Hello, Hello. 8 months later, and decided to start up the blog again, because well.... tis the season!
A lot has happened since my last post, so I guess I should do a little update.
:)
Let's travel back in time:
SPRING!
Spring Quarter was a bittersweet quarter: Sweet because some of the most memorable moments of this year occurred during this quarter; Bitter because I had to say farewell to some of my closest friends that I made when I first started at UC Irvine. I got to perform with two ensembles that I love dearly: Etude Ensemble & Jazz Ensemble, and I also danced alongside my best friends in my old roommate and one of my first friends at UCI's thesis. It was a quarter of new friendships, dance & music performances, pub nights, and all sorts of wonderful.
View of the Commencement Ceremony: UCI Class of 2014 feat. President Obama
Jamie Nishimura's Thesis <3
SUMMER!
In front of the Colosseum
1. Rome!! I went to Rome this summer and it was probably one of the biggest highlights of my year. I got to work and perform with super talented composers and musicians from Rome and improvise on stage with fellow UCI dancers. I experienced the beautiful ancient ruins of Rome and was constantly overwhelmed by the amount of history each part of Rome held. I immersed myself into the busy life of Rome and got myself lost in the city where I found some of my favorite things: little streets with no names, a cafe that opened up to a hip urban bar at night, and fountains constantly surrounded by emerging artists and university students. The experience of Rome is something that I will forever cherish, and I'm so happy to have been given the opportunity to go on this trip.
NY/VA Photo Collage
2. After my Rome trip, I made a pit-stop on the East Coast! I was in NYC for a couple of days to watch a couple of shows, take some dance classes, and visit old friends of mine. Then I went over to Shirlington, VA to visit my lovely niece Lucy Evangeline Rogers who is the definition of the cutest baby in the world. I'm biased, mainly because she's my niece, but already she is full of spunk and personality and it's probably because she has the coolest parents ever. She's now almost 10 months old and likes crawling, biting things, and giving a mean stank face.
SKC
3. After being away from California for approximately a month, I finally drove back to dear old Half Moon Bay and worked for the remainder of the summer with Steve and Kates Summer Camp! It was my second consecutive year with Steve and Kates, so it was nice to return to a familiar environment. Always a trip when you see that some of the kids you were a counselor for last year have grown significantly taller...
FALL
Fall Quarter was something that I was looking forward to starting, and by the end of it, I was glad to see it go. I had about the roughest fall quarter to date with a whopping 38 Units (Intro to Earth System Sciences, Poetry, Journalism on the Edge, Choreo Project II, New Slate Dance Concert, Jazz III , Contemporary Dance Immersion, Senior Seminar, Laban Notation, Jazz Ensemble, and Etude Ensemble) because I thought it would be a good idea to dive myself into school (spoiler alert: IT WASN'T A GOOD IDEA). Despite the tears, stress, and an overworked state of mind and physical being that Fall quarter brought, I survived, passed all of my classes and made Deans Honors List! *pats self on back* I've never been so happy to see the end of a quarter.
Photo from Cierra's Choreo Project
"Moji" New Slate Dance Concert 2014, Choregraphy: Elke Calvert, Photo: Skye Schmidt
Now:
I'm currently on Winter Break where I'm enjoying days where I can sleep without having to set an alarm, spend time with my family since it's rare to get all of us in the house at the same time, and binge watch on Doctor Who, American Horror Story, and The Office. Why did I start this blog back up again? Probably because of the sudden surplus in leisure time I have due to this break. But mainly, this blog was kind of a writing outlet for me.Writing is something I've always loved, and it's nice not having to write up something for an assignment every once in a while. Hopefully I'll be better about updating this little thing for the upcoming year. :)
My sister gave birth to a beautiful little girl by the name of Lucy Evangeline Rogers on April 13th, 2014!
SHE IS THE CUTEST!!!!
Lucy Evangeline Rogers <3
Flashback to the very first day Jackie and Phil told us about baby Sesame on the way!!
TEARS OF JOY
I seriously can't wait to meet her officially... I've already met her through Facetime but she probably doesn't remember because she was sleeping. Also she was like four days old and I don't think anyone can remember stuff from when they were four days old. She's got such a cute derpy face. HEH. I'll be meeting her in the summer after my Rome trip...
Which leads to my ROME trip!
I'm officially going to ROME with seven other dancers from UCI-- three undergraduate students(including myself) and four Graduate students. This was actually a really last minute decision, but I've decided since I wasn't able to study abroad this summer, I can DANCE abroad-- which is basically like studying abroad. It's going to be really cool because we are working and collaborating with musicians at the University of Rome and doing three performances there. Last time I was in Europe I was in Austria performing with my old dance studio.... and it was the best time of my life, though I admit I was quite young at the time and didn't really understand how precious it was. SO i'm super excited to go again to Europe for dance. I'm also just really excited to travel to Europe satisfy my traveling crave I've been having ;)
Also who knows, maybe I'll meet an Italian popstar who will ask me to impersonate his Italian popstar duo partner that looks coincidentally exactly like me and then I'll have to sing and dance and present an award at the italian pop music awards and then---- oh, right that's the Lizzie Mcguire movie.... woops.
I'M READY FOR MY OWN LIZZIE MCGUIRE MOVIE! Lexi Friday takes on ITALIA WOOOO
It's been a while since I've updated, but I've finally found time to blog a little bit before things start getting crazy again.
I'm in my Spring quarter at UC Irvine, and it's so far been a great quarter-- although I'm finding it incredibly hard to find motivation in doing homework.
I just got finished with two dance shows this quarter:
1. Dance Escape
Dance Escape was a great Graduate choreography show, and I was really lucky to have been casted in two very different but equally awesome pieces.
The first piece I was in was called "81?728" choreographed by Cara Scrementi. Cara was a choreographer that after seeing her piece in New Slate this year, I knew I wanted to work with during her time here at UCI. Her choreography is so quirky and brilliant-- I was more than ecstatic when I saw I was casted for her piece. Though her choreography was a bit of a challenge for me because of its precision and intricacy, it was something that I was really proud to have worked hard and perform it with other talented dancers. Also, I really loved the music we danced to... I'm still listening to it even after the show is over!
I'm in yellow on the far right in the back... Check out Emily (front, center) and her super amazing leg! Photo By Lisa Bates
The second piece I was in was called "And then what happens?" choreographed by Steve Rosa. I've taken social dance from Steve earlier in the year, so I already had in mind that this was going to be a really fun piece. And I was right! It was a lot of dancers I've never danced with before, so it was great being able to meet some new dancers. We were a pretty goofy cast (in the best way of course!) and it was never a dull moment in class and on stage. Steve was a blast to work with and I definitely had a lot of fun.
Here's a photo of us embracing our weird selves ;)
The second show occurred right after the weekend of Dance Escape::
The dance ensemble I'm apart of ,UCI ETUDE ENSEMBLE, travelled to Santa Barbara to do a research performance exchange with the dance department over at UCSB. It was an amazing experience and definitely too short. We spent the day in SBm took pictures at the beach, and performed Donald Mckayle's repertoire from "Songs of the Disinherited" as well as our Dance Visions piece "Even as the river and the sea are one."
I wish we had more trips like these, because it was such a great way for our ensemble to bond-- even if it was for a brief time. The only thing is, I wish Mr. Mckayle was able to come with us. :(
On Friday, March 21st, the highly anticipated book-to-film Divergent opened up in theaters. In case you've been missing out on the trailers, Divergent is a young adult book written by Veronica Roth that takes place in post-apocalyptic Chicago, where the city is divided up into five factions based on what traits they value most: Amity (peace), Abnegation (Selflessness), Erudite (intelligence), Candor (honesty), and Dauntless (courage).
It specifically focuses on a 16 year old girl, Tris Prior (played by Shailene Woodley) and follows her as she struggles to find her self in the faction she chose-- Dauntless. She finds out she is Divergent (doesn't fit into any one of the factions) and must keep her identity a secret because she is seen as a threat to the government. She falls in love with her Dauntless trainer (played by Theo James) and together they learn that the government plan to eliminate all those that are Divergent to keep the factions from joining forces.
As someone who was a huge fan of the book, I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome of the movie.
First of all: Casting ( I kind of have a lot to say).
Main Characters:
I'll be honest and say I am generally not a fan of Shailene Woodley. Maybe it's because I can't shake some of her previous works (That ABC Family American Teenager Pregnancy)out of my head, or maybe it's because I think she's just not the right fit for Tris. She's a talented actress and there were moments where her acting really shined, but something about her didn't click as smoothly with the character of Tris, and I can't really pinpoint what it is.
I was a bit taken aback that Ansel Elgort was casted alongside Shailene Woodley as Tris's brother, Caleb Prior. I thought the two of them looked great as siblings, but what irked me was the fact that they're also casted alongside each other in a completely different book to film movie, The Fault in Our Stars written by John Green. This will definitely be another blockbuster teen flick, and it's just something that makes me wonder: Are there are not enough teen actors in the acting pool to choose different actors for these roles? COME ON!
Siblings in Divergent.... Photo Credit from justjared.com
Lovers in The Fault in Our Stars Photo Credit: Dailymail.uk
Theo James who plays Four was someone who I definitely did not imagine as Four though I do think he did a great job of capturing Four's cool and intimidating persona. Not exactly my first choice for Four, but he played the part well.
The actors for Christina (Zoe Kravitz), Will (Ben Lloyd Hughes), Peter (Miles Teller), and Al (Christian Madsen) were great casting. I thought the actors for Will, Peter and Al all generally looked the same though, so it was hard deciphering who was who while watching the movie. I actually wasn't too sure about the casting for Christina, her first sarcastic appearance might have been too strong as I imagined her to be a lot bubblier with a hint of sarcasm. However, she grew on me throughout hte movie and I thought her and Will looked great together (of course my heart broke at the sight of them together.)
Jai Courtney as Eric was almost exactly how I pictured Eric and Jair Courtney made it extremely easy to hate his character. Another great casting choice was definitely Ashley Judd as Natalie Prior who's bad-assery was almost more kick ass then her daughter, and Kate Winslet who fabulously played Jeanine Mason as the cold hearted Erudite bitch leader.
Setting/Cinematography/Pacing:
Photo Credit: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com
SO MUCH CHICAGO, IT WAS PERFECT. I'm particularly in love with the city of Chicago, so I was expecting to see a lot of Chicago landscape and scenery and boy did this movie sell it. I'm so glad they didn't ruin one of my favorite scenes, the Navy Pier Capture the flag scene. There was enough Chicago appreciation, enough cringeworthy relationship development, and epic music.
The only thing that I wasn't a fan of was the sometime incredibly shaky camera and the overly-close zoom ins on the faces of the actors, which is something I noticed that Summit Entertainment likes to do.. (remember Twilight?)
The pacing of the movie seemed to drag on, especially in the beginning. I feel like this is something that couldn't have been avoided because there are so many scenes that were necessary to include for the those that haven't read the book... but in reality the movie just felt too long.
Soundtrack:
Can we talk about how great the soundtrack was? Ok, so maybe there was a little (ok, a LOT) of Ellie Goulding, but Zedd, Snow Patrol, A$AP Rocky and Skrillex? YES THIS IS GOOD! *gets soundtrack immediately*
Overall, I'd give the movie a 7/10. It lived up to my expectations, but some things just didn't click right for me.
Hi.
I just got back from watching the new Divergent movie at the AMC Marina Theater here in Long Beach and want to do a quick blog post about my night. I'll probably do a movie review on the actual movie in a separate post, but I wanted to make a quick post about movie theater etiquette.
As someone who has been to plenty of movie theaters in the past, I have never experienced such a terrible environment at Long Beach's AMC Marina theater tonight. I understand it was a busy Saturday night and obviously the crowds will be bigger, but tonight's movie watching experience was so terrible, I felt the need to rant about it on the internet. So, here I am. Sitting here typing up a post about my night. It's mainly prompted by the entire row of kids and family in front of me who's maturity level deemed a lot lower than their actual appearance. Divergent is a PG-13 movie, and though they looked well over the age of 13, they seemingly felt the need to be obnoxious throughout the entirety of the movie by whistling during sexual tension scenes, clapping unnecessarily, and laughing at a level that is obviously not a normal volume. Each ticket was probably around $15, so to have my family movie night wasted by a group of obnoxious wahoos seemed like a waste of a ticket. If you're not mature enough to enjoy a movie without disturbing everyone else, then maybe you should have saved everyone else the trouble and irritation, and just stayed home.
Don't be one of those people. People like that, for lack of a better word, suck.
I'm compiling a list of things that should and should NOT be done at a movie theater.
DO clap for epic scenes of victory or accomplishment or total bad-assery.
DONT clap randomly for moments in the movie, just for the sake of clapping.
DO laugh at scenes that you think are funny.
DONT overdo it. As in don't laugh at every single scene because it gets to the point where it's not even funny anymore, it's just annoying.
DON'T whistle/make stupid comments about the relationship scenes.
It's okay to laugh/chuckle at some of the weird sexual tension moments, but to constantly whistle every time the two main characters kiss or when Shaileene Woodley takes her sweater off/shows skin is inappropriate and obnoxious.
DO turn your phone off/put it on silent.
DON'T check your phone throughout the entire movie. Even if your screen is on the lowest light, EVERYONE behind you can see it. there's a reason for the "Switch your phone to silent" commercials, kids.
DO whisper little comments to your neighbors.
key word: whisper.
DO put your feet up on the seats if no one is sitting in front of you.
DON'T put your feet up on the seats if someone is sitting in front of you.
or-- DON'T be the person who chooses to sit right in front of someone using the seat as a pedastool, when there are plenty of other seats in the house.
I'm sure there are more, but as for right now that's all I can think of.
DON'T BE THOSE PEOPLE!
Hi internet.
It's been years. not really, but it's been getting quite busy on my end over here. I'm currently in Week 9 of the quarter, and a lot is happening. We've got a dance concert coming up next week, two huge papers due, dance concert auditions on Wednesday, more dance auditions on Saturday, and just a whole lot of dancing and writing and studying.
With that said, I'm gonna go ahead and post an album review I wrote for my HC club a long time ago, that ended up never getting published on the internet... SO!
Here you go: Long Overdue, Album Review on One Direction's semi-new album Midnight Memories.
Biggest boy band
of the year has done it again! On November 25th, One Direction released their third album, Midnight Memories. To promote Midnight
Memories, the guys of 1D hosted a 7 hour long live stream two days prior to the release date, where dedicated
fans all around the world tuned in to watch the guys attempt to break world
records, answer fan Q & A’s, and perform songs from their albums. The album
that has been highly anticipated by fans is finally out, and whether you like
1D or not, Midnight Memories is a
record that you might actually want to consider giving a listen!
For starters,
it’s a great coming of age album— they have definitely come a long way from hit
single “What Makes You Beautiful.” Struggling to maintain a clean sound for
their younger listeners while still embracing the idea of growing up, they
manage to find a nice blend to satisfy all their listeners, no matter what age.
If you listen to the radio at all, then
you probably have already heard their two latest singles “Best Song Ever” and
“Story of My Life.” Both singles are contrastingly different from each other,
as “Best Song Ever” is still very reminiscent of their former pop albums with
it’s sugary sweet catchy chorus that’s bound to get stuck in your head. Only a
few other songs on the album like “Why Don’t We Go There” and “Little White Lies” have their familiar pop sound that we’ve all grown to know and love. Their recent single,
“Story of my Life”, is an accurate preview of what's new in their album, with prominent
influences from bands Mumford and Suns and The Lumineers. If you like that
acoustic folk pop, then tracks “Through the Dark” and “Happily” are your go-to
songs. Similar, to “Story of My Life”, they’re the kind of songs that would be
in the soundtrack of a teen indie flick. You’ll feel “infinite” just by
listening to them (Yes, I just quoted Perks of Being a Wallflower. I went there.)
The album takes a
surprising edgy turn, with songs like “Alive” and “Little Black Dress” paying
tribute to classic 80’s rock. The guys get cheeky with their double entendre
lyrics, and even come about 99% close to swearing in some of their songs, including
album titled song & single “Midnight Memories”: “ People talk shh but we don’t listen.” Although older listeners may not have a
problem with it, I don’t think boss Simon Cowell is ready for the boy band to
be swearing in songs just yet (sigh).
Besides
the different music styling’s, the guys got to personalize the album with their
own words. Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis
Tomlinson all contributed to the album as co-writers to 15 out of 18 tracks. Though
they still have professional writers by their side, you can really hear the guys
pour their personal stories into songs, especially in “Don’t Forget Where You
Belong” where their lyrics reflect their on-the-road tour lifestyle:
“Living out the cases/Packing up and
taking off/
Made
a lot of changes/But not forgetting who I was.”
This
was a huge step for the guys as they were finally able to get a bit of a voice
in the music they’re putting out. A big cheers to the surprising Louis
Tomlinson, who was one of the biggest contributors to the album, co-writing 12
out of the 18 songs.
Overall, It’s
refreshing to hear the band attempt to showcase a level of maturity in their sound while
still maintaining a young “live life to the fullest” attitude in their lyrics. Although
I miss the bright bubbly pop sound that the boy band is known for, it’s clear
that the guys of One Direction want the world to know that they’re growing up, and they want you to grow up with them. Though it's a bit drastic of a change in music stylings, it's definitely an album you should give a chance. The album was a big risk
to take, and they did it successfully.
Unmentioned
songs that you should listen to: "Better than words", “Half a Heart”, “Strong”, and
“Diana”.
Last week I performed my first show in exactly a year since Billy.... and of course, I got to perform with my lovely Etude Ensemble!
Let me tell you, words can't even begin to explain how great it was to perform again. I MISS IT!!
It's been an incredibly stressful week trying to balance midterms and my schools dance concert... But I'm making it through!
I just wanted to do a quick update on this blog with one of the products I've been using recently!
I went to Lush a few weeks ago and made one of my first purchases-- Brazened Honey Fresh Face Mask.
It's one of the best purchases I made that day! Because of the stress of midterms and dance concert happening all at once this week, my skin hasn't been doing too well-- and the makeup from the shows isn't doing much to help... But I've been using this face mask for the past couple nights after getting done with my dance show and it literally makes my skin glow and feel brand new.
Since this face mask is primarily for those with oily skin and my skin has recently been oily due to the stress, I opted for this face mask.
What I've been doing:
After I wash my makeup off from the show, I get this little guy out of the fridge.
Then I proceed to lather it all over my face-- but not overdoing it as I want to save some of the mask for later use.
I usually let it sit on my face until the mask slightly hardens before washing it off. You can really feel a slight tingle in your face, which is obviously the exfoliators doing their work. Once it hardens, I usually wash it off with warm water and towel dry. However, what I've been doing the past couple nights to save time is jumping into the shower when it's time for me to wash it off.
Then to complete the night, I put on some facial toner (I use Boots Expert Sensitive Gentle Refreshing Toner) to finish tightening my pores and then moisturize my face with night cream (Elizabeth Arden's Good Night Sleep Restoring Cream). Voila! Afterwards, my skin feels nice and replenished, ready for the next day :)
My only concern is that since Lush is so fresh and organic, their face masks have an expiration date. It's a bit unfortunate because I feel pressured to use the face mask more often that I normally would just so that I could make use of the entire container. But in a way, it's good because my skin is already looking better.
That's all! This isn't a normal update, but I am just in love with this product and wanted to share it! Hope everyone has a nice end of the week.
I got Boba tea. Shh, Don't tell. Green Tea Ice Cream Cooler with Boba Tea. I don't know why I capitalized the first letter of each word.
Anyways, I have a midterm tomorrow.
AHH Procrastination.
I procrastinate procrastinating.
Literally though.
I think to myself, I'm going to study later because I want to watch this episode of Pretty Little Liars.
But then I procrastinate watching Pretty Little Liars because I am on here.
I have a midterm tomorrow.
I am writing to you at the calm of the storm. It's been a few hectic days with writing essays, reading articles and somehow managing to make it to 8 am classes. Tech Week is about to begin for Dance Visions (the dance show that I'm performing in) and I know it's going to be hell.
I realized that the last time I performed on a stage is almost exactly a year ago.
My last performance with Billy Elliot was on February 17... and my first performance with UCI will be on February 11. A year has flown by.
Same person, different year.
A friend of mine brought this video to my attention and I seriously can't stop watching it.
Thought of You- Ryan Woodward
Graceful choreography, simple yet intricate sketches and a open-ended concept... I've been watching this video over and over again and have been feeling inspired to choreograph a piece. I can't get over this video. It's so simple and beautiful, and the artist really made his sketches flow so well with the song. I WISH I COULD DRAW.
I forgot how much I loved this song. It came up on shuffle as I was driving back to my apartment earlier tonight, and it is just such a beautiful story. Listen & Love.
I want to do a long post about how much I love Fun. and how they've grown as a band so much since Aim and Ignite, but my brain is much too tired, so that will be postponed.
Honestly, everyone-- stop what you're doing and watch this. One Direction came out with a new music video. It's borderline cheesy, but actually perfect in every way. As said in the title, it's the perfect combination of sexy and cute (If you get this movie reference, we can be friends *cough Crazy Stupid Love*) It's simply the boys of One Direction, what they consider "midnight memories" and some serious appreciation for the city of London.
The band is debuting their newest album titled single, "Midnight Memories" and boy is this song 180 degrees different from their last single. Their last single was a Mumford and Suns/Lumineers influenced blend of folk and pop... This one sounds like Def Leoppards "Pour Some Sugar on Me." You can tell that the boy band is trying to experiment away from their usual pop-dance heavy tracks. In fact, they don't even sound like the same band after listening to their first single, "What Makes You Beautiful." Given their new sound, I expected them to have a music video where all of them are clad in black leather debuting a new look and their cool "rockstar" life style. This music video kind of touched upon my image in my mind, but took it in a different direction...
The video, directed by the fabulous Ben Winston who did their last two music videos, "Best Song Ever" and "Story of My Life", begins at a house party. The boys of One Direction are there, except they're not entirely enjoying their time. Each of the boys are caught up in a scene that I feel like is a scenario we've all been through at a party. Realizing that Harry Styles was missing, my first thoughts of where this music video could go revolved around Styles bursting into the party singing the beginning lyrics of their song, which will then lead to the party suddenly picking up at the tune of Midnight Memories (cliche, right?). People will start dancing, and crazy party antics will take part. Ah, but of course, this didn't happen (though in a way I sort of wish it did), probably because they still have a very young fanbase, and management didn't want to promote partying.
Anyways, my image of Styles bursting into the party singing the lyrics of the song was pretty accurate-- except then it takes a different turn. The boy band ends up ditching the party to go out and make their own midnight memories (heh, see what I did there?!) which include wreaking havoc at a restaraunt, riding on electric scooters, and flirting with old ladies jokingly -- Nice dig at your own reputation, Harry Styles.
One of my favorite scenes of course, is the scene where the boys take a boat down the river and admire all of the London landmarks (Big Ben, The London Bridge, The London Eye). As a huge appreciation for London culture, I nearly squealed at all the beautiful sights in the background. It's in this moment where the scene just really fits the song-- a cheesy "living young and wild and free" popped up in my head as I watched them lift their arms wide open with St Paul's Cathedral in the background (check out the first gif in this post.)
When you think in the context of the song, you assume Midnight Memories is going to be about crazy rockstar tour antics and heavy partying. But this video takes that and morphs it in a way to create a different (appropriate) midnight memories. Clearly their lifestyle is nothing close to normal and obviously, normal boys probably wouldn't be able to get away with stealing a boat and then climbing up on the London Bridge at night. They are living at the top of the world, yet are still humbled by the beauty of something as simple as London's architecture. Plus, you can't help but smile at the outrageous sillyness of these boys.
And of course, watching the video makes you realize that yeah, there are other things to do than drink your life away at a house party and make useless small talk with people you don't know. Why spend your time doing something you don't like? You create your own memories, and you can do anything you want.
With that said, it's a great music video and a nice shift from their Story of My Life music video (which was on the serious side.) It matches well with the song, and Winston does a brilliant job capturing the boys in different lights. Bravo!
Just a quick little post about my beautiful friend, Matlynn Henry, whom I've had the pleasure to spotlight for this weeks Campus Cutie. She was one of my closest dance friends growing up, and we ended up going to UC Irvine together! She's a lovely gal. She's a dancer, loves to nap, and enjoys watching Disney movies. Click the caption below her picture to read more about her!
I was also very happy to see that both my Campus Cutie articles made it to Her Campus Top Chapter Articles! This has never happened to me before, so it's a really big deal for me.
Konstantinos and Thanasis Kaplanis
Matlynn Henry!
While I'm on the subject of Her Campus, I am very pleased to state that after applying to the Her Campus Blogger Network, I got an email saying I have a spot in the Network! Nothing makes me happier, and it's quite exciting because I'll have an even bigger incentive to keep this blog updated. I'm going to try and put a focus to my blog, since right now it's just a compilation of pop culture and personal life. I've recently been writing a lot about music, so I might make a tag for it. Not sure yet what I'll do, but either way, I'm just really happy to get this blog on a roll!
Hi internet!
Just wanted to post about my latest article with Her Campus! I did the "Campus Cutie" section for the month, so I decided to interview an old friend from SPOP (Student Parent Orientation Program at UCI), Konstantinos Kaplanis. I remembered he also had a lovely twin brother, Thanasis Kaplanis, so I figured, why not do a twin edition for Campus Cutie?
Konstantinos and Thanasis Kaplanis- HC Campus Cuties of the week!
They're stunning, ain't they? ;) haha, they've got great personalities, and were so kind to let me interview them last december! It was interesting to see what they're involved in at school, what they think of twin telepathy, and just how they're similar/different.
Please check out the link below to read more about them!! (and give this blogpost a lovely +1 ! )
On Saturday January 9th, at approximately 5:45 pm, I made a last minute decision to go to the To Write Love on Her Arms Heavy and Light concert event in Los Angeles. I hated driving, and I especially hated driving in LA. But I also hated sitting at home on a Saturday night pressing "next" on the dashboard of my tumblr. It's a new year and I'm trying out this whole "suck it up and do it" mentality... and so far it's been going really well (especially with 8am classes every day). So, with that in mind, I sucked it up, called a friend of mine who would want to go, and suddenly I was on my way to the Heavy and Light concert.
To be honest, I didn't know much about To Write Love on Her Arms. I remember hearing about it a lot when I was younger and seeing a lot of my favorite band members wearing TWLOHA merchandise. I knew it had something to do with depression and helping people who were struggling with it. I had no idea they put on concert events like this, so I was pretty excited to see what they had in store for the night. The lineup was great, although I have to admit the primary reason why I wanted to go was to see one of my old favorite bands, The Summer Set, perform live.
When my friend and I arrived at the House of Blues venue, there was a good amount of people. Unfortunately we came in the middle of a set, so we quickly walked up to the side of the bar to stand and watch. The singer on stage, whom I never have seen before, was talking about the next song she was about to sing... and it wasn't until she started singing the first notes of "Same Love" did I realize that I was watching Mary Lambert! I had a mini freakout, since I am absolutely in love with that song (and still haven't gotten sick of it). It was so good to hear her live, and it was nice hearing her original version of Same Love-- without Macklemore rapping in between verses. She was beautiful, and her voice was so crisp and clear, that literally you could hear a pin drop in the venue because of how quiet everyone was listening to her. Truly was an incredible moment. I'm thankful we didn't miss her entire set!!
After her set, Jamie Tworkowski (who is the founder of To Write Love on Her Arms) came out and said a few words about Mary (and her Grammy nomination; what!!!!). Then he introduced another solo artist to the stage, by the name of Tristan Prettyman. I enjoyed her set as well. It was very laid-back and chill and her music style reminded me of Jason Mraz (if he had a womans voice) with a hint of Ingrid Michaelson. She had great quirky banter in between her songs that made me laugh out, and I loved all of her little stories behind them. Some stories behind songs were hilarious, such as her story for "The Rebound" where it was about her wanting to bang the hot guy at Trader Joes. But then she also tapped into dark moments as well, like when she was engaged, and what she went through when the engagement broke off. I was noticing a pattern already with the different speakers and artists and all of their similar experiences... the title of the even "heavy and light" was beginning to make sense to me.
Once she was finished, Jamie came out again and introduced some guest speakers-One of them was 20 year old Kevin Greel. I'll be honest and say it's usually really hard for me to keep up when people are speaking, as I tend to get distracted. But this guys words were incredibly powerful and just really dug deep into his life. He talked about his Tedx Video, where he spoke about dealing with his own depression and how through social media his speech has been able to help other people. It was really inspiring to hear about how a simple yet powerful speech just by being shared and exploited on Facebook was able to inspire those who are struggling, and encourage them to keep going. I loved how raw and real he was on stage and his honesty really struck the heart.
Next there was a spoken poet, by the name of Anis Mojgani. He appeared a few times during the night with a different poem every time. I particularly enjoyed his set, because he had a nice balance of the serious stuff and the funny stuff. He made us laugh while at the same time getting a strong and uplifting point across. It reminded me of those scenes in the movies where people go to those poetry slam concerts and you see a poet just killing it up on stage with words. That was him. He killed it.
After his set, was my beloved The Summer Set. Quick little sappy factoid: The Summer Set is one of those bands that no matter what happens, where they go with their music, what they become as people, or whether they break up or not, I will always, ALWAYS, support them. It's one of those bands that I'm "proud" of and their music and shows are probably the most distinct memory I have of my teenager years going to concerts. I love them to pieces and probably wont stop.
Anyways, I was super excited to see them. It was... strange to see them on stage. I saw them last year in October when they went on tour with All Time Low, and I remember being struck by how they've aged since I've last seen them. I don't mean they're getting grey hair and are needing canes to walk on stage. I mean, they're literally just, grown up. They've grown with tour experience, they're pros at performing on stage, and they have grown musically as well. They came out dressed in nice blazers- which made me smile a bit, because it reminded me of when I first saw them in 2008 dressed in nice casual attire vests. Because it was an acoustic night, all their songs were toned down, with everyone switching out their electric guitars for acoustic ones, and Jess bringing out the shaker. Their setlist was merely 5 songs and most of them were from their latest album. I was a little worried about that since I've only listened to a few songs from their last album. But thankfully, the only song I wasn't familiar with was Lightning in a Bottle.
Their setlist:
Maybe, Tonight.
Lightning in a Bottle.
Young.
Boomerang. [P.S. I still hear "Penis Smile" instead of "Paint a Smile" in the lyrics of Boomerang. It's just something I can't unhear. ]
Legendary.
While watching Brian Dales sing live, I noticed that he definitely hasn't changed on stage, except his vocals seems to be able to reach into a higher range now. He's still a little spazzy, still does that thing where he puts his one arm behind his back and sort of rocks to one side. I noticed that his stage presence sort of reminds me of Nate Ruess of fun. (and the Format) and it made me wonder if that's where Brian gets most of his on stage presence inspiration from. Josh Montgomery (guitarist of the Summer Set) said a few humbling words about being able to share the stage with the inspirational people on the setlist, and it no doubt warmed the heart of any soul in the audience.
Quoting him: "I'm the biggest baby in the world compared to the people up on that list."
It was also a nice surprise to see both John and Stephen Gomez doing backup vocals, instead of just John. I always thought Stephen had a nice voice, and I remember him saying that he didn't sing~ (yet he had like a trillion side projects and his covers sounded good). Stephens hair was different too! Out of the 8 times I've seen The Summer Set, Stephen always had that teen "emo" side swept hair look that reminds me of that era in highschool where everyone was going for that look (you can thank My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco, and Pete Wentz from Fall Out boy for that time.) Even Brian Dales mentioned that it was probably the first time he's see his forehead, which made me laugh out because there has been nothing more truer than that statement. Jess Bowen looked great as well. In a way I wish the set wasn't acoustic, because there isn't much Jess can do as a drummer besides providing a light beat and a shaker, but she rocked it nevertheless.
Last of the night, was Jon Foreman of Switchfoot. I didn't know much of his songs (besides Switchfoot songs) , but that didn't stop me from enjoying his nice acoustic folk set. He sang hit songs "Dare you to move" where he got the entire audience to sing the first verse and chrous, and it was just incredible. Something about hearing an audience sing a song (as in not screaming the lyrics) is so haunting in the most beautiful eerie way; the kind of way that makes your hairs stick up on your arms. He also sang an acoustic raw cover of Only Hope, which made my insides melt. He even had Bryce Avery, who is lead singer of the band The Rocket Summer, come out and sing a song with him. I have always wanted to see The Rocket Summer live, so being able to see Bryce Avery sing one song was quite a feat for me. I was cursing up a storm because I was just so excited to see him up there singing "Your Love is Strong", and let me tell you, cursing+ that song is not essentially a good match.
To end the night, every artist that performed came out and sang a homey heart warming cover of Lean On Me. It was a perfect way to round up the night, and really bring the message of To Write Love on Her Arms alive. It was such a fulfilling night of inspiration and hope. Every artist offered their words of advice and their encouragement to reach out to those who are hurting, because these people who feel so alone, aren't alone after all. In fact, they're never really alone.
Thats it.
People need that comfort, that holding of a hand, that pat on the back. They need to know they're not alone, and that there are people out there who are willing to help bring that belief, that faith, that hope back into their lives.
"Our Hearts are heavy and light, we laugh we scream and sing, our hearts are heavy and light" - Jamie Tworkowski.
