Monday Blues

Every Monday I try and find a song that will help you fight your Monday blues and get you into the groove of the week.

This week is no different.

Convince yourself. Today is gonna be the best day of your life.

xx T

What or who you should be listening to :P

Or should I rather say 'what I'm listening to'? But if I enjoy it, why not shove it down everybody's ears :)

The Chvrches

Pronounced 'Churches', this group are what you need to listen to on a somewhat cloudy Monday morning. Their electro sound is very retro 80s and retro is cool :)

Gary Clarke Jr.

The blues. The good ol' blues. It's a bit of an acquired taste, but it appeals to everyone at some stage or another. And this guy has a voice that'll melt away most of your blues anyway...

Lorde

If you are not yet listening to this 16 year old wunderkind from New Zealand, where have you been?? Her single Royals has been HUGELY successful, but it doesn't stop there. Her album is full of intelligent lyrics and melodies that you can't believe came out of somebody that young. Do yourself a favour.

Do you have any suggestions for me? I'd be glad to give 'em a listen!

xx T

wonderful things

What a wonderful week! Wednesday was Rihanna as I documented. Loads of people complained, but what's the use really? You went, why regret it or complain? Do you think it makes you sound cool and knowledgeable? Well, it doesn't, in fact, in the words of Mila Kunis "nobody cares, you sound like an asshole" (Friends With Benefits, 2011)

Speaking of Mila Kunis related things, how awesome is this photograph? Topher Grace had to to Instagram this epic That 70's Show reunion, and we're all glad he did :)

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Last night was the amazing Lindsay's (rather premature) 21st (her birthday is late November). We went to the Private Hotel School in Stellenbosch, and I made my own pasta from scratch!

But that's enough about me, here are more things that I like though :)

JGL is a beast. He can bust a silent lyric any day! Here he is on Jimmy Fallon, in a lip synching competition. 

I love the idea of new slang, so here are a few yiddish words I'd like to add to my vocab :)

I am a procrastinator. That's one of the reasons I ended up having a blog. Here's a new plan I have trying to beat it. Maybe I'll actually get things done. This is the 2-minute rule.

Disturbing Benedict Cumberbatch gifs. (Gimme season three of Sherlock! Gimme it now!)

Doo-Wop We Can't Stop. Wow. I love these people!!

That last one really has made this weekend worthwhile!

Hope you're having a good weekend!

xx T

Ri-freaking-hanna

may i just reiterate, RI-FREAKING-HANNA.

Golden circle, because there is no other way.

so, i've just decided that Rihanna is my new best friend (soz everyone) #besties.

in all seriousness, though, the gal is fly. supafly.

drool.

which, brings me to a new addition to my bucket list #64: dance like Rihanna

#legsfordays

 yoh, she has moves for days, and with legs like those, she may as well keep em coming :)

Cape Town on fire!

 I have no clue what the peeps from Joburg were complaining about, Cape Town loves RiRi. For seriousness. She's welcome back anytime, all the time.

High fives for the set designers, massive chest bumps for the band and, holy smokes, those dancers, talk about fluid... And those flames?? Epic.

Anyhoo, I think that's enough gushing for now...

xx T

PS, All photies are mine own :)

RiRi Ready.

Rihanna in Cape Town on Wednesday, get in my face!!!

I'm getting pretty amped now that a few other things have settled down. Firstly, my heart is broken because I couldn't attend RTD (Rocking the Daisies), but Rihanna tickets came first ya know....
Secondly, I am relieved as hell to say that Koorbal is over!! Koorbal is the annual ball for the University's choir and this year, it was my baby (goodness me, never again). Now I can have a life, and that means academics (weeps).

But before I get too depressed, back to RIHANNA!

For those of you interested, here is her set list for her Diamonds tour:

1. "Mother Mary"
2. "Phresh Out the Runway"
3. "Birthday Cake"
4. "Talk That Talk"
5. "Pour It Up"
6. "Cockiness (Love It)"
7. "Numb"
8. "You da One"
9. "Man Down"
10. "No Love Allowed"
11. "Rude Boy"
12. "What's My Name?"
13. "Jump"
14. "Umbrella"
15. "All of the Lights"
16. "Rockstar 101"
17. "What Now"
18. "Loveeeeeee Song"
19. "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)" / "Take a Bow" / "Cold Case Love"
20. "Hate That I Love You"
21. "Red Lipstick"
22. "We Found Love"
23. "S&M" / "Only Girl (In the World)" / "Don't Stop the Music"
24. "Where Have You Been"

Encore

25. "Stay"
26. "Diamonds"

 (it's not 100% official, but this is pretty much what it was for the rest of the world tour)

I think she has the coolest accent and I can't wait to hear it! Whoop!!

Anyhoo, that's all I got for now! Will follow up soon!

Xx T

Blue Monday?

Having a blue Monday? This song really cheered me up, maybe it'll do the same for you :)

It's incredibly sweet and simple.

xx T

Work B*tch

And she's back!

After JT made his comeback, of course Britney had to follow suit, and her first single back has been leaked.

It sounds like the boys from SHM had a hand in this.

I love it. I love the faux British accent, I love the message, man!  "Work b*tch"

Makes me wanna get up and get stuff done!!

And on that note, I gotta run.

What do you think?

xx T

I have to meet Rupert Grint

NEW BUCKET LIST ADDITION!

I must, MUST meet Rupert Grint.

GIMME!

xx T

30 day self portrait challenge.

I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna stick to my guns and do this thing. 

I haven't posted in forever coz I'm really struggling with this broken ankle and trying to get around and so I'm constantly frustrated. 

To make matters worse, how am I supposed to feel good when I have this cast on my leg and am always hopping around on crutches? 

Well, it's not impossible.

I think...

I'm sure.

So, to get back into loving myself, broken bones and all, I'll be doing a self portrait challenge.

So here goes.

Day #1

ok.

it's begun...

no going back now!

xx T

Some Marley for your Monday

I've been struggling to get into work mode today, and so I turned to some Damian Marley, naturally. Everybody needs some Damian Marley every now and then... Even you...

Alicia Keys does great version of this in her Unplugged session.

That's all for now...

Good luck for the rest of the week!

xx T

2 more off of the bucket list!!

Aaaaah!

I've been so busy I haven't even realised until now that I can scratch off two things from my bucketlist!!

#41: Own an iPhone
I bought myself (ie, my dad went half) on my very first iPhone for my birthday more than a month ago! And in that time, it's been dropped and the screen smashed, and I fixed it all on my own, no help from the rents, which I consider a HUGE step.

#45: Receive an actual letter in the mail.
Thanks to AMMIE!! She's being all cool in Detroit and she sent me a letter! How amazing is this chick?? I've written my reply and have a special surprise to send along with it. But like everything in my life, it's a touch delayed. Sorry, Am-Star, promise it'll get there soon!

Anyhoo,
Thought I'd share the news! :)

xx T

A (delayed) Review: The 20/20 Experience - Justin Timberlake

 

WELCOME BACK, JUSTIN.

Wow. So, Justin's new album The 20/20 Experience has been out for awhile, but it hasn't been out of my head for one second. Justin has jumped right back into the niche that nobody could fill while he was gone. The album is fresh and sexy and makes me pull my stank face all too often!

  And let's just all agree that the black and white is working très well, along with that slick hairstyle....

Having struggled with poor vision all my life, to sound corny, this has gotten me seeing all to clearly :P

Although, I must admit it has always been a bit of a pet peeve of mine when artists (Justin is especially guilty of this) include interludes in the actual track. Don't do that! But that aside the album is a stand out for me. Maybe it's just the suit and tie. Probably not though...

Stand out tracks include Pusher Love Girl (recently covered by my other fave, Pentatonix), Suit & Tie, Don't Hold the Wall (esp for that Eastern flair) and Let the Groove Get In (get out of your chair! this jam JAMS).

Not a fan of Blue Ocean Floor, but I won't skip it (everytime)...

New single Mirrors is a tad out of touch for me. Sick beat, yet I find the lyrics a smidgen corny. But it's growing on me...

All in all, I would like to extend a very warm and gracious welcome back to JT, and please, please stay a while...

xx T

Music Mix

It's an interesting mix of music this week, but I like em all... Have a listen :)

 

A touch of dubstep for your Wednesday evening :)

 

Love the video, and the song. This lady seems to be on the right track :)

 

This song just sounds goods, you know what I mean?

 

I LOVE Marina & the Diamonds, so this is just great!

 

This lady's voice is just beautiful.

 

Laura has an interesting voice that make me want to listen more and more.

 

This song is deep and dark. Like the weather.

xx T

Why do I blog?

Why do I blog? I ask myself this question everytime I think about this blog. Do I really have anything of relevance to say that could affect that many people? Do I actually think that whatever I have to say is of any actual relevance? I think, sometimes, that blogging is one of the most vain things we do as a generation... Putting our thoughts on the world wide web thinking it is surely profound.

But then I picked up the latest Times magazine's 100 most influencial people of today issue and I wonder... For some, yes, they always knew they were going to hit the top level, but, surely, not all of them. Some of them must think, "me?"
 
Wouldn't it be fantastic if, in a number of years, I look back at this post and I look at the Times magazine of that time, and I see myself.

The only way I can really make in impact if I believe I can.

So I will.

xx T

Exam Blues

Tomorrow is my first post-grad exam and there are two things bugging me, beside the lack of knowledge in my head.

#1. I can't stop telling people that it's an EXAM and not a test. Weird. I want to correct people. And that's so pretentious. What is happening to me?!

#2. Why am I busy writing this blog post when I should be sleeping and if I'm not sleeping, I should at least be studying! It's as if my body and brain are both working in tandem to make sure I fail this exam so that I no longer have to subject myself to this torture.

I've realised that I want to go sing on a cruise. I don't need to know about Fourier Transformations if that's what I want to do... Why?????

Also, I feel super bad for being a shitty blogger at times and then I come here and write things like this... Ai, T... Ironic.

I'm going to force myself to sleep now...

xx T

Sunday Stuffs

Hello! Just gonna share some goodies :)

Amy gets super passionate when she raps here. It's tres cool! I love it when girls rap well. And it's ACOUSTIC!! Totes legit!

I'm turning 22 on Thursday! I'm officially (in my mind) a twenty-something, so Thought Catalog is perfect for me. Here's one on 15 ways 20-somethings ruin their twenties. It's quite accurate looking :)

Always Ed. Sighs.

This gif.

Another Karmin cover. But for completely different reasons. This just touches my soul... I hope you enjoy it...

Maybe not all, but defos these two...

Tears. This song. Gets me. Right there.

To end off on a funky note :):)

Have a good week!!
xx T

Butts!

Yes, it's been long, but if I had male anatomy, honours would be crushing it.
So, now that I had a spare moment, I thought I'd bombard you with wonderful gifs. Above: Daily Grace at her classiest... Below: Mamrie Hart + Harry Potter puns = happiness

 

Speaking of harry potter epic-ness...........

 

^^^Simply glorious...

Onto bigger and better things... (not really better though)

Time to get some Organic Synthesis on! Whooooppp:(:(

xx T

Internetting 101

Guys, I just have too much to share! Please, check out ALL these cool things! :)

#1: A pep talk by an adorable kid in a suit. If you don't feel good after this, then I don't know... Go get some McDonald's or something.

#2: If #1 didn't work, there's always this gif.

#3: The sweetest moments of storm troopers.

#4: There's something about a man in a tie... Plus, I think JGL is the bees knees.

#5: TWO ingredient recipes!

#6: Fruit? or is it?

#7: This french film looks wonderful! It's about a guy that falls in love with a girl with a rare disease that causes her to be around fresh flowers at all times, or something like that... And then, she get's sick and he needs to work in these crazy places to make money to take care of her. Beautiful.

#8: What your favourite instagram filter says about you... Wish they had a few more filters to choose from.

#9: Storytelling 101. Tim Minchin rocks it!

#10: 15 Life lessons from Devil Wears Prada.

I think I'll leave it at that :)

xx T

two thousand and 13

So far, so good... I've really struggled to feel motivated like a usually do this time of year. Usually I can't wait to let go of the past year, because it was boring or sucky, but 2012... Man, that was my year. In fact, when the countdown was done and it was officially 2013, I cried. How embarrassing. How devastating. I didn't even know why I was crying. I just felt heavy. But, I absolutely cannot mope my way into this year or it definitely won't live up to 2012. So far it has been wonderful, but it's time to get serious. Goals & resolution kinda serious.

I've taken a while to settle with my list of goals & resolutions, but they are a dynamic part of life, growing & evolving as the year gets older, so these are just a basic skeleton.

2013 Goals:

#1: Fit comfortably into my maroon shorts.
I don't care about losing a certain amount of weight, or size, I just wanna fit into some of my old clothes from when I was in first year. I don't want to have to give it away because I love them and I never buy new substitutes because I'm determined to get into them again. This year I WILL make it happen.

#2: Read.
Read. Read. Read. My focus this year is going to so-called classics. I love exploring that section of the books store. I want to know what made them classic, so I'm going to read as many as I can this year and get my culture on.

#3: Graduate BSc(Hons) Cum Laude.
This is no easy feat, but with determination and hard work it is possible (I think). This year, Wesley is studying at UCT, so I figured I'd have more time to spend in the bib.

#4: Clear out my closet.
And hope nobody pops out holding a few skeletons. I have so much clothes that I don't wear anymore an never will wear again whether I achieve goal #1 or not. And so, by the end of the year I would like to have gotten rid of all of the excess and keep only what I wear. (and hopefully have a brand new wardrobe to boot)

Those are my basic goals.

I resolve to:

#1: keep my bedroom & flat as tidy as I possibly can.
#2: work hard to achieve my goals, including hitting the gym & bib as often as I can.
#3: be more organised.
#4: always have nice, neat nails.
#5: be a cool girlfriend, within reason. ;)
#6: look after my skin.
#7: save money & be smart with my finances.
#8: not lose earrings.

wish me luck!

xx T