Musically sheltered

When I was growing up, my mother sheltered me, musically. I could probably say that she stifled me, somewhat, but she didn't do it on purpose. She just didn't like any music besides country, so whenever I was with her (which was basically all the time) that's all we listened to. As an anecdote to illustrate my point, I remember being in either jr. high or early high school and being all "Man! Dad, Mom said you like The Beatles? (as if The Beatles were a new and cool thing that virtually no one knew about) They're really neat sounding!" I'm pretty sure Dad just sighed resignedly and let it go. (Fun fact: The first Beatles song I really remember was "Free as a Bird")

Because of all of this, I am actually quite a fan of pre-pop country. As in, country when there was still a twang (I am from Texas, after all), but not so much that it was grating. Y'all, it was 80s/90s Country, and it was sooo good. To name a few:

Garth Brooks
Reba McEntire
George Strait
Brooks & Dunn
Vince Gil
Diamond Rio
Trisha Yearwood
John Michael Montgomery
Martina McBride
Faith Hill
Tim McGraw
Kathy Mattea
Toby Keith
Deana Carter
Trace Adkins
Terri Clark
The Judds
SheDaisy
Chely Wright
Sara Evans
The Dixie Chicks....

I could probably go on. (Ok, fine. That was way more than "a few") I also recognize that some of these are really pushing the pop country line, but I don't care. They are sooooooo good (reiterated and with more o's). Anywho, here's your little bloggy dose of 90s country:



I Cross My Heart - George Strait
This always reminds me of gymnasium dances in jr. high. *swoon*



Safe in the Arms of Love - Martina McBride
Not one of her biggest hits, but I wanted something upbeat and... really none of the really good girl songs are upbeat...


Shameless - Garth Brooks
ZOMG. best. My internet searches for random info on Mr. Brooks yielded rumors of a tour with Trisha Yearwood and/or Reba McEntire as openers. YES, PLEASE. I'd pay to see that shit, for sure.




In other news, I think I have discovered the secret to being able to wake up in the morning. I usually... like every morning (read: 11:30am)... will lay in bed and just in general not want to get up for probably an hour depending on when I have set my alarms (all 4 of them) and which one actually wakes me up. But I also usually... like pretty much every night... right before I go to bed, I'll eat something. I'm not talking a little something, either. I mean like a plateful (or 2) of pasta. I accidentally didn't do that earlier this week and ended up waking up at 6 in the morning. Go figure. So I also didn't eat a ton of carbs right before bed last night, and I was able to coherently wake up at 6:45 and remember that I had to be at work at 8. I think I will continue with this. It worked surprisingly well.



Lastly, www.whothetweet.com CONSUMED my morning in a ball of flames. Amusingly accurate and somewhat revealing flames.