Tunesday: Goapele

This week's tune is Closer by Goapele. She has only been on the music scene since the start of the new millenium, and has released three albums. Her voice reminds me a little of the smooth, rich vocals of Sade. Here's a little write-up I found on her:

"Goapele (born Goapele Mohlabane on 11th July 1977 in Oakland, California) is a U.S. soul and R&B singer-songwriter. Her name means “to go forward” in the South African language Sesotho. She was born to a Jewish mother, Noa, and an African father, Douglas Mohlabane, who was a South African political exile. They married in Nairobi, Kenya." (www.last.fm/music/Goapele) (note my keen ability to reference copyrighted material.)

This isn't really a love song; it's more like a song about moving on. I don't really know why she wrote it, or what she was writing about. But when I listen to it, the melody is almost hypnotic, and her vocals are so soothing, that it makes me feel like she's coming out of something ugly and finding her way towards something better. I think everyone can relate to that. Check her out, she has lots of other great songs.

Tunesday: Landslide

Dave will 'splain you some facts:


I chose this song for so many reasons. First of all, I love classic music; stuff that has been around forever and that people still love listening to. There's a lot of Fleetwood Mac that qualifies there. Landslide is such a reflective song. Stevie Nicks once said it's a song about making choices. Sometimes life throws you huge choices and you question your abilities to make those choices...and sometimes it just feels good to listen to a song that lets you know someone else has felt the same way. In my opinion, the best line of the whole song is "Can I handle the seasons of my life?" Really, sometimes my days feel like entire seasons in and of themselves.

Anyway.

This song plays for about 4:40, and then another one starts. I couldn't find a shorter clip with the same intro from Dave, so only feel obligated to listen to the first 4:40. I like the cut from this album (The Dance) better than any others I've heard, so when you download, be sure to look for this version.

Eeek. Parenting.

Let's just say that hypothetically, there were some boys who were beginning to show interest in girls. And let's just say that there were girls who were beginning to show interest back in those boys.
Let's also say that these boys are just too young for this kind of stuff. What do you say to the boys? How do you set boundaries when you're not sure what kind of boundaries to set? "Don't talk to girls"? "Don't associate with those girls"?
I want open communication with my children. I want them to know that I respect their feelings. But I also want them to know that they are too young. I realize it's starting younger these days, and I also realize that they are bombarded with this stuff. Everything around them tells them it's cool to be in a relationship. It's cool to text, to call; to be texted, to be called; to visit girls or be visited by them. But I'm not ready for this, and frankly, neither are my sons.
How do I tell them that while still keeping the lines of communcation open, and letting them know that I respect their feelings?
Thoughts? PLEASE??

Tunesday: Saving The World, One Track at a Time

I have decided to start a new feature over here. If you know me at all, you know how much I love music. We have something like 6500 songs on our iTunes. Music is almost always on in our house.

My tastes are ridiculously eclectic. But if you stay tuned, I promise every once in awhile there will be a Tunesday for you. I will try to include some info with each song, so that you can broaden your horizons in the process. I know, pretty big of me, right? And I insist that if you don't have the song in your personal library, then download it. (mp3panda.com is only 20 cents a track) There will always be an occasion when you should be listening to it. I'll be sure to point that out as well.

The kick-off tune for this series is "September" by Earth, Wind and Fire. It's a little tribute to the man I love. I love EWF, and one of the first things I found attractive about him was that he knew more about them than I did. These guys are great on the horns, with some funky vocals to match. Maurice White has performed with lots of greats, including Muddy Waters and Etta James. And you'll instantly recognize Phillip Bailey's crazy falsetto voice. Their hits began in the 70's, and in 2004 they were still going strong, blowing it up with Outkast performing "I Like The Way You Move". They also performed in '07 on American Idol's "Idol Gives Back." And I read something recently that said they performed at the White House for the first dinner hosted by the Obamas. Not sure if that's true, but you can look it up.

I chose this song as a must have in your music library because it is so fun. Everyone knows it, and no matter where you are (excluding church or a formal business meeting) people get up and move when they hear it. Don't feel like doing housework? Turn on "September" and your vaccuum will practically move itself. I promise.

Hitchcock Ain't Got NOTHIN On Me!

This is our house. I love it.


Our backyard is a huge park, with protected wetland area. The kids can play out there for hours, and it is beautiful. Here are a couple of shots that show you how fabulous it is in the summer.



Okay, enough with the positive spin.

I'm going to go crazy any day now. See the roof on this beautiful home? It's not your traditional wood and shingles number. I'm no home depot genius, but I can tell this roof is made out of some kind of material other than wood. Like maybe metal? Who knows. Tin? Steel? The green plastic from a Lincoln Logs set? Point is, it's the kind of roof that would be really noisy if you hit it repeatedly with a hammer. Or a beak.
Remember in the first paragraph where I talked about the beautiful park and wetland? It draws a lot of cool birds to the area. We have even been nerdy enough to check out books from the library and learn to identify most of these birds.
Earlier this fall, it was discovered there was a section of the house where the walls meet the overhang of the covered porch that had not been properly finished. It was discovered by a couple of freakishly large birds who decided to peck their way through the wood and nest in our attic. We could hear the pecking and it was loud. We couldn't find the holes, however. Finally after about a week, the pecking stopped, but the pitter patter of tiny bird claws over my living room ceiling began. We called "people". The people came, discovered the problem, and took care of it. Don't worry, PETA, it was all done ethically.
Fast forward to, oh, say 6:00 this morning. And 6:00 every morning for the past 2 weeks. Imagine yourself sleeping soundly in your toasty bed while Mother Nature continues to feel confused about what season we are actually in. Now imagine someone sneaking into your room and gently placing a jackhammer on your cranium. Ready? Set? Yeah. Because of whatever material this roof is made of, the noise reverberates like a bad Looney Tunes experience. This morning, it got worse. A second bird, probably the witchy female mate who has been nagging at her male counterpart to hurry up and get their home ready, and who finally said, "Roger, if you can't get this job finished any faster so I can drop YOUR children into a cozy nest, then I will just get it done myself. " joined the melee. I could clearly hear the one hammering directly above my bed, and the second slightly around the corner above my bathroom.
I threw on my robe. I stepped out my sliding glass door onto my deck and grabbed a log of firewood from the stack. I yelled "UUUURRRRRRGGGHHHH!!!" and hurled the log up at the underside of my covered, wrap-around porch. The log hit the underside of the roof and came hurtling back down at me. Since I have cat-like reflexes, I sidestepped the fallout, pleased with the ridiculously loud noise it made. I scared the birds away. This is the 2nd day in a row that I have thrown firewood at my house, and consequently at myself. I am pretty sure the birds are now SUPER pissed off, and will be back again tomorrow with reinforcements.
It's time for me to call my People again. This time, I will not insist upon the following of any PETA guidelines. Bring out the Red Ryders. Prepare to put some eyes out.