Pentatonix
My dream concert. These 5 are amazing performers, and are changing the game of mainstream pop and acapella. Inspiring the ears of choir nerds world wide as well as people who just love music. They are challenging how we listen to songs. I won’t go into their history since google exists and I strongly encourage you to discover them for yourselves.

Their arrangements of songs are pretty original, and at this point in their career they have developed a signature sound that helps them stand above the crowd. The three main vocalists, in the centre of the image, have clearly been performing together a long time as they say. Their voices blend like family, and their timing and shadowing of each others voices is flawless. Their bass and percussion voices really round out the trio and bring a whole new dimension to their covers and original compositions. If this is the vocal olympics they are the gold medalists, and the silver and the bronze.

The feeling I get when I watch them perform (live or via youtube) is too overwhelming to describe. But I can only liken it to that of a whole body mind soul soundgasm. You are flooded with a sense of happiness and love for both them and the musicality that pours out of them. It’s almost like that moment in ‘Perks of Being a Wallflower’ at the very end when they are driving through the tunnel and he says “in that moment we were infinite”. It felt like that, combined with this sense in the back of my mind that I was Beyonce and simultaneously fantasising about being up on stage with them (either being serenaded- like that one lucky girl during the concert) or actually having the chops to guest appear during their set. Imagine that with a massive smile slapped on my face and a fangirlly scream to add the to the many also screaming at them throughout the night. Overall I would hijack a hot tub time machine to go back and see them live again. I highly recommend you check them out and have a listen. You won’t regret it! 

And just to get you going here is one of my favourites of theirs- its a cover of a french song by Stromae called 'Papaouti' and also perhaps check out 'Natural Disaster' by them which is an original
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-571ffilpY 

Peace and Love xx

The Quarter life crisis seems to be a very relevant thing at the moment. My working definition of it being: that moment of panic once you leave the cushy safety of academics, when you realise you have no idea how to navigate the career world. It's been almost a year since I finished my degree now, and I didn't really leave any more enlightened as to how to forge a future for myself based on my skills, or make my dreams a feasible reality. I've also decided to plonk myself down into a city that I am unfamiliar with, which doesn't exactly bring a sense of comfort to my days in the cold wilderness that is titled 'being a graduate'. 

The main dilemma with the QLC is finding both the drive and the focus to create a new way of life for ourselves. (This especially applies to people who took a degree nonspecific to a career.) Up until this point, every deadline, every goal, every extra curricular has been governed for us by academic laws and teachers. We've had co-captains to pilot our planes, and now this metaphor for life has left us without a co-person to help us navigate and steer us onto the right path.

So I thought what better thing to do than to use this unguided and confusing time to share the wisdom that I have gathered over my few months of being a lost soul. I may even inspire those of you who are fellow QLC-ers into action. 

WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR SILLY SELF > 

1. Try and do one productive thing everyday! Whether it's applying for 1 job, or taking an hour to practise that new skill you want to learn. (Even if that skill is learning to eat cake more efficiently- yummmy)
2. Get out of the house... it's super easy to sit inside or in bed all day if you don't have a job yet; but this won't make you feel better about yourself (trust me). Go and sit in a coffee shop and job search whilst you caffein-ate, or  go watch something at the movies. Perhaps you could even go to the gym and get an endorphin kick (shocked face).
3. Find some filler work. Any jobs that can help your bank balance and get you out in the world is a good thing even if its not your long term goal (even part time jobs or volunteer positions will get you meeting people and out into the world). 
4. Find a class that you can go to, and take all this free time to learn those things you never got round to before. I've found starting with 30 minutes of new thing every other day is a good aim to start off with. (30 mins everyday is a little too much pressure for some *cough... me*, and it often ends in the attempt to learn something new being abandoned altogether.)
5. Don't sit in silence... if you have no idea what you're doing or how to go about it, get advice from your family and friends who have done it before. It's good to have people as a sounding board to help you, however their advice can only go so far, they can't do the work for you. 
6. Make a playlist of songs to pump you up and get you going through the day. For example, a 'wake me up' playlist, or an 'I'm so bored but need a song to get me out of my PJ's' playlist, or a 'Let's go for a walk and see where we end up' playlist. 

SOME MOTIVATIONAL/INSPIRING QUOTES FOR YO' FINE SELF >

• "Your previous intentions, thoughts, and actions are who you are currently. Your present intentions, thoughts, and actions will determine who you will be." - Timothy Ferris
• "People of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things." - Leonardo Da Vinci
• "Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone" - Pablo Picasso (A tad dramatic perhaps, but hey Picasso isn't exactly know for his subtlety)

So, I have been trying to figure out my life so far. Having challenged myself to ABC April, I have since been MIA, off the grid, completely missing from this placed I so called home for a month. 

Currently I am in the void of life between graduating university and finding work, and or searching for things that link to what I want to do with myself. Apart from living out of a suitcase fro 6 months, and realising that searching for houses on flatshare websites is futile, and frustrating, I have also realised something about myself.

1. I have very little will power
2. I am addicted to the internet. Specifically watching things on said internet. 

So being homeless, means that I pretty much am living off of the people I know living in and around england (LONDON). At the moment I am staying with friends of my parents, who are wonderful, but blissfully unattached to watching things online. Therefore they have extremely low bandwith, and I have been asked to "not watch too much" or a little meter on their computer will go into the orange... and then red zone and probably start charging them billions of pounds. Because its most likely a BT connection, and lets face it BT are dicks. 

So how does this link into my 2 newfound traits. I shall inform you of that now dear reader. Most of the time I spend on my computer, when I wake up, before I go to bed, all day if i'm inside and don't leave the house, apart from when I'm eating; is spent on the internet. My other applications are void, and don't really see the light of day. I can imagine them all eagerly awaiting to be opened, to get to bounce up and down in the dock with excitement (yes I have a Macbook, and I'm digressing.....)

Out of instinct, second nature, habit, whatever you call it, I can't help but go to youtube and see what my subscribed to channels have given me to watch today. What music is there out there, what are the most watched videos, what television shows have come out that day that I need to catch up on, what trailers are there that I haven't seen yet, or bloopers, or interviews with celebrities about their movies, reviews on new gadgets, watching maru the cat trying to fit into tiny boxes..... the list is endless and grammatically incorrect. 
I find myself in the middle of watching a video and realising that "oh... what the hell am I doing...I'm not supposed to be watching anything". Violently clicking away, sad that I closed the tab half way through. 
I even went to far as to pay for a day's worth of wifi so I could watch videos online that day. 

Readers.... My name is Andrina and I have a problem. I'm like a junkie who needs a fix. A currently unemployed, spends more time watching youtube than applying for jobs, or asking real estate agents to find me a place to live JUNKIE!!! 
One of my youtube stalkees, (by that I mean someone who uploads videos of themselves and I watch them religiously, and follow them on their various other social media sites), recently went on a week's haitus from the internet. Literally cut himself off from all of it. That to me, is inconceivable. Which leads me to the conclusion that I have to do it. Ahh... but it's not that simple. Oh poor innocent reader, haven't you been paying attention. Trait number 1... I HAVE NO WILL POWER! It's an endless cycle. 

If I didn't have a hard drive filled with things to watch or a kindle to read if all else fails I'd be lost and beating down the doors of internet cafes. I blame caffeine. And george bush.....
Okay maybe just caffeine! It's possible I have ADHD,,,,,,,......********

Well I leave you with this ramble, and baffling puzzle of life's afflictions. It is currently 1:43 am. 
I love cupcakes
Goodnight!!! :O   


oh. P.S. if you've read this far, listen to this song I have recently fallen in love with and can't stop listening to. 

Venturing off, to a place where rejection is inevitable, self-obsession is a habit, and each time we speak it is in front of judges...we are hoping to transform that single moment in time, that will allow us to keep the illusion alive long enough to perform it in front of an audience. 

So my apologies for missing my post yesterday, I spent the day in bed attempting to write essays, but instead ending up skyping my sister in Singapore. Better than essays if you ask me!
So you want some bands for X and Y you say... Well here you go my splendiferous readers.

X is for XYLOS: a five piece pop group fro New York City. They have some great songs, that are upbeat, and playful, but that don't have awful lyrics. With great vocals, and electronic sounds, as well as your typical band instruments. They have an indie pop kind of sound. Their EP album 'Bedrooms' came out in 2008, with their latest self-titled album out in 2011. They also released a single this year called 'Summerlong'.
One of my favourites is called 'Not Enough'

WALK OFF THE EARTH: is a Canadian indie band. They have been around since 2006, and have some awesome songs. They have been gaining a following recently from doing popular covers and kooky videos. It was only this year that they signed with a record company. They have great guitar skills, and mainly do acoustic covers, in inventive ways. Their vocals have a good blend of male and female. Their first album came out in 2007 titled 'Smooth Like a Stone on a Beach', their second came out last year titled 'My Rock', they feature mostly covers of other bands. Their most recent hit was a video them covering the popular song by Gotye 'Somebody That I used to Know'
One of my favourites though is one they did a cover of 'Little Boxes' that is also above, and one final one because, Hey, lets got a little nuts today, is their most recent video release called 'Polly' which I believe is an original song.
W is also for THE WAVE PICTURES: are a 3 man English indie rock band. They have recorded a string of EP's and singles, and have a couple of albums. They have an amazing light, acoustic sound, with soft vocals and catchy melodies. Their lyrics are often quite whimsical as well. There are too many albums to list, and too many songs I like, but one of my favourite songs by them is called 'Sweetheart'

VETIVER: are an American folk band. They great sound, with yes indeed, the banjo featuring on a lot of their tracks. :D Their first album came out in 2004, and they have had a steady stream on various labels, they have also had some good collaborations with artists like Devendra Banhart Recently being signed to SubPop records, their recent album is titled 'The Errant Charm' and was released in 2011. They have a nice laid back sound to them as well.
One of my favourite songs is called 'Wonder Why'

THE VETTES: are a band headed by lead singer Rachel Vette, who recruited her brothers to be in the band. They have a very synth rock/pop sound. So a bit different to the bands I normally post. They released their first EP in 2008 titled 'T.V.' and their first album came out in 2010 called 'Plasticville'
One of their best known songs, which I really like is called 'Give 'Em What They Want', supposedly speaking about the celebrity culture.

Thats all for V.
Love and Peace everyone, hope you are enjoying the A-Z :D