2/28/09

So today Emily celebrates two years of sobriety. It is an amazing testament to God’s grace and redemption. I am so proud and amazed at Emily’s courage, strength, and willingness to allow God to mold her into the woman He designed her to be. It is been an intriguing journey for both of us and we can’t wait to see what else God has in store for us. Today we celebrated by just spending time together (my favorite thing to do). I am so grateful that our worlds collided just when they did. I fall more and more in love everyday and realize how I am truly the luckiest person in the world.

Lord,
Thank you for blessing me with the most amazing wife who inspires me and challenges me every day. Thank you for rescuing us from ourselves and giving us one another. Please help me to be to her, what she is to me. Amen

Shawn.

SATYAJIT RAY

Huggs put me on to this nice little soundtrack by Satyajit Ray, who had a chill career as a director - only 37 films. Also composed scores for most of them, wrote fiction, published books and worked as an advertising art director. Also he was a pimp as you can tell from this photo. Feeling these tunes, whole thing's only 8 mins long, only wish it was longer.

Satyajit Ray - Charulata (The Lonely Wife)

Ben Liebrand

Ben Liebrand must be a really nice man considering all the dope shit he's done over the years. Dude used to do mashup type remixes back in the 80's that were dope as fuck and also hosted a monthly radio show since the early 80s called the Grandmix, comprised of all his own edits and remixes. Apparently, he was a major influence on Olav Basoski (right down to his look, I guess...), who used a lot of the same cut-up techniques in his 90's filtered discohouse (yeah, one word...) as Ben did over a decade prior.


Here's a Grandmix from 1983 . Only 72 tracks:
01. Intro Grandmix 83
02. Am/Fm - Natascha King
03. Just Be Good To Me - S.O.S. Band
04. New York, Ny - Nina Hagen
05. Let's Stay Together - Tina Turner
06. Last Night A DJ Saved My Life - Indeep
07. When Boys Talk - Indeep
08. All Night Long - Lionel Richie
09. I Like Chopin - Gazebo
10. Sucker DJ's (I Will Survive) - Dimples D.
11. Rockit - Herbie Hancock
12. Jam on Revenge - New Clues
13. Get It On - Spence
14. Too Shy - Kajagogoo
15. The Crown -Gary Bird
16. Get The Money - Valerie Oliver
17. Let's Dance - David Bowie
18. Take me to the top - Advance
19. Good Time Superstition Medley - Clubhouse
20. You Are In My System - Robert Palmer
21. It's Alright - NV
22. Hip Hop Bebop - Man Parrish
23. Magic Wand -Whodini
24. You Are Beautiful - Chic
25. Hey You - Rock Steady Crew
26. Play that Beat (Mr. DJ) - Globe & Whiz Kid
27. Feel The Drive - Doctor's Cat
28. How About It - MDMC
29. Where Is My Man - Eartha Kitt
30. Holiday - Madonna
31. Something Special - Steve Harvey
32. Get Down Saturday night - Oliver Cheatham
33. Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
34. Valley Style - T. Sky Valley
35. Let The Music Play - Shannon
36. On The Upside - Xena
37. In The Bottle - C.O.D.
38. What I've Got Is What You Need - Unique
39. Activate - Sharon Redd
40. New Dimension - Imagination
41. Making Music - Gary's Gang
42. Thriller - Michael Jackson
43. Hypnotic Tango - My Mine
44. Takin' it Straight - Corey Josias
45. Dolce Vita - Ryan Paris
46. I.O.U. - Freeez
47. I Love How You Feel - Sharon Redd
48. Let No Man Put Asunder - First Choice
49. I Love You - Yello (sample)
50. Love Game - Pure Energy
51. Walkin' on Sunshine - Rocker's Revenge (sample)
52. Weekend - Class Action (sample)
53. Last night A DJ saved my life - Indeep (sample)
54. Get on out of my mix - Dolby's Cube (sample)
55. In the bottle - C.O.D. (sample)
56. Wanna Be Startin' Something - Michael Jackson
57. Weekend - Class Action
58. Happy Station - Fun Fun
59. Happiness - Cuba Gooding
60. In The Name Of Love - Sharon Redd
61. Burn It up - Risque (rhythm loop)
62. Sweet Dreams - Eurythmics
63. Owner Of A lonely Heart - Yes
64. Primitive Desire - Eastbound Express Way
65. Blue Monday - New Order
66. Get The Balance Right - Depeche Mode
67. So Many Men - Miquel Brown
68. Searchin' - Hazell Dean
69. Party - Julius Brown
70. My Forbidden Lover - Tapps
71. Vamos a la Playa - Righeira
72. Boys come to town - Earlene Bentley
73. Living on Video - Trans-X
74. Grandmix 83 Blast-off



A couple stinkers, but not more than 2 or 3, and then mostly classics. I play like 70-80% of these, early in the evening, on a weekly basis. There's a couple lesser known GEMS on here like the Cory Josias. Fuck whatever, just download it. I guarantee it will grow on you (like a goiter) after the 15th minute.

Here's my favourite Ben Liebrand remix. It's a remix of Miko Mission's biggest hit, How Old Are You? Miko Mission is from Finland and used to play ringette with the Top Billin' dudes.

HE HAS A LITTLE SUGAR IN HIS TANK...

This...is...fucked.





Audio is kinda shite, but watch this shit. How have I not seen this before? I love how Rick James takes homeboy to court for like 4 1/2 G's. Fuckin...hahahahaha...

Update :)

Hey Ya'll, I haven't blogged about 2 weeks....lots of stupid crap has been going on...I no longer work at Buckwild...I'm no longer "Friends" with ANY of my ex's....I can't deal with all their drama.

I am however OFFICIALLY signed with a manager as of Friday!! :) I'm really really excited about that. I am finally moving in the right direction down here!!

I'm in the process of getting a new job...another singing job and probably a part-time retail job too, just to make some extra money. So please pray for me and my job hunt situation! :)

I've been reading "Your Best Life Now" by Joel Osteen....amazing. EVERYONE should read it. It's very inspiring, and God has spoken to me through the messages that Joel writes. It really focuses on positive thinking and knowing that God is a God who wants the best for his people (me!)...He wants us to live a full and exciting and happy life...and if we follow Him, He's willing to give us more than we could have ever imagined! How great is that?? :)

Anyways, here are some things I'm excited about: (random, i know....)

1. My mom is coming in a week!!!! (however, NOT excited about getting my wisdom teeth out, that's why she's coming...i'm actually a nervous wreck about this)

2. I'm pretty excited about the fact that all the sudden, I actually kinda want to work out a few times a week....I used to hate it!!!!

3. Hopefully, starting a new job soon!! I needed a change...

4. My sister might be moving in with me for a few months after her husband deploys again...yay!!

5. I have a photo shoot coming up on March 13th!!!! :) :) :)

6. I've been tanning lately and so I finally don't look like a ghost!

7. Writing appointment on March 3rd with Jay Speight

8. Studio with Cindy and Erik on March 1st to put my vocals on an awesome song we wrote!

9. I feel like I've finally conquered the art of positive thinking....I'm no longer a "downer" when situations go wrong....God directs our paths certain ways for certain reasons and I have now realized that and am very content with it....it makes life so much easier :)

10. I gave Jaggy a bath last night an he's very soft and fluffy :)

11. I finally saw High School Musical 3 and it was amazing....and I'm still obsessed with the Jonas Brothers.....more than ever! I love being 13!!! :)

This is like the most random blog ever, but I was bored so I thought I'd give ya'll an update!! :)

Oh yeah, um, join this site so you can be a "follower" of my blog! And start your own!! It's fun :)

xoxo

Emily

Joe Cuba RIP

1931-2009

Gilberto Miguel Calderon, 22 April 1931, New York City, New York, USA; of Puerto Rican parentage. Calderon, who was a salesman by day, played conga with the Joe Panama Quintet, whose other personnel were: Panama (leader/piano), Jimmy Sabater (timbales/vocals), Willie Torres (lead vocals), Tommy Berrios (vibraphone) and Roy Rosa (bass). In late 1954, the pianist, composer and arranger Nick Jiménez replaced Panama and Calderon took over leadership. At Panama's instigation, the musicians' union prohibited the use of his name, and acting on a promoter's suggestion, the group became the Joe Cuba Sextet. Latin music historian, Max Salazar, has cited singer/composer Willie Torres and Nick Jiménez as pioneers of the use of English lyrics in Latin music. Joe Cuba is credited with pioneering the "Latin Boogaloo" sound.

Joe Cuba's Mambo - Joe Cuba Sextet

ARMAND in the early 2000s

Ok - now Armand Van Helden in the 1990s amassed a discography worthy of a full career. He became a dance music deity with tunes like Witch Doktor, his remix of Professional Widow by Tori Amos, Funk Phenomena (which was the biggest tune of 1997 - following Da Funk in 1996 and Flash in 1995), Flowerz and You Dont Know Me.

But the purpose of this post is to focus on some of my faves from his early 2000s discography. And to point out that almost 10 years ago he was doing what everybody else (and I mean everybody) is doing now.

In 2000 he released the full length entitled Killing Puritans which included the smash "Koochy" (a big tune in the early days of Hai Karate), as well a Full Moon with Common - a disco hip house jam which also got alot of play in the club. Those records still sound great - dude has always been way ahead of the curve.

Here is a lesser known tune from the record called "Hybridz" - and sounds a LITTLE bit like "Touch Your Toes" from 2008.
Armand Van Helden feat. Mongloids - Hybridz
Dude has hip house locked down. Shit.

In 2001 he released "What Can't you Free Some Time?" on 12". This also got more than a few spins at Hai Karate:
Armand Van Helden - Why Cant you Free Some Time?

In 2004 (FIVE YEARS AGO!) AVH released My, My, My which is more in the style of his current stuff.
Armand Van Helden - My My My (Original)

Anyways - what a guy. Armand Van Helden - he makes the dance records and he makes them great. So recognize motherfuckers, and danse.

BAND NAME HELL

Looking at the Onion's Year in Band Names (highlights: Fecalized Rectal Sperm Spewage, 3 Piston Ass Hammer, Fag Cop) got me thinking about (former editor of Big Brother) Dave Carnie's made-up band names. A few personal favorites:

Ham Sale
HOV (Hot Ostrich Vagina)
General Nancy
Particular Fondness For Whimsy
Scotch Egg Fart
Li'l Mechanical Robot Niggas
Pizza Snake
Face Eating Pony

Muggs at work in '93

via CrateKings

Valentine oh-nine

Valentines day is one of my favorite holidays, and it's a good thing my husband knows this! haha. For our first Valentine's day as a married couple, we first woke up and exchanged gifts. While I was taking a shower, Shawn sneaked off the the store and when I got out he had a beautiful bouquet of white flowers for me. Sigh, I love flowers. I had been having a hard time keeping Shawn's gift a secret, because it was such a fun gift for me to buy. I got him Wilco record autographed by the entire band with a custom frame, and the book "The Faith of Barrack Obama". He seemed to like the autographed album the best. He surprised me with a new pair of really cute tennis shoes, one of those automatic chopper thingys (like the magic bullet) and a pair of jeans one size down from my "regular" size. I can't quite squeeze into them now, but they are motivating me and it's nice to know he believes in me enough to think I will fit into them soon. (pictures)

After pancakes and presents we headed out of the suburbs and into the city to check out the Dallas Museum of Art. I had been wanting to go there for a while now and Shawn took note of this and bought tickets for us to go to the museum as well as to partake in the King Tutankhamun exhibit. We went to a 3D movie all about mummies and pharoahs (Shawn's first 3D movie experience) and then went into the King Tut exhibit. It was pretty fascinating to see items from history BEFORE Jesus was even born on earth. After King Tut, we had lunch at the "Atrium Cafe" and then continued throughout the rest of the Art Museum. Overall, it was a fun day and made me feel so lucky to be married to the most amazing man in the world. It's hard work making all my little sentimental days special, and he does a really good job. In February alone, he has to come up with stuff for my birthday, Valentine's day, and my sobriety date (February 28th). Anyways, hope you all had a great Valentine's day. I leave you with (of course) pictures.

Much Love,

Emily

Here's a link to Ricky Gervais' blog. Apparently he's been doing it for about a year (who knew?). It's pretty damn funny. Enjoy. Also happy Bday to my little sister!

FOOD FOR MY SOUL

Doug, Daryl and Dennis Dragon riding this groove into the sun. Nice soundtrack to a baked Sunday afternoon in the mountains. Thanks to DJ Food and the Ninja Tune camp for showing it the light of day... in 2007. I must've been asleep.

The Dragons - Food For My Soul

PAY THAT MAN HIS MONEY!

Turns out Randy Moller, journeyman NHL enforcer from the 80s, now the announcer for the Florida Panthers, is one hilarious dude.

via Mishka Bloglin

Valentine's Day

Just the loneliest day there is. No big deal. I'll probably end up spending it the same way I do every year. Jerking off with a vibrator in my mouth. Weeping.

Here's a nice song:

Cyber People - Void Vision

Break-Ups

So...I haven't really blogged about anything really personal yet, mainly because like I said, I don't really like to let people know about that kind of stuff...but I don't think many people read this, so I just kinda need to unload. Topic: break-ups.

I've realized that with every break-up, my heart gets a little harder and I get better at pretending it doesn't bother me. I've had 3 boyfriends since I've moved here. The first one was Preston. I started dating him before I even moved to Nashville, and I can honestly say that if it wasn't for him, I may not have moved here. I believe that God put him in my life at the perfect time because He knew I needed a little incentive to get my butt down here and I was too much of a "home body" to just up and leave my family just because I wanted to take a risk on my music career. So that begins the story of Preston. We started dating in May of 2005 and I moved to Nashville in September of 2005. I still to this day can't really describe what it was about him that made me fall soooo deep in love with Preston, but i fell HARD. He was the first guy I ever TRUELY 100% gave my heart to. I would have done anything in the world for him...and I pretty much did. I put everything in MY life on hold to be "preston's girlfriend"....and for the first year and a half I lived in Nashville, that's pretty much all I was. My mom and I would get in huge arguements because she knew I wasn't doing what I moved down here to do, and in the back of my mind, I knew it too, but I was too concerned with being with Preston. I loved him more than I've ever loved any guy I've ever been with....to this day. He had some hold on me that I still don't understand. I think there's just something about that first love that you can't ever get over. Ever. I still think about him often. We broke up in December of 2006, but it lingered for another few months, so we weren't totally done with eachother till about March of 2007....that was the longest relationship I have ever been in. I think it's crazy that I've lived down the street from him for the past year now...I have been working across the street from the Wildhorse when he's had shows there, and I have yet to see him in almost 2 years...it's almost like God knows that I will always have the weakness for him in my heart and He is protecting me from ever falling back into it. It's not where I'm supposed to be, no matter how much I ever wanted it to be. But for the rest of my life, Preston will be my 1st true love...and I don't think I'll ever totally get over him.

It's hard comparing other guys back to Preston and the way I felt when I was with him, because I've never quite felt what I felt for him for anyone else. There have been times when it was close...but never the same.

(Plus, Preston gave me the best thing in my life....Jaggy) :)

The next guy I dated "seriously" was Nate.....oh my....Nate. That was THE WORST relationship I've ever been in. EVER. EVER EVER EVER! I can't even begin to explain because you wouldn't believe half the stuff I told you about him. He was the most selfish, arrogant, rude, insecure, annoying prick I have ever met. I was blinded once again because he was a great singer and he was good looking. The first night he met me he wanted to start planning our wedding....red flag??? Yeah....but I blame myself for being so freakin stupid and giving into the whole charade. I don't know what I was thinking...but I got way to deeply involved with him way too fast and it came back around to bite me in the ass, HARD. He insisted on moving in with me, he made me pay for half of EVERYTHING, or make me pay for all of it...He never brought me flowers, gifts...never did sweet things for me...and I'm not saying material things are what makes a relationship, but literally, this guy was the CHEAPEST jerk I've ever met. He made me go back to Kentucky with him to move him out of his apartment that he lived in with his previous girlfriend and clean the whole thing....he thought it was my "duty" as his new girlfriend to clean up all the messes that his ex-girlfriend made. I know, I know....what the hell was wrong with me?? WHO KNOWS. I'm just glad I got out of it when I did...because not 2 weeks after I finally broke it off with him, he was ENGAGED to another chick!!! HA!!!! pathetic.

Needless to say, he was a quick forget. I was literally over him in like a day. I was so glad to be out of that relationship. Oh yeah....he got so mad that I loved the Jonas Brothers that he threatened to break up with me if I didn't stop liking them......HAHAHAHAHAA! I'M NOT KIDDING!!!!

K, well the most recent guy I dated will remain nameless. People who know me know who he is. But I'm not gonna slam him, there's no reason for it really. I instantly fell for him...he was so much fun, he made me laugh more than anyone ever has. We weren't even together very long, but I had a crazy connection with him...and I'll miss it a lot. He just had some stuff he needed to work out on his own time....and I didn't need to be in his way....it makes me sad. I saw a future with him...he made me genuinely happy. I wanted him to be the one I was with for a long time, and I really thought he would be....but sometimes things just fall apart, and that's what happened. We've only been broken up for like a week, and we're trying to be friends....which is good, cause I would miss him too much if we weren't. He's someone though that I wonder why God brought him into my life for such a short time. I feel like I was given my favorite candy bar and then someone took it away from me when I was only half way through with it....I'm just kind of left thinking, "wait, i thought that was mine..." but it never really was i guess....

It wasn't a bad break up, it was actually one of the "best" break ups I've ever been through...but I think I'll always be dissappointed with the way things turned out with him because I saw great potential with our relationship...

I've had other guys I've been interested in along the way...I've gone on dates and spent time with guys, but those 3 were my most substantial relationships since I've lived here and I guess I just kinda felt like taking a look back on them tonight...I don't regret any of them because they have all had a very obvious purpose in my life....I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for all of them...and even though I feel like I've been put through a literal hell with these relationships combined, I have learned a lot from each of them....

I'm not ready to meet "the one" yet...and I don't think I will for awhile...but I am ready to meet the one who will treat me right. With respect, consideration, loyalty...the things that I believe I deserve from a man. Because when you give me those things, I will always give them back to you.

xoxox

Emily

D'you like to (pause) MOVE IT?!

How's your collection of 90s dance mp3s? Hit up the 90s Singles blog to round it out. It runs pretty deep. They're 192kbps... is that decent?

Also here's a horrid clip of Capital Sound performing live on Musique Plus (Quebec's version of MuchMusic) in 1994. It's truly awful. Enjoy.

our psycho neighbor

Ok, so as promised- here is a post about our "pyscho neighbor" living below us. It's pretty long.

It all started In Mid-october when Shawn and I moved in to our amazing new apartment here in Allen, Texas. Shawn had to work all day so my dad came in town to help us move in. As my dad is unloading boxes and furniture from the uhaul truck, he kept hearing a car's alarm going off. We didn't know it then, but this was only the beginning. We live in a second story apartment, and we later realized that the car alarm that would go off every ten minutes or so was a "message" from the family that lives below us that we were being too loud. I'm sorry but, we were MOVING IN. It is impossible to not make noise when you are hauling beds, armoires and couches up a flight of stairs. However, we naively assumed that the car alarm was some sort of glitch or techinical problem and had no idea that someone was PURPOSELY setting it off.

That evening, (our first day to live here) Shawn, my dad and I went to Wal-mart to buy some light bulbs and cleaning supplies etc. We arrived home that evening, tired from our long day of moving boxes, and were sitting around in our apartment, when all the sudden there is a bang on the door. Shawn answers it (I half- expected it to be a friendly neighbor welcoming us to the community), and it is the man who lives below us, he tells Shawn we are being extremely loud and to please quiet down. Shawn is totally shocked and apologizes to the man. We were all just sitting around, not moving anything or making any noise at all, so it was really confusing, but we didn't want to get on the wrong foot with our neighbors on the first day we moved in so we took extra care to be very quiet the rest of the night.

A few weeks go by and as Shawn and I are sitting on our couch in our living room watching TV one night, another bang on the door. It is the same man, this time saying "look, I don't want to have to go to the leasing office about all this, I just need you guys to be quiet." Shawn, once again is totally shocked, says "okay" and shuts the door.

Weeks go by, and we are constantly hearing this car's car alarm go off. On and off. On and off. We begin to put two and two together that whenever our neighbor feels that we are being too loud, he sets off his car alarm as a sort of warning or message to us.

A few weeks later, we receive a notice on our door from the leasing office as a "friendly reminder" that this apartment complex is a community and to be aware of the people living below and above us.

Right before Christmas is when we adopted Tozer, our dog. He is a great dog who has not learned to bark. We think it's because, for the most part, Tozer stays with us in the apartment and he doesn't hear a lot of dog's barking so he has not really "learned" it yet, because he is still less than a year old.

Shortly after New Year's, Shawn and I are sitting on the couch, watching TV, when we hear a loud bang on our door. Shawn answers it, and it is a police officer. The officer seems confused and informs us that someone has called and reported that apartment 3205 (thats us) has a dog that has been barking nonstop. The officer looks down at Tozer who is sitting quietly next to Shawn's feet and says "well, um, I stood out here a while and, well I didn't hear any dog barking so..." We inform him that our dog has not actually learned to bark yet. He sees that this is so, pats Tozer on the head and says sorry for the confusion, and that it "must have been a different apartment". Shawn and I are once again, in shock. We are beginning to realize that our neighbor has basically called the cops and made up a lie, as a way to get the cops to come to our door and basically indirectly intimidate us.

Weeks go by, car alarm goes off all the time. off and on. off and on. off and on.

A few weeks after the "dog barking" claim, Shawn is out walking Tozer early in the morning (6 a.m.-ish) when our "psycho neighbor" gets into his truck. When the guy sees Shawn and Tozer, he revs his engine, squeals his tires and comes about ten inches from the curb where Shawn and Tozer have jumped to avoid being hit. After this, things have gotten scary. I now lock both locks on the door, and am a little nervous to be home during the day without Shawn.

The last weekend in January is when everything "hit the fan" so to speak. My birthday was on the 4th of February, so my parents and sister came in town on the Friday before to celebrate with us. Friday night, I made dinner for everyone and after dinner, we were watching a video of a comedy sketch on Shawn's laptop. Shawn has dell, and his computer speakers are pretty lame. We were all having to lean in to even hear what the comedy guy was saying. As we are watching it "bang bang" on the door. Here we go again. This time- its two police officers. They very calmly look at Shawn and I and say, "We've had a complaint that the surround sound system in your apartment is on extremely loud, but, we have been standing out here for ten minutes and, well, we don't hear anything at all". This time we are almost laughing it is so ridiculous. We inform the cops that we don't have a surround sound system and that our TV is not even on. My dad is standing in the background eating a popsicle and my mom and sister are sitting on the couch. Apartment 3205 was definitely not having a party. Haha, anyways the cops leave and the car alarm goes off for about an hour, on and off on and off.

The next day is Saturday. Car alarm goes on and off over and over again. We try to ignore it and end up having a really good day. After my birthday dinner and then a movie, we get home and walk up the stairs to our apartment. Car alarm. off and on- every two minutes. This time, other people in the complex start getting mad about the car alarm. Two other cars in the parking lot turn on their car alarms. One guy opens his apartment door and screams "turn off your f***ing car alarm". Total Chaos has erupted. This neigbor of ours seems to think we are too noisy, but... ironically, he sets his car alarm off a whole lot to prove his point. As I am standing on our balcony witnessing all the chaos going on outside, I realize that one of my car doors did not shut all the way and the light is still on inside my car. After the car alarms turn off and it seems like all the commotion has died down for a bit, I go downstairs very quickly and re-shut my car door so that my battery does not die. About ten minutes after coming back upstairs, bang bang bang on our door. This time, it's scary. FOUR COPS are standing in front of us. Shawn goes outside to talk with them and a few seconds later they order Shawn to tell his wife come out and talk to them. I come outside and one of the officers brings me over to the other side of the stairs away from Shawn. He asks me if me and Shawn are having any problems or arguments, when i look at him confused and say "no" he says there has been a report of suspected domestic abuse in our apartment. I am completely flabbergasted. I look at the guy and say "No, we are newlyweds, we still kind of like each other" As I am explaining to the guy what has been going on all night and that we just got back from a movie to celebrate my birthday another officer comes over to me with his little black baton thing waved at me and asks me what I was doing being seen near the neighbor's truck downstairs. I told him that i had to go downstairs and shut one of my doors and that my parking space is located right next to the neigbor's truck. The officer says "ma'am did you hit or kick that man's car?" I informed him NO and the officer looked at me accusingly and said that there were scuff marks and dents in the guys car. After a few more minutes of talking to me and Shawn and realizing that the guys accusations were once again false, all four officers left our apartment complex.

The next day our neighbor went to the leasing office and told them that he saw Shawn and I smoking pot the night before. Seriously? Everyone knows Shawn and I wouldn't even drink champagne at our own wedding, much less do drugs. Plus my parents were both staying at our place. How likely is it that we were smoking pot? Basically, to wrap this story up, we have gone to the police station and talked to them, they say our neighbor is not doing anything illegal, so we will have to handle this all with our landlord. We have gone to our landlord, he says that we basically need to just call 911 if we have any more problems. It's a total runaround and we are completely miserable living in the same building as this guy. He is totally scary and unstable. We can't really afford getting a lawyer and no one in the leasing office seems to know what to do. We actually were informed through an unnamed source that this guy living below us has had problems with another tenant. He complained so much about this lady being "so noisy" that they moved her into a different apartment. We also heard from an unnamed source that the apartment that lady was switched into was supposed to be mine and Shawn's apartment, but at the last minute it was switched because of this guy below us complaining about someone else. I know it's confusing. But it feels good for me to write all this stuff down.

Anyways, we are really having a hard time with this guy. If you could please pray for Shawn and I and the situation with our neighbor I would soo appreciate it. It's sad that this is our first home together and we have only been married 3 months and we are having this much drama. If you have any ideas of how we should handle this or suggestions, I would be very grateful to hear them.
See Ya,
Emily

My job is to go Buckwild....literally.

Anyone who knows me knows that for almost the past 2 years I have worked downtown Nashville at a bar called "Buckwild Saloon". It's a karaoke bar on 2nd Ave., across from the Wildhorse (if you've ever been to Nashville, you might know where this is). I am a karaoke host 5 nights a week...which means, my job is singing karaoke...not bad.

I work on tips and tips alone, so the past few months have been horrible because in Nashville, no tourist = no money, and not many people come to Nashville for their vacation during the winter months...but once the warm southern air starts to stick around week after week, the tourist population starts to grow rapidly in Nashville, and essentially, so does my bank account. :)

There are definatley down falls to this job...like the fact that my boss is an out of control (and by out of control, I mean OUT-OF-CONTROL) 40 year old man who is pretty much believes that if you're not stumbling drunk, you can't have fun....so this leads to him grabbing the microphone out of my hand and screaming things like "WHO WANTS TO GIVE ME A BL*W JOB?!" and running the majority of my customers out of the bar....thankfully this only happens about once a month...lucky me!....

However, most of the time, he is back in Panama City Beach, FL (where he is from) running his other bars he owns down there. When he isn't in Nashville, my job is a breeze, and I have so much fun working there. I've always thought BuckWild could have it's own reality show. There is always some sort of drama going on within the bar. I am one of about 6 other singers. There are about 10-13 bartenders, most of them beautiful girls. The actual bar at Buckwild serves as a stage, so someone is always singing/dancing on the bar. It definately took some getting used to, considering I had never really stepped foot into a bar until I was 21. I met one of my best friends (Rob) at Buckwild. I've also met some of the worst people I've ever known at Buckwild (these few will remain nameless...). I've seen quite a few celebrities walk through our doors at Buckwild. I've made a 350lb. black man strip down to his boxers and dance on the bar because I sang Beyonce or Mariah Carey (yes, this has happened more than once) hahaha.

Basically, it's crazy, all the time, but I wouldn't trade my job for the world. I love being able to sing almost every night. I love being able to go and hang out with my friends and call it my job. I love working downtown.

I worked tonight, so I thought I would blog about it because not many people actually know what I do for a living here in Nashville. If you're ever in Nashville, make sure you stop by Buckwild and see me! :)

xoxoxo

Emily

Top 10 Songs Of All Time

So as I was making this list my wife asked if this top ten list would be "my" top ten songs. Which made this 100 times harder. Then to make matters worse she asked, "If I could only listen to ten songs for the rest of my life, what would they be?" So instead of changing my original list which was an extremely diffcult list to make, I decided to make another list which was just as difficult. The first list is top ten songs of all time. The second is the list of "If I could only listen to ten Songs, what would they be."
No particular order

All Time Ten Greatest songs

1. Bob Marley - Redemption Song
2. Cat Stevens - Trouble
3. The Band - The Weight
4. John Lennon - Imagine
5. Beatles - Blackbird
6. Rolling Stones – Beast Of Burden
7. Jimi Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower
8. Bob Dylan - Shelter From The Storm
9. Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
10. The Who - Baba O'Riley

Shawn's Ten (if he could only listen to ten songs)

No particular order

1.Radiohead – Fake plastic trees
2.Counting Crows – Clolorblind
3.Wilco – How to fight loneliness
4.Emily Roller – Mighty to save
5.Smashing Pumpkins – Disarm
6.Wilco/Elliot Smith/Big Star/Garbage – Thirteen (Big Star Cover)
7.Dave Matthews Band – Christmas Song
8.Red Hot Chili Peppers – Under the Bridge
9.Ben Kweller - Thirteen ( different than Big Star song )
10.Bright Eyes – Waste of Paint

Please post your lists.

God Bless,
Shawn

First Time For Everything...

I've never had a blog before...I've never even really kept a journal...I just recently started writing songs to get some of my emotions and feelings off of my chest, but I decided this might also be a nice way to start "keeping track" of my feelings about everything going on in my life.

I don't really like a lot of people to know my inner thoughts and emotions, but for some reason, tonight, this seemed to be a good idea. So here it goes....

I've lived in Nashville now for almost 3 1/2 years. I moved here right after I turned 20 years old. Twenty years old...that is so young to be on your own. Looking back, this journey I've been on for the past 3 1/2 years has been a long and winding road, and yet every step I have taken, every curve I have made, every detour I've gone on, every crash I have had, has essentially lead me to exactly where I am right now. There have been successes and tragic circumstances, but I wouldn't take one single thing back or do anything differently, because I may not be where I am right now if it weren't for all of it.

I don't think many people can look back on life and say that they know exactly why they met every substantial person that had ever come into their life. However, since I have lived here, I can do so. It literally is like a storybook. There are so many different characters and scenes of the book, but each of them plays such an important part in my "journey to the stars".

I have been through some of the worst heartache and pain in my life since I came to this town. I have such a love/hate relationship with Nashville. I love it because I feel like it holds every dream I've ever had right under my nose. I feel like being in this city inspires me to accomplish my goals. I love driving around and feeling so comfortable with this city even though I'm so far away from home. Driving down Broadway still excites me 3 years later...I still find myself turning off my music in the car when I get to 5th avenue and rolling down my window to hear the sounds of all the different bands playing in all the different "honky tonks". I love being able to walk down the streets and see atleast 3 people I know at any given time. All of those things are what keep me here.

On the other hand...I hate the fact that I have a dream that takes me away from my family. I hate living all alone. I hate struggling to make money. I hate waiting, and not knowing how my future will turn out. I hate how anyone and everyone you meet is going after the same thing you are...and SO FEW will ever get it. I hate musicians, they break hearts. They have broken mine once or twice...or three times...but then again, they can go on my "love" list too...I hate that.

I can honestly say though, I will probably never leave this city. I've worked too hard to give up now. I have a few too many people in the back of my mind that I need to prove wrong. So I'll be here for awhile.

I guess that's kind of an "introduction" to this whole "blog" thing...I'm not gonna go into my whole life story. I have so much going on right now, emotionally, I'm drained. It wouldn't be smart for me to get into details about all of that. We'll save that for a later date...

I don't even know who all will read this...but I will try to write a few times a week and keep you posted on what's going on in my "crazy tragic, sometimes almost magic, awful, beautiful life" :)

xoxoxo

Emily

Top Ten Songs Of All TIme Challenge

So today a friend/pastor of mine posted this on Twitter "Pink Floyd, "wish you were here" Top 10 songs of all time. "So, you think you can tell........" . I commented that it was a bold statement. He then called me out and asked what I would put in my top ten list. Hence the Top Ten Songs Of All Time Challenge. Travis and I are sharing our lists on Sunday. Travis has always had great taste in music some I'm extremely curious about his list. These Tweets sparked some comments on twitter so I thought it would be interesting and fun to get people to leave there Top Ten Songs Of All Time here. I will post my list on Saturday.

Please join in and leave your top ten list in the comment box.

Will "Wish You Were Here" make my top ten list. Stay tuned to find out.

My 22nd birthday!

Hello everyone!
Well, yesterday I turned 22 years old. My parents and sister Stephanie came in town last weekend to celebrate with us and we had a lot of fun. We stayed up really late every night and Shawn and I are feeling it this week. haha. Saturday night we went to Shogun to eat, in McKinney. If you've never been there, it's one of those asian restaurants where they cook all the food right in front of you. It was soooo good. Since the beginning of the year I have been on a diet and exercise program so it was really hard not to splurge at Shogun! After the meal the waitresses all came over and sang Happy Birthday and took our picture. It was really fun and the sushi was amazing. It was Shawn's first experience at a restaurant like that and I think he really enjoyed himself.

After dinner we went to Starbucks and opened gifts. I got some new exercise pants (yay)!, as well as my FAVORITE perfume, and a pink Chi straightening iron. Then we all went and saw the late showing of Gran Torino with Clint Eastwood. (which by the way was a very good movie but too violent for my taste). When we came home we had to deal with our "psycho neighbor" (to be explained in my next post).

The next morning we went to Fellowship Church in Plano for a change of pace. It was a very good sermon by Ed Young Jr. but unfortunately it was only on a video screen. After church we went to Market Street and ate at a restaurant called Woodlands Grill, here in Allen. If you haven't been there, you must. It was amazing food and service. On the way home we stopped by the police station (will explain in next post) and then came home and turned the Superbowl game on and hung out and ate pizza and cake.

Since my actual birthday was Wednesday, Shawn had some more surprises up his sleeve. Wednesday night (February 4th), he surprised me and took me to a restaurant downtown Dalls called Cafe Izmir off Greenville Ave. It was an upscale Mediterranean restaurant (my favorite), and the food and service was amazing. For my birthday Shawn bought me a new cookbook, a bangle bracelet with Proverbs 3:5 on it (Trust in the Lord...), my first pair of real Birkenstocks , and a spice rack. My wonderful husband is so good to me.

I'll leave you with some pictures... and maybe I'll feel up to sharing with you about our "psycho neighbor" tomorrow. Hope you all are well.

Love, Emily

Q Tip

Q-tip was on Ellen last week - doin his own dang.

The new record sounds good.



I remember the first time I heard ATCQ was in 1990 when I was on vacation with my family in Los Angeles. I went to a record store and they had a PERSONICS machine. So I made a mixtape with a bunch of rap tunes which we had heard on the radio in LA that week (Rap was hard to come by in the nether regions of Canada at that time). For some reason I threw "I left my wallet in El Segundo" on there and it immediately became my favorite chune on the mix.

Here's Q-tip is his young prime rapping on this classic JB's cut:

The Jungle Brothers (feat De La Soul, ATCQ, Monie Love, Queen Latifah) - Doin Our Own Dang

Woo Ee Ah Ah

Lux Interior (1946-2009)

The Cramps - Let's Get Fucked Up

Green Velvet

Here's a old pic I found from 1999 of me and Green Velvet. We were djing a rave in Seattle. He was mad cool and a legend even back then. The picture was taken at the Howard Johnson Motel by a girl who said she was an exotic dancer.



Flash came out in 1995 and no other club records could fuck with it. It basically held the title until Daft Punk's Da Funk came out the following year.

FLASH (DJ SNEAK MIX) - GREEN VELVET

Just like a car, you're pleasing to be hold. I'll call you Jaguar, if I may be so bold.

I feel like dancing, but particularly with Marc Bolan or George Gershwin. Though they are both deceased (incredibly too soon in both cases), I feel the former would be a bit more accessible for a dance. Thinking about it, I can actually vividly picture Gershwin having a few sly moves at some incredibly ravishing ball.