jenrrray's Journals on Buzznet http://jenrrray.buzznet.com/user/journal/ en-us <![CDATA[Celebrating Buzznet Mothers]]> http://jenrrray.buzznet.com/user/journal/4070221/ Mother's Day is tomorrow and there are plenty of amazing moms around the Buzznet community that we all love and enjoy on a daily basis. I asked a few Buzznet moms some questions about what being a mother means to them. The answers they gave just go to show everything we already knew: being a mom isn't easy, and it takes an amazing woman to do the things that these mothers do for their children every day. Celebrate Mothers Day with us as we honor some incredible moms in our very own community...

 

Millie -

What's your favorite part about being a mom?
It's really hard for me to pick what my favorite part about being mom is. I think the fact that whenever he needs me for anything, he knows I'm the one he can depend on and that makes me feel really good.

Was it what you expected it to be?
No, not at all. Growing up, I always thought that I would never have children. Not because I couldn't but because I never like kids. Now that I have Kenneth, it's a very rewarding experience. When he was a baby, I would get a natural high just from hearing him laugh and giggle. He was such a happy baby.

What's your favorite memory of being a mom so far?
My favorite memory - boy, that's tough. Okay, last summer at the beach. Kenneth absolutely loves the beach. My favorite memory is watching him play in the ocean. I've never seen him happier than when we were there.

I'm not the only one that misses the beach!

Milestones in Kenneth's life you're really looking forward to?
Kenneth has special needs (ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and PDD - Pervasive Development Disorder). He as a wonderful Wrap Around Team of Therapists that help him cope with his every day needs. I would be absolutely proud of Kenneth no matter what he chooses to do with his life in the future just as long as he's happy and content with it. I have great confidence that he will over come his ADHD and PDD. He is extremely smart, talented and his humor and laughter are very contagious.

Yeah I got it for him . . .

If I were to choose a milestone that I'm looking for to right at this second, it would be him kicking the other teams arse in Soccer this afternoon :)

 

 

Vanessa -

 

What's your favorite part of being a mom?

There are so many things that I love about being a mom, but my favorite thing ever is when she looks at me, smiles and says "I love you, Mom" Seriously, there is no better thing in the world than hearing your child tell you that they love you.  Because, for all of the mistakes I've made and all I've done wrong, here is this little person that loves me unconditionally and that is amazing.  Also, having an excuse to play with toys is awesome.

What's your favorite thing about Hannah?
I can honestly say that every part of my kid is my favorite.  She is a little mini-me, from the way she looks to her attitude to her snarky sense of humor.  It's so funny to me when I see her sitting there, earphones in and jamming out to some Fall Out Boy and reading her little kiddie gossip magazine, because that is so me.

What is your favorite memory from being a mom so far?
I have a couple favorite memories with her, and I will list them all here for you now: :)
a.)  When Hannah was about 2 and just learning how to talk, she used to call clocks "cocks."  And I took her to my college to turn in a paper, and there was a huge gazebo thing in the court yard that had a giant clock on the front of it.  So, Hannah (not knowing any better) points at it and screams at the top of her little lungs "LOOK MAMA! LOOK AT THE BIG COCK!!!"  And there were, like, a million people sitting around and I kind of wanted the floor to open up and swallow me.
b.)  When she was 7 (just last year) she was watching a Panic At The Disco video and when she saw Ryan Ross asked me "Mom, is that a boy or a girl?" and I told her that he was a man.  She shook her head and said "No, that's a girl."  And I have never been so proud, because I have a theory that Ryan Ross is actually a 12 year old girl.
c.) And then there was the time when she was 3 and made me listen to The Dirty Glass by The Dropkick Murphys everyday for 6 months because "The glass song is my FAVORITE, Mama!!"

What's been a really difficult part of being a mother? You're in Philly now, and I know that it's been really hard on you to be so far from her.
I'm not going to lie to everyone and say that being a mom is as easy as everyone makes it out to be, because it isn't.  Especially being a single mom.  I raised Hannah by myself until she was 4 years old.  It's exhausting and frustrating and there were times when I wanted to pull my hair out  and cry myself to sleep.  But, I love my daughter and have always done what I felt was best for her, no matter how much it hurt me.  Sending her to live with her father, for one.   There are people who look down on me for that,  who think that I abandoned her because I didn't love her or want her.  Those people can kindly fuck off, because that wasn't the situation at all.  I was jobless and homeless and I couldn't put her through that kind of life.  It wasn't fair to her, so I did what I had to do in order to give her the life she needed and deserved.  Is it hard to be away from her?  Yes, it breaks my heart every single day that I can't be with her, but Hannah knows that I love her and that I miss her and we'll be together again someday. :)


Becky -



What's your favorite part about being a mom? Was it what you expected it to be?
My absolute favourite part of being a mum is seeing my children happy. There is no other feeling in the world that compares to the one that you get when they achieve something theyve worked hard for, or something happens that makes them smile. As far and expectations go - I was quite young when I had my children and I didnt really have any. I knew that Id worry about them but I didnt think too much about the good things that would happen, so every time they do, its a bonus.

What's your favorite thing about your daughter? And about your son?
My daughter has a lovely, sunny personality. She's confident, outgoing and very kind. My son has had more than his fair share of difficulties over the last few years but he's had the strength to pull himself out of them - they both make me proud.

What's your favorite memory of being a mom so far?

I dont really have one particular memory. There are so many things Ive done with my kids, things that I would never have experienced if it werent for them. Because I was a young mum, many people told me that I would lose my social life because of them but that hasnt happened. Theyve enriched it.

You and Tahnee seem to have a pretty close relationship, what's your favorite thing to do together?

I count myself lucky to have the relationship I do with Tahnee, especially since I didnt have that with my mum. She's got lots of similar interests to me. We've been to festivals together, Ive been taking her since she was little and she always has a good time. She never complains either, even when we've been stuck in 2 feet of mud at Glastonbury and our tent has been swimming with water. We still go to gigs together although im sure the time will come when she's embarrassed that im there :) Also, we both love London, so we go there together as often as we can.


What's been your biggest struggle as a mum of two?
I'd say the struggle comes more from being a single mum than a mum of two. When Josh was having his problems it was hard not having someone there to share the load with. Luckily I have a great family and some really good friends that held me up through it. But on the whole, the positive experiences far outweigh the negative.



There are many other amazing mothers and maternal figures around the Buzznet community that are more than worth mentioning - Misery, Renata, JJ, Funks, and Sue being just a few of them. Feel free to make shout-outs to other Moms you know in the comments and tell them how much you appreciate them being a part of your community.

]]> bizarreland buzznet moms crash13 funksteena helen099 jenrrray kassady millieann282000 miseryxchord mothers day nessalh Buzznet jenrrray 2009-05-09T13:57:00Z <![CDATA[NEW Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Trailer Released, PG Rating a Curse?]]> http://jenrrray.buzznet.com/user/journal/3844051/ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, is finally around the corner! The long wait is almost up and with the movie set to hit theaters July 17th worldwide, Warner Brothers has recently released this new, dark trailer to whet our appetites: [cut=Let's watch...]


   

Video courtesy firstshowing.net


The Half-Blood Prince is the 6th of 8 movies (Deathly Hallows, as most know, will be split into two films) and will again be directed by David Yates, who directed The Order of the Phoenix. Yates has shown that he is capable of showing us Harry's dark, depressing, torturous 5th year but at a PG-13 rating - with HBP being even more so, will its mere PG rating become a hindrance? With the dark times that Harry faces - the manipulations, the betrayals, and worse - in the upcoming film, will he be able to do justice to the pain, blood, toil and tears of The Golden Trio's 6th year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry while keeping it PG?
[/cut]]]> david yates half-blood prince harry potter harry potter and the half-blood prince jenrrray jk rowling Buzznet jenrrray 2009-03-08T23:27:00Z <![CDATA[Who Watches The Watchmen?]]> http://jenrrray.buzznet.com/user/journal/3840921/



Friday night, Brianfax and I saw The Watchmen. As most people who dont live under a rock know, there's been quite a bit of controversy about this movie from Alan Moore, to the fans, to your everyday movie-goer. There's been plenty of gripes about this movie from all directions. Everything from the length, to the music used, to the over-use of slow motion in action sequences, to the difference in endings and storyline between the graphic novel and the film. This will always be the case with fandoms with a large, loyal fan base and the transition between their original medium and their film adaptation. People are always going to find fault with something that they care a lot about, I am always critical of people's adaptation of the things I love. Lord of the Rings fans did, Transformers fans do, and Watchmen fans are no exception.

I'm not gonna lie, a few of the things that a lot of other fans really disliked about the film were things that I liked about it. I really enjoyed that at the scene in the graphic novel when "99 Red Balloons" played, it also played at that point in the movie. It certainly doesn't work quite as well on film as it does in writing in the comic, but I appreciate small details like that. Another big gripe I've heard from a lot of people is over-use of slow motion in the action sequences, and I was worried about it too. What I found though, is that the slow motion in these scenes had the same effect for me as the action-intense frames in the comic -for me it was quite reminiscent of these and I liked the effect.

A little detail I could have done without? Dr. Manhattan's ever-present flaccid penis and that awkward as f*ck sex scene. DO NOT WANT. Definitely could have done without the "love" scene, and the initial shock of CGI p33n was enough - I know it made a frequent appearance in the graphic novel but putting it on the big screen is a little different. Talk about "in-your-face."

Run time has been a big issue. Yes, the movie is a little long for people who haven't read the graphic novel.  No, the movie is not long enough for people who love the graphic novel and want every pivotal detail from it squeezed into the movie. There's got to be a compromise though, and I dont envy Zach Snyder for having to find it. Would I have liked to have seen the comic book kid and the newspaper vendor? Yes. Would I have preferred the original ending? Of course. To make all these things and especially the comic's ending come alive on screen - lets face it - they would have had to make the film 4 hours long or would have had to split it up into two films. People would have thrown a fit either way. Lets just hope that  the people who haven't read the graphic novel will walk into a book store or comic store and be able to experience the whole thing as it was written and drawn and will be able to appreciate it that much more.

The bottom line is that we really enjoyed this movie and I think that this is most likely the best way it will be adapted. It is what it is, and there's only so much a film adaptation of anything can do. Honestly, it was more than I expected from it, I walked away pleasantly surprised. Do I think it's as good or better than what Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons created? Of course not. But for what it is, I think they did a pretty good job.


Also, Rorschach - as always - rules.



Want another opinion? Other Buzznet Watchmen reviews:

]]> alan moore comic books dave gibbons graphic novels jenrrray movie review watchmen Buzznet jenrrray 2009-03-08T03:43:00Z <![CDATA[Possible Paramore Song Lyrics/Alternative Song Titles for Twilight Soundtrack?]]> http://jenrrray.buzznet.com/user/journal/3044281/ DJ Rossstar posted a blog reporting that Paramore has written two tracks for the upcoming Twilight soundtrack, one of which is named "Decode," the other of which at this point remains untitled. There were a lot of different views not on only Paramore's involvement with the movie, but with the books themselves ranging from things like "They're the best books I've ever read! I cant wait for the movie!" to "I couldn't finish them, they were terribly written and had an awful message to young girls." [cut=Either way, we bring the LOLZ]



Putting aside differences for a moment, any ideas on dazzling lyrics for Paramore's song? Here are some lolzy possible song lyrics/alternate song titles we've come up with so far:

Ashly :
"I'm in the business of dazzling"

Ari :
"When It Dazzles"

Brittany :
"For Being Anti-Sequins, I'm Quite Dazzling"
"Maybe, if my heart stops beating, I can join you for eternity"
"All we know, is dazzling, it dazzles."

Me:
"DazzleDazzleDazzle" or "Nothing compares to a dazzling evening alone, it's just that one of us is unconscious"
"Let the dazzle begin"
"If I ever start to think straight, Edward will just dazzle me"



Think you can do better? Show me what you've got. DAZZLE ME.[/cut]
]]> bella swan dazzle decode edward cullen jenrrray paramore stephanie meyer twilight twilight soundtrack vampires Buzznet jenrrray 2008-09-22T15:40:00Z <![CDATA[this is not an okay conversation to have with one's mother.]]> http://jenrrray.buzznet.com/user/journal/3038071/
Mom: Switzerland was really cool. I got to chat with the hot manager from Leeds. He is sooooo British. And athletic and ....

Me: did he buy you drinks and get flirty with you? and ask you to run away to leeds with him?

Mom: Not really he was more fun last year. He was more serious and less flirty this year. Last year he got a couple full press booby hugs.

Me: O_O

Me: MOM.

Me: GROSS.

Mom: He didn't complain.

Me: maybe he sawwww...YOUR WEDDING RING?

Mom: He has a 16 year old daughter too. Except his daughter does not want to go to concerts with him. He should adopt me! Who's my daddy?

Me: hahahahaha...wait...EWWWWWW.]]> aim convos gross mom jenrrray Buzznet jenrrray 2008-09-18T18:54:00Z <![CDATA[STEPHANIE MEYER IS DIRECTING THE NEW JACK'S MANNEQUIN VIDEO?!]]> http://jenrrray.buzznet.com/user/journal/2932521/ this?!








All I have to say is that this better be a joke. Not that I don't love to be proved wrong and be pleaseantly surprised (if this is for real then that woman better do so and put out a good music video, so help me) but is anyone else as pissed about this as I am?

Edit: Read the story on MTV.com HERE.
]]> fuckery jack's mannequin jenrrray stephanie meyers this does not dazzle me twilight Buzznet jenrrray 2008-08-28T19:46:00Z <![CDATA[Warped Tour St. Heles '08!]]> http://jenrrray.buzznet.com/user/journal/2837811/
The Vans Warped Tour Hits St. Helens, OR!

Sunday I went to the St. Helens Warped Tour and had a a killer time! I got to meet up with Bree (who is the cutest damn thing in person, and SO nice), touched Matt Good of From First To Last, unknowingly walked with Travie from Gym Class Heroes for a minute, kicked back at the Monster Lounge, and danced my ass off with Cobra Starship!

First off, I hit the Route 66 Main Stage at 1:30 to catch From First To Last, a performance I alwaysalwaysalways have a great time watching. I love seeing them play, so the 30 minutes they had went by much faster than I would have liked. BUT I went to their booth signing and got to hug Matt and talk a little to Travis and had them sign stuff for me!

Then we wandered around the booths for a little while and checked out the end of Family Force 5's set (which was hilarious and at one point joined by the Japanese Ska band ORESKABAND), watched Katy Perry jump around and be downright adorable on stage, caught the Gym Class Heroes' set, saw Jac Vanek every time we turned around, wondered  why on earth Jeffree Star needed multiple signings, finally tracked down Bree (via some heavy stalker action), checked out Motion City Soundtrack's set, and then...


Then we headed to the Main Stage to catch Cobra Starship...
I'd been warned by Brian that the last week he was on the tour, the Cobras hadn't been playing too hot.  The last time they played in Portland, Gabe had been sick and hadn't been as energetic, so I'd  gotten myself ready for another "decent" performance but from the second their intro music came on until the second they left the stage, it was like I had my old Cobras back! Gabe was jumping around, pole dancing, flirting with his band, making fun of Ryland, and dancing, and being cute and DANCING! We had so much fun during the Cobra's set, and we lucked out because Gabe has been having trouble lately with losing his voice and had to cancel their set in Eugene last night.

After leaving the main stage we caught up with Bree again and scored some Buzznet buttons (sweeeeet) and watched the Street Dogs set. The Cobra crowd was wild, but the Street Dogs crowd was NUTS. They had the biggest circle pit I think I've ever seen, and the cloud of dust that resulted was intense. Let me put it this way...there's still dirt in my snot when I blow my nose. Yeah. After that, we headed over to the Hurley Stage to catch the end of the We The Kings set and All Time Low, but much to our surprise...ORESKABAND was playing their own set. Those girls are the cutest little things ever and they were an absolute blast to watch! We wanted to stick around for All Time Low and The Academy Is... but alas, we had to head home.

All in all, I'd say this was a great year for Warped. The crowd as well as the Lineup was highly diverse - there was a little bit of everything everywhere you went. As well as all of the great bands, there were a lot of great merch booths and non-profit booths there this year. Music Saves Lives (who are still technically applying for their non-profit status) were handing out limited VIP access bracelets to people who had donated blood for them as well as getting people signed up to be bone marrow donors, and I'm sure just about everyone got accosted by the Peta2 Pig. I really enjoyed myself this year and can't wait to see what next year has in store for us Warped fans. Hopefully more sunscreen in my case...
]]> all time low cobra starship from first to last gym class heroes jenrrray katy perry the academy is warped warped tour Buzznet jenrrray 2008-08-12T08:39:00Z <![CDATA[Music Recs?]]> http://jenrrray.buzznet.com/user/journal/2581681/ jenrrray music music recs music wanted Buzznet jenrrray 2008-06-26T09:54:00Z <![CDATA[WHAT IS THIS F*CKERY?!]]> http://jenrrray.buzznet.com/user/journal/2504231/
I JUST GOT MY SLIDE A COUPLE MONTHS AGO AND NOW THIS?!
THEY COME OUT WITH IT IN SCARLET WHICH IS WHAT I WOULD HAVE WANTED?!!!

bum. out.
]]> 2 months off bum out jenrrray sidekick slide scarlet things i probably shouldnt let myself get worked up about Buzznet jenrrray 2008-06-12T11:24:00Z <![CDATA[Shows I'll be at in the next couple of months (thus far):]]> http://jenrrray.buzznet.com/user/journal/2205831/
May 6th - Augustana (maybe) at the Wonder Ballroom
May 7th - Minus the Bear (maybe) at the Hawthorne Theater
May 12th - Atmosphere at the Crystal Ballroom
May 16th - Brian! Hangouts! at the Roseland Theatre (that's right, Brian is the event)
May 19th - Coheed and Cambria at the Roseland Theater
May 24th - Thrice and Circa Survive at the Roseland Theater
May 27th - Demon Hunter at the Hawthorne Theater
May 29th - Mindless Self Indulgence and The Birthday Massacre at the Roseland Theater

June 2nd - Metalocalypse at the Roseland Theater
June 7th - Broadway Calls in Kelso with Alex Algebra!
June 8th - Panic at the Disco at the Portland Exposition Center
June 19th - She Wants Revenge at the Crystal Ballroom

July 9th - Phantom Planet at the Hawthorne Theater
July 16th - Jimmy Eat World at the Roseland Theater
July 29th - Alkaline Trio at the Roseland Theater

*This is a tentative list. I'll most likely be going to a lot more shows that this, but this is what I have lined up thus far. I will update this list as I add more shows. If you're coming to any of these shows, let me know!



]]> jenrrray Buzznet jenrrray 2008-06-12T10:01:00Z