Domestic Geek

This week's subject is something I've really been thinking a lot about lately. I'm not getting any younger, so I really need to get cracking on the things I want to do.

Ten Things I Want to Do Before I Die

1. Learn to oil paint.
2. Learn to knit and make a sweater.
3. Get and learn to ride a motorcycle
4. Travel to Germany
5. Get a house and land
6. Weigh under 150 lbs.
7. Become an Adobe Certified Expert in Illustrator
8. Own and embroidery machine
9. Get a tattoo
10. Take a cruise to Alaska

Wow, I really love music and there is so much great talent out there. It was so hard to narrow this week's topic down to just 10. I closed my eyes and gave you the first 10 groups that popped into the old brain.

Ten of My Favorite Bands

1. The Electric Light Orchestra
2. Queen
3. Van Haln (w/ David Lee Roth)
4. Metallica
5. Rush
6. The Police
7. Barenaked Ladies
8. Pink Floyd
9. The Beatles
10. Mannheim Steamroller

As with many of my hobbies, I've let pleasure reading really slide in the last few years. I've decided to allow myself to get back into it and have hit a few used book stores and Amazon the last few weeks and have gathered a few books to keep me busy reading this summer. The Stephen King books are part of my goal to catch up on all his works that I've missed.

Thirteen Books I Bought to Read This Summer

1. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, author of The DaVinci Code. I really enjoyed that book and am looking forward to reading another of his works.
2. Prentice Alvin by Orson Scott Card. I started reading this science fiction series about Colonial America that believes and uses folk magic back in college. I'm excited to get back into it since he's written several more books in the series.
3. Alvin Journeyman by Orson Scott Card.
4. The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower II) by Stephen King. I've only read the first book in the series. I put off reading the rest until he finished writing them, but the series drug on for over 20 years. He's done now, so time to read them.
5. The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower III) by Stephen King.
6. Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower IV) by Stephen King.
7. Four Past Midnight by Stephen King. A short story collection.
8. Nightmares & Dreamscapes by Stephen King. More short stories.
9. Needful Things by Stephen King. I used to have this and somebody stole it. I don't remember the story, so I'm reading it as new.
10. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King.
11. The Regulators by Richard Bachman (OK, really Stephen King's Pseudonym). It has a companion book called Desperation that I read a while back.
12. Cell by Stephen King. Told you I had a bunch to read. There's still a handful to get yet — eight, I think.
13. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling. The seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series. OK, it isn't used and I don't have it in my possession yet, but it will be in a little over five weeks! Since I've already ordered it, we'll go ahead and add it to the list.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Ten Awesome Things About Me

1. I have a great sense of direction. I'm really good with a map and at finding my way around.
2. I make the best cheesecake EVER!
3. I'm really smart.
4. I have keen powers of observation. It's makes me a good mistake fixer and key finder.
5. I love learning and trying new things.
6. I have pretty eyes.
7. I have lots of creative talents.
8. I look younger than I am. You'd never guess I'm 40 by looking at me.
9. I write really well. Well, most of the time, unless I've been taking some percocet or something.
10. I have a strong work ethic.

Since I had so much fun doing this last week and I have way more favorite albums that could've possibly fit into one single TT entry, I'll let them spill over into this week's post. I didn't get a lot of visitors last week since I posted my list so late, but stop over and check out last week's favorites if you get a chance.

I've certainly noticed doing this that I have quite the large range of favorites here. The only thing you won't find is twangy country crap!

Thirteen More of My Favorite Albums

1. The Wall by Pink Floyd. Remember the controversey this movie and the song "Another Brick in the Wall" caused when it came out in the '70s? My mother didn't want me to have this album. I finally got myself a 45 single at Woolworth's with some babysitting money or something, but I didn't see the movie until late high school or early college. I think I saw it on MTV or something. Remember how they used to play music related movies? Anyway, I played the heck out of this album while I was in college.
   
2. Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. It's not the top selling album of all time for no reason (or is it...must go check that fact). Hey Denverites — Remember how they used to do laser shows to this at midnight at the planetarium? Good times. "Dark Side of the Moon" is just such a great song for chilling out, but "Money" is my absolute most favorite PF song ever.
   
3. Mania a greatest hits compillation of the Ramones. I wasn't really a big Ramones fan early on. I used to think of them as these weird little punk rock dudes on MTV. When MTV played thier Rock 'n' Roll High School movie, however, I was hooked. I even had a bit of a crush on Joey. Anyway, my favorite songs of theirs are "Rock 'n' Roll High School" and "I Want to Be Sedated."
   
4. Mascara & Monsters: The Best of Alice Cooper I absolutely adore Alice Cooper. I even got to see a live show of his once. One of the best concerts I've even seen. My most favorite song of his is "How You Gonna See Me Now," but you can't help but singing along to the anthem, "School's Out." I love that Staples commercial he did with that song. Hilarious!
   
5. Christmas by Mannheim Steamroller. OK, a little out of season here, but definitely my most favorite holiday album. I've always loved Mannheim Steamroller's work and their sound is so beautiful and original. It is the one thing that can get me into the holiday mood. When you first hear "Deck the Halls," you know the holiday season is upon you!
   
6. The Dreams of Children by new age group Shadowfax. I saw this group up at a concert at Red Rocks when they opened for my most favorite jazz group ever, Spyro Gyra. I don't think they're together anymore, though. This song is called "Another Country."
   
7. Grease Musical soundtrack. I love the musical Grease. John Travolta and Olivia Newton John certainly did it proud when they did the movie version. I remember this stuff being played all over the radio and I thought that was totally cool. My most favorite song from this musical is when Rizzo sings "There are Worse Things I Could Do." Stockard Channing did an excellent job with that role.
   
8. 5150 by Van Halen. It was the first VH album post David Lee Roth, but it was pretty good. My college roommate at the time and I were both huge Van Halen fans. I saw them in concert a couple of times while Sammy Hagar was lead. I sure wished I could've seen the original line up, though. "Love Walks In" is definitely my most favorite track on this album, though "Hot Summer Nights" was a close second..
   
9. Dr. Demento 20th Anniversary Collection: The Greatest Novelty Records Of All Time How many of you used to stay up late to the weekends to to listen to the Dr. Demento show? I did. It's where I first heard Weird Al's "Another One Rides the Bus." There are the most awesome litty ditties on this collection. They always bring a smile to my face. My most favorite on here is "Star Trekkin'" and "Existential Blues."
   
10. Back in Black AC/DC was the first hard rock band I ever listened to. My favorite on this album is "You Shook Me All Night Long," but the cover track is pretty darned awesome, too. When I met Marcus and found out he was a big AC/DC fan, I knew we were meant to be!
    
11. The Matrix Reloaded This soundtrack is cool in that one of the two discs featured the rock songs and the other disc featured the orchestral score written by Don Davis. My favorite tracks are P.O.D.'s "Sleeping Awake" and Fluke's "Zion."
    
12. Empire by Queensrÿche. It's rare that a group puts out an album with several good songs on it. This was one. In addition to the title track, there was "Jet City Woman," "Another Rainy Night," "Anybody Listening" and my favorite "Silent Lucidity."
    
13. The Ozzman Cometh is a greatest hits compillation of Ozzy Osbourne. In addition to the great Ozzy solo music, there is also a little bit of Black Sabbath basement tapes on here. "Crazy Train" kind of became my own little anthem while I was in college. Life was definitely crazy back then.
    

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!