The Magic of Owl City

Hi.

Last Wednesday, October 26, 2011, my father and I had attended a concert. And not just any concert. An Owl City concert.

It’s the All Things Bright and Beautiful Tour, baby.

Of course, I was pretty much stoked about the whole thing. I was going to watch Adam Young perform. And not to mention the beautiful band members (for the tour). We were already lined up when a woman started shouting out questions about Adam, and whoever answered them correctly would get a backstage pass. Now, guess what. I didn’t get a backstage pass. Seriously. I began to feel depressed about it as the line moved slowly. I almost freaking met Adam. It’s one of the reasons why I have Post Concert Depression right now.

Well, so, we entered the tent after several minutes. My father and I were able to stand at the left side of the stage, right in front. Two boys beside me (who were younger than me) were talking on about meeting Adam and getting him to sign stuff like a poster and their copy of the ATBAB album. I was vexed at myself by the time they were boasting about it to this girl (who I thought was also younger than me, but my father said she was older and just shorter), showing her their stuff-signed-by-Adam-Young stuff. I couldn’t help but be so envious about the fact that they had met him.

Eventually, the concert had officially started. I can’t express how magnificent it was. Adam started drumming, and Breanne Düren was basically in front of us. And, shoot, the lights! They flashed everywhere. I jumped almost the whole time, and flailed my arms everywhere. The people on stage were so alive and energetic that you could feel pangs of their energy bouncing off to you. I didn’t care that my eardrums felt like they were shattering and that my feet were aching from all the standing. I loved it when Adam would interact with the crowd. All were enjoying.

At the end, Adam sang If My Heart Was a House.

And everything felt perfect. I had tears streaming down my cheeks right when he sang the first line. Owl City has this positive impact on your life. If you have depression, I recommend you listen to Owl City. It’s a home. When no one is there, Owl City will most likely be. Life is a rollercoaster, true. Owl City is what keeps me hanging on. I wish Adam knew that he was my best friend.

Amber

Exposure to The World

I’ve missed blogging. I wasn’t in any reach of superb inspiration until it hit me right in the face this morning while watching a few episodes of Glee Season 2.

Watching TV.

Teenagers, like me, actually have access to the media. We’ve got the Internet, television, film. Whether parents or guardians realize it or not, we are exposed to what we stumble upon while surfing the Web, or switching from channel to channel. We are able to catch and get information from the media without us really expecting to. And who brought in the Wi-Fi in the house? Our parents, or someone older than us, of course. They don’t want us to learn about things or get into other people’s cultures. But who stopped us from watching our favorite TV shows?

Yesterday, I and Caleb* somehow leaped into a conversation about rallies. And homosexuality. I had told him that one day I’d like to join at least one rally for the rights of people – gay people. Caleb shook his head at the idea. He said that “homosexual people are abominations. They aren’t accepted by society because God created Adam and Eve. Not Adam and Eve and gay.” I’m completely heterosexual, but hearing this from Caleb hurt. Are we even Christians anymore? Who still goes to Church among us? Who?

But let’s go back to the real subject here. This morning, I encountered Caleb again while focusing on the TV in front of me. He was watching a few scenes of an episode from Glee Season 2 with me while he was having a mad conversation on the phone with someone. I was aware that he had seen Brittany carrying Artie to a bed, and Karofsky forcefully kissing Kurt. The first thing he said as he ended the convo and put down the phone was something like this: “I don’t like you watching that show. That’s American culture. That show showcases sex, and gay....” I confess I wasn’t paying too much attention to what he was saying, but some short sentences like the ones previously said stuck to me.

Culture does get passed on. I’m not American, and I know little about American culture. But this isn’t about anyone’s culture. This is about a TV show showing their viewers about sex and homosexuality. TV shows aren’t the only things in media that expose these “mature content” to young people. This kind of media is everywhere: the mall, the local playground, the neighborhood, and even school. There are songs about sex. Other teens even joke about sex. Gay people are coming out anywhere. And how can you prevent your teenager from hearing or seeing these?

Sometimes, your kid knows more than you think they do.

* Caleb is a pseudonym.

Wake Me If You're Out There

Life. It brings a lot to us. I sometimes worry that when I die, my grandchildren would just forget about me. After a day or a week of tears, memories are long forgotten and my name wouldn’t be mentioned at all. I could sometimes be a worrier. I was never an optimist. But I won’t ever let myself be categorized as a pessimist. But I like to think about the future at times. And maybe what life could be to me if technology wasn’t everywhere and I was older and more adventurous.

“I imagine living in a red, broken house, positioned near the seashore of an abandoned island. The stars cry to me their secrets and sing me lullabies I have never heard before. The waves are calm and the wooden floor beneath me is connected by rusty, old nails. But I know they won’t betray me because we’ve been best friends for soooo long. The seagulls passing by tell me stories and their names. I’ve kept a list of names: Ruby, Angel, Morpheus, Whimper, Boom, and Box. They’re heading for the south and had promised me they’ll visit me again someday. Soon, they have sworn to me.”

I have no fireplace. I only have my little sailboat and this house. The weather is fickle. I sleep on the roof of my house, only at night. I stargaze and greet my friends. They twinkle and silhouette me, asking me questions high school friends enjoy asking. My skin is sun-kissed and my feet are shoeless. My knees are black and blue because I keep tripping and landing on the ground because of my reckless clumsiness. I wish I were an astronaut, looking at planet Earth from a spacecraft’s window, paralyzed from watching angels dance amongst the stars and leap from the moon to Earth, like shooting stars. My frivolous thoughts are vividly imprinted on the sand of the shore. I dance and twirl in the moonlight in my sundress, shivering as the coastal winds whip my hair around my face. I make music through coconut shells and my own rough hands. The tidal waves have turned deadly but I don’t move away; I dive in. The friendly sea creatures blow me bubbles and I can’t help but giggle underwater.”

I wish that was my life. Oh don’t get me wrong, I love my life. But having a life that doesn’t exist would be quite whimsical and just exhilarating.

The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra Trailer

This World

For five tiring days in a week, I am surrounded by people who are my age or younger or older. To my right when I’m in sitting position is a noisy, new student who thinks he’s so bad. To my left is a comedian, making the class laugh and cough. We’re either forty or forty-one in St. Aloysius. There are foreigners: white skin, different language that tempts you to make fun of them and thick accent that makes you stare stupidly and say: “What?”

Starting high school is scary and I want to hide and bathe in Oreo-covered butterflies. But, of course, I cannot. There are limited things you can do in the real world. An inspiration who is namely Owl City (OWL CITY IS ADAM YOUNG) has sung: “Reality is a lovely place but I wouldn’t want to live there.”

Reality is crazy and true and happy and sad and is a silly rollercoaster, sometimes slow and sometimes fast, makes you hurl. I, as an introvert who spends some of her time (or most of her time) being quiet and daydreaming, would rather be alone. I may look like this young, naïve, big girl because that’s what my outside appearance tells you but I feel like Adam Randal Young: shy, quiet, introverted in so many levels and lonely. I have realized that I am starting to relate to Mr. Owl City’s songs more than the known enchantress a.k.a. Taylor Swift’s songs. Is that a good or bad thing?

I’ve been a Swifty longer than I’ve been a Hoot Owl. But I’ve learned that it doesn’t matter if you’ve been there from the beginning, it matters if you’ll be there until the end. But I would never want their music to stop playing. They say: All good things come to an end. Aye?

I love fantasy. The world I imagine inside my head looks prettier than dump sites and seemingly endless bombings.

Life is quite surreal.

It’s a mystery and I don’t know a lot of things but I do know that this is life.

Owl City makes me happy. All Things Bright and Beautiful is too out of this world to be able to be described in words. His songs have meanings behind their lyrics. I highly recommend listening to Owl City. Happy drugs.

I’m simply papier-mâché, delicately pulled into this world along with water, glue and newspapers.

Being mainstream means fitting in and going with the flow (or, being more specific with my words, crowd). I chose to sit and watch and dream. It isn’t easy because sooner or later you’ll get pulled out of your reverie and get forced to read thick textbooks you despise with all your being. You sit in a closed room with twenty plus kids you have to get to know. You make your ears listen to the sentences that are coming from the teacher’s always moving mouth because you don’t want to fail quizzes and tests because your parents pay for your education. You raise your hand repeatedly to answer questions about technology and the Philippine archipelago so that you won’t have to see writings on your future report card saying you have low grades and you need improvement.

We talk tongue twisters and malnutrition but do we ever get to perfectly keep them in our tightly screwed minds? We tend to forget the things said in a discussion after the discussion. We only get to remember bits by tiny bits of integers and the talking dog when we’re 40 year olds. They’ll remain bits. Just bits. Unless we attend high school again when we’re starting to grow gray hair.

I’ll let myself learn but sitting and staring and making yourself look like you understand everything in this world is starting to get more boring and more boring. I bet after a hundred years, school hours = 0 hours. Just 20 minutes. Let’s hope for planet Earth’s future.

#EqualityForAll

Document One

7:09 PM

It’s dark outside and my fat, brunette head is missing. The voice of Adam Young is filling my ears, creeping around my brain’s shape.

This picnic will soon depart.

I read “Wintergirls” by Laurie Halse Anderson minutes ago. I’m sitting in front of an old laptop. Trend Micro Internet Security has expired. I’m lazy.

7:14 PM

I just replayed “Dreams Don’t Turn to Dust” seconds ago. A lot of things are on my mind.

I don’t wanna leave without you.

My emotions are neutral. I love the sound synthesizers make. I adore fanfiction.net. I want to fly. Music understands air.

7:17 PM

I’m listening to Lights’ “The Listening”. I’m on Facebook and Tumblr. A friend named Abigail has sent me a message. Ooh.

I need to convey.

I’m nervous. About classes. It sucks.

7:19 PM

Can I let the sky feel what’s missing, yeah?

I’m thinking about way too skinny girls. I wish I could hug them. I’m looking at my insufferable brother’s orange backpack.

7:20 PM

Now Playing: “Quiet” by Lights.

This song oddly tells me a story. It’s a story about a king who is also a very intelligent scientist. He can’t find the perfect wife so he invented a robot which he put in the position. He doesn’t know that she actually does have a soul and loves him. She is quiet. She is still but she sometimes gets crazy. Robot crazy. Love.

7:23 PM

“Reblog if you think every girl deserves to be told she’s beautiful.”

NP: “Face Up” by Lights. I love this song.

The sun is always gonna rise up. You need to get up.

Copy Paste. Copy Paste. It’s easy.

7:25 PM

Gotta keep your head up.

“Wintergirls” by Laurie Halse Anderson is inspiring. I highly recommend it. Lia. Cassie.

7:27 PM

Still listening to music. I love music. But I suck at it at school. Crap.

I saw a bear in the den.

The curtains are orange and yellow and sunshine. Typing feels like concrete. Lovely.

The TV is always on. That’s how I see it. I think of glasz eyes.

7:30 PM

Cuz I don’t feel dead anymore.

Bears are cute, aren’t they? I’m not typing down about Justin Bieber. I’m not.

Buffet.

7:32 PM

Downy feathers kiss your face and flutter everywhere.

Owl City songs relate to me so much.

The wildfires look so pretty.

I want to roll down a green hill. You do, too, right?

They’ll freeze and burn where fire and ice collide.

If we dissolve without a trace, will the real world even care?

My dad just asked me question.

7:35 PM

Let’s dance in the moonlight.

"Hey Stephen" and Glee

Hello!

So I wanted to write about Glee only but I remembered that I haven't blogged about the "Hey Stephen" thing.
Do you know the guy Taylor Swift sang about in "Hey Stephen"? Yeah. That Love and Theft guy. Well, HE REPLIED.

If you're a certified Swifty, you probably already know this. He replied through a song. He said he "wrote [it] for Taylor back in 2008 - right around the same time she wrote the song "hey stephen" (from her "Fearless" album)". And he just replied this April. Which means he is terribly late. I have to confess that I was very worried for Adam Young. LOL. Adam Young is the d00d.

First, "Enchanted". And then "Hey Stephen". Huh. Nice.



Anyway, WHO HAS SEEN THE BORN THIS WAY GLEE EPISODE WHICH IS 90 MINUTES LONG?! Cuz I did yesterday! And I loved it!!!

Before I watched the episode, I saw the promo for the next episode which is "Rumors". And it BROUGHT ME DOWN. Why? Cuz I hate the "cheating" part of the promo. Kurt and Sam?! NO! Klaine?!

I wanted to complain a lot and maybe emote......

.... Until I realized that the next episode's name is "Rumors". LOL. DUH! It could be a rumor! I'm hoping it is! Sam probably confessed something and Kurt wanted to help or whatever.

And then my happiness was restored because of all


THIS

And then I found this today via Tumblr...

Are they singing to eachother?!?!

Shoot.

News

Oh hello there! I have realized that I haven't blogged (Tumblr doesn't count) for a while.

Anyway, if you're a Hoot Owl, you must already know that Adam Young has been appearing on tinychat for three times. And I haven't even grabbed the chance to be there while he was there! I blame time zones. Damn you, time zones. Well, at least time zones don't respond to whatever you say. I don't want to hear the time zone whispering, "U MAD?" in a deadly tone. Brrrr.

Anywho, I am impatiently waiting for May 2. International tour dates, people! And, of course, I can't wait for June 14 too. ATBAB ATBAB ATBAB ATBAB ATBAB ATBAB ATBAB ATBAB ATBAB. STOKED.

And I can't wait for the new Taylor Swift music videos! MEAN AND THEN THE STORY OF US. Who else is super excited? :D Cuz I know I am! *dances like a whale*

OK, people. That's it. Thank you for the views. That is lovely.

And if you have more time to waste, go take a peek at lavacicles.tumblr.com. :) <3

Smitten

I don't know if these are really in order or not. I just wanted to post these. ;)

I Don't Have a Good Title

Hey there. Read along.

I learned that Adam Young still has a crush on Taylor Swift. And that made me mentally squeal. Can't they just be an official couple already? Do we really have to wait for whatever they're busy with to end? MEH. not cool, d00dz. not cool.

And Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13 on twitter) now has 6MILLIONSWIFTIES. Isn't that insanely amazing?! I knew itttt. Oh and two words: MUSIC VIDEO(S).

I also consider myself an official Hoot Owl. CHEERS PEOPLE.

So if you don't listen to Owl City music, let me say this: WWWWHHHYYY?!?!?!?!?
I may or may not have to shove ice cream sandwiches down your throat.
I think know Adam Young is amazing. As in you-should-listen-to-his-music amazing. And his tweets are funnehh. Most of them are very entertaining. THUMBS UP.

He's pretty cool. IKR?!

TAYLOR SWIFT, Y U NO RESPOND TO ADAM YOUNG?