Monday, November 26, 2012

Evening Newz

I'm working on a collaborative EP at the moment and while I'm supposed to be taking that seriously, I've been making some little songs that satisfy my weird/not-so-serious side to throw in randomly. I made this first song titled "The Evening Newz" using, mainly, my keyboard. I don't have a lot of serious recording equipment at the moment to work with, so I have to make do with my crappy keyboards and direct-input AV cables (aka not the best sound quality...at all). It's kinda fun using simple equipment though because the effect always seems more "hands-on," less digital...even though it is, essentially, all digital.

I made the video to go along with it to hopefully give the song some kind of "visual reference," but the software I used produced this god-awful watermark that, well, SUCKS. Oh well. Here it is:

Thursday, November 22, 2012

A Stark Return?

So Luck Tales apparently hasn't been edited in over a year...in that time I also completely forgot about Fake Fainting! This blog has so many good memories attached to it (though content may prove disputable...); I don't think I can get rid of it. I think I'll start posting music/videos/animations I make because the other blog I started (Conspiracy Inquiry) is starting to run its course (and that's only after 3 posts :/). It was just too conceptual for a complete scatter-brain like me. You understand.

AH! I'm so excited to re-start this baby~

Friday, December 24, 2010

HAY HO! Christmas Eve '10 Edition

Just stoppin' on by to end this long hiatus (and prove to the bwogging community that I'm not as emo as that last post...)

ANYWAY.

Allow me to begin with a few things I have learned:

1. No matter what, finals will never be my priority, nor will school.
2. Boone gets (c)old.
3. The best way to shut someone up is to quack in their face.
4. Lunar eclipses are serious business.

and, on a slightly more serious note,

5. True love knows no boundaries. And I promise to stop talking about it.




This year has been the only time I've considered the end of college because after being here for way too long, I realize there should be some light at the end, right? Wrong. As it turns out, the graduation audit process is really just an excuse for bad advisors to convince you the meeting can't go on without one...then you go to the Registrar's office to fight them to simply fill one out, only to learn

A) They weren't giving you due credit for LOTS of courses
B) They lost your records (surprise is hard to feign at this point)
C) The 2-month wait for the audit results in the same thing you were doing all
along: keeping track of what classes are left for graduation. Even then they
screw up and forget to count certain credits.

Before, I probably wouldn't have cared, but the whole "sucking-it-up" thing is pissing me off to no end. I've been putting up with this BS (not talking about my degree) only to tell assholes that I graduated college. Thing is, I never gave a flying cluck about that and I really just wanted to prove a lot of people wrong. Considering I've been forced to wait another year only because classes I need are only offered next spring, I'm considering dropping this waste of time and moving on. The world needs big ideas, and that--believe it or not--is my forte. Aside from all that, I'm ready to move. Staying in one place for too long is just not my cup of tea. Everything is getting a little stale (obviously me) and that's never healthy...

On to more important things. Seeing as us peeps shape our own universe, I've taken to ridding mine of any hostility (trying to, at least). Sometimes, however, blood can start boiling and you're left to either use human-power, clever diction, or tears to cope with the opposing force. Unfortunately, physical altercations have always dubbed me "hormonal," clever diction fails me in the heat of the moment, and tears lead me to the kind of anger that not even an army of 10,000 menopausal women could stop. So now I quack. If someone makes a passive aggressive comment, look them straight in the eye and quack. If someone tries to exhibit pseudo-authority over you? Quack Quack Quack *roll eyes*. The trick is to incorporate the hand motions of a quacking duck to imply they look and sound like an idiot. Times are tough, people. Nobody has time to exert any kind of energy on lame jerks...except quacking. Quacking is fun for all.

Now, is it me, or did the lunar eclipse have an unusually funny effect on people? I was researching the event and given its nature, the only thing I could find to even compare to how I was feeling was a horoscope that said the 2 days post eclipse will be a time of deep meditation. Let's just say, I was up for 68 hours for no given reason, talking to my spirit guides and transcending past my own skin. If I wasn't, I at least believe I was...so don't bother arguing because I'll start quacking. Oh, the irony. Honestly though, what I learned most of all, was the true nature of love; the kind that doesn't take work or forces you to lose a part of yourself. It's the kind that exists on a plane we sometimes lose touch with--beyond what we see in front of us. If you can love there, you never have to feel without it. It's a meditation...a chant...a boy in Italy...

Ok, I'm stopping.


Happy Christmahanukwanza

Saturday, December 4, 2010

In Recent News

...at the Appalachian State campus, a guy called his girlfriend and said he had been kidnapped and shot in the chest; he was rushing to the hospital.

Police found his car ditched along the highway and--as it turns out--that the story was a lie.
He wasn't kidnapped; he had shot himself because "exams were too stressful."

He didn't want to kill himself, just thought this would be a way out.


And all I'm thinking is, "Dude got a point."

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Fling

Jolene and I watched a movie while in West Virgina called Fling. A shoe-in for the Academy Awards on so many levels, Fling artfully depicts the all-too-common problem of choosing to either have sex with your bf/gf...or that dork from college who suddenly becomes cool, i.e.:

"High Five. Self High Five."

Basically, the girl had trust issues. Soooooo, instead of wondering if her man was cheating, she kept the 'ship open and unquestionable. Both could romp around with whomever they so chose, just as long as they kept some kind of connection at the end of the day. Of course, jealousy doesn't stay away for too long and before you know it, other people start sweeping them off their feet...or propping them against dumpsters in back alleys (romance comes in all shapes and forms, really...).

I've had various conversations with people who swear up and down that humans were not meant for monogamy and that we should all just do it--literally--with anyone we want. Sure, I can understand the reasoning; our deepest, animalistic need is to survive and procreate. But, to be fair, we also began to develop emotions and feelings and if Fling were to offer any lesson, it would be that no matter how hard you try to suppress something, all you're doing is acknowledging it 24/7. Basically, it backfires. And you wind up pregnant. That's what happened in the movie.

Call me old fashioned, but I'm totally cool spending the rest of my life with just one person. When you find the right one, they offer something new every day. We may be "established" beings, but it's not like we are made of plaster; our cells, ideas, opinions, yadda yadda yadda are always regenerating. I mean, sure. Sometimes you DO find that a relationship takes its course and the two people can no longer stand each other...but sometimes those two people learn to work as a unit and keep a balance.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

l’heure verte

Grande Absente. The green hour. And for me? Well, green means GO.

Yes, yes, yyyyyeeeeesssss...I do love the Absinthe. Imagine my delight when I found the ABC store here in Boone sold 100mL bottles for $10. A lot of money...but it goes a long way.

The original formula--the stuff all the great artists of the late 19th century would drink--is finally legal again! The wormwood, particularly, was the culprit of outlawization.

Outlawlization. What a word! It is finally kicking in...

As history tells it, French soldiers brought this magical elixer back from war to which it was met with many a warm welcome. It created such fervor in its consumers that it was quickly outlawed because all those stuffy hoity doity conservatives thought it was destroying their delicate social/political order.

Well, like all great things, it came BACK.
I take it a wonderful sign that my room is also green...



Man, I'm going to illegalize (where is this amazing vocab coming from?!) this shi' again...

So take advantage of it while you can.



Friday, November 19, 2010

And the worst spot for advertising goes to:



Horrible image. The article is about 2,000 bags of baby fetuses discovered in a Buddhist temple.
The ad is a number you can text for dining notifications in Baltimore.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Thought I would share a few things...

First of all, if you're going to take one look at this and pass it off as a waste of time, at least start it at 2:00 and appreciate the effortless control he has over those moves.



Second, I have a girl crush (Nicki Minaj):



Anyway, time for class. FML. Blogging is way more fun.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

m4w


I have a confession to make: I secretly dream that someone will post a Craigslist missed connection for me. Even though the ones that include photos represent the majority of the posters (aka creepsters), it would still be preeetttttyy awesome to read one that, hands down, was written about me. Embarrassingly enough, I've actually replied to some. One was about a girl at Harris Teeter wearing a corduroy skirt (I do own one. I do shop at Harris Teeter. I bet one day I wore it and shopped at Harris Teeter...) and the other was about someone whose car this guy helped push out of the snow (which happened to me 3 times last winter, just sayin'). Though I never got a response because I'm sure they gave up hope and forgot about the posts, there's still a hope inside of me that I could be that girl.

Part of the allure is catching a bird's eye view, if you will, of the whole situation. The people who post these usually say they were doing something rather mundane while secretly scoping out the other person. Who would've known?

This guy was just holding a bottle of wine and a can opener.

Honestly, after meeting so many deadbeats who never do any of the work, it's nice to imagine that some would do something like that to just make themselves known...

...even if I'm the only one who will probably see it.

Time for a new look, ya'll !!

I'll probably go back to the old background, but today has been a day of much-needed change. Unfortunately, I have only found that in the design of my blog.

Things I have done in the past 24 hours that I should not have:

1. Waste my time at the school health center. Basically, as one might recall from an earlier post, I hurt my foot pretty badly a few weeks ago (alcohol + running in the hopes of flying + downhill = FAIL). Anyway, going to my school's lame excuse of a medical center left me wasting 3 hours of my life for the prescription of an ice pack ("It can even be used as a heating pad!").

Not even kidding.

2. Called an ex. Ok, I get it. I asked for it. In my defense, however, I wasn't even drunk (or lonely, thank you very much!), just, you know, friendly. According to how this was SUPPOSED to play out, I was going to be all like, "Wow. It has been FOREVER. What ever happened to us? Do you just...ahh. Do you just ever wonder how things could have been??" He would then be like, "You have no idea how often I ponder that very question! My nights are sleepless without you in my life." Instead I talked about my paper lamp and he said that my constant criticisms left him nearly too nervous to even mention his new place of work. Isn't it everyone's dream to work at a retail store post-graduation?

Kidding.

3. Fell in love with a stranger. I am an expert at this. It's very easy for me to see somebody from afar and decide that they are all that is needed to complete my life. Not only that, but despite their looks, mannerisms, or whatever else I'm obsessed with, I can make myself believe that they are EXACTLY what I have been looking for all along. This one happens to have gauged ears and short, curly hair. He always looks happy (yes, I see him often) and has a certain aloofness to him. Man do I love a good stalkee with his head in the clouds. Makes it easier for the abduction.

4. Wore my headphones to class. The added distraction of being oblivious to my surroundings left me awkwardly "greeting" someone I knew. And by "greeting" I mean that my "hello" came out completely silent and stupid looking.



Such is life.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Why, yes, I HAVE popped summin.

So, I have a question...




And no. It's not just for Halloween. I just didn't want to get any wigga results, feel meh?

Officially Freaking

Does anyone know what to make of this?

Alien. Has to be.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

The Absolutely Nothing Things in Life

Ok, so I've been in my school's library from 3:15 pm to what is now 5:09 am. I should be writing my paper and studying for my ungodly hard art history exam since, after all, I have to be at work in 5 hours.

Still, I came across something that, honest to God, put me on THE MOON:

Last year, visiting artist/graphic designer, Daniel Eatock, came to our school to set up an exhibition at the Catherine J. Smith Gallery (you may think I'm being elaborate, but this has been a decent chunk of my paper these last four hours...). Part of what he included in his exhibit were what he called "Holley Portraits," named after a friend of his in college who created something similar that said something which resonated in Dan's mind enough to want to recreate it. Phew, I didn't even say that out loud and I'm tongue tied.

So what they had us newbie graphic designers do was make a thumb print, enlarge it to the size of our face/head, and then write our life story along the grooves. I remember seeing mine on the gallery wall, and even though everyone who made one could find it up there, it just so happened to be my birthday and that made MINE being up there much more special. Don't worry, I thanked him for this by saying, "Thank you SO much for choosing mine!!!!1111"

At that point, I had no idea that he put all of them up there. It happens.

BUT! in reference to the paper I am currently (or was currently) writing, I came across his website and look what I found:

My Holley Portrait! On his website! With everyone else's! But that's ok!

It's probably better quality if you view it from there: "Michelle Kammerhuber"

It says, "One day I realized that I am absolutely (x 6,000,000) nothing. And that is ok."






And it still is.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

A Few Good Mentalities

I came across this article from the NYtimes.com by Michael Cieply about what he perceives as a lack of memorable movie lines from films post-1990. Amusingly enough (for me anyway) he mentions 2010's "The Social Network" which I not only JUST watched tonight with my brother, but kept thinking about while reading this article. CRAZY.

The movie, in my opinion, captured the sticky lawsuit issues surrounding Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, in a way that seemed appropriately desensationalized. Aside from a few expected elements of 21st century cinematic pizzazz (simultaneous bathroom stall hook-ups, anyone?), the movie, like Facebook, detaches from our experience by holding up that proverbial mirror. It begs to be observed at face-value (heh heh) by reminding us that in a homogenized social realm, real personality becomes a commodity.

With that being said, I found myself holding on to certain quotes as if they were rare moments of raw honesty, commodities compared to the dialogue-saturated movies so typical today. My favorite part was actually a line that Andrew Garfield's character said, and I'm paraphrasing:

"Yeah, I did get your 46 text messages...and I thought it was completely normal behavior." Lawl.

Perhaps the most sobering came from the ex-gf of Jesse Eisenberg's character:

"But you still blogged...like your thoughts are so smart it would be a crime not to share them."





Damn.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

I'm still drunk

...from last night. Talk about EPIC fail:

according to the last person I legitimately called from my phone last night, I said that I "was in a bush." And I'm sure I was.

If I remember correctly, and I probably don't, I was on my way to see Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Glad I didn't because that would have definitely been the third time I was kicked out of Legends.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Party Fail

Does it look like I give a ****?



I find the idea of creating a "party foul" a pretty absurd one. You can be having a relatively normal back and forth conversation with someone whilst shit-faced ("normal" aside from the fact that vocal volume goes up 75 decibels), but god forbid you knock a beer over because

ooooooh woah woah WOAH!!

Suddenly, you've actually proven that you were just THAT drunk...like the closed eyes and struggle for equilibrium not only didn't give it away, but were what? Becoming? Yeeaah.


The thing that really gets me is the way everyone will overcompensate for what happened before you, the party fouler, even have a chance to just say, "Sorry, man." See, to be frank, I've done a lot of rreeaalllly stupid things in my life while sober to actually give half a shit for spilling someone's beer while I'm drunk. In fact, yesterday, when this happened (yup, this is about me...did I forget to mention this?), the guy asked if I felt bad. HA! Nope. And I told him that.

If his friend would have stopped his fake laughing long enough, he may have heard me ask if he'd at least like me to buy him another beer.

Not like I really would have though.

What a bad Sowlllll

Stole this from my brother. Yeah, I know.





It's just that good.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Really Uncomfortable

I'm all for a good awkward moment...but MAN. What the hell is this?



Reporters can be such asses sometimes. I actually had to do the whole 'squinting the eyes/fingers in ears' deal.