From Thursday (September 1) on, the apartment in Berlin will be all mine :) The keys have already been handed over to me but my big move won’t happen until the end of September because there’s obviously no point in moving already when the semester starts in the second half of October. Besides, I still have loads of work to do and I’d rather get it done here in a some sort of ordered environment.

What have I gained in the past two years? Fantastic jobs. An extended knowledge of the Japanese language. Finding out what’s important to me and what I want to do with my life (sort of). The ability to make elaborate cakes.
Taking some time off from higher education wasn’t that bad after all ;)

Yes, well, euphoria has turned into a state of silent appreciation. A crystal clear, full-length version of Two More Years is now available via stream at the Marshals part of the official site.

The only thing that bothers me a bit is that the song is as soft as butter with hardly any quirky edges, flowing along so smoothly with such an irresistibly tight rhythm, which might make this Bloc Party’s biggest commercial hit to date, sooner or later. Oh the horror?

Or is it hypocritical to like something so much but not wanting more people to appreciate it, too? I just don’t want to be like some people on certain messageboards declaring their love for certain bands and how they think that band X is better than band Y and want other people to realise the same. But when that happens, when more and more people start getting into band X, they suddenly accuse band X of becoming too commercial. That’s plain silly.
But what if there’s definite proof that band X has indeed become too commercial, writing songs that follow a certain pop hit formula? I suppose (and strongly hope) Bloc Party are too intelligent and different to go down that path, they themselves being alert observers of today’s music scene and all…

[Current music & subject of this entire post: Bloc Party - Two More Years]

Mr Lamacq played the new Bloc Party single on his show which totally made my week. Aah, the happiness! The song is absolutely effing brilliant! I love every tiny little bit of it. Every fracture of a second of it is a sonic pleasure unrivalled by anything else at the moment.
The verse is beautiful. Quite calm and atmospheric. The lyrics are touching and thoughtful; as always, they prove why Bloc Party are so much better than 99% of all the other recent British rock bands. But the chorus tops it all!!! OMG Matt!
(Warning. Mindless gushing ahead. I apologise in advance for any mental damage caused. Please close your eyes and skip the next line. Just pretend it doesn’t exist.)
Matt has the sexiest voice EVARRRR ♥

I love Matt’s singing voice which is part of why I prefer the old, raw version of The Marshals are dead that’s on the Bloc Party E.P. to the polished version on the So here we are DVD single. His voice gives the song a completely different quality in comparison to the newer version on which Gordy sings the chorus without Matt. He’s such a good singer I’ve been hoping more vocal duties would be given to him. (And they were, finally! Haha!) Ah, I really wish in a parallel universe Matt was the singer of his own band…!

But back to Two more years. The chorus is so hauntingly beautiful it gives me goosebumps. I totally like how they mixed Kele’s, Matt’s and Gordy’s voices! (Do I hear Russell, too?) Gordy’s solo part towards the end is really wonderful, too.

To sum it all up, a stunning song where all things combined – instrumentation, vocalisation, melodies, harmonies – form a blindingly brilliant song that leaves me in tears. (And when was the last time I could say that about a song that was this danceable?)
Now, if only it wasn’t almost 2 more months till the single comes out ;_;

[Music: Editors - The Back Room, Bloc Party - Bloc Party E.P.]

I’m tired. Which is weird considering I’ve been doing comparatively little these past few days. Or maybe I’m not tired but my eyes are burning because I got an eye infection/irritation of sorts because I’ve been wearing my contacts for too long almost every day of this week. Meh.

Why is every kanji dictionary giving me different stroke orders for certain kanji? I’m going crazy here. But I mustn’t give up. 勉強しなきゃならない。Aah.

[Album of the day: Stars - Set yourself on fire]

I spent a wonderful weekend in Berlin and found a cute little apartment for myself!!! It’s located in a wonderfully quiet street with trees, birds, friendly neighbours, fat dogs and little children (there’s a kindergarten nearby) and it’s just a 3-minute walk to the nearest trainstation so getting everywhere will be a walk in the park, almost quite literally. Ich bin ein Pfannkuchen Berliner!
To state the very obvious, I’m extremely excited :P

[Music: Editors - The Back Room]

I’ve been trying to see my grandparents as often as possible this summer. My grandmother isn’t really well because the chemotherapy has taken its toll on her body. I hate to see her suffering; sometimes she looks at me as if she’s pleading me to take the pain off of her. But I can’t. Not even the doctors can. She has to go through this now, alone, to make a full recovery.
Whether you’re the one in pain or whether you’re the one watching someone who suffers, there’s a barrier between each of us that can’t be broken down by anything because we’re individual human beings. We’re seperate beings as far as our bodies go. No one can take away your illness and suffer for you. It’s the biggest form of loneliness, the ultimate isolation.
It’s not necessarily a bad thing or something that makes me feel depressed. It’s a fact. A cold hard fact that I have to live with.
And it’s okay really, because even if I cannot share my grandma’s physical pain, I can at least spend time with her and help her with every other trouble she might have to face now.

On weekdays, I’m doing all sorts of things. Looking for apartments in Berlin. Babysitting my cousins. Reading. (Btw, I thought Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was excellent. I’ll need to read this at least a second time to decide exactly how much I like it but I enjoyed this first read immensely.) Studying Japanese. Hopefully, it’ll be enough to pass the uni entrance exam. I don’t have to get full marks or anything, I just need to pass. Or so I’ve been telling myself. But there’s still my perfectionism I have to deal with first!
Oh and I’ve also survived the biggest heat wave in years, but that’s pretty obvious by now, isn’t it.