Tune Tuesday : Let's get out of 2017

Today is an alternate to music monday because yesterday was christmas for a lot of folks and I didn't feel like posting. This time of year isn't my best time of year. In fact I've been calling myself a grinch... which isn't entirely true. It's more that I've lost what holiday spirit I've ever had. I don't think I'm ever going to find it again. But luckily the next holiday we have coming up is new years eve.

So we're finally kicking 2017 with all it's negativity out the door. Unfortunately we have at least 3 more years to get through like this. And I don't know if that's going to happen or not.

But for now let's have a New Years Playlist, and not worry about the future and just hope for a happy and safe new year.

Meghan Trainor : Good To Be Alive

Ed Sheeran : Thinking Out Loud

Smash Mouth : Why Can't We Be Friends

Mitchel Musso : The In Crowd

The All-American Rejects : Move Along

A Christmas Gift For You

It was the night before Christmas and all through the town, snowflakes were falling straight down to the ground. The streets were all slushy as cars drove around, and worried shoppers traveled wanting gifts to abound. But regardless of wishes, and hopes of the year, there was something still lacking, pure Christmas cheer.

For while they were buying, and wrapping this stuff. They were forgetting the true meaning of unquestioned love.

For Christmas isn't really about things or stuff, it's about the people in our life that we really love.

The ones we hold close when we weep bitter tears. The ones that have moved on over the years. The memories we make with the people who care, are part of what this holiday is really about. There is something to be said for love and hope.

But so many people don't quite get that note.

So for this holiday I wonder if you, may want a gift that is worthless to some. But if you open your mind, and you open your heart, perhaps there inside you will find the small spark.

Because this year for Christmas I'm sending you love.

Thank you for being here, and for being a friend.

Thank you for helping share Magic.

And thank you for not giving up on me.

Life Update

I know that it's been awhile since I wrote an honest to goodness update about what I'm doing. But I think you've waited long enough, and I believe it's necessary to share some information with you. Nothing that will matter to most readers, but people who know me face to face or in a variety of situations may find it illuminating.

I've been dealing with a variety of pain and numbness in my left arm, which through Doctors visits and physical therapy, has currently been identified as a pinched nerve. The extent of this varies, as sometimes it feels like I've been outside too long with pins and needles, and other times it burns. Before the numbness it felt frequently as though there were golf ball sized knots in my arm. So I've been honestly having trouble focusing.

To go along with the pain, I've been having trouble sleeping. This in and of itself wouldn't be such a bad thing, but since the holidays are here, people have expectations of the type of schedule they would like me to keep.

Oh and all 5 of my brothers are currently engaged or married. Which leaves me as the odd one out of that odd clubhouse. Not because I want to be in it, but because everyone else acts like there's something wrong with me because I'm not.

Then there's the whole issue of politics. It's actually terrifying to watch, knowing that it's been proven now that they have no interest in doing what's in the best interest of the little people. I feel both disgusted and distressed because as it stands I don't know how I'm going to make ends meet now that things are going to start going up uncontrolled. Everything has been going up as it was, except for peoples pay rates. All we have anymore is bills and the question of how to pay them.

I don't know what to say anymore. Lately it seems futile to write anything at all, because no one is going to see it. I could have the most fascinating input, or a great idea and I keep squashing it because I see no point.

Why do the little people, the people at the level where I exist, where ends don't always meet, bother to exist? Why do we exist?

We exist because this is what's left. The shining gold era people seem to be clinging to when the United States had real industries is gone, businesses shipped over and out to other countries. Even Oreo's are made somewhere else now on the most part. Isn't that disheartening?

I hate the apathy that fills people throughout the country. Apathy and anger. They're angry but they don't want to do anything to change it, because they feel like there's nothing to do to change anything. Turning everything into an endless ball of bullshit. They take their angry out on people, just like them, instead of the people that are creating the unjust and unfair world we're left with.

I hate that people care more about what a movie star is having for dinner than their neighbors. I hate that people are more worried about what the Kardashians are wearing , rather than what their neighbors aren't. I find it sad that people are so worried about clothing labels, or shoes instead of what looks good on them. Or what they like themselves. Money doesn't buy happiness, experience does.

I hate that I feel like I've got nothing that I can do to help. I feel like my life is pointless, and to be honest I think I'm losing what bits of hope I did have.

Without hope what is there?

Where is hope now?

On Screen : Cinderella and Four Knights

It seems like yesterday I was writing about the Korean Drama Goblin, and how exciting I found it. To be honest, reality television has nothing to offer me, so I'm looking for alternate options. KDrama seems to be one of my chosen interests. My most recent one being Cinderella and Four Knights.

To be honest the title seems a bit misleading at first, but as the 16 episodes wrap up it all makes more sense. There are multiple storylines layered up to create a semi realistic plot line, with a number of facets to keep the watcher interested. The love triangles are a bit hard to see as realistic, but when you hold it up against the problems in reality television, this is a piece of cake to follow.

The music is wonderful also. The show is 16 episodes, with about an hour spent on each episode. So you can binge it and enjoy the music without coming to hate it for repetition sake. I also enjoy the facial expressions the actors have, and the different outfits worn throughout the series.

I'm not going to spoil it. I just wanted to let you know I enjoyed it. If you watch it let me know what you think.

Music Monday : Christmas is Creeping Closer

It's December and everywhere you look there are people already celebrating, planning their parties, exchanging gifts with loved ones and coworkers. It can seem a bit overwhelming at times, but that shouldn't make you hate the season.

So from a grinch over here, here's wishing you a good holiday season. And we'll be back during the week with more magic.

Hanson : Finally it's Christmas

Connie Francis : I'm Going to Be Warm This Winter

Brenda Lee : I'm Gonna Lasso Santa Claus


And an extra audio file to enjoy, a story.

Katy Towell : The Winterlord

Music Monday : Holiday Time

Alright Let's Go! This is the first of our Winter Holiday Music  Mondays.

Today we're getting started with our holiday music. Which means that by the time Christmas rolls around we'll hopefully have a unique winter holiday playlist. Hopefully the songs we pick will help to give you a break from the repetitive cycled music you'll hear while shopping. I also hope that you're inspired to look for more variety when it comes to the holidays.

The classics are wonderful, but there are some new pieces that are just as delightful. Stay magical and remember it's a downhill slope out of 2017.

Never Shout Never - 30 Days

The Flaming Lips - A Change At Christmas (Say It Isn't So)

The Killers - Don't Shoot Me Santa

Relient K - Merry Christmas, Here's To Many More

The Reverend Horton Heat - Santa Bring My Baby Back

Off the Shelf: Winter Wishes

I love me an anthology.  I think you really do get more bang for the buck, getting a selection of reading material grouped together on a central theme.  If one story isn't quite up your alley, other may well be.

This is a newer addition to my bookshelf - in fact, I just got it last week as a present while grocery shopping.  I love romance anthologies, as I feel they offer more, and they are normally more romance-oriented over adult themes than other members of the genre.

Winter Wishes
Christmas Kisses by Fern Michaels, 101 pages
Blue Moon Harbor by Susan Fox, 104 pages
Second Chance Christmas by Jules Bennett, 81 pages
Finding Colin by Leah Marie Brown, 98 pages

Book total: 399 pages (there are some blank pages and after words in there)

Each of these novellas is an easy read.  They are all relatively short, and each is different in it's own way.  The first has a quirky, creative heroine starting over fresh, the second are old lovers reunited, the third are people who originally met in hard circumstances being reintroduced in a different light, and the last is a woman fixated on the unattainable setting out to find it, but finding something new that may be a better fit.

Nice taglines, huh?  I'm proud to say those little summaries are my own.

While each of these shorts are similar in that they involve Christmas, they are all different, too.  Personally, I got the least enjoyment from Blue Moon Harbor, but that is, conversely, because it seems the most realistic to me.  In the heroine's shoes, I'd want to punch the male lead, which makes the fictional lead a better woman than I am... maybe a little too unrealistically so?  My favorite is a toss-up between lead author Fern Michael's addition and then Jules Bennett's Second Chance Christmas.  Of the two, Michael's is the more light-hearted read, and a little more traditional for a quick, neatly-tied romance offer, while Jules adds in a bit more weighty subject matter, dealing with loss and, of course, second chances.  I found Finding Colin enjoyable and different, both in that it is the only of the four stories to use first-person perspective, and that the heroine is relatably realistic in her quirks, if a bit, um, fan-girl-extreme for my tastes.

I was open about the fact I like sappy romances, and this is in that category.  I honestly love books like this, especially around Christmas time.  I can't explain why, I just do.  I've been looking for these at my local used book store, but haven't had much luck, so I was overjoyed to find one at the grocery store that I was allowed to splurge on for $5.99.  I won't completely gender-lock this one, as I know some men who read romances, but I do think it's geared more toward female audiences.  Anyone who wants romance without in-your-face adult themes and likes the holidays will get something from this book, with probably young-adults and up that are interested in the genre being the best audience for the collective work.