mettre le feu à soleil [sic?] -> words hang heavy
Just changed my MSN display name after more than a year from "set fire to the sun" in French (it's been 'set fire to the sun since 2010) to something in one of my blog posts a while back, one of those that resembles creative writing a little more than the others.I realise that my previous display name more likely than not contained a serious grammatical error ('au soleil' instead of 'à soleil', am I right?), probably because used Google Translate/I wasn't aware of the relevant French grammatical rule when I first set it. After that I probably told myself it was an exception to the rule. I don't dare give myself the benefit of the doubt regarding that. It's funny that my French-taking/French-speaking contacts never called me out on it.And yeah, I think it's time to retire that old joke. I know it's really pretty and all, but to tell the truth, THIS is where it really came from:
"You see, Perry the Platypus, this secret hideout doesn't actually belong to me. It belonged to my mentor, Professor Destructocon, Kevin, to his friends. Sadly, he was just captured in the midst of his latest plan to SET FIRE TO THE SUN! Redundant, perhaps.
But before they locked him away, Kevin asked a favor of me: To prevent them from discovering his hidden lair and all its secrets, would I please SET FIRE TO THE SUN! I was like, dude, you really got to let that one go, it's a ball of fire! It makes no sense."
"IB is hell. We should all help each other through it."
I said this to someone after helping him with some essay or another; I'm sad to say I don't really remember what it was. Then I said it to someone else a few hours later.I'm pretty sure it's become my personal code of living these two years. It's strange, because I've never been an overtly helpful person; when I give assistance to others it's often with a bubbling irritation too often cloaked by politeness or internet. I think I've mentioned it before when talking about being a lawyer.This is different, though. In this school I've gained a painful awareness of my lack of self-sufficiency, but I've also become aware of the others walking along the same road as I am.I'm forever grateful for all the help I've received during this journey; who am I to refuse to give the same to others? Oh yeah, let me tell you about Homestuck.
Or maybe not. It's just an insanely long webcomic that you really should not read less than two weeks before exams, or even less than six months. Point is, it's got a whole music team and they release a heck of a lot of stuff. Pseudo game music, really. The entire webcomic is kind of a pseudo-game in itself. It's hard to even use the word 'webcomic' to describe it.
If you like that sort of thing (game soundtrack, electronic stuff) then you should go have a listen. If you don't then don't.
If you actually want to read it go
here. For the brave. For the very brave. There's a reason why I don't post about Homestuck here at all.
If you do enjoy it though, you won't regret it.
un petit peu de la musique, and by "petit peu", I mean like "environ deux heures"
The thing I love about my current pair of headphones is that they don't exactly cover the ears. They're like two little whiteboard dusters - soft rectangular pads that give softly but don't overwhelm, and it's only when you press them to your ears that you realise how much sound you're missing.
It allows for a deliberation that I can't help but treasure, sitting here listening to new music in the middle of the night, in my little office chair with my knees drawn up to my chest and my hands pressed to the shells of my headphones, eyes shut. Remember what I said about respect? This is another form of that. It ensures full attention, a full savouring and absorbing of everything the music has to offer, something so important especially when it comes to instrumental, conceptual music such as this. I know I'm listening, and listening to the fullest extent of my ability to the wash of music and it's beautiful. It's an experience.
I've always thought that albums should be listened to in full, in sequence, and without disruption, the first time you listen to them. Listened to exactly how the musician intended you to listen to them, not shuffled and looped and stuttered. My sis thinks I'm being 'album-elitist' by saying that, and maybe that's true, but maybe it's just my obsession with cohesion.
(a little bit of music [quote from Lady Gaga's 'Marry the Night' music video], and by "a little bit", I mean "approximately two hours")