pointless photos

2011-04-11T11:13:00.000-07:00

my desk at school, drama chocolates from valentine's day, a sunset, "supermoon."

I don't have anything to say today because it's girl shopping day in Miami now that the boys have departed. I could share photos from Miami, but I don't have any...My mother will now be pleased. Hope you're all well! It is finally starting to hit me how behind in classes I'm going to be come Wednesday, which is freaking me out. And it's just a few days now that I find out big, big things and it's scaring me. So that is that. Farewell.

Flights Taken: 8.
Films watched in April: 8.

Miami is sticky

2011-04-10T16:40:00.000-07:00

So I'm still in Miami and haven't had any time to blog today. None of my pre-written posts really seems fitting for today so I'll just give you a little play by play of my day like normal bloggers do, how's that sound? Boring? Well, then, away with you. :P
I woke up earlier than everyone else, because I'm always that person and I just sat around in my bed debating walking to Subway for nearly two hours before deciding to get up and do so. By the point, Sammy and Elizabeth in the other room were up and so we decided to go eat and eventually Kristina, Ariana, Eia and Alex had decided to join. I had an amazing meal of a TRIPLE DECKER grilled cheese, guys. Three layers. So good. And I drank so much water. Which was also so good. We then spent the rest of the day partying it up on the beach and being pushed into the water by Luke. He's such a bully, guys.
I'm really not used to humidity. Miami is so fun and I'm having a great time but every time I go anywhere with humidity, I remember that I should never, ever live somewhere where this is the norm. As much as I love sun, I can't deal with the ice in my drinks melting before I finish drinking them and that nasty sticky feeling my face has not abandoned since arrival. I applaud all of you who manage to wake up day after day and live in this moist they call air, but it definitely gives me a sense of appreciation for the lovely, clean and occasionally rainy air in Washington.
Alright, sorry this was less than ideal, but I have just been informed that we're going back to the same place we ate earlier today for dinner. I'm not even upset. They have SO MANY OPTIONS AND IT ALL LOOKS SO GOOD. And that's all for this episode of "why the hell does Kayley eat so much?" I have a bucket of fries and probably plates of pasta to attend to. Until tomorrow, my friends!

Flights taken: 8.
Films watched in April: 8.