New Direction - Last Direction - One Direction at the RoseBowl 9/13/14

Well, I definitely have some thoughts about Zayn Malik leaving One Direction last week.  And I'm sure they are not the popular opinion or attitude...but then again, I'm not your normal "Directioner".

There's long been a conspiracy theory amongst Directioners regarding Zayn and his fiance, Perrie Edwards of Little Mix.  Just to keep the players clear:

Perrie is a member of a girl group called Little Mix. 

They, like One Direction (1D), were solo artists on the UK X-Factor that were combined by Simon Cowell

into a group.  Unlike 1D, Little Mix won their series (as they call 'em in the UK).  1D performed on the show during the series.  Zayn and Pez (that's a British thing) met and the rest, as they say, is history.

The conspiracy goes that, since 1D and Little Mix are both signed to Simon's label, management company, etc., the romance was really a "showmance" for publicity and to give Little Mix a wider fanbase since girl groups are historically not as successful as boy "bands".  

I've never really bought into it, but with the recent events it seems a lot more plausible.

Anywho, cliffs notes:

• Zayn has a history of cheating apparently.
• Last week on tour in Asia, he was photographed with a Perrie look-alike.
• The internet erupted.
• Zayn flew home to England citing "stress".
• Perrie was conveniently photo'd leaving their house with bags 5 hours after he returned.
• A day or so later it was officially announced that he was quitting 1D.
• Next day Perrie was seen leaving the house all smiles (until she got in her car & away from the cameras). And Zayn was seen going to a studio.
• Zayn issues a statement 'Blah blah, unhappy, blah blah, feel better, blah blah, Perrie's a good girl...blah blah blah'.

I originally was understanding when Zayn left the group mid-tour because mental illness (including stress, anxiety, depression) is a very serious thing.  I did kinda sorta think that he brought it on himself by, you know, being a CHEATER.  But that's between him and Perrie.

But, after his statements, it's clear that he's wanted out for quite awhile.  I won't go into everything, but I now believe that Zayn had reached an agreement with Syco Music that this would be his last tour.

By all accounts he was much more animated on stage this tour and he mysteriously tweeted "Dubai"before leaving on tour.  That's the last show of this Asian stage.  

So, if true, it's pretty much a dick move to bail on the band due to a situation you yourself created by CHEATING, when you only have a few more weeks left anyway.  And even if it wasn't pre-planned, they have two months between legs of the tour for you to quit.

And now it's come out that he is already at work on a solo album (which given he did write several songs for 1D that were NOT used on their albums, I don't really blame him).  So the reports that he doesn't like the fame and exposure that come with being with the band and basically bullshit.  

And even if they weren't, Perrie is a bit of a fame-whore (meaning she likes to be seen & instagrams a lot, etc.) and once you became famous with 1D that private life ship sailed anyway.

So back to the conspiracy, if he and Perrie don't end up married within a year (or ever) I will be more inclined to believe it as a possibility.

So, in honor of what used to be...and in anticipation of what is yet to come (MOAR LIAM SINGING), here are my crappy pictures from the show on Niall's birthday last year in Pasadena, CA.

The Beginning!

 Shit!  Zayn looks fucked up in that picture!  haha No wonder he quit.

The entrance!

 Aww, Harry's trying to dance!  How cute. 

 And then Liam shows him how it's done.

At least I think that's what they're doing.  haha

As mentioned above, it was Niall's birthday.  The big 2-1, which doesn't mean a lot because he lives in England and Ireland where he can already drink legally.

I think Liam is impressed by Niall's muscles or something in this pic.  And notice that microphone flip!

 Liam smiling like the little nugget that he is. 

Bye Zayn.  I like you.  Sorry you were so unhappy making millions, traveling the world, singing with your friends.  Oh, and BTW, you wouldn't have met Perrie had you not been with 1D.  

But you keep doing you. And I mean that.  lol  I really don't have anything against him.  I just think it's all a bit ridiculous.   

Aaannnd Harry and Liam are dancing again. 

This is a really bad picture, but Niall is putting on a birthday cake hat that one of the fans gave him.  Cute. 

More screenshots...

This is a good picture.  I really like the composition.

 Zayn and Payne.  

The next one is blurry, but I liked the way the lights looked.  I'm easy.

 And these next two don't even have the boys in them really, but again, the pretty lights!!

And, to finish us off on the Zayn theme, two screen pics of Zayn.

And a bonus crappy picture of that time we saw Little Mix open for Demi Lovato.   We were at the very top almost. haha

Jade's my favorite...the one on the left.  ;)

xoxo

Spring Fever! How About Some Flowers!

Mood Music While We Look At Pretty Flowers!

Elvis Presley...me mam's favorite singer.  Not bad! Easy on the eyes and the ears.  Hopefully my flower pictures will be as easy to look at.  

All taken at the Sacramento Zoo and William Land Park

We'll start with my favorite color, PURPLE!

 Mom's favorite...Iris.  We had purple iris in our front yard every year. 

Williamland Park is a large park in Sacramento which has a zoo, Fairytale Town - which is an awesome place to take youngsters, Funderland - a small carnival with rides for youngsters, a golf course, baseball diamonds, a duck pond, an outdoor amphitheater, lots of room for volleyball, frisbee, etc.  It is, in a word, Wonderful.  

Beside the parking lot for the zoo & Fairytale Town is a "prettyish kind of a little wilderness".  I love it there.  About 2/3 of these pictures were taken there, with the rest taken at the zoo.

This crazy rooster was lording it up over the pedestrians...He didn't really chase anyone, but he was certainly intimidating at times.

 Love this shot of the amphitheater benches with the wilderness in the background. 

 Cool branches down by the duck pond.

How about some SUNRISE COLORS!  Reds & oranges.

I see that there were lots of white flowers... So delicate and pretty.

 So much bokeh!!  Love it and so happy!

  

Sometimes the foliage is just as beautiful as the flowers but gets overlooked beside their flashier cousins. Case in point the purple leaves above with the creamy white flower.

And these next three beauties...

What goes better with green than gold!?!  #LetsGoOakland #Athletics

 How about green and gold and polkadots and spikes!  This plant is so punk rock. 

And this bee loved it too!!  How very stripey.

Okay, time to calm it down a little...we'll go from baseball punk to PINK!

This is actually a tree against the grey, cloudy sky.

 Sacramento used to be called The Camellia Capital.  We still have a lot of these gorgeous girls around, thank goodness. 

I just loved these grey branches that made such an interesting and delightful frame and background for the sparse pink flowers and leaves. 

And last but not least, outside the entrance to the zoo, I noticed a bush with really tiny pink flowers.  I went over to take another look and discovered how marvelous they are.  

It was funny...a lot of people were standing there, waiting for the light to change so we could cross the street and no one was paying attention to the bush.  There were a few people looking at the flowers that were planted around it and even taking some pictures.

After I started trying to get my perfect shot of these tiny, lovely flowers, several people walked over to see what I was looking at.  After I got my shot and was walking away, I heard one guy say "Wow, those are fantastic!  I'm glad I saw her looking at them!"

So one last piece of advice.  No matter how cliched you think it might be...stop and look at the flowers.  

Just watch out for Carol.

#TWD

xoxo