Drift Off To Dream...

Don't get me wrong, I love Tool.  They can be very meditative and deep, when they aren't singing songs about STDs.  They are an amazing band and some of their songs are perfect to fall asleep to.  Last year, when I was on a lot of opiate pain killers, Parabola rocked my world.  Now I settle for a little aromatherapy mix of Lavender, Clary Sage, and Frankincense to go with my Tool fix.  The dreams are still incredible, but you don't feel like you are going to be eaten by your own eyeballs and you don't wake up in a hot sweat with cottonmouth. 

Watch Yourself

The thought of me dancing is, well, not pleasant and I'm sorry that you are now thinking about it.  I do have some go to  dance music though, which would be anything by Sam Sparro or Lady Gaga.  I appreciate both for not trying to be deep, and for not trying to hide their crazy.  That's all I expect from dance music.

Gotta love this video too.  Reminds me of my babysitter from Las Vegas.

All The Words By Heart

This is one of the few (very few) songs I can sing and play at the same time.  Hence, I know all the words.  It reminds me of my brother too.  True To Life Fun Fact:  Mike Durnt, aka, Mike Pritchard, the base player is distantly related to me.  Not really anything to write home about.  Meeting Chris LeDoux at the Denny's in Cheyenne was as close to fame as I've ever gotten.

A Threefur

I've got a little catching up to do on my song list, I went to visit my in-laws in The Basin, and I haven't been around for a few days.

A song that reminds me of someone:  This song always reminds me of my dad.  I remember the first time I really heard it, I was very little, and he was singing along with it in his Semi and we were headed down the freeway in LA.  It's still awesome, and it still makes me smile.

A song that reminds me of someplace:  I have plenty of songs that remind me of someplace.  My life is like a never ending road trip.  I have one song that is like a time machine though, and it's this one.  It's a stupid song, but it takes me back to 1995 in Ephraim, UT just like it was yesterday.

A song that reminds me of an event:  This song will forever remind me of my high school graduation.  11 Years later, it rings true.

Sad Songs & Waltzes

I don't really have one go to song for sadness.  These three are melancholic in the most perfect ways though.

Je Regret...

This Blink video has to be in my top three videos of all time, and I'm not a huge Blink fan.  It's so beautifully shot, even Travis Barker looks hot.

If your album name is Sing the Sorrow, then you better bring the sorrow.  Love me some AFI.

The Hap-Happiest Song of All

There are some songs that make little or no sense, but when you hear them you can't help but be lifted from whatever minor funk you were in.  Most of Beck's songs are like that.  A close second would be this one:

I am no fan of New Country, but Dwight Yoakam is kind of like Alternative/Country.  Buck Owens was ahead of his time.  This song can improve my mood too.

However, the Hap-Happiest Song of all is this one:

Is it a good song.  NO.  Is it well written?  Absolutely not.  Do I break out in a fit of laughter every time it comes on?  YES!  It's terrifically bad, so bad, it has gone all the way around the circle back to good.  Kind of like Pulp Fiction.  So, no matter how crappy my day is, if this song comes on it can lift me from the deepest depression.

Songs Gone Horribly Wrong

Today, I'm supposed to post my least favorite song.  I can actually point you to my least favorite genre, and that would be New Country.  Let me make my case:

5.  Lady Antebellum, Need You Now.  Yes ladies and gents, this is a song about booty calling your ex.  Don't glorify it.  It's drunk dialing at it's finest.  You can lay it down as a haunting ballad, but it's still trashy and a little sad.

4.  Brad Paisley, Ticks.  I think that a song about checking people for parasites is a little yuck.  Not clever, just yuck.  This is from the mind that brought you "Get A Little Mud on The Tires," I'm hoping this is an homage to four wheeling and not what it sounds like.  Parasites and Mud references--eeeeewwww.

3.  Anything by Taylor Swift.  Not because Taylor Swift is a bad singer or song writer.  She's quite good.  It's her fans.  They make me want to scream and throw things.  A good song played every fifteen minutes, everyday, becomes a monster and must be staked through the heart.

2.  Kenny Chesney, remake Fishin In The Dark.  This one chapped my ass pretty hard.  In fact I had to leave the store I was shopping in before I had a come apart the first time I heard it.  Nitty Gritty Dirt Band did this right.  They made it fun, it's one of my favorites.  Kenny Chesney slutted it up and dumbed it down and made it awful.  He should be shot repeatedly in the crotch with a paintball gun at close range for what he did to this song.

1.  The song you've all been waiting for and quite possibly the most insipid thing on the radio today:

Sugarland, Stuck Like Glue:

When you become a successful country singer, and someone says to you "Hey, I think we need to do a Jamaican Style Rap in the middle of this song!"   Just say no.  It's wrong.  Stop doing it.  Fire your manager, change your label, whatever you have to do to get away from it.

There is something worse than Pop Music, and it's Country Pop Music.  Sure it's mostly inoffensive and catchy.  That's what makes it so awful.  When they play their top 40 you can actually feel yourself getting dumber.  There is good country out there, it just doesn't get played on the radio.  I'm sure it's all part of a conspiracy, because even King George has gotten crappy the last 10 years or so.  Don't even get me started on Reba MacEntire, she's never been great, but she's gotten really awful...

Anyway it's just my opinion.

A Departure From Depth

I love music.  No, I mean, I really love music.  I'm not good at playing it, I can't sing and play the guitar at the same time.  I do have an endless supply of music on my iPod, and I still have my CD binder from when I was in high school.  For those of you unacquainted with the CD Binder,  this was a way to physically store your huge collection of music.  It was also a sure indication that you were broke, ostensibly because you spent all your money buying CDs.  Compact Discs, not Certificates of Deposit.  Both are a lame investment, but I digress.


So I'm going to share 30 Days of My Music with you.  I stole this idea from Facebook, because that's where everyone steals their ideas from.  It goes like this:

day 01 - your favorite song
day 02 - your least favorite song
day 03 - a song that makes you happy 
day 04 - a song that makes you sad
day 05 - a song that reminds you of someone
day 06 - a song that reminds you of somewhere
day 07 - a song that reminds you of a certain event 
day 08 - a song that you know all the words to
day 09 - a song that you can dance to
day 10 - a song that makes you fall asleep 
day 11 - a song from your favorite band 
day 12 - a song from a band you hate 
day 13 - a song that is a guilty pleasure 
day 14 - a song that no one would expect you to love 
day 15 - a song that describes you 
day 16 - a song that you used to love but now hate 
day 17 - a song that you hear often on the radio
day 18 - a song that you wish you heard on the radio
day 19 - a song from your favorite album
day 20 - a song that you listen to when you’re angry 
day 21 - a song that you listen to when you’re happy
day 22 - a song that you listen to when you’re sad
day 23 - a song that you want to play at your wedding
day 24 - a song that you want to play at your funeral
day 25 - a song that makes you laugh
day 26 - a song that you can play on an instrument
day 27 - a song that you wish you could play
day 28 - a song that makes you feel guilty
day 29 - a song from your childhood 
day 30 - your favorite song at this time last year


Without further ado, my favorite song:

When they make a movie about my life, this will play during the credits.

It's Hard To Define

I've had a lot on my mind lately, and most if it is so angry it doesn't need to be shared.  However, I'll share what I can without being a jerk.

First of all, I'm tired of the Holier Than Thou Eco Nazis.  I use paper towels.  Get over it.  What else am I going to clean cat barf up with?  I'm not running that toxic sludge through my clothes washer.  I do my best in other areas.  I do what I can to responsibly water my lawn, which is a unending battle with my husband who thinks that the lawn needs to be watered constantly.  I plan my trips; when you drive a gas guzzling wildebeest, you have to.  I eat only ranch raised, free grazing, beef and pork in moderation.  I try to buy locally, so the goods I'm consuming don't circumnavigate the globe before they reach my house.  I plant a garden, compost, dry clothes outside when I can, and I keep my use of electricity to a minimum.  I use steam cleaners to clean and sterilize my house.  Short of killing myself, I don't know how much more I can feasibly reduce my carbon foot print.

Which brings me to my next point.  I can't deal with the amount of crap I'm supposed to buy and participate in to be cool.  On one hand we should leave no trace; and on the other you're considered backwards if you aren't driving the latest model car, siding your house with stucco, taking your boat to the Gorge, and going shopping every weekend.  I'm over it.  I have 3 functioning pick-ups in my fleet, 2 of them are paid for, and the other one will be paid off very soon.  We're not buying another one.  Debt is the modern equivalent of slavery.  Our house is unexciting and dated, and until it's paid off, it's going to become less exciting and more dated everyday.  I tired of my husband working his guts out just to maintain the norm.  I want to be better than normal, and I think he shouldn't be asked to take on hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of debt to be cool.

Finally, just because I don't support gay marriage doesn't mean I hate gay people.  No really.  I don't support the government's recognition of marriage, period.  That includes; gay, straight, polygamist, and anything else you come up with.  Who you choose to be with is none of their business, the only reason they are is so they can find new and interesting ways to tax you.  It's got nothing to do with morals or equality.  It's all about money.  I want to see welfare, social security, medicare, and medicade gone too.  These are just ways to control people.  They have nothing to do with helping anyone.  These programs help divide up our population and assign labels like "low income," "disabled," and "at risk," they do nothing to actually improve our quality of life.

I don't know what I am exactly, it's hard to define.  I think global warming is actually a warm crock of you know what, but I think that everyone should be doing their best to use less and be responsible in their treatment of the environment.  Scaring people into doing the right thing is not okay.  I'm heavily invested in the stock market and I love capitalism, but consumerism will be the end of the world as we know it.  Trying to regulate debt and the US Dollar won't fix it.  Mostly I'm angry and disgusted that you cannot have a productive discussion on any of these topics with people from either side of the issues.  You just get blasted with the same old propaganda over and over again.  Is it a lack of self confidence that leads people to believe that they must cling on to these old ideas and ways of doing things?  Are we too stupid to think for ourselves? No, I think it is much worse than that.  We are too lazy to.

Does This Pack Make Me Look Fat?

The correct answer to that question is "No, your fat makes you look fat!"

I just recently purchased my Dueter 35+ pack.  My brother got me Trekking Poles for Christmas, and I'm ready to start fat packing.  I currently weigh 210 lbs., I should weigh 130.  I am hoping to loose enough weight to fill my backpack by the end of our summer, which would be around 40 lbs.  I am training for a hike into Red Castle in August, and so far, I really enjoy getting in shape.  Whether or not I loose 40 lbs. this summer, I hope to be in good enough shape to start snow shoeing this coming winter.  I know I'm fat, but my goal is not really to become super model skinny.  My main goal is to get in good enough shape to summit King's Peak next summer, and to not jiggle like Santa Claus when I brush my teeth.

I've changed my diet, and I'm eating around 1800 calories a day, 50% from lean protien, 40% from carbs/fiber, and 10% from healthy fats and oils.  Quinoa, Salmon, Pistachios and Pine Nuts are my buddies right now.  This may seem like a lot, especially to people out there who have adopted a low-carb-run-your-ass-off lifestyle.  If it's working for you, super.  I however, can't force myself to run unless I'm being chased by something.  Also, when I want a piece of pie, I'm going to have one.

I am walking/hiking 6 days a week now.  Currently, I walk for 2 hours in the morning and do Power 90 for strength training.  As the weather improves along with my cardiovascular strength, I'm going to increase the amount of time I spend walking/hiking every morning to 3 hours and at least one long day hike per week. This is were my high protein diet comes into play.  You need that kind of protein to keep your muscles going on long hikes.

Now, I know this is extreme.  I don't have a "job" in the sense that I work 8-5, 5 days a week though, and I have the time to do this.  Also, I'm looking for good picture opportunities, and hiking is a great way to do that.  Hiking burns around 500 per hour, and it helps to strengthen your bones and when you use trekking poles it doesn't beat the crap out of your knees like running does.  Did I mention I don't like to run?