Done! I'm Done!

Ok, it's taken me over a week, but all the Christmas CD cards are burned and ready to be mailed.



I've burned a total of 14 Christmas and wintery mix cds since last week.

And guess what?

I haven't burned one for myself!

This always happens.

Last year when I made my mixes I didn't make a pretty copy for myself. I have one, but its just a random disc that's tossed in with all my others. I think I found it once this summer and ended up playing it.

Right now, when I don't have my winamp going, I've been playing the Christmas mixes that my blogger and other online friends have sent me in the last few years. I'm going to be getting a few more this year, so I'm really excited.

Isn't it funny to be thrilled about music that you can only listen to for a few weeks out of the year? (And still be considered sane)

And mind you, up until last year, I wasn't much a fan of Christmas music. I had a few discs, like Michael Crawford's and one of the Very Special Christmas discs and the David Foster CD that came about through a special about 10 years ago. None of them were impressive enough for me to excited by.

Then December came out last year.

The Moody Blues converted me to Christmas music.

Damn. Them.

Damn them to hideehell!

Now I have several CDs and many mp3s full of Christmas music. I only hope the people that are getting the discs love the music as much as I do.

I miss you

Nap Time?

My mum and Mutchka, taking a snooze. 

Do you wanna mambo with me?

"Holiday Wishlists"

What album do you want the most for the holiday?
This means I have to narrow it down -- DRAT!

The album I'd like to have the most, Nick Lowe's The Rose of England. When they get it at Half.com it's usually about $40.00. There's no way this girl can buy that one any time soon.

Are you buying any of your friends or family music for Christmas? What are you buying them?
The nephews are getting CDs from me. Thanks to an awesome sale at BMG!
Raymond is getting DREAM THEATER SIX DEGREES OF INN and OPETH DAMNATION. Gotta love the kids taste in music. (note the sarcasm please) And for Michael, 3 DOORS DOWN ANOTHER 700 MILES .

The friends are all getting the Christmas CD card, cos well, I'm broke!

What was the best musical gift you ever received? (Doesn't have to be for the holiday season)

I think I would be safe to say my last b-day gift from my sister. Tickets to see the Moody Blues in Atlantic City and Pittsburgh!

Best. Gift. Ever.

Are there any holiday concerts you want to attend?
One day I'm going to get to hear a performance of Handel's Messiah. That would be the only holiday concert I could tolerate.


Other than CDs what music or music related gifts are on your wishlist?
If anyone wants to get me some blank cdrs would be nice, cos I'm running out. I'd also like an mp3 player. Not necessarily an ipod, but something similar. If you want to go all out, a Bose stereo system would be heavenly.

Do you keep a wishlist at Amazon or any other site for your musical wants?
I keep a wishlist at Half.com. Go ahead, buy me something! You know you wanna!


If you want to mambo, just visit BDI and leave a comment after you've mamboed!

I left the house today!

Rejoice and be glad! We went out to lunch today. And in case you didn't believe me, I bring you photos, as proof. (No, I didn't take pictures of the food)


Sweeney's Cafe & Pub in Rostraver 

As you can see, they were already decorated for the holiday.


Entrance to the restaurant 

Inside was no different.


The tree in the foyer. 



The decorations on the table 



The tiny tree by the hostess' booth 

So everyone be excited! I had a nice time eating with the family. A Yummy barbeque roast beast..erm beef sandwich with onion rings and water was consumed. As you can see, lots of pictures were taken, so that the employees of the restaurant thought I was nuts. But all in all, a good time was had by all. And it was damn good to get out of the house!!

I'm so lazy

Ok, so the old line about "the best laid plans of mice and men" is true. I didn't get anything done yesterday. Nada! I vacuumed. Woo hoo! such an accomplishment. Everytime I looked at places I wanted to clean, I just ran the other way. And nope, I haven't seen the outside of my house since Thanksgiving, when I had to run to Walmart to get sinus meds with my brothers wife.

Today doesn't look like it's going to be shaping up to be any better. The room I'm in most of the day is clean, so I'm avoiding the rest. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's going to take a lot of motivation to get me out of my jammies today. And tomorrow's going to be crazy busy. (if I don't get called to work)

I have to make a trek to a office supply store or back to Walmart to get a few things for the Christmas CD cards. Can you just say I have no jewel cases. At least none that are slim, which I prefer. But who knows, maybe I'll use up my big clunky ones, just to get rid of them for now. I'd like to have those in the mail on the first of the month. (If I'm lucky, I just might)

I just want to get some things done, and it's sometimes just too hard. Like I said countless times before, we are all packrats, and my mom has to be up to it sometimes to go through the stuff I throw away. Still I am making some progress. (A little bit at a time)

I'm just not into it this weekend. But I don't want to lose the cleaning bug, cos once it's gone it isn't likely to come back for a long while.

Anyone want to light a fire under my butt, so I can get this project started?

The Holiday Mixes

I thought I'd repost the mixes I made over the last two years for Christmas, in case you didn't get to see them

Winter 2003

Merry Christmas From The Music Whore

Happy Holidays 2003

Merry Christmas 2004

Let me know what you think. (And yes, there's a lot of Moody Blues songs on them!)

Weekend Plans

Well, it's time to start getting ready for the next holiday. There are still some areas of the house that need to be cleaned. So this could only mean it's time for another list of stuff that I must do, so that things can be made presentable in the coming weeks. (Though I don't think there will be as many people in the house on Dec 25 as there was on Thanksgiving)

1. Get the first Christmas tree put up

2. Clean the hallway in the upstairs. (not something I relish doing)

3. Finish burning the Christmas CDs. (I still have at least 10 discs to burn that are going to 5 other people.)

4. Get out of the house for at least an hour to preserve sanity. (Just not to any shopping center or the purpose of leaving will be defeated)

This is sadly going to occupy much too much of my time this weekend, plus I've got a late start on today. I didn't wake up until after 10 this morning, which is quite unusual for me.

Plus there are loads of little stupid things I'd like to do, like work on my story, which I didn't do much of this week and continue to clean out my computer. (I'm trying to sort through stuff on my hard drive, which isn't fun)

I guess I'm going to be busy for the next 48 hours. And I'm going to be busy with stuff I don't want to do.

Some things are just too f*cked up!

A lot of people come to my blog via weird searches. It isn't often that I get one that makes me want to scream. Today I got one. The search is for Britney Spears and Justin Hayward.

To the lunatic that did that search: "Get that thought out of your mind you sick demented idiot!"

I'm still shaking at the thought someone would put those two in a search together.

Do we honestly think Justin is that pathetic that he'd stoop to doing some work with that little trailer trash blonde bimbo?

I should certainly hope not!

If he wants to hang around with trailer trash...hell, he can come hang out with me!

Now that I've been sufficiently traumatized for the evening, I think I'll go off to a corner to cower and try to get the thought of this absurd yahoo search out of my mind.

Digital Downloads

OK, I'm about to succomb to the digital download frenzy. Erasure's new single, Breathe, will be out on Monday via the internet.

One word to describe how I feel about that: Squee!

I've never purchased a download from Itunes or any other retailer. (I can't use Itunes until I get Windows XP at Christmas) I have no idea how it works, but I'm going to be paying 2 dollars for a song! ARGH!

Something just doesn't seem right about that.

I don't think I'll ever completely succumb to this form of media for music. I like something tangible. I want to have a pretty disc to hold in my hand and not a file on my computer, but so I can hear the song before it gets released in the US, I will buy it. Because I need new Erasure goodness.

Of course once I start buying downloads, I'll probably become addicted. I just hope burning them to CD doesn't become something that I learn to hate.

Just another typical holiday

Oh yes, life was pretty much "interesting" yesterday. Which is much the same as it is on every major holiday where the family comes together. (Christmas, occassionally Easter)

Emotions run high. Things break (My old computer, the emachine's power source went). Food is consumed in mass quantities. Children squeal. People hide. (that would be me)

So amazingly enough, nothing too disasterous happened in those twenty-four hours.

Can I get a Woot, for that?

Woot!

That also means that by the end of the day, everyone was still speaking to each other.

I think another Woot, is in order here.

Woot!

The day was enjoyable. I even got a few extra things done. By the time everyone had left, I decided to work on getting a few more of the Christmas CD cards done. I still have a lot of burning to do, because I'm sending out my Winter Mix to at least two people and some people want one of my other Christmas mixes.

So yeah, yesterday was interesting, but not too interesting as to cause insanity and for that I'm happy.(Cos we'll get enough of that soon enough)

Now the countdown to Christmas begins. Let chaos reign supreme on that holiday! (and that would be normal too)

Weird things you find while cleaning

Mix cds are all over my house. When I was cleaning downstairs the past two days, I found two that I didn't remember making. One of them was an older one, at least a year old. (and it still plays!)

I can usually tell approximately when I made a mix by the songs on the disc. This one was made sometime between March and May of last year.

How do I know this?

Well, the first song is Lost In The Stars by Martin Gore, which is from his Counterfeit 2 CD that was out last year. So that dates it to at least spring of last year.

Another clue that it isn't recent?

Nick Lowe is on it and the Moody Blues aren't.

And believe it or not, before last April or May, the Moody Blues weren't much on my mind, and hadn't been since about 1989.

Here's another shocking tidbit: Up until last year I only knew 4 Moody Blues songs.

Your Wildest Dreams
I Know You're Out There Something
The Other Side Of Life
Nights In White Satin (which traumatized me, as I've mentioned over and over)

Back to Nick Lowe for a minute. He's one of those artists that I would have really become obsessed with if the Moody Blues hadn't popped back into my life when they did. I'm still trying to get several of his discs, and they are rather expensive.

This mix also has quite a mesh of weird 80's tunes like the Kinks - Come Dancing and Peter Gabriel - Games Without Frontiers. These are songs that I discovered through Vh-1 Classic, which I didn't get til, you guessed it, spring of last year. (See there's a method to my madness)

It's been ages since I wanted to listen to Boingo's Insanity, and yet it was one of the first songs on the mix. (This song being on the mix is kinda odd since Boingo was a band that I lost interest in when Elvis Costello came back into my life in late 2001) I wonder why I put that song on the mix, and the live version at that, from Farewell? Hmmmm.

See I go through spurts with bands, as I've probably said countless times. (And having had Boingo on the brain for 2 years, in 2002 it was time for them to go away) I spent loads of time devoted to a band and then they fade away, usually to come back and haunt me at a later date.

Most of the bands I'm into now, had been in my life before. I like to say that my musical favorites go into remission only to come back in an unusually aggressive manner a few years later.

Before 2001, I only owned 2 Elvis Costello CDs, Spike and the Ryko Disc Greatest Hits. Now, we won't even discuss the number of discs I have. I was fairly lucky when it came to Oingo Boingo, because I had all their CDS back in the early 90's when a high school boyfriend got me into them. I only had to track down a few zillion film scores that Danny Elfman had done. (and pick up some oddities on vinyl and promo discs)

So I imagine at some point, Nick Lowe will be front and forward again. Lord knows he deserves to be. Though I don't know if the Moody Blues could be ousted anytime soon, because even though some members of the band make me rip roaring mad, I can't stop loving them.

It's been fun to listen too, just for the ecclectic nature of the songs I chose.

Now I think I need a little Moody Blues to stablize myself after the shock of that mix.

Happy Thanksgiving

I've finished cleaning as much as I can and now it's time to just sit back and enjoy today. My brother, his wife and two young daughters will be invading our house sometime in the next few hours, (This should be interesting) along with our regular brood, which consists of Mom, Dad, Sister, her two sons and myself.

We will gorge ourselves on loads of good food



The only problem is, the turkey seems to be lost.



Have any of you seen it?

And I accomplished "what" today?

I have to say that I did do a lot of cleaning today. More cleaning than I like to do, but I also enjoyed seeing all the comments fly in, courtesy of Michele's comment game. I'm still trying to visit, tag or email all of the wonderful people that commented! Yay! I feel popular!

But back to the subject at hand. Since I like lists, I'll pass on my accomplishments in this form.

1. Was made very very happy by all the people visiting and commenting. I don't ususally get many comments, so I'm excited and all that fun stuff.

2. I gave my two rooms a pretty thorough cleaning, though I still need to vacume again tomorrow. (Much junk was disposed of)

3. Found a package of photos of the Moody Blues that were sent to me from a friend on a yahoo group I belong to. Many lovely photos of Justin Hayward were drooled upon and the word Squee was said many times.

4. Cleaned the dining room for the big dinner tomorrow. (Not fun at all and again, much stuff was gotten rid of)

5. Did some work on the Christmas CD Card. I'll be mailing a few of them out early next week.

6. Went to Curves for my 1/2 hour workout. (I probably won't get there again now til Saturday or Monday)

7. Did some extra straightening in the kitchen.

Wow! It's amazing what one can accomplish when one doesn't know what one can do!

A strange thing happened...

I cleaned the kitchen again. I hate cleaning the kitchen. No, I really hate cleaning the kitchen.

Why?

Because everyone in my family keeps shit. We just don't like throwing stuff away. And we like buying new shit!

The more shit the better, right?

Criminey!

With me it's CDs. With my mother its cookbooks and craft stuff she's never going to use. (The cookbooks she reads and sometimes actually makes stuff from)

Last night I pitched so many magazines I lost count. Would you believe we had Good Housekeeping (ha ha ha) from 1986 in our kitchen? Yeah, such is the life.

And I need to start going through stuff in my rooms, because I have to put my Charlie Brown-ish Christmas tree up this weekend. My tiny tree helps me get into the spirit of the holiday that only depresses me.

But anyway. I cleaned...and I cleaned, and I cleaned some more. (I'm still not quite done) I wonder if I'll ever really finish the kitchen? Probably not. Because inevitably there will be more stuff piling up. More Taste of Home magazines, that you cannot toss, because there might be something in it that could prove useful, more coupons from the Sunday paper that don't get thrown out after they expire. (Let's not even start with that)

But there's one plus to this time of year. The cleaning makes me feel useful. And at home I don't usually feel that way. I can't cook. (other than microwaving stuff) And if I've not been encouraged to do it, then I just don't. I could be a master chef at heart and I wouldn't know it. Sad, isn't it?

But I will say this for myself, I'm a cleaning machine! I love love love to clean! OK, I don't, but I do enjoy throwing stuff away. (as long as it's not mine!)

But since the cleaning bug still has me, I'll be junking some of my things today too. Yay! ~cough~ Grrr!

Wish me and the cleaning bug luck!

Giving Thanks

I'm thankful that Thanksgiving is only one day! Cos my family fights like a bunch of looney toons on this holiday!

Music and Me

I blog a lot about music. Mostly because my life is really really boring. It always has been. I'm not married, I live with my parents who are older and I have a job that's not very stable. It doesn't make for a good living. So I resort to other things.

Music has always been the fuel to my imagination. It's helped me with writing and it's allowed me to push "real life" away when I needed it. It's deeply personal too. Everyone has different tastes. Most of my friends don't have the same taste as I do.

I don't expect any of my friends to like what I like and vice versa. And only with my friends will I tease that their taste in music sucks. Because telling someone that can be like sticking a knife through them. At least if they truly care about the musicians that record their favorite songs. (And we all know that I do...I care passionately for them...more passionately than I should)

So someone tells me the Moody Blues are vile...or Duran Duran...or Elvis Costello, I'll probably take it personally, because though they certainly aren't friends of mine (pardon the duran duran pun), I feel like they are. I hate reading album and concert reviews as much as the artist does. I've also been known to write to some of the critics in our city's newspaper when I haven't liked what they said.

Sounds crazy?

That's because I am.

And I like to think I'm pretty open to new sounds or sounds I haven't heard before. This year I was introduced to Wilco and even though I had heard of them before, I wasns't ready to like them. Oddly a little Woodie Gutherie song called California Stars, did me in. Now I have a few of their CDs.

And oddly thanks to blogging I've discovered some other new artists. If I see someone with links to albums they are listening to, I often check them out. I'm constantly looking for new artists to add to my musical family.

It's my life, it's not very exciting, but it's very musical.

Giving Thanks
As if you couldn't guess what todays thanks would be for: Music!

The best Christmas CD ever

It's that time of year again, where I will endeavor to convince at least one of you to purchase a Moody Blues CD.

Please! Buy December!

OK, maybe I shouldn't make it sound so desperate. It's not as if the guys need the cash. After all, one of them has a house in Monaco.

Then again, John Lodge drives a Jeep Cherokee, so maybe...

BUY DECEMBER!

Seriously, this album, which was released last October, is truly a beautiful holiday album. It's not all Christmas tunes, which is refreshing, because sometimes, well, Christmas albums can seem so contrived.

There are songs that everyone knows and loves...like White Christmas, When A Child Is Born and a unique cover of Lennon's Happy Xmas (War Is Over), but those aren't the reasons you want this album

You want this album for beautiful songs like December Snow, Yes, I Believe and Don't Need a Reindeer.

No I lie, you'll want this album for Don't Need A Reindeer. The rest won't matter. You'll hear this one song, it will stick in your head and you'll be lost. The other 10 songs will be beautiful, but you'll keep singing "Don't need a reindeer, don't need the snow...tell me you love me and I'm ready to go," into July.

The best part of this album, besides Don't Need A Reindeer? Well, it's a Moody Blues album and these things just aren't very frequent and whenever you get one, you should treasure it like the fine jewel that it is.

Oh and by the way...I do need a

On a scale of 1-5 (with five being the greatest)

Giving thanks for the mambo!

Here's the Music Meme brought to you by yours truly. The questions are posted over at BDI if you want to play along.

"Be Thankful"


If you could thank one artist/band for their contribution to your life, who would it be and why?
OK, the first question is giving me a brain cramp already. Elvis Costello and the Moody Blues are battling it out.

Moodies win!

I want to thank Justin Hayward for writing the songs that inspired me to finish my first novel, Broken Dreams. ( I also want to thank him for being such a sexy sweetie too)

I want to thank John Lodge for wearing leather pants and making sure that my salivary glands are in working order. I also want to thank him for that hug from hell! Feel free to give me another anytime.

I want to thank Graeme for making Justin so squirrelly during Higher and Higher! Keep on Riverdancing! OK, stop riverdancing...but you can do the funky chicken all you like.

Thank you Ray Thomas for writing For My Lady, which caused me to squeal in Panera Bread when the muzak version was played. (contributions to my insanity are always welcome)

Thank you Mike Pinder for...uh...erm...giving the early Moodies that slightly depressed air about them. (tee hee..the moodies are so depressed)

And as an aside.

Thank you Bernie Barlow for being a non-slut backup singer with real talent.

Thank you Norda Mullen for filling a huge gap in the band when Ray retired, and filling it so well!

Thank you Paul Bliss for being so darn cute up there behind the keyboards.

Thank you Gordon Marshall for being one hell of a sexy drummer...and being one hell of a sexy drummer...and Oops didn't I say that already?

Thanks for the music and the memories!

What albums are you thankful that you purchased or heard this year?
I've bought a lot of music this year but there are three albums that stand out above the rest:

Bernie Barlow - Golden
Duran Duran - Astronaut
Elvis Costello - The Delivery Man


If you wanted to tell someone thanks in song, what song would it be?
I'd go for the obvious which would be either Natalie Merchant or Led Zeppelin's Thank You, but neither song does anything for me.

I'd go for Justin Hayward and John Lodge's Remember Me, My Friend


What musical things are you thankful for?

I'm thankful for Old Red



And Old Red's owner



I'm thankful for tight pants and leather pants and the sexy men that wear them on stage







I'm thankful for snarky songwriters.



Thanks for the music...as ABBA would sing..

Giving Thanks
I'm thankful that I don't work retail anymore, so I don't have to be at the mall at 5 a.m. on the day after Thanksgiving!

I've Found Neverland

Well, our little neck of the woods had another sneak peak at Finding Neverland. There were about 3 theaters that were showing it one time, yesterday and today. So Lady Starlight and I went off to the Hollywood Theater.

The movie was truly wonderful. I really recommend it.



And mind you, I'm not a fan of Peter Pan. I think that's mostly Disney's fault, but that's neither here nor there.

Johnny Depp was marvelous in playing J.M. Barrie. And the telling of his story, though perhaps not on the mark with real life was still wonderful. You easily fall in love with him and all the characters. Considering I'm not fond of child actors, I was surprised that I found all the little boys in the film to be absolutely adorable.

If you want to read a short bio on J.M. Barrie, click here. I think it's rather interesting, especially if you plan on seeing the film, or have seen it.

Here's a link to another site about Barrie and the Davies family.

The second link will give you a better idea of how close Barrie was to the Davies family. Though perhaps you won't want to take a look until after you've seen the movie, because they did alter real life quite a bit.

Anyway, Finding Neverland was a lovely movie, not one the Depp films I'll revisit over and over, like Chocolat or Edward Scissorhands, but definitely a brilliant film, and frankly the man deserves an Oscar for it.

Giving Thanks



I'm thankful for Cranberry Mustard. It's sold at Hickory Farms.



Mmmm it's so yummy and if you don't get it in the first few weeks that they have the little kioskes at the malls, it's gone. I got 2 jars today!

PBS is evil

Ok, I got to listen to Austin City Limits last night with Elvis Costello. I didn't get to see the Flying Mojo shiny pink guitar at all.

why, you ask?

Because it wasn't on our regular station WQED here in Pittsburgh. No, it was on a higher channel, number 220 on our digital cable.

FUQUA!

I didn't find this out until late in the afternoon yesterday, so that made it rather difficult to find someone that could tape it for me. (Or would want to) There aren't many Costello fans out there in my circle of acquaintances.

So I start checking through the tv guide listings to see when they are going to reair it. Cos this is PBS they always reair things, and do you know when it's going to be on next?

Ya wanna know?

Of course you do. Cos you wanna laugh as loud and as hard as I did.

Next Monday the 29th at 3 a.m.

Yup! You read that right. 3 a.m.

What kind of sadistic bastards are they? 3 a.m.?

Allow me to be the first person to say this to WQED...

Hallelujah

No, nothing great has happened, that's just the song I'm listening to. Nothing like a little bit of K.D. Lang to put you back to sleep in the morning.

I fell in love with this song when I saw her on, unbelievably, Regis and Kelly.

But enough about that, it's time for another rambling post about many many things.

~ Today's Lady Starlight's B-day - go wish her a happy b-day!

~ Elvis Costello's Austin City Limits is on tonight. I hope PBS doesn't do too many pledge breaks through it. I wouldn't want to have to hurt anyone. It's criminal to interrupt Elvis.



Yay for getting to see the Flying Mojo tonight!! Now I need to find a tape to put it on. (So I can have it forever and ever and never rewatch it)

~ I've been reading so slowly lately. I used to be able to read books in a few days, now I'm lucky if I get a book done in a week or two! I used to blame it on the books, but I know it's me, because the one I'm reading now, is quite good. I just can't concentrate on reading for more than a few minutes at a time.

~ I finally burned the Christmas 2004 mix. The songs I used can be found here.

~ My Winamp player on shuffle is a scary thing. It plays 2 great Elvis Costello songs and then goes straight for the Moody Blues and plays Words You Say!!!

I would really like some clarification on what the hell this song is about, cos it doesn't make any sense. But when has a song by John Lodge ever made sense?

NEVER!!!!



He's lucky he's just so darn cute!

Giving Thanks
I'm thankful for my two bedrooms, so that when the Thanksgiving festivities are over, I can go seek refuge in one of them.

A rose by any other name

Blame it on Brandie

Andrea

The name of Andrea gives you a clever, quick, analytical mind, but you suffer with a great deal of self-consciousness, lack of confidence, and much aloneness because of misunderstandings. Your idealistic and sensitive nature gives you a deep appreciation for the finer things of life and a strong desire to be of service to humanity. There are times when you experience inner turbulence at your inability to say what you mean. It is far easier for you to express your deeper thoughts and feelings through writing than verbally. You find pleasure in literature, in poetry, and in your ideals and will turn to them when you feel you have been misunderstood. You are deeply moved by the beauties of life, especially nature. Because your feelings run deep, you must guard against the ups and downs, being very inspired one minute, then moody, reserved, and depressed the next. Your reactions to people vary according to how you feel. You tend to be secretive and noncommittal about private matters, yet at times you will talk effusively in order to hide your self-consciousness or to lead others away from personal subjects. You are inspired by encouragement from others, yet suspicious of their intent. You crave affection but seldom find anyone who understands your nature. Physical weaknesses would show in your heart, lungs, or bronchial organs.

Go ahead...if you are as bored as I am...take this quiz here

For me it's so accurate it's scary.

The good, the bad and the very weird

Let me start out by saying that today I should have stayed in bed. It's only 11:00 a.m and my day has already been topsy turvy. (I like words like topsy turvy...leave me alone)

The Good

Last night within 10 minutes of each other Vh-1 Classic played Elvis Costello's What's So Funny (Bout Peace Love and Understanding) and then The Moody Blues - Your Wildest Dreams.

I think that's a sign that the apocalypse is coming!

Finding Neverland opens in Pittsburgh this weekend (and I think everywhere) Yay! For Johnny Depp goodness this weekend!

The Bad

It is no fun at all to try to work in a place without light or heat. It is even more not fun to do this when you have only about 30 minutes notice and you just woke up.

The Weird

It's the 19th of November and it's pouring down rain. Usually by this time of year, we've seen some flurries, but nope, just rain. I don't know why I feel the need to see snow, but I do.

I would like nothing more than to see a blanket of white when I woke up one morning. I think I might be losing my mind.

Giving Thanks

I'm thankful that all my immediate family will be home this holiday, even if it means my brother bringing his 2 youngest children. (We all know that I'm allergic to children...they make me break out in hives)

I often wonder how many Thanksgivings and Christmases will have left together, and even if we fight all day, it's still good that everyone that is important is there: Mom, Dad, sister, brother...grandma..and the nephews and some nieces.

Give Thanks!

A thankful meme I found courtesy of KP's Livejournal

A daily meme continuing until Nov 25th.

The Thanksgiving holiday is almost upon us--one week away. I am challenging my fellow bloggers to post at least one item a day related to Thanksgiving. It could be...

Something you're thankful for.
A Thanksgiving memory.
A family tradition.
Your favorite Thanksgiving food and why.

Just try and get into the spirit of the season and share a bit with your fellow bloggers.

Today's Thanks:

1. That the twisty hog at Curves left while I was still working out!

Curves is set up that you do a certain amount of exercises on the machines and a certain amount of aerobic exercise on walking boards: like running in place, that sort of thing.

They also have extra equipment, like the twisty things and an ab cruncher to add to your workout.

Well, this nasty woman comes in every day around 4 or 4:30 and she doesn't jog in place, she uses the twisty things, so that it's hard for anyone else to have 30 seconds on them!

She's a twisty hog! And she must be stopped!!!

Let the rest of the club members use the twisty things more than once!

Ok, now for an answer that's more in the spirit of Thanksgiving.

2. Spiced Apple Rings! Oh am I thankful for these spicy, sweet apple delights! You can only find them during the holidays and I'm so glad we already have our stash! The are sliced apples that look like life savers canned in a spicy, sugary substance that tastes oh so good.

I can't wait til next Thursday when I can have one!

The Midweek Music Meme

I forgot to check for this one yesterday. It wasn't a good day yesterday anyway. No need for anything fun.

Today will be better. Therefore the meme.

What album do you have that most people haven't heard of and you would proselytize to your friends?

Before I answer, I must say, do we really have to use big words in an meme? Do we really?

So for those like me who stared at the word proselytize, here's the definition:

To convert to some religion, system, opinion, or the like; to
bring, or cause to come, over; to proselyte.

So I won't bore you with talk of The Moody Blues. By now if you don't like them well then, it's your loss. Same with Elvis Costello and Duran Duran and Oingo Boingo.

I'll go for someone more interesting and obscure, Bernie Barlow.

The album you have to have is Golden. It's an indy release and I think you can only purchase it through Bernie's website.

Bernie is a fabulous singer. If she wasn't I wouldn't have named my 89 Chevy Beretta after her, right?

She's also one of the backing vocalists for the Moody Blues. She's got a infectious smile on stage and a funky wardrobe. But that's not why you want to listen to her.

It's the voice. A woman that can sing..that doesn't go prancing around in her bra etc.



It's really a terrific album, with not a bad song on it. Go to her site and listen to the clips. Oh and watch the video from her old band Garden of Joy. The song is called Eyes of a Child and it's really wonderful.

Bernie is my idol!