Christmas Weekend part 6: Recovery

On Boxing Day I woke up super early to say goodbye to Connor. He left at 7 so he could get some stuff done before he had to check in on base. It was snowing when he left and he had to drive through some pretty heavy rain on his way home.

When I really woke up a few hours later, there was about an inch of snow on the ground. I was worn out from all the celebrating and managed to make it as far as the couch with my pot of tea. Kevin came down shortly after and we proceeded to play every single game we'd received for Christmas with the exception of Dixit which doesn't work with only two people. I even won a few games, which doesn't happen often.

We had plans to go see The Hobbit with Kevin's mom in the afternoon, but after the snow turned to rain and everything got gross we decided to cancel those plans. We'll have to find another time to see The Hobbit, although I'm becoming somewhat less enthusiastic about it. I'm sure I'll see it eventually, but I don't understand why it has to be so long. In the meantime, I'm glad I was able to spend almost an entire day on the couch.

Christmas Weekend part 5: Presents!

On Christmas morning I actually woke up fairly early. Early for me, anyway. Then we had our slightly awkward Christmas tradition of Kevin watching me open the presents form my family. This year Connor got to watch, too! Then Connor went for a run with Kevin's sister and we made pancakes and bacon for lunch. I was going to do scrambled eggs, too, but a rotten egg sort of ruined that plan. Then pancakes were delicious, though.

After breakfast Kevin proceeded to beat everyone at Settlers of Catan because that's how Christmas goes.

In the afternoon we went over to his mom's to open presents with his family. They even got Connor a few things so he wasn't just an observer. Then it was time to make guacamole and head over to some other friends for Christmas dinner.

So many books!

We had leg of lamb for dinner and spent some time arguing about whether this was blasphemous (since Jesus is the Lamb of God and this is supposed to be his birthday) or just a stand-in for Communion (the wine helped make this argument in more ways than one).

After dinner we played Dixit, which is a fantastic party game. Then we played another round of Cards Against Humanity, this time making sure that the adults didn't know what we were up to. There are some things, like gloryholes and smegma, that you just don't want to have to explain.

Once again, Kevin was falling asleep before me, so we didn't stay out too late. Connor volunteered to drive home because he's a pretty awesome little brother.

Christmas Weekend part 4: The Day Before Christmas

Every year, Kevin's mom performs with the Choral Arts Society of DC in the Kennedy Center. The first year I got to attend this, I was really excited to get to see anything at all at the The Kennedy Center. Although some of that initial excitement has worn off in the past few years, I still love attending concerts there.

The concert is always sponsored by a different ambassador and the director includes some carols from that ambassador's country in the program. In the past two years these countries were Belgium and Russia, which exposed me to Christmas music I'd never heard before. This year the chosen country was Canada, which didn't seem that novel at first. But since the new director chose a lot of modern music, there ended up being a few new songs. One of them was actually premiered at this concert, which was interesting.

There was also an incredibly strange song called Epitaph for Moonlight that I'm still undecided about. Parts of it were enjoyable and other parts were downright weird. Although I'm not sure what else I expected from a song that was apparently inspired by a 7th grade class's made up synonyms for "moonlight".

After the concert, we went to dinner at the house of some of Kevin's family friends. We had ham this delicious cranberry-sparkling wine. Then we played Cards Against Humanity and had to explain concepts like road head to the older generation. Slightly awkward, but still a lot of fun.

My brother spent most of the evening with an 8-week-old boxer puppy chewing on his hand. He seemed pretty content to let him, even if he was covered with scratches by the time we got home.

Christmas Weekend part 3: Hail to the Redskins

There's a bar in Chinatown that has tables with taps in them. Kevin and I have gone a few times, and we were always disappointed that you needed a reservation for the special tables. So when we were invited to watch the Redskins game at that bar with Erin and her friends, we were pretty excited.

It turns out the concept was a little over-rated. The beer pricing during football games means that it's a lot cheaper to order drinks from the bar than it is to take advantage of the taps on the table. Add in the fact that our taps hadn't been cleaned, giving the beer a distinct yeasty flavor, and we didn't make much use of the taps.

The game itself was great, though. Watching it in a bar full of Redskins' fans made our victory over the Eagles even more fun. The bar played Hail to the Redskins when they won and everyone sang along.

Connor was disappointed because the Steelers ended up losing. But there was at least another Steelers fan at our table, so he had someone to commiserate with.

After the game, we went to a bar to play skee ball and shuffleboard. We only played a few games before heading home, since Kevin was still feeling a bit under the weather. They were fun, though. I definitely need to play more shuffleboard.

Christmas Weekend part 2: Catching up with Friends

On Saturday morning, we went down to Clarendon to meet some college friends for brunch. I had expected my brother to arrive some time in the afternoon, but the military has killed his ability to sleep late. He drove up form Camp Lejeune and was able to meet us at the restaurant at 10:30.

Brunch was delicious; it didn't hurt that the restaurant we went to had $3 mimosas that they served in pint glasses. And it was fun to catch up with college friends who were in town for the holidays.

After brunch, Connor and I made a double-batch of Cowboy Cookies to take to parties and then Kevin beat us at Settlers of Catan three times.

Saturday evening we went to a dinner party hosted by Kevin's sister's friend. She made delicious food, including a pot roast and really cheesy potatoes. For once, Kevin was ready to leave before me. But that's just because he was getting sick. Thankfully he wasn't so sick that he couldn't enjoy the rest of the Christmas festivities.

Christmas Weekend part 1: The Vindictive Spirit

I'm a huge fan of Christmas, and I like when the festivities stretch over several days. I don't mean that I start celebrating the minute Thanksgiving is over, but I do like the extended holiday that Christmas can turn into. This started in middle school, when having divorced parents and a big family celebration meant that Christmas usually lasted for three days. And it continued this year when I managed to get five days of celebrating in.

Kevin's mom is a member of several choirs in the DC area, and Christmas ends up being a pretty busy season for her. All of her choirs perform several times in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Every year, one of her smaller choirs sings carols in the lobby of the Willard Hotel for an hour or so. Since the hotel is only a few blocks from my office, it's easy for me to head down to see the performance after work. Then Kevin, his mom, his sister and I go out for dinner afterwards.

The concert is in a hotel lobby, rather than a theater, which gives it something of an informal air. People are wandering around, chatting, ordering drinks at the bar. There's a small audience that sits through the entire set, but most people wander over for a song or two.

Because of this, Kevin and I were having a quiet conversation. We were trying to organize a brunch for the following morning and coordinating with my brother who would be arriving at some point. I also giggled through the entirety of Hark the Herald Angels Sing because Kevin was forcing all the rhymes. That song attempts to rhyme "come" with "womb" and "peace" with "righteousness".

All of this added up to a lady in the audience glaring at us. We were clearly destroying the magical concert for her by having our own fun. So I decided to be naughty and join in on the next couple of sing-a-longs. People who know me know why this was such an evil move.

I cannot sing. I couldn't carry a tune if you put it in a bucket with five handles, as my high school friends were fond of telling me. I can't even hit notes. Not that this has ever stopped me from trying. I performed in two musicals in high school (they needed people who could tap dance and just refrained from giving me a mic). I even took singing lessons one summer where I was told that if I used my diaphragm a bit more, I'd ever a better chance of hitting notes.

That advice backfired, because it led to me getting louder any time I heard myself straying too far from the people around me.

By the end of the concert the lady looked like she wanted to kill me. But if the choir invites everyone to sing along, I don't think you can really put restrictions on that. Everyone should be allowed to join in.

After the concert, we got dinner at the Old Ebbitt Grill. The wine list had a shiraz-viognier blend that was surprisingly delicious. Everything was good, though the Irish coffee at the end wasn't my best idea ever.

Books and Charities

Earlier this year, after much prodding from various friends, I discovered Patrick Rothfuss' books The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear. Around the same time I also discovered his blog, where he was wrapping up a big fundraising event for Heifer International. I discovered it too late to get involved last year, but I was pretty excited to see it come back around this year.

Heifer International is a charity I actually remember donating to in high school. One of my friends did fundraising for them as part of her community service for National Honor Society, and it seemed like a really cool charity. Your donations go to buying livestock for impoverished families around the world, which helps them become self-reliant. Chickens provide eggs. Goats and cows provide milk. And when the animals start having babies, the gift multiplies.

I did actually do some research into the charity this time around, and they aren't perfect. A smaller percent of their proceeds go to actually buying animals than that of similar organizations. People in general seem pretty split, either loving or hating the charity with very few people feeling lukewarm about it. I can see where they have some problems, but mostly they seem to be a force for good in this world.

Rothfuss is certainly a fan, which is why he organizes this big fundraiser every year. And it's because of his fundraiser that I decided to make a donation this year.

Every $10 donation you make through Rothfuss enters you in a drawing for one of hundreds of fabulous prizes. And there are seriously a ton of prizes. Rothfuss is compiling a master list on his blog. There are advanced copies of books from nearly every major fantasy and sci-fi publisher. There are collections of books from various authors. There are signed books. There's also an auction, in addition to the lottery, where you can bid on items you really want. Or you can just buy something from Rothfuss' store, the proceeds of which will go directly to Heifer International.

I've donated in order to enter the lottery (and because I do think the charity is doing good work), and all in all I'm feeling pretty good about myself. They actually calculated the odds last year and determined that a $30 donation gives you slightly better than a 10% chance of winning something, which are not bad odds at all. Not to mention that $30 can buy a family some honeybees or a flock of ducks, or contribute to a bigger animal. The odds will probably change slightly this year, but there are seriously a lot of prizes to be won. I'm really hoping I get an interesting book that I haven't read yet.

Halloweiner 2012

This is over a month late, but we hosted the most successful Halloweiner ever this year, and I wanted to at least get some of my picture up before I forgot completely.

We got a whole bunch of different kinds of meat this year, including some pretty exciting sausages. Here's a picture of everything on the counter

We also got some lobsters, which was a first for Halloweiner. It helps to have kitchen with a stove in addition to the grill. We get to cook a lot more things.

The lobsters were actually kind of sad. I think they were out of the sea water too long before we cooked them. But the octopus was thoroughly exciting

That last picture shows our lovely serving area, with all sorts of tasty morsels out to try. I believe the lobster, rabbit, and octopus are all on display there. Those were some of the first things to come out. As you'll see, it's important to get the interesting stuff out early in the evening.

I was pretty proud of the serving area. We made fancy signs and everything. But then the meat was so staggered that we barely needed them. At least we got to use our new serving dishes.

The rabbit came out so good last year that we decided to do two this year. They were delicious again, and we had twice as much stuffing that last year, which was a definite plus

As I mentioned, we also had a bunch of exciting sausage. There were so many that I decided to use the wrappings in the pictures to keep them straight.

However, it appears that this plan did not last long. I very quickly became to distracted to get pictures of everything and too drunk to care.

Of the unpictured things, the veal shoulder was the most delicious thing of the night. Alligator remains fishy and chewy, and I don't think we'll be getting it again. All of the sausages were delicious, though my favorite was something we dubbed "duck, duck, brandy". It was made of duck breast, duck liver, and brandy. And it was brought by a friend of a friend who I now remember only as jerk-face. I think we had an altercation during a drinking game that left me belligerent.

Surprisingly (though perhaps not, given my stunning lack of pictures) we finished the keg around 6:30. Some sober people went to get fancy beer, and a (sober) friend and I went to Safeway to pick up Coors Light. By the time we got back, the meat was mostly cooked and the drinking games were about to begin.

I only stayed up until 11 or so. I played a final game of beer pong that I think did me in completely. But that may have been in my best interest, since the next morning was relatively pain-free for me. The rest of the party kept going until the second 2:30 in the morning (gotta love Daylight Saving's time) and they were really feeling it in the morning. We are none of us in college anymore, and parties like Halloweiner make me wonder how we survived at all.

I'm already looking forward to next year.

Music Meme: Favorite Song About Death

Oh man, it's the last day of the meme. Now I'll have to find something else to fill this blog with. I may have to go back to writing about actual stuff I'm doing. Which, okay, I do have some things floating around that are worth posting about. Not least of which is this year's super successful Halloweiner.

But for now, we will talk about songs about death. This actually took me the longest to come up with, which is a little weird. Given all the country music I listen to, I know plenty of songs about death and dying and grieving. But my brain kept getting stuck on Warren Zevon's I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, which is barely about death at all.

Once I got past that song, my brain moved on to Whiskey Lullaby, a duet between Brad Paisley and Allison Krauss. I fell in love with her voice all over again the first time I heard this song.

There's LA County, by Lyle Lovett. This song is so upbeat that it took me several listens to realize he was singing about a murder. It definitely seems like a murder he's happy to commit.

And I would be remiss to let this category pass without mentioning Will the Circle Be Unbroken, a staple of road trips for as long as I can remember

And so ends the music meme. If you come across another meme that looks fun, let me know!

Music Meme: Favorite Song About Breaking Up

I really like The Race is On by The Grateful Dead. Something about using the horse race as a metaphor is just so clever. Well, it was clever when I was seven, and I still love it.

I also really like Nickel Creek's Someone More Like You, which is wonderfully bitter and angry. Especially the line

I hope you meet someone your size
So you can see eye to eye
With someone as small as you

Music Meme: Favorite Song About Love

I will always have a soft spot for Warren Zevon's Let Nothing Come Between You.

I'm also a big fan of the Dixie Chicks' Lullaby. It so soft and beautiful.

Music Meme: Favorite Song About Politics

My go-to song for raging about politics is Joe Jackson's Evil Empire. I listened to it non-stop when we declared war on Iraq and Afghanistan. I used it in a class project when we read The Handmaid's Tale. It was written in the 80s, but it remains relevant in today's America.

This video isn't the best editing job I've ever seen, but it was the only one on YouTube.

Music Meme: Favorite Song About Religion

This has to be Emmylou Harris' song, Deeper Well. I heard enough Emmylou Harris in my youth to recognize her voice, but I never really listened to her. It wasn't until I finished college and really started exploring folk music that I burned all of my mom's Emmylou Harris CDs and started listening.

But that's not actually what introduced me to Deeper Well. Joss Whedon references the song in an episode of Angel. After I listened to the commentary for the episode, I found the song in my library and sat down to really listen to the lyrics. They're pretty fantastic.

Music Meme: Favorite Song About Drugs

I have a lot of drug-themed songs in my library. I even have a whole mix CD devoted to this topic, which my mom and I made after my stepmom gave me a very strange and rather belated "Don't Do Drugs" talk. One of my go to songs, which was actually included on that CD thanks to my mom is John Prine's Illegal Smile.

I've also long been a fan of Warren Zevon's Carmelita, probably even before I realized it was about heroin

Then I went to college and was introduced to Afroman's Because I Got High, which got played an awful lot. Listening to it still transports me back to the dorms at school.

Election Round Up

Guys, a lot of really awesome things happened last night. Apart from Obama winning the presidential election and getting four more years in office, there were a lot of great results.

Puerto Rico voted to become the 51st state of America (though it does still need approval from Congress)

New Hampshire became the first state to have an all-female governing body (governor, senate, and house representatives)

Mazie Hirono (Hawaii) become the first Buddhist and the first Asian-American woman in the Senate

Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin) become the first openly gay senator

Tammy Duckworth (Illinois) became the first disabled woman and first female combat veteran in Congress

Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii) became the first Hindu elected to Congress

Gay marriage was, for the first time in our nation's history, legalized by popular vote

And, because I'm amused by it
Colorado and Washington both legalized marijuana

It's baby steps, but we're definitely moving forward. I can only hope we get more changes like this in the coming elections until we run out of firsts.

Music Meme: Favorite Story Told in a Song

I'm a sucker for traditional folk songs and the Sweet Polly Oliver trope. My favorite story song, Jack A Roe, encompasses both of these things.

It's about a girl who's fiance, Jack, goes off to war. When she doesn't hear from him, she starts to worry and decides to follow him to war to make sure he's alright. She finds him on the battlefield and ends up saving his life. Then they get married.

But my favorite part about this song is that it turns into a marriage proposal at the end. The final verse is

This couple they got married, so well they did agree
This couple they got married, so why not you and me?

I've always loved that little twist, and I like the way it breaks the fourth wall of the song a bit.

Music Meme: Favorite Instrumental

I'm not generally a big fan of instrumental music. I tend to prefer songs with a plot, and that usually requires lyrics. But there are a few instrumental songs I've come to like over the years. The first is Black Mountain Rag, which was on a CD I listened to constantly growing up. Here's the legendary Doc Watson performing it:

And the second is by Nickel Creek. Most people prefer Smoothie Song, but I've always been partial to Scotch and Chocolate

Music Meme: Favorite One Hit Wonder

Can I pick The Grateful Dead? I mean, technically they only had one hit.

I went and looked up VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders to help me answer this question. And I was quickly reminded of such ridiculous songs as The Macarena and Who Let The Dogs Out?. A lot of these artists really didn't deserve a second hit. Which is probably why they never got one.

But there are some songs on the list that I enjoy. Songs like Tainted Love

Come On Eileen

And Eye of the Tiger

I'm not sure I could ever really pick a favorite, though.

Music Meme: Favorite Duet/Collaboration

A few weeks ago, a duet by Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris came on my Pandora station, and I literally stopped working and just listened to the song. Their voices and styles fit together so perfectly. Then I discovered that they released an entire album together, and I got even more excited. I still need to buy the album, but here's a couple of songs from it

This Is Us

Romeo and Juliet

Music Meme: A Song You Don't Like By a Band/Artist You Do

I really like Nickel Creek, and I actually own all of their albums. But I can do without The Hand Song, which is a bit too overtly Christian for my tastes.

I don't really have a lot to say on this prompt. Sorry for the short entry

Music Meme: A Song You Like by a Band/Artist You Don't

I mostly don't like Rascal Flatts. They're one of the first country bands I sampled, since my mom owns their first album. But I could barely even make it through the whole CD. Even though I mostly enjoy country pop, they come down a little too far on the pop side of that line. It's as if N*SYNC decided to record a country album.

I can tolerate Rascal Flatts in small doses. They aren't offensive enough to my ears that I switch the station when they come on or anything. I just don't seek out their music.

That all changed with the release of their latest single, Banjo. I cannot get enough of this song. At first I didn't even believe it was the same band, because I enjoyed the song so much. Whether this is a one-time thing, or a sign of a new direction for the band, I'm really happy they produced this song.

Music Meme: The Most-Played Song in Your Music Player

At this point my love of country, and especially pop-country is inescapable. Eight of the top ten most-played songs in my player are by Carrie Underwood. Although that has a lot to do with my iTunes being reset shortly after college, which wiped all the statistics from before that and my discovery of Carrie Underwood around the same time. I basically had her first three albums on repeat for a month.

So the most-played song in my music library (with a whopping 36 plays) is We're Young and Beautiful. It's a fun song that reminds me of summer and young love and just being happy.

The other two artists that managed to break my top ten are The Dixie Chicks, with Long Time Gone

And Christian Kane with Crazy in Love

Music Meme: An Artist You Like that Your Parents Listen To

This is a bit of a weird question. There isn't much music my parents listen to that I don't like. It's where I got my love for The Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, Joe Jackson, etc. Even artists like The Dixie Chicks, Emmylou Harris, and Nickel Creek came from my mom's CD collection. My musical tastes (except for the love of country) were pretty heavily influenced by my parent's musical tastes. So I could answer this question with "nearly all of them" and just move on. And I think I'll do just that.

Music Meme: A Song that Makes You Think of Spring

I love Nickel Creek, so I had to get them in this meme somewhere. They've got some great Spring-like songs, which makes them a good fit for this prompt. A lot of people go straight to Smoothie Song, which is pretty great. Though I personally like Scotch and Chocolate better. But for a real Spring song, I have to go with The Fox, for being nice and lively

I also find a lot of music by The Beatles to be very Spring-like. Especially this song about falling in love, though I'm grabbing the video from Across the Universe because I love it so much

Music Meme: A Song That Makes You Think of Winter

Winter is my favorite season. So I'm actually going to cheat here a bit and use a song about winter. It captures some of my favorite things about the season in a beautiful way. Emily Smith's Winter Song:

Most of my winter music falls under the category of Christmas Carols. And I am going to post one, even though it's a bit early in the year. Winter Wonderland has always been one of my favorite songs:

Music Meme: A Song That Makes You Think of Fall

Fall is a harder season than summer. There's not an awful lot of music about this season. More to the point, Fall wasn't something I experienced at length until I moved to Virginia. In Colorado it lasts about three weeks and in Southern California it's almost entirely non existent.

When I think of Fall, I think of things slowing down a bit. I think of that cozy warmth you get from sweaters and blankets, which is entirely different from the kind of warmth that accompanies a summer BBQ. So here are some songs that invoke some of those same feelings in me.

Almost anything Suzanne Vega sings has that warm cozy feeling associated with it. Here's one of my favorite songs of hers, Gypsy

Tom Waits also has a good Fall voice. I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love With You has been popping up on one of my Pandora stations a lot lately, so it's the first song that comes to mind.

Music Meme: A Song That Reminds You of Summer

 There are so many summer songs out there. And every year brings new ones that must be added to the list. I guess it's because summer is the season of parties, when you get to be carefree and just hang out. I certainly have a few songs that signify summer. They always remind me of those long, lazy days. Back when I wasn't working for a living and could actually a few months off from the rest of life.

First there's Smooth by Santana, featuring Rob Thomas. This song came out back when I was in middle school. It didn't even come out during the summer, but I feel like I've always associated it with the hottest season. Maybe it has something to do with the video. Either way, it never feels like it's officially summer until this song comes on the radio.

The next song on my summer play list is Maroon 5's Harder to Breathe. Actually, their entire first CD, Songs About Jane. I received it shortly after finishing high school and listened to it all summer long. I can barely remember listening to anything else that summer, though I'm sure I did. Any time I hear Maroon 5, I'm transported back to those post high school, pre college days.

A more recent summer jam is Say Hey (I Love You) by Michael Franti and Spearhead. Again, I'm not sure this song was even released in the summer. But it's the perfect song for a hot, summer afternoon.

Finally, my most recent summer anthem is a song that came out last year. Kevin spent most of the summer in Alabama and his mom was out of the country for about a month, leaving me to feed her cat. It seemed like every time I drove over to her house Jason Aldean's Dirt Road Anthem came on my radio, which is impressive as it only takes about five minutes to drive to her place from mine. I think this song was just all over the radio, and I was spending a lot of time in my car. Either way, it makes me think of a warm, summer evening.

Music Meme: A Song That Reminds You of Your Childhood

I have a few answers.

The first is The Grateful Dead's Monkey and the Engineer, which was easily my favorite song when I was 6 or so. It's about a monkey who gets control of a train! And everyone's freaking out about this out of control train! But the twist is that the monkey actually knows how to drive the train, so everything is fine. Great song.

There's even a picture book of this song, so clearly it's great for kids.


The second song is Warren Zevon's Werewolves of London. I used to love howling along to this song. Also, best alliteration ever: Little old lady got mutilated late last night

I'm still mad at Kid Rock for sampling this song for his song All Summer Long. Every time it comes on the radio I get excited for a minute before I realize that it's not Werewolves of London.


Finally, I spent a lot of time listening to The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Will the Circle Be Unbroken albums in my parents car. My favorite song of all was Tennessee Stud, about a man's favorite horse.

Music Meme: How Do You Find New Music

I usually find new music either by listening to FM radio or to Pandora. FM radio is good for finding newer music, the new singles by bands I already know I like. Pandora is better when I'm looking for new artists to explore. When I need something new, I'll just create a new Pandora station and see what comes up.

I really don't buy music anymore. Nor do I download it. The last music I acquired was when my aunt sent me an iTunes gift card last Christmas. I bought a couple of KT Tunstall albums with it. I rarely find music that I feel like I need to own. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that I prefer listening to music on the radio. Between FM radio and Pandora I almost never dig in to my personal collection. And if there's a song I need to listen to, I can usually find it on YouTube. Plus, I'd rather spend money on books than music.

Music Meme: Favorite Use of a Song in a Non-Musical movie or TV show

I think I have to go with the obvious answer. I love the use of Elton John's Tiny Dancer in Almost Famous. I can still remember how shocked I was when everyone on the bus started singing along. Excellent use of the 4th wall.

As for TV shows, I adore Community's use of ABBA in the zombie episode from the second season. I would never have expected that combination to work, but it was perfect.

I also want to talk about my least favorite use of a song in a movie. Which is hands-down Hallelujah in Watchmen. It doesn't fit with the scene at all, and it completely took me out of the movie when I saw it. So awkward and cringe-worthy. Here's the clip if you feel any need at all to watch it.

Music Meme: Favorite Musical

Wicked! Avenue Q! Rent! Jesus Christ Superstar! Camelot! The Fiddler on the Roof! Cinderella! The Sound of Music! Buffy musical! Chicago! Moulin Rouge! Phantom of the Opera! Bye Bye Birdie! Into the Woods! Oklahoma! My Fair Lady! Grease!

I love musicals. It's why I'm still watching Glee, despite all the problems with that show. Express an emotion with a song and you've got me hooked.

If I have to pick just one musical, I think I'll go with Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, the one with Brandi. I adored this musical when I was a child. I actually wore out the VHS from watching it so often. It's a fairy tale! And the songs are so fun. I especially love the opening duet between Cinderella and the Prince, which they wrote just for this edition; it's what bumps it up above the Julie Andrews soundtrack for me. I like that Cinderella and the Prince meet before the ball, and that they actually have some things in common that make a relationship between them plausible.

On top of that I love every single song. Impossible is something of a mantra I can hum to myself when things start to get overwhelming. I'll often find myself singing A Lovely Night after a particularly good date (and occasionally I Could Have Danced All Night, but that's a different musical). In high school, I got to choreograph a waltz to Ten Minutes Ago when the choir did a Broadway review.

I do need to give a special shout out to Jesus Christ Superstar, which I listen to every Easter. It's about the only tradition I observe in conjunction with that holiday, but it's an important one.

Music Meme: Least Favorite Musical Genre

Heavy Metal

I just...I like music to relax me. I like instruments and voices that calm me down. Heavy Metal has the opposite effect. It stresses me out to listen to it. So I avoid it.

Funny story, though. The summer after high school I was dating this guy (who I honestly should have dumped long before I did, but c'est la vie). He was a huge fan of Metallica and immediately burned me a CD to which I dutifully listened. I didn't like it. I tried to be as diplomatic as possible when I told him this (they're fine, but it's not my taste) and he just exploded. I don't think he would have really accepted any reaction other than "Oh my god! This is the best thing ever! How have I lived my life so far without knowing about this glory?" (which, incidentally, was my reaction to trying sushi on my 21st birthday) Anyway, there was a fight. In retrospect, I should have broken up with him then and there, but I let it drag on for another month and a half.

All that said, there are of course songs I like that are considered heavy metal. In fact, I was surprised to discover that Led Zeppelin is considered a heavy metal band, mostly because I've always thought of them more as folk rock. It just goes to show how fluid musical genres are. Since they fit the bill, I'll leave you with Ramble On as an example of a metal song that I like.

Music Meme: Favorite Musical Genre

I have a huge soft spot for folk music. It's probably not terribly surprising, since I grew up listening to Jerry Garcia, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and the Eagles, all of whom have folk roots. My dad also owns a bunch of traditional Irish music, which has a lot in common with traditional folk music. I've always found this genre to be soothing, even though peer pressure told me that I was supposed to like pop or rock or hip hop. Although the first time my mom heard me listening to The Decemberists, she was surprised that folk music had manged to become to popular among my generation.

Folk songs, especially traditional ones, tend to have a plot, which I love. I'm not really sure I could tell you why I prefer songs that tell a story, but I definitely do. I also like the use of string instruments, the slight twang, and the overall earthy feel of folk music. It has deep roots. There are a lot of traditional songs that show up over and over again, meaning you get to hear a ton of different takes on the same source material.

Music Meme: Instruments

This question has two parts that I'm going to tackle one at a time.

Which musical instruments did you used to play?

Like everyone else in my elementary school, I had to learn to play the recorder. I actually still have it somewhere, I believe. And I spent a year playing clarinet in the school band, but I gave it in up middle school so I could take Spanish. My school didn't really support being in band and doing anything else. I don't currently play any musical instruments.

What's your favorite musical instrument?

It's a tie between the fiddle and the banjo. With the cello as a close second. The fiddle is incredibly versatile (and okay, is more a method of playing an instrument than an instrument in its own right, but I don't care). It can be upbeat or mournf

I love stringed instruments, and I especially love listening to them play off each other. One of my favorite bands is Crooked Still, unsurprisingly because they have a fiddle, a banjo, and a cello. Enjoy their cover of this traditional folk song, The Dreadful Wind and Rain

Music Meme: First and Favorite Concerts

The first concert I remember was The Backstreet Boys when I was 13. It was basically just a bunch of screaming girls, but my dad did manage to score seats in the second row for my best friend and me. I don't remember much about the concert, but I did have a lot of fun at it.

My favorite concert was Muse, who I got to see during college. It was notable because I actually managed to stay and have fun for the entire concert. Usually I get claustrophobic and have to leave early, which is really sad. I've stopped going to concerts, because it always ends up being a waste of money. I'll enjoy one song, then get progressively more uncomfortable until I have to leave to wait in the lobby. But Muse played at a fairly small, outdoor stadium, so I didn't feel overwhelmed by the crush of people. The simple fact that I enjoyed the entire concert makes it my favorite.

Music Meme: Preferred Way To Listen To Music

I'm a bit old fashioned in that I love FM radio. I have my CDs, I have a Pandora account and iTunes, I've even got an iPod (somewhere...). But FM radio in the car is where it's at. And at work I use iHeart radio to stream a station from Colorado, because I grew up listening to it and still love the DJs

Part of it is that I like not necessarily knowing which song comes next. When the station has good DJs, I also like learning bits of trivia about a song or artist. Good DJs can also put together nice sets of songs that play off each other.

On longer road trips (like DC to Pittsburgh, which I do somewhat regularly) I still use the scan button to flip through radio stations and get a bit of local flavor. It's also a good way for me to stumble across music I haven't heard in a long time. Or that I wouldn't necessarily think to put on.

I have 6 stations programmed in to my car so I can keep music playing when I'm driving. But at home, I usually just have one station on when I'm cooking or cleaning. I like hearing about events going on in my area. I discovered a local wine festival this way, and am occasionally reminded of events or places I'd like to go to. You don't get the same sense of your community listening to iTunes or CDs

Music Meme: The First Music You Bought

The first music I remember wanting and receiving was the Spice Girls' debut album Spice on cassette tape. Since I was nine years old at the time, I doubt I actually saved up my money and bought this for myself. It was probably something I asked my parents for and received as a gift. Still, I remember listening to this all the time at summer camp. In the girls bathroom. While my friends and I pretended to be the 1996 US Women's Gymnastics team. We also choreographed a dance to one of the songs ("If U Can't Dance") for the talent show. We were pretty awesome.

I believe that the first album I actually bought was Britney Spears ...Baby One More Time. I mostly remember my mom hating this CD, but I still have it.

So it's pretty clear that I was a pre-teen/teenaged girl in the late 90s. Who else would have owned both of those albums?

Music Meme: A Song From Your Favorite Album

My favorite album is kind of old. It came out in 1989. But I still love Joe Jackson's Blaze of Glory more than almost any other album I've heard. It's put together brilliantly, with each song bleeding into the next one. The songs actually tell something close to a coming of age story, making it feel like it could be a musical soundtrack. Listening to it, you can trace the journey of the "protagonist" from bright-eyed, optimistic youth ("Tomorrow's World") to unrestrained anger at the world ("Rant and Rave") to slightly jaded acceptance ("The Human Touch").

Unfortunately, I was only able to find a few songs from this album on YouTube. I guess it's not the most popular album ever. But if you can get your hands on a copy of it, I highly recommend you give it a listen. While each song is awesome on its own, together they really are something else.

Since the first two tracks are on YouTube, I'll leave you with them

Tomorrow's World:

Me and You (Against the World)

Music Meme: A Song From Your Favorite Artist

If I really have to sit down and pick a favorite artist, I'll have to go with Jerry Garcia. He's been a staple of my life since the beginning and probably before.

My parents were both big fans of the Grateful Dead, and my dad collected a bunch of Jerry Garcia's other work over the years. He had albums released by The Jerry Garcia Band and collaborations between Garcia and David Grisman that got an awful lot of play. Because of this I was exposed to lot of Garcia's music and covers. His guitar picking was the first I recognized and his voice can always calm me down. There's just something so soothing about his music; I'm sure at least part of it is that I began listening to it at such a young age.

Garcia has an impressive catalog of music, but I'm almost never sure what songs are originals and which ones are covers. It wasn't until Across the Universe came out in 2007 that I realized Dear Prudence was actually a song by The Beatles. I'd only ever heard Garcia's cover of it. I've had an impressively difficult time tracking down a list of songs that Garcia wrote either the lyrics or music for on the internet. You'd think someone would have already compiled something like that and posted it on a fan site. Perhaps I just didn't look hard enough.

So I thought I'd play it safe for this answer and leave you with Touch of Gray, The Grateful Dead's one and only hit single, since I know they wrote it. But I know my mom would be disappointed if that's the only Grateful Dead song I posted (I'm still going to post it here, since I like it a lot).

The thing is, it's hard to pick just one Grateful Dead song (even harder to pick just one Jerry Garcia performance). Ripple is pretty standard

Friend of the Devil will always have a place in my heart

And one of my favorite songs is The Way You Do The Things You Do (but I don't think this one is a Jerry Garcia original).

Music Meme!

When I first started this blog, I did a 30 day Buffy meme. I had a lot of fun with it and have sort of wanted to do another one since. But I had a hard time finding one that I felt would really inspire some interesting blog posts. Well I found a music meme that I'm excited to try. So for the next 30 days you get to be subjected to my taste in music. I'm hoping this will be fun!

Here's the meme I'll be following. I make no promises about sticking to a single song for each post

day 01 - a song from your favorite artist
day 02 - a song from your favorite album
day 03 - the first music you bought (album/cd/song)
day 04 - preferred way to listen to music
day 05 - first concert/favorite concert
day 06 - favorite instrument/what musical instruments can you play or used to play?
day 07 - favorite musical genre
day 08 - least favorite genre (a song you like from the genre)
day 09 - favorite musical
day 10 - favorite use of a song in a (non-musical) movie or TV show
day 11 - how do you usually find new music you like/do you still buy music?
day 12 - a song that reminds you of your childhood
day 13 - a song that reminds you of summer
day 14 - a song that reminds you of fall
day 15 - a song that reminds you of winter
day 16 - a song that reminds you of spring
day 17 - an artist you like that your parents listen to
day 18 - the most played songs in your music player
day 19 - a song you like by a band/artist you don't
day 20 - a song you don't like by a band/artist you do
day 21 - favorite duet/collaboration
day 22 - favorite one hit wonder
day 23 - favorite instrumental song
day 24 - favorite story told in a song
day 25 - favorite song about drugs
day 26 - favorite song about religion
day 27 - favorite political song
day 28 - favorite song about love
day 29 - favorite song about breaking up
day 30 - favorite song about death

Spite and Malice

Even though I no longer live in Colorado, I still listen to a Denver-based radio station every day at work. It's partly a familiarity thing (I grew up listening to these DJs) and partly because I like the time difference. I enjoy actually being coherent during the "Much too early for a question question" in the morning show. I like being able to leave around the time they play the three themed songs at three. And if I do have to work late, hearing the "Commuter comedy" around the time I'm leaving the office makes me feel a bit better about life in general.

But, since I do live 2000 miles away from the broadcast station of this studio, I have to stream it using iHeart radio, which isn't my favorite thing ever. They use the station's commercial breaks for different kinds of promotions. Some of these are Top 40 songs that I have very little interest in (but, hey, at least I've heard the songs on Glee before those kids sing them now). Lately, they've been replaying parts of old interviews in an effort to get me to download (and probably pay for) them.

This means that several times a day, I hear the same conversations between the DJ and Al Gore, Melissa Etheridge, and Alan Alda. To the point that I basically have these interviews memorized now.

During one interview, the DJ asks Alan Alda the secret to his long marriage (50 years!). He responds, "Spite and Malice", a card game that he and his wife play every day. Well I finally got curious enough to look up the rules to this game. If he attributes his long marriage to it, it's probably worth learning to play.

The instructions are here, if you're interested.

It didn't take me long to realize that I do know Spite and Malice. The difference is that I call it SkipBo. And I already play it with Kevin and our other friends pretty frequently.

In fact, we spent most of the morning leading up to Zach and Sarah's wedding playing this game (although our deck had no tens, thanks to Kevin's mischievousness). So if this is the secret to a long and happy marriage, I guess it bodes well for them. Make sure you play lots of SkipBo, guys!

A Tale of Two Compliments

Yeah I'm talking about street harassment again. I don't know if it's happening more or if I'm just noticing it more, but it's been on my mind a lot.

Today I had interactions with two different men and was struck by the contrast between them. The first made me feel dirty. The second left me with a spring in my step. The difference? Well, see for yourself.

Situation 1:
The man approached me on a crowded street corner while I was waiting for the light to change. He got close enough that I could feel his breath on my cheek while he whispered in my ear "Damn, nice legs. You're looking real good, baby girl." He disappeared as quickly as he had come, leaving me shaken.

Situation 2:
While I was walking down the street, a man called out, "Excuse me, ma'am."

Assuming that he needed directions somewhere, I stopped and turned to him. "Yes?"

He looked me in the eye and said, "I wanted to let you know that you look very nice today."

"Thanks," I responded with a big grin.


It is clearly not that difficult to give a stranger a compliment in a way that makes her day better rather than worse. It all comes down to respect. Why is this such a difficult concept for so many people?

Microaggressions

They're the little annoyances we deal with every day. The things we mostly just shrug off because they happen so damn often that we've basically come to expect them. Over time they add up, drain us of our energy. And every now and then you get a day like today when they all happen at once and it feels like the universe (or half of it) is out to get you personally.

The man who walks directly at me on a wide-open sidewalk and snickers each time I change course to avoid crashing into him.

The man who sits next to me on the metro and spreads his legs as wide as possible so I'm crammed up against the wall.

The man who brushes up against me and "accidentally" touches my ass in the crowd to leave the metro station.

The homeless guy, calling me "pretty girl" in an effort to get my attention so he can sell me a copy of Street Sense.

The guy on the park bench who whistles when I walk past.

The man who leers at me as if I can't see him, or maybe just doesn't care that I can.

And then the asshole at the end of it all. Yelling at me to smile; life isn't that bad. Getting angry when I walk past him without acknowledgement. Offering me a dollar if I'll just smile for him. Continuing to shout at me as I do my best to ignore him. But it is my face, damn it, and I will look tired or angry if that's how I feel, and I will smile if I feel like smiling but not because some stranger wants me to.

Taken individually, each of these is a minor incident. Something I'm able to brush off as I go about my day. At least one of these things happens every day, and every one of them has happened before today. If I got angry every time I'd never be anything but angry. This is the world we live in, where men feel like their mere existence gives them some right to a piece of the women around them.

So we learn to ignore the unwanted attention, the trespasses on personal space, the judgement based on looks alone, the infantalizing comments. Because saying something would likely result in escalation, increase our risk. It's easier, safer, to just pretend it didn't happen.

But then a day like this happens, and I'm exhausted before I even get to work. It's days like this that I wish I never had to leave my house. Or that I was actually invisible. Or that I could just make all the men disappear.

It days like this that I actually have to say something. Because these so-called microaggressions are a big deal. They add up to so much more than the sum of the parts, reinforcing the idea that women exist for men to look at, comment on, toy with, touch, possess. That we should be grateful for the attention. That our feelings don't matter. That we are worth less. And that attitude needs to stop.