Music Monday #3

Welcome to another music Monday. This week is without a doubt going to be about Port Blue, a side project of Owl City's Adam Young.

I know a lot of people that don't really like Owl City... and I also know a lot of people that don't like Adam Young because of his overnight fame with the song Fireflies. And yet there are also people that don't like Owl City specifically because Fireflies is so overplayed. The song that I'm assuming you're currently listening to (at least, I sort of assumed people would click play and read while they listen) is arguably my favorite song by Port Blue.

surreal .

I literally just had the coolest thing happen to me. I was sitting in front of my laptop, I had Port Blue playing, and I was comfortable and at ease, chatting with someone. All of a sudden I felt this flood of chills run from the tip of my head to my toes, dancing through my heart and soul like an electric current snaking its way through the universe. It was one of the most surreal experiences I have ever had.

I've explained before that those chills have always represented God's presence in my life. I didn't discover until sort of recently. But luckily I now know. This was the strongest that they have ever been, the most I have ever gotten them, and the longest they've ever lasted.

family dinner .

You may read this title assuming that this post is going to be all about the joys of home, the family dinners that occur, and spending time with the other Gobat's. However, this, this is where you are mistaken. When coming to college I encountered a whole new bunch of people. In a sense, these people have become my Clemson family. In particular, the guys and a few of our neighbors this year have really become a family.

exhaustion .

If I could recreate last night's ridiculous post, I totally would. And I sincerely apologize for the lack thereof of one, haha. Not only was it posted on the wrong blog, but it was indeed a mess of letters and attempts at words... I promise I wasn't drunk, only deathly tired ! Architecture can just wear you out sometimes !

...i don't think any lyric can really describe the madness of yesterday..

studio culture .

Now this is something familiar: spending the night working away in studio. One of the amazing things is that there are so many people here, I'd say maybe a good quarter or third of the people who are in my year. I was talking with another fellow architecture student in my year, and we were discussing the way we have to work and function, and the way it is viewed by people outside the major.

I'm pretty sure most everyone knows that architecture is a difficult major. Clemson even has a really good program, and thus it can be assumed that it will simply be that much harder given the high expectations of the program.

halfway .

I woke up today not even able to fathom how it could only be hump day of the week. Pretty nuts. Although I think the weeks tend to drag on longer the more time you spend awake. And given that we have interim reviews Friday, yeah, sorta been awake longer than I would like to be.

But this is what I signed up for, and while the work is sometimes tedious and always stressful, I still somehow love it! We are certainly a strange bunch, architecture kids.

procrastination .

Okay, well I really should be working on my studio project. I have an interim review on Friday, and we have a lot of stuff to get done. Hopefully if I am productive tonight I won't have that much left to do for Friday. I got quite a few hours before it's even midnight, and yet here I am of course, putting it off more and despite the fact I've been sitting in Lee Hall for half an hour, I have yet to start anything. I don't think I'll ever fully understand why it is so hard.

And thus, my procrastination morphed into a decision to post a blog. However, then there was the problem of what to post about. I looked at my list of things on my sticky notes of what I should write about and nothing really jumped out at me. And so I'm probably going to just go on and ramble about things.

Music Monday #2

Well, this Monday, I have had Tobacco Road by Common Market on repeat for hours. I figured, if there were any song appropriate for Music Monday, that most certainly had to be it. It's not super inspirational, but just sort of a chill beat and some nice piano, along with the rapping of course.

looking back .

So until a few minutes ago, nothing had really hit me as the inspiring moment of my day. And granted, sometimes there isn't one. Sometimes you really have to look for one, and sometimes you really just sorta go through the day and let everything go by.

When things don't work out, it seems like even if it isn't apparent at the time, there is a reason why. Maybe the man upstairs knows that it'll just be better that way, or maybe there is a bigger plan for you somewhere and somehow. Some things are meant to be, and some things just aren't.

Yet, looking back, I love remembering and especially seeing firsthand the great things you liked about someone in the first place.

update: life .

So I've been pretty slack on posting here for a few days, and there's been a lot going on. So first of all I apologize on the lateness of the posts, as I do generally post everyday. But I always try to catch up if I miss a day.

And thus, a general "this is what's going on" post is in order.

last night

was lovely. The end :)

Lyric of the day:
"'cause the spaces between my fingers are right where yours fit perfectly"

longboarding .

Talk about a thrill to be on wheels again. Riding a bike is fun, but when it's 30 degrees outside you can't help but freeze your fingers off unless you ride without hands, of course risking slamming into a catbus or the unsuspecting asian crossing the street. But that thrill of pushing and surfing your way down the pavement is a fantastic one.

exhaustion .

School has hit me hard. There is already so much to be done and given that I have so many group projects, speeches, etc. etc., it worries me that I will not be able to blog as much, or even have as much time to unwind. Granted, I probably wasted a lot more time today than I really had to waste, but as always that is a struggle. I simply find it hard to keep focused on things, especially in an academic area where I am not inclined to try very hard (ahem... german...). I'm already up at 230 on a night before I have an 8am class, and not just an 8am, but 3 classes back to back to back, beginning with an 8am. Talk about rough.

time management .

It sure as hell isn't easy -- but that's my number one goal this semester.

I've said it before. But it's the dedication and perseverance that's actually going to make it happen. There are so many distractions out there -- you need to prioritize and decide what is best for you and how to make the most of your time. Take today for example -- I had a fair amount of work to do, along with a goal to go running, along with the ceremony for Martin Luther King Jr. Day (in which I was a recipient of 2nd place in the video competition). I came home and was immediately diligent, got my run out of the way, worked on some homework, etc. On my way back from the ceremony I was torn between working and going to play volleyball, and opted to partake in the former, despite my desire to play tonight.

But I have to realize that sacrifices are imperative if I want to get through this semester alive.

Music Monday #1

So it's the first of the Music Mondays, and I'm gonna start it off with I'm Still Here by Johnny Rzeznik. It was from the soundtrack of Treasure Planet, which really may sound cheesy, but I mean, it's truly an amazing song.

the city . the country . the suburb . the wild .

Who you are plays a lot on where you grew up.

Who you become depends a lot on where you go, and what you do, and even where you settle down.

Weird, how some people are completely content with where they are, and others can't wait to get out. I have yet to find a place that I love so much that I want to be there the rest of my life. I've really enjoyed the time I've spent in Vermont... and really enjoyed some places overseas too. But I just don't know yet, and the time to settle down is rapidly approaching; I'm running out of time.

death .

It's scary (at least to me) when you think about what's going to happen after death. No one really knows; there's no "Afterlife for Dummies" book in your local Barnes and Noble, and there's no prep guide. The closest thing I came to ever really prepare myself for anything related to death after life was a retreat that I went on and helped lead in high school -- The name being B.I.B.L.E.: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.

After that we really have no idea. It blows my mind that there is all this time that happened before I even existed -- and all of this time that will exist after my death. Being a Catholic, we believe in eternal life after death, once we cleansed of sin through purgatory (the place where we will be punished for all of the sins we have committed over a lifetime... yeahhh.... not really looking forward to that). But the thought of where I go after death is absolutely terrifying.

status: refresh .

A while back I wrote about how I was going to take my music in a different direction.

Well, the journey has begun.

vanilla coke .

It was a drink I'd had a long long time ago, and had since forgotten about it. That smooth silky sensation, with a touch of vanilla, that carbonated rush, and of course that gassy bubbles settling in your stomach. All combine to form one wonderful amazing drink -- vanilla coke.

Silence .

Tonight I experienced something that I haven't in a long time. It was healing, thought-provoking, and soothing. It was, well, complete and utter silence. On my way walking home, I didn't have my iPod, and while departing I was mildly dreading the walk ahead back to the opposite side of campus, especially given the cold, not to mention I was still heavily clothed in dried sweat, stinky feet, and a sore exhausted body.

And yet, here I was, the only soul walking on campus. It wasn't like it was super late or anything, because normally this experience is an extremely rare one, at some odd time of the morning like 3 or 4am, when I am simply making a trip back to my apartment to shower before continuing the ongoing all-nighter. But tonight was different. There were no deadlines, no stresses, no crazy things to worry about. And while I did have to step lightly and gingerly to ensure a steady footstep across the crackling ice, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

soundtrack .

So I had this neat idea last night while I was writing randomly in my bed, and it was that every time I wrote a blog, I would additionally post a song to listen to as well. Not sure whether I'd want it at the beginning or at the end. I suppose if it were at the beginning, it would provide a sort of soundtrack, enhancing this literary experience tenfold instead of simple silence.

Whether that would make things better or worse, only time and feedback would tell. In my eyes, of course, I feel the need to provide a soundtrack to my life, and music in and of itself is a quite essential part of my everyday experience. But when I write I'd like to think that it provokes some sort of emotion or perhaps some sort of thought in some way. Thus, having a musical background present might muddle the message that I am trying to convey, or even distract someone from the words that are there on the page.

_____________ .

So, I went through this whole day and I honestly don't have a clue what to write about. It's real late at night and so I guess all I'm going to do is basically write and see what comes about.

In middle school we used to do this exercise where you had to write nonstop. Even if you finished your thought, there was an assigned amount of time that you had to fill up with writing. And you could literally write "blah blah blah" over and over until you felt like writing something else.

DUBstEp .

Admittedly, it's a weird genre. I used to think it was completely dumb. Despite that, I decided one day to find and download a bunch of dubstep music. Just some compilations and samplers. Turns out, it's definitely an acquired taste; or in this case, sound.

[music to listen to while reading is below; loud volume highly recommended]

nice to be back .

So, for the first time in a long time I spent the day in South Carolina, just hanging out and literally doing nothing. As of now, I still reside in my pajamas that I put on to sleep in last night, and I have to say, it's been great. Just nice to be able to kick back with some buddies and just hang out.

It's pretty much in the forefront of my mind that school will be starting again, but something about that is enticing. The feeling of being busy, the challenges that come with it, and the return of many close friends.

opposition .

The change from the north to the south is a drastic one. Even from the Charlotte airport, my flight to GSP was filled with the typical Southern people: Sporting their button down shirts and sweater vests, wearing their favorite college football team's hat and talking in a slow southern drawl. It's funny to see the stereotypes really come to life.

one more thing...

just a short side note, if you feel like it feel free to check out the other blog I started recently, at this link:
http://alifetimeofphotos.blogspot.com/

families .

It's interesting to go visit other people's houses and experience how their family functions, what the general accepted norms are, and what is and isn't allowed. It's also interesting, given that they generally have kids, to see how their type of parenting is and the way that they choose to govern their children's lives. Obviously things are going to be different no matter where you go, but viewing from an unbiased position and basically outside the inner workings of the family make it much easier to actually make an assessment.

For the past few days, I've been staying with my friend Ryan, and I've sort of been able to just get a good feel for how their family functions.

relativity .

A lot of people in the south break out their parkas the minute the temperature dips below 60 degrees. I, being from lovely little New Jersey, find this extremely silly and ridiculous, since I used to wear shorts at those sorts of temperatures (of course, when I actually used to wear shorts). But of course, everything is relative.

airplanes .

Oh, the good and bad of traveling. Planes in general – you never know what you’re going to get. Sometimes, you’re real lucky, and everything runs smoothly, and nothing takes too long, and you get to where you want to be on or ahead of schedule. Other times, it’s absolutely miserable and nothing really seems to go right.

Today was a mix of those.

departure .

Well, it's been swell at home. But just as I suspected, at about 3 weeks time, I'm ready to head back to Clemson. It was great seeing my brother, and I think he really appreciated the fact that I was home to hang out with him, and we certainly did hang out quite a bit (does playing Star Wars Battlefront II for multiple days all day count?) which I was really glad about.

I'm sure that it's touch being the only child here, as my sister has now officially moved to Philadelphia and I am off at school. I know from growing up in this house that being a kid with my parents is rough -- even more so when you're the only one around to take blame or dump problems on. However, I went through it and survived, and thus I pray for him that he will do the same, and I have no doubt that he will.

recovery & rebound .

I think everyone can pretty much agree that if you have a problem, or even a bad habit, it's not easy to get rid of. Maybe it's something as trivial as biting nails, or maybe it's a bit heftier of a habit -- can we say... addiction?

It's hard. There's no doubt about it. Especially if it's something you don't really want people to know about. It's not easy asking for help, it's not easy to admit that you are wrong and to seek help. It's not easy to come clean, and it certainly isn't an easy road back to where you used to be.

transitions .

So first off I'd just like to say, I officially started a second blog, as per the "picture a day" idea. This will be updated daily just the same as this one so you are welcome to follow that as well. The link for that is posted right here , so you're welcome to click on that and check it out and follow it if you wish. Also I discovered a feature where every time I post a new blog it can be emailed to you so you don't even have to come and check if it's here or not, and thus if you would like that to happen for either blog, or perhaps both, just send me an email.

And now on to what I really want to talk about.

Change and transition is an interesting concept that can provoke a great many emotions in people. Sometimes people really like it, and other times they hate it, some are apathetic and indifferent and others care quite a bit. The word 'change' most likely makes you think, at one point in your thought process or another, towards current President Obama. Whether you are a fan or not (I happen to be indifferent and pretty much hate discussing politics in any way shape or form) I think it's safe to say that his promise of change really struck a chord with the public, and that one simple word was certainly one of the cornerstones of his policy.

new years .

So it's New Years. I'll talk about the cliche resolution-type things in a moment... first I just wanted to mention a few things that really struck me as annoying/odd/interesting today.

Firstly, I had a decent chat with my father this evening. We talked about moving out, and living away from "home." I asked him at what point it was appropriate the not come back here for holidays anymore. His answer was concise, but meant a lot. He said, you never have to. We'd be happy to have you, but feel free to do what you want. If you have other plans, feel free. To some of you this may sound like he's trying to sort of get me out of the house, and maybe even come off as insulting. But for me, it's a breath of fresh air. It's the sort of freedom and respect I would love to have all the time from my parents. In the past year and a half I've been away at school, I've only come home for 2 holidays, those being Christmas both years. Just haven't really been into coming for the others I suppose.