Due to a serious lack of sleep, an unusual amount of things occupying most of my free time, and upcoming midterms (read: impending doom), I haven't had much time to squeeze in writing. Consequently, I'm behind on a number of really fun blog entries I have planned, including (but not limited to) a menu (Dave's idea), a Finding Your Voice entry, an entry involving my latest area of expertise, and a word or two about some local lawyers. In the meantime, though, I have today's entry, which rocks.

My friend Charli posted a great entry called Life's Soundtrack. Imagine your life (in this case it's mine) is really a movie, and for each scene you need a song for background music. Here's how it works:

1. Open your music library (iTunes, Windows Media Player, iPod, etc.)
2. Put it on SHUFFLE.
3. Press PLAY.
4. For every question, type the song that's playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the NEXT button.
6. Remember, take them in order, NO skipping/jumping.

SOUNDTRACK TO PHIL'S LIFE

• Opening Credits: Giants by Sponge

  Credits roll as something clearly phenomenal is about to begin. My name flashes across the screen, and it is evident that my presence is awe-inspiring. "It's like giants..." Yes indeed.

• Waking Up: Breathing by Yellowcard

  As I open my eyes, getting ready to start a new day, the violin kicks in with the melodic punk rock, and suddenly life is upon me. As I notice my own breathing, the weight of all that is going on in my life returns.

• First Day At School: Astounded by Tantric

  It's the start of something new, as evidenced by the bad-ass guitar work. I walk the halls humming as the words "all you stupid fuckers walk around astounded..." plays in the montage.

• Falling In Love: Late Redemption by Angra

  A change of seasons, as a mellow mood suddenly envelops me. The melancholy strikes a philosophical moment, and peace overwhelms me.

• Fight Song: The Songs of Anu: i) For the Glory of Enki ii) Of the Ashes of Ur iii) Return of the Nephilim by Derek Sherinian

  Life is tough, a struggle of wills to fight for what is right. This instrumental number is just right, exerting force and energy and boosting my own drive in all aspects of life.

• Breaking Up: Rumors Of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated by Rise Against

  Despite even my own sense of defeat, I realize that the fight is not over yet. I am still very much alive. "It's not the end that I fear with each breath, it's life that scares me to death..."

• Life's OK: Rainin' by Sponge

  Suddenly, everything seems clear to me. All I thought I had figured out, I learned was not quite what it seemed. "You got what you wished for, is that what you really wanted....it's rainin', it's rainin' in my house..." So life happens, and there's nothing I can do but roll with it.

• Mental Breakdown: Applachian Snowfall by The Trans-Siberian Orchestra

  I can no longer handle all that life has thrown at me. And yet, as evidenced by the music, I experience a reawakening. Something inside me suddenly brightens, and everything seems so clear!

• Driving: I Don't Want To Get Over You by The Magnetic Fields

  After a sense of failure, I realize that I don't ever want to look back. The time has come to move on, to remember what I learned from past mistakes, and to live my life for a change.

• Flashback: Wings of Reality by Angra

  Remembering all that I have experienced, introspection and reflection is only appropriate with a touch of reality. Not to mention a new sense of adventure and a new outlook on things. "Wings of reality take me higher and higher, show me the way to be..."

• Getting Back Together: Demonheart by Luca Turilli

  Bitterness remains the most difficult aspect of life to overcome. Especially when it comes to past, primarily unpleasant, experiences.

• Wedding: Shadow Stabbing by Cake

  A happy occasion! "Outside, outside the world, out there you don't hear the echos and calls..." As if I can't believe it's happening, I true sense of contentment consumes me.

• Birth of Child: Sorrow by Pink Floyd

  A new life. Fragile, amazing, destined for possiblity. With sad overtones, hope fills my soul. "The sweet smell of the great sorrow lies over there....one word, one soul, time pass, river roll..."

• Final Battle: Crazy by Nine Days

  Looking back on everything, it's hard to see just how much things have changed, and how much I've grown. "...it's not the same, while everything has changed..."

• Death Scene: Better Off Alone by Alice Deejay

  With a cruel sense of irony, death becomes a celebrated inevitability. It is something I recognize as a part of life, and there is nothing I can do about it.

• Funeral Song: Overrated by Three Days Grace

  Life itself seems to be much less than all it's cracked up to be. Truly, it is overrated. I feel no sorrow, only anger and bitterness.

• End Credits: Blood and Whiskey by Dropkick Murphys

  A spectacular ending in which I realize that life is all about the journey, and that you'd best have fun along the way. That's better than any happy ending ever.

And so there you have it, the soundtrack to my life. The little notes indicating montages and such are not, in fact, true. Instead, they're made up to more or less fit the mood of the soundtrack. That is all.