Thoughts on Mixtapes and Music

I made my friend a mixtape for her birthday recently, and the process was as agonizing as it was endearing. It was a very last-minute decision to make her a mixtape, especially since my dad was the one actually downloading the music and burning the CD, and I basically told him about my idea two hours in advance. But still. I’m the kind of person that really enjoys discovering new music and sharing my music to other people. Going the extra mile and actually making someone a physical CD with good music on it is definitely an added bonus for me.

When you think about it, CDs are slowly becoming a thing of the past in this digital world of ours. The new MacBook Pros don’t even come with disc drives anymore! (which drives me absolutely nuts) Everyone sends people online playlists through YouTube or Spotify. But there is something very personal about being given music in a physical format. This is why I am also a fan of vinyl. Mixtapes were originally actual tapes, and people would record their own voice in the middle of them to annotate what their intentions were behind the songs, or just to add in funny commentary.

It is almost an art form in making collections of music. I always appreciate movies and TV shows that have great soundtracks. The songs not only fit the plotline, but they are also really good songs. But interestingly enough, once I hear a song in a particular scenario, I always associate it to that scenario whenever I listen to it afterward. That’s not just for movies and TV shows, but also in everyday life. Memories lay within everything I listen to. But I guess that happens to everyone.

All this being said, I’m accumulating 24 hours of road trip music for my family’s road trip to Florida this summer. So far, I’m at roughly 21 hours, and there is a quite a mix. There are songs that I haven’t listened to in years, songs that came up when I Googled “road trip music”, and some of my favourite songs ever. My main rule in making this playlist is that they have to be associated with happy memories. There is a lot of new music that I collected for this purpose, and I really hope that through this trip, those songs can carry new meanings and happy memories as well.

If you ever want music suggestions from me, feel free to let me know. 

Look Around

I've decided to post some of my creative writing here on occasion.

Here's a poem I wrote about school hallways. I also stuck this poem on frames and hung them along a hallway in my school. It was interesting to see how it angered and engaged people. (Not the poem itself, the frames that were hitting their faces.)

Look Around

Hormone bombs stuffed in a building roam freely through dim passageways

Watch them explode in front of each other

None truly noticing one another

Cycling through the halls

Being built to deal with pain

Our feelings capsuled between the walls

A monstrous cry that lives in silence

Wouldn’t it be nice if we diffused the bombs?

Instead of creating walls around us that follow wherever we go

We live with glasses of mirrors,

Looking only into ourselves rather than beyond our nose tips

Take five seconds to say

“Hey, kid! Are you okay?”

Realize that we are all in the same boat we call High School

Seek comfort in these concrete tunnels

But open up your own metal bedrooms

and notice that you are not alone

Moonrise Kingdom was a great film.

Okay, this has nothing to do with Moonrise Kingdom, but I just thought I'd mention that it's my new favourite film. It's just so good. 

Yes, it's been a long time since I even looked at this blog. Shh, Alie, shhh. No need to get defensive about it.

To be honest, I don't think many people read this blog. That used to be something I cared about. Now, it's more like, "Meh, I don't even read this blog". That being said, looking back on my older posts, I can see why it wouldn't appeal to the majority of readers. It was pretty much my thirteen to fourteen year old self talking about every single thing that happened in my life. Interestingly enough, some of the stuff I read, I don't remember happening to me. It felt almost like reading an old diary, except open to the public eye. This is why I don't plan on deleting my previous posts. I'm a firm believer that the things we've done in the past help shape who we are. Wow, I'm pretty sure I wrote something very similar to that in a grade 10 english essay, but it's true. Bad things may have happened to me, but I don't regret anything because if those things hadn't have happened, I wouldn't have become the person I am today. And I'm pretty content with who I am. (Not to be over-confident or anything, because I'm really not. ) But in the words of Buffy, "I'm not done baking yet." Which is partially why I got back into this blog again. 

For the past year or so, I've been keeping a digital diary sort of thing. A place to express my thoughts without fear of judgement. I don't want to get too much into it, but it was a big enough part of my life that I made a photography series on it. It's still continuing, but I realized that some of the things I write there could be blog-worthy, and maybe people will want to read them. A constant fear of mine is that I will hurt people with, say, my opinions, thoughts, or feelings. This is one of the reasons why my blog hasn't had a lot of depth and brutal honesty. Maybe this is a good thing because literally no one is getting hurt by my life. Unless you're offended by me graduating from public school. If you are, I'm really sorry. But then again, I think it's really important to express your opinions on certain issues. Sometimes by listening to the opinions of others, it can change your own. I'm not gonna get into a whole "change the world" speech, but if I was, that was the path I was headed down. Personally, I like learning about how others see the world. I don't know, maybe my views on things will impact some of you. 

Now, I really don't know what I'm trying to do with this blog or what direction it's heading. I also don't know how often I'll write something since I'm a major procrastinator. I just want to get my ideas out there in another form of media. I've experimented with social media, such as Facebook, YouTube, SoundCloud, Polyvore, and this. I've also tried writing plays, radio dramas, poetry, short stories, short films, compositions of music, and producing a good amount of visual art. All of these forms of media to try and get my thoughts and ideas out to others. I'm still trying to find my thing, and I don't think I'll be able to pick one, but as long as I reach someone. 

Stay tuned for… something. 

-Alie

Blah Blah Blah.... Hi!

This is a random picture of a snail that I took...

Hello! Wow, it has been almost a YEAR since I last wrote anything.

So, I started High School at one of the most awesome schools ever! Did you hear about our personalized video message from Lady GaGa? Did you hear about our amazing Portfolio Day, or the superb production of the musical "West Side Story"? As you can see, my school is just cool. A cool place filled with cool people. I have SO many friends, and they are all the best. I am having such a great time this year!

March Break!! I will try my best to write more, starting now.

-Alie

The Beginning of my summer in parts: Part 1, The End

So, I officially graduated Public School on June 27th, 2011. I arrived just a tad late for the ceremony because of traffic and my mom was rushing to do my nails. But overall, it was lovely. I had a great time at the party afterward and everyone looked stunning!

Having my time at Claude Watson end so soon felt really weird.

March 9th, 2012

Okay, so, I never really got to writing out my whole summer...

I did have a great summer. I went to Montreal to visit my aunt, I went to Jack Layton's "shrine" and huge message board at City Hall, and I went to Comic Con!

Comic Con was awesome, as usual, and I met more cool people! I met Felicia Day, dressed as Penny from "Dr. Horrible", and Nicholas Brendon's twin brother Kelly. That was weird, but he's a really nice guy who works in Set Decorating. I also met a girl from Jamaica, Iowa who loves Canadians! She said "Oh my gosh, do you the Canada song?" I said "No. There's a Canada song?" Apparently there are Canada fan songs like "Do You Want To Be Canadian?" and "Canadian, please". Who knew! And then I met Valerie Lapomme, aka Sexy Nerd Girl on the internet. She's also from Toronto, so we bonded over that. Comic Con, as always, was eventful last summer, and I think we spent even more money than before...

At the end of the summer, my friend dragged me out to the Selena Gomez concert. It was actually a pretty good show. She has a nice voice and it was fun to see a swarm of little girls in pink. I kind of felt out of place with my "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" t-shirt.

All of this was fun until I started High School. Then I entered a new kind of fun...

-Alie

Until I get back into routine...

If you haven't noticed, it's been a long time since I last wrote. You may have also noticed that there is a new sidebar at the top of the webpage with my sets from Polyvore. They are also things that I have been up to, and you can see what I've been really obsessed with lately. (for example, Animal by Neon Trees and Sheldon and Amy!!!!)

So, until I get back into the swing of things, like writing, check out the new additions to the blog. It's always nice to know that people care about what I have to say, so please comment when you can.

11 days 'til I graduate from grade 8!!! That'll be a good story to share.

Ta-ta for now!

-Alie

Alie Rutty Singing "When Will My Life Begin?" from Tangled

Hello! This is my youtube video.

Enjoy!

-Alie