Music

I've been looking through my music collection a lot lately and although it is pretty sparse I feel like it's mad up of a lot of really good music. I guess you could say it's a quality over quantity type of collection... anyway, I decided I would share 10 albums that I just never seem to get tired of, ones that I can listen to over and over again, many of which I've had for years and are still counted as being favorites despite getting newer music. They aren't in any particular order...

1. Rock N Roll by Ryan Adams
Just what it sounds like. Straight up classic-style rock n roll. I tend to listen to this if I need to get motivated to do something or I'm cleaning. 

2. Funeral by Arcade Fire
I bought this album when it first came out having never heard the band, it was simply that Amazon had suggested I might like it. And I do, it's a hard one to live up to and I have to say I just don't think that Arcade Fire has been able to. Their last two albums have been pretty big disappointments to me, possibly only because I am comparing them to this one.

3. August and Everything After by Counting Crows
If you really need me to say anything about this you haven't heard it. It somehow embodies every emotion possible in a mere 50 minutes, or at least that's what it is to me. 

4. Illuminare by Umbrellas
I don't know what it is about this album, but it is just so amazing to me. I think it's something similar to the last one, it goes through so many different emotions in such a short time and so well it just ends up being amazing. Somehow this band has stayed pretty low on the radar, as far as I know, and that just seems like a huge shame. 

5. Origin of Symmetry by Muse
This is an amazing show of what this band can do. I almost ended up putting more than one Muse album on this list but then realized that this is the one that I really tend to come back to time and time again. The piano on this is unbelievable.

6. Boxer by The National
When I first heard The National, my immediate reaction was that I didn't like them. Slowly they grew on me, the one thing that I think deterred me at first was Matt Berninger's voice. It gives the songs an incredibly unique quality, not that they need it, they shine already and I constantly find myself finding new lyrics to relate to.

7. Building Nothing Out of Something by Modest Mouse
Ok, I'll admit it, I'm one of those people that had no idea Modest Mouse existed until Good News For People Who Love Bad News came out. I can firmly say, years later though, that after getting my hands on their older stuff, well their most recent work is dull in comparison. The lyrics and the music in this album are just right for me, especially when the weather in Portland is at it's dreariest.

8. Final Straw by Snow Patrol
Strangely, I bought this album at the same time as Arcade Fire's Funeral. For me it's perfect if I want something a little on the sappy side. And despite what someone once told me about Snow Patrol's music writing abilities being non-existent, I actually enjoy the simplicity in combination with the lyrics, it just works for my ears.

9. Elephant Shell by Tokyo Police Club
This album is pretty short, but what it lacks in length it makes up for in fun music with great lyrics (I especially appreciate that they have a song in which the name of a hominin appears... but that's me being nerdy and I still loved it before I realized that's what they're saying).

10. Something About Airplanes by Death Cab For Cutie
Soooo the same someone that criticized Snow Patrol once told me that 'everyone' knows this is Death Cab's worst album... yeah, they're kind of a music snob. Something about this album lets me listen to it on repeat for hours, so it can't be that bad, right? There some quality to it that just really appeals to me. 




And that's it. To finish this off I made a playlist that you can listen to here with one song from each album, I hope you enjoy!

Days

Days go by, one after the other, I never know what will happen as each one unfolds. It's always something interesting, or I think of it as interesting and exciting afterwards, most days. Some days though I wish I led a more exciting life, full of trips and adventures and exciting friends. But I think that I may already be leading that life I wish for on the boring days. Today for example, I did quite a few things, with the twelve hours I have now been up (yes, I got up at noon... my sleep habits are getting a bit ridiculous).

1. Re-organized photos on computer

2. Got film developed

3. Sent out birthday invitations (only 12 more days until my birthday, 13 until the party that is going to be amazing, it does not have a choice)

4. Looked through library books of photographs and took pictures of the pages with my favorite photos on them (that sounds so much more pathetically nerdy than I thought it would)

5. Helped my mom with the groceries

6. Helped clean and get ready for my family to go on a camping trip (I'm stuck here, working... yay? I'm kind of excited?)

7. Bought strawberries in the last ten minutes of the farmer's market (Holy goodness!)

8. Played a game of ultimate frisbee (and apparently was a little more aggressive than anyone thought I would be in my guarding technique)

9. Sat with some new friends around a fire and roasted marshmallows and ate s'mores (yum!)

10. Watched The Orphanage with Shawn (it was not as scary as everyone made it out to be, I really enjoyed it, actually)

That seems like quite a lot for twelve hours. At least to me it does. I can't imagine how people that are actually awake for the morning do it, they must be exhausted and actually able to sleep at night... weird. Oh, I think tomorrow I'll show you some of my film photos, they turned out much better this time (thank goodness it wasn't my camera).

10 Things I have become obsessed with in the last two weeks...

1. Lemonade. Plain and simple. I love lemonade, esspecially the great deal on Santa Cruz Organic at every grocery store around.
2. Coldplay's album Viva la Vida. I was obsessed when it first came out and rediscovered how wonderful it is. Listen to my personal favorite track here.

3. Strawberries. Ok, this isn't a new obsession, it's been a life-long obsession really. If I could, I would live off of them and no matter how good other berries and fruits are (because I truly love every fruit I have ever tried) these will always be my favorite and they will always disappear quickly if I'm around.

4. Sunshine. The past couple of summers I haven't spent much time in the sun, in fact I have avoided it and been upset when it is there. I realize now it was more the heat than the sunshine. I love sunshine, warm weather... not so much, but I like the things I can do when it's warm out, so I put up with it.

5. Flowers and gardens. I've always liked flowers, but lately I seem to be spending more and more time in the garden. (And of course, I want to have my garden party, as talked about here.)

6. Coca-Cola. Another thing I have always enjoyed. Though I have gotten over my addiction to it, I still can't keep myself from drinking it, and I love the green glass bottles.

7. Sandals. They are all I've worn, when I'm not working. The ones below and my chacos. I love them, I don't even like feet at all, but I am loving sandals right now.

8. Button-down shirts. I think this one may have come from this wonderful post. I'm not complaining, though I'm on the hunt to find more shirts for my closet right now.

9. Whicker. In particular, whicker baskets. Mostly, I want to go for a picnic with a big, old-fashioned picnic basket. (I think that desire has to do with the sunshine thing)

10. Glass bottled drinks. I just love drinking out of a glass bottle, for some reason it is something that screams summer to me, and summer is most definately here.

Those are in no particular order, I just thought I would share some things that I can't seem to get out of my head right now.