There's nothing like reading a sad book while listening to Beck's Sea Change (one of the most desolate break-up albums ever) to get you out of a bad funk. That probably sounds sarcastic, but I mean it from the bottom of my heart. There's something amazingly comforting in reading about someone who finds love as troubling as you do.

In Broken Faith main character Marika is so emotionally scarred and lonely she'll readily take up again with someone who has never shown her anything but abuse. Right from the start sadness tinges the novel as Marika leaves behind her devoted cat and a quiet, safe home for a horrible alternative to companionship.

Miraka first appears as a secondary character in Lois Cloarec Hart's Going Home as someone can't accept that the girl she likes doesn't feel the same. In the beginning you get a sense she's not the most emotionally centered person, but as the novel progresses and Terry (the girl she likes so much) has clearly moved on, Marika slowly begins to accept it and even helps Terry out (no strings attached nor with any expectations) when she sinks to some depths of her own and winds up too drunk to drive home one night. Mariska ends up taking care of her and discovering she is stronger than she thinks.

Now morely fleshed out in Broken Faith, with some strong back story thrown in for good measure, Marika becomes likable and easy to relate to with compassion, even empathy. It's easy to judge things from the outside, especially if you've never had a crush so strong it made you temporarily lose sight of everything important in your life.

I'm just settling in with this novel and since it's over 400 pages, it'll probably take me a while to get a sense of where it's going, but so far I like it and hope for the best for Marika. She may be fictional, but she has a good heart and only wants to find someone who wants what she has to give and (most importantly) love her back.

That's something a lot of us can probably relate to with relative ease.

I

One hundred Judy Garland songs on one collection...for $5.99 on iTunes...a super deal and discovery! It has everything from very well-known tracks like the incredibly good mood-inducing "The Trolley Song" and the emotionally-opposite-end of the spectrum "The Man That Got Away" (perfect for late lonely nights!) to ones less familiar to me, "College Swing" and "All Through The Day."

It's been years since I really gave Judy a good listen and I'm so glad I found Heritage Collection. Her turbulent personal life was matched by her passion for performing and a need to please. As one writer for the New York Times put it:

"The compulsively vibrant, exhausting performances that were her stage hallmark was a seemingly unquenchable need for her audiences to respond with acclaim and affection. And often they did, screaming, 'We love you, Judy--we love you.' "

The writer (no name is attributed to the clipping I found) strongly felt in 1969 that she might have been happier and had a longer career if she had been born during an earlier time, that music halls and the vaudeville world she was pretty much born into suited her better than Hollywood.

Her "sweet singing voice that had a kind of brassy edge to it" just went so well with performing live and made her album Judy: Live At Carnegie Hall would go on to be one of the most famous live recording albums ever.

One of the most informative and insightful articles I've read on Judy Garland. Published in 1969 in the New York Times, it can be read: here

A music streaming site I've been listening to on shuffle for 70s singers started playing Melissa Manchester's "Don't Cry Out Loud" and I got a little bit giddy.

I've always loved Manchester's voice and the lyrics to the song:


Baby cried the day the circus came to town
'cause she didn't want parades just passin' by her
So she painted on a smile and took up with some clown
While she danced without a net upon the wire
I know a lot about 'er 'cause, you see
Baby is an awful lot like me
Don't cry out loud
Just keep it inside, learn how to hide your feelings
Fly high and proud
And if you should fall, remember you almost had it all
Baby saw that when they pulled that big top down
They left behind her dreams among the litter
The different kind of love she thought she'd found
There was nothin' left but sawdust and some glitter
But baby can't be broken 'cause you see
She had the finest teacher-that was me-I told 'er
Don't cry out loud
Just keep it inside and learn how to hide your feelings
Fly high and proud
And if you should fall, remember you almost had it all
Don't cry out loud
Just keep it inside and learn how to hide your feelings
Fly high and proud
And if you should fall, remember you almost made it
Don't cry out loud
Just keep it inside and learn how to hide your feelings
Fly high and proud
And if you should fall, remember you almost had it all


I've always been more emotional than I'd like to be, even in public. I would love to have what one  of my friends said is commonly called a "brf" (bitchy resting face.)

I'm not a big fan of the "b" word. I don't like curse words unless I'm by myself and even then only if I'm angry, but I especially don't like "*itch" because it's so often used to put women down.

This time, though, I'd like to own the word because whenever I think of women I admire there are the ones that manage to keep their lives together no matter what may be going on privately. And I've gotten to the point where I'd rather risk being seen as aloof and unapproachable than someone who can't even make it through the day without losing her @#$%...well you probably know word I mean.

You can find Mog here: listen to a terrific music streaming site with lots of full-length albums! :)

Mog (a terrific music sharing website) + snow day + Maiden's No Mythologies To Follow = nice day! :)  Listen here: click on

Another great album (more like an EP) is this one:

You can listen to Chloe here:

click for Chloe

She reminds me of Kate Nash or Lily Allen. (Beware of her use of the "f" word a few times, though.)

And <<<this is a relaxing listen for a quiet, nostalgic afternoon!: listen>>> go back to the 80s.

Baking and Go West

Growing up, my sister and I were a lot closer than we are now, mostly because we both loved music with the same intensity, if not the same tastes. She'd be too proud to admit she wanted to borrow my Wham albums, but I knew she secretly wanted to listen. Me? I was never too afraid or embarrassed to ask for her Go West album. I especially liked their song "Call Me."

Sometimes, I don't think a Sunday can't get any cozier than if you bake in the kitchen while listening to music. I haven't seen my sister's copy of Go West's first album in decades, but I do have the song on my iPhone and it still sounds as good as ever while the smells of fresh baked scones spread through my apartment.

I'm not sure which is more shocking: that "Call Me" doesn't sound dated at all or that I successfully made a batch of scones. Either way, it's a nice Sunday! :)

Watch the catchy little video and try not to cringe too much at how much more its showing its age than the actual song does :) :

here