Day #3

http://youtu.be/_HVCB9hW6kg

I recorded this off my tv with my phone…. super low-tech, super uplifting when needed!
Easy A ftw!

Moving Furniture…. To Make Room for MORE Furniture

So this whole moving in thing is ramping up to full gear… or for my more geeky awesome friends… Warp Speed Ahead! M and I have officially started moving furniture around.

We have decided to move the office furniture into the dining area, splitting the dining area into a dining/office space, and leaving a room free for an awesome movie space! I guess if we were really rich we’d call it our “Media Room”.

Somewhere between this….

And this…

I’m also getting my Christmas present from my grandma and Pawpaw delivered tomorrow…. my own swivel chair where I can curl up, blog, internet, and crochet!

The movers will be arriving at my apartment in 2 weeks. I leave my job in one week. That gives me several days to frantically dump everything into boxes, cursing the fact that I own tons of books, and run to the liquor store, AGAIN, for more boxes. The bad news is this move will cost me almost $1000. The good news is I won’t have to move any large furniture! That is for the movers to do 🙂

So, in two weeks, I’ll officially be living in Carlsbad!

From Texas, and LouisianaMississippi AlabamaTennessee KentuckyWestVirginia Maryland, to Virginia! – Pt 1 Louisiana & Mississippi

Disclaimer – This trip is fuzzy in my memory… R and I were both under some stress from moving so far away for the first time… and its the ONE trip I didn’t journal.

R and I had almost 2 weeks to report for work in Virginia… and many states to get through before then. We loaded up both of our vehicles to the brim and headed east. I had bought little walkie talkies for us to use on the road. (before great cell reception and waaaaaay before texting…) We very quickly learned that our walkies would pick up every vile foul thing truckers were saying to each other, and to the ‘ladies’ who worked the truck stops. Ew….

Our first stop was in New Orleans. I’d been there several times before but never without family, making my own decisions on what to do and where to go. We stayed in a nice high rise hotel on Canal, at the intersection of the French Quarter and the medical district. Basically tourist central… I remember our hotel had no 13th floor…. if you didn’t know, they’re pretty superstitious down in the Big Easy.

After a good night’s sleep, we set out to explore the town. We took the Saint Charles streetcar all the way to the levy where it turns around. Its open air and slow moving, so its a great way to get a look at the city. One of the most notable things about the streetcar system is that the drivers are extremely friendly with each other. Imagine taking a cab ride in NYC, only to have the cabbie stop the car everytime he passed a cabbie friend. This is what happens in New Orleans. Our operator woman stopped the streetcar at least twice when a passing streetcar was driven by a friend. Their conversation was what you might hear in a hair salon… A five minute discussion of who’s doing what, with who, and when. Very much a laissez les bontemps roulez attitude. (translation: Let the Good Times Roll). I have a feeling that Mexican time can’t compete with New Orleans time… R and I didn’t mind the stopping. It was a great taste of the local culture, and gave us time to take a better look at the surroundings.

Tracks are spaced close enough for streetcar operators to discuss their day as passengers wait, and wait, and overhear intimate details of these strangers lives. Fun! – ummm not my image…

Inside of streetcar – again, not my image. I can only hope that this is during Marde Gras and this person is heading for a truly good time!

At the end of the line, the streetcar literally turns around. Everyone on had to get off and stand to the side as the track spun in a circle, then they let us back on and off we went. R and I got off at the garden district and walked to Garden District Book Shop. I’d read online that there were free walking tours given by local old men most mornings. This was intriguing, and in hindsight I wish every city on the planet would do this! The book store was this cute little shop directly across from Lafayette Cemetery #1. Our guide was an old creole man that I can only describe as “jolly and also a bit curmudgeony”. He took us and 5ish others out to walk the Garden District. We wandered through the cemetery and learned the history and culture of the Lafayette cemeteries.

none of these are my photos…

there are 5 or 6 Lafayette Cemeteries spread around New Orleans

Crypts are above ground due to the low lying land, beneath the water table. Galveston Island does the same thing…

The idea behind the crypts is that each one is owned by a family. When someone dies, there body is placed in the crypt, either in the center slab or off to a side slab. Nowadays coffins are used but before the 1940s, the bodies were simply placed on the slabs. Its so very Buffy the Vampire Slayer in there. Once a family dies out, the crypt is put on the market and a new family will take over. I have no idea what the new family does with the old families remains….

cheaper crypts… not family owned

These ‘condo-style’ crypts are usually owned by the city or a mortuary. These are much more interesting. Our guide told us that they don’t use coffins. The interred body is allowed to stay there for at least 366 days, or a year and a day, to rest. Then if the crypt needs to be used again, the body is pushed to the back where there is a large enclosed hole that goes down to the ground. There would be piles of bones 8 feet high as more and more people are ‘buried’ here. Super interesting!

Walking through the cemetery was a bit unsettling. An underground burial is so easy to dismiss and these crypts are so visual, so many of them are beautiful, and you realize that you’re looking at, what is essentially, a house of bodies. LC#1 is the most famous, being the oldest, and has been the setting for many books and movies. We were there in 2002, so a lot of talk revolved around Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire.

After leaving the cemetery, we walked into a neighborhood of Garden District homes. These gorgeous homes have survived centuries, first built as home, slave quarters, and stables on each block. As we evolved and no longer used slaves, those grounds were filled with more homes and stables, doubling the population density. Then as cars took over and the stables weren’t needed anymore, these stables became smaller garage apartments, increasing the population density even more. An aerial view of the district now would show a haphazard, scrambled collection of properties. An urban planner’s nightmare.

Every house that we walked by was gorgeous! Most were painted white, all were surrounded by picturesque Live Oaks, the air was humid and quiet, with birds chirping everywhere. Our guide took us by Trent Reznor’s house (frontman for Nine Inch Nails) and the home that Anne Rice lived in while writing her Vampire books. We also learned that most Garden District homes have the ceilings of their porches (big glorious wrap-around porches!) painted a pale blue to keep bees and wasps away. An old antebellum trick that really works!

Before leaving our tour, we asked for a restaurant recommendation in the French Quarter. Our guide gave us a name of a restaurant and the owner’s name, saying ‘he’ll hook you up’.

The next day R and I hit the French Quarter and Jackson Square. Now I remember Jackson Square from when I was a kid. There are face painters, sidewalk painters, buskers, etc. My parents had friends in New Orleans so we went there often. I even have vague memories of the ‘family’ Mardi Gras parade. I say ‘family’ because the French Quarter will forever smell of stale beer and pee, and the exotic bars all advertise with pictures of each of their dancers. I spent a lot of time asking my parents why the women had black bars of areas of their bodies… hmmmm.

Jackson Square was gorgeous the day R and I went there. The square was built in 1815 and named after future President Andrew Jackson for his heroism during the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. We visited St. Louis Cathedral and Cafe du Monde. We walked down Bourbon Street and I was able to reminisce about my childhood thanks to the stale beer/pee smell. 🙂 The architecture of the buildings is pure French and gorgeous. We found the recommended restaurant and had a great meal – I don’t remember the place or the dish, but I remember it was great!

not my image… but everyone who visits takes this same shot…

After visiting the Garden District and the French Quarter, we’d seen what we wanted of the Big Easy and so we took off towards Mississippi for more adventures. But first we had to cross Lake Ponchartrain. I remember a huge traffic jam that caused us to sit on the bridge for an hour. Fine by us – great views and the feeling of the bridge swaying were enough to keep us occupied. (I remember later telling my parents about this and making my dad very uneasy… he hates big bridge, especially if they sway!) 

In Mississippi we stopped at Gulf Islands National Seashore for a quick visit… Its RIGHT off the highway. We didn’t have time for a hike or beach visit. We simply stopped at the visitor center at the Davis Bayou section of the park. Gotta get that park stamp!

We also detoured down to Pascagoula and Moss Point. I’d spent a Thanksgiving holiday there one year and fell in love with the drapey Spanish Moss that is everywhere! One road in particular that we needed to go back and photograph. (and of course I don’t have the photographs anymore. boo)

Onward to Alabama and Tennessee to the Jack Daniels Distillery!
To Be Continued….

How I Spent My Unplanned Furlough (or What I Did While the Government Sucked) – Week 2

So there was a week 2…. That pretty much sucks (almost as much as Capitol Hill right now)

Day 7 – After the boys went to school, M and I decided to tidy up the house some. I installed a new rack for pans in the cabinet. We needed something to hold pans upright, as M has tall narrow cabinets in the kitchen. It was a birthday gift from my parents.
We also took several walks in the nice autumn weather – one with the dogs, and one with the boys and the dogs.

Day 8 – Today was the day we tidied up the house. Lots of recycling was done, some sorting, and then on to American Horror Story! It had just come in that morning, so we gorged on all 3 episodes on the first disc.
Also, after trying for over a week, and waiting on hold for many minutes, I was able to file for unemployment… yuck.

Day 9 – We drove BACK to El Paso because I have a cat to feed. We spent most of Wednesday evening watching Parks and Recreation or playing Champions of Norrath while I baked multiple loaves of banana bread. I had 11 or so bananas in the freezer and we are trying to eat what we have and not hit the grocery store.

Day 10 – So yeah – today was mostly Champions of Norrath day. We ran a few errands and in the evening we went to A’s house to hang with her and the kids for dinner and a movie.

Day 11 – While my car was in the shop with routine maintenance, we went to see Gravity on the big screen. Go See This Movie! It was awesome and if there is one movie to waste money on while not receiving a paycheck, this is it!

Day 12 – Drove BACK to Carlsbad because M has kids to feed 🙂    Continued our spooky movie nights with 3 episodes of Ghost Hunters International.  Did you know they have that one on Netflix Instant?! It definitely freaked me and the boys out. M was unimpressed.

Day 13 – It rained most of the day so we all stayed indoors… Magic was played, Ghostbusters was watched, dance music was played over and over again… and M and I are starting to get sick. Fun…

This furlough-with-unscheduled-return-time thing sucks for one big reason…. we can’t go anywhere! We have this time off and I’d love to do some traveling with it, but each day we have to check the news, Facebook, and the DOI website to see if the government has decided to reopen us. If they do, we report back to work the very next day. That blows!

Oh and now we are heading into Week 3!

How I Spent My Unplanned Furlough (or What I Did While the Government Sucked) – Week 1

Week 1 (let’s hope there’s no Week 2…)

Day 1 – spent most of the morning kinda freaking out with M, thought a lot about money and missing paychecks, etc. I then made mental lists of all the places we should go since we now ‘have the time’. Thank you Congress 😦
Oh, then crossed off half the places in my mental list because they’ve got the word “National” in their name and that means they’re CLOSED! Then made mental list of all the things that needed to be done at home (cheap and/or free).

Day 2 – Marathoned Parks and Recreation, Season 5 – Thank you Netflix for releasing this on October 1st. I totally feel that it was done to help all of us in the NPS… I might be overthinking that but whatever. Oh! I also spent some time cleaning the house… Maybe if I had a furlough once a year, the house would be cleaned once a year? M came in late in the evening and was wrecked from a long day. To end our first official “furlough day” (yesterday was technically our day off), we watched some stand-up comedy and fell into blissful, allergy-pill enhanced sleep.

Day 3 – M worked on his book, so I Facebooked. Reading all the NPS friends and family posts about whats happening to them kinda got me down, and pissed. So M and I went for a nice long walk by the Rio Grande with Lennox. The sounds of the riparian area, mixed with the crisp fall breeze really helped. Later, after a lot of Champions of Norrath, we cooked a nice fall dinner of lemon risotto and champagne, and settled into a romantic evening with 28 Days Later. (Fall is the perfect time for scary movies!)

Day 4 – Went hiking in a STATE PARK! Franklin Mountains State Park encompasses the whole mountain that splits El Paso into East and West sides.

Thank you state parks for not shutting down at the same time as our federal parks did… that would incite a riot among hikers. Afterwards, we decided to hit a cheap date spot and went mini-golfing 🙂

Day 5 – Woke up early (8am, but for the first time in 7 days) to hit the Saturday Arts & Farmers Market in downtown El Paso. I ALWAYS miss this market. Every Saturday there are posts all over Facebook taunting me about the fun being had at the market while I’m at work. Later that afternoon, M and I caravaned out to Carlsbad to spend the weekend. Driving through Guadalupe Mountains NP during the shut-down is bittersweet. I know the natural forces aren’t shut-down, the indigenous animals don’t listen well to our federal government. I’m sure they’re enjoying the quiet, peaceful void of humans. I want to be out there with them.

We went to a going away party for a co-worker… of course, she can’t move to her new job until the govt reopens…

We closed the day with The Omen. (we’re doing all scary movies for October)

Day 6 – Woke up realizing that the boys don’t have winter jeans that fit them… Hit Walmart before the church crowd showed up. (i seriously had to remember what day it was. this no-work thing messes up your internal calendar) Played Words with Friends for the first time in several days. I now realize that I mostly play this at work… sorry WWF friends. We went for a family+dogs walk to enjoy the early fall afternoon and play at the playground.
The scary October movie of the evening was Insidious, which scared the crap outta me. I may have hidden my face in a pillow for over half the movie, but that just tells you how scary it was. Fantastic evening flick! (Can’t wait for the second one!) We also watched a family-friendly Percy Jackson and the Olympians with the boys. It was pretty good too. 🙂

Best Travel Movies to Inspire Wanderlust

No travel blog is complete without a travel movie list!

A good travel movie is hard to find, but when you find one, it inspires the traveler’s soul deep inside of you. This list is compiled from my hundreds of travel movie experiences to bring you the very best.

These are in no distinct order, simply the randomness that is my mind….

The Way
Filmed entirely in Spain and France along the Camino de Santiago, this amazing quiet jewel of a film makes you laugh, makes you cry, makes you want to fly off to Europe and start walking the Camino immediately.

http://www.theway-themovie.com/film.php

 

 

 

 

 

 

Into the Wild
Say what you want to about a spoiled city kid who recklessly travels into the wild only to (spoiler alert; but who hasn’t heard this story!?) die in the wild; this movie speaks to the very soul of wanderlust. Just try not to eat the wrong shit and die alone.

Oh! And the soundtrack heavily features Eddie Vedder and his hauntingly poignant call-of-the-wild vocals. If you don’t have it, go get it now!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758758/

The Art of Travel
Finally a travel movie that my brother and I can agree on. Seduced by the title, this movie was a lucky find on Netflix one night. This movie is set in the Darien Gap (a place I’d never heard of), an undeveloped swamp and forest region of Panama and Colombia. The story is wild and adventurous; the landscape is harsh and beautiful. Plus, the last scene of this movie is the best thing ever!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448993/

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Proving that adventures don’t have to stop once you hit your senior years, this movie is set in the most photogenic place of all, India. I had to watch this one – it had all the elements of a good movie – India, Dame Judy Dench, romance, India…

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1412386/

The Long Way Round
Two famous actors take their love of motorcycles and traveling on the road as they attempt to drive from London, heading east to New York city. Impossible you say? Watch the movie; learn of new cultures; see beautiful sights.

http://www.longwayround.com/

The Long Way Down
They loved it so much, they did it again! Ewan and Charley head from the northern tip of Ireland down to Capetown, South Africa. Never has Ethiopia looked so incredibly beautiful!

http://www.longwayround.com/journeys_long-way-down.htm

 

180 Degrees South
I first ignored this one thinking it was a surf movie. Then at the suggestion of a coworker, I looked again. This movie is so visually appealing, it brought me to tears. Watch it and learn some fascinating facts about the men who pioneered the art of rock climbing (I bet you own their gear….), and then sold it all to help a nation and the whole planet. Easily one of the most underrated travel movies, watch this one ASAP.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1407927/

Before Sunrise
This is easily one of my all-time favorite movies, and its set in the oh-so-photogenic town of Vienna, Austria. (Completely random sidenote…. My mother claims that if you want to see European castles, you MUST hit Austria and Germany.) This movie was literally filmed while walking the city streets at night. It has taught me many things, but the most important one is that sometimes you need to simply walk around and soak in a city when traveling. Its not all about tourist traps. Pick up a camera, grab your favorite person, and start walking around your town. See what you see.

Ugh, who doesn’t love this?!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112471/

PS – open 2 bottles of wine with your best girlfriend, and watch Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and soon Before Midnight (coming any day now to DVD!)

Out of the Wild: Venezuela
Ok, so not a movie…. this one is a reality show. But it seriously rocks! Watch it and be amazed! Because of this show I now want to trek across this region of Venezuela.

The first 2 seasons of Out of the Wild are in Alaska, and they are just awful. Don’t waste your time…

This is a Discovery Channel show and for some reason it has no website. Whatever… Here’s a kick ass photo that offers the feel of the show.

and I don’t know who took this pic… I got it here – http://imgur.com/gallery/z2wcy

Out of Africa

A classic, this movie very slowly builds Africa as a character to fall in love with. For a film starring Robert Redford (love), to fall in love with the continent before the leading man is almost unimaginable.

Now if only I could visit colonial Kenya in the mid-1900s with a guy who flies his own plane, I’d be set for an adventure!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089755/

Away We Go
Guaranteed to make you cry, want to marry Jim from The Office, and go in search of your soul’s home. OH! and it has a fantastic soundtrack. Buy it now, thank me later.

http://www.focusfeatures.com/away_we_go

One Week
In all honesty I don’t remember this film, BUT I gave it 4 stars on Netflix so it’s gotta be good. Check it out and get back to me.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1104806/?ref_=sr_1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kon Tiki
M and I stumbled upon this on Netflix one evening. We had no idea what we were in for, having never heard of either the explorer, the book, or the original movie that won an Academy Award 50+ years ago. It was amazing! Basically a story about an explorer who floats a raft from Peru to Polynesia to challenge conventional 1940s wisdom that Polynesia was discovered by Asians. I haven’t seen the original movie, but this 2012 remake is great. Its full of gorgeous ocean scenery, very tanned blond Nordic men with increasingly bushy beards, and great animal encounters.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1613750/?ref_=ttmd_md_nm

 

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Ben Stiller directed this remake and he should be extremely proud of his effort. This movie is amazing! It has a kind of sneak-attack that lulls you in thinking this is a chill movie but then really touches you deep inside, where the wanderlust lives. Rent it immediately. My only regret is that I didn’t see this on the big screen.

Oh! The soundtrack is pretty kick-ass too.

http://www.waltermitty.com/photos/#photo-1

 

I’m sure I’ll think of more later, and I can’t wait to add new movies to the list as they’re released. Come on, Focus Features! Get creative!

Anyway, when wanderlust strikes but your budget is small…. stay home and watch a good travel movie. 🙂

50 Awesome Cover Songs… Because This List Needs to Exist!

Alright, as several of you know, I have a deep and abiding love of cover songs. Not the crappy cover bands that dress up like Kiss or only sing Foreigner’s greatest hits. I’m talking about really good re-interpretations of popular songs.

I was prowling Google the other night searching for new cover songs and was very disappointed. The only legitimate list I could find should have been titled “The No-Shit Cover Songs”. They added songs that we all know. There was nothing new or interesting about it. Maybe a coma patient who’d slept for the last 40 years might have appreciated this list, but not me. So, I’m making my own list!

(I’ve added links so that you can see each song on YouTube… not all of them are visually interesting so just close your eyes and dive in.)

The Lennings – You’re the One that I Want
This Austin band has covered one of the cheesiest songs from one of the cheesiest movies (Grease – which I LOVE) and has transformed it into an amazing ballad of love and devotion. (I’m totally jealous of my best friend who told me last night that she ran into them at the Austin airport a few weeks ago. They were performing this song!)

Ziggy Marley – Drive
Ziggy took an 80s staple and refined it in such a way that I want to lay in a hammock on a private beach every time I hear it. Come to think of it, I always want to lay on a hammock on a private beach somewhere.

Imogen Heap – Hallelujah
Never thought that anyone could surpass Jeff Buckley’s depressing quality, but Imogen’s version is even more haunting and beautiful. Then again, what Imogen song isn’t haunting and beautiful.

Iron & Wine – Wild Horses
Iron & Wine stays pretty close to the original Rolling Stones track but its still fantastic.

Karl Wolf – Africa
Ignore the typical rap video ridiculousness… its a fun song.

Vanilla Ice – Ice Ice Baby / Too Cold
Vanilla Ice did what few artists do and re-released his own one-hit-wonder in an entirely different style. Bonus: for a laugh and a trip down memory lane… Ice Ice Baby

Limp Bizkit – Behind Blues Eyes
Um… everyone has remade Behind Blue Eyes. It seems to be a rock concert favorite. I love this version mostly because its an unexpected departure from L.B. usual annoying craziness.

Linda Perry – Baby, It’s a Wild World
LOVE all things Linda Perry!

Marilyn Manson – Personal Jesus
A totally rockin version of a Depeche Mode classic. Anyone want to discuss the vjazzling on his cheeks?

Marilyn Manson (again!) – Tainted Love
Another totally rockin version of an 80s song. Loving the “goth thug” in this very video that revisits the fantastic spoof “Not Another Teen Movie”. This is definitely in my top 10 favorite videos.

And….. one more from Marilyn Manson – Sweet Dreams
If the Eurythmics and Ozzy Osbourne had a demon child, it’d be Marilyn Manson. Just as smart as Annie Lennox, just as fucked up as Ozzy and his whole family.

Natalie Merchant – One Fine Day
I have a special soft spot for covers of do-wop 50s groups. They sung most songs so happily, no matter what the subject matter. Natalie’s version of The Chiffon’s classic is heartfelt and honest. Simply wonderful.

Billy Corgan (of Smashing Pumpkins) – Never Let Me Down Again
Another cover of a Depeche Mode song. They must know how much I love Depeche Mode. Billy sings this one as if he is the one taking a ride with his best friend… if his best friend were heroin. Whatever.. no judgement. This one is great.

Wheatus – A Little Respect
These guys are the reason I have a playlist on my iPod lovingly called “Annoying Boy Music”. They rock this 80s pop song! (RIP Britney Murphy. Clueless wouldn’t have been the same without you.)

Taken By Trees – Sweet Child of Mine
This chick takes one of the most iconic songs and really makes it her own. Well done!

Lady Antebellum – Learning to Fly
Great cover of a Tom Petty classic. Bet their video has a lot less skateboards…. Ahhhh the 80s.

Wyclef Jean – Stayin’ Alive
Ok, not a surprise but he rocks this. Plus, bonus points for his sweet disco-esque dance moves.

Radical Reinterpretations – Never Again
These people cover everything but this Kelly Clarkson cover is my favorite. I don’t even like the original version but I stumbled across this one night and its been a favorite ever since.

Bina Mistry – Hot Hot Hot
Who even recorded the original? Doesn’t matter – sometimes I watch Bend It Like Beckham just to jam out to this. I found the DVD extra video on YouTube.

Muse – Feeling Good
The name says it all!

Chris Cornell – Billie Jean
Awesome gravelly voiced Chris brings out the meaning of the lyrics in a whole new way.

The Donnas – Dancing With Myself
Yes, that is what the song is about. Yes, girls do it too. I heart The Donnas. Stay bitchy, ladies!

Rachel Stevens – Knock on Wood
Club anthem! I can frequently be found driving the highway and dancing to this one.

Dixie Chicks – Landslide
This song was my soundtrack for 2 years when I was living in the Blue Ridge Mountains. So heartfelt and amazing.

Alex Parks seems to only do covers yet she does them well so I’m not complaining. She was on Britain’s Fame Academy and has recorded a lot of covers. These are my faves.
Mad World
Yellow

Save Ferris – Come on Eileen
Remember ska bands? Where did they go? Anyway, thank god someone covered the second most annoying  song produced in the 80s (right behind Walking in Sunshine, bleegghh).

The Birthday Massacre – I Think We’re Alone Now
An ok cover of another, way more fantastic, cover – Tiffany’s I Think We’re Alone Now. Ladies, go ahead and sing along to Tiffany. You know you want to.

Ryan Adams – Wonderwall
Screw Oasis. They don’t do the song justice. Ryan Adams does.

Ben Lee – Float On
I simply love this song.The fact that he left in the mistake towards the end just makes him, and the song, that much more endearing.  🙂

Wyclef Jean – Your Love
Yet another great remix of a fun 80s song. The 50 First Dates soundtrack is filled with cool reinterpretations of popular songs. Check them all out sometime. I won’t add them all here but they are great. For now, have some fun and dance along.

311 – Love Song
I love the Cure’s version and 311 stays pretty close to the original style, with a bit of island feel thrown in. Another great hammock song from 50 First Dates. Adele also did a very cool version.

Shiny Toy Guns – Stripped
Originally recorded by Depeche Mode (love it!), this version is more electronic and has more of a driving beat. Plus the addition of a female lead singer really pulls this version ahead of the original.

Cary Brothers – Something About You
Loving the Cary Brothers! They are great and their versions of some great 80s tunes are a welcome addition to my driving playlist.
If You Were Here This cover of the popular Thompson Twins hit makes me wanna cry from the moment the melancholy guitar opens. I love singing this at the top of my lungs when driving (alone of course. M wouldn’t appreciate it).
As I was looking on Youtube for the video, I came across another cover they did… a cover of Duran Duran’s fabulous Ordinary World. I’m now buying it on iTunes. 🙂

Starfucker – Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Ignore the name of the band…. this song is fucking great. The original was great and this boy-led version does Cindy Lauper proud. (p.s. got this version from M… love it when guys have great music!)

Cowboy Junkies – Blue Moon
Remember how I said that these 50s bands sung everything all happy? Yeah, that theory came from hearing this cover back in college. Thank you Cowboy Junkies! They also did a great Patsy Cline Walking After Midnight.

Audra Mae and the Forest Rangers – Forever Young
This cover is so amazingly beautiful, both the acapella and the full band version. The full band version is off the Sons of Anarchy soundtrack. The acapella is simply a gift from Ms. Mae. This is the song I want played at my funeral. Feel free to sing along.

The Gourds – Gin and Juice
I NEVER liked Snoop Doggs version, but this bluegrass one is infectious. Turn it up and enjoy this guilty pleasure.

Flo Rida – Right Round
We’ve all heard it. It rocks and it was the best part of The Hangover. Its on my workout mix.

Anberlin – Enjoy the Silence
One of my all-time favorite songs by Depeche Mode has been redone with a harder edge. Perfect for those driving playlists.

Bran Van 3000 – Cum On Feel the Noise
From the 90s, this cover of the lovingly cheesy 80s hair-metal anthem is a great electronic pop song.

Katie Melua – Just Like Heaven
The not-so-great chick flick Just Like Heaven did one great thing…. it introduced me to this sappy amazing girly version of one of my favorite songs by the Cure.

Matisyahu – Message in a Bottle
Another song for the Hammock playlist. Great reggae-ish version of the Police classic.

The Raincoats – Lola
As M says – this version of Lola is a bit of a gender-bending brilliance. The Raincoats keep that gritty quality that made the original Kinks version so great. A great song to end the list on.

Hope you enjoyed it. I didn’t even cover the Frank Sinatra covers – Brian Setzer Orchestra, Michael Buble, Harry Connick, Jr. – they are all great but so common that they just don’t fit this list.

I also didn’t include the great punk rock bands like The Clash, The Ramones, and Cheap Trick.

Feel free to add your own favorite covers.

Please let someone cover anything by Garfunkel and Oates! I Don’t Understand Job 🙂

Reluctantly I Headed to D.C. (And Had a Pretty Good Time!)

Last week I had to take a trip to Washington DC for work. I LOVE traveling, but traveling for work isn’t nearly as fun. I wasn’t really looking forward to the trip – on top of having a cold, I was going to be engaging in ‘team building’ with 40 strangers. Ick!

At the El Paso airport, I discovered that TSA is doing extra-special 2nd base checks… The TSA lady ran her hands down my sternum and around my ribcage, multiple times. I boarded my tiny puddle-jumper to Denver to enjoy having the whole row to myself. So I took advantage of the No Seat Belt sign and gorgeous day and took lots of photos (with my cell phone so the pics are crappy).

We flew along the Permian Reed, with El Capitan and Guadalupe Peak out my window. I waved down to my boyfriend as we passed Carlsbad. Northern New Mexico is pretty cool to see from the sky. Its all desert plains and huge mountainous patches of black rock left, remnants of 10,000 year old lava flows. (geology nerds rock!) 

To the west, the Sandias and Jimez mountains were capped with snow. My first snow of the season!

Wow! Southeastern Colorado is boring! I was hoping to see Great Sand Dunes National Park but no, just flat, brown, agricultural fields.

The front range of the Rocky Mountains is pretty amazing to see. Just imagine those poor pioneers, after thousands of boring flat miles of Kansas and Missouri, to be hit with this site. Little did they know the landscape would be rocky and mountainous all the was to the Pacific. Awesome!

Even the Denver airport has some snow-capped peaks.:-)

Inside the airport I encountered some local wildlife…. a flock of sparrows flying around the terminal eating crumbs off the empty seats. Once on the completely packed plane, I discovered more wildlife…. our pilot had a very strong, very cliche New Jersey accent. Just what I need, the Jersey Shore cast piloting my jet across the country.

 

At Dulles I was surprised to find some super-helpful airport workers (take notice, Houston Intercontinental bitches!). I thought they were extinct! A very nice eastern African traffic director noticed I was lost and pointed me in the right direction, even stopped traffic so that I could get across. Then a west African shuttle driver helped me find which bus I needed to get to my hotel. It was 11pm and I’d been traveling for 12 hours. My brain was fried.

The next two hours consisted on a random midnight tour of Georgetown, where all I could think about was The Exorcist, and cleaning all of my ‘fancy office clothes’ in the hotel sink. My shampoo exploded and the freezer bag I had packed it in was open.

This is only the 1st day and I’m already exhausted. Seriously not looking forward to this trip.

The rest of the week was a blur of meeting rooms, new faces, and Team Dimension profiles. However, we got a lot of sight-seeing done too!

The White House!

Washington Monument, cracked and broken so nobody can go inside

The Navy Memorial Museum – where they were practicing for a Pearl Harbor memorial event

Very cool statue at the Navy Memorial Museum reminded me of my grandfather

Ford’s Theater – the box where Lincoln was assassinated

From the top of the Old Post Office tower – Looking up Pennsylvania Ave towards Capitol Hill

Christmas Tree Concert at the White House

Oh yeah, we also got free tickets to the White House Christmas Tree Celebration – it was freezing, I’m not into crowds, and I STILL had a cold – but I went nonetheless. When the Deputy Director of the National Park Service gives you free tickets to a White House event, you go.

It was a star-studded concert, with Neil Patrick Harris hosting, and the Obamas reading The Night Before Christmas to us all

It was an awesome evening!

 

 

Things I learned from my trip to DC?

1. City life is fun but ultimately not for me. All that walking and concrete and traffic and noise? Ugh!

If you have enough money, you can afford your own tiny spot of nature, on a roof

2. When standing with 8000 strangers in front of the White House, no amount of bandwidth will allow you to access Facebook to brag or text photos of Phillip Phillips to your best friend (who LOVES him). So I’ll post a quick video here 🙂

Yes… that’s me screaming throughout the video.
(try my YouTube page if you can’t get the video to play here)

3. Getting kicked out of your meeting space because the President of the United States (or POTUS) needs to talk to 150 leaders of Native American tribes is pretty cool.

4. Introducing non-city people to Tapas is both interesting and amusing

5. Room service and a bubble bath make for a damned good evening

6. The Secret Service have traffic stops down pat! They can get VP Biden from his house in Georgetown to the White House with only minimal disruption to us commuters. ps – they will wave at you if you wave at them (not the snipers, never wave at snipers)

7. Even a reluctant work trip can have some pretty awesome adventures attached.

Flying over snow-capped Rockies is gorgeous!

Traveling Ancient Roads in New Mexico (or Our Urination Vacation) Part 1: Classic 1950s Chic

As much as I’ve traveled in my life, I’ve come across some nerve-wracking experiences; none as truly nerve-inducing as traveling with someone else for the very first time. Questions ranging from “will we get on each others nerves after a constant 4 days together?” and “will my need to control the radio on road trips ruin our relationship?” to “OMG, can I get away with a murder if forced to go to Branson, or will a jury be sympathetic?” start to pop into my head. Well, last month, my boyfriend M and I went on our very first road trip together. (Don’t worry, he’s still alive, I swear.)

With only 2 days to plan our trip, we had decided on a road trip to Chaco Culture National Historic Site. Chaco has been on my life-list, and M’s life-list, ever since I first heard about it. I immediately began planning; our hikes, our food, our route; our playlist. We originally decided to try and take in a few sites up near Santa Fe, as well as the Gila Wilderness, until we realized that this would become a very long week trip and I only had 4 days. One of the most important things I’ve learned while traveling the world is you MUST be flexible, so we settled on the interstate over backroads, and speed over winding mountain roads. (That “avoid interstate routes” option on a GPS is one of my favorite things.) As we were discussing camping options on the way up to Chaco, M mentioned that Truth or Consequences had some hot springs. Hot springs?! Yes sir, I am interested in that!

I found a hot springs’ adjacent motel in TorC for the same price as a boring highway motel. TorC’s hot springs district is “historic”, which can sometimes mean shitty, old, decrepit, or non-existent. Fortunately for these two travelers, we have open minds and adventurous spirits! Our motel, described on their website as a “classically charming 1950s motor lodge”, was the perfect thing for us. It had been remodeled and reopened by two gentlemen with unique style and fabulous taste.

Let me just set the scene… We arrive in TorC after dark, following some not-so-great directions to the motel, and park at the front entrance gates. Walking into the courtyard, we were quickly plunged into darkness. There were no outdoor lights on and only a small amount of light could be seen from behind a few curtains. I guess I should mention that the two fabulous owners had emailed me saying that if we arrived after 6pm not to worry about going to the main office. We would find our key in the open door of our room #8, titled “The Morning Glory Room”. (Bone-chilling flashbacks to scenes from Hostel or Wrong Turn began playing in my mind. Every person watching a movie version of this trip would be screaming at the screen “don’t go in there!”)

The room numbers were all but impossible to read in the dark so there I am, walking up to each door and searching for a room number by the light of my phone! I found that most of the rooms were not only vacant, but the doors were open. M was not happy with me as I entered each one to see if it was ours. After a few minutes of searching, we finally found our room; door open, key on table, lights out. M swept the room like an FBI agent, opening each door and peering around corners, before he finally settled down and we turned on the lights. The minute the lights were on, I was in love with the place!

Super-cute homemade pillowcase reused as a curtain

 

painted trim on wooden mirror – kudos on the wall color too!

 

Hot springs tub big enough to hold a small swingers party… or just me and M.

 

My favorite part…. petroglyphs drawn into the bedroom wall!

 

Wondering what to do with all those pesky wine bottles left behind when guests check out? Make a garden wall!

 

Fabulously friendly cat who sat with me for coffee in the morning

After an interesting night’s sleep (the hot springs had a narcotic amount of lithium in them and we passed out immediately after our soak, with the bed spinning and a glorious sinking-into-the-mattress feeling), we got up and walked over to the local breakfast spot….

not our car… but it is M’s photo so no stealing!

… and then on to a very funky weird packed used bookstore. I’ve been looking for a lawyers’ bookcase for years and now I know where they’ve all ended up – at this bookstore! Bookcases were haphazardly stacked on top of each other to the ceiling with no concern for gravity. Each room of this house was a different topic and once I found the travel room and the archaeology room, I was hooked! In the end, I found the companion book to my copy of an archaeological record of rock art in New Mexico, with whole sections dedicated to Chaco.

Maybe its the magical waters of TorC, or some kind of New Mexican vortex, but finding that book would prove to be the perfect beginning to the drive to Chaco.

I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas; part 1

Ok, yeah its been a month since my last post.  Sorry, I’ve been sick, busy, and sick again!  No, my sickness is not due to Black Friday madness and the nausea caused by witnessing those extreme levels of consumerism.  My sickness was bacterial, then viral, and now both. 😦

Today’s post is all about my efforts this year for a greener Christmas and holiday season.  This year I’m trying to make my own decorations, give greener gifts and use greener packaging.

So first, lets start with the self-made decorations…  Now I’m not Martha Stewart (evil!) so my DIY decorations most definitely look DIY.  Whatever…  its the thought that counts, right?

Cork Tree found on Etsy

I’d love to have made this one and have a Christmas tree but alas, I haven’t drank enough wine yet!  This gives me something to aspire to for next year!

from Emma Lamb

Crocheted garland instead of that tin foil metal stuff that kills vacuum cleaners and probably the environment.  (sorry mom!)  I haven’t made this yet but I’m thinking it’d make a great present for someone.
Here’s the link if you wanna try making these yourself…

The last time I made DIY ornaments I was 7 and was making a gingerbread man that my mother hides on the back of the tree every Christmas.

from Twig and Thistle

Then there is this super-simple pine cone garland.  I got my idea from Twig and Thistle and set out to make my own.  The best part of this DIY is the hiking to procure best pine cones!  I started this last winter, picking up pine cones around my apt complex while walking my dog.  I even got my niece and nephew in on the search.  Then while hiking up in Cloudcroft, my nephew and I found larger pine cones.  Many cones were discarded because I’m picky and only want pretty, unsmooshed ones.

I don’t have a hole punch so I used a hot burned match to melt holes in my ribbons.  This was done on Thanksgiving Day and if you know me you know I’m drinking wine on that day.  (Not that I don’t normally drink wine, but that day its practically mandatory!)  So I’m drinking my wine and realize that I really shouldn’t be playing with fire and melting things while buzzed.  So I sacrificed; I quit drinking and sobered right up.  That’s dedication!

Here’s what I did with the cones, hot matches, superglue and sparkly ribbon I found on sale.

Not perfect but festive!

Made my own bows with superglue

from Kojo Designs

I also made a tea wreath, like this one.  For mine I used a pizza box lid, my stash of tea, clothespins.  I covered the pizza box with leftover shelf liner paper and painted the clothespins with sparkly nail polish.  It now hangs year-round in my pantry, tempting me with lots of great tea.

Sorry, no photo because I’m lazy and sick….

from New England Design and Construction

For next year I’m thinking a tree made out of a tomato cage and lights!  So festive and I can reuse the cage in the spring.

And who needs the real tree for the real tree smell?  At Bath and Body Works, I found candles to do that job.  Evergreen, Balsam and Fireplace!  They are strongly scented so I don’t even have to burn them, just leave them out.  My whole house smells like Christmas without dragging a poor helpless tree from its roots.  Although, who doesn’t just love the opening scene from National Lampoons Christmas Vacation where they go out to cut down their own tree, carry it home on the roof of the car only to let a squirrel loose in their living room.  My favorite holiday movie!

Alright, happy holiday decorating!  Next time I’ll discuss green gifts and green packaging.  It’ll be epic!