vagueness, i know

I was worried when I heard our topic was going to be future plans. But then I realized what I should say.

I want to go to a decent college where I take classes I enjoy to do something I love. I want to live in a nice town where I know almost everyone. I want to have a pet squirrel and a kitten. I don't know how that will work out. I want to get a fairly good job, live in a small house near a river and have a slightly messy but definitely cozy house. I want to have at least one guest room for people to come see me. I want to marry the love of my life in the Fall. I want to design the invitations and use the swirly font and our full names. I want to wear a beautiful dress. I want to have a small wedding. And I want The Killers to play at the reception. I want to have some time and then maybe have a kid or two. Just depends. Maybe none. But I want to be happy. I want to spend each day doing something different. Something a little out of the ordinary. Out of the dreariness of daily life. I want to not have too much. Not too much stuff. Not too much money. I want to just have enough to be absolutely content. I want to wake up in the morning and just smile to myself because I have everything I really want even if I don't have 50 pairs of shoes.

Sorry it's short but its all I have to say.

-Lacey

I would like to be an adult when I grow up....

When I was a kid, knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I would be a dentist, graduating from BYU. I would be married when I was 22, and would have two kids. And of course, my family would have a pet pig. It wasn't until I reached middle school age, when I realized my plans sucked. Though I love my teeth, I really don't want to spend time in other people's mouths. It's quite gross. And the problems with BYU were: 1. I'd have to be around all Mormons all the time and 2. I'd have to live in Utah. Neither of which is all that appealing to me. I realized that marriage would come when I had found the right guy, at whatever age that might be. And kids would depend on a lot of variables, that I wouldn't know right now. But the pig...I'll still have the pig.

So when my original plans fell through, I decided I would wait until I was older to figure out what to do with my life. So here I am. The question I hate getting asked is, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' For a while I made up a new career for myself every time someone asked. 'I want to be a race car driver.' But I eventually stopped doing that because I ran out of awesome careers.

Don't get me wrong I have thought about what I could do when I'm older. Once I asked my mom if I could use my college funds to attend a ninja academy instead of college, and she laughed and walked away. And though she mocked my half joking/half serious question, whenever I'm really into something I'll tell my mom, and that'll be my answer to the awful question for a while. But I change quite frequently. I don't talk about it, because I'll confuse people later when I say I have a new career choice. Here are some examples: dentist, astronomer, doctor, police officer.

Mostly I have an idea of what I'll be doing when I grow up. I've been into all types of different fields of science since I was a kid, and I'd always figure I would do something with science. My parents and my sisters expect this too. They're always telling people that I'm going to make some great scientific discovery that will revolutionize the world. As much as I'd like to do that, as much as I'd like to change the world...I'm not sure I want to do something with science. But since I generally do what is expected of me, this is what I'll probably be doing. And I'll enjoy it, I love science.

But the thing I enjoy more than anything in the world is writing. I want to write poetry, short stories, novels, and screenplays. Anything that can be written, I want to write. I want to create characters as famous as Tom Sawyer and Harry Potter. I want someone to change his/her lifestyle just because of my book. But my family expects me to be a superhero, and superheroes don't write. It's not a reasonable career anyway. Getting published can take years, and then people have to buy what you write. So, it's the career I keep in the back of my mind, in case the opportunity ever arises.

I understand that soon I'll have to make decision on which college to attend and what career I want to have, but right now I'm just not going to worry about my future. There's too much to think about in the present.

The final thing I want to mention is our new banner. I hope everyone likes it. It was given to me by someone who wishes to remain anonymous even to myself. I absolutely love it, so thank you to whomever sent it.

-Brianna

"I Got a Song to Sing..."

Hello there, Blue Powerblogger here! And I'm wrapping up the music theme this week!

So to start of with, I love love love love love singing. Its something I am very passionate about. I have been singing since the second grade, and I have always considered it to be one of my talents. I sing in my church choir, worship band, and praise team. I take voice lessons. I sing at weddings. I sing for every holiday with my family. I sing in chemistry and engineering (much to June's and Daniel's dismay). I even sang for french dignitaries once.

But contrary to popular belief, I do not sing along with the radio or along with CD's. When I am in the car, I pop in my favorite CD, plug in my headphones, and tell everyone else not to disturb me. Then I just listen to the music. I memorize every little key change, every guitar lick, the melodies, the harmonies, every detail. When I find a song that I absolutely love, I set my ipod to repeat and listen to it over and over. Thats just a weird habit of mine, and I don't sing along until I have a song completely memorized.

So up until eighth grade year, I had my heart set on being a singer. I started voice lessons in sixth grade and discovered my love for performing. I even recorded a song on a christmas CD, and was all set to make a demo to send to Nashville when I started having second thoughts. I once read that only 5 percent of musicians actually made a profit from performing. I didn't want to be a deadbeat singer living in my car and playing at little gigs in hole-in-the-wall type places. I didn't want to be away from my family and be always on the move. Plus, singing requires almost no education. I mean, all you have to do is know how to read, basically. So that meant that the ten years I spent making straight "A's" was in vain. Thats when I decided to become an architect instead. But, as June always says, I can be a "singing-architect". I will always sing, even when I'm a successful architect, even when I'm a mom, even when I have no teeth and am confined to a hospital bed.

Something thats also unique about me as a singer is the fact that I write my own songs. Here are some lines from a few:

"And then, you left, the day we departed/I thought I'd be dead, but I was left broken hearted/and we'll never be apart, and I know we'll make a new start/but it hurt me just to hear you say those words/ Goodbye"

"Seems like/you don't even know who I truly am/inside/ I feel invisible, please understand/realize/I was there for you standing by your side/ its time/ that you heard the truth/so open up your eyes/ oh, now, what is your excuse/for all the pain that I've been through/for you"

"Are you there God/ do you hear my prayer/ are you there God/ in my deep despair/ are you there God/ when this broken heart/ is just about to fall apart/ Hold me tight tell me its alright/ let me believe what I can't see and/ take my hand, help me stand/ when everything around me's falling..."

"You'll never know me/ you'll never know the things that I've gone through/ you never helped me/ when all I did was reach my hands out to you/ you only hurt me/ spreading lies you knew were never true/ you'll never know me/ so please/ quit acting like you do"

So with that being said, here's a list of my favorite songs
-Hallelujah-Paramore
-Fall For You-Secondhand Serenade
-We Shine-Fee
-From the Inside Out-Hillsong
-Matthias Replaces Judas-Showbread
-You're Ever So Inviting-Underoath
-Because of You-Kelly Clarkson
-Life is a Highway AND Me and My Gang-Rascall Flatts
-Wasted-Carrie Underwood
-Hold On-Jonas Brothers
-Hurt-Christina Aguilera
-Defying Gravity-Wicked
-I Got it Bad-Leann Rimes

Okay, so that wraps up music week! I hope you enjoyed the theme, and stay tuned tomorrow for our new theme!!!

-Caroline

Me and My Edible Songs

It's Saturday again and this is another awesome post from the green power blogger w00t! So if you are slow, this week's theme is music. And now without further ado, lets break out the music!

If you have a facebook, you probably already know what kind of songs I listen to. It's on my status everyday and I turned it into a habit to post a new song everyday. I don't listen to anything else and I can't help it. I love Christian music. I mostly listen to Lincoln Brewster, MercyMe, Starfield, and sometimes Toby Mac.

Lincoln Brewster is amazing with the guitar and he has an awesome voice. He is one of the people that spurred me on to play the guitar and I want to play like him one day. He is also one of the factors that helped me to quit violin (muhahaha i'm not coming back orchestra people).

MercyMe and Starfield are both bands that make songs based on their own experiences. Their songs are so in depth with the hardships they went through that they turn out to be amazing songs.
Toby Mac is all out for praising God. He's a Christian rapper =O. I know. What an oxymoron. But it's rap that isn't about grills, cars, money, and other pointless things which made him one of my favorite artists.


This might be boring to some of you, just reading what kind of music we like to listen to, so I wanted to have some fun with this post. After chatting with a certain someone, she gave me an idea. She mentioned waffles and I was like,"Yeah! Lets do a post on songs about food!" So onwards to some old favorite edible songs!




Well that's all I have today. I'm very tired right now and I feel like taking a nap. So join us tomorrow for the blue power blogger's post. Another certain someone pointed out to me one day that I was giving the blue power blogger too much attention at the end of my posts so I will say this. Stay tuned for EVERYONE'S supercalifragilisticexpialadoecious posts next week. (You're still awesome Caroline ^_^)

-June

More Than You'll Ever Know

I started writing this on Wednesday because I didn’t want to leave anything important out of this musical post.
If there is any music you really need from me, then contact me so I can email it to you.
Right now, I am listening to my Paramore songs, most notably “Misery Business,” “Crushcrushcrush,” and “Hallelujah.” Paramore came at time I needed something kind of more directed for girls, and more hardcore than Avril Lavigne, whose later songs I general like. In reference to Lacey’s post, after listening to “Misery Business” 157 times, I’m pretty sure it’s about the guy cheating, if cheating at all, on his ex-girlfriend. The main girl has “gotten” the guy after waiting for eight months. So, it is actually a pretty happy song, in a slightly harsh way. But, if my boyfriend were to cheat on me, then Paramore would be a very good choice.
I also agree with Brianna and Lacey that “You and Me” by Lifehouse is a nice song.
My first exposure to music was Sir Elton John. Living in England and owning a small, old TV, he was one of those people absolutely everyone seemed to have heard about. He played “Candle in the Wind” at Princess Diana’s funeral. It was a special version that he would only perform that one time.
Meanwhile, I had begun my piano studies. At the age of four and a half, I spent anywhere from two to three hours on the first floor, where the landowner had a shiny, black upright piano. I began with some Alfred books, and sped through them.
Soon, we had to move to Wisconsin. I got my own piano with which to eventually get intense. My favorite is probably Chopin’s “Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23,” and my favorite concerto is Rachmaninoff’s “Concerto No. 2,” but I also enjoy Tchaikovsky’s “Concerto No. 1.”
At some point in eighth grade, I would listen to classical music. Then, the laptop my father bought (that we still use) went on sale at Dell.com, so he received a coupon. He used this to buy an mp3 player. I remember one afternoon using our extremely old walkman to listen to the radio. I really liked “Pieces of Me” by Ashlee Simpson. Eventually, he stopped using the mp3 player, so I began to build my own music library. I took off some of the Elton John and Celine Dion songs.
Japanese music is so prominent in various Anime series. From the beginning, my favorite was “Fushigi Yuugi,” and a song I adored was “Perfect World” by Sakamoto Chika.
Without the common illegal downloading, my library was pretty small.
Right before I moved down here, I spent some of my time listening to Green Day. My favorite were “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and “Holiday.”
One day in freshman year, Clara handed me a memory stick with over a hundred songs. This included Ben Folds, The Hush Sound, Straylight Run, Metric, OK Go, Shiny Toy Guns, Ozma, and I might be forgetting something important. I loved listening to The Hush Sound because the girl’s voice was so pretty, and the melodies were quite happy. Ben Folds was great, with his great piano skills. OK Go was cool, and seemed like something that most people might enjoy. Shiny Toy Guns was totally out there, and I remember hearing it being blasted in the middle of the night at Relay for Life, especially “Le Disko.” I like some of the lyrics from “Wake Up,” by Ozma. Wake up and love me, baby.
I like The Academy Is…. I think their band name is cool, even though they would be The Academy if they didn’t have copyright infringement issues. I think “Everything We Had” is different from their other songs, since it’s not so much Alternative Rock as a sad song. I like it very much.
I listen to The Bravery’s “Believe” and “An Honest Mistake.”
“Welcome Home” by Coheed & Cambria is well-known for those of you who play Rock Band. At first, I heard it somewhere on the internet when I was searching for new music. In fact, it took a few tries until I could place my liking on the song. “No World for Tomorrow” is slightly similar to the style of “Welcome Home.” “The Suffering” and “A Favor House Atlantic” are also good.
One of my most played songs is “Yellow,” by Coldplay. As soon as Brianna posted it on her blog, I downloaded it and listened to it on repeat. It’s so sweet and a little sappy, but I still haven’t gotten tired of it.
I don’t like Death Cab for Cutie. Maybe it’s because I’ve gotten into Alternative Rock so much that my mind doesn’t match up with it. I do have 12 songs by them, though.
Elton John, how could I forget? The piano from “Bennie and the Jets” is interesting. I also like “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” “Your Song,” and “Daniel” is alright, but a little gay. But hey, it’s Elton John, and I have respected him for about eleven years.
One day, Jerrod sent me “In Memoriam” by Everybody Else. You probably haven’t heard of this artist, or this song (unless you read my personal blog). It was a marvelous day. It’s about remembering all these days in the past, and how much fun they had, so I guess it’s a bit sad because everything was in the past, but it’s so innocent and a great “remember me” sort of song.
“Dani California” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers kind of fit when we were going to California for MAO Nats.
Relient K is likable.
I listened to “Love Song” by Sara Bareilles for a short period of time. Maybe I have heard enough it now.
“Livin’ on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi seems encouraging to some extent- to really go out and life your life.
“Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer is so dreamy, though I suppose the guys don’t really enjoy it much.
Jack’s Mannequin is amazing, and possibly my second favorite. “Holiday,” “Mixed Tape,” “MFEO,” and “Miss Delaney” are some of the best from Everything in Transit. But with no doubt, “Dark Blue” truly stands out for me.
Before Andy McMahon began Jack’s Mannequin, he was in Something Corporate. The style isn’t exactly the same, and in my opinion not as likable as Jack’s Mannequin, but “Straw Dog” and “Konstantine” are not bad.
Sometimes, Clara’s Natty-poo puts up the chorus of “Heart” by Stars. It is a very sweet song. Every now and then, I sing along to it.
Alright, I can say what you want me to,
Alright, I can do all the things you do,
Alright, I'll make it all up for you,
I'm still in love with you,
I'm still in love with you.
I’ve listened to “The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World a bunch.
If I didn’t hear about Elton John as a little girl, then people would mention The Spice Girls. I can’t imagine stepping into the late 90s in the UK and not listening to any of their songs. They are amazing.
At MAO Nats, they played some really good songs at the three awards ceremony. One of these was “Island” by The Starting Line. I love the lyrics, the chorus, and listening to this song so often.
You may be surprised, by I like two of Taylor Swift’s songs. “Teardrops on My Guitar” is the sort of song I’m very glad I didn’t have a while ago. Ann, Sarah’s sister, was playing “Mary’s Song (Oh My My My) one day while taking me home from school. It is my favorite country music song, even though I don’t actually like country music.
I guess I should tell you about my favorite love song. Well, it is “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol. One night, I felt more awful than I had ever felt. I listened to this song over, and over, and over… crying my heart out like a girl. I even listened to it the next morning (but didn’t tell anyone). The emotion that I can attach to this song is so profound that it seems as if I placed much of it into a box, and gathered it together like a big, fluffy towel. The box would be this song.
“Almost Lover” by A Fine Frenzy is beautiful.
Modest Mouse gets me almost hyped up about living, with “Dashboard” and especially the beginning of “Float On.”
I like “How to Save a Life” and “Over My Head (Cable Car)” by The Fray.
“Here In Your Arms” by Hellogoodbye was another one of those songs I put on infinite loop for a while.
The Strokes are unforgettable for me. I really like their style, particularly in “You Only Live Once, “Someday,” and “Reptilia.”
After researching Grammy Award Winners for best rock song on Wikipedia, I downloaded “Drops of Jupiter (Don’t Tell Me)” by Train, which I really like because the singer sounds so caring and like one of those great guys who truly wants to know the answers to what he is asking. Also, “Vertigo” and “The City of Blinding Lights” by U2 are not only good, but also I think How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is such a great album title.
The evening before Homecoming, Erica and I were invited to Lacey’s house. As soon as we entered her room, I noticed that she was playing some pretty good music that I had never heard. Lacey said it was “Mr. Brightside.” Whatever that was. She made us stop talking about ten minutes later so we could listen to a song that she excitedly informed us was “This River Is Wild.” Lacey loved The Killers. I couldn’t forget that.
I went home and looked them up, downloading every song by them that I could find. Later, she burned me their three CDs (I think I lost Hot Fuss, though), and even more recently, I downloaded their two Christmas songs. The Killers are truly profound. I love all of their songs, but I guess there are a couple that I do not seem to listen to as much. Imagine the excitement for Lacey when they put “Romeo and Juliet” on Sawdust. It was like one of those crazy dreams that you have, but it came true. I think I’m going to listen to The Killers for the rest of my life. They mean so much to me, if I didn’t have them, then my music selection would be bereft of greatness.
One day, I quickly punched in all the play counts from all my Killers songs. They added up to over a thousand.
“When You Were Young” is distinctly my most-played song. I wanted to move the music in my iTunes, so the play counts had to be reset. But yeah, this is probably my favorite of all time. There are so many good songs out there, but for some reason, this one sticks out a bit more than the others.
However, telling you about all these songs and artists isn’t the same thing as you listening to them, and getting to know them for yourself. You don’t need to listen to any of them, actually, but I wish you luck in finding even more good music- whatever you want to hear!
www.skreemr.com is pretty baller, if I do say so myself. ;)

I feel pretty lucky to get to post on Friday. It is another special day: at 8:08pm, on today, 08/08/08, the Beijing Summer Olympics begin! So, I hope you don’t mind if I post this at that time, but it shall be 8:08am for us because of the time difference.

Sorry for forgetting to tag my posts...

-Kejing

Dear Bo Burnham,

You know, when you were little, you wrote letters to Santa Claus, asking from presents? Well, if I had to write a new letter today, I think I'd address my letter to Hamilton, Massachusetts. Why? Because my mythical Father Christmas is Bo Burnham. Who you ask? Well, I'll let it slide without hitting you for having to ask this time, but don't let it happen again. Bo Burnham is the Alpha and Omega of comedy music. Oh- you like Weird Al Yankovic? Well, you'll obsess over this guy.

Let me explain- Bo Burnham is hilarious. No.. that is the understatement of the century. Bo Burnham is.. he's George Carlin mixed with Weird Al but then only 18 years old. Yeah.. practically our age! HE'S AWESOME. PERIOD.


Since a picture is worth 1,000 words, imagine what a video can do! So perhaps instead of practically selling him to you, I should show you a few of his songs so that you may love him too.
This song is about Helen Keller. This song is a tinsy tiny bit profane. This song will have you rolling around laughing on the floor. Enjoy.

MY PERFECT WOMAN




Hilarious, no? Of course it is (and if you say otherwise..!)! Here, continuing in the theme of love, here's another.

A LOVE BALLAD




The next song is the first I ever saw of him- and he had me hooked! Trust me, this song will make you laugh.

My Whole Family Thinks I'm Gay




If you'll notice, part of his talent is his acting, not just singing/composing. If you look at the drama and show he puts on during each video, you can so easily connect to him and it just adds another dimension to his talent.


THE FOLLOWING VIDEOS ARE FAR MORE CONTROVERSIAL AND NOT SUITABLE FOR THOSE WHO ARE EASILY OFFENDED. There- that's all the disclaimer you're gonna get for the next three videos. They are awful. Jaw-dropping, pants-pissing, side-stitching, horrendously funny. My condolences if you were offended- remember that he doesn't actually believe a word of what he's about to say and that you were warned. You may proceed.

The first of three is..

Klan Cookout (Racist tones with some crude imagery in some places)



Second of three is..

New Math (mostly sexual overtones towards the end)



Finally,third of three is.. (The best for last)

Rehab Center for Fictional Characters (profanity and sexual overtones)





Well, I certain hope you enjoy Bo Burnham as much as I have. If not, something's wrong with you, but that's okay- I'll still speak to you.. some. :)

- Jonathan

Our Little Natalie's Growing Up

Well, I wanted to write this post about Beck, but seeing how I’ve already mentioned him, I’ll move onto something else. But before I do, here’s a video for the song Little One that I saw right after writing that post that I loved.

• MTV
• Music Videos
• MTV Shows
• Entertainment News

Coincidentally, I found out about the person I'm going to talk about when I was flipping through pictures of Beck.

He’s directly to the left. Don't worry, he doesn't normally so closely resemble a satanic demon.

Many people left comments saying how much they loved Devendra Banhart, so I decided to look him up. That’s when I discovered that he’s dating Natalie Portman. For those who don’t know, I have an odd obsession with Natalie Portman that I think stems from my love for the movie Closer. I now knew I had to learn more about this guy.

Well, I just don’t know. A part of my likes some of his songs, a lot. But another part of me always thinks of this video when he comes to mind.

Wow, that is really good entertainment (except for the dogs, that was just disturbing). I think the drawn out pauses from the interviewer after Devendra’s replies says it all. As one viewer put it, the first bit sounds closest to a free-association session. I don’t know if Banhart’s kidding, but sadly I doubt he is. But it is interesting to think about Natalie living in a commune somewhere with Devendra’s posse ala Hansel in Zoolander.

• MTV
• Music Videos
• MTV Shows
• Entertainment News

What’s funny is that on all of his videos, about 70% of the comments are about Natalie Portman. This understandably seems to really piss off his “original” fans, but I think the rest of us are just going to ignore all ten of them.

I actually really like posting about music, so I might start doing it more often (after the themes of course).

I’d also like to mention in no relation to my post that as of now, The Dark Knight is still #1 on IMDB, which I think is pretty cool.

-Viv