Attention subscribers!

First, I would like to thank all of you who are subscribed to my blog! It’s nice to know some people are interested in reading my ramblings and learning from my very random skills. 😀 I’d like to apologize that there have been no recent posts in this blog for over a year. To be honest, I kind of ran out of things to teach! But here’s the good news: I have created a new blog called Thoughts on Paper filled with fun short stories, poems, and more! So check it out! 

http://www.thoughts0npaper.wordpress.com

p.s. If you are a fan of my movies category, I will very soon most likely be starting up a movie blog as well, so keep your ears and eyes peeled!

Teach your Dog to Play Dead!

There are a lot of really cool dog tricks out there, but I think one of the coolest tricks is definitely play dead. Since I was little, my dream has always to be a dog trainer for movies. Well, if there’s any trick a dog movie star knows, it’s how to play dead. Now that my dog knows how to play dead, I’m a step closer to becoming a dog trainer, and she’s a step closer to being a star! (Well actually, she already is a star, she’s going to be in a musical this spring!)

Anyways, “play dead” is a very easy trick to teach your dog! All your dog needs to know already is how to sit and how to lie down.

Watch this clip for more specific instructions:

and here are a few funny pictures:

Have fun!

Learn some ASL!

So, considering my recent obsession with sign language (not to mention my long-standing obsession with languages in general), I thought I might teach you all some basic ASL! I’m just learning, too, but I’ve found it’s a very interesting and relatively easy language to pick up. A lot of the signs make a lot of sense and they’re very easy to remember. And there’s nothing cooler than being able to communicate with someone silently! Watch below to learn some basic phrases and words I know:

And…in case you’re interested, this is a professional signing the song for Angel that I sort of showed you in the video above:

Learn how to speak German!

Beautiful Austria!

Ever since I was little, German has been a very important part of my life. My grandmother was born in Austria and only spoke German with my mom, so when I was little, I only spoke German with my mom too! Of course I learned English pretty fast because my dad only speaks English, but I’m proud to have Austria as part of the culture in my family!

So today I’m going to teach you how to speak some German! See the video below:

Poll: What do you want my next post to be?

My Storyboard Animation!

Well, its been more than a month now since I’ve had a post about my movie projects and so even though they aren’t quite How To’s, I thought you might still be interested. First, I’m very happy to announce that I entered my stop motion video into the Boston Scholastic Art Awards and I won a Gold Key for my video! So that’s super exciting. But even more exciting is that I started a new movie project, wrote the script, drew the entire storyboard and just finished the animated mini-movie of the storyboard! If you’ve ever seen pixar deleted scenes, this is kind of I’m talking about. This is a very long process because you have to draw each frame, (mine was more than 100 frames long!) and then scan them in, crop them and add sound effects and voice-overs. My next step is to film the actual movie, but for now, here’s a sneak peek of what my new movie, Full Circle, will look like:

How to Fishtail Braid

A problem I often run into is finding good-looking hairstyles that are actually easy to do. Usually, I have to get up around 6:30, take a shower, and get out of my house for school before 7:00. That leaves very few possibilities for hairstyles. Luckily, fishtail braids are super easy to do and look really cool!

Here’s how to do a fishtail braid:

First, divide the hair into two sections.

Then, take equal pieces of hair from the outside on either side and bring them into the middle and cross them.

Keep taking hair from each side and cross them, until you run out of hair.

It’s that easy! Watch my video to see me make a fishtail on someone:

How to Pull Funny Pranks in Public

Though I’ve never really had the guts to do them, one of my favorite things is to read about silly pranks and lists of funny things you can do in public to annoy people and have a good time. Here is a list of some of my favorites:

1. When leaving the zoo, run towards the parking lot, yelling “Run for your lives, they’re loose!”

2. Make up a language and stop someone to ask for directions.

3. Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has gotten over their caffeine addictions, switch to espresso.

4. While on an elevator, crack open your briefcase or purse, and while peering inside ask: “Got enough air in there?”

5. While on an elevator or in a waiting room, meow occassionally.

6. Ask the waitress for an extra seat for your “imaginary friend”.

7. Walk up to a kid that looks like you and explain you are their future self.

8. When the money comes out of the ATM, scream, ” I Won! I Won! Third time this week!”

9. Dart around suspiciously while humming the theme from “Mission: Impossible.”

10. In a mall store, stand next to the maniquins in the store window and hold a pose without blinking too often. If possible, put on something from the store. See if anyone stops to look at you. (I’ve actually done this!)

11. Walk up to a stranger and ask them if the Force is with them.

12. Stop and pray for road kill.

13. Put a Walkie-Talkie in a gnome and shout at people when they walk by!

14. Super-glue a quarter to the floor of Wal-Mart, see how many people try to pick it up.

15. Go to Burger King and ask for the Burger Queen.

I’m hoping to try some of these things sometime and post videos on it! Have fun!

Sources: http://www.randomthingstodo.com/best
http://scripting.com/davenet/stories/60FunThings.html http://fly2dasky.wordpress.com/2006/03/29/101-fun-things-to-do-at-wal-mart/

 

10 Things to do this Halloween

Everybody loves Halloween. It’s an excuse to eat lots of candy, scare each otherand just have fun! That’s why little kids in costumes shouldn’t be the only ones having fun. So even if you’re bogged down with homework, here are some tips on how to have fun on Halloween:

1. Invite some friends! Nobody likes celebrating alone. Call up some friends and invite them to come help hand out candy at your house, and then you can have someone to scream with when you watch horror movies together.

2. Carve some Pumpkins. If you haven’t already, this is a must. I personally believe that it isn’t truly Halloween unless you have at least one lit jack-o-lantern on your doorstep. See my post on Pumpkin-carving for instructions and tips!

3. Decorate. I used to make a whole haunted house in my basement, but you don’t have to go that far. Just something that will catch the eye of trick-or-treaters and make you look like you’re part of the festivities. Plus, it’s fun to do! Scaring people can be entertaining ;).

4. Dress up. Even just a little. There’s no excuse, even if you’re not leaving the house. Halloween is all about costumes and if you don’t at least wear orange and black then you’re just lame.

5. Save some candy for yourself. Everybody should have candy on Halloween, that’s a rule. So buy an extra bag of candy at the supermarket.

6. Bake or cook something halloween-themed. Who says cookie decorating is only for christmas? Decorate some pumpkin-shaped cookies or cook some pumpkin seeds with salt.

7. Play some spooky music. Monster mash anyone?

8. Take the younger kids trick-or-treating. Bored at home? This is the perfect solution. Plus, you might even get some extra candy as a result.

9. Play a game, like the fortune-teller game Ouija where you can learn your future. Or, just take turns telling your friends and family what you think their future will hold!

10. Scare yourself a little! Halloween is a celebration of fear, so get into the spirit! Maybe you can watch a horror movie or, even if it’s not on Halloween night, go to a haunted house. You can even tell ghost stories under candlelight. The most important thing is, to have fun!

Teach your Dog to Shake your Hand

Ever since I was little, I’ve loved training my dogs. My sister and I spent afternoons trying to get our dogs to go through obstacle courses, play dead and roll over. The saying, “You can’t teach a dog old tricks” may be a myth, but it still takes a lot of work to teach your dog something. Repetition is key! The more you repeat the same action and reward your dog for the right response, the faster they’ll get the idea.

To teach your dog to shake your hand, first to get them to sit. Then, you hold out your hand and say, “paw”. Next, you pick up your dog’s paw , shake it, and give them a treat. The idea is that eventually they’ll understand that if they hold up their paw they’ll get a treat, so they’ll lift it up without you even holding it as soon as you put your hand out.

I should say that this trick isn’t guaranteed work with your dog. Some dogs get the idea, and some never do. My older dog Maisie figured this out in less than a week, but we’ve tried to teach our other dog Willow and she never quite got the idea and thought that me holding her paw meant she could have a treat.

Good luck and happy training!

See video recap and some tricks they know: