Beautiful Day: The One that Got Away

"Beautiful Day" always seemed like the song that I wanted so badly to be cliché because it was so easy and cheerful and overplayed, but to this day, no matter when I hear it, I get all wrapped up and happy in the sound. Of course, there's always that stretch of a song that you just kinda fake along the lyrics to and forget that you don't actually know the words, or better yet, create your own. After nearly twenty years of singing along to Bono's phrases, I present to you the dilemma-

(please listen to 2:24, approximately)



Now, this video does prove two things- that U2 loves a good diverse atmosphere in music videos, and that all my creative power was wrong. If you listen, Bono sings, around the 2:24 mark (and these lyrics have been confirmed by the helpful U2.com)-

"see the tuna fleets clearing the sea out"

Unfortunately, this never quite made it into my consciousness. See, I always heard-

"see the chitterfleets glittering the sea, ow"

What is a chitterfleet, you ask? This is the same question I asked for years. After much thinking, I came to believe that the chitterfleet was either a rare fish or exotic bird that sparkled beneath the waves. I mean honestly, Bono has traveled more than most, and so I figured he, of all musicians, deserved a unknown species reference to school us regular citizens on how lovely the world is. In my mind, chitterfleets were endangered, and Bono was out to save them. Clearly his last refrain of "ow" at the end of the phrase meant he felt for this species, that without the chitterfleets the day he was describing might be a little less beautiful. Furthermore, without their glitter and hope of survival, he wouldn't have anything to sing about.

So imagine my surprise when I discovered that no, instead of a mythical and magical animal, Bono decided to let us observe tuna. TUNA.

We're talking about the canned concoction that made everyone else turn up their noses at the elementary school lunch table. Is this beautiful, Bono?! I mean, I know Planet Earth in HD makes us all excited to live on this world, but is tuna really the picture you were going for? Are tuna really that majestic? Did Starkist pay you a little somethin'-somethin' under the table to give tuna a new rock and roll image, further saving their company? C'mon! Is tuna swimming around, trying to avoid the canning industry, really that gorgeous? Really, Bono?! YOU COULDN'T GO WITH COLORFUL CORAL? OR STARFISH? OR EVEN THE BEAUTIFUL PATTERN OF WALLPAPER IN MY BATHROOM?!

But, I digress. For whatever reason, Bono went with a common household pantry fish. And maybe he finds beauty in such simplicity. Maybe if we were all to stop being so ridiculous with our metaphors, the world would look a little better. Honestly, I'm in no way denying that each day has the potential to be beautiful and that beauty is everywhere, I'm just sad one beautiful creature is no more. Goodbye Chitterfleets. I know that according to the same song, we don't have you in the world, so we don't need you now, but I will miss singing about you and thinking about what you could have been. Rest in peace, and know that you'll live on in my heart.

She & Him & I

Things it is not-
1. A tiny guitar made for hobbits (although I plan on developing one)
2. A tiny guitar made for child Hendrix-prodigies
3. A tiny guitar made for Angela from The Office

Things it is-
1. An electric ukulele (they exist!)
2. Full of rockin' possibilities
3. Zooey Deschanel's instrument of choice

While the concept seems only a tiny bit ridiculous (pun intended), my materialistic instincts tell me I need one.....asap. Plugged into a little amp, I could just go to town playing my own concerts for the hallway of my dorm to enjoy and/or knock on the wall about. But seriously, all this springs from last night, when I discovered how great electric ukuleles sound, and rediscovered my girlcrush on Zooey Deschanel.



It was about 40-something degrees, and in Texas terms that equals freezing, especially when it's been gloriously sunny and 70-something the whole rest of the week. The letters "SXSW" have been permeating everyone's lives here in San Marcos. South By Southwest, or SXSW, is a music event not designed for fans, or really for anyone under 21, as the bars featuring bands don't often let you in, but this doesn't seem to stop the determined few who want to hear live music. Also, we're about a half hour away from Austin, and we're all college students itching to do something on any night of the week, specifically one that heralds itself as a "free concert". A few text messages and coordinated plans later, me and my troupe of musical comrades headed up I-35 to experience the last night of South by Southwest for ourselves, after scoping out where the stage that would let us young ones in was. A few opening bands later, She & Him, the little indie-darling duo that we all were ready to dance along with, took the stage. She is Zooey Deschanel, the actress who defines adorable and the girl that stands as a somewhat role model for me and embarassingly so, probably was the reason I cut my bangs and dyed my hair darker. Hey, we all strive to fit in sometimes. Him is M. Ward, another soft-spoken man with a guitar who can cut a solo wonderfully and make a writing a creative album seem easy. They both took the stage, along with backup singers and a little collection of instruments and although shivering and balancing the sound levels as they played, performed a wonderful little array of lyrically witty and lightly picked songs, headlined by Zooey's deliciously imperfect and unique pipes. What can I say? I love the girl, and the love only increased when she brought out said electric ukulele. I knew she played my favorite instrument, but the soprano in her hands made me almost giddy. Needless to say, it was a short set and my short legs meant I only spied the top of her head most of the show, but the woman I find darling strumming the little four strings I occasionally also strum made the night one of wonder and warmth, even if it the actual temperature dropped significantly.

But who's counting?

Almost 6 months.

Blogging, or simply writing in general is funny in the fact that when I haven't written in a while I almost feel this sense of guilt. Not that I've got a captive audience on the edge of their seats waiting to read over my newest paragraph, but I just tend to think that there had to be some phrase describing some event in these past few months that seemed important enough to write down. I often use words to recap my memories, place important events into entries so that I can come back and reminisce, but I have a feeling that I've either been taking pictures to fill that need or I've simply had so much life happening that it would be impossible to express it all in sentence form! For now, I'll say it's a little of both.

I wish I watched the Winter Olympics, or any sports in general so I could be excited and involved in them. I wish my feet were smaller so I could share my future roommates' shoes. I wish I watched more classic films. I wish my hands were steady with a paintbrush and that something I created on canvas matched what was buzzing around in my brain as an idea. I wish I lived closer to home so I could have some of Mama's homemade fajitas and I wish polaroid film wasn't discontinued. I often wish I had an apartment that was pet-friendly so every single time an ASPCA Sara McLachlan commercial came on tv I could not feel as guilty for not rescuing every one-eyed dog on the planet. I wish I learned things like school materials and life lessons just a little faster. However, I don't wish to redo anything that's happened in these short 19 years. I write them down and photograph them, even when they're not pleasant, to grow from them and progress forward. I may not move at the fastest pace, but I've got friends who know me so much that it's scary sometimes, and with them to hold on to both figuratively and literally, I keep on walking. One foot in front of the other, wishes aside, getting to wake up and breathe and go out of my room to experience every other thing I haven't blogged about yet. And yes, despite the years of words and rambles, there's still a whole world out there to find the perfect adjectives to describe.