When I was younger, I attended a Jewish summer camp, Camp Tevya. I started going to camp when I was eight years old (the youngest age campers were allowed to be) because my brother Ben and I were never apart when we were younger. I spent eight summers at Tevya as a camper, then went back for one summer as a CIT and one summer as a counselor. As campers, we used to have to write home three times per week.
This morning, while cleaning out the basement, my parents found boxes of letters my brother and I wrote home during the summers of 1999 and 2000. I was 9 and 10 years old and Ben was 11 and 12 years old.
The following are some of the letters we sent home. I spelled/punctuated everything the way it was spelled/punctuated in the letters.
From Arielle - Summer 1999 - 9 years old
"Hello! I finally got your letters. It is raining, thundering and lightning. The power is out so I'm writing by flashlight. Last night it was the same. Me and Ben have the same electives, tennis, field sports and basketball.
Love you,
Arielle"
"Dear mom,
I'm having an awesome time at camp. Yesterday we went to water country. I went on 4 rides! They were water slides and rides on the lazy river (a ride) I got stuck and my tube flipped over backwards. Can you go to newbury comics and get me six packs of poke'mon cards? Send them in a package. In a letter send 20 band aids with designs. DO NOT send them in a package. My bunk mates are really nice. Are you on medication for your bug? Do you feel better? I hope so. Did you go to the Cape? That's all for now.
Love,
Arielle
[drawing of person with a thermometer that says "don't look like this" next to a drawing of a girl stick figure smiling "look like this!!!!!"]"
"Dear mom and dad,
Hi. I'm having a great time. We're getting big sisters tomorrow. Send another package.
Love,
Arielle"
"Dear mom,
Hi. Send a package with poke'mon cards. I'm having a great time. It is shabbat. I'm happy.
Love,
Arielle"
"Dear mom,
I miss you very much. Camp is almost over. The Shira guy is weird. I will send you a birthday card tomorrow! Love you,
Arielle"
"Dear mom,
Do you have any spare toothpaste caps? Mine fell down the drain. I miss you very much. Tonight we are having a water fight against Yavneh.
Love ya,
Arielle"
From Ben - Summer 1999 - 11 years old
"Dear Mom and Dad.
Camp is great. I went on 4 different rides at water country. We went to roller land also. I threw up twice. I spent the night at the health center with Jake and Josh my 2 best friends. Kayla and Alana spent the night there too. I watched my cousin vinny home alone 2 and my best friends wedding. Today is Jakes birthday we had pizza (I did not eat it) I miss you a lot (since I'm sick).
Love,
Ben
P.S. can you send me some stamps?"
"Dear Mom,
Camp is great. I'm having the best time. I miss you more then Arielle. See you soon,
Ben"
"Dear mom,
Camp is great. I'm very scared of the thunder and lightning storms that keep happening this is the 2nd day in a row. I miss you a lot Reading you letters make me very Homesick. But my councilers have been so nice they are the best. Its thundering again.
Love,
Ben"
From Arielle - Summer 2000 - 10 years old
"Dear Mom,
I am 50/50. Camp is okay. I'm not breathing well. The food is bad. The weather is okay.
Love,
Arielle"
"Dear Mom and Dad,
I miss you. I don't want to stay 2 months. My stomach is not doing well and neither is my asthma. Also my wrist KILLS. I
did not want to have to write bad news, but it is the truth. Good news:
for electives I got cartooning and drawing, tennis and basketball. I am
level 3/4 in swimming. Ben won't talk to me so you better write to him
about it. I get headaches sometimes but they're very small. That's all
for now.
Love,
Arielle"
"Dear Mom,
Remember to send AA batteries, like 20 of them anyway I miss you. Send 34 c stamps.
Love,
Arielle"
"Dear Mom and Dad,
This is my list to bring for visiting day:
A visor (A+F, Nike, or Adidas)
Gatorade: Blue, Red and yellow
Super Mario Deluxe, for color gameboy
Post it notes.
Gelly roll pens
3 more rolls of film for I-Zone and markers.
Guess what? Color War broke Monday night and I'm on Galil. Rachel is also on galil. Ben and I want to go home for visiting day.
Can you tell me how the all-star game was? Did Pedro pitch? How are you?
Also, can you bring the 4th Harry Potter book. There is so much time to read.
Love,
Arielle"
"There is 1 counselor that I dont like. It's Sharon she yells at us to get going but she just stays in bed and goes on dates with the maintince guys. When I was having an asthma attack it took her 10 minutes to figure out wether to ride with her boyfriend or go to the infirmary by foot.
Love,
Arielle"
From Ben - Summer 2000 - 12 years old
"Dear Mom,
Camp is great bla bla bla bla bla bla bla. By the way, can you send me a composition note book?
Love,
Ben"
"Dear Mom and Dad,
Camp is great. Today is July 4th it is also my counsolor Zack Sigel birthday. Wouldnt it be cool to be born on the fourth of July. Where is my clothes? If you havent sent my package of clothes yet please add 5 pairs of mess shorts. Thanks for writing.
In the envelope you see a peice of lather strap that says mom It is your Birthday present. Its a bookmark. I made in arts and crafts. I like to call it farts and craps.
There testing the fire works write now their really loud. Will you write to me about the pops 4th. Hows Mike.
Their was a big accident here with police and ambulances at least 3 cops. A kid was tubing and somehow his leg got caught in the motor of the boat and all of us had to go back to their bunks. I dont really remember if I told you that before.
The glass cover for the light and now theres glass all over the place. We just had a barbecue and I had the worst hot dog ever. Whats with arielle only staying 1 month. Why is she wearing a wrist guard on her arm for a brace.
I'm playing 4 square and writing this at the same time. So for this year is the best year ever. Do you know I'm writing whatever I think why I am writing so long. I'm yelling at kids for shooting me with water gun. Love,
Ben"
"Dear Mom and Dad,
I'm not in a very good mood write now. I just came back from lunch. First of all last night I got a chicken pattie with a sticker cooked on to it. Then at lunch I asked for PB&J and I got a jelly sandwich wich was cranberry sauce. Then my table counsolur who loves me :) made me bring it back. So I get one with peanut butter and jelly but the bread was stuck together so then we sent it back and the next one the bread was cold. I got to go.
Love,
Ben"
"Dear Mom and Dad,
Camp is great. Last night I got a bug in my ear and had to go to the informery. After you left I missed you a lot but now I'm ok. It is really hot hear. Is it hot there? How was the beach? Have you gon yet. I kind of need some more shorts so please send some.
Love,
Ben"
"Dear Mom and Dad,
Guess what I did at 5:30 am. I swam across lake Potanipo. It was a 2 mile swim and it took an hour. Their was 50 kids doing it and about 30 life gaurds like 10 of them were swiming 10 were funyaking and the rest were 2 motor boats with 5 people on them. Here is a diagram:
[rows of dots]"
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Thursday, December 20, 2012
The true face of Asperger's
Ever since last Friday morning, I've constantly felt sick to my stomach. It's a feeling shared by most who have been following the story of the Newtown shootings. Over the last few days, I've forced myself to stop watching TV coverage of the tragedy and read less articles about it not because I don't care, but because I keep getting so nauseous from all of the reports.
Initially, like everyone else, I was distraught over the idea that a man two years younger than me would walk into an elementary school and murder innocent first graders. During the first few days of coverage, I was invested in finding out who the victims were, committing their names to memory and learning about their lives.
But as the days passed, more and more information emerged about the shooter, and that information was devastating for me. Many are saying the gunman had Asperger's syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism that severely affects a person's social skills and causes them to have intense fixations. Often, Asperger's is accompanied by other psychological disorders such as ADD/ADHD or Bipolar disorder.
People with Asperger's can lead normal lives. With the right help, they can graduate college, marry, own a home, hold down a job and have children of their own. Asperger's does not create killers. It does not automatically mean that a person, like the Sandy Hook gunman, is violent or dangerous.
I know this because I live with Asperger's every day of my life. My big brother has Asperger's, and he has turned into a wonderful adult who I am proud of every day.
My brother has had his difficult moments for sure. There have been tantrums and angry outbursts and hospitalizations. But throughout his 26 years of life, he has never once hurt anyone aside from himself, and I know he never would.
My brother is a high-functioning member of society. He is absolutely brilliant, graduating from his college honor's program cum laude and earning a master's degree six months later. He received top scores on the CPA exam, a test that approximately half of all candidates fail the first time around. He is an avid Patriots fan and goes to all home games. He has also developed a group of tailgating friends from years at the stadium, and after meeting them a few times, I can tell how much they all love my brother.
How could you not? My brother is one of the most generous people I know. When he takes a rare vacation, he drains his bank account buying gifts for everyone he knows. He loves Disney World and he loves children, and on recent visits to Disney, he has returned with an extra suitcase of gifts for my father's co-workers' children. One co-worker has a son with leukemia, so to cheer him up, my brother got him VIP tickets to Patriots training camp.
My brother is a great older brother as well. He and I both love Harry Potter, and when the books came out, I always used to go to the midnight Barnes & Nobles parties with him. Then we'd race home and read all night, and once we were finished with the books, we'd talk about every minute detail in them. (I only spoiled the ending of a book for him once - sorry about that!)
When the final Harry Potter movie came out, he took me to Universal Studios to see the premiere. We stayed in an extremely nice hotel a short walk away from the parks, and he took me out one night for the best steak dinner I've ever had. Originally, I was planning to pay my way for the vacation, but he refused and paid for my entire trip.
A few months ago, when I expressed a desire to go with my friends to the Taylor Swift/Ed Sheeran concert at Gillette Stadium next summer, my brother told me he also wanted to go and he would take care of tickets for everyone. So it was my brother who tracked all the emails for the pre-orders and sat in online waiting rooms to purchase the tickets.
I'm so lucky, for these and other reasons, that he is my brother.
When I watch television psychologists using Asperger's as an excuse for the Sandy Hook gunman's actions, I get really annoyed. At first, I was annoyed with myself, because for a split second I wondered if this could ever be my brother. I hate that I thought that, even though it was for less than a minute. Deep down in my heart, I knew my brother would never do something like this. He would never hurt anyone else, and he would especially never hurt a child.
I know, however, that there are many people in the world who don't live with Asperger's, who don't know what it is or how hard people with Asperger's work to lead a normal life. This gunman will be their introduction to the syndrome, and they could easily assume anyone with the syndrome could be a killer.
But I just don't believe that's true. Just like there are people in this world who do not have Asperger's and become killers, there are others who do have Asperger's and become killers. There is no link between autism/Asperger's and violence. It's not the syndrome; it's the person.
I worry though, in the wake of these shootings, that my brother will be judged by others, that they'll think he's someone he is not or that they'll fear him. And I worry too for my brother. If I, who have little to nothing in common with the killer and victims, am so disturbed by this, imagine what it must be like to know that the killer has the same disorder that you have.
My thoughts and prayers continue to remain with the town of Newtown, Conn. and all those connected to the victims. My thoughts and prayers also remain with my brother and all people who have Asperger's as they struggle to reconcile themselves with this tragedy as well.
Initially, like everyone else, I was distraught over the idea that a man two years younger than me would walk into an elementary school and murder innocent first graders. During the first few days of coverage, I was invested in finding out who the victims were, committing their names to memory and learning about their lives.
But as the days passed, more and more information emerged about the shooter, and that information was devastating for me. Many are saying the gunman had Asperger's syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism that severely affects a person's social skills and causes them to have intense fixations. Often, Asperger's is accompanied by other psychological disorders such as ADD/ADHD or Bipolar disorder.
People with Asperger's can lead normal lives. With the right help, they can graduate college, marry, own a home, hold down a job and have children of their own. Asperger's does not create killers. It does not automatically mean that a person, like the Sandy Hook gunman, is violent or dangerous.
I know this because I live with Asperger's every day of my life. My big brother has Asperger's, and he has turned into a wonderful adult who I am proud of every day.
My brother has had his difficult moments for sure. There have been tantrums and angry outbursts and hospitalizations. But throughout his 26 years of life, he has never once hurt anyone aside from himself, and I know he never would.
My brother is a high-functioning member of society. He is absolutely brilliant, graduating from his college honor's program cum laude and earning a master's degree six months later. He received top scores on the CPA exam, a test that approximately half of all candidates fail the first time around. He is an avid Patriots fan and goes to all home games. He has also developed a group of tailgating friends from years at the stadium, and after meeting them a few times, I can tell how much they all love my brother.
How could you not? My brother is one of the most generous people I know. When he takes a rare vacation, he drains his bank account buying gifts for everyone he knows. He loves Disney World and he loves children, and on recent visits to Disney, he has returned with an extra suitcase of gifts for my father's co-workers' children. One co-worker has a son with leukemia, so to cheer him up, my brother got him VIP tickets to Patriots training camp.
My brother is a great older brother as well. He and I both love Harry Potter, and when the books came out, I always used to go to the midnight Barnes & Nobles parties with him. Then we'd race home and read all night, and once we were finished with the books, we'd talk about every minute detail in them. (I only spoiled the ending of a book for him once - sorry about that!)
When the final Harry Potter movie came out, he took me to Universal Studios to see the premiere. We stayed in an extremely nice hotel a short walk away from the parks, and he took me out one night for the best steak dinner I've ever had. Originally, I was planning to pay my way for the vacation, but he refused and paid for my entire trip.
A few months ago, when I expressed a desire to go with my friends to the Taylor Swift/Ed Sheeran concert at Gillette Stadium next summer, my brother told me he also wanted to go and he would take care of tickets for everyone. So it was my brother who tracked all the emails for the pre-orders and sat in online waiting rooms to purchase the tickets.
I'm so lucky, for these and other reasons, that he is my brother.
When I watch television psychologists using Asperger's as an excuse for the Sandy Hook gunman's actions, I get really annoyed. At first, I was annoyed with myself, because for a split second I wondered if this could ever be my brother. I hate that I thought that, even though it was for less than a minute. Deep down in my heart, I knew my brother would never do something like this. He would never hurt anyone else, and he would especially never hurt a child.
I know, however, that there are many people in the world who don't live with Asperger's, who don't know what it is or how hard people with Asperger's work to lead a normal life. This gunman will be their introduction to the syndrome, and they could easily assume anyone with the syndrome could be a killer.
But I just don't believe that's true. Just like there are people in this world who do not have Asperger's and become killers, there are others who do have Asperger's and become killers. There is no link between autism/Asperger's and violence. It's not the syndrome; it's the person.
I worry though, in the wake of these shootings, that my brother will be judged by others, that they'll think he's someone he is not or that they'll fear him. And I worry too for my brother. If I, who have little to nothing in common with the killer and victims, am so disturbed by this, imagine what it must be like to know that the killer has the same disorder that you have.
My thoughts and prayers continue to remain with the town of Newtown, Conn. and all those connected to the victims. My thoughts and prayers also remain with my brother and all people who have Asperger's as they struggle to reconcile themselves with this tragedy as well.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
"Constrained": a song about Harry Styles' jeans
So since I'm a directioner now and everything, I'm all up to date on everything going on in the One Direction world. Right now, there's some major distress over the whole "Harry Styles dating Taylor Swift" controversy (a relationship directioners have dubbed "Haylor"). People are writing break-up songs galore about this relationship, but I decided it would be more fitting to write a Taylor Swift song about how tight Harry Styles pants are because let's admit it, there is nothing that matters more in this world than the way Harry's pants fit. I wrote the song to the tune of Taylor Swift's "Mean". Lyrics and a way to play the original song are below.
Taylor Swift Mean by MoniiStyless
You, tried to be a rockstar by wearing skinny jeans and a plaid long-sleeve shirt
You, just look like your legs are choking got them feeling numb and tingly
You, with your wallet bulging out of your pocket again, we see everything through the fabric
You, zipping up the fly again
Well you struggle to take them off in just one single yank
But you don't know you look so dumb
Somewhere, I'll be, wearing jeans that actually fit me
and all you're ever gonna feel is constrained.
Somewhere, I'll be, jumping and dancing and kicking,
and all you'll ever be is constrained.
Why you gotta be so constrained?
You, with your skinny blacks and your hint of crack and your humiliation.
You have squeezed the life out of your balls again as if they weren't already dead.
I'll walk so comfortably while you limp around with no circulation.
You just want to feel your legs again
I'll betcha got bruises now, the price of bad fashion.
But the cycle ends right now, because you can't feel anything below
your hips it hurts like I can't know.
Somewhere, I'll be, wearing jeans that actually fit me
and all you're ever gonna feel is constrained.
Somewhere, I'll be, jumping and dancing and kicking,
and all you'll ever be is constrained.
Why you gotta be so constrained?
And I can see the tears falling from your eyes, trying too hard to take a deep breath
With that stupid zipper popping out of place and you're always noticing
You're cramped up and aching from your skin-tight, stupid jeans
Stuck and waddling down the street 'cuz they're too tight
And all you are is constrained
All you are is constrained
And it's hurting, and it's ugly, and it's not good fashion
and constrained, and constrained, and constrained, and constrained
And somewhere, I'll be, wearing jeans that actually fit me
and all you're ever gonna feel is constrained
Somewhere, I'll be, jumping and dancing and kicking,
and all you'll ever be is constrained. Why you gotta be so …
Somewhere I'll be wearing jeans that actually fit me
And all you're ever gonna feel is constrained
Somewhere, I'll be, jumping and dancing and kicking
And all you're ever gonna feel is constrained
Why you gotta be so constrained?
All photos via paulways-watching-1d.tumblr.com.
"Constrained"
Taylor Swift Mean by MoniiStyless
You, tried to be a rockstar by wearing skinny jeans and a plaid long-sleeve shirt
You, just look like your legs are choking got them feeling numb and tingly
You, with your wallet bulging out of your pocket again, we see everything through the fabric
You, zipping up the fly again
Well you struggle to take them off in just one single yank
But you don't know you look so dumb
Somewhere, I'll be, wearing jeans that actually fit me
and all you're ever gonna feel is constrained.
Somewhere, I'll be, jumping and dancing and kicking,
and all you'll ever be is constrained.
Why you gotta be so constrained?
You, with your skinny blacks and your hint of crack and your humiliation.
You have squeezed the life out of your balls again as if they weren't already dead.
I'll walk so comfortably while you limp around with no circulation.
You just want to feel your legs again
I'll betcha got bruises now, the price of bad fashion.
But the cycle ends right now, because you can't feel anything below
your hips it hurts like I can't know.
Somewhere, I'll be, wearing jeans that actually fit me
and all you're ever gonna feel is constrained.
Somewhere, I'll be, jumping and dancing and kicking,
and all you'll ever be is constrained.
Why you gotta be so constrained?
And I can see the tears falling from your eyes, trying too hard to take a deep breath
With that stupid zipper popping out of place and you're always noticing
You're cramped up and aching from your skin-tight, stupid jeans
Stuck and waddling down the street 'cuz they're too tight
And all you are is constrained
All you are is constrained
And it's hurting, and it's ugly, and it's not good fashion
and constrained, and constrained, and constrained, and constrained
And somewhere, I'll be, wearing jeans that actually fit me
and all you're ever gonna feel is constrained
Somewhere, I'll be, jumping and dancing and kicking,
and all you'll ever be is constrained. Why you gotta be so …
Somewhere I'll be wearing jeans that actually fit me
And all you're ever gonna feel is constrained
Somewhere, I'll be, jumping and dancing and kicking
And all you're ever gonna feel is constrained
Why you gotta be so constrained?
All photos via paulways-watching-1d.tumblr.com.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
How I fell in love with One Direction
It wasn't supposed to happen. I haven't been in love with a boy band since I was eight and 'N Sync was popular. But it did happen, and here we are.
I'm 22 years old and I'm a directioner.
It started innocently enough. I'd heard the song, "What Makes You Beautiful", on the radio a few times and it was pretty catchy. Although I didn't know the words, I started figuring it out on my keyboard since I was too cheap to buy sheet music and wanted to play something new.
A few months before, in March, One Direction played at Agganis Arena, approximately 20 feet from my dorm. I wasn't at the concert or in my dorm room at the time; I was covering a hockey game at Northeastern. I remember coming back from the game and meeting up with my friends at T Anthony's for dinner, and while we were eating, some huge tour buses drove past. This is a pretty common occurrence since a lot of bands play at Agganis.
I had no idea who they were though. BU would send us emails letting us know who was playing at Agganis, but concerts happen so frequently that I never read those emails. When the tour buses drove past, I remember my friend Jill pointing out the two bands - Big Time Rush and One Direction. She mentioned one of the bands had a show on Nickelodeon. None of the rest of us knew who they were, and we made fun of her for liking Nickelodeon bands.
Later in March, I had another close encounter. I was covering BU hockey in the NCAA regional in Minnesota, and One Direction happened to be performing in Minnesota at the same time. My friends on the BU hockey beat and I went to the Mall of America to check out the roller coasters and stores, and apparently One Direction was there signing autographs. Jill texted me to tell me to get their autographs, but I once again just made fun of her for liking a kid's band.
(I'm not sure why these two encounters are significant, but I felt like they should be included in the story, so there you go.)
Anyway, I figured out "What Makes You Beautiful" by ear on the keyboard in my dorm room until I had it down. Then, in May, my friend Annie made a video of me for a project for class. She asked me questions about graduation and life as a senior in college. I gave her depressing answers and then played a bit of the One Direction song on piano for her as a joke.
I normally have terrible performance anxiety when it comes to playing piano, and it was the first time I'd really ever been filmed by anyone for playing (I'd done a couple videos of songs I knew for close family and friends, but those were filmed by my computer webcam). After Annie filmed me, I thought it was kind of cool to have myself on video playing piano. Somewhere along the line, this one-time, spur-of-the-moment One Direction piano-playing thing turned into the idea of playing a One Direction medley and putting it up on YouTube for my friends to enjoy.
Since I only knew "What Makes You Beautiful", I had to find some other One Direction songs to add to the medley. That's when I found "One Thing" and "Moments". By this time, I had graduated and was back home reunited with my piano, so I had plenty of time to work on the songs. I listened to them over and over again on YouTube since I didn't have any One Direction songs in my iTunes library.
One night, I found myself going through the One Direction channel on YouTube. Instead of just watching the videos of "One Thing" and "Moments", I found a few video diaries on the One Direction VEVO. As it turns out, the guys in One Direction were hilarious. Bored and jobless (and with nothing else to do at 2 a.m.), I looked for more video diaries from them and discovered the diaries they had done while contestants on The X Factor UK.
Everything went downhill from there. These guys were even funnier than I first thought. They acted like a bunch of teenagers, and I was missing that lifestyle since I was recently graduated and unhappily entering the adult world and all. I got sucked into the YouTube machine and gradually watched pretty much every interview, stunt, performance etc. that One Direction put on YouTube. I was learning more and more about their personalities and therefore beginning to care more and more about what they were doing.
Nighttime YouTube viewing gradually shifted into daytime Google news searching to see what was going on in the One Direction world. I found Sugarscape.com, a British gossip site that publishes hilarious articles about One Direction and other celebrities. Then, I got caught up in the Tumblr world.
Prior to discovering One Direction, I wasn't well versed in the social media magnet that is Tumblr. I had gone on Tumblr a few times to see funny hockey and baseball gifs, but other than that, I didn't really know much about the site. Soon enough, however, I figured out how to search Tumblr for all things One Direction. I now know how to enter in the URL to find tags to filter what kind of One Direction content I'm looking for, and I developed a few favorite Tumblr sites that I now check every day for my One Direction news.
Until the fall, I refused to admit to myself or anyone else that I was a directioner. After all, I'm 22 years old, I've moved out of my parents home, I've graduated from college and hopefully I'll have a paying job soon. One Direction fans are supposed to be teenage girls who have yet to enter the real world. As time went on, however, I decided it was stupid to both deny and hide my fanhood.
In October, my life changed radically when a friend of mine whom I had known since I was five died of complications related to a heart transplant she'd had 10 years ago. My friend, Marisa, was someone who was fearless, outgoing and fun to be around. She always had a smile on her face, was always willing to try something new and would say or do anything, no matter how stupid it may have seemed to others. She embraced life and lived it to its fullest, and after she died, I vowed to do the same thing.
I decided that there were worse things in life than admitting to being a One Direction fan, things like cancer and heart problems and death. In the greater scheme of things, who cares how old I am or what One Direction's typical audience is? They're a band that I like, and I shouldn't be ashamed of that. Everyone has their own taste in music, and people are allowed to like whatever they want to like. You never know how much life you have to live, so why waste any time denying something you enjoy?
And so here I am. I'm Arielle, I'm 22 years old, and I'm a One Direction fan.
The medley that started it all (as you can see, I haven't quite figured out how to record something with good audio yet):
I'm 22 years old and I'm a directioner.
It started innocently enough. I'd heard the song, "What Makes You Beautiful", on the radio a few times and it was pretty catchy. Although I didn't know the words, I started figuring it out on my keyboard since I was too cheap to buy sheet music and wanted to play something new.
A few months before, in March, One Direction played at Agganis Arena, approximately 20 feet from my dorm. I wasn't at the concert or in my dorm room at the time; I was covering a hockey game at Northeastern. I remember coming back from the game and meeting up with my friends at T Anthony's for dinner, and while we were eating, some huge tour buses drove past. This is a pretty common occurrence since a lot of bands play at Agganis.
I had no idea who they were though. BU would send us emails letting us know who was playing at Agganis, but concerts happen so frequently that I never read those emails. When the tour buses drove past, I remember my friend Jill pointing out the two bands - Big Time Rush and One Direction. She mentioned one of the bands had a show on Nickelodeon. None of the rest of us knew who they were, and we made fun of her for liking Nickelodeon bands.
Later in March, I had another close encounter. I was covering BU hockey in the NCAA regional in Minnesota, and One Direction happened to be performing in Minnesota at the same time. My friends on the BU hockey beat and I went to the Mall of America to check out the roller coasters and stores, and apparently One Direction was there signing autographs. Jill texted me to tell me to get their autographs, but I once again just made fun of her for liking a kid's band.
(I'm not sure why these two encounters are significant, but I felt like they should be included in the story, so there you go.)
Anyway, I figured out "What Makes You Beautiful" by ear on the keyboard in my dorm room until I had it down. Then, in May, my friend Annie made a video of me for a project for class. She asked me questions about graduation and life as a senior in college. I gave her depressing answers and then played a bit of the One Direction song on piano for her as a joke.
I normally have terrible performance anxiety when it comes to playing piano, and it was the first time I'd really ever been filmed by anyone for playing (I'd done a couple videos of songs I knew for close family and friends, but those were filmed by my computer webcam). After Annie filmed me, I thought it was kind of cool to have myself on video playing piano. Somewhere along the line, this one-time, spur-of-the-moment One Direction piano-playing thing turned into the idea of playing a One Direction medley and putting it up on YouTube for my friends to enjoy.
Since I only knew "What Makes You Beautiful", I had to find some other One Direction songs to add to the medley. That's when I found "One Thing" and "Moments". By this time, I had graduated and was back home reunited with my piano, so I had plenty of time to work on the songs. I listened to them over and over again on YouTube since I didn't have any One Direction songs in my iTunes library.
One night, I found myself going through the One Direction channel on YouTube. Instead of just watching the videos of "One Thing" and "Moments", I found a few video diaries on the One Direction VEVO. As it turns out, the guys in One Direction were hilarious. Bored and jobless (and with nothing else to do at 2 a.m.), I looked for more video diaries from them and discovered the diaries they had done while contestants on The X Factor UK.
Everything went downhill from there. These guys were even funnier than I first thought. They acted like a bunch of teenagers, and I was missing that lifestyle since I was recently graduated and unhappily entering the adult world and all. I got sucked into the YouTube machine and gradually watched pretty much every interview, stunt, performance etc. that One Direction put on YouTube. I was learning more and more about their personalities and therefore beginning to care more and more about what they were doing.
Nighttime YouTube viewing gradually shifted into daytime Google news searching to see what was going on in the One Direction world. I found Sugarscape.com, a British gossip site that publishes hilarious articles about One Direction and other celebrities. Then, I got caught up in the Tumblr world.
Prior to discovering One Direction, I wasn't well versed in the social media magnet that is Tumblr. I had gone on Tumblr a few times to see funny hockey and baseball gifs, but other than that, I didn't really know much about the site. Soon enough, however, I figured out how to search Tumblr for all things One Direction. I now know how to enter in the URL to find tags to filter what kind of One Direction content I'm looking for, and I developed a few favorite Tumblr sites that I now check every day for my One Direction news.
Until the fall, I refused to admit to myself or anyone else that I was a directioner. After all, I'm 22 years old, I've moved out of my parents home, I've graduated from college and hopefully I'll have a paying job soon. One Direction fans are supposed to be teenage girls who have yet to enter the real world. As time went on, however, I decided it was stupid to both deny and hide my fanhood.
In October, my life changed radically when a friend of mine whom I had known since I was five died of complications related to a heart transplant she'd had 10 years ago. My friend, Marisa, was someone who was fearless, outgoing and fun to be around. She always had a smile on her face, was always willing to try something new and would say or do anything, no matter how stupid it may have seemed to others. She embraced life and lived it to its fullest, and after she died, I vowed to do the same thing.
I decided that there were worse things in life than admitting to being a One Direction fan, things like cancer and heart problems and death. In the greater scheme of things, who cares how old I am or what One Direction's typical audience is? They're a band that I like, and I shouldn't be ashamed of that. Everyone has their own taste in music, and people are allowed to like whatever they want to like. You never know how much life you have to live, so why waste any time denying something you enjoy?
And so here I am. I'm Arielle, I'm 22 years old, and I'm a One Direction fan.
The medley that started it all (as you can see, I haven't quite figured out how to record something with good audio yet):
Obligatory introductory post
Hi all!
My name is Arielle, and I'm not a big fan of the post-college life. I really like to write, but I can't find a way to get paid to do it and don't have a good forum where I can express my daily thoughts. For those reasons, I decided to start a blog so I can keep a diary that the world can read. I mean, who doesn't like to share their innermost thoughts with the 7 billion people on this earth? Since this is an introductory post and all, here are some things you should know about me:
My name is Arielle, and I'm not a big fan of the post-college life. I really like to write, but I can't find a way to get paid to do it and don't have a good forum where I can express my daily thoughts. For those reasons, I decided to start a blog so I can keep a diary that the world can read. I mean, who doesn't like to share their innermost thoughts with the 7 billion people on this earth? Since this is an introductory post and all, here are some things you should know about me:
- I am 22 years old and consider myself a writer. I have a degree in journalism, but I also dabble in creative writing.
- I have two older brothers: Ben and Mike. I love having older brothers except for when they act overprotective re: me having a boyfriend(s).
- Since I have two older brothers, I was beaten up as a child. It's okay though because I fought back. Mike has scars on his arms from when I used to dig my nails into his skin.
- Ben once broke my arm when we were both little, but he was just as upset about it as I was, so I forgave him.
- I'm a huge hockey fan. I covered BU hockey for the last 2 1/2 years and have been going to BU hockey games since I was a baby. I also love the NHL, but it doesn't really exist right now, so there's that. It makes me sad.
- I have many favorite NHL teams. My favorite team is the Bruins, but the Penguins, Wild, Predators, Hurricanes, Blackhawks and Ducks also make my list.
- I'm not a fan of the Canadiens, Flyers and Canucks.
- My first true love is the Boston Red Sox. They have broken my heart many times, brought me great joy many times, and are currently one of my biggest sources of frustration.
- I'm a sarcastic person. You're probably wondering if I'm being sarcastic right now. I probably am.
- I'm Jewish and I'm proud of that. I was a Judaic Studies minor in college, but I was kicked out of Hebrew School twice as a child.
- I have bad stomach problems. I've had multiple stomach surgeries, but my digestive system still doesn't work. I'm not supposed to eat dairy, egg yolks, celery, broccoli, spicy food, fried food and anything that tastes delicious. The key word phrase there is "supposed to".
- I play the piano as a form of relaxation. I figure out pop music by ear. I hate playing classical music. I also hate counting.
- I have ADD.
- I tend to lose my attention doing projects like this, so you might see a bunch of posts from me at first and then nothing for six months.
- I like even numbers and numbers ending in five, so I'm going to end this list here.
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