Ms. Scellaneous

Sometimes life makes us feel miscellaneous. In all the hustle and bustle of daily life, jam packed with the ritualistic routines and the unexpected happenings that make the best stories, life can leave us feeling scattered, unfocused, and exhausted. Because let’s face it folks, life is a worthy opponent in the battle to maintain our sanity. It lashes out with fierce strength, sending a volley of responsibility, expectations, and unplanned circumstances down on unsuspecting civilians, whose only answer is to just wing it and hope for the best. As we fight back as best as we can, with a barrage of squeaks, groans, and halfhearted sighs, we cling to what little structure and fallback plans that keep us afloat.

Life – 1. Me – 0.

NOPE. I will emerge victorious, just give me some time and a fighting chance. Just call me Ms. Scellaneuous – because I’m a mess, a muddle, and most often found marveling at life and all its magnificent surprises (and dodging bullets too).

Maybe Life Thinks My Play on Words is Funny 

>Next Year - Two Door Cinema Club
>About The Weather - Tom Rosenthal
>In A Drawer - Band of Horses
>America - First Aid Kit
>Jackie and Wilson - Hozier
>Step - Vampire Weekend
>Mr. Tambourine Man - Bob Dylan
>Cleopatra - The Lumineers
>Sun - Sleeping At Last
>Days - The Drums
>These Days - Nico
>Quietus - Foxing 
>Shield Your Eyes (acoustic) - Dry the River


You can win this war, with humor, good music, and good food,

Gabriella

Sleep, My Love

Monday winds down slowly, leaving hearts everywhere full of unimaginable feelings. It is nearly time to rest our aching bodies and close our weary eyes. A sense of calm, of peaceful surrender, blankets the physical being, while the metaphysical is awoken by the sudden urge to imagine. Thoughts scatter here and there, some preparing to quiet down for the night, while others are just getting riled up. Dreams begin to form in the furthest recesses of the mind as memories old and new flood the subconscious in a down pouring of emotional impulses. Sleep envelops the exhausted individual like the inviting arms of a lover. Eagerly, tenderly, it places kisses on eyelids like the scattering of seeds over tilled earth. With its soothing touch, we will all be reborn in the morning, carefree and light as young fools in love.

Kiss Me Goodnight:

>Everything That Can Be Invented –Tvärvägen
>This Is How I Let You Down – The Franklin Electric
>Look Out – James Vincent McMorrow
>Have We Met Before? – Tom Rosenthal
>The Only Thing – Sufjan Stevens
>Warm Foothills – alt-J
>Beach Baby – Bon Iver
>Einstein’s Idea – Johnny Flynn
>Passenger Seat – Death Cab for Cutie
>Shaker Hymns – Dry the River
>Land Locked Blues – Bright Eyes
>Nancy From Now On – Father John Misty
>Kiss Me – Ed Sheeran

Until Morning,
Gabriella

Ways to Win Your Weekly Wars

Long weekends are both a blessing and a curse. They seem to arrive just when we need them. Our lives have become so hectic and fast paced, we begin to wonder how much more we can stand before we break down completely, and there it is – a redeeming light at the end of a formidable tunnel. The light is so beautiful, so bright we must look away, blinking deliberately to bring our eyes back into focus, and by the time we turn our faces back to its glory, it has passed, leaving us once again at the entrance to an ever-darkening tunnel. And this tunnel seems even more foreboding than when we last encountered it.

Only one thing is certain. We must carry on. No matter how frightening, dismal, or difficult of a task it may be – though we may scream and shout – tears may fall and feet may bleed. We don’t have to go silently, but we have to get to the other side. And there’s no saying that we can’t have a little help along the way.

So let’s not hesitate. Let’s face it head on.

Courage, My Friends:

>Slow the Time – Cataldo
>I’ll Believe In Anything –  Wolf Parade
>There is a Dark Place – Tom Rosenthal
>Stay Alive – Jose Gonzalez
>Dropla – Youth Lagoon
>Dog Days Are Over – Florence + The Machine
>How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep – Bombay Bicycle Club
>Sun Giant – Fleet Foxes
>Heart’s On Fire – Passenger
>Lost Coastlines – Okkervil River
>Lovers In Japan – Coldplay
>Wake Up Children – J. Thoven
>Back Then – B Story

Have Heart. You were made to win this fight.

Gabriella

Music You Will Remember

What a beautiful day this Monday was. It was the first Monday in quite some time that I just didn’t seem to mind. The weather was pleasant, the daydreams were extensive, and somehow, the world seemed both deafeningly loud and hauntingly silent, all at the same time. As I walked aimlessly around the campus between classes and trips to the cafeteria, I found myself both inspired and entirely whisked away by the stunning sounds of various film scores playing through my headphones that caused my steps to slow, and my eyes to wander as the world around me seemed to come deeper into existence, gradually growing more alive. The trees were suddenly far greener than they were before, the chirping of birds that saturated the soft music was the clearest it had ever been, and all around me, the people were more beautiful than they had ever appeared in the past.

There is nothing on God’s green earth that gets my heart thumping, mind racing, and spirit dancing like the incredible instrumental pieces from the films that I hold near and dear to my heart. The mood created, the emotions evoked, and the thoughts formed by music so gorgeous, it needs no lyrics to speak volumes, is something quite unlike anything else. It inspires my writing and takes me places I never imagined I could reach. In much the same way that a book can transport you to fascinating, uncharted worlds, music can be there with you along the way, enhancing and inspiring your journey.

So what are you waiting for? Let’s go.

Take Me There: 

>The Gravel Road - from The Village
>Song for Bob - from The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
>Song for Jesse - from The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
>Peer Pressure - from Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
>Time - from Inception
>Steve's Theme - from The Last Song
>This is Berk- from How To Train Your Dragon
>The Breaking Of The Fellowship - from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of   the Ring
>The Fellowship Reunited - from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
>Love Theme - from Romeo and Juliet
>Lily's Theme - from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Pt. 2
>Hymn to the Sea - Titanic
>The Beach - from The Road

Meet yourself on the other side,

Gabriella

 

Adventure Is Out There

Here we are again. Another week has crawled slowly by, finishing up with a brief and blissful weekend that passes in the blink of an eye, leaving us all with yet another unfortunate case of the Mondays.

Today I felt like running away. I wanted to be whisked away on a gust of wind, swept onto a stretch of black asphalt: the foundation of adventure. To taste salt in the air and feel the cool itch of grass upon my skin was my one thought that carried me through the day, full of responsibilities and tasks that stood between me and reckless behavior. There is a time and a place for all things. For school, work, play, love, and adventure. Today just wasn’t the right day for spontaneous departures from reality. There will come another day, when all I have to do is grab the keys and go. But for now, I find my adventure in some of these songs.

Find Your Adventure:

>Nothing to Remember – Neko Case
>Your Are A Tourist – Death Cab for Cutie
>Robbers – The 1975
>The Funeral – Band of Horses
>The John Wayne – Little Green Cars
>Lazy Eye – Silversun Pickups
>Montezuma – Fleet Foxes
>Take Your Guess – Tom Rosenthal
>Green River – Real Estate
>Gone – Jr. Jr.
>Electric Love – BORNS
>Landforms – Other Lives
>Tokyo Sunrise – LP

Go get it,
Gabriella

Monday Means Music

Oh Monday.

You bring with you a wave of sorrow and drawn out yawns as you settle heavy over us. Many have attempted to combat your wickedness with hopeful sayings and inspirational speeches, and yet, you prove to be a consistently formidable foe. Though many have tried and failed to lay to waste your ruin, I have found that only one solution remains effective in dispatching you week after week.

Music.

A soft and sweet, and sometimes swift and savory mix of fantastic music with even better lyrics.

Feast your ears, my friends.

The Mondays:

>Welcome Home, Son - Radical Face
>Land of the Bloody Unknown - The Middle East
>Helplessness Blues - Fleet Foxes
>Tenuousness - Andrew Bird
>She Lit A Fire - Lord Huron
>Fire and the Flood - Vance Joy
>All Points - James Vincent McMorrow
>Step Outside - Jose Gonzalez
>Featherstone - The Paper Kites
>She Changes the Weather - Swim Deep
>Advanced Falconry - Mutual Benefit
>We Can't Be Beat - The Walkmen
>Home - Dan Croll

All my love,

Gabriella