THESE SIMPLE COMPLICATIONS ' free from the world where I built too many roads

THESE SIMPLE COMPLICATIONS

Welcome to These Simple Complications, Lydia's site. This isn't your typical blog site; instead, it's more of a this-is-awesome, I'm-going-to-share-it blogsite. While the concept (concocted here for the first time) might seem complicated, it's actually quite simple. Isn't that life, though?

| About Lydia | About TSC | Clear |

TAKE ME THERE!

JUMP TO TAGBOARD?

Well, it was fun while it lasted

Wednesday, July 21, 2010 x 12:27 PM

I'm seriously beginning to think I have some kind of a problem. I always, always, ALWAYS end up doing this. I start a project, I get majorly excited and more than a little obsessive over it, and then once it starts going wrong or slows down or gets boring or no one else is interested in it or I find something else, I drop it and completely forget about it. There's only been a few occasions where I've actually stuck something out, but usually I just drop it.

In other words, I'm closing down TSC.

It's kind of hard to describe why. Part of it, yes, is what I just described, but another part of it is time. Even cutting down the "real" blogging time, and making this into a sort of faux-blogging "awesome" thing I've got going on, it's still too much effort and too time consuming, or at least it feels that way. As much as I want to share my opinions and cool things I find with you guys, it's just.. I don't have the time, or even muse, for the most part. Today, for example, my first day with a computer for more than a week and a half, I spent at least a few hours enjoying myself on the internet - checking my facebook, some blogs, comics, and youtube accounts, and the like - then by the time I signed onto my deviantart account for the first time in ages (I tend to avoid going on regularly, because it always takes up so much time, and I'm lazy, although really I should just not let it all pile up) I had more than 60 notices; and almost none of those were even comments on my pitiful artwork! It was all notices about other people's art and journals and just a handful of comments. That took up more time, and then when I finally got around to dealing with TSC, I had no energy left. And that's not really the mindset I should have, is it? If I'm not enjoying this, and it's starting to become more like a chore, then I really don't think I should keep doing it. I'm trying to spend more time offline, as well, so perhaps shutting down this site is a good way to do that.

And anyways, I'm starting to think I'm more of a follower then a leader, at least on the internet. Meaning, instead of starting my own blogs and websites and making my own fabulous art (not that I can! xD), maybe I should just admire and comment on other people's blogs and websites and fabulous art. Instead of trying to show other people the awesome internet, maybe I'll just enjoy it instead. And, after all, there need to be people out there who are rooting others on, instead of trying to do it themselves. And if I spend my time commenting on other people's blogs (and I've learned that comments really do make a difference and help keep people's spirits up; if you read something on a blog that made you think or laugh, you really should comment!) and such, then maybe that's a better use of my time. Besides, it's not like anyone really cares what I have to say in this blog - I'd be better off just commenting on other people's blogs. That sounded bitter, didn't it? I didn't mean it to sound that way! Oh well, take it as you will.

So. Basically, I'm closing down TSC because I'm not enjoying it much anymore, even though it's got a pretty layout, and it's taking up too much time, even though I'm not even putting much effort out. And in its place, I'm going to enjoy the interwebs and spend more time reading blogs and enjoying myself - so yes, Amanda, I'll still be being a creepy stalker on BCF! :3 I'm also going to try and be on the internet less in general.

My main residence is now going to be on my deviantart account, notaclevername, so feel free to stop by and say hello there. Like I said, I'm not very active on it, but I will eventually get to your comments! I'm also going to move my desire to spread the awesome that I find to the DA journal, so I might occasionally post there, but it won't be anything serious.

And lastly, you can always email me at aquarterpastwonderful@gmail.com if you ever want to talk to me!

Thanks to everyone who's stopped by and commented during my two or so month-long experience with blogging. It's been fun!

listening to: The Circle of Life by Elton John
icon by Crushed Rainbows

1 Comments

x x x

The Riders of Rohan

Friday, July 16, 2010 x 10:11 AM

How nerdy is it that I like listening to soundtracks?
Don't answer that question.

I don't actually listen to soundtracks that often, but there is some music from certain movies that I really like. I have music from Up (you have to admit, the main theme is amazing), Harry Potter, various Disney films (can you say I'll Make a Man out of You?) and the Lord of the Rings on my ipod. To my defense, the music from Harry Potter and LOTR is owned by my sister - she has the cds. However, there's no excuse for me putting it on my ipod, so let's just move on.

We all know that the Harry Potter music is amazing, but I think the Lord of the Rings soundtracks might be even better. Might. I can't even describe how epic and passionate the music is. It really fits the movies perfectly, and adds to the amazingness. Howard Shore, the composer, did a phenomenal job. If you've never seen Lord of the Rings, you simply have to. So much so, that if you are reluctant, don't let me know; there's is a very good chance that I will find you, force feed you popcorn, and make you watch all three of them in a row. Yeah, they're that good.

But let's not talk about my obsession with Lord of the Rings right now, because I could go on for hours, and I'm already starting to become incoherent. But, like I said, I really love the soundtrack music to the three movies - and yes, I have a favorite. If you've seen the Two Towers, you'll know about the Riders of Rohan. I love love love that theme, because it's so haunting and pretty and just.. epic. That's the only word that can describe it. Even if you've never seen the movies - especially if you haven't - you should still listen to this theme. So, shall we?

It's a little slow in the beginning, and my favorite part doesn't come in until later, around 2:26. But then, at 2:54.. with that single violin.. ahh, it's too much. I'm practically swooning right now, and I haven't even talked about Aragorn yet.

Do any of you like listening to soundtracks? And, if so, are your favorites even nerdier than mine?

In case you were wondering, this post was inspired by the fact that I'm planning a movie marathon of all three LOTR movies at once with my friend. Yeah. Also, more bad news - my sister is going to Brown next week (the school) for a school program thing, and she's taking my laptop with her. This wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that she managed to destroy the desktop this week, too. She didn't crash it - she got the Blue Screen of Death up. Mhmm. So now I have no computer, except for my mom's computer, which tends to be temperamental and is extremely annoying to use. My Uncle's going to try and fix our desktop, and he'll probably manage to do so, but I don't know how long that will take. So I'm out a computer for another week, and then my friend's who were staying with us this week are coming back the week after my sister gets back, so I'm probably not going to get on much then either.

Which makes a total of two weeks that I probably won't be on much. Normally I'd be annoyed, but to be honest; it's kind of nice being without a computer. Having a computer is a colossal time-suck, and I'm enjoying not having the ability to be on all the time. Maybe even once I get my normal computer back I won't go on as much. We'll have to see. Anyways, I'll try to get on when I can, but have a great few weeks.

listening to: The Riders of Rohan by the
London Philharmonic Orchestra & London Voices
icon by bloombabii

0 Comments

x x x

Video killed the radio star

Sunday, July 11, 2010 x 6:34 PM

I love youtube. In fact, I probably have an unhealthy obsession with it. So, allow me to share a plethora of videos with you guys. You certainly don't have to watch them all, because that would probably take a really long time, but they're all awesome videos. So please watch the ones that seem interesting!

Let's start with jpmetz, who is so funny. This is the first video of her's I saw, and it literally just had me laughing and smirking the entire time. I want a bird like that, too!

Do any of you watch Craig Ferguson? I never remember to watch him if I'm up that late, but I do like to youtube some of his interviews and shows. His interview with Rupert Grint is hilarious, especially with the whole ice cream truck ordeal; his interview with Tom Felton is funny, too, even if it get a little boring towards the end. And while we're on the subject of Harry Potter, is anyone excited for the next movie? It'll probably be terrible, but no doubt I'm going to be seeing it at midnight.

While we're on the subject of trailers, Easy A, which unfortunately doesn't come out until September, looks really good! Definitely one that I hope to be seeing - and it helps that the main character is a red head, of course. (;

Let's take a break from our serious video-watching and listen to some music. I'm Only Happy When it Rains by Garbage is a good song that my sister showed me (she's into that band, right now, apparently.) Irony is always fun. This Too Shall Pass by OK GO is a really cool music video, and it's a pretty catchy song. Currently, I'm obsessed with this song, Shark in the Water by V V Brown. It's so good! Baby there's a shark in the water (water), I caught them barkin' at the moon, better be soon.. If you watch teen nick/degrassi, you've probably heard it, but it's a really good song. Another song that I really like is this one, by the winner of the EuroVision contest this year. It's a little strange because of her accent, but it's catchy and she's adorable. Here's an awesome home-made music video by possibly the awesomest person ever, Ghsoti. Bo Burnham is a fantastically inappropriate, crack-up singer, and I'm Bo Yo is a great piece of art by him - be warned, though, it's pretty inappropriate. And to finish up with music, we've all heard TiK ToK by Ke$ha, right? But have you heard the parody of it?

These aren't exactly parodies, but they are sketches that make fun of things, so close enough: this one is a really funny, albeit kind of terrible, sketch reenacting the BP oil spill; and this one is so funny. It's making fun of the sameness of all "award winning" movies - it made me laugh so hard, so even though it's not on youtube, I had to include it. Here is someone making fun of teenagers in a not-so-subtly sarcastic way (bewarned, it's really long). And if you're looking for a really cool stop-action type of video, this one is really entertaining and creative.

Let's see..

How about some community channel? She's possibly the best thing EVER on youtube, aside from Charlie, Alex, and the vlogbrothers. Here are some of my favorites of hers, and they all just make me laugh and laugh - plus they're all true. Be careful, though; you could end up watching hours of her videos if you don't watch out! Ready? Try, couldn't fit another bite, please say yes or no, what are you wearing, and grocery stores.

Of course, although she might be the Queen of youtube, there's tons of other awesome and hilarious users out there who make videos. Sxephil, anyone? (I can't pick out one of his videos - all of them are hilarious. Just watch a few!) Or the vlogbrothers (the nerdfighter FAQ is a good place to start, or just a random video works too! How about, this one?) And then there's Charlie, and no matter what he does, it's always funny and adorable and fricken amazing. (And he's a redhead! Kinda.) But wait! We can't forget about Charlie's best mate, Alex, aka Nerimon aka Alex, who is also adorable and funny and hilarious, although he's a bit less family friendly. But that usually just makes him funnier! This video of his is funny, although it has a lot of stuff about his music in it which might not be appealing, even though Pokemon What Happened to You is a brilliant song if you're a pokemon nerd. (Um. :D) Also, another "big" youtube star is Meekakitty, and she's pretty awesome, even if she can get a little annoying sometimes. Here's one of her funnier videos. Oh; how about the name that practically everyone knows? Nigahiga is practically legend, as are his really funny videos.

Hold up - we can't forget about the smaller youtube stars, now can we? Here are some awesome videos from lesser known youtubers, all of whom I really like.

Of course, I've gotta mention the most common uses of youtube - for stupid, funny videos or for watching tv shows, movies, and anime. (I'm not one to watch a ton of anime, or even really to read a lot of manga, but I have to say the besssstt anime ever is Ginga Densetsu Weed, which my awesome aforementioned friend Ghosti got me into. If you like warrior's, you'll probably be into GDW, although it's a bit.. darker. And then, although this isn't anime, I'm half-watching the Watership Down tv series because I loved the book when I was a kid.)

Ooh, how about some gross science-y stuff? You can watch a really, really cool video about a carpal tunnel syndrome surgery if you're into that kind of stuff. Warning: if you're squeamish, don't click! But it's really fascinating - you can see all of the stuff in his hand! Is that fat that's spilling out? I wouldn't know.

And lastly, because I stole the title from this song, Video Killed the Radio Star by the Buggles. I don't overly like the song, but it's alright. And I like that one lyric - it fit this post splendidly, so.

Overloaded on videos? Me too. Sorry it got a little bit like "Youtube 101" there towards the end, but I feel it's all vital stuff that everyone should know! (; Besides, this isn't even half of all of the awesome stuff and people who are out there. I promise I won't usually post this much content all at once! Lucky for you I have family friends that are coming over from England to live at my house for a week, possibly two, and I'm not sure how much I'll be able to get on the computer. Which means I probably won't post for a while (that gives you guys some time to digest all this stuff, anyways) but comments might be a bit slow from me, too. We'll have to see. And I didn't really have time to edit through this post because I'm supposed to be cleaning, so it's a bit choppy. Hope your summer is going great so far!

listening to: V V Brown - Shark In The Water
icon by Fever Theif

2 Comments

x x x

I have a headache and also a new plan

Monday, July 5, 2010 x 10:42 PM

Arg. So when I got home yesterday afternoon, after a long shower and a fine appreciation of air conditioning, I started to type out a long blog with all sorts of fun and exorbitant details about my trip (which, by the way, was wonderful, partly because I met another Lydia, bringing up my number of other-Lydia's-who-I've-met up to three, including me, excluding a vague someone who told me once they knew a cat named Lydia. If you have a hankering to know more about it or just the project in general, which is called C.O.P., then you should email me at aquarterpastwonderful@gmail.com. It's a great project where you go out to Southern Jersey for a week and fix up, repair, and build houses for people. I really really recommend you go next year if you can; you don't even have to live in Jersey, because there was a girl from New York who went, and also one of my friends from Pennsylvania was there. You also don't even have to go with your Church, [yes it is a Christian thing] because you can go alone - or organize your youth group to go, too! - or possibly even be Christian. You just have to be in highschool. It's really long and hard [that's what she said] to explain, but it was such an amazing experience. Seriously, I recommend doing anything like this - for example, last April I went [with my Church, yes] to West Virgina to build houses, and even though it was vastly different, it was still amazing. Oh boy, I really digressed here. But, like I said, email me!)

Ahem. But then.. I just couldn't finish it (the post, that is. In case you got lost.) I kept putting off typing it up, and procrastinating, and suddenly it was Monday night, and I realized I really didn't want to have to type it all up, as much as I wanted to share it with you guys. But, let's be honest, who's even going to read this post? Okay, maybe a few people, mostly my friends who are just kind enough to glance through it, get bored, and then possibly comment. It didn't really seem worth it. And, I realized I didn't want this blog to turn into something I was dreading having to do. (although whether or not that's just blogging in general, or just this post, I don't know. It's probably the former, though, knowing me.)

So I've decided to change the rules. Instead of this being a Lydia-posts-things-about-her-life-once-every-week-or-so, this is going to be an awesome site. And I don't mean it is an awesome site, (although it is xD) I mean that it's going to be, literally, an awesome site. Instead of "blog" site, or "design" site, you get an "awesome" site.

Now, you're probably thinking that I've gone insane. And indeed, I probably have. Nevertheless, this is my plan: I'm going to sporadically (daily, weekly, once every three months, depending on how I feel - and it will change all the time) post awesome things, things that I think are awesome and that make your life, the internet, and just everything in general a little more awesome and a little less sucky. (yes, I realize that I'm channeling my inner Nerdfigher right now. And?)

What kind of things, you ask? Maybe pictures. Maybe drawings. Maybe graphics. Maybe quotes, books, other blog's posts, blogs, fanfics, videos, sites, anything! Everything! Anything that's awesome or interesting or pretty or ugly or fascinating can end up here. I also plan on, from time to time, posting opinions of mine in the hopes of sparking debates or a sharing of opinions and discussion. I'm also probably going to keep doing Sunday Secrets (although, maybe not every week, or even on Sunday. Just whenever.) because it fits nicely with my goal for the kind of content I want.

Wait a minute - Lydia, are you stealing this idea from 100 Awesome Things?? No, mysterious questioner, indeed I am not. Although I do love that site. In fact, I'm more likely stealing it from Hail Mary who used to do an "embracing Mondays" feature, where she would post tons of things that made her happy on Mondays, or from Owlssayhoot who likes to post cool things, too. And in fact, I had planned to (outrageously rip off Mary) create an "Embracing the Awesome Internet" or something along those lines and post awesome things even when this was just a normal blog site, and not an awesome site. Cool, well, now I'm doing that, but all the time.

The most important thing: what does this mean for you, dear reader? (whoever you are. Not that I have many, no doubt. ILY) It means that you can check out my site for a little bit of awesome whenever you feel like you need it, or you can overdose and check it out EVERY SINGLE TIME I UPDATE.

And how often should you check this site? However often you want to. Maybe I'll post too much awesome for you to intake all at once, or maybe I'll post too little, but either way, check out (and leave a comment, perhaps sharing your own bits of awesome or just opinions?) TSC whenever you want a dose of awesome. I promise that I won't ever leave this site or shut it down without first telling you guys - even if it's been months and months, I'm still around, and you can email me or leave a comment (or cbox comment, if I put one of those up) and I'll get back to you eventually, I swear. I won't leave without a goodbye. I just don't intend on making this a huge priority. If I find some awesome stuff, then I'll post. If I have something I want to share, then I'll post. If I don't, or I just don't feel like it for a while, then I won't. No apologizes, no expectations. It is what it is - I just don't know what that number is exactly, yet.

So, let's see how this turns out, shall we? Who knows how long it'll last before I change my mind yet again. Tell me what you think, please. If you're confused, as you probably are, seeing as I'm not explaining myself well, then just stick around for a little while - you'll see what I'm talking about soon enough.

Also, don't worry! I'll still be commenting on lot's of people's blogs (BCF *cough*). Indeed, I'd say this just gives me more time to blogsurf!

I'll get started on making some changes (layout, content, etc. Small things. First thing? To stop using so many parenthesis.) possibly tomorrow. Right now I have a headache, and work today was awful - it was so hot I literally thought I was going to melt. Blaahha. So I blame that for the complete foolishness and senselessness of this post, which indeed seems foolish, and upon rereading, is senseless and has too many commas.

7/6/10 EDIT: New layout! You like? I love. D: I'm feeling really good about this, guys!

listening to: 40' by Franz Ferdinand
icon by.. I don't remember! :c

Labels: blog, important thing, last blog hopefully ever, what's the point of labels anyways?

8 Comments

x x x

J-pop, K-pop

Saturday, June 26, 2010 x 8:35 AM

My twin sister is crazy. (That's right, I have a twin. Fancy that, huh?) She always goes through phases in music, movies, and TV shows, where she'll become besotted with a particular band, genre, show.. whatever. And she usually ends up dragging me along with her, showing me all of the stuff she's dug up about this particular thing, and getting the song (be it a regular song or a TV show theme song, either or) stuck in my head.*

This time? She's landed on J-pop and K-pop. How she got here? I don't even know. (Also, the X-files, but don't even get me started on that) When I asked her why she liked some of their songs, she told me, "I like listening to pop in other languages, because I can't understand what they're saying, therefore I can tolerate it." You might be able to tell that she's not really big on the whole Ke$ha, Britney, Miley Cyrus idea. She's more of a classic rocker.

To be honest, though, when I look at some of the songs she's shown me, they seem pretty much the same as the pop we have in America. The only difference is the language. Let's look at some K-pop, shall we?

And J-pop?

Yep, that's the extent of what I've listened to from these two music cultures. I could very well be wrong in my classification of the three songs I've posted, so if anyone is into J-pop/K-pop or knows about it, feel free to correct me. After all, I'm just a stupid American!

Like I said before, to be honest, they remind me of American pop songs. Same kind of dancing, and I'm sure the lyrics are about the same kinds of things, too. Though, the dancing is kind of endearing to me, because (especially the J-pop song) it reminds of the Backstreet boys and *NSYNC, both of which I was into when I was little. Ah, boy bands. But that's a subject for an entirely different post.

Apparently Ke$ha agrees with me. She's done a cover of the song Run Devil Run, which, if you listened to the K-pop videos I posted, is the same song as the first one. And while it's done in an.. er.. shall we say, special Ke$ha way, if that doesn't prove my point, I don't know what does!

Although it's not really something I'm into, I find myself growing more fond of this genre the more I listen to it. It's not something I anticipate getting into, but it's nice to have been exposed to a taste of it. Besides, some of the music videos are really cute - I love the hats in the second K-pop song. I also have to admit that the Asian dialects really fit the pop genre. Just like the German language really fits hard rock.

Another song my sister was into at some point was Comme Des Enfants by Cœur de pirate. This was a while ago, but I still remember the song because I absolutely adore it. It's in French, and it's such a pretty, pretty song. I think I even have it on my ipod. I highly recommend you listen to it.

Are any of you into foreign music or K-pop/J-pop? Or just pop in general?

One last thing: I'm going to be away from this Sunday to next Sunday building houses in New Jersey, so if I get any emails or comments or anything, I won't be able to respond to them until next week! I'll make a post about it when I get back. Have a great week, guys!

*I feel like it should be noted that I mean this all in a teasing, non-spiteful way (; She doesn't really get obsessed with things quite that easily, even if she does get interested in things to the point of looking them up in depth before moving onto something else. Also, apparently my icon is of Daisuke Asakura, a famous J-pop singer. xD

listening to: Comme Des Enfants by Cœur de pirate
icon by Ritsuka

Labels: music, random

0 Comments

x x x