Fan Fiction- A Katrina Lowell PSA

So I was talking to Tracy yesterday for quite a while and somehow the topic of Fan Fiction came up. Now, not only did it come up, but she had wanted me to start writing Fan fiction. I don't know my fans, and I don't know if you guys write or read Fan Fiction yourselves, so don't take this post personally. But yeah, it will never happen. Fan Fiction is a growing problem in our generation. I mean, it is one of those things that I will be ashamed to have to explain to my children when I'm older.

Fan Fiction, to me, is just a forum for these desperate, obsessive-compulsive people (especially teen girls) to share their fantasies of being with their favorite celebrities or in a Twilight movie. NO, NO, NO... I mean, come on people! Are we seriously, as a group of educated, amazing teens, stooping to these sad, sad levels? Have some more pride in yourself. Now, me, I've read fan fiction on YouTube, and it's pretty much all the same. Oh yeah, your mom got you and your friends a backstage pass to a JB concert and you got to meet him and ya'll fell in love, blah blah blah. I find it extremely inefficient to fixate on things that have just as much a probability of happening as being able to rapidly morph into a large, Arachnid eating rhino-horse hybrid (for those of you that don't understand what I just said, it pretty much means that the likelihood of your crush (any of them, especially the famous ones) falling in love with you is very unlikely).

Besides that, I feel that writing has lost it's touch nowadays and it hurts. Once upon a time you could go online and find some really great material to read, but now most of it is Fan Fiction that is just... disturbing. Why is it that you have to fall in love with these people via a story? Isn't there anyone in your real life that makes you feel special? That gives you the same feeling that you get when you watch this person on the television? At the end of the day, I live with this one philosophy; the people that I see on the TV or the internet do NOT exist. Why? Because by thinking that these people are real, that they are so close to me yet so far makes me feel weird. So, It's sort of my way of distancing myself from what's reality and what's logical. Now, if more people nowadays would do that, they'd see that not everything is what it seems, and with that, not be too distraught when they find out some of the craziness that happens in these people's daily lives. I learned this the hard way when I was about nine. I was IN LOVE with the Cheetah Girls. I never missed the play times on Disney Channel, learned all of their songs, did all the dances, learned all the names, and I swear, at one point I knew scenes word for word. They were so special to me; they practically raised me, in a sense. What was especially bad was that I felt that these characters that they played were who they really were, but of course all of that went down the drain when the last movie was to come out. I knew that there was something wrong from the second movie when Galleria (or Raven Symone) wasn't in it because she was really off to collage. By the third movie, I heard that the Cheetah Girls were done. I literally found myself crying (and I dare not tell my mom). They were all I ever looked forward to seeing and hearing. I lived vicariously through them and I felt like their world was mine. A world where conflict was always resolved with friendship, a song, and true love, but it was all just gonna end. Anyhow, since then I've obviously got over it and learned a little bit more about the fame biz, making the decision to end the Cheetah Girls so much clearer. But, as I was saying, you can't place your personal life so close to this fantasy one to where you blur the lines and everything becomes fake. Fan Fiction is just a start of that. Not only that, what may have started off as a nice little idea has turned into an obsession littered with anger.

We all know that part of being famous means that you will have your fans, but also your haters. What you may not know is that nowadays, celeb decisions have started to lead to violence, on and offline. I think the most... outrageous thing that I have heard is that after Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez started going out, Selena Gomez was threatened on Twitter by people saying that they would kill her and that she's a this and a that for taking "their man". Besides that, she even got a few girls saying that if they couldn't have Justin, that they would kill themselves and that they couldn't live with the fact that he found Selena and not them. OH MY GOSH... what is happening to our generation of teenage girls? That's why my parents are always making these crazy, way-off statements about teen girls; because these wild girls nowadays are making these statements true. I mean, why would you ever even contemplate taking your life because you can't get this boy of your dreams? Sometimes it makes me feel like maybe I'm the weird one, that thinking rationally has been boycotted from our generation. I mean, think about it; Justin Bieber, the best example because he has the craziest fan base that I've ever seen, is a 17 year old boy, I mean, gosh. And at the end of the day, when he gets older, he's gonna marry one girl (maybe two or three, ya never know), and with so many girls out there that want his love, only one is gonna be the one. They are going to have to learn that from early because that's with any guy. You know how many guys I've liked that haven't even said hi to me? Just because he says hello to another girl, I should kill myself because I'm Katrina and not Jennifer? Seriously people...

You may feel that I'm way off topic, but I'm not. These same fans are the ones writing Fan Fiction everyday, just sitting and thinking about their life with this person that is completely unrealistic. Fan Fiction is, to me, a terrible idea. Why don't you write stories about your real life, I mean, there has to be something that makes your life special. Even the smallest of things from a unique tree in your backyard to even a special talent that you have. I wrote this to remind you guys that everyone is special being who they are, living their own life. It is a Public Service Announcement that needed to be said because it is an epidemic, it really is. Now, if I was "Ms. Internet" and had control over everything, I would just ban it for good. Get rid of it, start from there and work our way up. Now, don't get me wrong, some Fan Fiction is very good, but do we really need it? I don't even think that Fan Fiction makes you feel good when you are done because for that split second you're living your dream and then you're violently ripped from it, right? I don't know and that's also why I need you guy's help. If you are a Fan Fiction writer or reader, or maybe even someone who agrees with me, leave a comment. You don't have to put your name or anything, but just to share how you feel in relation to my post would make this blog even better. Well, I hope all of you took this to heart and share it with your friends, too. Love ya!

Love Always <3,
Katrina Lowell

12.13.12- Mindless Behavior "My Girl"

I am close to tears right now, but I had to sit down and acknowledge the fact that "My Girl" by Mindless Behavior is... garbage.

So, you know, I had another "groupie" moment just now, so I went on YouTube and watched some Mindless Behavior music videos. When I actually took time to listen to the lyrics instead of singing along to it (I know all the words, mind you) and watching for every moment that Roc Royal comes up on the screen, I noticed that the lyrics are really, really bad. I actually felt ashamed of myself. I am always here, telling people to listen to good songs and about how much words mean in a song while I'm over here, singing "I hit you with a QUESTION MARK..." Wow, Katrina.

Okay, now that I got that out of the way, I've gotta get back to the point. Now, while I love Roc Royal to death (If you are reading, (which would be sort of weird since this is a girl blog, so I wouldn't tell anyone if I were you) don't take this next thing personally. You're still my favorite ;)), his rap part was one of the worst parts of the song. It is just a little too mushy gushy, ya know. I think it just all collapsed when he said "we're just two lovebirds, that's why we're always tweetin'" Ummm, okay. But at the end of the day, he doesn't write his own raps (or at least I hope not), so it's all good. Another thing that bothers me is probably my biased opinion, but Prodigy needed to wear better clothes. This is not necessarily about the song, but the music video which is also very important when you are a boy group with a limited amount of songs. Anyhow, yeah, he's always wearing these v-necks that do not (and I repeat, DO NOT) flatter him. Okay, lets move on. The only part that I enjoyed was the dancing part because they are amazing dancers (especially Roc, just FYI). So, anyhow, yeah. The song is lyrically disappointing, but I guess it has that hip hop flavor in it that makes you just love it anyway (besides the fact that it's MB). Okay, well, as always, the video is going to be below for you guys to check out for yourself. This has been... Music Daily! (How'd ya like that?)

Love Always <3,
Katrina Lowell

Bad Songs/ 12.12.11- Rebecca Black "Person Of Interest"

The month of December is waning, but I want to pick right back where I started with Music Daily, so I have decided to dedicate this month to bad songs. Those songs that make you hate the music industry, and that's huge because I LOVE music; music is my life, but my gosh, sometimes these songs make me want to shoot myself.

To start this wonderful month back on the right foot, I'd like to introduce you guys to a new song from our lovely Rebecca Black. And yes, I did say "new song"; she's back. I have promised myself not to hate, but I am just bursting at the seams with this one. The song is called "Person Of Interest" and the concept, while creative, was as lyrically fulfilling as "Old Mr. Finnegan"; It's really bad. It's pretty much about this guy that likes her and she's saying that she is sorta liking the guy, which I don't get. You either like the guy or not; this does not give an option c- all of the above. Anyhow, the music video is very confusing in and of itself. It starts with Rebecca talking to a cop in what looks like a crime scene about this guy that she's looking for. The cop, by the way, is drawing a cartoon sketch of the boy that she's describing, making it very cheesy from the beginning. Now, what I must say is that the dude is VERY good looking (:]), but that was about it; I didn't enjoy watching the video or listening to the song at all. Therefore it made it to my "bad songs" list. I don't understand it anymore; once upon a time, every song that came out had meaning, had great lyrics, and made listening to the radio enjoyable. Nowadays I cringe when I turn on the radio, expecting something that makes no sense to be played over and over again. We need songwriters to get together and work on revolutionizing our music today, seriously. So any songwriter that reads me blog (hello!), please help me out. Anyhow, enjoy the video, I guess. Let me know how you feel about any song that I post in the comment area just below \/\/. I would love to hear from my fans!

Love Always <3,
Katrina Lowell

Bad Boys >:|

As you can see, I have been sort of stalling you guys until I get an idea of what to write for "Beautiful", but a new chapter WILL be out this week, I promise. Anyhow, thinking about "Beautiful" got me thinking about Brey and Tony, two of the main guys in my story. So far they seem to be the stereo typical bad boy characters, but why? I mean, I HATE bad boys in real life and I'll tell you why.

Numero Uno (throwing in a little spanish for ya), they are so... arrogant. If you are someone that hopes to disgust me, be arrogant. That whole "I'm so much better than the average population, so what they say doesn't entertain my ego" sort of thinking drives me crazy. Now, don't confuse my love for Justin Bieber and Mindless Behavior as an exception to the rule. They have what you call "swag" or a modern type of class that just seems to bead off of them like water droplets on a newly waxed car (you like that description, right?).

If my dad were to read this, he'd go "well, Katrina, you are very self- absorbed yourself." How I respond to that; absolutely not. Look, at the end of the day, I am a TEENAGE GIRL, meaning I take long showers, I tend to spend hours on my hair, my nails get "did" every Sunday, I am constantly checking myself in the mirror, and I can't leave the house without my shades; case closED. But yeah, back on topic, these typical bad boys walk around in their black shades and obviously more expensive clothes acting like they rule the world. That reminds me; one time, I was in my school hallway, doing something in my locker when suddenly all the hustle and bustle stopped and the hall was cleared. I found it a little strange, but not strange enough for me to care. So yeah, I finish up and close my locker. Then, on my way to my next class, I heard this "uh uhm" (clearing throat noise), so I turned around and saw Jake. Now Jake and I went way back, and not in a good way. In fact, just a year before, we got into this whole situation because I rejected his invite out to a school dance. So anyhow, this over-confident Jerk Face has the nerve to look at me and say, "did you not see me walking down this hall. You do know that you need to keep out of my way when I'm walking somewhere; you know that phrase, clear the halls? This is one of those times where it needs to be applied."...(the three dots giving you the visual of me taking a moment for that comment to sink in). After fully understanding what he had just said, I just gave him that "dude, are you talking to me? Like, are you seriously even going there? with ME of all people!" and continued on my way; I didn't even want to waste my breath on him by responding at that point. That is what I mean by disgusting. It just gives you the same feeling that you get when you smell spoiled milk (or the bathroom in my new place, but that's a story I don't even want to get into right now). Nasty.

Second of all, bad boys do NOT seem attractive to me. In fact, half of the boys from the Island remind me of my cousin, and Islander himself. My cousin has the bad boy thing DOWN PACKED, especially in the arrogance department, but besides that, their aura just makes them look hideous to me. Even the way they ask you out is upsetting;

"Hey babe." -Let's break this into parts in MY head. I'm who's what? Did you just call me "babe"?
"What do you say I pick you up and we go to this party on Saturday?" - You best not come by my home on any day of the week trying to get me to go anywhere, especially when my dad's home because I will do NO SORT of holding back my dad when you step on his property.
**Holds your hand**- Why are you touching me? Better yet, who fooled you in telling you that I even liked you and that you could hold my hand. We are not friends, buddy...
...and those are just a few examples that come to mind.

So, as I was saying, bad boys don't attract me in any way. They just seem extremely obnoxious. Now my girl, Tracy, is crushing on this guy that is constantly being a tyrant and giving people a hard time. Now while he may be good looking, I wouldn't know because all that I can see is the way he acts. It is a HUGE turn off and I don't know how my fellow girls can stand to deal with them, seriously (BTW, if you are a girl that likes bad boys, leave me a comment explaining why, just to see if I can make sense of this ;))

I just don't know, but bad boys just crawl my skin, really. You can even see that in the way Katrina (in "Beautiful") reacts to Tony. She's so irritated the way he behaves to where she refrains from even talking to him. Brey, though, doesn't seem to be as bad boyish. He's coming out of his shell more and more and seems more like a shameless, fun-loving, teenage boy with a liking for Katrina (hint, hint for you "Beautiful" fans). So, as you can see, I try to keep my characters as far from that bad boy personality as I can unless they play a role like Tony's that is very insignificant (for now... another hint).

Okay, well that is my post for the day. 143 all... (I just learned this from Mindless Behavior; 143= ILY, or I love you).

Love always <3,
Katrina Lowell

Ugh, It's Christmas...

Okay, so many of you will be like, "how on Earth can you put 'ugh' and 'christmas' in the same phrase?," but I have  something to tell you guys; I am a Jehovah's Witness. For those of you who don't know who those are, we are a group of Christians that are known for 1) not participating in ANY holidays, 2) not celebrating birthdays, 3) knocking on doors, preaching; and 4) believing in a paradise Earth after Armageddon. Now, I know that there will be a few responses to this. I know a lot of people that find it cool for me to be of this different religion while others just seem to respond with disgust. For one, we are not pests; I get that a lot in school, where people say that we are annoying and stupid, walking around "handing out bibles," but we aren't. Look, everyone is entitled to their opinion, so while I could be offended by a comment like that, I know that our intentions are not to pester people. In fact, we are usually very respectful in your space and everything (I find), so I don't know. Another thing that I get is that we are probably boring since we don't celebrate everything that the other religions celebrate, but we aren't. I do find that sometimes I'd like to be able to go to a Christmas party that all of my friends are going to, or maybe a huge birthday bash or something, but after a while you get used to it. I wasn't a witness when I was born. In fact, I dressed up for Halloween as a Telly Tubby and everything when I was really small, but as far as I can remember, I've been a JW. It's not even like we can't have parties or anything, so I will go to get-togethers and have some of my own that aren't holiday or birthday related and that are properly supervised (meaning not just a bunch of teens at a house party with alcohol and drugs and all of that sort of stuff that typically makes teen parties so crazy and dangerous). I've found that since I've gotten older, I've had the urge to dress up like how they do during Halloween time, so I will probably have costume parties sometime during the earlier part of the year so that I can dress up without it having to be for the holiday, if that makes sense. Now, another thing that I hear is that we are just altogether crazy people who made up this whole "Paradise Earth" talk and whatever. We are pretty much classified in that group of religions like Latter day saints and the Amish; the ones that people look at as creepy and altogether out of the ordinary, but I feel that that is just another thing about humans. Once you are not doing what most of the population does, you're weird. I don't get it, but if that is what it is, then yes, I am as weird as they come, LOL. But anyhow, that's my little explanation of my religion.

Now, how that (/\) relates to my post is that it is Christmas time and, as I just explained, I don't celebrate it. My basic understanding of why is 1) we don't think that this is the time of Christ's birth. All that I really remember is them saying an example that makes so much sense to me; The Virgin Mary was poor and lived in a place that got very cold during the Winter. Therefore, she could not have possibly been able to provide Jesus enough warmth as a baby and so Jehovah (our name for God) would not have had Mary have Jesus in those winter months. 2) that we don't celebrate birthdays period, so even if we believed that this was a legitimate holiday, we wouldn't celebrate it. This is also another long description that I don't care to get into right now, LOL. So anyhow, imagine that you are in my shoes. Christmas spirit is EVERYWHERE, but you don't participate in it, so you are constantly sitting out of all of the class holiday things and you are constantly reminded of Christmas on the radio, and the smell of pine that makes you sick. In fact, Christmas is my LEAST favorite holiday to have to work through. Why? Because it is just so long and festive. Anyhow, so at my school, Christmas has gone all out, to the constant playing of holiday songs, to the decking the classroom, to the Christmas cards and activities, so on and so forth. I'm finally on break, so I don't have to be as exposed to it, but sometimes it makes you really sad. I feel like, "gosh, they are so happy and excited to be doing this thing, I wish I could join in." I can see that that's the youth in me, wanting to follow pattern like "normal people", but like everything else that you really believe in, you stand strong to them. So I'm going along through December, the Xmas month, with a new appreciation for this blog, actually. Writing in this blog has helped me to think through things better, to analyze every aspect of a situation, to make better decisions and so I have found that it has made it easier for me to say no to things, even the most tempting things. I wanted to write this, not only to explain to you guys my religion and what it's like, especially in the heights of a major holiday, but to remind me of why being a Jehovah's Witness is something that I need to be proud of, something else that makes me special, something that's important to me :) Anyhow, I got to go, but I will be back either later today or tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Love Always <3,
Katrina Lowell

I'M BACK!!!!

Hey ya'll! Okay, so great information; I am off of school until January 4th. So not will I only get a break from the craziness that is a new school, but I can focus my time on you guys again. I know you must be ENRAGED since I've made so many empty promises to you guys, but school work has swallowed me whole and I had no choice but to blog over the weekends, but then I would find myself sleeping in and doing more homework during the weekend, so yeah. But I swear on my LIFE (and I do like living) that I will make sure to be current on my posts during my school break. Can I guarantee you guys that I will be as current when I get back; No (for the very reasons I just gave you), but I can try harder for you guys, how's that?

Anyhoo, let me update you guys. For one, I just moved into my place and I am so happy to be in a house and not a hotel room. I think the fact that I've got more privacy has me more than anything else. I've got a little brother that likes to be in my space and parents that I'm trying to hide stuff from (LOL, I'm kidding of course. Mom, I can see you now, ready to tear me a new one, but it is merely a joke; I promise :)) so I need a room of my own to where I can just lock myself in with my stereo blaring Adele and my laptop on my lap while I melt over Roc Royal of Mindless Behavior or be here, as I am now, blogging. So yeah, I've been in it all day, actually. My mp3 player has been working since seven this morning, no joke.

I know that you guys must know that I love music since I've dedicated a section of my blog to it, but I don't know if you guys know that I sing, too. Jazz; the one word that I have come to love. I've adopted the style of Estelle, Adele, and Amy Winehouse in my voice, so yeah. This is relevant, of course, because on Wednesday I was pretty much singing all day. Since this was our last week before break we didn't do ANY work in class whatsoever. In fact, my friend Tracy asked our teacher if we could have a singing competition. Now Tracy is... boss at singing. We are usually a duo at school, harmonizing wherever we go since her R&B vibe just blends perfectly with my Jazzy one. Anyhow, so myself, Tracy, Alise(the annoying student captain I told you guys about), Tony (the infamous "you does know how to wukk up" guy), and John (this quiet kid in my class, but he's SUPER sweet, I swear) were the contestants of this thing. I went first and I was an epic fail, if you ask me. So first of all, I was trying to perform properly, so as I sang "Waiting on the World to Change" I walked around the room and accidentally stepped on a bag of cans. The class burst out laughing and I was SO embarrassed, but as a true artist does, I didn't flinch, not one bit. So I carried on and in walks in my Science/Math teacher, Mrs. Finn, talking. "Escous me" (she's from Ghana, so that's how "excuse me" sounds) she goes, interrupting me to tell the class something. So my turn was over and I was destroyed beyond belief. So Alise came next, singing this original song that, while I really don't like her, sounds amazing. Now don't get me wrong, the song does not make ANY sense whatsoever, but I love how it just rolls off her tongue. Plus, it's very jazzy, so yeah. Next came Tony, singing this song about 6:30-ing and fruit loops (stuff about wukking up, of course). Tracy came next, singing "Doesn't Mean Anything" by Alicia Keys. Now I personally wouldn't have picked this song for her because I wouldn't ever touch Alicia Keys; you know there are certain artists and songs that you don't ever dare to cover, but Tracy likes doing that stuff. Anyhow, it was good, I enjoyed it. Finally was John. John has an amazing voice, actually. Who would have thought that such a shy guy would have it in him. He's one of those male sopranos (higher voice register) that has that soft feeling to it. He started off singing "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson, but when Mrs. Finn came back in AGAIN with her "escous"-ing, he just went to "We are The World", also by Michael Jackson. He was very quiet and reserved while he was singing, so you couldn't hear him properly, but the parts that you did hear were pretty good. I gave him an "A" for effort. It was, as I said, okay. So voting came in and I didn't get ANY 10's, but 8's and 9's. I totaled 77. Next, Alise got a bunch of 10's, so I was sure I had lost, but she ALSO totaled 77. My confidence was back, at least. Tracy got some 10's, too, but totaled 75. Tony got a bunch of 2's and  I gave him a -39 (LOL, he knows I love him), totaling 56. Finally, John was scored, getting SO many 10's. He ended up beating all of us, getting 86. Although I lost, I was happy because 1) John is such a nice person overall and he tried his best, so he deserved it more than all of us and 2) I thought I was going to be beaten by Tony, so 2nd place was fine with me.

Okay, well It's getting late and I need to go to bed, but I'm by no means done filling you in, so stay tuned for a post from me tomorrow. You guys mean the world to me, and I hope you know that :)

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXXXXXXXXX (since X's are so much better than O's)

Love Always <3,
Katrina Lowell

Ladies Night!!!

Hey, so last night me and my girls had such an epic hang out. Now this is my first hang out here on the Island, but I never thought that it would be so much better than an American one. I mean, my gosh. There were only three of us; Tracy (as you might remember from my "You Does Know How To Wukk Up" post), Adena, and myself. So we were there with our mp3 players and our bathing suits. So first, we danced around Tracy's room to all sorts of rap and hip hop songs, then we took some friend pics that we were fussing over, and then we went to the pool. This was where we were for most of our time. It was 8 o'clock and we were in the pool just playing around. We saw like five frogs, a couple bats (I know, eww), and a cockroach that was swimming in the pool with us (double eww). Anyhow, at that moment, with us just kidding around in the pool at night by ourselves, I truly felt... old. I mean, my parents aren't the type to allow me to go to parties or whatever like most of the other girls my age are allowed to do, and they do every Friday, so while this wasn't quite as... exciting as a real party might have been, I had lots of fun being a teenage girl. I would love to do that every Friday night, actually, but I really felt bad for Tracy's dad, who had to deal with three teenage girls who were screaming and blaring music for four hours and some. So yeah, it'll happen often, hopefully, but maybe next time at my house. But yeah, ladies night was really fun. I actually got to forget about how homesick I've been lately, or about how overwhelmed I've been at school, or even how sick I am of hotel food. Some quality time with my friends was just what the doctor ordered. Unfortunately, all of that screaming has left me with a sore throat, but I guess everything comes with a price, right. Well, I gotta go and take a nap. That whole "sha-bang" ended at close to 10, after a long day, so now I'm even more tired. I hope to get to you guys again later this week! Happy Blogging!

Love Always <3,
Katrina Lowell