Dear Reader: Do you listen to podcasts?

When was the last time I listened to a podcast?

 In this chapter, I read about how podcasts are the audio versions of vlogs and blogging. I did not grow up watching vlogs on YouTube because my parents were against the platform. In recent years, I think podcasts have made a comeback. I cannot say that I always listen to podcasts, but I do know many people who have their own podcasts. My friend from home just started a podcast about her life in college. This is super cool for me because as a long-distance friend it helps us feel connected. I know multiple people who have podcasts about their studies and about educating their audience on a variety of topics. Additionally, I think that TikTok has helped with the influx of blogs. Many TikTok creators have turned their podcast into an extra passion project. Then they somehow make it back to TikTok in shorter clips, but that is not the point. 

The last podcast I listened to was "Gilmore to say", a podcast about the show Gilmore Girls. They go through diverse topics about the show including episode discussions, by character and what if scenarios. They have not had too many guest speakers, but I would really love to hear them do that. My favorite episode is that they posted recently was "Kirk in Barbieland." Kirk is one of the funniest characters in Gilmore Girls. They post around one podcast a week and are continually active on their social media platforms! The hosts are gearing up for fall because autumn is the same feeling as Gilmore Girls. Looking forward, I think one way to get more into podcasts would be to listen while driving. I make medium distance drives often, and I usually listen to music. However, another option is to listen to a podcast. 

Taylor Fall Tumblr

In the early 2010's Taylor Swift utilized Tumblr as her main social media platform to bond with her fans from a distance. It has since been discontinued, but here is a compilation of some of her blog posts. This era of Taylor was special because she shared personal stories, photos and memories. "Dear Reader" is from the album Midnights. This song title went well with the theme of blogs, podcasts and such. What I think is cool about the track is the line "Burn all the files, desert all your past lives, and if you don't recognize yourself, that means you did it right." Writing down your feelings, thoughts and emotions means that you can look back on them and think about how much has changed. I hope that I can look back on these and see that things have changed for the better. I hope I look back on myself and cringe because I want to be constantly growing. 

Out Of The Woods

 I remember this song coming out when I was in like eighth grade. I was homeschooled at the time. I was doing online classes, and I had the music video for Taylor Swift's Out Of The Woods pinned to my browser. The song is about feeling trapped, constantly fighting and trying to break out of a bad situation.  The video shows Taylor running through, surprise, the woods. Taylor is seen climbing through forests, fire, water and many other elements. In the end she finds herself, and somehow that was everything. 

Sandbag Pull

2018 Spartan Sprint

This week I am attempting my third Spartan race. I have previously completed two Spartan Sprints. The Sprint is around three miles long and has around 20 obstacles. Obstacles can be anything from five to 10 foot walls, rope climbs, and mud tunnels. The worst obstacle last time was the monkey bars because they are so far apart which I physically cannot reach. The monkey bars are built for men with long arms and not for my short arms. Additionally, each course is quite different. My first race was in Indiana and on a skiing course. This resulted in lots of elevation changes and really pushed my endurance more than anything. For that race I was on a team of four. Composed of my best friend Samantha, her dad, and a family friend. It worked out well because we are all competitive people so we pushed each other during the race to do our best. 

The Aftermath

2021 Spartan Sprint

The second race I did right after Zach returned from basic training. He was in the best shape of his life, but I was not. I did train, but just not enough. Especially, not training nearly as focused on completing the obstacles I knew I was going to struggle on. This race was also a Sprint so I wasn't too worried about the length of the race, but I was worried about completing the obstacles. If you don't complete the obstacles, the penalty is 30 burpees so not too painful. However, when you can't do a lot of the obstacles, 30 burpees start to add up pretty quickly. In the end, this race was easier than the first, and I completed more obstacles while having a shorter overall time. My car probably still has the dirt and dust from this race. It was so extremely hot, and it was located on a giant farm so it smelled quite bad. 

Rope Wall

This time around Zach and I decided to challenge ourselves and sign up for the Super. The Super is a six to eight mile race with 25 to 30 obstacles. I did cross country in High School so I am no stranger to longer runs, but Zach hasn't really done that before. I spent this summer getting back into running longer and slower. However, to no surprise, I still haven't trained enough for the obstacles. I do not have a gym at home so it is hard to find ways to train for the obstacles. I am most excited for the wall obstacles because I find those fun. I am not looking forward to the 2033ft elevation change. This race is in West Virginia on a campground and has many large hills. It will definitely be a test of endurance, but I am excited to complete this new challenge and look forward to racing on Sunday. 

mirrorball

Chapter 1 Reading

The song "mirrorball" from Taylor Swift's Album "folklore" describes a person that is constantly under the spotlight. No matter which way they turn someone is always looking and they are always reflecting. This person has to perform every second of every day. However, life is not a pretty show all of the time. Life is often messy, hurtful and mundane. Yet keeping the attention of the viewer is so important to the person that they would destroy themselves just to retain the viewer's attention. The person becomes a reflection of the viewer to keep them looking and entertained. 

In the end, Taylor Swift is a business. When utilizing online platforms building a reputation is important to build a following. In Taylor's case, she has changed themes over the years because this is what she does to keep her audience captured. Staying the same core business, but ever so carefully changing the eras to attract new customers. In general, social media platforms can be a place of great community and caring. Hearing stories about a random local restaurant suddenly bustling with customers because a video went viral. How a shared interest can form an entire following and create discussion. On the other hand, social media platforms can also be used to cause a lot of harm. People are free to say what they think unfiltered from the judgement of others. They are safe behind a screen. They have no serious reprehensions. When those like minded people get together they can cause a lot of damage.  

Another topic I found interesting was what will go viral versus what people think will go viral. With the music industry this has found a completely different path with TikTok. Songs will become popular because the artist releases hints, teasers and promotes the song on the app. Often times what becomes popular is not what was predicted to be popular. In Taylor's case, the songs that are upbeat, happy and cheery are the ones that get the promotion. However, the emotional heartbreaking fan favorites are the ones that get shared the most on social media.  

Artificial intelligence is the hot new topic that everyone seems to be talking about and for good reason. The reading about A.I. influencers made me think of the show where they use real women to make a fake teenager account to catch predators. (I searched and searched for the name of the show, but I couldn't find the right one) I think using A.I. would be a great way to protect the real women's identities. This was they use a computer generated person for the fake social media accounts. I am not sure how well that would work, but it was just a really random thought. 

ME!

ME!

 Hello, my name is Loreilei! Pronounced Lor-Uh-Lie, I am a senior Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Business Major with a concentration in Marketing. In my free time I like to work out, trying local coffeeshops and I love plants! I also love Taylor Swift. She is absolutely my favorite artist of all time and I finally got the chance to see her in concert this past summer! I have a job at Starbucks during school. Where one can also find us goofing off while making drinks! I think being a barista is the perfect job while in school. 

Working?

I am also involved in multiple clubs including, but not limited to NCF, Kappa Phi, HBA and AMA. NCF is my passion project and the people in it are some of my closest friends. I started out as a Pharmacy Major and then decided that it wasn't for me. Switching was probably the best decision I've made during my time at ONU. I have met some of the most amazing people here. I live in a five bedroom off campus house with four other seniors. We are all very different, but similar in a lot of ways. I think we are all sort of grandmas. My previous years roommate has a habit of liking old timey things such as western movies, knitting and sewing. Anyways, Senior year is something I've been looking forwards to, but also kind of dreading. I love learning and it has always been a big part of my life. On the other hand, I am so tired of being in school and just want to graduate. I don't really want to be a full on adult either. College is a great place to be a semi-adult because everyone one interacts with is also learning how to be an adult. In the real world one is expected to know how to do things like pay taxes, rent, and utilities. 

Engagement Photos

Senior year aside, I am also in the process of planning a wedding. I met Zach at Jubie's, a local ice cream shop, that we both worked at in high school. The pandemic cancelled a lot of our graduation activities, but we managed to attend a homeschool prom together. This was the summer before going off to college and despite both of us leaving for school we decided to start something. I don't think we could've imagined that what we started then could ever turn into what it is now. 

Senior Prom

I want to give some context as to what we've been through together. Zach is in the Army, but also goes to school at Ohio State. We have been a mid-distance relationship for basically our entire relationship. He went away for basic training. I didn't have contact for five months. We wrote letters back and forth. His grandma died while he was away. We got to facetime! I drove to Missouri and back twice in one week. Okay, that was a quick recap! Since then we've gone through a lot, but I feel like that whole experience really shaped our relationship into what it is today.  

Jeremiah and Miriam

This leads me to what I want this blog to be about which is Taylor's songs and how they relate to my life. The song "ME!" first came out in 2019 and it was a giant hit in my house. It's not my favorite song, it might be one of my least favorites, but when it came out it brought my little siblings and I together. I am the oldest of five. Being the oldest means teaching your younger siblings about the best music. We would watch the "ME!" music video on repeat when my youngest brother was little. He would've been around three years old and my youngest sister eight years old. This was a real bonding moment and it has continued to be since then. 

"ME!" is what started their interest in Taylor so I have to love it at least for that!