What I've Been Listening To

     All of the music here is on Spotify because I've given up on any other form of listening to music now that I have Premium. Some of it is lesser known stuff that I've gotten into and some is really well known that I just really like so I recommend giving them a listen.


Alt-J

I am completely OBSESSED with the Lido remix of Left Hand Free.

Chiddy Bang

Every song by Chiddy Bang is guaranteed to make me happy.

Hoodie Allen

Make It Home featuring Kina Grannis is one of my new favorite songs along with Fame Is For Assholes featuring Chiddy.

What So Not

I'm obsessed with High You Are (obviously) and every remix of it plus Love Theme is one of my favorites.

Portugal. The Man

I could honestly listen to the song "Sea of Air" for days at a time and not get tired of it, and I do.

Peter Bjorn and John

Apparently their music has been on Grey's Anatomy and in the movie 21, which I did not know until just now. I haven't listened to a ton of their music yet, but I have yet to find any that I don't love.

Walk the Moon

The Live from Spotify version of Anna Sun is really awesome.

Wild Belle

I have the entire album "Isles" saved on my Spotify and I don't ever remember adding it or listening to it. But I really like the album now and Spotify calls them folk, dance, reggae, psychedelic rock-tinged indie pop, which is a bit of a mouthful and kind of weird. It's good though, I promise.

The Lushlife Project

I always find myself falling asleep and waking up to the song "Wurlitzer." It's really relaxing and kind of reminds me of Nosaj Thing.

Zhu

I first heard Zhu because 3lau used the song "Faded" in a mash up and since then I just love all the songs on The Nightday EP.

Why I'm Leaving Syracuse

 

       So recently I've been having a lot of problems with financial aid (as always) and this time, it just seemed like there was no coming back from it. A lot was being expected of me that I couldn't possibly pay and although it ended up working out and I was given the aid I need to stay here, it gave me some insight into Syracuse and made me realize that this might not be the right place for me right now. Throughout the whole hassle of Syracuse telling me that I needed to pay them thousands and thousands of dollars before I could register for any classes, otherwise leave my on-campus apartment and go home, I started thinking about where I want to be in my life right now and Syracuse just isn't it. I realized that I was no longer fighting to be here and once I realized that, it was pretty obvious that I just don't want to be here as much as I used to. I found myself hoping that I'd end up somewhere else and that's basically what made me decide to leave.

     Before, it was worth working all the time and being completely broke because this was exactly what I wanted and I loved it. Now, it's just a lot of work and for something that I really could live without. I love Syracuse to death and I was excited to finally be in Newhouse but I was using Newhouse to keep me here. I was hoping that once I was in Newhouse that everything would be better and I'd be happier here and it just didn't happen like that. Everything seemed to be going even better than usual plus I found a steady job that's perfect for me and even with all that, I still didn't feel like this is where I need to be.

     I've invested a lot of time and effort and money into being here, so it's hard to just leave after everything I've done to be here, but I also am not going to spend any more time or money being somewhere I don't absolutely love being. If something isn't making me happy then I'm not going to continue doing it. I refuse to spend two and a half years working my ass off to be able to barely afford a college that I don't want to be at when I could be working my ass of somewhere that's perfect for me.

     I thought about it a lot and I talked it over with several different people, and most of them seem to agree that I don't seem to be interested in being here like I used to be. I don't think it's a bad thing, I just think I've done everything I can here and now it's time to move on. It sucks that it didn't work out but realistically, I don't even like the east coast. I hate the cold, I don't like snow, I have no desire anymore to live in New York, and paying for air fare back and forth might as well kill me. That used to all be trivial and I didn't care because I loved being here more than anything but now it makes a huge difference. I still love Syracuse, I just don't want to be here enough for it to be worth it. There isn't enough making me happy to keep me here. I think I could be a hundred times happier and more satisfied somewhere else so that's what I plan to do.

Ranking Of All The Concerts I've Seen

Going to concerts is one of my all time favorite things to do and I wish I could go to every single show I hear of, but unfortunately, my bank account and my school schedule don't really allow that. I've been to some great shows regardless and I've been to some decent ones and these are them.


1. Flume

I went to this one kind of spur of the moment with a couple friends and I am so glad I did. It was in a huge indoor space and there were different levels and I was right in the middle of the floor and there were about a million people, by my estimate. The lights and everything about it was just amazing.

2. Weezer

I went to Weezer at the Mandalay Bay beach pool and got to just sit in the sand and hang out in the water while they performed and they were great, of course. It was the chillest, most easy going show I've been to.

3. Iggy Azalea

I've never been as excited for a show as I was to see Iggy. I had planned it months in advance and went with a friend who was just as in love with her as I was and it was on the rooftop Cosmopolitan pool on the strip. Although she made us wait two hours before she finally came out, her performance was well worth the wait. The whole thing was choreographed very specifically and it worked so well and was just so entertaining the whole time.

4. Blink-182

I saw them also at the rooftop pool and they not only played amazingly and played all of my favorite songs, but they were funny and interacted with the crowd a lot and Travis Barker played an insane drum solo.

5. 3lau

I saw 3lau at Juice Jam, which is a music festival that Syracuse holds every year. I had never heard of him before the announcement of him playing Juice Jam, but I love him now. It was outdoors in the middle of the day with thousands of other students and my friends and he got the crowd involved so much throughout the show. I also learned that the pronunciation is "Blau" which is his last name.

6. Sum 41

They played Extreme Thing a while back which is a big music festival in Las Vegas and they played toward the end of the day in a big open field. I stayed near the back but even from far away it was still cool. They were just coming out with a new album at the time so they played a lot of new stuff, but they still played some of the more familiar songs and it was awesome hearing the stuff I had been listening to for years.

7. Broods

This was another one I saw at Juice Jam and I loved them. They played the smaller stage and there weren't a ton of people, but they performed so well and were personal with the crowd and it was just a really good show overall.

8. Schoolboy Q (and Tinashe)

Yet another performance from Juice Jam. Although I wasn't really familiar with a lot of his stuff, everyone loved him and he got really personal with the crowd between songs. Tinashe did one song with him which was the best part, if you ask me, because I just love her and her voice. 

9. Childish Gambino

This one was another that was at the Cosmopolitan pool and quite a few of my friends went. I wasn't/still am not the biggest Gambino fan so I didn't know some of the songs, but he still played a great show and was really energetic and funny.

10. Goldlink

This one I saw for five dollars without having any clue who they were and just decided to go anyway. There were hardly any people but I was pleasantly surprised because the main guy was really energetic and got involved in the crowd and knew how to get everyone excited.

11. ASAP Ferg

He performed at Mayfest, which was during the day outdoors at Syracuse which is basically a big party, so it was a lot of fun. I don't listen to him, and I barely knew who he was at the time, but people were really into it.

12. Dillon Francis

Also at Juice Jam, he was not my favorite. The music was good and it was a lot of fun but it was at the end of the day when I was tiring out and he didn't engage the crowd at all.

13. Trippy Turtle

This guy played with Goldlink and I had never heard of him before. He was a little strange, but the music was cool and different and you could tell he was having a great time.

My Favorite Song Covers

     Narrowing this down to ten was quite the challenge because there are so many covers that I love, but these are the best of them so far. Some of them are really slow and soft and some are a little more upbeat. I found most, if not all of them, on Spotify and I highly recommend listening to all of them.

1. Seven Nation Army by Zella Day

I think I've posted this song in another list but I LOVE this cover so much it hurts. It's easily my favorite cover of any song ever.

2. Toxic by Yeal Naim

3. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by STRFKR

4. You're The One That I Want by Lo-Fang

5. Bulletproof by Melanie Martinez

Her song, Carousel is the theme song for AHS Freakshow and her covers are seriously just wonderful. She also has a cover of Skinny Love by Bon Iver and one for Toxic by Britney Spears that I love.

6. Come As You Are by Yuna

7. Addicted to Love by Florence and the Machine

8. Tainted Love by Hannah Peel

9. I Shot The Sheriff by N.A.S.A and Karen O.

This one is really interesting. I don't really know how to explain in a way that will do it any justice but it's pretty upbeat and very different from the original.

10. What Is Love by Kiesza

What "Frequencies" Taught Me About the Law of Attraction

   

 
     So I recently watched a movie called "Frequencies." It's on Netflix and my step mom picked it out, completely oblivious to what it was about or how entertaining it would be. Basically, this movie portrays a world where every individual emits a different frequency which determines their level of success and luck and happiness in life. The higher the frequency, the better the life and the more nature works to please that person. In the movie, a boy with an abnormally low frequency, in the negatives, occasionally meets with a girl with an unusually high frequency, above one hundred. Each time they meet, nature conflicts with itself in attempt to please her high frequency and disrupt him because of his low frequency and strange things happen such as thunderstorms or baggage falling from a plane flying overhead.

     The whole movie is based on the concept of the law of attraction. Basically what that is, is the idea that energies attract similar energies. For example, a very negative person with typically negative thoughts would attract negative things to happen to them while a person with a positive outlook and generally positive thoughts would attract better outcomes. It's the idea that the universe basically gives people what they are expecting. What you put out into the universe is what you get back.

     Up until recently, none of this made any sort of sense to me. I watched "Frequencies" without any idea that it was an interpretation of the law of attraction and even when I started to understand that, I still thought it made little sense. After all, how could a few negative or positive thoughts change the outcome of a situation that has so many different contributing factors in the world outside of the confines of my mind?

     It wasn't until I began making an active effort to have a positive attitude and more positive thoughts toward everyday occurrences that I started to notice how it could possibly be true. As soon as I made the decision to complain less, meditate more, and have a positive attitude toward situations that are less than ideal, things seemed to go more smoothly. A lot of people may just chalk that up to coincidence, but that just doesn't satisfy me. It only makes sense that someone who goes through their day moping and complaining will only find even more to complain about while someone who sees that things happen for a reason and believes that they can have a positive outcome will find more to be happy about.

     I noticed that as soon as I allow myself worry about something, it begins to take over all my thoughts. Worrying only leads to more worrying, so instead of allowing those thoughts and anxieties to plant themselves in my mind, I replaced them with more positive things. Rather than worrying about whether I'll get into all the classes I want, I think about how exciting it will be once I get to go to them. Rather than laying in bed worrying whether I'll be able to fully afford my school, I think about how grateful I am to be here and have a job that helps me pay for it. The more I can replace my negative thoughts with positive ones, the better I feel, the more soundly I sleep, and the happier I wake up.

     I also have started to notice how other people's reactions and attitudes seem to determine their mood and the outcomes of their lives every day. When people I'm around complain constantly and spend their time speaking badly of others, their days seem to end on a bad note and they end up in a worse mood than they started in. On the other hand, When a friend of mine spends their day sharing with me the things they are happy about and reassuring me about any concerns, they are far happier than the people who spend their time complaining.

     These people even have an effect on my mood as long as I am around them and sometimes long after. So rather than indulging myself in complaints and judgments and inviting that negativity into my life, it only makes more sense to surround myself with positivity and people who will contribute to my happiness rather than hindering it.

     Just like in the movie "Frequencies," what each person emits into the universe is what they receive back. The only difference being that, in our world, we get to choose the energy we give off and determine what the universe gives back.