A Strange Morning

You know the sounds that houses make? Apartments make them, too. Things settle. Things creak. The air conditioner kicks on with an almost vehement force if you bother to pay it any attention. What's unique about apartments, though, is that you can sometimes hear what your neighbors are up to. You can sometimes catch the murmuring undertones of a television set. The muted slam of a closing door. The stampede of footsteps climbing up and down the stairs, the jingle of keys in the hallway outside your door. It's comforting, actually, those noises, those presences of other living, breathing people all around you. I suppose it's more comforting if you know your neighbors (I know not a one). But for those like me who never bother getting chummy with the people who live literally on the other side of your hallway or even walls, the comfort comes from the ability to blame certain things on the activities of those other people.

It is therefore intensely uncomfortable when you find that you cannot.


I woke up at one of my usual wake up times (I think it might have been arounddddd 7 am? That sounds about right. The sun was most definitely up). I don't know about the rest of you, but whenever I wake up I have to immediately use the bathroom. Every time. Like an imperfect clock. So I grabbed my phone, shoved my glasses onto my face and wandered into the bathroom.

I knew that my mother was already gone, it being Saturday and all, and she'd mentioned that she'd be heading to work even earlier than 5 am because we had somewhere to be in the early afternoon. So that left me, my step father--who was out cold, sleeping in their room--and the cat.

So I was very, very puzzled when, as I was in the bathroom half-asleep, I heard a distinctly familiar tune. At first this did not bother me. I barely recognized the tune at first, but the more I thought about it, the more familiar it became. I strained to listen--had it just been my imagination?--and it played again. I frowned. I blinked. I knew that song all right--Twisted Nerve. A song used in the Kill Bill series, and more recently known as Tate's theme from American Horror Story.

I thought, well, that's odd. But it didn't trouble me, not then. I was still half-asleep, you see, and I rather liked that song. It didn't even occur to me to find it strange that it did not, in fact, seem like it was coming from any of the neighboring apartment units, not even the people above us (who I tended to hear most often).

The TV, I had assumed. Mine or perhaps my mother's. Or a phone.

Then I wandered back into my bedroom, and what I saw woke me up far more assuredly than the first few bars of Twisted Nerve.

My blinds were open.

They weren't open entirely--maybe about five inches. But still. I had not done it. Had they been like that before I wandered into the bathroom? I honestly couldn't remember, but I feel like I would have noticed, seeing as they are right next to my head when I sleep.

Maybe my mother did it when she came into my room this morning (something she always did before she left to work, whether I remember it or not). I immediately dismissed this as possible. My mother hated it when I left my blinds open like that when I was still sleeping. She certainly wouldn't have done it when she left at 4 am, with the sun not even up.

Still, I called her. Asked if she'd been in my room (she had). She had no idea what I was talking about with the blinds--maybe it was Frankie? she'd asked. He did like playing with the strings. But Frankie had been in the sink when I'd gone to the bathroom, and he'd been in there with me the whole time--and her solution for the music--perhaps it had been John's phone?--did not make any sense. His phone is old. He does not know how to put ringtones on it. And if he did, I seriously doubt he would have used Twisted Nerve.

Maybe it was the people upstairs, she suggested. Maybe it was your TV.

The TV was the likelier cause, and when I turned to consider it, it was indeed still on. But the volume was on low. Even standing two feet away from it I had to strain to hear what it was saying/playing. There was no way I would have been able to hear it all the way in the bathroom so distinctly. My mother's TV? No dice. It wasn't on at all.

But like I said, I was half awake. Maybe the whistling tune wasn't Twisted Nerve at all, but had jostled something in my brain to make me think of the song, and my memories, in cohoots with my half-asleep brain, played it again for me. Maybe I just imagined it.

But that doesn't explain the blinds.

(I know, I know, I posted this song already. Here, have another:)

I'd also like to add that my strange morning probably was a result of my being not-quite-awake. It is entirely possible that I opened the shades my self, and just didn't remember. Either way, I just wanted to write out how it felt cuz why not.

An Invasion of Cats and Other Potentially Exciting Things

Firstly, Frankie:

Cat, what are you doing.

Other Potentially Exciting Thing:

Giulia and I have contemplated different versions of this for like a year and a half now (though originally we wanted to do something more in the vein of 4 Player Podcast), and have finally decided to band together and make a site (via wordpress and tumblr) dedicated to reviewing/discussing/highlighting books, video games, movies, TV shows/miniseries, and whatnot, through written posts, podcasts, and videos. If this sounds like a thing you might be interested in doing, let me know, and I will add you.

Wordpress: http://stirfrynoodles.wordpress.com/

Tumblr: http://stir-frynoodles.tumblr.com/

Nothing is on there yet, though. But soon. Soon.

GANGNAM STYLE

GUYS SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO THIS SONG I AM LEARNING THIS CRAZY HORSE DANCE. SHHHH. SHHHHH. If you can't stand it, you must skip to 1:55 because it kills me every time.

Where is everyone?

Why don't I ever hear from you?

I miss you.

On Doing Nothing

This summer has largely been uneventful and relatively unproductive. Turns out my brain works better when I have something to consistently do every day. Shame the job market sucks (though kudos to you clever folk who managed to beat the system and stay employed this summer!) but school will be resuming soon and hopefully then my mind won't seem so utterly stagnant.

Let's see...

Daytime television is the worst.

Thank god for DVR.

The horror movie franchise is more lacking than ever.

Despite the fact that superhero movies kind of suck (seriously, they're all set-up movies and you can TELL that they are!), I have been enjoying them of late. Saw the Hulk back when it came out because of Reasons (okay, because of Edward Norton) and thought that would be the end of my Marvel-inspired movie watching until Certain People insisted I see Thor, Captain America, and at least the first Iron Man. I have finally done this, and now I can FINALLY see the Avengers. So that's good. Also, Dark Knight Rises was a relatively satisfying end to the trilogy. Not as good as Dark Knight, of course, but still! I thought it was going to be uber shit-tastic, and was pleasantly surprised.

Also I kind of want to write about superheroes now. But where to start! And lord knows I don't need another project on my plate, but when have I ever been reasonable?

Alrighty, hopefully this is a sufficient enough post for Rachel to not feel awkward about posting her Very British Adventures, which is what we all really want to read about, right? :D


Musics:


This is not a new song for any of you (I hope!), but Jen showed me thissss weeks ago, I want to say, and I LOVE IT. Howl's Moving Castle and Florence+The Machine? Yes, please!!

cabinet of curiosities

i got a new bookshelf.
by which i mean my mother bought a new cabinet at an estate sale, didn't want it, and offered it to me in exchange from my desk. i agreed to the swap because i think it's adorable, even if it's top drawer smells profusely of parchment. which is weird, but oh well.
the cabinet is meant for displaying commemorative dishes or porcelain plates from china (made circa 1763 or something, maybe before then, whenever it was that the chinese had the secret of how to make porcelain and no one else did).
but instead of dishes with niagara falls on them or prettily painted porcelain i am putting all of the books that currently reside on the surface of my desk in the cabinet. plus some weird nicknacks i've collected throughout the years, so there you go. 
the title has been explained.
in the process of moving books i have also gotten, like, three spider/mosquito/mystery bites. thankfully i'm too sleepy to have a panic attack. 
also it is far too late early in the morning for capitalization. fuck that shit.
 future me is probably experiencing regrets about the lack of proper capitalization. well, whatever future me.
you'll be fine.


so! here we go!

music!

 or 

portions from the soundtrack of me moving books and nicknacks and sneezing like the seventh dwarf

"always gold" by radical face
rating: omg feelings, what is this doing to my heart, this is gorgeous

"stubborn love" by the lumineers
rating: i love this band this is my favorite song holy kitten tits i love this song

also, it has been taken from youtube last i checked so follow the link below
http://supercon.tumblr.com/tagged/%5BThe-Lumineers%5D


"would you go with me" by josh turner
so, i often stuff notes, b-day cards, and other papers of importance in between books. i found a lot of stuff tonight and one thing was a typed letter addressed "To my good friend Rachelle, who has found the way," and was signed in windings, but, because of the writing in between, we'll just take a wild stab in the dark and - aha! i have accidentally stabbed a trisha.
how it ended up in my room i have no idea, though it had been next door neighbors to a map of the paris metro and two birthday cards from when i turned four. idek.
but anyway, the note was comprised of quotes and a line from this song was one of the quotes and the only reference i couldn't figure out. thank you google.

rating: fuck this song is cute, omg cute, now i will attempt to sing along - oh god how does your voice go that deep?

"oh dear!" by good for grapes
rating: instrumentssss - let's dance and spin around a camp fire

"forever" by walter meego
rating: yes, yes good

"runaway" by mr little jeans
rating: what kind of band name is that?, more awkward dancing than book moving happening

i also listened to ridiculous things which i won't post here because they are very silly. like, "call me maybe" was included, the opening song to the film boondock saints made an appearance, as did the incredibly sexy female cover of "whatever you like"... which, actually, if you're unfamiliar with the anya marina version you should probably go listen to it and possibly swoon a bit. or maybe it's just me lol.


so i started proofreading this. why do i allow myself access to the internet this late? i'm at the point where if i keep fixing shit i'll just delete everything so i'm gonna just post it.

apologies for excessive obnoxiousness. 

i love you all, darlings

Summer Songs

Guys.
Guys, I need more summer music.
What's going on in my life is inconsequential.

Just post some friggin' music.

Aziza showed me this the other day and I friggin' love it. Easily sitting at the top of my "Favorite Music Videos of the Summer" list. Think you can top it? :3