Commercial Culture

I don’t know much about politics, but do know something about pop-culture. Big name artists and big name companies are constantly pairing up to promote a certain message or agenda. It’s the oldest trick in advertising. It’s not about how you really feel, but how you’re supposed to feel, not what you actually think, but what you should think. I recently saw Nicki Minaj’s new add for Pepsi. “Live for Now” underscores Pepsi’s attempt at re-associating itself with pop-culture. The ad is essentially convincing us that drinking Pepsi will allow you to do exactly what the title says, live for now. The couple in the ad has magically frozen time by drinking Pepsi, and can therefore fully enjoy the Nicki Minaj concert. 

What if the future of classical music is in the hands of the ad agencies? I was shocked when a Korean car company used “Sonata” for a model name. Maybe car ads are the saving grace of a style of music that’s gradually disappearing. Mozart’s Piano Sonata in B-flat Major was used for a Hyundai Sonata ad, and Audi used Ravel’s sparkling “Jeux d’eau”. Of course we expect them to use the Beatles and Rolling Stones to promote car sales. But Mozart? And Wagner? And Grieg? Perhaps the big bad ad agencies and the commercial culture we live in are actually helping to preserve and promote the same classical music that I value and love. 

United at last!

I always cherish my friendship with Miss Hannah, but summer is the time when I really get to sit and enjoy her loving spirit.
"I feel like Indiana Jones, because you are the treasure I am looking for!"
We're both delightfully busy with our summer nanny jobs. She has two girls ages 8 and 10, and I have to boys (plus the baby) ages 8 and 10. We're already plotting the inevitable weddings.
Keeping the boy's day packed with activities = less time for them to find ways to reap havoc. We've already been to the adoration chapel, signed up and turned in our first summer reading sheets, picked blueberries and strawberries, and gone swimming almost every day! I'll try to be better about capturing these moments on camera...

Happy summer!

Wedding #1

As some of you know, I'm interning with wedding planner Jen from Mr. and Mrs. this summer. I had my first wedding this past weekend for Brad and Niki. The couple had a beautiful wedding ceremony in downtown Kansas City and the reception was held at the Boulevard Brewery. 

The morning started off with meeting the Bridal party at the Weston Hotel. We make sure everyone is calm and all the little details are set in place. We help them get dressed, make sure everyone eats and has Kleenexes, and that all the proper pictures are taken.

Next, Jen and I headed over to the reception. She handed me a couple huge boxes of flowers, vases, place settings and candles...and left. The bride wanted the center pieces to vary among the tables, so this is what I came up with:

The couple loved playing Scrabble together and wanted to incorporate that into their special day. I used the ones with their names for the Sweetheart table and the rest ("kiss", "wedding"...) were dispersed on the other tables

By the end of the night everyone was exhausted and the bridesmaids all left their flowers behind. My reward is having a lovely smelling room for the rest of the week!

The reception over looked the sun setting on downtown KC and the open patio was the highlight of the location. The menu included fish taco, mac n cheese, and roast beef bars. They had an open Boulevard Brewery bar and a cigar roller for the 150 guests to enjoy. Party favors were engraved Pilsner glasses with the couple's name and wedding date. 

My next wedding is May 26th!

Sometimes...

...I wish I was 4 years old again.
Today it's because I love flamingos, and this shirt is the bee's knees

Educator of the Year

My favorite professor at college was just awarded Educator of the Year! Dr. Gooch teaches Music Analysis III and IV, meaning I've been in his class room for the past year. Yes, he's just as odd and funny as he looks, maybe even more. He's the kind of teacher that loves his area of study so much that you're almost forced to love it too. He wants his students to understand the concepts and do well in his class, a rare quality among professors these days.
Anyways, congratulations Dr. Gooch! No one deserves this honor as much as you do.

Happy Friday

Sucré

I realized today that I've seriously been slacking on posting my Song of the Week.

So for a quick update I thought I'd just share a new discovery of mine. The band is called Sucré, and you can listen to some of their music here. So far my favorite is 'Hiding Out'. I love the way they incorporate the cello and vocal, it just sounds like a beautiful day. Plus the lead singer has fantastic style, which is always a nice bonus

"If a strong emotion suddenly lights all the candles we carry inside ourselves, it creates a brightness that shines far beyond our normal vision and then a splendid tunnel appears that shows us the way that we forgot when we were born and call us to recover our lost divine origin. The soul longs to return to the place it came from, leaving the body lifeless" ~Like Water for Chocolate

Confused...

Santorum drops out, and Facebook's purchase of Instagram is still the top story?

14 Things to Give Up

Give up your need to always be right. It’s just not worth it. Whenever you feel the ‘urgent’ need to jump into a fight over who is right and who is wrong, ask yourself this question: “Would I rather be right, or would I rather be kind?” Wayne Dyer.

Give up your need for control. Allow everything and everyone to be just as they are.

Give up on blame. Stop giving your powers away and start taking responsibility

Give up your self-defeating self-talk. Don’t believe everything that your mind is telling you – especially if it’s negative and self-defeating. You are better than that.

Give up your limiting beliefs about what you can or cannot do. Spread your wings and fly!

Give up complaining. Nobody can make you unhappy, no situation can make you sad or miserable unless you allow it to. It’s not the situation, but how you choose to look at it. Never underestimate the power of positive thinking.

Give up the luxury of criticism. We are all different, yet we are all the same.

Give up your need to impress others. When you embrace the real you, you will find people will be drawn to you, effortlessly.

Give up your resistance to change. Change is good.

Give up labels. Minds only work when open.

Give up on your fears. Fear is just an illusion, it doesn’t exist – you created it.

Give up the past. Be present in everything you do. Life is a journey not a destination.

Give up attachment. The moment you detach yourself from all things, (attachment comes from a place of fear, while love is pure, kind, and self less) you become so peaceful, so tolerant, so kind, and so serene. A state beyond words.

Give up living your life to other people’s expectations. Don’t ignore your inner voice, that inner calling. Don’t forget what makes you happy, what you want, what you need. You have one life – this one right now – you must live it, own it.

Spring Equinox

In yoga studios across the world, tomorrow is a special day. The spring equinox represents a change in seasons, and in the yoga world is celebrated by doing 108 Sun Salutations.

Typically this ritual is performed 4 times a year, with the start of each season, to acknowledge the changing world around us.

The 108 Sun Salutation practice is named Mala, representing the 108 mala prayer beads used in meditation.

There are many reasons for the Hindu and Buddhist belief in the sacredness of the number 108.

• There were initially 54 sounds in the Sanskrit alphabet: 2 X 54 = 108
• There are 108 Upanishads, which are part of the oldest scriptural textsof Hinduism. They primarily focus on philosophy, meditation, and the nature of God.
• There are 108 names for Hindu deities.
• The distance between the earth and sun is 108 times the diameter of the sun, therefore, the number 108 is taken to represent the "distance" from the devotee to the divine.
• Some say there are 108 feelings: 36 related to the past, 36 related to the present, and 36 related to the future.
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Doing 108 Sun Salutations is a way of breaking out of the darkness that accumulated from the long winter. It's a way of "spring cleaning" your body and mind, and is used as an offering to Peace and Unity.

Just a Wednesday

I've been a bit lazy with my blog this semester. Don't give up on me yet, only 2 weeks until spring break!

The music department, ever so kindly, has decided to have itself evaluated next week. This means that a bunch of men in suits will be dropping in and out of our classes and any given moment to make sure they're actually teaching us something (ha, what a joke). The repercussions of this, however, means that all my midterms have been moved to this week, with no notice what-so-freaking-ever! Just so you don't think I'm slacking for no good reason.

If you're really dying for something, read this, and then turn off your phone.

http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/silence-your-phone/

Valentine's Day

Here's the card I made for all the loves of my life today. Complete with the following lovely pick up lines:

I'm glad you recognize how terrible your life would be without me.

Your body is a wonderland, and I want to be Alice.

Let's make like fabric softener and snuggle.

I can't believe how much I'm not sick of you.

If you were a booger, I'd pick you first.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Mini-Resolution

Make Something Monday (crafts or projects)

Time to Read Tuesday (weekly trip to the library)

What's Cooking Wednesday (baking or cooking)

Be Thoughtful Thursday (write letters, make cookies, do a service)

Somewhere Fun Friday (get out of the dorms!)

Day #1's project was putting together this shelf. I did it all by myself, without even looking at the directions! (my father would be proud)

It's currently holding my knitting and the books for my Politics of Food Literature class.

Lazy Eye - Silversun Pickups

Truthful Tuesdsay

A wonderful thing about life is that there are some thing we will never know. Why my Starbucks latte is never hot enough, why it always rains the day after I wash my car, why the jello in the dining halls is always low fat and blue when red is obviously the better color. And finally, you don’t know why this jerk isn’t texting you back. Maybe they don’t like you or are scared they like you too much. (Does the latter ever happen though? Do people ever get freaked out, like in a negative way, when they actually like someone and they know the person likes them back? Maybe they do. If so, we’re doomed.) You’re thinking of a myriad of different things while waiting for that response back. Most of which are some variant of “I’m not good enough. I probably smell weird. How am I supposed to get someone to love me when they can’t even send me a @#%& text message?”

You’ll never know the real reasons why they aren’t going to text you back. Trust me. It’s better not knowing. In addition to this, I think my single gals are short changing themselves. Let’s add a little variety and truth to the reasons why we’re single:

People bug me.

I’m holding out for a Sugar Daddy.

I’m allergic to testosterone.

Ryan Reynold’s doesn’t know who I am yet.

I refuse to sleep on anything less than 500 thread count sheets.

I know your grandmother, mother, aunt and annoying friend from elementary school all want to know why you “still don’t have a boyfriend”. I know we’re at the awkward phase where our highschool-prego friends all have toddlers and our college friends are getting engaged and it seems like the only exciting thing happening to your life is the new sweater you found on the clearance rack at the new H&M store. Even though society is telling us that men get to look like Seth Rogen and women have to look like Katherine Heigl, wouldn’t it be great if we held out a little longer?

Go to the mattresses! Fight. Fight to the death!