Life in the Slow Lane

I have loved Shazam since the beginning of time . I did not keep a running record when I recently got a new phone though, so all of my old tags are gone(I think?). But here's what I've been tagging lately. I have no rhyme or reason to my music selections, but they always fit my mood. You can see I went from angry to dancing to sentimental in this short little group a few weeks ago. Nowadays, I Shazam to remind myself of songs I like, not find new music. Then I open up the app when I'm grabbing some downloads. Handy and fun!

I feel like I did this sometime long ago, but I can't find it, and I'm sure my answers would be different now. So today I'm taking a lazy approach to blogging, filling out a good old survey. Just some great songs I love for different times in life. Opening credits: Viva La Vida, Coldplay Average day: Today, Smashing Pumpkins Driving: American Girl, Tom Petty Bad day: Fell on Black Days, Soundgarden Fight scene: Mama Said Knock You Out, LL Cool J Mental breakdown : Landslide, Stevie Nicks Graduation: Closing Time, Semisonic First date: easy! First Date, Blink 182 Falling in love: Falling, Jamiroquai Breaking up: She Hates Me, Puddle of Mudd Long night alone: Mad World, Gary Jules Wedding: Grow Old with You, Adam Sandler Reflecting on life: In My Life, The Beatles Reflecting on love : Lovesong, The Cure Death scene: Champagne Supernova, Oasis Closing credits : Claire de Lune, Debussy

Bah Humbug! Now I know I can't be the only person that feels this way. Christmas has gone from the best day of the year with so much family piled into the house that you can't breathe, to omg is it over yet? Maybe it has come with age for me, maybe it's being so far away from family year round, maybe it's the fact that it's always Christmas in my house, who knows. Whatever it is though, I can tell you nothing can make the Humbugging worse than some sad ass Christmas songs. So in no particular order I thought I'd share a few of my favorites. Why six? No good reason other than these are the ones that came right to mind. Blue Christmas by Elvis This cd has been a staple in my life forever. I have a special place in my heart for Elvis, so his holiday stuff is no different. This one is somber, catchy, and bluesy. Same Old Lang Syne by Dan Fogelberg At least 90% of my friends can relate to this song whether they want to admit it or not. To bump into someone, usu...

Once again, thank you Shazam . I often find myself half listening to the radio lately, which is sad. I love music. I live for music. But when a million things are going on in life at once, it takes a backseat. But anyway, that's the bestest part of Shazam. I can remind myself to re-listen to a new song, remember to download a great oldie, or just use it to check out some lyrics. The song I recently Shazam'd was new, intriguing, and right on the money. Life....well.....too much for one blog post at the moment, but some days I feel like this song. Then there are the days that are one step forward, three steps back. Those are actually the more common days right now. But for me, to even have one day a week where I feel ahead of the game, well that's enough for me. See, here's where that 'baby steps' comes in again. If I didn't live by that motto, I would have cracked long ago..... A Little Bit Stronger by Sara Evanas Woke up late today, and I could still feel ...

Then by golly, be sure to listen to this song. Of course it's lovely, but man what a downer. Yet like a train wreck, I can never avoid it when it comes on... Arms Of An Angel Spend all your time waiting for that second chance For the break that will make it ok There's always some reason to feel “not good enough� And it's hard at the end of the day I need some distraction, oh beautiful release Memories seep from my veins They may be empty and weightless, and maybe I'll find some peace tonight In the arms of an Angel, fly away from here From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie You're in the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort here So tired of the straight line, and everywhere you turn There's vultures and thieves at your back The storm keeps on twisting, you keep on building the lies That you make up for all that you lack It don't make no difference, escaping one ...

Walk On And love is not the easy thing The only baggage you can bring... And love is not the easy thing... The only baggage you can bring Is all that you can't leave behind And if the darkness is to keep us apart And if the daylight feels like it's a long way off And if your glass heart should crack And for a second you turn back Oh no, be strong Walk on, walk on What you got, they can't steal it No they can't even feel it Walk on, walk on Stay safe tonight... You're packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been A place that has to be believed to be seen You could have flown away A singing bird in an open cage Who will only fly, only fly for freedom Walk on, walk on What you got they can't deny it Can't sell it or buy it Walk on, walk on Stay safe tonight And I know it aches And your heart it breaks And you can only take so much Walk on, walk on Home...hard to know what it is if you never had one Home...I can't ...

Thumbed through a pile of old cds today and came across one I made when my older son started really taking an interest in music. It's a pretty eclectic mix as usual, but one song in particular I've always loved, and when Chris and I heard it today we started singing. It was my best friend's wedding song, and if ever had a wedding song(that's right, never had a wedding song!) I would have chosen it too. Love the tune, love the lyrics. I hope it's in your rotation, and if not get to downloading.... Crazy Love - Van Morrison 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 Chorus: She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love She's got a fine sense of humor when I'm feeling low down And when I come to her when the sun goes down Take away my trouble, take away my grief Take a...

If you're not an app person, I apologize for boring you. But if you are and haven't found the wonder of Shazam you are truly missing out! It's a simple little app that allows you to hold the phone up to any music and it will tell you the artist, song, and album. I've been using it for almost 2 years now and it's still one of my favorite things about my iPhone. Just this morning alone I Shazamed two songs! So here's a few of my recent Shazams. Sometimes they are newer songs, sometimes just oldies that I love. The radio in the car does pick up the info, so I mostly use it to remember to download the songs or pull out the cds. In no particular order: 1. Chances by Five for Fighting This one I just did about 10 minutes ago. Never heard the song, always liked the group a bit but never gave them a fair shot. Love the lyrics. 2. I Want You by Weezer I'm not a Weezer fan, never was. But this song sounded different than their usual songs so it intrigues me...

Requirements for Reading this post: - you should own a gaming system of some sort - must love music If you’ve answered yes to the above requirements, then by all means, read away! It is no great secret to anyone here that I loves me some Guitar Hero. Always loved me some music, but now with Guitar Hero it’s on a whole new level. Then the other day I finally tried Rock Band at a friend’s house. I had no negative feelings towards it, just didn’t know much of it. I’m here to say that I did enjoy it very much! I’m not here to recommend one or the other, but if you’re up for more of a challenge I would go with the GH only because of the difficulty of the drums as well as the ease of the guitar on RB, having two sets of colored keys. Personal preference. My preference goes along with song choices too, make sure you read set lists before picking one. Sadly the ‘instruments’ are not interchangeable, or I’d already have all available titles. I have all available GH titles ...

Everyone knows I love U2 and of course Bono. Their music has gotten me through lots of different things over the years and today when thinking of some different songs, I came back to one of my favorites, Walk On. I love it for many reasons and it makes me think of many different things. Not the lyrics alone, but the powerful, subdued way Bono sings it as well. I thought I'd share it here with you, maybe you'll love it too:) U2 - Walk On And love is not the easy thing The only baggage you can bring... And love is not the easy thing... The only baggage you can bring Is all that you can't leave behind And if the darkness is to keep us apart And if the daylight feels like it's a long way off And if your glass heart should crack And for a second you turn back Oh no, be strong Walk on, walk on What you got, they can't steal it No they can't even feel it Walk on, walk on Stay safe tonight... You're packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been A place that has...

Yes, a few days ago I posted that I'm Christmas'd out. But you can't deny the greatness that is the music of the season. Even though I'm tired of hearing it, I do truly love Christmas music. While not my all-time favorite Christmas song, I do love Santa Bring My Baby Back to Me by Elvis. Caught myself singing it a tad too loud in the store yesterday. It has a fun beat and cute lyrics. Elvis has been part of my regular rotation for as long as I can remember, and add to it Christmas and it's a perfect mix! If you don't own the Elvis Christmas CD, or live in a cave and never even heard it, give it a try. What's one of your favorite Christmas songs? I don't need a lot of presents To make my Christmas bright I just need my baby's arms Wound around me tight Oh oh santa hear my plea Santa bring my baby back to me The Christmas tree is ready The candles all aglow But with my baby far away What good is mistletoe Oh oh Santa, hear my plea Santa...

Yes, I love music. Yes, I talk about it too much sometimes. This morning when I woke up I already knew what I was going to write about today(not music!). But later in the day I went to lunch with hubby and younger son and a new topic took over my thoughts. Music in public places! Sometimes you may not even realize that there's music playing when you're in a store or restaurant. But sometimes, you'll hear it, start to hum without thinking about it, and before you know it you'll be saying 'O MY GOD I used to love this song!!!'  But then, there's those times, especially as you get older, that you'll go into a store and want to get out as fast as you can because the music is too loud or obnoxious. I'm not quite there yet myself, but I've been with my mom on numerous occasions and have witnessed her unraveling and fleeing within seconds, telling me she'll wait out front. I'm sure my day will come too. I can tell you that I shop at one loc...

I did a post a while back about some songs I could not live without on my iPod(well, iPhone now, same thing). I was going to make a new list since it's been a while, but as I started thumbing through my playlist, I realized I just had to tell about one artist instead. She's not super well known, and I really think she should be. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings are out of sight. She has the standard issue background of church singing, backup singing, and in 2001 they finally formed their group. In 2007 their album 100 Days, 100 Nights was released. It's soulful Rhythm and Blues, and man can she sing. I love all kinds of music, but I especially love music of the 50s and 60s. The power in Sharon's voice reminds me of some top ladies of that time. Watch them here!  Check them out, you won't be sorry:)

Husband had to go to DC this week to the XM studios. DJs, celebrities. I asked if he was taking the camera, and he said he would so I could see who might pop up in the studios. I told him I didn't really care about celebrities(even though I read US Magazine obsessively) and he didn't buy it. "You're telling me, if Billy Joel was in the studio, you wouldn't care and want a picture?" I tried to play it cool and of course again said no, have seen him plenty in concert, he's just a regular person, etc etc. (See pic at left as he serenaded me years ago:) Then I really thought about that this morning. Of course I'd want to see him! He's surely on my short list of musicians I admire. Saw a few concerts, all awesome, but to meet him would be peachy. If my dad wasn't old and retired and still worked at Sony Records, I'm sure I would have gotten the chance eventually. Sadly, now I have to act like every other old mommy acting like a Woo girl at hi...

My 8th graders are definitely starting to get spring fever and cannot wait to be done with school. Unfortunately for them, there's still plenty of work to be done! One thing we need to do is a writing assignment for the fourth quarter. I thought about it for days, and sat on the internet for hours at a time. How many research papers and stories can you have them write? But then, I found a great assignment! " The Theme Song of Your Life ". Students are to choose a song for its lyrics, and tell how the song pertains to their last year at our school. It can show any range of emotions they choose, and they have to choose a line from the song to relate to. How great is that? After I gave them the assignment they seemed pretty excited to get started. So today they came over to the computer lab to start looking for songs. Then someone finally asked me, "Mrs. Wallace, what would you choose as your song?" Crap . No Clue . I love music more than anything, but it's ...

I've been whistling since I was a little more than 2 years old. My dad's side of the family is very musical, and to me this is just one form of being a musician. My dad is a great whistler too, and the strangest part is when we whistle together it sounds exactly alike. It's like one whistle, super strange. I find myself whistling many times throughout any given day, and it really can help someone feel out my mood. Since many different types of music are part of my life, I whistle anything from country to disco to r&b. I can even remember being at my job in high school and having an old lady tell me to stop whistling because it's not lady-like. I'm pretty sure I said something in return that wasn't lady-like either! :) Recently I discovered there is an annual whistling competition. I finally got a chance to go on their site today, only to find out that it's in 2 weeks and there is a huge wait list just to enter. So I now have 11.5 months to train for ...

...what do you think I would choose to be instead? Don't get me wrong, teaching is my calling in life. But there's always that teeny tiny voice in the back of my head. Some people will instantly say I'd be a cupcake-ateer, which to some degree is true, but there's one much bigger voice in my head. A voice that's humming. A voice that would like to be on a big stage, dressed in black, behind a microphone, in between two other people, bopping & swaying to the beat. Have you guessed it yet? I would choose to be a backup singer. Sure the lead vocals are super, but what is a song without the extra "oo ooh's"' and "la la's?" Not to mention the stage presence as 2 or 3 backups work together to move, groove, and harmonize. If you ever take a ride in the car with me, pay a bit more attention when the radio is on. Most of the time I don't sing along with the song, I sing backup. I'm practicing all the time. You never know when the d...

5 Random Songs on my Ipod Shuffle I love music as much as I love my children. So here's a few choice songs I've been listening to lately. If you haven't heard or downloaded them yet, get to it! 1. "Tears Dry on Their Own" - Amy Winehouse I'll be the first to admit how much I disliked her when I first heard about her/saw her. But as time went on, she really grew on me. The sultry, deep tones of her voice, the bad ass girl feel of her songs, I enjoy them all. This song is one of my favorites, and there is even a remix version that is pretty cool. 2. "Stronger" - Kanye West Here's another artist I never thought I'd be listening to, and now I find myself gravitating towards his music. This song in particular. Not the best lyrical message, but man what a great jam for the gym. 3. "Ring of Fire" - Johnny Cash A bit out of the ordinary, but not for me! I do enjoy Johnny Cash, but I really enjoy this song because of it's s...