Hey guys! I'm coming back again with another tutorial, and the only reason why I'm coming back so soon is because I'll be gone for the weekend and I won't have access to all of my stuff (I don't even know if I'll have time to blog!) so I'm just going to get this up onto my blog and then it'll be ready for next Monday. Mmm, I suddenly smell yummy deliciousness...

All right, so as you can see in the picture above this look is a very pretty smokey-like green look. I've known ever since I was about 14 that green does not look good on me whatsoever. But when I was applying a specific green eyeshadow from my 120-color palette for a makeup look on my Youtube page, I fell in love with the color and had to do a whole look just based from this one color. So, without further adieu, let's get to the tutorial!

Now, I first have to admit that nothing was really going right for me when I was taking the pictures today. I didn't realize that my camera battery was running low and next thing I knew, the thing was literally dying in my hands ... which wasn't as tragic as it sounds. So I'll try my best to make sure you guys understand what I'm trying to direct you to do.


So as pictured here I've already got all of my foundations and powders on. Both the liquid and cream foundations, as well as the pressed powder, are by Revlon: the thin layer of liquid is Revlon's ColorStay foundation and the cream foundation, which I've applied on top of the liquid foundation, is Revlon's OneStep mineral foundation, with a foundation brush. I then applied a generous amount of Revlon's translucent powder over top of the foundation, using a bronzing brush to "stamp" the translucent powder on. I applied my Rimmel bronzer with a different bronzing brush at my temples and about an inch under my natural cheekbones, darkening the cheeks, my chin and my jaw line, and also applied it on my neck. The blush, by Hard Candy (which you buy at Walmart now), I applied on my cheekbones with a medium powder brush and the apples of my cheeks. (Yes, I did copy-and-paste this paragraph from the last post. Fun stuff!)


So first what I decided to do is to prime my eyes with Rimmel London's creme shadow... I'm not to sure what this one is, it's a grey one -- anyway, I recommend you NOT do this as the look began to crease (meaning the powders started slipping into a thin line where my lid rested when my eyes were open) as I was still working on the look. Instead, I recommend using Bloom's eye base/primer (which you can buy at London Drugs) or using a matte white cream shadow (Revlon makes a really nice one from their Illuminance palette Black Magic).

Then I used these colors...
I will tell you now that the greens pictured here (except the one on the very right and the purples) and the second silver from the left I used for this look... I wasn't able to take pictures of the other colors I used (a sparkly white and the sooty-colored silver from the previous blog post) because I was panicking about my camera dying... Sorry! I promise it won't happen again. :c

So anyway, I used the two greens in the center of the picture and used the one on the left (not the pine green one but the one that looks like a little bit of gold was mixed in as well) just on my lid with a medium shadow brush...



And then I applied the green to the right of the goldy-green everywhere else, as pictured below, with a small-medium brush...


Take note that I also applied the shadows on the lower lash line as well.

And now here comes the fun part--creating more depth! This bit is fun in my opinion because you really start to see the look come together.



As pictured above, I took that pine-green color that you see on the very left on the green section and used a small amount with the sooty-colored silver and applied that on the very outer corner of the eye with a small shadow brush.

Just for kicks, I decided to apply the sparkly white in the corner of the eye with a different small shadow brush, as well as just underneath my brow with a large fluffy brush...




As you can also see I added a light silver to the very top of the look, just to give it that gradient effect as well.

Then came the lining of the eyes and mascara! I'm pretty sure this is simple and I don't have to go into too much detail over this. Y'all know how to apply eyeliner and mascara, right?


In these pictures as well, you can see the look creasing already... Pretty sad, eh? Never again, let me tell you. I think I'm going to go throw that stuff out; I hardly use it anyway.

And that's the look! I hope you guys enjoyed and if you have any requests please leave me a comment! I'll get to the look as soon as I can! Somehow I think I'm going to become the next Queen Blogging Bee. More on that later.

Have a gorgeous day! Stay gold!
- Colten.
xoxo

Labels: colorful makeup, daily, drag queen, gay, green, kim kardashian, makeup inspired, makeup look, makeup tutorial, night, party, party makeup

Hiya everyone! Guess what today is? Well, depending on when you're reading this, I guess it could be any day of the week. Today is Sunday, which means that you all will have a fab look for whatever you want to wear it to! Now, I specifically designed this look so it would be perfect for New Year's, but you can wear it however you like.

Without further adieu, let's get started!


Okay, so as pictured here I've already put my liquid and cream foundation, my pressed powder, my bronzer and my blush on. Both the liquid and cream foundations, as well as the pressed powder, are by Revlon: the thin layer of liquid is Revlon's ColorStay foundation and the cream foundation, which I've applied on top of the liquid foundation, is Revlon's OneStep mineral foundation, with a foundation brush. I then applied a generous amount of Revlon's translucent powder over top of the foundation, using a bronzing brush to "stamp" the translucent powder on. I applied my Rimmel bronzer with a different bronzing brush at my temples and about an inch under my natural cheekbones, darkening the cheeks, my chin and my jaw line, and also applied it on my neck. The blush, by Hard Candy (which you buy at Walmart now), I applied on my cheekbones with a medium powder brush and the apples of my cheeks.



Next I applied my eye primer base by Bloom all over the lid, as pictured above, with using a clean, sweat-free finger. This will help to not only make the eye shadow stay on my lid longer but to also help to make the colors appear brighter and colorful.


Then, taking a small-to-medium shading brush, I applied a bright silver from my 120-color pro makeup palette which I purchased from eBay just onto the actual lid itself and just a little above the crease (which you can't see in the picture), stopping just short of the outer corner. I then applied a tiny amount of the same silver on my lower waterline.



Then I applied a silver two shades darker than the other silver I used on my lid on the outer corner with a different small-to-medium shader brush, and then taking a sooty-colored silver, I darkened the look by making an ellipse-like shape on the very outer corner of my eye and blending it just so it sat above the crease, as well as blending the color on the outer-half of my lower waterline. This will help to really give this look a smoky effect.




Next, I lightly applied a matte black with the same brush as used in the last step on top of the sooty-colored silver on the outer corner and slightly blended it into the crease line. I also blended it down onto my lower waterline.



I then lined my waterlines, both top and bottom, with a black pencil liner (pictured is Rimmel's Infallible pencil liner), as well as making the line on the outer corner of my waterline thicker. This will make your eyes seem almost narrower and looks great in photos!



Next I used Maybelline's EyeStudio gel liner, which is amazing and you must purchase it -- in my opinion it is much better than using liquid liner -- in black and using the brush provided, I applied a thick line starting from the outer corner and making it thinner as I blended it to about halfway. This will help to darken the eyes even more.



I then quickly used a large fluffy brush (such as Quo's All-Over brush) and blended the eyeshadow to soften the hard lines.



I then curled my lashes with a lash curler and applied two coats of mascara, which will help to not only make your lashes seem thicker but longer as well. I first applied Rimmel's Eye Magnifier mascara, in black, to give my lashes a good base. I did not try to make my lashes longer. I then used Maybelline's "The Falsies" VolumExpress mascara, which is very popular right now, and used that to make my lashes seem longer. If time is available, see how long you can make your lashes. I felt pressured for time during the shoot for this so I quickly applied on the mascara.

So you can totally stop here if you want, especially if you think the look is very risque for you, but seeing as how I'm a makeup wannabee (and I say that admittedly) and glitter and eye gems are very in right now, I decided to go one step further...



I sadly do not have eye gems (but you can buy some from Icing, a branch of Claire's) but I did happen to have Annabelle's liquid glitter liner available, so I applied a generous amount in the corner of my eye and joined it with the black gel liner in the middle of the eyelid. Just to give the look some sexiness. Be sure to blow dry the glitter gel first before blinking; you can use a portable fan or your blow-drier and when you lid doesn't stick to the top of your crease, you'll know that the gel has dried completely. You may have to blow dry the gel for a full 3-6 minutes, so if you'll be pressured for time, just skip this step.


And there you go! That's the look! Please leave me a comment if you liked it, or what I could do to improve my looks, and if you have any requests, feel free to "challenge" me and I'll take on the look and post it for next Monday!

Have a beautiful New Year's! Stay gold!
- Colten.
xoxo

Labels: christmas, drag queen, gay, holidays, katy perry, kim kardashian, makeup inspired, makeup look, new years

Okay, two posts about Christmas? You know you love Christmas when...

But no, in all seriousness, doesn't Christmas almost drive you insane? Oh yes, that special time of year when prices on certain items drop by a specific percentage (Christmas Blowout! 20% Off All Electronics!) and everyone's doing the mad-dash to buy that special someone that special something to really impress them for the next three weeks.

But seriously? Is that all Christmas is about? Buying and receiving gifts? I'd rather just buy my own crap and be happy with what I have. I especially hate it when someone tells you that they bought you something, but they're not sure you'll like it -- and Christmas isn't tomorrow. Honestly. I really get sick and tired of having to buy people stuff that I'm not sure they'll like, because then they say, "Oh, well, it's the thought that counts." Well, if that's all that you're going to say, I might as well not have even bothered and spent my money better elsewhere and gave you a card with a $20 note inside, or a gift certificate, one of the two.

I hate that excuse on Christmas. "It's the thought that counts." I'm not being a Scrooge, or a Grinch, but I cannot stand Christmas for that exact reason: having to buy somebody that 'special something' in order to impress them for whatever reason, only to be blown off with some mundane saying. Maybe I'm just bitter because I didn't have enough money this year to actually buy people something they could use. For reasons of because, I won't go into what exactly I bought (as some people's gifts are still in the mail) but I just cannot stand all this huff and puff over Christmas.

I posted on my Facebook status a while back, and this isn't word-for-word, "The greatest gift a person could receive for Christmas is the knowledge that they are loved and cared for by the people who truly matter." I think the only reason why I said that was because I didn't have a clue what to get for my mother this Christmas and I am a very lovey-dovey kind of person and I truly love and care for all the people who have come into my life and have helped me through thick and thin (granted, the list isn't long but I'm still happy for those people being in my life). Yes, because of the media and consumer companies, if you tell somebody that you love and care for them and that's their Christmas present, they'll be bitter and shake you off... Well, okay, again with pessimism as some people probably would hug you and cry over that, depending on how you worded it, but the majority of today's society would kind of grunt and sniff over not receiving anything physical.

And that's the other thing that drives me nuts -- anything physical almost always has to be given on Christmas day in order to tell the receiver that you love them. I think that's what I meant to say a couple of paragraphs back, but still. If you've read this far, then that's about the only Christmas present I could ever ask for. Oh, and comments. I don't care if they're mean or nice, I just like knowing people read my blog. BUT ANYWAY.

The reason why I'm going on this great big huge rant is because I'm so confused when all of this consumer-crazed Christmas bullshit started. Granted, I do know the story about how Santa Claus (otherwise better known in churches and to saint-believers as St. Nicholas) goes and how Christmas was started (and for God's sake, it was NOT about Jesus Christ being born around this time, apparently he was born in June or July or something like that). Allegedly (as Kathy Griffin would say), St. Nicholas would give gifts to little children on December 25th of every year and give out incredulous words of advice to those who needed uplifting or clarity ... or something to that effect. Or maybe it was just gift giving. But anyway. I mean, if I remember correctly, apparently the children that had received gifts from St. Nicholas had terrible lives and St. Nicholas knew this and tried to make them happy if only for just five minutes. I'm confused, however, as to why somebody (ahemCocaColaahem) would take this myth and use it to cause a wildfire effect in the consumer industry. It really just doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever.

I just wish that Christmas was a little more thoughtful and not so expensive. That's all I'm saying.

Right, okay, now that I have that out of my chest, since I want this blog to be all about my adventures in the makeup industry, I thought I would have little fun with my blog and start doing step-by-step tutorials (with pictures, of course) for looks that people can wear at events, social gatherings, etc. etc., instead of just doing my drag looks on my Youtube channel (which you can go to here). I think I promised myself that I would put up a new look every Monday (in other words, every Sunday night before I go to bed) just to give people that extra "oomph" factor on their Mondays. Like I said, these looks aren't going to be drag but just nice ones that you can use to go out on a Friday night.

All right all, I shall talk to you guys soon! I'll post my first look this coming Sunday as I'm not doing anything then anyway so I might as well do something. c;

Stay gold!
- Colten.
xoxoxo

Hel-looooooo everyone! So the holiday season has officially begun in my world, I'm not sure about yours -- maybe it started three weeks ago when the dastard excuse of a radio began playing Christmas music? -- but school has slowed down and stopped and Christmas break has begun.

And let me just say that people's kindness, care and generosity continually boggles my mind. I'll tell you why.

On Thursday, not only was it the last day of school at the Learning Center but it was also the day of the Christmas potluck -- and what a feast it was! There was more food than anybody could handle! If I didn't know any better, I'd almost say that nearly everyone brought something, which is more than what we needed! Anyway, so two things had been preplanned (and in my case, there were three things that had been preplanned): the first was the naming of Student of the Month, which sadly I did not get (but I'm starting to wonder if they have a rule at the Center for only being dubbed Student of the Month once a year?) but I'm okay with that. Then, there was a "Christmas raffle" in which a student would put their name in and they would win a prize of a YouLearn.ca book bag (very handy!) and a box of chocolates (the Belgian ones ... the best!) - and I did manage to win that one (and immediately I felt guilty for some unknown reason when my name got called).

Then, unexpectedly, Barbara Derksen, a very nice woman whom I've grown fond of, suddenly asked my mother and I to "step aside". My heart kind of flew into my mouth and my pulse began to race, because I had no idea what was going on and, if anything, I thought I was in deep trouble for something -- though what it was, as I quickly racked my brain, I couldn't think of anything. Then Barbara pulls out a London Drugs plastic bag, and in that bag was a newly bought (and unwrapped) Wacom Bamboo tablet for my laptop.

Never had I seen it coming, and it was a good thing I had finally pulled myself from my room that Thursday morning, applied my makeup and ran out the door, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten it until after Christmas!

It's always so good to know people plan things for you behind your back. Thankfully, I mean that in a good sense of the phrase.

I love my palette! I haven't stopped using it since I've opened it and am very excited to get going on some serious projects. I am honestly blessed with the people I'm surrounded by -- I just wish there was some way I could thank them to let them know I really do appreciate what they've done. Maybe I'll do a painting. :'D

Other than that, I still have a horrid cough that won't go away and it probably won't for another two weeks, which means that I'm going to be coughing my way through Christmas. Thankfully, though, the coughing has calmed down somewhat so I'm not coughing every five minutes like I was two days ago. And it could be much worse -- I could have the chicken pox! I used to get chicken pox every Christmas when I was living in Cranbrook. I think it wasn't until I was about 7 that they stopped - thank gosh for that!

Anyways, I don't think you guys will hear from me soon until the new year (unless something happens that either makes me overjoyed, angry or very sad) so until then, have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Stay gold everyone!
-Colten. xoxo

Hey everyone! Again, sorry that I haven't done a blog post in a while but I just recently got sick and I've been under the weather for the past three days - and what a long three days it has been, so nothing new and exciting has happened in my world yet.

However, something very exciting and more or less juicy in somebody else's world has just been brought to my attention.

So I was just on my Facebook page and looking at my home page when an article by FCKH8.com was posted. What FCKH8 had said, to grab my attention, was, "FCK Sarah "Bully" Palin: Douche Says She's OK with Daughter Calling Kid "Faggot" on the Facebook WTF?!" So I said, Hmm. What's this all about? I read the posted article and became outraged! The excuses some people make just drive me up the wall!

The story behind this was that apparently Palin's daughter, Willow, 16 years old, was hearing a lot of hateful things about her family and whatnot - although you have to admit, Sarah Palin's views and opinions are kind of out-of-this-world (and mine probably are too but at least I'm not going to the media and broadcasting my opinions) - and so Willow decided that it would be fine and dandy to call her classmate, who happened to be straight, a "faggot". WHAT?! And then! in Willow's defence, Palin comes back with this:

"People probably think that my greatest frustration is the lies that are told in the tabloids and on hateful blogs full of anonymous sources about my family, and there are constant everyday lies that we have to read that are out there in the public. But my family and I…thick skin…we can take it, you know…we can take what the haters say despite the fact that there’s injustice in the situation. I mean, look at the other day. Willow, finally, my 16 year old, she had had it up to here with somebody saying very, very hateful things about the family and saying mean things about her little brother Trig, and Willow finally responded and she used a bad word when she responded in defense of her family. And her response became national news, even hard news copy it turned into, so that’s ridiculous and I had to explain to her, 'Willow, there is no justice here but you have to just zip your lip and let’s move forward.'"

WHERE on EARTH does a MOTHER get away with this? I'm sorry, Sarah, but this just doesn't fly with me. Your daughter had no right to call somebody a "faggot" behind a computer monitor. Just because your family is receiving hate does not mean that you should allow your children to pass it on. This situation could have been handled in a completely different manner, and instead of calling somebody a "faggot", Willow could have said, "Could you can it? Seriously, I'm getting fed up with everybody saying bad things about my family." Although, if Sarah hadn't commenced her reality TV show, I'm sure things would be much, much more different.

Have you ever noticed that when people are just desperate for attention to be able to say their opinions, things usually turn sour for that person? It amazes me at how some people are just so blinded by their views and their opinions that they think the whole world has to know about them. Puh-leeze! There's probably a very good reason why nobody wanted to hear your views and opinions in the first place - because it's a waste of breath with how ridiculous it is!

And whatever happened to, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all"? We learned that in grade 3 for God's sake! So why, when we become teenagers and young adults (and by young adults I mean 18 - 25 years of age, not 12 - 15 which is considered a tween), we throw that very wise advice out the window and start hating on people who don't even deserve it? I mean, yeah, okay, Sarah Palin has some very outrageous opinions, but does that mean that we have to hate on her? She didn't get into presidency nor did she even make it into politics, which is why she is still living in Alaska ... so why do we keep making fun of her? If she had gotten anywhere in the election, fine - I can understand where this mocking comes from because Americans want her out of the U.S. government, but she hasn't really gotten anywhere, has she? I didn't think so.

If somebody is receiving hate, it's not because of karma, it because of the obvious desperation for attention.

That's just like somebody (ONE person) had told me that, in my attempt to start a Canadian-run campaign, I was desperate for attention. Uh, no I'm not! If I was desperate for attention, I would not have started a campaign to fight against homosexual hate - I would have started a campaign to end hate against ME. But I didn't. I started my campaign to do a selfless thing, and that was to help others. Whilst the number of people who are joining in on my campaign, there is so far a total of 350+ people who are willing to do my campaign. About 150+ of those people I don't even know... So my campaign obviously does not have just people that are friends of mine or who knew me because we went to the same high school ... It's because people want to help others, which is why the campaign's Event wall has only seen nothing but positive attitudes, instead of negativity.

Okay. I think I'm done my rant now. It's just something I had to get off my chest because, as I've said many times over and over again ... some people just drive me bananas with their actions, beliefs, opinions and views.

Stay gold everyone! And please, for God's sake, do NOT hate on somebody who doesn't deserve it.
- Colten. xoxo

They say that "home is where the heart is" ... but I feel that I haven't found my home. Not yet. I will someday, and I know that when I do I'll finally feel at peace.

Have you ever had that feeling that you get when you've been sitting at home for three days straight, not really going out except for smokes-and-junk-food runs, and all of a sudden you become increasingly restless and tired of waking up to the same scenery over and again? That's how I've been feeling lately. I don't know if it's because it's currently winter and I go near-mental during these cold months or whether I'm actually restless and aching for adventure, but I have been dying to take in new air of a place that I haven't been to yet. I'm literally getting sick and tired of having the same thing happen every day. Wake up, smoke, eat cake, smoke, get into the shower, watch Mom go to work (or say good-bye to her if going to school), smoke, eat lunch, smoke, play around on my computer (or jump into studies), smoke, sit at home for the next little while before I get hungry, eat supper, smoke, do dishes, smoke, go to bed restless. It's literally the same thing every day and I'm getting fed up. I want to see new things. I hate being bored. I'd rather be busy and keep myself occupied (even though I'm losing energy and money for those activities) but as of now, there is virtually nothing to do that involves getting out of the house. And God forbid you should spend too long outside because then your nose gets froze and your ears start to ache. Oh Lordy, I wish I was rich so I could travel.

It's funny how the mind wanders when you don't have anyone to talk to.

That's another thing that's been bugging me. Like, seriously bothering me because I get panicky when this happens. I know that since my jaw surgery I have been terribly uncomfortable with my face. I think the thing that I'm most peeved at is that before going into jaw surgery, I had finally reached a certain distinction of looks that I had become quite happy and comfortable with, and now I'm back at the bottom trying to work my way back to feeling comfortable again. I think in this process of falling again, I've more or less pushed away my friends (even though I'm desperate to hang out with some) and now I'm either too boring and mutual or I've done something terribly wrong that makes people to kind of cringe at the thought of talking to me or whatever. It's seriously scaring me and I wake up in the morning, after thinking about cigarettes, thinking about how lonely I am. In a way, it is very sad that my cell phone literally sits around like a tired cat without so much a buzz because I got a new text message or a new incoming call; I only have one person that will willingly call me up if there's time and that's Erin for JCI, and even then she's just being kind (although she did say that she was my new BFF, which I'm kind of questioning and giggling about).

Even though I have school to keep me somewhat occupied, it's not the same pouring your thoughts about a stupid question to a piece of paper to be marked by a teacher whenever they can get to it (it's funny how some teachers will literally procrastinate marking). Just that thought alone, neutrally answering question after question makes me sad -- I don't want to be that person. I still want to be the person that people know and love, the up-beat, positive and funny one.

Sigh. Oh well. I guess when I move to Vancouver, that'll be my time to clear my name and start all over again.

Speaking of going to Vancouver, my mother literally throws panic attacks every time I mention it -- "You can't live on your own in Vancouver!! It's expensive to live there!" According to her, it's expensive to live anywhere, but then again, this is coming from a woman who hasn't worked a full-time job in nearly 20 years. First off, I will admit that yes, it can be expensive to live in Vancouver, but I have to start somewhere, and maybe if I can save up enough money before moving to Vancouver and I can get a car, maybe I'll commute to Vancouver from a smaller town on the outskirts of Van. Who knows? I'd rather live in the hub-bub of the city. It'd be much more exciting in my opinion. As well, it'd probably help to take the edge off my need for adventure. Oh, how my heart flutters at the thought of all the shops I can go into and browse! That's the other thing I'm excited about - there's more places to shop. Although I think I'll have to start creating a fashionable wardrobe from second-hand stores, which I don't have a problem with. You can find the most coolest outfits from second-hand stores!

Okay. I'm in desperate need of a cigarette and a shower so I shall talk to you guys later! I just needed to get those things off my chest before I rant to an innocent bystander about my future... And my present state of mind.

Stay gold!
- Colten.
xoxoxo

Okay. I'm trying my absolutely best not to go on any more spitful and hissy rants, but something was just brought to my attention that kind of boiled me up... And now I have to get this out of my system.

Before I start, however, I just want to say that in no way am I attacking a specific group of people personally. For those of my dearest and closest friends that do have a religion that just so happened to stumble upon this post... You can either choose to quit reading it now or keep reading to see what I have to say. I'm going to try and not my rant to hit certain people's nerves as much as possible.

Anyway. A lot of you may have realized by now that in none of my blog posts do I talk about my faith or belief in God or Jesus Christ. I don't quite like the points of views in religion and I especially don't like it when religion is shoved in my face. I treat everyone as equally as God does (funny how that works) and if somebody were to come to my door to discuss about their religion, then I'd be more than happy to politely tell them that I understand what it is they're doing but I'm just not interested.

But why do I not like religion of any kind, be it Catholic, Christianity or Mormon? I'll tell you why.

I feel that the interpretations of God's words, if there was any actual words from God through Jesus Christ, are wholly mistaken by preachers and their disciples (otherwise known as church-goers). The main message that a lot of religions state is that God loves everybody, and so must you as well - so then why is it that a lot of people mistreat others in the process of becoming religious? "In finding God, I have found myself... And since you don't share the same views as I do, I cannot be your friend anymore because God is telling me otherwise." I'm sure we've all heard the similar-sounding thing, especially when people who come out as gay to their friends are turned down by their friends. I cannot believe the discrimination in Christians towards homosexual people (okay, not the more open-minded Christians but the real hard-core Christians). When Spirit Day had rolled around in October, I was almost scared to tell everyone about it at the learning centre because I wasn't too sure who would do it and who wouldn't even dare because their religion would tell them otherwise. The people that I asked to wear purple though did anyways, so that was good.

But anyway. I'm not going to focus this post on Christians towards homosexual people, but that's just one example. Another example of a religion and it's misinterpretations that I find outrageous is the Mormon religion - if what I was told was correct, apparently a person cannot go out to dances, must lose their virginity to their married spouse (just kidding!), or anything of the like - in other words, their religion more or less prevents people of Mormon faith to have a bit of fun. Why?! Why must somebody's religion restrict them to being at home, work or church? All in the name of God, of course. Oh please.

If there's one true thing I really cannot stand about religion is how narrow-minded it makes people.

"Oh, I've become so much of a better person since I found Jesus Christ!" I'll give you Jesus Christ in a minute. Right between your eyes. And if you must, tell him I said hello.

All sadistic jokes aside, let's get back to the starting topic: narrow-mindedness. If it's one thing that I've gotten from my seventeen years of living - AND PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong - it's that religion creates discrimination, which is why homosexuals in the States are having difficulties being treated equally and African-American or colored people in the 40's - 70's had such a difficult time trying to settle and become equal in American society. Oh, and that's another thing - if it's one thing that's really portrayed in the media, it's that African-American/colored people have their own church, which is separate of the Caucasian church - again, correct me if I'm wrong on that note but that's what you see all the time in movies and I know that movies are purely fictional (unless stated otherwise). And why is that? Because of narrow-mindedness. God forbid - literally and figuratively - the two races should collide with each other and preach the same thing, which is why I almost wonder if joining an African-American church is better than joining a Caucasian-run church. I wonder...

Anyway, if it isn't just me, it seems as though a lot of people become extremely narrow-minded after they've found religion and Jesus Christ and the whole works and they close off any of the opportunities that could have been a great choice, especially one that doesn't sit well with they're religion.

The other thing that I strongly dislike is that people completely change their views and opinions about specific things instead of remaining to what they've always believed in before finding religion - or in some cases, disallow their children to experiment with finding what religion they want to go to or decide if they even want a religion. I was talking to somebody, who had started this, who had told me that I was really gutsy for doing what I do, blah blah blah, but since they found Christianity a year ago, they now are on the brink about homosexuality. HUH?! Why? Homosexuals will do what they want, and they should be treated as an equal, right? Just like a church's ever-so overused words: "God loves everybody." That's just one example - I guess another example could be that instead of just living for day-to-day, some people become God-fearing and anything a person does wrong, off to the church they go to confess to the preacher.

I'll say this liberally and literally: I'm not afraid of God. I'm not afraid of death and I'm not afraid about my life after death on Earth. Does that make me a horrible person? Of course not. If I do something wrong, I don't think of it as a sin of God and Jesus Christ, or Allah, or whatever a specific religion's "God" is. I think of it as a learning period and if what I did wrong causes uproar, I learn my lesson from the mistake and move on with my life instead of dreading about how my entrance into Heaven will turn out like.

Oh, that's another thing I can't stand about religion: be a good boy or girl throughout your life, don't cheat on your spouse and don't steal or launder money or do anything bad and illegal and you will get accepted into Heaven; otherwise you're going to Hell. PLEASE. As far as I'm concerned, there is no such thing as Heaven and Hell. You do not go through big pearly gates (no matter how many people who've been through life-and-death experiences say that there is big gates wait for you and God is really big or whatever) that either accept you into Heaven or sends you to Hell - or the in-between if you so happened to commit suicide. I just don't believe that whatsoever. There is good in all people, and even though it was a conscious choice to cause some sort of unforgivable crime, everyone goes to their own heaven of sorts - that's my belief. If anyone has watched "What Dreams May Come" with Robin Williams in it, you'll know what I'm talking about because that's what I believe in; or if anyone has read "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom, I also strongly believe in that.

But this religion crap about Heaven and Hell just sends me spinning. "You're going to go to Hell if you keep looking like that." Eff off you miserable cow. Don't tell me where I'm going, because I know where I'll land up.

Okay. I think that was it. If you've managed to get to this side of this blog post, please keep in mind that you've just finished reading a blog post written by an Atheist, so my views are very radically different from somebody who does have a religion.

Don't care if you strongly dislike my views; we all have them, just as we do our opinions.

Stay gold!
- Colten.
xoxo