Musical Interlude Tuesday : Year End Edition

For today, a very special edition of Musical Interlude Tuesday, in which I present my top 5 songs of the year. To clarify, these are not necessarily songs that came out in 2009, but just the ones that were in heaviest rotation on my iTunes. Without further ado:

5. I Gotta Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas
This was playing on the radio every single time we got in the rental car while in Hawaii, so it makes me think of palm trees and surfers and sunblock lotion and sand in my toes and freedom and hanging out with some great girls.

4. Not Big by Lily Allen
Best break-up song ever. Lily is like my eloquently crass and doll-faced alter-ego; the girl who voices (loudly) the thoughts I'm far too polite (read: scared) to say.

3. Every Single Song (especially this one, and this one) by the Glee Cast
I know, you're shocked. I only talk about Glee almost every other week.

2. Daisy Cutter by 311
To me, 311 embodies the quintessential SoCal sound of my youth (like early No Doubt), and it was perfect timing that I discovered their Uplifter album just before my trip to Huntington Beach. It sounds like bright sunlight and skateboards and sushi rolls and tattoos and New Age philosophy and falling in love.

1. Stay Crunchy by Ronald Jenkees
Boyfriend can jam.

Musical Interlude Tuesday : Do Dil

Today's musical offering is from Noori, a Pakistani band comprised of two brothers. I came upon this completely by accident (I was looking for a song called Noori) and immediately fell for it -- I think it has something to do with a particular guitar chord, or combination of chords that I respond to. Not being musical I don't know what that chord is, but when I hear it, my whole being seems to vibrate at the same frequency. Robert Fulghum described this phenomenon in one of his books (apparently the hum of his refrigerator matches his personal key).
The video has entirely too much soulful-eyes-looking-into-the-camera and emo hair-tossing and the first 30 seconds gets annoying, BUT the brothers are kinda beautiful and those opening chords just make my heart sing.

Musical Interlude Tuesday : Glee

The songs from Glee have been dominating my playlists for the past few months, and the mid-season finale brought three more tracks of aural bliss into my life and headphones. It was an utterly satisfying episode and it just makes me sad to think of anyone not watching the show and denying themselves of this pure, unadulterated JOY.
Rachel's rendition of Rain on My Parade is shiver-inducing-ly pitch perfect, and their interpretation of the Stone's classic is awesome, especially because it has long been a personal theme-song of mine. But my favorite has to be the closing number because of sheer exuberance + the fun of spotting the dance moves they revisit from previous episodes. Also: KISSING!

~ Bejeweled: Week 2 ~

Week two status update: 5.5 more pieces completed, with 38.5 more to go, and 18 days remaining (eek).

~ Month o' Jewels: Week One ~

Week One status update: 6 pieces completed, 44 more to go.
My favorite so far is the Monaco necklace because it was beaucoup fun adhering the eensy-teensy crystals with tweezers and this insane (not crazy) glue that spun tiny webs of stickiness all over my fingers.
And now, a break for hot cocoa, then back to work.

~ A Month of Jewels ~

I've decided to make December my own personal JewelryMakingMonth. After last month's NaNoWriMo (which I did not win) I wanted a new challenge. So my goal is to make 50 new pieces by Decmeber 31st. This seems like a sufficiently high number -- more than my personal best, but not crazy unattainable, and takes into account that this month comes with its fair share of distractions. I will try to post a photo update of my new pieces each week, if not daily.

Wish me luck!