Depends on my mood!
[Song-Artist]
Oxford Comma-Vampire Weekend makes me want to dance
Swim-Jack’s Mannequin when I am sad
A Better Son/Daughter-Rilo Kiley when I need a pick-me-up
Yeah Yeah-Sam Means when I want to just feel chill!  

It’s really hard to pick a single favorite; lately I’ve been super happy with Vampire Weekend, Radiohead, Matt Costa, and Owl City; probably because those are among my newer acquisitions.  Oh and The Beatles, on YouTube.

I need some music that will help me focus instead of making me want to sing and dance.  Any recommendations? 

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Music that makes me sad:
“Matches”–the Format
“I Was Once a Loyal Lover”–Death Cab for Cutie
“A Diamond and a Tether”–Death Cab for Cutie
“Oh! Darling”–the Beatles
“Inside of Love”–Nada Surf
“When You Were Young”–The Killers
“Unsafe Safe”–The Hush Sound
“Lemon Tree”–Peter, Paul & Mary -_-
“I Still Ain’t Over You”–Augustana
“Faith in Fast Cars”–the Format
“Dark Blue”–Jack’s Mannequin
anything Sufjan Stevens

Music that makes me feel stronger:
“A Better Son/Daughter”–Rilo Kiley
“More Adventurous”–Rilo Kiley
“Swim”–Jack’s Mannequin
“Blacking out the Friction”–Death Cab for Cutie

Songs that make me alright:
(the ones that make me feel stronger +)
“The Zephyr Song”–Red Hot Chili Peppers
“Information Travels Faster”–Death Cab for Cutie
“Coney Island”–Death Cab for Cutie
“Thank You for the Venom”–My Chemical Romance

Songs that sometimes make me happy:
(stronger + alright +)
“At Least I’m Not as Sad”–fun.
“All the Pretty Girls”–fun. (nothing to do with lyrics, totally the tune)
“Smoke Detector”–Rilo Kiley (totally the tune; lyrics are kinda messy )
“Accidental Deth”–Rilo Kiley (tune!)

Songs that make me feel stronger some days and weaker others:
“Your Ex-Lover is Dead”–Stars
“Caves”–Jack’s Mannequin
“Hammers & Strings”–Jack’s Mannequin
“Only One Week”–The Honorary Title; actually a lot of songs by them do that to me.

These are all good songs, regardless of what they do to me; music moves me, a lot.

Well I made my way back down to the valley
Right on past 83rd street
That’s where we once belonged
But I’m gone
I swear I’m long gone

So give it up, throw your hats in the air
And change is as you ladies say
“We’ll get out of here”
Something tells me that you’re too scared to go

So the stairs that you could climb
Are the ones you’ve left behind
And your eyes light up when we talk about the past
God, I miss those songs we used to sing
Talking like getting away would be the greatest thing
Well me, I got out,
And you, you kept singing to me
Like that’s really going to set this free

So give it up, throw your hats in the air
And change just as they land
You’re saying, “We’ll get out of here”
Something tells me that you’re too scared to go

Like a ghost
You’ve been haunting all these dusty old roads and old homes
The ones we swore we’d never go, oh oh

As for Joe
Oh I’ve seen him around
Then there’s Adam
He’s afraid to go out
I don’t blame him, I just wanted to go out to eat

Then there’s Mark
God damn, I wish him the best
We were kids back then, as if we could progress
Sometimes I, I just can’t sleep
Thinking of everything we could have been

So give it up, throw your hats in the air
And change just as they land
You’re saying, “We’ll get out of here”
Something tells me that you’re too scared to go

So give it up, throw your hats in the air
And change just as they land
You’re saying, “We’ll get out of here”
Something tells me that you’re too scared to go.

[The Format]

***

Music reflects life.  And for some people, music is life.

It is a relief to be done with my exams (AP and IB, though, I must say this year’s AP exam [Calc AB] was horrific)…

After basically frying my brains, I returned home to some food (pesto pasta, courtesy of my sister).  Then after watching a few episodes of How I Met Your Mother (which is LEGENDARY; re-runs; The Bracket, and maybe another one)..and then went shopping with my sister for dresses for the IB Celebration and Graduation. 

Clothing has always made me a little upset (I do love wearing clothes, thanks).  Well, I suppose more style.  I noticed, if I choose anything on my own tastes, no one really notices.  But, if my sister chooses anything for me, I get loads of complements, no matter how weird I think it is.  Style does not really matter that much, but sometimes it just seems a little unfair that way ):

To celebrate finishing FLVS, I bought a few songs the other day:

• Petals-The Honorary Title (SO GOOD!)
• Snow Day-The Honorary Title (SO GOOD, once again)
• Spring Provides-Matt Pond PA
• The Trees and the Wild-Matt Pond PA
• Silver Lining-Rilo Kiley
• Wires-Athlete

Then my sister gave me a ton of music from her laptop (Belle and Sebastian [YAY!], more Rilo Kiley!, some songs by the Arctic Monkeys, and such.  Pretty stoked.).  Music soothes me more than most things do.  My name in Chinese actually has the character for music…

Here is a breakdown of my Chinese name (click for pictograph!):

• Fang–Square (oh, how suiting..), region, method
• Ya–Elegant (Like my middle name in English; Grace)
• Yin–Music/sound :]]]

I’m actually Taiwanese (3/4) and Chinese (1/4), though most people would probably just call me Chinese.

Sometimes it is hard being myself with so much outside influence.  And some of the people I am around have very dominating personalities.  And when around such people, sometimes I belittle who I am, and wish to be more like them, since they’re out and well-spoken, and liked.  =

So as already established, I love good music.  Well, I noticed a word commonly used in songs that isn’t the word “love”, “sad”, or many of the commonly accepted immoral things (in olden-day standards) the word:

[In the forms of sunset etc. too]. So, I have here a list of sun-songs, if you’d like to add to the list =] (not to mention most of them are really good songs..)
["Sun" found in title]

• Here Comes the Sun-the Beatles
• Good Day Sunshine-the Beatles
• Sun King-the Beatles
• Blister in the Sun-Violent Femmes
• Standing in the Sun-Howie Day
• Stare at the Sun-Thrice
• Song for Sunshine-Belle & Sebastian
• Another Sunny Day-Belle & Sebastian
• The Sun Still Shines-LFO
• Crawling Towards the Sun-the Hush Sound
• California Sun-the Rewinds
• Brighter Than Sunshine-Aqualung
• Asleep on a Sunbeam-Belle & Sebastian
• life-like sun-unkle stiltskin
• Your Name Here (Sunrise Highway)-Straylight Run
• Sunlight-Nathanael Mehrens

["Sun" found in lyrics, besides ones listed above]

• Back Home-Yellowcard
• Brand New Colony-the Postal Service
• Snails-the Format
• My Girl-the Temptations
• Pretty Baby-Vanessa Carlton
• Life is Good-LFO
• Marching Bands of Manhattan-Death Cab for Cutie
• Smile Like You Mean It-The Killers
• Same-Snow Patrol
• Brown Eyed Girl-Van Morrison
• Collide-Jars of Clay
• Drops of Jupiter-Train
• Ocean Avenue-Yellowcard

And the list runs on…
Perhaps people still hold a reverence for the sun like they did in the ancient days…

Usually??

Well, it starts with a phone call from Jason. =)  It’s refreshing to hear his voice in the mornings, though I dread waking up.  (And even if I sound half asleep, it’s still nice..)

Homework, of course.  Tons and tons of homework.  But I usually allow myself to enjoy the newspaper/comics and a relaxed breakfast before I hit up the homework, regardless of how heavy–can’t totally let homework invade my life!  There are things in life that deserve to be enjoyed.  ;D.  Then sometimes lounge around a bit before launching myself into my homework.  Lately, it’s been cold, so I can’t seem to roll myself out of my cozy bed. 

Well, I love working to music, so when I do my work, I listen to lot’s of music. =) (www.last.fm/user/mellowmelin).  So, generally I listen to as much music as I do work…I’ll have no hair cells by the time I’m old..oh my!  (There are DANCING ear hairs that help us hear..!).  I LOVE MUSIC!  Interestingly enough, music is part of my name in Chinese! =)

I also update my Xanga/blog [sometimes]/Facebook, and such!  A little social, a lot of work.  I try to get some power naps and sleep, or something.  I also squeeze in time para hacer ejercicios. 

Occasionally I settle in to watch a Duke basketball game during seasons (today’s game was unfortunate).  & then I sometimes call friends I haven’t heard from in a while to do some catching-up.

---

Today was a different day, not the usual.  I cleaned a little and organized music, did some journals for TOK, and in the afternoon went shopping for prom.  I feel bad for spending so much money…one day, I’ll work hard enough to pay back for all that I’ve used, hopefully ;D.  I hope I’m worth it.

I bought a black and white dress, silver shoes, some makeup remover+foundation/sunscreen, and a necklace.  I hope I can look fantastic =) (I’ll post pictures in April, I promise!  Unless I look monstrous..).

---

It’s a tragedy what life has become–in a way.  I used to have extra time before bed to stop.  Think.  Reflect.  I would review my day, evaluate it, and dream of a better world.  Changes–improvements.  But now, I struggle to get that sleep.  It’s to the point where I don’t have time to do that, (now Xanga has replaced that..it’s my way to vent and such, and my journal)–I collapse and fall asleep without much thinking.  But thinking was a hobby.  Even if that sounds nerdy, hey, it’s true.  It seems like something many people forget to do.  It brings a strange sense of inner peace to be able to think.  Sometimes.

Books that have influenced me a lot:

• A Separate Peace-John Knowles
• The Little Prince-Antoine de St. Exupery
• To Kill a Mockingbird-Harper Lee
• 1984-George Orwell
• The Prince-Niccolo Machiavelli (JUST KIDDING)

The first three are among my favorites (also Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings & other Tolkien books, MOST books by Madeleine L’Engle, Artemis Fowl, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and such!  Oh, and a wonderful play to read: Cyrano de Bergerac–I HIGHLY recommend it)…

I’ve rambled enough, time for bed!  Prep for daylight saving..sigh.

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• Eat food
• Read the comics
• Eat more food
• Talk to someone
• Read
• Draw
• LISTEN TO MUSIC…usually music that will match my mood, or occasionally music that is more upbeat

It’s hard to say, since most of my days are neither good nor bad..simply mediocre.  I think music and talking helps the most above all.

   

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I’m pretty horrible at keeping a written journal. And then instead of writing insightful things about my life, I make lists of what I have done. So much for keeping my New Year’s resolution from 2 years ago…I found my journal, and it’s been almost a year since I wrote. = I look at some of the old entries, and I wonder, “WHAT WAS I THINKING??”! Haha. Oh well! =)

HEY! GET LAST.FM
It’s basically a music program/website where it tracks whatever music you listen to via iTunes or Windows Media Player, and it also allows you to see charts of what you’ve listened to most and such, & it’s like a radio (just type in a tag or artist name, and it’ll play similar music!). Join and be my friend, por favor?? (my username is mellowmelin)

Lately, life has been INSANE. This weekend I’ll have a paper to write on STARFISH…better than writing about beavers!

Jason probably won’t see this without me telling him it’s here, but, YAY FOR WEBCAM/SKYPE! ;D

There aren’t many things that make me happier than music.

(But there still are).

Earth Angel-Death Cab for Cutie
The Walk-Imogen Heap
The Artist & Out Through the Curtain-The Hush Sound
Half Light-Athlete
The Night Sky-Keane
Parenthesis-The Blow

=)

But what makes most people happy?  Is there true happiness?  Sometimes it’s just nice to kick back and relax, and enjoy the small things in life.  Too bad we don’t have time–maybe that’s what’s so wrong with society today.  (Hey little kid: don’t grow up so fast!  There are things more important than “cool” and “hott”. )

LIVE FAST (Pensive)

These clouds paper thin sky
Torn from purest white
That’s all that’s real inside

This light shines in my eyes
Falsified sunlight
Will these demons stay until we die

And all I know is when I go
I won’t forget anything
Anything at all

Everyday I get one step closer to an early grave
A place where all will fade away
And all this time of living like I’ll never die
I’ll never die, I’ll never

These waves crash against me
Reflections nothing more
They teach us how to hope

While stars shine above me
From worlds long since dead
Can we remember just to live

And all I know is when I go
I won’t forget anything
Anything at all

Everyday I get one step closer to an early grave
A place where all will fade away
And all this time of living like I’ll never die
I’ll never die, I’ll never

When will you tell me what’s going on
Is this goodbye or not
Cause I can’t believe in anything
Say it’s not the end for me
Say it’s not the end for me

Everyday I get one step closer to an early grave
A place where all will fade away
And all this time of living like I’ll never die
I’ll never die, I’ll never