I’ve been thinking a lot about sadness lately, but only because it seems to have elected itself as a permanent sheen on my otherwise pretty good life. I have found myself getting sad over the littlest things like having to explain things to people twice, social exclusion, accidentally exposed rolls of film and, most recently, withholding tax.

Once, Reggie wrote that she doesn’t even remember what kind of things she used to be so sad about in high school. I know what that feels like, when it comes to my life, too. Because, I don’t think my life was ever severely lacking, at least in the ways that mattered. It’s just like that Smashing Pumpkins song, I’m in love with my sadness, but believe me when I say that I never truly mean to be.

At some point in my life, I agreed with a lot of things that John Green’s female protagonist in Looking for Alaska thought. Alaska said, “Pudge, what you must understand about me is that I’m a deeply unhappy person” and briefly, I believed with all my heart that that was just the kind of person I was. Lately, I’ve been giving in to sadness and negativity, and the truth is, I haven’t felt as disconnected from myself as I do now.

It’s not like “I don’t know myself anymore,” but it’s more like “I don’t feel good when I respond or think this way.” I don’t think I’m alone when I say that sadness is beautiful. It’s beautiful in a way that honesty and vulnerability are beautiful, especially in the face of ugly, painful things. I’m drawn to it, because it opens up a more interesting complexity in humanity, reveals a side that a lot of people would just rather ignore.

“Brod discovered 613 sadnesses, each unique, each a singular emotion, no more similar to any other sadness than to anger, ecstacy, guilt, or frustration. Mirror sadness. Sadness of domesticated birds. Sadness of being sad in front of one’s parent. Humor sadness. Sadness of Love Without Release.” — Everything is Illuminated; Jonathan Safran Foer.

But, just because it sometimes can be beautiful, it doesn’t mean that I should constantly seek it out and put myself in situations where sadness will prevail over everything else.

It’s no secret that I relate to a lot of coming-of-age stories. These stories reflect basic human pains, stings of which are often felt for the first time, and then they tell of how young people overcome them. The first pangs of betrayal or rejection might just be some of the worst feelings in the world. Sometimes, it gets worse, but we learn, we grow, and we cope. That’s how the world works. I think sad situations are inevitable, but ultimately, you get to choose how you respond and how much of yourself you allow to be affected.

I don’t mean to say that it’s better to be a happy person than to be a sad person, but I think that I personally should know by now how to better deal with these bouts of sadness and these tiny tragedies, without having to feel like the whole world is ending or that my heart is imploding on itself. My So-Called Life‘s Angela Chase is an early adopter in Wallowing, but I imagine that even she eventually had to suck it up and deal with her feelings, too. I’m thinking, maybe, so should I.

“Do you have doubts about life? Are you unsure if it is really worth the trouble? Look at the sky: that is for you. Look at each person’s face as you pass them on the street: those faces are for you. And the street itself, and the ground under the street, and the ball of fire underneath the ground: all these things are for you. They are as much for you as they are for other people. Remember this when you wake up in the morning and think you have nothing. Stand up and face the east. Now praise the sky and praise the light within each person under the sky. It’s okay to be unsure. But praise, praise, praise.” — The Shared Patio; Miranda July.

The past few weeks have been busy and even though sometimes I feel like I haven’t been doing enough, a review of events—I’d like to think—proves otherwise. So far, April has seen two art-related things, 16×16, which was for Young Star’s 16th birthday and a fundraising for Outerhope organized by Blanc Gallery.

For Young Star, 8 visual artists collaborated with 8 photographers, working on 16×16 canvases. I was partnered with Hannah Reyes, who is one of the most talented (and sunny!) people I know. It was such a great experience for the both of us and I think our styles worked really well together. Primer, a sponsor of the event, even chose our piece, “Keeping Things Whole,” as their favorite. :)

We decided to name our piece after a poem by Mark Strand called “Keeping Things Whole.” Hannah’s photos were mostly from her travels around the Philippines. Here’s the poem:

Keeping Things Whole
Mark Strand

In a field
I am the absence
of field.
This is
always the case.
Wherever I am
I am what is missing.

When I walk
I part the air
and always
the air moves in
to fill the spaces
where my body’s been.

We all have reasons
for moving.
I move
to keep things whole.

Stole some more pictures from the event, but click here for the rest of the album by Young Star.

Sarie, Joey, Martin, Becca, me and Tim.

Sarie, Therese, Nice, Joey, Leloy, Martin, Becca, me and my brother, Luis.

I didn’t get to go to the fundraising night for Outerhope, but you can see the piece I made by clicking here. I hope my contribution helped them, even a little bit, though I have no news if it did.

On to the exciting part (as if these things weren’t enough)! Two great things are coming up this May. My friend Zoe has been working her butt off for Lightbombs Contemporary and has kindly invited me as one of the artists she wants to represent in Hong Kong. This May, Lightbombs is going to be part of Art East Island, which occurs parallel to Art HK, the International Hong Kong Art Fair.

I’ll be showing a few pieces along with Zeus Bascon, Michael De Feo, Jed Escueta, Dex Fernandez, Dan Findlay, David Griggs, Jonathan Jay Lee, Maya Muñoz, Christina Quisumbing Ramilo, Marc Standing and Pancho Villanueva. If you’re interested, here are some more details!

I’m so excited because I’ll be able to catch the art fair this year. The day after we get back, another group show will open! Through The Looking Glass: Jose Rizal opens on the 26th of May at Manila Contemporary.

I’ll be showing alongside Jacob Lindo! Who is extremely talented, and towards whom I feel talent envy. If you recall, I fangirled like a lunatic over his solo show at our gallery a couple of months back. He is amazing, and I am both excited and scared (that I’ll make crap!) but I’m really thankful that I’ll be a part of this show.

Things are falling into place (I think). I have a couple more news but I’ll save those for another entry. Once these things have taken a more discernible shape. Sometimes, I feel listless and down, but then when I sit down and think about my life, really think about it, I find that there are tons of things that are worth working hard for.

A week ago, I noticed a large number of traffic to my portfolio, http://carina-santos.com, coming from one James Templeton. At that point, he had only a splash page and a banner announcing that his site was still underconstruction, but permalinks to specific pages brought to my attention that this dude was ripping off my layout.

Lo & behold, when I checked back a few days later, his new website was up.

Which is cool and all. Except it’s pretty much an exact copy of mine:

The grids and the code were the same. The navigation was the same, it was the same even down to the colors, and the sidebar information.

Anyway, I sent him an email, explaining the situation and asking nicely for him to take it down, since it is unethical and unprofessional, given that we both work as designers. Essentially, it was a pretty darned nice email, especially after having my design, layout and code ripped off.

I waited for an entire day and didn’t receive a reply. @scrufus pointed out that he had been hotlinking to my own CSS files! The nerve! I quickly pulled down my stylesheet. Zet got a screencap and this is what his site looked like. At least for a while:

Sarie asked about the matter, and I told her that I dealt with it, but when she checked his page again, it had reverted to the old structure. He replaced the stylesheet with one that he had stolen from me, except his fonts are screwed up because the files are hosted with me.

However, his code still links to my own javascript files. You know, because he copied my code exactly.

Anyway, it’s just really disappointing and frustrating to spend hours on code and design something, and making sure it looks right, only to have it ripped off. I used Borja Fernandez’ theme, which looks like this untouched:

I had to figure out the tables, the code, the layout, the colors, and everything. It’s annoying and, quite frankly, disgusting for a middle-aged man in Tennessee to be stealing from a 23-year-old freelance designer from a third world country. It’s hard enough as it is to get jobs and sustain myself. I don’t need people stealing my work.

Anyway, that’s the story. I hope there’s something I can do about it, but so far, I have emailed him at james@jamestempleton.com and I have received no replies in return. You can help me by emailing (haha) or sharing this post. It’s so sad and I feel a little helpless, but I’m also, I think, on the way to infuriated, which is not going to be pleasant.

I tried to keep them small things this time.

• Read 7 books. Cut down the amount drastically, because I never reach the original reading goals I’ve set anyway.
• Clean out closet or my side of the room. One or the other, because I don’t think I can do both.
• Update resume. I think I need a letterhead.
• Make business card. Because it’s kind of embarrassing that I still don’t have one.
• Earn at least (privately disclosed amount). Steps toward my end-of-the-year goal.
• Figure out specifications for Codeword: White. Scary deadlines approaching!
• Finally sort out mail that’s going out. Because it’s just gross that I still haven’t.
• Retrieve cameras from repair shop.
• Watercolor once a week! So I can get better at it. I forced my dad to teach me, see.
• Write (an outline of) a short story. Just because I think I need to do it now, or else I might forget how to.

For real now. I think sometimes I forget that I am twenty-three, have been done with college for over two years, and am trying to carve out a decent life for myself. If I remembered that more often, maybe I would quit living like it’s summer vacation for me, too.

Anyway, fingers crossed. I’m going to get rid of all of these lazy bones and follow through this time.

Finally, I get to somewhat write about Death Cab for Cutie. Being generally unemployed as we are, Sarie and I lined up at around 1:30 p.m. for an 8 o’clock show, and we thought that might have been too much. But when we got there, there were two other groups of people who had already been waiting there since 10 and 11 a.m. Call it crazy, but we’ve been waiting for this show for ten or so years.

A few hours into waiting, we caught part of the sound check. It was spine-tingling hearing Ben Gibbard’s voice float towards us across the room, through the glass. (A melody softly soaring through the atmosphere, hehe.) I felt my heart rise up to my throat, and it was a nice preamble to the show we were about to see. Some of the songs they played weren’t part of their set list but we didn’t know it at the time, so it was like an extra show. These were the songs they played:

• “Different Names for the Same Thing”
• “Meet Me on the Equinox”
• “Death of an Interior Decorator” — this was particularly fun. Everyone we were there with sang, Can you tell me why you have been so-oh-oh-oh sa-ah-aaaaahd?
• what we think might have been a portion of Big Star’s “Thirteen”

In the end, I wasn’t allowed to bring in my SLR—hey, a girl’s gotta try!—so it’s been a painful wait for these photos to be processed, since I took with the only other camera I had with me, an LC-A+. With only one range, four focus points, and a dark room, I’m pretty happy with the results.

Sarie, Belle & Helga. We were front and center. It was glorious.

Thinny Ben! He ran all over the stage like a little critter.

It was a great, great show. Tops a lot I’ve seen, and I’ve seen quite a few amazing ones. They opened with “A Lack of Color,” starting it with a really great soft mood. I had expected a more energetic song, but for an audience deprived of seeing them live, it was perfect. After a few minutes, I looked over to Sarie, and she was already crying. Death Cab for Cutie has always known how to find ways for us to say the little pains and hurts we can’t verbalize or seem to make sense of.

The next song, “I Will Possess Your Heart” with a shortened intro, was incredible to hear live. To follow were “Crooked Teeth,” “We Laugh Indoors,” and “Photobooth,” something we had hoped they would play. My brother caught it on video:

It was followed by a bunch of songs that I like but had little emotional ties to: “Doors Unlocked and Open,” “Long Division” (sooooo good), “Grapevine Fires,” and “Codes and Keys.” I was casually enjoying the show, good musicians that they are, when I hear a familiar trickle of piano notes. They were beginning to play “What Sarah Said,” and I lost it completely. I love this song; I had been hoping I would get to see them play this, and I did. Amazing.

As if that weren’t enough of bruising for my heart, they launched into “I Will Follow You Into the Dark,” another song that is just so damn good and so sad. Following this was “Title and Registration” (another favorite), “You are a Tourist” and “The New Year,” which is everyone’s New Year song and is super duper fun to sing to.

Ben and Chris Walla. I love how they switched some of the songs up with instruments and arrangements. I can’t grasp how much talent was up there on that stage. I mean—Chris Walla—come on.

Then, we got “Company Calls,” “Company Calls Epilogue,” “Soul Meets Body,” and another personal favorite, “Cath…” Then, we really got to hear their musicality through a really long version of “We Looked Like Giants,” during which Ben played on another drum set along with Jason McGerr. I don’t particularly like that song, but it was so intense, I just watched in awe. A lot of people came to love Death Cab for Cutie because of their emotional hold around us, but I saw then how amazing they are, even beyond creating emotions.

They “finished off” their set with “The Sound of Settling,” which is something they seem to rarely play. Everyone knows there’s going to be an encore, and we tried to think of songs we would love for them to play. They came back out and launched into “Home is a Fire” and, weirdly enough, “Meet Me on the Equinox.” Apparently, there is a huge-ass Twilight following in the Philippines, so I guess I am blaming them for this song choice. I mean, it’s good, but why do we get the Twilight song, when according to Setlist.fm, they haven’t played since July 2011.

But I can’t complain, because they sang “A Moviescript Ending,” the first Death Cab for Cutie song I remember truly, completely loving. And then, of course, they finished off with “Transatlanticism,” reducing us all to a big, living pool of tears.

Looking at the ratio of songs, the Manila set was filled with old favorites and just a handful of new songs. My brother thinks that it’s because they have only been here to play once. At the beginning of the show, Ben apologized to Manila for never having played here before. I think the crowd’s energy just stunned him. It stunned me, too. Everyone was singing along and knew all the words. It was an incredible place to be in; it was thrilling to have seen it all unfold up close.

Ben tweeted the best compliment a group of fans could ever hope for, and I don’t know, I guess I forgive them for having taken this long to get here. Just as long as it means that they’ll be back.

On February 27, Winston kindly invited me and Sarie to a soft opening of The Mind Museum in Taguig. It was a great experience, but I don’t know if I’m willing to shell out Php 750 for it. I think it’s probably more worthwhile to check it out if you have children, or if you can avail of the student’s and/or teacher’s discounts, which is a dramatic decrease from the price.

I’m in love with the design and the structure itself, but there’s a lot of improvements they can still make (i.e. displays, readability/copy, screen presentations, etc) for it to be truly “world-class.” It was still pretty fun to see all the displays, though. I wish I paid more attention in science when I still had school.

The Mind Museum opens on the 16th of March. Book tickets here now: http://www.themindmuseum.org/

We were greeted by this robot-type thing named Aedi. I don’t actually know if she functions via a motion sensor because she was already talking when we got there and then she kind of stopped mid-sentence.

After an informative (but pretty text-heavy) display on The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments, there’s a “fork in the road.” To your left is a Filipino-centric area where you can learn more about native animals and the state of the environment in the Philippines. It’s more concentrated on biodiversity and ecology. It’s kind of sad to see how it doesn’t seem like the right people are focused on the conservation of our natural environment. We have so many beautiful animals that I’d never even heard of and I probably won’t be able to see them either, since they’re habitats are continuously destroyed.

To your right is a more science-oriented area, where you can learn more about the world on a basic, atomic level.

There were several field trips on tour with us! It was nice to see kids engaging with the displays. I think that the museum’s mostly geared towards educating them, as opposed to being “worthwhile” for adults.

One of my favorite parts is the space station. It’s a dark dome-like area with a planetarium and a bunch of displays that have simple information, but also a brief history of space exploration, which is one of my favorite things:

A display on the solar system.

Phases of the moon.

Sarie in space! With my LC-A+ :)

Pretty space suit! Agh, it must be so cool to be licensed to travel in space.

A walk through a tunnel that simulated gravity (!) brings you over to prehistoric times. Kinda like time traveling, by way of the stretch of my imagination.

Historical dioramas.

Fossilization process.

What’s this?!

Stan the T-Rex!

The Mind Museum has a replica of actual dinosaur bones, if I’m not mistaken. Sarie and I laughed at how doofy T-Rex’s arms made them look.

This is a lightbridge type of thing but they were cleaning it when we were there. Pretty colors, though.

Here’s a cool globe where you get to view the earth in several different ways (with clouds, without clouds, according to temperature, typhoon routes, arctic behavior, etc). It also shows the planets in relation to the size of the sun, which was an incredible thing to realize.

And then people came.

Modern day displays of technology and culture.

Solar powered bugs!

The Force is strong with this one!

Bad picture of an idea that I love.

Boo!

That’s all, folks!

February was absolutely horrible for this Goals project of mine. I don’t think I got anything done from that list. However, maybe it’s a sign that I need to revise and re-evaluate what my goal-making scheme is of late (which, to tell you the truth has been No Scheme).

Anyway, here’s what I’ve come up for March. I think, as much as I want to do eleven million things each month, I need to concentrate on just a few key priorities.

• Solid idea or concept for June show
      — at least 3 pieces done
      — PR and invite stuff done
• Read 7 books
• Learn a new recipe a week (0/4)
• Monitor expenses better (i.e. rigid, detailed accounting)
• Spring cleaning
• Write one short story

Anyway, I think I’m up for it this time.

I’m working on my intense (!) backlog for Nothing Spaces—updating which I know shouldn’t feel like an obligation, but they’re things I’ve intended on posting about anyway—but here’s one of the little sprinkled joys I’ve had the last month.

I went to the Vincent Moon screening in Big Bag Wolf. Apparently, it was held on the very same day as he landed in Manila. In between shuffling in the airport and the screening, he found himself on a jeepney to Intramuros. Without reading the signs.

Anyway, I’ll save the rest for later. For now, let me gush a little bit about this wonderful man. He made a name for himself shooting Take-Away Shows for a French music blog (his friend’s) and I suppose that’s what he’s primarily known for. Now, he’s reaching a little bit deeper, in pursuit of a more spiritual side to music. That’s why he’s here, anyway.

I gave him my copy of The National’s A Skin, A Night to sign, because humans have this weird quest to collect people’s signatures (a habit brought to my attention by my brother while we were driving after a show). He looked totally bewildered that I had it, muttered something along the lines of “This is my passion,” and signed it. (Later, I will learn that he hated this film and had not seen it in quite some time.)

On the back, he wrote something in French, which stirred that part of me that wanted to learn the language so badly:

How beautiful is that?

The rest of the night was illuminating. At the risk of sounding ridiculously obvious, I was completely over the moon.

We saw Toro y Moi play again, and this time I got to take pictures for Restless Cities. Not the best ones, obviously, but I briefly thought about being a photographer in late high school up to early college because of gig photography. Then, I accepted that that was probably not a smart direction for me. Still, though, I had a lot of fun.

In preparation for Death Cab for Cutie on March 5 (woohoo!), Attraction! Reaction! put together another Death Cab for Cutie night. I went to my first one as a college sophomore, and I think this has been the only other one after that. Amazing. Coverage for this up on Restless Cities. I can’t wait for next week (!!!) which is when Sarie and I have planned to camp out in line five hours before show time. Probably not joking.

I’m glad I’m spending my extra leap year day doing non-waste-y things. I finished up a bit of work stuff earlier today. Tonight, I’m seeing The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and I don’t know, from this vantage point, the rest of 2012 looks absolutely stellar. If all goes according to plan, that is.

I guess February is music-filled; I miss going to art shows and getting to read. I’m in the middle of my third book for February, which is kind of sad because I set out to read 7 (heh) this month. It’s okay, though, I think I’m kind of in love with it. (These are the books I’ve read so far.)

On another note, I’ve been sad about this blog. I don’t know what to do with it. I think I just miss writing, and things pile up, and then I sort of forget how to without sounding unlike myself. It’s nice to look back on the things that have happened the last month, though, because despite feeling sad or unsure about certain things, at least I have proof of all the good things that have been happening to me.

The Traveling Music Bug bit me in 2010, when my brother and I decided to go to Singapore for the Vampire Weekend concert. We went again in 2011 for The National. It’s not the first time we’ve flown to satiate the needs of our inner fans. Once, my dad flew our whole family over to Singapore because he wanted to meet Julian Schnabel. I’m tempted to say that this need to flock towards an idol runs in the family, but I think it has more to do with piso-fares and other people’s hospitality than bloodlines.

Anyway, Laneway 2012 was, if anything, such an experience. It’s my first full-on festival, having opted out of full participation in local music festivals like Muziklaban, Fete de la Musique, Fete de la WSK, Summer Slam and so on. The closest I’ve probably been to going to a music festival were high school fairs—which is such a stupid comparison, I know.

I loved it so much, though. The journey going to–a pilgrimage!—the high highs, low lows, the heat, the drizzling, the decided sweatiness of the people who shared this experience with me, the tiny moments and the secrets. All of it was memorable and still quite stark in my brain.

Anyway, as much as I would like to offer a full recounting of the events that transpired a week ago (exactly), I can’t do that, as we arrived late and missed Cults. From the back of the very long entrance line that snaked around Fort Canning, we heard the rumble of instruments and the roar of the crowd, and from that distance, I’d like to think that I liked what I heard. I’m sad I missed them, but all I honestly could think about was:

“Will we make it in time for Yuck?”

(We did.)

On Yuck: The band that I really, really wanted to see. We found a pretty good spot that was near enough for me to both a) appreciate the music, and b) feel like a super fan, which is validated by the nearness of the person (me) to the object of admiration (Yuck). It was good. I loved the lilt of Daniel Blumberg’s voice, his denim-on-denim cropped ensemble, the way he tilts his head when he sings. By the way, someone looked into the philosophy behind “The Wall.” Anyway, it was a great set, and I’m glad we made it on time because I would have been really bummed out for the rest of the day.

When “Shook Down” came on, we all went wild. And then Bijan asked them to play “Shook Down” again, which of course they did not do.

Major stars-in-eyes moment for Mariko Doi. I only wish I could have played the bass as coolly as she does.

We skipped Chairlift and took a water break, cutting through the National Museum of Singapore, and settled in a Wendy’s near Bencoolen St. No way were we going to pay $4 for a bottle of water we were just going to pee out in a Porta-Potty.

Ran into the Cosons, Leloy, and Delfina. And made it back in time for a good part of the set of Austra. I honestly do not care that much for them, but it was really fun to watch people dancing to them. They sounded pretty good from a muffled distance, though.

On Girls: Aside from a flower-infested stage, Girls’ Christopher Owens opened with a lone, heartfelt cover of the late Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” in memory of her passing. They launched into a frenetic performance of their songs, all of which the audience danced to. Then came the shower of flowers, and “Yuck by Girls,” in which Christopher Owens sang “The Wall” as a voice-caricature of Daniel B.

On The Drums: Faaavorite set, as is evidenced by these photographs. I love them; I haven’t been listening much to any other music, post-Laneway. I can’t get tired of their songs (but I know I will have to stop soon or else I will). The moment Jonny Pierce came out singing “What You Were,” I lost it. I like them fine, but I don’t know that many of their songs. I’m glad we were watching so close to them. The energy was infectious.

I was being depressive and looking at The Drums’ videos on YouTube and someone said “Morrissey and Ian Curtis had a baby” and that is by far the most accurate description of Jonny P. I’ve ever read. Of course, we were also super smitten by Connor Hanwick. There’s just something about him.

Rested a little bit during Ana Calvi. We watched from a distance, and while she was really, really good, I don’t know if I’ve been converted into a fan. We secured our spot near the front of Stage 2, in preparation for Feist, who was going to come on four or five acts later. We bumped into Karen and Zaxx again! Serindipitous? Coincidence? Magnetism?

The day began to end as Twin Shadow came on.

On Twin Shadow: So, I was going to do an “On the Road to Laneway” type of thing, where I frantically listened to every act set to play the festival, but I never got around to doing that. I’ll say this, though—Twin Shadow’s voice is like caramel. It is so smooth and full and lovely. We stood behind a bunch of (super tall!) super fans, and it was contagious, their excitement for this incredibly talented bunch of people. It was super cool to be (somewhat) a part of.

On Laura Marling: The sea of people thickened like soup so we stayed put in our Stage Two positions as Laura Marling played. I sat down most of the time, since I don’t really know much of her songs. I did stand up and sing along to “Ghosts,” though which is my favorite song. The day after, when I was in our car going home, I was replaying this song in my head and can’t seem to get rid of all these feelings. I very nearly cried.

On The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: There were a lot of technical difficulties during their set. It was such a joy to watch. The lights were so good, and Kip played with so much feeling, and Peggy Wang was being Peggy Wang (Connor was playing with them! Hee!), and the energy was just so great. This is where I realized that we were all just feeding energy off of each other, because if I stopped and thought about anything else other than their music and how full it makes me feel, I would probably just die. I was so thirsty and my feet felt like they were on fire.

But—and I am not kidding—the music seemed to take all of that away. Whenever someone launches into a song that’s dear to my heart, the pain is erased, and I sing with everything that I have, and it’s just so marvelous and exciting. It makes every feeling feel even more incandescent.

Additionally, I seem to be the only person I know who actually likes their name.

On Toro y Moi: No photos of Toro y Moi because we were situated in an unfortunate spot (and I didn’t bother because I knew I would be seeing him in, like, 2 days back in Manila). What to say about this set? What I realized foremost is that I love Causers of This Toro, and I only like Underneath the Pine Toro, which is where he was at. Of course, I lost it completely, when he played “Talamak” and “Low Shoulder,” but I felt a huge disconnect from a lot of his dancier songs. I still love him, though.

On Feist: Agh, this lady is amazing. Most of her Laneway setlist is from Metals, which I quite enjoyed. Like what I said in a review of it that I wrote, Feist seems to ignore the pop-oriented songs that led to her super-fame, and stuck to her sound at the moment in that particular time in her life. Complete props to her. It was still grossly enthralling to watch her perform. She was just really something else.

I need to rewatch Look at What the Light Did Now, because she is just an amazing lady and I need to take tips so I can be more like her. Creatively, and everything-else-ly.

We left the crowd because we were dead tired (standing on an inclined hill for five hours!) and didn’t have to be super close to The Horrors or M83.

Sarie, napping on Doc Martens ponchos we got for free. I woke her up because we saw Peggy Wang (!) standing off to the side with Connor. We took photos but Sarie has them, and also I probably won’t post because I was a sunburnt sweaty mess.

On The Horrors: Meh. Didn’t care for them very much. I don’t know if it’s just their style, but it felt dispassionate and uninspired. Perhaps that’s also due to the fact that I hadn’t been standing and participative during this set, perhaps not. What I do remember from this time was that Sarie and I saw an Erlend Øye doppelgänger, at whom she shouted “Hi Erlend!” He waved back and that is how we knew that he was not a doppelgänger, but instead Pedestrian Erlend Øye.

That paragraph was not about The Horrors.

On M83: AGH. Best people to close a show with. There’s something about their performance that I think brought together the people who lasted until the night. If you’re a fan of M83, you would know how thick and layered and just complex their music is, and what amazes me so much is that they were able to replicate these sounds live. Maybe it’s the combination of the lights, and the people who’re still together and not sick of each other after twelve hours together, and being able to spend this special thing with people that I loved that made it feel so extraordinary.

This is the National Museum of Singapore at night. We cut through a garden to get to Kopi Tiam, which was open 24 hours. We ate duck at 2 a.m. and talked about our favorite parts of the day over dinner. I don’t know, but if I were to call some things magical, I think Laneway would undoubtedly be one of those things.