It's giving me brief moments of sanity while working on a take home exam that consists of 9 essay questions, all of which must be answered with a single-spaced page. Each. That's the equivalent of 18 double-spaced pages. Aaaaand it's due Monday, with 3 other major projects due on Tuesday.
Updates soon (assuming I survive the weekend).
*I cannot be held responsible for any loss of productivity you might experience.
Listening to: "Good Time" by Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen
(I can't wait for his new album to come out in couple of months! His music never fails to make me happy. This song is no exception. Perfect summer song.)
I know. I've already managed to mess up my "20 Day Challenge," after only 2 days. In my defense, I've actually been too busy to blog over the past few days. Since living life is more fun than writing about it (well, usually)...real life won. There's also the minor detail of figuring out how the heck to answer the next question so 1) it actually makes sense and 2) I'm not writing a book. Ha! Anyway, I'm planning to get back on board with all that within the next day or so, because I am determined to answer all 20 questions!
In other news, I got to see Jenny & Tyler and The Vespers at a cool coffeehouse called The Camp House in downtown Chattanooga last Friday. So good. I like their recorded music a lot, but if you ever get the chance to see either of them live, do it. They are both so talented!
via my Instagram. Follow me if you like (@britmo)!
Anyway, that's all I have for right now. Check back soon for my answer to question #3!
Listening to: "Crazy Girl" by Eli Young Band I have been in a HUGE country mood lately. It's such perfect music for summer. This band is one of my favorites for sure!
“You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find peace in You.”
- Augustine's Confessions
A year ago, I wrote about my need to simply be still, to know that God was and is in control, to just trust.
A year later, not much has changed.
Scratch that--pretty much everything has changed (thank. God.
SERIOUSLY). But that is one thing that does remain the same. I'm at a
very, very different place in life now than I was then, but my need to
be still and rest only in Him is still huge. It's still difficult.
I am not the kind of person who thrives on busyness. Quite frankly, I
think this need that everyone seems to have to be crazy busy all the
time is ridiculous.* However, as much as I don't generally want to be busy 24/7, lately, I've wanted to
avoid being alone, sitting, having time to hear myself think. Because when I'm alone, that's when the thoughts and the fears start to come, and I just want to get away, to have someone, so I don't have to think about it.
Fear can be so pervasive. Scars can run deeper than you think. When it's just me and God, when I don't have the option of turning to someone else, it means I have to look certain things square in the
eye and deal with them…like the fact that I sometimes struggle to trust
Him, because I know that trusting Him sometimes leads to very painful
places. Beautiful places, yes, but painful ones as well (usually, it's
both simultaneously). I get scared of what comes next. I get scared of
where loving Him most might lead me. I get scared that I won't be able
to love Him most!
And that's when grace comes in. Again. And accepting grace means I have
to be still and trust Him and let Him love me and prove over and over
again that He is good.
He isn't safe--never safe--but He is very, very good.
Because of that, I can choose to rest in Him and let Him help me face
all my fears. I can trust that, however He chooses to go about it, He
will always keep His promises. He will always give me His very best.
"You don't have to feel safe to feel unafraid."
- "Lions!" by LIGHTS
Also: this song. So good.
"When darkness comes upon you And covers you with fear and shame Be still and know that I'm with you And I will say your name
Be still and know that I'm with you Be still and know I am."
- "Be Still" by The Fray
*Obviously, I understand that every person is
different, but when it gets to the point where all you talk about is how
busy you are and have these weird conversations that imply whoever has
the busiest schedule is somehow superior… I think it's safe to say
there's a problem. It's one thing to be unavoidably busy. Everyone has those times. My
entire last semester was one of those times! However, it's quite another
to choose to be ridiculously busy all. the. time. and then complain
about it every waking moment. One of my biggest pet peeves ever. (I could vent about this for awhile, because it's
something that frustrates me a lot, but…I'll spare you. I just hate the
pressure to be busy for the sake of being busy! The fact that I choose
to say no to filling up every minute of my schedule does not mean that I
am lazy or inferior. End mini rant.) (P.S. I
know approximately a billion people who do this. It's kind of a general
American cultural thing, it seems. In other words, don't think I'm
attacking anyone. This isn't being directed at any individual. Promise!)
Currently thankful for: Sun shining through the clouds on an otherwise cold, rainy day; being productive; inside jokes; listening to the random conversations that occur on third floor Humanities; unexpected opportunities
Finals week: time for more procrastination! Yay! I only have one more to go, but I am so unmotivated, like I can't even begin to say. Hence the reason I'm writing this. I'm pretty sure you all know by this point that I like music...a lot. It's pretty much impossible for me to pick all-time favorites, but I figured I'd share some stuff that I've been liking lately (I've may have mentioned some of them before, so sorry in advance for any repeats!). So, in no particular order...
1. Matthew Mayfield
"Sing 'til you mean it and love 'til you feel it 'Cause I still believe in your heart Don't let the waves push and pull you away Now you're free and it sets you apart."
- Matthew Mayfield, "Now You're Free"
I love those lyrics! Ever since I got his Now You're Free album off of NoiseTrade (best site ever!), I've been a pretty big fan. I like his sound a lot, and the lyrics are pretty great, too!
2. The Walla Recovery
They're not very well-known, but I've really been liking their folksy, cello-driven sound lately (but really, when don't I like folk music? Especially when it includes an instrument like a cello? Yes, please!). Their songs have a lot of great spiritual themes without being cliche about it. Their song "Spoils of Warring Hearts" is excellent.
3. Andrew Belle
I love his music so much! It's a perfect balance between happy and contemplative...at least that's how I feel about it. He has so many good ones, but this song is one of my absolute favorites:
I'll admit, I don't completely get the video...but it's still kind of cool (and I still love the song).
4. Hymns in general
I know this is kind of odd, but I have been absolutely loving old hymnsthis semester. "Be Thou My Vision" has pretty much been my theme song since like, September, and I still sing it all the time. Others include (but are not limited to): "In Christ Alone"*, "How Firm a Foundation," "Solid Rock," and "Jesus Paid It All."
So. Freaking. Good.
5. Mat Kearney
This guy is just awesome. His Young Love album is amazing. It's so upbeat and happy and I just can't help but love it! I'm actually going to see him in concert with some friends next month, and I am super excited about it.A few of many favorite songs of his: "Ships in the Night," "Down," "Count on Me," and "All I Need" (from Nothing Left to Lose).
That's all I have for now. After tomorrow, I am free until January!(!!!!) Half of senior year: DONE. Scary thought!
*If I could choose one song to be my absolute all-time favorite, "In Christ Alone" would probably be it. For me, it says it all.
Listening to: "Strong Enough to Save" by Tenth Avenue North
(Yet another song that has come at the perfect time. I like how God tends to speak to me through the things I enjoy the most: music, books, nature, friends... It's kinda cool, really.)
(I have a lot to say lately. To avoid writing the longest blog of the century, however, I think I'm going to break it up into smaller pieces. It's a little too much to take in all at once, even for me!)
I was reading some of my old posts the other day, and I came across one I wrote back in April that made me laugh. It wasn't actually funny, but oh, the irony!Life wasn't bad, just really boring and routine, and I was getting tired of it. I even went so far as to say that I missed sophomore year. Ha! Well, wish no more, because I'm pretty sure I'm living out fall 2009, round two. They're so parallel, it's a little freaky. That's what I get for asking God to teach me something. Never again! From here on out, I will be content with boredom and let Him teach me on His own time. This isn't quite what I signed up for! Geez.
Anyway. As promised, I wanted to blog about this song:
Blessings
Laura Story
"We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
And all the while, you hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things
'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?
We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe
When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
And what if my greatest disappointments
Or the achings of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy?
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights Are Your mercies in disguise?"
I think I could go on for days about these lyrics. To be honest, this isn't the kind of song I would typically like, but the lyrics are so meaningful that I can't help myself.* I heard it so many times this summer (it made me cry almost every time, but at the same time, I tried my hardest to ignore it. What my problem was, I don't know). The other day, though, I was driving around by myself for 3 hours straight, and it came on at the most perfect time possible. I've been hooked ever since. It is so fitting to where I am right now. A few lines I wanted to comment on...
* * *
"All the while, You hear each spoken need, yet love us way too much to give us lesser things."
"We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear. We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near. We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love, as if every promise from Your Word is not enough."
Well, that's my summer summed up in three sentences. Praying over and over and over for wisdom, for God to speak to me, to know what the heck I'm supposed to do next, yet...no answer. It's so frustrating, and yeah, anger has been my response a good bit of the time.
A couple of weeks ago at church, Allan Lockerman pointed out something that I had never thought about before.** He was talking about Isaiah 50:10-11, and at one point, it refers to trusting "in the Name of the Lord." Not in the Lord--in His Name. I've always kind of wondered about that, but assumed there was no distinction. Not so. He explained that, particularly in Hebrew culture, someone's name is who they are, their character. I can't always sense that God is near, but I can always trust Him to be true to Himself. I can always trust that His character will never change.
I doubt God so much, yet I have no legitimate reason whatsoever. He has proved Himself over and over again, not only in the lives of others, but in mine. He has never, ever shown Himself to be anything less than what He says...but still, I doubt. Why? He has promised me so much. That should be enough, even if I don't see it right now.
* * *
"What if trials of this life, the rain, the storms, the hardest nights, are Your mercies in disguise?"
This is a concept I've struggled to grasp. I get it in my head, and I can totally apply it to other people. Actually, I can usually apply it to myself, but this time? I've had a really, really hard time with it. I think I'm starting to get it though. I don't understand much of anything that's happened over the past few months, but I'm coming the the conclusion: the less I understand and the harder the situation, the less I can depend on myself. That forces me to depend on God, causing me to trust Him and grow closer to Him. Even aside from the fact that it could be preparing me for something I can't see yet, or protecting me, or whatever...isn't that in itself worth it? He's worth everything. Knowing Him is the most important thing. Whatever it takes to get that is absolutely worth it, no question.
"And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." - Romans 8:28
* Generally speaking, I haven't been a huge fan of Christian music for the
past few years. Lately though, I'm finding myself listening to it more
and more. Go figure. ** Common occurrence. I love that man.
Listening to: "All About Us" by He Is We (featuring Owl City)
I love this song so much. I've kinda liked He Is We for awhile now, and of course, if you don't know that I love Owl City, we obviously have not been friends for very long. It's a nice combination, I think. :)
It feels like fall today! Unfortunately, I think this is because it's going to rain, but whatever. I'll take what I can get. At the very least, it's a good excuse to wear a flannel shirt.*
In other news, I've just been (basically) enjoying the start of my senior year of college.** Classes are pretty cool, I got a job as a TA, and I've pretty much been living an otherwise uneventful life. God's been teaching me a lot, and I guess I'm slowly learning, as usual (two steps forward, one step back, repeat. I'll get there eventually). I could go into more detail about that, but I'll save it for another time. I'm not feeling particularly introspective at the moment. :)
*I'm kind of addicted to flannel shirts... I'm tempted to buy one every time I see one. Unfortunately (or luckily?), I rarely have money in my bank account to act on these temptations. ** Senior year? Um, what?(!?!?!?!)
Obviously, blogging has not been my forte lately. Oops. Maybe my life will suddenly become more eventful so I'll have things to write about. Or maybe I'll just have to post random things every now and then until spring. Either way. Until then, you can watch this.
Merry Christmas Eve! Being the procrastinator (and broke college student) that I am, I did all of my Christmas shopping today between 3 and 5pm. Amazingly enough, I was successful and managed to survive the rest of the last-minute shoppers as well. (Hi, I'm Brittany, and I am awesome.)
Anyway, since home isn't terribly exciting, I've had plenty of time to discover a bunch of random things that I like, so I thought I'd share. Ah, I love the Internet.
"Thought of You" by Ryan J Woodward. I love this. Gorgeous animation, one of my favorite songs ("World Spins Madly On" by The Weepies)...what more do you want?
"How I Go" by Yellowcard. This song isn't new or anything, but I somehow just discovered it. Acoustic guitar, epic strings, and awesome guy/girl harmony. Perfection.
Jason Lee's Photography. For one thing, his daughters are some of the cutest kids on the planet, and I happen to think cute, creative, and funny makes for a good combination.
Yeondoo Jung's Photography. He took children's drawings and then turned them into actual scenes. I love it!
"Virginia is for Lovers" by Mat Kearney. He apparently has a new album in the works, and you can get a free song download if you sign up for his email list!
Lifehacker. Any random information that makes my life easier is definitely my favorite.
That's all I have for right now. Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! :)
I like God. I like how He talks to me through songs and stars and sunsets and my closest friends. Heck, He even gets through to me in the middle of my psychology classes. It has happened so often, but every single time, it almost takes me by surprise. I just love how He knows me so well, how He speaks to me in a way that is absolutely perfect for me instead of talking to everyone in the same way.
This was one of my favorite songs when I was a freshman in high school. It's funny how something can be just as (actually, more) relevant to my life at 20 as it was at 14.
Let It All Out
Relient K
Let it all out, get it all out
Rip it out, remove it
Don't be alarmed when the wound begins to bleed
'Cause we're so scared to find out
What this life's all about
So scared we're going to lose it
Not knowing all along that's exactly what we need
And today I'll trust You with the confidence
Of a man who's never known defeat
But tomorrow, upon hearing what I did
I will stare at You in disbelief
Oh, inconsistent me crying out for consistency
And You said, "I know that this will hurt
But if I don't break your heart
Then things will just get worse
If the burden seems too much to bear
Remember, the end will justify
The pain it took to get us there."
And I'll let it be known at times I have shown
Signs of all my weakness
But somewhere in me, there is strength
And You promise me that You believe
In time, I will defeat this
'Cause somewhere in me there is strength
And today I will trust You with the confidence
Of a man who's never known defeat
And I'll try my best to just forget
That that man isn't me
Reach out to me
Make my heart brand new
Every beat will be for You
And I know You know
You touched my life
When You touched my heavy heart and made it light
The whole, "Today I'll trust you with the confidence of a man who's never known defeat, but tomorrow upon hearing what I did, I will stare at You in disbelief. Oh, inconsistent me, crying out for consistency," is my life. It's like I make the decision to trust God completely and leave everything up to Him, and then the next day, I realize the implications of what I've done by giving up that control and I freak out. Repeat cycle. It's ridiculous. I need to break that.
I've only been in class for a week, am just now about to start on my first homework assignment, and I'm already using this blog to procrastinate. Old habits die hard (and I'm thinking this one won't die until homework is a thing of the past anyway). But, I mean, I haven't updated since before I got back to Lee. It has to be done sometime, right?
Anyway, I am super glad to be back at Lee. I have to admit, though, that I am so ready to get past these initial weeks. They're always so...weird. I don't like them. Hopefully, things will settle into a nice, normal routine pretty soon. Since being back, I've managed to:
Make 15,000 trips to Walmart (more or less--probably more)
Go cliff jumping, complete with floating down the river in the dark
Go swimming at the Blue Hole with about 30 friends
Go hiking with Mike, Will, and Diff (complete with climbing slippery waterfalls and hacking my way through the woods again. Not that I mind, of course!)
Start Taekwondo! (I know, it probably sounds lame to a lot of people, but seriously, it is so much fun. I'm so glad I'm taking it!)
It's been fairly interesting, at least. Also, I am loving having an apartment! Not that I spend much more time here than I did in the dorm (I just can't stand to be inside doing nothing for long), but it's so nice having more space, and my own kitchen, and a dishwasher, and a couch, and...yeah. It's awesome. I'll have to post some pictures sometime.
On a completely random note, I love how my playlist goes from stuff like Mumford & Sons (I love them so much, by the way) to LIGHTS to Yellowcard and pretty much everything in between, and I hardly give it a second thought. It's such a random mix. I love it. But yeah, one song I've been listening to a lot is "After the Storm" by Mumford & Sons. Soooo good (though I have to say my favorite by them is "The Cave").
"And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair." - "After the Storm" by Mumford & Sons
Okay, I think I'm out of things to say for now. Hopefully, more things will happen by the next time I have homework so I'll have things to write about. :)
This song has been stuck in my head all day long. I just love Breanne Düren (aka the girl from Owl City's "The Saltwater Room"). Seriously, cutest person ever. I admit, this song is slightly cheesy, but it's just so darn catchy. I can't help but love it!
P.S. If you go to her Myspace and join her mailing list, you can download it for free (which is how I discovered it in the first place).
"When did I arrive?
I don't recall ever leaving Alaska
Why do I hate the dark when I'm alone?
I was on my way
To a brighter day I'm still chasing around
But somehow, I believe that this is home
It's so good to be home."
- "Alaska" by Sky Sailing
Oh my gosh. I love this song so much. The new Sky Sailing album, An Airplane Carried Me to Bed, is amazing. The combination of Adam Young's voice and lyrics with an acoustic guitar and piano is making me really, really happy right about now.
Camp JOY Preparations Today was my last day of work until camp actually starts! Holly & I drove around the ghetto of Columbus, delivering flyers about camp to all of the housing projects. Definitely an interesting experience. Fortunately, we didn't have to walk door-to-door like we initially thought we would. Thank goodness. It was fun getting to know Holly a little more, though. We had a few little adventures, like being stopped by the same train 4 times (and accidentally driving back behind some theater neither of us knew existed...). Good times. Oh, I did find out that I'm only getting paid like $5 an hour for all of this. Not exactly what I was expecting, but since God kinda gave me the job (no, for real--He did. I'm not just saying that), I figure I'll be okay. :) And really, I can't complain too much--at least it's a job, and the type of job I really wanted at that!
Trip to Europe! One week. I am so excited! For real, I can't wait. It's going to be awesome. I'm ready for lots of adventures and new things, and that's pretty much guaranteed. It's also going to be fun getting to know some new people. More friends is always a good thing. :) Let's just hope that it doesn't rain the whole time, like it's currently supposed to... However, if it does, please don't do it on the day we visit Hitler's Eagle's Nest. Apparently, when they've visited in the past, it's been too cloudy to really see anything, but seriously, I am dying to see this in person:
That view right there? Number one thing I'm excited about. I'm getting the urge to jump up and down just thinking about it. You have no idea! So seriously, rain and cloudiness--take the day off on June 9. You deserve a break.
Classes. Ugh. Unfortunately, before I can even think about hopping on a plane to leave the country, I have...
Approximately 1,100 pages of psych books & articles to read
About 20 or so pages to write on said books & articles
18 hours of class to sit through
All by next Thursday. Funnnn. Then, of course, there are the post-trip assignments. But whatever--I get a trip to Austria, Switzerland, & Germany out of it. It's totally worth it. (Just making my life a little more stressful than usual at the moment. Heh.)
Music, music, music For some reason, music is so much more enjoyable for me to listen to during the summer (and that's saying something, but I really enjoy music all the time). I don't know why. It's weird, I know. But anyway, like I said in my last post, I've been listening to Mat Kearney a lot. "Closer to Love" is definitely one of my favorites. I also really like "All I Have," "Where We Gonna Go From Here," and "Here We Go." Good stuff. I've also been listening to The Postal Service quite a bit. I didn't used to like them all that much. I'm not really sure why though, because now, I like them a lot! Oh, and one of my favorite songs of the moment (I had never heard it until about a week ago, but I discovered it hiding on my computer): "The Fear You Won't Fall" by Joshua Radin. Sooo pretty! I love guy/girl harmony and I love really chill music like that. Good combination.
All that being said, I am going to be super, super busy for the next month. I'll try to update you guys about my trip and camp and such ASAP, but that may or may not be until July. We'll see, I guess!
I've been discovering lots of things that I like lately, so excuse me if this post is a little bit sporadic.
For starters, Jenny & Tyler did a show on Friday night in the Dixon Center. I had never seen them before, but I'm officially hooked. They are really talented, completely adorable together (seriously--and I don't say that sort of thing often), and really sweet, personable, and friendly overall. Their songs are so well-written (some of my favorites are "One-Eyed Cat," "Deepest Parts of Me," "Muse," and "Love Through Me") and their voices go together perfectly. Also, I love the design of their This Isn't a Dream album cover, especially the back!:
What can I say? I just really like artsy, well-designed things! That being said, I've been looking at lots of design blogs lately. It has come in handy, too, because it has inspired my roommate and I to come up with ideas for our apartment next semester (only 5 months away! I am so excited). One blog I've been reading a lot is design me daily. I was going through some of the archives yesterday and stumbled across a post on there that lead me to Single Stone Studio's Etsy shop that features lots of really cool wall decals. Hello, living room decor! A few favorites:
I love the way everything in this picture is designed. I wish we could use paint in our apartment, because I would so do this! I like the two-tone thing for the flowers.
Simple, but very cool and classy. You can also get it in your choice of one out of 40 different colors. Love it.
I apparently have a new thing for this whole birds and cherry blossom design thing, because I've found a lot of things like it that I really, really like. Too bad this decal is $75. :( Not quite in my budget.
Anyway, yeah, I'm getting really excited about this whole apartment thing. I love simple, modern things, and these with a nature-y theme are just a plus. Definitely my thing. It makes me wish I was getting my own house so I could go all out with paint and everything. Having an unlimited supply of money would be awesome, too... Sigh.
Something else I love: Photography. All kinds. For real. Favorite thing ever.
This picture makes me really happy for some reason. I don't know if it's the colors, the lighting, the little girl, the fact that it's outside, or all of the above, but I like it a lot.
I have a thing for engagement photos in general. :)
One last favorite thing: Sunny days in the park with friends!
Sunday afternoon, a group of about 12 of my favorite people went to Fletcher Park to have a picnic to celebrate Tuna's 20th birthday. It was gorgeous, and I loved getting to spend time with all of them so much! (My nose is still suffering from a run-in with a Frisbee, but other than that, it was a great time.)
Okay, sorry for the overload. Trust me, there could have been way more!
Sometimes, I think this is going to take forever. Literally.
"I’ve been housing all this doubt and insecurity
And I’ve been locked inside that house
All the while, You hold the key
And I’ve been dying to get out
And that might be the death of me
And even though there’s no way of knowing
Where to go, promise I’m going because
I’ve gotta get outta here
I’m stuck inside this rut that I fell into by mistake
I’ve gotta get outta here
And I’m begging You, I’m begging You, I’m begging You
To be my escape."
I have been listening to Mae so much lately, especially The Everglow. Such a great album! The whole thing is amazing, but "The Sun and the Moon" has been my favorite song lately. One of those keep-it-on-repeat-for-hours kind of favorites. I love it. :) Their music in general is wonderful, and their lyrics are even better. (I really, really, really appreciate well-written lyrics, more than I appreciate most things, and that's saying something.) So. Good.
Something else I like: When professors say things in class that are 100% relevant to my life. Today in Social Psych, Dr. Sargent began his lecture with this:
"What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary."
- Romans 7:16
Um, hi, story of my life right now. Especially the second half. It's funny how I can spend months learning a lesson, think I've got it down, and then suddenly find myself right back where I started. It's frustrating, really. But it's becoming very obvious to me--again--that I really don't know anything. And I don't like that.
I want to know how many songs go through my head on any given day. Like, really. Sunday morning, I was in church and within a span of 5 minutes, I counted ten songs that had popped into my head, based of some random comment within the sermon. Ten. In 5 minutes. That's two songs per minute. There are 1,440 minutes in a day. That's a lot of songs.
The simplest phrases can trigger it. If something I hear is remotely related to a song lyric or song title, my brain will immediately start playing that song. You say the word "down" in pretty much any sentence, and I will almost always hear, "Baby, are you down, down, down, down, down?" in my head. Or if I'm driving and someone tells me to take a left, the first thing that goes through my mind is, "To the left, to the left, everything you own in a box to the left..." Or maybe if you tell me to "hold on a second," I hear Jack's Mannequin singing, "So hang on, it's gonna be a hard day. So hang on, don't panic, don't panic; there really is no need..."
It's crazy, really. It doesn't even have to be based off of something that I hear--even things I see can (and often do) trigger this little playlist in my brain. You know that instrument song? There's a scene in You've Got Mail (which I watched a few days ago) where they sing it. This scene, to be exact:
Well, today, I was in the living room with my family, and I happened to see a clarinet on TV. It wasn't even significant; it was some random guy in the background. But what was my immediate first thought? "The clarinet, the clarinet..."
Or that time this summer when it thundered outside, and without even thinking, I started singing, "Today is a winding road that's taking me to places that I didn't want to go..." (which is, if you aren't aware, the opening line to the song "Thunder" by Boys Like Girls).
And reading! There is no telling how many songs go through my head then. Today, I was reading a book that had to do with the frontier and such, and it mentioned a "one-horse town." Well, after seeing that, I had "Fearless" by Taylor Swift stuck in my head for awhile ("...In this one-horse town, I wanna stay right here...").
I guess this is what I get for being so musically-minded. To look on the bright side, it's kinda like having a soundtrack to my life. Granted, I'd prefer said soundtrack to not include commercial jingles, but nothing's perfect, right?
* I just realized my roommate did a post sorta similar to this last year...oops. ** I also just realized that my last three posts (including this one) have been strictly about music. The past eleven have included music in some way, shape, or form. Ummm...
It's amazing to me how some songs seem to sum up exactly how I'm feeling in just a few words. (I think the second verse is my favorite.) :)
"Breathe" by Anberlin "This is surrender To a war-torn life I've lived Scars and stripes forever In need of change I can't resist
No need to hide anything anymore
Can't return to who I was before
I can finally breathe Suddenly alive I can finally move The world feels revived
This long of a struggle
Finally opened up my eyes
Revolution's not easy
With a Civil War on the inside
I can finally breathe
Suddenly alive
I can finally move
'Cause I realize"
