Music and naptime, suitable for all ages . . . right?

Ladies and gentlemen, that's right all six of you, I have something to write about. Thursday night I saw the film Due Date with Robert Downey Junior. I mean the film features Robert Downey Junior, I wasn't with him when I saw it. It was funny. What made it even more funny was the Rockstar energy drink I had drunk before and during the movie. I have a few fun facts for you about this lovely energy drink. It is amazingly delicious. It can make you go mental. I like to drink it. When I drink them too quickly I go insane.

We were running late for the movies, I had an opened Rockstar in my hand, I was power walking and I drank it at a non-recommended pace. It is difficult to sit still in a movie when your heart rate goes nuts, or when your hands are shaking from intense caffeine, or when you can't think of a third thing to put in a sentence. When I drink Rockstar too quickly, I inevitably have an intense sugar rush then an intense sugar crash and wake up feeling sleepy the next morning. Being the genius that I am, I managed to forget about the exam I had the following morning. Yeah I probably failed that. Oh well it's just maths.

I drew this when I finished the exam. It says "Rockstar. Guaranteed to keep you up until 3:30 the night before your exam." I really don't think I did well in that.

What I originally wanted to talk about is what happened after the energy drink started to wear off. I was exhausted but not sleeping. I am no stranger to insomnia. It is like a terrible house guest, showing up unannounced, messing up my sleeping patterns, eating all the food, being impolite and just leaving without cleaning up after itself.

There is one up side to having experience with insomnia, because I had several ready made time fillers by my bedside. Unfortunately George the Net book was in the lounge room, but I still had my fancy paper notebook and my even fancier CD Walkman. Yes yes I know it is no longer the 80's but I like listening to substantial CD's rather than ripping them onto an iPod then leaving them on a shelf. Besides I can't afford an iPod.

So there I was, conclusion that I would not sleep drawn with detail and colour. I picked up my fancy Walkman and my even fancier go-lo bought CD case and started flipping through for something to listen to. Oh the choices! Paramore, Florence and the Machine, Nirvana, Mumford and Sons, just to name a few. Then there are the compilation or Mix CDs that fill a fair portion of that case. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Saint Motel, Pierce the veil, the Real Tuesday Weld, the Cure all feature on a few of them.

None of these were what I was going for. I needed constant mellow, something to chill out to. Just as the phrase flew through my head I remembered the last time I had listened to music for the specific need to chill out. It was winter (chill out get it) and I was sitting in a cool windowsill, gazing out at various trees and rooftops of Falls Creek. I was scribbling in my notebook, my old one that is, and watching the snow drift like the debris from an exploding cloud. I had my head leaning against the cold glass of the window as my recently purchased Angus and Julia Stone album, down the way, played on my speakers in the background.

Needless to say I listened to it again last night. Not only because the mellow tunes are great for tired eyes, but because as I listened I remembered the snow. I was even more aware of the cool breeze seeping in from outside, the cold touch and the music of the 'down the way' album aiding the memories. I listened to the whole CD as I had many times before and I marveled at how a memory can be linked to a sound, a feeling stirred by the strum of a guitar, a mind challenged by a meticulous jumble of lyrics.

Music is pretty amazing when you think about it. How many things can you say have been around for you since you were born? How many things can you say have changed to suit you as you've grown up? From the Wiggles to Bullet for my Valentine, when said like that it seems like a great leap. Music is completely unique. There is something for everyone, it doesn't matter what your interest.

I think it is really awesome that you don't have to listen to just one kind of music. I have mix CD's where Marylin Manson precedes Florence and the machine and follows Bombay bicycle club. Those three genres are so different it doesn't even make sense that I love them all, but I do. It doesn't matter if I'm listening to cheerful songs like Mr. Pitiful by Matt Costa then I get the urge to listen to a depressing song like 9 crimes by Damien Rice. Creepy video for that last one.

Another awesome thing about music is how it works with your imagination. For instance, whenever I listen to Florence and the Machine's Girl with one eye, I always picture the performance in my head. Because I have never withheld my mental arguments I have had with myself, the weird thoughts I have had when seeing unusual things, or even my opinion on things no normal people even think about, I will not withhold how I picture Florence's performance either. I even told you about the time I walked all the way to McDonald's to use the Internet and forgot to charge my Net book before hand, so any respect you had for me is probably gone anyway.

When I hear the song I always think of an old fashioned gentleman's club. The lights are dimmed, the audience is all well dressed and looking at the stage in the middle of the room, where there is of course a large ebony piano among band members and instruments. As the electric guitar starts, the singer steps out in an impossibly sparkly red dress and starts singing the song. It just sounds like the kind of song that has to be sung while the singer lazes about on the grand piano and strolls around a stage winking at the men in the audience as their jaws drop.

Florence Welch!

That's how I see it anyway because I have an unusual imagination. Wouldn't trade it for the world though because it makes my dreams interesting and therefore my sleep less boring. Speaking of which, unhearted by Automatic Love Letter is a good song. Giving you lots to listen to in this post aren't I? I really appreciate music and I hope you appreciate that this post took me like two or three days to write because I am so easily distracted. That and I was recovering from the effects of Rockstar and sleep deprivation.

The moral of the story is Rockstar energy drink makes you feel like a Rockstar. And it is awesome.

-RachOddSocks