Dear Blogger,

I miss my blog. So much has happened in my life since I last posted on here. I think posting on here again is exactly what I need.

I'm back.
- Gabby xo

The best of best worlds?

When I first started this blog, I wanted to get away from the influence of others on my tumblr. I've slowly gravitated back to my tumblr which is why I haven't been on here very often. I like to be my own person and be able to blog about my pure thoughts, but there's an upside to tumblr as well. There's nothing like finding people who are interested in the same things as you. Not to sound cliche, but I have a new found thirst for photography with tumblr partly to thank. Let's be clear: I'm not trying to be some kid with a SLR camera taking cute pictures of my friends for tumblr. Sure I'd love to do that too, but I'm interested in the art itself. For my research project in art at school, I'm doing the photography Dawoud Bey. I'm taking photography next year. I'm just trying to surround myself with new arts.

One thing I don't like about tumblr is "tumblr fame." I mean, who wouldn't want to see their face floating around a blog site? Seems totally rad or whatever. But it's a problem when people just blog for the "notes" instead of the things they like or whatever it is their blog is based off of. I've checked out some of the "tumblr famous" blogs, and sure they're pretty cool... they're just people though. Teens around my age. Regular people. Why can a website put these people on such a high level? I don't understand. Just like I don't understand finding love on tumblr... but that's a whole different topic.

Merry Christmas!

I know, I'm kind of late--but Happy Holidays! I hope everyone got the chance to spend time with those they loved yesterday. I'll admit that it didn't really "feel" like Christmas, but I always appreciate spending time with my family. Christmas Eve was with my mom's side and Christmas Day was with my dad's.

I got pretty much everything I wanted this year. I'm truly blessed to have the parents that I have, even when I rant and rave about how much they may annoy me.

Yesterday was also the first day of the NBA! First Bulls game of the season was against the Lakers and BOY WAS IT INTENSE. I got a new Bulls beanie for Christmas so I was definitely wearing it and screaming at the television all night. End result--Bulls win 88-87 in the last like 40 seconds of the game. #TEAMDROSE! It was the perfect ending to my Christmas. :)

Now, I just need to find the move for New Years ;)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Unfortunate as it may sound, today is the first day I really sat down and thought about everything I'm grateful for instead of the negatives. It turns out, I'm thankful for so much--it's ridiculous.

I'm thankful for the people that live in this house. Even though my mom and I rarely get along, my little sister always uses my stuff, and my dad is the biggest drama king I know, I love them all. We don't always get along like we should, but when we do it's the best feeling in the world.

I'm thankful for my friends. I have no idea where I would be without the people I choose to surround myself with. I have such a unique set of friends that are all individuals in their own way. They push me and support me as well as get on my last nerve sometimes, but they're perfect for me. I don't know where I'd be without them.

I'm thankful for GnD. It always feels good to know that 9th period I'm going to be around some amazing dancers with amazing personalities just enjoying what we do. There's nothing like collaborating with people who love the same things I do.

I'm thankful for EDT + Sydni and Dorian. Who would've thought this simple idea of starting a crew back in June would have flourished into something this great? This new experience and new family that we've brought together has the potential to just be amazing. To Sydni and Dorian, we are seriously a really good trio for the job. I've created a new friendship with Sydni and rekindled a flickering friendship flame with Dorian. Dance seriously does bring people together, and I love it.

I'm just thankful to be here today. Sure, I'm always tired and injured and sore, but I'm here. I'm just trying to enjoy my life to the fullest and for once, I actually feel like I'm doing so. I'm so appreciative for the life I have. Thank you God, for everything you've blessed me with. So happy turkey day to everyone! You are loved.

Protect-IP is GARBAGE!

So I got home from school today, eager to get on Tumblr and see what has been posted. I logged on to see that everything on the site has been censored. Seriously? At the top of the screen, I saw a link to an explanation. Apparently Congress is trying to pass a law that can censor websites like Tumblr, Facebook, and Twitter. Here's a video I found further explaining the law.


PROTECT IP Act Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.


I think the bill is ridiculous! The internet plays too big of a role in society and the economy today to just decide to censor everything. People like me who run blogs and basically live on sites like Twitter and YouTube would be at a serious loss. I understand the entertainment industry wanting to find a way to get more money but this isn't going to do anything but anger any people. Plus we live in a very manipulative society with a government that will take advantage of their power. If we give them this inch, they'll try and take a mile and probably succeed.

I encourage everyone to sign this petition and send an email to their representatives. This is nonsense and it must be stopped now.

Same ol' sh*t.

School. I'm not going to say that I hate getting an education, but I don't like how it's being done. As Americans we are taught that we need to go to school and get good grades so we can get good jobs and live comfortably. Until this year, I never really objected it. Waking up everyday and sitting in a building for hours was something that I had to do. In actuality, it's kind of stupid.

In the American school system, everything is essentially about making the grade. It is as if we have to prove ourselves to society in order to be successful in life. I'm stressing myself about a score on a standardized test that is a big deciding factor in whether I'm good enough to get into a certain school. I'm stressing myself about getting the best grades because I've screwed something up every single year until now--colleges won't accept me with bad grades. My one fear about my near future is ending up having to settle for a school because I wasn't "good enough."

I find myself thinking about my yearning to just live my life. I don't and I can't apply everything I learn in school to my daily life. To be quite honest, I don't remember a lot of what I "learn" in school. I'm not sure if that's because of the way things were taught to me or if I just never bothered to really learn it. The two can go hand in hand. I'd rather just go out and enjoy life. School can make life pretty miserable sometimes, not all. Then again, everyone is different.

I eventually get overwhelmed with my resent toward going to my high school every single day. It's not a bad school. It is actually one of the best public high schools in the city of Chicago. I still hate going. Learning about something I'm passionate about seems as if it would be a lot more productive. I completely understand learning the basics but somethings are just unnecessary. That's what is so intriguing to me about college. Aside from the freedoms, I get to chose what I want to learn about. Nothing is more motivating that being eager to learn about something in particular. I'm so ready for that experience.

Until then however, I'm stuck in the bowels of the public school system. Just trying to get by and make it to that next stage. Oh, college.

Go Stupidddd

This is from my birthday/homecoming pep rally. Yeah, we got off. I start in the front all the way to the left. (I choreographed the fourth dance to Ladies Love Me and the last dance to XR2) ^_^

Speak your mind

For me personally, speaking my mind is very difficult for me when I'm vulnerable. In other cases I always feel as if I have a valid opinion and can argue my case as much as I want.

Sometimes I'm really good with words. When someone asks me for advice, I'm really good with offering good insight and telling someone what they need to hear. When it's my thoughts and my feelings I need to get across to someone on my own, however, I need to go over it in my head billions of times to make sure they get my point. I don't want to say that wrong thing and have a person get the wrong idea.

One thing I absolutely hate is getting treated. Like seriously treated. Sometimes I'm so afraid of someone's reaction that I just keep everything I really want to say inside because I don't want to know their answer.

That's where I go wrong.

I need to practice just saying what I have to say. My opinion is valid, and beating around the bush is too annoying and confusing to want to continue a conversation. I can't be afraid of the truth. Not anymore.

Starting tonight.

Once I Had A Woman

For any of those who are interested, this is my dance team Guys N Dolls (GnD) at Dance Chicago 2011. I'm in the last trio to go on the right side of the screen. We snapped. I looked weak at the end :/ but overall we did really well. We also pulled off getting to homecoming 30 minutes later. Determination.

Shout outs to Joe from Elements contemporary ballet company. Thank you so much for choosing us for this amazing piece.

Faves | TLC - Baby Baby Baby

Ahh, I love this video! :)

On Repeat: Thinking About You | Emmalyn Estrada

I reblogged this on my Tumblr a few months ago and just ran across it again. I not only love this song, but I love the way she sings it. It's something I can listen to all day. Talent.

Video: We Found Love | Rihanna

First, let me start off by saying this my 100th post on Blogger! :) Anywho. Everyone has been talking about Rihanna's new visual for her song We Found Love which is featured on her upcoming album Talk That Talk coming out in November. I had never heard the song before I watched the video, and now I absolutely love both. I'm such a romantic. The way Rihanna and her "boyfriend" act in the video is exactly how I want my next relationship. They seemed so in love that the rest of the world didn't even matter. I wonder why she decided to pick a light skinned boy with blonde hair though? Hm. Still not over Chris, Ri? Whatever the case may be, this video is beautiful. :)

Nostalgia

nos-tal-gia [noun]
* a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time.

I've been thinking about time a lot lately. I'm seventeen years old and a junior in high school. Many of  my friends will be graduating in June and leaving for college by the end of the summer. It's actually something I think about a lot. A year may seem like a lot of time - it's not. The people that I've grown up with, the ones who have influenced my life in such ways that it was forever alter the way that I am today, the ones who stood by me through these many many years, they are continuing into another chapter of their lives and leaving me here. I love happiness. However long it may last, it is forever inprinted in my brain. I'm a seventeen year old girl. It's crazy to think about how much my life has changed in the past five years. I'm in the postition where I'm influencing little kids at my old dance school just like juniors influenced me. Thinking of me and solely me, I don't feel that old. However when I put that in relation to the people that were juniors when I was in seventh grade, it's like... damn. People see me how I saw, for example, BJ. I see them as BJ saw me. It's crazy.

I've grown so much since I've been high school and I'm just experiencing life. Life throws so many fast balls and curve balls that I don't know how to handle. I know this. I'm not saying that I make all the right decisions because I surely do not. I do however know that it is helping shape me into a well-rounded person.

It's actually almost difficult to try and formulate the thoughts that I have when it comes to my evolution as a person. You could try to ask other people how I may have changed, but no one knows better than me. They may say that I've made some wrong decisions or that I'm perfect ;) haha but I think the only thing that matters is that on this journey I can recognize the change in me and remember the good times that I've had. They aren't coming back. I can only create new memories, and that's what I'm doing.

This is for me. Living for me. Thinking about me. Striving to please me, so I can be happy. Me.

Seventeen, simple dream

Whew. I've had the most hectic weekend. So, last friday was my seventeenth birthday! It also was my high school homecoming game. Saturday was a competition called Dance Chicago and my homecoming dance. Sunday was my high school's open house in which I had to perform. Long crazy satisfying weekend. Life is such a funny thing to be quite honest. It wasn't the perfect weekend I imagined for myself, but it was all-in-all a really good one. This weekend really got me thinking about how things and circumstances can change over time. God sure does have a funny way of giving us what we want when we least expect it. Right now, I'm just rolling with the punches. Overall, I'm still striving to be content with my life. I can get there. I will get there. ^_^

Erica, Gabby, & Rielle. Shuttin' homecoming down - 2011.

Let's talk about sex baby ;)

Woop, woop! More Chicago. This here is a documentary filmed by a girl named Crislin and it's all about sex but from a teenagers point of view. A few of my friends are in this video and it's really interesting and informative. Kudos to Crislin. ^_^

This documentary got me thinking about sex and all the questions that were asked:

Sex is very common in this generation. Then again, I feel like sex has always been common. I remember my freshman year I was talking to my friend Kendall who is in this video and he said "by your junior year, every girl who isn't having sex will be having sex." I mean, of course I laughed it off but I'm a junior now... his statement wasn't too far off. Nowadays at my age, talking about sex is like talking about clothes for example; normal as hell. Am I surprised by it? No. Am I ashamed by it? No. I just feel as if sex is BOUND to happen at some point and this is typically where it starts. I will say though that the younger people of my generation are growing up a lot faster than my friends and I did. I really just want them to slow down, but I can't really worry about anybody but myself.

One thing I think everyone can agree on is that the media really does have an effect on how teens view sex. ESPECIALLY MUSIC. It seems like if an artist isn't making pop music, he's making "baby making music" and even when that's not the case, there are sexual references in all types of music. Me personally, I believe our generation is so used to having sex being thrown at us that if you ask someone if they're effected, they might say no. Like if I hear like a rap song about a "bitch shaking her ass on a nigga dick" I'm not like "OOOH LEMME GO SHAKE MY ASS ON A NIGGA DICK BECAUSE THIS THE JAM!" No... that's not how it works. Every time a song like that comes on the radio and I'm in the car with my parents, they ask me "Do you know what you're singing about?" Uh, YEAH. I'm just singing -_- Branching off from just music, television publicizes sex a lot as well. We have shows like 16 & Pregnant or Teen Mom that are obviously bluntly about sex, then there are shows like Awkward. that showcase young sexually active teens at like 15 basically boning all the time. But then, society tries to look down on people who have a lot of sex? Naw bruh, it doesn't work like that.

I don't care if a girl friend of mine isn't a virgin. Does that make her a bad person? No, not in my eyes. Sex is natural, it's going to happen. Why should I care? I'm a person with strong morals, so none of my friends can pressure me into having sex. I'm not against sex, and I know it's going to happen. I also know me being the female, I ultimately determine whether or not I'll have sex with a person. I can't speak from a boy's perspective, but I feel as if it is looked down upon for a boy to be a virgin. Do I care if a boy is a virgin? Personally, naw. Do I care if you do have sex? Naw, I don't care about that either. Everyone isn't like me though. It's all about social acceptance.

One thing I hate is the double standard for males and females when it comes to sex. If a boy has sex with a lot of girls, he's "cool" but let a girl have sex with a lot of boys, shawty a "hoe" who's "going for the team" and her reputation has been tainted significantly. They're BOTH hoes in my eyes. I can't control anyone but myself, so if a person like having sex that's on them. I just hope that they're smart enough to handle everything that comes with having a lot of sex.

Sex is gon' happen. Everything that surrounds that though is very opinionated. Das all.

Clear Eyes

In my opinion, Chicago is the best city in America. So I believe the best things come from Chicago. There's this band called Kids These Days that used to go to my school. They all graduated this past year, but they are still making great music. This is the latest video for the song Clear Eyes. This isn't the whole band, just the trumpet player Nico and the rapper Vic. I'll probably post a video of all of KTD later this weekend. Enjoy!

NEW VIDEO | Headlines

Drake ~ Headlines (Official Video) from OctobersVeryOwn on Vimeo.

Drake has recently released the visual for his single, Headlines. I've seen a lot of good feedback about this video. Drake is just... ^_^ Anywho. I'm really excited for Take Care. October 24th couldn't be any further away.

You are the company you keep

I'm the type of person to believe that the people you associate with and keep around you are an extension of you as a person. Personally, I try to keep good natured, motivated, well rounded people in my circle. There's nothing better, in my opinion, than supporting your friends and having them support you. I was just thinking about this because a good friend of mine, Martese, won the Nordstrom Scholarship along with five other people out of 7,100 candidates. That's crazy! I don't know much about the Nordstrom Scholarship, but I know that he really deserves it. So shout outs to him because people like him motivate me to be raw at life as well. He's not the only friend that motivates me like this, but this post is especially for him.

Congrats Boogie, hard work truly pays off.
:)

Talia & Rielle. Best friends until the world blows, legit.

Growing up

I got my driver's license yesterday ^_^ even though my signature looks like a 3rd graders (lol) I'm really growing up. I think this is caused me to be super nostalgic because I keep thinking about my childhood and everything/everyone I've encountered my in my almost seventeen years of living. It's crazy how the time is flying. I really need to cherish the time I have right now with the people I love because who knows what will happen in the future?