The thirty... um... uh... I don't know.... song challenge. A new take on things! MUHUHAHAHA!

Hello, and welcome again to my epic life!
So, remember that thirty-day song challenge that I never finished?
Yeah, I got up to what, the twenty-fourth day?
Well, I decided that I'm going to finish it. But not in the way that you're expecting. You see, my musical tastes have changed dramatically since last year, so I figure I'll just go on and start over.
But here's where the difference lies. I will finish them all... IN ONE POST!
That's right people, it's the thirty-day song challenge... IN ONE POST!
I figure hey, what the heck, right?
So what is this, really. Thirty... minute? No... probably not. Thirty... second? No, too short. I have no idea.
Okay, so here's the list:
Day 01 – Your favorite song
Day 02 – Your least favorite song
Day 03 – A song that makes you happy
Day 04 – A song that makes you sad
Day 05 – A song that reminds you of someone
Day 06 – A song that reminds of you of somewhere
Day 07 – A song that reminds you of a certain event
Day 08 – A song that you know all the words to
Day 09 – A song that you can dance to
Day 10 – A song that makes you fall asleep
Day 11 – A song from your favorite band
Day 12 – A song from a band you hate
Day 13 – A song that is a guilty pleasure
Day 14 – A song that no one would expect you to love
Day 15 – A song that describes you
Day 16 – A song that you used to love but now hate
Day 17 – A song that you hear often on the radio
Day 18 – A song that you wish you heard on the radio
Day 19 – A song from your favorite album
Day 20 – A song that you listen to when you’re angry
Day 21 – A song that you listen to when you’re happy
Day 22 – A song that you listen to when you’re sad
Day 23 – A song that you want to play at your wedding
Day 24 – A song that you want to play at your funeral
Day 25 – A song that makes you laugh
Day 26 – A song that you can play on an instrument
Day 27 – A song that you wish you could play
Day 28 – A song that makes you feel guilty
Day 29 – A song from your childhood

Day 30 – Your favorite song at this time last year

Ready? Let's begin!
Day 1: My favorite song... that's actually pretty hard right now. I don't really have a definite favorite song at this moment. Things have completely knocked me off my rocker. Let me think....
Favorite song has to be.... "Elemental" by Tears For Fears.
This song is really complex, and it's really cool.

Day 2: My least favorite song. This one's pretty hard, 'cause I've heard some abominations over the past year or so. Y'know what? There are two. Both by one person by name of Jenna Rose. Worst songs ever.

First one is "My Jeans".

The second one is "OMG".

Seriously, honey? Look, just 'cause your daddy has alot of money and can afford to pay for you to make a music video for a jumbled mess you wrote about how good you look that you call lyrics and then pay some mediocre songwriter to write backing tracks for it and autotune your voice to... well, I won't say where....

Seriously, that doesn't make you an artist. Until some blood goes into it, that's not art. That's... I don't even know. Bragging, maybe?

Day 3: A song that makes me happy. Hmm....
This one. This works. Tears for Fears is awesome!

Day 4: A song that makes me sad. Too easy. Even though this has a happy ending, the situation is awful. I remember a friend of mine showed this to me, and I didn't get it. And then something happened that changed things for me, and all of a sudden, I did. And now, sometimes, I can't even listen to it.

"The Way She Feels" by Between The Trees. Some things just go too deep.

Day 5: A song that reminds me of someone. Hmm....

"Go" by Boys Like Girls. It reminds me of my friend Shannon. In fact, the entire "Love Drunk" album makes me think of my friend Shannon. No, not my sister Shannon, my friend Shannon. This is one of her favorite songs.

Day 6: A song that reminds me of somewhere. I'd have to say "Harbor Town" by Icehouse. They're an Austrailian rock band I used to be really really into back when I was thirteen. And when I was thirteen, I was sent by myself to Colorado on a plane to visit my grandparents. It was pretty cool. Anyway, I listened to this song and then entire "Code Blue" album while I was there. So now it makes me think of Colorado.



Day 7: A song that makes me think of a certain event. Another one that's too easy. I'm sure that you all remember from the last thirty-day song challenge I did, the bit of a tangent I went off on about the fourth of July celebration? Yeah, this song makes me think of that. It had to be the most fun I've had in my life. But then, with the people I was hanging out with, that's not hard to imagine, LOL!

"Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO. This was the first time I'd ever heard it. Yeah, that's how out of touch I am.

Day 8: A song that I know all the words to. OH SO MANY! I know the words to so many it's not even funny. Let me think... if I had to pull one out of a hat, that one would be....

This one. "Going Under" by Evanescence. I love this song.

Day 9: A song that I can dance to. It's very difficult to pick just one, because I can dance to anything that top40 radio throws at me. I mean, you don't dance to gothic metal.

If I had to pick one, though, I'd probably pick this one: "Sexy And I Know It" by LMFAO. I have a t-shirt with this on it. It's one of my favorite t-shirts ever. The lyrical matter gets a little iffy, but y'know. It's LMFAO. It's what you expect from those guys, LOL.



Day 10: A song that makes me fall asleep. I don't fall asleep to songs normally, unless I'm stressed and I put on one of my favorite albums (usually Nickelback or Tears For Fears) and fall asleep to that for an hour before starting my homework. However, I do have one song that is really really calming. It's the first song that I ever sang to my baby brother. Yes, I have sung to my baby brother. "Famous Last Words" by Tears For Fears.

Day 11: A song from my favorite band. Hmm.... That would be somewhere between Tears For Fears, Nightwish, Evanescence, H.I.M, and We Are The Fallen.

Hmm....
I think I'll do We Are The Fallen.
"Burn". This is one of my all-time favorites by them. A masterpiece.

Day 12: A song by a band I hate. I'm gonna change the word band and put in artist, so this'll work.
"Boyfriend" by Justin Beiber. Need I say more?



Day 13: A song that is a guilty pleasure. Again, too easy. Well, it's only a guilty pleasure if other people (namely my parents) are also listening, due to the subject matter and the use of profanity.
But I still listen to it because, despite how profane it is and the subject matter, it's a work of art. The first time I heard it, I was dumbfounded by the thought that anything could be this grotesque and sick. And then I heard it again, and realized how good the song was (musically, of course). Here it is. "A Little Piece Of Heaven" by Avenged Sevenfold.

Day 14: A song no one would expect me to love. Hmm.... Tricky....
I listen to pretty much everything. It's hard to pick one that people wouldn't expect me to love....
Y'know what? I think I know. "Die By The Drop" by The Dead Weather. It's very... I don't know... noisy. It's not all that musical compared to other stuff I listen to. But it's a good song.



Day 15: A song that describes me. Too easy, again.
I've been beaten down alot lately, and dragged through the mud. But I've forced myself to keep going. And now recovery's in my grasp. We are the ones. We get knocked down. We get back up and stand above the crowd. We are one.
"One-X" by Three Days Grace.

Day 16: A song I used to love, but now hate. Hmm.... That's really hard....
There are really no songs that I used to love, but now absolutely despise. But there are some that I have lost interest in over the years. "Why Does This Always Happen To Me" by Weird Al Yankovic is one of these.

Day 17: A song I hear often on the radio. Man, these just seem to alternate between really easy and really hard ones. This is an easy one.
"Glad You Came" by The Wanted.

Day 18: A song I wish I heard on the radio. Well, I wish I heard this more often anyway. I've heard it on the radio maybe once or so, but hearing this on the radio more often would be so cool.
"What You Want" by Evanescence.

Day 19: A song from my favorite album. Hmm... I have many favorite albums. I suppose this one is as good as any, though. "Ghost River" by Nightwish, from their album Imaginaerum.

Day 20: A song that I listen to when I'm angry. I find I listen to alot of stuff when I'm angry, especially when I'm coming home from school. I'll just plug in my earphones and listen to something just really... ticked off-ish. This is one of those. "Fire" by Lacuna Coil.

Day 21: A song that I listen to when I'm happy. This may sound odd. But when I'm in the best of my emotional states, I listen to really dark, creepy music. So, if I'm listening to something really creepy, that's a good thing. It means that I'm happy. Or at least in a good state emotionally. That being said, I haven't been listening to alot of creepy stuff lately. But I'm regaining my taste for it.
Here's "Sweet Sacrifice" by Evanescence.

Day 22: A song I listen to when I'm sad. Normally, when I'm in a bad emotional state, depressed or whatever, I tend to listen to lighter, happier-sounding music. Because some of the darker-sounding music is about stuff I've been through, and that brings stuff back, which effectively ruins my day. Yeah. Ick.
Here's one of such songs. "Sowing The Seeds Of Love" by Tears For Fears.

Day 23: A song I want played at my wedding. Hmm.... My wedding.... This is tough.
Bingo. Got one. "Two Is Better Than One" by Boys Like Girls featuring Taylor Swift.

Day 24: A song I want played at my funeral. "Home" by Daughtry. Simple as that.

Day 25: A song that makes me laugh. There aren't many songs that make me laugh. But there are the few that do. This is one of them. "I'm On A Boat" by The Lonely Island. This one can also fit under my guilty pleasures because it's really really profane. But it's so rediculous that I need to laugh. Because it's funny. The profanities are horrendous, but it is funny. To me, anyway.

This one censors out most of the profanities. Most of them.

Day 26: A song that I can play on an instrument. As you all know, I'm a pianist, and I've taken six years of lessons, but have been playing for seven years. A while ago, I decided that I would learn "Lost in Paradise" by Evanescence. Now, normally, when I try to learn stuff by ear, it doesn't turn out all that well, but this one actually worked fine. I was going to perform it at my school's talent show a while back, but the talent show ended up being cancelled. Oh well.... Here it is.

Day 27: A song that I wish I could play. Well, there aren't many. I'll tell you that. Pretty much everything I could ever want is within my grasp. But there are still certain songs that just continue to elude me. This is one of them. "Frozen" by Within Temptation. Not all of it is on the piano, but I could adapt the rest.

Day 28: A song that makes me feel guilty. Hmm.... I don't know. I really don't have any. I guess that the only ones that come close are the ones where I love the music, but then the lyrics are just so misogynistic. Nickelback's done a few of those. One of those is "Shakin' Hands". The lyrics are highly misogynistic, and a bit profane in places. You have been warned.



Day 29: A song from my childhood.
.......................................................................................................
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Oh this'll be fun. I think I'll post a few. Banana and I grew up to the Tank Girl soundtrack, which was a collection of '90s alternative, some of which was less than polite. Mom stopped playing it when her seven-year-old son and her five-year-old daughter started picking up the lyrics. I'll post three. The first is "Shove" by L7. Let me tell you, Banana would not go to sleep unless she was rocked back and forth with this song blasting through the room. No, I'm not joking. I'm being serious. It gets a bit profane in places.

Here's "Girl U Want" by Devo.

And finally, here's "Let's Do It" by Joan Jett and Paul Westerburg. By far the most impolite of the three.

So, this is what I grew up with. So if you're all wondering why I'm so weird, the answer's right here, LOL!

Finally...

Day 30: My favorite song at this time last year. Hmm.... That had to be "Tear The World Down" by We Are The Fallen. It is still one of my all-time favorite songs. It's really amazing and powerful and moving. There are not many songs that can influence how I feel as strongly as this one. One of the songs that are grandios enough to be called epic.

Anyway, that's all, folks. And I have succeeded in staying up far later than I intended. Again. Sigh....
Anyway, comment to me what you think. What you liked, what you didn't like, what stuck with you....
Who knows? Maybe you'll find something you like here.

Until next time....
T-WAC

ME. A belated halloween story. Some miscelanious updates.

This. Right here. Is me. It's from mid-October last year. I was barely seventeen. But this is me.
You knew the name. And now you know the face.
Come to think of it, I think I may have posted a picture way, way back in my blogging history, back last February. Sledding, I believe it was.

I was sixteen back then. So now you have another picture of my beautiful face. Just kidding, I'm not that narcisistic.
This was a halloween costume. I know it's a little bit late for a post on halloween last year, but hey, I was so caught up in everything that was going on, I didn't even think about it.
Anyway, this right here is the psychic awesomeness of EPIC MAN! That's right, EPIC MAN! Every time you see that name, you should hear the big, deep, echoey (is that a word?) voice announcing it like he would any other super hero. Take a moment. Just read the name. EPIC MAN! Hear the voice. EPIC MAN! Are you feeling it? I sure am. Oh yeah.
It's kinda funny how mild-mannered T-WAC became the Impecably Immimicable EPIC MAN! You see, there was a halloween party going on at my friend Harpo's house. We were all going, and though it was geared towards the younger kids, my bromie (that's right, brother and homie together in one word -- I have that much nerve) was gonna be there, and we would probably watch some TV, play some video games, eat some food, while the kids did their thing. Y'know, what kids do at parties. Or I could spend a while massaging the keys of his families cruelly neglected piano (which, in the end, I ended up doing).
Back to the story. I found myself without a costume. I didn't have my Gothic Leprechuan costume together, and I wasn't entirely sure what to do. And what does a teenager do with three minutes to spare before the car leaves? Says whatever and goes without a costume. But what does stubborn T-WAC do with three minutes to spare before the car leaves? There was no way I was going without a costume. I dug through my dresser and my closet, picking up anything that I thought could possibly work in a costume. I found a green cape with a hood that mom had made for me when I was thirteen, a red wig that I had used for a costume back at age ten (Durza the shade from Eragon -- Savanna, you remember that? How Adam saw me coming and flipped out? LOL), a pilot jacket (I don't know if that's the name of it, but when I was four, I distinctly remember seeing a picture of Charles Lindburg wearing one, and it's been a pilot jacket ever since), and a random tie I found. I never wear ties if I can at all help it, and I have very little practice actually tying them, so I figured it would be a nice addition.
Anyway, when we got there, I had mixed responses. The two most notable were that of my bromie, Harpo, and that of Harpo's brother's friend.
Harpo's reaction -- well, those of you who know him should have already guessed it. He looked at me, shook his head, and took some pizza off of the food table. He might have commented something along the lines of "You are so weird," before ignoring my apparel completely.
Harpo's brother's friends reaction was to inform me that I was not at all epic. But no one can say that to EPIC MAN! I hastily informed him that he was wrong, and that I was indeed epic. He argued, but his arguments were futile. He could not convince me that I was not epic, but he was unaware of that and continued to try. Ten-year-old boys.... Sigh....

Anyway, I take this moment to introduce to you Twister, my new younger brother, who was born on Saturday at 2:22 AM. Let me tell you, he is absolutely adorable. He's also extremely active. He was trying to roll over an hour after he was born. That's some crazy stuff. His eyes are very bright too. He's gonna be a handful once he gets older. Good thing Mom has all of us to help out.
So, the lineup is me, then Banana, then Boo, then TheBruiser, then Patar, then Twister.
I love my crazy family.

Okay, remember how I told you a bunch of posts back that I was getting better? Well, I though I was, but in actuality, I wasn't. I am proud to say, however that now, I am actually getting better. I got myself into a crazy situation, but thank God it's over now. It didn't end the way I wanted at all, though. But y'know, I just had to realize that letting go was the only way I could find peace.
Yeah, it's left me with some issues to deal with, but I'm gonna take care of 'em, 'cause that's who I am. I'm gonna take these on, and once I've eliminated them, I'm gonna be re-entering the dating world. Ish.
There are not many girls that have what I'm looking for. So, I'm gonna be open to dating, but not nessesarily looking. I want a strongly Catholic girl who is independent and shares, to an extent, at least, my passion for music. I want someone who loves me because she wants to. I want someone who loves me for who I am, because, let me tell you, if she doesn't, I'm gonna drive her insane. Of course, I'll also have to be crazy about who she is too. These criteria really limit my search down alot. She'll also have to be patient, 'cause I'm not one of those "kiss on the first date" kind of guys. Thanks but no thanks, too much emotional commitment too fast.
So, if someone by chance happens to fit those criteria, that's really cool. If not, then my fears are confirmed, and after four years of denial, I'll find myself stuck in a seminary. VOW OF CHASTITY, FOR THE WIN!

I started taking voice lessons a few weeks ago. My teacher gives you a choice as it comes to material. We get to perform three songs at the recital: one is a pop/rock/mainstream/alternative/whatever piece -- y'know, anything contemporary; one is classical; and one is pretty much whatever.
My contemporary piece is "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" by Tears For Fears. Because I can. I like that song.
My classical piece, which I just picked out today, is "Quella Fiamma" or something like that.
My whatever piece is "This Is The Moment" from Jeckle and Hyde.
So, I'm gonna be learning those and then performing at a recital! YAAY!

I've been writing some new songs lately, and I'm psyched. I'm expanding my style to include, of all things, soft rock. I didn't try to include that. I just wrote it. Odd, the way that happens. I thought that I did gothic rock, but I'm not entirely sure now. I pretty much write whatever I write.

Speaking of musical shtuffs, you have to check out this song. It's amazing. It's a beautiful duet, and if I knew a girl who liked Tears For Fears who had a decent singing voice, I would love to do this as a duet.

...okay, is it going to put in this video or what?

Why isn't this working!

...There we go. I don't know why it decided to place it at the top of the post. Weird internet stuff. Oh well. I love this song. I would love to sing this as a duet. It would be more than amazing, and would absolutely make my day.

Anyway, I've been up way too late, and I should definitely go to bed.
1:00 AM bedtime and 10:00 AM mornings are not particularly healthy, especially not for a college student who needs to get accustomed to waking up at 6:00 AM for, oh, I don't know, next week. Summer Calculus. Fun. I have to sit through a three hour math class, three days a week. I can barely tolerate an hour-long math class. At the end, I'm ready to kill something. And what's worse, this is a five week course. Smushing all the calc crud into a third of the time it normally takes for a semester. Yeah. Crazy.
With some hard work, though, I should be able to make it through. It's gonna be hard, but I'll do it. And by make it through, I mean pull off an A. Yeah. Gotta love perfectionism.
Well, I managed to pull off A's this semester, despite all of the crap I was going through. It was hard, but I managed it. And hey, if I can make it through this and remain strong, I can make it anywhere.
God's done alot for me. More than I give Him credit for, I think. When it all comes down to it, He's the only reason I'm sane right now. He's the only reason I'm recovering.
Speaking of such things....
A few days ago, after church, an older woman walked up to me. She's known me since I moved here back when I was four. I was called the "Sign of Peace boy." But that's a story for a different post.
Anyway, she told me that she prayed for me, and that God a special plan for me.
Now, I know that God has a special plan for everybody, no matter who they are, what creed, etc. You've just gotta accept that and tell him you're ready. But it was something that I'd kinda forgotten. He does have a plan for everybody, I know that, but I discounted the fact that he has a plan specifically for me. Me with my skill set, with my strengths and my weaknesses. A role only I can fill. That's true for everyone, but still. That's really cool. It shows that despite how my last attempt at making a change in someone failed horribly (through no fault of my own or that person's own, but still), there's something that I can succeed at that God means me to do. And that means alot to me. I have a purpose.
Me and all of my mule-like stubbornness.

Anyway, I meant to get to bed half and hour ago. I should be sleeping right now. I got about six-and-a-half hours of sleep last night.
Goodnight all.

T-WAC