Random 10 - Week 55

From the music lovers @ Music Memoirs, the first of the 3 weekly memes.

10 songs that sum up your weekend...or were on your weekend playlist...and one picture that relates back. (oh, and if you feel like it, tell us why you picked the songs you did)

I stayed at home most of this weekend and when I did go out it was just to church and to Lorraine's in Speers for dinner. So everything on my list is from my winamp and my little Muvo.

Elvis Costello - Rocking Horse Road
Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Peace In Our Time
Duran Duran - Someone Else Not Me
Duran Duran - Hallucinating Elvis

(I was reripping CDs to the hard drive....as you can see I ripped Brutal Youth, Goodbye Cruel World, and Pop Trash)

John Lennon - Power To The People
John Lennon - Instant Karma
Paul McCartney - Tug Of War
Paul McCartney - Here Today

(I was also listening to Tug of War and Lennon Legend)

Herman's Hermits - If You're Thinkin' What I'm Thinkin'
Herman's Hermits - Marcel's

(Listened to There's A Kind Of Hush as well)

As for the picture...My brother, his wife, my mum, my nephew and I went back to McShane's.....I took my camera, of course...



I included that picture on my last photoblog post. To see a few other's go here. Have a look around. I post more photos there than Flickr, basically cos Flickr annoys the hell out of me.

Lost In The Stars

I got lost on You Tube for a bit and I discovered this video clip of Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet.

The song is Lost In The Stars by Kurt Weill and it's really a gorgeous tune.

Clicky here to watch it.

EC was being a bit dramatic...and I think his lip syncing was off at times, but he really looked lovely which is all that matters anyway, right?

I Never Thought It Would Take So Long....

The continuing saga of the Zen Micro

I've reripped most of my Moody Blues CD collection to the hard drive as well as my Justin Hayward/John Lodge collection. Today I'm reripping Elvis Costello and Duran Duran.

I filled the Zen Micro with a few discs last night. I didn't realize how long it took to transfer files to the damn thing. It should have enough tunes on it to last me through my trip to Hershey in 3 weeks.

I figure that in doing this I'll go through the mp3s and decide what I really want to keep and what can go into the recycle bin. There are so many artists that I don't really listen to as much as others, but for some reason they reside on my hard drive.

I'm such a pack rat! I've said that countless times before, but it bears repeating. It would probably just be easier to buy a bigger hard drive so I could keep everything, but I'm hoping that next year I'll be able to buy a new Dell or something similar next year, so I don't want to sink any more money on this computer unless I absolutely have to.

I still don't have everything that I want on the Zen, but I'm not sure if I want to spend the next few hours transfering files. I have no patience. I want the damn files to move faster!

Oh and did I mention in the process of reripping my discs I've made a terrible mess of my bedroom and the computer room?

I have only one thing to say to that....ARGH!

I hope I can dig myself out of it by bedtime!

Me, An Audiophile?

I can't believe I've turned into one of those anal people that has to have an mp3 at a certain bitrate. I like 160 or higher, 192 kbps is my preference. I don't know why, but I do.

I cleared my Zen Micro of all it's tracks this morning and right now I'm still reripping CDs to my hard drive at higher bitrates. When I first got my computer 128 kpbs was high quality. Now. Pah!

I can't believe I'm actually doing this. I've gone through almost my entire Moody Blues collection. Last weekend, I reripped my Erasure collection. I'm working on Justin Hayward and John Lodge now. (Hmmmmm I wish I were working on them) I'm also finally going to have my Live At San Juan Capistrano CD on my hard drive. Squee!

While doing this I have realized that no matter how they annoy me they still made some of the most beautiful music of the last 40 years. Justin's voice is simply breathtaking. Andy Bell and Michael Crawford are probably the only two other men that have voices that take my breath away.

Doing this has also made me more depressed about the lack of shows in the US this year. For all I hate the fans with a passion that I can't begin to express, (Exceptions being the few fans that read this blog) for all that I'm pissed at them for trying to suck more money out of me for their stupid fanclub, I really hate not having a concert to go to this summer.

I suppose that shows how much their music has come to mean to me in the last 3 years. I'm more saddened by not having a show of theirs to attend than Elvis Costello or Duran Duran who I've really loved far longer.

I guess I would have to though..to spend an afternoon ripping CDs over again.

Oh and btw...for anyone that doesn't own a copy Justin Hayward's San Juan Capistrano CD is simply gorgeous. It's so nice to hear him singing songs that you wouldn't hear at Moodies shows, like Land Of Make Believe, which will leave breathless. (and in my case in tears...because I miss my Justiny Poo) And now I'll be able to listen to it in fairly high quality form.

~sigh~

Giving My Zen Micro Some Love

Ok, remember back in January when all I talked about was how much I wanted a Creative Zen Micro? Remember how much I wanted the damn thing?

I've only used it twice.

Why?

I paid 200 bucks for the darn thing and I'm scared to cart it around lest something evil befalls it.

Kinda pointless isn't it.

I was doing some cleaning tonight and I pulled it out of it's case in my drawer and started to use it.

The sound is so much better than the Muvo and I love my Muvo to pieces. I really wish I had the 1 GB Zen Nano. I think I'm going to reformat the Micro and change the tunes. Right now it's got 273 songs on it and most of it is the Moody Blues and Cliff Richard, not that that's a bad thing, but I'd like to have some other things on there. A girl can't live on Moodies alone.

Somehow I will ween myself into using this player. Really I will. But it's going to be a long hard process.

Top 5 On Friday - Week 71

From the music lovers @ Music Memoirs...

Top 5 song lyrics....(And tell us why you like them)

Love is always scarpering or cowering or fawning
You drink yourself insensitive and hate yourself in the morning Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Man Out Of Time

This lyric as always been one that sticks in my head for some reason. This is probably my favorite EC song as well. It inspired one of my stories/novels and has provided me with hours of bitching about getting that damn song stuck in my head.

Who's going down who's comin with me
Who wants to take a chance
On a piece of abstract reality Oingo Boingo - Elevator Man

The not so subtle innuendo of this song brings me so much joy.

Trouble loves me
Seeks and finds me
To charlatanize me
Which is only
As it should be Morrissey - Trouble Loves Me

This is the first song I played off the Maladjusted disc. I loved it instantly, simply because the lyrics are so damn true!

A wonderful day for passing my way.
Knock and my door and even the score
With your eyes. The Moody Blues - Lovely To See You

I can't tell you how many times these opening words have stuck in my head. It's such a pretty song. Typical Justin really.

Now you know how to be dumb
Are you ready to take your place in the modern museum of mistakes?
Don't you know how to be dumb?
Like a building thrown up overnight in one of those reverse earthquakes Elvis Costello - How To Be Dumb

I think I took my place in the modern museum of mistakes already. This song is full of great lyrics, but this is Elvis Costello we're talking about, he's one of the best songwriters out there.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Songs I Could Do Without Hearing Ever Again

James Blunt - You're Beautiful : I'm not a fan of many of the newish folk type singers. This song is just annoying as is Mr. Blunt's voice. Yet they gave this man a Grammy? Why? Was it for Most Annoying Song ever?

John Mayer - Daughters: This song just baffles me with it's lameness. I actually think it's interchangable with the James Blunt song in styles.

Tim McGraw - Live Like You Were Dying: I don't need depressing songs in my life. They play this song every damn day on WSHH in Pittsburgh, the only station I get decent reception off at the office that plays semi-tolerable music. Sadly this song is not part of the semi-tolerable spectrum. It's part of the "Make me slash my wrists" spectrum though.

Lee Ann Womack - I Hope You Dance: Another inspirational song I could do without. At least this one isn't as depressing as the Tim McGraw, but still I could do without hearing it a zillion times daily.

Carly Simon - You're So Vain: The clouds in her coffee get on my nerves. And why can't she fess up to who she wrote the song about? If they already have a swelled head, maybe learning this song is about them will make it explode.

Sheryl Crow - The First Cut Is The Deepest: Sheryl should be arrested for what she did to this song.

Rod Stewart - Your Song: Why is he covering Elton John? Where is this song from and can we please make the radio station from hell stop with it. I love the original. I even like Rod, except when he's really murdering some great classic songs, but this is awful.

Shania Twain - I Feel Like A Woman: Erm...Shania, you are a woman! Now stop singing about it. Come to think about it, stop singing period.

Faith Hill - This Kiss: I have a gripe with country/pop. Not that it's bad. This song is cute the first 300 times, after that it's just another tired pop song.

The Violent Femmes - Blister In The Sun: One word, ARGH! This song still brings me trauma whenever I hear it. It has to do with Metropol playing it every Saturday during their 80's night. Someone "Hang The DJ!"

Duran Duran - All She Wants Is: This song, by one of my favorite bands, caused me much trauma as a child. No, I lie, the video caused me much trauma. Either way, every time I hear this song I cringe.

Madonna - Hung Up: Seriously Maddy, this song is enough to make me puke. You should hang up your career if you keep up with this kind of music. It takes cheesy to a new low, and this is coming from a person that likes cheesy.

James Taylor - Fire and Rain: This song has just been played to death for me. Now, don't get me wrong, James Taylor is fantastic. He's a wonderful songwriter, but when a song gets played into the ground...well that's about it for me. However, I do love the Christmas CD he did for Hallmark a few years back.




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Just Not In The Mood

The past few days have just weighed down on me, so much that I couldn't really do much of anything after work, besides my usual Curves workout. (Which is still boring the tears out of me)

In fact I think I've read more books in the last week than anything. My motivation is at an all time low. I don't want to write. I don't want listen to music. I've actually been watching TV. Blech. I've come to the conclusion that all tv shows are the same, depending on the genre. If you're a drama...you must either be a cop/lawyer show or a hospital show, comedies all are about some dysfunctional families, and anymore I find none of them funny.

Then yesterday my mum had an appointment with the doctor that checks her pacemaker. No good news there. Since her last visit she had 3 ventricle (sp) episodes, which aren't good at all.

That took every bit of extra energy out of my system and I don't know how to get it back. All I seem to be able to do is sit and think and that's no good, because the thinking just depresses me. I wish there was a way to shut off the thinking part of the brain for a little while.

I just want to go hide under a rock for awhile and wish some of this away.

Hump Day!!!

It's always a relief to get to hump day! 2 days done and 2 more to go to the weekend!

Now for the prettiness that helps me get through those last two days.

This Summer Just Isn't Going To Be Right

For the last 2 years I've had a Moody Blues concert to attend in either June or July. This is probably the first year in yonks that the guys haven't toured the US in the summer months and aside from one date at the end of July which is on the other side of the country, there's no plans for a US tour.

So much for celebrating their 40th Anniversary as a band with the people that line their pocketbooks. Mind you most of those people will travel to Europe to see them in the fall when they do their UK tour. I mean the band wouldn't be able to survive if the same 30 people weren't in the first few rows.

In fact, I'd hazard a guess that Justin Hayward would drop dead if the front row was full of different faces. (I guess I don't want that to happen...but still)

Things just aren't going to seem the same without a trip to Atlantic City to see the guys in a casino.

~sigh~

Random 10

From the music lovers at Music Memoirs

10 songs that sum up your weekend...or were on your weekend playlist...and one picture that relates back. (oh, and if you feel like it, tell us why you picked the songs you did)

This weekend was pretty much all about my muvo and my winamp. It was a very very boring weekend.

Justin Hayward - Way Of The World (This one was on my muvo playlist and it's always been one of my favorites)

Danny Elfman - Veruca Salt (My winamp played this at least 3 times this weekend! ARGH!)

Warren Zevon - Keep Me In Your Heart (This song is so beautiful and so depressing)

The Dresden Dolls - Shores of California (This band makes me giggle, a lot)

Herman's Hermits - Meet Me At The Corner Down At Joe's Cafe (Too cute!)

The Mamas and The Papas - California Dreamin' (I heard this one at Kings Restaurant yesterday)

Beth Waters - Spun Sugar

Harry Connick Jr - We Are In Love

Shane McGowan and the Nips - Gabrielle

Marillion - 100 Nights

All of these were random winamp songs. Like I said, it was a boring weekend. The picture is from McShane's.

Oogie and the Koosh Ball

My kitten has discovered a koosh ball I was given a few years back. He's made a total wreck of my computer room this weekend because of this discovery. As luck would have it, he's amused me while playing with the koosh, so he gets to live! Lucky kitty.

There's nothing funnier than seeing a little black and white kitten walking around with a koosh hanging out of his mouth, especially since the koosh is bigger than his little head.

He'll prance about with it, and then throw it up in the air and then run across the room to chase it. I only wish that the cuteness could have been captured on my camera, but the little bugger is much too fast.

He has kept me from going stark raving mad on this very boring Sunday. Heck, the whole weekend has been very boring.

Thank God for cats!

Weekend Randomness

~ I need to have a hamburger. Badly. All week I listen to the radio and hear commericals for King's Restaurant and Red Robin. I've been craving a "real" burger since Wednesday. I won't mind one of those new Wendy's Frescata sandwiches either.

~ Today has been designated as, buy flowers for the garden and cemetary day. If McShane's doesn't have any African Daisies I think I'll cry. Those were my favorites last year and they held up really well too. Oh and yes, I'll take pictures.

~ I've vowed to ignore chocolate for a few days. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do that, cos I still have part of a dark chocolate bunny from Easter. Have I mentioned that Gene & Boots makes the best dark chocolate? Seriously if any of you are ever in my area, you must consume some of this chocolate it's yummy!

~ There's so much new music out there and soon to be out there, my wallet can't handle it. Rachael Sage has a new CD. The Dresden Dolls have a new CD. Elvis Costello is going to have a new CD next month on the same day that Cheap Trick releases their new album, which is 2 days after my trip to Hershey! ARGH!

Top 5 On Friday - Week 70

From the music lovers @ Music Memoirs

Top 5 songs with/or about "space" and if you're feeling frisky 5 "spacey" albums.

David Bowie - Space Oddity

(This song is a given.)

The Moody Blues - Higher and Higher

Conjure One - Tears From The Moon

The Beloved - Outerspace Girl
(I have this one on CD but not on my harddrive)

Duran Duran - Astronaut

As for the albums

Duran Duran - Astronaut



David Bowie - Space Oddity



Jamiroquai - Return of the Space Cowboy



Aimee Mann - Lost In Space



The Lightening Seeds - Cloudcuckooland

Thursday Thirteen

13 Random Things

1. Mycheckfree.com is being discontinued on the first of July. I only pay 3 bills on that site, but lordy it's going to mess up my life when its gone, because one of the bills I pay there is paperless now. ARGH. I have to figure out if I can set it up on my bank's bill pay service. I'm so not happy about this.

2. The road crew that's working on the water lines is now in front of my house. This forces me to go to Curves after work, except when there's no parking by the darn place (like yesterday)and I had no money to plunk into the meters at the next lot. I wasn't risking a ticket to work out with a bunch of cranky middle aged women. No way!

3. The fat fairy keeps visiting me too and with her comes the candy fairy to make sure that she has a job to do. I'm not a very happy human right now. When I was at the psycho job in the fall, I ate more, went to Curves less and I weighed less. This makes no sense to me at all.

4. There hasn't been a decision made on the trip to Hershey yet on where we stay. I really like the idea of the Hilton Garden. Yes its 300 bucks for the one night, but that includes breakfasts for 2 out of 3 of us and 2 park admissions which are about 42 dollars per person. I think that alone makes that one a plus. I also love these hotels.

5. Def Leppard is touring with Journey and coming to Pittsburgh. Da Leps are the only hair band I have any love for. (I used to have love for Poison back in the day) They always put on a good show, but I'm not sitting through Journey, without Steve Perry, to see them. Plus this year tickets seem to be going on sale on Fridays. Funny...when I could buy tickets on a Friday morning, because I worked afternoons, tickets went on sale on Saturday mornings (when I worked). This year the reverse is true. Grrrr pfft!

6. Going to Atlantic City in Sept is going to feel so strange. Hell, it feels strange not having a Moody Blues concert to go to this summer. I feel oddly let down by all of this.

7. I'm trying to figure out why all my emails from my yahoo message groups go into my junk folder. Everyone else's come through to my email with no problem. I've tried everything and I can't get them to send mine straight through. I don't want to shut off the junk folder because it keeps me from getting about 20 or more spams a day.

8. It's just dawned on me that I haven't been to a movie since I saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Maxi Saver Theater last fall. What's worse, there isn't a movie I want to see until July when Pirates of the Caribbean 2 comes out. And yes, I do have a Johnny Depp fixation.

9. Sometimes a picture really says a thousand words. What those thousand words are remains to be seen.

Until now!



I think Help Me! Is the consensus on what Justin is saying in this picture. Or perhaps, get me away from all these scary men in yellow...they are almost as bad as my fans!

10. I've noticed that all bands have a large group of fans that must attend every damn show and whatnot. The level of obnoxiousness of these fans is different though. Thank god for that. Peter Noone's fans are much more tolerable than the freaks that stalk the Moody Blues around the world.

11. Quiznos keeps sending me coupons. I love Quiznos but damn it, even with a coupon they are expensive when compared to Subway. If I want to spend 5 bucks on a sandwich, I'll go to Panera Bread!

12. My kitten is really enjoying kicking litter out of his catbox and then playing hockey with it. I feel guilty vacuuming it up, because the little guy is scared to death of the damn sweeper!

13. I need a day off very soon. I have had a few half days since Christmas, but Memorial Day will be my first real day off. Rejoice and be glad, a 3 day weekend is coming up in less than 4 weeks!

Hump Day Hotties!

What would Wednesday be without them? A very dull day indeed is what I have to say.

Hersheypark = Evil

OK, the park itself is not evil, but finding a hotel around Hershey Park is. I was trying to find a package deal for the park, but so far the 2 I've found don't seem quite what we're going to need.

Days Inn has the room, 2 adult and 1 child admission and breakfast (doesn't say if its continental or what) for $299.00 I admit this is a good one, but the child we're going with is out of their junior price bracket so we would be paying for a ticket we wouldn't be using. There's also shuttle service to the park, not that we'd use that.

Hilton Garden Hershey has what I think is the best deal. The cost is the same as the Days Inn, but it only includes 2 adult admissions to the park. It also includes 2 full breakfasts and 2 backpacks. Erm? Backpacks? The nephew would probably like that.

Still, with that package good as it seems, one person still has to buy their park ticket which is about $42 bucks as well as breakfast.

The cheapest motel I found was about 9 miles away, which isn't too bad. It's a Hojo's and it's about $90 bucks for the whole night. I haven't decided where we're ultimately going to stay. The Hilton Garden is high on my list, because I've stayed at one of those hotels before and they are lovely as well as the packages they put together. It just sucks when you have 3 people traveling rather than 2.

Random 10 - Week 53

From the music lovers @ Music Memoirs

10 songs that sum up your weekend...or were on your weekend playlist...and one picture that relates back. (oh, and if you feel like it, tell us why you picked the songs you did)

I had a new playlist on my Muvo this weekend, plus I had some different mix CDs in my car as well making for an ecclectic mix of music. (Oh and not to mention the music I received from my LJ play from the m3p3 music swap)

Herman's Hermits - I Won't Be Leaving
Herman's Hermits - Saturday's Child (Yes that's the song that the Monkees did also)

I finally ripped A Kind Of Hush to my hard drive.

Elvis Costello - Man Out of Time
Elvis Costello - Playboy To A Man

Both of these were on the mix CD I listened to on the way to and from Pittsburgh

Cheap Trick - The Flame

I heard this one while walking down Carson Street yesterday

Fish - A Gentlemen's Excuse Me
Talk Talk - It's My Life
Goldfrapp - Forever
Genesis - Burning Rope
Marillion - Kayleigh

These were songs I received in the LJ music swap, the song by Fish (the lead singer from Marillion for a time) is stunning.

Now for the picture.



This is where I had dinner yesterday. Yum!

My Winamp Has Gone Ape!

Yesterday, in order to get my playlist posted for everyone to see, I put my winamp on random. Yes, I gave this little media player freedom of choosing what songs out of 4882 music files that I would listen to. Bad decision.

Yesterday it decided that Christmas in April was the thing. OK, the sad thing is that it didn't bother me to listen to Winter Wonderland or for that matter December. I listen to that disc in July and I really don't care. I was kinda upset that it didn't toss out Mistletoe and Wine. I mean I really need to have that song stuck in my head, along with the 30 other Cliff Richard songs that reside there!

Today it's decided to play full albums.

Oye!

I've heard Days of Future (fucking) Passed. (Can I just say I do not really love this one Moody Blues CD and that Nights in White Satin is no where near my favorite Moody Blues song)

Ah...Breathe deep the gathering gloom....watch lights fade in every room

Thanks Graeme, I needed that at 7 a.m.

After winamp finished torturing me with that one it moved on to Annie Halsam's Dawn of Ananda, which sadly I don't have in it's complete form. I also found out that one of the few tracks that I do have is flawed. Grrrr.

I'm frightened of what it might come up with after this. It's certainly not being very random.

I'm so glad I'm going to Pittsburgh later, because then I won't have to sit around and listen to the weirdness that my winamp is subjecting me to.

Covered Bridges Revisited

I needed to get out and walk today, so I took my youngest nephew to Mingo Park so he could see the covered bridges. Those would be the Henry and the Ebenezer Bridges. I also made him walk the 2.5ish miles between the two. He was none to pleased about that, but I didn't care, I had the Muvo loaded up with some tunes and I was enjoying my walk.

Of course the trip was not without pictures.

Playlist Time!

It's that time again.

I'm posting my Winamp Playlist and you can request up to 5 songs at a time. I'll send them to you via YSI or Sendspace, so make sure you have your email in the comments, so I know where to send the songs. I'll leave a comment back here when your files have been sent so you know that you can request again.

Heres my playlist

Remember, it's polite to say thank you!

Because if you don't, Justin and his trusty jackass will trample you!



Bet you thought I meant Marie when I said jackass! Let's not be insulting to the donkey, m'kay?

Top 5 On Friday - Week 69

From the music lovers @ Music Memoirs

Top 5 songs that "answer" the musical question: Where do we go from here?

Herman's Hermits - Sea Cruise

Elvis Costello w/ Anuna - Long Journey Home

Bernie Barlow - Down By The Sea

George Harrison - Crackerbox Palace

Justin Hayward - Promised Land

Thursday Thirteen

1. Only about a month until the Gary Puckett concert in Hersheypark! I'm not a huge Gary Puckett fan, but my sister is, so we're going to make the jaunt. Plus, her son Michael and I really want to go to Hersheypark and Hershey Gardens.

2. I have more vistors guides in my house. My nephew was in Harrisburg and for some reason he brought me the Pittsburgh guide. I think he was trying to tell me something. Now if he would only pay for gas.

3. Just when I think I've got the worrying under control, something else happens and I can't force the thoughts from my mind.

4. They are replacing the water lines or something of that nature in front of my house this week. This means I can't park in front of my house from 7:30 - 5:00. Sadly my work hours are 8-4 and I only have a 7 minute drive to work. ARGH!

5. I'm losing all interest in Curves. This is so not a good thing, because if I just come home from work, I'm apt to plop myself down at the computer for the rest of the evening.

6. I forgot to order photos from the Palace Of Gold when I made my last order from snapfish.

7. It dawned on me this past Sunday that I really just like the Islander Buffet at Wheeling Island. Gambling doesn't really do it for me. (I always lose) Though I have to say there is something appealling about the whirring sound of the slot machines.

8. I have a coupon for a free appetizer at a local restaurant, but it isn't good on Friday or Saturday, the two days when I'm most likely to go out to eat. Grrr.

9. My body has a nasty habit of waking up a half hour before the alarm and then since I know what time it is, I can't catch that last half hour of sleep during the week.

10. I won't be able to sleep in on Sunday this week, because I'm a lector at the 8 a.m. mass this week. Come to think of it, I'm the lector next Sunday at 8 a.m. too. ARGH! No sleepy for me!

11. The concert season that's fast approaching sucks. Pittsburgh is getting nothing worth seeing and the dates when the other artists that I love are playing that are within driving distance seem to be on days when I can't go.

12. Very soon I'm going to have to go through all the stuff I've got from those vistor's centers and decide what weekend trips I want to make. I can't make too many, as I doubt I'll be able to afford gas and a rental car very soon. I do hope I get to make the trip to Jersey in Sept. I've got the weekend after Labor Day flagged on my calender.

13. No matter how hard I try to keep The Moody Blues out of my mind, I can't. And curiosity did kill the cat. I found out that Justin Hayward's wife Mariemutt (the ugliest woman on the planet) briefly dated George Harrison. Now I have one more reason to hate her. OK, feel nauseaous when her name is mentioned.

Hump Day Hotties

It's Wednesday? Already?

Thank goodness!

I'm going to forget that Tuesday happpened and I'm going to concentrate on something that will relax me, like the hump day hunks. (On a side note, I slept a bit more last night)







So if any of you are having a rotten day, or had one and still haven't recovered from it. Take a deep breath, and stare at some prettiness.

This is me

Don't ask. I may tell you.

Sleep Alludes Me

I need one good night of at least 8 blissful hours of sleep. I don't know why I can't seem to get it at least on the weekends, but no. It's impossible.

I'm by nature a night person. I can't go to bed earlier than 10 o'clock unless I'm sick. Unfortunately last fall my body was forced into waking up at 5:30 a.m. and for some strange sick reason, it's never been able to get off that schedule. If I wanted to get those blasted 8 hours I'd have to be in bed by 9:30. I don't think that's going to happen.

Why?

Every tv show that I really like comes on between 9 and 10.

CSI, Law and Order, Criminal Minds.

All in the 9-11 time frame.

Mind you I'm addicted to any of the shows, but if I start watching one, chances are I'm not going to go to bed in the middle of it.

Which leads me to my problem of being completely drained after work. At 4 o'clock I drag my butt to Curves and try to go around 4 times, because I don't want my butt to grow larger than it already is. After I get home, I'm so tired I don't want to do anything except stare mindlessly at a computer or tv screen. But I can't go to sleep. If that makes sense.

Too drained to do anything I need to do, but not tired enough to go to bed for the night. That's wrong on so many different levels. Now will someone try to push me off to bed at 9 o'clock tonight?

Random 10 - Week 52

From those music lovin' ladies @ Music Memoirs

10 songs that sum up your weekend...or were on your weekend playlist...and one picture that relates back. (oh, and if you feel like it, tell us why you picked the songs you did)

Elton John - Philadelphia Freedom
John Lennon - Mind Games

These two songs were played at Wheeling Island yesterday

Manfred Mann - Come Tomorrow
Herman's Hermits - Meet Me At The Corner Down At Joe's Cafe

2 songs that I bought at AllofMp3.com this weekend.

Elvis Costello - Miss Macbeth
The Zombies - Smokey Day
The Hollies - Carrie Anne
Three Dog Night - Joy To The World
Sally Oldfield and Justin Hayward - Let It Begin
The Doors - Love Her Madly

These were songs my winamp through at me this weekend.

As for the picture, The Suspension Bridge in Wheeling.



As always if there is a song on this list that you'd like, let me know and I'll try to upload it for ya.

Construction Season Has Begun

Ah yes, the cones and barrels were out today. Interstate 70 was a sea of orange and white from Washington to the WV line, or so it seemed. And with that sea of orange and white comes the one sign that I hate the most: "Use both lanes to merge point"

ARGH

No. No. No.

Essentially what this sign is telling people is to pass anyone that had the good sense to get into the lane that is open and cut into that lane at the last possible minute, causing traffic to slow down to a crawl and me to add at least 5 "fuckers" to my trip.

And let me tell you I got my 10 in today. For the most part that word only pops up in my vocabulary at times of extreme frustration (read: driving) or when I feel the need to be silly. Recall the intercourse the penguin skit from Monty Python.

That said, I'm so looking forward to a not so blissful construction season. Let's see how much I can sound like a drunken fishwife by Labor Day.

The Camera Was Out Today

I took my old camera around with me today, because I wasn't sure if it was ever going to stop raining. Thankfully it did and I went off to Washington, to do my senseless shopping.

On the way back I took the long way, detouring down a country road to show my nephew a covered bridge and I stopped along the road to see the animals at a farm.






For the rest, go to my photoblog

Coupons Are The Root Of All Evil

I have a Dots coupon in my inbox right now, and though I haven't found anything I really liked at that store since last summer, I'm going to print it out and drive to Washington later today to see what's new.

Basically, what I'll be doing is wasting gas that I don't have and probably money that I don't have as well.

Yay!

But that's what impulse buying is all about, right?

Plus its an excuse to go to the mall and out to eat. And I love going out to eat, even if it's just to Waffle House or Cici's Pizza buffet.

By this time tomorrow I'll be at least 40 dollars poorer than I am now. No wait...by this time tomorrow I'll probably be in Wheeling, so double that to 80 dollars poorer. But at least I'll be having fun. (Oh and I might have some new clothes!)

Give It A Listen

I discovered a new artist this week. Actually not a new one but new to me. Her name is Lene Marlin. She's got 3 albums to her credit and from what I've heard they are all lovely.

I'm sharing the first song of hers that I heard. It's called Sorry and it's from the album Another Day



Let me know what you think.

Top 5 On Friday

Care of the music lovers @ Music Memoirs.

Top 5 songs that are made to measure. (about measurements, distances etc)

The Proclaimers - 500 Miles

Erasure - 2000 Miles

The Moody Blues - Long Summer Days

Cliff Richard - Thousand Miles To Go

Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Inch By Inch

Cats and Mysteries

I'm an avid reader as most of you know by now. Romance, fantasy, mystery, you name it, and I'll probably read it, or try to.

I'm reading Pawing Through The Past by Rita Mae Brown



I love books where the author gives the cats a real personality. This one gives all of the characters pets personalities. I'm only about 30 or so odd pages into the book and I'm hooked. It's part of a series of books about the the cat Mrs Murphy and I know I'm going to want to read them all.

I rank these books up there with the Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum series, which is my very favorite series.

So if you're looking for an entertaining, fun read, go find this book. I think you'll enjoy it.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen tangible things I can't live without

1. Pantene Brunette Expressions shampoo - This stuff is wonderful. I haven't had a bad hair day since I started using it. I don't usually like to spend a great deal of money on shampoos, but this one is worth every penny.

2. Yves Rocher Force for Lips and Eyes - A lip/eye cream that works better than any lip balm in the world.

3 My cell phone - Not that I use it much but it's almost always at my side.

4. My Creative Muvo mp3 player - No, not the expensive one that I bought at Christmas. That one still has yet to be really used. I'm ashamed of myself for that. But it took almost a year before I really started to use the Muvo.

5. My computer - If I'm home, chances are the computer is on. I may not be sitting in front of it, but it's on.

6. My clock radio - I still have the same clock radio that I had when I was in grade school. It's still alive and functioning. It wakes me to bad music, which is a guarantee that I will wake up each day. (Just to turn it off!)

7. Bernie the Beretta - My 1991 Chevy. I love the car more than I will admit to. Because if I do, she'll become tempermental and break down. (Much like Greta the evil Grand lemon..I mean Grand Am)

8. My ancient feather pillow - I have 4 pillows on my bed, but there is one, that's as old as Methusala (sp) that I've had forever and I can't sleep well without. I even take it with me on trips if I can.

9. Wet N Wild Cosmetics - I have a weakness for expensive Makeup (Mary Kay, Yves Rocher etc) but you can't go wrong with the stuff that only costs a few bucks, and I love new makeup!

10. My photo album - I have a white album that consists of all the pictures of people I've met and my concert photos etc. I like to have it about when I feel crappy, as a pick me up.

11. My Book Collection - My many smut and not so smutty novels that keep me alive.

12. My CD Collection - Without them the muvo and my computer would be a lot less interesting.

13. My Herman's Hermits bootleg DVD - A friend made me this DVD and it's worth it for the impromptu version of Nights In White Satin that Peter does mid-concert. It brings me such amusement to watch that!