My celebrity look alike

Try it!

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

I love music from the 70's

Easy-Listening Songs From the '70s
I really really do, honestly. I think they are the best written love songs ever. Very sappy, the music is pleasant, easy, the lyrics are plain easy to get into. Some of the best songs were written in the 70's. Hard headed woman. Oh my god, the first time I heard this song I almost cried. Cat Steven's is a GOD! Song's from the 70's tell stories, romantic ever and after stories. What would we do with out them. What happens though after we have kids? Does the romance die? Here are some lyrics Rewritten by the artists after They had Kids.

"I'd Really Love to See You Tonight, but My Sitter Was Grounded for 'Inappropriate' Entries on Her MySpace Page" by England Dan and John Ford Coley

"Nobody Does It Better Than Disney" by Carly Simon

"Hey Nineteen, Your Dad and I Are Going to Stop Paying Your College Tuition If You Say 'Simone de Beauvoir' in a Bad French Accent One More Time" by Steely Dan

"I Keep Forgettin' to Give You Your Antibiotics" by Michael McDonald

"I Go Crazy When You Talk in a Robot Voice All Day" by Paul Davis

"You've Got a Friend I Won't Let You Play With Anymore Because Last Time You Were at His House They Let You Watch The Shining and You Didn't Sleep for a Week" by James Taylor

"I Am ... I Said ... and That's the End of the Conversation, Period" by Neil Diamond

"The Cat's in the Cradle ... Check ... the Dog's in the Bathtub ... Check ... Now, Where Did I Put That Baby?" by Harry Chapin

Postage stamp collecting or philately is the most popular hobby in the world.

I used to be a great collector of things, anything at first, bottle caps, shells, frogs, pets, dead animals (mostly birds). It got a little strange there for a while, hair, weird clippings from the paper, receipts, dead birds. Mostly junk. Broken furniture, old TVs. I always think I'm gonna do something cool with them, like a great art thing, funky, cool. I have a hard time passing up thrift stores. I thought maybe i was going crazy for a while. Like I was compulsively shopping for stuff I didn't need. Maybe I was gonna turn into a pack rat? My mom was one, it could be passed on to me right? I have tried to convince my self that just because you are compulsive and need to pick something useless up and bring it home that you're OK. Those who view collecting as trivial or a waste of time, miss the connections that it has to life skills and occupations. Scientists also collect things; they gather information, data, and samples. Museums and libraries are collections. Many people make their livelihoods by collecting and disposing items. In fact, all of us go through our lives collecting and discarding things around us.
Maybe I'm not insane, maybe it's a hobby or maybe I'll end up like the most famous compulsive hoarder of all, Langley Collyer, who for 15 years filled a New York City mansion with 120 tons of trash, including 11 pianos and all the parts of a Model T Ford. He and his reclusive brother were both found dead among the clutter, having died just days apart. Langley had been crushed by falling debris.

saggy mattress and daVinci days

Well it's almost July, which means one of two things, Daddy's birthday and only the best festival ever! daVinci days. This year we are doing something fishy, participating! We are Throwing our self into it, hook, line, and sinker! The project is big fish, luckily our friends are helping us, Sophie is doing a giant dolphin, I'm doing a starfish, Gavi is doing something later to be named,but will be totally awesome. Christina is perfecting a can of tuna. Pictures to come after completion. Can't wait to see them with all the rest of the art. Sophie will be very proud!
On to another not so fun topic. CRAP for a bed. We have a terrible mattress that is on it's last leg, it sags so bad now, we end up glued to each other every morning. In the "hole" as i like to call it. SO??? why are mattress's so damn expensive. We don't have that kind of money, and we don't have any credit cards. We are stuck in our rut. Any body? Have a decent Queen you need to give to charity (me and Pat)

spoil your kids...

Why not, c'mon buy them everything they want. What could it hurt? If you want to may I advise against. I mean a couple things here and there are fine. They are kids, they need some stuff. But it is also good for them to say NO. teach them about life so they don't grow up to be spoiled brats. Or better yet, never leave home. Never feel the need to see the world? Why should they when they have YOU. Yikes! Or even better like this young boy, please watch this whole video. It is a lesson in parenting if anything. And a lesson when you know you have a Drama Queen.

Living with Invisible Chronic Illness

Sick and tired of being sick and tired?
You are doing what you can to eat better, cut back on the caffeine, slow down, exercise more, and just take a deep breath. But isn't there something else that would help you fight back against the fatigue that often accompanies the never-ending "to-do" list?
What's more, lack of energy becomes a vicious cycle. More folks today report only fair to poor or very poor quality of sleep. Yea, tell me about it, toss and turn with worry half the night. The problem is further compounded by the fact that the majority of us who report everyday fatigue and loss of energy admit they don't get the minimum Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of vitamins and minerals from their diet even one day per week! Who has time to eat a balanced meal? Who has time to make a balanced meal, when you're tired, you don't want to cook. You just wander around doing nothing productive. Cleaning a bit, straightening up a tiny bit. Making sure your kids are fed, garden is watered. Fibromyalgia is a disorder classified by the presence of chronic widespread pain and a heightened and painful response to gentle touch. Other core features of the disorder include debilitating fatigue, sleep disturbance, and joint stiffness. In addition, persons affected by the disorder frequently experience a range of other symptoms that involve multiple body systems, including difficulty with swallowing, functional bowel and bladder abnormalities, difficulty breathing, diffuse sensations of numbness and tingling.
Fibromyalgia is considered a controversial diagnosis, with some authors contending that the disorder is a ‘non-disease’, due in part to a lack of abnormalities on physical examination, objective laboratory tests or medical imaging studies to confirm the diagnosis. So it IS an invisible illness, which is funny because I keep going to the Doctors, which I have grown to hate by the way! They keep telling me, No, No, No nothing the matter. Go home. Relax. Bla bla bla bla bleah. I need to catch a break, It depresses me. Which worries me. What a cycle! What a crappie life to be "living" And yes, i have tried eating better, I try all the time. I have cut out alcohol. I have cut out sugar. Exercise? Yes, I used to ride a bike 20 miles a day. No luck there.

papa's day

With Father’s Day right around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about what to get the old man for his big day. Ties - lame. Sweaters - lame. Bacon-Of-The-Month Club - actually very cool. Puppy Dog Boxers - barf. Father's Day and Mother's Day, exist for two reasons. 1: To sell greeting cards and gifts. 2: To remind people to appreciate people in their lives that no one should need to be reminded to appreciate. I mean, c'mon. If someone has to tell you to love your mother and give her flowers and tell her she's a great mom, you are an idiot. She's your mom. She gave birth to you, and raised you, and refrained from killing you at any point during your young life. Rest assured, there were many times she wanted to. And she didn't. She is to be honored and admired.
Likewise with dads. They spent their whole lives loving you and caring for you and playing trucks and trains and dolls and house and catch with you. Put up with your grumpy Mom, who is grumpy because she has whiny children at her beckoning call. That's true love. And you need Hallmark to tell you one day a year to tell the guy you love him and buy him a card and an Amazon gift certificate? You suck. Gifts suck really. Be creative this "holiday" technically Fathers day is NOT a holiday. I mean Holidays are religious and holy. fathers day... commercial.Give your dad the perfect gift, a 6 pack of his favorite beverage and a day spent with his wonderful family.

digital TV sucks

I used the government web site to obtain a card for a $40 credit towards getting an analog to digital converter box for my TV last August. So, no I am not a procrastinator. In all the information that is out, there is very little mention of the fact that the digital signals are very much weaker than the current analog signals. That means that the government subsidized box you bought, as is the case for me, is pretty much useless. That is, you order the coupon, go to a store (where there is blessed little information available except that you can only return the digital box if it is defective), pay your share, take it home, install it, and do a scan where you find NOTHING. Then the meaning of all or nothing sinks in…
So, it seems that extending the deadline for the conversion will be of little value to many of the people that it is intended to help. It will be just prolonging the realization that they are out of luck if they can’t afford cable or satellite subscriptions.
Are we going to be forced to listen to satellite radio one day? All be pushed into Broadband Internet? Buy music in digital format only? I really don't like the way technology is headed. I'm all for change, but not at the expense of forcing us to do something if we don't want to do it.

I have become equal parts truck driver, gladiator, and mule

FINALLY went to a LIVE show, it's only been... way too long. I remember the good old days, went to so many shows and now i just have my Pandora and ipod. Had a great time of course. Went with our friends Gavi & Christina and Pat. Nice to be out with the love of my life with out the kids. I got to hold his hands and everything, ah shucks. Sniff sniff. The theatre was perfect not a single push or elbow. Sounded great too, the ringing only lasted about 10 hours. The drive was a straight shot down the 99. honestly 2 turns. Got to love Oregon. And Neko Case. Oh and she played my favorite song, the one in the video. "At last" I only hope I get to go back again. Sophie would of loved it. Soon my dear, soon. She told me "why can't I go Mom, I really love music." Cutie.

Just say "no" to high stakes testing

First of all I would like to say, there is nothing standard about a child.
Making students accountable for test scores works well on a bumper sticker and it allows many politicians to look good by saying that they will not tolerate failure. But it represents a hollow promise. Far from improving education, high-stakes testing marks a major retreat from fairness, from accuracy, from quality, and from equity.

My newest rant, I have always been Anti-Testing but now that my daughter is about to enter "school" I am all worked up. Again. The school she will be going to is our neighborhood public, nice school, most of the poor kids go there, which is fine with me (duh, we are poor too) The teachers are new, I guess you have to give 3 years at any school, that will have you. Then you can go to any school you want. MOST teachers I guess want the "better" schools. But what is better and why did you even become a teacher in the first place? The better schools have the good testing! AH HA! must be a good school right? No it's totally bullshit. They have better teachers and resources. They have money from the "rich" parents. They have it all and that is what the testing reflects. They spend more time testing these kids then teaching them now, they take valuable time away from teaching and learning. Kids don't read anymore because they have to get ready for a test instead. We need to lower the STRESS so kids can relax and learn. Anxiety is not uncommon in a typical 1st grader now. Maybe this is all a conspiracy by the pharmaceutical companies? Not likely. But testing is definitely ruining our schools, ours failed the no child left behind. Why? because it's Bullshit.

The Federal education law known as No Child Left Behind is fueled by standardized tests. These expensive tests of questionable merit restrict teacher creativity, discriminate against poor children, rob kids of memorable learning experiences and turn classrooms into test-prep factories. The test companies are unaccountable to the public and our best teachers are being driven from the classroom. Art, music, science, social studies, field trips and even recess are being sacrificed at the alter of test scores.
Federal law demonizes schools in which every child does not pass a norm-referenced standardized test. These tests require half of all students to fall below the norm, in other words, fail the test. This is just one of the Orwellian lies upon which NCLB is built.
http://www.pencilsdown.org/ check this out.

Small Is Better: Big Houses Are Out and Downsizing Is In.

Many Americans are taught bigger is better, especially Texans.

However, that term may soon come to a halt for a while as tiny homes are on the move. As many people lose their homes to foreclosure or the bad economy, they are downsizing into much smaller homes of less than 1000 square feet. Some of the homes in the tiny home movement are actually less than 100 square feet. The picture below looks like a house where i grew up, small and tidy. There is a whole new meaning to up close and personal for a family in a home of less than 1000 square feet or even a single person in a 100 square foot home. However, many people are opting for these homes because they are energy efficient, easy to maintain and cost less to purchase. For these very reasons, there has been a 20% increase in construction in these types of homes in the last year. A growing number of people in the U.S. are downsizing their homes in response to the collapse of the housing market, rising energy prices and concern for the environment. And besides do you really need a big house? REALLY?
Status has been acquired by trading up and moving up. But in my opinion, the new status symbol is not how you display it but how you do it responsibly. The best way to be a responsible environmental citizen is to stay in a smaller house or go to a small house because you are automatically consuming less.
There are small-house blogs, websites and organizations such as the Small House Society. There are books like Little House on a Small Planet (Lyons Press) by carpenter and designer Shay Salomon and The Not So Big House (Taunton) by architect Sarah Susanka, and a growing number of mainstream resources teaching people they can live in less space and have more time to enjoy it.
Then big became the norm. Listen to the song 'Big Time' by Peter Gabriel. We like big cars, big homes, big televisions, big churches, even 'Super Sized' meals, which cause us to become big." Johnson lives in a 140-square-foot home dubbed the "The Mobile Hermitage" designed by Shafer's Tumbleweed Tiny House Company in Sebastopol, California, and wrote of the life lessons he learned there in the book Put Your Life on a Diet (Gibbs Smith). His Iowa City home features cedar siding, a metal roof, double-pane windows and a small deck. The walls, floors and cabinets are made of thick pine.

If McMansions were the trademark of the overindulgent '80s and '90s, the not-so-big house may be the symbol of a generation that is slowing down, considering the earth's resources and doing what it can to preserve them. Consider this: a 2008 survey by the National Association of Home Builders shows that more than 60% of potential home buyers would rather have a smaller house with more amenities than the other way around.

http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/ Living small is nothing new. During the 1800s, Henry David Thoreau's cabin on Walden Pond measured 10' by 15', and cost roughly $28 to build. Furnished with a bed, a table, a small desk, a lamp and three chairs, he lived there for two years, two weeks and two days, according to Tiny House Design, which has a motto of "live light, live small, be free." After World War II, 1,000-square-foot homes were the norm for returning soldiers and their families. But as folks tried to "keep up with the Joneses," the average size of a home grew from roughly 1,600 square feet in the 1970s to about 2,500 square feet today.

When we first moved into our home I thought it was going to be too small, I'm not sure why I thought this since I grew up in a tiny apartment. But i guess i let everyone's opinions get to me. Now I realize I have sooo much space at just below 1200 sq feet. And it's my processions that are too large. Now I realize I didn't need more space, I just need to know what I need and how to organize it. A lot of people tell me ,"wait till your kids get older..." I say bla bla bla, I love my kids and we will I'm sure continue to cuddle well into their teen years. (laugh all you want, i cuddled my Mom in my teen years) And they each have their own room so. Who cares. Now I think I too live in a mansion. We have plenty of space and no wasted long hall ways making up all that extra sq feet we just don't need. Oh and out electric bills are very cheap. And we don't need an air conditioner since our house is so small. It stays warm in the winter and cool in the summer. I do love my house. Both my father and Pats father have HUGE ass homes, I can not understand the appeal. I would be lonely in a place that takes so long to get to the other side, and all the furniture you have to buy, and the dusting and oh the toilets! because if your house is big you most certainly have a bunch of toilets. We have 2 and it is hard to keep them clean. If i was a kid I could see the appeal, racing through he house on your big wheel. Or roller skates. My kids would love that. But they can go outside and use the side walk. I guess.

“One doesn't recognize the really important moments in one's life until it's too late.” Agatha Christie

I've been thinking a lot about my dear Grandmother lately. She would of been 102 this November. The main reason she's been on the brain is the TV. Our TV just won't get any channels! We bought the digital converter thingy and still it just doesn't get any channels. We are too lazy i guess to figure it out? or we just don't care. TV isn't very accessible when you have little kids. I would rather listen to music. So i watch TV on the computer late at night. Or rent TV shows from our local and wonderful library. Right now I'm watching Veronica Mars.
Which i Think my grandmother would of loved. At the beginning of the series, Veronica is a 17-year-old junior at Neptune High in her hometown of Neptune, California. She works for her father, private detective Keith Mars, the former sheriff of Balboa County, California. Since her dad became a private investigator after being ousted from the Sheriff's Department, Veronica has had an after-school job as a secretary at Mars Investigations, her father's PI business. Though she is often forbidden to handle certain cases, she often oversteps her boundaries and sometimes even completely solves the case before her father. On top of that, she is the small-time private investigator for Neptune High: tracking down computer crackers, digging up dirt on parents, finding out who stole the school's mascot, and the like.
Back to old Fritzi! She had cable!! Well i seem to recall we, my mom and i, didn't even have a TV. Or it was too small to watch. The 80's sucked for electronics, that is something they leave out in this whole retro thing. Like it's cool to look 80's but actually growing up sucked. Except for frogger.
One thing i remember very well was our love for mysteries, she would read me old Agatha Christie and we would watch Murder she wrote and Matlock. Our favorite one being, , Murder, She Wrote, Debuting September 30, 1984. TV's longest-running mystery series, starring the character of Jessica Fletcher. Oh Jessica Fletcher. My first girl crush really. Who knew if would of been a 60 year old lady. The show revolved around the day to day life of a retired English teacher who, after being widowed in her early fifties, becomes a very successful mystery writer. Despite fame and fortune, Jessica remains a resident of Cabot Cove, a cozy coastal town in Maine, and maintains her links with all of her old friends, never letting her success go to her head. In most episodes, Jessica somehow becomes entangled in a murder investigation. The police are almost always willing to arrest the most likely suspect, but Jessica invariably feels that the so-called guilty party was innocent. Carefully and methodically piecing the clues together and asking astute questions, she always manages to trap the real murderer - who, given the series' "special guest star" policy, was often played by a famous film or TV personality. Fritzi would make pop-corn and we would literally spoon on her couch and watch them together. We were like a couple, her husband, my Grandfather left her decades earlier and she never re-married. Saying "he was THE ONE" why bother with another. I think about her now and wish to have those days back, lounging on the couch watching different Detective series. I sure loved her, and she was such an influence on me. I'm sad my kids don't have a grandmother around, mine being dead, and the other being hours and hours and hours away.

"Please visit....but don't stay!"

You Know You're From Oregon When...

Your town has an annual chalk art festival planned for a day it's supposed to rain, people still show up, it starts to rain heavily, causing any chalk put on the sidewalk to float away. Very few care, and even fewer decide to bail.

You only honk your horn if collision is imminent and never for anything else.

You don’t think it’s strange that cars actually stop for you as you cross the street.

You consider something a "hill" (not a mountain) if it doesn't have snow on it or has not recently erupted, regardless of its altitude.

You find a wallet with $500 and give it back to the owner.

Every day is casual Friday.

You know at least eight people who work for Intel or Nike, or used to work for Tektronix.

You know that Boring is a town and not just a state of mind.

You know the entire Columbia Sportswear product line... and own all of it.

You never go camping without waterproof matches, ponchos, and mattress pads that double as flotation devices.

You take the old scenic highway through the gorge because you're never in too much of a hurry.

You replace your hiking boots with Birkenstock or Teva sandals when the weather gets above 60 degrees.

You believe people who use umbrellas are wimps or Californians, or both.

You know happy cows don’t come from California, and that Tillamook cheese is the shit.

You have no recognizable professional sports team, and can't name one anywhere else nearby.

You know the Civil War is better than the Apple Cup.

You think we should have a turf war with California and steal the redwoods.

You think the Oregon Trail was the most important event in American history.

You have ever skipped class because the salmon were running.

You would rather work or go outside than watch TV.

You wear a rain jacket on the beach.

You know that all the best illegal fireworks are lit off in small coast towns.

You recycle your beer cans (PBR!) after a long night of partying. And spend the recycled money on another long night of partying.

You know the difference between a drizzle, sprinkle, and a heavy mist.

Your teachers remember when they taught your parents.

You were ever in the Homecoming parade.

You had senior skip day.

Explaining where you live involves mentioning how far you are away from Portland.
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Other Friends: Call your parents Mr. and Mrs.

Oregon Friends: Call your parents Mom and Dad.
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Other friends: Bail you out of jail and tell you what you did was wrong.

Oregon Friends: Would be sitting next to you saying, “Damn...we fucked up...but that shit was fun!"
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Other Friends: Borrow your stuff for a few days then give it back.

Oregon Friends: Keep your stuff so long they forget it's yours.
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WHY OUR STATE ROCKS OUR SOCKS:

Portland is the City of Roses.

The Rose Festival includes the largest of all floral parades in the country. (except apparently Pasadena, CA, but whatev, we don't care about them)

Portland has more strip clubs per capita than any other city in the country.... and more bookstores. So, as the famous Mr. Dage said, "We are the smartest of the horny."

We can drink any city/state under the table. We have more microbreweries per capita than Germany!

We have more ghost towns than any other state

We don't have to pump our own gas.

Three words: no sales tax.

Rogue Ale Brewery, Full Sail, Pelican Brewery, Widmer, Deschutes Brewery and so much more!

We can hit the club, drink at a friend's house, go to the beach, and go skiing all in one weekend, year round.

We have the country's leading clean-air mass transit system for all those who care about breathing...

All of you played the Oregon Trail computer game and drowned your oxen on purpose... and you know it.

We take snow days whenever because it's always snowing on Mt. Hood.

We have Crater Lake, America's deepest lake and Hells Canyon, the deepest river-carved canyon in North America.

Every time you see one of the Trail Blazers not on the basketball court, they are high.

We clam bake, hot box, and smoke out, not up.

We get off school for one inch of snow (in the valley).

Our crab is better than Maine's lobster.

We have the best Shakespeare Festival in the world.

Home of Dark Horse Comics...second biggest comic book chain behind Marvel.

Oregon is the only state with a double-sided state flag.

Oregon has one of the most regimented and well organized recycling programs in the nation.

We were the first state to ban CFCs, require a bottle deposit, and draw urban growth boundaries.

Unofficial State Motto: "Please visit....but don't stay!"

I want to see it again!

Sophie and I went to a 7 pm showing of one of the best sci-fi movies I have ever seen. Star Trek. Now, let me tell you my history with the franchise. My MOM was a HUGE Trekkie, no, she didn't go to conventions. But we watched all the shows in syndication. All the movies, even the terrible ones. I loved next generation. I loved Star Trek. I even loved Jean-Luc Picard. But it all goes back to greatest adventure of all time, the incredible story of a young crew’s maiden voyage on board the most advanced star ship ever created: the U.S.S. Enterprise. This movie is incredable. I loved it.
On a journey filled with action, comedy and cosmic peril, the new recruits must find a way to stop an evil being whose mission of vengeance threatens all of mankind. Yes vengence is a little cliche, but it totally works here.
With a terrific cast with undeniable on screen chemistry. I loved the cast, they were perfect. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto are outstanding as the young Captain James T. Kirk and his loyal but contentious First Officer Spock, two of the most instantly recognizable fictional characters created in the 20th century. J.J. Abrams is my new here. I am a huge Lost fan, I am gettiing addicted to Fringe too. Even Alias rocked. But this is way above all that.
His brilliant cast, some relatively unknown, hits every note perfectly and honors the actors who came before them and played these beloved characters in earlier versions of the franchise. In addition to Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, Abrams’ fantastic cast also includes Bruce Greenwood as Captain Christopher Pike, Karl Urban as the ship’s Medical Officer Leonard “Bones” McCoy, Simon Pegg as Chief Engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, Zoe Saldana as Communications Officer Uhura, John Cho as Helmsman Sulu, and Anton Yelchin as the U.S.S. Enterprise’s youngest officer, 17-year-old whiz kid Pavel Andreievich Chekov. All will face a harrowing first test that will set in motion the loyalty, camaraderie, daring and good humor that will bind them forever!
A tattooed, menacing Eric Bana plays the villainous Captain Nero, who helms the sleek, dark, skeletal Romulan warbird, the Narada, and challenges the U.S.S. Enterprise in deep space when it interferes with his mission to annihilate Vulcan and Earth.
This movie is fresh, imaginative, intergalactic storytelling that is also very grounded in the idea of young men and women with a lot of heart and camaraderie. With his trademark mastery of action and love of scope, J.J. Abrams has brought the Star Trek franchise triumphantly back to life and you don’t have to be familiar with the franchise to enjoy it.
I can't wait to see it again, and look forward to the next one.


Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'

come on sorrow, take your own advice, hide under the bed turn out the light.

Whether you're entranced by her fire-haired beauty or lulled into bliss by her sonorous voice, Neko Case is a siren.
Case’s albums have remained consistently strong over the years, even as she’s stepped away from her traditionalist alt-country roots and towards more idiosyncratic twangy pop. And you've got to love her big, yelping voice.
Middle Cyclone doesn’t sound substantially different from the album than what preceded it, yet it’s far removed from her 1997 debut, The Virginian. Which means she is getting better. And better. She is a genius and we are going to see her with special guest Jason Lytle opening will perform in the Historic McDonald Theatre on Sunday, June 7, 2009. in Eugene Oregon. Because of that intuitive approach, Middle Cyclone is more fragmented than Fox Confessor. The album takes its lead from the off-the-cuff methodology of Harry Nilsson, whose yearning, smart-ass ballad “Don’t Forget Me” Case covers beautifully here. Case feels untethered enough to close the record with 30 minutes of chirping crickets, and to defend the predatory nature of killer whales, and to perform a straight-faced version of Sparks’ the-ecology-can-ruin-you anthem “Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth.” All of Middle Cyclone is reliably Case-like, in that it seems unpredictable, unless you’ve listened to Case long enough to understand what she understands: that following fleeting impulses can be as rewarding as it is dangerous.

"That voice: tall and mighty as Washington State's Grand Coulee Dam, a rushing brook laying down the silt of years, hydroelectrifying every note with a torrid stream and blinked-back tears." —Village Voice