Paradise by coldplay

ok so i know a couple months ago i kinda went off about coldplay's new song "paradise"

i was extremely excited for a new song and was caught totally caught off guard by the hip hop-y beat

i thot coldplay had left their sweet melancholy roots and tried to enter the popscene

i was mortified (as a good fan should be)

but i realized i should give the song a second chance. (not because Taylor Swift just tweeted it was like a mythical journey or anything.........) but it made me realize id only listened to about half the itunes demo of the song.....i never even heard the real deal! so this morning i listened....and it had me from the beginning. it was so beautiful. beyond their usual genius.....it was different...but i think its always hard for fans when artists grow and change. that of course was my reaction last time. but i love it so much now. it does have a lot more sound effects than usual but theyre perfect and not at all mainstream. and though it did have me dancing (not normal for a coldplay song) it was simultaneously melancholy....sounds like an oxymoron i know...but it was enchanting and most definitely a mythical journey. and ive found that contradictions are often the best things in life...so

here's to contradictions!

My happiest moments

Last night i saw the movie "the namesake." in passing it was mentioned to think of your happiest moment and close your eyes and stay there. i immediately thought what is my happiest moment or some of my happiest moments. i couldnt think of anything at first so i put it aside to mull over later. so i did. these are the top ten happiest moments of my life: (note 60% of these occured in san francisco...of course....20% occurred in my imagination)

1. Driving down highway one in a convertible with my dad. we were on our way to point reyes and it the most scenic drive ive ever driven. the air smelled amazing. the bay was on our left and the green cliffs to our right. well actually the road was on the green cliffs...

2. The next morning we woke up in point reyes and i saw it for the first time. we had driven in in the dark the night before. i looked up out the window behind my bed and it was fogged over. hills in the distance. trees. the owner of the cabins was riding on a horse. it was beautiful.

3. Across the bay from sanfran theres a quaint little town called sausalito. we stayed there in a hotel for a couple nights. the hotel was overlooking the bay with saliboats and san fran in the distance. and the golden gate bridge. so when we first got checked in the hotel i went out on our patio and i smelled in that fresh sweet air of california that was tainted with the best smelling flowers i never could have imagined. sausalito was picturesque and just across the street was the view of the bay.

4. When Molly killed Bellatrix in the seventh harry potter book :)

(note: getting that book the night it came out-and reading it-was also an extremely blissful yet bittersweet time. yet here im listing particulair moments where i stopped to abosrb the moment and focused on etching it in my mind forever)

5. My sister's wedding in san francisco was a really happy trip and time. the standout eyes closed moment however took place the night before when we the whole wedding party was crowded in the hostel living room floor while all the musically talented took turns playing guitar and singing. exact moment: when my brother was playing

6. her actual wedding day. exact moment: right after when we climbing back up the rocky cliff and through the bridge. up from the lighthouse, the foggy view of san fran across the bay. the sun setting.

7. The first time i got something at anthropologie. it was a blue coat. my dad and sister were there. it was christmas eve. he bought it for me while i was looking at other things. i got to where it out of the store :) exact moment: i wore it out and saw it was snowing. on christmas eve. in texas. in my coveted blue coat :) (note: other happy moments at anthro include every time i walk in the store and i take a deep breath of the smell of the store and my dad and i saw say simultaneously "im home")

8. when i was 6 and my dad bought me a beagle. he was a puppy. cutest dog ever. exact moment: my dad set him up in my room under a box while i was somewhere else and i walked in and he climbed out from under the box. i started crying. the camera was rolling (of course...oh my dad lol)

9. when we were driving in a rented convertible to this lodge across the bay from san fran at night. there was this moment when there was this perfect foggy (isnt it always? :)) view of the city. it was all lit up in the dark night and it was really mystical looking. enchanted kind of. beautiful. strangely purplish

10. When ron and hermione kiss in the seventh harry potter book. wow. really great. (another i would add if 11 was as rounded as 1o: harry and ginny's kiss in book 6)

so these were just a few. 10 out of hundreds. these were just the ones that first came to mind when i started a mulling. however once i started many poured out of the depths of my memory long since forgotten. i think this is a really thing to do. try it. many people think of things theyre grateful for. why not happy moments?

the low anthem

so theyre kinda what im listening to right now...so i thought i should blog about them. theyre really awesome. my favorite song is probably "Charlie Darwin" its really beautiful...

Austin

Dear travel diary,

today i went to Austin. so i heard they needed "atmosphere people" for this sci fi film. so i begged my dad to take me claiming itd start my acting career etc etc. So since hes pretty amazing he agreed and we made a day out of it (more on that later). so i went to the address of the place the said pretty early. it was a comic book shop. called Dragon's Lair....so it was outgeared with the typical things youd expect to see after seeing some movie portraying nerds in a comic book shop. scarily like that. like exactly like that. there were tables set aside for "miniature game play" (?) and there were some pretty serious nerds. in the back there was some huge game going on involving cards and knights and such (dont ask me). my dad and i could not stop cracking up silently about how serious they were. i had to keep facing the opposite direction so they wouldnt see....it was pretty bad. so it was filled with all kind of "priceless" comic books and stuff i didnt understand. but anyway the workers had no idea what i was talking about when i said i had come for the film....Goliad uprising i said...still no clue....worker checking "event calendar"...no nothing going on today.....hmmmm..... they have stuff going on some days?.....so i start to freak out a little. cuz first of all i had expected there to be cameras and film crew and other crew type people surrounding the place....i was only 3o minutes early!...i checked the email again....right address...this was dragon's lair comic book shop....so i just wait. feeling extremely lame because im in a nerd shop. and i dont belong here. and they said theres no movie going on. but i stayed. so who knows what theyre thinking. and i have no idea what to do. so i flip through some comic book entitled "prince-less." eventually another girl comes in with tan cothes and a hat and gloves (the costume requirements). phew. but why is no one else here?!?! so by now after the short wave of relief i feel even more idioc because this must be the smallest thing ever. none of the crew is even here yet which suggests it would take no time at all to set up. which means this is not a big budget hollywood movie. this is an indie. which is cool! dont get me wrong! but that means i drove 3 hours to be an EXTRA in an INDIE film. so eventually they arrive (2 min past the time they told me to be there just saying) and im proven correct. this is the smallest movie making ever. by now im thinking this some student project. but no its an indie film. ok. this is alright. no one has to know i made a huge deal out of this and drove 3 hours to get here. "yeah im from austin...just saw this....decided to drop by" i practiced in my head. oh please God please dont let my father tell anyone we came all the way from fort worth. omigod hes so going to...he has no clue...omigod he just did....he told the girl who had come second after me...omigod now she probably thinks im some prissy bratty girl who came here hoping to get fame or something....omigod please dont tell anyone else dad! thank goodness he didnt...thankfully he didnt say much to anyone after that. phew. so by now all the extras are here (about 7) and theyre ALL way older than me... like college! or older! so i now feel extremely lame and out of place (why did i come here?! i thought for like the 4th time im so stupid!) so then we go outside to start filming...which is why the dragons lair were not privy to this....it was just being filmed outside their shop...and the director started explaining the plot which was pretty interesting and so i started getting excited! even though it was 117 degrees and i felt like water was gushing out of my feet which were in unwisely chosen leather (super cute) shoes, it was fun and i felt like i belonged because there was a camera near my face....a director giving directions....and even though i had no lines i had a role to play and a character to be! success!

august 15

bookworm wednesday

the book thief. by markus zusak. its incredible. read it.

its the story of a girl living in nazi germany with her foster parents. her brother died and her mom left her with foster parents when she was 8 because she couldnt take care of her. she finds she loves words after she steals books from places that have a lot of meaning to her.

its beautifully written and shows a completely different take on fiction about nazi germany. ots narrated by Death, which i found really interesting.

the end is not happy, but thats part of what makes it beautiful.

travel tuesday!

ok so its thursday whatevr....i really need to change that...BUT i dont have to because i have decided to make this purely a travel blog! yay! im sure ill veer from travel from time to time but thats ok. so tuesday i traveled to dallas and had a fun day. my dad and i went to north park mall where i tried on stuff at anthropologie and free people which was awesome! i found some amazing stuff but it was expensive so i didnt actually buy but i saw some awesome glasses as well that i think i will b getting! (stay tuned) so anyway we also went to mockingbird station and ate at urban taco! i recommend it....awesome chips...great tacos. also get the avocado dip...its good. we then saw the indie film "another earth." see it–u wont b let down. it was great.

book worm wednesdays

a new segment i am starting. :)

i had to think a while to come up with anything better than wacky wednesdays haha

so the help. its amazing. read it. its by kathryn stockett. its so beautiful.

also its coming out as a movie soon....starring emma stone. get excited