Explanation

Alright, so a couple people have asked what the title of this blog means. I suppose after about two years, I should clear it up.

Living in Rhythm. You (should) know that I'm a musician. For as long as I can remember, I have heard things differently than a lot of people. I have a 'trained ear'. When I was a kid, my parents thought I had a hearing disability, so they took me to a specialist and had my hearing tested. Turns out, my hearing is SO good, that I can tune out anything I don't want to listen to. Which, at the time, was my parents, evidently (ha!).

Anyway, this skill was only developed further when I joined a 60-person concert band, and a jazz ensemble. You learn to listen for your queues. You listen to the intricacy. Doing score studies as part of my musical education certainly helped, as well.

Anyway, what this all lead to was my ability to notice a lot of things that some, maybe most, people miss.

For instance:

While watching movies, I often find myself listening to the score, watching the scenes as they relate to the music, and then I'll have to rewind because I've missed all the dialogue.

I have spent most of my life since I was 16 waiting for that perfect song that plays in time the the turn signal on my car. I never found that song on my first car. My '07 Sebring so far has one perfect match (not just - "that's so close!" - this is in perfect time). That song is Hey Now by Augustana. No one understands how rare it is to find this! Most turn signals are not on a fixed beat; it's an uneven rhythm. My car's is even. I smile every time this song comes on when I'm driving.

The last time I got my hair cut, my stylist was clipping in time with the Kylie Minogue song that was playing. I asked her; it wasn't on purpose.

The other day, my best friend 'danced' past my office (she does this often, which is getting funnier and funnier the further she gets into her pregnancy), and it happened to be exactly to the beat of the Nathan Angelo song I had playing through my headphones.

This also means that I can't listen to music and not chew my gum to the beat. I can't be listening to my iPod and not walk in time to the rhythm of whatever song is playing. And yes, my pace changes as the songs do.

So I hope that serves to explain the blog title a little bit. And I hope it doesn't make me sound like a crazy! Or a total nerd.

More to Love

I have loved (lovedlovedloved) Brian McKnight since I was 14 years old. I found a used copy of Anytime at a flea market, and I have no idea why I bought it, but it was $3.

The. Best. $3. I. Ever. Spent.

It began a love affair. Brian McKnight is an artist whose albums I own all of. Other kids were listening to Sugar Ray (ew) and I was belting out Anytime in my bedroom. Other kids were buying Nirvana albums, and I was singing Back At One for singing competitions.

Probably my all time favourite song of his is 6, 8, 12. Just a beautiful, brilliant, painful song that hits my heart every time I hear it.

And then, thanks to the vortex that is Youtube, I found a video of Brian and his two sons singing this song. Talk about being born with a gift. And yes, I'm talking about all of them. I mean, there's no doubt about Brian's talent. He's a musical genius, and I don't throw that around lightly.

But I've been sitting here, listening to this over and over again for the last 40 minutes, and I have goosebumps. There is nothing - nothing - better than smooth vocal harmonies...

Brian McKnight and his sons - 6, 8, 12 & The Rest of My Life

Hell Week

I have not written on here in a while, and I feel bad.

Fun Fact: It is my nephew, Isaac's, first birthday today! I got him books. Of course! He's a cute little chap, he hates pants (very strange, but hilarious since he's just a baby), his favourite stuffed animal is a monkey, and he falls asleep holding a book every night because he already loves them. I love him. He's my buddy. I don't get to see him often enough, since I live on one end of the country and he lives on the other.

Bit of a crazy week. Okay, a lot of a crazy week. Too much going on, in my head and in my life, and it's been hard to keep it all straight. It's also hard to keep my sanity sometimes. And not sleeping has just added to the stress of it all.

I have every intention of spending my weekend laying in the sun (trying to even out this bitch of a tan!), reading more Gossip Girl (it's becoming a problem), writing, listening to music, cooking...anything else I can do to soothe my mind and calm me down.

Maybe alcohol? Definitely alcohol. We call this 'drinking to deal'. It's healthy...

Coincidence? No.

A couple little musical moments I feel I need to share.

Tuesday morning as I was getting ready for work, I was listening to myTunes on random, just like I do every morning, and Aretha's version of Eleanor Rigby started playing. Hadn't listened to it in a while. Then I realized it had been even longer since I heard the original, and I thought to myself - when I get to work, I'm going to listen to that song.

When I got in my car, the local classic rock station was on (I very rarely listen to the radio). Eleanor Rigby started playing as I turned off my street.

It blew my mind. What are the odds, right?

Well, today I was checking album reviews, and saw that Rob Thomas' new album is being very well received. Then I started thinking about Yourself or Someone Like You - the Matchbox Twenty album that came out in '96 and I listened to for hours on end because it was so AMAZING. IS so amazing.

I iChatted my best friend and said - You know who's awesome? Matchbox Twenty. The two of us had a brief conversation about the band and the aforementioned album, and that was that.

Then another friend (Jo!) messaged me - Do you like Matchbox Twenty?

This was about a half hour after my original conversation about the same band.

Music haunts me. I absolutely love it.

Choices upon Choices

Jo and I are making lists of potential wedding songs. I am enough of a geek that I have mine in a playlist on myTunes so I don't forget options. Whatever. It's fine. Right....?

Jo's list is four songs. Mine is 39 (and counting).

Scheming Star - Bethany Joy Galeotti
You Have that Effect On Me - Brad Paisley
She's Everything - Brad Paisley
Flowers of May - Christian Cladeira
Magic - Colbie Caillat
Nothing Fancy - Dave Barnes
On a Night Like This - Dave Barnes
I Have and Always Will - Dave Barnes
My Girl - Dave Barnes (cover)
Until You - Dave Barnes (ballad version)
Stay With You - John Legend
Ordinary People - John Legend
The Hard Way - Keith Urban
Raining On Sunday - Keith Urban
Can't Take My Eye's Off You - Lady Antebellum
If Tonight Is My Last - Laura Izibor
Mmm... - Laura Izibor
The Beauty of Who You Are - Marc Broussard
French Café - Marc Broussard
Come in From The Cold - Marc Broussard
I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know - Marc Broussard (cover)
Heavenly Day - Patty Griffin
Up to the Mountain - Patty Griffin
Let it be Me - Ray Lamontagne
Shelter - Ray Lamontagne
Hold You In My Arms - Ray Lamontagne
Can I Stay - Ray Lamontagne
I'll Stay - RH Factor
Look At Us - Vince Gill (this was my grandparents' song)
I Still Believe in You - Vince Gill
Help Me Make it Through the Night - Willie Nelson
Use Somebody - Kings of Leon (Piano ballad arrangement...)
Keeps Getting Better - Josh Hoge
Come Back To Bed - John Mayer
Let It Go - Gavin DeGraw
Sweetest Berry - David Ryan Harris
Mine all Mine - Chuck Wicks
Like You'll Never See Me Again - Alicia Keys
The Thing About Love - Alicia Keys