Im BAAAAAACK!

 hello once again! i apologize for my absense, finals at school, madrigals, and the holidays have kept me away!  first off! the picture above displays one of my most recent achievements: 2g! :) rachel bought me these purple 2g for me for christmas. they feel really cool and they look alot bigger now that im wearing eyelets instead of plugs.
the pictures next four pictures are from our madrigal dinner!  i was the jester and the friends displayed here were the madrigal singer.  we always have alot of fun with these dinners and im definately going to miss them next year.

 this next picture is me and my mommy on christmas eve at my grandparents house (ba and papa.)

i would also like to announce that this post is being made via my new laptop (courtesy of mi madre.)  she went all out this year and bought me this laptop, movies, ps3 games, clothes, art supplies, earbuds, a blue tooth( so i can yell at people on assassins creed), and a bunch of other stuff i cant remember.  Ba and Papa got me art stuff, carnivorous plant dome thingy, ps3 game, perfume.  From my aunts and uncles i got gift cards, a steampunk drawing book, jewelry and makeup.  From my friends i got, nail stuff, giftcards, gauges, and from my boyfriend a tablet to go with my new computer :)  thats all i can think of so far...but i felt the need to flaunt my successful year :)

soooo now im sitting here watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with my cousin Breanna and chilling for the night.  i think were going to play Singstar later (which i rock at btw.) :)))

ok well to anyone who actually reads this blog,  how was your christmas? did you get anything cool/fun?

New Yarn Hair Extension Shtuff.

The other day i was surfing online from my phone and got back onto my dreadlocks kick.  Now, my friend Rachel and I have been wanting to buy dread extensions  for a while but have not been able to due to funds and parental restrictions.  i was looking online for some dread ideas and stumbled across how to make your own synthetic dreads out of wool roving.  I thought that was interesting so i read/watched around 10 tutorials and decided i would love to try it.  Next logic step to me was to search for wool roving availability and pricing.  apparently Walmart has some on their online site and some fabric stores carry it.  a package ranges from $14 (the cheapest i saw) up to any amount depending on dyes and amounts.  since wool roving is not immediately accessible to me i decided to go with a subtler and cheaper method of adding flair to my hair.
i saw a tutorial of a woman putting yarn extensions into a child's hair.  i thought this looked pretty fun and easy so i ran to the local dollar store and bought 5 (rolls?) of yarn.  I started with a small chunk of hair located just above and in front of my right ear. (this is my favorite part of my hair)  I started braiding these two long pieces of yarn into my hair (folded in half they turn into 4 pieces) and ended with a yarn dread/braid thing two inches longer than my actual hair length.  for my first try it looked pretty cool.  i continued to do 3 more braids on various parts of hair and kept them in for 3 days. they were really cool having but were difficult to maintain with only 4 of them.  there was a need to brush and wash my hair but it was difficult going around each of the braids.  This brought me to the conclusion that either the whole head should be braided/dreaded or maybe like one braid....
i really liked this look so i thought of a way to make temporary braids that can be put in and taken out every night before bed so i didnt have to worry about them getting damaged and whatnot.

contrary to the crapiness of the picture they did turn out fairly well.  i have a green pair in my hair right now that ive had in since 9 this morning. theyre really easy to tie in because they have a top pair of strings that allows me to braid them in without incorporating the actually braids (i believe this looks better)
i made a few for my friends and i waiting to see how well they like them. who knows maybe ill create a fad at my school? :p
no probably not.  but my main goal now is to find roving and eventually achieve a look that resembles the following picture.

i think that is sososososo pretty :) if not in white then in some other natural colors would be acceptable. (maybe a few fun colors for flair)

so for now i will have to deal with relatively short hair and longish yarn braid extensions. :)

Random "Get to Know Me"

1. Full name: McKenzie Lynn Cullen
2. Nickname: Kenzie or Kenny
3. Zodiac sign: Leo
8. Tall or short: Shorty
9. Sweats or jeans: Jeans. sweats are uncomfortable unless they are for sleeping in
10. Orange or apple: Apple
11. Do you have a crush on someone: not that i can think of
12. Eat or drink: drink definately.
13. Piercings: Double Lobe piercings which are gauged and then a conch piercing in my left ear. (planning on getting my right conch done as well. i prefer the symmetry) as well as a new nose piercing
14. Pepsi or coke: coke.  pepsi is too syrupy

Have you ever ...
16. Been in an airplane? yes multiply times
17. Been in a relationship? yep. in one at the moment
18. Been in a car accident? does getting hit on your bike count?
19. Been in a fist fight? pretend ones...

Firsts & lasts ;)
20. First piercing: earlobes when i was seven
21. First best friend: Rachel Symons :)
22. First award: I think a science fair ribbon...or soccer medal...or maybe something from school?
23. First crush: um...im not sure
24. First word: water i think? (said as wahby)
25. Last person you talked to in person: Rachel Symons last night
26. Last person you texted: Ethan :)
27. Last friend you watched a movie with: i think Final Destination (whatever the most recent one was) with Rachel
28. Last food you ate: chocolate and mixed berry muffin
29. Last movie you watched in theaters: either Final Destination or Harry Potter cant recall
30. Last song you listened to: This Flesh a Tomb-Atreyu (listening to it at the moment)
31. Last thing you bought: a Wonder Years Shirt from the concert last night
32. Last person you hugged: My mom

Favorites
33. Food? steak, squid, applesauce, cheese, Japanese food...obviously not all together :)
34. Drink? JUICE!!! any juice but especially pomegranate
35. Flower? not big on flowers. maybe passiflora
36. Animal? wolves or tigers
37. Color? Battery charged Blue, Crimson, and Black :)
38. Place? Renaissance faire? the freezer?
39. Movie? Lost Boys. hands down favorite movie of all time.
40. Subject? art (art history or painting) and Science (especially psychology, human anatomy and chemistry)
Have you ever ...
41. Fallen in love with someone? No
42. Celebrated Halloween? oh courseee
43. Went over the minutes/texts on your phone? cant. unlimited ;)
44. Wanted to smack someone upside the head? O.e of course
45. Eaten a whole pizza? no...i think i might have eaten 4 slices...maybe
46. Did something you regret? ooh ya
47. Broke a promise? yep. on accident
48. Hid a secret? Yess soo many
49. Pretend to be happy? yeahh :/ 

Your future ...
50. Want kids? ya but im not sure about actually birthing kids...im leaning towards surrogacy or test tube babies.
51. Want to get married? if im have the right person yes.
52. Career? character designer for either live-action movies, anime or video games. maybe minor in metaphysical studies or Japanese Language 

Which is better in the opposite gender ?
53. Lips or eyes: Eyes.
54. Shorter or taller: Taller than me
55. Romantic or spontaneous: mostly spontaneous...im not the mooshy gooshy type. (only on some occasions)
56. Hook up or relationship: relationship
57. Looks or personality: Personality!! Looks get extra credit!

Have you ever ...
58. Lost glasses/contacts? contact
59. Snuck out? umm...i walked down the street with rachel one time while my mom was asleep...does that count?
60. Held a gun/knife for self defense? sword actually...there was a rapist at the door lol
61. Broke someones heart? um im assuming not but maybe
62. Been in love? Nope
63. Been arrested? No 
Do you believe in;
64. Yourself: on occasion
65. Miracles: no
66. Love at first sight: no
67. Santa: not anymore
68. Forever & Always: No.

Creative food

 im home alone and i tend to get a bit creative with my food items...

the is a chocolate raspberry milkshake i brought into existence. looveeee

teriyaki turkey burgers with feta cheese. minus the buns because i dont really like the buns :) strangely delicious.

Chicago

My trip to Chicago with Rachel and her brother Eric :) we rode a train into Chicago and started our journey by hitting up the sears tower. afterwards we went to grab a bite to eat followed by a walk around downtown and Millenium Park.  We ended the evening with an amazing concert featuring five bands at the House of Blues.  here are a few pictures o our endevours. (obviously not in chronological order.)

 the train on the way into Chicago...oh so many people riding lol

 pretty good snap shot of some buildings i am unaware of their names. behind the Bean tho.

 Confetti at the end of the concert we went to. (this was during new found glory)

 House of Blues...the venue for aforementioned concert

me up in the sears tower skydeck :)

Oh Destery...and Nathan...

bahahhaaha wow....i laugh every time...i love desandnate :3

Halloween (rant)

wow i greatly dislike people.  Seriously Halloween is not the day when one gets to dress as a mega hoe.  I get that you're going for the whole scary factor...believe me,  i'm very frightened, but is it really worth it showing off the complete bottom half of you're butt and about nine inches down into you're cleavage and ending up with a cold because oh hum its freakin' 40 degrees out?!  Halloween is not about looking "sexy" (i use this term very loosely as none of the people attempting this look seem to be achieving it.)  This is very depressing to me.

i am all for guising on Halloween and having a good. but sometimes i do feel that some of the traditions of Halloween have been left behind.  Today's society has changed what the typical costume is assumed to be.  Traditionally, monsters, ghosts, skeletons, witches, and devils were the costumes of choice.  These costumes later varied into generic archetypes such as ninjas and princesses as well as celebrities and fictional characters from movies and books.  Now, we have "sexy" devils, witches, police officers, fire women, nurses, ninjas etc.
what ever happened to a plain devil costume? or a plain witch costume?  walking down the aisles in Walmart to find a costume now becomes a tedious work because every costume is made with about 2 yards of fabric.


maybe its just me but i prefer traditional costumes over the cheesy, or slutty costumes of today.  I prefer the accurate portrayals over the stereotypical messes that now plague the stores shelves.


-M

fun anime hair i tried. apparently my hair is too long which sucks....ive decided to grow it out!! and if i dont like it then ill just go back to my awesome short hair :)

Vampire Knight Cosplay~

my favorite anime :3

The Drums - Money

i love this freakin song...

Senior Photos :)

Today we decided to get my senior pictures done.  our first stop was Stronghold castle which i thought was a great location. :) had two different outfits, these were a little more dramatic.

The next place we went was a wildlife preserve out in the country.  where these pictures were produced....
these ones are more casual, with only one outfit.

in total there were over 400 pictures taken! it was quite surprising.  but i feel we got some really nice shots out of it.  now i need to go through and actually take the time to edit all of these bad boys. it might take some time...
so this is the end of my fall session...i have another one coming up in winter ;) those should be equally fun.
Note to self: learn how to model and stop being so awkward lol

Parade day!

Today was Autumn on Parade here in Oregon! the entire town goes all out with booths, food and entertainment.
i love this time of year. the smell of fall and all the different foods in the air is by itself beautiful, but adding the cool climate and changing leaves is just the cherry on top. (although i hate that cliched analogy) this does not include the pleasure of having our family here to hang out :) (which improves this event even further)
i really wish Oregon had a designated section somewhere in town where we could have booths up all year!  that would be so awesome, it would give us something fun to do as well as maybe make this town a little more worldly.
i just thought i would make a note of this occurence. :)

anyone else have this sort of thing in your town?

FINALLY!

wow i finally get to see x-men first class! im actually really excited.
here sits one of the biggest x-men fanatics and no...she hasnt seen the most recent movie...even though it came out what? 4-5 months ago? thats what it seems like.  but no. im unaware of the awesome. ill comment later on the awesome.

ohhh my goodness....i love this movie. sure there is a lack of Nightcrawler and Hugh Jackman (excluding his two second bar bit) but still! im loving this movie!
it wasnt AS great as i suspected but im still very happy with it. its nice seeing some new and exciting characters.

Language time!

Im currently learning japanese! :)  mostly so that i can watch anime without having to use the subtitles...but regardless im really excited about it.  my friend Erik (yes you Erik) is helping me with my terrible penmanship and pronunciation etc.  hes gonna bring me some worksheets in Japanese (probably 2nd grade level) lol but i believe it will help.  so far i can say the basic hiragana alphabet...working on writing it. they i will go on to the variations of the hiragana alphabet.  after that i suppose i will go on to katanaka...and after that...the dreaded kanji. im slowly learning it but i feel i am making progress. ill keep updating any major details about my endeavours :)

childish

At the moment i am sitting in front of the computer (obviously) but behind me is a fort Rachel and i made on the couches.  This is going to be awesome...i have not made a fort in...4 years?  im really excited about this. now this is what got me thinking about my current topic: Why do we still retain some of our more childish feelings even though we have aged? im not saying that im all that old or experienced but i thought that high school kids were suppose to be so mature.  at least thats how they were portrayed when i was in primary school.  I have found though, that through the years in high school many of us have actually regressed into more childish versions of ourselves.
I STILL enjoy hide-and-seek!  whenever i am in a group of 4 or more people i take advantage of the situation and propose a game of hide-and-seek or tag.  Mostly everyone seems to love this idea! i think this is mostly because were expected to act so mature that when we get the chance to finally let loose, we seize the moment! now i guess that wasnt much of an epiphany but thats just what i have concluded.
also Cartoons.  they are STILL addicting. i watch Avatar the last Airbender, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Fairly Odd Parents, DBZ Kai, Sponge Bob etc whenever i get the chance.  though i now realize that some of the jokes that are made in such cartoons are not necessarily funny, i still enjoy them because they make me forget about all the grown-up things that i need to worry about.  Cartoons are great reprieves.
Whenever i walk into such stores as Hottopic or what have you and see that they have Reptar hair pins or Invader Zim earrings/matching necklace i have to restrain myself from buying the store out. for some reason they are way cooler than getting some trendy barettes etc.  And then when i actually get the chance to wear such accessories to school there are endless compliments on how cool they are.

Now...to my hordes of...followers... are there any stories you have about childish things? certain activities that you enjoyed as a child that you still enjoy today?

-M

Blue Is a Primary Color!

Psychology class today (this is a distant learning class. professor is on a tv with a teachers aid chillin over in the corner of the class):

Our psych teacher today was trying to make some sort of connection between psychology and mixing colors together.  our prof goes on to say that mixing yellow and green together makes....blue.  Now being the person i am, i started fuming over this small detail but apparently he had fallen down his stairs this morning and was a little out of it so i just let it go.  about 2 minutes later he brings up this color reference again.  now other people in the class start murmuring this to each other and start to protest to the prof.  well our microphone sucks so he doesn't hear us. the teacher aid hears us though and tells us that yellow and green do in fact, make blue.  she then goes on to show her great knowledge of how expensive paint is by saying the hues that are put into red are "very rare" and therefore to get her mustang repainted, was very costly.  by the end of her explanation i felt the burning need to raise my hand.  at this point the class was in an uproar. finally after yelling the teachers name a few times to get his attention (i sit in the back of the room) everyone quiets down and he acknowledges me.  i say: "Dr.N. Blue is a primary color.  You cannot mix two colors together to get it."  He seemed a little confused but the teachers aid took over for him saying: "No! you can mix colors to get blue! Yellow and Green.  Go ask Mrs.B. she will tell you the exact same thing." Dr. N. agrees with this saying: "Yes. pigments and filters mix differently. so therefore those colors CAN make blue."

by this point i was absolutely freaking out. (i don't freak over much but this was very irksome.)

Dr. N. continues with his lecture.  Soon a girl in the front of the class raises her hand.  She had mixed a green and yellow highlighter on her paper to show the prof.  he asked her what color it made and she said lime green.

"LIME GREEN!" he exclaimed."Oh! well.  can you now mix blue and yellow together?"

she mixes the two together to find that it makes...green.  Dr.N. sees this and exclaims: "OH!!! it seems i mixed up my colors! i am so sorry. ill have to make a note of this for my later classes."  The teachers aid thankfully kept her mouth shut.

now it wasn't the fact that the prof. mixed up his colors that made me mad.  What made me mad, was that the Aid was so bent on proving us wrong and taking the profs side, that she didn't really think over this logic.

i swear i had a coronary.

and that was my rant for today.

-M

Intro, preamble, thesis etc.

An intro to my blog.

*pushes glasses up in an attempt to seem intelligent*

To begin i would like to lay out some general guidelines as to what may be posted on this blog.  Though my ideas may not be coherent or cohesive, they will nevertheless be recorded into this blog.  My main purpose is stated in the "Have you Known her?" section to the left.

<--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

some topics i want to touch on are artwork, my *ahem* novel that im attempting to write, anime, dreams, and basically any other meaningless rambling that happens to fall out of my mind.  Theory: there may be something profound up in the attic. *nods head sarcastically*

as you, the reader, are probably aware of by now, i have terrible grammar (i throw commas in at random) and i use a lot of  *'s.  

Now i will attempt to write a blurb about myself...

*cracks fingers in anticipation of typing text diarrhea*

(sorry for the image btw.)

Hi! Im McKenzie. (Currently) i am a senior in High School.  I am planning on going to a community college in order to get GenEds out of the way, and then continuing on to an art college to pursue a career in Character Design. This would be for either video games or horror movies.  I am also interested in learning Japanese. (so i can watch anime w/o subtitles.)  Though my other interests are already described on my profile i would like to further elaborate on some of it.

Music: Im not going to say music is my life because that would be a lie. (and its very annoying when people say that.)  i am very fond of techno, screamo (fry, not core), alternative, j-rock,symphonic metal etc.  My music taste is mostly due to my aunt who had a great influence on my life.  She introduced me to Atreyu, Blue October and Panic at the Disco, which just so happen to be my all time favorite bands.  

Movie and Books:  I chunked these into category because my interest in genres really do not differ between the two medias. on a very basic level my genre is either horror or inappropriate humor.  The horror genre (though i don't consider it horror) pertains mostly to vampires. yes, i have read/ watched the twilight saga.  it was referred to me by a friend back in 7th grade.  she said i should read it because of my last name. (as one can imagine i get allot of crap for it). though i enjoyed the books then, i do not enjoy them as much now because i feel Stephanie Meyers style of writing is quite at the level i like to read at.  Back to the topic of vampires in general, i have a bookcase full of just vampire books as well as a shelf full of just vampire movies. i take pride in my collection.  The inappropriate humor genre mostly applies to movies, not so much books. (though the Japanese write some very suggestive material in manga)  I watch Jackass, Family Guy, South Park. enough said.

Activities:  I participated in soccer for 9 years.  i quit this year because of troubles with the coach. ( he is against playing girls on a boys team.  our school does not have a girls team so we get mushed in with them)

but that story is for another day.  I have been spinning poi for over a year now. (poi is a form of performance art) i would like to upgrade to fire at some point. i draw, paint, take pictures-basically anything that takes artistic abilities i will participate in.  I am also an avid video game player. (AKA nerd.)  my current goal is to beat Jak and Daxter 2 in under 5 hours. (im at 7hrs 28 minutes). i love the Assassins Creed games and Dynasty Warriors.  Any role-playing, third-person, fighter games i will play.  and then there's Sims.  i play this mostly for the building of houses. *smiles*  i just recently build a mental institution for my Sims. very...scenic. as Audra would say.

thats just about enough about me for one day.  

im very sorry if this happened to bore you but i figured this was a good intro to...well. Me.

Enjoy the rest of my blog i will try to post frequently. (depending on blog ideas)

-M