Is the Mouse Mightier Than the Pen?

This is my dog, Hailey, reacting to the title of this post. She doesn't agree. She also likes bacon. And you, judging by the way she's leaping out from your computer screen.

The pen is, in fact, still mightier that the mouse. At least, to me it is.
Let me clarify, for those reading the title and being stared down by my dog and wondering, "What in the name of Super Bowl 2012 (GIANTS GIANTS GIANTS) is she talking about?"
I think that taking the time to write things out in a magazine, blog, diary, or newspaper trumps spitting out little blurbs of your thoughts or inspirations on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or Tumblr. A lot of this sentiment probably came from the fact that my sister just came back from the supermarket and bought me the latest Nylon Magazine! THANKS, SISTER O' MINE! Anyway, nothing beats having crisp and colorful pages physically in your fingers!

So I think I want to start a 'zine. (No, not a full-fledged magazine, just an on-the-computer Microsoft Publisher printed-on-my-library's-printer and so-not-even-legit 'zine.) I'm tired of reading all of these hipster blogs saying, "YO LOOK AT ME AND MY 'ZINE. IT'S MAD BETTER THAN YOURS. ALSO LISTEN TO THIS BAND YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF.

DID YOU EVER HEAR OF 'COMPUTER MAGIC?' YEAH, I BET YOU DIDN'T, BECAUSE THIS IS THE BAND YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF." [Side note: I actually really like this band! You should too. Even though your non-hipster friends/family will probably make fun of you for it. THROW CAUTION TO THE WIND AND DANCE LIKE A ROBOT NOW.]

BACK TO 'ZINES NOW. Sorry, I got distracted by the glittery outer space purple wonder of it all! I do that a lot judging by the way I redecorated my bedroom:

*embarassed that I cannot find the huge folder of pictures I took of my room*

It's pink, blue and purple with a outer space ceiling and glow-in-the-dark stars. VISUALIZE IT.

REALLY BACK TO 'ZINES NOW. I love to write, and I love taking pictures, judging by the fact that I'm writing a book, writing a diary, and writing this! MOOHOOHAHA, so yes, 'zines. I want to make it very artistic, with sketches, collage work, editorials, my pictures, and music playlists. Something I could put in my portfolio! You know, that thing in my living room that needs SO MUCH MORE ART IN IT FOR ART COLLEGE AND THAT SUMMER PROGRAM IN NEW YORK CITY I MIGHT GO TO DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED, YOU GUYS.

Over the next few weeks, I'll certainly be a-workin' on this 'zine as hard as I can, so if you want a copy, just ask! You know, comment, email, throw a rock through my window, whatever! I might make you pay, if it turns out good enough... AGAIN, MOOHOOHAHA!

Onto other news, very very random news.

Pictures that make me giggle:

This is the "college freshman" meme, which will probably TOTALLY be me when I go to college. Or prom. Or anything that involves partying remotely. I AM UNCOOL. LET US REVEL IN OUR UNCOOLNESS, FRIENDS. AGAIN, LET US DANCE LIKE ROBOTS TO OUR LAPTOPS.

Y U NO guy meme, which would be an appropriate response to this post!

60's Spiderman meme, which is just SO SO rad. This is the cleanest version of the meme I could find, and fits my reaction to to most things I encounter. Just you know, LIKE EVERYTHING.

Well friends, I have to clean my room (LAME I KNOW. GET OFF MY BACK. I READ TWILIGHT. IS THAT LAME ENOUGH FOR YOU?), get ready for Super Bowl Sunday (GIANTS GIANTS GIANTS), and make my 'zine!!!

xoxo, Allie

Don't forget to watch Zooey Deschanel next weekend hosting Saturday Night Live, darlings! Or, you know, I might set this girl (actually the meme-version of Neil DeGrasse-Tyson, which has been brutally defaced) on your tail:

BECAUSE I CAN.

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger! I Swear It!

Vintage toy cars I found in a thrift store in New Paltz, NY!

This song came on the radio this morning on the way to school, and I nearly crashed into a tree exclaimed in righteousness to my surrounding passengers.
You know, it's a good thing I DON'T drive. If I could drive, there would be a lot of flat trees. Like every time my favorite song comes on the radio. Which is like EVERY SONG, because I am a sixteen year old girl, and am SO SO addicted to pop music. (OH HEY THERE KATY PERRY. HOW'S IT HANGING PIXIE LOTT? I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE KELLY CLARKSON!) But I can't. So I won't.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!
Stand a little taller!
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone!"
-Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger) by Kelly Clarkson
Anyway, this song fits my life PERFECTLY. And probably yours too. There's always that ONE person who you used to let chop you down, but now you jump up and down on your bed in your jammies dancing along to this song and ripping up their yearbook portrait you took the time to photocopy and enlarge to poster-size complete with a superimposed uni-brow and a devil's tail.
I say, take that unwarranted and undeserved heartbreak and turn it into something great! Like inspiration! A book! A play! A blog! See where I'm going with this? And if you're not ready for that "something great," forget Valentines Day, and buy a box of chocolate for yourself, a box of fun hair dye, and Tivo (does anyone even do that anymore?) some America's Next Top Model indie movie that sounds cool and totally not mainstream/trashy. Yeah, that one. Yup.
IT'S TIME FOR ME-TIME, DUDES AND DUDETTES!
Listen to this song. Dance. Yell the lyrics into a hairbrush. Cry a little into a jar of Nutella. Deduce that the tears-to-Nutella ratio is SO off now, and you now are being forced to eat several more tablespoons to even it out. And since that involved ratios, it SO counts as studying for tomorrow's math quiz. Start doing Physics homework and then stop, because American Idol is on. Repeat.

Busy Living Out Here in the Real World. It's Nice. It Has Show Tunes!

Today I deactivated my Facebook account. Okay, okay, I can hear some of you guys gasping in horror at the prospect of being OFFLINE. Untraceable. It's not that I check Facebook like, between the brushes of my teeth. I don't troll all over the profiles of people I don't know. I don't start Facebook fights or anything. I like Facebook, I think Zuckerberg's all right. I really do!

It's the way Facebook takes away a part of the motivation we have to interact with one another. Instead of formally introducing yourself to that cool-looking dude you met in your art class, you feel compelled to find out everything there is to know about him through the internet, before you even speak to him. It's okay to randomly stop answering a friend when chatting online, because, "It's not like I was on the phone or anything. They can't tell that I don't want to talk to them anymore." No, my friends. This is not the way it should be.

Tell me you wouldn't be floored if someone asked you for your phone number, and actually called to talk to you, just to talk? So, I think I kinda want to be that person.

I don't like what Facebook does to my perception of my friends. How a comment here or there makes me want to give up on them, even if it wasn't even directed at me! I think we should all drop the computer keys that separate all of us and actually hang out in person. It doesn't have to be anything formal, or anything planned, it just has to be real. We need to go back to the days when we were kids, and would just leave the house a noon and spend the entire day having wild adventures with all kinds of friends.

I'm not taking the excuse that I'll become out-of-touch. Because the people that truly matter I'll see in school, at home, on the weekends, and at family gatherings.

Plus, all that time I used to use on Facebook, I can use blogging to you all out here! Stay tuned this winter/spring for a whole heaping of stuff on my thoughts on everything.

Including a WHOLE LOT on my upcoming junior prom. YEAH, GET READY.

Junior year really is THE WORST time to be getting hung up on all of this social drama. Now's the time to be polishing your portfolio for art college! Telling your friends how much they mean to you (OH HEY THERE FRIENDS. SHOUT-OUT [Oh wow spell-check, thank you for alerting me to the fact that I could have spelled that "shootout." Because that's exactly what I was talking about. NOPE.]
TO YOU GUYS. OR SOMETHING)!

If you are a teenager of the 21st century and you don't know who these people are, you must have JUST FALLEN DOWN A FLIGHT OF STAIRS. LIKE, WHILE READING THESE VERY WORDS.

Reorganizing your room to fit the Lego palace you just built! Learn how to drive! Write a book! Get back into photography! *gasps at the realization of all the things I have gotten behind on because of Facebook*

If you're fed up like I am, and really just want to live life, without all the little insecurities and time wasters, JUST DEACTIVATE IT. You can come back to it later if you miss it! But I promise you, you will not regret it! Think of it like a vacation, where you'll be amassing a huge collection of stories and adventures that you can totally use to impress your next date.

JUST DO IT BROS. RIGHT NOW is the time to live your life! Before you get tied down by work and boyfriends and girlfriends and college and responsibility.

You'll be hearing from me again REAL SOON DUDES.

Peace and Tacos,

That girl who's not on Facebook anymore, who probably should have been doing her Physics homework right now, but Glee (OMG MJ EPISODE WAS SO AMAZING. ARTIE WALKED. WHAT. OH MY GOSH CRAZY.) was on, and Pretty Little Liars (Toby is SO SO UGLY. LIKE, SPENCER, YOU CAN DO BETTER. AND ARIA, THAT TEACHER GUY IS CREEPY.) taped, and well, no. Just no.

Livin' it up at Applebees: Talledega Nights' style, absolutely disgusting strawberry limeade in hand. Stupid waitress.