Music Monday -- 101 Faves 90s Edition (Part 2)

As part of my ongoing Day Zero Project, I've made a list of my favorite 101 songs of all time.  To help cut down on the possibilities, I took songs only from my iTunes account.  Each edition will include ~5 songs with a theme.  Enjoy!

Matchbox Twenty "3 am" -- One of those songs that I still know every word to...  I loved early Matchbox Twenty.  I even saw them in concert at Ball State in 2000.

No Doubt "Sunday Morning" -- While many would go to "Just a Girl" or "Spiderwebs" from Tragic Kingdom, I always go to "Sunday Morning."  For added fun, a live version.

The Offspring "The Kids Aren't Alright" -- Another band I saw in concert during college.  I love their older stuff, but this song holds a special place in my heart.  Too many of the situations in this song reminded me of people I knew in high school.  Kind of sad, but I still love it.

Hole "Celebrity Skin" -- Another concert band.  I was supposed to see them with Marilyn Manson, but they dropped out of the tour.  Thankfully they came a few months later during a Christmas concert with Orgy and two others bands.  Okay, it may not have been a Christmas concert, but it was four bands...

Day Zero Project Update: Weeks 78-83

Instead of daily posts, I thought it would be a lot easier for me and you if I did weekly update posts.  These will track my progress each week.  I will highlight what I’ve done, what I want to do, and any interesting tidbits.  Sometimes I’ll add pictures and/or links.  Hopefully these posts will keep me accountable to me list…

What I Did

5. Make a playlist of my favorite 101 songs (42/101)

• Linkin Park "Crawling"
• Alkaline Trio "Calling All Skeletons"
• AFI "Miss Murder"
• Fuel "Million Miles"
• Anna Nalick "Wreck of the Day"
• Haley James Scott "Halo"
• Augustana "Boston"
• Jon McLaughlin "Indiana"
• Dashboard Confessional "Saints and Sailors"
• Howie Day "Ghost"
• Flogging Molly "Float"
• John Mayer "Neon"
• Gorillaz "Dare"
• Arctic Monkeys "I Bet You Look Good"
• The Killers "Somebody Told Me"

12. See all of IMDB’s Top 250 movies  (28/250)

• 166. Life of Brian -- Love me some Monty Python
• 139. Annie Hall -- We now own the entire Woody Allen collection.  Had to watch this one first.

24. Keep a journal for this project

27. Make a list of 101 inspirational quotes (75/101)

28. Blog 1001 times -- 57 posts this period (974/1001)

37. Pass 250,000 pages read for my 1,000,000 pages challenge (132,130/250,000)

Overall Progress

28/101

Music Monday -- 101 Get Up and Dance Edition

As part of my ongoing Day Zero Project, I've made a list of my favorite 101 songs of all time.  To help cut down on the possibilities, I took songs only from my iTunes account.  Each edition will include ~5 songs with a theme.  Enjoy!

Gorillaz "Dare" -- The boys really enjoy this song while driving in the car.  Great beat!

Arctic Monkeys "I Bet You Look Good" -- Love the Arctic Monkeys and this song gets me moving every time.  Two different live versions for you to enjoy!

The Killers "Somebody Told Me" -- I was working at Best Buy when this was released and it was constantly on rotation in the store.  Every time it came on, all the cashiers started dancing.  Plus, they were awesome in concert.  The live video sounds like what I heard when I saw them this past December.

Music Monday -- 101 Faves Live Edition

As part of my ongoing Day Zero Project, I've made a list of my favorite 101 songs of all time.  To help cut down on the possibilities, I took songs only from my iTunes account.  Each edition will include ~5 songs with a theme.  Enjoy! Sometimes the best editions of songs are the live ones.  I would love to see any of these signers/bands in concert.

Dashboard Confessional "Saints and Sailors" -- The live version is much better than the studio.  I love his MTV Unplugged album.

Howie Day "Ghost" -- Day adds great little parts to this song on the live version.  It sounds more natural to me.

Flogging Molly "Float" -- I was supposed to see them last summer, but we moved before the concert.  I would still love to see them.

John Mayer "Neon" -- He may be an idiot, but I love this song live.

Music Monday -- 101 Faves Sad Song Edition

As part of my ongoing Day Zero Project, I've made a list of my favorite 101 songs of all time.  To help cut down on the possibilities, I took songs only from my iTunes account.  Each edition will include ~5 songs with a theme.  Enjoy! Sometimes we need a sad song to commiserate with us.

Augustana "Boston" -- I just love the lyrics to this song.  I find myself singing at the top of my lungs every time it comes up on shuffle.

Jon McLaughlin "Indiana" -- Such a song of defeat or comfort, depending on how you hear it...

Anna Nalick "Wreck of the Day" -- Another great sing-along sad song.

Haley James Scott "Halo" -- Yeah, yeah it's from One Tree Hill.  But that doesn't mean it isn't an awesome song.

Music Monday -- 101 Faves Rock n Roll Edition (Part 2)

As part of my ongoing Day Zero Project, I've made a list of my favorite 101 songs of all time.  To help cut down on the possibilities, I took songs only from my iTunes account.  Each edition will include ~5 songs with a theme.  Enjoy! More rock songs to enjoy today...

Fuel "Million Miles" -- Saw them in concert circa 2004.  Very fun and I just love this song.

AFI "Miss Murder" -- I was student teaching when this song came out.  My students were impressed that I knew who AFI was.  We had a music day.  The song has stuck with me.

Alkaline Trio "Calling All Skeletons" -- Saw them in concert with Blink 182 and A New Found Glory.  And one of their friends was an acquaintance in college.  Great song!

Linkin Park "Crawling" -- My hands-down favorite Linkin Park song.  Now one of my boys loves them.

Day Zero Project Update: Week 72-77

Instead of daily posts, I thought it would be a lot easier for me and you if I did weekly update posts.  These will track my progress each week.  I will highlight what I’ve done, what I want to do, and any interesting tidbits.  Sometimes I’ll add pictures and/or links.  Hopefully these posts will keep me accountable to me list…

What I Did

5. Make a playlist of my favorite 101 songs (19/101)

1. Billy Joel "Lullaby"
2. Tori Amos "1000 Oceans"
3. The Toadies "Possum Kingdom"
4. Oasis "Don't Look Back (In Anger)"
5. Dixie Chicks "Easy Silence"
6. JoDee Messina and Tim McGraw "Bring on the Rain"
7. Lady Antebellum "I Run to You"
8. A Day to Remember "All I Want"
9. All American Rejects "Move Along"
10. Yellowcard "Lights and Sounds"
11. Muse "Starlight"
12. Ben Folds "Narcolepsy"
13. Amanda Palmer "Astronaut"
14. Regina Spektor "Apres Moi"
15. The Dresden Dolls "Sing"
16. KT Tunstall "Ashes"
17. Christina Perri "Jar of Hearts"
18. Kate Voegele "One Way or Another"
19. Brandi Carlile "The Story"

7. Watch 10 foreign films (3/10)

• Ip Man -- Part of our New Movie February.  Great movie in Cantonese.
• Seven Samurai -- Japanese, part of New Movie February.

9. See 101 new movies (101/101)

• Hanna -- Awesome action movie, awesome soundtrack.

12. See all of IMDB’s Top 250 movies  (26/250)

• 13. Seven Samurai

15. Have a zombie movie marathon (for my birthday week)

• Night of the Living Dead (1968)
• Dawn of the Dead (2004)
• Land of the Dead (2005)
• Resident Evil (2002)
• Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
• Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
• Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)
• Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)
• 28 Days Later (2002)
• 28 Weeks Later (2007)
• Shawn of the Dead (2004)
• The Walking Dead S1-S3

20. Reread all of Jane Austen’s novels (4/6)

24. Keep a journal for this project

27. Make a list of 101 inspirational quotes (75/101)

28. Blog 1001 times — 109 posts this period  (917/1001)

36. Attend 3 literary events (1/3)

• Author Laurie R. King speaking at the Santa Clara library

37. Pass 250,000 pages read for my 1,000,000 pages challenge (126,981/250,000)

Overall Progress

26/101

Music Monday -- 101 Faves Great Women Edition

As part of my ongoing Day Zero Project, I've made a list of my favorite 101 songs of all time.  To help cut down on the possibilities, I took songs only from my iTunes account.  Each edition will include ~5 songs with a theme.  Enjoy! There's nothing better than a great female singer songwriter.  So here you go...

Brandi Carlile "The Story" -- Her voice is just amazing.  I love the roughness.  She can sing to me anytime.

Kate Voegele "One Way or Another" -- I saw her in concert opening for Josh Kelley (before being on One Tree Hill).  I love her upbeat music, but this isn't one of those.  But it's my favorite song of hers.

Christina Perri "Jar of Hearts" -- So amazing...

KT Tunstall "Ashes" -- She's another interesting voice.  I love the different, almost bluesy quality to it.

Music Monday -- 101 Faves Quirky Edition

As part of my ongoing Day Zero Project, I've made a list of my favorite 101 songs of all time.  To help cut down on the possibilities, I took songs from my iTunes account.  Each edition will include ~5 songs with theme.  Enjoy! For those quirky singers/bands, I show my love.

Dresden Dolls "Sing" -- How much do I love this band?  Bunches and bunches.  I thought about putting "Coin Operated Boy" or "Good Day" on here, but I love "Sing" and its uplifting message.  So here you go...

Regina Spektor "Apres Moi" -- Love her bridge in Russian.  It just sounds so amazing.  I still need to get her newest album.

Amanda Palmer "Astronaut" -- One half of The Dresden Dolls, all by herself.  I am part of the world that loves her.

Ben Folds "Narcolepsy" -- Has collaborated with Amanda Palmer and Regina Spektor, weird coincidence.  Plus, I saw him in concert with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and he rocked the Embassy.

Music Monday -- 101 Faves Rock n Roll Edition

As part of my ongoing Day Zero Project, I've made a list of my favorite 101 songs of all time.  To help cut down on the possibilities, I took songs only from my iTunes account.  Each edition will include ~5 songs with a theme.  Enjoy! Rock out with these four great songs.

A Day to Remember "All I Want" -- A band that my former students got me into.  The video for this song is just way too fun with all the cameos.

All American Rejects "Move Along" -- Always my favorite song by them.

Yellowcard "Lights and Sounds" -- Listening to Yellowcard always makes me happy.

Muse "Starlight" -- Amazing band.  I thought of picking Knights of Cydonia, but I featured that song early on in my blog days.  So I went with another favorite.

Music Monday -- 101 Faves Country Edition

As part of my ongoing Day Zero Project, I've made a list of my favorite 101 songs of all time.  To help cut down on the possibilities, I took songs only from my iTunes account.  Each edition will include ~5 songs with a theme.  Enjoy! I'm not a huge country fan, but there are a few singers/bands that I really enjoy.

Dixie Chicks "Easy Silence" -- I've always like the Dixie Chicks, but this song is just beautiful.

JoDee Messina "Bring on the Rain" -- Love the duet.

Lady Antebellum "I Run to You" -- Still a favorite band today.  I found them through loving Josh Kelley (Charles Kelley's brother).

Music Monday -- 101 Faves 90s Edition

As part of my ongoing Day Zero Project, I've made a list of my favorite 101 songs of all time.  To help cut down on the possibilities, I took songs only from my iTunes account.  Each edition will include ~5 songs with a theme.  Enjoy! Songs from the 1990s.  Songs from the time I discovered music on my own.

Oasis "Don't Look Back (in Anger)" -- While Wonderwall is pretty amazing, it was this song that I always played (and still play) on repeat.

The Toadies "Possum Kingdom" -- So dark!  Just like my crazy pseudo-Gothic phase...

Tori Amos "1000 Oceans" -- Amos just has such a beautiful voice.  I can't help by love this song.

Billy Joel "Lullaby" -- I remember getting Joel's River of Dreams album on cassette from my dad.  I loved listening to the entirety, but this song was always my favorite.

Day Zero Project Update: Week 67-71

Instead of daily posts, I thought it would be a lot easier for me and you if I did weekly update posts.  These will track my progress each week.  I will highlight what I’ve done, what I want to do, and any interesting tidbits.  Sometimes I’ll add pictures and/or links.  Hopefully these posts will keep me accountable to me list…

What I Did

5. Make a playlist of my favorite 101 songs (8/101)

• Damien Rice "Amie"
• Goo Goo Dolls "Iris"
• Orgy "Eva"
• Sarah McLachlan "Adia"
• Barenaked Ladies "Alcohol"
• Cake "Short Skirt Long Jacket"
• Cowboy Mouth "Love of My Life"
• Five Iron Frenzy "Oh Canada"

9. See 101 new movies (100/101)

• Lincoln -- Daniel Day Lewis better get the Oscar for his performance!
• The One -- Jet Li vs. Jet Li being completely badass.  What's not to love?
• The Final Countdown -- 1970s scifi at its best.
• Real Steel -- Good, if a bit melodramatic in a few scenes.
• Nine -- Not the best musical, but definitely evokes a certain time period in history.
• Priest -- Silly action movie...
• The Queen of Versailles -- Documentary showing extravagance.  Very interesting and appalling.
• Friends with Benefits -- Much better than No Strings Attached, but cheesy at times.
• Taken 2 -- Liam Neeson kickin' ass for an hour and a half. Perfection!

20. Reread all of Jane Austen's novels (3/6)

24. Keep a journal for this project

27. Make a list of 101 inspirational quotes (69/101)

28. Blog 1001 times --  99 posts this period  (808/1001)

32. Finish 30 reading challenges (27/30)

• Seasonal Reading Challenge
• Fantasy Reading Challenge

63. Host a homemade pizza party -- We had a great little party with our Indiana friends Tori and Alli.

Overall Progress

26/101

Music Monday -- 101 Faves Fun Edition

As part of my ongoing Day Zero Project, I've made a list of my favorite 101 songs of all time.  To help cut down on the possibilities, I took songs only from my iTunes account.  Each edition will include ~5 songs with a theme.  Enjoy! This week is all about the fun songs.  Enjoy these wacky yet irresistible songs.

Barenaked Ladies "Alcohol" -- Amazing love song to alcohol (or is it?).  We played this one almost every day going to school my junior and senior year of high school.

Five Iron Frenzy "Oh Canada" -- Another high school car favorite.  My friend Beth always loved this one. Plus the live version is so much better!

Kind of crappy live video version

Cake "Short Skirt Long Jacket"-- This is my jam!  It's even my ringtone on J's phone.  Plus every episode of Chuck, I would start singing the song even though it's instrumental.  It's just awesome!

Cowboy Mouth "Love of My Life" -- Another great sing along (or is it scream along?)

Music Monday -- 101 Faves Names Edition

As part of my ongoing Day Zero Project, I've made a list of my favorite 101 songs of all time.  To help cut down on the possibilities, I took songs only from my iTunes account.  Each edition will include ~5 songs with a theme.  Enjoy! This week's edition is all about songs with names for titles.

Goo Goo Dolls "Iris" --  One of those favorite songs from the high school era.

Sarah McLachlan "Adia" -- Another favorite from high school.

Orgy "Eva" -- Saw them in concert back in the late 1990s (or 2000).

Damien Rice "Amie" -- Beautiful song.  Beautiful voice.  Beautiful lyrics.

Music Monday -- "Rainbow Connection"

As I was going through all the songs on our server (thousands), I realized that I have quite a few versions of this song. Why is that?  Oh yeah, It's just an awesome song.  I dare you not to sing along...

Original Kermit the Frog:

The Dixie Chicks:

Sarah McLachlan: My favorite non-Kermit version

Less Than Jake: A ska version for you...

Jason Mraz: I don't have this one, but I do love him...

Day Zero Project Update: Week 63-66

Instead of daily posts, I thought it would be a lot easier for me and you if I did weekly update posts.  These will track my progress each week.  I will highlight what I’ve done, what I want to do, and any interesting tidbits.  Sometimes I’ll add pictures and/or links.  Hopefully these posts will keep me accountable to me list…

What I Did

1. Go to 5 concerts (1/5) -- Free tickets to see Live 105's Not So Silent Night featuring Grouplove, M83, Tegan and Sara, Passion Pit, and The Killers.  Merry Christmas to me!

9. See 101 new movies (91/101)

• The Dictator -- Had a few funny parts, but the rest was so-so
• Love, Wedding, Marriage -- Pretty subpar romantic comedy...
• 21 Jump Street -- Way funnier than I thought it would be
• Our Idiot Brother -- Not as bad as everyone said, but I do love me some Paul Rudd
• 12 Dates of Christmas -- ABC Family cheesy awesomeness
• The Game -- Fincher's second film.  Really good mind bender.
• The Hobbit -- In IMAX 3D!  Holy Crap!  Amazing!

12. See all of IMDB's Top 250 movies  (25/250)

• 119. Blade Runner -- Always a great science fiction movie.

24. Keep a journal for this project

28. Blog 1001 times -- 50 this time period   (709/1001)

32. Finish 30 reading challenges (25/30)

• Telling Tales
• Books2Movies
• Science Fiction
• What's in a Name 6
• Back to the Classics
• Mixing It Up
• 2012 Goodreads Challenge
• Historical Fiction

37. Pass 250,000 pages read for my 1,000,000 pages challenge (109,486/250,000)

Overall Progress

25/101

Day Zero Project Update: Week 59-62

Instead of daily posts, I thought it would be a lot easier for me and you if I did weekly update posts.  These will track my progress each week.  I will highlight what I’ve done, what I want to do, and any interesting tidbits.  Sometimes I’ll add pictures and/or links.  Hopefully these posts will keep me accountable to me list…

What I Did

5. Make a playlist of my favorite 101 songs -- Narrowed down to 101, prepping posts for January.

9. See 101 new movies (84/101)

• We are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists -- Awesome documentary chronicling the history of hacktivism with an emphasis with Anonymous.  Beautiful piece of film.
• Tim Minchin: Rock n Roll Nerd -- J absolutely loves him and has been wanting me to watch this documentary about him for awhile.  Very entertaining and poignant.
• The Five Year Engagement -- Not so great.  A little too awkward weird.
• Seeking a Friend for the End of the World -- Beautifully uplifting for an end of the world movie.
• Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter -- Pretty disappointed as I loved the book.  I updated my book review to include a movie review.
• Safety Not Guaranteed -- This movie was great.  I loved the mystery of it.  And the characters were amazing.  Must see.
• The Campaign -- Very relevant look at our political spectrum told with laughs.
• Skyfall -- Amazing Bond film!  A must see.  Really enjoyed all the nods to the previous films.
• Wreck It Ralph -- Took the boys, a very good animated movie!

24. Keep a journal for this project

28. Blog 1001 times 39 post this period.  (659/1001)

30. Finish 100 creative writing prompts (8/100)  -- I joined Michelle @ Stories Inside for Sit Down and Write 2 (ending today).  This allowed me to focus on my writing for two weeks.  And of course, I failed miserably.  Being away from home and back in Indiana distracted me with everything else.  I only got 4 prompts completed...

32. Finish 30 reading challenges (17/30)

• Shakespeare Reading Challenge

Overall Progress

25/101

Sit Down and Write 2

From Stories Inside:

This write-a-thon is for any writing you need to get done.  If you're working on a novel and, perhaps, participating in NaNoWriMo next month (like me--buddy up with me--thetruebookaddict), it's for you.  If you have a ton of reviews to write coming off of (or during) the many read-a-thons that are always going on, this is perfect for you.  Any writing you need to get done...this is the thon to really buckle down.  I'm not going to be hosting any mini-challenges, but I will have check-in linkies posted every few days, if you are so inclined to share your progress.  You can link to your reviews or your progress posts.  Our Twitter hashtag is #sitdownwrite  If you're game for a couple Twitter chats, let me know in the comments.

Due to input from participants last time, the write-a-thon will now run for two weeks!  Starting and end times are the usual:  Monday (11/12) 12:01am CST until Sunday (11/25) 11:59pm CST.

I just got to this in my GoogleReader and I am ready to join!  Last year, I tried NaNoWriMo and it didn't go so well.  Instead of the pressure of 50,000 words in a month for one piece, I am going to focus on short creative writing exercises.  I will be posting some of my pieces here on the blog.  These also count towards my Day Zero Project: Finish 100 Creative Writing Prompts.  I'm definitely not expecting to finish all 100, but I want to get a chunk done and get the creative juices flowing.

Day Zero Project Update: Week 55-58

Instead of daily posts, I thought it would be a lot easier for me and you if I did weekly update posts.  These will track my progress each week.  I will highlight what I’ve done, what I want to do, and any interesting tidbits.  Sometimes I’ll add pictures and/or links.  Hopefully these posts will keep me accountable to me list…

What I Did

5. Make a playlist of my favorite 101 songs -- Slowly working through the songs to narrow the list down.  I hope to have Music Monday posts highlighting these starting in January.

9. See 101 new movies (75/101)

• The Expendables -- Thank goodness it was free on Netflix.  A movie that takes itself way too seriously.
• Battleship -- Just a crazy action film.  No substance, but still pretty fun.
• Iron Sky -- Nazis from the ark side of the moon...  hee hee.  Loved it!
• Snow White and the Huntsman -- So much better than Mirror, Mirror.  Loved the supporting cast, especially Charlize Theron.
• Chronicle -- Awesome movie.  We like to think of it was what Episodes 1-3 should have been.
• Rock of Ages -- Cheesy, but Tom Cruise was awesome!
• Tucker and Dale vs. Evil -- Way too funny!  Laughed my ass off.

12. See all of IMDB’s Top 250 movies  (24/250) -- I forgot to notate these for the last few months, so I'm doing it now.  These are all movies I rewatched.

• 132. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two
• 181. How to Train Your Dragon
• 131. The Wizard of Oz
• 194. The Princess Bride
• 108. Die Hard
• 75. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
• 101. Up
• 57. Lawrence of Arabia
• 124. Snatch

20. Reread all of Jane Austen’s novels (2/6)

24. Keep a journal for this project

27. Make a list of 101 inspirational quotes (61/101)

28. Blog 1001 times  -- 38 for this period (620/1001)

32. Finish 30 reading challenges (16/30)

• Zombie Reading Challenge -- Another 24 books read for this year!

35.Join or create a book club -- Randomly a crafter friend asked if I wanted to be in a new book club with some fellow crafters.  Of course I said yes!  Which gave me three days to get and read our first book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.  We are going to meet every month.  Books choices will be presented by the month's "Host" and voted on by the group.  For December we're reading The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott.  I'm really excited to read and discuss some new books!

71. Donate 100,000 grains of rice on freerice.com  (2040/100,000)

What I Plan to Do Next Week.

19. Complete The Artist’s Way -- The local library has a copy.  I plan to pick it up this week and make my preliminary plan.

Overall Progress

25/101