This is it. (A Final goodbye to the younger class-people from 8C)

We wish you all the best of luck with your further middle school experiences! We filmed this in the last 5 minutes of the last period of the last day. Thanks to everyone who has made Middle School so memorable! We'll miss you all dearly! :)

Photos: John Cusack Edition

I had to do this at some point, as John Cusack is amazing and awesome and Say Anything is beautiful.

timetravelersscrunchie.com

*Sigh*

timetravelersscrunchie.com

*Swoon*

giphy.com

*Awwwwwww*

I'm done with this post. I'm emotionally drained.

PHOTOS!!!

thepreatures.com

I found this poster about the Preatures a while back and it turns out that they're going on tour!

tumblr.

buzzfeed.com

Liza has actually done this to my face before. Goodness gracious.

pinterest.com

This man made a project as a satire about todays society and technology using many common pleasures and putting a sticker on them that reads "not available on the App Store"

tumblr.

Logan Lerman......... *sigh*

Now all I've got are these photographs...

crushable.com

This child is officially to fabulous for words.

Imagur.com

Ahh, Manny. Is there anything you don't know?

buzzfeed.com

I do this the whole summer long.

vogue.com

Emma Watson, so amazing!

dvdp.tumblr.com

and... A Contest!

This week I have something new to offer: A Contest!

I recently made a tutorial post about DIY Sharpie Shoes (see below.) 

Until June 4th if you Google+1 the tutorial I will enter you in a raffle to win the shoes I used in the tutorial!* 

So go and recommend this for the chance to win a neat pair of Sharpie Shoes!

*Applicable to Orono Middle School Students only. Google +1 button is located at the bottom left hand corner of the post.

DIY Sharpie Shoes Tutorial

Sharpie shoes are fun, easy, and anyone can do them! All you need is a little creative intuition and some awesome sharpies, and you can make a wearable piece of art that everyone will love! 

Materials:

1 set of white shoes (any type is usually fine. I've also used Vans.) 

Sharpies (for this tutorial I used blues and grays, but depending on what design you want to do you may want different colors)

Steps:

Step 1: Draw on your outline with pencil. It's hard to see on my shoe due to the lighting, but it's there. This is essential, as you want to be sure you're able to finalize your design before you make anything permanent.*

Step 2: Begin to shade your design. I've learned from past experience that it is important to pay attention to what color you are supposed to be using: I have accidentally used blue when I was supposed to use green, brown when I was supposed to use purple, etc.

Step 3: Continue to shade. This will take some time.

Step 4: Repeat steps 1-3 on the next shoe.

Once you finish the second shoe you are done! You can wear your shoes anywhere for formal or casual occasions! 

Tips:

- So you mess up your design. Now what? Take 1 toothbrush and spritz it with some hairspray. Brush the sprayed toothbrush on the problem area and wipe it off with some paper towels. Wait for it to dry before you draw on it again.

- To make precise lines around the edges, use a piece of tape to cover the are you don't want to get the Sharpie on.  

There you have it! All you need it to make your own pieces of wearable art!

  

COMING SOON...

Picture time!

I lack originality, so I make more posts like these...

Courtesy of dilly.com

courtesy of dilly.com

These eyelids are work by makeup artist Tal Peleg. She makes amazing works of arts on the tiniest of canvases, and her work is amazing!

Ahh, Taylor.

I don't actually watch Gossip Girl, but I still like the Pretty Reckless.

Courtesy of Buzzfeed

Courtesy of Buzzfeed 

Courtesy of ABC News

This is Rhys Ernst and Zackary Drucker, a couple from Los Angeles. They are unique because both Ernst  and Drucker are transgender, and have been taking photos of their relationship, and their individual transitions, from 2008 to 2013. Their collection of images, titled "relationship" are now being featured at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Their story is beautiful and astounding, and the images they have captured together are a strong portrayal of love.

*Sigh*

See Lizas blog for explanation........

New Music Artist: Candy Hearts

Candy Hearts is a pop-punk group from Long Island who have burst onto the scene in the past few years. It's exceedingly difficult to find anything about them. They have an album out June 10th, and I already am prepping to order the pink vinyl release!

Here's there video for their song Bad Idea! It is amazing!

Augustus Waters is Real

I cannot fathom ever having being this excited in all of my days. I found this glorious clip from the upcoming movie of the incredibly gorgeous book the Fault in Our Stars. This is one of my favorite scenes from the book, and Ansel Elgort is so incredible. In my opinion he is the physical Gus. He is real.

I find it increasingly ironic that they keep popping up with the anti-smoking warning ad. I don't know if Gus would approve or disapprove... ( I have the feeling Hazel wouldn't.)

This may or may not be the most adorable thing I've ever seen

I've never been one to watch cute cat videos online or read cat memes with those funny captions, but upon finding this little gem floating around the internet I decided I had to put this up because it is officially the most adorable thing I have ever seen.

It is a dancing cat. A. DANCING. CAT. A SMILING DANCING CAT. 

enough said. 

Photo Time!

More photos I dug up online for all of you lovely people!

Courtesy of Tumblr.

Courtesy of Tumblr.

courtesy of Joni Mitchell. com

Courtesy of Tumblr

How can you not love Stefon?

Courtesy of Buzzfeed

Right, Regina?

Courtesy of Buzzfeed

This is the office of the coolest teacher ever.

Courtesy of Buzzfeed

Remember to check out my weekly cover right below this post, and if you have any photos you'd like me to add to the next post, leave the link in the comments below!

Weekly cover!

I've decided to make this a weekly thing because it's fun and easier than typing long entries......

This week I'm covering "We Might be Dead by Tomorrow" by Soko.

If you have any songs you' like me to cover next week please leave your suggestions in the comments below! If I use your suggestion I'll be sure to mention you in the description.

I decided to try something...

I didn't exactly know what to blog about and was in the mood for playing my ukulele (mostly because I'm procrastinating on cleaning the basement...) so I hope you enjoy this cover of "Naked as We Came" originally by Iron & Wine!

See the original here! (Sorry I can't do the cool guitar intro! I'm not actually good. Also, Samuel Bean wins all beard awards ever created.)

Website of the Week

Website of the Week: http://www.buzzfeed.com

You have to see for yourself.....
Also, I got Janis Ian on the mean girls quiz.

Music Artist of the Week: Regina Spektor

I chose Regina Spektor as this weeks featured music artist because a.) she is the most angelic person who ever lived and b.) she just had a baby!
Regina was originally from Russia, but moved to the U.S. as a young girl. She quickly excelled at playing the piano, and started slowly getting gigs around New York City. Her voice is gorgeous and angelic, somber at some times, happy and joyous at others.

Check out her website here!

Get her latest album, "What We Saw from the Cheap Seats" on iTunes here!

This is my favorite music video of hers! (Also, this song is uber fun to play on the ukulele!) 

This is another music video by her that is insanely weird but awesome at the same time

The Me Me Me Generation: Why Do Adults keep Stereotyping Us?

     The other day I was on a job cleaning up stacks of old mail when I came across a Time magazine from May of 2013. On the front there sat a girl with straight red hair holding a camera at arms length away from her. The caption above her head read "The Me Me Me Generation: Millennials are lazy, entitled narcissists who still live with their parents, how they'll save us all." I was shocked by the title, and proceeded to read the article, hoping that "The Me Me Me Generation" was just a catch to get consumers to purchase magazines. I was, evidently, wrong. The article went on to describe how young adults born from the early 1980's to the early 2000s were spoiled, self-indulgent, didn't care about anyone, and had no work-ethic whatsoever. (I found this ironic, considering I was reading this article as I was hoisting piles upon piles of mail to be sorted, working so I could raise money myself for a trip to Europe.) According to the article, all that the "Y generation" is focused on is taking selfies, social media, and other things of that likeness.
I, for one, was outraged. The stereotypes surrounding Millennials may be true in some cases, but what about those instances where it isn't? Many of the young adults I know who indulge in social media from time to time are also Straight-A students and participate in a variety of sports and extra-curricular activities. I know kids who wake up at the crack of dawn and stay late doing babysitting just so they can earn money towards a substantial purchase that ISN'T a form of technology! Many of us have to come home after sports and extracurriculars to do another hour or more of homework. We have chores, grades, and many other factors that contend with our daily lives, yet somehow, we are still the ones who are called lazy.
What made me even more angry about the article was that it hasn't been the first time I've seen something like it. Many media outlets also contribute to the hatred of Millennials, fashioning the same stereotypes as the Time article.  We're made up to be a joke, a spectacle to be mocked by the press. How is this type of stereotyping different from any other, and what makes it so acceptable and widely used among the media?
Joel Stein, the man who wrote the article and has been writing for Time for years, is, in my opinion, in no place to be speaking about the antics of the Y generation. He has a child who isn't even middle-school aged, yet he somehow seems to know all about our antics. I also found this *ahem* selfie floating around the internet:

https://twitter.com/thejoelstein

oh, and this

https://www.facebook.com/thejoelstein

Hypocrisy at it's finest. 

As I left that house with money towards my trip nestled soundly in my back pocket, another thought crossed my mind: even if our elders like Mr. Stein tell us "who we are", or who the world has made us up to be, doesn't mean we have to listen. This is our future, and we're the ones who make it ours, not the people who write allegations about us in newspapers and books. It's our time, and it is what we, the Millennials, make it out to be, and I guarantee, by the time we're done, the world will still be here in one piece. 

Said Offensive Cover in Question (www.time.com)

  

DIY Tutorial: Melted Crayon Art

       

One of the coolest things you will ever do.

Time 2-3 hours

Materials:

You'll need......

- 1 pack of of 64 Crayola crayons

- Hot glue gun

- 1 canvas ( I used a 9x12 canvas from A.C.Moore) 

- Hair Dryer

- Trash Bags

- 1 Black  Sharpie permanent marker (optional)

 Step 1: Before you glue, figure out what order you want your crayons to be in. Line them up on the canvas before hand. Be sure that there is no space between the crayons, and be sure that they are up against the top of the canvas.

Step 2: Begin gluing your crayons down. It is good to not only glue them to the canvas, but be sure to put a thin line of glue between the crayons as well to help hole them in place. 

Step 3 (This is the part where you get to pretend your James Bond and be all like "I zap you with my hairdryer!"): Lay your trash bags on a floor in an area in your house that is ok for you to possibly get dirty. Plug your hairdryer into a nearby outlet and lean your canvas up against a nearby wall facing vertically (you have to let the wax drip down.) 

Step 4: Turn the hairdryer on high and point it at the bottom of the crayons at a direct and/or downward angle. It will take a while for the crayons to melt, so you have to be patient. When the wax starts to drip use the hairdryer to maneuver the fall of the wax in whatever way you want it. As I said, this process takes a really long time, and there may be wax flying everywhere, so be patient and wear clothes you don't mind getting dirty. 

Step 5: After you have the wax at it's desired place, turn the hairdryer off. This is where the Sharpie comes in. Find a design you like online (or you can freehand it!) and trace it with the Sharpie. After you trace it, fill in the outline with the same Sharpie. 

Step 6: Take a picture and Post/Tweet/Instagram/Snapchat it to show all of your friends what a little artistic genius you are. 

Tips: If you want to make a design that involves having the design under/ based around how the wax melts, such as...

Be sure to draw the design BEFORE you melt the crayons.

To keep yourself from getting bored  during the hour-plus melting process, watch a movie, turn on some music, that kind of thing. It can get pretty boring, and your arm can end up pretty tired.