Tuesday, February 26, 2008
digital sea [song of the week]
The song of the week is "Digital Sea" by Thrice.
Photo from http://www.myspace.com/thrice
Prior to January, I'd heard of Thrice but had never taken the time to listen to them. I had heard JP of We The Living mention that he really liked them, plus WTL had them in their top friends on Myspace, so I eventually got around to listening to them. As it turns out, they're a rock/electronic band with songs that span a whole range of styles. This was the first song of theirs that I listened to, and it was pretty much all it took for me to go to Borders and buy the album containing the song later that day. The current album is The Alchemy Index Vol. I and II (Fire and Water). Volume I is "Fire" and contains some rather thrashing heavy rock songs, while Volume II is "Water" and has an ethereal, nearly opposite sound from the Fire disc. I know that Volumes III and IV (Earth and Wind) are coming soon. When WTL was here the other day, we were listening to the albums and JP was hypothesizing that Fire is their nod to their older sound, while Water is closer to the direction they're moving, and he thinks Earth and Wind will have sounds more like Water. No matter what they decide to do, it's a fascinating way of putting out albums and I really enjoy their work.
Back to "Digital Sea" specifically, I really love the feel of this song. For some reason, I've always liked songs that have that nervous edge to them. I don't know if it's the key, the melody, or the lyrics, but I just love it when a song makes you feel like something is about to happen, but you're not sure what, or if it's good or bad. Maybe that's weird, but I like my music to invoke some emotion, and if that emotion happens to be apprehension, so be it. The imagery in the lyrics is also quite stunning, and they blend in the electronica aspect so smoothly (think Mute Math). I could see myself choreographing something to this. When it's on in my room, I find myself moving to it pretty easily. It would have to be some kind of lyrical/modern hybrid, and I'm not skilled at creating dances in either style, but I suppose we'll see. I think it's best to listen to this song loudly, preferably with headphones to catch all the nuances in the music. The sound quality in the video I'm posting isn't top-notch, and the video isn't all that much to look at either, so if I were you, I'd listen to it on their myspace. Either way, this is one of my favorite songs right now, so I hope you like it as well.
I woke, cold and alone,
adrift in the open sea;
caught up in regrets,
and tangled in nets,
instead of your arms wrapped around me.
And I wept but my tears are anathema here,
just more water to fill my lungs.
I hear someone scream,
“God what is it we have done?”
I am drowning in a digital sea;
I am slipping beneath the sound.
Here my voice goes, to ones and zeros,
I’m slipping beneath the sound.
A song from somewhere below,
deadly and slow begins.
Both sickly and sweet,
now picking up speed,
and ushering in the world’s end.
And the ghost of Descartes screams again in the dark,
"Oh how could I have been so wrong?"
But above the screams still the sirens sing their song
I am drowing in a digital sea;
I am slipping beneath the sound.
Here my voice goes, to ones and zeroes,
I'm slipping beneath the sound.
Here my voice goes, to ones and zeroes...
Monday, February 25, 2008
don't quit your day job, honey
I'm blind to the bright side
and shatter on the inside
but smile on the outside
and fall by the wayside
I don't know what it is. Poem? Song lyrics? [Melo]dramatic monologue? Beats me. All I know is that somewhere between the Union and the end of Chauncey, they came out of thin air and into my brain. I'm not really that proud of these four little lines, nor do I think they're very good. I do like the first line, but the middle two are very generic. However, since I am so rarely able to write anything that isn't of a technical or academic nature, I thought I'd document it anyway. Creative writing of any kind has never been a strong point of mine, so even a four-line output is progress for me.
I think this came to me today because I'm more than a little stressed about the next few weeks, and I'm running out of ways to express it without driving people up the wall. The first line really describes my struggle with pessimism. There are times when I really do feel like I'm blind to the bright side of a situation. This tends to bother people because they think I am consciously refusing to take an optimistic view, but this isn't the case. Some people are just more pessmistic, and I happen to be one of them. This isn't to say that I'm never optimistic, but it takes me more effort than the average person to see the glass half-full. The second and third lines refer to the struggle of feeling like your life and parts of yourself are breaking apart, and not being able to show it or do anything about it. Even if it does feel like you're shattering inside, you've still got your outer shell intact, and that's all the world will see if you're careful. The fourth line plays off the third... smile and act like nothing is wrong, and you'll just blend back into the background. Sometimes it's easier to smile and fade away than to try to explain why you feel the way you do.
(I absolutely hate to have to include a disclaimer here because I feel it negates or ruins my writing. However, this is a public blog and I did promise myself not to write depressing entries. Therefore, I need to point out that while I do have some very real struggles, I know that I am not the only one, and I also know that feelings like these do not apply to every day of my life. For that matter, they apply to a minority of my days, but the feelings are real and they do happen, so I have to express them somehow.)
As I read back through the entry now, I'm kind of startled that those four lines caused me to write such a lengthy description of the feelings that prompted them. I guess that's the beauty of it...
Sometimes, a little can say quite a lot.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
hostess with the mostess
This was actually my Wednesday night/ Thursday morning.
Sometimes, I really do love my life.
I swear though, next time THEY are cleaning the shower.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
happy valentine's day!
[Rose, taken February 2006, bouquet in our Hillenbrand Hall dorm room]
I just wanted to take a second to wish my friends and family a Happy Valentine's Day. Normally I'd make some bitter "Singles Awareness Day" comment, but honestly, it's not worth it. I'd rather just tell the people who matter that I love them and let it end at that.
I practically forgot this holiday was even coming up. I've been so busy lately that I even forgot to buy cards or valentines for friends. Today was a mess as well... I had weird frightening dreams last night, I hardly got any sleep, we got annihilated by a horrid pharmacokinetics exam tonight, and our apartment has a surprise guest. Specifically, a mouse. Maybe mice. We're not sure. Honestly, it doesn't bother me that much, but it apparently REALLY bothers everyone else. We set up some traps, and Cochran (the company who owns our complex) sent some people to patch up a little hole in the corner of the bathroom walls and such. Hopefully the situation will be taken care of soon enough. Our grades on that exam, however, can stay hidden for as long as possible for all I care.
Ah, well. Tomorrow is a new day. In the meantime, I send out all my love to those who matter to me. You all know who you are.
P.S.- It's now 12:30 a.m. and our friend Mike just brought by a white rose for each of us. Thanks dude, you can be nice when you really try ;-)
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
new soul [song of the week]
The song of the week is "New Soul" by Yael Naim.
Photo from http://www.myspace.com/yaelnaim
This is the song featured in the commercials for the new Macbook Air. (Otherwise known as Apple's latest stylish and overpriced attempt to take over the world. I have an iPod, yes, and I utilize iTunes, yes, but I love PCs and refuse to buy a Mac computer. But I digress.) I heard the song on the commercials and thought it sounded like Feist at first, but then I realized the voices were different. Some Googling and trip to iTunes led me to Yael Naim, a musician who was born in France and raised in Isreal. From what I've read about her, her album (on which she sings in English, French, and Hebrew) was recorded on a single computer in her home. The song is undeniably catchy and has that "sure we screw up, but everything will be just fine" vibe to it. That's actually why I was listening to it a lot last week-- we were drowning in exams and other nonsense, and it felt good to listen to a song about making every possible mistake and just shrugging it off with a few la-la-la's. The music video is quite fun as well, and implies a bit of a "life is what you make of it" message. Hope you enjoy!
I'm a new soul
I came to this strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit about how to give and take
But since I came here
Felt the joy and the fear
Finding myself making every possible mistake
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la...
I'm a young soul
In this very strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit about what is true and fake
But why all this hate?
Try to communicate
Finding trust and love is not always easy to make
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la...
This is a happy end
Cause' you don't understand
Everything you have done
Why's everything so wrong
This is a happy end
Come and give me your hand
I'll take your far away
I'm a new soul
I came to this strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit about how to give and take
But since I came here
Felt the joy and the fear
Finding myself making every possible mistake
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la...
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la...