Music

A few weeks ago I blogged about my dislike of Rihanna.  I am apparently very close to alone in that (I've got Philip on my side so boo-yah!).  

It got me to thinking about music in general.  I have very odd tastes.  I like a little bit of everything.  My playlist on my iPod is varied.  I have everything from Marilyn Manson to Taylor Swift on there.  Everytime I play the iPod while cleaning (using our awesome Bose!), I think that the neighbors must think I'm nuts.

So, even though I like a lot of different kinds of music, I also dislike music that is really popular.  For instance, I think the two most overrated bands ever are the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.  Seriously overrated.  I mean, I can listen to some of the Beatles, but it's nowhere near as good as people pretend it is.  The same goes for the Stones... except a lot of the music from the Stones, I just don't like at all.  

There.  I've said it.  Now all of you crazy Beatles lovers out there can hate me.  ;)  I will still always know in my heart that Aerosmith is and will always be the greatest band ever.  :D  

Like Nails on a Chalkboard

Seriously.  I cannot be the only person who feels this way about Rihanna's voice.  

She is so freakin' popular and I constantly hear her songs on the radio.  I immediately change the station because it hurts me to listen to her.  

Especially this one:

And this one gives me chills (definitely not the good kind):

And, her videos kind of freak me out.  Especially the Disturbia and Rude Boy videos.  Am I really the only person in the world who feels this way??

Make-out Songs...

During one of my many travels in the past few months, I was driving down the interstate while listening to the radio. It was a country station. The DJ promised to play the "best make-out song ever." I started thinking about what song it could be. I was limited since I knew it was a country station. A few songs went through my mind, but it definitely wasn't what he played. Guess what he picked.

I Will Always Love You by Dolly Parton

Seriously? Does anyone want to make out to that song? I don't. I mean, I don't really do a lot of making out these days, but in my teenage years, if there was music playing while I was making out, it would have been something harder. Not some mushy, slow, Dolly Parton song.

I remember some rock songs and some R&B. Always upbeat. Something that sounds passionate and sexy. Something with a beat. Not I Will Always Love You.

Am I wrong? Do people really make out to songs like that? What songs did/do you make out to? ;)

Sleep, writing, and Break-up songs...

Sleep seems to be rather elusive for me these days. I can only seem to feel tired when it's not an optimal/appropriate time for me to be sleeping. I keep going to bed later and getting up later each day. So, I decided yesterday that I was going to trick my body. I would stay up and not sleep until the following night... I thought that would get my body back on track.

Well, I managed to make it to roughly 1:30 pm yesterday. Then I fell asleep for about 3 hours. And, I still couldn't sleep this morning (I try to be on Philip's schedule... he goes to bed at about 6 or 7 in the morning and wakes up at around 2 or 3 pm since he works nights). So, here I am at 9 am, wide awake when I should be sound asleep next to Philip and Jack in the nice, cozy bed.

Anyway, I thought that since I was awake anyway, I would work some more on the book that I'm writing. It's one of three novels that I've begun. This one is a journal-style novel. It's geared toward young adults. It tells the story of a teen girl's break-up with her first love. It's actually going really well... for once. haha... hopefully this one won't get half-finished and spend a year on my flash-drive untouched. ;)

I usually listen to music while I write. I realized that my current "Favorites" playlist is actually very fitting for what I am writing about. It consists of mostly break-up songs. I thought maybe it was a fluke because of what I've been writing about, but when I thought about it, I realized that most all of my favorite songs throughout the years have been break-up songs.

My current list includes:
Aerosmith: What It Takes (My favorite song of all time)
Blue October: Say It
David Nail: Red Light
Jason Aldean: The Truth
Keith Urban: Til Summer Comes Around
Lady Antebellum: Need You Now
Muse: The Resistance
Rise Against: Savior
Safetysuit: Find A Way
The Script: Breakeven

The Resistance and Find a Way aren't really break-up songs, but are songs of forbidden love. The rest are all break-up songs. Then, I have two other songs on the list: Kesha's Tik Tok (I know, I just can't get it out of my head!), and Weezer's Island In The Sun (because it just makes me happy).

I am not a fan of drama... I don't enjoy break-ups. However, I think I enjoy the songs because they remind me of times when I have felt pain so acutely. And, despite the anguish and pain of those times, they were times when I felt truly alive and they were important turning points in my life. Beyond that, I think they are songs that bring people together (how ironic, right!? lol) because not many people can say that they've never been through a break-up. And the few that haven't can probably still clearly imagine what it would feel like.

Also, even with the immense pain that some break-ups bring, I still know that everything comes out better in the end. So, the songs may seem sad or depressing, but they remind me that through pain, true joy can be known.

Wonderful weekend...

My weekend was wonderful. Joe said that it was probably his best birthday ever. Saturday morning, Jon and Aileen called him from Korea. He was so excited. He kept telling everyone about it. He thought it was the coolest thing ever. Philip was the only person to arrive on time. Everyone else arrived at about 4:00.

We went to play Ultimate Frisbee at the park in the cold. It was only about 40 degrees. It burned our lungs, but once we started running around, our bodies didn't feel quite so cold. Joe had a great time.

Then we came home and hung out. Philip got Joe a Wii game where you fight people with light sabers, so they did that while I finished dinner. They played Epic Duels as well. I made vegetarian lasagna and my ravioli from scratch. It was really good.

Then we played Mario Kart for a while (Joe loves doing Mario Kart competitions) and those of us who weren't a part of the current race, smoked the hookah. It was fantastic. We had banana split shishah first and then we did mint chocolate (my favorite). Dan and I won the Mario Kart competition despite it being Dan's first time playing. :) Later on, we played Cranium Wow. It was girl's versus boys (Kelli and I versus Joe, Nate, and Philip). Later, Haney joined the girls team. lol :) The girls won. As usual.

At 8:30, pizzas arrived from Papa John’s. They were Jon & Aileen’s present to Joe. So, pizzas from South Korea. ;) Joe was thrilled about that as well. Late that night (or early the next morning) we went to Denny’s. Haney started getting sick despite the fact that he hadn't drank anything. We went to bed about 3:30. I woke to the sounds of vomiting not much later. Poor Haney. We got up at 11:00ish the next day. Then we played more Mario Kart and goofed off some more. They were getting ready to go when I realized that we hadn't touched either of the 2 cakes I made. (haha... only us). So, they ate some cake and then went on their merry way. They left about 4:30. I spent Sunday doing some cleaning. The house was a disaster! Lol

Then, last night, Joe and I watched Closer and ate black bean soup. And I didn’t want to get up this morning even though we went to bed at a decent hour. I couldn’t fall asleep.

Joe loved his presents. He got a harmonica, a lap harp, wooden spoons, a guitar (from me), the Wii game and the light sabers, and a bunch of guitar picks and other accessories. And he is awaiting his musical presents from my mom: a tambourine and maracas. If you can't tell, we went with a musical theme. Joe has a "Music Room" in our new house. However, we didn't have anything musical to put in it. So, now he has plenty of stuff to put in it! :)