Music Monday #1:::The Weeknd

Official Site

I've been meaning to share an artist who I've been loving lately. Seeing as it's Monday, I think that it's the perfect time to start Music Monday.

Last weekend I drove up the coast to Oregon. Before I left, I frantically searched for some new tunes to keep me entertained for the twelve hour drive. I somehow found this Canadian kid who sounds like the Michael Jackson incarnate. He is Abel Tesfaye, otherwise known as The Weeknd. He is a bit of a mix of Trey Songz with the feel of Justin Timberlake's Sexy Back Album. I can just put his music on and get lost.

The Graduate Apocalypse

BEWARE

TIMES ARE TRULY TERRIFYING

There was once a time when the world was bright and beautiful. A magical time, now only memory, long since faded away. Life hasn't been the same since I was heartlessly abandoned by my university, clutching my college degree, sobbing alone in the dark. The warm and comforting swaddle of college has now been replaced by the cold barbaric slap of the real world.

It's a fight to survive...It's a fight to the death....It's a fight for JOBS!



With my diploma hanging comfortably on the wall, I have (reluctantly) jumped head first into the unknown waters of adulthood, a place where I feel woefully unprepared. It wasn't until I began the arduous task of job hunting that I realized just how little I know about a post-grad career. My mind is now littered with questions and I'm completely lost within a dense fog of confusion.

1. How do I write a proper resume?
   A standard application was all I ever needed before now. All of a sudden I must describe every academic and professional achievement? I've just spent five years in college on The Dean's Honor List. College was my job!
2. How do I write a cover letter?
   You're telling me I have to create a whole separate document to supplement the other page of achievements and qualifications? But some say that it's needed and some say it's completely pointless. Maybe it will get you the job; maybe it will be ripped off and thrown into the trash. What do I do!?
3. But wait one second, what exactly is a cover letter to begin with?
   I think I've figured it out, though it probably took half my life to understand. It's basically a way to editorialize my achievements in order to persuade the potential employer into choosing my dazzling talents over everyone else. It feels a bit like an online dating profile.  
4. Where do I search for jobs?
   Even with the Internet it's difficult to find the perfect job, or any job in which you fulfill at least a few of the requirements. How did people do this before? I've found Monster, Craigslist and Indeed for the mass job searches, but they're just a small portion of the endless and intimidating ocean.
5. So...I'm actually unqualified for everything?
   For some reason I thought that my degree would matter. Scouring the interwebs has made it quite clear that unless you have a fantastic degree, 10 years of experience AND the blood of a sacrificed virgin, there's absolutely no point in applying...you should probably just give up now and apply to McDonald's instead. Entry level positions are extremely hard to come by and they seem to be disguised as "unpaid internships".
6. So...I actually won't have a plan after college?
   I changed majors four times before I graduated with an unwanted degree. Wasn't I supposed to have everything figured out at 18? Isn't that why I was forced to choose a major and sell my soul on the first day of college?
7. What do I do when I don't want to use my degree?
   Will someone outside of my field want me, despite not having their desired degree? Will someone just give me a chance!?
8. Panic?
   Definitely.

I've been searching for awhile now and I'm having trouble finding a job; maybe it's because I'm always forgetting the virgin sacrifice...they're awfully hard to come by these days. Most likely it's because I'm my own worst enemy. Since I no longer desire to finish credentialing and become a teacher, my degree is pretty useless. Googling "Liberal Studies Careers" explains the harsh reality of an inevitable minimum-wage life in retail. Unless I surrender to the educational system, my degree is 100% pointless. My other issue is my inability to choose, well, just about anything. My gypsy spirit combined with my unwavering LIFE-A.D.D has me overwhelmed with too many interests and no way to pin them down. I've looked into...

• Social media
• Entry level writing
• Travel writing
• Non-profit organizations
• Pretty much everything in between or a combination of the above

Luckily I am not the only disillusioned soul running about the job market. It seems that we're all a bit lost and unsure of where to go. It's The Graduate Apocalypse...we're walking around aimlessly, fighting for the few scraps that we find. We're all just trying to survive. The Zombie Apocalypse probably would have been a bit easier. At least then there'd be a set plan....DON'T DIE! Yes, so much easier than searching desperately for that perfect job, you know the one that just happens to be located in an exciting city, with full benefits and a swanky apartment.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Although I hate to admit it, I'm one of those insecure girls that overly relies on make-up and a perfectly executed hair style to feel confident. These last few months have been a personal test to see just how I let self image effect me. A few months ago, mid-May to be specific, my beautiful hair began to fall out. Each day I'd lose about two weeks worth of hair. I'd find it all over the floor, on my clothes and I'd pull out strands just from touching my head. I'd be out with friends and find hair all over my body and have to quickly snatch it and throw it into my purse, hoping that no one had noticed. Within weeks there were mild bald patches on my temples and my scalp began to poke through my thin pieces of hair. I haven't gone to the extreme of someone with cancer, but I have lost about half.

Throughout the last few months I've become quite good at "faking it". I've realized that the easiest way to hide hair loss is to put it back into a head band. With a bit of hairspray, a little effort and a lot of magic, you can create the look of, well not thick, but average hair. The height creates an illusion of volume that doesn't exist otherwise; nothing says "hair loss" more like thin strands of hair flat against the scalp. I've realized that hair ties help the rogue strands from getting everywhere, but the pulling force is a little painful, even a loose pony-tail creates a sore scalp. Showers require mental preparation to prevent unattractive adult meltdowns because everything looks a hundred times worse on hair wash days; it seems to loosen everything at once to give a massive shedding experience. It's mildly traumatizing to say the least.

Now that I'm a few months into this, I am not as distressed as before. I've gotten to the point of "c'est la vie". I've decided that if it gets too crazy that I'll just become a mini Kim Zolciak and rock a bunch of fly wigs. It is sort of nice to have less hair during these summer months. It's so much cooler and I didn't have to cut it off to feel relief, it was free. And I love free things. Silver lining!

As I'm typing this I'm running my fingers through my hair to catch a few stragglers before I get out my Tangle Teezer. It's like the battle before the war.

The Perks Of Being Pale

No matter where you live: California, The Midwest, Canada or Europe, it seems that everyone has a desperate desire to be a beautifully bronzed goddess. Unfortunately for 80% of us (and yes, this is a completely made up statistic to prove a point), we were born melanin handicapped, otherwise known as pale. To be one of the very few white girls in California (the land of fake n' bake/orange people) was excruciating. Everyone lived for the tanning bed as I hid from the sun. As the years went on, the difference in our colorings became more apparent, and soon it was a daily event for someone to ask numerous questions about my skin...

• Why are you SO white?
• Do you EVER go in the sun?
• Why don't you go tanning?
• Why don't you lay out?
• Have you thought of a spray tan?

AND MY FAVORITE...

• Really? You're going to wear shorts? 

Each question was accompanied by a look of overwhelming disgust. I quickly understood that my apathetic attitude towards brown skin was unbearable (for others), and I began to get the feeling that my personal brand of white was traumatizing the human race. I suddenly became completely uncomfortable in my fair skin and I pushed to change everything about myself. For one entire summer, I used a combination of St. Tropez Bronzing Mouse and Jergens Gradual Tan to change my beautiful alabaster glow to a muddy orange mess; in my mind, anything was better than my unfortunate evolutionary mishap. I spent hundreds of dollars to look closer to an oompa-loompa than a human, accomplishing nothing more than ruining my clothes and sheets. The more I tried to become tan, the more I began to resent it.

I soon had an epiphany....

 I actually didn't mind my white skin...at all.

I never once looked at my skin and thought, "WOW, I am so white. That is so disgusting! Why has the universe cursed me so!?" After a time of personal reflection, I realized that I was tanning with one goal in mind: to get everyone off my back! I wanted the criticism to stop; I wanted to go a day without a barrage of ridiculous questions accompanied by a "stank face". I realized that everyone else, NOT ME, had the problem with my skin color. These days I rock my short-shorts, tanks and flips...daring the world to say something

Just try it

Being light skinned may not be the "in thing" at the moment, but there are some forgotten perks to being pale...

• You age slower. Have you ever noticed that those who worship the sun have defined wrinkles, even at a young age? Sun-damage ages you much more quickly, and if you want the fountain of youth, it's staying out of the sun. If you still need proof, scroll down to the picture of Britney Spears vs. Dita Von Teese (go on now).
• It's less expensive to be fair. You don't have to spend money on fake tanning lotions or tanning beds. Also, your make-up color doesn't change from season to season. As the summer comes, you're still the same as you were in winter, so that expensive foundation is still perfect to wear. You don't have to try to find a new color, it's so much less hassle and you'll never have a "make-up mask".
• Less risk of cancer. C'mon, this is an obvious one. You are at a higher risk for skin cancer with each severe sunburn, especially those obtained at a young age.

Tanned: Age 31                              Fair: Age 40

Let's recap: fair skin saves money, make-up is easier to purchase, it keeps you looking younger and it helps to prevent cancer. From what I can tell, being a pale person is super convenient! So maybe you glow in the sun (and probably in the dark), so your veins are easily seen (you'll just attract a hot vampire like Roman Godfrey) and maybe you get a few awkward stares here and there (they're just jealous of how fine you look)...

  ...being fair is beautiful .

A Baby Blogger's Observations

I'm still quite new to this blogging world. Even so, I've noticed a few trendy practices floating about here and there. These are just my opinions and observations. If you disagree, leave me a comment and let's chat about it!

Perusing the blogs, there always seems to be atleast one person dropping by a post in-order to leave a vague, pandering or impersonal comment to promote their own site. For example, "OMG, such a cute post! Follow back? www.blahh.com". I'm all for leaving a URL, but I love when that comes with the beginning of a conversation. Maybe it's weird, but I tend to leave paragraphs in the comments, and I like when others do the same. Send me your link, but also tell me something interesting, let's have a conversation.

Now tell me this, is it strange to tweet other bloggers? I always feel like that awkward loser in high-school, desperately trying to crash the popular party when I tweet someone. I have it in my head that the person will think, "who dafuq is this chick?" I like talking to new people; one of the major perks of blogging is that you get to know people from around the world. I'm pretty sure that I'm that weird girl from Mean Girls, wanting everyone to bake a cake full of rainbows and smiles; let's all be friends, okay? If you have a Twitter button, there's a good chance that I will follow you; and if you tweet something interesting, please expect a response. If that's weird, sorry-not-sorry. Becoming friends, either in the real sense or just through social media is great in my opinion. Who wants to stay confined to their little bubble of the world? Through all of this, I've found my Brit-Sista Kerry from Kerralina. I'm pretty sure that we're the real life Parent Trap, just far less ginger. From the start of my blog, I've gotten to know Kat from Scribbles&Sparkles, and I've recently been chatting with Rebecca at 10DowningChic, Trina of TrinaWear and Tori of ToriTellsHerTales. Everyone is from somewhere completely different and they're all such lovely people.

As I dip my toes into this strange blogging world, I've been trying to determine what is considered appropriate, and most importantly, what is not. I think in order to please the masses, a good number of bloggers follow a standard writing style; the same content and rhetoric can be found from blog to blog. Many (but not all) sound in my opinion rather robotic; give me some personality! I began my blog trying to go with the flow; mimicking the widely accepted style, wanting to stay within the boundaries of acceptable and appropriate. But honestly, that's just so much work. It's a whole lot easier to write using my voice and language, i.e over-the-top Californian slang or something from the vulgar end of the spectrum. In a post to describe my college time in San Francisco, I used "fuck" three times. How scandalous! I reread it thinking, "Oh gosh, maybe I should delete them, it's not appropriate. People won't like it". But yet it stays because it was what I thought back in the day. Why change the story now?

What are some of the blogger trends that you have noticed? 

What do you feel are the appropriate blogger practices?
Is there such a thing?

The Appeal Of The Manly Beard

A few months ago I was asked to travel to the mountains for a Local Natives concert. I agreed to go without hesitation; I'm always down for a road-trip and a rock-show. For months, my friend was unable to control her fangirling; the anticipation was absolutely killing her. I'll be honest, in the time leading up to our trip, I never brought myself to listen to one of their songs. I couldn't tear myself away from my Bay Area Rap that I had recently rediscovered.

Despite being relatively young (24 and 23), we chose to avoid the mass of people camped in-front of the stage. Seeing as my friend had just finished her second round of cancer treatment and my pesky spinal fusion was acting up again, we decided to impersonate a couple of little old ladies and claimed a few comfy chairs for the night. It may have looked rather awkward, but it felt oh-so comfortable. Plus, you'd have to get me pretty DRUNK to rock out with a bunch of people that I don't know. Don't forget...I have the social capabilities of someone who'd been locked inside a tower their whole life.

From the minute that the concert began, I could see my friend (and pretty well everyone else) having a complete mental breakdown. There was too much excitement, their minds couldn't handle it! I watched the band with the thoughts, "Oh cool, I still have no idea who y'all are...or this song...or the next song". I did quickly learn that one of the band members was named Kelcey. Bro! We're meant to be friends, it's required of all individuals with this 1980's Valley name. Don't you know the rules?

WARNING: I am now going to explain Local Natives (as best as I can with my shit memory), and I feel that this requires less blogger and more Californian. 

Sorry in advance.

These guys are just so chill. Like...they're such mellow dudes. They don't go hard during their performances, they just move in a way that is reminiscent of the hippies of Woodstock; bobbing about the stage as though on shrooms or LSD. I loved it! And the most superficially FANTASTIC thing about Local Natives are their gnarly beards and staches. C'mon...so legit.

Ain't nothin' wrong with all that manly facial hair.
 

It may seem a tad strange, but I was drawn to their personalities more than anything else; I quite enjoyed them as people. They have this gentlemanly demeanor about them; soft spoken, extremely polite and genuinely excited to perform. I wanted to chill with them and be friends. Weird? Hopefully not.

Halfway through the show we ventured into the pit, mostly in an attempt to see one of the band members named Ryan. He is so adorable, I just want to, ughh, I have no words. As we began to get a little closer, the blinding lights were set to the eye-line of the audience. I was the only person to look away, the rest of the crowd stared straight into the little sun beams. I'm convinced that it was some form of hypnosis because it made the drunks go even harder. Perfectly okay with me, I love awkwardly dancing drunk people. I unfortunately never made eye contact with the little cutie Ryan, such a shame!

Local Natives are a band that you can't help but love; for their music and them as people.

My friend has already mentioned that they will be in London on October 17. 

So...all donations are now being accepted.

Twitter.com/LocalNatives

The White Picket Fence

Once in a while it's nice to venture away from my hokie little hood. As it's halfway to May, California has entered its season known as "Hot-Shit I'm Burning Alive!" Feeling my skin burning, frying, boiling (and any other metaphor that you can think of to describe a ginger person in the summer), I ran from the scorching 90 degree valley to a tiny bay town that is the embodiment of The American Dream.

It's so quaint and wholesome that Pleasantville would be envious.

This magical little place looks as though it's been plucked straight from The Gold Rush Era; Main Street is lined with old settlement buildings (now converted into shops and businesses), and ancient Victorian homes peer through grandmother oak trees. At the end of every historical street is a dock leading into the cool waters of the bay; a perfect spot to enjoy the sun without melting like The Bad Witch of Oz.

Throughout the day I visited my grandparent's old house, a few fairytale mansions and the boat filled marina. I think that if I ever settled down somewhere (which is honestly very unlikely), it would be here.

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                

As I came to The Yacht Club and the waterfront homes, I noticed a number of young people out and about. 

I scanned the various young men thinking....

"Future rich husband...is that you?"

 

                                                                                                                                                      

Quick little fact....

These are old camel stables from the 1940's. This town in particular was a U.S Army weapons center and apparently during World War II, The U.S was testing the use of camels in combat.

Really America?