Day 4: The 11 (but really) 15 Albums and I’m tagging Vin Diesel Meme

Land of Symphony Avatar

I was tagged by RPG publisher Sean Patrick Fannon in the 11 albums-that-touched-my-life meme. So hence? Today’s 365 Days of Squee post is about 11 Albums That Make Me Squee. Music has always been a big part of my life, but I haven’t always had the opportunity to keep up with what’s popular or dive into what’s popular. Exploring music, in general, requires me to take time out for this task–and I haven’t always done that. Why? Well, music can be very comforting to me because my world is based on sound. Words are containers of meaning surrounded by a tone or a chord. I hear music everywhere.

There are certain, specific songs by Journey, Muse, Blues Traveler, Christina Aguilera, Metallica, Fiona Apple, hell even Sepultura, BauHaus, The Cure, or John Lee Hooker to cry to, to be comforted by, to let loose in anger. There are others, like The Lord of the Rings, Lucy, Battlestar Galactica, and Tron soundtracks that set a baseline for my mood while I’m writing. Other soundtracks, like the innovative compositions found in video games like Final Fantasy XIII or The Legend of Zelda, simply brighten my day.

But on an album-wide level? These are the albums, in no particular order, that make me squee because I want to sing along (inserting the word “watermelon” if I forget the lyrics) or get up and dance. I am PURPOSEFULLY excluding anything from Queen and Muse, because they’d dominate the list. Heh.

Here’s a list of 11 albums. ONLY 11?!?!?! F-Bomb it. I’m taking this list to 15.

1.) “Mambo Birdland” by Tito Puente
2.) “AM” by Arctic Monkeys
3.) “Greatest” by Duran Duran
4.) “Aftermath” by Cruciform Injection
5.) “The Downward Spiral” by Nine Inch Nails
6.) “American Made Music to Strip By” by Rob Zombie
7.) “19” by Adele
8.) “I Am…Sasha Fierce” by Beyonce
9.) “Flood” by They Might Be Giants
10.)”Optics” by I: Scintilla
11.)”The Fame Monster” by Lady Gaga
12.) “The Wiz” Soundtrack by Various
13.) “Once More With Feeling” Soundtrack from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
14.) “The Seldom Seen Kid” by Elbow
15.) “The Essential Michael Jackson” by Michael Jackson

Mmmm…k? Now tagging Sean E. Williams, Emily Care Boss, and Groot. Er, not Groot. Riddick. I mean Vin Diesel!

(Hey, nobody said who I couldn’t tag…)

P.S. Hell yes, I really want to write a Riddick novel.
P.P.S. Yep, shameless. But if I don’t throw that out there? I’d be sitting on my squee-ness for Vin Diesel. Heh. And Vin Diesel deserves all the squees!

4/365

    Mood: Bwah?
    Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: I could drink a two-liter of Coke Zero right now I kid you not!
    Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: I didn’t. Sad face.
    In My Ears: Beeps and boops from Skype messages
    Game Last Played: Age of Reckoning: Kingdoms of Amalur
    Book Last Read: The Crimson Affair by Lilith Saintcrow
    Movie Last Viewed: Snow White and the Huntsman (Extended Version)
    Latest Artistic Project: Um…
    Latest Fiction/Comic Release: Last Man Zombie Standing. See also: need to write more flipping comics and exercise my art skillz again. Feh.
    Latest Game Release: Hunter the Vigil: Mortal Remains
    What I’m Working On: Primarily tie-in games work, original comics, and novels.


Day Two of Squee: Lord Lardbottom

Zak the Elf

Went to bed at “I’m too old for this!” last night. A lot of my projects are overlapping for this quarter, and I’m in full steam ahead mode. So today, for daily squee? I’m going to talk to you about one of my cats. His name is Zakar a.k.a. Lord Lardbottom.

Zakar is the first cat I’ve been the guardian for, and our second pet. Our first was a dwarf hamster named Moogle, and he has long since meandered into Chocobo Heaven. Zakar, who’s named after the Mesopotamian God of Dreams, is an unusual feline. You see, he’s a Rescue with a capital “R.” When he was found, he had no tail–a genetic anomaly that classifies him as a “manx”–and six/seven toes on each paw. Because of these not-like-other-cats bits, his chances of being adopted dropped dramatically. We decided to take him in and save his life.

zakar and moogle

At first, I was a little uneasy about how best to care for him. I’d never been a pet guardian before, you see, and while I lived with other cats in the past none of them had been mine to protect. To some, Zak is very strange. Not only is he able to open up doors and is extremely vocal (I think he sounds like a duck, personally.) he’s definitely got his own way of doing things like all cats and communicates his wishes. Loudly and with vigor. But? He also watches out for me, too. He’s a people cat and runs our humble manor in his own way.

Cat Nap

One of tricks he performs has to do with Mr. Pig. I bought a stuffed pig for a friend’s baby shower, and Lord Lardbottom immediately “acquired” it. He finds and beats Mr. Pig to a pulp numerous times and carries it around like a tiger with a fresh kill. Yeah, Zakar’s not messing around, but he is definitely slowing down the older he gets.

Mr Pig is Conquered

Anyway, the point of this post is to squee but I find I’m a little embarrassed when it comes to Zak Zak. I had a lot of anxiety over bringing him into our care. I didn’t really know how to be a good guardian at first–if I was going to do the job right–and while I figured it out with a lot of help and patience from others? I hesitated to squee when I first saw him. I was fascinated by this tailless-giant-pawed-kitten-with-ear-mites-and-so-much-spunk who had taken on a great dane and wasn’t taking [Insert your flavor of excrement here.] from anyone. This tiny little being had so much personality and never faltered, despite the occasional bout of tail envy with our other cat, Rimmon.

zakar is hiding

Not ever having had any pets like this of my own, I was curious about the little guy who hid under dressers, demanded cuddles, and who’s since proven to be a Catnip Addict of the Criminal Sort. It’s hard for me to put into words due to The PastTM, even as a writer, but the point I’m embarrassed to make is that I didn’t fall in love with this cat–at least not for the first couple of days. I remember that after a week went by, I got over my trepidation by looking up kitten behavior and asking loads of questions. Falling into a routine, playing with him often, giving into his cuddle demands… Yeah, he’s got me wrapped around his paws for sure.

Zakar (a.k.a. Lord Lardbottom) is now over ten years old. He’s had some health problems over the years because he’s a manx, and our vet has been helping us to take excellent care of him. He goes in regularly, has strong opinions about the vet in general, and he’s very, very spoiled.

Zen-Zakar

When I think of Lord Lardbottom (his latest nickname) now, I squee. I squee loudly. Because Zakar has taught me an important lesson: that when something or someone enters into your world, and it’s not exactly what you expected, it’s not the end of the world and could turn out to be awesome. That it’s okay to be nervous or anxious or all of those negative emotions at first, because I’m not perfect either–because there’s no such thing.

What is “perfect” but an expectation people put on others to be statistically normal grounded in biology or some other quality as determined by…which authority again? BORING! Who has time to live up to anyone else’s definitions of perfect? Sounds painful and wholly unnecessary, because it is. That word causes hurt, confusion, pain. It doesn’t help us take care of one another; it puts walls up between us and says: “Here’s this invisible, unachievable standard!” Certainly, this cat didn’t “ask” to have no tail, digestive problems, issues with balance, and oddly-shaped paws the size of a small dinosaur. Put a kitten to sleep because he’s not quite right? I don’t think so.

Zakar, to me, is perfect just as he is. I like to think that I’m Lord Lardbottom’s guardian, but in reality? I think he’s been mine.

2/365

    Mood: Overtired
    Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: Two cups so far and more coming.
    Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: Typing like crazy.
    In My Ears: Blah, blah, blah!
    Game Last Played: Age of Reckoning: Kingdoms of Amalur.
    Book Last Read: Re-reading His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman
    Movie Last Viewed: Lucy
    Latest Artistic Project: Um…
    Latest Fiction/Comic Release: Last Man Zombie Standing. See also: need to write more flipping comics and exercise my art skillz again. Feh.
    Latest Game Release: Hunter the Vigil: Mortal Remains
    What I’m Working On: Primarily tie-in games work, original comics, and novels.


365 Days of Squee Challenge. Day One!

Dancing Chick Avatar

After seeing my cousin’s 365 Day photo challenge, I decided to come up with one of my own in the form of my 365 Reasons to Squee. Over the course of the next year, each day I’m going to find something past, present, or future–a memory, an object, an experience–that is squee-worthy to me. Squee-worthy you say? All those happy little emotions that bubble up to the surface when you say, do, or think something so awesome you can’t help but feel happy.

So instead of photos? You get my squees. And? If you’re so inspired? By all means, do the same! Attribution appreciated, as always.

To kick things off, I’m going to give you one of my happiest experiences as a kid–going to the library. Surrounded by books, by so many stories, by so much knowledge…it was total freedom for me. I read everything, losing myself in worlds I’d never seen, places I hoped I’d be able to visit one day. Being surrounded by books, tomes that people had dedicated so much time and energy into writing, it gave me hope. I was never alone in the library. Never. There was always another book to read, another story to tell, another sense of awe and wonder to feel, another human being to recognize, acknowledge, and listen to.

I’ve joked that music saved my life and writing gave me a reason to live it. Looking back, as I try to quantify those times I retreated into the confines of a book…I suppose this is the literal truth for many reasons. For me, books aren’t stagnant objects that sit on a shelf collecting dust. They are a repository of past and present human knowledge, a gift that’s freely accessible and available to everyone, a way to connect with other minds and hearts to be entertained, educated, and inspired. These feelings have roots in my childhood, in all the reasons why the library became one of the most hallowed places for me, why a book was always nearby.

So thanks and a huge round of applause to all the librarians and teachers who cheered me on to keep writing and reading, who encouraged my reading/writing level to increase despite my age, and who always greeted me with kindness.

1/365

    Mood: Grateful
    Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: I’ve had two cups so far. Trying to limit myself to that.
    Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: I took a nap instead. BAD WRITER!
    In My Ears: Lament of the air conditioner.
    Game Last Played: Age of Reckoning: Kingdoms of Amalur.
    Book Last Read: Re-reading His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman
    Movie Last Viewed: Lucy
    Latest Artistic Project: Um…
    Latest Fiction/Comic Release: Last Man Zombie Standing. See also: need to write more flipping comics and exercise my art skillz again. Feh.
    Latest Game Release: Hunter the Vigil: Mortal Remains
    What I’m Working On: Primarily tie-in games work, original comics, and novels.


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