Listen To This: Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova

Another song from my current novel playlist.

I adore Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova/The Swell Season. This whole album reminds me of summer and my fiancé. It's just stunning and I love how the songs are just achingly beautiful and touching.

Listen To This: Mari Boine

I am currently editing and re-writing my manuscript so I'm also re-listening to the soundtrack I wrote it too. I like to make a playlist of the music I listened to while writing a novel, it's fun to look back and see what I was listening to during that time period. Not all of the music seems 'appropriate' but it is for how I image things, so for the next couple of weeks I'll be sharing a few songs from my playlist! So listen to this gorgeous song by Norwegian Sami singer/songwriter Mari Boine.

Mari Boine - Vuoi Vuoi Mu, Idjagiedas

Listen To This: Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Rey - Video Games

Something For The Weekend

Something to listen to:

Image from Weheartit.com

I've been listening to audio-books while I do my work recently, it makes it less monotonous when you spend five hours writing about loans and I've never liked working in silence. I've always lived in a busy house so I find it strange to do work without near constant chatter in the background.

I found some very good, free audio-books online through Books Should Be Free. It can be a little hit or miss because not all of the books have the same reader all the way through but as long as you don't mind that then it's not an issue. It reminds me of reading aloud at school when everyone took turns. Their books mostly come from Librivox so check them out too. Another great website is Audible but you do have to pay, there is however a free trial. The reason why these books are free is that they are now in the public domain for one reason or another, just check to make sure it applies to your country because sometimes what is free in the US is not free in the UK.

Something to do:

Image from College Fashion

If you love plants like I do but live in a small flat/apartment or simply in a house without a garden then check out some great tips and suggestions for small space friendly plants and see what you could grow!

Something to read:

Writes of Passage Anthology 2012

Check out Writes of Passage, the anthology for my masters course. It features everyone's writing and was edited by us. I sort out the website and twitter. You can now not just read out writing but also see the lovely illustrations that the art department did for us, and a few that were down by the writers themselves. It isn't available to buy or anything like that, it is sent to publishers and agents, so if you want to have a look at it do it now, while you still can.

Listen To This: Lady Gaga/Beyonce

Lady Gaga - Telephone (ft Beyonce)

NSFW!

Listen To This: 2ne1

2NE1 - Ugly

I love doing my work to Kpop, it really motivates me. So here's one of my favourites.

Listen To This: Taylor Swift/The Civil Wars

Taylor Swift ft. The Civil Wars - Safe & Sound

From The Hunger Games

Listen To This: Arrietty

Arrietty's Song

I finally got around to watching Arrietty this week and I really like the soundtrack so thought I would share one of the songs from it. If you haven't seen it yet then give it a watch!

Feature Friday: Music

Big Bang

Okay so this might not be everybody's cup of tea but I have a soft spot for K-pop (and J-pop), which is weird when you consider that I've never been all that into western pop music, and I thought I would feature that today!

2NE1

I have no idea what attracts me to Asian pop music over western. I think a part of it is that they're still a little 90s in some ways because they are big on boy and girl bands. I also love how dorky the members often are and they like bands that stick to a clean image, you don't hear much about them stumbling out of clubs drunk like you do with western celebrities. Though I'm sure that they do.

The only things I dislike is that these bands are very short lived, releasing a few albums and then disappearing forever after a farewell tour and I imagine that it can't be all that much fun being in a band like this, so maybe the members are quite happy to have a few solid, over-hyped years in the spotlight before fading away and doing their own things?

TVXQ/DBSK

So, for those who don't know me you probably aren't aware that I love Japanese/Korean/Chinese things from the cutesy stuff to the actual cultural things to the food. I lived in The Philippines for two years as a kid so maybe that's why, but it might also be because my dad also has a big love for South-East Asia and he, and my mum, spent years travelling around and working in various countries. My sisters and my mum are not fussed about Asian things so I think my dad enjoys the fact that I like listening to him chat about what he did when he was in Japan and China. Most of his stories involve drunk business men.

So anyway, on to the music! Here are a few song/bands that I particularly like and thought you might like to listen to. Most of these have either English subs or a translation of the lyrics underneath so you won't feel too out of your depth!

K-pop

Fat Cat - Is Being Pretty Everything?

Big Bang - Blue

Younha - Houki Boshi

J-pop

Se7en - I'm Going Crazy

Kana Nishino - By Your Side

Listen To This: Gotye

Gotye - Somebody I Used To Know

Experimental indie rock by a Belgium/Australian rather pretty (if a bit weird) male singer-songwriter. Right up my street. Although some of the music videos teeter on the edge of being nightmarishly surreal.

Listen To This: Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston passed away on Saturday so it seems only right to feature her today. She was pretty stunning and a massive influence on music and people.

Something For The Weekend

Something to read:

I hate reaching into the cupboard or fridge to discover that those lovely veggies I was looking forward to eating have gone funny. So it's important to know how to store fresh produce, that way you're not wasting food or money!

Do you love nice, cheap clothes like me? Well here are some thoughts on thrifting.

Feeling low? What are some good mood foods?

Dar! A comic that is most certainly NSFW and is more for those who are 18 or older.

DAR! chronicles the six year long autobiographical story of Erika Moen, a lost 20-year-old lesbian artist-wannabe in college who falls in love with a boy in England and the evolution that her sexual identity undergoes before winding up marrying him as a queer 26-year-old full-time cartoonist. Along the way there are many vignettes about sex, farts, the queer community, the Brits, vibrators and figuring out sexual identity. 

Read it here.

Something to eat:

Chickpea, shallots and hummus salad

 I want to make this for my lunch today because chickpeas awesome. On a side note, so is peanut butter.

I also want to make this salad:

Brussel sprouts, potatoes and cranberries salad

Because I also adore brussel sprouts. They're mini cabbages! Another side note, broccoli is mini trees.

Something to listen to:

Scientists think that they have discovered the most relaxing tune ever! Give it a listen.

Listen To This: Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Rey - Born To Die

I am loving Lana Del Rey at the moment and you should love her too. Her album came out at the end of January so go and snap it up!

Listen To This: Jet Set Radio Future

I have never actually played Jet Set Radio Future myself but I've watched my boyfriend play it many times and I love the style and the soundtrack. The soundtrack is a part of the playlist for one of my novels and I generally like listening to it because it's good motivational music if I have to do work that I don't really want to do. 

Enjoy!

Listen To This: Billy Idol

I've had this in my head all week. I'm pretty sure it's been used in a film I like but I can't for the life of me remember which one. Either way it's an awesome song and people need to listen to it more. Especially since Glee did a cover and that tends to make people forget about the original version by Generation X and all the other great covers. I love the Billy Idol cover personally.

Listen To This: Imogen Heap

Imogen Heap - Loose Ends

Okay so this song is old (like from 2005) but it's still great and deserves a listen. I also still come across people who have never heard of Imogen Heap which kind of astounds me because she's so good! If you haven't heard of her then you might know 'Hide and Seek' which was used in The O.C. (not that I ever watched it) or 'Can't Take It In' which was used in the new The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. I say new because I grew up with the BBC version!

Anyway, enjoy!

Listen To This: Bon Iver/Birdy

Bon Iver - Skinny Love

I forgot how much I love Bon Iver until the other week when someone randomly posted a song of theirs on Tumblr. So I thought I would share them with you, because they're amazing and Skinny Love is one of my favourites of theirs.

Also, here is the Birdy version which I also think it amazing.

Listen To This: Jasmine Ash

Jasmine Ash - Starlight

This song was used in a Ferrero Rocher advert and since I first saw the advert I loved the song so tracked it down on good old Youtube.

Also, for anyone out there you happens to live under a rock...

The Hobbit trailer HD