Flight of the Conchords - Ladies of the World

Popped up on my iPod today and got really, really stuck in my head. Hahah. One of the catchiest FoTC songs imo.

Finley Quaye & William Orbit - Dice

Old song from The O.C. (shush I liked it :P) stuck in my head this morning during Physics.

Anya Marina - Move You (Slow and Steady Seduction Phase II)

Number #3 most played song! Because I've been in Platt for the last 8 hours for ballroom doing show rehearsals and practicing and loitering and I generally don't like bmusic unless I'm dancing to it so you get this instead. Pardon the Private Practice video... the real mv on YouTube is a weird produced version I don't like as much :P

Btw was really disappointed by the 2-hour Grey's/PP thing last night... didn't even watch the second half...

Meiko - Boys with Girlfriends

Living is so tiring to me. Maybe it's the way I allocate my time that exhausts me so quickly--recently I've been inserting blue boxes into every white space on my Google Calendar without taking into account how much ballroom exhausts me or how much time I need to get ready or where I need to leave time to breathe. People at Penn impress me so much with their work hard, play hard mentality and how they manage to keep it all together through it all (or at least keep a reasonable front). They seem to able to make Monday classes with hangovers, get straight-As yet not be one of those studious "missing" people.

In New Zealand, things were all about meeting people and exploring which was absolutely awesomely relaxing. But as evidenced by the independent project I took up and the winter job search and the side work I started on my portfolio while I was there, something in my nature stops me from sitting still for long periods of time. I constantly need to push myself, I need to be better... I need to go out on Fridays yet I need to work on my demo reel alone tonight. But unlike most of my peers, living this double life is way-y-y beyond my capacity. So I end up stretching myself out until the breaking point and I dissolve into a blubbery mess over existential/quarter-life crisis of-the-month. It's almost as routine as my menstrual cycle. (OH MY GOD. Correlation. Haha.)

I can't stop. I can't stop wanting even though it's wearing me down. And I know it's a stretch to say I'll never truly be happy chasing my desires 'round and 'round, but it really scares the shit out of me to think that there's so end in sight. It almost makes me want to give up now and sleep for the next twenty years. Except I'd wake up all pissy everyone else got their degrees and dream careers while all I accomplished was... nothing... I can't even stand the thought. That's not happiness to me. Somehow, idle happiness is not happiness to me.

How do you do it, summa cum laude fraternity boy? How do you take seven classes, ballroom dancer? Where do you find the extra time and energy--and how much are you willing to sell it to me for?

Flight of the Conchords - The Most Beautiful Girl

This has inexplicably been stuck in my head all day... maybe all week. You're so beautiful, like a... tree... or a high-class prostitute. I constantly have the urge to blurt out lines from this song at inappropriate moments...

I just went with one of my roommates (I almost said flattie) to stand in line at the opening of Chipotle on Walnut Street and it's damnnnn cold. The line stretched halfway down the block and by the time I got my free burrito an hour later my toes were frozen and I could only c-walk home. Now I am sitting on top of my heater that is turned up to 85 degrees because I've decided to take full advantage of the services Rodin provides and who am I to say no to free stuff? This might also go well with the free leftovers I pilfered from people who don't finish their meals.

Hooray for only one class on Thursdays, a nice view, snow flurries I can watch floating by my 13th floor window but don't have to walk in. Hooray.

Mazzy Star - Into Dust

I can't fall asleep. Before Melatonin and the prevalence of wireless internet in laptops, which together made my insomnia seem a little less daunting, late at night when I couldn't sleep I'd do what I was doing five minutes ago: staring at the lights on my ceiling. It's a rare sight nowadays, that blank corner at the top of the room decorated with illuminated stripes let in by the blinds. This scene is a faded memory of countless other sleepless nights in my life, all important in my mind... because nowadays I never see the ceiling lights anymore unless I've just gone to a new place and haven't yet settled into the routine of escaping online. After the commotion of moving subsides and leaves me nothing but darkness and quiet, I start to think. And everything begins sinking in.

I remember being scared that first night in Dunedin, where the cold repeatedly jolted me awake to sight of yellow streetlamps flooding into my too-large room. I remember my first night in New York this past winter, the blinds letting rows of light into my cousin's shoebox apartment, the excitement that came with being there. Sansom and the curtains that prevented the dim glow of the city from entering the dorm, how I felt when viewing them from below. My first night at home, in near-complete darkness. Moments long ago when I crawled into my parents' bed after being scared by some bump in the night and felt safe between the sheets watching the headlights of passing cars roll across our ceilings and walls.

This is my first time sleeping in Rodin 13, the last few hours before class begins again, and the first time since I've come to Philadelphia that I've felt comfortable, really comfortable, with my being here. Just another ceiling-light memory I'll remember for the next time.

Doves - Caught By The River

Top Ten Winter Moments (in no particular order):

1) Covering Switchfoot, Taking Back Sunday, and The Spill Canvas songs late into the night with Mike and Kev. Thinking up vocal arrangements and harmonies to Kevin's guitar, then recording and performing them for our parents the next day. My childhood friends/two extra bros! We've known each other since before we could talk. TRY.

2) Discovering our retard alter-egos in an epic game of Psychiatrist. Aid... us? H...... H.... rocks! Zoo! Platypus! Shunnnnn. Hitting on Alex and dying when he didn't give us enough attention. Horrible impressions of each other. Everything having to do with cocks. And let's throw Bill Clinton in for good measure, too.

3) The real life version of Lou Reed's Perfect Day was pretty much like this: quest for Magnolia cupcakes, panda porn in the Museum of Sex, ice skating lessons in Central Park, DIY noodles in Chinatown, talking over crappy bubble tea.

4) New Year's Eve, which I hardly remember.

5) Sporadic midnight McDonald's runs: fogged breath and french fries on the hood of Tom's car. Yes we're going to get fat off the Dollar Menu. Yes, it's all about the h-o-n-e-y m-USTARD. Yes, the frozen fingers were extremely worth it.

6) A deep conversation with Eric in Red Lobster. He never fails to amaze me with unwavering support, meal-utensil clumsiness, and sage advice. The cow brunch place, Speed Racer, bululup! ahhh I'm going to miss my big bro.

7) Mistakes. Honesty. Revelations. Growing up a little bit. All at the hands of a little device that I'm told could give me brain cancer, but that's okay.

8) Talking about boys and nude photography with a certain relative of mine over The Princess Bride. And then cuddling because her shoebox of an apartment isn't large enough for a guest futon. My (second) cousin is basically the older sister I never had--she even curled my hair before work!

9) That moment I looked around at our ragtag group of friends and realized how much I'm going to miss them and our fun times on this boring island. Some of these friendships are eight years and going, some feel like they barely started, yet when somebody says Remember that time...? we ALL remember and it's too hilarious to handle.

10) Visiting Penn and realizing I didn't feel as out of place as I thought I would.

Ryan Adams - Wonderwall

All the roads we have to walk are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I would
Like to say to you
But I don't know how

Because maybe... you're gonna be the one who saves me
And after all... you're my wonderwall

edit: i reallyreallycannot stop listening to this song. reasons for this would be (1) i'm learning it on the guitar :D (2) i keep flashing back to the seth/summer scene in season 1 (3) it's so damn beautiful yo

Umbrellas - Ships

1. Umbrellas - Ships 204
   
2. Stars - One More Night (Your Ex-Lover Remains Dead) 168
3. Goo Goo Dolls - Here Is Gone 162
   
4. Anya Marina - Move You (Slow & Steady Seduction Phase II) 159
   
5. Umbrellas - The City Lights 152
   
6. Stars - Your Ex-Lover Is Dead 139
   
7. Death Cab For Cutie - Photobooth 138
   
8. KT Tunstall - Other Side Of The World 137
   
9. Athlete - Tourist 132
   
10. Eagle-Eye Cherry - Save Tonight 132
    
11. Rilo Kiley - Dreamworld 132
    
12. KT Tunstall - Universe & U 128
    
13. Rilo Kiley - Portions For Foxes 127
    
14. Death Cab For Cutie - Summer Skin 126
    
15. Goo Goo Dolls - Slide 125
    

I've lost my blogging mojo for the moment--I think that until I figure out how to act with a little more care and consideration, this will become a boring music blog. Hopefully 2009 will be filled with fewer words and overcomplications, more singing.

These are the top 15 songs (and play counts) on my iTunes playlist. Observations: The only new entries since 2007 are #4/11/13. Ben Folds is strangely not on this list. This is heavily Grey's-influenced. #1 has unwaveringly retained its place at the top ever since I discovered it freshman year even though I could swear I never listen to it any more. Yay Umbrellas! Companion on late nights with bright screens--you're so lovably emo.

Just like ships, we float through each other's lives
Through the waters of beauty and grace
We will one day dock at the same port
And give rest to our weary legs
There is a light placed up in the sky
Like the stained glass, time slows down
I wish I could sleep, I wish I could dream
I love the sound of my feet against these empty streets
I saw the whole town burn down
I'm walking away
Nothing stays, these feelings have wings
Our arms outstretched, we are soaring