Music To My Ears

I love music.  When I want to be more energized, I'll listen to more energetic music like The Black Eyed Peas.  If I want to relax before going to bed, you'll catch me listening to calmer music such as Enya.  I'm here to share with you the different ways to listen to music through the internet and TV.  Perhaps you will find a new favorite way to listen to music.  

Pandora

I have mentioned Pandora once before but I feel the need to talk about it more.  Pandora is by far my favorite way to listen to music.  You can do it for free w/commercials or pay for a year subscription.  You can get an app for it on your phone.  Any type of music you can think of is on there: alternative, solo piano, nature sounds, country, New Age, Film Scores, French Cafe, Teen Pop and Chicago Blues to name a few.  I highly recommend getting an account on there and exploring.

Online stations

Online stations fall into two categories: ones like 101.9 The Mix that are an actual FM radio station but you can listen to them online too and then there are the ones that are just played online like Third Rock and Q101.  Since I live near Chicago, my listening is influenced by what is played around here and this is by no means an entire list of online stations out there.

• Third Rock 
• This station is becoming one of my favorites.  It is a radio station that was made by NASA in order to connect with the public more.  Occasionally a NASA update is mentioned but not too often and the music is selected very well.  It is rock but it is a whole variety of rock.  You'll here familiar artists but also some ones you may not have heard before.
• Q101
• This is a unique station in that it used to be an FM radio station but it is no longer.  Now it is played on their website and you can listen to it on your phone through an app.  They still play alternative rock like they did before except now you no longer have the DJ's.  The only negative is that their commercials all sound like infomercials that make me want to turn off the station.
• 101.9FM The Mix
• This station plays a wider variety of music such as alternative, rock, and pop.  They do have DJs and promote local concerts just like a regular FM station.

Yahoo! Music

What's nice about this page is that you can watch old and new music videos.  Not all artists are available but there is a pretty good selection.  You can also listen to their stations like the 90's station.  

iTunes

If you have iTunes you can go to the Radio section and find a big variety of stations that you can listen to for free.

TV Cable

If you have Comcast cable, you can go to the radio stations on the TV.  Again, a pretty good variety.

Those are the many ways I have listened to music over the past several years.  This is by no means a complete list and you are more than welcome to share how you listen to music.  I hope you have a wonderful holiday filled with music that puts a smile on your face and gets you tapping your foot.  :)

Music, sewing, running and learning from our mistakes

Hello!  I hope everyone had a wonderful fall weekend.  I talked to my sister on Skype for free and she's in Australia.  If you don't know how to use this, you should learn how.  It's awesome being able to literally see my family when they are so far away.  The distance between us doesn't seem so bad then.

I also listened to a lot of music this weekend.  Well, honestly, I always do.  I listen to music through Pandora and I have several different stations.  I have a swing station, Michael Buble station, 3 Doors Down Station, Nature station and a Teen Pop station.  What I am doing and what type of mood I am in helps me choose which station I want to listen to.

On Saturday I was really proud of myself because I ran an hour.  I've been struggling with my running so I was even happier when I didn't have any problems.  My goal is to run a 10k on Halloween.  If I have another run like that I won't have any problems.  Perhaps the cooler weather is helping or perhaps my body is finally use to running.  Whatever the reason, I am happy.

I love crafts and I want to learn to sew.  Unfortunately, the only sewing machine I inherited was a 1930's Singer sewing machine that has one stitch that only goes forward.  It's cool but you can't do anything fancy with it.  Luckily, my sister-in-law has one she doesn't use.  Yea!  Now I need to stop knitting somehow and make time for sewing.  Hmmm....

Over the weekend I was sitting in my apartment reading my Popular Mechanics magazine and I came across an article about BP's oil spill.  It was a really good read and a good eye opener.  I didn't really know much about this incident.  All I kept hearing was how BP meant to do it and it was all of their fault and they took too long to fix the problem.  The only opinion I had on it was, "I don't know a thing about oil rigs so how can I possibly criticize?"  This article was good because it explained the timeline, the details of an oil rig and it explained it in simple terminology.  The article pretty much said it was many, many people's fault, not just BP's, and that part of the reason it happened was b/c the quicker they got the oil rig working, the less money it would cost.  They started off being 3 months late to begin with so there was added pressure from the very start.   They ignored warning signs which people had done previously with other oil rigs because they never had problems before.  The U.S. Department of Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) was supposed to make sure they did everything safely and they didn't.  Several people were involved with making sure everything was safe.  The article compared it to Chernobyl or the space shuttle Challenger.  Those were also incidents that could have been prevented.  People got lax about safety precautions b/c there were no accidents and there was little chance of one happening and it blew up in there face.  Well, since then, MMS has been disbanded and made into a new organization and BP has lost billions of dollars.  The best thing you can do from mistakes is learn from them.  Unfortunately, it costs the lives of 11 people and many sea creatures. 

Lastily, the hubby and I are going to start looking for a house even though I don't have a full-time job.  First off, we could get a house that would be about the same as our rent.  Secondly, our house would probably go up in value over the next two years so we could make money off of it and get a bigger and better house later.  Third, we just want to get out of where we are now.  We are sick of loud college students and being cramped up in our apartment right now.  I want a place that is quieter and where I can sit outside and enjoy the weather.  I want to be able to have outdoor plants and not worry about some drunk college student knocking it over b/c he thinks it is funny.  So hopefully this goes well.  I am looking for another part-time job and I am hoping to get another before we start talking to a bank.  We'll see.  Good luck to us. 

Have a wonderful day.  Remember when you make a mistake, the best thing you can do is just learn from it.