I'm making this up as I go ...

maxiekatt2 @ 2020-02-11T01:17:00

2008-02-11T06:33:03Z

I decided to make my journal Friends Only. If you'd like to be added, please comment below.

Are we gonna do that quiz thing again?

2007-11-26T20:40:51Z

It's a crummy, rainy day. Naturally that means I have off. And my next day off is Wednesday and I get to go to the dentist. It's so tempting to call and cancel, but this is the fifth time I've scheduled this appointment. Yeah, I really don't like the dentist.

Anyway, since it's so lovely out and I really don't feel like leaving my apartment today, I thought I'd do that lyrics quiz again. It's been a while.

Here are the rules again:

Step 1: Put your MP3 player or whatever on random.
Step 2: Post the first line(s) from the first 50 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
Step 3: No more than one entry per band (I may have cheated on this one).
Step 4: Let everyone you know guess what song and artist the lines come from.
Step 5: Strike out the songs when someone guesses correctly

1. Are you gonna take me home tonight / Ah, down beside that red firelight

~~2. All day / Staring at the ceiling making friends with shadows on my wall~~ Unwell - Matchbox 20

~~3. Here we are / Hanging on to strings of green and blues / Break the chain and we break down / Oh it's not real if you don't feel it~~ Goonies R' Good Enough - Cyndi Lauper

4. When you grow up / Livin' like a good boy oughta / And your mama takes a shine to her best son / Something different / All the girls they seem to like you / Cause you're handsome / Like to talk and a whole lot of fun

5. In echoed steps I walked across an empty dream / I looked across this world, there was no one to be seen / This empty feeling turned and quietly walked away / I saw no warmth in life - no love was in my eyes

6. This is ten percent luck / Twenty percent skill / Fifteen percent concentrated power of will

7. I keep hearin' you're concerned about my happiness / But all that thought you're givin' me is conscience I guess

8. The Mississippi Delta was shining like a national guitar / I am following the river down the highway / Through the cradle of the civil war

9. Her man's been gone / for nearly a year / he was due home yesterday / but he ain't here

~~10. Oh, I can't take another heartache / though you say I'm your friend / I'm at my wits end~~ - Cruel to be Kind - Nick Lowe

~~11. All the words had all been spoken / Somehow the feeling still wasn't right / And still we continued on through the night. / Tracing our steps from the beginning / Until they vanished into the air~~ Late for the Sky - Jackson Browne

~~12. What if I wanted to break / Laugh it all off in your face / What would you do?~~ The Kill - 30 Seconds To Mars

~~13. We're caught in a trap / I can't walk out / Because I love you too much baby~~ Suspicious Minds - Elvis

~~14. A time it was and what a time it was / it was / a time of innocence / a time of confidences~~ Bookends - Simon and Garfunkel

~~15. When the night has come / and the land is dark / and the moon is the only light we'll see~~ Stand By Me - Ben E. King

~~16. Out here in the fields / I plowed for my meals / I get my back into my living / I don't need to fight / To prove I'm right / I don't need to be forgiven~~ Baba O'Reilly - The Who

~~17. Ain't it good / ain't it right / that you are with me here tonight / music playin' / our bodies swayin' in time~~ Rock Me Gently - Andy Kim

~~18. The mama pajama rolled out of bed / And she ran to the police station / When the papa found out he began to shout / And he started the investigation~~ Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard - Paul Simon

19. We were born before the wind / Also younger than the sun

20. Faith pours from your walls / Drowning your calls / I've tried to hear / You're not near

21. I look straight in the window, try not to look below / Pretend I'm not up here, try counting sheep / But the sheep seem to shower off this office tower / It’s nine-point-eight straight down, I can't stop my knees

~~22. Midnight gettin' uptight / Where are you / You said you'd meet me now it's quarter to two / I know I'm hangin' but I'm still wantin' you~~ I Hate Myself for Loving You - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

23. Dancin' when the stars go blue / Dancin' when the evening fell / Dancin' in your wooden shoes / In a wedding gown

24. Wake up in the morning with a head like 'what ya done?' / This used to be the life, but I don't need another one / You like cutting up and carrying on you wear them gowns / So how come I feel so lonely when you're up getting down?

~~25. I’m through with standing in line to clubs we’ll never get in / It’s like the bottom of the ninth and I’m never gonna win / This life hasn’t turned out quite the way I want it to be~~ Rockstar - Nickelback

26. Somewhere, far away from here / I saw stars, stars that I could reach / It was a midnight, a silent twilight / Fell down, beyond the ocean beach

~~27. So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell / blue skies from pain. / Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail? / A smile from a veil? / Do you think you can tell?~~ Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd

~~28. Moving forward using all my breath / Making love to you was never second best / I saw the world thrashing all around your face / Never really knowing it was always mesh and lace~~ I Melt With You - Modern English

~~29. I like to dream yes, yes, right between my sound machine / On a cloud of sound I drift in the night / Any place it goes is right / Goes far, flies near, to the stars away from here~~ Magic Carpet Ride - Steppenwolf

~~30. On the floors of Tokyo / Down in London town's a go-go / With the record selection / And the mirror's reflection~~ Dancing with Myself - Billy Idol

31. In the day by day collision / Called the art of growing up / There's an innocence we look for in the stars / To be taken back to younger days / When there was no giving up / On the people we held closest to our hearts

32. Rainy night and the worked all day / We both got jobs caus there's bills to play / We got something they can't take away / Our love, our lives

~~33. In this dirty old part of the city / where the sun refused to shine / people tell me there ain't no use in trying~~ We Gotta Get Out of This Place - The Animals

~~34. Tonight it's very clear as we're both lying here / There's so many things I want to say / I will always love you / I would never leave you alone~~ The Glory of Love - Peter Cetera

35. Complicate this world you wrapped for me / I'm acquainted with your suffering

~~36. Turnaround, Every now and then I get a little bit lonely and you're never coming round / Turnaround, Every now and then I get a little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears~~ Total Eclipse of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler

~~37. I been working so hard / Keep punching my card~~ Footloose - Kenny Loggins

38. Oh well you might think I'm crazy / To hang around with you / Or maybe you think I'm lucky / To have something to do

~~39. On either side the river lie / Long fields of barley and of rye / That clothe the wold and meet the sky / Thru the field the road run by / to many towered Camelot~~ Lady of Shallot - Loreena McKennitt

~~40. This here's a story about Billy Joe and Bobbie Sue / Two young lovers with nothing better to do~~ Take the Money and Run - Steve Miller Band

~~41. If you could read my mind / what a tale my thoughts could tell / just like an old time movie about a ghost from a wishing well~~ If You Could Read My Mind - Gordon Lightfoot

~~42. Yesterday a child came out to wonder / caught a dragonfly inside a jar / fearful when the sky was full of thunder / and tearful at the falling of star~~ Circle Game by Joni Mitchell

~~43. All our times have come / Here but now they're gone / Seasons don't fear the reaper / Nor do the wind, the sun or the rain~~ Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Oyester Cult (needs more cowbell)

44. I can hear her heart beat for a thousand miles / And the heavens open every time she smiles / And when I come to her that's where I belong / Yet I'm running to her like a river's song

~~45. Now I will tell you what I've done for you / fifty thousand tears I've cried / screaming deceiving and bleeding for you / and you still won't hear me~~ Going Under - Evanescence

~~46. Baby we can talk all night / But that ain't getting us nowhere / I told you everything I possibly can / There's nothing left inside of here~~ Two Out of Three Ain't Bad - Meatloaf

~~47. These wheels keep on turning / Carry me home to see my kin / Singing songs about the Southland / I miss Alabamy once again / And I think its a sin, yes~~ Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd

48. Sometimes it amazes me / how strong the power of love can be / sometimes you just take my breath away

49. All through this long and sleepless night / I hear my neighbors talkin' / (She don't love him) / Saying that out of my life / Into another's arms you'll soon be walking

~~50. The dark side's comin now nothing is real / She'll never know just how I feel / From out of the shadows she walks like a dream / Makes me feel crazy, makes me feel so mean.~~ The Darkside - John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band

Bookaholics Anonymous

2007-11-20T06:14:46Z

I was cleaning out my documents file, hoping to clear up some disk space, when I came across this fun little list that I forgot I had saved.

You know you're a bookaholic when ...

You walk into someone's house and you have to check the impulse to ignore them and immediately begin scoping out their bookshelves. A corollary: You walk into a house with no visible reading material anywhere and you immediately get nervous.

You reject purses because their book-holding potential is low.

You choose the exercise bike (or elliptical) over other nominally more appealing forms of exercise, because it offers the opportunity to read.

You're stressed out on vacation because there are too many people around (extended family) and they won't leave you alone to read.

You feel naked if you don't bring a book to some social event (baseball game, dinner with friends, church, jury duty).

You get irritated with your spouse or family member when they want to talk to you and you're right in the middle of a particularly good part of the book you're reading.

You feel the need to ask those who say they don't like reading "Don't you get bored?"

You've memorized your library card number from always typing it in online to request a book.

The librarian at the branch library you go to recognizes you and knows what books you like to read.

You take two books with you on a 5-day trip and return with thirteen.

You read books as you are walking to school and keep running into trees because you veer off the sidewalk.

You must attend a relative's graduation and are asked to stake out seats at least an hour beforehand, and you do this only under the assumption that you can bring a book.

As a child, your parents tell you that bringing a book to the table is anti-social (unless they're bookaholics too, in which case, they're reading at table too.)

You never pass by a used bookstore without stopping in.

You get in trouble at school for reading too much.

You keep a book on the passenger seat for stoplights. (DUH)

You read books in movie theatres instead of watching the movie (or try to anyway).

You still had a nightlight at age 12 just so you could read. And your mother knew. And she didn't say anything because she did it too.

You're glad for the chance to eat out alone, so you can read

You start collecting books for your kids ... at least a decade before you actually procreate.

You arrive everywhere early, just for the extra time to squeeze in some reading.

You sometimes pick up books just to smell them.

You'd really like to have a party where everyone invited brings his/her book. You'd all say hello, get something to drink or eat, and then read!

You can remember where all the bookshops ought to be in a town you last visited a decade ago

The guys from the moving company who are going to be helping you move from your apartment revise their estimate upward considerably after they get a look at your bookshelves and boxes of books. (Ouch!)

You seriously consider never moving again in your lifetime, because you remember so vividly the chore that it was to move all your books and then re-shelve them.

When renovating your house, you put built-in bookshelves or room for bookcases in almost every room (the only room spared was the bath, and that only because humidity isn't good for the paper).

You wouldn't think there was any reason to seek a cure, and even if you did, it would involve buying a book

Visitors often ask "Have you read all of those?"

You sneak off with your glass of wine, from a family gathering/dinner/barbeque or party being thrown at your own home to read 10 or 15 minutes in your bedroom while everyone probably assumes you're in the bathroom.

Clerks in 3 huge bookstores seem to know you on sight...in and out of the store.

Also, people behind you in line at your biweekly trip to the bookstore (or library) look at your pile of books and say things like "I don't think that I have even read that many books in my entire life!"

When you are preparing to go on holiday, you spend more time choosing books than packing your clothes [and books take up more suitcase space than your shoes and clothes].

I know this may come as a surprise - but I can answer "Yes" to practically everything on that list (well, not the school stuff - but those would have definitely applied back then).

One that they forgot - You attend the largest book trade show in the country and bring a book along with you in case you can't find anything to read.

Nope, Still Not My Cats

2007-10-22T04:23:59Z

I went to work to get some stuff done. I only really intended to be there for a couple of hours, of course by "couple" I apparently meant 5. There's still so much left to be done. I don't like the way this holiday season is shaping up so far. It feels like it's getting out of control much sooner than it usually does. In fact, the last two years have run relatively smoothly. I know I'm not the only one feeling anxious about the workload and I only hope that there will be this magical week where everything will suddenly click into place and the proper flow will be restored.

So, to take my mind off work, I looked around a couple of picture sites and snagged some stuff to make icons. I still haven't made any of my actual cats, but these stand-in cats are awfully cute and don't puke on the floor once a week because of hairballs.

As I was posting this, I realized that the cats in this picture reminded me of Tim and Curly from The Outsiders and the world of fan fiction. I'm not sure why, but they definitely look like they're up to no good, lol.

I also made some icons from some random pretty pictures. Here are some samples and the rest are under the cut.

So Dawn Goes Down To Day ...

2007-10-05T00:32:49Z

I was definitely in an Outsiders mood when I made these icons ... lots of sunsets and a couple of train tracks, lol. Granted, the pink flower doesn't have much to do with our favorite greasers, but I was certainly inspired by a lot of these pictures. And yes, that is a sign that I am over my writer's block.

Here's a preview, the rest are under the cut.

That Must Have Been One Hell of a Prom

2007-09-30T22:57:17Z

I think I may have finally convinced my friend Gretchen to set up a Live Journal and she asked me to make her some icons. Well, I was bored so I spent the better part of today putting together a selection she might like. I'm also including some I made a while ago and never posted. As for the title of the post, well you'll see when you get to the last picture, lol.

Here are some samples and the rest are under the cut. Take any that you want.

Garrett Hedlund (of course):



Brad for Gretchen and Clive for redwolf35:

Wolves:

Fantasy:



Artwork, various artists:



And finally, just for  sorahikaru13 :

Awesome picture, don't ya think? In all fairness, it was for a catalog. But the again, just how big was that paycheck? Was it really worth it?

Hopelessly Romantic

2007-09-29T23:11:05Z

What a delightful video. This was featured on a romance novel website I like to visit and I thought I'd share it with you guys. For some reason the video disappeared over night. I'll try adding it again, plus I've included another one she made. Enjoy ... I'm going to go watch some movies now, lol.

Here's the list of movies that were used. Looks like I'm going to have to update my Netfilx queue ;-) I've bolded the ones I own and italicized the ones I've seen.

- The Abduction Club
- Daniel Deronda
- Emma (tv-1997)
- Emma (1996)
- Ever After
- The phantom of the opera
- Jane Eyre (2006)
- Mansfield Park (1999)
- Mansfield Park (itv 2007)
- Northanger Abbey (itv 2007)
- Little Women (1995)
- North and South (BBC-2004)
- Pride and Prejudice (BBC-1995)
- Pride and Prejudice (2005)
- Persuasion (itv 2007)
-Lorna Doone
- Sense and Sensibility
- Tess of the D'Urverbilles
- Under the Greenwood Tree

She also did one about Regency Heroes. This one didn't include a list but several of the movies are the same as the previous video.

Michelle's Minions - Book Reviews

2007-09-05T19:55:51Z

sorahikaru13 has posted some book reviews on our community michelesminionzPlease stop by if you get a chance. And if anyone would like to post their own reviews and recommendations, we would love to have you participate.

Lyrics Quiz Strikes Back ... The Answers

2007-08-13T05:01:36Z

Well, this one turned out to be pretty easy. Only 16 weren't answered.

1. Only Living Boy in New York - Simon and Garfunkel
2. Little Bit Of Soul - Music Explosion
3. Ripple - Grateful Dead
4. Bring it on Home to Me - Sam Cooke (I love this song, one of my favorites)
5. Pink Moon - Nick Drake

6. Waiting on the World to Change - John Mayer
7. If You Were Here - Thompson Twins (from the end of 16 Candles - one of my favorite scenes from any movie - when Jake is revealed, leaning against his car, waiting for Sam ... sigh).
8. Runaround Sue - Dion
9. You Ain't Much Fun (Since I Quit Drinkin') - Toby Keith (this song makes me think of Two-Bit and how miserable his life would be - married to a woman who won't let him drink, lol)
10. I Wish it Would Rain - The Temptations (features prominently in Four Brothers in a, well, not very convincing crying scene with Mark Wahlberg)
11. Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon - I've got both versions - Neil Diamond and Urge Overkill (from Pulp Fiction)
12. Sundown - Gordon Lightfoot
13. Turn, Turn, Turn (To Everything There is A Season) - The Byrds
14. Read My Mind - The Killers (the version on the Friday Night Lights TV show soundtrack is a little slower than the radio version, it's really good. That whole soundtrack is great. I actually bought it, lol.)
15. Tiny Dancer - Elton John (I love the scene on the bus in Almost Famous where everyone starts to sing along to this song - such a great moment).
16. Cherry Bomb - John Cougar Mellancamp
17. Milky White Way - Elvis (this one is in the new cut of The Outsiders, when Pony and Johnny are reading Gone With the Wind. I was put off at first by the obvious gospel influences, but it's grown on me).
18. Tennessee Plates - John Hiatt (he's got an awesome, gritty voice. If you don't know who he is, you've definitely heard songs he's written).
19. American Pie - Don McClean
20. In the Ghetto - Elvis
21. Pour Some Sugar on Me - Def Leppard
22. Beyond the Sea - Bobby Darin (this song makes me think of three things - 1. The X-files episode with the same title, Scully's father dies. 2. Shannon singing it in French on Lost. 3. Ewan McGregor singing karaoke in Life Less Ordinary, which leads to images of Ewan in a kilt at the end of said movie ... sigh.)
23. Cool Rider - Grease 2, Michelle Pfieffer (I worshipped this song when I was a kid and would reenact the scene on the ladder in the garage. Boy did I want a pink satin jacket, lol)
24. Across the Universe - The Beatles
25. Summer in the City - Lovin' Spoonfull
26. Teacher, Teacher - 38 Special (from Teachers, a not-awful Ralph Macchio movie, but what's with the hat and the three jackets at once, all with the collars turned up??)
27. Paradise by the Dashboard Light - Meatloaf (can't believe no one got this, awesome song)
28. Seven Bridges Road - Eagles
29. Kodachrome - Paul Simon
30. Independence Day - Martina McBride
31. I've Got Dreams to Remember - Otis Redding
32. Come What May - Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman (from Moulin Rouge)
33. Teenagers - My Chemical Romance (so totally not in their target age group, but this is a fun song to blare in the car)
34. Live and Let Die - Paul McCartney or Guns N' Roses
35. Pleasant Valley Sunday - Monkees
36. Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis
37. Somethings in the air - Thunderclap Newman
38. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes - Crosby Stills and Nash
39. Joy To the World - Three Dog Night (again, reminds me of another X-files episode. Skully is holding and injured Mulder in the woods as it grows dark and she starts singing a decidedly unenthusiastic version of this song. I think I need to dig out my X-files videotapes, lol).
40. Hey Ya - Outkast
41. High On You - Survivor (not my favorite Survivor song, that would be "I Can't Hold Back", but still a great song. They're one of my fav. 80's bands).
42. Kids in America - Kim Wilde
43. Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley, Leonard Cohen, or Rufus Wainwright (I have all 3 ... I guess I like this song)
44. It's the End of the World (As We Know It) - REM (Melanie, remember how the powers that be wouldn't let us use this as our theme at graduation - what was our theme at graduation anyway?? Pretty sure you remember, being valedictorian and all, lol).
45. Come a Little Bit Closer - Jay and the Americans
46. If You Leave - OMD (from Pretty in Pink - did you know she originally chose Ducky but they changed the ending before they released it so that she'd end up with Blaine ... Blaine, his name is Blaine?? That's not a name, that's a major appliance).
47. Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns N' Roses
48. Ch-Check It Out - Beastie Boys (I remember how all our Junior High dances would include "Fight for Your Right to Party", then I realized how old that song is and then I realized how long ago I was in Junior High ...)
49. You Shook Me (All Night Long) - ACDC
50. Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes (isn't Wendy's using this in commercials now? Is anyone else disturbed by the fact that they're using a song about masturbation to sell hamburgers? Just thought I'd ask).

Lyrics Quiz Strikes Back

2007-08-06T06:13:43Z

I'm bored so I decided to post more lyrics. Here are the rules.

Step 1: Put your MP3 player or whatever on random.
Step 2: Post the first line(s) from the first 50 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
Step 3: No more than one entry per band (I may have cheated on this one).
Step 4: Let everyone you know guess what song and artist the lines come from.
Step 5: Strike out the songs when someone guesses correctly.

1.  Tom, get your plane right on time. / I know your part'll go fine. / Fly down to mexico.
~~2. Now when you're feelin' low and the fish won't bite / You need a little bit o' soul to put you right~~ Little bit of soul - Music Explosion
3. If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine / and my were played on the harp I've strung / Would you hear my voice the music / would you hold it near, as it were your own
4. If you ever change your mind / About leavin', leavin' me behind / Oh, oh, bring it to me / Bring your sweet lovin'
~~5. I saw it written and I saw it say / Pink moon is on its way~~ Pink Moon - Nick Drake
6. Me and all my friends / We're all misunderstood / They say we stand for nothing / There's no way we ever could
7. If you were here, I could decieve you / If you were here, you would believe
~~8. Here's my story, its sad but true / It's about a girl that I once knew / She took my love then ran around / With every single guy in town~~ Runaround Sue - Dion
9. I used to come home late and not a minute too soon / Barkin' like a dog, howlin' at the moon / You'd be mad as an ol' wet hen / Up all night wonderin' where Id been / I'd fall down and say come help me honey / You laughed out loud, / guess you thought it was funny / But I sobered up and I got to thinkin' You Ain't Much Fun (Since I quit drinkin') Toby Keith
~~10. Sunshine, blue skies, please go away. / A girl has found another and gone away. / With her went my future. / My life is filled with gloom, so day after day, I stay locked up in my room.~~ I wish it would rain - The Temptations
~~11. I love you so much, can't count all the ways /I've died for you girl and all they can say is / "He's not your kind"~~ Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon - Neil Diamond or Urge Overkill
12. I can see her lying back in her satin dress / In a room where you do what you don't confess
~~13. To everything - turn, turn, turn / There is a season - turn, turn, turn / And a time for every purpose under heaven~~ Turn, Turn, Turn (To Everything There is A Season) - The Byrds
14. On the corner of main street / just trying to keep it in line / you say you wanna move on / and you say I'm moving behind
~~15.  Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band / Pretty eyes, pirate smile / you'll marry a music man~~
Tiny Dancer - Elton John
~~16. Well I lived on the outskirts of town / In an eight room farmhouse, baby / When my brothers and friends were around / There was always somethin' doin'~~   Cherry Bomb - John Cougar Mellancamp
17. Yes Im gonna walk on the milky white way / Oh Lord some of these days / I'm gonna walk that milky white way
18. woke up in a hotel and I didn't know what to do / I turned the TV on and wrote a letter to you / The news was talkin' 'bout a dragnet up on the interstate / Said they were lookin' for a Cadillac with Tennessee plates
~~19.  A long long time ago / I can still remember how that music used to make me smile / And I knew if I had my chance / That I could make those people dance / And maybe they'd be happy for a while~~ American Pie- Don McClean
~~20. As the snow flies / On a cold and gray Chicago mornin' / A poor little baby child is born~~ In the Ghetto - Elvis
~~21. Step inside, walk this way) / You and me babe, Hey, hey! / Love is like a bomb, baby, c'mon get it on~~ Pour Some Sugar on Me - Def Leppard
~~22. Somewhere beyond the sea, / Somewhere, waiting for me, / My lover stands on golden sands / And watches the ships that go sailing;~~ Beyond the Sea - Bobby Darin
23. If you really want to know / What I want in a guy... / Well, I'm lookin' for a dream on a mean machine / With hell in his eyes. / I want a devil in skin tight leather, / And he's gonna be wild as the wind. / And one fine night, I'll be holdin' on tight ... Cool Rider - Grease 2, Michelle Pfiefer (awesomely bad)
~~24. Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup, / They slither while they pass, they slip away ...~~ Across the Universe - The Beatles
~~25. Hot town, summer in the city / Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty / Been down, isn't it a pity / Doesn't seem to be a shadow in the city~~ Summer in the City - Lovin' Spoonfull
26. Just when I thought I finally learned my lesson well, / There was more to this than meets the eye. / And for all the things you taught me, only time will tell, / If I'll be able to survive. Oh yeah. (hint, from an awesome Ralph Macchio movie)
27. Well I remember every little thing as if it happened only yesterday / Parkin' by the lake and there was not another car in sight / And I never had a girl, lookin' any better than you did / And all the kids at school, they were wishin' they were me that night
~~28.~~ ~~There are stars in the southern sky / Southward as you go~~ Seven Bridge Road - Eagles
~~29. When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school / It's a wonder I can think at all / And though my lack of education hasn't hurt me none / I can read the writing on the wall~~ Kodachrome - Paul Simon
~~30. Well she seemed all right by dawn's early light though she looked a little worried and weak. / She tried to pretend he wasn't drinking again but daddy left the proof on her cheek.~~   Indpendence Day - Martina McBride
31. Honey I saw you there last night / Another mans arms holding you tight / Nobody knows what I feel inside / All I know, I walked away and cried
32. Never knew I could feel like this / Like I've never seen the sky before / I want to vanish inside your kiss / Every day I'm loving you more and more / Listen to my heart, can you hear it sings / Telling me to give you everything / Seasons may change, winter to spring / But I love you until the end of time Come What May - Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman
33. They're gonna clean up your looks / with all the lies in the books / to make a citizen out of you
~~34. When you were young / and your heart was an open book / you used to say ...~~ Live and Let Die - Paul McCartney or Guns N' Roses
~~35. The local rock group down the street / Is trying hard to learn their song / Seranade the weekend squire, who just came out to mow his lawn~~ Pleasant Valley Sunday - Monkees
~~36. You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain / Too much love drives a man insane / You broke my will, but what a thrill~~ Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis
~~37. Call out the instigators / Because there's something in the air / We've got to get together sooner or later / Because the revolution's here, and you know it's right~~   Somethings in the air - Thunderclap Newman
~~38. It's getting to the point / Where I'm no fun any more / I am sorry~~ Suite: Judy Blue Eyes - Crosby Stills and Nash
~~39. Jeremiah was a bull frog / Was a good friend of mine / I never understood a single word he said / But I helped him a-drink his wine (this just reminded me of a great X-Files episode ...)~~ Joy To the World - Three Dog Night
40. One two three go! / My baby don't mess around / Because she loves me so / And this I know for sure
41. There you stood, that'll teach her / To look so good and feel so right / Let me tell you 'bout the girl I met last night
~~42. Looking out a dirty old window / Down below the cars in the city go rushing by / I sit here alone and I wonder why~~ Kids in America - Kim Wilde
~~43. I heard there was a secret chord / that David played and it pleased the lord / but you don't really care for music do you~~ Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley, Leonard Cohen, or Rufus Wainwright (I have all 3)
~~44. That's great it starts with an earthquake / birds and snakes an aeroplane / Lenny Bruce is not afraid~~. It's the End of the World (As We Know It) - REM
45. In a little café just the other side of the border / She was just sitting there givin' me looks that made my mouth water / So I started walking her way / She belonged to that man, José / And I knew, yes I knew I should leave / When I heard her say Come a Little Bit Closer - Jay and the Americans
~~46. If you leave, don't leave now / Please don't take my heart away / Promise me just one more night / Then we'll go our separate ways~~ If You Leave - OMD
47. She's got a smile that it seems to me / Reminds me of childhood memories / Where everything
was as fresh as the bright blue sky Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns N' Roses
48. All you trekkies and TV addicts / Don't mean to diss / Don't mean to bring static / All you klingons in the grandma's house / Grab your backstreet friend and get loud
~~49. She was a fast machine / She kept her motor clean / She was the best damn woman I had ever seen~~   You Shook Me (All Night Long) - ACDC
~~50. When I'm out walking I strut my stuff / Yeah I'm so strung out / I'm high as a kite I just might stop to check you out~~ Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes

Lyrics Quiz ... The Answers

2007-08-01T03:47:32Z

I won't make you guys wait any longer. Here are the answers to the lyrics quiz.

1. Romeo and Juliet by Dire Straits ( I also like the version by The Indigo Girls)
2. Walk this Way by Run DMC and Aerosmith
3. Easy Tonight by Five for Fighting
4. Don't Dream It's Over by Crowded House (this song always makes me think of The Stand miniseries)
5. People Are Strange by The Doors (also by Echo and the Bunnymen from the Lost Boys soundtrack)
6. 1985 by Bowling for Soup
7. Leaving on a Jet Plane by John Denver (saw someone made a Twilight video to this song ... kinda random)
8. Papercut by Linkin Park
9. Don't You Forget About Me by Simple Minds (one of my fav. 80's songs)
10. The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel (one of my fav. songs, period)
11. Tomorrow is a Long Time by Bob Dylan (the Elvis version is in the new cut of The Outsiders, plus I've also have one by Nickel Creek and Gretchen mention Judy Collins and dead poets)
12. Calling Baton Rouge by Garth Brooks
13. Ballad of Billy the Kid by Billy Joel
14. Little Plastic Castle by Ani Difranco
15. Complainte de la Butte by Rufus Wainwright (From Moulin Rouge, he has a haunting voice)
16. Keep Your Hands To Yourself - Georgia Sattelites (classic, bizarre 80s music)
17. Shooting Star - Bob Dylan (From Wonder Boys soundtrack, lots of great Dylan on that one)
18. Between Here and Gone - Mary Chapin Carpenter
19. Devil Went Down to Georgia - Charlie Daniels Band
20. You're the Best - Joe Esposito (THE theme song of my store and from one of the greatest montages in movie history - seriously, I'm totally not being sarcastic).
21. Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams (I remember when this song came out and everyone was making fun of BA because he was, like, 5 in 1969)
22. House of the Rising Sun - Animals (Muse also does a kickass version of this song)
23. Morning Has Broked - Cat Stevens
24. Light My Candle - Rent
25. Pinball Wizard - The Who
26. Sweep the Leg, Johnny - No More Kings (The best Karate Kid parody song ever)
27. I Summon You - Spoon
28. We Were In Love - Toby Keith (shocking, a Toby Keith song NOT about drinking)
29. End of the Line - Traveling Wilburys
30. Enter Sandman - Metallica
31. Sister Christian - Night Ranger (Totally awesome!!)
32. Sound of Pulling Heaven Down by Blue October (Stephanie Meyer has great taste in music)
33. Home - Daughtry (the only song I have ever downloaded from someone on American Idol)
34. Warrior - Scandal (shootin' at the walls of heartbreak, or something like that ...)
35. Stay - Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs
36. Never Let You Down - Verve Pipe
37. Good Vibrations - Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch ( YO ... I didn't realize I'd downloaded this one ... really, I didn't mean to).
38. Feel Like Making Love - Bad Company
39. I am, I said - Neil Diamond (not at all embarrassed to type that - I love Neil Diamond)
40. I'm a Believer - The Monkees
41. 2 out of 3 ain't bad - Meatloaf
42. Walking in Memphis - Marc Cohn
43. Songbird - Eva Cassidy (also by Stevie Nicks or Fleetwood Mac - can't remember which)
44. Private Conversation - Lyle Lovett (so much more awesome than his hair makes it look, he is seriously my favorite male singer.)
45. Dyslexic Heart - Paul Westerberg (from Singles soundtrack, I love that movie)
46. House at Pooh Corner - Kenny Loggins (this song makes me cry and I have no idea why)
47. Cruel to be Kind - Nick Lowe (also by another band on the 10 Things I Hate About You soundtrack)
48. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen (so many great college memories with this song since Wayne's World came out while I was at LVC. We'd drive around, blaring it for hours - yes, we were lame and nerdy).
49. I'm Gonna Be (5000 miles) - The Proclaimers (from Benny and Joon)
50. It's Tricky - Run DMC (I'm strangely attached to this song lately. I think it's just because it was in Friday Night Lights and makes me think of Garrett ... drunk and obnoxious ... oh well, it is a fun song)

Well, it's certainly an eclectic mix ...

2007-07-28T04:22:19Z

I snagged this fun meme from

goodnitesaigon

Step 1: Put your MP3 player or whatever on random.
Step 2: Post the first line(s) from the first 50 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
Step 3: No more than one entry per band (I may have cheated on this one).
Step 4: Let everyone you know guess what song and artist the lines come from.
Step 5: Bold out the songs when someone guesses correctly.

Only a couple turned out to be truly embarrassing, lol (and Melanie, that last one was strictly a coincidence - I swear). If anyone wants to guess who doesn't belong to Livejournal, you still can - you'll just come up as anonymous so don't forget to include who you are.

1. A love-struck romeo sings the streets a serenade / laying everybody low with a love song that he made.

2. Now there's a backseat lover that's always undercover/ And I talk til my daddy say Walk This Way - Aerosmith and Run DMC

3. You were wrong / You were right / You are gone tonight / You were free - so alive / You were wrong - You were right

4. There is freedom within / there is freedom without / try to catch the deluge in a paper cup. Crowded House - Don't Dream it's over

5. People are strange when you're a stranger / faces look ugly when you're alone / women seem wicked when you're unwanted. The Doors - People Are Strange

6. Debbie just hit the wall / She never had it all / One Prozac a day / Husbands a CPA / Her dreams went out the door when she turned twenty four

7. All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go, I'm standing here outside your door, I hate to wake you up to say good-bye. John Denver - Leaving on a Jet Plane

8. Why does it feel like night today? / Something in here's not right today / Why am I so uptight today? / Paranoia's all I got left. Linkin Park - Papercut

9. Won't you come see about me? / I'll be alone, dancing you know it baby / Tell me your troubles and doubts Simple Minds - Don't You Forget About Me

10. I am just a poor boy / Though my story's seldom told / I have squandered my resistance for a pocket full of mumbles such are promises Simon and Garfunkel - The Boxer

11. If today was not an endless highway / If tonight was not an endless trail / If tomorrow wasn’t such a long time / Then lonesome would mean nothing to me at all Tomorrow is a long time - Bob Dylan

12. I spent last night in the arms of a girl in Louisiana / And though I'm out on the highway, my thoughts are still with her. / Such a strange combination of woman and child. / Such a strange situation: stopping every hundred miles.

13. From a town known as Wheeling West Virginia / Rode a boy with a six-gun in his hand / And his daring life of crime made him a legend in his time / East and west of the Rio Grande Billy Joel - Ballad of Billy the Kid

14. in a coffee shop in a city / which is every coffee shop, in every city / on a day which is every day

15. La lune trop blême / Pose un diadème / Sur tes cheveux roux (no, I don't know French, lol)

16. I got a little change in my pocket going jingle lingle ling / Want to call you on the telephone baby I give you a ring / But each time we talk I get the same old thing / Always no huggin no kissin until I get a wedding ring Georgia Satellites - Keep Your Hands to Yourself

17. Seen a shooting star tonight / And I thought of you / You were trying to break into another world / A world I never knew

18. Tonight, the moon came out, it was nearly full. / Way down here on earth, I could feel it's pull. / The weight of gravity or just the lure of life, / Made me want to leave my only home tonight

19. The devil went down to Georgia / He was lookin' for a soul to steal / He was in a bind / 'Cause he was way behind / And he was willin' to make a deal Charlie Daniels Band - Devil Went Down to Georgia

20. Try to be best / ‘Cause you’re only a man / And a man’s gotta learn to take it Joe Esposito - You're the Best (Karate Kid)

21. Got my first real six string / bought it at the five and dime / played it 'til my fingers bled Bryan Adams - Summer of '69

22. There is a house in New Orleans they call the Risin' Sun / And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy. / And God, I know I'm one The Animals - The House of the Rising Sun

23. Morning has broken, like the first morning / Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird Cat Stevens - Morning has Broken

24. What did you forget? / Got a light? / I know you ... you're ... you're shivering Light My Candle - Rent

25. Ever since I was a young boy, I've played the silver ball. / From Soho down to Brighton, I must have played them all. The Who - Pinball Wizard

26. I didn't see it coming, creeping up from behind / I was almost swallowed whole by the thrill of the fight / it wasn't for the money and it wasn't just for fun / I wanted to make a mark, I just wanted to be someone / I heard the devil whisper in my ear / he made his message clear when he said ... Sweep the Leg, Johnny = No More Kings

27. Remember the weight of the world / It's a sound that we used to buy / On cassette and 45

28. If I could invent a time machine / Then maybe we'd both be seventeen / Cruising in my first car, and actin' like movie stars on a Friday night / Do you remember those Friday nights

29. Well it's all right / Riding around in the breeze / Well it's all right / If you live the life you please

30. Say your prayers, little one / Don't forget, my son, to include everyone

31. Sister Christian oh, the time has come / And you know that you're the only one to say okay Night Ranger - Sister Christian

32. Somewhere, far away from here , I saw stars, stars that I could reach / It was a midnight, a silent twilight / Fell down, beyond the ocean beach

33. I'm staring out into the night and trying to hide the pain / I'm going to the place where love and feeling good don't ever cost a thing

34. You run, run, runaway it's your heart that you betray / Feeding on your hungry eyes, I bet you're not so civilized

35. Stay just a little bit longer / please, please, please, please tell me you're going to Maurice Williams and The Zodiacs - Stay (Dirty Dancing)

36. I'm trying to keep my feet on the ground / I'm beginning to like this feeling I found / I'm getting to love the thought of having you around

37. It's such a good vibration / It's such a sweet sensation / Yo! It's about that time to bring forth the rhythm and the rhyme

38. Baby, when I think about you - I think about love / Darlin’, don’t live without you and your love Feel Like Making Love - Bad Company

39. LA's fine, sunshine most of the time / The feeling is laid back / Palm trees grow and the rents are low / But you know I keep thinking about making my way back

40. I thought love was only true in fairy tales / Meant for someone else but not for me. / Love was out to get me / That's the was it seemed. / Disappointment haunted all my dreams. The Monkees - I'm a Believer

41. Baby we can talk all night, but that ain't getting us nowhere / I told you everything I possibly can / There's nothing left inside of here Two Out of Three Ain't Bad - Meatloaf

42. Put on my blue suede shoes and I boarded the plane / Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues in the middle of the pouring rain Marc Cohn - Walking in Memphis

43. For you there'll be no crying / For you the sun will be shining / 'Cause I feel that when I'm with you
it's alright, I know it's right

44. And his hand it fell behind her / As his arm it reached around / And she looked at the window / And she watched the shade go down

45. You shoot me glances and they're so hard to read / I misconstrue what you mean / Slip me a napkin and now that you start / Is this your name or a doctor's eye chart?

46. Christopher Robin and I walked along under branches lit up by the moon. / Posing our questions to Owl and Eeyore as our days disappeared all too soon. House at Pooh Corner - Kenny Loggins

47. Oh i can't take another heartache / Though you say you're my friend, i'm at my wit's end / You say your love is bonafide, but that don't coincide with the things that you do

48. Is this the real life? / Is this just fantasy? / Caught in a landslide / No escape from reality Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen

49. When I wake up yeah I know I'm gonna be / I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next to you / When I go out yeah I know I'm gonna be / I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you

50. This speech is my recital, I think it's very vital / To rock a rhyme, that's right on time/ It's Tricky - Run DMC

Werewolves and Wizards and Mandrakes, Oh My!

2007-07-23T01:57:04Z

Well, I made it. It's Sunday and I can actually look back on the last two days with a mixture of pride and sadness. Pride that my staff and I threw one hell of a party and sadness that the series is over and, once I finish reading it, there won't be another one to look forward to.

I had customers call up yesterday to thank us for providing them with such a great time. We're a mall based store, a far cry from a superstore. Yet, we had customers milling about with wristbands for our much loftier competition. Sure, they weren't buying it from us, but they chose to spend the better part of the night with us.

Looking out over a sea of people can be both daunting and satisfying. I couldn't believe that many people could fit into our small store. But they did. And they behaved, for the most part (one set of obnoxious teenage boys, notwithstanding). If you told me a bingo game would be attended by at least a hundred people of all ages who listened intently as Professor Lupin (my employee, Chris) read out Harry Potter Bingo words that he didn't even know how to properly pronounce, I would have thought you were crazy. If you would have told me that the Potter Spelling Bee was going to be so successful that we exhausted the provided words and had to grab copies of some of the books to get extra words, I would have thought you were crazy. And if you told me that people of all ages were going to rush back to the kids section to participate in a rousing match of Lupin Says (ie. Simon Says, but run by my resident werewolf), I would have thought you were crazy. Finally, if you told me we were capable of ringing out a line that stretched around the perimeter of my store and down the hall to the food court (quite a distance, trust me) in less than one hour, I would have thought you were nuts.

But all of that was true, and then some. And it's over. I can't believe it.

I guess I'm sentimental.  I scheduled my entire staff to work the party because I didn't want them to miss out on the experience. Of course, that meant I had to work both the midnight party and early the next morning, but I didn't care.   I was doing my staff a favor, even if they weren't all quite convinced of that as 1 a.m. rolled around.

The whole Harry Potter phenomena is a one-time thing. Nothing will ever match this and maybe nothing ever should. I mean we had a huge party celebrating the release of a book - how insane is that ... and how utterly cool? Sure, there are stores that have big author events - Janet Evanovich quickly comes to mind - but there's nothing that is celebrated simultaneously across the country and world. Nothing. I joked with a customer that when Dan Brown finally publishes a follow-up to The DaVinci Code, we should throw a party where everyone does math puzzles in the aisles.

I cried at the end of the new movie - not just because of what happened to one of the characters (I know at least one reader of this journal who hasn't read the books or seen the movies, so I don't want to spoil it in case she ever does) - but because of the scene where they flashed images from all of the other movies. I was literally on the verge of tears for the remainder of the movie because of that single flashback scene.

I don't remember when the first book came out.  It came in with little fanfare in a shipment of hundreds of books - nothing spectacular, nothing that really jumped out at us. It got sorted and shelved and that was it. A few months later, people started coming in asking for a book by some guy named Potter and we had a tough time finding it because nobody really knew what they were talking about. Our customers thought Harry Potter was the author and it took a bit of detective work to figure out what they were really looking for (some days I think I missed my calling and should have gone to work for the FBI - it can really be like investigating a mystery when it comes to deciphering the bits and pieces of information customers bring us).   Then the chatter began to build. I started reading them when the second one came out. The third one was hotly anticipated and I remember hearing about people buying it from Amazon UK to get it early. It was the fourth one when people beyond the normal book world began to really take notice and we haven't looked back since.

I know, I know - I'm being sentimental, but I can't help it. I love the books and I love the excitement surrounding the books. Anything that gets kids reading - right? Well, these books get everyone reading ... and talking. They create a real sense of community and in this day and age, that's pretty special.

I'll post pictures in a few days of our party. But for now, I'm going to grab a cup of coffee, turn off the TV, settle into a comfortable spot on my couch, and read well into the morning.

Icons

2007-07-09T22:01:10Z

Here are some more icons including some from The Outsiders.

Preview:

Outsiders:





Garrett Hedlund (He's in Friday Night Lights, Four Brothers, and Georgia Rule):

Various Pop Culture:









Black Cats:

Icons

2007-07-09T07:09:49Z

I've been bad. I really should be reading or writing or watching the movies I've had from Netflix for close to a month, but I figured out how to make icons and it's become a bit of an obsession. First I'll share the retro/vintage icons I made.

Here's a preview and the rest are behind the cut. You're more then welcome to take what you want (if you want, lol).