What...about Nick and Norah's Infinite Palylist?

Great book...kickass movie...amazing music...Nick and Norah are just what everyone dreams about. But who are they?

Nick:

"I throw the chords at them, I drench them in the soundwaves, I am making time so loud that they have to hear it. I am stronger than words and I am bigger than the box I’m in, and then I see her in the crowd and I fall apart."

Norah:

"And I’m left with this girl, this Siren of Mixed Signals, this Norah. She’s a fuck-good kisser, but clearly has some massive consistency issues."

But together, they are:

"We are moving to the music and at the same time we are a stillness. I am not losing myself in the barrage. I am finding her. And she is—yes, she is finding me. The crowd is pressing in on us and the bassline is revealing everything and we are two people who are part of a lot more people, and at the same time we’re our own part. There isn’t loneliness, only this intense twoliness."

What...if we loose our minds?

"What does a scanner see? he asked himself. I mean, really see? Into the head? Down into the heart? Does a passive infrared scanner like they used to use or a cube-type holo-scanner like they use these days, the latest thing, see into me - into us - clearly or darkly? I hope it does, he thought, see clearly, because I can't any longer these days see into myself. I see only murk. Murk outside; murk inside. I hope, for everyone's sake, the scanners do better. Because, he thought, if the scanner sees only darkly, the way I myself do, then we are cursed, cursed again and like we have been continually, and we'll wind up dead this way, knowing very little and getting that little fragment wrong too."

Bob Arctor from "A Scanner Darkly", written by Philip K. Dick.

What...about death?

Do not go gentle into that good night

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on that sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Dylan Thomas

What...about freedom?

"The hardest freedom to maintain is the freedom of making mistakes."
Morris West

Make your own mistakes. Don't ever let people tell you you're wrong just because you're not taking the usual way, just because you're not following other people's road. Make mistakes. Learn from them. Be free from any strings that may attach you to a life you did not choose. Live the way you want to live. In the end, it will all be worth it. Or, if not, at least you'll be able to say "I took the one less traveled by,and that has made all the difference".

Coldplay- Swallowed in the Sea

What...about a little bit of Jane Austen?

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters." (Pride and Prejudice-Ch. 1)

"If any one faculty of our nature may be called more wonderful than the rest, I do think it is memory. There seems something more speakingly incomprehensible in the powers, the failures, the inequalities of memory, than in any other of our intelligences. The memory is sometimes so retentive, so serviceable, so obedient; at others, so bewildered and so weak; and at others again, so tyrannic, so beyond control! We are, to be sure, a miracle every way; but our powers of recollecting and of forgetting do seem peculiarly past finding out." (Mansfield Park)

"But when a young lady is to be a heroine, the perverseness of forty surrounding families cannot prevent her. Something must and will happen to throw a hero in her way." (Northanger Abbey)

"Human nature is so well disposed towards those who are in interesting situations, that a young person, who either marries or dies, is sure of being kindly spoken of." (Emma)

"One does not love a place the less for having suffered in it, unless it has been all suffering, nothing but suffering." (Persuasion)

"You are in a melancholy humour and fancy that anyone unlike yourself must be happy. But remember that the pain of parting from friends will be felt by everybody at times, whatever be their education or state. Know your own happiness. You want nothing but patience; or give it a more fascinating name: call it hope." (Sense and Sensiblity)

What...is "living"?

The one and only Henry David Thoreau in his most exquisite work "Walden or Life in the Woods"

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan- like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion. For most men, it appears to me, are in a strange uncertainty about it, whether it is of the devil or of God, and have somewhat hastily concluded that it is the chief end of man here to "glorify God and enjoy him forever."

What...if you're sad?

Sadhearted today...feeling like Anne from Jane Austen's "Persuasion", even though I'm not in her condition. It's just that overbearing sadness of having to face the cause of your misery every single day and having to pretende everything's fine. Today's cultural moment: "Hearts So Heavy" by John Mayer Trio

I want to walk in tonight
Because I need too
Everything that I had I'm waiting on
Gave till I gave all I could
Kept a little
Finding it hard to believe
Everything's gone, gone, gone

How am I gonna run back home
With a heart so heavy
How am I gonna make my way
When I can't find the road
How am I gonna beat this pain
When I can't see how deep it goes
Heaven knows
But I don't

Faith is a backwards design
But I still choose it
I fall on it all of the time
I carry on
I used to live by the line
As good as a circle
What does it do for me now?
Everything's gone, gone, gone

How am I gonna run back home
With a heart so heavy
How am I gonna make my way
When I can't find the road
How am I gonna beat this pain
When I can't see how deep it goes
Heaven knows, heaven knows
But I don't

So how am I gonna run back home
With a heart so heavy
How am I gonna make my way
When I can't find the road
How am I gonna beat this pain
When I can't see how deep it goes
Heaven knows, heaven knows
But I don't

I still believe in love
I still believe in love
I do, I do
I still believe in love
I still believe in you

Me too!

What...is love?

Love. Like Matt White says in his song is..."such a silly game we play...like a summer's day in May...What is love? What is love?" Or maybe love is when you find your "Soulmate". In that point, Natasha Bedingfield is right. "Who doesn't long for someone to hold, who knows how to love you without being told?" Yap! Love is pretty much all around. In songs.In movies. In books. You can't cross the street without seeing a cute couple holding hands, him whispering sweets words in her ear, her getting all blushed and shy. Don't get me wrong! Love is beautiful! I actually love "Love"! Still, it's a little bit depressing when you're all alone thinking about that guy who's probably having the time of his life and never thinks about you...it sucks! I mean, all the romance around you forces you to remember your own pathetic situation. But the worst thing is that when you're down, you actually feel like watching those romantic comedies and listening to those lame songs. You mope around, doing nothing and hoping that confort food will make it all go away. Sad, isn't it? Well...we all feel like that at one point or another in our lives.

But I like John Mayer's version of life and love...check it out.

I tried every approach to living, I tried it all. I haven’t tried everything, but I’ve tried every approach. Sometimes you have to try everything to get the approach the same. But…
I tried it all. I bought a bunch of stuff, I went, no, I don’t like that. I kind of came in and out of that a couple of times.
Thought I would shut myself off. I thought maybe that’s cool, maybe that’s what you have to do to be a genius is you have to be mad. So if you can get mad before the word genius, then maybe you can make genius appear. Right? That doesn’t work either.
I’m in a good place. I’ve paced myself pretty well. I’m thirty, I’ve seen some cool stuff. Made a lot of stuff happen for myself. I made a lot of stuff happen for myself. That’s a really cool sentence when you’re in your twenties, “I made it happen for myself man.”
But all that means is that I’ve just somehow found a way to synthesize love, synthesize soothing… you can’t get that.
And what I’m saying is that I’ve messed with all the approaches except for one. And it’s going to sound really corny, but that’s just love. That’s just love. I’ve done everything in my life that I want to do except just give and feel love for my living.
And I don’t mean like a roman candle, firework, Hollywood, hot pink love. I mean like a “I got your back!” love.
I don’t need to hear I love you. You guys love me, I love you, we got that down.
Some of the people who will tell you they love are some of the people who will be the last just to have your back.
So I’m going to experiment with this love thing. Givin’ love, feelin’ love. I know it sounds really corny, but it’s the last thing I got to check out before I check out.

What...am I going to do with myself?

Dreams.Again.Dreams with the one thing I shouldn't be dreaming about, because I want so much to forget about it. But I guess it's true...the more you try to forget´about something, the more you think about it. The worst thing is that I don't just think about it, but I also dream about it.It's like my own personal hell coming to torment me again and again. It's gonna take some getting used to.
Anyway, here goes today's musical lesson...John Mayer, one of the best solo musicians you'll ever know.

"Dreaming With A Broken Heart"

When you're dreaming with a broken heart
The waking up is the hardest part
You roll outta bed and down on your knees
And for the moment you can hardly breathe
Wondering was she really here?
Is she standing in my room?
No she's not, 'cause she's gone, gone, gone, gone, gone....

When you're dreaming with a broken heart
The giving up is the hardest part
She takes you in with your crying eyes
Then all at once you have to say goodbye
Wondering could you stay my love?
Will you wake up by my side?
No she can't, 'cause she's gone, gone, gone, gone, gone....

Oooooooooohhhhhhhhh

Now do i have to fall asleep with roses in my hand
Do i have to fall asleep with roses in my hand?
Do i have to fall asleep with roses in my hand?
Do i have to fall asleep with roses in my hand?
Baby won't you get them if i did?
No you won't, 'cause you're gone, gone, gone, gone, gone....

When you're dreaming with a broken heart
The waking up is the hardest part

What...about Supermassive?

So, since I'm in a "Muse Mood" lately, here's a video of "Supermassive Black Hole", an amazing song that came out in the "Twilight" Soundtrack. These kind of movies are actually very good at promoting bands and singers. If their music directors hadn't put their songs in the soundtrack, we would've never heard and we would've never realized that we actually love it. So, thank Movie Music Directors for allowing us to fall in love with great musicians such as Muse.

By the way, what did you think of the movie? Did you like it?

What...about Mu(se)sic?

I can be very weird when it comes to music. I mean...I love old music like Sinatra and Miles Davis's jazz or even Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash's amazing folk...but then I also love modern bands such as Coldplay, Snow Patrol, The Killers, Death Cab...and recently I found out I happen to have a great interest for MUSE. Strange, isn't it?!
So, I wonder...who else likes Muse? Here are the lyrics of one of their best songs.

"Sing For Absolution"

Lips are turning blue
A kiss that can't renew
I only dream of you
My beautiful
Tiptoe to your room
A starlight in the gloom
I only dream of you
And you never knew

Sing for absolution
I will be singing
And falling from your grace

There's nowhere left to hide
In no one to confide
The truth burns deep inside
And will never die

Lips are turning blue
A kiss that can't renew
I only dream of you
My beautiful

Sing for absolution
I will be singing
And falling from your grace

Sing for absolution
I will be singing
And falling from your grace

Our wrongs remain unrectified
And our souls won't be exhumed

What...am I doing here anyway?

Good question to start a blog with. In fact, most people ask that all the time, don't they? "Who am I? What am I doing here? Why am I here and not somewhere else?"
Well, today I'll answer some of those questions. Here we go.
I am...someone you don't really know and you will probably never know. Still you feel compelled to read what I wrote because you're hoping that, in the end, it will be worth it. I must inform you right now that it may not be interesting for everyone. So, in the end, if you feel like it was a total waste of time, just remember...I told you so!
I am here...to write about all the things I like and don't like. I'll talk about books, movies, music, art and even some phylisophical stuff if I come around to it. You can still back out...think about it.
I am here because...this is the one place where I can write my opinions and luckily someone will actually bother to read them. In the end, I just want to create a place where I can show a little bit of the world's artistic beauty to people, hoping that some of them can relate to it. I would really appreciate any opinions and suggestions you might want give about the things I post here.

So, now you know my answers to these three questions...What about you? What are you doing here?