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Monday, March 17, 2014

Meet Your Co-Hosts - A Word (or Two) about Nicole #atozchallenge

I am Nicole Ayers and this will be my fourth year doing the Blogging from A-to-Z Challenge at The Madlab Post as well as my second year in a Co-Host position. 

In addition to hosting the Monday Movie Meme – a weekly blog event challenging you to pick films you've seen that fit various themes, I pimp out my short film "ABYSS: The Greatest Proposal Ever" in hopes of finding my place in the world. You can connect with me on Twitter, Watch videos on my YouTube channel and Follow my boards on Pinterest – but many of you all knew that already, so let’s get down to business where I tell you what you probably didn't know about me.
  • I favor action and adventure movies among most all other genres. If I’m going to the theater, something has to start exploding within the first half or somebody (preferably Bruce Willis or Matt Damon) better be jumping off of moving vehicles on the highway. Otherwise, I tend to lose interest quickly.
  • Right now, my Top 5 movies (in no particular order) are:
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
The Town
Bad Boys II
Schindler’s List
A Beautiful Mind
  • My fascination with movies comes from the invention of video cameras. During childhood, I was always fascinated with recording devices -- being able to capture moments and play them back on television or a boom box stereo system. 
An uncle used to bring his huge VHS camcorder to most of my family’s’ events and I was always excited by how he could get everything on tape for us to watch later for amusement or remembrance. I later developed interest in learning how films were made.
  • If I was forced to choose between spending the rest of my life without books or without films, I would say goodbye to films. Books would be my best friend forever because they can be enjoyed as-is whereas we need so much more resources to watch films such as hardware & utilities. 
Films require high maintenance, even as a pastime. People don’t need DVD players, iTunes, electricity or data plans and other first-world luxuries to read a book. Plus, it would be silly of me to ignore how much more beneficial reading is compared to watching movies.
  • What I like best about co-hosting the A-to-Z Challenge is the chance to give back to Arlee Bird and his event that helped me step my blogging game up, saved me from existential despair and helped me build so many quality friendships.
  • My philosophy on life can be described in the following sentence:
Each day is a blessing, so make it count!
  • The weirdest thing I've researched is vesicovaginal fistulas, for a freelance writing assignment, which made me even more apprehensive about childbirth.
  • The last book I really did not enjoy was The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus. I had high hopes for this book but it pissed me off by being so difficult to read that I stopped after only a few pages in.
  • If I could describe my short film “Abyss: The Greatest Proposal Ever” in one word, it would be: Propositions
  • In a classroom full of creative, sporty and geeky children, the artistic group is where I would fit in. I was a creative kid who could usually be found drawing pictures, painting and writing short stories at any given time. I also played “school” while managing a home library. While sports weren't my thing, I was pretty good at soccer but if I could turn back the hands of time, I’d repeat my cheerleading days in a heartbeat.
  • I’m still prepping a theme and am not even at the halfway mark for completing my A-Z posts in advance. Add to that my spontaneous plan to do the challenge with two blogs this year and it’s just one big ol’ pickle of madness that could very well be a recipe for disaster. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking!
  • Telling someone my darkest secret would defeat the whole purpose of it being a secret, would it not? I think so.
  • Sometimes I blog in one of the student lounges at a local University and other times I blog in the (dis)comfort of my kitchen.
That’s all for now, folks! I would like to thank my Mighty Minion Bureau Assets – Dale at Smurfin’ the Web, Andrea MusicFan at Twelve Steps to Cloud Nine, Melody-Ann Jones-Kauffman at MAJK INK, Deniz Bevan at The Girdle of Melian, Sydney Aaliyah and SA Larsen for helping me come up with material for this “About Me” post for this year’s Blogging from A-to-Z Challenge. 

Also, shouts out to Yvonne, Susan Scott and Rob Tobor for obliging in Tina Downey’s (at Life is Good) request to hit us all with your best questions. Stay tuned for additional nuggets of stuff about me, which I’ll be putting up over at The Madlab Post.

17 comments:

JoJo said...

Nice to meet you Nicole! Have you thought about applying at film school? I bet you would enjoy it!

Philip Verghese 'Ariel' said...

Hi Nicole,
Good to be here again,
Nice to know that you are again in the line
Good Keep going
Waiting for that precious days..
Keep Blogging
Best Regards
Phil of
ex. minion Tina the terrific :-)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Nice to see the real you, Nicole!
I'm all for movies with explosions.
Brave to do two blogs. I'm overwhelmed with just one and a couple spots on two others.

S.A. Larsenッ said...

Hey, Nicole! Excited to be one of your minions. Love that you are such a movie buff.

Sheri at Writer's Alley

Home of Rebel Writer CREED 2014
Mighty Minion Bureau Team #atozchallenge

Nicole said...

JoJo,
Same here. Yes I have been there and done that. It was way more enjoyable than trying to make films now.

PV Ariel,
Continuing to blog and push onward is the only way I've been able to maintain my sanity in the midst of all the craziness. Thanks for your comment.

Alex,
Has it been a long time coming since the days of that Star Trek costume of mine that popped up on A-to-Z a while back? Ha! If I'm unable to get a handle on scheduling my posts for the first blog, I might have to scrap the second one. Time will tell. Thank you for commenting on this post :)

Arlee Bird said...

I've known you so long on the blogs that I no longer recall how we first met, but I'm sure glad we did. You are a great blogger friend who has been a lot of help and inspiration to me. Thank you!

I sure wish home video would have been around when I was a kid and in college. 8 mm was very limiting and kind of expensive to process. Video has opened the doors of creativity for a lot of people interested in film.

Lee
An A to Z Co-Host
Tossing It Out

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Nicole - good to see you and to read more about you ... yes I'd do books over films - finding a power source might be tricky. Two blogs .. that's double my number and I haven't started writing yet - I had the theme planned from last year .. such is life.

Lee has been a star getting this going for us .. so many of us enjoy the Challenge and have some amazingly creative people ... cheers and enjoy April - Hilary

Anonymous said...

Who could possibly live without books? They make a movie in your brain! Nice to get to know you better.

Nicole said...

Sheri,
It's great to have you as an asset and even more fun that we like some of the same movies!

Lee,
Thank you for your kind words and welcoming me into your alphabet party (and extended communities). I'm so grateful to you for allowing me to guest post on Tossing It Out and provide tips to help your audience, and am glad that we met as well. Both mediums...film and video...have their use. The expense is tough indeed.

There are some festivals and film groups that continue to use 8mm film; it's great for aesthetic reasons if you want a certain "look" these days. Limitations help spark more creativity, which could be a good thing. I picked up a 16mm cam a few years back but haven't used it to this day. I keep telling myself I'm going to take it out and make a little something with it but who am I kidding?! :)

Hilary Melton-Butcher,
I'm glad you're with me on the side of books over films. It's hard to entertain oneself without a power source. Good thing there are books, board games, cards, etc. to keep us busy without needing to power anything up. A continuation of your theme from last year seems like a clever way to go since you can link your 2013 posts to your 2014 posts and give your previous A-to-Z theme some extra love. It is amazing how what started as Lee's celebration of his followers has grown into the large event that the A-to-Z Challenge is today. That goes to show how great undertakings begin with a first step. It's all about showing up and leading the way.

Pam,
Oooh a movie in your brain?! I like that. It never ceases to worry me how so many people go day-to-day without reading books. Paperback, hardcover, pamphlet...they all feed so many parts of the imagination that it would be a catastrophy to live without them. I love a good movie as much as (or more, depending on the film, lol) the next person but if I have to choose, then I gotta have my books! Thanks for stopping by to check out my "about me" post for this year's challenge.

Rob Z Tobor said...

I love drawing and love writing, but never watch films.

Having two blogs in the A to Z is scary. . . . .

Rob Z Tobor

Anonymous said...

Good luck with the Challenge is will be my fitth. getting close now/
Yvonne.

Tina said...

Nicole, what a treasure this post was. Having know you several years now, and partnering with you not just as a co-host but Road-Trip buddy has been fun. Thanks for sharing so much of yourself in this. I was captivated. And still hoping you'll "pimp" your film in my neck of the woods one day!
I'd pick a book over a movie any day, for all of the above reasons, and I'd just add to your list of what I need in a movie: Bruce Willis or Matt Damon or: Jason Stratham.

Tina @ Life is Good
A to Z Team @ Blogging From A to Z April Challenge 2014

cleemckenzie said...

Four years in a row! Stamina is your middle name. Hope to see you a lot in April.

Nicole said...

Rob,
Add that drawing to writing and you have a graphic novel on your hands! I can't believe you never watch films. Like, really? Never? Ever? You're missing out on some good stuff, lol. Yes two blogs in A-Z is a scary thing but if Arlee Bird can do it (I think he runs like 4 blogs or something insane like that during the challenge), then we must aspire to reach his level ;)

Chasing Rainbows,
Five years makes you a veteran for the challenge. You're like the ultimate A-to-Z blogger! Thank you for your comment; I need all the luck I can get this year.

Tina,
It's been a pleasure knowing you for so long as a fellow blogging friend and Co-Host. Funny you mention the Road Trip...I've already started thinking about a plan of attack for that. We're unstoppable with this A-to-Z partaaay! I'm working on giving my movie some legs and we shall see where it lands throughout the year. Jason Stratham was cool as ice in "The Mechanic." If you haven't watched it yet, I'd recommend it as required viewing :)

cleemckenzie,
I'm sure we'll bump into each other around the interwebs in April. It's almost hard to believe that I've done the challenge...and completed it...so many times. And here I remember signing up at the very last minute my first year, like on the day before the signups closed. Here we are now with experience under our belts and I'm still trying to figure out how to get a handle on all of those letters. Thanks for commenting!

Rajlakshmi said...

/vesicovaginal fistulas// woaa I am off to google that ... nice to know about you Nicole and hope to read more from you :)

Anonymous said...

I enjoy movies too, and wish I had more time to watch a few more of them. However, like you, books will always win over movies with me. I must agree, I had the same thought about the secret question. It's so good to work with you on the Challenge, Nicole. You're such an amazing asset to the team. Thank you!

Unknown said...

Love your movie choices. "A Beautiful Mind" is one of my all time favorites and Lord of the Rings Trilogy is played at least annually in our home.