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30 Day Song Challenge – Week 3 Recap

Here we are again! “LET’S GO LET’S GO LET’S GO LET’S GO” -Matt and Kim

Day 13: You can listen to over and over and over again
“Oceans” by The Format

I love the music. I love the band. It brings back good memories of people I’m incredibly fond of. That about covers it!

(I should note that, though “Oceans” won out right now, it was very closely followed by “Lazaretto” by Jack White, “HandClap” by Fitz and the Tantrums, and “I’m Alright (Theme from Caddyshack)” by Kenny Loggins)

Day 14: You’re surprised you love
“Stronger” by Kanye West

Kanye. West. I wish I didn’t like some of his music as much as I do because I can’t handle how narcissistic he is. HOWEVER. This song is cool and catchy and samples Daft Punk and it’s on my “motivation playlist” (along with Ariana Grande’s “Break Free”, so that’s up there on this list too).

Day 15: Is in your head right this very second
“Mother and Child Reunion” by Paul Simon

A lot of Paul Simon’s songs tend to get stuck in my head, so it was only natural that this is my answer this go-around. I heard this and “You Can Call Me Al” earlier in the week, but “Mother and Child Reunion” was the one that got its little fangs more deeply into my brain this time.

Day 16: Your sibling loved to listen to
“Idioteque” by Radiohead

My younger brother discovered Radiohead when he was in junior high, and became particularly obsessed with some of their more experimental (and borderline nonsensical) stuff. Our whole house became familiar with their Kid A album thanks to him, and “Idioteque” stands out because he listened to it on repeat until he learned all the lyrics. Now all the words are seared into my memory as well. I guess there are worse things!

Day 17: Makes you stop in your tracks
“We’re Going To Be Friends” by The White Stripes

This song always captures my attention and I can’t help but sing along to it. It takes me out of whatever I’m doing or thinking about and lifts my emotions–it’s so sweet and simple, and it takes me back to the first few days of grade school in those Septembers of yesteryear. It’s just wonderful in its loveliness. Also, side note, it’s the theme to the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast, so I get to hear a portion of it each week. Yayyyy!!

Day 18: Helped influence a decision you made
“Crooked Teeth” by Death Cab for Cutie

“And you can’t find nothing at all 
If there was nothing there all along”

Ouch. This song spoke to me while I was in the middle of deciding whether or not to break up with someone I had been dating long-distance for two years. While I was thinking through that dilemma, “Crooked Teeth” played from some playlist I had, and I remember hearing these lyrics and thinking, crap, Ben Gibbard’s right. It was sad, but it’s what I needed to hear, and it helped me stay confident in the decision I made to proceed with ending the relationship.

Day 19: Has a really good music video
“Can’t Stop” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers

I’m actually not a big fan of Red Hot Chili Peppers, but this is one of my more favorite songs of theirs, and it helps that there’s a sweet music video to go along with it. The flickering lamps are my favorite art pieces used in the video, and they remind me of one of my other favorite music videos (Weezer’s “El Scorcho”). I can just imagine the director and the band playing around with the “props” they were given and having fun with the idea, and so I always enjoy watching this.

Until sometime soon! Can’t believe the challenge is more than half-way over!

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month challenge: April 2019

Tomorrow is April, folks! Not sure how we got here already, but I’m excited for a fresh new season and the onslaught of Cadbury creme eggs. Aided once again by my Ink + Volt planner, I’ve thought through and settled on a fun way to ease back into month-long challenges in general.

My go-to method of learning about people I don’t know very well is to explore the relatively safe space and colorful world of popular culture with them, asking all kinds of borderline-annoying questions about TV/music/movies/etc. So this challenge features the music portion of this lil habit of mine, and it turns the tables by making myself answer the prompts I so often enjoy using to interrogate prospective lifelong friends.

First, I need to fill out the part of my planner that acts as my oath and covenant for the month:

Second, I need to share my questionnaire! May I present to you, my month-long Song-a-Day challenge prompts….

BEHOLD:

(I know it’s for 31 days, so I’ll probably just answer the last 2 questions on the 30th)

As I mentioned in the planner, I’ll be reporting on my progress at the end of each week with links to my songs–who knows, maybe we can get a decent playlist created as a result of this too!

Feel free to play along at home, and share your answers in the comments. Have fun–and wish me luck!

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planner layout + goals: April 2019

April planner color scheme - sky blue, regular blue, pink, lime green, fuchsia

April is the first FULL MONTH OF SPRING! Yahooooo!!! I honestly couldn’t be more relieved. Winter is generally a tough season for me personally, and it’s a long season in Chicagoland. Though April is often a toss-up here weather-wise, I welcome it, like Scott Stapp, with arms wide open. Longer days, spring flowers, and a glimpse of more pleasant days to come. With this in mind, it’s time to get goals for the month together and ready up that planner! I for serious dropped the ball in March with goal-setting and planning, but I don’t want to take up any time wallowing in it (other then the time it took to write this sentence). Instead, let’s dive into the lofty, ambitious goal setting.

April 1-7 Week Layout
Maya Rudolph makes everything a little bit better!

I’m using this amazing Ink + Volt planner this year, and the prompts/space for goal setting have been incredibly helpful. And when I don’t like a prompt or just don’t feel like answering a question, I’ll just fill the space with whatever I want. Each month there’s a place to track a habit for the month too–I’ll come back to that in a different post.

So then, my goals for April 2019 are (da da da daaaaaa…):

Goal 1: Start my garden
I have kinda big plans for my garden this year, and so I need to basically get rolling with this as soon as possible. I’ll have to clean up my garden beds outside (hopefully they’re not too cold!) and get some compost added to it. I’ll also be starting the seeds for some of the pickier plants (e.g. tomatoes, peppers, etc) down in the basement so that they’re ready to transplant when the time comes!

Goal 2 & 3: Read some books
I set a year-long goal at the start of 2019 to read one book per month, and so far I’ve read through three. I’m near the end of Rob Bell’s What is the Bible, so I’m confident I’ll finish that as well another book (probably Thomas Lennon’s Ronan Boyle and the Bridge of Riddles) by the end of April!

Goal 4: Host brunch
Have I mentioned that I really look forward to spring each year? Another reason why is that one of my favorite “traditions” we have here at my house is Easter brunch, which we usually host the day before Easter (is it called “Easter Saturday”? I’m not sure). I’m getting hungry just thinking about it. It’s probably not terribly wise, but I like to experiment with different menus and breakfast recipes for this particular gathering, which mainly consists of our [very forgiving and patient] friends.

One of the cutest books I own!

Goal 5: Make a Peeps-centric dessert or craft
I actually don’t always enjoy eating Peeps, but I usually can’t get over how cute they are, especially the chicks. The season for Peeps comes and goes so quickly, therefore I want to create something really fun with them this month.

Goal 6 & 7: Re-organize some rooms
This one is self-explanatory, but here it is for the sake of accountability! We got some Ikea shelves for this project already, so now we just need to discern what does and what doesn’t “spark joy” and generally stop being a couple of hoarders. 🙂

My sub-goal: To track my progress here for you guys to keep me honest! I’ll post about my successes (or epic fails!) as the days march on. What are your goals for April?