Soshified Spotlight October 2011 Part 1: SooYoona

Welcome once again to another edition of Soshified Spotlight. This is our eighth edition stretching back from all the way in February, but apparently some refreshing of minds is in order. Therefore, I’ll outline the format of Soshified Spotlight here one more time. Each month, Soshified Spotlight will profile two Soshified members in two parts. Part 1 will feature a regular Soshified member. Part 2 will feature a Soshified staff member. If you would like to see yourself or someone whom you think is worthy be featured in a future Spotlight, go here. In the meantime, we have two new members for you to meet: SooYoona (Lauren) and pubsquash (Vi). We’ll learn more about pubsquash in a few days. When not promoting her favorite SoShi pairing on Soshified, Lauren helps run YoonYul TV, specializing in clips featuring these two eponymous Girls’ Generation members. Lauren is also a great gamer, but when she’s not on the computer, Lauren is studying two very difficult subjects in college or dispensing some of her unique trademark humor. What is your first name? My first name is Lauren. How did you find out about Soshified and why did you decide to join? I knew of Soshified’s existence since its conception but it wasn’t until 2009 that I finally decided to join. I was a part of two older SNSD fansites that had unfortunately closed down. At the time, I was browsing on Youtube and I came across videos that were subbed by Soshified. In dire need of needing to see SNSD on variety shows again where I could understand what was being said without pestering my mom to do rough translations whenever she had time to watch a show together with me, I decided to sign up. How did you come up with your screen name? You know that Disney show, “That’s So Raven”? I thought how cool would it be to have a name like that with my bias, “That’s SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Yoona” because Raven Simone is my idol. I kid. At the time, the screen name I had originally wanted, YoonYul, was taken so I decided to go ahead with combining Sooyoung and Yoona’s names together since I love people who have a great affinity for food. Where are you originally from, and where do you currently reside (city and country for both)? I was born in Singapore City, Singapore County, Singapore State, Singapore Country. My father and uncle decided to open up a pizzeria that would have eventually been passed down to myself and my cousin, Rachel. At the age of 5 and much to the dismay of my cousin, Rachel, my family relocated to Mexico to herd donkeys. They were willing to holla for that dolla. In Mexico, I met a very nice Korean cowgirl unnie named Nina. She taught me how to herd and ride mules and play go-stop. Realizing there wasn’t enough dolla for their holla in the mule industry, my family decided to come to the land of opportunities, America. Since the age of 10, I’ve lived in Scottsdale, Arizona. I currently reside in Tempe, Arizona which isn’t too far from where my family resides. Where did the decision to leave Singapore and herd donkeys come from, and then why Scottsdale? Through my father’s financial advisor, Joanne. She suggested going into the donkey industry. She said with the herding industry’s economical boom, he’d make more money. I’d always listen to Joanne. She invested her money into buying some stock for the “shake weight” and now she’s a multi-millionaire. Unfortunately, by the time we got into the business, we were threatened by some Mafioso to leave or have our arms broken. We moved to Scottsdale for the ladies. If we were visiting you where you live for one day, where would you take us? Why are these places so significant? Where I live, it’s filled with nothing but cacti, sand, golf courses, and shopping malls. If you’re looking for scenery though then I’d suggest places like driving up north to Sedona and/or Flagstaff since it’s actually green there and there’s more to offer. But, since we’re talking locally, then I guess my house. I mean there’s nothing more thrilling than sitting on my couch and meeting my family while playing Yahtzee or watching The Weather Channel and listening to Michael Bolton’s Greatest Hits on a Saturday night. PARTAYE CENTRAL. My house is significant because I was raised there and the refrigerator is always stocked to the max. Then, I’ll probably bring you out to eat to Sake Bombers. Heck, it’ll even be my treat. Sake Bombers is significant because I can get discounts there. I’m cheap and I love food. I’m sorry, I have the soul of a sumo wrestler. I know Scottsdale and Tempe are near a decently big city in Phoenix. Anything to do there, or just cacti, sand, golf courses, and shopping malls as well? Unfortunately, it’s pretty much the same. There’s a lot of festivals and stuff, but nothing extraordinary. I mean, you could always go to a Diamondbacks game and watch them lose, It’s your typical major city, museums, festivals, parks and so-forth. Our skyline isn’t much to brag about either, but it’s a very well-balanced metropolis that continues to grow economically and domestically. Phoenix and Scottsdale are known for their lavish restaurants and clubs whereas Tempe is more known for the college town full of parties every night. After all, ASU is located in Tempe. Tell us a little about your life. What do you do full time and in your free time?  In West Philadelphia, born in raised, on a playground is where I spent most of my days. Chillin’ out maxin relaxin’ all cool and while shootin’ some b-ball outside of my school. When a couple of a guys, who were up to no good, startin’ makin’ trouble in my neighborhood. I got in one little fight and my mom got scared, she said, “You’re movin’ with your auntie and uncle in Bel-Air.” Unfortunately, my life is not that cool. I’m Japanese-Korean. My father is Japanese and my mother is Korean. I have two siblings, one older brother and one younger sister. I’m currently a full-time student at Arizona State University. I’m majoring in Microbiology with a minor in Psychology. In my free time, I enjoy knitting and watching The Price is Right. Drew Carey is so manhot. I get SO excited when Plinko airs, you don’t even KNOW. I like watching Korean variety shows and very intellectual shows that really tackle the problems in today’s youth like “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”. I do the average things that your normal American teenager does, like making videos of two girls who I don’t know personally and posting it all over youtube. Of course, those two girls being Im Yoona and Kwon Yuri from that one group, Metallica. I co-run http://www.youtube.com/yoonyultv4 and http://www.yoonyultv.com Another thing that takes up a lot of my free time is my significant other. I’m in a relationship with Mail/Shaniqua Shaquille Latif. “It” and I have been together for 2 years now. We met while in San Francisco. I was visiting my halmoni Corie while Shaniqua/Mail/It was in town scoping out the single scene. We met at a club. The attraction was instantly magnetic (like JeTihands LEWL), it was love at first sight. Baby got back. I hope Mail likes me enough to put a ring on it. Any plans with the microbiology and psychology degrees? Yup, I’d like to become a time traveling mime with a knack for playing the spoons on my kneecaps. I’ve also been told that I’m quite the talented fanfic writer so I may go into writing. Here’s a sample of my masterwork: “There once was a carnivorous giraffe deer hybrid named Yoona who ate all the sky meat and chickenpatties. It made Taeyeon a sad panda. Blue berry pancakes?” Rilastreetfighterakuma is a bear who like to no do what is this lemon doing here in the bed put that lemon back it is not a human. one day in the land of herpotomia there once lived a warrior named derped the herp, the great kwonYuri. she was a level 10 warrior with teleport and double dragon. he was in love with the kings daughter, vegan Yoona, when she accidentally slipped a roofie in her herpin drink and then she derped and made her slurp her level 5 martini until she herpin derped all over the magic kingdom. I guess if that doesn’t work out, I’ll be forced to go to med school. My parents are USC (University of California) alumni and my older brother currently attends the university. I was actually accepted to USC but I decided to stay in-state to save money for my family since they are paying for my tuition, my brother’s tuition and my little sister’s (when she graduates high school) out of pocket. So after I graduate from ASU with my degrees, I’d like to go to USC’s med school under their anesthesiology program and become an anesthesiologist. Basically, an anesthesiologist is a preoperative physician who safely administers anesthesia to patients and monitor them through the procedure. They’re also the ones who give epidurals to pregnant women who opt for that procedure prior to child birth. How much time do you spend on YoonYulTV, and what about YoonYul attracted you to them so much? It varies on what part of YoonYulTV I’m working on. I’m very fortunate to be a part of a very hard working team: Mint, Morgan and Jackie work on youtube and I’m also very fortunate work alongside Teepani, Popsicle, Morgan, Jackie, Emi, Justin, Lambo, and DATQURLAMY. If I’m working on the youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/yoonyultv4 , the time I spend on making a video would vary. For example, if it were a show SNSD was on and there were some YoonYul moments, it’d take maybe 5-40 minutes. It varies on the angles, how many “moments” there are and if the Korean needs to be translated by the always helpful nincomboob. If it needs to be translated from Japanese to English, I usually do the translations myself and ask nincomboob to cross check for me since she’s multilingual. She’s fluent in 19 languages. It also varies on fancams. It can take anywhere from 30 minutes up to 2 hours. First, I have to collect and watch each and every fancam. It helps a great deal when people from the YoonYul soshified thread, yoonyulsoulmate, MINTY, and yoonyul.com point out certain moments in the video. It makes our lives much easier. Then, I contact the individual who took said fancam and ask for their permission whether or not we can use their footage, giving full credit of course. Their reply back can be instant or we never even hear from them, lol. I can’t lie and say we contact every person for permission, but we do ask as many as possible and make sure to give proper credit. In all of our later videos, we watermark the clip with their username/website/youtube channel and also link back to them in the video description and video credits. They’re gracious enough to share the footage with us, being polite and asking is the least we can do in return. Another thing with fancams is that we have to check the stability of the footage. If it’s a shaky fancam, we try to stabilize the video and make it as clear as possible. Some fancam videos we have can have 20 different clips from different individuals who took the fancam. It could be the same moment from a different view or it could even be that they caught another moment from the same event. Once again, it varies quite a bit. There’s also the song selection process. Mint, Morgan and I edit the videos while Jackie makes vlogs. The 4 of us are very picky when it comes to the song choice for a video. We want the songs to match the “moment” to the best of our abilities hence, we won’t pick a Korean song about people breaking up and hating each other when in the YoonYul video, and they're cracking up over Yuri farting or whatever. As for FMV’s and working on new intro’s and stuff…it can take hours. I hate it lol. I think I got into YoonYul gradually through the first few months I became a Sone. I learned a lot about the members through old friends who were fans since pre-debut. I guess you could say I had a crash course in “Soshi 101″. From pre-debut pics to fan accounts to fancams, I collected (and still do) collect everything media-related. I horde fancams and viewing different fancams that concentrate on certain members, I truly enjoyed the interactions between all nine but YoonYul’s interactions have always caught my eye. They may not have the most “skinship” per say, but I just pay attention to their eye contact, they way they look at each other and how they interact with one another. It’s the little things that really make me like them. Honestly, I’d just recommend people viewing our videos on youtube.com/yoonyultv4 and youtube.com/yoonyul8. They’re always off to the side when they think cameras don’t really focus on them and it’s during those moments, during their most candid moments, where you can really see what’s so special between the two. What's the most interesting thing about you and/or that has ever happened to you? The most interesting thing about me is my face. I’m joking. I guess the most interesting thing that has happened to me was being in the same elevator at the Sheraton with Yuri. Camiiseta gave us a tip that BoA was staying at the Sheraton. I assumed SNSD would stay at the same hotel so we switched to the Sheraton. Thanks to Cami, I was able to experience meeting Yuri. She got onto the elevator I was in and I smiled and said hello to her. She smiled and said hello back. She turned around and her back brushed up against my forearm. She smelled so good. That sounded creepy, right? I don’t care. She smelled SOOOOO good. I was tempted to go up to the floor she was on but that would have been really creepy so I got off my floor and ended up not washing my arm for three weeks…well, maybe not because I ended up taking a shower that night but it was still tempting to be stinky to keep Yuri’s ‘touch’ on my arm. THANK YOU CAMI. For people who are first meeting you (like most of us), how would you describe yourself? I’m very shy at first but once you get to know me, I’m pretty laid back and easy to talk to. I love to joke around and talk about anything except my telemundo soap operas because GURLLLL, dun get me started on Ricky and Javier. I’m into sports (football, soccer, and basketball). I’m practically an open book. My body is ready. Your body is ready? … Very. Tell us some things that most people don't know about you that you think they should. Apparently, I make really good milkshakes. My milkshakes taste so good, I plan on opening up a small little street vendor and going into a joint business partnership with fellow milkshake maker, Deo (Jetified). Apparently, our milkshakes bring quite a bit of people to our yards. Is there anything big in your life that you're working on? (This can be related to school, career, hobbies, family, friends, etc.) Right now, the Soshified YoonYul thread has a contest (prizes will be given out) to celebrate our upcoming 888th page. We are holding a fanfic contest and a fake subbing contest. Please check out this link for further details (Read the first two posts): http://soshified.com/forums/topic/163-yoona-yuri-yoonyulyoonri/page__st__15980__p__4045292#entry4045292 What are your interests outside of Girls' Generation? I’m very much into sports and working out. Maybe not to Yuri’s standards, but I do enjoy going to the gym and keeping in shape. I am a big fan of the NFL and NBA. Born and raised a Lakers and Steelers fan. I’m into girly stuff too like shopping and so-forth. Other interests include Jackie Chao because she is SOOOOO mature and sooooooooo unmanhot. I also like playing video games and get frustrated whenever Andrew (2.0) enjoys being a buttmunch and kill me in Left 4 Dead 2. I also enjoy learning about the fine world of horticulture and the wizardly skills of drink mixing through the eyes of the Belgium sensation, Uyen de Tran. How did you first become a fan of Girls' Generation?  Although my best friend and older brother were both fans of SNSD since debut, I really became a fan through my mom and Yoona. My mom is one of those Korean ahjummas who love their dramas. My mom was insistent on me watching some drama called “You Are My Destiny”. IT WAS TOTALLY MY DESTINY. One day, I was like “WOMAN, GET OFF ME. I WILL WATCH IT.” Actually, I didn’t say it in that tone because I’m pretty sure she would have beaten me with a broomstick but I did end up watching it with her. Anyways, shizzz was soooooooooooo cash and I was so entranced by Yoona’s acting,her neck, and how she could fit a huge spoon of rice into her mouth that I decided to look her up. I read up everything about her and found out she was in some girl group. I was never really that into k-pop but once I watched the MV for “Baby, Baby”, I was hooked and became a self-declared Sone since 2008 (I wasn’t so 2000 and late). HOLLA HOLLA. Who is your favorite member and why? Soshified Member? It’s definitely Deo (Jetified). Her eyes are so dazzling. When she stares into my soul while eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (TOTALLY A JETI MOMENT), I think to myself, “How can God create such a fine creature?” If you meant SNSD member, I guess that tall one, “I’m Yonnaz” because she has a flawless neck. In all seriousness, I love all members but my favorite since the beginning has been Yoona. You know how they say you tend to like people who are somewhat like you? I’m not saying we’re exactly alike but I enjoy her sense of humor and her personality. I feel like I can relate to her the most. Not to say I don’t like the other members, but there’s just something about her that makes me appreciate her just a tiny smudge more. Her sincerity, the way she treats fans and carries herself in public just attracts me to her. She may not be considered the best singer, the best dancer or even the best actress, but I appreciate the effort she puts into each project she’s a part of. She works very hard and continues to improve through the years I’ve had the opportunity of following her. Whether it’s her infectious laugh, her choding personality or even her naive and shy demeanor, she doesn’t really put up a front. She is who she is and I feel fame and success hasn’t changed her one bit. I guess there’s more I could say about her but I think it’s best for new (and possibly old fans) alike to just watch videos of her and see why she (and the rest of Soshi) are so amazing. What is your favorite Girls' Generation song and MV and why? That’s like practically asking me who do I like better, my mom or dad? T__T. I have a few favorite songs but if I could only choose one, and I might get bricked for this, it’d be “The Great Escape”. It’s currently my favorite but I’m sure once I listen to their older songs, I’ll fall back in love with those. I love unst unst music and that song totally unst the pants right off me. As for MV, it’d be “Genie”. Everything about the single was perfect! The MV was very naisu, their concept was perfect, the song was perfect, Taeyeon’s forehead, Sooyoung’s legs, Yuri’s hair, Jessica’s blonde hair, Sunny’s shoopa stahs, Hyoyeon’s thighs, Seohyun’s wings, Tiffany’s eyebrows, and Yoona’s neck, as always, was perfect, the cake was perfect. Everything was just perfect about the video. For nostalgic purposes, “Into the New World” and “Baby, Baby” are ranked pretty high as well. What is your favorite Girls' Generation moment and why? There are a few to mention but my favorite would be my stash of the entire 2010 Seoul Music Award fancams. It’s a fancam that follows SNSD from the red carpet all the way to them walking off stage at the end of the event. I guess you could say it’s an insiders fancam into what they’re really like “behind the cameras”. Seeing their interactions with one another and how carefree they were made me appreciate them even more. They acted like fangirls as other artists performed songs, singing and dancing along to almost every performance. It was just nice to see them relax and be themselves. Also, their wins were a very nice added bonus as well. How has Girls’ Generation impacted your life, in specific areas or even as a whole? They made me poor, lol. Prior to SNSD, I would just download mp3′s and be on with my life. Since becoming a part of the fandom, I feel guilty for even listening to a song on youtube. I try to buy almost all of their albums, dvd’s, posters, official merchandise, donating to birthday projects, even going to SMTown LA, and etc. I gotta hustle to make a living. I felt SNSD have impacted me in a good way. I’m not one to really follow celebrities and all of that jazz but I can genuinely say they’re my role models. You hear about the good deeds they do, especially Sooyoung, and it makes you want to become a better person. I’m not perfect but I do try my best to emulate that to some extent. Speaking of which, one of the admins from yoonyultv.com, Jackie, is doing something quite extraordinary. She is one of the founding members of http://onelove.tumblr.com. It’s a non-profit group that raises funds and brings awareness towards numerous charitable events. What do you like most about Soshified, and why? Any section in particular you’re attracted to? I think without Soshified and being a SONE, I never would have had the opportunity to have met the group of friends I’ve come across. For that, I’m always eternally grateful. I’m fond of two sections. I’ll have to take a line from my Mami/t-shirt lady/camiiseta; thanks to Soshified subs and all of the hard work that the translators, editors, typesetters, uploaders and everyone else, they made me into a bigger fan that understands SNSD more. I humbly thank you guys for all of the hard work you put into everything that you do and commend your efforts to get things done. The other section I often visit is the official YoonYul thread in the pairing section. Although I don’t have as much time as I used to, I met a lot of great friends whom I still talk to on a regular basis to this day. The thread is always very welcoming. fun, refreshing, and lively. The people truly made my Soshified experience worthwhile. Is there anything else about you that you would like to add? Can I do a shameless plugin? Please follow us on tumblr: http://www.yoonyultv.com Subscribe on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/yoonyultv4 We just opened a twitter account so please follow us on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/yoonyultv Once again, please do join our contest: http://soshified.com/forums/topic/163-yoona-yuri-yoonyulyoonri/page__st__15980__p__4045292#entry4045292 I’m on twitter too: http://www.twitter.com/sooyoona http://www.yoonaddict.com (Kitty works really hard) Finally, is it alright to give out some shoutouts? Liz (KissMez) – You were my first Soshified friend when I signed up and a true unnie. Thank you for always being there Jay, Vera, Nicole, CC, Viv, and Trish – Let’s get together over some cheese fondue. Lim – I miss you. Mint – YoonYulTV wouldn’t be YoonYulTV without you. You’ve been with me from the start and I appreciate you and our friendship…even when you’re a troll. I wish you and Sukjin all the happiness in the world. Chao – MMMMMMMMMM girl. I don’t know what else to say, you’re one of my closest friends and I enjoy our chats. You always find a way to crack me up. We click; we’re so similar that it’s scary at times but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Amy, Lambo, Teepani, Morgan, Emi, Justin, and Popsicle – Thank you guys so much for all of your help with YoonYulTV. Getting to know you guys has been a real blast and I look forward to what we can do with YoonYulTV in the future. I still dislike you, Teepani. Let’s work hard together and spread the YoonYul 4yul, Zimmy, Triefy, Cammie, Guanjia and yoonyul.com staff – yoonyul.com have been so supportive and nice to Mint and me. The least I can do is send Zim some pizza with no mushrooms. From the start, you have helped me with videos and information. You’ve been so kind to the YoonYul Soshified community with sharing your fancams and website exclusives. You’re the greatest group of people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know. Talking to you guys always puts a smile on my face. Sammich – My fellow Korean. Thank you for the lulz and Arabian dance mixes. You’ve been so supportive and a great friend. I learn so much from you and you’re my first true Korean Sone friend from Korea, lol. I’m not very good when it comes to expressing myself but I want you to know that you’re a wonderful person inside and out. :{D Carine – Thank you for being the biggest LauSic shipper and being a great friend. You’re quite easy to talk to and I look up to you. Please like my eyesmiles. I am so happy to have gotten to know you this year and I hope we can meet one day so I can make fun of your height stature Cami – Hey Mami, you sexy. Let’s handshake soon, ya? In all honesty, I feel at ease talking to you and I consider you a very good friend. You know how to make me laugh and cheer me up. You’ve always been so supportive and I hope you know how much it means to me. Please grow taller so I won’t have the burden of putting you on my shoulders for the next SMTown :B Uyen – Thank you for introducing me to HyoHyun. You were right, they’re so cute. Cowgirl Nina – I haven’t spoken to you in a while but I hope you’re not getting sunburned down in Mexico. Corie – I have a coupon for some depends. Let’s continue to master Hangeul together Racha – Hello cousin. How’s the city life in Singapore? Claire – I really enjoyed befriending you and I do hope to get to know you all on a much more personal level *wink*. In all honesty, thank you so much for always being there and helping out so much. Mail/Shaniqua Shaquille Latif – Baby boo, I miss you so much. I miss our hugs and how our bodies mold together so well. Lah – You’re very unmanhot. I like it. Thanks for the crack. Deo – I like it when you whisper my name. Pie – I like DeoPie. I hope you won’t come across anymore snowmen. Jair, Logan, Lisa, Mei, Mai, Russ, Dark Bringer, Nat, DJ Unst, Michelle, Jenneration, SOONKYUUUU (twitter franz, Kitty, and Fatlips (anyone else on Skype I may have forgotten ><) – You guys make Skype/twitter so much fun and I enjoy talking to you on there and you’ve all been a blast to get to know better! Hang, Jannine, Jane, Sung, Milo, Liz, Ole, Liam, Spiels, Sera, Laras, Fionna, Artie, Lambo, Nicky, Yoonibers, Rikku, Steffy, Shirley, Randy, David, Celine, Nufe, and everyone else in the YoonYul thread – Thank you guys so much for making the thread worthwhile and fun. If it wasn’t for the thread, I never would have had the chance to meet you guys ^^. Some of the best Sones and best shippers I’ve had the pleasure to meet. Andrew – I included you as a shoutout. You don’t have to threaten me anymore . You are a huge troll but I’m happy you’re a nice troll at times Gizzy and Ken – You two have been so nice and kind to me. I am thankful to have met you guys. I’m staring at your eyeball right now Gizzy. I really hope no one reads our convos because they are quite retarded lol. Bekky – I hope you and Minho are very happy together. You’ll make beautiful babies ^__^ Elena – I hope you send me some pizza soon. Please do well on your exams so you can support me through school Lambo – You smell like lavender. Spiels, Geniecity, Teepani and Yelly – Hello children ^^. I’ll try and be a better mother. I promise to pick up a tagalog pick-up book too. To anyone I may have missed, I apologize ><. To the fellow YoonYul shippers, thank you so much for making SSF so much fun. You guys are a lot of great fun and I enjoy spazzing with you all <3. ********** Very big thanks goes out to Lauren for participating in this month’s Soshified Spotlight.  As usual, you can submit nominations for future Soshified Spotlights if you’d like to participate or if you’d like to get to know a fellow member better.  Instructions on how to do so can be viewed at the Soshified Spotlight Solicitation announcement. Compiled by: residentbenchwarmer@soshified.com Graphic by: cioco@soshified.com Have a news item that you think Soshified should know about? E-mail us at tip@soshified.com. Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/soshified for the latest on Girls’ Generation.

URL: http://soshified.com/2011/10/soshified-spotlight-october-2011-part-1-sooyoona