Out-takes

One of the candidate songs was My Little Lover’s 「り・ぼん」, and actually I think part of the title comes from this song too. I started listening to My Little Lover that year, and was really attracted. This song has a very typical 00s band pop taste, and has a very bright feel, despite being a winter song. Winter in Boulder sometimes could be harsh, but most of the time is a wonderful season, especially after snow when you can see the flatiron in distance under the blue sky. The air is crisp and clear.

The lyrics of that song also is amazing. During holiday seasons, when night falls much earlier, the lights also started decorating Pearl street.

数えきれぬ星　冬の空に　浮かび上がる
眠れぬまま　その輝きが　ココロの中　光伸びる
ルラ　赤いリボン　冬の街に　輝きだす
もしもここに　願い事さえ　叶うならば
想いのまま　目を閉じて

That year I also traveled to New Orleans and Santa Fe, for conferences. After three years without going to conferences, I finally made it, and not only once but twice, which gave me lots of confidence for my research.

赤く滲んでる　夢の続き　なぞったなら
あなたをまだ　強く感じる　花のように　香り放つ
ルラ　赤いりぼん　冬の空に　ほどけなくて
そして弱さ　受け入れるため　あなたもまた　旅をしてる　きっとまだ

The bright color of the front cover for this year’s photostream, which doesn’t really feel anything “wintery“, was actually taken during summer in New Orleans, and was chosen partly for accompanying this song. Probably because I listened to this song so many times, its advantage of being a very pop song turned to be a disadvantage — you can feel a bit tired of this song in the end.