Monday, May 31, 2010

(Insert Witty Title Here)

Good morning, my Cyberland readers! How's your Memorial Day going thus far? Excellent.

Yeah, mine's going pretty well too. I got to sleep in, which is nice, cause tomorrow I open again at work. :D It's not terrible, I have no complaints at the moment.

So I was the first to enter that contest last night, right? Yeah, the guy who entered after me made some comment that basically translated into how un-original mine was. I'm choosing to ignore it, cause I'm really happy with how my story turned out. Even if I don't win, I'm still posting it on fanfiction. That's how happy I am with it.

I feel like I may be getting better at writing, which really makes me excited. I really would like to have something published in a book format. I have to say it like that, cause I've uploaded fanfiction, I've had poetry displayed online for contests, and I wrote a letter to the editor that made it into the newspaper at one point. Now, I want to be in book print.

Granted, I don't see myself writing a novel any time soon, but it would be cool to get a short story published in a collection or something. Gotta keep the writing up, gotta get some new ideas...

My dad has taken the car to get the oil change. I've been told that when he gets back, we may go do something as a family. It doesn't really matter to me one way or another, as long as we are together and no one is stressing out. Oh, and we're grilling for dinner. I love grilling.

And until our plans either fall apart or come together, I'm going to finish my chapter of my mary sue fanfic and rewatch the CT version of "the Alien Factor".

Enjoy your holiday, Cyberland, and remember to take a moment to remember our military men and women - you may not agree with the wars(I don't), but they are brave to be out there and deserve our respect.

~birdgirl90

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Remind Me Again Why I Title These Updates?

Let's face it, my cyberland readers. Whenever I title my blog updates, I never stay in context to said title. My brain can't handle staying on topic for more than like five minutes.

I blame school. Everytime I write a paper for class, I have to stay on topic. Which isn't necessarily bad, but because of that, I feel like my free writing doesn't have to stay on topic, so I don't force myself to.

So I'm being creative and different, and not really using descriptive titles. Like now. It has nothing to do with the fact that I am perpetually tired and chronically lazy for the summer. Nope, doesn't play a part one bit.

Speaking of which, working this 5 am shift is crazy! I get up at 4 so that I have time to eat something and get ready for work, and then my day is off and running. I have discovered that I pass out now before 10:30 every night, and my body naturally wakes me up between 4 and 7 in the morning.

I have never been one for sleeping in, just cause since starting school last summer, I've always had early morning classes. So I guess my body just adjusts itself. Which could be weird, but I'm going to go with it.

Another random thing - I love fanfiction. I love reading it, and I love writing it. This week's contest on my favorite forum is to write a skit involving Pearl being stuck with the other characters (in my case, basically just Mike and Crow). I know, right? How fun is that? I love to do that with characters, mainly for my own enjoyment at watching them squirm.

The prize, though, is totally off the hook, so to speak. The gentleman who is hosting this week is married to the one and only Mary Jo Pehl. Mary Jo Pehl, for those who don't know, is the woman who played Pearl Forrester in the Sci-Fi era of MST3K (I may have talked about this, but Pearl and Brain Guy are the only reasons I have to watch those episodes, cause they are awesome! :D). She's also the only female riffer with CT, which automatically makes her awesome in my books.

(For a while, I was the only female player in my improv group, until Stacy came along and we started ganging up on the guys. It's tough sometimes, but fun. Anyone who can play with a bunch of men has my respect. )

So anyway, the prize for the winner is the newest CT DVD autographed and personalized by the Titans themselves. Which is incredible.

A fun contest, a fun prize, and an excuse to write AU fanfiction? I am so there.

So I wrote up my entry, and got it submitted. I'm only a little nervous because it was the first entry, it turned out fairly long, and I wrote it in script format. I generally don't do script format because I just don't like the style; third person narrative gives me so much more control over what the reader experiences. Plus, I chose to leave Mike on the SOL, and I generally don't watch a lot of Mike episodes, so I'm not convinced I got his personality right...

But it was an excuse to write all day pretty much, and I really enjoyed taking my idea and running with it. It was one of those where it pretty much wrote itself, and the characters ran with it. And even if I don't win, I have now contributed to the small fanfiction kingdom for MST3K. As soon as the contest is over, I'm going to upload it to fanfiction.net.

And that has been my day so far. It's almost 10 and I'm wiped, but hey - tomorrow is a holiday. My dad is home, and I don't have to work either, so my family and I are talking about doing something. Of course, dad has to take the car to get the oil changed, so we'll see how the day progresses...

Until the next time, Cyberland.

~birdgirl90

Saturday, May 29, 2010

I Totally Lied

So, sounding like an ass in my head apparently means I am accepted. And while I don't fully understand the weird initiation rituals of my favorite forum, I'm not going to question it.

A member on there has decided that I need to change my username, and has set up a poll so that people can vote on what it should be. It cracks the living daylights out of me. I like feeling accepted, so now my previous blog just looks like a bunch of bitching.

Which, if we are going to be honest, it was. I was having an off day, what can I say?

On a separate note, I just bought two new MST3K episodes for my iPod: Monster a Go-Go and the Giant Gila Monster. I figure, new entertainment for my trip in a few weeks, right?

So, that's the random blog for today. I'm tired, cause I've been up since 4, so I don't know if the shortness made sense, but there it is.

~birdgirl90

Friday, May 28, 2010

Back to Sounding Like an Ass...

I don't understand why, but I apparently sound like an ass online. I'll give you the story, and oh, btw, hi.

Basically, I'm on this community online. I have a really good friend that I've made there, and I started feeling like I was fitting in, but then I said something and apparently I stuck my foot in my mouth. Anyway, the way it sounds is that one or two of the members online now think I'm trying to compete with their top spammer.

Which I'm not.

I just want to fit in somewhere, and I thought maybe this was it. And now I feel like an ass for no reason.

I shouldn't care, I really shouldn't. But I have trouble making friends, and it's really hard for me to fit in. Not that I should want to fit in, but you know. Everyone wants to be accepted in their own right, and I feel like I'm not.

So, now I feel like I sound like an ass on line, and I hate it. But I can't do anything to fix the situation; it would just make it worse. I feel like I'm back to square one, wondering where I actually should be.

Which, for the record, it wasn't just the online community thread thing that made me feel like this. It was just the thing that made it come to a head. It's compounded by the fact that the friends I have here are people I really don't feel like I have anything in common with, the fact that I feel like I'm friends with them out of convience and the feeling is mutal. Maybe it's all in my head, but that's how it feels.

But I'm just whining. Who cares? Right? Being an oddball, feeling like an outcast at times - maybe it will help me grow.

Or maybe it means I'm going to be a hermit living in isolation. I don't know.

All I know is, I feel like a puzzle piece in the wrong puzzle box. Something's gotta give somewhere, right?

I'm going to go read a book now, and take a break from the online stuff.

~birdgirl90

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Reasons Why I Write

So, I got to thinking, and since I'm actually advertising this blog in as many places as humanly possible for reasons still unknown to me, I figured, I should probably update more often, even if it feels like word vomit.

Yes, that's right - word vomit. One of my favorite terms, so you should learn it.

Anyway.

So then I thought some more and decided that I never actually explained why I was doing a blog or why you should read it. I'm of the mindset that things are better late than never, so I'm going to give it to you now. Be warned - I am tired and running off pure energy, and I have not had a Coke today.

Let's begin.

I think blogging for me started off as an experiment of sorts. I have always liked to write, and I've been told that I'm a pretty decent writer. I have this far out dream of getting published one day down the road, and I really want to get my writing known to the public as a whole.

I'm not entirely sure why, because when I started this blog two years ago, I was fairly shy and I didn't like having a lot of attention drawn to myself. In a way, I am still like that - I consider myself to be more outgoing than I once was, but having attention drawn to myself makes me feel self-concious in most aspects.

But I have also discovered that my writing is the one thing I don't mind having people look at and read. I like to be acknowledged when I write something decent, and when I write something that I feel is particularly good (I won't say great, I have a long ways to go before then), I want to share it.

That's where my username comes in. I have been using the username birdgirl90 since I was 14 and started writing fanfiction. I try to use it for everything, because if people like my stuff, I want them to be able to find me conviently. As it is, if you google birdgirl90, everything that comes up on the first page is me.

This is not to sound conceited, for the record. I do not feel like I am God's gift to fanfiction, fiction, blogs, and writing as a whole. Far from it, actually. I don't know how many times I've read the works and writings of others and realized that my own skill has room for improvment. There is always room for improvment, and I am very aware of it.

Instead, I want to be able to share my experiences with others. I want to be able to take whatever bit of knowledge that is stored in my head and spread it around. Likewise, I want to be told when my writing sounds bad. I feel like I will never be able to grow as a writer unless I have feed back, both positive and not-so-positive. This is not to say that I want it to be mean, but I believe that constructive criticism is one of the best tools in the trade.

And so I blog. And I write fanfiction. I carry notebooks around in my backpack when I am at school for free writing between classes, and when things happen or ideas hit, I write them down and date them.

So, in short, I write this blog for my own entertainment and to help me grow as a writer, as well as to share my day with you, in hopes of making you laugh or think about things. Because, in the end, isn't that what we all do when we write?

~birdgirl90

Sunday, May 23, 2010

An Actual Blog Update!

Wow, who would've thought I'd actually up date? Haha, just kidding. (Not really...)

I have a pretty decent explaination in my head, but I think it will just prove I'm a normal civilian working and living at home with her parents, so instead, I am going to offer this lovely (and slightly - by which I mean completely - fictious) story...

Once upon a time, I was walking through a sylvan glen, admiring the sky and lakes and trees whe-

Oh who am I kidding... Here's the real explaination for the lack of a blog update.

I got a new job. I may have spoken about this before (it's after 10, I don't remember anything after 10 at night...), but it's in the food industry. I have been trying to get my body used to getting up at 4 in the morning, so I've been fairly tired lately.

And kind of lazy, I'm not gonna lie. I've been writing this story that a friend of mine is reading, and it's taken a life of it's own, so all my creative writing juice has been directed in that general direction. Are you jealous you don't get to read it? Don't be. One day, I may put it on fanfiction.net, and then the world can read it.

Until then, though, you are stuck with my rambling thoughts. Bwahaha!

Ahem.

Oh! You know what I did this weekend? I tried a KFC Double Down sandwich. No, I didn't buy the sandwich for myself, and no, I did not eat the whole thing. Do I look that nuts? Wait, don't answer that...

Anyway, my parents and I went to KFC, and got food. My dad decided to order the Double Down meal, and let me have a few bites. My thoughts on it: it was good, but not worth the 6 bucks they wanted for it, as it needed more bacon. Otherwise, I kind of liked it.

The funny thing about it: my dad made me promise not to have a heart attack in the middle of the dining area from it before he let me have a bite. The sad thing was, while he was partly joking, he was mainly serious.

Ok, that's all I've got for now. Better to write this than let the pause in entries continue, right? And no, you don't get your time back for reading this - you stuck around to the end, you don't get a refund. No if's, and's, or but's.

Until the next time, my cyberland readers,

~Meaghan

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Movie Review Time: "Diary of the Dead"

So I just finished watching George Romero's "Diary of the Dead" and I have to say, it was pretty good.

As you may have gathered from previous blog posts, I am pretty into zombies and zombie movies. In general, I love the horror genre, and I find that zombie movies are one of only a few categories of horror that are not consistanly predictable. For example, in most slasher films, you can predict who is going to die within the first five minutes. They are a joke.

Zombie movies, much like a majority of psychological thrillers, are hardly ever predictable. Yes, the dead do walk and eat the living and each other. But depending on the angle the director takes, there are many different ways they come across and many different outcomes.

Anyway.

"Diary of the Dead" put a spin on the typical zombie movie. The basic premise of the movie is that it's a group of college kids majoring in drama at the University of Pittsburgh. The night the zombies come, they are in the woods filming a movie that one of the main characters, Jason, has written. They hear on the radio about the chaos that is going on in town, about the dead coming to life. From there, it becomes a road trip to try to get to each ones homes before it is too late.

The film style is that of a documentary, as if the whole thing was filmed by Jason as it all unfolded. We have a voice over, which is Jason's girlfriend, Deb, who edited the film before putting it online. Because of the film style, with the arguments between the friends and shaky camera from time to time, it is very believable and easy to get sucked in. I personally was on the edge of my chair while watching it.

But George Romero did more than make a life-like zombie film. He created a commentary on society. Through out the film, we the viewer are exposed to the animal like nature of the human psyche. There is mass panic and random killings as people flee cities, and there is looting throughout. We also see those who kill the zombies for fun, including some hicks who have tied up zombies and used them for target practice. At the end of the film, Deb asks the question "Are we really worth saving?", as if she is asking the audience to pass judgement.

The film ends with us never knowing the outcome of the survivors, and the question lingers as the credits roll.

All in all, I give "Diary of the Dead" five out of five stars. It has suspense and lots of zombies, and also makes us analyze our position in life.

Are we really worth saving?

~Meaghan

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Preppin' for Those Zombies.

Actually, right now I'm preppin' myself for the new Resident Evil movie that's going to be in theaters come Sept.

In case no one could tell, I love almost anything involving zombies. Zombies, biohazard leaks, mutations, underground biohazard experimentation gone bad, etc. I love it. It frightens me but it's one of those things that I can't seem to look away from.

What frightens me about it is that it could happen. One day, we could all be facing a fate that looks similar to that of Raccoon City. It could happen. I honestly would not put it past our government to have underground testing and biohazard experimentation going on right now. I really wouldn't. After all, it could be a great weapon to have against our enemies.

But have they thought about the risks? Have they consisdered the fact that it may back fire and that we could all be exposed to their tests? It would not be unlike the A bomb testing when the citizens of the town around the test area (it was somewhere in either Utah or Nevada, if I remember correctly) came down with radiation poisoning years later.

Anyway, what I think I'm trying to say is that I love zombie movies and if the world does not end in the Zombie Apocalypse, I am going to be seriously disappointed. Cause, if we are going to die in 2012, I want to at least have evidence that I was right about the whole government testing thing (plus, kicking zombie ass would be fun until they got me).

So this new Resident Evil movie looks pretty good. It's called Resident Evil: Afterlife. I have not played any of the video games ( I don't have a gaming system other than my computer), but I have seen the other Resident Evil movies. It is probably one of my favorite zombie movie series I have seen. Granted, Extinction seemed a little hokey to me, but Resident Evil 1 and Apocalypse scared me and fascinated me.

Alice, the heroine, is awesome. She's a strong woman, and just all around awesome. There is a lot of character development in the movie plots, the movie plots themselves are textured (for a zombie movie), and there is always a lot of zombie killing action and suspense. All around great zombie films.

While waiting for Resident Evil: Afterlife to come to theaters (Sept. 10th, mark your calenders), I have found a couple of other ones to watch. Quarentine looks pretty good (the library doesn't have it, so I'm going to have to see if it's posted somewhere online), as doesDiary of the Dead (a Romeros film - he makes fantastic zombie flicks; currently onhold at the library).

Anyway, that about sums it up. And as stated before, if the world doesn't end in a Zombie Apocalypse, I'm going to be disappointed.

Until the next time we meet, prepare for the virus.

~Meaghan

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Tired...

...but must stay up...

See, I'm hosting a contest on this site I'm a member of, and I'm supposed to set it up to start tomorrow. So, logically, that would mean waiting to start the thread tomorrow.

But tomorrow is Mother's Day and I plan on spending most of the day with my mom, making her feel special. Sooo...

I need to set it up tonight. But I need an administrator online to sticky my post for me.

Which leads to this dilema:

Do I go ahead and set up my post now, and then send an email to the mods I have interacted with
-OR-
Do I wait and get it set up sometime tomorrow?

I think I'm going to go ahead and get it set up tonight. And then go to bed. Cause tomorrow is going to be busy.

~Meaghan

And yeah, I know this blog was pretty much pointless, but as the title states, I'm tired. That makes all the difference.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

It's the End of the World as We Know It

Actually, more like, the end of semester as we know it.

That's right, I am done for summer! I have survived a year at college. It is a good feeling, being done. Knowing I did my best. Not giving up when I wanted to because I felt in a hole.

Yes, I did do a victory dance already. And it was sweet.

Now, I'm going to bed. I start my new job next week, things are slowing down, and I feel like I can breathe again.

Sleep well, Cyberland.

~Meaghan

Monday, May 3, 2010

The Week of Finals

Nuff said.

Oh, and it's my last week working at Sylvan.

So, don't expect blogging in depth until next week.

Or the week after.

I need proper recovery time.

And time to watch CT and MST3K and Star Trek.

Ok, that is all.

You may go back to your life now.

Thanks.

Birdgirl90