music diary - the end

ok, so i didn't watch nearly as much vh1 soul as i thought i would this weekend. i didn't even flip to music choice. so, yeah, these last two entries are super-short.

saturday may 12

be happy - mary j. bilge

o hai vh1 soul!

seven whole days - toni braxton

blessed - jill scott

what they do - the roots

sunday may 13

more vh1 soul!

let go - lalah hathaway

baby don't cry - lalah hathaway

don't stop your love - keith sweat

down here in hell (with you) - van hunt

this could be the night - zo!

candy girl - new edition

who do you love - bernard wright

and there you have it. this was a fun experiment. leave a comment if you participated - i'd love to see your lists. kthx.

music diary 2012 - may 11 edition

friday may 11

sweet dreams (are made of this) - eurythmics

and now we switch to the folder of 500+ songs i've played at ddpp…

addictive - truth hurts

shame - evelyn champagne king

i need more love - robert randolph & the family band

take me out - franz ferdinand

doowutchalike - digital underground

everything - p-money feat. vince harder

funky town - pseudo echo

poison - bell biv devoe

(don't) give hate a chance - jamiroquai

don't stop the music - rihanna

walk with me - mob

paradise - change

mistadobalina - del tha funky homosapien

linus & lucy - george winston

all for love - bilal

west end girls - pet shop boys

hurt - johnny cash

a change is gonna come - sam cooke

everyone nose (all the girls standing in the line for the bathroom) - n*e*r*d

sweet sonora (original mix) - nuboy & sebastien gamboa

good luck - basement jaxx & lisa kekaula

ride like the wind - christopher cross

remember the time (roforo remix) - michael jackson, fela kuti

back to the regular shuffle now…

cherish the day - sade

show me what you got - jay-z

turn me away (get munny) - erykah badu

the pressure, pt. 1 - sounds of blackness

all cried out - lisa lisa & cult jam

my lists from this weekend could be interesting, if i stick to my current plan of catching up on vh1 soul while in the city in addition to my itunes listening. we'll see what happens. :-)

music diary 2012 - wednesday/thursday

wednesday may 9

no you girls - franz ferdinand
up jumps da' boogie - timbaland & magoo feat. aaliyah
the fact is (i need you) - jill scott
mercy - duffy
yes he is (reggie burrell mix) - track & feel events
horse with no name - america
all day - girl talk (i cued this album up around 8:45pm b/c i needed something to keep me awake while i caught up on email and settled in to work on job apps)
black and yellow - wiz khalifa (sometimes listening to girl talk makes me want to listen to other songs that i really shouldn't like. this is one of them.)
single ladies (put a ring on it) - beyonce
i'm bad - ll cool j
whatever that's mine - tanya morgan
you - raheem devaughn
not like crazy - jill scott (i almost always listen to these 2 songs back-to-back. i wish someone would create a quality mashup of them.)
i want you - erykah badu
get gone - fiona apple
take me out - franz ferdinand
one time - the roots
knock power (ll cool j vs. justice) - the hood internet

thursday may 10

got to be there - chaka khan
hear my call - jill scott
get me bodied (extended mix) - beyonce
million dollar bill - whitney houston
full moon - armand van helden feat. common
love ballad - l.t.d.
already mine - dance floor plans
15 step - radiohead
touch it/technologic - daft punk
living in confusion - phyllis hyman
hey young world - slick rick
nothing compares 2 u - sinead o'connor
corners of my mind - nikka costa
honey - erykah badu
sunshower - dr. buzzard's original savannah band
strawberry letter 23 - shuggie otis
skyy, can you feel me - raphael saadiq
sometimes - bilal
ex girl to the next girl - gang starr

feel free to leave a comment if you're participating in music diary 2012, or if you got here via the music diary 2012 site and just wanna say hi. :-)

music diary 2012 - may 8 edition

i watched "smash" this morning and i suppose i could count whatever songs were covered in that episode as part of today's listening, but then i'd have to include any other songs that come up during my tv watching (outside of vh1 soul or music choice, that is) and i don't know if i feel like going that far. that said, here's my playlist from tonight:

don't gotta work it out - fitz & the tantrums
l.o.v. - fitz & the tantrums
rich girls - fitz & the tantrums
moneygrabber - fitz & the tantrums
breakin' the chains of love (brand new karate world remix) - fitz & the tantrums
in case it wasn't obvious, i downloaded a free ep from fitz & the tantrums and decided to give it a spin. you can get your own copy on their site.
(and now, back to the shuffle. actually, i cued up "sideways" 1st b/c it's been stuck in my head all day, thanks to a headline i saw about rommey's criticizing obama for running the country "sideways or worse.")
sideways - suntan feat. citizen cope
adam - me'shell ndegeocello
gold - prince
rock superstar - cypress hill
walk on by - aretha franklin
sunrise - simply red
express yourself - diplo feat. nicky da b
one time - the roots
jump in the line - harry belafonte
got to be there - michael jackson
runaway love - linda clifford
everything - p-money feat. vince harder
sinceran - nina simone
prototype - andre 3000
pastime paradise - stevie wonder (i will never listen to this song, or anything else from the "songs in the key of life" album, the same way again thanks to this book. go read it if you haven't already.)
i'm not in love - 10cc
ain't no fun - snoop
bitter sweet symphony - the verve

music diary 2012 - the beginning

while catching up on some of y'all's pages, i found out about this project. (proverbial tip of the hat to sjb) it sounded cool enough to me - keep a running tally of what i listen to this week. sometimes i tweet about what's playing anyway, so i figured this wouldn't be much of a stretch.

my plan is to post a daily list of what i've been listening. given my recent track record of posting (or lack thereof), it's entirely possible that some days will be combined. my itunes library is set on shuffle, so usually i'll start with whatever comes up and then skip songs until something else catches my ear. if a certain song gets stuck in my head, then i'll cue that up and resume shuffling once i'm done with that selection.

for the purposes of these posts, assume that i did all of my listening via my itunes library on my laptop. i will try to add notes in if another listening method presents itself.

and now i present day one of music diary 2012:

makin' happy - crystal waters

read a book - bomani "d'mite" armah

after the love is gone - mint condition

double pump - girl talk

inside my love - minnie riperton

the getaway - little brother

sexyback - justin timberlake

les fleur - minnie riperton

you & i - rick james

that's right - girl talk

make my heart - toni braxton

pastime paradise - stevie wonder

bright lights bigger city - cee-lo

countdown - beyonce

light & day/reach for the sun - the polyphonic spree

that's the way love is - ten city

one more time - daft punk

come & talk to me (rmx) - jodeci

love's gonna last - jeffree

get right - jennifer lopes

work it out - monie love

peanut butter jelly time - buckwheat boy

all these things that i've done - the killers

controversy - prince

this is it - kenny loggins

because we can - fatboy slim

proud mary - tina turner

i fail at life*

* - by life, i mean blogging. specifically posting on this blog. fuck. i'm sorry. i've been trying to catch up on my piles of magazines and library books, so between that and keeping my other site sorta kinda up-to-date, that pretty much eats up my larger chunks of free time. i mean, right now, i could be working on one of the post ideas i have on my to-do list, but i'd much rather read more of this james brown biography, so that's what i'm gonna do.

my bad, y'all. maybe i'll start working on posts during my metra commutes, since my ipod is dead (note to self - add "new ipod" to the list of things that will hopefully be in my life this year) and i don't feel nearly as nervous about working on laptop on the metra as i would on the cta. i don't think i've ever pulled out my laptop on the cta. sometimes i'm paranoid like that.

anyway...something that resembles content coming soon. i don't even have any recipe reviews for y'all b/c i haven't tried anything new lately. of course, now that i've typed that, i'll suddenly go on a recipe testing spree and then have a backlog of those posts. whee.

but y'all are good though, right? everyone's doing relatively well?

me? that's another post that i'll probably never get around to writing. :P

*taps dust off of microphone*

apologies for the lack of content here as of late. i had every intention of writing something last night, but then i wound up having a nosebleed that, i swear, lasted for at least an hour and by the time i was able to get back online, all i wanted to do was watch penguin cam until i fell asleep.

anyway - i have at least three blog ideas on my to-do list and hopefully i'll get to at least one of them w/in the next week or so. for now, though, i'm going to continue battling whatever illness decided to invade my body this week. whee.

thank you easter bunny!

remember when i had all of the rage on valentine's day? not so much today, b/c i got a totally unexpected and wonderful easter basket! there's chocolate, which, as we well know, everyone loves. and a mini-pedicure set. and a pocket/travel sized hairbrush and mirror. and...a walgreens gift card! now i can go buy more chocolate toiletries w/o having to spend what little cash i have. oh, and a card reminding me not to throw in the proverbial towel. yay! thanks, easter bunny!

in case you're wondering - yes, i know who actually gave me this kick-ass basket and they've been thanked in-person already. i just wanted to share some of the happy with y'all, ok? i have snickers eggs and cadbury caramel eggs and it is taking all i have not to pull a cookie monster and nom the unholy fuck out of all of them right now. seriously. they're right next to my laptop and they're looking at me as if they're shocked to still be intact and in their packaging and oh god i'm totally gonna eat these before i go to bed tonight. no. i will eat some other chocolate that's in my stash and save these until tomorrow at least. yes. that is what i will do.

in other news...does anyone else remember the tom & jerry easter cartoon? i thought of it this morning, specifically the duck wishing any and everyone a happy easter, and then i found this on youtube and all is temporarily well with the world. :-)

1Q2012: a look back

ok, so i haven't been able to cross anything off of my list of things that will be back in my life this year as of yet. it's gonna happen, though.

if my numbers are correct, then i applied for 360 jobs during the first quarter of 2012. there's been some interviews in there, too, but i don't have those numbers readily accesible at the moment. i also read 23 books during 1Q2012, all from the library. i've been able to spend some weekends in the city, hanging out with some of y'all, and that's been great. i've tried out a few new recipes (go back through the old posts for those if you want), and please don't ask me how many new recipes i've saved, b/c i honestly don't know.

i feel like i'm missing some details here, but it could also be because i'm tired and my brain is starting to slow down a bit for the evening. you get the point, though. i hope. maybe.

recipe review: garlic string beans

my m.o. for trying side dish recipes these days goes something like this:

--figure out what vegetable(s) are on hand
--go through the recipe folder on my hard drive to see what looks interesting and wouldn't clash with the main dish i have planned
--figure out if i have all the ingredients for a recipe or, if i don't, if i'd be ok skipping or substituting it
--jot down directions so i don't have to bring my laptop into the kitchen

so when i realized we had green beans, i started looking for ideas that wouldn't clash with the baked chicken i had planned. enter this recipe (no, not the scallops; scroll down for the side dish directions). i used a tablespoon of minced garlic b/c that's what was on hand, and i let the beans cook for a little longer than directed b/c i was working with slightly more than a pound of them and figured they could use a couple more minutes. would i make them again? absolutely.

recipe review: slow-baked salmon with lemon and thyme

i picked up some salmon during this weekend's grocery store outing b/c i was in the mood for seafood and the salmon was only a dollar more per pound than the tilapia, so why not, right? but then i realized last night that i hadn't quite decided how i was going to prepare it for tonight's dinner. lucky for me that i have a good dozen or so salmon recipes saved on my hard drive, and this was one i hadn't tried out yet. i knew i wanted something simple, and i was intrigued by this slow-baking concept, so i went with it.

i used about a teaspoon of dried thyme instead of fresh, b/c buying fresh herbs that i know will go to waste just doesn't make sense to me when i have dried herbs on hand. i didn't serve it with lemon wedges b/c i only had one lemon and i needed that for the lemon zest. the salmon fillets i had were a bit on the thick side, so i cooked them for 18 minutes and then turned the pan around and let them cook for another 5 minutes. end result? nom. would make again. i thought about adding oregano but didn't go through with it - maybe next time.

a open letter to jennifer hudson

so i was watching dreamgirls for, i don't know, the 15th time earlier tonight, and once again found myself unable to move during THE SONG. (for the uninitated - watch this video and come back here.)

and then i remembered something. back in '06, before the movie was released, there was a version of THE SONG floating around teh internets. i listened to it and quite honestly, i wasn't feeling it all that much. probably b/c jennifer holliday's version is one of my favorite songs in the history of everything. seriously, if i had to pick a stranded on a desert island playlist, THE SONG would be on it.

here's what i had to say to a friend in october 2006 after we'd both listened to the new version of THE SONG:

see, i wasn't that dazzled by the new version, but ireadily admit that part of it is sheer "how dare youtry to sing this song" hatred.

hence this open letter. i was wrong. i realized how wrong i was when bff and i saw dreamgirls in the theater in december '06 and it was so quiet during THE SONG that all you could hear was folks crying (self included), and then thunderous applause. i've realized it over again whenever i watch the movie, but since tonight was the first time in a while that i'd watched it while sober, i actually had enough presence of mind to write this.

so, j-hud, i'm sorry for doubting your ability to make THE SONG your own. my bad. forgive me?

and since i'm writing you this open letter, can we please talk about your weight watchers commercials? specifically, can you please reconsider singing in every damn commercial? y'know how mariah sang in her first spot for jenny craig and now she's talking to other women in her latest ads? that's not a bad pattern to follow. i mean no disrespect, but if i hear you doing that sing/scream thing one more time, i'm gonna have to officially quit you. this is especially true of your earlier ww ads with the cover of "feeling good." those make my soul wince every time. please. i'm pretty sure everyone in weight watchers' demographic knows that you lost 80-something pounds using ww. you don't need to yell, scream, and shout (see what i did there?) anymore. just a thought. thanks for reading.

i would save this (e)card forever.

so i saw this on sjb's site and did like 5011 fist pumps in my head. i would have all of the feelings if someone sent me this...and then i would go buy some wine and start going through my movie collection. :-)

fun with recycling

i was going through some files and saw a ipod meme that i did back in february 2009. since i suck at life and haven't come up with any original content lately, i figured i'd revisit said meme for shits and giggles. if i remember the setup correctly, you're supposed to start your ipod or itunes in shuffle mode and answer the questions based on what songs come up. here's the one i just finished, with my notes in italics:

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
hey sweet man - madeleine peyroux
WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
war of the hearts - sad
WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
i'll write a song for you - earth wind and fire
HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
artistiya - regina carter
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
last of a dying breed - ludacris feat. lil wayne (i know.)
WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
falls (violet) - van hunt
WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
mary jane (all night long) - mary j. bilge (this is funny for reasons.)
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
naughty girl - beyonce (oh. my. *clutches pearls*)
WHAT IS 2+2?
think - aretha franklin
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
wordy rappinghood - tom tom club
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
stop - lizz wright
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
daddy fat sax - big boi
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
lovers in japan/reign of love - coldplay (buh?)
WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
levees - terence blanchard (well, damn.)
WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
don't make me wait too long - barry white (um…)
WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
zerapiky - regina carter
WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
aerodynamic beats/forget about the world - daft punk
WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
let the rhythm hit 'em - eric b. and rakim
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
who's that girl - eurythmics (the hell?)
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
steppin' out - zo! and tigallo
WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
jack in the box - ralphie may
HOW WILL YOU DIE?
c'est la vie - robbie nevil
WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
get busy - sean paul (ok, so there was this one time freshman year, but aside from that…wait, what?)
WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
i've got my love to keep me warm - ella fitzgerald
WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
got to give it up - marvin gaye
WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
submerge: til we become the sun - maxwell
WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
love to love you less - nikka costa
DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
one step ahead - aretha franklin (i want y'all to know that textedit kept autocorrecting aretha to "urethra." i was not amused.)
IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
bring me home - sade
WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
lola - me'shell ndegeocello
WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
i'll be there for you/you're all i need to get by - mary j. bilge feat. method man

and, for comparison's sake, here's the version i did 3 years ago, again with notes in italics:

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
rock the casbah - the clash
WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
all i wanna do - sheryl crow
WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
housequake - prince
HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
boogie wonderland - earth, wind and fire & the emotions
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
celie’s curse - color purple broadway sdtk
WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
baby elephant walk - quincy jones
WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
a fifth of beethoven - walter murphy
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
mr. moon - jamiroquai
WHAT IS 2+2?
what’s your fantasy (rmx) - ludacris feat trina, shawna & foxy brown
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
sterling, virginia - patton oswalt
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
love hater - andre 3000
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
your song - ewan mcgregor & alessandro safina (moulin rouge sdtk)
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
rapture - blondie
WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
round midnight - ledisi
WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
red red red - fiona apple
WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
warning - notorious b.i.g. (wow.)
WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
the cisco kid - war (wow again.)
WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
baby, baby, baby - joss stone (oh, wtf?)
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
elliptical - me’shell ndege’ocello
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
let’s get married (remarquable rmx) - jagged edge & run
WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
another angel - lizz wright
HOW WILL YOU DIE?
sea of tranquility - kool & the gang (i can only hope to be so lucky)
WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
machete - moby
WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
pick me up i’ll dance - larry levan/melba moore
WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
blackout - lil’ louis
WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
court and spark feat. norah jones - herbie hancock
WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
young americans - david bowie (damned kids today...)
DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
butterflies (demo version) - floetry
IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
never been - mary j. blige
WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
i can’t help it - michael jackson
WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
so fine - howard johnson 

so, yeah. do with that what you will. happy monday. :P

penguin cam!

if you saw my twitter stream today, then you know that i am all about this penguin cam that the discovery channel has set up at seaworld san diego. this is easily my new favorite thing in the whole wide world. true story: a few minutes ago, i was getting worked up about my to-do list and how much of it i really need to complete tomorrow, and then i was just like "fuck this shit. i'm gonna watch some penguins." and now you can watch them, too. you're welcome. :-)



Live Video streaming by Ustream

videos of the week

these are posted in the order i saw them on tv this week. first up is this direct tv ad:



i was giggling at the turkish baths part and damn near on the floor rolling with laughter by the end.

next up, this music video that sjb tweeted in my direction, with a note telling me to pay particular attention around the 40 second mark.



i swear i've watched this video and/or listened to the song no fewer than a dozen times since wednesday. it makes me wanna do hoodrat things with my friends. i have the original and the instrumental on my ipod and it takes all i have not to start dancing in public when it comes on. it's so wonderfully ratchet.

honorable mention goes to the capital one ad with alec baldwin where he references getting kicked off a flight for playing games on his phone. it made me giggle. of course i can't find the ad online right now, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

recipe review: green beans and cherry tomatoes

yes, this recipe is probably as easy as you think it is. i used about 1/2 a pint of grape tomatoes that i cut in half, b/c that's what was in the fridge. i also used about a tablespoon of minced garlic, but if i make this again once i have a kitchen of my own (sigh), i'll probably used chopped garlic instead b/c the minced garlic, surprise surprise, damn near burned within 30 seconds. still nom, though.

fall out boy + prince

equals this gem, which i just rediscovered in my email. proverbial tip of the hat goes to sjb for sharing this with me and for making sure i didn't injure myself when i almost passed out laughing/screaming.

my name is eulalia, and i vote(d).

if memory serves me correctly, i have yet to miss an election since i've been registered to vote. you'd think that with all the recent upheaval in my life, i would've forgotten about changing my voter registration. actually, i did kinda forget about it, but chicago, lovable city that it is, went ahead and changed my registration for me based on my current mailing address. wasn't that nice of them? god forbid the city miss out on a potential vote, right?

since i won't actually be in chicago on election day, i decided to vote early while i was in the city running errands and such. i didn't get a cool "i voted" sticker, but i did get my officlal early voting receipt. i wonder if i can take that to local businesses and get discounts on stuff? no, wait...that implies that i have more than $10 in my wallet and $2 in the bank right now. never mind, then.

y'all should go vote if you haven't already. i figure if my un(der)employed, broke, and, well, technically homeless ass can do my civic duty, then other folks should be able to do the same.

and now i will step down from my soapbox and wish y'all a great weekend. :-)

recipe review: sauteed spinach with mushrooms

i made this as a side dish tonight and i can't shake the feeling that i've made it previously. nothing comes up in my searches on this blog for this recipe though, so maybe i did it back in the urbantherapy days and since that site is no more, i can't confirm or deny prior existence of this review. at any rate - this one comes from the new york times and i'm just gonna copy/paste it here:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 pound mushrooms, wiped clean, trimmed and sliced

1 to 2 garlic cloves (to taste), minced

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 pound baby spinach, rinsed but not dried; or 2 pounds bunch spinach, stemmed and rinsed but not dried, and coarsely chopped

1. Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large, heavy skillet, and add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring, until seared and beginning to sweat, about five minutes. Turn the heat to medium, and add the garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. Stir together for another minute or two until the mushrooms are tender. Add the spinach, and stir until wilted, about two minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and remove from the heat. Serve hot or warm.

Yield: Serves two to four.

i used about a teaspoon of dried thyme instead of fresh, and i didn't chop the bunches of spinach b/c it was all gonna wilt down anyway and i didn't really see the point. 'twas nom; would make again. the end. :-)