extravagantGEEK

Just a geek and her thoughts…

Category: Miscellaneous

  • This is why I blog.

    This is why I blog.

    Daily writing prompt
    Why do you blog?
    View all responses

    I’ve never done a daily writing prompt before, but I logged onto WordPress this morning and it felt like a topic I could relate to. The simple answer to this question is that I love to write, but obviously, it’s a bit more than that. Otherwise, I would not be scrunching pennies together to keep my domain name and hosting every month.

    There is something special about writing things and seeing others enjoy your words. This can apply to both fiction and non-fiction. I used to thoroughly enjoy getting feedback in my creative writing class in both college and high school. However, today we are focusing on blogs and I tend to lean towards non-fiction with those.

    At present, I have one personal blog and this one. It was originally meant to be a tech blog but over time it’s become more about current pop culture in general with a sprinkling of personal bits as well. The joy I’ve had from writing on both through the past decade or so has been the interaction with my audience and followers. Whether it’s one comment or watching several people converse on a subject… it always warms my heart. I even get feedback directly at times via emails or through social media. It may seem like no one is reading based on the lack of comments but when I look at random visitor stats and see new followers it brings me a sense of pride.

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  • A Whole New [Live-Action] World?

    A Whole New [Live-Action] World?

    This post contains spoilers from the film, proceed at your own discretion.

    I saw the live-action version of Disney’s The Little Mermaid a few days before its official release. As a millennial who was 2 years old when it came out in theaters, the original was a huge part of my childhood. Saying I am a fan of The Little Mermaid as both a Disney property and as a beautifully written but sad story by Hans Christian Andersen… would be quite an understatement. Miss Ariel may have been in denial about her obsession with humans but I will admit without hesitation that my obsession with mermaids began immediately after seeing the animated version of the film.

    My addiction to TLM (The Little Mermaid) was so strong that I’m honestly surprised that the VHS tape didn’t pop from being played too many times over the years. I wish I still had it but that and several other things in my childhood have been lost over time. I do however have it on Blu-Ray DVD. I have watched the animated series that was on the Disney Channel. Seen both of the spin-off movies. I had a Little Mermaid themed birthday party when I was 4, lots of TLM toys (including the slides from the movie to look at on the Red ViewMaster 3D). Even my bedsheet and comforter set were TLM.

    I read the lore of the Disney story from books that were released through the years and of course the real thing as well. Hans Christian Andersen was an amazing writer and I have been a fan of him ever since my mom had me watch a movie about his life starring actor Danny Kaye.

    However, I’m glad that I was older than 2 when I came across his version of the story, because toddler me was not ready. To be honest I’m not sure 8-year-old me was ready either. When I finally watched a short animation about the “real” version of the story… despite being a little sad, it resonated with my young heart. I found a story of a young girl in love, refusing to kill that person just because it would set her free. Seeing her let her love for the prince overcome her selfishness was just awe-inspiring to me.

    If you have never read the original version of the story, I highly suggest it. I can understand why Disney would want to change the story to make it more digestible, and I like their original changes. I’m not sure about the most recent ones they made though. There is a reason why I’m just now posting my review a couple of weeks after seeing the film. I felt like I need to marinate on it and also give time for others to give it a watch before reading my thoughts. I’ll now get into the thing that I did and did not like, in no particular order.

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  • Everything, all at once.

    Everything, all at once.

    I’ve gotten more free time since the last entry that I wrote, which although posted less than 24 hours ago, was written at the beginning of the new year. However, I still feel like I have so many things to do and little motivation to do them. Depression is an ugly thing, even more so when it’s clinical depression. It just hits you out of nowhere for no apparent reason and with no regard for the plethora of things in your life that you are already sad about.

    I do not want this to be an emotional post though, so I will back off of that subject and save it for my personal blog. I am still dealing with being a bit overwhelmed but in a positive way… so I want to remain positive. I finished my paralegal certificate program with stellar grades that I know my parents would be proud of. Having an education in computer networking and the legal field has been an odd but surprisingly useful path for me already. I am still looking for a day job so that I can take care of some leftover debts from the pandemic and gain some financial independence. However, I am finally putting a real focus on doing things I love in my free time. I have managed to get a bit better at writing regular updates here instead of going an entire year between entries but I’ve always wanted to do so much more than that.

    I have had an obsession with technology since I was able to sit up on my own as a baby, I clearly do not remember this but my dad assured me it was a fact. I also love pop culture as a whole which is demonstrated in my about me tab on this site but was also a prevalent part of my now defunct YouTube channel. I still intend to revive it and begin anew, but there is only so much time in a day… and because of that, I have decided to only focus on a few things at a time instead of everything, all at once.

    My newest venture is going to be occasional streaming on Twitch. I set up a profile years ago with the intent to be a creator, not just a viewer. Unfortunately, life gets busy and priorities change so I’m only now getting the chance to give streaming a try. Two of my best friends and my older brother have been very patient and supportive regarding my journey of increasing my social media presence and I started to feel a bit guilty about leaving them to wait for all eternity.

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