Music Monday

I have been remiss in keeping up with my postings, and for that I sincerely apologize. Because I slept all of an hour last night and can foresee another bout of insomnia looming on the horizon, my brain is not functioning at it's highest capacity. So I will leave you with this playlist in an attempt to reinstate my Music Monday posts.

Goodbye Shadows...Lay Your Head On My Shoulder

1. Swim(Music Box)- Jack's Mannequin .... Thanks, R, for sending this to me. I have listened to it non stop and really did tear up when I first heard it. I'm glad we're best friends.
2. Little Lion Man- Mumford and Sons .... I only recently stumbled upon M&S while scouring iTunes for new music to add to my writing playlist. I love them and I really love this song.
3. For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti- Sufjan Stevens .... I was listening to this song as the moon grew brighter while I walked my dog. It was quiet and had just rained so the air smelled new. I was overcome by the most beautiful feeling of melancholia and had to breathe deep to remind myself to enjoy it.
4. Jar of Hearts- Christina Perry .... So sad but so pretty.
5. If You Can't Sleep- She and Him .... Thank you again, R, for giving me this gift. It has become my lullaby.
6. Re:Stacks- Bon Iver .... Simply perfect.
7. Collide (Acoustic)- Howie Day .... Love.

Sweet Dreams.
11:12pm

Well hello there.

Nice to see you all, it's been awhile.

In the time that has elapsed since my last post, I have graduated college and travelled through eleven European countries.

I have had honest to goodness Italian food, stood beneath the Eiffel Tower as it sparkled, seen the very place that Anne Boleyn lost her head, sailed around a Greek island, and trekked through the Black Forest. And that's only half of it.

I sit now, in a very strange place. Not physically of course, as I am currently in my room. But metaphorically, my life is the very definition of 'in between'. I am no longer a student but have yet to fully embrace the 'real' world. My job search has been less than ideal and more than a little disheartening. In the grand scheme of things, not so much time has passed since graduation that I should be gravely concerned for my professional career and yet, I have become closely acquainted with stress. In fact, I have come to equate my stressful bouts of anxious concern with the feeling one gets when donning a much worn coat. The sensation slips over me and settles all to comfortably on my shoulders in a way that both heightens and soothes the fickle feeling.

In lieu of these unfortunate affectations, I feel compelled to improve myself in the areas I have always wanted to improve. Things such as singing, dancing, and writing. Of course, this means I have to consider how much I may lack in said artistic expressions, which is not a consideration I particularly enjoy making.

Regardless, I feel inclined to make myself commit to something right now. Some sort of positive motion that will help me feel as if I'm moving forward and not stuck in this dreadful limbo.

I suppose we shall see how it all goes.

I apologize for the rather dreary nature of this post. To make up for it, I intend to post a joyful exclamation regarding my recent viewing of Wicked! To preface, I will say that it was all I had hoped and more. I loved it.

11:56pm

Favorite

Not to sound like Julie Andrews, or rather Maria Rainer, but here are a few of my favorite things.

Favorite Book(s): Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, Pride and Prejudice by Austen, The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Favorite Author(s): Jane Austen, Leo Tolstoy, Dorothy Parker
Favorite Song(s): Skinny Love by Bon Iver, Dark Blue by Jack's Mannequin, Heartbeats by Jose Gonzales, and Almost Lover by A Fine Frenzy (Honorable mention: A Comet Appears by the Shins and Mixed Tape by Jack's Mannequin)
Favorite Band: Jack's Mannequin (i love Bon Iver so much though.)
Favorite Singer(s): Gavin Degraw
Favorite Artist: van Goh
Favorite food: Queso ( and Green Bean Casserole on Holidays)
Favorite type of food: anything Mediterranean (I love Mexican too)
Favorite TV Show(s)(still on the air): Glee, House, Bones, Chuck
Favorite TV Show(s)(no longer on the air *sigh*): Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars, Pushing Daisies, and Friends
Favorite Movies: Funny Girl, A League of Their Own, The Sandlot, Love Actually (And a whole host of others, if I'm being honest)
Favorite Musicals: Wicked, Spring Awakening, Rent (those are the Big 3 but there are so many more I could add to this list)
Favorite Sport: Baseball (Go 'Stros)
Favorite Team: Dallas Cowboys (Favorite Player: Jason Witten!)
Favorite place to be: the lake!
Favorite thing to do there: cook out with friends and family and wakeboard!

Ok so that was mostly pointless. I'm not entirely sure where the sudden urge to blog my favorite things came from, but there you go.

6:38pm

Perfect.

This morning I awoke to the sound of my alarm. Bon Iver's "Beach Baby" serenaded me into wakefulness and I opened my eyes to thin strips of sunshine glittering through my Venetian blinds. It made me smile and I took my sweet time getting out of bed. Seriously, there is no better way to set the tone of your day than to wake up smiling.

In honor of my near perfect morning and the beautiful art that Bon Iver creates when they make music, I thought I would post a video of them performing one of my favorites, "Skinny Love". Then, I stumbled on to something wonderful... Ingrid Michaelson singing a cover of "Skinny Love" and suddenly my day is actually perfect. Seriously, its gorgeous and she's another favorite of mine (introduced to me by my best friend! Thanks, R!) so I was delirious with joy for a few seconds.

It's different, and her voice almost feels more like a plea than Justin Vernon's when they sing it, but maybe that's why I love both versions so much. Two wonderful things, together and apart at the same time. Plus it makes me happy that she says it's one of her favorite songs. I was inspired to post this after reading a similar post at my friend Sarah Elizabeth's blog, which I loved; Regina Spektor + John Lennon. (http://sarahelizabethgriffin.blogspot.com/2010/04/real-love.html).

So here it is...


and Ingrid's cover...


12:54pm

Music Monday

So it's Monday morning. Very early Monday morning. And in honor of everyone's least favorite day of the week, I am going to give it some little bit of goodness to make it better. Starting now, every Monday will be Music Monday. Well, every Monday that I remember to post something music related at the very least. So here are a few of the songs that have been playing on repeat on my iPod recently...
1. A Comet Appears- The Shins. (This song is pure poetry. Favorite line... "Every post you can hitch your faith on is a pie in the sky, chock full of lies, a tool we devised to make sinking stones fly".)
2. Heartbeats- Jose Gonzoles (Love.Seriously.So good.)
3. Swan Song- A Fine Frenzy (I really love this song. And Alison Sudol's musical talent)
4. Spring Awakening album- Original Broadway Cast (Literally the entire thing.)
5. Dark Blue- Jack's Mannequin (because it is in my top five from my very favorite band)
6. Hey, Soul Sister- Train (This song just makes me happy.)
7. Skinny Love- Bon Iver (A go to song of mine. Along with almost every other song
that comes out of Justin Vernon's mouth)
8. Revelry- Kings of Leon (I'm just in love with KOL right now)
9. Notion- Kings Of Leon (Case in point.)
10.Hammers and Strings (A Lullaby)- Jack's Mannequin (Because I really think Andrew
McMahon wrote it for me.)

Okay, I could go on forever because music is totally my Anti-Drug but I won't because that might border on excessive.

2:25 am

Spring time in Dallas, an Awakening.

It's two for one Sunday.

This post is going to be a hodge podge of things I love about this weekend.

Yesterday, I was in Dallas at the brand spanking new Winspear Opera House watching the matinee of Spring Awakening. It was incredible. I fell in love with the show months ago, despite never having seen the OBC on Broadway, simply from watching poorly recorded clips and listening to the soundtrack. On repeat. Every day. Regardless, my roommates and I loved every single minute of it! The cast was really great. The two standouts for me were Steffi D and Taylor Trensch who played Ilse and Moritz, respectively. The whole cast really was awesome, but those two just stole the show for me. In the second number of the second act, they perform a duet, "Don't Do Sadness/Blue Wind", that literally gave me chills. I know I'm gushing, so I'll stop myself before it gets too bad.

The show is definitely not your grandma's musical, but it is fresh and stunning and relevant even though the time period is sometime in the late nineteenth century. Beyond just the content, the talent, and the songs, the whole aspect of the show was new and different. I really loved how they used the stage and the members of the cast who weren't performing. The actors who were designated as u/s or part of the ensemble were sitting in the risers on the stage, dressed in street clothes. During group numbers, they would stand up and join in the number. I kind of loved that!

The music will keep you singing long after you've left the theater and I find myself already wishing I could go back. I don't know how long the tour will last, as of now I think it is set to end sometime this summer in Orlando. I really hope that it makes another go around because I would see it again in a heartbeat.

In short, it was incredible. Okay, I'm done with the gushing, I promise.

In other news, to feed the member's of our house insatiable appetites for all things Broadway, Liz has decided we are going to read one excerpt from her book about the great Theaters of Broadway. Tonight was the Ford Center.

In short, I love my roommates.

Here's a little montage from the Tour's YouTube channel. The song is "Totally F**ked" and it doesn't just consist of the words blah blah blah, I promise.



10:13pm

Shake the Dust.

So a friend of mine sent me the link to this video. I may be really behind the curve on this because this guy is simply too brilliant for people not to know him. The man in the video is Anis Mojgani, a spoken word poet out of Portland, Oregon. He has won all kinds of Poetry Slam titles and is kind of a rock star in the world of the written word. I'll just let his work speak for him, so without further ado... Mr. Anis Mojgani.
Enjoy!

The end of the rainbow?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Almost the entire day today, I thought it was the Irish's favorite holiday and even donned my black and green Boston t-shirt to celebrate. I figured it out, finally, and felt significantly bummed. And partly relieved because I understood why no one else was wearing green or sporting clovers in the spirit of St. Patrick. Anyway, that little side note is not really the point of this post.

Not that any of my posts have a point.

Regardless, I signed on today to vent. Or complain, depending on how you look at it. I am approximately two months shy of graduating from college. My plans beyond that extend as far as embarking on a 25 day trip though Europe. After that, I've got nothing.

This literally terrifies me. My stomach gets all twisted and unsettled and a tiny part of me wants to throw up. I have all these grand ideas of careers that I would love to pursue but absolutely no confidence that I am qualified for any of them. I find myself wondering if I am the only college senior experiencing this kind of self doubt.

Surely not.

I sincerely hope not, at any rate. I keep hoping something wonderful will fall into my lap. And then I remind myself that I've always believed you have to work hard to get the things you want. It's funny how I forget that sometimes.

I think right now, I'm losing the wind in my sails. My desire for a job is certainly there but my motivation and drive is strangely lacking. I need to find that fire, that sort of lightning in my veins that could make me unstoppable.

I'll let you know how that goes.

1:14am

Time for Tea? No, a Revolution.

I'm back from Boston! As of Sunday I was back in the Lone Star state and already missing Bean Town. It's weird though, because I sincerely missed the Texas sunshine while fighting the 60 mph winds, trying to get to the T. I think my fond memories of Boston were mostly derived from the wonderful people I travelled with and how every wind storm, wrong turn, and crazy taxi ride became an adventure and ended in laughter.

The city itself was incredible. The fact that you could see modern architecture, all silver and gleaming, situated right next to a brick and beam building that housed some of our nation's first historical moments was absolutely breathtaking. I spent all day Saturday walking in every direction a compass could point and covered pretty much the entire city.

My group of friends and I saw everything we could possibly hope to see and so much more. Half the time, we would end up lost and stumble upon something hidden behind a building or off another street. We, of course, did not carry a map and only relied on the collective directional senses of the group. And Charley. He's a history major so there was an added bonus of historical anecdotes about this building or that field.

There were times that I was sure my sides would simply bust from laughter. We quite literally laughed until we cried when our close-to-midnight trip on the T ended with an impromptu dance off between our friend and another Subway patron. It became those moments, the unchoreographed and unplanned excursions, that I enjoyed the most.

We walked the hallowed halls of Harvard, met Mama Spagnolo in Little Italy (where Mike's Pastry offered us the most delectable cannollis), stood silent in Old North Church where a Revolution began by the light of a Lantern, sat on a stoop on Commonwealth Ave, sized up the Green Monster from the press box, took in the Harbor where tea was once had and a massacre ensued, sat alongside the stools of Norm and Fraiser at a small bar Where Everyone Knows Your Name, stood tall next to Paul Revere's statue, learned to decipher the Bahstahn dialect (mostly), discovered our favorite restaurant (courtesy of the nice door man at the Plaza) called Skip Jack's (home of the best bread ever), and walked east and west of everything in between.

In short, it was an experience, a memory, and a journey. Cheers, dear Boston, until we meet again.

4:55pm

A fickle flurry...

It snowed today. In Texas! For hours! The snow was not only heavy and lasting, it stuck. The white wonderland that became our yard provided my roommates and me the opportunity to build two stout, and slightly skewed, snowmen and make snow angles! It truly was beautiful to see everything cloaked in white. It's amazing how an act of nature, so relatively mild in this case, can transform the world into something described so eloquently in novels and poetry.

It was wonderful just to embrace the weather and the gift of snow in Texas with three friends. We had a snowball fight, slipped and slid on the icy ground, shook white flakes from our hair in laughter, and let our hands grow numb with a smile on our faces. Tests were forgotten, due dates dismissed, and stress completely disappeared for the hour that we lost ourselves in the flurries. In short, it was magical. And so memorable.

The Snow that never Drifts- Emily Dickinson

The Snow that never drifts --
The transient, fragrant snow
That comes a single time a Year
Is softly driving now --

So thorough in the Tree
At night beneath the star
That it was February's Foot
Experience would swear --

Like Winter as a Face
We stern and former knew
Repaired of all but Loneliness
By Nature's Alibi --

Were every storm so spice
The Value could not be --
We buy with contrast -- Pang is good
As near as memory --

10:40pm

Oh dear...

So I have to be up in approximately four in a half hours and my day consists of a quiz and two tests, all of which I am sufficiently under-prepared for. I have procrastinated too much this time and I will surely suffer the consequences of my actions. Oh well, I can only take things as they come now. And pray. And dream impossible things, like pulling a couple of A's out of hat. Speaking of dreaming impossible things, I wanted to share with anyone who cares, my favorite Lewis Carrol quote from Alice in Wonderland.

"There is no use in trying," said Alice; "one can't believe impossible things." "I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before."

I was reminded of this snippet of pure magic, courtesy of Mr. Carrol, when I found it printed on a magnet and for sale at Barnes and Noble. Needless to say I purchased it. So thank you 'quoteablemagnets' for making such a wonderful product.

I think I love Alice in Wonderland simply because it helps us remember just how far a good dose of 'impossible dreams' can go. Sometimes whimsy and fairy dust, or a purple Cheshire cat and a mad hatter, can be the perfect remedy for real life.

Now, I will attempt sleep and dream of many things... "of shoes, and ships, and sealing wax; of cabbages and kings."

2:15am

Something to sleep on, or not...

How do people go to sleep? I'm afraid I've lost the knack. I might try busting myself smartly over the temple with the night-light. I might repeat to myself, slowly and soothingly, a list of quotations beautiful from minds profound; if I can remember any of the damn things. ~Dorothy Parker

How I adore this woman. If only I could have had one dinner with her, simply to listen to her speak. I was born about three decades too late. Damn.

12:52am

Dear Night Owls...

As I lie awake in my bed, not sleeping, I wonder what it is that drives my lack of shut eye. I've never had particularly good sleeping habits and can remember rarely sleeping through the night even at a young age. Sometimes, I can blame stress and anxiety. But for the most part, I just can't seem to fall asleep or stay asleep, whatever the case may be and at times, it's both. I think I am just unable to turn my brain off, because even when I do it is a rare occasion for me to experience one of those deep, seemingly dreamless slumbers.

This is not to say I'm a true insomniac despite my self diagnosis of the sleeping disorder. I don't stay awake every single night, though it is more often than not, and the majority of the time I fall asleep for several hours at a time. It's hardly more than four or five hours, however, unless its a weekend and I attempt a sort of sleep catch up.

At times, I feel like it my be self induced and I'm subconsciously keeping myself awake. I'd like to believe though, that I am not a masochist. Whatever the cause may be, I hope my body accepts the bad habit one day and just learns to adapt. Or corrects it. I really would be happy with either outcome.

Rest well, Night Owls. Or as Gregory Maguire would say, "Fresh dreams."

12:38am

'Tis the start...

...of something, at any rate. I haven't quite figured out which words will find purchase within the bounds of these neatly designed walls, but I suppose there is time enough to figure that out. As for this inaugural post, I simply mean to put words to, um, screen. So instead of me launching into a tell all, I will leave you with a playlist to capture my world on this fine Friday. Perhaps later I will be back for that tell all.

1. Untouched and Intact- The Honorary Title

2. Come Around- Rosie Golan

3. Don't Do Sadness/Blue Wind- Spring Awakening OBC

4. Swan Song- A fine Frenzy

5. Hammers and Strings- Jack's Mannequin

6. Missed the Boat- Modest Mouse

7. Down- Jason Walker

8. For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti- Sufjan Stevens

9. A Comet Appears- The Shins

10. Seasons of Love- Rent Soundtrack