On Why I'd Make a Great Taster of Social Things

"You may be the most fantastically odd and incongruous person I'll never meet."

I have suddenly realized in the past month that because I am such a perfectly awkward individual in personal social situations, I make a pretty amusing online entertainer. I have a tendency to be just a hot mess in everything I do, and then automatically tweet about it so others can join in on my embarrassingly silly doings.

All the credit of my wonderful Twitter followers go to the excellent Bryan Lee O'Malley because he wrote a brilliant graphic novel series titled "Scott Pilgrim" which inspired me to cosplay as his leading lady. When I dressed up as the sharp & seducing Ramona Flowers, Mister O'Malley RT my picture to his followers which instantaneously increased my Twitter flow.

All of my followers are geeky, passionate, beautiful people who I have come to adore every day 140 characters at a time. They are my own little world in my pocket that makes magic happen. If I need to know who won the last World Cup game: Twitter provides. I made a wish that I could have a Twitter bird symbol necklace & within 2 hours the lovely @FantasyClay made it a reality. I have made friends across the world who all share the same interests I do & who I love talking to.

That's a whole lot better than the people I meet in person on a regular basis, if i may say so myself.

I am truly an internet generation girl. MySpace made it big when I was a freshman in high school, and before that was Xanga. The first boy I ever dated/kissed I met online =P It doesn't get anymore internet based love than that!

Now there is Facebook, Twitter, & a billion blog sites where anyone can become anything as long as they pour their hearts into it. The girl from Julie & Julia is perfect example (even though I have never read the book nor have seen the movie). A girl just wrote a blog and now Amy Adams played her along side Meryl Streep.

What a wonderful world we live in!

Now back to my point: Why would I make a great taster of social things?

First off, my new favorite term of a "Social Taster" comes from the invitation I received to attend the fabulous Kitty Bradshaw's 2 Year Blogiversary Event. It was quoted to be an "unforgettable evening of social tastemakers". Being the silly person that I am, I questioned for days what exactly a social taste maker was and what DID being social taste like anyways?

From my experience at Kitty's party, being social tastes like mini vanilla bean cupcakes, kiwi, kick ass guacamole, and raspberry Skinny Water. It also would have tasted like root beer Smirnoff if I was drinking alcohol that night, which I wasn't. *light weight*

The point is, I really think being a "Social Taster" is something I can be good at. Because this is my kick off blog, I can make it uber long & not feel bad. So here is my list of reasons why I am selling myself to all of you!

Reason ONE: I have a very unique name! According to the web & my meticulous research, I am the only Zoë Gulliksen in the ENTIRE world. As least for sure in the US. Its an easy name to remember and pretty quirky if I may say so.

Reason TWO: I lead a pretty interesting life as a college student who still lives at home. I like comics, movies, books, Starbucks & surfing. My parents are moving to Hawaii in the next 16 months, I work at a place VERY much like Clerks, and I tend to get my tongue stuck to ice pops when I try to eat them.

Reason THREE: I am a geek through & through. I'm pretty sure it doesn't get much geekier than I am. I need to brush up on my video gaming skills but otherwise I've got all the bases covered from Science Fiction novels to anime to Star Wars to comics to movies to just about anything Comic Con has to offer. Okay, this isn't very unique. BUT I also happen to be female. (+ 1 point). That has social skills (+2 points). That is not overweight (+1 point). That cosplays in skanky costumes (+5 points) AND I promise I am not a self centered egotistical bitch. (+ whatever). I like making friends and I genuinely CARE about people. If you are a Twitter follower you already know this about me.

Reason FOUR: I am a very fidgety person thus I am always up to something & getting myself into trouble, which gives me LOTS to micro blog about. I take work out classes at the gym to keep my Black Canary physique, but I am MUCH too uncoordinated to kick box in sync without tripping over myself or crashing into someone. I go to the gym but I hate it, which is great because really-no one likes a girl who loves going to the gym.

I also travel to Manhattan a lot (from central Jersey which is home sweet home), & I love exploring there without an agenda or care. My family likes to take crazy hikes up in the middle of no where with bears & foot long centipedes and getting lost. These trips are terribly amusing because my brother will yell things like "Where are we, freakin' NARNIA?" or I will give myself the hiccups out of pure stress from those bloody centipedes. Lots of pictures are also taken on all of these adventures.

Reason FIVE: I help run an Anime Convention. Of course, it just ended last week so all the INTENSE parts are over for the year, but planning for AnimeNext's 10 year anniversary is going to start soon again, & running a con is drastically chaotic & fun.

Reason SIX: Have I mentioned that I have the coolest Twitter network around? These people I talk to are all so very striking & interesting; I give them quests & they accomplish them! I tweeted a picture of myself in a bikini & I still got more responses when I tweeted my cosplay pictures; got to love geeky people.<3

Reason SEVEN: I am writing a novel & you can say you knew me way back when before it got published and ect =P

At Kitty's party last night I got to meet a lot of wonderful bloggers, one of which stood out to me though I didn't catch his name. But he asked if I was a blogger, & I said no I'm just a newbie. When he asked what I would write about once I did start my blog I told him probably about geeky things like comics and the like. He simply stared and me and replied, "You are NOT a geek blogger. Looking like THIS and writing about geek things? I think not."

A lot of other people I talked to about this subject last night had similar responses. Which leads me to believe that maybe perhaps I do have something interesting to say. At least maybe a weird enough way of saying things that people would like to read.

Bottom line, I would love to be here for all of you. I love my Twitter followers as much as I love anyone dear to me personally. And I'm not a bitch, I swear. I try very hard to get along with people and I take care of my Twitter followers! I stay updated on their lives, ask them questions, give them quests and sing them lullabies before I go to sleep.

A Twitter Follower once told me: ""You may be the most fantastically odd and incongruous person I'll never meet." That one line has meant so much to me, I even posted it on the back of my "social taster" business card because I think it truly represents who I am.

So that's it guys, I am here for the ride and I hope you guys stick it out along with me<3

You're my only hope<3

-Zoë

@Rawnzilla: I follow @bookishbelle because she’s super cool and I haven’t ever met somebody like her before. Also, she is a huge geek.

@sailorv983: I follow @bookishbelle because I knew her before she was twitterfamous and love her. <3

@Randomdude18: I follow @bookishbelle 'cause she's the only girl I "know" who LOVES comics and she's a dedicated SP fan which is AWESOME.

@andyvglnt: Well, I follow @bookishbelle because I like interacting with other grown ups who still like dressing up and comics.

@Ne0nNightmare: @bookishbelle because this total stranger somehow injects a ray of geeky sunshine into my life each day.

@Marionobucho: I follow @bookishbelle because I like meeting interesting people; especially those who are geeks among geeks.

@eaglebob

I follow @bookishbelle because I do not like divorce

@toyostateofmind: I follow @bookishbellebecause my life needs meaning. Just kidding, I follow her because she completes me like pie

Okay as of right this moment no one else has gotten back to me about my Twitter offering BUT if more come I will for sure add them along the way<3

Buy all the things I Never had.

Its 11:59am and I am sitting in my kitchen with my brother JonErik (age 17, too cool for school) and my sister Maya (age 12, thinks she's too cool for anyone). We are sitting basically in the dark, Maya is texting someone and my brother is playing his guitar. Scratch that, he just went to go get his V mask I bought him at the con this past weekend.

My house is kind of insane. You probably think every family is kind of insane but mine is ACTUALLY crazy. If you follow me on Twitter, there is a good chance you think i'm off my rocker some of the time. Let's just say we are all products of our environments.

Oh look, JonErik is back. And they are quoting The Ringer saying "When do we get ice cream!" And apparently the guy is also from 500 Days of summer.

Now JonErik is yelling at his turtles because one of them is playing with the thermometer again. The biggest one, Honu, likes to pull at the thermometer and clink it aginst the glass in the middle of the night, driving my mom insane.

"I think there is a cat stuck in the back of my head."-JonErik.

Anyway, my mom talks to our turtles a lot. And JonErik likes to impersonate my mom talking to the turtles. She mostly yells at them whenever the turtles try to have sex.

"Honu! Stop that!" We'll hear her holler from whenever we are in the house. "I ain't raising no babies!"

My parents think that because they grew up in Plainfield that they can talk ghetto. No guys, thats not true. Mom you are asian and Dad, you are a super tall Scandinavian guy that looks & sounds like a viking. However, they really enjoy their black people movies. "The only funny ones around, you know?" My mom would say.

JonErik is just sitting here talking like Health Ledger's Joker while wearing the V mask. he has his movies mixed up.

Its late, isn't it? We are just sitting around being ridiculous because our parents arent home yet.

"Do you have cauliflower in your boxers?"-Maya

"My name is Perry and I lost my crumpets."-JonErik

"You guys, what on earth are you talking about?"-Myself

"Shut up Zoe."-JonErik

Hahahaha, its really late and we are all very tired.

I suppose none of this makes sense to you all. Basically I live at home still because I live 10 min away from college, which I actually love tremendously. I would never ever share a room with someone else let alone another female. And besides, my room is amazing-have you ever seen it? Its pretty magical.

I keep singing Billionaire by Travis McCoy & Bruno Mars (I shook Travis's hand and Bruno is hawaiian). JonErik is threatening my life.

And then he just had me laughing, because now he's quoting Tropic Thunder-which is his favorite movie and he knows literally all the lines from it. The good ones anyway.

I'm tired. Just thought I would tell you all about my night. And I'm not going to edit or reread this to check for mistakes. What you get is what you got =P

Ramona Flowers Cosplay

Hey guys! Con weekend at AnimeNext went fantastic and I got a lot of great shots =)