I feel like I’m finally getting to the point where I’ve figured out how this semester is going pan out.
In the past, I’ll admit, I haven’t always made time or effort to actual read the reading assignments. This semester that’s definitely not how it’s going to work. I mean, I guess I could not read and just fail and not learn anything–but why would I do that?
Especially since I’m finally taking all PR related classes except college algebra, I’m so into school! I mean, I’m always into school but this semester is like 13 levels up.
We’re one day past the two week mark, and I just have this feeling I’m going to love this semester.
I’m taking PR Strategies with a hilarious professor; Applied Media and Theories with a professor who loves Taylor Swift so much that we’ve already talked about her twice and watched the ‘Blank Space’ music video; Intro to EMC where we watch YouTube videos for learning examples; Digital Media and Production where I’m learning to code and it’s so exciting and scary at the same time; and College Algebra and y’all… Praise the LORD that I got an Graduate Teacher because she was literally sent to me from the heavens. She’s so nice and explains each lesson thoroughly and I’ve never been more grateful for a math teacher.
Also I’m more involved in the organizations I’m a part of, which is always exciting. I just applied and was interviewed for a position at my school’s online publication (I’ll let you know how it turns out).
My best friend Dillon and I bought tickets to the first leg of The 1989 World Tour (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and we are probably going to see Rixton and Ariana Grande in April (!!!!!).
I’m applying for internships I’ve always dreamed of (FINALLY!).
I’m planning and organizing content for my YouTube channel, which I hope to grow over the next few months.
EVERYTHING IS GOING SO AMAZING!
Hopefully my plan follows through and I’ll be able to get back to posting regularly!
OH OH OH!
If you didn’t see this, you should watch the video below where I recreated Taylor Swift & The GRAMMY Effect! 🙂
Also, here’s a pic from when it snowed a few days ago.
See you soon!
A
P.S. The headline does not lie. I’m walking around campus with naked nails and I’ve never felt more self-conscious about my fingers, hahaha.
*Note: I started writing this a few days ago, but I didn’t have the chance to post. Sorry for the incorrect tense. Also, read my last blog post to understand the struggle of getting here.
Today marks the third day that I’ve been in Southern California, and even though I’ve been here before–I already don’t want to leave in 11 days.
The vibe of this part of the country just appeals to me in a way that I’ve never experienced anywhere else. It feels like home even though I didn’t grow up here. It feels like I’ve been here all my life, even though I haven’t spent enough time to equal a year here. It feels like everything I’ve ever wanted.
How sappy can I get you guys? Hahah.
Seriously though, have you ever been somewhere that instantly felt like you belonged there? Just me? I know it can’t be.
Every time I come to this captivating city, I wonder how in the hell my parents settled where they did. I know by now that everyone is different and everyone has different preferences, but I still don’t understand why there are people who wouldn’t want to live here.
I guess it’s one of those things that you love so much you don’t understand those that don’t. Whatever, it’s fine.
ANYWAY!
So if you read my last post you know that I almost didn’t make it to CA, but I’m here. Yay!
Day 1
The first day I was here (Sunday)… Is it horrible that I already can’t remember what I did?! Omg! ………………………………….. OH! Okay, so my cousin, also named Ashley, picked me up after a nap and we went to eat at my other cousin, Sarah’s, job. Blaze Pizza. I’ve never heard of it, and I don’t know if it’s just a California thing, but if you are near one and you haven’t been–GO! Soooooooo good. Blaze is in a mall, so after we finished eating we just walked around until Sarah got off work. I went to H&M, MAC, Forever 21 and a few other stores. When Sarah got off….WHAT DID WE DO!????? Oh, we just went to the mall again.
Day 2
THIS WAS MY FAVORITE DAY SO FAR! Sarah and I went to the gym at 7 a.m. and then she took me to Herbalife, which we have in TX I have just never been, and oh my word. It was so good, I need to look up where the one in LBK is located. Then we went back to her house, rested for a while then got ready to go to THE GRAMMY MUSEUM CAN YOU HEAR MY EXCITEMENT THROUGH THESE TYPED CHARACTERS?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!
If you aren’t quite sure why I was/am so excited about this:
1. I love music with all my heart
2. The museum has a Taylor Swift exhibit
3. I love Taylor Swift like she is my best friend
4. I love The Grammy’s
5. I love music with all my heart … Yup.
Basically, this was the highlight of my trip thus far.
Day 3
We planned to go to South Coast Mall, which Ashley told me had Topshop and Zara and a lot of the major designer stores. Sarah and I were going to go to the beach while Ashley was at work, but we didn’t end up going because she got off super early and we had to rush to get ready.
Ashley picked us up and we ran over to Goodwill to look for mason jars, her apartment so she could get unratchet (hahaha), went to a mall that kind of sucked I’m not going to lie, went to a two story Target where I picked up the physical copy (obviously) of LiveSOS. And you know what’s weird about that? A few seconds after I picked it up, my phone lit up with this notification:
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you hear my excitement, again? I thought it was completely insane because earlier the band tweeted this:
And I sort of just brushed it off because usually they DM people who they follow and they are not following me, so I was SOOOOO confused. I texted/called a few friends to see if they got it and they didn’t so I literally feel so special.
I hid in the magazine isle of Target and watched the video that was linked to the message and got emotional, there I said it.
After Target we went to get A’s car an oil change, walked to Quick & Easy? Fast & Easy? Some health food store, Starbucks, then back to the oil change place.
Then we went to pick up my nephew, Andre, then we went to Southcoast Mall where all the fancy shmancy people go.
I went to Zara and picked up two shirts, which I am completely excited and obsessed about.
THENNNNNN, Ashley suggested we go to this place on Sunset Boulevard called Bossa Nova, which. Omg. Can we just take a moment.
Best salad I’ve ever had in my life and I’m not even lying. I want to lift the restaurant from the ground and place it right next to my apartment complex in LBK.
After we drove down Hollywood Boulevard on the way home. Now I’m writing this on the couch with blurry contacts. Hahahah. Okay well now I’m going to go to sleep. I feel oddly awake so I don’t know how that is going to work out. It might be because of the two–TWO–Venti quad nonfat iced vanilla lattes I had today. Whoops.
Day 4
Today is the end of Day 4 and I’m sitting in bed listening to Sam Hunt’s “Break Up In A Small Town” and it’s crazy how different this song feels in Los Angeles. I feel like if I walked outside and asked 19 people if they knew this song, maybe one would say yes.
Isn’t it weird thinking that?
Today was pretty chill in the event category. Sarah, Ashley and I went to a few stores to Christmas shop. I was introduced to dd’s which is like the west coast version of Ross Dress For Less, even though they also have Ross’ here. It’s more of a hunt, but I love it. Later we went to Ashley’s to eat pizza and watch the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, which I surprisingly liked and laughed a lot at.
Day 5
So today I just kind of chilled. My cousin Sarah and I went to Blaze to eat, went to yet another mall and then back to her house.
What’s funny and a little weird is that she had to work at 7 p.m. and kept saying we should go back because traffic. So yeah, we went back tot he house at about 3 p.m. and then she left shortly after. I said weird, because dude. If you want to go see your boyfriend or friends, then go. I don’t like feeling like people think I need them by my side every second of every moment. I’m a big girl. I just said “LOL” in my head and almost just typed it, and now I’m telling you, so.
But yeah. Then when Nena (my aunt) came home she asked if I wanted to go to a boat parade. Daniel, Sarah’s brother, drove and I sat in front with him and it felt normal.
I just had this feeling like I was used to spontaneously deciding to go to a boat show.
Longview has balloon glows and Newport Beach has boat shows. If you’re wondering which one I like better, it’s the boats.
Traffic on the way there was a tad bit crazy, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle if I had been driving.
Traffic and parking was insane once we got closer to the boat show. We drove around for maybe half an hour, which included stopping at two parking lots one of which was for ‘members only’ the other was full, a liquor store to use a bathroom they didn’t have, continued driving around and finally we went back to the liquor store just to park and then scour the various little places behind it to find a bathroom. Which we finally found. While searching for the bathrooms we ended up seeing a ton of boats, so the whole trip wasn’t wasted. Back at the car we tried a little longer to find parking, then after a few full lots we just decided to call it and go eat somewhere.
We went to Spectrum Irvine, which is like an outside mall. It was reallyy nice and had a ferris wheel, carousel and a ton of stores I wish we had in LBK.
I didn’t really want to eat at a restaurant we have in Texas, but settled on The Cheesecake Factory because Daniel seemed really excited about it. Hahahah. Oh goodness.
I ate Chicken Belagio and it was delish. As always.
As we were making our way back to the car I spotted Brandy Melville and NEEDED to stop and look. I bought this very cute ring and wanted to buy the rest of the store, but I already spent most of my LA money. Sad day.
Last Tuesday (Nov. 25) The Veronicas released their self-titled album ‘The Veronicas’ and my entire existence has changed forever.
Now, the title of this post isn’t me being prissy, it’s the title of Track 2. But to answer their rhetorical question–YES! I missed twin sisters Jessica and Lisa Origliasso with my whole heart.
I definitely was a fan of The Veronicas when they put out their first album ‘The Secret Life Of…’ (4ever is still my jam, like every day) and their second album ‘Hook Me Up,’ and a few weeks ago I began listening to them nonstop. This was before their single “You Ruin Me” was even announced, so you can imagine my ecstatic excitement when the single was released.
Honestly, I can’t remember if along with the single, news of a new album was announced, but whether it was or was not–Ashley Morales was the happiest person on the planet.
Singles usually mean a new album, or testing the waters to see where the artist are more popular.
As you may or may not know,
The road to getting this album was not the smoothest. The last new music we got from Jess and Lisa was “Lolita” which was released through Sire and Warner Bros., along with their previous two albums. But after several delays in the release of their third album and label conflict, The Veronicas broke their contract with them.
In 2014, the heavens rang and they signed a new major record deal with Sony Music Entertainment to release and promote the album. It happened pretty quickly! I don’t know the exact date they signed with SME, but to release a well written and produced album in the 11th month, is pretty outstanding. To me anyway.
I did two videos that show my reaction to the album and a few comments along the way.
Part 1
Part 2
If you like the videos, please give them a thumbs up and you could also subscribe to my newbie channel if you’d like! 🙂
Some things I learned after listening to the album more are:
Lisa and Jess co-wrote the entire album. There are times throughout my videos where I’m assume the girls wrote certain songs, but I’m unsure because there are no physical copies anywhere in Lubbock (if you watch you will hear about my absolute struggle to find one!) and the digital copy from iTunes did not consist of a digital booklet. Sad day. Through research I found multiple articles stating the writers of all the songs and Lisa and Jess were listed on every one.
The emotion is on a whole other level. When I was assuming in my videos that Jess and Lisa wrote certain songs, and after finding out they co-wrote the whole album, I was out of my mind. Not because I didn’t think they could, but because then I knew that all the emotion in every song came from them. Every song they poured their souls into.
This album is exactly what I needed. As I said before, I was revisiting my love for The Veronicas before the single and album were announced, but why? Because these women make music that is absolutely 100 percent relatable. This sounds rubbish and common, I know, but think about it… Or rather let me tell you what I think from hours upon hours of thinking about it. Personally, I listen to every genre of music. (I know I have only posted a few artists from somewhat similar genres, but I’m working on it!) My iTunes library ranges from “Girls & Boys” from Good Charlotte to “Party Up In Here” by DMX to “Beautiful” by P.O.D. to “Jesus Take The Wheel” by Carrie Underwood. Seriously you guys, I listen to everything. And something I think we fail to recognize when reading articles praising artists is that the word “relatable” is not overused. Every genre in its entirety has its own complex that differentiates it from all the rest. Nowadays, yes, we have artists who are a mashup of several genres or who have created their own in a certain way, but they have different audiences who live different lives. Basically what I’m saying is that every artist/genre has a different audience and the way they write and present their music somehow relates to their audience.
You can always make a come back. The Veronicas haven’t released a new album since 2007 and they blew me away with this album. The album hasn’t done particularly well in the U.S. (I don’t see it on the Top Albums of iTunes and haven’t heard anything from Billboard about it), but it has done well in Australia, their home country as well as a few other countries. I think (and I’m just me, so) that it’s not all about how well you do in the first week, or whatever. It’s the content of the music. If there isn’t a large population in the U.S. that are fans of The Veronicas, then okay it’s not going to do well, but what I’m worried about is the tour. I pray every day (not joking) that The Veronicas will come to America, at a time where I can travel to see them perform live. It’s an honest tick on my bucket list.
One of my first posts was about The Veronicas, and I decided to make this video because they were on tour with the 5SOS boys for their last three shows of the year and their album is dropping in A WEEK (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) so yes. That was my reason for this.
Plus I love them a lot.
Have a watch:
P.S. If you have a fave song from The Veronicas or anything let me know!
On Thursday I went to this place called Wild West with some of my friends, and you know. It’s just your typical country bar/club I don’t really even know what to call it. There’s a lot of two-steppin’ and the occasional rap/dance/pop song.
AND WELL THIS ONE TIME THEY PLAYED “SHAKE IT OFF” AND:
The morning after that delightful night, I woke up bright and not really early to make a trip to Target to buy 1989 for the second time, physically, and third time in all. Before making it to Target I went to a grocery store and when I got back in my car “Shake It Off” was on the radio so I couldn’t not sing/dance to it… I may or may not have made some people laugh:
On Sunday night at about 9 p.m. Central Taylor Swift’s fourth studio album, 1989, dropped on iTunes and Swifties around the world gathered on all social media to rejoice the birth of a collection their life anthems.
“1989” is set to become the first platinum album of the year, according to Billboard.
Swiftie (n): 1. Someone who considers Taylor Swift their best friend and just wants to be best friends with her 2. Hardcore Taylor Swift fans
The anticipation of Taylor’s newest creation increased every day since the live stream on August 18 where she announced the new album and released the first single “Shake It Off” along with its music video. On Oct. 13 Taylor released “Out Of The Woods” (which she cowrote with Jack Antonff) and it became an instant favorite of mine. Favorite as in I started bawling when I listened to it..and still do. It’s really emotional but in a more metaphorical way than we’re (we’re being Swifties) used to. She also gave us a lot of details with the assumed boy she experienced these feelings with. I’ll give you one guess.
HS.
Anyway, “Welcome To New York” came out Oct. 20 and made me want to go to the city that never sleeps more than I have ever wanted before.
OKAY SO THE ALBUM! Below I have listed the track title, favorite lyric and thoughts. This is rough, let me just tell you. All of Taylor’s lyrics speak to me, so to try and designate a favorite lyric–I just feel like it should be illegal for me to even attempt to do that. My thoughts are still crazy and all over the place (mostly because I’m trying to not ignore my school work and job, because I kind of need those things in my life but I need Taylor more).
I also decided to video myself listening to the songs for the first time, because if I feel like sometimes with certain song/lyrics/beats you just have to experience the song. Sometimes it’s hard to listen to something and explain how it made you feel. It’s different if you listen to a song with someone and after you’re both just like, “Woah.” I felt like that a lot. I didn’t video myself listening to Welcome To New York, Shake It Off and Out Of The Woods because they were released before the full album was out and I didn’t include the bonus songs or the secret message, but I will in a separate post in the next few days. Sidenote: My (if you can even call it) dancing is ridiculous, but whatever. It’s fine.
Track 1: Welcome To New York Favorite lyric: The lights are so bright, but they never blind me Thoughts: HAPPY! ADVENTURE! FUN! A fresh start. Do what you want for you, not because of anyone else. Also, don’t let others get you down. ALSO LET’S GO TO NEW YORK RIGHT NOW!
Track 2: Blank Space Favorite lyric: ‘Cause darling I’m a nightmare dressed like a daydream OR ‘Cause we’re young and we’re reckless, we’ll take this way too far, it’ll leave you breathless or with a nasty scar Thoughts:Holy mother of music. She got ballsy with the lyrics in this song. I love every song on the album sosososooo much, but this is one I always start with when I listen to her album. It’s not a negative song, it’s fun and upbeat but it’s like, “oh it’ll happen maybe, but I’m not really worried about it.” Kind of and I just love it a lot.
Track 3: Style Favorite lyric: You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye and I got that red lip classic thing that you like OR You got that long hair slicked back WHITE T-SHIRTTTT and I got that good girl faith and a tight little SKIRTTT Thoughts: I CAN’T EVEN WITH THIS SONG FIRST OF ALL THE TITLE. *HeellllllooooOooOOOooOo* The beat of this song makes me feel like I’m in a John Hughes movie that is going to change my love life forever. I could write my thesis over this song. There’s so much content from her life that we can/are assume/assuming and I just…
Okay, I wasn’t going to do this but now I am, because I feel like if you don’t keep up with Taylor then you won’t understand why I’m saying there’s so much content from her life.
I’m going to start with the chorus:
From Getty Images
You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye
And I got that red lip classic thing that you like
And when we go crashing down, we come back every time
Cause we never go out of Style, we never go out of Style
You got that long hair, slicked back, white t-shirt, and I got that good girl faith and a tight little skirt
And when we go crashing down, we come back every time
Cause we never go out of Style, we never go out of Style
NGRE/AKM-GSI
So it goes
He can’t keep his wild eyes on the road Takes me home
Lights are off, he’s taking off his coat I say I heard that you been out and about with some other girl, some other girl
He says, what you’ve heard is true but I can’t stop thinking about you and I, I said I’ve been there too a few times
You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye
And I got that red lip classic thing that you like
And when we go crashing down, we come back every time
Cause we never go out of Style, we never go out of Style
You got that long hair, slicked back, white t-shirt, and I got that good girl faith and a tight little skirt
And when we go crashing down, we come back every time
Cause we never go out of Style, we never go out of Style
Take me home
Just take me home
Just take me home
You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye
And I got that red lip classic thing that you like
And when we go crashing down, we come back every time
Cause we never go out of Style, we never go out of Style
You got that long hair, slicked back, white t-shirt, and I got that good girl faith and a tight little skirt
And when we go crashing down, we come back every time
Cause we never go out of Style, we never go out of Style
Are you crying yet? Are you hyperventilating yet?
Track 4: Out Of The Woods Favorite lyric: We were built to fall apart then fall back together//Your necklace hanging from my neck//The night we couldn’t quite forget//When we decided to move the furniture so we could dance//Baby, like we stood a chance//Two paper airplanes flying, flying, flying
Thoughts: I feel like I can’t even express how this song makes me feel. Taylor said that she wanted every song on this album to sound like how she felt, and I haven’t ever felt like that and I just cried because of how strong the emotion is. Wouldn’t it be crazy to constantly not know where you stand with someone? Is it going to be over tomorrow or maybe in a month? Tomorrow?
Track 5: All You Had To Do Was Stay Favorite lyric: But people like me are gone forever when you say goodbye Thoughts: I can’t even. I feel like almost every girl or guy, whatever, has experienced this feeling. Like, hey, I was there but you left. All you had to do was stay.
This video includes: Blank Space, Style, All You Had To Do Was Stay, I Wish You Would and Bad Blood.
Track 6: Shake It Off
Favorite lyric: It’s like I got this music in my mind saying it’s gonna be alright
Thoughts: Haters gonna hate, but Taylor’s gonna slaaaayyyyy.
Track 7: I Wish You Would
Favorite lyric: You give me everything and nothing
Thoughts: I have felt this way too many times.
Track 8: Bad Blood
Favorite lyric: Band-Aids don’t fix bullet holes
Thoughts: Just watch my video.
This is a cropped screen shot from the digital booklet.
Track 9: Wildest Dreams Favorite lyric: You’ll see me in hindsight, tangled up with you all night Thoughts: This song makes me feel like I had a fun relationship that ended with me leaving the guy. But in a majestic way. The way this song was produced gives me chills and makes me want to sway with a crowd of people.
Track 10: How You Get The Girl
Favorite lyric: Broke your heart I’ll put it back together
Thoughts: Makes me want to dance… Oh wait, I did. The bridge also makes the dancing come out even if the dancing is already going soooooo…I’m basically Taylor at award shows. Which is casual. Walking to class. With 35K other students. What?
Track 11: This Love
Favorite lyric: These hands had to let it go free and this love came back to me
Thoughts: My reaction to this song has changed in the past two days since the album dropped. Now, I can’t listen to this song if I’m not in the comfort of my bedroom because I WILL tear up during the first verse even if I try with all my might to hold it back. Then I will break out into a complete sob/cry fest when the chorus plays.
The production of this song along with the lyrics is just like writing about someone special on a cloud at the happiest high of your life. I’ve personally never felt that way about a real guy, but I feel like I have after listening to this song.
I think I included the most video clips of this song in the second video. Have a listen/watch and you’ll understand me.
Look at her sweater.
Track 12: I Know Places
Favorite lyric: They are the hunters, we are the foxes WE RUN
Thoughts: I feel like any description I give of this song would be vague. It feels like a constant battle of people judging a relationship, and you’re trying to ignore them while being happy with your person.
I don’t know why people judge or try to shoot down certain relationships. If people are happy, let them be happy.
I wouldn’t want to experience what she felt in this song… I don’t think I will because I’m not a public figure, but goodness.
The world watching you and talking about you.
No thanks.
Track 13: Clean Favorite lyric: Rain came pouring down when I was drowning//That’s when I could finally breathe OR 10 months sober, I must admit just because you’re clean don’t miss you don’t miss it//10 months older I won’t give in, now that I’m clean I’m never gonna risk it Thoughts: This song. This song. This metaphor Taylor uses. It’s like she uses a drug addiction to describe how she felt about a guy and in the end she is clean of him.
This album represents a journey.
This video includes: Wildest Dreams, How You Get the Girl, This Love, I Know Places and Clean.
This album was so beautifully written and produced. I feel what Taylor felt as she was going through these situations and I know that’s what she wanted to accomplish, and she just completely did.
I’ve never been more proud of an artist in my life. She’s made a complete transition from the 16 year old girl singing about the teardrops on her guitar.
Every week I’m going to try and write a “What I’m Listening To” post, just to let you guys know about any new music I’m listening to or older gems I am revisiting or just now discovering.
Right now I’m having a major moment with The Veronicas.
Still from the “You Ruin Me” music video.
The twin sister duo, Lisa and Jessica Origliasso, made it big in Australia with their debut album “The Secret Life Of…” in 2005 and “Hook Me Up” in 2007. Sony Music Entertainment offered the sisters a global deal and a (highly anticipated by me) new album is due out later this year.
The Veronicas released their first single with Sony on Sept. 19 titled “You Ruin Me.” The track is different from their usual synthpop/rock sound, with strong piano and vocals making up the song.
The music video for “You Ruin Me” is classic The Veronicas with fabulous location scenes, costumes, makeup, shots of the girls and editing.
Still of The Veronica’s music video for “You Ruin Me”
I have added some stills I screenshot from the music video and in case you haven’t heard the song yet I will post the video below. In case you haven’t heard much from The Veronicas I will post some older videos and songs as well.
You Ruin Me
Live Version of Untouched
Untouched
If you have ever seen the movie She’s The Man with Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum you should recognize this song from the fair event both Sebastian and Viola attend. It’s gold and so is this song.
4Ever
duo, Lisa and Jessica Origliasso, made it big in Australia with their debut album “The Secret Life Of…” in 2005 and “Hook Me Up” in 2007. Sony Music Entertainment offered the sisters a global deal and a (highly anticipated by me) new album is due out later this year.
Collage Of My Mind 