A Memoir Of Music In The Car

My family used to take long car rides back when I was between the ages of four and eight. We'd pack up the car with my suitcase, my parents duffel bags, and my little sister Rachel's pink camo rolling case. The four of us would drive for hours to places such as Vermont and Pennsylvania. Now that I think about it, we didn't go to a large variety of places. We'd visit my cousins and grandparents and my mom's best friend, Gretchen. You'd be surprised at how many songs could for into two hours. How many albums. My Dad is always a fan of Bob Dillan and The Gourds and I'd be forced to listen to them on the tapes of our old car.

The Coolest Guy On Earth

It wasn't until a couple years later that we actually caught up with everyone and traded our cassette player in the station wagon for a CD player. When we finally got the shiny mechanism I saw hope for not having to listen to my Dad's favorite musician. But just as we caught up with the CD player, my Dad caught up with converting his tapes to CDs. My parents would sing along to the words to the songs and I'd put on my best five year old pouty face to guilt my Mom and Dad into shutting off their music and replacing it with my crappy kid's singers. 

The transition from listening to kid's singers to actual music was rather fast. One night when I couldn't sleep and I tiptoed down to the living room in my old home, I saw a man in the most bad-ass leather jacket jamming out with a guitar. An alarm rang inside my head telling me that this man was the coolest guy on earth. No joke. I begged my Dad to make a CD of him so we could listen to this singer in the car. Relived that he'd get a break from my crappy kids music, he agreed and created one so I could listen to the biggest bad ass on the planet. This guy was Bruce Springsteen or as pronounced it "Bruce Springstee". Although I have seen some pretty awesome people out there, I still stand by the fact that Bruce is the king of cool. 

I Will Not Be Afraid Of Women

My next big phase was Dar Williams. I am not exactly sure how I got into her but I found it mind blowing that she was a female singer due to the fact that I'd been listening to men for most of my life. Dar was automatically one of my favorite singers. I must have had a things for bad asses for I absolutely loved the angst in "As Cool As I Am". I am telling you, if you've never seen six year old Annie performing that song with an attitude that could kill, you've missed out big time. My family mostly listened to "Mortal City" even though once in a while, we'd pop in "The Honesty Room". This was my soundtrack to life. Later on, I took up a great liking to "When I Was Boy" for the magical vibe and the mentioning of my favorite Disney character, Peter Pan. I found "February" funny for the idea of throwing some body's keys in the water was just silly. I guess my six year old brain didn't really get the story line. What little kid does?

Even though I just broke my three year record of not listening to Bruce about ten minutes ago, the lyrics clicked with me and I was instantly singing along. I still got it.  I don't bother plan on checking out his newer albums. I want to keep my image of Bruce as the best person ever and if I don't like the recent songs, I could single handily ruin my six through eight year old life.  Then comes Dar. My god. I remember feelings like the most angst filled six year old jamming out to my (still) favorite song: "As Cool As I Am". You'd be surprised that I still know all the words. Last year, when I went to my second year at camp, one of my counselors sang us "The BabySitters' Here" and my excitement  took me over. The next day we had a camp wide singing of "Iowa". That right there is my jam. 

-Ann              

Friday Extra: In Which Ann Brags About Her Novel

Yes indeed I am writing a 50,000 word novel! This Summer, I am ecstatic to be working with Camp Nanorimo in writing my very first 50,000 word teen romance book. Before I go into detail of my own story, I guess I should do a little explaining. Nanorimo is an organization of people who during November basically put a pause to their lives and write a 50,000 word novel in thirty days. This Summer however, they will be running another program called "Camp Nanorimo" in which writers will be spending their Summers trying to complete a novel during the month of July. I was heartbroken to find that I would be at actual camp during most of July but I am willing to stretch myself out into writing this book in the last couple weeks that I'm back.

Now onto my novel. Anyone ever heard of the song "Saskia Hamilton" by Ben Folds and Nick Horby? Could you guess where the idea was sparked? My biggest inspiration for my upcoming piece of writing was the narrator of the song. This young poetry nerd is such a perfect character and has so much potential to grow that I couldn't help but instantly fall in love with him. A couple weeks and a ton of brainstorming later, this boy is fifteen years old, has a group of the most interesting nerd friends I could think up, a billion letters to Saskia and a name: Colby Marks. I could seriously talk for hours about all the possibilities and twists and turns this book could include.  At the moment the plot is leading to my main character sort of guiding his way through life with his crazy group of friends and just having him fall in love with the Saskia he has created for himself. Like the song goes, the character is not exactly sure what she looks like or who she is really except for the fact that she is a poet. I want to create a fantasy between a nerd and a woman with an extraordinary name.
The thing I am most excited for is how the entire novel will be written. I am planning on making the entire book be written in letters Colby has written to his fantasy of Saskia Hamilton that he keeps in his notebook. I find that this will paint a more mental picture of the Saskia fantasy he is living in and will stress how much Colby feels that she can understand him. With both Saskia and Colby being poets and great poetry lovers, poetry will be a definite theme in the book and I am positive that there will be a number of poems in the book some taken from other poets and some written by me.
In the end, I am shaking with excitement to start writing The Year I Fell In Love With Saskia Hamilton. I am also thrilled to be informing you that I got my cabin mates yesterday! The feature that I am most excited for this year are these writing buddies that we will be given to help each other through the insanity of writing a book. Each of these six writers are so unique and interesting but I have taken up a liking for seventeen year old Sky who is a nerdfighter (you could imagine how we clicked) and my fifteen year old cabin mate who goes by the nickname "monkey typwriter" for his profile made me laugh so hard how well he made fun of himself. With my entire cabin being mostly older teenagers, I am indeed the youngest which I absolutely love how none of them give a shit about the age difference and treat me just as equal as the others. Even though I have only known these writers for a day and half, I can tell these people are pretty rad. Maybe this Summer will decrease world suck.
Camp Nanorimo- An idyllic retreat smack-dab in the middle of your crazy life
-Ann
My Nanorimo Profile
Camp Nanorimo
Nanorimo
Charlie Mcdonnell's music video for "Saskia Hamilton"

p.s I would like to inform you all that I am the single follower of the "Ministry of Magic play list on spotify by Allison Ott. You guys are missing out on a seriously amazing collection of songs by the Harry Potter rock band. 
Ministry of Magic

Camp Must Haves- Beauty

With most of you heading off to camp either around this time or sometime in the Summer, what better way to break in a Summer or blogging other than the must-haves for everyone at a sleep away camp?

Shower Bag
I keep my shower bag in my laundry bag. I suggest you get a waterproof bag so you will be able to take it in the shower and get it wet!

Cosmetic and Beauty
Shaving Cream and Razors
Shaving products are definitely something I could never live without at camp. I prefer EOS shaving cream for the reason I like EOS but whatever smells good is fine with me.
Tooth Brush and Tooth paste
Since I am the coolest person ever, Vivi and I are taking Barbie toothbrushes to camp. I suggest you get a toothbrush cover to protect what goes into your mouth from whatever else is in your shower bag.
Hair Bands 
What could I do without a pack of hair bands and head bands to keep the hair out of my face? I suggest taking a full pack of bands so you can share them with your cabin mates (who likes someone who won't share?) and for I lose them all the time! I also take a hairbrush and "Straight Away" just in case my lion mane hair won't cooperate with me. In addition, since I will not have a bathroom this year, I am taking a hand mirror with me so I can check how I look inside my cabin.

Shower Items
Some of my camp friends bring large bottles and some even will bring multiple conbtainers of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. I find that completely crazy! I do bring my own medium products then borrow ones every once in a while from other friends.
Face Wash
No need to break out at camp! I always take a tube of my favorite face cleanser just to make sure ta

Psychedelia in Tom Milsom

The name seems to describe itself. Just sitting there you seem to blend into the music like some weird human/music smoothie (bad simile?) you mind melds into the beat and your mouth has been singing the words for so long you forgot that you were even chanting the lyrics. It's hypnotizing and peaceful and you just want to sink into it.
Over the past few weeks, I have been feelings more and more peaceful with everything going on and the punk rock that I normally listen to on a regular basis is all to emotional for my moods. So instead of clicking repeat on All Time Low or any other punk bands, I've gone for the mystical Tom Milsom. Tom's voice has become so calming and mysterious that I could just drift off into the tune or lyrics and never come back. His voice drifts over you head like a cloud and stays there just floating above your head and eventually, you become part of the cloud and are floating with it. In his new song "Take Me Out" the drum in the background plays but instead of waking you up from reality, it draws you in and ketches the whole song together like a belt. Don't even get me started on the guitar. The bass of the instrument seems to echo in my brain and calms my nerves. Everything in this song clicks together into one soothing path out of the world and into a mystical new Earth.
Tom has always had this "twinge" in his music that I've always loved. Most of the music I am normally listening to is much more intense and can calm me but Tom's lyrics and melodies can just send me off into just such a peaceful mode. 
-Ann


Best Of Tom Milsom

Friday Extra: Trolls 2

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Before I begin my rant, I'd like to thank my best friend Vivi for thinking this topic up a couple months ago. You kind of sorta saved my life when I was tapped out on ideas this week.
Now that I have that covered, I have probably the best thing ever to unveil to you. Trolls 2. As some of you may know, I have a strong love for bad movies and when Viv and I sat down and watched this movie, I came to the realization of my love for bad HORROR movies. OK OK maybe for the reason that I have and will not watch any other horror movie besides "We Need To Talk About Kevin" and that right there is already terrifying to me.
Trolls 2 focuses around a very strange little boy who keeps seeing his dead grandpa Seth. Hence Vivi and I's favorite line "you must banish him from your mind." I mean who the hell even says that? As Josh and his family go on a house exchange trip to the mysterious town "Nilbog" he finds what his grandfather warned him about- goblins. Please don't ask me why the movie is called "Trolls 2" if it is entirely about goblins. Lets just keep it as one of life's mysteries. Skip a ton of bad acting and tons of memorable lines and scenes such as a boy watching a girl turning into a plant and him screaming "They're eating her! And now they're going to eat me!", Josh peeing on a plate of food that has been poisoned by the goblins his family refuses to believe and his Father screaming  "You don't piss on hospitality!", and Josh looking into a mirror and realizing Nilbog is Goblin spelled backwards. Josh ends up defeating the goblins that are about to eat his family by eating a turkey sand which and tapping a stone wall. Have we found a new way to defeat monsters? Finally, the family travels back home after three of their friends have been eaten and all four of them seem surprisingly sane. The movie concludes with an actual scary scene in which the suspense kills you about what is happening to the mom downstairs until you find her being eaten by the goblins that somehow found them. The ending line being "want some Josh?". Leaving the audience not exactly sure what the hell they went through.

This exact movie was used in the documentary "Best Worst Movie" which to make a long story short was the best thing I have ever spent my time watching. Well maybe next to Hank Green dancing...
I brought up this topic as my Friday Extra this week in appreciation of terrible movies like this. Do people make terrible films to give others something to gif the hell out of and watch ironically? I am not searching for the answer. Instead I give a big "Thank You" to those who have given me Trolls 2 and the Barbie series.
Thank you for the crappiest movies ever made. 
-Ann

I just had to add it.... Enjoy Hank's full dougie....

Sunday Diary: Foot Cast and Memory Glasses

Dear Blob,
This week could be all wrapped up in a little box with the three words: cast, sucks, and bat mitzvah. 
on Monday I had a Doctor's appointment for my foot that had been aching for the past couple weeks. Even though my mom had insisted it was tendinitis for I had had it in fifth grade because of my god awful UGGS phase, I immediately denied it saying that there probably was nothing wrong with my foot. I hate it when my mom is right. With the soft cast being all too thick to be able to get through my ultra skinny jeans, the nurse supplied me with a pair of shorts. Long, navy blue, basketball shorts. While I was dying of embarrassment, my mother was laughing about how I had it coming for wearing my Urban Outfitters cat flats while walking to school. I was then given a black boot for my cast and headed out in my dreadful outfit. While thinking of ways to decorate my cast, I came out with the best thing to write across the side. In a bronze sharpie marker I scrawled "Everybody sucks yeah we all make mistakes", my favorite Hank Green quote. I then wrote "everyone sucks" on the edge of the soft cast to show off my pure hatred for my foot situation. Even though the entire day mostly consisted of pure world suck, the first ever episode of "Full Frontal" with Jack and Alex broadcast and at least gave me a little reassurance that this week wouldn't be all that bad.
Tuesday I had now decorated the boot for my cast with a set of metallic markers to match the old combats that I had drawn on. I was greeted with finals reviews in about every class. This test is speeding ahead. 
Thursday was about the only day that I actually did anything productive. Well aside from Wednesday,in which I collected a great deal of poems for my music themed poetry anthology for English. Anyways, I finally finished the halter shirt that I'd been working on! 
I had two camp bar and bat mitzvahs this weekend so on Friday my mom and I went on a mini road trip down to my grandparents house to stay with them for the Pennsylvania parties. We ended up stopping at a large thrift store and coming out with a grand total of eight shirts, two pairs of pajama pants, a dress, and a charm bracelet. Do I have a thrift shopping problem? Maybe... 
Saturday was my friend Charlotte's bat mitzvah which I showed up in a single heel and my boot. Talk about being lob sided. The service ticked on slowly and my friend, Lily tried to do my makeup in the bathroom. I literally looked like a zombie. I then became the awkward girl carrying the suitcase for I had planned to sleep over at my friend Halle's. Being an introvert though, I ended up going back to my grandparent's house after the party though. During lunch, my camp friends and I created a little something called a "memory glass" in which we filled water glasses up with mementos from the day. Giveaways, name cards, snippets of the centerpieces. Anything we could find. We then filled the cup with water and poured hot wax over the entire thing to seal it all in. You can imagine the parent's annoyance. I then drove back to my grandparent's house in which we went out for Chinese and basically ordered the entire menu. Nice job. We then went to the nearest Barnes and Noble in which I planted myself on the floor in the Teen's section. There is just something about book stores in which I fee so comfortable. I still can't seem to understand why people at my school think that saying they don't read is cool. Suit yourself. While I'm reading, you can duck face and cry out "YOLO Swaggie". I ended up purchasing what seems to be the coolest memoir ever. "Rapture Practice" shows a lot of promise. Making fun of your own beliefs and talking about your teenage years. Anything better? 
Sunday morning I was suipposed to be going to my friend Shayne's bar mitzvah but my foot was aching like hell (another week of the cast) and I felt almost embarrassed to show up. Instead of going to the party, I ended up being a mush all day with my aching foot and sitting on the couch reading the book I had bought the night before (which by the way is amazing). The rest of the day was a drive back to New Jersey with just my mom, myself, a box of Saltines, Sour Patch Watermelons, Chex Mix, and the radio blasting all the crappy tunes you could name for I couldn't seem to get my Idobi app to work. 
Foot casts, ruining property, and thrift shopping. How was your weekend? 
-Ann
Play list
With me having put another Diary play list in a previous post this week, this one is much shorter than most of my regular ones. I included three of the best All Time Low remixes of Weightless, Poppin Champagne, and Damned If I Do Ya. I then put a couple Never Shout Never tracks for they are becoming on of the most listened artists on my Spotify library. To top it all off, I put a couple of my favorite Hank Green songs!Sunday Diary 4
Life Scouts
With May coming to an end, I have one last badge to share with you guys from Childhood month and one badge from my first week of June's "Carnival Month". I am also proud to say that I earned every single badge of childhood month! Best child ever right here!

Baking Cookies
When I was younger, my family and I used to bake cookies all the time! Christmas, thanksgiving, an just when we felt like it. We did a great deal of cookie baking.

Gymnastics
In first grade through third, I took gymnastics classes ever week. To this day, even though I barely ever exercise, but am capable of a handstand and cartwheel. I don't think I will be trying out for the Olympics any time soon. 

In Other News

• Remember the bikini post i did a couple weeks ago? By putting a couple of the pictures together, I created this AWESOME animation.
• In addition, I appreciate this photo shoot with Jack Barakat all too much that I could not resist putting it in here:

Things You Must See: June

Extremely sad news here guys. With me going off to camp on the 23, there will be no posts until four weeks later. I don't think anyone is more sad than I am about all this. Meaning this is my last "Things You Must See" before I leave for camp! I like to look on the bright side of everything and me going off to camp really isn't a tragedy. I love camp! Anyways, I am EXTREMELY exited to share with you the things you must see for the month of June!
Music
For May, I was mostly jamming out to artists such as Bethan Mary Leadley, Luke Cutforth, and Bribry! One thing all three of these singers have in common is that they are all youtubers! With Luke Cutforth being a more comedic singer, he still has "We Were" and "A Million Years" which are unique and extremely well written. Bethan's songs are more classic and personal. If you have ever seen her videos you can see her personality shining through in her songs. My all time favorite of her songs would have to be "If Taylor Taught Me Anything" for you can seriously hear real emotion blasting in her voice. To talk about Bribry, I can only say that his voice is gorgeous. Seriously, when I first heard his song "Staying Together" for the first time, I was blown away. This guy is talented beyond anything. His music is different and so almost magical.
My Play List:
June Music
Television
I will admit. I haven't been watching much television. So instead of talking of a new show that I've been watching, I chose to talk about an old one that I have been crazy for for a long time. Catfish is one of the most intense and suspenseful shows I have ever seen for the reason for you never know what could happen. This MTV show revolves around the topic of online relationships in which filmmaker Nev, goes to different cities meeting people who have been talking to others online for awhile and seek to find if they say they really are. Every episode makes you wonder up until you find this mysterious person. I have to say Catfish gives everyone a window into the weird and wonderful world of online relationships.
Books
Again with my problem with staying on one book. I absolutely love to read but I can't help but start a new novel in the middle of another one! This month, I am proud to say that I finished another one! Winger by Andrew Smith was extraordinary I must say. With the main character, Ryan Dean being the most angst-y teenager in world, the entire novel is interesting and extremely funny. The best part was I could seriously relate to Ryan in my own life and understood where he was coming from.
Movies
Is this just a time where there are no good movies in theatres? Could you call this a movie drought? Have no fear! Charlie McDonnell is here! With Charlie's new short film "The Tea Chronicles", I have been extremely exited! With people such as Chris Kendall, Khyan Mansly, and Jenny Bingham nothing can be better! I oddly cannot entirely explain the eleven minute film for it could have been one of the weirdest things I have seen. I mean, how many of us has seen a physiological horror comedy about tea? Yet another strange yet amazing video from Charlie.

There you have it! Some truly awesome stuff to enjoy for June! Out of total excitement for anyone to see it, I put "The Tea Chronicles" below for you to watch!
Happy June!
-Ann