These Simple Complications

Well, it was fun while it lasted

2010-07-21T12:27:00.004-04:00

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

The Riders of Rohan

2010-07-16T10:11:00.002-04:00

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

Video killed the radio star

2010-07-11T18:34:00.000-04:00

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

I have a headache and also a new plan

2010-07-05T22:42:00.021-04:00

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

J-pop, K-pop

2010-06-26T08:35:00.008-04:00

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

Sunday Secrets and also, I have no life

2010-06-20T09:10:00.015-04:00

So you guys want to know what I just spent all day doing? Of course you don't, but I'm going to tell you anyways. I just spent the better part of the day adding the books from my real bookshelf to my online bookself, for lack of a better word. And I'm still not done - I only got up to about the first two shelves in my bookcase. Why? Why would I do this, you ask? Probably because I had nothing better to do. Also, I needed to get around to putting them up (well, I didn't need, but I wanted to.) A lot of them were really old books that I had read when I was younger. It was actually kind of fun to go through all of my old reads - although, I've come to the conclusion that I own way too many books. And I wouldn't give up any of them! The books I've added are only the books from my bookself, because I unfortunately don't remember all of the books I've ever read (that I don't own). Otherwise I probably would put all of them up there, but from now on I plan on updating the bookshelf with books I'm reading, and I plan on reading as much as possible this summer, so it's gonna grow. Just in case you were wondering. God, sometimes I forget how awesome books are. Especially old books that you cherish with all of your heart, and are just as good now as they were when you were ten.

Yeah, okay, it seems like I have no life. But wait, I have conclusive evidence arguing that I do indeed have a life! See, all of yesterday I was working at the pool, which sort of equals me going out and doing something. And then after work that night, I went to an end-of-the-year party (um, so it's not like it was a cool party, but it was still a party). And then this morning I was on facebook for a while, and then I went running, and then I watched the latest Pretty Little Liars on Hulu, (so.. maybe I'm watching that show. But, uh, yes, even though it's a completely stupid show, and the only guy who is actually hot so far seems to be Detective Wilden, and yes, it's a pretty bad rendition of the books.. I have a fondness for bad ABC soaps, and I liked the books) and then after that I started to update my bookshelf. Ahem. But after I finish up this post, my friend's coming over, and we're going to watch the O.C. until the early hours of the night. Ah, Ryan and Seth, how I love you.

Alright, so I still don't have a life, but I'm extremely content with my non coolness.

Moving on to the real reason that I'm posting today, I've decided to start posting something every Sunday when I can. A specific something. See, I've always loved reading PostSecret every Sunday for as long as I can remember, and I want to share the ones that made me stop and think, or laugh, or feel sad each week. I highly encourage you guys to read PostSecret, because it's such a wonderful site. If you've never heard of it, it's basically a site where people mail their secrets to the creator of the site, Frank, and then he picks some of them and posts them up anonymously on the website each Sunday. Some of them also go into books, or into exhibits. It's a really great project, in my opinion.

This Sunday's were all Father's Day themed.
Which reminds me, Happy Father's Day to all of the fathers out there! I hope everyone is going out and spending lots of time with their fathers, if they can. I know I wish I could, although I'm probably just going to end up calling my dad and making cookies for him with my sister. But you guys don't need to hear a sob story. Really, guys, appreciate your Dads if you can. They mean a lot, even if they don't seem like it sometimes.

This one makes me very sad.
I hope he does, Secret Sender. I really hope he does.

listening to: Baby Driver by Simon & Garfunkel
and Billionaire by Travie McCoy
icon by Imperfect Lines

Finals, Finally Summer, & Finalized Plans

2010-06-17T13:19:00.015-04:00

See what I did there with that title? You know it was cool. You know it.

Moving on, my finals are finished as of today! I'M OFFICIALLY NOT A FRESHMAN ANYMORE! Now I'm a sophomore, the grade everyone forgets about. Well, I'm actually technically not done, because my school is really messed up, and I still have school on Friday and all of next week. Not that it matters, really, because no one shows up, and the teachers don't even take attendance. I'll probably show up Friday, and then not come the last week.

For the record, do you know what my history final essay was? (we had 50 multiple choice and one essay.) It was: What does it mean to be free?

Well, gee, way to be really general. It actually wasn't as bad as I anticipated, but still. Not fun. And I'm sure I did terribly. At least my English essay was incredibly easy. The one I chose to write was just to decide whether or not Juliet - as in Juliet Capulet from Romeo and Juliet, yeah, that one - was a modern woman, explain, and then to compare her to a petrarchan lady (using plenty of examples from the text, thank you very much). It was easy, but I'm sure I'll get a bad grade on the essay part, simply because I'm terrible at writing under pressure. I basically wrote out lazy sentences, came up with half-conclusive evidence, and then filled in the gaps with BS.

My math final wasn't too bad. Math is math. And then, for my science final, I started to freak out while studying for it. A lot of it was physics, and I really hate physics, and some of the stuff I didn't even remember or didn't understand in the first place. Then I started to get depressed, thinking that I was going to fail my science final and consequently fail at life and that I should just drop out of school, get a van, and travel America, selling tattoos to people. Yeah, it was bad. I even started to play depressing music: All Good Things by Nelly Furtado. (I couldn't even pick something classy, like Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley.)

But it turned out to be extremely easy, probably my easiest final, and I shouldn't have worried. Literally, my teacher just took all of the questions from our past tests and quizzes and copied and pasted them onto our final. Since I studied from my tests, it was like I was studying the answers to the questions. I got through all 134 questions in about 35 minutes, it was that easy.

It's finally summer, guys! How exciting is this?! Even though I have to lifeguard a lot at my job, every day when I'm not working I plan on either reading, hanging out with friends, or going out and doing exciting stuff. (and blogging pffft of course) It's going to be a great summer, I can tell!

And lastly, I finished up this blog. Took me long enough. So it's officially (despite the fact that I already have 4 posts up) up for business!

Oops, one last thing: The Sons of Admirals are the coolest (new) thing ever! Gotta love Charlie and Alex and Ed and Tom. <3

"You have one of the least subtle taste in jewelry that I've ever seen in a woman!"

listening to: Satellites by September
icon by Crushed Rainbows

Live long and prosper

2010-06-13T11:31:00.011-04:00

Warning: I could very well have a problem, and I probably shouldn't watch these kinds of sci-fi movies. Oh, well, at least I'm happy.

GUYS STAR TREK IS AMAZING! I'd always heard it was great, and I'd always wanted to see it, but it had been one of those movies that I'd "get around to seeing". Well, I finally got around to seeing it with my Dad, and it was great! So so good! Spock was great, and I absolutely loved Scotty, and Pavel Chekov was aweeesommee. And of course, Captain Kirk was awfully gorgeous. I didn't even miss seeing the light sabers that much. But just altogether, it was really well done. Definitely ranks as one of my favorite movies now. Not that that means a lot, because I have a ton of favorite movies.

Now, I realize I probably shouldn't have two OMG THESE ARE SO GOOD posts right after each other, and especially not while I don't have new synonyms, but it's not like Glee was any less amazing just because Star Trek was also amazing. I'm capable of obsessing over both in equal proportions, don't you worry. And anyways, I may be a Gleek, but I don't think I'm going to become a Trekkie. Then again, you can never be too sure with me..

listening to: Airplanes by B.O.B. ft Hayley Williams
icon by iroxezursoxez

Somewhere over the rainbow

2010-06-11T17:31:00.018-04:00

Ahhh, Glee! There's a little fangirl inside of me dancing the conga right now. Glee is such a great show! Literally, it's amazing. If you don't watch it, I highly recommend it.

The finale was tonight, and it was excellent. It was so emotional. Maybe I'm being a silly obsessive teenager, but I really thought it was well done. I won't post any spoilers, but it was really, really good. I can NOT wait for next season. I think one of the best parts was at the very end, when Mr. Shue sings Somewhere Over the Rainbow. The show has always picked really good music to sing, but this was just the perfect piece for the ending; I honestly got shivers when I heard him singing it. Not only that, but also New Direction singing the Journey mash up for sectionals was wonderful as well. (I may or may not have gotten a little shivery then too).

Glee aside, I've always loved Somewhere Over the Rainbow. It's a bittersweet, almost nostalgic sort of song. It's very hopeful, but at the same time, it's like there's an edge of sadness to it. Personally, I think the song is saying, right now life isn't great, but somewhere life is, and if I just hold on, I'll get there. I'll get to my rainbow.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high,
There's a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue,
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true.

Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far
Behind me.
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops
That's where you'll find me.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly.
Birds fly over the rainbow.
Why then, oh why can't I?

If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow
Why, oh why can't I?

We're all going to get to our rainbows someday, I'm sure of it.

listening to: Somewhere over the rainbow by Matthew Morrison
icon by Imperfect Lines

I've been swimming for too long, yet not long enough

2010-06-07T21:27:00.020-04:00

I've been swimming on the same team since I was 9 or 10, possibly younger. I swam there all through middle school, and all through my freshman year, too. But now I'm quitting.

I have mixed feelings about it. It's both saddening and relieving. On one hand, I am the one who decided to quit this team, and it's been on the horizon for a while. I guess I just never thought I'd actually quit. This team means a lot to me, because I've grown up as a swimmer there, and I've made a ton of friends there. It's almost like a family. Or at least it used to be. For the last few weeks, it hasn't felt like it though. Throughout the last year or so, most of my close friends have quit the team, for various reasons. And then, about a month ago, my best friend on the team quit, too. So practices hadn't been as much fun as they used to be, because I only had one or two good friends, and then some quasi-friends, and then just friendly teammates left.

I didn't just quit because I didn't have any friends left, don't get me wrong. Because I did have a few friends left, and there were still three "oldies" (the original swimmers who I've swam with for most of my time on this team) left with me, even if one of them was on another level. But it's not just the fact that all of my friends were leaving, it's also just that I was sort of.. done.. with the team. Do you know that feeling where you just feel finished with something? Enough is enough? I wasn't really getting better anymore, the coaches weren't helping me (as much as I love them) and I'd been in the same level for three or four seasons now. And if I did move up, the practice would have been six days a week, which is insane. But I couldn't not move up, because the practices were too easy for me, and I had stopped trying.

So the solution was quitting. And now I'm going to find another team.. although that'll be depressing, because I won't know anyone. I'll just make friends, though.

I still feel kind of sad, though. It's almost like the end of an era.

eeek, I'm rereading this and the writing is really choppy D: More than usual. Probably because I'm so whiny. Sorry, guys. But I'm too lazy to edit it. Maybe I will later? At least it's only my second blog post, I'll use that as an excuse.

listening to: Heartbreaker by Taio Cruz ft Ludacris
icon by winkwinknudgenudge

Lydia

2010-06-06T11:11:00.002-04:00

Hi, I'm Lydia. I'm the slightly crazy, verbose, very nerdy, redheaded book-lover who owns this blog that you've managed to find. I'm fifteen, born on November 3rd, 1994, and I'm a Scorpio. I live in New Jersey with my mom and twin sister, who both drive me crazy yet are always there to support me. I live about a half an hour away from New York City, and I love to go there whenever I can. I wouldn't want to live in the city, though.

Although I do spent way too much time online, I do have other interests. I'm a swimmer, and I swim on both my varsity highschool swim team and on a club team, and I'm also a lifeguard. I love to hang out with my friends, and I think I have the best group of them in the world. I like to write, but I'm not very good at it. I'm also a bibliophile, and one of my favorite things to do is read everything I can get my grubby hands on. I generally like any book, any genre, even if it's poorly written. Of course, I do have specific favorites, but I'm not overly particular; I like giving every book a chance. My favorite book is probably The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman, although the entire series is amazing; and, like any self-respecting nerd, Harry Potter is always always a favorite. I love reading dorky books aimed at younger kids; I also love reading old books and classics. I view music the same as I view books - I listen to lots of random music, and I like all of it. As a music-lover, I'm open to almost any type of music. My favorite bands are among The Strokes, Florence and the Machine, Franz Ferdinand, Queen, The Killers, and, yes, the Jonas Brothers, for nostalgic reasons. (also, Nick is gorgeous!)

Movies are always great, and my favorites are The Dark Knight, the Lord of the Rings, Across the Universe, the Lion King, an Education, and anything by Miyazaki. I also like to watch TV, although I'm terrible at actually sitting down and watching the shows I like. Glee, Smallville, Avatar the Last Airbender, Malcolm in the Middle and 30 Rock are probably my favorites, and my guilty TV shows are Doctor Who, iCarly and Degrassi. I love designing things, like signatures and avatars, but I despise coding. Hence the premade layout. I also like to dabble in photography, but nothing substantial of it has ever come from my pictures. I love to surf the internet, where I stalk people's blogs or obsess over people on youtube. (charlieissocoollike, nerimon, vlogbrothers, wheezy waiter & communitychannel, anyone?)

Overall, I'm a really lazy person. I think I'm nice, but I also tend to be sarcastic and a little cynical, and can be overly mean sometimes without trying. Although I'm often cynical, I'm generally an optimistic person. I'm usually funnier when I'm not trying then when I am. I have a weird sense of humor a lot of the time, I love pretty designs and photographs, and I like fashion but I'm not crazy into it. I fiercely love my friends - both offline and online - and I love to meet and talk with new people, even though I can be more than a little awkward the first few times you talk to me. I love to share things with people, because I always think that something is twice as good if you have someone to share it with - that's kind of why I started this blog. The best way to get to know me is by reading through some of my posts.

Lastly, I'm firmly a proud nerd fighter, and I always will be!

Contact me
EMAIL - aquarterpastwonderful@gmail.com
AIM - notcleverlynamed

You can also find me at these places
notaclevername @ DA
Flamey @ Sparkling Snow
notaclevername @ Ciel Beach
Lydia @ Ciel Beach Forums

icon & banner by Crushed Rainbows

These Simple Complications

2010-06-05T20:24:00.032-04:00

I'm not really sure why I decided to start a blog. Maybe it's partly because I always have so much to say and to share with people, or partly because it's an experience I haven't had on the internet yet, or maybe it's just because I like starting random projects. Although, it's probably just because I like talking (writing) a lot, and I need somewhere to put all of my yammering, since I'm pretty sure the people whose blogs I'm posting on are getting tired of me spamming up their comments, and my sister isn't always around or in the mood to put up with me and my "oh-look-this-is-awesome-come-look-at-it"-ness. Either way, here we are: Lydia's blog, these simple complications.

I was going to start this out as a wordpress blog, and in fact, I did for a little while. But then I fell in love with this layout, and since I could only use it on blogger.com I moved, and despite this layout's annoying comments system, here we are. Oh, god, this mean I'm one of those people who has a blogger.com account. I've gone from having a website to being on blogger.com. I guess it's a little sad. Still, I really like this layout. Apparently that makes up for it.

This is sort of awkward, isn't it. Hopefully I'll get better at it? Well, at least I have a really cool avatar to distract people with. Just in case the avatar isn't dazzling enough, I think I'll quote Reptilia, the song I have stuck in my head, to fill up the empty silence. Just to be safe. "He seemed impressed by the way you came in, Tell us a story, I know you're not boring" ... "I said please don't slow me down, If I'm going too fast, You're in a strange part of our town" ... "Yeah, the night's not over, You're not trying hard enough"

Man, do I love the strokes.

listening to: Reptilia by the Strokes
icon by Crushed Rainbows

About These Simple Complications

2010-06-05T11:11:00.008-04:00

This is my place to escape. If you were to ask about These Simple Complications offline, I'd probably deny its existence. See, this blog is where I can ramble about awesome things I find, revel in the coolness of the internet, debate with amazing people, and share everything and anything that I find - and I don't want my "real life" (which I love, too, don't get me wrong) getting in the way of that.

How did I get started with this whole internet thing, anyways? Well, my first encounters with websites and design started, like many people, with the Warriors book series and neopets. I was launched into the world of graphics by my friend on neo, Brook, who had a warriors graphics website called Frosted Ambition. I was really interested in what she was doing, and I decided I wanted to try doing it, too. With her help, I set up my own website. After starting out on a neopets petpage, I eventually moved to freewebs, and officially launched Shattered Flames, with the help of one of my other awesome friends, Shadey, who worked on SF with me. My designs absolutely sucked, but I had a lot of fun doing them. For about a year I kept up with SF, but then life got crazy and I ended up shutting it down.

After my life had calmed down a little bit, I started to really miss designing things and the community, so I took a chance and plunged headlong into the graphics world again by applying to work as a staffer at my friend Snowy's site. Even though we had lost touch during the long time that I wasn't part of the community, she still was gracious enough to give me a spot working on her website, Sparkling Snow. On April 18th, 2010, I officially started working there. Once I had settled in there, I felt much happier; my desire to be creating graphics had been fulfilled. I started to figure out better ways to make designs, and I began to use textures and playing around with effects more.

However, being the needy creep that I am, I started to want something else, too. For one thing, I missed having and controlling my own website. And for another, I really wanted to be able to share my thoughts and opinions and random blurts of musings with other people - not just design signatures and avatars. (This was partly spawned by my reading of numerous awesome blogs, such as Black Cat Friday, and feeling both bad for spamming up their comments with my blabbering, as well as feeling admiration of their posts and ideas, and wanting to be able to share my own words with other people. Unfortunately, the former has not gone away, since I still spam up numerous people's blogs, but at least the latter has been taken care of.) Although I still loved working at Sparkling Snow, I wanted a little something more, too.

I should probably mention that having a blog was not a new idea for me, as I had entertained the notion before. Back in the time of Shattered Flames, I had created a freewebs site that I intended to use as a blogsite. I never got it off the ground, though, and it faded away into obscurity for a while, until I rediscovered it in January of 2010. Before I started working at Sparkling Snow, I tried to start up my blogsite again, but it just never worked out. You can see it here, and as you can tell, it didn't really catch on. There's only three blog posts, full of broken promises and ideas, and ultimately I gave up on it. At this point, you're probably wondering why I gave up on one website only to start another.

Well, that's a good question. For one thing, I'm a lazy person. I wanted a website without the hassle of making one, and without the task of learning to code PHP. Not only that, but I had also forgotten most of the basic coding that I learned while running Shattered Flames, and I only knew the bare minimum to start with. I could, and probably should, have spent the time relearning the old coding and instructing myself in the new coding, namely PHP, but that also would have required figuring out free hosting and domain names and all that, because I really didn't want to go back to freewebs. It would have taken a lot of work to get a site up and running - and that's what sites involve, a lot of dedication and work.

Did I mention that I'm lazy? Instead of investing a ton of time and energy in something, which probably would have had the effect of me getting bored and leaving the project half finished, I went the easy route, and looked into free blogs. I started out on wordpress, and on June 5th 2010 I created this website. However, in the short space of 12 days, I started to get annoyed with Wordpress, and I fell in love with a premade layout for blogger.com. So I decided to switch from wordpress to blogger, and thus on June 5th 2010 (although, technically, I didn't switch over to blogger.com until June 17th 2010) thesesimplecomplications was born.

And then, on July 6th 2010, it died! Not literally, but technically. My muse ran out, and it started to become a drag to have to sit down and post something. I changed my mind about the way I wanted TSC to run, which I confusingly explain here, and I decided that I wanted to become an "awesome" site, and post interesting content instead of blogging. I also wanted this site to become a little more lax, which is why I don't always post consistently, although I swear, I'll never shut down this site or just leave without saying goodbye, and you can always still email me or leave a comment even if I haven't posted in a few months. It should be noted, though, that you'll be more likely to get ahold of me if you email or comment - the cbox isn't your best bet. The old layout I was using (which I still love!) randomly spazzed on me, and stopped working correctly, which just sort of cemented my decision to change the site. I found a new layout that I love possibly even more, and since then I've been much happier with the new way TSC is going.

Although I might one day open up a "real" site, for right now blogger.com is perfect for me, and I doubt I'll change any time soon. I decided to keep the original name of my webs.com site, because I liked the idea of it. To me, sometimes it seems like life is a paradox, a simple complication, and I thought it was an appropriate name for this blog. The rest of the story, my friends, is history.

--

You might be thinking, okay, fine, but what's the point of this site? If you didn't get it out of the verbose, drawn-out and overlong history above, the point, mis amigos, is that this site is a place for me, Lydia, to escape, like I mentioned before. It's a place where I come to relax, to express my thoughts and spark debates, to write overlong sentences sprawling with comma abuse, to share awesome random things that I find on the internet with other people, and overall, just to generally enjoy talking to people and interacting in the community. Unconventional or not, that's what this site's here for. (:

last updated: July 7, 2010