On Demand? I'm not so sure.

So we all know about how watching television has slowly become a part of the internet instead of something we watch on the actual television set. We have all these great things like Netflix (watch everything ad free!!!) and it’s just a small fee per month. Gone are the days of scheduling your life around that favorite show. Now we can watch on demand without interruption. Before I start sounding like an advertisement, I want to address how all of this pertains to me. Being of the generation where everything is (mostly) instantaneous, I love the idea of not having to sit through ads. And what student doesn’t love being able to watch their shows on their off time instead of spending class time worrying about if their favorite character on Game of Thrones finally kicked the bucket? But there always seems to be a catc
h with these things.

 It is so incredibly easy to ignore schoolwork and put aside what I should be doing in favor of catching up on the latest episodes of my various shows. These days it seems like procrastination lurks in every corner, and having almost unlimited access to online media encourages it to leap out. I know that I find myself tempted to switch screens and start a bit of an episode with the promise to myself that I will stop after a certain time. But somehow it never seems to go that way. I end up wasting so much time entertaining myself and subsequently causing myself a ton of unneeded stress when I realize how much less time I have to complete assignments. 

Being able to watch television shows online becomes a burden and a temptation instead of a treat when I finish work. I’ve gotten to the point where I can say, “I’m not going to watch this until I reach this little goal” and still be able to do what I want to later. But I know that there are plenty of other students out there who are incapable of avoiding Netflix and Hulu+ and other streaming services. I’m not saying that streaming is the “ultimate evil”, but I do recommend thinking it through before you start on the next episode of Vampire Diaries with a huge list of stuff to do sitting nearby.

(photo borrowed from http://nolannabiblog.wordpress.com/ )

To Fast-Forward or Press Play

Who likes to watch their favorite shows without having to sit through those irrelevant advertisements? I do! And so do a lot of other people. It’s great not having to be bored to death by those ads. Especially ones that are played ALL the time. So having DVR sounds like a perfect idea because who would pass up the opportunity to live without television ads? Sure it costs money, but if you watch enough television, it will eventually pay off. I, personally, have not experienced a ton of DVR usage because I do not own one, but when I’m at a friend’s house and we’re catching up on a show, fast-forwarding through the ads gives me a split feeling. Part of me is really glad that I don’t have to suffer through watching ads. But the other part of me wonders what was in those ads and if they were actually interesting. I find that sometimes advertisements can be enticing based on their cleverness or even on the odd stuff that gets put into them. Excellently made advertisements make you feel some kind of positive emotion so that you find them entertaining. It’s what compels the audience (meaning us) to invest in their product. It’s also what the television shows make revenue off of. So if we have our nice DVR which gives us the ability to “play God” and skip the barrage of advertisements, where will the money for the TV shows go? If DVRs become even more common there is a high chance that the advertising industry will notice that their ads are not being viewed and will stop paying for their ads to be placed on television. Sure, they can find other places to weasel in their product placement, but then the revenue for the television companies will go down the drain. An interesting observation made by Rebecca Greenfield in The Atlantic (see link below) is that because of this surge in DVR usage, the advertising industry is teaming up with the television companies to create ads with the various channels’ characters or actors so that the viewers will press that PLAY button and commence watching only to find that they’ve been tricked into watching an ad. It’s genius. Maybe this is the new way to keep advertising in the television industry alive. If you’ve got an audience, use them to your advantage! But the big question here is whether or not the increasing DVR usage will greatly affect advertising revenue on television. I’m not planning on getting a DVR anytime soon, but I have a feeling that if the advertising industry doesn’t start to really work at catching the eye of viewers while they are fast-forwarding through the advertisements, then the advertising industry will have to pick up the slack in some other form of advertising, gravely damaging revenue from television advertising. So it’s up to you whether you should hit that play button, or if you should keep fast-forwarding. The choice is yours. ~emilia blue

Music Tastes!!!

Many times in my life, especially recently, I have been made fun of or looked down on for liking mainstream music. First of all, who cares what kind of music I listen to? It might not be your favorite, but it doesn’t have to be. And although the majority of current pop/mainstream music tends to be mind-numbing, not all of them are. Saying that all pop music is the same is like saying that every person is the same. And we’re definitely not. Another thing I say to people who try to criticize my “lack of taste” in music is that I grew up in a household where I listened to classical, jazz, and 80’s music. I went to operas and ballets and symphony concerts. So I definitely do have a diverse music background and I do listen to these other music types sometimes. Everyone has their own tastes just like everyone has their own experiences. What makes music meaningful to me is that it represents an experience based either on lyrics or memories. I don’t know about you, but that’s what I feel. So I’ll do my best not to criticize what you listen to if you don’t slam what I listen to. love, ~emilia blue

"Fluff Friends"

Today I observed something which gave me mixed feelings. I was eating my lunch when I saw a girl named Kiera with her friends. All of her friends were acting extremely immature for their ages and were laughing at the most infantile of jokes. But what I especially noticed was that they were all surrounding Kiera. This girl, Kiera, is actually very pretty and I think she knows it. But she always complains how she’s too fat, she’s too ugly, and no matter what anyone says, she’ll never agree with them. Everyone has self-esteem issues. I know that I do. But what really gets me is that Kiera had “trained” her friends to tell her she was pretty but every time they did so she would tell them she was fat. I also noticed that she treated them as though they were beneath her. I don’t know exactly what was going on in this situation, but it reminds me of something I have heard about before; fluff friends. These “fluff friends” are ones who make you feel good about yourself. Whether it’s because they follow commands, they “aren’t as pretty” (but who’s to judge that?), or other things. But the point of fluff friends is that they make you feel better. To the one surrounded by these fluff friends, she (or he) is superior to them. And their opinion shows. It makes me sad that these other girls were letting her do this to them. I don’t know if they realize that it’s happening or if they are fully aware of it. But I hope Kiera’s fluff friends decide that they’re worth more than what they are getting. love, ~emilia blue

Truly Happy (what makes you?)

A week ago, a friend had a birthday party. Another friend, Alice, and I carpooled over to the ice skating rink where the party was being held. When we got there, we immediately noticed the explosion of pink in one corner of the room and we assumed that that was where everyone was.
The birthday girl, Lindsi, was surrounded by her friends and they all seemed to know each other. Alice and I are both a few years older than Lindsi and a lot older than the other girls present. At first I felt a little odd being there because I did not know anyone besides Alice and Lindsi and Lindsi was talking to her other friends as well as coming over and greeting us. I quickly found out that the majority of these girls were ice skating friends of Lindsi. They all took lessons together and I realized that I had seen some of them before in Lindsi’s pictures on facebook.
After the zamboni finished its rounds on the larger ice rink, Lindsi and all of her friends were immediately on the rink. Alice has taken ice skating lessons too and so she was extremely comfortable on the ice too. But I have only skated twice in my life and that birthday party was the second time. I stood awkwardly at the door because I couldn’t quite figure out how to get onto the ice without promptly landing on my knees. After skating around for a second, Lindsi and Alice saw me waiting and they grabbed me onto the ice. Lindsi took me around a couple times, making sure that I didn’t fall. To tell the truth, she was being SOOO patient because I was a total mess.
But what struck me later that night was how much Lindsi was enjoying herself. I have been on a different sports team with her and although she is good at that sport, it was nothing like what I saw her do on the ice. Her whole face changed and she was truly smiling the whole time. It was as though she learned how to skate before she learned to walk. All of her friends were enjoying themselves too, but not quite as much as Lindsi. Her whole confidence meter shot out of the roof and she was so relaxed. She was on fire.
Throughout my life, I have seen this change in some people, where I see them doing what they are truly passionate about and it surprises me every time. I know that sometimes it takes people a long time to figure out what they are passionate about. For me, it took a while until I realized that my passion lies in writing. I had always written poetry and short stories, but it had never occurred to me. But when you do find it out, you know it. It’s like a bolt of lightning. It’s that thing you know that you could never live without and you become a changed person because of it.
Whatever your passion may be, pursue it. If it’s a dream, go after it. Having a passion is something that changes you. So what’s your passion?

So what does "everything blue" have to do with anything? Inspired by one of my closest friends, I decided that I would like to have a blog. So maybe no one will read this blog, but it's nice to think that my thoughts are out there in the world, floating through cyberspace.

There will be lots of writing posts about random issues and ideas I come up with (being a young adult, I have many) and I might do some makeup reviews or hair tutorials. It could be one of those pretty structured blogs or one of those "WHAT IS SHE THINKING?" blogs. Who knows? I just hope that it will be coherent. I do tend to babble on about things I'm passionate about. But then again, who doesn't?

So to keep this short and sweet, I really hope this turns out!

~emilia blue