Metal Love

Posted: 30/10/2011 in Bismuth, Lists, Metal
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I’m a big fan of metals.

 

Really, it can be any kind of metal, I just love them all.

 

Lists are good, too, so today I’m going to make a list about my second-favorite metal, bismuth.

 

Bismuth Crystal

Bismuth is Crazy Beautiful!

 

  1. Bismuth grows into big, beautiful crystals like the one in the picture above if it is cooled (from its relatively-low molten point of 520° F) very slowly.
  2. The symbol for Bismuth is Bi.
  3. The atomic number of Bismuth is 83.
  4. Bismuth is the most naturally diamagnetic metal.
  5. Bismuth subgallate is the active ingredient in a drug that is used to make stinky farts less stinky. Ewww…
  6. Bismuth is used in Pepto Bismol and Kaopectate to make tummies feel better and diarrhea go away (who ever thought I’d use the word “diarrhea” in my blog?).
  7. Because of its low melting point, it’s often used in alloys used to build fire suppression systems.
  8. Bismuth is used in iridescent glazes. As it should be. Look at all the pretty colors!
  9. It is used in Dragon’s Eggs, a type of pyrotechnic that crackles and shimmers.
  10. Bismuth is considered the least toxic of the heavy metals. It remains in the body only 5 days, though it can stick around in the kidneys for a while if you are treated with it heavily.
  11. You still shouldn’t eat too much of it, as it can poison you in large doses!
  12. Bismuth is being used in many countries to replace lead shot in hunting. It doesn’t, of course, cause lead poisoning in birds who ingest it accidentally, thinking it’s dirt or small rocks that they require to help with their digestion processes.
  13. Bismuth is a little brittle, it will break, and it does not fracture cleanly.
  14. Bismuth is pretty.
I hope you like bismuth as much as I do!

October $5 Deals (Very Tardy)

Posted: 26/10/2011 in Amazon $5 Deals, Uncategorized
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I apologize.

I’ve been very naughty.

I went to New York and left you all hanging… without knowing what awesome deals await you in the Amazon $5 downloads this month!

Let’s roll.

  • CAKE. Showroom of Compassion. Wow. How much can anyone love Cake? Well, a lot, I guess. I always think of Dean when I hear Cake. This album is brand new, so I was very surprised to see it in the $5 downloads. But ho0ray for happy things!
  • Rage Against the Machine. Rage Against the Machine. I lived in Sioux City when this came out. It was new. It was unlike anything I had ever heard before. I thought I was entirely cooler than everyone else in the world when I listened to this album, and perhaps I was… at least in my mind. This album was full of hate, pain, and passion! I loved it! Go buy it!
  • Gorillaz. Demon Days. I love the Gorillaz because I love the voice of the singer dude. He sounds so very Cracker. So nasal and british. I love it! Also, it’s a virtual band, a cartoon. How can you not dig it?
  • Rio. Rio Soundtrack. Admit it, you loved the movie as much as your kids did.
  • The Bird and the Bee. The Bird and the Bee. The best artist you’ve never heard of but you love because you’ve heard him without realizing it is Greg Kurstin. Greg has written and produced songs for Britney Spears,  Lily Allen, Ke$ha (still forbidden in my house despite Greg’s involvement), Kylie Minogue, and Pink. I first discovered his music when he played in a band called Geggy Tah and a catchy song called Whoever You Are. Later, he formed a crazy project called Action Figure Party (sample song: Everybody Ready) that brought together artists like Flea and Yuval Gabay and created an awesome jazz-type album that still sounds fresh and cool to my ears today. With The Bird and the Bee, he brings on board Inara George, who has a beautiful voice with an awesome range, and looks like my friend Kristi. :)
  • Ben Folds. Rockin’ the Suburbs. O, what can I say about the Ben? He’s awesome, you should know that by now. Rockin’ the Suburbs was Ben’s first solo album after the disbanding of Ben Folds Five, and I was so scared of what I’d hear after loving the band for so long. I shouldn’t have been scared, Ben delivered with songs like Annie Waits, Zak and Sara, and, of course, Rockin’ the Suburbs, all of which are classics now. A William Shatner version of Rockin’ the Suburbs was used in the movie Over the Hedge. <3
What a short list! Not much of what I call music on the list this month; as you know, this blog is about the things I like, and I can’t be everyone! If you want to see what is out there, click one of the links and find your way back to the $5 deals page and make your own list!
Because I was late you guys don’t have much time left… go get buying!
Of important note this month, I noticed a new category on the Amazon page: the $.69 80′s Hit Songs download page!  I will have to spend some time exploring that soon!

September is Here!!!

Posted: 01/09/2011 in Amazon $5 Deals
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
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A new month!

Months are important around here… every month leads to a new Amazon $5 Deals post! Here are this month’s can’t-miss titles according to the Queen of Randomland!

  • Counting Crows. Films About Ghosts. Counting Crows happens to be one of my all-time favorite bands. Their songs are catchy, their lyrics are thoughtful, and the production is tight. Plus, Adam Duritz is kinda cute and has a unique voice and vocal style. This is a “best of” album, so it’s perfect for those of you who have always listened to their music on the radio but haven’t bought any of the albums before. It has old favorites like Ana Begins and Omaha, and the song made famous by the Shrek movies, Accidentally in Love. Oh, and who could possibly forget Mr. Jones?
  • No Doubt. The Singles Collection. No Doubt hasn’t really ever been one of my favorite bands; I’ve never liked them quite enough to go out and buy their albums, but I’ve always enjoyed watching Gwen Stefani’s antics and career. There are songs of theirs that come on that make me want to shake my tushie, though. This album is perfect for those of us who just like the hits… Hella Good is one of my faves, Just a Girl and Spiderwebs both take me way back!
  • Regina Spektor. Begin to Hope. I first heard Regina Spektor singing with Ben Folds on the song You Don’t Know Me (go, listen!). She has an A.MA.ZING. range and a quirky sounding voice. You may recognize the lead song, Fidelity, from random-commercialland. A great
  • Goo Goo Dolls. A Boy Named Goo. In some way or another, the Goo Goo Dolls seem to make it to the $5 deals page nearly every month (I’ve been doing this list a while, though previously it was a part of my facebook page). This month we get A Boy Named Goo, which, if you’ve only ever heard them on the radio, contains the songs Long Way Down and Name. There are also a lot of good songs on there that you’ve never heard. Give it a listen, their music is very 90′s alt rock, and you will adore it!
  • The Ramones. Greatest Hits. Who doesn’t like The Ramones? You? Well, you’ve got a problem, man! This quintessential punk rock band has influenced just about everyone, even my 11-year-old daughter. Blitzkreig Bop, the lead track, shows up on those funky paper guitars you see in the Walgreen’s, and I’ve caught my daughter rockin’ out to this song in the aisles many a time! This album also includes such classic titles as I Wanna Be Sedated, Do You Remember Rock and Roll Radio?, Sheena Is a Punk Rocker, and Rock ‘N’ Roll High School. Buy it.
  • Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers. Rare Bird Alert. Steve Martin? THE Steve Martin? Yes, one and the same. He’s moved on from stand-up and movies to become a banjo-playin’ silly-song-singin’ star. Well, he was already a star, I guess, but… yeah. Check it out, stretch your mind, and listen to something new and amusing. Steve Martin playing King Tut with a banjo band. Yeeeee-haw!

That’ll do it for this month. Come back in October for another!

Woman-Girl

Posted: 22/08/2011 in Family, Love, Pain
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Well, I’m done-for now.

My baby girl, that lovely little squirmy bundle of new skin, black hair, black eyes, healthy lungs, and sweet scents has gone and done it.

Done what? Well, she… she.. she grew up!

How dare she? Hasn’t she been paying attention? For 11 years I’ve told her “You’re not allowed to grow up,” or “You may stop getting bigger now.” I know I’ve mentioned this fifty or sixty thousand times at least.

She went from cute and smiley to large and attitude-y.

The story is this:

I took my baby clothes shopping this weekend. Yes, clothing. The stuff we put on our bodies to keep us warm and modest.

The problem with this shopping trip is that it was not *gasp* at a CHILDREN’S CLOTHING STORE!!!

Why not? She is, after all, only 11. She should still be able to fit in things from Justice, no?

Nope. Not my kid. We’re blessed with “tall genes” in my house. I’m 6′ tall, you know. Her dad is hugemongous. His dad is hugemongous. My dad is hugemongous. My brother is super-hugemongous. We’re a supercalifragilistically huge family.

So, we have an 11 year old who is already 5’2 1/2″, so all the cute little peace-out shirts, school skirts, leggings, etc… none of that fits her. So, I gave up trying. It’s better to start off somewhere where I know she won’t want everything, only to be disappointed that none of it actually fits. Who wants a nuclear meltdown in the kids’ aisle?

We went to the GAP.

I really wasn’t expecting a whole bunch. I’m not a GAP shopper, I’m  more of an Old Navy kinda gal.

My first problem was figuring out what size the kiddo should wear. I had no clue. She’s still a little young, so (this will embarrass her greatly should she ever read it–hee!) she’s not really “built” like a woman yet, but we were shopping for women’s clothes! I was worried the jeans wouldn’t fit, I was worried the shirts would be too tight in the middle and too loose in the bust.

I didn’t need to worry, really. We found some awesome deals, and for the first time ever, I saw my little girl get excited about shopping. She tried on everything, she admired her derriere in the mirror, she bought skinny jeans. I sent her off to school this morning in a very nice forest-green colored top, skinny jeans, her special diamond necklace, and pretty wavy hair, with just a hint of eyeshadow and lip gloss (today is picture day). She looked so very, very grown up–just the thing I’ve been so scared of for the last 11 years.She looked gorgeous, a beautiful outside to match her fabulous innards.

I’ve never been so proud.

There might or might not have been tears shed.

Liquid Love

Posted: 18/08/2011 in Family, Love
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When I had surgery last week, my mom helped me with my recovery (cuz you know my kid was no help at all, right? She viewed the whole experience as tether-free access to both the TV and the computer).

I was in pain. Well, in theory I was in a lot of pain. In actuality, I was still loopy from the anesthetic and loaded with percocet and phenergan. I was told not to sign any legal documents or make any life-altering decisions for at least 24 hours.

I wasn’t in any pain.

Not until sometime Saturday, anyway. Really I just slept through Thursday, Friday, and half of Saturday, only waking to amble awkwardly from my recliner up the stairs and to my bathroom, then back again for another round of sleep.

Anyway, pain or not, my mom took care of me. And, just like she did when I was little and not feeling well, she always had a cold glass of water and a cold glass of orange punch (pulpy orange juice mixed half and half with sprite) sitting on the table next to me.

My mommy loves me.

My Belly Button Hurts

Posted: 13/08/2011 in Life, Pain
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On Thursday I had my gall bladder taken out. It was the result of 2 years of recurring excruciating pain, and was difficult to diagnose because I had no gallstones. This is how it all went down:

For the last 2 years or so, I’d get this horrible pain, usually 1-2 hours after eating, that felt somewhat like hunger pangs on crack. They would last about a month or so, then disappear into oblivion for a while. I’d go to the doctor, they’d do a little bit of testing and guessing, then send me home with pepcid or prevacid thinking it was horrible heartburn or GERD. Of course, the pepcid and the prevacid and the tums and all other antacids did not work.

About a month ago I ended up in the ER thinking I was having a heart attack. In an effort to get me to leave the ER, they diagnosed me with “severe esophageal spasm”, dosed me up with morphine and other things, and sent me home. My personal doctor then sent me for a HIDA scan, which said that my gallbladder function was “depressed”, so my doctor then sent me to a surgeon, who recommended taking the naughty organ out.

So, Thursday morning I got up early, showered, and got my kid off to school. Then off we went to the outpatient surgery dept at the hospital. I was supposed to go to surgery at 11:30, but didn’t make it in until almost 2 (apparently bad things happened with the person who had surgery before me, as in they opened her up and found cancer they weren’t expecting–think good thoughts for her, whoever she was, please!).

Finally they were ready for me, and the anesthesiologist came in to say hi. Well, first he scolded me for being 2 hours late and holding up the schedule (joke, I was way early). He asked about my drinking habits, then, having found out I’m a lightweight (I drink less than once a year) he proceeded to tell everyone in the operating theater that I was a lush! The guy seriously missed his calling as a comedian, but he did make me feel much better about everything!

Since then, I remember next to nothing, but now it is Saturday (I think… right?), and I’m feeling ok. Still sore, but I don’t want to take a pain med because I’m not in the mood to sleep. I kinda want to go take a walk this evening, if it’s not too hot out. I feel good. yay!

But, my belly button still hurts. :)

Amazon Monthly $5 Deals

Posted: 10/08/2011 in Amazon $5 Deals, Music
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So, here’s the gig.

I have a deep and abiding love for the Amazon Cloud Player. I’ll tell you about it sometime.

My cup runneth over for the Amazon $5 deals, though. Every month, Amazon puts 100 albums on sale for $5 each (full album download only).

In my quest to revive my collection of music, which has been waning in the months and years since digital music arrived on the scene (and I sold more than a few of my CDs for cash in the dark days of my young adulthood), this deal has been a veritable blessing.

The general rule is, each month I share a list of the music on the $5 deals page that makes me happy, nostalgic, creeped out, or over-the-moon excited. Now, though, instead of saying it all in a crampy little facebook status update, I can say it all, loud and clear!

Let’s go over the August list, shall we?

  • Selena Gomez: When the Sun Goes Down. I cannot tell you how happy it made me to see this on the $5 deal page. Do you know how much begging my 11-year-old daughter has done trying to get me to buy this? Not that Selena isn’t great, she is. She’s a great latina role model, she’s determined, hard working, and bright. But, dammit, those songs… my kid will sing them 24/7/365 and drive me insane!!!
  • Sublime. Sublime. Wow. A classic, but not necessarily safe for small children. I remember cruising around Tucson listening to “April 29, 1992″ in my white dodge neon. Thinkin’ I was all bad-ass and down with the word and shiznit. This is the explicit album, and will not be going on my daughter’s iPod, that’s for darned tootin’.
  • Billy Joel. The Hits. OK, this is another album that will primarily be for the kiddo. For some reason, she loves to listen to the 70′s station. Inevitably, I hear her singing Billy Joel songs at random times. Not newer ones, the old, good songs like “Allentown” and “Only the Good Die Young”. I have a feeling this one will get high priority on her iPod.
  • They Might Be Giants. Here Come the 123′s. Could it, seriously, get any better than this, ever? And wow, what staying power TMBG has had over the years. I still smile when I hear them, and I think their new stuff is just as fabulously wonderific as their old school stuff is. This album is, actually, one of a few kids albums they made in the last few years. If you have small ones, and want them to be just as corrupt crazy irritable smart and intelligent as you are after having grown up listening to TMBG on a regular basis, get them this. Who doesn’t need a big grin on their face every day?
  • Goo Goo Dolls. Dizzy Up the Girl. This is the album that got the rest of the world to see what us freaks had and weren’t sharing with the rest of the world. The song “Iris” was on the soundtrack of some crazy movie with some obscure actors in it, and all of a sudden everyone wanted to listen to Goo. I hold no grudges, though. Nope. No grudge. I have absolutely no problem with the fact that somewhere along the lines “alternative” music went freaking mainstream and made the weirdos seem normal. Not that any of us liked being odd at all. No, no way.
  • Morrissey. Greatest Hits. OK, actually, I can’t stand Morrissey. I only added it to the list because I know some of you do like Morrissey, though I’ve never quite been able to fathom why. He’s brilliantly depressing. He makes me want to go find a cliff and contemplate jumping off of it. But, there it is, for you fans. Or the wannabes.
  • Thelonius Monk. The London Collection, Vol. 1. If you need an explanation here then there’s no help to be had. The Barenaked Ladies mention him in their song “A”. Lots of groovy piano. WARNING: It’s old and it’s jazz. Some people can’t handle that.

That’s it for this month’s list. I shall spend $35. Go look at the list and tell me what you are going to buy in the comments, and come back next month for the September list!

Ciao!

-The Queen T