Top 20

In 2006 I started this thing of coming up with a list of my favorite songs of the year and I've decided I really like doing that - I get some good tunes that way! Here's my list for 2008!

20. The Parting Glass - Shaun Davey...I liked this song a lot last year, too - it's from the movie Waking Ned Devine and if you haven't seen it, it's well-worth the trip to the video store!

19. Jessica's Theme - Bruce Rowland...this one's from a movie, too - The Man from Snowy River. Yes, it's a "horse movie" but that's not why I like the song - this is the tune I walked down the aisle to on August 23rd!

18. Paper Planes - MIA...haha Nathan hates this song, but it's pretty beloved by the store 733 crew - nothing better than watching Spencer mime out the sound effects and, inexplicably, understanding the lyrics.

17. You Promised Me - In-Grid...another one from the Abercrombie den, but this one I actually heard for the first time on a snorkeling trip in Cabo, so it brings back good memories - that, and the visual of Jon Nelson dancing around the salesfloor every 2 hours when it would come on

16. If You're Gonna Play in Texas - Alabama...not really a new song to me, but it just popped into my head one day and set up shop!

15. Boston - Augustana...again, not new to me, but it took on a whole new meaning when Joely left us for the east coast...I still cry and miss him when I hear it..."I think I'll go to Boston..."

14. Whole Wide World - Wreckless Eric...from Stranger Than Fiction - I can't explain it, I just love it!

13. Fast Car - Tracey Chapman...again, reminds me of my friend Joel - he hated the bastardized techno version at work, but I think that makes me appreciate the original even more.

12. When I Say Go - The 1900's...I will never EVER admit from whom I first heard this song, but I will say, I'm glad I gave it a listen - it sounds retro but relevant at the same time (listen to me, talking like I think I know what I'm talking about...)

11. Teardrops on My Guitar - Taylor Swift...go on, laugh all you want, but I like the song! I also like Nick Larkin imitating any Taylor Swift song, so...there it is.

10. Free Fallin' (live) - John Mayer...my favorite song + my favorite artist = listening heaven...I think I cried when I discovered this! I like the Heart-of-Life-isms he throws in.

9. Society - Eddie Veder...okay, the whole Into the Wild soundtrack could probably take up most of this list, but I managed to whittle it down to my favorite three...this one makes me feel guilty for working where I do...it makes me dream of the future

8. Hard Sun - Eddie Veder...this is the BEST driving song I've heard in a good long while - it even makes going to work a little more pleasant - and it lends itself well to my "music video moments!"

7. Guaranteed - Eddie Veder...one phrase sums it up: "they think of me and my wandering but I'm never what they thought..." I think everyone my age has felt this song before...

6. Summer of '69 (live acoustic) - Bryan Adams...the little piano ditty right between "standing on your mama's porch" and "you told me that you'd wait forever" is such a moving little moment...Bubba, you were right! This version is better!

5. Little Wonders - Rob Thomas...Brittany got me into this song, and it definitely deserves to be on this year's soundtrack! I've had so many of these small hours this year and it's true, they are what make life worth living. Something has to support the big hours!

4. Stolen - Dashboard...again, a repeat from last year, but it has to be one of my favorites of all time! I really came to like the fast version this year, but Nathan and I had our first dance to the slower one. What a great night that was!

3. Everything - Michael Buble...easily the title track for the Wedding Weekend - and the song Nathan and I made our first entrace to as husband and wife! It will always take me back to that moment and all the photos and laughs surrounding it.

2. Angel from Montgomery - Susan Tedeschi...Kristen Stewart sang this song in Into the Wild but I found this wonderful, soulful version and haven't stopped trying to belt it since...come to find out Nikos has like 20 versions of it - and we will forever debate which is the best.

..............drumroll.....................

1. Viva la Vida - Coldplay...this song is undeniable. Its beat, its theme, the way it swells with emotion and touches on a turbulant and bloody time in history...it's just the best song I've heard in a long time and I don't think my car's speakers will ever be the same...it just...fills you somehow, it overwhelms you...I still can't get enough of it!

ouch

Well this past week has been one for the record books! I don't think I've been in a greater, and more continuous, variety of pain in my life. First, there was the 5-hour stint in the Emergency Room (thanks, ruptured ovarian cyst), then a riding lesson that I was physically ill-equipped for and finally, over an hour in the saddle today. Eek! Of course, except for the cyst thing, it was all worth it!

My lesson went better than I could have imagined! I didn't get to ride the horse I had wanted to, but I DID get another Thoroughbred named Bijou. She was WONDERFUL! It was something else to be on a horse who was so settled and steady that I could totally concentrate on my position. My instructor said that whatever my riding background has been it's made me a "pretty strong" rider. I told her if she met my horse, she'd understand, haha.

That being said, I took Rapper on a trail ride today and I have to say, no fancy Thoroughbred hunter can compete with my boy! He's so comfy and so spirited - I wouldn't trade him for anything!

PS: I'm having a model horse renaissance! Check out the new ones!

awesome news!

So there is one awesome thing that is going to come out of me working the day after Thanksgiving (BLACK FRIDAY, bwahaha). I get 3 days off the following week instead of 2 and on one of those, I get to go have a riding lesson!
I found this great stable here in Eugene that trains both hunters and jumpers and their prices are really reasonable. I've always wanted to learn how to jump and now is my chance! It's going to be so great! I went to look at the place (Triple Rise) last week and was very impressed. The people were really nice, the horses were beautiful and it still has that quaint, small-stable atmosphere. All their lesson horses are former show horses and I already have my eye on a Thoroughbred mare named Juliet (I've never ridden a Thoroughbred before and that would be something to check off my life goals list) and I'm wondering how I can finagle my way to riding her.
I won't lie though, I'm nervous...I'm pretty good with Rapper and I'm confident that I'm a fast learner, but a 16 hand-high jumper is an entirely different kind of ride. Still, it's going to be something! If only I didn't have to wait a week and a half!

wow

Listening to John Mayer. Reading Bill Bryson. Driving through the Gorge. Watching my old 1996 Breeder's Cup video.

It's always like visiting an old friend. I can never remember why I stopped listening-reading-driving-watching. It's like emotional comfort food - and every once in a while, you find something you never heard-read-saw before and it feels brand new and totally familiar at the same time.

I discovered a new live version of an old Mayer favorite "In Your Atmosphere" and at the end there is the purest, most beautiful little song blurb I've ever heard...

wherever I go, whatever I do
I wonder where I am in my relationship to you
wherever you go, wherever you are
I watch your life play out in pictures from afar
wherever I go, whatever I do
I wonder where I am to my relationship to you
wherever you go, whatever you are
I watch that pretty life play out in pictures from afar

(and then he sings "oooooooooooooooo" a few times in a softer-than-Eddie-Veder-in-the-Into-the-Wild-soundtrack-but-just-as-moving kinda way)

PS: there's a cover of "Free Fallin'" that literally made my morning.

note to self:

download these songs tomorrow...just don't forget!

The Blower's Daughter
Cannonball
Brass Bed

there were more, I'm almost positive...

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25th Anniversary

About 24 years ago, in the fall of 1984, two things happened - well, two things that were of any importance. First, on November 4th, I was born. Then, on November 18th, the inaugural Breeder's Cup day took place. Almost a quarter of a decade later, the Breeder's Cup is going strong and I am still hanging on every detail.
BreedersCup.com has been celebrating the 25 year anniversary of Racing's Greatest Day by counting down the top 25 moments in its history, most of which I agree with. But, I have my own ideas about what constitutes a "greatest moment," and I can't let this weekend go by without mentioning my allegience to one of horse racing's greats, the "inconquerable, invincible, the unbeatable Cigar."
I won't bore you with the details of Cigar's life, racing career and serendipitous sterility that led he and I to share a few quiet moments one sweltering morning at the Kentucky Horse Park - I will just say that after all the horse races I have seen, the 1995 Classic is the only one that still moves me to tears. Beating knee surgery, an ulcer and hives, a bad track, an outside post and a controversy over his shoes, Cigar exploded at the half-mile pole, dragging Jerry Bailey to the lead and putting three lengths between him and the rest of the field. In the soft dirt of the Belmont gloom, he set a track record, capped off a perfect season, would go on to tie a generations-old winning streak record, win the very first Dubai World Cup and set an earnings record that would not be broken for twelve years. Watch it and tell me he's not something special.

http://www.breederscup.com/greatestmoments.aspx?year=1995&divisionname=classic