The summer of the Office, Animal Crossing, Nabokov, Manchester Orchestra, and Blue Raspberry Coolatas.

..and the summer of lengthy titles, it seems.


Hey all.


I've finally gotten round to listening to some people at V. Eminem mostly; I'm excited. Excitement increases with every listen to Love The Way You Lie. It's less than a month now and I cannot wait. Also, I'm going to England in six days. It's gonna be great. There's so much stuff I still miss about being there, but I guess that's to be expected. I'm spending the first week with my grandparents on my mom's side, and I think that's what I'm looking forward to most. Especially board games and Tesco curries and late night TV(Shooting Stars, please?). Ooh, the NME and radio 1 and everything, too. It's kind of surreal, really, going back, as each year I'm more and more used to living in this country instead. It makes it all the more fun, though. How I still, sadly, miss my home land.


So, summer. Que sera sera. In the most great way possible. I really don't miss school at all. I can't remember being this happy through the school year or...in a while. Ha. it's fun. Today, it was about 95 degrees and tomorrow is due to be 100 degrees. Therefore, there wasn't really that much one could comfortably do. The center of town looked dead. My mom got gooseberries so I want to make a gooseberry fool(yum) or a crumble. I went for a walk by a river near here. I listened to Bon Iver's new record again. I don't care if describing it as "endearingly beautiful" is almost sloppy writing, that's the best phrase to sum the record up with. I finished Lolita and loved it. Now I'm onto the summer reading for school. It wouldn't be something I would ever read outside of school but it looks...decent. I suppose. We'll see. it was made into a film which I should see, particularly as I should just watch more films in general. The other day I got into Lord of the Rings again, one of the only film(s) I've ever really liked. I've been into it since the Fellowship of the Ring came out, and I've secretly harbored an obsession with Aragorn ever since. Anyway.


On Wednesday I had my last piano lesson until the very last day of August. A rather strange experience. I've been doing these lessons for more than a year now. I guess I've made progress, and it's been fun. I finally mastered(well, as close to 'mastered' as I am capable of) Habanera. Love that piece. The book I'm working from is more or less just a random collection of classics aimed at my level. The next piece I picked out is by Brahms. There wasn't thought into my picking this piece because, like many pieces in this book, I wasn't familiar with it. However, whoever arranged this has good taste because upon listening to it, I've discovered it's a really wonderful piece. Is it reasonable to develop a liking for a song because you find the notes--the written notes, like if you were to take a picture of the sheet music--more aesthetically pleasing? Is that, loosely, akin to someone liking a poem based on the sound and form of the individual words? That's how I chose this piece and I suppose it's something most people must think about, even those who can't read music, but I'd never thought about it until now. Why am I in such a rambling mood tonight? Gosh.


Oh yes, I think I've mentioned to you the vocal student who's next door while I take my lessons. I'm going to keep you updated with what she sings, I think, because the event's always quite something. Not because she's particularly good, mind, but because she can belt. My god, can she belt. Through sound-proofed walls and all the force my fingers can put on the piano keys, her voice still reaches me. Now for the past few weeks she's been singing this nondescript power ballad about falling apart and that's about as fine and dandy as music like that can get while I'm trying to concentrate, but now she's playing Climb Every Mountain from the Sound of Music(I do not remember this song from this film--I only knows this cause my mother told me). Anyway, she's belting this really tough song and she has a male singing teaching who's kind of aiding her along in this startling, shrill falsetto and I'm just getting this wall of sound that sounds like pseudo opera or something. Just grin and bear it, Naomi. It's a sight. I'll keep you updated, not that you'd care.


In preparation for the inevitable board game marathons that take place with my mother and aunt every summer, I played Monopoly and other games that evening. That's been for the last few nights, now.


On Tuesday I got up fairly early and went into Boston to do about a third of the Freedom Trail. I did some of it last summer. It was another really hot day, so my mom and I had to keep stopping very frequently. Also we're cheap so we only actually went into places that are free. I love the freedom trail, I love the effort that goes into that and is one of several reasons why I think Boston as a city is highly underrated. Boston Common is another of those reasons--eating lunch round there is fun, looking out at the bustling city and what have you. I can't remember exactly the various places we visited, as after a while one meeting house blurs into another, but it was really nice roaming the city. Faneuil Hall is a particularly nice place, and the Granary Burial ground is also fun, though it was slightly unsettling that they were doing renovations there. In a cemetery with loads of famous people buried there. Huh. Oh yes, the last place we went to was Paul Revere's house, a crooked soot-black little building on a cobblestone road around Near Little Italy. It's in a part of Boston I've rarely visited, and far enough along the freedom trail that by that point the number of tourists is fairly slim. I'd have liked to have spent more time there but I was dying in the heat. I got lemonade and walked through Boston Common at Dusk. One of the best days of summer so far.


Monday was a slow day. I looked at CDs but never ended up buying anything. I feel I should start getting into vinyl collecting, but I've no idea where I'd get the music I like on vinyl. Buying vinyl online seems like the best way, but it's also ironic in a way I'm not sure I want to emulate. I also bought a t-shirt. So, yeah. My life.


This summer has been the summer of the office, animal crossing, Nabokov, Manchester Orchestra, and blue raspberry coolatas. I hope it continues this way all the way through to September because it's been great fun so far. Music-wise I'm really trying to get familiar with the V people, like I mentioned, particularly Eminem (not always the easiest to listen to), and Rihanna. Since I'm seeing them on the Sunday and I'm not particularly crazed about either, I've got to try to be as familiar as possible to make it the most fun possible. My mom contacted the friends I'm going there with and they seem excited. Oh god, nighttime headliners at the main stage is bliss. While I am extremely excited for Rihanna and Eminem, my excitement for Arctic Monkeys cannot be placed in words. Parts of myself cannot even fathom the excitement. Also, my God, kaiser Chiefs, wow. And The Script on Sunday, Wombats, Hurts, Katy B, Wolf Gang, Stornoway, Frankmusik, wow. I'll be taking dozens of CDs with me to England, it seems.


The Office obsession continues with a passion. I finally got round to watching the Christmas Special. David's song? One of the funniest things I've ever seen. What happened to Gareth with that episode? And also, Dawn&Tim was absolute perfection. This is definitely, officially, my favorite show. You heard it here first, folks. It's silver for Peep Show. If I'd told my self over the past year that peep Show wasn't my favorite show, I would be speechless. But there you go.


I'm off to watch some V Fest 2010 clips. Bye.