Follow The Tracks Back Into The Past, Through The Looking Glass Of Time...


Follow The Tracks Back Into The Past, Through The Looking Glass Of Time...




"When I Look Around,


I Think This Is Good Enough...

And I Try To Laugh At Whatever Life Brings...

Cause When I Look Down,

I Just Miss All The Good Stuff...

And When I Look Up,

I Just Trip Over Things...."

~~Ani DiFranco


Sunday, December 14, 2014

This is how my morning started.

It should also be noted that I was running on no sleep and driving to a craft fair surrounded by a plethora of hula hoops to sell like some kind of clown in a clown car. 

 




The end. 

Friday, June 20, 2014

Quotable Notables to Self: On Being Misunderstood

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day. — 'Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.' — Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood."

Ralph Waldo EmersonSelf-Reliance

"
In order to share one's true brilliance one initially has to risk looking like a fool: genius is like a wheel that spins so fast, it at first glance appears to be sitting still."

Criss JamiVenus in Arms


"Easily mistaken, it is not about a love for adversity, it is about knowing a strength and a faith so great that adversity, in all its adverse manifestations, hardly even exists."

Criss Jami


"True rebels hate their own rebellion. They know by experience that it is not a cool and glamorous lifestyle; it takes a courageous fool to say things that have not been said and to do things that have not been done."

I have come to believe over and over again that what
is most important to me must be spoken,
made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having
it bruised or misunderstood.
- Audre Lorde

It gives me great pleasure indeed to see the stubbornness
of an incorrigible nonconformist warmly acclaimed.
- Albert Einstein


Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation
can be trusted to act humanely
or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear.
- Bertrand Russell



Having a personal opinion is great.
Believing that one's personal opinion is absolute truth
leads to most of the world's troubles.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie


Mostly, it is human to dislike surprises -
often with great intensity.
Be open to new ways;
sometimes newness just knocks on our door;
welcome it.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

We can do no great things,
only small things with great love.
- Mother Teresa

Regrets and resentments cause great suffering but fix nothing.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The willow which bends to the tempest,
often escapes better than the oak which resists it;
and so in great calamities,
it sometimes happens that light and frivolous spirits
recover their elasticity and presence of mind sooner
than those of a loftier character.
- Albert Schweitzer


Living in fear of anything is a terrible waste
of what could be a great life.
If you live in fear of losing your job,
either you fear the embarrassment of being jobless,
or you fear the loss of material goods -
house, car, and such.
If you live in fear of losing your stuff and money,
it is clear that they own you.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie


Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Adventures of one sock Charlie X:




Eating oranges for the first time. He loves them now. I guess it's an acquired
Taste....?? 




A trip to green meadows petting farm: 

Yeah! Shitens!
(Smh)


Saturday, June 14, 2014

Beauty and Interesting is everywhere.

Some of my random photographic stylings, taken around the Milwaukee, WI area. It must be documented.


^ Street Art. Bayview, WI ^

^ More street art ^ 


^ Don't worry. I don't think I'll be parking here.. Under this creepy ass bridge. ^


^ Circle in a square. Through the looking glass, I spy with my little eye... ^




Stormy storm


Post Friday the 13th insomniac induced ramblification of the moment: A Novella

Post Friday the 13th insomniac induced ramblification of the moment: A Novella 
(Tentatively Titled)


I am so glad they don't play this 3x a row at every commercial break anymore, or ever actually. 

 
Maybe education connection went under when they made the girl go from seeming like she has a hopeful future in the 2010 version to this version, in which it appears all it did was make her an edgier looking eventual rock star singing about going to college?..??? The biggest mistake on their part for sure, and the proverbial nail in the credibility coffin (so to speak) was when they ditched this chick and replaced her with Shannon Doherty talking about how she has played the good girl next door and the not so good girl next door, but she wanted more for herself than just being a regular well known actress.  So she got her degree in whatever thanks to education connection.  Oh, Shannon Doherty. Doing this commercial spot was Kind of a step down, don't you think? I don't believe you at all. Famous actresses who were on 90210 and Charmed and lots of life time movies and... Idk what else... Totally just have someone they call who can magically find a way to get them whatever they want when they want it without said famous person having to exert  very much effort or planning or work on their part.  The person they call to make the things magically happen, on the other hand, probably had serious high blood pressure issues and sighs heavily A LOT while shaking their heads in disbelief and also utter pathetic shame filled complacency. Unless that person is a Genie, of course. (*Maybe famous and powerful rich people really DO have their own Genies!! Wouldn't that be trippy. I mean, can it really be ruled out? No, it can not. That is a fact. [*I speak of this in general terms. I in no way think Brenda from 90210 is powerful. Prue from charmed had some pretty wicked powers, but the actress who played her..Not so much. Obviously. She did a series of commercials for education connection and now is nowhere to be seen publicly..] <-- attempt to disguise blatant abuse of parentheses and an unconventionally used method of footnoting by using [ ]'s and *'s.  I admit it. I'm not ashamed. I embrace my Wordy McWorderson (my auto correct knows McWorderson.. Wow hahaha) ways, I ramble!! I ramblify my ramblifications good and long and hard!! Deal with it? Or don't. Sometimes I'm funny at least.... I think? Lol.) 

Shannon Doherty, You are totally going to be doing colonial penn commercials in 20 years, aren't you? 

But i digress. My main point is that i am really glad that they don't play this every 3 seconds anymore on every channel ever.  On another semi related note, I am also thankful for DVR and it's fast forwarding capabilities but am slightly disturbed at how reliant I have become upon it. Watching live tv has become frustrating because I can't FFFF. Bahahah. 

Everything's connected. Both *educationationally* (heh.) AND trivially.. And also subtly. There's always a connection. You dig? 

Corn dogs. 


Tuesday, January 7, 2014

A Day In The Life Of Leah's Brain and Her Attempt at trying to Illustrate Her "Life Soundtrack" of the day. It's Tuesday, in case you were wondering. BLEH!

Well, right now the current local time is 11:18 am.  The temperature is a balmy -8 degrees and the wind chill is approximately -30 degrees.  But, it is sunny! So, yeah.. there's that... Holy hell people of the midwest... are we experiencing a real life taste of what it might be like if the storyline of the movie "The Day After Tomorrow" actually played out for realsies? Cuz... -55 is pretty ridiculous.  I'm surprised my car started this morning.  It really did sound like it absolutely did NOT want to.. it made a sound that was wretched and painful.. as if it was saying "why! what are you doing to me you vile woman! stop it! right now! this instant! I doooon't waaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnaaaaaaaa.  Doooooooooon't maaaaaaaaaaaaake meeeeeeeeeeeee!!! .... Okay, fine.  Let's just do this shit.  You suck, by the way.  Thought you should be made aware of that."

(don't worry, i do not actually experience having literal conversations with my car.  This is just what I imagine it WOULD say to me if it COULD talk.. you know, like in the movie cars.  I really like inanimate objects that have eyes and mouths and faces and arms and legs when they totally shouldn't.  I think those kinds of things are fucking hilarious.)

this building makes my heart smile!! look at those eyes! Well done church architect dude who designed this.  I could do without the cross, but you know... I think I can forgive that simply because this is an awesome structure with a face.

this pickle is SUPER MAD! he's turning green... you don't want to see a pickle mad people... RARRGH! 
I have your back angry pickle face. If i were a cucumber, I wouldn't want to be pickled and jarred for who knows how long either :-/ *HUGS!*

now this guy.. this guy right here... this guy is probably up to something. and it's probably preeeeeeeeeetty mischievous! or dirty. one of the two.

welcome to my layer of DOOOOOOOOOM! i will devour your soul and keep it inside of my walls where your screams will be heard as faint echos for an eternity!! BWAHAHAHAHA. Also, we decide what becomes laws and shit here. Cuz, that makes sense.

and a nice little image to wrap up my little distraction of providing random ass pictures as examples of funny things that have faces that totally shouldn't, but they definitely do.


OKAY - back to my original reason for writing this... MY LIFE SOUNDTRACK! Here are the first additions for today's little playlist of awesome and weird and who knows what else.  Weird shit gets stuck in my head at totally random times! I don't know why.  

 "who knows where thoughts come from... they just appear."

Music That The Universe Has Decided To Be Today's "Life Soundtrack"
1. Saturday Night Duets - Peel Away
7:40 AM
(Local Milwaukee Band That Is Totally AWESOME in ways that I can not quite describe.  Check out their website: http://satniteduets.com/)
I AM SO IN LOVE WITH THIS SONG RIGHT NOW!!! FOR REALS!
Perfect that it was the first thing playing on the radio as I sat in my freezing ass car waiting for it to warm up slightly so that I could drive it without like, breaking it or something. :)

An excerpt from an article written and published on Milwaukee's own AV Club website (I liked the way this guy used his words and junk:

Irony gets a bad rap these days. In an age when soul-baring honesty is seen as the pinnacle of artistic achievement, coating one’s art in a “protective” shell of irony and snark seems defensive at best, and disingenuous at worst. But that obsession with frankness denies the notion that irony can be enjoyed for irony’s sake, and suggests that an audience may not be bright enough to chip through the layers of sarcasm to find the sincerity hidden inside. Over the course of two full-length albums and a handful of EPs, Milwaukee’s Sat. Nite Duetshave buried their tales of bygone summers and lovers lost under piles of empty PBR cans and dude-friendly jokes. That’s once again the case with the group’s terrific new album, Electric Manland, though an expanded musical palette and a renewed devotion to all things pop (and junk) culture ensure that it’s much more than a rehash of its predecessors.[http://www.avclub.com/milwaukee/articles/sat-nite-duets-electric-manland,83888/]




2. The Avett Brothers "Live and Let Die"
7:50 AM
Let Us Take A Moment To Absorb The Lyrics of this kick ass tune-age:

All it will take is 

just one moment and

you can say goodbye to 
how we had it planned



Fear like a habit, 

run like a rabbit out and away.
Through the screen door 
to the unknown.



And I want to love you and more.

I want to find you and more.
Where do you reside
When you hide? How can I find you?



'Cause I want to send you and more

I want to tempt you and more
can you tell that I am alive?
Let me prove it.



You and I, we're the same.

Live and die, we're the same.
Hear my voice, know my name,
you and I, we're the same.



Left like a pharaoh, 

sing like a sparrow anyway.
Even if there is no land or
love in sight.



We bloom like roses, 

leave like Moses out and away.
Through the bitter crowd 
to the daylight.



And I want to love you and more.

I want to find you and more.
Can you tell that I am alive?
Let me prove it to ya.



You and I, we're the same.

Live and die, we're the same.
You rejoice, I complain,
but you and I, we're the same.
Live and die, we're the same.
You and I, we're the same.
Hear my voice, know my name,
you and I, we're the same.



And I want to love you and more.

I want to find you and more.
Where do you reside
When you hide? How can I find you?



'Cause I want to send you and more

I want to tempt you and more.
Can you tell that I am alive?
Let me prove it.



You and I, we're the same.

Live and die, we're the same.
You rejoice, I complain,
but you and I, we're the same.
Live and die, we're the same.
You and I, we're the same.
Hear my voice, know my name,
you and I, you and I.


How great is that? Pretty great. If you don't think so, you probably don't have a soul inside of your skin and bone bag body.  That's right.  You must be a robot or an alien or something along those lines. Blah.

3. Cage The Elephant - "Come A Little Closer"
11:30 AM

I'm starting to get really bored with giving unnecessary information about each of these songs.  Despite that it is number 3 on my list here, I have not been researching the songs and the random things about them in any particular order. Of course. Why would I do that?? I'm pretty sure they are from Tennessee, but maybe not. Umm... blergity blergity blerger blergeroo. I just sneezed 5 times in a row and my glasses flew off of my face.  For real. That actually just happened.  No one was around to witness it though :( wah wah wah. SO ENDS ANOTHER TRUE LIFE DRAMA IN THE WORLD OF LEAH LAND!!! sob.

PENIS! 

 

4. Billy Joel  - "She's Got A Way"
11:44 AM
Yep, Random Facts Just For You:

  • In a 1981 interview, Joel expressed mixed feelings about the song: " . . . I thought it was cornball for years. I had trouble singing it at first. Then I got into it and decided everybody has a corny side, I suppose"


  • Billy Joel plays all of these things - organharmonicapianoharpsichordkeyboardsHammond organvocals
  • Artie Ripp, owner of Family Productions and hence the owner of the original master tapes, was responsible for the production error, and the mistake cost him his friendship with Joel. He had originally signed the then-unknown 22-year old Joel to a 10-record contract that stripped Joel of all rights to the original tapes and to the publishing rights to all current and future songs. 
  • ^^^WHAT A JACK ASS! Geez. Poor young Billy Joel [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Spring_Harbor_(album)]

  • LYRICS AND JUNK:
    She's got a way about her
    I don't know what it is
    But I know that I can't live without her
    She's got a way of pleasin'
    I don't know what it is
    But there doesn't have to be a reason anyway 

    She's got a smile that heals me
    I don't know why it is
    But I have to laugh when she reveals me
    She's got a way of talkin'
    I don't know why it is
    But it lifts me up when we are walkin' anywhere

    She comes to me when I'm feelin' down
    Inspires me without a sound 
    She touches me and I get turned around 

    She's got a way of showin'
    How I make her feel
    And I find the strength to keep on goin'
    She's got a light around her
    And ev'rywhere she goes
    A million dreams of love surround her ev'rywhere

    She comes to me when I'm feelin' down
    Inspires me without a sound
    She touches me and I get turned around

    She's got a smile that heals me
    I don't know why it is
    But I have to laugh when she reveals me
    She's got a way about her
    I don't know what it is
    But I know that I can't live without her anyway



    5. Tom Petty & The Heart Breakers - "Refugee"
    11:46 AM
    Interesting Facts That May or May Not Actually Be Interesting:
    • In 1980, Alvin and the Chipmunks covered the song for their comeback albumChipmunk Punk.
    • Released in January 1980 (today's songs seem to have a "released in January" sort of theme to it... eh? interesting...... (or not, you decide.)

    6. Bachman-Turner Overdrive - "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet"
    11:47 AM
    According to the prestigious Wikipedia: This song was Released in 1974.
    "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" was written by Randy Bachman. In The Rolling Stone Record Guide, writer Dave Marsh called the song "a direct steal from The Who," but "an imaginative one."

    Bachman was embarrassed because he thought it was a stupid song, just something that he wrote as a joke.  
    Well, the jokes on you Mr. Bachman.  Cuz this song kicks ass.  Sorry if you secretly hate it?

    7. The Lumineers - "Ho Hey"
    12:33 PM
    According to Wikipedia:
    "Ho Hey" is an indie folk song that is written in the key of C major. A McIntosh MC240 amplifier was used in the recording.





    8. Boston - "More Than A Feeling"
    12:36 PM


    9.  Bash & Pop - "Loose Ends" (Minneapolis, MN)
    12:37 PM
    This song is circa 1993, and I think it is fabulous.  Although... in the time it was originally released, it did not fare well with the critics.  They thought it was "sloppily written" or something.  Pshh.  I think it's pretty cool.  So shut your face holes early 90's stupid face critics! 


    10. OneRepublic - "Counting Stars"
    12:38 PM
    Released in June 2013 as part of their Third studio album Native.
    Musically, it is a pop song with strong elements of folk music.

    Wanna know about the filming of this music video?! Well, hold on to your hats folks! Leah knows how to google :)
    The music video was filmed on May 10, 2013, in New OrleansLouisiana, and premiered on May 31, 2013. The video features the band performing the song in a gloomy basement surrounded by hanging light bulbs – which is interspersed with scenes of several people in a Christian revival service. At the end of the video, one of the people in the service falls through the floor, coming through the ceiling of the room the band is performing in. The video also shows clips of an alligator crawling through the basement.[6] The song was also cut a bit in the music video.


    11. La Luz - "All The Time"
    12:39 PM
    Apparently, these are the only lyrics in this song:

    Baby of mine

    Likes me all the time



    He don't tell me 

    (Little baby)
    How I should be
    Day or evening
    (Little baby)
    Hear him singing



    Some more info:
    Shana Cleveland, a multi-talented musician, artist, and writer from the Seattle area, is prolific across many mediums, and as a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, she's been an integral part of several rather diverse bands, including the Curious Mystery, which featured a Cowboy Junkies via dream pop kind of sound; Shana Cleveland & the Sandcastles, which spotlightedCleveland's velvet voice as a late-night crooner; and this band, La Luz, which finds Cleveland (lead guitar), along with Marian Li Pino (drums), Abbey Blackwell (bass), and Alice Sandahl (organ), exploring girl groups and surf music with a lo-fi retro-rockabilly edge. The band released an EP, Damp Face, in 2013, and followed it in the fall of that same year with a full-length,It's Alive.


    12. Cheap Trick - "I Want You To Want Me"
    12:39 PM
    Random Facts That You Never Knew You Always Wanted To Know About This Song:

  • It appears in the first episode of Scrubs right after JD met Elliot for the first time.



  • In episode 92 of Dawson's Creek when Joey Potter sings it at a night club.


  • That's all I've got for now. 
    THE MORE YOU KNOW! (shooting star). 



    13. Outkast - "Hey Ya"
    12:43 PM
    Random Facts To Feed Your Brain With:

      •  It was listed at number 15 on Blender's 2005 list of "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born".
      • The song's unusual arrangement drew comparisons to artists from a variety of genres.
      • New York also likened it to The Beatles and found it to be one of the best singles of 2003
      •  AllMusic described it as an "incandescent" mix of electro, funk, and soul music.
      •  NME likened trying to classify the song as "akin to trying to lasso water" and described it as "a monumental barney between the Camberwick Green brass band, a cruise-ship cabaret act, a cartoon gospel choirand a sucker MC hiccuping 'Shake it like a polaroid pic-chaaaa!' backed up by the cast of an amateur production of The Wizard of Oz. (<-- fact="" favorite="" i="" my="" nbsp="" random="" span="" think..="">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey_Ya!]

    14. Green Day - "When I Come Around"
    12:45 PM

    Ahh Green Day.  A band that truly did define a large chunk of my rebellious adolescent and teenage years of life... Ever wonder more about what's "behind the music" of the official video for this song? No? Too bad. I'm going to tell you anyway:
    The music video shows the band walking to different places, like the Mission District and the Powell Street Station in San Franciscoand BerkeleyCalifornia at night, along with various scenes of people doing common things all inter-related. One of the first scenes of the video eventually leads back to the scene at the end. The band's friend and now secondary guitarist Jason White can be seen in the video with his girlfriend at the time. Mark Kohr directed this video.[4]
    Before the video was filmed, MTV aired a live performance of the song by the band at the 1994 Woodstock Festival.
    MTV's Ultimate Albums: Dookie special credited the simple horizontally-striped sweater worn by Billie Joe in the video for starting a fashion trend of similar sweaters.

    15. Green Day - "She"
    12:48 PM
    (It's like I'm an angry ass teenage girl all over again! This once was my official self-proclaimed "Anthem" for quite a while.  And in many ways... it still is.  Just listen to the words, man.  It's all about the lyrics!)

    Some Random Ass Facts About This Song In Particular, mmmhmm:

    • PopMatters listed "She" as the eighth best Green Day song, citing ""She" is sensitive without being soft; in between Armstrong's empathetic declarations of "Scream at me / Until my ears bleed / I’ll take [sic] heed / Just for you", the band is hammering away at its instruments with amped-up intensity."
    • The name of the album is a reference to the band members often suffering from diarrhea, which they referred to as "liquid dookie", as a result of eating spoiled food whilst on tour. Initially the band were to name the album Liquid Dookie; however, this was deemed "too gross", and so they settled on the name Dookie. (GROSS)[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dookie]
    • The album touched upon various experiences of the band members and included subjects like anxiety and panic attacksmasturbationsexual orientationboredom, mass murder, divorce, hobos and ex-girlfriends.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dookie]


    • The radio-only single, "She", was written by Armstrong about a former girlfriend who showed him a feminist poem with an identical title.[6] In return, Armstrong wrote the lyrics of "She" and showed them to her.[6] She later moved to Ecuador, prompting Armstrong to put "She" on the album. The same ex-girlfriend is the topic of the songs "Sassafras Roots" and "Chump". [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dookie]


    ... 8th best Green Day song... how very specific of you Wikipedia! Thank you for adding more semi-useless knowledge to my already overflowing warehouse of trivial knowledge that is located inside of my brain factory. It should also be noted that it is the 8th song on the album in which it is featured so majestically, Dookie.  Hmm.. I'm starting to question whether or not the folks from "Pop Matters" just made that whole "8th best green day song ever!" thing up for fun. Meh. It still is and always will be one of my all time faves and forever a fixture on my ULTIMATE LIFE SOUNDTRACK! (The definitive collection of ALL OF THE MUSICS that had some sort of profound impact on me at some point or points throughout my life as a person named Leah! Yeah!

    Ahh... but the lyrics! THE LYRICS! It's as if Billy Joel Armstrong was singing this song for me personally beginning around the time when I was a mere 11 years old.. freshly abandoned by my mother, who decided to end her life in a horrific and traumatic way for my very young pre-teen self... Wow. I'm so fucking old. This song is 20 years old now. Holy shit. WTF. Le Sigh. 

    BEHOLD! THE LYRICS!:

    She....

    She screams in silence.

    A sullen roit penetrating through her mind.
    Waiting for a sign to smash the silence with the brick of self control.

    Are you locked up in a world that's been planned out for you?
    Are you feeling like a social tool without a use?
    Scream at me until my ears bleed.
    I'm taking heed in just for you.

    She...
    She's figured out all her doubts were someone else's point of view.
    Waking up this time to smash the silence with the brick of self control.

    Are you locked up in a world that's been planned out for you?
    Are you feeling like a social tool without a use?
    Scream at me until my ears bleed.
    I'm taking heed in just for you.

    Are you locked up in a world that's been planned out for you?
    Are you feeling like a social tool without a use?
    Scream at me until my ears bleed.
    I'm taking heed in just for you.


    SOOOO uhh...  there you have it.  That's all of the music that randomly come on the radio while I was listening to the radio at different times throughout the day so far.. Interesting stuff right? WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN!?!? IT MUST BE SYMBOLIC!!!! Perhaps I should spend the next 2 hours and 50 minutes that I have left sitting at work pretending to be working on actual work trying to create some sort of formulaic equation that will ultimately de-mystify not only the mysterious ways in which the radio sometimes KNOWS EXACTLY THE RIGHT SONG TO PLAY AT EXACTLY THE RIGHT TIME ALWAYS (either that or it's Linkin Park on every station.  You can't win em all I guess.) 
    BUT! This formula would also open up new scientific knowledge about the universe itself and how the universe works and shit. Yeah. That's what I'll do instead of finding actual work to do. 

    No I won't. I won't really do this. I AM SO BORED I FEEL AS IF I COULD SCREAM!! Kinda symbollic the last track of today's life soundtrack is SHE, ehhhhh!?!? EH??? 

    Alright, this post is DONE. It needs to make like a tree and fucking LEAVE! Get out of here super long random ass kinda pointless blog post! Stop typing words you stupid fingers that are attached to my hands which are attached to my body that I am currently in using to type incessantly with.  YEAH.  

    BYE.
    (for now.)