Life Changing...

Ok, so "life changing" is a bit of a stretch, so let's call it a game changer. My next few blog posts are about my adventures in a new way of living.

It all started with a book. Ok, this all started before reading the book, but the book brought about knowledge of my situation and helped explain why I am, what I do, and provided a guide for where I am going.


The book (in this particular case) was "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall. I will go into details of the book and its application in my life in blog posts to come but for now here is the overall premise...

From the back of the book:
"An epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? Isolated by Mexico's deadly Copper Canyons, the blissful Tarahumara Indians of have honed the ability to run hundreds of miles without rest or injury. In a riveting narrative, award-winning journalist and often-injured runner, Chris McDougall sets out to discover their secrets. In the process, he takes his readers from science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultra-runners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to a climactic race in the Copper Canyons that pits America's best ultra-runners against the tribe. McDougal's incredible story will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that you, indeed all of us, were born to run."

The author met with the most elite runners in the world and ran with them (not competitively) and figured out a simple truth. More is less and less is more.

And so begins my journey...

A bit behind...

So its been a while...

Anyways I've been working on the blogging, just slowly.

Here is June's featured artist: The Civil Wars
Think Lady Antebellum, mixed with The Frames (Falling Slowly), mixed with a Johnny Depp look alike with the music talent of Mumford and Sons. A country/indie duo with really impressive harmonies and vocal skills.

Top Songs:
Poison and wine
My father's father
Barton Hollow

Check em out.

A great way to start the day...

I'm not sure why I thought of this today, but for some unknown reason I did. So I googled it and here is where I found myself.

(I recommend watching the video although listening to the audio is pretty great too)

It's such a good feeling:
http://pbskids.org/rogers/songLyricsItsSuchAGoodFeeling.html

Won't you be my neighbor:
http://pbskids.org/rogers/songLyricsWontYouBeMyNeighbor.html

Little known Mr. Rogers fact (according to Wikipedia):
He is an alumni of Rollins College here in Orlando.

Food for thought...

"The wise man in the storm prays to God, not for safety from danger, but for the deliverance from fear. It is the storm within that endangers him, not the storm without." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.”-William Shakespeare

I forgot to ask...

I forgot to ask, does anyone have a good quality Bright Eyes CD they could send me? I can only find really bad quality recordings to download. There are some really good songs, but none of them sound good. I would appreciate it.

Thanks!

Some more favorite bands of mine

So the February Artist of the Month was going to be an easy call, that is until I hung out with my brother in law for a few hours in a car. He also has a good, eclectic taste in music. But as much as I like his recommended band they will only receive the 1st Runner Up award.

This month's big winner is: Josh Radin

Not really a "new" artist, but he's got some new songs out (new to me anyways) and a few of them are good duets. Check out: Will's Lullaby (Everything's gonna be alright), You've got growing up to do (feat Patty Griffin), You got what I need.

1st Runner Up: Mumford and Sons

Ok, so a newer band to hit the radio scene than Josh Radin, but they are pretty awesome. An Irish-Blue Grass Band. An actual stand up bass, a banjo, a guitar and a key board make up the quartette. Songs to check out: Little Lion Man, Cave, White Blank Page, and Sigh no More. And those are in order starting with my most favorite.

I did want to mention that last month's band has another awesome song I needed to mention: Parrot and Lily. The song isn't as Chill as their others. This song kind of rocks. Very cool.

Also since I am doing 1st Runner Up awards, I figured I would give last month a 1st Runner Up since Jan was a very tight race. So last month's first runner up is: The Beautiful Girls. Note: there are no actual girls in the band. Just dudes and I wouldn't call any of them "pretty". Regardless, songs to check out: La Mar and A Million Miles. Good chill songs to listen to while working or sitting on the beach.

Anyways, I started working out consistently a couple of weeks ago. It has been going pretty well. Not like it used to be, but getting back in shape has been difficult. It feels good to get back out and be healthy.

Thanks!

January's featured band...

Sorry this took a while. I was having trouble narrowing my favorite artist of the month down to just one.

This month's favorite band/artist is: Sun Kil Moon

From Wikipedia:

"Sun Kil Moon is a music project of singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek, best known for his previous band Red House Painters. Sun Kil Moon sees Kozelek undertake the writing, composing, singing and guitar playing, accompanied by Tim Mooney and Anthony Koutsos on drums, and Geoff Stanfield on bass."

Sun Kil Moon is a very chill, relaxed sounding group of actual artist that actually play their instruments, not just a few chords repeated for 4 mins over and over again. I really appreciate bands that really play instruments beyond most "pop" music. Just my thoughts...

Songs to check out:

Alesund

Heron Blue

Glenn Tipton

Grey Ice Water

Other's are great too, but I wanted to throw a few out.

Peace Out.

ARSM