Thursday, March 24, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Someone Like You
I have spent the last 2 days listening to Adele's new album 21 on loop. When I like something, and this applies in particular to food and music, I have to eat/listen to it repeatedly.
I'm struck by how beautifully this young musician has managed to condense the end of a relationship into an album. I mention the word young because it is truly remarkable how lived-in and wistful the songs are, by turns angry and sorrowful.
Three songs stick with me, and I want to bring them up. The first is Lovesong. For The Cure fans out there, you should skip the next few sentences. I am not a huge Cure fan, I find their music too emo. Which is why I was surprised to have been so captivated by Adele's cover of their song. The chorus, where she repeats the phrase 'I will always love you' will remove any traces of the emo rendition from your head.
The second song is called I Found a Boy. It begins a little like an old jazz standard from the 1930s or 40s, and then progresses into a song that could fit into any decade. Delightful, like something out of an old movie. I must warn you that its likely that I have the previous thought because I watched The Philadelphia Story again, around the same time I started listening to the song.
While I Found a Boy is my favourite song on the album, undoubtedly the most moving song on the album is Someone Like You. In the song, the protagonist has dropped in on a former lover unannounced, and then attempts to rationalize the fact that he has moved on to another woman, and is happy now, by singing, "Never mind, I'll find someone like you". The lyrics, the melody, the soaring vocals provided by Adele, all combine to make the song something that will stay in your head long after you've stopped listening, not unlike an old love.
I'm struck by how beautifully this young musician has managed to condense the end of a relationship into an album. I mention the word young because it is truly remarkable how lived-in and wistful the songs are, by turns angry and sorrowful.
Three songs stick with me, and I want to bring them up. The first is Lovesong. For The Cure fans out there, you should skip the next few sentences. I am not a huge Cure fan, I find their music too emo. Which is why I was surprised to have been so captivated by Adele's cover of their song. The chorus, where she repeats the phrase 'I will always love you' will remove any traces of the emo rendition from your head.
The second song is called I Found a Boy. It begins a little like an old jazz standard from the 1930s or 40s, and then progresses into a song that could fit into any decade. Delightful, like something out of an old movie. I must warn you that its likely that I have the previous thought because I watched The Philadelphia Story again, around the same time I started listening to the song.
While I Found a Boy is my favourite song on the album, undoubtedly the most moving song on the album is Someone Like You. In the song, the protagonist has dropped in on a former lover unannounced, and then attempts to rationalize the fact that he has moved on to another woman, and is happy now, by singing, "Never mind, I'll find someone like you". The lyrics, the melody, the soaring vocals provided by Adele, all combine to make the song something that will stay in your head long after you've stopped listening, not unlike an old love.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Burning Out
Looking through the archives of this blog, I have recently realized that 2010 was my least productive year on the blog. This isn't because I was suddenly the busiest I have ever been, although this is the busiest I have ever been in my life. I work a full time job, I live alone, so I cook, I clean, I buy groceries, I pay bills, I do laundry and I wash my own vessels. I also work 2 separate part time jobs from home. I have a few friends who I am close with in this city, so I usually make at least one outing per weekend. I have taken on extra work in order to save up for an enormously expensive trip that my best friend, Gooseberrie and I are planning to take. And of course there are all the phone calls home to my mum, my brother, all of the grandparents, with at least one set of aunt + uncle thrown in each week. Honestly, I have no time for absolutely anything else in my life right now. And yet, this is not the reason I write only sparingly on my blog of late.
The reason is that I think I've started to burn out. Even just writing this blog post, I have no literary eloquence in me, no playful re-arrangement of the English language, no whimsy. Just plain boring text, words arranged in the same patterns as they have been for years. I write hundreds of pages of content every month. All of my jobs, full time and part time, are essentially writing jobs. I research, I analyze, and then I articulate or opine. That's the basic definition of all my work. At the end of all that, there seems to be no creative juice left in me to come onto my blog and rant.
A close friend called recently to bemoan the lack of activity on the blog, and more importantly to her, the lack of angry, inspired ranting, my supposed trademark. Looking back, that seems to be true. The only heartfelt, unfiltered blog post I have written recently was You, and that was born of a deep sorrow and pain. I don't want to have to feel that in order write well, or uninhibitedly.
The latter factor has also begun to worry me. As my jobs require me to be an educated analyst, I have stopped writing freestyle. Everything is constructed, planned, structured to deliver the point with supporting evidence. There's no room for bursts of inspiration and wit. I am now mentally exhausted even at the thought of writing.
So, here's the thing, I'm worried. And tired. And worried. And most of all, I'm burning out, fast.
The reason is that I think I've started to burn out. Even just writing this blog post, I have no literary eloquence in me, no playful re-arrangement of the English language, no whimsy. Just plain boring text, words arranged in the same patterns as they have been for years. I write hundreds of pages of content every month. All of my jobs, full time and part time, are essentially writing jobs. I research, I analyze, and then I articulate or opine. That's the basic definition of all my work. At the end of all that, there seems to be no creative juice left in me to come onto my blog and rant.
A close friend called recently to bemoan the lack of activity on the blog, and more importantly to her, the lack of angry, inspired ranting, my supposed trademark. Looking back, that seems to be true. The only heartfelt, unfiltered blog post I have written recently was You, and that was born of a deep sorrow and pain. I don't want to have to feel that in order write well, or uninhibitedly.
The latter factor has also begun to worry me. As my jobs require me to be an educated analyst, I have stopped writing freestyle. Everything is constructed, planned, structured to deliver the point with supporting evidence. There's no room for bursts of inspiration and wit. I am now mentally exhausted even at the thought of writing.
So, here's the thing, I'm worried. And tired. And worried. And most of all, I'm burning out, fast.
Friday, March 11, 2011
My Homie From the Hood
I love food. In good times and in bad, food has never left my side. Which might explain my larger than genetically appropriate size at present. Which is why my close friends also tend to be foodies, people who enjoy food, cooking it, eating it, experimenting with it, the whole lot. I really quite dislike people, especially women, who delicately peck at green things on a plate. I don't mind working out extra, but I don't think I could completely cut out yummy food from my life.
The latest member of my inner circle, my 'homie from the hood', my fellow food geek is Flavours. She has started her own blog recently, chronicling her love of food, and it has been a joy to begin this journey with her. Here's to a hopefully long and food-filled journey ahead. Check out her blog here. Today's Flavour Is...
The latest member of my inner circle, my 'homie from the hood', my fellow food geek is Flavours. She has started her own blog recently, chronicling her love of food, and it has been a joy to begin this journey with her. Here's to a hopefully long and food-filled journey ahead. Check out her blog here. Today's Flavour Is...
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