you're the only one i want

I meant to make an endeavor to rediscover my holiday spirit last night but studying for today's Philosophy exam took precedence over listening to Christmas music and writing Christmas cards. Now that I've more or less completed my studying, I turned to trawling the internet for Asianified Christmas songs that would put me back in the spirit of things. I have a 526MB folder of Christmas music in English and instrumentals (15 versions of "Carol of the Bells" - why, yes, it is my favorite holiday song, why do you ask?), but despite importing it back into my iTunes mid-November, it did very little to sweep me away with the usual holiday cheer.

There's just something about Kpop songs that makes the most traditional Christmas songs so much more fun - probably because I am on a huge Korean music kick at the moment, but I love their (attempts at) English, the mandatory rap break, and how utterly poppy everything is. I've always been a pop girl at heart and I'm no longer afraid to admit it. I don't like most hardcore rock, metal, alternative, emo, punk, whatever music. Some of the songs aren't bad, but those are the exceptions that prove the rule: I'm a cheesy pop music lover and it's good this way. I like it loud, cheerful, fast-paced, fun to dance to. Even better if it happens to be Christmas-themed.

What does that say about me? Your taste in music is supposed to reflect your personality, isn't it? Well, I assume it means that I have little patience for overly-tragic, sad, slow songs (again, exceptions that prove the rule, but on the whole, they tend to annoy me because I lose interest in the dwelling on heartbreak). It means I like to be entertained, that I like to feel good, and that I think focusing on the more cheerful things in life beats lingering over the bad things. It means I occasionally like to (pretend to) be more hardcore than I usually am, maybe displaying a side most people wouldn't expect (especially when I'm angry or frustrated). It means that I don't mind not being able to understand the lyrics to what I listen to, that it's the music and the beat that matter more (though I've realized knowing the lyrics to a song can really transform the way I understand or appreciate the song). It also reflects the importance I place on nostalgia: there are a few songs I would never like the way I do if they weren't attached to very sharp, specific memories.

I also tend to like songs more and more if I've heard good things about them, if I listen to them a lot, or if I really like the performances.

(OIn a completely different note, I've been typing so much in Word for final review and essays that it's become instinct to hit Ctrl+S every few minutes, which I've caught myself doing just now and also on AIM last night.)