Tea!

I love tea. Any kind, all the time - I drink quite a lot of it. I was on a coffee kick for a long time, but it started to make me feel sick with all the cream and sugar that gets added in. Those double doubles really help you pack on the pounds too, which is something I'm not so fond of, so I moved on to another form of caffine for the mornings - TEA.

I thought I would produce a list of my favourite teas, because I think that tea is delicious and should be loved by everyone, but not everyone loves orange pekoe tea, which is understandable (I really only like it occasionally too!). I think people don't really realize that there is SO much delcious tea out there to drink, and that it's a much healthier choice (of course only if you don't fill it with milk and sugar like most people do coffee). Unless otherwise noted - All of the tea I drink is black, or has nothing in it, because I think adding milk or sugar to them doesn't make them taste as good. You can do what you want of course, but here's my list of favourites!

#1. Green Tea.

I. Love. Green. Tea. It is by far my favourite tea, and it's my every day tea. I drink a cup of the stuff pretty much every day, whether it's in the morning or the night, because it's just so delicious! Green tea has a lot of supposed health benefits, which is really just an added bonus for me because I love to drink it so much anyway. Plus, an extra-large tea at Timmy's costs a lot less than a coffee or specialty drink, so if you're out and about and looking for something delicious and hot to drink, green tea it pretty much always my choice.

#2 Peppermint Tea.

When I have a cold, this tea is amazing. Peppermint tea is quite strong, and the smell alone can really help to clear your sinuses when you're not feeling well. I also enjoy it around this time of year because it's kind of a holiday flavour... it's nice to have a cup of it with a candy cane, peppermint cake, or any dessert, in the evening around Christmas! It's delicious and festive, but a great choice all year round if you really like peppermint (like my boyfriend) or if you're not feeling so great!

#3 Tazo Zen Tea.

This is technically green tea, but it's a blended tea, so I have to give it a place of it's own on my list. This is a blend of green, lemongrass, and spearmint tea, and it's delicious! This is a tea I can drink any time of the day, espeically in this season because it's so cold. It's much more mild than peppermint tea, but it still has that sinus clearing effect which I love so much even if I'm not sick!
Tazo is a great option if you're at Starbucks and aren't craving a specialty drink, and it comes in a bunch of other flavours too, not just Zen. They also make the tea in loose leaf option, which is cool if you're really into tea and have all the stuff to make it that way! I use tea-bags though, because they're convenient, and the great part about them is they come individually packaged, so you can slip them into your purse to take with your to work or school!

#4. Vanilla Earl Grey

I just bought this tea today and tried it out, and it's delicious!! It's definitely a specialty tea though, and something I don't think I'll be able to drink all the time, but it seems like a delicious treat now and again. I love drinks that taste indulgent, but really aren't bad for you, and this is kind of how I feel about this tea! It smells delicious, and tastes amazing - so if you love Vanilla, you'll really enjoy this one!!

#5 Pomegranate White Tea.

Generally speaking, white tea isn't my favourite. I'll drink it if there isn't anything around, but otherwise I prefer to avoid it. This stuff though, it's amazing! Last year Tim Hortons had it as a special tea, and I decided to taste it for my love of pomegranate. I'm glad I did, because for a fruit tea, this is quite amazing. I think they had so many people asking for it, they brought it back and you can buy it from them, but as far as I know you can get it from other brands at the grocery store. I can't say for sure how good those are though, but I'm sure they're delicious too.
I'm currently on the hunt for the Pomegranate Green Tea that I've seen from Tetley, if I find it, I will probably add it to this list!! 


*Special Mention*

While it's not really tea, I have come to have a love affair with Raspberry White Tea Ginger Ale. It's a very strange thing to want to drink all the time, but I LOVE it. I don't even really like ginger ale that much unless I'm sick, but I could drink this stuff day and night. The Green Tea Ginger Ale is also amazing, but I always prefer the white tea stuff, and it gets a special mention because there is tea in the title, and because I decided I couldn't only have hot tea on this list! (On a side note: This is also delicious with alcohol.)


So, stay warm and healthy with some delicious tea this winter! I know I will =)


Blog, and be happy! (and Go Canucks, Go!)

Kyleigh.

My Big Educational Annoucement!!

I've kind of been waiting for my official enrollment notification before saying too much about my new educational venture, but as I just got the conformation, I think it's safe to say for absolute certain what I'm going to be doing in April.

While I love SFU, and I love music, the program just wasn't for me, and I don't see the point on spending thousands and thousands of dollars trying to figure out what I want to do and getting a degree that I won't end up using or something of the like. I was also tired of coming home stressed out, and feeling worthless and bad at music. Perhaps in the future I will go back and get my bachelors degree, but not now. I thought quite a bit about what I wanted to do, and I was stumped for a long time. I thought music was my calling, and I still think it is on some level, but maybe on a more hobby level rather than professional level. I knew there was no point on transferring from university to university being disappointed and frustrated with professor after professor. While standing in my bathroom dyeing my hair one day a couple of months ago, I realized what I would be good at, and enjoy doing, and I'm pretty stoked to say that I'm going to get my diploma in hairdressing!

I looked at a whole bunch of schools, did a tonne of research, visited with several advisers and educational directors at probably 6 or 7 schools, and made a decision based on where I feel like I could exceed and be a successful hairdresser. Thus, I start at the Vancouver Hairdressing Academy on April 27, 2011. I'll be going for 6 months, 3 times a week (Wed-Fri) pretty much all day. I'll graduate the end of October next year!

This is a pretty big step for me. It all kind of happened really fast, and I'm really excited about it. It kind of just makes sense, and I can't tell you how glad I am to be leaving SFU in pursuit of a real career that I think I'll be quite good at. I would also like to thank the people who have been SUPER supportive during this confusing education change for me, I've been kind of hard to deal with because of all changes, but it's all super exciting now, and I can't wait until April!! This is going to be a long 5 months of waiting to start, but I'm so excited for April to come and to get started!


Blog, and be happy!

Kyleigh.

A Post of Mini-Posts!

I feel like I have a lot to post about, although it's all super trivial and quite unrelated. I don't really know why all of this is coming together into one super post, but it's all too small to be posts on their own, so I will break it up into sections of this one!

#1. My Favourite Christmas Smell!

I have a lot of favourite things when it comes to Christmas. I love decorating the tree, I love getting my Christmas ornament from my aunt and uncle in New Zealand (which I got a couple of days ago!!), I love seeing my family and friends, I love dressing up for Christmas parties, and I love the Stanley Park Christmas Train! There is one thing that I wait for every single year, probably since I was 13 when I fell in love with it, and that would be The Body Shop's cranberry scented lotions and bath stuff. I cannot tell you how much I love it, and I wait for it every year to come out so I can buy my shimmer lotion and hand cream. I got a free body butter this year too, which is AMAZING, so I'm pretty stoked about this years cranberry stuff. If you have never smelt it, it's just so amazing. I can't stress enough how much I adore this stuff.

 

This year The Body Shop also introduced (or at least I've never seen it before) Spiced Vanilla scented things, and if you love the smell of vanilla, you'll love it. It's amazing, and I bought some of the hand cream from that collection too. I love the holiday scents from The Body Shop, it's always a highlight of my holiday season.

#2. Origins Organics.

Not that long ago, I got this face wash stuff from my boyfriend because he got it for free and so he gave it to me. It is seriously the best face wash I have ever owned, and I adore it. Not only does it smell amazing, but it gets your face squeaky clean and it's 85% organic ingredients. Last week I went onto their Website and bought some of their face lotion to try out too. I got a CRAZY amount of stuff for free because I did, it was some promotion, and I just by chance had managed to land on their website on the right day.  They sent me all of this limited edition Ginger scented stuff, and not sample sizes either, FULL sized stuff. I'm quite excited about it. I look at the tracking every day, and though my product is in Mississauga right now, I hope it will be here soon so I can enjoy it!

#3 My Christmas Ornament.

A lot of people have Christmas traditions, and the one my brother and I have together is getting a Christmas ornament from our aunt and uncle in New Zealand. The interesting thing about ornaments from New Zealand is that Christmas there is kind of in the middle of the summer. They're on the other side of the world from us, and have MUCH different weather than we do in this holiday season, so we have about 10 ornaments each with Santa surfing, or in sunglasses and shorts... it's very cute, and really cool. Of course the downside to this is that our Christmas tree looks like it belongs in New Zealand instead of Canada, but I love it anyway. My aunt always sends them out crazy early, I think she's afraid that with the Christmas rush we won't get them in time if she doesn't send them out in the beginning of November. We appreciate them none the less though, and we just so happened to get them on Monday night. When we were younger, my mom made us save them until Christmas day because they are a gift, but now that we're older, it seems we can't control ourselves, so we open them almost right away!

 

Our ornaments from this year - my brother's the bungy one, and mine is the other!

 These are from last year, mine is the Koala, my brother's the palm tree!

These are from the year before (I'm pretty sure!) Mine is the inner-tube, bro's the ski-do!

We think they're pretty epic, and we have so many of them! I happened to find the ornaments from the past couple of years in my drawer a few weeks ago, which is the only reason I had them to take pictures of. We haven't quite sorted out the Christmas stuff for decorating yet, but with next Wednesday being December 1st, we'll be getting on that pretty soon!

#4. My Christmas Pet Peeve.

I love Christmas, I really do. I've been posting about different Christmas related things for the past couple of weeks I think, but there is just one thing about Christmas I can't stand, and it's the incessant playing of Christmas music. 

Christmas music is only acceptable after the date of December 1st (I personally feel this way about decorations too, but if you want to have your tree up for 2 months, that's really your business!). The fact that as of last weekend, there were already TWO All-Christmas music stations seriously drives me crazy. Some of you are probably saying "Hey! I love Christmas music! The earlier the better!" To you, I say "BAH-HUMBUG!" No, I'm joking. To you I say, play your Christmas music in your home before December 1st! Having to go to work in the middle of November and hearing 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' over and over and over and over.... it's just not enjoyable. It's really not enjoyable, and it actually ruins Christmas music for me every year!

To those radio stations who feel it's necessary to ruin Christmas for all retail workers by having your stations played in stores and malls everywhere mid-November, PLEASE stop! Some of us like Christmas, but can only stand 'Santa Baby' sung so many times by everyone under the sun. Next year, please re-consider the date you start playing it! Thanks!

Blog, and be happy!! (and Go Canucks, Go!)

Kyleigh.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas?

Alright, so I'm sitting at home, minding my own business, when the sky opens up and dumps the biggest snowfall in November that I've ever seen the Lower Mainland get. I seriously haven't seen this much snow in Novemeber since I was 7, and I lived in Prince George and snow was more common 10 months out of the year than sunshine (I kid, I kid, but I seriously haven't seen this much snow in a long time!)

Anyway, in my partial joy (it's only partial because I don't have tires good enough to drive in the stuff, so I need to go buy some) I took some photos of my patio and my street covered in the first really dump of snow this season!

^ Do you see those leaves? This is the real deal people, no slush for us this year! And the flakes, they're HUGE!

I took these photos probably about 20 minutes ago, and it may be snowing harder now than it was before.. although it seems to let up occationally. Welcome to winter, people. Welcome to winter. The Weather Network is calling for 1-3 cm for the night (just over 1 inch for those of you confused by the metric system!), but the Kyleigh Forecast* says if it keeps up like this, it's going to be more like 1-3 inches (or upwards of 8 cm for those unable to deal in inches!) All I know is that my car is blue, and right now it's white with at least an inch of snow on it already, and this storm hasn't let up yet! Because I was an idiot and went out in the snow with a t-shirt on, I only got a few photos that show the snow really well, but perhaps if it's all there in the morning, there will be more photos on a later post! Be safe, and stay warm!

Blog, and be happy!

Kyleigh.

* Disclaimer: I am not a meteorologist, nor a snow expert. Please do not base your winter plans on the Kyleigh Forecast. The Kyleigh Forecast is not fact based, but sometimes I'm convinced I could be better at guessing the weather than the real weather people out there. =)

My Guide to Defeating the Winter Blues

Despite this time of the year being filled with warmth and happiness due to the wonderful thought of the coming holidays, this is also somehow the time of the year when people seem to get the winter blues. It's always cold, it gets dark so early, always raining (or snowing!) it's nearly impossible to keep yourself from having chapped lips and a runny nose from coming in and out of the cold. It's also nearly impossible to keep yourself from getting sick, and unless you keep your thermostat crazy high, getting out of bed in the morning sucks. I have come up with a list of things to do to make yourself happier during this time of the year!

#1 If You're Sick, Stay Home!

There is nothing worse than waking up in the morning, feeling that horrible head cold hit you, having a horrible runny nose, you can't breathe and every time you speak you feel like you're going to cough up a lung... but then somehow you find that little tiny bit of energy you have in your body and you decide it's essential that you go to work. This is my number one rule for this season - if you're sick, STAY HOME. Sometimes, that one day spent in bed watching your favourite soap or renting that movie you've wanted to see while drinking a hot beverage with a box of Kleenex is really all you need to make yourself feel that little bit better. Climbing into your car, or standing waiting for the bus is not the answer on days that you're sick - if you think they can't get by without you at work (or school for that matter), you're wrong. Call them up, explain you're feeling under the weather, and spend your time resting up for the next day. If you really must go, go in late, or come home early - those little things can help too.

#2 Buy a New Blanket, or Some Comfy Sheets.

I recently just purchased some super warm sheets for my bed, and man do they make the difference in the night. After a long, cold day there's nothing better than crawling into my nice warm cozy bed and drifting off to sleep. I also have really warm blankets all around my living room which make me feel so nice and warm during the evening! So go buy yourself a nice cozy blanket! Sometimes knowing there's something so awesome at home is enough to get yourself through that rainy day and have a warm, comfy evening watching the TV.

#3 Have a Mug of Your Own!

I have a Christmas mug that I pull out around this time of year, and it somehow makes my tea and hot chocolate taste SO much better this time of year. It's super cute, and has a polar bear with a Santa cap on it, and every time I go to use it, I just feel happier. Having something like that can really help make your morning, or evening, and helps to get you into the holiday spirit too! (Of course, if you're the kind of person who doesn't do the Christmas thing until December 1st like my family generally does, this may not be that great of a tip, but even a big plain mug can sometimes do the trick!)

#4 Give Hugs, Lots of Hugs.

When it's cold, hugs are just the best thing ever. This time of year, we're suppose to be happy and enjoying the company of others, and I know that I love to cuddle when it's cold outside, and I love getting random hugs from my boyfriend, my friends, or my family. It just makes you feel all warm and tingly inside! Hugs, kisses and "I Love You's" can really turn your day around - and this isn't something that should only happen this time of year! We should spread the love in all seasons, but this time of year rubbing cold noses is cute, and sharing a blanket with someone you like a lot can really make you feel so much better! Share some love this season!

#5 Call Up Someone You Haven't Seen in a While!

Sometimes, when I'm feeling a bit low, I give my grandma or my best friend a call, and my life somehow seems to feel that much brighter. Even a 5 minute conversation has a big impact on the worst of days, and I think that it's important to call of up the people you wish you could just say hello to! Sometimes I even call my mom at work, or send my boyfriend a text message, just to get a happy reply in the middle of the day. Sometimes all it takes it a happy message from someone you care about, no matter how close or how far, to turn your day around, and this is the kind of season where saying hello can mean the most.

#6 Have Your Favourite Christmas Drink! (or an all-year favourite!) 

On the coldest of days, I'm not ashamed to say that I love popping into Starbucks to see the bright red cups of the season and enjoy a delicious drink. My all-season favourite is a soy green tea latte, but occasionally a peppermint mocha or gingerbread latte hits the spot! While I do not condone a Starbucks a day (or several if you're a friend who shall remain nameless!!) I do think having a treat once in a while is okay, and on the off days if you're really craving that peppermint latte, try making low fat versions at home. There are some great recipes on the internet, and you don't need a machine to do it either, just some milk and a teabag can do the trick and quench that desire to run to Starbucks or Timmy's.


I love the holidays, but I know how much it sucks sometimes outside of that joy-filled week of the 24th to the 1st. The little things can really make a difference! Try not to be so down this season, share a hug, or christmas drink or cuddle up with someone you love in that comfy blanket and watch your favourite movie! These things make a difference, so keep your toes warm, and try not to think about how dark and cold it is outside!

Blog, and be happy!

Kyleigh.

NO H8 Campaign

Not that long ago, I posted about the It Gets Better Project and Revel and Riot, two projects currently underway to help LGBT youth in the USA and all over the world. Some of you might remember the NO H8 Campaign from a couple of years ago, which is a collection of familiar faces (mostly celebrities, sports stars and political figures) who fight for no hate in the world. A few days ago, they released two videos, one for the It Gets Better Project, and one as an Anti-Bullying PSA for LGBT youth.





Since my last post, my flood of videos and links on Twitter, and my push for the It Gets Better Project on Facebook, I've have too many people ask me why I'm so concerned about these things, that it all has to do with the states and that my promoting it and raising awareness isn't doing anything, or isn't worth my time.

To those who have questioned my views on this matter, here is my answer. If in the future I have children, and those children end up to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered, I want them to grow up in the world where that's okay. Where they don't have to go to school everyday and fear that someone is going to beat them up or call them names because they're different. I don't want my children to live in the world a lot of my friends have had to live in, a world where being different is apparently unacceptable. I also don't want my children growing up to think that treating people that way is an acceptable way to be either. You have to lead by example, and the example I'm choosing to lead it one of equality for everyone, and that bullying is unacceptable. This is not a problem in the United States, this is a problem everywhere. This is a problem in Canada, in the school you go to now, or in the school you graduated from. Eventually things need to change, and this is something that should have changed a long time ago.

If you're not for equal rights and equality for everyone, you're against it, and if you're against it,  you need to get your head out of your behind and get with the times.

I have two words for you :

Blog, and be happy.

Kyleigh.

Umbrella Etiquette 101

I've lived in Vancouver a pretty good chunk of my life, so I like to think that I'm pretty accustom to the weather here. Rain plays a huge portion of our weather here in Vancouver and the Greater Vancouver Area, and this is why I think it's important for people to know Umbrella Etiquette. This is my first year having a car in the rainy season, so I might be able to avoid a few of these things, but as an avid Transit rider for the last 5 years or so, there are some things everyone needs to know about walking, standing, and transiting in this beautiful rainy city.

#1. Do You Really Need a Golf Umbrella?

No. No you don't. Walking down the street with an umbrella the size of the entire sidewalk is NOT necessary. You are but one person, and unless you are walking with a flock of small children, you do not need to keep the entire city of Vancouver dry with your massive umbrella. When everyone in the city has an umbrella this big, there are a lot of dangerous crashes between people lost in the size of their umbrella. You also don't need an umbrella that size to stand at the bus stop, you're just making it harder for everyone to get around you. Please carry a reasonably sized umbrella unless you plan to cart your golf club bag with you everywhere you go.

#2 Rain is a Liquid it Won’t Pass Through a Solid, like a Roof

When walking or standing in covered areas, it's always SO nice when you close your umbrella. The rain isn't going to come through the top of that bus shelter, or when there are nice covers over the sidewalks like there often are in Vancouver. Seriously. If you're standing or walking in covered areas, your golf umbrella is doing nothing for you, and if you're really that concerned about getting your jacket wet, you live in Vancouver - either buy a jacket that can get wet, or move somewhere it rains less.

#3 Since You Aren’t Wet Your Umbrella Probably IS!

In fact, I can guarantee it is! Being an avid transit user, there is nothing worse than waiting to get on the bus, and when the bus is approaching being soaked by those people who find it necessary to frantically shake their umbrella "dry" with no attention paid to those nearby. Take a minute to step away from the bus stop and face away from others if you find this action necessary. The bus does not move at warp speed, you won't miss it! There is also nothing worse than those people who use their umbrella up the steps of the bus, and as the reach the top pour 20 minutes worth of rain onto the person behind them from the pool collected on their umbrella. I would also like to note a good piece of Transit Etiquette here, DO NOT PLACE YOUR WET UMBRELLA ON THE SEAT BESIDE YOU. DO. NOT. EVER. It's bad enough that everyone is wet, cold and carrying giant umbrellas, your umbrella is not special, and does not get to have it's own seat while everyone else stands, and no one should have to have wet pants because you can't put it on the damn floor.

#4 Keep Your Head Up!

Don't walk looking at your feet! Do you walk looking at your feet when it's sunny? (If your answer is yes, well... stop that too) Your giant golf umbrella is a giant weapon with pointy plastic parts, and sometimes, if you're not looking to see where you're going, there is the chance you may stab someone in the eye with it. It's not everyone else's responsibility to move out of the way of you, your jacket that can't get wet, and your giant golf umbrella. Keep your head up!!


Umbrella's are suppose to be our friends in this, the rainy season of the year, please don't make them the enemy! They are sold everywhere in a reasonable size, often in great colours, with patterns on them,  and they really aren't that expensive! If possible, wear a rain jacket with a hood if you're only walking a short distance, keep a small city sized umbrella with one of those cases you can wrap them up in, take a plastic bag with you if you're really concerned about everything getting wet, and PLEASE, oh please, do not put your umbrella on the seat next to you! Have a happy rainy season!


Blog, and be happy!

Kyleigh.

The Kindly Ones

I love books. I love to read, and in this break from school I look forward to reading quite a bit. Being in university has pretty much quashed my desire to read books for pleasure because there is just SO much mandatory reading to do. That isn't to say that I haven't read a few good books in my time in university though.

Many people are shocked to know that I'm a history buff, and that I love books about war, more specifically World War II.  It's not to say that I love war, that isn't the case at all. In fact the reason I love to read about it so much, (and watch TV documentaries too!) is because I dislike it so much. There's something that fascinates me World War II specifically that I can't really put my finger on. It was so devastating, took so many lives, and turned the whole world upside down, and something about that intrigues me to no end.

At this moment in time, I'm working on a book called 'The Kindly Ones' I've been working on this book for a very long time as it's just shy of 1000 pages long, and also because it's so horrifying that I can't read it close to bed time - my favourite time to read. I think I started it last Remembrance day, and this Remembrance day kind of reminded me that I should pick it up again while I'm on this extended break from school.

'The Kindly Ones' is a fictional autobiography of a former SS officer in Nazi Germany, and it follows his encounters in several battles, as well as being part of the concentration and extermination camps and his dealings with people such as Hitler during the war. He's telling the story of his life as an SS officer, and all of the horrible things he was forced to commit during his time there. As you can imagine, this book is very, very visual and very difficult to get through without wanting to cry a little bit (or I guess I should say a lot.)

This book by Johnathan Littell was originally written in French, and won 2 of the most prestigious French literary awards in 2006. Needless to say this book is amazing, but shocking, horrifying, devastating, and every other word you can use to describe WWII. If you want to know a bit more about it, here's the Wikipedia Article. There are a lot of mixed reviews about this book, but I think that the literary awards won by this book should speak for itself. Generally, book critics aren't forced to sit down and read 1000 pages of gut wrenching war fiction, so I kind of feel like they don't get it, and therefore their ideas and reviews about this book are incredibly unreliable.

If you have the ability to read it, I would suggest you do. It gives you a whole new insight into the world. I feel like if you don't know and understand the world's history, you can't prevent it from repeating itself - if nothing else, after this book I should be able to prevent WWII from happening again. Perhaps when I finish it I'll post a real review of my own.


Blog, and be happy!

Kyleigh.

Lest We Forget.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
      Between the crosses, row on row,
   That mark our place; and in the sky
   The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
   Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
         In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
   The torch; be yours to hold it high.
   If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
         In Flanders fields.

                 - John McCrae


Take a moment today to remember those who fought, and who are fighting right now to ensure our safety. Whether you believe in war or not, people out there put their lives on the line for you so that you could live in peace, don't let it be in vain.

They fought for our future, please remember the past.


Blog, and be happy.

Kyleigh

Old Movies and Posters.

I love old movies. Not old movies like movies from the '80's, old movies like movies from the '20s. My all time favourite old movie is Metropolis from 1927 by Fritz Lang. The man was a genius, actually. This film was the most expensive silent film ever made, costing 5 million reichmark. (Reichmark is German currency from just before WWII, all the way through to about 1948) Needless to say, it was a very expensive film to produce, the most expensive film up to that date, and it still remains the most expensive silent film ever made.

With all of that money, it was a beautiful film. Absolutely incredible to look at, and something that literally changed film making forever, and it's so often over looked as one of the most amazing films ever made. Fritz Lang, wherever you are, you were pure genius.

In any case, I start this praise mostly because last night, while talking about buying art for walls, Alex and I came across this website for Movie Posters. This website is amazing, they have posters from all over the place, but the most amazing thing is that they have original posters from when the movie was being shown, and some of them date back to these amazing early films like Metropolis. Needless to say, they are excessively expensive, and the chances of me ever owning one is pretty much zero, but that doesn't stop me from dreaming! They have some super amazing posters, and now my fear is that Alex and I are going to become movie poster hoarders.

The unfortunate thing is that they don't make posters like they used to. I would never want to own a movie poster from post 2000, maybe even post 1960. Posters from more modern movies aren't as visually stunning, they don't look like art, and unless they're signed by a star... they just don't interest me at all. I am a pretty big movie buff too, I love movies, and I have a lot of favourite movies from post 2000, but the posters aren't art like they used to be.

 

That is art my friends. I miss the time when posters were art instead of just propaganda to get us to go pay money at a theatre.  Metropolis (top) and 'M' (bottom) both brilliant movies by Fritz Lang stand to me as two of the most amazing films every produced, and they both have awesome posters to boot. Do I want a collection of Fritz Lang posters? No, not particularily, but my god, the brilliance of these films stand out to me as some of the most brilliant film making to ever occur, and it happened within 30 years of film existing at all.

While most people are unable to sit through silent films, as our brains are so driven by dialogue, I think that if you can sit through Metropolis, listen to the sound track (which is also AMAZING) and absorb the brilliance that is the art of this German masterpiece, DO IT. It literally changes how you see films, and how you appreciate the amount of time and effort that went into movies before we had computers to do all the work. If you can't sit through a film without dialogue, 'M' by Fritz Lang, his first "talkie" is also a brilliant film, be prepared though, it sometimes is subtitled...

Blog, and be happy!

Kyleigh.

Television Addiction

Alex and I have a major TV addiction. We have so many TV shows on the go, sometimes it's hard to keep track of them all, and without his PVR I don't think we would be able to keep track of them. The bizarre thing is that we don't have a theme at all for the shows we watch, we literally watch everything from comedy sitcoms to space documentaries, and this happens pretty much every week.

Our Television Week look something like this:

Monday:
How I Met Your Mother
Rules of Engagment
House
American Pickers
Pawn Stars

Tuesday:
GLEE

Wednesday:
LA Ink
American Chopper
Criminal Minds

Thursday:
The Big Bang Theory
The Office

Friday:
CSI NY
Blue Bloods

Saturday:

Sunday:
The Walking Dead
The Simpsons
Family Guy
American Dad
Mythbusters

This is not to mention the fact that Hockey places itself on random days throughout the week, filling up our days and screwing around with our already full schedule of TV watching! Occasionally new shows take our interest too, and we have to try and find time to watch them, which as you can see it nearly impossible.

We have a sick, sick addiction, although in the winter it's not so bad because it's so cold outside (or will be getting quite cold if the weathermen are right for once!) In the summer though, we really should have gone out and done other things, especially when I was jobless and had time to do things!

We should really get a new hobby.


Blog and be happy!

Kyleigh.

Revel and Riot and It Gets Better

At this time, in the United States, there is a huge deal being placed on homosexuality and bullying, especially with the pending removal of the 'Dont Ask, Don't Tell' policy in the military, and all of those terrible suicides that took place due to bullying of gay teens. I'm sure you remember the Purple Shirt day that took place at the end of September in remembrance of lives lost too early, a day I personally feel we should have never had to have.

I am a huge LGBTQ rights activist in the Vancouver community. For any of you that don't know, I currently sing in the GLASS Youth Choir, which is a social justice choir based in Burnaby. Our ultimate goal is for justice to come to people who deserve it, we sing for everything from Breast Cancer Awareness to poverty to, of course, LGBTQ rights. The choir started as Gay, Lesbian, and Supportive Singers (GLASS) and while we may have taken out the acronym and decided to put our efforts into other things too, this cause is close to my heart. If you want more information, here's the GLASS website. It's a bit out of date, but it gives a good insight into what we do, and why we do it.


I check this website literally every day for updates on news from around the world regarding things in the LGBTQ community. Revel and Riot is a site dedicated to getting the word out on the wrong doings, and the good things, going on in equality of all kinds, but mostly with a focus on LGBTQ rights and marriage equality in the USA. Sometimes I leave this website enraged at things going on in the world, but sometimes I leave it feeling on top of the world.

Recently, I left it feeling sky high happy at a project going on on Youtube, and on its own website. This project is called "It Gets Better Project" and it's people from all over the world who are telling teens, especially gay teens, that it gets better, that LIFE gets better, and you don't need to end your life because there are people out there to help and support you. It Gets Better Project website has all the videos from people in little hometowns to major celebrities showing their support for LGBT youth. They ask you to take this pledge:

Everyone deserves to be respected for who they are. I pledge to spread this message to my friends, family and neighbors. I'll speak up against hate and intolerance whenever I see it, at school and at work. I'll provide hope for lesbian, gay, bi, trans and other bullied teens by letting them know that "It Gets Better."

I took the pledge, and I'm asking you to take the pledge too. No youth should ever feel like they need to kill themselves for being who they are. If you agree, PLEASE go to the website, and PLEASE show your support to the kids who have no one to turn to. Tell your friends and family... this is important.


Blog and be happy.

Kyleigh.

Kyleigh's New Blog.

Alright, I'm a blog whore. I think in my 19 and a half years of life I've probably had 6 or 7 blogs, most of which I close off after I feel that blog has served it's purpose, or I get tired of them and don't feel like posting on them anymore. More often than not though, I tend to forget I have them, and then I make a new one. That isn't the case for this blog though. I have several blogs out on the internet right now, a livejournal, a tumblr... I just don't like them, so I thought I would come back to my good friend Blogspot for blogging. My first blog ever was on blogspot... of course that was when I was like 13 and I was writing about middle school woes and Harry Potter. Not to say I won't write about Harry Potter, in fact you can count on it.

I generally start my blogs with something interesting about me, or a brief outline of who I am and where my life is at, which is what I think I'll do right now.

Well, I'm Kyleigh. I'm 19, and I live in the rainy suburbs of Vancouver BC. I currently work selling couches, I go to school at SFU (for now, although come April, this will be different) and I sing in a choir in my spare time. I love music, I love the Vancouver Canucks, I love a warm cup of tea in the morning, and I love cuddling and watching TV at night. I have a boyfriend who amazes me every day at how completely amazing he is, and I have friends and family who always get me through the day. My life, right now, is great.

I will use this blog to write about my life.


Blog, and be happy.

Kyleigh.