#i wonder if my cousins went to the olivia concert

[fazcinatingblog]

OH MY GOD

IS SHE FRIENDS WITH YOUR FRIENDS IS SHE GOOD IN BED DO YOU THINK ABOUT HER NO I'M FINE IT DOESN'T MATTER TELL ME IS SHE EASY GOING NEVER CONTROLLING WELL TRAVELLED? WELL READ? GOD SHE MAKES ME SO UPSET

[sebsdaniel]

At this point there is one song that can bring me to tears in a matter of seconds. And no, I don’t want to make you cry on this Monday… but our Honey Badger get mentioned in that song and it holds an important message:

You wanna know what a life is?

Then you take it day by day

You wanna see it in motion?

The sum of a life contains

Every bad vibe

Every undivided groove

You wanna live in the open?

Hey, hey, say the truth

Because isn’t that so true? The sum of all of your lives contains bad vibes, undivided grooves, but also highlights and memories. And at the end of the day, you got to ensure that sum is something you can look back at with a smile.

And as I’m typing that I’m hit with that existential dread, that there is a sum and we have to make it count and life is hard work. And that existential dread is a cloud that has hung over my head for quite a while - but you know what?

Let’s make a positive sum of the past weekend: I went to an outdoor concert of Dutch artists singing and dancing their ass off (this was so fun! 🤩), I fell back into my hopeless romantic ways after taking a picture with this one guy at this concert (yeah, no I have a lot to say about this but I’ll shut up 🥰), I got to hang out with good people and have a laugh (definitely needed this after that dark cloud that has hung over me for the past week ☀️), I woke up this morning to the sound of birds (is there something better than nature? 🦜), I saw a message that made me happy (by someone that makes me happy 😊) and the flowers I got smell delicious (because sometimes you got to treat yourself to some flowers 💐).

What is your sum of this weekend? Tell me, I want to hear everything!

OH! And if you were wondering, the song is called Goal of the Century by Gang of Youths.

Have a good week angel, if there is one person in the universe that deserves a magical week - it is you 🧡✨

Sorry for the late reply!

This is so beautiful, Babette😭❤️ It genuinely made me tear up a little.

Last weekend was quiet, but fun. My boyfriend and I cleaned our apartement in the big city before taking the train home to our parents' houses. Once I got back to my small village, my dad and I cooked together before watching Xanadu with Olivia Newton John who we both miss and love. Then I watched Fate: The Winx Saga before going to bed. On Sunday, I went to visit my boyfriend's cousin and his wife, and their beautiful baby boy who gave me a bit of baby fever😆 We stayed for 8 hours, before driving home again, where I watched some Fate before going to bed!

Thanks for the beautiful message! Hope you have an amazing, happy week💕

[onestowatch]

22 Rising Artists on the First Record They Ever Bought

Crinkly reverbs, satisfying vibrations, and blissful tenderness are all essential to the intoxicating experience of playing a vinyl record. Even just watching the spiral groove spin around the needle is utterly gratifying, and it’s a tradition we here at Ones To Watch think should be kept alive. 

In honor of Record Store Day, we asked 22 rising artists to tell us about the first record they ever bought and their answers are definitely taking us back to the days when vinyl was the talk of the town. Keep reading for responses from FINNEAS, grandson, Olivia O’Brien, and many more!

Ashe - John Mayer’s Continuum (LP 2006) or Carole King’s Tapestry (LP 1971)

“It was either John Mayer’s ‘Continuum’ or Carole King’s ‘Tapestry.’ Both those albums feel like coming home.”

AUGUST 08 - Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (LP 2010)

“First Fridays before the album dropped, they put out a bunch of songs leading up to the album.”

Cautious Clay - Lenny Kravitz’s Greatest Hits (LP 2000)

"The first album I bought was a Lenny Kravitz’ greatest hits album. I remember listening to it on repeat and loving the sax solo on the record ‘Let Love Rule.’ The melodic and chordal structure around this song felt perfect as well."

Dennis Lloyd - Linkin Park’s Meteora (LP 2003)

“It is still one of my all time favorite albums and was a massive part of my childhood.”

DUCKWRTH - Ludacris’ Word of Mouf (LP 2001)

“Going to my first public school. Wearing uniform (dark blue dickies, white button up). The little homie was selling bootleg CDs with legitimate printed covers. I still wasn’t allowed to listen to rap, so this was my chance to gain entry to hip hop. I copped it, threw it on my CD player, and I remember hearing the phrase, ‘The royal penis is clean, your highness,’ and started dying laughing.”

Ella Vos - TLC’s CrazySexyCool (LP 1994)

“The first record I bought… was TLC’s ‘CrazySexyCool’ on TAPE! I remember feeling so cool that I owned my own music and that it was not my parents’ music! My cousin came over not long after I’d gotten it and we drew “crazy sexy cool” on our underwear, sagged our jeans, and danced in front of the mirror to the whole album front to back.”

FINNEAS - Leon Bridges’ Coming Home (LP 2015)

“First vinyl I ever bought was ‘Coming Home’ by Leon Bridges. To me, that album sounds like it was made to be played on vinyl.”

grandson - James Taylor’s Sweet Baby James (LP 1970)

“I found a used copy of James Taylor’s first album, ‘Sweet Baby James,’ in Amoeba on Sunset Boulevard. I had just moved to Los Angeles and was getting into sampling old records so I bought myself a terrible Crosley record player with a janky built-in speaker and started digging. I grew up with James Taylor and older folk music around me, so it connected me to home and to my father in some way. I had been digging for old soul and jazz records for a while and finding that record reminded me why I’m doing this in the first place. Connection, family.”

Greyson Chance - Coldplay’s Parachutes (LP 2000)

“The first album I ever bought was Coldplay’s ‘Parachutes.’ I remember my older brother driving me to the record store to get it after I had expressed a strong liking to ‘Yellow.’ I have distinct memories of my brother and I blasting that song anytime it came on the radio when we were in the car. I remember thinking that Chris Martin was an actual God after listening to the album a few weeks after buying it. Even at a young age (I think I was eight or nine at the time), there was something mesmerizing about his lyrics and the piano lines on that album. Favorite tracks include ‘Shiver,’ ‘Sparks,’ and ‘Don’t Panic.’”

HONNE - Radiohead’s OK Computer (LP 1997)

“The first record I ever bought was ‘OK Computer’ by Radiohead--which I still believe, to this day, is one of the best albums ever made. I have so many memories of putting it on and just sitting and taking it all in. No other distractions, no phones, eyes closed, wondering how they made everything sound like it did.”

Jasmine Thompson - The Ting Tings’ We Started Nothing (LP 2008)

“The first record I ever bought was The Ting Tings’ ‘We Started Nothing.’ I remember singing loudly to each song with my brother in a car for hours as we traveled from London to the Lake District. I knew all the lyrics!”

KALLITECHNIS - Sade’s The Best of Sade (LP 1994)

“The first record I ever bought was Sade’s ‘The Best of Sade.’ My dad had been playing her music my entire childhood, and buying this particular record felt like a musical torch had been passed onto me. It marked the start of my own musical identity--with Sade’s unmatched soulfulness being the foundation.”

Kodie Shane - Ashanti’s Ashanti (LP 2002)

“The first record I purchased was Ashanti’s self-titled. ‘Ashanti…’ my strongest memory is that I was only five years old and I asked my mom and dad for it. We purchased the album in cassette form and a Walkman. And that became the background music of my little pre-K life and on… (I loved Ashanti and JaRule. Lowkey, I still do.) When I think about it, I miss the feeling of anticipating a record you really want and having to wait to get it, the pleasure you feel at the counter paying for the music of the artist you support, excitedly unwrapping the packaging popping it in and pressing play!”

Olivia O’Brien - Miley Cyrus’ Breakout (LP 2008)

“I remember playing it in this white bulky CD player that my mom gave me… I had drawn all over it with Sharpie and colored the speakers with green and pink highlighter markers. I would sit in my room and play it over and over.”

Phony Ppl - *NSYNC’s No Strings Attached (LP 2000)

“My first album that I ever bought with my own money for my eighth birthday was *NSYNC’s ‘No Strings Attached.’ I remember buying it with a couple other albums at the time because my dad wanted me to pick some music for my birthday party, but that was definitely the first one I went for and in 2019, I gotta say it still slaps stupidly. I actually just heard Ariana Grande sample one of their songs on the radio the other day.” - Elijah Rawk

Pink Sweat$ - Mario’s Mario (LP 2002)

“No particular memories come to mind - other than my mom loving it and buying it for me.”

Role Model - The Notorious B.I.G.’s Life After Death (LP 1997)

“I honestly don’t remember if I’ve ever bought a record in my life, but I used to go through my brother’s car and steal shit when he wasn’t home. And I remember the first CD I ever had was ‘Life After Death’ because I took it from his car. I think hearing that album at such a young age made me hit puberty instantly and I became a big boy. I learned all my bad words that day.”

slenderbodies - Aaron Carter’s Aaron’s Party (LP 2000)

“The only story I can offer is actually based on a CD that I bought at Tower Records, so not technically a record itself. When I was young, for my fourth or fifth birthday I was given a small Walkman-style blue CD player. My mom had tons of CDs so The Beatles and Paul Simon were covered. The first record I remember picking out and buying was Aaron Carter’s ‘Aaron’s Party’ purely off of seeing ads for it on TV. This was the first pop record I ever bought and I listened to it pretty religiously. I took out the inside insert and unfolded it and hung it on my wall as a makeshift poster--a habit I’d continue well into being a teenager. In a strange way, I think buying that record and wanting to listen through all of it because I had bought the whole album inspired a persevering kind of attachment to appreciating albums as whole pieces of work.” - Benji Cormack

SWMRS - *NSYNC’s No Strings Attached (LP 2000)

“*NSYNC - ‘No Strings Attached.’ Was my first concert. And it changed my life.” - Max Becker

UMI - Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life (LP 1976)

“First vinyl I got was Stevie Wonder’s ‘Songs in the Key of Life!’ I found it at the thrift store and bought it before I even had a record player because I knew future Umi would be happy to have it. Now I have a record player and it’s one of my favorite records to play in the morning.”

Valentina - Kanye West’s Late Registration (LP 2005)

“The first record I bought was ‘Late Registration,’ and I’m 100% sure that every single time I cried in high school I listened to that album. It was the soundtrack to all my happy and sad moments, and still is.”

Yoke Lore - Green Day’s Dookie (LP 1994)

“My first album was ‘Dookie’ by Green Day. And it changed my life. The first song I learned with my middle school band was ‘When I Come Around,’ and I learned to play drums listening to Tré Cool.”

[originalmemorieshere]

Oh No, Not Music!

Oh No, Not Music! It may seem as though I haven’t written in days, but I really have. I have written on this blog, deleted it and rewritten it every day. I just haven’t seemed to be able to get my thoughts down the way I want them. Everything has been the way I want it my mind and then when those thoughts get to my fingertips the wrong words drip out and run all over the page.  Music has influenced my life in so many ways. I can remember my older cousins listening to the Beatles and playing the Beatles board game. I was very young, yet I knew and could sing every one of their songs word for word. Another cousin had the song Blue Navy Blue on a 45 record and I would sing along with it, too. Older cousins were a great source of popular songs back in the sixties for me. While we were still in Oklahoma I remember sitting on the white fence around our farmhouse singing Sunshine Lollipops.  I remember my older sister and I standing in front of a mirror and singing songs along with the radio, dancing around. When we first moved to Texas we would sing and dance in our garage, having a great time- music offering a way to spend a Saturday afternoon. When I was in the sixth grade my mom mailed me a transistor radio with an ear plug that I could pull out during recess and listen to KILT610 and hear the top 40 rock songs of 1971. It was the most awesome birthday present because I now had CCR, Three Dog Night, and the Bee Gees in my ear through that little earplug while swinging or walking the track.  That summer I moved to Kansas City  I remember warm summer nights and laying on my brass bed listening to trains down along the river, my bedroom window open, me looking out to the river, down past Metropolitan and Strong Streets. I would have the radio on, listening to KUDL radio every night, loving Carole King, Olivia Newton John, Cher, and so many other singers. I would listen to Casey Kasem do the top 40 count down. I loved soul music, the winding down of Motown, and of course Chicago and Rod Stewart.  Some of my best memories with music come from riding in the car with my daddy. When I was little I would lay up in the back window of the car and I would listen to country music and pretend the singers with their bands were actually in the radio station singing the songs. I loved the way my daddy sang along with the radio and learned to love the country sounds of the fifties, sixties, and seventies from him. He had such a good voice.  We had this one television/stereo console in Houston that had these big speakers with lights in them which lit up to the music. I thought they were so cool. I can still hear all the mid-seventies rock music blaring, see myself dancing in the living room to Santana, Bad Company, or Kiss, and feel the cold blast of the air conditioner in the living room when I think of those speakers. There was an eight track tape deck, a turntable, and an AM/FM stereo inside. I think we had a huge 25" color television.  It was during this time my high school would have what were called sock hops after our football games. As soon as the game was over there would be a dance with local bands comprised from guys from our school as well rock and country music records played. It was so much fun. My friends and I would be doing the bump, dancing around, sweaty, having a great time. Those were such great times.  Fast forward a couple years to when MTV and VH1 came out. I was in heaven. I could watch my favorite singers perform and see some of the famous concerts I had heard about my whole life. In the first few days of MTV I got to see a lot of Rod Stewart videos and I was hooked. It was amazing. Yep, I was a true child of the video age. I was a young adult and I was in love with it. My kids liked watching it, too. We went back and forth between the two channels a lot and they learned to love my music, too. Dancing in the Dark was a favorite video a couple years later as was Ain’t Missing You and The Warrior. It was so cool that Urban Cowboy was out around that same time. Unfortunately, that was the last big push of country music that I liked. I just didn’t like the direction it turned after that. I have to admit that I really haven’t followed country since the mid-eighties at all.  During the time my kids were growing up, some of my fondest memories revolve around us riding in the car going to judo class singing to the radio. We would sing along, having the best time. Both my kids can sing really well and I can still remember the bonding we did on those rides. Music played a big role in making those rides fun. I also got to know their music, too. I loved Boyz II Men, Babyface, Mariah Carey, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and a lot others. Then karaoke came along. It opened a whole new world of music to me. I sang at a judo function with some friends whom I would have never thought I would ever sing with. Music brings people together. We had a family reunion Memorial Day 2002 and my brothers and I had such a wonderful time singing together. Then I had Cabioke in one of my taxicabs. Yes, you guessed it. There was karaoke in a taxicab. It was so popular that people booked that cab a week or more in advance to make sure they would get to ride in it on party nights or weekends.

[hellotvv]

Life continues to be fairly interesting haha. I had a pretty decent weekend overall. I believe on Friday, I went to the fair with my friend Brent, Elizabeth, Kristy, and Jessica. The fair in SB was honestly not bad! I had fun going on rides with my friends, eating fair food, and just walking/chatting. Later that night, we had game night at my friend’s Brents place. Julian put on the project some really fun party game that everyone could just connect and play using the phone! Was really fun and I plan on buying it, so when ppl come to my place, we have idk fun games to play instead of just watching youtube on my chromecast LOL. I think Bryan, Olivia, Elizabeth, Brent, Julian, Kristy, Jessica, and me all played and had a great night. On Saturday, it was a bit more simple. I had a really busy day on Saturday, since I had to get some studying done for my midterm on Monday for minority literature class. I knew my cousin was visiting UCSB this weekend, since she said she was. But I’m surprised she didn’t hit me up to show her around. It would have been actually inconvenient if she did :( since ideally I would have the whole day to show her a ton of stuff. But I had a music appreciation concert at 7 PM that I had to go to at night, and I had to study quite a bit. Surprisingly, she did not hit me up at all, and only ended up snapping me that she was at SB later that night haha. She was in one of the freshmen dorms, so I’m guessing she already had a friend that let her stay in her dorm and showed her around :O. I was a bit worried that if I didn’t show her all the cool stuff about SB, my cousin wouldn’t be too interested in attending and choose UC Merced in the end... ;-;!! Anyways, ended up going to concert that night, was super boring, left during intermission since didn’t have to stay till end just needed to stay long enough to write a paper on it. Then I went to library and studied with Kristy and Jessica until like 1 AM. Went home, knocked out, and idk. Sunday, I think I got lunch with Brent and Elizabeth, then I somehow procrastinated the day away, but pulled a strong all nighter to finish studying for my minority lit class lol. The midterm went okie not bad, and then I studied for my music appreciation class quiz that was at 12 PM today. Think I did pretty good on that, and passed out for a while. Got dinner with Brent, and talked to him. We talked about how it’s already week 5 of our last quarter of our 3rd year... Graduation is coming up and much scary ;-;... I asked him what he’s gonna do after grad, and he immediately answered about Elizabeth. Since Elizabeth lives in Washington, but attends UCSB, and I wonder what she’ll do after graduation. Like would she move to California or find work back in Washington, who knows :O Brent said he doesn’t know what she’ll do, but he does suggest that she’ll prob move to LA, since LA is way cooler than Washington haha. Anyways, I did ask him oh man what if we all drift apart after graduation. Since Bryan lives in Thousand Oaks and is kinda far, Rickie lives in Washington, and etc. Brent said it kinda sucks, but it’ll happen. He did say that we’ll still hang out, since he can always drive down to OC and it’s only like 45 mins. I also said that I could always go up to LA and hang too. Thankfully Kristy and Jessica will be nearby, and Henry lives near Brent. So it’s not like we’ll all drift apart. Just kinda will be diff not being able to hang out with the friends I hang out every week with anymore, but I guess that’s life yo. I’ve gone through it from going from HS to College, and I’m sure the friendships will stay strong. It’ll be those friendships where even tho you don’t see each other every day or maybe even text that often, when you do hangout it’s like no time has passed :) Idk life yo.

Onto another topic, my cousin revealed to me that she actually SIRed to UCSB today!!! Woo, I told her we needed to have a celebration dinner or something together. She told me that she needed a bunch of life advice haha for college. I remember being in the same position worrying the same things like if I’ll make friends, what classes to take, and etc. She was super thankful and kept telling me how much she loved me, when I offered her advice LOL. I just want her to be successful and learn from my mistakes and become a doctor for me, incase I don’t make it LOL! So maybe this weekend if time permits, I’ll meet up with her and talk :D But I’m glad she idk got convinced, will prob have to ask her how did she get convinced lolol. I have a 66.6666% success rate now 2/3!! For the rest of my week, it’ll pretty much just be a bunch of studying for my midterm on Friday. Afterwards, I’ll be going home for the weekend for my mom’s bday and possibly to shoot with Sabrina and Cindy!! Woo :D haven’t seen/shot with either of them in a long time~ They both hit me up to shoot, so I feel special ;-; and wanted! 

Overall, life is going okie can’t complain. Tried to eat slightly more now and work out too, so I build some more muscle. Uhm, I’ve kinda been in a pretty content mood nowadays. Like I’m back to a phase where I’m happy with what I have, not too stressed, have some stuff to look forward to to keep me going, and yeah. 

The idea of relationships and love is something that I contemplate about a lot. I obviously always liked the idea of a SO, and I think that actually this year/4th year would probably be the last best times for a while to date a girl. Since I’ll still be in school and don’t look poorly in the dating scene, if I don’t have a job or idk. I’ll still be supported by my parents, but old enough to do cool things/go on adventures like going to Vegas this summer. I have a nice place and live alone, since I still attend school in SB, and not crazy busy, but have enough free time to spend with a SO. But the problem is, I haven’t really met anyone that really caught my interest... I mean kinda Amandi for a bit, but after finding out about what type of person she is, obv not gonna interact with her too much lmao. Maybe this sounds cocky or whatever, but I COULD date Chloe, if I truly wanted to. I mean Chloe is a decent looking girl, she’s fairly nice, and I could see myself in an okay relationship with her. But the problem is, I like her mostly as a friend, and just not that into her... Like I’m not that physically attracted to her, not that she’s bad looking or anything, and I’m not that idk mentally attracted to her. We just don’t have that much in common, and she prob only likes me for my looks?? Who knows. The thing is, I suppose a lot of ppl my age are kinda dating for fun or maybe some are serious. So it’s not like I have to date someone with the intention of long term commitment, I could just date and have fun with her for a while. Who knows, she might be wanting just the same thing. But the problem is, idk it’s just not me tho. Like let’s say we do date and have fun together spending time together, but what if I meet some cooler girl that I’m more attracted to while I’m dating her. Like I suppose the right answer is to idk keep it professional and stay with Chloe or the other option is to dump Chloe and date the new girl. But idk then I could be potentially hurting her if I did that and I wouldn’t want that. I’d be kinda leading her on, and it’s something I don’t want to do to ppl. Like idk I feel like if I date someone that I’m not totally into, it’s a disservice to them and myself, since they deserve better tbh. I think everyone deserves someone who truly cares about them and wants them, isn’t settling, or etc etc etc. So I don’t wanna date someone if I’m not completely into them, since they deserve someone who truly do and someone who thinks they’re amazing. I would want the same for myself. So I guess that’s a small dilemma that I have. I like the idea of dating someone, now’s probably one of the best possible times to do so, and I could. But I like being serious about someone, I don’t wanna hurt anyone by dating them if I’m not really into them, and I obv want to date someone that I am really into and would be proud of showing them off. So yeah, small dilemma, I guess the right choice is to not lead Chloe on too much, and prob not pursue anything with her. I suppose all I can and should be doing is continue to be chill and content/happy hanging out with my cool friends, keep myself busy with school/hobbies, and eventually I’ll meet someone who I’m truly into and they’ll hopefully be into me too? :O

That’s it for now... Back to writing my music appreciation paper, and The Flash episode tomorrow is gonna be lit af...