My wonderful roommate (E)is just as OCD as I am, if not more, and while I think we get slightly annoyed at each other sometimes because of it, it usually works in our favor and I love her all the same. We're great at keeping our apartment clean and also at making it feel homey. Observe, our altar to the homemaking goddesses:
Surprisingly, this is the only area in our apartment that we didn't plan out before moving in. It just kind of came together. On the left is a bouquet of flowers illegally cut from around our complex by E and I in the dead of night, placed in a vase I collected from goodwill. In the back is a rather eclectic painting my parents found at a garage sale, one that I'm starting to grow quite fond of. In front of it is a sunny little platter from a secondhand antique store; it's scattered with rose petals and in the middle we placed a little white Malayan Coco candle I picked up last year from a cute boutique in Paia, Hawaii. And of course, to its right, E's copy of The Joy of Cooking opened to a page of tomato sauce recipes (on my list to try: octopus pasta sauce). This collection of treasures rests atop another garage sale find by my parents, a one-drawer table in like-new condition (where do my parents find these things?!).
End my detailed account of items on a table. This is probably the part of our apartment (or dare I say, home) that E and I are most proud of. After all, it adds the beauty element to my criteria for a well-rounded home: clean, beautiful, functional, and comfortable.
Now, completely unrelated to the previous topic (or is it?): over the past couple years I've become completely obsessed with--for lack of better words (I'm sure they would find better ones)--soulful, powerful, female musicians. They are by no means from a single musical genre or era: among them are Simone Simons of Epica, Etta James, Tarja, old Nelly Furtado (revived from my elementary school days), Sharon Den Adel, Tracy Chapman, Sierra and Bianca from CocoRosie, Corinne Bailey Rae, Hannah Fury, Diana Krall, and Fiona Apple. To polish off the list are these two beautiful women.
Imogen Heap, and
Emilie Autumn.
Yes, I chose photos that depict them from the same angle, and maybe I can safely say there are similarities in their musical style, but it would be wrong to say that these ladies are like anyone but themselves. They are individuals among individuals; completely one-of-a-kind, inspired by things I only hope I can see too one day. Yet while I was listening to them recently, I realized that two of their songs, Castle Down by Emilie and Candlelight by Imogen, sound suspiciously similar.
The majority of Castle Down is played in a minor key, while Candlelight is predominantly major, but other than this their melodies--especially the down-up up-down of their choruses--are practically interchangeable.
Now, with any other musicians, I would assume that one had simply copied the other (here I would think Imogen's song is the original, as hers was released in 1998, while Emilie's was released in 2003). I would have a little laugh and shake my head at the music industry and move on with my life. But the fact that Imogen Heap and Emilie Autumn are so utterly unique, both musically and personally, makes me wonder if more is going on here. No, I don't have any logical theories at the moment. I will soon. Stay posted.
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