Alexander Hamilton, My name is Alexander Hamilton

A month ago, the most I might have been able to tell you about Alexander Hamilton was that he was shot by Aaron Burr and I probably only remember that thanks to a certain commercial from the 90s.

Now, thanks to a certain new musical, I can tell you a whole lot more. Lin-Manuel Miranda, who I already liked from his musical In the Heights and his wedding video, has written a musical based on the life of Alexander Hamilton and it is brilliant.

As an introduction, here is the Hamilton Mixtape that Miranda performed while he was first working on this project. Miranda explains the concept and sings what became the musical's opening number.

Basically, Miranda decided that music of the revolution was a hip-hop story - an orphaned immigrant who starts at the bottom in a new city and helps change the world. Using hip-hop, R&B, rap, pop and traditional Broadway style music, Miranda has created an approachable, emotional, and inspiring story about "ten dollar founding father without a father."

The promotional materials explain that the show is the story of America then as told by America now, as it is an ethnically diverse cast. It's almost impossible right now for me to think of the Founding Fathers as just a bunch of old, white guys. And, of course, the relationship between Burr and Hamilton throughout. NPR First Listen gives it a really nice review that's worth reading.

There are so many Easter eggs and references in the music and I know I haven't heard them all. At this point, if I think to myself that something is a reference, it probably is. There are some wonderful lyrical annotations at genius.com, and I look forward to having time to go through them all.

I have so many favorite parts that I don't even know where to start. It's just so smart and so fun to listen to. You should give it a listen on Spotify, or just buy the album. Listen for King George singing as a scorned lover. Definitely check out the song where Hamilton starts making fun of a Loyalist farmer by creating variations to the farmer's musical theme, like Mozart did to Salieri in Amadeus. Discover how beautiful it is when Washington starts speaking his farewell speech as Hamilton writes it. All the repeated musical and lyrical themes of various characters. And all the other musical delights in between.

I haven't discovered a new musical that I love this much in a long time. It's just so, so good. Be aware that there is some language and that Hamilton was the center of one of the first, shall we say, interpersonal scandals of our new nation, and that story gets told.

I can't recommend this musical enough. So, go listen to it already! And if anyone wants to send me and Blake to New York to see this, I would be forever in your debt.

Enjoy!

Just Can't Get Enough

Time for another round up of songs I just can't get enough of!

Andy Grammer - Keep Your Head Up

Florence + The Machine - Cosmic Love

Florence + The Machine - Shake It Out

Fun. - We Are Young

Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know

Kate Miller-Heidke - Are You Ready?

Matt Nathanson - Faster

The Weepies - World Spins Madly On - This version of the video was created by an animation and choreography team at BYU!

What are you listening to these days?

Ain't that a kick in the head

What a strange week this has been. Big decisions. Potential career roadblocks. Loss of extended family. Getting picked for a major solo. Emotions all over the map. But that's life isn't it? Hasn't killed me yet!

What this week has definitely been is a good one for music. Here are some songs I can't stop listening to:

Moneygrabber - Fitz & The Tantrums


Get Outta My Way - Kylie Minogue - Kylie Minogue is FABULOUS


Parlez vous Francais? - Art VS. Science - This one is especially good in fullscreen.

Enjoy! Happy Friday!

Be okay today

Haven't shared some of my current favorite music lately, have I?

Brett Dennen - Don't Forget
Our first one comes from Eilonwy. She asked me to find the guitar tabs, and I'd never heard it before, so I looked it up. Instant love.


Brian Stokes Mitchell - New Words
Sisterpants directed to this next one. Brian Stokes Mitchell is on the list of men who can sing to sleep anytime. This song just touches my soul and, when I listen, I can't wait to have kids, just so I can have moments like this.


Arvo Part - Spiegel im Spiegel
I found this one thanks, in part, to Mr. T. One evening we were at his place, he was on the phone or something and I was reading, and we had classical music playing. This piece came on and I was struck by its simplicity. It's so peaceful and reminds me to just chill the heck out.


Ingrid Michaelson - Be OK
Speaking of chilling the heck out, this one is a good one for it too.


Joyce Jonathan - Je ne sais pas
I listen to a lot of French music for someone who speaks very little of the language. I don't even remember exactly what this song is about, but I think it's darling anyway. One day, I will learn French. That's a promise.


Enjoy! I know I do. What are some of your favorite songs lately?

Oh Julian, I thought I told you this, but I guess I was wrong

It seems I completely forgot to share a song with you that I discovered last month. And by discovered, I mean was told about by Brotherface.

The band? Foxy Shazam, a name chosen by the lead singer, Eric Sean Nally, because it was a phrase used in his high school to say "cool shoes."

Seriously.

I'll also let him describe the band's sound for you:

"When I listen to a Foxy Shazam record I think of Evel Knievel, Bruce Springsteen, my childhood, Van Morrison, my old friends from high school I don't talk to anymore, Elton John, the '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, and beyond, Iggy Pop and my first kiss. One of my favorite things to do when listening to my music is to close my eyes and picture a crowd of six million people all chanting "Foxy! Foxy! Foxy!" The lights go out and my band walks on stage. It gives me goose bumps. It all makes sense to me. When you listen to our record, think of your favorite things and it'll make sense to you as well. Foxy Shazam is not concerned with what category it falls into. We want to stand for our generation. We want to be the biggest band in the world. We are the Michael Jordan of Rock N' Roll."

Oddly enough, it does make sense.

I loved the song. I bought their albums immediately. And I fell more in love every time. The music videos just add a whole new dimension of awesome. Not only do I want to see this band live, I want to be IN the band. Or any band that has that much fun on stage.

The tragedy is that Foxy Shazam came to DC in July.

On a Sunday.

And I just couldn't justify going.

So, I listen to their albums. Watch the videos. And pray that they'll come back soon.

I will add a language warning for the first song. Just so you're aware. It's also cool, because Julian is actually his son, which makes the wins of bands who sing really good songs to the lead singer's son named Julian 2 for 2. The second song is clean, and still gives you a good idea of this band's talent.

Here we come a-wassailin'

If your iPod is anything like mine, there are songs you don't know that have magically found their way into your collection. So, putting my iPod on Shuffle Songs can lead to some interesting discoveries. Sometimes it's "meh", but sometimes it's "I LOVE this song! And I already own it! Score!"

Like Sunday Morning Yellow Sky by October Project. Sure, they haven't done anything since 2006, so I'm way behind, but better late than never! I know it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but I'm glad for the find.

In the holiday music world, I'm really digging Pat a Pan by David Archuleta. I love the opening in French and the groove of the rest of the song. I've always liked Pat a Pan, and this arrangement is new and different compared to, say, yet another version of "(Christmas) Baby Please Come Home".

Also, more Muppets.

And, finally, courtesy of Theater Geek - a little Christmas-themed musical quiz. I've been working on it on and off all day, and only have 5 more to go. How many can you name?

Tomorrow, tomorrow

In library speak, I was hired to plan and carry out a retrospective conversion of the entire library, getting everything onto the computer according to MARC standards, and provide a more automated library system. Of course, my boss doesn't actually speak library speak, so I was just asked to "update the library" and "get everything on the computer". I was shown around for a day or so and then let loose.

After three long years of planning, self-training, hundreds of questions, cataloging, item building, shelving, sweat, tears, and yes, blood, it's completed to a level satisfactory enough that I'm ready to start letting teachers use it. I'll be unveiling it tomorrow during the annual fall inservice meeting.

The library system may be ready, but I'm certainly not. I am little worried about the 15 minute (except I was asked today to keep it to 10 if possible) 40 slide Powerpoint library instruction presentation, naturally. I'm more concerned about the system. I'm still doing a lot item building (getting the circulation system to point to the catalog records) on the fly, so requests are taking a little longer than usual and not everything is going to show up in the online catalog yet and my phone is going to ring off the hook and everyone is going to hate me.

Except they won't. Everyone is on my side. Library catalogs aren't exactly rocket science and most of them won't really be learning anything new tomorrow. The teachers have known this is coming for as long as I've been here and have been just fine with little changes I've made along the way. It won't be a seamless transition, not by a long shot, but it should still be rather smooth.

This project is my baby, and now it's time to trust other people with it. And it's going to be okay.

Of course, it would be great if I could have another month before school started, but that won't happen. Also, it would be really helpful if I could get a good night's sleep tonight, but that probably won't happen either because two things that keep awake at night are stress and knowing I have to get up really early in the morning. Both at once? Could be interesting.

Now, while I'm having a stressful work week, I'm having a great music week. I spent a lot time last week cleaning up my personal music collection, and even found some great things I'd either forgotten about or didn't know I had in the first place. I'm rather pleased about that. I've also discovered a new station on Pandora (Glee Cast Radio) that's just delightful.

And this song, Aicha by Penn Masala. I love vocal a capella and they do it well. Plus, there are even some Hindi and/or Arabic verses here! As always, I hope you like it as much as I do, though I apologize for the poor quality.



So, if you could think positive thoughts for me around 9:00 AM EST tomorrow, that would be swell.

I'm free-I'm free!

I know you've probably forgotten by now, since I really never talk about it, but you know how I've been in school for the last two years? Well, I submitted a 17-page single-spaced report on Saturday morning, and, just like that, I'm not anymore. It's both completely surreal and completely awesome. Unlike Canadian Dave, a friend since high school and a fellow MLIS-candidate, I have had a few enthusiastic shouts of joy and I've certainly happy danced. More than once. He's right about one thing though, that the biggest sensation is one of relief. I. Am. So. Relieved.

I'm also really energized. Unlike the last time I finished a degree, I'm not depressed and burned out. I'm single, childless, have a good job, and live in one of the greatest metro areas in the world. I don't want to let that go to waste. There are things to be done, and I'm going to do them.

Remember this list I made in the beginning of this school experience? Time for a new one.

Things I Will Not Do

• Watch 10 seasons of anything in 2 months, unless it's while I'm doing something productive, like knitting
• Become complacent
• Become too reclusive
• Stay up far too late writing papers (at least not for the foreseeable future)
• Do another accelerated degree program (2 is enough, thank you)
  
• Pay for another degree (scholarships/fellowships/free tuition benefits whilst working for a university - all welcome)
  

Things I Will Do

• Continue to kick butt at my job (or any job)
• Finish this year's book challenge (so what if I'm only on B)
• Work on my other goals for this year
• Keep dancing
• Tour DC
• Write
• Perform
• Socialize
• Travel
• Keep learning things
• Explore other career and educational options (yes, I am thinking about a Ph.D. and/or a second Master's)
• Enjoy my life, whatever comes my way

DC friends - I'm up for adventure! Time for fun things!

Non-DC friends - I still have a futon that's just begging for visitors, and I'd love some people with whom to play tourist.

Everyone - here's my graduation present to you, this week's SOTW. I've lost track of how many times I've listened to this song, and the video is just delightful.



Life is awesome. I enjoy living it.

I'll just unplug it for to-day

I hit a pretty big milestone at work today. Everything I personally needed to catalog before I build the library in the circulation software and, sort of simultaneously, physically reorganize the place is CATALOGED!!!!

Why, yes, I have been working on this project as much as possible for two years. The first day of actual cataloging was almost exactly two years ago. And it's done! Monday, I can open Unicorn Ecole and actually use it, instead of just looking at it and thinking "someday". I will also keep throwing things away. It's sort of nice that there just aren't enough trash cans around to do it in one day. I have a LOT to do around here still, but when an entire phase is complete, that's a reason to celebrate. Also, I'm happy that other librarians are excited for me and recognize my knowledge and professional status and willing to help me with various things, even when the non-librarians don't.

So, what to do to celebrate? Well, I think I'll go grocery shopping and hit up Bed Bath and Beyond (melted cheese on a plate + hot water = cheese melted into my dish scrubber sponge). Fun, non? Maybe I'll order a pizza. After the grocery shopping and before tonight's wedding reception. I took the groom on a date once, about a month before he started dating his now wife . . .

What I'll definitely do is share this week's SOTW - "Daylight" by Matt & Kim. It's already on the playlist, but the music video is worth enjoying, so click on song title. I'll be darned if you don't smile too.

This is the summer of fair weather

I made a list last year of what signifies the start of summer to me. Now, I didn't go to Duck Beach, I haven't really done any star-gazing, and I've had a Sunday morning on the Mall instead a Sunday Night on the Mall, but it's still summer. In addition to the rest of that list, this summer includes bike rides, afternoons at the pool (yay friends with pools!), and the light at the end of the tunnel of both school and my major work project.

It's no secret I love summer. LOVE it. Favorite season by far. I love the warmth of the sun and the long days. I feel so energized and full of life. Winter - bleak and depressing. Spring and Fall - too unpredictable.

So that leaves summer, and I love it.

And, of course, the summer music. Thanks to my own music discoveries and a rather informal survey of friends, I've put together a rather perfect summer playlist, found on my sidebar. Almost every one of these songs inspires me to run and skip through a field, barefoot.

My favorite submission though, and this week's Song of the Week, is one from Captain Deviance, who heard it described as "folksy explosions in the sky." I couldn't add it to my playlist, but you can find it by clicking here.

Happy Summer everyone!

Did I miss any of your favorite summer songs? Sound off below!

Don't Stop Believin'

Stop. Click this link and then come back and read.



Did you notice Hugh Laurie? And John Malkovich? Both men are incredibly talented, but Mr. Malkovich has this way of disappearing into a role. If I hadn't known he was in this video, I might not have even realized it, and I pride myself on being able to recognize faces. There are some films he's been in that I know he's in and who he is playing and still don't even see him. I see his character. For instance, I recently caught The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on Sci-Fi and he plays Humma Kavula. I didn't remember until after the movie, and even then, I didn't quite believe it. That speaks highly of the quality of his work. When you're watching Brad Pitt, you still know it's Brad Pitt.

(P.S. HHGTG on Sci-Fi is heavily edited, and you miss several funny bits and important exposition points. I was disappointed, but it was better than no HHGTG at all.)

It was watching that movie that sparked this musing about Mr. Malkovich, but then I saw this video this week and not only continued to love his work, but I'm in love with this song, even if I am 17 years late in hearing it.

And since I skipped out on last week's SOTW, here's another one, from Fox's new show, Glee:



It's pretty much one of my favorite Journey songs ever, and I will admit to getting choked up when I watched this on Tuesday night. I am so looking forward to this show in the fall. And you should be too. Watch the pilot here. Watch it twice. You're welcome.

White and nerdy

There's much discussion lately about what qualifies someone as a nerd, geek, or dork. (Here, for example.) Now, sometimes these terms are used interchangeably, but I'm here to proudly say that I'm all three. Or, as some random quiz I took online told me (I apparently saved the results, but not the link to the quiz):

Modern, Cool Nerd

96 % Nerd, 52% Geek, 35% Dork

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.

You scored better than half in Nerd and Geek, earning you the title of: Modern, Cool Nerd.

Nerds didn't use to be cool, but in the 90's that all changed. It used to be that, if you were a computer expert, you had to wear plaid or a pocket protector or suspenders or something that announced to the world that you couldn't quite fit in. Not anymore. Now, the intelligent and geeky have eked out for themselves a modicum of respect at the very least, and "geek is chic." The Modern, Cool Nerd is intelligent, knowledgable and always the person to call in a crisis (needing computer advice/an arcane bit of trivia knowledge). They are the one you want as your lifeline in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (or the one up there, winning the million bucks)!

Congratulations!

You can also find more information here: http://www.wikihow.com/Tell-the-Difference-Between-Nerds-and-Geeks

Now, if you aren't already thinking of all the reasons you agree with me, here is some of how I alternate between nerd and geek (I will not be listing my dorky behavior here, but I'm sure you've observed it).

I'm guilty of more than half the things on both of these lists. Or, actually, all, to some degree or another.

I get programming jokes. This one is new, since I only started programming in the last couple of years, so it always surprises me. The other day, Mr. T cracked a joke of this caliber and I laughed and then realized I was laughing at something terribly geeky and mentioned my surprise out loud. "Well, if you hadn't, I would have revoked some of your geek cred." Sadly, or awesomely, being called a geek by someone who is even more geeky than I am is something I consider a compliment.

My favorite shows are ones that are truly geeky (Firefly, Dollhouse, Heroes etc.), require some intelligence to really enjoy (Lost, etc.), and/or feature majorly geeky people as their main characters (Bones, Chuck, etc.). I plan on catching up on Big Bang Theory this summer.

RennFest. I'm 3 for 3 in Maryland so far.

I love my nerdy comics/webby things - The Guild, xkcd, PHDComics, Dr. Horrible

This is what I'm wearing today:


I was planning to write this post today, but I swear I did not wear it on purpose.

Other nerdy shirt worn this week:
I have nerdy plans. Things I want to learn and read about. Tech things I want to set up in my house (this one will have to wait, mostly). Skills I want to brush up on.

Librarian? 'Nuff said.

And, the reason I'm even writing this post today. Last night, or this morning, at 12:15 AM I was in line with Mr. T and two of his friends waiting to see the new Star Trek on the IMAX and was discussing Joss Whedon (mostly about Dollhouse), xkcd, and other nerdy things, not just with the boys, but with the boys in line directly ahead of us. In fact, because neither the stranger's friends nor mine could keep up, we ended up having our own conversation.

It was awesome. I love me. And nerds/geeks in general.

And now, since I haven't done one yet this week, I bring you an introduction to a rather nerdy singer-songwriter for this week's SOTW. Enjoy.

He had other ladies, and other tunes, to play

Just a few more days until I can make my triumphant blogging return! I have much to share and I'm sure you're dying to hear it.

In the meantime, I'm taking a little mini-vacation. Just me and the road for a long time, 2.5 days full of family, and then it's me and the road again. Admittedly, I'm a little nervous, as it will be my longest solo road trip to date, but as long as I have my bluetooth and some audiobooks, I should be fine. And, of course, music.

One of my favorite things to do whilst I'm driving alone is singing my little heart out. I have an ever growing playlist dedicated to this hobby, and today's SOTW is one you can be sure I'll play at least once during my drive.

Your Daddy's Song - Ragtime, as performed by the ever amazing Audra McDonald



Better sound quality can be found here.

It's too late to run

True to form, I hit my snooze button for about an hour this morning. Somehow, my tired brain equated each alarm as some sort of Tweet and I was practically sleep-mini-blogging. I don't even USE Twitter! (Yet, anyway.)

Anywho.

I was laying in bed at 8 AM, proud of myself for actually being awake by this time (I've been really pushing it lately) and just about to actually get up when I heard a knock on my front door. With the moving and the selling or freecycling my possessions, I've had a lot of random visitors lately, but none so early. Also, I don't sleep in the altogether, but I really shouldn't be greeting anyone in what I do wear to bed. So, without even grabbing my glasses, I rushed to find my robe and pull back my extremely frizzy hair (it was braided yesterday) and answer the door.

It was my landlord's father and some painting guy who was going to give him a bid on the house.

Super.

They let me get dressed before I let them in and their little visit gave me a chance to put my lunch together for the day. Still, I was little annoyed, but they left with plenty of time remaining for me to shower and actually get dressed.

That's just a taste of randomness that has been the last couple of months. A "typical day" would be atypical at this point.

You should know by now that I don't just enjoy music, I make it a part of my life. I constantly, and usually accidentally, find songs that are just perfect for whatever is going on in my head or heart at the time. It's like my own personal soundtrack. I love it.

Lately, I realized that the songs I've been performing are the perfect song for me at that time. In March, my ward had a musical fireside, and I was asked to be part of a women's septet, singing Where Can I Turn For Peace? This was at the peak of my most recent unsettled period, where I had no idea what was going on and who I could turn to. But then, whenever I sang this song, I was reminded that Heavenly Father was on my side, as were most of my friends.

Once that was finished, I was able to focus on preparing for my role in the Institute play (which I WILL blog about, I promise). My character's quintessential song is Hold On from The Secret Garden. Once again, the lyrics were perfect. As we neared our opening, I found a place to live, I knew what I needed to be doing professionally, scholastically, and personally, and I just needed to get through it, just as the lyrics of the song suggest. I have used my own need for those lyrics as I sang them to my character's daughter-in-law to fuel some of my character's motivation.

So, these are my Songs of the Week. I apologize for the quality of the second. If you want to hear a better version, if I do say so myself, we have one more performance this coming Tuesday. Just contact me for where and when.

I hope you enjoy these songs as much as I do. Maybe someone else needs them as much as I have.

Le belle et le bad boy

I certainly didn't plan on my SOTWs being so international, but once again, this SOTW comes to us from Europe. This time from France.

One random day, probably three years ago now, I was watching TV. Towards the end of the episode, as many popular shows are wont to do, they played a piece of pop music. I loved it immediately. I loved the rhythm and the melody. I wanted it, to listen to it always. The problem was that it was in French, a language I do not speak well, and I couldn't Google the lyrics to give this song a title or an artist. Nor was it in the closing credits or on anything I could ever Google about the episode itself. But French hip-hop? I wanted it! I'd only ever heard maybe 20 seconds of this song, but I knew I'd like the whole thing.

Once in awhile, I'd Google it again. Try anything I could to discover just what this piece of music was.

Then, one just as random day, I had a breakthrough. I don't even remember how I figured it out, but I did it. And now, it is mine, and I shall share it with you.



Okay, so technically it's been my player for a while now, but now you know why!

All your sanity and wits they will all vanish, I promise

This week's Song of the Week is brought to you by Eastern Europe. Perhaps it's my impending move that brings out the nomadic gypsy in me. All I want to do is dance and sing and perhaps listen to a little tambourine.

So, it only makes sense that this one song is gypsy punk. Please enjoy Start Wearing Purple by Gogol Bordello.



And now, from Romania, the cutest little professional then-4-yr-old singer you ever did see. Apparently she's huge in her country. I started listening, expecting to hate it. Joke's on me, I guess, because I can't stop listening to it. She. Is. Darling. Ghita by Cleopatra Stratan


Oh. And the move? It's settled. I found an apartment, just for me. I have two and a half weeks to purge, pack, and move a two-story townhouse into a one-bedroom efficiency. Wish me luck.

You Oughta Know

Just about every week, it seems I discover a song that I just can't stop listening to. It could be the lyrics are so very apropos for whatever I'm feeling that week, its original musicality, or the video is just so well done. Or I just like it.

And now I'm going to share that with you. Weekly (or maybe weakly, we'll see), I'll post whatever song it is that I'm totally in love with. Maybe I'll add them to my music player, which I keep forgetting to update, but have now set not to play automatically. (You're welcome.)

To start, I'm going to share songs that I remember off the top of my head being referred to once as my song of the week.

Not the Doctor - Alanis Morissette - It was the lyrics that found me this time.



Storm - Lifehouse - Same here



Little Toy Gun - Honeyhoney - This song was the whole package. Fun music video, clever lyrics, and a catchy tune.


Her Morning Elegance - Oren Lavie - You've probably seen this by now. Not only was it everything a song should be, but the music video is incredible.



Out of my League - Stephen Speaks - It's just so charming. Apparently these guys have been around awhile, but I'm loving their music.



Enjoy!

And don't forget to enter my giveaway! Winner will be announced Monday morning!