Holy cannoli! It's been awhile!

Hola!!

I guess when my Communications class ended I forgot about this cute little blog... what a shame.
Some key things that I probably would have wrote about.. probably:

• NACA
• Irritability
• Drama
• Glasses
• Lost Baggage
• The ArKanes
• Older Men
• FIRE!
• Roommate Drama
• Five Freakin Friends
• Frustration 
• HOME!!
• Reunions
• 3 Interviews
• JOEY
• South Carolina
• L.A.
• Twilight Convention
• Ice Cream
• Silers
• The ArKanes, again 
• Friendship
• Laughter
• Agent
• Skype
• Trout
• Affinity
• South Carolina, again
• Burnt Skin
• Sushi
• Hair Color Issues
• Lauren's Visit
• Girl Talk 
• Road Trip
• Family
• Surprise 70th B-day Party
• More ArKanes..
• Love sickness

And a lot that I probably missed..

Anyway, I have two weeks before school starts and there is more fun to be had. I will be gathering my things together this week and next week, well, I will be in Boston for my 20th birthday. Who knows, perhaps I will celebrate with those silly Scousers known as The ArKanes.. ;) 


As for my YouTube channel, I created my own show. Here is my newest episode! 

Sitting in basements with boys.

It's a smelly job but someone's got to do it. Well, no, I don't have too... but I was here first.

(Why is it smelly? Lot's and lot's of farts. Boys are gross.)

At this moment I am sitting in my basement next to my younger brothers wrestling teammate, Patrick.

Fun side note, Patrick is under the impression that I hate him.

As stated earlier I was down in the "lair" first and got very very very comfortable. I had planned on watching a movie and ichatting with a friend or two but my brother managed to screw that up.

He simply came home. Looked at me with those big brown eyes and said, "Can Pat and I watch (insert name of anime show here)?"

I should have said no... alas... my brother has passed out and now I am blogging next to his very funny friend who believes I hate him.

It's really the only way to spend a Friday night.

At least I have the SUB retreat to look forward to!!

How am I owning this situation?

Good o'le conversation. 

The kid prob still thinks I hate him but whatevs....

P.S. Patrick won. Long story but I do admit defeat when I lose... which isn't often.

Pet Peeves

I have some quirky pet peeves.
Coughing/sneezing, for me, is the worst.. people can't help it... but it really makes me mad.
Below are so of my pet peeves.
Feel free to rate and comment!

"The Mole Story"

I started filming with the idea that I would share my most well known story.. but the more I thought about it the more I realized that it is even more politically incorrect than I thought... so instead here is my attempt at sharing, "The Mole Story".

Erica, what do you want to be when you grow up?

I was asked this question when I was a wee one and my answer was very.. well.. Tapanga-esque.

I replied to my Aunt Lisa that I just wanted to be "me".

When my aunt and her family visited during New Year's she reminded me of my answer which has always stayed with her. Maybe I was onto something?

This is a picture of myself and another aunt of mine, my Aunt B, at my 4th birthday party.

I was so cute!

Safer to say, I was something else. Haha!

As I sit and type this very moment I can't think of a better answer.

I have never ever strived to be anything or anyone other than myself.

Let's see how my parents like that answer!

Yes Woman- That's me!

New Year's.
A time for parties, champagne, and a fresh start.
The time of year when many people pick and attempt to stick to a resolution.
The norms include: eating healthier, joining a gym, quitting smoking, and just eliminating bad habits.

I don't normally make resolutions... so I am not going to this year.. instead I have challenged myself, and to make it non- resoluntiony( I know that isn't a word) I started a week before the new year.

What have I challenged myself to do?

Ahh, I have decided to say "yes" more.

Sound familiar? Well if it does you may have watched the movie Yes Man or read the book of the same name.

I am not going to go to quite the extremes that Jim Carrey's character went to but I am going to push my self out of my comfort zone. I plan on keeping my merry band of followers, all three of you, updated throughout my journey so stay tuned.

Here's a clip from Yes Man: 


Good luck with your "challenges" and whatnot.

"I'm as corny as Kansas in August, I'm as normal as blueberry pie."

This song has been stuck in my head for weeks...



Here's hoping my love of musicals will help me on my Theatre final!

Ta-Ta-Ta Ted Talk?

Oh look! It's my prezi for my Ted Talk and wouldn't you know it I have a video too...





I would like to add that my Late Night video led to me change majors...
one day Fallon...
you'll see.... you'll see...

Tu vuò fà l'americano?

If you asked me that question a few months ago I would have said No!!!!

Why?

Because instead of being American I wanted to be Italian.

The Italian take on food, love, and life in gerneral just had my name written all over it.

Whether it was my trip to Italy in the summer of '08, my "cugini distanti" (distant cousins) contacting me on Facebook, or taking Italian as my foreign language here at St. Joe's I do not know.

I just know that for the longest time I tricked myself into one, thinking that I was more Italian than I am (I am only a quarter Italian) and two, thinking that as soon as college ends that I would run away to Italy, marry a charming Casanova of sorts, open a flower shop, and grow old eating pizza and nutella for the rest of my life.

Now I have a different outlook. I wanna stay local....

Yeah, I love traveling and I plan on doing a lot of that in my life but I think I want to become rooted here in America and accept who I am.

I recently admitted to myself that I want a job in either T.V. or Films. America is the epicenter of entertainment so it would probably be smart to stick around here.

My last Italian exam, probably, ever is tomorrow at 2pm and while I doubt it will be my last run in with the language I know this is probably the end of my love affair with the idea of leaving my American life behind.

Arrivederci Italiano Erica and Hello American Erica!!!

For Andrea.

So I worked for a candy company this summer.
My one task was to get us to set up a booth and red carpet at TwiCon so that we could meet our customers (Necco has sold some very popular Twilight themed cany). My boss, Aimee, and I trekked to Dallas all the way from Boston but overall we learned a lot about customers and even had some fun.

Here are some pics:

Here is our booth.

Oh look it's me eating a huge Sweetheart.

Aimee, Jen (one of the photog's), and I on the red carpet I ordered.

This is my boss, Aimee, with Craig Deering of Evil Iguana.

I told you I met the Evil Iguana guys!!
This is the video they shot at TwiCon.
Enjoy!!

I love Lucy and Ricky too!

For as long as I can remember, I Love Lucy, has been one of my favorite shows.
I think the humor is timeless.

I bring all of this up because not a day goes by that I do not relate something I have done with an episode of Lucille Ball's iconic television show.

From her shenanigans with Ethel to her humorous squabbles with Ricky I find myself in similar situations constantly.

Here's a clip from one of my favorite episodes. Enjoy!!!

You wouldn't love ME if I wasn’t ME: A social experiment.

I talk a lot.

GASP!!

It really shouldn't be such a shocker...

And 92.3% of the things I say are sarcastic. It hasn’t always been that way but it is now.

And most of my friends share an occasional laugh due to my comments.

But these comments aren’t fun when they are thrown back at ME.

Yeah, you guessed it. I am one of those people you’re mom told you about, the girl who can give it but can’t take it (enter “that’s what she said” if you must).

So why am I sharing this?

Because I recently explained to one of my roommates, Emily, that while at times I may come off a smidge, who am I kidding- extremely, annoying that if I wasn’t this way I wouldn’t be ME and the dynamic would be off balance.

Well, my roommate Meghan “Megasarus” Ceselsky, whether she knows it or not, has challenged ME to a duel of sorts.
My strategy?

Be “not ME” for a week.

Let the games begin.

How to Own LOVING... uhmm.... YOU!

I love me. I love me a lot. It could be said I love myself too much.


Oh look, there I am… love this picture!

Why wouldn't I love me???

Anywayyyy...
This is one of the easiest assignments I have ever had.

Why?

It’s because I have no trouble “talking myself up”.

For example, below is my “short summary” for my TED Talk.

Feel free to laugh or shake your head, that’s what I want!

The unbelievably talented Erica “Tapanga” Malanga is not only known for her beauty, humor, and modesty. She is also well renowned in the art of “owning”. Watch and learn as Erica demonstrates how to own “selling yourself” specifically using YouTube. Warning: confidence will be lifted.

How to Own and Sell...You... Yeah...You!!

For my TED Talk I would like to teach about careers that have stemmed from social media. From bloggers whose work is turned into books to 15 year old boys who perform on YouTube one day and the Today show the next. I would like to explain why social media makes it so easy to be discovered. I would also like to discuss the success rate of these individuals. While this form of “applications” and “auditions” is new it is growing more and more popular. I will even be able to share my own experience when it comes to trying to be discovered via the World Wide Web and why even though I have not yet been successful I do not plan on quitting any time soon. I think that online video resumes are the way of the future and I can’t wait to share my knowledge of this medium with others.

I'm just a movie making fool.

Here is my presentation for my Theatre class.
I just thought I'd share :)



For this project I had to write a 6-8 page paper about Harlod Prince. A well known Broadway producer/director.

I love showtunes and I knew I wanted to sing a little...
so I got in character as Kathie Lee Gifford and fun followed.

How to Own Twitter.

Simple.

Make a video.



And break it down so that it is easy for newcomers to understand.

Twitter is like a party. You may have heard this before.

Here are some pictures to help demonstrate:

The keg... or punch bowl... is like Twitters home page.

It's where all the "cool people" gather.

The party goers are like "tweeters" the people who use the site.

Side converstations are like direct messages.

Normal tweets are like the conversations going on.

Like parties, you only really pay attention to what interests you.

As you have seen Twitter is one big party! A party with attendees from all around the world.

Happy 40th Birthday Sesame Street!

Here is a cute Sesame Street video featuring the fantabulous Wayne Brady! Man, I love him!

How to own missing an important Comm class.

In the back of my mind I new this post would one day come about. No one is perfect and sometimes ou have one of those days, for me that day was last Friday. What an awful day... but it's okay... it's over now... I'm moving on.. seriously I am over it.. seriously.

Okay, this whole missing a class thing will probably make my blog about Social Media Objects different than everyone else's.

My post will be strictly what I have found on my own.

Here goes nothing!

After doing some research about Jyri's ideas I have come to the conclusion that half of the things I see online go right over my head.

I never thought about music being the focal object of myspace but then remembered that when I had one a few years ago I would change my profile song everyday.

I never thought about the objects on the sites I visited.

I never realized that verbs were apart of it.

And I never questioned why objects were shareable.

Have I been living under a rock?

Looking back now, I am glad I missed class on Friday. I think that if I had heard all of this my head would have exploded.

Before I head out let me leave you with this:

Go Phils!

How to Own YouTube.

I love the internet, possibly more than I love my little brother.

Don’t judge me!

The internet can entertain me for hours and it never ever calls me “Ekers”. It also holds vast amounts of information, my brother- not so much. (Sorry Joey!!!) Anyway, to own the internet you simply have to use it to your advantage.

DO NOT LET THE INTERNET OWN YOU!

For instance, I use many social networking sites. Take Facebook, it RULES MY LIFE. I am constantly updating my status and debating whether or not to “friend” the kid who sat next to me on the bus in the second grade. I check it between every class and at least twice in the last fifteen minutes before falling asleep. I’m always afraid I am going to miss something! (Very sad, I know.)

When I am not on Facebook I am normally on YouTube.
I love YouTube. For me, each video leads to another- and it’s a slippery slope! I have been known to spend hours on YouTube watching videos about my favorite bands, movie stars, and even (stupid) videos about biting babies and talking unicorns.

Today I watched about 20 clips from the musical The Light in the Piazza, which, no joke is now my absolute favorite musical. Being able to watch the performance as if I was in the audience is intoxicating and there is something satisfying about not having to worry about the lady with the big head in front of you when you are instead sitting comfortably in your bedroom. When I come across something I really like on YouTube I normally share it on Facebook so that my friends can see and they can comment if they would like to.

I posted this video today. Why? Simple, because it has been stuck in my head all day and I wanted to share. ENJOY!



Keep owning my friends!