August: 1, Michael: 0 (Final Score)

Well, it turns out that August was certainly not National Blog-Writing Month for yours truly. Over here at Chez Moran, things have been pretty busy. When a total lack of creativity is combined with a total occupation of personal time, the results are not so good on the "being disciplined" front when it comes to writing.

Therefore, I've come up with a short sort of "August in Review" with a lofty promise to follow.

August in Review: Kickball, job interviews, softball practices, weekend camping trips, obsessive furniture moving, compulsive errand running, a couple of dates, massive cereal consumption, house guests, volunteering, and a whole lot of watching True Blood.

Okay, now I've come to this sort of compromise - I'm throwing in the towel for August. August, you got the best of me - you win. However, while defeated and admittedly cowering a bit in my own little corner, I am promising you a much more prodigious September. With September comes the beginning of fall, a time when leaves fall from trees, the temperature drops and the happy summer moods of most people are decreased to depressed realizations that a whole year must pass before it can all happen again. However, my blog will stand tall to fall. With fortitude and loyalty, he will deliver. There is a lot in his favor after all - a softball tournament in Vancouver and a 2 week vacation in Scandinavia. If these events don't spark creative flames in me, I'm not sure what will.

See you then!

Haiku-cula!

Crap! "Twilight" - liked it.

"True Blood" Season 1 - loved it.

Sucker for vampires*?

*Yes, "vampires" is only 2 syllables. I looked it up, you snobs.

I Most Certainly Approve: Passion Pit

Allow me to introduce you to Passion Pit and their song "The Reeling" (video at bottom of post).

At first I thought my computer was having trouble loading the video and the song was skipping (as, unfortunately, happens often on my poor, aging iBook). However, it repeats, and repeats, and repeats, and becomes familiar, normal, and rhythmic. It's like taking an error and turning it into the status quo.

Clever, peppy and flavorful it's like creme brulee for the ears - crack, swirl, crunch! Abandoning the video, closing my eyes and listening to the song as a whole, I suddenly am flying through space on a unicorn dodging shooting stars and rainbows. I know it sounds strange, but I like this image - it's so out of the ordinary and out of character for me, which is refreshing. This is music that is a form of escapism, that allows your brain and your soul to transform convention, refuse genre classification and shun pigeonholing. Everything works together and yet is so incredibly fascinating apart - from the cathartic chants of the backing school children ("Oh no-o-o-o-o") to the synthesized no-holds-barred beats.

And as for that video, it only adds to the fascinating aura the music creates. An abnormally jumpy woman begins tearing (quite literally) through life on the streets to reveal the layers of the past that lie underneath the present moment. The images then start to hyperventilate and every second that follows is like a breath with purpose, clinging to the now. The bottom line for me here with this video is the fun factor - the characters featured are engaging in a joy riot, dashing through life with smiles, screams and tight pants. The night is lived with success, before the slow fade back into morning and the eventual continuation of running the mill.

For more information and other audio files, check out www.passionpitmusic.com. I also recommend "Sleepyhead" - a Fatboy Slim meets Alvin and the Chipmunks rush of repetition, bordering on the edge of discordance whose beats develop into a full-out energetic anthem.

"These Are My Twisted Words"

Finally, some music rumors I can get around. This is for those of us who could give a rat's ass about where Britney Spears slept last night or how/when/where/why George Michael was arrested again.

Radiohead is rumored to be releasing a new EP next week. There's a leaked single out on YouTube (see below) and I love it - obviously. With their last album, "In Rainbows", they took the unconventional route to marketing in the music business by releasing the album online for free download for a short time. They've been outspoken in the past about artists and bands needing to steer away from releasing albums conventionally. I think they're on the right track - if anything, the attention is put more onto the music as opposed to the person/people singing it.

Anyway, just wanted to fill in my Radiohead-loving readers. Keep your eyes and ears open next week for some potential, impending awesomeness.

"These Are My Twisted Words" by Radiohead

Scandi-lous!

After months of sitting in Barnes and Noble, flipping through guide books and drinking way too much iced tea (it's how I celebrate summer), I have finally taken the plunge. Yesterday, with my hands over my eyes, I clicked the "Purchase" button on a trip that will take me from Seattle to Copenhagen for 16 days.

For some reason, I have always had an intense desire to see Scandinavia. People always ask me why? Well, it's totally unfounded. I am not of Scandinavian descent, I don't know anybody there and I'm allergic to seafood. For some reason though, pictures of the fjords, the Northern Lights, and happy, smiling, progressive people have always bounced through my head whenever I think about that (almost) Arctic region of the world.

Now, I'm not big on expectations when I travel. If you expect certain things to happen while you travel, you are basically setting yourself up for disaster. Right now, the only plan is to travel through Denmark, Sweden and Norway and have a good time. I'll stay in hostels, crash at peoples' places, and purchase a 2 week train pass. Everything after that will be a nice surprise.

I will say, however, that it's impossible not to get an image in your head of what things will be like when you visit a new place. I have just 3 small, completely reasonable requests:

1) I have to see the Norwegian fjords - and they have to be giant, other-worldly and fascinating. I pretty much want them to be the most beautiful things I've ever seen. No pressure. Basically, I can't "af-fjord" to compromise on this request. (Man, "fjord" jokes never get old.)

2) I need to see at least one giant mass of (naturally) bright blonde haired and blue eyed people in Sweden and not feel scared. See in my head, I feel like this is normal in Sweden. As opposed to here where I would think I accidentally stepped into a Dr. Laura guest-speaker series or a Christian "service" sorority house.

3) I must ride a bike in Copenhagen and NOT fall off it, annoy people, or get a ticket of some sort. Bike riding is the main mode of transport in the 'Hagen (we're close) and I would like not to make a tourist-y fool of myself doing it. Note to self: must find hunky Danish boy to help teach me how to ride a bike once I suddenly forget.

I feel like that's not a lot. I mean, just grant me these three wishes and I'll be happy.

All in all, I'm very excited for this trip. I love to travel and for me it's a priority. People always tell me they're jealous or they wish they could travel. Well, here's my advice - don't be jealous, just do it. If you really want to travel you should. It can be cheap (give up a few things for a few months and you'll have enough money for your entire trip, I guarantee it). As long as you make it a priority in your life, you have no excuse. Don't be scared - people travel everyday and most of them don't get hurt. Foreigners are our friends, America!

Well, it's back to the guide books for me!

Writer's Block Party

Dear Readers,

I have failed you. It has been almost 2 weeks since I have updated my blog. I have been having an unbelievably terrible streak of total lack of creativity, motivation, and - yes - discipline. What can I say? It happens to the best of us.

If it makes you feel any better, I have been filling my useless time with even more useless activities such as the following:

1) Shining my lamp directly onto one of my plants to make it grow faster. Does it work? YES! Is it healthy for the plant? I have absolutely no idea. ("Synthesized photosynthesis" anyone?)

2) Watching an entire marathon of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" in one weekend, and quoting Ne-Ne and Sheree non-stop for weeks. ("Who gonna check me, boo?")

3) Moving my furniture every other day and accidentally ripping pieces of paint off the wall. (In case anyone's curious, my walls have been painted 4 times before - I can see all the layers in some spots now.)

4) Studying for the GRE. (Well, maybe that's not so useless.)

5) Baking muffins and eating them... all.

6) Folding my hand towels into interesting shapes in my bathroom.

7) Memorizing the words to French rap songs.

8) Reading the Harry Potter novels - currently on Goblet of Fire.

9) Hanging out in Barnes and Noble so much that now the cafe guy knows my drink. ("Venti Iced Black Tea with Sweetener for Mike!")

But there must be an end to this madness. I will pray to the Writing Fairy tonight and ask her to shower me with Creativity Glitter and Motivation Dust. I will welcome here freely into my bedroom and gladly follow her advice. I will even watch less television and slow down my Netflix queue if she says to - just as long as I don't wake up with a deadline under my pillow.

I Most Certainly Approve: Yoonha Hwang

Welcome to a new section of my blog. There are many things I like in this world and many things I would like to share. I decided that this should be reflected in my blog. Therefore, I have come up with "I Most Certainly Approve". 

You will know that I approve of new things, people, and places because you will see the obnoxious photo of me with my thumb up on the left side. If you don't see that photo, then you will know that the post is a fake. You cannot trust the approval unless the photo is accompanied to the post. (By the way, anyone with actual talent with photos on computers can feel free to take this photo of me and make it much more interesting and send it to me by email if you'd like.)

So, here goes with my very first "I Most Certainly Approve" post. Allow me to introduce you to Yoonha Hwang. A clearly talented pianist, he has the crazy ability to make trashy pop songs musically more classy and more than just catchy, throwaway moneymakers. 

Not only is his musical ability incredible, his introductions at the beginning of most of his videos prove to me that this is a guy I could befriend. I love friendly people, but friendly people with talent? That's like savory cream cheese icing on top of a red velvet cupcake!

Enjoy these covers of "Poker Face", "Jai Ho", and "Halo":

Give and Get - 30% off at Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic

As many of you know, I used to work for Teach For America, a wonderful non-profit organization working to close the academic achievement gap by placing strong leaders in low-income classrooms across the nation. 

I taught 6th grade Math and Reading for 2 years in Phoenix, AZ as a part of this program. I taught the most wonderful children - many of whom I still keep in touch with - and my experience, while extremely difficult, was incredibly rewarding and I still have yet to match it. 

Well, it is with this that I invite you - 

readers of my blog - to participate in the Give and Get event. 

The Give and Get event gets you 30% off every purchase you make at Gap, Banana Republic or Old Navy from July 30th to August 2nd. You can feel good shopping 'til you drop because 5% of the amount you spend will go directly to Teach For America. 

All you have to do is go to this link and print out the coupon. You can use it as many times as you like. I've used it before and even passed it down the line to people behind me. 

Who knew shopping for new clothes could be such a good deed?

5 Kilometers Later...

Before I get to all of the details, let me first start off by saying, I did it. I ran the 5k and I finished. Whew.

Despite some poor choices the week leading up to the race, I was still able to conquer the odds and put in what I consider to be a pretty decent effort on my part.

Remember when I posted a few days ago saying I was going to kick it into high gear to make up for lost time? Well, turns out my problems of being disciplined have ventured into other areas of my life as well. Basically, I ran the day after I wrote that post and then not once more the rest of the week. I ate like crap - I made brownies and ate all of them except one and I ordered macaroni and cheese at McMenamin's the day before the race and got super sick from it. Basically, I set myself up for disaster.

When I started the race, I was positive and amped up. (I mean, it was also my half birthday!) Here is a picture of me with my friends Woo and Brian before the race started.

Brian and I did the 5k together and we started off strong. We crossed that START line and even skirted our ways past several crowds of people that were just going way too damn slow. Brian and I got separated after a couple of minutes (to be expected in a race, I suppose), but I was still going strong on my own. I was still passing people and kept nodding my head in agreement with the race-snobs who kept shouting, "Walkers to the right!" since they really were in the way of us 'real runners'.

I was getting pretty tired, but was still hanging in there. I reached the turn-around (half way - 1.55 miles!) and walked for about 2 seconds, pretending that I was just having trouble getting around the cone. Then I picked up the jogging pace again. This is when my brain gave out on me. I was over half way through the race now and my head was telling me to stop (ditto my legs and lungs). However, my inner voice kept saying "You can do it!" and "Go, Michael, go!" And then my inner voice mutated itself into my outer voice causing a tinge of embarrassment to overcome me once I realized I was talking to myself.

Then, out of nowhere, there was board that read, "2 Mile Mark" and that did me in. Now, for most people, this might be a motivator - "2 miles - I'm almost done, I gotta keep pushing!" However, for me and at this point, it totally ruined my chances of running the whole way. I thought to myself "2 miles - Damn! That's a lot/that's enough." So, then I made my way over to the right so I wouldn't piss off the snobs and started to walk. I counted out 60 seconds very slowly (so slowly that it probably amounted to 2 minutes rather than 1). Then I saw an older woman pass me (darn), then a high school boy wearing Converse hi-tops (what?), then a seven-year-old (shit!) and that's when I started running again.

I turned a corner and there was the FINISH line. It seemed so close so I started to sprint. I looked up about 15 seconds later and couldn't believe how far it still was - it looked so close just a moment ago! But I was not about to be that guy who walks his way across the finish line, so I hoofed it and pushed it into high gear. I felt like I was going to trip over my legs, and then I felt like I was going to puke, and then I passed the line and immediately just started walking and trying to catch my breath.

I did it. With a stomach full of macaroni and brownies, I did it.

And here's the proof: 

Song of the Mo

I am all over this track right now and I can't seem to stop moving my shoulders. Dig it.

"Pop Goes the World" by The Gossip

UPDATE: Have replaced old video with this remix. They took down the original one for "terms of violation" or something stupid. I hate laws.