the playlist track 03: O' Be Joyful by Shovels and Rope

Alrighty, so the first time I heard a recording of this group was through a late night study cram with Pandora and coffee. I didn't really know their music well until just recently when I saw them perform live. The energy and talent they put out on stage is amazing and if they roll into town near you, I highly recommend getting a ticket! This song I love specifically because of the lyrics and the rocking guitar throughout. The vocals are amazing as well, and this also happens to be my favourite song that they performed live.

Stay tuned for more!

the playlist track 02: Youth by Daughter

So this song I first heard when I went to the college modern dance recital at the end of the spring semester. The dance that went with this song was choreographed by students and the song was chosen by them.

I love the simple guitar melody at the opening of the song and how it carries on throughout the entire track. The song does the typical building up and then calming down, adding more instrumentation and creating louder vocals.

This song really inspires me when I have writer's block or artist's block.

Stay tuned!

book review! Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman: Endless Nights"

First off, this is not your regular 200-300 page novel. This is is a 152 page work of artistic and linguistic genius. I read this graphic novel before I read "Preludes and Nocturnes", which basically introduced the characters. "Endless Nights" is made up of seven chapters, each dedicated to an aspect of life and all of them start with the letter "D".

First is Death, a short story about the never-ending party in Venice. Second is Desire, and the pain suffered from pursuing it. Third is Dream, and the conflicts of reality and the dreamworld. Fourth is Despair, and the causes and effects of it on many different levels. Fifth is Delirium, and the confusion and hidden happiness found there. Sixth is Destruction, and the portrayal of  the positive side that no one sees. And finally the seventh chapter is on Destiny, and the struggle between its ambiguity and the future.

I don't want to give too much away here because reading "Endless Nights" without knowing too much about it is what really made it have such an impact on me. When I started reading, I was confused because each chapter didn't seem to relate to the next. But by the end, I finally had it figured out and I wanted to read more.

There are many different graphic novels and short stories under the title of The Sandman by Neil Gaiman, and I encourage you to read as many as possible! I started and finished "Preludes and Nocturnes" and now I plan to finish the four book series after it and continue on. Neil Gaiman is a genius with plot and with imagery, and I promise that if you enjoy books that challenge what literature is, you will not be disappointed here.

Stay tuned for more!

the summer itch

It's that time of year again; all the plants have finally grown big and green again including the dreaded poison ivy and poison oak. If you're a super-allergic yet also super-outdoorsy person like I am, you probably know what the little buggers look like and can keep away. But for those of you who have trouble picking them out among all the other leafy green things or are just prone to getting poison ivy rashes despite keeping your distance (me included), it's important to know how to keep it from spreading and to treat that ugly awful red itchy rash you get.

(Just a quick image to help you remember what poison ivy/oak looks like. Three leaves rule, with a red stem.)

In my personal experience, the first thing to do once you even THINK that you MIGHT have poison ivy is to wash it off! The oil from the leaves will spread as you tough the area, so washing the oil off will keep if from giving you more itchy patches. There are herbal soaps you can use to wash the area off that are made specifically for these situations, but I just use a grease-cutting dish soap. Just get that oil off your skin! ALSO it's a really good idea to take all the clothes you were wearing when you got the poison ivy and put it all in a garbage bag. Wash these things SEPARATE from your other clothes. You can wash them a second time if you're paranoid.

So now you've washed it off and it's all red and super duper itchy. I hate to break it to you, but it's gonna be itchy for a while. BUT there are some natural remedies to help soothe the redness and itch.

Soaking the affected area in warm water with some baking soda and/or raw oats will help a whole lot. The baking soda helps to heal and clean the area and the oats help to soothe the skin. If it's a larger area, you can soak in a bath and mix a small amount of baking soda with raw oats into a dish rag and tie it into a little ball and just chuck it in the tub with you.

If you really just can't stand the itchiness, there are several all-natural products you can find at a health food type store that relieve poison ivy itch. I suggest something with aloe vera in it (which is also awesome for sunburns).

Try not to scratch the rash as much as possible. If you accidentally break open the rash, clean it with rubbing alcohol and put antibacterial gel on it ASAP. You don't wanna have an itchy AND infected red rash!

Stay away from the three-leafed menace and use as much natural remedies as you can! Be healthy and stay tuned!

project horizons

I'll admit it, I'm pretty addicted to Pintrest, but I mean who isn't? It's a fabulous way to find and save online ideas, photos, articles, videos, recipes...all kinds of stuffs!

But ANYWAYS, I was browsing around on my Pinterest board category of "Books, Movies and TV" when I found a whole slew of different links to blogs and websites with recommended books to read. And so then I got this great idea of "Hey, I have a blog...maybe I should do this too!" Well of course I then thought "Wait, if everyone with a blog does this then why don't I do something different?" 

So here's the deal: I'm gonna make a huge list of books that I haven't read that are recommended to me. I'll pick books from the list at random, read them, and then put one of me personal-opinion-blurbs on here. Don't worry, I won't spoil any of them for you ;) If I like the book enough, I'll add it to my little library list here on my blog. If it's not up to snuff for me, it won't make it in the library.

I'll post the list up here on another tab labeled "project horizons". The books will be listed under the library tab. This might extend out to other media like movies and TV shows but for now we'll just stick to the books.

Stay tuned!

never grow up!

this is not a fan page

As this post title dictates this is not a fan page. It is not dedicated to a "fandom", I do not "ship" but I am a total fangirl of like a butt ton of fandoms hahahaha and I do not consider myself to be a "fangirl". I'm not dissing those that fall under these categories, you all are fantastic and hilarious people. I'm just not exactly that kind of a blogger. Yes, I will most likely go into ranting and raving posts about certain TV shows, books and movies that I love but I just want to clarify that this blog is open to all kinds of media that I find intriguing, worth the time and well basically it'll be something just stuck in my mind.

And my very first personal-opinion-blurb (gotta think of a good little nick-name for that...) is about...drum roll........Supernatural!

Okies, so I'm a very new viewer to this show since I just discovered it on Netflix but I have heard all kinds of glorious things about it from friends. And I must admit I do think it is a fantastic show. BUT, when I watched the first episode I was a little freaked out. I'm not a huge fan of supernatural/horror related stuff. Don't get me wrong, I love a good horror movie every now and then, but by every now and then I mean once a year at Halloween. But this show has made me actually like horror and sci-fi type stuff. I'm only a few episodes in but already the overarching plot line is fantastic and intriguing, the sub-plots that make up the individual episodes are equally awesome, and then the demons and spirits that are in the episodes are scary but also each one has a unique kind of back story as to why they do what they do.

And, I'll admit, I am totally smitten with Mr. Dean Winchester. Yes, Sam is adorable and a sweetheart but I am completely drawn into Dean's humorous and tortured personality. I am no where NEAR being done watching every single episode, but when I do, you can expect another personal-opinion-blurb from me!

Stay tuned!