30 Day Music Meme: Day Four

Day 4- A song that makes you sad

So many songs make me. Some are because I associate it with a person in my life that has died. Some are just because the music or lyrics describe how I feel better than I can myself. So it was hard to pick one song for this day.

Clocks by Coldplay makes me sad as the music is so haunting, like many Coldplay songs. I think I enjoy listening to Coldplay when I’m in a melancholy mood. I’m of the belief that it’s ok to feel sad sometimes, it’s a natural emotion. I don’t think it’s healthy to dwell on it for too long though, just like most emotions really. But the music or lyrics isn’t just why I chose this song. It’s also because it reminds me of my grandmother. I had bought the single on CD and used to play it on loop on my Discman when going to visit her in a hospice, just before she died in 2003. So this song holds many bittersweet memories for me.

According to an article on MTV, the song is about the ‘helplessness of being in a dysfunctional relationship that you don’t necessarily want to escape’. And that’s kinda how I feel when listening to this song. It can be painful to remember the sad memories connected to this but at the same time I don’t want to stop listening. It’s such a beautiful song and I love the lyrics. The title even serves to remind me that as time goes on, so must life. The good and the bad.

 

(As of posting this, the playcount of this video alone is near 15 million. Just goes to prove how good a song it is!)

30 Day Music Meme: Day Three

Day 3- A song that makes you happy

There’s a few songs that always make me happy. Rockin’ Robin by Michael Jackson is one of them. It just makes me so happy, it’s infectiously cheerful or something. I think it’s because it’s seems like such a great song to jive to. The second it starts playing it makes me bob my head, clap my hands, click my fingers and shrug my shoulders. Sometimes it makes me tuck my hands under my armpits and a do a ‘chicken dance’ move. And it always makes me smile.

I played the song before writing this blog entry, to get a feel for it and started doing the dance moves. Which made my boyfriend laugh at how ridiculous I look. Ya, I knew before then that I looked ridiculous but who looks good doing the chicken dance?! It’s a good thing it makes me so happy that I don’t care how I look

30 Day Music Meme: Day Two

Day 2- Your Least Favourite Song

When I first started writing this entry, I thought ‘Well, if I don’t have a favourite song, then surely I don’t have a least favourite?’. There’s songs that annoy me but I try not to dwell on those, for the good of my health. I couldn’t turn to my iPod to find a least favourite. If I can’t stand it, there’s no way it’s going on my iPod. I tried thinking of songs my Mum used to play in the car that I hated. And while I’m sure there’s loads, I think I’ve managed to block out those traumatic memories. After wracking my brain for hours, I finally thought of one.

San Diego Song by The Coronas. It’s like nails on a chalk board. Jagged nails on a dusty chalk board. Thinking about it makes me shudder. While I can block out songs that annoy me or ignore them, this one makes me angry. It makes me want to punch someone. I don’t know why. Their style music, whiny indie rock, is something I don’t really enjoy listening to. They’re good singers and talented but this song just really gets on my goat. When I was on work placement, my housemate would drive us to work and play this every now and again. And I used to sit in silence clenching my fists and jaw, praying for the song to be over. I think I need to stop thinking about this or else I might have heart attack from the rage building up! Now you can see why I don’t tend to dwell on songs I don’t like!

30 Day Music Meme: Day One

Day 1- Your Favourite Song

I’m not sure I have a favourite favourite song. It all depends on the mood I’m in. I could have a favourite that lasts a few days, then the next song that becomes my favourite could be it for months. I like so many styles of music I don’t even know if I could pick my favourite genre. Again, it all depends on my current mood.

When I first looked at the list of categories for this meme a month or so ago, I thought I’d go by iPod play counts to try help me choose songs. But then remembered that due to my old laptop crashing and having to reload all my songs onto the new laptop, my play counts had been wiped. I don’t remember many of my top played song, but I do remember the top played song. And it’s the one I’m going to choose. Could It Be Magic by Take That. I know the original is by Barry Manilow, but it just doesn’t do it for me. The Take That one though, it always makes me happy when I hear it. I could listen to it on repeat without ever getting bored. In fact, I have done that, which probably contributed to it it being played over 700 times on my iPod.

I don’t know why I love this song so much, probably because it reminds me of my childhood. I was just old enough to remember Take That when I was younger, but I remember more the later days, just before they broke up. I heard this song years later though and it, along with other Take That songs I had forgotten, just flooded my mind with childhood memories. Not specific memories, more just general childhood feelings.

I had to put this on while writing this. And I can’t help but dance in my seat! And while I’m not particularly partial to the Barry Manilow version, I am keen on the version Leona Lewis sang on The X Factor. She sings it with so much emotion, but it still makes me want to dance. I enjoy this version so much that it was also in my Top 5 Most Played on iTunes. Maybe it is my most favourite favourite song ever then!

 

30 Day Music Meme

My friend Wini over at Winipedia has been doing a ‘30 Day Music Meme’ and I have loved reading her posts. I have been meaning to start it myself but haven’t gotten around to it til now. Here are each of the days

• Day 01 — Your favourite song
• Day 02 — Your least favourite song
• Day 03 — A song that makes you happy
• Day 04 — A song that makes you sad
• Day 05 — A song that reminds you of someone
• Day 06 — A song that reminds of you of somewhere
• Day 07 — A song that reminds you of a certain event
• Day 08 — A song that you know all the words to
• Day 09 — A song that you can dance to
• Day 10 — A song that makes you fall asleep
• Day 11 — A song from your favourite band
• Day 12 — A song from a band you hate
• Day 13 — A song that is a guilty pleasure
• Day 14 — A song that no one would expect you to love
• Day 15 — A song that describes you
• Day 16 — A song that you used to love but now hate
• Day 17 — A song that you hear often on the radio
• Day 18 — A song that you wish you heard on the radio
• Day 19 — A song from your favourite album
• Day 20 — A song that you listen to when you’re angry
• Day 21 — A song that you listen to when you’re happy
• Day 22 — A song that you listen to when you’re sad
• Day 23 — A song that you want to play at your wedding
• Day 24 — A song that you want to play at your funeral
• Day 25 — A song that makes you laugh
• Day 26 — A song that you can play on an instrument
• Day 27 — A song that you wish you could play
• Day 28 — A song that makes you feel guilty
• Day 29 — A song from your childhood
• Day 30 — Your favourite song at this time last year

Not sure if I’ll be able to answer all of them but I’ll give it a shot. I hope I can make up my mind on some of the answers, as I’m sure some of them will have me in half minds!

KCW (Tuesday): Mushroom Soup And Butternut Squash and Chicken Risotto

This draft has been sitting on my computer for over a month now, it’s high time I finish it! This was for the Tuesday of my Kitchen Challenge Week. I had planned to make the Butternut Squash and Chicken Risotto for that Tuesday all along, I only decided to make the mushroom soup when I looked in the fridge and saw there was loads there that needed to be used up. Though I didn’t try the soup, not a mushroom fan at all!

Sorry the measurements for the risotto aren’t very accurate, I used rough guides but tried my best to put some measurements to the recipe.

     Butternut Squash and Chicken Risotto

Butternut Squash and Chicken Risotto

Serves: Four

Ingredients

1 small onion

Leftover chicken

Half a medium butternut squash, chopped into small chunks

~300g of risotto rice

600ml chicken stock (vegetable can be used into if preferred)

 

1. Drizzle butternut squash pieces with a little olive oil and place into pre-heat 180°C oven until soft and tender

2. Dice onion finely and fry in some olive oil. Add leftover chicken. Add risotto grains and stir to coat in oil. Add butternut squash

3. Add a few tablespoons of stock and simmer. Stir until all stock is absorbed. Add more stock and repeat, until the stock is gone. Cook for 25-30 mins, until the risotto is creamy but still has a bite to it

4. Serve and enjoy! Garnish to your own taste, maybe add some sage or some Parmesan.

 

Cream of Mushroom Soup Recipe

(No picture of the soup, it came out blurry. But sure it’s mushroom soup, it’s boring looking anyway!)

Servings: About 6, maybe more

Ingredients

400g Mushrooms

1 onion

1 clove garlic

750ml vegetable stock

1 small carton of cream

Salt and pepper

 

1. Dice onion and garlic and fry in a little oil. Wipe mushrooms with a damp cloth and then cut into smallish chunks

2. Add mushroom to onions and garlic and on a low-medium heat, let them soften gently. Add stock and bring to the boil.

3. Using a hand held blender, whizz the soup to your desired texture, I made it smooth but you can keep it a bit chunky if you like.

4. Add cream, salt and pepper to your own taste. And enjoy!

You can play with this a bit, using different mushrooms, adding spices and herbs, omitting the cream for something a little lighter, it’s up to you really!

Apologies!

It’s been a month since my last post, so sorry about that! During the middle of my Kitchen Challenge Week, I got sick and couldn’t complete all the dishes I wanted to make. Then various other things happened, such as going to London and Oxford for a weekend, friends coming home after being away all summer and preparing for my driving test, that I just neglected writing and pushed it to the back of my mind. Until I was asked yesterday about new posts and thought that was the push to start writing again!

I have loads of ideas to write about, especially cooking and baking posts, which I’m excited about. I’m happy to say that I have completed the ‘Cook 12 new dishes’ part of my New Year’s Resolution, but will continue to try making new dishes.

More proper new posts to follow this, promise!