My music and my books.

I've started posting music at a new blog: strawberry fizzy laces

I've been feeling a bit burned out on literature lately, which is something no English major ever wants to be. So I thought I would turn to my next love - music. Already just having something fun to do with my empty days has cheered me up. Listening to good music is like a glass of orange juice in the morning - it boosts your soul's immune system.

Books and music are my two oldest loves. I started playing the piano when I was six, right around the time I started falling in love with books. In first grade, I remember learning to read and learning to play music in quite the same way - the excitement of a new book, each one a level higher than the last. I just wanted to keep reading as many books as I could get my hands on; and in much the same way, I wanted to learn as many songs on the piano as possible. Growing up I loved music and reading with an equal passion - my two escapes.

I loved discovering new worlds in books and in middle school I fell in love with playing classical piano. Also in middle school (after discovering Death Cab for Cutie and The Shins in 2003) I became obsessed with finding new bands to fall in love with. It was also during those years that I was fully obsessed with Harry Potter and Jane Austen and Lord of the Rings. My twin passions - music and literature - growing together, becoming intertwined.

Then, I remember clearly making a decision in high school. It was in my sophomore year, when I was sixteen. I was starting to think about applying to college; and although for a time I seriously considered applying to fine arts schools to study musical performance, in the end I chose books over music. There were all sorts of secret reasons, but I made the decision and I have never looked back. Literature instead of classical piano.

While I still love playing the piano, I have let it fall to the side. I don't even have a piano to play while here in England so it's been months since my fingers have touched those keys. But I've never stopped loving music and I remain to this day obsessed with discovering new bands. I've always been that girl who listened to bands none of her friends had ever heard of. But I've also been that girl who makes her friends mix CDs filled with new music every month. Yes, I love finding good music, but I also love sharing my discoveries.

So while my passion for literature is feeling a bit tepid, I thought I would just pick up my other great love - music.

And that is one fucking long story about how I came to start a music blog. (And it's incomplete because I didn't even mention that I used to write for a proper indie music blog last summer - but that information is really just unnecessary supporting evidence)