Wordless Wednesday: Tokyo At Dusk
Photo courtesy of Stuck In Customs via Flickr
Tagged: Color, Japan, Meme, Photo, Photography, Wordless Wednesday
I Miss My Blog (And You)
Wow. I haven’t blogged since July of 2010. That was last year, people! Where the fuck have I been?! Well, some of you know and some of you don’t. I guess I’ll have to post a little somethin’ somethin’ to make sure everyone is up to speed on what is going on in Aprilverse.
I lost my 7 1/2 year “day job” in July. It was a nowhere job that wasn’t even in my interests and I only worked it to have a steady paycheck and health insurance. I won’t go into details about how I lost my job, but let’s just say that I didn’t deserve it and I hope no one ever has to go through what I did. I immediately lost my health insurance and to this day I don’t have coverage. I keep my fingers crossed every single day that I won’t get seriously hurt. Why? Because…
I’ve had a lot of health problems and accidents over the past 8+ years, including but not limited to, a herniated disc in my lower back with a side of sciatica from a car accident (I got rear-ended… you can stop laughing now), a tumor the size of a golf ball on my thyroid that caused me to gain over 100 pounds, bouts of depression & agoraphobia, a broken ankle that forced me to learn how to walk again, double pneumonia TWICE, and numerous little ailments, some stemming from pre-existing injuries. I seriously need to be careful, eh?
One week after losing my job, someone decided to report this lil’ ol’ blog to my hosting company. What did I do wrong? I had music on my server. Copyrighted music. That I used a plugin to share that didn’t even allow people to download the tracks… only listen to them. I even provided links to download the music from iTunes or Amazon. How audacious of me! I must have been a terrible person for sharing music, right?! I mean, I can understand if it was the RIAA, but according to my hosting company, it wasn’t. It was a random fucking person, who I like to call ‘Captain RIAA’. Who takes it upon themselves to report someone when they have nothing to gain? An asshole, that’s who. I had to wipe all of the music from my server so I didn’t get my site shut down, causing all of my posts embedded with music to stop working unless they contained mashups, Creative Commons, or were embeddable mixtapes from 8tracks.com. If you were wondering why most of the music on my site wouldn’t stream, now you know. I still need to fix this. *le sigh*
Tagged: Friends, Life, Love, Mashup, Personal, Positivity, Relationships, Thoughts, Update
Why Hearing Is My Most Important Sense
As a music lover, hearing is the most important sense to me. I can’t imagine a life without music. I live and breathe music. If I had to choose between any of my five senses to keep forever and forgo all others, hearing would be my immediate response. I could live without sight, for I was lucky to be born with it and I already know what so many things look like. The sense of touch, while pleasurable in so many ways, still doesn’t top a life without hearing. The sense of taste is another sense that I wouldn’t want to lose, but at the end of the day, tasting food isn’t a priority on my list. Perhaps it would be if I was a chef. Losing my sense of smell would have some disadvantages, but I just can’t say that it’s more special than my hearing.
Every day we listen to so many things and we take a lot of them for granted. Imagine never being able to hear the voice of your children. Imagine never hearing someone telling you that they love you. Imagine never hearing the sound of rain, or the other beautiful sounds of nature. Now imagine never being able to listen to music. I shudder at the thought.
I couldn’t even begin to think of all the songs that I’ve heard through my 30 years on this earth. A lot of music has gotten me through a lot of hard times; Songs that made me jump up and dance, heal my broken heart, and songs that inspired me. If it wasn’t for my sense of hearing, I don’t know if I would even be the same person I am today.
I Love My iPhone 4, BUT…
Let me start off by saying that I’m not an Apple fanatic. While I love some of their products, I’m by no means an Apple-only type of person. I don’t think I could ever devote myself to one company faithfully and not be open to what else is out there. I’ve gone between using PC and Mac over the years, and my first computer was a Commodore 64. (Geek alert!) However, I love the Apple iPhone. I don’t love it more than other phones, but it’s a beautiful piece of technology that I’m lucky enough to be able to afford.
I got my first iPhone, a 16 GB 3G, over a year ago out of necessity. Since I am an AT&T customer, my only options at the time were between a BlackBerry or an iPhone. Since most people I knew had an iPhone, I decided to get one. I was not disappointed at all. It was a huge upgrade from the Samsung BlackJack II I had been using at the time. Even though the phone I purchased was refurbished, I didn’t have any problems with it and over a year later the battery is still going strong.
With the launch of the new iPhone 4, upgrading from a 3G iPhone was a big upgrade for me. I wanted a better camera, some sort of multi-tasking, and a faster phone since I am a heavy user. I also invested money into the apps I owned so getting another iPhone was the best solution for me. I just happened to be one of the lucky few that were able to order their phone the first day through AT&T’s website. I had never ordered anything at launch before and I wasn’t expecting the mass chaos over the iPhone 4 because there are so many other phones out there now, especially with the open source Android OS. I don’t think anyone expected that millions of people would crash 2 websites at launch over a phone, but it happened and here we are.
I received my iPhone 4 via Fedex on June 23rd from AT&T. My excitement over the new phone had been raised by the fact that I was lucky to have been able to get one at all. Then I activated it. I had no signal when I touched my phone. My first thought was that it was an AT&T issue. After realizing that the signal dropped every time I picked it up, I realized something was amiss and did a quick Google search and found that people were reporting the same problems. This was not good.
Tagged: Apple, Apps, iPhone, Technology
8 Free Converse iPhone Wallpapers
I love Converse sneakers. I spend countless hours looking at photos with Converse sneakers in them. There are groups devoted to Converse sneakers on Flickr. How do I know this? Because Converse is my porn.
There is nothing hotter than a pair of Chucks, so I decided to create some iPhone wallpapers for all you other Converse fans out there. All of these photos are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 License.
- Each photo was edited by me for use as a wallpaper for your iPhone.
- Each photo is given credit to the original photographer.
If you like any of these wallpapers, download them by right-clicking the image and choosing “Save as”.
Ready to see the goods? Here we go!
Tagged: BW, Converse, Creative Commons, Freebies, iPhone, Photography, Shoes, Wallpaper
Indie Pop Delectables
Indie pop is one of my favorite genres. Indie pop can describe a lot of groups, because it isn’t your standard pop music and there is a lot of rock in it, and these days even some electronica, too. I’ve narrowed down some songs that I love and think fit well together in a “delectable” mixtape.
As always, this mix was made via 8tracks.com and if you love making mixes, be sure to check them out. Now hit play and bask in some sexy indie pop tunage.
Track Listing:
Kiss That Grrrl – Kate Nash
Fallen Over – Rose Elinor Dougall
Sex – The Pipettes
Julia, We Don’t Live In The 60′s – The Indelicates
You Told A Lie – Camera Obscura
If You Were Alien – The Brunettes
Mowgli’s Road – Marina & The Diamonds
The Great Unwanted – Lucky Soul
Wish I Stayed – Ellie Goulding feat. Frankmusik
Here Comes The Serious Bit – The Long Blondes
If you like any of the songs listed above, support the artist by purchasing them.
Tagged: 8tracks, Alternative, British, Indie, Indie Pop, Mix, Pop, Rock, Singer-Songwriter
Hanging Up On Negativity & Being Positive
I wouldn’t call myself an overly positive person. I do believe in positive energy and like the idea of a glass that is half full. I have been on the opposite side of the scale at different points in my life, especially during bouts of depression, and at times I’m also a realist. Having said that, I’m no longer at a crossroads in my life. I have learned that seeing the glass half empty is a waste of energy that can be channeled to a more positive outlook. There are moments when I start to feel down, but I do my best to think logically about the situation and I surely don’t complain to every person who is within earshot or on a social network away about how I feel. I wouldn’t want my negative energy to bring someone else down. It’s not fair to my friends to feel bad or depressed because I am. That’s not cool at all.
Lately, I’ve begun to see a trend. Maybe it’s because I’m enjoying my time seeing the world through rose colored glasses, but being around negative vibes is unavoidable when I allow myself to be subjected to it. No more. I’m hanging up on the people who spend all their time complaining about how terrible their life is and do nothing about it. I’m hanging up on the people who would love nothing but a bullshit flame war because they have so much anger inside that they taunt you into replying to their negative comments to get some sort of reaction. I’m over it, over it… so fucking over it.
Tagged: BW, Choices, Friends, Life, Negativity, Personal, Positivity, Social Media, Thoughts, Twitter
The Genesis of Butterflies
The Genesis of Butterflies by Victor Hugo (1802 – 1885)
The dawn is smiling on the dew that covers
The tearful roses; lo, the little lovers
That kiss the buds, and all the flutterings
In jasmine bloom, and privet, of white wings,
That go and come, and fly, and peep and hide,
With muffled music, murmured far and wide.
Ah, the Spring time, when we think of all the lays
That dreamy lovers send to dreamy mays,
Of the fond hearts within a billet bound,
Of all the soft silk paper that pens wound,
The messages of love that mortals write
Filled with intoxication of delight,
Written in April and before the May time
Shredded and flown, playthings for the wind’s playtime,
We dream that all white butterflies above,
Who seek through clouds or waters souls to love,
And leave their lady mistress in despair,
To flit to flowers, as kinder and more fair,
Are but torn love-letters, that through the skies
Flutter, and float, and change to butterflies.
Image courtesy of mel!nka via Flickr
Tagged: Author, Fantasy, Favorite, Inspiration, Photography, Poems, Poet
I Am Thirty, Going On Twenty
My twenties sucked. Hard. I’m not complaining because whatever happened, happened. (Nod to my fellow Losties out there.) I’m merely bringing this up since I recently turned thirty and entering this new decade of my life, I feel like I have a chance to do a lot of things I should have done or have been meaning to put off, but I finally have the maturity and experience to deal with it and I feel the most confident in myself than I have ever been.
I AM ME
For once I can say that I know who I am as a person. I am okay with my faults because they are a part of me. What you see is what you get. I wear my heart on my sleeve and make no apologies for it. I like writing AND designing, and I don’t feel the need to only do one or the other. I CAN have my cake and eat it, too. It took me a long time to get to this place. My whole life, I’ve always doubted myself. I’m my own worst critic and rather than appreciating what I do, I would compare myself with the people I was surrounded by, the people I looked up to.
Nature By Numbers – An Animated Short
I came across a pretty badass video on vimeo called Nature By Numbers. It’s gorgeous animation was done by Etérea Studios, a graphic and animation studio run by graphic designer and 3D artist Cristóbal Vila. Etérea focuses on CGI services for clients. Nature By Numbers is described as “a short movie inspired on numbers, geometry, and nature.”
Tagged: 3D, CGI, Graphic Design, Short Story, Vimeo
Rappin’ To The Rhythm
My latest mixtape is a mix of rap and hip-hop. From older artists like NWA and Slick Rick to newer rappers like Swizz Beatz and Black Eyed Peas, this mix is sure to give you an eargasm.
I’ve been wanting to do a good mixtape via 8tracks of rap and hip-hop for a while now. I like a lot of older rappers but I wanted to make sure I covered everything so I’ve included newer artists as well. This is a long mix, and it’s just the way I like it – dirty dirty. If you are easily offended, this won’t be the mix for you, but if you love some groovy goodness, roll a fattie, hit play, and chillax.
Track listing:
New York Shit (Remix) – Busta Rhymes feat. Swizz Beatz & KRS-One
It’s Me Bitches – Swizz Beatz
Ugly – Bubba Sparxxx
Get It Together – Beastie Boys feat. Q-Tip
Q-Tip and Peter Gunz Skit – Q-Tip, Peter Gunz, & Slick Rick
I Run This – Slick Rick
Ain’t No Fun (If The Homies Can’t Have None) – Snoop Dogg feat. Kurupt, Nate Dogg, & Warren G
How Do U Want It – Tupac Shakur feat. Kci & JoJo
Hootie Hoo – Outkast
In da Wind – Trick Daddy feat. Cee-Lo & Big Boi
Church – T-Pain feat. Teddy Verseti
That Shit – A Tribe Called Quest feat. JD of Slum Village
Back In The Day (Jeep Mix) – Ahmad
Damien – DMX
Can’t Stop Won’t Stop (Dirty) – Young Guns
Flava in Ya Ear – Craig Mack
I Got Five On It (Eminem & Luniz Mix) – Eminem
Nuthin’ but a “G” Thang – Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg
Shimmy Shimmy Ya - Ol’ Dirty Bastard
Lick Shots – Missy Elliott
Prime Time – Tha Alkaholiks feat. Xzibit
Ten Crack Commandments – The Notorious B.I.G.
Fuck The Police (DJ Shadow Remix) – NWA
Imma Be - Black Eyed Peas
If you like any of the songs listed above, support the artist by purchasing them.
Music And The Movies: Top 50 Epic Songs
How many times have you heard a song and thought of an epic movie scene? Have you ever fallen in love with a song that was written for a movie even if you hadn’t seen it? Do you find yourself discovering new music watching movies? If you answered yes to any of the above, then you know that music and movies go together like peanut butter and jelly, like peas and carrots, and like Batman and Robin, pun intended.
Tagged: Country, Disco, Folk, Foreign, Hard Rock, List, Movie Music, Movie Songs, Movie Themes, Pop, Rock, Theme Songs
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