Happy NaNoWrimo my fellow wrimos! It's day one and I'm about to go to bed - don't worry, it isn't the END of day one, but the beginning. I've been awake since the day before. Wanted to get started on my writing at midnight. I'm going to bed feeling good. 1875 words under my belt. Not bad, especially since I'm hoping to still get some more writing done later in the day today.
My story is coming out a bit differently than what I had envisioned. But I'm pleased with it so far. The two characters I've written have begun to take shape in my mind, so I'm hoping things will continue smoothly. Although, when I pick up where I left off I'll be introducing a new character whose personality, attitude, and voice I'm going to have to find. Wish me luck!
It's Halloween, peeps! My most favorite time of the year. Unfortunately, the day is eclipsed by the start of NaNoWrimo - which I will begin promptly at midnight. So today, instead of going all Halloweeny, I'm staying in; listening to a Halloween mix I made on Spotify and just getting some last minutes NaNo things ironed out for tonight. I also may or may not have eating $8 worth of candy...
I'm anxious to start writing. I have no idea how this story is going to go, but I want to hurry up and start writing it and see if I can figure it all out. I also have been tasked with the duty of making sure my pal Crystal-Rain Love writes her lil tushy off.
I'm ready! (I hope) Are you?
If you're doing NaNo, come find/friend me - SaturnMoonie is my moniker. :)
November is fast approaching. That means NaNoWriMo is almost here. I wasn't thinking that hard about it, because I was thinking about skipping it this year. I wanted to try to get my Cotton Candy Girls 1 done. I did finish it, about a month or two ago actually. I wanted to read through it to make sure things made sense. I'm maybe halfway through with it. This is something that should have only taken me a day or two, but I hate reading my own stuff and it's even harder when I'm going through one of my self doubt moments. Basically I think my story is a piece of shit and that's why I haven't finished reading it. So I wasn't really thinking about starting something else. Plus I do have my YA that I want to continue working on...
But then I was talking to Virginia and she was asking me about NaNo and what I was going to do. After our conversation, I decided I would do it! But I won't be working on my YA - I need to do research as I write it and that'll slow my writing. Because my work schedule varies, I won't know if I'll be able to hit the library, so I'm going to continue to wait on that particular project. But as I was thinking what to write, I remembered an idea I had last week that I had jotted down - and it is another paranormal YA. So tonight, I'm gonna pull some books I have on hand that will help as far as research and I'll take a stab at NaNo this year again. :)
I know I've missed the last two weeks of Food Porn Friday posts. My schedule has to be completely reworked now that I got a job. There's good things and bad things about this particular gig. Good stuff includes, the fact that I'm going to be getting a paycheck, the fact that it's a part time job so I'll still have time to write, and most importantly, there's no hard selling involved. The bad part is that it's retail, so I don't have a set weekly schedule. My hours will be different every time I work and so will my days. I have to learn to plan ahead so I don't miss my blog posts, and also so I have time to write, edit, read, review, edit Virginia's reviews, promote other authors, and participate in events.
Piece of cake...
I do have the planning thing down a smidgen, but then people come to me with "emergencies" and I have to drop everything I am doing and help them. Always happens. I have to learn to say "no."
Anywho, I just wanted to acknowledge the fact that I am aware of my missing Friday posts. But hey - at least I've been getting my Toe-Tapping Thursdays in! :D
Hello and welcome to another Toe-Tapping Thursday. This week's song, though not new, is new to me. (Gotta love Spotify) I stumbled across the track Sarah by Kate Miller Heidke a few days ago, and OMG, what a song! Her voice just commanded my attention - it's so powerful and the song sounds so haunting. And this was before I even actually heard the lyrics! After I realized what she was saying in the song, the track became even more haunting. The song is based on true events, a story one of her friends told her, about a girl who went to the Livid Festival back in 97' and goes missing for 2 weeks. When she shows up, she has no memory of the last 2 weeks. Spooky, I know.
Kate sings the song from the point of view of the missing girl's friend (the girl who told Kate the story), who was there when she went missing
I absolutely love this song, and its lyrics. I'm obsessed. I listened to a few other songs by Kate Miller Heidke but I didn't find them as good as this one. Then again, I was busy alphabetizing books, so I wasn't paying that much attention, lol. I will be listening to her some more in the future. In the meantime, I leave you with this amazing and haunting song. Enjoy!
Holy Skittles, it's Thursday! Between the new job and getting prizes out for my Book Verse event, I completely spaced out. Welp, happy Toe-Tapping Thursday, ya'll! :)
This week's Triple T is the song Big Coat by Wiretree. I actually just discovered this song yesterday. I was on my HAIM station on Pandora and they played it and I really dug it. After it was done, I went to Spotify and added it to my playlist. Been listening to it on repeat since.
I don't know Wiretree, don't know what else they sing. If I have time, I'll listen to their other songs. Big Coat is a real catchy tune for me. I like the guitar hook - it kind of reminds me of So Happy Together by The Turtles. Also, the song itself, the way the singer sings it, has a retro-y feel to it that I enjoy. I also like (I think they are) the xylophone notes; they come in unexpectedly...I dunno, the whole composition of the song was very well done and I really enjoy it.
So without further ado, here is this week's Toe-Tapping Thursday pick - enjoy!
I don't remember what I was doing yesterday, but I stumbled across this picture. That looks good, and interesting. I'm kind of on the fence when it comes to cookie dough. I like cookie dough ice cream, and a few other random things...but other times, I'm not a fan of the taste of it. So I guess it depends on how it's made. The cookies themselves look pretty yummy, and I am very intrigued by this concept. It's new to me - I've never seen or heard of these before. So I am making a mental note (in the form of a Food Porn Friday post, hehe) to try these and see how they taste.
This past weekend my friend Allyssa Milan posted a status on her FB about seeing this group in concert, and she included a video for one their songs.
"Who are these ladies, and why don't I know about them?" was my response after checking their video out. Clairy Browne & The Bangin' Rackettes have this 60's retro, soul/doo wop thing going on that is pretty damn fantastic! I'm just gobbling them up! They are new to me, so I have nothing else to add, but so far, I really like what I'm hearing. :)
I will leave you guys with the song that Allyssa shared, since it's the song that caught my attention - Love Letter. Enjoy!
For this week's Food Porn Friday post, I want to talk about something I am craving, and that is an appetizer that I make usually during the holidays. You know, because we don't have enough food for Thanksgiving and Christmas, we gotta have something to snack on too. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the finished product, but I went to Google and got pictures of the specific ingredients you need. I'm posting them in order of how I place the items.
1. Crackers
2. Salchichon Goya
3. Guava Paste
4. Queso Blanco
(Alternate cheese) Queso de Papa
Now, if I remember correctly, when I was little and my mom used to put these together, she would also add a green olive to the top and skewer it all with a toothpick. I have been in charge of making these since I was maybe 8 years old, and I've never put them on there - I don't like olives. You could do the toothpick thing to make it look fancy and whatnot but I think it's just an obstacle. I gobble these puppies up! Don't need anything getting in my way. ;)
Now, because these ingredients are Hispanic ingredients you do have to either go to a Hispanic grocery store or a store with a big international section. If you shop at Walmart; they may have the slachichon there - my local Walmart used to carry it, they don't anymore. They do carry the the cheeses and guava paste, though. Again, sorry I don't have any pics for ya. But if it makes you feel any better, I won't be able to eat this probably for another 3 weeks or so.
Happy Thursday peeps, and welcome to another week of Triple T.
One of the things I really like about sites like Pandora and Spotify is that they recommend artists and songs based on your listening activity. It's such a great way to discover new music! A little over a week ago, Spotify suggested the song Bridges by Broods to me - O.M.G, what a good song! I'll be honest, I don't really know the lyrics. Can't really understand all she's saying, but her voice is just amazing and the melody is amazing and I love how the verses start. That's what hooked me to the song - the very beginning. Every time I hear it, weird things happen to me, I can't even describe it. It's like abruptly being transported into some ethereal world with flowy, silky, almost sheer garments, and waterfalls...and maybe fairies, I dunno.
So for your listening pleasure, I give you Bridges by Broods.
Keeping with the "-less" theme of most of my recent baking, this week's Food Porn Friday is butter-less chocolate/peanut butter chip cookies.
I'll admit, the recipe I have with butter is in my opinion a lot better; but if you don't have butter at home and don't want to buy any or can't afford to buy any, this is a good alternative. The cookies are still good.
Now, this is the part where I type the recipe for you guys, but I'm being lazy, and since I got this from a website, I'm just going to link to that website. LOL. So click HERE to see the recipe. It should be the scaled down version that I used. It says it makes 22 cookies, I got about 18. Also, the recipe is just for chocolate chip cookies, but I usually buy the mixed bag that comes with milk chocolate and peanut butter chips, so that's the one I used. Enjoy!
Another HAIM song cleverly disguised as a Kid Cudi track - hehe. They're my favorite band, I can't help it if I'm a wee bit obsessed. ;)
This song was everywhere this week! It came up in conversation this week because of the remix of My Song 5 which now features some dude named A$AP Ferg. He ruined that song. He should stay as far away from my HAIM as possible. But that got me thinking about collaborations, and the song Red Eye is a great example of how one should collaborate with HAIM. It's a great song!
Well, like a day or two later, I had a friend of mine post Red Eye onto her page - someone had turned her on to the track and she was really digging it. And a day after that, someone else posted it up. I felt like I couldn't go anywhere without it popping up. Not that I mind, I'd forgotten how much I liked this song until this week. Ended up putting it on my Spotify playlist along with all my other HAIM tracks. ;)
So for your listening pleasure, Kid Cudi featuring HAIM - Red Eye:
I know, I know - I'm late. But this was worth the wait! I JUST finished making coconut ice cream and it is DELISH!
A very good and dear friend of mine is moving out of the country next month and they have different electrical outlets out there, and she can't really use the things she has; so she has been trying to pawn off items on people. The moment she said she had an ice cream maker, my ears perked up! What!? I've been dying for an ice cream maker!!! So I graciously (*snickers*) volunteered to take her Cuisinart off her hands. Now, the condition which was put on me (which I totally agreed to) was that this was a loaner, because her husband is crazy about this thing and chances were he was going to want it back when they move back to the states in a couple of years. Not a problem - by the time they get back, I will be an ice cream making machine myself! :P
On the train ride back home, I looked at the little booklet and saw a very simple recipe for coconut ice cream, and I decided that would be my first project. I'm Puerto Rican, we love coconut. Now, looking at the recipe, there were a few things I wasn't crazy about, and decided to make some alterations. After tasting the final product, I'd say my alterations worked great.
I will leave you guys with both the ingredients from the booklet and the alterations I made. If you love coconut and want to make your own - do it! It's so creamy and delicious!!!
Cuisinart Ingredients:
Heavy cream - 2 cups, chilled
Whole milk - 1 cup, chilled
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Coconut extract - 1 teaspoon
Shredded coconut - 1/4 cup
Alternate Ingredients:
Heavy cream - 2 cups, chilled
Coconut milk - 1 cup, chilled
Sugar - 2/3 cup
Coconut extract - 1 teaspoon
I didn't like the idea of having shredded coconut or flakes in the ice cream. It's actually one of the things I don't like about coconut - it's chewy and it gets stuck in your teeth and I swear there's always like a stray flake in your mouth the rest of the day. So I decided to use coconut milk instead - it gives you the coconut taste you're looking for without a mouthful of flakes. :)
I also cut the sugar down a bit. This wasn't in the original plan; it just happens that we were low on sugar, and 2/3 of a cup was all I had. LOL. I figured it was a good enough amount so I made the call and decided to only use that much. It worked great, I like how sweet it is with this amount of sugar. I think if I would have used more it would have been too sweet for my liking.
Ok sweeties, we're gonna have a quickie Triple T this week. It's after 1 a.m. I've been up since 6 a.m. and only slept about an hour. Long day.
Anywho, this week's Toe-Tapping Thursday is the acoustic version of Indestructible by Robyn. Now, Robyn first came on the scenes in the mid 90's with her hit single Show Me Love. (I still remember the All That performance of that song) Shortly thereafter, she fell off the face of mainstream music - at least to me - and I kinda forgot about her for years. Then somewhere between 2006-2007 I stumbled across her most recent (at that time) album and I fell in LOVE with her sound. Not the bubble gum pop that I associated her with. This was cool, and unique, and funny, and quirky, and it worked. So I've been a Robyn fan since then.
Sometimes I can go periods of time where I don't listen to her, and then out of the blue I'll think of one of her songs, or it'll play on my Pandora or Spotify and it's like I'm discovering her for the first time all over again. That's what happened this week - I was listening to Spotify radio and this song came on, and I fell in love with it all over again. I'm a sucker for acoustic versions of artist's songs (Living On a Prayer, anyone?).
No recipe for this week's Food Porn Friday. Instead, I will be talking about what I've been craving all week - pizza! Who doesn't love pizza!? There's a topping for everyone (cheese, bacon, anchovies, etc.) and there's also a crust for everyone (regular, thin, stuffed, etc.) I'm a huge pizza lover, and I'll admit I'm going a little crazy - I haven't had pizza in a few months. The woes of being unemployed.
So this is my current craving. I will continue to crave it until I eat it, whenever that is. I leave you all with pics I got from Goggle of pizza that I could DEF eat right about now.
With only two days until the premiere of Sailor Moon Crystal, this moonie has been on a Sailor Moon kick!
June 30th was the birthday of Sailor Moon/Usagi/Serena, so they had this big event in Japan and the people that went got to see the first episode - lucky bastards! BUT someone managed to record the opening theme AND the first transformation scene. *sighs* It was beautiful, I cried. The theme song has been stuck in my head since. Doesn't help that I've seen that video like 34343565000 times.
So for today's Toe-Tapping Thursday, I give you the new Sailor Moon Crystal opening, and as a bonus, you get to see the transformation scene as well. Don't mind the squeeeing - fans went a little crazy on certain parts. And I'll admit, while I was watching it, I reacted the same way. :P
I was craving something sweet all day. But I'm broke, and we don't have any eggs or butter to bake anything. But I reeeally wanted something sweet. I thought, "Surely, there has to be something I can make with the ingredients I do have." And so I went on the internet, and stumbled across a blog called Rak's Kitchen, and they had a recipe for chocolate cake that didn't use eggs or butter OR milk. So I decided to try it:
Ingredients:
AP flour - 1.5 cups
Cocoa powder - 3 Tbsp
Sugar - 1 cup
Oil (I used canola) - 1/4 cup
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Lemon juice/Vinegar - 1 Tbsp
Water - 1 cup
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Vanilla extract - 1/2 Tbsp
Directions:
Preheat oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda together and set aside.
Mix water, sugar, salt - make sure
the sugar gets dissolved - then add the lemon juice/vinegar, oil and
vanilla. Mix well.
Add the sifted flour and mix well.
Grease a baking pan (I used an 8 inch round pan) with oil and dust with some flour, or use baking spray which is what I used. Pour the batter.
Bake for 35-40 minutes 25-30 minutes - mine was done in about 25 minutes.
Take cake out of the over and let cool for about 15 minutes. Invert cake and let cool the rest of the way.
I must say, I'm very happy with the results. It was good. The cake tasted like cake (lol), it was moist - I'm rather surprised. Hehe. I'm not a vegetarian so I'm going to try making it with milk instead of water next time. I think it would make it taste even better.
Did anybody see this coming? Because I did...due to my unexplained urge to sing Where Do We Go From Here last week, I got stuck in a Buffy musical mood. So this week, I put together a list of my top 10 songs from the Once More With Feeling soundtrack.
Can I just say, I had a very hard time with the top 2. I kept going back and forth between these two songs. I'm still not 100% sure I put them in the correct order, but I agonized over it for too long.
10. What You Feel - This is Sweet's big number. Sweet is the red, tap dancing zoot suit wearing demon that makes every one sing and dance until they spontaneously combust. He is very charismatic, I really enjoyed him. It was probably the tap dancing that did it for me. :P
9. The Parking Ticket - Listen! this is a brilliant little ditty. It was one of my favorites from the first moment I heard it. It's such a sad and desperate melody...and then you actually hear the lyrics. The whole thing is hilarious. Genius.
8. Where Do We Go From Here - As I said last week, this is the number where the gang acknowledges all the secrets that were uncovered throughout the episode and wonder what's going to happen now. So many relationships changed in this episode...
7. Something To Sing About - This is a very depressing song. It's Buffy explaining how she views life now after she came back from the dead. The reason why this song made it on the countdown is because of the bridge - the song changes, all the instruments are taken away except for the piano, and Buffy finally reveals that Willow pulled her out of heaven. The piano chords were perfect, they were kind of perverse, but it fit so well. You heard and felt Buffy's pain for what she had to leave and you saw the look of horror on Willow's face when she finds out what she did to her best friend.
6. Under Your Spell - This is just a lovely song. I loved Tara and this is the last time (before her death - hope I didn't spoil anything. :P ) when her and Willow are really together and in love. It's also a bit of an ironic song, because Tara is singing that she's under Willow's spell when she actually is - Willow used magic to erase Tara's memory about the fight they had.
Willow's addiction to magic was one of my favorite arcs, if you go back and watch the show you see how gradual it starts - Willow being the smarty pants she is, curious about magic and wanting to learn. And she keeps learning and wanting to learn more and do more. At first she has a handle on it, but throughout the seasons you realize she goes from using magic as a last resort to a first resort. It's there a lot longer than people realize. It was a great setup.
5. Overture/Going Through The Motions - It's the first song! The first time you see Buffy singing, it's so exciting! And it's a great introduction; you see her at the cemetery doing what she does best, slaying vampires. You can see how bored she is with it all, she really is just going through the motions. It's a fun song, very Tim Burtonesque, I really enjoy it.
4. Under Your Spell/Standing Reprise - The combination of these two songs was great! Better than the two original songs. Giles and Tara singing together was heavenly. It's also a much sadder song - Tara just realizes Willow has been messing with her memories, and so the lyrics take on a somber tone. She's disgusted by what Willow has done and decides she has to leave her. Giles realizes he has to leave Buffy so she can fulfill her duty to Dawn; if he stays she will always rely on him and she has to stand on her own two feet for her own good.
3. I've Got A Theory/Bunnies/If We're Together - I always thought this song as one song, not 3 separate ones. When this episode first aired and (I guess) that whole year after, this was actually my favorite song. Xander's theory part was amazing! So funny - the words and the fact that he said it so fast! It's a well-known fact that Nicholas Brendon has a stuttering problem so the fact that he could do that was very amazing from a fan's point of view.
2. Rest In Peace - SPIKE!!! SPIKE SINGING!!! Need I say more? Ok ok - This is an amazing song. Spike truly loves Buffy (not saying that Angel didn't cuz he DID - Bangel shipper all day every day!) and he's always been the type of guy to wear his heart on his sleeve - Cecily, Drusilla, Buffy...For someone that loves this immensely, it is very painful for him to have the person he loves use him. Buffy tells him that she's disgusted by him, that she hates him, but she sleeps with him; that is truly a cruel thing for someone like Spike. Rest In Peace is Spike being fed up and angry about the way that he's used and then discarded. He's telling Buffy to leave him alone if she isn't going to love him. He goes back and forth in the song - he's angry at her and himself, and then you peel back the anger and what you have is heartbreak. He's hurting because he loves her so much and she just doesn't give a shit about him, and even though he knows this, he just can't leave. He can't leave her.
1. Walk Through The Fire - This is such an insightful song. As we already know, Buffy is just going through the motions, she isn't really living, because she doesn't feel the wonders of living anymore. Not when she's comparing it to heaven. Everyone could tell there was something wrong with her since she came back and it created this divide between Buffy and the rest of the Scoobies. This song shows just how isolated she feels from everyone else - how lost she is, and alone. She wants to feel alive again, and so she gravitates towards dangerous situations (e.g. sleeping with Spike) in hopes of feeling "the fire". Buffy was always a very spunky and passionate person and she lost that when she came back from the dead (the second time lol). She's at a place where she'll keep throwing herself in dangerous situations just so she could feel again, even if it kills her.
At the same time, you have everyone else around her reacting to her lack of inner fire. The Scoobies want to abandon ship, they're tired of keeping up pretenses when things are not alright and Buffy won't talk to them, and tell them what's wrong. Giles is taking the training wheels off (so to speak), and Spike as he said in Rest In Peace is tired of the emotional abuse. But by the end of the song (when Buffy thinks she's all alone) everyone comes around and decides to help her and Dawn, because that's what they've always done.
I love this song for these reasons; because Buffy's friends abandon her, but change their minds in the end. Because of the way that Buffy feels - I can relate to it, I've been there, all of it.
I've decided to start a new Friday segment called Food Porn Friday - where I talk about a food I am craving, or really good food I had during the week. Basically, I'm going to be fat and talk about food. Food is delicious, so let's talk about it!
I've seen a few people do food porn posts around the social mediaverse, but I will credit the idea to author Cynthia St. Aubin. She has a Food Porn Friday discussion on her street team every week; and as a member of her street team, I have been privy to some really yummy things!
For my first Food Porn Friday post, I will be talking about deep fried Oreos. That's right; deep. fried. OREOS! Now, depending on where you live, you may or may not have heard of this. I grew up in Connecticut and it wasn't until I moved to Pennsylvania a few years ago that I even heard of deep fried Oreos. I'd heard of deep fried Twinkies, but not the Oreos. A friend of mine told me about them, and made it her mission to have me try some - Oreos not Twinkies. So off to the carnival we went! Apparently, it's carnival food - who would have thunk it? (Hehe, I've always wanted to say that)
Well let me tell you guys, that first bite of hot, powder sugary deliciousness that is a deep fried Oreo was life changing. Oh so so good! I was hooked from day one. As soon as spring hits every year, my mind starts; "When's the first fair? Where are the Oreos? Deep fried Oreo season!"
This year, however, I decided to figure out how to make them at home. So off to the internet I went, and found recipes, and pictures, and just lots and lots of deep fried Oreos (I also came across a deep fried Snickers...) After reading many posts, and recipes, I decided to make my own. I didn't take one particular recipe, I kind of took little parts from different recipes and also did my own thing. The result was A-MAZING!
So in the spirit of sharing, I will share the recipe with everyone. :)
Ingredients:
Pack of Oreos
Aunt Jemima pancake mix complete - the one that says just add water
Milk
Cooking oil - corn, vegetable, canola, whatever you use
Powdered sugar
Directions:
Take your cookies (this recipe makes a little over a dozen) and put them in the freezer for about 30 minutes before you start.
In a pot, add cooking oil. You want enough so the Oreos aren't hitting the bottom when frying; they will expand. Set your stove on medium heat and warm up oil. While oil is warming up...
In a bowl, measure out 1 cup of the pancake mix, and 3/4 cup of milk. Whisk it all together until there are no lumps
To check if the oil is ready, add a drop of the batter into the oil. If it quickly floats to the surface sizzling, you're ready to begin!
Take the Oreos out of the freezer and stick them in the batter. Make sure they're nice and coated with the mix on both sides.
With a fork, scoop out battered Oreos and drop them in the oil. You want to do 3 or 4 at a time (depending on the size of your pot) so they have enough room to float about and expand. You're going to cook them until they're golden brown which is about 15 seconds. Flip them over and repeat.
On a plate or bowl lined with paper a towel, place your deep fried Oreos to strain any excess oil.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar and enjoy!
(Sorry about that horrid presentation. I didn't know at the time I was going to be posting it on my blog. LOL.)
"Understand we'll go hand in hand, but we'll walk alone in fear. TELL MEEEE. Where do we go...from here..."
Any Buffy fans out there? If so, you just sang those lyrics. ;) Today's Toe-Tapping Thursday is the song Where Do We Go From Here from the ever popular Buffy episode, Once More With Feeling, AKA the musical episode. It's the last full song before Coda (the concluding passage/song) and it's when all the characters realize that all of their relationships have forever changed due to the secrets that were revealed throughout the episode via musical numbers.
Not sure why, but I started singing this out of the blue while I was taking out the trash, and it got stuck in my head. Been singing it since.
This week's Triple T is the song Kissing You Goodbye by sister duo The Pierces. For those of you who aren't aware, I am a huge Pretty Little Liars (PLL) fan. The theme song to PLL is Secret by The Pierces, so it would make sense that as a PLL semi fanatic, that I would be a fan of this group. FYI, the album Secret is on, Thirteen Tales Of Love And Revenge, is a pretty good album, you guys should check it out.
Now, Kissing You Goodbye is not in that particular album, but the album after that, You & I, which is also a really good album. They have this folksy, psychedelic pop thing going on that I really dig. They're gorgeous, they sing heavenly, and their lyrics are just wonderful. Yet no one I talk to has ever heard of them. Talk about underrated!
And can I just say that I love all of their videos - I find them to be creative yet understated.
Welcome to another Toe-Tapping Thursday. NOT brought to you by Celine Dion. LOL.
Alright, now that we got Celine out of our systems, it's time to move on. This awesome awesome awesome song AND video has been waiting patiently for its turn. Chandelier by Sia. Where to start...well as far as Sia, her songs are either hit or miss for me. I either really enjoy her stuff or really don't; and I'm referring to both the songs she sings and the songs she writes for other artists. Chandelier is by far my most favorite song that she sings. The lyrics are dark and I find the chorus to have this desperation that I really like, and Sia paired it with such an awesome tune. Then last month the video premiered and when I saw it I loved it just as much as the song. It's an amazing video and it features Maddie Ziegler from Dance Moms who is an amazing dancer, even though personally I don't like the way she comes off on the show - I'm a Chloe fan. But let's not get me started on Dance Moms. (Note to self: Find out what date that's coming back on)
So if you haven't seen the video or heard the song, press play and enjoy! And if you have heard/seen it, I'm sure you love it as much as I do, so press play and enjoy! ;)
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Last week I opened the can of worms that is Celine Dion. Once Pandora's box is open, it's kind of hard to close it back up. Translation: Almost non-stop Celine at my house (there was a Tori Amos day in between, but then I went right back to Celine). So, after extensive research [aka hours of non stop listening - (English) album after (English) album] I have compiled my top 10 Celine Dion songs.
10. Beauty and the Beast - duet with Peabo Bryson: It's Beauty and the Beast people! Disney!!! Not much more I can say about that.
9. The Power Of Love: "'Cause I am your lady. And you are my man. Whenever you reach for me. I'll do all that I can!" I like romantic songs, and this one is pretty lovey. I love how it starts so quiet and then builds up.
8. My Heart Will Go On (Theme from Titanic): You know there can't be a list without this song. Hey, at least it isn't number one!
7. Seduces Me: This song is in her Falling Into You album (1996). I don't think this was a single, but I love this song. It's very sensual, and a little subdued for the most part for her. And I adore the guitar in this song.
6. Where Does My Heart Beat Now: Classic Celine. Everything about this song just works perfectly. Love the chorus, especially the last line, "Where do all the lonely hearts go." She comes down from her belt to deliver it and it's perfect.
5. When I Fall In Love - duet with Clive Griffin (from Sleepless in Seattle): This classic song has been covered a lot, probably because it's just a beautiful song. Celine and Clive nail it!
4. Alone: I remember when this album (Taking Chances) came out. I was at FYE, and picked it up to sample the tracks and when this song started I gasped. It's my favorite Heart song, and Celine covered it! (Although I hear it isn't Heart's original song...) As I listened to Celine's cover in the store I had to force myself not to squee and jump and/or faint. I loved it. Loved it so much I bought the entire album.
3. Tell Him - duet with Barbara Streisand: Oh man, I remember when this song first came out - I died! Died I tell you! These two ladies, singing together...E.PIC! And the video is brilliant - I loved that it was them singing in the studio and learning the song and playing around. The 90's had a lot of videos like this, but this one is one of the ones that just works so well.
2. If You Asked Me To: Well, no wonder it was the song for last week's Triple T, it's my second all time favorite. Honestly, I didn't know it was that high up on the list until I made this list.
1. It's All Coming Back to Me Now: Oh yes. yes yes yes yes yes! You got the piano, you got the passion, you got the dramatics, you've got the belting, you've got the best Celine Dion song EVER! And that video matches the song to a T. Also, this song/video has always reminded me of I'd Do Anything For Love by Meatloaf. Which is funny, because Meatloaf did a cover of It's All Coming Back to Me with Marion Raven, formerly of M2M, ten years after the original came out.
So here it is, the FULL version of It's All Coming Back to Me Now - because the radio edit cuts out most of my favorite section of the song.
Yeah, I'm going there - Celine Dion. You can scoff and mock, but I know everyone has that one Celine song that they jam out to when no one is around. The woman has had like twenty number 1 singles, and you couldn't turn on the radio and NOT expect to hear her in the 90's, so obviously someone is listening to her. ;)
So for today's Toe-Tapping Thursday, I give you one of my (many) favorite Celine songs, 1992's If You Asked Me To - which is a Patti LaBelle cover.
So in addition to listening to English tunes I also listen to Spanish music, and a little bit of K-pop and J-pop. This week's Toe-Tapping Thursday is a song called Trouble Maker by a South Korean duo whose name is also Trouble Maker. They are a sub group of 4Minute (an all girl band consisting of 5 members, Hyuna being one half of Trouble Maker) and Beast (a 6 member boy band, Jay Stomp being the other half of Trouble Maker).
The song has this really catchy whistle hook and every couple of weeks I find myself whistling it. That's what happened this week - I started whistling it over and over again until I realized what I was whistling and then I had to go listen to it. Been listening to it all week, can't get it out of my system. I know I will eventually tire of it, but only for a couple of weeks. ;)
I have a friend who has talked about writing her own book since we met 2 years ago. I think it's why we bonded initially; she was writing a work of fiction based on her life growing up, but only had a few chapters after a couple of years of writing. I had 2 finished novellas and was thinking about getting back into writing (this was during my hiatus). I was excited to meet someone - face to face - who had a similar goal as I did. She was excited because she had never met anyone else that liked to write, period.
I talked about writing constantly and she never did. I've worked on getting my writing muscles back to where they once were by doing creative writing prompts, and blogging on occasion, and actually writing stories. She started to edit the stuff she had, but quickly stopped. Then she started talking about a children's book she wanted to write.
She sent me her children's story this weekend. I am proud that she wrote it, and finished it. Proud that she started taking steps into getting it published. I'm also proud to say, that I enjoyed reading it.
I have become a sounding board to her, not only as a critique partner for the things she's written, but also as far as getting published and the steps that she needs to take.
I am not a published author, I've barely just begun to consider myself a writer again. But I've done some research and I've submitted manuscripts in the past, and I guess in her mind that means something. I am more than happy to impart whatever sliver of knowledge I do have.
Can I just say that for someone who loves to research stuff, she sure does NOT research any of this! Haha.
My friend spent this weekend bugging me - and I say that with all the love in the world - about what to do. I tried to tell her that there are a number of ways to go about getting her book out there, including self publishing which she did not want to hear about.
After that the conversation changed to marketing - her writer's platform. Now, I recall a few weeks ago having a conversation with her, telling her she needed to get her name out there, let people get to know her. I told her to at LEAST get a Facebook page. She said no. Said, she would do all that after the book was written. Funny how life is; I remember saying the same thing to my friend Lisa and her kindly setting me straight. A writer must market themselves in addition to their product. If people "know" you, they're more likely to buy your stuff. This weekend, my friend did a bit of research and came across the term writer's platform, so I encouraged her again to create an online presence. To meet and interact with other writers, to network.
This got me thinking about my own platform and my own networking. I believe I have a voice...but it isn't a full voice. I make my passion for reading known. People know I review books. But not many of them know (or remember) that I write. And that's my fault. I purposely don't mention it. Because I'm scared. Because I doubt myself every minute of every hour. I keep telling myself that I'll start promoting myself as a writer when I know for certain that I'll finish the current story I'm writing. But that's just a cop out. I'm afraid of announcing to the world my intentions and then not following through. I'm afraid of not finishing my story. I'm just afraid, period.
I've met and have surrounded myself with a great bunch of people who I know would be supportive of my journey. I need to believe in myself and throw myself out there 100% and just do it. I need to overcome my fears - I really do!
I'm not the biggest Paramore fan. I like a few of their singles, but I'm not crazy about them. I don't own any of their CDs. I do like their lead singer, Hayley Williams voice - depending on what/how she sings. Sometimes I have to listen to one of her songs a few times before I like it.
Which brings me to this week's Toe-Tapping Thursday. This week's obsession? Stay The Night by Zedd featuring Hayley Williams of Paramore.
I heard this song a while back and I'll admit, it didn't really strike my fancy. The only reason why I heard it in its entirety was because I was watching the video - which I liked. I didn't hear it again until this week, when I started to listen to the radio and it kept coming on. Then it started showing up on Spotify and I found myself adding it to my playlist, and humming it even when it wasn't playing. I can't tell you exactly when I got hooked, but I did.
Oh shit ya'll, it's Thursday!!! I completely spaced out. Book
contests and writing and research and whatnot. But it's still Thursday,
so now that I remember what day it is, I shall do this week's
Toe-Tapping Thursday. Especially since I didn't do one last week. Sorry
about that, I had company over all week and was a tad preoccupied.
Anywho,
earlier this week, Emma Stone was on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon
and she participated in a lip sync battle which was pretty cool. The
first song she did was Hook by Blues Travelers. I'm with Jimmy Fallon on
this one, I'd completely forgotten about that song! Obviously we
automatically think of Run Around when Blues Travelers come up in
conversation, but Hook is such a great song, and I remember jamming out
to this when I was like 9 or 10.
So here's the song for this week's Toe-Tapping Thursday. Hope you guys enjoy it.
I've put aside my romance for now. The one I'm writing, not the one I'm reading. Things were going slow, and the YA that I've been brainstorming for months kept bugging me to work on it, so that's what I did. I had written about a page a couple of months back and I thought at one point that I would delete it and start over, but after reading it over today I actually liked it, and decided to continue where I left off. I got about another page in a half done which isn't a lot, but I needed to do some research for an upcoming description. That took a very long time, but I finally got it. Here are the pics, think of it as a puzzle, feel free to put them together. :P
I have a few friends that have asked this numerous times. You see, I'm a recovering book-a-holic. That doesn't mean I don't read anymore, it means I can't go into a bookstore without having a book blackout and spending hundreds of dollars. But I love books, and I always have a new book to read, how do I do it? I'm magic! Seriously though, there's many different ways to get free books - legally. You can enter contests - I'm really good at winning those, just won one today. You can join a street team for one of your favorite authors; some of them give you advanced reading copies (ARCs). There's always Amazon, of course! And to help weed out the rotten freebies from the good ones, Bitten By Books has a nice list for ya! Click here, for free reads.
I almost forgot about Toe-Tapping Thursday - a lot of craziness happened last night. Let's just say it involved me moving a sofa from my 2nd floor apartment all the way downstairs and outside by myself, and leave it at that.
But while I was struggling with furniture, or playing online games, or reading, or whatever else I've done this week, there was one song that I kept listening to. And when I wasn't listening to it, I was humming it or singing it in my head. The song is Go Slow by HAIM. Yes, I know I talked about HAIM a few weeks ago, but in my defense I spoke of them as a whole, and now I'm speaking about one particular song.
Usually what I do when I listen to an album, is locate my favorite track and listen to it non stop. Then slowly, I start listening to the rest of the album, with a lot of repeats of the favorite track. But little by little, I find a 2nd favorite song, or a discover I really like the beat of a certain song or the lyrics of another track speak to me. This is what happened with Go Slow. After exhausting If I Could Change Your Mind and Better Off, I found myself going back to Go Slow. I think what really made it my current obsession was their live performances of the song; I found little nuances that I hadn't heard in the album - they're there, I hear them now that I know to look for them, but they're so far in the background that I've missed it this whole time. The lyrics are really good; the more I listened to them, the more I realized that they spoke to me. The song is about an ex and I think we all have an ex, right? :P It's just a great song overall, HAIM killed it with this track in a very sneaky way; the song is understated until you really listen to it...a lot. LOL.
(Funny story before I show the video/song: If you read my post on HAIM from a few weeks ago, or if you're a fan of the band, you know that Alana Haim looks like Troian Bellisario from Pretty Little Liars. Well, HAIM performed at Coachella this past weekend, and Troain was there. Someone tweeted Troian, "Hey are you in HAIM!?" and Troian replied, "Yes I am." HAHAHA! Love it!!!)
Ok ok here it is - this is my favorite live performance that I've seen. And it has a funny pick up line in the end. :P
I'll admit it - after I wrote last week's Toe-Tapping Thursday I binge-watched Making The Band 3 seasons one and two. I loved that show, and watching the formation of Danity Kane. Ok, I mainly watched for Laurieann Gibson and her boom kacks - I can watch her forever.
My MTB3/Danity Kane (re)obsession last week has led to this week's Toe-Tapping Thursday song: Heartburn by Alicia Keys. If you've seen MTB3 then you know that Laurieann used this song (as well as others) to teach the girls choreography. This was always my favorite song that they danced to, (aside from the track that they girls had to write lyrics to) and I'll be honest, the first time I saw this show I didn't know who sang the song. It wasn't until I was rewatching it all last week that the song came on and I immediately recognized Alicia Key's voice. "How the hell did I NOT realize that before!?" I'm special. :P
So here it is, the song that has been playing non stop this week - Heartburn by Alicia Keys:
I just realized this earlier today, and the more I think about it, the more irritated I become. We all know I love to read and some of you may know that I have a book review blog (see the tab above), and I'm all for supporting authors...that being said, I don't like people to just assume things or push things on me without my knowledge or consent.
Now, I have been pretty active these last two weeks; entering contests, adding new authors, following said authors, etc. and there is a very small chance that I did this myself - but I don't think so. Here's why:
I don't know this author. I've never read anything by them. I even looked at my browser history to see if her name popped up and nothing did. I am familiar with the author's name, and that's because my best friend, who is also one of my contributors to Book Verse, wrote a review for one of her books. I went over and checked the date of the review and then did a search in my inbox to see when the first newsletter came in, and it was dated 3 days after my friend posted her review.
So here is what I think happened: She got a ping on Google or something alerting her that someone had mentioned her name, and she went to my blog and read the nice review that my friend left, and then clicked on the contributor links where I have my email address and proceeded to sign me up to her newsletter.
Like I said, I don't have a problem supporting authors. In fact, I have gotten emails before from authors who asked if I could read and review one of their books, or to follow them on social media or sign up to their newsletter. I am more than happy to. But don't force it upon me. I will choose whether or not to follow you or your newsletter - do not take the choice away from me. And yes, I know I can (and definitely plan to) unsubscribe, but the lack of courtesy really bugs me. I have my email address up so if an author wants to contact me for whatever reason they can, not so you can abuse it and spam me. Yes I called it spam, because it was unsolicited.
For any writers/authors reading this: This isn't meant to discourage you from contacting me. I welcome it! A simple, "Hi, thanks for the nice review. Can I sign you up for my newsletter?" will go a long way with me.
