Day in Review - If I Ran Music Monday...

Bark, Bark, Bark...Bark, Bark, Bark...update on the dog situation...after a meeting with my landlord she said she would send the owner of the dog a note. This was before Thanksgiving.  From  11/24 to 11/27 the dog barked and barked. I lost control yesterday at 5:15 pm when the dog started howling....I immediately called my landlord and while on the phone with me, she walked over to my building in the complex...she definitely heard the howling. Her exact words - "I didn't know it was this bad."  REALLY?!?!?!?!??!  I HAVE ONLY COMPLAINED SEVERAL TIMES!!!!  Her next words - "I will take care of this TONIGHT!!!".

Today is 12/5...the dog barked from 7 to 7:30 am, then from 4:00 to 4:45 p,, then from 5:30 to 6:00-ish.

Once again I called her.  I think she is getting as annoyed with me as I am getting with this dog. She said she has spoken to him several times and she has to give him time to come up with a solution. I get that, but how long????

My Best Annoyed Face....That I Have A Picture Of...

After this exchange I felt the need to meditate and listen to some fantastic music. Warning...This will be a different type of post from me than regular readers are used to. (If you love music, you will probably enjoy it.  If not...see you next time)

For those of you who do not know or understand my love of music, perhaps this post will give you a bit of insight. I think my love of music goes back to the days of Mrs. Taddie and my first few piano lessons...I can still play "Hot Cross Buns" on the piano, in fact. Mrs. Taddie was my first piano teacher, but not my last. My parents found Tom, a crazy Irishman who had the brogue and the rhythm I probably needed to secure my love of music.

From the piano I went to the trombone (very briefly) to the trumpet that I played throughout junior high and high school.  I also picked up the guitar.  I honestly loved playing guitar and I taught myself how to play a few songs.  What I didn't like were the broken nails and calluses on my fingers.  Recently, however, I have felt the inspiration to get my guitar out of hiding. I know when I get that guitar into my hands I can say goodbye to my baby butt smooth finger tips and my long-ish nails, but perhaps it is worth it. I am at least going to bring my guitar out of storage and into my hands.The thoughts of my guitar made me think of music...and the reason for this post.

Back in high school, I always thought that the music my friends and I listened to were like a soundtrack of our lives. In fact, I can hear obscure songs and bands today and get an instant flashback to one moment in my life, even if it was an insignificant moment to everyone else. We went to school in the late 90s...it was grunge, indie and  quite honestly, just awesome. Kurt Cobain touched our lives, Dave Matthews was a god and my friends and I listened to bands that were essentially one hit wonders when we look back on them...we loved it.

As I got older, I came to realize that music, rather I liked it or not, would always be a part of my life. I found that some music actually touched my very soul.  (If you don't get what I mean, that's ok...If you do and you are single, give me a call...we may be the perfect match.  Still looking for my soul mate. I have a feeling that my perfect match loves music as much as I do...Though I did give up on love,  I will make an exception for a music lover.)

Now that I am in my early 30s and have found the most amazing invention on earth (YouTube), I have had access to music that I have never imagined.  I have discovered so many new bands and singers...I can't even name them all.  I just know that my ipod is almost constantly in danger of spontaneous combustion.

Almost as much as I love music, I love the news...as far back as I can remember, I have watched the news.  Though I don't have a great memory of this, I apparently named one of my parakeets after one of the local news anchors as a young child. I do remember setting my alarm clock in junior high so I would be able to wake up in order to watch the Today Show.

I know...you are probably wondering what music and the news have to do with each other...the answer is coming very soon...like now...

Most people hate Monday.  Me? I love Monday...for one reason...Music Monday. Music Monday is a segment on CNN that features different music artists. I have to admit...it is a bit creepy...why is it creepy?  Only because some of my most favorite artists have been featured on Music Monday. Last week, for instance, I was kind of on a Tori Amos kick and listening to an internet radio station that featured several of her songs...an hour later, I see a message on Twitter that Tori Amos was being interviewed for Music Monday. Perhaps it is only coincidence, but to my mind...it's a little strange.  Creepy things like that happen to me though. As my mom would say, things like this could only happen to me, so I just roll with it. (She's right)

Since I live for Music Monday, I have been thinking about who I would choose if I had the power to pick Music Monday. When I thought about it and looked back on the artists who have been on previous Music Monday segments, many of the people I would choose have already been featured. (The Decemberists (favorite song at the moment - "We Both Go Down Together", Bon Iver - loving "Holocene", Cyndi Lauper - definitely "Time After Time", Indigo Girls - Hard to choose, but just got their new album...liking "Birthday Song" , Cage the Elephant - the hit "Aberdeen" and Journey...I will never stop believing) There are a few of my favorites that have not yet been featured and if I had three Music Monday wishes, these are the artists I would choose...

Adele...I am pretty positive that the Music Monday team seriously would kill to score an interview with Adele, but if you are a fan of hers, you know she has been having some throat issues and hasn't been on tour in the US at all.  If anyone on the "dream Music Monday list" has been able to touch my soul, it is Adele. In my opinion she is able to touch my soul like Alicia Keys does...and that is saying something. If Adele doesn't touch you in some way, you just have no taste in my opinion.  Here is my Adele song of the moment...




My second choice for Music Monday would be the one and only Florence Welch of Florence + The Machine. I totally admire her for one reason besides her amazing voice and music....she is 100% her own person.  I am absolutely loving her new release "Shake it Out".



If I get competitive about anything, it is discovering new music before anyone else.  With this artist, I think I did it well...I found Rachael Owens randomly on Twitter before anyone I know and she turned out to be an amazing singer (and actress) who I immediately fell in love with. Since I have known her through the internet, she has released several singles and an album (that I own and sing out loud to).  It has a permanent place on my iPod's main playlist, in fact.  My favorite Rachael Owens song....totally live is "Take a Chance on Me". :)  If you love this, support her! (http://rachaelowens.com/)

 

Let's Pause....(20 minutes have passed)

I have just spent some time thinking about bands and artists I like and I am a bit overwhelmed...there are a lot. It is definitely hard to choose just a few to feature. Above, we have an artist who has a place in music history if she wants it, one who is her own person and one who is new and exciting with amazing promise.  All of them have a place in my playlist and all would be tops on my list for Music Monday. 

I am "no joke" when it comes to music.  I love all kinds....I will even admit to loving Enya and classical music can totally touch my soul as well. I listened to a great rendition of "Bolero" last night in fact if that tells you anything. Other favorites are Robin Thicke, Enigma, Alicia Keys, Safety Suit, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Rebekah Del Rio, The Strokes, Buxter Hoot'n, The Golden Dogs....there are just way too many to list.  I will get way too distracted if I keep going with this.

Moving on... if you love music, you must check out "The Book of Cletis" . He has "Music Saturday" on his blog and had a very interesting clip of The Ross Sisters this past Saturday.

I'm sorry if this this not the normal Christa post you are used to, but I totally felt the need to let out my music love tonight since I am thinking about my guitar. Your regularly scheduled Christa post will be back soon.  If you are new to the post, give a little follow if you love it, leave comments if you hate it and let me know what you are listening to.

Coming Soon ---- "Airing of Grievances", "Letter to 2011", the launch of my new blog (very real and raw) and anything randomly that comes to my mind.