Day: May 17, 2021

Music: Sun Songs

One of my foibles is creating music playlists by theme. Yes, I love finding songs for the books I’m writing, but I also enjoy coming up with an idea and finding as many songs as I can to create a CD (yes, I still play CDs in my car and office). I keep running lists on my phone.

One of themes I’m currently collecting is Sun Songs.

Here’s what I have so far:

  • Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone
  • Sesame Street Theme
  • Sunshine Go Away Today
  • Walking on Sunshine
  • Good Day Sunshine
  • Sunshine on my Shoulder
  • I’ll Follow the Sun
  • Sunny
  • Soak Up the Sun

I’m open to suggestions!

 

Thursday Thought: Fleabag (Includes Spoiler)

My husband and I sat down one night to binge watch season two of Fleabag, an award-winning show on Amazon. We hadn’t seen season one. Hubs had been told season one wasn’t necessary to understand season two.

I wish I’d seen season one, if only for contest. The first episode of season two dropped the viewer into the middle of a complicated family dynamic, in addition to introducing a “hot” priest.

The show was wickedly, viciously funny. Reality can be hilarious at time, especially when it comes to families.

But. (Isn’t there always a but?)

Truth was also buried in the humor. Parts of the show upset me. People not taking responsibility for their own actions. In the family, okay. That’s what made for the humor. The “hot” priest is another issue. I was infuriated when he blamed the title character for his own failures.

The only thing in the world over which we have control is our own attitude. His was appalling.

I know the program is fiction. On the other hand, who’s to say similar situations don’t happen on a regular basis? It’s okay to admit we’re only human, with all the shortcomings that entails. But don’t blame someone else because you can’t control your attitude.

Thursday Thoughts: Manly Obsessions

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My dad had a thing for flashlights. And he was always misplacing them. Once, when he climbed into the attic, he found a flashlight he’d left there the previous year. I recall at least one birthday when he received flashlights from everyone. I think they were all misplaced within six months.

My husband is the same. He is always buying flashlights. We have all shapes and sizes. A few years back, he purchased several “Brooklyn Lanterns” from TV. The cupboard under my downstairs bathroom sink is filled with TP and flashlights.

My husband is also obsessed with tool kits and car emergency kits. Especially car emergency kits. I have one he bought for me, and I’m very grateful for it. But how many does one person need? (One more than he already has!)

Okay, I guess it’s no different than my obsession with office supplies. Pens. Notebooks. Pretty file folders.

I think I find it amusing/frustrating because my husband is not a mechanically mind kind of guy. He can quote baseball trivia out the ying-yang, and don’t get me started on movies–he has come to a realization that he might like movies even more than he likes baseball. These are obsessions I understand and even share up to a point.

But flashlights, tool kits, and car emergency kits? I often just shake my head.

 

 

 

 

MJ Monday-Music: SIRIUS

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I recently purchased a new vehicle. A really new vehicle, that come with three months free Sirius radio. How cool is that?

Except I rarely listen to music in the car. My commute is short (less than 2 miles one way). And between the dreadful radio my husband has to listen to in the morning–he works in radio sales and has to monitor competing stations–and the radio and other noise at Day Job, I relish those few moments of silence I have alone in my vehicle.

The *idea* of Sirius radio is cool. And I’ve played around with a couple of stations. But I’ve spent more time moving the continuous stream of related emails into a folder than I have listening.  That’s right. The emails DO. NOT. STOP,

That ought to say something.

MJ Monday-Music: Echo in the Canyon

Lately it seems as if my musical “patterns” have been in sync. We watched Ken Burns’ Country Music and loved it. I instinctively knew my folk rock preference had deep roots in “country” music and folk music.  We then watched Scorsese’s Rolling Thunder Revue. I had seen the original tour when in came to Rochester, NY back in the mid 70s (7th row center). There was overlap between the two documentaries, and I’m not talking only about Bob Dylan.

My husband, who somehow knows when things are on TV, saved the best for last: Echo in the Canyon. Wow. Bob Dylan’s son Jakob interviewed many of the music icons of my youth, then re-recorded their songs with the help of other modern day artists. There may have been a tour. His goal was to remain as true to the originals as possible. My favorite moment was when David Crosby pointed out that up to that time, rock & roll lyrics were all about “he’s my boyfriend doo wop doo wop.” Artists such as Bob Dylan and Jackson Browne changed that when they “created” folk rock, where the words meant something. They introduced poetry into song lyrics. Crosby quote a line from “Mr. Tambourine Man” to make his point. It was a blatant suck up to Dylan Minor, but it worked because it was true.

Wow. I purchased the sound track. It’s a wonderful listen.