Mumford and Me

sometimes, you hear a song by a band, and you love it immediately.

they're not getting any radio play, so you start looking their songs up, and you find that you really dig the rest of their stuff, even the b-sides which aren't going to be on their forthcoming studio album.

when that album finally releases, you listen to it so much that you know it backward and forward, and then a second album is scheduled to be released.

you're insanely nervous because how can anything live up to that first album which was, for you, absolute perfection?

and then the pre-order of that second album downloads to your iTunes, and you lose your mind, because it's so freaking fantastic.

that's me and mumford, people.

there are a litany of reasons i love them

i love that marcus mumford writes songs based on his residual feelings after he finished books.

i love that marcus mumford's lyrics are compelling and lovely to read all on their own, regardless of the sound that comes along with them.

i love their vocal harmonies.

i love the grating behind marcus' voice.

i love that winston does inappropriate things to the air while playing a fiddle.

i love that ben's absurdly adorable (even if he's sort of the worst dj in the world).

i love that ted is so lovely and smart, and that it's so cool to listen to him ramble on about their music.

but mostly, i love that their songs always, always, always hit me right in the FEELS.

mumford's lyrics are steeped in religion, conflict based on religion, love, and some of the harsh realities of life. as a result, they speak to me on a long list of levels, my tortured religious history being rather high on that list. also, some things that have happened in  my life recently are almost narrated by a handful of their songs, so much so that i can't adequately explain it.

they're one of my favorite bands. the end.

NaNoWrimo 2012 : Thoughts on Drafting

you know what makes me laugh?

the assumption that so many people live under in which they actually believe writers are all hippies who write flowery words all day and never do any work.

fact #1: most writers i know are completely neurotic about their craft.
fact #2: writing is intensely personal, thereby enhancing the aforementioned neuroticism.
fact #3: writing well is hard. if it were easy, everyone would have a book deal.

i think one of the best parts of nanowrimo is that it forces people to put up or shut up. you will either write that required 50K or you won't, and really, it's all on you. if you're someone like me, who reacts well to this sort of pressure, you will likely thrive during nanowrimo. if not...well, it's likely that you'll hate nano. and here's why:

drafting a manuscript is bloody difficult on a good day.

so, when there's a looming deadline and a rather intimidating word count requirement...

you have to shove through the doubt and the fear and the questions and JUST WRITE.

but that's the beauty of nano, for me: because to finish a draft, well ... you have to finish a draft. which means you have to write the words. which means they have to get out of your head and "onto paper."

and that brings us to:

fact #4: the first draft of anything will be shit. if you think otherwise, you're crazy.

that's what revisions and edits are for. duh.

alice in wonderland

here's a funny little fact about me:

i really dislike most classic literature.

yeah, yeah, i know. "but all modern literature wouldn't exist if not for the classics." i know that. but i hate reading them. i can't name a single piece of victorian literature that i have enjoyed reading. i do love shakespeare, though, and i like more "modern" classics, like The Great Gatsby. but generally? meh squared.

however:

i have a sort of life long obsession with Alice in Wonderland.



Disney's Alice

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(side note: i read it and thought it was only okay.)

despite the glorious meh i felt after reading it again (as an adult), i just love the idea. i love the spins it could take, the way you can manipulate it into something so very different than what's canon. this is why i loved syfy's Alice miniseries, and why i really enjoyed tim burton's take on the story as well. (more on tim burton here.)

A DeviantArt Wallpaper for Tim Burton's film

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SyFy's Hatter. My Favorite.

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as a matter of fact, i have a dark little spin on Alice in Wonderland in my pile of ideas - one day, i'll write it all down (at present, i have about 1500 words, and the bones of the story in a scrivener doc). it was inspired by this image, which was originally sent to me by my friend, Bec:
 

and i just love this image:

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(side note: i have just realized that my life-long affinity for striped socks probably originated with my affection for this story.)

What's your favorite kid's story?



NaNoWriMo 2012

my life for the next 30 days, folks. i'll post a few blogs, i'm sure, but mostly, i'll be writing a creepy little story that's been plaguing me for the last few days.

are you NaNo'ing? GOOD LUCK if so! 

MWAH! 

-ang