Since you're so excited about Tori Amos, I looked her up, and instantly fell in love. Thank you for that. :D
I also listen to some of the others you list, but I am so terrible with names and song titles that I can never remember who did what, I just recognize the music when it comes on. I have quite a good memory for facts, but useless for names and titles.
I didn't go into great detail in my post, but I notice quite a few other common interests too. :) I also like fairy tales, and fairy tale retellings. I can't believe I didn't mention The Last Unicorn; I love both the book and movie!
I loved the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and enjoyed the others too, but I liked the first one best, because it's more light-hearted and fun, whereas the later ones got more and more serious and had kind of an aura of hopelessness, as the old way of life was dying out.
I also love history, but usually don't mention it because I have forgotten so much since high school that I feel like I know nothing these days. I would like to get back into it.
I think it's really cool that you were fluent in Spanish. I've always wanted to learn but, uh, never got around to it. I tried to learn Esperanto once, and it was going well, but then life got complicated and I dropped it. I've actually just been thinking about picking that up again.
Why thank you! I was really happy how it came out and really shocked but pleased about the reception it got. I forgot to mention that if you're on ravelry, I have the same username if you're so inclined to check out my projects and add me there.
OMG, Tori is the best! I'm curious, now, what songs/albums did you check out? What were your favourites?
Oh my. My music. There's so much and a ton I didn't even mention. I feel kinda bad about it, now. Many were newer artists who, while I enjoy, maybe only have an album or two under their belt or maybe I've only heard a little bit. Bastille, Sia, Imagine Dragons, Alabama Shakes, Bat for Lashes, Adele, Carolina Chocolate Drops, The Lumineers, Civil Wars, Ray LaMontagne, First Aid Kit, Lorde, Rhiannon Giddens, Mumford and Sons and several others fall under this category. Then there are a ton of artists like Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, Heart, Prince, Joan Jett, Louis Armstrong, The Police, Pretenders, Joan Baez, David Gray, Joe Cocker, Matchbox Twenty/Rob Thomas, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Everly Brothers, Sam Cooke, Jimi Hendrix, Ella Fizgerald, James Brown, Jackson Browne, Iron & Wine, The Who, R.E.M., Carole King, Chuck Berry, Alanis Morisette, Donovan, Sting, Elvis Presley, The Eagles, Smokey Robinson, Joni Mitchell, Shakira, Richard Shindell, Aretha Franklin, Sly and the Family Stone, various Wainwrights, Tracy Chapman, Ray Charles, New Order, Eric Clapton, Santana, Queen - dear god, I really must stop or I'll be here all night and into tomorrow! Anyway, older artists who I really enjoy but maybe a little more casually than a true fanatic and who have a more extensive catalog than I'm really familiar with. I wasn't sure about naming them because I didn't want some die-hard Springsteen fan to ask me what I think about the "The River" era vs. "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J." and look like an idiot because I don't really know much about what work came from those eras. I guess I listed ones I feel a great deal of passion for and could carry on a strong, reasonably intelligent conversation about. I suppose I could have mentioned Springsteen. As for knowing who came up with what, I certainly don't always remember what song was sung by which artist and vice-versa, but when you're dad's a musician and hangs out with more musicians friends than non-musicians, you kinda learn. I imagine it's the same way a carpenter's kid would know different woods or a preacher's kid learns the Bible. Simple exposure plays a big part in getting the ball rolling.
I have an account on ravelry, but haven't used it much, yet. I've been on there for about a year, and keep forgetting about it. I'd like to use it more.
I listened to The Light Princess. I have Spotify, so that's where I looked her up, and that's what came up. I don't remember which were my favorites, but I liked it as a whole. I like stories with my music. :) I do remember that my first reaction when the first song started was "oh wow, that is a gorgeous voice" which was soon joined by another gorgeous voice and it was just wonderful.
I have a hard time parsing sounds into words. When I can see the person who's speaking, I sort of lip-read to help make sense of the sounds, and I also use captions on tv. With music, where I can't see the person, I often have a hard time making out the words, so I only got bits of the lyrics, so I can't really comment on that yet, but I did like the bits that did catch. There was one part that made me laugh...I can't remember it now. I'll have to listen again, and see if google can find me lyrics.
I don't recognize any names among your newer artists, though the name "Imagine Dragons" intrigues me. I like dragons. *g*
When I was young, my mom mainly listened to classical music, so I used to be pretty knowledgeable about that, but have forgotten much of it since then. Other than that, the two big names from when I was young were Elvis Presley and Lawrence Welk. I knew some others too, but didn't remember names.
My memory for names is seriously terrible. A friend of mine told me that one of her favorites are The Moody Blues, and I replied that I am not familiar with them. Then I looked them up; first song comes on, "Oh, I actually know this one...and this one...and this one..." So it turned out that I *was* actually familiar with about half their songs and had really liked many of them, but I hadn't heard any of that since I was young and didn't remember name/titles, so I wouldn't have known what to even look for. I'm happy to have rediscovered them. :)
Eh, I'm not sure I could carry on a strong, reasonably intelligent conversation about any kind of music. I do have opinions on some things, but I don't feel very knowledgeable about music in general, and the terrible memory doesn't help.
Love ravelry. A part of me wants to tell you that you should be on it more, because it's such a great resource. On the other hand, I spend so much time on it. I recently told a newer acquaintance that I'm not on Facebook and she said something like "what do you do with yourself, then?" The answer: Ravelry.
"The Light Princess" is actually a musical that Tori helped write and composed in collaboration with Samuel Adamson, but except for the last couple of bonus tracks, Tori doesn't sing or play on it. I got the album for Christmas last year, but I still haven't listened to it yet. So I'm not sure how exemplary it is of her work.
I like dragons, too! And Imagine Dragons! I think they have a song on the "Hunger Games: Catching Fire" soundtrack. So did Sia and The Lumineers and I think Lorde produced "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1" soundtrack, so four of the songs are hers.
I enjoy classical, too. Bach's my favourite, though I do like Beethoven and Tchaikovsky's ballets as well. I enjoy a little Elvis here and there, too. The name Lawrence Welk sounds familiar, but I'm not sure what he's done. I just looked him up and I see that he plays accordion, which is probably why I'm not really familiar with him - my dad was forced to play the accordion before he got his first guitar, so I haven't heard a whole lot of accordion-based music. It's kind of a family joke. Still, I'm fairly certain I've heard other versions of the songs he does by Johnny Cash or other folk artists.
My mom really likes the Moody Blues, too! I enjoy them as well, but like you, I know of the band and I've heard some of their stuff, I'm just not sure which songs are theirs and vice-versa. It's so funny you mentioned that, actually, because I was out last night and few of us were trying to remember the name of a Moody Blues song that wasn't "Nights in White Satin!" Which, by the way, Tori Amos has covered in concert!
Everyone's brains work in different ways. I just tent to be a little obsessive when it comes to what I really love. Of course it's not really required of us to know our favourite bands and songs. But my folks and I are the type of people who will ask who the artist is when we hear a song we like but don't recognize. And no, I don't always remember, either!
Yeah, I saw on your ravelry profile that you're in almost 200 groups?! Thats a lot! Oh, I also use bobby pins as stitch markers; they're just so convenient. :) Well, maybe I'll upload some photos soon; I've been meaning to take pics of my most recent project, and actually *have* photos of older stuff, I just kept forgetting to upload them. Sometimes I'm not very organized. :P
Hm. I'll see what I can find on youtube.
As far as classical, my favorites where Strauss Jr., Mozart, and Bach. Tchaikovsky was my mom's favorite, and I liked him too, but not as much as she did. I always found Beethoven too serious for my tastes. I usually like more light-hearted stuff.
Yeah, I sometimes just add groups based on things I just made so I can share my project with those groups. Like when I made a couple pairs of baby booties as a commission, I joined a bunch of groups geared toward making baby items. I'm really only active on the message boards of a few of them. I'll keep an eye out for your items on ravelry!
Now see, me, I like Beethoven because he's so dramatic!
I checked out your journal a little, too and I did notice you mentioned The Last Unicorn in your latest post. One of the reasons I thought we'd get along! I've actually met the author, Peter S. Beagle, and he recommended his novel Tamsin, which I loved. He's got a new one out called Summerlong (I think that's the title) that I want to check out.
I agree about the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies. "Curse of the Black Pearl" is a classic. I didn't actually mind the "darker" stuff from the later movies so much, but I did think they started to rely on too much on the sword fights and swashbuckling and Sparrow's crazy getaways. Yes, those scenes made the first one a lot of fun, but for the sequels, they ran with them to point where became over-done and kinda tired, not realizing that the freshness and originality of "Pearl" are what made those gimmicks fun. I remember for "Dead Man's Chest" in particular, a two-and-a-half hour movie, the fight/chase scenes just would not stop and to the point where they dragged on. I think if they had trimmed some of those scenes down, they would have had a much better movie on their hands. I feel like they got back to a more well-balanced film for "Stranger Tides" that included the fun stuff, but didn't over-do it like the middle movies. But whatever anyone says about PotC 2, 3 and 4, "Curse of the Black Pearl" is just classic.
I've always loved history. Another thing I think I can thank my dad for. I studied history into college, so it's a little fresher. I'm not great with remembering battles and exact details about the reign of so-and-so, but I like learning about societal structures and changes and I love finding out crazy little details about our human predecessors. The rest, we can always look up!
I was in a great Spanish immersion program in elementary school. I even lived in Guadalajara for month as an exchange student at the age of 10. I don't practice as much these days, so my vocabulary has dwindled and I'm always second-guessing my conjugations. But I still have a good accent, which I think fakes people into thinking I'm better at it than I am. Once I start to speak it a little more, it starts to come back. I'm not sure how close Esperanto is to Spanish, or much about it in general. I think it's latin-based, right? I do think Spanish might be an easier language to learn than English simply because English is hard. I do like that in Spanish, everything is pronounced the way it's spelled. The thing I dislike about it is the subjunctive. Every time I think I've got a handle on it, I look back at it and suddenly I've lost it again. I'd really love to learn Italian and Armenian at some point in my life.
Thanks for such a wonderful reply! I'm looking forward to checking out everyone's journals and getting to know out my new and expanded f-list later this week when I have more time.
I have not read Tamsin yet, and did not know about Summerlong. *adds to mile-long reading list*
I like learning about societal structures and changes and I love finding out crazy little details about our human predecessors.
Yesss! When we first started learning history in school, it was mostly about memorizing what event happened on what dates, and I hated it. Then in high school I had a history teacher who was amazing; she showed us how history is an interaction of many events/people/movements/etc. and how all of those things and their interaction affected each other, and suddenly it was fascinating to me and I've loved it ever since. I feel embarrassed that I've forgotten so much. I know it's easily accessible...I guess I just keep putting it off because I don't know where to start. Maybe I'll pick up some historical fiction as a starting point; I even have one on my bookshelf that I haven't read yet.
I'm not sure how close Esperanto is to Spanish, or much about it in general. I think it's latin-based, right?
It's a mix of European languages. Here is a page about it, from the website I used back in the day: http://lernu.net/en/esperanto
English is hard, but I grew up with it so it comes naturally. I remember having trouble with silent letters when I was first learning spelling, though. I do very much appreciate when languages are pronounced the way they're spelled!
I am enjoying the conversation also. :) I'm not on every day, but I check in at least a few times a week and reply when I can.
I think Summerlong just came out earlier this summer. He's got other ones I want to read, too, but I'm short on disposable income for buying books. They have some of his books at my libraries, but I'm a slow reader so I like to listen to audiobooks while I crochet or knit and unfortunately, the libraries don't have anything from him on audio.
When we first started learning history in school, it was mostly about memorizing what event happened on what dates, and I hated it.
RIGHT?! I was on a road trip recently and we listened to Lies My Teacher Told Me and the introduction was about just that - that the way history is taught in public schools is like the multiplication tables - a firm, fixed thing that lead up to exactly where we are now, and that's exactly where we want to be. In reality, we're discovering new things about history all the time and even the things we "know" can be interpreted many ways and are often hotly debated. Yeah. I got to know the term historiography real well in college! It's nice to hear that you had a good teacher though, because I do love a good history teacher. I've been lucky enough to have several of those. As for where to start, I'd say start with what you're interested in and just see where it leads you. Or at least, that's what I'd do.
Okay, so Esperanto is so not what I thought it was. Somehow, I thought it was a small, regional language, like Catalan or Basque or something like that. Still interesting!
The silent letters thing in English always got me, too. I suppose for a land that was invaded, fought over, conquered and settled by so many different cultures and languages, then set out to do its own invading, etc., it's bound to get jumbled and confused.
Since you're so excited about Tori Amos, I looked her up, and instantly fell in love. Thank you for that. :D
I also listen to some of the others you list, but I am so terrible with names and song titles that I can never remember who did what, I just recognize the music when it comes on. I have quite a good memory for facts, but useless for names and titles.
I didn't go into great detail in my post, but I notice quite a few other common interests too. :) I also like fairy tales, and fairy tale retellings. I can't believe I didn't mention The Last Unicorn; I love both the book and movie!
I loved the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and enjoyed the others too, but I liked the first one best, because it's more light-hearted and fun, whereas the later ones got more and more serious and had kind of an aura of hopelessness, as the old way of life was dying out.
I also love history, but usually don't mention it because I have forgotten so much since high school that I feel like I know nothing these days. I would like to get back into it.
I think it's really cool that you were fluent in Spanish. I've always wanted to learn but, uh, never got around to it. I tried to learn Esperanto once, and it was going well, but then life got complicated and I dropped it. I've actually just been thinking about picking that up again.
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OMG, Tori is the best! I'm curious, now, what songs/albums did you check out? What were your favourites?
Oh my. My music. There's so much and a ton I didn't even mention. I feel kinda bad about it, now. Many were newer artists who, while I enjoy, maybe only have an album or two under their belt or maybe I've only heard a little bit. Bastille, Sia, Imagine Dragons, Alabama Shakes, Bat for Lashes, Adele, Carolina Chocolate Drops, The Lumineers, Civil Wars, Ray LaMontagne, First Aid Kit, Lorde, Rhiannon Giddens, Mumford and Sons and several others fall under this category. Then there are a ton of artists like Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, Heart, Prince, Joan Jett, Louis Armstrong, The Police, Pretenders, Joan Baez, David Gray, Joe Cocker, Matchbox Twenty/Rob Thomas, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Everly Brothers, Sam Cooke, Jimi Hendrix, Ella Fizgerald, James Brown, Jackson Browne, Iron & Wine, The Who, R.E.M., Carole King, Chuck Berry, Alanis Morisette, Donovan, Sting, Elvis Presley, The Eagles, Smokey Robinson, Joni Mitchell, Shakira, Richard Shindell, Aretha Franklin, Sly and the Family Stone, various Wainwrights, Tracy Chapman, Ray Charles, New Order, Eric Clapton, Santana, Queen - dear god, I really must stop or I'll be here all night and into tomorrow! Anyway, older artists who I really enjoy but maybe a little more casually than a true fanatic and who have a more extensive catalog than I'm really familiar with. I wasn't sure about naming them because I didn't want some die-hard Springsteen fan to ask me what I think about the "The River" era vs. "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J." and look like an idiot because I don't really know much about what work came from those eras. I guess I listed ones I feel a great deal of passion for and could carry on a strong, reasonably intelligent conversation about. I suppose I could have mentioned Springsteen. As for knowing who came up with what, I certainly don't always remember what song was sung by which artist and vice-versa, but when you're dad's a musician and hangs out with more musicians friends than non-musicians, you kinda learn. I imagine it's the same way a carpenter's kid would know different woods or a preacher's kid learns the Bible. Simple exposure plays a big part in getting the ball rolling.
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I listened to The Light Princess. I have Spotify, so that's where I looked her up, and that's what came up. I don't remember which were my favorites, but I liked it as a whole. I like stories with my music. :) I do remember that my first reaction when the first song started was "oh wow, that is a gorgeous voice" which was soon joined by another gorgeous voice and it was just wonderful.
I have a hard time parsing sounds into words. When I can see the person who's speaking, I sort of lip-read to help make sense of the sounds, and I also use captions on tv. With music, where I can't see the person, I often have a hard time making out the words, so I only got bits of the lyrics, so I can't really comment on that yet, but I did like the bits that did catch. There was one part that made me laugh...I can't remember it now. I'll have to listen again, and see if google can find me lyrics.
I don't recognize any names among your newer artists, though the name "Imagine Dragons" intrigues me. I like dragons. *g*
When I was young, my mom mainly listened to classical music, so I used to be pretty knowledgeable about that, but have forgotten much of it since then. Other than that, the two big names from when I was young were Elvis Presley and Lawrence Welk. I knew some others too, but didn't remember names.
My memory for names is seriously terrible. A friend of mine told me that one of her favorites are The Moody Blues, and I replied that I am not familiar with them. Then I looked them up; first song comes on, "Oh, I actually know this one...and this one...and this one..." So it turned out that I *was* actually familiar with about half their songs and had really liked many of them, but I hadn't heard any of that since I was young and didn't remember name/titles, so I wouldn't have known what to even look for. I'm happy to have rediscovered them. :)
Eh, I'm not sure I could carry on a strong, reasonably intelligent conversation about any kind of music. I do have opinions on some things, but I don't feel very knowledgeable about music in general, and the terrible memory doesn't help.
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"The Light Princess" is actually a musical that Tori helped write and composed in collaboration with Samuel Adamson, but except for the last couple of bonus tracks, Tori doesn't sing or play on it. I got the album for Christmas last year, but I still haven't listened to it yet. So I'm not sure how exemplary it is of her work.
I like dragons, too! And Imagine Dragons! I think they have a song on the "Hunger Games: Catching Fire" soundtrack. So did Sia and The Lumineers and I think Lorde produced "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1" soundtrack, so four of the songs are hers.
I enjoy classical, too. Bach's my favourite, though I do like Beethoven and Tchaikovsky's ballets as well. I enjoy a little Elvis here and there, too. The name Lawrence Welk sounds familiar, but I'm not sure what he's done. I just looked him up and I see that he plays accordion, which is probably why I'm not really familiar with him - my dad was forced to play the accordion before he got his first guitar, so I haven't heard a whole lot of accordion-based music. It's kind of a family joke. Still, I'm fairly certain I've heard other versions of the songs he does by Johnny Cash or other folk artists.
My mom really likes the Moody Blues, too! I enjoy them as well, but like you, I know of the band and I've heard some of their stuff, I'm just not sure which songs are theirs and vice-versa. It's so funny you mentioned that, actually, because I was out last night and few of us were trying to remember the name of a Moody Blues song that wasn't "Nights in White Satin!" Which, by the way, Tori Amos has covered in concert!
Everyone's brains work in different ways. I just tent to be a little obsessive when it comes to what I really love. Of course it's not really required of us to know our favourite bands and songs. But my folks and I are the type of people who will ask who the artist is when we hear a song we like but don't recognize. And no, I don't always remember, either!
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Well, maybe I'll upload some photos soon; I've been meaning to take pics of my most recent project, and actually *have* photos of older stuff, I just kept forgetting to upload them. Sometimes I'm not very organized. :P
Hm. I'll see what I can find on youtube.
As far as classical, my favorites where Strauss Jr., Mozart, and Bach. Tchaikovsky was my mom's favorite, and I liked him too, but not as much as she did. I always found Beethoven too serious for my tastes. I usually like more light-hearted stuff.
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Now see, me, I like Beethoven because he's so dramatic!
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I agree about the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies. "Curse of the Black Pearl" is a classic. I didn't actually mind the "darker" stuff from the later movies so much, but I did think they started to rely on too much on the sword fights and swashbuckling and Sparrow's crazy getaways. Yes, those scenes made the first one a lot of fun, but for the sequels, they ran with them to point where became over-done and kinda tired, not realizing that the freshness and originality of "Pearl" are what made those gimmicks fun. I remember for "Dead Man's Chest" in particular, a two-and-a-half hour movie, the fight/chase scenes just would not stop and to the point where they dragged on. I think if they had trimmed some of those scenes down, they would have had a much better movie on their hands. I feel like they got back to a more well-balanced film for "Stranger Tides" that included the fun stuff, but didn't over-do it like the middle movies. But whatever anyone says about PotC 2, 3 and 4, "Curse of the Black Pearl" is just classic.
I've always loved history. Another thing I think I can thank my dad for. I studied history into college, so it's a little fresher. I'm not great with remembering battles and exact details about the reign of so-and-so, but I like learning about societal structures and changes and I love finding out crazy little details about our human predecessors. The rest, we can always look up!
I was in a great Spanish immersion program in elementary school. I even lived in Guadalajara for month as an exchange student at the age of 10. I don't practice as much these days, so my vocabulary has dwindled and I'm always second-guessing my conjugations. But I still have a good accent, which I think fakes people into thinking I'm better at it than I am. Once I start to speak it a little more, it starts to come back. I'm not sure how close Esperanto is to Spanish, or much about it in general. I think it's latin-based, right? I do think Spanish might be an easier language to learn than English simply because English is hard. I do like that in Spanish, everything is pronounced the way it's spelled. The thing I dislike about it is the subjunctive. Every time I think I've got a handle on it, I look back at it and suddenly I've lost it again. I'd really love to learn Italian and Armenian at some point in my life.
Thanks for such a wonderful reply! I'm looking forward to checking out everyone's journals and getting to know out my new and expanded f-list later this week when I have more time.
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I like learning about societal structures and changes and I love finding out crazy little details about our human predecessors.
Yesss! When we first started learning history in school, it was mostly about memorizing what event happened on what dates, and I hated it. Then in high school I had a history teacher who was amazing; she showed us how history is an interaction of many events/people/movements/etc. and how all of those things and their interaction affected each other, and suddenly it was fascinating to me and I've loved it ever since. I feel embarrassed that I've forgotten so much. I know it's easily accessible...I guess I just keep putting it off because I don't know where to start. Maybe I'll pick up some historical fiction as a starting point; I even have one on my bookshelf that I haven't read yet.
I'm not sure how close Esperanto is to Spanish, or much about it in general. I think it's latin-based, right?
It's a mix of European languages. Here is a page about it, from the website I used back in the day: http://lernu.net/en/esperanto
English is hard, but I grew up with it so it comes naturally. I remember having trouble with silent letters when I was first learning spelling, though. I do very much appreciate when languages are pronounced the way they're spelled!
I am enjoying the conversation also. :) I'm not on every day, but I check in at least a few times a week and reply when I can.
I like your hearts; they make me smile. <3
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When we first started learning history in school, it was mostly about memorizing what event happened on what dates, and I hated it.
RIGHT?! I was on a road trip recently and we listened to Lies My Teacher Told Me and the introduction was about just that - that the way history is taught in public schools is like the multiplication tables - a firm, fixed thing that lead up to exactly where we are now, and that's exactly where we want to be. In reality, we're discovering new things about history all the time and even the things we "know" can be interpreted many ways and are often hotly debated. Yeah. I got to know the term historiography real well in college! It's nice to hear that you had a good teacher though, because I do love a good history teacher. I've been lucky enough to have several of those. As for where to start, I'd say start with what you're interested in and just see where it leads you. Or at least, that's what I'd do.
Okay, so Esperanto is so not what I thought it was. Somehow, I thought it was a small, regional language, like Catalan or Basque or something like that. Still interesting!
The silent letters thing in English always got me, too. I suppose for a land that was invaded, fought over, conquered and settled by so many different cultures and languages, then set out to do its own invading, etc., it's bound to get jumbled and confused.
Glad you're enjoying the exchange, too!
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