Category: Thoughts & Words

Jumbles of words that I felt necessary to release from my brain and put out there…

Favorite Duets to Sing

Starr1 Comment

I am a karaoke fiend, but even a spotlight-hog like me knows that often, two is better than one.

After all, no matter how good of a singer you may be (and I’m just an okay singer), you can’t really harmonize with yourself (in real time).

So, as I say goodbye to one of my favorite karaoke buddies as he heads off to medical school, I thought I’d round up some of my favorite duets.

Is it weird to sing duets with people I am platonic with?

Eh… sometimes. Especially when a lot of my local duet partners are close friends of my boyfriend’s, primarily because we are more intense about karaoke than my boyfriend is. ^^;

Some duets are more romantic than others, and those can be dangerous.

But saying no to karaoke is difficult enough. Saying no to the rare opportunity of having someone singing the harmonies that I can’t? Nearly impossible to deny.

Sometimes when I’m lonely (slash can’t get anyone to come to do karaoke with me), I’ll record one part and sing duets with myself. I’m not totally crazy for this, am I?

As you can see, this list is all over the place. Contemporary, oldies, musicals… duets are everywhere and I am so glad.

(I can’t find a live performance of this, but this is my favorite version.)

And don’t think I forgot about this one! You know how much I love my holiday music.

Also I may or may not have learned to sing in Korean for this one.

For those of you who can’t/don’t want to load the videos, here’s a list, kind of sorted by how often I get to sing them and/or how much I like singing them (there is a weak correlation between the two, but you’ll have to guess whether a song is up on the top of the list because I like it or my duet partners like it)

  1. “Lucky” – Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat
  2. “My Boo” – Usher & Alicia Keys
  3.  “Endless Love” – Lionel Richie & Diana Ross
  4. “No Air” – Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown
  5. “Falling Slowly” – Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová
  6. “Baby It’s Cold Outside” – Margaret Whiting & Johnny Mercer (not the version I posted)
  7. “Love is an Open Door” – Kristen Bell & Santino Fontana
  8. “Phantom of the Opera” – Sarah Brightman & Michael Crawford
  9. “Say Something” – A Great Big World & Christina Aguilera
  10. “Two is Better Than One” – Boys Like Girls ft. Taylor Swift
  11. “Timeless” – Jang Ri In & Xiah Junsu (original by Justin Guarini & Kelly Clarkson)

*Honorable mention: “Love the Way You Lie” – Eminem ft. Rihanna

This is an honorable mention, not because I don’t like singing it but because I usually end up singing both parts alone. People are amused by me getting angry and rapping Eminem’s verses. Who am I to deny them and not make a fool of myself?

Which duets am I missing?
Do you like singing duets? (Wanna sing one with me?)
Am I crazy for trying to sing them alone in my room or is this something you’d want to hear?

Short hiatus

Starr1 Comment

Hey guys,

So I can’t accurately predict when my next post will go up. It could be tomorrow but it could be weeks or months from now. A lot of things are just moving around and I find it hard to even find time to get on my computer and write or catch up on shows or anything like that.

While normally, I’d blog to relieve stress, thinking about how much I want to share with you guys and knowing I don’t have the time to do it is not really as relaxing as I thought it’d be…

I’ll be back though! I’ve been blogging for over half my life now; there’s no leaving now.

Posts that I promised in my last post are still coming, and I may have a recap of my upcoming trip to New York and a review for Guardians of the Galaxy but I just have to ask for even more patience than I’ve already been granted.

I’ll still be reading your posts and I’ll probably be using Twitter a bit more than I used to, since it is a lot less work to crank out 140 characters.

See ya when I see ya.

Checking In!

StarrLeave a comment

Hi all!

I really miss blogging, so I thought I’d sneak a few minutes at work to say hello! I have lots of things I want to tell you about, but work has been really busy and I need to get furniture for my new apartment so that I don’t have to sleep on the floor in my sleeping bag anymore ^^;;

Things I will be posting about when I can:

  • The rest of my Alaska trip
  • The rest of my Europe trip I swear to cake (I know it’s been nearly a year since I left for Europe but THE REST OF THE POSTS WILL COME)
  • A new apartment tour if I don’t put off setting up / don’t make it a mess immediately
  • Dedication post to my favorite past time: karaoke
  • Maybe some movie reviews, even though it’s pretty late to be posting them up now (drafts I have include the latest X-Men movie and The Fault in Our Stars)
  • Maybe book reviews
  • My adventure making flower crowns
  • And more!

Let me know if there is anything you’d like to hear about and I’ll try to include that, too! There are a lot of transitions going on with work and my apartment, so I’m hoping I can resume regular posting and maybe even follow a schedule once the dust settles in my life.

Summer Sights

Starr1 Comment

Hello friends!

I’ve been feeling crummy about not updating here, especially given that my Alaska posts are just sitting there waiting to be polished and posted. A lot of things have been going on that I’ll update you all on later, but I wanted to let you know that I am still thinking of you – 5 regular readers and people stumbling here by accident.

Summer is in full swing here in the DC area. It’s the first summer I’m working through, so I always feel like summer hasn’t quite arrived yet. There have been a few moments that remind me it has.

The other night, I had come home late from work, as I’ve been doing more and more often these days. I walked out to pick up our mail, my skin breathing in the humidity and missing the crisp freshness of Alaskan air. I looked up to see stars twinkling through the leaves of one of my front yard trees. As I looked closer, I realized that there were also fireflies sitting amongst the leaves, blinking with the stars.

Another day, I was driving back from the train station. The forecast predicted severe thunderstorms, and I could already see foreboding clouds brewing up ahead. But when I made a turn, the sky before me was split. On my right loomed storm clouds several miles ahead, creeping up with slate greys and purples. On my left, however, it was clearer. A dusty pink-orange spilled over as the sun set, casting a glow on a few clouds that were not threatening rain.

I have a lot in store for the blog once I get my life sorted out. Alaska posts are coming. Europe posts will be completed. More up-to-date life recaps. Fun posts. Less fun posts. I have so many things I want to share with you all.

I just need to find the time!

Spotted on the Georgetown Waterfront: the coolest dog

Currently

Starr4 Comments

Currently (May 2014)

I haven’t been doing as much day-to-day living blogging this month, mostly because I’ve been really busy with work and my long commute. I wanted to just give you all a quick little update as to what I’ve been up to!

Congratulating the graduating class of 2014 by sharing some of my never-before-seen graduation photos, like the one above.

Watching Sailor Moon on Hulu and loving it, despite how long the magical girl transformation sequence is each… and every… time.

JUST. SO. EXCITED.

Making flower crowns and quickly realizing that I should not feel insecure about the flowers being small; I like things better dainty and now my flower crown is absurdly humongous. (Photos will come when… my friend finishes editing them and sends them over XD)

Planning to make more, reasonably-sized flower crowns now that I’m armed with the confidence that I can.

Discussing the latest X-Men film and its gloriously frustrating continuity errors with fellow Marvel geeks.

Sampling the DC food truck scene and finding favorites.

Currently loving Crêpes Parfait, which is just adorable and delicious.

Settling on a new apartment so that I can cut my commute time down and spend more time with friends.

Welcoming my brother back from his first year in college.

Feels-ing everywhere over the season finales for Once Upon a Time and Hannibal.

Attempting to finish writing my Eurotrip blogs before my 2014 summer family vacation.

… Failing to finish all of those posts in time.

Preparing for my summer trip (and for disappointing you all with how delayed those posts come up ;P)

Deciding on a new watch to buy as a big-girl/working-girl gift to myself.

Declaring my current favorite Trader Joe’s salad to be the broccoli slaw & kale with chicken and dried cranberries.

Putting off baring my legs or arms (and shaving…) despite the ever-climbing temperatures.

Fuming about the Isla Vista shooting and some of the misdirected responses. (I will be writing about my thoughts on this soon, but I need some time to properly articulate how I feel in a way that is conducive to people being able to digest it easily.)

Enjoying my new domain name and my new business cards (unrelated to each other but both make me feel like the real deal).

Dreading going back to work after this week and a half vacation…

Appreciating hot water and electricity after a storm knocked them both out.

 

There you have it, a cute little update, inspired by Stephanie Pellet’s “Lately” posts over on Life in Limbo.

What are you currently doing/feeling/[insert verb]-ing?