Experimentation

First off, I've been a baking fiend lately and tried out these new cookies:

I'm not a big fan of sugar cookies, but the caramel and chocolate add the right kind of sweet to the whole combination. The nut on top counters all the sweetness in the cookie and it's just a lot of fun to make. Kudos to Betty Crocker's flickr page for so many great cooking and baking ideas! You should check it out if when you're looking for new ideas and sometimes the recipes are included as well!

I've been trying to play around with my new camera and this is the perfect excuse to carry it around with me around town. On my way back home post-Oscar viewing party/girl talk session, I realized that I loved how empty downtown Athens looked that night. Instead of telling myself that I could always capture this moment later, I swerved into a nearby parking spot and walked around in the rain with a camera in my hand.

Lastly, I heard a few songs from Of Monsters and Men yesterday and I liked what I heard. I don't remember what songs I listened to, but here are a few to test out:

King & Lionheart

Little Talks (I think this is one of their more popular songs, but I think it's just okay)

Six Weeks

I know I'm posting this at 4:30 in the morning. I do have a life...promise.

Young Love

[Two middle aged women waiting for the metro on the way back to the office, post lunch]:

MAW1: Is [your son] still with that girl?
MAWA2: Yup. And ya know what? I took his cell phone away and his laptop away and the first thing he says is, Can I call [girl's name] before you take it away? I need to let her know.
MAW1: That's real good. He's learning how to have a relationship. [tone shift]. You know, I had this boy when I was little. He used to live catty-corner from my house. He used to play in the dirt. That lasted until the second grade. But you know, I carried a torch for that man until the 11th grade...He was a big boy by that time. [wistful]

The Office: Self - Congratulatory Talk

Newbie: [Explaining analysis]
Oldie: [Accepting the analysis. Nods.]
Newbie: Go me!
Oldie: 'Go me'?
Newbie: Go me!
Oldie: What is that? Some new age talk?
Newbie: That is me congratulating myself because I know you won't.

Bands on the periphery of my indie-rock radar II: The Big Pink

Today's feature: The Big Pink

Loving them! I'm currently listening to the first album (released a few years back), "A Brief History of Love," on repeat. It's upbeat yet refrains from being too pop-y. There's that edge of techno (call it European, if you must) that pervades through tracks like Too Young to Love and Tonight. Definitely songs for the middle of the run work-out track. Perfect for a study-break-dance-in-your-room moment. You enter a rave within your mind and collapse to a music-guided rhythm for those four minutes and ten seconds. Another favorite: Dominos. Another bob-of-the-head with a heavier landing beat.

The lyrics are simple with subtle truths in the imagery. Perhaps, truly the briefest history of some stages of the human emotion of love/attachment. 

The new album, "Future This," is a good follow - up. Try out Stay Gold -- for some reason, it echoes in me a reminiscence of old school tracks. Not sure exactly what -- but there is a catchy-ness to it that draws me. Is it some underlying 90s appeal that is the trigger? I don't know. But I like it. Also, if you ignore the first 23 seconds of the song 1313 -- you will likely enjoy it. I did :)

Actually, my recommendation is to just scroll and skip the first 23 seconds of the above mentioned song (1313)..otherwise, you might second-guess my musical taste. Truly, there are lyrics tucked away within the melodies of the songs that just hit dead on. And you nod. Then smile.

Instantaneous reaction: 1) Shut the office door. 2) Bob your head. 3) Dance in your seat (repeat steps 2 - 3).