Wall of Sound

This video was shown to me by a good friend who keeps my new music in check! As soon as I heard it, I got chills all over my body. Everything from lead singer, Chris Chu's crooning voice, the drums, the Etta James-style instrumentals, and the background vocals just compile so beautifully. In the interview at the beginning of the video, Chu describes his objectives for recording their song, "Excuses" in this fashion. He wanted to recreate record producer Phil Spektor's "wall of sound" theory which basically adds up to putting a load of people and instruments in a room and going with it as loud as you can, creating a "wall" of sound. This is "Excuses" from the delightful Berkley, CA band the morning benders (they prefer lowercase), enjoy!

Anonymous Apology (AA)

More often than not we go about our days saying things without thinking, without understanding. Today I realized the true meaning of that old phrase, "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me." Today I realized I am not who I want to be, or expected my self to turn in to, either way. I am not the understanding, polite, eloquent, and creative young lady that I know I should be and it took only one person to show me. Unfortunately, she will never know. She won't know the words I said, the hurtful thoughts I had running through my brain every time I saw her. I did not understand, I'm sorry. Silently, she took my hand and offered kindness, a kinship of sorts, although rather unconventional. Oh well, I am an unconventional being. Through her kind outreach I will push myself to learn a better, more patient way of life where I am not run by frustration, jealousy, and guilt. Easy come, easy go-that is what life is. Love, joy, creation, death, sadness, all of these things are essential but others I can learn to live without. "Love looks through a telescope; envy, through a microscope." Josh Billings

Costa Rica!

My closest friend from high school and I share a common passion-- traveling. Clare spent a year abroad in Denmark our junior year of high school. That same year I spent time at an orphanage in Mexico. That was the year the passion was born in us. Now, we are starting a tradition where every year we take a Girl's Getaway Spring Break. Basically, we find the cheapest tickets we possibly can on www.studentuniverse.com and blow all the money we save for this occasion throughout the year. This year we are taking our trip to Costa Rica! We are gone for eight days and are hopping from one hostel to another every couple of nights. We will be staying on the Caribbean coast due to the fact that Costa Rica is a deceptively large country. A few things we have planned for the trip are as follows; beach, beach, beach, rain forest tour, snorkeling, beach, beach, etc. I will update after I get back with photos from our trip and stories as well. Until then, adios!

The World Would Be a Better Place..

I heard this song and immediately became happy. I am thoroughly convinced that if more artists sang about things like love, happiness, and being together, then our world would be a much happier place. This is Train's newest release, "Hey, Soul Sister." Enjoy!

My Young Grasshopper!

This weekend I went home to support my little sister, Lily at her Tae Kwon Do testing. Lily has worked very hard on her forms, sparring, and discipline. After two long, hard working hours, she stood up to receive her first place trophy for sparring (fighting), and her second place medal for her poomse (forms). She also moved up in belt color. Lily is now at green/blue. Lily is now only five steps away from her black belt and I couldn't be any more proud! Here is a picture of Lily after kicking some Tae Kwon Do booty! Congratulations, Lilybee!

Spoon

Spoon is a band from Austin, Texas made of 4 young men that falls into the indie-rock category of music that is quickly growing these days. They have released seven EP's and are a favorite among many people, including myself. Spoon's lead singer and guitarist, Britt Daniel, has a crooning, scratchy voice that makes you feel emotions you weren't feeling before you turned the song on. They're mainly up-beat music makes you want to get up and move around whenever you hear it and their lyrics tell fluid stories to keep you attention.
Here is Spoon with their hit "I Turn My Camera On" from 2006.

Save the Planet...One bottle at a time?

The new hype is "Go Green" meaning, reduce, reuse, and recycle. People are making drastic changes in their lifestyle to conform to the recycling era that we are now is. How far is too far, though? Some of the products at are coming out of the assembly line just seem too strange. Take the 360 Paper Bottle made by Brand Image. These bottles are made from 100% food-safe, recycled products. We all know that every time you throw away a plastic bottle, you are condemning it to lay there for 80 years. Well, there are all kinds of wonderful metal canteens and water bottles out there as well as Nalgene bottles that are both reusable. Why throw away paper bottles when you could be reusing a metal or plastic one every day?

Product of the 1990's

I fall asleep watching cartoons most nights because of my roommate. We watch King of the Hill, Family Guy, and anything else that plays on AdultSwim between the times of 10pm and 1am. Every night, I lay there feeling nostalgic about the cartoons that I would wake up so early for on Saturday and Sunday mornings as a child. I think of Keenan and Kel, All That, Boy Meets World, Ahh! Real Monsters, Salute Your Shorts, and all of those silly shows that we would laugh at until we dropped. Recently, I found a website that allows you to watch many of these shows because YouTube offers none of them. However, while searching YouTube for some of these shows, I found a top-ten video that suited this topic quite well. Sit back, relax, and enjoy a little trip down memory lane...back to the days of footed pajamas, Lucky Charms cereal, and Nickelodeon on Saturday mornings.

As baby boomers age, we see increased uses of Marijuana?

While doing my daily check-up on www.newsvine.com, I ran across and article that one, made me giggle a little and two, caught my eye. Matt Sedensky, Associated Press Writer, brought to light the fact that the use of marijuana in people 50 or older is increasing! Being the daughter of two baby boomers myself, I sort of chortled at the thought of my parents smoking pot. However, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the number of people 50 and older using marijuana (for whatever reason) has gone up from 1.9 percent to 2.9 percent from 2002 to 2008. The typical reason for use of marijuana while aging is for medical purposes however, you get the occasional older gentleman that wants to relive the glory days by sparking up a joint. Where I stand in the whole legalization debacle is clear, I support legalization and heavy taxing to create a decent revenue. Where do you stand?

Read Matt Sedensky's full article.

Mark Kistler's Mini-Marshmallows!

Coming from a large family and being the only one of mature enough age to babysit, I watch my nephews, cousins, siblings, and many other children at least twice a week. Coming up with things to keep those kids occupied while you take a break can be difficult, time consuming, and ultimately a total disaster. (Especially art projects!) Today, while flipping through the channels, I happened upon PBS' Mark Kistler who has a drawing show called "Mark Kistler's Mini-Marshmallows." Each show features a step-by-step visual and audio instruction on how to draw common and sometimes out of this world things. He offers instruction on such objects as flowers, people, and mermaids sitting in coral tubes! My five year old cousin, Ava has just discovered the show as well and watches the episodes on Mark Kistler's website. I am an elementary education major and seeing educational things that can be at a child's fingertips really excites me, especially when it helps them develop their artistic and creative side! Enjoy!

Fashion: A Way of Life

Coco Chanel
I am a Huge fan of Coco Chanel. She was an incredible woman, strong and elegant. She once said that "A woman should be two things; classy and fabulous." She could not be more right. Click the link above to read a short biography on Coco Chanel.

Sweet Treats!

I happen to be dating a sugar monster. My boyfriend has the biggest sweet tooth I have ever encountered. Luckily, I love to bake! We are avid watchers of Food Network's Ace of Cakes, the show that follows the crew of Charm City Cakes in Baltimore, MD around for a week while they make specialty cakes. After watching each episode we talk about how badly we want to do that, make incredible cakes. For Chris, its all about making a really cool piece of artwork. For me, its about making a memory for someone's loved one. For Valentine's Day, I found a wonderful woman in Saginaw that makes specialty cakes. Her business, Sweet Creations, is located in her home for now but she is currently looking for a store front in town. When I met with her, I had big ideas for his cake. I came with pictures, colors, and plans-that's how I am. She did not seem overwhelmed. In fact, she seemed excited to make it! We went over the details and agreed to have it delivered the following week. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the cake. It is exactly what I had imagined and was perfect! It certainly made our Valentine's Day extra special and incredibly sweet!

Made With Love

Recently, I found myself in need of a nice dress. I think every girl should have a go-to dress that no matter the occasion, it fits perfectly. What I was looking for was slightly specific and I had a smaller budget. Using the resources at hand (i.e Facebook) I sent out a post asking if there were any online store that I could find this particular type of dress. To my surprise, I got quite a few responses! A friend of mine directed me to a site called Esty which is basically an online craft bazaar. Any small business or individual entrepreneur can have a spot on this site advertising and selling their handmade goods. They have everything from art to furniture, music and clothing--even pottery! This site has so much to offer and supports small businesses around the world! How cool is that? There is a search engine on the website that allows you to type in your location and they will list all of the stores near that particular area so you can shop, buy, and support your local economy! Go ahead, take a look around and enjoy!

In Honor of Valentine's Day

For most, Valentine's Day is often dreaded. You're either a member of Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band or you are madly, passionately in love and everyone looks at you like you make them sick. No matter which kind of person you are, the day dedicated to couples in love is rearing it's ugly head. So, if you choose to celebrate it, listen to and enjoy the first video, if you are a love-hater, tune into the second video and relax..don't worry, Valentine's day will be gone soon enough!

Bright Eyes: First Day of my Life


The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

A Follow-Up

This article may sound funny at first but thinking deeper about it, you realize that this is the hatred and anger that is spurring from the stressful, money-lead lives we are leading.

Money Problems?

After adding up the receipts from my second semester of book buying in my freshman year of college, I realized that nearly $1,000 were spent just in order for me to fulfill classes that I am already paying $200-$400 a pop for. Why, may I ask, do we even have to pay for something that is considered necessary in our society? Schools in the better part of Europe are all paid for by their government. I ran across this article, written by Julianne Pepitone for CNNMoney on February 2nd, 2010. This work discusses "America's Biggest Ripoffs" and they are all spot on! A family over four cannot go to the movies for under $30 anymore and with divorce rates rising and "blended" families on the rise, as well, there are hardly any families that are 4 members and under. Our economy is sucking the life right out of us, no wonder there is so much violence and unhappiness.

The Mad Scientist

This little guy is my older nephew, Zachary. He is eight years old, tall, and lanky. He reads Diary of a Wimpy Kid books even though he's one heck of a soccer player. This all seems quite normal, yes, however Zac has a streak of scientist in him. He is always trying to build a new thing, create a new concoction, push things to their breaking point. This video is one that I took when Zac discovered that his "Body Glove" shirt could stretch all the way around him and turn him into an inch worm..enjoy!

A Growing Mind

Little hands, little feet. Everything about my nephew, Kolten, turns my grey skies blue and my terrible moods around. We like to play games like toes to the nose, bite Aunt Anna with your brand new teeth, and get peaches all over your clean face. No matter what time it is or however I am feeling, this little guy brings a smile to my face.

Hope For Haiti

On Friday, January 22nd, 2010 many of the society's biggest celebrities collaborated in honor of Haiti's devastating earthquake. This program, Hope for Haiti, included many musical acts punctuated by guest speakers such as Chris Rock who spoke the words of Muhammad Ali. Proceeds raised during this telethon program went directly to Haiti's needs. One of my favorite performances of the evening was Justin Timberlake (don't laugh) accompanied by Matt Morris singing "Halleluja." This breathtakingly beautiful song left me with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. To help Haiti now, go to http://www.redcross.org/en/ to donate. Remember, every little bit counts.

And So This is Christmas

Beautiful

Billie Holiday is one of my favorite artists. Here she sings "I'll Be Seeing You." This song is most recognized by my generation as the "Notebook" song. In the movie the Notebook, this tune follows Noah and Ali (the main characters)all through their romance. I swoon whenever I hear it..enjoy!

Me