Filed under: A Little Me, Friends, Good Things, Happy Dance Time, Open, Relationships, Roam, Vegas! | Tags: BiSC, Bloggers in Sin City
Oh, crap… my words!
Those words slipped out of my lips at the Farewell Brunch of BiSC this year–because quite simply, there are no adequate words to express the love, the support, the good times and everything that comes from 60+ bloggers converging on Las Vegas in friendship and shenanigans. Of course, I do have words… and I’ll share some about it here.
There’s a reason I couldn’t miss BiSC for a single year after my first adventure back in 2011–these people are amazing and some of the greatest friends I’ve ever had. That, and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself for getting all the jealousies over reading all the Twitter posts about it. And it’s more than worth it.
These are people who usually hide behind their computers writing but got out of their comfort zone to go meet dozens of strangers.
These people will lay in bed with you eating Fuzzy Peaches and Stroopwaffles in the morning, laughing all the while.
These are people who will 8-second hug you… then keep it going even longer. #allthelove
These people will drop “That’s what she said” comments so many times it’s like an automatic twitch.
These are people that you can tell your deepest, darkest secrets to and they will love and support you no matter what.
These are people who cry and keep their eyes open forever in staring contests because they are crazy-awesome like that.
These are people who won’t ever judge you and love you exactly as you are. No liquor required.
These are people who will unabashedly cheer their voices hoarse during the Flamingo Pool booty shaking competition where a couple of their own competed (and lost, but everyone told me I should have won–well, I did… last year.)
These are people that aren’t afraid to grab the most horrendous outfits and do a dancing parade in the middle of an H&M dressing room. Exhibit A:
These people will teach you how to braid because you’ve been doing it wrong your whole life.
These people can be present even when their phones are out… it’s not rude, yo.
These people will people watch with you at a club and speculate on why some belligerent woman is getting arrested outside Caesar’s Palace.
These people will wait in the crepe line with you so you don’t have to stand alone.
These are people who will do a zombie/Christian-Bale-Batman voice unannounced, scaring the crap out of all of us then making us bust into laughter.
These people fear not whether you drink out of their drink or pick off their plate.
These people will talk about sex toys and scary “never have I evers” as though it is completely normal to do so.
These people will discreetly pull down your slip beneath your dress in public when your ass is hanging out of it. And also tell you when that is happening immediately. Same goes for having chocolate dripping down your face from the buffet chocolate fountain (THANKS!)
These people will go out for pizza and heart-to-hearts at 3:30 in the morning.
These people sing The Little Mermaid, Avenue Q and many other things with you out loud in public without shame.
These people will bring you treats and chocolate from their home country (Canada and Netherlands), making your taste buds and tummies sing joyous tunes.
These people will dance you silly, any time, any place… even without music. They make their own.
These people will dress to the nines, whether that’s all in white (“Are you all getting married?”), Mad Men-themed, or black, white, and gold!
These people will make you question your priorities and what you’re doing in your life–making you want to take your own life to the next level.
These people are old friends. These people are new friends. These people are my TRIBE.
These are people who dread parting each other so they find places to relax and chat until, inevitably, time runs out and all the hugs and tears come out too.
(And I feel like I could go on and on and on and on like this about all of the BiSCuits.)
At the end of it all, I feel like I’ve made some of the best friends in the world (and all over the world too!) in only a few days. I miss them so much already. My body and emotional state still haven’t recovered.
A humongous thank you goes to Nicole for putting this on for the past five years. The woman is an effing rockstar and one of my idols. I’ll be doing her 30-day Sugar Detox in June… care to join me?
Yet again, BiSC is the best weekend of the year and I’m sad to know it won’t be back next May. But that doesn’t mean I can’t go visit my new friends and that they can’t come visit me in Utah.
Any of you BiSCuits reading–I have a couch and a queen-size bed! I don’t mind sharing. ;)
BiSC helped break me out of my bubble of over-thinking things. That first year (2011), I started taking more chances and trusting that things would turn out alright even if I just… leapt. And I frickin’ landed among some of the most amazing people in one of the funnest cities in the world.
And like I said in my little speech at the Farewell Brunch on Sunday, “It was the best chance I ever took.”
So pretty much… yeah… my words. All the words can be summed up in this: BiSC is the very best. Ever.
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Filed under: A Little Me, Friends, Good Things, Happy Dance Time, Laughs, Pictures, Relationships, Remembering, Roam, Vegas! | Tags: BiSC, Bloggers in Sin City, recap
Bloggers in Sin City.
Really there aren’t enough incredible words and expressions that can cover everything that is BiSC. I just like to call it The Weekend of the Year. It’s that awesome, okay?! I’m still trying to recover.
To give you some idea, here is what I came home with:
- around 25 new friends,
- more time to hang with 25 old friends from last year, (numbers not accurate, but close enough!)
- a booty shaking title complete with a 21 oz. custom made drink with an awesome pink Flamingo cup & X Burlesque class passes,
- a bag filled with amazing swag from even more amaze-ball sponsors,
- more perspective on the sexual and sensual things thanks to Zumanity and Jenn,
- a funky sun burn on my back that looked like a bandage thanks to my poor sunscreen spraying skills,
- a cute and far too short H&M dress that I didn’t end up wearing for Mad Men night like I planned (oh, and a Beavis and Butthead shirt since I couldn’t leave H&M without it),
- my roomie Sara‘s book and her shoes since she packed in the dark and forgot (the silly girl),
- more Pop Chips than I could hold,
- and around 2 pounds because the 12+ hours of dancing clearly didn’t negate the countless buffets and fruity drinks.
It was just as amazing as last year, if not moreso. BiSC has a really special kind of magic … where everyone is a friend right off the bat, time goes by too fast and by the time it’s all over, you cling to each other (almost suffocatingly so–but you love it!) because you simply don’t want to leave their presence.
And there’s one other little fact … No one does Vegas like BiSCuits. I mean it, nobody.
Who else would spend an day at the pool, playing with glitter balls, getting rum shot in their mouths via water gun, cheering on the girl on the stage and shaking her rump like no one’s biznez (that would be me, thank you), playing “Never Have I Ever…” and winning sex toys if you get out quickly (which I think is backwards…ha!)?
Who else would gorge their faces at the best buffets in town before hitting up the dance floor for 5 hours?
Who else would jump in a Vegas fountain with an episode of Cops filming nearby?
Who else would stay up all night and then do it all again starting at 9 in the morning?
Who else would sing Little Mermaid at 3 a.m. while eating pork-pulled nachos/fries?
Who else would make you laugh and cry because of the most ridiculous things ever but they actually make sense?
And who else would do a full-body awkward turtle in the middle of a restaurant?
BiSCuits would. And that’s why I love them!
Seriously, Thursday through Sunday were some of the best days I’ve had in a super long time. A big thank you needs to go to Nicole, Rachael and Doni for making it all possible. You ladies rock my ever-lovin’ socks!
Now for a few highlights…
First off, I must mention my roomie again. Sara’s quick wit immediately got to me… she kept me laughing quite a bit. She had some hilariously awesome comebacks. To kick off BiSC, we even had a cute mini cheers moment. Not to mention the fact that we are both Grey’s Anatomy fans! SQUEE! So we definitely watched the finale together while piled on top the super comfy Flamingo beds. She’s adorable. Really.
Roomies!
The ice-breaker event at Carlos ‘N Charlies was seriously cool. The game of returning 4×6 business/blogger cards to the person they name was a great way for me to put faces with names. Thanks to this, I can say that I knew 95% of the names very quickly. Now I have handy cards I can give to people. ;)
Following that was Serendipity 3. Oh, the Serendipity! I wouldn’t have been surprised if I had chocolate lining my lips–everything was so scrumptious! Not to mention the fact that they served my absolute favorite Reisling (Loosen Brothers).
Every night from Thursday to Saturday was a dance party somewhere! Whether that was at Diablo’s, Chateau or Margaritaville… that was seriously awesome in my book. More dancing I say! So glad I brought flats and not heels to Vegas this time.
I can’t explain my face here, so I won’t. Go Rachael! ;)
Friday was the pool day, which I went over everything pretty much above… haha! It was nice to finally claim the booty-shaking title that I should have won last year. I owe a big thanks to the BiSCuits who were campaigning for me throughout the pool. Love you guys!
Winner, winner, chicken dinner!
Next up… the sex-on-the-stage production of Zumanity. Yeah, not what I was expecting. I was literally expecting everyone to be dressed up in jungle animal costumes and paint (Zu=Zoo? Anyone?) but BOY was I wrong. I saw boobies. Lots of boobies. The show was all about sex–there was never actually real sex on the stage though (thank goodness). My favorite was the hula hoop girl who managed to twirl about a hundred hoops around her person for a while. It was impressive. What else was impressive was how good the man playing host played a woman. I couldn’t tell the difference! The comedic hosts were awesome and cracked me up at every turn. And when the audience involvement is as high as it was in Zumanity, it can’t help but be a good show. I don’t think there was a dry seat in the house that night … whew!
Saturday morning was a hoot as CrushHub joined us for breakfast and help set up Amber on a date! Of course, she chose the 8-pack Costa Rican surfer. :P Personally, I would have chosen the BiSCuit that was thrown into the mix. Haha!
At dinner on Saturday, we did have a surprise guest (ahem, 50 of them) … the Miss America pageant ladies showed up at the same buffet we did! They looked like plastic — the ones I saw, anyway — and wore way too much makeup. But it was cool to see them! It was at that buffet where Brandi had me in tears talking about tacos. Yeah… good times.
Then it was Chateau at Paris… yeah. Everyone looked so nice and fancy in their Mad Men attire that I didn’t feel my H&M purchase fit very well… so I wore the outfit I originally planned on. But once we got to the club–No words. Aside from dancing on the chairs… perhaps tall horse man … oh, and the short man (wearing creepy contacts) who looked scarily like the one who awarded me my booty shaking title! Weird realization afterwards. HA.
Sunday… oh, the farewells. I can’t even say it’s bittersweet because they are really just sad. I was the one suggesting that we barricade/blow up all the exits to the Flamingo Hotel so everyone would have to stay forever. I liked that plan.
A few did stick around though and we made our traditional pit stop at In-And-Out and played the Sneaky Snake. Can’t go wrong with that. And a special explanation of bird sex is pretty hilarious, if I may say so.
I’m just so happy that there was both people that I knew and people that I didn’t know coming into BiSC this year. A lot of the people I really bonded with last year returned and it was like we got to do it all over again… but knowing each other better. Then I got to meet a host of new people who are just as equally awesome!
I don’t know what it is about BiSCuits, but they are really the kindest, wackiest, most fun, open-minded, bestest and just the rocking-est rock stars ever. It’s so hard to explain because everyone is just that cool. And yes, I did just link to about half of the people who came. You should check them all out. No joke.
I know I missed linking people and mentioning all the names — but really I love everyone who went. If you’re a BiSCuit, I love you. Simple as that. I know there were some of you I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with, but there’s not a person I didn’t get splendid vibes from. So there.
Best. Weekend. Ever. Again.
So who’s going back next year?
PS: As for more sponsor stuff… keep an eye out on my Twitter account. I’ll be posting my feedback there. Oh, except you will see my tribute to Le Bon Garcon on Something Write.
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Filed under: A Little Me, Blips, Family, Fitness, Friends, Health, RaNdOm, Remembering, Roam
For some reason, it was harder to document things this month. It could be that I feel like I do hardly more than work the weeks away, so by the time the weekend hits I don’t mind spending the day wrapped up in bed after hitting the gym, and catching up on my TV shows. Girl needs some downtime, yo. Speaking of… gotta go catch up on Smash. Laters!
April was …
New things and much too fast.
Amazing dinner at Fleming’s because I had a gift card. Trying crab, halibut and cat fish and actually liking them! End of Park City TV internship. Starting back up on WW. Ronald McDonald House Charity Benefit event. Cutie at Starbucks. Zorro at Hale … twice. The beginning of a podcast. Meeting Kurt Bestor! Fun game nights, nice dates and a couple good lazy days too.
Laughing at Gabriel Iglesias and other comedians in Vegas for my brother’s birthday celebration–third row baby! Watching the Masters & relaxing with my dad. New Skyy vodka arrived — delish! Day at the pool with a Miami Vice. Opportunity going out to do an ABC 4 interview. Lots of small friend meet-ups. More City Creek.
Non-stop two weeks. Cold sore. Forgetting dreams. Potential over-worked-ness. Accidentally double booking friends. Discovering my unicorn. Walking in on two women in the bathroom twice in one day. Too much politics for this girl, but learning a lot in the process. Credit card issues. Indecent proposals over text. Stuck sunroof. Having a battle with my passions.
Zumba on shuffle, and Zumba with Jason Thompson. He’s awesome. :)
New addictions: 50 Shades Trilogy. Drool… hottest book series ever (far from being well-written though *shivers*). ABC’s Revenge — aka: all first 16 episodes in three days. Avril Lavigne’s new album. Liking American Idol again too. Return of Glee, Greys Anatomy and Private Practice.
Top Posts from Something Write: An Escape, Dare to Stray, Getting over expectations…, An Unexpected Paddle and the way to win.
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Now the countdown is on for BiSC 2012!! Just a couple weeks away! :)
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Blips are a great way to remember the little things from each month so I can have something to look back on. Here are the others from 2012:
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Filed under: A Little Me, Blips, Family, Friends, Health, Holidays!, Plays/Musicals, Poetry, Remembering, Roam, Singing, Unhappy, Vegas!
December surely was a crazy month. Most of it has been fun, don’t get me wrong, but… dang… a lot of stuff went down and not all of it good. Luckily for you, I like documenting mostly the good stuff. Be warned though: An entire paragraph below will be dedicated to Thoroughly Modern Millie happenings. ;)
December was…
Emotional.
The last of Thoroughly Modern Millie rehearsals. Awesome opening and closing night cast parties. Dressing room dance parties. Killer dresses. Washing 2 pounds of hair spray out of my hair for days (not to mention the layers and layers of makeup). Documenting the wonderful hairstyles my wonderful friend Ryon made with my hair. Doing a scene all while either being poked by a safety pin or with only one earring. Silently cracking up backstage because of the hilarity on stage. Hearing that I should be making it big from a big PR guy (why can’t a guy hook a girl up?!). A man confessing his love for me after one show. Making friends with the adorable stage hands who brought me Reese Sticks during intermission. Humongous family cheers that made my day–love them! A fantastic run of a fun show with a cast that I fell in love with. Performing!!!
Hilarious moments at our Christmas party. No cavities. Over thinking. Cold sores again. Crooning dog. Ice cream dates with adorable surprises. Soul sisters!Attending a Pagan Yule ritual (so cool!) while trying not to hack up a lung (not so cool… stupid cats). In too deep. Sporadic Christmas shopping. Sub for Santas. Donating every chance I got. New things!
The return of my Double Whammy Saturdays (Pole Fitness & Zumba). Singing duets with awesome friends. Late night chats. New rockin‘ Zumba classes closer to home! Pretty red nails that last! Discovering that I’m most productive at coffee houses. Lots of poems. Happy weight again!
Owning my online identity. Learning and excelling at using a curling iron on myself! Fun audition week at Park City TV to be an intern. Job offer from ABC 4! One kiss to add to the top of the memorable list (should I do an update? that post was a while ago and lots of kissing has happened since)…
Flying down to Vegas for Christmas with my dad. Too much sleep. Too much relaxing. Way too much food. A poolside Zumba sesh. Playing with my puppies. Being introduced to DragonVale. Becoming addicted to DragonVale. Reading The Hunger Games, The Cloud Prophet Series and The Accidental Billionaires. Watching A Christmas Story for the first time. A Venetian Christmas outing. Seeing The Darkest Hour with Vegas buddies.
Fender-benders and flat tires. A kick-ass replacement for Akasha while she gets fixed. Broken Macbook charger. Strange coughing attacks. Inspiration for a new story. Magic in the snow. A private midnight tour of a 5-diamond resort. Awesome recording and mixing times on my newest cover!
Giving my soul sister the courage to get her New Year’s kiss from a stranger. Saying goodbye to 2011. Throwing snow confetti on people while screaming “Happy New Year!”
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Blips of…
July ~ August ~ September ~ October ~ November
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Filed under: A Little Me, Blips, College, Good Things, Love, Magic, Movies!, Music, On Stage, Plays/Musicals, RaNdOm, Remembering, Roam, Singing, Updates
For some reason, I feel like November was the longest month ever… even though it went by really fast. Contradictory, I know. Let’s just say it’s hard to believe that I’ve only known my Thoroughly Modern Millie family for such a short period even though I feel like I’ve known a couple of them for years! (Who’s going to come see it? Tickets on sale at HighValleyArts.org! Runs Dec. 10-22!)
Anyhoodle! Onto this month’s recap!
November was…
Exhausting.
Santa Monica pier and numb toes. A creepily accurate Zoltar fortune. Never wanting to leave the flat I rented for two days in LA. Meeting Skylar Grey— she is amazing, by the way. A USC graduate information session that has me totally convinced that I should attend there (if I get in). Many blasts from the past. Paranormal Activity 3. Having someone to sing with on the ride home–so fun. Getting only 4000 words into NaNoWriMo. First frost of the season.
My new baby Legacy. New addictions. THIS close to happy weight again! Continued obsession with John Boy. Completely memorized for TMM! New part-time job as assistant to a realtor/interior designer and enjoying every minute of it. Fitting into pants I haven’t worn since I bought them two years ago. Attending my first social events with my ward. Feeling the first songwriting inspirational kick in a long time! Polishing up USC graduate school application materials for their Screenwriting MFA program.
Having the greatest friends a girl could ask for. Pulling out the Christmas music (and decorations for Mom) full monty! Late nights of ping-pong, singing and hookah with TMM friends… Dream journaling with far-too-vivid and far-too-strange dreams. New boots! My first day completely being lazy in a LONG time–lots of video game time. Being grateful for my electronically heated bed every single night… and then not wanting to leave it in the mornings. Discovering that my life is/was like a YA novel against my will. Recording my anthem and getting rave reviews on YouTube. =)
Looking for and making magic! An amazing high school production of Aida. Grey’s Anatomy marathons. Breaking Dawn. Lots of Cap’n Crunch All Berries. Being able to watch Netflix and Hulu Plus on a big screen rather than my iPad (AWESOME!). Buying arguably the hottest dress that will hit the stage in TMM. Playing with old Clayton Productions buddies. Reading HoN: Destined. Completely re-making MikaelShort.com while starting an online identity crisis because I felt the need to reserve my real name on Twitter. Attending my first Ute (and consequently, their last) game of the season!
Love. Doubt. Leaving marks. What’s right and what’s wrong. What is necessary in a relationship. Faith.
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Now who’s ready for December?
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Blips of…
July ~ August ~ September ~ October
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Filed under: A Little Me, Blips, College, Family, Fitness, Friends, Good Things, Health, On Stage, Plays/Musicals, Relationships, Religion? What's that?, Remembering, Roam, Singing, Try, Writing
Time for a September recap! A little foreword… you may see hints at what I’ve taken the plunge at. Any guesses? Moving onward!
September was…
Five days spent in sunny and wonderful LA being horribly spoiled. Eating a reincarnation of my favorite meal from Italy. Rose garden walks. Driving an uber-sexy car in downtown LA. Walking the Promenade in Santa Barbera. Being a pinball wizard on the pier. Attending a USC lecture for fun. Beautiful beach walks and frolicking in the Pacific. My best bowling game ever!
See that? Strike, spare, strike, spare, strike? Yeah that's me. ;)
Jacked up sleep schedules. USC vs Utah PAC-12 opener game bet that I didn’t mind losing. Playing with my three-month old baby niece. Pokemon lingerie. National anthems and church performances. Choreographing more Zumba Fitness songs. Obsession with Nick Pitera’s One Man Disney Movie Medley. Spoiling and treating of my car and my laptop (who no longer hates me–Yay!). Grateful to have friends and family on 9/11. The idea that tie-dye should be totally acceptable in the work place. A beautiful full moon. First complete MMA fight experience.
Investigating Screenwriting MFA programs. Writing two 5-page plays for submission to USC’s MFA program. Prepping and taking the GRE. The Utes ass-kicking of BYU (54 to 10; 7 turnovers). The Return of Saying Saturday. The discovering of The Middle Finger Project. The very slow cleaning of my room. Playing Times Up with old friends. Loads more health blogging. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with great friends — best production at Hale Centre Theatre ever!
Two auditions=two callbacks. Ultimate result: Muzzy Van Hossmere in Thoroughly Modern Millie! Way too many Grey’s Anatomy marathons. Continuing the job hunt. Zumba Fitness audition up in my new city of residence. Recording and mixing of three songs in two days. Glee premiere! Grey’s Anatomy premiere! Private Practice premiere! Yippee skippee! Crashing of the boy’s fishing day to take pictures.
My awesome duck face. LDS Magazine internship information meeting that turned out to be an inspirational confirmation instead. Setting a date. Lots of family time.
“Be mine.” ;)
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Love your faces! Hope you had a happy hump day!
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Filed under: A Little Me, Free Write Friday, Open, Religion? What's that?, Roam, Try, Venting, Writing
What are taboo topics for you to talk about or even think about? That’s exactly what Free Write Friday is about this week!
I won’t lie… I was stumped for a while on this week’s prompt.
Write about one of those taboo topics that you dread even thinking about. Be honest and open about it.
Kellie listed three things that are considered taboo to the typical person: Sex, War/Politics and Religion. If not one of those three things, write about something that you most legitimately fear.
- I don’t consider those topics taboo. I just don’t and I’ll go over why in a minute.
- At this point in my life, I feel like I have nothing to fear even though I have absolutely no clue where my life will lead me.
So you can see my dilemma… Thus, I’ve decided to talk a little bit about all the taboo topics above and why I don’t think they are so taboo.
Sex
Sex is sex–natural. Penises, vaginas, boobs, balls, mouths… whatever! Nearly everyone does it at some point. And most over the age of 10 generally know something about sex (which is overshooting since I became aware at age 7 and who knows with the kids today). Some people choose to “get it on” in public, though most consider it a more private deed. A lot of people like to see it as something special to be shared with someone they love. Others look at it as a sport or a way to suppress the loneliness they can’t seem to get away from. No judgement, I promise (somewhat guilty!).
What I do have a lot to say on regarding sex is comprehensive sex education. Yep, STD’s are spread via sexual contact but that’s why it’s important for you to be careful and at least trust the person you are with. Sex is meant to be fun though! God wouldn’t have made our bodies like this (and Eve wouldn’t have eaten that forbidden fruit!) if he didn’t want us to experience that kind of pleasure and the procreation that can result from sex.
If more people were open about sex, it’s possible consequences, the joy it can bring, etc., there wouldn’t be as many problems with it being taboo.
War/Politics
If I paid more attention to politics, I may have more to say. But alas, I’m pretty clueless ignorant when it comes to politics because I keep hearing about ridiculous rules and laws that different people keep implementing and how good/bad they are. Then I choose to ignore most of that banter, even though I do have opinions (albeit, some are weak arguments, more education needed) on most of the different stances on societal issues such as abortion, gay rights, taxes, etc. Everyone has their own damn opinion about this kind of stuff and most do a pretty good job of making their voice heard. There’s nothing wrong with that.
I don’t choose sides. I choose who I feel to be the best candidate (and that has yet to happen). Thus why I’m still not registered to vote–and no, I’m not ashamed to admit it. I will register when I actually feel compelled to vote. People tell me that means that I can’t complain because of the economic crisis we are in or because of who is in office, etc. No qualms about that here. I can just blame everyone else. :P
War can have it’s place but I do not think that that is the case in this time and this world. Things were just blown out of proportion (pardon the pun) and blame was set on the wrong people, thus causing more problems. Yes, I’m proud to be an American and am proud of what our men and women in uniform stand and fight for. However, I’m not even sure what they are fighting for anymore. You should probably see my post on why we all need more bloody rainbows.
However, I have become a fan of Michelle Obama. Just saying. Her health movement is awesome and it’s what a lot of people need.
Religion
Because of my own recent exploration, I’ve learned that religion is an institution of faith. There are many different religions in this world, and every one is at least slightly different. Some people require the structure and basis of religion rather than just being spiritual. I feel very lucky that I discovered that kind of balance (between spirituality and religion) within the past few months.
What God(s) you choose to believe in is your own business. In fact, I think it’s fascinating that so many people come from different religions. It can make for some enlightening discussions and just proves the awesomeness of our world’s diversity. We wouldn’t all want to be the same or things would be boring. Ragged edges and strange angles always make a painting more interesting.
So what if you’re Catholic, Baptist, Hindu, Amish, or heck, even Mormon? (I know that’s a minimal list; please don’t hate. I’d like to keep this readable.) As long as you try to be a better person every day, then you are pretty darn good in my book. If you believe in a higher being and some sort of salvation, that’s your own prerogative. Live and let live. If you want religion in your life, you can make that happen. Religion doesn’t work for some people and I can respect that.
I found truth unexpectedly and largely on my own agenda. I hope every one else can find that kind of truth sometime in their life, even if it’s not the truth that I happened to discover. It’s this truth that has enabled me to not be afraid.
I just hope I can meet as many people from different backgrounds as I can since I would love to hear about their own opinions on sex, politics, war, religion and culture.
—
So there are my mini-rants on “so-called” taboo topics. Mostly, I’ve been raised to be open-minded which is why it is rare for me to find a “taboo” topic (however, I recommend not asking how many Finnish mints I ate during Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice last night).
What are topics that you consider taboo and why?
If you have anything you’d like to comment/debate/talk about from this post, I welcome comments and even emails if you want something more private (mikshorty {at} gmail).
Happy Friday everyone! Have a good weekend!
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Filed under: A Little Me, College, Futuristic Musings, Good Things, Open, Relationships, Religion? What's that?, Roam, Try, Updates
You know those opportunities that you think won’t happen and then they spring up on you, taking you by surprise? How long do you think those last for?
The biggest question may be if you decide to jump at the opportunity or not.
Sometimes there is a little leeway for decision making, other times not so much. Some opportunities require quick-on-your-feet thinking. And if you’re lucky, you can ask for a little time to deliberate.
I feel very lucky. I have had time to do just that before takingthe plunge. I have had the opportunity to separate out logic, emotions, what feels right and what is best for all parties involved. If I didn’t have that, I might have had a meltdown. There are/were a couple big decisions to make.
Now is not the right time to divulge the all of the details, however, though a few in my real life circle are aware of some of the leaps that I’m making. Some of it has been hinted at randomly here (though probably not really noticed). They may be revealed in due course on MikShorty depending on when those decisions truly manifest themselves in my life.
Let’s just say there are not just one, but a couple changes both in progress and soon-to-be. Crazy things… things that I never would have anticipated yet feel right for me. Things that could have really interesting repercussions for people in my life. Some things may be difficult, but those are the kind of things that make us stronger as people and can even strengthen the relationships that matter most.
Can I just say that I’m so grateful those opportunistic windows were open? =)
Are you one to take the plunge? Why or why not?
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Filed under: A Little Me, ADD-ness, Blips, Crushes, Dating, Family, Fitness, Friends, Good Things, Happy Dance Time, Religion? What's that?, Remembering, Roam, Stories, Try, Updates, Writing
I did this last month for July and now it’s back again for August (albeit a little late, but I’m still doing it)! Here goes!
August was…
The end of my ABC 4 News Internship. Procrastinating packing. New temp job that killed my voice. Moving to Park City. Cool alliterations (my new addy). 10 hours of cleaning my old house. Peaceful. First time I ever wanted to take a kitten home with me. Firm boobies! Saying goodbye to my baby… grand, that is. :(
Really?!...Really? Making up someone else’s work (oh, joy). Yes, ma’am. Serendipitous moments with crushes. Hounding for jobs (still). Singing at the Mormon Tabernacle. Little America. Sharing a room w/ brudder–ewww! Moving into a new home! Gaydar malfunctions leading to awkward situations. Is that Josh Groban?
Hilarious conversations over French Silk pie. Just amazing like that. Coffee dates with old friends. Going briefly back to the Claytoneers! There’s a pool! Too many quarter pounders. Too much root beer. Flirting it up with old cops from outta state in the hot tub. Too many natural disasters surely indicating the soon-to-be apocalypse. Walk-in closet! Woot woot!
The realization that I have way too many books/dvds/other junk. Pause in the pool. Actually earning money. Temple revelations. Late nights in the city. Lotsa Zumba teaching! Battle with the Droid, so I killed it and brought it back to life. Alpenglow on its way! Graduation from a twin to a queen bed! New pwetty bedroom set.
Too many bugs. Popping a tire on the freeway (scariest thing ever). Family fun at reunions. Done with House of Night series… until October, that is (8 books in less than 4 weeks). Learning about investing–must buy Investing for Dummies. Strange and unexpected men hitting on me. Phone calls trump texting. LA… the city of dreams.
Awesome Voice audition experience. Seeing my most favoritest person in the whole world. Exploring empty Inglewood with the worst shoes ever for doing so. Second-hand bookshop gems. Soy green tea lattes. Longest day known to mankind. Hallucinatory exhaustion. Snuggles. Looking forward! =)
Here’s to a great September (it better be according to my horoscopes)!
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Filed under: A Little Me, Good Things, Music, On Stage, Roam, Singing, Try, Updates
In a nutshell, so I thought to myself “a little [song or two] could do the trick”. So [last week] I curtailed my Walpoling activities, sallied forth and infiltrated this place of [entertainment] to negotiate the [possibility of singing before Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine].
In other words (and not those of Monty Python), I went to LA to audition for the second season of NBC’s The Voice. And this is my story…
Having auditioned for American Idol way back in the day (the summer where my jaw locked up coincidentally right after), I was sure that this experience would be very similar. Oh, how wrong I was! The biggest difference this time was I didn’t have any friends auditioning with me… and that I think my voice is better than it was back then. Now onto the rest!
First off, I could register online long before the auditions so I would have an actual date and time to be there. Then it was up to my discretion to pick a song that would show me off well until the audition day came upon me. My audition was set for August 31 at 7 AM. Talk about early… I set my alarm for 5:30 and was up at 4:45 just tapping my stomach in anxious anticipation of what was sure to be an insane experience (read: madhouse like American Idol had been) since I could not will my brain to sleep for the life of me. My absolutely wonderful friend who put up with me for those 6 days drove me to my audition at the LA Forum before he had to head off to class. And I was left to my breakfast-less self to figure out what the heck I was supposed to do and where the heck I was supposed to go since the instructions hadn’t been entirely clear on my audition packet.
Luckily, I found the line of people assigned to come at 7 pretty easily. I wasn’t as close to the front as I was for the Idol auditions but the line wasn’t bad… yet. Soon there was a long snake of people lined up. Around a couple thousand were assigned to come at 7. I learned from other auditioners that they had arranged different time frames for only a certain amount of people. At which point I thought, “Very smart thing to do.”
By 8:30, I was in one of 9 long-ass lines to hand over my audition packet and being cattle-called into groups of 10-ish (since some people were underage and needed their guardians with them). And of course, I was in the slowest moving one of the 9 but I’m not complaining as it gave me a little time more to warm up. We were then herded into a row in the stands where we were to wait to be taken to a waiting room closer to the actual auditions. During that wait, the cutest little black kid kept pulling my hair, spilling crumbs all over me from behind, and screeching notes no human should be able to produce vocally. I do my best to remember that he was very cute and that his dad had an uber-sexy singing voice. Then of course, like I mentioned before, we were then taken to a different waiting room. It was freezing so I pumped out some dance moves and push ups to warm up. A warm body = warm vocal chords. Bam!
Not long after, we were pulled into the hallway where several voices could be heard singing through the walls. I was nervous up until that point simply because it was the question of “WHEN WOULD THIS THING HAPPEN?” and the comfort of it being right before me was finally there.
My group of 10 settled into chairs in front of a beautiful, chill, and just cool producer who said that she had been in our same shoes and wants everyone to do well. She did a little explaining of what they were looking for: an authentic performer with incredible vocals. She encouraged us all to applaud and support each other so the vibe was very relaxed and supportive (love being redundant).
I may have listened to the other 9 singers in the room with me, but my eyes were on the producer the whole time. I could tell when she was smiling out of politeness, genuinely enjoying a performance or trying uber-hard to keep her head down taking notes when she wasn’t sure how to respond (such was the case when one girl, whose voice was stunning, sang a really obscure French song).
One girl in the group got a call back on the spot and that was clearly because she was easily the most talented and polished singer in the room. Another was informed that if she was contacted by 8 o’clock PM that she would be called back. No call back for me… it wasn’t my best performance but for how early it was in the morning, I did pretty dang good (high notes popped right out the way they were supposed to–yay!). LeAnn Rimes’ “We Can” was my song of choice. The producer seemed to enjoy my performance. However, my excellent overall experience makes it worth it to give it a shot again next year. ;)
So I was out of there by 10:30 am… not like American Idol where we were there from about 4 am to 1 pm. I must say, despite not having a friend auditioning with me this time, it was a monumentally better audition experience. Another bonus about this audition was that there were no cameras filming anything! Photography of any kind wasn’t even allowed. With the cameras at the Idol auditions it was insanity. None of that this time! It was just… a swell experience all around for The Voice.
One thing I loved about this audition was not only were they very structured and organized well, but everyone working the auditions was so incredibly kind and supportive. Literally everyone! How they manage to do that through so many audition days with some crazies (I’m sure at some point there were some) astounds me and I definitely give them props. I met some awesome people too while waiting in line. Love that too!
So there is my story… and now I’m going to have to shoot you. Right-o! Bang, bang, bang!
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Why I felt the need to channel Monty Python’s “The Cheese Shop“, I have no clue so just bear with me. I performed that scene in high school with my friend who I auditioned for American Idol with… so that could be my tribute to have her here with me.
MikShorty 
