Life Update – Sword Art Online Review and Youtubing!

Hey everyone! Happy Wednesday!

So I’m gonna be honest with all of you. I’ve been super lazy with drafting new blog posts lately. It’s just a combination of writer’s block and pure laziness. There’s really not much more to it. There’s nothing dramatic going on in my life, nor am I so busy that I don’t have the time to sit down and blog. I’ve just been feeling pretty lazy. And a tad bit uninspired.

But I didn’t want to leave you guys hanging! I’m still here. I’m still derping and wreaking havoc on the internet. Therefore, I decided I should at least give you some updates about what I’ve been up to. (Obviously, blogging won’t be on this list. #FAILBLOG)

Photo from varewulf.wordpress.com

Photo from varewulf.wordpress.com

Before you say it, I know I’m late on this trend. BUT in my defense, I recently started watching more recent anime. I like to keep it old school for the most part, but I know if I wanna keep up at cons, I have to keep watching all the new shows. Which isn’t a bad thing because this show is ridiculously awesome.

So for those unfortunate souls who don’t know this anime, it’s called Sword Art Online. To give a very brief summary of the series, it’s about the MMORPG titled Sword Art Online (it’s fictional) but instead of it being just any ol’ regular game, players have to wear this headpiece called a NerveGear and their minds go into this entirely virtual world. Crazy, right?! The Japanese come up with everything! The series follows two main characters, Kirito and Asuna. The reason why this anime is ridiculously awesome is because 1) the plot, 2) character development, and 3) the cosplay opportunities! I mean, the awesome character designs. Ahem.

I’m still on episode 15, but I already went ahead and read spoilers because I was so mindfucked with what happened that I needed to know what happened in order to keep my anxiety at ease. Seriously. No joke. If you’re into MMORPGs, you should definitely check this out. Or if you’re looking for a good story with fantasy elements, you should watch it.

AND if you want a good love story… you should watch this series. Just sayin’. I ship Kirito and Asuna so hard, you don’t even KNOW! I can’t even tell you how many times my heart burst into butterflies every time they had a cute moment.

To end my SOA rant, I’ll leave you with this piece of advice: just watch it, damnit. You won’t regret it. You can watch it on Crunchyroll, Hulu, OR Toonami. You have no excuse.

In case you weren’t aware, I do indeed have my own Youtube channel. For a while, I only had 2 casual vlogs up (one about my Sailor Venus tattoo and the other was for my friend David’s birthday) but now I officially have a formal vlog up! And by formal vlog, I just mean, instead of walking around with a camera, I’m sitting in front of my laptop talking about issues that interest me. For all you bloggers out there, this one’s for you.

Remember to “like” the video, subscribe, and please share it! Let’s help a sista out, yeah?! 🙂

And in addition to these two things, I’m of course just working and interning every week. Same ol’ same ol’.

On a funsy note, my best friend and fellow blogger Angi’s birthday is TOMORROW! I’m so excited. Make sure you check out her blog and wish her a happy birthday!

-Alice

Day 18: Plans/Dreams/Goals You Have

Hey guys! Happy Wednesday!

nyancat

Hope your Geek Week is lovely! I know I’m totally basking in all these awesome geeky Youtube videos. I apologize for the delay in the Blog Challenge. It’s proving to be a difficult task pumping out 2 posts a day, especially when I work every night. But no worries, I promise to do better! Believe in me, senpai!

(Yeah… things just got weird again. I just have a natural instinct to make things weird.)

Before I get into the main topic of the post, I’d just like to note how freaky it is that the Blog Challenges have actually been on point with different events in my life. It’s like it knows what I’m doing… Did we just enter the Twilight Zone?

Anyways, this summer has been one of the most eventful and life changing experiences in my short life. A lot of new things are happening… chapters closing, new doors opening. As much as I’m sad about the past, I’m just really excited for the future. Have you ever had that feeling? It’s so weird… like, how the hell am I supposed to feel? Sad? Happy? Both? How the hell do you feel both sad and happy at the same time?!

With that being said, I have a couple goals I’m working toward in this very moment. One being this blog. Like I’ve said in previous posts, I’m not doing this for any monetary compensation. I’m blogging because I love to write and I love to make new friends who appreciate my work. It’s been an amazing 2 months so far, and I know things will only get better from here on out. I know I post stuff sporadically throughout the day, but I appreciate you still reading the content on this blog… whether you’re reading it at 3 AM or 3 PM.

Which brings me to my second goal which I’m super excited to talk about… my Youtube channel! SO I know I currently only have 2 videos up (both of which are vlogs) but I finally decided a focus for the channel. If you follow my Twitter, I tweeted something about it earlier this evening. I’m meeting up with a friend tomorrow to start discussing the plans for this new endeavor, so just sit tight! I am planning to rock the shit out of your computer screen. It’s gonna be epic. Or so I hope.

Third goal… Boogiezone! As I’ve said in previous posts, I’m really happy to be interning here. I’m actually planning on doing a lot for all the social media networks as well as editing content for the Youtube channel. I know.. it’s like, right up my alley, right?! AND I get to take classes for free. It’s a total win-win situation. By the way, if you’re a dancer and you happen to be free on Thursday nights, come take the Boogiezone Community Class at 9 PM! 🙂 We feature different choreographers every week so it’s always a new style to try. Come get down with us.

Fourth goal… Maid Cafe! I know Anime Expo just ended, but I already have some awesome ideas for next year. I can’t tell you guys too much, but just know that these ideas will hopefully be approved and we’re just gonna come back stronger than ever in 2014. Yeah, you best be ready to buy some tickets to our shows.

As for general plans, I’m going into my VERY LAST SEMESTER OF COLLEGE EVER! I cannot wait for this shit to be done with. I just have 3 classes and I’m done forever! Just gotta beast mode it.

I’m also planning on attending some conventions! As of this moment, I will be at Comikaze AND Pacific Media Expo. I know I’m hella n00b and a bit rusty, but I AM planning to cosplay.

WHAAAAT?! Ally cosplays?!

Yes, I do. I’m not like a pro at it or anything, but I do. I just haven’t been cosplaying in recent years because well… all of my time and efforts went to my sorority and Maid Cafe. But I miss dressing up! If you’re planning on attending either convention, don’t be afraid to say hi to me! 🙂

As for what my DREAM is… well… I’m still kinda figuring that out. All I know is that I’m really happy where my life is right now. Blogging, vlogging, and dancing are what makes me happy. I’ll try to see if I can make a career out of that. If all else fails, I can always join the circus.

-Alice

OH and if you’re wondering why I put a Nyan Cat gif in this post… there’s no reason. I just love Nyan Cat. Happy Geek Week! 😉

Day 17: Someone You Would Want to Switch Lives With for a Day

Hey guys! Happy Sunday Funday!

Hope your week has been swell and if you were one of the lucky thousands to be at VidCon this weekend, fck you.

Just kidding. But if you went to VidCon this weekend, let me know how it went! 😀

Anyways, today’s challenge is about who I would want to switch lives with for a day and why. I’m going to tweak the challenge a bit and instead of switching lives, we’re going to call it “Take-Your-Fan-to-Work Day.”

When it comes down to it, I don’t want to “switch lives” with someone, even if it was for a day. I like who I am and I couldn’t imagine being someone else. In all honesty, I would probably fck up their life in those 24 hours. (C’mon… I’ve seen Freaky Friday.) So I’d rather be given the opportunity to hang out with them for 24 hours. Like, let’s be best friends for 24 hours. Doesn’t that sound much better?! Then you can instagram that shit.

The person I’d love to be best friends with for 24 hours is the one and only… Jenna Marbles.

So for you unfortunate and sad souls who don’t know who this awesome girl is, Jenna Marbles is one of the top Youtubers today with over 10 million subscribers. She’s got a brash, tell-it-like-it-is personality that I can’t help but love and admire. She mostly does vlogs, which is why I aspire to be like her. She’s super funny, down-to-earth, and helloo… she’s beautiful!

The reason I would want to be her best friend for a day is because of how awesome she is. If you watch her videos, she’s so likable. She has this personality that’s infectious and it’s hard not to laugh at her jokes or want to be her friend. Or bang her. But in all seriousness, I feel like my humor is similar to her’s, so if I ever had a conversation with her, we would be able to hit it off.

What would we do with our day together? Well, I’d let her decide.. after all, it’s “take-your-fan-to-work day.” But after she was done with whatever business she had to handle, I would just love to buy some pizza, mass amounts of hot cheetos, and two 6-packs of beer and just have a movie night. Or play video games. I don’t know what video games she’s into, so I’m okay with just watching movies. But it’d have to be ridiculously funny movies that we can make drinking games to.

So that would be my day with Jenna. Fun fact, during last year’s VidCon, she stopped by my Starbucks. I UNFORTUNATELY wasn’t working so I had the displeasure of hearing it from my coworkers. And they’re not even big fans of her’s, so I was like “WHY FATE WHYYY?!” Fate trolled me so hard that day. As it does every other day. Le sigh.

Question of the Day: Who would you switch lives with?

In case you didn’t read yesterday’s blog post, Happy Geek Week! It’s Geek Week on Youtube and there’s going to be awesome nerdy content being uploaded everyday for a week! WOOO! So check that shit out.

In honor of Geek Week, I, too will be posting some geeky articles for you to enjoy. I already started yesterday with my post “10 Reasons to Date a Geek Girl” so check that out if you haven’t already. 🙂

-Alice

Days 11 & 12: Friend Pic/Why You Made This Blog

Hey guys! Happy Monday!

So yeah, I’m kinda slipping a little with these challenges. There’s really no excuse… I’m just getting lazy. (“A” for Honesty?) But have no fear! I have been brainstorming some new content so be on the lookout for that.

I decided to post 2 challenges together since I’m already 2 days behind, plus Day 11’s challenge is kinda whack. I mean… here’s another picture I guess.

Image

WHAAAT?! You didn’t know Ryan Higa and I were friends?!

Just kidding. (I wish though!) My best friend and fellow blogger Angi came with me on Sunday to his free fan meet up in Sherman Oaks, CA. Other than meeting the fabulous Ryan himself, I also got a chance to meet The Fu Music and D-Trix. To say I was happy is an understatement. I really look up to these guys and am so inspired by their creativity and perseverance. They’re all also incredibly down-to-earth and very charming. Honestly, I was a lucky gal. PLUS… I was first in line. True story.

Anyways, onto the next challenge. So technically the challenge states, “How You Found Out About Blogger and Why You Made One.” First of all, this is WordPress so we’ll just replace that. I found out about WordPress from my awesome photographer blogger friend Jeremy. He’s had his blog for a while now and he not only showcases his amazing photography, he also actively blogs about different anime he’s watching. (Which definitely helps me out when I don’t know which series to watch next!) I’ve always been a writer and I’ve gone through my stages of having a Xanga, LiveJournal, and posting some fanfiction up on Fanfiction.net, but I never had a very stable, consistent blog that I kept up with. I always had a tendency to start one, and then I would just stop posting and forget about it. I made this blog because to me, this was the start of something new. (I really didn’t intend for that to come out as a HSM reference… but just go with it.) I just graduated college, and I feel like I’m finding myself all over again. You know that feeling as a teenager when you don’t know which circle of friends to hang out with because you know that it will define you as a certain label? I had that feeling again. And I’m a college graduate! You would think by this age, I would have this shit figured out by now, but I was more confused than ever. I really did feel like I lost myself in the extracurricular activities I was doing, and when I thought about who I am deep down, I didn’t know who I was anymore.

I feel like I found myself again by blogging because I was able to be honest and express myself in a pretty direct way. Some people define themselves by the videos they make, the dances they do, or the amount of studying they put in. But blogging provided me this digital soapbox where I can straight up say how I feel. It’s made me put everything back in perspective and help me realize what’s important to me in life.

I’m not trying to gain anything from doing this. I’m really just doing this for myself. It makes me happy to write about my experiences and thoughts on different subjects. I’m also doing this to get to know my friends on a more personal level. I feel like Facebook statuses or Tweets are so subjective and impersonal and there’s no way anyone can JUST read those and know how I’m doing. So I’m giving all my friends a place where they can truly see how I’m doing and maybe open up about themselves too.

If I haven’t said it before, I’ll say it again. Thanks so much for reading my posts. Even if you’re new to this site, or if you’ve been reading since my very first post, I appreciate the time you’re taking out of your day to come here. Like I said, let’s get weird. Or… not. Just be my friend, damnit.

-Alice

Sexy Zombie Killing?! Happy Birthday David!

Hello again! I just can’t get enough of you guys.

Just uploaded a new video. WOO! In this week’s vlog, I go to Dave and Busters with my coworkers to celebrate my coworker David’s birthday. There’s zombie killing, dancing, and George Michaels’ Careless Whisper?! Dafuqqq.

Make sure to subscribe to my youtube channel and “like” the video! 😀 Please?!

Leave a comment and let me know what you think I should do next week!

-Alice

P.S. I’m on a budget, so don’t get crazy.

This is Why You’re Fcking Awesome

Hello beautiful! Happy Wednesday!

So I’ve been dying to write more posts to contribute to my series of blog posts titled “Ally’s Awesome Advice.” Now I’m no expert at life and I am pretty young, but I do consider myself to have some common sense and determination to live life like a badass person. (Shout out to the new Nigahiga video!) Therefore, I believe I have the street cred to back up what I say.

First off, I just wanna start off by saying that we need to stop comparing ourselves to others. I’ll be the first to admit I am very guilty of this. It’s hard to not compare yourself to your peers! I mean, how many times at school has your friends asked you what you got on an essay or what grade you got on that midterm? Honestly, that’s no one’s business but your own so don’t ever feel obligated to share that shit with them – even if they are your good friend. And as a dancer, it is almost impossible to not compare yourself to other dancers. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in class or at a workshop and I just awkwardly stare at the really, really talented motherfcker in the front of the routine. It like gets to the point where I’m probably making them feel uncomfortable with my staring, but I just can’t help it. If you’re a ridiculously good dancer, people are gonna stare. End of story.

And just to connect to my fellow geeks out there, I KNOW this shit happens in the cosplay world for sure. You know that awkward moment when you’re walking around at a con cosplaying as your favorite character and then you see another person also cosplaying as the same character and you start to realize they did a phenomenal job and yours is just shit in comparison. C’mon. We’ve all had those days. In the cosplay world, it’s even more intimidating because people are asking for pictures. So if you’re not getting your picture taken, but the other person has flocks of photographers going to them, it just fcks with your self esteem. I know the feels, bro.

You ARE special and unique. Wanna know why? Because you are the ONLY ‘you’ in this entire world. I know there’s a Jenna Marbles video out there that discusses this concept in great detail, but I wanted to reiterate that point and remind you that you are an amazing person and you should never let anyone make you feel less than that. So if you’re dating a douchebag or a sketchy ass girl, make the choice today to MAKE A CHANGE. Life’s too short to dwell on the losers. We could all DIE tomorrow and you’d die knowing you were dating an asshole that’s not right for you. So stop it! If the person you’re with doesn’t make you feel like you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to him/her, then you need to reevaluate why you’re dating this person.

My third point I’d like to make is to stop calling yourself fat. You’re not fat. Trust, you’re just not. Society has built this concept of what beauty is and if you don’t fit that image, you’re automatically ugly. I’m sorry, but who the fck are you to tell me I’m fat? That’s what you should be telling all those trashy magazines you’re reading. As a person aspiring to be in PR, advertisements are meant to make you feel like you’re a worthless piece of shit and you need to buy this specific product in order to feel like you’re of value in this world. DON’T PLAY INTO THOSE MIND TRICKS. You are smarter and better than that. If you want to be healthier, then MAKE THAT CHANGE! Challenge yourself to eat more vegetables and cook at home rather than eat out. Challenge yourself to workout. Oh and with working out, you don’t need a gym membership to work out. There’s plenty of home workouts you can do without spending money on a gym pass. For starters, check out the youtube channel “Blogilates.” Cassey Ho is a super talented and energetic individual who has tons of awesome workouts that you can do FOR FREE. The internet has everything, you know.

That’s not to say that working out at home is better than working out at a gym. A gym is a great place to workout with friends and meet new people. I’m just offering an alternative.

So let’s recap, shall we? Don’t compare yourself to others because you’re the only beautiful YOU in this entire world. If you’re in a dead end relationship, save yourself and that person the trouble and move on. And lastly, body image is a mental exercise in itself. Be happy with the body you were born with. Accept yourself!

I hope this helped you realize that you are indeed an awesome fcking person and no one should ever tell you otherwise. I understand it’s a process to learn to love yourself and accept every fiber of your being as your own, but we’re all learning. Even your role models and celebrities are fighting a battle of their own. We’re all people – we have the same organs, the same hearts, we have hands, feet, eyes, etc. What makes us different is our ability to think. Use that sexy brain of yours to THINK differently! Don’t let those advertisements fck with your brain. THINK about them and realize they’re trying to make you feel like shit. Don’t let them. You’re better than that.

Make the choice to be happy today. Fck feeling sad! Being sad sucks.

To end on a fun note, my question of the week is, what are some things you’re awesome at? Get that positivity going!

And to further end on a funNER note… TMI fact of the week: I may or may not be addicted to twerking. I’ll just leave it at that…

If you’re going to Comic Con this weekend, HAVE FUN! 🙂 I wish I can be there. Take pictures and let me know if you run into Wong Fu or Angry Asian Man!

-Alice

ISAtv Introduces a New Variety Game Show

Image

Photo courtesy of Youtube

So I’ll admit… I’m a little late on posting about this. But hey, I loved this show so much, I just wanted to share it with you guys in case you haven’t heard of it.

So let’s backtrack a little. ISA is a concert events company that focuses on showcasing rising Asian American talent from online videos. (Basically all the Asian Youtubers in one place.) Founded by the ever popular Wong Fu Productions and Far East Movement, ISA has blossomed into a popular source for Asian American entertainment on the internet.

So if you’ve ever seen any game shows from Asia, you’ll know their game shows are anything but normal. They’re loud, fun, crazy, and there’s always some sort of dancing. Well, at least in Filipino game shows anyway. I for one have always found Asian game shows very entertaining and hilarious to watch. My favorite would have to be Silent Library from Japan.

Image

Photo courtesy by ISAtv’s Official Tumblr

ISAtv basically wanted to create their own version of those popular game shows. If you haven’t watched it yet, you better open up a new tab in your browser and start watching it. Like seriously. I’m waiting for you to do it. Did you do it yet? Ok…. good.  All the contestants in this first episode are popular Youtubers that you might recognize. We have Wesley Chan and Ted Fu from Wong Fu Productions, David Choi, Jen FrmHeadtoToe, Ally Maki, Clara C, Freddie Wong, Brandon Laatsch, Mike Song, and Anthony Lee. Hosted by Amy Okuda and Philip Wang from Wong Fu, the contestants were put in different challenges and if they lost, well, they better be ready. Because Game Master Yoshi (a.k.a. KevJumba) was ready to punish the weak.

My favorite challenge they’ve done so far is the game called “Pass It On.” The contestants were lined up and separated by a curtain. Starting with either Phil or Amy, they acted out a phrase. The first contestant then had to act out the same phrase, using NO words, to the next contestant. Basically, if the games Charades and Telephone had a baby, this is what it would be. The last contestant then had to act out the phrase to either Phil or Amy, and he/she would guess what the phrase is. If you’ve ever played the game Telephone as a kid, you’ll know that people misconstrue messages very easily, so you can only imagine how crazy this game turned out to be. If I ever host a party of some sort, I totally want to play this game.

ISAtv’s Youtube channel currently has 3 parts up, and they’re releasing part 4 of the game show TOMORROW! Based on the preview, it looks like the contestants are going to have to go through some sort of obstacle course. Let’s hope Yoshi doesn’t subject them to more torture!

Just kidding, we totally want to see that. Go Yoshi, go Yoshi go!

What are some of your favorite Asian game shows? Leave a comment and share your thoughts with me! 🙂

-Alice