Love

i don't use the word "love" often. when i was younger, i was always turned off by people who seemed to throw that word around so easily. but i love music. really.

recently, i've had to defend my love of music. not my love for a particular genre of music, but my love for music in general. my friend finds it weird that i love it so much. i wonder if there are other people in my life who wonder the same thing about me.

honestly, i love it. i don't know if i've ever loved anything more than music in my life. so b/c i've had to defend my love for it, i've decided to write a blog about my reasons. here we go.

1. this is kinda obvious, but it sounds good.



am i wrong for thinking this sounds good? if this is wrong, i never want to be right. =)

2. it serves as a reminder for many things. i once read smells are the greatest triggers for memory but i'd like to call bulls**t on that one. for me, it's music.

music reminds me of certain moments in my life.



(before i continue, please allow me to say, these dudes got game. nicely done.)

do you know what i'll ALWAYS remember about that song? it was the first song i ever danced to.



when i was in high school, i had to work on a project with my friends cara & arthur. the assignment was to re-edit a movie with a different song and we chose to edit this song into "fantasia."

it also reminds me of people.



when i was in middle school and high school, i had a friend named aggrey. whenever i hear a song by the wu, i think of him b/c when the wu first came out, he was their BIGGEST supporter. i also think about my friend erik, b/c he was the one who made me a tape of "enter the 36 chambers" (remember cassette tapes?), which i wore out by listening to it so damn much.

some songs remind me of movies i really like.



some songs remind me of a very specific time, person and a movie all at once.



this song came out in the trailer for "bring it on," which came out in the summer of 2000. i vividly remember seeing this movie with cara at regal theater in rockville and it was the last thing i did to close out my first summer break of college.

3. it makes me feel hopeful.





this is a VERY small sample of what i'm talking about. don't you feel more hopeful already?

4. it's cool.



ewan mcgregor and nicole kidman actually sang this song. and they sang it well. how cool is that, 2 actors singing their own song in a movie?



this is very different from the original version, also very cool.





remake of old(er) songs are cool.

5. it relieves stress. i have some songs i listen to when i'm feeling angry. and like magic, it makes me feel better.





you feel better, right?

6. it makes me look forward to falling in love. =)







7. i'm not sure how to describe it, but some songs inspire me. to do more, to be more, to want more out of life. i realize this is similar to my reason about hope, but that's only b/c my words fail me. trust me, it's different. =)



8. some songs i love for a VERY specific reason.



in this song, starting from 1:08 to 1:13, they do this sliding dance and it looks cool as s**t. i don't even like this song, but i do like it just b/c of those 5 seconds.



same song, better view, although one of the members is missing. from 1:38 to 1:43.

9. some songs put me in a good mood. i gave this a different category b/c this is my blog.





what can i say? i like the acoustic guitar. =)

10. it gives words to things you couldn't say yourself. one of my favorite quotes is by stephen king, "The most important things are the hardest to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them -- words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they're brought out."

but i feel like songs allow the words to be bigger. and not just that, but i ain't no poet. there have been times when i've heard a song and it made me realize that's EXACTLY how i was feeling, or those words were what i wanted to say, but didn't know how.



i'm 31. f**k those people who say i'm old.

11. songs speak to me. sometimes, i feel like a song was written specifically for me. don't you?



i first heard this song a few years back and i feel like it's a personal message telling me not to worry about how my decisions will turn out and just go. so now whenever i start to get anxious about my future and all its uncertainties, i listen to this song.



some songs have words in it that i'd like to hear someone say to me and at the same time, i wish i could say to someone else. this is one of those songs.

12. lastly, this is the most important reason of them all, it's fun.






M-flo TOUR 2007 COSMICOLOR-DOPEMAN？loves Emyli... by lovemaggie97



dancing/performing looks fun as hell. i bet even practices, while tiring, are fun. but some songs, they look like it would be fun to play, regardless of who's there.



listen to the tambourine, bass, drum and the guitar. none of them sound like it would be particularly difficult to play, but it sounds FUN, right? i have this idea that music should be a synergistic thing. different parts come together and become greater than the sum of its parts.

i love music and i want you to love it too. =)

Rules

i have been told that some of the personal rules i live by are stupid. i disagree, but i'll concede that some of them are... unusual. i'll share some of them so you can decide. in no particular order:

1. no meat off of bones. that's exactly what it sounds like. i don't eat meat off of bones. that means no ribs, no chicken, etc. when i was young, i was eating fried chicken and i almost threw up b/c of... i don't remember. people think it's stupid that i follow a rule i don't even remember the origin of, but... yeah.

2. no dyeing my hair. my hair is not black and ever since i realized that was unusual, i started to believe if i ever dyed it, my hair would never grow back in its original color. yeah... it's stupid. i know it, but i'm still not dyeing my hair. hahaha.

3. never leave voicemails. i don't think this is stupid, but i've been told otherwise, so i'm putting it on here. but first, my reasons. i personally think my voice sounds stupid, so i'd rather not leave too many recordings around. also, voicemails never sound right. i stumble over my words and i sound very unsure of what i want to say. of course, if it's for professional purposes, i'll leave one, but never for personal reasons.

4. related to #3, if a voicemail only says, "this is _________. call me back," DO NOT call back, EVER. are there people in the states that still leave/get voicemails? in korea, no one uses voice mails, which i think is a positive development. and since i've been back, i have not set up my voice mail. in fact, i don't even know how to check it. i mean... my iphone gets fb messages, emails, texts, phone calls, kakaotalk... WHY THE HELL ARE YOU LEAVING ME A VOICE MAIL? AND A DUMBASS ONE AT THAT? sorry, i got a little angry there.

5. respond to personal messages within 24-hours. if i receive anything that requires a response, i'll respond pretty much as soon as i get it. the only exception being an invitation to an event and i'm unsure about my schedule. i see this on fb all the time, where i write something on people's walls or send them a message that i'd like a response to and the recipient will take days to respond when all i need is a sentence or 2. why is that? is it uncool to respond quickly?

6. no dancing. is this really a rule? it's more of a mental disability at this point. i mean, i think i am physically capable of dancing, but mentally... i can't. in "shameless," there's a character who is so afraid of leaving her house that she hasn't left her house in 5 years. i'm kinda like her, i think. i can't seem to get on the dance floor. but yeah. no dancing.

7. no sandals outside. the reason for this is very simple: you never know when you might have to start running. and please cut the s**t about being able to run in sandals. not b/c i don't think it's true, but b/c it doesn't matter. sandals are difficult to run in and i'm not going to wear them when i'm going out.

8. fully come to a stop at a stop sign. this is NOT a dumb rule, but people give me s**t for coming to a complete stop every time i come to a stop sign. i'll even wait for a second or 2, regardless of whether there is other traffic. i leave no doubt as to what i'm doing when i come up to it. what i don't understand is when people give me s**t about it. so we spent a few seconds at the stop sign. if you're in THAT much of a hurry, leave your house earlier a**hole, and don't ride in my car.

9. if a homeless person asks me for money, ALWAYS give. the only exception is when i don't have anything less than a $20. i'll give up to a $10. ALWAYS. people say, "they'll use it for alcohol/drugs!" my response? i don't care. they ask me, i'll give. what happens after is not my business.

10. never invite someone whose first response is, "who else is coming?" to anything. i can't stress this enough: their FIRST response. when i encountered this situation in the past, my response took two parts. first, i UNinvited them. second, i never invited them to anything again. if i'm not good enough, f**k you.

11. no steaks at restaurants. i have eaten steak a whopping 3 times in my life. the first 2 times, it was pretty gross. the last time, my friend cooked it and it wasn't bad at all. however, i have never eaten steak in a restaurant. and since i have never experienced it, i never have the desire to. in fact, now i don't want to, b/c i'm afraid i would like it. is that weird?

on that note, i'm out. =)