commas and ampersands

This online quiz? Is crazy-hard. How many countries can you name in 5 minutes? I think my highest score so far is 83 (out of 270). Every time the list of countries I forgot comes up, I have a moment of, "Of course I know that's a country! How did I forget it?!" but it's hard to think through them all that quickly, even trying to go geographically. Or alphabetically. Plus, there are a lot of islands and territories that are technically their own countries that I didn't even know about.

So. How well do you know the world?

This is going viral around Facebook this week, and since I have a lack of interesting things to write about in my blog today, I'll cross-post it both there and here.

25 Random Things About Me

1. I like to tell people that I knew I'd marry Colin the day he brought homemade chocolates to rehearsal a couple of months before we started dating. Any man who could make that kind of chocolate was someone I wanted to be with.



2. One of my biggest pet peeves is inconsiderate audience behavior. I know that it's irrational to expect that people have an innate sense of how to act if they haven't been taught, but it bothers me anyway, and I expect better.



3. Related to #2, Colin and I will laugh at you if you're sitting near us and you exhibit poor etiquette. We usually end up sitting near someone who makes really random, dumb comments during a play or a movie, and it provides us with endless entertainment. We're still laughing at an incident that happened in June, 2007.



4. I love living in L.A., and I'll be sad to leave here next December, but I also love living in a city that I know inside out. I know a lot of random trivia about Calgary, and I make a great tour guide. Still, I'll miss having a reason to become more familiar with L.A.--at least until we move back here.



5. If I had to choose, I'm not sure whether I'd choose to live in New York or L.A. There are things that I love about both, and they have such different personalities that it's almost impossible to compare them.



6. I'm not a nervous flier. I can easily sleep through takeoff and landing, and a normal amount of turbulence doesn't bother me. I used to get mildly nauseated during landing, but even that doesn't happen any more. I also tend not to get stressed out at the airport, going through customs and security, and planning the time to make my flight. I've done it so often, I just go with the flow.



7. My family teases me about my "soapboxes," especially relating to the arts. I get very passionate about them, and will often lecture my family at length during family dinners, even though they're not usually the ones who need to hear it. They all roll their eyes at me; Colin joins me and we tag-team lecture everyone else about the arts. This is why we're perfect for each other.



8. I've filed taxes in both Canada and the U.S. since 2005, not having worked an entire calendar year since then in only one country. 2010 may be the first year that I only work in Canada. I've never had a year where I've only had one T4 or W-2; I've always worked for more than one employer.



9. I watch TV differently since I started posting on TWoP. These days, I'm not involved in online fandoms the same way I was with Gilmore Girls, and I don't spend as much time in the analysis and discussion of any show, but I watch in a different way than I used to. However, that's also due to my theatre background and to dating someone who is in the television industry.



10. I don't think that TV is an inferior, brain-rotting form of entertainment, despite my parents' opinions of it when I was growing up. I think that a balanced TV and movie intake is just as important as reading, current events, theatre and other performing arts, visual arts, and a general observation of the world around.



11. It's vastly important to me that my future kids are very exposed to the arts. I don't know what I'll do if they don't develop a healthy, strong, passionate appreciation for the arts, even if they're not artists themselves. Guess I'll just have to learn to deal with it.



12. When I tell an American that I'm from Calgary, without clarifying that it's in Canada, and they don't know where it is, my esteem for them drops a few points. If they can come back with something about the city (even if they only know that the Olympics were held there), it rises a few points.



13. Colin and I will sit through the credits of every movie we watch in a theatre. It's partly because we want to start to develop familiarity with names that we may work with in some capacity someday, but it's also a professional courtesy. On the TV shows that Colin works on, his name is toward the end of the credits; it's our courtesy to the people whose names are at the end of a movie's credits to make sure someone sees them. Also, I get very irritated when people don't read the entire program of a show that I do, so it's my way of reciprocating.



14. I enjoy doing memes like this because it feeds into my delusion that I'm fascinating and that people actually care about the minutiae of my life.



15. I'm of the firm opinion that mayo is far superior to ketchup as a fry condiment.



16. Having grown up near the Rockies, I have specific criteria for what constitutes a "mountain." It must have snow on the peaks all year, there must be no trees on top (because there's a lack of oxygen), it must be pointy, and it's not possible to go over or around--it had to have been blasted through with dynamite in order to have a road there. I laugh when people talk about going "over the mountain" to the next town, because that's clearly not a real mountain. It's a hill.



17. I pick up the speech patterns and rhythms of whoever I'm talking to, but I don't pick up random accents. It's more that there are certain people I talk faster when I'm around, and certain words, phrases, and rhythms that I'll pick up.



18. I'm passionate about faith-based theater and making it a viable art form in the mainstream, but also I'm very skeptical when other Christians tell me about their shows. My default philosophy seems to be "Cheesy Christian art until proven otherwise," and it makes me very sad that art done by Christians tends to be 30 years behind the rest of the field.



19. Growing up, I loved being the oldest child, and I still harbor a secret belief that I was my parents' favorite. :)



20. I was single when I applied to grad school, but I'm not entirely sure I would have gone if I'd been single by the time the decision came around. I don't know that for sure, but I do know that Colin was a big part of my decision to move down here, and I think I might have talked myself out of it.



21. I can easily spend 8 hours or more sitting in a coffee shop with my laptop, a book, and some music. I tend to get more work done at Starbucks than I do either at home or in my school office, but there's still the potential for distraction, thanks to wireless internet. However, I'm not being distracted by a) my bed or b) other people in the office.



22. I rarely eat at the table at home. Usually, I'll be sitting on the couch or in my bed, leaning up against the headboard. I see very little point in being more formal than that when it's just me.



23. I talk out loud to myself constantly, and I often talk to other people when I'm alone, especially when I'm driving. I have the conversations that are coming up, thinking about what I want to say; I have conversations that I've already had, saying what I wish I'd said; and I explain things to people, trying to make it as clear and thorough as possible.



24. The most surprising (to me) thing to come out of grad school so far is an interest in municipal public policy affecting the arts, and the way that the arts define culture within an urban area. I was never really interested in that before, but I've become very intrigued by the interplay between the cultural industries and their surroundings. That's a big part of why Colin and I will likely never live anywhere smaller than Calgary--both of our careers need a city with a thriving arts scene, and it's hard to find one that can sustain us in a small city.
    
    
25. I actually knew within 6 weeks of when we started dating that Colin and I would get married someday. The grad school decision was made around that time, and I knew that if he was going to be a part of that journey, it wasn't casual, and it was going to result in marriage. It took him slightly longer to figure it out, but he still knew within the first 3 months or so. From that point on, there was (and still is) a lot to learn about each other and a lot of growth together, but breaking up became, and has remained, as much a non-option as divorce would ever be.

2008 in memes:


(But first, a look back at the year-end roundup for 2007.)

( One of the more popular year-end memes )


( Looking forward to 2009 )

( The first sentence of each month, according to my lj )

Happy New Year!

So, I'm hanging out in an office today, doing a temp job that's very slow. As in, I'm the only one here, the phone has rung once today, and there were three pieces of mail to "sort." As such, I have all kinds of time on my hands. I've already made two posters for Coffeehouse stuff in January, and I'll do more this afternoon, but in the meantime, I feel a meme coming on. It's an old one that's circulated the internet for years, but who cares, right?

( Peel away. I'm an onion. )

A Friday Fill-In, since I'm feeling a little bit uninspired for a real entry thus far.


1. Right now, I'm feeling a little chilly; a little sleepy. I'm on my way to a show tonight, so I'm sitting in a Starbucks waiting to go over, and I left my hoodie in the car. On a grander level, I'm feeling expectant and at peace with everything else that's going on and changing. I met with Carol to discuss some options for the next year and a half, give or take, and have a few ideas for my thesis and internship, and I'm feeling a little less stuck in the sophomore slump. I feel like there's some momentum pushing into the next couple of semesters.

2. Watching tonight's play with Colin is where I want to be. Barring that, I'm kind of okay where I am right now.

3. How does one go about choosing a thesis project when it's not limited to a traditional thesis paper?

4. My daytimer keeps me on track.

5. Please don't feed the bears.

6. Hearing Colin's ring tone on my cell phone fills me with joy.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to seeing this play and then crawling into bed with a book, tomorrow my plans include going to work, talking to Colin, and hopefully seeing Rachel Getting Married with Mariah and Sunday, I want to take a nap in between church and work!

Dear tundrachik:

I don't really know how to tell you this, but your nostrils are insulting. I think I realized it when I tripped on sesame seeds under the bus and I saw you sit on the crazy monk. I'm sure you're frostbitten enough to understand that there is no solution to this. I'm returning your ring to you, but I'll keep your photo as a memory. You should also know that I told in my confession today about a new life as a clone .

Good luck on your short-term leave from jail,

Alida

( Here's how to make your own fun meme! )

Stolen from just about everyone on my flist:

1. Think of the first word that comes to mind when you think of me.
2. Go to Google Images and search for that word.
3. Reply to this post with one of the pictures on the first page of results (don't tell me the word).
4. Put this in your own journal so that I can do the same.

A Week in the Life

1. Take between 6 and 8 new photographs per day.
2. Your picture days must be consecutive - no skipping days!
3. Post your photographs at the end of that day, some time after the last picture is taken.
4. Your post should be titled “A Week in the Life of [name], Volume [whatever day you're on].”
5. Link back to your earlier entries.

Here we are with Volume 3: Thursday!


( Thursday )

Day One: Tuesday, Day Two: Wednesday

Okay, so I didn't get yesterday's pictures posted before I went to bed last night, so here they are now instead:

(Instructions again, just for fun:

A Week in the Life

1. Take between 6 and 8 new photographs per day.
2. Your picture days must be consecutive - no skipping days!
3. Post your photographs at the end of that day, some time after the last picture is taken.
4. Your post should be titled “A Week in the Life of [name], Volume [whatever day you're on].”
5. Link back to your earlier entries.)


( Wednesday )

Day One: Tuesday

Only five pictures from Wednesday; I'll do an extra one for Thursday, or something like that.

Mmkay, I'm stealing this meme from jenepel and adinarj:

A Week in the Life

1. Take between 6 and 8 new photographs per day.
2. Your picture days must be consecutive - no skipping days!
3. Post your photographs at the end of that day, some time after the last picture is taken.
4. Your post should be titled “A Week in the Life of [name], Volume [whatever day you're on].”
5. Link back to your earlier entries.

( Tuesday )

Comment to this entry, and I'll reply with five questions. You answer them, and then leave a comment here with a link, so I can be sure I don't miss them!

From insanityjones:

( The first five questions. Seriously, I'm verbose here. )




From murphy987:

( The next five... )

Mmkay. Friday Fill-In, because I'm uninspired to write anything else at the moment.

1. My favorite day of 2007 was February 23 (when Colin and I started dating).

2. I'm most tempted by all the online shopping I want to do right now. And real shopping, but at the moment, the online shopping is winning. There are numerous things that I want to order, including some books, a few gifts, and this shirt.

3. Today I want groceries to magically appear in my kitchen without my help.

4. The last thing I took a picture of was Jakob decorating a gingerbread man at Heritage Park, I think. I didn't take a lot of pictures over Christmas; I let everyone else take them, and now I'm waiting to get some of them!

5. You and I have memories of the peanut brittle sitting on my coffee table and the chocolates on the kitchen counter.

6. The most recent movie I’ve seen that I really enjoyed was Juno. So good!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to nothing really--I'm going back to work tonight (whee...), tomorrow my plans include going to Target with Mariah and then working in the evening, and Sunday, I want to not forget that it's Mariah's birthday!

Hey-oh. I'm back. The flight was uneventful, as they usually are. It wasn't too crowded, and it ended up that the other 3 seats in my row were taken by a little girl named Gemma, who was about Kayla's age (18 months), and her parents. She was pretty well-behaved--a little fussy during take-off, and at times, not too pleased to be stuck and not able to play, but overall, she wasn't bad. She also shared all her toys with me, lining up a little zoo on my tray table.

I went up to the school this morning to register for my classes, but when I got there, I discovered that two of the classes I'd been thinking I needed to take are actually designed to be taken in the second year, so I had a some gaps to fill in my schedule. I didn't look through the calendar quickly enough to register before registration ended, so I'll have to go back tomorrow and finish it up then.

When I got back, I found a pile of clothes in the living room that Mariah was getting rid of (with an invitation to look through and take what I wanted), so I snagged some, and in the process, decided to get rid of a few of my clothes that either don't fit or I don't wear anymore. The pile had some jeans that fit really nicely, though, so I'm up a few pairs of jeans and some skirts for when I'm working in an office again. Some of the skirts are 10s, so they're just slightly on the too-big side, but they're still wearable.

I got rid of some of my bigger clothes--there were a few things that I really liked, but they just look sloppy now, and it's not like keeping skinny-clothes that you want to fit back into eventually. There's no point in keeping my size-12 clothes now; I don't want to fit back into them again (unless it's because I'm still losing baby weight or something like that, but I'm not holding onto too-big clothes for that long!), so I added a bunch of office/work clothes to the pile.

I need to go grocery shopping. Since I have nothing to eat, I had ramen for breakfast this morning. I think that's a sign of just getting back from vacation if there ever was one! Of course, there's plenty of chocolate and Christmas baking in the house, but somehow, ramen seemed healthier. Or something. I'm going to be the most popular girl in school when I take Colin's chocolates to class with me... ;o)

Hmmm... what else? I'm feeling rather random at the moment.

I have way too many bath products that I never, ever use, but I've gotten as gifts over the years. For Christmas, I got a nice basket, so I've put the basket in my bathroom with all my random bath bombs and bubble baths and lotions. Maybe, if they're in sight, I'll actually use them at some point. The only problem is that the basket is slightly too deep for the little bit of counter/toilet lid that it's sitting on, and it looks kind of awkward. I may need to find somewhere else to put it, but it's there for now.

I like this. I'm not entirely sold on the engraving (although I might be able to be convinced, especially if it was just first initials), but I like the rest of it. If anyone's feeding Colin hints for Valentine's Day/our anniversary/my birthday, feel free to pass this along. Size seven, please. ;o)

I got a lavender-scented sachet/pillow for Christmas, and it's way too strong. It's in plastic, on the top shelf of my closet, and I think it still might be too strong, even to store up there. The cinnamon one, which is much smaller, is fine in the bathroom, but I'm not a huge lavender fan, and especially not in all my clothes. I'm not sure where to put it--if it's not in the closet, it'll be too strong in some other area of the house. Maybe my DVDs need to smell pretty?

Also, I realized that I never actually did this meme when it was circulating. adinarj just did it, and that reminded me that I'd meant to do it ages ago. I didn't then, but I will now:

Ask me to take pictures of any aspect of my life that you're interested in/curious about -- it can be anything from my favorite shirt to my cell phone. Leave your requests as a comment to this entry, I'll snap the pictures and post them as soon as I can.

I think that's it. I've been random enough for one day; now I should sort through my mail. Of all the things I'm really good at procrastinating on, dealing with mail is one of the worst. For whatever reason, I'm awful at just filing away the stuff that needs to be filed and reading non-urgent mail.

Happy New Year (almost!).

I have a different year-end meme that I want to do, but it's longer and more involved, so I'll do a quick-and-dirty one for the moment, before I head over to Colin's for the rest of the day.

1. Where did you begin 2007?
   At murphy987's house with Chinese food, a little bit of wine, and a lot of laughter.



2. What was your status by Valentine's Day?
   Still single, but just barely. Colin and I started dating on Feb 23, so by Valentine's Day, we were pretty darn close. It was a Wednesday night, so we went out for dinner after choir, as usual, and I'm pretty sure he paid.



3. Were you in school anytime this year?
   Heh. Absolutely. I've been back in school for 4 months now, and I think I'm finally getting used to it again.



4. How did you earn your money?
   Temping for the first half of the year, and then working at Starbucks after I moved down to California. Also, working in the school's box office for a little extra cash, and doing a few odd jobs, like house-sitting and writing Christmas cantata narration, to earn a bit of extra money.



5. Did you have to go to the hospital?
   Nope. Only to visit Kat when she was in the hospital this summer.



6. Did you have any encounters with the police?
   I got a couple of parking tickets, and we get cops coming through Starbucks all the time, but the only encounter I had while driving was just after we bought the new car, and I was driving Colin's old car, and they pulled me over a block from his office because they couldn't find his license in the computer. I gave them the registration, they managed to find it, and it was all good. Slightly strange, but it all worked out in the end.



7. Where did you go on holiday?
   California and Calgary. I took an almost-week-long vacation to California in February to visit with a bunch of TWoPpers and to interview for my program at school, and then I've been back to Calgary for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Other than that... we spent the weekend in Drumheller, but that doesn't quite count.



8. What did you purchase that was over $1000?
   The new car. My education. We've spent over $1000 on flights this year, although that's definitely not the price of a single flight.



9. Did you know anybody who got married?
   Yup. We were at Carl and Kelsey's wedding and Laurel and Ken's wedding this summer, and we were invited to four others that we couldn't make it to (Rob and Stephanie, Rob and Mary Beth, Lindsey and Ben, and Nadine and Jason).



10. Did you know anybody who passed away?
    Not until I heard this week that a friend's father-in-law passed away a few days after Christmas.



11. Did you move anywhere?
    All the way to where the palm trees live...



12. What concerts/shows did you go to?
    Oh, goodness. I was at many plays and choir concerts. I can't even start to list them all...



13. Are you registered to vote?
    Yes, in two countries.



14. Who did you want to win Big Brother?
    Reality TV is not my mind-numbing drug of choice



15. Where do you live now?
    Van Nuys, California, United States, in a lovely apartment that echoes with the dulcet sounds of "La Cucaracha".



16. Describe your birthday.
    It was pretty low-key. Easter Sunday was the day before my birthday, so I was busy all weekend with the show at church. My family had Easter dinner on the Sunday, so I opened gifts then, and then on my birthday itself, I took the day off work, spent a good part of the day alone, fasting and praying about the school decision, and then went to Colin's parents' house for Easter dinner with them.



17. What's one thing you thought you'd never do but did in 2007?
    Everything to do with Colin. That was the least expected, best, most life-changing surprise of my year. Also, I lost quite a bit of weight, and that's something I'd been trying to do for a long time, so to have it actually happen when I wasn't really trying as hard anymore was a fantastic surprise.



18. What has been your favorite moment?
    Oh, there have been many. Many of the little moments with Colin have been right up there. Girl time with Kat. Double dates with friends.



19. What's something you learned about yourself?
    That I'm stronger than I think I am. That I can do this long-distance thing. That I was ready and waiting for the right relationship; all I needed was the right guy to come along. That I can walk 60 km in two days.



20. Any new additions to your family?
    Just Colin. Although, since I guess I'm the new addition to his family, I also gained a whole second family this year.



21. What was your best month?
    I have no idea. February was great, for obvious reasons. July and August were really good in the way that summer months often are. December has been great, because I've spent the last third of it with Colin.



22. What music will you remember 2007 by?
    "Hey There Delilah". Or rather, my personalized remake of it.



23. Who has been your best drinking buddy?
    Considering the fact that I don't drink enough to have or need a drinking buddy, I'll have to go with "no one".
    
    
24. Made new friends?
    Well, I moved a thousand miles away, started a new school, and joined a new church. I would hope that some new friends would come with the deal. Adding a second family to the mix also includes some new friends, I think.



25. Best NEW friend?
    Um... all of them? I don't know.



26. Favorite night out?
    There have been many. It's nice to have a standing date for things.



27. Something you look forward to before 2008 is over?
    Maybe having Colin move down to California, although I'm not holding my breath that he'll be down soon. Watching the kids continue to grow. Seeing where Colin and I are a year from now. Getting to spend the summer in Calgary and having a respite from the long-distance part of the relationship.



28. Where will you start 2008?
    At Colin's, curled up on the couch, marathoning some TV show and eating takeout. (We're channeling an old, married couple tonight.)

( Here comes the meme... )

I'm a sheep. Ganked from half my flist...

Bold all of the following TV shows of which you've seen 3 or more episodes.

Italicize a show if you're positive you've seen every episode.

*Asterisk if you have at least one full season on tape or DVD.

If you want, add up to 3 additional shows (keep the list in alphabetical order).

(But I'd like to know who alphabetized all the "The _____" titles under T! And also, there's a big gap between having seen three episodes and having watched every single episode. However, under the cut, here we go...)

( Long, long list )

It's Friday! Let's make it a meme day, mmkay?

First of all, the Friday Fill-In:

1. My commute is a lot better right now, since I'm housesitting 10 minutes out of downtown, but on Monday, it gets long again.



2. Lots of fields, all starting to ripen best describes my neighborhood.



3. My neighbors used to be mostly families with kids that I grew up with, but now I don't know most of them. A few are still there, but not many.



4. The Strathmore Station, I guess (since there's nothing really close to "home" right now) is my favorite place to eat that's close to home.



5. If there's one thing I'd change about my community, it would be not actually living on the farm. I miss living in the city and can't wait to get back into one.



6. The thing I miss most about the town (city/area/swamp) I grew up in is playing outside like the farm kids that we were.



7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to hanging out and watching movies, tomorrow my plans include a girls' day out with Kat and Sunday, I want to not have to wear a jacket! It'd better get warm again!

And then, let's do this Friday5:

1. You’ve always wished for it, and your wish has come true: There’s now a twenty-fifth hour in the day, but you have to spend it the same way every day on something you don’t have enough time for now, and it can’t be for sleep. How will you spend this extra hour every day? Uninterrupted time with Colin. Heh. That was hard, hey? For a slightly more original answer, I'd say that I'd use it for an artistic pursuit for my own pleasure--like just playing the piano or writing or reading a book.



2. As if that weren’t enough, an extra day has been added to the calendar, and you can insert it anywhere you want, except the day immediately before or after a holiday, and you have to spend it the same way every year. How will you spend this extra day each year, and when on the calendar will it appear? I'd put it in June, right around the 22nd or 23rd, when the days are longest and the weather is likely to be nice. I'd say that I'd make it a catch-up-on-sleep day, but that would defeat the purpose of choosing the longest day, and it's a bit of a cop-out answer. Um, I think I'd make it a day out of town with one person of my choice. Somewhere within daytrip distance, like Banff (from Calgary, at least), with the person I've most been neglecting recently. Kat, Colin, another family member... whoever needs the time most.



3. Someone is giving you an extra twenty dollars per week (or its equivalent, if your country uses a different monetary unit) to spend any way you want, but you have to spend it the same way every week, and it has to be on yourself (no charity or gift-giving, and no investing or saving!). How will you spend this extra twenty dollars per week? On Starbucks. Because then the $20 per week that I usually spend on coffee and lunches can be spent elsewhere.
   
   
4. Wow! When you woke up this morning, you noticed that someone snuck in and added a new room to your living space! The room is for your exclusive use, and it can serve only one FUN function (and it can’t be used as a bedroom or storage). What fun activity will be reserved for this new room? No storage, hey? Does that mean it can't be a library (which can be fun, but does a dual-purpose room count?)? I think I would make it my GGMM room, with magical powers to call any GGMM member to hang out at my house (in that room) at any given time. What? There was nothing said about magical powers! But if I'm not allowed to use magic to make my room fun, I'll make it a piano room, complete with a really nice grand.



5. A magic backpack appears at your doorstep. It will hold any one thing you can normally carry by yourself, it will render that item weightless, and it will collapse to the size of a small pack of gum. What will you carry in it? Ummm... I'd say my laptop, but that's too boring and not creative enough. Where's my inspiration right now? It seems to have left me! Hmmm. Let me think. Eh, I'll say my laptop. It's a lot easier to carry if it's the size of a pack of gum, instead of the actual size of a laptop. Man, that was an anticlimactic ending to that meme. I feel so ashamed!

I guess I'll stick with that now. I don't feel like searching out another meme and being all creative and stuff. ;)

Oh, and check out the pretty new icon!

Okay, today's a meme day. I'm bored, so I need something to fill my time, and what better than spreading the crazy to my whole flist? However, since I'm at work, there's nothing here that needs to be uploaded or shared or anything... just my answers.

( The Alphabet Meme )

robyn_migratori tagged me with the letter C. So... here we go, with my top 10 songs beginning with the C (in alphabetical order, because I'm too undecided to rank them from 10 to 1).

1. California by Rufus Wainwright. I think I picked this one up during audiography's "Los Angeles" theme week, which means that there are about five songs in my playlist entitled "California." Appropriate for my life right now, no? This one is my favorite of all of them, though.
   
   
2. Calling You by Blue October. I really like Blue October (although I find that I like their earlier stuff and I'm not a big fan of "Hate Me," which was the first one to get major radio play), and this song is an interesting one. It's a catchy little tune, and I always find myself singing along, but the lyrics have an interesting undertone of desperation and a slight mistrust to them. They were playing on the Stampede Coke Stage on Sunday night, and I'd wanted to go, but we were in Drumheller. Boo.
   
   
3. Camera One by Josh Joplin. Another song that I first heard on TV--this one was on Scrubs, although I can't remember the episode right now. I think it was in one of the early seasons. With this one, I think I was struck more by the lyrics than by the music.
   
   
4. Can't Take it In by Imogen Heap. I loved The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (and thought that they were remarkably true to the book), and I love the compilation album, too--it's not technically the soundtrack, but it's a cool compilation. I just love the imagery of this song describing the first view of Narnia and the awe and wonder that the kids felt. I sometimes feel like this should be my theme song, that I should play it when I start to get too blasé about life in general.
   
   
5. Cathedrals by Jump, Little Children. I've loved this song since the moment I first heard it at the end of the season one finale of Everwood. It's an amazing song, and the imagery is so evocative and poignant. I can hear it now without always seeing the montage in my head, but every time I re-watch that scene, I still cry.
   
   
6. Chocolate by Snow Patrol. Another band that I like more than their radio play, although "Chasing Cars" did get me interested in them. I like so much of their music, though. They've got some really interesting songs, and this is one of them that ends up playing in the background and I don't realize it until I get halfway through.
   
   
7. Cinderella Story by Plain White T's. I'm absolutely in love with "Hey There, Delilah," and I thought I'd see what some of their other music sounds like... some of it, I'm not a huge fan of, but this song a good one. I haven't listened to it enough to be able to sing along, but so far, I like it.
   
   
8. Close Every Door, from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Despite a rather horrendous experience with this show in my third year of college, I still like it. Or maybe I should say, I like it again. It's been four years, and I could probably watch it now without cringing. :o) This song is one of my favorites, and I'll always remember making up our own backstage ballet with Jen and Chelsea.
   
   
9. Comfort by Deb Talan. Her voice is so intriguing to me. It's kind of raw, and sometimes, I want to listen to something smoother and more refined, but there are days when I just love the way she sounds. This song in particular is an interesting mix--it's this raw, kind of harsh voice combined with lyrics about finding comfort, and something about that really draws me in.
   
   
10. Complainte de la Butte by Rufus Wainwright. This one from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack, which has to rank up there as one of my all-time favorite movies and soundtracks. Most of it is just so silly and pokes fun at itself ("Elephant Love Medley," anyone?), but this song fits the undertones of the movie so well.

If you want your own letter, comment!

And here are the answers to the music meme, with most of the songs available. Let me know what you take! (And links for the rest of the songs are still coming.)

( Let's make music )