I know I just wrote a personal post yesterday, but I’ve received some good news since then.
Y’all… I was really brave and took a chance and now I have three more interviews heading your way! So if you’re reading this, you should definitely check out Awesome Ray Ray , Call of Sirens, and Empire Springs (who I actually just encouraged you to follow in my last “3 Bands/Artists You Should Be Following”).
Also, please make sure to read my interview with Wes of Ancient Sins!
And send positive thoughts my way: I’m working on Black Friday. Ughhh.
I hope all of you are enjoying your day, whatever it is you have chosen to do to celebrate. I myself am having lunch at my grandmother’s. I’m pretty sure we’re having barbecue instead of turkey or ham, but that’s okay: I got my fill of turkey and ham at work last week.
I guess I should do a things-I’m-thankful-for list, right? Hmm…
I’m thankful for family, both blood and otherwise, and my wonderful friends. I’m thankful for my amazing coworkers (even if I sometimes hate the job itself). I’m thankful that my brother and his wife are going to be able to visit in February; it’s been really hard since they moved to Colorado. I’m thankful for music and concerts and the fact that I get to see my favorites – Alter Bridge – for the ninth time in January.
I’m sure I could go on, but those are the things that top my list. If you’re reading this, tell me something you’re thankful for!!!!
Where has the time gone? 2023 is a little under two months away… That’s crazy.
The last few weeks I’ve been slacking. My posts have mainly been song of the day posts, or new music alerts. I haven’t had the energy to do much else. Between working and being sick – sick, on my favorite holiday! the outrage! – it’s all I can do to post every day. However, I think that will change soon. I’m feeling better, a ton of tour announcements have hit social media, and I have a few movies, shows, and books to write about. Keep your eyes open for some variation in my content!
Now I’m going to finish “The Watcher” on Netflix. But let me leave y’all with a few pictures from Halloween, the Brother Cane concert, and the Gunshine/Seven Year Witch/Magnolia Bayou show! My October in a nutshell.
Brother Cane (10/6/22)Gunshine Magnolia Bayou Seven Year Witch Gunshine Magnolia Bayou Magnolia Bayou Seven Year Witch Seven Year Witch Gunshine/Seven Year Witch/Magnolia Bayou (10/20/22)I was the Mad Hatter, but I lost my hat…Finished the day in my Sam pajamas. Trick ‘r Treat is one of my favorites!Halloween 2022
I finished Danielle Vega’s Survive the Night and Natasha Preston’s The Fear. Both were readable books, yet I was disappointed with the stories overall.
On the bright side, I stumbled upon Small Spaces by Katherine Arden thanks to an Instagram post and I loved it! Yes, it is considered a kids’ book, but y’all, the creepy factor was real. I will certainly be reading the rest of that particular series from Arden.
My mom brought me Court of the Vampire Queen by Katee Robert. That was a disaster. If you don’t mind books with more smut than plot, this one should be right up your alley. Lol. I myself didn’t enjoy it.
And I know it seems horribly after the fact, but I just read The Maze Runner. I was unexpectedly impressed with the movie, and I tend to think the novels are always superior to the films, so of course I had to check it out. I couldn’t put it down. Another series I will have to follow through on.
My current reads are as follows:
Daylighters (Rachel Caine)
The Snakes (Sadie Jones)
This one was actually sent to me via a “blind date with a book” order from Etsy.
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke – and Other Misfortunes (Eric LaRocca)
Once I finish these three, I will have completed my reading challenge for 2022!!!!!
I finally finished The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler. It was a really good read, but other books kept jumping ahead of it. For instance: Long Live the Pumpkin Queen by Shea Ernshaw, which is a story from the world created by Tim Burton in The Nightmare Before Christmas (and is thoroughly enjoyable).
I also finished Rachel Caine’s Bitter Blood and read Fall of Night. I think I only have two books left in the Morganville vampires series and that breaks my heart. I love the world and the characters she created, and I’m going to hate to see it end.
Theme Music by T. Marie Vandelly was at the top of my to-be-read pile last time I posted, and y’all…that was one fucked up novel. I couldn’t put it down. I certainly didn’t see the twist coming. And that was Vandelly’s first book! I look forward to more from her.
I have now read 18 of my 25 book goal for the year. Here are the books I’m currently reading.
The Fear (Natasha Preston)
Survive the Night (Danielle Vega)
My want-to-read list is sitting at 65 books and I’m adding more basically every day. I don’t think I’m going to run out of options. Lol.
As always, if you have any recommendations, I’d love to hear them! Happy reading!
Five days after seeing Shinedown in Knoxville, I went to the Spiritbox, Mastodon, and Ghost show in Huntsville. Ghost had been on my bucket list for a while, and they did not disappoint! It was fun and a little cheesy and I loved every minute of it (especially The Nameless Ghouls wrapping up their guitar duel with the instantly recognizable riff to “Sweet Home Alabama”).
And now, the days are shortening, the temperature is dropping, horror movies are starting to come on…fall is returning. Last Saturday, the college football season kicked off (ha!) and my favorite team – the Crimson Tide, of course – annihilated Utah State. We play Texas this weekend. I hope we stomp them into the ground!
Mom and I ventured out on our first quest for Halloween things on Monday. We already have our The Nightmare Before Christmas pajamas from Wal-Mart. (We buy a set every year.) I found some cute sweats that say “HalloQueen” and socks with Jack Skellington and Zero on them. Oh, and my parents got me some Hocus Pocus sleep pants for my birthday. Now I just need the Spirit of Halloween near here to open. Actually, on second thought, maybe not. Lol. I always spend too much money in there.
I’ll update y’all on my reading challenge soon, and I’m aiming to post a “3 Bands/Artists You Should Be Following” next week. I don’t have any big plans, so I should have time to sit down and put it all together.
I hope this blog finds all of you well, and Roll Tide!
So I’m not doing my usual concert announcement and/or song of the day because I am in Knoxville, anxiously awaiting the Shinedown show tonight, but I will be back tomorrow!
A little over two weeks ago, I went to Atlanta for the Freaks on Parade Tour. The show was my early birthday gift from one of my best friends, and it was everything I could have hoped for. I had waited 20 years to see Powerman 5000, Static-X, and Mudvayne – and though Rob Zombie wasn’t who I was there for, his set was fun. (John 5 stole the show, in my opinion, but I’m biased: I’ve loved him since he was with Manson.)
I even have an entire sob story about my past attempt to see Mudvayne. I won tickets to the Summer Sanitarium Tour that featured them, Deftones, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, and, of course, Metallica. Well, we arrived late and missed all of Mudvayne’s set. Then they broke up and I never thought I’d see them live. But I got to see them on their first tour back together!
After the show, I took a chance and messaged one of the guitarists from Powerman 5000 on Facebook. I just made the simple statement that I would have liked to have met him, but maybe next time. He replied “Have you left yet?” and after a short exchange, he made his way to the entrance of the Live Nation Lounge to say hi. I was over the moon. Yeah, he’s not an original member of the band, but who cares? I still met a member of PM5K 🙂
I put a filter on him and he said he didn’t even care that it made him “girl pretty.” Lol.
But since then… I dunno. I’ve been depressed. I’m not super happy at work, my love life is non-existent, my best friend of 20 (almost 21) years is all the way in Kentucky, my brother is in Colorado. And maybe some of it has to do with my birthday being this week. I didn’t bat an eyelash when I turned 30, but for some reason, 35 is bothering me more than it should.
So I’m posting this blog in the hopes that writing it all out will help, or perhaps one of my readers will have some sage advice on how to deal with getting older. Just don’t say “you’re still young!” I’ve heard that a lot recently and it doesn’t make me feel any better.
I hope everyone else is having a fantastic August! The next thing I have to look forward to is jury duty. Woohoo…
I feel like I didn’t achieve much this week. I worked a lot, and attempted to discuss some issues with my superiors but got absolutely nowhere. I did laundry – even folded it and put it away within 24 hours! Lol.
My biggest achievement was probably getting my dad’s birthday gift taken care of. See, whenever possible, I like to take my parents to concerts for things such as birthdays, Christmas, Mother’s/Father’s Day, etc. Well, Brother Cane is coming to town two days before my dad’s birthday, and Dad has been a big fan of them for years. He and my brother have seen Damon Johnson, but Dad has never had the chance to see the full band. I’m not sure how many original members remain; however, now that they’ve reunited and decided to tour, I couldn’t let the opportunity pass. So Mom and I are taking him to the show.
On a personal high note: my employees gave me an award this week for “building strong relationships” and “always putting my employees first.” Normally the awards come from upper management, but two of my employees asked if they could personally present me with one. It’s the most meaningful thing I have received since I started working there a little over two years ago ❤️
I hope this post finds all of you well, and that your weeks are going better than mine. Surely next week will be an improvement. After all, I am going to stay with a friend in Georgia and we’re going to see Powerman 5000, Static-X, Mudvayne, and Rob Zombie!
Hello! It’s time for another update to my 2022 reading challenge!
Since my last post regarding this subject, I finished Afraid (a collaborative effort among Lisa Jackson, Lisa Childs, and Alexandra Ivy), My Pretties (Jeff Strand), and – yes – His Final Girl (Brooklyn Ann).
I also read Stephanie Perkins’ The Woods Are Always Watching and Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun. These were two unplanned purchases that jumped ahead on my list.
I have now read 13 of my 25 book goal. And my to-be-read list is now as follows.
1. Bitter Blood by Rachel Caine
2. Theme Music by T. Marie Vandelly
3. The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler (I actually started this one a couple of months ago, but I stalled out on it. Trying again.)
As always, I would love to hear what y’all are reading, and feel free to leave me recommendations!
Mostly Music 