Being thankful, Day #19

Music has long been a balm to my well being.  To my emotionally, to my general well being, and to my soul.  At a young age i remember listening to it in the background of doing other things.  My mother would often play Neil Diamond or some other such record when she was home.  She also had a Country and a Bluegrass phase.  For the times i was with her in the pubs i remember a lot of Country and a lot of what is considered 'Classic Rock' - which today seems to have a steady rate of appreciation.  I had a long time interest in the band KISS, which i no longer seem to appreciate nearly as much.  I also enjoyed Leonard Skynard, Poison, Guns and Roses, Billy Joel, (all not nearly as much as my brother did).  I tried Country myself for a while.  I enjoyed it, but it didn't stick.  Then the '90's came and i was pretty much left behind in the 'Pop' music scene.  By then i was pretty involved in church, etc. and while 'secular' music was never shunned or discouraged, i just didn't have a taste for it.  At that time i really enjoyed the praise and worship songs being played at the church i was going to.

My tastes are pretty much all over the place now, but i prefer instrumental pieces over those with lyrics.  If it has a violin and a flute it will almost always be enjoyed by myself.  I also like piano and bag pipes. :)

Today, i am thankful for the gift of music.  When i listen to it, it just helps me cope with the noise of the world.

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Music Monday - Wednesday Edition

Today is getting off to a pretty good start. Around Midnight last night my beloved woke me up (i hadn't been asleep all that long). She needed to communicate something that was important to her, and i am glad that she did. I know i need to work on my communication skills and fortunately this was not one of those "intense times of fellowship". Afterwards there was a 'gentle' thunderstorm rolling through our area... which was really cool. After she fell asleep i stared out the window, prayed a little, until i fell asleep. Then this morning i dragged my sorry fore-quarter-contact out of the sack and headed over to the gym. Now, i haven't been in over six months (sarcastic comments welcome, and expected), but it feels great. I've added ten minutes on the elliptical to replace running because this old soldier's knees can't take the pounding, and there may actually be some old "war" wounds in there. For example, i have no problem with the leg press and knee bends (where the resistance is bending the knee), but on the leg extentions i can only do about 10-15 pounds... and on the leg press and the leg extension i have to do each leg individually. But to end this portion with an ADD moment... i got to work and started a pitcher of ice-tea... only i failed to remember to put the tea bags in as i was distracted because i was refilling ice trays. LOL Ok, on to the music portion of my Wednesday edition of music Monday... I think i may have found a new music group to slip into my top ten, maybe top five, favorite bands ~ Gaelic Storm. Yesterday, while i was listening to Pandora (only the greatest thing since sliced bread) an instrumental "duel" between a fiddle (violin) and bagpipes came on and grabbed my attention. The title of the song? Samurai Set! I mean come on! Gaelic (Irish Folk Music) Storm (i love thunderstorms!) - Samurai Set (Really? Do i need to explain this one?) - Fiddle Playin', Bag Pipes, Irish Whistle... can it get any better!?! Well, at least for me. 8) Here is a You Tube video of the song i am mentioning here... I am still checking out their other songs to see if i will really move these guys into my Fave 5. *chuckle*, but so far i like their music. Oh, and on a side note... they performed some of the songs for the movie Titanic. Ok, some past due venting here... The Unit was canceled! What's the deal with that! I know all shows eventually come to an end, but i thought the shows wrapped up fairly well. Well, except for Molly Leaving Jonas! Major bummer there, but then i've heard that the divorce rate in spec-ops units is pretty high. There is a joke that you can't get promoted beyond a certain pay grade unless you've been divorced at least once. Well, that's all i put down to ramble about for today. God bless...