Kiss the Rain

Rob: To me, making a tape is like writing a letter. There's a lot of erasing and rethinking and starting again. A good compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do. You've got to kick off with a corker, to hold the attention (I started with "Got to Get You Off My Mind," but then realized that she might not get any further than track one, side one if I delivered what she wanted straightaway, so I buried it in the middle of side two), and then you've got to up it a notch, or cool it a notch, and you can't have white music and black music together, unless the white music sounds like black music, and you can't have two tracks by the same artist side by side, unless you've done the whole thing in pairs and...oh, there are loads of rules. [High Fidelity]


I have lived in the midwest for now, going on 6 years, and I don't think I've ever remembered a summer as stormy as the one we are having right now. As I was leaving rehearsal tonight, I was inspired by all this intense waterfall to create a playlist that is "rain" or "water" or "weather" inspired. It just occurred to me that this intense natural event is something that has inspired many others before me.

When I got home, I made a couple of rash purchases on iTunes (I should have *never* set up an account) and this is what I came up with. I was also reminded of "High Fidelity" and Rob's philosophy on making mix tapes. With that in mind, this is what I came up with:

Playlist title: Kiss the Rain
1. Raindrop Prelude -- Chopin
2. My Favorite Things -- Julie Andrews
3. Rain on Me -- Ashanti
4. Singin in the Rain -- Jamie Cullum
5. Kiss the Rain -- Billie Myers
6. Deep River -- Utada Hikaru
7. Rain -- Yoko Kanno (Cowboy Bebop OST)
8. Desert Misses the Rain -- Cher
9. Mouthful of Diamonds -- Phantogram
10. Rain -- Mika
11. I Can't Stand the Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) -- Missy Elliot feat. Ann Peebles
12. Rain -- Cunninglynguists
13. Purple Rain (extended version) -- Prince
14. Mizu Kagami -- Fushigi Yuugi OST
15. November Rain -- Guns N' Roses
16. Meet Me by the Water -- Rachael Yamagata
17. Rainy Days and Mondays -- Emmy Rossum
18. Raining in Baltimore -- Counting Crows
19. Ain't No Sunshine -- Michael Jackson
20. Teardrop -- Jose Gonzalez
21. Sunshine -- Gabrielle
22. Brand New Day -- Sting
23. Comtine D'un Autre Ete: L'apres Midi-- Yann Tiersen

It's a little long, but I tried to follow the flow of a storm, starting off calm, and then pounding in the middle, and finishing off soft, with a bright and brand new day. Not only that, but I also wanted to put in songs that I would want to listen to on a rainy day, including all the emotions that one goes through sitting and watching the rain. I liked the idea of opening and closing with a piano piece as well. Also, I thought it was interesting, going through my songs, as well as suggestions by other people, that I got a pretty fair representation of the music that I listen to.

So I'm going to go enjoy this list I put together, but I think this is an interesting way to blog, so I might continue to do it!

Life

We are our decisions and our actions. No matter what you think, it's what you do that counts.

A perfect night

Delicious meal (salad (strawberries, avocado, and red peppers), and bruschetta) a bottle of cold beer, and This American Life, sitting out on my front porch, (valiantly ignoring mosquitos), enjoying the dusk. The cool night air feels amazing on my slightly sunburnt shoulders (evidence from an afternoon of sitting on another porch).

summer totally rejuvenates me. i need to have more nights like this. i never noticed how i am such a person of extremes. i can do several days and nights like this, just relaxing, doing nothing, eating good food, and enjoying an atmosphere. i can also do several nights in a row of not sleeping, intense stress, several immediate commitments, and poor eating. maybe both sides need each other? sometimes i feel guilty about indulging myself a bit with these nights. but then i remember the nights where i barely have even time to stop and think. do they balance each other out? hope so...

in any case, i now have yummy food in my fridge, and quality wine to top it off. and the weather just keeps getting better and better. my soul is happy. :)

Hype 2010!

Check it out!! My set from Hype 2010....thanks to all the dancers!! Had so much fun in the Chi :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsb9onxmV7I

Creativity

Question: Is creativity a skill that can be developed, or an innate ability to think out of the box?

Dance2xs

Urbanite Spring 2010: Dance2xs UMich presents "Old School"

just watch it. :) so proud of my dance biscuits!!

Vacation

Nothing beats cruising down lake shore drive in the sun with the windows rolled down and the music blasting.