Music and musings

I'm up listening to some Christmas music on my iTunes right now. I don't have enough of it. (Can you ever have enough Christmas music?) I'm planning to use some of my Christmas money to buy some CDs to add to my library. Sandi Patti, Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, TSO -- those are some of my favorite artists and groups. I have The Lost Christmas Eve and Christmas Eve and Other Stories by TSO, a couple of Amy Grant's CDs, and excerpts from Handel's Messiah and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. I'm not much of a classical music fan, but I'm thinking of getting some -- I think it's good to at least have an appreciation of different genres of music.

Being an 80s chick, I'm more into classic rock (Styx, Boston, Foreigner, Guns 'n' Roses, Meatloaf, Pat Benetar) which anyone who knows me can tell you. I also like the Eagles, Alabama, Oak Ridge Boys, Charliie Daniels and other country groups (I am from Oklahoma, so I grew up listening to country music as well). My favorite current country star is Taylor Swift. She may be young (about 23, I believe) so hasn't lived much, but she is a great singer/songwriter.

I've always loved to sing. I used to be good at it, but unfortunately, years of smoking has taken a toll on my voice (word of advice, kids: Don't smoke! :-)), and I can't do it anymore. I've tried to give up smoking, but to no avail... so far. (Maybe when I move, I'll be able to quit. I have a feeling my new roomie is a non-smoker.)

The worst part of being disabled is the fact that the creative things I'd really love to do (singing/acting) are beyond me, because of my speech. I mean, I do sound better when I sing than when I talk (for some reason it's just that way when you have a speech impediment). I remember a story my grandmother once told me when I was little about a country singer I grew up listening to (name of Mel Tillis). Seems he and a friend of his went camping one time, and as they were setting up their tent, Mel saw a bear come up. Now he had a horrible stutter, and as anyone with a speech problem can tell you, any kind of stress can make it worse... such as being terrified out of your mind, which Mel most definitely was. He tried to warn his friend, but couldn't get the words out. So he sang a warning. I laughed when she told me that, but I've never forgotten it.