Music and Food

♫♪ - I don't remember what triggered the impulse earlier today, but I wound up on iTunes for awhile this afternoon sifting through old synth-pop from the 80's. I wound up buying:

• Flock of Seagulls - "The Story of a Young Heart" (album)
• Men at Work - "Business as Usual" (album)
• Restless Heart - "I'll Still Be Loving You" (song)

The first two are staples from the early and mid-80's (huge junior high/high school memories, as well as my shared Dungeons & Dragons soundtrack with Tim & Steve). The song by Restless Heart is one I always forget, yet which shows up from time to time. It is the song that reminds me the most of my second serious girlfriend, Sarah Thompson of Rantoul, KS, who I met when I went back to Topeka in the spring of 1989 to visit my Washburn University chums from the previous academic year. That was so long ago!

And for a late dinner, I heated up some rice, steamed some broccoli on top of it, and after spreading it on a big plate, I topped it with two fried eggs and a small slice of cooked ham. It was fantastic!

Food and Music

This afternoon I made a fancy ramen dish. I used the fresh ramen noodles from Japan, and seasoned it with powdered chicken stock and dried kimchi and vegetables. I threw in some fresh mushrooms at the end. Pretty decent stuff! And it went well with my current obsession, the South Korean dating series "I am Solo".

♫♪ - And in the evening I burned my current favorite K-Pop songs, plus a bunch more of the faster, peppier ones, onto a cd for the car. Some songs from the disc:

• Le Sserafim - "So Cynical (Badum)"
• New Jeans - "Hype Boy"
• FIFTY FIFTY - "Perfect Crime"
• ILLIT - "Little Monster"
• Soojin - "Lime"

Plus songs by TWICE, aespa, ifeye, i-dle, VIVIZ and RESCENE. It's interesting how most K-Pop bands utilize all CAPS or all lowercase letters for their names, and even replace letters with numbers that look similar. Anyway, unusual food + music I love = a very good day!

New Year's Eve

A lack of funds, enthusiasm and people who were free to hang out with all left me with spending New Year's Eve home alone, which was perfectly fine with me this year.

Dinner was 2 messy but amazing cheeseburgers from Omaha Steaks (a last-minute Christmas gift from Dad & Ma - I still have 18 patties left). I made them in the small frying pans, and then put them on a toasted slice of multigrain bread. One had: American cheese both above and below the beef, then tomatoes, and half of a sandwich roll with mustard on top. The other had: beef, cheddar cheese, pickles, and the other half of the sandwich roll with mustard. They were SO good! However, going forward I am going to learn how to cook them in the oven to avoid the extensive grease cleanup, post-cooking. 

I spent the late evening up to and beyond midnight with the last beer of the year, a mediocre one called "Slippery When Wet IPA" from Tripping Animals Brewery in Doral, FL. It had two hops I am not familiar with, Lotus and Trident. The beer wasn't good or bad, merely boring. The logo artwork is amazing though! It definitely made me choose it.

Also, I spent the time listening to the following music to end 2024:

• Beach House - "7"
• Lush - "Blind Spot" EP
• Tchami - "Revelations" EP
• TWICE - "With YOU*th" EP

All very good stuff! Especially the first and last on the list.

New Music - K-POP

I've been a fan of K-Pop band Illit since the spring, ever since I heard their song "Magnetic" and watched the video and various performances of that mesmerizing routine. As a result I have been listening to a lot of K-Pop ever since. There are so many catchy songs, with upbeat and happy dance routines that go along with them, performed by beautiful and graceful women, that I can't help but be in a good mood every time I run across them in my social media feeds. Groups such as (spelled as they prefer): NewJeans, aespa, Le Sserafim, (G)I-DLE, Katseye, FIFTY FIFTY, Kiss of Life, and more.

Anyway, today I found some leftover iTunes money and snagged:

• "Whiplash" by aespa (single).
• The "Love Tune" EP by FIFTY FIFTY (featuring the songs "SOS" and "Starry Night").
• The "I'll Like You" EP by Illit (featuring "Cherish", which has been stuck in my head for over a month now).

Driving in my car just got more fun... ♫♪♫♪

 

Sunday Sunset

Another day, another evening walk at the lake...

It was sunny, dry and there was very little breeze at 7:00 pm. I listened to a cool shoegaze band out of Moscow called Peach Gardens during my walk, and then I enjoyed the air and sunlight until just after 8:00 pm. I need to snag the album the next time I have disposable moolah on a Bandcamp Friday.

Blue Skies

I was up early today (7:30 am) for a job interview, and then I went food shopping. Around 1:30 pm I decided to get outdoors, instead of pissing away another sunny spring day (haha), so I drove down to the lake. I brought a book, some pretzels, and two big sliced oranges.

I did my usual mile walk first, while listening to Slowdive's "Prayer Remembered" and Tiny Fireflies' "Nothing/2040". No other walkers, but a couple of older kids were fishing at the intersection. After my walk I read some of Robert Silverberg's "Collision Course", ate one of the oranges, and had a few pretzels. Such a nice 90-minute interlude in a somewhat busy day...

Greyish

Another day, another walk at the lake. It was chilly but nice. I listened to "Butterfly Case" by Cuushe during my walk. And since I had gone to Starbucks beforehand, my car kept warm, and even smelled like coffee upon my return...

After Snowstorm Lake Visit

I went to the lake today to walk and check out the effects of the snow. The lake's level rose, and the ice was crunchy. My walk was cold and windy, but worth it. I listened to the second half of Pete Yorn's Hawaii album instead of the usual SOMA FM or Prepare My Glider album. It was a nice walk.

Bandcamp Friday - Shoegaze

I put aside the money, and today I finally snagged two albums on this Bandcamp Friday.

"Everything is Alive" from Slowdive (with a physical CD on the way).

"A Dirty Kind of Clean" by Brownville, Texas' Fun With Ether, a band that fits in seamlessly with all of my longtime favorites from the shoegaze genre.

Morning Walk

I couldn't sleep last night so I was up at 6:30.

I went to the lake after breakfast (coffee & cereal) from 9:30 - 11:30. I walked the traditional mile, and then just sat and stared at the water and surrounding shores, daydreamed, and zoned out in the windy morning sun as I listened to Slowdive "Everything is Alive" as well as a new shoegaze find "A Dirty Kind of Clean" by Fun With Ether. Both are fantastic, and fit my mood perfectly.

Get to the Show

After a lot of hemming & hawing (stupid fees!), I decided to get two tickets to see Slowdive at the House of Blues Boston on Monday September 25th. I suppose $35 is reasonable to see one of my all-time favorite bands. The only other time I saw them in person was April 8th, 1994 at Club Babyhead in Providence, RI. It should be a fun night!

Music to My Ears

Holy crap!

Out of the blue, Jean Marie decided to buy her favorite nephew a pair of Apple AirPods! She had gotten herself a pair and loved them SO much she just had to share the wealth. And they kick ASS. I had them in for a couple of hours, listening to SOMA FM's Groove Salad station, and it was glorious! ♫♪♫♪