Love and a Melody

I am a sucker for Valentine's Day. I love the hearts, the boxes of assorted chocolates, the purples and pinks, the sappy movies, and the crafty tin foil boxes for collecting valentines. However, my favorite part is the music. Music was made for lovers, both euphoric and scorned. So as my gift to you, a playlist of some of my favorite love songs. Happy Valentine's Day.






Valentine's Day 2012 Playlist

A Very Unhappy Blue Monday to You...

A scientist somewhere (probably Finland or Norway) figured out an equation for the most depressing day of the year, which always seems to fall on a Monday in January. This is Blue Monday. Apparently, the scientist was also a New Order fan. For 2012, it's tomorrow, January 23. In all honesty, mine was last week, so either his equation is off or I'm just ahead of the curve. Yeah, me.


To celebrate... well, more to commiserate, I made this lovely, dark New Wave inspired mix to get you through the day. 

At the bottom of the page, I tried out an Amazon MP3 clips widget, so you guys will have to let me know how it works. And if you know of any better way to post a playable mixtape, please let me know. Anyway, enjoy.
  Blue Monday 2012 Mix

1. New Order - Blue Monday
2. The Killers - Shadowplay
3. Depeche Mode - Corrupt
4. Violent Femmes - Color Me Once
5. The Cure - 10:15 Saturday Night
6. Joy Division - Transmission
7. Siouxsie & The Banshees - Arabian Knights
8. Echo & The Bunnymen - People Are Strange
9. The Sisters Of Mercy - Lucretia My Reflection
10. The Glove - Mouth To Mouth
11. The Cure - Let's Go To Bed (Live Version)

Because Music Makes Halloween...

This post basically mixes two of my favorite things: Halloween and any random reason to create a playlist. These are my top 10 Halloween songs for 2010.

10. DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince – A Nightmare on My Street

The only thing that freaks me out more than Freddy Kreuger is Michael Myers. I can guarantee that the Halloween theme song will never make one of my playlists because it takes me a month to sleep right again after hearing it. Oh yeah, I love this song too because it gives me an excuse to do the Fresh Prince jump.

9. Marilyn Manson – Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)

Considering that Marilyn Manson is pretty much walking Halloween, this was an easy choice. Plus, I love a good cover.

8. Warren Zevon – Werewolves of London

A classic pick for any playlist, this song is just great to jam out to while nice and toasty in your costume.

7. Talking Heads – Psycho Killer

I always think that this song is The Doors when it first plays, which in itself stands for it being awesome. What's Halloween without French-singing mass murdering art-school psychopaths?

6. Oingo Boingo – Dead Man’s Party

The 80's knew how to do everything to make me love it, and this song is no exception. This song will definitely start your ghoulies on some Molly Ringwald 1980's Breakfast Club style dancing.

5.  Rockwell – Somebody’s Watching Me

Wow, Berry Gordy's kid sure did know how to pick a backup singer (ahem, Michael Jackson). Dare you to try to get this song out of your head. I'm just an average man with an average life...

4. The Doors – People are Strange

This song is always awesome. It always reminds me of The Lost Boys and of simpler times when the Coreys were fighting vampires and Keifer was still cool.

3. Bobby “Boris” Pickett – Monster Mash

This is the most classic and essential Halloween Song and will always be on my playlist. Bet you can't listen without wanting to Mashed Potato. 

2.   Matthew Sweet – Scooby Doo, Where Are You?

I have always loved Halloween (costumes and free candy!). Every day after school, I rushed home to watch Scooby, which gave me my daily dose of Halloween. I guess that I was just born a dark, freaky child.

1.  Michael Jackson – Thriller
Even before Scooby, I loved Michael Jackson's Thriller. I would play this song over and over and over again even though the Vincent Price voice over at the end scared me. I loved being scared. I guess that some things really never change. 

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA)

Want to listen to this playlist and even more Halloween classics? Halloween Mix on last.fm

The Happs

I've been pretty busy lately. There have been so many things that I've wanted to write about, but doing all these things have left me with little time and an even smaller amount of sleep. I've been having a blast with things, and I'm really happy. I am always respectful of difficult times because I feel like I learn the most from them, but with the last couple of years, this is one gift for which I am truly thankful.

A few weeks ago, I started talking ballet classes. I was so excited and intrigued by taking the class, but I was also complete terrified that I was going to make an idiot out of myself. Now that I've started, I've realized a few things. I probably do look a little dumb and am not naturally great at it, but it's so much fun to be learning and doing something new. I found out that I have special feet. Sometimes it's great to not be good at something and be able to look forward to getting better. More importantly, I've learned that my time in there takes me away from everything else in life. It's a refuges. I concentrate so hard on what I’m learning, I forget to worry about everything else in the world.

Also, I’m researching my family tree. There is something so happy and comforting to see a long line of relatives. I love to look at old photographs and see glimpses of myself and feel that connection.

I signed up for a group on Last.FM where I am paired each month with another user and we create "mixtapes" for each other. I love to make music mixes. My first tape is my life's soundtrack.