Showing posts with label worst date ever. Show all posts
Showing posts with label worst date ever. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Fans, Music Videos, Santa Barbara, and Dexter!

I must start by first of all saying, I am super super excited! I've been running some Facebook ads the past few days for my music page and I'm incredibly pleased with the turnout! I've got like *actual* fans. (Enter squeal here). Besides seeing fans actually commenting, I am really enjoying using all of these different promotional tools. I've always enjoyed marketing so this doesn't come as too much of a surprise. It's interesting to see what's popular and what isn't.

If you're not a Facebook fan yet, here's my chance to advertise. And if you are, help spread the word and keep the numbers jumping! You guys are awesome! Also, follow me on twitter. Fair warning though, there will be a lot of adorable bunny photos mixed in with my music posts and TV talk. That's just the way I roll!

https://www.facebook.com/JustineThomasMusic
https://twitter.com/themeanjustine

One of the things I'm finding most interesting is the "post promotion". I tried two different posts: my blog and my photo album. My blog got a bit of a turn out through the promotion but what's really doing well is the photo! And it's not even my favorite of the bunch, so go figure. This makes me wonder: If a photo is doing so well, how well would a video do?

Naturally, I want to make a music video at some point. Besides my love for singing and entertaining, I also have my love for film and video editing, so this seems like a no brainer. I have no idea which song though to make the video of! Given my huge (and overactive) imagination, I dream elaborate things. I'm not kidding. When I was 8 I dreamt of having a Titanic themed birthday party. I actually thought my mom could fill the basement with water and have a sunken ship inside. Understandably, this party did not happen. But my mom did hang blue ribbons all over the ceiling and place a "treasure chest" in the basement for an under the sea theme. I enjoyed it just as much!

Ok, back on to the topic of music videos before I get sidetracked with my old birthday parties! My vision for a "Stepping Stone" music video is to have it set in the 1940s with my long lost love coming back from WWII. Now, if I could just find 1940s clothes, a WWII plane, and a 1940s themed town, I'd be all set. My "Worst Date Ever" music video vision is to have it set in the 1950s. Clearly I need a time machine!

I've got to figure something out! I feel like a video is key to the promotion at this point.

Switching gears, my hubby and I went to Santa Barbara the other day. It was so nice to get away from the city! We enjoyed a nice lunch by the beach and then strolled the zoo. It's a smaller zoo but that's what I liked about it! There were no crowds: Just me, Gwith, and the penguins. The penguins were adorable, by the way! There was also a bird that reminded me of Willow. That probably sounds crazy. How can a bird remind someone of their pet rabbit? But I swear it did!!



DEXTER TALK AHEAD. AVERT YOUR EYES NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN SUNDAY'S EPISODE.

Dexter was AMAZING this week. As usual. Does anyone else not trust Dr. Vogel? I personally think she is the serial killer. My mom thinks she's trying to trap Dexter. I want to know what everyone else's theories are. We've been through 7 previous seasons of this show and I think we all know by now that someone who's been introduced this season is bound to turn up evil. It would be an interesting twist if it's Deb's boss! Oooo. Maybe it's Deb. Okay. Now even I think that's farfetched. I highly doubt Deb is coercing people to chop off heads.

END DEXTER TALK.

Should I do a music video? Which song? What is your favorite zoo animal? Do you trust Dr. Vogel? Is Deb's boss bad?

Here's my photo of the day:

Willow is feeling incredibly possessive over her carrot toy!



Monday, July 8, 2013

Behind the Song: "Worst Date Ever"

Ok. I've been having a lot of fun writing about my songs, don't get me wrong, but I have been eagerly awaiting writing about this one.

Worst Date Ever.





I'm sure most of you have had one of those awful, awful dates where you pretty much would do anything to escape it. This song, is a compilation of two of my worst dates ever. I was on a roll the summer I was 18. There are a few more I could talk about but I'll save those for another time!

Date #1
Let's call this guy George, ok? George worked valet at a local restaurant (keep that in mind that he moves cars and opens doors for a living). When he picked me up from my house, he picked me up in one of those trucks with giant wheels that lift the car way off the ground.


I'd like to mention here that I'm only 5 foot. So, I come out to the car and he stays in the driver's seat! I tried to open the door from my miniature level and as I'm trying to open it (and failing miserably), he says to me, "Oh. That door is a little sticky. You'll get it." What a gentleman. Eventually, I did get it. Of course, looking back, I should've taken that as my cue to say "See ya" and head back inside the house.

We headed to the arcade to play some games before dinner and a movie. I want to point out that even though I normally am not very good at pool, I kick ass on a bad date. Like, really kick ass. I guess it's my way of figuring out some way to have a good time! On this date, I made one of those shots where I put the cue behind my back and sat up on the edge of the table. It was awesome....ANYWAYS, back to the date. Every time I made a joke, this guy laughed in the falsest way imaginable. Literally. He'd throw his head back, put his hand on his chest and say: "Hah. Hah. Hah. Hah."

After we played the game, he turned to me and said:

George: "You ready to go to the movie?"
My thoughts: Um. What? I thought we were having dinner. You said we were having dinner!!!
George: "Oh. You wanted to eat?"
My thoughts: Ahhhh!! Now I'm miserable and hungry?? This is no good.

So, I convinced him to stop at the nearby sushi restaurant so I could pick up some food. Of course, when we arrived, and as we were still sitting in his car, he said, "I'll drop you off. I need to go have a smoke." Oh, lovely. First of all, I'm not into smokers. Secondly, he's dropping me off to eat while he can go smoke? Again, what a gentleman. I go into the restaurant and pick up my salad. Since we were in a hurry, I figured there wasn't time for anything else. After I pay for it, I stepped outside to meet him and head to the movie. But big surprise! He wasn't there. I looked around, very briefly for him, and then decided there was really no point to looking any further. So, I sat down at the table outside, in the lovely 20ยบ degree Colorado weather (Brrrrr), and ate my salad while listening to music on my phone. I can honestly say, this was the best moment of the entire date. I was freezing, my hands were going numb, but George wasn't around. By the time he arrived, 20 minutes later, he sat down and said: "Aren't you cold?" This was my proudest moment on this date. I turned to him, with numb hands, and said "No. I'm fine." After all, I was already numb and he was just starting to shiver! Needless to say, I made him sit out there with me for 15 more minutes so he would freeze.

Once we arrived at the movie theater to see Saw 5, he bought himself popcorn and a slushie. Nothing for me. We got into the theater and sat down. I really hope this guy didn't expect me to cuddle him. First of all, I mostly find horror films ridiculous and amusing. I watch for the special effects. Second of all, this guy? There was no way I was going to even lean near him. So, I sat in my chair and intentionally leaned the opposite direction. Part way through the movie, as a huge Buffy fan, I suddenly thought: "Wait! Isn't that Julie Benz?" So, I did what any normal person wouldn't do and got up, left the theater, and walked around the main room, looking at IMDB on my phone. When I discovered it was in fact her, I decided to go back in and at least watch the movie as a big Buffy geek. After the movie, he brought me home, dropped me off, and I practically ran to the door.

It's hard to believe that was only ONE of the inspirations for this song.

Here is Date #2:
Let's call this guy Steve. Steve was a waiter. Of course, while we were in the car on the way to mini golf, I asked him what he dreams of doing. It seemed like a normal question. His response: "I really want to lift boxes for UPS. But there's a lot of training that goes into it so I don't think I'm going to do that." Huh. I have nothing against people who want to take those kinds of jobs. The world needs people who do that, obviously. But, his drive to do it wasn't all that inspiring.

When we arrived at mini golf (which I paid for!), this was literally the fastest game I ever played. There was no conversation, at all. Once we finished, 15 minutes later, Steve turned to me and said: "So (nod nod, wink wink). What do you want to do now?" Ummm...not that. Being polite though and realizing the sun hadn't even gone down yet, I said, "There's an arcade nearby. We could go there." He disappointedly said, "Ok." When we arrived at the arcade, we went to play one of the machines. As we stood at the game, he turned to me and said, "Can you pay for this?" It was one dollar. Talk about a cheap date. So, I paid. I had to entertain myself somehow! Of course, since he had no money, he made sure we quickly went back to the car to figure out what else to do. This is the part where I felt a bit like a mother trying to talk to their child:

Steve: "(Nod, nod, wink wink). What do you want to do now?"
Me: "Do you want to go walk around the mall?" Window shopping doesn't cost a thing.
Steve: "No. I work near there so I see it every day."
Me: "...Okay. Are you hungry?"
Steve: "No. Not really."
Me: "...Okay..."
Steve: "So, (nod nod, wink wink), what do you want to do now?"
Me: "You know, I have some money. Why don't we go back in the arcade and play a game of pool?"
Steve: "Oh...okay."

When we got back in to play pool, he turned to me at the beginning of the game and said, "If I win this game, I get to kiss you." Ha ha (enter George laugh here)! Yeah, right. As I said when I talked about the last date, I kick ass at pool when I'm on an awful date. So of course, I won, and he missed out on his delusional chances.

As we left the arcade and the sun was just starting to set, I turned to him and said, "You know. I have a lot of work to do tomorrow so I should head home." He was disappointed but agreed to take me home. Once we were in his car and driving, he turned to me and said: "It's a shame I don't have my own place yet. Otherwise we could go back and watch a movie." Oh, darn. Bummer. Wait. No. YAY!!!! He's run out of options. Woohoo!! Or so I think... As we're driving back to my house, this lovely conversation begins:

Steve: "So. What did you think of me?"
Me: "Ummm..." I'm so polite. "You're nice. I just don't think we have a lot in common."
Steve: "So...how would you rate this date?"
Me: "Uh...."
Steve: "Would you go out with me again?"
Me: "Uh...you know, I'm really busy with work right now."
Steve: "Oh. Okay. Well maybe I can swing by later tonight and pick you up. There's this pool near my house. We could hop the fence."
Me: "Uh...I'm really tired."

Luckily, we just arrived back at my house. He tried to kiss me goodnight but again, I darted out of the car and into the house.

To all the women out there: What are guys thinking? I hope these guys grew up A LOT and have since learned the error of their ways.

So, that's the inspiration for my song, "Worst Date Ever". Be sure to listen to the track. It will be available on iTunes, along with the rest of my CD "Stepping Stone", on July 15th!