The Color Purple

In case you don't know: Today people are wearing purple to honor and respect the recent suicides of homosexual teenagers, and to raise awareness against discrimination, hate, and bullying directed at the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community.

It's been a while since I've last written in this thing. I guess it might say a lot if I am actually taking time out of my extremely-busy-life to make a serious-blog-post about something.Today, I am contributing to the growing pool of Internet posts defending this purple movement.

I'm not holding it against you if you were completely out of the loop and were genuinely baffled when you saw that everyone decided to wear purple today. But I am kind of holding it against you if you have decided to express this GREAT DISDAIN that many people seem to feel towards this.

I know that in the same way I feel that you Negative Nancy's should not be expressing so much (exaggerated?) opposition to this, you can say that purple-wearers shouldn't be all up in your face about wearing purple. Who cares about only seven juvenile suicides when people commit suicide everyday? There are so many other much more important global matters! It's so dumb, really dumb, for real, to suddenly care about the LGBT community!

Except it is not. What's wrong with raising awareness? Everybody knows about breast cancer, but people still wear pink to "raise awareness" for a disease that affects thousands of people. I don't think everyone is aware of the "social disease" if you will, that is discrimination and hate towards the LGBT community. This can be said for every other group of people that is discriminated against, of course. The fact of the matter is that this is current and these suicides were all publicized within the same time frame and this has struck many people as tragic.

According to GLAAD:

Spirit Day honors the teenagers who had taken their own lives in recent weeks. But just as importantly, it's also a way to show the hundreds of thousands of LGBT youth who face the same pressures and bullying, that there is a vast community of people who support them.

Hypothetical Quote From A Hater: "Man, that is super threatening to my life. This is a stupid way of showing awareness. I am so mad everyone is wearing purple. No one cares about any global issues EVER but now they care about this?"

I suppose the way I am going about this is "super immature." I am mocking people's opinions and all that. But this is what it comes down to, and this is all you have to read: Discrimination and bullying is awful, and this fact has been brought to light due to the suicides. People have banded together to show support. If you are arguing that there are much more important things to raise awareness and be active about, you should be comforted by the fact that some people actually care about something.

Of course there are many other things that are "worthy" of activism, but that is all relevant to your perception and what is important to you. Right now, people care about this. Apathy only perpetuates more hate. If you have no interest in this, being a "player hater" doesn't help anyone. Collectively wearing purple indirectly does.

Important Fun Fact: I hadn't even considered wearing purple until yesterday. So there you have it, my self-imporant two cents. I hope you all continue to be irritated or inspired by the amount of purple surrounding you today!

Today's post was brought to you by excessive use of italics.

Napolean Dynamite Dance Original

Napoleon Dynamite. A classic example of movie-turned-Hot-Topic-chic. But really, it kind of deserves it. I feel like it's the Pulp Fiction of Low-Budget Indie Cult Classics. Where it's popular enough that most people have heard of it, and it's actually pretty good. Good enough that people want to buy shit related to this film. So yeah, basically when this movie came out I pined for a "Vote For Pedro" t-shirt and I needlessly quoted, "Tina, you fat lard, come and get some dinner."

tl;dr AH, what it is to be young.

You right about that

If you have any taste in film/life whatsoever, you will watch this movie. I am not even going to bother to explain myself. If you have Netflix, it's on there.

And that's all I've got to say about that.

Meryl Streep ( "The HBIC") Barnard Commencement Speaker 2010, Columbia University

I encourage any women who read this post to listen to this speech. I have no idea what to write about this. I don't really know if Meryl Streep wrote it (or all of it) but I'm deciding she did, and the only superficial remotely funny thing I can say about it right now is: If you've ever heard me say that I loved Meryl Streep before, I most-definitely adore her now. Moved to the point of tears, ladies.

If it bleeds, it leads

The (Only) Ten Basic News Stories by Psychology Today (dot com) has effectively summed up what the news is. I've not been one to complain about how corrupt the media is, because everyone knows it is, but I've heard some people sound like they've just discovered the secret to all news coverage and I just wanted to note that. Mostly, I'm posting this to lament about the death of journalism, in some respects.

When I first started high school and learned about the basics of journalism, I was really in awe of its integrity and honor. I had to cover basic opinions stories and features, and I did it with a lot of interest and passion. But as a poor journalism student, working towards publishing a newspaper that no one at school really read, you realize what kind of crap people rather read about. I cannot count how many times the staff has sat down to talk about story ideas, and we have to scrap dozens because we realize the school populus does not consist of individuals like ourselves. It's goddamn depressing, is what it is.

Ironically enough, I want to become an entertainment journalist/blogger extraordinaire (eventually). But it's because of this, really. I rather put out something distracting for the public to read, I guess. Thinking about filtering my writing really startles me. As it is, I keep cussing to a minimum on this because I want to make it reader-friendly and crap. But I don't want what I write to lose it's voice or argument. I don't want to pretend to like something like broadcasting at my school does. It's straight up awful, man. So here I am, up at 3am blogging about this.

My regular French/Disco House jamming session will now resume.

No I won't kneel

It's been difficult to remember to update this when so much has been going on. School is still like a really annoying rash that you can't ignore. It is so very close to over. Graduation looks like it is going to be torture, really. And it looks a little bit like a cult gathering with all the robes and funny hats, if you ask me.

In non-life related news, I am on this major music downloading spree and I have yet to tire. In the last few days I've downloaded two Portishead albums, Neon Indian, some Treasure Fingers tracks, the new A-Track mixtape, and I finally wrote up a list of more things to download. Currently listening to a Bloody Beetroots radio mix. These guys can do no wrong. Also, for my fellow uh, like-minded music friends? I bring you Chemical Jump, the blog that is supplyin' me with this weeks fix of electro.

Alright so that reminds me, for my 18th birthday I am definitely going to Grand Central Miami to celebrate. No questions asked. All those who are into house/electro and want to dance all night with me are invited to join. No wimps allowed.

Lazaro el Lechon

Disclaimer: You need to be Cuban/from Miami to really be able to appreciate this. Otherwise, if you're not Cuban/from Miami, you're going to think this is pura mierda.

This video is brought to you by my Cuban-est best friend, Jessica. This is basically the Cuban version of Triumph the Insult Dog, except better because this pig right here is true to life. Most adult, Cuban males in Miami are exactly this. Bluetooth, cigar, ski-sunglasses and all. It's things like this that make me appreciate the 305 so much. Kind of like my other favorite Cuban-related videos, like Tunturuntu, El Pototo and its sequel. That will never stop being funny to me. But I don't need to tell you all that, since you've probably all seen it by now. And if you haven't I suggest you pack your bags and get out 'cause your Miami citizenship is being revoked as hell.

John C. Reilly as Dr. Brule

One of Tim & Eric's excellent characters, getting a spin-off series. This is just a preview and I'm already psyched. And I could really go for some sushi and thai doughnuts right about now.

Tim & Eric - Paul Rudds Computer

I literally do not even need to write a description about this. Paul Rudd and Tim & Eric is enough. I would like to include, however, that if Paul Rudd asked for my hand in marriage I would be so ready to accept. I'd show him this post, so that he knows I accepted the offer long ago before asking me. If it doesn't make sense to you, it doesn't have to.

Save me, please

I will make however many virgin sacrifices you'd like, Academic Gods. Please bless me with your logic, common sense, intuition, spirit, and strength. I need to pass my IB exams. All I want on the math exam is a three. I pray that it will not cost me my diploma. Stay tuned.

Congratulations

While FBN can't get over all the highly prestiguious awards they got at the Florida Scholastic Press Association (FSPA), I quietly celebrate the small victory The Talon made. I won first place in the Carry-In Photo Contest, which I received mid-sentence. It kind of stamped and sealed the overall positive experience that was FSPA.

I had wanted to go when I was a Sophomore, but I couldn't because it was scheduled the same weekend as my younger sister's first communion. I just realized the greatest irony... the photo that won first place is actually a portrait I took of my sister for her first communion. Holy crap. Wow, that's incredible. Okay so anyway yeah, FSPA was a great experience. it really helped me realize that the only field of study I have any passion for is journalism/communications. I cannot think of a single thing I enjoy more, besides art, which I do not want pursue as a career.

Regardless, if you ever have the opportunity to go to an event like this, where various schools gather to learn about their trade and have an opportunity to network, show their skills, etc. you should take it. It'll be enriching like, 85% of the time. The other 15% is spent admiring the city, visiting vintage clothes and book shops, wishing you could get into the cool bars in Ybor City and having delicious milkshakes.

P.S. Havin' good vibes about summer.
P.P.S. Congratulations to all the winners!

This UbyKotex commercial goes out to the laaadies

I can really appreciate a commercial like this. Sometimes I get extremely skeptic about who's creating these advertisements etc. and how they're catering to a mindset that is being cultured in this society, but then I remember that not everyone thinks like I do (which is good, I guess, I'm weird as hell) and that most women don't realize the stupid shit "they" use to advertise to us. Especially damn cotex/tampon commercials.

This commercial is amusing as hell, and reminds me of Target Women, a great way to help ladies open their eyes a little to the kinds of generalizations it implies about women. I mean, I've noticed these things before, but until I saw that it was never really put in words (for me, personally). And so, I pass this on, as it has been passed down to me, and shall be for generations to come. But like, e-generations, which is about a year or so in real life.

First Bill 6, now this?

Seen above: Kids 17 and under vs. Miami Dade/Florida.
So I'm not sure if y'all are aware but Miami is passing a curfew law affecting 17 year old and younger citizens, taking effect May 1st.

Personally, I'm not allowed out too late and my parents care about me so they rather pick me up than have friends drive me around, so this curfew doesn't dramatically affect my life. But I know other Miami kids, and I see how they spend their weekend. I mean, this is Miami, man. We party all the time down here.

The following paragraph(s) are just rough draft teenage ideas on the flaws of this new law and ways it can be bypassed. I'm sure teenage masterminds who know how to do these things will appreciate the advice. I'm sure my ideas are flawed as well, but they're just thoughts, okay!

• This problem they're trying to fix is basically downtown. Liberty City, Little Haiti, Overtown and Upper Eastside. Are you for real, Miami? Leave Kendall, Westcester, Doral, Sunset, Pinecrest, Killian and everyone else out of it! It is clearly a bigger issue there.
  
• You can be out 'til whenever if you're with a 21 year old. What does a difference of four years make? The difference is one can legally drink. That's practical as hell.
  
• If you're working a job and are stopped past curfew you can say you're coming home from work. I can buy a uniform on eBay in a week if you really want me to. Really. If you're babyfaced enough and say this without looking like a liar, then I'm sure you can get away with this.
  
• Police are going to be catching kids past curfew and will take 'em down to the station where their parents need to get up in the middle of the night and pick up their kids downtown. You'd think that'd be the popular choice, I mean why wouldn't parents take care of their own kids? Well they're offering the option of a cop taking your kid home on top of that Guess what option I'm thinkin' most people will pick... you guessed it! The one where they don't have to get out of bed.
  
• I think they could use all this energy to super-mega-hyper-fine people who speed or drunk drive. I also think this is just really silly in general. I don't know, Miami's got to get itself put together. It's getting pretty annoying. Mostly the way I feel about it is that it's not going to make a significant impact and will thus get annoying for the youth who are not involved involved in criminal activity. I don't know what else to tell you!

All in all, the curfew is not that bad but I still think it sucks. Sunday through Thursday until 11pm, Friday to Saturday until 12am? Nah nah, you gotta chill with that Miami.

Read the article here @ The Herald

Heartbreak

Love in its purest form, bro. BRB CRYING AT YOUTUBE VIDEOS.

High school, we are over

The only appropriate connection I can think of that sums up my desire to finish high school is that of a break up. I've never dumped someone before, but I'm thinking that's what this feels like, at least if you're dumping high school. I've grown tired of this routine, I don't know how to please you anymore, high school. You're way too clingy, high school. You need to give me some space. Stop calling my house when I'm not around. Stop leaving me messages about you and some county-wide events you want me to go to. God, you're so weird, I don't even know why I liked you at all, high school. I'm moving on to bigger and better things. College is way more understanding. College understands my needs. Leave me alone or I'm calling the fucking cops, high school.

Are you done?

Note to self: Start watching Everybody Hates Chris.

This gem is courtesy of Joel.

I can't stop touching it

Check it out, I have a gnarly ass blister on my middle finger! I never have injuries! It stings like crazy and I keep on touching it. But I much rather spend my time messing around with my blister than actually doing spanish and marine biology homework or something. Moral of the story: You are not fireproof.

Less than 15 minutes of fame

Nothing funnier than seeing Snooki look miserable as hell at a frozen yogurt/ice cream place near where you live. Quality.

1, 2, 3, 4444

The Bloody Beetroots and I are in love and I don't care who knows. If you like electro house/badass electro at all, you know about them. They're amazing. I can't wait to see them live again.

Intro outro midtro

Oh hello, didn't see you there. I'll try to make this brief. My name is Karina, I am seventeen years old, alive and well, and living in Miami, Florida. I have wanted to start a fancy blog for a while!

Funfact: The name of this blog was inspired by my friend Danielle, whom I love dearly. She once said that my last name when pronounced a certain way sounded like "tell us." We joked that my full name could then sound like, "Karina, tell us!" and with that clever play on words I could totally start an advice blog under that title. I don't want to give everybody advice though, so I'll just write about stuff instead. Hopefully you will enjoy my blog and all it has to offer, which is so much because I am so cool.

But seriously, this is what you can expect from my blog: Crazy things I see on the internet, in my life, and on television. Lots of pop-culture rants and reviews. Lots of bolshevik antics. Lots of exploration in feminism and other social cal. Lots of gushing about, oh I don't know, anything I really like and want to share with the e-world. I hope you can grow to love reading all the nonsense I'll post on a regular basis, because I much rather do this than anything else remotely productive in my life. Enjoy!