Human of the Year

[ listen ]

Just No

photo from marc johns on flickr

Like a Wire Warming up America

Some India!quiet_thrills :D

. INDIA
. the lecturers that came with us. Brillaint, every one of them
. our translators and how nice and generally wonderful they were (thank you Dane and Rahul!!)
. my India Polaroids!!
. the backwaters
. the mixes made for me by schmoooop for my trip. One for the plane and one for India. I loved them
. singing Hospital Beds by Cold War Kids with my feet in the pool
. Seattle by the BPA feat. Emmy the Great
. Amala, the girl who wanted to become an animator
. "yes and I will learn to drop my nuts" (we have awesome lecturers)
. OH MY, the HEAT
. the boat trip we took at sunset and how beautiful and peaceful it was
. the "hill station" we went to, and how I wanted to just stay there for aaaages on my kanga and sleep
. how lovely Kathy was when me and Marissa were ill (again with the awesome lecturers)
. the tea plantation
. being able to walk around with no shoes on again. I miss that loads now I am back in rainy and cold London
. going up into the Western Ghats and how the houses there clung to the rockface like limpets and had the garage on top and all the rooms below it, stuck to the side of the cliffs
. Malayalam, the local language
. oh there's far too much but it was BRILLIANT

And some none India related quiet_thrills:
. WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
. SEEING REGINA SPEKTOR
. Regina Spektor playing Samson and, for some reason, suddenly feeling completely and utterly happy

[stolen from my post to quiet_thrills]

Indian Summer

I am going here in less than 10 days!
I. Can't. Wait.
\o/

Broken Every Bone

This is a ballad for the good times
And all the dignity we had
Don't get het up on the evil things
You ain't coming back

You can be with me
If you wanna be
You can be with me

I'd forgotten just how utterly, utterly brilliant this song is.
[listen]

Have Some Sugary Tea

There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea.
Bernard-Paul Heroux

photo from lapin barcelona on flickr

We Keep the Sound on cos Silence is Harder

. meeting Dara O'Briain
. Merlin (leave me be, OK?)
. generally how terrible but good that programme is
. Colin Morgan and the Cheekbones if Win
. "he doesnt! i'm a dreamboat! [...] that's me clutching at straws and exemplifying my delusion"
. getting an hour more in bed thanks to the clocks going back
. the mix I made for Olivia when she was feeling down and how much she liked it
. post from my friend at Cardiff uni
. my wonderwall
. oh my God, my trip to FUCKING INDIA. ajshfasinadfnb!!
. Consequence of Sound by Regina Spektor
. Sometimes (Lester Piggott) by James
. the mixes aerowank makes to go with her stories
. aerowanks stories
. this: http://shaheeilyas.com/flags/

[stolen from my post to quiet_thrills]

No, Really...

Epic Music was Epic

Yesterday was A Good Day. Or more specifically, last night was A Good Night. Not because anything special happened, but because it just was. This was proved by the fact that I was smiling so manically that I scared my flatmate.

I haven't felt like that in ages. And it was all thanks to Northern Line by Yeti. It made me ridiculously happy and reminded me of Lidia and fairylights and evenings spent in the dark with great music on loud. So that's what I did. Angelitos Negros and World in Union 95 and Samson and Braille and Swing Low Sweet Chariot. And fairylights and tea and cake (thanks to Olivia's mum).

My face hurt from smiling but it was wonderful. A Good Night. And nothing much happened at all.

On the Path Unwinding

Lion King Musical quiet thrills. :D

. oh my God, the whole thing
. He Lives in You
. the woman who played Rafiki, who had an amazing voice, was a brilliant actress and sang in some click language that I didn't undestand but was AWESOME
. the woman who played Nala, who also had a brilliant voice
. oh my God, the COSTUMES
. the men who played the "grasslands" and the amazing skirts they wore that just worked as the grasslands and moved so gracefully
. how they did the lionesses mourning Mufasa
. how they did the wildebeast stampede
. Circle of Life
. how increadable the stage sets were
. the giraffes!
. how I sat through the whole thing with my mouth hanging open and shivers going up and down my spine
. how they did the sun and the sky

[stolen from my post to quiet_thrills]

Like a Ladder to the Sun

By Nick of Yeah Yeah Yeahs fame

Of Alice in Wonderland

A boat, beneath a sunny sky,
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July;

Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear;—

Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die,
Autumn frosts have slain July.

Still she haunts me, phantom-wise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.

Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.

In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream,
Lingering in the golden gleam,-
Life, what is it but a dream?

Lewis Carroll

Music is What Feelings Sound Like

photo from skarpi on flickr

Samwise the Brave

"I can't do this Sam"
"I know, it's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are... It's like in the great stories, Mr Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end, because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn't. Because they were holding on to something."
"What are we holding onto Sam?"
"That there's some good in this world, Mr Frodo. And it's worth fighting for."

Don't Ask for Nothing

Just Let it Take You

. my new flat!
. oh the fairy lights in the front room. So pretty!
. finally having the internet!
. finishing the collage on my wall in my new room. It's a little different to how I usually do it and much much bigger than I expected. And looks well cool, obviously
. Two-Headed Boy by Neutral Milk Hotel. And the Dresden Dolls cover. I like both
. The Choir on BBC 2. I love Gareth Malone!
. meeting Shizuka randomly on the Strand the day after she came back from Hong Kong
. the new dress I got from TopShop
. A Very Potter Musical. And it's soundtrack, that I now have. :D
. how colourful my room looks now
. "the londonpaper is stopping? But now no one will find love!"
. "you can take the pasta and I'll have the wok and then if anyone tries to break into our flat I'll wok 'em!" [even better cos it was unintentional]
. Marc Johns

[stolen from my post to quiet_thrills]

Darling is this Love?

Sit with me a while
And let me listen to you talk about
your dreams and your obsessions
I'll be quiet and confessional
The violets explode inside me
when I meet your eyes
Then I'm spinning and I'm diving
Like a cloud of starlings

Darling is this love?

Elbow - Starlings

Eire

I have been here! It is the Long Room from Trinity College Dublin and it smells right.

I'm the Urban Spaceman Baby

. hearing comedians laugh, properly
. having a friend up who has never been further north then Birmingham and her making me realise that living here isn't that bad after all
. "an addiction to hands and feet/there's a meat market down the street/the boys and girls watch each other eat/when they really just want to watch each other sleep"
. Harry Potter on Felix Felicis in the new Harry Potter film
. "outside the cars are beeping out a song just in your honour"
. talking to my sister about a tape we had as children that was made by a guy in the next door village and was played until it broke
. finding some of the songs from that tape on YouTube

[stolen from my post to quiet_thrills]

A Cue from Nature

Run outside during a thunderstorm
That downpour, that conquered hesitation, that exhilaration
That's what unlonely is like

[found on tumblr, somewhere]

You Are So Sweet

An addiction to hands and feet
There’s a meat market down the street
The boys and girls watch each other eat
When they really just want to watch each other sleep

Dance Anthems of the 80s - Regina Spektor

Keys to the Kingdom

photo from alex.alexander on flickr

It Really Really Really Did Happen

I was here.
It was amazing and I'd pay good money to go again.
And again. And again.

Gloria in Excelsis Deo

. bare feet on lino floors
. listening to Somedays by Regina Spektor while lying in the park in the sunshine
. The Guardian using the word "LOLZ" in serious review of Laughing With by Regina Spektor
. "and it's realyl weird because whenever i talk to you after ages its like... you're the one i've known from the start. and is always always there with advice and aren't too busy or self-absorbed."
. our Polish estate agent
. falling asleep to Dog Man Star
. The Asphalt World and the 2 of Us by Suede
. some of the pictures posted on tumblr
. dancing by myself in my room
. being basically the only one left on my flat

[stolen from my post to quiet_thrills]

Still Tainted with Red

the day that we
took out a car in the rain
is the day you forgot how to brake and see
how quickly the picture will change
filled with fingers and voices and teeth
i still remember holding my hand
against your face just before it was sprayed
across the radio
as it played

Emmy the Great - MIA

My favourtie song about a car crash. Which is an odd thing to say, but it is very good.

Don't Call Me, Don't Write

Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten - G. K. Chesterton

Books I intend to read this summer;

. The Whale Rider
. Rabbit-Proof Fence
. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
. The Bean Trees
. maybe some other "classics"
. maybe other things by Barbara Kingsolver
. White Tiger
. The Good Thief
. something by Haruki Murakami
. probably some David Mitchell again
. Notes From a Big Country
. Gig by Simon Armitage
. The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint
. other things that mum thinks I should read

And it's Contagious...

. Regina Spektor
. old bald men in smart suits and bow ties
. having a whole tube carridge to yourself and deciding that the best way to fully exploit this situation is to lie across as many seats as possible for as many stops as possible without anyone noticing. I got to the end of the line. :D
. really good dreams
. planning picnics with champagne and strawberries and summer clothes
. the Lions tour
. "The Incredible Human Journey" on BBC HD and iPlayer - actually, rediculously interesting
. reliving amazing holidays though photographs
. finding lots and lots of exhibitons that I now have time to go to

[stolen from my post to quiet_thrills]

Turpentine and Patches

Just sitting here and trying to decypher
What's written in Braille upon my skin

Regina Spektor - Braille

This is quite possibly my favourite song in a long time.

Eighteen Seconds Before Sunrise

photo from images.ofjoy / Busy at times photostream

Not Even Once

You are my sweetest downfall
I loved you first

Regina Spektor - Samson

Piano's Chime the Sound

. my map of Middle-Earth that I am drawing, that makes me both very very pleased with myself everytime I see it, and painfully aware that I have no life
. the soundtrack to The Lord of the Rings
. the music that acompanies the Lighting of the Beacons in the Return of the King. EPIC
. playing tig for the first time since primary school (probably)
. making daisy chains for the first time since primary school (probably)
. my uncles house in S. Wales and how homely and lovely it is
. trains that run along the waterside
. really 3D looking clouds
. welsh. So lovely to listen to
. Angelitos Negros by Cat Power
. MIA by Emmy the Great
. Braille by Regina Spektor
. sunshine
. something I learned during revising: before the theory of the K/T strike (the meteor that killed the dinosaurs) it was thought that dinosaurs became extinct due to constipation. This has very logical reasons behind it - which I am not going to tell you, cos its funnier that way
. video highlights of exiting things that happened ages ago, which I still find exciting now
. Marc Johns photostream

[stolen from my post to quiet_thrills]

Find Me

photo from ∆ matt caplin ∆ on flickr

Stop the Bad Music

photo from Marc Johns on flickr

Laugh until you Cry

. the man who'd strug a hammock on the balcony of his 5th or 6th floor flat to catch all the sun
. England beating France last week and Scotland today
. Sergio Parisse
. IRELAND FUCKING WINNING THE GRAND SLAM DAMMIT
. Brain fucking O'Driscoll
. being able to ring home and, the minute my dad picked up, yelling wordlessly down the phone by way of greating
. On the Radio by Regina Spektor
. the smell of cut grass. Especially here, where it's so built up
. my friend coming all the way from King's Cross to bring me ribena and chocolate fingers cos I was ill
. my flatmate coming in my room, finding me ill and then telling me off cos "there are 3 doctors in this flat! ... I'll get Imran"
. "Shizuka, you're a doctor too", "yes but Imran is more competent"
. them bringing me balloons from the hallway (they've been there some time) to 'brighten up' my room. Please note; I think my room is possibly the most colourful in the flat
. sunny weather
. endless blue skies
. hearing Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now by the Smiths playing in the waiting room of the doctors
. taking to a friend of mine (albeit online) who I haven't spoken to in ages on account of him being in the Philippines
. Daemontreu's art on DeviantART

[stolen from my post to quiet_thrills]

Downpour

Try living in the real world, instead of a shell.

Tonight We Fly

And when we die
Oh, will we be that disappointed or sad
If heaven doesn't exist
What will we have missed?
This life is the best we've ever had

This Life is the Best we've Ever Had

. the man on the Tube who was clearly conducting an orchestra in his head
. the woman sat next to aforementioned man, and how she looked like she wasn't sure if he was insane or not
. business men reading "Watchmen" at the Tube station
. the man with the very smart pinstriped suit and crazy ass dreadlocks
. how Ireland are on their way to the Grand Slam
. the Six Nations
. rugby in general
. getting tickets to see Yeah Yeah Yeahs in Manchester
. the Irish. I love them
. Elijah Wood and his glasses in Everything is Illuminated
. seeing the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition
. Brian O'Driscoll
. finding that they made tshirts saying "in BOD we trust"
. this. Rugby genius I tell you.
. The Call by Regina Spektor
. the busker at Bank Tube station wearing a red top hat with a feather in it
. [from a while back] the couple who were the last to get on a *very* crowded Tube and spent the journey in a space really only big enough for one person, wrapped around each other. And then the guy saying "well, this is cozy" and the people around (inc. myself) laughing quietly to themselves.
. our new NE lecturer, who was showing us a picture of the true South Pole: "I'm not sure what that stick is, maybe it's the Earth's axis sticking out"
. Hysteric by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
. bloke on Valentine's Day to his friend, on the subject of first dates: "let's go to the cinema so we can *not* get to know each other"
. my sisters art mock final piece

[stolen from my post to quiet_thrills]

Hysteric

Fall sweetly
Hang heavy
You suddenly complete me
You suddenly complete me

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Hysteric

I'll Come Back

It started out as a feeling
Which then grew into a hope
Which then turned into a quiet thought
Which then turned into a quiet word

And then that word grew louder and louder
'Til it was a battle cry
I'll come back
When you call me
No need to say goodbye

Regina Spektor - the Call
*loves*

*wants to see again*

Love Poem

...for Friday the 13th:

You remind me
Define me
Incline me
If you died
I'd

Found in the National Portrait Gallery.

I can't remember who it was by.

Out of Reach

"All stories are true. Some just never happened"

"Where there's life, there's hope"

Though here at journey's end I lie
in darkness buried deep,
beyond all towers strong and high,
beyond all mountains steep,
above all shadows rides the Sun
and Stars for ever dwell:
I will not say the Day is done,
nor bid the Stars farewell.

Into the West

Lay down,
your sweet and weary head.
Night is falling.
You have come to journey’s end.

Sleep now, and dream
of the ones who came before.
They are calling,
from across a distant shore.

Why do you weep?
What are these tears upon your face?
Soon you will see.
All of your fears will pass away.
Safe in my arms,
you’re only sleeping.

What can you see,
on the horizon?
Why do the white gulls call?
Across the sea,
a pale moon rises.
The ships have come,
to carry you home.

And all will turn,
to silver glass.
A light on the water.
All souls pass.

Hope fades,
Into the world of night.
Through shadows falling,
Out of memory and time.

Don’t say,
We have come now to the end.
White shores are calling.
You and I will meet again.
And you’ll be here in my arms,
Just sleeping.

What can you see,
on the horizon?
Why do the white gulls call?
Across the sea,
a pale moon rises.
The ships have come,
to carry you home.

And all will turn,
to silver glass.
A light on the water.
Grey ships pass
Into the West.

I Believe In You And Me

Someone on or above the earth, tell me why on earth, does she beg of love at the feet of men who snatch hers from her, selling it on to themselves at a profit that can’t possibly reflect its worth.
　　
This is always ungentle robbery, is not a plot of lust, because she is very conscious of her select few lovers, particularly in relation to her gains, to her own sexual harvest.
　　
The answer, in vague and uncertain terms, lies somewhere in the shaded area shaped quadrangle by the lines that don’t quite connect the picture of a father, the part of her soul that freezes at the touch of warmth, the tattered feminist beginners handbook, the lampshade and the bloody gate that she gazes at monthly, that she once made me taste, that stains her desire for progress.
　　
But desire tarnished; twisted, perverse desire, does not have any implications for the progress itself. And so, progressively, her questions become more stupid. Hand in the fire stupid, eating broken glass stupid, forgetting that you don’t like pain stupid. Stupid then and stupid when, on a terribly, deadly sunny day comes the most ridiculous, nauseous, frustratingly stupid question of them all.
　　
On the wall high above the graffiti of all the things I could never bring myself to say, she turned to me just as the sun turned away and (thinking, in her stupidity, that it couldn’t see or hear us) asked: ‘Will you love me forever?’
　　
‘Of course not’, I said.

When The Glitter's Gone

what you thought you lost was just mislaid
all the poems written in your skin

[listen]

Sweet Dreams Are Made of These

I want to travel the world.

Pretty please?

photo from bridgepix on flickr