#rosecrash

Bon Iver: An album you could listen to on repeat for years?

I mean I could listen to Century Child or Oceanborn by Nightwish for years but to shake things up I’m gonna add Theli by Therion to the mix. Great album.

The Killers:Name your top three songs of all time.

Ever Dream - Nightwish (fuck i kinda want to also add Ghost Love Score and Gethsemane to this but I want to keep one song per artist, the struggle is real)

Dogs - Pink Floyd

The Siren of the Woods - Therion

The Vaccines:What are your favorite lyrics? Quote them for me. Do they mean something special to you?

Oh boy there are so many. First i’ll go with Come Healing - Leonard Cohen:

Behold the gates of mercyIn arbitrary spaceAnd none of us deservingThe cruelty or the grace

combined with Show Me the Place - Leonard Cohen

Show me the place, help me roll away the stoneShow me the place, I can’t move this thing aloneShow me the place where the word became a manShow me the place where the suffering began

and Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen

You say I took the name in vainI don’t even know the nameBut if I did, well really, what’s it to you?There’s a blaze of light in every wordIt doesn’t matter which you heardThe holy or the broken hallelujah

What they mean to me…well i was raised in a very religious family and atmosphere and i’ve always felt like the rebel child. Because I could never understand why God can allow suffering (in children, especially) and just sit there watching us, pretending to be a benevolent Patriarch while blaming us for being cruel to each other and yet claiming all the instances of kindness in the world through divine grace. Leonard Cohen just verbalizes my old arguments with an imaginary God that I loved and loathed with all my being. And if there’s one God I recognize that is the Word, language,  the way we communicate with each other and understand the Other.

I also really love the lyrics of Gethsemane -Nightwish, I’m not gonna copy/paste here the whole song, they just helped me a lot when I was at my loneliest and really felt there was no end in sight for my loneliness and suffering. I know now i was being Extra™ but at that time that song really helped.

Taylor Swift:  Name that one artist that literally makes you so angry you’re willing to throw the damn radio right out the window to make it stop

1. Vincent van Gogh

2. Empress Theodora

3. Michael Hutchence

4. Russell Brand

5. Neil deGrasse Tyson

6. Margaret Atwood

Oh i would probably cook a lot of food: aubergine salad (my fave!) roasted peppers with tomato and onion sauce (other fave!),  shrimps with butter and garlic as appetizers ; saffron and cinnamon chicken with rice and yoghurt sauce as the main course, and some kind of cheesecake for dessert.

Thank you!

Again, it’s taken me a while to see this as I’ve been using the mobile app, but the wonderful rosecrash​ has tagged me to take ten random songs from my music library and then post my favourite lyrics from each. This is all from iTunes - a lot of my newer favourites are on Spotify these days, and a good bulk of my iTunes library is A-ha (no surprises there). Here we go...

1) Irish Blood, English Heart - Morrissey

I've been dreaming of a time when The English are sick to death of Labour, and Tories, And spit upon the name Oliver Cromwell...

2) Elle Me Dit - MIKA

Elle me dit, « Qu'est-ce que t'as ? T'as l'air coincé ... T'es défoncé ou t'es gai ? Tu finiras comme ton frère ... »

3) Serious - Duran Duran

Oh baby you get so wild - Too much understanding... Oh baby you're such a child - Full up on love and tears and cryin'...

4) Lord - Morten Harket

Lord, if that is your name, I'm afraid I'm beyond honour and shame. There's nothing special that I would like to say... Most of the time, I've been okay - Though I know I may need you someday...

5) Scoundrel Days - A-ha

Was it too much to ask for to pull a little weight? They forgive anything but greatness: these are scoundrel days! And I'm close to calling out their names as pride hits my face...

6) Orpheus - David Sylvian (Absolutely beautiful song! I love all of the lyrics...)

Still the voices have stories to tell Of the power struggles in heaven and hell; But we feel secure against such mighty dreams As Orpheus sings of the promise tomorrow may bring...

7) A Little Respect - Erasure

And if I should falter, would you open your arms out to me? We can make love not war, and live at peace with our hearts... I'm so in love with you; I'll be forever blue What religion or reason could drive a man to forsake his lover?

8) In These Arms - Bon Jovi

I'd hold you; I'd need you; I'd get down on my knees for you And make everything all right... if you were in these arms... I'd love you; I'd please you; I'd tell you that I'd never leave you And love you 'til the end of time... if you were in these arms tonight...

9) Heal The Pain - George Michael

He must have really hurt you To make you say the things that you do... He must have really hurt you To make those pretty eyes look so blue...

10) Human - Jon McLaughlin

I'm smart enough to know that life goes by And it leaves a trail of broken hearts behind... If you feel I'm letting go, just give me time: I'll come running to your side...

My Tumblr notifications are disabled on my phone (and I’m not on desktop very often), so I’ve only just noticed that the very lovely rosecrash has tagged me in a positivity challenge! Apologies for the late realisation - I’ll get to this right away. It’s going to be difficult to talk about five things that I like about myself because my self-esteem is rock bottom at the moment and I’ve not been feeling too great lately. But here we go...

1) My teeth. Tom actually asked me the whole question of liking a certain feature of myself a few weeks ago, and at the time I couldn’t really think of a particular answer because I didn’t feel as though I liked anything about myself. But on reflection, I realised that my teeth have made such a vast improvement after wearing braces for several years - before I had them, I was too embarrassed to smile in photos because my teeth were really awful. But braces really made all the difference in my life, and even though they were hell to put up with for several years, it was definitely worth the wait.

2) I designed a Moshling for Moshi Monsters. I know I’ve written about this before and I know it gets repetitive - and I also know it’s old news. But I am still proud that I won that contest back in 2009 - seeing little Liberty figurines and even trading cards just makes me feel happy. Yes, her design was tweaked, but still, I made something which actually exists in media. (I just wish Mind Candy would take me on as an intern.)

3) Gonna steal Tom’s one for this! I lived in Paris from September to April, and it was probably the biggest challenge I’ve ever had to face. You may know that I’m quite a homebody, so moving countries without family support was a real achievement for me - I honestly didn’t think I’d get through it. I have my lovely Sorbonne chums to thank for getting me through the year and having many laughs along the way. And despite all my complaining, Paris really is a beautiful city.

4) I’m a sensitive person. This obviously has its downsides and most of the time I end up misinterpreting situations because I take things to heart. But I like that I can usually tune in to others’ feelings, too. And it also means that if you say something to me with the intention of complimenting me, I’ll probably remember that compliment for a really long time. And offer you lots of virtual hugs and ice cream.

5) My Filipina heritage. This is something I’ve only begun to truly appreciate since roughly the start of university. When I was very little, I really took our family trips to the Philippines for granted and didn’t really want to be there. The last time I visited was in 2008, and now I want to return there so badly, to immerse myself in the beauty and culture of the country. I feel truly lucky to be half-Filipina and have a Filipino mother, and I would love to fully embrace her culture now that I’m older (and hopefully a little bit wiser!).

A Fever You Can't Sweat Out - Panic! At the Disco

From Under the Cork Tree - Fall Out Boy

Riot! - Paramroe

A Lesson in Romantics - Mayday Parade