Rockin' Out

So the one thing I wish was different about my car: The cassette player. My car is a 2006. A cassette player, really? I wish it had some sort of hook-up for an mp3 player. Today I was bumming around at Marshall's, avoiding doing laundry, when I found this gadget. You put it in the tape player and plug the other end into your music device. I couldn't wait to try it. I tore open the blister packaging without harming myself and shoved the thing into the cassette player. I plugged in my phone. Nothing. Just a little static. Well, it actually worked when I pressed play on my phone! At first it was very static-y, but when I cranked up the volume on my phone I was able to turn down the volume on the car stereo and rock out without static.

I paid 4.99 for this little gem! In the past I have tried adapters that transmit to the FM radio. They never worked well for me and they always required batteries. This is great. Now I can listen to all the music I have on my phone (probably close to 25G) and I can listen to it through my awesome car stereo system, not my little phone speaker or a cheapie bluetooth speaker. Now I'll have more surround sound than tin sound.

Music Transfer

So sometime in August my laptop died. I didn't lose any data, but I had to get a new laptop. I took that opportunity to ditch iTunes and try something different. I'm now using MusicBee. Ross sometimes complains that I don't have entire albums in my music library--just a song or two from each cd. That's because I didn't have a lot of memory back in the day. So last month I obsessively uploaded all my cds. And then I went to my mom's house and uploaded some of hers--she had some eminmem! It took a couple of weeks, but I got it all onto the computer, and I made sure to back it up.  I'm pretty happy with MusicBee. Annoyed a bit with Windows 8, but that's a whole other story.

David Garza Live at Cactus Cafe

Back in college I didn't get out much (nothing has changed.)  At some point I saw David Garza (Dah-Veed, like Ziva David in NCIS) perform and I liked him.  I saw him one or two more times while I was at St. Edward's.  While searching for something cool to do with Ainsmar I saw that David was playing the Cactus Cafe. Why not relive some college days--seeing him play on the UT Campus?

So Thursday night Ainsmar and I went to hear David Garza perform some songs from his new album.  He played the piano, and the guitar, and had a friend, JJ, play the drums during some songs.  He told funny stories.  He drank lots of tequila shots.  People made requests, and he actually played the songs.  He felt bad that he hadn't played a waltz--which had been requested the night before--so he played two. He made me wish I could play an instrument.

The crowd was decidedly grown up.  No college freshman.  No college kids at all.  We actually got a seat at a table and got to chill during the performance--we didn't have to stand the whole time like you do at most places.  Cactus Cafe is very intimate.  David even talked to people between sets.

I enjoyed David's wacky songs. I bought his latest album--Human Tattoo. I listened to it in the car on Friday, and I have to say--I enjoyed the live performance more.  The album has some cool things going on, but I find the stripped down sound of just a few instruments and no electronica more moving. 

David with guitar.

David on piano and Adrian Quesada (who produced Human Tattoo) on Guitar.

There were a few songs were he jammed with other people that were in the audience that he called up on stage.  His friend Amy Cook sang while he played the piano and did back up vocals. Hearing her sing made me wonder why people listen to crappy music with crappy singers.  Amy Cook can sing.  She makes those fools on American Idol and such look like kindergartners.

So I feel sort of cool, going out, listening to live music. I wonder how long it will be before I do it again.

Thanks to Ainsmar for the photos.  I didn't feel like carrying anything and left my phone in the car.

Trailer Food Tuesday

Trying to be cool for Ainsmar--we went to Trailer Food Tuesday last night.  

The lines were long.  Who knows how long Ross stood in line...

I was hungry, and not willing to stand in line--so I got some hatch sliders at the Greengos trailer.  They were creamy goodness.  Hatch chiles are all the rage right now.  We got lemonade too.  Refills were only one buck.

Ainsmar got in line at Peached Tortilla and didn't have to wait too long.  He got some kind of pork sliders.

And we devoured our brisket tacos that he got us at Peached Tortilla. I really wanted to try their burger, but it wasn't on the menu last night.

Ross waited in line what seemed like forever at Chilantro.  They weren't serving the burritos.  So he got a bowl for us and a bowl for Ainsmar.  Ross was very disappointed.  Chilantro parks out in front of his work regularly...and he says it is usually much better.

So we hung out on the grass and got to see the Austin skyline as it lit up and the sky darkened.

As a bonus to the food and the view we got to hear some live music by Mike and the Moonpies.  So we get to take credit for taking Ainsmar to hear some live music in the live music capital of the world.  Richard and Monica took him to batfest on Saturday and they heard a couple bands play there.  Ainsmar is sticking around a while longer, so I think we'll go see some more live music on Thursday night.

Dessert was key lime pie frozen custard for Ainsmar--he said it wasn't so good, and I got a hibiscus mint popsicle. It was okay.  I shoulda gotten the mango--or gone to Amy's.

Another Pet Peeve

So the other day I was watching CoolTV and their Dance and Tonic hour came on. No dance music, and the tonic was diet. You see, I watched for at least half an hour and every song had the same characteristic--the artist mentioned his/her own name. That really bugs the crap out of me. I want to hear you sing a song, not hear you sing who you are. It was really lame and annoying.

Yoga Yesterday

I was a mess yesterday. I forgot my towels, and I don't think I was well hydrated. I fell over during tripod headstand, and I was unable to hold my regular headstand for very long. I think I was really tired, and the balance and core necessary for headstands was just too much.

What's cool about having the month long yoga pass is that I'm going to different teachers, so I get to do different things. I'd taken a classes with Will before, but it was a very long time ago. He says the names of the poses in sanskrit, and I appreciate that. I also find his voice very soothing. The odd part was his music mix. There would be some Indian music, then some classic rock--like Jimi or The Talking Heads, then maybe some classical piano, then some music with Om Shanti Shanti chanting, then back to classic rock. It was a musical roller coaster. I enjoyed it.

It was a slow class. We held poses for a long time. I was amazed at how long I could hold Warrior I and Warrior II. I guess my legs are getting stronger. My arms were what started to really burn. My deltoids. I guess I'm building up my shoulders too. Even though I was tired yesterday I tried my best not not to do lazy yoga. I tried to keep all my muscles engaged and strong.

80's at 8

The Cool TV is a new TV channel that is supposed to have all music all the time. I like to watch 80's at 8. I know the songs, but I've never seen most of the videos--for at least 3 reasons. First, we didn't have cable in the early 80s. Second, we were overseas in the mid 80s (and didn't really have TV at all.) When we did get cable in the late 80s I'm not sure we had MTV. I don't remember watching it.

I love to rock out to the hits of the 80s and I'm completely fascinated by the videos. Most of them are terrible, and very strange. I have no idea what a lot of the groups looked like. Now I get to see them in all their 80s glory.

Managing My Downloads

Kazaa was working wonderfully over Christmas and I downloaded a couple hundred songs. Managing the downloads is business. Not a tricky business, or a hard business, but it's definitely a business. I won't bore you with the details.

We got a terabyte drive over the Thanksgiving weekend and I've backed up all my photos and music. Actually, I've backed up my music twice. It is so much easier to do now that I'll never wait months to back up my stuff again. Today I was importing some CDs into iTunes and screwed something up. It was nice to be able to delete everything and start fresh all over again. I don't think I lost many songs, if any, since I had backed up my music on December 29th.

Among the bounty of songs I downloaded last weekend were a couple of songs I've been looking for for a long time: Water into Wine by Cold Chisel and A Million Miles Away by David Byrne. The David Byrne song was actually ripped from a youTube video. I get my music however I can, as long as it's free! I've put the two songs on the Songs Stuck in My Head list. You can click and download them free.

Ooops

My computer was giving me trouble. We backed it up before sending it in. The backup didn't work like we thought it would. The last time I had backed up my music was 13 months ago. Long story short--I lost about 300 songs. Oops. Over the weekend I've tried to get my computer looking the way it was before I sent it in to be fixed. I've manged to recover about half the songs. I've also downloaded a few (only 150) songs and some photos onto my new phone. Maybe next weekend I'll work on ring tones. I'll also work on downloading some of the other songs I lost. I'm missing most of my Magnetic Fields and a lot of Nouvelle Vague. I'll find it all eventually.

Musical Shabbat

Last night I went to a synagogue for the first time in years. I heard about a musical shabbat service on the radio and decided I'd like to go. I have a lot of anxiety about going to services. I don't like people talking to me and asking me questions. Of course, the people are just trying to be nice, but it gives me horrible anxiety. I was so happy when the service actually started and the woman who was talking to us went to sit with her kids. Ross says I just want to be left alone with my god. That's funny, and silly, seeing as I'm going to a service with other people, but that's really how I feel.

Part of the thing I like about going to services is that the words have been the same for thousands of years. The tunes however, are not always the same. I don't like that. I find comfort in the prayers and tunes that I know. I was expecting an upbeat services with singing and instruments. Instead the songs were almost all slow. One or two sounded like lullabies. One sounded really depressing. I felt like Carol King was singing the service. It was odd. The instruments included a drum, a tambourine, and a guitar.

I did really like the Rabbi. This week's Torah portion is when god tells Avram (who later becomes Abraham) to get himself going. Perfect. That's exactly what I need to hear, and exactly what I need to do. Get myself going. I wasn't a big fan of the cantor. He wasn't too operatic, but it was still too much for me. Then, there was a little girl up at the front who had her own mic. She was cute, but annoying.

I don't know if we will go back. The parking situation kind of sucked. I knew we were in the right place when I saw a security guard outside. Sad, but true. The seats had no leg room. I don't know when I will have the courage to go to services again. I wish I didn't have to go so far....

Taking a Break

The Peabody Institute and the Johns Hopkins Medical School have a partnership concert series. Today I took a break and went to the free noontime concert. I haven't been able to go before. It was great. I got to relax, listen to nice music, and let my brain be stimulated on a different level. Today was the last concert of the (school) year, so I won't be able to do that again for a while, but I'm definitely looking forward to it.

Songs Stuck in My Head

I don't know why I'm so bad about updating the Songs Stuck in My Head section of the blog. This weekend I definitely had Manamana stuck in my head. Ross and I would just randomly turn to each other and say Manamana! So go ahead, click on the link to download the song and get it stuck in your head. You know you want to.

My Boy Loves Queen

Before we moved I noticed that Ethan would always get excited when a Queen song started playing on my computer. I made him a cd with a bunch of Queen songs, but I don't know how often he listens to it. When I was in Texas I was pushing Ethan in a shopping cart at the grocery store and he started singing..."Ooooh you gonna take me home tonight" and I couldn't remember the next line (Oh down beside your red firelight), so I just repeated what he said and realized--hey, that's Fat Bottomed Girls. So I started singing "Fat bottomed girls you make the rockin' world go round." Then it dawned on me. That's a Queen song. My boy loves Queen.

Song Stuck in My Head

It has been so long since I updated that part of my blog!  Now there are two new songs and I checked the links to make sure they work.  You can download the songs (free) if you click the links.  I'll update the songs more often.  Lord knows I almost always have a song stuck in my head.

Music Exchange

I get a lot of compliments on the music that I use for my yoga classes. I'm glad because I spend a lot of time on those music mixes. One student said he liked the Elvis Costello song in one of my mixes. I laughed because I always have an Elvis Costello song in the mix. So I made a sampler CD of Elvis Costello songs and used that for my Yoga Sampler routine. My fellow Elvis fan missed that class, but the next week I gave him the cd. He has agreed to bring me a cd of some cool music. This week one of my students made a comment about the G. Love song in the mix. I told her I love that song so much that it is my ring tone! I've agreed to give her a copy of my G. Love mp3s and she's going to give me some cool music in return. I had no idea teaching yoga would lead me to a music exchange! I love it.

It's All Good

I am feeling so much better.
Last night I used my soundtrack music mix. A bunch of people said they liked it. I wanted to use my covers mix today, but I couldn't find it. I need to reburn my Elvis mix and the cover mix. Last night I gave away my Elvis mix to one of my students who really likes Elvis Costello. He said he'll bring me a cd with some of his other favorite music. I'm excited about that.
My piercing is slowly healing up. I'm looking forward to the day when I don't have to walk around with tape on it.
I remembered to pick up my paychecks (with my name misspelled). The money is starting to add up. I'm happy I'm getting paid to do something I like doing.
It's a new month. I did my weights and measures this am. It isn't going to be easy, but I am aiming for 140 lbs by Halloween (I am starting at 145.5). This month I am going to focus on working out and saving money. Tonight I'll start with a good walk or a pilates reformer class.

Prep Time

So, as you probably know I am a perfectionist. I spend hours prepping each hour long yoga class. I think of it like cooking. I use recipes for inspiration now, but I followed them closely when I first started cooking. The problem with yoga is that I have to come up with the recipe! I know it will get easier, but for now I spend a lot of time prepping for each class. Last night I was choosing songs for the music mix. Yep, I make a new mix of music for each new routine. That takes me another hour. This week's routine is going to be upper body. I want really strong motivating music--not new age relaxation. So I was choosing what I thought were some good songs, but then I started listening to the words. Oops. Bitch, Whore, Mother.... Eeek! Now, I'm completely against censorship, but to save my own ass I'm making sure there aren't any (many...haha) "offensive" words in the songs. I don't really hear the music when I am doing yoga (unless it is jazz, which totally gets on my nerves), but I know some people really listen. The last thing I need is somebody complaining to management that my music was offensive. So Kid Rock's Cowboy is out (breasts, pimp, bitch), as well as Lily Allen's Take What You Take (fuck). Oh well, better safe than sorry.