So I won’t be replying to comments until I get back in February nor will there be updates. Until then, take care,
Mel xx

02 x Selena Gomez.
01 x Emma Watson.
01 x Lauren Conrad.

(Cross-post from PlainVanity)

Anyways, check out PlainVanity here (if you don’t know already, PV is my new PSD site ^^)

As I’ve already said I went swimming yesterday with Alicia, Drew and Jacob. Instead of going to the lake we payed two bucks to swim at the local pool (which was basically deserted…I for one never swim there. I prefer the lake) The funniest thing happened. Andrew tried to throw his two dollar coin over the wall of the toilets to Alicia and you know what happened? It landed between a space between the brick walls haha. So we spent some time trying to get it and failed. In the end Alicia, because Andrew’s a pussy, just asked the lifeguard if she could bring two dollars around after we left. He said it was OK. That’s one good thing about living in a small town, people can be nice and trusting. In the end when the pool was closing the lifeguard said not to worry about bringing two dollars back….”what they don’t know wont kill them.”
Later, much later actually, in the night we watched 30 Days Of Night. Fantastic movie! If you like vampire flicks, WATCH IT! And if you don’t, well give it a shot simply for the visually awesome killing scenes, original looking vampires/monsters, and the scary raptor/bird like sounds the vamps make. If thats still not enough to temp you, Josh Hartnett makes for some worthwhile eye candy X]
I honestly cant believe David Slade, he directed 30 Days Of Night, is going to be directing Eclipse…I don’t know if he’s any good with romance, but the fight scenes are going to be amazing haha!

++ Hayley Williams Coded Layout (here)

++ Website Bullets (here)

Anyways, I finally got around to changing the layout. A much better choice than my last imo. Version three was so chunky and the header was big and long…aside from the colouring I didn’t like it. I’ve also made seven textures which you can view here. And I just noticed tonight that none of my textures were showing up due to a typo in the URL’s. I don’t know how long its been that way but its fixed now.

If you’ve read previous blogs of mine you’ll know I was unable to buy a ticket for the midnight screening and instead got 6:45pm that night. That was alright but what really bugged me is I found out Village Cinema opened a third screening for midnight even though they’d said they weren’t going to. Needless to say I wasn’t pleased. I got to the cinemas with 10 minutes to spare because I went with Alicia—she had to work late so we left a few minutes before 6PM— instead of going with Mum, three of my brothers and one of their girlfriends. Now, I have a twilight mum (she framed her New Moon poster…) so she left super early, waited in line for 2 hours and was first in line which was great because by the time I arrived there was a huge, long line going out the cinema door and down the street. Imagine lining up in that in 35-40 degree heat… No thank you, sir!

If you’ve already seen New Moon you’ll know how charged the air is with excitement and fangirlism. Everyone is so happy and pumped to get in and watch the movie! There was this one girl behind us in line whose eyes were literally sparkling and had that almost glazed elated look to them. She would call out, “two minutes until New Moon.” And as time ticked away she was getting closer and closer to hyperventilating.
The Ushers had to take us in small groups and allocate seating to us when the time came because they were afraid people would push and shove and they’d land themselves a lawsuit when some poor old lady lost her footing on the stairs and takes a dangerous tumble to the bottom. Being first in line definitely has its advantages—we got back seats!

As more and more bodies filled the room the temperature started going up and by the time the previews started it was so hot in there. Sitting through those previews took its toll on me and I wanted to scream out “I don’t care about Sherlock Homes and Avatar, get the f**k on with the movie I’ve waited a year for. Please.” When the Summit Entertainment logo finally came up I was full of excitement and then the moon at the start of the movie…brilliant.

I’m not going to go through each scene of New Moon and point out what I liked and disliked because that would be silly. My general opinion is this:
The movie starts out, I wont lie, boring. Its like watching wooden actors. Kristen Stewart’s acting abilities have greatly improved since Twilight (no more overly exaggerated facial twitches, expressions and biting of the lip) and Robert Pattinson (even though I love him and hate to say this) seems like he’s about to cry at any moment and is facing a serious bout of constipation. Jackson Rathbone (Jasper) actually got some lines in this movie which I thought was great. Jasper is a character I like and find intriguing and, while he plays the part of looking like his constantly in pain well, it saddens me that he doesn’t actually get to say much. I remember back in 2008 when I first watched Twilight at the cinemas and when Alice came on screen I loved how well Ashley Greene played her. Not much has changed in New Moon except Alice doesn’t look so pixie like and odd anymore. Whats with Alice’s new do? I do not like the hairstyle change at all. Someone should get the movie set hairstylist some gel and spike those ends up ASAP! As for the rest of The Cullens you don’t get to see them much on screen. I was surprised at how little screen time they actually all got, save Alice of course.

Taylor Lautner really does steal the torch from rPatz in the sequel. I bet Team Jacob has had in increase in supporters since the release of New Moon. To fulfill the role of Jacob, Taylor has buffed up and when his shirt came off the giggles and ‘whoa’ remarks were numerous. There was an older lady sitting in front of me. She must have been well into her fifties and she was impressed with those abs from what I could hear!

Things start to heat up after Edward leaves and Bella gets over her depression (How sad was the window/counting of the months scene? Lykke Li’s song Possibilities couldn’t have been used in a better scene!)

Kristen and Taylor have great chemistry and this shows through the roles they’re portraying. You watch as he falls for her more and more and you want Jacob to win Bella over and when he begs her to stay and she says no, you feel his defeat and heartbreak even more so then in the book. Each Time I’ve read New Moon, never did I realize how much of a user Bella ultimately is. She uses Jacob as a crutch while Edwards gone. I guess, for me, it took visual to take notice.

There are small injections of humor in the movie at all the right places yet people were laughing at parts that weren’t even funny. New Moon’s not a comedy so why were people laughing every five minutes? I must admit Emmet’s ‘older women’ comment was funny and the wolf pack have their moments worth a laugh or two. And Jessica’s lines (especially the leper comments) after her and Bella see the zombie movie are highly funny.

Chris Weitz has stuck to the book thoroughly and hasn’t strayed too much. I’m not going to say his a better or worse director then Catherine Hardwicke because his ‘vision’ for New Moon isn’t bad just as hers wasn’t for Twilight. What is bad is how the movie just seems to drag on in some scenes. The action scenes were fab and I cant really fault them, but the beginning needs a jump-start and sometimes I was left with a feeling of being cheated.

When Victoria is running from the werewolf pack in the Forrest and Thom York’s song Hearing Damage is playing I was hooked. From there onwards the movie does pick up a bit. The Volturi scene especially was great if, like myself, you like a good battle scenes. Dakota Fanning played Jane so well. The severely pulled back hair and dark, gothic eye makeup actually looks alright on her (though her light eyebrows bugged me lol) My favorite scene in the movie is when Bella’s running through the crowd of red cloaked people to reach Edward before he steps into the sunlight and reveals what he is. His heaven line was beautiful and I’m certain that if at that moment I was at home watching the movie I would had cried.

The ending, when Edwards asks Bella to marry him, was alright. What I did like was how the movie abruptly ends leaving it open for the next installment. Eclipse will be out next year and it has a different director—if David Slade kills Eclipse, my favorite book, I’ll send him a dead fish in the mail (on second thoughts, maybe not. I’d probably get charged…) Lets hope its better then the first two..

If you loved the New Moon book, you’ll probably like the movie. If you’re Team Jacob, again, you’ll like it. If you’re only watching because of Edward’s dashing vampire looks—hell, you won’t be disappointed but he’s really only at the beginning, as visions/memories in the middle and the end.. If you’re looking for explosive action, award winning performances and a killer screenplay, give this one a miss.

RATING: 3/5

We went swimming after the movie. Which I’ll tell you was hugely refreshing because the weather over the past two weeks has been dreadfully hot and humid. Summer, if its not already here, is on its way and I can’t admit to being too pleased about that—if you read my blog regularly you’ll know how much I hate hot, sticky, summer weather. We sat on a sandy bank of the lake (which was made to resemble a beach of sorts. Its a beautiful place to swim) and just talked and had an enjoyable time. We did eventually go swimming and the water was so nice. It was such a nice day and I didn’t get home until 9PM.

Christmas is next month. Where has the time gone? It feels like only yesterday I was celebrating the 2009 New Year and now the years just about over. This time last year I never thought what has happened to me, would have happened. I’ve changed a lot from the 19 year old girl I was. Things that interested me then no longer do. A certain person broke my heart and I never thought I’d get over it. Its funny how time really does heal all. It took me close to a year but I’m finally free of the painful feelings connected to him when I think about him and what he did. Its now like ‘Meh, you gave a year to him and had your heart smashed up. Whats done is done’ kind of feeling. Which is sad because he meant so much to me. Oh well, humans were designed to grieve and eventually accept what cant be changed. No point in hanging on to a faint whisper of hope when it will only prolong and hurt you further.

Does anyone know how long a sprain takes to heal? I suppose if its still hurting in a few days I’ll go see a doctor. I happened to roll the very foot I fractured 2 bones in when I was 14 or 15. I also broke a bone behind my knee when I was four— guess which leg? The same one as my rolled ankle. I seem to have a bit of bad luck when it comes to my left leg *sigh*

I’ve been doing the RICE thing (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevate) Its helping. The swelling is still pretty bad but could be worse. I’m thankful my foot hasn’t swollen like a balloon! I also have a huge black bruise forming.

I hope and pray its better by next week. I refuse to miss New Moon for a stupid ankle sprain!! If I have to hobble into the cinemas, by God, I will

I have a few CSS tutorials which I hope to get online by tomorrow and maybe a few more emoticon packs? I love making pixels…time consuming and sometimes tedious but very rewarding in the end because of how much time and effort goes into them. I’m going to try some new shading techniques too. I’m also working on a new coded layout and, If time allows, that too will be online when I next update.

Would you, my lovely visitors, like to see more graphic tutorials like the Amanda Bynes blend tut I wrote a week or so ago? I was thinking maybe a layout tutorial—how to make the layout I have up at the moment, perhaps? Let me know if there’s anything you’d like me to write a tutorial on and, if I know enough about it, I’ll see what I can cook up ^_^

Instead of posting a new blog, I thought it would be better to just post an edit in this one ^.^
Soo, without delaying a second longer, all updates can be found here.
+ 03 CSS Tutorials. (Blockquotes, Font Styles & H1 First Letter)
+ 02 Emoticon Packs (Hello Kitty and Emo Boy. I didn’t know what to call the ‘boy’ pack. He kind of looks emo with his sweeping fringe LOL)

Quick little update! Yeah so, as the title reads, I’ve made four brand new emoticon packs and they’re up for download on the content page.

Annnd, I’ve made a new coded layout featuring lyrics from Tokio Hotel’s song Automatic (ILOVETHENEWHUMANOIDALBUM) have a look here

In other news, I’ve just realized that New Moon is released this month! My gosh, I cant wait~ I’ve had my tickets since mid October and, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a midnight screening…stupid 13 year old fangirls ~.~ So instead I’m going on the day of the release for the next screening which isn’t until 6:45pm. fml.

On top of being woken up I have to face a day of Summer weather in Spring…I tell you, I cant believe how hot the last few days have been. I’m not just talking about warm-getting-ready-for-summer weather, I mean actual humid heat where you sweat if you’re outside. I had my bedroom window open for an hour or so and I came in and my room was literally like an oven. I shut the window and kept my door open after that so the air-con could circulate through the furnace my room had now become. Last night I didn’t even sleep with the covers over me. I FREAKING HATE HOT WEATHER. Gah…

Its funny how, when the nights are cold and I shiver when I’m outside, I long for the rays of summer. Yeah…until the heat actually arrives and I want winter back. I just cant win! My favorite season is probably toward the end of Autumn.

I wish we celebrated Halloween in Australia. Instead of embracing it Aussie’s don’t even make an effort. All the stores have Halloween Sales—whats the point? Sure, I can buy a TV with a hundred bucks slashed off the price because of a holiday we don’t even celebrate. What a gimmick. Halloween in Australia is nothing more then a way for greedy business men and companies to make a buck. Why don’t people, or even communities, TRY and popularize Halloween here. For example the town I live in, its small enough where it could have organized to have the younger kids trick or treat. Kids around here try, you bet they do, but they get oranges from old people (i guess an orange resembles a pumpkin? Cute way of thinking) and candy bars and mixed lollies from a few houses. I’ve even seen adults tell kids to ‘rack off’. Could an adult act anymore heartless—kids like candy—how is it going to put you out to drop a few candy bars in a kids outstretched bag? Ads and catalogs scream and plaster Halloween sales everywhere, adults are impatient with children who make cute costumes trying to score some candy and I’m left shaking my head because, no matter what I say or think, its not going to change a damn thing.

Whoa, good thing my little rant is over and I can tell you all that I’ve launched my Coded Layouts section. I’ve only made two layouts so far—I plan to add more, so don’t worry.

A few questions:
1. If you could change anything about where you live, what would it be?
2. Do you sleep in on the weekends or are you an early bird?
3. Whats your favorite season?
4. Do you have Halloween plans?

Blend Tutorial—If you guys frequent Jessica’s site, you’ll know she recently had a blend competition going (I think its still going, it has rounds, right?) anyways, I made this particular blend for that comp. Unfortunately I didn’t get around to completing my entry by the deadline so I couldn’t enter ~_~ I hated the thought of it just sitting on my computer because I did like it. So I decided to write a technique tutorial on how it was made.

PHP Includes Tutorial—I was reading Megan’s blog today and she was asking for help with PHP Includes, so I thought it best to write a tutorial and try and help her out. I know when I first read about PHP Includes I was super confused and a lot of the tuts didn’t explain in lamen terms which is sometimes what you need. I hope I haven’t turned into one of those people who’s tutorials aren’t helpful to beginners because they leave out the little parts. Let me know if you find it helpful and easy to understand or if some sections need rewording because they cause confusion?

Brushes and Texture—Brush set 14 is simple lyrics with a background. They’re nice to slip behind PSD’s in layouts haha. The texture was an experiment with clouds/noise. I like the turnout, do you?

Lastly, I want to let you guys know that my coded layouts will be added within a few weeks. I have to re-code them all into Piczo, Freewebs and hosted (which I’m guessing is going to take A WHILE) then I have to create new ones. Whoa…I’m gonna be swamped for the next month!

The whole ‘CN IS H4K4BL OMG GET RID OF EEEET~~!@@#@‘ kind of scares me..a lot. I knew this when I installed it but I wanted a blog that I could slip into my page. Besides, it was easy to install ^.^

I think I might go with WordPress though. Its all installed and all I have to do is make a layout and create the pages for my content. Its better to be safe and secure then regret it later because I was being stubborn and lazy, right?

[edit]On second thoughts, I’ll go with FanUpdate. The idea of making a wordpress template is daunting to say the least..[/edit]

I’m still getting used to the idea that I finally have a domain—I’ve always wanted one, but felt I wasn’t ready for such a huge leap. For some reason, I had this idea that it would be harder. Thankfully its not!

Most of the content I have on the site is from my old one—however, I have made 5 PSP scripts especially for my opening update. I’ve chosen to not move everything from the old site to this one. I feel fresh, new content will be better to offer my visitors.

If we were previously affiliates, please apply again and I’ll review your site and most probably accept you again. I accidentally deleted my affiliates list on my old homepage. Typical of me to not watch what I’m doing ~_~

I actually had to pull myself away from the computer yesterday to go see my friend and I only stayed for about an hour before I left. When I think back now, I’m slightly ashamed because…well it was a selfish way to act. I guess she understands how much I want to open my site though, so I doubt she’ll hold it against me.

Take care ^_^;