My Favorite Things : October 27, 2015

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LISTEN

★ Walk On – U2I love this song for so many reasons, but probably my favorite line in the song? “What you got, they can’t steal it. No they can’t even feel it.” They can’t take anything away from you. They cannot confine you. You can leave them behind. You are not trapped.

★ Sweet Thing – Van MorrisonA beautiful epiphany in a song. The multi-layered instrumentation is phenomenal & magical & perfect. Soaring flutes. The tender melody & lyrics. Ebullient guitar. One of my all time favorite songs.

★ You Still Believe In Me – The Beach BoysThe comforting knowledge that even after everything that has happened or will happen, that there is a constant person who has your back & will believe in you, no matter what.

★ Crowded House. I started listening to more Crowded House recently. The song that made me start loving their music was Archer’s Arrows (which is a phenomenal & fantastic song). Then I heard Don’t Dream It’s Over (see below), & fell in love with that too. I haven’t heard that many songs of theirs yet, but I’ve liked what I’ve heard so far. Their songs are very aesthetically pleasing, & very atmospheric. They’re the kind of songs I would like to work into a variety of playlists.

In A Sentimental Mood – John Coltrane & Duke EllingtonI like this song because it’s evocative in a somewhat melancholy way, & John Coltrane expresses this mood perfectly.

 

EAT

★ Vanilla Talenti Gelato. Seriously. Try this with rainbow sprinkles. It’s seriously THE BEST. Rainbow sprinkles make good things even better. Gelato somehow always manages to taste elegant & make you feel elegant while you’re eating it. I also love Talenti, because they keep their ingredients simple & to the point, & produce an awesome product. Fun fact : my father usually refers to my Gelato as “ice cream”, a term which I don’t think encompasses the awesomeness & quality of Gelato.

★ Ducktrap Smoked Salmon & Ducktrap Smoked Trout. I am a huge fan of smoked fish. A huge fan. Their smoked salmon with dill is AMAZING, & I am so in love right now with their smoked trout, which I just recently tried. The smoked trout tastes like a combination between fresh smoked herring fillets and smoked salmon. One thing I love about both the smoked trout & the smoked salmon is that the fillets of them are nice, thick, & wholesome, which is even better than the thin fillets more commonly found. Also, I want to put dill on everything now. I recently made homemade guacamole with dill in it, & it was great.

★ This awesome meal I made a while ago

 

READ

★ Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie PerkinsThis was a nice, heartwarming YA romance story. It made me feel all warm & fuzzy inside, & it’s just a sweet book in general.

★ 10 Really Easy Ways to Love Yourself More TodayAs always, Gala Darling has a lovely, illuminating, magical list. I especially like Point #8, about liking what you like & not liking things just because they’re popular.

This article about Street Dreams Magazine from The New York TimesI really, really like the idea of bringing the Internet into a more tangible, DIY form. Like a zine, of photographs.

 

WATCH

★ Jamming Baby Owls. BABY OWLS DANCING. Owls are the best thing ever.

★ John Owen-Jones Singing “Who Am I?” From Les Miserables. I love this song with a passion, & John Owen-Jones is the very best at singing it. He fills it with an emotion & evocative vulnerability that I haven’t heard in other renditions of the song. It is the most real, honest version, & because of this, a favorite.

 

WEAR

★ Colorful socks inside my awesome sparkly jelly shoes. Right now, I am especially loving my photo print strawberry socks, but since I bought the jelly shoes, I have bought a lot of cute, colorful novelty socks, just for wearing inside my jelly shoes.

My canvas medic bagI wear this bag in a lot of the fashion photos I take, & it’s my go-to bag for everyday usage. Ever since my Indiana Jones phase as a teen, I wanted a bag like this. I finally found one which appropriately matches the one in the films. I love it because it is sturdy, holds a lot of stuff, is comfortable & easy to wear, & just looks cool. Looking cool is the primary reason. It adds a ruggedness & uniqueness to any outfit I add it to.

★ Knee Socks with Jelly Shoes or Combat Boots. I will be posting photos of this combination soon, but it looks tough but feminine at the same time, & also allows me to include the edginess of combat boots while still showing off all my cool, patterned knee socks.

 

TO DO

★ Laying on the floor with my dog & playing fetch with him when I get home from work. He looks forward to this, & would seriously play for hours on end if I didn’t get tired of throwing his toys for him.

★ Learning how to drive. I didn’t learn when I was younger because I had no need to, but I’m learning now, & it’s going great!

★ Earning my GED & passing all the subjects the first time around. I got honors on Reasoning Through Language Arts and in Social Studies, & was one point away from honors in Science. This was something I’d wanted to do for a long time, & I’m so proud of myself for accomplishing this goal.

 

THINGS 

★ “When nothing is sure, everything is possible.” ― Margaret Drabble. Embrace the confusion. Now that you have nothing to lose & maybe nothing to prove, you can do anything. Now that you’re confused & uncertain & scared of the changes going on around you, you can turn this into anything. You have a blank canvas from which you can paint & create & shape into whatever feels best for you.

 

NEW AWESOME THINGS

★ My new album, Confusion is Over. 

New Book – Document Your Life : A Journal.

★ New Book – Panorama Novelty

★ New Book – Ashlee Craft / Assemblage Issue 5

 

Ashlee Craft / Assemblage – Issue 5

IAshlee Craft / Assemblage - Issue 5ssue 5 of Ashlee Craft’s life-is-a-playground art & poetry zine, Ashlee Craft / Assemblage.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

be a friend 4 / what he said 5 / colorful polka dots 7 / kindness is free 8 / don’t be too quick to judge 9 / diary entry 10 / tell him (maybe it will be great) 11 / fundraising 12 / how can I be happier? 13 / personality 14 / buy flowers for myself 15 / how can you be free? 16 / feeling better emotionally 17 / numbers (of course you’re a champion) 18 / songs to learn 19 / spunky 20 / don’t be scared 21 / assertiveness 22 / ass kicking music 23 / my name is… 24 / be chill 25 / shopping list 26 / Fibonacci 27 / I will teach you 28 / I can do this 29 / to do on break 30 / shared moments 31 / two pained souls 32 / comfort each other 33 / good things happen 34 / the greatest person 36 / change my life 37 / advice for the day 38 / to do 39 / not fake 40 / names I like 41 / from the shadows 42 / why must we be so sad? (there’s really not a reason) 43 / your phone number 44 / I want you back 45 / how you act towards me 46 / sunlight to grow 47 / saying to me 48 / love, in a few syllables 49 / we danced in the rain 50 / again 51 / owls 52

Publish Date // September 29, 2015
Paperback 52 pages
Genre // Magazines

Kindle Edition 

Playlist // Fierce & Looking for Respect

Playlist // Fierce & Looking for Respect (From Ashlee Craft / Assemblage, Issue 5)

Listen to playlist on YouTube

From Issue 5 of Ashlee Craft / Assemblage

1. Hold Your Head Up – Argent

2. Respect – Aretha Franklin

3. My Life – Billy Joel

4. F**k You – CeeLo Green

5. I Really Don’t Care – Demi Lovato

6. Shake it Off – Taylor Swift

7. This is Gospel – Panic! At the Disco

8. Already Gone – The Eagles

9. Another Day – Whigfield

10. Fly By Night – Rush

11. I’m Still Standing – Elton John

12. Mean – Taylor Swift

13. I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor

14. Take the Long Way Home – Supertramp

Note: this is a live version & not the original unfortunately, because I couldn’t find the original on YouTube.

15. Let It Go – Idina Menzel

16. You Don’t Own Me – Lesley Gore

17. Invisible – U2