This Website Wednesday let’s play with words! I am constantly downloading crossword puzzle applications to my iPad, or buying those crossword puzzle books in the airport, and am always disappointed in how little I can complete. Especially, after dropping money on what always seems to be unachievable success for me!
With Webcrosswords.com you can test your brain for free. Not only are there a plethora of puzzling possibilities, there are also word searches, a crossword puzzle helper, and other words games to keep you sharp!
Go ahead, test it out, and see how many columns and rows you can fill in!
You’ve likely heard her sing *if you are chilly, here take my sweater* in the Old Navy commercial, and without a doubt in the background of your favorite television drama, but many times when I mention her name, people cannot pinpoint her music.
In an effort to fix that, since I love all of her songs from the upbeat to the mellow, I am showcasing some Ingrid Michaelson for everyone this Music Monday.
I hope you enjoy her songs as much as I do. Happy Listening.
Maybe (One of my favorites)
*I don’t want to be the one to say goodbye
But I will, I will, I will
And I don’t wanna sit on the pavement while you fly
But I will, I will, oh yes I will
Because maybe in the future
You’re gonna come back*
Parachute (Another favorite)
*I don’t tell anyone about the way you hold my hand
I don’t tell anyone about the things that we have planned
I won’t tell anybody, won’t tell anybody
They wanna push me down, they wanna see you fall down*
All Love
*When I push the sheets away from your face
And watch you sleep all day here
And when I push you away
And say you simply cannot stay here
Well it’s all love, all love
It’s all love, my stupid love*
Once Was Love
*I gotta see if I’m filled up when it’s only me
It’s not your fault but you just can’t be here
Now that my heart has gone, now that my heart has gone
Now that my heart has gone
Just because there once was love
Don’t mean a thing, don’t mean a thing
Last, but certainly not least:
Turn To Stone
*let’s go to sleep with clearer heads
and hearts to big to fit our beds
and maybe we wont feel so alone
before we turn to stone*
Today’s website could have been held back and placed on next Monday’s Music Mondays, but since I already failed once with timing, I figured I’d unleash this gem of a website today to help everyone get over the mid-week hump.
Musicovery is a fantastic and fascinating website that lets you scroll over your mood and it will pick music to coordinate with what you’re feeling. Naturally, since I make playlists based on seasons and feelings associated with those seasons and weather, this sort of website is a thing of beauty to me.
Not only does it let you explore your mood and the music to match it, but there is such a wide range of artists and albums, you’re surely to discover someone new. Not to mention, it is similar to Pandora, and you can enter a favorite artist and it will create a station with them and similar ones.
While your moody music is playing, if you’re not loving the choices you can break the player’s heart and it will find something new for you to mope, smile, yell, or relax to. I find myself settling into a deep magenta energetic darkness, filled with Lauryn Hill, Jimi Hendrix, Amy Whinehouse, and The White Stripes, where do you land?
SO, I’m a little late with my Music Monday. However, I always liked to think, better late than never right? Especially when it comes to sharing music with everyone, whether new to them or not.
So here it is: Jason Aldean. He’s not new. His hits aren’t that new at this point, other than the one single I’ll share. However, he’s pretty fantastic. He has a southern tone to his voice that I’m sure is melting women all over the country, and making guys wish they were as cool as he is. At least, that’s how it’s playing out in my mind.
I hope you all enjoy these three songs at least half as much as a do, because even then, you’re loving it.
Jason Aldean w/ Kelly Clarkson- Don’t you Wanna Stay
*Let’s take it slow
I don’t wanna move too fast
I don’t wanna just make love
I wanna make love last
When you’re up this high
It’s a sad goodbye
Don’t you wanna stay here a little while?*
Jason Aldean – Amarillo Sky
*He just takes the tractor another round
And pulls the plow across the ground
And sends up another prayer
He says ‘Lord I never complain, I never ask why
Please don?t let my dreams run dry
Underneath, underneath this Amarillo Sky*
Jason Aldean – Dirty Road Anthem (my favorite)♥♥
*So if you really want to know how it feels
To get off the road with trucks and four wheels
Jump on in and, man, tell your friends
We’ll raise some hell where the black top ends
I’m chilling on a dirt road
Laid back, swerving like I’m George Jones
Smoke rolling out the window
An ice cold beer sitting in the console*
Several times I’ve taken the train home to Long Island and back into the city, I’ve sat either in front or behind the same woman, content with the company she keeps in her head, calmly carrying on conversations of a past life, a different life.
The other day, I couldn’t help but write as I listened and watched this lady find comfort in her reflection and the stories it kept.
Train Reflections
by me
She sits with her reflection It comforts her wild mind. Talking to an old friend Who’d never leave her behind. She listens to her stories She’s a shoulder when she cries, An unquiet mind put at ease, Watching as the world passes by. “Tell me friend, how have you been? How are you spending your days?” “I’m okay, it’s quiet in here, Riding my days away… Hey! Look at all those cars So many places to be, Remember when that was you and me? People to see, places to go, But my hair is gray & there’s nothing left I know.” Sitting with her oldest friend She looks into her eyes Pleased her friend is looking back, She loses all sense of place and time. “Let’s open another store, We could really make it work, Harlem would work for sure this time, Half would be yours, half would be mine.” She waits for her friend to answer She bows her head in praise, “You always were much smarter You always knew just what to say.” A smile comes across her face, Even though the rain, obscures the plastic pane The familiar face always remains. “I can always count on you to stick around Loyally following me from town to town.” She listens to her dear friend reminisce She listens to the stories she tells, Here her unquiet mind is peaceful, Sitting with her reflection, all is well.
It’s that time of the week again, when we’re over the hump and the weekend is in sight. Many people, especially us New Yorkers are already pondering where to meet up with friends for the weekly Thursday Happy Hour.
Fulton Restaurant
This week I recommend Fulton. A nautically decorated seafood bar and restaurant on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. I personally love the decor here, feeling like you’re on a handcrafted wooden boat, it’s easy to forget about the taxis and traffic soaring down Third Avenue.
Happy Hour is from 5pm to 7pm every day and include:
~$1 Oysters & $.50 Clams
~$6 glasses of Cava, Sant Sadurni d’ Anoia, Chardonnay, Livermore Valley & Merlot
~$6 Vodka & Gin Cocktails & Drinks
~$10 Half Bottles of Chardonnay
They also bring baskets of delicious popcorn to nibble on if you’re not super hungry or an oyster or clam fan.
I recommend the oysters, of course, which are delicious & fresh as well as a slightly dirty Vodka Martini, which the bartenders make with near perfection.
Fulton
205 East 75th Street, right off 3rd Avenue
212.288.6600
This past weekend in Maine, I met some very creative and talented individuals. Two of which have started their own business selling unique and adventurous articles of clothing and accessories.
Chrononaut Mercantile
With different themes, such as Faerie, Pirate, Renaissance and Steampunk; Heather and Jeff help all of us bring a little fantasy and fun back into our lives.
Whether you’re a collector, a costume designer, or just someone who appreciates the intricacies of fine designs, like my favorite the “Continuum Bracelet“ be sure to check out Chrononaut Mercantile!
Finally! Well, almost…One of my favorite bands is releasing their next album. Not fully, until May 31st, 2011, but individual songs are already released, and more will be released on iTunes on this schedule up until the full album launch:
April 19th – “Some Boys” – Song Release (iTunes Pass Only)
May 3rd – “You Are A Tourist” – Video Release
May 10th – “Underneath the Sycamore” – Song Release (iTunes Pass Only)
May 24th – “St. Peter’s Cathedral” – Song Release (iTunes Pass Only)
Death Cab for Cutie rarely disappoints. With each new album I fall more and more in love with their voices and words. Their songs continually find a home on my playlists and so I thought no better band to promote today than these guys, and the two new songs of theirs I just bought, listened to and already love.
You Are A Tourist *And if you feel just like a tourist in the city you were born Then it’s time to go And define your destination There’s so many different places to call home Because when you find yourself the villain in the story you have written It’s plain to see That sometimes the best intentions are in need of redemptions Would you agree? If so please show me*
Home Is A Fire *Plates they will shift Houses will shake Fences will turn We will awake Only to find Nothing’s the same As yesterday*
“June what’s going on with you? I feel like I haven’t talked to you in forever!” Chloe says. Because really, she hasn’t. She hasn’t talked to any of us much. I think she was afraid to because we’d tell her she needs to walk away from Gavin, so instead she walked away from us. Just for a little.
“Oh geez, I don’t know. There’s this guy Jackson who I’m sort of seeing. I told you about him. We talk almost every night and…”
“WAIT” I yell much louder than anticipated, “On the phone? Or like…text?”
“Woah there, no,” she continues “On the phone…”
“WHAT?!” Chloe and I both gasp. June is notorious for avoiding actual phone conversations. The only one she speaks to on the phone is her mom and sometimes dad. She barely answers if we call, instead she’ll respond with a text, saying she was in the bathroom or something and couldn’t get the phone. So the fact that she was talking to this guy almost every night on the phone was monumental.
“Yeah, I know right!?” She says “I think I really like him, I never talk on the phone with anyone!” she laughs.
“…Yes, we know.” Chloe says with a smirk, since even during college when the phone was the best way to keep in touch, June failed.
“So what’s the problem then?” Chloe continues.
“The problem is he’s younger. And he just got out of a long-term super serious relationship and I don’t know if I want to be part of that baggage right now. I mean I’ve been there, I’ve seen you guys, go through it; I don’t want to really be the rebound, or not even the rebound, but the thing right after that, ya know? I don’t know…” She trails off.
“Oye Vey” I mutter, “Doesn’t he still sometimes talk to the ex? It just doesn’t really sound like a good situation to me. He’s obviously not sure of what he wants, or even if he is, I don’t know if he’s really ready to make that choice ya know?”
We all say ‘ya know’ because we all do know, we’ve all been there. In all these scenarios, we’ve been there. We’ve done that, we’ve felt it. I know how he feels; I know June knows how he feels. Both of us got out of long-term relationships, and the two or three subsequent relationships we had, failed because our heads were not in the right place. So it’s not unreasonable to understand and sympathize with this Jackson kid. Although, as her girlfriends, we’re instinctively wired to dislike and question him, until all reasonable doubts are erased.
“What are you going to do?” I ask, a little hesitantly.
“I don’t know. I told him that I knew where he was coming from. And I didn’t think we should rush into anything. And that I wasn’t going to drop him like a bad habit, but we definitely should take it slow and cautiously.”
“Mature. Smart. Good” Chloe says – “And what did he say?”
“He said that he didn’t understand why I was so cool and understanding to him when he didn’t deserve any of it. UGH!!! He’s just so sweet to me, constantly saying the nicest things and what not.”
“What does he do,” I ask, amazed neither of us had asked this yet, since it seems to be the first question everyone else always wants to know about who you’re seeing.
“Well, that’s the other thing,” she hesitates, and we hold our breath, because this isn’t sounding good…
“He’s still finishing college. He took a little detour and got a little lost along the way.” She says in a defensive tone.
“Look June, I know what it’s like to sometimes take longer to get to your goal than others. I’ve seen many people get tangled up along the way and take longer to mature. So I don’t initially think that’s a bad thing…but I’d ask yourself A. how much longer does he have B. does he seem really motivated to finish it C. what are his goals for after and D. is he over whatever caused him to be so behind to begin with.”
“Jesus Dr. Phil!” Chloe snaps. “Look, if you like him, that’s not the ideal situation job wise, but I also don’t think that’s a deal breaker.”
“How often do you see him? This is the guy we met the other night at the bar on Essex right?” I ask.
“Yeah, that’s the one, I see him one to two times a week, sometimes more. He lives in Jersey, so it’s a little harder, even though the trains to Hobokes aren’t really that inconvenient, but whatever, I don’t know you guys, I really think I like him. It makes me a little nervous.”
And with that. Chloe and I shut our mouths with all judgments and skeptical comments trapped inside. If she’s opening up like that. Feeling that way for Jackson, we’re on board and will support it. She did seem exceptionally happy.
“Ladies, I have to go to bed, I have a long day tomorrow and lots to get done with this new promotion and stuff, you staying out?” I ask them, hoping they say no, because no one likes to be the one to go home when everyone else stays out.
“Meh, I don’t really feel like going home yet” Chloe says. She’s in advertising, pretty high up there, coming up with creative campaigns for Gatorade and other crazy lucrative brands, and doesn’t have to be at work until 10 most days. A definite perk of being in the creative field if you’re not a morning person like none of us are…she does work until 10 many nights though, so I guess the grass is only partially greener.
“I could stay out for a bit” June says. She’s doing summer school now, so her days are pretty low-key and she doesn’t have to be at her peak performance. She knows she’ll probably call Jackson later anyway and see if he’ll come see her.
Darn, I think, but oh well…
“Okay, well I’ll talk to you guys tomorrow I’m sure on g-chat or something. Have fun and another drink for me!”
Hugs and kisses and I leave them at the bar and get in a cab. A little bit lonely. A little unsettled. I begin thinking, what is it, why are all these beautiful smart women settling or holding out for these guys who just don’t get them, don’t appreciate them, and all too often, leave them. Girls go a little bit crazier every day, lose their minds a little bit more every day, chasing and clinging. But for what? To what? Too often we look past the ones standing right in front of us with outstretched arms trying to love us, while we’re trying to get the un-gettable and in the long run – forgettable. It’s the vicious evil chase. Too many girls thrive on it. Where does this cycle get those trapped in the current? This chase, this game of cat and mouse…it gets them broken hearts, it gets them poems strewn across cold wood floors – mascara and tear-stained pillows. Lost lovers. Cheating lovers. Missing lovers. Lovers yet to be met. Lovers’ regrets. The chase will never go away. The game will never go away. When will we just get so tired of the game that we quit? Forfeit. Its intrigue is phenomenal; a nearly impossible addiction to cure. Leaving lost little girls all over the world.
How will they find where they belong? Why isn’t there a road map to see more clearly which route to take? Just a little hint of a direction. A little clue as to where our knights in shining something are. We don’t need the keys to a castle, just a warm place to call home and a trusting hand to bring us, so we’re not always going alone.
*I’ve been roaming around, always looking down at all I see. Painted faces fill the places I can’t reach. You know that I could use somebody*
It’s April, it’s supposed to be getting warm…even if it isn’t, many of us are feeling the Spring Fever, ready to go to bars with open windows, outside seating, and warm-weather drinks.
Yuca Bar
Located in the heart of the East Village, serving up Latin Fusion food and delicious Mojitos and Margaritas, Yuca Bar is the perfect place to meet friends for happy hour once the warmer nights finally arrive!
Happy Hour is every weekday from 1pm to 8pm and is 1/2 priced drinks. It can get very crowded though, so it is a perfect place to practice making the early bird special, and grab a seat at the bar early enough while there’s one left.
I recommend the Mojito (with a real sugar cane stick for those with a nasty sweet tooth like my own) and the Yuca Fries or Guacamole (served with plantain chips). Both delicious starters or as a small meal if you’re not starving.
Yuca Bar
111 Avenue A right at 7th st.
Sun – Thurs 10am- 1am
Fri- Sat 10am – 3am
Happy Hour 1pm – 8pm
