Wednesday Not-at-All Random Ten

I’ve been listening to a lot of Christmas music over the past month, so I though I’d look at my Last.fm account to see what my top 10 most-played holiday tracks are, rather than doing the usual Wednesday shuffle. Turns out that was easier said than done. There’s a two-way tie for #1, a four-way tie for #4, and a six-way tie for #8, based on the play counts of the songs. So, my top 10 is actually 13, but only sort of, since it also only goes to 8.

But, anyway… here it is. I’m a little surprised that my new favorite, Lady Gaga’s “Christmas Tree” isn’t on it. I feel like I’ve been listening to that a lot.

1. Sarah McLachlan – “Song for a Winter’s Night” (17 plays)
1. Dar Williams – “The Christians And The Pagans” (17 plays)
3. Bruce Springsteen – “Merry Christmas Baby” (16 plays)
4. Band Aid – “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” (15 plays)
4. John Mellencamp – “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” (15 plays)
4. Eartha Kitt – “Santa Baby” (15 plays)
4. Louis Armstrong – “Winter Wonderland” (15 plays)
8. The Muppets – “We Need a Little Christmas” (14 plays)
8. Bruce Springsteen – “Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town” (14 plays)
8. Billie Holiday – “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” (14 plays)
8. Barenaked Ladies – “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” (14 plays)
8. Elvis Presley – “Blue Christmas” (14 plays)
8. Aimee Mann – “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” (14 plays)

What are your favorite Christmas songs this year?

Wednesday Random Ten

Earlier this week on his blog, Roon noted the Wednesday Random Ten as “a meme [I] used to feature on [my] blog.” That got me thinking… Why don’t I do it anymore, at least once in a while? Since I am trying* to get back on the blogging wagon, today seemed as good a day as any to revive it. Play along in the comments if you so desire.

1. Fast Car, Tracy Chapman
2. Top of the World, Patty Griffin
3. Least Complicated (live), Indigo Girls
4. Just Like California, Old 97’s
5. Wash Away, Joe Purdy
6. Levater, Yael Naim
7. Too Much Time on My Hands, Styx
8. Judas My Heart, Belly
9. Without Expression, John Mellencamp
10. A Sorta Fairytale, Tori Amos

Wow. For the most part, that’s way too mellow a list for first thing in the morning –  I need something peppier to get me going. I don’t even recall hearing the Old 97’s song; I had to go back and look when I realized my count and my iPhone’s count were not the same. The first three tracks had, apparently, lulled me to sleep a bit.

* I know, I know… “Do, or do not. There is no try.”

Remember Me?

No need to adjust your screen, and your eyes aren’t tricking you — this really is a new blog post. As my almost two months of absence can attest, I’ve been struggling with the blog lately. The entire thought process surrounding this is long, fairly dull, and might lead to concerns for my overall mental stability. (“You spend time thinking about that, really?”)

But, lest you think I am pretending in order to excuse a too-long absence, here are just some of the questions I’ve been pondering: Who is the blog for? (Me? Readers? Both?) What is the blog about, other than me? Does it have a theme, a purpose? Does it need one? Are Facebook and/or Twitter working better for me to keep in touch with people? Should I be using the blog differently now that I’m using FB & Twitter more? Would I want to do more with the blog if it had a less-stupid name? And, of course, once I get those questions answered, there’s the usual, mundane stuff about finding the time to write and all that. (And all I can say about that is it’s amazing what a mere 30-minute change in work hours can do to complicate things.)

But anyway, I’m happy to report that the time I spent on my blog hiatus certainly wasn’t dull. I’m never going to manage to recap it in any comprehensive way, but here’s a quick overview. Since last you heard from me, I:

• had house guests, twice (Marlene & Chris in October, Shannon & Wendy in November);
• went to Nashville for the National Preservation Conference and, among other things, ate more barbecue than would probably be considered appropriate;
• took a trip to Mexico (Akumal, on the Riviera Maya), had a blast, and discovered that tequila doesn’t kill the H1N1 virus;
• had the swine flu and an ear infection — at the same time;
• got to see nearly my entire family (Mom, the Minnesota cousins, the Pennsylvania cousins, my uncle, and — of course — Brian, Jen, and the boys) for an early Thanksgiving/family hockey night extravaganza;
• did a bunch of planning for my trip to Egypt and made a website for the friend whose wedding I’ll be attending there;
• went to several Caps games, a Redskins game, and a couple of concerts (Andrew Bird & Bruce Springsteen), and — this is the biggie —
• got a new nephew – at least for now, one who I’m excited to be meeting for the first time this upcoming weekend.

I don’ t know if this post marks my return to regular blogging or just a drive-by visit to the blogosphere, but given that it’s a new month, I thought I’d kick it off with a post.  We’ll see where it goes from here. And by all means, if you have any opinions about the questions I raised or advice on getting my blogging mojo back, by all means, have at it in the comments.