A Soundtrack for Your Summer Romance

It has reached 120 degrees in the fucking shade in Arizona. 

I am too sweaty to write.

I made you a soundtrack for your Summer romance though. 

Just on the off chance you live somewhere cool enough to have a Summer romance.

In Arizona you don't leave your house often enough between May and September to meet anyone, let alone consider letting them get all pressed up against you.

Happy Wednesday. 

Listen to This: The Kooks

Do you like The Neon Trees? What about Bon Iver, Of Mice and Men, and that band that sings "I believe in a thing called love" who's name I can't remember right now?
Then you'll love the Kooks.
Poppy, British,  fun and intelligent. You can dance to them, make out to them, and feel indie and cook while they blare out the windows of your 72 Chevy pick up that you drive around feeling important and pensive.

In a word, they're awesome. Listen to them and become a better person.

The Friday Diary: New Music and Old News

Happy Friday everybody.

Soooo....I'm an asshole. I recorded the questions video, I edited it, and.....it won't upload. At least not in any format that doesn't crash like half a second into the video. I've tried everything. I don't know how to fix it. But I promise I'll keep trying. I'm sorry. I am just the worst.
But today, let's resume normal Friday rambling recapping. Exciting right?....RIGHT?

Let's move on.

...

10 Songs for Your Broken Heart:

It doesn't matter why your heart is broken, music will help.

...

Letters:
Dear Fall, Goddamn it, I love you kid.
Dear Jackson, if you keep saying no EVERY SINGLE TIME I tell you to do something, we are going to have problems. And by "we" I mean you, and by "problems" I mean good luck making your own dinner for yourself from now on!
Dear Lainie, you lost your second front tooth and spent the night at a friend's house for the first time, both in the same 24 hours. I cried after you left. I just love you, little one.
Dear Dad, stop it. Just stop it.
Dear Sedona, I miss you.

...

Looking Back:

This time last year...

...

Obsessed:

Season 9 of Grey's Anatomy has started, and only two episodes in I am no less than completely obsessed-again. Time to get back on the emotional roller coaster that is this show, and ride.

...

Read:

Amazon

Sort of a memoir, sort of a series of rants about the differences between Southerners and Yankees. Through and through true and hilarious.
I snorted.

Favorite Quote-
Freak: Oh look, there's Joel! Yoo hoo! Joel! I'm so glad you could make it tonight. And who's your friend? She's absolutely stunning!
Normal Person: Look. There's Joel, that lying sack of shit. Who's the cheap Christmas trash hanging all over him? Wait a minute, I'll just say hello. Hi Joel. Have you told Lil' Kim here that you still wet the bed?

...

Eaten:

Recipe Here

These were delicious. I made 20 of them, and there were NO left overs. Even the kids ate like a bunch of them.
I added black beans and forgot to turn them. Still delicious.

...

And Now, Funny Shit from the Internet:


Happy Friday, everybody.

Go get weird this weekend.

Listen to This: Of Monsters and Men



You've probably already heard this, but I've fallen so completely and irreperably in love with it, I couldn't not tell you all about it, just in case you hadn't.
If Florence + The Machine had a love child with Mumford and Sons, this would be it's band.

For those of you lyrics nerds {such as me}, I posted them below.

Enjoy.

Little Talks

I don't like walking around this cold and empty house
So hold my hand I'll walk with you my dear
The stairs creak as you sleep, it's keeping me awake
It's the house telling you to close your eyes
Some days I can't even trust myself
It's killing me to see you this way

Cuz though the truth may vary, this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore.

Theres an old voice in my head
Well tell her that I miss our little talks
Soon it will be over, and buried with our past
We used to play outside when we were young and full of life and full of love
Some days I don't know if I am wrong or right
Your mind is playing tricks on you, my dear

Though the truth may vary, this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore.

Don't listen to the words I say
The screams all sound the same

Though the truth may vary, this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore.

You're gone, gone, gone away, I watched you disappear.
All that's left is the ghost of you.
Now we're torn, torn, torn apart, there's nothing we can do.
Just let me go, we'll meet again soon.
No! Wait, wait, wait for me, I'll see you when I fall asleep.

Don't listen to the words I say
The screams all sound the same

Though the truth may vary, this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore.

Speak to Me

Yesterday's post was sad and weepy and heavy and dark, and quite self serving.

But I appreciate you all listening, and I very much appreciate the kind and insightful comments I received that were completely without judgment. 

That's awesome.

And the texts from friends who saw the post, offering a shoulder to cry on and someone to listen, and reminding me that for every time I fuck up, I do at least two things that are equally awesome, so I should stop crying because no one likes a big vagina.

I have the best friends.

As a reward for all of your love and sarcasm, I decided I would give you a little musical gold to wrap up your day with. 

You probably already heard these, but they're new to me, and it's my blog. 

I do what I want.

Anyway, we'll start off with Lana Del Ray, and her amazing, deep, sultry voice that is so unlike all the high and whiny pop shit out there.

Once you calm down after watching that sexpot video, you can move on to a new song by Jason Mraz that so completely reminds me of Bill and I right now, it actually made me cry tears when I heard it on my drive home tonight.

Hopefully this makes up for all my bitching and whining yesterday.
Thanks for listening.
Haha, get it? Thanks for listening? Like, to my bitching AND to the songs I posted?
DOUBLE MEANING.

Shut up, I'm very tired.

Listen To This

Did you like The Format?

I said "did" because they're broken up now, but it's ok, you're still allowed to love them. 

I do.

Anyway, they broke up in 2008, sad sad, but their music was starting to get half assed and I for one was a little relieved.

Apparently however, unbenounced to me, the lead singer Nate formed a new band called Fun. with a period.

I have to say "with a period" because it's going to piss me off if people start spelling it without the period, just like when people don't write Panic! At the Disco correctly.

Anyhow, maybe you already heard of them, but I had not until just the other day, and once I heard their single "We are young" I stayed up way too late searching for, downloading and falling in love with every single one of their new songs.

Seriously, I was instantly addicted.

So give it a listen if you haven't heard of them, and listen especially if you've only heard their 1 song that's getting radio play {for the first time recently, even though it was released 4 years ago}

Enjoy, and have fun.
Get it???

My First Time

Do you remember the first band you fell truly, truly in love with?

Do you remember the first time you listened to a band that you loved that didn't belong to your parent's generation, or wasn't something that got played on the Disney channel?

The moment where you came into your own in terms of your music taste?

I do.

I remember the first band I loved, and I remember the first song, and I remember exactly how it felt to want to hear that song over and over and over and over again.

I couldn't just wait for it to come on the radio, I had to have it! I couldn't just listen to it once or twice and stash it away for later, I had to listen to until I hated it and then listen to it more until I fell in love with it again.

For me the song was Dammit by Blink 182, and I was 10 years old. 

Music had always been a huge part of my upbringing, and it was everywhere when I was a kid. If the radio wasn't on, my dads records were spinning, and if they weren't then he was singing. He has the hugest, most impressive record collection I've ever seen, and the last time we counted most of his albums it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 3000.

Since he listened to music constantly, I listened to what he listened to, and we liked all the same stuff. He loved Jewel, bought her tape, played it in the truck, we sang it together, and then I loved it too.

But the first song, the first band I fell in love with that had nothing to do with my dad's taste in music at all, was Blink 182.

Considering the music I'd been listening to with my dad, stuff like Paula Cole, Jewel, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, The Rolling Stones, Jackson Brown, etc., and what I'd been exposed to by my brother, music like Sublime, CandleBox, Nirvana, Offspring, and the hip hop and pop my sisters liked, to me Blink 182 sounded completely different. At the time it took me completely by surprise that I loved them as much as I did, considering how different they sounded and how fast and loud the music was. 

But still, whenever their video came on VH1or Mtv {back when those stations played videos}, I couldn't help  myself. I would turn the volume up and spin and thrash around the living room, dancing until I was dizzy and out of breath....until the last cord was struck and the last note hit, and the song was over.

And now, 14 years later, after 4 albums together, 1 album as Boxcar Racer, 1 band breakup and Mark and Tom separating into their respective new projects: +44 and Angels and Airwaves, they're back together, and they've put out a new album.

I heard their newest song today and instantly I was 10 years old, dancing in my mother's living room to the first single by the first band I ever loved all by myself. 

Not because they were popular, or because my dad loved them or my brother or sisters listened to them.

Just because they moved me, and I loved them.

The purest kind of joy: discovering music that tells your story.That tells you you're not alone, and you're still alive.

10 Little Things That Happened This Week

1. After over 3 months of applying for jobs, I finally went on a job interview for a position as a customer service rep for a company called Healthways. I wasn't crazy about the position, or the guy that interviewed me, who was going to be my boss if I got the job, but I need a job, so I'm in no position to say no if they offer it to me.

2. Over the last week, one of the books I've been reading is "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer. It's amazing. I had been seeing pictures of portions of the book all over the internet {See below}, and the passages were so beautiful and moving, or just plain intriguing, I literally had to read the book. It was a need, not a want. I'm a little more than halfway through with it, and it's made me cry 3 times. That's what I call some good writin.

3. It's a long story, and I won't tell the whole thing in this post, because this is supposed to be a post about 10 small things that happened to me this week, but in short, I am not getting married. Neil and I have broken up, Bill and I have gotten back together, and I'm hoping that soon we can all have somewhat normal lives again.....Well, normal for us anyway.

4. Over the weekend, Bill and I went to Sedona for the night, which was supposed to be the weekend, but due to babysitting snags, it ended up only being one night.  We drove up Saturday night and rocked out to some pretty sweet mixed CD's, courtesy of me, cuz I'm awesome. The weather was BEAUTIFUL, really couldn't have asked for better. The grounds of the hotel were very pretty, and there was a little creek behind the property that looked gorgeous at night in the moonlight. We also had pretty much the most awesome bed in the universe. I think it was stuffed with the fur of baby Unicorns or something {no Unicorns were harmed in the making of our bed, I'm like 94% positive}. 

5. At this point, even the Jedi is done with me being out of work. He told me the other day he's all done with my attitude. I think we've been spending too much time together.

6. Miss Tiny got her freaking EARS PIERCED this weekend! I don't have a picture yet, because I suck, but I will take one and post it asap. They make her look like quite the little lady.

7. I have, in the last week, discovered two, yes TWO new bands that are pretty much rockin my socks off right now. Mother Mother and Frightened Rabbit. Mother Mother is an Indie rock band from Canada {y'all know how I love my Canadians!} and they sound like pop meets indie meets electronica meets heaven. So far from what I've heard, their lyrics are never very heavy or serious, but they are catchy, different and very original. The fact that their are two lead singers, one male one female, and they definitely have that duet thing goin on, makes it easy to sing a long to.

Frightened Rabbit more or less fell into my lap, whereas Mother Mother was introduced to me by my friend Sam. Frightened Rabbit is an Irish {or Scottish?} band that sounds like a pumped up, more energetic version of Mumford and Sons, but also with lyrics far more raw, emotional and real. Their music also has this very wonderful sexual quality to it, even though it's primarily sad/angry break up/unrequited love songs. 

In short, they've changed my life. For reals.

Listen to my favorite song of theirs called The Twist, here.

8. I am in desperate need of new music in The Nerd Cave, a.k.a. the minivan, but I am currently OUT of blank CD's and just far too lazy to get more. If someone were to perhaps purchase me more, I would be probably be their best friend forever. 

9. It's almost Halloween, and I am a little depressed about the fact that for the first time in my life, I really do not care at all about this holiday. It's always been one of my favorites. I've been thinking about this all week.

10. I made my first pot of Chili on Monday! This is exciting to only me, because it's always how I kind of signal to myself and my kids that Fall is finally here. Tiny helped so much with making it, she practically made it herself. She stood on a chair in the kitchen, with a hand towel over one shoulder just like I do when I cook, one hand on her little waist, singing along to the radio and dumping garlic in the chili pot. It warmed my soul, really.

I hope you all have had an awesome week!

Music for the Masses

I am a self proclaimed music junkie. I listen to everything. Yes, everything, even country. I cannot function without music. Music makes the world go round for me, as much as love made the world go round for John Lennon.

When I was growing up, as messed up and chaotic as my childhood was, music was everywhere. Music was food and water and air and shelter. Music was what we had when nothing made sense. Music was how my father communicated when he was too sick to find his words. It makes you feel. It makes the little moments in life that pass before our eyes and touch our very hearts and souls, seem real. Seem tangible and immortal. You can say anything with a song.

I like everything from Frank Sinatra to AC/DC to Tim McGraw, and a million bands and artists in between, and nothing makes me happier than sharing new music with people who haven't heard it before. Helping them discover a new genre or a new artist or a new song that changes their life in a place they didn't expect it. I'd like to share with you today a list of songs and artists you may have never heard, or may have never heard of period, who can infinitely change your life. Even if it isn't your type of music or something you would normally listen to, give it a chance. You never know when the moment is right and the right door opens, when something new might shake you to your core and help you see the world in a whole new light. Enjoy.

Bonobo- a.k.a Simon Green. A one man show consisting of amazing instrumentals and techno undertones. Black sands will absolutely chill you out and expand your mind in ways you didn't think possible. Don't worry, it's nothing like doing acid.

Hybrid- Much like Bonobo, but more advanced. If you already know you like music like Bonobo's, then you need to listen to Hybrid.

Bright Eyes- This is poetry in motion. Sure his guitar is out of tune and his voice is a little twangy and hoarse, but his lyrics are mind blowingly real and raw and completely open. If you can't find a single song of his to relate to, you've never ever lived.

Florence and the Machine- This band gained some fast popularity with their single "Dog Days" but their entire album is truly incredibly and sadly overlooked. Their sound is unique and entrancing, and the lead singer is truly gifted in a way that no pop star that has emerged in the last ten years is. She has soul and body and force behind her voice and the product leaves you completely hypnotized.

Chris Garneau- Heavily melodic and much like a lullaby his songs are relaxing and peaceful on the surface, and deep and meaningful when you get into the lyrics. He sings from the heart, and his delicate piano notes and soft voice take you to a place inside where we as a society rarely venture. A place of quiet introspection and solace. Listen, and reflect.

Manchester Orchestra- Again another band that got some radio play for their single "I've Got Friends" and then was widely overlooked. While "I've Got Friends" is a great song, it is not nearly, not by any means their best song. With deep Catholic childhood roots, their songs tell a story of angst, love, sin, loss, guilt, grief and the torment we all go through (especially those of us who went to Catholic school) while coming into our own. These are stories of sex, love and pain. What other stories are really worth telling, anyway?

The Airborne Toxic Event- With "Sometime Around Midnight" being overplayed to the point of making potential fans truly hate the song, it was sad to see nothing else really come "above ground" with this awesome band. Definitely one of my favorite bands of all time. Each song is different, yet similar to the others in such a way that listening to a whole album all the way through is like weaving a delicate and mysterious pattern. You can't see the whole picture until it's over, but once you do, you can see into the very heart of this band. Putting it all on the line, and writing honest, biting and touching songs with kick ass beats and a wonderful use of violin makes this band truly truly special in my so humble opinion.

I hope you've enjoyed this installment of "Sarah and her iTunes". Listen to some new music today. Go change your life.

Music is Betraying Me

I feel betrayed by music these days. I am a music junky, a self proclaimed rythym-holic, an absolute addict for the well sung word. Poetry melted beautifully over a sweet, addictive beat absolutely melts my heart. I would go hungry before I had to live the rest of my life without hearing music. I admit, I am a snob when it comes to music however. Lyrics matter to me. I cannot "get down" if you will, to a song with retarded lyrics. Every once in a while I make an exception for a good dance tune if the beat is thumpin and the words are sort of catchy. But You will NOT hear me singing along to "Black and Yellow" by whatever fucking Moron sings "Black and Yellow". Where I come from, ya know the land of GOOD MUSIC, "Blue and Yellow" by The Used was the song to sing about colors and stuff.
But back to my original point. I feel betrayed by music these days. Due to my excellent skills in procrastination, I had about 87,000 errands to run that all had to get done today, and therefor spent the entire day in my car listening to the radio and my CD's. I was devistated. The radio is an absolute abomination right now. I mean, the towers should just be taken down and DJ's should be publicly flogged, the shit playing on the radio right now is so terrible. And its the same five terrible songs on every station played over and over and OVER. Can anyone say Katy Perry is fucking overplayed?!
Even my CD's made me sad. I thought back to the winter of 2005 and the spring/summer of 2006. That was an awesome time for music, at least for me. Deathcab for Cutie was on the radio, along with other good bands. GOOD CD's were being produced, and alot of really talented artists were finally getting recognized. I could listen to the radio all day and find something good on. Brand New was coming up from the underground more and more. Hellogoodbye was on two or three different stations. Panic! At the Disco released their first album, The Format hadn't gotten all shitty yet. Taking Back Sunday released Louder Now, before I even had a chance to get sick of "Where You Want to Be". "The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me" Released shortly after from Brand New (always in competition right?) The Used was still kicking ass, basking in the glory that was "In Love and Death" and Fall Out Boy hadn't yet lost Pete Wentz to a pop star, and "From Under the Cork Tree" was always in my stereo. I was in love with music, and it was everywhere.
Emo back then wasn't a hairstyle, or a type of pants, it was music. It was a way of life, and also a way of dressing. It wasn't "Scene" or "Hipster" or whatever the fuck it is now. It was emo, and it was poetry in motion. It was the blood, sweat and tears of struggling and amazingly talented musicians finally paying off, just before they all sold out and started to suck/stopped recording altogether.
I miss good music. I miss pure, unmolested art that was made for the freedom and release the true expression brings, not for profit or fame or for all the little "hipsters" running around in their tight Levi pants.
Hey! You posers, back in MY day, when Emo was Emo, and music was good, guys had to buy GIRL pants to get them tight enough, and that was weird, and indie and ultimately quircky, eccentric and cool. Now they make boy pants girly for you so you don't have to do the work yourself. You all suck.

"This is me with the words on the tip of my tongue, and my eye through the scope down the barrel of a gun. Remind me not to every think of you again"

"I've wrote more postcards than hooks, I read more maps than books. I feel like every chance to leave was another chance I should've took."

"Keep quiet. Nothing comes as easy as you, can I lay in your bed all day? I'll be your best kept secret and your biggest mistake. The hand behind this pen relives a failure everyday."