Does anyone else wonder why all the god tv shows end right as we start to have more free time? Why TV schedules follow the typical school year and only show repeats during winter and summer vacation doesn't make much sense. During school everyone busy "studying" or whatever, but in the summer lets be real your lifeguard job ends at like 4 and the bonfire can't really start till like 10. So you might as well watch some tv.... oh wait everything sucks. That being said, networks have gotten better at creating summer series that are fairly interesting. Last summer's Persons Unknown sparked some new series this summer. So if you find yourself with a little free time between work and play here are some of the best summer shows (according to me of course).
Bachelorette - Mondays ABC- Unfortunately the most interesting part of the show so far is the man who refuses to take off his mask... oh and the guy who got sent home about an hour after he arrived because he was so drunk. What a champ!
Expedition Impossible - Thursday June 23 ABC - Its like Amazing Race on steroids.
Extreme Makeover: Weightloss Edition - Mondays ABC - This is surprisingly a great show... its like an entire season of Biggest Loser packed in to one hour. And Chris Powell is hot or whatever.
Friday Night Lights - Fridays NBC - Easily the best show of the summer. And its the final season.
Love Bites - Thursday June 2 NBC - I'm going to give this a shot just because A. its summer and B. every episode features 5-10 really funny guest stars that rarely show up in anything other than movies.
NBA Finals - For the next week or two there really isn't anything better than Miami and Dallas duke it out. Though I'm wishing it was the Bulls v. Thunder.
True Blood - Sunday June 26 HBO - It's time for season 4.... It feels good to say Sookie agin doesn't it. It's been to long. Ahh Sookie. Here's to hoping the fairies stir up some drama.
The Voice - Tuesdays NBC - Finally moving on from battle rounds to the Live Shows. If you like American Idol you'll love this.
Workaholics - Mondays Comedy Central - The season is coming to a close but you really don't need to watch these in order. Its about 3 college roomates that all work together at a telemarketing company. Its a funny show, and you can find all the episodes online.
Wipeout - Thursdays ABC - Seeing people make idiots out of themselves never gets old. And the big balls are back. You can't help but watch.
I'm also going to go out on a limb here and predict that Bachelor Pad 2 is pretty much going to be horrible, so if your into that kind of thing it starts Monday August 8 on ABC.
In other news - Movies this summer are really funny so far. If you haven't seen Bridesmaids do it.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Hello again! Its been a busy week, and I'm glad to say that I have officially graduated from college! Whoo! Can't believe I'm completely done with school... I celebrated my Saturday morning graduation by driving home to make it to my high school sister's grad party... apparently high school graduation still trumps college :) I'm back home now awaiting news from Nike on when I'll be trekking out to Oregon for good. So what do i do to fill my time in on these long days when I'm home alone... well I'm not really sure how i've been passing the time but its a lot of very unproductive things which is great! Today I was going through pictures on my home computer and came across my photoshop stash... I love to photoshop stuff. I make a point to use photoshop as much as possible. So here are some of the projects I've made in the past. Some were for classes, some were by request, and some are just plain ridiculous and pointless. Anyway here they are :)
This was an ad I made for a class assignment on a GPS system called North Star
I made this because Nike is bomb and I love Hayward Field
Needed a new background last winter so I made one for the Olympics
How could I not add Lady Gaga into this? She fits so well.
One of my favorites :) I put me and my sisters on Avatar bodies
Another ad I had to make for class... got to chose the company this time
My Christmas card to my roomie haha she loved Committed almost as much as I loved the BackBeats and OTR.
My sister Kelsey and I used to play this all the time... I'd obviously be Mario and she'd be my sidekick star... out motto "Beatin Galaxies Collectin Stars" Personally I love my nose on this one
Bum Bum Bum Bum Might As Well Jump
Used a picture from vacation in California and added in some La Push folk to make it better. This was clearly one of the pointless photoshop excursions I've gone on.
Another ad.... just gotta change that jersey now.
My all time favorite..... I think i did this before the season finale one year and I obviously spent much more time making myself a convincing Kate than i did on anyone else, but i think it looks pretty great if i do say so myself :)
Okay, so as promised I'm writing today to tell you about the new game/social media site that I'm spending way too much time on these days. Empire Avenue launched less than a year ago, but it seems to be starting to pick up some steam. Basically its a social media stock market where you can buy and sell shares of friends and companies, and in return people buy and sell shares of you (but its completely free).
When you first log on you can create your stock symbol and the index you want to be in... theres everything from Aboriginal Peoples to Entrepreneurship to Photography and even Zombie Hunting. When picking an index the ultimate goal is raise your share price above everyone else in that index and become CEO of the index.
So this is what the site looks like. When you sign up you start at a $10 share price and you increase your price by being active on social media accounts you link up such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, LinkedIn, or Blogs or by having other people buy your stock with their Eaves (the virtual currency used on Empire Ave.)
It's fun to buy shares of you facebook and twitter friends, but its also interesting to meet people on the site who are entrepreneurs, celebrities, musicians etc. and buy shares in them. As you go along you unlock achievements that give you rewards and you can get all the financial statistics on your portfolio just like the real stock market. Its feels like a game, but there are plenty of nerdy pieces you can get into if you like that sort of thing.
techy
So you should join especially if....
1. you are always tweeting, posting/commenting on FB, using LinkedIn etc. you'll have a head start right away and have way more fun with the site in general.
2. you miss the days when FB was a smaller, exclusive college site. Empire Avenue is still a fairly small community which means you actually get to communicate and get to know interesting people, a lot of whom are celebs on Twitter or FB. And they might just buy you back and increase your price when you invest in them.
3. Its a great way to increase followers or friends on other networks especially if you are trying to promote yourself as a potential employee, entrepreneur, performer, or just your personal "brand" online. Companies are actually looking into checking EA share prices of potential employees (especially marketing, tech, and advertising careers) in the near future because its a true picture of how good someone is at social networking.
4. Its summer now so you know you need a useless way to spend your long days :) Its the new Farmville people.
5. If nothing else its a great way to keep up with whats happening on all your other social media sites all in one place. EA has a running feed of everything you are doing on all your linked accounts.
So you should check out the site and at least take one minute and sign up for free. I guarantee you'll be hooked after you first share purchase :) AND most importantly search for LAURALYN (thats me) and buy some shares, recommend me, endorse my blog :), and leave a shout out... you know I'll buy you right back! ha. Okay so use this link http://empireavenue.com/?t=4auo1uhi
to check it out and sign up!
One last thing.... I created a storify page about EA to give you more information on what exactly this is and what people are saying about it. Check it out here... http://storify.com/laurarneson/empire-avenue
And while you're there mess around in storify.... its a cool new site I just heard about where you can take any piece of social media (tweets, pictures, videos, blogs, etc.) and drag them to a page, reorder them, and make a story out of the best content online. Kind of hard to describe, but it just launched and its a very cool new tool for both professional and personal use.
Okay I'm done. Sorry for the nerdy, techyness that just floated onto this blog :) I need to go watch some trashy TV to get this out of my system..... moral of the story check out Storify and learn more about Empire Avenue and the new Storify site... then go to EA and get account and buy my stock :) Okay, deal!
So its been a while since the last blog... It's been a busy few weeks as I am wrapping up the tail end of college. Can't believe I'll never have to take another class (unless of course grad school happens) but i'm not thinking about that anytime soon :) I wish I could say that I've been busy studying and writing papers, but that hasn't really been the case. There's been a fair amount of work, but most of my time has been spent distracting myself from actually working on things. I would also guess that a large % of you reading this are in fact using my blog as a distraction from that killer final tomorrow.... I welcome and thank you for choosing me over your future :) So i'll try to keep it short, but this is a topic I thought about doing a while ago, but never got around to..... without further ado I give you
5 Things You Probably Don't (and in some cases shouldn't) Know About Me
1. I have owned more Puma shoes than any other brand of shoe in my life. I know what your thinking.... and if this was based on recent history or current shoes than yes Nike would be the clear frontrunner and probably will be for many years to come, but over my lifetime I've had a lot of Puma shoes. I think I still have a stash somewhere, but they've been tossed aside until Puma offers me a job. Very comfortable shoes though!
2. The first job I ever had was in elementary school when I had a paper route. I would get the papers every Monday and have to add all the ad inserts into them and stuff them in the plastic bags. Then on Tuesdays I would ride my bike all around the neighborhood delivering them. I think I made like 50 bucks a month and I thought it was THE COOLEST thing ever... until I wanted to play outside instead of delivering papers. So it turned into my mom driving me around to the houses, but that wasn't fast enough. So I recruited my little sisters who were like 5 and 7 years old and convinced them it was fun to run around delivering papers for me. Then they realized that it kind of sucked and stopped helping, so i quit my first job. I was basically a real winner right from the start. Anyways, the memory and thought of having a paper route is much more attractive than actually having one, so if you were thinking about it.... don't do it, and if you too had a paper route when you were little you know that feeling when no matter how much you lick your fingers before you stuff the paper, handling that much newspaper each day just rubs your fingers raw.... I feel your pain.
3. I've never caught a fish. This is a big regret in my life.... I realize that most people probably don't see why I care so much, but most people have probably caught at least something in their life. I guess I attribute this to not really ever going fishing. I remember going when I was like 5, but obviously I wasn't going to catch anything then. Since then I have had a handful of fishing experiences with really crappy lures and little patience, but I don't think I've ever even had a bite. The only reason I share this is in the hopes that someone reading this is an avid fisherman and will be willing to take me out to a lake and help me fulfill this lifelong dream :)
4. I can juggle and solve a rubix cube in < 2 minutes... but not at the same time. Awesome right! Well not really. Turns out these skills aren't high in demand unless you intend on becoming a clown or are a supernerd, its kind of lame. However, one summer I just decided that I wanted to learn to juggle and taught myself some supafly juggling tricks. Summers in Iowa can be kind of boring. As far as the rubix cube goes, my friend got me one for my birthday (probably as a joke) and I got into it and learned the algorithms for it. God that sounds nerdy! Anyways, I often sit around juggling or solving the rubix cube (not really) wondering why I didn't use my time to learn something profitable like counting cards in Blackjack. Maybe that will be next on my list.
5. I actually think gas station coffee is just as good, and sometimes better than Starbucks coffee. As anyone who knows me can attest to, I'm such a Starbucks snob, I buy into the whole atmosphere and go there to chat, people watch, pretend to study, and blog multiple times a week. Its getting ridiculously expensive, and I wonder why I don't save 4 bucks and just hit up QuikTrip instead. I guess this is less of a thing you didn't know about me and more of a confession about my hipster behaviors, but I'm not gonna go back and rewrite it because I'm tired and I want to go watch Glee instead.
Anyway, I hope you learned something completely irrelevant and random about me from this :) I'm pretty sure nobody knew all these things about me before, and I guess it'd be pretty weird/creepy if they did. At the very least I hope I distracted you from studying or working for a few minutes :)
Stay tuned for my next blog which is going to be an attempt to get you to buy into my newest hobby... Empire Avenue.... you've been warned.
Thought i'd share a little something I was inspired to write recently. Maybe I'll put up the full song with the guitar tab once my dislocated wrist heals! :)
A thousand feet above the ground
Afraid to move or make a sound
Curiosity pulls me to the edge
Before I can hesistate I see myself let go
And I...
I’ve never felt such fear, never seen so clear
I’ve waited all my life to live like this
We were made to live in wonder to stand in awe
To laugh till we cry and live till we die
To lose ourselves in a song, to do some things wrong
We were made to soar
But you’ll never fly if you’re too afraid to fall
Why do we stay inside the lines?
Spread the color and the whole world shines
So go against the tide
When the world says no, but your heart screams go
And I...
I’ve never felt such fear, never seen so clear
I’ve waited all my life to live like this
We were made to live in wonder to stand in awe
To laugh till we cry and live till we die
To lose ourselves in a song, to do some things wrong
We were made to soar
But you’ll never fly if you’re too afraid to fall Step into the darkness and trust you'll find light But know there will be battles you'll have to fight There may be fear, there maybe pain Through these comes hope of a happier day The darkest hour is just before dawn So keep the faith, keep pressing on
We were made to live in wonder to stand in awe
To laugh till we cry and live till we die
To lose ourselves in a song, to do some things wrong
We were made to soar We were made to soar We were made to soar
Another Monday... another night class. And yet again I find myself paying absolutely no attention. But really it's not my fault. How do you keep a senior focused on school a month from graduation? It's impossible. So since I have 3 hours to kill I thought I'd get another blog entry in. I've been stuck in the 90's for the past couple weeks (as you probably noticed by the last 2 posts), but I've gotten out of that phase for you sake today.
As I've mentioned before.... I feel a responsibility to bring awesome new things to people's attention even if they don't find the same things very awesome at all. So I tried to make some comparisons to help you along the way....without further ado i give you "If you like this.... you HAVE TO try that."
If you like...TV
then you HAVE TO try... TIVO
Any TV fan has to have a Tivo/DVR in this day and age. I mean who actually has time to watch shows at 7 or 8 at night anymore? I highly suggest investing in this magical device for only about 15 bucks a month. You get way more channels (especially high def ones) including movie channels like HBO. The only downside isthat you'll become significantly less productive in every other aspect of life.... especially when that Harry Potter marathon is on.
If you like... The Office
then you HAVE TO try... Community
Sticking with the TV theme... Community is a show that hasn't taken off quite like Office did, but is every bit as hilarious. Both shows are on NBC's current Thursday night lineup. Community is kind of the community college version of the Office. It's about quirky, unusual study group and the rediculous things they get into at Glendale Community College. Noteable characters - Joel McHale from The Soup and the ever-classy Chevy Chase. Now that you have a DVR just get a season pass and you're set!
If you like... Modern Family
then you HAVE TO try...Parenthood
Okay I'm 100% in love with these two shows. Both are about modern day families living unrealistically close to each other sharing all the joys and disappointments of everyday life. While Modern Family is a based more as a comedy than Parenthood, sometimes the overwhelming realism of Parenthood will make you laugh just as hard as you realise "Oh my god, this is my family." Both shows are full of hilarious, tear-jerking, and sometimes insanely awkward moments.... and you shouldn't be missing out.
If you like... Nicholas Sparks
then you HAVE TO try... Ian McEwan
Nicholas Sparks fans... meet Ian McEwan. Can't get enough of the Notebook? Try reading McEwan's Atonement or Amsterdam. Both are wildly interesting and filled with drama and action. Atonement was also recently made into a movie starring James McAvoy, Keira Knightley who i also love. So if you are interested but too lazy.... you can just go rent the movie.
If you like... Rihanna
then you HAVE TO try... Jessie J
Okay so this is my new favorite artist, thanks to the BackBeats cover. She reminds me of Rihanna a little bit. (Coincidently she also announced at a concert that she has a crush on Rihanna.... whatever, idk) More importantly, Jessie J hails from England and she's starting to make waves here in the US as well. She just released her debut album "Who You Are". You may have heard her with BoB in "Price Tag" which has been a huge single here in the US.... but two of her best songs (in my opinion) can be found below.... neither of these are the official versions, but I actually like the live performance videos better. They show how talented she really is...not to mention versatile. Check it out....
If you like... Guitar, even just a little bit
then you HAVE TO try... Kaki King
I don't care who you are.... this is cool. This girl is definitely weird, but I love her music. If you like this video... which is pretty much a series of crazy fingerstyle fret tapping which is kind of amazing.... check out her other stuff though... you might like it even better.
If you like... Ice Cream
then you HAVE TO try... Fro Yo
Ever since I had PeachWave frozen yogurt last year i have been in love. I don't know anyone who's tried and doesn't like fro-yo (the cool kids term for frozen yogurt). Seriously next time you want some ice cream hit up the closest TCBY, Pinkberry, Lemon Tree, or whatever and get some of this stuff. It's taking the country by storm, i swear. You can kind them anywhere these days. The best are the self serve places where you only pay by weight at the end. Just like ice cream, fro-yo comes in tons of flavors... so if you're feeling chocolate peanut butter.... go for it. Or maybe you want strawberry cheescake? it doesn't matter :) you can have either... or both!
I had such a good time reminiscing on all the great toys of the 90's that I just had to keep living in the past and look into the TV shows.
So remember when Nickelodeon and Disney had the greatest shows ever.... before they sold out and started making crap like Hannah Montana? Well I do. The best part about these 90's and early 2000 shows is probably the theme songs.... so I did a little looking and found these. Feel free to sing along... I did.
Sister Sister - Ah Tia and Tamara Mowry how you made me wish I had a twin.... or that I was black! Great show :)
CatDog
Doug- though I would have preferred if the show was called Patty Mayonnaise because honestly that's the greatest name I've ever heard.
Hey Arnold - and the best episode "Stoop Kid"
RocketPower - We are riders on a mission.... probably my favorite theme song.
Are You Afraid of the Dark and Goosebumps - How great were these shows?! I remember the rating was Y-7 and I told my sisters they weren't allowed to watch it unless I was with them because I was 7 and old enough to supervise.
Legends of the Hidden Temple - I think every child dreamed of being on this show and was frustrated by the constant lack of physical ability and intelligence of the kids they actually chose to be on the show. I mean really... how hard is it to stack the 3 piece totem pole?
All That / The Amanda Show - The children's SNL... This was one of my favorite segments- Ask Ashley.
Even Stevens - Remember when these two weren't hot? Yeah me too.... unfortunately for Beans puberty didn't really help all that much.
Recess - Favorite after school show by far!
Lloyd In Space - Made me want to live in outer space so bad!
Lizzie McGuire - But lets be honest the show should have been called Gordo.... he was the real star.
In addition to the tv shows I loved, I couldn't leave out a list of the best movies Nickolodeon and Disney cranked out...
Johnny Tsunami
Zenon - Can we all agree that Protazoa was a musical genius?
Smart House
Luck of the Irish
Brink - During the rollerblade craze of our childhood this little number came out and made us all think we could be pro skaters... besides how could you not love this face?
