It is common knowledge that the point of October is Halloween, what with dress up and ghosts; pumpkins, with carving and all the pumpkin-y food; and boots, scarves, and sweaters.
But that being said, I recently found something that outranks basically all but Halloween in my list of reasons to love October.
Photo Credit: Ashleigh Izienicki (@missupacey) via insharee.com
Started in 2009 by artist Jake Parker, it has since grown into a worldwide event.
At this point, many popular artists have created their own iterations of the basic prompt. Like @missupacey ‘s Witchtacular or @lyfeillustration ‘s Goddess Lyfeink16.
This year I have been following many of these artists working through Instagram. I also happen to just browse the art the rest of the world is doing.
It has, thus far, been a really really cool experience because no matter the level of art experience, people who like art are united for a whole month.
The best part is that since it is a self challenge, there aren’t really any hard and fast rules. The art is really up to the artist, they can choose to follow a prompt for all 31 days, parts of a prompt, no prompt, or only certain days.
While I don’t consider myself an artist per say, I do really enjoy art, so I decided to take part in the challenge.
It has been an amazingly eye-opening experience so far.
My Day 6: @missupacey’s Witchtacular prompt
While I hold no candle to the likes of @missupacey or @lyfeillustration, I have found that I have grown so much in technical ability and ability to translate my creative vision into an actual tangible image.
But most importantly, since starting (a day late albeit) I am finding that I feel happier.
I have a bad habit of reading a lot of good books very quickly. I’ll pick one up and think hmm seems interesting enough and then all of a sudden my Saturday is gone. I realize that somehow I am now reading in the dark.
The last word has been read, the cover closed and I want the rest of the story right then and there instantly in my hands. Forget food or anything else. After a cursory search of my shelves I realize I don’t have the second, third, fourth, tenth, or umpteenth book. My heart breaks.
In point two seconds my phone is in hand as I research the next book.
I religiously read the description hoping to glean just a little bit of information before my greedy fingers move to order it.
I move the mouse down till I find the order button.
My heart more than breaks it is razed, obliterated, ground into nothingness.
Preorder.
Receive order on November 2.
I slide out of my seat into a puddle on the floor. The middle of the school year. I can’t help but think, I’ll bet a million bucks I’ll have a calc test to study for, and goodness knows how much other homework.
So I give up, I order it and put it on my shelf to look at me and shake it’s head in disappointment. Every once in a while I’ll look up at it like a scolded kid as I try to figure out the slope of a tangent line before it costs me my grade the next day.
Music is the most powerful of weapons. It is a loaded gun to your mind and you pull the trigger when you press play. The beat is the rounds going BANG, BANG, BANG. The feeling you get, the euphoric experience you get whilst listening to that song is the bullet piercing the depths of your mind, the target.
Music is a drug. Once you listen to a really good song, you’re hooked. You need it. You can’t focus without it. When a song is stuck in your head, it’s like the peak of addiction. It is the moment you can’t go back because the song has ensnared you so deeply in its rhythm, that your mind can’t think of anything else. The only remedy is listening to it again and again and again.
Music is like a flower. Some songs are like deep maroon roses. They’re beautiful to look at, but they’re infested with thorns. The words will sink into your brain like a prick to the finger. Some songs are like smiley daisies. The message sent is that of the bright yellow center and the delicate, white petals.
The thing that is so desirable about music is the other-worldly experience you get. Even if it’s for a split second, one envisions another world while listening to a song or lyric. Each song delivers a message. Peppy songs can lift your attitude. Love songs give you a warm feeling. Sad songs can give you reassurance in a blue stage of your life. The list goes on.
Music is universal. Try listening to a song in a language you don’t know at all. Even if you don’t know what it’s about, you know how the artist feels in a particular moment. You get the feeling. Music is one rare thing that almost everyone can enjoy. Whether it be a beat, a lyric, a voice, or the inter-workings of a piece of music.
A song can go down in history for you. Sometimes I’ll hear a song that is practically a decade old and feel the same I did when I first heard it. A song can’t change, just like a book or movie. There’s something so comforting about the stability of music. If you are totally in love with one song, nothing can stop you from reliving the same experience again and again.
The thing is, I’m not the average “music person.” The person whose earbud is almost surgically attached to their ear. I don’t even own a speaker. I don’t even really listen to music all that much. But when I find a good song, album, or artist, it almost overtakes me. So try listening to a new song, nothing like you’ve ever heard before. You may just surprise yourself.
Some adults nowadays blame technology for the current generation’s immaturity, saying that we’re obsessed or addicted to technology. Now, I’m not denying that we use quite a bit of technology, but I don’t understand how it is seen as so terrible. Kids now have an outlet that adults didn’t have; but that’s all technology is: an outlet. Kids aren’t obsessed with technology because they want to waste their lives in front of screens, but because those screens can make their lives better
TV shows allow children to escape their lives and fall into different ones. Whether it be a show about rich, teenage socialites or FBI agents solving crime, they can temporarily forget the next test or project. Children can take a break from the stresses society places on them and dive into this new fairy tale.
Music isn’t a way to defy adults and headphones aren’t a weapon of that defiance. Rap songs, however vulgar to certain listeners, can give a narrative to a child going through the worst. The same goes for a child who drowns out their inner demons with rock or metal. Pop songs aren’t these three-minute snippets of lifeless beats and strums, but rather anthems that give children something harmless to identify with.
And while social media has its own problems, these websites allow kids to find people who are experiencing the same struggles. It is amazing how many grief support groups there are online. Even though teenagers don’t always see who they’re communicating with, the advice given to them can help make a trying situation that much less difficult.
Finally, if it weren’t for adults, the Internet and all these “harmful” websites wouldn’t have even been created. Children aren’t the CEO’s of Netflix and YouTube and they shouldn’t be ridiculed for simply enjoying something.
These days, I listen to music more than ever. I even need to listen to music when I brush my teeth. When I hear a song I like, I will go on YouTube to look at the music video to see how the artist expresses the song. But have you ever experienced getting annoyed by a song because you listened to it too much? I might have a solution for that.
Recently I noticed a really cool thing about listening to music. I noticed that when I don’t see the music video of the song, I get tired of the song quicker than when I see the music video.
For example, the song “Light It Up,” by Major Lazer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2LpOUwca94 . Most people would probably say the repetitive beat would make them sick of listening to the song quickly. Also since it is overplayed on the radio, one might think it is annoying.
But to me, because I saw the music video, I can listen to it many times without getting annoyed. Whenever I listen to this song, the music video of the cool animation figures dancing plays in my head. I never get annoyed or sick of the image in my head. So if you find a song you like, before you overplay it and get tired of it, go on YouTube and watch the music video. I don’t know if this will work for everyone, but I hope this works for you. It is magical.
Cannes 2016 is coming to a close, and as the celebrities, or more likely, their assistants, pack up their designer gowns, suits, and shoes, and prepare for their next red carpet here are my favorite looks.
Kapoor announced that her Ellie Saab dress would have an Indian element to it, and this dress did not disappoint.
Bella Hadid
While she may not have graced the red carpet in this look, that does not make it any less gorgeous. Hadid’s fresh, dewy makeup, sleek ponytail, and simple white ensemble are a perfect fit for summer. Christian Dior’s property behind Hadid doesn’t hurt either.
Amal Alamuddin and George Clooney
Power. Couple. Alamuddin’s pale yellow gown is one many could not pull off, but, obviously, Alamuddin is not one of those people.
Victoria Beckham
Posh always kills it, and this masculine inspired piece is no exception.
Blake Lively
While Lively was as Cannes promoting her movie The Shallows, she also happened to promote the Cinderella movie when she arrived on the carpet bearing a striking resemblance to the princess herself. But, Lively pretty much is a princess, so I’m not surprised.
In the season 6 trailer Bran Stark is seen with what appears to be the White Walker leader. While I believe this is a dream I think the White Walker King is looking for Bran. But why would the White Walker King want to find Bran you might ask. It’s simple Near the end of season 5 during the White Walkers siege on the Wildling camp there was 4 horseman ominously watching the battle from the cliffs overlooking the camp. At some point, one of these horsemen joined the battle and was killed by Jon Snow. Because he died they are probably looking for someone to take his place. I think The White Walker King wants Bran to take his place making Bran one of the four horsemen. Brans ability to warg may transfer when he turns into a white walker giving him the ability to control the living and the dead. It only makes sense that the white walkers find a new horseman because George RR Martin is clearly alluding to the four horsemen of the apocalypse and three just doesn’t cut it.
Do you ever feel like you want to read about interesting things but you aren’t sure if you can handle the standard amount of interesting? If so, the subreddit “Mildly Interesting” is for you! This subreddit is is the perfect place for people who want something a little more than the subreddit “Not Interesting” and a little less than the subreddit “Interesting“. You can expect things like potatoes in the middle of the woods, a carrot pile found by a dog and his owner in the middle of the woods, a pile of (alive) dogs found by a carrot and its owner, and coupons that don’t expire for 90 years! My all-time favorite is a submission is pictures of George Orwell’s 1984 book cover, which becomes less censored with wear revealing the title. When I first saw that I thought, WOW, how mildly interesting. If you thought this post was mildly interesting, you’re in for a treat when you go to this subreddit.
I’ve never really been one of those people who has an emotional connection to music. I’ve played so many instruments that I could be a one woman band, but never did I actually feel a strong connection to playing.
I started out with the piano, “the base of all music” said my parents. I played and performed in recitals for years, hating every single moment of it. I remember the lessons seemed to drag on forever and ever, making a one hour lesson seem like a decade. My piano teacher, an older lady with no sense of humor or compassion for children, was also conveniently my next door neighbor; making it impossible to miss a lessons. Finally after a few years of sitting through endless lessons and playing out of key notes, I was allowed to stop play.
That freedom only lasted for a little bit. The next year I was forced to pick another instrument. This time not forced by my parents, but by my school.Every fifth grader in the public school system had to pick and instrument and either join the orchestra or the band. Of course I chose one of the largest/most awkward/ hardest to transport instruments. I chose the cello.
I played the cello for four years. I took private lessons, played in the school orchestra and played in 2 other out side orchestras. You could say I was a band nerd. I am one of the many that can actually say, ” that one summer at band camp…”.
Its been four years since I’ve played, and for some odd and unexplainable reason, I kind of miss it. I’m not really sure why because used to fight my mom every single day about practicing and I used to dread going to rehearsals or lessons.
I think I miss it because it resembles my childhood. A time where things were so much simpler, a time where the only thing I had to worry about was making sure that my Halloween costume was cool enough, a time where I wasn’t being forced to make decisions that were going to impact my future.
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