10 of '10

So, I gave up on those 30 blogs. Oh well, the last two topics weren't anything special anyway.

Every year I blog about my favorite albums of the year. You know, just like Rolling Stone.

It's something I really enjoy, and i have a really great time doing it, so I'm not going to stop. Not even if you couldn't care less about the music I'm listening to.

Well... Here's the 2010 list:

1. Princess Dinosaur- A Goldfish and His Friends

I love this album... Well I guess, actually, it's an EP. Only 8

tracks. But those eight tracks are awesome. I been anticipating

this for a very long time. The demos for this albums were included

in my 2009 list.

I guess it's a little ironic that this album has the worst album art of

the year.

Get this album if you like Gatsbys American Dream.

2. Make Do and Mend- End Measured Mile

This is another album that I have been anticipating for

a very long time. And it's great. Everything I hoped it

would be. There are a couple rough tracks near toward

the center of the album, but the really great songs make

up for the not so great ones.

Get this album if you like Hot Water Music and great lyrics

3. Drew Danburry- Goodnight Dannii(&Grad School Ap)

Drew Danburry has probably been my favorite singer/songwriter

for the past two years or so. This album is nothing less than what I

would expect for him. I include Grad School Application with this

because it never got an official release, and it I wanted to, I could

have given drew 4 out of the 10 spots on the list, but I wanted to

be fair.

Get this if you like warm-hearted, intelligent, raw folk music.

4. Steel Train- Self-titled

I like Steel Train a lot. This album wasn't quite as good as their

previous full length, but it was still great. Very fun to listen to,

as always, and full of tracks that you just need to see performed

live. The band exhibits personality and tradition through these

tracks, and the songs never get old because of that.

Get this if you like guitar skills, rock and roll, and honest music.

5. I Can Make a Mess- The World We Know

I had very high expectations for this. Probably too high. This is

why I felt kind of let down by these songs. The previous I Can

Make a Mess Like Nobodys Business album (released in 05, I

believe), is one of my favorite albums, but this one has some

very uninteresting songs. That being said, it is easily the best thing

Ace Enders has released since 2005.

Get this if you like Ace Enders. The Early November, etc.

6. Touche Amore/La Dispute-Searching.../The Worth...

Yeah, this CD only has four tracks on it. But those four tracks are

really good! I just got into both of these bands at the beginning of

this year, and I'm pretty happy I did. It's a genre of music that I

don't go too deep into, but with bands like Touche Amore and La

Dispute, it's hard to not feel a connection to this style of

performance.

Get this if you like Post Hardcore.

7. Arcade Fire- The Suburbs

I think it's kind of hard to not like this album. Arcade Fire has

matured so much since Neon Bible was released, and this proves

it. The songs are catchy, meaningful, and fun. If you've never

listened to Arcade Fire, what are you waiting for? This would be

a good album to start with.

Get this if you like... Arcade Fire?

8. Trophy Scars- Darkness, Oh Hell

Every time Trophy Scars releases something, it blows me away.

I know I said this after Bad Luck was released, but this is the

best thing this band has ever released. The music has progressed,

the vocals have improved. It's great. I'm excited to listen to this

album more.

Get this if you like Post Hardcore, and can tolerate Satanic lyrics.

9. The Gay Blades- Savages

This is another album I've been waiting very patiently for, and I

love it! The full, rock and roll sound that this two-man band

produces knocks me back a few steps. This is fun to listen to, and

even more fun to hear live. The Gay Blades are one of those bands

that need to be seen live to be fully appreciated. Their stage antics

are great, and the music sounds better than when it's recorded.

Get this if you like rock, or the aforementioned Steel Train album.

10. Apache, The- Self-titled

Drew Danburry is a part of Apache, The, but Apache, The is

definitely NOT Drew Danburry. This music is darker, and more

raw electric rock. The lyrics are as good as anything you'd expect

from Drew, and the music is not what you'd expect. But, I love it

anyway!

Get this if you like Drew Danburry being a jerk or punk rock.

Honorable Mentions: Band of Horses, Infinite Arms; Bradley Hathaway, A Thousand Angry Panthers; Foxy Shazam, Self-titled; Frightened Rabbit, The Winter of Mixed Drinks; Pavement, Quarantine the Past: Best of Pavement; Places and Numbers, Waking the Dead; Portugal. the Man, American Ghetto; Punchline, Delightfully Pleased; Steel Train, Terrible Thrills Vol. 1; The Tallest Man on Earth, The Wild Hunt; USS Leland, Remembering Rutherford Garry; Vampire Weekend, Contra.

Day 28- One Year of Changes

A month ago when I read over the list of topics on the thirty day challenge, this topic was one of the three or four that got me really excited about writing for thirty days.

"Day 28-A picture of you last year and now- How have you changed"

Conveniently, I wrote a blog exactly like this last year. Maybe I'll make this an annual topic because I think it's a lot of fun to think about.

--------------------->

fuuuuuuuuuture jump!

There was a decade in my life were "change" was associated with fear, uncertainty, loneliness, and negativity. Now I welcome change, and I'm happy to say that my values, beliefs, goals, perspective and life has changed more this year than any other year of my life. I may not be completely satisfied with all the changes in my life, but feel like these things are pointing me in the right direction for my personal self-worth.

As far as my physical appearance goes, not a lot has changed. Other than my hair being a little longer now, losing a minimal amount of weight, and not wearing my mustache much anymore, nothing looks any different.

One significant difference in the way my body looks is something that many people don't even notice, unless I point it out to them. In the past year, I put two tattoos on my body. A fork on the inside of my lower lip (which is quickly fading away), and an anchor on my inner left leg. Both of them are hidden well, so you've never seen them, unless I've showed them to you.

As far as friendships and relationships go, during the past year I've realized, the people that want to be a part of my life, will stay in my life. "I know we won't alway keep around all we feel we need. Some are fading in frames, some were born to leave. "And I'm willing to meet most friendships 75% percent of the way (thats just the way I am), but I'm done contributing to 100% of relationships. Thats not friendship. This is a very refreshing realization.

During the past month, I've been trying to decide what my most significant experiences have been in the past year. This is what I have boiled it down to.

1. The end of my time at the Ammon Pool. I spent the last seven years of my life involved with that pool. All my memories of summertime involve the pool in one way or another. That place and those people have played a huge role in my life, and the fact that I can't go back there this coming summer makes my heart sink.

2. Babies. I'm an uncle, and I love it. First, Jaren and Joann brought Titus into the world, and I felt and saw the difference a tiny, newborn human can make in a person's life; whether that person is a mother, a father, a grandparent, an uncle, or connected in any other way. It helped me gain a whole new perspective on the value of life.

A couple months later, Geremy and Viola were blessed with the arrival of Grisham, and my perspective was reassured. It is astonishing to me to see the how much happiness a baby can bring into people's lives. I will never in my life forget slowly rocking Grisham to sleep, and watching him open his eyes every couple minutes, smiling at me, and closing his eyes again.

3. Losing "home" again. After taking a year off of school to spend in Idaho Falls with friends and family with the intent of gaining closure on my hometown, I'm still kind of sad to see my ties to that place fade away. Not only did I move away, but my parent's are also moving away in a week.

Idaho Falls will alway be the place that I grew up, and it will alway be somewhere that I can find comfort, but I've realized that I'm not tied down to that place. I'm tied down to the people. And that is also a very refreshing realization.

Day 27?- Finish what you start.

"Day 27- Why are you doing this thirty day challenge?"

Well, first of all, when I started this thirty day challenge two days after I accepted employment. I guess I didn't realize how busy I would be, and how much time I would need to dedicate to blogging to complete this "task".

Anyway, I decided to do the thirty day challenge because I really didn't have anything to do, or more appropriately, I didn't have anything to write about. I start blogs all the time. In fact, I have two or three blog beginning saved on my computer right now. But I can never finish them because I feel like they are only interesting to me... But then again, I guess thats kind of what blogging is about anyway.