School

Well the new school year has started and I am already swamped with things to do. Dual credit college algebra, chemistry, ACT prep, choir, journalism, NHS, and soon, speech & debate. And I'm trying to find a job on top of all of that. Keep in mind that today was only my second day back. I can see how my junior year is going to be.

I emailed Carol back, and I haven't gotten a response yet. She must be busy just like I am.

I'm sorry for the short posts recently, but school has taken over my life. Hopefully I can write more soon.

Cheers.

Update

Hey everyone, it's late and I'm currently in Minnesota, but I just thought I should share the big news. Carol emailed me back this afternoon! I may or may not have hyperventilated and cried in the Mall of America, but that's an entirely different story that I'm too tired to tell at the moment.

Anyway, basically she said would be happy to keep in touch and give me advice on photojournalism. I plan on emailing her back as soon as I get home Monday, as I am super busy here in Minnesota.

More updates to follow.

"Memories are mapped out by the lines we'll trace."

You're probably wondering why I'm using Bastille lyrics as my title which a very good question. A++ for being inquisitive. I was casually scrolling through Bastille's Twitter about a week ago and...

OMG WHAT??

So I quickly looked to see if there was going to be a concert in Missouri or even Kansas. The answer is no, no there isn't. BUT...

Texas. Interesting. I quickly googled how far away each city was from where I live and Grand Prairie is the closest. Eight hours. That's not bad right? I asked my dad because concerts are usually the thing we do together, and after a couple days of dropping hints, he told me he couldn't afford this one. Needless to say I cried in a movie theater (he called right before a movie, can you say bad timing?). 

Anyway so my mom felt bad and SHE IS TAKING ME TO SEE BASTILLE. I'm sorry, that just needs to be typed in all caps. It's probably a rule somewhere. As if that wasn't the best thing ever, when we were ordering tickets, we found out that we would have to either buy two or four (we were originally going to buy three). So we bought four and now my best friend is coming with us. I cannot express how excited I am to see them. November 8 cannot come soon enough.

So anyway now that I'm done talking about Bastille, on to something else. I emailed Carol Guzy today. There's no telling if/when she will reply since she's on a temporary leave from The Washington Post and I don't know how often she checks her work email.

That's all from me. Updates to come if/when Carol replies.

Blog Makeover

Guys I changed my blog so that it's more fitting to what this blog is actually about. I love Britain, but I just decided that my blog's appearance should match what I'm writing about.

The whole point of this blog was for me to document my journey leading up to and during WJMC. If you go read my very first post in January, I think that's what I said. Now that WJMC is over, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my blog just yet. I don't know if I'm just going to cease writing or if I should keep updating with my photography news. If I choose the latter, I'll probably be posting a lot less often. I really don't want to get rid of this blog, so I probably will just go with the latter option.

I added one of my favorite Carol Guzy quotes to my Ansel Adams quote. "I think, as a journalist, what I try to do is tell a story with visuals instead of words. So, I'm basically writing paragraphs that just happen to be with images." It's so beautiful and it describes what I want to do perfectly.

I can't find Carol's email anywhere, so I'm going to email my group advisor tomorrow and see if he has her card and if he could possibly send me her email. I really want to contact her and tell her how her presentation affected me.

I think that's it from me. Until next time.

"It's been said that when you take a photo, you leave a part of your soul behind." -Carol Guzy

Hey guys. It was the last day of WJMC. Today, I boarded the plane at 2:00 and left this amazing university and the new friends I've made behind. But on the bright side, I got to see my aunt and uncle. I haven't seen them in about a year.

Wednesday was by far the best day of the conference. Photojournalist Carol Guzy came to speak to us. If you haven't seen her work, I highly suggest you stop reading and go google her. You'll thank me later.

Anyway, rather than saying "Here look at my photos, have fun," Carol told us the stories behind the photos. It made the video that much more moving. After she finished talking, she showed us a video of her work, and by the end of it, everyone in the room was in tears. It was so beautiful. The most amazing part for me wasn't her stories or her video (though I loved them so so much), it was what happened as soon as the credits rolled. Everyone in that room stood up and gave her a standing ovation. This is the moment when I completely lost it. In my area, no one cares about photography. No one looks at a photograph and is moved by it or feels any emotion from it. Seeing every single person stand up and acknowledge that a still photograph is a powerful thing overwhelmed me with emotion and that one presentation inspired me to keep doing what I love.

Since the seventh grade I've known that I wanted to be a photojournalist. Carol Guzy's speech just locked that dream in for me. I've never been more passionate about what I love than right now. Carol inspired me. She's my role model.

I think my senior advisor is going to give me her email address so that I can contact her. I just want her to know how her presentation affected me

Because of this newfound drive to fulfill my dream, I made a Twitter for my photography. It's @AStewPhoto and if you have a Twitter, I would really love it if you followed me.

And now I will leave you with this fantastic sign off video that we watched today that made me cry. It's just a bunch of photos and videos of the conference so it may not interest you.

I'm going to go reminisce now.

Commence WJMC!

Hey guys! I'm so sorry I haven't been blogging. I am SO busy.

Yesterday morning, my flight was scheduled to leave at 11 AM. I got to the gate at about 10:40. So yeah, that was pretty scary. Also, as I was hugging my dad goodbye at the airport, I think he started crying a little bit and that absolutely broke my heart. I've never flown anywhere without my dad so I was getting pretty emotional myself, but it's different when you see your dad cry.

I got to DCA thirty minutes earlier than I originally planned so that was nice. I got to George Mason around 4:00 and I really only had time to get my room key, drop my luggage off, and go check in with my group advisor before I had to go change into my professional clothing. We had an excellent welcome dinner and then we had our first speaker of the week, Peter Doocy from NBC, join us. We then finished off the night getting to know each other in our color groups.

Today we woke up bright and early (5:45 AM to be exact.) and started our day off at the Newseum in Washington D.C. The Pulitzer Prize winning photos were my favorite part of the entire museum. I so hope I can win that amazing award some day. After that, we toured some of the monuments. Except there was one problem: I FORGOT MY CAMERA. But I took some photos on my iPhone and they actually didn't turn out that bad.

Tonight we listened to Candy Crowley from CNN talk to us about balancing our careers and our lives and exactly what it takes to be a journalist in this ever changing world. It was an amazing speech and I really enjoyed it a lot. I didn't get to personally meet her, but she seemed like a really friendly person.

Tomorrow is extremely busy and it's our most important day. Hoda Kotb is coming to town! Or rather, we're coming to her.. Same thing, right?

I'm so exhausted, but I just wanted to give you guys a quick update since I was too tired to do so last night. Good night!

Yet Another Photo Contest

I discovered another photo contest and decided to enter that one too. Because why not?

So yeah, that's the one I entered and voting starts in nine days. We'll see about the outcome.

I really must go make a late night Walmart run to buy last minute stuff (and food because my house lacks food).

-There are 4 days until WJMC-

....

I just thought I would show you all the three photos I entered in a photo contest last night. I searched for HOURS for an open contest and I finally found one.

So yeah, that's all I have for you. I bought a new suitcase today that is "lightweight" to make traveling easier. And everything that could possibly go wrong this week is going wrong. The stress is hitting me hard. Until next time.

-There are 5 days until WJMC-

I Don't Even Know

If you remember waaaaaay back in March, I mentioned I have been writing a story off and on.

Well I figure since I have zero updates other than "One week left IT'S TIME TO PANIC" I'll just start writing again. I've never let anyone read anything I've written, and I never planned on it, but now all I can say is why not. The worst anyone can do is not like it, right? So I suppose I'll post the first paragraph and see how that goes. Because why not?

I actually feel pretty good about it. It's the first time I've been satisfied with it (yes I'm still talking about the first paragraph..I'm a perfectionist). However, tomorrow I might look at it and find something to change. But that's just me. So here goes nothing:

"I woke to the sound of frantic pounding on the door. I was shivering, and I couldn’t feel anything in my legs except immense pain. I only vaguely remembered where I was. My head was spinning, and my vision couldn’t focus. I heard shouting, but my mind couldn’t process what was being said. Finally I understood. A deep, male voice, one I didn’t recognize, was saying, “We know someone is in there! We’re here to help!” And then, the same voice, quieter, like they were saying something to another person, “I hope to God whoever’s in there isn’t dead. Please God, don’t let them be dead.”  My mouth moved to form words, but nothing came out. I heard the door break open. That’s the last thing I remembered before everything suddenly went black."

So yeah, there's that. I'm just really bored and I have nothing to do other than read, write, and watch Doctor Who (and pack, but I might as well procrastinate a bit). If you liked it, yay, if you didn't, sorry I'll do better next time.

I'm going to go continue reading/writing/watching Doctor Who (or maybe start packing if I end up feeling productive).

-There are 6 days until WJMC-

P.S. I have a new watermark for my photos:

I quite like it. It's very modern to match my new website.

Website Update

Alright, quick update for you guys.

I've updated my website, so make sure you check it out! It's new and improved!

alissasphoto

One Week Madness!

One week until I leave for WJMC! How time flies! This week is going to consist of packing, buying last minute things I might need, hanging out with friends and family that I won't see until I get back, and reading (so I can give The Death Cure to Lakin before I leave). It's going to be a hectic week.

I hope everyone in America had a great Fourth of July. I know I did. I bought fireworks for the first time in quite a while, we made a TON of food, and we had a game night. I decided to wear my British flag shirt for laughs and a lot of people commented on it. I also got quite a few weird looks.

Selfie with my new kitten, Hazel!

Being the typical photographer I am, rather than light the fireworks, I took photos of them. I only got a few good ones though.

Well that's about it for now. I hope everyone has a great week to come!

-There are 7 days until WJMC-

Summer Blues

It is officially one month into summer. I haven't left my house or worn makeup for two days, I totally forgot to eat food all day, and I am totally, incredibly...bored. So bored, in fact, that I ask myself almost hourly why I don't get out. I mean, I have a car. I have friends that would hang out. I don't know, I just haven't felt like doing anything.

To occupy myself, I learned how to write "Geronimo!" in Gallifreyan. I also decided that if I ever get a tattoo, that is the one I'm going to get. My best friend and I might just get matching ones, only hers will say "Allons-y!" since the tenth Doctor is her favorite. And here is my terrible attempt at drawing it on my computer:

My thoughts are occupied by jobs/job applications (because I am in desperate need of work), Doctor Who, and reading my book for WJMC. I need something to do and I need it quick. I'm getting stir crazy.

However, lucky for me a new restaurant is opening up in town (which is HUGE because we only have like seven restaurants) and I've known the manager since I was little, so hopefully (HOPEFULLY) I can get a job there. Cross your fingers.

I finished an entire chapter today in my book. Two people down, four to go. And because of this achievement, I rewarded myself with a Doctor Who episode. Just one though, because the new series comes out in two months and I'm trying to savor my last few episodes with Matt.

And now that we are on the topic of Matt, I bought this gem last night.

I think it's going to get here just in time for WJMC. I can show my love for Matt on my trip. YES.

(If you're interested in the other cases she has to offer, go check out fancase on Etsy.)

There's Benedict ones, and Sherlock ones, and Hannibal ones, and GoT ones, etc. It's pretty awesome.

Well that's it for me tonight. I'm trying to go to sleep earlier than 4 AM since WJMC is right around the corner. Until next time.

-There are 13 days until WJMC-

Math, Doctor Who, and a Twitter Rant

Hello, hello! It's another day closer to WJMC!

We got sorted into color groups yesterday, and I am especially excited because my advisor is a Cubs fan. I am a Cardinals fan. Now if you're not familiar with the world of baseball, let me explain: the Cubs are in Chicago. The Cardinals are in St. Louis. So they are kind of neighbors. As most sports fans know, neighbors are the mortal enemy. Now, you may be saying "Why are you so excited if he's a fan of the 'bad guys?'" Because well....*ahem* the Cards are better. Not being bias, just pointing out the facts. So I'm pretty excited to have a discussion over baseball with this guy. (P.S. I'm sorry if you're a Cubs fan, really I am. Please don't hate me.)

So that required book I wrote about a couple posts ago..? I've barely read any of it. I wanted to see how far I was so I did some math. There are 217 pages total in the book. I'm on page 38. So I took 38/217...

And I learned that I am only 17.5% finished with my book...yay? This is going to be a while...

Then I figured how many pages I'll have to read each day leading up until the conference (16 days)...

Eleven pages a day? Eleven? Uggggghhhhhhhhh.... (Or 11.2 if you want to be a little more exact, but how in the world would you read '.2' pages?)

There you go, now you don't have to go to math lesson today, because you just got one! You're welcome.

If you've read the majority of my blog, you know that I love Doctor Who (and Sherlock but Hot Topic has very little Sherlock merchandise). And I thought I would show you the great stuff I bought yesterday.

They're perfect! I am so excited. I bought the lanyard so I can wear my press pass in style at WJMC. I bought the phone case because....why not, it's the TARDIS!

I got on Twitter on my computer for the first time in forever today and this is what I saw:

Twitter what are you doing? Why do you look like Facebook? I don't like Facebook. This isn't cool. You cut Matt's face off. Not cool either. You shouldn't do that to someone as beautiful as him. It's not fair. Why, Twitter, why?

This whole post is me talking/ranting about random stuff. Sorry (but I'm really not..).

Okay, I'm going to end this here because this is getting really long. I hope you enjoyed your math lesson, looking at my Doctor Who stuff, and reading my rant about Twitter's apparent new layout. Have a great day (or not the choice is yours..honestly you'll only get that joke if you went to my middle school).

I'm going to go read my eleven pages now..

-There are 16 days until WJMC-

Late Night (Early Morning?) Update

It's five. Freaking. In. The. Morning. So why not write this lovely little post! I have yet to go to sleep and my mind is running, so I guess I should write some stuff.

Honestly, my one and only reason for this post is so I can show off the book my dad got me.

Keep in mind it's five in the morning so clearly I do not look my best. Seriously though, the inside is a beautiful treasure chest of helpful tips (I don't even know where 'treasure chest' came from. I'm tired, okay?)

It's amaaaaaaaazing.

I also bought this little guy (aka Raj, after Jasmine's tiger from Aladdin) to help save the tigers. It was only ten dollars, but every little bit helps!

Alrightly then, I suppose I should go get some shut eye because I have to wake up at ten and at this rate, I'm only going to get five hours of sleep.

Adjö (Swedish goodbye in honor of PewDiePie, my current YouTuber obsession) everyone!

-There are 18 days until WJMC-

Updates & Whatnot

Well WJMC is in less than a month. Where has the time gone?

I finally finally found the reading list and I just bought one of the two non-political (because I dislike politics) books yesterday.

I'm only on page eighteen and it's pretty meh but at least it's not terrible (I really don't like non-fiction books..). My dad made me a deal that as soon as I finish this book, he'll buy me The Game of Thrones so I have a goal to aim for.

In other news, my dad's fiancé is getting me a kitten and we decided to name her Hazel. Which means I'll probably be calling her Hazel Grace a lot because TFIOS is my favorite.

Speaking of TFIOS, that movie was perfection. And you're thinking about going to see the movie, but you haven't read the book yet, READ THE BOOK FIRST OR WE CANNOT BE FRIENDS. That is all.

I took a picture of the Gateway Arch Monday.

That's the only photo I took because I started feeling really sick and I had to go back to the hotel to rest before the STL Cardinals game that night. Which, I might add, THEY WON. Because St. Louis is the best.

Also, I'm currently watching a lot of That 70's Show because it's really the only American show I actually enjoy.

So yeah, my life is currently not that interesting, but I'm going on "vacation" to Branson next week for the 16th year in a row (P.S. That's my age. My mom's side of the family doesn't travel too far). And I'm trying to get a job because I would like money of my own so I can stop asking my parents.

Until next time, people of the internet.

-There are 25 days until WJMC-

Julius Caesar

This is an extremely short post because I'm out of school now and I have absolutely nothing going on.

In my last post, I mentioned our Julius Caesar project. Well, it's DONE and my English teacher straight up admitted that it was his favorite ever, so there's that.

Wanna watch it?

Julius Caesar: What Really Happened

And what the heck, I'll include our bloopers too.

-There are 42 days until WJMC-

From Photographer to Director

Hey, everyone! I have some fun news to tell you.

We have been reading Julius Caesar in my English class, and now that we are finished, we get to do a project. Now, most groups have no idea what they're going to do for said project, but Lakin and I have been planning this for almost two weeks. We know exactly what we're going to do.

I have been promoted from photographer to director for the time being while we work on this project. I'm pretty excited about it. Technically, Lakin's boyfriend will be filming it, but I'll be telling him what to do, so you know.

My biology teacher agreed to star in our project and we just filmed the first scene today. And now I present to you one of the greatest photos ever:

And yes, that is a screen cap from the clip. My teacher is supposed to be Sulla (the dictator of Rome before Caesar) and Jacob is Caesar.

Well, I don't have anything more to tell you about. I just thought I would write a short post to keep you updated on what's happening in my life. Adios!

-There are 52 days until WJMC-

KC Chiefs and a Broken Vehicle Named Bernadette

Bonjour everyone! I have loads to write about!

An organization in my town, called the Lighthouse Children's Theater, sponsors a gala each year. Each year, they get someone "famous" to come and speak, and this year KC Chief Hall of Famers Nick Lowery and Christian Okoye were the speakers. I loved getting to meet them and chat with them. They even let me take selfies with them!

Bad iPhone photo of me and Nick Lowery.

Bad iPhone photo of me and Christian Okoye

After the gala, my best friend and I decided to go get some ice cream, and we invited someone else along because we were feeling generous after listening to Nick and Christian speak. We get to Sonic and we're sitting there talking and having fun, and after our ice cream comes out, I say to my car, "Oh Bernadette, you're not big enough for all of my stuff," and my other friend goes "Oh, now she's not going to work anymore." AND I KID YOU NOT, MY CAR DID NOT START WHEN WE GOT READY TO LEAVE.

It refused to start and Lakin (the best friend) had to call her brother at 11:30 to come look at my car. And at this point, I'm freaking out because my car is only four years old and it has never done that before. Then her brother and his friends (that also work on cars) get there, and after they hear the noise my car was making, they just said, "Wow, we don't know." They don't know? THEY DON'T KNOW?!

At this point, I'm freaking out even more because I figured I was going to have to leave my poor Bernadette at Sonic overnight and she could potentially get graffitied on or worse. So I just said "Well.....can't you jump it?" 

"We don't have any cables."

Right then, I started praising the Lord because my grandpa bought me jumper cables for Christmas just in case I needed them. HALLELUJAH. So I just kind of shout, "I HAVE CABLES." But then, the cables weren't long enough to reach from his car to my car, and all hope I had of saving my vehicle was crushed "like a grape" (as Flynn Rider would say). 

Then her brother is like, "Hey, I'll just maneuver my car closer," and I don't know if you've ever been to Sonic, but if you have then you know that could be potentially dangerous because the order things are IN THE WAY.

If you've never been to a Sonic, this is what they generally look like.

So he maneuvers the car in without hitting the pole or my car, and they successfully attach the cables and my car came back to life. YAY. As soon as I got back into my car, I just said, "Okay Bernadette, never EVER do that again." And then I successfully took my friends home and got myself back home without Bernie dying on me again.

So that's the end of my story, and I really must go to bed, or I won't be able to wake up for church in the morning. Au revoir!

-There are 64 days to WJMC-

Sonic Screwdriver!

Hello, hello! I got my sonic today!

I was going to take a great posed picture, but I didn't feel like asking my dad to take it for me, so this is the best (bad iPhone) photo I have. Isn't it a beauty though?

I'm really good at spending all of my money in less than 45 minutes, because the first store I went to was Hot Topic to get my sonic. And then I went to American Eagle (and I always get in trouble when I go to AE...it's my favorite store) and they were having a sale on tops. It was buy one get one for $10! I couldn't pass that up. And that's the story of how I spent $60 in less than 45 minutes on a sonic screwdriver and two tops.

I'm entirely changing the subject here, but I feel that I need to share my mother's milestone with you. Oh, she is going to hate me for this. But that's okay because she doesn't read this blog. She doesn't even know what a blog is.

If you're a fan of Coldplay, or you watch SNL weekly, then you will know that Coldplay is on SNL tonight. My mom texted me and told me this information (which I already knew because I love Coldplay and SNL). And right after, she texted me this:

Oh, my mother, what a character! She has officially crossed the void and is now a fangirl. I would have to agree though, have you looked at Chris Martin? He is a beautiful human specimen. Just look into his gorgeous blue eyes and tell me otherwise, you just try it.

I'm waiting for her to start fangirling over Matt or Benedict so that I can really join in with her.

If you have a Twitter and you want go follow me so you can read my great tweets everyday, you can do that with this handy link I have provided. I will give you a fair warning, I happen to tweet a lot. Like multiple times a day. Because I get bored and I have a lot to say. But it's okay because Sherlock season 4 won't come out for another year and a half (*violently sobs*) so it won't as bad as it was back in January aka when people at my school I didn't even know were following me told me I needed to cool it on Twitter because I tweet too much about this "Sherlock crap" (which was very insulting, but that's why I don't pay attention to those people).

So if you want to follow me, cool, if not, don't come back.

Nah, I'm kidding. I really don't care if you want to follow me or not. That's your own decision to make.

I'm currently watching "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" so I will leave you now so I can finish it and go to bed at a "decent" time (aka before 3 AM).

-There are 71 days until WJMC-

Harry Potter and Doctor Who Post

Today is the sixteenth anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts and I didn't even know that until I got home from school. And guess what shirt I had been wearing all day? My Hogwarts shirt! My subconscious knew that today was the day the Battle of Hogwarts happened I guess.

I'm planning on starting Asylum of the Daleks tonight. Or tomorrow. But at some point this weekend I WILL start season 7. I'm really not ready for Peter to take over.

I'm extremely excited about getting 11's sonic screwdriver tomorrow. I'll make sure and post a photo of it tomorrow.

Totally new subject, but I ordered this adorable outfit from Forever 21 yesterday (sans the shoes):

Isn't it the cutest? I can't wait for it to get to my house!

Back on the topic of Doctor Who, I've recently obtained the greatest text tone in the history of man. Here's a hint: IT'S THE TARDIS. Okay, that wasn't really a hint, but you know. I'm hoping one of these days, my phone will go off in public, and a complete stranger will start freaking out because they're hearing the TARDIS. Seriously, how hilarious would that be?

Last night, someone texted me and my when phone went off, my mom started freaking out because she doesn't know what the TARDIS is, so she just heard this really weird wheezing noise. It made my entire night.

This is probably the most scatterbrained post I have ever written so far. Oops.

P.S. Good luck to my journalism teacher tomorrow during her FIRST 5K RACE. She's been training since January and she's lost A LOT of weight, and now her race is finally here. I'm so excited for her.

-There are 72 days until WJMC-

EOCs

Two down, two to go! Hallelujah! I completed biology and geometry today, and to my great surprise, they weren't all that hard. Hopefully I got good scores on them. I have tomorrow off (thank goodness), and I have American History on Monday and English on Tuesday.

The one I am most afraid of is history because I have barely retained any information from that class the entire year. You see, my teacher is somewhat monotone, and it's sometimes very hard to pay attention. So, uh, we'll see how it goes Monday. I'm going to my dad's this weekend, and he's pretty good with this history stuff, so I might make him tutor me.

In other news, my friends pressured me into trying out for show choir again for next year and I made it so yay. I have to go talk to my counselor and see if I can even go through with doing it now. But I sang "I Dreamed A Dream" from Les Misérables, and I was doing a pretty good job until I got to the "shame" part and my voice cracked because I was nervous and trying not to change into my head voice. Hashtag soprano probs.

I get to go to the mall this weekend (YES) and guess what I'll be spending my photography pay on? 11's sonic screwdriver! I'm really excited. I love him a lot. I love Matt in general a lot. Also, I get to eat at CHICK-FIL-A aka: the greatest place ever. Oh, I am so excited, I have been craving Chick-fil-A for a month or more.

I have no photography/journalism news for you today. This blog has gone from being strictly about journalism to a blog that's basically about my life until I go to the conference. Then it will strictly be about journalism for five whole days.

I think that's about it from me today. I really need the weekend to get here.

-There are 73 days until WJMC-

This Is A Totally Random Post (so random, it doesn't even deserve a title)

I just want to show off my awesome new phone case my dad got me because it is beautiful.

Bad webcam photo, woop! My poor forehead got cut off.

Fun fact: This was taken seconds before I had to sprint back to my room and rip my contacts out of my eyes because I suddenly couldn't see. And now I am rocking my "intellectual" glasses.

And because now you're probably wondering, "Wow, I wonder what she looks like in her glasses.." and because I want to make this post longer for my own satisfaction, here you are:

I look like I should go do science experiments or something.

Okay this is probably my most conceited post yet, and I'm really sorry. I'm really not conceited at all.

Alright, I'm done now. Have a fantastic last day of April. 

P.S. HAPPY TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY TO MEAN GIRLS. Make sure you wear pink tomorrow!

-There are 75 days until WJMC-

Stress

It has been brought to my attention that I have not one, but TWO exams on Thursday. Yaaaaay. *manic laughter* *dramatic crying*

And my flight number has been changed, which makes extra work for me because now I have to go change it on my page for WJMC. This is nearly impossible at the moment because my internet is slower than a seven year itch.

Anyway, now that I'm done complaining about my problems, I shall go attempt to start Doctor Who season 7 even though I don't really want to because I don't want Matt to leave.

And just for giggles, here's a couple of pictures of my best friend's boyfriend gettin' it on the dance floor at prom:

And yes, he was the only one out there.

P.S. Happy half birthday to me and Matt Smith. Six months until I'm 17 and he's 32!

-There are 76 days until WJMC-

Prom

Hello, hello everyone! Prom was last night (side note: I didn't go to sleep until 4 AM ughhh) and I had a great time photographing it!

Look at my cute little best friend and her boyfriend!

Bad iPhone photo of us (I had to stand on my tiptoes because her darn heels were so tall).

And a picture of me with my prom date (bad Instagram filter photo).

Also, happy Sweet Sixteen to one of my other friends so she can have her photo on here too!

Anyway, I have about 300 more pictures I could share, but I won't do that to you. Have a great rest of your night/day.

-There are 77 days until WJMC-

I Don't Know What To Put Here

Alright, since I have absolutely nothing to write about (even my title doesn't have a title), I'm just going to post a picture of me and my friends.

Awwww, look at us! And yes, this is in fact a bad iPhone photo....with a twist. It's also a bad Instagram filter photo because I like to mix things up.

P.S. The blonde girl on the end is my best friend in the world (refer to number 17 on my past blog post from March). And the blonde guy is my best guy friend.

Funny story about the girl next to me. She and I became friends during practice for the fall play one evening a couple weeks after my boyfriend and I broke up. I was really really sad, and having a hard time because he was there too, and she saw me and came over and just started talking to me. And her first words that she ever spoke to me? "Hey, you look really sad. You wanna hear a funny story about my drunk dad?" And after that one sentence, we became friends. I'm seriously going to miss her so much after she graduates this year.

But yeah, Lakin (the blonde) and I have been best friends since fifth grade, and I love her to death. We're already planning a huge road trip after we graduate, and it's going to be great! It's funny because we're actually second cousins, but we had hardly given each other the time of day until fifth grade. But hey, you know what they say, every brunette needs a blonde best friend!

Anyway, so that's the end of that. I just felt like writing something other than my update that I posted earlier. I'm just in a writing mood, I guess.

Well, I must be going because it's after 10:00 and I really need to start going to sleep before midnight on school nights even though we only have 35 days left of school.

-There are 80 days until WJMC-

UPDATE

Quick update before I begin my mountain of homework.

Not only am I going to take photos at the pre-prom dinner, I also got a free ticket/press pass into prom so I can take photos there too! So in a way, I'm going to prom, I'm just not getting dressed up or going with a boy...

Anyway, so that's it. I really must start my biology/geometry. *cries*

Makin' Money

Hey everyone! I guess people around my town are realizing that I don't just take sports photos; I have another job this weekend! Since I'm only a sophomore, and no junior/senior boys like me enough to ask me to prom, I'm going to be taking photos at a pre-prom dinner that my school is putting on. I'm pretty excited.

I finished my Daddy Daughter Evening photos and just got paid today, so I'm feeling pretty great. I just really like doing these photography jobs.

My end of course exams start NEXT WEEK. Someone hold me while I dramatically sob. All of my teachers are cramming information in my head because all the snow days we had put us about two weeks behind. In history, I've managed to learn about the 50s and 60s in two days. It's insane. And because everyone in my journalism class has done some major procrastinating (myself included) I am now writing a senior article a day. So in short, I have mountains and mountains of homework every night and my writing "juices" are running low.

The only class where my teacher doesn't seem too concerned about EOCs is English, because the English EOCs are pretty much always the same. English is my relaxation class. We've just finished watching the movie "Julius Caesar" which kind of leads up to where Shakespeare's play begins. And I'm really sad because for the entire movie, I was hoping that when we start reading, I could play Julia. But *SPOILER ALERT* SHE DIES! I'm really upset about it. I really liked Pompey too (if you're going to be learning about Julius Caesar and you don't want spoilers, you should probably just skip the end of this sentence), but the Egyptians chopped off his head (I honestly have no idea if that's historically accurate, so if you study ancient Roman history, don't complain to me if the movie got it wrong). Anyway, we're only on Act I Scene II, so we've still got a while to go until we're finished with the play.

Speaking of Shakespeare, today is his 450th birthday! But it's also his death day, so I don't really know what to say about that.

Here's the short summary of my life at the moment if you didn't want to read all of my rambling above: homework, photography, homework, journalism, homework, and Julius Caesar.

-There are 81 days until WJMC-

Bad iPhone Photo Updates

Hey guys! It's late, but I just finished writing my articles for the senior edition newspaper that my school hands out at graduation. So I thought I would come over and show you my fancy WJMC shirt that came in the mail today featuring a bad iPhone photo (the term "bad iPhone photo" gets more and more appealing to me the more I use it on this blog...I think it's an official "segment" of my blog, if you will):

I think my favorite thing about it, other than it's my "official" t-shirt is that it's TARDIS blue, which means it reminds me of the Doctor AND it matches my car (aka Bernadette).

Okay, well that's it from me tonight since it's almost midnight on a school night. Happy almost Good Friday!

P.S. It's also almost David Tennant's birthday where I'm at, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID!

-There are 87 days to WJMC-

Three Months! And Other Things About Disney/Doctor Who

Today marks THREE MONTHS until WJMC! I'm so excited!

Today is also my dad's birthday, so happy birthday to him.

As you all know, I took photos at the daddy daughter evening last night, and it was so much fun. It made me nostalgic because my dad and I went to something like that when I was little. All the little girls were so cute, and they had so much fun dancing and playing games with their dads. It made my entire night!

Anyway, on a completely different note, my mom let me buy "Beauty and the Beast" tonight. I adore Disney. And because of this, Be Our Guest is stuck in my head.

On another totally different note, I finished season 6 of Doctor Who, and that means I only have one more season with Matt (who is, by the way, my favorite Doctor). I might cry just thinking about it.

I'm ordering my class ring Tuesday, which is insane to think about because it feels like just yesterday that I was in eighth grade. 

Well, I think that's it from me tonight. Until next time!

-There are 90 days until WJMC-

A Post About My Excitement and Geeky-ness

Okay, this has absolutely nothing to do with journalism, but I just wanted to show you my car's new "tattoos." Yes, I am odd and call car decals "tattoos" but honestly, that's kind of what they are.

So here is my car, with it's cosmetic improvements, featuring my new segment (because it's becoming a pretty common thing on this blog), bad iPhone photos:

Just a quite side note: I quite like that my car is TARDIS blue, and I now have a Doctor Who sticker to go with it.

And now I must do my homework because I have neglected to do any of it over the weekend.

-There are 98 days to WJMC-

Makeover: Blog Edition

I changed my blog title, and now it's pretty! It got a much needed makeover.

Since I have no more to write on that topic, that makes this post's title a little bit misleading. Oh well, I have no shame.

In other news, I got a new follower! I really appreciate the people that take the time out of their day to read my blog.

And because this post is basically just me rambling about things that aren't even related to journalism, I might as well keep going. I have eight weeks of school left, which means I'm almost a junior, which means I'm almost half way done with my high school career. Whaaaat? Freshman year feels like yesterday, so this is pretty weird for me. I have end of course exams coming up so this is just my two weeks notice that I may not be writing very much during those couple of weeks.

Since this was the topic of a lot of my blog posts back in March, and posting bad iPhone photos is one of my specialties, here's a picture of me in the really amazing Class 3 State Champions shirts that just came in this week:

I am now no longer in the triple digits on my countdown to WJMC! It's so close, I'm so excited.

-There are 99 days until WJMC-

Updates Cont.

To start things off, I took a picture of the Journalism board from the "Good Stuff" celebration I wrote about in my last blog post.

Bad iPhone photo, I know.

So anyway, that's pretty fun.

In other news, I went to a solo/ensemble competition yesterday and I got a 1 on my solo, so woo! While we're on the subject of choir, I also came up with the greatest show choir show ever. I want my teacher to make it happen even though I won't be in choir next year. It goes a little something like this:

Opener: "The Circle of Life" - The Lion King

"Be Our Guest" - Beauty and the Beast

Girls Feature: "Part of Your World" - The Little Mermaid

Boys Feature: "I'll Make A Man Out of You" - Mulan

Ballad: "A Whole New World" - Aladdin

Closer: "Hakuna Matata" - The Lion King

And in case you couldn't tell, that show is Disney themed, because honestly. who doesn't love Disney? They would win so many awards. I would be doing my choir a favor. But my teacher won't use it, so it really doesn't matter.

Well, I think that's all from me today. I have a ton of homework to catch up on and it's already almost 6:00, so wish me luck. I'm really tired.

-There are 101 days until WJMC-

Updates, Updates, and More Updates

Alright, well it's been awhile everybody! I actually have photography news for you all!

An organization in my town/school (I'm not sure which it is) is hosting a daddy-daughter date night, and guess who is the photographer? This girl! I get to take candid/posed shots of the daddies with their daughters, make a compiled CD, and make each daddy/daughter a CD of their own. AND I'm getting paid to do all of this!

It's my first paid "gig" and I can hardly wait!

Tonight was also the very first "Good Stuff" celebration at my school, and my journalism teacher gave me pretty much the whole presentation board all to myself. It talked about how I was going to WJMC this summer, and some of my photos were on display. I don't have a picture of it though, because the picture my mom took of it was pretty terrible (I definitely didn't get my photography gene from her).

Anyway, that's about it for now. I feel that it's appropriate to start counting down to WJMC, so maybe at the end of my blog posts, I'll write how many days are left.

Have a great last day of March/first day of April depending on your location!

-There are 104 days until WJMC-

Fifty Fun (Maybe?) Facts About Me

Well, I'm bored and I have nothing journalism related to write about so here's a fantastic little list about me:

1. I'm a photographer (clearly).

2. I sing. I'm in choir, but I can't do it next year due to scheduling conflicts. I have mixed feelings about that.

3. I play piano. My favorite song to play is Pachelbel's Canon composed by Johann Pachelbel.

4. I tried to teach myself French once. The only sentence I can actually remember is "Parlez-vous francais?"

5. My goal is to go to the University of Missouri and major in journalism.

6. I watch a lot of British television.

7. I do write some. Most of it isn't very good though.

8. My car is TARDIS blue and her name is Bernadette.

Isn't she a beauty?

9. English is my favorite subject. But I am pretty good at math and sometimes science.

10. I'm really interested in WWII. I'm not sure why, but any book that takes place in Nazi Germany instantly grabs my attention.

11. The Book Thief is my favorite book. The previous fact may be a small part of why.

12. I also quite love the movie adaption. They did a really great job following the book, and I'm not too upset about the changes they made because it helps people who haven't read the book understand what's happening a little better (although I am sad that they took out the bread scene and the scene where Liesel finds Max in the "parade").

13. New York City is my favorite city.

14. I want to live in London.

15. I'm an anglophile and proud.

16. My room at my dad's house is British themed. I love it.

17. I love my best friend to death, and I definitely wouldn't be here writing this blog or having as much confidence as I do right now without her. She was there for me when I needed her the most.

18. Top five favorite bands: Bastille, Coldplay, Imagine Dragons, Mumford & Sons, and OneRepublic.

19. My favorite song at the moment (because it always changes) is "Icarus" by Bastille.

20. Matt Smith and I have the same birthday.

21. I really enjoy driving to the soundtrack music from Sherlock series three.

22. I like listening to tenors sing. Hence Dan Smith and Chris Martin.

23. I wanted to learn how to play the drums when I was five. I kind of still do.

24. I love harmonizing, but since I'm a soprano, it's sometimes nearly impossible for me to do.

25. The highest note I can sing is a high B. Sometimes a C on a good day.

26. I own the 10th Doctor's sonic screwdriver. I plan on buying the 11th Doctor's one of these days.

27. Matt Smith is my favorite Doctor. He's just so adorable and fun.

28. I love Disney. "The Lion King" is my favorite Disney movie. I even saw it on Broadway a year ago.

29. I don't watch horror films. They're not my cup of tea. I watched "Halloween" a couple years ago (my first and last horror film), and I couldn't go outside in the dark for a good week afterwards. I'm a wimp, I know.

30. I don't have any siblings, so I get really bored at my house.

31. The St. Louis Cardinals are my team.

32. Baseball is a good sport. Much better than football.

33. David Freese was my favorite player on the team, but he left this year. I still proudly wear his jersey though.

34. I have a massive crush on Benedict Cumberbatch. My mom spells his name "Commberbirth" and it cracks me up.

35. Sherlock is an amazing television show. I'm obsessed with it. Don't ask me to choose between it and Doctor Who though, because that is a question that should never be answered.

36. I like dressing up and looking cute when I go out, but the second I get home, you can bet your bottom dollar that I'm changing into sweats and a t-shirt.

37. I'm really OCD about who touches my camera. Pretty much me, my dad, my best friend, and my journalism teacher are the only people allowed to touch it.

38. I said earlier that English is my favorite subject, but it's also my favorite class of the day (besides journalism) because my English teacher is hilarious. We like all the same things (Sherlock, Doctor Who, music, etc).

39. I've never had much self confidence. I've really branched out this year.

40. I've often struggled with social anxiety.

41. I don't like to brag about my grades and school performance.

42. That being said, I really hate it when people insult my intelligence.

43. I'm such a nerd because when we read Edgar Allan Poe or Shakespeare in English, while everyone else is complaining, I'm actually really enjoying it.

44. I was in a play once. I had a really small part so I didn't really like it that much. A month into practices, I was already really bored.

45. "Something I Need" by OneRepublic is one of my jams.

46. I've been to three concerts in my life. Toby Keith, Trace Adkins (I went through a country phase a few years back, glad that's over). and Mumford & Sons last September.

47. I don't go to parties because I'm focusing on keeping my grades and GPA up in high school so that I can get a scholarship. That, and my kind of party is sitting on the couch with a pizza and Sherlock/Doctor Who on the television.

48. I'm not athletic at all, which is why I don't do sports, but I really do like a good run.

49. I can be very sassy and sarcastic. But according to my best friend, "it works for me."

50. My favorite store is American Eagle.

BONUS FACT: I once tried to write a short story about a girl from Alaska who gets stranded on her own in her aunt's house during one of the worst snow storms of the year. It started to sound bad, so I quit writing it. The drafts are lying around my house somewhere. Every once in a while, I'll stumble across them and try revising it again, but then I just get discouraged. It's a vicious cycle.

And done! I hope that wasn't too tedious. I "borrowed" this list thing from Sherlockian because I think it's a good idea. Side note: If you're a fan of BBC Sherlock, you should probably go check out her blog! It's pretty awesome! Until next time.