Hasta luego and the best cover art

I shall be out for a couple weeks, pretty much sans technology, to prove to my sister I am not addicted to my computer. And now, I shall leave you with some of my favorite album cover art. These are in no particular order - they're just the ones I find artistically appealing.

1. I love the simple symmetry. (Bonus: Best song on album is 'Shattered')



2. Her hair is a little over-the-top for me personally, but I love the idea. (Best song: Miss Independent).


3. So. Darn. Cute. But there's a kind of strength under the cuteness, you know? (Best song: In My Arms).



4. So. Besides the fact this song rocks. Cool font. I like the red-black-white color scheme. As you might guess, I'm a fan of simple designs. Not simplistic. Simple. (Best Song:...uh, Let It Rock)




5. I almost hesitate to put this on here, because it indicates something connected with Twilight is a favorite of mine. I love the twilight font with all the shimmers, and the lighting is just...epic. It's just tragic Edward's mug is up front, because Emmett and James are both so close...and better looking... (Best song: Bella's Lullaby)



6. Simple yet effective. Besides, it's Michael Buble on the front. Nuff said. ;-) (Best song: Feeling Good).



7. The color is just so...yummy. Simple. Effective. Yummy.. Candy-apple red. (Best songs: Real Gone by Sheryl Crow and Life Is A Highway by Rascal Flatts)



8. This fits the album so well. I'm a big fan of flame colors. (Best song: When I'm Gone).




9. Classy. (Best song: Frigga)


10. Don't get creeped out by this one. The eyes are so. awesome. They look even greener in some versions. (Best song: Imperitum)
11. So epic. (Best song: Storm).



12. The music symbols = <3 (Best Song: Bari Improv)


13. This is funnnn. I love the artsy/sort of animated aspect. The look on the kid's face is great. Bring it.


14. This one is funky, but matches the title so well. (Best song: Kill City)
15. Futuristic and awesome. (Best song: Keep It In the Family)


16. Kind of morbid? Yes. Gothic/Emo? Definitely. Someone good designed this one. I mean, you have to have talent to keep this from just looking like a remix of a certain Tim Burton movie poster. It's...dark, but kinda cool. (Best song: Careless Whisper)




By the way, I HIGHLY recommend you check out all those best songs listed. Don't have time? Here's a shortlist of the best:

1. Imperitum - Immediate
2. Let it Rock - Kevin Rudolf
3. Bella's Lullaby - Carter Burwell
4. When I'm Gone
5. Frigga - Corner Stone Cues
6. Storm - Craig Armstrong
7. Keep It in The Family - Hybrid
8. Kill City - Hybrid

So that's it for now. See ya later.

I survived!

Ughhh. That was the longest road trip of my life. I am now a road trip warrior. I've now driven in multiple states, like Alabama and Tennessee and a blip of Georgia and Pennsylvania. A painful, painful rain-hammering-down ten-mile-an-hour stint in Pennsylvania. And then we drove back, with better weather, thankfully.

Running camp was a mix of fun, pain, irritation, and fun. Some of the workouts pushed me farther than I cared to be pushed, but I guess it will make me resilient. Every night we played Ultimate Frisbee in teams, hence the irritation. My team was third place last year. It was seventh of eight this year. We had one guy on our team who was...I say this kindly, not in awful shape, but he had no endurance. Furthering my annoyance, he didn't work hard and didn't cover his guy.

I'm not the best thrower, so out of reflex I defend well. There's a rule you do not break around me: COVER YOUR MAN. And then in the last game, one of our girls made a beautiful save for a goal. We were tied with the number two team, and it's now overtime, sudden death. Looking particularly at this guy, I say "Alright, let's cover them tight." Forty seconds later the other team scores, and the dude my teammate was supposed to guard was on the opposite side of the field. He scored because my teammate slacked off.

Okay, rant over. Mostly. My sister put it the best way: "I get angry about things quickly and get over them quickly. It takes you a longer time to get angry, but it also takes you longer to get over it." Wisdom from the mouths of babes. Okay, she's not that young *winces at punch*. Come on, sis! It's figurative.

Here is a fun exercise. I may tag some people to do it. The rules: List three song titles, and your immediate thoughts. Then tag three people. I.E.:

No Air, Jordin Sparks. 1. What my sister keeps singing over and over and over to drive me insane. 2. The precise amount of oxygen my sister will be inhaling if she doesn't cut it out.

Train, 3 Doors Down. 1. What I wished I was on while driving down the interminable Route 59. 2. What I was going to throw my sister in front of if she didn't quit singing Bleeding Love.

Bleeding Love, Leona Lewis. 1. Another thing my sister kept singing, in soprano. 2. Sounds morbid, like the previous number 2s.

I like it. I tag...you, and you, and Miss Erin, and Anilee, and Gretch-a-Sketch.

On da Road and My SECOND Tag...

Ay yi yi. 1700 miles later, I am still alive! We're in PA now, and I still have wi-fi connectivity. (Beautiful thing!) So, during the very last leg of the trip, I drove. Silly me. It poured rain, there was an accident, and it took almost forty-five minutes to cover six miles on the freeway. I can almost (not quite) run six miles that fast. But certainly not after a ten-miler, which I did this morning...tough after sitting and waking up at 4 am a couple days ago...but that's part of the great American road trip.

But we're here, and I'll have Internet until Sunday morning, so get them comments in quickly :-) Outside is a veritable paparazzi of fireflies in the twilight. It's around seventy degrees, and low humidity, so different from Houston, where I walk outside and start sweating.

Okay, onto the tag. I was tagged by Miss Erin a couple days ago, and I'm finally getting to it.

The Rules:

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your summer. Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they’re listening to.

1. Train by 3 Doors Down
2. Merchant of Death by Ramin Djawadi (Iron Man soundtrack)
3. Pocketful of Sunshine by Natasha Bedingfield
4. Not Too Late by Three Days Grace
5. What I Want by Daughtry
6. Bad English by Trevor Rabin (Gone in 60 Seconds soundtrack)
7. I suspect it will be something from Viva La Vida (new Coldplay album), possibly Violet Hill

Bonus 8. Smooth by Santana and Rob Thomas

I tag...hmm. Jamin, Somnite, Paris, Judi, Q, Gretch-a-Sketch, and Anilee. If you've already been tagged, disregard this one - unless, of course, you really want to share more favorite music:-)

My goodness...

I'm so busy. We got home from Oregon a week ago, and are leaving Wednesday for Pennsylvania. I'm not sure what to write, in the fear of sounding scatterbrained. So.

Oregon. The weather stayed between forty and seventy degrees. Absolute heaven compared to ninety degrees and 80 percent humidity. The track meet we saw lasted three hours, a good time. It's amazing to see so many world-class athletes in one place. I"d prattle about this if it were something better known like Twilight, and everyone knew what I was talking about.

Speaking of. I heavily skimmed Twilight and am not overly impressed. I did, however, pick up The Host at Barnes and Nobles. I was skeptical. I only bought it because it was 40% off with a member's card. My skepticism vanished about twenty pages in. It's an amazing book. Granted, I know a lot of bloggers (teenage girls) would rather read the Twilight saga, due to the romance and perfection (or not) of Edward, etc. I think The Host is amazing. It's almost the cleanest adult book I've read, but still steamy in some parts and full of action. I thought 600 pages was overkill. There were a few parts I bemoaned an editor's foolishness, but only a few. (Lines such as "He threatened gruffly." The dialogue gets the point across, but minor detail).

So if you haven't read it, for crying out loud, get it! It's the least sci-fi book out there that's classified as sci-fi. It makes me happy.

I haven't written much on book 3 - too concerned with unpacking, ditching the suitcase in the hallway, and five days later hauling it back into my room. The ideas are rolling, though. It has to do with bikers, as in motorcycles built for speed, and a girl trying to find herself, and her messed-up family. I like it, unlike a certain section of the other might-be book 3, in which I want to strangle either myself or the characters for not talking right. The dialogue's giving me a little trouble. Maybe I should go for a short story.

Ugh. I am crazy. I never write short stories. Ah well! Off to pack a pair of not-yet-smelly running shoes.