Friday, April 4, 2014

The Countdown

10 days until I turn in my last paper.
13 days until my time in Oxford is over.
16 days until I return to America.
19 days until I'm back at school.


A poem I wrote a few years back, briefly revisited.

Don’t ask me to let you go.
I will not do it now.
I will let you go when we’ve lived
out this grinding,
future-driven life. I will
let you go when eternity shines
from the tunnel’s end.
I will let you go when I can’t help
but have forgotten who we both are
and what we might have been
back then.
Don’t ask me before we’ve watched
the sun set
and the stars break through
black curtains of the night.
Don’t ask me
before the actors bow
and the lights come up for good.
I won’t do it unless
the children are grown;
we’ve taken care of it all.
Don’t ask me to watch you leave
before the end has come.

Monday, March 24, 2014

The Reality: A Random Smattering

A series of things loosely based on a message I sent to my friend Anna last week.

  • Spring break in Wales was one of the top 2 greatest experiences of my life
  • I feel closer to everyone in my house all of a sudden
  • I started riding my bike again after almost two months of only walking
  • Stonehenge really is just a big pile of rocks
  • But an impressive pile of rocks
  • I've woken up before 9am almost every day the past week and a half
  • And I'm happy about it
  • The staff and other speakers have made history more interesting than it ever was before
  • I climbed a cathedral tower with 332 steps
  • It's been in the 50s almost every day for the past few weeks
  • And the sun's been out
  • Prawn cocktail (aka shrimp cocktail) Pringles are really good
  • I ate half a jar of peanut butter for lunch yesterday and learned a lot about my life
  • Making myself feel better about stuff doesn't always mean sitting alone and crying
  • But it also doesn't always mean forcing myself to socialize and get plenty of exercise
  • I'm really bad at judging the size of international stamps when writing postcards
  • Adult things are stressful
  • But they don't have to be
  • One thing at a time, right?
  • Oliver Cromwell disapproved of the Magna Carta and instead called it the "Magna Farta"
  • Actually a large majority of historical figures had senses of humor and/or did stupid things that are extremely amusing
  • There is pen all over my hands for the first time in a long time because let me tell you ink does not dry quickly when applied to the backs of postcards
  • Online groceries are a godsend
  • I am about to read a lot of books in a very short amount of time
  • The British education system is wonderful but I miss having month-long (or more) warnings for my paper prompts
  • And only writing papers with a small number of short sources
  • And only having to walk 2 minutes to class instead of biking 15+ or walking 40+
  • I miss restaurants and stores that are open past 6pm
  • I miss Taco Bell
  • I miss living in the Eastern time zone
  • I miss driving
  • I miss reading books for fun
  • I miss the rest of my wardrobe
  • I miss having a roommate
  • Especially one who manages to ruin my life in a good way
  • I miss not being surprised by the conversion rates when I check my bank balance
  • But soon I'm going to miss living in a house with 30+ other people
  • I'm going to miss morning and afternoon tea
  • I'm going to miss late nights in the kitchen talking about life
  • I'm going to miss the staff and tutors and JDs and other Oxfordians that have taken such good care of us
  • I'm going to miss large group meals and fumbling through recipes we found online
  • I'm going to miss having dozens of heavy coins in my wallet that add up to almost $20
  • Okay that was a joke
  • I can't wait to get back to mostly paper money
  • I'm going to miss the insane library system
  • I'm going to miss the sight of a crowded Cornmarket Street
  • I'm going to miss my daily passing of buildings older than America
  • I'm going to miss Oxford and all these wonderful people
  • When the time comes I know I'll be ready to go
  • Ready to see family and friends again
  • But right now I have a book to read, a paper to write, and groceries on the way
  • I hope you all have a wonderful week

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Life Songs: A Music Update

My spring break in Wales starts in less than 24 hours!
I've done this kind of thing a few times, but not since November, and anyone who knows me is aware that I like music maybe a little bit more than a lot. So here's another collection of my favorite tracks that I've discovered and listened relentlessly to over the past month. (Note: this doesn't mean everything listed is new, just that it's new to me.)
I'm including links with every song in this batch for the convenience of anyone who's curious. I hope it motivates you to at least give a brief listen to a few tracks.
I've also sorted them a bit based on the moods I've been in over the past month. If dubstep and electronic stuff isn't for you, skip the first section. The second is non-electronic upbeat songs. The third has a few instrumentals and generally less hardcore stuff.
*Disclaimer: Not all lyrics or videos are clean, particularly from the first two sections. Click at your own risk.

Song - Artist

Party-ish/dancey/dubstep stuff:
Falling Down (xKore Remix) - Sub Focus
Damaged - Adrian Lux
All Day I Dream (Getter Remix) - Fei-Fei
Halogen - Kevin Drew
The Source (Chaos & Confusion) - The Bloody Beetroots
Fat Lip (Acetronik Remix) - Sum 41 (I've been listening to this for weeks now)
End of Pretend - Black Cards & Matthew Koma (this video is a little weird)
(Black Cards was one of Pete Wentz's side projects and you should definitely download this entire 38 track album free here because it is magical)

Not-dubstep upbeat things:
Stay The Night (feat. Hayley Williams) - Zedd
White Light Moment - Tove Styrke
Red Lights - Tiësto
Pulse - Hit The Lights

Chillers:
For You - Wolf Rider
Always Gold - Radical Face
I Giorni - Ludovico Einaudi (this man is spectacular and everyone should listen to his music)
The Hymn of Acxiom - Vienna Teng (gorgeous -- all of her stuff is powerful)
Running Up That Hill - Placebo
Byegone - Volcano Choir (this video gives me chills)
Start A Riot - Jetta (itunes does an amazing job yet again in picking this single of the week)
By The Time - Mika
State Hospital - Frightened Rabbit
Bridges - Broods
Boats & Birds - Gregory and the Hawk
Riptide - Vance Joy
Where Have You Been? - Manchester Orchestra

Highly recommended albums:
The Prince of Egypt Soundtrack
No Mythologies to Follow - MØ
The Radio In My Head: Live at 54 Below - Aaron Tveit
seriously, anything and everything by Ludovico Einaudi (and he has a lot of stuff)