Family Quote of the Day & Harry Potter

Even though my past blog entries have only documented Wom's quotes, I really do have other family members who say funny things. Case in point: The other day, my parents, my sister and I were in the car. Harry Potter somehow was brought up, and my sister and I were talking about patronuses.


My sister: "I'd want my patronus to be a dementor, so that it could fight the other dementors."





I simply shook my head and explained to her that no, a patronus has to be an animal. For example, mine would be a penguin. I then asked my parents what their patronuses would be.


Dad: "A T-Rex."





Wom: "Hagrid."





The lack of Harry Potter knowledge in my household really shocks me sometimes.








Photo Links:
Dementor, T-rex, Hagrid

Wom Quote of the Day & iCarly

The other day, I was eating dinner while Wom was cooking in the kitchen. When I'm at home, I usually eat dinners in front of the TV. Yes, it is a shame that this is what our generation has come to. But seriously, what meal doesn't taste better with the sounds of E! News or, God willing, a Teen Mom rerun playing in the background?

So, there we were, Wom and daughter, watching TV. As I was eating, I commented on the show that was playing, which happened to be iCarly. The conversation that ensued between me and Wom is documented here for your entertainment:


Me: I freaking love iCarly.
Wom: I do too.
Me: [turning to face Wom, my eyes open with childlike wonder] Really? You love iCarly??
Wom: Oh, I thought you said avocados. I love avocados.


I'm not quite sure how "iCarly" and "avocados" sound similar. Maybe it's my Baltimore accent coming through (dear God, I hope not). Maybe she's been reading too many of my blog posts. But Wom is right. Avocados and iCarly have something in common: THEY ARE BOTH AWESOME.




(Note: This is a picture of the iCarly cast. Not avocados.)


I probably don't need to explain to you why avocados are so great. But, for some reason that I cannot fathom, many people my age and older do not watch iCarly. They think it's a kid's show. And they're right, it is a kid's show. But it is so, so, so much more.

Now, think back to the shows you loved as a kid. Yes, you're allowed to name drop some Nicktoons right now. Although, let me tell you, Nicktoons are not as great watching them as an adult as they were when you were a kid. Believe me. I spent one Friday night a couple weeks ago watching old Rugrats episodes on Netflix. The show really revolves around talking babies who probably should have become wards of the state, seeing as to how their parents left them unsupervised 90% of the time. Once you realize this, the show tends to lose its appeal. I must say, though, that the "Passover" episode still stands the test of time. That might have something to do with it being based off of the Biblical passage that has been told for thousands of years. Or Rugrats was just really awesome.

Anyway, think back to those great shows you once loved as a kid. They were silly, goofy, and just made you genuinely laugh. You could watch an episode a million times in reruns, and it never got old. When a new episode would air, it would be like getting a free package of Lisa Frank stickers: it would make your day.

This is exactly the feeling I get when watching iCarly, except I'm almost 20 years old. Obviously, iCarly is fairly different from most of the other shows I watch because A.) It's not a reality show B.) It's main audience is people who have yet to grow in their 12-year old molars.

I first watched iCarly when I was babysitting a couple years ago. I remember thinking "Wow, this show is actually sort of funny." I would catch episodes occasionally, but it was never something I made a conscious effort to watch every week. However, about a year and a half ago I started talking to my older sister, who also had seen episodes of iCarly. We both agreed that it stood out because it was so funny and well-written. I started to make more time to watch iCarly, and the more episodes I saw, the more I enjoyed the show.

Basically, the show is about this girl named Carly (Miranda Cosgrove) who lives in Seattle. She lives with her older brother Spencer (Jerry Trainor), who left law school and now works as an artist. Carly's two best friends are Sam (Jennette McCurdy) and Freddie (Nathan Kress), and the three friends decide to start a webshow together. Carly is cautious and the "normal" one, while Spencer is a complete goofball. Freddie is really nerdy, and Sam, who is very brash and always getting into trouble, likes to make fun of Freddie. There's also their friend Gibby (Noah Munck), who just runs around with his shirt off and says funny lines.

It's hard to explain why iCarly is so amazing without sitting down and watching an episode. The characters work so well together. Even though this type of kid/tween show could become boring and predictable, the writing is clever and fresh. The characters aren't put in situations that we've seen dozens of times before on other shows. In the most recent episode, Spencer accidentally burns down Carly's room after he made her a lamp adorned with gummy bears. In another episode, the trio of friends go to space training because they are offered the chance to film their webshow from space (I'm pretty sure that would be impossible but hey, this is from the network that made Catdog). Sometimes the stuff that happens on the show, especially the webshow-within-the-show, is so weird and out-there that you have to laugh. Plus, the actors really commit themselves to the roles. Jennette and Jerry are hysterical. And Miranda and Nathan both play their characters as sweet and charming, but still with the right mix of goofiness are weirdness thrown in.

Another reason why the show is so appealing to today's generation is that its use of technology actually makes it seem believable. The concept that a couple of teenagers in any city in the country could make a webshow and reach mild celebrity doesn't seem weird or strange in today's world. This differs greatly from Hannah Montana, basically the iCarly of the Disney Channel. On Hannah Montana, the audience is supposed to believe that a huge celebrity could live a very private life where hardly anybody actually knows who she really is. In the days where Justin Bieber can't go anywhere without causing a huge commotion, how the heck are we supposed to believe that someone of his fame could just go to school and nobody would recognize them? But what do I know. Maybe it's all in the wig.

iCarly is like the more realistic counterpart to Hannah Montana. On iCarly, their version of Apple products is "Pear" everything--Freddie is always on his computer that looks exactly like a Macbook, except with a pear logo. The characters all love their "Pearphones" and "Pearpods." Also, the show has different names for YouTube and Google, but they are easy enough to understand what they translate to in real life. While some TV shows mold their plots around comedic situations that could have easily (and in real life, would have been) solved with a simple text message or e-mail, iCarly embraces technology.

Another difference between Hannah Montana and iCarly is the contrasts between the personal lives of the two casts, and how they connect with their audiences. I follow iCarly the show, the executive producer Dan Schneider, and the cast on Twitter. On any given day, Dan will post behind-the-scenes videos and pictures of the cast, crew, and set. The actors will tweet each other, and really seem like great friends. I've never read anything bad about any of the cast in the tabloids or media--no bad behavior or rivalries, and definitely no mean comments about the show. Hannah Montana, on the other hand, has Miley Cyrus to thank for its negative image. Her comments about Hannah Montana don't do anything to make her more likable. It's also unfortunate that at age 17, she seems determined to push herself as far away from the "Disney" image as possible. Take her latest music video, "Can't Be Tamed." Who is supposed to watch this? People who are my age and older still think Hannah Montana, and, by proxy, Miley Cyrus, is lame. And I hope to God that parents aren't letting their 8 year olds, who bought the Hannah Montana lunchboxes and clothes and merchandise that made Miley so rich in the first place, watch this music video. Seriously, just compare "Can't Be Tamed" to Miranda Cosgrove's music video for her new song "Kissin U." Miranda's is so much more wholesome!

And it seems like people like iCarly much more than Hannah Montana, at least according to television ratings. But really, this post isn't meant to bash Miley or Hannah Montana, it's supposed to be about what makes iCarly so great. All I can say is, watch an episode of iCarly for yourself. There's episodes on the Nickelodeon website here, and new episodes premiere Friday nights at 8. Plus, there's always reruns on Nickelodeon.


Last but not least, let's not forget the number one reason why iCarly is amazing: David Archuleta guest appeared on an episode!


....Never mind.






Picture credit:
iCarly photo

If I Can Dream & Acoustic Song of the Day

A little bit of background info: "If I Can Dream" is a show on Hulu that's basically like the Real World except everyone in the Los Angeles house is pursuing music/acting/modeling. I didn't start watching the show until they put Alex Lambert in the house, because he was one of my favorites on American Idol. Unfortunately, he got voted off right before the top 12, thus leading to the suckiest season of Idol to date (I will likely devote multiple future entries to American Idol - mark your calendars!).

There's also a live feed to watch the cast members inside of the house. I refuse to link to the website, because this is where I draw the line on reality shows. Even I, who gave up my Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday nights for 4 seasons of Big Brother, could never understand why people would want to watch the live feeds. That's just so damn creepy. And besides, I usually only skip to the parts of each half-hour episode where Alex is on, but some of the other cast members are pretty entertaining too. There's Ben, who's gorgeous yet awkwardly cute. And then there's Miley Cyrus' ex-boyfriend, Justin, who has the personality of a bowl of cat food. Sigh. You win some, you lose some.

Now, the reason I'm giving you all of this useless information isn't so that one day you'll win on VH1's World Series of Pop Culture (please, please, decision-makers at Vh1 and Viacom, please bring back this show). No, the reason that I'm giving you this information is so that I can now present to you the Acoustic Song of the Day!

Today's song is by Veronica Ballestrini. Veronica won some contest that allowed her to come to the house for a few weeks, or something like that. I'm a little foggy on the details. If Justin was explaining it then I probably got really bored and started watching stuff like this on YouTube (Side note: They should replace Justin with one of those puppies! They are 10 times more fun to watch). So, Veronica came to the house, recorded a few songs, had a showmance with Alex (ugh. Seriously, do they think they're on Big Brother? I swear, if Evel Dick becomes the newest cast member, I will boycott the show). One of the songs that Veronica sang on the show is called "Don't Say," and is available on iTunes but only in the country version (she's a country artist, even though she doesn't sound like it in this video). I'm hoping that she'll release the acoustic version of this soon! There's also a version of the song that she sings with Alex, although I prefer this version. Alex also has some great songs, like "Imperfectly Perfect" and this "Use Somebody" cover with the American Idol winner from this year, Lee Dewyze, and that other dude that I've written about before.


So enjoy! And if you're looking for a show to watch this summer (besides Friday Night Lights and iCarly) then go check out "If I Can Dream" on Hulu!

Wom Quote of the Day & The Hills

Remember that one post where I mentioned how Wom never let me watch the MTV Challenges? Well, I learned tonight that now, I'm apparently not even allowed to watch The Hills. It's ironic, since The Hills is probably the only show left on MTV where most of its' stars don't fall asleep covered in their own puke at least 3 times a week.

But tonight, I got suckered into watching some old episodes, as the network is showing a marathon to commemorate the show's season finale this Tuesday. The episode I was watching included the cast traveling down to Costa Rica, where Kristin hooked up with a bartender to make Brody jealous. While I was watching, Wom, who was in the other room, exclaimed:

"I forbid you to watch this on my television! This is narcissistic trash." She then commented on how the cast should be doing volunteer work, rather than, I assume she meant, traveling to exotic locales where all they do is drink and gossip on the beach- which is pretty much what they do every day back in LA.

Now, I'm assuming Wom wasn't serious in these restrictions she set for me, since I continued to watch the show. I even endured a "Hills: Revealed" behind-the-scenes episode, as well as part of a special that summarized each season.

I don't think Wom understands why The Hills is so fun to watch. Unlike Real Housewives, where I really get sucked into the drama, or The Challenges, where I have become oddly attached to the cast members over the years, I watch The Hills with a sense of disbelief and curiosity. While Laguna Beach and the first few seasons of The Hills felt authentic in how they portrayed the lives of the cast members, the show now feels like it it's giving you an inch of perspective into the ocean that is each of these people's worlds.

The people on The Hills (I want to call them actors, but I'll refrain) don't acknowledge that they are followed by cameras, or written about in tabloids. On the behind-the-scenes episode I watched tonight, the producers mentioned how the "Speidi" wedding was flooded with paparazzi, yet there was nary a mention of it in the episode, as far as I remember. Or how about in Season 3 when Lauren and Heidi's friendship ended? Lauren mentioned to Whitney how "rumors" about her had ended up on the "Internet"-failing to mention how Perez Hilton, among other websites, were covering the scandal. This wasn't just some nasty status that a classmate put up on their Facebook.

Now, Kristin is reportedly seeing a member of the production team, while Brody is with Avril Lavigne, which indicates that the stars of The Hills don't just magically find their lovers at Les Deux, or Area, or whatever the club du jour is- who they are dating is significantly influenced by the fact that they are not just normal people living in LA. Kristen first starred on Laguna Beach when she was a junior in high school. She has been famous for a good portion of her life. Brody's been on several other reality shows, and his extended family has a very popular show. The Hills still tries to sell itself as reality and its cast members as regular young adults, when you are much more likely to get a true sense of who these people are by picking up a new Us Weekly. Even the cast members realize this, with Lo Bosworth referring to the show as a "docu-soap", as if The Hills has turned into an almost unclassifiable genre where importance is placed on romance and drama over reality and truth. On the behind-the-scenes special, the producers kept referring to the cast members as "characters" and talked about their "stories," as if their lives are just plot points for The Next Great American TV Show.

So, Wom, yes, I know The Hills is narcissistic trash. But even if the cast members did spend their time doing volunteer work, I doubt we'd see it. It would probably be written off as a boring story line.

Hey, Whatever Happened To...

...The cast of Lizzie McGuire?






Recently, a friend informed me that the Lizzie McGuire Movie was on TV, and later that night it became a trending topic on Twitter. Obviously, the world loves Lizzie, and with good reason. The television show from the era of Zoog Disney (if you know what i'm talking about, you are a superstar, my friend) was totally boss. It was about a trio of friends: the main leader was a middle school girl with blonde hair that was always worrying about boys, including her main crush. There were her best friends: an outspoken brunette who wore much better clothes than the lead character, and a nerdy guy friend. There was also the annoying little brother, normal mom, Dad who tried to be cool, popular girl, popular girl's best friend, and a whole host of other characters. Wait....wasn't that a different show? Nope, definitely Lizzie McGuire.


Anyways, I was always a big Lizze McGuire fan. I even crimped my hair like her. Probably not the wisest choice, but hey, 4th grade is the time for trial and error when it comes to these types of things. And really, could you expect any differently when it comes to my hair history?

But Lizzie McGuire earned my respect for several reasons:

1. The show was much more grown up than other shows on Disney Channel at the time, but it was still wholesome fun. To think that just one year later I would start watching The Real World: San Diego really makes me question my judgment as a tween. And I can't even blame Wom for letting me watch MTV, because in high school I wasn't even allowed to watch the MTV Challenges, and I still feel ashamed whenever I turn it on to watch (not that that stops me).
2. In the episode where they went to camp, the tribe names for the campers were the same ones from the first season of Survivor. Only true survivor buffs (get it? buffs! so punny) probably caught the reference. Any show that squeezes in a reference to Survivor is alright with me (Ok, I love sneaky American Idol references even more).
3. One episode featured the song "Hungry Like The Wolf" by Duran Duran (it was the episode where Matt searches the town trying to find his mute friend Lanny. Wikipedia is telling me that it was called "El Oro De Montezuma"). I wish more kids' shows featured 80's music. iCarly, I expect you to take the lead on this one.


Anyways, we all know that Lizzie McGuire (aka Hilary Duff) moved onto bigger things. But what about the rest of the cast?


I was devastated when I learned last summer that LaLaine (Really? No last name?) was arrested in 2007 for meth possession. WTF, LaLaine? I mean, this is seriously hardcore! I think you've been watching a bit too much Degrassi.

And whatever happened to Adam Lamberg, who played Gordo? Yes, I definitely had a crush on Gordo. Even at the age of 11, I knew I would forever only be attracted to Jewish guys. I never understood why Lizzie fell for Ethan Craft over Gordo. Maybe she didn't like pasty boys. The world may never know. She eventually changed her mind and (SPOILER ALERT) kissed him in the Lizzie McGuire movie. Now, I doubt Hilary Duff even remembers who Adam Lamberg is.

So, forgotten cast of Lizzie McGuire, if you are reading this, what the eff have you been doing all this time?!? Lifetime movies? Charity work? A tell-all memoir? Let me know in the comments, or have your agent (if you still have one) give me a call.





Picture Credit:
Lizzie McGuire Cast

YouTube Star of the Day

Dude is hilarious.


And...some people in the comments on this video think he's being serious. SMDH.

A Brief History of My Hair

**WARNING: On a scale of one to narcissistic, this post is an 11. Read at your own risk.**

At the beginning of summer, I made a list of goals to accomplish or work towards for the few months I'll be home: read more books (check), learn to cook (eh...no), exercise more (well, I mean I HAVE gone to the gym a couple of times...oh who are we kidding, the freshman 15 i going to be nothing compared to the summer 70...oh God please don't let that be a real phenomenon). One thing I forgot to add to the list: Decide what to finally do about my hair.

Here's the thing: I love my hair. I don't care if that's an immodest thing to say, but it's true. It's not that it's my hair that's so special, per se, but just the idea that your hair can still look good even if you've gone back for seconds at the dining hall (damn you, freshman 15), or if you haven't laid out all summer and are pale as a ghost (excuse me, vampire).

I wouldn't say that I've been very adventurous with my hair over the years, at least not compared to certain celebrities. But I do like to try out different styles. It all started in 5th grade with what one of my teachers dubbed my "tiger stripes." You know - brown hair with chunks of blonde stripes in an almost wallpaper-like pattern.


For reasons that God only knows, I thought this looked cute. So cute, in fact, that I wanted to bring more edge to my look, and add red stripes to my hair, a la Kelly Clarkson on the cover of her freshman album.



Tragic, I know. Thankfully (no pun intended...come on, look at the album title!), I had a change of heart and decided not to go make the change. Actually, I just went through my old middle school diary trying to find an entry about this, because I knew I wrote about it, and I'll let 7th-grade me explain what happened:

2/28/04: "BTW, I'm getting chunky highlights and red streaks in my hair on March 7!"
3/12/04: "I actually didn't go through with the highlights. I thought they would be to 'look at me!.'"

1.) I commend 7th-grade me on using the BTW abbreve. So forward-thinking. Or, I'm just really immature and still use IM-speak in my blog entries.
2.) My handwriting back then was really good. I should brush up on my penmanship.
3.) I regret my improper choice of the word "to" over "too." 7th-grade me really should have paid more attention during grammar lessons.

(Sidenote: Now I'm reading old entries in my diary and this is freaking hilarious. 7th graders are so dramatic. Oh, and apparently I was so obsessed with the Gossip Girl books that I liked to sign my entries "You know you love me." Ah, I can't even take the nerdiness. Oh my god, I referenced Arrested Development in one of my entries. I take back what I just said - I was so cool in middle school.)

Then, in 10th grade I decided to go ballz to the wallz and dye my whole hair blonde. Now, this was nice for a while, but then I decided to change it up again and dye it super dark. I LOVED it at this color (a deep, deep brown, almost black), but eventually the dye washed out, and now I'm back to my natural lighter brown color.

So now, I'm face with the biggest dilemma of my life (sarcasm, folks): What color to dye my hair! Should I keep it brown? Go back to dark? Relive my middle school dream of getting those K. Clar red streaks? (Hell no.) I'm most likely not going back to blonde because:

A. I've been told I look better with dark hair.
B. It's a bitch to maintain, and expensive too. Hey, I can't buy properly keep up with my highlights AND have leftover money to buy the new Hanson cd!

As if this weren't enough to mull over, I also have to think about what length it should be. Last summer, I cut my hair to shoulder-length with layers, and now it's like 4 1/2 inches past that (Ok, that's totally an estimate. I have no idea how long it is. It's pretty long though). Now I need to figure out if I should go back to a short cut, or keep growing it out. One of my biggest goals in life is to have mermaid hair. Meaning, if I were a mermaid, my hair would cover where my seashell-bra would be. So, obviously I cannot achieve this look and get a sassy short hair cut at the same time. Well, there is one way, but I don't have $24,000 to purchase extensions, unlike some people.

Watching "Pretty Little Liars" (GREAT show, btw. Yes, dumb name, but whatevs) this summer has fueled my desire to have long hair, like the actresses on the show. For example, Lucy Hale:



(Note: I could never pull off a center part like this. Also, she has bitchin eyebrows. Perfectly arched!)


BUT, I've also ben watching the "Real World: New Orleans," and while I don't normally advise basing beauty decisions around a show where its participants urinate on each other's toiletries, one roommate this season, Sahar, has the cutest hair cut.





So, basically, I should just decide which summer show I like more. Or, I could think about which haircut would look better on me.


Nah, I'll just let the octopus decide.






Picture Credits:
Kelly Clarkson album, Lucy Hale, Sahar