"Dream"--Priscilla Ahn

Another SOUND article.

http://www.soundmagonline.com/?p=2096

Sometimes I need to listen to something pretty. I love upbeat rock music as much as the next person, but when I have a quiet, contemplative morning or a long day at work, nothing beats listening to a calming, beautiful song like “Dream” by Priscilla Ahn. A friend introduced me to this song about a year ago and I have been hooked ever since.

Ahn’s soft and airy, yet beautiful voice could pierce straight through anyone. Though she starts by singing a simple melody and playing a quite acoustic accompaniment, this song will immediately calm and move you. As the song progresses, she layers complicated vocal harmonies and throws in a harmonica (just because she is that talented) to add a dream-like feel to the arrangement.

Despite the songs quiet and almost sad sound, it will ultimately make you feel good and want more.

Ugh.

Do you ever get annoyed with yourself?

I do. I remember writing in my journal once that sometimes I annoy myself more than anyone else does, which is unfortunate because I'm the only person I can't avoid.

Isn't that so silly? For about the past week that's how I have felt: like I'm stuck with myself, getting on my own nerves. I've been forgetful, I've been saying and doing annoying things, I've felt tired and lazy, my nose whistles every time I sniff...it's been pretty irritating.

It's mostly likely that nobody has noticed this except me. Maybe everyone else is just used to it and I've spent more time with myself than usual (yes, that makes sense). Maybe it's because I haven't been able to sleep and when I do I have crazy, stressful dreams about fighting off zombie relatives (this is true, I had this dream, and it was super intense). Maybe it's because school is picking up and I have a lot to do. Maybe I'm getting stressed because I graduate in December and haven't solidified what I will do. Maybe I'm not irritating, just irritable. Or I've just been kind of stupid lately.

If so, sorry. If not, pretend you didn't read this because now you will start noticing all my annoying habits.

Also, you should listen to this song, because it's really awesome:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p99a6K81zqM

Stowaway Magazine

When people ask me what I study, I should just say English. I am getting a degree in English, after all. What I want to say is editing. I’m getting a minor in editing and it has become more of a focus because it’s marketable (so it’s probably what I’ll be doing post-grad) and because I love it. So instead I say “English and editing” and people get confused. Then they ask what I want to do and that opens up a whole new can of worms because I don’t know, exactly. I love editing, publishing, writing, document designing, etc. And social media, art, culture, music, travel, administrative work…I’d like to think the possibilities for post-grad employment are endless. I’d also like to think that because I’m so open-minded that I’ll be able to find something to do when I graduate this December. But this creates a problem because when I answer “I don’t know” to the “What do you want to do with that?” question, I seem ambitionless and lazy. It’s really that I’m excited to do anything and I’m doing what I can to be eligible for everything.

One thing that I know I like is magazine publishing, which is great because that’s exactly what I’m going to be doing this semester. For my editing capstone class, I’m on the staff of Stowaway, a travel magazine for young adults. There are about 12 or 13 people in my class, which comprises the entire staff of the Spring 2012 issue. We will all be helping with the writing, editing, designing, advertising, and promoting of the magazine, but we are also all assigned specific positions.

I’ll be working as an assistant art director as well as a member of the web team. As an art director I’ll help with the layout and design of the articles and the magazine overall. I’m excited because I love document design and art, but there are fewer opportunities for that if you’re not a graphic design major. On the web team I’ll be focusing on social media and online outreach to promote the magazine and increase readership. This is partly so I can get good at using social media and partly because I love Stowaway already and I want other people to love it, too.  The girls in my class are all amazing and I can already tell that we will be creating something great this semester. So check it out! Follow us, tweet at us, comment on our articles, like us on Facebook, and tell your friends. Or just read my articles and tell me how awesome they are. Because they will be.

Spiders

Why don't my good dreams ever come true?

About two weeks ago I was spending one of my last nights in my old house. I was having this very realistic dream about a spider in my window. It was daytime, my brother was there, and there was a giant spider just living in my window sill (which happened to be right next to my bed). The spider, which I have since named "Creature," was big and hairy and definitely evil (evil is an inherent spider personality trait). Kind of like this:

All of a sudden it lurched forward to attack this other animal that appeared in my windowsill that looked like some sort of rodent. I jumped back, landing on my elbows, in my bed, and suddenly woke up. I was in my room, like in the dream, but it was dark and I was alone. It didn't matter. I was still leaning away from my window, out of breath, half convinced that "Creature" was feasting on a dead animal just a few feet away. I finally calmed down, realized it was a dream, and eventually went back to sleep.

A few days later I moved out of that house into a different one, just a few blocks away. I now have my own room in the basement of a six bedroom house. Awesome, right? It would have been more awesome if I hadn't found several large spiders in various corners of my room the first day I moved in. I tried to kill the first one, but I unsuccessfully squished it into the carpet and just made it mad. Fortunately, my friend Sam was there to save me.

After I found another spider (and the lair it had built behind my desk), I decided to take action. I brought in the vacuum cleaner, detached the hose, and vacuumed every corner in my room. I guess spiders are invincible to vacuums because I found one on my shoe the next day. Now I live in fear and sleep in an uneasy, itchy terror. I have actually been checking the backsides of my pillows to make sure there aren't any killers. It doesn't help that, during my move, my mom was in town, and my family decided it would be fun to tell every single horrible spider story they have ever heard. Ugh.

Then, a few days ago, my dream came true. Sam came over and said, "I don't want to freak you out or anything"--which instantly freaked me out--"but there's a giant spider living in your window."

Creature followed me.

From my old house to my new house. From my dream to reality.

Sam showed me from the inside that it was, in fact, living in my window on the inside of my screen but the outside of the glass. If spiders are invincible to vacuums, do they have magic powers over glass? Probably. They are evil, after all. Also, Creature was huge. Not as big as in my dream, but big enough to reaffirm my assertion that spiders only exist to be scary and turn people into super-humans.

Feeling brave because it was daytime and I was with a boy, we went outside to see what we could do. I stood back and Sam touched the screen to pull it back and get to Creature. Zoom! Creature disappeared into a corner faster than lightning. Big, scary, and fast. We looked for him but he was nowhere to be found. There wasn't even a hole in the direction he disappeared. We put the screen back and there has been no sign of him since. I think he must have absorbed himself into my wall with his evil spider powers. He is just waiting for the right time to come and eat me like the animal he ate in my dream.

Maybe he'll turn me into a super-human.

Or an alien.