Why 'In The Thrill Of It All'?

As you may see coming into my blog, the title.

You may even be wondering, "Why?"

Well, I'll tell you.

The phrase itself is part of both a song and latest album by Sam Smith called "The Thrill Of It All".

If you listen to the song itself, it's about getting lost in love and how it affects us as humans whether the person is right for us or not. In that aspect, this represents me for I'm quite the hopeless romantic. Whenever I think something is going right, reality slaps me in the face.

But the phrase means more than that.

Love is a big part of what makes me who I am, but love isn't the only thing. My life as a whole has shaped me who I am from the day I was born to the moment where I'm sitting here typing this blog that you're reading.

12 years of soccer, 7 years of concert/marching band, countless minutes of music, endless studying for school, earning my high school diploma, reaching for my bachelor's degree, going to concert after concert, even writing this blog for complete strangers. In the thrill of it all, it gives me satisfaction. I'm doing what I love and I love doing it.

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As a person, I'm an all-around type of girl and I love pretty much a little bit of everything. I was never the type to be stuck to just one thing which is why majoring in Media Studies is perfect for me.

Media Studies focuses on the entertainment industry but elaborates to the main four: film, tv, video games, and music which as you might have guessed, I'm a fan of them all.

Film:

There are hundreds of thousands of movies out there that I'm still behind on. I usually watch comedy and action movies, but if the movie is worth watching, count on it that I'm sitting somewhere watching it on my tv (or nowadays my laptop). What many don't realize or even appreciate is the amount of time and effort it takes to make these movies that we've come to love so much. Whether it's a documentary or the next Marvel movie, behind-the-scenes isn't as easy as it sounds. Just as documentaries are a genre within film, documentaries themselves have their own genres which is quite fascinating. Even screenwriting a film looks simple (like the black-and-white pages themselves) but the process requires a lot of patience, criticism, rewriting, and endless supply of creativity. I inherited my mom's creative mind so developing a short film idea wasn't entirely difficult, but having to make the internal external and holding information back from the audience was not a piece of cake. (mmm cake sounds good right about now)

TV:

This is rather similar to movies in most of the BTS aspects, but the output is rather different. This category refers to all your favorite TV shows that you like to watch on a weekly basis (or if you wait for it on platforms like Netflix or Hulu, you like to binge watch like me and deeply regret it after). Whether it's a Netflix original or a nostalgic show to remind me of my childhood, the same effort that's put to make movies are the same for your favorite shows. In terms of the process, it's a lot more fast paced for each episode is done on a weekly basis, months in advance. I've went to a few show tapings before but they were for game shows that are a different vibe. Recently I went to a taping of A Man with a Plan (Matt LeBlanc is fine *heart eyes emoji*) and the vibe is so friendly. You see how the small set is made to look realistic, how many retakes need to be done if a line is said wrong or if a line needs to be changed, and just how quickly it's all put together within hours.

Video Games:

So off the bat this isn't my strongest category of the four, but I make do. In the video game world I haven't had the biggest interest but when it comes to Pokemon, I have my own world there. I've played starting from Pokemon Yellow on the GameBoy Color to Pokemon Moon on the Nintendo 3DS (I have still yet to get Ultra Moon and Detective Pikachu). If that ain't love, I don't know what is. Of course though that isn't the only game I've ever played. Personally, I'm more into hand-held games, but I've had my share of console games too. The one game that I think is mandatory for every person to play on either device, whether you're a fan of video games or not, is Mario Kart. I believe that game is one the most universal and user-friendly games out there that everyone loves. Yes there's game like FIFA, Halo, Call of Duty, and so on, but Mario Kart is like the universal language of video games. Some other games I've really been into is Just Dance, Mortal Kombat and countless racing games. In recent years unfortunately I've steered further away from the console and for about 2 years from hand-held, but recently I started playing again and boy have I missed the feeling. For those who have no extra time like me with 2 jobs and school, but still want to play a game without spending the extra money, downloading games on your phone are a great alternative. Let me tell you, if you're a fan of Mortal Kombat and Marvel, you need to get Marvel: Contest of Champions and you will instantly be addicted.

Music:

Ahhh my number one. If you know me, I was practically born with headphones in my ears. Just waking up? Music. Getting ready? Music. Showering? Music. Walking to class? Music. Cleaning the house? Music. Long car trip? Music. Doing homework? Music. Sleeping? Music. "Wait did you just say sleeping?" Yes. Yes I did. Music is my muse. It's practically my life support. As a child, reggaeton was all I listened to. You name it, I most likely listened to it. From Wisin y Yandel to RKM y Ken-Y to Daddy Yankee, I was into it. By 2011, that was the start of my boyband phase with The Wanted's song "Glad You Came" until they broke up in 2014. Within the same year I supported a local up-and-coming band until they separated in May 2017. Since then my overly loving boyband days has faded, but there are bands I'll listen to from time to time. As of more recent years, I've had more of my focus on solo artists. Only one artist I've had true love and respect for since his debut is Sam Smith. If you ask me my favorite song, I can't tell you a definitive answer. If you ask me my favorite artist, that I have an answer for. His music has been something I've made my go-to no matter the situation I was in. Sad? Sam. Happy? Sam. Angry? Sam. Stressed? Sam. And so on. The Spanish equivalent, although they are a group, is a group called Reik. As of today, they are the two artists I've found worth spending more than $100 for concert tickets. Back in regards to solo artists, I've never had one in mind for a number two spot or even to tie up with Sam until recent. He goes by the name Bazzi. He's well-known thanks to his hit "Mine" (you need to listen to it pronto) and as of April 12th at 10 a.m., he released his debut album titled Cosmic that he states he's worked on over the past 2 years.

I can go on and on about these things but you're probably tired of this already. Take a break. Rest your eyes. Stay tuned for more. There's more where this came from.

Feel the thrill yet?