Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Flawless

Currently blasting Beyoncé's flawless song... "Flawless." I highly recommend listening to it RIGHT NOW. You'll feel empowered. Just do it. It's right there. I literally did 90% of the work for you. All you have to do is press play. Wow. That's a good motto or tagline or whatever. "All you have to do is press play." Am I good with words? My roommates call me "the Word Person." Maybe... they're right?? Who knows. JUST CLICK THE BUTTON. GAWD.


Okay. So now that you're vibin' with me... Take 3 shots of vodka so you can get on my level. Also start moving out of your current shit hole house (literally a shit hole - there are mouse poops EVERYWHERE) into a new nice clean mousie-free place. Okay, now you are on my level for real. You also got to make sure you have FANtastic roommates. Emphasis on the FAN because we are all truly fans of each other. So much support, youknowwhatimean.

Alright, so there me be a few elements you need to get to be on my exact level, but whatever. Just listen to Beyoncé and maybe do some shots. You'll feel great, I promise.

Did you do it? (I'm assuming you're answering "yes" because why wouldn't you?)

GREAT!

You are WEEEELLLCOOOOOOME.

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Podcasts are really cool

Let's talk about podcasts, y'all.

I recently got back into the podcast game recently. Not making podcasts. Just listening to them.

I used to listen to the occasional Harry Potter themed podcast (MuggleCast, anyone?) back in the day, but up until this week (Thursday, to be exact) I had forgotten how much I enjoy listening to other people talk about things that I like to listen to people talk about. Because they're like, talking about those things. And I like it. So that's why I listen because the topics they talk about interest me. But then I continue to listen because then I like the people. It's really just this whole loop of liking the topics and people and stuff, ya know?

ANYWHO.

I've been listening to and cah-racking up at the podcast, Comedy Bang! Bang!: The Podcast hosted by Scott Aukerman. It's this guy, Scott Aukerman, and he talks to celebrities/comedians/cool people and they joke around and then random characters will show up and be hilarious and they all improvise and it's all around hilarity for about an hour and a half-ish.

One of the first episodes I listened to, Amy Poehler was a guest. I picked the episode to listen to because I saw she was a guest. Weird how that works out. She was, obviously, hilarious and smart and made me fall in love with her even more than I already am. The moment the podcast KILLED me though, was when "Alan Thicke" of Growing Pains fame (or "Pains" as Thicke refers to it as on the podcast) saunters in and is another guest on the show. They discuss the shoot schedule for "Pains" (four months of rehearsal for each episode), his son Robin and all of that controversy, and more. The best part of the episode, however, was towards the end when each person on the show freestyle raps. Each rap had to include the random suggestion provided by the engineer in the room: butter. Thicke had a tough time rapping, Amy rapped about Paula Deen, and another dude whose name has flown out of my head KILLED it at the end.

You HAVE to check out this podcast and listen to the other episodes. A lot of really great guests and really great convos and all around really great times. If you like funny people and laughing and BEING HAPPY, then you will enjoy Comedy Bang! Bang! 

Since I don't drive while at school and don't own a lil stand-alone radio, you might guess that I do not listen to the radio much. You would be right. I don't listen to the radio. Ever. However, since I am studying electronic media, I feel like I should have at least a tiny grasp on the audio and radio sides of the BECA department.

To do this, I am going to get into listening to more podcasts. Being in my radio class and having a radio show of my own has really made me appreciate the art of creating environments and stories without visual aids. It's such an underrated art form. Comedy Bang! Bang! manages to make me burst out in laughter without seeing the comedians faces or motions. The podcast This American Life paints pictures in my mind that had previously only experienced by reading books. I never thought I would be the kind of person that could just listen to people talking with a few sound effects in the background and be completely immersed in the story and characters. But apparently, I AM.

I've mainly been listening to these podcasts on the commute to and from school and work, but I could definitely see myself listening to them while just chilin' on my bed with my headphones in. Is that weird? I don't care. Podcasts are really cool.

Until next time... I am Michelle... Listen to a freakin' podcast, okay?



P.S. Do you listen to any podcasts? Which ones? If you didn't already figure out by my explicit statement above about wanting to listen to more podcasts... Hey. I want to listen to more podcasts. Leave me some suggestions in the comments puuhhlease! Thanks, friend.

If you don't listen to any podcasts or they don't interest you... Why not? Let's have a discussion!

Wee!

Friday, March 7, 2014

My Life via Social Media

I wanted to give you a life update and figured the best way to do that is to let you in on all of the different social media accounts that are linked to my life at the moment.

First, my classes.

One of the classes I am in this semester is a radio class. Along with the Tuesday night lectures, I get to have my own radio show that streams on the KSFS Media website every Tuesday morning from 10-11am! It is called Tasty Tunes and my co-hosts are DJ CeCe and DJ Des (I'm DJ Marno).

Because of the prevalence of social media for "real-life" radio shows, we are required to run at least one social media account and a blog for our show. We decided to go all out and make an account for every social media site that we are active on in our personal lives. We're on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, and even Mixcloud (for the recordings of our shows). You should definitely check us out Tuesday mornings if you're free or check out our social media pages! It's a pretty fun time.

Another class that has a few social media pages is my Television and Video Production class. We produce the annual BECAFest award show at the end of the school year. I am on the scriptwriting team for the show, so I do not personally run the social media accounts, but if you are interested in finding out more information about it you should definitely visit the BECAFest Facebook and Twitter. Anyone can come to the show for free, but there will be a live stream on the KSFS Media website as well!

Second, my internship.

I recently started interning at Inspirare. They are an ecommerce site that promotes and provides a place for new fashion designers to sell their pieces. They have a magazine that I help with as well. The magazine is available on the Newsstand app through the App store for iPads. Pretty soon, it will be available for iPhones and for Android devices.

I originally got hired as a social media intern to help manage their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Once the editor-in-chief found out about my studies in electronic media and writing for electronic media, she decided to give me more responsibilities revolved around writing for the blog, writing scripts for their video content on YouTube, and even some of the copy in the magazine!

I published my first Inspirare Facebook post on Monday! It was about the Academy Awards red carpet and the nude trend that I noticed a lot of celebrities wearing. I then tweeted about the Facebook post, and voila! My first Inspirare tweet was born! The most exciting thing that I did this week for Inspirare was my first blog post. I published it last night! It was about my favorite trends seen at New York, London, and Paris Fashion Weeks this year. That post also had a corresponding Facebook post and tweet to promote it.

Third, my personal life!

Social media has been a big part of my life for a while. I am on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, YouTube, and Snapchat. I use social media as a form of entertainment, relaxation, and communication. I would definitely have a much harder time keeping up on what is going on in my friends' lives without social media. This is especially true since starting college; some of my friends I only see a few times every year! One of the first and last things I usually do every day is check my Twitter feed. I try to only follow friends/people/companies that are funny, entertaining, and/or informative. In result of this, my days start and end with something that will either put a smile on my face or let me know about something important that is going on in the world.

As you can see, social media is a part of every aspect of my life, even school and work! It just goes to show how important it is to be social media savvy in this day and age. There are job opportunities that require you to be able to tweet, post, Instagram, etc. effectively! I know this is extremely true for the media industry, so I am lucky that I got started in the social media game early on. A few of the internships I applied to for this semester required to me to include links to some of my social media accounts! I've also been to symposiums with guest speakers that work in the media industry, and they always say how important it is to have social media accounts that have appropriate content that relates to (or at least does not reflect badly on) the jobs that you want. Employers view potential employees' social media accounts in order to get a feel for who you are and what you can bring to the company. So crazy!

Well that's my ramble on social media and how much it encompasses my life! Thanks for reading!

P.S. Comment down below your thoughts on social media's growing presence in the job market and job application process! I'd love to hear your thoughts!