I'm Back at School and Amy Rose is Still Loca

Well today I went back to school after about a month off. Going back to school at college is kind of weird because unlike high school, you don't just go back and everything's the same you have to start all over. New classes, new teachers, new people. Luckily, I have Amanda B (sadly the B does not stand for Bynes) in Anthropology with me. I gotta say I think I'm gonna like Anthropology. The teacher has a large glass case full of skulls so there's that... I went to the book store during break, spent 10 minutes looking for my books, then wasted 30 minutes in the world's longest line, just to get to the register and forget my card number. That was not a pleasant experience. I start Art tomorrow, kind of nervous and excited. I hope it isn't too hard. I also don't have any supplies for that class yet so I hope that works out. Gotta brave the book store again tomorrow grr...... Better get back to my homework and listening to Simon and Garfunkel.

Also, for anyone that thinks I exaggerate about Amy, I don't. She likes to bang her head on walls just because. If she was a human, she would most definitely be institutionalized by now. Fortunately for her she's a cat so she ain't got nothing to worry about.

-Matthew

My Take On Bronies

If there's one phenomenon taking the world by storm these days it's My Little Pony. Everyone and their cat (not including Ariel, she's very anti-Pony) seems to be going gaga for these little creatures. My Little Pony has been around since the 80's, the franchise has spawned 4 television series', tons of toys, and the world's most annoying theme song. As a kid I never had any interest in them (shocking I know), but if I were to suddenly get sucked into the world of Ponyville today as a 19-year-old straight guy I wouldn't be alone. As matter-of-fact a large portion of the My Little Pony franchise today is made up of the demographic that I just described. Yes you read that correctly, lots and lots of teenage boys love My Little Pony. Dubbing themselves "Bronies" these fans make music, homemade toys, fan art, and even attend conventions wearing MLP t-shirts and costumes. Now, I'm usually not one to judge people based on their interests, but I have to say I don't understand it.

My Little Pony is made for little girls. When I say My Little Pony is made for little girls it is literally made for little girls. The maturity level of this show is slightly above that of Barney and Sesame Street. The characters names include Twilight Sparkles, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. Additionally, there is not a single male pony among the main cast and hardly any in the show at all.
I'm not saying that it's bad to watch cartoons as an adult because I myself still love watching cartoons both current ones and classics from my childhood. However, I couldn't sit down and just enjoy a Barney marathon or an episode of Dora the Explorer because I'm not a part of the target audience. These shows are meant to entertain and teach young children, not guys in their late teens. One of the reasons people love the show so much is because it has "complex storylines" and "relatable characters." Exactly what about this show is complex or relatable? I guess having butt tattoos that's kind of complex right? I watched a short clip of the show and it was hard to get through. The dialogue is obviously written for very young children and I just could not find the show as watchable. Like I said before it is made for very young children so of course I am not going to enjoy it.

I will say this though, society tends to be nicer to girls who are into stereotypical "boy" things such as trucks, Power Rangers, and Transformers and not so nice to little boys who watch a show about the magical town of Ponyville. Which begs the question what about little boys, should THEY watch My Little Pony? Maybe. Honestly I don't know, not being a 4-year-old anymore I can't say how I would react to this show. 

I think there needs to be a better balance of shows for both boys AND girls. So many things have always been targeted at either boys OR girls. What is wrong with having an equal balance of male and female characters? Arther had a great mix of both male and female characters, the X-Men have always had lots of females in their roster. Even kids shows which have female leads such as Lizzie McGuire, Hannah Montana, or That's So Raven still appealed to me as a kid. Despite the main characters being female, they still went through things that I went through (except that episode of Lizzie McGuire where she proclaims to the world that she wants a bra). Lizzie was just an average girl, nothing spectacular, with a normal family and normal problems for a girl her age, Hannah/Miley (although incredibly whiny and selfish) was an interesting concept for a show and never did anything too deep in the realm of femininity to push me away from watching it, and Raven was just hilarious. But these shows also have something that My Little Pony doesn't: male characters. On Lizzie we would get to see her brother, her friend Gordo, and her dad have just as much screentime as she did. They had their own plots that were about things that guys went through at those particular ages. So even if you couldn't relate to Lizzie or Miranda, there were always the men in her life that boys could find entertaining. Same with Hannah and Raven. Both had a dad, a male friend, and a brother. They also taught kids that it was okay to be friends with girls, and that they weren't always so "yucky."

So about those Bronies, if they want to watch My Little Pony they can. if they want to dress up and go to conventions, they can. It's not a matter of life or death. Just because some men like a show about magic ponies doesn't mean the apocalypse will come or the population of the Earth will get infected with a disease. Does the show have any appeal to men? No. Is the show written for a very young audience? Yes. Is it weird that gown men would want to actually want to spend their time watching My Little Pony? Yeah, it kind of is. I'm not saying it because" boys should only like things made for boys," I'm saying this because the show does not do anything to appeal to adult audiences, especially men.

Oh, and in regards to the "Cloppers" you are sick sick people. Get help.

-Matthew

Goodbye 2013

2013 was a pretty good year for me. After almost 2 years I finally got my drivers license. I graduated from high school which was probably the most exciting/sad/incredible night of my life. I got to go to Oregon 3 times. First with my graduating class on our senior trip which I thought I would hate, but I ended up having an amazing time. Next with my mom and brother down to Portland to see some old friends, then to Medford for a wedding. And finally with dad and Joe to Long Beach. In August, I spent a few days up in Auburn helping my cousins move into their new house,and when I got back I got to see one of my best friends that I've known since I was 8 months old. I started college, which has been going good so far. I got straight A's first quarter, but it can get lonely and the homework load is MASSIVE. The same day I started college I went to my first concert, the Plain White T's, with two of my friends. The Paradis family had a jungle-themed reunion, and welcomed it's newest member, little Fiona. I also had my first-ever (friend) birthday party, climbed a mountain, and got to spend the night out in a cabin in the woods with my family. I had a great year. Here's to 2014!

-Matthew

Chrstmas Break Time!

I'm so happy! I'm FINALLY done with Fall Quarter. It seems like it went on forever, but at the same time it's all kind of a blur. I don't have my grades yet, but I feel like I did pretty good in all of my classes. Honestly I'm shocked that I did as good as I did, considering I haven't written a research paper since 8th grade and that's also the last time I did any kind of math with a "real" teacher or actual homework. College is nice. It's very quiet. I was back at Westpark today filling in for my mom for art and I forgot how noisy it was there! Except for maybe the hub (which I try to avoid as much as possible) I can actually hear myself think. I love going to the library, I wish I could eat my lunch in there then it would be perfect!

I definitely liked English more than I thought I would. I was with a great group of people, who I was really starting to like. It's a shame English 102 was all full :( I wrote a paper on bullying that I'll post up on here if I remember to. I feel like I did a pretty good job, especially compared to some of the papers I proofread... Math was math. It wasn't awful, but I'm glad I'm done. Photography was really fun! I took so many pictures that I love, especially the shoot I did with my brother and Alissa. It was also great to learn a little bit more on how to use my camera.

I signed up for my classes for next semester a few weeks back. I'm taking poetry, drawing, math 95 (still not actually counting towards my degree :/), and "survey anthropology." Anthro is the one that's worrying me. I have a cousin who majored in anthropology so hopefully she'll be of so,e help to me if I need her. My friend Sam told me he didn't like his anthro class so I'm really not sure what to look forward to :P Poetry too kinda has me a little concerned. I've tried writing poems before and they always sound extremely cheesy or just downright stupid. Hopefully the class will allow me to hone my skills and unleash my inner Robert Frost.

It's definitely going to be nice to be on break. I don't think people realize how many hours I've spent on homework and studying the past few months! It'll be nice to drink cocoa, bake Christmas cookies, and not have to factor anything. I'm going to try to start drawing again too. I have a little "project" I was working on but never got very far on that I would like to work on. We'll see how that goes.

-Matthew

November 30th Playlist

Since it's the end of the month I thought I'd post a little playlist with everyone.

1. On Your Own-Green River Ordinance
2. Wish you Well-Katie Herzig
3. I Believe In a Thing called Love-Darkness
4. Dancing On My Own-Robyn
5. Screaming Infidelities-Dashboard Confessional
6. Let Her Go-Passangers
7. Ain't No Reason-Brett Dennen
8. Paradise by the Dashboard Light-Meatloaf
9. Just Another Girl-The Killers
10. Into Your Arms-The Maine
11. Hate (I Really Don't Like You)-Plain White T's
12. Homeward Bound-Simon & Garfunkel

Hope you all had a pleasant November. I'm all excited for snow and Christmas :) Bring on winter!

-Matthew

Bye Bye Blockbuster

Blockbuster Video is closing its doors forever. The end of Blockbuster signifies the end of video stores forever. I know, I'm crying too.Video stores were a huge part of my childhood. It was always such an exciting moment when mom or dad would tell us we got to go to Hollywood Video to pick out movies. Of course, the new releases were more expensive so we always got older movies. Me and my brother rented every single Pokemon video in that place (some of them multiple times). Because of video rental stores I was able to walk around the store and look at all the covers, read the descriptions, take way to long with my selections, and have my mom yell at me to hurry up. I got to discover Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in a time when Wild Force was on the air. We found a lot of great "hidden treasure" films by browsing the shelves of Hollywood, and before that its predecessor Crazy Mike's Video. Crazy Mikes was probably the most magical place on Earth. I can still remember the way it smells (I'm not creepy I swear). When we would walk in there were rows and rows of videos. The new release wall always had the newest Land Before Time movies and in a time before the internet, running over to that shelf was always how I'd check if there was a new one out yet. I also loved the song "American Pie" and I always wanted to rent the movie because I thought it was associated with the song, but for some reason dad never let me get them. My dad and me found two series of dinosaur movies that I was in love with and rented over and over again: Walter Cronkite's A&E specials, and another one hosted by Gary Owens. I remember the constant pestering to rewind our movies. I remember how the Charlie Chaplin movies were in the back of the store. But most of all I just remember how exciting the feeling of going to Crazy Mike's was. It's a shame my children will never get to experience anything like that. And while it may seem stupid for me to be emotionally-attached to video stores, it reminds me of my childhood and all the incredible memories I have of picking out movies on a Saturday night. So while my family never actually joined Blockbuster, I am sad to see it go. It represents the end of an era. An era that I will always remember fondly.

-Matthew

P.S. Be kind, please rewind.

College Update

Hey everyone! I thought I would just give y'all a little update on my education. I am almost done with my first semester of college. Crazy right? Photography has been a great experience and I am loving studying the works of other photographers, the inner workings of the camera, and developing my own personal style. I am struggling to bring myself to edit my images though. When I take a picture, I like it to look the way it does when I first shoot it, not like its been Instagrammed. Also, Lightroom is confusing. Math is well...Math. It is actrually easier than my Math was in high school. I love having a teacher again, and I feel like for the first time in my entire life I am really getting these concepts. The homework load is MASSIVE though, and some problems take forever to solve, but I am getting a pretty good grade in the class by my own standard. I am worried about the final, I've never done finals before. English has me writing a lot. Lots of questions to answer and essays to read, but I do enjoy the weekly seminar discussions as they allow me to get a new perspective on the topics at hand. Over the past few weeks, I've been writing a large paper on bullying. it's been fascinating to read some of these stories and statistics, but also quite sad. I am liking college, though I do miss my social life and I am definitely very excited for Christmas break (if that's what they call it here). Well that's all for now, until next time.

-Matthew