Because I'm Still In Love With You

So the last video I posted for "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" isn't really a song that is in the running for our first dance song, but I really like it and think it is sweet and it always reminds me of MOTH Dude when I hear it.

The two songs that are actually in the running are as follows, plus reasons why we might choose them:



Reasons to choose Harvest Moon:

1. MOTH and I are both big Neil Young fans, as are my parents
2. Our wedding will be outdoors (hopefully) in Autumn and I think I've worked it out where it will be on a day that is a Harvest moon
3. For the lyrics "When we were strangers/I watched you from afar/When we were lovers/I loved you with all my heart/But now it's getting late/And the moon is climbin high/I want to celebrate/See it shinin in your eye" that speak to the love we have for each other and the feeling we want to have for our wedding night
4. It's the perfect outdoor, laid back, kinda hippie Santa Cruz wedding song






Reasons to choose You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will.:

1. MOTH and I are both Bright Eyes fans
2. MOTH and I deeply love and care about each other, but we aren't all schmoopy and obnoxious about our love. We are realists and this song speaks to that in the line "Are you the love of my lifetime?/Cause there have been times I've had my doubts." There have been some roadblocks in our relationship (or should I say outside influences and circumstances?) that have seem insurmountable and I'm sure we've both thought long and hard about whether or not this is all worth it. Luckily, we have decided it is!
3. For the lyrics that remind us of our life together, like "You said you could be my dream I could have you every night/And if by morning, I'd forgotten you, well no big deal, that'd be alright/'Cause you're the reoccurring kind/You are the reoccurring kind/You never really leave my mind" since MOTH always forgets his dreams and laughs about how vivid mine are and "You're a boomerang you'll see/You will return to me" since boomerangs are Aussie, MOTH liked the little shout out to something Australia in the song
4. We were hoping that one of my good friends from grade school would come to the wedding and that maybe he'd sing this song along to his guitar for us?

Obviously we still have tons of time to work these types of little details out, but it has been fun starting to think about them!

I Am Alright...Can You Get Me Off Your Mind?

Nothing of importance to say. Wish I had seen Alkaline Trio with my sister tonight back home in Santa Cruz. MOTH Dude gets to see them next month, but I'm missing out!

Here they are with Tegan Quinn of Tegan and Sara (you may remember last year I did a post about them, saying they are the only 2 girls I'd switch teams for, though she's looking a bit ratty/mullety in this video so don't judge her hotness on this alone).

Great song and cool dynamic having Tegan and Dan from Alkaline Trio sing it together.



Enjoy! Hope everyone has a great weekend. I'm headed out camping, fingers crossed I don't come back looking like one big bug bite-the Aussie mosquitoes seem to love my sweet, sweet American blood. I'll try and take some pictures and do a post about the trip when we're back and I've also got some pictures to post from the Beer Festival we went to last weekend held at an old prison!

Gold Guns Girls

Nae got me in to this Metric song right before she left for South Africa and now it is my happy song. She says it would make a good, brisk walking song...a song she would've listen to running between classes on campus at UCSC. Anyway, it's different than "Help, I'm Alive" so whether you loved or hated that song (and even if you started out liking it you probably hate it now because it is played on the radio every 5 minutes) you should check this one out anyway, in my opinion.

Put Down Your Sword and Crown. Come Lay With Me On the Ground

I liked the second episode of Big Love so much better! The last scene had me tearing up as much as Nicki was almost and a big part of that was because I thought the song that they had playing in the background was so lovely. Here is the music video for it, I haven't watched it yet, just been listening to the song in the background as I type:

I hope you like it as much as I do and Yay! for Big Love being back on track.

I Kissed a Girl, Her Lips Were Sweet. She Was Just Like Kissing Me.

Have you guys heard of Tegan and Sara? I love them! I first heard them at this benefit concert that Neil Young puts on for the Children with Disabilities School that his kids attend. I think Neil Young actually discovered T&S and helped them get their first records recorded and stuff. I listen to their two CDs "If It Was You" and "So Jealous" a lot and their newest album "The Con" is supposed to be great, as well. I'd say start out with "So Jealous" as a first CD if you're interested cause I love all the songs on that one. Tegan and Sara, in addition to being twins, are also both lesbians. I didn't realize this until I went to see them one night by myself when they were playing the bar at my university here. I thought it was odd that there were lots of single girls at the show and lots of really butchy girls, but didn't think anything of it until I heard some time later that they were both gay. My Mom gets really mad when I say it, but I'd totally go a little lezzy for T&S. They make great music (and they have really cute stage banter back and forth), they have really cool and unique voices, and to be quite honest, there is something totally hot about them. I don't think there are any other girls that I'd say I'd want to date, but it might be "Bye Bye Boyfriend" if I had a chance at Tegan or Sara, but mostly Tegan. Haha!

This first song kills me everytime. It makes my heart hurt because it makes you think back to getting your heart broken as a teenager and whatever and they just sing it so raw and beautifully. Tegan wrote it after she and her girlfriend of 5 years broke up and I think she totally nailed that broken up feeling on the head.

I'm just going to give you guys a list of song titles, a little blurb about the song, and links to check them out if that's ok?

"Not Tonight"-the first T&S I really fell in love with. "Everything in my body says not tonight, Everything in my body says no" http://tinysong.com/74Bq

"Where Does the Good Go"-about when a relationship is falling apart, their voices are awesome

on this one and the chorus is something I could listen to over and over again, "look me in the eye and tell me you dont find me attractive,look me in the heart and tell me you wont go,look me in the eye and promise no love is like our love,look me in the heart and unbreak broken it wont happen,its love that leaves and breaks ,the seal of always thinking you would be, real happy and healthy strong and calm, where does the good go,where does the good go" This song actually might have been on an episode of Grey's Anatomy

"Fix you up"-I just love the line that they repeat half way through the song and how they sing it

"This love is all I have to give" http://tinysong.com/74Gy

"And Darling"-"You slip your hands inside my pockets. Tell me nothing else would do, Without me you can't live." Just reminds me of me and Boyfriend wearing hoodies and keeping warm and hanging out together. Plus I like how T&S kind of sing over and around each other on this one, not completely in synch. http://tinysong.com/74Gl

Boyfriend listens to this song by NoFX called "Creeping Out Sara" which is all about the singer creeping out and harassing Sara about being a lesbian. It's pretty goofy. Here's the link to that one: http://tinysong.com/74us

Anyway, I hope you guys like Tegan and Sara as much as I do. I can't wait for them to

come back to Australia! We saw them hanging out behind the venue before the show the last

time we went and saw them and all the boys were like "Go say Hi" but I was too shy so

maybe this next time I won't be and maybe we will fall in love. P.S. Sorry about how jankity the

text is on this, I don't know what's wrong with it as it all looks normal in the window where

I actually write out the blog but it's displaying weird.

Wastin' Away Again in Margaritaville

Saturday afternoon Boyfriend and I got ready and headed down to meet Stylez and Turk for a fun night of Mexican and booze, or as we call it: a Mexibooze night, and karaoke. We were running late and so was Stylez so once we got there we started our walk to find a cab into Glebe and to the restaurant- The Flying Fajita Sistas. Once there, we met up with another friend whom Stylez, Turk, and Boyfriend had all worked with waaaaay back in the day and his girlfriend. Stylez and I immediately ordered margaritas and the boys ordered Dos Equis (XX) in honor of my Dad because that is what he always gets when he has Mexican food. The drinks came and they were fantastic. I feel like I probably gulped mine down but it was the best margarita I have had in a long time. We ordered an appetizer for the table and I really liked the cheese dip (top right yellow), smokey salsa (top left red), and the bean dip (bottom right white and brown) which was just like beans you'd get as a side dish at a CA Mexican place. Of course the lighting was awful in both places we went so I've had to borrow other people's pictures

that I found online.

After that we ordered our dinners and Boyfriend and I shared a fajita platter for two. He chose snapper and I chose shrimp for my meat. We also decided to order a litre of white sangria for the table. The snapper and the shrimp were so delicious, like "WHOA" they were so good! The tortillas were just "Meh" that came with it, Guzmen y Gomez has better ones, and I wasn't a fan of the black beans or rice that came as part of the meal. I really wished they would have served more of the "bean dip" instead. The waitresses were really, really dumb and would come to ask if we needed water or anything and then when we asked for more booze were told someone else would have to come and get our drinks (this wasn't a bus person or a person under 18 so I dunno why she couldn't have) and they didn't know basic stuff like they threw in a bunch of tortillas in to two warmers instead of 4 for the 4 of us who got fajitas but didn't tell us that and handed them to the people with two single orders rather than one for me and Boyfriend and one for them to split and then couldn't tell us how many tortillas we were each supposed to get with our meal when we were then trying to divy the tortillas out. I thought the sangria was just "Meh", as well. I had wanted to try sangria and now I have, but I wish I would've gotten another margarita instead. If you go on a warm night, I'd suggest asking to sit out back; they've got the cutest little patio area to sit out in. Tuesday is Taco Tuesday and they do $3 tacos and I'm pretty sure $3 shots of tequila. All in all I can't wait to go back for margaritas, the snapper, the shrimp, and the bean dip. Check them out at http://www.flyingfajitasistas.com.au/ or they are located at 66 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe.

After dinner, we hopped in to another cab that took us in to the heart of the city to the karaoke place- Echo Point. It's run by Japanese people and has lots of Japanese snacks and drinks to buy from the front desk. It isn't like normal karaoke because you order private rooms to sing in, rather than do it in a room full of strangers. We had about 10 people hanging out in ours. There is just a tv, a karaoke machine, coffee table, a black light, and some comfy seats built into the walls in the room and you punch in the songs you want to do and go for it. I had fun watching everyone sing. I did not take a turn on the mic. Some of the girls sang love songs, the boys sang a bunch of random stuff from Prince to Metallica to the Prodigy, and Stylez, Turk and Boyfriend normally sang as a threesome and chose cool punk/alternative songs like GreenDay, Weezer, and Blink. I even got Boyfriend and Stylez to sing me a duet of "I'm the One Who Wants to Be with You" by Mr. Big! It was $16-$17 for each of us for a 3 hour session, I think. It's a fun way to spend a night every once in awhile. If you are a karaoke fanatic then you should take a group of friends to Echo Point. They've got all their songs listed on their website (I think they've got over 1,000 to choose from) (http://www.echopoint.com.au/), too, so you can have your set list picked out for the night before you arrive like Boyfriend's one friend did!

I don't normally keep track of Boyfriend's drinking because I'm not his parole officer (before you ask, no, he doesn't really have a parole officer) and I figure he can handle himself and he knows his limit, but I maybe should've been a little vigilant on Saturday night because he was drinking sake, which he's only had a couple of times before and always during a meal. He ended up getting drunker than I realized on that and beer and when we headed back to Turk and Stylez's place and went to bed, he immediately had to get up and be sick. All in all he was probably up about 6 times puking through out the night, but at least he was really neat about it and didn't get it all over their super cute house!

In the morning he was still feeling crappy, but felt a little better because Turk and Stylez hadn't heard him being sick or been kept up by it like I thought they might have because it seemed to echo all across the downstairs of their house, where their spare bathroom and guest bedroom is. We decided to go to a local place for breakfast and they thought maybe it was best to just bring us breakfast back or to at least drive over, but I thought the walk in the fresh air might do Boyfriend some good. Right before we left, he had to make a quick dash to the bathroom to be sick again and then he said he felt lots better. The walk through their neighborhood was really nice. No one was out, it was a quiet Sunday morning and the view if you turned and looked was of the Sydney skyline, CentrePoint Tower, and the tops of the Harbour Bridge. We sat inside because all the outside seats were taken and Boyfriend made it through breakfast feeling just ok. We walked back to Turk and Stylez's place, chatted a bit longer, then hit the road.

Boyfriend's Dad's birthday is this week, so is Nae's, and Bob just moved in to his new place so we figured while we were close, we might as well hit up Ikea...the only one in NSW, I think. I was in heaven once we got inside! Boyfriend seemed to pick up a bit, too, and we had fun looking at all the neatly designed furniture and bedding and stuff they had. Boyfriend especially liked all the kitchen designs they had displayed. We came away with some office and home stuff for Boyfriend, a funny little present for Nae, lots of new kitchen stuff for Bob, struck out on stuff for his Dad, and got me a vase for $4 and a couch cover that I had wanted when I bought my couch 3 years ago since the couch is white and was the cheapest one they had, but didn't think I could afford it then (in the last year my couch has suddenly looked thrashed so it was awesome that we could buy a black cover for it that would better hide stains). We also had to have a look at all the good Swedish food they had at the food shop past the registers and bought some yummy cookies, blueberry concentrate drink, a non-alcoholic pear cider, a Daime chocolate bar that Stylez recommended, and some salted black licorice (yuck!) that Turk recommended, as well as the meatballs, at the last minute, because everyone else in line had at least one bag of them and Turk had said they were delicious, too.

We got back on the road and Boyfriend was not feeling so great. He asked if he got us out of the City could I manage the drive on the freeway home? I have never driven more than about 10 miles maybe and never on the freeway so I was a bit nervous, but said if he just rested and didn't fall asleep on me, I'd do it. Once I got going, it was as easy as driving on the regular side of the road, and soon, I was passing slow pokes. The drive took about an hour and we got home just as it was getting dark. We basically had time to unload the car, go to the bathroom, and then we were back on the road to Nan and Pop's for Sunday dinner...this week a bbq for Boyfriend's Dad's birthday. Lots of the cousins were there and they brought their babies with them and it was good to catch up with the girls and have a cuddle and a play with the babies. The one little girl is about 1 and a half years old and is so smart- she remembered my name after the first time I played with her and still remembers me months later and always calls out "Little D, Little D" to get my attention and get me to come play with her. For some reason she was afraid of Boyfriend last night and would run away or hide her face in my shoulder anytime he came near! Don't they say that kids and dogs can sense when someone is evil? Haha, just kidding Babe!

It turned out to be one of those weekends that are so jam packed you don't feel as if you've had a real weekend, but I love those and had a great time! Today I put my tutoring ad in two of the local papers and one will run on Wednesday and Friday in the one paper and the other will be delivered in to people's mailboxes in the area later in the month. I'm so excited and can't wait to see how many calls I get! Fingers crossed for me guys because I really could use the income.

Oh yeah, and check out Stylez's stuff at reJENerate (link up the top) she's got a blog, a website, and stuff on Etsy. I saw some of her bags lying around at her house and their are some cute ones right now. She also has been doing custom bridal and bridal party clutches that are cool and fun and match without being too matchy, if you know what I mean. She will have an order from me if I ever take a stroll down the aisle!

California

When I first came out to Australia, it was supposed to be a four month deal and Boyfriend and I were just going to keep things light because we knew I would be leaving after only a very short while. Obviously, we fell pretty hard for each other in that short amount of time and I ended up staying but I came across this song today by the Kooks (I just started listening to them yesterday and I'm already downloading everything of theirs I can find because they are that good) called California and it is totally the song that could've described our relationship when we first got together.

Check it out:

http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/song/California/456084

Don't you know baby I'm a leading man
I dig down deep when I say I love you
Well I can hold my own with the best of them
I guarantee you, you never seen nothin'
Nothin' like this again

California, say that you love me
From all the darkness I couldn't break through
Now, I miss the ocean when I go to sleep
Oh man, it's gonna break my heart

Don't you know that I did the things I did
I rubbed your back when you were sleeping
But all along baby it was understood
That you were leaving, absolutely
The very first day we met

California say that you miss me
From all the darkness I couldn't break through
I'm gonna miss you
I'm gonna miss you
I'm gonna miss you

I'm gonna miss ya
I'm gonna miss you
I'm gonna miss ya
I'm gonna miss you

Stay What You Are

S and I went and saw Alkaline Trio and Saves the Day in Sydney. It was so much fun. Oh, there is a big stick bug on my kitchen window right now. How cool! I have seen some big one’s while I’ve been here. This one landed on S’s screen one time and it should have been called a branch bug it was so big! Anyway, back to the bands. We hadn’t been to a show in forever so it was good to go. We stood right in the front and in the middle. Between us and the stage was just a group of punk rock lesbians, who weren’t there for Saves the Day who just made out and texted the whole set. We were so annoyed, I don’t want to see anyone making out at a show, how rude was it for the band to see you bored in the front row, and let someone up who really wants to rock out with the band. So I sang and danced along and it was so cool. Chris seems like a normal, dorky guy. So does Manny. He looks like an Indian/Sri Lankan version of Steve Urkel. They had this other guy, the bass player and he had on a hippie leather vest and a hippie headband, and long hair and a mustache. Really similar to what I think my Dad looked like after high school in all honesty. It was a great set and I wished they would’ve played longer. It was even cooler because after they played, Chris and Manny came out to the bar and were happy to chat and take pictures with anyone who would ask. I went up and said Hey to Chris and I felt like such a dorky fan girl. All I could say when shaking his hand was, “I think your awesome” and while that is true, what I really wanted to say is “your music is awesome and has changed my life and has helped me through some really tough times. You are an amazing song writer and I hope I get to see you guys again soon.” Whatever, he was still super nice and not stand offish at all. Alkaline Trio came on and they put on a really good show, too. They played a handful of songs from their album From Here to Infirmary and that’s the only CD of theirs that I know. I listen to it because it reminds me of Nae, she is so blonde and surf-y but when you see her artwork (she had a double degree in enviro science and art) and listen to the music she likes, you realize she’s pretty dark and twisted!

It Begins

In high school I was a pretty avid bodyboarder. Now, I’m not saying I was a good bodyboarder but I enjoyed it and went whenever I could and enjoyed the perks of being on my high school’s surf team (hanging out with the coolest boys in school, getting to travel for cheap, etc). I was acquaintances with lots of people at school and had a core group of friends, but I spent lots of time at home, too. My high school days were like the golden days of AOL, being online was still new and exciting to a degree. I was still amused by chat rooms (which, sidenote-do chat rooms still exist?) and I liked looking for member profiles of boys who were my age and also bodyboarded to chat to. One night as I was on looking at profiles, one popped up from a guy who was about a year older than me, who bodyboarded and lived in Australia. Nothing seemed more exotic at the time. So I IM’ed him. It was a friendly chat about surfing, wave conditions, and what life was like in Australia. Little did I know that that chat would set me on the course to my life that landed me in Australia today. S and I started talking a lot. We had so much in common and we didn’t ever run out of things to say. We talked for months online and then I got a boyfriend, but we still continued to talk, I’m sure even about the boyfriend, because while we might have liked each other online, S and I were still living real lives, as well. Over that year S sent me a few letters and we started talking a lot again when my boyfriend and I broke up. He even sent me this awesome letter that I still have and all these burned CDs of Australian bands he thought I’d like (though I didn’t listen to them because they had awful names…..Grinspoon anyone? Haha) before I went on a safari to Kenya. I even brought his letter with me to Africa and read it at night when I was bored. I also sent him postcards and picked him up a bracelet and an arrow from real Masai warriors on the trip. I had just lost a very good childhood friend to suicide and I was pretty mixed up at the time but S was so nice and seemed so perfect. I remember writing in my journal that I wished he and I lived closer so we could meet and see if we got along as well in person. After that, I got back together with my loser exboyfriend and S was cool enough to play along when he’d call as someone I met through one of the boy’s on the surf team, rather than a random internet friend so my loser exbf wouldn’t get mad. Childish games right, but whatever, I was 18. S and I lost contact for about a year there, but I still thought of him at times. Loser exbf and I fought all the time and eventually broke up (well like 4 times, back and forth, I was messed up at the time and thought I was in love for the first time, ok?) and although I had never wanted to go away to college or leave, what I thought was, my perfect life in Orange County, I decided I needed to move away for a change of pace. I was originally planning on doing a study abroad thing in London so I could experience a real winter and stuff, but then I remembered that I kindof knew someone in Australia and maybe he could help find a school to go to, plus the weather would be more what I was used to, plus our dollar was worth more down there, and plus it was freaking Australia. I searched through my room looking for S’s phone number or email address. I called his house and his Dad picked up and it was pretty awkward asking if S was home, he wasn’t. He spent most of his week at his friend’s place since it was closer to the university. So I left a message and a phone number and wasn’t sure if I’d hear back from S/the message would make it to him. I remember going in to see my Mom that night, as she always read in bed before going to sleep while my Dad watched TV, and telling her that I had contacted someone I knew from online about schools in Australia. She was excited, my parents are awesome and supported my decision to study abroad. I think it was the next night that S contacted me and we got the ball rolling….
More to come tomorrow!