The humming - Enya

The humming - Enya

I am kind of at a loss being here and needing to choose a song to post... I have posted a lot of Florence + the Machine lately, so I can't keep on; the problem is that in the last 3 days I've been only listening to them, mainly to their new album. The impact of the concert on my relationship with it has brought me to a level close to obsession, and I understand I need to break free (but I keep indulging...)! Anyway, yesterday I've been busy organizing and enjoying my usual xmas dinner with friends and it's been nice to be together, even for just a few hours. Then today I mainly cleaned up the leftovers of yesterday and prepared a little more sushi for tomorrow, as I already had the ingredients ready. I've not been feeling great in the last few days, and tonight I feel especially weak and ready-for-the-flu. Let's see how I'm gonna wake up tomorrow...! Maybe Santa Claus will spread some magic powder on me and make me feel well again! So as to catch two birds with one stone I am posting an Enya song off my former playlist (I'm lagging behind with posting, I know...), as she always puts on that kind of christmasy atmosphere! Wish you a great xmas eve and holidays and everything!

Let it fall - Lykke Li

Let it fall - Lykke Li

It is so very late, I know... in my defense I bring forward... well I don't know what I can bring forward! Maybe that it's been my first day at home as an officially unemployed young man? Maybe that I've been planning a trip all day long and that I ended up booking another one? Maybe that I've been busy putting up the xmas tree? I don't know if any of these motivations are valid, anyway it's half past 2 and I'm still here... and it took me more time to craft the timelapse video of me preparing the tree than to actually prepare the tree! I'm a hopeless digital native! Anyway, I had this song on my mind while getting the fake pine ready, so I ended up working on it with Lykke's music as soundtrack and I must confess it worked quite well! I just hope that the title of this song won't be applicable to my dear tree!! Goodnight my people!

Santa Claus is coming to town - Michael Bublé

Santa Claus is coming to town - Michael Bublé

I am somehow at a loss about what to post now, after such a christmasy christmas as this one has been! I woke up quite late, actually I woke up pretty early but got up quite late, opened the presents with mom and dad at home, rushed to grandma's after a shower for lunch, which lasted from about 1 PM to about... well over 4 PM, with a few presents opening breaks and then a little dinner and stuff, mainly eating and staying together! Coming at home I tried to give a better look at my presents, feeling that xmas has come twice this year since I got gifts galore just a couple weeks ago for my graduation! I am feeling very blessed as of now, I hope the future will bear even more great moments like the ones I've been getting lately! Well, by now I'm kind of sure about what I'll post: I must say I'm not a Bublé fan, meaning I don't dislike him but I've never invested any time in willingly listening to his songs, but today when we were in the car driving to lunch a christmasy song of his (don't ask me which one) started in the ipod shuffle and well... it does make sense to post something christmasy of his, and this is the one I probably like the best! Hope you had a great day too!

Christmas must be tonight - Scala & Kolacny brothers

Christmas must be tonight - Scala & Kolacny brothers

At least on xmas eve let's keep on with the themed music! As I have been doing every year since I can remember, I have been counting christmas trees on our way back home from grandma's house, this year they added up to a satisfactory 57, not like the golden years but better than the last few! We have arranged all the stuff needed for tomorrow's lunch, I prepared the table with my usual paranoia, everything is perfectly aligned (now, who knows about tomorrow when we get back there...) and ready for lunch! Now what else? I will just be waiting for Santa Claus to come, say hello and go to bed, ready for the presents time tomorrow morning and then for lunch at grandma's! This year is probably the one I've been feeling the holidays the least, but it's still a magical time, especially thinking about all the challenges and changes that are awaiting me in the future!

Pata pata - Miriam Makeba

Pata pata - Miriam Makeba

What a tough and intense day this 23 December 2014 has been! I devoted it all (well, almost, in the afternoon I also had a quite long and weary phone interview with business case annexed) to the annual xmas dinner I have with my friends in Varese; given that we are all very busy, someone started working, some others are getting to the end of university and so on, this year it has been very hard to arrange it all, one of us couldn't be there and two other friends just met each other for a few minutes, just the time to exchange our secret santa gifts (go watch 'The perks of being a wallflower' if you don't know what I'm talking about) and take a picture all together...! Not-even-so exhausting and very rewarding, it's always a happy time of year, when we can all gather together (something that happens more and more seldom now) and rejoice each other's company! Of course this involves playing games, and the last one we just quit playing was Trivial pursuit, media edition. Out of the many impossible and crazy questions, one was about which song Miriam Makeba became famous with, and after (of course not guessing and) reading the answer, Pata pata, we all started laughing like 'what the hell?!'...! Only after a brief search on Spotify we realised we all knew the song but had no idea about the name of it or of its singer! See, that's an example of how many things you learn with Trivial pursuit...!

Angel of small death and the codeine scene - Hozier

Angel of small death and the codeine
scene - Hozier

I've been listening to Hozier's album lately, after falling in love with his hit Take me to church back in the summer. The album is very pleasant and vibrant, I'm enjoying it more and more every time I listen to it, the songs are starting to stick in my mind, they are a good halfway between catchy and meaningful, I'm really really pleased! It's also an album that fits well this time of year, with me wandering around doing things, visiting grandparents, buying stuff, eating out, organizing xmas 'lunchers' (this year is pretty complicated!) and so... So, get ready to celebrate, whatever you believe in take this time of year to stay with the people that mean the most to you (I think I wrote that last year too....!) and try to find joy in it!
I chose this Angel of small death and the codeine scene, a great track that struck a chord (or two) in me already, the video I am attaching is a live official video, but it's so flawless you couldn't tell the difference between it and the recorded version on the album! Kudos!

My december - Scala & Kolacny brothers

My december - Scala & Kolacny Brothers

Last January the first piece of my Milanese heart was torn away, when fnac was bought by Trony and was selling out all the stuff before the take-over took place. At the time I didn't even know what would have happened, but when I came back from England my second Milanese mother was not there anymore. Or it was, same structure, but different looks, and a different heart. A couple of days ago another piece of my heart went missing, when I got to know that Mondadori, another one of the main multimedia retailers in the center, has closed down its store to move somewhere else. And today I found out that part of what used to be fnac, including the events area, where I first met Dolores O'Riordan right before I moved to Milan and later Caparezza and Nathalie, has become a gym. It really is time for me to start fresh somewhere else, as sometimes I have trouble recognizing the Milan I got to know... Anyway, back to last January, among the CD bargains that were there I bought a couple albums, and one of them is December, the one featuring this song. I came to start listening this CD in the summer and then I realised it was a collection of covers of christmas-related songs, so I waited until now to start getting to know it for real!

Trains and winter rains - Enya

Trains and winter rains - Enya

I have been having a hard time feeling christmas time this year -  that until today. Notwithstanding the nice markets, trees, lights and stuff in Brussels, I was feeling cold and detached, not at all within that cheerful mood associated with one of the nice things of nice not-really-nice time of year. But it comes, as it does every year. This afternoon I have been working on the xmas tree at home and, even if I'm not fully satisfied with the result, I must say it turned out nice and it really helped me get into the xmas mood. Putting on some on-topic songs while decorating, it felt right to post one, which is actually one of my fav winter songs since it came out and which I've not posted yet, so here it is, enjoy Enya, trains and winter rains!

Reading time with pickle - Regina Spektor

After a very satisfying and a bit tiring day I am finally able to sit down and write a few lines for my blog! First of all, just for a change, the music: the song I have picked for today's post is one of the group I mentioned yesterday, more specifically the one by the artist I already knew, another album of whom I just started listening (yes, that's Regina Spektor). The "new" album is Begin to hope, while this tune is featured on her sophomore album Songs. I think I just fully realised the brilliance of the lyrics of this song, with Regina making eye contact with a solitary pickle in the supermarket and bringing it home while thinking about love and forgotten questions. Second of all, my nice day: I didn't touch my thesis BUT I did clean the shelves in my room, taking my "animals" and gadgets out on the balcony to get some air and getting rid of all the dust they caught lately, I got into the SPA-weekend atmosphere (it's my fav F1 GP so it's always a pretty special time of year for me, can't wait for the race tomorrow!), I had a great christmas dinner with my besties (yes, christmas. The weather almost looks like December, so why not?), american style with hamburgers, fries and chips (and a touch of Italia with home-made gelato). What more?

PS: Credits to mimi-merlot for the great, great pic! Genius! (http://mimi-merlot.deviantart.com/)

Have yourself a merry little christmas - Tori Amos

Have yourself a merry little christmas! Be you a christian, an atheist, a believer in another religion or whatever else, never let go a chance to be with the people who care about you and who you care about. Even if you don't care about the reason for celebrating, take the chance and spread some love, it never hurts! And if you have no one close to you, know that I am thinking of you too and that soon enough you will be reunited with the ones you love and/or find somebody new who cares about you!
Kisses.

Talk - Coldplay

Dear all, yesterday I've completely forgotten the blog, it's been a quite busy day, baking my first cake all alone and arranging things for the xmas dinner with my friends. And when you wake up at 14.30 past, well... the day ain't that long! But I'm sure the christmas spirit makes everybody happier and more forgiving (yes, sure!). I'm gonna make it up with the song I had in mind for yesterday's post. I've been pretty much into Coldplay, in particularly their X&Y album. Actually the few songs I had out of that album. One of them is this one, so enjoy and have a merry christmas eve!

White is in the winter night - Enya

It's almost christmas time so I'll give you one of my most favourite christmas songs!! Sorry for the delay (once again), I've forgotten to post this afternoon and then I got busy...!
Get ready to celebrate!