To Crack the Perfect Limerick...

Today's post is simple.

Writing music is hard. It can take a lot out of you if you put a lot into it. It's why I don't have much to put into a blog today.

Today's song is The Minstrel's Prayer by The Cartel.

"...Just give me strength...to pen these things..." Need I say more?

Keep on Listening
Lydia

Inspect Your Tongue or Draw a New Face

Today Sucked. Well, at least it started out that way. I was planning on taking this day off of school to relax, catch up on sleep, and maybe visit a few friends. I just wanted to be left to my own teenage devices today.

Curses, Batman. Foiled again.

My parents woke me up early so I could do chores today, none of which I was really in the mood to do. We did some service by cleaning my church building, then came home and did household duties (i.e. bagging leaves, cleaning the basement, dishes). I wasn't grumpy on the outside, I knew I'd catch hell if I complained. But that didn't stop me from being grumpy inwardly. Soon I found a laundry list of excuses for what I was doing. "Can't we just leave the leaves until my brother mows the lawn? That'll pick them up.", "I still feel really sick from my cold, being out here can not be making it better.", "Mom's just going to criticize how I cleaned and make me do it again, why bother?", and so on. I was picking apart my day for reasons to be angry at something or someone and as the day wore on, I found myself getting more and more frustrated at little things.

It wasn't until around 3 o'clock that my attitude changed, which leads us to today's song. Today's song is "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. Doesn't make sense? It's okay, just hold on, I'll explain.

I was in the shower, brooding in my own brat-iness, and this song came on the radio, and I couldn't help but pick out these words:

"I've been spending way too long checking my tongue in mirror,
And bending over backwards just to try and see you clearer,
But my breath fogged up the glass,
So I drew a new face and I laughed."

Thank you, Life, for the kick to the teeth to get me back in gear. It made me think of optimism, and how I had used absolutely none of it the entire day. I had been doing what the song said: "...spending way too long checking my tongue in the mirror...". I think sometimes when we have a bad day we spend time looking for any small sign of a problem, blow it up, and add it to our seemingly horrible day saying "Today couldn't get any worse!" I'll be the first to admit, I do it all the time. I'll have days where I just refuse to be happy. When people were around me who were super happy, I'd just look at them and think "What the crap did you eat for breakfast this morning, Crazy-O's?". Everyone has days like that - We're humans. It's our job. So what do we do about it?

Well, I did exactly what the song said. I drew a new face and I laughed.

I started to think of all the good things I could have (and should have) noticed that were positive about today.

• My parents have taught me from a young age the value of hard work, and because of it, I can know satisfaction from service and a clean house.
• Cold medicine can be a god-send for a nasty cough
• My little brother, despite being annoying sometimes, can still find ways to make me smile
• The sun was still shining when I was raking leaves
• I found my headphones today
• My friend who's in a different state found out he'd be able to come home for Christmas before he left for military service
• Friends will sometimes make random Skype calls to talk about nothing in particular, but just to talk. 

...and so on.That lead me to think, how ironic is it that it's only been two days since Thanksgiving, and I had already stopped thinking about all the blessings in my life, just because I was a brat and didn't want to wake up early this morning. But after going over the good things, my mood changed drastically. Strange as it sounds, those few lines from Jason Mraz made me realize my crappy day was my own doing - I was picking out everything that sucked. But finding the good things was my own doing as well. We can choose to have good days, and we can choose to have bad days. Point is, it's our choice.

So what will you choose: Inspect your Tongue or Draw a new Face?

I'll leave that to you to decide.


Keep on Listening
Lydia

Maybe

So maybe I let summer carry me away, and it took all thoughts of working on this blog with it.

I'm a teenager. I think that's a good enough excuse.

Maybe it isn't. Either way, I Decided to come back and "attempt" to write again. I'll start out with saying this. I hate writers block with an angry, burning, fire-y passion. Maybe if I force myself to write again It'll come easier.

Maybe.

Point is, I remembered this blog today when I was watching random music videos on T.V. A concert-music video for Styx's "Crystal Ball" came on, and I couldn't help but be taken back to 6th grade when my mom first introduced me to Styx. I could feel myself grinning like an idiot as I watched Tommy, with his newly achieved go-tee and long hair, playing his guitar just like he did 10 years ago. It was brilliant. Halfway through the song, I stopped thinking about the video and remembered all the lessons my mom had taught me in 6th grade: Too much of a good thing can ruin a good thing, CD's can be worn out, and fame isn't everything. All of this, just because she gave me a Styx CD and told me it was what she listened to when she was my age.

It's crazy how much I hold on to my music. I swear, the Temporal lobe of my brain has got to be triggered by sound, because every time I hear a song, It manages to tug on some kind of memory. I can't possibly be the only one who's that way.

Anyways, onto the song of today (besides, Crystal Ball, you Can look up that one on your own,) is "Oh My God" by Kassidy. I honestly can't tell you why, probably just because that's the song that I woke up to this morning.

And Until I get back into the groove, Keep on looking for better music. :) If you guys have any song ideas, let me know, I'm always searching for new music.

Keep on Listening
Lydia

Let Us Go

Song of the Day: The Bird and the Worm by Owl City

I recently received an English Assignment to write a poem with the prompt "Let us go..." from T.S. Elliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock". The point of the poem we were to write was supposed to take the reader through a visual spin of our mind. Of course, I did mine on a spin of music. So I decided to share it with you today! Ho-ray for school assigned poems. I've written a bazillion and one of these in my lifetime.

"Let us go then into the airwaves of music

To the colors painted by invisible tones

To the moods spun out of utter nothingness

To the feelings created of innumerable experiences

Plastered on the canvases of your mind

Let us go to the place where emotions are almost tangible

To a place where you can drift in carefree bliss

Or sink into a hammock of lines and words and phrases

And notes and chords and key changes

It’s a world that you can create

And share with others

That others can share with you

With vibrant rifts and colorful flowing notes

You can paint your own masterpiece

You can write your own story

Where you can mold your own destiny

In the airwaves of music"

Clever, eh? I'd say it's pretty crazy. I'm just excited to be writing something without writers block again! :)

The reason today's song is one by Owl City is because Adam Young does a fantastic job of writing incredibly visually oriented music and lyrics, kind of like T.S. Elliot did. Sometimes the world needs to be painted with a bit more color, and both of these literal artists did so; one with music, one with literature. If anything, this goes to show there are a million ways to express what you want to say, so what's holding you back? "Let us go..." and create our own worlds!

Keep on Listening

Love, Lydia

Face Your Cage

Today’s Song: The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most by Dashboard Confessional

Today I was hit with an incredible, unshakable desire to write in my English class today. I know that may not sound like a big deal, but for someone who’s had a strong writer’s block for 2 straight years, this was pretty incredible! The most frustrating part of this desire was the fact that I could feel the creativity stored up inside me, but something was damming it up. I couldn’t focus on one idea long enough to start writing anything. It was worse than straight up writer’s block. At least when you have writer’s block you have a good reason to not write. I have no excuse.

I figured it’s because I’m afraid to write again. As silly as that sounds, I’m afraid to start where I left off. Maybe it’s because the times in my life when I turned to writing were times I was struggling personally, and so maybe that has something to do with it? I’m not sure. Point is, I feel like I’m practically exploding with ideas, but I’m too afraid to set aside time to sort them out and work on them.  That’s why today’s song is The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most.  Sometimes we lock ourselves into "mental cages" on the thought that it’ll help us stay safe from something, when it’s best if we can be honest with ourselves and face our problems head on, things will be better. It cuts out all the worry and heartache that can happen in between.

Face Your Cage

This idea was cemented for me today when I worked with some of the pre-school aged children in the Child Care Center at my school today. Whenever a problem arose, the children resolved with each other quickly and within three minutes they had moved on and continued playing and learning together. Oh how I wish things were that easy again. Maybe this means I need to start acting like a smile child? Because I am a HUGE fan of that idea.

Don’t psych yourself out. Just face whatever’s bugging you. Maybe that can be the challenge for today? Find one thing that’s been bugging you for a while (a past argument with a friend that needs to be resolved, a term project you’ve been procrastinating, a personal habit you've been meaning to break), and fix it! Break out of your Cage. I promise you’ll feel better; even in the process is slightly painful.

Keep on Listening

Love, Lydia

Defying Gravity

Song of the Day : "Defying Gravity" from the Musical Wicked


Some days just suck, right? 


This moring I woke up to some very personal and potentially heartbreaking news. I couldn't shake this sick feeling in my stomach and it was a day that I decided I was going to stay home, in bed, and ignore everything. In the back of my mind, I realized that I should probably turn to my religion for help, because the feeling in my stomach wasn't going away. After I did, a song came into my head, which is the song of today. All at once, I decided that today wasn't the day to let anything bring me down, and no matter what happened, I was going to be optimistic. I know people say to believe in the power of positive thinking, but I now have a first hand experence to the fact that it really works! Yes, the thought of what happened is still in my head, but I push it out and move on. 


Point is... Life goes on . No matter what happens, you can't stop and wallow forever. I understand that everyone needs a mourning period, and I had mine, But I can't let something so small keep me down. My life was made to be lived. I know things aren't perfect and things don't always go as planned, and we just need to learn to take it as it comes, and plan for the best. Everyone has the potential to be incredible, to rise above their shortcomings and to become the best they can be. That's why today's song is Defying Gravity. In this song, Elphaba sings about how she's not going to let anything bring her down. Some of these lyrics represented my mood today perfectly: 


"So if you care to find me 
Look to the western sky 
As someone told me lately 
Everyone deserves the chance to fly! 
And if I'm flying solo 
At least I'm flying free 
To those who ground me 
Take a message back from me
Tell Them How I'm Defying Gravity...!" 

(Elphaba performing "Defying Gravity" in the Musical Wicked)

I believe that everyone can defy their gravity, that they can rise above what brings them down. 


Keep on Listening 
Love, Lydia

Now Let it Begin!

So here's my blog. Whatever. Everyone and their dog has a blog, right?


Well, neither Lydia nor her non-existent dog have blogs. So starting today? I have one. Next on the list: buy a dog. 


The reason this blog is called LydiAudio is because that's the sum of my life. My Name is Lydia and I love anything audio related. I've worked with recording, mixing, and writing my own music as well as listening to hundreds of thousands of songs. So every blog will be accompanied by a song. It could have to do with the post, or it could just be a good song I've picked up for the day. Either way, I'm sure you'll find a plethora of music here from dozens of different genres. :)


Today's Song: Follow Me Down by 30H!3


In all actuality, I decided to make a blog for music and my crazy, mixed up life. Since I was 13, writing had always been a form of escape for me, so I decided to have an output for clearing my head and sharing the music that I love. The next few weeks are probably going to be a bit shaky, seeing as I've never really done this before, but I have a feeling that after a while I'll start to get into the pace of things and figure it all out. I might just have to call in some of my tech-y friends to help. 


So Let's Being!


What is it about Music that seems to influence our moods? Songs about loosing something special seem to bring back past memories, songs with a fast beat make our hearts race and give us the desire to dance (even if we can't), songs with darker tones and force seem to bring us to anger. Music is as psychological as you could ever believe. To a person like me, It's as incredible as comfort food. And with iPods and MP3 players, we're in ultimate control of how our moods can change by a simply click of a button. Maybe that's why so many people love music. 


Either way, Music is catharsis for so many things, so put in your headphones and relax. You're creating your own world now. 


Keep On Listening
Love, Lydia


(Posts will get progressively better, I promise)