User blog:Fadingsilverstar16/Gigi's Top 10 Least Favorite Things (About Her Favorite Things)

Alright, guys! I'm gonna try something a little new today. This is a top 10 list inspired by the Nostalgia Critic's video "Top 10 Movies Doug Likes But Everybody Else Hates". Watching it, I realized that yes, there's stuff about my favorite things that I can still criticize because hey, nothing is perfect. Even the things I adore with all my heart still have problems and aspects about them that just bother me or annoy me or whatever, so I thought that would be a pretty interesting Top 10 list! What I'll be doing is choosing the top ten favorite things in my life and discussing the thing I like least about them. Don't quite understand? Well, read on and maybe you'll get it!

Gigi's Top 10 Least Favorite Things (About Her Favorite Things)

10.) Writing - I'm putting this one low on the list because to tell the truth, there's a LOT of stuff I don't like about writing and I could seriously spend all day discussing it. I could make an entire Top 10 list about the things I hate the most about writing, which is pretty sad considering I love it so much. But I have to say, the thing that always gets me about writing is how the final product never really turns out like I wanted to. Okay, maybe I'll be sort-of satisfied with it once in a blue moon, but usually when I write something there's a certain elegance or style or message or emotional connection that I want to achieve with that specific piece and when I read it, I just can't see it and I have no idea how to make it work. I think a lot of writers have that problem. When I think of what I want to write, I try to imagine it as a movie playing in my mind's eye and try to make it as clear as possible so I know how I want to write it. However, when it's finally down on paper after forever and a half, it never comes out how I envisioned it, which usually turns out to be a problem if I wanted it to have a certain darkness or edge or tone to it. I know editing has a lot to do with fixing this problem, but I can edit and edit and edit and it still doesn't have that elegance that I want it to have. Of course, I love writing and I wouldn't be here if I didn't, but still. Ugh.

9.) Gardening - Hah! How many of you know that I like to garden? None of you, I think. I haven't really talked to anyone about it. xD I got into it a few summers ago when it finally sank in that I live in California and I might as well use that ever so generous sun to my advantage! So I did a little research and bought a bunch of Cosmos seeds, which are very, VERY easy to grow, and of course they were beautiful and I was hooked! Daffodils are a favorite of mine to grow during the winter/spring (and I'm super happy to report that this year's crop is doing very well and is set to bloom soon). However, I just wish my house had a bigger area outside to do something with. There's a tree in a large pot outside my back door and I grow all of my flowers in pots, basically. Not much dirt to do anything with. That's more of a complaint about where I live than about gardening itself, but hey, it is one of my favorite things and I have to find something I don't like about it!

And speaking of where I live...

8.) California - The rumors are true, people, there's a lot of stuff to love (and hate) about this place. I love the beach and the theme parks and the weather and the variety and all of the stuff there is to do here, and there's kind of a carefree sense of style here, but of course the crime rate is very high and corruption is everywhere. Of course, if you watch the news you would know this place is kind of bankrupt and our politics and economy are kind of a huge mess right now. I'd like to think that it might be just people complaining (after all, when do all of us, being people, NOT have something to complain about?), and I'm pretty sure some complaints are exaggerated, but certianly not all of them and some of them might be even bigger problems than we think. That being said, I'm just glad a general cynisism hasn't really overshadowed the people here (at least, not yet). Other than that, I kinda love it here. I'm a tenderfoot, yeah. xD

7.) My iPod Classic - This thing CHANGED MY LIFE. Of course, everyone has an iPod or another suitable mp3 player these days, but when I got mine (80 GBs hell yeah!) it really, really worked for me and I love it with every inch of my soul. It's been a good three years since I got it (Christmas 2007) and I still haven't filled up even half of the space it has, which is a good thing because I LOVE having my entire music and movie library with me at all times and when I discover a new song I like, it has to go on my iPod. Hell, I can't even find much to complain about when it comes to this. Um... the notes feature could be a lot better. I'm pretty sure it's easier to do on the other iPods and iPhones, but c'mon! If I have a fanfiction I really like sometime's I want to download it to my iPod and the way they have it set up and the way you actually scroll through different "chapters" of your notes also causes a few technical problems while you're reading is just... annoying. Granted, I'm still really glad they have that feature.

6.) My Computer - Is a heavy laptop. You see the problem? Heavy and laptop do not mix. It's very bulky and it's a hassle to take it anywhere, even if it's just moving it around the house. I don't really take it anywhere though and it is a little dated looking (maybe about five years old), but it still runs really well and I love it to death. I just wish I didn't have to treat it like a desktop. Also, the battery power on this one is just complete crap. This thing can NEVER hold a charge so I have to keep it plugged into the wall all the time. So much for portability. Next laptop, lighter and more portable is the key. That's the whole point of a laptop. Something with some really nice battery power would be great, too. I value that even more than I do the the weight, really. It's gonna be a couple more years, but I can wait. As long as this one doesn't die on me. xD

5.) Christmas - Aaaaah, Christmas and just the whole holiday season in general. I love that time of year where people can stomach that kind of cheesy sentimentality and just of roll with it because it's just what people do. It really is the greatest time of year, at least to me. I love shopping for my friends and wrapping gifts and going out to celebrate the season. My only complaint is that there's always so much money involved, but then again, I think everyone has that exact same complaint. ^_^;;; This year, I'm planning on starting my Christmas savings around Halloween or something. xD

4.) Little Shop of Horrors (1986)- This one holds the title of being my favorite musical of all time. The songs are great, the characters are a lot of fun. It's just a really enjoyable movie. I'm just not one of those people who feels the original ending should've been kept (SPOILER: AKA the ending in which every character dies and the Audry II alien takes over the world aka Seymour has to pay for what he does but the plant doesn't). I thought that ending (which is also the ending to the original play) wasn't very satisfying. I guess it all depends on if you find Seymour all that sympathetic or not, and I did find him sympathetic. However, I'm sure they could've found a better ending than the one they ended up filming. It's a lot more satisfying to me than the original, but even a fun, comedic movie like Little Shop of Horrors doesn't have to have a completely happy or a completely sad ending (even though I will give the published ending credit for that last little shot of SPOILER: another Audrey II in Audrey and Seymour's garden, suggesting a Here We Go Again type of thing). Seymour didn't have to have a totally happy ending just because he was the protagonist. A balance between happy and sad could've been achieved, but I'm going to let it slide because I would be happy with any version of this movie. Haven't seen it? Go look up the parts on youtube. It's worth it. Trust me. (Oh, and my biggest complaing about taking out the original ending? The "Don't Feed the Plant" song. Shame they couldn't keep that in the final cut.)

3.) Pixar - Oh here we go. It's time to get to the big guns, the things you guys just KNEW I was gonna talk about. Now personally, I don't really have a complaint about Pixar itself or any of its movies, really. They don't know how to make a bad movie and I hope it stays that way. They're really the last company left (including Disney, mind you) in Hollywood that can be counted on to put real effort into their films all of the time. For this list, I'll be talking about my least favorite Pixar movies. Unfortunately, I'll have to say A Bug's Life is at the bottom of my Pixar movie list. It's not that it's a bad movie or anything, but out of all the Pixar movies that one has to be one of the weakest if not the weakest. The characters are great and the plot is decent and the writing is okay, but overall I don't think it was all that memorable a movie. Same thing with Cars. I mean I still really, really like that movie but the story moves a bit too slowly and I don't think the characters were filled in enough to really make an impact, save for Mater and Lightning, of course. Wanna know why Cars is getting a sequel this year, though? It might not be the best Pixar has ever done (in my head, the tie is between WALL-E, Up, and Toy Story 3), but notice that ever since its release in 2006, it has been selling a VERY steady line of merchandise all the way up to now, outdone only by the Toy Story trilogy. I'm not super excited for it like I was for the Toy Story sequels, but it does look interesting and I will be seeing it. What noise does the cash cow make, kids? ''Moo. ''

2.) Disney (in general) - Lord. So much to hate about Disney. Let's see, we have racism, sexism, questionable (read: cheap) marketing desicions, endless milking of all those cash cows (moo!), making family movies out of non-family friendly stories and fairy tales (hey kids, did you know that in the original story Rapunzel gets pregnant and ends up having her prince's bastard twins and that's how Mother Gothel finds out about their secret relationship? Did you also know that in the original Hunchback of Notre Dame, Esmerelda is framed for murder and witchcraft and dies by the gallows while Quasimodo can only watch in horror? :D), crapping out terrible sequels and putting some of its best movies to shame (Little Mermaid 2, Pocahontas 2, and Mulan 2, anybody?), and so many other reasons. But in response to all of this, I think I'm just going to have to do a giant shrug, because I love it anyway. Guilty pleasure? Not even that. I just love it. I don't even have to state what I like the least about it, since I think everything I just said up there counts well enough. xD

.1.) Disneyland (the theme park) - Oh Disneyland, you little red headed stepchild of the Disney Parks you. The original Disney theme park and the only park Walt Disney got to see in his lifetime (Walt Disney World has the name "Walt" in its full name as a extra memorial for the man because he died before they even started building it, y'know), Disneyland is one of the smaller Disney theme parks, dwarfed by only Hong Kong Disneyland (I'm pretty sure). For the most part, I love the place, as you already know. It's not just a bunch of Disney movies come to life (don't worry, though, you'll get plenty of that). I really like how the theme parks have their own seperate identities from the Disney canon. There's a lot of secrets and history in it too, and you might just be in for a few surprises when you visit. (Did you know I got to see Adam Sandler and Johnny Depp there in person?) Of course the place isn't perfect, though, and aside from the regular theme park complaints (boo hoo long lines boo hoo food and merchandise boo hoo fireworks got canceled tonight) I have to say the thing I like least about it is some of the desicions management can make. For instance, I was so glad to see that parade the've had for maybe the past two years (Celebrate! A Street Party) finally be retired. I know it was just a filler parade but come on that parade was so cheap. General expensiveness (even for a passholder who gets discounts like me) is also something that's a little irritating, buuuuut then again, it IS Disneyland. So yeah. Lots of stuff that can be annoying, but mostly that has to do with management rather than the park itself. (Oh, did you know the oldest tree on the property is about two feet tall and is over 150 years old? :D) It's pretty fun to visit and learn new things and see history in action at Disneyland, so can I deal with the less-than-magical aspects of the park and the people who run it. It's a labour of love, and my love for Disneyland looks like sparkles and rainbows. <3

And that's about it. I'm so tired. xD

If you're wondering about LAL, yes, Chapter 18 is finished, typed up, and is currently being read over for mistakes by the wonderful Gideon. It'll be up as soon as I can make my corrections and take his suggestions into account. Until then, keep your heads up guys!

Glitter stickers for everyone,

Gigi