Lets hear it for Aly and Fila!

Listening to DI this morning, and there was a featured set by 2 DJ's out of Egypt: Aly and Fila. Very good talent coming from these guys. They have that Euro happy get up and go style trance, but with more of an ambient mix to it, which makes for very full sounding "fat" mixes. You can buy them on iTunes, but I havent found much on Amazon.

a "ah ha" moment

So I had one of those this moring while commuting to work. It seems that most of my "ah ha" moments come while either travelling to/from work, or while in the shower.
Anyhow, my ah ha moment came in the form of the looking at the glass half full/half empty theory.
Without all the boring details, I have been having a struggle with a situation in my life, and today, after some random thinking, I decided to look at it with the glass half full theory. This actually worked and had me looking at the same situation with a much brighter view. I dont know how I was allowed to see it with a different view, but I have, and now I feel much better about the whole thing, because that same view that I saw, snowballed into other areas of my own persona to give me insight into those as well and make sense of some old baggage I carried but could now drop.
My long story short is that sayings like "the glass half full/half empty" that have been around for a long time carry weight with the words, and they carry that weight because they work. I mean really, if you are happier because of seeing the same "glass of water with the same volume" differently, and are happier because of it, then who the fuck really cares how much water is in the damn glass anyway? I say, be happy, its much easier on the heart.

Lemon Quiche'

Well, it is Christmas past, and I have finished my baking for the holidays. As you all know, this baking thing is not one of my special talents. But, with motivation and appetite, I sometimes venture outside my realm to bake. This year was lemon bars. Now, truth be told, my mom was a crappy cook, but she did have a few good recipes where she shined. One of these were her lemon bars. So, I called her up and asked her for the recipe to the delicious treats. As she rattled off the ingredients, I really thought nothing of it. It was short, and to the point, and I thought..... this ought to be easy.
First I was to make the dough (crust) this consisted of powdered sugar, flour and butter. pretty much your basic shortbread. I cooked it for the 20 minutes, and let it cool, just as she had said. Now time for the topping, which was the best part. I was to mix in 3 tbsp of flour, a whole lot of lemon juice and 3 eggs. Somehow this seemed odd to me, but I didnt really know why. I mixed it up adn it looked weird, but i thought, "it needs to bake, maybe thats the problem" So into the oven it went for about 20 minutes longer. The buzzer rings, I take it out, and it looks very very wrong. it looks NOTHING like my moms lemon bars. It actually looks like a quiche, with stress cracks on the top and everything. But I thought, hmm, maybe appearance is overrated and it will taste ok. So, my spoon went down into the pan, and again, it really looked like quiche, but i took a bite and nearly spat it out with jet speed. *wow* I had made lemon quiche. it tasted just like lemon juice in a flan like form. I was now convinced that mom had left something out, so i decided to look into Betty Crocker and see what she puts in hers.
I flip to a page with a lemon bar recipe, and like big bold letters smacking me the face, I immediately knew what was srong. S U G A R, there was no sugar in her recipe and I knew that was the problem. I felt a weight lifted and a renewed sense of purpose, and made a second batch. They tasted good, but I think in all of the time spent on the first batch, i got too impatient to bake the dough on the second batch long enough, so the lemon mixture soaked the crust, and became a little to gooey to eat.
But, I know the error of my ways now, and the next time I make them, they will be great.

times are a changing

I was alerted by a friend of mine that there were new, more "adult" advertisments on the backs of busses these days, but I caught this one for myself a few days ago.
It's a bit dark, but I was in a hurry cause the light had just turned green.

seven seven's

Seven Things To Do Before I Die
1. Go to Austraila
2. Own a home
3. own a vehicle that is completely paid off and still running good
4. Have a solid savings account
5. Do something life changing that helps someone or a group of others in need
6. Own a coffee shop that host's local talent
7. Organize the worlds first Trance event with a live acoustical orchestra and DJ's

Seven Things I Cannot Do
1. Sing
2. Read directions (im a more hands on kinda girl)
3. Chin ups
4. Deliver a well prepared argument in the heat of the moment
5. Be a famed dessert chef
6. Ski
7. Trim down these hips and thighs!

Seven Things That I Admire In Others
1. Ability to laugh at most anything, and the ability to be serious when needed
2. Passion (not sexual, though thats cool too)
3. Strength through being humbled
3. Intelligence
4. Determination in the face of adversity
5. Sensitivity/compassion
6. Musically or Artistically Talented

Seven Things I Say Most Often
1. Like
2. awesome
3. AYE!
4. Scheiße (sh*t in German)
5. Uhmm
6. thats unfortunate
7. Kaycee!!

Seven Books (or Series) I Love
1. Gone with the Wind
2. The Vampire Series by Anne Rice
3. Harry Potter Series
4. Four Seasons by Stephen King
5. ?
6. ?
7. (can you tell reading is not my thing?)

Seven Movies I Have Watched Over and Over Again
1. Midnight Express
2. Gone with the Wind
3. Usual Suspects
4. Elf
5. Serpent and the Rainbow
6. Midnight Run
7. Finding Nemo

Seven people I would want to answer this
1. Marie-Helene
2. Kathy
3. Anyone who wants to
4. "
5. "
6. "
7. "

California in December

While a 1/3'rd of the nation is buried under 10 inches of snow, pelted by ice storms, or just plain freezing with temps in the teens, we in California experience our version of December.
Now truth be told, there are really only the 2 seasons here, Rain or Sun. This is the rainy season, but it really doesnt get into full swing until January, so we have managed to have some really nice days.
It gets chilly at night, and I had to laugh the other evening while Laura and I were watching the weather on the 11:00 news. The weathercaster was gearing up in his voice, and like a man speaking as if the fear of God was put forth into him, he remarks," and tonight we may dip into the 30's" ending his sentence with a tone that was incredibly dramatic. It is all relative to where you live, and to most of the winter bearing states, his dramatic accounts of the forecast for the night might seem a bit over the top, but to us it was time to turn on the heat!!! Luckily for us, it was back up to 65 F during the day.

Same song, different feelings

Not sure what possessed me to start listening ot Bob Seger right after Armin Van Buuren, but I thought I wanted to listen to something different, to help me analyze some data here at work.
2 songs into my iTunes oldschool playlist and I feel depressed! But still I listen, Roll me away, Night Moves, Weve got Tonight, and I start feeling like I am back in the early 80's, it's midsummer and cornfields are all around me, dirt's kicking up from a dusty road where a pick up has just passed. It might be somewhere in rural Illinois, could be Indiana, or Iowa, but definitely the midwest. I start sulking, listening to Bob singing about being lonely, hardships, and that strum of the guitar. This was not the best choice to concentrate with, because I keep having these bouts of nostalgic memories, and then feeling like I have hard times, that I dont even have anymore. Music is so awesome, to put you in a mood, bring back memories, or have you make some that you never even had.
Ahh, I am saved, Bob is over now and ELO has taken over. Still back in the 80's, but a little more upbeat. (Fire on High)

Armin .....State of Trance episode #225

This is an exceptional episode and should be a cd all unto itself. This is a great mix which can be caught on Digitally Imported FM.
You can also get the tracklistings from his website, ASOT #225. There is still 1 hour left in today's show, so grab a listen if you want. Armin never ceases to amaze me with his mixes. Everytime he starts to stray, a few weeks later he is back with a better show and mix.
You can really feel the story of his mixes and the emotion behind them.
If you get a chance to see him live, take it. I missed him when he was here in San Francisco a couple months back.