The Flossing Rule

I have this weird, really annoying, unspoken rule with myself when it comes to flossing.

I only ever want to floss my teeth when the timing is the least appropriate. It's usually two o'clock in the morning and I've been up for too long and I should really go to sleep. It's as if the gravity of the consequences of poor flossing habits only truly holds weight when my eyes are burning red with exhaustion and I'm punch drunk tired. 

After washing my face, brushing my teeth, and doing all of the other things in my nightly routine, I open my medicine cabinet to put my toothbrush away and a true internal dilemma unfolds. 

The following is the scene I imagine happens between the little people that control my brain machine (in script format to illustrate that I have a degree in screenwriting), revealing the true nut-job I am. 

INT. MICHELLE ARNO'S BRAIN MACHINE - NIGHT

SLEEPY and LOOPY stand at the control panel of Michelle's brain machine. A large screen in front of them displays what Michelle sees while performing her nighttime routine in the bathroom (washing her face, brushing her teeth, etc.). Sleepy is in sensible pajamas, has pimple cream on her face, and is slumped over. Loopy is wearing a bunny onesie, is drinking coffee, and is jumping around. The screen displays the inside of Michelle's medicine cabinet. Loopy looks up at the screen and points.

LOOPY

Oh, look! Floss!

Sleepy rolls her eyes.

SLEEPY

It's two in the morning. 

LOOPY

But her teeth really need to be flossed. 

I think there's a bit of something 

in between those two in the front...

SLEEPY

Why now of all times?

She should really be getting some sleep!

LOOPY

 If not now, when? 

She can't just put this off forever! 

Her teeth might fall out! 

She might get gingivitis! 

The dentist will know she only 

flossed the week leading up to her appointment 

because her gums will be super sensitive 

and bleed everywhere when he cleans them! 

Then when he asks how often she flosses, 

she'll have to lie like she always does and say, 

"I try to get to it a couple times a week." 

And then he'll nod and say, 

"That's okay, but you should 

really try to floss every day," 

but he will know. HE WILL KNOW.

She's gotta floss now. She HAS to.

Loopy falls to her knees and raises her arms up, begging. Sleepy puts on her reading glasses and opens a book.

SLEEPY

Sure. Fine. Whatever.

THE END

So that's me being crazy. Happened just the other night. Thinking this over, I might have a slight case of multiple personality disorder... Psychology friends? Other friends? People that like to pretend they know everything about personalities after taking too many Buzzfeed quizzes? What do you think? Leave your thoughts and analyses in the comments below.

P.S. I imagine Sleepy saying that last line like Scully in this gif: 

P.P.S. Yes, I imagine my brain machine looks like the control center of Inside Out. 

this week's videos...

This lil character was created on snapchat. Some of my friends fell in love. She is now immortalized on the internet for their (and your) viewing pleasure.

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Here is a little message about lovin' stuff.

Harry Potter made me cry (but what else is new)

The other day, my friend Kate and I were getting into some deep discussions, or as the kids call it, "Real Talk." Kate and I often enjoy discussing important and thought-provoking topics, but this conversation was getting on another level. We were gettin' emotional, bringin' up issues of the universe, discussing the possibilities of what happens when we die...

At one point in the conversation, we decided to make some tea to help us calm down, get positive, and get back on this planet. We were joking about tea leaves and reading them to predict the future and Trelawney came up. Then the mood took a turn.

I could see that Kate was getting upset again, but I was afraid to ask what was wrong. Before I could even contemplate what to say, she started tearing up and cried out, "Trelawney isn't real!" I then realized what was happening.

I forgot to mention that earlier in the afternoon Kate kept stating what was real and not real and why the realness of that thing or person or whatever would be super sucky. So I realized that this Trelawney convo was going to be a variation on that. I was confident in my ability to handle it. I was blindly confident. Blind because there was no way to know how I was going to get caught up in this storm of existential crisisness.

I decided to attempt to cheer Kate up by reminding her of who we have to thank for such an awesome character like Trelawney. Our Queen. Our one true beacon of light. The Creator of all that is holy. JK Rowling.

So I confirmed, "No. Trelawney isn't real," and asked my friend, "But do you know who is?" Kate replied through sniffles, "Who?"

And with all of the confidence in the world that I was about to be the coolest bitch ever and make Kate realize that joy does, in fact, exist, I said, "JK Rowling is real. JK fucking Rowling is real. She's a real bad ass bitch that wrote Harry Potter and invented a universe and she created characters that we love and hate and love to hate and she wrote Trelawney. So really, Trelawney is real. Because Jo wrote her. And Jo is real. "

Then, as script people would say, there was a beat in the conversation. A pause, if you will.

I smiled with anticipation. Oh hell, yeah. That was awesome. Get ready for some happiness. Joy is about to shoot out of Kate and we're gonna laugh and drink tea and be merry.

Kate took a breath, opened her mouth, and began to sob, blubbering out, "'Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?'"

And then I started to cry, then sob, then lose my shit.

We eventually drank our tea and calmed down and watched some Netflix, but it was definitely an emotional rollercoaster.

And that's my story. What a ride, amirite ladies?

-

So I realize that some of you readers may not be as big of a Harry Potter fangirl/nerd/loser as me, so you may have a few questions about the scene that just took place, such as,

"Wait. What the fuck did Kate say?"

and if you're asking that, you might also be asking, "And who the fuck is Harry?"

and furthermore, "And what the fuck is a Trelawney??"

Let's dive into this backwards, shall we?

Question three, "And what the fuck is a Trelawney??"

The correct question would actually be, "Who the fuck is a Trelawney?"

Professor Trelawney is the Divination teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She wears big bug-eye glasses and is responsible for the prophecy that basically stated that Voldy (Voldemort - the main bad guy) and Harry gotta battle to the death. She teaches her students astrology, shows them how to read tea leaves, gazes into crystal balls, predicts omens, makes her students fear for their lives, etc.

We were making tea, tea has tea leaves, Trelawney reads tea leaves. That's why Trelawney got brought up. Because mine and Kate's friendship relies heavily on our obsession with Harry Potter and relating everything in life to it.

Question two, "And who the fuck is Harry?"

Must you be so daft? Harry Potter. Fucking Harry Potter. Harry fucking Potter. Did you not read the title of this blog post? I literally just casually mentioned him in the last answer and you just nodded your head and acted like you knew what I was talking about. Oh my god. Just leave. Get out of here. I can't bear to look at you. I just can't.

And finally, question one, "Wait. What the fuck did Kate say?"

If you used ~context clues~, you might have noticed that there were two sets of quotation marks around Kate's dialogue. That means I was quoting her as she was quoting something else. She was quoting Harry Potter. Harry fucking Potter. Because, as I mentioned previously, we relate everything to Harry Potter. So there is a Harry Potter quote for every occasion. Like a Hallmark card. But for nerds.

To be more specific, Kate was quoting a character in Harry Potter, Professor Dumbledore (the tall old white dude that looks like Gandalf - and if you don't know who Gandalf is, you can leave with the other people that didn't know who Harry is). He tells Harry this beautiful quote, one of my favorite quotes ever, at the end of Chapter 33 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, King's Cross Station. 

SPOILER ALERT

GTFO IF YOU'VE NEVER READ OR WATCHED HARRY POTTER

LEAVE

RUN. RUN AWAY AND NEVER RETURN.
(Lion King reference... I'm a loser, I know...)

LAST CHANCE TO NOT GET SPOILED OKAY HERE WE GO I WARNED YOU

Voldy gives Harry the old one-two and Harry dies. Then he wakes up in what seems to be King's Cross Station. Then he starts talking to Dumbledore. Who had been dead for like two years. Some crazy shit, I know. So obvi Harry is all, "wtf how is this happening?" and Dumby's all, "dude it's in your head, but it's real." And Harry's just like, "dude." And then they smoke some pot and kick it while bb fetus Voldy is under a bench or some shit. It's pretty much like suuuper cool and amazing and everyone's like, "whoaaaaa totally, man. what's in your head IS real. that's tight. dope. sick. tubular. yeah."

Really touching stuff.

The depth of the quote is truly life-changing and Kate and I's mental states just could not simply hold up.

So there it is. One of my many tales of Harry Potter making me cry.

Thank you for reading. Comment below or tweet at me or just tell me in real life, a time when something that brings you so much joy made you cry. I love that kind of crap. Anyway, thanks again for being here.

Stay tuned for more emotional instability.

Oh hey, 2016

So definitely went the whole second half of 2015 without writing any blog posts. Or much at all, really. So ugh. Much disappointment.

Oh, hi. If you're new here, welcome. This is my blog. 

We here at marnofosho, do not expect much and that is what we get.










It's a quiet, barren landscape. Once in a blue moon, a rare tumbleweed of a blog post will drift by, usually unnoticed.



LET'S CHANGE THAT, SHALL WE?

New year, new me and all that crap, right?

I'm not super big on New Year's Resolutions, but I just want to set three goals for myself in 2016. 

1. Get a full time job. 

Remember that your current job does not define your future career and your whole life. 

For now you just want a job that will allow you to move out of your parents' house so you can at least pretend to be the adult that you legally are. Just get that cashflow.  

2. Be happy.

Seriously work on your mental health. You used to be a really positive person. What happened? 

Do the work. Figure it out. At least try to learn how to handle your brain. 

3. Be creative. 

Remember making up stories and songs and other imaginationy stuff? You like this. Do this.

Freaking update your YouTube channel, blog, or even just Twitter at least once a week. You have ideas that you are not following through on. FOLLOW THROUGH.

These resolutions seem pretty mundane, but believe it or not, these are things that I didn't really do last year. Looking back, it was arguably the worst year of my life, but let's not dwell. 

I'm leaving shitty 2015 in the past and movin' on forward.

It's 2016 and I'm letting the good vibes in.

End of Shift - SHORT STORY

Hey, friend! I want to write more and exercise my skills. To do so, I am going to start writing short stories based off of writing prompts. Maybe I'll try to do one a week? Maybe every other week? Maybe this will be the only one. But let's be optimistic, shall we?

I found an awesome tumblr called One Sentence Writing Prompts. Along with writing tips, this site provides sentences that can serve as the first sentence to whatever you are writing. Pretty nifty. 

I picked a sentence out and wrote a little story below, called "End of Shift." Hope you like it! (The prompt is in bold.)

End of Shift

"I don't have to do anything," he frowned, then pulled the trigger.

Larry Richard was quite done with everything. 

His girlfriend was bored with him. His friends were all moving away or getting married or acting distant. His parents were busy being retired and traveling the world. Even his cat, Mr. Hubble, didn't want anything to do with him. 

Larry saw Mr. Hubble (named after Edwin Hubble - the man who discovered the cosmos) cuddling up to his neighbor the other day when he was taking out the trash. That sneaky little bastard thought he wouldn't notice. But he did. The bastard. And he would definitely be remembering the next time Mr. Hubble wanted his ears scratched. Yes, he would. 

This morning Larry's toaster oven burnt his toast, he stubbed his toe on the doorframe of his bathroom, and he almost forgot his cell phone. Then his car wouldn't start, it was falling apart, he was late to work, and his boss got smart. Those may be lyrics to the Shania Twain classic, Honey, I'm Home, but that doesn't mean it wasn't true. 

At the end of his shift, Larry was staring down the clock. Ready to bolt out like a runner waiting for the starting pistol to be fired. The minute hand slowly moved. 56... 57... 58...

"Larry!"

Larry's boss, Todd, yelled from the back of the Pizza Hut. Larry rolled his eyes and pretended not to hear. 

"Larry! One more delivery! Take those pies out at the end of your shift!"

The minute hand moved to 59. It was past the end of his shift.

"Larry! Do ya hear me?!"

The minute hand moved to 00. Larry walked out the door.

"Larry! You got those pies? Larry! You have to get that order out!"

"I don't have to do anything," he frowned, then pulled the trigger.

The front right tire of his car went flat. 

"I don't have to do anything."

Larry was tired. He started the long walk home and left his old, falling apart car behind. It was time to get a new one anyway.

Feeling Like a Failure

So I quit my job today.

This job was my first big step into adulthood.

I wore professional clothes. I worked in a cubicle. I was offered benefits. I took a coffee break everyday about an hour after lunch. I brought my lunch from home everyday, except Fridays. Fridays I went out and explored new food places with my work friends.

This job was my first big step into adulthood.

I was subject to bigotry and unprofessionalism. Found out things about the company that were not in line with my morals. Was hired as a writer, but discovered that no one was actually reading my work and that what I was doing 7 hours a day, 5 days a week did not matter. I couldn't even point you to one of the hundreds of articles I wrote at this company, because I a) have never been told where to look and b) do not know how to access copy that is embedded into the coding of a website. That's right. No one, other than my editor and possibly supervisor, has or will ever read what I have spent the past 10 weeks of my life doing.

As someone whose one goal in life is to create things that audiences consume... This was heartbreaking.

These are some of the reasons why I decided to quit this job. Many would applaud me. A few people have called me brave. How big of me to stand up for what I think is right and hold on to my morals.

I do not want people to think this was some kind of grand gesture. Yes, I had to do something extremely scary. Yes, I think what I did was right. Yes, I still have morals at 22 years of age.

But I am no hero.

I do not, in any way, shape, or form, feel heroic.

I feel like a failure.

I am terrified.

I am terrified of failure.

I am terrified of not getting things right.

I am terrified of letting my parents down.

I am terrified of never feeling accomplished.

I am terrified of not living up to expectations.

Most of the time, the people in my life (friends, professors, classmates, family) believe in me way more than I could ever even believe in myself. Because I am inside my brain. With my fears. With my anxieties. With my self-loathing.

I am terrified of falling into the deep, dark place I was about three months ago before I landed my first job out of college.

I don't like that place. I never want to go back.

But I can feel myself inching down.

Ever since I made the decision that I needed to get out of this job, face my fears, and actually pursue my dreams, I have had a crazy combination of jubilation and fear mixed up inside of me. I could feel it in my stomach, head, palms, and twitching left eyelid. I felt it as I drove to work. I felt it when I drove home from work. I felt it when I sat at my desk. I felt it when I sat in my car at lunch and had to put my book down because I had just read the same sentence over and over again five times and none of the information was actually entering my mind because all I could think about was how fast the last 47 minutes have gone by and how I really hoped that the next 13 would somehow stretch to another hour of lunchtime.

As of today, I no longer work there.

I had maybe an hour of confusion and joy before that transformed into confusion and anxiety and failure.

I feel like a failure.

I hope it will pass.

I hope this next week of commencement ceremonies and graduation celebrations will give me a sense of accomplishment.

I hope I will hear back from one of the dozens of companies I have applied to in the past month.

I hope I do not fall back into that place that I do not like.

I hope I believe in myself again.

I feel like a failure.

So I'm Graduating This Week

December 11, 2014. The day that I will attend my last class (at least as an undergrad - haven't totally ruled out grad school yet) in college.

That's crazy. Like Crazy with a capital C. It's out of sane, that's what it is. "Out of sane" is like "out of control" and "insane" had sex and a Crazy word baby popped out.

So yeah. Graduating? Pretty out of sane.

It has been an out of sane 3.5 years.

A little back story... I was in my high school's graduating class of 2011. In high school I took three AP classes that earned me 18 units in total. 18 units is kinda a lot. They equal approximately six classes, more than a typical semester of college. So I started the Fall 2011 semester at San Francisco State University a semester in.

Fast forward to now... This is my last week of school and I am graduating a semester early from the "average" four years.

Now I don't want to give all the credit to those AP classes. I also took at least five classes every semester and worked my butt off. I passed every class and got a variety of A's and B's. I'm usually not one to toot my own horn outside of my close family and friends but... TOOT EFFIN TOOT. I'm proud of myself and I'm graduating so this is my moment, okay?

A lot of hard work and now a lot of hard goodbyes.

I've already said goodbye to a few friends that I'm not sure when or where or if I will see them again. (I had to do this with friends that graduated last year too, but it seems weirder when I'm the one that is leaving.) Tuesday, I said goodbye to a professor and advisor that has helped me so much with school and life and inspires me to be as cool and awesome and bad ass as she is.

In the next couple days, I'm going to have to say goodbye to so many more people that have helped me figure out what kind of human I want to be. That's hard. Moving on and starting a new chapter of life is hard. Leaving the safety of school and classes and assignments and professors and classmates is hard. Who is going to kick my butt and force me to write scripts and think analytically about things and let me host a radio show? Not many people in the "real world."

Saying goodbye to friends is hard. From now on, hanging out with a group of old friends is going to require trips and plane rides and scheduling and taking time off from work.

I know it's not really "goodbye," it's "see you later." Especially with social media and the wonders of 21st century technology, it is pretty easy to stay in touch with friends on the internet.

But it's not the same!

I, of course, love the internet. I spend most of my free-time somehow connected to it. However, I also really enjoy face to face human interaction.

So graduating is hard. Growing up is hard. Figuring out what the hell the next step in my life is is hard. Holy poop knuckles. What am I doing with my life?? ANXIETY. AAAAHHH!

I'll save that for another post.

I should get back to finishing my final projects and dealing with the fast-approaching life post-college. I'm scared. Wish me luck!

Thanks for reading!

P.S. Are you graduating? How do you feel? Isn't this crazy??
Did you already graduate? How the heck are you doing? How did you deal with graduating? Wasn't it crazy??
Are you still enjoying the college life? CHERISH IT.

I'd love to see your answers and comments below!

Writing Is the New Therapy

As a drastic change from my last post (about 6 months ago), I am feeling the opposite of flawless. How can a human even be flawless in a world that seems so unchangeably flawed?

I haven’t sobbed like this in a long time. Usually these kinds of tears and choking breaths come after a hurtful argument with a loved one or a loved one passing away. This ugly, horrible cry-sesh was not caused by either of those. Actually, I take that back. The first item in the list, "a hurtful argument with a loved one," is a part of today's tyrannic tears. (I still love any chance at alliteration no matter how upset I am while writing.) However, despite the argument being a major factor, it cannot be ignored that the argument would not have occurred in the first place if it were not for the purest form of evil in the world. My eternal enemy. The cause of so much pain and injustice. Hundreds, thousands, have rallied against it. Yet, it still remains. The Patriarchy. 

FUCK THE PATRIARCHY.

I'd rather not go into detail about the event that caused the disagreement, but I do need to vent and get these thoughts out. 

I was very upset when it happened. I still am. I'm just not shaking as much anymore. 

It's an interesting thing that for the first time in my life, my first instinct while upset is to write. Not just tweets, either, but something that feels more concrete. This blog post. It's empowering to be able to just sit down and type out thoughts and emotions and almost instantly feel a little better. Am I becoming a real writer? Is this a new form of therapy for me? Is this what I always read about and dreamed would one day happen to me? Is it happening? Right now?

I must tell you, I wasn't prepared for this. I initially sat down and opened up my laptop to rant and vent about my day. However, I'm changing my mind. Right now as I type this. The magic of writing. I've decided that I am going to write about the power of writing and my love for it. I don't want to give any more power to the patriarchy than it already has. Being upset isn't going to change anything. It's just going to make me feel even shittier than I did before the incident happened. I don't want that. I want to be happy. I like being happy. I want to feel empowered and capable and fearless. 

That's what writing makes me feel like. When I write, I can create whatever I want. Any truth that I want is possible. Each sentence I type is an expression of who I am that cannot be placed back inside my head. Even if I don't publish this post (I haven't decided at this point), the words have still been typed out of me and nothing can change that and no one can take that away. 

I feel lighter. The heaviness is melting away. I am in control of that and that in itself is amazing. I can be peaceful in my thoughts and words because I created them. I can be as peaceful as I want to be or as hateful as I want to be. I'd rather not hate. Whatever I want to feel, is what I can and will feel. Only I have total control over what is going on up in my brain. Me and only me. No one can get in there and change stuff around! That is such a great thing! In a world that can feel so out-of-control crazy and untameable, I can completely control my mind. If I let myself. 

Not to be a total cheese ball, but... it really all comes back to my tattoo and ultimate favorite quote ever, "The mind is everything." When I am feeling really shitty and I'm crying and my chest hurts and I all of a sudden want to sign up for kick-boxing classes while simultaneously eating a bucket of fries, I must remind myself of this. Really, I could just look in the mirror. The message is right there on my left collarbone. For that, I am thankful to myself. Yes. I am thankful to my self, goddammit. I chose to permanently put something on my body that is extremely important to me and that no one can take away. Unless they skinned me. Aaaand that just took us to a place that I really do not want to go with this post, so I'm just going to stop talking about it riiiight now. 

I am thankful that I got my tattoo, because no matter how much I'd like to think that I don't need to be reminded of the awesomeness that every single brain is powerful and capable of amazing things, I sometimes forget. The patriarchy brings me down and I get sucked into that really dark place that's hard to get out of. It scares me when I get that sad. I often forget that I am capable of feeling that low. The initial shock of realizing I am in that place is one of the main reasons its hard to get back out. For me, anyway.

I spend a lot of energy while I am happy or trying to act happy (like today, for instance when I wanted to punch a rude dad in the throat on one of the campus tours I gave, but instead continued on with my cheery tour guide disposition). As a result of my general (for lack of a better term) "happy vibe," when I get low, I really get low. And I'm not just talking about my dance moves. HEY-OH. Am I trying to mask my sadness with dumb jokes right now? Honestly? I can get real sick of myself sometimes. *rolls eyes at own dumb joke* Back to the more serious stuff... My energy decrease really just follows the laws of physics. Energy is put into a new source, and as a result, the energy in the original source is lowered. When I get to this point, I need to charge back up. Usually this can work with hugs, laughs, and yummy food. 

Now, I'm not saying I am unique in these feelings and that no one else ever feels like this. I'm not trying to have a pity party of one. Or at least, I hope I'm not the only one. All are welcome to the pity party. There are plenty of snacks. If I do post this (I still have yet to decide), I hope that at least one person can relate and maybe feel a little better being reassured that they have all of the power they need to feel good about themselves. 

The simple action of feeling good about oneself is a terrific thing. Once we all feel confident enough about ourselves that we decide to go out and do things in real life, we can make some really cool things happen. Like learning about the upcoming elections and voting for stuff that will make positive impacts in our lives. 

By the way, if you're not registered to vote, what are you doing? It's so easy. I did it in 2012 so I could vote in the big elections! So fun! You should definitely register. Here. I'll even hand-feed you the link: REGISTER! CLICK THIS NOW! You have until October 20th so no rush, but just do it now so you won't have to worry about it later. The last thing you need are stress dreams attempting to remind you that you haven't registered to vote yet. 

If you need more convincing to get up and off your butt for seriously, like 5 minutes (okay maybe like, 30 with public transportation and stuff, but still) to vote, here is a really great blog post by Lena Dunham that is funny and entertaining and will make you want to vote to defend your rights: Top Five Reasons You Should Vote. Even if you don't like Lena, just pretend she didn't write it and let yourself enjoy the post. Just do it. Geez. She talks about Beyoncé and Blue Ivy. There. Did that get you to read it? I hope so.

(SIDE-NOTE: It's safe to say that at this point, I have decided to actually publish this post.)

Now that you've read the post, I hope you have registered to vote. And now that you're all registered to vote, guess what? You have even more power! You not only have the power to control what's going on in your mind, but you also have the power to control what's going on in your country! If you're from the U.S. If you're not... First of all, HI! Thanks for reading! Second of all, sorry that this whole end part of the post is not really applying to you. Hopefully there is something you can do in your country or community to make people's lives (including your own, remember that you are important too) better.

BUT WOW PEOPLE IN AMERICA! This is something really great. 

I feel a bajillion times better than I did when I started this post. I love writing. Alright, I'm gonna end this before I get even cheesier and more unreadable than this post probably already is.

Thank you for reading! 

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.

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!

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!

Countdown to Class

Hey, you. I've missed your face. You should stop by here more often.

While you're here I might as well let you in on the goings on in my mind right now.

I'm currently waiting for the dreadful moment when I have to put real pants on and leave for class. It's not that I'm not going to enjoy class. I'm actually probably going to really love class today. It's Television/Video Production Planning and today we find out what part of the team we got hired as for BECA Fest**! Cross your fingers I'm a scriptwriter!

Anyway, the moment will not be dreadful because I have to go somewhere. It's the act of putting pants on, really. Life would be so much easier if sweats were seen as acceptable things to wear on your legs in public.

I am also currently listening to a band I just found out about in the past hour called Leftover Cuties. Their music is so fun! Kind of a mix between She & Him and Pomplamoose. Here's a link to their website so you can check them out: http://www.leftovercuties.com/. All of their music is also on Spotify if you're into that (I am so into that).

Alright, well I should probably get going. Putting on pants and shoes and packing a snack. You know girl's gonna get hungry during this three hour class.

Thanks for stopping by!



**BECA Fest is an awards show that honors the best projects students in the BECA department created throughout the school year

Hello 2014

It is almost the middle of February and this is my first post of the year. This is also my first post in a feeeew months. 

I've been realizing recently that I start a lot of hobbies without following through/finishing them. It's quite depressing, really. Mostly because I have nothing to blame but my own mind. 

Here is a list of things that I have started recently and haven't kept up:

1. YouTube channel
2. blog
3. Christmas pom-pom decorations
4. spec script for the Mindy Project
5. probably more stuff that I can't even remember

Here is a list of things that I have started recently and kept up/finished:

1. book of logic puzzles 

I almost just now didn't finish this blog post because my friend started talking to me and I got distracted. We were discussing the Olympics and cross-country skiing and then got side-tracked and started pondering what would happen if it snowed in San Francisco. Sledding down the hills in Sunset to the beach! How fun would that be?! Okay, let's get back on track. What was I talking about? Oh yes. Finishing things. 

I want to get better about finishing things. This semester might be a tough one to decide to finish all of the things I listed above, but I am determined. 

I am not quite sure when I will post a YouTube video, but I will definitely link it here so you all can see how good I am being about doing things I have started. I'mma be a new woman!

I also want to change the title of my blog... Any suggestions? Comment down below with your ideas, please! I need help on this one. 

Thanks for reading and you WILL hear from me soon! (Should I set a schedule for myself? I dunno!)

Marno loves Halloween

Halloween has come and gone and somehow it is already November 4th. What. I don't get time. It's not even a thing anymore.

This Halloween was not as eventful as last year's party-all-week-long-extravaganza, but it was fulfilling all the same.

Tuesday, my boss gave me two lil white squash for me to carve. Such a sweet lady. Luh her. So that afternoon I got home, pumped up some Nightmare Before Christmas jams, and got to carving...

Oogie Boogie (left) & Jack Skellington (right)

As a huge fan of the Nightmare before Christmas, Oogie and Jack were obvious choices to carve into the little white squash.

After carving those lil guys, I HAD to carve a normal sized pumpkin. So I ran up the street to Safeway, picked up one of the five pumpkins they had (seriously, their pumpkin selection was suuuuper disappointing), and ran home.

I then proceeded to take half an hour to decide what I would carve into it. I narrowed my choices down to Lock, Shock, and Barrel (from the Nightmare Before Christmas), a classic jack-o-lantern, a scary jack-o-lantern, the Deathly Hallows, or the scene from the Nightmare Before Christmas when Jack is on top of the super Tim Burtoney spiral hill thing. I went with the hill thing...

Oh Jack. So dramatic.

The process of carving this bad-boy was not easy. Like the idiot I am, I didn't buy any pumpkin carving tools. So all I had to use were regular ol' kitchen knives. That definitely made the small details much more difficult than they should have been. The large hole and the hill were simple enough. 

Carving Jack on the other hand, was as dramatic as he is. He is so skinny and dramatic! The first carving of him was so bad I just chopped him off and carved a separate one (pictured above) and stuck him into the pumpkin with a toothpick. That is why his left leg is much wider than his right leg; I had to make it large enough so I could stick the toothpick through it. Zero was also stuck in with a toothpick which had to be done since he's a floating ghost dog and all.

I feel super Halloweenie when I carve pumpkins. Something about the smell of the freshly carved pumpkin and the fear of slicing my hand off really gets me in the spirit of the season.

The other thing that I cannot go a Halloween without doing is dressing up. This year I made my costume all the way back in August when I had nothing to do. I figured, I'm usually scrounging around and making last-minute costumes because Halloween is always during midterms so I might as well have fun and make it when I have time. No regrets there. 

Also, totally not saying that my Halloween costumes aren't usually on point just because of the lack of time. My Dorothy costume last year was da bomb. I made the skirt and suspenders by hand out of a $3 mens shirt. Yeah. I'm a crafty bitch. DIY QUEEN~~~

Back to this year... I was Lumpy Space Princess from the ~mathematical~ show, Adventure Time. (If you don't watch the show, then you most likely did not get that reference. I'm sorry. Watch the show. You won't regret it. Unless you hate it. Then I'm more sorry.)

Fabulously lumpy, I know.

I made the dress out of a $5 dress off Amazon and a bunch of tulle I basically stole from Joanne's thanks to a super great coup. I hot glued it all on in about 2 hours. (I only know the time frame because I started and completed it while watching a movie. The Zodiac, if you were wondering. Available on Netflix. 9/10 I'd recommend. And no this is not a sponsored post. Pah. I wish.) I couldn't feel my fingertips for the rest of the day. Tulle is really hard to hot glue without getting it on your fingers! That shit just oozes on through!

I got the wig off Amazon for $16. Once again, highway robbery. A wig of that quality can reach upwards of $80. Absurdity. I cut the bangs myself. Definitely made the look. 

I topped the costume with a yellow star cut out of a Forever21 shopping bag. Sturdier than paper. Yeah, I know I'm a genius. You don't need to tell me. 

I'm also wearing my purple flats, but you can't see them in the picture. 

Halloween day, I had class from 9am to 10:30am and then another class from 6pm to 8pm. Bust. Also, I couldn't wear the complete outfit I had planned in the morning because I had to dress as a stupid news anchor for Media Performance. I did wear a cute outfit for my news report though.

SPOILER ALERT: 

I'm going to post this sometime this week as a #latergram #ootd post on Instagram. Don't tell. 

blazer & scarf: my roommate Kiley's closet
tank & skirt: H&M
tights: idk, Target?
shoes: pretty sure Target

After class, I went home, took off the blazer, changed from my tank into my Nightmare Before Christmas tee, and threw on my black cardigan. Sorry I don't have a pic.

After my night class, I went home and changed into my LSP costume. It was great. My roommates, my friend Vanessa, and I all dressed up and took pictures and then changed into comfy clothes (typical) and watched American Horror Story. It was a grand ol' time. 

Some pictures pre-comfy clothes...

(from left to right) Vanessa- squirrel; Boccia- cat; Cierra- biker chick;
 me- lump off, Mom; Kiley- Mary Poppins; Bailey- leopard

Overall, a pretty great Halloween. Costumes, candy, comfort, craziness, cackling (aka laughter... I'm really pulling for the alliteration right now guys). Some of my favorite things.

I hope your Halloween was as sweet as mine!

I would LOVE to hear about your costumes! Let me know in the comments below :)

P.S. I want to dye my hair lavender even more now. UGH.

Marno loves being done with midterms

My midterms are finally over! Except for a PSA group project...
But I'm not going to think about that at the moment because I've got these bad boys to eat...

 

And these shows to watch...

And you best believe I'll be drinking at least two cups of this deliciousness...

Happy Friday! 

Marno loves taking walks to brunch

Long story short: Dacia and I walked to The Village Grill in West Portal and ate brunch this morning.

The reason why is the long story.

It all started on Tuesday when we had lunch from the Señor Sisig food truck at school (I will write another post one day about my love for food trucks, I promise). After eating our humongous meals we both felt pretty poopy about ourselves/tummies/life so we decided we would go on a walk on Saturday. Our plan was to meet up after I got off work and walk to the beach (approximately 6 miles round trip from Dacia's house).

That is not what happened, as you can probably infer from the post title and the short story version of this post.

What did happen was I got off work, rode the bus home, started getting hungry, walked to Dacia's house, and then recommended we walk to go get brunch instead of the beach. Dacia approved of this idea and the deed was done.

So instead of being "athletic" (or at least attempting to be), we ate more. But liiiiike... Cut us some slack. At least we walked to brunch. We could have taken the MUNI. We could have just consumed more calories and felt poopy. Instead we consumed calories, burned some calories (although probably not enough to cover the brunch), and only felt a little poopy. But that poopiness was mainly from being tired from the walk so that's acceptable.

What I'm trying to say is, we are chubby girls that like to eat. And we aren't about to change our ways. What we will change, however, is the amount of movement we do to attempt to even out the calorie consumption to calorie burning ratio. We're trying, okay?

Now let's get to the part of the story that everyone has been waiting for... the goods.

As mentioned previously above, The Village Grill is located in West Portal in San Francisco. It is a ~ma and pop restaurant~ with a diner counter that guests can sit at. Dacia and I sat at the counter and it was a pretty fantastic experience. We were acting like total goons, as usual, which resulted in our lil baby waiter loving us. He lol'ed a few times. It was great.

The exceptional atmosphere and service was matched with some reeeaaal tasty foods.

I ordered an Irish Breakfast which consisted of two eggs (I got mine scrambled), Irish bacon (ham), sausage, pudding (little round meat things), beans, and potatoes.

This was my first Irish breakfast, but will definitely not be my last. I loved it.
The only thing I was not too fond of were the lil pudding patty thingies.
Not gross, but not my favorite.

Dacia ordered a Belgian waffle with fresh fruit and whipped cream.

Dacia: "I mean, it had a smiley face on it. How is not going to be good. Like, it had a banana nose.
Really, I mean, I could have gotten a regular Belgian waffle but it didn't have the whipped cream.
And like, this one had whipped cream and fresh fruit, but I was really only in it for the whipped cream.
So I tried to eat as much fresh fruit as I could so they knew I wasn't only in it for the whipped cream...
Even though I was."
Leslie Knope would be proud.

We also got a side of bacon to share that is pictured in both photos above. Obviously delicious. I dipped my pieces in syrup. Because... DUH.

To drink, Dacia got coffee and both of us got orange juice which was so fresh I am convinced they have an orange tree in the back. It tasted so fresh it was as if they squeezed the oranges right into my glass. I swear. Also, the inside of the orange on my plate was the exact same color as my oj. YOU KNOW orange juice is fresh and pure and perfect when it is the same color as an actual orange. That's when it's the real stuff. Real deal ~juice of the orange.~

Overall, brunch was a success. The walk wasn't too bad, either. We gazed at all the houses in West Portal and imagined the people that live in them and the kind of lives that they lead. The usual.

We walked by one house and we could hear the theme song from Indiana Jones coming through the window. We yelled, "YAAAYYYYY INDIANA JONES!" towards their house and ran away like little school girls. Another house was being decorated for Halloween. We complimented their large spider web.

So basically, we made people's days. No big. Dacia and Michelle, boosting the self-esteems of home-owners everywhere. And when I say everywhere, I really just mean West Portal. Okay, a small part of West Portal. OKAY. Like two streets. But whatever! We made people's days better while working off our food babies and it was great!

I loved it. I love brunch and I love walks with good friends.

After the walk home, I picked up my laptop and some school things and headed back over to Dacia's house. We've been doing homework/procrastinating/singing all day. (I'm currently in one of the procrastinating moments.)

I'm really enjoying Dacia's and my friendship. Also, I know Dacia is reading this, so... Hi Dacia! Yay friendship! Lolol but really. Today has been a really fun day (so far...) and I'm so glad we're becoming such good friends. I love friendship. I'll probably write a post about it one day.

For now, I'll just leave you with positive vibes about new friendships and the excitement they bring about future fun times.

BYEEEE!