"Shut Your Big Mouth"

Depending on your level of sass and just how much attitude you possessed, it's quite possible that as a child and more specifically, one that is starting to develop and is at the stage or close to becoming a teenager, perhaps when annoyed by someone with too much to say, your response was "shut your big mouth". I mean, at this age curse words are off the list and so this is the nicest way you can say something mean. Around this time, you are more and more emotional and this kind of small outburst is more and more common. Chances are you're going through puberty.

Oh, puberty. What a great time. One in which your body is changing in more way than you can count, but I don't need to explain it all to you right? Hopefully, at some point you took a sexual education course and who doesn't remember all the videos of young teens being an example against teen pregnancy. If your course was just as open as mine, maybe you even got the gnarly images of what STD's look like. That's something teenage me wishes she didn't have to see.  Either way, sexual education is important but is this really the best way.

What if I were to tell you that there was a Netflix series for this. No, it's not a documentary and not as formal as you're probably imagining. In fact, it is a Netflix created series that is animated and talks a lot about puberty and what teen experience as they face this time. What makes it even better, its actually pretty funny. Enjoy this trailer! BUT, before you do, beware that this trailer and the show itself is pretty explicit.




While the content in my opinion is for a matured audience, I love that there is now a show that talks through and shows all of what puberty is. This show does not hold back and is very straight forward. It does not try to water down some of the dilemmas that young teens experience at this time. I think this is just great because it allows viewers to better connect and say "yeah I've been there before" and it's so humorous that you can't help but laugh. I think that because this show exists, it also allows people to feel as if they're not alone in their experience and it's okay because we all go through it in some form or another. Sadly, the explicit nature of it would make it a not so great show to use to teach children and young teens.

This series is a very short one as well. It's 10 episodes long and each episode is about 22 minutes. This is definitely a weekend blowout show or one you could just binge for a day. If the topic or explicit nature is one that would make you feel uncomfortable than you're best skipping out. But considering we are now adults, you can choose to watch this show to enjoy it for it's humor.

Merry Halloween!

Merry Christmas! Now that we've blown past spooky season and reached November, it's time for Christmas. The lights, the tree, Christmas music, hot chocolate, warm fresh cookies, gingerbread houses, and lets not forget those beautiful decorative reefs. Or is it too soon?

Well, just yesterday when I began to open just about every social media platform I had an account with, (Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat) I began to see numerous people playing their favorite Christmas tunes or dedicating a post just to say "Merry Christmas!". I was surprise at just how many people seemed to skip over Thanksgiving. However, it more common than you think.

As a retail associate at TJMaxx, I can attest to the fact that we both received and displayed Christmas items about 2-3 WEEKS ago. They did not even wait for Halloween to pass. While we definitely got our jumpstart in the holiday season, as I returned to work yesterday from last weekend, the first of November brought in the display tables. So we went from having a full section of Christmas to seeing it just about all around the store.

Now, if you're like me and can't help but be overwhelmed by the rush to Christmas following right after Halloween, I have a show that is great and would have been perfect to watch during Halloween but can be watched at anytime really. While I'm assuming most of you have watched this, for those who haven't, please, when you get free time, open your browser or app on your phone to Netflix, search up Stranger Things, and begin!

Also, if you've already seen this but have not had the chance to get started with season two which released just almost a week ago, you too must get started. This season has so many good scenes and surprise and it will not disappoint. Personally, while I tended to favor originals (like Mean Girls over Mean Girls 2), I was so much more immersed in season 2.

If you're needing a reason as to why you should even bother watching, I will say this, the show not only is action packed and will keep you on the edge of your seat or strike your curiosity, but the group of young actors who play such a large role in this show are insanely talented. They are a hilarious group of kids who can not only have fun but really channel a multitude of emotions as part of their character. These young actors and actresses are about 13 to 14, and to see them be so successful and skilled is just amazing. If you needed a reason, that is it.

Now in the spirit of Halloween I have to say, something scarier than zombies, goblins, vampires, and witches is SPOILERS. I will not really go into detail so much about the show and what's going on, instead you simply have to watch and find out for yourself. Since I made the claim that these young actors are talented, I did manage to find a clip to show a hidden talent of actress Millie Brown that talks all about the show. But I will warn, its a season one recap so for those of us who have yet to see season two, enjoy!

"Freaks? Like Circus Freaks?"

For four years of our lives, we spent five days a week and somewhere between 6-9 hours a day in high school. You were a student first but also belonged to a number of groups such as athletics, debate, band, orchestra, student government, and a variety of different clubs. However, no matter how involved you were and where you placed yourself, high school maintains its cliques. Jocks, nerds, cheerleaders and dancers, outcasts, and everyone else. While these might not be the exact labels circling your high school, I'm sure you're familiar with the categorization that took place during those four years. So let me ask, were you a freak or geek?

While I'm fully aware that some of us are so glad to be done with high school and would rather not relive the horrors of teenage drama and struggles that come with academics, Freaks and Geeks, a late 90s series surrounding the high school atmosphere of freaks versus geeks is a great show that will allow to reminisce on all that high school encompassed. The show is very relatable and while it might not capture your very high school experience, you will definitely see scenarios that hit close to home.



However, if you're not motivated by the opportunity to watch a show that is relatable, ladies, this is a great excuse to watch 18 episodes of the young and very good looking James Franco. And of course, he's got the bad boy image to go along with the charming looks. If you're not into young Franco, how about young Jason Segel? He's a real cutie in this series who plays guitar and drums. If you're still not interested, what if I tell you this show also stars the very humorous Seth Rogen? This show was the start for these now very talented actors and it's very cool to see what the beginnings of their career looked like.

Another great thing about this show is the soundtrack. Since it aired in the late 90s, most of the music comes from the early 70s and 80s. It consists of songs from artists like Styx, Van Halen, Janis Joplin, The Who, and KISS. Growing up with parents who loved classic rock, I was all too familiar with this genre of music and it's actually really good if you can appreciate it.

This show also incorporates humor and a little romance. While I could easily provide background into the romance and who finds some loving, I will not. The series is only 18 episodes long, making it very short and easy to blow though. If I were to tell you about it, I fear I'd give away too much and there would be that much less for you to watch.

So, if you enjoy classic rock, the 90s style and era, and a good laugh coupled with slight romance, I highly suggest that you spend a weekend or any free time you have, getting started on Freaks and Geeks. You will not regret it!

Get your Spook on!

It's spooky season! Time for pumpkin carving, haunted houses, horror movies, and when those aren't good enough spooky shows. When I began to think about the show I'd like to cover this week that was the most fitting, I couldn't get my mind off one of my favorite series: The Vampire Diaries.

The Vampire Diaries, a world that connects humans, werewolves, vampires, witches, and many more wonders all within the local town of Mystic Falls. This show centers around the main character, Elena Gilbert, portrayed by actress Nina Dobrev, who goes to Mystic Falls high school with childhood friends Matt Damon, Bonnie Bennett, and Caroline Forbes. They are her rock and the only way she'll get through her senior year after losing both her parents in an accident the year before.

Waiting for her this year, Stefan Salvatore, the mysterious guy who happens to hold so many secrets as well as answers that were never to be found. The very person who changes Elena's life and even the community of Mystic Falls and you have to wonder, why? Who is Stefan Salvatore?

Stefan Salvatore, the new, attractive, and mysterious boy on Mystic Falls campus. No one really seems to know who he is or where exactly he came from. Well, maybe that's because this year is his first year back in a very long time. Stefan Salvatore was a founder to the city of Mystic Falls and although you might wonder how old that makes him, the answer is very old. So how is he pulling off a high school persona? Well, Stefan Salvatore is a vampire whos been alive for hundreds of years and has come back for Elena herself.

Elena resembles a past love in Stefan's life, Katrina Petrova, and for this we must meet her. While their first meeting is simply passing by on the way out the men's bathroom, their first real encounter is very intriguing and dark. Lets take a look.



You can definitely see the spooky vibes from the very beginning of this show! Its perfect for this time and season! So other than spooky vibes, what really makes this show great? Well it's dynamic. It's the vampires, wolves, witches, and all that come into Mystic Falls that make for the action built up in this show. There are great friendships, feuds, fights, and loves developed out of these many actors making it a action packed and captivating show.

While I was in high school, a friend of mine constantly recommended this show to me. She raved on and on about all the drama that's encased within and would tell me all about the epic love story. As a sucker for romance as well as someone who loves a good thriller, I thought, I have to give it a try. So I began watching and before I knew it, I was watching past the placement of my friend who recommended it. Next thing you know, I was faced with the struggle of having watched all Netflix could offer and being stuck to the weekly airing of The CW. I could no longer watch episode after episode in a sitting. I had to watch and yet every time I was at the edge of my seat and wanting more when the show was over, I was immersed.

So if you're in the Halloween spirit and ready for an adventure full of tears, love, and thrill, go to Netflix and watch the pilot. I dare you.

This is Good: I Must Confess

As the weekend rolls in and you find yourself on the browser page of your Netflix account in search of the next show you'll begin to binge watch, it'd like to consider a very interesting series I recently discovered.

Before I get into the details surrounding the series, I'd like to establish that as part of this blog, I will introduce a number of series I have found to be entertaining, intriguing, and great to watch.

The series I selected as part of my first blog post is one that is very short and one you can complete within a weekends time. There are only seven episodes and within the first, you will most likely be drawn in. The series is called... The Confession Tapes. This series is not one of the most popular given that its not a reality TV series or drama but it is a great documentary series about a fluke in our justice system.

When we think about our justice system, the fourth and sixth amendments, the due process of law, we center in on the idea of justice. Is the accused person facing true justice? A justice that holds them accountable for their actions, and if convicted, is sure that they pay for their transgressions. Yet we all know, in trail, a person is innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

So what is the fluke you may ask? Well according to the episodes of this series, there has been multiple occurrences in which one is found guilty but not beyond reasonable doubt. How is it that our justice system is able to put individuals behind bars for a good portion of their lives or for their entire life without being completely sure they are actually innocent? How do we take life away from someone without considering the possibility that they are indeed innocent and the actually perpetrator is not still out there.

Well, the answer is through confession. This series is all about how our justice system has used confessions or rather false confession to lock behind innocent people. Through intense interrogation, psychological stressors, manipulation, and deprivation of sleep and even food, an interrogator can get a person to say whatever they want them too. Even if you truly believe you would not find yourself confessing to the very crime you know you did not commit, we all have a breaking point. All those showed in the show, hit that breaking point and in that moment, their lives changed forever.

Regardless of lack of physical evidence, merely circumstantial evidence, and air tight alibis, some of these individuals faced a guilty charge with a sentence to life and without the possibility of parole.

This strikes at the morality behind our justice system and the way it goes about interrogation. It is obviously wrong to manipulate people into a prison for the mere purpose of "justice."

If you're one who loves either documentaries or criminal stories and accounts, I recommend this great show as part of your weekend entertainment.