29 Things About Me: Love Songs That I Love

http://open.spotify.com/user/1265165104/playlist/1hbUhN8xJCTNrIW3zrh2xa

Happy Valentine's Day, Lovers! ;)

December 2013 Playlist

1. "Kites" by Geographer, 2010.
2. "Construction" by Radiation City, 2011.
3. "When I'm Small" by Phantogram, 2010.
4. "Hurricane" by Ms Mr, 2012.
5. "Little Girl" by Robert Francis, 2010.
6. "Penny" by Hanni El Khatib, 2013.
7. "Hold On, We're Going Home" by Drake, 2013.
8. "It All Feels Right" by Washed Out, 2013.
9. "Miracles" by Jefferson Starship, 1975.
10. "No Destruction" by Foxygen, 2013.
11. "Blood Bank" by Bon Iver, 2009.
12. "Calgary" by Bon Iver, 2011.

September 2013 Playlist

1. "My Favorite Game" by The Cardigans, 1998.
2. "Gypsy" by Fleetwood Mac, 1982.
3. "Ms." by Alt-J, 2013.
4. "Moonchild" by M83, 2005.
5. "Eg anda" by Sigur Ros, 2012.
6. "Expecting to Fly" by Buffalo Springfield, 1967.
7. "Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty, 1978.
8. "Knife" by Grizzly Bear, 2007.
9. "Spectrum" (Say My Name) by Florence + The Machine, 2011.
10. "Dancing On My Own" by Robyn, 2010.
11. "Strange Attractor" by Animal Kingdom, 2012.
12. "Wicked Game" by Washed Out, 2011.
13. "My Sweet Lord" by Jim James, 2009.
14. "I Go to the Barn Because I Like The..." by Band of Horses, 2006.
15. "10 Years Gone" by Led Zeppelin, 1975.
16. "Light Beam Rider" by Fly Golden Eagle, 2010.
17. "Do You Mind?" by The xx, 2009.
18. "All I Need" by Radiohead, 2007.
19. "Rave On Sad Songs" by Jason Collett, 2010.
20. "New Orleans" by Gary U.S. Bonds, 1960.
21. "Hell" by A$AP Rocky ft. Santigold, 2013.
22. "Baby I Need Your Loving" by The Four Tops, 1964.
23. "Tenuousness" by Andrew Bird, 2009.
24. "Mother and Child Reunion" by Paul Simon, 1972.
25. "This Is The Last Time" by The National, 2013.

Free People, Summer Love Mixtape Contest

If you haven't already noticed from reading my blog, I have a thing for creating a playlist. When I saw on Free People's blog that they were sponsoring a musical contest, I was geeked out and ready to shuffle. 

We were asked to select 5-10 songs for a collaborative mixtape. The theme was "Summer Love." Here are the songs that quickly came to mind:



1. "Hey Lover" by LL Cool J
2. "Share with Me the Sun" by Portugal. The Man
3.  "Night Moves" by Bob Seger
4. "Summertime Sadness" by Lana Del Rey
5. "Having a Party" by Sam Cooke
6. "Beauty" by The Shivers
7. "Balance" by Future Islands
8. "Fader" by The Temper Trap
9. "Magic" by Leagues
10. "Come Home" by Chappo

To check out all the submissions, click here.

Valentine's Day Megamix!

The best gift I can give- a mixtape featuring some of my favorite songs. From Me to You. Happy Love Day! XOXO

1. "This Magic Moment" by The Drifters

2. "We Don't Need No Love Songs" by Fitz & The Tantrums

3. "The Great Fire" by Future Islands

4. "Video Games" by Lana Del Rey

5. "Lotus Flower" by Radiohead

6. "Fade Into You" by Mazzy Star

7. "No Other Plans" by Sunny Levine

8. "Steve McQueen" by M83

9. "Kaputt" by Destroyer

10. "Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space" by Spiritualized

11. "Skinny Love" by Bon Iver

12. "Maps" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

13. "Big Poppa" by The Notorious B.I.G.

14. "Sway" by The Kooks

15. "Rewind" by Paolo Nutini

16. "Lovefool" by The Cardigans

17. "I'll Stand By You" by The Pretenders

18. "Almost Lover" by A Fine Frenzy

19. "What Ever Happened?" by The Strokes

20. "Stay" by Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko

21. "Something" by The Beatles

22. "Hometown Glory" by Adele

23. "Cosmic Love" by Florence + The Machine

24. "With Every Heart Beat" by Robyn

25. "Paradise" by Wild Nothing

26. "Just Like Heaven" by The Cure

27. "Wonderwall" by Oasis

28. "A Rush of Blood to the Head" by Coldplay

29. "Mind Games" by Leagues

30. "Blood" by The Middle East

31. "Happy Together" by The Turtles

32. "Wicked Game" by Chris Isaak

33. "You Got Me" by The Roots ft. Erykah Badu

34. "Sexual Healing" by Marvin Gaye

35. "What Goes Around... Comes Around" by Justin Timberlake

36. "Do You..." by Miguel

37. "Love Lost" by The Temper Trap

38. "Your Song" by Elton John

39. "Honey and The Moon" by Joseph Arthur

40. "Someday We'll Be Together" by Diana Ross & The Supremes

41. "Best I Ever Had" by Drake

42. "Crazy" by Patsy Cline

43. "Everlasting Light" by The Black Keys

44. "Museum of Flight" by Damien Jurado

45. "Rocket Man" by My Morning Jacket

46. "If I Had a Boat" by James Vincent McMorrow

47. "Beauty" by The Shivers

48. "Jolene" by Ray LaMontagne

49. "You" by TV On The Radio

50. "29 Years" by The National

Blue Valentine

Okay, so I'm a couple years late to the party, but who ever said it was cool to be the first one there? I finally got around to seeing Blue Valentine. I thought it was a good film. Here is a scene that I'll have in my head for the next week or two:



Perfect song. Beautiful part of the movie. Gentlemen, take note- mix tapes/CDs are still the best gifts in the world! :)

Get Lit Book Review: THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER

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I've heard about The Perks of Being A Wallflower for quite a long time. In the fall of 2004, during my freshman year of college, my roommate said that it was one of her favorite books. This wasn't the first time I heard someone rave about the book. The title intrigued me and I knew that I would someday get around to reading it. When film producers announced that the movie for The Perks of Being A Wallflower would film in Pittsburgh this year, I wanted to get my hands on it before the movie was released in theaters. After doing a bit of research, I was reminded that the book is actually set in Pittsburgh as the author grew up in one of the suburbs. I was really excited to see what all the hype was about and maybe even recognize a few of the scenery locations in the book.

I ordered Perks from Amazon.com. When it arrived, I quickly began reading. It's not a long book and it's a rather quick read. I read a little before bed each night and finished in about 10 days. You could read this on a plane ride or in an afternoon if you wanted to. What I liked the most is the style in which Perks is written. I am the type of person who likes to read nonfiction. Even though Perks is fiction, I was able to picture the characters vividly in my imagination and let the scenes play out as if it truly happened. This was easy to do because I recognized the imagery that Stephen Chbosky painted in my head. There is one particular part in the book that I loved the most because it describes something that anyone who is from Pittsburgh or even visited, can relate to on pgs. 91-92:

There’s something about that tunnel that leads to downtown. It’s glorious at night. Just glorious. You start on one side of the mountain, and it’s dark, and the radio is loud. As you enter the tunnel, the wind gets sucked away, and you squint from the lights overhead. When you adjust to the lights, you can see the other side in the distance just as the sound of the radio fades because the waves just can’t reach. Then, you’re in the middle of the tunnel, and everything becomes a calm dream. As you see the opening get closer, you just can’t get there fast enough. And finally, just when you think you’ll never get there, you see the opening right in front of you. And the radio comes back even louder than you remember it. And the wind is waiting. And you fly out of the tunnel onto the bridge. And there it is. The city. A million lights and buildings and everything seems as exciting as the first time you saw it. It really is a grand entrance.

The Perks of Being A Wallflower does a good job at describing the coming of age tale of its loveable protagonist, Charlie and his eclectic group of friends. I enjoyed the references to music and literature. The one complaint I had about this book is that the characters are crying on virtually every other page. I am one of the most sensitive people you could meet but even I don't cry as often as the teenagers do in this book. I don't think I've ever met a 15-year-old boy who cries like Chbosky's Charlie does. The ending leaves something to be desired but it is still a great debut novel. It's worth the read for anyone in their teens, 20s or just young at heart. It's a sweet story and I look forward to the screen adaptation.




Now Playing: "Asleep" by The Smiths
(Often mentioned in the book)