Christmas Memories and a Playlist!

Somehow, it is that time of year again! Not sure how it happened so fast this year. I can remember when I was a kid, it took FOREVER for Christmas to get here each year and now, it is like I gained a magical power somewhere along the line because all I have to do is blink and Christmas is here. Honestly, if I were doing the choosing, that is not the magical power I would choose. I think I would go with something along the lines of ending world hunger or maybe even a power that would stop my kids from fighting for just 10 minutes. But, no one asked me, so I guess I am stuck with the blink-and-before-you-know-it-another-year-is-gone power.

And this year at our house, we have reached that delicate age where our eldest “knows” about Santa, but the younger 3 still believe. I am very proud of my son…he understands that he is now one of the helpers and he does whatever he can to make sure the younger ones feel the magic of the season. But, that puts more pressure on me, because I want him to feel that magic, too….I don’t want my baby to grow up so fast!! It takes me back to when and how I found out about Santa. I gotta say, I don’t remember being traumatized by the discovery and even now when I think back on it, it doesn’t bring on any ill feelings…although it probably should, as you will see!!

I was almost 6 years old and my older brother, who was 12 at the time, insisted that Santa was actually our parents. I refused to believe him, therefore he put a plan into action. He woke me up ‘in the middle of the night’ (which probably equates to 11pm!), so that we could sit on the top steps and silently watch as my parents put out all of our Christmas gifts. Thanks, big bro! Like I said, I managed to survive and honestly don’t recall hours of tears or anything like that. The funny thing is that our parents never knew that story until recent years.

Well, I have put together a playlist of Christmas songs to help you get through the craziness of the holidays. There are some classic versions of songs, but most of them are song by our favorite musicians of recent times, such as The Head And The Heart, My Morning Jacket, fun., and She & Him. This list includes 65 songs and over 3 hours of musical holiday enjoyment, but I am sure I have missed some good ones….feel free to share your favorites with me!! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of my family and friends!

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I am thankful for blah, blah, blah……

Deep breath…okay, here goes. This could be the post that makes me sound like a thankless bitch….but I hope I am just saying what others are thinking. And even if no one else is thinking it, I will be thankful that my reflexes have always been good so I can duck and cover quickly.

It really gets under my skin when I see everyone on facebook and twitter posting about “30 days of thanks”. I know that sounds harsh and cold, but those posts bug me. I have bitten my tongue and sat on my fingers for as long as I can. Let me just say, I have not unfriended anyone because of their posts and I don’t have negative feelings toward any person posting these things. That’s the disclaimer…

Often, when I see one of those posts, this is how my brain translates it “My life is awesome and I have the best people for friends and family and my job rocks and my kids are the cutest and my dog is the smartest and my house perfect. And I will tell you variations of this same sentiment over and over again for my #30daysofthanks, but after these 30 days are up, then I am back to complaining and bitching about my life and I’ll be back to taking all that good shit for granted again. Oh yeah…and if your life sucks right now, sorry, but I am going to keep rubbing my good fortune in your face.”

Okay…there ya go. It’s out there. I know, I know, it’s very cynical and really might shock people who know me. It doesn’t sound like me. But, I can’t help it. I always want to post something snarky back, but I don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings. But I just can’t help thinking about friends who are maybe hitting some hard times right now….instead of compassion, they are getting slapped in the face by everyone flaunting their so-called wonderful life. And I also can’t help wondering what these people are doing the other 335 days of the year. How do they show their thankfulness besides typing it on their smartphones. Are they generous with sharing some of their good fortune with others, either through time or treasure? Do their everyday actions reflect that they understand and appreciate where they fall in this world?

Instead of daily postings about how fucking thankful I am that my life rocks, I hope others can see me as a positive, generous, helpful person who is compassionate and respectful of others every day of the year. We all have become more aware of childhood cancer through Lane Goodwin and I just think about how painful it must be for his friends and family to see posts like “I am thankful for my kids’ health”. Of course you are….who wouldn’t be, but why inundate people who haven’t had that luxury with a reminder of what they don’t have. Be thankful and whenever you think of how lucky you are, say a prayer for those who don’t share your circumstances.

Maybe I am just too simplistic to get into the 30 days of thanks….because, pretty much I can narrow my thanks down to friends, family and music. And that would just get boring to read day after day. Okay…rant over. And adios to those who just read it and said, “wow…I never knew she was such a thankless bitch!” And hello darlin’ to everyone else sticking around. Your prize is I’m going to tell you about one of the best bands of the year (actually, they have been together for more than 10 years!) and when and where you can see them play, you will be thankful. haha Trust me….you don’t want to miss The Features (with The Fervor and Whistle Peak) at Headliners Music Hall on Wednesday at 9pm ($12 tickets). They have energy and stage presence out the wazoo!

I have to say I have seriously enjoyed looking for a good video by The Features…I have seen them live numerous times, but I have never looked at their YouTube channel and the videos that they have made have had me laughing tonight!

This has been a wild year in so many different ways and I hope that I am able to express to each person who has been a positive part of it how thankful I am to have you in my life.  However, you won’t see any broadcasts from me on social media. ha!

(End note…..I borrowed the title from a friend’s facebook status. I read it while writing this post and it just fit! Thanks, JP!!)

Ticket Giveaway: Old Crow Medicine Show

I love it when I can give tickets away….it’s fun to make people happy about music!! You’re gonna have to act fast on this one, if you are interested. Old Crow Medicine Show plays at The Louisville Palace on Thursday night. If you want to be entered to win (2) tickets, then go to the Last Bit Of Sanity facebook page, like it and post that you want the tickets. If you want to double your chances, then also share the picture on the Last Bit Of Sanity page (make sure you click ‘public’ on the share). The contest will end at 5pm on Wednesday and the winner will be notified that night.

I have only seen OCMS once and even then it was only for an encore. That was part of our crazy music weekend! The audience at War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville was quite surprised when Mumford & Sons brought out OCMS and proceeded to all rock out to Wagon Wheel…it was awesome!  I was excited to re-live the experience when watching this video. In fact, I am pretty sure I can see myself in the video…we were close to the front! 😉

Ingrid Michaelson ticket giveaway!

Wow. I feel like I am still in Forecastle recovery…it’s hard to think of other musical happenings in Louisville this week. But, the world goes on and there are acts coming to town this week. I am actually embarrassed that I didn’t realize Ingrid Michaelson was coming to town tomorrow night and playing at Headliners.  I was even listening to WFPK this morning when Be OK came on and as I turned it up to sing along. D’oh! Oh well….it’s last minute, at least it’s before the show.

Ingrid is a indie-pop singer-songwriter from New York. Her music has been featured in episodes of several popular television shows, including Scrubs, Bones, Grey’s Anatomy, The Big C, In Plain Sight, and One Tree Hill. Be OK is one of those ear worms that is just so fun to listen to and sing along with!

And if you want to hear Ingrid in person, you can win tickets here!  There are two ways you can win. You can go to the Last Bit Of Sanity facebook page, like it and post that you want to win a pair of tickets to the show. OR you can retweet the @lastbitofsanity tweet about the show. OR you can do both and double your chances! Winners will be announced tomorrow by 4pm.


Ingrid just released a new album, Human Again, and here is Ghosts from that release:

The inspiration

It hit me that I shared part of the lyrics from The Avett Brothers song, When I Drink,on the About Me page, but I never shared a video of the whole song (I have since added it)  So, indulge me a little and make your ears happy.  I promise you won’t regret it and maybe it will get your week started off right!!