I AM WHAT I AM...

I admit it...I've cheated...on my blog. After months and months of harrassment from a friend of mine, I finallly gave in and joined MySpace. I'm already on one of those other sites and didn't think I needed to waste my time on another one. There are many advantages to being on MySpace vs. the "other" site, but I have to say, the best thing about it (and the reason I cheated on this here blog) is the ability to list what you're reading, viewing or listening to and to not only show the art work but link it to Amazon. "Brilliant!" says I. Dear ole Blogger should do the same thing...then maybe I won't be so inclined to post on that blog vs. this one (the one I've had for YEARS).

My guilt for blogging on another site has kept me from blogging in general lately, so below...is an excerpt from my Linda-Eder-Rules-MySpace post:

Linda Eder had been often times compared to Barbara Streisand and yet I like Eder and not so much Streisand. I seem to have every one of Eder's albums (including the holiday one) and for the last 2 weeks, all I've been listening to is Broadway My Way. It's a great album of known Broadway songs as well as lesser known songs and isn't Frank Wildhorn heavy (for obvious reasons...they recently ended their marriage)! I don't love all of the arrangements (like "I Am What I Am" from La Cage Aux Folles) but do like her rendition of "Don't Rain on My Parade" from Funny Girl. Even I think it's a little ironic that I enjoy her take on this song...particularly considering how errily similar she sounds to Streisand...and of course is a song Streisand is famous for from her performance in the show.

Anyway...I'm sure I'll keep listening to this album until I get sick of it, then I'll move on to her newest album, By Myself: The Songs of Judy Garland.

Cheers!

I have turned into a knitting machine! I do it every chance I have now...I think I'm addicted (although not as much as I am to iced tea). Ha ha. **Ahem** Yes, so I knit whenever I can...when I wake up, when I'm sitting around at home, before I go to sleep. It's out of control! I sat at home most of this afternoon knitting. It's restful actually. It was such a nice day today though, that I wanted to be out, but found that when I sat down to knit (I told myself I'd only do it for 10 minutes) I couldn't get up...and when I finally decided that I needed to stop, 3 hours had gone by! Can you believe that?! I wish I could knit and read at the same time...cos I really need to catch up on my reading, I have stacks of books that I haven't been able to get to. But alas, I'm not that talented and cannot both read and knit at the same time. Darn.

Before my knitting marathon-extravaganza, I did have time to go to my local Borders Books to go...buy-more-books-that-I-probably-will-never-read-because-I-don't-have-the-patience-to-sit-down-and-read. Hmmm, yeah, so that sounded completely rediculous. It's odd that I have the patience to knit, but not to read. We won't go there, will we? No, we won't. So as I was saying...I went to Borders since I had a gift card to redeem. I had every intention of getting books, but then I wandered upstairs. Yes, upstairs where evil (AKA CDs) lives...a place where I have a tendency to want to spend all of my non-money. Starring me in the face was Linda Eder's new album, Gold. Working in "the biz" I used to have connections that would allow me to be on mailing lists and get free stuff (like Gold...but now that I'm unemployed I no longer get such privileges). Well, since I had my gift card, I felt I had to get the album...after all I had nothing to loose.

So I have almost all of Linda Eder's albums...yes, a guilty pleasure I guess. I'm not one of those die-hard Frank Wildhorn fans, nor am I anti-Wildhorn (ok, so everyone knows that Linda Eder's husband is Frank Wildhorn, right? And it seems all of her albums contain virtually all of her husband's work. Ok, I had to clarify for those of you who aren't in the know). Some of his work is pleasant to listen to, and some of it...not so good (but in no way am I a snob to his work either). So I get in my car and pop the CD in, and the opening track is "Here Comes the Sun." Not bad. I realize that the album isn't strictly filled with work of her husband's, but other well known songs like, "Son of a Preacher Man" and "We're All Alone." Not bad. I think this is the best album Linda Eder has released. Of course there is some of Frank Wildhorn's work, but some of those I actually like too.

The real test for me is how long I leave a CD in my car. If I really like it, it will make it's way into my CD wallet thingy. I seem to only rotate the CDs in that thing every 3-4 months (there are like 7-8 CDs in that thing, so it lasts me awhile). I usually like to have music I can actually sing to, since I really like to sing (loudly) while driving. I have had Alice Ripley's album, Everything's Fine in my car since it arrived in the mail months ago. Yeah, by now I'm just a little tired of it, but it took quite awhile for me to get to that point.

My next purchases? In junior high, Debbie (now DEBORAH) Gibson was my hero. I admired her youth, her talent...it gave me hope. Hope for what you ask? Yeah, well when I was young, I always wanted to sing professionally. Pop, Broadway...yeah, that was my dream. It's funny that I never did anything to fulfill that dream until I was 19 (but those voice lessons were a summer vacation thing from college...but for only 1 summer). Anyways...soon, I have to buy on CD, Out of the Blue and Electric Youth. Ha ha, I can't wait!