25 Things Before 25 Years

1. Graduate from UWF with a major in Management and minor in Psychology.
2. Visit New Orleans for the first time since before Katrina. (Enjoy a Po'Boy.)
3. Visit the Pensacola Light House. (Further explore this town I've been in since 2010.)
4. Decrease caffeine dependency. (For maybe a month or so.)
5. Fly somewhere on a whim one weekend.
6. Pass Business Calculus!
7. Considering joining my current church. (Just waiting for reassurance.)
8. Kayak at least 100 miles.
9. Read at least 12 books, not including required textbooks! (3 down, 2 in progress, 4 to go)
10. Teach Biscuit a new trick.
11. Complete my photo collage craft. (Frame complete, just need to add pictures.)
12. Complete my dreamcatcher shadow box.
13. Sing karaoke. In a bar. In front of people.
14. Write (5) new poems and share them.
15. Master a wonderful new recipe.
16. Read the New Testament.
17. Enjoy a concert or broadway show...or both!
18. Create a delicious new signature cocktail.
19. Learn to make sushi.
20. Help Jess design baby Caleb's nursery.
21. Plant another (more successful) herb garden.
22. Decide where I'm moving after graduation.
23. Get a part time job.
24. Run a 5k.
25. Volunteer 20+ hours.

Mesmerized.

Iris covered by Kurt Hugo Schneider and animation by Ryan Woodward

A friend recently asked me about a spiritual piece of art and I wasn't quite sure how to answer other than to say I was typically drawn to art that portrays movement.  Then, I discovered this...and now I have a more concrete answer.  I could go on and on about emotions this video evokes, but I think it speaks for itself.

No Light, No Light - Florence and the Machine

What a crazy few months these have been!  I regret not keeping up with this blog as it's always interesting to look back...a musical road map of sorts.  I haven't been myself lately yet I couldn't be surer that I'm heading in the right direction. I've got regrets, a laundry list of regrets that I refuse to be buried beneath.  I've been selfish and cruel at times, sacrificing kindness for humor.  But I've also been kind, encouraging, strong….and I suppose that is always the hope for any of us that goodness will ultimately take over, like a slow spreading light. But I digress.

Speaking of light, I discovered Florence and the Machine’s new album yesterday in an actual record store…remember those?  I had almost forgotten them myself.  (I may post an entire album review soon.  I’m still in that shock and awe stage of a new, amazing album.)  The song below seemed to rise above the rest for me, pulling me out of this rather gloomy week.  Seriously, the majority of its days were pervaded by grey cloud cover and unannounced thunderstorms, which I usually love…but I’ve been craving sunshine and this song seems to embody and call to that desire, despite its name, “No Light, No light.”

Hold On To What You Believe - Mumford & Sons

I cannot understand how I am just now discovering this song. Having only heard it a few days ago, it has quickly become one of my absolute favorites.  Hold on to what you believe has become my anthem this week during a few stressful things.  Mumford and Sons' music is like sunshine when you're trapped inside.
 "I can't promise you that I won't let you down."

Safe - Britt Nicole

Sweet Summertime

I believe life is what you make of it.... so this summer is going to be amazing!  I am finally taking a short break from school until mid-June and I'm thoroughly looking forward to the downtime so to speak.  I have plenty to keep me busy, but it doesn't include having to attend class and write term papers for once!  I'm in the process of putting together a list of things I need to accomplish, which I'll prioritize sometime in the next week or so.  Until then, I plan to visit with friends, lounge by the pool, listen to some music, and soak up some sunshine.  I plan to be just a little selfish...in the best possible way.  So...in honor of classes starting tomorrow and me NOT being in them for a while, I thought I'd share my current summer playlist.  I'm enjoying these songs with fresh air for an added, carefree effect (hammock and beverage optional).

1. Red, Red Wine - UB40
2. Truth - Alexander
3. Keep Your Head Up - Andy Grammer
4. Heart of Life - John Mayer
5. Sitting, Waiting, Wishing - Jack Johnson
6. Dance, Dance, Dance - Lykke Li
7. No One's Gonna Love You - Cee Lo Green
8. Something in the Water - Brooke Fraser
9. Stolen - Dashboard Confessional
10. The Way I Am - Ingrid Michaelson
11. Strange & Beautiful - Aqualung
12. Sospesa - Malika Ayane
13. This Sweet Love - James Yuill
14. Sunrise - Norah Jones
15. American Honey - Lady Antebellum
16. Who Knows, Who Cares - Local Natives

Day 01 of the 30 Day Music Challenge– Your favorite song

Howie Day - Collide

If I Had Boat - James Vincent Morrow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv7WllrZOcI

All Thieves - Turn and Turn Again

I can't quite explain why I'm so drawn to this song right now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yWhVdotm-Q&feature=related

"so turn and turn again
we are calling in all the ships
every traveller please come home and tell us all that you have seen"

Nada Surf - Inside of Love

I need a free afternoon, a hammock, an amaretto sour, and this song on repeat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yonnWF4onLU

Andrew Belle - In My Veins

I feel like I'm standing on the edge of something beautiful and significant. 
It's like searching for meaning in those newspaper illusions....backing away slowly enough and letting the pieces fall into place, the bigger picture reveals itself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKHk97YmkVA&feature=related

Lykke Li - Hanging High/Tonight/Let It Fall

Tonight I'm listening to Li's album Youth Novels in one ear and the scattered raindrops outside my window in the other.  The rain and her music blend perfectly.  I seemed to discover her songs one at a time rather than collectively.  I heard Dance, Dance, Dance in 2008 and enjoyed it for months before searching for further music by this artist.  Even now, I choose to search for her songs selectively...as if discovering all of them at once would be less satisfying than hearing them seperately, and months apart.  Of the albums I've come across, Youth Novels is definitely one of the more innovative.  The beginning track, Melodies & Desires, is actually spoken rather than sung as a sort of guide and sounds more like a relaxation tape than album intro.  Somehow, no matter the emotion she is trying to convey, it all works beautifully and is one of the most cohesive albums I've heard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivcDu7THD-Q (Tonight)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qsoDSGMRFI (Hanging High)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl5RcA8ZFM0&feature=related (Let It Fall)

Tentative 2011 Reading List:

I suppose my New Year's Resolution is to read more than just required textbooks.
 
Alas, Babylon - Pat Frank

This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women  - Jay Allison

Water for Elephants- Sara Gruen

North & South - Elizabeth Gaskill (currently reading)

The Song is You - Arthur Phillips

April & Oliver - Tess Callahan

Newspaper Blackout - Austin Kleon

A Hopeless Romantic - Harriet Evans

The Double Bind - Chris Bohjalian (currently reading)

How Did You Get This Number - Sloane Crosley

One Day - David Nichols

The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

Please Don't Go - Barcelona

It's hard to guard your heart against something you never realized you wanted so much.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COqx-TCxrSk
Please Don't Go - Barcelona

I've had this song sitting in my itunes wishlist for months.  Recently, it was featured on the trailer for Water for Elephants, and I bought it immediately.  I've been hooked ever since. 

I hate this feeling.

If I could, I would fly somewhere for Christmas. Somewhere quiet and snowy. Somewhere where I could just breathe and not have to constantly pretend to be something that I fear I'm not capable of becoming.  The first few lines of this poem have been my plea for the past week.

Exit by Lindford Detweiler

I have to leave the city now, she said,
Or dash my soul against my will instead.

I do not wish to have the quiet part of me

That once could rest (the part

That could just be) tossed

Aside and left somewhere

For dead.

Tonight it seems to me

That what some friends call energy

Is nothing more than a phenomenon of nature known as
"Incurable Whirling Disease."

Please, take me far from here, she said,

The buildings sting and echo

With the fumy cries of yellowjacket cars.

I took her hand in mine and said,

I'm thinking of a place now

Where I used to have to tell myself

Aloud,

Those are not clouds,
They're stars.