Now this post is going to be a little nicer than my one bashing mainstream media. I know there are a lot of Pinterest fans out there. This is just my own personal opinion.
Pinterest has been around for years, and maybe it's just because I prefer to be one step behind in mainstream media, but I never touched it until recently. I didn't quite understand the Pinterest hype. But I wasn't one to judge, because I had never created an account or used the website for anything.
Well, I'm trying to plan a wedding. I am anything but the creative type. So! I get myself a Pinterest account. I bailed within 10 minutes.
Why? I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm trying to plan a wedding during the most crazy semester of my life. Whatever it is, Pinterest is way too overstimulating for me. I jump on hoping that it will give me some ideas, but what I get is an explosion of endless pins with possibilities. Some personalities like that; it feeds their creativity. I, on the other hand, am very practical, and possibilities just increase the overall stress. I can't navigate the site very well, but for very orderly and practical personalities like the one I have, I personally think Pinterest should have a way of narrowing the search. The categories are way too broad for me. I was looking for bridesmaids dresses and I already had some idea of what I wanted them to look like. I hopped on Pinterest and all I saw were hundreds of pins with dresses that didn't come anywhere close to what I was looking for. I didn't find it very helpful.
I don't know! Is there a way to narrow the search? That would make my life infinitely better.
I guess I'm not a huge fan of the idea of Pinterest either. Maybe it's because I'm too practical. I see all these ideas posted on individual pins, but am left with no set plans to put these ideas into action. When I browse Pinterest it feels like most of the pins I see are cute ideas but I have no idea where to even begin to use that idea for my own wedding. Granted, there are a few that have direct links to websites where you can find certain products, but generally, I feel that it is just filling my brain with more possibilities without giving me any real substance.
But maybe one has to be taught to use Pinterest to plan a wedding. Especially one such as myself who generally stays away from popular media.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Cinderella! Everywhere!!
Two days ago my boyfriend and I watched Ever After together. I love Ever After. It is definitely my favorite of the plethora of Cinderella stories found in the media. Each character (with the exception of the baronness and Marguerite) have their own kind of growth and transformation. The dialogue is absolutely brilliant, the love story is actually believable, and the story has a fun and entertaining plot to follow.
We happened to watch Ever After together the day after we watched Cinderella's episode of Once Upon a Time, which throws in the twist that Cinderella finds her story's happy ending (kinda) after making a deal with the baby-hungry Rumpelstiltskin.
I started to think about all the other Cinderella stories in the media. A quite obvious one is "A Cinderella Story," which puts a modern twist on the Cinderella story, starring Hillary Duff. Others include "Slipper in the Rose," "Ella Enchanted," Disney's "Cinderella," "Another Cinderella Story," Roger and Hammerstein's "Cinderella," and "If the Shoe Fits." In fact, there are dozens! Cinderella stories are everywhere! I wonder if Cinderella isn't the most popular fairytale; its plotline seems to weave its way into dozens of stories. The prevalence of Cinderella-themed plotlines would be an interesting content analysis.
So why is Cinderella so popular?
This is something that has actually intrigued me for years. What is it about the story of Cinderella that creates enough appeal to retell the story in hundreds of books and movies? I have a few ideas. The challenges presented can appeal to many. Some struggle with broken families. Some struggle with feelings of rejection, betrayal, ostracism, and loneliness. Some feel out of place, some feel overworked, some feel that their circumstances are preventing them from reaching their potential or finding happiness. Cinderella struggles with all of these difficulties and finds a quick and simple solution: a fairy Godmother who makes all her dreams come true with the flick of a wand. Suddenly Cinderella rises from rags to riches, finds love, and lives happily ever after.What's not appealing about that?
Not that I'm accusing the human race of not having the desire to solve their own problems. But I'm sure everyone would agree that it would be nice to have an external influence solve all our problems for us.
But does real growth occur when that happens?
Plus, some of these Cinderella stories do not even include a fairy godmother. In some of them, the heroine has to endure trials and challenges throughout the entire story until she finally achieves her grand reward.
Perhaps it's the hope that anyone's rotten circumstances can change that appeals to audiences everywhere. Whatever it is, I still find myself among Cinderella fans. As long as the story isn't cliche. Which is kind of hard to pull off when it has been done so many times.
We happened to watch Ever After together the day after we watched Cinderella's episode of Once Upon a Time, which throws in the twist that Cinderella finds her story's happy ending (kinda) after making a deal with the baby-hungry Rumpelstiltskin.
I started to think about all the other Cinderella stories in the media. A quite obvious one is "A Cinderella Story," which puts a modern twist on the Cinderella story, starring Hillary Duff. Others include "Slipper in the Rose," "Ella Enchanted," Disney's "Cinderella," "Another Cinderella Story," Roger and Hammerstein's "Cinderella," and "If the Shoe Fits." In fact, there are dozens! Cinderella stories are everywhere! I wonder if Cinderella isn't the most popular fairytale; its plotline seems to weave its way into dozens of stories. The prevalence of Cinderella-themed plotlines would be an interesting content analysis.
So why is Cinderella so popular?
This is something that has actually intrigued me for years. What is it about the story of Cinderella that creates enough appeal to retell the story in hundreds of books and movies? I have a few ideas. The challenges presented can appeal to many. Some struggle with broken families. Some struggle with feelings of rejection, betrayal, ostracism, and loneliness. Some feel out of place, some feel overworked, some feel that their circumstances are preventing them from reaching their potential or finding happiness. Cinderella struggles with all of these difficulties and finds a quick and simple solution: a fairy Godmother who makes all her dreams come true with the flick of a wand. Suddenly Cinderella rises from rags to riches, finds love, and lives happily ever after.What's not appealing about that?
Not that I'm accusing the human race of not having the desire to solve their own problems. But I'm sure everyone would agree that it would be nice to have an external influence solve all our problems for us.
But does real growth occur when that happens?
Plus, some of these Cinderella stories do not even include a fairy godmother. In some of them, the heroine has to endure trials and challenges throughout the entire story until she finally achieves her grand reward.
Perhaps it's the hope that anyone's rotten circumstances can change that appeals to audiences everywhere. Whatever it is, I still find myself among Cinderella fans. As long as the story isn't cliche. Which is kind of hard to pull off when it has been done so many times.
Best Youtube Video Ever
I came across this Youtube video the other day that made my life.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z2Z23SAFVA
And now I quote it all the time. So does my boyfriend. And all of his coworkers.
There are so many reasons why this video is awesome. Firstly, it appeals to grammar and spelling Nazis like myself. It pokes fun at egregious spelling errors in a non-aggressive way, in my opinion.
The animation of the words is also visually captivating. Even though all this video portrays is words on a screen, it animates them in such a way that makes it entertaining. I may or may not have watched this video at least a dozen times.
And finally, the choice of soundtrack adds the perfect overdramatic tone to the entire review. It adds to the overall humor and appeal of the video, thus making it a masterpiece.
Go watch it.
"Beacuase the voices where pretty good . . ."
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z2Z23SAFVA
And now I quote it all the time. So does my boyfriend. And all of his coworkers.
There are so many reasons why this video is awesome. Firstly, it appeals to grammar and spelling Nazis like myself. It pokes fun at egregious spelling errors in a non-aggressive way, in my opinion.
The animation of the words is also visually captivating. Even though all this video portrays is words on a screen, it animates them in such a way that makes it entertaining. I may or may not have watched this video at least a dozen times.
And finally, the choice of soundtrack adds the perfect overdramatic tone to the entire review. It adds to the overall humor and appeal of the video, thus making it a masterpiece.
Go watch it.
"Beacuase the voices where pretty good . . ."
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