Buy Me a Drink, Sing Me a Song

If it weren't for music & literature, I'd likely be a philistine. It's not that I dislike movies, contemporary art, fashion and the rest. I'll defend Robin Hood Men in Tights to the day I die, and the Sketches on Matches dude is awesome enough to shell out $20 for a sweet print hanging on my wall right now.

Yet for me, nothing exceeds mere entertainment value like books & music do. I think it's an intamcy factor. Even indie movies reach a massive audience, & watching them is usually a social activity. Contemporary art is out there, but much of the time isn't quite accessible to people (I know this is unfair to a huge branch of art & there are some Andy Warhol fans that are getting their panties in a twist, but cool out-your skinny jeans are too tight to properly untwist & you might get stuck that way). I think it's fair to say that if art neither entertains nor truly challenges a huge demographic of people, it won't feel accesible. (Mind your panties, this is only a journal).
Fashion isn't intimate because it's always on display. Or, one could argue that because it's such an expression of individuality, people are afraid of being criticized & don't do it up to the fullest. I'm pretty down with jeans & the Hanes T. Analyze at will, because I won't bother.

Anyway.

Less than 2 years ago, I was pretty intent on working in music journalism. I knew I loved everything about music, & have always been pretty confident in my writing. It made even more sense when I read this:

"When you played the album in your car, it had so much propulsion, it started the ignition and rolled down the windows all by itself." -Gavin Edwards for Rolling Stone on LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out"

This is the most accurate descriptions of the potential power of music I've ever encountered. Raw power, that is. There's also sugar power (see "90's pop." Turn it up high, bounce around, then crash).

There's also grace. "Heartbeats" by Jose Gonzales is graceful in a way that literature can't be. There's no sweetness or sentimentality to the song the way that literature must have to progress, poem or novel. "Heartbeats" is an intimate lullaby sung to no one. It's about the infinite back & forth of "We."

The other quote that I love about music is pretty long. It's actually a book--Songbook, by Nick Hornby. Nick Hornby is the perfect person to write a book about loving music because he has always committed to writing in the simplest, plainest language he can. He is openly determined to make his writing accessible to everyone.

It's obvious intimacy has a tremendous amount to do with our relationships with music. "It's like he was singing to/about me." Lyrical intimacy never fails to excite. Clever lyrics that intruige people and become words they wish they wrote.. lyrics that tag around with you in your head all day.. I think intimacy is why indie music became so popular in the last few years. Besides the element of "I heard them first!" (& besides radio trash backlash), non-mainstream bands provide the intimacy of rooting for just a collection of dudes (or Pipettes, as it may be). And of course, the least intimate thing is being harassed with remixed renditions of "American Girl" while you shop for hoodies or milk (or anything. Sorry Sir Petty).

Anyway, here's to the next "car power" song. Slaandjivaa!

Creta (a Study Break Time Jump)

For spring break (part I), I spent a weeklong jaunt around Crete with some properly hilarious friends. Some of my favorite photographs of the semester were taken on this Greek Island. Tali, Hila and Marissa, (and Juanes) I raise my raki to you--for the fun and photos, Yasu!

A few stories..
We rented a car from the resort we were staying in on the NE coast. We drove to various places including the capital, Heraklion & the famous caves on Matala beach in which a hippie settlement lived for 2 decades. American singers like Joni Mitchell lived in them for a few months in the '70's & wrote some pretty famous songs there.
The photo above was taken on bathroom break in a "town" on our drive across the island to the south coast & Matala. The goat was tied to pole, & for some reason I was the only member of the party it wouldn't let get near it. We paced two circles eyeing eachother until this photo was taken.

Contrast is so satisfying. Anyone who lives with climate change knows the delicious feeling of snuggling up in layers, only to have some skin peek out into the cold. That bench was a few yards from a baby cliff that was absorbing the sun like a natural solar panel, & after a lot of raki (Greek wine/vodka), a nap was in order. A sun warmed hoodie has never felt so cozy, & the Mediterranean crosswinds provided the contrast.







Smoking hookah in the Mediterranean,
and somehow I was cold.
Props to the tobacco flavor
combo master Hilabilla.
















No need to talk about Greecian scenery, it's beauty is a given. Moving from New York to Prague was spatially freeing--from one major city to another, you don't realize the absence of a skyline (with a sky) in New York until you leave tightly packed skyscrapers.

Crete was freeing because it was spatially free in all direction. As often as not, the horizon dropped out of sigh with a cliff. On our last night with the car, we stopped again and again just to look at the sights and feel the openness. I was taking a picture of Hila on Tomas (our dinky rental car). It didn't turn out as well as Tali's shot here.

Anyway, I'm between exams & being pressured by my family to think of what I want for Christmas...there's some stuff I "need" but the only thing I can think of that I want, and I want it achingly so, is double spring break across Europe again.

Yasu, slanjivaa, l'chiam, cheers!

So Praha Went Quickly...

Ok..It's finals week. Of first semester junior year.
So I wrote one blog while I was in Praha, BUT I kept a pretty intricate travel journal up through most of spring break. Ask to borrow it sometime, you may have a starring role in my thoughts regardless of what country you were in throughout the spring of 2007. If you're reading this, it's not only possible but likely.

The idea of summarizing huge blocks of time (like a semester) in 1 or 2 paragraphs usually irks the hell out of me--but I want to write something short enough you'll want to read about it. Yet I'm in loourve with details and small incidences and it feels demeaning. I'm an NYU student--one of thousands, so larger picture details like playing soccer or being an econ major/physics minor aren't interesting or unique. But Oh! The Places I'll Go! Miniadventures are...lost my train of thought because the Spice Girls came on the Victoria's Secret fashion show.
Ah yes. I hate the idea of summarizing an entire semester in a few short paragraphs, but I actually think this time around I can fit it into one. It wasn't that nothing happened, it's that a few things and people were major players on repeat.

I went back to school early, still August. The ever-dreaded soccer preseason. No longer banished from the roster, I kind of felt that little kid giddiness everytime a ball was in front of me ('RUN! KICK! Goooo THERE!') This is my team winning the Skidmore Invitational:


It was still August when I ran into..an attractive someone I used to barely know. We needed name refreshers when we ran into each other, but we caught up pretty quickly (somewhere, Brian is mumbling in his sleep "Yeah ya did!")

Classes have been tedious. Essentially, I've spent this semester trying to learn how to take tests instead of spending time learning what I want to be. "Professor!" I shriek in my head, "If we just had a 20 minute conversation about the material, I clearly understand international economics. The thing is, if you don't tell me to draw a graph for full credit, I don't think it's fair that I only get two points out of 10." Academia certainly isn't what it used to be (I assume). Turns out I'm pretty spectacular at law related coursework, which is encouraging. Who thinks I should be a lawyer?

And that's it. I wasn't bored this semester--far from it. My activity time was spent playing soccer, going to class, and generally being a college student.



My thinking time was monopolized by heartsickness. God, how long can you stay heartsick? Do you think any old people that are heartbroken started as 20 year olds that were heartsick and the diagnosis just changed? Like, 'Wow, this chart still says sick? It's been 40 years...I can't fix this, this shit is broken. UPDATE: Heartbroken.'
Oh, also, I stopped speaking with my mom. This is a good thing. Life has been...approachable.

Studying time.