Year (Thus Far) In Review

2010 = The Future

RIP to all those who lost and sacrificed their lives in the tragic and devastating 9/11 bombings.

This year is seemingly flying by. This is often said, but Spring was just here. Seriously. 

Give it up for another blistering, humid North Carolina summer, complete with flying insects that feasted upon my flesh. Ugg. 

April has been the most memorable month of the year for me. 

I have been at my current FT job for a little over a year now, and PT job for two years. 

Almost half of my high school graduating class is currently either married, engaged to be married, planning a wedding, parents, or....wishing they were back in high school. Haha. Yowza! 

Summer doesn't feel quite complete without splashing in some waves, tan lines (as thin as possible), and finding sand in the battery compartment of your digital camera. Awesome.

Birthdays are awesome and I've enjoyed every special one this year thus far!  

No one ever mentions that a lot of the "other fish in the sea" are also the equivalent of Spam of the sea. Tsk. 

Some people are like poppy seeds. They can sure make a bagel taste delicious, but then they get caught in your teeth and then it's just a polka dot party in your mouth.

Blogging has become a favorite hobby. :)

I was introduced to, and love SUSHI!! 

I have been randomly yelled at twice in the parking lot of my job. Hmmm. Once was blamed on the devil. Seriously? *Insert 5 strangers and an elevator here*. Also, I wasn't physically in my car either time so I guess my driving skills are still above par? Yowza!

Excuse me, I just tweeted. ;)

I worked with choreographer Mark Dendy, and performed at the NC Museum of Art re-opening. Cool!

I met a great, standup guy this fall. While he had a girlfriend, he more so served as a beacon of hope that there are good guys out there...who actually like their girlfriends. Go figure.

I saw 'Star Wars in Concert' this summer!! Friggin' amazing! :) 


In NFL news: Between injury, allegations of misconduct, dissension between him and his coach, and his future playing time now questioned, this has been a tough season for Brett Favre. In the past, the death of his father and his wife's breast cancer diagnosis were hurdles Brett had to get over during his career. He made it through those, and as a Brett Favre fan, I'm hoping he comes through this current season right side up. 


Temperature highs in the 80s in October are leaving me wondering if this winter is going to pack any kind of a punch. 


In social networking news: Despite the recent release of The Social Network, the story of the creation and rise of Facebook, by creator, Mark Zuckerberg, I believe Twitter usage numbers soar above those of its social networking predecessor. 

Irony: 'Dogs' (of the canine variety) are consistent, dependable, honest, and loving. If more men came this way, I'd have no problems at all.

Goodreads: For the Bookworm at Heart

I discovered Goodreads.com, a social network for readers, by happenstance while reading a graphic novel blog. The blogger's homepage had a Goodreads widget, and from there I dove right in and signed up. In addition to the usual posting of book titles you've read, are currently reading, and want to read, there are quizzes, trivia, giveaways, book clubs and groups, ways to connect with other readers all over the world, and a writer's corner for submitting your own personal work. I have already made some "friends" with similar reading interests, including one of my favorite authors! How awesome. You can adjust the frequency and type of notifications you receive about friends and authors you are following on such tidbits as blog posts, new "reading now" books, and the latest reviews. I have always had a crazy obsession with bookshelves. There is just something simplistically beautiful about the organized look of shelves brimming with colorful book spines and ornamented book stands. Goodreads provides a digital version of a bookshelf. It displays the covers of all the books in your library along with your reviews, ratings, dates of completion, and many other nifty things. My inner bookworm can sometimes barely contain the excitement of finding out about the latest or upcoming installment in a series by one of my favorite authors!

I utilize VisualBookshelf on Facebook, but it has no widget capability, and I very much want to display my adventures in reading on personal pages and other locations other than just Facebook. That seemed to involve installing another Facebook application, which I'm typically wary of, or creating a LivingSocial account. The account is all well and good, but Goodreads provides so much more in one easy click of a button. I highly recommend Goodreads. Even if you don't like to read as a hobby, you may be surprised at what peeks your interest when you see the assortment of books floating around. You can check out my GR profile by clicking the bottom button on my 'Kimster's Bookworm Corner' Goodreads widget on my homepage. Happy reading!

Poem of the Day (10/17)

Today I happily stumbled upon Edith Matilda Thomas' poem "The Deep-Sea Pearl". I find it absolutely moving and beautiful. The poem comes from Thomas' 1903 book of verses, The Dancers: And Other Legends and Lyrics. Being the Modern dancer that I am, I cannot wait to delve into the entire book. I look forward to reading her other works as well. Enjoy the poem.

Edith Matilda Thomas - "The Deep-Sea Pearl"

The love of my life came not 

As love unto others is cast; 

For mine was a secret wound--

But the wound grew a pearl, at last. 

The divers may come and go, 

The tides, they arise and fall;

The pearl in its shell lies sealed, 

And the Deep Sea covers all.

'Supernatural' Shorts (No Pun Intended)

Supernatural - Season 1, Episode 2: 'Wendigo'

"Sweetheart, I don't do shorts" ~Dean

Season 4, Episode 13: 'After School Special'

Ummm. Yeah. About that, Dean....
(hahaha)

Music of the Month (October Edition)

I am a lover of all types of music. I only, typically, avoid the sappy country songs, especially if the video and lyrics are of the cliché variety, and death metal. My love for music is also heightened because I like to utilize a variety of music, across the board, when I'm choreographing a Modern dance piece. Honestly, can anyone say that they don't listen to music at some point in their day? Probably not. Even if you're not intending to listen, your co-worker's radio is probably a bit too loud. Below I have listed my artist picks for October, and the respective song that is currently playing on my Mp3 player. Feel free to add your thoughts and picks. Happy listening!

• Sia - "My Love" (Absolutely breathtaking song with heartfelt lyrics.)

• Florence and the Machine - "Heavy in Your Arms" and "Halo" cover. (Her cover is so unique and funky. I love it!)

• This Mortal Coil - "Song to the Siren" (Such a beautiful and haunting melody.)

• The Script - "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" (The lyrics to this song are so beautiful; I love his voice. Talk about a grand gesture! Ha.)

• Pilot Speed - "Alright" (Another haunting melody, in my opinion, that you can't help but listen to over and over again.)

• Queensryche - "Silent Lucidity" (I first heard this song on Supernatural and it has stayed with me. The scene was absolutely heartbreaking. Beautiful song.)

• Billy McLaughlin - "Helms Place" (I actually performed a piece choreographed to this music. I love the tempo transitions and the instruments. It makes my heart dance.)

• Alicia Keys - "Where Do We Go From Here?" (This song is so smooth and real. Ms. Keys' voice is magnificent, as usual.) 

Bullying: School & Online Epidemics

Bullying in schools and online seem to have become more prevalent recently. Tragically, there has been a surge in teen suicide numbers due to anti-gay bullying in schools. I have read several tragic articles about the abuse and assaults on teens, and adults based on their appearance or sexual orientation, and articles about teens taking their own lives due to the ramifications of said abuse. No matter what a person's opinion is on the sexual orientation of another, that does not justify anyone having to endure any kind of torture or abuse, be it verbal and/or physical. Everyone has the right to live their own life. These attacks are deplorable and the attackers are cowards who, most often, group together to inflict torture to lone victims. 

With the popularity of social networking on the rise, cyber-bullying has also become more frequent. Cyber-bullying is often in the form of posting hateful comments about someone, or posting an unwitting victim's personal photos or videos online that circulate through schools and among peers, leaving the victim to deal with the horrifying aftermath. Once something is online, it is very hard to remove all traces and remnants of its existence. Often, many victims, whether straight or gay, young or older, do not reveal the incidents of bullying and abuse to authorities or school officials for fear that it may heighten the attacks.

It's sad to have experienced or know someone who has had to deal with bullying. I recently read one of Anderson Cooper's blog posts, which was a special to CNN entitled "Crystal Bowersox: 'Just Imagine...'". The piece was sad and moving. Crystal reveals years of horrible bullying and abuse she endured as a teen in school. Many may know Crystal as a performer from the ninth season of American Idol. I truly thank Crystal Bowersox for sharing her emotional story. I know it was not an easy thing to do, and even more so, not an easy thing, by any measure, to have experienced. The hellacious acts those she attended school with committed on her are heartbreaking. I hope other children who are experiencing this type of bullying are receiving the love and support they need to be strong and overcome it.
 
I encourage you to visit and read her story here:  "Crystal Bowersox: 'Just Imagine...'"

 

Mickey Mouse: Dance Party

When I needed a smile today, I got Mickey. Awesome!

Dance Party! Go Mickey, it's your birthday! :o)

*10-10-10*

This is officially 10-10-10 day! (October 10, 2010) at 10:10 am (EST)! Haha. If you miss out on this, no worries, you have about a year and some change to try and catch 11-11-11 (November 11, 2011). So pay attention; this just may be your lucky day! :o)

**Here's a site I found, for today, for the fun, math geek in all of us. Enjoy!

http://spikedmath.com/316.html 

Words of Wisdom

"Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" is a fantasy comedy released in 2007. Yes, there is a magical toy store, a zebra, and many hats, among other zany things. Also in the lineup: (two words) Jason Bateman. (Now I don't know if you've ever seen "Arrested Development"...but you should.) While "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" received mixed reviews from critics, I thought it was a very sweet depiction of staying young at heart and fulfilling your dreams. The film stars Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, and Bateman (referred to as "mutant" throughout the majority of the film). Did I mention that I have a celebrity crush on Portman? Have you seen "V for Vendetta"? She's amazing! And Hugo Weaving is phenomenal as 'V', so go check that out too....I digress; the main point of this blog is to highlight an inspirational line Hoffman delivers in the movie that struck me then, and has been significant to me these past few months. Enjoy.

"We must face tomorrow, whatever it may hold, with determination, joy, and bravery." ~Mr. Magorium

"This is MySpace! You're in my Facebook! Don't touch my Twitter!"

The 21st century has, so far, brought us a discovery of water on the moon, the Human Genome Project, the iPad, 'Stargate Atlantis', and....social networking trends.

Launched in 2004, Facebook was first out of the gate for significant social networking. With the ability to keep up with and stay in touch with friends while donning your own unique profile, Facebook was streaming through thousands of dorm rooms and millions of operating systems. And, honestly, who doesn't like to go to their homepage and find that they've been "poked"? However, recently, with Facebook's ever-changing and questionable privacy settings and formatting, new announcements are making some people less, not more, inclined to use it. In the past, many users' safety had been compromised when their accounts were hacked into and mass amounts of spam and viruses were sent to their friends. True, if you don't fully log out of your page on a public computer, or you don't change your password regularly, you may be setting yourself up for a possible hack. But Facebook was, and still is, receiving many raised eyebrows.

MySpace had its time to shine from about 2006 to 2008, knocked off the top of the charts by Facebook's steadily rising visitor numbers. MySpace started off as the headquarters for interacting with celebrities. To be honest, I never signed up for MySpace and, therefore, don't know that much about it. I'm pretty sure that I saw some cobwebs and heard some crickets, though, when I visited some friends' MySpace pages. Do people even remember that they still have accounts? Just saying. I do know that MySpace has had its share of security problems as well, many being sex offender related.

*Insert rolling tumbleweed*

 

Enter Twitter with its blue bird mascot! (And "fail whale" for those less functioning times that do occur). Twitter has a mascot. How cool is that? Remember in high school, the coolest mascot always won out. Twitter's popularity took off in 2007 and is quite addictive. With real-time posts, news stories, and updates, celebrity postings and photos, Twitter has millions of users and is dishing out some serious 'tweetage.' I have recently started using it and very much enjoy it. The biggest 'competition' now lies between Twitter and Facebook, with new features for the latter being eerily similar to the former. As with anything people, be smart when you're on the web. Okay then. Go ahead and continue tweeting or playing Farmville.

21st Century Tricycle

On my way home from work today (after searching all over God's green earth for a reasonable price for gas) I saw a man riding a Can-Am; a Can-Am Spyder Roadster to be exact. The Can-Am Spyder is manufactured by BRP (Bombardier Recreational Products, Inc.) This was the first time I'd seen this type of motor vehicle, and to be honest, I thought it looked a bit ghastly. Now, I've seen three wheelers before, but there's just something about the placement of the Can-Am Spyder's wheels: two in front and one in the back. Why not just do the world a favor and make it a full fledged four-wheeler? It seemed so bulky for a motor vehicle. (The Spyder in the photo is a customized version of the one I saw today). True, there are some sleeker versions, but the make is what bothers me.

I couldn't get the image of the 19th century Benz gas tricycle (flipped around) out of my head. Throw on some paint, customizations, and a high-powered engine and you are fast forwarded (no pun intended) to the Can-Am Spyder of the 21st century.

Lego: The Great American Toy...From Denmark

Yes. I am in my mid-20s. And, yes, I do still play with Legos from time to time. I'm sure there are many out there that do. Lego is one of the greatest toys of this generation and a beloved pastime for children. Lego toys are constructive fun for your brain, and fun for the young at heart. With the variety of themes and characters, Lego has remained the top line for construction toys.

 

My Star Wars fighter jet creation! (Please
disregard the random bunny border. I got
a little excited with the border selection.)

When I was younger I had hundreds of Lego bricks; then there were cars, Lego people and cities, and now, cartoon and film franchises like Batman, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones. Seriously. Who desn't appreciate the tiny Indiana Jones Lego man with the penciled in stubble on his chin? It's like creating your own Sims world with your bare hands, and then tearing it down to build up something new again. Now there are even Lego video games including some of the same cartoon and film franchises, and then some! Between the stores, amusement parks, and larger than life-size models, it's no wonder that Lego is a leading force in the toy industry.

'Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps' Review

I haven't seen Oliver Stone's "Wall Street" (1987) starring Michael Douglas, but after reading a review that said that the juxtaposition with the sequel, "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" was nearly lost, I suppose I don't regret not watching it immediately before. I will, however, watch it at some point.

Shia's LaBeouf's character, Jake Moore, is the young up and coming proprietary trader who can either choose the route of greed or play it honorably. Near the beginning of the film Moore is attempting to get revenge on the man he blames for his mentor's death, with the help of Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas), but then his sole focus becomes a fusion project, and his means of funding become flawed, which, in my opinion, temporarily puts him in a category far more 'villainous' than Gekko's character. Gekko, meanwhile, initially seems to yearn to reconnect with his daughter --who also happens to be Moore's girlfriend and who basically blames Gekko for everything that has gone wrong in her life (and almost the world in general) in the subsequent years after his arrest-- but so quickly uses her for his own selfish means. However, the film then appears to become more of a story of atonement for Gekko's character with only a split-second of the 'Greed is Good' personality, accompanied by the slicked back hair look I'm sure fans from the original appreciated.

I'm still trying to recover from the "we've lost it all, the world is going to burn!" moment that took place in the film that seemed to fizzle as quickly as it broke ground. I feel that is a storyline Stone should have played up more. Let's see the gritty reality of losing mass of amounts of money, pandemonium from different angles of society, and then trying to rebuild. Also, if I never see another bubble or hear the word again in my life, I will be just fine. Yes, I get it: Stock market, real estate, economic and tulip bubbles. Stone's not very subtle imagery and overused "bubble" references become laughable. Now I'm wishing that I had kept count.

*Rabbit Rabbit*

*RABBIT RABBIT* Blogosphere!! :) Here's to October being a month of happiness and harmony. :)