Challenge Day #14

Today I am supposed to blog about my favorite musician. I'm going to talk about my top three even though it is hard to do that because I have so many favorites. I absolutely love music and I literally don't go anywhere without my iPod.

Number 1: Tori Amos

She is an acquired taste to be sure. When I first heard her I wasn't impressed. Part of the reason it is hard to love her right away is that she enunciates words in an odd but charming way. It is a distinct sound that I cannot get enough of. Just recently I was trying to introduce a friend of mine to the ways of Ms. Amos and I got all excited about a part in the song "Precious Things" and I was disappointed by her reaction. I asked her what she thought and she said "I couldn't understand her."

A big reason I absolutely love Tori is because I do understand her. She manages to connect to me at a different level that I cannot explain. Another huge thing for me is that her music literally saved me during my grieving after my sister's passing. Right at this moment I am listening to her cover of "Father Figure" and it is amazing.

Number 2: Florence + the Machine

A new love of mine I was introduced to at the end of last year. She is a genius and reminds me a bit of Tori Amos. Maybe that is the draw. Her lyrics are brilliant and also don't make complete sense at face value just like Ms. Amos'. My favorite song of hers is "The Drumming Song." I cannot wait for more brilliance from her. I cannot get enough of her album.

Number 3: Adele

Her new album 21 is freaking amazing. I've loved her since I heard "Chasing Pavements" a few years ago. The raw emotion and beauty in her voice is so appealing to me and it speaks to me. Her sound is classic and timeless.

Runners Up:

Number 4: The Civil Wars
Number 5: The Killers
Number 6: Ke$ha

Interesting to Note:

Kelli would appreciate this, but I just realized that my top three favorite musicians are all redheads.

And the Insanity Continues

I am waving my freak flag pretty wildly right now by even posting this on my blog, but I have to share my excitement.

I purchased Tori Amos' album Strange Little Girls today. I had heard it years ago and really didn't like it, but that was when I was just being introduced to the world of Tori. Now I cannot get enough of it. This is an album of covers. She covers everyone from Eminem to Pink Floyd.

Not only that...I went a little crazy and went through her live albums and bought songs I had never heard before as well as even more covers. One of my favorites is her cover of "Father Figure" by George Michael.

Anyway...I will put the freak flag away.

For now.

2009: A Year in Review

January:

I was living at Mike's house in Rexburg and started my final semester at BYU-Idaho. During this month I began reading The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde for my senior capstone English class. Also, on the 16th, my sister gave birth to two beautiful twin boys named Morgan Rico and Wyatt Bruce Chacon. They are an awesome addition to the family.

February:

Still plowing away at the last semester of school. Another Valentine's Day without a significant other to profess my love with flowers and chocolates to. Oh well.

March:

This was a great month. We had Giselle (Gigi) sealed to my parents and also did Brittany's temple work. It was a very special and spiritual experience that I will not forget. It was after this that I finally felt at peace about the whole thing. We have also continued the tradition of going out to eat as a family on birthdays, so we went out for Britt's birthday.

April:

We celebrated Kate's 27th birthday on the 8th. And I graduated from BYU-Idaho FINALLY! My degree was in English, professional writing, with a minor in public relations. The world was my oyster and I was ready to hit the road running!

May:

This month found me moving out of Mike's house and back in with my parents and Gigi. It has been a good move because I have been able to save up money while looking for a big-kid job.

June:

Gigi had her second birthday. On her birthday we took family pictures which would eventually be the motivation for me to lose weight.

July:

I started a workout regimen using my parents' Bowflex and their elliptical machine and saw immediate results. Also, this was the month I went to Tori Amos' concert in Salt Lake City. She was AMAZING and by far the best concert I've ever been to. Somewhere either in June or July we had a big Art Taylor family reunion up here. We had a big bbq and then the next day we caravan'ed up to West Yellowstone and other hot spots. It was great to be with the clan again.

August:

I turned 26 on the 4th which puts me closer to 30 than 20. It's hard to think of that simply because I thought I would be in a different place in my life at this point, but what can ya do? It has been hard for me to get out of a jaded funk about girls and dating.

September:

Still plugging away at work at Deseret Book. They were starting construction on the remodel. We added a distribution center to the store which was a big undertaking for all involved.

October:

We moved the store out into a tent for a week while they finished up the store's remodel. I went down to St. George for Jeremy and Megan Young's baby boy's blessing. They named him Hadley Taylor Young. It was great to get away and to see my friends there, so much so I really didn't want to leave. I even toyed with the idea of moving down there. It is still a possibility.

As soon as I got back I pulled a 14-hour day at work putting the store back together. What a mess!

November:

I officially lost 20 lbs. this month. What a great feeling to be in shape. I forgot what it was like not to cringe whenever I looked in the mirror. :)

We celebrated Thanksgiving at my aunt and uncle's house near Rexburg. I was good and didn't overindulge even with all the yummy-yummy food to eat.

December:

Insanity! Deseret Book became my second home because I was there so much. Tension was high the last couple weeks but we survived the Christmas rush. Now we get to take a sigh of relief as January comes and gives us some time to think and recover from the madness.

Also, I finished the rough draft of my novel! What an awesome thing to have that done. I have already started the rewrite and am very happy with the results thus far.

I am in a much different place in my life now. Much more at ease and comfortable with where I'm at. It's not that I'm getting complacent. I just know that I'm not going to sit around and wait for life to happen to me anymore. 2010 will be a year of changes, travels, and LIFE!

Christmas Time!

I've worked retail for forever it seems. Okay. That was an exaggeration. I have worked retail the last five years not counting the summer I worked at K-Mart. That is besides the point. Man, I get off-track so easily. The point is retail is horrible during Christmas time. It has a way of sucking the Christmas spirit right out of you. I worked at Wal-mart for three of the last five years and, let me tell you, the big, happy, smiley face is a big ol' lie.

Now, there are other reasons I've been a Scrooge during Christmas seasons. Snow is a huge one of those reasons. I'm perfectly content with having a warm Christmas. Call me crazy. I've seen what it's like to have a sunny Christmas and it's not all that bad. White Christmases are overrated thanks to Bing Crosby's song.

All of that aside, I have found myself in total Christmas mode this year. I am stoked about Christmas! Not only about the gifts and all that mumbo-jumbo, but also about the true meaning behind it. I have gotten most of my Christmas shopping done already so that I can focus on the birth of the Savior. In one of Tori Amos' songs on her new Christmas album (which is fantastic) she calls the Savior's birth "our salvation's hour." Angels, I'm sure we were among their number, rejoiced at the birth of Christ as it marked the beginning of our redemption.

At Deseret Book I see the commercialized side of the Savior's birth. Nothing against the book store. We sell good stuff that do good for people. It just tends to make the Nativity scene less special when you are surrounded by it all the time. So I am making a greater effort to be more awed by them and to concentrate on the true meaning of Christmas. It will be no easy task with customers who are stressed out about Christmas, grumpy coworkers who need to take chill pills, and hearing the same Christmas songs over and over and over...and over...and over...and...oh...You get the picture.

So I challenge you, dear reader, to focus on the beautiful story of a virgin mother who gave birth to a Son who would grow up to be our Salvation. Focus on the intricacies of the story: how Joseph must have felt when he found out his betrothed was pregnant, how Mary must have felt when she first received the visit from the angel, and how both of them felt when they first laid eyes on the baby Jesus.

One last thing before I close this monstrous rambling post.

This last Sunday I woke up to Sounds of Sunday. Glen Rawson was talking about the story of Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. At first it was a nice little Christmas story, and I was half-asleep so I was just barely listening. Then he started talking about when Christ died, there was only Mary there. Glen Rawson said it really well. He said that the absence of Joseph shows that Christ can empathize with us in EVERY aspect of our lives including the loss of loved ones. This, of course, made me think about my sister and I got kinda weepy, but that is besides the point.

I refuse to get too caught up in the retail side of Christmas this year. Instead, I want this to be about my Savior who I know empathizes with me in all my trials and heartaches.

This won't be the last post this month but I just want to say:

Merry Christmas!

The Bestest Concert Ever!

Ok, so some would disagree with me about the Tori Amos concert being the bestest concert ever. I, however, could argue the point. But if you're not a Tori fanatic, you probably wouldn't enjoy the concert very much. That goes with any artist though, really, if you think about it.

I went to Salt Lake City to see Tori live at the Abravanel Hall (just kiddy-corner from the SLC Temple, I had no idea it existed). I took a fellow Tori freak, Heather, to the concert with me. We left in the morning, drove down to Layton where we killed time at the Layton Hills mall. I got some items at a bargain at Anchor Blue because they were going out of business.

A highlight of our mall trip was when we got sidetracked by a salesman. He had a thick Hebrew accent so we couldn't understand him very well. I was actually laughing and couldn't stop because he was talking as if we understood him. He was selling this cool Dead Sea stuff that exfoliates your skin. It was really impressive, but I hated the feeling that I was being played. He actually started writing up a receipt and I couldn't recall ever telling him that I was going to buy some. So, somehow we managed to escape, but we left with a great story to tell.

After the mall we went to Olive Garden for some delightful Italian cuisine. Once we were stuffed, we realized we still had a couple hours to kill, so we decided to scope out the Abravanel Hall. I knew it was near Temple Square so I figured we'd be able to find something to do in the meantime.

So as we were driving to downtown Salt Lake, we decided we'd go to IKEA, but neither of us knew where it was. I knew it was right off the freeway so I just kept driving in hopes that we'd see it. Heather's GPS couldn't find it, for some reason, until about a minute before we saw it on the right hand side. Really can't miss that big bright blue and yellow building.

IKEA made me absolutely dizzy there were so many colors and sensations. I really liked it, but for some reason my head was spinning as we walked around.

We left IKEA and headed back to SLC.

We arrived with perfect timing at the concert. Our seats were a mere 13 rows back from the stage and in the center. Couldn't ask for better seats. The opening act was a group from England called One eskimO. They were really good, but the lead singer did this almost comical bobbing dance move the whole time that was hard to watch.

At 8:30, approximately, Tori Amos came on stage. The whole audience jumped to their feet when she came out. She was wearing this grey smock dress thingie with red leggings and a red belt and these incredibly high heels.

She did not stop for more than a few seconds between each song which was amazing. She kept the energy up throughout the whole concert. I recognized every single song except for two of them.

Highlights: The crazy old man in the front row dancing like a freak which distracted me from Miss Amos' performance. The encore when she sang "Big Wheel" and got us all clapping. When she sang "Strong Black Vine", really got into it, and you could tell. Her performance of "China" was fantastic.

Heather and I were both sad when it ended. By the time we got out of the hall and bought t-shirt souvenirs, it was about 11pm. I had Heather home by 2:45 am and I was home at 3:00 am. It was well worth it though, and I would love to see Tori in concert again.

I'm such a freak.

Abnormally Attracted to Sin

Ok, so I doubt anyone really cares what I think about Tori's new album. I'm mainly doing this for my own entertainment.

Over all, I really like this album. It has a clean, polished sound that has carried over from her previous album The American Doll Posse. I personally love to see artists evolve and try different things. There are still hints of vintage Tori on this album. Her lyrics are still amazing, complex, and quirky. Some critics have said they prefer her old sound that was more personal and acoustic. But I really like the direction she's taken her sound.

I will break it down by track.

1. Give: It has a dark sound that is one of the reasons I really love Tori Amos.

2. Welcome to England: This was the first track I heard from the album before it was released. I love it. It recalls Scarlet's Walk with its electric guitar and the feel of it. I think this is one of the highlights of the album.

3. Strong Black Vine: There is an ongoing theme in this album of religion and even going further beyond into personal choice and our ability to choose for ourselves the path we will take. In this song it seems Tori is mocking the idea of organized religion, but I think she is mostly talking about having a personal faith whether you find it in a church or in the mountains. I could be very wrong about this. I love, love, love the intro to this song with the orchestra. Beautiful. I'm still trying to figure out what the "Strong, black vine" is.

4. Flavor: She slows the mood down here a lot. It has an ethereal feel to it that is signature Tori. This has the same feel and direction of ADP.

5. Not Dying Today: Love the drums in this. This is more upbeat and has a great message to it. A lot the songs in this album has multiple dialogue within it which brings an interesting flavor to it. "music, good friends, I'm not dying today." Live in the present. Don't worry about the future day when your life will end. I love the end when she says "Dyin' Fryin' rather have a lie-in..." It's quirky Tori at her best.

6. Maybe California: Vintage Tori Amos ballad. It is absolutely beautiful. She croons with the piano in the foreground. This one stands out in my mind from the rest of the album simply because of the beautiful lyrics and the tune. This is a very sad song though. That is one thing I love about Tori. Her ability to pull out these strong emotions in her music to make you feel what she's talking about. Even if you don't always understand the lyrics, you can feel the meaning.

7. Curtain Call: This song reminds me of ADP. There is a song on that album where Tori goes from the low range and to an incredibly high range in the background. It creates a haunting and surreal feeling to the music. I love the buildup to the chorus. It has a delicious tensity to it.

8. Fire to Your Plain: This was the second song I heard from this album before it was released. I love that there is double meaning in the title. Plain can be read as the rolling plains of the midwest. Or it can be read as the opposite of eccentric and flashy. One meaning is more literal while the other is figurative. I really like the figurative reading of it. This woman sets fire to the plainness of this man's life/world. In such a reading, this song could be thought of as a love song. But then...if she's setting fire to his plain...then she is also destroying it. Such depth is what I love about Tori. You just can't find such literary beauty in very many artists today.

9. Police Me: Speaking of double meanings. Police...to regulate or keep in order...If said fast (as Tori does back and forth) it sounds more like Please...for pleasure, gratify. I tend to think this was purposely done. That being said...with the Please double reading it gives it more of a sexual theme. That's all I will say about that.

10. That Guy: This has a classic sound to it. It almost sounds like she's singing through a filter to make it sound older. Love it.

11. Abnormally Attracted to Sin: This is a return to the religious theme that pops up a lot in Tori's music. Her dad is a preacher so it makes sense that she would hit this topic. In this song she seems to be degrading the idea that you have to be perfect to attend church. We're all human and each of us have attractions to sins. She seems to be saying that religion says that this is an abnormal thing and if you have inclinations to sin...don't even bother coming to church. I think if you take Tori's music at face value you will be offended. But if you understand that she likes to point fingers at bad logic and things that happen in our world, you will find that she is not condoning these things. She is making a statement. I love the groove of this song that is at once haunting and moving.

12. 500 Miles: I really like the movement of this song. It feels like we're walking. Again, the religious theme comes forth. She talks about breaking bread in lovers communion.

13. Mary Jane: This song is quirky and quite funny. It's a conversation between a mother and a son. The son wants to get high but he tells his seemingly naive mother that he wants to have a close relationship with "Mary Jane." Part of me thinks that the mother is high too. HA!

14. Starling: The intro to this track is interesting and has a dark, archaic feel to it. I love the references to birds throughout the whole song. "He screams in black and white just like the magpie." Or, "I woke not to a lonely lark, but to a raven's cry." And the beautiful "If a feather lined with his words becomes a blade." I love the play on words throughout.

15. Fast Horse: I love the tune to this song. It feels like a Native American chant in a way.

16. Ophelia: Love the allusion to Shakespeare's tragic character Ophelia in Hamlet. There are more allusions I know but I have yet to figure them out. When I heard this song I thought of the Ophelia Syndrome in which people let others control their lives.

17. Lady in Blue: This hearkens to Tori's Under the Pink days. It just feels like something that would be on that album. It is just purely haunting.

Tori Amos has not disappointed in the least with this new release. If nothing else, she has made me an even bigger fan. Take a gander. I would highly recommend Tori to anyone although I will warn you...she is an acquired taste.