Today is February 29, 2012. This is also the fifth leap year I've seen in my life so far. I'm excited about this one because it pushed my birthday to a Friday this year which is great for me! :-)
Anywho, there is a lot of lore about Leaps Years and February 29th. Most of it surrounds births and marriages.
If you're lucky(or unlucky depending on your outlook) to be born on February 29, then your birthday comes around every 4 years. So if you're 20, that's like saying your five, which isn't likely unless you have some Benjamin Button thing going on. Most countries either put your legal birthday as February 28th or March 1st.
Another fun thing about today is that it is a fun tradition that women can propose on this day(though we are in the 21st Century so I'm sure women aren't bound to waiting for one day that comes around very four years). Amy Adams was in an enite movie inspired by this tradition.
Movie poster for Leap Year starring Amy Adams
While in Greece it is considered bad luck to even get married during the leap year.
It's funny all the little traditons that go along with one day that only comes once every four years.
HAPPY NEW YEAR! I know today is the 4th day of the New Year, so I'm a tad late, but forgive me. The New Year always brings the absolute rush to make promises and goals, but 88%(I think that was the statistic I heard on the radio, can't be too far off, either way) of the people who make these goals and promises don't actually see them through.
Tonight my mom and I were in Wal-Mart when she made the observation that "Either we're attacked by weight loss books or Southern Comfort foods". She's right too. The top resolution is losing weight and getting in shape. Gyms probably make more money in January than any other month of the year.
Well this year I've decided to make a resolution and stick with it. So here are my goals and resolutions for the year.
Lose 40 pounds by the end of April/early May. I'm keepin' my fingers crossed I can accomplish this, even if it is only half of my goal by then. That's better than nothing.
Read more this year. Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, Susane Colasanti, Stephanie Perkins and many other GenFic or Romance YA writers top my list of books.
Get a tablet. Simple, yet difficult. I am super picky.
Get back into skating and really move forward with it.
Finish Southern Charm, the first draft.
Plan and start the sequel to Southern Charm.
Get into college. Easy enough, but picking one will be hard.
Decide what I want to major in.
Decide what I want to do after college.
Zach. He is an entire goal by himself. Difficult boy, but I love him dearly.
Well that's my list of goals and resolutions. Some are silly, others normal or reasonable. But all of these are important goals to me.
"The Weak and the Strong, In Sickness and in Health..."
All My Children is full of many weak characters(physically, mentally, financially, etc) and yet just as many strong characters. Many of those weak characters also can grow to become strong. Angie has struggled with the loss of her sight(hopefully she'll regain it), Cara and Amanda with cancer, JR with his anger, loss of his wife and mother, and his alcoholism(JR is always a work in progress type of character), Bianca's rape and then losing Miranda(she did get her back eventually), these are just many of a few examples. They have weaknesses, but they work to get through them.
Erica Kane is the best example of weakness and strength. She's battled a rape, alcoholism, good and bad media attention, multiple kidnappings, children in comas, and many many marriages. Plus a bear! Here's that clip http://youtu.be/h17XM_KoXcM. Erica has many struggles and her life goes up and down, but she always comes back out on top! She's Erica Kane and nothing can stop her. She'll forever be remembered for her power.
Another character whose life is a constant struggle is JR Chandler. Born into a crazy situation with a father who only cared about power and a family name and a mother who loved him but had a hard time showing him that love due to his father, JR had a messed up childhood, which resulted in many bad decisions as an adult. Every time JR seems to improve he faces a setback, which he's never seemed to adjust to, major character flaw. But that's the point! Characters are flawed! True, soap operas due tend to intensify these flaws, but that's purely for entertainment purposes.
Another big part of All My Children is the marriages. Marriages for love, power, and convenience. Erica and Adam are infamous for their many marriages and also the number of children they have. Erica has been 12 times, 7 of which were valid and 4 which weren't, and then her one vow renewal(which was to Adam). Adam has been married 13 times, 2 which were invalid and the rest ended in divorce (Adam fails at the whole idea of marriage. Ironically most of his marriages have been to the same women like Erica or Liza). Erica has 3 children and Adam has six. For both of them family is the most important and though both of them do go to some extremes sometimes, it is in the name of family.
Health and sickness is also a big part of Pine Valley and many scenes take places at Pine Valley Hospital. Cancer, comas, pregnancies, heart attacks, STDs and other ailments. Many main characters have had cancer, such as Amanda, JR and Cara. Adam had heart issues. Kendall, Bianca and many others have been in comas. Many of the show's main characters are doctors from Joe Martin and his sons Jeff and Jake Martin, and his grandson Jamie Martin. Angie Hubbard and her son Frankie are also doctors. Julia, Maria and Anita Santos also all entered the medical profession. In Pine Valley everyone either works at PVH or spends a great deal of time there. It is probably one of the old scenes in All My Children(though I'm sure it has had many face lifts over the years).
Many characters struggle to overcome their sicknesses and become healthy again and many due. There are a few rare occasions where the don't though. Like Gillian Andrassy Lavery who died and her heart was given to Laura Kirk English. Or Leora Hayward who was David's Hayward's young daughter that died after a heart surgery. There have also been many miscarriages in Pine Valley, all with different effects on the women who experienced them. There are also a few mental health case, like Janet Green or Annie Lavery(In Annie's case I think it was just a way to get rid of her for Ryan and Greenlee to be together. The story was always too far fetched and dumb for my taste).
Pine Valley has always been a place of birth, life and death, that's what all soap operas are. They show us life and how people struggle to overcome any fate, and many do, but it also shows the few ones who don't overcome that fate. And that's just life, not everyone gets a happy ending(especially not on soap operas, drama sells). Children, marriages and family are all a major part of All My Children. That's why it has charmed so many of us for 4 decades now, and it will forever be in out hearts.
"The Great and the Least, The Rich and the Poor..."
These are the first two lines of the All My Children poem that originally appeared in the credits. This week's posts are going to be about All My Children. If you don't watch soap operas you can't understand the fascination and addictive abilities they have. All My Children premiered on January 5th, 1970 and will end it's 41 year run this Friday on September 23rd, 2011. In it's 41 year run it has aired 10,712 episodes. Now I haven't been around to see all of these episodes, but I have been watching pretty religiously since December of 2004. I think the exact date was Wednesday December 8th, 2004(courtesy of soapcentral.com's recap archive).
Here is how I came to became an All My Children fanatic. 2004 was the first year I started homeschooling and usually I was done with school by noon and we had to be to Ethan's school by 2:30, leaving me free to watch TV for a few hours. I would usually watch an hour of Unsolved Mysteries on Lifetime and then watch PBS sometimes. Well one day Mom laid down to take a nap and I was sitting there writing in my name book(all I did in my freetime was work on my name book, but that's another story) so she asked me to watch the TV and let her know what happened. I watched and I was hooked. All I remember is Bianca falling from the balcony after JR pushed her. This was all because of the baby switch up involving Bianca's baby and Babe's baby.
I was hooked at that point. My favorite characters were Babe, Kendall and Zach. I was there to watch Zach and Kendall's marriage of convenience, which later turned into actual love. There for Greenlee's need to get pregnant and when she couldn't Kendall became her surrogate. Ohh, and the Greg Madden being buried alive and tortured, that was a real great story! Then came the Mardi Gras Ball blow up! Literally, Janet from Another Planet blew it up!
Let's not forget the Satin Slayer who killed many women in Pine Valley, and was later revealed to be Alexander Cambias. All the times Dixie has come back from the dead(at least 3 times since I've been watching), all the deaths, marriages, and births. So much happens everyday! At least a hundred different storylines are gone through in a year. At least that's how it seems because there is so much happening and stories build and crossover.
Soap Operas are addictive and writing them must be an enjoyable task! Though probably hard at the same time. Not only do you have to keep up with multiple storylines you have at least 20 different characters, all with their own personalities and history, going head to head at the same time. People can't hate or love each other one day and then the next be best friends or enemies. You have to show why their relationships changes.
One of my favorite relationship on All My Children would have to be Greenlee and Kendall. Sister, business partners, best friends and enemies. For years they have gone back and forth and some of their fights are the best ones. There was the locking people in towers, pushing people into pools, and ripping their clothes off in court! But the best one was Kendall and Greenlee fighting and Fusion. Lotion and Palmer. Classic. Enjoy the clip of it. http://youtu.be/tFiwfm3imJw
So I will end by going back to the quote I started with. All My Children really does showcase many characters. The Great, who are Erica Kane, Adam Chandler, Dixie Martin, Tad Martin and so many others! The least like Maya, Dre, Dani and many other characters who are seen, but only serve to advance the main character's stories. Without the least, there would be no great! Every character is important, even secondary.
Then there is the rich and the poor, and All My Children showcases them well! Erica goes from humble beginnings to being a rich and powerful woman. Palmer and Adam were powerful business men. Ryan went from con-man to CEO. Zach was born into power and money and left it all, and he still came to gain both back on his own. Babe and Krystal weren't rich, neither was Tad and Dixie, yet they all still manged to make their way. That's what I love, not everyone is rich and powerful, and those who are did actually work for it(except maybe Greenlee, lol). All My Children is a wonderful soap that crosses social barriers and does it well, which is why I love it.
So, I've decided what I'm gonna be when I grow up. I'm going to be a teacher. *Fan fare* Yes, a teacher. Now this is really only a temporary thing, not what I plan to do for the rest of my life. I'm planning to do it until I'm at least 30, and by then I will have paid back my loans, earned a Master's and decided what I really want to do with the rest of my life. Plus being a teacher isn't all that bad.
I could go to work for SCCA, maybe as a History or English teacher. I'd be a pretty awesome success story. I was apart of the first freshman class at SCCA, and one of only a small handful of students to have been there from day one, and graduate from there. Then to go back and teach there? Pretty awesome.
But now is the fun part. My life plan last week was this...Do two years a Trident Tech, transfer to College of Charleston and get a dual degree, probably in English and Political Science. That changed on Monday.
Monday I received a webmail from my guidance counselor about the Teaching Fellows Program. They will pay up to $6000 of your tuition and board a year for up to 4 years, if you become a teacher in South Carolina. For every year I receive the money I must be a teacher in a public school. So four years of college equals four years of teaching. Not that bad of a trade. Plus it gives me direction and funds. Sounds like a good deal to me.
Tomorrow I'm gonna call around to my teachers and talk to them about being a teacher(Mr. Kitchens and Ms. Crumbo are at the top of my list. Both will be thrilled to hear I'm gonna become a teacher. I'm a teacher's pet, lol) and also ask for some letters of recommendation. Then I have to see if I can get paper applications for USC and CofC. CSU was the only one that had it online(I already printed it). I also should do a quick draft of my essay for CofC(the only school that has an essay).
Not including the story I need to read for ENG 101, the paper I need to do research for and the notes I need to finish for PSY 201, and all the statistics I need to do. I'm gonna be so busy tomorrow. But it's nice to have set a goal and laid down a path towards my future.
My path was just a tiny little dirt path, and now it's become a gravel path. Soon it will be a stone path and my future will be nice and bright(Sorry for the metaphor everyone, couldn't resist).
Today's post is about the growth of a song. Now I'm no musician, but this is one song I've seen grow. Taylor Swift wrote this song many years ago, way back in 2007, when she was 17. At the time it was one of her biggest unreleased songs. Taylor has many songs that she's written and performed that haven't been released onto an actual CD(my ultimate favorite being I'd Lie, which is also one of the few songs that you can find in a decent download) and Sparks Fly was one of her fan favorites since it was released.
When she announced last summer that Sparks Fly would be included on her next CD everyone was ecstatic! I hadn't heard the song before the CD came out, at least not a good copy, so when I heard Sparks Fly for the first time I fell in love! Sparks Fly is one of my favorite Taylor Swift songs, and my favorite overall off of her Speak Now CD. I didn't learn until I Googled the lyrics that she had changed the song. There are many changes from the early original version and the new studio version. The chorus is still the same, but the rest of the song has been changed.
The stories are almost the same, Taylor tells the story of a girl who falls in love with a boy, but she knows that this boy just isn't right for her and she's not suppose to feel this way about him. Still she is absolutely drawn to this boy, and she wants him, badly.
The main difference in these openings is that in the original the girl falls in love as soon as he says her name. Just his presence intoxicates her. In the studio version the girl is in a love with a boy and she knows she shouldn't be and this could be for any reason, from him being different from her usual type, or being a bad boy, or any other kind of reason. She knows that she shouldn't feel this way, yet she still can't shake the feeling of being drawn to him. Here's is the opening of the song. I've marked the original and studio versions.
Original Version
The way you move is like a full on rainstorm
And I'm a house of cards
You say my name for the first time, baby, and I
Fall in love in an empty bar
And you stood there in front of me just
Close enough to touch
Close enough to hope you couldn't see
What I was thinking of
Studio Version
The way you move is like a full on rainstorm
And I'm a house of cards
You're the kind of reckless that should
Send me running but
I kinda know that I won't get far
And you stood there in front of me just
Close enough to touch
Close enough to hope you couldn't see
What I was thinking of
The chorus is the romance book and typical girl dream of a boy just dropping everything and coming at the climatic moment when the rain is pouring down and not caring about the rain as he takes her in his arms and kisses her. That one kiss takes away all the pain of longing for him and waiting for him. The sparks fly is a common expression that fits this song well. There is chemistry between them and though they fight it, the sparks still fly between them. The last part of the chorus is her wanting him to leave her with a memory, a good one that she can hang onto when she longs for him and he is no longer there.
Chorus
Drop everything now
Meet me in the pouring rain
Kiss me on the sidewalk
Take away the pain
'Cause I see, sparks fly
Whenever you smile
Get me with those green eyes, baby
As the lights go down
Something that'll haunt me when you're not around
'Cause I see, sparks fly
Whenever you smile
After the chorus the versions change again. In the original, the girl is wide eyed and young. When the guy asks her to dance she's head over heels. Her hormones and emotions over take her, as does his presence. She wants him so badly, and she could wait for him, but she's dying to have him then.
In the studio version her mind is telling her that wanting him is bad, but a single touch blows her mind and all her sense too. This song is PG 13 at this part, and I'm assuming by what it implies things go far. But it could still be PG and just be referring to kissing. The girl also talks about being on guard with the world, but this guy gets behind her defenses, even if she tries not to let him.
Original Version
So reach out open handed
And lead me out to that floor
Well, I don't need more paper lanterns
Take me down, baby bring on the movie star
'Cause my heart is beating fast
And you are beautiful I could wait patiently
But I really wish you would
Studio Version
My mind forgets to remind me
You're a bad idea
You touch me once and it's really something
You find I'm even better than
You imagined I would be
I'm on my guard for the rest of the world, but with you
I know it's no good
And I could wait patiently
But I really wish you would
There is another round of the chorus after this part.
In the original version she wants him to give in to how much she wants him and how good they could be, even if it's just for one night. When he does, he takes her away and the reference to whispering soft and slow is a girl's dream of being wooed. She wants to hate how good he makes her feel, but he makes it so impossible. The feelings he makes her feel are comparable to fireworks.
In the studio version the girl still has the same feeling of want and trying to get him to feel the way she does. Their eyes are locked at the tension is building between them. Even though in her mind she knows it's wrong to want him so badly and to be with him, it still feels so right at the same time. He leads her up the staircase and it's every girl's dream of being swept away to a special place. He woos her and the way he wants her feels like a firework show. That burst of emotions that grow and grow.
Original Version
I run my fingers through your hair
And watch the lights go out
Just keep your beautiful eyes on me
Gonna strike this match tonight
Lead me up the staircase
Won't you whisper soft and slow
I'd love to hate it
But you make it like a fireworks show
Studio Version
I'll run my fingers through your hair
And watch the lights go wild
Just keep on keeping you eyes on me
It's just wrong enough to make it feel right
And lead me up the staircase
Won't you whisper soft and slow
I'm captivated by you baby like a firework show
The song ends with another round of the chorus.
My thoughts on this song are easy. 1). I love Taylor Swift 2). Sparks Fly is catchy and relatable. 3). It's a really well written song. 4). What's not to love?
Well I'll leave y'all with the videos to these songs. Have fun and enjoy!
