7 Favorite Songs Tag

MJ Watson (who has elected to make her blog private now) has tagged me to describe seven of my favorite songs, specifically my feelings and thoughts while listening to them, and why I like them.

So without further ado...cue the depressing lyrics!

1. My Shot (Clean Edit), Hamilton Original Broadway Cast

This one pumps me up whenever I'm feeling purposeless or lazy or just tired. It's also perfect because the runtime is exactly how long it takes for me to drive from my house to my church. #noregretsincludingcheesyhashtags

It talks about fighting against seemingly impossible odds:

"Rise up. When you're living on your knees, you rise up."

It then ends with Hamilton's decision to not view life as an experience, but as an opportunity:

"Ask anybody why we livin' fast and we laugh, reach for a flask--
We have to make this moment last, that's plenty...
Scratch that. This is not a moment, it's a movement
Where all the hungriest brothers with something to prove went"

The fast raps are super satisfying to sing along with now that I have the lyrics memorized. And the song reminds me of the real-life Alexander Hamilton, whom I feel like I know personally since reading the enormous biography that the play is based on. Seriously, guys, I got really emotional at the part when he died.

2. Drown, Tyler Joseph

You knew I couldn't go long without mentioning twenty one pilots in any form. This is from Tyler's album No Phun Intended, which he made when he was 17. The recordings aren't that great, but considering his age and his limited equipment it's an impressive album. It can only be found on YouTube, by the way.

But now for this song in particular. In dark moments it makes me feel less alone, and the lyrics are addressed to God so they help me to pray when I can't form the words myself.

"I wanna be a lot of things, so much pent up inside of me
I wanna be stronger, too long I've sat here undecidedly...
...And I'm back in front of you, Lord, with blood on the floor
Is the blood mine or yours? Don't wanna do this anymore,
Back and forth between being me and who you call me to be..."

3. Where the Light Shines Through, Switchfoot

Somehow Switchfoot reaches me more than a lot of other Christian bands. They have the same Christian genre formula that I usually dislike--talk about a problem in verse 1 and then resolve the problem by the chorus--but the way they do it feels more genuine than the other artists I've heard try this.

Unlike Tyler's music, which is usually just about the negative aspects of life, this song starts with the negative and goes to the positive--yes, there is a wound, but that's "where the light shines through."

"Yeah the only tattoos I have are scars,
I've got your name written on my heart"

4. Everything, Passenger

Passenger's music feels like running through a faraway forest and then jumping in the ocean on a deserted beach. For some reason it feels nostalgic to me, even though I only discovered his stuff recently.

This song is no exception, and the lyrics are a poignant and oft-needed reminder that it's impossible to be fulfilled in life without loving without counting the cost, and letting your heart be broken.

"They'll take your spark, they'll take everything
But nothing's ever something until you lose everything"

5. You Will Be Found, Dear Evan Hansen Original Broadway Cast

I love listening to Ben Platt's voice, and the gorgeous harmonies when the entire casts comes in on the chorus. It's pretty self-explanatory that this is another song for dark moments.

"Maybe there's a reason to believe you'll be ok."

6. Sailboat, Ben Rector

Another song for getting frustration out. Ben Rector's voice is beautiful too (what is it with Bens in the music industry??) and the lyrics are about loneliness and loss of direction, but they're also infused with hope and a feeling of freedom.

"I feel just like a sailboat
I don't know where I'm headed
But you can't make the wind blow
From a sailboat"

7. Little Wonders, Rob Thomas

This is the song that plays through the ending montage of Meet the Robinsons, which for many reasons is my favorite Disney movie and has influenced me deeply. Rob Thomas' raw vocals, mixed with the thoughtful lyrics, are the perfect combination and they encourage me to keep moving and enjoy little moments in life.

"Let it go, let it roll right off your shoulders
Don't you know, the hardest part is over...
...All falls away, but these small hours,
These little wonders
Still remain"

I'll be lazy and tag whoever feels like taking this tag. There are no rules--put in as many Jack Sparrow gifs as you want for all I care...

...but if you don't feel like doing the whole thing, what is your #1 favorite song, and why?

First Blogiversary!

John Green is an incredible source of GIFs

Like a twenty one pilots concert, this post will start out angsty and hopefully become something full of ukulele and bright colors. So here we go.

Mushy Oscar Speech Part

Skip this if you want to read the stats, grab a piece of pizza, and go on with your day.

A lot of the time I feel like no one "gets" me, for many reasons but especially since so much of me is invested in stories and characters and quotes, and many people don't value those things in the same way I do so it's hard to connect.

Of course, I've learned over years of experience that stories are not everything, and if I only relate to someone because he/she likes the same things I do, the conversation shuts down eventually once we've made all the fandom references possible. 

But it is good to know that there are other people out there who invest as much as I do in stories (and much more, in fact). You guys inspire me to read and also to write, and to remember that it's okay to be different. 

All you great bloggers I've had the privilege to discover this year have driven home to me the fact that difference is beautiful. Some of you have minimalistic blog settings, and use lots of superhero gifs. Some of you have flowery backdrops and talk about period dramas. Some of you mix all of those things together, and some of you are just weird.  ;) 

Some of you are introverts. Some are extroverts. Some write detailed posts on Meyers-Briggs and some don't know what that is, or don't care. 

There are so many different kinds of people, and I don't think I had realized before how beautiful that is. 

So thank you all for being awesome in unapologetically different ways. You remind me that fitness buffs are just as interesting and important as Marvel buffs. 

Not that they necessarily have to be separate people.

Celebratory Review Part

Including screenshots of blog stats because these are necessary for posterity.

We've made it, everybody! Through a year of GIFs, ranting, reviewing, and awkwardness. 

(For nostalgia purposes I'd like to link back to my first post ever, published, of course, on June 30 of last year. *hugs little me*)

Looking back over the blog, I've changed a lot. At this time in 2016 I didn't know there was such a thing as a blogging community, I hadn't written any ukulele songs, I had not written a first draft of a novel (or even gotten close), I wasn't as comfortable with my writing voice, I'd never heard of VlogBrothers, I had not seen High School Musical, I had never listened to twenty one pilots, and I was relatively normal, well-adjusted and productive.

Most of these changes are thanks to you who have been reading this blog, commenting on the blog whether online or offline, and just plain making amazing stuff on the internet whether you know I exist or not.

And now here's what you all have been waiting for: statistics.

To whoever seems to be reading the blog regularly from France (and maybe Russia...
?), hi, and that is awesome that you are reading from so far away!

Interesting.

Anyway thanks again, guys, and it seems only fitting that I end with Martin Freeman drinking tea...in an endless loop.

Comment below if you have anything in particular you'd like me to write about this coming year. Or if you feel like telling me about one of your favorite childhood summer memories. :)

The Four Fictional Characters Tag

I have been tagged by the lovely Olivia to fill out the Four Fictional Characters Tag! (Thank you so much, by the way--this totally made my day.  :D)

Rules

1. Link back to the person who tagged you
2. List four fictional characters (use pictures if you want! They can be from movies or books) and, if you like, describe what they're like and why you believe they relate to you
3. Tag a few other blog people! Three, or four, or even twenty. :) Share the fun!
Be sure to let them know you've tagged them! 

Characters

1. Eowyn (The Lord of the Rings)

Wow, I didn't realize how close I felt to this character until I started looking up quotes and pictures. 

Eowyn isn't the character I look up to the most from LotR (that would be Sam of course <3), but she's the one I relate to most closely. Her quote about a cage is exactly the way I feel after watching The Return of the King or any other deeply inspirational movie. As an INFP (the "idealist" type) I want to do something epic, like shield-surfing down stairs while shooting orcs and/or saving the galaxy. I have trouble seeing the mundanity of life as beautiful, and I can't stand schedules, so Eowyn's anger at being kept on the sidelines is very relatable for me.

She can also be cheerful and adorable when she feels like it, and I relate to her love for the hobbits. If I was around Merry and Pippin I would be constantly sobbing and/or laughing.  xD

2. Jim Hawkins (Treasure Planet)

Seriously, who doesn't like a rebellious teenage kid who rides a hoverboard through explosions? 

Also he cares a lot about Silver's adorable shapeshifter named Morph, and I am a huge dog person and to me Morph is like a tiny labrador retriever, so that is basically the fulfillment of all my cuteness dreams.

And finally, father figure stories tear me apart every time. The part that always gets me is the montage of Silver training Jim mixed with Jim's memories of his father abandoning him, all with John Rzeznik's ballad "I'm Still Here" playing in the background. It perfectly explains Jim's bitterness against authority, combined with his emerging hope that Silver won't leave him like his dad did. 

me while watching that part, every time

3. Marvin (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

Marvin the Paranoid Android walks through this story poking holes in arguments and depressing everyone around him with his despondent attitude. He's a humorous depiction of me on a bad day, who believes that everyone hates me and life is pointless and the only sensible thing left to do is lie down and cry. 

Also he is voiced by Alan Rickman, who is fantabulous.

4. Sebastian (La La Land)

Sebastian is awkward and quiet until Mia touches on the topic that he is really enthusiastic about--jazz music. Then he gets almost frighteningly worked up. I can relate to that because I'm relatively quiet until someone mentions something that I care about, like music or books or movies or writing or religion. Then I often scare people with my enthusiasm.

Also Sebastian feels limited by having to worry about money. 

...which of course brings us to a twenty one pilots lyric.

Instead of playing real jazz piano he's forced to play boring Christmas music to an equally bored audience, something I've done a couple times for Christmas parties. It's lucrative, but not fulfilling at all. So as a fellow pianist I related to him instantly.

And finally, his past failures have left him with misgivings about the future, expressed beautifully in "City of Stars":

And as an incoming college freshman I could not be more concerned about the future.  xD

***

That was a lot of fun! Hopefully it didn't get to depressing there, hehe. 

Thanks again to Olivia for tagging me, and I would now like to tag Meredith, Jenny/Nimrodel, Fawnabelle Baggins, M.J. Watson, and Mary Horton. If y'all happen to be reading this, of course.  :)

Trust // A Vignette-ish Thing

I found a ticket to fame
Held down by a cigarette butt on the corner of 4th and E.
Wrinkled, covered in greasy fingerprints, its plastic covering tarnished by years of ill use and disillusionment and suicide
But I picked it up anyway.

I found the station spotless--ample time to clean between visitors.
The conductor was a young guy, my age, with headphones in.
I sat alone in the rattling car, gold-plated seat digging into the backs of my knees
Until we stopped.

I got up but the young guy cursed over the intercom.
"Sorry for the inconvenience. We overreached our stop. Reversing soon."
My stomach lurched as the train chugged back the way we came.
I couldn't see out the gold tinted windows to our accidental surroundings and I wasn't sure I'd want to anyway
So I fiddled with my ticket, folding it over and over again until I couldn't.
Finally we stopped and I got off like nothing had happened, and
True, nothing had.
But I couldn't shake the feeling I got when we stopped and turned back from the end of the tracks.
The knowledge that this wasn't it. There was another stop later, an invisible mysterious more.
Some call it God.
Some call it the universe.
Some call it nothing.
And none can see out the window.