Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen things you might not know about me and/or my silly obsessions.

1. The Moody Blues aren't my favorite band. (but they are one of them)

2. If Elvis Costello hadn't worked with Paul McCartney I probably never would have listened to his music.

3. Then and Now The Best Of The Monkees was the first CD I ever bought.

4. I like more music from the decade before I was born than those afterwards.

5. I've only known one of my grandparents.

6. I've never owned a car with less than 50000 miles on it.

7. My CD collection is probably over 4000 discs now.

8. On 99.9% of the road trips I've been on, I've done the driving.

9. The only states I've been in are PA, NJ, WV, MD, NY and OH.

10. I've been to Canada twice. Once to Niagra Falls and once to Toronto.

12. I still have a crush on Davy Jones.



13. I plan on seeing Peter Noone in concert on Justin Hayward's b-day.

Can You Ever Say I Love You Enough?

Tonight while I was visiting my gram at the hospital I started to wonder if you could ever tell someone that you love them enough. I've had my gram all my life. She's the only grandparent I ever knew, all the others had passed on before I was born.

Since yesterday I've been feeling very guilty about not being the best grandchild I could be. I could visit more. I could do more.

I guess what I'm saying is that I've spent so much time living my life, which isn't necessarily the most exciting, that I don't always stop to spend time with her. And now I have to wonder how much longer I'll have her.

She's always been there to bail me out when I needed. She paid for the college education that I've yet to use, as I sit wasting my life in a half-assed secretarial job. (So I can be close to home for her and my parents) She's helped pay for my cars (not that any of them are new)

I only hope that she knows how much I love her and how scared I am right now that I'm going to lose her.

Hump Day!

The only thing that's good about today is the hunks. (And possibly the fact that there are 2 more days til the weekend)

So in a vain attempt to keep my chin up and all that, eye candy is needed.

Going From Bad To Worse

While I'm taking a small breather...

After the cat fiasco this morning, I got locked out of the parking lot at work. I had to leave my car almost on the road until my boss got there. Then he sent me to buy keys for the lock on the gate. None of them worked!

And if that wasn't enough, at quarter to three my mum calls me at work. Now my mum doesn't call me at work ever, except on my cell. So I know this is bad.

My gram, who just turned 99 on Friday was admitted to the hospital after her doctors appointment. Mom, as would be expected, is a basket case. My sister is trapped at work. And no one but my father knows what's going on with my gram's condition.

So I had to leave work early to fetch my sister and now I have to sort out what things my gram is going to need at the hospital and any other loose ends that might need tying up.

Say a prayer for gram if you will. We still need her for awhile.

One Of Those Mornings

All my cats have gone psycho this morning. Mutchka is running around like a demon cat, getting into anything and everything. Misty is growling and fighting and trying to hide in the kittens cage.

The kitten wants in the cage because that's where the litter box is.

Suffice to say because a bigger cat was in his cage and messed up the litter box, I had to clean the cage already this morning.

ARGH!

I have a feeling today is not going to be a very good day. The sooner 4 o'clock gets here, the better.

What CD To Buy Next

It's time to figure out what to add to my collection.

Should it be, Elvis Costello's My Flame Burns Blue



I've already downloaded this one, and it's wonderful. I've been trying to find it at the shops around home, but so far no luck.

Or should it be, Rachael Sage's Ballad's and Burlesque



I've heard bits of this on CD Baby and I really like it. It's also a pretty reasonable disc too.

Or maybe Caroline Lavelle's A Distant Bell



I've been putting off buying this one for a long time. I don't know why, because I love Caroline's voice. Her Spirit CD is one of my favorites.

Summer Plans?

Well, I know now that I'll at least get one road trip in July. It looks like the second weekend of July will see me traveling to Canton to visit with my brother.

I've only ever been to his house once a few years back over the 4th of July holiday when my computer went on the fritz. So this will be something different for me. I'm looking forward to it already. I haven't been anywhere in months with an exception of Wheeling a few weeks back.

Which means this summer I will finally get to eat at a damn IHOP! The closest one is in Youngstown, OH and I didn't get the chance to hunt it down a few years back when my sister and I were there for a concert.

I'll also get to tour a chocolate factory. Woot! That's something to look forward too.

Now if only the summer would get here. I'm ready for some excitement, because it's been a long, cold, boring winter (to paraphrase George Harrison).

Sick Of The Crud

I feel like crap. I've felt like crap for about a week now and it's not fun. It's not that I'm sick, at least not quite, it's that almost sick that makes everything annoying. Much like the weather that's warm, but not quite completely spring. (Because sometimes the sun shines in the spring and there are flowers)

My dental issues have been acting up, though the dentist assures me that my gums are healing better than he expected. I've had a little bout with a stomach bug too. All of this adds up to me not wanting to do much of anything except hide somewhere, perferrably under the covers with nobody to bother me, which hasn't happened.

I have slept alot though. That's nice, not that I wanted to go on a 10 hour sleepfest each night. And as for food? I can't tell you what I last ate that tasted good.

Suffice to say, my Christmas weight is almost gone now. That's the only good thing that came out of all of this.

All I want to do is feel better and be able to consume a small amount of food without wanting to toss my cookies afterwards. Blech.

Songs With The Same Title

The ladies @ Music Memoirs want us to:

List as many songs that have the same title but aren't the same song.

Grey Eye Glances - Angel
Madonna - Angel

Keri Noble - Piece Of My Heart
John Lodge - Piece Of My Heart

The Moody Blues - Gypsy
Fleetwood Mac - Gypsy

Terami Hirsch - Love
John Lennon - Love

Loreena McKennitt - Snow
Grey Eye Glances - Snow

Justin Hayward/John Lodge - You
George Harrison - You

Lara Fabian - Silence
Sarah McLachlan - Silence

For The Love Of George

I've been listening to George Harrison a bit this week. Ok, more than a bit. There was a time when George was one of the only artists that would spin in my CD player. He was my musical God and I loved him with all my heart.

Over the years that loved changed and diminished at times, but all it took to remind me of that love was to really listen again.

It also only took listening to make me so sad that George is no longer with us, that all that musical brilliance is gone and all we have left are the few solo albums he did after the demise of the Beatles and the 2 Wilburys CDs that he didn't figure too prominently on.

Oh and we do have pictures

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen of my favorite female vocalists.

1. Jennifer Noble of Grey Eye Glances: A Little Voodoo is their most recent CD. it's absolutely gorgeous.



2. Annie Haslam: I love her solo work. Blessing In Disguise is her second effort and one of my favorite songs is on it, After The Oceans Have Gone.



3. Diana Krall, aka Mrs Elvis Costello: Everyone should own The Girl In The Other Room. I shouldn't have to explain any further, it's too good to be missed.



4. Debborah Harry of Blondie: All of Blondie's CDs rock.



5. Basia: Another jazzy lady. London Warsaw New York is my favorite CD of hers. She has an unforgettable voice.



6. Lisa Stansfield: Here's a woman with a big voice.



7. Enya: At first I didn't like her. I think it had a lot to do with the way Orinoco Flow was overplayed. Shepard Moons came next and I like that one best of all.



8. Maire (Moya) Brennan: Enya's sister, who also lends her voice to the fabulous band Clannad is another brilliant singer in the realm of Celtic/New Age music.



9. Olivia Newton-John: Always a guilty pleasure of mine. I really love her voice and her music has been a part of my life since I was a little girl.



10. Loreena McKennitt: Another Celtic lady that enjoyed some major success on Mtv. My favorite album of hers is a Christmas/winter CD, To Drive The Cold Winter Away.



11. Mary Fahl - Yet another Celtic voice. Mary fronted October Project for a time. She has a deeper voice than the ladies I've mentioned previously. The self-titled CD is definitely worth having.



12. Alison Moyet aka Alf: Words can't express how wonderful this woman's voice is. She fronted Yazoo/Yaz in the 80's briefly with Vince Clarke of Depeche Mode and later Erasure and then had a fabulous string of solo albums. Essex is my favorite.



13. Caroline Lavelle: This woman has worked with Loreena McKennitt and William Orbit. Pretty impressive things to put on a resume in my book. I discovered her at Borders quite by accident. Spirit was a featured CD. Needless to say, I bought it and loved it.

Hump Day Hotties

It wouldn't be Wednesday without a hunk, right? And sometimes we need a change, right?





Such a pretty bunch of men.

Book Of The Moment

This is the next book on my reading list; She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb. I don't usually read Oprah's recommendations, but I've heard good things about this one, so I'm going to give it a go.

I've made it a point to read something more thought provoking and then a fluff novel. I think it's to rest my mind, just in case the thought provoking book was too thought provoking.

The last two books I've read were real duds, so I hope this one is better, because when I read something awful, it puts me off reading, and I have a zillion books I'd like to get through this year.

I generally like stuff that's light and funny and yes, I admit, I'm a sucker for a good totally unrealistic romance novel. If it's a good fluff novel I can tear through it in about a day. If a book requires thought, well, I can never guess how long it will take to read it. This one looks amusing so I might get through it quickly.

Susan Aglukark

I discovered the song Never Be The Same this weekend. So yes, there's another disc to add to my growing list of CDs that I have to buy.

This song definitely falls under that ethereal/chill out category, which I've been more than a little bit in the mood for.

I have a growing list of female vocalists that I like these days, a far cry from where it was last year. I have noticed one thing about the woman that I listen to, they all have strong voices and none of them go for that "little girl" type image.

I can do without the Lisa Loeb's of the world, though I do enjoy a few of her songs. But it's that general sound that puts me off most female singers.

Susan's voice isn't like that. It's light at least in this song and it's the kind that can lull you into a deep sleep. Never Be The Same is a song like Count Your Blessings Instead Of Sheep, a song that I can listen to again and again and still feel some strange emotion. I'm not sure what the emotion is, but these to songs move me.

I definitely plan on checking out more of Susan's stuff in the very near future.

Sunny Sunday

This is two Sundays in a row when the sky was actually blue. The plus today was that it was actually above freezing!

Holy Heck!

It's a miracle.

Aside from the appearance of the sun and the ubiquitous Mr. Blue Sky, it's been a very boring day. The highlight being going to Ponderosa for the Steak and Shrimp combo that they seem to advertize late at night when you can't satisfy the craving that it creates.

I'm looking forward to having another weekend to do some more interesting things soon.

All I can say is this: "When will spring get here!!!"

Feeling Grumpy

It's been one long weekend. I went to the mall yesterday armed with coupons for Dots and Kohl's with hopes of finding something exciting.

Kohl's was a zoo, as it was the Grand Opening of the location we went to. The store was packed and beautiful, but all the merchandise was summerlike. I don't want to buy shorts when it's 30 degrees out. So to use the 10 dollar gift card that I had, I had to hunt down a purse. I found a great little black bag on sale for 12.50, so all in all, I paid 2.65 for a new purse. Yay!

We had waffles at the Waffle House after that, which was the highlight of the evening. I the Waffle House.

After consuming a waffle topped with strawberries and some hash browns we took off for the mall. Sadly there was nothing in Dots that caught my eye. I wonder if they ever made shirts with sleeves in the past year. At Christmas everything was sleeveless. WTF! The last time I checked Christmas was in the winter in this hemisphere!

So needless to say, I didn't buy anything there. There was a Corpse Bride shirt at Hot Topic, but I talked myself out of it. It wasn't necessary. I went down to FYE to check out the CDs. Nothing! Or at least nothing I wanted to blow 21 dollars on. FYE is the most expensive music chain around. (And there selection stinks)

I hate when I go to the mall and come up empty, it makes me cranky.

Top 5 On Friday

From the ladies @ Music Memoirs

Top 5 songs about death

George Harrison - The Art of Dying

Art Garfunkel - Bright Eyes

Oingo Boingo - Dead Man's Party

Paul McCartney - Don't Be Careless Love

Keri Noble - A Dream About You

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen things I enjoy doing

1. Making mix cds and playlists. Music is everything to this girl.

2. Photography.

3. Exercise (I like it more when the weather is better, right now just about everything is a trial)

4. Gambling (I'm not a big gambler, but I do enjoy the slots)

5. Road trips! I don't get to go on many, but I like to discover new places and things.

6. Singing (Loudly and off key...which is the only way I sing)

7. Shopping (especially for music and clothes)

8. Driving (nothing is more relaxing...unless it's through Philly)

9. Memes! (This is one of my favorite blogging activities)

10. Reading (I love my smut novels)

11. Writing (I rather enjoy writing smut too)

12. Eating out. (20 some lbs down but I still love food, especially if the restaurant is good)

13. Talking on the phone (I don't do it as often as I used to, but I still like a nice long chat down the wire)

Hunk Day!

Today is the first day of Lent. Some people give up things for lent. I've never been good at that at all.

I can tell you a few things I'm not giving up, however.

I'm definitely not giving up these guys.



And I couldn't give up Elvis Costello either, even when he's wearing really weird suits.