The Ultimate Mix Tape Saga Continues
Hey fellow music lovers! I had so much fun chatting with you guys about music that I want more of it! I’m sharing with you some of my favorite music finds from the suggestions YOU left last blog, and asking you for MORE! I know, I’m so greedy. But you guys are a wealth of titillating tuneage!
If you’re just tuning in, I’m in the works of creating 2 mix cd’s for my mom for Christmas. For the past 5 years, I’ve made her a phenomenal woman mix. And I’m working on 2012’s now! But I’ve found so much great music, I’m taking some of the folksier ones and making a Cafe’ Mix as well.
Many of you named artists I already knew and loved. I thought, for those curious minds, I’d share the playlist from 2011’s Phenomenal Woman Mix!
Phenomenal Woman Mix 2011
- Lights by Ellie Goulding
- Cosmic Love by Florence + the Machine
- With or Without You by Sarah Darling
- Never Forget You by the Noisettes
- Pride and Joy by Brandi Carlile
- Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? by Amy Winehouse
- Waves and the Both of Us by Charlotte Sometimes
- All Your Life by The Band Perry
- Sweet Ride by Courtney Jaye
- When I Look At You by Miley Cyrus
- Don’t Stop by Gin Wigmore
- Everybody by V.V. Brown
- Little Lie by Lindi Ortega
- The Treehouse Song by Ane Brun
- On the Run by Tina Dico
- Shake it Out by Florence + the Machine
- Crazy Amazing by V.V. Brown
- Sing You Home by Xenia
- Tightrope by Janelle Monae
- Here I Go Again by Audra Mae
I’m going to extend the mix tape contest through this weekend too. I’ll be randomly picking 3 commenters between this post and the previous Mix Tape blog for a chance at one of the following,or heck, ALL OF THE ABOVE!
- a chance to do a guest post about their guilty pleasure
- a guest post from me on a topic TBD
- a mix cd of tunes selected just for you!
My favorite recommendations for the Cafe’ Mix so far:
Werewolf by Fiona Apple (recommended by Eric)
An all too true poetic encounter of some relationships. Been way too long since I listened to Fiona.
If Love is a Red Dress by Maria McKee (recommended by Dawn)
This song is great, and apparently on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack! Quentin Tarantino marathon anyone?
My favorite recommendations for the Phenomenal Woman Mix so far:
The Only Place by Best Coast (recommended by Mark)
Is this song in a commercial? I could swear I’d heard it before, which made it instantly catchy and awesome!
Glorious by Stephanie Mabey (power ballad recommended by Julie)
Beautiful! Just beautiful! And for fun, you seriously all need to check out Mabey’s tune, The Zombie Song – it’s a riot!
Next to Me by Emeli Sande’ (artist recommended by Victoria)
Victoria does a Sunday Songs post and this week she featured Emeli Sande’ covering John Lennon’s Imagine, which is also great, but I loved this original tune by her.
Beast of Burden by Bette Midler (Julie gets a second nod after I saw THIS VIDEO!)
Don’t you want to watch this video every day for the rest of your life?!
Ok folks, there’s some of the high contenders so far! Don’t forget to comment, comment, comment below! Please leave as many female artists/bands as possible! Three lucky winners to be announced on monday’s blog where I also introduce a special guest music star!
Silent Protests Against My Mother
Ever wonder why your parents made some of the decisions they did? No, you cannot take the turtle into bed with you! No, you may not watch Pink Floyd’s The Wall with your brother! No, you may not eat double stuff oreos, and I don’t care if Liz’s mom lets her!
My mom is a great mom. She writes in perfect cursive penmanship, has impeccable spelling, pays attention to detail, writes long letters and mails them with real stamps and envelopes and everything. She likes to sing, read mystery books, bake a variety of coffee cakes, and spy out the windows.
But I have one bone to pick with my mother. Throughout my childhood, on countless trips to the grocery store, she would never let me get double stuff oreos! This woman who rarely enforced rules about vegetables, or clean plate clubs, who married a baker, son of a woman who enforced dessert before dinner, wouldn’t let me eat double stuff oreos! Hell, I had coca cola in my sippy cups!!! (That may be why I stopped growing in eighth grade.)
This anti-oreo rule never made sense to me. I was a child who liked milk. I had contests with my father over who could drink their milk the fastest at dinner. I don’t know if you’re aware, but milk and oreos are like made for each other, best friends forever, kindred spirits from the galactic orbs of destined to be together soulmates! I bet if you eat an oreo without milk, your heart shrinks a little.
I reiterate my mother’s inconsistent lessons about the value of a nutritional diet; my mother had her days where cooking was not placed on the top of the list, in fact it was scribbled out and snipped straightly off the bottom of the notepad. Those days were called Sundays, or any other day one of her favorite TV shows was on. On these days we ate popcorn for dinner. Popcorn and slices of cheddar cheese. Maybe, maybe I’d have to eat like 4 slices of an apple. I never complained. I loved popcorn nights! Those of you who know me can attest I have an affinity for airy, crunchy snacks at mealtime.
As the years passed, I grew older, she refused to buy double stuff oreos. When I first moved out and began to buy my own groceries, I followed her approach in mastering the marketplace. Simply put, take your sweet time going up and down every aisle. You can make a list, sure, but it’s fun to add to it with new items that sound exotic and delectable like bagel chips. Is it more bagel or more chip, I don’t know, but their deliciousness drives me mad!
On one such shopping trip, I happened down the cookie aisle and low and behold on the very end, right at eye level, was that familiar looking Nabisco symbol in the corner of the shiny blue packaging. I picked up the package, looked side to side to see if anyone was watching, looked up to see if lightening bolts were crashing down and it appeared…no one gave a damn. So I put them in my cart. But as I wheeled around the aisle to the checkout, I couldn’t help but smirk. Take that, Mom!
What are the ridiculous rules your parents enforced? Did you ever protest? Did your rebellion taste as sweet and chocolately as mine?
Jess Witkins' Happiness Project 