sufjan stevens

I really listened to Sufjan Stevens' song "Impossible Soul" for the first time today. I never gave it much of a listen because it's 25 mins long and I heard some people who hated it because of the auto-tune. Well... I absolutely love it. Honestly, not all of it, but there are parts that I have fallen in love with. I had three other songs from the new album "Age of Adz" that I hadn't listened to before, so now I've listened to those too, and all of this has rekindled my love for Sufjan. He is just so cool. Now I wish I would have gone to his concert when he came to town back in October or September.

radiohead

When will Radiohead put out a new album? It better been friggin early next year. And they better be touring very soon. Like, this summer.

things

These are some things I would like to have if money were not an issue:

-iPad (next generation though)
-Cast iron tea pot
-Fender bass guitar
-A good pair of noise canceling headphones
-A plane ticket
-The Royal Tenenbaums DVD (I never can find it on sale and I don't find justification for spending over $12 on a movie)
-A new outfit from Anthropologie
-Vinyl records/Cds (I have spent SO much money on music in the past year, it makes me sick)

These are what come to mind at the moment.

movies lately

I have seen a ridiculous amount of movies lately that have scenes of people snorting drugs. What is up with this?! New fad? I surely hope not! I feel like movies exaggerate things like drugs and smoking to make it appear as though everyone is doing it.

My Top Ten Best Movies of the 2000's

My friend and I have been sharing top ten lists lately. It started with a discussion about how crappy movies have been lately. Which led to him saying we should come up with our top 3 favorite movies of the decade, to which I said we should just come up with a top ten. This is my list and my reasons afterward:
1. No Country for Old Men (2007)
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
3. The Departed (2006)
4. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
5. There Will Be Blood (2007)
6. 3:10 to Yuma (2007)
7. High Fidelity (2000)
8. Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
9. Almost Famous (2000)
10. Big Fish (2003)

Honorable Mentions:
Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2 (2003-2004); Zoolander (2001); Pride and Prejudice (2005); The Dark Knight (2008)

1. I don't really have an explanation for this one. I just thought it was a terrific adaptation of a so-so book. Great directing; a masterpiece of the Coen Bros.
2. So creative! And Jim Carrey did a phenomenal job! I had no idea he could do serious so well! And I just loved the complexity of the love story.
3. This was the first, and only, movie so far that made me spontaneously swear out loud. The final twenty minutes just had me blown away in shock. So dang good. (Yes, it totally copied a Chinese movie, but who cares, this movie and the acting was great.)
4. Just an interesting vignette-esque movie about a family who has to be reunited because of their sick father. Great cast, beautifully made, and the soundtrack was so cool. This movie makes me love Wes Anderson.
5. "I drink your MILKSHAKE!!!" Hahah, this is a very dark movie and the soundtrack was done by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead. I just really love this movie!
6. Russel Crowe is one of my favorite actors and this was a very well made remake. I don't usually really like westerns, but I thought this one was great.
7. The reasons why I love this movie are as followed: 1) John Cusack is my all time favorite actor (still alive) 2) I love records 3) I love top ten lists. ....and Jack Black is funny in it
8. Enjoyably quirky movie. (and I really like Paul Dano, I wish he was in more things)
9. Out of all these movies, this has been the most influential to me. I saw it when it first came out before I was really into music, and after watching it I got a lot of the music mentioned in it, which I still love today.
10. Okay, okay. Overall, probably not the greatest movie, but the ending always tears me up! I think that counts for something. It obviously affects me. And it has a good cast.

Share your list! I love hearing others.

movie

I just watched Annie Hall tonight for the first time in my life. I never wanted to see it because I've always had a serious grudge against Diane Keaton. But we just got the instant Netflix thing for the TV and it was one your could download and watch right away for free. I figured its one of those that I should see because
a) It's a Woody Allen movie, which this is the first of his films that I have seen
b) Because it is so famous! It won 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture! How can I pass that up? I had to find out for myself.
Anyway, I watched it and I have 6 words: Why did I take so long??
I absolutely loved it! I thought it was clever, funny, interesting, and Allen is adorable. And man, was I so impressed with Keaton's performance. It was great. It was nothing like I have seen her do (I'm used to seeing her in terrible raunchy movies like Something's Gotta Give and Because I Said So).
I am so impressed with this movie! I am kind of in shock because I thought I would hate it. And I couldn't believe how many times I have heard Annie Hall referenced, but I never knew it!
I'm amazed!

Confession

I am embarrassed to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway:
I just recently found out what an "oxford comma" is. I think the song "Oxford Comma" by Vampire Weekend was the first time I had heard of it and I thought it was like a polite action a preppy person would do or something. I feel like an idiot. I never knew that there was a name for that final comma in a list preceding "and."

But really, "who gives a [crap] about an Oxford Comma?"

wish

I wish I could fast forward my life to next June. I'm just so sick of a lot of things. I'm tired of school and I'm tired of people. I want to make new friends. I want to experience new things.

But I know in ten years or so I'll look back and regret being so eager to grow up.

Books.

Here is what I originally come to post about, but then I got sidetracked after I found out that April was my last posting. haha, typical...

Books. So many of them, so little time, right? Well that's what I think, and there aren't too many people I've come across that think differently. I was just looking at my pretty good sized library, and I found so many books that I have started but never finished: Sense and Sensibility, Wuthering Heights, Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil, The Princess Bride, Trust Me (Updike short stories), Oliver Twist, and A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. Out of all those books the only two I didn't finish because I didn't like them were Oliver Twist and Brooklyn. All of the rest I really, really liked! Now this just really disappoints me! I love reading! I want to become more cultured and here I am, not finishing what I started! Tsk, tsk. That will not get me anywhere. (This is not even mentioning probably close to fifty books that I have in my room that I haven't even started. But I feel a little better about that). Of course I have school work to think about and when I'm not working I try to spend time with friends, but if I just think about allll the hours I spend on the computer, it makes me weep! (not really, but figuratively, yes, yes it does.) From this point on I am going to try to limit my time on the computer!!! I don't know what to limit it to quite yet, but I'm going to try my best. I mean, why delete my Facebook if I'm still spending as much time on the computer as I did before?? (I can answer that question, but I shall save that for another time). Twitter is probably one answer. Recently I have tried Twitter again. I am not following anyone I personally know, but that doesn't stop me from spending lots of time on there! In my defense I will call Twitter a very knowledgable website. So far in the few weeks that I have started using it I have learned many things that I would not have know.... such as.... Oh! The new Batman movie is going to be called: The Dark Knight Rises! You probably know that by now, but I knew from Twitter within a few hours that the information was released! And from there I was able to inform my friends the next day that had no idea. Sure, you're probably thinking that information is not very important or critical, but whatever.... I don't really have anything right now to say in my defense. In other words... yes I agree with you.

to blog or not to blog...

          Yes. I haven't posted something in this blog since April. Over six months. I've been busy. I've been bored. I've found things to entertain me and also school.

But really. What is the purpose of a blog? I understand those few blogs that are followed by thousands of people. They're written about cooking, music, or just their "interesting" life. But why do I have a blog? I'm certainly not going to be followed by thousands of people, let alone a handful of people. I think the purpose of my blog is a diary. As cheesy as this'll sound, it's a special diary, because it's supposed to make me feel better that my personal thoughts are being sent out into the world, with the slight possibility that they'll be read by someone that'll care. And really, what do I care? Why do I bother? Even if someone, like you, stubbles onto my blog, you'll quickly realize that this is terribly boring and you will move on to the next blog just as quickly as you found mine. All I talk about are things I'm thinking about and my opinions. Why would you, who doesn't know me at all, want to read that? My opinion means absolutely nothing to you.

          Recently I've considered starting a movie blog where I review movies. I happened across this woman who is reviewing every Academy Award Nominated movie in one year. Her webpage is pretty inspiring to me. I love movies and I love reviewing them, so I think it'd be fun. She has a nice little following. About 100 followers on Twitter and who knows how many others that don't use Twitter. Anyway, back to my original train of thought: Should I blog? Honestly, if anyone I knew read my blog I would probably be incredibly embarrassed. Some things can get personal. So then, if there's that fear factor, shouldn't I just quit? I've pondered this a lot, and I've come to the conclusion that it's good to blog.  Since there's the possibility that someone you know will somehow, miraculously, come across your personal blog, I think that makes it that much more therapeutic. By clicking the "PUBLISH POST" button you are taking a chance that someone will read your inner thoughts and judge you about them. So I guess blogging is a sort of liberating experience. For all I know, you could be thinking right now, "She is crazy." But really. Have you tried blogging? Please do, before you judge. 

          Well, I find myself now just rambling. But I guess my main point is, "Blogging is good." I may go so far as to say, "Blogging is healthy." Perhaps not, since blogging is spending time on an electronic device, which I would rather try to wane myself from. I spend so much time on my computer and on my iPhone, it's probably become a little unhealthy.

radiohead

Very early this morning I was on an airplane and I listened to Radiohead's album, "The Bends." It was really cool because actually listening to it on the plane gave me a whole new perspective.

Lyrics to the song The Bends:

"Alone on the airplane, falling asleep against the window pane, my blood will thiiiicken."

In addition to the obvious mention of an airplane, in the following song High and Dry I looked at it from a plane's perspective where before I thought of it only as a clothesline or something. I'm not saying what I thought of this morning was right or anything because I do like my original interpretations, but it's nice to get a whole new outlook on one of my favorite albums. 

memories in a pack of gum

I bought a pack of Big Red today and it always reminds me of going to my grandparents house as a little kid. My grandma would always have a pack in her fridge. To this day I still don't know why she kept it cold, maybe she thought it would cool down the heat of the gum...maybe she thought it would get old, and she needed to refrigerate it. Who knows....

wish

I wish I could whistle like Andrew Bird. That guy is simply amazing.
Listen to Spare-Ohs...

song #2

I absolutely love the song, “If It’s the Beaches” by the Avett Brothers. The acoustic guitar is beautiful. However, like some people complain about the choir intro of "You Can’t Always Get What You Want" by The Rolling Stones, there is a middle section of the song that I cannot stand. They add a sound clip of a girl recording a voicemail message, and it is so incredibly stupid. I hate it. If I didn’t think so highly of the rest of the song I believe I would never ever listen to it again because it’s that terrible.

movie time

I just have to say Ferris Bueller's Day Off is an amazing movie. Can you tell me one other movie that has as many great one-liners??


Cameron: Ferris, my father loves this car more than life itself.
Ferris: A man with priorities so far out of whack doesn't deserve such a fine automobile.

song

When you were here before, couldn't look you in the eye

You're just like an angel, your skin makes me cry

You float like a feather, in a beautiful world

I wish I was special, you're so {very} special. 

~

I don't care if it hurts, I want to have control.

I want a perfect body, I want a perfect soul.

I want you to notice, when I'm not around.

You're so {very} special, I wish I was special. 

creep. by radiohead.

didgeridoo

I have always been fascinated by didgeridoos. You know, they're those awesome Australian instruments that sound like nothing you've ever heard before. I hope to get one someday, I think they are so cool. 
Ha ha, I can just see myself playing one looking ridiculous, but I'd have fun! :) 

ceremony

Right at this moment, I would give anything for an instrumental version of Joy Division's/New Order's song, "Ceremony." I love that song so much, if I had a version without any words I think I could just listen to it on repeat forever. I would have it playing while I read books. I've tried listening to it while reading and the words are just a little too distracting.
I know that sounds kind of wrong to ask for a song without any words, but you must understand that I do think the lyrics are genius too, don't get me wrong.
sigh...  "Ceremony" is most definitely in my top ten most favorite songs ever.

shoes

I was walking in my favorite, favorite black sandals today and the left one broke... I only got a summer out of them too.

I guess that's what I get for buying them on sale at Target.

jane austen

I just started reading Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. I've read Pride and Prejudice three times and absolutely love it, so I figured I should read some of Austen's other works...
The first chapter I honestly had to reread 5 times. Although it was only three pages long, my mind would wander so much and by the time the chapter was over I realized that I absorbed nothing. But once I finally got through that opening chapter the following chapters had a lot of dialogue and I've actually really enjoyed it so far.
That is one thing that I love about Jane Austen, she makes the conversations between characters so interesting.

camera

I have a Nikon DSLR camera and I don't know how the heck to use it. I've had it over a year and I just have never had the time or energy to learn how to use it. However, last night we were sitting on our balcony after sunset and the moon started to come up from behind the mountain. I ran to grab my camera to try to capture a nice shot and I ended up taking about 20 shots before I went inside to google how to take pictures of the moon on manual. About ten minutes later I had it figured out and I got many amazing pictures, if I do say so myself.
Anyway, I am so excited and I cannot wait to learn how to use this camera. It's such a great camera and I really want to be able to use it well. I would post a picture I took, but I forgot the cord to plug my camera into the computer. Alas, I shall upload it when I return.

hello there

Well, this is my third blog in the running.
I enjoy writing and I hope to not neglect this one. I was getting bored with where my other blogs were going, so I think I'll care for this one and update it often.