Lyrics: Useful, or Mental Clutter?

The other day, I was scrounging around in my parents' house for a blank CD and came upon the Mount Everest of CD stacks. They were not blank, however, but a collection of mix CDs made throughout my middle and high school years. I decided to go down memory lane and popped CD after CD, some terribly scratched, into my car's CD player. The vast majority of the tracks I hadn't heard in years and years, and yet I noticed that I had the majority of the lyrics memorized word for word. On some occasions, I began singing along to a song perfectly and could not even remember its name or who was the singer or group.

This got me thinking...

The storage space in my brain dedicated to 80's, 90's and early 2000's music including that of Avril Lavigne, Britney Spears, Seether, Bush, and Lifehouse (to name a very select few) along with soundtracks from various movies, classic rock tunes, and some numbers from famous musicals must be the absolute largest of all mental storage spaces in my brain. I mean, how is it fair that I can remember all the words to "Come What May" from Moulin Rouge without hearing it for years but I can't remember information from my nutrition class one week ago?

Maybe the key is just to put all information I wish to truly store forever into a catchy tune. Honestly, that would probably work. One of my elementary teachers had us sing multiplication tables to kids tunes and I can STILL remember that almost twenty years later. So all you professors out there, perhaps it is time to conduct your lectures entirely in song. If nothing else, it would be incredibly entertaining.

WTF, George R.R. Martin?!

Two precursors to the main content of this blog, my thoughts on the series finale of Game of Thrones: one, MAJOR SPOILER ALERT. I know how touchy fans can get over spoilers so if you're one of those people, read no further. Second, if you know nothing about Game of Thrones (you know nothin' Jon Snow!) like that parenthesized reference, for example, this post will make less sense to you than listening to an alphabet recited backwards in a foreign language. So, if you aren't familiar, you should probably spend the time it would take to read this blog doing something else. Literally, anything else. Can't think of anything? Some suggestions: clean the floor under your fridge, or organize its contents and chuck the expired stuff. Can't think of the last time you did those things? Yeah, that's what I thought. Get crackin', or that ten-year-old salad dressing growing mold in the back of your fridge will make someone sick.

Okay, you've been warned. Spoilers start below this line.

So, Jon Snow is dead. Jon. Snow. Come ON, George R.R. Martin! Man, that guy doesn't just break our hearts like your first significant other in your teenage years (trust me all you adolescents reading this, that's just the beginning), he really reaches in there slowly and gruesomely removes your heart through your chest and then does a Mexican hat dance around it while laughing maniacally. That is one of his major skills as a storyteller. It's quite vicious actually; he makes us love his characters as if they were real, and then he rips them our of our lives in the most horrific ways imaginable. Thankfully, I knew from the get go about the upcoming demise of so many beloved Starks in The Red Wedding episode. No one's death shocked me after that, but for some naive reason, I figured our beloved Jon was immune. He was too good, too pure, too wonderful, too compassionate and far too sexy to ever die! George Martin wouldn't be THAT evil, would he?! Oh yes, it seems, he would. I guess he likes to make people cry. Watching his death was sadder than watching those depressing, homeless pet videos featuring Sarah McLaughlin.

Jon Snow after a bunch of assholes stabbed him in the gut. R.I.P., I love you.

 George R.R. Martin also makes us put up with the scummiest, most twisted villains imaginable for far, too long (Ramsay Bolton, anyone?!). At least Joffrey got it.

The other skill at which Mr. Martin excels is making us pity those we never thought pitiable. If you told me that I would EVER feel bad for Cersei I'd never have believed you until the season 5 finale. I mean, she CRIED and had to walk naked back to the castle while people called her a slut and other variations of that word while throwing food at her. Come ON, you can't not feel bad for her! Same goes for Theon Greyjoy, now Reek- sorry, but if someone gets tortured in that way, even if they are your worst enemy, you feel bad for them. 

Anyway, after all the emotional bullshit watching Game of Thrones has put me through, I've decided to throw in the towel and root for the White Walkers. I hope that their first victims are the High Sparrows and the members of the Night's Watch. That I'd like to see.

Rootin for you guys!

Songs That Sound Like Other Songs

These days, nothing that comes on the radio sounds "new" to me. Nothing is exceptionally mind-blowingly (yes, I just created that word) original (except for Ed Sheeran, he is the god of music). I'm not bashing pop artists of today by any means. I still listen to those stations baring generic tune after generic tune and I acknowledge that there are only so many notes in the scale, only so many chord progressions, and so songs are often bound to sound similar.

However, many artists are protective of their work, and get at each others' throats metaphorically for "copying" their songs. For example, click here for a long list of songs that are essentially the same. Robin Thicke recently got into some trouble for his song "Blurred Lines" which sounds exactly like Marvin Gaye's "Got To Give It Up," and he actually got in trouble for it. I'm fine with that because "Blurred Lines" is pretty terrible. If by some cosmic freak incident Robin Thicke is reading this, no offense, man.

Anyways, recently I discovered how much of a genius Taylor Swift truly is. While listening to her new album, I realized that two of the tracks, "Bad Blood" and "Wonderland," sound the exact same during certain parts. She has discovered how to copy other music! Just copy your own and tweak it slightly! I mean what is she going to do, sue herself? Yeah, didn't think so. Anyway, listen for yourself.

Age Of Ultron Doesn't Live up to Avengers Potential

I just want to kick off my review of The Avengers: Age of Ultron with a question to my readers. Am I the only one who is sick of the whole Russian/Eastern European villain thing? Like, I feel very over it. Let's try to diversify with the villains at this point, filmmakers! I guess some of them have branched out and decided to make those from the Middle East the enemy but still... When will we see the bad-ass villain from Greenland?

There were aspects of the relationships in the movie that simply didn't seem to contribute anything at all to the plot. The odd romantic moments between Marc Ruffalo and Scarlett Johansson were awkward to say the least, and, let's admit it, a pairing that would just never happen in a billion years.

In regards to the plot, it just wasn't as original as I'd hoped it would be. Artificial intelligence trying to take over the world? Hasn't that been done countless times, even recently? Then again, I suppose pretty much everything has been done already at this point.

I'm not going to sit here and point out flaw after flaw. The 2 hour and 21 minutes run time hardly felt long at all, which is really saying something. I was so engaged during the action scenes and the personal interactions amongst the characters that my short attention span didn't really get to me. Even the cheesy one-liners that were a little too corny for my taste didn't bother me. Plus, Thor is really attractive so that in itself made the movie for me.

Yum.

Detox Day Three

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Not in a biblical, I'm about to die sense, but in an "I can finally see the end of this journey" sense. Yes. After just one more day, I can put solid food into my body again. But, will I want to?

Day Three:
8:15 AM- Juice one, the good ol' "Detox Greens." I drank this and have to admit, I was getting pretty sick of the sweet green juice. 

12:00 PM- I got caught up in shopping endeavors and forgot about my hunger but boy, did it remind me like a child pestering his or her mother for an ice cream cone on a hot day. Gotta love how all of my analogies are related to food now... Wonder why... On that note, it was really challenging to be in a grocery store while cleansing. I have noticed that my sense of smell is heightened while cleansing. I can all of a sudden smell food more than I ever could before. 

2:15 PM- Another green juice. Whoopee.

4:00 PM- I was a bit sad to polish off my last Spicy Lemonade! Love that stuff!

6:08 PM- A wonderful dinner of my LAST green juice.

748 PM- I fell into a bit of a depressed state when I sipped the last bit of my final Coconut Fusion.

Final Reflections:
Well, come the end of day three, all I could think about was the mental clarity I was experiencing and the strong urge to continue my cleanse. During the cleanse, I experienced some caffeine withdrawal in the form of headaches, but those subsided. The thing I was most shocked about was my extreme thirst throughout the three days. It is a bit counter-intuitive to crave water when all I am doing is downing liquid, so I'm not sure why that was the case. Therefore, I recommend sticking close to a bathroom while cleansing.

Detox Day Two

I awoke with a rather pressing dilemma. I couldn't decide whether to drink my first juice before yoga, in spite of the fact that I wasn't famished by any stretch of the imagination. However, doing yoga on a completely empty stomach brought on the hunger beast pretty quickly, so in retrospect, before may have been better.

Day Two:
9:25- Juice one "Sweet Greens" was tasty as usual, I have to admit it is only day two and I already feel a bit sick of the green juices. However, in past cleanses, I have had far worse green juices that tasted what I imagine algae tastes like, so this really is a piece of cake (yum, cake sounds amazing).

Nice n' sweaty after yoga!

11:50 AM- I waited a bit long for juice number two as I got a bit distracted with the events of the day. Honestly, if any of my readers out there are considering a juice cleanse, I recommend doing one on a day when you are busy with work or other tasks- when you are, you have no time to obsess over food.

1:50 PM- Something I observed around the time of juice 3, "Sweet Greens," was how insanely parched the cleanse was making me. It's a bit counter-intuitive, really. You would think that drinking nothing but juice all day would mean I wouldn't want to drink anything additional, but not the case. I felt like a weary traveler in the dessert desperate for water all day, and probably downed a good four liters of water.

2:48 PM- I did not wait nearly long enough for the "Spicy Lemonade," but honestly, it's hard to resist such a tasty treat. Also my stomach was growling, begging for it, and who am I to deny it what it wants? Someone who is doing a juice cleanse, that's who...

Hangin with my juice at the beach...

After drinking the lemonade, I ran some errands, which included a stop at Target. I had to walk past a Starbucks, which made me realize that smelling coffee while on a juice cleanse is basically torture. I also experienced a bit of a headache around that time, but it only lasted a bit.

5:45 PM- Drank the fifth juice, "Sweet Greens," and felt satiated. Not much to report there.

7:36 PM- Delicious, coconut delight! I chugged it a bit too fast!

Reflection:
I'm tired. Exhausted. As if I could sleep Rip-Van-Winkle style. I hope that is an accurate reference. I am too tired to care. But, it is a good tired. I feel content and happy! Two days down, one day to go!

Detox Day One

Well, it's everybody's favorite time of the year again. The birds are singing, the weather is changing, and Marisa has embarked on her semi-annual juice cleanse. Yes, your excitement is palpable, as is mine. Okay fine- perhaps reading about my three-day juice drinking stints are not on the top of your list of things over which to obsess, but I feel the need to share my experience with you nonetheless.

I have tried juice cleanses from a number of different companies, from Jus by Julie to BluePrintCleanse. Both are companies I highly recommend. I recently came across a new brand called Juice in the Raw and decided to give it a whirl.

Day One:
8:20 AM- I held out as long as I could before giving in to the gnawing hunger that lead me to the fridge and my first juice titled "Detox Greens." This slightly sweet green juice contains apple, cucumber, celery, wheatgrass, dandelion, watercress, wild arugula, lemon and ginger.

11:30 AM- Well, perhaps I waited a little too long for this one- I was a bit of a growling hunger beast by the time I reached for "Detox Greens" number two.

1:30 PM- I was super excited for juice number three, the spicy lemonade! This juice is always my favorite part of a cleanse, I love the spicy element that cayenne adds to the lemony sour-sweetness of the lemonade. It is truly the perfect concoction of flavors.

3:25 PM- At this point in the day, I was experiencing some pretty intense headaches from the lack of caffeine. Honestly, the hardest part of doing a cleanse like this, for me anyways, is just giving up the coffee. I adore coffee, and drinking it is such a ritualistic thing for me, so it is a challenge. The third juice, "Sweet Greens," was similar to the "Detox Greens" but had kale, romaine and Swiss chard in place of the watercress, wheatgrass and arugula.

6:07 PM- I was swimming and actually got so caught up in it that I forgot my hunger, meaning it wasn't that strong. I sipped the fourth juice, "Sweet Greens," for a while.

8:35 PM- The last juice was a flavor sensation! Aptly named "Coconut Fusion," it was a scrumptious savory experience that reminded me of sticking a straw in a Thai coconut. Mmmm!

Reflection, Day 1: 

 

There were moments of struggle. Most notably, when I was surrounded by the intoxicating aroma of coffee and I had to resist the urge.  I also had a pretty throbbing headache at one point, but by the end of the day I felt mental clarity and relaxed, and not even one iota of hunger! Bring on tomorrow!