steal the moon.

samantha. twenty-two. enfj. in love.

 

Concert Recap: Paramore, Kitten at the House of Blues Boston

I’ve now seen Paramore a total of four times, and every time has been absolutely mind-blowing. The band has a stage presence and energy that’s unparalleled. Lead singer Hayley Williams is a pixie-sized powerhouse who leaves no part of the stage untouched. She prowls around, flirts with her bandmates and the crowd, and brings to life album tracks that are already amazing, but exceed any expectation when performed live.

The show was sold out; tickets were gone ridiculously fast, especially since Paramore haven’t been on a US tour in years. It’s been three years since they were in the greater Boston area — I saw them for the first time at the House of Blues in 2009 and they played the Comcast Center in Mansfield in 2010 (though I saw that tour in Gilford, NH). And Wednesday night’s crowd reflected the same excitement I felt at having the band back and better than ever. For only the second time in my life, I left the pit — it was too crazy and too hot to be just behind the barricade without the stability of it to cling to.

renlybaratheon:

spent the day baking and making flower crowns with chelsea

I just wrote a blog post about making this crown! It has a really general overview of how I did it, if anyone is interested in making their own. :)

Album Review: Fall Out Boy, Save Rock and Roll, 2013

For several months leading up to the announcement that Fall Out Boy had returned from its “indefinite hiatus”, I was writing “desperately awaiting a Fall Out Boy reunion” in all of my social media site biographies. I’ve been obsessed with this band since I was in high school and have referred to its members as “my forever boys” for years.

I can’t say that I’ve been listening to Fall Out Boy since the band first launched onto the pop punk scene with Take This to Your Grave in 2003, because I haven’t. I got into FOB after the release of From Under the Cork Tree in 2005, because the boy I was in love with in high school mentioned the band’s name one afternoon in English. Somehow, that seems an appropriate introduction to this band, given that lyricist and bassist Pete Wentz capitalizes on love, heartbreak and loss for the majority of the band’s over-the-top poetic song lyrics.

On Tuesday, April 16, Fall Out Boy released Save Rock and Roll, its first studio album in five years. Originally slated to release on May 6 (which would mark the 10 year anniversary of Take This to Your Grave), the album dropped a month early. It was also available to stream on SoundCloud a week before its official release. Streaming the album was an experience in and of itself — the first listen left me in tears, not just because my favorite band is back with a new album (and tour!)  but because the album is just incredibly powerful.

Album Review: Paramore, self-titled, 2013

In 2009, Paramore released its third studio album, Brand New Eyes. The cover featured a pulled-apart butterfly pinned to a fence and the lyrical content was angrier than anything Paramore had written before. That’s because Hayley Williams was pissed off. She was pissed off at her bandmates, something the band talked about at length in interviews about the album; it became increasingly apparent that the band was not quite as united as it once had been. About a year later, two of its founding members left (in a pretty nasty split). And then there were three.

Those three (Williams, Taylor York and Jeremy Davis) have just dropped a new record after much anticipation. Paramore was released Tuesday, April 9, and it’s arguably the band’s best album to date. But if you thought Williams was pissed off on Brand New Eyes, that was nothing compared to the controlled rage she exhibits on Paramore.

Product Review: Zoya PixieDust in Dahlia

Of course, my first inclination when it comes to buying nail polish is to go dark. That’s exactly what I did when I finally ordered a bottle of Zoya PixieDust last week. I first saw this polish on Pinterestseveral months ago, accompanied by an article in Glamour stating that Zoya would begin carrying the line this year. I’ve been eagerly awaiting it ever since.

PixieDust is a glitter polish that dries matte, which is actually the coolest thing ever. I ordered a bottle in Dahlia, which is essentially black, and I absolutely love it. My mother commented that it “looks like I dipped my fingernails in tar” and I laughed. She isn’t totally wrong — the contrast between the glitter and the matte finish is definitely different from any nail polish I’ve worn before. But that’s what makes it so unique.

So I’m blogging again…

renlybaratheon:

I’ve been catching up on posts on The Verbal Thing lately, after months of static silence. I’m really excited to get back into the swing of regular blogging, especially since I have an entire, ever-growing list of topics I want to write about.

So if you want to know how I’m feeling about music, books, life, health, etc, feel free to check out the blog. My last few posts have been about:

AND THERE ARE A LOT MORE TO COME.

image
“

“Shameless” does not shy away from race and class intersectionality and it also doesn’t shy away from queer stories — and a range of them. In addition to Mickey, Ian and Molly, we see Ian’s former lover Kash suffer through his sexuality while also attempting to live the life of a good Muslim and we see his wife’s response to the reveal that he’s gay. She forces him to give her another baby and eventually, he leaves her for another man. We also see the social and economic downfall of Ian’s current lover, Lloyd, whose wife throws him out and changes the locks to keep his material belongings from him. (Lloyd is also the father of Fiona’s boyfriend Jimmy — his discovery of his father’s sexuality is wrought with second guesses and questions, a response that is expected but also very frustrating, given how many other serious issues plague the characters in the show.) Of course, Molly isn’t the only queer female character on “Shameless” — Ian’s mom leaves her family to be with a woman of color, which is controversial in the show’s contexts for many reasons (from the betrayal of her family for leaving to the fact that she’s with a woman to the fact that this woman is black).

Additionally, we get to experience a range of reactions to the queerness of these characters, from happy acceptance to apathy to severe violence. And it is this range of representation that is missing from queer stories on television (and in other fictional mediums). Queer people are not defined by their queerness — and that’s often forgotten by writers and fans alike.

”

I should not be here. And yet, despite that knowing, I will continue to stand here occupying this pocket of air because once upon a time, I was supposed to be here. Once upon a time, this pocket of air was reserved for me and me alone and no one else could take it from me. I wouldn’t give it away. But now I have, and therefore I should not be here.

I’m not certain that I know how to breathe the air outside of this pocket. Might I drown, if I step to the left or right? I’m not a fish and this is not water and yet—

Forgive and forget? Katy Perry is hardly a "hero"

On Sunday, Dec. 2, Katy Perry joined the ranks of these Trevor heroes. For anyone who’s only a recent fan of Perry’s work, this honor seems fairly legitimate. She’s been working with The Trevor Project for a few years. When Darren Criss (a lifelong supporter of LGBT* rights and another celebrity who’s worked with the foundation on several occasions) performed her hit single “Teenage Dream” on “Glee” in 2010, he became an instant figurehead in the pop culture and gay lexicon as preppy, out-and-proud high schooler Blaine Anderson. Simultaneously, Perry started appearing all over the Internet as a positive contributor to the LGBT* movement.

Unfortunately, to anyone who’s been paying attention to Perry’s career since she first exploded onto the scene in 2008, it’s apparent that The Trevor Project has given their coveted Hero Award to the wrong celebrity. 

chapped. [pg]

That summer she turns fourteen is so dry that her lips are cracked and bleeding every morning when she wakes up. She starts wearing ChapStick, coating her lips in the thick substance every few hours and then rubbing it off slowly, with fingers and water bottles and food. She hates the waxy feel of the stuff, hates how it makes her lips feel a little bit tingly because her mom only ever buys the medicated kind. But after a few days, her lips stop bleeding. (Instead, the pillow case is smeared with grease.)

The first time he kisses her, her lips are smeared with the stuff.

“You taste like petroleum,” he whispers.

She laughs, but when he’s not looking, wipes the ChapStick off of her mouth and throws away the tube in her pocket. The next time he kisses her, he hums and presses his tongue between her lips.

In the morning when she wakes, her lips are chapped but not yet bleeding. It’s a different kind of discomfort from before; this time, it’s because of a boy. She vows to keep her lips as soft as she can but refuses to apply the balm to her lips if she knows she’ll be seeing him soon.