keep on keepin on

Recently (two days ago) I auditioned for a part in a one-act play that my school will be putting on for an Ontario-wide festival/competition thing. A few of my friends have been in it in previous years, the director is a nice teacher who taught me English last year and I thought it would be fun to try out. This is the second year I auditioned. I didn't make it last year and, 

Well.

As you can probably assume, I didn't get in this year either. The callback list came out (today) and unfortunately, my name was not on it. I was so disappointed. I had been trying to tell myself not to get too excited, that I probably wouldn't get in compared to all the amazing and talented future actors and actresses, but I was still upset that I didn't make the list. In fact, I wrote a journal entry that was essentially: I GET IT I SUCK AT ACTING I HATE MYSELF I AM SO ASHAMED I'M NEVER AUDITIONING AGAIN.

I wrote that entry in a pit of sadness and embarrassment, and it was absolutely the wrong way to go about my rejection.

When you love something, you need to stick with it and not give up just because you are embarrassed that people found out you LOVE the Percy Jackson books or Doctor Who or playing tennis or whatever it is you love to do. I know I am too concerned about what other people think about my passions that I stop exploring them. I'm embarrassed to have a single Doctor Who poster in my room and have stopped wearing my Supernatural t-shirt. But I am going to change this. I think John Green said it best:

"Nerds like us are allowed to be unironically enthusiastic about stuff. Nerds are allowed to love stuff - like, jump-up-and-down-in-your-chair-can't-control-yourself love it. When people call people nerds, mostly what they're saying is "You like stuff," which is not a good insult at all. Like, "You are too enthusiastic about the miracle of human consciousness.""

*pause to appreciate this quote*

Loving something, being passionate about something IS NOT A BAD THING. Love stuff so much you burst, and don't ever, ever, ever stop because you don't want people to think you're "weird" or "sad for auditioning every year and not making it once".

That being said, I plan on auditioning again next year for Sears 2017, I will just spend this year practising.

BOO(bs)! halloween and sexy costumes

It's that time of year again, the time to spend all your time thinking about what costume to wear and not thinking about important things like, say, schoolwork. Halloween can be an incredibly controversial holiday, for multiple reasons. Let's start off with the easy one, TRICK OR TREATING.

How old is too old?

I know every year I think that it might be my last year roaming the streets for candy, and that thought scares me to death. I LOVE Halloween. I love making and wearing an awesome costume. I love walking around at night with my friends. I love free candy. However, I am 15 years old and in grade 11. So, is it ok if I still go trick or treating? I think it is, however, maybe not in the usual way. My last year roaming the streets for candy was in grade 9. I was nervous about being too old, but I had a great costume and I went with my friends and no one got mad at us for being too old. Last year, however, my friends and I decided maybe we were too old, but none of us were willing to give up all hallow's eve fun. So, we decided to go, but to go to collect food for the food drive. There are many different organizations, and I'm sure there are loads in your city or community. Here are a few that I found in mine:
Trick or Eat
We Scare Hunger
or find your food bank if you are in America and contact them to get information.
I think this is a perfectly acceptable way to still go trick or treating once you get a little too "old". You still get to dress up, you still get to romp around with your friends at night and best of all, most nice people will give you candy as well.

Ok, now on to the more touchy subject, sexy costumes. I'm not going to go into too much detail on this because I think Laci Green says it best in her YouTube video. However, sexy costumes do pose a large question. Is this ok? On one hand you have women accepting and showing off their sexuality, being proud of their bodies. On the other hand, you have unnecessarily sexy costumes such as:
 
Also, sexy costumes are almost the only kinds of women's costumes you can find, even for little girls!
What do you think, are sexy costumes ok, or are they getting to be outrageously ridiculous?

hot hot hot: how to stay cool in the summer heat

Summer can be fantastic, I love summer! No school, sandy beaches, freedom! But, as most of us know, with the freedom comes the heat, the all consuming, stuffy, smothering heat. I live in Canada, so I know I've got it good compared to places further south, but every once in a while when I'm in the city, it just gets so. hot. So, here are a few things that I do to help beat the heat and stay cool.

1. Hydrate

I know it's obvious but I cannot stress this enough - DRINK WATER. Drink a lot of water, every time you're in the kitchen, when you're bored, DRINK IT UP. Not only does water keep you alive (!!!!), it's also good for your skin! Whoa, added bonus. Please, go drink some right now, I'll wait.

Done? Alright let's continue to...

2. Clothes

Also kind of obvious but I find it can help a lot. I love skirts in the summer, they feel so amazing, especially when there is a breeze. They can be so much more comfortable than jean shorts. Also, wearing white can be a huge help, not only does it absorb less heat but it can also disguise the inevitable sweat stains that come with the heat. 

3. At home

Ok so now you're dressed in white with a skirt and a waterbottle, but what are you going to do? If you are like me and live in a "nice old house" that doesn't have air conditioning, you're house is going to get hot, especially if you're in a heat wave that lasts days without cooling down at night. If it does get cool at night, make sure you open your windows before you go to bed, and then close them up again in the morning, this traps the cool night air in your house. Just make sure you keep the windows and doors closed throughout the day. 

Also, INVEST IN FANS. Floor fans, ceiling fans, all kinds of fans, because if it doesn't cool down, you are gonna want them. Not only do fans give you a nice cool breeze, they also move the air around your house, promoting air circulation and keeping the air from getting heavy from just sitting there. Another thing that helps with air circulation is keeping doors open.

4. Get out

But what if it's still really hot in your house or you are going stir-crazy from being in the house for such a long time. I like to go to my local library, it's a nice walk and they have air conditioning and free wifi. I'll grab a few books and curl up in a chair. Or, I'll walk to a cafe and get some kind of cold drink as a reward, I love Starbuck's Iced Oprah Chai Latte, the Strawberries and Cream Chiller from Coffee Culture, or Sweet Lime iced tea from David's Tea. 

Another thing you can do is go swimming! I'm lucky, there are two really nice swimming pools that I can bike to from my house. Grab some friends and try to get to your local pool! Or, since I can't drive, I'll get my mom or my friend's parents to drive us to a beach, there are a few not too far out of my city.

When it's hot outside, it's not a great time for exploring and hanging out in the city, so take it easy, drink some water, and chill out. (hahah get it?)

how to summer

Hello, it has been 9 months and I am now shamelessly writing another post, so let's just get right into it.

It's SUMMER. Yay!

However, if you're like me, a few weeks into the hot, sweaty freedom, you get bored. This summer I was supposed to have a job and be able to spend my days in an air-conditioned building making money. BUT, that didn't happen. So, here I am, having not planned anything for half the summer, sitting on my butt watching YouTube videos about what to do in the summer but not really doing them. Because I am so bored, I am making a list (for myself and any other reader who wants to have some FUN) about cool things to do in the summer when you are really, truly bored.

The first idea is to make a list. 
This is what I am doing right now, but I also made a paper copy I keep in my purse or beside my bed so when I am at a loss about what to do and my dad is telling me to "turn off Netflix and get off my butt", I can pick something and go do it! I love lists, they help you organize all your ideas so you don't forget them, plus when you've finished doing something on your list, you get the satisfaction of crossing off yet another item. I challenge you to make a list of all the things you were hoping to do this summer and cross everything off before school starts!

Here is my list:

-go thrift shopping (take the bus!)
-bike up to the craft store for supplies
-pick wildflowers and put them in bottles
-walk to the park (read, take pictures)
-clean my room
-DIY some t-shirts
-go get some ice cream
-have sleepover
-write a book
-read a whole book in one day
-make Popsicles
-make ice cream
-lighten hair with lemon juice
-draw henna
-go get some iced tea
-bike up the the bakery for croissants
-create a blog (yeah I forgot about this blog when I was writing this list)
-make a stuffed animal
-give myself a mani/pedi
-read old National Geographics
-bike up to a different park
-weed the garden
-call a friend
-re-read Harry Potter
-write a list (not really sure why this is on here but let's just go with it)
-pet a cat
-try a new recipe
-make dinner
-make a smoothie
-make a collage
-print off some photos
-listen to new music
-learn to play guitar
-learn to play the ukulele
-write a letter
-upcycle old clothes
-make friendship bracelets
-make a craft
-colour in a colouring book
-do some yoga

Well, that's my list. I plan on doing every single one of those this summer, in fact:

-create a blog
-write a list

See how easy that was? Anyways, write lists! Have fun! Do stuff! I dare you.