Smart Lady Pop- Part 1

I still love and relish the discovery of new music.  I love my past favorites, but I'm always thrilled to find new artists to follow.  This year a trend in the music I've purchased has been what I'm going to call- "Smart Lady Pop."  Being the mother of two young girls, I'm constantly on the lookout for female positive music- role models of creativity and with fresh energy- to turn to as alternatives to the copy cat,  over-stylized, voice-enhanced, dress-up dolls of the trendy pop music scene. While I'll let my girls listen to the latest songs and even buy a few that don't totally offend me, I like to offer them some choices and in voices that I think they'll like. I don't want to shove Nina Simone at them full throttle all the time!  So far, it seems to be working. Imagine my super-thrill when Hazel pronounced a Neko Case song from the "Hunger Games" soundtrack as her favorite!

Smart Lady Pop for me is made up of girls and women who write their own music, play their own instruments, dress the way they want and generally do their own thing. I hit the jack pot this year with a plethora of bands that have these qualities!

First off- Girl In A Coma.  How can a band named after a Smiths song go wrong?  They are amazing, two sisters and a friend from San Antonio with Latino roots and a strong connection to the punk and alternative scene. I love the story of how they started, two friends- Phanie Diaz and Jenn Alva wanting to start a band and discovering that a little sister had an amazing voice.  Nina Diaz's voice is strong, unusual and thrilling.  She does some interesting things with her voice that I find fascinating. I like that they also sing in Spanish and do some very unique covers. I came very close to trying to take H. to a concert in Ybor City over the summer.  I re-thought that, but what a great first concert that might have been!  I also love that they look like real women, not dolls made up to look like pop stars.

Check out their album "Exits and All the Rest", it's pretty great, also dig into their back catalog for a pretty cool cover album- "Adventures in Coverland." BONUS! I just found this link for two free songs, one that features Nina Diaz singing with Carla Morrison (someone I will also be looking into!) Latino Alternative Pop is the next big thing, don't you know? Check back soon for more bands I've discovered in my search for Smart Lady Pop.

Secret Garden

There is a yard in my neighborhood, with a mysterious front garden.  The house is shaded with oaks and the yard is dark and hard to see. There is a picket fence with an arbor entrance, begging me to peek.  I drive by with my bicycle slowly, hoping to steal longer glances each time.  I see colorful things hanging from the trees.  I know it must be cultivated somehow in there.  There is no grass, just lots of big growing things.  I want to go in there so badly to explore!  My yard, on the other hand, is bright and sunny and there is no mystery.  It's all out for you to see, from whatever direction you are coming.  When I think of the other house and garden, I am reminded of "The Secret Garden" and the moment when the children first discover the locked, walled-off, overgrown mess.  It looks awful at first, but soon they will spy some roses and slowly discover the former beauty of the garden. What a find that would be!  I think that this house I pass by might be just as intriguing.  I would never have the guts to sneak in-  and it might be disappointing to discover nothing much going on anyway. Maybe best to leave the mystery in the darkness and overgrown vines.

Watching my daughters grow up.

A Study in Peach

Last week, I stopped at Fresh Fields market and picked up some glorious peaches and nectarines.  There were multiple varieties so I picked up a few from each pile. Last year I learned how to grill peaches, which renders them tender and delicious.  I didn’t feel like firing up the grill just for dessert, so I decided to do some indoor peach cooking.

Arty, arty music fun.

I Didn't See It Coming (Richard X mix) from Belle & Sebastian on Vimeo.

Take a break with Thurston Moore

A lovely way to spend 15 minutes. Who knew Thurston Moore could be so soothing? You can put it on in the background or watch the film, which is very relaxing, by the way.  I must check out this website... La Blogotheque.  Meet you there?

Start of Summer

It's going to be a busy, busy summer. I'm going to stay busy and not let the days fade away with regrets of unfinished projects. I have one I can cross off my list. Although-  it did take the sacrificing of an entire morning/afternoon. Mostly what took so long was my printer, which needed new ink, head cleaning, etc.   And yes, I got distracted by looking at "Stars without Makeup" and ended up watching a few things on Funny or Die while waiting for my printer to fix itself. Also, add to that the fact that 2 little people totally destroyed the house around me, because I was too busy to monitor them.

Here it is- I made a task chart for the girls. I decided to call it "tasks" instead of "chores" or "jobs"- it just sounded friendlier. I remembered seeing one in one of the Martha Stewart publications a while back and looked it up.  I found this one (she has many versions, of course) and remembered I had magnet sheets that I had purchased many years ago when Hazel was in Preschool. (This is my usual M.O. buy things, plan projects, never do them.)

The actual process was very easy in Pages on my iMac. (Surely, there is something similar in the PC realm.) I simply made shapes, filled in colors, pictures, or text. And, yes, I did copy the color scheme from Martha, she does have a good eye for color. The task board was printed on a separate sheet from the tasks. The tasks are on their own magnets and can be changed each day.  When the girls are finished they move the task to the "tasks completed" list.  I was pleased with how it turned out and it sticks beautifully to my blackboard/magnet door in the kitchen. The girls are so inspired they ran off and did two tasks and are working on their third.  We'll see how long that lasts. Maybe I should make one for the husband too?

April Garden

April Garden, a set on Flickr.

What's been going down in my garden, you ask? Well take a look...

Nellie McKay-One of a kind...

We are the silent majority! Not so silent, just quiet and tasteful!

New or Old Music???

I'm having major flashbacks. I found this song, Un Soir, Un Chien the other day by Stereolab's lead singer, Laetitia Sadier. I immediately bought it without even listening. It is a cover of Les Rita Mitsouko's original from 198?- which is a very awesome song and totally reminds me of when I first met Mark. I also bought a song by Everything But The Girl's Tracey Thorn the other day. It's a new song, but her voice remains the same from the 80's- some things never change or they change slightly and oh, how comforting that is! I like to move on with music- but I also like little tastes of my youth peppered into the mix.  Also, I just plain love these two women's music very much.