I finally got the Favor Playlist done after a normal amount of procrastinating. I think it turned out awesome.
Melanie looked at me the other day and said, “I will be so happy when people stop asking if we’re excited.” I told a friend what she said and he told me to just get ready for the next question, “When are you going to have kids?” His answer was funny: “We’ve been trying for years!”
Marriage is great. The idea of devoting your life to someone you love and making the choice to love them in any situation is amazing. A wedding is supposed to be me screaming at the top of a mountain, telling everyone how excited I am about living my life with someone, yet I find myself setting up tables and chairs, choosing colors, defending my decisions, and eventually not caring about the draconian rules people place on “such a sacrament.”
Throughout the wedding planning process I let all of the fluff and meaningless rituals go because my vision is set on my bride and the life we would start together. But as we get closer to the date (2 days now) the more I just want to go pick Melanie up, go to my Pastor’s house, and say “I do.”
I’m trying to put together a mix CD to give away at our wedding, a collection of songs that Melanie and I have really enjoyed together or have some kind of special meaning to us. It has proven to be a very difficult task because there is so much I want to put into it but there are a few problems:
1. There are some songs that were influential to us that we don’t particularly like anymore
2. I want there to be 6 MGMT songs
3. Some songs are particularly good when looked at from the perspective of the entire album they are on, not necessarily the single song.
4. There are just too many songs from too many artists that we want to represent.
So here is a list of what we have so far. This is very close to the final playlist, but the order will likely be different:
Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
Arctic Monkeys – Teddy Picker
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour – The Sun Ain’t Shining No More
The Beatles – Octopus’s Garden
David Bowie – Moonage Daydream
The Decemberists – The Legionnaire’s Lament
Five Iron Frenzy – On Distant Shores
Gogol Bordello – Ultimate
The Last Shadow Puppets – Meeting Place
MGMT – Electric Feel
The New Pornographers – Go Places
Pink Floyd – Us and Them (Symphonic)
Queen – You’re My Best Friend
The Raconteurs – The Switch and the Spur
Ratatat – Montanita
Sigur Ros – Staralfur
Super Furry Animals – Presidential Suite
Wolf Parade – Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts
As I am beginning to think about what to write in this blogpost I anticipate 2500 words with pictures and videos to sum up what has happened over the last month or two. Luckily for you, I will lose interest in saying things about Russia, marriage, music, and beer and resort to a few music videos that are awesome. Shall we begin?
What an incredible video. Anyway, when I went to Russia for a month in May and June I asked my girlfriend to marry me. Well, actually I didn’t really have to ask, it just happened. Here are some pictures from the trip.
In other news we went to Monterey for a wedding a few weeks ago and spent some time geocaching! If you don’t know what geocaching is go to this website: http://www.geocaching.com Usually when I describe geocaching to people they look at me funny and say things like, “Why on earth would you want to do that?!?!” Well, let me tell you, geocaching is one of the coolest exploration activities one can do. You go out into unknown territory with a friend (or by yourself) and look for something someone else has left behind. The satisfaction you get when you find a difficult cache is incredible. Here are some pictures of us finding a cache on Lover’s Point in Monterey.
I figured I should write something here before I go to Russia for 4 weeks, but I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I will be cut off, for the most part, from the rest of the world as I will not have an internet connection at my disposal and international calling is not really an option. Not that I would call any of you anyway, because I will be in RUSSIA…HELPING ORPHANS.
The interesting part about going to Russia for a month is that I will be pulled from my weekly routine and thrown into a world unknown to me. I will be going from spending hours a day on the internet to maybe 15 minutes a week online, watching movies and playing games everyday to doing none of those things for 30 days, the freedom of doing whatever I want to having to do things with a group. These notions are not completely unfamiliar to me but I am wondering how I will adjust to these common things becoming a scarcity.
In the latest episode of Fruit Snacks and Fanny Packs we discussed things that would be difficult to live without. I voiced that I could not live without music but could probably live without games and I will be testing this theory for the next 30 days. I believe that I will miss video games but will be so busy that I wont need them to fill my extra time.
I don’t NEED games like some people:
Shifting gears.
I enjoy talking about music on here. According to Last.FM I have listened to over 50,000 songs since October 2006. I don’t really know if that is completely possible considering that would be about 52 songs a day…but I still certainly listen to a lot of music.
The top 3 artists are Pink Floyd, Radiohead, and The Beatles, with 2500, 2300, and 2000 plays respectively. These three bands are easily 3 of my favorites, but it’s funny how bands like U2, Muse, Bad Religion, and Megadeth are towards the top of my list and none of them are favorites…. anymore.
What is the point of all this? There is no point. I just like analyzing how my tastes change. Some analysis, I know.
Current favorites you SHOULD be checking out:
MGMT
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour
The Decemberists
I love every second of this video:
Talk to everyone in a month!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Work: I love my job. Maybe my interest in fixing other people’s computer problems will wear off eventually, but for right now I am loving it. Part of it must be that I have a great boss and I don’t have to deal with any of the corporate crap that I am somewhat used to. It is nice to be free from the man.
Unfortunately the last few days have been kind of hectic with problems that are more difficult to fix. Combine that with me being outrageously unprepared for these problems and you get unhappy clients with an even unhappier technician(me). Luckily I have a bit of vacation ahead of me so I can cool off and relax.
Church: Although it doesn’t take up a huge amount of my time, it is something I try to take very seriously. The group of people I am involved with in making this church happen are some of the best people I have ever met, and I am very thankful for them. If you live in the Fresno/Clovis area, let us wrap your Christmas gifts for free this Sunday. You can learn more about the church at http://www.sequoiafresno.org.
Girlfriend: You know how much I love you.
Russia: In May 2009 Melanie and I will be going to Russia on a service trip for a month. I know it is a long ways off but I need to prepare(considering I hardly know any Russian). Plus I have been putting together the website. See it at http://www.russianimpact.org.
Music: Listening to music has been great lately, and I have been listening to a lot of great stuff. From Classic Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Modest Mouse, Beatles, and Daft Punk, to newer interesting stuff like M83, Sigur Ros, The Mountain Goats, The Raconteurs, Hospital Ships, and MGMT, I am never bored. Check out this AMAZING song from the newest Sigur Ros album:
For more of what I have been listening to, go to my last.fm page.
Video Games: I bought a Playstation 3 as a birthday present to myself and so far I am loving it. I already played through Metal Gear Solid 4 and right now I am completely engrossed in Little Big Planet and Wipeout HD. I had the pleasure of watching both Ratatouille and WALL-E on Blu Ray which was fantastic, I feel like I am finally getting the most out of my HDTV.
Podcasting: A brand new episode of Fruit Snacks and Fanny Packs is now available. We went on hiatus for a few months, but we’re back, stronger than never. Check us out: http://www.fruitsnacksandfannypacks.com. There is a special prize this week!
I hope everyone at least got through this blogpost, I almost didn’t.
