If I had to make a 36 song playlist...

This is what I'd choose:

1. Is There a Ghost - Band of Horses
2. Perfect Games - Broken West
3. Carry the Zero - Built to Spill
4. Marching Bands of Manhattan - Death Cab for Cutie
5. The Sound of Settling - Death Cab for Cutie
6. Tiny Vessels - Death Cab for Cutie
7. 405 - Death Cab for Cutie
8. Scientist Studies - Death Cab for Cutie
9. Mr. Blue Sky - Electric Light Orchestra
10. Feeling the Moment - Feeder
11. Damaged Goods - Gang of Four
12. Lately - The Helio Sequence
13. Evil - Interpol
14. The World at Large - Modest Mouse
15. Gravity Rides Everything - Modest Mouse
16. Always Love - Nada Surf
17. Moth's Wings - Passion Pit
18. Sleepyhead - Passion Pit
19. Strange Condition - Pete Yorn
20. Lisztomania - Phoenix
21. 1901 - Phoenix
22. High and Dry - Radiohead
23. Bullet Proof - Radiohead
24. Let Down - Radiohead
25. Karma Police - Radiohead
26. Lucky - Radiohead
27. Lake Michigan - Rogue Wave
28. Publish My Love - Rogue Wave
29. Love's Lost Guarantee - Rogue Wave
30. Be Kind-Remind - Rogue Wave
31. Caring is Creepy - The Shins
32. New Slang - The Shins
33. All I Want to Do - Sugarland
34. Modern World - Wolf Parade
35. Forever Young - Youth Group
36. Start Today Tomorrow - Youth Group

Death Cab

Much has changed on my iPod since I first heard Tiny Vessels--on a CD made by Liz Fuller no less--and fell in love with Death Cab. They have come out with 2 new albums, I have graduated from middle school and high school, and my music listening device has improved from my old black and white 8 GB iPod to my new 32 GB iPhone.

Recently, I've fallen in love all over again. At one time in my life I was convinced that Death Cab was the love of my life, but as I grew up and found new music my love for them slowly faded. I guess you could say I take them for granted sometimes. But no matter what happens between us, I inevitably end up listening to them again and remember exactly what drew me to them in the first place. Death Cab is more than just comfortable for me, they know me. They've been with me for years and I think I'm different for having listened to them all these years.

With every album I listen to again, I'm flooded with a new group of memories and emotions that are hard to put into words. I think that is a lot of why I always liked them--their music, as lame as it sounds, just kind of connected with me. When I hear "Coney Island" I can remember exactly how I felt at certain times in my life when I would listen to that song, I just can't remember when that was or what was going on at that point. It's weird.

As long as I've liked Death Cab I've always had an internal debate about which of their albums was my favorite. Transatlanticism is the obvious pick, what with both "The Sound of Settling" and "Tiny Vessels" it seems almost unfair. But there's also We Have the Facts, Plans, Something About Airplanes, The Photo Album...I don't know if it's really possible to choose a favorite at this point. Let the debate rage on I guess, all I know is that I really, really, REALLY like Death Cab for Cutie.

August 20th

Am I really going to have to wait 2 more months for this?

I'm a sucker

for a girl wearing sunglasses

August 1997

I am ending my high school career this week, in May of 2010--153 months after I started attending Charlotte Latin School in August 1997. Just thinking about how long it's been made me curious as to what was going on in the world way back then, so I looked up a few current events from my first month of school:

- Diana, Princess of Wales, died on August 31, 1997.

- The show South Park debuted on August 13, 1997.

- Microsoft bought over $150 million of stock from a smaller, struggling computer company named Apple.

Most popular movies :
Titanic
Liar Liar
Jurassic Park
Men in Black
Tomorrow Never Dies

Most popular musicians:
Mariah Carey
Smashing Pumpkins
Foo Fighters
Nine Inch Nails
Daft Punk
Celine Dion

- Gas was $1.22 a gallon.

- The stock marker went over 7,000 for the first time in history.

I love socks

Is there any better feeling than putting on a fresh pair of socks? I can't think of one.

Last Days

With school winding down and the upcoming graduation and consequent trek to Nashville consuming all of my thoughts, I constantly find myself wondering--which of my classmates will I still be in touch with next year? What about 5 years from now? Even 10? When I started at Latin in 1997, I was best friends with Michael Tomlin. That remained unchanged for about 5 years, but by middle school Michael and I barely spoke. In middle school I branched out to make friends with new and older kids from both my grade and the cross country team. It was then that I met Eli, Brandon, Meggie, Stewart, Katy, and Hillary--all great friends throughout my middle school years. But now, just 4 years removed from my middle school days, I can really only count Hillary among my best friends. Perhaps the inconsistency stems from my personality, or maybe it's just a natural progression--as kids get older, they grow apart. But if that is true, what's to say that the same won't happen with my friends now? Will I still be in touch with my high school friends when I am contemplating my college graduation? It's scary to even imagine not being friends with Will, Peter, Kellen, or Hillary 4 years down the road. A part of me feels as though I am finally past the most drastic changes in my life, and as a result my friend-base will be more stable for the remainder of my time in school. But even if I do stay on good terms with my best friends of today, isn't it kind of sad that there are at least 70 kids with whom I have spent the better part of 13 years with that I will more than likely never talk to again? I guess high school graduation really does signal the end of an era, for better and for worse.

Top 5

I'm quite a fan of the list if I may say so myself, and with that in mind I feel like starting a little run of top 5 lists over the next few days/weeks. At the very least, it will hopefully get my posting going a little more consistently. Keep in mind that there is no order within these lists, just a general top 5. First, let's start with my favorite movies.



1. Donnie Darko

One of the first movies I truly loved, it is almost impossible to explain and, after watching it 4 or 5 times, I still have trouble wrapping my head around it. Despite it's lack of transparency--or maybe because of it--Donnie Darko has always been one of my favorite movies of all-time.

2. Blood Diamond

A powerful movie about the illegal diamond business coming from Africa, this movie stars both one of my all-time favorite actors (Leonardo DiCaprio) and favorite women (Jennifer Connelly). Blood Diamond touches on many touchy subjects involving Africa and the Western world, while also providing great action and a constantly moving plot. It's hard to explain what makes this movie so good, but after watching it you can't help but love it.

3. Garden State

No other movie combines angst-ridden young adults, Simon & Garfunkel, The Shins, and pure happiness in the same way as Garden State. Between Zach Braff walking past the automatic sinks in the airport in the opening scene and Natalie Portman's saying that "this will change your life" while giving him her headphones, Garden State is just plain awesome.

4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind details the trials of a couple attempting to undergo a procedure to erase each other from their memories after a rough break-up. However, it is through this erasing procedure that the couple realizes their true love for each other--and they consequently spend the rest of the movie trying to outrun the erasing of their memories. Eternal Sunshine's cyclical plot is similar to that of Donnie Darko--a style that I apparently enjoy quite a bit.

5. Almost Famous

While I have never been able to successfully put a finger on just what makes Almost Famous so good, I repeatedly find myself watching and re-watching it--both on TV and DVD. Maybe it's Kate Hudson, maybe it's the live music, I don't know. All I know is that Almost Famous is, without a doubt, one of my all-time favs.

188 days

I have not gone on a run in 188 days. That is REDICULOUS. I miss my running playlist. I miss running at night when the really hot days start to get cooler, exploring in the neighborhoods around my own, getting lost, and finding my way back in twice the amount of time it took me to get there. I miss feeling sore. I miss not feeling sore, and knowing that I am in shape. I miss wearing running shorts, and putting on my running shoes. I even miss sweating, as I haven't really done much of that in months either. The now-infamous shin splint incident of 09-10 has been absolutely horrible. It has spanned from mid-July in Australia to...well, it's still not over. Hopefully by this July I will be in running shape. If I can't run next fall at Vandy, I don't know what I'll do.

Caring is Creepy

Favorite song ever? I liked this song so much for so long, I kind of got over it....but still like it so much that I miss liking it, if that is even possible. Does music get any better?

So close...

Today is May 4th. That means 16 days until I am done with high school and 24 days until I graduate. 20 days until Hillary comes home. 39 days until the Phoenix concert. 109 days until I go to college. Wow. 109 days ago was January 15th. I don't particularly remember January 15th of 2010, but it doesn't seem like THAT long ago. In that same amount of time I will be heading off to Nashville, and it feels like forever away.

AP exams are no fun...especially when you have no motivation to study for them. AP Gov? A joke. My total study time for that amounted to somewhere around one hour. Granted, it is supposed to be a semester class so there wasn't all that much to cover in the first place. Even still, I probably could have put a tiny bit more effort into it. Unfortunately, it is MAY of Senior year. Studying is absolutely the last thing I want to do (case in point). I'm ready for Summer!!

Yes, Summer! So exciting. Although I guess if you think about it, it won't be much different than my life has been lately. I'll get to sleep in later, but then still be just as bored all day, every day. I still will have 0 people to hang out with in Charlotte, and I won't even have homework as a fall back in case of serious boredom. Looking at it that way, I just might be wishing for some more high school in a month or two. Ugh.

Class of 2014

Vanderbilt University Class of 2014! All I need now is my new email and I'm set. Finally...the whole college process was such a drag, especially having to wait from December to April. After 13 years of schoolwork, extracurriculars, SATs, ACTs, and 11 college essays, I'm done. Phew!

APs next week...not a lot of motivation there. Calculus and Government should be a breeze with limited review the night before. English is just going to be long and annoying--I've already accepted my 4 on that one.

A little let down maybe that I'm not going to beach week? We have OM Worlds the weekend before and then I have to leave for Coastal Explorers a few days later, so there isn't any time unfortunately. Not that I really had people to go with or really any desire to just spend more time with my grade. Let's face it, graduation will be the last time I see a majority of the CLS Class of 2010. It's been fun, but good riddance.

High School

Oh high school...15 days left. AP exams are all next week though, making this effectively the last week of classes. I have 4 more days of Math, English, and History at the very least, and Physics and Spanish have never actually been real classes. Funny how an "honors" class can be so slack. I started going to this school in 1997 and I've gone to Latin 5 days a week, 9 months a year for each of the past 13 years. Needless to say, I'm ready to get going.

Vandy

Vandy was....awesome. Rites of Spring was insane, almost a little too much so in fact. On Friday we saw Cold War Kids (not too bad), Phoenix (freakin aamazing), and Drake (...). Drake definitely left something to be desired, and I did not frankly expect much from him in the first place. Half the time he was talking to the crowd, and the other half he was singing 30 second clips from random songs--most of which were way too slow. But overall still great stuff.

Vanderbilt on its own was great. The Pancake Pantry definitely lived up to the hype, as did Rotiers--although next time I think I'll opt for something other than the spaghetti? Weird choice, not sure why I got that. The campus is really really nice and easily walkable, it was almost surprisingly small at first but I guess there were parts that we never went to. The Senior dorms (The Towers) were big but really old and kind of shitty, especially the room we stayed in. But Freshman housing is supposed to be insane and Sophomore housing seemed good too so I'm not that concerned. I am definitely ready to go next year now!

To blog or not to blog?

Blog? Sure, why not. I used to "journal" all the time, so this seems like it should come next in the natural progression of things. It is 2010 after all, who still writes stuff down anyways?

Going to Nashville tomorrow...Vanderbilt seems like a pretty sure thing at this point. Still weird to think that it is where I'll be living for the next 4 years of my life. I haven't lived anywhere but here since I was 5! I'm not usually huge on the whole change thing, but I absolutely cannot wait.