In Response to Megha's Comment

Megha wrote a comment on my last post that I wish to reply to. However, blogger doesn't allow me to reply to comments, so I have to do it like this.

Wow, Steph! You've had a really... busy year! I can't believe you've been able to go through it with all the ups and downs in your life (such as the constant headaches).

I've been ill an awful lot this year, but it's the same as it always has been. Getting diseases and illnesses constantly is something you get used to when you've had a weak immune system your entire life. It's the same with my sleeping problems -- a lot of people don't understand how I can find it so easy to stay up late, but when you've rarely been able to sleep before midnight for three years, you get used to it.

The way I see it, you just have to deal with illnesses and problems and stress; suck it up and keep going. If you let the bad times in your life control you, you won't ever have a chance to properly live. So while I was dealing with all the crap last year threw my way, I tried not to let it affect what I was doing. There were a few times, like with the headache that lasted three weeks, when it did interrupt my life, but sometimes, it's inevitable.

Long story short, I've learnt to put up with the low times in my life.

Do you keep a diary or something? Cos' most people wouldn't remember so much. 

Well, I have this blog, which is kind of like a diary, but I didn't really look back on here to see much. While my memory is generally pretty terrible, I can remember a lot of events and such that happened in my life. When I spoke about Tumblr, I admit, I actually went through my Tumblr archives to find my first post and find out when I joined. The rest of it, however, was written from memory.

So have I, you know. It's been a different year from the others, sorta... relaxing. It's like a message to beware, as it might be the end of Fun (although that's unlikely - probably my imagination running loose again) this year.

I'm glad you enjoyed your year!  Mine has been pretty stressful, especially since September. The schoolwork and homework has really been stressing out, and I've been struggling to handle it all. But, like I said, problems aside, it's been a good year.

Have you made any resolutions? 

I'm not really one for resolutions, I'm afraid. So, no, I haven't.

Happy New Year

2010 has had his ups and downs, but overall, it's been a pretty good year. This time last year, I was a completely different person. I have changed, matured, and grown so much in the past twelve months, it's kind of surreal.

My biggest change, I think, is that I'm a Nerdfighter. I discovered Kristina Horner towards the end of 2009, and at the beginning of 2010, I started discovering everyone else. Nerimon, fiveawesomegirls, Vlogbrothers. Through them, I found charlieissocoollike, lexcanroar, the 5AG as separate people, DFTBA records. And so many more YouTubers and things. They have changed me so much, it's kind of unreal. Because of Kristina, I was introduced to Wizard Rock, and DFTBA Records introduced me to so many new styles of music.

I've really gotten into fanfiction and I love finding friends in fandoms (particularly the Harry Potter one, naturally). I've become a lot more involved in the online community and I love all the online friends I've made. My writing has improved dramatically thanks to KWC and

In the early months of the year, I read my first manga, Pita-Ten, soon followed by Vampire Knight. I later watched my first anime, Ouran High School Host Club. I started watching the Vampire Knight anime, though for some reason, I stopped a few episodes in. I also began reading the Ouran manga, though I've yet to read past the first volume. I'm now attending an anime expo with my cousin a few months.

I went to my first concert in June, and P!nk completely rocked that stage. I also went to France with the school for a day, which was my first time abroad. My mother and I had been considering going somewhere with some kind of connection to Harry Potter, and we eventually deciding on going to a small town six hours north called Alnwick. The castle grounds were used in the Potter movies. We went in August, and it was one of the best long weekends of my life.

Another big change was finding Starkid. About a week before A Very Potter Sequel was put online, I finally got tired of being confused by the AVPM references on AverageWizard and decided to watch A Very Potter Musical. I fell in love with it. I watched it several times over that week, and when A Very Potter Sequel was posted, I was so excited. I quickly found Little White Lie, too, even though it doesn't have a playlist of it's own and you can't access it from Starkid's account. After a few weeks of re-watching the musicals and hovering over the link to the Me and My Dick playlist, I finally decided to watch that, too.

On 5th August, I joined Tumblr, a site that has drastically changed my life. I joined so I could easily keep track of lexcanroar(youtube)/iseahorse(tumblr)'s posts, and it was amazing. I have over 7,000 posts on there already, in the space of five months. I got into it instantly and I've been addicted ever since. When I turn the laptop on, Tumblr is always the first site I go to. It has it's issues, but I absolutely adore that site. On 19th September, I created an EffYeahDevinLytle tumblr. Devin followed it twenty-four hours after it was created.

In September, I went into Year Nine and begrudgingly watched the piles of homework topple onto me. It was stressful and I was on the verge of a mental breakdown. But I got through it. At some point between September and November, I discovered pansexuality, and knew instantly that -- after almost a year of questioning -- I'd found my sexuality.

In October, it was revealed to the world that Darren Criss -- Harry Potter from AVPM -- would be starring in Glee as a gay teen from a rival school, and was to supposedly going to become Kurt's love interest. For two weeks leading up to 9th November (his first episode), I watched as much of Glee as I could. Glee had never interested me beforehand and I'd never planned on watching it. With one of the most important men in my life getting a role on the show, however, I knew I had to watch it. As I whizzed through the first season, I found myself falling in love with the show, and I am now proud to say I'm part of the Glee fandom.

I'm now part of a Glee RP on Tumblr, roleplaying as Blaine, and I get along really well with the girl who roleplays Kurt -- Blaine's boyfriend -- and she's my first Tumblr friend. If you're reading this, hey Karo ^.^

On 13th November, I went to my second concert -- a Paramore one. I went with my best friend, and it was absolutely amazing. This month, they announced that two of the band members would be leaving (and are supposedly to be replaced by Taylor York's brother and someone else who I've forgotten the name of). I'm so grateful that I managed to get in just in time.

In December, I came out to my best friend. We haven't really gotten a chance to talk about it thoroughly but she's perfectly okay with it, completely supportive of it, and really grateful that I told her. I couldn't ask for a better friend than her. She's so amazing and I love her to pieces.

Christmas wasn't the best it could have been, but it ended on a happy note. My baby cousin was really ill with a dangerously high temperature so, while his parents took him to A+E, the rest of my family sat quietly in the living room, watching TV and attempting to eat Christmas dinner, though none of us could enjoy ourselves or eat much because we were so worried. The doctors managed to get his temperature down and they came back a few hours later with him as happy as could be. I got several Disney DVDs from several people (though mostly my mum), and my wonderful mother got me a giant Simba teddy that I now sleep with at night. Not ashamed.

Overall, the year has been relatively good to me, though I've had a lot of low times. I doubt 2011 will top this year, but who knows? It might surprise me.

The Farro Brothers Leave Paramore

 (Note: This is taken straight from my Tumblr)

 For those who have yet to hear the news, Zac and Josh Farro have officially left Paramore. Yesterday, the remaining three band members posted a blog on their official website about the brothers’ departure from the band, which you can read here.

I’ve been a massive fan of Paramore for quite a few years now and I’ve supported them for such a long time that it only seems natural for me to be affected by this news.

However, I wish people would stop acting like it’s the end of the world. Yes, it’s really sad for us Paramore fans — I nearly cried in front of my best friend and her brother when I found out — but it’s not like Paramore are breaking up.

Paramore is a band, and people seem to forget that. Most people think it’s all about Hayley, while a lot of rabid fangirls have eyes only for Josh. Paramore isn’t just about one or two people — they are a group, a band; they create music together. Paramore are not ending. Hayley, Jeremy, and Taylor are still going strong. They will probably recruit a new member or two as well.

Jeremy Davis left the band once. All We Know was written about him leaving and he was replaced by John Hembree. After five months, Jeremy returned, taking back his place in the band.

Jason Bynum was originally on rhythm guitar, though he was replaced by Hunter Lamb.

Hunter Lamb left in 2007 to get married, and the band went on as a quartet  — Hayley, Josh, Zac, and Jeremy — and recorded their second album, Riot!

Taylor York replaced Hunter after the recording of Riot! and the band became what we are so familiar with today. The five of them, four boys and a girl, just like it was at the start.

Now, the Farro brothers left, and honestly, I’m not letting myself get worked up about it. Yes, it’s sad for the band, but Zac and Josh weren’t happy in Paramore anymore and they needed to break away.

They can, and most likely will, be replaced in the near future. And maybe, after some time, they may come back — just like Jeremy did. We can’t be sure, and we can’t get our hopes up, but you never know.

In the words of Hayley, Jeremy, and Taylor: “We want Josh and Zac to do something that makes them happy and if that isn’t here with us, then we support them finding happiness elsewhere.” I would rather the brothers leave and be happy than be a part of something they no longer want to participate in.

We shouldn’t be angry at them, we should be supporting them on finding happiness elsewhere. We should support Hayley, Jeremy and Taylor, too, as they come to adapt as a trio.

We should be cherishing the time we did get with the brothers, from Paramore’s beginning to the present. We should feel lucky that we had the chance to see them in Paramore at all, and thankful for everything they gave us.
Losing members is always tough for any band to deal with, on both an emotional and professional level, and we should be standing by them every step of the way.

Paramore is a band, and even with the Farro brothers gone, they still are.

Abandonment

Hiiiii. Yeah. This is awkward. It's like seeing an old friend after a really long time without contact, and you have no idea what to say because you've both changed so much and you know instantly that the friendship you used to have is, like, extinct. But anyway, on a happier note, I'M BACK.

It's been exactly a month since I last blogged, which is a really weird coincidence. I signed in, originally, to update my (neglected) Book Count blog. I have to add three books to it. Then I realised it had been so long since I last updated and decided it was time I came back.

I still haven't edited the footage from the Paramore concert, or uploaded the photos anywhere (except Tumblr). I think I may just create another blog post altogether some time soon, consisting of photographs from the concert. There aren't a lot because I was mostly recording, but whatever. There are some.

I saw Deathly Hallows Pt. 1 on the nineteenth, and I am dying to see it again. It was absolutely fantastic. The actors really upped their game for this movie -- there's such raw emotion and they put so much effort into making this their most inspiring, powerful performance yet. I really do love this one. It's so unbelievably amazing. And the comic relief is spread out so perfectly, and comes at times right when you need to lighten up a bit. Excellence. Part One of Deathly Hallows is pure excellence.

I completely failed NaNoWriMo, only just getting past 10k when my goal was 25k. November kind of threw a lot of crap on my shoulders all at once, so writing kind of flew down my list of priorities and out the window. I tried my best, I suppose, considering the pressure I was under.

Currently, I'm ill with tonsillitis, in my last week of school before the winter break, and studying for a Biology exam coming up in January. It's the official, actual, proper Biology GCSE, so I really cannot screw this up.

I, surprisingly, am kind of looking forward to Christmas. Christmas is one of those holidays that doesn't faze me much. It's just a day where I spend half of it enjoying myself, and the other just wanting to go to sleep or escape from the family. Because I'm socially awkward, I find it hard being forced to stay in the living room the entire day and talk with fifty bajillion people. I'm a really fussy eater, so I don't enjoy Christmas dinners because I only ever pick at the food on my plate. So I'm not really one for Christmas but I'm looking forward to it this year. That's probably because (a)my cousin is visiting*, (b)I'm getting Disney DVDs, (c)Doctor Who special!

So. That's what's going on in my life. Thrilling, I know. I'll try to update sooner next time.

*He's twenty, lives two hours south, I haven't seen him in over a year, and he likes anime/manga and Starkid!

Post-Concert Depression

NOTE: My brain is completely muddled and still blown-away and I'm writing as I think, so this isn't at all in chronological order.

The concert last night was amazing. That's genuinely the only word I can think of, because I'm still completely speechless. But amazing doesn't even start to cover it. I got a load of footage which, after doing my homework, I'm going to start editing together. I'll upload it to YouTube and post it here whenever I finish it. Throughout most of it, you can hear me screaming and singing along. And it's kind of blurry because I had to zoom in. Even though I could see them pretty clearly on the stage, they look like specs through the camera. It was weird.

Fun and B.o.B were the support acts, and while Fun was pretty good, B.o.B was absolutely awful. But whatever. Hayley came on to sing Airplanes, dressed in a thick winter coat. I love her pink hair, and it looks even more amazing in person than it does in photographs.

When Paramore officially started, there was a curtain in front of the stage, and you could only see the silhouettes, but when it was time for Hayley to start singing, the curtain dropped. It was really effective.

She loved how we all screamed after pretty much every sentence when she was talking, and said it was one of the biggest concerts they'd ever held. She also loved how co-operative we were when she asked us to do stuff (stand up and dance, sway, get our phones out, etc.), and the last time anything as big as this happened was in December '09 in the same place (London 02 Arena).

She made us all stand up and dance for crushcrushcrush and spent about five minutes making sure the majority of people were standing up. Apparently, it usually takes a good fifteen minutes or so. And then we all got our phones out and waved them in the air to The Only Exception and I got a lot of footage of the crowd swaying their phones because it was really amazing (it's slightly jolty, though, because I kept switching the phone and the camera between hands).

When she introduced the band members, Jeremy and Josh easily got the loudest cheers (until Josh introduced Hayley), and I managed to record her saying "WE. ARE. PAAARAAAMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOREEE!" which I'm really proud of. She says it at every concert, and I knew that more than anything, I wanted to record her saying that. AND I DID.

The last song they sang was Misery Business, and she led into it like this: "Before tonight ends, we have some business to take care of. And there is only one kind of business at a Paramore concert." And then the music started. It was so amazing. Josh from You Me At Six came on stage and started singing, too, and while I'm not a fan (I haven't really paid them much attention, to be honest) of You Me At Six, I can't deny that he has an amazing voice.

Jess and I both got Paramore hoodies with "Paramore" written in small, red letters on the front and "PARAMORE" written across the entire back. There's a fountain pen/injection needle between the PARA and MORE, and under neath it says "We wrote our names in blood." (a line from Ignorance) which I think is really creative and I love it to pieces.

When they started playing Decode, nearly everyone started cheering loudly ... and I just sunk into my seat and silently watched them perform. It's not a terrible song, I suppose, but (a) it's overplayed, (b) it's Twilight, (c) the cheers proved to me just how many Paramore fans like Twilight, and (d) I'm really not-at-all keen on it. It's the only Paramore song I don't like.

I really wish they had played Decoy and Swim in Silence (two demo songs), along with For a Pessimist I'm Pretty Optimistic and Careful. But I know they have to limit themselves, and the songs they did choose to play were wonderful, too.

Now, I could go on and on about that marvelous concert, but I have homework to get on with and things to catch up on online. So, suffering from Post-Concert Depression, I bid you farewell.

In brief, other news:

• I have tickets booked to see Deathly Hallows on the 19th at 5PM.
• Darren Criss was absolutely amazing in Glee (This deserves it's own blog post ... I'll write one up after I watch next week's episode).
• I'm doing terribly with NaNoWriMo. I'm a fair few thousand words behind.