Freestyle Fridays: My Favorite Music Downloads of 2012

I decided I would close out the first week of the new year with a new installment I call Freestyle Fridays, where I will either give you music, art, or something ran-damn-ly delicious that I discovered that week. 

Photo from http://cheznectarine.centerblog.net/2990-music

This week - music. Music is a big part of my writing. It plays while I write, it appears in what I write, and often guides me with the motivation to write.

Music is often how I show my affection. Sharing songs for me is the equivalent of love letters and hugs. Since, I love all of you - I figured I would give you a list of my favorite music downloads of 2012.  Not all music included here is from 2012, but that is when I downloaded it. Each link below will take you to the song.

I tried to stay away from the Top 40 hits and so forth so that you might have a chance at finding some new music. Many of these songs were not originally released in the US. So, without further ado - I give you some tuneage.

MY FAVORITE SINGLE DOWNLOAD OF THE YEAR -  

Heartbeats (Cosmonaut Grechko Edit) -Ellie Goulding 

I DON'T WANT A PIECE OF YOU - I WANT THE WHOLE THING!

FULL LP DOWNLOADS (samples below album)

LINKIN PARK - LIVING THINGS (RELEASED 6/20/2012)

Lies Greed Misery

Burn it Down

LANA DEL REY - BORN TO DIE (RELEASED 1/27/2012)

Blue Jeans

Off to the Races

 METRIC -  FANTASIES (RELEASED 2009)

Gimme Sympathy

Gold Guns Girls 

PHILLIP PHILLIPS -  THE WORLD FROM THE SIDE OF THE MOON (RELEASED 5/2/2012)

Man on the Moon

Wicked Game

NEW TO ME

Bruises - Chairlift  (Released 9/29/2008) This song was part of an iPod commercial. I ignored it upon first release, but fell in love it with this year. It reminds me of capoeira and my never ending attempts to accomplish a headstand.

My Love - The Bird and the Bee (Released 2009)  

My Moon My Man - Feist (Released 3/6/2007)

Piano Song - Meiko (Released 2007)

True Affection - The Blow (Released 10/24/2006)

Almost Lover - A Fine Frenzy (Released 2007)

LET'S DANCE

Pumpkin Song - Kate Nash (Released 8/6/2007)

Sweet Talk - Kito & Reija Lee (Released 2010)

1940 (Amplive Remix) - The Submarines -  (Released 2009)

INSTRUMENTAL

My Love - Blackmill 

I hope you enjoyed the post, and maybe even found a few new things to add to your music collection. So what are some of your favorite songs from the past year?  What old things did you rediscover? What song do you pray never ever gets played again? 

Blog Salvaged...

http://weheartit.com/entry/13068101 ?group=B&imgres=

http://weheartit.com/entry/13068101

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In case you were wondering where I've been, I'll tell you. I have been walking barefoot through South America, studying indigenous people and learning of their primitive lifestyles. Building tools with my bare hands, trapping game, planting corn. Ok, that's a lie. I've just been strapped into the backseat of life's car and letting it drive me all over the place. I met tons of interesting people, played tons of CAPOEIRA, and then ended up in Baltimore where I'm trying to figure out my next one act play.  I was on the fast track and loving every minute of it, and now I'm in a place where picking up a book and just sitting and reading is actually an option. (I was quite scared that I might have forgotten how.) Oh, and somewhere in all of that - I graduated college. Woohoo!

Last weekend, I was transferring all of my old files from my old computer and in the process I found my old works in progresses. The (never really) finished novel, its sequel, and about four other stories that were once loved dearly and then tossed aside, replaced by new projects. I found all my photography projects, sewing ideas; my self made DJ mixes, and other artistic outlets that never saw the light of day. 

Then, I started thinking, "Mmm, wonder what ye ole blog looks like?" I typed in the address on Firefox and was dumped on an unfamiliar black screen talking about cosmetics and skin care. "I know for sure that I never took up makeup as an artistic outlet. This is not the Alicia Frey you were looking for."  Had I really been gone so long that someone else replaced me?

Yep, it's been over a year since my last post. Three years since I've worked on a novel. A year and a half since LiciaJo Fotos. And the other projects really shouldn't even be counted. That person seemed a million lifetimes away from where I am currently sitting. Next step, turn to page one of IRON THIRST and try to retrace my steps. In a matter of a week, I read it, its partial sequel, and many of the other WIPs. I have missed those people, the ones that used to live inside my head. It was fascinating as I turned the pages to hear them whisper in my ear, "Actually, I would say that differently," "Probably could use another Bristow chapter here," and "Where the hell did you go?"  (Of course Bristow would speak the loudest.)  CLICK HERE IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN INTRODUCED TO BRISTOW.

I was able to save the old website by getting another domain. I figure I will start back slow. Maybe a short story, stick to some nonfiction, or pick up one of those abandoned stories and see if they can be resuscitated. Clear!  I've missed all of you. Hopefully, you are all doing well.  Some of you, I've kept up with on Facebook, but I'm hoping we can all get reacquainted and even add a few new friends to the mix.  I would love to hear from you. Say "howdy" in the comments if you'd like. 

Kindle for the Masses

I’m currently reading The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes on my HTC Droid phone. Why? Well, A) Because I can, and B) Because it’s free. Kindle has now released software for the PC, MAC, iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, Blackberry, and Android. The beauty of these applications is that once you own the book, you can view it on any of these devices via your Amazon.com account.

I stumbled onto this wonderful discovery yesterday while I was checking my Amazon wish list. I saw the words “Kindle”, “Android”, and “Free”, and I was on the site and downloading the app within minutes. It was simple and convenient.

I have always been one of those that refused to switch over to an eReader, planning to hold onto my paper books until the day I was hit by that infamous bus that has been threatening to run me over since I started working in corporate America. Side note—Are there really that many people that are massacred by runaway buses? Seriously, every company or manager that I’ve worked for has a plan in action to be prepared in case I am hit by a bus tomorrow. I am more likely to be ran over by a Prius—you can’t hear them things coming and that is just dangerous. I should know. I drive a Prius and practice sneaking up on people regularly. I digress.

eReader… Right… I started eyeing the Kindle about a year ago, thinking of all the space that I would be saving in my house by storing a big ‘ol chunk of my books on an itty bitty device. Then the iPad fell from heaven, and I began plotting my purchase. iPad—the writers dream tool. Research, writing, and reading all in one. Keep up with blogs, update my own, all on the go. Sign me up! But the question has always been—will I enjoy reading books on a piece of technology? Will I cry if I am not able to smell the words on the page?

Kindle came along and gave me my answer. I downloaded the app for FREE, searched their library of FREE books, and started reading in an instant. And I love it! I can read with one hand and drive with the other. That was a joke. Do not read and drive. Unless you are from the future and have a self-driving car, and then by all means – read away!

First off, pipe down all you Kindle owners that have been reading this way since Amazon created all the gosh darn controversy. I had to get there in my own time, and my own way. (Insert Frank Sinatra song here). Second, all you nay-sayers, I was there, I was griping my books like a Republican grips his guns (Too soon?). But, I think I may be converted. Oh, I will still be scouting my local indie bookstore for any antique finds. They are, by far, the coolest places to kill hours looking for nothing and finding everything.

If you have been on the fence, like me, this is a great way to try it out and see if you love it or not. Many of the classics are available for free, so you can experiment without dropping a dime.

So, where are you on the spectrum of digital books and e-readers? Are you a fan? Or a skeptic?

Contest Winners and Other Awards

This has been a wonderful weekend. Kelly @ Kelly's Compositions held a blogfest, and I met so many new writers. My own entry helped me reach a new level of comments. I’ve never had more than twenty. It was awesome! So many great first pages out there. Thank you to everyone who stopped by to read mine.

I started a new WIP on April 1st thanks to Tina Lynn’s 500 words challenge. Her whip sewn with awesome has been keeping many of us in line. And thanks to the challenge, I have hit a total of 6000 words so far in my new YA-paranormal. The trick with these challenges is not trying to get to 500 words – it’s not allowing yourself to stop trying until you hit 500. If it’s not coming and the characters aren’t talking - you have 500 words. But if you hit your stride, there’s no telling how many words you can pump out.

For me, in the beginning, I have to allow myself to write crap. The entire point of the first draft is getting the story down. It’s not about beautiful words and kickass turns of phrases. That comes later. First tell the story – then revise, beautify, and perfect. More on my style for first draft later. That’s another post.
Last night the Keep It Going Contest came to a close, and we have three winners. But before I reveal those, I have a few awards to hand out.

Nicole @ One Significant Moment in Time gifted me with the Prolific Blogger Award. Thank you! I’m not sure how many people I am supposed to give this to, but I have selected three.

• Donna Hole – She has a wonderful blog, and is full of passion. If you are not following her, get over there nowish. I’ll wait. *taps toes*

• Natalie @ A Sound of Rain – Anyone that would name their blog after such a serene thing is a friend of mine.

• VR Barkowski – She does a fabulous job of keeping blog readers informed of upcoming events and contests as well as keeping an upbeat motivational spirit.

Donna Hole has blessed me with the Soulmate Award, and I think she is a soul mate of mine. This award requires that I gift it to 5 people, make up something about them (not mean), and link back to the ORIGINAL POST.

• Sierra Godfrey – She is an avid hunter of a rare breed of solar powered hopping garden gnomes. Fierce critters that must be stopped.

• Tina Lynn – She has five authors held captive in her basement. They said the phrase “can’t do it,” and now they are chained to desks. They should be done with their first drafts by the end of next week.

• Hannah at Musings of a Palindrome – She has been involved in a secret love affair with Nathan Fillan. He proposed, but she turned it down – wanting to maintain the friends with benefits relationship. Why ruin a good thing?

• JM Diaz – He has a very honed in sixth sense which he uses in his writing. He sees an event, writes it, and then it comes true. Scary stuff.

• Ronnie Griffin – She has a mad skill of being able to catch a fly with a pair of chopsticks. Reaches right up and plucks it from the sky. Awesomeness.

Now moving on to the winners of the Keep It Going Contest.
The first was a special award especially for one of the contributors to the story. You can read the entries HERE. The winner of her choice of either a 15-page critique or a $15 gift certificate to Amazon is…. DONNA HOLE!!

The next two winners were randomly selected. I tallied all the entries and used the random number generator in excel. The following individuals have won their choice of either a 10-page critique or a $10 gift certificate to Amazon:

VR Barkowski
Tara @ A Feel of Something New

Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks for playing!! Send me an email (click on the envelope on the right hand of the screen – your right.)

Wednesday we will be back on schedule for another Watcha Say Wednesday, tune in then.

So, how was your Easter? Are you in the writing or revision phase? Any exciting news for anyone?

Randomly Delicious & Blogfest: First Pages

Tomorrow is the last day for the The Keep It Going Contest. Post a comment tallying your entries. Add to the story if you have time. There are multiple ways to win. Don't miss out. Act now. Supplies are limited. Wait,what were we talking about? Oh, yea - sorry, I was momentarily possessed by an infomercial. I'm better now.

BLOGFEST!! Yay!!  Kelly over at Kelly's Compositions has come up with a wonderful idea for a blogfest. As she says, in most blogfests we post excerpts from the middle of our novels. This is a great opportunity to start in the beginning.

This is perfect timing, because I've been thinking about beginnings. This week I started a new WIP, a YA paranormal. And as I tweeted last night (FOLLOW ME), I've had to remind myself not to stress about the beginning in the beginning, because I write a better beginning in the end. That's the only nugget of wisdom that I can share today. Beginning a new WIP, always leaves me feeling quite humbled and terrified. It's like a first date. Is this the one? Do I want to spend all my free time with these characters, this plotline? Is there a better one out there for me? Is this the best for me now? But the answer is quite simply, you'll never know unless you try. Tell the voice of doubt to shut the hell up, and write your heart out.

Back to blogfest. I'm pulling this from my finished WIP, Iron Thirst. The novel has two beginnings: prologue and chapter 1. This excerpt is from chapter 1 where we meet Felicity Johnson. Hope you enjoy.

***

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Who knew two tiny fangs could be so hard to find? I bought the pair nearly five months ago, and I specifically remember thinking to put them somewhere that I could find them. My room is a complete and utter disaster. I have been through every drawer, emptying the contents onto my bed in search for the last thing needed to complete my costume. I can’t be a vampire without fangs.

            I plop down on the bed, and close my eyes. Where did I put them?

            “Bathroom, second drawer, along with the red contacts,” I say aloud to the ceiling.

             I leap from the bed. Christian will be here any minute, and I want him to see the complete look. I slide open the drawer, and there they sit. I can’t believe I forgot the contacts too. They set me back nearly a hundred bucks.

            I insert the teeth, and begin trying to attach the colored plastic to my eyeballs. I should’ve waited on the eye makeup. I run back to my closet to grab shoes.

Zipping up the knee-high leather boots, I stop by the mirror for one last look. The struggle was well worth it. My eyes glow a bright crimson with black around the edges, as if the fire inside has burnt the curved periphery. I bounce my palm off the spikes of my black pixie wig. The menacing grin is complete with two sharp fangs over my scarlet red lips that look poised to wreak havoc amongst the unsuspecting city of Atlanta.

            Well, the town won’t be that unsuspecting, considering the rest of the people at DragonCon will also be dressed in costumes ranging from Star Trek to Night of the Living Dead.

As I darken the shadows under my eyes to give myself the true undead look, the doorbell rings. I slide down the banister to get to the door--safer than taking the stairs in these boots.

I fling the door open, and there he stands. We both let out a scream and begin cackling at each other. Christian is a yicky-ucky zombie, complete with a tattered, stained, once-white shirt, suspenders, and pants that look as if they had been buried. His normally perfect hair is dirty and a total mess. His skin is painted a weird grayish green, and his mouth is bloodstained. No one would recognize this scary critter as my clean-cut best buddy.

 “Felicity Johnson, you look a-freakin-mazing. I would have never thought that you, of all people, could pull this off.”

I should be offended, but he is quite right. Everyday “me” is not sexy, not scary, and definitely not a vampire.

Randomly Delicious & awards

Well, this is going to be a very random blog, but sometimes that is what we need. First, I want to say this week’s Watcha Say Wednesday was awesome! I learn so much from you guys, and it was fascinating to see how other writers create their stories. (If you didn’t chime in, you still can.) It seemed the majority came up with a concept first. That’s me, too. I come up with the concept, normally a “what if,” then I interview characters until I find the perfect one that will breathe life into the concept. Then find their natural habitat – and go from there. This was fun. I hope you guys are enjoying WSW as much as I am. Maybe next week won’t be so crazy, and I can weigh in more, but I did enjoy seeing all the wonderful responses come in.

This week I learned that writing = sleeping. I can stay up really late when I’m writing, and the next morning I’m a ball of sunshine. However, if I stay up because I’m trying to take the legs out from under my to-do list –yea, not so much. The next morning I need coffee on an I.V. drip, and turn into Queen Grumperella. Very strange, but enlightening.  

Next Monday, I will be rolling out --- wait for it --- wait for it --- The Keep It Going Contest. Details and the story will be posted Sunday night – so come back by. I’m making a few changes based on the suggestions received.

And… AWARDS.

Laurel over at Laurel’s Leaves passed on the “Creative Writer” award. I think you’ve seen it about, but the rules are for me to lie to you five out of six times and you get to guess which one is the truth. So, remember – I didn’t lie to you on purpose—Laurel made me do it.

So, here we go.

1) When I was in the third grade, I won the school spelling bee. I went to regionals, but was out smarted by a kid that had a giant bald spot on the back of his head. Looking back, I’m guessing his mom got a little careless with the clippers.

2) The day after I bought my last car, a pregnant woman crashed into me in a mall parking lot. Her friend got out of the car and started yelling at me like it was my fault. Meanwhile, the pregnant lady started crying. I felt so bad that I started apologizing. Did I mention that she hit me?

3) In the second grade, I started a petition to have one of the teacher’s aides fired. I thought that she was very mean- and with no reason. So I pranced about the playground and had kids sign up. I walked it right into the principal’s office, who called my dad.

4) The first place that I rented by myself was outside of San Antonio. It was a two bedroom trailer, with a lavender bathtub, sink and toilet in the bathroom. I was so excited that the first thing I bought was a matching shower curtain. Then my friends and I drank heavily, and I got to be the first one to yack in the purple toilet.

5) I’ve always been a music lover. I started playing the violin in the third grade and played until the sixth grade. I only quit, because the cute boy thought it was lame. The cute boy that I am sure is now lame.

6) I went to my senior prom with my (at the time) boyfriend’s best friend. Poor guy got grounded, and was trying to be nice by offering up his buddy’s services. He, basically, just drove me there, and I hung with my friend’s all night. I found out later that the boyfriend sent him as a spy. Naughty, naughty, boyfriend.  

Guess away…

I’m passing this along to…

Michael @ Mental Masturbation

Sierra Godfrey

David F. Weisman

Jen @ Unedited

Jean @ Discarded Darlings

Another award…

Michael over at Mental Masturbation (Is that not the coolest frickin name for a blog?) gifted me with the Creative Writer Award, well one that doesn’t turn me into a pathological liar. If you haven’t been over to his blog, go check it out. He has something new daily. I am awarding the following Creative Writers.

Elana Johnson

Laurel @ Laurel’s Leaves

Amber @ Musings of Amber Murphy

Falen @ Falin Formulates Fiction

Crimey @ Crimogenic

Last, but not least. My newest attempt at a query letter is up on Public Query Slushpile. Stop by and let me know what you think. I am trying out a less is more philosophy. Wondering if it works, or if it just makes it more confusing. 

That’s all I have for today. Stop back by on Monday for the contest.

Which one do you think is the truth? Which one do you think is the biggest lie? How the heck was your week? And what do you think of my new philosophy of write=sleep?

Randomly Delicious

Happy Friday all! It’s been one heck of a week. Knee deep in those revisions, and loving every minute of it. It’s all starting to come together except for one scene, which I have moved four times. Stupid sneaky scene!

Anyhoo, I have decided to revise this blog like I revise my manuscript, one step at a time. Got me one of those fancy Shelfari thingies. (Went with the black. Thanks, Michael!) But I’m not just talking about looks. No, no – we talkin’ content.

One thing that I have been working on is a blogging schedule. I admire you Mon-thru-Frid’ers, but Momma’s got one crazy life. I am dedicated to this blog, but there have been weeks where getting a single post is labor intensive. But I think I have come up with a way to give you a Mon, Wed, and Friday line up.

I am really excited about two new things that I am rolling out next week. So excited and I just can’t hide it, nor would I try. Can’t lie to you people.

First, on Monday, I am announcing a contest that I will be hosting right here on Eyes 2 Page. It’s a unique spin on an old game. One that should prove to be a lot of fun, and with three prizes up for grabs –no less. (Insert girl squeal, manly “Yea, that’s cool,” or YA unimpressed teenage angsty “Whateves”) So, tune in Monday and wear your creative jeans.

Second, starting this next Wednesday, I will be starting “Whatcha Say Wednesdays.” It’s a great chance for us all to learn more about our peers, and hopefully even more about ourselves. Topics will range from serious to daydreaming to downright silly. But I will not ask you your favorite color, because, well, I don’t have one, and I will be sharing too.

So, I ask you my fine penned friends, what else would you like to see from this blog? What posts have you enjoyed? What’s your favorite color? Haha, Jus’ kitten!

Ok, stepping away from the coffee now...