MUSIC MEME ANSWERED

I'M GOING TO GIVE THE ANSWERS TO ALL THE SONGS NO ONE GUESSED IN BLOCK CAPS...AND HERE WE GO!

1) Well I find myself in reverie/of what we might have had and what might have been-
"SPIRIT OF '76" BY THE ALARM

2) Well, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on now touch me babe/can’t you see, that I am not afraid "Touch Me" by the Doors (Dee)

3) I am the hungry wolf/and I run endlessly with my mate -"THE HUNGRY WOLF" BY X

4) I met her at the 7-11/now I’m in seventh heaven- "7-11" BY THE RAMONES

5) I am not he, nor master, nor lord/no crown to wear, no cross to bear in stations- DEMONCRATS BY CRASS

6) I hear the clock, it’s 6am/I feel so far from where I’ve been "You Were Meant for Me" by Jewel (Dee)

7) And now they’re trying to take my life away/forever young I cannot stay. Hey!- "SIXTY-EIGHT GUNS" BY THE ALARM

8) Father, can you hear me? /How have I let you down?- "SORROW" BY BAD RELIGION

9) Out on the wiley, windy moors, we'd roll and fall in green- "WUTHERING HEIGHTS" (ORIGINALLY BY KATE BUSH) THE VERSIONS I HAVE ARE BY PAT BENATAR & HAYLEY WESTENRA

10) Hearts go astray/ Leaving hurt when they go- "EVERLASTING LOVE" MY VERSION IS BY U-2, BUT IT'S AN OLD SONG

11) I’m standing here on the ground/The sky above won’t fall down- "DON'T CHANGE" BY INXS

12) (Hey, hey, hey, hey) There’ll be food on the table tonight/(Hey, hey, hey, hey)There’ll be pay in your pocket tonight- "BLUE SKY MINE" BY MIDNIGHT OIL

13) End of passion play, crumbling away/I’m your source of self-destruction- "MASTER OF PUPPETS" BY METALLICA

14) Oh, Elise it doesn’t matter what you say/I just can’t stay here every yesterday- "A LETTER TO ELISE" BY THE CURE

15) Give me one reason to stay here and I’ll turn right back around "Give Me One Reason" by Tracy Chapman (Dan)

16) When I wake up yeah I know I’m gonna be/I’m gonna be the man who wakes up next to you "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by the Proclaimers (Erica)

17) Friday night I’d just got back/ I had my eyes shut/was dreaming bout the past "Million Miles Away" my version (original) by the Plimsouls/also remade by the Goo Goo Dolls (Dee)

18) Shayla worked in a Facory/She wasn’t history/She’s just a number "Shayla" by Blondie (Dan)

19) So 1, 2, 3, take my hand and come with me - "ARE YOU GONNA BE MY GIRL" BY JET

20) Free- is all that she could bleed/That's why'll she'll never stay- "MOLLY'S CHAMBERS" BY KINGS OF LEON

Current Mood: worn out. Long weekend after a LONG workweek. Still doing laundry and such for tomorrow...

Michele's Got a new Blog & More Music Meme

Michele's finally got a blog! You can vist her here: http://warriorinpink.blogspot.com/ She posted her Yahoo avatar, so I thought I'd post mine too. You really can't see mine so well in the corner of my blog up there. This was a fairly good representation of me about 3 or 4 years ago (except she needs more hips) but now I'm too chunky to pass for her. Must keep up these M-F workouts. Also I always have bangs because I'm not wild about my widows's peak. :)

On the meme:
I can't believe that no one has gotten #10, which is old and #19 & #20--both pretty recent and used in commericals!

Never expected anyone to get #5 ever.

I've discussed #s 1, 4, 7, 8 and 14 with a certain group of friends who shall remain nameless... C and C should know some of these for sure. Are you there, ladies?

Current mood: really worn out. Drama at work today. ::sigh::

Don't Forget...

I still have the Music Lyrics Meme going on until Sunday.

Come on and see if you know any of them! I dare ya! You can either scroll down to Sunday May 21st's post, or go here: http://cherryredwriter.blogspot.com/2006/05/music-lyrics-meme.html One day when I'm really slick, I'll figure out how to change that into a word like "here" that you can click on... but I'm not that accomplished yet.

Current Mood: calming down.. was very angry (and I don't know what to do with myself when I'm angry) but now I'm calmed down and am eating my lunch... Amazing what a lunch break can do for you.

It's the little things

A list of small annoyances which are surprisingly more annoying than large ones most days...

~*~*~

Dear person with a ribbon magnet on your car,

You do not need to turn it sideways for me to read it. Really. Do you ever see people with ribbons on their lapels wearing them sideways? No? That's because it looks stupid. Please turn your ribbon magnet in a vertical direction.

Thank you,
the driver in the little cherry red car behind you

~*~*~

Dear Mini van in front of me,

While the little family characters on your back windshield may be look cute (especially the ones with dogs & cats too--nice touch!) it's probably not the smartest idea to put your childrens' names underneath his/her character. What would make you think that letting total strangers know your kids' names is a good idea? This is not 1950. For the love of God, keep your children safe.

Thank you,
the childless driver in the little cherry red car behind you who was raised by a single mom & was taught to be careful from a young age.

~*~*~

Dear driver of a minivan/truck/SUV or other tall vehicle,

Please have some consideration for those of us in little cars. When making a left turn out of a parking lot or street, you have no reason to pull all the way out. Your car is tall and you can see both ways without doing so. My car is short and I cannot see around you. Even though I am making a right and I only have to make sure one direction of traffic is clear, I still have to wait for you because I cannot see around you. I have somewhere to be too.

While we're talking about large cars, please don't take up more than one parking space. Just because your car is huge, it doesn't give you the right to take up more than one space. This is rude and inconsiderate.

Thank you,
The driver in the 2002 little cherry red car looking for a space, or looking to make a right... who used to drive a 1988 little cherry red car and used to jam it into the half-space you left me. A little old car can fit in such places.... my new car can too, but I don't want to get her scratched because she's pretty and I want her to last as long as my 1988 did.

~*~*~

Funny, I had no idea that my (thankfully now) short drive to and from work could be so annoying.

What are the little things that annoy you? It doesn't have to be about driving. I hadn't started out to discuss all driving-related issues, the theme just emerged on its own.

Cherry Red

Current Mood: Snarky

Sunday is a very good day

Hey, this song meme is really fun. Won't you all join me, Dan and Dee? :) Anyone who gets #5 gets a special prize as well as a request from me for photos of you in the 70's, 80's or high school. I'll show you mine if you show me yours. ;)

Check out my word count bar graph thingy! I added 4,000 words today. I didn't actually write 4,000 new words--I'm re-writing--but I pieced together a new scene and an old scene and had to do some rewriting to make it all work together. Good stuff.

No, I didn't do my critiques today. I wasn't in the mood and wouldn't have done a good job if I'd forced myself, so there was no point in it.

Current mood: pleased

The Music Lyrics Meme

I got this from Heidi's husband Dan. And if you don't know who Dan is, you really should go over and check out his very cool blog at: http://dancsblog.blogspot.com/ (And Heidi's is here: http://amazoniowan.livejournal.com/ In case you haven't see her blog, you'll want to check it out too.)

Dan said that he I didn't have enough readers to support something like this, but he did it anyway. Well, I'm a newbie and I have only a handful of Blogger friends, but so what? I want to play too. Like Dan, I'm calling on all the lurkers out there to play along. Like Dan, I'll give it a week. Next Sunday, I'll check back in and see what's left and post the answers. What fun!

If you haven't heard about the music lyrics meme, here's a simple summary of the rules:

Step 1: Put your iPod/MP3 player or iTunes on random. (In my case, I just sat down and thought about various songs I'd put on an ipod if I had one.)

Step 2: Post the first line(s) from the first 20 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.

Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what song and artist the lines come from. Those guessing the songs should post in the comments section.

Step 4: Strike out the songs when someone guesses correctly and post the title in bold after the stricken song when it is guessed.

Step 5: (for those guessing the songs) If you look up the lyrics on Google or any other search engine, that's called cheating, so don't do it!

1) Well I find myself in reverie/of what we might have had and what might have been

2) Well, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on now touch me babe/can’t you see, that I am not afraid "Touch Me" by the Doors (Dee)

3) I am the hungry wolf/and I run endlessly with my mate

4) I met her at the 7-11/now I’m in seventh heaven

5) I am not he, nor master, nor lord/no crown to wear, no cross to bear in stations

6) I hear the clock, it’s 6am/I feel so far from where I’ve been "You Were Meant for Me" by Jewel (Dee)

7) And now they’re trying to take my life away/forever young I cannot stay. Hey!

8) Father, can you hear me? /How have I let you down?

9) Out on the wiley, windy moors, we'd roll and fall in green

10) Hearts go astray/ Leaving hurt when they go

11) I’m standing here on the ground/The sky above won’t fall down

12) (Hey, hey, hey, hey) There’ll be food on the table tonight/(Hey, hey, hey, hey)There’ll be pay in your pocket tonight

13) End of passion play, crumbling away/I’m your source of self-destruction

14) Oh, Elise it doesn’t matter what you say/I just can’t stay here every yesterday

15) Give me one reason to stay here and I’ll turn right back around "Give Me One Reason" by Tracy Chapman (Dan)

16) When I wake up yeah I know I’m gonna be/I’m gonna be the man who wakes up next to you "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by the Proclaimers (Erica)

17) Friday night I’d just got back/ I had my eyes shut/was dreaming bout the past "Million Miles Away" by the Plimsouls/also remade by the Goo Goo Dolls (Dee)

18) Shayla worked in a Facory/She wasn’t history/She’s just a number "Shayla" by Blondie (Dan)

19) So 1, 2, 3, take my hand and come with me

20) Free- is all that she could bleed/That's why'll she'll never stay

Current Mood: Silly

Inspiration for change

I found some wonderful quotes today. My friend Barb turned me on to www.belief.net which is an interesting site all about various religions, spirituality, etc. Most of my close friends completed the belief-o-matic quiz and some of you might like to do it too. For me it was funny that even though I consider myself a Catholic, and am most comfortable with a Catholic mass, prayers, all the ritualistic-type stuff, I scored so low on Catholicism. The belif-o-matic told me I should be a Unitarian Universalist, which I'd never heard of before that.

But I digress... I've been thinking about the positive changes I've been trying to make in my life but I've also been cutting myself some slack. They say it takes 30 days to form a habit and that may be true, but how many things can you possibly try to make a habit at the same time? I've got the morning workout routine down, I've cut nearly all the fattening stuff out of my diet, but the writing keeps slipping. It's kind of like juggling. I can juggle two balls and then three, but when someone tosses me that fourth ball it gets harder, and the fifth one I just can't hold on to. I will, with practice, but just not yet. For now I will not get mad at myself when I drop a ball.

Anyway, I subscribe to a daily newsletter from belief.net which is basically a list of nice quotes and links. I love quotes; I find them inspiring. These were the quotes that appeared in my in-box this morning. I knew I had to post them as soon as I read them.

"Everyday do something that will inch you closer to a better tomorrow." -- Doug Firebaugh

"Progress, however, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. Great results cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk, step by step." -- Samuel Smiles

"If you want to sail your ship in a different direction, you must turn one degree at a time." -- Brian Tracy

"Plan your progress carefully; hour-by hour, day-by-day, month-by-month. Organized activity and maintained enthusiasm are the wellsprings of your power." -- Paul J. Meyer

"Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional." -- Roger Crawford

Current Mood: forgiving, thoughtful, inspired

To set goals or not to set goals, that is the question

The thing about lists and goals is that they're tiring. Especially when I decide that I want complete a task each day no matter how late I have to stay up to do it. Last week I stayed up until 12 or 12:30 Monday through Wednesday in order to get my critiques done. (don't forget, I get up at 5 AM) Thursday my husband suggested we have dinner out and of course I was all over that. I'm the only one who cooks and a night off is great. "No problem," said I. "I'll just swap my Thurs and Fri goals." (Fri was the night off.)

The problem was that I had a very frustrating day at work on Friday and, coincidentally, so did my husband. He and I both needed to vent in the HUGEST way and so out to dinner we went and for a nice long drive so we could continue our chat. The week had taken a toll on both of us. When we got home we watched an hour of TV and could barely hold our eyes open. So, no critique Fri night either. One behind.

Saturday I was too tired to work on one before my OCC meeting (I'm gone from 9:30 AM to 3 PM) and afterwards we realized (oops!) that Sunday was Mother's Day and he had no gift for his mother and we hadn't firmed up our plans for Mother's Day either. So Saturday night was gone and still no critique. Two behind. Sunday was Mother's Day which I completely forgot about when I made my list last week. We pretty much spent the whole day with our moms (+ his brother & sister and their spouses and kids) which was actually really fun. Have I mentioned how smitten I am with my new little niece, Elise? It really cannot be said enough. :) Anyway, it was a full day by the time I did laundry and grocery shopping. No critique Sunday either--three behind--which is where I sit now. Until tomorrow when another scene is posted and I'm 4 behind yet again.

"So where is THIS week's list?" you may wonder. I wonder too. I guess the list from last week made me wary. As I said before, I'm an all or nothing kind of girl. Mon-Wed I was ALL and Thurs-Sat I was nothing. Sunday I was back to ALL again but didn't have time to plan a new list of goals. Monday was seriously blown by the season finale of Grey's Anatomy. 3 hours of bliss on TV. I NEVER do that but I can't get enough of that show.

Well, it's really never to late to set goals. It's ok that I blew off this week, right? I can make up for it this weekend. Maybe even tonight if Commander in Chief isn't on. (I allow myself Grey's Anatomy and Commander in Chief on the TV front. All other shows I can take or leave besides the occasional episode of Lost.) This weekend I will do one JCW critique and do poor Michele's critique because I've owed it to her for like a month. Granted she wasn't writing during that time, but she might have been on her good days if she had my critique in front of her spurring her on, right?

So, that's it, short and sweet. One critique Saturday and one Sunday. We usually go out on Fridays so that's a my free night. Tonight (depending on how much time I have) I'll work on a crit or rewrite some more of my chapter 2. I actually worked on the ch 2 rewrite at lunch yesterday and am pleased about how scene 3 is coming along.

If anyone's out there following along, how do you keep yourself motivated to meet your goals? Are you "all or nothing" like me? Slow and steady? Somewhere in between? I'm fascinated by this. As you can see by my Enneagram symbol on the right of the page, I'm a type 4. My friend Barb (the Enneagram expert) often says that 4's are always trying to understand themselves and that's certainly true for me. I guess I feel like if I understand why I am the way I am, it'll help me figure out why I do what I do and from there perhaps I can change the things I don't like, accept the things I can't change, and embrace the stuff that I do like, or at least the stuff that makes me uniquely me. I'm learning after 37 years that some things can't be changed, just accepted and some stuff I really shouldn't want to change anyway.

Current Mood: reflective

Mid-week assessment

Sending out some cherry love to all of you!

My list of goals is going very very well. I have continued to work out each day this week so far, as well as doing one critique a night as I planned. I have one more to do to be all caught up. After that, I just need to make sure to critique one scene per week. Hopefully I will remember how tired I was this week when I think about letting one slide.

Addendum to tomorrow's goal:

Thursday: Work out before work, write crit early, get to bed by 10 PM. (7 hours of sleep would be heaven!)

Those of you who set goals this week, how are you doing so far? I know that Dee over at Dee Cee Talks has some goals: http://deeceetalks.blogspot.com/ I'll have to check in with her tomorrow. Michele too. She said she wanted to get some writing done this week. She and I promised we'd do it together and I mean to keep my end of the bargain.

Also, today I received my cherry purse full of goodies from the Michele Fund auction. It's really cute and I SO heart Jill for putting them together. I got my On Writing book on tape Monday too. (Thanks Gin!) I've read the book, but hearing Stephen King read his own words is very entertaining. Hubby's enjoying it too. I can't wait to get Lani and Karen H's books!

Time for bed now. If I hurry I can get a good 6 hours sleep. Yay!

Current Mood: sleepy yet satisfied (Hakuna Matata!)

Once more, with feeling

Success!

Just thought I'd post a quick update. Wow! Three blogs in one day. A personal best. I have written and posted my critique for the day. A have also looked over the Forum I moderate and caught up on my e-mail. Then I read the last scene I wrote for the WIP and it's not half-bad. Hey! I can work with this.

I'ts pretty much bedtime now, but if I can go along like this every night--even if I don't have time for the WIP until this weekend--I wil be extremely happy. There is nothing worse for me than not being able to concentrate on writing because I feel like I'm neglecting my obligations.

Current mood: Satisfied

The Auction is over (for now)

Thank you sooo much to everyone who participated. From Robin our fantabulous Committee Chairwoman/Captain/All-Around Organizer, to Dee our E-bay expert, to the rest of the committee, to the authors and to the other donors and to everyone who bidded, donated, or passed our MicheleFund auction info on to family and friends. We have raised over $5,000 for Michele's medical bills and we couldn't have done it without you!

The photo above was taken just two days before Michele's surgery at the Pasadena Koman Race for the Cure. L to R: Michele's wonderful husband John, Michele (wearing one of Heidi's fabulous knitted scarves), my very supportive mom Phyllis, and me. It was an inspiring day. Almost as inspiring as this auction has turned out to be.

Thank you again to everyone. And stay tuned for a craft auction sometime this summer. If you are a crafter and would like to donate something, please contact me.

Current Mood: Thankful

6:45 AM

Things that have already made me happy today:

1) The alarm clock rang twice before I heard it, but I didn't ignore it. I got up and got myself to the gym even though I only had 5 hours of sleep.

2) When I walked in the door, Tony at the front desk said, "You're late!" which is the Tony equivalent of "Good job, kid. I knew you'd be back."

3) After 50 minutes, 3 1/2 miles, and burning 300 calories I am no longer sleepy.

4) The day's just started and I don't have to work out again until tomorrow. Yeah!

5) I saw a jogger I usually see on my way home from the gym. She's about my age, the perfect weight--not too big, not too small--and her thighs are firm from running regularly. She's my inspiration.

6) The smell of the clothes when I pulled them out of the washer.

7) My snoring puppy and husband when I came back home.

8) The hot shower I am about to partake in.

9) Recalling the faboo episode of Grey's Anatomy from last night. Damn, I love that show!

10) A quick blog. That was fun.

Current mood: Inspired

This week's goals

The problem with being a perfectionist is that it often leads to procrastination. I am a member of an online writer's workshop where we critique one scene per week. That's all. Just one. Sounds easy enough, right? On a good week it is. But once I get behind...oh boy does it ever get out of control. I just don't want to sit down and do it until I'm in the right frame of mind, or until I know I have enough time to devote to it so I can do a really good job. Counting this week's scene--which is due Friday--I have 4 scenes to do. Yikes! Each scene takes about an hour to write once I've read it a good three times and answered some basic required questions.

I decided to try setting weekly goals on my blog. That way a handful of people out there will know what I'm supposed to accomplish this week. I really need to write my own stuff, but I won't feel free to do that until my obligations are met so...

Monday- Critique C's scene
Tuesday- Critique K's scene
Wednesday- Critique C's scene
Thursday- Critique A's scene
Friday- Free night--out to dinner with hubby.
Saturday- OCC/RWA meeting--Get up early and write WIP before.
Sunday- Write WIP/Critique some of Michele's stuff.

I would also like to add that I started back in the gym on Wed. April 26th. I work out Monday-Friday from 5:30 AM-6:30 AM. I want to continue this until I get back down to the size I want to be and after that I will continue on with this at least three days per week.

Is working out making me more creative or just cranky? Honestly, it's just making me really tired (I just can't seem to get to bed early enough). And a little sore (though the soreness is going away). I used to work out 5 mornings a week, and so I'm getting back into the groove. I tend to be an all or nothing kind of girl. When I'm writing, I really need to write every day. When I'm exercising, 2 or 3 days per week just doesn't seem to cut it. It's too easy to let it slide. When I'm trying to eat healthy, I think about what I'll make for dinner, pack for my lunch, what kind of healthy snacks I'll have... You get the idea.

So, in an effort to get the crits done and ease my guilty mind I really hope this goal setting will work. Wish me luck!

Current Mood: Sleepy yet hopeful

The no writing blues

I haven't been gettting any writing done. A friend of mine sent me this comic strip and it really cheered me up. So I thought I'd share it with you all... Unlike Danny, I do not hate everyone (just people who keep me from writing) and I do not want to brick up windows or commit suicide. Thank God.

My husband did the sweetest thing yesterday. He was at the library on his break and he bought me a book on shapeshifters at the library book sale. It reduced me to a pile of mush how thoughtful this small gesture was. (My WIP is about werewolves) It means so much when someone really "gets" this writer thing. Having it be my very own wonderful husband, made it all the sweeter.

Current Mood: on the up and up