An unchanging, unending midnight.

Not that I care much for The Twilight Saga, but I wish I were going to a midnight screening of Eclipse tonight.

Sometimes it bothers me how many cultural differences there are between my parents and myself. I remember wanting to watch "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" at a midnight release party and not getting the opportunity to do so because my parents didn't give me permission to go. This also happened with the midnight release parties for the books, except "Deathly Hallows". Even then, I only went because my brother took me and had to stay the whole time.

They find it really hard to grasp the concept of being part of a fandom or that there is such a thing as a responsible person with a night life. They don't understand that when I want to go to a midnight release party/screening, the movie or book aren't the only things I'm paying for. I'm also paying for the experience. In fact, those 30 minutes before the movie begins and the thirty minutes after it ends are probably the best part of the experience. Watching a movie the moment it releases after such long anticipation and excitement, in the company of people who are just as excited does not compare to watching it online at your computer desk, or even going to the movies during the day a few days after it releases. It's just a whole different atmosphere that you can't take advantage of unless you're in the right place at the right moment.

P.S. The title was from Smeyer's "Midnight Sun." The best quote I could get with the word "midnight" in it besides: "We're coming back by midnight Sunday. It's up to you if you want to leave." Go figure.

He is like fire, burning through time.

Whether Chuck Bass is passionately kissing Nate Archibald on Gossip Girl* or Dr. Cox is quitting the hospital due to a faulty organ donor on Scrubs, I'm type to squeal and yell at my television screen (or computer monitor) when something exciting happens. Let me tell you, today's season finale of Doctor Who had me yelling all over the place. Though I've only been watching this show for half a year, it has me hooked. The subtle humor, cheesiness, and brilliant story lines really know how to grab me. I almost want to go back and watch the original series just to see if there were any allusions or jokes that I missed this time around.

I've heard it said that no one ever forgets their first Doctor. Though I watched every episode from the time of the ninth Doctor (played by Christopher Eccleston), I don't feel like he's my first. And as much as I absolutely love the 10th Doctor's (David Tennant) hilarity, brilliance, and dashing good looks, he's still not the Doctor I claim to be my first. Nope, my first is Matt Smith. He's the first I actually had to, well, wait for**. As in, I actually had to wait for every episode to air on television before watching it. The series I'd seen prior to this had already released, and I was able to binge on episodes without any of that waiting crap. Matt Smith was the first one whom I had to be patient with between episodes, which made them all the more exciting and hilarious.

While many didn't think he was fit for the role at first (and my friend Luis still doesn't think he is), I thought he made an amazing Doctor. If the change actor wasn't enough for a lot of people, the character had a lot of quirks after his regeneration, which I thought were what made him hilarious and set him apart from the rest. The whole bit about not knowing how to act human in The Lodger had me rofling*** the whole time. He's just too oblivious for his own good sometimes. In contrast, he also has those moments of "You can't do shit to this planet! You know why? 'cause I'm the motherfucking Doctor. *cue theme music for series 5*" They had one of these at the end of The Eleventh Hour, and in the middle of The Pandorica Opens. Both times, his enemies agree "Oh, shit. He is the Doctor. Let's gtfo. kthxbai." It was brilliant. I absolutely loved it.

I think I've babbled enough about this man for one day. If you'd like to continue a conversation about the 11th Doctor, you can just drop a comment.

Good day, everyone.

Bowties are cool.

*Which hasn't actually happened yet. But hey, a girl can dream.
**Reyna Villa: the girl who waited. See what I did there?!
***YES. I was literally. ROLLING ON THE FLOOR. No, not really.

Formspring: FAQ

In correlation with my previous post, I also get asked a lot of simple questions repeatedly. The type of questions that would be on an FAQ page if I had one. Here are a few of them, just in case you were wondering.

Do you record your videos when you are home alone? Do you lock yourself in your room and then record? Has your mom EVER walked in on you while recording or has she ever said "Y esta loca, que chingados esta haciendo?" [Translation: "What the fuck is this crazy girl doing?"]

There's usually people home. I do lock myself in my room, haha. And YES my mom has told me similar things. At first she'd be all wtf about it. Nowadays, I think my family's used to me grabbing my camera, taking it somewhere, and talking to it. They know I frequently post videos online by now.

How do you make your backgrounds?

I use Adobe Photoshop CS3. I made a template for myself that I base all my backgrounds off of. (In case you haven't noticed, they all kinda look the same.)

Read Bran Hambric? If so, what'd you think.
Yes, I did. I thought it was a clever little story. A lot of people were saying it's like a ripoff of Harry Potter, but Kaleb Nation hasn't even read the series. I know I've referred to it before as "JK Rowling meets Lemony Snicket." It was witty in its own cute little way. I actually had a blog in which I was gonna write about it, just as Kaleb Nation did with Twilight on TwilightGuy.com (except I wasn't so G-rated.) I stopped after like, two summaries: http://jabranblog.wordpress.com. Bahaha.

Didn't you just get a mooncup? Does it work well?
I did. I might make a review on my blog or on YouTube about it after I've used it for a couple more periods. I can tell you this for now: It takes a while to figure out how to put it in. I like this form of fluid storage better than that of a tampon (I haven't used pads since high school). I still haven't really gotten the hang of removal, though. Takes me a while. I'll let you know if I'd recommend it after I've figured out the proper way to take it out.

why /this/ instead of *this*?
Because *this* is what I use when I'm actioning something. (example: *eats carrot waffles*) /This/ is used for emphasis because it tilts, like italics. It takes the place of when I would use italicized text in rich text format. When I /really/ want to emphasize something, though... I use THIS.

Do you write fanfiction?
I haven't written fanfiction since middle school. I wrote a Harry Potter one that NO ONE will read ever again. Thank goodness I used a different screen name back then.

Why did your parents name you Reyna?
They wanted to name me Cristina, but some chick my grandma didn't like was named Cristina. They settled for Reyna, after a relative of mine named Reynaldo.

Glee in general?
I like it for entertainment purposes. Really enjoy the subtle humor. Great writers. Awesome musical choice. Very talented performers. Not the best show on earth, but definitely worth watching. While many (@sims) think it's stupid and that they ruin some truly great songs by having teens worship the covers as though they are the original songs, I like it because they cover things I like. I enjoy both the Glee and original versions for different reasons.

Also, it helps that the cast is sexy.

Formspring: Good Questions

I usually go on Formspring to answer dumb questions that people ask because they're bored and feel like being assholes. Sometimes, however, I get legitimate questions that I spend more time answering (or at least thinking about) than the usual ones. I'm posting some of them here because Formspring just doesn't do them justice. [Note: I added more to my original responses on some of these.]

What do you think the youngest age someone should have sex at?
There is no right or wrong age. They're just numbers. However, I do believe there is a right time. Age has nothing to do with it. (Though, I don't really condone having sex when you're too young to even consider the consequences.) As long as one is prepared emotionally, physically, and mentally. If you know what you're doing, taking the right precautions, and you know this isn't going to emotionally hurt you, you're ready. But for the sake of this question, sixteen sounds good.

Have you ever been in love? Do you believe in love? Do you love your fans?
I have loved, but I have never been in love. As for whether I believe in love... I suppose, yeah. There are different kinds of love (such as the kind a mother feels for her child, or the general appreciation one can have for their best friend [see: Will Grayson, Will Grasyon]). Then there's also what happens when one is attracted to another in a romantic/intellectual/physical way. I don't think people have soul mates or anyone that they are /meant/ to be with. But I do believe in relationships that work out because both parties genuinely enjoy each other's company and learn to work things out because they want to, not because they think they're meant to be. I hope this makes sense. Now I feel like I'm babbling.

I wasn't aware that I had fans. I just call them followers. I love/appreciate each and every one of them for keeping up with me through all my stupid moments of "Shit, I accidentally threw my tray into the trash can at Taco Bell." :)

Have you ever pretended to be someone you aren't to get people to like you? I am considering doing it, because I have about 2 friends.
I haven't, and wouldn't suggest it. I don't have that much of a social life, but I'm happy with what I do have. Less friends = less pointless drama. You need people that like you for you, not who you pretend to be. Find somebody who genuinely enjoys your company and whose company you enjoy. Friendships are hardly ever planned. 

But what if nobody actually likes me for me? I have suffered from depression/suicidal thoughts for about 4 years (i'm 13).
[I'm assuming this one was a follow-up to the previous question.] You've got a long life ahead of you. Don't waste it on thoughts about ending it. Embrace what the world has to offer. Life is what you make of it. If you make mistakes, learn from them; don't regret them. In fact, don't even consider them "mistakes." They're merely choices. You'll eventually meet people that will want to talk to you because they like you or find you interesting. 13 was a very stupid age for me, but I eventually developed more and more as a person and people either liked it or hated it. If I changed, it was because it gradually happened or certain events in my life caused me to see things in a different light. Not because I wanted people to like me.

Girl of the 21st Century

As we were watching the Germany vs. Australia World Cup match, my dad was telling me about how he'd always thought telecommunication interesting as a kid. He told me he didn't pursue a career in it because he didn't think it would really evolve beyond telephone calls. The way he saw it, watches were the way of the future. He said "As a kid, I thought people in the future would have little television screens on their watches. Nowadays they're only worn by very rich people for show or very poor people who can't even afford cell phones."

We continued to talk about how we saw the "future," technology-wise and I once again realized how disappointed I am with our technological progress. I thought that by now everyone would communicate though screens instead of holding a phone to their ear, kinda like they did on that Disney Channel movie "Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century."

The recent release of the HTC EVO and the announcement of the iPhone 4 made me realize how slow the process of implementing advanced technology into every-day society is. Because while we do now have phones with which people can visually communicate via Skype or whatever client is provided, I know this won't be something we commonly see within the next year or two. Maybe I'm just impatient, but I always thought that people would be doing that regularly by now and it bothers me that we're not. It feels like everyone in America should be required to own some sort of smartphone or not own one at all. (Ironically, I still only own a dumb messaging phone.) It also annoys me how phones with cameras on both sides are being advertised as devices that emphasize video communication as though it were some sort of crazy new idea. Like we didn't already have iChat and Skype.

Don't even get me started on universal WiFi. I know there is greater technology out there than simple touchscreen devices with internet and video messaging. I want to know what that technology is. We need to start gravitating towards what we don't already have so that what we're just about to get becomes the norm.

Putting the Sans in Comic Sans

Last year, I attempted writing a novel for NaNoWriMo. Boy, did I fail at that. My writing style is still very horrendous and very... me, and my story had no real ending. I found part of this story on my flash drive not too long ago. The more I looked at it, the more I realized how bad it was and how I was pretty much only writing it because I needed somewhere to vent my frustrations about a specific occurrence in my life at the time.*

I found this dumb little excerpt I'd written from that story. While my feelings about the stuff I had going on at the time have definitely changed, it seems my (still very uninformed) views on typography and web/graphic design seem to stay the same.

I was always more of a Facebook person myself, but I noticed how much you learn about people by looking through their MySpace profiles. See, the thing is you can tell a lot about a person simply by looking at their layout. For example, a person with a red backgound, bold green text in Comic Sans, sparkly flashing images, and unaligned tables is likely to be young, immature, and probably stupid. On the other hand, a person with a dark blue background, white tables, dark ten-point Verdana text, and images that aren’t too distracting is likely to be organized, mature, and more stable than others.

Yup. I'd still say the same today. Except, I probably wouldn't be interested in anyone who still uses MySpace to begin with. Ha.

*Translation: I was a whiny girl complaining about a stupid boy.

Twitter: Applications and Websites

(Note: I wrote this back in December and never posted it. Some of the information might be outdated.)

I've noticed a lot of people have been asking what the benefits are of using a Twitter application on your desktop instead of just twittering* on the website itself. Have no fear, reinix is here! I'll tell you from personal experience the pros and cons of using Twitter.com versus desktop applications, as well as other websites.

First off, let me explain what each of them is. Twitter.com is the original website where you can post your updates, as well as reading others. A Twitter application is one which you can install on your desktop and not have to open a browser to use (e.g. TweetDeck, Seesmic, Thwirl). I'm not sure what to name the next, but there are also other websites in which you can use Twitter instead of logging in through twitter.com (e.g. Seesmic Web, Brizzly).

Twitter.com
Pros - It's really simple to use. You just log in and then you're free to read tweets and easily post your own by typing your update in the text box at the top. On the left-hand side bar you have your basic services that twitter has to offer: @replies, direct messages, retweets, lists, trending topics, and of course the handy dandy search bar. Pretty straightforward. You just click one and it lets you see whatever it is you clicked. It's also pretty cool that if you leave the homepage window open (after you have signed in), the the tweet feed always refreshes itself when someone posts an update.
Cons - If you have a lot of followers or follow a lot of users, clicking through each thing can get annoying. Some people may gave enough followers sending them @replies and retweeting them that they can easily miss tweets from people they actually talk to. The thing about the internet today is that people want to see everything in an instant, without having to click through links.

Desktop Applications for Twitter
Pros - They only require a just a one-time install, and you can set them up to open when you turn on your computer. The bigger ones, like TweetDeck and Seesmic, pretty much have the potential to do everything you could possibly want to do on Twitter. They're organized in columns that let you see everything (your timeline, @replies, and direct messages) at once. You can even integrate your Twitter lists into separate columns so you're able to read only updates from certain groups of people. And of course, it gives you the option to send @replies, retweet posts, send direct messages, add tweets to your favorites, and the rest of the basic functions of Twitter.
Cons - Twitter has a limit in the amount of times you can request information for them. At the moment, the limit is 150 times per hour. Because of this, those who follow a lot of people or browse through the app a lot to look through profiles and whatnot often exceed their rate limit. This means that once you have reached 150 requests, you have to wait 'til the hour is over in order to receive updates on time.

Websites Integrated With Twitter
Pros - You don't have to install software, and they are accessible anywhere with an internet connection. Customizable layouts.
Cons - Just like desktop apps, there are limits to the API. Sometimes services try to avoid it by only showing you a few tweets. It gets annoying.

Smartphone Applications
Err... right now I'm stuck with a simple messaging phone on which I can only use Twitter Mobile. If/when I get a better phone, I'll do a review on my favorite apps or whatever. There's a lot to choose from, especially for iPhone users.

*When I say "twittering," I mean using Twitter in general to read and post updates (and/or lurk people you are interested in ;]). I am aware that the term for posting updates is "tweeting." I will use it when it applies.

I can expand more on all of this, but I decided to just give you guys the basics. If you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments below :)

The Importance of Feedback

Remember April 30, when I said I'd post a blog regularly every five days? Obviously, I failed in that regard. I realized how hard it is to actually find time to blog and topics to blog about. Especially last month, since I was attempting vlogging every day, and had a bunch of exams and assignments for whatever reason. I also realized the other day that YouTube takes up a lot of my time. Despite the fact that I hardly post videos on my personal channel, I make at least two videos a week; one for WTVlog, and one for reinixtonks.

I was legitimately surprised when a few people noticed I hadn't posted a thing since April. I didn't think anyone actually came on here. The lack of comments makes me think no one does. There's something about comments that actually motivates people to put up more content. Sure, anyone can know how many hits their pages get by just looking through the statistics, but they don't really know people stuck around and read what they had to say. And even if people with websites had crazy stalker stats that told them how long others stayed on a page, they don't know what these others thought of the page.

Don't underestimate the importance of feedback, kids. (Okay, this is the first and last time I refer to my readers as "kids." It seems condescending. Also, I'm only 19 years old. Who am I to call others "kids"?) Feedback has a huge influence on how webmasters run their sites and how companies improve their products. There's no way to know people don't like their content (or products) if they don't tell them.

Getting no feedback can be good and bad. On one hand, it tells you that you don't suck enough for others to tell you that you do. On the other, it means people don't like your work enough to tell you they do. It's pretty bittersweet. And while many don't like it when others tell them what to do, the opposite goes for communities on the internet. Those involved in online communities make a lot of their projects for their audiences, not themselves. How are they supposed to know what to give the audiences if they don't tell them? I guess that's one of the things I love about New Media and Web 2.0. (Is that redundant? New Media AND Web 2.0? Nowadays, they seem to be one in the same.) They put a lot of emphasis on feedback, communication, and community building. This really does help websites and communities flourish and become successful.

So next time you visit a site you like or watch a video that makes you laugh, don't be afraid to tell the people that made it how much you enjoy their work. It encourages them to publish more and better content.