Drive Time Conversation

"So Maddy... how was your day?"

"I had a great day!"

"Great days are the best, aren't they?"

"Word Mommy, WORD."

I love my influences. Just luuuuuurve them. :)

I Discovered Three Things Today:

1. People who take up two parking spaces to protect their precious cars... Seriously? Park your fat lazy ass in the back of the parking lot where no one else parks, and walk. Really - everyone wants to run their keys down the side of your car.

2. Nearly my entire working life has been spent working for the gov'ment. I'm so far from private sector that I've completely forgotten what that pressure cooker feels like. Not that I don't have stress, cause I can assure you I do.... but it's a different kind of stress, and I find my situation the lesser of two evils.

3. I really need to figure out if I'm gonna do this blogging thing anymore. I know I've mentioned before that the instant gratification piece of my brain really loves Facebook and Twitter, so much that they've begun to dominate my online time. Can I find space for all of it? Sure, if I really want to.

What's On My iPod

Dave Matthews Band - "You and Me" - DMB has really grown on me in the last couple of years, and their latest, Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King, is so far my favorite collection of songs from the band. If I had to describe the album, I'd call it a very sweet love letter.

The Game - "Westside Story" - I really dig 50 Cents' voice, he is the epitome of good time rap. This comes from his former gig 2005.

Jason Mraz - "The Forecast" - I just picked up his album "Mr A-Z" having only heard his one hit "Geek in the Pink" from it, but of course I wasn't disappointed. Jason Mraz has been added to my must-see concert list after having one of his shows on cable yesterday.

Diane Birch - "Nothing But a Miracle" - Have you heard this lady sing? She's like Amy Winehouse meets Carly Simon to me. A very soulful, bluesy sound.

Papa Roach - "Scars" - Have you ever been here? Yeah, me too. Love this band!

What's On My iPod

Whoa, it's been almost a month since I posted?! I'm knocking the mic, anyone out there?

I make a regular list of music I hear that sounds good, so I can download it later... and for this edition of What's On My iPod, I'm gonna give ya a sample from that list.

Creed - "Rain" - Yeah, I know these guys lost their credibility for awhile, but I'll say it, I like 'em. Here's the new single - and I'm digging it.

Alicia Keys - "Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart" - Alicia Keys has one of the most amazing voices I've ever heard! I picked up her latest yesterday, and so far, this is my favorite song from the album. If you've ever had your heart smashed into a million pieces, I think you'll love this song.

Muse - "Uprising" - I know the author for the Twilight books rants and raves about Muse, but I've been pretty indifferent about this band. When I heard this song, I instantly knew I had to have it. I really expected to find this on the New Moon soundtrack, but it is not.

Qtip - "Vivrant Thing" - Yeah, bob yer head to this one... this is my turn it up, sing loud and car dance song of the month! Guys - the video has some eye candy ;)

Halestorm - "It's Not You" - This seems to me like one of those whiskey drinking, bar fighting, hell raising, angry girl bands, and I LOVE it!! This song was enough to get me to note I should download the whole albums.

First Creek

Maddy and I took on a new trail today... First Creek at Redrock Canyon. It wasn't a strenuous hike by any means, but we saw quite a bit of wildlife today. Check it out:

We saw some wild burros today, who looked totally bored by our presence. We saw these two on the way up (the one on the right is showing us his best side, heh!). On the way back we saw a group of five, but my camera died, thus losing the photo op.

There were A LOT of lizards roaming about today, but this one was the only one who stayed still long enough for me to get a picture of. You can see him at the very center of the picture. :)

The weather was perfect, so there were plenty of other wildlife enjoying the great temperatures, including a few rabbits and several types of birds (all of which I didn't get pictures of). First Creek has a seasonal waterfall which we didn't get to see - partly because of the season, but perhaps also due to the fact that we haven't seen a decent rainfall in a very long time. This particular trail is prone to flash flooding, so it's not one to be hiking when it looks like rain out!

The following picture shows what a perfect day it was out... it just doesn't get much more beautiful in the desert than this:


Here's Madison and I at the end of the trail, relaxing and taking in the view:

The hike was a total of three miles, with a slight incline the entire walk up, but we hardly broke a sweat. We saw a few rock climbers heading up, there's quite a canyon walk to climb if you go all the way up (past the trail end). It's a great trail for young children and animals, check it out!

To see more photos check out my Flickr page here. Even Madison took a few of them today. My old Nikon Coolpix finally died today... but it just gave me the reason to buy a new camera. :) Hope your weekend was good, what were YOU up to?

Where the Wild Things Are

I took Madison to see "Where the Wild Things Are" today. It was my favorite childhood story, and I've been reading it to Madison since she was about two years old, so we were both pretty excited to see it.

I was told several times in the last week that the movie isn't so much a kid's film. I don't agree, entirely. Realistically, the book doesn't have many words - much is left to your own imagination, and that's part of the beauty of the story. Spike Jonze was going to have to make quite an adaptation to stretch this book for more than half an hour, and I love what he did with the story. He added some real world elements to tell us more about Max; he's got a sister and a single Mom, who both have their own stories as well, and it gives some solid background and character development. After seeing the film, I can see where parents with very small children (i.e., under the age of 4 or 5) would not want to take their kids to see it. The movie is almost two hours long and the real-world situations might be a bit confusing. I'm sure there were some lessons missed by Madison, i.e. the parallels between Carol and Max. However, it kept her interested the entire film and she was quite sympathetic to the situations between Max and his Mom, as well as what was happening between the monsters.

This movie made me all teary-eyed at the end, I'll fess up. I adore Spike Jonze's interpretation of this beloved children's story, and by all means... go see it!!

What's On My iPod

Tonight's list is right off the workout playlist, which rotates quite a bit. Since the weather is chilly outside after dark, I've been working out indoors much more. I've been doing this workout video, and while the workout is really, really good, I can't stand listening to these way-too-perky aerobic snobs talk. So I turn the volume all the way down and do it with the ipod blaring in my ears. It helps keep me from getting too bored, as well; the same workout every day is not good for my very short attention span.

Lil' Wayne - "Ready for the World" - My friend Adam introduced me to this song not too long ago, and I can't stop listening to it. I love this man's raspy voice! The song is NSFW, although the video is...

Weezer - "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To)" - This is one of those songs I'll hear once and sing all day, it's that catchy. I've heard all of Weezer's past hits, and they were good, I just never purchased any of them, but I pondered buying this whole album vs. the single. I read reviews online that mentioned how much Weezer has sold out, and although I wasn't an early fan, it made me pause. I remember how disappointed I was when No Doubt's Rock Steady album came out; I was so deflated, because they definitely sold out with that one. I'll wait and see if Weezer releases anything else from this album before I buy more.

Blue October - "Inner Glow" - It's so hard to pick a favorite Blue October song, they are definitely one of my favorite bands. This song is probably in their top 5. This is a live version - and most excellent. Speaking of live - I heard they rocked the Taste of Las Vegas, and I'm kicking myself for missing it. This song is also NSFW.

Ester Dean - "Drop It Low" - I Triple Dog Dare you to watch this video and try to sit still. This song is badass!!

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - "Everyday People" - When I was 12, I wanted to be Joan Jett. Now that I'm almost 39, I still do. LOL Have you seen this woman lately? She still looks amazing (mind you, she was born in 1958). I wish she was still putting out albums, I really enjoy her music (thankfully she still does shows) - but it seems like most rocker chicks have disappeared. At least we still have Pink, eh? I can't wait until the movie about her/her band is released, but Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett? I mean, Really?