Tuesday, July 31, 2012

The Chronicles of YouTube

My friend Lindsey and I are starting a fun little game/project tomorrow that we're calling The (month long) Chronicles of YouTube.

And here's how it will be played.

I get to pick the first song for the game. Any song/video I choose.  (Whoa... That's a big responsibility and honor-- and yes, I already know what I'm choosing!)

From there, we pass the thread back and forth everyday, and we choose a song we found through that video thread.

If you ever spend any time on YouTube, you know that it tends to turn into a LOT of time.  One thing leads to the next.  And the next.  And the next thing you know, you're watching Andy Gibb and Marilyn McCoo singing hits of the 80s on Solid Gold!


Usually, I read books in the bathtub.  But on the occasion I bring my iPad instead, I inevitably get on YouTube.  Before I know it, it's way past midnight and I'm way past pruney.

So here's our attempt to be a little productive with all that YouTube browsing.  We'll have a chronicle of what led to what over a 31 day period.  Sounds fascinating, huh?

Tune in tomorrow to see what video will kick the whole thing off.  And check in each day during the month of August to read the Chronicles of YouTube.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Junkin'

(This little flower clip was a FREEBIE!)
Look at all this loot I came home with!
The jewelry,...
the random trinkets on the cute tray,...
the blingy iron,...
the glasses for my morning highballs,...
my owls to set hot pots on,...
my lamp (I plan on replacing the shade),...
the kitchen sign I bought for Mr. Arista,...   

my new favorite candle holder,...
and a coat rack...which is a little hard to see in this photo but I'm exhausted now, and too lazy to redo!  :)

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Feast

My oh my! The book list is even bigger today than it was when I posted two days ago.  Sometimes when I place a hold on books at the library, they seem to all come in at once! But for this, I will never complain!  I love having stacks of books around me just waiting to be read...
Now the following have been added to my reading list:
Life by Keith Richards
Holy Ghost Girl by Donna M. Johnson
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau
Diamond in the Rough by Shawn Colvin
Imagine by Jonah Lehrer
Rework by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson

Monday, July 16, 2012

The Current List

Here are my current library check outs:
What It Is by Lynda Barry  (because it looked interesting and different than anything I'd ever seen)

Drive by Daniel H. Pink (because I wish I had more drive!)

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz (just finished this one and it was AWESOME.  A MUST READ if you haven't already read it, and if you have, maybe it's time to read it again!)

Finding Flow by Mihaly Csikszenthihalyi (because I will read just about any book on creativity and hadn't read this one before!)

Care of the Soul by Thomas Moore (because my friend suggested it, and now we're both reading it for a discussion topic)

Happiness by Daniel Nettle (because it was in a suggested reading list of book I recently read, What Makes Your Brain Happy, and Why You Should Do the Opposite)

The Forever Marriage by Ann Bauer (because I read the review in More Magazine, and it sounded good)

Poser- My Life in 23 Yoga Poses by Claire Dederer (because I love memoirs and yoga)

Evil Plans by Hugh MacLeod (because I read another book of Hugh's called Ignore Everybody which I liked a lot)

Hush, Hush by Rebecca Fitzpatrick (because I'm still looking for the next Twilight)

The Owner's Manuel for The Brain by Pierce J. Howard (because, like Happiness, this was on a recommended reading list- and I'm just fascinated by the human brain)

Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon (I don't remember how I heard of this one, but I just finished it and LOVED it.  Highly recommended for a quick, fun, and inspiring read about creativity.)


Friday, July 13, 2012

Choking

So here it is, July 13th, over a week into this 90 day goal I've set for myself (see my recent post, if you missed it), and I've done absolutely nothing in regards to reaching that goal come October 1st.  Nada.  Zilch.  Zero.

I few days after making the "big announcement", one of my friends asked me how my progress was coming along.  Well, I still had just a little shy of 3 months to go on it, so HEY!, no forward movement at that point, but nothing to get panicky about!  But really, I'm so glad she asked...

More than a week after coming up with this bright idea of "polishing up over 200 songs and demo-ing many of them while familiarizing myself with my Logic software between July 4- October 1", I realize although I still love the idea of that, it's not going to really happen unless I break it down into some sort of manageable schedule.  Until I do that, it's too vague to take it seriously.

When I set off to write 50 songs in 90 days in previous years, I had a schedule.  At the beginning of each challenge, I wrote out how many songs I needed to write on a weekly basis in order to stay on track and make it to song number 50 by day 90.  I also posted my songs on the "50/90" public website, which gave me some accountability.  If I started to fall behind on the ranking, it was a clear motivator to sit with my guitar and my notebook until a song came out of me.  I also had virtual strangers that would listen to the songs I posted, and cheerlead me.  All that stuff motivated me to reach my proverbial finish line.

So, my task for today is simply to break down this big lofty 90-day goal into small bite sized pieces that I can swallow.  Because, so far, I've been choking.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

lucy

Lucy and I have a new favorite store...
Her reason for liking the store is pretty obvious.  They chose a great name, and we also like the color they chose for their bag and logo.

When I re-joined my Lifetime Fitness gym, it was for the yoga classes.  Since joining several months ago, I'd say I average 5 to 6 classes a week.  Yay, Me!

So when Dad gave me a nice wad of cash for my recent birthday, I decided to spend it all in one place.  At lucy, of course!  Here's what I bought:
Two super cute yoga outfits...
These two shirts, which are great to throw over my yoga clothes.  (the picture doesn't really do them justice)
And my new favorite t-shirt!
(a closer shot of it, so you don't miss anything)