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!

My second vlog was about my recent appearance as Nancy Roder on my friends’ web series. God I love that gal, even if you guys don’t. If you have no idea who Nancy Roder is, just watch the first ever video I ever did “as her,” and you’ll get the idea.

And finally, my last vlog was done in honor of The X-Factor. Last fall, the producers let me put together a little music video to play as a segment during the live pre-show. It’s no Coffee Makes Me Poo :-P, but we had a blast and it show you all the spots on the lot where I worked. Huge thanks again to everyone at FOX, Fremantle, Syco, and Sony Music for bringing me on as a host. I had a tremendous amount of fun.

So that’s it! If you haven’t subscribed to my YouTube channel and you don’t want to miss these weekly works of vlogging art, you can do it HERE! It takes about 3.5 seconds.

More to come from my trip to Miami soon…

Taryn

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

**Warning: this feels like an incredibly self-indulgent blog post – and it is. It’s being written if nothing for accountability, but I don’t expect anyone to find it interesting.**

I’ve always been an insanely meticulous pre-New Years goal setter. Every December since the 8th grade, I’ve typed out a “review” for my previous year, as well as goals for the upcoming year, and posted them on a bedroom wall. While this innate obsessive compulsiveness might seem a little ridiculous, quite honestly, I look forward to this brief period of reflection every single year.

One my favorite bloggers, Chris Guillebeau, does the same thing, and goes so far to share his review with all of his readers (I presume there’s no greater motivation to getting stuff done than having to answer to all of your fans.) So, in the spirit of sharing, I’ve decided to do my own Annual Review of 2011, broken down below:

TRAVEL. I explored Asia and London (this trip technically fell at the end of 2010/beginning of 2011), the South of France, Austin, Mexico (Tulum), Atlanta, New York (7 times), San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, San Diego, and my home-diggity-home of Wichita, Kansas. Next year, I have plans to visit Macchu Picchu, Miami (my old alma mater), Lake Tahoe (gotta love the slopes!), and Las Vegas. Fingers crossed for Yellowstone, Argentina, and Brazil. Bonus points if I make it to Europe, my stomping ground for inspiration and relaxation.

WORK. This year was particularly interesting. Last December, my goal for 2011 was to find a common theme in my work, as I frequently take on a lot of different gigs (hosting/acting/writing/producing/etc) and find it difficult to focus when things get really busy. This year I hosted a lot of live movie premieres, and worked as a correspondent/host on several television specials, pilots, and web-based shows, including The X-Factor Pre-Show. I re-launched my YouTube channel by releasing new monthly musical comedy videos, produced online content for several different sites (Break.com & Airbnb), and took on a fantastic role in a new scripted comedy series for MTV. The common theme? A strong foundation in the web space (i.e. audience interactivity, commentary, web culture emphasis, etc). It’s no secret that I’m inherently a big web geek, but it helps to know that it follows suit throughout my work – so it instantly became a lot easier to focus and prioritize my time around projects that follow this theme. As a result, I also ended up spending a lot of time researching online content metrics, ad sales, audiences, and video techniques, to learn more about the biz and hopefully integrate into my existing gigs.

PERSONAL.  2011 was the year of trying new things – stand up comedy and dialect classes, for instance – and that will probably continue in 2012 (I’ve already signed up for a vegan cooking class in February!)  I moved into a new apartment because of noise issues in my old place, which reminded me that moving is one of the most stressful things on the planet. And, when I think about it, I spent a damn amount of time this year thinking. Literally, just thinking. Thinking more before doing, thinking before saying, thinking before thinking, thinking while thinking, and then thinking some more. I even subscribed to magazines about thinking (Scientific American Mind/Psychology Today). I’m not exactly why the obsession on thinking, but the results are (I think) that I am a more thoughtful person.

LOOKING AHEAD. I spent a good deal of time analyzing what left me feeling inspired and fulfilled, and on the flip side, what made me feel drained or apathetic.

Next year is all about putting these revelations into action by tying up loose ends on a few existing projects, and moving forward with a bigger plan for the future (more about this later!) I also am putting forward a new general mantra about my work. Unfortunately, the constant act of creating on a deadline (scripts, videos, blogs, presentations, etc) is exhausting. I realized that it’s all too easy for me to slip into a producer role and forget about the “inner artist.” So, this year I will make a concerted effort to be less concerned with the end result and focus more on the process. As corny as it sounds, I also want to spend more time teaching. I speak at colleges re: new media, and also spent six months leading a personal development class at an at-risk girls home, both activities that I enjoyed tremendously. The more I teach, the more I learn from others, and that’s one thing that always puts EVERYTHING else into healthy perspective.

So, there you have it! My year in review. But enough about me – I want to hear about you! Post your yearly review in your blog and send me a link via Twitter! This website is still under construction (another NY resolution!), so comments are currently disabled.

But seriously, go make this year f*cking AWESOME!!

xo

Taryn

Just kidding! I do actually love the holiday season and (mostly) everything that comes along with it.

“You Suck, Christmas” is part of a 3-video series, in collaboration with Ethan Gallagher of Totally Sketch and the oh-so-talented Ethan Newberry.

To see the other videos, please click on the links embedded in mine!

And if there’s one gift you can get me for Christmas, it’s to subscribe to my YouTube channel. Every person counts! http://www.bit.ly/TarynSouthern

Happy Holidays xo

Taryn

Although I’ve done a little bit of voiceover work, this was my first time using a character voice (and voicing several different characters!) I had a blast, though unfortunately didn’t get to meet Lucas since he was doing his voiceover work from his hometown of Nebraska. Maybe next time!

Hope you enjoy the series, here’s the first episode:

xo

Taryn

P.S. Support a sister and buy the iTunes song HERE. If you want to watch all the behind-the-scenes action, click HERE.

Not only am I obsessed with the British version of the series, but I’ve always had a thing about wanting to work as a host or judge on a talent competition series (psychologically speaking, probably to minimize long-term damage from my own terrifying experience as a former American Idol contestant.)

Anyway, enough babbling. Every week though December, I am hosting the official Pepsi pre-show with the hilariously awesome Dan Levy and Jim Cantiello. And if you don’t blink too fast, you might occasionally catch me hosting a segment for The X-Factor network broadcast on FOX (last week I explained the interactive elements of the X Factor app to viewers.)

So if you’re an X-Factor fan, you can tune into the pre-show every Wednesday night, 7pm EST/8pm PST on www.thexfactorusa.com. You can also download the X Factor app on iTunes and watch the pre-show on your iPad or android device. If you’re not a fan of the show, you…owe me a marshmallow.

All downloads of the song will be matched with a donation to Stand Up 2 Cancer. You can find the song on iTunes here.

For more information on how to do a self-breast exam, click here: http://www.webmd.com/breast-cancer/guide/breast-self-exam.

Special thanks to all the people who made this possible:

Song Composed and Mixed by Will Forbes -
http://www.arkatonemusic.com

DP/Editor:
Brian Bellinkoff - http://www.themaurizioshow.com

PA/Behind the Scenes:
Brian Marzan - http://www.youtube.com/user/LifesNotFunnyFilms

ALL THE LADIES:
Shira Lazar - http://www.youtube.com/shiralazar
Kate Albrecht - http://www.youtube.com/mrkate
Brittani Louise Taylor - http://www.youtube.com/brittanilouisetaylor
Jenny Alden - http://www.youtube.com/thedessertdarling
Julia Price - http://www.youtube.com/juliaprice1
Taryn O’Neill - http://www.tarynoneill.com
Lynn Chen - http://www.theactorsdiet.com
Casey McKinnon - http://www.www.caseymckinnon.com
Paula Rhodes - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1955206/
Dana Rosendorff - http://www.danarosendorff.com/
Meg Cionni - http://www.megmariecionni.com
Stuart Brazell - http://www.stuartbrazellonline.com
Monroe Alvarez - http://twitter.com/MonroeAlvarez

And, a shoot wouldn’t be a shoot without a fun little behind-the-scenes video:

Behind the Scenes of “Touch Your Boobies”

For the full lyrics, or to give us a ‘thumbs up,’ you can visit the YouTube version here.

Judging by my last blog, any visitors over the past three months might have assumed I disappeared in France or became a crazy spinster cat lady. While the latter might be true (see end of post), it really has just been quite a busy/fun summer – and as always, one that went by entirely too fast.

So, here it is, the UPDATE OF ALL UPDATES!

FIRST, WORK STUFF:

- BREAK.COM DEAL: I signed a little first look deal-a-roo with the awesomely hilarious video site, BREAK. A “first look deal” is really just the fancy schmancy Hollywood way of saying that they think I’m a pretty cool gal, and I think they’re pretty cool, too, so we’re gonna do multiple projects together.

On Set with Jareb Duplaise

My first project with them is Game for Gamers, a comedic instructional series teaching gamers how to get girls using gaming strategies.

You can see four promos for the series here. I had a great time working with my friends on them, and am really excited about my other stuff in the works over there. Plus they have free coke machines in their lobby.

Playing Nintendo at E3

• - I tested out the newest video games and talked to video game CEO’s for the official E3 site
• - Interviewed the fearless Deadliest Catch dudes for the Discovery Channel
• - Did the live stream of Scream 4 for Dimension Films
• - Chatted with Tommy Hilfiger and Joss Stone for Macy’s Fashion Night Out
• - And most recently, hosted the premiere of Abduction for Lionsgate, which streamed live in theaters across the country.
• - Today, I’ll be hosting a big ‘ol birthday party for Madonna’s Material Girl clothing line at Macy’s in NYC.

BlackboxTV

- In the web world, I  did another episode of BlackboxTV in Atlanta this summer with some of my favorite web peeps, which you can see here. In TV land, I got close to booking a few roles; fortunately, I haven’t suffered any long term damage from the stream of close call rejection.

- In August, I shot an F/X late night show pilot with the incredibly funny Spike Feresten and a team of his awesome comedian friends. Fingers crossed that the show gets picked up so that I can teach Spike how to effectively use Twitter.

PERSONAL STUFF:

At Comic-Con

- I spent time in NY, Austin, the Hamptons, Mexico, Atlanta, and my hometown of Wichita, KS.

- I moderated a panel at Comic-Con in San Diego for Elfquest and then partied bananas afterwards with all my fellow nerd machines.

Tiggie

- I made it on TheChive.com (thanks to my Twitter followers for making me aware of this.)

- I got a kitten, Tiggie, who is simultaneously the biggest pain in my ass and the greatest love of my life.

_____________________________

So there you have it! There’s more to tell, but my fingers are getting cramped. More updates to come!

Peas and happiness!

xo
T