Hi

...

Hi.

Four years ago, I abandoned this blog. Not because of any particular incident, but because I simply lost the drive and incentive to write. Blogging used to bring me loads of happiness back when I was a teenager - mostly because it served as a distraction from my homeschooling, a place to overshare stories about my work, and it also unintentionally became an avenue to meet loads of like-minded people (some of whom are still my friends to this date).

I still don't really have any proper incentive to blog. I'm not exactly overjoyed typing all this out. Like I'm pretty sure my writing has gotten shittier... But I'm still gonna try. I've been feeling pretty low about myself and I have around a month of free time on my hands (will definitely update everyone - or no one in particular LOLLL - about what I've been up to all these years) so I want to make use of it.

I drafted all the previous posts. Not because I want to 'start afresh' or anything dramatic like that... it's literally because the freaking font won't change and I am trying to go for a more monochromatic effect as opposed to the bright neon colours I previously used on a black backdrop LOL. So once I figure that out I'll probably republish them (edit: they're back up now!).

Here's a really recent picture of me (literally taken a day ago)

ALSO - WHOEVER IS ACTIVE ON HERE PLEASE COMMENT SO I CAN GO TO YOUR BLOG AND CATCH UP ON YOUR LIFE. THX.

See you really soon,

Fareeha

Things I've Learnt Before 20

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME.

I'm 20 years old, motherfuckers. (I can say that now without getting into trouble, right?)

YEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH.

(*mum sneaks up behind me with a shoe in hand to beat me up for cussing*)

I can't believe I'm not a teenager anymore. I spent seven whole years of my life getting used to teenage life problems such as wild hormones and even wilder hormones, and now I'm expected to be an ADULT?! I wish life were a restaurant with free delivery so I could call God up and say, "Hey man, can you double up on the teenage? My stomach wants its butterflies back."

This year, instead of the generic "happy birthday to me" post I do annually, I thought I would try something different. I know this concept has been rehashed a million times all over the internet, but I DON'T CARE I'VE NEVER DONE IT BEFORE SO YEAH DEAL WITH IT.

Here's my first selfie as a 20 year old.

Things I've Learnt Before 20 ~

- Everything I do will seem completely idiotic to me later on

Every year I grow up a little and begin to despise everything I did the year before. Be it crushing on someone, writing something long and winding, behaving in a certain way around somebody or wearing a certain outfit, I've learnt that any idea that seems cool to me at the moment will probably turn into the hugest cringe-worthy memory in the future. I've also learnt that this 'do-regret-do again' process will stick around till the end of time.

- Online life isn't that important

If you told me that I would be declaring the above statement on my blog three years ago, I would have punched you in your face and called you a filthy liar. Back then, I was obsessed with my online life (but you can't really blame me since I was a little home-schooled betch), and thought online relationships (a.k.a friendships) held more value than real ones. Now that I have been exposed to real-life interactions via university, I've learnt that (for me) nothing can beat laughing with someone, hugging someone and telling them they mean the world to you - in person. Even sitting in comfortable silence with somebody feels like a blessing. This doesn't mean that I love my online friends any less - I just have come to terms with the fact that seeing someone in real life has a different impact on me as opposed to communicating through a screen. Now, if given a choice between my online presence and real life, I wouldn't take forever to reach a decision that I would be completely satisfied with (but I'll probably miss getting top comments on YouTube videos...).

- Letting go is an inevitable (albeit shitty) part of life

Everyone (including myself) has changed and matured (or becomes a bigger idiot than before) over time. It's silly to assume that someone will retain the same personality forever. The sooner this fact is accepted, the better. Sometime change doesn't feel like the best thing in the world. Sometimes people you love can become toxic and overbearing and mean and nasty. And sometimes you need to let them go. I've gotten rid of so many useless people in my life that I once used to deeply care about. Even though I felt awful about it initially, with time I feel like a great burden has been lifted off my shoulders. I've learnt that holding on to everyone is just too much work and sometimes it's better to relax your grip and see who still latches on and who drifts away (ooooooooh, deep).

- Too much worrying about physical appearance is unproductive

I've learnt that if I keep nitpicking about my own appearance whenever I look in the mirror, I'm going to be an extremely unhappy person. Finding faults in the way I look does nothing except ruin my mood, so I've decided that I'm going to simply accept my tummy fat and huge forehead and short nails and oily nose for what they are. They make me who I am. Plus, ever since my new haircut, a lot of people have had mixed reactions. I tend to ignore the ones who say they 'liked my hair before' because that just puts a damper on how amazing I feel after making such a huge change. I do, however, take pains to make myself look presentable (literally - have you ever felt the throes of eyebrow plucking?) - I believe there's a massive difference between embracing your flaws and looking like a hobo.

- Not every relationship has to be serious

When I was with my ex I got so emotionally invested that I was completely devastated when things started going downhill. I was not prepared for the intensity of heartbreak at that time. I had put all my eggs in one basket, and dropped the entire thing on the ground (from a 100 storey building). Being single for over a year has definitely put things in perspective. I've learnt that youth is a glorious time that ought to be taken advantage of, and should be used to explore all options before settling on a definite one. I've learnt that peoples' company is meant to be enjoyed. I'm going to have fun and roll with things till I find something I can be happy with - and I'm going to let this process take its own sweet time.

- I'm never going to get over my laziness

I started this post with the intention of writing 20 things I've learnt but I honestly can't be bothered to write more. I've learnt that my laziness is a habit that's probably going to stick with me till the end of time. Not that I'm complaining...

x

So yeah. If you actually read through all of that, end your comment with #20YearOldSwag. (Or not...)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME ONCE AGAIN! Adulthood beware, I'm here to ruin your reputation.

p.s. this is my birthday song.

An Interview With Bad Luck Brian

He took the entire internet by storm when his yearbook photo was posted on Reddit. His face represents the humorous side of mischance and tragedy. He's provided tonnes of laughs in meme form, and has now shifted his comedy to YouTube. He is the one, the only:

Bad Luck Brian.

In the meme culture which has taken over the internet since the past two years, the Bad Luck Brian meme stands out as one of the most hilarious ones. It involves a yearbook picture of a young, blonde male student - the text accompanying it usually displays sometimes funny, sometimes really mean forms of bad luck that he encounters.

When I first discovered that the guy in the Bad Luck Brian meme was making videos on YouTube, I was elated. I am proud to say that I was one of his earliest subscribers, and it has been a totally awesome experience seeing the memes come to life. I wanted to tell him how much of a huge fan I was, so I shot him a message on his YouTube channel hoping that he would reply - and he did! I had a bunch of questions to ask as well, so I thought it would be great if I could actually make it in an interview format so that I could post it up here on my blog. So, guys, meet Kyle:

He's the guy in the Bad Luck Brian meme! How awesome is that? Kyle was super nice to me and responded to my message promptly. I asked him some questions about himself, his meme and his videos, so you can read all that below!

Here's his YouTube channel trailer so you'll know what sort of videos to expect.

And here is the interview:

How long ago was the photo taken?

It was taken when I was a junior in High School, so about 6 years ago.

When did you realize your photo became famous as a meme, and what was your initial reaction?

One of my best friends was the one who posted it online. He called me in the middle of the night and left a message saying that he made me internet famous. When I got up in the morning I got on Reddit.com and saw that I was on the front page.  I thought it was extremely funny that such a stupid picture was blowing up on the internet. 

Were you okay with your photo being the butt of sometimes mean, sometimes downright cruel jokes? Or was it something you got used to over time?

Oh yeah! I was always okay with it. I think that the cruel ones are some of the most funny ones. 

How did people you know react when the Bad Luck Brian meme took over the internet by storm?

My family thinks that it is all really stupid and they could care less. All of my friends love it and think its hilarious.

Do you like being recognized and revered as an internet meme above everything else?

I rarely every get recognized in public. Since it was 6 years ago I took the picture I really don't look like that anymore. 

What made you decide to create videos and continue playing the character you were given by the internet? 

Well it all started when Laina (Overly Attached Girlfriend) contacted me back in July. She wanted me to be in one of her videos for her YouTube channel. After a few weeks I was on a plane to Los Angeles. We took a few days to shoot for her channel and after she brought up to me that I should start my own. I have always made videos growing up so it was a perfect fit for me. 

Will you ever make other content on YouTube apart from your 'bad luck' series? 

I would love to! Right now I am looking into doing an interview series for another channel where they would send me out to things like spring break or like the Golden Globes.

Apart from making videos, what else do you like doing?

I still work full time at a construction company doing project management so between that and making videos I really do not have that much free time. Since it is winter I do try and get out and snowmobile but that is about it.

What's the favorite version of your meme? And what's your favorite internet meme in general?

My favorite meme of Bad Luck Brian is "Parents gets divorce, no one fights for custody". 

My favorite meme out there now is Grumpy Cat, who doesn't like Grumpy Cat?

It's evident that you're one of the good guys of the internet who take their fans' suggestions and opinions into consideration and interact with them regularly. Is there anything special you would like to tell your fans - of the meme and of your videos?

I really appreciate everything that all my fans have done for me. What makes the Bad Luck Brian meme so funny is all of the fans who write them. I would have never thought that becoming a meme would have lead to so many different opportunities.

x

I would sincerely like to thank Kyle for taking out time from his busy schedule to answer these questions. I'm still a little starstruck that I got to communicate with an internet celebrity (the best kind of celebrity, in my opinion) - it's sort of like a dream come true, and a perfect end to 2013! Kyle is a wonderful person, and I wish him all the (good) luck in the world! Here's a little drawing I made of us:

For more of Kyle, you can like his Facebook page and follow him on Twitter. Make sure you check out and subscribe to his awesome YouTube channel, where he posts ultra hilarious videos and showcases the Bad Luck Brian meme coming to life.

Happy New Year, guys!

A peek into my 'other messages' folder

Greetings!

I'm sure most of you are familiar with Facebook. If you've ever used it in your life, you'll know all about sending and receiving private messages on it. And if you've spent enough time in your messages folder, you'll know about the strange, shady and embarrassing area that no one voluntarily treads upon:

The 'OTHER MESSAGES'.

Surprisingly, not many people are aware of this particular phenomenon. I myself didn't discover this nifty little mini-horror section of Facebook till around last year. The other messages folder is basically the thing you see here:

That's a screenshot of my inbox with the arrow pointing to how you can get into your 'other messages' section.

I honestly wish I had never come across this monstrosity.

I remember the day it happened. I was browsing Facebook through my phone, looking for an old message a friend had sent me. Instead of 'older messages' I accidentally hit 'other messages'. I had previously never even taken that link's existence into consideration. I thought it was just an extension of older messages. Little did I know of the terrible things it contained...

I clicked the link. Suddenly, the number of unread messages I had were 56. FIFTY SIX? I had never had so many unread messages in my life. I was thoroughly confused. Imagine how my confusion increased when I saw this message at the very top:

All I could think of was, 'what the hell is this shit?' As I scrolled further and read the utter ridiculousness in there, it dawned upon me that I was not in the 'older messages' section - rather, this alien place was called 'other' and had some extremely disturbing content that I hadn't come across in the longest time. Here are some gems I have salvaged from that pit of evil:

 

I kind of feel sorry for this guy.

This stuff is even scarier than your average neighborhood murder. In fact, I think there was a horror movie based on this bundle of eyesores:

I'M SORRY I JUST HAD TO DO IT OKAY

Depending on your privacy settings, messages that go into your 'other' folder are usually those which are sent to you by people whom you don't have any mutual friends with. Anyone inboxing you with a mutual friend will probably have their message turn up on your inbox, just like regular messages from your friends do. So this means practically everyone whose message is in your 'other folder' is probably a huge-ass creep with a stalking tendency.

I have never responded to a single other message in my life, and I never plan to. That stuff definitely defines the term 'the scum of Facebook' pretty well. But regardless of the trauma it brings, it also gives you a truckload of entertainment. After the initial shock wore off, I was in tears of laughter!

So guys and girls, if you haven't already, please do check your other messages folder and see the kind of (unwanted) attention being bestowed on you! Make sure you let me know about whatever dirt you have in there. I've heard plenty stories that are way more creepier (and hilarious) than mine, so I'm looking forward to hearing about whatever you've been receiving.

Before I say farewell, here's my personal favorite:

Everything about this perfectly sums up the entire essence of the 'other messages' folder. Also, this particular gem was sent to four people I know... Including my own mother.

TaK3 cArE gUyzz... :o)