Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
song journal
in 2006 i started a journal that was comprised solely of songs that i admired lyrically. i would use the same pen for each entry. at the top of the page i wrote the date and the number (of entry) that this song was. i have 9 songs. there's 15 more pages so perhaps i'll continue this. the only problem i face is that i've lost the pen.
i'd put the song on repeat, pull up a webpage with they lyrics, and start writing them down neatly in my song journal.
song 1.) - 5/17/06
i remember when i first heard this song. a friend of mine had just broken up with his girlfriend. somehow during the breakup she said that she can only give him 73% at this time.
favorite lyrics "math and imagery, equates cacophony, multiplies muteness, a sum better disturbed, for silence subtracts, and shadows divide light, less than half is slight"
song 2.) 5/17/06
the electronic distortion in her voice immediately piqued my interest. there are no other instruments besides her voice and some digital filters. i'm not sure if the song is about a war between many people, or a war between two people in a relationship.
favorite lyrics "where are we? what the hell is going on? the dust has only, just begun to form, crop circles in the carpet, sinking feeling."
song 3.) 6/9/06
i've always loved this song, and remember watching the music video on mtv in the early 90's when it had just released. even today i feel that this song has a happy uppity sound with tired and defeated message. but the resolution/message is to just say f-it. i also love the light guitar part that opens the song.
favorite lyric "i wanted more, than life could ever grant me. bored by the chore, of saving face."
song 4.) 6/18/06
this is one mad love song. boy likes girl, girl doesn't necessarily say she doesn't like boy, but she doesn't say that she does either. the duo plays drums and bass that's the band, but boy do they rock!
favorite lyric "you're beating walls now you just won't quit. you play with shapes but they just won't fit. i know you love me you don't know what you like. you're watching tv i stay up all night"
song 5.) 6/19/06
i adore tegan and sara, i'm very in touch with my feminine side. this is the first song i associated with from them. the subject matter is nothing new, but the delivery is fast and fun. no really, the song is 2:21 long.
favorite lyric "when your love let's you go you only want love more, even when love wasn't what you were looking for."
song 6.) 6/21/06
gloria did a great job on this song, but cake did better. i didn't fall in love with the song until i watched an obscure japanese movie called survive style 5+. at the end, the unthinkable happens, and this song is played. cake opened this song by saying "many agendas have been spirited forward by this song" "it's only right to leave you with a little bit of false hope".
favorite lyric "i should have changed my fuckin' lock, i should have made you leave your key, if i'd have known for just one second, you'd be back to bother me"
song 7.) 7/31/06
this song swept the world and put dmb on the map permanently. it's a great love song and subtly but strongly depicts how crazy a girl can make a guy. again, simple subject but superb delivery.
favorite lyric "tied up and twisted, the way i like to be, for you, for me, come crash into me."
song 8.) 9/10/06
jason mraz has a super voice, and he's got that fun carefree 16year old girls love charisma. unfortunately that takes away from his very sharp wit. mraz takes on the personality of rand mcnally (the map maker), and travels the world experiencing fantastic adventures. the creativity alongside the witty rhyming lyrics make this song one of my favorites. he also throws in a bel biv devo poison reference at the end.
favorite lyric "i had a chance to visit the north pole but it was way too cold to smoke. oh my nose was freezing i sure could use some coughing and wheezing. so i tried it anyway and the place went up in flames. how was i supposed to know you could catch fire to the snow."
song 9.) 10/19/06
i love CSS. CSS stands for cansei de ser sexy (i got tired of being sexy), which is apparently a quote from beyonce. but this song reminds me of a youthful long distance relationship that's got some really high highs and some really low lows. and finally, the song is about making love and listening to the band that wrote about for song #4. after death from above 1979 broke up, a friend heard lovefoxx (css lead singer) say "this song is called let's make love and listen to a band that broke up".
favorite lyric "screaming your name on the microphone, going back home all alone. listen to the tunes that you gave to me, listen to them good company."
Friday, May 15, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
writing voice
jon told me recently that my speaking voice and writing voice are very different. my first question "allll right! woohoo!! so you mean i sound a lot smarter with my writing voice?"
i did realize that i write almost every sentence two times when composing any form of written communication. the first time i write a sentence, it comes out just the way i'd speak it. (lots of commas, dashes, pauses, and other unreadable stylistic obstacles). then i rewrite it with my editing hat on. thank god for word processing, if we were still in typewriter days life i'm not sure what i'd do with myself.
"well, no"
*head droops down* "oh, okay then".
"the way you speak is very, rhythmic . i've tried to write the way you speak, but it comes out with tons of commas and hypens or dashes, it just doesn't work. it's too difficult to read"
initially i decided i'm taking this as a compliment! a highly distinguished published author (see 'rough guide to blogging' and 'exclusively chloe') can't recreate my character on paper. i'm going to interpret this as though i'm simply too complex and refined in my verbal communication style.
however, upon further review i quickly realized that i have the writing ability of a 5th grader and spell worse than one in 3rd. it's near impossible for me to have a 'smart' writing voice.
however, upon further review i quickly realized that i have the writing ability of a 5th grader and spell worse than one in 3rd. it's near impossible for me to have a 'smart' writing voice.
i did realize that i write almost every sentence two times when composing any form of written communication. the first time i write a sentence, it comes out just the way i'd speak it. (lots of commas, dashes, pauses, and other unreadable stylistic obstacles). then i rewrite it with my editing hat on. thank god for word processing, if we were still in typewriter days life i'm not sure what i'd do with myself.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
list of cars i've lusted over
the other day we saw a bentley parked in the movie theater garage structure. the $200,000+ car spawned a conversation about what cars we'd purchase if we had the means. this made me think about the ever growing list of cars i've dreamed of. if i had the means, i'd start with this list, and then work towards those ultra exotics that are ridiculously priced since they're hand built by virgin daughters of royal lineage, or unicorns.
my mom had a 70's beetle, and says that she used to drive me around in this car when i was crying as a baby. the engine sound and vibrations apparently put me right to sleep. i've loved these cars ever since.
this small car had two seats, a decent amount of trunk space, and a whopping 125hp engine. that was quite a bit back in the late 80's early 90's. heck, for this size car that's still not bad. my friend's mom had one. sometimes we'd run quick errands, and i'd sit in the back where there were no seats or seat belts. i used to dream of someday owning my own zippy little crx.
yes, i admit that i went through a rice rocket phase, and this is the car that got me into it. the previous model was boxy and hard edged. when this revision came out, i was hypnotized by the curvy lines and sleek aerodynamics. a few friends were lucky enough to get their hands on hatchbacks like this one, and i was jealous of every second.
i've heard people say that the 944 porsche is the 'poor man's porsche', which may be true. but when have i ever listened to the opinions of others? front engine, turbocharged, rear-wheel drive, and hatchback. sounds like a winner in my book. this is the first car with pop-up lights that caught my eye.
toyota's mister two was the car that got away. when i was searching for a car out of college, i was looking at mr2's and preludes. the preludes were more abundant, therefore i was able to buy one easier. but if i could have gone back and done it again who knows what would have happened. a 200hp engine (mid mounted) in a small 2 seater is right up my alley.
by now you can see that i've got a thing for hatchback cars. when i first saw the corrado i was in love. it had everything i want: large engine, small car, hatchback style. but the bold lines and straight edges on the corrado made it just that much more alluring to me. i've never driven a vr6 corrado, only the v60 (4 cylnder turbo) edition. i wanted to buy this car when i graduated college, but my budget just wasn't big enough.
This is the car i bought (not this picture) when i graduated college. a 1994 honda prelude vtec in seafoam green with black leather interior. i paid $8,000 and became the 3rd owner of this 190horsepower honda. deceptively this is a coupe, and not a hatchback.
vw superbeetle (1970's)
honda crx si (1988-1991)
this small car had two seats, a decent amount of trunk space, and a whopping 125hp engine. that was quite a bit back in the late 80's early 90's. heck, for this size car that's still not bad. my friend's mom had one. sometimes we'd run quick errands, and i'd sit in the back where there were no seats or seat belts. i used to dream of someday owning my own zippy little crx.
honda civic si hatchback (1992-1995)
yes, i admit that i went through a rice rocket phase, and this is the car that got me into it. the previous model was boxy and hard edged. when this revision came out, i was hypnotized by the curvy lines and sleek aerodynamics. a few friends were lucky enough to get their hands on hatchbacks like this one, and i was jealous of every second.
porsche 944 turbo (1985-1991)
i've heard people say that the 944 porsche is the 'poor man's porsche', which may be true. but when have i ever listened to the opinions of others? front engine, turbocharged, rear-wheel drive, and hatchback. sounds like a winner in my book. this is the first car with pop-up lights that caught my eye.
toyota mr2 turbo (1989-1999)
toyota's mister two was the car that got away. when i was searching for a car out of college, i was looking at mr2's and preludes. the preludes were more abundant, therefore i was able to buy one easier. but if i could have gone back and done it again who knows what would have happened. a 200hp engine (mid mounted) in a small 2 seater is right up my alley.
vw corrado vr6 (1988-1996)
by now you can see that i've got a thing for hatchback cars. when i first saw the corrado i was in love. it had everything i want: large engine, small car, hatchback style. but the bold lines and straight edges on the corrado made it just that much more alluring to me. i've never driven a vr6 corrado, only the v60 (4 cylnder turbo) edition. i wanted to buy this car when i graduated college, but my budget just wasn't big enough.
honda prelude vtec (1994)
This is the car i bought (not this picture) when i graduated college. a 1994 honda prelude vtec in seafoam green with black leather interior. i paid $8,000 and became the 3rd owner of this 190horsepower honda. deceptively this is a coupe, and not a hatchback.
toyota supra twin turbo (1993-2002)
the supra was toyota's bragging rights in the 90's. 320 turbocharged horses under the hood with a targa top and one of the few large spoilers that i'd be caught driving with. the beauty of this car was it's potential. the 320hp engine could easily be tuned to 500hp. i've seen this car break the 1,000hp mark many times. along with the sleek and sexy lines of the body, all these reasons made me lust over this car.
this sexy car has a very unique characteristic, rotary engine. in fact i believe this came with a turbocharged dual rotary engine, which is a pretty slick concept. that's just a little something extra exotic about this japanese exotic.
my friend adam had a b5 audi s4, this twin turbo v6 with all-wheel-drive machine was most enjoyable, boy i wanted one for myself. i've got an obvious affinity towards turbocharged cars (though i have never owned one), but turbo+awd is a for sure love affair. this is one of the few 4dr sedans that i've ever wanted to own.
the m3 holds an iconic european muscle status in my book. the rectangular lines and agressive curves are subtle enough to show that this car means business, and it's not overly in your face. i driven the 2dr and the 4dr, the one word that came to mind was 'beef'. this car doesn't try to manhandle the road, it glides over the pavement like a strong and agile hockey player.
mazda rx7 (1992-2002)
this sexy car has a very unique characteristic, rotary engine. in fact i believe this came with a turbocharged dual rotary engine, which is a pretty slick concept. that's just a little something extra exotic about this japanese exotic.
audi s4 b5 (1997-2002)
my friend adam had a b5 audi s4, this twin turbo v6 with all-wheel-drive machine was most enjoyable, boy i wanted one for myself. i've got an obvious affinity towards turbocharged cars (though i have never owned one), but turbo+awd is a for sure love affair. this is one of the few 4dr sedans that i've ever wanted to own.
BMW M3 e36 (1992-1999)
the m3 holds an iconic european muscle status in my book. the rectangular lines and agressive curves are subtle enough to show that this car means business, and it's not overly in your face. i driven the 2dr and the 4dr, the one word that came to mind was 'beef'. this car doesn't try to manhandle the road, it glides over the pavement like a strong and agile hockey player.
porsche 993 turbo (1995-1998)
somewhere along the road my tastes turned expensive, and this is the leader of expensive car taste on my list of car lust. the classic look of porsche's 911 has always turned my head. the dynamics of the 911 are amazing, with a low center of gravity and a rear mounted engine the handling is superior. not to mention 400hp and a classic three diff awd system, delicious!
this was more like a fantasy automobile to me. a big inline six with two turbocharges and all wheel drive transmission, this non-usa nissan left westerners drooling. i did visit tokyo in 2003, and saw my share of skylines. that's probably the closest i'll get. regardless this car set the standard for years in europe and asia, and blew away competition in the west. i've seen 1-2 right hand drive skyline r34's in california and boy are they sexy.
somewhere along the road my tastes turned expensive, and this is the leader of expensive car taste on my list of car lust. the classic look of porsche's 911 has always turned my head. the dynamics of the 911 are amazing, with a low center of gravity and a rear mounted engine the handling is superior. not to mention 400hp and a classic three diff awd system, delicious!
nissan skyline r34(1998-2003)
this was more like a fantasy automobile to me. a big inline six with two turbocharges and all wheel drive transmission, this non-usa nissan left westerners drooling. i did visit tokyo in 2003, and saw my share of skylines. that's probably the closest i'll get. regardless this car set the standard for years in europe and asia, and blew away competition in the west. i've seen 1-2 right hand drive skyline r34's in california and boy are they sexy.
mini cooper s (2003)
i bought a used mini cooper s (actual pic of my car above) with all the fixin's a few years back. navigation, cold weather package, and sport package made my mini top knotch. the supercharged engine used to whine it's high pitched tone when the rmp's raised up past 3,000. parking was great in the city, and no car has better seat heaters that the mini. this car handled great!
the last weekend of march of 2008 i purchased a reflex silver vw r32. 5,000 of the r32's were made and brought to the usa in 2004 only. this car sports a 3.2l v6 engine that produces 240hp. there's a unique awd system and 6 speeds shifted manually. there's ".:R" logos throughout the trim of the interior from seats to steering wheel. but then again, it's looks like a simple golf to your average joe. this is the car i currently drive and after more than a year, i'm not bored with it yet. i could easily spend $4,000 in upgrades and still have more to desire -but that goes for any car on my list.
why didn't the aston martin v12 vantage, lamborghini gallarto, ferrari enzo, etc make my list? because this is a chronological list of my dream cars, not fantasy cars. dreams can sometimes come true, but fantasy is opposite of reality. i'm no merriam webster, but i've only listed cars that were humanly possible to attain in my mind (to a degree).
i bought a used mini cooper s (actual pic of my car above) with all the fixin's a few years back. navigation, cold weather package, and sport package made my mini top knotch. the supercharged engine used to whine it's high pitched tone when the rmp's raised up past 3,000. parking was great in the city, and no car has better seat heaters that the mini. this car handled great!
vw r32 (2004)
the last weekend of march of 2008 i purchased a reflex silver vw r32. 5,000 of the r32's were made and brought to the usa in 2004 only. this car sports a 3.2l v6 engine that produces 240hp. there's a unique awd system and 6 speeds shifted manually. there's ".:R" logos throughout the trim of the interior from seats to steering wheel. but then again, it's looks like a simple golf to your average joe. this is the car i currently drive and after more than a year, i'm not bored with it yet. i could easily spend $4,000 in upgrades and still have more to desire -but that goes for any car on my list.
why didn't the aston martin v12 vantage, lamborghini gallarto, ferrari enzo, etc make my list? because this is a chronological list of my dream cars, not fantasy cars. dreams can sometimes come true, but fantasy is opposite of reality. i'm no merriam webster, but i've only listed cars that were humanly possible to attain in my mind (to a degree).
Saturday, May 2, 2009
emails and dishes
there's a few areas in my life where i do not tolerate unfinished business. one of those areas is dirty dishes, the other area is my inbox. okay, maybe i tolerate dirty dishes a tad.
so how do dishes and my inbox share similarities?
my inbox almost never has an unread message. this goes for work as well for personal email.
managing an inbox can be quite a bit of work. i've noticed that i'm on microsoft outlook for about 80% of my workday. and when i'm on a computer doing personal stuffs, gmail.com is where i spend about 60% of my time. apparently communicating seems to be a high priority on my internet plate (dishes pun. right, you got that). i should migrate that effort towards blogging, as my blog is about as stale as my loaf of bread that fell behind the refrigerator last year.
i don't quit the work day unless each email has been read/responded to, or categorized for action tomorrow. at home, i do the exact same. before i quit the computer i make sure that it doesn't say "Inbox(1)", because if it does i won't be able to truly rest. sounds like some eastern philosophical belief.
speaking of which (prepare for a tangent), currently my gmail account has 7321Mb of available space, and this grows slowly each day. that's almost 7 and a half gigs of space. at work i'm given 250Mb. we're not talking a 250Mb inbox, this is my entire account, inbox, sent box, calendar items, etc. i have the ability to archive items to my local (C:\) drive, but that creates more than one location for emails. and of course the outlook search is about as powerful as a clock radio speaker.
hypothetical work scenario:
"you told me to submit that form to you today?
where is that form?
you emailed it to me two months ago?
okay, give me 20 minutes to first search through my current inbox, and then i'll start looking through my massive archives.
end scenario, 20 mins from now.
hypothetical home scenario:
them: "do you have so-and-so's home address?"
me:"search entire gmail account. yea they sent it to everyone in 2006 on june 12th at 4:32pm pst. here you go..."
end scenario, with a smile.
hypothetical dishes scenario:
gosh i wish i was clever enough to tie this one back. cleaning an inbox and cleaning dishes before bed is one thing. inefficient work email accounts vs efficient free ones is another thing. errr, using the sponge vs my dishwasher? alright i'll give that up.
let's end on the fact that i have a newfound love for cast iron cookware.
so how do dishes and my inbox share similarities?
my inbox almost never has an unread message. this goes for work as well for personal email.
managing an inbox can be quite a bit of work. i've noticed that i'm on microsoft outlook for about 80% of my workday. and when i'm on a computer doing personal stuffs, gmail.com is where i spend about 60% of my time. apparently communicating seems to be a high priority on my internet plate (dishes pun. right, you got that). i should migrate that effort towards blogging, as my blog is about as stale as my loaf of bread that fell behind the refrigerator last year.
i don't quit the work day unless each email has been read/responded to, or categorized for action tomorrow. at home, i do the exact same. before i quit the computer i make sure that it doesn't say "Inbox(1)", because if it does i won't be able to truly rest. sounds like some eastern philosophical belief.
speaking of which (prepare for a tangent), currently my gmail account has 7321Mb of available space, and this grows slowly each day. that's almost 7 and a half gigs of space. at work i'm given 250Mb. we're not talking a 250Mb inbox, this is my entire account, inbox, sent box, calendar items, etc. i have the ability to archive items to my local (C:\) drive, but that creates more than one location for emails. and of course the outlook search is about as powerful as a clock radio speaker.
hypothetical work scenario:
"you told me to submit that form to you today?
where is that form?
you emailed it to me two months ago?
okay, give me 20 minutes to first search through my current inbox, and then i'll start looking through my massive archives.
end scenario, 20 mins from now.
hypothetical home scenario:
them: "do you have so-and-so's home address?"
me:"search entire gmail account. yea they sent it to everyone in 2006 on june 12th at 4:32pm pst. here you go..."
end scenario, with a smile.
hypothetical dishes scenario:
gosh i wish i was clever enough to tie this one back. cleaning an inbox and cleaning dishes before bed is one thing. inefficient work email accounts vs efficient free ones is another thing. errr, using the sponge vs my dishwasher? alright i'll give that up.
let's end on the fact that i have a newfound love for cast iron cookware.
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