for the first time in a long time, i am REALLY looking forward to the new year! besides the fact that 13 is my lucky number and i'm slightly superstitious, i have a bunch of fun things like finishing grad school and hoooopefully getting my second full-time job on the agenda. in the past, i've made a list of 100 things, but i typically only do half of them anyways (post on that to come), so i scaled it down a bit. i've culled some ideas from my wonderful friends and twitter followers, and also carried some over from previous years that i still want to accomplish. i'd love to hear your goals for the new year!
1. complete a 5k
2. standing in the middle of a big (safe) city, walk for 15 minutes in one direction and see what i find
3. learn one song on harmonica
4. receive my master's degree
5. ...and secure a full-time job!
6. see blue man group, because i've never seen it and that's just wrong
7. ride in a hot air balloon
8. visit the pacific northwest (preferably portland, OR)
9. make something crafty for my home
10. write a missed connection on craigslist
11. dance on stage at a concert
12. take a photo of a famous movie/TV house
13. see the same band twice live
14. eat at the "be our guest" restaurant at disney's fantasyland
15. meet shaun white
16. have breakfast in bed
17. pay for a car behind me in a drive-thru
18. receive a tweet from a celebrity
19. go to a museum i've never been to
20. swim with dolphins
21. eat at an michelin-starred restaurant
22. drink a mint julep
23. hit a home run
24. hula hoop
25. play a musical instrument
26. go somewhere that requires a passport
27. find and follow a yellow brick road
28. send a query letter to an editor or literary agent
29. buy fruit or veggies from a farmers market
30. crash a wedding
31. go on a picnic
32. finish my europe scrapbook
33. go ice skating
34. visit nashville, TN
35. make my own marshmallows
36. go vegan for a week (SO SKEPTICAL)
37. make a playlist with one great song from every year since i was born (1986) to 2013
38. visit st. augustine
39. visit the town that inspired stars hollow in "gilmore girls" (washington depot, ct)
40. take 5 photos of 5 different natural landmarks
41. compliment a stranger every day for a week
42. sing karaoke
43. fly first class
44. meet someone from twitter in person
45. do 5 things to pamper myself
46. have a conversation in a different language
47. cook one of julia child's recipes
48. host a dinner party
49. have a midnight kiss on new year's eve
50. party with celebrities
i started out with 20, and thought that was a bit much. then i tried to narrow it down to 10 and just. couldn't. do it. so 15 seemed like a nice in-between number. without further ado, my 15 most favorite ditties of 2k12. i also made a playlist for your easier-listening pleasure (minus bass drum of death because...SPOTIFYYY!).
honorable mentions: tyga - "rack city," sleeper agent - "get burned," justin bieber- "boyfriend," nicki minaj - "va va voom," walk off the earth - "red hands"
15. one direction - "what makes you beautiful"
my boys barely cracked the list (why did i just call potentially underage lads "my boys"? god i'm pathetic), but they had to make an appearance. a soaring chorus, slight british accents and a generally shiny-happy vibe made this one the clear winner from them, though "kiss you" from their new album was also a contender. i mean, what? kidding. i don't know any other one direction songs.
14. FIDLAR - "got no money"
and now for something COMPLETELY different, because FIDLAR might be the anti boy-band. i say this because one of the lyrics to this song is "i got no money for speed." a fun ode to beavis-and-butthead-style slackerdom, that begins with a quote by a surfer from a local news story that went viral.
13. taylor swift - "we are never ever getting back together"
oh, swifty. i really despise you and your slutty songwriting ways, but ya done good, girl. i still mostly just enjoyed this track because every time i heard it, i entertained the possibility that it was about john mayer. which for some reason is really amusing to me.
12. electric guest - "this head i hold"
a delicious, retro indie pop nugget with a sorta cabaret vibe that i'm guessing you'd either love or hate. "sit back, don't think. get high, take drink." sounds good to me!
11. walk off the earth - "somebody i used to know" (gotye cover)
at least 5 times better than the original. possibly 10, IMO. every member's part adds something special to this rendition, and i much prefer gianni's voice to gotye's (the one who looks like jesus and sings the chorus). also, BEARD GUY!
10. bass drum of death - "white fright"/"i wanna be forgotten"
i cheated a liiiil' bit with this one, but i just couldn't decide between the two singles that one-man-band BDOD released this year. pure lo-fi, garagey goodness with ridiculous hooks. i can't wait to hear the full-length he's planning on releasing next year.
9. superchunk- "this summer"
superchunk can do no wrong in my eyes, but their last album left me a little disappointed. so when they released this perfectly-timed single that quite honestly could have been put out in 1993, i was STOKED! i'd missed you, superchunk.
8. bruno mars - "locked out of heaven"
this had to make the list, solely for being the first and only bruno mars song that i actually liked. and i more than liked it. is this guy's voice real life? oh yeah yeah yeah yeahhhh!
7. natural child - "baby"
these dudes released not one, but TWO full-length albums this year, so i had plenty of pickins when it came to their amazing brand of pure rock 'n roll. i kept coming back to this one, though...just about two minutes of smoky, '70s-style goodness. and i found a great live version!
6. pujol - "mission from god"
the first time i heard this song, i think i jumped up and ran around at hyper-speed like kevin mccallister in that home alone scene when he first realizes that he made his family disappear. by the end, i was almost definitely jumping on my bed and eating popcorn, shouting "i gotta know about youuuuu!"
5. the cadillac black - "tennessee mojo"
without a doubt, the cadillac black is one the best bands you've never heard of (unless you know me, that is). while their entire self-titled debut album is full of down-home, toe-tapping tunes that are perfect for drinking whiskey and donning cowboy boots, this one rose to the top of the heap for me. i want to marry the lead singer's voice. it's like sexy, southern-fried butter. couldn't find a video of the album track, but this live acoustic version might be even better. can i be from tennessee so i can get this mojo, please?
4. the mowgli's - "san francisco"
i didn't hear this one until november (after seeing the mowgli's live), but it was quickly thrown into heavyheavyheavy rotation on my ipod. like, i think i commuted back and forth to school for two weeks straight without listening to anything else. DO YOU FEEL THE LOVE?
3. carly rae jepsen - "call me maybe"
as i noted in a previous post, i still contend that this is the best pop song of all time. what's to say that's not already been said? this was one of those little earworms that you just couldn't avoid this year, no matter how you tried. but why would you want to? as my favorite writer, rob sheffield, said about this one: "This song once made me loiter two hours at an Arby's in Queens, nursing my curly fries, waiting for it to come on the radio. I could have just plugged in my iPod, but I wanted to hear it blast out loud and light up the room."
2. japandroids - "fire's highway"
words that come to mind when i hear this song: LIFE!!! YEAH!! WHOAAAAAAH! YEAH!! LIFE!! WOW!
...just listen and you'll see what i mean.
1. walk the moon - anna sun
this song has all the hallmarks of a truly great tune, in my opinion: it makes me smile, it makes me tear up, it makes me want to dance, and most importantly, it makes me want to sing along. YES! check out the lead singer's moves at 1:53. love.
i was inspired by my pal tony, after seeing this hilarious picture of the creepy "elf on a shelf" toy, to scour the internet in search of some more hilarious placements. people are pretty damn creative, i'd say.
ahhhh it's december! i just finished my comprehensive exams this weekend for my master's (to graduate in the spring!) and am so looking forward to a nice month-long winter break in new hampshire in just about a week. :) this month was a little slow, but i managed to check some more items off of the list.
speaking of which, i'm starting to come up with ideas for my 2013 list. if you have any great ideas, leave 'em in the comments!
7. take a boat ride: COMPLETED.
so this might be kind of a cheat, but i went to disney with my friend & her hubby and we did both the jungle river cruise as well as the "tom sawyer's island" thing, which involved a barge/ferry ride over to the island. close enough for me! 56. pop champagne: COMPLETED.
i spent thanksgiving solo this year, but decided to spice it up a bit with a breakfast of french toast and mimosas before my big meal of savory crockpot chicken sandwiches, stuffing, and broccoli. i managed to pop the cork without hurting myself, hooray! 77. find one new song that i like each week: COMPLETED.
lots of great new tunes! check out my november playlist for some of 'em. i also made a christmas playlist that you can enjoy while baking cookies, trimming the tree and binging on 'nog.
