Random Thoughts This Wednesday

{dreameveryday}

My summer reading list is getting a little out of control.  I need to prioritize, or rename it my "Books I Simply Want to Read at Some Point or Another."  Suggestions are still welcome.

I'm making big plans for my room in our apartment.  I need to talk to my landlord about some that are a bit more permanent than others.  Plans include:

1. Chalkboard Paint on a weird, half-wall behind my chair.  This is where I write most of the time, so chalking up some quotes or ideas might be fun.
2. Painting the rest of the walls a warm, muted yellow color
3. Painting my white dresser a sage green, adding new hardware 
4. Sewing a curtain for my door way (I don't have an actual door)
5. Making a slip cover for my wonderfully comfortable, yet shabby (and not chic), arm chair
6. This awesome wall decal:

I'd like to try for a secret garden, international, world market feel.  I'm still debating on what color the dresser should be.  I wanted purple with a gold speckle effect, but since it's the roommate's and she doesn't want to have to attempt to paint over that, the idea's been vetoed.  

I just wrote a few letters to my Compassion International child.  Her name is Akello Brenda and she is from Uganda.  Isn't she wonderful?  I'd love to visit her someday.

Band recomendation of the week (not that it's a weekly thing, but we'll see)- The New Frontiers.  This a horrible recomendation because they broke up a few months ago, but I don't care.  I love them dearly.  Their song Mirrors is truly magical. I would like Nathan (lead singer) to hold my hand and sing me to sleep every night. Listen and be inspired:

And I leave you with this:

PS- A rather hunky guy told me I have pretty eyes today.  It was in a completely friendly way, but it felt nice all the same :)

Summer Reading List

Here's an incomplete list of what I hope to read through this summer.  I'm such a slow reader I probably won't even get through half, but we'll see.  I'll be posting my thoughts on each as I finish them.

Searching for God Knows What- Donald Miller

     Currently reading this.  It's tough but I'm about half way done.

Through Painted Deserts- Donald Miller

The Power of One- Bryce Courtenay

Catcher in the Rye- JD Salinger

Sex God- Rob Bell

Unchristian- David Kinnaman

Traveling Mercies- Ann Lamott

Purpose for the Pain- Renee Yohe

Harry Potter- All of them

     Definitely going to take more than the summer

The City of Dreaming Books- Walter Moers

Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austen

On The Road- Jack Kerouac

The Paris Review Interviews, vol. 1

     A dear friend of mine loaned this to me a long time ago and I have yet to open it.  I feel horrible about that.

Jane Eyre- Charlotte Bronte

A Little Princes-  Frances Hodgson Burnett

     I need a new copy of this.  Mine is falling apart.  My favorite book by far.

The Joy Luck Club- Amy Tan

The Secret Life of Bees- Sue Monk Kidd

My Antonia- Willa Cather

She's Come Undone- Wally Lamb

Me Talk Pretty One Day- David Sedaris

People of the Whale- Linda Hogan

Captivating- John and Staci Eldredge

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love- Ray Carver

The Blue Cotton Gown- Patricia Harman

A Light in the Attic- Shel Silverstein

Suggestions are very much welcome :)

I ran across a lovely little gem created by the Aussies.  Frankie Magazine is an awesome little publication that I unfortunately cannot afford to have delivered to the states, but the website is fun all the same.

Last suggestion of the day- Go listen to Sia if you're into female singer songwriters.  She can be likened to Missy Higgins, Regina Spektor, etc.  The tone of her voice is much like Allison's from A Fine Frenzy, but the style is a bit different.  Enjoy and let me know what you think!

The State of Affairs

If you were to ask a group of people to make a list of what music is to them, it could go one forever and every single person would have a slightly different list. Music is this infinite intangible inspirational thing that can move mountains if you use it right. But as I look around at the Sony BMGs and the Livenations and Ticketmasters, music is nothing but a bottom line anymore. It's about recording a less than mediocre song called "Gimme More," making a fool out of yourself to promote it and making a handful of middle-aged men in suits and corner offices a lot of money, while the boy pouring his soul out on stage night after night to a bar that's too drunk to care is over looked time and time again.

That's what's wrong with the music industry today, not file sharing or illegal downloads or iTunes, it's what music has been made into. It's the lack of artists who actually have something to say that's killing the industry, not DRM free downloads. People are bored of the Akons and Britneys and Soldja Boys. What do they have to offer? Absolutely nothing. Their words aren't true and their voices aren't organic. They're mixed and tweaked and, let's just say it, they're fake. They have fooled us all into believing that topping the billboard charts is what defines success, when really it's making a connection with another human being through a song that defines music. If an artist can touch me, make me cry, take my breath away and inspire me to pour everything I have into my own piano, then they are success to me. No on in the entire world could buy their album, but to me they are famous.

It's not about the Grammies or the expensive tour busses or mansions in LA, it's about effecting people to the point where they are inspired to do something, be it write their own song, dance like a fool, or create social change in a third world country, or right here at home. Good music, true music, is divine, it changes people, and it brings hope to those who can't be heard or understood by the main stream. But this message of truth can't be heard if it's swallowed by the hollow and meaningless music industry we know today.

We need more Militia Groups and HolidayRuns and LoveDrugs and Bryce Averys and Copelands that actually have something to say! We need record labels and musicians that are more concerned about sending their message to their fans than bands who want their 15 minutes and a quick buck.