4 posts tagged “december”

I can't post the years after this.... since, by a freak of nature, or rather this computer, I lost the subsequent playlists when I was copying and pasting. I hate myself right now, but in a few weeks I'll probably find a way to compile them all over again.

High School (Note: This is where it gets worse):

1. The Dope Show by Marilyn Manson
2. Santeria by Sublime
3. 素敵だね by Rikki
4. Buddy Holly by Weezer
5. The Distance by Cake
6. Head Over Heels by Tears For Fears
   
7. D'yer Mak'er by Led Zeppelin
8. I Will Survive by Cake
9. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk
   
10. Never There by Cake 
11. Everything by Lifehouse
12. Crazy On You by Heart
13. La Llorona by Chavela Vargas
14. Thank You by Dido
15. Mad World by Gary Jules
16. Light My Fire by The Doors
17. Paradise City by Guns N Roses
18. Dock Of The Bay by Otis Redding
    
19. Because by The Beatles
20. Schism by Tool
21. Lightning Crashes by Live
22. Ain't No Mountain High Enough by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
23. You Got Me by The Roots
24. Killing Me Softly by The Fugees
25. Big Poppa by Notorious B.I.G.
26. Karma Police by Radiohead
    
27. Gin And Juice by Snoop Doggy Dog
28. California Love by 2Pac & Dr. Dre
29. Thugz Mansion (Acoustic) by 2Pac feat. Nas
30. Enter Sandman by Metallica
31. Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand
32. Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai
33. No Such Thing by John Mayer
34. Eternal Flame by The Bangles
35. Father Of Mine by Everclear
36. Inside Out by Eve 6
37. Closing Time by Semisonic
38. Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve
39. Freshmen by The Verve Pipe
40. If You Could Only See by Tonic
41. Say My Name by Destiny's Child
42. In The Meantime by Spacehog
43. Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus
44. Lola by The Kinks
45. Jane Says by Jane's Addiction
46. Dammit by Blink 182
47. To Be With You by Mr. Big
    
48. Fat Lip by Sum 41
49. Under The Bridge by The Red Hot Chili Peppers
50. Scar Tissue by The Red Hot Chili Peppers
51. Paranoid Android by Radiohead
52. Guerilla Radio by Rage Against The Machine
    

Middle School Years:

1. Satellite by Dave Matthews Band
2. Down by 311
   
3. Good Riddance by Green Day
4. This Is How We Do It by Montell Jordan
5. Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saens
   
6. Crossroads by Bone Thugs n' Harmony
7. Hook by Blues Traveler
8. Celebrity Skin by Hole
   
9. Transcendental Studies for Piano by Franz Liszt [note: No. 4]
   
10. Take A Bow by Madonna
11. Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin
12. Ironic by Alanis Morrisette
    
13. Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden
14. Don't Look Back In Anger by Oasis
    
15. Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
    
16. Sleep To Dream by Fiona Apple
17. Kashmir by Led Zeppelin
18. You Oughta Know by Alanis Morrisette
    
19. No Rain by Blind Melon
20. Wonderwall by Oasis
    
21. Swallowed by Bush
22. Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana
23. Everlong by The Foo Fighters
24. Creep by Radiohead
25. Tonight, Tonight by The Smashing Pumpkins
26. Spiderwebs by No Doubt
27. Zombie by The Cranberries
28. Lovefool by The Cardigans
29. Only Happy When It Rains by Garbage
30. Adia by Sarah McLachlan
31. Never Let You Go by Third Eye Blind
    

I can't remember a time, even when I was a child, when I wasn't in love with music. I loved playing instruments, singing, and listening to different types of it -- the good, the bad, the ugly. I loved it all. Of all these songs I've heard, or played through my lifetime the ones that stand out as being most vivid are those associated with certain memories of people/events. I decided one week I'd try to piece together playlists of what I used to listen to... The week turned into a few weeks, and has finally come to fruition (It's sad what I do with my free time, huh?). Every song here, has at least one story and is pretty characteristic of the phases I went/am going through.

If anyone else reads this, I'd really love to see what you throw together for your own playlist. I had to split this up into a few posts because it was too massive...

The Playlist for the first 11 years of my life, in no particular order (note: most of these were before the era of music videos, so excuse the ones YouTube has attached to them):

1. Ventura Highway by America
2. Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton
3. The Greatest Love of All by Whitney Houston
4. Kahit Habang Buhay by Smokey Mountain
5. Kailan by Geneva Cruz
6. Hindi Kita Malilimutan by Basil Valdez
7. Something Stupid by Frank & Nancy Sinatra
8. Longest Time by Billy Joel
9. Bennie and the Jets by Elton John
10. Mirroirs (Five Pieces for Piano) by Maurice Ravel [note: No. 4]
    
11. Hotel California by The Eagles
12. Tiny Dancer by Elton John
13. How Deep Is Your Love by The Bee Gees
14. Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da by The Beatles
15. Wouldn't It Be Nice? by the Beach Boys
16. Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen
17. Thriller by Michael Jackson
18. Make It With You by Bread
19. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight by Genesis
20. You Can Cal Me Al by Paul Simon
21. Shout by Tears for Fears

Just as I'm getting ready to leave to go back to Richmond I read my friend Sarah's post about what you would do if you were offered the opportunity to just get away.

I'd leave.

I think since coming back to America I've had a load of stress -- readjusting to my job hasn't been easy. Being absent a few days puts you at a disadvantage when it comes to practice. I feel like I'm still forgetting little housekeeping things that I would've otherwise taken care of usually and I've been feeling slightly guilty about it lately. I've also been missing life there, mostly the food though -- I'm constantly getting sick from all the grease and lack of movement here, so much that it's driving me mad. But I think what I miss the most is the feeling that I'm having an adventure.

As an adult, I feel like I'd lost that in the months that I became depressed. Finally taking that vacation was a real eye-opener and reminder of the person that I used to be and the person that I can become. In the spirit of it, I decided to continue to forward my plans for applying to graduate school and also maybe accept the challenge of changing occupations to learn Japanese better.

Recently, in spite of all the grad school preparation, I've found that financing a study abroad (particularly in Japan) is very, very difficult. There aren't loan programs that will easily lend to institutions without large populations of Americans attending. Because of this I'm kind of stuck in this rut of filling out the applications but scared of trying to figure out how I'm going to self-finance a $17,000/year tuition and living costs through graduate school. In the end I might have to take up a private loan from a bank just like my friends and just bite the bullet in terms of trying to pay that off after I graduate. Who knows.

I've applied for a job with an English-language teaching program in Japan through an eikawa called Geos. To be honest, I kind of did it on a whim. If I don't make it into graduate school (which, at this point seems like a likely circumstance considering I have little work experience) I'd like to spend the time working in Japan and learning Japanese better in the meantime. It'd mean giving up nursing, but I'd be chasing a dream and living an adventure.

Perhaps a better question is -- if you were given the chance to live another life, would you?

I guess we'll see in a few weeks.