abby vanduker, 20, oklahoma

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invisible children
charity: water
liberty in north korea

myhollowmind / by: surferdude182

Ansel Adams, Autumn Moon, the High Sierra from Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park, California, c. 1946

bbook / by: nirvikalpa

driving late at night on empty streets with lovely music, black tea and the icy air slipping through the open window while the surrounding world sleeps is one of the only places where my mind is calm.

everything slows to a near halt; it’s not simply a matter of thoughts flowing smoothly, but the lack of most anything other than simple observations: a bold moon, the curvature of the road, soft melodies, a stop sign, the heater warming my bare toes. it’s all so undemanding. 

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

Clean Getaway by Maria Taylor

You took me by surprise that warm August afternoon in Greeley, my childhood best friend of the summers reintroduced to me as the six-foot-one man dressed so well at the predictable family reunion.

I should be writing at this moment, but not about you- about industrialization and globalization; but my head and heart are not there.

Tonight as I drove home, the sky was clear, lined with so very many stars and the night was cool- but I kept the sunroof down. I found myself putting so much hope in all my logic being entirely wrong and you, somehow, guiding over me from up amongst the stars. If you are, if you could be, I hold so much desire for you to be glad about, accepting of the person I am becoming and the changes I made. I hope you still love me the way you used to, despite nearly hating it back then.

I have realised that I must put effort into remembering the times worth doing so with you, and not just those last few moments when my lifeless body was dragged from yours and replaced with that horrid sheet.
That afternoon your father nearly strangled both of us for bringing those puppies home or the nights we’d sit and listen to bedtime stories before I left for the sister town. The mornings you’d wake me with a skillet and wooden spoon before crashing back into bed next to me or the night I nearly broke so many bones snowboarding in your backyard.
The rainy afternoon in Denver at the Rockies vs. Cardinals game when you kissed me on the mouth.

“and I miss you, I miss you every single day.” 

Flat Stanley in the windshield of Andrew McMahon’s tour bus

“I’m keeping quiet ‘til there’s no more sirens, lately it’s hard to keep the hinges on with all the noise. I’ll find my words when there’s no one talking. The room is spinning, I have got no choice. Be patient, I am getting to the point.”

Yesterday evening was incredible beyond expression through words in the english dictionary. I’ll just hit the highlights:

• It was slightly upsetting to see someone as talented and weathered as Nate Ruess still travelling in a small van and trailer. It’s just part of the job, but Nate has been at this for years and years and sold so many albums.
• I was royally pissed the venue charged me two dollars for being under twenty-one. I understand their purpose behind this, but still- it’s just cheap. Any venue in my eyes that are in it solely for the money (as this place appeared to be) have it all wrong.
• While I’m bashing the venue, the stage was entirely too short for the size of this place. There were at least a good four thousand people there and this stage was the height necessary for a crowd of two or three hundred.
• Nate looked so much happier playing with fun. than he did in the two times I saw him with The Format, just overall much more confident in himself and just a much more content person. This warmed my insides (and reminded me of how much I miss the days when I would obsessively check Dear Nate).
• Many, many thanks to the kind lady attending by herself that gave me the fun. setlist from the soundboard.
• The crowd was shit to the point I cannot even get it down on this macbook keyboard of mine.
  “Now this next band…this next band is actually good. The main dude, the main dude was in a hit group. He can wail.”
  Just a few key points for those of you that may be complete fucking morons when it comes to attending a show: Do not talk loudly through every song and clap at the end as if you actually know what you are clapping for. If the people behind you are a foot shorter than you, ask them if they would like to stand in front of you- it’s not going to ruin your experience as you are ruining theirs. Do not pretend like you know the words. Do not hit on my father. Do not rub your girlfriend’s back fat and stick your hand down the back of her pants all through the show- the people behind you are close to spewing up their stomach’s contents. Do not watch the entire performance through your iPhone viewfinder. You cannot reserve spots in a general admission club.
• I just can’t put Andrew McMahon’s performance into words. I laughed, I screamed every single word at the top of my lungs, I cried, I clapped until my hands were bruised- all within a seventeen song setlist (that I couldn’t have been any more happy with) as originally listed:
  I’m Ready
  The Resolution
  The Mixed Tape
  Crashin
  Last Straw
  Spinning
  Lullaby
  Holiday From Real (…”from”?)
  Bruised
  New Years Day (U2 cover)
  Dark Blue
  Skyscraper
  Bloodshot
  Miss California (unlisted on setlist / request)
  MFEO
  [encore]
  Swim (solo)
  La La Lie
• And the icing on the top of the cupcake? I got to experience all of this with two of the closest people to me that I’m pretty sure felt it was just as magical as I.