Who cares?

Someone sent me a text asking if I feel better. I immediately thought, "Oh no... what do they need me to do?" I stopped myself, I hate it when my first response to something is negative... but it often is. I felt bad for having such a pessimistic response to someone who may just want to know how I'm feeling.

I text back that I feel better and thanks for asking. They then reply that they are glad and sorry I had been sick. I put the phone down and smiled, happy to know I was wrong. Sometimes people just care.

5 seconds latter a text comes from the same person. "Call me so we can talk". Ah ha. I call... they do need something.

This person has every right to ask me to do the job I was given, but I resent that they seemingly masked it in to caring if I was still sick. Again the nice side of me thinks, "They at least wanted to see that I was better before putting me to work"

...the other side of me? Well it thinks, "Yeah, people only care depending on what you can do for them."

Does this make me a pessimistic person? Or realistic? I try so had to assume good intent in people, but what if their intend isnt good! Someone sent me a text asking if I feel better. I immediately thought, "Oh no... what do they need me to do?" I stopped myself, I hate it when my first response to something to negative... but it often is. I felt bad for having such a pessimistic response to someone who may just want to know how I'm feeling.

I text back that I feel better and thanks for asking, then they reply that they are glad and sorry I had been sick. I put the phone down and smiled happy to know I was wrong. Sometimes people just care.

5 seconds latter a text comes from the same person. "Call me so we can talk". Ah ha. I call... they do need something. This person has every right to ask me to do the job I was given, but I resent that they seemingly masked it in seeming to care if I was still sick.

The nice side of me thinks, "They at least wanted to see that I was better before putting me to work"

...The other side of me? Well it thinks, "Yeah, people only care depending on what you can do for them."

I try so hard to assume good intent in people, but what if their intent isn't good? Does this make me a pessimistic person? Or realistic? What do you think?

The Adventures of Spreadsheet Girl #3 "Farmville"

The Adventures of Spreadsheet Girl #2 Sigh

Spreadsheet Girl Adventure #1 "Paperclips"

The Vintage Pearl

Hey all! Check out the link below to see some beautiful jewelry and for a chance to win some of it!



http://thevintagepearl.blogspot.com/2011/03/happy-birthday-to-me-big-giveaway.html

My Top 25 Cover Songs

So I was inspired by Paste Magazine’s list of Indie artist covering main stream songs and decided to do my own list. These aren’t all Indie artist they are just musicians I love covering songs that I love. Enjoy!

25. William Fitzsimmons - I Kissed A Girl (Katy Perry)
While I do love Katy Perry (despite it going against my indie music infatuation) I don’t really like this song, until I heard it covered by William Fitzsimmons. Just beautiful.

24. Marié Digby - What I've Done (Lincoln Park)
My Brother Caleb is always telling me what great lyrics Lincoln Park and bands like it have. That they don’t just have a great rock beat, but thoughtful words. It took me hearing Marié Digby singing Lincoln Park’s words to make me realized how right he was.

23. Regina Spektor - Real Love (John Lennon)
Regina Spektor is magical, I love her so much I mostly just want her to sing her own songs, but I guess if she wants to cover the legendary John Lennon that works for me.


22. Switchfoot - Sorrow (Bad Religion)
I love Switchfoot singing this song because it is so simple and striped down you can really hear how great Jon Foreman’s voice is.

21. Yael Naim - Toxic (Brittney Spears)
There are almost as many covers of this song as there are of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”, but I like this version because it is Yael Naim’s lovely voice and charming accent.

20 Ellie Goulding - Your Song (Elton John)
British singer Ellie Goulding has such a sweet light voice that it works perfectly with Elton John’s touching words. I like this even better than the Moulin Rouge version.

19. FF5 - Bulletproof (La Roux)
Family Force 5 doing a La Roux song is such an obviously perfect match that this cover sounds very close to the original, but FF5 puts their own touch to it, be prepared to get crunk.


18 Nikki & Rich – Uprising (Muse)
When I listen to this song on repeat (which really is the only way to listen to it) I feel like going out and protest something… which isn’t anything I’ve ever actually done, but still.


17. Rufus Wainwright – Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen)
I wasn’t going to post this cover of Hallelujah, I was going to use the Kate Voegele version instead because Rufus’ version has been heard so much people don’t even know it is a cover, they think it is the original. In the end though I had to use this one because it is just so marvelous.


16 Chris Colfer - I Want Hold Your Hand (Beatles)
Okay, I wasn’t going to post any Glee songs because it feels like cheating, plus most of their covers sound so much like the original it isn’t even any fun. However Chris Colfer (Kurt Hummel) singing I Want to Hold Your Hand is beautiful. You don’t have to like Glee to get goosebumps over this song.


15. P!ink - Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen)
Yes, out of all the songs P!nk could covered Queen’s epic song is the most genius choice ever. Plus I was able to see her perform this live during her Funhouse Tour (best concert I have ever been to).


14. Coldplay - Billie Jean (Micheal Jackson)
While almost every music group out there has done a cover of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida I’m more interested in what Coldplay is covering, they do versions of both Ring of Fire and Barbie Girl, but my favorite is their cover of Billie Jean.


13. OwlCity - In Christ Alone (Stuart Townend)
While most worship songs get covered and recovered by numerous bands I love OwlCity doing In Christ Alone because here is a secularly famous artist bold enough to sing about Christ. And he does it so well.


12. Adam Lambert - Mad World (Tears for Fears)
This is the song that I always remember Adam Lambert for because when he sang it on American Idol he blew us all away. I’m still not sure why he didn’t win that season… not that is has hurt his career!


11. Paloma Faith - Sexy Chick (David Guetta)
I love pop and R&B songs that are broken down to a good old piano doo-wop feel. Paloma’s sassy style really does justice to this cover.


10. Iron & Wine - Such Great Heights (The Postal Service)
Here is a cover that I think out does the original. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy The Postal Service, but when they sing this song I always feel like telling them to slow it down. Iron & Wine does just that.


9. Vampire Weekend - I'm Going Down (Bruce Springsteen)
Oh Vampire Weekend. I love you. And I love this Springsteen cover and the fact that you get a good feel of Ezra Koenig vocals from it.


8. Mindy Smith - Jolene (Dolly Parton)
I can’t say I really listen to Dolly Parton music, but Mindy Smith’s folk version of this classic Parton song is perfect. I love the music video and cameo by Miss Parton.


7. Florence + The Machine - Oh Darling (Beatles)
I’m going to pretend that you aren’t all aware of how obsessed I am with Florence + The Machine and just casually tell you that this song is friggin’ awesome! Okay. That is all.


6. Ingrid Michaelson - I Can't Help Falling In Love With You (Elvis Presley)
I can’t help falling in love with this song (I know, cheesy) but really it is hard to top the King of Rock & Roll, but I think Ingrid may do it here.


5. Sara Bareilles - Single Ladies (Beyoncé)
Some piano and vocal styling amazingness by Sara Bareilles. Sara keeps the feisty feeling Beyoncé originally gave to this song while bringing R&B back to its doo-wop roots.

4. Joshua Radin – Sunny Days (Sesame Street)
This wasn’t originally so high up on my list, but the more I listened to it the more I loved it. Never have I ever wanted to go to Sesame Street, until now.


3. David Crowder - Deliver Me (Origanlly The Beloved, best known from Sarah Brightman)
I love how David takes a secular song and so easily sings it in a way that I can’t imagine it ever referring to anything but how much we need Christ to save us. Brilliant. I also love the hymn lyrics he adds in there.


2. Adele - Make You Feel My Love (Bob Dylan)
This song is what first made my fall in love with Adele’s music. Every time I hear it I want to stop what I’m doing and go learn to play the piano just so I can sing this song. Truly stunning.


1. Mumford and Suns - Cousins (Vampire Weekend)
I already enjoyed Mumford & Sons and then they stole my heart with their Grammy performance and now they are cover a Vampire Weekend song? Be still my heart. Seriously though, I love the original but hearing Mumford & Sons play it you’d think the song was made for them.

Kidd Kraddick Grammy Conttes

Video streaming by Ustream

Operation Twitter

#OperationRetweet/#OperationTweetback.

Goal was to get 5 "celebrities" to tweet me back
or to retweet what I tweeted.

Twitter is a fun place to keep up with friends, but I have found I use it more for talking to random people with the same interest as I have, keeping up with pop culture news, and tweet creeping celebrities. With that last function in mind I decided to start getting some of those celebrities to tweet me back. With myself deciding who counts as a celebrity. The mission was more easily accomplish then expected (because I spend sooooo much time on Twitter), so my new goal is to be tweeted by 10 "celebs".

Here is the story of my journey so far...

1 -Who: My first celeb tweet back came from the lovely and funny Yvette Nicole Brown (@yvettenbrown) aka Shirley on NBC's Community.
The Deets: I tweeted her about how blessed I was by her testimony at a Revolve Tour Conference and she tweeted back "Aww, Meaggy! Your tweet just made my day! :)"

This is what started Operation Tweetback... after that I kinda started targeting people for retweets.


2 - Who: Kidd Kraddick from Kidd Kraddick in the morning (@KiddKraddick). Yes, he is kinda a local celebrity, but his show goes out nationally too.
The Deets: I tweeted that listening to Kidd Kraddick in the morning was the reason I got up, and that, that seemed sad. He tweeted back "Or awesome!" I agree it is awesome.


3- Who: John Vesely, the lead singer/songwriter from Secondhand Serenade (@secondhandjohn).
The Deets: I said something along the lines of how I always listen to Secondhand Serenade when I need a lift, because it always brightens my day. John (who, by the by, is really cute) tweeted back "Thanks so much Meaggy!" No, thank you John Vesely. Thank you!


4 - Who: Marian Call, singer, songwriter and all around witty and fun Alaskan (@mariancall). Okay now, I get to decide who I consider a celebrity and I deem Marian celebrity worthy. 1 - She is geek-tastic, writing songs that refer to the TV show "Firefly" and other nerd type themes and performing at Wh00t conventions. 2 - She knows Will Wheaton, who I'd love a tweet from. 3 - Even outside of her nerd-ness I just love her songs.
The Deets: I think the first time Marian Call tweeted me was when she was packing for a long road trip and I tweeted suggesting she bring jumper cables. She tweeted back that she definitely would. We have tweeted a couple times since. She is the bomb-diggity, because she follows me now too.


5 - Who: David Crowder. Singer, songwriter, worship leader, author and amazing person (@crowderband).
The Deets: First of all if you don't follow David Crowder... you should. Okay, he tweeted me while playing hangman. Yes, hangman. Basically, he and his band were playing hangman in the greenroom before a show and he posted a picture of their board and asked if we knew what the answer was. I answered and was right. His life changing tweet to me read. "it was pillow". Okay, maybe not life changing, but it counts!


6 - Who: Simon Helberg aka Howard Wolowitz on CBS' "The Big Bang Theory" (@simonhelberg)
The Deets: This was a retweet, not a tweet back. Basically, Simon was tweeting about something political and it got a bunch of people up in arms. Without going into long details. I tweeted something in regards to what he said and he thought it was interesting enough to retweet. Blah, blah, blah on what it was all about though. ;) He is cool.


7 - Who: The Nerd Machine. (@TheNerdMachine). The Nerd Machine is a site started by Zachary Levi aka Chuck from NBC's "Chuck" (@ZacharyLevi) and dedicated to all things nerdy. Instead of me explaining it you should just go to the site and watch Zachary's video.
The Deets: My amazing friend and co-worker Anna (@AnnaMicolowsky) told me about The Nerd Machine because of our mutual love for Mr. Levi. We then proceeded to buy "nerd" shirts and post a "nerd co-worker" picture on Twitter. This was my most direct attempt to be retweeted. It worked. The Nerd Machine retweeted our picture as follows:
"My kind of Friday RT @MeaggyLane: @thenerdmachine Forget casual Friday, we have Nerd Friday. Nerd co-workers unite!"

Those are my official celebrity tweets, below are my honorable mentions.

@Group1Crew - The Christian Hip/hop group tweeted me back when I said I had just downloaded one of their songs. They said, "woo!"

@CoreyVidal - The YouTube star tweeted me back when I asked a question about one of his Batman videos.








@Pandora_Radio - I was complaining about how Pandora always wants me to listen to Colbie Caillat and Pandora tweeted me twice with ideas and tips on how to get the exact station I wanted. It worked.




@AprilSmithMusic - I posted an April Smith song as one of my “legendary” songs of the day (#SOTD) and out of the blue April tweeted me and started following me on twitter.





@ExplodingDog - Artist Sam Brown also know as Exploding Dog draws pictures based on the title given to him by fans. He has been doing this for 10 years I think. Anyway, he tweeted me back with a picture from a title I gave him.
<-- My Picture titled, "I just don't want them to know how broken I am" 7 down 3 to go. My Wish List: @wilw @MrDonaldGlover @SaraBareilles @ZacharyLevi @TheEllenShow @ChristianKane01