Day 8

So, today we have my ten favorite tv/movie characters of all time. Don't diss my list. That is not allowed. Just like John Cusack says in High Fidelity, "How can it be bullshit to state a PREFERENCE?" :p No particular order, of course.


1.) Strong Bad. Funniest little mexican robot ever!

2.) Andre the Giant. Every girl loves a gentle giant. <3

3.) She-Ra. I was obsessed with her as a kid. Girl power all the way.

4.) Riley Freeman from the show "Boondocks".

5.) Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Lester Bangs in "Almost Famous".

6.) Jack Black as Barry in "High Fidelity".

7.) Rizzo in Grease. Another movie I loved as a kid.

8.) Audrey Hepburn as Holly in "Breakfast at Tiffany's".

9.) Alexandar Skarsgard as "Eric" in the HBO Series 'True Blood'. Yum yum!

10.) Steve Martin as "Lucky Day" in 'Three Amigos'. Or pretty much any other 80's movies that I have seen that my lulv Stevie is in from around that period.

All The Words

(Artwork by Jolyn Fry)

All the words lay dormant in my mouth.
I'm a storm inside the quiet.
An ocean of language just beneath my chest.
I guess that I can't quite explain it.

So, lay your ear on my heart.
Tell me you hear what I mean.
There's a deep well of longing in my skin
That all the words lay in.

I'm like a bird fluttering around
Flapping her wings, locked up tight
Utterances are a crayon colored picture
Compared to the beauty I feel tonight.

So lay your ear on my heart
Tell me you hear what I see
There's a deep well of longing in my skin
That all the words lay in

Day 7

So for my challenge today I have to list the people in my family and a random fact about them. Well, my family is pretty huge so I will restrict to to intermediate fam.

1.) My mom. Her name is Paula Jean. We have the same middle name. I am Stephanie Jean, otherwise known as "Stephy Jean" by my grandpa. Obviously, I was named after my mom and also after my grandmother whose name is Jeanette. Well, actually her name is Helen Jeanette but she goes by her middle name. Another random thing...My mom used to have this wooden carving plaque thing that said "hey hey paula" on it. She had that thing for years. I think she still does actually. My mom is really fun. And funny too. She doesn't even do it on purpose, that is why it's brilliant. One time she told me a story of how she had been on this diet for weeks and she caved. She stopped at a gas station to buy a Suzy Q. She started to eat it and it was so divine that she pulled the car over to finish every last bite. I knew it was true because I found the evidence in her front seat. Ha!

2.) My Dad. His name is Roy. My dad is really funny too. Sometimes really lame and dry and other times hilariously sarcastic. He is warm, giving, affectionate, honest, responsible, and kind. He is very much a man's man. Drinks beer on friday nights. Watches football. Worked at Catipillar for 30+ years. Works on cars. Loves motorcycles. He was a premie baby, so he's always been horizontally challenged. Apparently he was quite a little fire cracker growing up though. He had a horrible temper and was known for beating up kids twice his build. And I believe it too. He is also very finicky. He likes things how he likes them. Everything must be in it's place and just right. One thing interesting is, in spite of all of his manliness, he has impeccable taste. His house is decorated beautifully, he has great taste in fine art, and dresses to the T.

3.) My bro. His name is Shaun Daniel. He is 4 1/2 years older than me. What can I say? He is wise. He has integrity. He is an amazing father and husband. He works very hard and is always trying to evolve. He's also very goofy and totally clueless about the weirdest things. I admit that I am like him in that way. My sister in law told me that one time they were in the car and were singing different songs. Shaun started singing the national anthem, in which he said, "JOSE can you see??? By the dawn's early light." hahahaha. The funniest thing is, he really thought that is how the song went. Terri had to convince him otherwise. :)

Day 6: 10 Facts About My Home Town

Good ole St. Charles, Illinois. The place where I spent the majority of my childhood and most of my adolescence. Sadly, I do not know much about it so I will have to google.

1.) St. Charles was founded in 1833, after the Black Hawk War.

2.)The fox river runs directly through it, hence the term "pride of the fox" that you see everywhere.

3.)There were "stations" for the underground railroad in many of the homes way back in the day. They had tunnels and false doorways. There was also an early abolitionist group called "The Kane County Anti-Slavery Society" formed in 1842 that met there.

4.)St. Charles was extremely isolated early on, even though it is only 40 miles west of Chicago. This started to change in the 1880's with the building of the Chicago Great Western Railway.

5.) It has a population of about 32,000, as of 2008.

6.) Michael J. Nelson, comedian and writer for the series Mystery Science Theater 3000, was born and raised there.

7.) St. Charles was home to the Potawatomi's. ("Neshnabi" as they called themselves, which simply means "the people") A group of migrating Native Americans who were forced south by settlers. Relations between the French and Spanish Illinois settlers and the Potawatomi's was generally good for a hundred years or so. That is until the Anglo's moved in on their high horse and tried to force them out. This causing the Black Hawk war. This war was considered and embarrasment to the US Government and is largely forgotten outside of northern illinois and wisconsin. Don't worry though. We have a huge ass Potawatomi statue by the police station and a park named after them. :p

8.)St. Charles was originally called "Charleston" for a couple of years, until it was discovered that there was already a Charleston in downstate Illinois. It was suggested by a lawyer that the town be named Saint Charles, and hence it stuck.

9.) There was a large boom of industrial activity there in the 1840's and 1850's. Consisting of several mills and also an iron foundry. The mills were all powered by the river. Also, because Saint Charles was a great stop between Chicago and Dekalb, it contained several hotels in the early days. It is estimated there were as many as 17. The first one built was called The Burchell, and stood where the Arcada theater stands today.

10.) In 1920-1940 a sudden boom of wealth made it's way to the town and St. Charles became known as a resort town because of its scenic river views and what not. The famous Hotel Baker was so popular that everyone referred to it as 'the honeymoon hotel'.

Listen to Top Ten Songs Playlist.

Top Ten Favorite Songs...

Oh my my, this is downright impossible. I'm afraid to pick a list because I will be leaving out so many wonderful ones. How can I choose? What makes a song meaningful to me? Where I was at when i heard it? What the song has taught me? How a song has the power to make me dance no matter what kind of mood I'm in? How the song enriches my life? Ugh. I need a hundred songs, not ten. However, I will do my very best. This list will probably barely scratch the surface, but I will try my best. They are in no particular order.

1.) Tori Amos- Precious Things "No one dared, no one cared to tell me where the pretty girls are. Those demi gods, with their nine inch nails and little fascist panties tucked inside the heart of every nice girl." The first time I heard this song, it genuinely resonated within my being. Her seething and yet gorgeous vocals, the racing piano. It was bold. Innovative. She was bringing light to something that I had never heard someone talk about in a song before. Not like that. It was powerful and honest and I still love it. I felt like someone was on my side. I don't want to over romanticize, and I'm not the biggest fan of some of Tori's later work. (I pretty much stopped at 'Scarlett's Walk' which is also a beautiful album)but as a hurting and confused girl, Little Earthquakes helped me through my entire adolescence. I revist it now and then and I still believe every song on that album is timeless.

2.) Old 97's- Four Leaf Clover "I've got a four leaf clover, but it aint done one single lick of good. I'm still a drunk. I'm still a loser living in a lousy neighborhood." It is difficult to choose just one song on this album, but if I had to pick one it would be this track. I love this duet. It is incredible! The first time I heard this song I was about 18. I had just gotten my own place and this band was introduced to me by my best friend. I really liked it, but this is one of those albums that grew on me. I didn't fully appreciate it until I saw them perfom live. The self loathing, the dirty guitars, the drum line, the raw vocals and broken poetry...it gets under your skin and stays there.

3.) The Beatles- Because "Because the sky is blue, it makes me cry." How do I choose just one? I need a separate list just for Beatles songs. However, Because has always been one of my all time faves. It brings me to tears. It makes me feel happy and free. I love the complex, thick, and interwoven melodies drenched in reverb. It has been the inspiration for some of my own songs. It's simply perfect.

4.) Dolly Parton- Coat of Many Colors Oh Dolly, how I love thee! This song is so sweet. As a child who grew up poor and had a loving, Christian grandmother I can totally relate to it. It brings me back to childhood. And the message is universal and so important. I love how singable the melody is. She turned it into a children's book, which I sadly do not own. I will some day though. I remember some of her specials on television as a kid. I wanted her to be my mom. Still do.

5.) Radiohead- No Surprises "A heart that's full up like a landfill, a job that slowly kills you, bruises that won't heal." When I first got this album, back in my teens, I used to listen to it the whole way through. I love every single song. I can sing it front to back. But No Surprises was a song I was obsessed with. I used to play it over and over. That sweet melancholy guitar line reminds me of a music box. The song makes me feel like I am in a snow globe, another world. I have never read any quotations or articles regarding what it supposed to be about. I don't want to. However, to me, it is about lonely people quietly wasting away. Sort of like an Elenor Rigby kind of thing. Beautiful, brilliant, and sad.

6.)Patty Griffin- Up To The Mountain (MLK Song) "Sometimes I lay down, no more can I do. But then I go on again because you asked me to." Patti Griffin's voice has a signature all its own. It is an original and no one could imitate it. Within it lies strength, power, gentleness, fragility, questioning, and warmth. This is a song inspired by Martin Luther King's last speech. The first time I heard it was a couple of years ago and it blew me away. She takes me places I forgot I could go. Enough said.

7.) The Avett Brothers- Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise "There was a dream, and one day I could see it. Like a bird in a cage, I broke in and demanded that somebody free it." This is the third track on I and Love and You, their latest album. Not only is the music beautiful, the message of the song was so pertinent to my life when I first heard it. I love the pure and sweet simplicity of this band. I love the bluegrass accents, folk elements, and rock beats. This was their first recording with a major label and their first time going full out electric. This album is full of movement and hope. You get the feeling of someone who is putting the past behind them and jumping into the future. And who among us doesn't need that kind of inspiration now and then?

8.) Ani DiFranco- Shameless "I never avert my eyes. I never compromise. I never nevermind the poetry." This woman is awesome. Yes, I am a fan. She is smart, ballsy, and blatantly honest in her songs. So many of her songs tell stories and I feel like I'm looking at a snapshot of a specific time and place. She is a great writer too. She makes me think, even when I don't agree with her. This is a rockin number on secret love. It's juicy, and the way she tells the story it's like she is sticking her tongue out at you and saying "I don't care".

9.) Bob Dylan- Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands "With your mercury mouth in the missionary times/ And your eyes like smoke and your prayers like rhymes/ And your silver cross/ and your voice like chimes/Oh, who among them do they think could bury you?" Ugh, this song is so beautiful to me. The poetry is incredible. There is something in his voice, in the way he sings it too that pulls at my heart. It makes me ache in that good way. Again, I have never read what this song is supposed to be about. He seems to be a very abstract and intuitive writer at times and a very focused one at others. To me, this song is about a woman figure and he undresses her soul layer by layer. Actually, I have learned so much from Dylan in his lyrics, including a lot about the way men see women. Then again, haven't we all?

10.) Mahalia Jackson- Didn't It Rain? In terms of voices, Queen Mahalia is my number one. She is a gospel singer from Louisiana, popular in the 50's and 60's. I am a big fan of southern roots music, black gospel and blues quartets being at the top. She could shake the windows with the power in those pipes. In fact, in her early recordings she would step way back from the microphone and you could still hear her so well. When I listen to her songs, I feel comforted...like she is wrapping her arms around me. She is transcendent. She fills me with light.

Dark and Light

Ive seen the brightest lights in the darkest places
Seen the ugliest eyes within the prettiest faces.

It's all relative to me.
Wherever I'm at, I'll be at peace.
Tomorrow will bring what it brings
And it's all relative to me.

Ive felt pure love on the lips of a liar
Ive sat in holy places, feeling nothing but tired

It's all relative to me.
Wherever I'm at, I'll be at peace.
Tomorrow will bring what it brings
And it's all relative to me.