Asian candy and lots of flying.

Friday in LA was spent mostly replying to email, catching up with all the Internet stuff I'd been neglecting while on my trip (having an iPad and being relatively disconnected is great until you realize how much 'work' is waiting for you the next time you actually get on a laptop) and finally meeting up with Brittany, Joey, Meghan and Jimmy that evening. Jason and I headed over to Friday's to eat with them, and then (in the POURING RAIN) we drove to this little Asian market to buy lots of Japanese candy, ramune, and in my case, an adorable little keychain of some pink Sailor Scout looking fairy/goddess superhero (I have no idea what it's from I just think it's cute).

We really needed to get going on filming the last shots for Jason's music video, but once we got back to Echo Base we obviously spent a good half an hour popping open our ramune, swapping soda candy and mario themed gum and pocky, explaining that you CAN in fact eat the paper on Botan rice candy, and watching Jimmy assemble the Star Wars toy he bought.

Then we set up the colors lights and turned on the fog machine for the dance party scene in the music video. We got all our friends to dance behind us like we were at some rocking club and not in the living room, so hopefully that footage turns out to be good.

My final day in LA was mostly spent at Meghan Tonjes' meetup at Santa Monica. We got Pinkberry frozen yogurt, bought girlscout cookies from the stand that happened to be right where we all met up, and hassled unsuspecting passerby. Pretty much a standard YouTube gathering. Afterwards I went out to lunch with Alex, Jason and Jimmy, said my goodbyes, and went to the airport. Usually I ALWAYS make sure to get a direct flight between LA and Seattle, but since this ticket was purchased so last minute, I had to connect in Salt Lake City which made the trip just feel so, so long. But I made it home, finally, and it felt so nice to sleep in my own bed. Especially knowing I leave for DC freaking tomorrow, so I am savoring this small amount of time at home.

Tuesday is my 4 year anniversary of being on YouTube so I am going to spend today filming a video for the occasion. And then probably watch more Big Bang Theory, because I am obsessed.

I have so much footage to edit, and even more exciting things happening this week that I'm sure I'll be making videos about, so look forward to a lot of content from me in the next few days. :)

Flights taken: 2
Levels on WoW:
Mage: 56
Shaman: 34

LA FUNTIMES

I have had so much going on in the past week.

One of those weeks where I really should have been blogging the whole time, but instead I will now try desperately to catch up and recap the fun times.

So last Thursday Kayley and I flew down to LA, meeting up with Eia who had taken an earlier flight. Then Luke picked us up and drove us to Echobase to drop off our things, and we immediately got back in the car to drive back to the Station. Eia and Kayley ran off to do some shopping in the area and walk over to Venice Beach, but Luke and I stayed to help our friends Britt and Joey with their new video. Luke had to be covered in hair and I made cameos in a lot of little scenes, including my favorite one where I play a "cool kid" and push Britt's face into a locker. xD

That night we just hung out with Alex, Jason, John and Bre back at the house, and in the morning it was off to Gallifrey One. Alex drove us over to the hotel where we met up with our other friend Robyn. We had SUCH a blast at Gallifrey. It was so different and yet so similar to a Harry Potter con, and half the thrill was comparing the differences. I adored the fact that I was actually really excited about programming, because the speakers on the panels were actually writers from TV shows that I adore. I sat in on 2-3 panels Jane Espenson spoke at, which was just too great. She wrote so much of Buffy! And helped with Firefly!

There were a lot of cosplayers, which was awesome, and the vendor room was fun to poke around in (I bought a POISON ring. Like a regular ring, but with a secret compartment to store poison in. Haha. You know, in case I ever find myself in an old Victorian novel or something) and we even found a suite party one night, which really felt like a Harry Potter con (minus the fact that the people at the party were all 5-10 years older than the general demographic at an HP con). Other friends of ours kept flitting in and out of the con, so we got to spend some time with Jimmy, Freddie and Luke, though I don't think they were ever all there at the same time.

Sunday we had Luke come pick us up, and we said our goodbyes to Kayley, who was spending the remainder of her trip with her friend Marion. I don't actually remember what we did the rest of Sunday. I'm sure it was fun, though.

Monday Alex planned this awesome meetup down at Venice Beach to shoot a music video parody that he and I have been talking about. I was so happy, around 20 or so fans showed up despite the incredible last-minute-ness of the meetup. We spent a good 2 hours or so dancing and waving our arms in the air to a Harry Potter remake of Ke$ha's "We R Who We R". Seriously, all the people who showed up were so awesome for doing that.

Alex showed us this delicious Italian pasta place afterwards, and then we headed back to Echobase, where we played some video games and hung out with Britt and Joey and eventually found ourselves at iHop much later in the evening.

Tuesday was Disneyland Day, and it was one of my favorite Disneyland trips yet. We had such a large group, maybe the biggest we've ever had. We had Me, Alex, Jason, Luke, John, Bre, Eia, Robyn, Joey, Meghan, Freddie, Jimmy, and Tessa (meekakitty). We hit up all the regular rides, played around in the animation studio (which, for as many times as I have been to DL, I had never experienced before) ate some delicious dole whips, managed to get on Indiana Jones right when the cars decided to stop for awhile (and of course I happened to be sitting at the wheel) and lamented the breaking-down of Space Mountain. I still have my commemorative unused fast pass. Sadddddest. I love Disneyland, and I love going with my LA friends, and it was nice to have Eia there with us for a change. :)

Wednesday Luke had to fly off to Texas to see his friend, so I spent the whole day filming some videos with Alex, Sarah and Jason. I'm pretty excited about both the ones we shot, so there's gonna be some good stuff coming to YouTube soon. Tyler Nicholas also came over and spent the day with us, moooostly playing Fruit Ninja on my iPad with Eia, but also managed to make his way into Sarah's video, so that was fun. We took Eia to the airport that evening, and spent the rest of the night playing more video games and eating pizza.

Thursday I didn't really have any plans, so Jimmy came over to Echobase to hang out with me. He took me to this restaurant called Pann's that was pretty good but they forgot to bring us our milkshakes until we were almost done with our food. You can't do that!! Then Jason was supposed to be filming a video with Meghan, but that never happened, so he spent the afternoon with Jimmy and I. Then... well, this seems to be happening a lot lately. Jimmy was supposed to be taking me to the airport at 5, but about 10 minutes before that, I got a text from Kayley canceling our trip to Victoria this weekend. The gears started working in my head and I realized I didn't actually need to be home now for a few more days, AND Jason and I never got around to filming this music video we'd really wanted to shoot.

So, with literally 5 minutes to spare, I booked a new one-way ticket home on Saturday, extending my trip two more days. I love living the kind of life where I can do this. Although it took a little coaxing on Jason and Jimmy's part, including Jimmy buying me a My Little Pony t-shirt as bribery. But heeeeell yeah, now I get two more days in LA, I don't have to go home to the alleged Seattle Snowstorm that's currently happening, AND I am one My Little Pony t-shirt richer.

I utilized my first extra night to film about 2/3 of Jason's music video with him, got to visit Casa de Pro and experience their jacuzzi (and we filmed some of the video IN the hottub!) and spent the rest of the evening hanging out with Jason, Jimmy and Meghan. Now I am hanging out on my laptop in Luke's room (I've taken it over while he's in Texas) and waiting to find out what everyone wants to do today! Life is good. Except that it's raining in LA today. But at least it's better than snow.


I have a ton of exciting stuff happening in the next few weeks, so I will try to be better about keeping updated with all of it. :)

Flights taken: 1
Levels on WoW:
Mage: 56
Shaman: 34

Homesick.

I am really, really homesick.

And it's weird, because I AM home. I've been in Seattle for 2 months straight now; longer than I've ever been at home at one time for the past 2 years or so. But the home I'm missing isn't here, it's in North Dakota.

I have a very, very large family, and they're spread out all over the country, but a large majority of them live in North Dakota. My mom has 8 brothers and sisters, my dad has 7 - and nearly all of them have spouses and children. I don't even have a number for how many cousins I have in total. Probably somewhere in the 30s. When I was younger, we used to go to North Dakota once a year (usually for the 4th of July) to see everybody and spend quality time with my grandparents. And honestly, these were usually some of my favorite times in my life. I'm really blessed to have such a large family full of loving, wonderful people, and it's always been hard to live so far away from them.

But anyway, since I've gotten older and started traveling, playing shows, touring, having jobs... I've had to miss a few of our North Dakota trips. I had to miss last summer in particular, when I was on ROFLCOPTOUR, and even though I was having a blast playing shows with my friends - there was a part of me that felt terribly guilty for missing out on spending time with my family. I remember my dad kept texting me pictures of things they were doing and while I appreciated it, each one made me kind of sad, thinking of the fun I was missing.

I know a lot of my relatives watch my videos and read this blog (hi guys!) and I'm truly glad my family has that connection to my life; that they can see what I'm doing when we're all too busy to talk on the phone/write each other. But while a bunch of my relatives are on Facebook (which is nice) I still don't really have any sort of two way street to see what THEY'RE up to. So much has happened in my life since I've really gotten to spend time with my grandparents, or my aunts and uncles or cousins... that I'm worried it's going to be like they don't know me anymore. Or worse, that they just see the same Kristina the rest of the internet full of strangers sees, and I wont know THEM anymore. And all of this is silly, because I'm still the same Kristina they watched grow up and all that, but I can't entirely shake the thought.

I guess I just feel guilty. I made the decision to go on tour rather than spending time with my parents and brother in North Dakota last summer. And I know none of my relatives would blame me for choosing the tour - it was a GREAT experience and opportunity. I just don't want any of them to think all this stuff is more important to me than seeing them. I don't want them to think that videos and blogs are all they're gonna get from me, for now on.


Conclusion is that a family trip to North Dakota WILL happen this year, no matter what I have to do to make it happen. I just wish I had time NOW. :)


In other news, I have watched so many movies this week. I've always been that girl who, when asked, "Have you see _____ movie?" I have to say, "actually, no I haven't seen it," way more often than I would like. I enjoy every opportunity I have to close that gap. I'm about to get really busy later this month, so I am RELISHING every last moment I have of very-little-to-do-ness.

Thus ends emotional blogging with Kristina on a Tuesday night.

Flights taken: 0
WoW levels:
Mage: 56
Shaman: 34

The GameTruck.

"It's like forgetting the words to your favorite song
You can't believe it, you were always singing along
It was so easy and the words so sweet
You can't remember, you try to feel the beat"
-Regina Spektor, "Eet"

Guys, yesterday I went on a GAMETRUCK.

It's exactly what you would think it is: a big truck, with games inside. Games, four giant flatscreen TVs, and a whole row of comfy couches.


Tara met the owner of GameTruck at a networking party so he offered to let the Zaxy girls just come onboard and play around it for awhile. First we played an intense game of "Blur" and then we geeked out with a few rounds of Rockband 3. I want to live on the GameTruck. It was such a blast.

We're hoping to get to work with them in the future, so I'm looking forward to more GameTruck time. Fingers crossed.


In other news, I really enjoyed reading all of your answers to the Buffy Survey in my last post. It's nice to be welcomed into a fandom rather that getting a lot of "pffft you're not a really fan, you watched it almost a decade after it happened luuuzzaar."

I've been having a bit of an entertainment crisis recently, trying to figure out what to watch next. Buffy was so all-encompassing of my time for so long that it's difficult to figure out what can replace that. I've been doing a rewatch of Firefly but the series is not nearly long enough for that to count. In the meantime I've also been watching Coupling, that show that's sort of like the British Friends? It's been fun, and a nice little break from the more intense project of finishing 7 seasons of a sci-fi drama.

Next I'm considering finally watching all of The Big Bang Theory or hopping online and watching The Guild (because these are both shows I should have already watched by now and I'm embarrassed I haven't yet). But again, none of these are the show that will fill the void in my heart that only a new hour-long drama can fill.

Basically, I'll let you know when I make my decision.

Recently I've just been playing a lot of Wheel of Fortune on the Wii because it's my favorite gameshow and one of those games I'm weirdly good at. And, you know, writing and making videos and other productive things. I shouldn't even try to pretend to be an upstanding memver of society right now; I just joined TUMBLR. Let's all watch the rapid decline of my life.

Flights: 0
WoW levels:
Mage: 56
Shaman: 34

Buffy the Vampire Slayer survey!

As promised, here is my Buffy the Vampire Slayer Survey! I've had this for ages but I had to both A) finish watching the series and B) let the ending sink in a little before I felt qualified to answer the questions. I'd love to see your answers in the comments, if you feel so inclined.

Also, this contains spoilers from Seasons 1-7, so if you haven't finished watching it you should probably proceed with caution.


1. The first character I fell in love with: Call me a stereotypical girl but I felt this immediate connection with Buffy herself almost from the very first episode. I love that she's a leader, that she's witty, but also not afraid to just be a girl sometimes (even in the face of danger/to the chagrin of her watcher). On that note, I've always adored Giles as well, mostly for the rapport he has with Buffy.

2. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: This is a toss up between Anya and Andrew.

First of all, when Anya came to the show, her outbursts and demonisms were kind of annoying, but as time went on it became fascinating watching her learn to be human and really begin to see the good in people. Plus she always says hilarious things to lift the mood during tough episodes.

Andrew, on the other hand, began as a character I really thought wouldn't be around long. His mannerisms and awkwardness always made me laugh harder than my roommate thought was necessary, but as we rolled into Season 7 I was just amazed by what a terrific character he became. I've always been a fan of "villain redemption" in shows, but Andrew's transformation from "awkward nerdy psuedo-bad guy" to "awkward nerdy psuedo-scaredy-cat 'hero'" with a desire to do something noble was one of the best I've ever seen.

Plus, "That'll do pig!!!!!" is still something my roommate and I quote on almost a daily basis.

3. The character everyone else loves that I don’t: It's hard to say because I loved everyone on this show (excluding Riley but that's too boring an answer to even use) but there were periods where I found myself really disliking certain characters. I really disliked Willow in her descent to bad-witch, especially around the time when she was fighting with Giles about methods of using magic to solve problems. I was never the hugest fan of Angel, either, even when he and Buffy were happy together. I just found him to be kind of bland, and not at all the "dark and brooding mysterious guy in the shadows" he was meant to be.

4. The character I love that everyone else hates: Maybe this is just because I really like Michelle Trachtenberg, but I never hated Dawn with the fires of burning infernos like everyone else seems to online. I totally understood her temper tantrums in the season when she realized her whole existence was a lie, and after that? I thought it was kind of nice for Buffy to just have a little sister. Also, I really loved the bonding between Xander and Dawn, because it bothered me a little bit that everyone seemed to be a redeemed vampire or a powerful witch or an ex demon or a potential. It was nice to have someone else around for Xander to… I dunno. Be understood by.

5. The character I used to love but don’t any longer: I thought Amy was really interesting in the beginning, and when she spent all that time in rat form I always thought in the back of my mind "I sure hope they bring her back sometime". But I really, really hated her character every moment she was back. So, she should have stayed a rat.

6. The character I would shag anytime: Gah. I know this survey is begging me to be original and not just say Spike, but come on. The answer is Spike.

7. The character I’d want to be like: Hmmm. Maybe Faith. All the perks of being a Slayer without the responsibility of being THE Slayer. That's the laziest answer I could have given, probably Haha.

8. The character I’d slap: Andrew, when he kills Jonathan. Or Harmony, all the time.

9. A pairing that I love: This isn't a romantic pairing, but I loved when Spike lived with Giles. They were so funny together, and it was really then that I started falling in love with Spike as a character. As far as actual love goes, the Buffy/Spike storyline was the most compelling and heartwrenchingly "will-they-wont-they", but I think Anya and Xander (pre-leaving her at the alter) had one of the healthiest relationships.

10. A pairing that I despise: I hated pretty much any time Druscilla was onscreen (she was just so annoying and terrible for Spike) and I cannot begin to explain how glad I was when he cast her off.

11. Favorite male character (add a quote or favorite line): Spike.

Quote from him: "Think I still dream of a crypt for two with a white picket fence? My eyes are clear."

Quote about him: "I'm looking for this guy. Bleach-blond hair, leather jacket, British accent, kind of... sallow? But in a hot way?"

12. Favorite female character (add a quote or favourite line): Buffy.

Quote from her: "I'm going to give you all a nice, fun, normal evening, if I have to kill every single person on the face of the earth to do it."

Quote about her: "Got to hand it to you, Goldilocks. You do have bleeding tragic taste in men. I got a cousin married to a regurgitating Froglocsteem that's got better instincts than you."

13. My five favorite characters: Buffy, Spike, Andrew, Anya and the Mayor (Season 3).

14. My five least favorite characters: Warren, Riley, Amy, Druscilla, Angel.

15. Which character I am most like: Would it be completely arrogant to say Buffy? I don't think I'm a superhero by any definition of the word but I definitely see myself in her leadership qualities and loyalty to her friends. And in her need to talk her enemies to death before actually killing them.

16. My deep, dark fandom secret: I'm not sure what's really worse than the fact that I waited until I was 22 to begin watching the series. That and actually liking Dawn.


Flights: 0
Levels on WoW:
Mage: 56
Shaman: 34