Tag Archives: weekend

Friday Finds (and, oh, there are some goodies!!)

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  1. Do you ever meet someone and immediately respect them? I officially met Chuck at a conference back in February, and he made quite an impression on me. This is from his blog, which he stole from John Maxwell: “We exaggerate yesterday.  We overestimate tomorrow. But we vastly underestimate today! When your mind is focused on yesterday, your heart will be filled with regret from the past. When your mind is focused on tomorrow, your heart will be filled with anxiety about the future.  When your mind is focused on today, your heart will be filled with hope. If you change what you do today, your life will change! 
  2. If you need some inspiration and motivation for your weekend creativity, go HERE. I found it via Jeff Goins (gah I promise I’m not obsessed with JG. I could talk equally as much about Ms. Messy Canvas if I wanted. And maybe I will.)
  3. Want to be challenged to dig deeper into yourself and find the diamonds that may be hidden? Go read some Messy Canvas. Her words are worth the time. & I like to call her The Messy Mandy (as if I’m not!)…
  4. And what’s floating around in my brain today? We cannot create from the depths if we are not willing to reach down and dig. So, this weekend, I’m doing some serious digging.
What are you doing this post-memorial-day weekend? Any creative aspirations on your calendar?

#92: On NPR

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Well, y’all.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a song on here. Believe it or not, I’m up to 93 now.

Here’s #92 – submitted to NPR in response to their weekend songwriting challenge… The song had to be original, written this weekend, and use at least one of the following words: Japan, firecracker, dog, lampshade, NPR. I’m one of the nuts who actually jumped at the chance – grabbing headlines and ideas from the NPR.org website.

Some of the others’ entries are fantastic. But, who knows? Maybe this’ll end up on the radio!

For all you songwriting geeks: I’m trying to grow in writing “story songs.” From what I hear, they are very … captivating. I’m also making an effort to use more descriptive words and very specific details. They say that detail draws the listener in and makes the song more believable. (“They” being the writers of all these songwriting books, articles, and blogs I’ve been ingesting as of late.) (“Ingesting” being a more descriptive and interesting word than reading. See? “They” would be proud! ;) )

For all you music geeks: This is the first time I’ve employed the trick of playing a bass lick on the acoustic, then churning the tone down 12 notches to get a bass guitar feel out of it. I don’t know if it’s convincing – but I’m all about experimenting as I go.

ON NPR
~mandy thompson

I ran into his shop just the other day
crying for a cut&color or else I’d pull a lampshade
over this maddening mop of messy hair
A bombastic fog of fashion error

he started telling me about insurance for his dog
grab a green apple to get the whole Beatles catalog
David Archuleta is like the green bay packers
And all the chemicals packed in fire crackers

I had to stop … and ask him where he got
all this & he said

On NPR on NPR
It’s the kind of thing you hear about on NPR
between Keillor telling stories about Guy Noir
Edelstein reviewing Where The Wild Things Are
Scott Simon interviews Kareem Abdul Jabbar
It’s the kind of thing you hear about on NPR

& he styled & talked about Renee Montagne
and Earth and Sky and Day to Day
Echoes and Talking Plants and Lost and Found Sound
and Hearing Voices and Future Tense and Here and Now

And the American Battalion in Afghanistan
and Obama’s alliance announced in Japan
& when he finally finished with my hair
I thanked him & tipped & climbed out of his chair

& when I started my car I spun my dial to NPR

CHORUS

Weekend War:

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It’s Monday morning. And I woke up feeling MUCH better, but I thought the stupid cold was gonna do me in. The battle waged on for days.

Friday night:

  • Was supposed to sing at a Christmas party, called in sick.
  • Went to CVS for drugs. They have them there.
  • Came home.
  • Took drugs.
  • Ate pop-sickles.
  • Watched Lost.
  • Tried to sleep on the couch.

Saturday:

  • Breakfast at a prof’s house.
  • Nap on the couch.
  • Watched Lost with Drew.
  • Ate pop-sickles.
  • Watched more Lost with Drew
  • Nap again.
  • Chili’s with our BFFs who are moving on Thursday.
  • Tried to sleep on the couch.

Sunday:

  • Woke up to get ready for church.
  • Thought I was gonna die.
  • Called pastor and went back to sleep.
  • Slept late.
  • Talked to Kristi (met-on-the-net).
  • Napped.
  • Ate lunch with Drew (he cooked – bless him!)
  • Showered (it’d been a while…)
  • Begged Drew to let me out of the house to see the snow.
  • Went for a Sunday drive with Drew.
  • Napped again.
  • Watched Lost with Drew.
  • Ate more pop-sickles.
  • Successfully slept on the couch.

Monday morning – I won the war! After a good night’s sleep and the fever gone, I think I”m on the mend. Whew.

Casualties:
One massive fever
One entire box of Kleenex
Eleventy-two pop-sickles

So. Please tell me you had a more enjoyable weekend than I did!?