I Changed A Lot In 2015

Last year, I made a blog post about New Years' resolutions, and I would like to respond to it, 364 days later.

New Years Resolutions

Wow. 2015. Wow. 

I can't believe it's already 2015. 2014 went by so quickly, I remember it like it was two days ago. And since it's the new year, I know that everybody is making new years resolutions. I am too. But this year, I'll try to put more effort into keeping them. 

1. DRAW EVERY DAY. 

I'm making this resolution because I know for a fact it will help me in life. As some of you know, I want to work in art and animation. To be specific, I want to be a visual development artist, the artist who designs what gets animated. I've read dozens of articles about working in animation and everyone always gives the same advice: draw everyday. Nothing like the new year to start new habits! Drawing everyday will be challenging (finding time and a subject isn't easy) but it will help my drawing skills, my creativity and will help me get one step closer to my dream career. 

2. TALK TO STRANGERS

No, not like that.

I am a very shy person. I don't like talking to new people. Being surrounded by people I don't know is one of my worst fears. I don't know why I get so scared around new people, but I panic at the thought of a big group of strangers. But we all know fears can be overcome. This year, I want to get better at talking to new people. It will be a slow process, but I'm tired of sitting alone at a party and being completely terrified of talking to someone. I don't want to become a total social butterfly, and I don't think I ever will. I just want to be able to talk to the other girl who's sitting alone. If I can work up the courage to talk to someone new, I can help someone who's going through the exact same thing.

Um, that's all I can think of now. Those were the ones I had already planned to be my official resolutions. Maybe it's better to  have two resolutions that matter to you than a whole list of shallow ones. And maybe my list will grow, since you don't have to wait until January 1st to change your life!

And all I can say is, 2015 felt like 6 months. But when I look back on what happened last year, it does feel like a year. Psychology is weird. Anyway, I feel like I've grown so much in 2015, especially since starting high school. But I'm not here to talk about how high school has changed me, I've only had one semester of it. Right now, I'm going to talk about how I acted on these new years resolutions. 

1. DRAWING EVERY DAY

I'll be the first to say that I wasn't sure I could follow through on this one. But for the most part, I did draw everyday. At first it was hard and I did a lot of last minute drawings before I went to sleep. But later on, it kind of became a habit. I can't remember the last time I went to bed without drawing at least once.  I thought finding time would be an issue, but it really wasn't. And because I draw everyday, my skills have improved radically. You can literally see my style changing if you look through my sketchbooks. My style got more realistic and as I learned to draw more things, it also got more interesting. I can't wait to draw everyday in 2016, and hopefully my style will change so much, I shudder at all the drawings I did this year! ;)

2. TALKING TO STRANGERS

This resolution had a backstory. Every year, on New Years' Day, my family celebrates with our family friends and their cousins. They are a family of nine. Every year, I hated going to their house, because I couldn't hang out with any of them. Their two oldest daughters were adults, the kids my age were roudy boys, and they had littler kids. I remember last year, I was miserable. I was bored out of my mind, but too painfully shy to talk to anyone. I ended up having my dad taking me home early because I couldn't take it anymore. And I hated myself for it, making myself miserable and being too shy to do anything about it. So I decided to become less shy so I never have to do that again. And it worked, a little. I'm still shy, one year later. I don't really like to go to youth group because I'm not really friends with any of the regulars and my one friend that used to go stopped. But I'm much better. I'm more outgoing than I was last year, and I held my own at the New Years' Day party today. I basically decided I didn't wan to sit around feeling sorry for myself, and I joined a conversation between the moms and the adult daughters. I even enjoyed myself. I'm a pretty good conversationalist once I get comfortable in a group. I still left early, since my sister was at an awkward age too. But I'm proud of myself for putting myself out there and I hope I can brave youth group in 2016. 

I'm really proud of myself and how much I've grown in 2015. I'll post my new resolutions later, because this post is getting a little long and I don't know what they are yet anyway. 

A Fresh Start

It has been over 6 months since I last blogged. I used to really like blogging, even when it was for school. I posted every week, writing passionately about some new topic. So what happened? Well life, I guess. I started high school and that was a big shake up in my life style. I've been spending most of my free time drawing. I'd completely forgotten how much I loved blogging until a couple of weeks ago. I had been watching Vlogbrothers on YouTube, and I came across a new vlogger who was a substitute John in one video. I started watching her channel (NerdyandQuirky) and it all just came back to me. At first, I was like, "Wow! I'd love to be a YouTuber!" but that wasn't really it. I just missed expressing my feelings into the void, to tell hypothetical followers about my life. I wanted to BLOG.
So here I am again, on a completely outdated site, following my mom's advice, blogging into the void. I don't even know where people blog now, or if it's even still a thing. Who knows. Who cares?
I'll try to blog every week, and knowing myself, I will MAKE IT HAPPEN.

Art Thoughts

I have wanted to make a blog post about my passion for drawing for a while now, but I haven't really known what to say. Actually, I never really know what to say when someone asks about my drawing. Maybe this post will help. 

One of the biggest misconceptions about art is that people think that being good at art is a natural talent. It is absolutely not! Every artist works extremely hard at their practice, putting in a lot of time and effort. I have seen so many amazing artists beating themselves up because they think they don't have talent. Art does not come naturally! It took me a lot of work to get where I am today, and I am still working at drawing better. If you have a passion for art like I do, practicing art is not a chore, it's something you will enjoy! So aspiring artists, stop worrying about whether you have talent, and focus on making your art the best it can be!

Another misconception about artists is that they can draw anything, anywhere. Not true. Just as good art requires a lot of practice, it needs a lot of inspiration. So many times I have been asked if I could draw something for some one, right then and there. ARTISTS ARE NOT FOUNTAINS OF CREATIVITY. I can't always draw. Sometimes I don't know what to draw. Maybe I can't draw a picture for someone in the middle of a loud, screamy classroom. Art doesn't just appear out of nowhere. If I have a good idea for a drawing, sure, I can draw it right then. But if I don't, I can sit for long time just facing an empty sketchbook. Yes, artists might be slightly more creative than the average person, but we are not fountains of ideas. An artist is more like a broken faucet- sometimes spurting tons of ideas and sometimes, nothing comes out. 

I would post some drawings, but this is an old blog post from a different website. Yes, it's Monica from the future!!! Copy and paste isn't working, so you'll just have to wait until I have the patience to do it!

The Shatter Me Tour

 June 7th, 2014 was quite possibly the best day of my life. June 7th, 2014 was the day I was lucky enough to see my idol, Lindsey Stirling perform live. This is the story of the time I went to see Lindsey Stirling during her 2014 Shatter Me tour.

This tale began on the day Lindsey Stirling's second album, Shatter Me, was released. Lindsey Stirling is a violinist, who creates an innovative style of music blending classical violin, and many other genres, including dubstep, rock and hip-hop. She started her journey to fame on YouTube, and released an album in 2012. Below is a link to her song "Crystallize"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHjpOzsQ9YI

Back to the story. Shatter Me was released at the very beginning of May. Being a huge fan of Lindsey, I bought it right away and watched the new music video for the title track. At the end of the said music video, Lindsey made a very exciting announcent that she was going on tour. I did a little googling, and learned that Lindsey Stirling was going on tour, IN COLUMBUS, FOR A REASONABLE PRICE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I told my mom about the tour (she was very enthusiastic (about the reasonable price part) and she couldn't see a reason why I couldn't go. Unfortunately, there was a block in the road. June 11th, 2014. The scheduled date of the Columbus concert. Also the date of a very important church event I absolutely could not miss. This. Was. Terrible. I told my mom I might never get a chance to see Lindsey Stirling like this again, so we kept looking for a solution.

The solution? See Lindsey Stirling on a different day, in a different city. We decided that the best date would be Saturday, June 7th in Detroit, Michigan. We were going to see this concert!

Fast forward to June, me and my mom were ready to go! We were taking a road trip to Detroit, just the two of us, to see the concert. The drive to Detroit was about three and a half hours long, and was pretty boring. We just listened to music and all there was to see from the road was grass. 

At around 5:00, our amazing night at the concert began. We drove to the Masonic Temple in downtown Detroit, and waited in line for what seemed like all of eternity. It was INSANE. The doors were supposed to open at 6, and the concert start at 7, but we didn't even get in the building until 7! Little did we know, that was only the beginning. 

We got into the mosh pit, and since we came early, got to stand like three rows away from the stage. Three rows away from my favorite musician in the entire world!!! Unfortunately, that lasted for only about three minutes. Someone squeezed into our perfect spots when my mom was taking a picture, and I backed away from the picture so I wouldn't be rude. Well, in hindsight, it wouldn't be as rude as a really tall person standing in front of two short people!

So, I'm finally at a good position, thanks to some nice people who let me stand in front of them, but where is the concert? The concert started almost an HOUR late. An hour that should have been filled with awesome violin music and cheering crowds, but was filled by rude people trying to move in front of me and my feet were really hurting. When will this concert start?!

Evenutally, the concert did start. And as so many concerts do, it was with an opening act. Dia Frampton was okay, not very memorable though. I can't even remember the songs. I was glad the concert was starting, and to finally have some music to dance to.

FINALLY, Lindsey Stirling took the the stage! The first song she performed was the first track of her album, Beyond The Veil. Taking inspiration from the title, we could only see her silhouette from behind an enormus black curtain. Then, when the beat dropped, the entire thing fell to the ground, and Lindsey jumped from her platform and came down, playing her violin better than she could in any video. That moment, when I saw he play for the first time, when I could see the passion in which she played, was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. 

The entire array of songs she played were just as electrifying and passionate as the first. The one that moved me the most was an acoustic version of her song Trancendance, from her first album.That was the song I was really able to see how talented of a violinist Lindsey Stirling really was. I could see how passionate she was about the violin, without any flashy music, lights or dancing blocking it. I was inspired by her. 

Words cannot describe how amazing the concert was, and I have already written enough about this day of my life. After the concert, I bought a t-shirt, and my mom and I drove home to the hotel, exhausted, sore, and completely awestruck by the concert. We drove home the next day, a drive just as uninteresting as the first. The night is just a memory now, but I will never, ever forget the time I went to Lindsey Stirling's 2014 Shatter Me tour in Detroit.

Teeny Tiny Moments of Joy

Teeny-tiny moments of joy. We all have 'em, the tiniest things that can make your whole day. The things you know you can always look forward to, or just the things that make you smile. I will take a moment to reflect on my own, often quirky, teeny-tiny moments of joy.

One of my moments of joy is eating ice cream in my backyard. I don't know about any of you, but I just cannot eat an ice cream cone indoors. No matter how old I am, I love to swing on the swingset in my backyard on a hot summer day, ice cream in hand, just chatting with my sisters. It's something I can always look forward to.

Since we're on the topic of ice cream, dear reader, you should really get the Peaches and Cream ice cream from Fresh Thyme Market. It's FANTABULOUS, and brings this moment of joy to an ultimate high!

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Another tiny moment of joy for me is that wonderful feeling you get when you have just finished a lot of homework. I look down at my finished homework, let out a huge sigh, and flop down on my bed, ready to relax. I don't exactly know why I always want to flop down (is it out of relief? exhaustion?)  My brain feels like it's been deep-fried, and I just feel so happy when I'm done.

The feeling of joy you get when you debut a new outfit is something I know all of my felow girls will understand. I feel a little more confident when I wear something new, because I usually put a little more effort into my appearance as to complement the new item. I know its silly, but I feel a little happier about my day when I look cute.

Some moments just make you smile, even if they are small. "Psychic" moments are a good example of that for me. "Psychic" moments are the times where you predict something's going to happen and then it does. The thing is, the predicted event is pretty trivial. Some examples of this phenomenon are: 

• When you're listening to something on shuffle, and you guess what song is coming next, and you're right!
• While watching a movie/TV show/reading a book, and you make a prediction, like "I think so and so is going to betray so and so" and then it actually happens!
• When you finish someone's sentence, like, two words in to their explanation.

So, insignificant as they may seem, I love my "psychic" moments.

There are many more teeny-tiny moments of joy that I have, but I don't think they need explanation, so I'll make a list instead!

• Watching TV live
• Lemonade IceCubes gum
• Whipped cream out of the can (There is a HUGE difference)
• Going on Google Images just for the heck of it

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I have many other teeny-tiny moments of joy that have yet to be shared, and I'm sure you have them too. Who knows, maybe someday I'll add blogging to my list of joys!