This World Will Turn Your Way

In October of 2004, my mom and I were deeply concerned for the well being of all the characters on the show One Tree Hill. We were rooting Lucas and Peyton (or Brooke, I can't remember), we wanted to punch the daylights out of Dan, and just loved Keith.

But something I hadn't expected, was to find an artist that I fell in love with so fast. Chris Keller was definitely a character you loved to hate. He was kind of a jerk and really, REALLY cocky, but there was something about his music, that made me fall head over heels.




After I heard him sing (seriously, after I heard him sing his FIRST SONG on the show) I knew I had to have his CD. I begged and begged my mom for his CD, but it was still kind of non-existent at the time, so I took what I could get. Seeing this amazing musician on my TV screen every week (almost).

That Christmas, after scouring the internet, my mom finally found his CD. "Tracks Of:" quickly became one of my most listened to CDs of all times. I'd dare to say, even more than Britney Spears. I truly think Tyler's music is where my love of acoustic songs comes from. I had discovered Jason Mraz around the same time, so it was like the universe punched me in the face and said "Hey, Anna. You should like acoustic music." Who was I to argue with the universe?

Since then, Tyler Hilton's music has been one of the staples in my music collection. He's one of the musicians that when someone says they haven't heard of him I immediately pull out my Zune and make them listen to my favorite songs (which varies from "Pink and Black" to "The Letter Song" to "Sunset Blvd"). His songs remain a constant inspiration when it comes to my writing.

It wasn't until last year that I finally got to see a concert of his. Coming to Salt Lake has always proved to be a little bit of a challenge when it comes to Tyler Hilton. Not that he doesn't want to, I'm sure he does (I mean, who WOULDN'T want to come to Utah, right?). Things just kept preventing him from coming. From freak snowstorms at the end of April (though in Utah's defense, the snowstorm wasn't here), to postponed shows that never got rescheduled. Finally, in October of last year, Tyler Hilton, Josiah Lemming, and Dion Roy all came and performed at Mo's Grill. This will probably remain one of the best concert experiences I've ever had.

The show was amazing, sitting in the front table (my friend Helen and I were seriously only 10 feet away from him) made the show that much more exciting. At one point he even stood in front of us and 'serenaded' us. Yeah, I may have did a fangirl flail at that time in my head.

This past weekend, Helen and I were able to see Tyler again when he played for the Davis County Fair. This time it was a slightly different experience. Not only were we not SUPER close, but he made a point to sing a lot of songs from his new album. I can't even explain how much I want this CD. Like NOW. His new song "Prince of Nothing Charming" may end up being my new favorite song of his.

Five Things I'm In Love With Right Now

1: Braided Bangs
It's been far too long since I've had a hair cut (and by friday this'll change). For those who also share my love of having bangs, you all know that when you go get a hair cut you have about 3 weeks of "Eh, they're okay" bangs, then about two weeks of "OMG! PERFECT LENGTH!" bangs, From there until you get your hair cut again and repeat the process, its "Ugh! My Bangs are so long!" bangs. Braiding them is something I had tried to do a couple of times and failed. My fingers just didn't want to work that way. I finally think I've mastered it. It's cute, and keeps my bangs out of my face. Though I do feel a bit like I'm channeling Quinn Fabray (from Glee) when I braid them.




2: Water Bobble
I first heard about this thing when Kristen Bell tweeted about it. Immediately I knew I wanted one. A Water Bobble is a water bottle that has a filter built into the top. So you can fill it with tap water, and still have it filtered. It super convenient and sleek. I've had at least one person a day for the past few weeks ask me about it. Waterbobble.com




3: Chameleon Circuit: Still Got Legs
Do you like Doctor Who? You should listen to these guys. Chameleon Circuit is, what is now being called, a Trock band. Time-Lord Rock (though personally, I prefer TARDIS rock). A band that writes and sings songs about Doctor Who. This is their second album and I can not stop listening to it. I'm addicted to the songs "Teenage Rebel" and "Big Bang Two". Also, "Still Not Ginger" is a good one.




4: Suits
You didn't think I'd go through this whole post without mentioning a tv show I'm watching did you? I literally just discovered this show on Monday. I had heard a little bit about it here and there, but I watched it for the first time on Monday. This show is full of wonderful eye candy, and really snarky characters. Its really nice to see Zoë Washburne Gina Torres on my TV again. The show it's self is about a brilliant college-dropout, Mike, who teams up with one of the best attorneys that New York has, as a rather unorthodox duo. Suits is on USA Network.




5: Michael Stars Glasses
A little over a month ago, I ordered a new pair of glasses from Coastal Contacts.Com. When they finally arrived, I was in love with them. I had never had a pair of plastic framed glasses before, so getting used to them has been a challenge, but I really love the shape and color, so that's all that matters.

Apologies and Authors.

Lets start this post with an apology.

I've been a terrible blogger over here. I could blame Harry Potter and going through Post Potter Depression, but that'd be a lie. I could blame Comic-Con and all the AMAZING panels that I watched over the weekend instead of reading, but again, that'd be a lie. Okay, maybe they're not LIES, but they are excuses. So I'm sorry that I've been so terrible over here.

On the bright side, I revamped my TV Blog called The Weekly Enthusiast and I've been able to keep up with it pretty well if I do say so myself.

Anywho, today I come to this blog to tell you about the new authors I've discovered in the past few months. I give a lot of credit to my book pimp Helen for introducing me to these books and authors. She and I have pretty similar tastes in books, like almost identical. So here are five authors that I've discovered this year and now love.

Kiersten White:
Author of Paranormalcy and Supernaturally(that came out on tuesday... you should go buy it). Helen and I discovered her at the same time when we went to our local independent book store. I had seen Stephanie Perkins (another one of our favorite authors), tweet to her and she mentioned that Kiersten was one of her crit partners. Based purely on that, I bought Paranormalcy. Granted I normally love paranormal books, and this one shot it's way all the way up next to The Mediator series on my list.


Caprice Crane:
Helen had been telling me that I need to read these books for a long time, as someone who doesn't exactly like change I protested at first. I enjoyed staying in my wonderful YA bubble. One day at the library, on a whim, I picked up 'Forget About It'. This book, is fantastic. I'd be reading it at work and actually burst out laughing, only solidifying the fact that I was weird to my other co-workers, but I didn't care. Even as I type this, I have her new book "With a Little Luck" waiting for me at the library. YAY!!!!


John Green:
I know, I know. I'm late to the party. Better late than never, right?
Discovering him through the Vlogbrothers channel was definitely one of the more interesting ways of discovering an author. The thing I love the most about John's books, is how real they are. When I would read them, I would think "Yeah, that's probably how I would respond". Not only are they real in the conversational sense, but when it comes to real life occurrences, they are pretty spot on. Chances are that that girl that you have been in love with since you were little, is going to slowly slip from your mind when she leaves. It may take a while, it may hurt like hell, but eventually it'll take a minute to remember her and think "Where's Margo?"

On top of all that, John is signing ALL first editions of his new book "The Fault in Our Stars". This man is just so good to his readers.

Natalie Whipple:
Okay, technically she's not published... YET! She just announced that her new book Transparent has been sold. I found this blogger through both Kiersten White and Stephanie Perkins (if there were ever a gang of women that reminded me of my own soul sisters, it would be these ones). Natalie, a fellow Utah blogger and author, is not only hysterical and adorable, but offers some really great advice to those of us just getting into the writing biz. Anytime that I'm curious about something in the writing business, I go to her blog. Her posts are helpful, funny and sometimes contain awesome drawings.

Lastly (but most certainly not least of all), Stephanie Perkins:
Technically I discovered her last year, but I didn't read her book until the very beginning of this year, so I'm counting it! Stephanie has not only led me to a bunch of other amazing authors, but when I read her debut novel Anna and the French Kiss, it was one of those books that made me want to write. Almost to the point that I stopped reading (but I couldn't do that, Étienne is too pretty). When an author adds to that fire that already burning for you to write, they tend to hold a special place in your heart, Stephanie, is one of those people now. Right up there with Meg Cabot.

I'm going to try and be better with this blog... Anyone wanna offer some advice to help, or maybe some ideas?
Or...

A World of Magic, A World of Wonder

With the last Harry Potter movie quickly coming to theatres, nostalgia keeps hitting me straight in the face. Kristina Horner, recently posted a video about how Leaky Con was collecting a whole bunch of responses thanking J.K. Rowling for certain things in their lives. Considering I'm slightly more charming in type than on Youtube, I've decided to do the same thing, but here.

Harry Potter will always be close to my heart. It is easily the main reason I love reading so much. When I first started reading the books in 6th grade, I got so annoyed with them. Mostly because being in 6th grade and not being able to pronounce "Hermione" frustrated me to no end. It wasn't until I saw the movie, that I decided to give them another shot.

Needless to say, I fell in love. Head over heels, no looking back, writing myself into a fanfic, highlighting the 'shipper' parts of books 1-3 - type love. This is where I became a fangirl. If you want to blame something for the reason for my obsessions, my graphics, my shipper heart, and my overall flailing self, you can blame Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling.

For those who say "Anna, It's just a book", I could go on about how much this book has impacted my life. However, that would fail to really get my point across. I can barely comprehend how much this book has affected my life myself, to try and explain to someone why this one series, this one author, means so much to me, would probably cause me to break down in tears and babble incoherently.



J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Dumbledore, Snape, All of these characters hold a special part of my heart. JK Rowling for creating this fantastic world. Harry Potter for taking me with him on his adventure. Ron Weasley for being the person that kept them all grounded. Hermione Granger for showing all the nerdy girls out there that it's okay to be a nerd. Dumbledore for helping us believe in magic just a little bit more. Snape for proving his loyalty and surprising us all.

These characters will live on long after the movies are over.

Donate for Water...

When it comes to charities, I'm normally a pretty avid giver.

I recently did a two mile walk for The Lupus Foundation, where I got severely sunburned (by severe, I mean the worst sunburn in my entire life...), but it was worth it. Lupus is such a difficult disease, and actually knowing someone who has it puts the charity that much closer to my heart.

Another charity that I'm rather fond of is the This Star Won't Go Out Foundation that was established on the memory of a nerdfighter named Ester, and is created to financially aid those families who have children living with cancer.

The most recent charity that I've become interested in is the water charities. There are a few, but there are two that stand out to me Charity: Water and Water.org. Yesterday while attempting to create something on Photoshop, I again Stumbled Upon one of these websites, and was struck with inspiration. Though it didn't turn out EXACTLY the way I wanted it too... I think it gets the message across.



If you'd like to donate to any of these charities please click on the links provided.

Resources for graphic.
3D continents
clean water
dirty water