Music Spotlight

A few weeks ago the VMA's were on MTV. I watched them, and Lady Gaga took home a ton of awards. Now I am not a huge fan of hers but I will admit that her songs are catchy and I am guilty of singing Bad Romance and having Poker Face stuck in my head for days. What upsets me about shows like the VMA's is the narrow range of artists that are represented. There are so many good groups/singers out there that don't get enough recognition. I do enjoy a fair amount of pop music but I think groups that are smaller deserve to have their own awards show. Of course half the fun of listening to unheard of musicians is not having their songs played out on the radio and knowing that few other people listen to what you are listening to. Lately I have three favorites, I hope you enjoy. :)

1. Regina Spektor
Thanks to my sister and the 500 days of Summer soundtrack for introducing me to her.
Us


2. She & Him
Actress Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward make up this duo.
Thought I saw your face today


3. Frank and Derol
Brandi Cyrus and Cody Caraco (and occasionally Megan Park)
Back and Forth

Celebrating Banned Books

“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them”
- Ray Bradbury

This week is the National Banned Books week. A few weeks ago my mom received a list in the mail of 50 banned books. As I was reading over the list, I was surprised at the amount of books on there were ones I had read. And enjoyed. I remember in high school reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, I don’t remember all of the details but I do remember one: the government was taking specific books and destroying them so no one could read them. I do not know if today people go to the extremes of burning books that are banned due to content, but they go far enough to have them removed from school systems and libraries. I don’t think it is fair or right to have other people deciding what is right or wrong for me to be reading. If I wish to censor myself, then I will. There are books that I have been waiting to read until I think that I can handle them. For example, I have put off reading Lolita but I know someday I do want to read it. Even before I was an English major, I have always loved reading. I don’t want someone to blacklist one of my favorite books because they deem it “inappropriate.” Some books that have been banned have important messages that need to be told.

This week, be a rebel. Read a banned book.
I know I will.




[for more info]

If I had a paycheck. . .

So I've been out of a job for over a year. I must admit that it makes me very sad that I cannot shop the way I used to and very badly want to. Yesterday in the computer lab, I noticed a website that a girl next to me was on (yes I was being a creeper but she was on a mac and Montclair has the HUGE screens) The website is topshop.com and I found some really cute clothes on there. If I had some income then perhaps I could begin to dream about having these clothes. And the site offers 10% off for students which I thought was really cool. I also really liked looking at their collections My favorite was the Dark Nouveau. It is a mixture of leather and punky pieces with feminine accents.

Satin Trim Babydoll Tunic
Bright Bloom Lace Corset Dress
Hinge Front Flap Bag

Ruched Strap Heels

Dark Nouveau

Somedays in September.

This month has been rather difficult for me. Adjusting to living away from home and what seems to be an intense amount of schoolwork, is a lot. I guess most days I'm okay but the weekends are the hardest. Of course, it is very exciting to not worry about classes and waking up at a specific time (6:20 a.m. is not my friend) but the weekends are full of spare time and the void of not having family and close friends. Usually I spend my weekends holed up in my apartment doing 1 of 3 things.
1. Procrastinating - As an English major, I spend my time either reading or writing about what I read. The reading part I don't mind so much, as long as the book is interesting, but when it comes to writing I have to force myself to sit down and write. For example, today is Sunday and I have a response due tomorrow. I read the book Friday, and I started writing yesterday, but now I have to finish today.
2. Watching TV - The bonus of being at school is the fact that here I have cable and at home I do not. (This is also a downside because it contributes to my procrastination.) So I can flip through about 50 some channels and hope that there is something interesting for me to watch. It also gives me an opportunity to catch up on Keeping up with the Kardashians since that is what E! tends to play ALL the time.
3. Making Food/Eating - One of the perks of living in an apartment is definitely having a kitchen. I can now control what I eat, instead of hoping that Montclair's cafeteria is serving something I like and being disappointed. I also use eating as a source of procrastination. (Last Sunday, while I was trying to write a response, I made flowers out of my m&m's)

Now the best is when all three of these occur at once. Take for instance last night. I was hungry so I went to make dinner. While I was making dinner, I turned on the tv in hopes of catching the Kardashians. Instead they had just started a movie (Coyote Ugly) which I had never seen before but had always wanted to. So while I was eating, I watched a 2 hour movie and took a break from my homework that I had not really started.

And now I'm blogging instead of writing my response.
:)

My guilty pleasure. . .

So since I'm no longer getting my regular fix of Ali on the Bachelorette, I decided to give ABC's spin off show The Bachelor Pad a try. Now I was never an avid follower of the Bachelor franchise because finding love on tv seems near impossible. I mean let's face it, the Bachelor/Bachelorette shows have only had 2 lasting couples out of 20 seasons. (Not including Ali and Roberto who I am hoping stay together!) Not a very good track record.

Ah the Bachelor Pad. A place where 19 men and women get to compete for $250,000 and maybe find love. Or just control people. (Ahem, Elizabeth) So far this show seems to be like a twisted game of survivor except for the whole surviving in the wild part. And I have noticed a pattern that I am curious to see if it continues. Week 1 - Craig M. wins the twister challenge and is safe, he saves Jessie S. Week 2 - They both get sent home. Week 2 - Gia and Jonathan win the pie contest. Week 3 - They both get sent home. So Week 3 - Dave and Peyton win the kissing challenge. I wonder if the pattern will continue or if it just mere coincidence. I really hope Peyton does not go home because I like her. She is one of the decent girls on there.

On Wes and Gia's flirtation, or whatever was going on there, I do not know if I trust Wes. Granted, I did not watch Jillian's season of the Bachelorette, but apparently Wes was a villian and very smooth. I see he is still very suave because he captured the heart of Gia, the only one there with a boyfriend. Well now she is gone and I suppose I have to wait for the reunion show to find out if she is still with her boyfriend or if she is pursuing something with Wes. Or if Wes was just playing her the whole time.

Well can't wait til next week's episode. Here's hoping that Elizabeth goes home. :)

Tidings on Tuesday

On Father's Day, I watched the movie Australia with my dad. I had always wanted to watch this movie, (except I thought it was a musical, I was way off) it did take me a little while to get into it, but I ended up really enjoying the movie. It was a very complex movie and at times hard to follow - and understand (Australian accents can be a bit difficult) - and the movie had comedy, romance, and action. It was also emotional at times. And Hugh Jackman is definite eye candy. Now I don't want to give anything away so if you haven't watched the movie this might spoil some of the plot. One of the main characters is a half Aborigine/half white child, and he is sent to an island called Mission Island, along with many other interracial children. After my race and ethnicity class this past spring, I began to wonder if this really happened and if all those children were actually shipped out of Australia. I mean it seemed like a pretty harsh action. So I googled mission island and I found a really interesting article. If you have seen the movie and want to learn what I found out, here's the link:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/an-aussie-love-story-that-strays-far-from-fact/2008/12/09/1228584832870.html


Hope you find this as interesting as I did :)

xoxo

Transition

The reason I created this blog was for an assignment I had in one of my linguistic classes. I want to transform it into something different, a blog of my findings and as the title suggests - my thoughts. Are you ready blogger world? I don't know if I am, but I am making this my summer project. Since tomorrow is the first "official" day of summer, I will have to start thinking of what my focus will be.

Bonne Nuit :)