Marchin On

I can't get the beat of this song out of my head.

The lyrics are pretty apropos, as well.

This song pulls me out of my current limbo state and just says, "Just get to it, already.  Time's a wastin!"

Somebody I used to know

What would happen if Sting (Police days), Peter Gabriel (Genesis days), Bob Marley and Men at Work had a baby?

It would probably sound like this.

Which I'm kind of loving.

Me and Sena dance in the kitchen to this, and apparently my dance moves are too peculiar.

Sena says, "Stop dancing, Momma!"

Alright then.

Be Here Now

Some of you maybe have already heard this song, but this is a gorgeous version.

I have been mentally compiling songs in my head - all the music I listened to when I was writing my book, then rewriting it.

My two main characters have their own theme songs.  Yes, they do.

I still don't know what my theme song is.  It changes.  But right now I like this one.

Love Lost

Here is a lovely music video from one of my new favorite bands, The Temper Trap.  They are only a new band in that I have recently heard their music.  They've actually been working at it a few years.

And I love the entire album.

And I love even more that they are from Melbourne, Australia.

Because it's convenient.

Because my book is partially set in Australia.  So it will be convenient for when they make the movie.  And then Temper Trap can play on the soundtrack.

See, I'm thinking ahead.

Seriously, the video is perfect.  If you've ever ran cross-country you'll get it.  I sometimes run that way.  A little bit Monty Python with some high kicks, jazz hands, and tormented facial expressions of desire and angst.

And everyone on the running trail avoids me.

The end is sublime.

Black is the new black

My mom is a big Josh Groban fan.

I happen to be a big Kanye West fan.  Mainly because Kanye West has an affliction I sometimes suffer from.

It's called: Verbal Diarrhea

I think that should be Kanye West's next album title.

I'm serious.

As a rule, I'm not a fan of Twitter.  But I might just have to pop over and look at Kanye's twitterpated messages.

Question:  If one uses Twitter, does that make someone a twit?  Or a twat?

Sigur Ros

I've been listening to a new website, stereomood, which is where I first heard this song. I've heard of Sigur Ros, but had not been too familiar with their music.

Until I heard this. And totally loved it. Of course, I didn't understand what they were saying until I read a translation of the lyrics. And I was happy to say that I didn't really need to know the actual words because the overall feeling of the song didn't need to be translated.

The song is: Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysyngur

(Within me a Lunatic Sings)

Perfection.

Lazy Eye

Don't know why I haven't gotten around to posting about this song...too busy I guess. I suppose most have already heard it. The first time I did I was immediately transported back to high school. This band (Silversun Pickups) instantly reminded me of another band I used to listen to when I was a young pup. The Smashing Pumpkins. With a little bit of Sonic Youth thrown in for flavor.

I also love the video. Don't you remember doing this? Feeling like this? Waiting for that certain person to walk through the door? The person who could make or break your day if he/she acknowledged your existence?

I do.

Well, if that novel of mine ever gets published, and if the movie ever gets made, I would like to include this song on the soundtrack.

Best lyric:

"I've been waiting for this moment all my life. But it's not quite right."

Been there...

Domino

When I was young, me and my brother had this game called Domino Rally. You may have also had this game. They may even still make this game.

The title is pretty self-explanatory. We would make Domino courses. Some were extremely elaborate courses we would spend a loooooooonnnnng time setting up just right.

So when they worked it was a joyous occasion.

And when they didn't (one little domino failing to fall and stopping the avalanche) it was heartbreaking.

But our rallys were nothing compared to this.

Prepare to be amazed.

27 weeks

The belly button is out. I've decided to call it Clarence. Clarence is obnoxious; he demands attention. He just STICKS OUT THERE. I was thinking about putting a band aid over him, just to shut him up, though I may need to resort to duct tape. I don't know how much worse he will get, some part of me keeps expecting it to go, "Pop!" and stay that way. Forever. Just like when your parents told you not to cross your eyes because they would stay that way. Permanently.

Clarence is much more obnoxious than Stanley, whom I haven't seen in awhile. Stanley is my chest hair. My dark black, extremely manly chest hair that grows in the exact dead center of my chest. He is about a quarter-inch long and no matter how many times I pluck him out with a tweezers, he manages to find a way to grow back.

Except now. It's possible that as a result of all these freaky hormones in my body that I'm not manly enough to grow back my chest hair anymore. Sometimes I wonder if he is gone for good.

I kind of miss Stanley.

Other things about 27 weeks:

Now I'm entering the last trimester.

So far my fingers and toes and ankles have not swelled up and I'm hoping it will stay that way. I don't really aspire to look like a Macy's parade balloon.

All my tests are fine so far. Last week I had to do the gestational diabetes test, which means I had to drink (really fast) a big bottle of gross orange soda and then sit an hour without barfing it up and wait for them to check my blood.

As I sat in the waiting room outside the lab I read through several magazines. The waiting room was busy; since it is a University hospital there are clinics everywhere. I was sitting by the women's clinic and the neurosurgery clinic and watched all kinds of people come and go, when two older women came in and sat down. One disappeared right away for something and the other sat right next to me while she waited for her friend.

I was reading a magazine and laughing. I was laughing because the subject was on song lyrics that people consistently sing wrong.

Remember the Joni Mitchell song, Big Yellow Taxi? The line where she sings, "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."

Some thought it went:
"It tastes very nice, the food of the parking lot."

There were some really good ones and I just couldn't stop laughing. Then I was trying not to burp up my orange soda. I felt I had to explain to the woman right next to me that I was not crazy so I told her what I was reading.

She started laughing and said, "Oh you're probably too young to know this but there is an old song called 'Forever in Blue Jeans'".

I nod. "Neil Diamond."

She looked surprised. "Oh, I thought you'd be too young to know that."

I don't tell her that I love Neil Diamond, my mom played Neil Diamond records in our house, and that 'Cherry Cherry' is one of my favorite songs on my Ipod. "Oh," I say, "I know Neil Diamond."

"Well," she says. "I always thought the song was 'Reverend Blue Jeans.'"

We both start laughing.

"And when I was a kid in church, you know that old song 'Rock of Ages, cleft for me?"

"Yeah?"

"I always sang it as 'Rotten Tomatoes, left for me!'"

I had my own confession to make. "It wasn't until I was much older that I realized the German expression was 'Auf Wiedersehen'".

"Oh?"

"I thought they were saying, 'Our feet are stained.'"

I've never laughed that hard in a waiting room before.

Michael Jackson and Deep Thoughts

Conversation with Matt in the car after grocery shopping at Target.

INT - CAR: Thursday afternoon Michael Jackson's music is playing on every radio station after news of his death.

Mindy: I was totally shocked when I heard that.

Matt: Yeah, I know.

Mindy: Although, I guess I shouldn't be. That dude had some serious problems.

Matt: Mmmm-hmmm.

Mindy: I still remember exactly where I was when I saw that Thriller video for the first time. I was like, Holy Shit!

Matt: Yeah.

Mindy: Hey, what would you do if you knew you were going to die at 50?

Matt: Um, I don't know.

Mindy: Would you do anything different?

Matt: Oh yeah, of course.

Mindy: What?

Matt spends a minute thinking: I don't know.

Mindy: But you would do something different?

Matt: Yeah.

Mindy: What if you knew you were going to die in 5 years? Then what would you do?

Matt: I would take out a huge life insurance policy.

Mindy: That's a good idea.

Matt: Especially if you knew five years in advance.

Mindy: Then what?

Matt: I'd quit my job and run up a bunch of debt.

Mindy (laughing): Really?

Matt: Oh yeah. I wouldn't care.

Mindy: Wouldn't I have to pay for it? When you're dead?

Matt: Ah, but that's what the insurance policy is for.

Mindy: It better be a big one then.

Matt: Oh yeah, the biggest one I could find.

Mindy: Well, you could do that now. If you wanted to. Nobody's stopping you.

Matt: Hmmmm...

Mindy: We should just sell all our shit and travel.

Matt: Yeah. Wander around. I always wanted to do that. Just like the dude on Kung-Fu.

Mindy: Yeah. Oh man, David Carradine just died too. I guess he was a kinky perv.

Matt: Yeah, that sucks.

Mindy: Being a perv?

Matt: No, that would be embarrassing to die like that.

Mindy: Of course, if you were dead, you wouldn't care what anyone thought.

Matt: Probably.

Mindy: I guess money really can't buy happiness.

Matt: But if I had a lot of money I could quit working. And that would make me happy.

Mindy: How much would we need to quit working?

Matt: For how long?

Mindy: Forever... Five million?

Matt: Oh yeah. Definitely. You could live off the interest.

Mindy: As long as you didn't go crazy. You could easily go through it if you were stupid.

Matt: Yeah. You can't be stupid.

Mindy: I think I can do it.

Matt: What? Make 5 million or not be stupid.

Mindy: The first part.

END SCENE.

Playlist #2 and #3

Here's two more songs for my book playlist, from Kings of Leon and Muse.

It will come in handy.

You know, for when they make the movie...

Stuck Between the Stations...and on page 168.

I don't know if this holds true for many writers, but not only am I deeply influenced by things I read and see, but I'm also skewed by the music I listen to.

I listen to a lot of music.

And right now I'm in the thick of my novel, typing it out page by page. The initial grandiose feeling of beginning is over. I'm in the middle of the woods, but still on the trail, with the end still out there (I have a good idea) but I still have to make my way toward it. Word by word. Sentence by sentence.

This is exactly like mile 14 in the marathon. Actually miles 14-20. Your legs start to hurt but you are nowhere near completion. So you try to suck it up and stay motivated. And you let your thoughts wander.

In both instances, writing and running, this is where the play list comes in handy.

I've been listening to quite a few specific bands in the writing of this novel and that has influenced everything from chapter titles, the title of the book itself, to things my characters say and unexpected (for me) plot changes.

Sometimes when I start I know exactly what I'm trying to accomplish. Sometimes. But more often than not I will start with a particular idea, a random thought, a sentence I find amusing, or a weird description and I will just run with it and see where it goes. Sometimes nowhere, but sometimes I will surprise myself. This is the most rewarding part, I think, besides holding the finished product in your hands.

So I have been whittling down a specific play list for this book, and this is one of the songs. Stuck Between The Stations, by The Hold Steady. Not only is it a great song, it seems to capture all that teenage angst/wonderment that I remember from that time. And I can definitely see my main characters listening to this song.

Most everyone from Minneapolis has heard of The Hold Steady. Though they now live in Brooklyn, most of their lyrics pay tribute to this area because this is where they grew up and started the band.

My favorite line: "He loved the Golden Gophers but he hated all the drawn-out winters."

That Minneapolis Sound

This song is funny...cuz it's true.

Here's local singer/songwriter Mason Jennings singing "Your New Man"

A great song for those who detest the upcoming holiday of candy hearts and over-priced roses.

Great Minds Think Alike

Well, I'm not surprised that me and Dave Grohl agree...Arcade Fire is awesome and this is their most awesome some. In my modest opinion. I could be wrong.

Arcade Fire is a band out of Montreal. Another thing to love...Montreal. I was there the summer of 2001 and I love that city. I am a verifiable Francophile. J'adore France. I actually can rank some countries I've visited in a list.

I am amused by Holland. Those wacky Dutch and their wooden shoes! The legal pot doesn't hurt either.

I love England.

I adore France.

If I were able I would have a full-blown sexy affair with Italy.

I've never been to Spain (yet), but chances are if I do I'll want to marry it. Or at least get engaged.

And how can you not love Canada. Uff-dah, pass me the maple syrup...

So here is the original version of the song, followed by a live Foo Fighters version, which is pretty cool. The small interview at the end is pretty good. I guess the Foo Fighters don't do weddings. But Elton John does...

The Underdog

In honor of our new leader of the free world, here is the video of Spoon's The Underdog. Apropos to the man who was mocked in the media for thinking he had a snowball's chance in hell at the presidency.

But as you all are well aware, Americans love an underdog.

Hot and Cold

You know, I've been walking around with two unfulfilled fantasies for a very long time...

No, not that, you sick freak.

1. Go to a wedding where someone says, "I don't" and bolts or there is a HUGE scene. Ideally, you'd want this to be at a wedding where you're only peripherally involved. Say like second cousins, once removed or people that you don't really know. That way you don't feel as bad or responsible for enjoying it.

2. Be part of a moment where everyone bursts into song and choreographed dancing.

Luckily, this video provides both. Kate Perry, you rock.

I'm also hoping this video sparks a renaissance of break dancing. It's about time that came back in style. I think I have an old pair of parachute pants somewhere in my closet. I definitely have the old boombox.

How Close Am I To Losing You?

This is the most gorgeous, heartbreakingly sad song I think I've ever heard. I can barely listen to it without tears in my eyes.

Lately I've been struggling with some things (not been a very good week) and it seems like this song came just in time. It's funny how that works.

The lyrics are very simple and very painful. I've been listening to more of this band's music online and already have several albums sitting in my shopping basket on Amazon.

The song is titled About Today and the band is The National, and this is a live (long intro) version to the song recorded at Spin. The violin really makes it soar.

Music for Marathoners

I love this song by Don Dilego - Falling into space

I also love the girl's sneakers - I have the same pair in navy; they are the original Saucony Jazz running shoes. Supremely comfortable and useful if you suddenly have to bust a move.

Or run away from weirdos.

Everlong

It's still Music Wednesday so I will include my favorite Foo Fighters song: Everlong

This song is insane. I listened to it once while driving Hwy 61 to LaCrosse and when I looked down at the speedometer I was hitting 108 mph. Thankfully, the Jetta didn't break a sweat. Love you, German engineers.

There are other songs that induce ferocious speed as well. Many Killers tunes come to mind.

But there is something about this one - probably the smoking drums that remind me of what it might be like to surf through a barreling ocean wave, and all you can think is Faster! Faster! Must. Go. Faster!

So enjoy. There is also a music video version that you can watch but I was unable to embed. Foo Fighters also do some of the funniest videos I've ever seen.

Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto

It's Monday morning and 10 below. Again. At least it's sunny, and we're not expecting another snowstorm until...wait for it...

Tonight.

This winter has just started but it is already a snow lover's paradise. At the end of our street on 17th avenue is an incredible hill. It's called the 17th Avenue Hill. Clever, I know. It's on the opposite side of Minnehaha creek and shoots you directly toward it which satisfies at least two requirements of a sledding hill.

1. It is steep, and therefore fast.

2. It has a distinct element of danger involved.

It's a hill that reminded me of the Johnson golf course which was near our home in Racine and the main hill we would sled at. The hill was long and steep and there was a river/creek that you could possibly end up going into if you didn't stop in time. I remember being terrified of this possibility, falling through ice is still up there on the top ten list of things I never want to experience, and I would always bail out of the sled if I thought we were getting too close.

That's a good life lesson to remember.

If I don't get a sled for Christmas this year, I'm going to go out a buy one because last weekend the 17th Avenue Hill was calling to me. Or maybe it was all the kids screaming with delight when I drove by.

I don't know how to segue to this next bit, other than to say that since I won't have Music Wednesday this week, I will have Music Monday instead. This is Spoon (awesome band from Austin, Tx) with their song, Don't You Evah.

The robot dancing at the end rocks. Doesn't robot dancing always rock?

Yes. Yes, it does.