Music Monday 48 :: Joyce's Sleepful Slumber

A former student, Joyce, loves music. She attends lots of concerts and has a good ear for good stuff. She recently posted this list of music on Facebook. It's her playlist for falling off to sleep. I like the list. Many of her friends like it. I'm guessing that you'll join the rest of us in liking the list as well ... and getting a good night's rest.

Oh, and after a great deal of discussion, me and some others convinced Joyce that she should start a blog. You'll find her on Posterous.

Here's the 'sleepful slumber' playlist (that's the name that I've given to the list).

1. Lover Tonight - Will Hoge (Again Somewhere Tomorrow version)
2. Arms of A Women - Amos Lee
3. My Love - Gareth Asher
4. Leaving Again - Chad Perrone (Live At Tupelo Music Hall version)
5. Over You - Jay Nash
6. Barcelona - Jay Nash
7. I Cant Make You Love Me - Tony Lucca
8. She Burns Like Summer Sun - James Morrison
9. The Wind - Amos Lee
10. Quit You - Chad Perrone (Live At Tupelo Music Hall version)
11. Something That You Do - Gareth Asher
12. Use Me Up - Hanson
13. The Right Time (Honeygirl) - Gareth Asher
14. Unstoppable - Keaton Simons
15. Carousel - Will Hoge
16. Hang - Matchbox Twenty
17. Misery - Hanson
18. 30 Some Days - Matt Duke
19. Dirty Little War - Will Hoge
20. Flower In Rain - Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers
21. Globes and Maps - Something Corporate
22. Ash Like Snow - Matt Duke (Acoustic Kingdom Underground version)
23. Hammers And Strings (A Lullaby) - Jack's Mannequin
24. Colorblind - Counting Crows
25. Tables and Chairs - Backseat Goodbye
26. Forever - Ben Harper
27. Close Your Eyes - Dave Barnes
28. Sea and the Rhythm - Iron & Wine
29. The End - Jason Reeves
30. Walk Away - Jay Nash
31. Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
32. Burn - Ray LaMontagne
33. Never Think - Rob Pattinson

Incredibly Annoying Reasons Why I Can't Sleep!

The title says it all:

• elderly neighbors who can hear each other argue, but I can hear them CLEARLY! It may seem unreasonable, and uncaring but I've called the police on them more than once.
  
• upstairs neighbor who must put on her heels from the time she wakes in the morning @ 6 a.m.-ish and clip clops up and down the hall all morning until 8 a.m.-ish; am I the only one who takes off her shoes when entering the house and don't put them on until I leave the house?
• trains ... damn trains
• running water - I can actually hear the water running through the pipes in my building
• The refrigerator - love the food inside, but sometimes the drone keeps me from dreaming
  
• The sound of the heat coming and on and then turning off, coming on and then off ...
  
• The sound of the helicopter landing at the hospital across the street

This girl is mad and sleep deprived ... ask me when I'm moving? In a few weeks ... the countdown is on.

Music ... being open-minded

My friend Darryl, Who's done a couple of podcasts with me is a bona fide fan of Michelle Ndegeocello. It's not that I am not a fan, I just like for my music to have more beats, which I really enjoyed on "Cookie: The Anthropological Mixtape". However, I was underwhlemled with "Comfort Woman" (that put me in a near Rip Van Winkle slumber).

What I will say (and it is not a ground-breaking observation) is that Ndegeocello can not and will not be musically categorized. The fact that she can be a beat provider or a mellow driven serenader is a wonderful talent and I admire that.

I am intrigued by the title of her latest project "The World Has Made Me The Man Of My Dreams". I will definitely get around to listening to this one and probably in the next few weeks. I have to listen to it to determine if I like it or not and it could very well be the best thing in the musical pot, right?

Sleep tight ...

Aaaaaah, sleep. Is it really overated? What does it take to get a good night of rest? Well, I can tell you, ranting neighbors are a nuisance and a major barrier to getting any shut eye. This, my friend, is a rant:

I recently moved. When I went to check out my fabulous apartment, it was just that. Boy, does it look good empty. Nice white walls, wonderful in-ceiling lighting, tall ceilings, carpeting throughout, new windows ... I could go on, but I think that you get the point - it is super cute.

What I could not see at 10:30 in the morning was how thin the walls are at my new and fabulous digs. I also did not get a chance to hear my very loud and obnoxious next door neighbors. I have not had a good nights rest since I've moved and they are mostly to blame. They argue and argue and fuss and fight; they are loud and boisterous and the worst part is that they begin fighting at a very early hour - typically around 3:30 a.m. and it is continuous; in some cases up to three hours. What I've failed to mention is that my neighbors are an elderly Hungarian couple. Yep. Too late to feel sorry for them; it is me who needs your sympathy.

Now, keep in mind that most of the time I am the one who sleeps soundly, but now I have a nearby train; a roaring HVAC system right outside my bedroom window; another building tenant who seems to don her heels as slippers because the clip-clopping begins soon after the disruptive octagenerians. Oh, woe is me ...

So, what to do, what to do? Move of course, that is my only option! Right? Heck no, though it is a possibility. But my options are not extensive. I've tried ear plugs and I got major scars in my ear canal from that. One friend suggested Tylenol P.M., but I'm not into taking drugs to help me sleep when the remedy is just a little bit of consideration.

So my recourse is to call the police each and every time the neighbors get rowdy. Do I feel bad about it calling the police on an elderly couple? No, not really; not since the one time when I rang their bell and asked the wife if she was okay and if they could keep it down (that was at 7:30 a.m.) ... they continued to squabble until well after 11 a.m. when I took my sleep deprived self and departed the premises to head to work. Actually, I plan to recommend to the officers that they should issue a disturbing the peace citation and eventually a fine if this keeps up.

I could go on and on ... but why, it is getting late and I am sleepy. If I hit the sack now, I could possibly get in six hours of shuteye before the human alarm pierces through my walls ...