Here we go again....

Before I leave for 19 days of North Carolina bliss, I decided to drop back in and let everyone in on the daily goings on (or going ons? eh, well) of my life. Note: there's some very cool iPod shuffle (as it has only become a custom of mine to do an iPod shuffle whenever I post) to follow. So feel free to scroll down to that.

Okay, so here we go:

1) The O.C. Season 4 DVD! Wahoo. It was on my to-do list to finish everything before I left camp (don't you wish something as easy as that was on your to-do list?), but it's looking like that isn't going to happen. So it leaves me something to look forward to when I get back from camp. [Insert sarcasm here] Speaking of looking forward to things after I get back from camp...

2) ...Two words: summer reading! Oh, the excitement. This summer, they load on three books (2 for Honors Lit, 1 for AP World History). The titles: How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines by Thomas C. Foster, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (sorry, no symbol for the e with the two dots above it), and King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild. This sounds like a lot of fun. Unfortunately, it's practically mandatory that I read these books, because there are tests (or some sort of assessment) on all three of them within the first week of school. But enough about school. Because, have you heard...

3) IT'S OVER!!! Yeah, freshman year is done. Now on to sophomore year, which I hear is a pretty pointless year, but also the most fun year of high school (driver's license, Sweet 16, etc.) besides senior year. Yeah, whatever. As long as I'm taking regular (read: easier) chemistry, I'm cool.

4) Yesterday and Tuesday I finally finished my four massive bulletin boards that have been waiting to be adorned with magazine clippings since... Thanksgiving. But they are done. And they are looking pretty cool if I do say so myself. (Maybe pictures later.)

5) I decided to improve the now gargantuan The O.C. Seasons 1-4 playlist on iTunes. It grew by about 40(ish) songs, so I think I did pretty well. Also discovered how many great songs I'd been missing out on.

6) Keeping with the topic of new music, I also got some great new songs over the past week. Perhaps they'll show up below, and I'll be able to tell you how great they are.

And that's it. I'm off to Horse Shoe, NC Sunday morning and won't return until June 22 or sometime around there. I've given mom my permission to scan (or just type) my letters home. So... it will be greetings from Camp Highlander soon. Now I just have to remember to write the letters. And actually get them in the mail. That's the hard part.

Now for the actual good stuff. A cool new edition of iPod shuffle. Song count is however many I feel like until I feel that it's getting too repetitive and/or I'm just tired of doing it. Have fun.

Predictions:

At least 25% O.C. songs.

At least 5% covers.

At least 10% embarassing songs.

1) Play - Flunk. (Ah, forgot my predictions. See above.) O.C. song. Pretty good so far. Anyway, on The O.C. Mix 4, and it plays twice during season two. I can tell you it played in 2-18, "The Risky Business," and then when the kids are at school before "The Risky Business." Strange song, but Anja Oyen Vister (hey, they're Norwegian) has a really cool voice.

2) Maybe I'm Amazed - Jem. Knocking off two birds with one stone. Or something like that. O.C. Song, and a Paul McCartney cover. Very nice. Anyway, it's on The O.C. Mix 2. It plays in 1-27, "The Ties That Bind," at Caleb and Julie's wedding reception (Jem actually performed it at the wedding), when everyone's dancing and Marissa tells Ryan she loves him and that she doesn't want him to go be with homewrecker Theresa even though she understands that he has to. You know, because it's Ryan's baby, even though Theresa seems to think (read: lie) otherwise.

3) Can't Get It Right Today - Joe Purdy. Mixing it up a little with a Grey's Anatomy song. That's right. As much as all of us O.C. fans would love to blame Grey's Anatomy for the downfall in season four ratings (ratings. pshh) for The O.C., because Grey's Anatomy is a freak of nature and draws in like 20 mil a week, we know it's all Fox's fault, because the people running Fox are dumb. What? Me still bitter over The O.C.'s cancellation? Puh-lease. Although I do find it funny that everyone thinks that Grey's is a total mess now after the season three finale that I actually watched and found quite engaging towards the end, but everyone else found ridiculous, and according to TWoPers (users at the Television Without Pity forums), C-worthy. Ouch. But I still laugh.

4) Orange Crush - Editors. This is one of my O.C. playlist updates. It plays in episode 4-04, "The Metamorphosis," when Ryan is running on the beach, and quite strangely might I (and my mom) add.

5) Rain City - Turin Brakes. Okay, this is getting a bit sad. I've listened to five songs, and all five have been from TV shows. Gosh, don't I have a musical mind of my own. I realize the answer is probably a "well, not really," but still. Anyways, it's an O.C. song. It is on The O.C. Mix 1. It plays in 1-03, "The Gamble," when Dawn (Ryan's mother) leaves Ryan, claiming she's "a mess, not a mother." So Ryan's staying with the Cohens. Woo! He tells Sandy and Kirsten that he'll unpack later, and he makes this really weird face while he does it.

6) Vienna [Live] - Billy Joel. Is it sad that the only reason that I have this great song on my iPod because it plays in 13 Going On 30? Eh, well, who cares. It's one on that 12 Garden Live CD set.

7) Gone For Good - The Shins. Finally, a wonderful, wonderful song by a wonderful, wonderful band that is not on any form of visual media of which I know. It's deserving of four wonderfuls. Yeah! Check out this video: Gone For Good and Turn On Me.

8) You're All I Have - Snow Patrol. Okay, not the best Snow Patrol song ("Run" is definitely the best that I've heard. Beautiful song.), but it's pretty good, and it's catchy, so there. By the way, this sounds like it could be a Grey's Anatomy song, but let's face it - most songs by Snow Patrol could be (and also are) Grey's Anatomy songs.

9) Eastern Glow - The Album Leaf. It's on The O.C. Mix 2, it plays in 2-01, "The Distance," twice, but most memorably when Marissa drunkenly calls Ryan from the lifeguard stand, but doesn't say anything. Ryan knows Marissa is on the other end of the call, but also doesn't say anything. And Theresa knows something fishy is going on, and she's the only one that has the guts to say anything to anybody. But, anyway, it's a great song. It actually has words to go along with it, whereas other songs by The Album Leaf are purely instrumental. Very cool song.

10) New Hampshire - matt pond PA. Plays sometime in the middle of the second season of The O.C. That's all I can say from memory.

11) Bastard - Ben Folds. I remember when I first heard this song and Ben Fold's Songs For Silverman album one summer in Katie's car. This is the first song on the CD, and it begins with a little piano thingy that I can't play and probably never will. But it has some cool piano stuff in it. Bottom line: good song.

12) Those to Come - The Shins. I really do love this song. It's one of my favorites off of the Shins' Chutes Too Narrow, which is an accomplishment, because I don't think there are really any holes in that album. It's a really soft sort of song. But I love it gets louder and louder in the beginning. And I love James Mercer's voice.

13) This Place Is a Prison - The Postal Service. One of the darker, stranger songs on The Postal Service's Give Up. Yes, that's all I can say. It's dark. And strange.

14) Look What You've Done - Jet. It's from a form of visual media. It's on the soundtrack for A Lot Like Love. Now for the cover stuff. According to Wikipedia, it's pretty much a cover of The Beatle's song, "Sexy Sadie," as it "uses similar melodies, chord progressions, instrumentation, and in some cases identical lyrics."

Let's compare:

"Sexy Sadie"

What have you done? / You made a fool of everyone

"Look What You've Done"

Oh, look what you've done / You've made a fool of everyone

15) Decent Days and Nights - The Futureheads. It's on The O.C. Mix 4, and I can't tell you with 100% confidence when this song plays, but I have a feeling it's in mid-to-late season 2, possibly in 2-17, "The Brothers Grimm," when Ryan and Marissa flirt in a Newport clothing store, making fun of each other about hats and stuff. But it's a fun song.

16) Saint Simon - The Shins. Geez, so many Shins songs. What can I say about this one. Um, it's a good one. There. I also like the "la da da, la da da" towards the end of the song.

17) Paint the Silence - South. This used to be my favorite song. And for good reason. It has some great lyrics:

"How can you say your life is empty

So late in the day

Why would you stay another second

Now your sight got in the way

A combination

Of love and aggression

Another second lived"

Anyway, this is the first song on The O.C. Mix 1. It plays twice on the show. It first plays in 1-09, "The Heights," when Ryan and Marissa share their first kiss on the Ferris wheel at the Kickoff Carnival. It plays for a second (and even better) time in 3-17, "The Journey," when Ryan listens to The Model Home Mix, a CD that Marissa had made for him in 1-02, "The Model Home," but, more importantly, when Marissa flashes back to the Model Home, and then, cheesetastically, falls down the stairs. Great acting, Mischa, great acting!

18) Curbside Prophet - Jason Mraz. One of the cooler songs off Mraz's debut album, Waiting For My Rocket to Come. It blends pop and folk and rap all in one song in typical Mraz fashion.

19) I Turn My Camera On - Spoon. What a great song. It plays on The O.C. in 2-21, "The Return of the Nana," when Sandy, Seth, and Ryan are all walking down the streets of Miami looking totally awesome. And while being on The O.C. is how I discovered this song, I imagine I would have liked it just the same had I stumbled upon it some other way. And let's just hope that I would have stumbled upon it some other way.

20) Nothing Better - The Postal Service. This is one of the best songs on Give Up. Jen Wood has pitch-perfect vocals on this track, and Ben Gibbard's vocals aren't too bad either (I actually like Gibbard's voice, even though there are some who just don't like it).

21) Going Home - Andy Barham and Taylor Teeple. How fitting to have a song about going to Camp Highlander on this about-to-leave-for-camp post. Anyway, this has some great lyrics, and it's really a terribly sad song to hear on the last campfire, and it more often than not produces bucket loads of tears.

22) At the Bottom of Everything - Bright Eyes. One of those songs in which Conor Oberst tells a story (literally) and then starts singing. Pretty folky song in my opinion. The music video, which is actually really pretty neat and cool, features Evan Rachel Wood of Thirteen and Across the Universe (!!!) [watch the spectacular trailer here], the movie that has generated more excitement in me to go see it than any other movie that I can remember in recent memory.
23) E-Pro - Beck. It plays on The O.C. in 2-15, "The Mallpisode," (original episode title, I know), when Ryan, Seth, Summer, and Marissa play hockey when they're locked in the mall. Alex Patsavas, the music supervisor for The O.C., and my own personal hero, also calls this episode the "Beckisode," (again, original, I know), because it features six Beck songs.

24) Move On - Jet. This song is on The O.C. Mix 1 and plays in 1-12, "The Secret," when Ryan, Marissa, Seth, and Luke are all walking in the quad before school starts at the very end of the episode. This conversation, and a pretty good/well-known at that, takes place:

(Quick background information: Previously in the episode, Luke finds out that his dad is gay, and, since word quickly gets around Newport Beach, everyone, including those at school, know.) Luke: This is gonna be weird.
Ryan: Yep.
Luke: Everybody’s gonna be staring at me, talking
Marissa: Yep.
Luke: Maybe I can just blow the whole thing off, go hit the beach, give everybody time to get it out of their systems.
Ryan: Oh, it doesn’t work like that. It's been months, I’m still the kid from Chino that burned a house down.
Marissa: And I’m still the girl who tried to kill herself in Mexico.
Seth: I’m still... I’m still Seth Cohen.
Luke: Man, this is gonna suck.
Seth: Yep, well, welcome to my world.
[Seth rides his skate board and the other three walk behind him together. Fade out.]

Wow, what great writing. That's classic season one. All about being the outsider.

25) I'll Find a Way - Rachael Yamagata. After Imogen Heap, Rachael Yamagata may be my favorite female artist. And for good reason. She writes great songs, and has a crazy good voice that can go deep or high and still sound great. This isn't one of my favorite songs on her first studio album, Happenstance, but it's still great, which says a lot about the album and Yamagata, as well. The lyrics are also pretty good:

"The rain is like an orchestra to me
Little gifts from above meant to say
Girl, you're falling at his feet
Isn't lovely or stunning today
Wait with me, wait with me
I'm alive when you're here with me, here with me, stay"
26) Help! - Howie Day. Off of the I Am Sam soundtrack, this song is a Beatles cover (duh), as are all of the other songs on that soundtrack. This definitely isn't my favorite song on the CD, but it's not so bad, either.
27) Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley. A cover of the original Leonard Cohen song. And it's on The O.C.! In total, this song plays on the show three times, while this version of the song only plays on the show twice. It plays for the first time in 1-02, "The Model Home," and it plays for the second time in 1-27, "The Ties That Bind," a musically loaded episode, during the final minutes of the episode, and of the season. You can watch the montage here.

28) I Spy - Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. This was on my last iPod shuffle. And my feelings for it have not changed since then. My feelings then?

"This is an O.C. song, but it feels like it should be on like, One Tree Hill, or something. It sounds so 14-year-old-ish and not so good. The only good parts are when the lead singer sings "La-loo-la-loo-la-la-loo-la-loo", etc. etc. Anyways, some middle episode (9 or 10-12) of season four. I'm not sure."

I then stopped the iPod shuffle. Perhaps the song left me with a bad feeling in my stomach.

29) All 'Cause of You - The 88. Okay, I love The 88. And this is a really cool song. I really love it. What is there more to say? Um, not too much.

30) Kiss Me - Sixpence None The Richer. Okay, this prompted a laugh from me. When is this from, 1998? Geez, that seems not so long ago, yet it really was. I think this is on the Dawson's Creek soundtrack. Hmph.

31) Remedy (I Won't Worry) - Jason Mraz. The main "hit" on Waiting For My Rocket to Come, but my personal favorites on the album are "Sleep All Day," "You And I Both," and "On Love, In Sadness." But I can see why this was one of the hit singles on the album: it's catchy and teen-friendly.

32) Ammunition - Switchfoot. Don't make fun, but I really like every single song on Switchfoot's album, The Beautiful Letdown, and okay, maybe I know every word on every song, too.

33) She - Elvis Costello. From Notting Hill. But, honestly, it's boring me right now.

34) I Turn My Camera On - Rock Kills Kid. What a treat! The original and then the cover of the song. And guess what? This one is on The O.C., too! Oh, the craziness. Anyway, this song is on The O.C. Mix 6: Covering Our Tracks. It plays in 4-15, "The Night Moves," the penultimate episode of the series, during one of the fabulous fade in-fade out montagages that is in this episode. This was easily one of the best episodes of the season, and was the first episode in weeks that I remember, after watching it, saying "Wow. That was amazing." And then it really hit me that the utlimate episode of The O.C. was going to be coming in just a week. Too bad sucky Biology had to ruin the great night (other than the cold reality that The O.C. was actually ending), as I had to study for a dumb Evolution test.

35) Middle of Nowhere - Hot Hot Heat. This has also already been on one of my iPod shuffles. Here's what I said then:

"Last year spring break time I thought I was buying a cool song from a relatively "new" artist. I'd seen the song before, and this was one of those "impulsive, why-not-spend-99-cents-more-from-my-iTunes-gift-card kind of purchases." Turns out Hot Hot Heat is not relatively "new." No, they also sing "Bandages," which I'd heard on one of Katie's CDs before. I thought they said "Benedryls, benedryls... blah blah" but it's really "Bandages, bandages... blah blah."

36) Fix You - Coldplay. Is this song overrated? All I know is that when it plays on The O.C. (2-23, "The O.Sea"), it's totally engaging, especially when it kicks in at the very end, and you're left with this strange, hollow feeling in your stomach. That's when I know that Josh Schwartz (creator of the show) is a pure genius, even though he didn't write the episode. But his list of accomplishments is too long to name, and this post is already getting too long (you don't think I noticed that I'm on the 36th song of this shuffle?).

37) Call n' Return - Hellogoodbye. This is one of those bands that just hearing one of their songs makes me smile. Other bands in that exclusive list include Tally Hall and... yeah, that's all I can think of right now. Anyway, very power-pop sound. Good stuff.

38) 16 Military Wives - The Decemberists. Oh, not a lot to say here. Uh, it's a good song? Good enough.

39) A Sentence of Sorts In Kongsvinger - Of Montreal. I really like Of Montreal. Relative to Atlanta, they're actually pretty close, as they were formed in Athens. Although I only have three of their songs, I like all of them, and they're all fun and upbeat.

40) Haiku - Tally Hall. See! I knew it! I see Tally Hall and I just smile and laugh. One of my favorite bands. They're crazy and fun and their lyrics are so strange. But an awesome strange. For example, here is the haiku that Tally Hall features in this song:

"Lah dah dee diddum

Lah dah dee doom doo ditto

Dum doo lah dee doh

There, that's sufficient

I wrote a haiku for you

Well I tried at least, and that's not so bad

I'm working here

Can that be said for you?"

I wish I could write haikus like Tally Hall can.

---

So that concludes this monstrous iPod shuffle.

A final tally:

38% (15 out of 40) O.C. songs.

13% (5 out of 40) covers.

0% embarassing songs. That's right. There really aren't many songs on here that are embarassing.

Well, I'm off for now. Happy summer, everyone!