Alli's Articles
INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS, CULTURE PIECES, MUSICAL RAMBLINGS.
These past few days have been pretty rough school and social life wise, so I decided that I needed to sit down and write a guide for whenever I need it on how to survive things I don't want to do. I decided to share it with the blog just in case anyone else might be struggling with these issues. Enjoy and let me know if they actually helped you! Seeing People You HateIf you can, avoid them in any way possible. This may include pretending to text, going to another room/area in the room, pretending not to see them, or hiding behind other people. If there’s no way you can avoid them and you must say hi to them, just do it and make direct eye contact so you don’t look like you DON’T want to see them, and offend them. If they reach out to hug you, hug. If they don’t reach out, don’t even bother. Try to keep the conversation short, but interesting. Ask them how they’re doing and tell them how you’re doing even if you don’t want to. You never talk to them anyway since you don’t like them, so it doesn’t do any harm to tell them a couple things about life. Going To SchoolThis is one of the hardest ones. If you’re good at getting ready in less than 5 minutes, stay in bed for as long as you can to prep yourself for the day ahead. This can give you an energy boost. If you hate your school and everyone in it, use the hatred to fuel yourself. Just stay in school, observing all of the people you hate and know that you can rant about them later, and also keep notes on how NOT to act in school. Just keep in mind that school is only temporary and you need to keep going for the good and smartness of your future self. If your future self isn’t enough to motivate you, do it for a celeb crush. StudyingEvery time you need to study but you’re procrastinating by going on your computer or phone. just close it. When you get the urge that you NEED to stop and study, just close whatever you’re doing right away. Sometimes you need to do things in the moment instead of waiting to get things done quicker. Talking With An Annoying PersonJust listen to them, it’s really the least you can do. You don’t have to respond with insight, if you really don’t agree with anything that they’re saying, but just let them know that you’re listening. If a person you’re talking to keeps on talking about the same thing/keeps on saying one sentence over and over like a broken record and it’s just annoying you, bring it up in a nice way. “Yeah I know right?” And quickly move on to something else. Or, “yeah you already said that and I totally agree with you.” If you acknowledge that you’re listening and agree with them, they’ll eventually stop. Not Being Invited To Something Everyone Else WasDon’t go on any social media. It’s gonna make everything worse. This is going to hurt, no doubt about that. The best way to handle it is to realize that one party doesn’t determine your life, even though everyone makes it seem like that. Rant to someone who wasn’t invited, maybe. If your friends specifically excluded you from something (invited everyone in your group except for you), this can be a warning sign. Softly bring it up to them by planning another event and inviting them so they’ll feel at least a little bad. If you’re bold, just straight up say, “Why wasn’t I there?” If this isn’t the first time they’ve done this, time to move on. Dealing With a Bragger/NarcissistDealing with people who think they’re so special is the hardest thing ever and I’ve dealt with it a million times. Whatever you do, do NOT try to one up them while they’re bragging, this will only fuel them more. Usually narcissists are trying to make themselves feel better, so don’t bring them down or yell at them, instead you don’t have to celebrate or attend to every self-absorbed thing they say about themselves. Don’t snap out at them, because, like I said, a lot of narcissists secretly are insecure. You don’t have to go "wow!” at every achievement, just make sure you establish that you are there for them when they need it the most. It’s hard hearing someone brag when you’re struggling with your own self esteem issues, but just remember that everyone is great in your own way and your achievements and general greatness isn’t invalid just because you aren’t always talking about it. Mean and Unfair TeachersIf you’ve tried forever to get on a teacher’s good side but it’s just not working, it can be hard to survive in a class. Whatever you do, just make sure you do whatever you can to do well in the class. Even if the teacher doesn’t make jokes at you or like you personally, they’ll still respect you if you raise your hand and do well on tests. You don’t have to be the teacher’s pet, people hate the teacher’s pets. Just do well in the class and move on. If the teacher seriously sucks at teaching and you’re failing a lot, get a tutor. Even if you already get good grades, it makes everything better and you learn a lot of tips you wouldn’t get from a crappy teacher. JealousyI'm a very jealous person. It's not horrible, I just get jealous over little things. Jealousy is natural and is bound to consume you once in a while. You can be jealous of many things: someone going to a concert that you couldn't go to, someone who's very popular and has a lot of friends, friends of your crush, someone being better at a sport than you, etc. When I get jealous of something, I usually try to think of all of the cons and side-effects that come with having the thing I want. Having a lot of friends = constant attention and they NEVER LEAVE YOU ALONE. I don't know about you but I'm not about that life. If someone's better than you at a sport, they're probably gonna get asked to go on other teams and do more practices, which kills their free time. Try to do this with anything you're jealous over. If you can't find a con right away, dig deep. Something's always there. Anything ElseLife is filled with doing things you don't wanna do. It's hard, it's long, and sometimes it seems impossible.
Do the things you don't want to do now so that when you look back on it, you can say, "Hey, I'm strong. I did THAT. If I somehow gathered the courage to do that, I can do ANYTHING." Just keep in mind that the things you don't want to do are temporary, and to look for the good in anything. For every thing you don't wanna do, there's a million things to do that you WANT to do. Hang in there and contact me if you ever need any advice. I haven't experienced a lot in my life, but I've still seen a lot of people going through stuff and took notes. I'll try my best!
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A member getting kicked out of a band. Most of the time, it's unpredictable, sad, and leaves you wondering what to do next.
These feelings happened to me very recently with a band I liked. It turns out the guy was a...huge jerk. And that's just being nice! Apparently the guy was being a jerk for many years and it was kept in the dark. I found myself not wanting to listen to any of their music at all because I would feel guilty, and honestly, uncomfortable. How do we, as a fanbase, learn to move on from traumatic events like these? I made up my own steps based on my own experiences. 1. Accept that it's not your fault, nor the other innocent members of the band. You may feel like anything that's associated with the band is cursed, and that's completely natural. Just know that the other band members did the right thing by making this decision. It was probably really difficult for them to do, but the fact that they went through with it shows their courage and their morals. Be proud of them. Also, you may feel bad for the person who got kicked out for a while. Especially if you ever talked to them/followed them on social media/thought they were a decent person at all. If they were really an a-hole, don't be! It's not your fault they were dumb and did dumb things! I'm seeing this as a lesson. If you do stupid things, even if you get away with them at first, it will always catch up to you. Always. 2. Take a Break from the Band for a Little While. Like I said earlier, I feel guilty and crappy whenever I listened to this band after this incident, so right now I'm taking a break from them. If you were really obsessed with the band that you're upset about, I suggest you do the same thing and find another band to get obsessed with for a while. Try not to listen to them or go on their social medias if you know that it's gonna make you upset. 3. Know That You're Not Alone. There are many other fans just like you that feel betrayed and tricked by this person. Maybe try to make friends with some. Discuss what you guys plan to do next. Just know that it's your job as fans to give support to the other members and to not give up hope on the whole band. If you're negative, that really doesn't help. Even if you really don't feel positive, giving positive feedback is better than being negative about everything because being negative back isn't going to change anything. Learning to move on from bad times with a positive attitude about the future can change everything. So there you go. It's going to be okay. I know most of us hate change, but hey, that's just life. Constant changing. It will get better and soon things will just be normal again. That's it for now. I hope you have a good week and just remember, Spring Break is literally around the corner. :) Okay. I'm claustrophobic. I'll admit it. I have nervous breakdowns in airplane bathrooms and I almost threw up in the MRI machine. More recently, I almost fainted in General Admission at the Saint Motel concert, that I was almost kind of relieved when my mom made us move to the outside. I had to sit down, like, every time the band came off and before another one came on. My question is, when I want to see more Standing-Room Only shows in the future, how do I survive? I obviously need to learn how to stand for long periods of time, which I'm surprised I haven't mastered yet because of volleyball. I'm gonna try to deduce some of the WikiHows on it, and make my own tips. (featuring crappy Noteworthy doodles!) 1. DRINK LOTS OF WATER. I made this mistake the day of Saint Motel. Usually I bring a water bottle to school so I can refill it through the day, but I guess I forgot. You should bring a refillable water bottle to school/work the day of the concert so you stay hydrated for the whole day, and basically ready for everything (personally, not having water makes me really tired/lazy). Buy some before the show starts at the venue, too. 2. WEAR COMFY SNEAKS. I made sure to wear my fave adidas sneakers (pictured), but at the Muse concert I wore my mom's old Timberlands that barely fit me. Even though I wasn't in GA, the blisters still came. And boy, were they painful! If you don't have any nice sneakers, any comfortable boot/mocassin/sperry? will work. For the love of all things holy, DO. NOT. WEAR. HEELS. You will probably die. 3. DON'T PANIC IF YOU CAN'T SEE RIGHT AWAY. OR IF THE THOUGHT OF BEING SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE WITH NO CLEAR WAY OUT SCARES YOU. a Now, I can't relate with short people because I am not one. But I'm pretty sure every local giant in the area went to see Saint Motel. I felt tiny. I'm 5'8". You have to remember, after the show starts, everyone starts moving to the beat, so you'll be able to see, don't fret. The main reason I almost had a panic attack at this show was the fact that everyone was squeezing into me and I felt extremely claustrophobic and was slowly being torn apart from my loved ones. You gotta hoooooold on. You just have to take a few deep breaths, a few sips of water, and remember you're gonna be okay, you can't die in this situation, and that if anything gets crazy, at least the people you're with will be able to save you. Also, the security. 4. DON'T FIGHT WITH ANYONE. This didn't actually happen to me, I'm just warning everyone in case it does in the future. If someone pushed you to get to the front or does something else asshole-ish, don't even worry about it. It's no use fighting with someone you're never gonna see after this concert. (They're probably gonna get pushed back anyway.) Also, you never know if they're drunk or dangerous. My mom says the same thing with driving. "I'd rather get home slower but safe than dead." 5. ESTABLISH YOUR TERRITORY. (Works better if you're in a group) Even if you're a weak, stick-limbed weaking like me, you can establish your space if you just spread your legs out wide, and maybe your arms, if space allows. Maybe squat. It's hard to sit. So definitely train your legs or do some squats to prepare for the hours of standing that wait. (Especially if you're going to a festival, I've never been to one and I'm not planning to because of this.) Groups, make a chain. 6. DON'T LET THE WEED SMELL GET TO YOU. "Uh, I think that singer might be on something." - my mom, when the weed stench started during Hippo Campus
If you're like me, the smell of weed makes you want to vomit. There's gonna be a lot of it at concerts. You could be at the Wiggles show, and there probably still is gonna be that one guy. Just try to ignore it, maybe breath in your water bottle, or just hold your nose. Your eyes might get a little red, but it will all be fine in the end. Weed isn't the worst drug out there, even though it still is annoying to smell at concerts. If you like the smell of weed for whatever reason, just continue on to the next tip, I guess.. 7. PEE BEFORE! Do I even have to explain this one, or provide a drawing for it? Just do it. SOME LAST TIPS: - hide your wallet/other valuables in your pants/bra. especially for festivals. - if you have long hair: put it up. it gets sweaty in there. also i recommend putting on multiple layers of deodorant before going. - it's gonna be hard getting videos with all of the people around. remember, it's living in the moment that counts, even if you can snag a couple great vids. - mosh pits: don't do it unless you like blood, vomit, and other fluids. plus, bruises and cuts. it's not worth it. what even are mosh pits? just people running into each other, like WHAAAT??? If you can think of any other helpful tips, place them in the comments. Please comment! I want to see all of your opinions! Put 'em on Liah's, mine, our joint ones, anything! Feedback and constructive criticism is welcome! I've only been to one standing-room-only concert, so these tips aren't the best, so don't trust me with your life. But, I hope these tips are helpful to an extent. I'll definitely keep them in mind for next time! |