Caelyn Murphy – Literary Arts Blogspace

Me Personally, I Prefer Movies

Guys, I genuinely love movies so much. My roommate loves to remind me that every morning when she wakes up I’m watching something new. Ever since I was little, I just had an appreciation for seeing scenes being acted out on the screen. From the colors to the acting itself, it hooked a younger me into a world where anything can be what you make of it.

There’s so many movies I’ve seen that I’ll ask my friends if they’ve even heard of, and most of the time, they haven’t. And what sucks is I tried to get my roommate to watch my favorite movie and I couldn’t freaking find it anywhere. What do you mean no streaming service is showing Silence of the Lambs? I’m offended.

I’ve always been more of a movie person rather than a television show kind of person. Sure, I could watch an entire season of Dexter in one sitting, in a single day, but once I turn it off, it’s not coming back on for a while. There’s just so much to watch, so many movies to pick from, that it’s hard for me to sit down and finish a tv show. Now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t think I ever have actually finished a show.

I started watching the 100—never got through season six before it got taken off of Netflix. But hey, at least I got to finish all the good seasons, I heard the ending was trash anyway. As for my favorite show, Teen Wolf, I never got past season five. I just put off watching it for a while and then never picked it back up again. It’s been over a year since I’ve watched any of it.

Movie series? I have no problem whatsoever finishing one. Actually, the other day I decided to rewatch the Hunger Games for no reason other than simply wanting to. This morning, while I was getting ready, I finished the first movie. After I finish watching them all, I plan on rewatching Pirates of the Caribbean, and then maybe Harry Potter. Every year it’s all the same—I watch the same few movie series that I really enjoy, even if I’ve seen them all a hundred times.

Everyone always tells me that I would appreciate a tv show much more since they can incorporate a lot more detail over the span of seasons and episodes. But I just don’t have the patience to watch an entire series as fast as everyone else. I’m on the season three finale of Dexter, where I’ve sat for about two months, and so I likely will finish the series about this time next year. Till then, I’ll stick with my never-ending quota of movies that change genres everyday.

I Miss My Coworkers

Guys, I genuinely miss my coworkers so freaking much. I spent over two months getting so close to everyone, and now with my being in school, I see them once in a blue moon. It’s not like I can really text them or anything since I don’t have their numbers because I was used to just seeing them everyday. I miss all the inside jokes and the laughter before opening, the nicknames and the trips to yayas frozen yogurt once my shift was up. I had such memorable experiences with them all and it’s sad to me that I don’t get to be around them as much.

What really helped my separation anxiety from them was getting to see them all over the past weekend. Once Zoe heard I was only making a hundred bucks even though it would be a busy football weekend, she simply handed me a wad of ones wrapped in a rubber band. I honestly felt bad that she did it, but she insisted. Towards the end of my shift my other coworker Treyce handed me ten bucks and a firm pat on the shoulder. I always feel so loved when it comes to being around them all.

As the shift progressed, we all realized it wasn’t nearly as bad as we all had thought it would be—and not as bad as the previous day had been. That’s not to say it was slow, no, I mean we had a line out the door a few times, but that was quickly managed. From what I heard, the day before had had a line out the door practically all day and everyone was far too busy to notice the security guard they had hired from a company, who was acting as hostess, was taking money from customers to put them on a nonexistent waitlist.

I’m kinda glad it wasn’t busy, to be honest. That way, I got more time to just talk with my coworkers and catch up on things. Luckily, most of my favorites were on shift with me so I got the best of all worlds. Oh, and Ava came to see me. Once it really died down and was considerably slow, I invited her over since she was already in Oxford anyway. Her parents came, too. All four of us just sat down in a booth and ordered a little food, talked, and I introduced her to the coworkers I’d been telling her all about for almost two months. I already miss everyone, though, if I’m being honest.

Save Me

Looking back on just a few hours ago, I’m completely sick with my decision to work on LSU weekend. I mean, I’ve been at school all week; God knows I’ll be tired by Friday and am not going to want to do anything until we come back to campus Sunday. Not to mention, I’m going to be on the square in Oxford, working at a place that has a bar for people to watch the game. Anytime over the summer any of my coworkers brought up football season, you could see them all physically shudder. On a normal day at work, the restaurant would have four servers, a bartender, a busser, and a food runner. On football weekends? Two bartenders, five servers, two bussers, and two food runners. Complete hell.

Sure, the money’s good and all, but my feet are screaming at me an hour in. Now, personally, I’ve never worked for a football weekend—I only started working at the diner over the summer for some extra money. But on days when I couldn’t even wipe a table down before another was sitting? Oh, I hated it. The good news was that we only had about two days like that during the summer since all the college students were gone. Now everyone is back, and I heard that there have never been more people at and watching Ole Miss since it opened. I’m scared.

Literally, someone pray for me. I know there’s going to be a line out the door all day, and a line halfway around the square before we even open. I feel like that one TikTok meme of the girl crashing out in her car and crying. If I make around two hundred bucks that’d be great, but will it be worth it? Maybe, maybe not. At least I know better than to even think I’ll get anything close to a break Saturday. And after work? I’m crying in the car and sleeping in my bed until it’s time to come back to MSA.

In my bio, I clearly said I’d be ranting on here, and that’s exactly what I’m doing. Ranting about a weekend that will indeed not go down in the history books. There’s only like two upsides to this entire situation: I get to see my coworkers again after so long, and I get money. I miss my coworkers so much, but that’s a rant for another day. I’m just happy my mom will be there with me. Did I forget to mention we work together? Oh well. It’s not like we’ll have any time to see each other unless we’re shouting, “Behind you,” every five seconds in that cramped diner on our way to juggle five more tasks.

Editing is Such a Hobby

Guys, editing is so not for the easily irritated. Don’t get me wrong, I love editing—it’s been my hobby since I was like ten. It has times when it’s rewarding, and then it has times when you spend hours upon hours on the same project, just for it to get completely ignored by the media. Depending on what kind of editing you do, it can prove very time consuming. Luckily for me, the style I do is very basic and honestly doesn’t take that much time if you know what you’re doing.

The software I use to edit looks so complex to learn and it kinda is. It took me almost two years of using it to get where I am today, but I still try new styles here and there. Let me say, Adobe After Effects is not for the faint of heart. My first time using it I nearly cried just trying to figure out how to import and cut clips. If anyone could go into the software knowing what they were doing, I would bet on the medias since they are already familiar with Adobe.

Now, depending on what style you want to learn—whether it’s 3d or a simple tiktok style—it might take longer to get mastered. I could, and probably will, never touch 3d because I know it takes so much more time, effort, and I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Especially with all the school work and assignments, I just wouldn’t have the time to spend six hours on a twenty second edit.

For me, it’s a really fun hobby that I actually enjoy. If you see me with my laptop, I’m always doing one of three things—school work, watching youtube, or editing something. When I listen to music, I find myself unconsciously listening to the beats and thinking in my head, “This would be a great audio for an edit.” It’s almost annoying. But, it’s thrilling to see your visions come alive on a screen through transitions and hand-picked scenes.

As I’m writing this, I just finished an edit earlier that I actually like. Being in the middle of school, it’s hard to find time to just sit down and work on an edit, especially one that I don’t know if I like. But hey, I somehow manage to find time between things. The edit I just made, from the coloring to the effects, is honestly my favorite one that I’ve made in a long time, and that’s saying something. Posting it is gonna be so fun.

I Love My Mommy

If you know me, then you know I talk about my mom 24/7—whenever I get the chance to bring her up. Not just because I love her more than anyone, but because I appreciate everything she does for me, whether I always tell her that or not. From the start, it’s really only ever been me and her. Sure, we live with my grandparents, but I’ve always gravitated towards her. Having a kid means to make harsh sacrifices and decisions that I never truly took into account until I got older.

Looking back, I wish I’d been more affectionate towards my mommy when I was a kid, but now, I’m trying to make up for that lost time. Just the other day, she got confused when I referred to her as ‘mommy’ instead of ‘mom.’ She wasn’t angry, just wondering why I’d suddenly switched up. I told her it was my way of showing my love, and that she should probably become used to it for the foreseeable future. It’s time I made up for being such a stubborn child.

Now, I could ramble on and on for thousands of words about the woman who singehandedly raised me, but I’d rather just share the important stuff and save everything for another time. In a way, we sort of grew up with one another. That’s not to say she was super young when she had me, but perhaps not fully matured, as you’re not considered ‘mature’ until you’re twenty five. I admire the strength she had to take on the responsibility of raising a child at nineteen, especially when my father slowly started showing how unprepared he was for a baby.

I may not remember my entire childhood, but looking through memories, I know I was loved. Her best friends became my god parents, my uncles and aunts, and I was the first child of her group. I was everyone’s baby. I had plenty of toys and was always in someone’s arms. I was cared for, never wanting for anything. When he moved out with my grandmother and her husband, things changed. She no longer lived so close to her friends and had the help—only the help of two people who’d finished raising their children long ago.

I regret being the reason my mom didn’t finish college and pushed herself through grueling job after grueling job. I told her constantly that once I go to college, I want her to re-enroll, to build a life outside of me—the one she could have had had I not come along. I don’t think she regrets having me, no, she loves me and I know that. I only wish I had not been so hardheaded as a child, so eager to rebel, that she could have had an easy life. That’s what I plan to give her—to work hard and let her put up her feet, to let me take care of and love her the way she has always done to me.

Everything I do is not only for myself, but for her. I one day want her to be able to not slave over a minimum wage job, to be able to rest her aching feet for once in her life. To not have to worry about how to get groceries for the week and still have enough money left over for bills. Basically, the whole point of this rant is to talk to you all about the woman who’s always been there for me, my biggest supporter, and the most caring person I’ve ever met.

You Reap What You Sow

“You reap what you sow.” — This happens to be one of my favorite quotes to date. If you don’t believe in karma, then you may not believe in the consequences of your actions, but I do. I think all past actions come back fourfold, no matter how much later in life it is. The quote reminds me of the stereotypical plotline in movies or shows where the bully ends up needing help from the said person they bullied. Galatians 6:7-8 says, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit reap eternal life.” Now, I have not read the entire bible, nor do I go to church every Sunday, but I live by these words. My whole childhood, I wished those words on people who did me wrong, and grew angry and confused when nothing happened to them. Wait guys, I was just an angry child, not psychotic. As I got older, I realized that everything comes in time, and karma has a way of coming back to you.

I swear I don’t mean to sound like a Disney villain when I say that, I just love philosophy. In most stories you read, an unfortunate event will befall the antagonist that serves as a reckoning of their actions. A good example would be one of my personal favorite movies, “Mean Girls.” At the end, Regina suffered the results of spreading nasty rumors by getting hit by a bus and receiving a spinal injury, alongside losing her friends and having her popularity questioned. And see, I’ve had my own experiences with the proverb. The only instances I particularly remember that I can share publicly is when I used to have sticky fingers as a child. Later on, a lot of my own things would go missing and I never found them again. That was my karma—losing my own things since I had stolen.

My reasoning for sharing that is so you don’t think these words are just that—words. Words come from truths, and reaping what you sow is a truth set in stone. You can change all you want, become a better person, but what deeds you have done still lie with you. You cannot make someone’s life a living nightmare, and then get to live out your life happily forever. Repercussions, people. The point is, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, or you’ll reap what you sow. Don’t make up rumors about people, or talk behind their backs, or bully someone for being different. Because, in the end, those said actions will come back to haunt you.

‘House of the Dragon’ is Giving Fanfiction

Has anyone else watched “House of the Dragon,” or is it just me? The first season, from the visual shots to the casting, was pure perfection to me. Then again, my entertainment taste has been regarded as questionable. But, as the new seasons have begun coming out, people who have been fans of the books since they first came out have become irritated by the decrease in book accuracy. The story goes that the decline in quality started long before the author of the books, George R. R. Martin stepped back from the show. According to various sources, the director of the adaptation, Ryan Condal, strayed from the book before the show even aired, causing disagreements between the creator of the books and the maker of the show.

Me personally, I’m one of the fans that are annoyed by the wandering plot, especially with season three now airing a new episode every week. As someone who has read the books, I understand that not everything can be book-accurate, especially when it comes to fantasy books being put on the big screen. The dragons aren’t going to be as large as I read they were, I know that, but at the very least, the costumes can be somewhat precise for the story’s royal family. Rhaenyra had lavish taste, guys, take notes—she was a teenager who had the best seamstresses in the realm, of course, she shouldn’t be dressed in ill-fitting, basic dresses. The problem is, it goes so much further than costumes simply not being exact—it’s entire plot lines being rewritten in ways that likely will not tie the ending together as the book did.

What is the point of adding random side storylines that add absolutely nothing to the overall plot? You tell me. The show is starting to seem more like a fanfiction of the book, rather than a conversion of the book itself. And believe me, if you start viewing it that way, it will make your mood improve. But, for me, it’s gotten to the point where I no longer find interest in watching the show. I haven’t watched a single episode from season three, nor have I even finished season two. If there’s anything in the episode worth watching, it’ll be posted on tiktok with just the right amount of seconds to make me watch. And any controversial and overall ‘weird’ scenes in the episode? People will talk about that, too.

There could have been so many better ways to adapt the book into an actually enjoyable show, but it is simply far too late to save what was made of it. Until things start becoming accurate, book fans will be outraged by what the show has become. “House of the Dragon” is burned into the internet, and likely will not be getting a revision to appease viewers anytime soon.