Desert Escape 2012

I'm leaving -40 degree Alaska for an escape to SoCal, about 60 hours from now.
...Words cannot express the amount of colorful, glittery excitement coursing through my bones.
It looks something like this.

Anyway, about a week or two ago, I made a playlist of songs that I can imagine myself lounging, tanning, swimming, shopping, and de-stressing to. As much as I would love to take you all with me, I can't. I can, however, instruct you in the following ways, in order to have a similar experience.

1. Download Playlist.
2. Preheat the oven to 80 degrees F.
3. Add in a cactus, pan of water, sand, iPod, headphones, and as many outlet malls as you can fit.
4. Set the timer for 12 days.
5. Get in.

See? Not so bad...

Put these in any order you like, I just listed them alphabetically by artist to make them more organized, because some of them are new, and some are old. There are some amazing artists to note in here, such as The Airborne Toxic Event, Asa, Carousel, Circa Survive, Mansions, Walter Meego, and The Xx.
Seriously though, this playlist is one to relax and have a January-summer romance to. Get to clickin'.
(Favorites!)

None Shall Pass	Aesop Rock
Changing	The Airborne Toxic Event
Fine By Me	Andy Grammer
Bamidélé (Ba'Mi'Délé) (Bonus Track)	Asa
All Your Life	The Band Perry
Cinema	Benny Benassi Ft. Gary Go
Two Is Better Than One	Boys Like Girls Featuring Taylor Swift
Blackout	Breathe Carolina
How I Roll	Britney Spears
It Will Rain	Bruno Mars
Got To Move	Cake
Sick of You	Cake
The Thrill	Carousel
Get Up	Carousel
Games	Carousel
The Crave	Chris Young The Rapper
A Thousand Years	Christina Perri
Stare Like You'll Stay	Circa Survive
Everyway	Circa Survive
Is It Love (Prod. by Sex Ray Vision)	Collin McLoughlin
Before the Light Takes Us	Darkness Falls
Naked (feat. Enrique Iglesias)	Dev
Good Feeling	Flo Rida
Look After You	The Fray
Hangover	Hey Monday
I Like It Like That (Feat. New Boyz)	Hot Chelle Rae
Goodnight And Go	Imogen Heap
The Moment I Said It	Imogen Heap
Going Up	Infant Sorrow
Bangers, Beans and Mash	Infant Sorrow
Flightless Bird	American Mouth
Perfect Day	Jim Jones
Bedshaped	Keane
Somewhere Only We Know	Keane
Dig Up The Dead	Mansions
Never Gonna Leave This Bed	Maroon 5
Sunny (Mercury Edit II)	Marvin Gaye
Unwell	Matchbox 20
Say You're OK	Meese
Bandits	Meg & Dia
Tonight Is The Night	Outasight
Finally Moving	Pretty Lights
Almost Familiar	Pretty Lights
Scar Tissue	Red Hot Chili Peppers
Hazy	Rosi Golan feat. William Fitzsimmons
Hey Alli	Runner Runner
How Could You?	Saliva
Broken (feat. Amy Lee)	Seether
Rise Above This	Seether
Today	Smashing Pumpkins
Elevator Love Letter	Stars
Your Love Is A Song	Switchfoot
Enough To Let Me Go	Switchfoot
Hello Hurricane	Switchfoot
Always	Switchfoot
Sweet Disposition	The Temper Trap
Santa Monica	Theory Of A Deadman
Rainfall	Upper West
Forever	Walter Meego
Vcr	The Xx
Crystalized	The Xx
Islands	The Xx
Stars	The Xx
Daddy's Lambo	Yelawolf
My Body	Young the Giant

Well, there it is. Some of these are links to either download or the YouTube video. Next time I blog to you, it'll probably be from an airport, or sunny Southern California.
Don't forget to check me out on Facebook and Twitter, and of course, my Photography website.
Thank you to all of my readers, and hope everyone is having a great 2012 so far! Enjoi.

You Will Overcome

Dec 20, 2009

As much as I would really just love to leave it at that, making this a Wordless Wednesday post, I can't. I just need to say a few things.

I am not the same person I was three years ago. I look back on certain aspects of my life, and I don't even recognize it. It's like looking into someone else's private life- I feel estranged, alienated, detached from almost every angle.

The day I took this photo, I should've seen it as more than just a pretty picture. I should've looked at this and seen it for what it really was. I believe in signs, and that there are signs everywhere you go. But how do you recognize them right then and there? How do you know it's a sign?

When I took this picture, I should've said to myself:

That sun in the distance is your future. It is bright and beautiful and warm, and so much more than the white, dry cold of the present. Let go of the cold present, follow those rays of light shining through, and you will find your warm future. Why? Because it is so much better. You'll look back on this day, this time, and this photo, and you will laugh. You'll tell yourself you were a child. You'll tell yourself that you should've died from the stress you caused yourself, and you wasted time on things that did not deserve your time. You loved things that did not deserve your love. You thought about things that did not help you in your times of need, and anger, and distress. Yes, everything happens for a reason, and every second of every day is a learning experience. This moment you see in front of you, this glowing ray of hope in the distance, will be heartbreaking to you because in due time, you will grow and change in ways you never thought possible. You will become stronger and better and joyful. You can't ever change your past, but you can always change your future; you will overcome.

Get Up - Carousel by KineticMuzik