Geisha School Dropout

Sounds of Saturday: Donna Summer Edition

She was so beautiful, with a voice like a nightingale:

RIP, Ms. Summer

Good Things Still Come via Snail Mail

Yesterday, I received a CD-size envelope from an address in New York.  When I opened it up, there was a letter that read:

Dear Human Being,

Enclosed is a burned compact disc version of "Henrietta," a single from our upcoming album.  We wanted you to hear it first.  Please know you were chosen (1 of 200) at random from over 7 billion people on the planet earth.  Pls share w/ the internets.

More details soon.

x- Yeasayer

I about near wept with glee.  Yeasayer is one of the best bands out there, and here they appear on my doorstep!  What a great surprise for an otherwise uneventful Wednesday.  What an awesome way to market a new single, right?  So I shall obey my musical overlords...here is Yeasayer's new single, "Henrietta":

 

01 Henrietta

(You can stream it from here, or right-click module to download.)

Sounds of Saturday

Tim sent me the "Bad Lip Reading" version of Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know":

I might even like it better than the original!

And bonus sexy presidential stream-of-consciousness beat poetry:

Sounds of Saturday

A friend of mine recently posted on Facebook a photo of her and Nick Lowe with nary an exclamation point, like it was no big whoop just hanging out with one of the greatest songwriters of all time!  My friends are so cool.  

Anyway, she inspired me to listen to this song on repeat:

And of course, the news of MCA's passing yesterday was so heartbreaking.  Needless to say, the Beastie Boys were enormously influential in my childhood and adolescence, and Adam was arguably the funniest out of the three.  However, he was definitely the first one to grow up a little and fight for something other than the right to party.  His activism for a free Tibet kickstarted an entirely new generation of activists, and I hope he will be remembered for that as much as for his music.

In lieu of a Beastie Boys song (my favorite being "Sabotage"), I thought it would be funny to take a trip down memory lane with this clip from the OG Oprah show. It features Tipper Gore getting in a tizzy over the Beastie Boys (shout out to my old friend Flipchild for posting it).  Those were indeed more innocent times:

Silent Sunday: This Charming Man

 

 

Questions from the Audience #6

Mary asks: What is the soundtrack of your life?  What do you hear in the background when you think of pivotal moments in your life?

 Ugh, I don't have the time to really put in a thoughtful answer, so I assembled a YouTube playlist of our wedding songs.  Instead of real take-home gifts for the guests, Tim and I spent a few sleepless days and nights painstakingly burning, coloring in and applying labels, and stuffing envelopes with CDs chock full of our favorite love songs.  Back then, burner speeds were at 8x, so each CD took about 15 minutes to make.  Wow, that makes me feel old.  "Sonny, when I was yer age, we had a DIY wedding before DIY weddings got cool, man."

Cardio Jam of the Week

Who can get me to speed up the pace, no matter how discouraged or tired I am?  It's Britney, bitch!

Not to say that I did anything remotely healthy this week other than the Turkey Trot.

Wagon, back on its.  On Monday.  Promise!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year, I'm thankful for family!  Especially Tim, who watched the kids so I could go see the Cure Reflections concert last night with my sister and best friend from college! 

Isn't he so handsome?  And he's a doctor to boot!  Sorry ladies and gents, he's taken!

Tim also watched the kids so my sister and I could walk the Long Beach Turkey Trot!  Who is crazy enough to walk/runs three miles only six hours after getting home from an epic concert?  The Kangsters do.  And we do it with a smile!

My sister is demonstrating the proper way to choke one's chicken.  Apparently, her method involves two hands!

To my fellow Amurcans, I wish you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving!  For the rest of you, happy Thursday!

Writer's Block Again! Embarrassing Story Time!

Today's embarrassing story brought to you by Oasis!

Okay, so I was at an Oasis concert at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco when I was a sophomore in college (so that would be around 97/98).  They were playing "Champagne Supernova" and the crowd was going wild.  Then the really long guitar solo part came on and Liam Gallagher started wandering around the stage, dead-eyed, trying to convince girls to flash him.  He looked STRAIGHT AT ME and made a motion with his hands to pull my top up.  I did the whole "Who, Me?" shrug and pointed to my chest.  He nodded and tilted his head, like he was saying, "Well, come on, then!"  And so I took a moment to think about it.

I must have taken too long because the instant I yanked my shirt up, he pivoted and started walking the other way.  Therefore, I flashed the people in the audience staring at me instead.  I was so mortified, I didn't want to pull my shirt back down and show people my face, so I was frozen there.  However, Liam did turn back, took a glance, and gave me and my "girls" a thumbs-up.  Whew! 

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Please help me from future embarrassment!  I will blatantly copy my Kimchi Sister jooliyah and take questions.  You can ask me anything, about motherhood, depression, not living up to your parents' expectations, my personal Top 5, hobbies, what I'm wearing, anything!  Please comment below or email me.

 

Cardio Jam of the Week

I have a confession to make: I haven't done much cardio at all this past week, oy!  I keep feeling the itch to, and I even change for it, but I just can't seem to head out the door. 

Therefore, this song goes out to Weight Loss: