Video Blog

Okay so I have been thinking about creating my own video blog, to practice film editing, something I am really interested in. Only problem is, I don't have anything to video blog about. I have been doing some research, and by that I mean watching peoples' video blogs that have gotten a lot of hits for some inspiration. And you want to know what I have discovered? That video blogging is a lot like regular blogging just through voice. But I still feel like I would feel weird speaking out the thoughts in my head instead of writing them down, I don't know, maybe it's the fact that when writing you can delete some things easily.

Well, it's a work in progress. If you have any video blogging ideas I would love to hear them. Thanks world!

Great Music Exchange of 2010

So the great music exchange of 2010 happened on Saturday night, three best friends, three different music playlists.

Here's some of the great music I got out of it:

Animal Collective: What a band! Their new album Merriweather Post Pavillion is one of the best things I have heard in a while. Especially the song My Girls, which makes you feel like everything around you going in slow motion.











Heartless Bastards: My friend Skylar introduced me to this band and I immediately liked them right off the bat. The album starts off good with Into the Open and just keeps getting better and better. The lead singer, Erika Wennerstrom, has one of the coolest voices I have ever heard. It is so different then normal women singers, but it blends perfectly with the music.










Yeah Yeah Yeahs: You cannot make a list of amazing music without including the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. And there new album It's Blitz is proof that a band can get better in age.










Grace Potter and the Nocturnals: Probably one of my new favorite artists. After seeing them play live at school I had to buy there second album. They are phenomenal, and for a Florence and the Machine fan, Grace kind of reminds me of an American version of Florence Welch. There music isn't similar but the energy they bring to the stage is similar.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

On Sunday, Skylar forced me to go the Grace Potter and the Nocturnal's concert that was on campus. I was only forced because I had a lot of homework that needed to get done but I am so glad I took a homework break for the concert.

Oh my God! What a concert it was! It was unbelievable and Grace Potter is probably one of the coolest people ever. She was rocking out like there was no tomorrow, dancing around stage without a care in the world. And her outfit, if only I had brought my camera so you could have seen it. She was wearing a bright magenta sparkly dress and looked so out of place amongst her long haired beard wearing band mates, but at the very same time like she belonged.

You want to know what the coolest thing about Grace Potter, besides her unbelievable talent, she went to St. Lawrence for two years before dropping out to pursue her music career. But St. Lawrence is where the band came together, it makes me proud to be a Laurentian. It is a nice little reminder that if you take matters into your own hands and control your own life you can do whatever you want.

Thank you Grace Potter for reminding me of that.

Let Me Catch You Up

I know I haven't posted in a while, but junior year of college is not easy. I seriously have not had a free minute to myself, not even this weekend.

So let me catch you up on my ordinary life that is a stressed out college student. Over the weekend instead of staying on campus I decided to take a mini road trip with my bff Skylar to see our other bff Carolyn who transferred from SLU to RIT. I know you are all probably wondering why I didn't stay on my own campus for the first weekend back but I just couldn't. After being abroad the party life at school just seems immature and unnecessary. You take a step back and you look at it and you say to yourself, "where is the fun in any of this?" I have no idea where it is, and I wasn't planning on looking for it.

In Rochester we didn't do much, I know lame. But it was nice taking a break and just hanging out for a change. We went to the women's RIT basketball game, but probably the best part of our visit was taking a trip to see Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglas' grave stones. I know sweet right?










































And the best part is I got some sweet graveyard photos out of it that I am leaking out to you before they will be posted to flickr!

The Internship Process

Since I am in my junior year my goal for this summer is to land a legitimate internship. I tried and failed last year but I am hoping my new enhanced maturity and experience will help me out.

However, there is always this voice inside my head that keeps reminding me that you are not the only one out there looking for an internship and you are by no means the only one with connections. There are millions of kids out there just like you who want the same thing as you and are just as smart as you. So how do you make yourself memorable in a pool of ordinary people?

What I have figured out is that you need to get as much relevant experience as possible while in school. Employers these days are not looking for fresh minds that they can mold, they want minds that have been molded and now need to be finished off.

But how are you supposed to know what you want to do? Isn't that the purpose of the internship? Not anymore. I believe that while you are in school you should join and try as many things as possible. Do you like to writer...join the school paper, like to talk...join the school radio station, like to be the center of attention...join the school's television station. Do it all because eventually you will come upon something you like and from there you can work towards the internship of your dreams and maybe the job of your dreams.

When it comes to the internship process make yourself as far away from ordinary as you possibly can. Here you want to be different.

Possible Internet Glitch

I don't know what it's been lately, but recently I have been getting about 10 hits per day to my usual three. Don't get me wrong I am certainly not complaining, some Internet exposure for my blogs would be nice. However, so far no one has written me any comments. If it's because you don't like what I am writing about please send me comments with things that you want to hear. This blog isn't just supposed to be about me, it's supposed to be about the ordinary people out there reading it. So tell me what you want to hear and I will love to write about it.

Hope to hear from you my anonymous public.

S.F

My iPod

Every time someone looks at my iPod I feel like they are judging me. Yes, I do have some Miley Cyrus on there, but Party in the USA is such a catchy tune, and have you ever really listened to the lyrics of The Climb, they are quite beautiful and inspiring. But I do listen to other music too. My new favorite artist is Florence + the Machine, she makes you want to throw your head back and sway and yet at the very same time I can workout to her music at the gym. Norah Jones has also become a new interest mostly because of her new song Chasing Pirates. I mean who wouldn't want to listen to a song with a title that includes the word Pirates. Whenever I listen to her I just picture myself sitting in a meadow, in a floral sun dress with dandelions flying all around me, kind of like the opening scene to My Summer of Love.

Despite having what I like to think, sophisticated taste I still hate when people look at my iPod. My iPod is like a piece of me but I don't think it defines me and that's the scary part. The moment a person takes a look into your Library it is like they think they have figured you out. People are more complicated then their itunes library,they have feelings, and who ever said having eclectic taste was a bad thing.

I Can Dream Right?

I like to think of myself as creative and clever but the truth is I am really neither of these things. When something is on my mind, I don't paint a masterpiece or compose the next great hit. No, what do I do, I talk about it, or in this case write it down. And let's face it, I am not very good at writing.

Thank god for blogs though, it's strange, I was never a big diary person. There is something about writing down how you feel and posting it on the Internet for millions to see. You can be anonymous but at the same time you are writing for a purpose. You are hoping that while googling something your blog will pop up and someone will be intrigued enough to read it. Maybe they will even like it and post it to their twitter or facebook account, giving it more publicity and maybe, just maybe it will circulate around the web so much that some producer will find it and ask you to write their next original screenplay. Just dreams though really, but then again it could happen right?

But of course you need to be a brilliant blog writer, just like you need to be brilliant to compose a music or creative to create a masterpiece that expresses your feelings. I am not brilliant enough at anything, I am good. I am good at taking photographs, good at playing tennis but never brilliant. I never seem to stand out when it matters, and in today's world you need to stand out.

For once I wish I wasn't so ordinary.

London

You know how some people feel like they were born in the wrong decade, some in the wrong bodies...well I feel like I was born in the wrong country. Everything about England, especially London screams Stephanie. From the urban trend spots of Shoreditch to the night life of Camden. I was meant to walk those streets and ride the tube, listen to my iPod and not have to bother with anyone around me. I could feel alone and yet always be surrounded by people, how ideal is that? I could dress anyway I wanted, from black skinny jeans and converse to glittery tops and funky hats and not feel out of place. I could express myself through my clothing and not stick out like a soar thumb. Here, in the suburbs I feel no need to get up and get dressed because I’m not going anywhere. So I get lazy and put on a t-shirt and well of course skinny jeans, but no one sees me anyways. I am 100% alone and the only means of transportation is in my Subaru. I have to actually make an effort to see people and the most socializing I get is when I go to the gym, which is actually one of the only reasons I go. There, I can listen to my music and not have to interact with anyone while still being surrounded with people, something I cherish because it is the closest thing to London.

So here I am, it’s 12 on a Sunday night and I feel myself slipping back into the depression that hit me when I was about to leave London over two weeks ago. I am scared to go back to school because what’s there for me...nothing. You’re in the middle of nowhere in Upstate New York and there is nothing to do. My outfits usually consist of sweatpants and sweatshirts and a pair of snow boots because if it’s not snowing there is either snow on the ground or those are the only shoes that will keep your feet warm. So there is absolutely nothing to look forward to. I feel like the school just sucks out all of your individuality.

I think I can admit this to you, but I sometimes I get tired of being ordinary.

Every Moment Has a Song

I know my last blog posts have been very depressing lately but I blame the weather. So instead of boring you with the lack of activity in my life (today I went to Bed Bath and Beyond and bought toiletries), I thought I would propose a theory I have been thinking of.

You know when you are listening to your iPod on shuffle and you start to dose off and forget about what song you're listening to? Well, I love when that happens because when I eventually tune back in and become cognizant of what song is playing I realize that the song defines the moment. Every moment in your life should have a song that goes with it. I mean moments in movies always have background music so why shouldn't your life.

So the next time you are listening to your iPod on the train or while walking to class think about that moment and how the song that is playing is your song for that moment. You may not be in a movie but why can't we live like we are?

2010 Baby

So now that New Years is over, thank god, I have actually come to terms that it is 2010. What completely blows my mind is the fact that 10 years ago I could not tweet to the entire world about random things in my life that are not interesting and frankly not important, I could not send messages to my friends that looked like emails but were from mobile devices, and I could not sit in front of my computer for hours on end and not get bored (ten years ago if you were sitting in front of your computer for that long it was because of your dial up). Yes, remember dial up; it prevented us from being able to use the house phone and internet at the same time. House phones, do you remember those too?

But anyways, I am quite excited for this new year, I am going to be turning 21 (finally) and I will be one year away from graduating, which although it seems scary I think I am about ready. It's probably because I think once I graduate, my life will become like what is in the movies and won't be so ordinary. But then again I thought that about college and look at me, writing blog posts during my free time. Oh well...some things never change.

Embrace your inner ordinary!