it's been real, 2010

2010 was a pretty solid year year; so as a recap i'd like to give you a few of my favorite moments, things and whatnot. enjoy yourselves...

favorite new obsession: dexter. now that is a show that will suck you in. freaking vacuum effect. it doesn't hurt that michael c. hall is one sexy serial killer. i've torn through 4 seasons in the blink of an eye, losing sleep and sanity along the way... i'm not complaining, he can wrap me up in saran wrap any day of the week.

favorite new show: boardwalk empire. early america, gambling, illegal activity, sex and booze. need more explanation?

favorite album of the year: sigh no more, mumford and sons. instantly fell in love with this album in the spring of 2010 and then later it, coincidentally, helped me through a rough period of time. very solid mix of sounds on the album-- i'd describe most of it as poetic; most lines are really amazing if you just take a listen, it's really worth checking out... no more than checking out, falling in love with.

favorite song: way back home, band of horses. this quickly became my favorite song of 2010-- whether it was cruising around rural valpo, driving on the coast of lake erie on my way to upstate new york, or while approaching the chicago skyline, this song marked a lot of monumental events for me. jamming to it among good friends will help me to always remember the song accompanied by those great memories.

favorite sookhai/halbert adventure: post graduation trip to northern michigan. house on the grand traverse bay, wine tasting, general merriment, great food and beautiful northern michigan. great way to end my summer with my family and my second family.

favorite reunion: homecoming 2010. reuniting with valpo friends from across the country, getting to see my long lost friend from jersey while she took a break from gtl and participating in shotgun contests, champagne breakfasts and shenanigans of every kind with some of my favorite people.

favorite holiday: st. patrick's day in chicago. if you've never done this, do it. it was my first time and it was amazing. day full of whiskey, car bombs and whatever else we could get our hands on and running into friends all over the city. even though we passed out before we could go party with lmfao (i'm serious) it was still an amazing celebration and it was ok doing shots shots shots without them, we lived.

favorite bar night: black wednesday. enough said? i think not. wandering out to the shitty bars in our hometown with my my four best friends from home. forced to converse with people we haven't seen since high school while laughing and cheersing the night away. who better to combat awkward encounters with than your best friends? night completed by taco bell and alex's dad as our dd, now that was amazing.

favorite new internet sensation: stumbleupon. i can't imagine anyone not liking stumbleupon. you pretty much gear it to whatever you want to see, and bam, magic-- every website on the internet is sorted through and the stuff you are looking for comes to you. the music ones are the best and are always practically perfect for what i want. 

 favorite new beverage: dirty vodka martinis. yes, i'm turning into a housewife, judge me, i am. but hey, any beverage with delicious green olives, olive juice and the rest containing alcohol is a-ok with me. sh sh shaken not stirred (i'm kevin gnupoor).

favorite new afternoon activity: hanging out with my mom (aka chalbs), watching shows we recorded from the night before, since we fall asleep too early to watch them. so maybe my favorite new afternoon activity is acting like a retired person... early bird specials anyone?

favorite new crew: "the fam" spring 2010 brought a new group of people together to cause madness collectively; lots of adventures with some of the greatest people i know. the kind of friends, i wish everyone could have and people i truly consider family.

favorite event: (23rd) biiiiiiiithday. i blogged about it, you should know, it was the shit. i mean maybe i'll live my life like that every day, someday; free bottle service, vip, or in the words of "ice cream paint job" rollin' like a big shot. until then, i'll just savor the one night where i didn't have to dream of revelry. 

favorite college event: beer olympics. what's up team u.s.a. for me it was my second straight victorious year overall and as shotgun champ, boom. this year was somehow even sweeter. probably one of the most amazing events held at valpo ever, great day, right before everyone started real life. so much success. let's just say we had a great time in the backyard of 809 brown. (i mean graduation was great too, but there was no beer there)

hope you enjoy some of my favorites of 2010. i've already failed on one of my "things to be better at in 2011" by slacking on my blogging, oops, well it's not 2011 yet, i'll start being better at it, now. have a safe and happy new years eve everyone, it's 9:00am, pop some champagne and enjoy your last day of 2010.

life is a beach, i'm just playin' in the sand

my favorite time to dig into new music is when i have a long drive ahead of me. luckily for me, i recently received a variety of new jams and was on my way out of town for the weekend for a little drive through the midwest.

girl talk | all day

 mood: ready to go out and rage? your hanging in a grungy college basement drinking cheap beer out of solo cups, lots of dancing and singing involved. do you appreciate music of the past blended with music of today? listening to girl talk makes me feel like i'm at perry's stage at lollapalooza. beautiful chaos. when i listen to it in my car, it's like a dance party and gregg gillis is my own personal dj.
gregg gillis never disappoints; in my opinion, every girl talk album gets progressively better (night ripper, feed the animals, all day) and the latest album dropping november 15th was no exception. complete musical bliss, mashing up to 6 songs at once. so for my road trip i was very excited for some of gregg’s musical genius, since girl talk is some of my favorite music to drive and jam to. 

here are some of my favorite mashup's on this album, track by track

oh no:

ice cream paint job - dorrough + strawberry letter 23 - the brothers johnson

let it out:

twerk -project pat + mr. blue sky - electric light orchestra  

mr. big stuff - jean knight + pretty girls - wale ft. gucci mane

that's right:

in your eyes - peter gabriel + break u down -slim ft. red cafe + hot spot -foxy brown + closer - nine inch nails

jump on stage:

shimmy shimmy ya - ol' dirty bastard + creep - radiohead

lovegame - lady gaga + hey ladies - beastie boys + lust for life - iggy pop

this is the remix:

gangsta luv - snoop dogg ft. the dream + the jump off - lil kim ft. mr cheeks +i want you back -the jackson 5

get low - lil jon and the eastside boys ft. ying yang twins + sunday bloody sunday - u2 + cecilia - simon and garfunkel 

on and on:

i want it all - birdman ft kevin rudolf & lil wayne + bizarre love triangle - new order

wetter - twista ft. erika shevon + with or without you - u2 + television rules the nation - daft punk

get it get it:

windowlicker - aphex twin + pretty boy swag - soulja boy

bang - rye rye ft. m.i.a. + just can't get enough - depeche mode

gossip folks - missy elliott ft. ludacris +. digital love - daft punk

down for the count:

layla -derek and the dominos + haterz everywhere - b.o.b. ft. rich boy + give it all you got - afro rican

can't get you out of my head - kylie minogue + bust a move - young mc

make me wanna:

wake up - arcade fire + money to blow - birdman ft drake & lil wayne + pony - ginuwine

steady shock:

alright - supergrass +  1st of tha month - bone thugs n harmony
black and yellow - wiz khalifa + paint it black - the rolling stones

every day:

 i just want to write this track off as my favorite. the first time i listened to it i was beyond excited to hear imagine as the closing song, i thought it was a perfect ending and all the songs mashed throughout the song were great as well.

*check out this website that shows all the mashups track by track, it's amazing and it showed me how many  songs were really in each mashup that i would have never realized.
girl talk - all day

 

arron dean | mpls

mood: mellow. a long drive into a midwestern sky or curled up in a warm sweater on a colorful fall day. the kind of music that will make you feel what he is feeling. the kind of music that will make you look back fondly on your past and better yet, look forward to the future.

i’m so happy to have stumbled upon this extremely talented artist, hailing from south africa. arron dean started following me on twitter, since a lot of my twitter rambling has to do with music. usually when random artists follow me, i don’t take much action, but for some reason, i decided to check him out and i’m so thankful i did. being a big fan or artists like sufjan stevens, bon iver and iron & wine, i instantly found a lot of similarities in arron dean’s music.

talking music with people is one of my absolute favorite things to do, so i had no problem reaching out to arron dean to find out a little more about him. he was extremely responsive and seems like a genuinely awesome guy. arron dean’s album mpls focuses on the midwest, which hits close to home for me. messaging back and forth with him (as well as doing a little reading about him), led me to find out that he traveled to the midwest as kind of a healing process and fell in love with the area. love, loss, hurt and forgiveness, with no hint of bitterness are the themes that tie this album together. i enjoyed hearing his journey, his challenges and moving forward with his life.

“somewhere close to 3 am, i’m in the same seat, while you’re drinking across the street. there’s nothing wrong with picking scabs, to open wounds, it’s the only way we know, what we lose” -unannounced.

jams from this album i would suggest starting with include: sleep without me, minneapolis, unannounced, i think i’ll be alright

i already find myself belting out lyrics to arron dean’s when i listen to his music. as soon as i started listening to him, i was captivated by his beautifully relatable lyrics and amazing voice. 

kid cudi | man on the moon vol II: the legend of mr. rager

mood: sitting around a dim room with your closest friends, empty bottles, thick atmosphere. laid back, calm, relaxed. let scott mescudi take you to a peaceful place, his peaceful state of mind... like you're floating on the moon with the man himself, whether or not you're taking off into the true cudi mentality.

i was itchin’ to get back in the cudi zone, awaiting the drop of his follow up album to man on the moon. i know this review is a little overdue but that’s okay, i like to make sure i’ve fully gotten into an album before i jump the gun on a review. 

my faithful college roommate of three years, ms. amanda berrios, introduced me to cudi and i’ve never looked back. i somehow knew i wouldn’t be disappointed by his second album, scott mescudi, is one of a kind. his style was something i quickly fell in love with; funky, smart, don’t-give-a-fuck attitude. i was excited to listen to this to come back to his mix of dark and mysterious with other tracks peppered with an all star lineup of artists featured throughout the album. 

favorite songs so far: revofev, marijuana, erase me (ft. kanye west), mr. rager, mojo so dope

i'd also like to note the comical discovery that the song marijuana is 4 minutes and 20 seconds long... naturally it's not a mistake, make sure to listen until the end of the track. you're a funny one, scotty. 

also, if you haven't heard kid cudi's song, the prayer, off of his mix tape, you should check it out. it's a great jam with band of horses the funeral, in the background, that's my kind of music. it's been around for a while but if you missed it-- here ya go.

kid cudi - they prayer 

in case you've been living under a rock, the beatles are now available on itunes. there is a complete box set version available for purchase or separate tracks and albums. this is the first time i think my mom had an urge to buy anything on itunes, it was a precious moment, jamming to the best of the beatles with my mom. if your music library is lacking some beatles, jump on it, now there are no excuses.

thank you, thank you, thank you, you're far too kind.

lovers & friends

thanks for supporting my comedic life by tuning in for the last few months.

i'm not sure how many of you stumbled upon my blog, but thanks for stopping by! i'm happy to say that since late october, my blog has been picking up a larger international audience. now my blog has been viewed in over 20 countries around the world, as near as canada and as far as china, australia and japan (plus many places in between). 

so i just wanted to say thanks for coming out and i hope my blog at least gives you some comedic relief from your daily grind, if not, well, at least i amuse myself.

special shout out to marty and jimmy who are viewing my blog from germany and have been giving me feedback via skype during their semester abroad :)

maybe this year will be better than the last

as i sit here, just into the second day of december, i wonder what's to come.. i have a few resolutions for my year, not necessarily things i will write down and call my "new year's resolution" but things i'd like to...well, improve on.

dying my hair less: it's going to fall out, seriously. maybe i should embrace the brunette in me, but every time i do that, i have an identity crisis and go back blonde... eh, time will tell, but i'll try to make it look less like straw, because that's just not attractive. sorry for the dye, damage, irons and aerosol shit i put all over you... please stay on my head a little longer so i can put off having a wig until a more socially acceptable time (i mean i'm no lil kim).

f

from left to right (top) winter 2009, spring 2008 +pimp cup, fall 2008
(bottom) fall 2008, spring 2009, today upon waking, sexy, i know.

being less of a scrub: really, i hate dressing up. it would be awesome to have a profession where i could wear: tights, camisoles, sweatpants, t shirts, sweatshirts, hats, beach dresses, no pants, insert other comfortable clothing. these are the clothes (or lack there of) i enjoy spending my time in. i have a lot of nice clothes, which i only use if a) going out socially b) important event c) need to impress someone (once impressed, will return to sweats and co).  unless i can find a job where i can dress like a bum 9-5, i'm going to have to figure it out and my real people clothes are going to have to come out of hiding.

leaving the past in the past: belt out a little cee lo green, take a deep breath. much better. so let's move on, shall we?

volunteer more: self explanatory? everyone could use a little more lovin'.

spend time improving lost skills: piano, those were the days, now i should work on being able to jam to some of my favorite piano rockers. brush up on the espanol again, those few semesters in college really made me hate it a) because i somehow tested into a higher level!? b) that lady's lisp (typical of some area in spain) distracted me way too much. so it's about time i buckle down with some flash cards and a margarita.

do what i want: seriously... there are so many things i want to do. ready, set, go.

be more normal when meeting new people: first impressions, not too bad at em, but after that i warm up to people far too quickly. i like being around people, but not everyone is like me, so i should probably ease into the process of introducing my awkward life. i'll work on it, ehhh, no promises.

blog more: i really failed in november. hi, not like i was doing anything constructive. i need to watch less tv (which will result in blogging more), because seriously, i've become  a housewife over here, i've been sucked into like 20 shows. but funny stuff still happens to me all the time and my life continues to be awkward and jobless so, more blogging, check.

so whatever your new year's resolution, aspirations for the future or just short term goals may be, make em good ones, and make one of them reading my blog more often. ta ta for now.