I BET YOU CAN'T GUESS THE TRUTH!

For this week I will be stating five lies and one truth. This brings back memories of one of my favorite podcasts of all time, Smartmouths Podcast. They had two truths one lie, which is easier to guess the lie in my opinion.

1. I am hopelessly devoted to Culinary Arts.

2. I am in love with my soul-mate, but she hasn't met me yet.

3. I will kayak across the Pacific Ocean this summer and post a video about my journey on YouTube.

4. I have medium-length hair.

5. I have Aztec blood in my veins as a result of my family being in a town almost never have been visited by Europeans.

6. I don't like cookbooks because I like to come up with my own recipes without the influence of any one.

Why are you here?

Last year the online site YouTube became more popular than ever. Whether is was the ONE BILLION  people that subscribes to different channels, or YouTubers getting contracts and deals with major record labels and large-scale production companies, YouTube was everywhere. Many people are turning their channels into their own company and also in to like a brand-type channel. On the other hand there are always bad apples and YouTube is no exeption.

When someone from YouTube is explaining to someone who knows nothing about YouTube what the site is, they DO NOT SAY EVERYTHING! The one thing we YouTubers avoid telling you is that there are A LOT of haters on the site. They are called trolls and are hated and loved. They are hated because you will work your booty off on a project you hold near and dear to your heart and as soon as you post it these trolls may or may not leave a very rude comment 'just for fun'. The smart people however do a very simple and smart thing, they ignore them. My mom always says that if you ignore a crazy person eventually they will leave you alone, and gosh darn it my mom IS right. We YouTubers used to get ridiculed as soon as we mentioned snything about YouTube.

We used to be treated like trash from television companies, but just last year rating have DROPPED LIKE FLIES from television shows. Does anyone know where those views have gone? YouTube. From the outside we YouTubers last year started to look like we knew what we were doing. Even though the majority did, there are still some that do not know simply WHY they visit this site!

A pen-pal and a vlogger made two almost similar videos. In these two videos they asked a simple question; Why are you on YouTube? It is a question similar to one asked five years ago when YouTube was still a child which was "Who are you?" That question made the YouTube community become more connected with each other. The present question however, we still do not know what it will bring. I am still hesitant to answer that question not because I do not know why I still am on YouTube, but because I have many answers and I do not know how to paraphrase, summarize os shorten them down. Many different people, however have answered that question, which I tip off my invisible hat to them.

My pen-pal, Cory's video is below. It is in two short parts.

     Part one:

     Part two:

The vlogger, ProjectCarTv's (as he's known on YouTube) video is a long one, but It contains GREAT AND PHILOSOPHOCAL ideas/questions. If you are in a tight schedule watch from 3:30 through about 10:00.

WARNING: IF YOU ONLY WATCH PART OF THE VIDEO YOU WILL LOSE GREAT CONTENT. Seriously please watch if fully it is great!

Bye and don't forget to follow/stalk me.

Lady GaGa and Homosexuals were Born This Way!

I think this decade will be defined as the decade that resolved Gay Rights. Look how far we have come in just ten years. In the 1990s the general population still thought homosexuals were genetically and mentally retarded human beings. Just last year there were many pro-homosexual movements all over the world. In China, the current gay generation defines themselves as the ‘Transitional Generation’, meaning that they believe they are the generation that will pave the way into a more homosexual-accepting China. The NOH8 campaign is a picture-based movement started by a photographer showing how many people, gay and straight, are sick and tired of the hate constantly being received from the conservative and elder population. India, another “straight” country has already seen quite a few gay-parades in its time and they are growing. With all this talking (or typing) of homosexual facts from all over the world what is my view you wonder? 

At first when I learned what a homosexual was I will honestly say I was disgusted. I thought how a dude can have a relationship with another dude? Today I realize that my parents intentionally planted that idea and similar thoughts into my brain. Over time as I grew up and became a junior in high school I had different feelings towards homosexuals. Mainly because I had friends that were either gay or bisexual, and I did not even know they were “different” anyways. I always saw my homosexual friends as normal human beings with a weird pitch in their vocal cords. When I realized they were gay, that’s when I started questioning my Christian beliefs. In the Christian world a companionship between two men or two women is unacceptable and forbidden, end of story. Throughout my junior year and senior year of high school I continued to find my beliefs on homosexuals. One situation that helped me become more accepting towards the gay community in senior year was having lesbian friends. 

Have you ever seen two smoking hot girls make out right in front of you? I have, and watching those two beautiful ladies engage in PDA is truthfully what made me more accepting. My question is what straight guy doesn’t honestly want that to happen; I bet many straight men fantasize about a scene involving two females in close proximity to each other’s lips. In conclusion, today I believe that the homosexual population is normal, yes it’s that simple. Homosexuals are normal human beings that should be treated like everybody else. It does not matter if you’re black skin, brown skin, yellow skin, red skin, white skin, gold skin, homosexual, a dwarf, or a giant; we are all genetically 99.9% similar in one way or another. With that I say to all the homophobes: WELCOME TO THE 21st CENTURY!

Interviewing Melissa Zuniga

What's your name?

  My name is Melissa Zuniga

Tell me about your background.

  Well I go to Oxnard College, I'm the youngest of three, I'm the only girl, and I have lived in Oxnard all my life. I visited Italy and France instead of having a Quinceanera. My dad had a soccer team and he took them there to train, so I went along.

What motivates you to attend college?

   My family motivates me. I have two older brothers both with Bachelor's, and my parents also graduated college, so I come from a college family.

 What is your current schedule like?

   I go to school Monday through Thursday in the mornings, Wednesday nights, and I work Monday through Fridays 12-6.

 How do you balance family, school and work?

   Well I spend time with the family on weekends, I go to school in the mornings, I go to work right after and I go to school in the night Wednesdays.

Do you have a mentor or a role model in your life?

   My eldest brother is my role model. He went from Oxnard College, to San Diego State, to CalStateUniverityCI in five years.

How would you describe yourself in three words?

  Outgoing, organized, and friendly.

   

 Where do you see yourself in ten or five years?

   In ten years I see myself with my Master's working in a high school as a teacher in the East Coast.

What's your "motto" or philosophy for succeeding in school?

   Work hard, play later. In the end it will all be worth it.

What specific things about Oxnard College do you like?

   I like that everyone is focused with their studies compared to Ventura College. Over there it is like high school all over again, everyone is concerned about this and that, but not in their own studies.

What are some areas at the college you think could be improved?

   Everything except for the new buildings.

In what ways does your culture influence your decision to come to college?

   It makes me want to get an education. You go to fast food places and all you see are the Latinos doing all the hard labor, and I don't like that.

What's been the biggest surprise about your college experience?

   My biggest surprise is that time goes on by really fast.

Do you have anything you'd like to add to this interview?

   Umm, thanks for your time.

Family and Holidays

Family is everything to me. Family is how you learn to ride a bike, how you learn to cook, how you learn that your alcoholic uncle likes to crash into stores, and many more outrageous stuff. My favorite time to spend with the family is Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Christmas is not only about presents to me. Christmas to me is also a great time to spend with the extended family. On Christmas you are able to sit and have a talk with that cousin that lives in Sacramento, or even have a decent and civilized talk with your alcoholic uncle. The same goes with New Year’s Eve in my family. Everybody celebrates Christmas and New Year’s Eve with the family a different way. Now with my family, since 3/4 of us live in the same city, we always gather in the biggest house to celebrate the two Christmases, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and the two New Year’s, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. On Christmas we bring all of the presents, the ones for Secret Santa, the ones from 'Santa', and our personal ones. At around 3 PM Christmas Eve, we arrive at the chosen home and just hang around with the family. Our Christmas meal is a little different from the rest of America. The meal consists of tamales, posole, ponche, buñuelos, champurrado, tacos de cabeza, tacos de carne adobada, atole, and ensalada navideña, oh and my cookies. After the meal, we hang out some more until midnight comes around. At midnight we go around and wish everybody 'Feliz Navidad', then sit in the living room in a big circle. Everyone hands out their own gifts, and we act surprised by Santa’s presents as well. After the opening of the presents the families all go to their own homes until later on in the morning. Us kids however, we always ask our parents if we could sleep over. In the morning, we go back to the house with our gifts at hand, hang out some more, and eat yummy leftovers. At around 4 PM or 5 PM we would go back home. The next six days are always brutal for the young ones. We cannot wait to hang out with our cousins for a day or more yet again. Personally, I wish Christmas and New Year’s Eve were back to back. In no time at all however, New Year's sneaks up on us with a very similar schedule as Christmas in mind. Then we wait for winter do it all over again! In conclusion, family in my mind is tied to Christmas and New Year's, because Family, Christmas and New Year's are almost synonymous in my heart.