Nitor

For someone who claims to despise the beach, WHY HAS MY FOOT MADE CONTACT WITH SAND THREE TIMES THIS YEAR? THIS IS NOT OKAY. I was on the verge of threatening to shave all my hair off because I was eating my own hair due to the wind whipping it into my mouth. My temper level is at an all time high when I'm at the beach.

I busied myself taking photos, which I ran out of things to photograph. I busied myself penny boarding, which I gave up on because of the brick-like cracks everywhere. I busied myself reading, which I also gave up on because of the goddamned wind in my face and book. Then came the flecks of rain and I just gave up on everything and wrapped myself in a towel, counting down the minutes till our Korean BBQ buffet.

Highlight at the Korean BBQ buffet would be Vivienne's odd creations - Grilling watermelon and mixing ice cream and yoghurt together. It was strangely... nice. Then we drove around looking at houses covered in Christmas lights. There were these two particular houses that were insane. Their lights and decorations were flashing in sync to songs played on a radio station. All nine of us sat in a row, on the curb, watching for a long time with sleep washing over my eyes. It was a nice moment, minus the mosquitoes.

While driving to all these places, I got to be pick the car music. I realised that my friends haven't heard of the kind of music I usually listen to, which made me think, Australian indie pop/rock and alternative bands don't get enough recognition, both in and out of the country. So here is a playlist of my favourites. There will be bias involved because I saw The Jungle Giants a couple of months ago.

▶ It's Nice To Be Alive by Ball Park Music
▶ Plans by Birds Of Tokyo
▶ This Fire by Birds Of Tokyo
▶ When The Night Falls Quiet by Birds Of Tokyo
▶ Time And Place by Last Dinosaurs
▶ Weekend by Last Dinosaurs
▶ Rocket Ship by San Cisco
▶ Fred Astaire by San Cisco
▶ Wild Things by San Cisco
▶ Mr Polite by The Jungle Giants
▶ She's A Riot by The Jungle Giants
▶ I Am What You Want Me To Be by The Jungle Giants
▶ Come And Be Alone With Me by The Jungle Giants
▶ Young by The Paper Kites

Of Monsters And Men

Do you want to know what real talent is? Real talent is when you can navigate from your light switch at one end of your room to your bed with the lights off and you manage to dodge every book on the floor, odd sock, chair and dangly butterfly decoration hanging from the ceiling. Real talent is also sounding perfect when you're singing live in front of thousands and still sound exactly the same as you do in your recorded songs, but somehow even better. Suck on that, autotunists. (The only time auto tune is okay is when you chipmunk-esque your voice.)

I went to see Of Monsters and Men perform live. They were so amazing and perfect. The supporting band, Mammals, was also pretty good. The sad thing is that I can only find two of their songs online. They're not that well known so I can't find anything on them. I don't know any of their song names either so it feels like such a lost.

I love Of Monsters and Men's Icelandic accents. They're such a unique band and seemed to be quiet natured people.

I really hope they write more songs because it felt so short since they only have one album. At least they played an unheard song that didn't make it into My Head Is An Animal! I'd say my first concert was pretty good.

Sanus

I think one of the best moments in life is when the world is sound asleep, but you're wide awake with earphones in, and you're twirling and singing around your room because you're the only person who exists in that moment. Those few moments of bliss can make you feel more alive than ever. You don't need the rush of rollercoasters. You don't need the company of people. You just need those right songs. My current ones are:

▶ Resolution by Matt Corby
▶ Two Weeks by Grizzly Bear
▶ Lifesize by A Fine Frenzy

It's 3am and I'm up neglecting my studies for tonight. As always, the exam period is making my mood fluctuate between depression, insanity and a complete high. Does anyone also think that it's acceptable to not wash your hair for days and rewear the same pyjamas over and over because you've literally been indoors the entire time, sitting on almost the exact same spot? Yeah, me too. I hope the people I've been snapchatting my pretending to cry face every night over first world problems (e.g. exams and endless studying) hasn't noticed or think it's okay too.

Counting down the days till my winter break. I just can't wait to do nothing and not have a social life for a while.

Imagine Dragons

IMAGINE DRAGONS IS MY FAVOURITEST BAND, EVER. I could blast them on trains, while studying and in bed repeatedly for weeks without getting sick of them. They're that perfect band to me that makes me want to go out there and do something with my life and be a part of their band or have the lead singer's voice, even if it means I have to live the rest of my life with a guy's voice, just to belt out lyrics at every chance possible. (Or maybe not.)

Here is a list of my favourite songs by them:

▶ All Eyes
▶ Selene
▶ It's Time
▶ Amsterdam
▶ America
▶ Radioactive
▶ Demons

I was so sad that I was in San Francisco while they were performing at their hometown, Las Vegas. So close, but so far away. I wanted to so badly catch the next flight there. I'm glad that they're beginning to get more recognition, but at the same time, I get kind of possessive when something I consider special or cool becomes popular. They deserve it though. I once read someone's comment about Imagine Dragon that said, "They look like hobos." Then someone replied, "Only the best musicians are."