August and Everything After, Rank #1

August and Everything After is the first album released by the California rock band Counting Crows. Released in 1993, the album runs for almost 52 minutes across 11 tracks. The band features Adam Duritz as lead vocals, piano, and harmonica playing, with the rest of the band (Matt Malley, Charlie Gillingham, Steve Bowman, and David Bryson) completing and filling the group. While taking notes for my ipod journey, this album had only one word to describe it: perfect.

The first time I heard this complete album I was in tenth grade. Sure, I knew the main single released off the cd, "Mr. Jones," but that was it. I was a Teachers Aide for one of my art classes, and I had a break where I sat in the teacher's office and played Minesweeper. The teacher had a stack of cds, and I decided to pop one into the computer and give it a listen. I chose August...

I sat there, entranced, amazed at what I was hearing. From the opening arpeggio chords of "Round Here" to the last hammered sounds of "A Murder of One," I was enthralled. Every day I had free time I would go back to the room and listen to that album, picking up something different, something previously unheard. I was hypnotized, and my ears were in love.

Soon I bought the album for myself, and I quickly fell in love with the Counting Crows, gobbling up all their other albums that were released at the time. But there was something special, something secret about August and Everything After. Somehow something in the beautiful singing, wonderful harmonies, captivating rhythms, and compelling lyrics was connecting with me. I could feel the emotions Duritz was singing about. I could understand a bit of what life was like for him through his songs.

So I suppose the first reason August and Everything After ranks as No. 1 on my list is due to the fact that it helped connect me to the soul of what music is all about: emotion.

In addition to the sentimental, special memories I have for this wonderful album, it has more to offer up. The songwriting is beautiful. I always had this fantasy in school that a teacher would ask us to bring in our favorite poem, and I would print the lyrics to "Round Here" and bring in those for mine. This never happened, but it was fun in my own mind.

The main song from this album has to be "Mr. Jones." (Warning, the video is a little silly, but I didn't rank videos, just songs.) Most likely you've heard this song on the radio. You've probably tapped your feet to its wonderful beat. You may have even sang along with it. Whatever the case is, this song launched the Counting Crows into stardom. Every time this song comes on I love it again, and I'm never disappointed to hear it.

Every song on this album is a perfect joy to listen to. The way the band comes together is rich and full. The album has an overall feel of sadness and mistakes, but many of these songs come across as anything but tragedy through the brilliance of the Crows.

I can't explain to you truly how wonderful this August and Everything After is. The best thing to do would be to buy an old, used copy from a local used store, or go to a flea market and pick one up for a few bucks. I've came across used copies many times, and they're always pretty cheap. Take the risk. Listen to it through and fall in love the way I did.

Week's End Miscellany #4 (Ash nazg durbatuluk)

We're at the end of another week here at Rememorandom. It's been really a pretty bland week for the blog, in part due to the fact I've been sick at my stomach off and on for a week, in part from the aftermath of many shots in the mouth, and in part that my creative, blogging juices were/are on hiatus. Now for the miscellany.

1. I will be traveling to Frankfort again next week, this time taking a class in understanding and using MicroStation. I know very little about this software, so hopefully I learn a lot, as it will be very useful to my job.

2. I watched I Love You Man the other night. It does not warrant a full review, but only a few sentences. It is basically a chick-flick, but for guys. It's laughable and funny at times, but at other times it's a little vulgar. The story was mediocre, but the theme of exploring friendship was nice. I can only half-heartedly recommend this, as it wasn't anything spectacular.

3. One for sorrow/two for joy/three for girls/four for boys/five for silver/six for gold/seven for a secret never to be told.

4. I know I've mentioned this on a few different occasions, but I really love crossword puzzles. There's something supremely satisfying in successfully solving one. Daily I work on the USA Today puzzle, and almost daily I work on the LA Times, and frequently I work on the Yahoo Daily. I really wish I had access to the NY Times, but they are not free, and I can't justify spending the cash on the NYT puzzles (yet).

5. I'm going to watch District 9 tomorrow. Can't wait. Looks awesome. And viral advertisements are usually fun.

6. I'm hoping that by next week I'll be finished with Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. The book is enormous. I can't find an exact word count, but I estimate between 150,000 and 200,000 words, at ~800 pages. At times it is slow and uneventful, but there is always enough mystery and intrigue to pull me back. Plus, it's a nice break from what I've been reading of late. Expect a full review when I am finished.

7. The ipod quest is still going strong. I'm at almost 70% of the songs I've intended to listen to. Needless to say, this has been personally epic in my undertaking.

That's it for now, folken. Tomorrow will continue on with the Weekend Specials, if you so choose to opine on what you're currently reading/writing/watching/etc. Remember:

Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul

Ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul

Why I Like Being A Nerd

I admit it, and I always have. I am a nerd. I'm a dork. I'm a geek. I'm even okay with calling myself weird. All of that is well and fine, and I take it as a compliment. You won't offend me calling me these things. In fact, I enjoy being the nerd that I am.

To begin, the definition of nerd should be addressed. Here are a three definitions found using Google's "define: nerd" function, though there were a few more results.

1. Nerd is a term often bearing a derogatory connotation or stereotype, that refers to a person who passionately pursues intellectual activities ...

2. A person who, although having good technical or scientific skills, is introspective and generally introverted

3. A form of candy currently sold by Nestlé under their Willy Wonka Candy Company brand.

In case you didn't know, I am not a form of candy sold by Willy Wonka. Nope, I'm more of a blend between the other two definitions. Basically, I really enjoy learning, reading things to improve my understanding of the physical, physiological, and psychological. I like learning about new technologies that are created to accomplish a certain task.

Pursuing knowledge is indeed a passion. It doesn't have to be scientific knowledge (though I find this branch of knowledge extremely interesting), as I enjoy pop culture, literature, and certain historical periods. Watching Jeopardy has always been fun, and I would love to get on the show some day. Indeed, playing Trivial Pursuit is always fun and challenging, and typically takes a few hours to complete.

Another thing that qualifies me as a nerd is the fact that I really love mathematics. I was a grader for two years or so during college, where I graded Engineering Calculus I, II, and III, and I also graded Differential Equations once or twice. This job was really fun, often humorous (it's amazing what struggling students will put on their papers to plea for help from the merciful/merciless graders), and educational. Working as a grader helped me keep calculus fresh, and it also sharpened my appreciation for math. You see, mathematics, be it algebra, arithmetic, or calculus, is beautiful. It is complete and perfect. Numbers are like a special type of magic that have to either work or fail. Once you understand the relationship or the theory behind something, it makes complete sense and it becomes obvious why a certain equation has to result in a certain answer.

Yes, friends, math is a beautiful and crazy thing. The field is always changing, redefining itself, questioning itself. This makes it exciting (and sometimes frustrating) to study and learn.

What else makes someone a nerd? Does the fact that I went to engineering school count? I think yes. Do conversations about technology and science fascinate me? Aye. Do I like playing around with computer programs, especially Excel, and see what I can do with them? Absolutely.

All in all, I am a unashamedly a nerd. I suppose that I always will be, even if it does occasionally drive Keisha crazy. Good luck, folks, and learn something today.

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Random Exceptional Song Lyric: "I wanted to see you walking backwards to get the sensation of you coming home. I wanted to see you walking away from me without the sensation you're leaving me alone."--Time and Time Again, Counting Crows

Song of the Week: "Round Here"

"Step out the front door like a ghost into the fog, where no one notices the contrast between white on white..."

From the captivating, poetic first line to the determined pleas at the end, Round Here is one of the greatest Counting Crows songs in their catalog. And, today, it has the honor of being crowned "Song of the Week". The fact of the matter is Adam Duritz can speak what he is feeling, something most of us cannot do very well. He is lonely, confused, afraid, misunderstood. Emotions tend to flow from him in the form of words and magically are put into a song normal folks can relate to.

Folks like me. I think part of the reason people have blogs is to offer what they are thinking or how they are feeling to the masses, e'en though the masses could generally care less (unless you're Brad Pitt or something). Who wants to read what Carol down the road has to say about the election? Or maybe what Thom got for his birthday? Isn't the blog-world like the lottery a bit? The readers never know what they're going to get from the blogs they read, truly. There is always the chance that there will be some randomness to the posts.

Maybe you read "Dan's Daily Dental Dilemmas" religiously. Day after day after day faithful Dan posts about the importance of flossing regularly, or the poor soul who lost his teeth in an automobile accident and how luckily Dan managed to create a perfect set of replica false teeth. You love to read what Dan deals with daily, and one day you click on your RSS and your jaw hits the floor (if your teeth break, that's okay, Dan's a dentist). Dan has posted something about the election, or maybe some wisdom on how to clean a cast-iron skillet. The point is, with blogs, you have no certainties in what you're going to get. And that's the same with this one. As with Adam, I feel like I "walk through myself and back again" to some unknown place. Things flood through my brain at a constant, unrelenting pace, and I find myself o'erwhelmed and confused quite often. Or misunderstood. Or afraid.

And that is why Round Here is this weeks song. Things are happening, folks. And you have to stand or jump. And who knows if there'll be a Holden Caulfield there to catch you?