...on Facebook, so I thought I'd go ahead and post it here too, get as much mileage from it as I can. In case anyone wants to follow suit. :)

25 Albums

Think of 25 albums that had a profound effect on you. They changed your life or the way you looked at it. They sucked you in and took you over for days, weeks, months, years.

These are the albums that you use to identify time, places, people, and emotions. These are the albums that musically shaped your world.

***No being cool, which albums have you actually listened to thousands of times?

Readers should feel free to guess (or ask) why particular albums are there.

In no particular order:

1. Francis Cabrel – Question d’Equilibre
2. Elton John – Captain Fantastic & the Brown Dirt Cowboy
3. Elton John – The Fox
4. Elton John – Blue Moves
5. Elton John – 21 at 33
6. Billy Joel – Glass Houses
7. Tori Amos – From the Choirgirl Hotel
8. Genesis – Abacab
9. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
10. VNV Nation – Futureperfect
11. Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral
12. Peter Gabriel – Shaking the Tree
13. Donny Osmond – To You With Love
14. Josh Groban – Closer
15. Sting – Brand New Day
16. Peter Frampton – Frampton Comes Alive
17. Al Hirt – Sugar Lips
18. Commodores – Commodores Live!
19. Purple Rain Soundtrack
20. The 5th Dimension – The Age of Aquarius
21. Grease Soundtrack
22. Simply Red – Picture Book
23. Apoptygma Berzerk – Welcome to Earth
24. Alanis Morrissette – Jagged Little Pill
25. Laurie Anderson – Big Science

I found this on some message boards...

Psychopath Test

Read this question, come up with an answer, and then click through for the result. This is not a trick question. It is as it reads.

A woman, while at the funeral of her own mother, met a man she did not know. She thought he was 'amazing'. She believed him to be her dream partner, so much so that she fell in love with him right there, but never asked for his number and could not find him. A few days later she killed her sister.

Question:

What was her motive for killing her sister? Give this some thought before you answer.

( Click to see the answer. )

... what would you do?

Toutatis is coming.

Okay, so we're probably not going to be destroyed in one fell swoop. Probably. But, what if we were? Now that's an interesting question. I watched a movie last night called "The Core." I highly recommend it. It seems, on the surface, like your typical disaster flick, world coming to an end, cute scientist and even cuter shuttle pilot have to team up to save the earth. But, at its core (forgive me the pun?), it's much more. The dialogue is amazingly well-written. It's character-centric, as opposed to technology- or special-effects-centric, and good people die for right and wrong reasons.

And then, after experiencing that movie, I wake up today to discover that we have another comet crisis. Toutatis is breathing down our necks. Mind you, this happens every 4 years, and it's only in the cosmic realm that it's actually considered close, but... still. It makes you think.

So, if you knew you were probably going to die on Wednesday, what would you do?

And, well, how come you're not doing it now?

When you're a creative, your greatest challenge is balancing living life with writing about it. How do you know when it's appropriate to just live life, and when is it appropriate to write about it? Writers have to love. They have to live. They have to experience the world, or they have no idea what they're writing about. They have to push their boundaries. They have to break through their fears. It's addictive. But then, so is making it all up and living it that way. Life or fantasy. Where's the balance. When fantasy becomes more interesting than life, there's a problem. Is the reverse also true? Perhaps, if you intend to make your mark as a fiction writer. That, is the creative's greatest challenge -- finding the balance. Perhaps the answer lies in living life large? But how the fuck do you do that?

Found myself thinking about suicide for the first time in a very long time. Don't freak. I wasn't actually contemplating doing it. I would never do it. But, I found myself feeling like my life is pretty much all downhill from here, and I'm bored with life, and I'm always disappointed in the people around me. Sad, yah? Well... try living it.

I'm heading toward a bottoming-out. Those are good things, yah, when I start really feeling like I don't give a shit what others think, and I have no fear. Maybe this time, I'll stay there. It's at times like this when becoming a street person actually sounds interesting. No ties. No debt. No car mechanics who fix one thing and break another so you have to come back. No more caring about rent or furniture or decor. The only thing you have to worry about are the people you care about, your health and where to find a warm, dry bed for the night. Fuck. Oh, and an outlet to plug in your laptop. Heh. Cuz, I'm a writer. ;)