This past week, I was a guest on my good pal Shira Lazar’s weekly show “What’s Trending.” Shira was in NY for the day, so I got to hang with the fabulously funny Chris Gore, and guests Destorm Power (YouTube hip hop sensation) and Douglas Sarine (creator of Ask a Ninja).

We chatted about Coachella (if you haven’t been, GO! It was my first time), twitter marriage proposals (tacky), Halo 4, and the sizzling new Fassbender/Prometheus trailer (um, yes please.)

Dawn Richards performed her kick-ass new single, Bombs Away, which totally rocked the house.

Needless to say, we had a blast (and did our best to keep the show clean….*cough*)! More photos after the jump:

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UPDATE: Thanks so much to everyone who came out and supported – I had a blast!! If you missed it, I’ll be doing another show this summer…subscribe to my mailing list (in the right hand column) if you want to be notified of my next show! In the meantime, here are some pics…

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Last month, the friendly folks at New Media Rockstars asked if I’d like to do a fun (i.e. wacky) photoshoot + interview down in Venice Beach. (For any of you who DON’T know New Media Rockstars, they are a fantastic source for how-to articles on web content production and profile pieces on web personalities.) Here’s an excerpt of what went down:

This whole generation of new media artists has a vibrant, can-do, wear as many hats as possible while knocking the socks off of viewers at home attitude. Taryn Southern is every bit of that and more! Writer, producer, actor, singer, red carpet host, comedian, video blogger… the list keeps expanding. Wowza. After a delicious sit down at Lemonade, we stormed the Venice Boardwalk while chilling with aliens. Given the extroverted energy she exudes from her videos, Venice Beach and its community of energetic characters seemed to be a fitting location. After all, the woman does write songs about boobies and poo. Join us as we pick the self-proclaimed “life hacking ninja’s” brain on how she intertwines online media and traditional Hollywood entertainment together.

For the rest of the article and photos, click here.

manifesto [man-uh-fes-toh]  a public declaration of intentions, opinions, objectives, or motives.

Thanks to Jenn Hoffman, whose personal manifesto inspired me to write my own!

~ my personal manifesto

• Don’t think about what someone can do for you; ask what you can do for them. Only in these circumstances will you foster authentic, long term relationships.

• Empathy, not sympathy. Only by trying on someone else’s shoes are you ever able to be compassionate in a productive and meaningful way.

• Don’t get paranoid when people don’t return your emails. They probably just forgot, like you so often do.

• Don’t assume the worst. The worst doesn’t exist anymore than the best.

• When you’re feeling down, remember that “this too shall pass.”

• Reflecting on negative emotions for too long only causes you to sit in them. Helping those who are less fortunate will inevitably force you to stop dwelling on your own crap.

• Instead of being grateful always, practice gratitude today.

• Prioritize friends. There is such a thing as having too many. The ones that count? They listen, they love, and they challenge.

• When you’re feeling full of yourself, visit the 99 cent store. It’s impossible not to check your ego at the door.

• When you’re feeling funny, RECORD THAT SH*T ON YOUR IPHONE.

• When you’re feeling playful, it’s probably because you’re happy. So when you’re not happy, play…and see what happens.

• If you don’t know what to play, just play with your cat – she reminds you that the greatest joy is often found in exploring simple curiosities.

• Demand honesty from yourself. You can only be as good as your word.

• You have the right and the ability to change. Your words, your actions, even your thoughts.

• Don’t ever stop learning.

This past weekend marked the first time I’ve ever set foot on the official Academy Awards red carpet. It was a madhouse (as usual, with these things), but SO much fun. I interviewed the folks behind The Artist, Kung Fu Panda, Rango, the ladies of Bridesmaids, and so many more!

Peter Langner Dress

Special thanks to Peter Langler for loaning me my beautiful dress and to Charles Winston for the amazing jewelry. Also to DBG, NowLive, and USWeekly for putting on such a fun live streaming event. More photos after the jump! Read more…

It’s Oscars time, and you know what that means….I’m back on the red carpet! (And in a dress that is truly to die for…if only I could keep it! See Exhibit A.)

Join me and Carson Kressley, Molly Sims, and Brooke Burke in our awesome pants viewing party LIVE at 3pm PST/6pm EST on USWeekly.com on February 26th. CLICK HERE TO GO DIRECTLY TO OUR LIVE FEED. If you want red carpet video updates straight from my iPhone, best go get yourself on over to my special iPhone YouTube page and subscribe here.

EXHIBIT A

I’ll be on the red carpet, while they talk fashion, movies, celebs, and some very special Oscars recipes with celebrity chef Katie Lee on a Hollywood rooftop nearby. (Katie promised she’d save me some of the delicious goodies for me after I’m done on the red carpet at 4:30pm.)

Hope to see you guys there – and as always, the show will be interactive, so tweet me your questions!!

It’s true. I’m getting better at keeping up with a weekly YouTube vlog, and I’ve learned that the key is just DOING IT. I have to remind myself – I’m not making art here, just updates. How hard is that, right??

First, I posted a video rehash of my experience hosting the Golden Globes pre and post show two years ago (talk about late to the ball game), but it feels good to clean out the hard drive and maybe give some people an inside look to what it’s like. I received a lot of comments/questions about hosting (how can I host a red carpet like that? what do you study in college?) I’ll be doing a follow-up post answering some of those questions, and later this fall, I’ll be releasing a book that will go into them in-depth…but more on that later! Read more…

Last week I spent several days in Vegas for the IAWTV Awards at CES. I was nominated for a Best Actress Award for my work on BlackBoxTV alongside several very talented actresses, and was also presenting in several categories.

To be perfectly honest, Vegas isn’t my favorite place on earth (something about the fact there are no windows in the hotels REALLY bothers me), but it was so much fun hanging out with my pals from the web TV community. Tony Valenzuela, iJustine, Ethan Newberry, The Fine Bros, Sean Becker, Felicia Day, Paula Rhodes, Stephanie Thorpe, Jenni Powell, and of course my agents and reps and all the wonderful new media execs I’ve become friends with over the years. We drank, we ate, we were merry, and….here is a fun little video of some things I observed while in Vegas that I thought I would share with you all. Enjoy!

xo

T

Thanks to Jenn Hoffman, whose personal manifesto inspired me to write my own!

~ my personal manifesto~

• Don’t think about what someone can do for you; ask what you can do for them. Only in these circumstances will you foster authentic, long term relationships.

• Empathy, not sympathy. Only by trying on someone else’s shoes are you ever able to be compassionate in a productive and meaningful way.

• Don’t get paranoid when people don’t return your emails. They probably just forgot, like you so often do.

• Don’t assume the worst. The worst doesn’t exist anymore than the best.

• When you’re feeling down, remember that “this too shall pass.”

• Reflecting on negative emotions for too long only causes you to sit in them. Helping those who are less fortunate will inevitably force you to stop dwelling on your own crap.

• Instead of being grateful always, practice gratitude today.

• Prioritize friends. There is such a thing as having too many. The ones that count? They listen, they love, and they challenge.

• When you’re feeling full of yourself, visit the 99 cent store. It’s impossible not to check your ego at the door.

• When you’re feeling funny, RECORD THAT SH*T ON YOUR IPHONE.

• When you’re feeling playful, it’s probably because you’re happy. So when you’re not happy, play…and see what happens.

• If you don’t know what to play, just play with your cat – she reminds you that the greatest joy is often found in exploring simple curiosities.

• Demand honesty from yourself. You can only be as good as your word.

• You have the right and the ability to change. Your words, your actions, even your thoughts.

• Don’t ever stop learning.