Can you hear me now?

Okay, lame title. It wouldn't be so lame if Verizon hadn't driven it into the ground! It's a phrase that's been heard in my car many, many times lately (but not anymore). This is a story about two ears (and their owner (who has a small outer ear and ridiculously narrow ear canals - probably not relevant)) in search of headphones - for both cell phone and MP3 player.

MP3 Player "Earbuds"
I've written more than once about the saga of my earbud search for my iPod (Olivia). Starting almost a year ago, I announced that I was on the hunt for a replacement -- the Apple buds really hurt my ears. A few days later, I announced that I'd found the perfect solution: a pair of buds that went further into the ear and were all kinds of soft & squishy (aka canal-sealing buds).

All seemed well. I had to use the smallest covers (the child-size ones), but they fit very comfortably. Alas! Instant dizzy spell, thanks to my Miniere's, which hardly bugged me anymore. I waited a week and tried again and was immediately dizzy. Well, crap. Pouting, I went back to the original Apple buds, hesitant to spend a dime on another pair that might end up being a waste. With money being tight, they were hardly a priority (The Skull Candy buds are on their way to a reader who has similar fit issues and was looking for resources. I cleaned 'em up really well, and am sending another alcohol pad in case she can't find replacement covers. I did only wear them twice, for a few minutes each time.)

Well, last week, the Apple buds broke a little (speaker side on one of the ear pieces popped off), plus the sound quality has been diminishing (they are three years old and have taken a beating). I took advantage of the Rite Aid campaign* to transfer Sheldon's prescriptions and get two $25 gift cards. Out of desperation, I grabbed the cheapest pair they had ($5.99) and used one of the cards to pay for it. Woot! It's just a tiny bit smaller (see crappy pic, left - new ones on top, Apple on bottom), but that seems to make all the difference: it fits better and is more comfortable. The sound quality is better, too. Haven't reached perfection yet, but I'm closer to it than I've been.

Specifics: Maxell Stereo EB-125 Earbuds. (No link because I don't know what site to link to, since I'm still pissed at Amazon over their indexing SNAFU a couple of weeks ago and have never heard of the other companies that came up with a search, but here's a pic, right.)

*Worth it for the gift cards, but what a serious pain in the ass! I had to go a total of 3 times to get one of the pills refilled - a med that Shel has been taking for two years. No other drugstore has ever had a delay in filling that script, but this store could not do it. And every time I went, the wait was long and annoying. (The third time, they had the pills and they were bottled up, but whoever finished it hadn't followed their process and it had to be repriced. In my favor, so I appreciate it, but this was the third time, so I was annoyed.)

Cell Phone Headset
This headset is dorky as hell, but, for the first time, people I'm talking to can hear me. Apologies for the picture - it was taken on laundry day, so no makeup and hey, there are my sheets in the back seat (in one of the Ikea bags I use to tote laundry to & fro.) I wish my necklace wasn't flipped over, because it's cool.

The headset pictured is, no kidding, my fourth in three weeks. I had a vague recollection of a law being passed forbidding drivers in the city of Detroit to hold their cell phones up to their heads. I'm too lazy to look it up, but don't want to risk a ticket. Besides, the driving is scary at times, so being hands-free is a good thing - I'd do it anyway if there wasn't a law (stupid, useless laws). The speakerphone on my cell kind of sucks, so I've been on the search for an affordable, but usable, headset.

#1: Purchased at Kmart. When I plugged it in, it let loose with a high-pitched squeal and redialed the last number I'd called. Oh, not good, but livable if I could use it to talk to people. Result: nope - no one could hear me, at full volume and shouting. Returned for a full refund.

#2: Borrowed from work. Looked high-tech and expensive. Also emitted the squeal, but did not dial my phone for me (appreciated). Result: Sadly, no one could hear me. I scrubbed it down with alcohol (again) and returned it to the box of miscellaneous phone parts (maybe that's why it was in the box to begin with).

#3: Cheating -- I found an old one in my car that had a broken ear piece (the little speaker was hanging by tiny wires). I glued it back together and tried it. Result: nope - squeal, followed by redial, followed by "You're so muffled." I don't remember if the thing worked with my previous phone. Probably not. Tossed into the trash.

#4: Purchased on Saturday at Best Buy. $14.99 ($6 less than the "best" one, with a really short boom), and recommended by one of the sales associates. I look like a helicopter pilot, but everyone I've tried talking to on it can hear me. Besides not being very portable, the only drawback I've found is that there is no connect/disconnect button anywhere (I have to use the buttons on the phone). The little button that I thought performed that function is a mute button, which could have its benefits. All-in-all, I'm quite satisfied.

Specifics: Rocketfish Hands-free Over-the-head Headset. Also works on X-box Live, or so I'm told. Not suitable for Skype.

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Christmas 2008 Playlist

I stayed up way too late putting this together!

1. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year - Andy Williams
2. Happy Holidays - Andy Williams
3. Christmastime (Oh Yeah) - BNL
4. In the Bleak Midwinter - Bert Jansch
5. It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas - Bing Crosby
6. Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms
7. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
8. Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives
9. Merry Christmas Darling - The Carpenters
10. Driving Home for Christmas - Chris Rea
11. Saviours Day - Cliff Richard
12. Let it Snow! - Dean Martin
13. Baby it's Cold Outside - Dean Martin
14. The Christmas Song - Diana Krall
15. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Diana Krall
16. Count Your Blessings Instead of Sleep - Diana Krall
17. White Christmas - The Drifters
18. Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt
19. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Ella Fitzgerald
20. I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas - Gayla Peevey
21. Ring Out Solstice Bells - Jethro Tull
22. Sleigh Ride - Johnny Mathis
23. Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano
24. Christmas Vacation - Mavis Staples
25. Don't Need a Reindeer - The Moody Blues
26. Scrooge - Muppet Christmas Carol
27. Good King Wenceslas - Muppet Christmas Carol
28. One More Sleep 'til Christmas - Muppet Christmas Carol
29. It Feels Like Christmas - Muppet Christmas Carol
30. Bless Us All - Muppet Christmas Carol
31. Thankful Heart - Muppet Christmas Carol
32. All I Want for Christmas is You - Olivia Olson
33. What Are You Doing For New Year's Eve? - The Orioles
34. We Need a Little Christmas - Percy Faith
35. Thank Got it's Christmas - Queen
36. Santa Claus is Watching You - Ray Stevens
37. Snoopy and the Red Baron Christmas - Royal Guardsmen
38. Silent Night Holy Night - Sinead O'Connor
39. Christmas Time is Here - Vince Guaraldi Trio
40. All I Want for Christmas is You - Vince Vance & the Valiants
41. Christmas at Ground Zero - "Weird Al" Yankovic

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Haunted Juke Box

(I think there is actually a radio station with this name, but I thought it was a cool title. Bear with me.)

As mentioned previously (like, yesterday), I am in pursuit of a really excellent collection of Halloween music. I'm well on my way, but I'd love to get some suggestions. I need to make at least two different mixes, possibly three.

Mixes
1. Party mix. Not necessarily traditional; one of the songs on this list is Santana & Everlast's "Put Your Lights On."


2. Kid-friendly
2b. Kid-friendly with no rock n' roll or references to witches, etc. ("I put a spell on you" from the Hocus Pocus soundtrack would be right out.)

3. Vintage mix (I think I have this one covered with some of the downloads I got yesterday. (Some really excellent big band music, Louis Armstrong, etc., but more is better.))

Suggestions welcome! Think back to a Halloween party you've been to -- if you remember the music, what song really stood out? Is there a song you've thought should be in a Halloween mix? Share!

Maybe we can work out a swap later this summer, if anyone is interested. I can guarantee a drawing for one - or all - of the mixes I come up with, come September (my goal anyway).

Back to the drawing board
Well, crap. The super-cool earphones that I got over the weekend? Trigger dizzy spells for me right now. It could be b/c the Miniere's is acting up, so I'm holding onto them to test later. This sucks, because they were very comfortable! They were, however, really loud: inside the house (so not a lot of outside noise), the absolute lowest setting on my iPod (aka Olivia) is almost too loud.

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Me & my Shadow

Except for Neo, who is John's baby, I am the other cats' favorite person. To be honest, I'm not sure why. John is way nicer to them than me.

Cass, pictured here, takes the devotion to extremes. There is an area on my "desk" (old gate leg table (I hate it)), to the right of my keyboard, that is hers. Before I switched to left-mousing, getting anything at all done was a chore; she would lay down, near my hand, then sprawl, stretching more and more, until I had to move the keyboard and mouse over. Then she'd shift again.

A couple of months ago, I got (what I thought was) a clever new mousepad with a calculator on the end. It didn't work out so well for me, but that's okay: it's Cass's spot now. The calculator part has to align with the edge of the table, and the mouse pad part must be kept completely clear. Once she starts doing the thing where she walks back & forth in front my monitor, I just have to tap the mousepad and she walks over to it and sits down. (Only if it's completely clear.) She still spreads out, but I've found that keeping a novel next to the keyboard keeps her from "helping" me type. As long as she's touching me, she's happy.

Halloween Music, Stories & More
For years, I've wanted to do a kick-ass CD mix as a Halloween party favor - or just a gifty to friends - but have never really gotten in gear. Well, thanks to this guy, I will have what I've always wanted! It's a great resource for sound effects and readings (like Christopher Lee reads the Exorcist). He's struggling to keep it all available, so if you find something you like, shoot him a couple of bucks, okay?

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Blast from the Past

I need to dig out and scan some more old pictures. I love including them in my posts!

I can remember my mother singing two songs to me when I was a little girl. One of them gave me nightmares. Can you guess which one?

"Let the Sunshine in" (Pebbles & Bamm Bamm)


"Que Sera Sera" ("Video" of Doris Day)


Answer at the bottom.

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Antique Amish Pincushion

Completely OT. I was in an antique store in Tennessee several years ago, and found a hackey sack labeled: "Antique Amish Pincushion." I think they wanted $5 for it.

Because I'm in a kooky mood, does anyone know what movie this is from?: Amish Terrarium. (I know, just wondering if there are other fans out there.)

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The Answer
I believe that "Let the Sunshine In" contributed to one pretty scary nightmare I had when I was very young. In it, the red dude with the pitchfork showed up at my house and took a bunch of us hostage in my parents bedroom. "Us" would have been my mom, brother and I, and the mom and kids of a family we were friends with. I'm guessing our dads were hunting. I saved us all with my magic blanket. But really -- a kid's song about the devil? Big shocker. Thank goodness I had my magic blanket. (Mom threw it away a few years later. I still haven't forgiven her completely. She wasn't a sentimental soul. She threw out my Barbies too, including Growing Up Ginger, which was the coolest doll, ever. I haven't forgiven her for that, either.)

Speaking of Ginger, I've only met a couple of people in my life who've heard of this doll and only one who had one. She was a Skipper-size doll (there was a "Growing up Skipper," too), with a flexible torso; when you cranked her arm, she grew about an inch taller, and boobs popped out.

I got mine on Easter weekend, 1975, on my way to spend break with my paternal grandparents. Apparently, it was quite controversial, but I thought I was being clever: two dolls for the price of one!

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More Tunes

Looks like I'm going to be up a little later tonight than intended. I finally caved and signed up for iTunes so I could download the song I mentioned earlier* and the other one I remembered**. They had the former (woot) but not the latter (weird). I also tracked down an MP3 of this fantastic performance. You know, I don't care if the Canon is corny or whatever people want to call it. I like it. And I really like it on electric guitar.

Since I got my new computer a couple months ago, and lost my my iTunes, I haven't gotten everything straightened out; I've just been using my work computer to charge my iPod. But it's time. I was serious about either just sending out CDs or doing a swap if anyone is interested.

*The Vogues, You're the One (not an easy task -- iTunes has crap-loads of re-recorded stuff and the first one I bought was not the original)

**Badfinger, Day after Day. Hello? How can they only have re-recorded versions and not one copy of the original? Come on!

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It's almost zen; Tunes

I heard something on the radio last week, and darn if I can't find any stats to support it (yet), but it intrigued me: angry drivers use more gas than patient drivers. Well, yeah, if you think about it: impatient/angry drivers are constantly revving their engines, running up on the car in front of them, braking hard, switching lanes, etc.

I hate driving. Like, a lot. Of course, I have a near-hour commute each morning and a slightly longer one each afternoon. Thank God I get to work from home one day a week, because I would have to find another job if I had to do this every day. Part of my drive involves 275, which stretches from here to Florida, and part of that includes at least 2 different junctions where I have to get across all the lanes in a reasonable amount of time to stay on my route. (This is not a picture of 275. It's a picture I borrowed from Microsoft Clip Art.)

275 is kind of notorious for asinine, aggressive drivers and 80+MPH speeds. By the time I get to work (and have to deal with the shuttle, which is a whole other post), I'm wiped out. Getting home is worse, and that's only if I don't have errands to run afterwards.

I'm a little impatient, but I'm not an ass; however, I decided to try something new: driving more patiently. All week, I've been just going the speed limit, or even a little less (if someone is going slow in front of me). I do still switch lanes if I get behind someone moving very slowly, but no longer freak out if they're going below 75. My speedometer hasn't seen 80 all week. I don't know if my gas mileage has improved, but I am calmer in the car. I figure that it might take me 4-5 minutes longer to get somewhere, but I'm calmer, and safer, when I arrive.

Tunes
You know how, when you are trying to remember a song that you like, but it just won't come? Awhile back, I was putting together a list of songs for John to track down for me, and I couldn't remember one song for the life of me. I finally gave up. Over the weekend, I jumped in the car to run to the grocery store, and it was on the radio! I had left the radio tuned to the oldies station (rare for me), and I'm so glad! I haven't found it yet, but at least I know what I was looking for: You're the One (That I Love) by the Vogues, released the year I was born. There's always another song, just out of reach.

Other old favorites that have randomly popped up:
Build me up Buttercup, The Foundations (for Bec)
Come a Little Bit Closer, Jay and the Americans
Black Betty, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (never heard it my whole life until a few months ago)
Oh How Happy, Shades of Blue (I liked this song before I knew that John's uncle was the lead singer)
A Little Bit of Soap, The Jarmels

So... is anyone interested in an eclectic CD mix from me? I'll put a couple together if anyone wants, just for fun. Regular CD or MP3, just say the word. Even better, but not necessary: a music swap, so I can hear some other folks' eclectic faves.

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