The Musical Episode

Hey y'all!

I have been longing to write a blog regarding this topic! Music is probably my favorite hobby; I absolutely love to dance to old tunes and discover new ones. My eclectic taste in music never bores me. I love how versatile music can be! It can cheer you up, increase focus, get you pumped for a workout, or make you sob.

I have compiled a list of songs that I have recently fell in love with. If you ask anyone who knows me well, I take music very seriously. I often give songs the lucky 3, which means that I will listen to a song on three separate occasions before I either hold on to it or discard of it. Why do I find this necessary? I once chose to get The OC Mix as an incentive for selling Girl Scout magazines. I become so upset once I listened to it. Despite the artsy and "cool" cover, the songs were horrible. Now, it is one of my all-time favorite CDs (next to A Walk To Remember's soundtrack, of course!).  I treasure each one of my songs!  I am known among my family members to make pretty great cd's...so I think you can trust me! Ok, so here it goes....

Quirky Folk Songs

Mountain Sound- Of Monsters and Men
You and I- Ingrid Michaelson
Some Nights- Fun
Tongue Tied- Grouplove
Home- Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros
Ho Hey- The Lumineers
Lost in World- Kanye West ft. Bon Iver
All of This- The Naked Truth
Alligator- Tegan and Sara
Country Roads Remix- Hermes House Band
Heads Will Roll- The Yeah Yeah Yeah's
Fidelity- Regina Spektor
Mama Who Bore Me (Reprise)- Broadway's Spring Awakening
Animal- Neon Trees
For The Widows In Paradise...- Sufjan Stevens
Twilight- The Weepies
The Crash Years- The New Pornographers
What You Know- Two Door Cinema Club
Jesus, Etc. -Wilco
Jolene- Dolly Parton
War on Sound- Moonbabies (from Grey's Anatomy)
Silver Lining-
Skinny Love- Birdy
Tighten Up- The Black Keys
Naive- The Kooks
Amsterdam- Guster
New Slang- The Shins
Love Song- Enya
5 Years Time- Noah and the Whales

Amazing beats from Londontown!

Take It Back- Toddla T
Kickstarts- Example
Hello- Martin Solveig
Pass Out- Tinie Tempah
Frisky- Tinie Tempah
Sweat- Snoop Dogg
Baditude- Dave Spoon ft. Paul Harris
Bongo Jams- Calista
Tell Me- DJ NG ft. Katy B.
Someone Like You- Adele
Beautiful People- Chris Brown

Singer/Song Writer Bliss

Born and Raised- John and Mayer
A Team- Ed Sheeran
Drunk- Ed Sheeran
Freshman- Jay Brannan
Animal (Miike Snow cover)- Javier Dunn
In The Sun- Joseph Arthur
Paperweight- Joshua Radin ft. Schuyler Fisk
Die Alone- Ingrid Michaelson
Last Request- Paolo Nutini
Brighter Than The Sun- Colbie Caillat

Country Swagger

Something Like That (BBQ Stain)- Tim McGraw
Springsteen- Eric Church
Time is Love- Josh Turner
Something 'Bout a Truck- Kip Moore
Wild at Heart- Gloriana
Charlie and Me Talking- Miranda Lambert
When I Get Where I'm Going- Brad Paisley ft. Dolly Parton
Fast Cars and Freedom- Rascal Flatts

Dancing in your Room Tunes

For Your Love- Chris Brown
Fancy Footwork- Step Up 3D soundtrack
Let Me C It- Step Up 3D soundtrack
The Motto (Clean!)- Drake
Waka Waka (Time for Africa)- Shakira
Clumsy- Fergie
BoysBoysBoys- Lady Gaga
Bust A Move- Young MC
Hot Hot Hot- Bina Mistry
Firework- Katy Perry
Oh, What a Night (December 1963)- Franki Valli and the Four Seasons
Gin and Juice- Snoop Dogg
Without Me- Eminem


Dawson's Creek-esque

Good Mother- Jane Arden
As I Lay Me Down- Sophie Hawkins
I Want You- Savage Garden
Say Goodnight, Not Goodbye- Beth Nielson Chapman
Chin Up- Amy Stroup
I'll Stand By You- The Pretenders
World Outside- The Devlins
Saturday Morning- The Eels
Here With Me- Dido


Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Musically yours,
Arlene

A New Kind of South of Broad, Pat Conroy style

Hello all!

I am stressed and fatigued as my last week of junior year comes to a close. It is my deepest desire that my three months of exploration will come to fruition. I have learned plenty about various topics such as social studies methods, urban planning in Philadelphia, literacy assessment differentiation, curriculum based measurement for special needs students, and use of ratio tables to teach math methods.

Although my goals are clear and my list of tasks to do lengthy, I am trying to seek the time to divert my attention to other matters. Since the Client List (yes, my embarrassing guilty pleasure!) is not uploaded to Hulu.com yet, I decided to return to the profound city of Charleston, South Carolina, in which Leo King accounts his coming of age story in all its glory, mistakes, and hopes.

Pat Conroy is by far my favorite author. His ability to intrigue a reader is beyond fantastic. His words are a fluid stream of beauty. He seamlessly strings together phrases that deservedly belong in poems. He describes the city of a penisula as "a town so pretty it makes your eyes ache with pleasure just to walk down its spellbinding, narrow streets" (Conroy, 1).

The gorgeous and dramatic city of Charleston first grabbed my attention in high school. For summer reading, I reluctantly chose The Lords of Discipline as my choice. I was not a fan of military content in literature, and was hoping that the book would at least expose me to a new topic. However, I unexpectedly fell in love with the book. Will, the protagonist, reminded me of Holden Caufield. His unrealized good looks and sarcastic persona caused me to develop feelings....for a fictitious character! Then again, I will openly admit that I fell hard for Dmitri from Disney's Anastacia. I know; truly sad, but true.

South of Broad does not compare to Lords of Disclipine. Yet, existing at the same tier of Lords of Discipline is quite the impossible task in my opinion. Regardless, S of B does showcase a bit more versatility in its presentation of characters. There is the jaded main character, Leo King, his former nun and drastically austere mother, and diffident and pleasant father. Then, there are his new neighbor twins, one a flamboyant boy and the other a sassy and voluptuous actress-in-the-making. Orphans enter his life in a sudden wave and are considered mountain hooligans. Lastly, there is the new football coach's son, Ike, a sensitive African American grappling with the racial tension in Charleston.

I am only at Part 2 in the book, but I am slowly but surely finding myself attached to the characters. My curiosity is peaked as I wonder what happened in 1989 (vs. 1969). I am saddened by the calloused disfigurement of Leo. He has led a troubled life, a result of his older brother's childhood suicide. Leo was never as popular or handsome as Steve. Leo cannot seem to fathom living in Steve's shadow or pleasing his parents as effortlessly as Steve did.

Reading this novel in the midst of finals, in the 70's style library that is Drexel's Hagerty Library makes me want to drift off on a magic carpet ride to the mysterious land that is Charleston. I pine for the love of a pretentious community that bases judgements off age-old traditions. I want to bask in the warm rays that hit and deflect the soft waves of the Ashley River. I want to take photographs of cicada-filled magnolia trees. Before reading this novel, I wanted to raise a family in the South, preferably in one of the Carolina's. However, this novel exposed the underlying tensions and hypocrisy that occurs behind the facades of the Charlestonian mansions. I feel bad for Leo, "a boy stopped in time, in a city of amber-colored life that possessed the glamour forbidden to a lesser angel"(Conroy, 6).

I am anxious to read on, to see how the tale unfolds. I know that Leo marries Starla, one of the orphans. But, I am dying to know why as their union is quickly dissipating. Sheba is a famous actress, but her efforts to obtain fame have caused her to lose her sense of self. She is an obnoxious, self-seeking woman. Ike and Betty are married. This is pleasing, but is there more to their picture-perfect marriage? Lastly, what on earth happened to Trevor, the loud and fun-loving brother of Sheba? A classmate of mine, disclosed some information-- after I begged for her to give me some clue to the bombshell that drops at the end of the novel. She acquiesced after much pleading on my part. Apparently, Monsignor Maxwell raped Steve, leading him to take his own life. I find the urgent need to read on. Priestly abuse seems to be a hot topic these days. Charleston has proved to be a mystical place where tragedy and deceit are inevitable.

I will write again after I finish this book...and my finals!
Sincerely, Arlene