(#28) Miss You

So it turns out I am still the worst at blogging. It's partially because I read all of the great ones out there and then realize that I have nothing nearly as interesting or witty to say, and partially because I am one lazy girl.

Things I Have Been Doing Lately:
- Finishing my freshman year of college!

I'm happy that the work part is over, not so happy that the living-away-from-home/friend part is over. For now, anyway.

I will miss my fabulous rock 'n' roll poster arrangement the most.

- Getting into the Rolling Stones.

I realize that this is not a groundbreaking thing, but let me explain. My dad is legitimately a Stones fanatic. Classic rock in general, he loves and he's a veritable encyclopedia of good music (a trait he's encouraged in me for my entire life), but the Stones come above all. Like, I'm fairly sure I thought the tongue logo was a family crest of sorts due to its presence in our house growing up. I've never done the whole rebellious teenager phase (except for a brief flirtation with Hot Topic and an awful boyfriend, but we won't discuss that...), but I felt like I had to resist something the old man liked. Dylan, I'd take. The Band? Yes please. Beatles and Zeppelin? Don't mind if I do. But I felt like not being a Stones fan was the biggest rebellion I could muster, until I realized that was idiotic. So here I am at eighteen, really paying attention to this forty-year-old music for the first time.

And it's awesome. Which, duh. It'd be kind of hard to be touring into your sixties if your music wasn't flat-out phenomenal. But eh, I'm a teenager, I get to be dumb, right?

More on them later for sure, but let me just say that Exile on Main St. = very yes. I want to refrain from saying even more trite things until I've done my homework, so to speak.

-This isn't something I've been doing lately, but have you ever noticed that the hits from forty years ago are still good today? It's like they were popular because they were quality music, not because a producer wanted to sell records (okay, I've read enough biographies to know that isn't the case, but still)...it seems as though there was soul to the pop music business then, and now it's just business. "Baba O'Riley" is my favorite song of all time, and also one of the most widely recognized songs in rock music. It was popular for a reason, and that reason is because it's great. There's this scope and power you just can't find in "Boom Boom Pow."

I'm not trying to say that music from after 1978 automatically sucks. Not at all. There is still a lot of great stuff out there. It just seems harder to find because it's not marketed like the latest Autotuned rapper's heartwarming saga about gettin' they money.

A little R-Dalts takes the burn out of any rant

- Just existing in a state of happiness for summer!

85+ degree weather? Beach/river/lake/pool? Cookouts? The return of tan lines? Green grass and flowers everywhere? Watermelon???

Can I just get a big amen to all of the above, please?

- Getting stung by a BEE on my FOOT.

I stepped on a bee today, which was my fault - I mean, it wasn't intentional or anything, but it's not like it was seeking me out - but I am still angry at the bee. Yes, I realize it's pretty dead now and won't live to pollinate another day, but...the bottom of my foot? Come on, man.

Side note: I was once stung 13 times (though these might have been wasps) within the same five to ten minute period. It was terrible. Moral of the story: don't have a get-together on a porch with an old rolled-up carpet infested by stinging bugs behind a porch swing. It will get bumped, and insects will get angry. Also don't have long hair because they will get stuck in that, and you will have just attended the worst birthday party of your life.

Kind of like this, but way less adorable.

(#14) La-La-La Lies

These are actually truths, but I couldn't think of a song title or lyric with "truth" in it off the top of my head. Here we go:

I will never be able to finish a milkshake/Arctic Rush float/McFlurry/Frosty/etc. Not even small sizes. And I definitely will never be able to sit through that song. (Now it's in your head, isn't it?)

I have a huge crush on Mike Rowe, host of Dirty Jobs. I mean, how can you not? He's hilarious and manly and smart and...yes please!

I tend to define myself (and others) by my and their taste in entertainment. Not entirely; I don't refuse to be friends with someone because they like Nickelback or Family Guy (although quite honestly, that's two strikes), but it's a lot easier to get to know someone when they share my love of Stephen King and The Who.

My dream job is to be an animal behaviorist and train dogs. I would love that so much.

I would so rather listen to music from forty years ago than anything made today.

(How cute is that picture of The Hawks? Robbie Robertson looks about 15.)

I cried at Pam and Jim's wedding.

More of these later, I'm sure.

(#10) The Song(s) Remain the Same

Five of my favorite songs, in no particular order. In interest of fairness, I'm only using one song per artist.

1. "Ain't No More Cane" by The Band
I don't think I can even pick a favorite Band song, but this is as good a place as any to start. It captures the spirit of the band perfectly, with its weird timelessness and the feeling of a ragged communion between all the members. The verses are divided between everyone but Garth, but the shared choruses are all-for-one. Besides the stellar vocals (Rick's "ooohs" are particularly great, with his soaring, quavery voice), my favorite part of the song has to be Richard's drumming. I don't know if all piano players have some kind of innate sense of funk or what, but I love songs where Richard drums ("Rag Mama Rag," "Jemima Surrender," "Don't Ya Tell Henry," "Evangeline," etc.). You can't separate The Band into individual parts, though. When one is missing, it's just not The Band. When they're all working together, it's pure magic.

2. "My Generation" by The Who
The Who, to me, means a lot of exclamation points. Explosive! Loud! Brilliant! Raw! The Who! Townshend's written a million great songs, and I don't even know if this one's my favorite Who song, but it's definitely up there. It sums the band up rather well to me. There's Moon beating the hell out of the drums, Roger singing his heart out, Pete doing his thing, and John's amazing bass solo (those are always a high point of Who songs for me). I feel like this mixture of defiance and talent is what's made the band so loved over three generations. If you haven't seen their performance on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, shown in The Kids Are Alright, you should do so as soon as possible.

3. "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin
I dig a lot of Zeppelin, but this one stands out to me particularly. You've got the strings and horns, not to mention the four members at the center of it. Middle Eastern music always fascinates me, and "Kashmir"'s got this exotic vibe to it. Robert Plant is not always my favorite vocalist, but he nails it here (as he does on pretty much everything; just because he's not my fave doesn't mean boy can't sing).
"Like Shangri-La beneath the summer moon, I will return again." Sigh.

4. "He Can Only Hold Her" by Amy Winehouse
I love me some Amy. If you've heard Back to Black in its entirety, you can never again judge her solely on her (undeniably unwise) life choices. Her jazzy blues-soaked vocals are such a welcome relief from today's auto-tuned "singers" who are more parts plastic than actual flesh. All of the songs on this album convey genuine emotion, and her voice on this song in particular, about a girl unable to get over her former lover even though she's with another man (yes, it sounds soap opera-y written out like that, but trust me on this) is so beautiful to me.

5. "Blackbird" by The Beatles
The quiet simplicity of this is just so beautiful. Paul had the civil rights movement in mind when he wrote it, which makes it all the more meaningful. The intricacy of the guitar part and the birdsong at the end, and Paul's fabulous singing...ah. It's just perfect.

Obviously, I am no music writer. But I kind of like doing this and probably will include more posts along this line, as there is in no way this is a good representation of all the fantastic music out there, and really isn't even a good representation of my top hundred.

(#2) Love and Some Verses

I am a terrible blogger. I am neither interesting nor determined enough to get up the motivation to write/type every day. I don't like feeling like I have to do something on a regular basis and clearly this falls under the category of "something."

You know what I do like, though? Iron & Wine. It's not classic rock, but I'll take it! I don't know if you've ever listened to him (until proven otherwise, I'm pretty sure Iron & Wine is just Sam Beam's stage name, so from here on out, I will refer to this artist by the male pronoun. Cool? Cool.), but if you haven't, you should. I like his early stuff. I like his in-between stuff. And man, oh man, do I love his most recent studio album (yeah, it came out in 2007, but whatever). The Shepherd's Dog is absolutely beautiful. And you should check it out. Specifically "Lovesong of the Buzzard," "House By the Sea," "The Shepherd's Dog," and "Resurrection Fern." The whole album kind of flows together, though, so I recommend the whole experience. You will not be sorry.

That is, unless you only listen to the last track, which was featured in the Twilight soundtrack, ack, and really isn't that great anyway.

Life: is still pretty good. I am apparently going to two college football games this weekend. Football is not my favorite thing, but we'll see how they go. I'm pretty sure I'm actually going to get to go to church this Sunday. School is meh and no one wants to read about it anyway. I bought a necklace last week. Accessorizing and I do not mix well. I'm counting down the days until the fall seasons of The Office and Parks and Recreation start (15!!). I am deeply boring.

Love: Iron & Wine. And my boyfriend for coming to visit me last weekend.

Classic Rock: is still my fave. One of the guys on my floor has a ton of old records with a player and everything and I spent thirty minutes discussing how everyone else's music sucks. You know, the usual.

P.S. I don't really think everyone else's music sucks.

(#1) Blast-off

I am starting this after a conversation from my father, who usually has good advice. Now that I've set this whole thing up, however, I have nothing to write about. Well, that's not true. I have tons to write about. I just don't know where to begin or anything blog etiquette. For example, I was going to name this blog "Your Music Sucks" but that would be neither polite nor (necessarily) true. What kind of person with an idea of what is proper in the internet world would consider that name?

Me, that's who.

Anyway, the case remains that I don't have any particular subject to write about at the moment, but if I don't start this now, I will forget to and then another empty blog will be sitting in cyberspace, using up obscure Band lyrics for no good reason (I'm looking at you, treewithroots.blogspot.com). In the interest of being somewhat related to my title, I'll do my best to do a three-point deal every time I post. We will see how this goes.

As of August 24, 2009:

Life: is going okay. College is happening, and as far as I know it seems like it'll be okay. More on this later, surely.

Love: is alliterative and sounded okay next to "life." Also, I like it.

Classic rock: is undoubtedly my favorite music and should be yours, too. I'm not talking about the label that radio stations give music made before 1990 and, God forbid, Journey. I mean genuine classics that still have their appeal and meaning after forty years. Anyway, at the moment I am listening to "Tears of Rage" by The Band. This is the kind of classic I'm talking about. Also, my dad is trying to get me into Ronnie Lane. It is going well so far.