Dodged a bullet by getting punched
My close, really really close friend and I just spent a whole hour, maybe even up to one and half, two, explaining a situation with our previous crush/thing/not really to another friend. This guy, basically, screwed around with our feelings and moved on to wreak more havoc around him.
It took 45 minutes to get past the first recap of this guy, the main explanation of what the hell is going on. In this point, the consternation, anger, bewilderment and part desperation shone out through as the friend we relived what had gone in one year for this one, single, infuriating boy. And I realized, after an hour or so of ranting and listening and reviewing all the things he has done to, not one, not two, but four girls (no wait, five, and maybe soon a sixth) in the space of a single year…
He hasn’t physically abused or tortured or insulted anybody, but he basically pulled all of us into this swirling vortex of his indecisive “I like you” “oh wait I have issues” “but no I want you” “But I want your friend” “I want your other friend” “I want your other other friend”.
And what I just wrote does not explain at all, or give justice to the grand scheme of how much havoc we let him wreak on our lives. But I realized.
This guy is a freaking psychopath. Holy -.
Our friend,w ho was listening, literally hit his head against the couch,g roaned, writhed, and just looked at us dazed throughout the narrative, before bursting into so many exclamations of confusion and general disbelief that people act like that.
I dodged a bullet by effectively taking the equivalent of a punch. Not pleasant at all, but far safer. I got lucky and only minor heart break/resentment.
And I had to get this out.
[The Wrock Project] Installment IV [C]
Onwards, brave Wrockers! We will face the tumultuous waves of untuned instruments, the tempestuous winds of breathy, whiny voices, and the tortuous sounds of beats without rhythm all to find the Good Bands that make you stop, smile, and then belt out the lyrics at the top of your lungs!
I like being dramatic. Anyway, this is the installment of the Cs!
- The Caradoc Dearborns. Hun, please take a few guitar lessons and leave the singing to somebody else. I like your harmonica, though.
- Catchlove. The rewritten cover of “Kids of (is it “in” or “of?”) America” is pretty neat. It’s fairly good quality overall, really. Definitely worth a listen to see if you will be into their music. Or his music—I can’t tell.
- Cedrella Black has only one song, “Bella’s Lament,” which is seems to be sung all right, but is a bit overdramatic for what I’m used to. I mean, I can see the song playing in a movie while the main character plays on the piano and pours out her heart after heartbreak of some sort or… jaja, yeah. Give it a try, though.
- Cedric and the Gravestones is a pretty amateurish band. I also had a fit of giggles when they got to a part in their song “Dementors” that went “and they’ll suck, and they’ll suck, and they’ll suck your soul.” A fit of immaturity.
- The Cedric Diggorys are a distinctly different band than the others; they have a far more grungy, rough sound. Punk. I had fun, although I did get a bit depressed.
- Celestial Warmbottom was a real treat! She has a wonderful, powerful, and expressive voice. And you should listen to her saucy love songs = )
- Celestina Moldubeck Wardbeck was rather cute and lighthearted. Too bad I don’t understand French, but it didn’t stop me from listening = )
- Celestina Warbeck was fun, but at times the pitch really made me wince. Ow.
- Chaos of Phoenix is creative, but I dislike the singing. I’m sorry; I do like the composition, but not the execution.
- Charlie and the Dragon. I love their song “Nymphadora.” The other song didn’t do much for me (other than the fact that it was Twilight vs. HP and OF COURSE HP won, because Twilight doesn’t even begin to compare… This does not open this blog post to flamers.)
- Chasing Quaffles. I can tell you guys had loads of fun and put some serious effort into this. Maybe in the future, but for right now, I’m just going to move along.
- The Cheering Charms. Same as above. Meh.
- Chi Chi Chang, you sound pretty cute, but I have no idea what you are saying.
- I actually listen to Death Metal on occasion, but Children of Godrics Hollow is just pretty fucking terrible.
- Chimaera Scamander: A Huffle Diary. I have no idea what is going on here.
- The Chinese Chomping Cabbages is… eh. Just eh.
- Chinese Fireball. Meh. Boring.
- Chloe Nothing. Add one more to the boring streak. She’s just whiny.
- Cho and the Changs. So far there is only a preview, so there isn’t much I can say or opine about (is opine a word?).
- The Cho Chang Gang is all right, I suppose. I do have “Quidditch Tomorrow” stuck in my head, but I’m not too happy about that.
- The Chocolate Frogs did better than the previous bands. I must admit that until I got to “Anyone Else But You” I was really put off by the monotone singing, but the instrumentals and lyrics are pretty decent. And I am impressed by the number of songs.
- Chocolate in the Library. The rewritten lyrics were fun, but I just can’t listen. They also got an Usher song stuck in my head, urgh.
- Clavenraw, I don’t understand a single word in your song and the repeated off-shadowy echo thing is really annoying.
- Colin and the Creeveys were a bit whiny (which makes sense, it is Colin = ) ) but my main problem was the synthetic music.
- Colours in the Cauldron was ok. Just ok.
- Confusing Concoction wasn’t very melodic.
- The Conjuring Cauldrons was just eh. I did like that there was a “Tribute to Trelawney”.
- The Cornish Pixies. There is another band by that name, but their song wouldn’t play, so no review is forthcoming. This one was funny – it is definitely a good group of friends having fun, and I enjoyed their rewritten cover “Avada Kedavra,” but this is more of an amusement band than music I want to listen to.
- A Couple of Harrys. I can honestly believe this is Harry singing to himself quietly inside the cupboard. There is a type of nostalgia and naivety to the songs in their simplicity. The music is very… country tuney? “Hagrid’s Legacy” was actually pretty interesting.
- There is something appealing about Crabbe & Goyle‘s monotone songs and the guitar chords and how utterly ridiculously stupid the songs and lyrics are, duh, because Crabbe & Goyle are terrible people, and so… so smart. Anyways, worth a shot for the short laugh.
- And then we have Crabbe and the Goyles. This is another beast entirely, as can be seen by their entirely innuendo-laden song “Basilisk”. I mean, if you have rap-ish song whose chorus goes among the likes of, “Take a look take a look at my Basilisk, isn’t it long, yeah, isn’t it thick”, well, you can draw your own conclusions. They’re damn catchy, unfortunately, because I cannot get that chorus out of my head. And if somebody ever tells me that they want to “open your chamber of secrets, girl”, I will punch them. And “just my snake, my girl, and me” is hilarious. Goddammit, against my better judgment I LIKE THIS BAND A LOT. Although “Ministry of Meh” is getting really repetitive – oh wait he’s doing this on purpose? Ok, I get it, please stop saying “repetitive songs” on and on please. PLEASE. And this is an incredibly superior parody of Cee Lo Green’s “Fuck You”. Ok, this band was great for the first two songs and now I am completely tired of it. (Yes, I do write these reviews as I listen to the bands.)
- When I read the name Creevey Crisis, I was not expecting metalish rock music. There you go. They’re pretty decent, although they ended up being more background music to which I shook my head and muttered “Sword of Gryffindor!!” in time with the song while doing some homework. I like them enough to suggest checking them out however.
- Crookshank, despite forgetting the “s,” is another cute band. I mean, one of its songs is dedicated to a chocolate frog’s lament.
- The Crossovers is very varied in their attempts at harmony. Umm…. hmm…. eh.
- Crucius was, as can be expected from the name, probably created to strike fear into the hearts of the enemies of the Dark Lord. In some ways, this is hard to do when people can’t understand what your grunting is. On the other hand, if that grunting comes from the mouth of a Giant, that would probably be frightening enough. And that is an approximation of the appeal of this music (zero).
- The Cruciatus Curse, however, could kind of be trashy Wizardpop. We’ve got Ke$ha’s song dedicated to Slytherins (you know she would be that trashy Slytherin trying to be cool enough to hangout with the Malfoys by throwing parties and singing for them). That said, “Slytherock” is what I’m going to play at that Quidditch Dance Party I’ve been planning for a while. I’m not as impressed with the other songs, although “Squib” was properly adapted to the original “Creep” song. I do enjoy the mood created by “Tale of the Deathly Hallows.”
- Crucio! at the Yule Ball sounded really cool based on their name. However, their cover of “I Will Survive,” , is a bit lackluster.
- Crucio Crucio has a nice, single instrumental song, that if it were longer, I would use as a soothing track despite the fact that the track name alludes to Fenrir Greyback.
- But ahoy, here come the The Crumple-Horned Snorkacks! Except there are only 31 seconds of a song there. And I like what I hear, but there is nothing else!
- The Curse Breakers is genuinely good. As in, she decently sings, the instruments have decent melody, and the lyrics are interesting Definitely go through all her songs!
And that, my dear almost non-existent readers, is how the letter C of Wizard Rock Bands ends! I count 38 bands… and I’m only at C… Hmm… maybe somebody wants to help me out with the whole Wrock Project? Send an owl!
[The Wrock Project] Installment III [B]
From now on, each post will review all the bands listed on the Wizrocklopedia by letter. Today, I bring to you the letter B, brought to you by bloody banshee bands.
- The Bandon Banshees is a somewhat monotone band. I like the instrumental sections more than the singing, but the bands has a pretty nice lineup of songs.
- I do find the previous band better and more complex than The Band of Requirement. Their one song, “Just Harry”, is cute, but eh.
- So, The Band who Lived also has only one song, which is amusing in that it is dedicated to a Troll… a demo of the I assume will-soon-be-completed “Troll Song” about love for a troll? Eh.
- The Band-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is Evanescence inspired, and is, of course, a Dark Wizard band. I actually like them – they’re entertaining, have a relatively clear sound and more skill in instruments than other bands, and maybe I have a soft spot for songs written from Bellatrix’s POV. That, and “Hortcrux Baby” cracks me up.
- Basilisk and the Kreachers. Um. Huh? Uhh…
- The Basilisk in Your Pasta. I really, really like this band – it was fun, cute, and are a bit of a teasing band. I like the way they wove French into the song, and will definitely be listening to this band in the future. Thumbs up!
- The Bat Bogey Hexes has one a’capella song called “Lullaby for Molly”, which has cute, sweet lyrics and could be pretty catchy if performed a bit more professionally.
- The Beater Broke His Club is another, somewhat shaky a’capella band. The name is fun, though.
- The Beedles. I must say, The Beedles are pretty fun and do for some light listening every so often if you don’t mind a few jarring moments. I do, however, have a weakness for their song “Quidditch Field”. Maybe I can get my team to learn this song so we can sing it at the next tournament… hmmm
- Bella and le Strangers is goood. I am happy to say that there is harmony and melody and it works well and that the songs make me feel pretty happy. They have a kind of campy Donovan feeling to them (Ok, only to me, perhaps, I suck at reviewing and comparing music and bands), but I definitely recommend them! Also, I have a weakness for Bellatrix POV music, apparently.
- Bella and the Death Eaters is pretty fun. Also, the rewriting of “Hallelujah” in “Bellatrix Lestrange” is pretty funny. But that’s about it. Hm.
- Bella’s Love. Wow, the “B”s have a theme. It’s pretty rough and kinda just eh, well, its an attempt at singing. I think that the reasons are so scathing and mean is because they can’t stand the awkward attempt at being nice that I do…
- The Bertie’s Bott Band. Um. Nuff said. Just. Ugh.
- Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Band is cute sounding, but I kind of already forgot every part of their songs.
- The Bezoar Project. It might just be me, but I find it really uncomfortable to hear about a schoolgirl fantasy with Snape, as she sings in “Slytherin Lovin”. Umm. Yes. Otherwise, its pretty decent singing and songwriting.
- Big Whompy. Definitely not my type of music, but the song is amusing. So listen to it for fun! But its a very simple melody garageband thing.
- The Black Sisters is hard to gauge in that I can barely hear anything in their recordings. But what I can hear is cute and pretty good harmony. I’d like to hear what they could do with better recording equipment.
- Blast Ended Skrewts. I have to say, I really enjoyed the simple, purely instrumental song. I think I’ll keep this one bookmarked.
- The Blast Ended Skrewts! have a lot of excitement with that name. That energy passes onto their music. I will, however, pass. They were doing better until somebody started singing.
- I want to point out that Blibbering Humdinger is a wonderful name. I also want to point out that the sense of humour inherent in the name carries onto their music. The lyrics are pretty funny, from the explicit minded “Huffepuff Sandwhich”. The tunes do get repetitive, but I can easily get over that for the lyrics.
- The Blood Traitors. Oh dear. Their one song is enjoyable, but pretty dull and lacking in the energy of the original song it is based off.
- The Blood Pops. Eh.
- The Bludger Kids. Ugh.
- A Bludger to The Head. It is pretty cute, actually. There needs to be more Luna love among the wrock bands.
- Bronze and Blue was kind of painfully boring.
- Blue and Yellow Wand. I’m confused. Is she singing?
- The Blue Eagles is very… one chord strum and the repetition of the word “felix”.
- The Boggarts. Finally! This was some nice triumphal music. Liiiike.
- Books and Cleverness. Move along.
- The Bookworms is a cute setup. However, I am falling asleep to the music. Bland, really.
- The Boy Who Wrocked is by no means a particularly good band. But I am still having fun listening. This time it really is purely subjective.
- The Boyz Who Lived has good singing! Makes me think of that band Cartel. It’s cute. I will definitely listen to this more! Except, they have like, one song.
- The Broom Closet Diaries. Bleh. (I’m getting pretty monosyllabic…)
- The Brothers Black. Yes yes yes thank you, a good catchy band. Goes to my listening list! Especially their song “Don’t Wanna Be A DeathEater”!
- Buckbeak and the Hippogriffs was cute, in a country sort of way. They can actually play music, its just not my type.
- The Bulstrodes is definitely a pretty cute band. I don’t know why I use that term so much. Too bad the sound quality does not make me want to listen much.
- Butterbeer Chuggers. Based on the name alone, I think they’d be great friends with the team. Until I listened to the song Veritaserum. Um.
- The Butterbeer Experience. See, this name makes me think if somehow the singer got drunk on Butterbeer. That said, this is a pretty decent setup. The lyrics are nice, and she has a good voice. The more I listen to it, the more I like this.
- The Buttermellows. I like the folksy thing going on, although it is a bit “whiny”, like my roommate commented. Problem: every song really just sounds like the other.
- By The Great Beard of Hagrid is a GREAT name. I will use it in exclamations now. The song, however, is very…eh. But good name.
I FINISHED THE Bs! Oh dear Merlin, this is going to be long.
Craving Contact
I’ve been rather off-sorts lately.
Not when I’m talking to people, to friends, when I’m chatting online. I’ve been off sorts inside “my room”, wasting time and feeling like a general bum. I’ve been feeling out of sorts because: I haven’t had a proper sleep schedule ever since the 5 am fire alarm woke me up after I went to sleep at 3 am; since I spend hours lying in bed trying to fall asleep and not managing it until 5 am; not going for my morning run at 7 am due to my messed up sleep patterns; the resulting apathy from waking up at 3 pm and not cooking properly for myself lately; because I haven’t been productive; I get headaches; I’m afraid this means I have Lyme disease; because I am alone.
But what has taken me some time to realize, is that I am frustrated mostly because I am alone. Since a great number of my friends, in particular, the ones I’ve been living with, have left after finishing their internship, I’ve been living in a three-person suite in a room that isn’t really mine, not even by our temporary college standards, and that as such I have not claimed it. I am sick of not having what really is my own space. So, now that I’m a week away from moving to my real double in my real dorm, I don’t mind that I will have less space and that I will lose some privacy by having a roommate, but I do mind terribly being stuck in this horribly empty place. I perk up when my friend Jerry comes over and we watch Dr. Who, but otherwise… I’ve gone from spending my time with over ten different people and at least five of them at once to wasting time in a dingy room as I try to sleep and then dragging myself out to trees and shade and wishing I wasn’t so tired from doing nothing.
And this realization that I need people is still shocking. I was a loner kid, I was shut in my books and my drawings and my internet, and I would close hte door to my room so that I wouldn’t have to be with my family at times because goddamit I needed my alone time, didn’t they understand that?
But being here and sleeping in like four different people’s rooms in college, and sleeping over constantly and sharing my space so much has made me much more dependent on the amazing people I find. If I needed alone time, I could find it easily, but now that I can’t have my friends by just knocking downstairs is putting me off center, and maybe that is why I’m not sleeping well and not running when I know those two make me feel healthy and happy.
I want my room, I want to decorate it so that it distinctly says “Camila’s space”, and then invite my friends over so that we can all share it over blueberries. And then, maybe, if I need space, simply go off fr a walk into the Shakespeare garden like I used to.
[The Wrock Project] Installment II [A]
Ahem. Shall we continue?
- As I Lay Dobby is a young metal band, and is like all young metal bands. That’s basically it. I really like how they chose Dobby, though, and I like their lyrics.
- The Auror Dawlish was actually pretty funny when I started paying attention to the lyrics of the song “The Leaky Cauldron”.
- Avada Kedavra Killer is a cute band, and better in its cuteness than some that I’ve seen so far.
- The Azkaban Breakout. Cool name. Moving on.
- Azkabane was seriously entertaining and the “Ode to Harry Potter” pretty listenable.
- The Azkaban Escapees are actually cute and a kind of chill, quiet lullaby band, as far as I can tell. Their sound is pretty messy, which can get very annoying, but I’m assuming that is their recording equipment.
- The Azkaban Work-Release Program is definitely one of the better bands I have heard, in melody, band story, and lyrics. I would definitely recommend this group. They should definitely improve the quality of the recordings of songs other than “The Conscience of a Death Eater” though.
iPad Painting – Not Creative, per Say, Just a Tool
First, watch this video.
Done? Maybe you skipped ahead a bit to see the final product. Amazing, right? Such skill! What words come to your mind when you see this? Talented, innovative, creative…
Wait, what was that last word? Creative? See, when I read the blog post at the MMM that first led me to this video, a particular line caught my eye:
“David Jon Kassan started thinking of creative ways to use the iPad”
See… painting on the iPad isn’t creative. It isn’t a creative way of using it. It was expected and everybody has been hoping for it… so Mr. Kassan’s work is certainly talented and innovative in that it is at top technology and using a newly repurposed tool, but the idea of using the iPad itself isn’t creative. Creative means original, that few or none have thought of it, that it makes you look at the world or a subject in a completely new manner. Creative uses of the iPad have, for example, something like the iHollaback app, which deals with sexual harassment, empowerment, and helping protect women and track how and when sexual harassment usually takes place. Now that app is creative!
And the idea of using creative for a simple byword for “art” or “drawing” annoys me. Let’s give proper praise where it is due: to Mr. David Kassan for being innovative and training himself in a marvelous new and useful tool as part of the artistic process, and to the many innovative, creative app makers who are stretching the lines of what we can do.
[The Wrock Project] Installment II
Continuing on the last post, I present the Second Installment of The Wrock Project, where I attempt to shortly review every band listed on the Wrockopedia in alphabetical order.
- Angelina Johnson and the Secret Fred Weasley Crush was cute, but that was about it. I’d like her to add more songs so it would be easier to get a good gauge on her, but so far I feel like Angelina and the Chasers do better in this style of music.
- Animagus is probably one of the better made bands I’ve heard so far – she has rather deep lyrics, and pretty good harmony, and many songs. I liked “The Pensieve”, perhaps because it is obviously based on The Cranberry’s “Zombie”, which is a wonderful song. I recommend checking her out as a good example of Wrock,
- About Animagus Princess, as far as I can tell there are two songs she has written and sung “Ode to my Commodore” and “Wizard Rock Birthday Song”, both which did make me laugh. (Ode to my Commodore is written from Moarning Myrtle’s PoV)
- The Animagus could do better, but most of my issues are about technical aspects (due to recording problems he used Guitar Pro for these) rather than actual songwriting ability, but I don’t really like his vocals – they monotone me out (see, I made a pun… I think… right?!) Anyways, the music was pretty catchy but I’d like to see what the songs are like when played versus Guitar Pro.
- Apparation Nation is a great band. I loved all his songs, laughed, enjoyed them greatly and can definitely see myself listening to him more often in the future! Listen to “Neville Kicks Ass” in particular!
- The ArithRomantics have a good quality of sound, exist in an actual Lastfm page, and have a consistent “sound” so to say. The fact that their sound bores me is another thing, but it’s a matter of personal taste. Additionally, they give free mp3 files in their page, so if you like their music you can listen to them in your ipod/itouch/zune/etc.
- Arnold and the Pigmy Puffs was a bit boring. I mean, it was kind of cute, but then, that was it.
Ugh, I’m tired and I have a long day tomorrow (today). Night!
[The Wrock Project] Installment I
Hallo blog! I realize I have been neglecting you lately, but now, due to the fact that my twitter was getting flooded, I bring the Wrock Project to this blog post!
What is Wrock? Why, WIZARD ROCK (as if I wasn’t enough of a geek/nerd/dork). It’s inspired by, of course, Harry Potter. And since I’m a geek through my Quidditch Team I might as well start listening to some and see which ones I like. I’m going through them alphabetically. Now, since I was flooding my poor twitter with my comments, I’m passing them over here and the proceeding to write more!
- Starting to listen to Wrock as I do my homework. I am such a geek. 7:04 PM Mar 28th
- It’s official, Project Wrock has started: for the next few days I’m going to listen to Wrock bands and link to the ones I like/amuse me
- “I’m On a Broom” by The 8th Horcrux http://www.myspace.com/the8thhorcrux really cracked me up!
- Liking the clap/chorus part of “Dumbledore” by ABCDEFG! Otherwise, kinda meh for me
- EVERYTHING from Aberforth Dumbledore and the Nannies CRACKS ME UP, but “Goats” in particular is hilarious http://bit.ly/bGTAYD
- Accio Hagrid! has a cool name, but all the singing does is make me think of Alvin & the Chipmunks and laugh http://bit.ly/bFiS59 XD
- Both love and hate “Hufflepuff is For Weirdos” by The Acid Pops. I feel it’fs too mean but otherwise it’s fun http://bit.ly/decEZD
- The Canadian group The Acid Pops, however, didn’t gain a favourable comment from me http://www.myspace.com/theacidpopswizrock
- On the other hand, it’s pretentious of me to say that considering I’m not musical or a good music critic, but tis my humble opinion
- Loved every single of Alas Earwax!’s songs, so fun for an HPnerd!!!! http://www.myspace.com/earwaxrock
- The Albeus Humbledores had a cool name but I can’t listen to their music, to be honest… #wrock
- Albus and Dumbledore was a meh artist. #Wrock #WrockProject
- However, I do like “Elder Wand” by Albus and the Dumbledores, even if it is a short guitar riff http://bit.ly/9p4FJ0 #Wrock
- “Teddy’s Man Points” by Albus and the Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledores is hilarious though short! #Wrock
And that is as far as I tweeted before deciding my followers were probably suffering. On to the next part!
- The lyrics for “Buy You a Drink [Wrock the Yule Ball]” by The Albus Severi are hilarious and the song is better than I expected. Fun = )
- I LOVE love LOVE the Demo Track that The Albus Severus Potters has on the site. Is there more coming out?!?!?! When?!?!
- All Abroad the Knight Bus is pretty funky, although their songs do get monotone. For me it’s more of a “listen to the lyrics and laugh” thing, unlike The Albus Severus Potters where I seriously want to listen to the actual music that the demo hinted at. “Cursed” is pretty funny, following Harry’s adventures as a night-time rule breaker and what seems to be his constant bad luck and trouble magnetism, and I quite like the base music. However, “Detention Sucks” annoys me. A lot. “A Pensieve Full of Memories” was surprisingly restful and really helped me chill out and do my work. I also actually liked “Quidditch Games” more than I usually would a song of this style. Unfortunately, their demo for “A Day in Hogsmeade” really bored me. Mixed reviews for these guys, but they actually have a variety of songs which gives them a plus in my book (blog). Besides, they have a pretty cool name.
- The Amazing Merlin is good – as only a slight metalhead (I haven’t stopped to listen to The Sword or Walls of Jericho in a long time, damn), I found I could sit and enjoy this and every so often get the urge to headbang a bit (which I refrained from because I’m supposed to be doing homewor and headbanging would distract me even more). “The Dragon” is probably my favourite of their tracks, and I prefer the vocals version of “Storm of the Wizard”. A bit more toned down than I expected, but fine.
- Amortentia stuck a blank for me. I suppose the guitar melody/harmony/whatever (I suck at music, shush, I just know there is a basic guitar sound there) was ok, but otherwise. Bleh. At least the idea for their song “Draco’s Gay” is fun.
- My my, look at that, another band named Amortentia. This one definitely is better than the other Amortentia, and “Argus Loves” in particular is interesting, as it is written from Argus Filch’s viewpoint.
- Anapnea. This solo singer seems to me to be doing Covers (I’m not sure about Full Moon and Between the Bars), and he has nice vocalization. Perhaps he should collaborate with somebody for more creative work?
- Angelina and the Chasers is a rather good find so far – I like the harmonics (I sound like I know what I’m talking about!), and the song themes. Some parts of the lyrics could be more creative, but I can definitely sit and enjoy them. “The Frozen Smile” in particular really puts me in a sad, contemplative mood, but then it deals with one of the twin’s death…
And that was the first installment! Wait with bated breath for the next one! (Or shake your heads and chuckle, if you prefer).
Settling In
I arrived yesterday at around 4 pm, and met, coincidentally, just outside of the car, the President of my Dorm (I think he is a sophomore). He immediately called the House Team, consisting of the student fellows, which are the guys and gals that are in charge of a floor and the freshmen in it, and they helped me take all my stuff up. I think I took too much, but I’ll decide later on what to send back with my dad when he returns in late September. In five minutes, all my bags and boxes where in my floor, in teh common room, as I still didn’t have my key. Then, my student fellow gave me a quick tour of the facilities (pool table area, laundry room, kitchen, etc), before having to hurry off, as the Student Fellows and all sundry are having training. I feel like I’m looking at College’s equivalent of PGC, however, so I totally understand. (EEeh, I’m a freshgal again!) The Prez was a bit irritated that the International Services Group hadn’t told him that the Int’nl students where arriving yesterday and today, as it was scheduled exactly in their training period, so they can’t help us move in. It was very short at them, and he seems like a pretty awesome person, cool, calm, etc.
We then went to the main entrance to get my key, and they gave a bag with a few snacks that became my breakfast today: an apple and a granola bar with apple taste (it was really sweet, though). I went up to my dorm again, entered my room, and started taking photos of all the details of damage that they might charge me for at the end of the year (a tip an International gal gave me). Made my bed, set up my stereo, etc, etc, took a break to check my dad in, had dinner, settled in. It was really hard to go to sleep, it is so hot here. I have a fan, but even that isn’t enough, aaaaaaargh. Heat. Heat. Sweat. Sweltering. I even took a shower to go to sleep, but it didn’t help me so much.
Unfortunately, I discovered that one of my suitcases was desintegrating on the inside, so it’s lining was falling apart on my clothes ,so now they have this weird gunk on them. I’m going to do laundry today, get them clean, and while they wash, finish setting my room up. Fuuun. I am angry with the bag, which goes out to the trash, but now that I’ve had breakfast I should probably go shower and get dressed, it’s 10:30 am and I took a long time getting up. (Hard to sleep in the heat, hard to get up once you get to sleep.) I kicked off my sheet, too.
All in all, pretty good. I hopefully get to meet Austin later on, and other Int’nl students. Ciao!
[Edit] I can’t pay for the laundry yet with my card, but now my room is pretty clean, excluding a bit of am ess with my clothes (I put the ones that need to be washed in the hamper, though). I don’t know what to do of myself, now!
¡Bolivia, Corazon!
Amor, amor, tierra de paisajes escarpados, de un cielo que hala tu alma a la eternidad, de aire puro, de espacio cristalino, de formaciones de rocas que han sobrevivido siglos y se alargan y retorcen ante la mirada que le ofrecemos… es musica para mis ojos, arte para mis oidos, es…
es tierra y alma, es alma de tierra, y esta tierra es mi alma.
Perhaps those few lines were overtly corny, but nothing ever really captures how I feel about visiting Home and Family. Visiting La Paz is like entering a fantastic dream, and little details or a spare sound or smell can bring tears to my eyes. It is finally resting; it is putting my heavy bags down and realizing that I am home, that the people here love me, and that I belong. It makes my heart beat stronger, not just from the altitude, but from the pure joy. Why else am I always near tears when I first see the city spread out before me? It is all the more powerful because my home is beautiful.
What else can you say about the Illimani when the clouds part and let you gaze on the spirit that guards the city? Illimani is the mountain God, the Apu that looks after La Paz. It is at his faldas that we make our home. Can you deny the beauty of that bright sky? It is wide, wide and open, a wheeling expanse that is brighter, clearer, more pure than in any other city I have visited. The red earth, red earth, tierra patria, the colour and the shapes of the sierra behind the city are just… it’s magical to me. Nourishing.
Bolivia es mi corazon, oh no?
Lemon Water 