28 Days in February

I love that February only has 28 days...it makes March come 2-3 days early! But, I've decided that I'm going to try and ignore the next three weeks of my life as best I can.  It's going to be a lot of reading and essay-writing from here until then.  =(

The good news is, when the next three weeks are over I will be headed back to Southern Cali for some nice spring weather and to celebrate my birthday! Craazy, I'll come back to Oregon and finally be able to "legally" drink at the locally owned breweries! Citizen Cope is also playing a show at the Roseland theater the day after my birthday (March 31st) and I'm super excited.  Life's gonna get pretty eventful (and pricey) after I turn 21.  haha, I can't wait.  

I'm going to have to start looking for a job, too. I've gotta start saving for this summer.  I turned in my application for Costa Rica, and I'm almost positive that I will be going there this summer for two weeks for volunteer work!!! SOO EXCIITEED!!! 

Look at this funny picture I found: FEAR & LOATHING SESAME STREET

New Noise for You!

 Hi everyone.  If you're sick of your music and are looking for something different and great to listen to...well I've compiled a list of my favorite albums of all time.  None of the albums are very new, but I feel like I should show my appreciation for these albums (after all, they have all helped to keep me sane at certain times in my life) so I am sharing them with you.

1. The Moon & Antartica. By: Modest Mouse. 

2. O.K Computer. By: Radiohead. I struggled between this album and Hail to the Thief, but decided that this one wins because...actually, I've decided that they are equally amazing and therefore are tied for second.

 

3. Andrew Bird & The Mysterious Production of Eggs. By: Andrew Bird. Great album to listen to while writing in your journal.

4. Funeral. By: The Arcade Fire. Something a little more upbeat that reminds me of driving down CPH in the summer.

5. The Flying Club Cup. By: Beirut. This album makes me feel like I'm laying on my back on a field in Scotland looking at puffy clouds. It also reminds me of turning 18 and going desert camping with friends.

6. Broken Social Scene. By: Broken Social Scene. Reminds me of driving to concerts with my best friends.

7. Fleetwood Mac: Rumours. This entire album makes me think of childhood and backyard bbqs.  Thankyou mom and dad.

8. Kings of Leon: Aha Shake Heartbreak. Driving down PCH in the summer with the windows down , the ocean to my right and the mountains to my left, with my best friends.  Ohhh tapered-jean girl.

9. The Postal Service: Give Up. Yes, it may be old, but this album is a classic.

10. Rilo Kiley: The Execution of All Things. I listened to this album every morning when I drove to Moorpark College.  One of the happier memories of attending that school.  More Adventurous is another great album by them.

Other Awesome Albums:

The Beatles: Let It Be

Eliot Smith: XO


The Faint: Wet From Birth


The Flaming Lips: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots


Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago


Gorillaz: Demon Days


Incubus: Morning View


Kings of Convenience: Quiet is the New Loud


Louis XIV: The Best Little Secrets are Kept


Mars Volta: De-loused in the Comatorium


Of Montreal: The Sunlandic Twins


Pinback: Summer in Abandon


Ratatat: Classics


Queen: Greatest Hits


The Shins: Chutes Too Narrow


She & Him: Volume One


Steely Dan: Can't Buy a Thrill


Sublime: Self-Title


Sufjan Stevens: Illinois

Supertramp: The Autobiography of Supertramp

Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Fever to Tell

311: Omaha Sessions

Tell me if I forgot anything. Or, if you have great music with similar taste, let me know!

This Last Weekend

I finally made it to the Oregon Coast!!!!! 

This is me being SO happy

A few pictures I took:

So yea, the beach makes me a better person.  When I lived in Southern Cali and I felt like exploding, I would drive through Decker Canyon and stop at various look outs and then sit at the beach for hours and write in my journal. It makes me able to deal with life.  So, although I was with other people on the Oregon coast, I felt right at home.  If I had my car up here in Portland, I would be at the beach everyday.
Here's a picture of me at my favorite spot on Decker:

I got all introverted afterwards and stayed in Friday night and wrote a poem, haha.

I went to a two hour yoga sesh on Saturday and it was amazing.  Then we found a random show at Backspace on 5th and Davis.  It was an Ocean Age CD release.  I had never heard of them, but they were good.  Kinda sounded like Arcade Fire.

And then Sunday we spent a great night doing homework at Coffee Time.  That coffee shop is amazing, I highly recommend it to any Portlanders looking for a chill place with good music.

I'm also getting ready to buy my ticket for Coachella this year.  It's friggin expensive, but the lineup is too good to pass up.  I'm also preparing for my 21st bday!!! Oh, isn't that exciting.

The Year of the Tiger

I've been avoiding actually acknowledging that Valentine's day is today.  Camila and I did homework at Stumptown Coffee shop and stared out the window at passing love birds and tandem bicycles.  Then we had an adorable dinner to celebrate our singlehood.

(notice the roses, hahahaha)

Then I composed this cheesy love poem that I will give to my future boyfriend next year (yes, I will have one by then!)

Maybe I'll apply to work at a greeting card company like the guy in 500 Days of Summer.  And to all of you who celebrated your "individualism" today, here's a song from me to you:

Soup from a Stone...fancy that!

So I'm getting into midterms and it is soo intense taking 17 credits.....never again.  I don't know how some crazy overambitious people manage to take 21 credits and work full time.  I WISH I had the energy to do that.

Yesterday, in my African Literature class, we were discussing this book called Maps by Nurrudin Farah (which, by the way, is a really great novel so far...the author plays around with 1st 2nd and 3rd perspectives and incorporates dreams into certain chapters.  The protagonist is totally creepy, and the whole novel is very disorientating...havent finished it yet, but so far highly recommended).  Well, two major symbols in the novel are blood and water, so we were talking about the disturbing aspects of the novel and I for some reason I just got in such an uncomfortable mood.  So I wrote this poem, which was a pleasant surprise because I haven't written any poetry in quite some time.  Let me know what you think of it:




He moves his hands when he speaks
flicking his wrists
look at his rotating shoulder sockets
elbows bending; retracting
adverted eyes
        
.....wait

his hands!

on his right hand
his ring finger is shorter than his pinkie
he bends it in so no one notices
but I see it
and I can't
                  stop
                          staring
                                       at it

His lips are moving; smacking together and apart
There is spit on his tongue...
His eyes clasp together
How smooth the inside of his eyelid must be


But I can't hear him anymore
Just his lips, the quick blinking of his eyes
all I hear is murmuring
      and the whistling of a fractured air vent