Day 1229: Just Be Nice

If there's one thing I've noticed as a part of the Once Upon A Time fandom, it's that people can be just downright rude. Aside from my personal experiences lately, I can't help but see the constant bullying, arguing, and honest to God wars that occur via social media. It's really terrible. Which leads me to my point today, and I'll try to keep it brief. 

Just. Be. Nice. 

We're all very different people, from all over the world, with different backgrounds. We have different favorite characters, different favorite episodes, lines, ships, and story arcs, but that doesn't mean we should be arguing about it. One of the most important lessons I've ever learned was the idea of agreeing to disagree, and I think that's what the OUAT fandom really needs these days. 

I think that's what we all need these days, to agree to disagree, and understand that just because we don't share every single opinion doesn't mean we should be rude. No one is worthless because of their opinion, and while I have my own ships and favorites, I'm not about to say that anyone else is wrong because they prefer someone else. That would be ridiculous. 

So don't do that. Be nice. That's not that hard to accomplish.

Have a magical day!

Day 1150: The GIF Button

GIFs, which we still apparently can't agree on the pronunciation of, are quickly taking over the internet, although if you're like me and you've been around for a number of years, you absolutely already know of our obsession with the moving pictures. And of course, for a very long time, we had to save the GIFs to our phones and computers and then organize them carefully so we'd be able to find the GIF we want to post as a reaction to something. 

And then the world woke up and realized that this was an incredibly slow process and wouldn't it just be great if we had pretty much every GIF imaginable at our fingertips?

Twitter, like Facebook, now has a GIF button, and it's actually the greatest thing ever. Want a Disney GIF of Sadness to express how much you miss Dole Whips (which, as you can see, also have a GIF)? No problem! Just search for it. And because we obviously all need to clap along to a song like Snow White does (she's flawless, isn't she?), there's a GIF of that to share too. There's GIFs of everything, and it's amazing. Why? Because we all know there's no better way to express happiness than through a GIF of Flash: 

Have a magical day! 

1104: Travels

What do you mean I'm leaving on vacation this afternoon?

Even with the band trip video finished and a recital played and a suitcase [mostly] packed, there's still a bit of work to be finished before I head off to Florida, including a bit of information here on Everyday Disney!

As you might know, because I'll be gone, Everyday Disney will be put on hold until January 18 or 19 (depending on my schedule). However, that doesn't mean I'll be gone completely! My social media hiatus I started at the beginning of the year has come to an end after a week, so you can follow any of those accounts listed on the side of the page to keep up with my adventures (especially Instagram!)

If you don't have an Instagram though, never fear! You can see all of my pictures right here on the blog at the top of the page, and I'll also be posting them on Twitter as often as possible. In addition, this trip I'm going to bring in some Snapchat! I tested it out while at Disneyland this past August and found that I really liked it, so you can follow my account there for daily updates from Walt Disney World! And of course, when I do return I'll be updating Everyday Disney to include a recap of the trip, and new videos will appear on my YouTube channel again starting the last week in January!

And if you get really bored and start to miss Everyday Disney I encourage you to go back and maybe read some older posts that you may have missed! If you need somewhere to start, you can find my lists of favorite blog posts from the past three years on the following posts:

2013 (Part 1 | Part 2)
2014 (Part 1 | Part 2)
2015 (Part 1 | Part 2)

Otherwise, I'll see you all in a couple of weeks!

Until then, have a magical day!

Day 1022: What Happened in October?

Trying to make up blog posts when I get really far behind is certainly one of the more difficult things in life, especially when those blog posts are from months ago. To be fair, if I don't have time to blog on a specific day I try to at least write down a blog post topic that I can come back to later, but more often than not, I'm so caught up in schoolwork and such that I don't even think much about it. My life is relatively ordinary and simple, and while I'm able to find Disney in pretty much anything and everything, I also can't ever seem to remember what happened in October when it's November.

If I'm trying to come up with blog posts from a date that far past, the first place I turn to is my Twitter, as I'm more active there than any other social media, and usually I'll have tweeted about something that makes a connection. The problem is, Twitter only allows me to go so far back sometimes, and since I tweet so much (thanks Once Upon A Time), it's sometimes hard to figure out what in the world might have gone on.

Regardless, I think someday I should show you how boring my everyday life really is. It usually starts with me quickly getting ready for the day before heading to hours of class, maybe a bit of food, and then into an evening that is often filled with meetings. From there, I throw in some practice and homework time before hopefully blogging, working on a video, or catching an episode of something on Netflix before again going to sleep.

See, not that interesting at all? And J-Term is probably even more boring, with days on end of random work on things that I didn't have the time to finish during the semester. Maybe someday I'll snapchat my entire day and then share it here, but that's an idea for another day...although I do wonder how Disney might still fit into a little video like that, because I'm more than certain it would.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 30).

Day 992: Arrrrrrrrr

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day from Cardboard Colin and I!

Talk Like a Pirate Day is absolutely one of my favorite days of the year, although it might have something to do with the fact that I live with a cardboard pirate and eagerly await the return of my favorite pirate on TV. Regardless, we have a good time every year on TLAPD, and this year Cardboard Colin and I thought it might be fun to share some Priate themed jokes with you: 

"Why does it take pirates so long to learn the alphabet?" 

Because they can spend years at C!

"What do you get when you cross a pirate with a librarian?"

Cap'n Book!

"Why is pirating addictive?" 

They say once ye lose yer first hand, ye get hooked!

"What goes thump-thump Arr!, thump-thump Arr!?"

A pirate falling down the stairs. 

"Where is the ocean the deepest?" 

On the bottom. 

"What's a pirate's favorite kind of cookie?" 

Ships Ahoy. 

Oh, and Cardboard Colin has one for you too:

In case you were wondering, yes, you can now follow my cardboard friend on Twitter! Just search for him @CardboardColin!

Have a magical talk like a pirate day mates! 

(Note: This blog post was written on September 26 due to a tight schedule).

Day 985: 202 Smiles

It wasn't long ago that I was wondering if Jennifer Morrsion would do another year of 101 Smiles on social media. As part of a goal to increase positivity on the internet and in life in general, last year she began the #101Smiles challenge, in which you were to post a picture a day of something that made you smile. A lot of us joined in, and I talked a year ago about how the experience really impacted how I see positivity in my every day life. You can see a recap of 101 Smiles 2014 HERE.

I've thought a lot about 101 Smiles since it ended last December, so you can imagine how excited I was when Jennifer Morrison announced that we were about to start another round this fall. It started a bit later than the last one, about two weeks later, but that should put us really close to Christmas and the New Year by the time we finish! In general though, I'm really excited to see what kinds of things will make me smile this time around. Here's the collage of all of last year's pictures, just to give you an idea of what brought a grin to my face in 2014:

So far this year (it's currently September 25 when I'm writing this due to some scheduling issues), I've already had a lot of smiling moments:

As always, you can find my contributions to the 101 Smiles Challenge on all my social media! Links can be found on the sidebar! And if you haven't joined in on 101 Smiles, you're definitely welcome to! It's never too late to start smiling! 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on September 25 due to a tight schedule).

Day 945: Rotten to the Core

Just a few days ago I blogged about Disney Descendants, and I definitely made a point to watch it that night as it premiered (although I did catch the West Coast showing rather than the East Coast as I usually do), and I have to say, the movie really impressed me, which is certainly something because I grew up in the Disney Channel age of Lizzie Maguire and That's So Raven, even going as far as the High School Musical movies, so for a movie like this to have some ground is pretty good.

My favorite parts of the movie? I definitely have a few, and the first is most certainly the opening villain number, Rotten to the Core:

I haven't been able to get this song out of my head all weekend, and it's sort of becomming a problem. But that's what music is intended to do, espeically in a musical setting like this. However, the number also gives a great glimpse into some of the amazing costuming in the film, most of which just screams DisneyBound. Actually the entire movie is just filled with DisneyBounds from different characters, and it's pretty much the greatest thing ever. 

Actually, no, there was one other thing that may be greater, and it's got everything to do with the son of Cruella De Vil, Carlos. Perhaps my favorite reference to the stories in the film was this kid and his terror of dogs. Ironic, I know. The son of Cruella De Vil is terrified of dogs, that is, until he meets Dude, the campus dog at the new high school. And then I sort of started a thing...

If you want to see my full Live Tweet of the movie, feel free to head over to my Twitter! I live tweet things almost weekly, and Descendants was definitely a fun one! If you haven't seen the movie yet, definitely catch a showing at some point! It's got great twists on some of the original Disney stories and is filled with a new cast of wonderful characters. 

Watched Descendants? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! 

Have a magical day!

Day 816: #HTTYD2

Dragon trapping, the viking edition of a lightsaber, lots of flying and ice, and of course, more time with the cat-dragon, Toothless...oh yes, it must mean it's time for another blog post on a Non-Disney Animated Film. As you know very well, this doesn't happen often. After all, I barely have enough time to watch any movie, much less something that's non-Disney and not on my Epic Animated Disney Film Rewatch, but my friend Jessica has brought me to a room I previously didn't know existed on my college campus for an afternoon of dragon watching.

Even weirder in this scenario? I'm blogging while I watch. Sort of.

The simple fact is...blog posts that are written while trying to watch something generally end up to be one giant mess of a post, so instead I live tweeted the majority of the film, and I'll share just some of my favorite tweets with you now...or at least the ones that are important to this blog and the storyline.

Things, as you can see, started off relatively normal. But then again...whenever I embark on a Live Tweeting Spree, you really should brace yourself.

I didn't start my live tweet until maybe like 20 minutes into the movie, so there were definitely a few things my tweeting session missed. In those first minutes, a Viking Lightsaber, a Frying Pan and Viking Pirate Ships were among the odd references I found amusing. Keep the Viking Lightsaber in mind. It'll be back later. 

I actually had several tweets about this and I still feel this way after seeing the whole film, but I sensed a lot of connection between Brave and How to Train Your Dragon, more-so within the second HTTYD than the first. I have the feeling it had something to do with the mother, since Merida's mother and Hiccup's mother really remind me of one another. Then again, it could also be because they're based on similar locations in Europe...

Apparently I was really on a Star Wars track mind today because I found plenty of connections between the films, and yes, that guy really does remind me of General Grievous (I think it later became his mother...but when she had the mask one...and this makes no sense if you haven't seen the movie...). The villain in the film reminded me more of Attila the Hun though. 

I kind of felt like HTTYD2 was filled with little references from other movies, like it was a bunch of Disney animated films and then a few other oddball movies thrown together with a dragon that acts like a cat. I'll talk more about this at the end, but this is just example one of other movies this one reminded me of. 

Of course, I was live tweeting from a computer (because it's literally a million times easier than trying to do it on your phone), and then in the middle of live tweeting a picture of Colin popped up. This actually happened many more times throughout the movie, but we found it amusing...or at least I did...that I never escape. After all, #HookersGonnaHook!

Here we have a more master list of the films this movie reminded me of, and to be completely honest, I'm not even sure where all of these references came from...especially since I haven't even seen The Croods. Must be a Non-Disney Animation thing. 

Haha this character made me laugh! I don't remember her name anymore, but if you've seen the film I'm sure you can figure out who I'm talking about. Basically, she spends the entire movie fawning over this viking and it's not important at all, but I found it super hilarious the whole time and just had to tweet about it eventually. 

Megan was probably more upset about it than I was, but the fact that (SPOILER ALERT) Hiccup's father just goes off and dies is really upsetting to us. It just seemed weird. And sad. And not ok. 

I mean, I feel like the Ice Dragon and Marshmallow would be really great friends! 

I cannot express to you how much I loved the Viking Lightsaber. I thought it was pretty darn clever and was a really unique addition (and reference) to the film. I think I tweeted about it at least three times throughout the course of the movie...basically anytime I saw it. 

In the end, I think I really enjoyed the first film more than the second, mostly because I feel like the plotline in the first one was more original. We hadn't met Toothless yet and we were learning about Hiccups problems, but this one just kind of fell flat for me. I felt like part of the plot from the last film was repeated (with the relationship between Hiccup and his father and so on and so forth), and the mother coming in only for the father to be taken away just kind of disrupted the plotline and made it flow in a sort of awkward way. And as I mentioned earlier, I felt like it brought in a lot of elements from other movies, making me feel like what I was watching had already been done before. No, it wasn't like just one movie being repeated, but sometimes, if there are too many elements that remind you of another film, it still doesn't feel as original as it could. As for HTTYD in general, as in both films, I think they're certainly worth a watch, maybe not on the same scale as some other animated films out there, but something that will keep you entertained. Plus, the music is great throughout both films and if you watch it for no other reason than to listen to the music, go for it. I won't judge, I'm a music major, after all! 

However, that wraps up another live tweeting session, meaning that yet another blog post is in the books. It's sort of odd...blogging about something that's sort of relating to Disney on an off-scale. After all, HTTYD is not a Disney Animated Movie, but the reason I'm watching it is because I should, I suppose, every once and a while, watch a non-Disney Animated Movie. Regardless, if you haven't seen HTTYD, go give it a chance! Toothless is one adorable dragon! 

Have a magical day!

Day 807: Break? What Break?

Spring break has always been this sort of really important week for me. For some reason, I'm always able to go ahead and get a lot of stuff done in a week of what most people use as time off. Of course, last year I took half my break and went to Disney, but we'll talk more about that in another blog post. This year, however, I returned to my old ways and created a Spring Break Mission Log, which basically is a motivational system I've created for Spring Break that helps me get things done. It worked really well a number of years ago and I've just kept the tradition. Plus, if this spring break has anything to show for it, the system still works because I've gotten my fair share of work done, right along with binge watching a considerable amount of television (I tend to multitask...)

So what exactly have I all accomplished so far this week? That's a good question, and here are a few of the highlights, both things that were originally on my list and things that just happened that were awesome:

Well...This Happened:

I guess it's not really every day you get a random tweet to tell you that you were featured on a list of favorite #CollegeProblems. While I am a college student who basically survives on crackers and biscoff, this was not something I was expecting. So...Reach the Big Leagues of College Problems? Mission Accomplished.

Watch the premiere of iZombie:

When it comes to creating a Spring Break Mission Log, you have to keep in mind that not everything can require a lot of work. You have to throw in some really fun, easy stuff as well, because those things are easy to accomplish, meaning you're more motivated to move onto the next thing. This was one of those easy to accomplish tasks. It just so happens that a new CW show, iZombie, stars a number of cast members who were also on Once Upon A Time, and since I love OUAT on an obnoxious level, I generally go around and watch as many of the other new projects as I can. Turns out I love the show...and one of their cast members is pretty great too:

I also have two favorites from him. Pretty good turnout for the first episode, am I right? 

Make new Door Decs:

You already know that I make door decs for our dorm room, partly because our dorm just isn't that into them and partly because I really want our door to be super awesome. Previously, we had the Frozen theme, and before that it was Elf and Monsters Inc. But I needed something more springy, but still Disney. Thankfully, it didn't take me long to figure out our newest theme: Alice in Wonderland! 

It took a while to get everything completed, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I'm especially fond of the way the wording on the window came together. What's next for the dorm decs? Well, they'll stay like this for a while, but I've hopefully got one last trick up my sleeve before the end of the year, which has just a subtle hint of Disney to go along with it. 

Other tasks I've completed? I filled out a few honors group applications, sorted music for my job, Disneybounded like no other, researched LinkedIn, Caught up Everyday Disney, Drank a TON of Starbucks, and checked off many other tasks on my to-do list. Then again, the week isn't over yet, and there's still items yet to be accomplished! Don't worry though...Spring Break isn't over yet. 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on March 20).