True Story (MLIA)

Today, I was having an IM conversation with a friend. Midway through our chat, I realized that I'd thought she was someone else. However, she hadn't noticed this, since our conversation had been extremely general up to that point. I continued to chat as if I'd never been stupid enough to confuse her with someone else. MLIA

QT

Last Friday, I was at NYU for orientation. The afternoon sun gently hugged my body with its mid-70 degree-ish heat rays as I walked back to the dorming area to return linens and such (I'd arrived at the university on Thursday and spent the night). Upon opening the door, I found myself being smothered by packs of students carrying blankets and pillows. Slowly but surely, I maneuvered through the cushion-y frenzy to the elevator, where I was met by even more "padded" folks. I noticed that the button for my floor was already pushed, so I stood where I was as the elevator door closed, reluctant to spare myself the effort of reaching over layers of bedroom amenities to press "15". The elevator gradually stopped at what seemed like every other floor, and my standing area became less and less squished. At the 11th floor, everyone in the elevator had left except for me and this other girl--the one who'd pressed "15".

I hadn't noticed her until this moment, since my view was previously blocked by white pillows and dark green blankets. When I glanced over, I remembered seeing her at an information session from yesterday. The students had been given random numbers, which corresponded to assigned tables for seating. My table happened to be right across from hers. I was irritated by this circumstance because I was wanted to meet her; I mean, what guy WOULDN'T want to meet a cute girl? After the session ended, I thought that I'd never see her again.

But fate had its enigmatic way of proving me wrong that Friday afternoon in the elevator. As the door closed for the 1983247039th time, the girl started talking to me. For about 20 seconds, we briefly discussed why the 13th floor did not exist (I guess she didn't know that people are overly superstitious at times.) Then we reached the 15th floor, and as she walked out, she said to me with a somewhat pleasant tone, "Bye." Being the quiet boy that I am, I failed to continue our short conversation, or even ask for her name. And as we parted our separate ways back to our rooms on the 15th floor, I lightly shook my head in disbelief.

I hope that fate will work its magic again during the Fall Semester.

--update 10:13 P.M.--

I've been listening to experimental indie these days. It's pretty weird.

But I like it.

In the past, I only appreciated this kind of music. Now I'm actually embracing it.

I think I've reached a milestone in my musical career. Now I can venture deeper into the depths of creative obscurity with no fear.

On the topic of discovering new music, I'd like to tell you that I'm utterly obsessed with it. It's become one of my favorite hobbies; I could spend hours browsing through sites like Pitchfork, Last FM and Amie Street, searching for inspiration and learning to embrace musical innovation.

I'm tired of the same 'ol song. Sure, I still like my usual preferences--Ra Ra Riot, Vampire Weekend, Radiohead, Phoenix, Wilco, Spoon, and M. Ward, to name a few. But I want to hear something that defines today's avant-garde. Be it indie, jazz, folk, ambient, electro-pop, shoegaze, trip-hop--whatever it is, I hope that it'd change the way I think about music.

Therefore, I've decided to include a "song of the day"-type section in each of my entries. Not only can I analyze the listening paths that I take in the future, but I can also include you in my musical journey (hah, that sounds mad cheeseball). After all, there's nothing better than sharing some fresh inspiration with others.

So to kick off this first ever "song of the day" thing:

"Useful Chamber" by Dirty Projectors

This song is experimental indie at its finest. The synth noises in the beginning create a wonderful layer of sound that puts you in a mild state of trance. However, this electronic ambience is mixed with other random wailing-like bursts that seem to make the song speak. Add in frontman Dave Longstreth's gentle falsetto (at least I think it's falsetto) to compliment all the other elements, and you've got yourself something magical. And that's only the first half of the song. The rest is just bananas.

If you like "Useful Chamber," listen to the rest of the new Dirty Projectors album, Bitte Orca. It's mind-blowingly amazing.

First

Behold, I'm now a Blogger!

What an exciting day.

--update 1:08 P.M.--

So to kick off this new blog, I'd like to explain a few things.

- My URL address (baseballandapplepie.blogspot.com): This name was inspired by a conversation I had with my friend. One day in high school (high school....hahahaha), we were working on our speeches for Civics class; both of us happened to pick the topic "American exceptionalism." For those of you not familiar with this concept, American exceptionalism is basically the idea that the U.S. is friggin' awesome and superior in every way possible. Anyway, we eventually got distracted and started talking about pie. I mentioned that my favorite flavor is apple, at which point my friend wrote something about apple pie in his speech. "That and baseball--you can't get any more American than that," he told me. Fast forward to this morning, when I was thinking of a blog URL that wasn't already taken (even hiperson3673 wasn't available), I remembered that conversation with my friend, so I typed in "baseballandapplepie." Sure enough, it was available. Yay!!!

- The quote at the top: Clark Terry is a famous jazz trumpet player, probably one of the greatest to every play. I saw him perform at the Blue Note in the city two summers ago with his big band; it was truly an incredible performance. The guy was in his late 80's, yet his playing was like that of a man in his 20's. Never had I seen such musical vivacity in someone who could barely walk around by himself. Anyway (yeah, got a bit sidetracked with an anecdote), the quote reflects Terry's view on developing one's own style: Use the ideas of other musicians to formulate your own. As an aspiring musician, I use this quote as a motto for myself. Therefore, I found it to be a fitting title for my blog.

That's all for now.