we bought her a soda- diet pepsi to be exact

I want to quickly talk about what happened today. It was my last official day of junior year (finals next week, but still... ) and some friends and I had the most amazing experience. It gave me chills. 

We had finished school for the day, were saying goodbyes, and then Elizabeth, Ana and I decided to walk to Starbucks. We had some time to kill since I had an hour and a half until I needed to pick up my brother. It was a nice day, a nice walk- nothing spectacular. Elizabeth asked all about Jr. year and Ana contemplated if she would return next year (she's an exchange student from China). 

We rounded the corner, and were just across the street from Starbucks when we walked by a woman, sitting, holding a cardboard sign. About five feet later something in me screamed "GO BACK"- so I did. Elizabeth and Ana caught on to what I was doing and didn't miss a beat. 

Her Sign

Now, I'm very much of a people person. I have no issue starting conversations, but as we stood in front of this women I realized that I had no idea of what to say. I mumbled something about her sign and feeling like I needed to talk to her.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, has an unusual way with words and people. She walked right up to the woman and said "I feel like you need a hug". She was shocked, of course, but accepted the affection. 

The woman put down the sign and on the back was something so simple and heartbreaking: God please give me the strength and the trust that i need

We talked for a bit. She told us her story and how she has been running into trouble with her abusive ex-husband, and is going to court tomorrow. As the conversation progressed, it was clear that she's a Christian. She explained how Francis Chan (who's one of my favorite, as well) has been a light in her life, how his sermons gave her the strength to get out of the relationships.

The way she talked about God was so raw and open. She obviously isn't in the best part of her life, but she's managed to hold onto hope, even though she's felt bitter and angry. She knows that God's grace will cover her.

We offered to buy her lunch. She declined, but asked for a soda- diet pepsi to be exact. When we gave her the soda, she held up a pack of cigarettes. 

"I've got five left in here. It's the last five I'll ever smoke." Her voice was a voice of conviction and bravery and uncertainness and the brokenness. 

Before leaving, we prayed together. We went our separate ways, one to a support group and three to a cup of coffee. 

Sometimes it's important to talk to people. It's hard, I know, and sometimes it's just not the right time, but sometimes it is. Sometimes someone needs reassurance that there's a light at the end of the tunnel or something like that. 
Sometimes you just need a diet soda and a prayer. 

Filming (Notes from “How to Shoot Video that Doesn’t Suck”)

In history our third-quarter project gave us absolute freedom to do whatever we wanted. My friends and I (who have already made a movie together) decided to pull together and create a second masterpiece. In preparation, I skimmed the book  How to Shoot Video that Doesn't Suck and made notes for myself and our other camera lady. 
__________

When the camera is placed in your hands, you are now the filmographer and the director. It is up to you to make sure that the scene you film is as good as it can possibly be. Here are some tips from my film book:

Think in shots

• Is what you’re filming interesting? How can you make the scene more interesting?
• What is the point of focus?
• How can you convey the emotion/dynamic/action/plot of the shot better?

Avoid super long panoramic views

• Mostly because we want to keep this video under 10 minutes (though it may have to be longer simply because we need to have 10 hours each, and since some of y’all aren’t writing/editing)
• One or two might be nice to set a scene or whatever, and it wouldn’t kill us to film them, but a 10 second view of the landscape isn’t that interesting.

Keep shots under 10 seconds

• unless it’s ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, do not shoot the same shot for more than 10/15 seconds.
• It becomes boring and the action of the scene is broken. I know that for us most of our shots will probably be a little long (that’s ok) but we don’t want to slow it down.

Close ups & zooming

• Don’t stand 5 feet away from the person and then zoom in with the screen.
• it makes the footage more unstable
• it makes the footage loose quality
• neither of those will get us an A
• If we are doing a close face shot, actually stand close enough to make the shot without zooming. It may be a little uncomfortable and awkward, but we don't want to zoom too much. If we really need to, I can zoom later in editing.

Keep the light behind you

• Unless we have a reason to have the light behind the character, it’s usually best to keep everything in the shot well-lit

Turn off ALL digital effects

• Unless it’s something we can only do on the phone, then please let Amanda deal with it after in the editing process. It makes life simpler.

Stand still while filming

Remember the intent of the scene

• Is the character happy/sad/angry/at war/waiting for news of the war/listening to the radio... the actor needs to do their part to convey the scene, it’s the filmers part to make sure that nothings lost between face and film
• Know the story and the scene, it will make this part much easier

Plan a shot list

• We’ll plan a few specific shots in the writing meeting, but the rest of the shots will be decided on-site.
• So basically make sure you know what you’re filming

Make the star look great

• If they obviously have no clue what is going on, stop the video, stop them, and save us a the embarrassment of turning in a bad movie
• Make sure they actually look good. Sometimes cameras picu up weird lighting or whatever,  so make sure they’re not too washed out/shadowed.

COMMIT YOURSELF TO A STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE

About Me and About Fashion Pt. 1

As you may or may not know, for the past year or so my taste in fashion has actually become more than "mens size nerd tee + jeans + makeup that is just to fab for the outfit" (though that's still my staple look lol). Heck, I joined the new fashion club at school and will be writing a section in the newsletter about fashion subcultures!

So, my own quick personal history in fashion:

I loved it as a kid. I drew all sorts of amazing outfits and my parents were pretty sure that I'd grow up to be a designer. I loved to play dress-up (what little girl doesn't?), thoroughly enjoyed theater, would have little "fashion shows" with my friends... oh what joyous memories! I even made dresses for my dolls!

Here's a drawing from when I was about 6.
You can see my 14yr old re-do here

Then I went through the tom-boy phase. You know the one... reject everything feminine to appear "cool" and unlike other girls... i have only one thing to say to that...

But, me being me, and artist and a lover of fashion at heart, it didn't last long... unfortunately the ending of my tom-boy phase led straight into my "when I was 12" era... oh what dark times those were :p

I listened to a strange mix of Christian pop and Christian metal... I cut my hair short (super, super short), wore a heck of a lot of purple (it is my favorite color so it made up 90% of my closet back then), but, again, had no sense of style. It was pretty sad. 

Fortunately, I survived that first half 8th grade with horrible taste, but when I turned 14, I realized that I needed to get my act together. I got some new clothes, let my hair grow out long (i had been keeping it shoulder length most of the year) and learned how to properly style hair and use mascara.

 It was that summer after 8th grade, though, when things got oh so much better. I went to Europe, and had no time or need for makeup or fashion. When we returned, I went shopping with some cousins and got my first eyeliner (can you believe that I learned how to do eyeliner with black liquid?) and some lipgloss. I also bought a dress that was nice/casual, because I didn't own any casual dresses. 

600 steps my dad and i walked down in Greece

Next came two months of me working on my CVI cosplay, Ahsoka.Through the cosplay process I learned about makeup and fashion in general. (Fun fact: 80% of my makeup skills are modified from what I learned in cosplay. That's why a)my makeup skills are hella rad and b)my eye makeup is always pretty heavy). 

That all led into my 9th grade year, when I owned a good supply of Star Wars shirts, leather boots, eyeshadow pallets, and eyeliner. I also started painting my nails every week (school didn't allow it in 8th grade) and wore my leather jacket almost every day. I cut my hair short again and had a "fashion revival". 

I still wear my leather jacket every day tbh...

Part 2 Coming soon!

look who's not dead

hey there

so yeah.... i guess i've been gone for a while now, but life has been busy.

-three clubs
-two honors courses
- one college level italian course

and a partridge in a pear tree (no seriously we have a pear tree that we used to put a fake partridge in... i wonder where that little bird got to)

i guess it's that time of year again, "currently" and "life update" posts taking over my dash, all with the customary "sorry i've been gone for so long"

it's totally fine, dude, i feel ya
this is the first time i've gotten on blogger in over a month and i'm only on now because i'm sick and avoiding homework.

ok, enough ranting. i have stuff to say

-my hair is now red (a natural copper tone, like amy pond)
-i'm submitting to the Scholastic Arts and Writing
-i have a job (tutoring the third grader across the street)
-i finished Stargate
-i went to Kraken Con (if i ever find the time i'll post about that)
-yeah
-korra
-korra is literally my life my entire week is "oh thank god just __ more days till korra"

oh and i saw big hero 6 and it was amazing

hope y'all are doing well

see you next time (and i'm going to re-do my blog a bit now)

Liebster Award!

(hi sorry i disappeared. School's crazy + i got sick and didn't post this when I meant to... like a week ago. Sorry.)

Thank you Voronda at A Believer's Journey for the tag! It's great to see you back in the blogging world :)

thank and link back to the person who nominated you
list 11 facts about yourself
answer the 11 questions asked by the blogger who nominated you
nominate 11 bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers
(you can’t nominate the blogger who nominated you)
ask them 11 questions
let them know about the nomination

Ok! 11 facts!

I have blonde hair
I am ENTJ
I've had 7 cats total throughout my life
Working out is awesome (and that is a statement that you would have never heard me mutter under my breath until about 9th grade)
I want to go into a STEM career (aerospace engineer)
I LOVE CATS SO MUCH OMG CATS CATS CATS
I love cooking and baking
In the summer between 7th and 8th grade, I dyed my hair purple
I have strep throat right now :(
I love to sing/act
Did i mention that cats are my life?

they are cute but evil when they yawn
cats
yay

Voronda's Questions:

1. What was your favorite moment of summer so far?
Hmm... I went swimming with whale-sharks, and that was pretty rad. I also hung out with some friends right before school started and we had lots of fun then :)

2. Since this was fun with Anna. First word or phase that comes to mind when you hear:

a) Pineapple yuck!!

B) Force Use the force, Luke

C)Mountain Climbing

D) Skydiving Pandas I don't really know... but i pictured Po from Kung-Fu Panda skydiving lol

E) Crossbow Sports

3. What was the last book you read? That I finished would be "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" (absolutely amazing btw) 

4. Look up from the computer, whats the first thing you see? My great-grandfather's portrait. 

5. If you could have a mansion. What would you put in there? Ooh so much. I hope to have a large house one day, and have a whole floor dedicated to guest housing. I want to alway be able to have friends and family over. I want a large kitchen connected with the dining room, so that on holidays, the whole family can come over and celebrate (much like we do now). I love Steampunk (like that wasn't obvious lol) and would have a bunch of steampunk inspiration around the house. I'd have a life size Darth Vader, because why not. 

6) Ultimate Crush. Real or Fictional? Um... idk how to answer this. I had a huge crush on someone in my elective last year, though.

7. Would you rather:

a) be a tiger for a day

or

b) an eagle?
Tiger! They're soooo cool! (and cat)

8. Do you have a weird, obscure but somewhat useless talent?
I can eat really fast? Honestly, I don't have any unusual talents. Actually, I can speak in a number of accents - Russian, Alabama, Deep US south, British (it's awful- still working on it), Italian, and Scottish (only if I'm reading out loud).

9. Your house if burning. What 4 things do you save?
Computer, The Lightning Thief, phone, art notebook (and if i can get my cat i would sacrifice my phone and grab her)

10. If you could break any rules, what would be the first one you break?
Well, at school I would dye my hair purple again, or blue :) i want to tip-dye it!

11. Do you like the new layout?(Yes, I went there!).
Yes! I think it looks great! 

Alright, 11 questions for y'all:

1. What are looking forward to most this school year? (even if you're not in school)
2. If you were given the chance to go ANYWHERE in the world for one week, and it was completely payed for and everything, where would you go?
3. On the topic of travel- what is the best trip you've ever been on?
4. Would you rather live in the mountains or by the sea?
5. Alternative or Pop music?
6. What would you do if you could spend the day with one of your favorite characters?
7. Can you name all 50 American states (and if you're not American- can you name all the regions/states of you're country?)
8. Favorite girls name beginning with "T" + its meaning
9. Favorite boys name beginning with "L" +it's meaning
10. What type of atmosphere do you like when you go out to eat?
11. What sport do you enjoy most? (And you can either participate in it, or just like to watch it. Whatever floats your boat :) )

And I Tag:

Ashley at Just Another Crazy Fangirl
Covert Knight at Knights Underground
Grace at Say Something, Grace
Annika at Pen and Camera
Shena at Pens, Thespians, and Words
Faith at Princess Faith
Gollum at Riddles in the Dark (this would be hilarious!)
Misty at Actor, Writer, Dreamer

And that's literally everyone who I follow who is currently active (and two of those are run by the same person!) Haha maybe I should start following more blogs...

Ciao!

*sigh* (not so much of a sigh any more)

Back to school it is, then.

I think August 5 is too early, but it's not like i can change anything. so yep. schooooollllllll

i'm going back to the same school i went to last year, by the way. there was a lot of debate of if i was actually going back, and it looks like i am. i hope that it works out.

i guess i shouldn't be so picky. its just hard, after being in such a strange schooling situation, to really adjust. if you didn't know, i went to a very... hard core? rigorous? demanding? school from pre-k to third grade, then went back in 8th grade. Even when I was homeschooled (4-7 and 9th), my family kept the same standard of academic excellence while I was homeschooled.

Last year TC (the school i go to now) wasn't exactly... level with my previous standards. Students could not hand in homework and get away with it.

______

(I wrote all of that a few days before starting back up- didn't have time to post it. here we are at the end of week 2 and, wow, things have changed!)

Well, as I said THINGS. HAVE. CANGED!

And I think I'm probably the only person in the world who can be so excited about something like this. (For a little background, I'm ENTJ...)

Last year, I would get so frustrated because people would not do/turn in their homework. Students would yell out in the middle of class the score they're getting on the video game they were playing. Disrespecting teachers was too common.

It was awful (remember- I was at that one school and then homeschooled. I didn't have to deal with things like that. Failing to turn in homework and disrupting class has always been punished in my world).

On the first day of school, there was an announcement. Apparently, the whole  "student's aren't turning homework" thing wasn't working for the school. They decided that academic standards needed to be raised.

pretty much me when they said "Academic standards need to be raised"

So now there are much stricter rules and punishments and stuff for people who disrupt class and fail to turn in their homework and stuff! Some things are a little extreme, but, whatever, i won't have to continuously watch people slack off all year, so I'm not complaining :)

I also have really great classes/teachers this year! I have two of the academic advisers to the school as my math and english teachers, I have the same history teacher as last year (he's pretty awesome) and finally....

i needed an excuse to use this. don't judge me

I got into honors chemistry (I'm assuming. they haven't kicked me out yet lol) and the teacher is doing a very lab-based curriculum! He's a pretty good teacher so far :) I'm kind of sad that Anna isn't going to school with me anymore... she was my science buddy xD haha we had so much fun, i'm going to miss her soooo much when she moves :'(

That's off topic...

But yeah, I'm also the vice pres. of the art club, and the costumer for the drama club! I'm really excited!

It looks like my junior year is going to be pretty great :D

(Also, here is a wonderful line from my Girls Bible/Contemp. Issues teacher who got married last year: "You should all come to the beach party! Then you can meet my husband and see how hot he is!!" lol!)


Fun Fact:
it will be another 873 years (or so) before we have another August with 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays, and 5 Sundays

we live in some pretty rad times

~ShaakThusa

I'M FREEEE!!!!!

So, now that I'm out of school, and summer is here, and life is good.

My last few weeks of school consisted of Prom (which was awesome!), Town Hall (my performing arts final, we all dressed as a character and had to spend an hour and a half being that character), scrificing my BFF in a rain dance (oh, the things you do on the last day of school ;p) and playing lots (and lots and lots and lots) of mafia!

Finals week was insane, and I'm not entirely sure what happened. I do know that on Thursday, after finishing our last exam, a bunch of friends and I went to the mall and hung out for a while. It was really fun and somewhat sad, since we won't be going to school together next year.

Oh, yeah, I'm going back next year! After a lot of indecision and weighing options, I decided to stay. I'm praying that I made the right choice... I'll be taking honers Chem and English, so that should be good. Yep.

On Friday my family packed up and went to my second house, where we stayed the weekend. My mom's side of the family came up on Sunday, it was so much fun! The tops of my hands got burned, though :p

Over all it was a great time :)

~Shaak Ti

"Who is Your God?" A poem/ An explanation of my school year

We all have a god... maybe not a religious god, but something that fills the place for a god. Idk this was written over multiple weeks while I was in various moods. Take no offense. (And as ya'll know I am Christian, so yeah... idk i feel like i should say that. Also, I immagine the voice of this poem to be something like Benedict Cumberbatch/ Khan? idk what's up with that lol) 
______________________________________

Who is Your God?
By Shaak Ti/ Aithusa

Who is your god?

Is it the one they worship in the little chapel

on Sunday morning?

The one that Catholic elders

And Jewish children

Gain their wisdom?

Or is it the chaos that surrounds us?

The falling trees and the swirling of an endless void-

Only to be dragged into an oblivion of silence and despair?

Is it the belief that you have no god

Which brings you to your conclusion that you are religionless,

When religion itself is defined

As something we are all a part of?

Who is your god?

Is it the god of the ancients?

The one with many forms who cannot be defined as

One entity,

But as many?

They are lost to us.

Is your god a god of the ice and of the fire?

Or a god of rage and war?

Does your god have wings

Or a scepter

Or a crown?

Does your god condemn love and support hatred?

Or does it act out violence in the name

of converting the masses.

Does your god rule through fear?

Or anger?

Or mask it’s hate as love

and love as hate?

Is your god invisible?

Simply a shadow

of your past.

Is your god a pile

of rotting paperwork

sitting

mocking

laughing

at your inability to see eye to eye

with the rest of the world

Is your god a blank page

with an untouched pen?

And you laugh

realizing that in this instance

You are god.

Does your god even care?

_____________________________________

So... critiques? Thoughts? Haha thanks for reading my scattered- brained poems.

I guess I should explain some. In the beginning of the school year, I was stuck into a private Christian school at last second (the day after it started). Now, it's a wonderful school, and the staff is super nice and welcoming. They understood that students actually have a life outside of school, and did everything in their power to not give us too much homework. I do love many aspects of the school.

Unfortunately, I struggled adapting to it, and some days I was disappointed with the attitude of the students (many just say "oh, God will take care of me" and not do any work). Not all of the students were like that, but there were enough to seriously bug me. Much of the year has been me trying to decide if I stay or not for my Juinor/Senior years. Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens...

Hopefully I'll be back posting soon, once school's out. I'll probably have about a week left once this is posted... haha the scheduled posts make me feel like I'm writing a letter to the future!

Kraken Con 2014

(I made a page with all of my cosplays, and it's going to be updated with each of my costumes... check it out!)


Oooh look what I finally got around to! I guess I've been building up to this for the past... 4 posts or so? Well, here I am, finally posting about the big day :p

Who all went: Dad, my mom's parents (Grand and Big-C), my brother (Dante), and my aunt's exchange student (Peter)
Yeah, so I'm calling peeps by what I call them irl bc that's easier.

Sunday morning we started getting ready, so that we could try to be out of the house by 8:15. I made last-second finishes to my costume (oh, the curse of a cosplayer XD) and did my eye makeup as I waited for the glue to dry. Then I helped my brother get his costume on... lots and lots of safety pins! Once my grandparents arrived we all piled into my dad's car and were on our way!

Dad and Big-C sat in the front and listened to a church service. Grand sat in the back with me (she borrowed one of my Doctor Who shirts for the day), and Dante sat in-between us so I could paint Aangs arrows on him. We got to the restaurant where we were picking up Peter, so Dante and I walked in looking like crazy people in half cosplay! I had on super heavy eye makeup and nothing else, and my hair was back and I had a wig cap around my neck, no armor... just a black dress over my red shirt and pants (I looked like some sort of failed punk band :p)

Omg it's my face AAAAAAA

After the looooong drive up, we got to the con center, and I finished putting on my costume. Finally we were there! We turned in our registration and the fun began! When we got our wrist bands the volunteers were so excited about Dante and my costume, and they asked for pictures and, yeah, it was pretty cool! It would be fun to work at something like that, then you could see everyones costumes! Once we got to the main room, (after stopping for quite a few pictures- there was one girl who even did a selfie with us! Yay cosplay selfies! Haha ok moving on...

Unfortunately, I missed the first panel I wanted to go to- "Cosplaying in Character", which probably would have helped a lot for my Performing Arts final. Oh well, since I missed it, I had the oppurtunity for something else totally awesome to happen!

When we got to the main room, I see someone with a cosplay that looks familiar, and then I realized she was Toph (also from ATLA) and it was amazing! She ran over to us and we went all crazy fangirl, and then we were just like "CAN I HUG YOU OMG" and it was the best thing ever :D Quite a few people walking by got pictures of us, and then we all went to the photo studio together to get our pictures taken.

AAAA I"M SO PROUD OF OUR COSTUMES :D

After taking the picture, we parted ways, promising to meet back up again. My group took off to look around the Dealers Room, and I made a bee-line for my favorite artist, Yuumei. I was so excited to meet her! She's had a big impact on me and my art, and she was such a sweet girl in person, as well. She's used her talent and difficult past to really reach out to so many people, and honestly, it's really brave that she does that. She also has brought awareness to the pollution problems in China, and advocates to fix it. Haha when I found out that she was going to be there, I ran around my house like a crazy fangirl screaming all sorts of crazy stuff :p. I planed to spend only $10 to $20 at her table... obviously that didn't happen. I spent at least $40! Oh, well, it was worth it :) seeing her work on my walls makes me really happy.

Then it was time for my first panel, which was on writing villains. It was very helpful, and the director really made us all participate, it was so much fun! Haha we got a little side tracked and started talking about FMA, and then later on he gave me some tips on my villain. He also talked a bit about world building, so that was cool, too. This summer I'm going to post all of my panel notes from this (school) year, so if y'all are writers, you may be interested in this one.

"Re-Imagine" by Yuumei

After the panel was finished, I went out into the dealers room and looked around, bought more stuff from Yuumei, and went upstairs to have lunch with my group. The food was really good (i got a burger), but a bit expensive (con food always is). I realized that eating with armor and collars and 3 lbs of vinyl is HARD. So I took it off and realized that the con center wasn't 150º, but more like 70º. Yeah... it was quite a relief. It was really funny to see all the characters from different fandoms eating together! Before I headed down to my other panel I ran into Toph again and we took a picture:

Azula and Toph have lunch together... because why not

The next panel I went to was on creating a web comic. It was really helpful, because I'm interested in starting one (I'll have more info for y'all later). Here's their site: Captain Quail. They write a Star Trek inspired comic that has birds instead of people. It's pretty funny! During the panel they wrote/drew a comic that was directed by the participants, so that was pretty fun!

When the panel was over, girls dressed as Anna and Elsa (who I had pegged as "MUST GET PIC WITH THEM) came up to me and asked for a picture, so we all posed and someone took our picture for us ^.^

My group was almost ready to leave, but we all decided to walk through the dealers room one more time. I went to a table that was selling posters and figurines, and got into a conversation about anime with one of the people selling posters as I bought a FMA wall scroll. I went by two steampunk booths- I bought a pin that reminded me of Winry (for my pin collection), and a rose hairpin (which I wear almost every day now lol). Of corse I stopped by Yuumi's table one last time and got one of her smaller prints. 

Some Cosplayers I ran into :)

Not the best pic but oh well :p

We ended up talking to a guy dressed as Buzz Lightyear and his daughter was dressed as Neytiri (I think... well, she was the blue chick from "Avatar" (the movie)).They were really fun to talk to! Father/daughter cosplayers, he got her into it. He made his Buzz costume back in 2001 or so, and it's really cool! Each button will actually play a different sound clip, just like Buzz's in the movie! It's also made almost completely out of cardboard- true cosplay dedication! 

The girl was really excited to be at the convention, and it was really fun to talk to someone so young who had already been immersed in con culture for almost their whole life :)

Thor! He's friends with Buzz, and his costume was just as amazing! he was telling us about how he made it... really impressive! haha this is one of my favorite pics (I feel like I perfected my Azula stance/face by then)

I wandered around some more, and ran into Princess Bubblegum and Jack Frost cosplayers. We all fangirled over each others costumes for a good five minutes before we calmed down enough to take pictures. Cosplay selfie! It was the perfect ending to such a fun day :D

Con Review
I had soooo much fun at Kraken Con! The panels were easy to find, the venders room was well organized, and not overly crowded, there wasn't too much of a bleed-through with noise from the video games and anime screening. There was a cafe' on the upper level (though it was a bit over priced :/ ), and instead of badges they had wrist bands, which I really liked, because then I wasn't having to deal with an extra thing around my neck.

For such a cheap convention, I would say that it was extremely well done. My only complaint would be the heat. There was air conditioning in the building, but it wasn't turned on until about three. Hopefully next time they'll turn it on earlier.


PS: I lost my camera charger, so art is still on hold :/ I might be able to find my old camera... idk we'll see what happens. Wish me luck on finals!