2011 Foster The People get me. They geeeeeeet meeeeeee.
Happy 9/30! Today we celebrate escapism.
Today I did get to disappear from school and work and all other commitments for 8-9 hours. For an article for class, I got to learn how to brew beer at a local brewery instead of doing all the things I would normally do on a Tuesday, and especially on this particular Tuesday.
A couple weeks ago, I abandoned a few blog post plans, and now I’m going back to them.
I’ve loved, played, performed, and sung this song basically since the album it’s on, “The Open Door,” came out in 2006. It was around that time that I began my on-again, off-again love affair and mildly unhealthy obsession with Evanescence. Never has the love gone, but there have been periods of my life when I didn’t listen to their music very much.
There are a few lessons I want people to learn from this Pick, and here they are:
Not that you have to listen to me. These are just things that I think people might want/need to hear, and things I’ve heard listening to this song on repeat many, many times. For me, this song used to be about a person, but now it’s just about me. I am the constant around which I solve for all the other variables of my life. Unfortunately, I’m unpredictable.
All this advice is, of course, made more complicated by this quote:
Anyways. After all that, finally, the Pick.
It should also be said that I absolutely adore this music video. It looks like this song feels.
Sometimes you don’t like the stories other people write, so you write your own.
This first Pick comes from a playlist of happy songs I found on Spotify. I’ve been thinking about rose-colored glasses a lot recently.
The second Pick comes from Pandora, where all Picks have their origins. It’s a song I hadn’t heard for years until a few days ago, but had apparently already liked. I love rediscovering things like that.
Also, I wish there weren’t typos in this video, but I’m not going to take the time to make a lyric video myself, so oh well. Not everything gets to be perfect.
Hi everyone! I’m sorry I didn’t post this song yesterday. Last night time got away from me, and I was presented with many unique opportunities which I had to meet. I didn’t get a chance to record this until today.
It should be noted that I wrote this song in late August and early September 2014. It should also be known that in the chorus, “walking round and round” means walking around the same place all the time, but never running into each other, and also means skirting an issue. It does not mean walking around campus together (that’s post-song).
Lyrics:
Verse 1:
Never is a harsh word
But a true word
And this’ll never be the same
This life guarantees no rewards
It’s not a silly game
But you’ve got rules now
I’ve got rules too
Nowadays it seems our lives
Can’t find a way to coincide
So tell me what to do
Chorus:
Hope’s up
But communication’s down
Look for our memory
In my lost and found
Feels like these days
We’re just walking
Round and round and round
Our common ground
V2:
Never is a harsh word,
But a safe word,
For a pact is not a poem
Now I’m finding
As I’m moving forward,
A house is not a home
And there are rules here
That I can’t know
Nowadays it seems our lives
Are just a silly compromise
So should I let you go?
Chorus
Bridge:
It’s funny
Connections that you make
Connections that you break
And the rejections that you just can’t take
When will there come a day
When we can just be ok
With what we’ve got
And what we’re not?
Verse 3:
Never is a harsh word
But a true word
And this’ll never be the same
This heart guarantees no rewards
It’s not a silly game
But I’m a fool now
You’re a fool too
Nowadays it seems our lives
Are anything just to decide
So tell me what to do
Chorus
Outro:
Where can it be?
Can it be found?
Our common ground
In case you were wondering, the answer to the question at the end of Verse 2 is no. Definitely, definitely no. But some things you don’t know until you know 🙂
Twinning post today! The first word of the title of this Pick is the first word of the lyrics for my new original song I’m posting later today.
I love this song, hate the music video. Found that out just now, and I almost didn’t post this Pick after all. Picking it doesn’t matter as much now as it did when I started thinking about it early last week, but still. I like the title, but, as it often is for me, this Pick is really about the chorus. Verse 2 is pretty cool as well.
I have a new new original song, but it’s not quite ready yet, so we’re doing this instead.
Between these two Picks, there is a story, but I won’t tell it to you, because telling people is not what I do.
I really need some more Purposefully Positive interactions and fewer Neglectfully Negative interactions. Maybe I should write a self-help book, but I’m not sure I could handle the irony.
Originally posted on June 16, 2014.
Sometimes you lose track of things and people, and sometimes you’re better for the loss. Also sometimes you don’t realize you’ve actually lost track of these things for awhile, and then when you do it’s kind of amazing, because they no longer have any impact on your life. This song is about June 2012, and June 2014, and all the spaces in between. Enjoy!
Lyrics:
Verse 1:
I remember laughing, though I couldn’t say what at
Perhaps a silly gesture or an overvalued hat
I remember most things, but I don’t remember that
Our little joke, funny, isn’t it?
Verse 2:
I remember skipping out and skipping on
I remember reading to the pale light of dawn
And I once knew that joke by heart, but I don’t know where it’s gone
This little loss, funny, isn’t it?
Bridge:
It’s just like all those memories slipping away
It’s funny, it’s not as if I asked them to stay
But watching all our moments fade
It’s strange
Verse 3:
‘Cause I remember laughing, back tracking in that
Irrational decision I don’t know if I’d take back
Somehow I’ve stopped tracking the forks from all our paths
Out this little town, funny, isn’t it?
That little love, funny, wasn’t it?
My little heart, funny, isn’t it?
Obvious choice. So topical.
Today’s gonna be kind of a weird day for posts. There will be three: one Pick, one new Original Song, and one stream-of-consciousness thing. Today is the perfect day for three posts, as it is only the third day of this week, and we should try to remember which day it is (Wednesday :P).
So without further ado, here are the things I thought when I went to not one, but two career fairs:
*I feel like a model.
*Am I in a secret race with everyone else who just got off the bus?
*At least I’m not wearing jeans.
*Why am I going to this? I want a doctorate, not a job.
*The line to talk to the one company I want to see here is loooong.
*Run into classmate, compare and contrast PPL 2 PPL fair with Engineering fair.
*Casual opportunity to mention my boyfriend in engineering.
*Take all the info sheets.
*Even though my degrees and experience would fit really well with your tiny company, I want to go to grad school instead of finding a job anywhere.
*Of course you can tell me about how awesome your company is and all the software you use there.
*Yes, I would like the secret bumper sticker that is not out on the table but is apparently available to me.
*Ellen will be pleased.
*On to Fair Dos.
*Be nice to the other career-fair-goers.
*Got the door held open for me
*Still feel like a model
*Swaggy swag, swaggy swag, yeah girl.
*Casual disinterest in all but 4 booths.
*Heels and steep stairs do not a good mix make, but at least I’m not too proud to grip the railing.
*Where am I going?
*There are so many men in suits here
*And I’m going to make eye contact with every one of them
*Keep smiling, find the booth numbers
*Shake hands, ask about specific position I already know exists at your company
*More info sheets!
*Am I special, or do you take everyone’s resume?
*Company 2 – signs falling everywhere
*Grad school, not job
*Of course you can have my resume
*Of course I’ll sign up for your online job seeking database
*Free Pepsi!
*City of Ames swag
*Casually spend two minutes picking out all my favorite kinds of free candy to put in my new free cup
*Ask for free sunglasses – receive
*Wear sunglasses on head while strutting around career fair
*The best way to make this other city alliance want me to work there is by displaying swag from another city
*Casually mention recent trip, major highway, restaurant which in no way represents the people there
*Definitely feel like I’m having an area sold to me now
*Oh you have non-profit arts jobs?
*Done and so successful
*That girl should be wearing pantyhose
*Sorry I took the hand railing section you needed. Yes take the next one, your heels are terrifyingly high
*This was so much more fun than last time
*Put on free sunglasses
*Continue casually strutting to bus stop
*They don’t call me McSwags for nothing.
From April 26, 2014:
High stressed Maggie = new original song time! A little rough around the edges, and filmed by an iPhone propped up on black dress shoes. It’s called “Believe.” Enjoy! 🙂
Lyrics:
Verse One:
I don’t know a way in
I don’t know a way out
I am stuck in this strange in-between place
Wrapped in comforts and doubt
Here it’s dark, and it’s warm
I am safe from heart’s harm
But it’s not where I want to be
This is not just some joke
I’m not fun you can poke
Just need somebody to believe
Chorus:
Believe in me
‘Cause all that I’m ever told
Is I’m less, or I’m lacking, or not.
Believe in me
‘Cause I’d like to see life unfold
So much better than I thought
It could be
Believe in me
Verse Two:
I don’t know where to go
I don’t care where I do
Invitations to somewhere that’s shiny?
I just want somewhere true
I am lost and alone
I am far from my home
This is not where I want to be
This is not just some hoax
If my heart you can coax
Then be somebody to believe
Chorus
Bridge:
Believe that I
Will honestly try
To stay by your side
Be anything that you need
And I’ll
Answer the call
Won’t let you fall
Unless falling
Is where you want to be
Let me believe
Chorus 2:
Believe in you
If all that you’re ever told
Is you’re less, or you’re lacking, or not.
Believe in you
If you’d like to see life unfold
So much better than you thought
It could be
It could be
Believe in me
Maggie Lives 