Music 2012

“Still though, I think if you're not self-obsessed, you're probably boring.” ― Dave Eggers

Dave Eggers, you make me feel so validated. Thanks to aliceling (whose blog is amazing and you should go read) for the quote

It's been a year since my last music post, so I thought I'd give you all a new look at things. The top 10 in my iTunes isn't terribly accurate, since most of that is what I was listening to on repeat while writing over the summer, so I'm just going to link you to some of the things I love a lot right now.


"The Cave" by Mumford and Sons is amazing to the point that it is on mix CDs in my and two of my best friends' cars and we sing it whenever we go places together.


The Mountain Goats, just in general. I saw them in concert a few weeks ago and it was awesome. "Heretic Pride" is one of my favorites but "No Children" (if you're into upbeat songs about miserable people) and "This Year" are also fantastic.


"We Looked Like Giants" and "Soul Meets Body" by Death Cab for Cutie, plus others. Their concert last summer was also awesome.


"The Engine Driver" and "The Rake's Song" (if you're into upbeat songs about child murderers) by the Decemberists. I heard their concert last spring was awesome.


"Modern Love" by Matt Nathanson (who my sister refers to as "Sexy Beard Man") is a song my youngest sister and I sing at obnoxious volumes when I'm driving her to get ice cream. I also sing it at obnoxious volumes when I'm driving by myself. (Actually, I sing a lot of things at obnoxious volumes when I'm driving by myself.)


Aaaaand just so this is a proper top-ish 10, we'll throw in "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" by Neutral Milk Hotel-- something else that is in my car. And played with my friend on her guitars which was kind of amazing.

Debate Christmas Carols

"One of the greatest joys known to man is to take a flight into ignorance in search of knowledge." - Robert Lynd


"Truly great madness cannot be achieved without significant intelligence." - Henrik Tikannen


Somehow managed to win first place in my event at the debate tournament today. It helps that 3/4 of my opponents had never debated before, but hey.


That's not terribly important, though. The thing that actually matters is that we spent  a couple of hours before rounds started writing alternative versions to Christmas carols on the tables (which were graciously covered with paper specifically for that purpose). Later we ripped the sections off and placed them into our smuggling tubs (which are mainly used for food): The Millenium Falcon, and Serenity.


No, they're not supposed to have the right number of syllables or necessarily rhyme. If you are amused, that is wonderful. If not, just ignore this.


"Oh Holey Logic," written and then sung by me and Josh Williams (for the probably two of you that means something to).


Oh, hole-y logic
Your fallacies are blinding
They make my brain
Hurt as if it's being hit by rocks
The joys of pain- 
Your case just simply crumbles
It falls on the ground
In a heap of useless nonsense
Oh logic
So flawed!
In the round that I just won.


"Hark Harold the Union Worker Sings" (in reference to the debate topic "current economic disparities threaten democratic ideals") Written by me, very late last night. The sad thing is, I went to bed at midnight and got up before 6 and there were tons of people there who had gotten way less sleep than I did.


"Hark!" Harold the Union Worker sings
"I'd like more collective bargaining!
Peace on the floor, and hours mild
Wages to feed my newborn child"
Angered, all ye workers rise
Join the protest to get the prize
When the CEO proclaims
"Perhaps we can agree on something"
"Hark!" Harold the Union Worker sings
"That's what I call collective bargaining!"


Then, in reference to the topic that I was actually debating ("individuals have a moral obligation to assist people in need,"), there is "Grandma Got Run Over By A Bus (and I don't have a moral obligation to help her)" Written by my other friend.


Grandma got run over by a bus
Jogging home from our house Christmas Eve
You may say I have a moral obligation to help her
But as for me and Grandpa, in Con we believe.


"God Rest Ye Merry Bourgeoise" Kind of a conglomerate of authorship. 


God rest ye merry bourgeoise
Let nothing you dismay
Democracy was founded to rich, make you stay
To save you all from poverty when the money goes away
Oh, tidings of tax cuts and joy
Tax cuts and joy!
Oh, tidings of tax cuts and joy!


There were a few more, but those are the best and most complete.


I'll probably write up a few more anecdotes about the actual tournament tomorrow, but these are for either your enjoyment or "god, she's insane"-ment for now. :)

To Be, Or Not To Be

"And if you feel just like a tourist in the city you were born

Then it's time to go

And define your destination

There's so many different places to call home

Because when you find yourself the villain in the story you have written

It's plain to see

That sometimes the best intentions are in need of redemptions

Would you agree?"

 - Death Cab for Cutie, "You Are A Tourist"

There is the Awkward Silence. There is the Ominous Silence. There is the Two Good Friends Sitting But Not Speaking Silence and the Anticipatory Silence, but the kind I want to talk about here is, for want of a better name, the Quaker Silence. Because, once again, I went to Meeting with my best friend.


We aren't quiet because we have to be, but because that's just how it works. There's an important distinction.


There's something incredibly special and mind-blowing about a group of people sitting together not talking or interacting, but not in an awkward "Wow, we're all just sort of sitting here. Hm" sort of way.


It makes you realize that each and every one of the other people in the room are in the middle of their own thoughts, and their own experiences--whatever it is they do/think about during the Meeting. You aren't viewing them as they relate to you...because for the moment they don't. You know they aren't going to say anything to you--or if they do speak up, it will be to the room as a whole. It isn't "you" and "them." It's you and a whole room full of other yous.


The silence isn't awkward, or anxious. It may as well not even be silence, since it's not silence for silence's sake but to eliminate distractions and draw focus away from the immediate surroundings.


It's a safe place in which you don't have to worry about the present. It gives you the opportunity to...be, I guess.


Unless, of course, you're like me and are too busy contemplating the value of such a silence.

I Open At The Close, Part 2: The Fandom

"The fabric of existence weaves itself whole." - Charles Ives


Sometime during 7th grade (that would be 2007-2008), my dad had recently bought himself an iPod and discovered the wonder that is the podcast. He suggested I find some of my own to listen to regarding my interests, and suggested I look up Harry Potter. This lead me to Pottercast, which I ended up listening to for three years. Pottercast, in turn, lead me to The Leaky Cauldron and wizard rock. 


I had always known Harry Potter was popular, but realizing that there was an entire fandom of people who loved it just as much as I did was mind-blowing. The sheer shock of "there are people who write music about this and sing it at concerts" was enough to make me fall in love with the concept without regard to the actual quality of said music. (I guess it shows how much I've grown that I just skipped Sunday's concert without a second thought in favor of my sister's birthday party.)

Picture from last night's ConTour show

My first live concert was Tuesday, February 24, 2009 with The Blibbering Humdingers, Tonks and the Aurors, The Whomping Willows, and JFF. It was also my first (and second to last, as the store closed less than a week later) time at Camelot Treasures. I remember the evening ridiculously well. I mean, a song in which "Pottercast, Potter-Pottercast" is part of the chorus?


I wrote my first wrock song at my second live concert: February 28, 2009 at the same store, closing night. It wasn't so much of a concert as "circle of people holding instruments with a bunch of chocolate muffins in the middle," and most of the music was Ren-Faire type stuff rather than wizard rock. I believe I started teaching myself guitar the next day.


My most recent concert was last night, and it shows how much the community is changing that the majority of the music wasn't wizard rock. However, that's okay because it means all of us "wizard rock girls (who) are the prettiest girls in the whole wide world" got to enjoy the super-talented and attractive piano rocker Mike Lombardo (and yes, I took this picture solely to put on here just so I could use that caption).

While the episode of Pottercast featuring John and Hank Green aired on February 4th (yes, I just looked it up- God, even I'm not that obsessed), I didn't re-check out their videos and subscribe until June. While there are many, many Harry Potter fans who are not nerdfighters, the vast majority of nerdfighters are Harry Potter fans, so I include this as part of my Harry Potter experience-- especially since "Accio Deathly Hallows" is what kicked them into the YouTube mainstream in the first place.


That's what started my general online presence, although I only made a blog because I met rock4ever95 and thiefofwords in November and they had them and I thought they both seemed really cool and interesting. (Shut up, rock4ever95. Don't even start.)


I never really listened to any music at all before finding wrock, so it soon came to occupy pretty much my entire iTunes library other than a few podcasts. Yes, this is a bit sad. No, I don't regret it; I was happy. There was this whole community of people who were just like me. I, like many other budding nerdfighters, felt truly accepted for the first time by the majority rather than by only a few close friends (read: one close friend who had other friends I never really developed a relationship with despite liking them).


Part 3: The Effects coming tomorrow.


P.S. Aly, I met someone else at that show who recognized me from YouTube/here. What are the odds that there are TWO of you living close enough to randomly run into me at events? I am thoroughly shocked.

Epic Quest: The Musical

"The problem with quotes on the Internet is that you can never be certain whether they are authentic." - Abraham Lincoln


I am currently in the midst of a quest to expand my music library (it's going rather well, but if any of you want to leave a couple of your favorite bands/favorite songs by said bands in the comments, go right ahead.)


The problem hasn't really been that I only like YouTube-based music. It's been that the only music I've been exposed to up until recently has been YouTube-based and the pop on the radio, and that up until recently I hadn't bothered seeking out anything else.


I've found some stuff that I really like, but today I realized a big difference between YouTube music and "normal" music. In my interview with Alan Lastufka, I asked him what marketing techniques he/DFTBA Records used, and he said he didn't have to do any marketing outside of a weekly newsletter and Twitter because the musicians did all of that themselves through vlogs. 


And let me tell you, vlogging is an incredibly-effective marketing technique. Your viewers feel like they know you--like you're their friend--and so they don't mind giving you some of their money every now and then. You share part of your life with them in addition to just your music, but you end up with a much tighter fan-base.


"Normal" music doesn't have that same connection. That doesn't make YouTube music any better/worse, and I'm not saying that said musicians are vlogging solely for the manipulative effect on their viewers (they all started posting music just for fun, and started making money later on).


The "normal" musicians are just voices in my earbuds, rather than people living in my computer screen (who I sometimes get to meet in real life). And that's weird. (It's also weird that I find it so weird.)


(Yes. Rejoice, for I am emerging from my musical cocoon.)


Hmm...Someone should really write Epic Quest: The Musical. And no, Spamalot does not count. It's making fun of Arthurian themes. Now that I think about it...I want the Tough Guide To Fantasyland in musical form. Is that terribly geeky of me? (Yes. Yes it is. Very, very much so.)

Meet My Music

So having talked about my music in general terms...I figured I may as well introduce you to some of the specifics (plus rock4ever95 asked about the 20-25% that's non-nerdy).


It's kind of difficult to determine exactly which songs I listen to the most, since sometimes I just sing them to myself inside my head, and sometimes I go to the next song before it's technically over so it doesn't register as a play, and I starting syncing my iPod to a different computer earlier this year, so my "times played" counts are skewed...In short, this is a rough depiction of what I've been listening to recently.


Here are my top 10 most-played songs according to iTunes:

1. "Winter's Song" by Alan Lastufka. Depressing. And gorgeous. I have the sheet music for the piano.
2. "My Eyes" from the Dr. Horrible soundtrack. Speaks for itself.
3. "Delete You" by All Caps. For exactly why it's awesome, go read my review of the album (I believe I called it the "angry breakup song of the century").
4. "Summer of '09" originally by All Caps, but I have three versions. See the aforementioned review. Has been said to be the "song of our generation" (by biased fans, granted.)
5. "All I Am" also by Alan Lastufka. I have no idea why this is so high on the list (it should be in the 10-20 range), so I'm assuming I was still working on the short story for it when I switched computers.
6. "Real Or Not Real" by All Caps- technically about Mockingjay, but that's not why I listen to it.
7. "An Awful Lot of Running" by Chameleon Circuit. No excuses here.
8. "A Thousand Hours" Doctor Noise cover of Alex Day. See review.
9. "Making A Scene" by Alan Lastufka. Alright, so I enjoy the image of dancing in a parking lot without a care in the world.
10. "Boxcar Blood" yet again by Alan Lastufka. This is the song that made me start writing the stories for the entire album. Enough said.

I would consider only two of those "nerdy" (three if you count Dr. Horrible). Why do I like the others? They invoke emotions and/or strong imagery. If YouTube views were to be counted as well as iPod plays, "You Will Be Mine" by Lenka (song introduced to me a week ago by CloudyKim) would be up there (I'm currently working on a short story for that one too- haha), which I love for the...atmosphere?


As for the other non-nerd songs...there's some Mountain Goats, Ben Folds/Nick Hornby, Jonathon Coulton,The Caulden Road, and one song each from Ted Hu, The Format, Dave Matthews, David Byrne, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Florence + The Machine. There would be one or two by Weird Al, but...kind of lacking in the iTunes-based funds right now. YouTube is my friend.


The Ben Folds stuff is brand new-- I listened to two of the songs awhile ago and liked them a lot, but I only re-looked them up today-- so don't ask me about the others quite yet. It's not often that I buy an entire album without listening to all/most of it beforehand, so I'm taking a bit of a risk here.

Fandom-Based Music

"The way to know life is to love many things." - Vincent Van Gough


This post has been a long time coming, and now I finally have enough context for it to get my thoughts in order.


 I'm surrounded on all sides by various people and groups who are talking and asking about exactly why we like the things we like, or why a given thing is of good quality. I'm very sure it's obvious that I've been thinking about that a lot lately-- what with all of these book reviews and this post. Now, it's far too large of a topic to cover in one post, much less one  book, or even a dozen books, so I'm going to zero in on the phenomenon of fandom-based music.


I'm often given a hard time about the contents of my iPod-- how it's supposedly all wizard rock, or at the very least "nerdy" music. Over the weekend, I put together a playlist of all the songs I won't skip over when it comes up on Shuffle mode. There were about 100 of them. Only 17 were wizard rock, 50-60 (including those 17) could be considered nerdy (10 of which are all covers/duplicates/ different versions of each other), and another 20-ish are non-nerdy songs by nerdy artists. All in all, about 75% of my current bank of music is fandom-based. Why?


It's certainly not that most "normal" music is bad. It's just that fandom-music has a couple super-powers that the other stuff doesn't. There are three factors involved: Memories, Multitudes, and Music. (Yes, I came up with a cheesy alliteration just for you to groan at.)


Memories
"Normal" music has sentimental/nostalgic value as well, of course. The right words can transport you back to last week, last month, last year, or last decade. You can relive a few moments of your life. But you don't get to be a part of a fandom in a few moments. 
Take Harry Potter: there's the hours spent reading the books. There's the months spent anticipating the next one. There's the speculation about the upcoming sequel and seeing it on the big screen and the ever-so-familiar "I freaking want to go to Hogwarts." There's the sheer passion for the series, and fondness with which you remember the experience of reading them all for the first time. That's powerful stuff. The quality of the music doesn't matter as much as the mindset into which it puts you.


Multitudes
This ties in closely with the Memories. There's a community surrounding fandom-based music that you just can't find anywhere else. Not only do you have the connection with the material on which the fandom is based, but you share that connection in an intimate way.
Most people can relate to a love song, but that's a very individual memory. The entire world held their collective breath for the release of Deathly Hallows-- and we held our breath together. We all shared the enormous emotional experience of the series as a whole both in the in-book world and in the real one.
Half the fun of a wizard rock concert is the feeling of being a bunch of geeks geeking out together over a shared love through song and dance, and the same goes for any other group.


Music
And here's the thing that fandom-based music has in common with "normal" music: the...well...the music. Either you like the sound and you like the lyrics/themes, or you don't. And despite what I've said above, the music itself does make a difference. 
Three years ago, I owned a grand total of 3 CDs: two by Tonks and the Aurors, and Jingle Spells 2. I listened to them all the time on repeat, because of the first two factors. After I expanded my collection, I stopped listening to those altogether. Pretty In Pink (and Green) by The Parselmouths, for instance, has the nostalgia factor, and it has the community factor, but I also legitimately like the music- separately from all of that.


So there's why only a quarter of my music is "normal" - it's got to be pretty darn good (or I at least have to connect with it a lot, regardless of objective quality) for it to stand a fighting chance against all of that predisposition.

Review: A Thousand Hours

There's a couple blogs I follow that will post song lyrics from time to time, either to analyze or just to share (re-posting other people's stuff just to share? Oh no, is Blogger turning into Tumblr? BURN THE BLOG DOWN FOR IT IS BLASPHEMOUS).


So here are the lyrics to "Thousand Hours" by Alex Day (of "Alex Reads Twilight" and Chameleon Circuit fame), the song I've been singing to myself pretty much non-stop for the past two days. I prefer Dr. Noise's cover (go download it for free) rather than the original, though.

"Thousand Hours" by Alex Day

If I counted up the hours I spent on the phone to you
Or waiting at train stations to meet you
I’d give myself maybe a thousand hours estimate
And that still wouldn’t make up for the sleep you made me lose
If someone told me I could have it all back
No more writing or reflecting or thinking on what could be
I’d tell that person they don’t know me at all
Cos you made me who I am and they don’t get how much you mean to me

This may come as a surprise
But I don’t care if we fight
Cos I’d rather that you lie
Than you not be there at all
So I’ll sing you some clichés
As I count down day by day
Till I board another train

So I’ll spend another night writing about you all I can
And revel in our shared sense of nostalgia
Memories made from Waterloo to Hyde Park, Covent Garden, Camden Market, Squares of Leicester and Trafalgar
If someone told me I could give it all back
No more hostels or those long goodbyes where no-one wants to go
I’d talk about the time we sung in the rain
Skipping buses cos you didn’t want to leave me to go home

This may come as a surprise,
But I love the sleepless nights
Though I tend to speak my mind
I go overboard, I know
So I’ll sing you some clichés
As I count down day by day
Till I board another train

This may come as a surprise
But I don’t care if we fight
Cos I’d rather that you lie
Than you not be there at all
So I’ll sing you some clichés
As I count down day by day
Till I board another train

I think the chorus is a bit ambiguous, so let us tackle that first. I originally thought it meant "I'd rather we lie to each other and still be together than be apart," which is a sentiment that has always bothered me. But having listened to it so many times in the past 48 hours, I've found a new interpretation: "I'd rather find out you lied to me than for my happy memories with you to have never happened in the first place," which is much nicer.

I particularly love the "If I counted up the hours I spent on the phone with you or waiting at train stations to meet you, I'd give myself maybe a thousand hours' estimate and that still wouldn't make up for the sleep you made me lose," and the "So I'll spend another night writing about you all I can and revel in our shared sense of nostalgia." Especially that last one.

Alex also happens to be the source of the quote I think I posted sometime last week about how when you fall in love with someone new, you don't think the last time felt anywhere as near as good as right then, but that's not fair to the people in your past. And now in "Thousand Hours" he's saying "You know what? You caused me a lot of pain, but I love the pain just like I loved the happy times, because that's what it is to be human." I'm kind of big on discovering what it means to be human and then celebrating it. 

It's a mission there's no way I can ever, ever complete, of course, but there you go.

The song can be viewed as either depressing or uplifting (or both). I choose uplifting.

Thank you, Alex Day. I love this song.

March of the Elvi

"You know when you break up with someone, you start to forget what it felt like to love them. Every time you meet a new person it feels like all fresh and even more intense than the last time and you start to question 'oh maybe I didn't love them as much'. But no, like, that's not fair to those people. Like, you did have something special with those people."-Alex Day

George Takei, portrayer of Mr. Sulu on some tiny little show no one's ever heard of called Star Trek, heard about that "Don't Say Gay" bill I wrote about recently and tweeted the following: "In case you missed it : TN bill willprevent use of word "gay" by teachers. I'm lending my name: "It's okay to be Takei."


So now all the gay nerds in Tennessee can geek out while they're being oppressed.


Moving on. We got this new song in band today called "Godzilla Eats Las Vegas." It comes with its own program notes to give to the audience so they know what the heck is going on.
The program notes are awesome and random and detailed. ("Godzilla rampages through the streets, trampling hysterical vegans. Cut to an army of Elvis impersonators marching to fight him.")


This concert at the end of May is going to be insane. We're also probably playing something that simulates the bombing of a German town called Dresden (and simulates it very well in Musical Form), and "American Elegy" for all of the people we've just fictionally murdered, among other things.

Dueling Pianos

"Some people drink from the fountain of knowledge, others just gargle." - Robert Anthony


After lunch today, we rented a U-Haul and drove over to the elementary school. Why? We were going to pick up our new piano. 
No, not a replacement piano-- an additional piano, because we're huge snobs and one simply wasn't enough anymore. (The real reason: it only cost us about $25, and that was for the truck, so why the heck not?)


So you're probably thinking "Huh? One woman, one teenager, and one eleven year-old are going to move a super-heavy piano all by themselves? That's insane."


See, I bet you didn't know that all three of us can bench 100 pounds--a hundred British pound notes, that is. ;)


(We ended up getting the principal to help out with the loading, and our neighbor with the unloading.)


And now we have two pianos in our front room: the baby grand we've had my entire life, and an ex-player piano-turned-mirror-piano that was made in 1919 and is so horrendously out of tune that I've pretty much banned anyone from playing it until the piano tuner guy can come fix it. It's a bit crowded, but my mom and other sister are going to have fun playing things together when they both have access to a full keyboard instead of sharing.


So now for a bit of history, as well as what a mirror piano is:


During World War 2, the piano industry wasn't doing so well (I wonder why). There weren't many new ones being made, so what the companies did was find antiques (most of them gutted player pianos, like the one we now have), take off the top and attach a mirror. This made it look smaller and more modern.


Then they'd sell them to all of the people who wanted the Smallest, Sleekest, Lightest, Shiniest Newest Thing (these, of course, are the grandparents of the Apple fanboys) for a profit, not caring that they'd lowered the value of the antique pianos by thousands of dollars when adjusting for inflation.

A Sad, Beautiful Link

"Time travel is awesome and useful. That sentence had a typo when I published it...the first time." - Craig Benzine

"You don't have to be gay to be a supporter -- you just have to be human." - Daniel Radcliffe


I know there's probably a few of you who have read this already, but for those of you who haven't, here's a wonderful blog post about the simply gargantuan amounts of pop culture we'll be facing in the future: http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2011/04/18/135508305/the-sad-beautiful-fact-that-were-all-going-to-miss-almost-everything?ft=1&f=93568166

I occasionally have mini panic attacks regarding this issue. There's so much good stuff out there, and there will be more and more great creators of such stuff, and those creators will be creating longer and longer as average life expectancy increases.


As the article (which you should read, since it's much better than what I'm writing here)) says, it isn't possible to get to all of the good things that are worth our time. We just have to make sure to spend our time on some of them, put a little effort into finding the best of the best, and lament the fact that we can't get to all of it.


(P.S. I'm writing this Monday night-- at the beach! The next two days shall be filled with sunshine and ice cream and lying on the sand using my Chemistry binder for a pillow. Awesome.)

Interview: Alan Lastufka

Today's post is something new and exciting that I've never done before: an interview with an actual living human being. Or perhaps he actually had a robot write his answers, but that seems unlikely, so we shall disregard that.
This Human Being's name is Alan Lastufka, co-founder and acting president of DFTBA Records. Thank you so much, Alan, both for helping me out with my Economics project and letting me post the interview on here, and for generally being very helpful and cool in all of our interactions upon this thing known as The Internet. 
I realize that since many of you are familiar with the company, some of the questions might be a little "duh" to you, but it was for my homework, and my teacher isn't quite as aware of the YouTube scene, and I included them for the sake of comprehensiveness.
Let it be noted that I was actually listening to DFTBA Records music while compiling the interview into a Powerpoint.
We shall pretend that I said hello to him, and he said hello back, because I really just emailed him some questions, and he emailed me back the answers. Anyways, onward. Interview to be seen after the jump.

Party Like A Rockstar

"If you could only love enough, you could be the most powerful person in the world." - Emmet Fox


Even after spending most of the past 24 hours surrounded by Hannah's (and some of my) friends, I still find it difficult to accept the fact that there are other people who love Dr. Horrible and Doctor Who and wizard rock as much as I do. One of the best birthday parties I've been to, for sure.


Also, I'm now in a band of sorts, the name of which is still pending. The vast majority, if not all, of our current repertoire is based off of books: some of which are popular (Harry Potter & The Hunger Games), and some of which are less so (a couple things by Nick Hornby). Most notably: "In Which Draco and Harry Secretly Want To Make Out" by the Whomping Willows. I have a feeling that it will be permanently stuck in my head for a very long time.


And somehow I was convinced to sing. I don't know how that happened. I didn't intend for it to...but it did, and it turns out that it's rather fun. And according to the people there, I sing better than I claim/think I do. So that's good.


I'm excited.


Off to work on my post about feminism. Yeah, I know I said I didn't have anything to say. I found something. :)

Concert

So the wrock concert tonight had its good points and its bad points (one of the good points being Lauren Fairweather in her entirety), but the best part, I thought, was getting to talk to the other attendees afterwards.
For instance, I met Aly IRL (I can say that and expect you to easily find out who I mean, since the follower list is still so small-- one of the perks of being un-famous), which was simultaneously very weird and very awesome and way less awkward than I would have expected it to be. 
I also got to talk to someone else whose name I thought I remembered but then when I looked her up on Facebook couldn't find...but she goes to the school I almost had to go to before I got my transfer. We talked about The Life of Pi, which she had with her. I need to re-read that book.


Hannah remarked to me that nerds tend to be incredibly friendly, and if we just took over the world, then everything would be better and we'd have world peace.
It occurs to me now that the creators of Google and Facebook sort of have taken over the world...but yes, nerds are incredibly friendly when in a social situation they find comfortable.
So meeting/talking to those people was the best part of the evening for me.


In reference to the "never got into (Nerdfighteria) because (he) didn't want to be part of the John Green cult" comment I happened to overhear- there are actually a fair amount of Nerdfighters who like neither John nor his books. Just because I'm not one of those people doesn't mean they don't exist. It's about decreasing worldsuck and increasing the amount of awesome and being tolerant and helping people and imaging each other complexly. Video-watching and GreenBrother-Idolizing is not by any means required. Being a nerdfighter isn't about what you do-- it's about what you are, if that makes any sense.

Still Got It

“Prodigies can very quickly learn what other people have already figured out; geniuses discover that which no one has ever previously discovered. Prodigies learn; geniuses do.” - John Green, An Abundance of Katherines


Procrastination is a very fine art. Anyone can do it, but only a select few can do it well. One sign of an expert procrastinator is convincing yourself that you're doing something productive and useful. Example: writing a (hopefully) interesting blog post while you should be answering the last question of a book report.


My dad decided to get out his alto saxophone this evening. The last time it was played was over the summer, when my sister was learning so that she could join concert band in the fall (she ended up playing piano in the jazz band instead). He's played less than 10 times that I can remember in my entire life.
I asked him why he was playing, and he said it was because now he can use Garage Band to accompany him, which makes it more fun.


I always hoped thought that it was my mom's clarinet that was the magic good-spouse-attractor.
It turns out that I was wrong. He sounds really good when he's not playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.


(Oh, the things that band parents do for their kids.)


So I went upstairs to compliment him, and it turns out that not only is he playing really well, but he's also improv-ing the entire thing. For you non-music/drama people, that means he's making it up as he goes.


Can we say "jealous"? Yes we can.
This is the man who can't sight-read to save his life and takes over a year to learn one piece of piano music, but can still play it near-perfect 30 years after the fact. That doesn't seem analogous to good improv...

Bmin/E: A Review

"Let us live for the beauty of our own reality." - Charles Lamb. I don't know whether or not I agree with him.


You may remember that I wrote a review of All Caps' album Lowercase after it came out. Bmin/E is a bit older, but I've been listening to it a lot today and I'm kinda bored, so why not? CD reviews tend to bring me in a lot of views...haha.


All Caps is probably my favorite band, and Bmin/E is my favorite of their albums.


Track 1: "World of Warcraft Ruined My Life"
You may remember from the Lowercase review that I greatly prefer this electronic version to the acoustic one. There's anger! There's passion! There's WoW references that date back to when I used to play it! Tidbit: Kristina began to play WoW just days after they filmed the music video for this song. 


Track 2: "Don't Unplug Me"
"Don't Unplug Me" is probably their most popular song. It details the heart-breaking story of a robotic couple whose male half stops loving his girlfriend after getting the "upgrade to version 2," saying "What is a hug? That does not compute." It is most famous for the super-epic performance at Vidcon 2010. I like the acoustic version's music video better, but in terms of the music, I again prefer the electronic one.


Track 3: "Lumos Flies"
"Lumos Flies" is a parody of "Fireflies" by Owl City about Ron and Hermione at the Yule Ball. I'm most impressed with the lyrics on this one. It's more difficult to work with a song that's not yours, and they did a great job adapting it to Harry Potter while still retaining some of the same phrases as the original. That's the best kind of parody, I think: one that closely mirrors its parent.


Track 4: "You Kissed Me At The Dundies"
I never watched The Office, so this is one of my least favorite tracks of the album just because I don't understand the references. I assume that if you have watched the show, then you'll like it.


Track 5: "Hey Kristina"
This is the kind of song that lonely nerdfighter girls listen to when they wish they had a super-awesome boyfriend. Or when they're just lonely and wouldn't mind if the person to break their loneliness happened to be a super-awesome boyfriend. Our narrator likes "this nerdy girl who does nerdy things, who likes John Green and goes to book signings." If that applies to you, you will love the song. Replace "Kristina" with your own name. Problem solved. ;) There's also references to Twilight, Renaissance Faires, lots of social media sites, FiveAwesomeGirls...


Track 6: "Can't"
"Can't" was originally written by Alan Lastufka and Tom Milsom for their album Taking Leave, so it's a bit different from the average All Caps fare. It's not the song I pick to listen to, but if it comes up in Shuffle mode, I won't skip over it. And I skip over a lot of the stuff on my iPod, so even that is a compliment.


Track 7: "Summer of '09"
Dance. Party. Originally written by Alan Lastufka for Erase This, but given to All Caps because it a) didn't fit the album and b) did fit them. I love it. This is the one I choose to listen to.


Track 8: "Happy"
This is the only song on the album that I do skip over. I'm just not really sure what it's about. When juxtaposed with "Delete You," it makes more sense, but I would have swapped the two in the track listing, in that case. Don't worry, All Caps: I still love you.


Track 9: "Delete You"
This is the angry break-up song of the century. Kristina did an amazing job with her vocals. It's not just the lyrics that are filled with passion and hurt; you can hear it. If you listen very carefully towards the end, you can hear the chorus from "Happy."


Track 10: "Your Song"
See my commentary for "Hey Kristina," without the specific Kristina-related references. The music video for this is really good, and it's a very sweet song.


Track 11: "The NaNoWriMo Song"
I must have listened to this at least 50 times during November of 2009, and it is my inspiration for creating "The Phantom of November." I'm so glad that they portray 30k-40k has the hardest part, because it is, and the Office of Letters and Light calls it "The Place Where Everything Gets Much Easier." Yeah right.


Track 12: "Christmas Wish"
See what I said for tracks 5 and 10. What heterosexual girl doesn't want a boy who will stop playing video games for her? (Actually, I would prefer to play said video games with him...but that's beside the point. It's romantic.)

Montagey Post of New Year's Theme

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself." - Neil Gaiman

I hope I do all of that stuff too, Mr. Gaiman.

This is going to be a bit of a montage post today.

First, a link to an interesting talk about goals, which I feel is appropriate for the Resolution-ing season: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHopJHSlVo4

I was going to write a post about my goals for 2011, but in the light of that video (and because I found a few other things to write about instead), I won't.

Actually, I will say one thing: "My New Year's Resolution is to be more freaking awesome." That's quite possibly one of my favorite songs I've heard this year. ;)

A friend of mine emailed me a link to a site called Worldometers, which keeps track of various numbers regarding our planet.

Deaths this year: ~137,000

Deaths today: ~137,000.

Suicides today: 2418

Those are just some of them. Our world is pretty screwed up if they're that high in LESS THAN A DAY (depending on where you live). Let's view them as motivating rather than depressing, and make a commitment to do something to make them lower this year. 

Now to a more happy note.

I started 2010 eating gingerbread. 2010 was the best year of my life.

I started 2011 at my best friend's church for a multi-generational game night. Let's hope 2011 takes the title. I've tried two new foods already, and found a religion I have absolutely no issues with whatsoever, which is a first. Yes, an actual religion. Me. That's right.

The game night was amazing. I learned several new games, met some awesome people, and it truly was multi-generational. The teenagers didn't go into one corner, the parents into another, and the grandparents into a third. We all played together. Somehow I worked up the courage to sing "Ulcerative Colitis" in front of a bunch of people I'd only just met. During the White Elephant gift exchange (everyone brings a gift of questionable desirability and everyone takes one home), I got a new book and a bumper sticker that says "Who would JESUS execute?"

Button Pushers

"We're having hot lesbian sex. And by 'lesbian sex,' we mean 'tea,' but it's still pretty hot." - my friend's Facebook's "favorite quotes." Not sure who actually said it.


Ha, I will laugh if that, which was added solely for laughs, ends up bringing in a bunch of views via Google searches. And I will know, via my beloved stat feature.


The following are the lyrics to a song I wrote based upon the first few episodes of Season 2 of Lost, because I'm a geek and do stuff like that. Happy New Year, guys. I hope this one's better than the last for you, regardless of how good this one was.

“Button Pushers”
A Song

I don’t know what happens if I don’t push it but
I can’t risk it, so yeah, I don’t get out much
I don’t know how long I’ve been here despite the tallies on the wall
I can’t leave until you come so to the button I crawl

Is it real
Is it not
Everyday I have this thought
What if it’s all in my mind?
What’s your name?
Hello, John.
Are you the Island’s pawn?
Take my place? Wow, you’re so kind

I’m a button pusher
Button pusher
Button pusher
Button pusher

4 8 15 16 23 42
Type it once every 108 minutes then I hit execute
Wake up, work out, make some breakfast, wait for alarm to sound
Monotony until I see three outsiders sneaking around

Is it real
Is it not
Everyday I have this thought
What if it’s all in my mind?
What’s your name?
Hello, John.
Are you the Island’s pawn?
Take my place? Wow, you’re so kind

I don’t know what happens if I don’t push it but
I can’t risk it, so yeah, I don’t get out much
I don’t know how long I’ve been here despite the tallies on the wall
I can’t leave until you come so to the button I crawl
To the button I crawl