I love the internet

So the internet is definitely an amazing form of communication! My fiance and I have been re-planning our honeymoon because the initial desire for a Caribbean cruise is not going to work out. Instead, we are going to South Padre Island! I was kind of stressing out about finding a place to go once the cruise wasn't an option anymore and thank goodness it takes me 5 seconds to look up a place and then feel better because we can look up where we can stay, google recommendations of tourist attractions to visit, and any other information we need. Ok, I am actually just posting this because I am really excited to go to the shore! And to get married!

Anyways, so the internet is a huge blessing and marvelous tool for wedding planning, but also a great tool for media and advertisers. It's so full of information, which can be good and bad. Living in this age, I really want to make sure when I have kids that I am the one telling them what they need to know before they go google it... and who knows if what they are reading is correct! It's crazy and cool to me how much the world communicates and speaks through the internet.

The Harlem Shake... I like turtles

So apparently this is a viral youtube video....? I still don't get why. I had heard of it, but saw it for the first time yesterday. My fiance was like, you HAVE to see it. He and his roommates laughed, but I am not impressed.
My fiance mentioned it because he has decided he wants to make a viral youtube video. After showing me the competition, I think it's got to be pretty easy to go viral. All you need to do is something completely random for 30 seconds. It's really interesting what the world finds entertaining.
Although, I do find the 20 second video of the boy who like turtles pretty hilarious.

Every MWF

Every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, while I am eating lunch, I watch TLC's What Not To Wear. I must admit that I love the show. I just like to see the transformation that happens from start to finish. I also find the comments of Stacy and Clinton pretty hilarious. I like how the show focuses on expressing yourself and being confident in who you are, but in a fashionable way. They never try to change the person's body, but rather the way the person views their body. I think it's fun to see how much many people resist change, but in the end, you can tell how much they love the new look. I think this show is definitely a great show for standing up for the average American body and not saying that you need to look like a model to feel and look beautiful.

Wreck-it Ralph

On Friday I went to go see Wreck it Ralph in the Varsity theater.  It was a fun movie, especially watching it in the Varsity theater where everyone will laugh and have verbal responses to everything! It was a  funny movie and it was kind of cool that it was video game stylized. I loved the side story of Fix-it Felix and the warrior girl falling in love. That was hilarious. I liked the movie, but obviously it was made for kids to watch also. I thought it was a little scatterbrained for kids too young and the name calling all the time could easily repeated by young kids. But overall I thought it was cute and it had the sweet moral ending that every Disney film has.

It's GREAT except for...

I had a great Valentine's day! My fiance showed up at my door with a rose and a decorated poster that had a heart box of chocolates on it and the movie Just Like Heaven. It was SO sweet for him to buy that movie for me because I literally have been asking him if we could watch it for like a year now! I loved it when I saw it back in high school and I've wanted to re-watch it ever since.

We went out to eat where we went last year for Valentine's day at out favorite place ever! Applebee's (They have a two plates and an appetizer for $20 deal. It's awesome)! Then we went back to his apartment and watched the movie he got me. I'm still not over how cute it was for him to remember and get it for me! <3 <3 I laughed a lot and it was definitely an entertaining movie, but it was a little different than I remembered. I definitely did NOT remember at all the skanky-woman-neighbor side story!  The movie had more profanity and innuendos than I previously recalled. It was also a little corny overall... but I think I like the corn.
It was just way interesting for me that I had held this movie in my mind as one of my favorites even though I didn't remember half the stuff that was in it! Why do we remember all the good stuff about a movie or show, yet easily forget the parts that made us squirm inside, or even discount inappropriate parts? How often do we ignore the cockroach in the ice cream?

That's a kinda gross analogy (blek!), but I think it makes a good point.

Some of my favorite books

One of my most favorite books from elementary school to middle school was the book Holes by Louis Sachar. I first read the book in elementary school and it is one of the only novels that I’ve read twice. As I’ve gotten older, I haven’t read as many books for fun as I did as a kid. I have started a few books for fun, but never end up finishing them. I have been into more psychology, self-improvement type books of late and I was reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People over the summer. That’s probably one of my favorite books right now, but I haven’t finished it yet. The last book that I read for fun that I really enjoyed and read all the way through twice was the seventh Harry Potter book. I read this book originally in high school after reading the previous six books. I re-read my favorite one, the last one, right before the movie (part one) came out. I love all the Harry Potter books, but the seventh one is my favorite because it brings all the past stories together and somehow they all connect perfectly. I like this book too because it is the final battle between good and evil, and good prevails! I like the message of friendship, integrity, and bravery that this final book ends the whole series with.

This is the greatest season!

On Saturday and Sunday I attended my fiance's stake conference and Elder Bednar presided! It was a way cool experience to hear him speak in a non-General Conference setting and to feel his spirit. I even got to shake his and his wife's hands! Elder Bednar spoke with such authority and truth. In his Sunday talk he kept repeating, "this is the greatest season in the history of the restored church." He gave several reasons for this, including our ability to learn and spread the gospel through the great tools we have now in our homes like internet and media resources. Never has there been such a great time of connection and resources as there is now.

I was really glad to hear Bednar speak about preparing our future children. He declared that it is a parent's responsibility to teach and prepare children for baptism, to receive the priesthood, to go on missions and to make covenants in the temple. It's not the responsibility of church leaders. Preparation starts in the home.

When it comes to media, I think parental responsibility is very important. We need to teach our children the good and bad uses of media so they can be prepared to make wise choices throughout life.

<--- I got to shake his hand!!!! :D

The Glorified Brat

I don't usually watch Disney Channel, or any TV at all really, but I was watching 3 different Disney Channel shows for our coding research project! Yay! My group is focusing on body image in child/adolescent media. It was interesting to notice how much image/good looks were mentioned during just one episode. Not only were looks and appearance mentioned a lot, all the characters in the shows seem to come from rich households where they act like complete brats to their parents and friends. It's no wonder our society is so materialistic first off when the norm on TV is for kids to have nice clothes, hair and makeup all the time. For most of America, it's just very unrealistic.

I really can't say much because I do like to watch What Not To Wear... but I will say the message about body image in that show is very positive and different than what you see on Disney Channel.

We are so blessed.

So in my scripture study I have been reading in Alma. Scripture is media right? 

I was reading in Alma 9, and something in there impressed me. This is Alma speaking of the nation of the Nephites here, but think of it in terms of today and our nation:

Alma 9

20 Yea, after having been such a highly favored people of the Lord; yea, after having been favored above every other ^anation, kindred, tongue, or people; after having had all things ^bmade known unto them, according to their desires, and their faith, and prayers, of that which has been, and which is, and which is to come;

 21 Having been ^avisited by the Spirit of God; having conversed with angels, and having been spoken unto by the voice of the Lord; and having the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and also many gifts, the gift of speaking with tongues, and the gift of preaching, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the gift of^btranslation;

 22 Yea, and after having been ^adelivered of God out of the land of Jerusalem, by the hand of the Lord; having been ^bsaved from famine, and from sickness, and all manner of diseases of every kind; and they having waxed strong in battle, that they might not be destroyed; having been brought out of ^cbondage time after time, and having been kept and preserved until now; and they have been prospered until they are rich in all manner of things—

 23 And now behold I say unto you, that if this people, who have received so many blessings from the hand of the Lord, should transgress ^acontrary to the light and knowledge which they do have, I say unto you that if this be the case, that if they should fall into transgression, it would be far more ^btolerable for the Lamanites than for them.

We are just like those Nephites! We are so blessed to live in a part of the world where we have freedoms and safety and the comforts of food on our tables and a roof over our heads. We have the fullness of the gospel and have a living prophet to guide us. We have so many opportunities to learn and to secure an income. Looking at other parts of the world, we are so blessed! I think we take our lifestyles and all the things we have been given, for our benefit, for granted. We have been given so much light and we need to embrace it. I think the majority of problems today come from not recognizing the blessings we are fortunate to have and from not being grateful. 

Those are my thoughts.

Your obedient friend, the Opera Ghost

Yesterday night I went with my very tired fiance to see BYU's Phantom of the Opera!!

It was especially cool that we got to go see it because yesterday at 5:30pm I put my name into a drawing and at 6 they pulled out 25 names for rush tickets. And I got picked!!! I never win raffle-type things! The only bummer was that I still had to pay for my ticket. But it was so worth it! 

So I have always LOVED the music from this musical. I guess everyone else has too since the movie came out. It actually was a little surprising how similar to the movie the stage performance was. I kind of felt like I was watching the movie. But watching it live was way more impressive. I loved the effects and the GIANT LANTERN! That was way cool. Also, the voices of the performers were amazing! They were all so talented and I still don't understand how Carlotta and Christine could hit those high notes. Eeek! I especially liked the phantom actor. He showed a lot of emotion in his performance and his voice was perfect for the part.

Ok, so overall it was amazing and the BYU art, dance and music departments definitely were able to do the musical justice! We both really loved the powerhouse of music coming from the singers, the orchestra pit, and the organ. My fiance enjoyed it even though I did catch him a few times with his eyes closed hehe.

Go put your name in the raffle if you don't have a ticket!

"Mom that's so dross."

So I'm not sure how many kid histories there are...    but this is the latest one that I've seen. I'm a little behind it seems. I really like this one! I don't really know why Kid History has been such a big hit, but it seems like everyone has seen them all (at least at BYU). One reason may be that it's good 'ol fashion clean humor. Kids really do say the funniest things!

I do plan to catch up on the next few once I find out how many I've missed. My sister told me that they even recently had a grand showing of the latest Kid History on-campus! Only at BYU. :D

It's no wonder kids have ADHD.

This is the movie that I watched over the weekend - you can tell I don't get out much haha! Okay well, I really wanted to go see Le Miserables... but I am poor, so instead my cousin and I rented Madagascar 3. I actually laughed a lot as well as said "wait... what?" a lot as well. This movie was a little over the top ridiculous and random, but that's probably what made it so entertaining. The Lemur King is my favorite.

Anyways! Even though I thought the film was pretty funny, I was thinking at the same time, how can little kids handle this? The movie is obviously for kids and families, but I almost wouldn't want my own future young children watching this movie. It was so sporadic and loud and chaotic that I even felt like I was developing ADHD from watching it!!

I feel like the fact that movies so overly stimulating, fast paced, and nonsensical are being made for children goes to show how much desensitization kids today have. They need more and more craziness to be entertained.

What happened to good 'ol kid movies like Balto?!

Hamlet - 4 hours too long

On Monday I went with my fiance to the Crabtree building to watch the 1996 4-hour version of Hamlet for his History of Creativity class. I had read the play before in Highschool, and after seeing it in movie form, I remembered why I didn't like reading it. I'm sorry to those Shakespeare lovers out there, but the story is way too odd and depressing for me to enjoy it. Despite this, I do think Shakespeare was a master with his language and I think the actors did a good job at portraying the dialogue they were given. I was happily surprised to see Billy Crystal though, even if his British accent was terrible! That was probably the highlight of the film.

A 4-hour film I would much prefer to watch would be the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice! Yay Colin Firth!

O Say, What Is Truth?

http://www.lds.org/broadcasts/watch/ces-devotionals/2013/01?lang=eng

Ok so I LOVE President Uctdorf! He is one of my most favorite speakers and I always feel like he is excellent at communicating the things in his heart and he brings up issues that are so applicable to me!

As soon as I heard the topic of his address, I thought of how the question of what truth is... is SO applicable to the media! 

I love how he stated that truth is truth... is truth. Society wants us to believe that truth is subjective; that we can make our own truth in life according to how easy it is for us to believe something. I have seen many people decide(a better word might be: rationalize) that something is true because it is convenient to them and they don't want to face the hard truth. 

I know that the reason our world has diminished in moral quality is because of the denial of truth. It is obvious through the types of media we allow ourselves to consume. Maybe you think that you are not affected by what you watch or what you listen to on your ipod. But don't you think that is most likely a denial of the truth as well? Would you allow yourself, or even your future kids, to act the way your favorite TV characters do? Probably not. So many people say that they "would never," but I believe we endorse amoral and twisted truths simply by watching. 

I'm not saying that everything amoral shown on TV is for bad purposes (sometimes the realities of our world can support truths and make impacting points), but there is that blurry line that we need to watch out for! 

I know how to solve the problem! Just read the scriptures all the time! 

Those are my thoughts.

Chao for now.

Hello World!

This is my first time blogging, ever, and I think I might like it. I never thought I would give in to having my own blog because I am just not one to go out and announce my opinion online. Although I do have email, texting, a facebook page, and an ipod touch, along with working on-campus as a graphic designer... I generally like to resist technology when I can. I know I am getting sucked in like everyone else in this world, but I like to think that I believe in more raw forms of communication, especially with those I love the most. I prefer to just call someone on the phone, talk in person if I can, and keep my life somewhat private.

I do like to write though. Being a consistent journal writer, I think I'd prefer to think of it this way... like I am writing in my journal... but other people are peeking over my shoulder as I write. Hmmm.

In regards to the purpose of this blog, I do recognize that everyday I use and am influenced by technology and thus, by the media that takes full advantage of that technology. At first I was a little shocked and dismayed the moment I realized how much media I consume each and everyday. I then realized that, hey, that's the world we live in. The scary part is that I know I don't filter out the media I don't want to touch me as much as I should. With so much time devoted to the media, I feel like I need to protect myself from influences that will not help me be the person I hope to be.

Those are my thoughts.
I'm not sure how I am supposed to end this...

Chao for now!