So, I thought I'd share with you the music to which I'm currently rocking out.  I've linked to the YouTubes for each song, so you can listen, and I've given a little commentary on each--except the last one, which I apparently decided to talk about foreeeeeeeeeever.  All these songs are new, out this year (and really--most out this spring/summer), except for one--which is from last year but is still on the list because it's rad.

Anyway--I'mma go cook something for supper.  Have some Music:

( Summer 2014 PlaylistCollapse )

Let me know what y'all think, and also feel free to share with me some of the stuff that's got you groovin' this summer, too :-))

1. So, hi to any new folks from tumblr_refuge!

2. Y'all! There are three more days of summer school.  THREE. MORE. DAYS.  I am so ready for it to be done.  The kids are so ready for it to be done.  Unfortunately, there is just SO MUCH to do before then to get them actually ready to retake this test.  Aaaand, then there is a freaking LONG WEEKEND between the last day of ss and the admin of the exam, and I worry that they'll forget everything, and I'm insanely nervous about it, and I know that's not helping.  *deep breathing exercises*  But, I have to tell myself that it's okay--I've done what I could in this short period of time to help them, and they have improved a lot in their writing, and most of them were so close to passing the first time that hopefully just this little extra push will get them there.  But, man--I am feeling the pressure for sure.

3. You know how sometimes you'll just fixate on one particular song and play it over and over again?  (Well, maybe you don't, but I certainly do)  It might be a new one or an old one or a random one or whatever.  Well, this weekend, that song was "Happy With Myself" by Over the Rhine.  Yeeeeaaahhh... I think I really need a vacation, y'all ;-)  Also!  Speaking of music, I made a Summer 2014 playlist with some of the great new music that's caught my attention lately.  Perhaps I'll post that later.  It deserves its own post, I think.

4. So, Arrow.  Do any of y'all watch it?  divajess made me, and I'm in the middle of s2 right now, and I have to say--I approve.  But what is up with Katie Cassidy's face lately (I'm on episode 7)?  She looks so different?  I can't put my finger on it, and it's driving me nuts.  Did she get surgery, or does her darker/flatter hair just make her face look weird?  I'm thinking surgery or teeth or something?  Whatever it is--It's distracting me from Stephen Amell's abs.  That simply will not do! ;-)

5.  I need to write.  I'm having a hard time with this last chapter.  I've got it blocked out and "outlined" but I just cannot seem to make it do what it needs to do.  I've put it down entirely for a couple of days, and I do think it's time to pick it back up again and see if it will bend to my will.  BEND TO MY WILL, Story!

I had a bit of a Tumblr... misstep? today.  The link there is to the whole thread, it's on the other girl's Tumblr, so it has all the beginning stuff and both of my responses as well as the other person's responses back to me.  Oh, man... I hate internet drama (or any drama, really).  I'm horribly bad at it and usually stay completely away from it.  It sort of blind-sided me today, and now I feel a little sad about it.

( tl;dr summary of what happenedCollapse )

It makes my heart sad when I might have hurt someone's feelings, even inadvertently.  I sent a message apologizing and clarifying, and she was actually pretty nice about it and accepted my apology (though she did not apologize for her own name-calling to me).  Sigh.  I need to Not Say Things.  I'm apparently worse at saying what I mean than I think I am.

Okay--I'm going to go watch So You Think You Can Dance and make some dinner and stop obsessing, and maybe the sad little knot in my stomach will go away.

Oh, also--I got my hair cut today!!!  It's been almost a year (I hadn't realized it had been so, er... long ;-))  I also have him chemically straighten my bangs because I neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed bangs to cover my Massive Forehead, but my hair is so curly that without the chemical assistance, I look like a Crazy Bird Lady.  So, I had him cut about three inches off the length in total and much, much more around my face, so now I have these great rockery-but-feminine sort of face-framing wispies to go along with my "thick" bangs.  It's SO MUCH BETTER OMG.  I just shaved off between five and ten minutes of gettin' ready time.  AND ALSO MY HAIR LOOKS SO MUCH BETTER!

I got a lovely compliment over on AO3 tonight about my old Harry Potter fic.  So naturally--I went to go read some of them. LOL!  I can almost mark my move to England in these fics.  Oh, the Americanisms!  I will totally admit to Britpiciking my own old work after doing so.

I also got a lovely email from one of my best friends over in Jolly Ol' today.  I miss her.  I miss England.  I think I might be pining.

Goal:  Next summer.  I want to go back next summer.

So, the Over the Rhine Playlist.   I was just going to upload it, list the songs, and be done with it, but then I decided that no--Over the Rhine deserves my story. It's not just about them--it's about me and my journey, too.  Though, I did add an extra cut if you just want to skip right to the playlist.  You'll see that I've added my little notes for the songs. I really hope y'all give them a good listen because it is worth it--the way reading a good book or having a great talk with an old friend is worth it.

( Making-Music (Or How Over the Rhine Helped Make Me, Me). A lot of this is about my own journey.Collapse )

( Yeah, yeah, yeah--just get to the playlist already!Collapse )