As most of you know, I'm a messy blogger. Oh sure, the blog itself is neater than my bedroom - with a place for posts, bio, books read, followers (Hi all!), and so on - but there's no rhyme or reason as to when or what I might post on a given day. I like it that way. So I thought I'd experiment with a little organization. Hopefully, I won't break out in hives. Fridays are going to be Favorite Things Friday. This will be an easier post for me to write and the favorites might be anything: books, songs, movies, television shows, moment of the week, latest discovery...whatever. Then I'll turn it over to you to share a favorite from one of the week's categories. Pretty simple, right?
Favorite Songs (not necessarily new, just recent faves of the week)
Little Talks by Of Monster and Men - my 8 year old and I love this song. I've been known to call her from the car so she can listen at home and sing with me.
Whirring - The Joy Formidable
Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me - The Smiths (an oldie but a goodie) There's nothing like a brooding Morrissey to get me in the mood to write a heavy, emotional scene.
Helplessness Blues - Fleet Foxes (discovered this older song on the no good horrible day that I describe below. It does relate to favorites - really - but I understand if you want to skip my rant)
an aside:
If you heard wailling and teeth gnashing a couple of weeks ago, it's because my favorite radio station, WFNX, was sold and will at a later unknown date, be replaced by a different genre. The rumor is country music. This is THE station to listen to in the Boston area for great alternative/indie music, the REASON I started listening to The Smiths, The The, Talking Heads, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Silversun Pickups, The Shins...the ONLY station which not only plays alternative music long before the mainstream stations discover a song that could be a crossover hit, but they play other songs by those groups that you NEVER hear elsewhere (except if you have satelllite radio, which I don't) or you listen on the computer (I'm just not on it long enough). And... I'll stop hear and spare you my full rant. This a portion of the monologuing which my kids had to endure the day I learned I'd have to give up the radio station I've loved for twenty something years, the radio station that has provided the soundtrack to my life. Yeah, mom can get dramatic at times. They rolled their eyes too. No worries.
Favorite Book This Week
Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky - I promise I'll stop mentioning this book, eventually... but not today. I know it's not everyone's bottle of Yahoo, but this novel really struck a chord with me. This is my second post on Perks (and really it's only a mini mention) so you know there's at least one more coming. You may recall I gushed about Laini Taylor for 3. I'll move on, I promise.
Favorite Blog Posts
THIS is why I love Kiersten White.
This concludes the first Favorite Things Friday. What do you think - regular feature or nix it? What are your current favorite songs books, and/or blog posts?
Kiersten White is totally fabulous, isn't she? I really miss blogging with her. She was one of the first writers I connected with in the blogosphere when I started up 2 1/2 years ago...before she published her first book. She's awesome.
ReplyDeleteJust hopped over here from Katie's blog. Nice to meet you!
Nice to meet you too, Shari!
DeleteKiersten's posts crack me up. And now that she's a successful published author, I love the honest and positive messages she offers to teen.
I adore Perks of Being a Wallflower! I'll have to reread it before the movie comes out (which looks like it's going to be fantastic, too)!
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited about this movie, Meredith! I already have a soft spot for Emma Watson, and the other two actors seem like perfect fits for their characters.
DeleteSounds like a great idea for a Friday post. Unless it makes you itchy, then don't. :)
ReplyDeleteHee hee. Thanks, Tonja! I'll be sure to keep the Benadryl within reach ;)
DeleteI think this is a good format for a regular posting feature - as you said, it's not so difficult to write, so it should help to motivate you to post something at least once a week that people can enjoy. And it's a good way to discover new things to listen to and read. I just went to Spotify and listened to the songs you rec'd - thanks for that! Little Talks is tons of fun, I've got it on a playlist but forget to listen to it. The Smiths and Fleet Foxes ones we have (although I think we only have a live version of the Smiths song, from Morissey's solo days.. btw, we are going to see him in October!!) The Joy Formidable one sounds familiar but not sure - it was a good listen, anyway.
ReplyDeleteHere are a few suggestions of my own that have had my ear lately:
"Gold" by Delay Trees - I love the way it builds and builds.
"More than a Feeling" by Boston - kind of cheesy but still kind of great. It just pumps me up. They played it recently on the All Songs Considered podcast and since then it's been in my head, I think it goes along nicely with the summery weather we've been having.
Do you listen to podcasts? Have you tried RadioLab? Their most recent short (~20 minutes) was pretty interesting, it was called Unraveling Bolero. (Actually, their shows are pretty consistently interesting, highly recommended.)
And: that STINKS about your radio station being sold. I have a favorite music station here, I'd be pretty crushed if it disappeared, and I don't have anything like the history with it (it's just a few years old) that you do w/ yours. The format actually sounds pretty similar to my local fav., WEXT. The worst thing about it when something like that happens is that there's usually not anything even remotely comparable to fill in the gap. I've been listening to a lot of podcasts on my 30+ minute commute; I think that works well for longer drives.
Thanks for the feedback about the blog, Jason. I've found that I can't commit to writing numerous blog posts if I want to write a novel, so at least I'll have the light Friday post to keep my blog active.
DeleteYou know, I never thought of podcasts. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check out RadioLab. I suppose regular radio will probably head in the direction of print books, but for my lifestyle, it's the best way for me to connect with the music scene.
I love "More Than A Feeling" (and Boston in general) and it's definitely a good summer song. I'll check out "Gold." The title reminds of "Gold On the Ceiling," by the Black Keyes. Oh! And I heard a commercial just yesterday that Morrissey was coming to the area and I instantly thought of you and Tuuli :)
Jason, I don't know if you'll check back here, but I had the title of that Smiths song wrong. It's "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me" from Strangeways Here We Come. I edited it up above.
DeleteThis is fun! And now I'm off to read Kiersten's post.
ReplyDeleteWeeeee!
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