30 day song challenge - Day Twenty Nine

day 29 - a song from your childhood
"One Way Out" by the Allman Brothers Band

When my childhood comes to mind, there is a LOT of music. My mom always had music on in the car. Either the radio or the 8 track tape. We were subjected to what she wanted to listen to, and to be honest, this helped mold the person I am today music-wise. James Taylor, CSN/Y, Rolling Stones, and lots of 50s/60s music. My mom was a huge Everly Brothers fan, and I learned how to sing harmony with her by listening to songs like "Bye Bye Love" and "Cathy's Clown."

But the big memory for me is a Ronco or K-tel 8 track tape that had a stretch of awesome rock songs on it, back to back. "Can't Always Get What You Want" by the Stones fed into "Stay With Me" by the Faces. Loved hearing that song, kicked ass. Loved Rod's voice on that tune. And then, into the beautiful Southern Rock Stylings of the Allman Brothers with their Live from the Fillmore East recording of "One Way Out." This is the epic saga of a cheatin' woman, from the perspective of the guy she's up there doing, when the woman's Man comes home. I remember being rather young, and figuring out what was going on in this tune. Dude was gonna get his ass whooped, or, he would get shot by Mr. Saturday Night Special, if another southern Rock band didn't steer me wrong.

I love the ending, the drawn out "oh it just a might be your man, mmm mmm mmm, oh baby I just don't know...."

When I hear this version of the song, I'm transported back to the car, the windows down, the tunes cranked as we blast through Huntington off on mom daughter errands. I'm not sure how old I was, but heck, 8 tracks had a short window of life there in the 70s. So I'm young again thanks to this one, and this is my childhood.

Actual Entry Entry, Not Just a Song Post...

Oh hai.

I've been proud of myself in making sure I blog daily with my 30 day song challenge... but I'm not actually blogging entries. You, dear reader, deserve something other than me talking about a song and my thoughts of it based on a list that someone else made up for the world to ponder.

Several items of note:

On the employment front, still no full time job but for the past few weeks I have been working for my friend Jo, whom I met through blogging (she was the writer of Counting Sheep for a long time, and now writes Amuse Bouche, a foodie/food/life blog for the Boston Area). Jo runs a cooking school, and it kind of super kicks ass and I love going there and helping her out. I jokingly don't call it "work," I call it "awesome." As in, "hey honey, I'm going to awesome," or "How was your day at awesome today?" The pros are it is ... awesome. The con, and the only con there is, is the distance of the commute. It takes about an hour to get there no matter which way I go. I leave here around 10am to avoid as much traffic as I can. If I leave there any later than 4pm, I'm doomed. Traffic is awful, and I hate the distance. Gas being a factor, it may get to the point where what I earn in a week is what I'm putting in my tank, so ... we may have to evaluate what I'm doing where for her... If I can do a full day here, and two days there, then it would work out.

Would that I had a teleporter or hovercraft.

Anyway, it makes me so happy to have a place to go during the day that isn't my couch. I'm coming up on a year un/under employed, and as always, I had great dreams about getting stuff done and projects out of the way and working for myself on things here with the laptop, but ... none of that came to fruition. I need more structure, a format, and other humans around me. Jo's company provides what I need in that respect so I feel more awake and alive than I've felt in months.

Some of that may have something to do with the snow receding. Five feet of snow was a lot, and down south of here where I'm working, the snow is basically gone gone gone. Here, we still have a solid foot, even in the areas getting beat down by sunshine during the day. We had a 60 degree day and a bunch of rain, which helped... I can see some grass out there, and the dog trails around the yard are down to the grass for the most part. I'll be relieved when it is all gone. Three solid months of this was too much for me this year.

Jess is home for spring break. It has been fun having her here. We have been staying up late and watching TV together. And then she sleeps while I go to work, and I come home to things tidied up nicely, which is such a blessing. My kitchen looks wonderful.

Yesterday, one of her friends from Pitt named Cordelia emailed me and asked what we were doing (she lives 1/2 hour north of us). She wanted to hang out with us. Turns out she was in Lexington and slightly stranded. She was hanging out with friends from Pitt and spring break wasn't going the way she'd envisioned it, so she wanted to escape. I picked her up and brought her home with me, surprised Jess totally. They cooked dinner and then baked cupcakes and made frosting from scratch for us. It was wonderful to hear them in the kitchen working quietly, and then laughing out loud about something. I just got home from driving Cordelia to her house so she could spend time with her own family. I wouldn't mind her sticking around longer to entertain Jess and just be here. She's a real sweetie.

Geoff is getting braces put on his top teeth tomorrow. He had spacers put in last week, which he's ripped out twice because they were uncomfortable to him. He refuses to take ibuprofen or tylenol because "that's cheating." I told him relief of pain is not "cheating." I'm hoping he'll take me up on the medication when the braces get put on, or he's really going to be uncomfortable.

He's only having the top teeth done right now, because his bottom teeth and jaw are going to take some surgery. When he gets to be about 18, they're going to correct his under bite, which is a "Class 3" Malocclusion. His bottom teeth cover up his front teeth completely. Essentially, they have to wait until he's done growing and then they will actually break his jaw, push it back, reset it... they'll remove his wisdom teeth at that time, and then a few months later, after he's healed, they'll put on the bottom braces.

We've known this was coming for about 5 years now. It may be the worst thing ever. I'm not looking forward to it... He isn't either.

In the meantime, he's told me he is going to audition for the middle school play, and will do so before the braces get put on next week. Wish him luck.

I think that's about it. I need to get ready for "awesome" right now so I should get going.

30 day song challenge - Day Twenty Eight

Day 28 - A song that makes you feel guilty
"Summer Wind, Cotton Dress" by Richard Shindell

I'm not sure if this was intended to be "song that is a guilty pleasure, or truly a song that makes you feel "guilty." How does a song make one feel guilty? I think I have a lot of guilty pleasures, but I can't really think of one that makes me feel guilty.

Closest I can get is this ditty by Richard Shindell. A song written by a man to an old lover, as he sits and recalls a summer long ago when they were both with other people, and there was a "glance held long and a stolen kiss..."

I suppose that I would like for someone out in the world that I used to be with to think of me once in a while. Like this. Or someone that I had a close brush towards romance with. It would make me feel a little guilty though to sit and reminisce about people that I was once involved with, since I have such a kick ass husband and all... but still. It would be nice to know that I was thought of in that way.

It's a beautiful little song, and I love Richard Shindell.

30 day song challenge - day Twenty Seven

Day 27 - A song you wish you could play on an instrument
"Bourée" by Jethro Tull

After yesterday's posting with a song I could play, I started thinking about all the songs I could probably still play if I thought about it. The flute part to "Firth of Fifth" by Genesis, I could kick ass on that one back in the day. Also the awesome flute bit in "Can't You See?" by Marshall Tucker Band. I can own that one with just a little bit of work. The very simple flute bit in "Who Needs Sleep?" by Barenaked Ladies, also yes. I used to play that on the flute for Geoff when he started taking flute lessons in fourth grade. He was rather impressed by that.

But for all the simple and cute songs I can play, there is stuff I never ever will be able to play. As far as rock songs go, Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson is the master on the madrigal, medieval, modern folk rock flautist throne. I've always been impressed with his skill... the ability to vocalize while playing the flute is sometimes just perfect and other times incredibly inappropriate.

On this particular song that I've chosen, it is all flute driven, based on a beautiful old Bach piece that was written for the lute. They incorporated it into a jazzed up piece, and Ian rocks the flute part on it so beautifully. I have always loved this, been inspired by it. And wish that I could play it.

30 day song challenge - day Twenty Six

Day 26 - a song you can play on an instrument
HHS Fight Song - HHS Marching band


I can play the fight song from my high school marching band, seen here in video from 2009 when we had our reunion and marched in the town homecoming parade. I wasn't playing when this video was shot - because I wanted to film the action. But I can play it. No really, I can.

Funny thing is 2 hours before we filmed this, I could not play it. I barely could remember how to play my flute. It wasn't working right even though I just paid 75 dollars to have it rehabbed. I had taken it out of storage, where it sat for 20 something years.

I couldn't even remember how the fight song WENT. It wasn't until I got into the flute room, and luckily sat next to Eric (who is a music teacher and great flute player) that it all started coming back to me.

So yeah. I was a band nerd, geek, whatever you want to call me. But I can play this song. And now I can play a couple others.

30 day song challenge - Day Twenty Five

Day 25 - A song that makes you laugh
"The Mesopotamians" by TMBG

Always. Always makes me laugh. I love TMBG, and how silly and fun they are but also love that they write great songs about science and numbers and ... history.

This video is adorable.

30 day song challenge - Day Twenty Four

Day 24 - a song you want played at your funeral
"Forever Young" by Bob Dylan

In many ways, I look at this song as a wonderful welcome to a baby. Welcome to this world, may you do great things, may you love God and do good unto others, and may you always stay forever young.

In other ways, I look at this song as a great send off for someone when they pass away. Did you do these things? Was this you? Did you stay forever young?

For me, I hope that is the case, no matter how old I am when I die. If it is tomorrow, or when I'm 90. I hope that people recognize in me a youthfulness that isn't immaturity but is one that is fun-loving and filled with joy, willingness, curiosity and adventure.

And as my life goes forward, I look at that song and aspire to these ideals. to be this person that Bob is singing about.

30 day song challenge - Day Twenty Three

Day 23 - A song you want played at your wedding
"Pride & Joy" by Stevie Ray Vaughan

Please note, Doug and I will celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary in June. I don't plan on having another wedding, so I'll tell you about our reception. We didn't have a DJ or dancing at our wedding. Not because we're anti-dance, or for religious reasons. We couldn't really justify doing it, the cost was prohibitive. And we both prefer NOT dancing for the most part. At a wedding, the same stupid dances get done over and over. Electric Slide, Macarena, BORING.

We wanted people to mingle, talk, discuss, HEAR one another instead of get drowned out by some schmoe with a microphone who thinks he is part stand up comedian, part magician.

We didn't want a DJ. But we did want music, we just didn't want corny wedding/dance music. We told our families this, that there would be no dancing at our wedding. Some of them pushed back, aghast... like a reception without dancing would be some how ANATHEMA and SACRILEGE! But we ignored them. Shut up. There will be beer. Just relax. Jeeesh.

Anyway, we rented bigassed speakers at Daddy's Junky Music in New Hampshire (the same day we drove up and bought cases of wine at the NH state liquor store. Our first visit there but not our last). We asked our friends Gregg and Jon to "pick music." We told them to bring all their favorite CDs and just put them on, run the show. We trusted them to make great choices. And they did.

Gregg and Jon had hooked a CD player up to the bigassed speakers, and they had their collections spread out on the stage at the Hamilton-Wenham Community Hall. They were picking through what to play... and had put a CD into the CD player, and we arrived and walked into the hall to "Pride & Joy" by Stevie Ray. I had on dark sunglasses and someone popped an Amstel Light into my hand. We didn't get "introduced" by anyone. We just arrived, and people clapped and cheered, and yeah. It was perfect.

Very.

30 day song challenge - Day Twenty Two

Day 22 - A song you listen to when you are sad
"Magic" by Ben Folds Five

For me this is a very sad song, a love song but very sad nonetheless. The concept of losing someone that you love so much yet still being able to write a song like this is amazing. I believe, if I recall what I'd read, Darren Jesse wrote this for his grandmother on her deathbed.

Close second to this for me is Death Cab for Cutie's "What Sarah Said," where the lyric is "love is watching someone die, so who's gonna watch you die?"

Wrapping love with the concepts of loss, permanent loss... not break up or have a fight loss, breaks my heart. If I need a good cry, I turn to these two songs and have at it.

Works every time.

30 day song challenge - Day Twenty One

Day 21 - A song you listen to when you're happy
"Solsbury Hill" by Peter Gabriel

I am a long time Genesis/Peter Gabriel fan. When Peter left the band, I was sad, but my heart followed him into his solo career and songs such as this one proved to me how genius he was with Genesis. While Tony Banks was a great songwriter and music writer for the band, Peter's genius and bizarre spiritual bent always appealed to me, spoke to my heart, and made me happy.

Still does.

This song has been so incredibly over used, in film and commercials, that it breaks my heart. I feel like someone took "my" song and put it all over the place and now everyone knows it ... I feel like a secret I once had is now out in the open and it makes me a bit mad.

But, when I'm cruising around the dial, and this comes on, I can't help but bounce. It always puts a smile on my face. And if there is already a smile on my face, it gets bigger.