Maddison's Musings

The last week of June was crazy busy, but I had the best time of my life. I spent June 21st-27th in California attending Vidcon 2016 and TATINOF in Costa Mesa. I've been home for a week or two, and I've had time to reflect and go through all of my pictures and videos.

The Amazing Tour is Not on Fire (TATINOF) is a theatrical stage show by YouTube personalities Dan Howell (danisnotonfire) and Phil Lester (AmazingPhil). I don't want to give away anything, since they're big on no spoilers, but I can say that hands down, this is the best show I've been to.

Before the show, they have a playlist going and all of the songs are great. They played artists like Panic! at the Disco, Halsey, Fall Out Boy, Troye Sivan, etc. It was so cool watching the crowd sing along and dance to the songs before the show even started, and when Troye came on (a fellow YouTuber), everyone screamed and sang along. A few minutes before the show actually starts, they cut the music and a recorded announcement comes on reminding people not to film anything or take pictures of the show as they want the whole thing to be a surprise and for people to actually experience the show instead of worrying about filming it. Plus, the entire show was filmed at the last show in Hollywood, and it's getting put on YouTube Red so people can relive it, which I think is a great idea. I'm definitely going to buy it and re-watch it.

Also, before the show started, there were opportunities for planned audience participation where audience members could bring artwork, 7 Second Challenge ideas, Internet Support Group problems, or reasons why they were a weird kid for a chance to be featured in the show. I liked this way of doing things because it meant that people could participate if they wanted to, and nobody got randomly selected from the audience.

Once the show started, there was lots of screaming, as expected, but it was also nice to see that people obeyed and didn't film anything. The show was honestly amazing and it was filled with all sorts of different emotions. Of course there were feel good happy moments, but there were also cute fluffy moments and moments that made me tear up a little and there were some really real moments in this show. All in all, it was great and it was truly 100% Dan and Phil. There were little inside jokes and references to old videos and things they've done together, and it was cool to see everything from their point of view as they were on stage. Apart from all of the goofy inside jokes, there were a few times were they got domestic, or they dragged themselves/each other and I was l i v i n g  let me tell you.

One of the great things about the show was that you don't have to be a hardcore fan to enjoy it. I went with my mom, and she'll watch them with me occasionally, but she doesn't stan them or anything like I do and she loved the show. Sure, she didn't understand everything like why people screamed at a certain line, but overall she loved it. She said it was amazing and really family friendly and suitable for all ages- something she really enjoyed.

Overall, I would give this stage show an 11/10 or five out of five stars. It has the Maddison stamp of approval, which is all anything needs tbh.

I honestly can't wait until it comes out on YouTube Red so I can buy it and watch it over and over again. Also, they're not done with the tour! Next up is Australia, so if you live down under, I would fully recommend you go see this show!

Check out http://danandphiltour.com/ to see if they're coming to a place near you!

~Maddison

**slight spoilers ahead**

Can we just discuss these pictures for a moment? I've seen them all over the internet and honestly I have been saved like they just look so good I don't understand and then seeing them wearing those outfits in real life literally made me burst into tears I'm such a pile of trash but they look amazing okay okay I'm done just look at my tiny sons and leave me alone.

Thanks to the school year ending, my sleeping schedule is completely messed up. The other day, I pulled my first successful all nighter and managed to stay up for 29 hours before crashing and getting 20 hours of sleep. Since then, I've basically become nocturnal- not a good thing for someone going on vacation next week to California and attending Vidcon, a three day YouTube convention. 

Thanks to my now nearly nocturnal habits, I've found myself awake in the middle of the night with my thoughts. It's actually really nice and relaxing, since nobody is awake and it's just me, my book, and my thoughts (this new schedule is the perfect reading time! I can read uninterrupted for hours, and I've gotten more reading done in the past week than I have in the past year- it's delightful!). I've realized that my thoughts can be fairly random and not gonna lie, they're hilarious, so I've started writing them down in my notes. Today, I've decided to share a few of my favorites.

 I want to experience an earthquake. Does the earth rumble and roll? 

Do iguanas have feelings in their tails?

Why don't more people smile at others?

What was the first word spoken?

Do camels feel the weight of their humps?

How are my Webkinz doing?

How are all of my old online accounts doing?

What happens to the things we throw away

Why did I think I would run into quicksand more often than I do?

Why was Indiana Jones afraid of snakes?

Why do I remember that he was afraid of snakes?

How is Elmo doing these days?

RAVIOLI RAVIOLI GIVE ME THE FORMUOLI.

Do you think the Whig party called their wigs whigs?

What was Blue's last clue?

Why does my head start to feel the pressure of my brain after a while?

What happened to Barney?

Wait, didn't Barney hide drugs in his tail?

Or was that a rumor?

Why am I so funny?

What would happen if humans had tails?

Would we be able to control them?

When will the US get their head out of their asses and tighten gun control laws?

On that note, it seems like a good place to stop and discuss the latest happenings in America recently. As many of you know, the largest shooting in American history occurred on June 12th in Orlando, Florida. A man walked into a gay club and opened fire, killing 49 people. Not only was this a direct attack on the LGBTQA+ community, but it was an attack on America. President Obama called it an act of terror AND an act of hate. It was devastating, especially since Christina Grimmie was shot and killed the day before in the same city. As a member of the LGBTQA+ community, this attack hit far too close to home. The youngest person killed was only 18 and had just graduated. The guns laws in this country are way to lax, and I think we should take action.

There was a 15 hour long filibuster in Congress yesterday, ending in them deciding to do something about gun control, but that isn't enough. I urge you to contact your representative and tell them how you feel about gun control. I watched Hannah Hart's newest video (which you can watch here) and felt inspired by her call to action and contacted my representative and told them my thoughts. It felt empowering to know that my voice was going to be heard and that I could do something- and I'm only 17!

I know that you probably didn't plan on this post becoming so political, but this is a topic that hits close to my heart, and it's honestly scary, so anything helps. If you just take the time to watch the video and/or contact your representative, we can help bring on change in this dark world. I'll also attach links below on how to contact your representative.

Thank you for reading and hopefully taking action!

Contact Your Elected Representatives About Gun Control

Did Your Senator Vote for Background Checks?

Tweet Your Congressperson

More You Can Do

Extra Reading

~Maddison

Enjoy these snaps from my snapchat the other night when I was thinking these thoughts:

I only have three more days left of my junior year, and the prospect of being a senior and applying to colleges and all of that is utterly terrifying, to say the least.

Some of my friends are already booking senior pictures, and we're still juniors! I know what I want to do with my life, and I'm STILL freaking out about senior year and all of those responsibilities. My course load for next year is filled with AP classes so that I don't have to pay as much for college, but at least I requested an off period as well.

Not only am I going to be a senior and applying for colleges, but I'll also be getting a job and praying I don't go bald or grow gray hair from stress. Sure, there will be fun things next year, but I'm honestly just hoping I can breeze through it without too much stress.

Senior year aside, this post is meant to reflect on my past year as a high school junior. People constantly say that junior year is the hardest, but in all honesty, I didn't find it too bad. Sure, there were definitely stressful moments, but nothing too bad. I heard APUSH would be the hardest class I ever take, but my teacher was great and I ended up with an A in the class. As long as you did the work, it wasn't a difficult class, and that applies to everything: do your work, and you'll pass.

My junior year was a lowkey year. I spent most of the time laying low and trying to get good grades. I didn't have mounds of homework every night, and some nights I had none at all. Being on a block schedule really helped too, as it allowed me to schedule out my homework instead of having it all on one night.

Overall, my junior year was pretty good. There were ups and downs, but it definitely wasn't the worst. I'm just excited for summer to be honest. I need the three month break filled with travel and concerts.

~Maddison

It's May tomorrow, so you know what that means: AP Exams. Yay.. But in all reality, these next two weeks are going to be intense. I have three AP tests that I've signed up for, and I just realized that I also happened to sign up for the SAT the day after the APUSH exam. Fantastic. In all honesty, I'm just ready to get these next two weeks over with.

On the plus side, all of my homework is done except for the basic studying for exams and stuff, so that's good. Yesterday, I finally turned in my very last guided reading for APUSH and I've never been so happy.

With all of these exams coming up, it's important for me to remember to stay calm and to procrastinate less. That being said, the chance of me not procrastinating is fairly low, but maybe if I post this I'll actually feel motivated to do it.

Listen, I'm watching Friends and it's nearly midnight, so this is going to be short, but I'll post tomorrow maybe gotta blast and continue on the tradition of being a bad blogger.

~Maddison

Since my very first post in September of 2013, I have managed to post at least one post every single month. Until now. I didn't post a single thing in March. I half wrote one post talking about my love for the movie Inside Out, but I was soon distracted and abandoned the post, and then for the rest of the month I couldn't think of anything. It also didn't help that my computer just completely froze up and died (and still hasn't been fized yet-I've been using my dad's computer for three weeks now), so that also led to the lack of posting. Before I knew it, April was upon us, and I realized that I forgot to blog.

In all honesty, the title is a lie. I did stuff in March, I just don't know how to explain it. I went to see Troye Sivan in concert last month and I had one of the most amazing nights of my life, but for some reason I couldn't quite put my emotions into words. Same with the Special Olympics. I had such an amazing time outside all day and cheering on my buddy, but I feel like that's all I could say because that's all I did all day and I can't talk about my buddy because of confidentiality stuff, but I love Special Olympics and that experience is something I will never forget. I've also done a lot of homework over the past month. Too much homework for such a distracted person. Take today for example: I did absolutely no homework this weekend. Granted, I don't have anything due tomorrow, but I sure as heck have a ton of stuff due on Tuesday and Thursday. I could've worked ahead at least a little bit, but my utter lack of motivation stopped me.

Speaking of homework, AP exams are happening soon, and we've already started reviewing for most classes- especially in APUSH. I'm not too worried about the APUSH AP exam, since it is mostly fact-based and my teacher uses mnemonics to help us retain the information, but I am worried about doing everything within the time limit. It's the same thing for English- I know all of the material, I just am worried about the time limit.

What else has been new? I have no idea. Remember that bullet journal I was talking about and how much I loved it? Yeah, that fell apart after two months, like it literally started falling apart. I bought a cheap-ish notebook (like $6 at Target) and it wasn't a spiral bound it was just a normal bound notebook, but the pages kept falling out and that annoyed me. Also, the pages themselves were weird. So basically, there won't be a bullet journal post. I feel like it would have worked really well if  had a different notebook, but hey I tried it so that's nice.

I've found out that I love cooking shows. Especially competitive ones or anything including Gordon Ramsey. I mean, who doesn't enjoy watching a British man cursing for 45 minutes? I don't know about you, but I personally love it. I was watching Kitchen Nightmares and I like watching how people react to different things. But the nice thing was how the restaurant owners start out hating Gordon, but then in the end they're so grateful that he came. I also enjoyed watching Worst Cooks In America, Chopped, and Cutthroat Kitchen, but sadly I've watched all of them on Netflix.

This was really just a random stream of consciousness post, and I'm hoping to have something else up by the end of the month, but who knows. Until next time, I hope you're having a wonderful day.

~Maddison