Forty albums

So, one of my Facebook friends posted this earlier today, and I couldn't get it out of my mind. So I decided to take the time to jot these down now, partially because I want to look at other people's lists, without influencing mine.

"Here are the rules: List 12 albums that have stayed with you (okay, so I went with 40, ‘cause that’s just how I rock ‘n’ roll), but only one album per artist. Don't take too long, and don't think too hard. Tag ten friends to do the same thing, including me, so I can see what you put.

So, here are 40 albums that have stayed with me, more or less in order of preference:"

I decided to go with 40, and pretty much did it stream-of-consciouness, only editing when I would get repeat artists. (Really, limiting me to one RUSH album is insane cruelty.)

I was a little surprised at some of the things that popped into my head, but I think that all of these are albums that--if I were to listen to them right now--I would be able to sing along with every song. I laughed a bit as I saw my mom's music show up midway through, and my kids' music here and there.

But really, I need more RUSH.

1. RUSH     2112

2. Kansas     Point of Know Return

3. Styx       Paradise Theater 

4. Queen    The Game

5. Billy Joel     The Stranger

6. Journey      Evolution

7. Prince and the Revolution    Purple Rain

8. Lynyrd Skynyrd      One More From the Road

9. Beach Boys       Endless Summer

10. Evanescence    Fallen

11. Imagine Dragons   Night Visions

12. Lori Morgan   Something in Red

13. Meat Loaf    Bat Out of Hell

14. Bonnie Tyler   Faster than the Speed of Night

15. Bob Seger     Stranger in Town

16. Night Ranger   Midnight Madness

17.  Hootie and the Blowfish   Cracked Rear View

18. Supertramp   Breakfast in America

19. Survivor    Vital Signs

20. Boomtown Rats      Fine Art of Surfacing

21. Sugarhill Gang    Sugarhill Gang

22. REO Speedwagon   Hi Infidelity

23. Boston    Third Stage

24. Carpenters   A Song for You

25. Olivia Newton John     I Honestly Love You

26. Gordon Lightfoot       Sundown

27. Neil Diamond     Serenade

28. Eagles      Eagles

29. John Mellencamp   Uh-huh

30. Jewel    Spirit

31. Nik Kershaw     Human Racing

32. Ozzy Osbourne   Diary of a Madman

33. Bryan Adams     Cuts Like a Knife

34. Sting       The Dream of the Blue Turtles

35. U2      Joshua Tree

36. Amy Grant   Heart in Motion

37. Mister Mister   welcome to the Real World

38. Manfred Mann   Chance

39. Muse     The Resistance

40. Loverboy   Get Lucky

30 Years

This Saturday is my 30 year high school reunion. I am unreservedly looking forward to it. Facebook is largely responsible for this.

I didn't go to college with any of my high school friends and didn't really stay in touch with anyone, with the exception of a couple of guy friends. I was in contact with them during college and sporadically thereafter, but other than that, in the pre-Facebook world, I knew very little about what anyone from my class was doing. Once in a while I would hear a bit of news about a death, a divorce, or a promotion if my parents or in-laws knew the family, but I had moved away and, with some relief, had pretty much left Anderson behind.

A couple of times in the past I tried, out of a sense of obligation as a class officer, to pull together a reunion with varying degrees of success. But I really didn't want to be there. Then Facebook came along. I joined in January of 2007, a few months after FB opened up to anyone. I had a college-aged daughter who was on and encouraged me to join. I loved it. I had been living my social life largely online since 1996, so this was just an extension of that for me. It wasn't until a year or so later that I began connecting with people from high school. It has been great. I have really enjoyed getting to know people that I only knew slightly in school. I have enjoyed getting to see photos of the children of friends. I have loved reconnecting with my dearest friend from elementary school who I grew apart from in high school--after I lived out of state for a number of years and moved back--but always admired for her faith and her solid sense of herself.


The people who will be there are a mix: some of my best high school friends; people who I didn't know well then, but have gotten to know on Facebook and really look forward to seeing; and even a couple of people that I didn't know at all. I wish more of our class was going to be there. Only about a sixth of us will make it. We've lost what feels like a substantial number of our classmates to death. There are more that we've lost track of. Many, seemingly most--like many of my post-high school friends--have no desire to be there.

But I am looking forward to it.

Internet friends

I often hear people decry time spent online as taking away from "real" relationships. I was reminded of that again this morning as our house and church basement are full of young people who we almost certainly would not have known without the internet.

These are my daughter's best friends. She met them ten and more years ago. They live in Wisconsin, Texas, Indiana, and Ohio. When she first started getting to know them we lived in Illinois. I originally met all of their parents online through a homeschool email list or two.  During their high school years they kept in touch via email and chat, seeing each other a couple of times a year. She has been lucky enough to live in the same town as one or two of them for a year here and there, but if they hadn't already known each other, their paths wouldn't likely have crossed. Due to the cliquish nature of the homeschool community we found when we moved to Fort Wayne, the hours she spent chatting and emailing kept her from being a very lonely girl.

Earlier this week my friend Jenny was here from central Illinois with her husband and daughter. I met Jenny on an email list a few years ago, and, when she came with a group of other moms for a visit, she met Bethany and decided that her brother needed to, too. So she brought him for a visit. Bethany and Evan kept in touch while he was in Iraq. Now they are looking toward their first anniversary in August and their first child in September. He graduated from college in Minnesota and was in the army. She graduated from college in Indiana and was working as a paralegal. But for the internet, their paths weren't likely to cross.

Email and message board friends saved us in the early years of homeschooling when I had no in-person homeschooling contacts. Most of my closest friendships have come about because of the internet. And old friendships have been renewed through Facebook. And even local friendships are enriched by sharing pictures, activities, and the little ups and downs online.

I have lots of in-person friends and "real-life" activities, but the value of the time that I've spent online--from the early social network of AOL, to later message boards and email lists, to Facebook and Twitter now--has paid me richly in relationships and quality added to our lives.

So much to say

It's hard to know where to start. Maybe here with a Treasury Secretary designee who has a problem with paying the taxes he owes. Of course, not paying $34,000 in taxes is a "minor infraction" according to Obama aides. I'm sure that the IRS would look at it like that if it was you or me.

Is anyone paying more attention to these guys yet? Or these facts? I can almost guarantee that she won't. Although, as the Daily Tech article states, "Cold is more damaging than heat, " the left has hung it's hopes on global warming, and they aren't letting go. It's about power,not truth.

And then there's this. Why exactly Has Hillary been nominated to be Secretary of State?

On the positive side, I had a really yummy sushi lunch today with a friend from college who I had not seen since the spring of 1985. Thanks, Facebook!

Things I learn from Facebook

I got an email from Facebook yesterday that shows how well my friends know me.

I'm the #1 person they want to go shopping with and I'm among the most talkative, but I'm the least organized.

That about sums it up! They know me.