What I listened to 7/8-14.

I'm a little embarrassed Ol' Dirty Bastard made my top 8 so that picture showed up on my last.fm page! As usual, it was very Mayer-heavy. A little bit of Wilco, and that was about it.

What I listened to July 1-7

Trevor Hall is absolutely amazing. I was introduced to his music a few weeks ago randomly and thought he had a unique sound. Saw him at Summerfest on July 4th and wow. Quickly becoming one of my favorite artists. That's about my only comment for my listening habits last week.

Jillian Michaels' Ripped In 30: Week 1 Day 1

The first thing I will say is my friend Kelly was right. This workout is harder than the 30 Day Shred. In fact, it's much harder. I don't remember all of the specific exercises, but I do know one thing. I can not do Circuit 1 Abs, AT ALL. I know my abs are my most problematic, so it makes sense. But wow, that was frustrating. I also couldn't keep up with Running Man in the 2nd circuit cardio and could barely do the Fast Feet (or whatever she called it) at full intensity for the entire time. But I pushed through it and did the very best that I could. I am going to do this workout Tuesday-Saturday and rest on Sunday and Monday. Every Tuesday I'll start a new week. I am taking progress photos, but of course I am not posting them on a public blog. I will take a picture every Tuesday and see if there is any noticeable progress from day 1 and 30.

Aside from doing Ripped In 30 in the late afternoon/early evening, I am going to do the following:

• Crunches every morning
• Yoga routine to "cool down" from Ripped
• Run 3x a week

That's my plan. I really want to stick to it. I don't want to give up. We'll see how this goes. We'll see if Ripped will be any easier tomorrow. Jillian and I have quite the love/hate relationship.

Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time.

My quest is to listen to all of Rolling Stone's top 500 records of all time that I don't already own. I will mark the ones I already own(and listen to on a regular basis). As for right now, I'm going in order from 1-500, but if a band shows up twice that I really didn't like, I might not listen to their other albums in their entirety or I might skip them altogether.

Albums I own and love: 

#1: The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 

#3: The Beatles - Revolver 

 #4: Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited 

#9: Bob Dylan - Blonde On Blonde 

#10: The Beatles - The White Album 

Albums I own but don't listen to often/at all: 

#2: Beach Boys - Pet Sounds: I had never listened to it all the way through, so I decided to. Whenever I want to listen to the Beach Boys, I'd put on Sounds of Summer for nostalgic purposes, which is a greatest hits of sorts. So some of my favorite Beach Boys songs are originally on Pet Sounds, but other than the songs I already knew, I found this album a little slow. I like their Surfin Safari, Help Me Rhonda type sound. So I guess I don't get why this album is number two of ALL TIME. 

#5: The Beatles - Rubber Soul: I actually decided to give this a listen though because it's one of the Beatles records I've listened to the least. I like some songs on it a lot but I've rarely listened to the others. It didn't move up on my list of Beatles records, but it's obviously solid, as they all are.

Albums I added to my Spotify library and listened to: 

#6: Marvin Gaye - What's Going On: You know, honestly, his voice is awesome, but I just don't listen to R&B, so I only listened to a couple of songs and deleted him from my library.

#7: The Rolling Stones - Exile On Main Street I actually never understood the big hype about the Stones, so I'm glad this one popped up on here. I will admit it was slow to get into, and there were very few I even liked. I'm not saying they are bad. I recognize their talent, but this album isn't my cup of tea. They show up  later on the list, and will give another one of their albums a chance, too.


Albums that weren't on Spotify (and were skipped entirely):

#8: The Clash - London Calling 

Down 2 pounds already!

I forgot how awesome pleasant surprises on the scale made me feel. This is my profile on the website LoseIt!, based on the app for iOS (and I believe Android as well). It's my new Sparkpeople. I used Spark last year, and while it's arguably a better site, I like some of the features on here better. I can't wait in the next six days to see how much the number has gone down... I hope at least by a little bit. 

What I listened to May 27 - June 2

Oops, John Mayer dominated. I have no shame in this. I listened to mainly Born And Raised, because I listen to it nightly to go to sleep as well as at least once or twice during most days. But I also gave Battle Studies a few spins along with Continuum and Heavier Things at least once. Springsteen back in the #2 spot. Thought I listened to Jack Johnson more than that. The only other comment I'll make is I dug up my Will Smith stuff and I am definitely replaying my "favorites" a lot more often.

What I listened to May 20-26

Uhh, yeah. I listened to John Mayer a lot. I expect him to be that high this week as well. Every song that man creates is pure gold. I don't know how he does it. I did get into a brief NFG kick and listened to two of their albums. Might revisit them again in the near future. I know I listened to this other stuff but when I think about last week all I think about is Mayer's new album Born and Raised, though I did listen to his Battle Studies, Heavier Things, and Continuum albums this week, too. Jack Johnson and The Boss rounded out my top 3. Jack and Bruce are always in my top 5, so that isn't surprising. I've been in kind of a rut lately. But add Mayer into the mix and it's an even more perfect rut that I'm not ashamed of.

My top 5 played albums of 2012

So I use last.fm to track what I listen to on my iPod, iPhone and Spotify. I have had several accounts; my recent one was created in April of 2010. So far in 2012, here are my top five most played albums:

1. Bruce Springsteen's Wrecking Ball - 254 plays
This album was released in March and it's already my top played album. I just fell in love with the entire thing. I hesitate to admit I didn't listen to Springsteen much prior to the music website I read daily going crazy over Wrecking Ball. Songs like "Jack of All Trades", "We Take Care Of Our Own", and "Land of Hopes and Dreams" are so beautifully written. I like his old man raspy voice he uses on this album almost more than on his earlier albums. So much raw emotion in this album.

2. John Mayer's Born And Raised - 163 plays

I can top Wrecking Ball. John Mayer's album came out on TUESDAY and it's already my second highest played album of the year. I have been listening to it nonstop since its release. I will also say I listened to even less of John Mayer prior to the same website going crazy with anticipation over this release. This album is perfect to me. Seriously. In Spotify, I "starred" every single song on it. I listen to it to fall asleep now. I always have sleep music at the end of the day to help me relax. I will soon switch to another album because I do not want to get sick of it. But it is really soft, folksy, honest, and perfect.

3. Jack Johnson's In Between Dreams - 139 plays

Jack also has very soft, relaxing stuff. I listen to him when I'm trying to relax and I often play him at the end of my school day when I'm grading. His music really fits any mood. His voice is super beautiful too. This is obviously my favorite album by him; this and Brushfire Fairytales are close competitors with Sleep Through The Static coming in a semi distant third.

4. Bruce Springsteen's The Essential Bruce Springsteen - 83 plays

Before I got his entire catalog, I listened to this a lot. Also, my favorite song is on it (and not on a regular album) which I listen to very frequently. Obviously, a greatest hits album of Bruce's is rock solid. He's The Boss, after all.

5. Jack Johnson's Brushfire Fairytales - 75 plays

Yeah, I listen to Jack Johnson a lot. His albums are just perfect to fall asleep to. Every single one is soft and relaxing. He's also great to drive to... so yeah. This is my second favorite album of his and I've been listening to it a lot lately.

My first run.

So, this was my first run since December. My parents canceled their gym membership and I've been up to my ears in student teaching. But I just bought Saucony running shoes which are the first pair of running shoes I've ever owned (my other ones were "athletic shoes"). They're Saucony brand. What a difference. They fit like a dream. Wide enough for my feet plus very lightweight with an awesome cushiony sole. Thank you, Roadiez Running Store. I also wanted to try my Nike+ iPhone app as well as my Spotify Running Mix on my iPhone. Unfortunately, my iPhone case is en route so I had to carry my phone in its pouch which kind of sucked. It was also super hot tonight. It was a scorcher, but I know running in this weather will make me a better runner and more prepared for the Packers 5k this year. I haven't been feeling well so I just wanted to get out there just to get out there. I hope within the next few days I get a 5 mile walk in and a few days after that I will run the same distance and try to beat my time. Such an awesome app.