Post 146: Fact or Fiction: It's Always the Bad Boy

In most love triangles, there are two guys and one girl (don't worry this is not another love triangle rant, but it is a rant of sorts). And usually of the two guys one is the stereotypical "nice guy". He is friends with her first (usually). He is nice to her at all times, and generally willing to go out of his way for her whenever she asks him to (and sometimes when she doesn't). In some media he crosses the line between friend and doormat. Then there is another very different guy. He is usually broody and stubborn. He doesn't usually express his emotions with words so much as outbursts or sulking. He tends to be the "bad boy" type.

And 99% of the time, that is who the girl ends up with.

Mortal Insturments: Sweet Simon vs. Moody Jace? It's Jace.
Twilight: Brooding Edward or Brotherly Jake? It's Edward.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Honorable Norrington or Pirate Will? It's Will.
Coffee Prince: Arrogant HK or supportive HS? It's HK.
Gilmore Girls: Jerk Jess or Loving Dean? It's Jess.
My Fair Lady: Devoted Freddy or Distant Higgins? It's Higgins.
You're Beautiful: Mean TK or Kind SW? It's TK.
Boys Before Flowers: Vindictive JP or Sensitive JH? It's JP.
Secret Garden: Entitled KJ or Caring IJ? It's KJ.

But, in most cases, what brings them together is not that he is a rude, arrogant jerk that needs to be slapped in the face with reality. It is that he SPOKE UP. He SAID something. It is usually connected to arrogance or jerkiness, because he feels kind of entitled to her. But it means that she KNOWS how he feels, and so starts thinking of him that way.

In Mortal Instruments, Simon says nothing until she has already fallen for Jace.
In Twilight, Jake plays the part of her brother, until it is too late.
In Pirates, well Norrington came WAY too late to the party. She's been crushing on Will since they were kids.
In Coffee Prince, HS didn't act on his feelings until she a) found out he had a girlfriend and b) had moved on.
In You're Beautiful, TK knows she is a girl and she knows that TK knows she is a girl. (For clarification, she is pretending to be a guy for reasons.) So everything he does, she sees him doing it for her as a girl. Meanwhile, she doesn't know SW knows she is a girl. So, what he does to win her over (gifts, compliments, secret sharing, hugs, things like that) she assumes he is doing as a brother figure. SPEAK UP DUDE~! I was actually rooting for you (in one version, at least).
In Secret Garden, IJ spends every day with her at work, but never tells her how he feels. He even distances himself at times when he thinks she might be noticing. Suddenly KJ appears and what does he do? He goes to her work. He brings her to his work. He shows up at her house. He actively pursues her. He doesn't just sit on the sidelines and hope she will notice him. 
In Boys Before Flowers, he doesn't saying anything until JP has already declared her his girlfriend. Like really? You're speaking up a little late considering she has actually already made it pretty clear she liked you, then backed off since she thought you were in love with someone else.

(By the way, that is how a love triangle SHOULD BE. Two girls like the same guy, she sees he cares about the other girl more and instead of being rude or cruel, she encourages him to be with her and her to be with him because she knows it will make him happy.)

Anyway, my point is that the girl doesn't always pick the bad boy (at least not BECAUSE he is a bad boy). Most of the time, she just picks the one who bothered to SPEAK UP first. Katniss chose "nice guy" Peeta in Hunger Games, why? He confessed he loved her in front of everyone before Gale ever confessed at all.

It's not about who is nicest, its about who is first to say something. If any of these "nice guys" had spoken up sooner, they'd have had a lot better chance at getting the girl to see them as more than a friend. It is like they are written as being so timid that they just want to sit on the side and hang out just behind her, hoping she will turn around and notice them while the jerk guy will jump up and down in front of her screaming "NOTICE ME". And then the nice guy is surprised when she doesn't pick him.

People aren't psychic. If you just hang out in their periphery they might totally miss you. And it will be your fault for not doing anything. Not theirs.

Anyway, I just wanted to express my thoughts about the subject.

Post 145: Love Triangles and why they annoy me.

Love Triangles annoy me. A love triangle is when two people like the same person. But could also be explained as, two people ignore the feelings of the person they supposedly care about and instead of treating them like a person with feelings, treat them like an object or trophy to be won. 

Which is what they do. 

In Girl Meets World: Two friends like the same guy. One girl dates him, but then says she likes him as a brother - he says he doesn't feel like her brother, she ignores him. So, she pushes him and her friend together. The friend and he go out. Turns out girl #1 likes him, a mutual friend announces it. So suddenly he knows they both like him and have basically been pushing him back and forth because they don't want to hurt each other. But...

Does anyone bother to ask how he feels? Or even acknowledge it when he says anything? No.

In Mortal Instruments: Simon and Jace both like Clary. Simon then throws a fit when she is with Jace, like really? If you really care about her then why are you treating her like this? Why are you acting like her feelings don't matter?

In My Best Friends Wedding and Made of Honor: the point of the movie is someone coming back to break up the wedding of the person they care about and their new fiancee. Like really? They clearly care about that person if they are getting married, so why are you trying to ruin their happiness? And what do you really think ruining their wedding will bring you? It is, honestly, just selfish. It is someone putting their own feelings before the person they supposedly care about's feelings.

(I didn't see the end of Made of Honor, but I really hope she didn't leave the guy she loved and agreed to marry for the jerk that showed up at the last minute to ruin her wedding after being in love with her for so long but never acting on it.)

This Means War movie summary? Two top CIA operatives wage an epic battle against one another after they discover they are dating the same woman. Or better explained as: two CIA agents disregard their oath to the country and use their training against each other over a girl--as if this will actually resolve the issue. Like she will just automatically go to whichever one wins. Last I checked, feelings don't work like that. 

Anyway, I am tired of seeing this. Seeing girls fight over who gets the guy, or guys arguing about who had 'dibs'. You can't call dibs on a person. You cannot pick who gets who. That is not how the real world works. 

I feel like most of the time this shows up, the two characters might as well be fighting over a hairbrush for the sheer lack of consideration they put into thinking about how the person they are fighting over feels.

Like really. 

A: C is mine!

B: No, C is mine!

C: Does anyone care how I feel? 

A: No. Because we love you so much we don't actually care how you feel. 

B: We will duel at dawn and whoever wins gets to date you. 

C: But I like someone else. 

A: Then they better show up for the duel and win. 

B: Or else they don't get to date you. Because that is the rules in a love triangle. 

Post 144: Google Chrome

I signed into Google on a computer on campus today and was completely shocked to see all my bookmarks along the top of the page. Not as shocked as I was to say Hola! (an extension that allows me to use a proxy, which means I can be in Canada and watch American Netflix). It was weird. I noticed Hola! first and was confused, who had downloaded Hola on the computer? How had they gotten past the administrator rights? Surely, the school wouldn't have added it, so who did?

That is when I realized that Google Chrome is connected to my Google account, something I had known but not really understood what it meant. I didn't really think it would save those things. I never really thought about how the connection between the two worked.

It is interesting, though I'm not sure that I 100% am happy about it. I mean, it is nice that I can save things between computers. However, it does mean that my browser history, bookmarks, most visited pages, etc. are personal things rather professional things. Like Facebook and Youtube come up as the top sites, so if my colleagues or superiors saw it - they might think that I am slacking off at work and going on these sites instead of working. Though, I have gone on these sites at lunch.

Also, what if I forget to sign out? Will it have me signed in on other user accounts? Will someone else sign in and have access to my blog, email, bookmarks, or history?

I think this is something that is still up for debate as to whether it is a helpful feature or not. Anyway, I didn't have too much to say about it. So, going to end this post here.

Post 143: Top Ten Non-Disney Princesses

Or rather, top ten female characters that would be considered Disney Princesses if they were, in fact, Disney characters. By this I mean, characters that would be labelled as Disney Princesses, even though they aren't technically Princesses. Like Official Disney Princess, Mulan and unofficial princesses like Alice, Esmeralda, and Tinkerbell. 

I will reserve the Top Five for Official Princesses. 

1. Tuptim - The King and I

Tuptim is very sweet, but also a really cool character because she was really open-minded. She presented an interesting paradox between the King's eldest son and herself. He felt he knew everything and wasn't really interested in learning anything different at first, but he had a tutor who came all the way from England to teach him. While she was eager to read and learn new things, even though her being able to read was considered a crime. Yet, even though she wasn't supposed to, she continued to read. And even though she knew she would get in trouble for it, you could tell she took pride in it. She also helps save the day. (Obviously, this is based off the animated version, because it has a happy, death-free ending.)

2. Thumbelina - Thumbelina

Being about two inches tall is probably hard enough without adding kidnapping toads, pervy beetles, and, a materialistic mouse. And yet, Thumbelina handles the hardships she faces with grace. She makes her way across a great distance (okay, so it is probably like her backyard - but that's pretty big for her!) with the help of her friends, showing great compassion as she goes.

3. Yum Yum - The Princess and the Cobbler

Yum Yum and Thumbelina are probably tied. The only reason Thumbelina made it to slot #2, is that I liked the animation better for it. There is nothing wrong with the animation for the Princess and The Cobbler, it just isn't as fluid. Yum Yum is a strong character. She is also very clever.

4. Odette - Swan Princess

Odette's character is 4, but could also be 7. I go back and forth, because I really liked her character in the beginning, but not as much later on. She starts off as an adorable and clever kid. She grows up and her and the Prince are constantly at odds. But a kind of playful at odds, then they meet as adults and are instantly smitten. Why? Who knows. He says "let's get married" because their parents are trying to set them up and he's like "let's do this". She says, "okay...but...what do you actually like about me? Like we weren't even friends before and now you're like 'I love you'?" And he says, "you're beautiful." And she's like "thanks but...what else?" Basically, is that all he's into? And he says "what else is there?" And she is like "nope...not going to marry some vain jerk." But, then they don't see each other again and she is all BUT I LOOOOOVE HIIIIIMMM. I mean, it is like love at first sight, if you don't count their childhood, because they almost never have a legitimate conversation. I mean, she went from "I won't marry you" to "you're my true love" without really much of anything in between. I mean, he felt bad. And the audience knew that, but she didn't. Anyway, she has a pretty strong character otherwise. So, if I overlook the lack of real conversation between the two, she is at 4. Otherwise, she is still on the list at 7, because she takes on a lot even as just a bird.

5. Nancy - Enchanted

I love Nancy, I don't know if she fully counts as a princess, though. I mean, she marries the prince, but she wasn't really the one who was supposed to marry him. If the story had been based off a book, it'd be like if Cinderella disappeared so the princess married a step-sister. But, she is great. In the end, she even steps back and pushes her boyfriend to Giselle, because she knows they belong together. She is straight-forward and driven. Honestly, she will make a great Queen.

6. Kayley - Quest for Camelot

Kayley is kick-arse, but not a princess. If she were a literal princess she'd have gotten a higher rating. I love her. I don't like the romance as much because it suffers the way so many others suffer - a brief romance that starts with "You are annoying me" and quickly develops to, "we connect on microscope level either through a common friend or experience, so that means it is true love." Anyway, other than that, she is great. She is a clutz and a spazz, but she dreams about fighting for her home and for honor in her father's memory. And she goes off to save Camelot on her own, later meeting a man in the forest who helps her. Later on, she even goes single-handedly against the villain - even though he is like three times her size and has a magical sword for a hand.

7. Anastasia - Anastasia

Anastasia is stubborn, but also very strong. She has a lot of stuff to deal with (evil villain with the ability to create an army of magic, giant evil bat-things to destroy a bridge? pretty big stuff), and though she is scared - she keeps going and fighting. She also has a lot of integrity. She grew up in an orphanage with no memories and a caretaker that seems kind of harsh (though, she did keep Anya along time and even helped get her a job, so she has to care for her at least a little). And when presented with the opportunity to live as a Grand Duchess, she turns it down at first because she doesn't want to lie about who she is, even if it means money and power. And in the end, she chooses to be with Dmitri over money. Which is sweet, plus - I'd like to think - it was also a choice for freedom. She found out her past, but her life brought her to a different future. Like...just because she found out who she was when she was little, doesn't change who she became. 

8. Chel - Road to El Dorado

Chel is hilarious, she is also very clever - being one of the only people in El Dorado who isn't taken by the Miguel and Julio's 'god' disguise. She is ambitious and adventurous. She is a great help to them and to the people of El Dorado. If it wasn't for her, the main characters would have been killed a dozen times over and, even though she came between them, it wasn't out of ill-intentions.  

9. Marina - Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas

Marina is tough and determined. She takes on pirates and the goddess of destruction to save her fiance, a fiance she doesn't even love but just greatly respects and cares for. She saves their lives with great wit and determination. She is such a great character, and the only woman who could keep Sinbad in line.

10. Susan - Monsters vs. Aliens

Susan is pretty awesome. My favorite thing about her isn't even how she is, but how she develops as a character. In the beginning, she is kind of co-dependent and scared. She is scared of what happened to her and spent most of the movie wanting to go back, but along the way she realized what she was capable of and grew as a person. In the end, she even makes the choice of giving up a normal life and risking her life to save her friends.

American Horror Story (TV Series - 2011)

This review post has been moved to my review blog. Click this link to read it.

Post 142: Retro-Writing: Beauty

A new series? Already? Yes, a new series. This series will be sort of a filler series - I'll admit. It is what the title suggests, though not exactly accurately. This tag and series will be old writings that I've decided to post. This shall be the first, an essay I wrote - thoug,h I don't remember when, why, or for what - on beauty.

Beauty:

There are many things in the world that are considered beautiful, but what makes something beautiful? Beauty is simple; something is considered beautiful if it is pleasant to one of the senses. A beautiful song or sound is one that is pleasant to the ears, and the sense of hearing. A beautiful sight is one that is pleasant to the eyes, and the sense of sight. A beautiful scent is one that is pleasant to the sense of smell.  A beautiful taste is a pleasant taste and a beautiful texture is one that is pleasant feeling, however typically things are not normally described as beautifully tasting or feeling.

            

What is considered beautiful tends to vary between societies. In North America, things that are typically described as beautiful are auditory or visual. Commonly, things like landscapes and art are described as appearing or looking beautiful. However, art and beauty should not be synonymous. Art is something creative; something original and something that makes people who experience it or come in contact with it think or feel something. However, while art like beauty is in the ‘eye of the beholder’, it can be art without being beautiful. A painting that evokes dark and unpleasant feelings would typically be described as beautiful. If the person viewing it did describe it as beautiful, it would be because something in the painting appealed to them on some level. It could be that they find the dominant colour used a pleasant colour. Alternatively, a beautiful painting of a pleasant looking cottage might make some feel pleasant and relaxed, or inspire a feeling of security; while, it makes others feel ill or irritated at its simplicity (or reminds others of the evil witches cottage in fairy tales) so they may not describe it as being beautiful.

            

People are also described as being beautiful. However, there are two different contexts that can be perceived when a person is described as being beautiful. They can be described as beautiful in appearance and/or beautiful in essence and personality. Beauty is skin deep in many ways, though, because it is limited to what can be experienced through the senses. A person can be pleasant looking, but not be considered to have a beautiful personality. You cannot tell a person’s personality without observing their actions or hearing their words. A person is not just seen as having a beautiful personality without proof; they are seen as such through their actions or words- which can be experienced through the senses to create a pleasant feeling. For example, to know that someone is generous we would need to see them donating money. Donating money would be the pleasant sight, or sensual experience, needed for us to perceive that person as having a beautiful personality.

            

People can also be described as having a beautiful voice. The description of a person’s appearance or voice can show just how subjective a person’s perception of beauty is, as people that are liked tend to inspire a higher level of pleasantness, while people who are disliked tend to inspire more discontent. For example, in a relationship one person might find the other person’s voice very beautiful, however after they break up they might view the other’s voice more in comparison with nails on a chalkboard. However, the perception of the sense is processed differently in the two situations, making it remain true that it is what the person experiences with the senses they have.

            

Music is also something that is described as being beautiful. This is another area where the subjective nature of beauty becomes very apparent. While most people can agree that classical music has moments of beauty and can be very beautiful, not everyone enjoys classical music the same way. People can recognize the pleasant aspects of it, without truly enjoying the music genre as a whole. This relates back to the painting and visual beauty. The painting might be on the disturbing side, but if there is some aspect of it that inspires a pleasant feeling, than it can be seen as beautiful. The same is true with music. One can also enjoy a song, without it being beautiful. Most rap and heavy metal lacks a pleasantness, since they tend to have a rough quality too them. However, that is how they are supposed to be. So, if people can enjoy them even though they don’t necessarily find them beautiful.

            

Besides the senses, there are things that effect our interpretations of beauty. However, they only change the way we interpret what we sense, not what we sense. For example, the two people mentioned earlier in a relationship have different views during the relationship and after. This isn’t due to a change in appearance or voice; simply the emotion associated it with it. It can be agreed that the voice of a friend is more pleasant that the voice of a stranger, even when taken out of the context of ‘friend’ and ‘stranger’, the stranger might have a more pleasant voice. This is because our emotions caller the context. This also occurs based on the feelings we have in the moment we are experiencing and sensing. If we are in a happier mood, we are more likely to view things favourably. If we are in a poor mood, we might find things more unpleasant than they otherwise would be. However, as the thing itself doesn’t change only the way we perceive it, it can be rationalized that it is our senses that determine what is beautiful from what isn’t.

            

If a person had never had the ability to sense anything – could never see, smell, taste, hear or feel – then they would not have any concept of beauty is. They could not perceive it, because they could not experience anything through their senses. However, if a person lost their ability to sense anything – could no longer see, smell, taste, hear or feel – then they could still imagine beauty, because they could recall what they had previously found pleasant. This would allow them to experience beauty through the memory of the things they had sensed before. The same way remembering a happy moment or memory stimulates feelings of happiness in the present.

            

In conclusion, beauty is nothing more than what we perceive as pleasant through our senses. This can be seen in what we perceive as beautiful, as well as how our perceptions of what is and isn’t beautiful can change when our emotions toward things change. Since, beauty is perceived through our senses in the same way colour or pitch is determined it is simple in nature. This simplicity in what beauty is makes it easy for people to use it and take it into consideration when trying to make things beautiful, if people don’t try and dig deeper and over-complicate it.  

Cinderella (1997)

This post has been moved to my review blog. Click here to read.

Post 140: GIFS

There is an argument about how 'GIF' is pronounced. Hard G or soft g? Is it G-IF as in girl, or JIF? like jug? I, personally, say JIF, with a j as opposed to a g sound. Even though the 'G' stands for Graphics with a hard 'G', the pronunciation of the acronym with a hard 'G' sounds weird.

GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format. It is a moving picture, essentially. It is like the above and below moving pictures, like clips of things. There are people who are actually pretty passionate about how it is pronounced, even insulting others who disagree. There are even debates about the pronunciation. 

Steve Wilhite, who created the Graphics Interchange Format, or GIF announced: "It's pronounced JIF, not GIF."

But there is still arguments about the pronunciation. A lot of people argue that hard-G GIF makes the most sense. They argue that it isn't  Jraphics, its Graphics, so it should be GIF, not JIF. Even, Obama says GIF. 

Why does it matter? Why am I talking about it? Because as it so happens, I've decided to start using them in my posts. I've used some already in my Top Ten posts, but I'm thinking - like this one, I'm going to start adding and integrating gifs into my posts. I think they are fun and easy to add. And, there is really a surprising variety of them out there. 

Post 139: Top Ten Forgotten or Under-appreciated Disney Characters

1. Eilonwy from The Black Cauldron - The queen of forgotten Disney characters. She is strong and brave. She gets kidnapped by a pretty freaky (gives me nightmares, at least), skeleton king and locked in a dungeon. And what does she do? She stays calm and finds a way to get herself out. She saves the male lead and does it with humor and sass. She is also very sweet. Unfortunately for her, the movie she is in is one of the most forgotten about Disney movies. Probably because the movie didn't have a clear audience. The main characters looked young (like 10-14), there were fairies and a cute pig which made it seem like it was meant for little kids. Yet, the villain and his army of the dead and the sexual humor of the witches made it seem more for teens and up. Usually, Disney hides the sexual innuendo, but the minstrel being turned into a frog and getting stuck in the witch's bosom? Not very hidden. What was your audience with this movie Disney? You had a good plot and good characters but, really, what was your target audience? 

2. Audrey Ramirez from Atlantis: the Lost Empire - spitting in the face of sexism and beating up bad guys at the same time. She is one of two daughters of a man who wanted sons. Audrey and her sister were raised as sons. Her sister is a boxing champion, while she is an expert mechanic. She took over her father's shop and now is on an elite team of explorers and she isn't even in her 20's yet. But, as a minor character, Audrey tends to be forgotten about compared to Kida and Helga. Which is sad, because she has the most sass - and in the end, when they're about to destroy a civilization, Audrey is the first one from the team to look back and realize what they were doing was wrong. (Except for the Doctor, who wasn't really part of that scene - because, apparently, it was just decided before then they were going to leave him behind. It just wasn't shown.)

3. Megara from Hercules - It takes a very strong person to sell their soul to save someone else's life. Especially in a Universe where the Elysian Fields (a sort of Greek mythology version of Heaven) were real. Assuming he was a good person before he dumped her, she knew he would end up in the Elysian Fields because Hades was real to sell her soul to. Yet, even knowing he would end up somewhere good if he did die, she still sold her soul to spare him from pain. And yet, even after he betrayed her she was still able to open her heart to Hercules. And let me just say, I've worked for some tough employers, but can you imagine a worse boss that Hades? I mean, he sent her to deal with a centaur and who knows what else, and quitting is not an option, so really she is one tough chick. 

4. Charlotte La Bouff from Princess and the Frog - Charlotte is seriously under-appreciated. She is the exact opposite of basically every Disney princess. There were really no hardships in her life. She didn't have wicked step-sisters, she didn't have to clean or hide, and she never had to worry about anything. She always got everything she wanted. But she never abandoned her friend, Tiana, even though she probably had a lot of people swarming her trying to be her friend. And in the end, she wanted to help Tiana get the man of her dreams, even if it meant giving up her own dream to marry a Prince. The first time she didn't get what she wanted, and it was her choice to give it up in order to help out a friend.

5. Edna Mode from The Incredibles - I love Edna. Edna has the passion and fire that makes her the perfect fashion designer for superheroes. She is smart and strong. She also really puts a lot of thought into every design. She takes into consideration not only a supers powers but their personality and situation. Every hero probably goes to her, yet she knows them all on a personal level and is even there for Helen when she is worried about her husband. She also gives good advice.

6. Captain Amelia from Treasure Planet - A captain needs to be respected by their crew, especially in a time where pirates run wild and treasure is buried in the center of planets. No, but seriously, people in charge need the people following their command to respect them (or fear them, as Machiavelli might say). Captain Amelia is a well-respected Captain, something that based off people's reaction to her seems like it is rare for a female Captain to be seen as. She is tough and even after being shot she still tries to take care of her crew mates. 

7. Adelaide Bonfamille from Aristocats - I honestly adore Adelaide. She is fabulous. She is a retired opera singer who was very famous and is now very rich. And she leaves everything, her entire fortune to her butler. True, she does say it goes to her cats first, which is what causes the butler to lose it. But cats do not really live that long, sadly. So, in fifteen years at most, most if not all of the cats would be dead and the fortune would have been his. And in the meantime, it isn't like the cats can shop. So, he would be the primary caregiver. So, he would just have had to take care of them until they died and then he would receive it all. If he had been smart enough to realize that cats having nine lives, doesn't mean they live nine lifetimes, then he'd have known he was going to still be alive and not much older than he was when he received the fortune. Anyway, in the end, she puts her fortune towards helping stray animals and opens her home to strays. She just seems like such a strong, down to earth woman. 

8. Princess Dot from A Bug's Life - I don't know how old Princess Dot was in ant years or otherwise. But, she is clearly very young. And until the end, she couldn't fly either. Yet, she was incredibly brave and compassionate. She was also clever. When she saw someone suffering for being different, she went out of her way to try and make them feel better. She was loyal to her friends and risked her life to try and help her friends and her colony despite her young age and small size.  

9. Kala from Tarzan - Kala is so sweet. There doesn't seem like there were many human visitors to the island, before his parents. But they did seem to recognize he was human, suggesting that humans had been seen around the island before and not in a particularly positive way. Perhaps, it was his parents. Perhaps, it was other settlers. Either way, the fact that Kala took him in disregarding his differences and her own mate's input (who was also the leader) to try to save him really shows how strong her sense of compassion is. She also is very encouraging, she lets him be himself even though that gets them both in trouble. 

10. Olivia Flaversham from The Great Mouse Detective - I think she is under-appreciated, but also sometimes annoying. I think it is her voice that annoys me, it seems a little...off somehow. Maybe I find it a little annoyingly high pitched, or maybe the accent sounds kind of strange to me. I don't know. But the character her self is pretty impressive. She is a young girl who suffered a terrible trauma of having her father abducted and her home destroyed. And what does she do, she goes off by herself far from home with no money or help to try to find someone who can help get her father back. And when she finds the Detective, he seems crazed and is armed, but when he said he won't help, she doesn't give up. She is a strong kid and therefore earns the last spot on this list. (Though, Penny from the Rescuers should get an honorable mention here, because she is also very brave.)

Post 138: Does Nepotism die?

Nepotism: the practice among those with power or influence of favoring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs.

My mom got me a job at her office. It was to come in and help out with office administration type things. I have done it before and I did go through an official process, I had to take typing tests and go through interviews. But, in the end, I was flagged for the job because she was my mom. 

It's not that I'm not capable or qualified, but it was nepotism that guaranteed me the job. After the job ended, as it was a temporary position, I went on to other things. 

However, I am now working in the office again, though not in her department, because her boss wanted me to come back and work there. 

Yet, I cannot help but wonder if all of it is still connected back to that original act of nepotism. Has the rest been tainted? Or because they asked me back on their own because I am a good worker, does that make it separate? 

This is a question that I've thought about a lot. Though, I'm still not sure of the answer. I think sometimes people who come in that are also new think that it was only nepotism. I mean, they're not in the same department as me, so much as people I work with outside of it but still with the same overall employer.  

They know my mom works in the same place and sometimes they seem to talk to me in a manner that suggests they don't think that I have experience doing....anything, really. Sometimes they even try and tell me how to do the job that I have been doing longer than they have. I have been working admin. positions for like 8 years. I have been in and out of this office (really, different positions all working in the same building for the same person) for 4 years. I have a typing speed of around 55 WPM. I have taken classes in using word and excel. I have the skills and experience. 

But I am treated differently because my mom works here. At least, at first. 

After a few days working together they realize that I am capable and treat me like anyone else in the office, even coming to me for help. 

But the whole thing does make me wonder about nepotism. Is it still nepotism if my current job is one I got out of skill, if the person who hired me only learned about me through a position I got through nepotism? 

SoundHound: iPhone App

SoundHound is probably one of my favorite apps. It is also one I use fairly regularly. Essentially what the app does is listen to the audio and identify what it is. It is useful when listening to the radio when the song isn't listed or when you are shopping and a song comes on that you like. I have tried Shazam and musiXmatch. I found musiXmatch is best for lyrics, but not very good at identifying songs. I also found SoundHound seemed to have more songs that Shazam in its database.

I also found that SoundHound was better at identifying songs when I sang or hummed them, if the song was no longer on or I remember it later. Personally, I also found Shazam's layout a little disorienting.

One of the features I really like, aside from the main one, is that it saves your searches. So, if I hear a song when I am out that I like but can't use or connect to the internet, it saves so that I can search later. Which is really useful, because I often worry about going over on Data charges.

After finding the song it gives you the option to search on iTunes. So, you can buy it after you find it. I have used this to find a lot of songs I really enjoyed.

The most recent songs I used it to find are: Rewind by Neverest, 503 by Hans Zimmer, Dark Horse by Katy Perry, and Dream on the Dance floor by Basshunter.

I also use the app to see lyrics for songs. This is a feature of other apps as well, but I find SoundHound has a lot. (Or at least it did, since the last update it doesn't seem to have as much.)

I would recommend the app to those who find music out or on the radio they like. It is easier than writing down lyrics to search up later. Even if you don't, it is free and you never know when you might need it.

So, I recommend you check it out on the iTunes store, or the Android store (I assume the apps are the same).