Songs that were shuffled in... (Billy Idol, Julius Airwave, & The Shins)

Ahhh, it is so close to vacation. Granted it’s just a long weekend, but four glorious days of hanging around my house watching woman’s pron (e.g. HGTV - Wanna know what really turns women on? Watching sweaty men in tight shirts expertly fix home improvement disasters like a Superman), painting, and practicing my guitar. What can I say? I’m a simple girl, and I enjoy the little luxuries of a lovely staycation.

I have been so focused on my music lessons that I haven’t spent a ton of time listening to music. My picks this week are more about what I’m learning and what my lovely little iPod keeps insisting on playing.
Billy Idol – White Wedding

My absolute, most favorite guilty pleasure is and has always been Billy Idol. I grew up in a time when he ruled MTV. Rebel Yell always sounded like perfection to me, and I loved singing more more more along with him. It has led to more car dancing that I care to admit. I’m currently teaching myself how to play this song. I can’t listen to it without wanting to totally rock out and own it.





Julius Airwave – Nannerl

I can’t remember how I came across this band, but for a good two years I would listen to this album on a daily basis at work. There’s a perfection to the songs. They fit a specific moment in my life. Any time my iPod wants to throw me for a loop, it will shuffle this particular song in. Mess me up. You mess me up all day and I love it...


The Shins – Girl Sailor

The Shins fall into the same category as Julius Airwave. For a segment of my life, I listened to them non-stop and worshipped the sound of their music. Every time Turn On Me comes one, I still have to exclaim to myself just how much I love it. Today alone, I think that Girl Sailor has shuffled like 3 times (out of the 6500 songs on my iPod!). Who am I to judge the fates if they’re trying to tell me something?

2011 Books 14 - 18: Some Added Emotion, Please and Thank You

14: A Shadow Falls – Nick Brandt



This one probably is more like cheating because there wasn’t much to read, but I loved the book so much that I had to write about it. Awhile back, a friend at work sent me a forwarded email with a bunch of Nick Brandt’s photos. I was completely blown away and intrigued. I read about him on his website and then was so sad to find that a bunch of the elephants that were photographed had been slaughtered. In all honesty, I was heartbroken and might have cried a bit (err… a lot). After such an emotional reaction, I bought the book. I’ve always been interested in photography, I love elephants, and it felt like a really good thing to support. When I received the book, I spent the afternoon studying each photo. I was completely lost in the beauty of the images. So for that reason alone, I share this.



15: In Zanesville : a novel - Jo Ann Beard

I wanted to love this book. The concept was great. The setting was similar to my own adolescent hometown (I was first interested in the book because I thought it was set in Zanesville, OH and I’m originally from Ohio). The characters were interesting, well-developed, and likeable. It also made me laugh a lot. However, it lacked plot. It was more of a random gathering of stories, a slice of these teenage girls’ lives. So much time and effort was put into developing these interesting pieces of the plot (the babysitting fiasco, all of the clothes on layaway, the fear of her father’s suicide, the family’s money issues, etc.), but none of these things are ever dealt with. I felt like I invested a lot of time and energy and then the book just fizzled out at the end.



16: How to Talk to Famous People and Make Your Grandma Laugh - Tommy Leonard

This book was pretty odd, but it did make me laugh and entertained me when I couldn’t sleep one morning. I enjoyed the randomness of it and equate it to hanging out with that really weird friend that talks mostly nonsense and then comes out with random gems of insight. It didn’t change my life, but it was definitely entertaining enough. I’m still a little foggy at the general purpose of the book, but sometimes that’s ok.







17: Preludes & Nocturnes - Neil Gaiman

Growing up, I had some serious love for Robert Smith, so, one day at the record store, when I came across a poster/drawing of a guy that reminded me exactly of the awesomeness of Robert Smith, I had to have it. That poster hung in my bedroom all through high school. It was a Sandman poster.

I had never read any of Gaiman’s novels and I wasn’t really into comic books/graphic novels. On a random Kindle shopping spree, I bought The Graveyard Book and loved it. It made me interested in the Sandman series. I bought this without knowing much about the story, what to expect, or if I was going to enjoy that type of reading. I was pleasantly surprised. I found the story really engrossing, was really intrigued by the mythological aspect, and was really inspired by all of the art work.


18: Thirteen Reasons Why – Jay Asher

Friday night, I was flipping through my latest issue of Entertainment Weekly and was sucked in by an article discussing this book and Asher’s personal story. The book is about a suicide victim who leaves behind a collection of tapes that describe what happened to her and how each person fit into her story. While reading this, you feel all of the emotions that the narrator is going through as he listens to the tapes – you want to help her, yell at her, cry, get mad, and still somehow make it better. I’m really not sure how anyone could read it and not find themselves paying a bit more attention to their loved ones and friends.

Songs for learning and performing... (Sarah McLachlan & Simon and Garfunkel)

In my typical, overexcited, joyful exuberance, I have overextended myself. I am learning to play guitar. I love it and am excited to find that as I learn (at a very, very slow snail’s pace), I find it all that much more exciting and fun. Instead of focusing my full attention there, I decided that I also need to learn how to sing. I thought that the two would neatly fit together and fill my life with music. I love both things, but it’s a lot more work than I had considered. My fingers are torn up and my abs are killing me... in a sort of awesome, badass way. My picks this week are the songs that I’m currently working on.
Sarah McLachlan – Blackbird

This has got to be one of Paul McCartney’s most beautiful songs. It sounds simple, yet it is still musically complex. I’m working on this for my vocal lessons and would have picked The Beatles version, but the silence and singing birds really throw me off when trying to sing. Plus, I read somewhere that McCartney said that this song was perfect for McLachlan.


Simon and Garfunkel – I Am A Rock

Growing up, my friend Michael was so obsessed with this song. We’d have long discussions about music and he’d always tell me how he thought that this was the most miserable, dark, and lonely song and then he’d constantly play it. It shouldn’t make me laugh, but it reminds me of days helping him write songs (by picking random chords) via ICQ when he was away at college, and that one night he caught me singing along to Counting Crows and told me that I can really sing. So for me, it has a bit of a sweeter meaning and I like to think that maybe it’s more of a call for help and less about shutting everyone else out.

Songs for when my travels go wrong... (Simon & Garfunkel & The Smiths)

I spent the last week in denial that I had the flu Sadly, it finally took me down in the middle of my vacation to New York City. I crawled my way home early and spent the remainder of the holiday weekend hiding out in my bed. It wasn't so bad though. I got lost in a marathon of episodes of Medium and lots of sleep.

  Simon & Garfunkel – Homeward Bound

Not until I was stranded, sick and alone is a big strange city did I fully understand the meaning of this song and just how much being home sick can completely take you over. Plus, when I feel down, bad, or whatever, nothing calms me and makes me feel safe quite like Paul Simon’s voice. Growing up, I would listen to my Simon & Garfunkel albums for hours while painting and writing and hanging out. They are a little bit of home to me.


The Smiths – This Charming Man

In general, I think The Smiths are considered a pretty depressing-sounding band, but it is impossible for me to listen to this song and not completely jam out and sing along… with my fake English accent and all. I think that I was born with love for both the Mozzer and Johnny Marr.

Scavenging in NYC

I’m going to New York City again soon. Both times I’ve been, I had a lot of fun taking photos of all of the sights, but this time I wanted to do something different. Between looking at things to do in the city and an episode of Project Runway, I got the idea to set out on a bit of photography scavenger hunt this time around.

I started to create the list myself, but I obviously knew all of the places that I would go and realized that I was being far too easy on myself. To shake things up a bit, I sent a sample list to some of my family and friends and asked them to add items. You have got to love my friends. What has resulted is the following list:

1. Where I am staying
2. Something that tells me where I'm going
3. A street sign with a meaning
4. Something that inspires me
5. Something mentioned in literature
6. Someone doing their job
7. Something inviting
8. Something better in black & white
9. Something that makes me smile
10. Something abstract & unidentifiable
11. Something ugly made beautiful
12. Something purple
13. Something very old
14. Something very new & shiny
15. Something tasty/yummy
16. A recognizable place from a movie
17. Biggest fountain
18. Most unusual statue/sculpture
19. Best store window display
20. Most obvious tourist
21. Most peaceful place
22. Best advertisement
23. Something that represents dignity
24. Something that inspires hope
25. Something that inspires fear
26. Something that represents greed
27. Something with a contradiction
28. A ritual
29. Something that highlights different cultures
30. The most obvious fake cripple begging for money
31. Best dressed on the subway
32. Worst dressed on the subway
33. The most disgusting thing you find laying on the ground
34. Something that reminds you of Louis. :)
35. Something that reminds you of Lois. :)
36. The person with the most butt-crack showing in public. (Can't be you. That's cheating.)
37. Police horse poop from central park and a matching picture of what (or who) it looks like for comparison.
38. A phallic symbol
39. Typical NYC
40. Atypical NYC
41. An interesting view of the Brooklyn Bridge
42. 2-story fast food restaurant
43. Something shady...as in a shady character
44. An NYC manhole cover
45. Something gothic - architecture counts
46. Something heavenly
47. Interesting graffiti
48. A record shop...actually selling vinyl records
49. A famous person
50. Something unexpected
51. Punk rock!
52. "The World's Best Coffee!" (think Elf)

My goal is to find something for every item on this list and in return see some things in New York that I may have overlooked. Wish me luck and creativity.

My 2011 Reading List - Round 2

11. The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman

I grew up with a Sandman poster on my wall. Morpheus reminded me of a hotter (less makeup) version of Robert Smith. While I loved the art work, I had never read any of the Sandman series. I’ve never read any comics. So, while looking for my next read, I came across The Graveyard Book and was immediately drawn into the story. Without giving too much away, it’s about an orphaned boy who wanders into a graveyard where all ghosts (and other creatures) adopt and raise him. I’m always amazed when a writer can make up an entirely new world and make it feel real.

12. Where The Sidewalk Ends – Shel Silverstein

In elementary school, we all fought to check out the Shel Silverstein books. He made going to the library fun and exciting. This has been one of my favorite books for such a long time, yet I hadn’t sat down and read the whole thing through in a very long time. I found that some of the poems just seemed silly to me now.When I got to my favorites, I felt sucked right back into as that excited seven year old who could never get enough of the Homework Machine (from Light in the Attic) and band aids.

13. How To Avoid Making Art – Julia Cameron

This is a book of goofy cartoons that depict all of the ways that we avoid making our art. It made me laugh and a few too many sections hit home a little too hard, but that’s exactly what I love about Julia Cameron’s writing/books/philosophies/etc. I’m a big fan of The Artist Way (avid morning pager and currently working my way through Walking In This World). This book was a helpful, fun reminder that it’s not good to make excuses to avoid being artistic.

Thoughts on Amos Lee (Part Deux)

The first time I saw Amos Lee live was also the first time that I heard him sing. I was instantly floored, amazed, and completely enamored (here's my proof).  To say that I had high expectations going into Friday night’s show would be an understatement. Again, I found myself floored, amazed, and completely enamored.  What I think that gets me the most is that he comes across as very shy, reserved, and maybe even a little bit stoic, but then he sings and the entire room is just completely flooded with this crazy, emotional surge.  The honest, sincerity of it all just gives me chills. Suffice it to say that I was a happy ticket holder.

I have mentioned on multiple occasions that I would pick some of my famous Amos songs, so I am finally going to follow through on that promise.

El Camino

I always love that his songs are about real life and real people. They never feel falsely dramatic or steeped in some kind of movie-haze that corrupts and run counter to a real human experience. This song is a perfect example. All my ships have sailed away…

Seen It All Before

I’m not sure that any song brings out my car singing diva-ness more than this one. I get all soulful with attitude. It’s a funny sight, but this is a flippin’ amazing song. And lordy, what girl wouldn’t want to be all baby baby baby’d by him. I’ve seen everything your twisted smile conveys. I ain’t gonna be your fool baby…

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Supply and Demand

I also really love that all of his songs are full of meaning, soul, emotions, and spirit. They make you want to cut loose and groove to them. The more I strive, the less I’m alive…