The Skinny (about the blog)

In my 43rd year:
I got married for the first time
I got pregnant for the first time
I had my first baby

When I turned 44, I was exhausted. So much of that is hormonal I know and I think my age was a contributing factor as well. But over a year went by and I was still floundering. I was disorganized. My house was a wreck. Saying I looked disheveled would have been a compliment.

After several unsuccessful attempts at weight loss, many apps and ebooks on organization and too many broken "I'm going to straighten my hair at least twice a week" promises, I put my finger on what was missing: my music. Music literally has the same affect on our brains as a drug (it put the dope in dopamine)! And for years I had been a heavy daily user. Suddenly I was lucky if I listened in the car. Seriously, the baby sleeps in the car so most days I don't even turn on my beloved New Wave on Sirius.

So this blog started as I made a conscious decision to listen to music for at least the first 30 minutes of my day (Bubble Guppies doesn't count). And I started noting some of my favorite jams of the day on Spotify. And I thought maybe there are others out there who need a quick pick me up too. Consider this a cassette mixtape I left in your locker.

A few quick facts about the blog:

I use Spotify. I'm not paid by Spotify. I don't get anything for free from Spotify. I just like the service. It is easy to use and organize and share. There is a free version (you have to listen to commercials like the radio but it is no big deal) but you will need to register for an account to listen to the songs on Spotify. You don't have to download, use the web version if you want. I pay the $10 a month for Spotify Premium and I have never looked at my bank statement and thought "Man, what a waste of money."

I also add a link to buy the MP3 on Amazon where available. If you are a member of Amazon Prime (I am), many of these songs are included in their new Prime Music selections for FREE. I love Amazon Prime, I'm one of those people killing Wal-Mart profits by ordering everything from Amazon.

From time to time, I will include songs that have been labeled "explicit" and I will give that WARNING in CAPITAL LETTERS at the beginning of the post. I'm sorry, I'm a child of the 80s and a college student of the 90s. I like Tupac and Geto Boys and Dr. Dre. If you don't like a swear word in a song, please skip the posts labeled EXPLICIT MUSIC CONTENT.

Finally...and this one is really important to me...

If you hear something you like, buy it. I will throw out an Album Alert on occasion to let you know that the entire album is worth owning. Honestly, pretty much everything on my blog could get an Album Alert but I will try to keep it to the albums I consider must haves that I own myself. The music industry is dying and internet radio (which I love love love) isn't helping. Try to buy the whole album too, the single culture is ruining our music culture. Off my soap box for now but for real, buy some dang music! If you can find a local record store, visit and make a purchase! Better yet, grab your kids or grab a babysitter and go to a show!