Photo 365 #308

June 11, 2015June 3, 20156 Comments

Daisy, Daisy,
Give me your answer, do.
I’m half crazy,
All for the love of you.
It won’t be a stylish marriage,
I can’t afford a carriage,
But you’ll look sweet upon the seat
Of a bicycle built for two.

I’ve had that song stuck in my head ever since I caught those daisies on film last month. It’s a pretty song, though, and I love old songs like that. It’s true what they say, they don’t make ’em like they used to. 🙂

What are some of your favorite old-fashioned songs?

Photo 365 #218

March 13, 20154 Comments

2015-02-15 08.21.37 Cricket is the family comedian. He says such funny things, but he’s funniest when he’s being completely serious.

We’ve been enjoying the Music and Lyrics soundtrack in the car lately. The boys always ask me the name of each song as it comes on, and sometimes they ask me another half dozen times throughout the course of the song. Last night Cricket really wanted to hear the song “Tony the Beat,” but “A Different Sound” was playing, so he asked me which song was next:

Me: “Love Autopsy.”
Cricket: “What song is after that?”
M: “PoP! Goes My Heart.”
C: “And after that?”
M: “Buddha’s Delight.”
C: “And after that?”
M: “Meaningless Kiss.”
C: “And after that?”
M: “Entering Bootytown.”
C: “And after that?”
M: “Way Back Into Love.”

At this point, I fully expected him to ask what came after that (again), and since “Tony the Beat” was the next song, I thought maybe that would put an end to the questions (for a few minutes, anyway). Instead, this happened:

C: *thinks for a minute*
C: “Entering Bootytown is the way back into love?”
M: *facepalm of epic proportions*

I told Seymour about it when we got home. He’d had a long day of running errands, and this put a big ol’ smile on his face. His response? “From the mouths of babes…”

Kids. 🙂

Photo 365 #179

February 2, 2015Leave a comment

Had to go up to Rochester today for a follow-up appointment. Along the way, we passed a store that was going out of business and had everything marked way, way down. We stopped to check things out on the way home, and among other things, I found this:

speaker

It’s a Bluetooth speaker. Now I can listen to Pandora on my phone with better sound quality! Yay! 😀

I also got four new Pentel Quicker Clicker mechanical pencils for 60% off. I am all set for a while now. At the rate I’ve gone through these pencils, I shouldn’t have to buy another one for a couple of decades at least. 😀

Photo 365 #172

January 26, 20156 Comments

I’ve got nothing today – my brain appears to have shut down. Perhaps it still thinks it’s the weekend?

All in all, it’s just another brick in the wall.

So with that in mind, I hope you’ll enjoy this artsy picture of some of the bricks that make up a local courthouse. See you back here tomorrow, when hopefully I’ll have more on my mind than Pink Floyd.

Photo 365 #163

January 17, 20153 Comments

I’m feeling a bit nostalgic today. I’m copying some of Seymour’s CDs onto my computer for my later listening pleasure, and so many of the songs are ones I listened to growing up. He’s got albums by Reba McIntyre and Alan Jackson, Diamond Rio and Shenandoah, Alabama and Tanya Tucker, and a five-disc set of classic Disney tunes…

I’m having a ton of fun listening to them all as they copy; it’s like taking a walk down memory lane with a group of old friends:

I found these while I was going through my filing cabinet this afternoon. (Gotta do something while I wait for CDs to rip.) If you’re like me, you grew up before cell phones were ubiquitous and did your own fair share of note-passing. I’ve got tins of them left over from high school, and every now and then I dig them out and look through them again.

To discourage unintended viewing, we sometimes wrote them like this:

Believe it or not, I can still read this. The key is long since gone, but this was the code we used most often, so even after fifteen years, I can still tell you what it says. (Spoiler alert: It was about a boy.)

Were you a note-passer in school? Did you ever get caught?

Photo 365 #32

September 8, 20143 Comments

If there’s one thing I love, it’s writing. Of course, I also love music. Put the two together and I’m a happy girl. 🙂

notes

What’s that? That’s my pretty new necklace from our trip to Northeast Iowa over the long weekend and a brand new short story, inspired by today’s prompt on The Daily Post. I’ll post it just as soon as it’s finished.

But for now? Back to work. While the thunder lasts. 🙂

Photo Friday guilt

June 27, 2014August 22, 201412 Comments

So, today’s theme is guilty pleasures. Since I’ve been über busy this week and didn’t have time to appropriately photograph my guilty pleasure, please enjoy this alternate shot:

mixtape

I’ll admit it: I love the Backstreet Boys (see top left tape). I love ‘N SYNC. I love 98°. And I retroactively love the Spice Girls (meaning I hated them when they were popular and I love them now). I don’t care how cheesy the music is or how awful their music videos are (“Backstreet’s Back,” anybody?), I can’t help but smile whenever these songs start to play. And since these tunes influenced so many of my stories in high school, they will always have a soft spot in my heart.

How about you – what are your guilty pleasures?

Don’t forget to visit Charnele’s blog to find out what her guilty pleasure is!

Writing 101: The tunes

June 4, 201416 Comments

Gaelic Storm at the Englert Theater

I can’t even begin to count the number of songs in which I can find meaning, or the number of songs that I love, that hold inspiration for me, that have shaped the person I’ve become. The first three that popped into my head, though, are “A Way Back Into Love” and “Dance With Me Tonight” from the Music and Lyrics soundtrack, and “Walk Through My Door” from Gaelic Storm’s album, Tree.

I listened to a lot of Gaelic Storm during my teen years, and their first three albums in particular can send me back to fun times with great friends in seconds. While I love all their music, “Walk Through My Door” always reminds me of a certain person. The song itself even inspired a short story, one that I’m told wasn’t half bad.

But, as inevitably happens, I graduated high school and got married (to someone else). And when my marriage ended, I listened to this song again…

Ideas sometimes whisper

June 2, 20145 Comments

I tried to come up with a quick short story to post today for the first Writing 101 challenge. I’m really excited to be participating in another Blogging University event, especially one that’s geared toward writing! Normally all I have to do is just look out the window for just a whisper of an idea, and then I’m off, my hand (and pen) gliding swiftly over the page, seemingly of their own volition.

But not today.

For whatever reason, I’m unable to concentrate today. The only thing to be heard at the moment is the song “Frankenstein” by the Edgar Winter Group, which is currently blaring from the office radio. Soon enough, it will be something else, something which is sure to be be equally distracting. I mean, it’s a good song, but when I’m trying to focus on characters and setting and plot, it’s too…

I feel fine

August 9, 2013August 9, 2013Leave a comment

So today I’m taking a cue from a friend and using a song title for my post title. And why do I feel fine? Because I was up all night hanging out with my bestest bud, in case you haven’t seen the sidebar to the right. (And then after that, I may or may not have been lost in Camlain and Penrithen, two lands from the fabulous Vortex, Return of the Effra by Lindsey J. Parsons.)

Today, we’re having a blast and tonight is going to be better yet. So if I’m not around for a day or two, rest assured it’s because I’m having a heck of a good time with some really great friends. Have a great weekend, everybody!