What The Eff is This?

BEDA Day 11: Continued

2010-08-11T20:26:00.004-04:00

So as I was saying "yesterday", I don't know how Wheezy does it, and I am the worst BEDA blogger ever. I forget to post and I backfill and I am terrible.

It's a good thing I'm pretty sure no one reads this thing (other than myself and, apparently, Kris) because if I hadn't pointed it out in a post, no one would have noticed. Because no one reads this anyway.

"So why even do this project in the first place?" I hear no one ask in confusion.

I don't need people to read this blog to feel validated. The fact that I'm participating and writing for the sake of writing is important to me. As long as I'm doing it, I feel good about it. Whether I have readers or not.

Plus, this is an excellent place to rant.

On a bright note: I GOT MY iMAC BACK! The Time Machine backup is still loading all of my content onto the computer, and it's been at it for about 2 hours now, but it's almost done so yay! I'll get to watch TV shows and movies on the big screen again! And I'll be able to make my Taking The Tubes videos and ... WONDERFULNESS! JUST WONDERFUL!!!!

That's it. OK BYE.

BEDA Day 10: Oh Man.

2010-08-10T21:13:00.001-04:00

I am the worst BEDA blogger ever. I just cannot do the "every day" thing. It's a good thing I didn't do VEDA because there is NO WAY that I would be able to make a video every day. I don't know how WheezyWaiter does it.

You know what, since I'm back filling this entry, I'm going to continue on the next post which will be for the current day.

BRB.

BEDA Days 7, 8 and 9

2010-08-09T11:01:00.004-04:00

BEDA Day 7: August 7, 2010
5 hour drive up to Ottawa so that I can go to the Michael Buble concert. Worth it. Totally worth it -- though I wish I could have stayed in Ottawa longer because ...

BEDA Day 8: August 8, 2010
5 hour drive back down to Toronto after the Michael Buble concert in Ottawa. So tired. So effing tired. Fell asleep and forgot to book some days off of work that I totally meant to. Too late now, though.

BEDA Day 8: August 9, 2010
So I didn't write posts Saturday and Sunday. I was out of town and then out of it, respectively, OK?

Today the pre-orientation for my school started. It's an online program on Facebook where people can introduce themselves and have his or her questions answered about the program they're going into by students who are currently in the program.

So I wrote my little introduction thing (you had to write what you've done this summer, why you applied for the program and something interesting about yourself) and almost posted it in the wrong spot. See, the program I'm in has an Advanced Diploma program (the one I'm in) and a Grad Certificate program. I was reading people's posts from the Grad Certificate program and was like, "these people are awesome and sound pretty mature and intelligent. Look at the way they write! This is going to be great!"

Then I realized I was looking at the wrong program, so I found the right discussion board and was kind of disappointed.

Not to sound mean or anything but, people, you're going into a program that has a heavy emphasis on writing skills. If you can't capitalize an "I" when talking about yourself and your little piece is riddled with spelling errors and smilies and "haha"s and your summer apparently consisted of "partying it up" how am I supposed to take you seriously?

I'm disappointed because all I've seen so far of my future classmates is immaturity. And it's going to drive me nuts if this actually turns out to be the case when September comes.

BEDA Day 6: Dear 17 Year-Old Laura

2010-08-06T12:38:00.004-04:00

Dear 17 Year-Old Laura,

You're 22 now, and there's a few things that I thought I should share with you since I know you're kind of freaking out about the future.

1) I know you're excited about university and becoming a filmmaker and going to film school to become one. But honestly, university film school is a waster of time. You'll go to film school anyway and it's a good experience because you'll live away from home but you'll hate all your classes except for sociology. Also: Latin is a waste of time and money. You'll fail it. When you get depressed with how unhappy you are at university, you'll apply to colleges and you'll switch into an awesome program that you'll love. Just remember to keep in touch with your university friends. They're kind of awesome.

2) You really don't need a boyfriend as badly as you think you do.

3) I know you're still mad at your ex-bestfriend Tallie, but that WILL pass in time. You'll add her as a Facebook friend when she requests it, but you won't actually remain friends. But that's OK. It turns out that she wasn't your type of person anyway. She was only slowing your awesome down.

4) I know you were disappointed with the Canadian Idol auditions, but don't be. You're actually a pretty good singer. Keep writing songs and playing the guitar. You get better at it.

5) You will never stop loving Harry Potter. You're obsessed right now, but it will wane a little bit. You'll stop being obsessed with the idea of going to England. Instead you'll want to live in New York City after you and The Sister go on holidays there for 4 days. You'll also really want to go to San Francisco, since Pixar's campus is in the bay area.

6) You're really going to want to work for Pixar. It's going to become your life goal.

I know things are confusing right now, and you're scared about university and stuff but don't be. You're awesome. I know you forget sometimes, but you'll realize it later on.

Sincerely,

22-Year-Old Laura

BEDA Day 5: RIP Theater 1 Projector

2010-08-06T00:05:00.000-04:00

So today at work, some guys from the projection company that fixes and installs our projectors were in, installing a new digital projector at theater 1.

This makes me sad.

First of all, the projector for theater 1 has always been my favorite. It's never caused problems for me with sound and it was always consistent when threading. It was easy to get the sound loop the right size (ooooh...technical jargon...mmm...). So anyway, I'm sad that we got rid of MY FAVORITE PROJECTOR in order to replace it with a digital projector.

Secondly, I don't like digital projectors because they make my job function basically useless and I kind of like my job. What's the point of having a projectionist if you have all digital projectors that need very little maintenance and starts on its own? Answer: there isn't a point.

Third: I like 35mm. I like watching film. I like the scratches and the dust flecks and the imperfections. People are so obsessed with perfect clarity of picture these days, and I could really care less. Buy this new HD TV! And this BluRay player! It's so sharp, you'll be able to see every single hair on Jessica Alba's face! Who knew she had a mustache!?

Side note: I'm sure Jessica Alba doesn't actually have a mustache. She was just the first person I thought of.

Anyway, I have a deep appreciate for 35mm. Especially since my favorite part of my job (as a projectionist, in case you haven't figured that out) is making up the new films. They come in these canisters and the movie is sectioned off onto 5-6 reels (or 10, if you're Avatar), see, and I need to tape all the reels together in the right order and I add the commercials and trailers too. I feel important when I do that. And it's kind of fun.

Finally, I don't like 3D and that's pretty much why digital projectors exist. So that movie companies can make shitty movies like Step Up 3D and make more money off of it because theaters charge a premium for 3D movies. Also: I get headaches from 3D. It's hard for my eyes to follow.

So that was my little rant.

Now, let's pretend that I got this post up in time. I wrote it when was still Thursday. THAT COUNTS! THAT COUNTS!

Good night, minions.

BEDA Day 4: Things I Need to Do

2010-08-04T11:36:00.002-04:00

Today:

Call landlords to set up apartment viewings
Go to work to help clean for walk-through
Update resume

Tomorrow:

Go to work - walk-through today!
Watch Charlie St. Cloud with The Sister (lolZefrongiggle)

Weekend:

Go to Ottawa to see Michael Bublé perform (*fangirl giggle*)
Clean desk

Near Future:

Settle on an apartment
Send out resumes to get a part-time job
Apply for work/study

Someday:

Graduate from college (again)
Work for Pixar Animation Studios

Maybe Never:

Win lottery
Clean closet

BEDA Day 3: This post will make me look like a creeper

2010-08-03T09:54:00.004-04:00

There are a couple of thoughts that I wish to convey to you, my dear minions. The first of which is this:

I miss my desktop SO EFFING MUCH. I mean, I'm lucky that I have a laptop that I can use in the mean time, but this thing is just so slow and it doesn't have my music on it or any of the programs that I use on a daily basis other than Firefox. For example, when I went to write this blog post, I needed to Photoshop something. I have Photoshop Elements on this computer, not CS4. I know. I know. I took a digital media course in school. PS Elements isn't REAL Photoshop and is pretty much a piece of shit. But it's all I have on here, OK?

I tried. I really did. And it just did not turn out well (please see statement about Elements being shit). Also: I can't write using a trackpad. It's just too hard.

Second thought (and this is really what this post is about. And also the reason I needed to use Photoshop today):When I saw this after "liking" it on Facebook, that was my instant thought. "Laura likes Darren Criss". Wow. UNDERSTATEMENT.

It's more along the lines of "Laura loves Darren Criss A LOT."

He's my favorite musician right now. More so than Michael Buble (and that IS saying something, because I love Michael Buble).

His new EP, entitled "Human" (available on iTunes!) just gets me right here *points to heart* and here *points to stomach*.

Let me explain the stomach thing.

I've often said after watching a good movie or reading a good book or listening to a good album that I feel "full" afterwards. For me, it's like eating a good meal, and I just feel wonderful after experiencing it. That's how I feel with Darren's music. I feel like I just ate my most favorite food in the world and I don't even feel bloated afterwards. Does that make any sense? God, I hope so. Actually, I'm pretty sure it just sounds weird. Whatever. I hope you know what I mean.

My favorite track is the title track, "Human". I love its self-depreciating wit, honesty and realism. It's one of those songs where I listen to the lyrics and I know what he's saying and I know what he's feeling because I've felt that way too.

If you like acoustic soul-folk, you'll like Darren. And you should probably check him out.

Another thing: did I mention that he plays Harry in the immensely popular A Very Potter Musical, available on YouTube? No? Well, that, too, should give you some indication as to why I love him so much.

Have a good day, minions.

- Laura

BEDA Day 2: Laura, Circa Grade 1

2010-08-02T17:59:00.000-04:00

When I was in Grade 1, I was put into a split grade class. Meaning that my class was a mixture of grade 1s and 2s and for whatever reason had an extremely uneven number of boys and girls (5 boys, 15 girls).

I met one of my closest friends, Twitch, in my grade 1 class. We were seated in groups of six and she was next to me because, alphabetically by last name, we were next to each other. We bonded over our mutual annoyance of a girl seated near us, Jessica, and the fact that she could never remember how to spell the word "because". Both being excellent spellers, we found it exceedingly irksome whenever she asked, "how do you spell 'because', again?" and we would sing-say to her exasperatedly, "B-E-C-A-U-S-E. That's how you spell 'because'."

I was awesome at spelling when I was in school. And not just in grade 1. In all grades. The hardest word that I could spell when I was in grade 1 was "transportation". My teacher conducted individual spelling tests with us, and she added that word to my list -- which is like a grade 5 level word or something -- just to see if I could get it. But I conquered that word. I looked at that word, with its imposing 14 letters and said, "THOU SHALT BE CONQUERED!!!"

Except that I didn't really say that because I'm pretty sure my 6 year-old self wouldn't have known how to speak Shakespearean quite like my 22 year-old self.

Anyway, I was kind of a brainer when I was 6-going-on-7. And a bit of a know-it-all. It was at this point in my life that I wanted to be a veterinarian. I really liked animals when I was a kid so I wanted to become a doctor for my animal friends. I think this was somewhere around the time where I started giving up meat. Like, I would still eat chicken nuggets and really, really well cooked steak, but I didn't like it. I only ate it because I had to eat it.

I'm pretty sure I was what can be considered a creative fireball who liked to make up stories and draw pictures. I liked to collect rocks and stuffed animals and sit on my desk with my tiny fake guitar and make up songs.

I still do a lot of those things. Except for the collecting rocks and stuffed animals bit. I collect YA books and Pixar and Harry Potter things, now.

I'm not entirely certain what the point of this post is. I'm pretty sure there isn't one. I don't have a specific story to tell from when I was in grade 1. Basically I'm just telling you this so that you can see what kind of person I was back then. It's more or less an excercise for me, like, "how did I get this way? This is the way I used to be. How did this happen?"

Anyway, minions...I'll be back tomorrow. Maybe with something more interesting.

BEDA Day 1: Oh Dear Lord. What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

2010-08-02T02:56:00.000-04:00

It's the first day of Blog Everyday August (BEDA) and I've almost already forgotten to write a blog.

I don't really have anything planned for this blog either, which is pretty awful. I guess I should probably plan some things that I want to tell you guys so that I don't run out of post ideas.

If you have any requests, please feel free to leave them in the comment section. No seriously. I'll need your help.

OK. I promise that post #2 will be more interesting than this one. I just wanted to get something up to say that I got it up (that's what HE said).

Goodnight, my minions.

- Laura

This Post Comes to You in Several Parts

2010-07-29T12:07:00.000-04:00

Part I: I Had a Personal Tragedy on Tuesday.

My computer, Edward Marshall, died.

This is particularly upsetting seeing as I've only had that particular computer for two years. I'm taking him to the iDoctor today to get fixed. Hopefully they'll be able to fix it without me losing any data from the computer, but I am not hopeful. I am 98% certain that it's an HDD problem and that I'm going to have to load my computer in from the back up once I get it back from the iDoctor.

Thank GOD I have a Time Machine. Seriously.

I told this to one of my friends who likes PCs better than Macs and they were like, "HA! See! Macs aren't without their faults!" and I (being in a really bad mood because The Death of Edward had happened one hour previous to me going to work and this person telling me this) replied scathingly, "I never said Macs were invincible. It could happen to any computer, you twit."

I was so upset. For real. I hit every 4 out of 5 stages in the Kübler-Ross model of grief in the space of an hour. I hit the last one the next morning when I went online to find an Apple Certified Service Technician close to my house.

Anyway, if you haven't done so yet, go back up your computer. RIGHT NOW. DO IT. Go to Best Buy or Future Shop or whatever and buy yourself an external hard drive and back up your stuff. I'm going to be so pissed if I loose my music and photos. So effing pissed.

Part II: I have 300 YouTube Subscribers!

I would have made a special video thanking all 300 people who are subscribed to me, but I can't make videos right now (see Part I).

This makes me seriously happy. Playing the guitar, singing, writing songs and recording covers is something that I do for fun and because it makes me happy when I do it. I would still be posting videos even if no one watched them. But it just makes me that much happier when people tell me they like my music. Because I rather like my music but I'm never too sure if it's any good and it's very gratifying when other people give me positive feedback.

So, THANK YOU. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. You're all wonderful people and I am very grateful to all of you.

Part III: I Wrote a Song

Unfortunately, I can't post it right now (see Part I) but I will post it at some point. I've had the worst writer's block for several months and I have finally had a break through. I haven't posted an original song on my YouTube channel for a while now because of this block, but I'm BACK, BABY. I'M BACK!!!

Part IV: Blog/Vlog Everyday August

I'm probably going to participate in BEDA this year, instead of VEDA, because I don't think I'll have the time to make a video every single day but I'll probably have time to write something every day. I'll probably use this blog instead of my lauranicole.ca address since I TRY to use that one for professional reasons, but that doesn't always end up working. Anyway, since this is my "whatever" blog, I'll probably do it here.

If any of you are thinking of participating, let me know! We can be blogging buddies!

I'm Pretty Sure I'm Not Dying.

2010-07-04T01:53:00.001-04:00

I'm, like 86% certain that I am NOT dying. But that other 14% of me is pretty sure that I am. Also, that 14% of me, is the fever deluded part, and it is some how the part of my brain that has grasped control of my thoughts. It's like an oligarchy. The few rule the many. That's what an oligarchy is, right? I don't actually remember and even though I am connected to the internet, I am too lazy to look it up.

Um. So I just opened up my laptop, and I found my blogger tab open with this written in it as a new post. I decided to actually post it because I thought it was funny though I don't remember where I was going with it. I actually have been quite fever-deluded for the past few days.

Some drawings

2010-06-29T18:07:00.000-04:00

I've been reading too much Hyperbole and a Half recently.

Not even kidding about that last one.

The Case of the Missing YouTuber

2010-06-27T12:06:00.000-04:00

Right. So OBVIOUSLY I haven't been on YouTube lately. And some of you might be wondering where the HELL I've been.

Well, I've been around, OK? Just not making videos for my channel. And I actually feel badly about that. And I have been trying, it's just that every time I sit down at my computer to write a song or to learn a song or to record a song, something like this happens:

I have been unable to write a good song for the past four/five months and it's been killing me softly with his words. Killing me softly.

Actually not so softly. More like a blunt axe. Like Nearly Headless Nick. I'm going to be a nearly headless ghost who also cannot write songs. Or join the headless hunt.

Sorry, the coffee is hitting me weirdly today. As in, it's making me say weird things. Whatever.

So that is where I have been. And that is what this blog is, by the way. The place to find me when I have been away from my YouTube channel for entirely too long. You will be able to find me here. Sometimes I find it easier to write blog posts than to make a video.

Though speaking of, you can ALSO find me on my new collab channel called Taking The Tubes. I post every Tuesday.

Peace out.

I don't know why I said "peace out." I never say "peace out." Anyway. Bye.