To Infinity, And Beyond!

It's 1:36am. I can't sleep. Seems these days I never want to go to bed, and once I finally do, I never want to wake up. So, instead of lying restlessly in bed, I'm going to blog!

Last weekend was a good weekend. Got out of the apartment, which is always nice. One night, a good friend took me out to Surfer's Paradise and showed me some bars. In Toronto, that's what I enjoyed most. Dancing is fun, but sometimes I just like to sit back and relax and chill out. So we went to a few bars and saw the sites of downtown. We were going to try out the slingshot ride... and I chickened out. Owned by two little girls screaming "can we do it again!?" *Wimp*

One thing that intrigued me, Infinity. My lovely friend didn't tell  me anything about this place! And the guy at the counter wasn't about to give anything away, either! I was nervous because I didn't know what to expect, but everything seemed very "illusion"-ey.

It was a mix of strobe lights, large medicine balls, mirrors all around, overall, really cool. But some rooms made me do what I haven't done for years: scream like a little freakin' girl.

Open the door to one of the dozen rooms, and it's all black. I mean pitch. black. Of course, my friend wouldn't allow me to follow - I had to go first. Something's laying on my face. Things are hitting. me in. the face. Cue scream. Cue minor freakout. I had no choice but to walk through the dangling whatever's.  And naturally there was ambiance music and I'm sure somewhere along the lines there was a loud noise that also made me jump.

Generally, I'm a pretty cool, calm and collected person. People tried tirelessly to scare me and make jump, but always failing. I learned something about myself in those dark.. small rooms....

It may have shocked me the first time round, but I had soo much fun. I recommend it (you know... if you're ever in the Gold Coast...). Next time I'll make a point of not being such a wuss.. x.x 


Enough of that. Kudos for you reading through that treacherous story.    I'm not up to a whole lot these days. The semester is over - I haven't gotten my final marks back yet, but I think I did fairly well overall. Going to have a real vacation and meet my mom halfway for a week; I'm quite looking forward to it.

I'm at a stand still with my music... I haven't written anything new for awhile. Writer's block, you could say. I've got no inspiration. Instead, I'm trying to put energy into learning to play the guitar better - still, that's not going too well, either. I haven't progressed much from the last three months. Trying to push myself, but I've hit a snag in the road and it's not easy to get out of.

I bought a new piano book - Adele. If you haven't heard of her, please, please go check her out. Attempting to learn a song (or a few), but finding free time with a piano is easier said than done. I go when I can. My fingers are slowly getting used to it again. Slowly ;)

All in all, I'm doin' well. I wish I was actually doing something, work or school; I'm terrible at doing nothing. Hopefully in a couple weeks I'll have some pictures from the vaca and a more interesting post :)

Ciao.

What this Semester has (really) Meant to Me

For our final assignment, part of our written journal was to explain what this semester has meant, and what we've learned. Technically, I've learned lots. I had never really touched recording equipment before, or even ProTools. Most of the theory learned was just jogging my memory (thanks to my former piano teacher!), although I did learn some new things. But I guess I've learned a few things I didn't mention in the report..

I've learned who I can work with, and who I can't- or rather, what personality traits get on my nerves the most! I've learned that when a group of people share a passion, there is always a connection. And I've learned that being away from home is really, really hard.

I'm getting what I wanted out of being here. I wanted an opportunity to find my love for music again. and I have. It's not easy to live on the other side of the world of places you happily call home, and this makes it hard to feel like I'm making the right decision by being here. But a couple weeks ago I was at the bluesfest downtown and the girl I was standing next to stared up at the sax player and said, "God I miss music."

I can't even begin to count the number of times I said that in Toronto. So I guess I've also learned that for now, this is where I should be. I don't know how long "now" is, but today, and this moment, I owe music to myself.

So! I have three songs for you. I won't explain what they're about, because one speaker once said, "Music shouldn't have a note." If a song can't be understood in some way by just the music, it's not good enough. I shouldn't have to explain the song, so take them how you will!


I Wanna Know

This is my least favorite of the three. Over time and after learning more about my voice and different sounds and grooves, I've decided there's lots I would do differently.  But, I hope you enjoy anyway, and maybe I'll re-track some things if I get the time.

Northern Lights

I wrote this with my friend Leah. I don't have any audible contribution to this! But I mixed most of it and tried to focus on the sounds I was hearing rather than giving. (She's great, isn't she?) :)

Leah: http://www.myspace.com/leahtharlai

Some Love to Spare

One of the first songs I wrote after moving here. Josh Lovegrove was my producer. He sang the male harmony in the chorus, and played guitar. (He's also pretty damn good)

Josh: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Josh-Lovegrove/160105477383377


For the folio we also had to have artwork for front and back. My photographer unfortunately isn't as keen as she once was! So I took pictures of my own. First is my album cover (without text), and the second is my back album art, again, no text. The rest were just options that I thought came out half decent.

If you're reading this and helped me get through this first semester, thanks! (that's pretty much everyone ;) )