Sunday Morning Playlist

Lovely and mellow. Feel the breezes, listen to the birds, hang out, chill. Works well on "Shuffle" setting.

• Journey to a Rainbow, Chuck Mangione, The Best of Chuck Mangione, Jazz
• Break of Dawn, Karsh Kale, Liberation, Electronic
• Watermark, Enya, Only Time: The Collection, New Age
• Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars), Stan Getz/Laurindo Almeida, Bossa Nova for Lovers, Latin
• Morning, CBS Masterworks Dinner Classics, Breakfast In Bed, Classical
• Wave, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Bossa Nova for Lovers, Latin
• Love Theme (From Bladerunner), Vangelis, Themes, Electronic
• Vivo Sonhando (Dreamer), Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto, Bossa Nova for Lovers, Latin
• Daybreak, CBS Masterworks Dinner Classics, Breakfast In Bed, Classical
• I Feel Free, Cream, Fresh Cream, Rock
• O Grande Amor, Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto, Bossa Nova for Lovers, Latin
• Aqua, Moncef Genoud, Aqua, Jazz
• Beau soir, Frederic Chiu & Joshua Bell, Voice of the Violin (Bonus Version), Classical
• Elegie, Secret Garden, Once In a Red Moon, New Age
• Monk Meets Poulenc (medley), Paul Cantelon, Falling Water, New Age
• Rose, Jan Garbarek, Manu Katchu, Marcin Wasilewski, Slavomir Kurkiewicz & Tomasz Stanko, Neighbourhood, Jazz
• Cherry County, Leo Kottke & Mike Gordon, Sixty Six Steps, Rock
• Retrograde, Leo Kottke, One Guitar, No Vocals, Folk

I like how all the genres mix together so well. It doesn't really matter in what order you play them.

(Repost from 2011)

Anti-Static (playlist)

Because of winter and dry hair and that other kind of static. Momentarily addicted to space music with ethereal overtones also sometimes called "Ambient." Good for writing.

24 songs, 3 hours 

Song, Album, Artist, Time (minutes)

1 Om, Signatures On Water, Maneesh De Moor, 9:51

2 Iceblink, Le café abstrait by Raphael Marionneau, Vol. 10 (Deluxe Edition), Pass Into Silence, 5:08

3 Birds Fly By Flapping Their Wings, Dropsonde, Biosphere, 6:35

4 Black Sands, Black Sands, Bonobo, 6:49

5 Colour My Dream, Colour My Dream, Tony Gerber, 9:22

6 Dream_Blue, Colour My Dream, Tony Gerber, 16:52

7 Dream_Aquamarine, Colour My Dream, Tony Gerber, 11:10

8 Dream_Ochre, Colour My Dream, Tony Gerber, 6:10

9 Dream_Gold, Colour My Dream, Tony Gerber, 7:24

10 Road To My Dream, Colour My Dream, Tony Gerber, 7:27

11 Dream_Leaf Green, Colour My Dream, Tony Gerber, 2:32

12 Instinct, Liberation, Karsh Kale, 5:43

13 Break of Dawn, Liberation, Karsh Kale, 7:26

14 Love Theme (From Bladerunner), Themes, Vangelis, 5:01

15 Try Quiet, AirDaeh, D.E.D., 24:35

16 Feather Hammer, AirDaeh, D.E.D., 17:20

17 Journey to a Rainbow, The Best of Chuck Mangione (Remastered), Chuck Mangione, 7:01

18 Calm, Continuo, Avishai Cohen, 3:16

19 Quiet Rising, I Can See Your House From Here, John Scofield & Pat Metheny, 5:29

20 Lullaby, Neighbourhood, Jan Garbarek, Manu Katché, Marcin Wasilewski, Slavomir Kurkiewicz & Tomasz Stanko, 6:09

21 The Big Empty, Empty Sky, Deuter, 4:06

22 Waltz For A Blissful Goddess, Mirror of the Sun, Sambodhi Prem, 4:52

23 Aldebaran, Only Time: The Collection, Enya, 3:07

24 Watermark, Only Time: The Collection, Enya, 2:27

Beer: Especially Good for Women

Enjoyed this infographic? Check out www.WearYourBeer.com.

Playlist of the Day: Sugar, Sugar

Unrelated to anything at all is today's playlist based on Sugar, Sugar generated by iTunes Genius with my outtakes. (Some of the songs Genius suggested weren't happy enough.)

CD Cover, also generated by iTunes

Song Title, Artist, Album, Genre

Sugar, Sugar, The Archies, Sugar, Sugar, Pop
It's Getting Better, Cass Elliot, Dream a Little Dream: The Cass Elliott Collection, Rock
Good Morning Starshine, Oliver, Days of Flower Power, Rock
Go Where You Wanna Go, The Mamas & The Papas, The Mamas & The Papas Greatest Hits, Rock
I'll Be Your Mirror, The Velvet Underground & Nico, The Velvet Underground & Nico, Rock
If I Can't Have You, Yvonne Elliman, The Best of Yvonne Elliman, Rock
Free Man In Paris, Joni Mitchell, Joni Mitchell, Hits, Pop
Send In the Clowns, Judy Collins, 24 Classic Songs, Singer/Songwriter
Alive and Kicking, Simple Minds, Once Upon a Time, Rock
The Rain, the Park and Other Things, The Cowsills, The Best of the Cowsills, Pop
Everything Is Everything, Phoenix, Alphabetical, Electronic
Something About You, Level 42, World Machine, Rock
All Because of You, U2, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, Rock
Colours, Donovan, Fairy Tale, Folk
Help Me, Joni Mitchell, Joni Mitchell, Hits, Pop
Just Like Heaven, Katie Melua, Piece By Piece, Pop
Harvest Moon, Neil Young, Neil Young: Greatest Hits, Rock
40 Day Dream, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Up from Below, Alternative

I make these lists periodically, or ask Genius to make them, to see if there's any logic behind them. They are never all the same genre. Most of them don't have beats per minute information. Often they come front the same era, like the sixties. Aside from that, some of them are quite random. I don't know how Genius works. Does anyone? Humans make better lists. Or, at least, I make better lists. Genius is faster, though.

The Elaine Report

Today's items of interest, variously posted, and now here all in one place for your browsing pleasure.

• Digital Product Placement and the Rise of MiriAd
New fields to furrow and brows to burrow.
• 21 Tips to Keep Your Shit Together ...
Ways to lift your spirits and other suggestions on how to suck it up.
• Chowder Clam knitting pattern Cuteness break.
• Severe Weather Forecast for Topeka
Wondering wether I have time to walk to the library this morning without getting sucked up by a tornado. Answer: yes, I do.
• Saudi Arabia Denies Paralysis Punishment
Keeping an eye on the tiny changes that happen in a country ruled by Islam.
• Gulf of Mexico Deep Cleans Itself
But for how long? And does that mean we can use it as a dump? I think not and neither does Professor Hazen.
• Easy-to-make tasty frozen drink. Just in time for summer!

And a late addition: How to Really Manage Creative People. 

I am Elinor Dashwood!

Take the Jane Austen Character Quiz here!

Merry Happy 13th! You lucky ones ...

Grunge desktop - free

Have a free desktop until I get the sky of the day posted.

0321 - Retrospective: Sky

Spring Moon (3/21/09)

This might be a better post for "The Unplanned Eye" but it's really part of my daily retrospective. Although the project seems dead, it's still having an effect on my creativity.

In addition to the immediate benefits of my failed "365 Make Something" project, I've been experiencing a strange revival in my art marketing. I suddenly found myself renting a wall at Art Works and hanging my art (Wall "N", beside the exit/entrance to the cafe). Another spur-of-the-moment thing was submitting work to the monthly juried All Media Show. I happened to have a spare frame and a couple of works that just needed printing. And I'm making a Facebook artist page.

Today I'm working in Bryce, realizing that posting a sky a day would be possible. Especially if I don't spend a lot of time thinking about it. Generating a random sky would be acceptable because it would be all about choice – choosing the best sky of the day. I suppose I could also post a photo. Especially in the spring there are some great sunrise skies. In the winter it's sunset skies. So, something to think about.

0107 - Words and Art

the white t shirts hanging up on the mirror gave me a vision of weddings. (2005)

i just don't get this life and i never have. well, life i get. it's the others that freak me out. the weird illogical way they run their lives and the strange fear they have of things that are beyond them or that are different. perhaps it has something to do with the stay away from strangers thing. i don't know. (2008)

i have no cohort. really. i can collect friends but they do not constitute a society or a cohort. they are drawn from all sorts of social strata. it's intriguing. (2010)

2006 - Celebrating my grandson's first birthday.

Hero and Dog

It's a start.

Current Fads
Listening. Romance Unlimited (unpublished iMix); my heart
Watching. Iron Man (2008)
Activity. running away to the woods
Gadget. iPhone 3GS
Writing. Gertrude, so far (NaNoWriMo 2010)
Location: Regulus, about 15 miles from the orphanage

If I ran the cosmos ...

If I were in charge, things would be organized and make sense. Not like the way they are in this cosmos which is full of randomness and chaos. I mean, how are you supposed to know you've got a message if everything is just chaos? Mediums and psychics make money pulling out the right messages and passing them on. I guess they would lose their jobs. But as enterprising business owners I'm sure they'd find another income stream.

Just imagine how nice things would be if tea leaves arranged themselves nicely at the bottom of the cup, your dirty clothes naturally floated into the hamper, trash into the bin, and fruit landed gently on the ground and waited for you to pick it up without rotting. The latter could be an issue if you rely on rotting to grow anything. So, okay, then things that are intended to rot – like fallen leaves and dead flowers – would automatically end up where they are supposed to be and they would rot quickly so you don't have to wait around for them decompose. And the used bowl shown here would have the remaining bits settled nice to the bottom of the bowl, not splayed around randomly and looking dirty. Hey! Dirt would be pretty!

On the other hand, if things were perfectly arranged all the time, anything that was not in place would stand out really badly. Actually, we may have that already ...
Current Fads
Listening. It Ain't Me Babe - Bob Dylan and Send in the Clowns - Judy Collins; high pitched whining in ears
Watching. It's Complicated (2010)
Activity. waking up
Gadget. iMac
News Sources. the news feeds in Safari, Twitter, Facebook friends
Reading. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen; Creative Visualization (sample) - Shakti Gawain; How to Get What You Want Just By Thinking About It - Me
Writing. uh...

songs and guys

Current Fads
Listening. Let My Love Open the Door, Sherie Rene Scott and Heard It In a Love Song, The Marshall Tucker Band; dripping rain
Watching. Breaking and Entering (2006)
Activity. writing (OMG!)
Gadget. iPhone 3GS
News Source. the news feeds in Safari
Reading. The Tao Teh King, or the Tao and Its Characteristics - Lao-Tse (translated by James Legge); Death of a Macho Man - M.C. Beaton; Story - Robert McKee; Ask and It Is Given - Esther and Jerry HIcks
Writing. Cosmic Control: The First Age

when day is done and shadows fall I dream of you

when day is done I think of all the joys I knew

that yearning

returning

to be held in your arms

I know love, what's so love,

without you life has lost its charms ...

and although I miss

your craziness

the whole day through

I miss you most of all

when day is done

waiting for an angel

Angel

Current Fads
Listening. Celtic and OMs (unpublished playlist); whooshing A/C unit
Watching. Camilla (1994)
Activity. exhibiting a semblance of sanity
Gadget. iPhone 3GS
News Source. Facebook and Twitter
Reading. Refuse to Choose - Barbara Sher; Shakespeare: the Invention of the Human - Harold Bloom; The Wisdom of No Escape - Pema Chodron; On A Clear Day You Can See Forever - Alan Jay Lerner (1966 original version); The Art of Shakespeare's Sonnets - Helen Vendler
Writing. absolutely nothing
Song of the Night: Ciara
App of the Night: WhiteNoise

impatient: new moon

Happy Moon Dance

Song of the Night: Dancing in the Dark, Diana Krall
App of the Night: Planets

My Little Luxuries List

Last night I was talking to a friend about little luxuries and how I have to have them no matter how desperate my financial situation. Without them I go mad and then my financial situation becomes even worse. Sometimes it's better to just eat the ice cream, you know? So, here's the list I made this morning. A few of the items on the list are big ticket items. Remember that a quality item used over time amortizes to a little daily luxury. Yes, I will pay more to have a less troubling daily round. It's worth it.

Elaine's Little Luxuries
1. Lunch at a nice restaurant, preferably asian.
2. Watching a first run movie, preferably in 3-D.
3. Getting a manicure or pedicure or both.
4. Having someone else pour me a glass of wine.
5. Wasting time.
6. A phone call on my iPhone.
7. Using my iMac.
8. Two sturdy, non-leaching, recyclable, clear reusable water bottles - a green one for the car, a pink one for at home.
9. A big bottle of mineral water - Perrier or Pelegrino usually.
10. Fancy flip flops.
11. Good incense.
12. My engraved iPod Shuffle (2nd Gen).
13. A cup of excellent coffee (currently: Blanchards from their roastery).
14. A bouquet of fresh flowers.
15. My recyclable, sustainable, fair trade net shopping bags.
16. A good pair of glasses.
17. A good pair of walking shoes.
18. Getting a massage.
19. A very long walk in the woods with the dog on a cool sunny morning.
20. My Second Life.
21. The next book in the series bought new in person at the bookstore.
22. Downloading tunes from the Apple iTunes music store.
23. Reading expensive magazines I don't buy at the bookstore while drinking a warm drink.
24. Ocean swimming.
25. Body surfing.
26. Brain baking.
27. Planning an air vacation.
28. Take away from China's Best.
29. Visiting Mom at her condo on the beach.
30. Sleeping outside.
31. Getting a new silly toy (i.e., Googly Ball, Felix the Cat figurine, soft silly tiny monkey).
32. Being silly.
33. Dressing silly.
34. Discussing cosmic issues as if I know what I'm talking about.
35. Writing science fiction fantasy novels that have no ending.
36. Writing poetry.
37. Blogging.
38. A good cup of tea.
39. Watching the moon.
40. Taking a long hot bubble bath on a cold winter's day.
41. Making a huge fire in the fireplace.
42. Serendipitous meet-ups with friends.
43. Making art.
44. Making lists.
45. Burning CDs to listen to while driving around in the car.
46. Ignoring the rules of grammar.
47. Riding when I could walk or walking when I could ride.
48. Not making sense.
49. Kissing.
50. Hugging.
52. Wishing, wether the stars are visible or not.
53. Eating a raw salad at Ellwood Thompsons.
54. Watching my favorite movie, again.
55. Posting my list of little luxuries to my blog.
56. Posting new art to my funky website.
57. Putting cool decals on my iPhone.
58. Using the color pink inappropriately.
59. Playing solitaire electronically.
60. Giving myself a little luxury item at Christmas.
61. Eating a single, excruciatingly high quality dark chocolate bon bon - preferably creamy or nutty.
62. Having back ups for my favorite little luxuries.
63. Setting a silly image as my Facebook profile picture.
64. Stopping whenever I feel like it.

Current Fads
Listening. One Guitar No Vocals, Leo Kottke and OMs (unpublished playlist); a strange vibration
Watching. Always (1989)
Activity. keeping cool
Gadget. iPhone 3GS
News Source. the news feeds in Safari
Reading. Monument - Ian Graham
Writing. rather not say
Song of the Day: When You Wish Upon a Star (Disney theme)

up again

Current Fads
Listening. Where or When, Lena Horne and Romance Unlimited (unpublished playlist); ringing in ears
Watching. When Harry Met Sally (1989); House Calls (1978)
Activity. burning tapes to CD; keeping the shrubs alive
Gadget. iPhone
News Source. Google News
Reading. In the Last Analysis - Amanda Cross; Dem Herzen nahe - Jörg Zink; Kissing Christmas Goodbye - M. C. Beaton
Writing. morning pages
Song of the Day: Just Like Heaven, Katie Melua

rain making me morose

Lessons learned from Shrek:

1. When you are ugly, have a good roar, and can run fast you never have to fight.

2. Unusual creatures make the best friends.

3. True love makes you beautiful, not the other way around.

4. You don't have to look for opportunities to be a hero. They will be thrust upon you.

5. Be open minded. Not everyone is lucky enough to be an ogre.

Current Fads
Listening. Goodbye to Love (personal playlist – see below); the beating of my heart
Watching. Shrek (2001)
Activity. discovering Chocolates by Kelly
Gadget. my head
News Source. news?
Reading. Vision of Murder - Victoria Laurie (yes, it is taking me along time to get through this detective mystery. i only read it before going to bed)
Writing. this post

right the first time

First thought, best thought. Zen proverb
Current Fads
Listening. Vocal Genius Mix; A/C blowing; ringing in ears
Watching. Slaves of New York (1989)
Activity. contemplating the universe
Gadget. iPhone 3GS
News Source. Google News
Reading. Vision of Murder - Victoria Laurie
Writing. nothing :::::sigh::::::::::
Song of the Day: Is That All There Is? - Peggy Lee
Ap of the Night: Planets