Family Memory

I found this on my sister's blog post today:

Name a memory from childhood that sticks out in your mind:
Playing hide and seek with my whole family. We would turn out all the lights in the house (but the seeker was allowed to carry around a candle). It was really spooky and fun. I always hid in my closet, because I could get behind my clothes and I was sure no one would see me. One time my dad went out into the car (we didn't think to check the garage!) and fell asleep. It took us an hour to find him.

This is something I'd forgotten about. Family hide and seek rocked.

Thanks, sister!

Music Learning

I recently did a mix swap on swap-bot that was called a "Covers Challenge." The idea was to link songs by original artists. Yeah, let me just show you an example.

1. "Barracuda" - Rasputina
2. "The Battle of Evermore" - Heart
3. "Gallows Pole" - Led Zeppelin

This is an official Covers Challenge Dead End. Lead Belly covered no one, because he was far too awesome. But I was confused about the links a little; could I link it through the original artist only? What if an artist popularized it, but didn't write it? Could I, then, link it through the song writer? For example, check out this flimsy linkage (but my longest link on the CD, thus, a triumph).

1. "Such Great Heights" - Iron & Wine
2. "All is Full of Love" - Death Cab for Cutie
3. "Like Someone in Love" - Bjork
4. "My Way" - Frank Sinatra
5. "Smells like Teen Spirit" - Paul Anka
6. "The Man who Sold the World" - Nirvana
7. "Cactus" - David Bowie
8. "Cecilia Ann" - The Pixies

The last being a Surftones cover. I could have taken the David Bowie one in several directions. In the end, I used the song "Cactus" because it's just such a cool cover. My last set of real links went like this:

1. "Dancing Barefoot" - The Feelies
2. "Hey Joe" - Patti Smith
3. "All Along the Watchtower" - Jimi Hendrix
4. "Ring of Fire" - Bob Dylan
5. "Bird on a Wire" - Johnny Cash

I know Johnny Cash did a number of fabulous covers, and I could have taken that link in a number of more productive directions, but I had my requisite 15 songs and wanted to include the Leonard Cohen cover because it's the saddest song I've ever heard in my life. I then threw in four bonus covers.

1. "Hallelujah" - Jeff Buckley (another Leonard Cohen cover)
2. "These Boots were Made for Walking" - Crispin Glover (Nancy Sinatra cover)
3. "Barbara Ann" - The Who (Beach Boys cover)
4. "Tammy" - Jens Lekman (Debbie Reynolds cover)

I wish I'd included the Johnny Cash cover by Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner, "I Walk the Line." It was hilarious. Oh well. It was fun to make though; I wrote out this crazy web of covers and was carrying it around for days obsessing about it. After I exhausted my own mental encyclopedia of music, I got help from Wikipedia, Covers Project, and Cover Lay Down. So what would you guys have linked up? Make some links of your own in the comments section - maybe there will be a Covers Challenge V!

Yours Very Truly,
Sarah

Foggy Morning

This morning I drove to work and the whole city was bathed in a glorious fog. I was so thankful; I got to pretend that Houston doesn't have more billboards than any other place in the whole world. Hooray!

I just realized that I am listening to the Cramps super low and I can hear another co-worker listening to Kenny G super low. Is this kosher? Maybe I should put something else on. I don't want to taint the memory of the recently-dead Lux Interior.

I looking more and more at alternative solutions to linguistics at UT Austin. Not that there's anything wrong with that school, but I'm getting antsy. Other schools I'm looking at include St. Thomas (to which I've already applied), UNT, the American University at Bulgaria and Vanderbilt. And because not all of these offer Linguistics as a major, I may be switching to French, Russian Lit, or History! Fun, fun.

I will now take a picnic for lunch. Have a great day guys!

Very truly yours,
Sarah

Hair Curls!

I just don't understand it. Why is Johanna Ost so gorgeous?

Anyway, I'm wondering what I can do with my hair after I'm done hating it for the season. I recently cut some bangs in a fit of mistake-making, but fully intend to grow the rest of it out longer. But then I see pin curls like these and think, "Man I just HAD bangs that could have done that less than a week ago!"

Oh well.

I've made the decision to do Script Frenzy! This will be my first year. I don't think nearly as many people are involved with it as National Novel Writing Month, but that's OK... I wasn't very productive at write-ins anyhow!

This week, I applied to the University of St. Thomas, and am now considering other options besides Texas schools. One of the schools I am going to apply to for Spring '10 is Vanderbilt, in Nashville, TN. The tuition is about $40,000/yr, but they appear to have a very sweet financial aid program--they claim to pay 100% of the demonstrated financial aid in GRANTS and SCHOLARSHIPS, not loans. I'm fairly impressed. Of course, I'd have to get in. Eh.

Very truly yours,
Sarah

The grass has so little to do...

My mom has been reading Emily Dickinson and says sometimes the poems are so beautiful that she cries. I'm glad that she's so moved by it!

The semester is nearly half way over. It's already March! Spring Break is just a week and a half away... but mid-terms (four!) are just a week away! Nervous-making. Wish me the best!

Yours very truly,
Sarah