The Davenports Perform "Five Steps" Theme from A&E's Intervention (Offic...

So pretty :)
Makes me wish I was sitting on a porch drinking ice tea and watching a sunset.

mustachio

This is probably the most legit mustache I've ever seen. I would be terribly upset if I were to find out its a fake. Something that beautiful has to be real though, right?

I like mustaches very much. If it was normal for a girl to have one...and if I could grow one at all...I'd totally have the best mustache ever.

"Geniusness"

Eating/Drinking: a watered down version of the light blue gatorade...it's kind of gross.
Mood: Content
Listening to: Location - Freelance Whales

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It annoys me that my computer won't let me have space between each paragraph unless I put a period there. Sigh.

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Tuesday morning I woke up at five in the morning to go running. For a normal teenager, the act of getting out of bed that early would be quite a feat. For me, however, it’s not really anything to brag about. There has to be something installed in my head that makes it incapable for me to sleep past nine. What can I say? I’m a morning person. This isn’t to say that I wasn’t a little groggy when I rolled out of the warmth of my comforter, though. (Yes, I was sleeping with a comforter during summer. My mom keeps the house an ice box. Thank you, menopause.)

I decided that since it was early morning, this called for inspiration music. I chose to kick it off with Generator 1st Floor. It provided this ultimate sense of clarity for me. I was able to clear my mind and think about what is going on in my life. The topic of the day was “Simplicity”. That’s for another day though. What I wanted to say is that I love the way music can be a great catalyst for insightful thoughts. The words and thoughts of other’s can spark your own individual ones which you can there share with someone else. It’s a great cycle.

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I was talking yesterday with someone about creativity and “geniusness” so to say (I just invented a word). He told me about a video he watched of a woman giving a speech on the same topic. Is brilliance in the person or in the world? So often I heard people say about a writer or musician “Wow, they are just so amazingly creative.” But is it really the person themselves who is creative? Or is the brilliance out in the world, waiting to be found. I would argue the latter. Creativity and brilliance comes for inspiration. It is impossible to be a naturally inspire individual. You can be an insightful individual and you can be an individual with moments of inspiration, but you can’t just have brilliance instilled within your core. It is extremely egotistical of us to believe that we are just naturally brilliant human beings. Brilliance and inspiration comes from the world that is all around us. It comes from combining your thoughts with others. It comes from living the life that we have been graciously given.

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The woman giving the aforementioned speech, Elizabeth Gilbert, said that creativity its your randomly in a wave. I couldn’t agree more. You never know when brilliance will strike you. But when it does, it is just this wave of unbelievable clarity. You know exactly what you’re supposed to write/draw/paint/whatever. You are so overwhelmed with this sudden stroke of inspiration that it is of the utmost importance that you get it down on paper immediately before it is lost forever.

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Brilliance is a gift to us that comes in small moments, sporadically. We are not born with it. It isn’t something we can pay for.

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She can probably explain better:

http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html

Lemon Now and Later

Mood: content
Eating/ Drinking: nada!
Listening to: "Hannah" - Freelance Whales


This is going to be short and sweet. I really like the band Freelance Whales lately. My friend told me about them and after writing them off for a little while, I gave them a legit chance. I am now obsessed.

Weathervanes - Freelance Whales

Favorite tracks: "Hannah", "Generator 2nd Floor" and "Location"

They're pretty chill and really simple. Definitely a good choice to listen to when you want to get some serious thinking done.

"Every now and then she offers me a lemon now and later." :)

Never Too Old

Mood: Annoyed

Listening to: “I’m Me” – Lil Wayne and a variety of oldies

Eating Drinking: Waffle Pretzels and Diet Snapple Peach Tea

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Basically, I’m in love with oldies so I’d like to give a list of my favorites. I’ve never really understood why people wouldn’t like them. If you’re in love with an artist, doesn’t it make sense to be in love with the band or singer who was their inspiration? The music of today comes from the music of the past. There’s no getting around that. To me, oldies are classics for a reason; they’re great, to put in quite simply.

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Pardon this tangent I’m about to go off on; I’ve got to get this off my chest.

Recently, I was with a group of people and we were talking about artists who have “sold out". One girl's example was Sufjan, which kind of bugged me because I still love him. So I got kind of defensive but I tried to tell myself to just chill out and listen to what she had to say. She argued that his music wasn’t as special as it had once been. That’s when I started to get annoyed. So popularity immediately turns something bad? It’s always annoyed the shit out of me when people are overly focused on being different. Maybe another example will help.

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Let’s say you like this sick indie band. Everything about them is great; their lyrics kick ass, their melodies are unique and they seem like really nice people. Cool. Then you share them with a friend and that friend shares it with another friend and before you know it, they're everywhere. Suddenly their lyrics become so cliché to you...even though it's the exact same song you were obsessed with two months ago. I just don't get it. What I do get is getting upset with a band if they sell out from the popularity; they change to a more poppy sound, suddenly every single song becomes about love and they never leave home without their hipster glasses. I get why there's a reason to be upset with that, but I think it's important to give the band the benefit of the doubt, don't you? Have a little faith.

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People can be so busy making sure they’re nothing like anyone else that they aren’t even themselves. News flash: it doesn’t impress anyone that you’re so unique, it’s just obnoxious. In my opinion, if something is popular, it’s for a good reason—a lot of people agree that it’s good. So here’s what I have to say: like what you like, whether you’re the only one or one of many. As Lil Wayne would say, “I’m Me”. (How ironic is it that this song came up on shuffle as I was writing this?)

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To bring this all back to oldies, those songs were popular for a reason and it’s lame not to like them simply because a lot of other people do. Have a legitimate reason.

Thanks for stickin’ that out with me. Here’s my aforementioned list (in no order with various release dates). Not all are oldies exactly, but they're still classics to me.

1. "Delia's Gone" - Johnny Cash
2. "You Make My Dreams" - Hall & Oates
3. "Don't Stop Me Now" - Queen
4. "Alison" - Elvis Costello
5. "In the Ghetto" - Elvis Presley
6. "Comfortably Numb" - Pink Floyd
7. "Do You Love Me?" - The Contours
8. "Ain't To Proud To Beg" - The Temptations
9. "Sherry" Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons
10. "Blowin' In the Wind" - Bob Dylan
11. "Ten years Gone" - Led Zeppelin
12. "Saturday In the Park" - Chicago
13. "The Way You Make Me Feel" - Michael Jackson
14. "Love Child" - The Supremes
15. "Good Lovin'" - The Rascals
16. "Brown Eyed Girl " - Van Morrison
17. "Don't Look Back" - Boston
18. "Hallelujah" - Jeff Buckley
19. "I'm A Believer" - The Monkees
20. "Sweet Caroline" - Neil Diamond
21. "Crocodile Rock" - Elton John
22. "Reelin' In The Years" - Steely Dan
23. "Baby In Black" - The Beatles
24. "Barbara Ann" - The Beach Boys
25. "Isn't She Lovely" - Stevie Wonder
26. "Blister In the Sun" - Violent Femmes
27. "At Last" - Etta James
28. "Three Little Birds" - Bob Marley
29. "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" - Manfred Mann
30. "Oh, Pretty Woman" - Roy Orbison
31. "I Wish I Knew" - Nina Simone

There are SOOOO many more I would've put but I don't want this post to become completely rediculous. I basically just went through my itunes and selected some random good ones.

Flea Markets and Lollapalooza.

Mood: restless
Eating/Drinking: Lemon Diet Snapple
Listening to: "Hey You" - Pony Pony Run Run

I'm going to a flea market tomorrow with some friends and I'm pumped. I love finding deals and making treasures out of things people would never expect; it's one of the reasons I love thrifting. So here's to bargains tomorrow.

Anyways, on to music I suppose.

Lollapalooza is approaching as summer break gets closer and closer. I thought I'd share the list of bands that I'm interested in seeing there, even though there's no possible way I'll be able to see them all.

FRIDAY
1. Manchester Orchestra
2. Fleet Foxes*
3. The Decemberists*
4. Andrew Bird
5. Of Montreal*
6. Depeche Mode
7. Kings of Leon*
8. KiD CuDi

SATURDAY
1. Constantines
2. Miike Snow
3. Animal Collective*
4. Arctic Monkeys
5. Coheed and Cambria
6. Rise Against
7. Lykke Li
8. Yeah Yeah Yeahs*

SUNDAY
1. Carney
2. The Airborne Toxic Event
3. Vampire Weekend*
4. Passion Pit*
5. Cold War Kids
6. Band of Horses*
7. Silversun Pickups*
8. The Killers*

*Bands I really want to see

My friend told me that The Antlers are supposed to be playing too, but I couldn't find them on the list. Maybe I'm just blind. But if they're there then I definitely want to see them.

I'm super excited. It should be sick.

My Forgottens

Mood: anxious aka I have ants in my pants. Hah, love that expression.
Eating: Surprisingly...nothing.
Drinking: Not so surprising - Lemon diet Snapple
Listening to: "Somebody to Love" - Queen

So recently my dad accidentally deleted a large chunk of my music off my computer with no possible way of ever getting back. Naturally I handled it like the mature 17 year old that I am; I balled my eyes out. I wish I could say I’m kidding. But there was one benefit that came out of all this; when starting to re-purchase all the music I’d lost, I remembered some great bands that I hadn’t listened to in a while or I'd forgotten how much I love. I thought maybe this time it’d be nice to post a list that will hopefully remind you of some great music. Or maybe this will be completely new music to you, which is even better if you ask me.

1. "I Would Be Sad"
Emotionalism - The Avett Brothers
A simple song that is straight to the point. You can always rely on The Avett Brothers for that.

2. "The Great Salt Lake"
Everything All The Time - Band of Horses
I've always loved how their songs of this echoey feel to them.

3. "Postcard From Far Away"
Prospekt's March - Coldplay
Sometimes instrumentals speak so much louder than words.

4. "Bixby Canyon Bridge"
Narrow Stairs - Death Cab for Cutie
I love practically everything by Death Cab. This song is just one of my many, many favorites.

5. "Ashley"
Visiter - The Dodos
This song makes me feel...slow? Does that even make any sense?

6. "Radio Ballet"
Copia - Eluvium
Just plain awesome.

7. "Private Eyes"
Looking Back (Best Of) - Hall & Oates
Classy. Sets the mood, for sure.

8. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"
Alone in IZ World - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
I don't care how much your day sucked, this will make it at least a little better.

9. "Man In Black"
16 Biggest Hits - Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash knows what's up. So do his lyrics.

10. "Camaro"
Because Of The Times - Kings of Leon
This song makes me feel like a bad ass.

11. "Lessons Learned"
Grand - Matt & Kim
I thoroughly enjoy the music video for this song.

12. "Weekend Wars"
Oracular Spectacular - MGMT
My favorite part of this entire song is the first nine seconds.

13. "What Would Steve Do?"
These Things Move In Threes - Mumm-Ra
I wish they were still making music.

14. "Sweet Caroline"
The Neil Diamond Collection - Neil Diamond
Something about this song makes me wanna belt out the lyrics along with Niel. Gotta' love him.

15. "I Wish I Knew"
Protest Anthology - Nina Simone
The way it's done.

16. "Shape Of My Heart"
Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down - Noah And The Whale
I dig the horn section.

17. "She's A Rejecter"
Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer - Of Montreal
Their retro-trippy feel is sick and so is lead singer Kevin Barnes' voice.

18. "Jenny Don't Be Hasty"
These Streets - Paolo Nutini
Okay so this isn't a song that I forgot about... I just love this song. Something about his voice just draws me in. Anybody know what is accent is?

19. "Good Lovin'"
The Essentials: The Rascals - The Rascals
Feel like dancin' now?

20. "Eet"
Far - Regina Spektor
This song makes me hungry...haha...ha.

21. "Middle Distance Runner"
Leaves In The River - Sea Wolf
Chill.

22. "Hoppipolla"
Takk - Sìgur Ros
This song is so inspirational even though I have know idea what they're saying.

23. "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours"
Stevie Wonder: The Definitive Collection - Stevie Wonder
It doesn't get better than Stevie, plain and simple.

24. "Concerning The UFO Sighting"
Illinois - Sufjan Stevens
An awesome title for an awesome song.

25. "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Is your bed made? Is your sweater on?

The Snapples that come in the plastic bottles don't come with "real facts". What other reason is there to drink Snapple?

I Asked (An Original Poem)

mood: anxious
eating/drinking: waffle pretzels and peach diet snapple
listening to: "Be Good" - Tokyo Police Club

Today i thought I'd share something original.


I Asked

I asked him if he could do anything, what would it be?
He said he wasn't sure,
And I said I'd have to agree.

I asked him if he could view anything, what would he see?
He answered with something obscure,
And I said same with me.

He asked with a blank face, what was with my query?
I said I was just making sure,
And he said so was he.

I asked him what he thought about; if it was ever me.
He looked in my eyes, somewhat insecure,
And I looked back seriously.

We sat there very still; with only silence to accompany.
The clouds all looked so pure,
And together we felt lonely.

I asked him if he could have anything, what would it be,
Anything at all, whatever be his plea.
He told me he wanted a cure,
And I said I'd have to agree.

I wrote it for a creative writing class. I was so embarassed to have it read outloud to the class yet here I am, posting it where the world could see it if they wanted to. Maybe I feel more comfortable here because I know barely anyone will read this.

Lauren

...no snapple real fact today...my snapple didn't come with one :(

The Antlers - Hospice

Hospice – The Antlers




Track Listing and Interpretations:
1. “Prologue”

Meaning: The song begins with an almost eerie touch to it. In the background, there is a vague hint of female vocals that resonates throughout the song. The mysterious echo it has almost makes it difficult to distinguish whether it is literally a female vocalist or rather and instrument (though I’m guessing it’s the latter). Its mystery only adds to the songs effect; it’s almost like a ghost is calling out through the song, though her words are not distinguishable. Possibly, it is the ghost of the lyricist’s deceased wife, still haunting him even though her body has long since been buried.

2. “Kettering”

Meaning: The title comes from a cancer treatment hospital located in the tri-state area of New York where it is likely that the writer’s wife stays during her final struggle with bone cancer. It is because of this terminal illness that his wife takes out her frustrations on him. All her pent up emotions have no way to release themselves except through the mental and emotional abuse of her husband who she met at a hospital (where he was possibly a male nurse). The abuse only seems to crescendo as her life begins to dwindle into nothing. Despite the abuse, her husband stands loyally by her side even though he knows he’s not disserving of the mistreatment. Even the abusive wife herself tells him that he should just leave, but he refuses to depart; he fights for her when she has lost all hope. Ultimately his efforts are futile no matter what he does; death is imminent.

3. “Sylvia”

Meaning: The title is a reference to the late poet and author Sylvia Plath, who died in 1963. A road to mental breakdown was the source of Plath’s attempts to commit suicide twice; she succeeded in killing herself upon the second try. Many lines in the lyrics directly refer to Plath’s final attempt to kill herself in which she stuck her head inside an oven after sealing the doors and windows shut. It has been argued that Plath never meant to actually succeed in killing herself (though police reports state she fully intended to die); she had left a note to the tenant of her building that instructed him to call a doctor and precisely timed her suicide attempt so that he would find the note before she could die from the gas. Sylvia Plath relates to the story of Hospice in that it could be argued that her suicide attempts were a cry for help, much like the wife of the song writer. The song shows the frustrations that coincide with trying to help someone who both wants and doesn’t want your help at the same time or maybe doesn’t realize how badly they need it.

4. “Atrophy”

Meaning: Atrophy is the perfect word to describe the couple’s relationship. It is slowly wasting away the more the woman abuses her husband who is using all his power to save her from the destructive path she is on. Her bitterness and multiple personalities have pushed her away from all other family and friends; her husband is the sole person who has a care in the world for her - the only one who will be able to pass her story on. She abuses her husband’s love for him by keeping him on an extremely tight leash. The leash that literally binds him to her is the ring of matrimony on his finger that gnaws away at his mind. The relationship is completely dominated by her and she takes full control of every action the lyricist makes. Despite all his efforts to help her and care for her, her mind makes him out to be a terrible person. In an effort to even out their pain she causes him both emotional and mental pain to compensate for her physical pain caused by her bone cancer and the memories from her haunting past. And though all this would be more than enough reason for him to leave her, he can’t find it in himself to.

5. “Bear”

Meaning: Beginning with the iconic children’s melody “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” sets the stage for this song about the couple dealing with an abortion. The title is ironic in the way that they are comparing something as gentle and innocent as a child to something as destructive and forceful as a bear. Separation plants its destructive seed in the couple’s relationship when they return from getting the abortion; suddenly they are strangers. The abortion takes them from people in their early twenties to an old couple. The experience has an aging effect that neither were ready for. The couple is secluded from their old friends and family, leaving them with only each other.

6. “Thirteen”

Meaning: Another connection is made to Sylvia Plath and her semi-autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar. In the thirteenth chapter of the book, Plath recounts her first attempted suicide in which she overdosed on sleeping pills and hid beneath her home. Plath’s desperation is easily relatable to the cancer patient in that they are both trapped in something they never wanted a part of (Plath with her depression and the patient with her terminal illness and shaded past). Both are looking for a release from it all; the patient’s desires are for her husband to ride herself of all the pain without the aid of the doctors. She places her burdens on the back of her spouse.

7. “Two”

Meaning: Dealing with not only a past history of anorexia, but an abusive father as well as a possible split personality disorder, it is obvious that the bone cancer patient as been through a lot despite her young age. Although it is never actually confirmed that there is a split personality disorder, there are multiple suggestions through not only the song “Two”, but others as well. It is also seen through the similarities that the cancer patient and Sylvia Plath have. Her traumatic disease and current problem with cancer have created a wedge in her relationship with her husband. Despite his efforts to repeatedly care for her, she is never satisfied. In the name of love, he stays with her through it all even though it ultimately will make no difference in the final outcome. The relationship exemplifies its destructiveness every time she threatens to leave him (though her threats are always empty). The emptiness that consumes their relationship puts and almost uncomfortable twist on it.

8. “Shiva”

Meaning: Shiva is the Jewish tradition of mourning over a seven day period after a loved one has died. Often the place of mourning is the old domain of the perished person (in this case, the hospital). This song dictates the end of the abusive relationship between the couple. Once his wife passes on, the writer is beside himself with grief. The alternate title of the song that is listed on the CD is “Portacaths Switched”, which is a medical tool that is used on oncology patients that allows blood to efficiently be drained from the body or drugs to be injected. The alternate title shows deeper insight to the song in that the lyricist reveals that his only way to hold onto her is to become her. When the realization hits that her passing leaves him completely alone, he desperately tries to hang onto her. Her ghost comes back to return his ring which truly ends their relationship that has been degraded to mere shambles. Throughout the song echoed cries are heard, almost as if the deceased woman is calling out in a ghost like manner, similar to the tracks “Prologue” and later, “Epilogue”. As the writer lies in the misshapen bed (most likely referring to either her hospital bed or coffin) he lets out a laugh because it is his only way to cope with her loss—the situation is too painful for anything else.

9. “Wake”

Meaning: After the worst of the mourning stage has past, the writer finally comes out from his separated state within the walls of his apartment to confront his friends. It is at last time for him to face the friends who at one time had reached out to help him, but eventually gave up. He is awakening from the tight hold that she had him in so that he can reconnect with the past relationships that he has been cut off from or lost. In a sense, the song is his apology and explanation to them of the full story. He explains that it was easier for him to simply cut himself off from the outside world than to verbally vent his feelings. With a more clear perspective of the events that occurred, he is able to understand that his wife’s misfortunes were not his burden. He doesn’t have to blame himself, even if she did.

10. Epilogue

Meaning: Meant to be from a time long after the death of his wife, the lyricist writes of a nightmare he has in which he relives all of his past events even though he has worked so hard to distance himself from those memories. The entire story plays out before him: from the time they meet in a hospital and he falls in love with her to her death. It is likely that she was in and out of hospitals all her life, whether it be for her anorexia or caner. Everything is eerily similar to the life of Sylvia Plath like several other songs on the album. The multiple personality disorder is alluded to even more in the chorus of the song where it describes how his wife would go from screaming in anger at him one second to crying and pleading with him in the next. And even though she has long since past, her ghost still haunts him with the painful memories they lived through together. What is ironic is that the verses are to the same melody as the song “Bear”, played earlier in the album. While “Bear” focuses on a pregnancy (the idea of a new life), “Epilogue” is focused around the death of his wife and is the closing chapter to the album.

Hospice was written by Peter Silberman from The Antlers. Hospice was realeased on August 18, 2009.

http://www.myspace.com/theantlers
*****

mood: confused
eating/drinking: fruit snack and peach diet Snapple
listening to: "Baby's In Black" - The Beatles

I'm in LOVE with The Antlers and their Album Hospice. Please go check it out if you haven't already heard it. Obviously my insight into the song is up for interpretation and I in no way mean that they are exactly the meanings that the song writer intended for people to take away. They're just what I got fromt he song.

On a side note, today I wore black ripped tights with my dress. My mom didn't like them, but I did. Oh well...

PS- i want a pair of cool combat boots. don't ask me why
PPS- probably lots of typos but i'm to lazy to proof read more than once so i'm sorry haha

Lauren

"snapple real fact #12": A cammels milk does not curdle.

Genesis.

Mood: pensive
Eating/Drinking: waffle pretzels and rasberry diet snapple
Listening to: "Walking" - The Dodos


I'm knew to this; not only to writing a blog, but looking at other blogs included. I think this will be good for me though. Who knows if anyones actually reading this, but that'd pretty cool if there is. This was actually all the idea of my friend's Dad. So I guess thanks for the idea, Tom. (Side note: I don't actually call him Tom but I don't think it's a good idea to post his last name on here...) Anyways, we'll see where this goes.

If by some chance you find yourself reading this, check out the music I've listed in my profile. There's some good stuff there.

Anyways I think I'm going to mainly use this blog to talk about music and maybe share some of my orignal poems or stories and stuff. I'd love it if you commented (can you even comment on this thing?) with suggestions for music you like that you think I might be interested in too or even constructive criticism. It'd be greatly appreciated. I like to thik I'm pretty chill, so feel free to share your true feelings about everything.

I kinda like the way I started so I think I'm gonna do that everytime. I digress.

But now I'm off to play broomball...though I don't know why because I hate it.

Byebye,
Lauren.

"Snapple Real Fact #414" - Chameleons can move both their eyes in different directions at the same time.