Select Page

Songs for a cloudy day

We’re finally transitioning from summer to fall here in Minnesota.  As much as I love love love our perfect summers, there is something somewhat magical about this time in Minnesota as well.  I think is has to do with the fact you don’t have to wear 34723942 layers of clothes to stay warm and the colors and light are just beautiful.  (Note to self: schedule time soon to make a drive to capture some fall colors on film and SD card)

Woke up today to a cloudy and somewhat overcast day, and dare I say it crisp, day.  It was a far cry from the 80 degrees and sunny we had yesterday, but is still lovely in it’s own way.  Since I will be stuck inside most of the day doing a lot of work I figured I should create a playlist that would reflect the change in weather.  Not only did I succeed in doing this, I also succeed in wanting to go back to bed and just hunker down under my uberwarm comforter.

Luckily I overcame this obstacle (through the use of copious amounts of coffee) and persevered to have quite a productive morning on a number of fronts.  Aaaand, as a bonus it’s no longer ubercloudy!

That being saiad, I’m still listening to my Cloudy Day list since it needs to be cultivated for the winter ahead.  A little bit ago “That Wasn’t Me” by Brandi Carlile came on, and as is usual for me, the lyrics just resonated with me.  Lyrics are posted below and you can listen to it here.

(more…)

The xx “Coexist”

Now that I have Spotify, I actually hear more new music when it is new and also by the original artists, and not just via covers from Glee.

As a result of this development, I’ve been listening to “Coexist” by The xx this week.  And you should too. Seriously. Go. Listen.

This seems to be the perfect music for the fact that the weather is getting colder.  Just the perfect amount of mellow with out being too angsty.   I can’t wait to spend some time this weekend listening to this album while reading and just enjoying some me time.  Maybe even while reading by the fire in my backyard.  Decisions!

Oh, and if you’re Spotify, you can listen to this album here.

 

“Thank you for your epic performance. . . I hate you.”

As someone who personally was belting out various Disney tunes last night around my fire pit, I wonder how my neighbors would have graded my performance.  This came across my twitter feed this morning and was too good not to share. . .

I really hope I would be graded along the lines of “Tiny Dancer” and not “Walk This Way”. . . .

Next weekend, I may have to bust out some Broadway songs and maybe a dance number with jazz hands.

No Badge for the Haters: Lessons I Learned as a Girl Scout

Author’s Note:  This is another re-post from a site that no longer is live, but I wanted to share it here as well.  Enjoy.

Not many people know that I was a Girl Scout for 15 years (as both a girl and an adult member) and received my Gold Award, which is the Girl Scout version of the Eagle Award.  I worked for two summers as a counselor at a day camp run by my local council.  I was the keynote speaker at a Gold Award dinner while I was in grad school.  While I’m currently not an “active” member – which is something I really need to remedy – I still consider myself a Girl Scout since I am a reflection of the organization and the skills it taught me throughout my many years of involvement.gs_100th_mark2

Over the past few months, Girl Scouts have been in the news.  While, many of the stories highlight the 100 years of successful programming for girls currently being celebrated, there have also been a number of attacks made on this organization that are quite simply distractions from the actual mission of Girl Scouts of USA. This is, in my opinion, taking away from what should be a positive year of celebration by causing the organization to play defense.

(more…)