Day 798: J'adore Disney

French is definitely not my strong suit...not by a long shot. But on the other hand, it seems to be one of the best places to come up with blog post topics, and I finally figured out why. Teachers that love Disney are kind of hard to come by, and by love Disney I mean LOVE Disney. There's the usual, "Yeah I like Disney Movies" and the occasional "Disney is awful," (I've actually heard that more than once), but every so often you find one that will literally have an entire whispered conversation in the middle of class with you about how much you love the parks.

It all started the other day when we were discussing calling cards in French class. Our professor showed us his French calling card, which just so happens to have Mickey and Minnie on it because, apparently, Disneyland Paris is a pretty big thing, at least for the Disney fan that lives in France (I definitely hope to get there someday)! He said a little more about all the Disney parks and I helped out a bit by supplying the info on Shanghai, but he knew all the rest of the parks, and I left class that day mentioning to Megan how he had talked about Disney and that I had a suddenly good feeling about this. The next day (or maybe a day or two later, I can't remember), there was another discussion where Disney came up, and as our TA, Victor, led the class, my Prof pulled up his usual chair right next to me since I sit on the end of the row. Then, somewhere along the line when Disney was mentioned, we ended up having this whole conversation about Disney and how he's been to various parks and lived in Anaheim as a kid and loves Disney. 

Boy, did that put a smile on my face. 

I do believe that finding fellow fans is one of the greatest parts of being a part of a fandom, and yes, Disney definitely counts. Social media has certainly proven to me over the past year or so that there are plenty of people out there who identify with you on a crazy level. I've found friends in the Once Upon A Time fandom, and friends via Instagram, where we all post our Disney Parks Pictures. But finding someone who shares your passion in real life? That's even greater. Just a few weeks ago I actually realized that there has to be another crazy Disney fan who lives in my very dorm, since I saw a car pulling out of our parking lot with a license plate that said something along the lines of "Disney Fan." I'll probably never find that person, but I'm keeping it in mind if I see the car again.

And that's one of the things I love most about Disney...it brings people together. When a fandom unites, some serious magic is possible, such as the fact that CaptainSwan has pulled together and is now featured as one of the top two TV Couples on EOnline (you can go vote for the final two HERE through Thursday March 19), a feat that definitely wouldn't of happened if the fandom really worked together. It's just another example of how social media and fandom friends can make a difference. 

To be totally honest, I can't wait for August and the D23 Expo, where I'm certain I'll finally get to meet many of my Disney friends (and some of the leaders of our wonderful fandom). I'm counting down the days everyone, and of course, the blog gets to come with me, so get yourselves ready too!

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on March 16 due to Midterms).

Day 797: Kodak

Sometimes the littlest thing can lead you on a whole spiral of memories and thoughts and Disney...and this is certainly one of those times.

As you'll see in the blog post after this, we ended up talking about a whole number of things that deal with Disney in my French class, but one of the more prominent was a discussion we had about Kodak. As some of the class debated whether or not Kodak was still a thing, I was simply sitting there thinking about the past of Walt Disney World and the ever popular "Kodak Spots" that were situated throughout the parks during my childhood.

For many years, Kodak was a sponsor with the Disney company, but after they filed for bankruptcy, ended the partnership. Of course, Kodak sponsored many attractions in the parks over the years, including older attractions such as Magic Journeys at Magic Kingdom and the ever popular Captain EO (which still resides at Epcot), as well as some of the attractions that continue today: Mickey's PhilharMagic, Muppet Vision 3D, and Journey Into Imagination With Figment. Now, obviouusly, Kodak sponsors nothing since it's not really even a thing anymore aside from the occasional single use camera you find here and there in tourist locations. In all aspects, Kodak is really a thing of the past.

But that's not all Kodak had at Walt Disney World. The more popular portion of the Kodak we remember from Disney is probably the Kodak Picture Spots that sat all over Walt Disney World. Generally there was a sign and then a little picture indicating the ideal photograph for your family:

These are gone now too, replaced here and there by Photopass Photographers and newer, "Nikon Picture Spots," but I certainly remember the days when Kodak reigned in the parks. It's funny to think that photography has changed so much at this point that something so successful has gone out of business because the entire basis has been lost. Of course, I, like the rest of the world, greatly prefer the digital picture to a roll of film or, goodness gracious, slides, but it's still a little sad to see part of what Disney used to be gone as well. 

Then again, I didn't really need Kodak to tell me where to take pictures, did I? 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on March 16 due to Midterms).

Day 763: Finding the Time

There are 24 hours in a day.

That's 1440 minutes.

And 86,400 seconds.

And still, somehow, I can't find enough time to get everything done.

I suppose, however, that's the real life of a college student, and don't worry, I have NO intention of stopping this blog just because I tend to get behind due to a busy schedule (if I'm behind now I don't even want to think about next semester). To be honest, my biggest problem right now, or in the past few weeks rather, has been a sick laptop. HAL, after his extremely terrifying bath, has been back functioning on some level...but about two weeks ago (as I'm writing this), a virus took over him, making it almost impossible to access the internet. Luckily, I was able to get rid of the virus so I can once again use him, but he's still got a full hard drive replacement ahead of him, and I don't think either of us are excited about that. (Will that make him HAL9001?)

And then, following almost not bringing HAL back with me to school, I was ushered into what I like to call the never ending week, of which, finally, I am almost finished with. This past weekend (you really need to realize I'm writing this on February 19, not February 2 like I should have done), I watched, housed, played with and followed around 50 high school students around my college campus and music building, as our Winter BandFest was upon us. The SNC Wind Ensemble and Music Department puts on the festival every February, bringing in high school students to perform in an honors group and stay overnight in our college dorms. It was 30 hours of absolutely exhausting work that left me in a very odd, not good mood come Monday. It wasn't the fault of anyone though, as the kids were absolutely wonderful, playing a beautiful concert with us on Sunday and it was all definitely worth it...although I could have done with a bit more sleep.

BandFest weekend led straight into another long week here at SNC, but I do have one very Disney story to share that isn't featured in another blog post (I have the topics all sorted out for every day I have to make up between February 2-19)!

For my French class we were instructed to write a short story about our worst vacation. It could be real or completely made up, and when you take trips to Disney World and pretty much no where else, there's no such thing as a worst vacation. So I, being the English major I am, came up with a different story (Assisted by my lovely friends Allie and Brody) that ended up being pretty darn entertaining. Since it definitely has some Disney references in it, I figured I would share, in English of course:

My worst vacation was when I went skiing with my friends named Berlioz, Colin and Michelle. We went to the North Pole, where it was very cold. We stayed at a ski resort named Black Mountain. Our trip began nicely with a good dinner of scallops and trout, but then things took a turn for the worst. First, Colin broke his leg when skiing. He was taken to the hospital. Then Berlioz fell out a window and hit his head. He got amnesia. Finally, Michelle was kidnapped by a yeti and was lost forever. After Michelle disappeared I returned to the hospital to help Colin and Berlioz return home. On the plane, we found out the yeti was our pilot and we feared for our lives. Did we make it home? You may never know. 

And that's what my French professor got to read...although in extremely rough French rather than English that's prepared for extremely rough French. He liked it though, so that's a success in my book!

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on February 19).

Day 680: Kitchen Kabaret

As you know well, my classes provide ample opportunity for me to relate things to Disney. It happens almost daily in some classes (like Fairy Tales was), and sometimes it's a bit less often. I've talked about class after class, but I'm actually not sure if I've ever talked about a reference in my French class. Mostly what we do is sit and learn vocabulary there, so it would be rather difficult to relate things constantly. But today? Today I actually had a very Disney-sort of thought, since we're studying food, and it all goes back to my Sophomore Year of High School.

I took French my first two years at SHS, and I'm taking it again now, mostly because I honestly didn't remember much by the time I got around to taking the college language competency test. So here I am, taking French again. But I do remember a project that we did in High School, which was actually one of the first videos I did and it was tons of fun.

Now, I can't actually find the whole video anymore. It's been long lost to the internet I fear, but I do have the introduction to the cooking show we made for class, titled Cooking Don'ts. Honestly, I believe it would be a pretty darn good television show, all about the things you SHOULDN'T do while cooking or baking. I remember filming the video and miss Lilly came up and ate some of the pie. Gosh this was all a long time ago.

When I made the film though, we had to pick a song, and I couldn't come up with a better song than the Kitchen Kabaret melody. It fit perfectly with what we were doing, even if the lyrics are in English instead of French. Regardless, here's the intro:

Honestly, it's weird to look back at that and then look at some of the things I've done more recently in the world of film. Actually, I'm kind of glad that the rest of it is lost to the world. Who knows what Megan and I look like. Although if this whole thing taught us one thing, it's that poutine is great...and we can't wait to have some at Le Cellier in January. 

Have a magical day!

Day 662: A Little...Or A Lot

It seems that my mind has one of two tracks lately. Actually, it's been working this way for quite some time now, but it's just really apparent from time to time. Either my brain is on Once Upon A Time mode or it's on Disney mode. As I said to one of my friends last night, and I know I've said it before here, it's a lot easier for my mind to be on OUAT, simply because when I make references to that, everyone understands. My friends get that because they watch the show. But with Disney, Megan is the only one who will understand...if she does since there's still a lot she hasn't seen. After all, today I taught her about surrey bikes at the Disney Resorts. That was a fun conversation.

Anyway, today is a Disney sort of day for sure. I'm listening to my Disney parks music while working on this blog post before I head home this afternoon, and this is due to various reasons. I woke up a bit later than I usually do this morning, as did my roommate Ashley, so we were in our usual hurry to get to class, only with a quicker pace than normal. It means that I didn't really have a ton of time to think about much of anything this morning. I normally go through my twitter and Instagram feeds when I get up and I didn't do any of that, so my brain was kind of on a foundational level: get to class and fake some French.

But in French class, our TA, Victor, shared a video with us. We're just starting a new chapter that includes words to describe relationships and relatives and such, so the picture at the beginning of the chapter is of a wedding. Victor asked if he could show us a video (and we didn't argue), which I believe was of his brother's wedding. Don't quote me on that though. Regardless, he was in it too for a second and it was just a really great video. The point was that it reminded me of another wedding...a particular one that I've seen more times than I can probably count. Yep, the wedding scene in Impressions de France, because really this is French class so of course that's where my brain is going.

Then I had a relatively normal music history class, and afterwards I finally actually checked my Twitter and Instagram, only to find quite the interesting rumor: The Legend of Jack Sparrow could be closing as early as next week, and there's a significant rumor that the Sorcerer's Hat at DHS will be demolished in January 2015...right after my trip.

To be completely honest, I've never been a fan of the hat. I mean, yeah it was nice during the 100 Year Celebration and everything. It fit then, sort of. But since then I've just gotten incredibly angry about the fact that it's still bloody there, and with a stage in front of it none the less (although even that stage has disappeared recently...or so I've heard). So yeah, on a serious level I'm pretty darn happy about the possibility of the hat finally leaving and allowing the Chinese Theater to be restored to it's former glory.

But what scares me is how everything is just sort of happening at once. The hat has become such a fixture of Hollywood Studios, and while I may not like it, at the same time I kind of do. It's all I can really remember (especially since most of my youngest memories come from Epcot, not DHS...or rather, MGM). There's been a lot of change going on at Disney World lately and I love that. It's moving forward, and that's what this is all about, but it's still kind of frustrating. I've had a series of shorter trips and hardly feel like I'm able to see everything I want to see (to be completely honest, I think this is stemming from my lack of time to do anything on my last trip...January will be better), and meanwhile everything changes at the speed of light before I have a second to appreciate it.

If you're not confused after reading what I just wrote, good for you, because I'm so confused about how this makes me feel that I don't even know how to comprehend any of it. Am I happy the hat might be leaving? Yeah. Am I sad the hat might be leaving? Yeah. Am I excited for the future of DHS? Yeah. Am I terrified they're going to screw something up? Yeah. I'm confused about all of it and just do not know how to feel at this rate.

So much to see, never enough time and now it's all changing before some of my friends really have a chance to experience it. All I'm asking for is for things to stay the same until after January. Seriously. But at the same time...go ahead and change things Disney! The hat overstayed it's welcome about ten years ago.

Gosh I am such an indecisive person.

Have a magical day!

Day 616: Martin Short

This is the story of how Martin Short basically saved my life.

In college, you may have a foreign language requirement that you must fulfill in order to get your degree. We have one of those here at SNC, and that means that for the next two semesters (this one and next one) I must struggle through French class. Alright, so maybe struggle is a bit harsh, since as long as I actually do my work I feel I'll be alright, but it isn't a piece of cake, that's for sure. 

Today was our very first French test. We have one at the end of each chapter and when you get around to that first test or paper for a new professor you have this absolute terror that you're going to do something wrong. You don't know what the format is going to be or exactly what you should study, and you almost always forget to study something. 

For me, that thing was the "history" section. It wasn't really as much history as it was general questions about the French speaking world, but needless to say, I could not for the life of me remember the answer about how many people in the world speak French. The other portion of the question asked if there were any areas on the North American continent that speak French, and the answer to that question is pretty darn easy. 

As we should all well know, parts of Canada do indeed speak French, and that's most certainly part of North America. My mind, in the middle of taking this French Test, went straight to Epcot, and I tried to remember as much as I could about the section where Martin Short talks about speaking French. I couldn't remember all that much, but I wrote up an answer that had something to do with the various French speaking countries around the world and how it's one of the most popular languages in the world. Seemed like a good answer to me. 

So, in a way, Martin Short saved my life today. Possibly. Obviously the test isn't graded yet so I have no clue if my answer actually worked, but I'll keep you posted on that one. 

Have a magical day!