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About This Author
I am SoCalScribe. This is my InkSpot.
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Blogocentric Formulations
Logocentric (adj). Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics).
Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places:
Thanks for stopping by! 
February 7, 2014 at 10:47pm February 7, 2014 at 10:47pm
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DAY 7
Song: "In the Hall of the Mountain King"
Artist: Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
Album: The Social Network Soundtrack (2010)
I guess I'm on a mini Trent Reznor streak these past couple of days... I chose the cover Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross did for The Social Network soundtrack because I think it's a great updated version and was a great fit for the movie. The original, of course, was composed by Edvard Grieg for Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt. The reason this composition has special significance for me is because it was one of my first experiences with creative writing. I started writing stories for fun in fourth grade, but it wasn't until sixth grade that I found a teacher who really encouraged students to create compelling stories and find inspiration in other forms of art like poetry, music, painting, etc.
One of his favorite activities was to play a piece of classical music on repeat, allowing students to compose a narrative story inspired by the progression of the song. "In the Hall of the Mountain King" was one of the first songs he chose and it really inspired me to write my first fantasy story. It didn't hurt that we had just finished reading The Hobbit a few weeks prior; I was totally involved into dwarves and mountain fortresses and mining and all that good stuff. Hearing the name of the composition beforehand and all that Tolkien fresh in my head made it easy to imagine a magical and supernatural world... and I have no doubt that reading The Hobbit (and the entire The Lord of the Rings that I devoured in the following few weeks), combined with actually trying my hand at writing a fantasy story is what sparked my interest in the genre and what's turned out to be a lifelong fascination with fantastical worlds and creatures.
There aren't too many classical compositions that are going to make this list (there's a lot of classical music I like, but very few defining moments), but "In the Hall of the Mountain King" is definitely one of them.
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February 7, 2014 at 11:00am February 7, 2014 at 11:00am
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** Image ID #1970900 Unavailable **
DAY 6
Song: "The Only Time"
Artist: Nine Inch Nails
Album: Pretty Hate Machine (1989)
Full disclosure, this isn't actually my favorite song on the album, or even in my Top 5. It's actually in the bottom half of the tracks I like, but that's because this album had so many phenomenal songs on it. "Head Like a Hole" and "Sin" are my favorites, but I'm also a big fan of "Kinda I Want To," "Terrible Lie," "Down In It," and "Something I Can Never Have." But this particular track has a special place in my heart because it was playing during one of those moments as a kid where you're completely mortified at the time but can appreciate retelling the story once you're older and a bit removed from the experience.
When I was a teenager, I got really into computer games (this was back in the day when you had to play peer-to-peer by dialing up a buddy with your modem  ). At the time, my game of choice was the Quake, the first-person shooter developed by id Software (of Wolfenstein and Doom fame). The friend of mine that I always played games with was really into industrial rock, metal, and hardcore music and he was always burning me a copy of some new CD he got so I could listen to it. Pretty Hate Machine was one of the first albums he gave me to listen to, and I remember really getting into it, especially since its industrial sound fit pretty well with the world of Quake as we ran around trying to shoot one another's avatar.
My parents couldn't stand the music, so I took to closing the door to our home office (where the family computer was located) so I could play and listen to my heart's content and my parents wouldn't be bothered by the heavy beats or the sounds of mayhem and slaughter generated by the game. One day, my dad came into the office to get something for work, and it was timed at just the right moment in this song so that he heard the last lines of the first stanza of the song: "Lay my hands on heaven and the moon and the stars / While the devil wants to f*ck me in the back of his car."
It was one of those moments where my dad just stops in his tracks and I'm thinking "Oh crap, what's he going to do? What's he going to say?" And all he does is say, "Nice, Jeff. Real nice music you got there." And turned around and left the room without whatever it was he had come in to get. 
I've listened to the album maybe a hundred times over the years since then, and every single time that song comes on, it takes me right back to that night where my dad walked in and heard probably the most offensive lyrics on the entire album. I think it's safe to say he's not a Nine Inch Nails fan. Oh well; his loss. 
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