The Writerly Life Vol. 1: Music ♬

Hello, hello! :D

Before I share my January Favorites with you all, here is entry number one of a new series of blog posts that I have entitled The Writerly Life.  In these blog posts (which are inevitably destined to be quite random and sporadic), I will be discussing the many different ways (the method to my madness, so to speak!) in which I glean inspiration from the world around me.  I was also be sharing various writerly thoughts and experiences.  I hope everyone will enjoy these posts, and that you will be able to glean something of value from what I write!

Now then.  It is a well-known fact that every respectable writer has a set playlist composed (no pun intended) of favorite inspirational and motivational songs.  She listens to this playlist while she writes, because silence is innerving and because music is just beautiful! ♥

…Well.  That’s just me, anyway.  All of you who know me personally know that music is a crucial aspect of my life, not only as a writer, but as a person in general.

I prefer to listen to relatively calm, yet exuberant, and harmonious music while I write.  Songs like this are tranquil enough so that I can easily think while listening to them, but are also exciting enough to get my creative flow flowing.  Harmony is absolutely essential.  I simply can’t listen to any heavily synchronized, auto-tuned, and/or synthetic sound while writing.  So annoying and distracting!

On that note, I don’t usually listen to songs with lyrics when I’m writing.  The literary nerd side of me tends to kick in and suddenly I start explicating the lyrics and then…yeah.  I end up writing other things besides what I sat down to write! ^^; I have a bad habit of being counter-productive.

That’s where I’ve found k-pop to be quite handy.  I’m in love with the human voice (particularly warm tenor voices, i.e., Kyuhyun’s), so sometimes I simply must listen to a song with lyrics, and the milder k-pop stuff (such as Super Junior’s more vocal songs) has proven to be perfect for me.  Because let’s face it, I don’t speak Korean, so the lyrics can’t distract me in themselves. 

Also, epic movie soundtracks can and do certainly inspire epic book scenes!

Of course, what I’m listening to generally does depend on what kind of scene I’m writing.  It wouldn’t make much sense to listen to Romance in the Air while writing a scene about a character’s death, for example. X)

So for the purposes of this blog post, I have put together two, 20-track playlists (songs are not in any particular order)—one instrumental and one with vocals—of my favorite, all-purpose writing songs as of February 3^rd, 2014. ☆ Just click on the song titles if you want to listen to them on YouTube! ^_^

Enjoy~!  I hope that you find something that inspires you.

♪ Instrumental Playlist ♫

Song of Storms from SUPER SMASH BROS. BRAWL

Romance in the Air from THE LEGEND OF ZELDA

Ocarina of Time Medley from SUPER SMASH BROS. BRAWL

Spirit Temple from THE LEGEND OF ZELDA

Gerudo Valley from THE LEGEND OF ZELDA

He’s a Pirate from PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN

Immortal by Thomas Bergersen

Kiss the Rain by Yiruma

Wind Queen by Two Steps from Hell

Never Winter by Two Steps from Hell

Love and Loss by Two Steps from Hell

Archangel by Two Steps from Hell

The Saltwater Room (Owl City) by Piano Tributes

Kingdom Dance from Disney’s TANGLED

Autumn (Full Movement) by Vivaldi

Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven

Symphony No. 5 in C Minor by Beethoven

Affections Touching Across Time from INUYASHA

Song of the Caged Bird by Lindsey Stirling

Crystallize by Lindsey Stirling

♪ Vocal Playlist ♫

Evenstar from THE LORD OF THE RINGS

My Kantele by Loituma

A Day by Super Junior

Andante by Super Junior

Storm by Super Junior

Hanamizuki by Super Junior-K.R.Y.

Bittersweet by Super Junior

Daydream by Super Junior

Fuzzy Blue Lights by Owl City

Iridescent by Linkin Park

I See the Light from Disney’s TANGLED

Siulil A Run by Celtic Woman

Tha Mo Ghaol Air Àird A' Chuain from Disney’s BRAVE

Never-Ending Road by Loreena McKennitt

Caravanserai by Loreena McKennitt

Memories by Within Temptation

I Dreamed a Dream from LES MISERABLÉS (2012)

Sakura by Ikimono Gakari

Clarity by Zedd ft. Foxes

Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls

GROUNDWATERS Winter 2014 Issue—ft. ME!

Hey, all!

 

Just thought I’d put this little note here on my blog: I’ve been published by Groundwaters Publishing in the Winter 2014 issue of their quarterly magazine!  Groundwaters is a community-oriented, nonprofit writing project here in Lane County, OR.  I’m very excited and proud to be part of the Groundwaters family, and will continue to submit pieces regularly!

 

 

This season’s issue has the theme of “Best,” and features 3 of my pieces: The Best of Us (short story), Sonnet XXV, and Nostalgia (both poems).

 

Check out Groundwaters’ website to learn more, and/or to order copies of the magazine.

 

Also, I want to remind everyone that I do have an official author’s Facebook page.  Please “like” it! ♥

 

Have a great weekend! ^_^

DECEMBER FAVORITES ♥

Hello, everyone! 


I hope you all had a beautiful and memorable holiday season.  ^_^  I sure did.  Christmas is my absolute favorite. ♥  So much family, friends, food, giving, and receiving!  I got so many great gifts…I’m incredibly grateful for all of the amazing people in my life!

 

I apologize that I didn’t get my contact lens review up last month, but it’s mostly because I found out that EyeCandy’s is no longer carrying the specific pair that I purchased! :O I wish I would’ve posted the review earlier, but oh well.  I’ll be buying another pair, and I will certainly write a review for it soon after. 

 

I’m starting to see sunshine outside, so hopefully that means better weather for photography is on the way!  I really want to get my ocarina review up for Songbird Ocarinas, too.  That one that I’ve been promising for a while now, too.  I’m so behind.  Ha ha ha…X)

 

 

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Anyway!  Here we go again with another round of Monthly Favorites!

 

 

My movie of the month is a no-brainer.  Why, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, of course! Where do I even begin with this one? D: Alright, I admit that I was a bit skeptical about this film.  I am by no means one of those “Hey, that isn’t in the book!  BURN IT!  BURN IT WITH FIRE!!” kind of people, but I was a bit concerned about the addition of Tauriel to the story, and her implied romantic involvement with Legolas, who isn’t even supposed to be there, either! ಠ_ಠ ...Now that I’ve seen the movie, I still don’t like Legolas being present, no matter how awesome the barrels in the river scene was, but I was pleasantly surprised with the character of Tauriel.  She’s well designed and written, and yeah, pretty darn cool.  You go, elf girl!  That being said, I think that there may have been a little too much focus on her, especially with her adorkable romance with Kili.  Her scenes were entertaining, yes, but were they necessary and worthwhile?  It’s a point for discussion.

 

Smaug.  One word: epic.  Very well done.

 

That’s my two cents, anyway!  All in all: a very entertaining, well-balanced, beautifully made film.  Looking forward to the grand finale! :D

 

 

 

One of the Christmas presents which I received was Super Junior’s Japanese album, Hero (the deluxe 3-disc edition :3).  I’m in love with this album!  There’s just something extra-special about Kyuhyun’s voice when he sings in Japanese, rather than in Korean.  Each track is great, the DVD includes lots of special features, and all of it is attractively packaged along with a 40-page photobook. 

 

Two of the songs on the CD are ones that I had never previously heard, and I’ve really been digging them: Tuxedo (even someone who doesn't like k-pop would like this song) and Way (the vocals are lovely, and the chorus is so catchy!).

 

 

 

 

I had a food discovery in December!  One that honestly made me go “da-da-da-DAAAA!!”  Ciao Bella Gelato (Dulce de Leche)!  Yeah, I know what you all are thinking.  Ashley, why ON EARTH are you eating gelato in the frigid winter?  I really have no idea, honestly.  I just knew that I wanted to eat it, and so I did.  It had been years since I had gelato, and I was reminded of how absolutely amaaaazing it is!

Yum!

 

 

 

 

Before I reveal my book of the month, I’m just going to make a little note:  I’m not biased.  At all.  Mm-hmm.  ;-P

 

Violet Eyes by Katharine Bond (a.k.a. my best friend slash writing partner slash partner in crime ehehe).

 

Hmm, I was going to talk about this AWESOME★ book a little bit, but I think that I’ll go ahead and write a full review for it instead!  Look for that next week.  :)

If you're interested in purchasing this book, check it out on Amazon!

 

^o^

 

 

 

 

 

 

While shopping on Black Friday, I came across these Sand Lacquer nail polishes by Forever 21.  I had never tried F21 polishes before, so I only bought two of them; a purple and a blue/green (pictured).  …I wish I had bought the entire collection while they were on sale, because these polishes are so gorgeous! ;__; Like liquid snow (er--water?  What?  You know what I'm trying to say!).  So sparkly!  GREAT for holidays and special occasions.

 

 

 

 

Finally, a video game to end this post.  Another Christmas gift!  Animal Crossing: New Leaf for the Nintendo 3DS.

 

Yeah.

 

Goodbye social life.

 

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HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE~!! I HOPE THAT 2014 BRINGS YOU ALL MANY BLESSINGS AND MUCH HAPPINESS.

 

 

Love & cheesecake,

Aianarie xoxo