A Tale of Two Brother Bands: The Impact and Evolution of One Direction and 5 Seconds of Summer

Introducing my quarantine passion project! I worked so hard on this all of these months since like April during self-isolation from the COVID-19 pandemic. I had a blast writing this and am extremely proud of it! It certainly kept me busy, productive, and happy. Some circumstances then took place, and I kept perfecting it and adding things, but now I finally finished it (I think LOL, unless/although I will probably/maybe continue to edit and revise it and add things while it's live lol). I wanted to wait for the best time to share it, so hopefully now should be good. I have to let it go at some point and I wanted to release it before the year ends lol. Plus, from the writer's standpoint, I'm kinda tired of looking at it now. Haha!

If you're in the mood to read something extremely lengthy about two of the best male bands of this generation, please enjoy! lol :)

Just so you know, this critique essay includes mentions of sex and profanity.

INTRODUCTION

Ever since I got into One Direction (1D), I have felt myself becoming interested in boy bands again.

But let's talk about 5 Seconds of Summer.

An Honest Conversation About Race Between a White Woman and a Black Woman

Growing up white, I was conditioned to stay away from discussions about race. It was just a topic that I was supposed to avoid because I was white and it wasn't my place. Of course I learned about black struggles in school and befriended and talked to black people, but bringing up blackness and whiteness on my own as a white girl was very much advised against because it would likely be offensive and start trouble coming from me, regardless of what I said. (Although, I should acknowledge that I do recall having briefly discussed race in some of my writing, interviews, and other arts analysis.)

I Never Thought That THIS Would Make Me Happy... Or, How I Came to Love a Certain Boy Band

About time I posted on here again, huh?

I've been keeping the following to myself because I consider it a private, personal situation for me and am a bit hesitant to admit to this, but I also feel compelled to blog and share about it as well.

There are some inner issues that I am working through, feeling extra nervous, depressed, or overwhelmed about things lately. It was my 2019 New Year's resolution to overcome this, and it had gotten better in January, but I still found it trickling over a bit, for nobody changes overnight.

All Good Things Must Come to an End on "The Masked Singer"

Well, Team #RabbitMask, we fought the good fight, but our friend The Rabbit was unmasked tonight on "The Masked Singer."

I'm so upset, man! I thought he had what it took to win the whole thing! I thought he and the Lion were going to be the final two, and SHE was unmasked tonight too!

Meh. Oh well. I mean, I was looking forward to finally seeing who he is. lol

AND THE RABBIT'S TRUE IDENTITY IS....!!! DRUMROLL, PLEASE!!!!!!

Why the Rabbit is the Best Part of FOX's "The Masked Singer"

OMG, you guys! We HAVE to talk about FOX's "The Masked Singer"!!! LOL!

I think this is the stupidest show I have ever liked. And considering the stupid stuff I've liked in the past, particularly delivered by FOX, that's saying something. LOL

I was looking forward to the show when I saw commercials for it, finding it intriguing enough to want to check out, but I didn't think I was going to like it as much as I do. lol

I then realized that I like it because it combines two of my favorite entertainment elements: performance and mystery.

Based on South Korea's "The King of the Masked Singer," the premise is that celebrities dress up in these amazing outlandish costumes designed by Marina Toybina and perform musical numbers for a celebrity panel consisting of Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy, Ken Jeong, and Nicole Scherzinger, and host Nick Cannon. Everyone then has to guess who the celebrity is behind the mask.

A Perfect Christmas List Movie Review

IMDb

I didn't want a whole year to go by before I shared this, so here is a review of my favorite Christmas movie this year!

Well, technically today is final day of the Christmas season for us, given that it is the Baptism of the Lord, so it's not too late after all! :D

So as you know, this Christmas season I've made it a point to watch as many cheesy Christmas movies as I can and have done so thanks to ION and ION Life. A Perfect Christmas List (2014), directed by Fred Olen Ray (who actually directs a number of these types of films), was playing back to back practically daily and I always found myself watching it every time, pretty much having it memorized by now. 

Ellen Hollman plays Sara Edwin, a children's book writer who has come home for Christmas because her grandmother Evie, played by "Happy Days" star and now retired actress Marion Ross, has taken a fall and sprained her ankle. Sara often keeps a distance between herself and her family because she has a tough relationship with her slightly overbearing and judgmental mother Michelle, played by Beth Broderick, who constantly pushed Sara and believes that she could have gone onto greater things had she gone to Harvard. Michelle overhears Evie talking with her doctor but mishears the conversation, believing that her mother is dying when really she is just moving out of her condo into a suite at the country club. It's one of those comedy of errors things. Think "Three's Company." 

Evie convinces Michelle and Sara to engage in a Christmas list, which is suggested to be inspired by one of Sara's previous books, to make this holiday a perfect one and to secretly reunite the constantly feuding mother and daughter. Michelle is happy to oblige to please Evie because she believes that her mother won't be around for another Christmas.

Part of the reason why I love this one so much is the cast, particular Sara's parents who bring me back to the 90s. Beth Broderick is best known as Aunt Zelda from "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" while Richard Karn, best known as Al Borland from "Home Improvement" and the host of "Family Feud," plays Sara's dad and Michelle's husband Tim.

As sweet as the story is, there is also plenty of corn and cheese served up in it as well. Here is a fun list of observations I have made about this film after multiple viewings. :) There are some spoilers in this post, so you have been warned!

Cheers to New Beginnings 2019!

Happy New Year and Happy Anniversary to Taking it One Stef at a Time! :D

I'm excited about 2019. 2018 was somewhat of a difficult year for myself and my family, but a lot of good things happened too. I'm excited to see what this brand new year of new beginnings has to offer. I anticipate a lot more good things. The future is open and bright.

Oftentimes when I think of new beginnings, especially the new year, I feel like it's often a need to make an automatic switch to be a new person. However, I have to keep in mind that improving myself is a process and an ongoing project. Changes don't happen overnight. But it is a brand new year and I am excited to see what new experiences and successes I can accomplish. I am blessed to have gotten this far in life and I'm looking forward to what's next.

I'm also looking forward to contributing more to this blog again, depending on what I want to do with this blog further. I think I've been doing pretty good so far even though I was kind of on hiatus for a bit back there LOL. This month is also a great time to kick off my series of blog posts detailing my life lessons throughout my first ten years of adulthood so I hope to start sharing those soon. I think they're probably ready. I just have to tweak them all a little bit but I'll be hopefully sharing the little by little. Maybe I'll also resume other things as well, like my YouTube channel and podcasts. I haven't posted on them in like a year so I'm not sure if I'm going to return to that or not but we'll see.

It's nice to have a clean slate and to try to have a more positive outlook with less concerns and needless worries than before. I enjoy incorporating this mindset. I feel good and have good feelings about this new year. I have a list of resolutions that I'm planning too so I'm hoping I can keep up this momentum.

Once again, happy New Year to you all! Let's make this a fantastic one! :-)

-Stef :)

Shout Out to ION Television and IONLife for their Christmas Movies This Year! :D

Earlier this Christmas holiday season I made a goal and vow to watch as many cute Christmas movie love stories as I could, and I was able to accomplish this thanks to the back to back original movie marathons on ION Television and IONLife, which are similar to Hallmark and Lifetime movies, and its motto to "Bring the Holidays Home" with that red Christmas ball ornament. Today I wrote down in my journal a list of all movies I watched this year and it looks like I've watched 20! Some of these films I even watched more than once.

I was working on a more in-depth blog post about one of them, but unfortunately I wasn't able to perfect it in time for today, but I might still deliver it perhaps later on this week or so. It's almost finished, for I completed most of it last Monday evening. I might even write about more of them.

But I still wanted to take this Christmas Day as an opportunity to acknowledge them and the joy they give. These are some of my favorite movies now, no matter how corny, predictable, and unrealistic they can be lol. I classify them as their own genre. They are heartwarming and bring good cheer, as they should for Christmas movies. Watching them made me happy and excited and also inspired my own creativity, such as writing my own possible Christmas stories. I was sick this past week as well, and these movies kept me company while I was recovering.

So thank you, ION Television and IONLife, for this sweet little holiday tradition! I'll miss watching practically every night but I look forward to what you have in store next year!

Merry Christmas, everyone! 😃🎄♥️

Thoughts on Turning 28 Years Old

A lot has occurred to me lately, one being that I really need to resume blogging on here again. 

I had this rule that I should blog at least once every month, and now I have broken that rule and am behind. I never thought that would happen. I've been on hiatus for several reasons, but I also don't want to lose this blog either.

So yeah, I am now 28 years old. I started this blog when I was (Wow!) 20. 

When I turned 25, it was a big deal because I considered it a milestone. When I turned 26, I was excited because I liked the number, but I was also perturbed because this meant that I was now in my LATE twenties. By the time 27 rolled around, I wasn't sure what the significance of my age would be, but then I discovered a connection between myself and Pennywise, Stephen King's It, so then I was quite pleased with being 27 as well.

But when I was thinking about turning 28, I initially lacked any knowledge of what would make this particular year unique, other than the fact that I have only two years of my twenties left, which I don't really want to think about much.

I like random, not as significant birthdays though. There's less pressure to make the celebration "epic."

But then it dawned on me that 28 marks 10 years of me as an adult. And my, what many experiences and life lessons I've made, and am still making. 

As a side note, a few years ago I also created a main fictional character who is 28, which is a nice association too. I also tend to prefer even numbers, so this is another thing I like about 28. LOL

I graduated high school at 18 (TEN years ago!), so therefore these past 10 years have consisted of me going to and graduating college and starting my freelancing, along with part time jobs and other extracurriculars along the way. During this past decade was when I created this blog, of course, as well.

So I'd like to celebrate these last 10 years throughout this year with a new "Taking it One Stef at a Time" series of small essays detailing some life lessons I have learned so far. There's too much information for one blog post. lol ☺️

One lesson I have learned, that I have known and realized since childhood anyway, is to try to treat everyday like it is your birthday. You know that just general good feeling that you have on your birthday when everything is heartwarming and positive? Everyday should be like that. 

The way I see it, birthdays are a celebration of gratefulness for being alive another year.

Recently I went to a friend's web series screening a few days before his 30th birthday and asked him how he felt about soon exiting his twenties.

"Good," he responded, confidently and matter-of-factly. And I believed him too. He seems prepared for this next decade of his life, so I am hoping to treat my next birthdays the same way. This is not the end, but a new beginning, and I've had plenty of those these past 10 years.

In these essays I'm also hoping to be a little bit more candid and honest. A lot of times I don't like revealing much about myself (typical Scorpio LOL), but I think these essays in particular probably call for it a bit.

Stay tuned to the wisdom and stories I hope to impart. At least all of the wisdom a 28-year-old would have anyway. :)

Either that or I'll just save all of these essays for a future memoir. I've been wanting to write one! lol 

28! Let's make this year great! That's my motto for this year. My motto for when I turned 26 was Twenty-Sexy. ;-)

Testing

Hey! Just downloaded the Blogger app on my phone and am trying it out! Never thought of using it before lol. Pretty cool! LOL Might use it more often!