Testing A-Z Challenge

I told you before that I signed up for the A to Z Challenge and that I was going to do a music themed month.  For those of you who don’t know what the A to Z Challenge is, every day of April, minus Sundays, your post is themed with a letter of the alphabet.  April 1st – A.  April 2nd – B, April 3rd – C, ect.  I know that I’m going to show all the artists that corresponds with the letter of the day but I will probably do a few other things as well.

I have a few artists that start with numbers so I figured I’d show those as a testing post.  Let me know what you think.

* the “genres” listed are my own timeline of music which you’ll find here.  If you want to know a quick story of the genre, (Why the hell is he listening to that?) then click the genre link to go back to the timeline page.  (My genres are classic, 80’s, Christian, hip hop/rap/90’s, rock/alternative, Virginia song, before spotify and spotify.

2Pac – I do like some gangster rap but I’m not big when a song cusses every other word.  I don’t mind cussing, just all the time doesn’t make for good music.

When I think of 2Pac albums, this is the one that comes to mind.  It’s the one I remember listening to the most.  I believe both songs I have are from this album as well.  I never owned any of his albums.

3 Doors Down – This is more my genre, rock.  I really like “It’s Not My Time” and it’s one of the few videos I have seen that I really enjoyed.  Check it out!

         

I had their first 2 albums (pictured above) back in the day.  I want to say that last one was about the time I stopped buying CDs.

4 Non Blondes – Ha!  Didn’t see that one coming did you?  I do like the 80’s music and this was definitely one of them.  I love to sing the one line like a valley girl “and I try, oh my God do I try”.  The sad thing is that I can repeat a few lines without even listening to the song.  This was the 4 Non Blondes one hit.  One of the many one hit wonders of the 80’s.

38 Special – When I hear this song, I think how I used to think that it said hold on Lucy, hey, I was close.  38 Special has been around since the late 70’s but I know them more from the 80’s so I’m guessing I probably know more of their songs, I should probably check that out. 

In this section, I’ll figure out my favorites from this post and maybe some other stuff.

• Best Artist – 3 Doors Down
• Best Song – It’s Not My Time (3 Doors Down)
• Most Songs – 3 Doors Down (8)
• Shortest Song – Duck and Run (3:52)
• Longest Song - What’s up? (4:55)

Music timeline

I should be working on my posts for the challenge, I’ve written one and it took 3 nights.  At that rate, I’ll never stay caught up but as I typed out the first one, it was hard to give a quick heads up about some of the music, so that’s what this is.

I’ll give you a little run down of my “music history” before I go through my playlists for the A to Z Challenge this year.  I’ll be referring back to this post as well though out the challenge.

• Classic - I was born in 1973 so as most of you, I was a slave to my parents music.  Although I couldn’t really tell you a whole lot of it.  I know my dad liked Creedence Clearwater Revival but he past away when I was 8 so most of the influences I remember were from my mom.  I vividly remember certain cassettes laying around.  Amy Grant, Blondie, Electric Light Orchestra, Dan Fogelberg and the Bee Gees.
• 80’s – I obviously listened to the 80’s all the way through the 80’s.  Once again, mom was driving, she controlled the radio.
• Christian - When I got into high school, I became religious and only listened to Christian music for probably 5 years or so.  Even though I’m far from religious now, I still love the music.  They all bring back floods of memories from those days.  For the record, a lot of it is Christian Rock and even Rap.  It’s not all your slow Jesus songs.
• Hip Hop/Rap/90’s - Once I got smart and got out of the church, probably early to mid 90’s, I listened to the radio, mainly top 40 and even got into some rap and hip hop.  The hip hop I’m not really sure where it came from, but the rap came from my brother.  We worked together and would go to lunch and he usually drove so I listened to Gangsta rap.  I liked a little bit of it, very little, but there were some.
• Rock/Alternative - In the early to late 90’s, my brother and I were once again, working together, only he had grown up and listened to rock music.  We worked steel construction and a lot of the job sites were an hour or so away so we would ride with our foreman to and from the site and he always listened to rock.  So I started listening to rock and that was pretty much all I listened to up until 2009.
• Virginia songs - In 2009, I started to date my wife, she lived in Virginia at the time so when I would go visit her for the weekend or a week, all we would listen to was her music which was pretty much top 40 but she also liked other music that I didn’t really know well.  Some of it was Indie pop, some of it was a pop rock, a lot of it was current country.  So I really developed a taste for a lot of different songs which leads me to today where as you can tell, I’ve pretty much listened to it all.
• Before Spotify (BS) – I pretty much listened to CD’s of songs that I downloaded.  Which was pretty much rock songs and a CD that my wife made me with love songs with a couple different genre’s.  I listened to the radio quiet a bit, mainly rock still but I started to flip to current stations as well.
• Spotify – Once I discovered Spotify, I combined all of the above music and threw it all together, and that’s what I have now.

So there you go, my music timeline.  Like I said before, I will link to this throughout the challenge.

A to Z Challenge, part Deux

Well, I did it, again.  I signed up for the A to Z Challenge.  I wasn’t going to do it but since I’ve really been slacking off on blogging lately, I thought maybe it would be the kick in the ass I need to get going again.  I thought about using the same theme I did last year, which was to have the kids write down a word for each letter of the alphabet but not let them use the word they used last year but decided against it.  This blog, as of late, has been more about books and music than anything and my book posts tend to get more pageviews then most everything but I couldn’t really come up with a book theme so I went with music.  I’ve been sharing my playlist a little at a time on Music Mondays, well, now you’ll get to see it in it’s entirety throughout the month.  Although, technically I do add music every so often so you may not see it entirely.  We’ll see how it goes.  To be honest, I also joined because I’m getting tired of seeing only 53 followers, it’s been that for awhile.  Maybe I can at least get one and get off the 53 mark.

I haven’t completely decided what I’m going to do but I will be involving my playlist (currently 1,780 tracks) on Spotify.  I suppose I should start writing them now because we both know that I’m a slacker and will get behind.

This Week on ADITLOAN

It’s Sunday, time for a recap of what I post on my Tumblr page “A Day In The Life of a Nobody”.

I’ve been a real slacker the past couple of weeks so there are only a couple of things to show.

The Big Bang Theory

Captain America

 

There is a lot of gif’s in this post, so if they don’t all show up and you want to see them, go to A Day In The Life Of A Nobody.

Written Word Wednesdays #9

It’s been a long time so there will probably be a lot of books listed.  I did take some time to read today and I’m going to try to read Monday-Friday.  I get home from work just before 2:30 and then leave to get the kids at 3:40 so I’m going to try to read during that time.

WWW Wednesdays #36

To play along, I’m supposed to answer 3 easy questions.

What are you currently reading?

Angel of the City by RJ Leahy

Just started it today, only 11% through it so far.

What did you recently finish reading?

Blood, Smoke & Ashes by Bradley Convissar

Read review here.

Extinct by Ike Hamill

Read review here.

Tartarus (West of Hell #2) by Jason Brant

Sheol (West of Hell #3) by Jason Brant

Read both reviews here.

Ravage by Iain Rob Wright

Read review here.

Blood Reaction by D.L. Atha

Read review here.

Apparently I finished a few books and never reviewed them.  Not sure what happened but I may not review some because it’s been awhile and I’m not sure what kind of review I could give it now.

The Biomass Revolution (The Tisaian Chronicles #1) by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

I finished this over a month ago so no review, but I did give it 4 stars on Goodreads.

Slow Boat to Purgatory by Vernon Baker

Finished this one a little under a month ago and don’t remember much about it now so no review, but again, I did give it 4 stars on Goodreads.

The Undead Pool (The Hollows #12) by Kim Harrison

Being as this is my favorite series of all time, I don’t need to review it, just know that I gave it 5 stars like I have every book of this series.

What do you think you’ll read next?

 

Viral House by Joe Sharp

If you want to join on WWW Wednesdays, click the logo on top or go to http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/ and leave a comment.

Stacking the Shelves #20

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual.

 

Lilith by Toby Tate

Something is unleashed on a Navy super carrier and must be stopped before it docks in New York

Purchase Price – $1.06 (Free – Gift Card purchase)

Kindle version

 

 

 

 

 

The Change (Unbounded #1) by Teyla Branton

She becomes nearly immortal and hunted all because of a recessive gene.  A supernatural urban thriller.

Purchase Price – Free

Kindle Edition

 

 

 

 

The Back Door Man by Dave Buschi

What happens when all our technology stop working, maybe I don’t want to read this.  I can’t imagine that scenario.

Purchase Price – Free

Kindle Edition

 

 

 

 

The Tilian Virus (the Pandemic Sequence #1) by Tom Calen

Could be a zombie book, but it is a virus that takes over the world.  How does a high school teacher survive it’s victims.

Purchase Price – Free

Kindle Edition

 

 

 

 

Noah’s Ark by Andrew J. Morgan

Trying to save mankind from a powerful evil.

Purchase Price – Free

Kindle Edition

 

 

 

 

 

11/22/63 by Stephen King

It’s Stephen King, how can I not read it.  Plus, it was on sale so I picked it up.

Purchase Price – $3.20 (Free – Gift Card Purchase)

Kindle Edition

 

 

 

 

 

Life After War (Books #1 – #3 by Angela White

7 survivors keep on surviving after a nuclear holocaust.  A unique list of survivors at that, some with supernatural abilities.

Purchase Price – $1.06 (Free – Gift Card Purchase)

Kindle Edition

 

 

 

 

 

Cinema of Shadows (Harmony, Indiana #2) by Michael West

I read the 3rd book and enjoyed it so I picked up this one on sale.  The nice thing about this series is that while they all connect with some of the characters, you don’t have to read one to understand the other.

Purchase Price – $1.06 (Free – Gift Card purchase)

Kindle Edition

A free book for you

I told you I started a new job yesterday (I told you yesterday, I started Monday).  I’ve already noticed the worst part about leaving my old job.  Any guesses?  The friends, the job, the pay?  Nope, nope and nope.  It would be that I got to read a lot at work.  There were days when we were busy and I didn’t read much on the line and only on my breaks, but I took 4 half hour breaks and the majority of those breaks, I took alone.  If you go to my books finished page (which I need to update), you’ll see I started off slow.  A couple of books a month, 3 books was a good month.  Then in May of last year, they took away the wifi, we weren’t suppose to use it in the first place, but I knew the password.  When I had time on the line, instead of reading books, I would read blogs.  When they took the internet, I read books even more and went up to 5 or 6 books a month.  So I was reading a lot.  This blog had quite a few book related posts and now it will have very few unless I can change my reading habits.

I love to read, I love getting lost in a good story but I don’t ever take the time to read at home.  Why?  Well, because I love TV shows for the same reason and I do a lot of stuff on the internet.  I can do those at the same time though and I can’t read books while I do other things.  I suppose I could cut back on the internet time and make time to read because I don’t always watch new shows, I don’t really care if reruns are on when I’m reading.  I may follow them and laugh along but it’s not something I really pay that much attention to but it can be a distraction if I was reading.  I suppose I could go to another room but where?  Lay on my bed, not really a comfortable for reading.  Sit at one of the kids desks, no thanks.  So my options are, sit in the living room and block out the TV, sit where I’m uncomfortable, or don’t read.  So far, I haven’t been reading but I need to change that, I just don’t know when or how.

As per my luck, I had 2 authors contact me this week and ask if I wanted free copies to review.  Go figure.  As per your luck, one of those authors is inviting all of you to free copies of his new book.   I reviewed Ike Keller’s novel “Extinct”. (my review here) and he’s offering his newer book – Migrators to any of you who want it.  So if you’d like a Kindle copy, let me know your email address, either in a comment or you can email me, my email is in my blogger profile.

Happy days

Almost 2 years ago, they changed our hours, and I said I'll ride it out until they come to their senses.

A year ago I was still in misery but we needed the insurance.

6 months ago, we were very close to buying a house so I stayed because 14 1/2 years at a job looks better than a month.

Monday, I started a new job and even after the 2 days I've put in so far, I can already tell it was for the best. I knew it was going to be better when I heard my hours were 6-2. I knew it was going to be better when the people at my new job were doing all they could to get the paperwork through quickly so I could start as soon as possible. Hell, I knew it was going to be better when I saw the water and ice machine in the break room and it was free.

So what happened at my previous job?  Nothing good for a start. 2 years ago, the company was up for sale, unknown to most everyone. They started by changing our hours to 12 hour days, 4 shifts, in order to make us look like we were busier than we were. It apparently worked because a few months later, we were sold.

To make a long story short, they took away our bonus, froze salary personal’s wages, plant manager was a dick, cut our 401k share, made more work for us with no appreciation, basically sucked the life out of all the employees.  I probably could have survived all that, I’m pretty laid back and just roll with the punches but what I couldn’t get past were the stupid hours.  Because of them, I could no longer coach my kids teams.  I had to take time off work to go to school functions, in the evening.  I had to work every other weekend, 4 of my Saturday hours were straight pay and all of Sunday was.  In short, I absolutely hated working there anymore.  I liked my job, I liked what I did, I hated the company.  I felt like it betrayed me.  It used to be a good place to work but it has changed.  2 years ago, I had told myself that I was happy that I knew where I was going to retire.  2 weeks ago, all I wanted was to get the hell out.  I wasn’t sure how I’d feel leaving somewhere that I had been for that long, but when my cellphone rang and I knew it was my possible new employer, I grabbed it and sprinted outside so I could answer it.  That reaction told me everything that I needed to know.

It wasn’t an easy decision to walk away from a job that I had so much seniority in.  It wasn’t easy to walk away from doing something I liked.  It wasn’t easy to walk away from the few friendships I had there.

But…

It was easy to give myself more quality time at home.  It was easy to give my feet a chance at not being sore.  It was easy to leave a place that didn’t care about me.

It was easier than I thought.

                       

I’m feeling pretty good about the decision (in case you hadn’t noticed).

This Week on ADITLOAN

It’s Sunday, time for a recap of what I post on my Tumblr page “A Day In The Life of a Nobody”.

RIP Harold Ramis

the Big Bang Theory

R2-D2 – Star Wars

How I Met Your Mother

Ghostbusters

4 fan posters for Batman vs. Superman

Almost Human

Star Trek

When Harry Met Sally

There is a lot of gif’s in this post, so if they don’t all show up and you want to see them, go to A Day In The Life Of A Nobody.