Musical Therapy
I saw this over at Karl’s place and thought it looked like fun. I realize you’re probably all sick of my "I suck at karate" posts so I thought I’d change it up. Plus, it’s about music, and music is therapy so why not?
Of all the bands and artists in your collection, of which one do you own the most albums?
Dave Matthews Band or Prince, followed closely by Beyonce/Destiny’s Child (I know, I’m a freak.)
What was the last song you listened to?
Something on the Chris Daughtry CD (or maybe Nelly Furtado)
What are your favorite instruments?
Love the sax (played it for many, many years), love the drums, and the guitar is pretty cool too although I could never figure out to play the way my Dad did, without any training at all.
Who’s your favorite local artist/band?
Does Rusted Root count? They were my favorite local band in the ‘burgh, as was Brownie Mary.
What was the last show you attended?
Prince.
What was the greatest show you’ve ever been to?
Prince, both of his last two tours. They were incredible shows. Oh, and I have to mention Pink Floyd. That was an amazing show as well.
What’s the worst band you’ve ever seen in concert?
Gin Blossoms, because I took my sister to be nice despite the fact that I was not a fan, and there were no hot guys there at ALL to distract me from the music.
What band do you love musically but hate the members of?
I’ve got nothing here. If I don’t like the members, I usually don’t listen to the music.
What is the most musically involved you have ever been?
I started playing the saxophone in 4th grade. In junior high I played in marching, concert, and jazz band (winning a solo award at a prestigious jazz competition). In high school, I played in concert and jazz band. But sadly, I haven’t played since. I also had a very short stint in chorus; now I mostly contain my singing to the shower and the car.
What show are you looking forward to?
I would LOVE to see The Police and really hope I can get tickets.
What is your favorite band shirt?
Does my Vanilla Ice shirt that I used as a nightshirt count?
What musician would you like to hang out with for a day?
Gwen Stefani, so I could find out all her beauty secrets.
What musician would you like to be in love with you for a day?
Ooh, easy. Chris Daughtry. I love his voice and he’s a hottie. Or maybe Justin Timberlake. I’d love to dance with him just once.
What was your last musical "phase" before you wised up?
I was all about the rap crap for a while.
Sabbath or solo Ozzy?
Huh?
Did you know that filling out this meme makes you a music geek?
Whatevah.
What was the greatest decade for music?
80’s without a doubt. Bring on the Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Curious George. . . Oops, I mean Boy George (almost went into Mommy mode there).
What is your favorite movie soundtrack?
Top Gun, but only because I think it’s the only one I’ve ever owned.
Who is your favorite artist who is much better live than on a recording?
I have no answer for this. Over the years I have seen in concert: Vanilla Ice, Gin Blossoms, Counting Crows, Justin Timberlake (with Christina Aguilera and Black Eyed Peas), Pink Floyd, Prince (multiple times), Rusted Root, Dave Matthews Band (multiple times). . .I guess I’ll say Prince because he makes the show so much fun, but not because he doesn’t sound good on recordings. He’s awesome any way you slice it.
Do you have a hidden desire to be a popular musician?
All I will say is that when in 5th grade, my friends and I had a "group" called the "Dudettes." We used our Shanghai Surprise Happy Meal chopsticks as drumsticks on plastic pretzel bins and my sister’s toy microphone. We were gonna be stars. . .
Have you ever used drugs to enhance the music experience?
Does ibuprofen count?
What was the last song you heard that gave you a chill?
Don’t laugh, but when Blake of American Idol did that Keane song back in the beginning of the season? Chills. Loved that. Before that, when Prince performed an acoustic "Little Red Corvette" at his last concert.
Where would you be without music?
Without my dance moves, which means without many of life’s greatest moments.
I won’t tag. Play if you like.
And Happy Easter!
Tagged-Weird things
I have been tagged by Sesame for the six weird things meme. I did this last year around this time, but because I am relatively certain there are more than six weird things about me, I’ll play.
1. I have an uncanny ability for screwing up song lyrics to almost any song. It provides my husband with great amusement. For example, if you’re familiar with the song "Take my Breath Away" circa the Top Gun era, you probably know that towards the end of that song, the singer says, "Looking through the glass I saw you. . . ". Well, for years I belted along with her, but my version was, "Julio Iglesius saw you. . . " According to Mr. BBM, I’ve also screwed up many other songs. But most of the time, I prefer the lyrics my way.
2. Poor eating habits of other people can make me physically sick. Some of my major pet peeves are people who chew with their mouth open, double-dippers, finger lickers, and oh man, I think I need to go be sick. I can’t even think about nasty table manners without feeling nauseous. Gross.
3. If I seem kind of in a zone, it’s probably because I’m doing mental karate, mostly kata. I imagine myself doing kata’s while driving, while drifting off to sleep, during commercial breaks, when I’m cooking and even when I’m in the shower.
4. I form strange attachments to inanimate objects. For example, I will not allow my Mom to get rid of many of my toys/stuffed animals, etc. from childhood. I feel bad for the toys/stuffed animals. I blame my parents for raising me with empathy. Apparently it went too far. I also have a problem getting rid of clothing that is either out of date or no longer my size, especially when said item of clothing has sentimental value attached to it. For example, if I wore that blue shirt on our 26th date or something equally ludicrous. I thought adulthood would bring more rational thought on this issue, but now I just blame the Toy Story movies for putting on the big screen what I’ve imagined all along: toys do have feelings.
5. I have taken karate for several years now. I insisted on having a high tech security system installed in our home. I am always on alert when I am outside of the house and am a stickler for safety. Having said that. . . I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I have left my keys hanging in the front door of my house for anyone to just waltz right on in. Once I even did so overnight, when my husband was traveling. It took me a good 45 minutes to find those keys, because there was "no way I could have left them in the door-not me! NEVER!" and there they were.
6. I have every piece of baby clothes, baby towels, baby toys, baby equipment that we have ever received as a gift or bought ourselves. I can not even fathom the idea of getting rid of any of it. Most Mom’s willingly hand out outgrown clothing to other Mom’s with little ones, but I CAN NOT bring myself to do this. Every piece of clothing is attached to some type of baby memory, and I don’t want to lose that physical reminder. It’s just such an amazing time that I can’t part with any of it. (I guess this one goes with #4 but my crawl space full of baby things says this one deserved a number all its own.)
So, who to tag? Who to tag? I’m going to go with: Papa Bradstein, Forging Ironman, One Crazy Chick, thatblackbeltchic, and Junebee. If you’re not tagged and would like to play along, go for it and let me know you did. I tried to pick bloggers I haven’t tagged before, so play if you’d like to or feel free to just ignore me; everyone else does.
Did I guilt you into playing? Good.
Everything you wanted to know. . .
You may all be asking what that new thing in the sidebar is over there on the left side. My friend has a son who has Type 1 Diabetes. You can visit his website at Kroll Books. He is participating in a School Walk for Diabetes and is hoping to raise $500 that will go towards research in the fight against Diabetes. My Mom is a Type 1 Diabetic so his daily struggles hit close to home for us. We are planning on sponsoring him. He is a fabulous kid, and if you’d like to donate, click on Chase’s name in the sidebar and you’ll go directly to his donation web page. I’d love to see his $500 goal blown out of the water. If you have an extra $5 laying around, please consider donating to Chase. If you do, shoot me an email so I can properly shower you with love.
And now, back to business. . .
The questions have been rolling in (or not). Scott, my new friend, from Forging Ironman asked these questions.
What is your favorite "karate movie"? Least favorite? And why?
Although it’s been a while, my favorite karate movie is probably The Karate Kid. My least favorite? I’d have to say that any of the more recent martial arts movies that incorporate all the wires and artistic stuff that looks beautiful, but is in no way realistic. I remember watching The Karate Kid for days at a time when it was on the channel Prism. My parents had to turn the TV off and make me go outside. I loved that movie. I guess I liked it so much because it showed that hard work pays off and that the good guys can and do win.
I assume you plan to teach or assist the instructor when you reach black belt. What are you most excited about with teaching? And least?
I would LOVE to teach someday. Although many probably think that my M.S.Ed. degree is wasted since I’m not in the classroom anymore and wasn’t for very long, I have been looking at that degree as a stepping stone to knowing good teaching techniques to one day teach karate. I am probably most excited about teaching kobudo (weapons). I am probably least excited about teaching sparring. I think I’d like to try to teach the Little Dragons some day, just to see what it would be like. I don’t know if I could take that for long though.
Have you ever competed in a tournament? An out of state tournament? An international tournament? What events did you do?
No, no, and no. I have absolutely no interest in tournament competing. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with entering tournaments; it’s just that it’s not for me. I’m not interested in the trophies or the competition. For me, it’s always been much more of a personal thing. If I were to enter a tournament, I would compete in kata and weapons, but I highly doubt I would compete in sparring. I’ve heard horror stories, especially about sparring against woman, and I am not interested at all in that aspect.
What is your favorite book?
I absolutely loved The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I think it’s one of the best books of all time and that it will become a classic. I also loved Suspect by Michael Robotham; and for a nail-biting, stomach-churning thriller, Intensity by Dean Koonce was a fabulous read.
What was your favorite subject in school?
It was not math or science, that’s for sure! I’d have to say English. During my senior year of High School, I took three English classes: 12th grade English, Journalism, and World Literature. World Literature was an amazing class. On the first day of class, my teacher slammed a copy of War and Peace on each of our desks and that was what we read until November.
What do you like most about being a mother?
There are so many things I love about being a mother that it’s difficult to choose just one thing so I won’t. I love staying at home with my girls and watching them grow and change. I love all the new little discoveries, like when Lil C says a new word or tries to jump for the first time. I love seeing the lightbulb turn on when Big I sounds out a new word or ties her shoes for the first time (which happened last week). I absolutely LOVE when one of my girls curls up on my lap with a book or snuggles up to me when they’re sleepy. I could go on, but you get the idea.
PSU Mommy wants to know: I know you love the city I live in now…what’s keeping you from moving back?
The city she’s referring to is Pittsburgh. I lived there for seven years. Towards the end of our stay in Pittsburgh I had a lot of complaints: the weather, the distance to my family, and I wanted a change. But since I’ve moved away, I find myself missing so many things about Pittsburgh: the fact that I could walk around downtown and feel completely safe, Johnny’s Place on Craig St.(amazing wings and burgers), the Mexican restaurant Cozumel, the Union Grills’ garlic mashed potatoes. . . O.k. I admit it; I mostly miss the food.
What my husband does for a living now isn’t a big industry in Pittsburgh. The job market was not what we wanted it to be when we lived there, and so we moved. Something tells me he’d have a hard time finding as good of a job out there in his industry. And, my entire family currently lives in the same county I do, including my soon-to-be 90 year old Grandmother. As much as I’d like to pack up and go somewhere else sometimes, it’s very hard to do that when you know that you have fabulous babysitters surrounding you.
Thanks to everyone who submitted a question to help get me out of my writer’s block! I have some of the best readers on the planet!
Contests-Schmontests
Everyone knows that those "Cutest Kid" contests are nothing more than a popularity contest. Here’s the scenario: a Mom submits a picture of her child and then spends the entire day hitting refresh and clicking through to vote, vote, vote, for her child as the cutest. If she’s feeling really ambitious, she’ll email all her friends and family members and beg for their votes as well. The contests are not about which child is the cutest. They’re about endurance, will-power, and dedication. How long can one Mom sit in the same location and vote, vote, vote???
Dedicated readers of Black Belt Mama. . . I beg of you. . . go here and click through with the "See More Kids button" until you see Lil C in the 0-2 category and Big I in the 3-5 category and VOTE, VOTE, VOTE. If you have an extra minute or six hours or so, I’d really appreciate it. You’re always telling me how cute these gals are anyway, right? And plus. . .
My fingers are soooo tired.
Edited to add: I went to the grocery store, came back, and my munchkins are in the top ten!?! You guys and gals ROCK! Keep it up!
How To Win at Wii Boxing
As promised, here is the video of Big I busting her Wii boxing moves. Just so you know, I did not film this in fast-forward. That’s her actual speed. If only I could get her to move that fast on school mornings.
Can you imagine if she would move like that for sparring at the dojo???
If you have trouble watching this from my site, you can view it here as well: http://one.revver.com/watch/132361/flv/affiliate/17724
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