Songs About the New Year

New Year's Eve
Santa Cruz 2008

A super short list of favorite songs about the New Year and a question, why are there so many Christmas songs around compared to only a few about the New Year? Such a hopeful holiday and yet so little love from songwriters, I wonder why that's so.

Long December-Counting Crows/Recovering the Satellites
Adam Duritz describes this as a song about hope and the possibilities. What I love about their work is that it always seems to be a deeply personal reflection of all things, the sweet and the sour, as though one can't exist independent of the other.

"Drove up to Hillside Manor sometime after two a.m.
And talked a little while about the year
I guess the winter makes you laugh a little slower,
Makes you talk a little lower about the things you could not show her

And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe
Maybe this year will be better than the last
I can't remember all the times I tried to tell my myself
To hold on to these moments as they pass"


Same Old Lang Syne-Dan Fogelberg/The Innocent Age
As a 70s kid, this was my first favorite contemporary holiday song. It saturated the airwaves this time of year when I was growing up. The lyrics read like a diary entry:

"Met my old lover in the grocery store

The snow was falling Christmas Eve

I stole behind her in the frozen foods

And I touched her on the sleeve

She didn't recognize the face at first

But then her eyes flew open wide

She went to hug me and she spilled her purse

And we laughed until we cried."


New Year Song-U2/War
My age is showing with this mini song selection, I'm sure of it...but really it seems to me that there are so few songs out there on this subject. Can you think of any others? Prince 1999 did occur to me but I was thinking of New Year songs in general, and not so specific to a given year since New Year's Eve in my opinion is about that feeling of anticipation for what's to come. Anything is possible. With that said, I adore this song because although a new year on the horizon often brings to mind change...this song reaffirms what we all wish to remain a constant...Love.

"All is quiet on New Year's Day.
A world in white gets underway.
I want to be with you, be with you night and day.
Nothing changes on New Year's Day.
On New Year's Day."

Greatest Hits 2010

Yet another great pic courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net. Thank you Clare Bloomfield for generously sharing your work!


Reflecting on 2010 a bunch lately. As far as auditory weaknesses go...I fell in love with:

  • The Black Keys
  • She & Him
  • Emiliana Torrini
  • Thao
  • Jolie Holland
  • Dent May
  • Joan Jett & the Blackhearts (as she's not a new artist, we just rekindled the flame)

Material goodies I fell for include:

  • My darling ukelele. Still strumming, still warms my heart to play.
  • My MacBook Pro. You cost me a crap load of cheddar, but you made up for it by helping me stay well connected with dear friends like you sweet reader!
  • "Oh Snap!" project bags from Namaste. Not too big, not too small, perfect for sock knitting or even a sweater. Flawless! Check 'em out.

Delicious discoveries of 2010:

  • Caramelitas made with gooey homemade caramel. Caramel made from scratch people! Holy cow...I can't stand the goodness! Google it my friends, you will not be disappointed!
  • Salted caramel hot chocolate...there's a theme developing here...I'm so predictable: buy me some music and some caramel and I'll be your bestest pal, for-eva eva!

Finally, I think my favorite moment of 2010 was hearing our baby's heartbeat for the first time. It's impossible to put it into words so I'll just leave it at that. For the first time ever, I am so excited to usher in a new year! It's gonna get wild, and messy, but there's gonna be a whole lot of love too...I can feel it!

Wait, one more favorite moment...waking E up at an unholy hour on a Sunday morning (4am maybe?) to tell him the stick I peed on indicated I'm cultivating a little life form. His reaction was classic Erik. All love and tenderness didn't even mention the ungodly hour, wasn't bothered in the slightest by my impatience. I'm a lucky girl.

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."
-Helen Keller

Happy New Year Friends!

Pub Cake

Yummy photo courtesy of Filomena Scalise who shares her tasty work on freedigitalphots.net

Erik brought home the most delicious smelling rum cake as a gift from a coworker earlier this week. He hadn't taken off his jacket before I dished us up two thick slices. Took one bite and it occurred to me that this cake should be served by the shot glass instead of by the plateful. Initially I thought what harm could a cake baked with rum really be? Most of the alcohol cooks out, right? But what if the baker is heavy handed (my kinda gal) and generously soaks the cake in rum AFTER baking? That must be the method used because this was a stiff forkful of spicy buttery goodness. Couldn't eat more than a couple bites without feeling like a terrible mom-to-be so the cake sits on the kitchen counter seducing me one whiff at a time as I walk by. Torture! All I know is I'm going to devour an entire rum cake once the baby is born. Merry Christmas friends! I hope all of your holiday wishes come true! Xoxo

Here's a recipe I found, couldn't find a wet version. If you have one you'd like to share please comment or email me:

BACARDI RUM CAKE
Courtesy of COOKS.COM

1 c. chopped walnuts or pecans
1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1 (3 3/4 oz.) pkg. instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
1/2 c. cold water
1/2 c. Wesson oil
1/2 c. Bacardi dark rum

GLAZE:

1/4 lb. butter
1/4 c. water
1 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. dark rum

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour 10" tube or 12 cup bundt pan. Sprinkle nuts over bottom of pan. Mix the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, 1/2 cup cold water, oil and 1/2 cup Bacardi dark rum together. Pour batter over nuts and bake the cake for 1 hour. Cool. Invert on serving plate. Prick top and drizzle with glaze. Allow cake to absorb glaze. Repeat until the glaze is used up. To make the glaze, melt butter in saucepan, stir in water and sugar. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in rum.

Tiny Dancer


21 weeks!

My What to Expect app tells me that Oliva is the size of a spaghetti squash, she is about 8 inches long and weighs 1 lb.

Little flutters in the belly from my tiny dancer. Weird cravings too. Today I had to have veggie chili beans over mac-n-cheese topped with a dollop of sour cream and crushed corn chips.

Broke down and finally bought a few maternity bras...why did I wait so long? So super comfy! No wonder I felt so miserable before! I went up two cup sizes but was smooshing myself into my old bra. Ouch!

Erik surprised me with this sweet Ramones onesie. Can't wait to meet our darling punk rock girl!



Backspacer

Album artwork produced by political cartoonist Tom Tomorrow

I think this baby girl is gonna be as weepy and emotional as her mother, poor girl. I cried in the shower this morning and again on my way to work all the while saying to myself, would you please get a hold of yourself (not complaining though! Tears are easier to wipe away than morning sickness). All these hormones and interrupted sleep patterns make the crying spells come so easily. Of course this Pearl Jam song that was playing during my morning commute didn't help, although very sad I do love this song so much. I find the last lyric especially moving...a reminder of how brief our time really is. As Jolie Holland says "enjoy yourself, it's later than you think."

Song: The End
Artist: Pearl Jam
Album: Backspacer

What were all those dreams we shared
Those many years ago?
What were all those plans we made now
Left beside the road?
Behind us in the road

More than friends, I always pledged
Cause friends they come and go
People change, as does everything
I wanted to grow old
I just want to grow old

Slide up next to me
I'm just a human being
I will take the blame
But just the same
This is not me

You see?
Believe

I'm better than this
Don't leave me so cold
I'm buried beneath the stones
I just want to hold on
I know I'm worth your love

Enough
I don't think
There's such a thing

It's my fault now
Having caught a sickness in my bones
How it pains to leave you here
With the kids on your own
Just don't let me go

Help me see myself
Cause I can no longer tell
Looking out from the inside
Of the bottom of a well

It's hell
I yell
But no one hears before I disappear
Whisper in my ear
Give me something to echo
In my unknown future's ear

My dear
The end
Comes near
I'm here
But not much longer

Extracurricular Activities


I love making things. I crafted my way through grad school, built up enough inventory in handmade jewelry and paper projects that I attended a few local craft shows and did alright making $500-$800 at each show. Had a shop on Etsy called Tart Designs sweet and juicy handmade jewelry for awhile too, here's a pic of a wire wrap necklace and a few cocktail rings I listed and sold:


For the past five years or so I've been an avid knitter, I especially love making toys they're fun and easy to whip up in a short amount of time here's a couple pics:


Hubby has his hobbies too. He has a collection of guitars: banjo, accoustic, electric and a handful of harmonicas as well. He loves collecting vinyl records too. I wonder what little Olive is going to be into...here's what she looks like at 20 weeks...stretching out my Sex Pistols t-shirt:
At this point she's described by my What to Expect app as a banana: 7inches, 11oz. Sweet girl, I love you so much already!

Heineken and a Hot Dog


My favorite story about my guy. He spent his 21st birthday with his Grandma Olive on a senior bus to Reno so they could go gambling together. And from what I hear Olive was a sucker for a special. The phrase "two for one" would set her pulse racing...they could have driven up together but on the senior bus you could get a screw driver and a bingo card for a few bucks and she was able to show off her grandson to her friends. So they rode the bus to Reno, he got dirty looks from the seniors on the bus for dominating at bingo and he enjoyed his first beer with his dear Grandma at a casino for lunch. What a killer lunch special: a Heineken and a hot dog for only $1.25! How many grandmothers do you know drink screw drivers for breakfast and Heinekens with lunch? How many 21 year olds do you know spend their birthday with their grandmother? That's my guy.

Happy Birthday Bear, I love you!

It's a...


GIRL!!!

That Tom Jones song keeps running through my head:
"She's a lady...woo oh oh...she's a lady...yes she is!!! And that lady is mine!"


At my December check up today my doctor said she was pleased with the development so far and my weight gain (yippee) but she gave me a talking to about inactivity because when she said "you're exercising, right?" I said "wrong." She looked at me sternly and said "No?" in a what do you mean sorta way. I was honest and said I love long walks but it's been soggy and slippery and I'm exhausted at the end of a crazy long work day. She wasn't buying this response so I added that I have purchased a pregnancy yoga DVD. This made her soften a bit and she said that's an excellent idea and that I should shoot for 3-4 times weekly, "because you do know that you're preparing yourself for a marathon, right?" How would I have guessed that? First timer here lady, baby of the family, blissfully ignorant and your killing my baby buzz! As if that wasn't enough of a reality check she added at the end of our appointment "next month I'll have you share with me your birthing plan." If this med school flunky thinks she can copy off of MY paper, we're in trouble folks. We got a code red here. I was kinda hoping she had that part covered. I do pay her after all, this isn't a pro bono arrangement. But since she's asking me, may as well take advantage...how about if I count to three and you magic the baby into my arms when she's ready to come on out? Truthfully, I'm more concerned about raising a healthy, loving, responsible, well thought of young lady than the birthing process...I'm sure you moms that are reading this are thinking...rude awakening alert just around the bend! And I will not argue which is why my new to do list looks like this:

1) Prepare for marathon in approximately 20 weeks.
2) Draft birthing plan proposal for dimwit doctor. Keep it simple, something along the lines of "I'll be the patient, you deliver the baby."
3) Knit mary jane booties with matching cardi
4) Do NOT panic! You can do this, Oliva Maria is counting on you!

Game Time

Another lovely royalty free image from FreeDigitalPhotos.net this one is courtesy of
Graur Razvan Ionut



Thanks to Rainy Day Goods, I read about a game that is circulating through the cloud where you set your iTunes to shuffle and list the first 15 songs in the order that they come up...no editing! Sounded fun so I'm giving it a spin:

1) Nutrition-The Dead Milkmen
2) Mr. Zebra-Tori Amos (YES!! forgot how much I dig this song!)
3) Honey Child-Royal Crown Review
4) Numbers-GLove and Special Sauce
5) Walk a Mile-Holly Golightly
6) It Overtakes Me-The Flaming Lips
7) Drunk Drivin'-Sublime
8) Octavo Dia-Shakira (What? Don't judge me)
9) Footsteps-Pearl Jam (YES! So love this one too)
10)Well Thought Out Twinkles-Silversun Pickups
11) An Open Letter To NYC-The Beastie Boys
12)Nobody But Me-Save Ferris
13)Los Angeles-Counting Crows
14)Fascination Street-The Cure
15)That's How I knew This Story Would Break My Heart-Aimee Mann
 

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