New things

It's a few days into 2016, and I've been wanting to get back into blogging for a while now, so I figured, why not start on the first Monday of the year?

There's a few cool ways I'm starting this new year:

A new haircut

Now you can really tell the difference between me and my twin sister. This new look makes me so happy! My hair is so much easier to maintain, and it's just so cute. Now I finally look more like my ponysona, Magenta Plume. XD

--- A new car

On the last day of the year, my family decided to buy our first electric car. It's a used Nissan Leaf, and it's easily the coolest vehicle we've ever owned. I can't wait to drive it around different places and not have to pay anything for gas!

--- A new obsession

About a month ago I started watching the YouTube gamer, Jacksepticeye, do a playthrough of the game "Undertale". Since he finished it (well, he still hasn't finished the "genocide" route, but he completed the pacifist one), I have not been able to stop looking for fan-made videos and comics featuring those characters! I just love the characters so much! Particularly the two skeleton brothers, Sans and Papyrus. Sans (the short one), is my absolute favorite (and I'm pretty sure he's everyone else's too).

It's not just the funny, lovable characters. It's also the music, the simple 8-bit style, just the concept that you can either fight the monster and kill them, or spare them and become their friend (because even though they're monsters, they're unbelievably cute ones! Really, you wonder why anyone would want to kill these characters, especially once you got to know them!)

Sadly for me, there's not many people I can geek out about this game with, except for one of my friends and my sister, who finally started watching the game at my recommendation. But recently I got inspired to write lyrics based on the game's music, and basically I've made a few little sing-a-long videos. I posted one of them on my YouTube channel so far, but another couple are waiting in the wings.

--- A new state of mind

My boyfriend of nearly 2 years, Jerome, recently left to study abroad in France. He's already been gone about a week. I miss him a lot, even though we still text and see each other by webcam. He's going to be away for 6 whole months... Which is hard to think about, because the longest we've ever been apart was never more than a couple weeks. So yeah, I won't be seeing my love again for about half of the year... Unless I can get myself a plane ticket to Paris and visit him for a while. That would be wonderful. ^_^...

Even though we're far apart from each other now, I still believe we can make it. Our relationship has just turned into a long-distance one, for the time being. Since Jerome is no longer around to keep me company during the weekend, like he always used to, I will just have to get out of my shell a little and do my own thing with other people. I really need to get out there and make more friends.

That's all I really wanted to talk about for now. Don't really have any resolutions to speak of. I just want this to be a good year that goes by very quickly... Hope to find time to blog again really soon.

A clean slate

So I feel like I haven't been doing a very good job of keeping my resolution of writing a blog post for every week of the year. I want to get back to blogging a little bit, so here's what's been going on with me lately.

#1 - This last Tuesday I went to a group workout session with my dad and sister. It was outdoors in a park really close by us, and there were about 50-60 people there with us. We exercised for about an hour, and it was surprisingly a lot of fun! I've never been a big fan of exercise, but while I was quite exhausted, my body felt alive! Muscles I don't normally use are being put to work! That feels really good. ^_^

So I went to the other session again today. They do it Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I'm thinking I would like to make this a regular thing. I may already be pretty skinny and healthy, but maybe I can give myself some muscles or abs or something. :P

#2 - In the last few days, I feel like I have become something of a rising YouTube star. A couple weeks ago, while my boyfriend was out working at his job, I kept myself busy by recording myself as I reacted to the newest string of Steven Universe episodes, a mini-marathon, if you will. So finally, after editing my videos together with the actual episodes, I'm putting them up on YouTube, one episode a day.

I've posted 3 episodes out of 5 so far, and already I've gotten lots of views in a very quick time! I didn't publicize it or share that I'd done this with anybody, so I guess lots of random people are choosing to watch me as I watch Steven Universe. Which is incredible, because I don't think my videos are even that great quality! ^_^ It's just so awesome! I've even got people subscribing to me, and a couple comments here and there.

I'll post another one tomorrow and the last one on July 4th, and that will be the last "Steven Universe" video I'll post for a while, because there's no new episodes until the next big marathon in a couple weeks. I'd like to do something similar when that time comes, film myself watching these episodes for the first time. It's just really fun to think that I have an actual audience. ^_^

Here's my channel, if you'd like to check my videos out and see the nice things people are saying. ^,^

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6-EmBtXmXOMPF-vWr9YaJA

#3 - Yesterday I started reading this amazing book called "Second Chance", by Robert Kiyosaki. If you've never heard of him, Kiyosaki wrote "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and invented this financial education board game called Cashflow that my family used to play all the time, and he's one of my dad's (and in turn, one of my) heroes. In this book, he dedicates it to one of my dad's other heroes, R. Buckminster Fuller, who was basically the Leonardo DaVinci of the twentieth century, really smart guy with lots of great inventions and ideas.

So Kiyosaki talks about how Fuller's different philosophies changed his life, and how the country (and really the entire world) is having a whole financial crisis, and it all starts with how people are educated about money. When you really think about it, there isn't any good financial education in schools, so most people don't know how to get rich, so he's all about making humanity as a whole richer. I'm only on the fifth chapter so far, but I seriously think this book should be a must-read for the people of my generation.

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So yeah, those were the top 3 things I wanted to bring up. I hope I get to blog a little more in this second half of the year (2015 is already half gone! Noooooo!!!) and that I keep on improving myself a little every day.

~Bettina out~

PS: yes, I'm posting this late at night. I really need to improve my sleeping habits... Or I'll just become a vampire girl. *in-joke!* *wink-wink* ^,~

The Lonely Tree

Once upon a time on a starry night

There stood a tree that was quite a sight

It was rooted in a valley by a silvery pond

Surrounded by mountains from dusk 'til dawn

It's trunk was rough, it's branches were bare

It was strong and tall, but felt lonely there

The only living thing for miles around

The tree grew sad that the only sounds

It could hear were the rippling pond and the wind

Little did it know that new life would begin

For on that very night, for whatever reason

Birds migrated to that valley. Perhaps it was the season?

2 birds came and perched on that lonely tree

The tree was so excited it could barely breathe

One bird was yellow, the other one pink

They saw each other and they each began to sing

They sang of lovely clouds and what it was to fly

Their song was so beautiful, the tree could only sigh

The singing birds grew closer, continuing their tune

By the end they were side-by-side, gazing at the moon

The lonely tree was deeply moved by this touching scene

It began remembering olden days, when it was young and green

Even when the birds flew off, the tree was still content

It kept their song in its heart and was never lonely again.

This painting I copied around October 2014. Obviously I took plenty of artistic liberties with my version.  More wavy water, bigger mountains, starry night, the little birds. ^,^ Hope you like the poem.

Blues, Greens, and Aquamarines

Blues, greens, aquamarines,

Dreams

Of rippling reflections.

It's hard to reflect properly,

When the weeping willow hangs so heavily.

Lily pads sprouting pink and yellow flowers

Make me stare at this pretty pond for hours.

I try to get past the surface, to the murky depths below,

But the refracting light blinds me, the foggy waters have nothing to show.

Then I spot a little ladybug buzzing,

Touching down

On a small green pad.

It had to be tired of flying.

I wondered how far it had traveled,

How far it still had to go.

This was only one of the stops

On the spotted beetle's journey.

Soon it will take off again,

And forget this lonely place

Of placid languishing and wishing.

I don't believe I'll stay here long.

Like water, I want to flow like a song.

I can't be stagnant, that feels wrong.

Thinking fresher thoughts, I take my leave

Of these blues, greens, and aquamarines.

I copied this painting way back in February 2014 at an art class. The one at the top is my interpretation, and it hangs on the wall right next to my bed. This morning I was looking at it, and suddenly I got inspired to write a poem about it. ^,^

I've done a handful of other paintings in the past. Maybe I'll write poems based on those too...

Another diamond

Here's another poem that is in a similar format to the previous one, only longer. :P

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1- It's

2- Not easy

3- To come up

4- With a good idea.

5- But who said it was?

6- No one becomes successful overnight, right?

7- It takes practice, and lots of work.

8- Making a song, writing a story, or inventing something

9- Is a wonderful dream for creative individuals to have.

10- That doesn't mean it's going to be fun and games.

11- It's hard to be original, not to mention challenging to compete

12- Especially with the many great minds that have all come before you.

13- With so much content out there, the garbage as well as the masterpieces,

14- Not to mention all the critics, trolls and haters, waiting to tear you down,

15- How does one even begin to express themselves in a way that's never been done?

15- Well, maybe you won't be completely original in your creative endeavors, but hey, it's okay.

14- After all, every new idea that came into reality was based on old ideas.

13- You can start being creative by taking existing things and changing them slightly,

12- Or even by taking a few things at once and combining them.

11- That's what all artists do, in the end. Real artists steal.

10- Changing something is much easier than creating from thin air.

9- There really is absolutely nothing new under the sun

8- When you sit down and think about it

7- But that is not a bad thing.

6- Stand on the shoulders of giants.

5- Can't promise you'll make it,

4- But you won't know

3- If you don't

2- Ever even

1- Try