review: one direction's "This Is Us"

Alright guys, I saw it. 

My best friend Caroline and I have waited months for this movie to finally be released. First and foremost, we knew it was going to be the closest we ever get to the British pop sensation. We have both been fans for about two years now, and being hardcore Directioners is a big part of our friendship. We have spent countless nights watching videos and comparing ourselves to Narry (the friendship of Niall and Harry for you non-Directioners out there.)

I had high hopes from the minute I saw the first trailer, but I had no idea how much this movie was going to actually impact me. The entire film was a behind the scenes look on the Take Me Home tour, featuring live clips and in between trips for the boys. Viewers get a deeper look into the lives of five lads who met on the X Factor and immediately began a whirlwind adventure. 

Highlights for me included seeing more of who Harry Styles was as a person, because he is my favorite member, and I wanted to have my proof for those who could tell me that it's a generic choice to be a fan of him. Harry has been the face of 1D for a while, he seems to be the one where if you say you love him, it's a broad statement. When Harry went back home on a break during tour, and on that break, he went back to visit the bakery he worked for leading up to his audition. The little old women that he worked with were so happy to see him, and it put a huge smile on my face. When Niall went home, he went to church with his family for his brother's wedding. Zayn bought a house for his mother (a goal he had from the minute he auditioned.) Liam's mom teared up while purchasing a Liam cutout at the 1D store because "it's the closest thing she would have to having him at home." Louis went to visit his grandma and it reminded me of myself and my grandma. These real moments opened my eyes even more to the guys who I think the world of. 

During the shows, the pre-shows, and bus time after, these five are just normal dudes living the perfect dream honestly. Something I also thought about was how for the amount of fame they have, there really hasn't been a terrible amount of negative publicity. There could be so many things made up about them in the process, but in the end I can only think of one word: normal. There is no way you can go into that film and come out with a negative thought about One Direction.

the little things: adventure club appreciation post (one of many..)

I feel like every 20-something should have a part-time job that involves working with kids. It can change them for the better, honestly. I applied to work for Adventure Club my freshman year, and almost three years later I am at the same school with my same core group of kids. Some have grown up and graduated onto middle school, some have dropped for personal reasons, but everything happens for a reason in my eyes. These kids have meant the world to me, they've been my smile on a cloudy day, they've been my extra babysitting on the weekends, they've been a poorly drawn horse hanging on my wall, but the most important thing these kids/my staff has been to me is a family. I can rely on them to know little quirks about me, like when I bite my tongue when I focus really hard on a drawing, or when I hum tunes to myself when I clean up. They also know that my favorite animal is a penguin. It's an understatement to say that I love them. I am in the best mood when I head out to work, and in an even better one driving home. They look up to my co-workers and I, because we are their support system the minute that bell rings letting them out of school. We are the people who provide a safe, fun, educational environment for them before and after they begin class everyday. Their naive, goofy minds are the best part of my day. I couldn't imagine a life without my Midway AC kids. 

"The only man a girl can depend on is her daddy." - Frenchy, Grease

stuck in my head: episode 3

With the VMAs this week, it's safe to say that my Spotify took some interesting turns, but I took a trip down memory lane for sure. I also have some new music that I think will go places. 

1. "Wrecking Ball" by Miley Cyrus- Girl went insane at the VMAs but listening to this song the morning after definitely was her saving grace. I think it's a really interesting turn to take after "We Can't Stop" because it slows down the tone of the album, yet her vocals and lyrics are so powerful that they catch your attention. Looking forward to the new album. 

2. Bruno Mars' entire "Unorthodox Jukebox" album- Once again I am a bit late to the game on this one, but last night after his performance of "Gorilla" I knew I had to give in. From start to finish this album is great, and Mars fails to disappoint. My favorite by far is "Young Girls", but I have a feeling I will change that at least once the more I listen. 

3. "Pretty Brown Eyes" by Cody Simpson- Heard this catchy gem for the first time on a local Columbia station and was HOOKED. Being a brown-eyed girl, I might be a bit biased towards this song in the sense that I love it far too much, but I do not care. There is no shame in having a Cody Simpson song on your playlist every once in a while. Wave that cougar flag with pride, ladies. 

4. "Almost is Never Enough" by Ariana Grande and Nathan Sykes- Two of the most underrated voices in music, honestly. Grande is one of those actresses who is viewed outside of her work as her characters she portrays. Fortunately, she is a great role models for young girls today. She is very poised, and her songs are beautiful. Bringing in a strong voice like Sykes was just what she needed. The song is so romantic, and the video is so cute. I have played this song an obnoxious amount of times with no intention of stopping anytime soon. 

I've been thinking about this video a lot recently, because it came up in a conversation with my friends. A lot of us catch ourselves with a really bland expression on our face, and most would confuse it for being in a bad mood or simply not entertained. Unfortunately it makes girls unpresentable sometimes because we don't look super perky or smiley all of the time. I think back to this video which cracks me up without fail because it's becoming more and more relevant as I look around on campus. There are so many girls who don't even realize the expression on their faces, and then people make stupid assumptions. United we stand ladies, we can stand up to resting bitch face.

anything but shakespeare

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have a class over Shakespeare comedies and it's actually a really neat course, unfortunately today was the day I forget my book. During the hour and fifteen minutes spent going line by line over the first few scenes of a play, I spent my time coming up with a few more posts for this blog. Today I decided to cover the topic of Tumblr, because after a few years with a blog on that site I have opened the doors to so many creative and social outlets. This post is to highlight some of my favorite tumblr findings!

1. PupFresh- I'm a major pop culture junkie, especially focusing on the music scene. In August of 2011 I discovered PupFresh in it's beginning phase. At this point the site was being run by Dan Cox, a dedicated, passionate, opinionated music fan from Michigan. What I liked about this site was that DCox was just another music fan who wrote really entertaining articles, and even had leads on albums and tours that were about to happen. PupFresh was the sole contributor to me finding out that two of my favorite bands (The Cab and The Summer Set) were going to embark on a co-headlining tour. They've had some bumps in the road, including the entire site being hacked and deleted at one point as well as DCox taking a break from PF. A lot of music fans are anti-PF because they tend to be pretty honest with reviews and articles, but I believe that's what I like the most. 

2.  rubyetc- Through the past couple of years on tumblr I was branching out to find quirky little pictures and quotes that would be funny or relevant. I found Ruby and her drawings to be quite adorable. Even the most simple sketch can put a smile on my face, and I really enjoy the fact that they can speak volumes without having to be too over the top. On top of her work floating around the interweb, Ruby has a store where you can support her work by purchasing her prints in one form or another. I'm currently saving up for a phone case, which may seem pricey at $35, but to me it's worth it when I know the artist is so down to earth and talented in her own unique way.

3. Lang Leav- I found Miss Lang just as I found Ruby, a random work of hers was on my dash one night and I looked into the source. Lang Leav is an incredibly talented poet who writes short little bits about love, happiness, heartbreak, adventure, etc. You name it, Lang has probably written a poem over it, and chances are if you are a tumblr user, you have seen a poem of hers on your dash one day, felt like it applied to you, and you might have even reblogged it. I had the chance to interview her for my internship this summer, something I was really excited about, but unfortunately I had to move in another direction so I could fulfill the needs for my specific magazine I was working for. I sincerely hope I get the chance to interview her again someday, because I have so much respect for Lang. She recently released a book of her poems, Love & Misadventure, that I also intend on purchasing very soon. The amazing part about Lang Leav is that she is very interactive with her fans, they write in her inbox on a daily basis on Tumblr and she takes time to reply to so many of them. Another thing she started to do recently was reblog pictures with fans who pose with her book in any manner. She was very humble when I spoke to her earlier in the summer, and I think she, like Ruby, is a person who deserves the world for their phenomenal work.

4. Underground talents- Like I mentioned before, I love music.  A part of that is discovering new music, or in Alan's case, mashups. This kid is only 19 and has put together some of the best mashups I have ever heard. Right now, my all time favorite that he has done include putting together some of the newer music from Panic! At The Disco and Fall Out Boy. (Check out the "This is Gospel"/ Alone Together" masterpiece, seriously I have listened to it non-stop since he posted it.) Like Lang Leav, Alan replies to all of the people who give him raving reviews in his ask, and I think that's really down to earth, because honestly at that age, he could be a total jerk and put off replying to anybody, and let all of the nice things being said to him get to his head. Keeping my eye on this one, because I feel like his music could go really far. 

5. Friends- I saved this topic for last because it is the most special part to me of being a part of the tumblr community. Back in 2010 when I started on tumblr, I saw left and right that people had friends, or groups of friends, that they met on the site and I hoped someday that I, too, would have that luxury. You see, college was nerve-wracking for me, because I was so quiet when I started in a new city, and I am the farthest thing from outgoing in certain situations. I'm not saying I have a completely new identity online (I've seen Catfish, I know how weird things can get), but what I am saying is that I have found some girls through tumblr who have encouraged me to step up in my life, to be the best I can be. This also goes hand in hand with the friends I have met here at Mizzou, they get some credit as well! In fact, the two worlds have combined when I introduce certain friends to each other. It's really neat actually. It's also fun to say I have close friends in California, North Carolina, New York, Canada, and Chicago! I've even met one of the girls I talked to on tumblr, and to this day she is one of the nicest people in my life. (This is where I shout out to Lindsey, Mikayla, Reagan, Amanda, Kaylee, and Kate for being incredible human beings.) Each and every one of them know some of my darkest secrets, and they also are judgement free about my fangirl days (mainly because we all fangirl over the same people and things.....) but I am so thankful to have them around. If you girls ever see this, thanks for being you, and I hope we all get to finally meet someday!

last first day of school: senior year at MU

It's so bittersweet to sit here and think about the fact that this is my last year of undergrad at Mizzou. I remember starting out three years ago and wanting to curl up in a ball and cry. The whole process of going into new classes and meeting new people was both exciting and terrifying for me. Starting out as an Education major, it was really cool seeing the types of classes they put us in. The Ed majors took classes in specific buildings and I was in love from the start. The people I met both through my dorm and classes were amazing, and definitely made for an interesting freshman year. There were ups and downs throughout the 9 months of freshman year, but I tend to look at that as human. Not everyone is perfect and college is a process of weeding through the bad to find the right set of people to keep around. Towards the end of freshman year I joined a sorority, Phi Mu, and also got a part time job with a place called Adventure Club which runs a before and after school program in the elementary schools here in Columbia. Both of those decisions changed my life for the best. 

I spent all of sophomore year in Phi Mu, once again weeding through the weird and crazy to find some of my best friends in the entire world. There are three girls I met in those first couple of weeks who I still consider my closest gals here at MU. It was interesting, I never saw myself as a sorority girl, and it kind of showed during sophomore year, but I definitely think it was a unique experience that I wouldn't trade for anything. I also found out I had to change majors that year, but in my mind everything happens for a reason, and boy was I correct about that as well.

At the end of the summer before junior year, I decided to drop Phi Mu. Unfortunately the sorority life was not for me anymore, but fortunately, all of my girls stood by me in my decision and never made things weird between us. I moved into my own place with two new friends to start my third year at MU, and with my job and new course load ahead of me, I was ready to take it on. Year three included multiple road trips for concerts, late night drives with my friends blasting music down country roads, and a little bit of drama to liven things up. I fell in love with my major and even made some awesome friends through my English classes. To say I found a new, more reassuring path in life is an understatement. 

I sit here at 10 pm on the night before my second day of classes for senior year and think back to all of these ups and downs throughout my three years here and cannot even wait to see what comes next. It's also bizarre to think that at the end of this year I will have a big girl decision made: what I am doing to move forward with a career/education. My apartment is quiet, due to the fact that my roommate and I are leaving for class at 7:30 am. It's funny to me because at this time last year, or the previous MU years of mine, I would have been gabbing the night away in one of my best gal's rooms about the funny things that occurred during our days. It's refreshing to think that I live with someone with her head on her shoulders and has the same aspirations as I do, it's also a first for me. Silly, I know, but it helps me feel at ease starting off my last year with this rather positive atmosphere.