Deva by Definition

Let's Review: Tegan and Sara's Heartthrob

I first discovered Tegan and Sara sitting in my dorm room one day, flipping through various recommendations on an early version of iTunes. It was Spring Quarter, gray and misty, and my room smelled like new growth and rain. The first song I heard from them was called "Where does the Good Go?" and from that song on, I was hooked on this band made up of identical twin sisters from Canada. Their music has never failed to move me, and at a concert a few years ago, I was thrilled with how they interacted with their audience, making jokes and discussing their life, even performing "I know I know I know" with the aid of cue cards provided by a fan member, to much laughter from the crowd.

All of this and even more is why I was beyond excited when they announced the release of their latest album, "Heartthrob" at the end of last year, and was all to eager to snatch it up as soon as it was released. For various reasons, I was unable to get a copy until very recently, but had the video for their first radio single from the album, "Closer" playing on my YouTube channel at every opportunity. I loved (and still love) how catchy the song was and is, and was truly excited to hear how the rest of the album shaped up.

So, finally, I bought a copy of Heartthrob, downloaded it to my iPod, and started listening, and after giving it a couple listens, was not disappointed at all. The whole album is catchy and pop-like, but not saccharine, but is a bit of a change from the previous album from the twins, “The Con.” Even though it is a bit different from what I’ve been listening to them from before, Tegan and Sara are still writing strong music discussing relationship and real-life issues and the whole album is a good mix of upbeat pop and slower pop songs that discuss everything from falling in love, to heartache, to being a role model.

Each song on the album has a place, and lately, as you can probably see by the screenshot from my iPod above, I’ve been loving the song “Goodbye, Goodbye.” As I have repeatedly listened to the album, I’ve heard bits and pieces of past Tegan and Sara albums in the sound, from So Jealous to The Con and all that came before. In it I can hear what has come from songs like “I Know I know I know” and “Burn Your Life Down,” but with a new twist that fits their image in a fabulous way.

If you like upbeat music about love, heartache, and other life issues, this album will definitely fit into your collection. It’s perfect for listening to while driving around town, hanging out around the house, or for my favorite pastime: dance parties in the living room.

 

Edit: I got a text letting me know I missed a Tegan and Sara album in here - after their album The Con, came Sainthood. This is a correction to let you know that I made an oops!

Sunday Night Concert

Sunday night, The Boy and I packed ourselves like sardines into the crowded Madison Theater in Covington to see a band we'd been curious about since summer: Passion Pit. The venue, while very full, was impressive, and for the first time ever at a general admissions concert I was able to see almost every member of every band that played that night.

The doors to the venue opened at seven, and the first band that took the stage was one we hadn't heard of before: Hollerado. They were small but catchy and The Boy and I found ourselves bopping along with every song they played. We even caught ourselves wondering aloud if we had heard this group on XM before, just not enough to register more than a few chords of a song here and there. We agreed that due to their catchy, fast-paced music we could see them being popular within the next few years.

Between acts, The Boy and I watched the venue fill up more, with the crowd downstairs growing as quickly as the one in the balcony. We sent a few text messages, took a few pictures, and cheered along with everyone in the building when the lights went down and the second band, Youngblood Hawke, took the stage. We've heard Youngblood Hawke on XM quite a bit this year, and both of us like what we have heard by this band. They were very intense on drums, with both lead singers drumming along with their drummer on big bass drums that I could barely see, adding to the intensity that was growing in the theater. Their song "We Come Running" was well-received by the crowd, and by the time they finished their set, everyone was buzzing with anticipation waiting for Passion Pit to get set up on stage.

The wait for Passion Pit was excruciating (but in a good way)! Even as tightly packed together as we were, everyone was eager to see this amazing band play, especially after many of us were unable to see them play Bunbury earlier in the year. Their song "Take a Walk" has been featured in, of all places, an ad for Taco Bell, but it's one we sing around the house often. When the house lights dimmed the roar of the crowd was deafening as the curly-haired, button-down and tie-clad lead singer launched into "Take a Walk."

As the show went on the lights played over the crowd who jumped and danced with vigor. Each song was catchy, fast-paced, and had a great accompanying light show that kept everyone on their toes. The floor vibrated from people jumping, and it was hard not to smile and get into the music, even if we only knew a handful of songs played.
The last song before the encore the crowd was in a frenzy, dancing and rocking all over as the band shot cannons of streamers and confetti into the air. It was incredible, awesome, fun, and energizing, and I was sad when the song came to a close as The Boy and I, overheating from the energy of dancing with such a great crowd, starting winding our way outside, back to our car and back home.

We would totally go see any of these bands again, and already intend to buy a lot of the music we heard last night so we can listen to it all anytime.

Friday Five

Today was busy! I didn’t get home until after nine and didn’t sit down to eat dinner until nine-thirty or so. I am excited for the weekend to begin – I have the next three days off and am excited for a couple sleeping-in days. But before the weekend begins? it’s time for a Friday five – what I’m into this week!

1. We sang this song at church this Sunday. I think it’s absolutely gorgeous and ended up downloading it onto my phone when I couldn’t get it out of my head.

2. This post about coffee withdrawal by Katy Widrick. I drink coffee most days – I wouldn’t consider myself addicted to it, but this post made me wonder!

3. My new beer glasses from OpenSky. They’re called “hopside down” glasses and are hand-blown and amazingly lovely. I’ve also seen them on Amazon and would love to have another pair.

4. Running. I’ve been running every other day – like my November Goals stated. I’ve been loving it, even in the cold weather. I’ve been surprised at how quickly I warm up and how warm I stay while out running. Love it.

5. The colorful leaves that still remain on the trees. Many trees are completely bare, but there are a few with brightly colored leaves remaining. I love pulling into our parking lot after a trip to the gym to bright orange and yellow leaves scattered along the trees through our community.

What are you excited about this fabulous fall Friday?

hey, look–it’s a Friday Five!

Once again, it's Friday, and to be honest, I don't know where this week went. It's been crazy busy here with lots of early morning wake-up calls. I promise to write more next week, as things seem to be calming down quite a bit. Anyway, here's what's got me excited this Friday.

1. This song has been stuck in my head on repeat since I saw it performed on a talk show earlier this month. It's gorgeous.

It could be para-para-paradise…

2. The cups of Coffee-Mate creamer that I put in my coffee every day. Today, it just happened to be original. Most days, however? It's Irish Creme.

3. The dropping temperatures. Sure, I am trying to sop up every last drop of heat before it gets and stays cold, but recently I have loved sipping hot coffee on cold mornings. It reminds me of being back in college and walking up to Donkey for coffee before class in the mornings.

4. This fun website by Leah. It's full of great ideas for nice things, both big and small, we all can do to brighten someone's day.

5. Getting to sleep in this weekend. Enough said.

My Friday Five

Well, it’s Friday.This week  has been a bit crazy, and I appear to be coming down with a cold, so my five things this week may be a bit scattered. They run the gamut from music, to a thought-provoking post from another blog, to the cats!

1. I’m obsessed with this song:

My sister got me hooked on this band..

I have the Mumford and Sons station in my Pandora and listen to it a LOT.

2. We’re under a frost advisory tonight. Part of me is excited, and the rest of me is sad. It will be the first frost of the season!

3. The cats have been exceptionally playful this week. I ate breakfast this morning while playing with them. They are obsessed with their streamer toy right now.

4. I loved reading this post at Katy Loves about comparison. It was a great read about how we compare ourselves with others, and gave me a lot to think about.

5. I know I said it in my last post, but I am thrilled for apple cider this week. I’ll probably end up buying more next week, it’s just so good!

What has you happy this week?

Friday Five

I got this idea from a few blogs, and since so much was going on today that I can’t pick just ONE thing to blog about, I figured I would blog my five favs!

1) Compression tops for winter-time running. I’ve decided to register for next year’s Flying Pig half marathon. With this decision came the realization that I don’t own much for running out in the cold. I came across a purple compression top at Target this afternoon and snatched it right up. I love it.

2) Long weekends. I took today off so I could catch up some things around the house AND run a few errands (and go to a concert)– which meant I ran all over the place this afternoon. I loved sleeping in and playing with the cats this afternoon. It was restful.

3) Concerts! The Boy and I love to go to concerts throughout the year. We’ve been to a lot of them since moving to Cincy, too. Tonight’s concert was a co-headliner: Bush AND Chevelle, along with Filter. It. Was. Amazing. Bush put on a GREAT show, I was super impressed. Chevelle was amazing – playing a good mix of old and new. We’ve now seen Chevelle four times, and never get tired of seeing them live!

4) Warm weather. It would figure that I would buy a compression top for cold-weather running during a weekend where temperatures are going to top out in the eighties. I’m one-hundred percent okay with the warmth, though – I am soaking up every minute of it that I can. I know before too long, it will be cold and I will be wishing for summer again.

5) The library. While I have a nook and love it, sometimes I need to read a paper book! The librarian I spoke with today said her goal is to have books available to her 24/7, which is something I aspire to. I replenished my supply of library books today, with mostly light reading. I can’t wait to setting in on the sofa with a good book this weekend!

What made you happy this Friday?

#Fitblog: All About the Music

Due to our desperate need to go grocery shopping this Tuesday, I was not able to make it to the awesome Fitblog chat, hosted by Nina who blogs at Sweating It. She had some awesome questions this week all about music and working out – something I LOVE to do! Since I couldn’t make it to the chat this week, I decided to blog the questions – so here goes!

Q1: Do you work out with music? Is there a time when you DON'T use music as a motivator?

I use music during many of my workouts, but especially when I go running. There is something about fast-paced songs that help me keep moving, even when I may not want to keep going! I don't often listen to music on an iPod when I lift, because I have found that I’m frequently adjusting my ear bud cords to keep them out of the way of the dumbbells and barbells I may be using.

Q2: Do you stick with one tried and true playlist or do you change it up? How do music choices affect your performance?

I am ALWAYS changing it up! There are a handful of songs that show up on every one of my playlists, but I am always on the hunt for something new. I have found that when I stick with one playlist for too long, that I skip around too much and my performance suffers. I always look at what motivates me most when I am building a playlist. I wouldn't, for example, include a super slow song in the middle of a list, but may consider putting it at the end, for a cool down song. Sometimes, I like to use Pandora stations to really change things up!

Q3: Music during group exercise: groan-worthy or inspiring? Any stories about particularly bad music choices?

Honestly, I have not attended a group exercise class since college - when I took a cardio kick-boxing class. I loved the music played during the class, and think it would be incredibly motivating for me to keep moving between exercises!

Q4: What is your all-time fave track to sweat to? What song kills your workout immediately? Any guilty pleasures on your playlist?

Ooh - that's a toughie! I have a lot of favorite tracks on my iPod that I love to sweat to! I think my all-time fave track would be "Attack" by 30 Seconds to Mars or "Sleeping Beauty" by A Perfect Circle. The songs that kill my workout are the slow jams that may pop up when I have my iPod on shuffle. As for guilty pleasures? I listen to such a variety of music I don’t know that I could name one!

What about you? How does music affect YOUR workouts?

Vacation By the Numbers

5 days off.

4 marshmallows consumed

3 friends by the fire

2 concerts attended (of which this is only a ticket for one):

1 haircut

All of this adding up to:

1 VERY awesome vacation.

Bright, Sunny Morning

We had rain for the past nine days or so. It has been wet, muggy, rainy, dreary, cloudy – you name it. There has been flooding nearby and tornado warnings and watches and constant radar-watching by many.

So, imagine how happy I was when I woke up this morning to sunshine outside, birds chirping, and no rain in the forecast. It was gorgeous, and I quickly scrapped my original breakfast plan for oatmeal, and went with something else instead.

A simple, yet delicious, yogurt bowl. Which, if you can believe it, started out with frozen strawberries – all buried underneath my yogurt and toppings. Rolled oats, sliced almonds, banana and of course, tangy plain yogurt completed the bowl. The strawberries and banana really made the yogurt, and the oats and almonds added texture and chew to increase the satisfaction of this breakfast.

I can’t wait to see what this weekend will bring. I’ve heard it’s going to be a warm and sunny one, and I can’t wait.

Our Mixed CDs

On my drive home from work yesterday, a song that I hadn’t heard in quite some time came on the radio. It got me thinking about when The Boy and I first started dating, and all of the various Mix CDs I made for him during the first year we were together.

For the first six months we were together, we were actually in a long-distance relationship. The Boy was doing a co-op at a company an hour’s drive from where he lived, and the idea of a mixed CD to keep him entertained during his drive to and from work each day intrigued me. My sister was a fan of them, and late one night, mid-summer break, she and I sat together, hunched over my computer, going through my vast and varied collection of music, putting together a mix. We sampled at least one hundred songs, putting them into a playlist before arranging them in a way that we thought to be appropriate, before finally burning the songs onto a disc.

That mixed disc contained both music that The Boy before our school year ended along with music of my own that he had not yet heard. It was an interesting combination of songs that included music from Stray Light Run, The Decemberists, A Perfect Circle, and many others. I gave it to him the next weekend we saw each other, and when he said he liked many of the indie artists I included on the CD, I knew that more mixes had to be made.

That disc was the first of eight or ten that I assembled for us to share. Most of the playlists took more than an hour to assemble, searching my music collection for music that he hadn’t yet heard before arranging the songs in a way that no single one sounded out of place. We shared lots of different kinds of music this way, and it was how I learned that The Boy enjoyed many of the indie acts that I favored: Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins, Neko Case, The Decemberists, and The Rosebuds, just to name a few.

Looking back, those shared playlists were just one of many ways that we got to know one another in the early days of our relationships. I would create playlists on my computer, burn discs and copy the arranged music onto my iPod. While he was listening to the music driving to and from work, I was listening to the playlists walking to and from class or while doing homework. In addition to the phone calls, emails, text messages, and instant messaged conversations, the music we shared was just another way, I think, that we kept in touch with one another between visits.

Now, we share our music libraries with one another, downloading songs or buying CDs. I frequently borrow his iPod for trips to the gym, in addition to listening to my own. We still have the mixed CDs, and those playlists? Well, they are still on my iPod, to this day. I can’t listen to them without thinking back onto those early days of our relationship.