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NATHAN'S MART

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Okay, now this is ridiculous. It’s July, 2021 and I’m only now just publishing my 2020 year end mix. But, come one, it was 2020. Everything was all kinds of effed up - cut me some slack!

I don’t have to say how bad my year was. Everyone’s year was bad. Let’s all just pretend it didn’t happen (like the high percentage of you who are not getting vaccinated) and listen to some great music.

STREAM / DOWNLOAD (.zip, 198.73 MB) You can either download this .zip file which has all of the songs as separate files, or you can stream and download the “mixed” version I made with all of the songs together by clicking the play button above or the little download arrow in the same box.

Tracklist: 1. Some Boys Never Learn - Jae Laffer 2. If You Think This is Real Life - Blossoms 3. Ribs - Neil Cicierega 4. Surreal - Dan Croll 5. Have You Fed Baby Huey Today - Surprise Chef 6. Who are the Electors? - They Might Be Giants 7. Puppeteer - Jerry Paper 8. Landmine - I Know Leopard 9. Ooh La La - Run the Jewels 10. Human Girl - Guerilla Toss 11. The Steps - Haim 12. Revising My Fee - Mush 13. Do What I Want - The Chats 14. The Barrel - Aldous Harding 15. Got to Know What’s Going on - Bill Wurtz 16. Clorox Wipe - Chromeo 17. magnetic - joan 18. Anyway - May Erlewine & Woody Goss 19. No One Holds You Closer (The One You Haven’t Met) - The Lemon Twigs 20. Strange Overtones - Whitney 21. bloodstream - Soccer Mommy 22. (I Don’t Want to Be a) Billionaire - Theo Katzman 23. U.D.I.G. (UNITED DEFENDERS OF INTERNATIONAL GOODWILL) - R.A.P. Ferreira 24. Golden (feat. Cody Fry) - Cory Wong 25. Hey Hi Hello - Danny and Alex

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Here’s a playlist to get you through this quarantine. When the country falls apart and we are living in a post-capitalist hellscape you can throw this on to make you feel more hopeful about it all.*

*this playlist will neither get you through this quarantine nor make you feel any more hopeful about our post-capitalist hellscape

STREAM / DOWNLOAD (.zip, 38.8 MB) You can either download this .zip file which has all of the songs as separate files, or you can stream and download the “mixed” version I made with all of the songs together by clicking the play button above or the little download arrow in the same box.

And, for the first time ever, I have also included a YouTube playlist for everyone who is too lazy to do it the right way.

Tracklist: 1. Virus - Deltron 3030 2. Cough Cough - Everything Everything 3. I’m Sick (of This American Life) - They Might Be Giants 4. Callin’ In Sick - “Weird Al” Yankovic 5. Zuton Fever - The Zutons 6. Your Sickness - Pinback 7. Stay Away - Rooney 8. Contagious - The Whispers 9. Sick - Sam Sparro 10. Temperature (Get This In Ya) - The Chats 11. This Aint No Living - Tim Heidecker

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I have officially broken last year’s record. My 2019 year end mix has actually been released during 2019! I’m pretty proud of myself. I deserve so much in life.

We made it back to Titusville. I have mixed feelings about it, but mostly I feel way more comfortable in our current space and it’s probably the best building we have ever lived in. I hate being far from everything again but it’s almost kind of true that no matter where you live in Florida, you will always be far from wherever you want to be. The only solution for that is to be rich or have 15 roommates and I just can’t convince my wife to move into a frat house.

Lots of variety on my list this year though it’s undeniable that nostalgia still reigns supreme in my life. I’d like to think that this is a symptom of getting older but honestly, I have been on a 5-year nostalgia cycle since probably high school. I can get nostalgic about an episode of The Mandalorian if I think hard enough about it.

DOWNLOAD (.zip, 141.1 MB) You can either download this .zip file which has all of the songs as separate files, or you can stream and download the “mixed” version I made with all of the songs together by clicking the play button above or the little download arrow in the same box.

Tracklist: 1. Pub Feed - The Chats 2. Divorce - Alex Cameron 3. Sleeping for Days - The Belligerents 4. Casa De Mel - Brad Goodall 5. Softly (Tokyo) - Benny Sings 6. Now You See Me - Ivan Ave 7. Edit Out - Chris Cohen 8. Bridges and Tunnels - Dams of the West 9. Misbehavin’ (1989) - Aimee-Leigh & Baby Billy 10. Hi - Indoor Pets 11. Gold Past Life - Fruit Bats 12. The Gut - Homeboy Sandman & Edan 13. Stuck in Your Saturday Night - Diane Coffee 14. I Thought It Was You - Le Flex 15. Uneventful Days - Beck 16. Number One Fan - MUNA 17. one more touch - joan 18. Leaning On Myself - Anna of the North 19. Careaway - Piney Gir 20. I’m Taken - The Sloppy Boys 21. Stranger - Vampire Weekend 22. Rex - School of Language 23. Only In a Man’s World - Field Music 24. Foodcoma - Shoos Off 25. Untitled - Mk.gee 26. 22 - Potty Mouth 27. You’re the One (In My Heart) - Si Spex

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Guess what guys?? It’s that time again!! Can you believe I actually finished a year-end mix within a reasonable timeframe? January! Well, end of January, but that is definitely a record for me.

Last year was a little uneventful. I mean, we moved again, but just up the street and into a place that is only marginally nicer but extra marginally more expensive. We have plans to leave the big city and head back to the sticks but that’s a story for another day (a day in June, to be more specific).

But, no, not much happened. I didn’t change jobs. We didn’t change cities. No one reached an age milestone. Nope. We are still just living here in “Paradise.” The land of Mickey Mouse, hot sun and some pretty swampy politics. (I’m sure something huge happened and Meridith with immediately message me to correct me)

This year’s mix is nice. Lots of upbeat music (as usual) and most of it sounds like it was made in my head in 1987. If you’re into that kinda thing then click on through!

DOWNLOAD (.zip, 141.1 MB) You can either download this .zip file which has all of the songs as separate files, or you can stream and download the “mixed” version I made with all of the songs together by clicking the play button above or the little download arrow in the same box.

Tracklist: 1. Purple Red - And the Boys 2. Keep On Going - Andrew W.K. 3. Get in My Car - BRONCHO 4. Joanne - Kid Astray 5. My Favourite Game - Benny Sings 6. Forever People - CZARFACE & MF DOOM 7. Gold Rush - Death Cab for Cutie 8. Make Me a Song - Eleanor Friedberger 9. Tantalized - Fever High 10. Since You Left Me Lonely - Le Flex 11. Bambi - Hippo Campus 12. Roll with the Punches - Mk.gee 13. Acid King - Malibu Ken (Aesop Rock & TOBACCO) 14. Freak Out - Miya Folick 15. Paradise is Waiting - St. Lucia 16. Bedroom Calling pt. 2 - Chromeo (feat. The-Dream) 17. Feeling Lonely - boy pablo 18. Impossible Hand - Stephen Steinbrink 19. Phone - Louis Cole 20. all the way - joan 21. Tom Collins - The Sloppy Boys 22. Future Me Hates Me - The Beths 23. Meltdown - Public Access T.V.

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It’s already 2018! It seems like only 6 or 7 months ago I was posting my 2016 year end mix and here we are!

AND WHAT A YEAR IT WAS.

Besides all the great stuff going on with America, I got a new job actually doing portfolio-worthy work for a change. Who knows guys? This might actually be a career and not just another stop on the way to becoming a famous comedian/rapper!! Also, with the new job, we moved closer to the big city and now we have all the normal conveniences of life less than 40 minutes away from us. It doesn’t seem like much, but having a Chipotle in walking distance is not something to take for granted.

I have a lot to be thankful for and I’m “counting it up” (boom) in the midst of all the pain and hurt going around.

DOWNLOAD (.zip, 139.19MB) You can either download this .zip file which has all of the songs as separate files, or you can stream and download the “mixed” version I made with all of the songs together by clicking the play button above or the little download arrow in the same box.

Tracklist: 1. Where Not to Look for Freedom - The Belle Brigade 2. Livin’ in Sin - Dan Auerbach 3. Count It Up - Field Music 4. Everything is Happening Today - Flock of Dimes 5. Oh Yeah - Dutch Uncles 6. Little White Lies - Flyte 7. Backing Up - The Elwins 8. Rules - Hoops 9. I’m Just Snacking - Gus Dapperton 10. Take Me On - joan 11. Nothing’s Wrong - HAIM 12. Bank Account - Louis Cole 13. Green Light (Chromeo Remix) - Lorde 14. Go With It (feat. Chromeo) - Oliver 15. ABC 123 - Tune-Yards 16. Help (feat. Edan & Wiki) - Your Old Droog 17. Expect the Bayonet - Sheer Mag 18. Loving is Easy (feat. Benny Sings) - Rex Orange County 19. Call Off Your Dogs - Lake Street Dive 20. Good Old Days - Owsley 21. Name for You - The Shins 22. Business Casual (feat. Coco O.) - Vulfpeck 23. Cool - Zack Villere 24. Only Us - Paperwhite

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It’s the end of August so you know what that means: it’s time for Nathan’s 2016 year end mix! If you’ve been paying attention - at all - then you’ll know this is pretty timely actually.

This has been a pretty good year so far. I got a new place of working (which is exactly how an American would say that). I’m actually doing real graphic design instead of just rearranging text boxes and lines. I actually might be able to build a portfolio finally! This means good news for those of you without jobs relying on portfolios or pretty colors.

So what does “End of an Era” mean? Why did I title it that? Well, I always like to take one song from the mix and try to find meaning in the title for the year of the mix. “End of an Era” could mean a lot of things for me in 2016. It really could. Honestly? I didn’t feel like trying to squeeze water out of any of these song title rocks and “Used Cars” didn’t quite have the same zing (though you could actually make a case for that having some meaning for me in 2016).

DOWNLOAD (.zip, 83.4MB) You can either download this .zip file which has all of the songs as separate files, or you can stream and download the “mixed” version I made with all of the songs together by clicking the play button above or the little download arrow in the same box.

Tracklist: 1. Home - St. Lucia 2. Upsilon - Dutch Uncles 3. Game of the Heart - Donald Cumming 4. End of an Era - Public Access T.V. 5. Sway - Le Flex 6. Perm - Bruno Mars 7. Used Cars - Hail Mary Mallon 8. Redbone - Childish Gambino 9. Crap Artists - Despot 10. Animal Spirits - Vulfpeck 11. Can’t Get Enough of Myself (feat. B.C) - Santigold 12. For the Kids (feat. Susanne Sundfør) - M83 13. Pretty Torn Up - EZTV 14. Disappointed - Field Music 15. School of Wizards - Mitch Murder 16. No Eyed Girl - Lemon Demon 17. Storm - Paperwhite 18. Blood Sandwich - Aesop Rock 19. Nobody Speak (feat. Run the Jewels) - DJ Shadow 20. Victim of the Modern Age - Oh No Ono 21. Stupid Einstein - The Three O’Clock 22. Here Comes the Sun - Nina Simone

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Well, it’s that time of year - the time when everyone reassesses how much they love their family and what that family is worth in gift costs. This year is special because everyone is really trying to figure it all out after this calm and peaceful election. No one is quite sure where anyone stands on the president-elect and we have no outlets to clue each other into our preferences. One thing we can all agree on, though, is that we are all equally sick of hipster Christmas mixes.

ENTER: Brand New Christmas

DOWNLOAD (.zip, 108.6MB) You can either download this .zip file which has all of the songs as separate files, or you can stream and download the “mixed” version I made with all of the songs together by clicking the play button above or the little download arrow in the same box.

Tracklist: 1. Big Winter Jacket - Cayucas 2. All Around Christmas - Tahiti 80 3. All I Ever Want (Under the Christmas Tree) - The Cute Lepers 4. The Twelve Days of Christmas - Field Music, Kathryn Williams, The Futureheads & The Joseph and Mary Chain 5. Silent Night - Elvin Bishop 6. Wonderful Christmastime - Tuxedo 7. Alone on Christmas Day - Phoenix 8. He’s Santa Clause - Disco Four 9. Christmas (I Remember) - The Smithereens 10. Funky Christmas - The Whispers 11. Wintertime - Bill Withers 12. Christmas in L.A. - Vulfpeck 13. Every Day’s a Holiday - Piney Gir 14. Merry Christmas...If That’s Okay - Mystery Science Theater 3000 15. Merry Christmas Everyone - Shakin’ Stevens 16. Snowflake - Islands 17. Snow Day - Tacocat 18. Our First Christmas - Alexander O’Neal 19. 12 Bars of Christmas - Sivion, Sareem Poems, K.I.N.E.T.I.K., Sojourn & Imperial 20. Brand New Christmas - Hot Chocolate 21. I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day - Nick Lowe 22. Just Like Christmas (feat. Gaby Fröden) - Ingo Star Cruiser

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2014 MIX - RESTART

"So let me restart..."

- Sam Smith

This year had a LOT of ups and downs and I'm looking forward to 2015 bringing me back up the hill, though I never understood the "roller coaster of emotions" metaphor. Going down is the best part of a roller coaster hill. I can tell you right now that the going down part of this year was NOT fun for me.

Thankfully, I've still got Marlo and Meridith by my side (even though Meridith is snoring her lungs out right now). I can remember when the cards were switched, back when Meridith worked at Resource and was having a horrible time there. I tried my best to make her feel good about it but I didn't always have the best luck. I try to think of that every time I'm feeling down and Meridith is doing her best to make me feel better. It helps. A lot.

I've never been one to be depressed. I've always been blessed with a near superhuman ability to ignore all the stress in my life. Part of me thinks it's because it's hard to be sad when your biggest hobbies are playing video games and consuming comedy. Deep down, though, I know that God had a plan for Meridith and I and if I were even a little bit more susceptible to depression that our marriage would have broken down in mere seconds after saying, "I do." And so, I have to be strong.

But, I'm not saying that as a way to ignore the real fact that I have been struggling with those feelings more than I ever have in my life. It's true; they are there. I just want to keep reminding myself of what God and Steve Perry have always been telling me: don't stop believin'. There is a plan and I'm not trapped.

And with that, here's a rather cheerful mix of music that has kept me high in the midst of those low lows. If you've never been able to understand my insatiable lust for chipper pop it just might make sense after all. It's just now dawning on me why I can't stop listening to the sun...

Tracklist:

1. Legs - Chuck Inglish (feat. Chromeo) 2. Restart - Sam Smith 3. Call You Out - JUCE! 4. Pillars of the Temple - Mode 5. Dig You Out - GORDON VOIDWELL 6. Pieces - Paperwhite 7. Circles - PUJOL 8. Jambalaya - Pusswhip Banggang 9. I Love the Life I Lead - Elvin Bishop 10. All of the People - Panama Wedding 11. Champions of Red Wine - The New Pornographers 12. Dreamers - Savoir Adore 13. Give it All Back - Noah and the Whale 14. Night On the Dark Hill - VHS Glitch 15. Abracadabralifornia - Jon Daly 16. Likely to Use Something - The Belle Brigade 17. Sadistic Kisses - Miniature Tigers 18. Kiss and Not Tell - La Roux 19. Red Eyes - The War On Drugs 20. Lost On the Way Home - Chromeo

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NOTE: I just wrote this beautiful family update letter that got lost.  What you are about to read has been begrudgingly rewritten.

Happy frickin' Christmas everybody.

We had a great frickin' year.  Lots of stuff happened that I won't go into.  Some good, some bad but that's life, right?  I'll tell you this much, it's not worth going into TWO times.  To keep it short, we moved, got more jobs and we are still managing to do it with one car.

I hope you're happy were you're sitting 'cause we sure are.  Have a good new year okay?

JUST KIDDING EVERYONE!!!!  Hahahaha!  "You're such a card!" is what Meridith will undoubtedly say when she reads this.

We had a great year and we miss all of you!  Here's a quick rundown:

1. New part time graphic design gig for Nathan at our church

2. Marlo started school and dance lessons

3. Meridith's business is kicking in high gear

Like I said, we miss you all so much and hopefully when you think about your next vacation, Titusville, FL won't be too far away in your minds!

DOWNLOAD (.zip, 120.7MB)

Tracklist: 1. All Around the World - Evil Wiener 2. Christmas Rhymin' - Audio Two 3. Give Love On Christmas Day - New Edition 4. Christopher Bell Rock - The Birthday Boys 5. Arms of Mary/Looking At a Baby - The New Pornographers 6. This Winter I Retire - Said the Whale 7. Sha La La - Cathy Harrington 8. Winter of Love (Power Station version) - Chris Stamey 9. Funky, Funky Christmas - New Kids On the Block 10. Winter - The Dodos 11. Born In Bethlehem, And He Shall Send Them One By One. - Listener & Dust 12. Winterland - Melody Club 13. Auld Lang Syne - Boney M. 14. Merry X'Mas Everybody - Sloan 15. I Wanna Take You Out In Your Holiday Sweater - Pas/Cal 16. Holiday Night Tonight - The Mopeds 17. Snow Plus Christmas - The Pearlfishers 18. Christmas Will Be Just Another Lonely Day - Wye Oak 19. Winter For a Year - Arcade Fire 20. Christmas At Ground Zero - "Weird Al" Yankovic 21. Merry Christmas Baby - Otis Redding

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What a year, huh?

In the midst of school shootings and hurricanes and rich celebrities becoming nobodies and nobodies becoming rich celebrities, I went and got myself a real career finally!  So, I guess all that bad stuff was cancelled out by my good fortune - PRAISE GOD!

AND, best of all, here comes another 2012 mix right in your face.  The last time I made a 2012 mix I had a clean-shaven face, the start of a really great Chinese tattoo that says "dreams" (or "milk, milk, lemonade" depending on if I'm flexing or not) and all my teeth!  It's been a long journey since yesterday and I've got a tattoo bandage that needs seeing to so I'll get right to the goods.

Oh, it's come to my attention that my MP3s aren't put together in a nice neat mixtape album when you import them into your iTunes Walkmans.  Well, I don't have enough time to sit around making duplicates of MP3s so I don't have to mess up my album listings.  I have a life and a kid and a career and a newly carved arm.  I don't sit around all day drawing pictures like you do, zartFART!

DOWNLOAD (.zip, 154.9MB)

Tracklist: 1. Still Life With Hot Deuce and Silver Platter - Titus Andronicus 2. Nothing To Do - Bleeding Knees Club 3. On the Beat - Electrocute 4. We Are 1980 - Said the Whale 5. A New Town - Field Music 6. Nothin's Gonna Stop Us - The Darkness 7. Out the Door - Ben Kweller 8. I'm Not Talking - A.C. Newman 9. I Still Believe - Frank Turner 10. Forever - The Explorers Club 11. it aint over. - Shad 12. Waves - Joey Bada$$ 13. Why You ...? (Feat. Speech Defect) - The Funk League 14. Shining - Rashad & Confidence 15. Sugar Honey Iced Tea - Styles of Beyond 16. All of Me - Tanlines 17. Pure as Love - AVAN LAVA 18. Express Non-Stop - Alphabeat 19. Out On the Town - fun. 20. Where I'm Going - Cut Copy 21. Hold that Thought - Ben Folds Five

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So I guess this tumblr has become a yearly mixtape blog.  I guess that's okay - what else do I have to say throughout the year?  What do you want from me?  An update on my waist size?  Well, it's getting bigger even though I can't seem to break 180 lbs.  Is that weird?

The dumb thing about Christmas mixes is that if you are trying to have a different and unique one every year your choices get slimmer and slimmer as you check them off.  I decided, then, to broaden the iTunes search and include winter and holiday songs in general.  So there's a couple of songs that aren't necessarily Christmas songs but are still seasonal.

As usual, I try not to make the same mix everyone else makes.  Of course, that means no Sufjan stuff (even though he just released a new one) and after looking over it I think I'm pretty safe (except for maybe the Shins song from the Holidays Rule compilation - or even possibly the AgesandAges one from that same CD).  Also, I tried not to include anything from CDs I used last year so that eliminates holiday favorites such as the New Edition, Jets and NKOTB Christmas CDs (I did add the other Three Wise Men track that I have but I might as well burn it out since there's nothing else from them, that I know of).

Oh, and if you're wondering - yes, that is me in the picture above.  And, if you're wondering - no, I have no idea why that Santa's hands and face are completely swollen.

DOWNLOAD (.zip, 80MB)

Tracklist: 1. Christmas Time - The dB's 2. Don't Cry, It's Christmas - Ricky Gervais 3. Christmas All Over Again - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers 4. Sleighride - Lio 5. Wonderful Christmastime - The Shins 6. We Need a Little Christmas - AgesandAges 7. Christmas Rappin' - Dizzy Heights 8. Holiday - Calloway 9. Valley Winter Song - Fountains of Wayne 10. An Old Fashioned Christmas - Pac-Man 11. Holiday - Body Language 12. Can't Spell Christmas Without Christ - E.T.W. 13. Thanks for Christmas - The Three Wise Men (XTC) 14. She Came Home for Christmas - Mew 15. Winter Wooskie - Belle & Sebastian

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Hey, it's never too late for a 2011 year-end mix right?

DOWNLOAD (.zip, 151.5 MB)

Tracklist: 1. Audio, Video, Disco - Justice 2. Theme from "Flight of the Navigator" - Alan Silvestri 3. Yonkers - Tyler the Creator 4. Moonstruck - Action Bronson 5. Above Your Head - Anoraak 6. Forget It - Blood Orange 7. Wronging the Rights - Das Pop 8. Right or Wrong - Heidecker & Wood 9. Killa - Tune-Yards 10. Don't Fuck with My Money - Penguin Prison 11. Try for the Sun - Linsdey Buckingham 12. Three Piece Chicken Dinner - Neil Hamburger 13. Songs for Women - Frank Ocean 14. You Turn Clear in the Sun - Telekinesis 15. Better Off Without You - Summer Camp 16. Ask Somebody Who Ain't (If U Think the System's Workin'...) - Speech 17. Bye Bye Bye - Jellyfish 18. Gotta Get Up - Harry Nilsson 19. That's Hard (feat. Sean P and Styles P) - Pete Rock & Smif-N-Wessun 20. Why Even Try (feat. Sara Quin) - Theophilus London 21. Question - Old 97's 22. Once In Awhile - Don't Stop or We'll Die 23. Strawberries - San Serac

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Hey, it's 4:30 AM, it's time to post a Christmas mix!

How many Christmas mixes all claim to have songs you've never heard before?  How many Christmas mixes have standards being covered by old pop stars?  How many Christmas mixes have you seen posted in the last 10 minutes?

Well, my mix is different than all of these!  I don't claim to have any songs you've never heard and I don't have any Christmas standard covers.  AND, my mix is the only mix that was uploaded in the last 10 minutes in the entire world!!!

DOWNLOAD (.zip, 104MB)

Tracklist: 1. Countdown to Christmas Party Time - The Three Wise Men (XTC) 2. Christmas Eve Nite - Danielson 3. Plant a Little Fir Tree - Half-Handed Cloud 4. Christmas - Dogs Die In Hot Cars 5. Christmas is Interesting - Jonathan Coulton 6. Remember Christmas - Harry Nilsson 7. Drink My Way Through Christmas - Karen Kilgariff 8. I Wish it Was Christmas Today - Julian Casablancas 9. Do You See What I See? I Hope So. - Listener & Dust 10. Have a Happy Christmas - Billy Jackson & the Citizen's Band 11. This Christmas - The Jets 12. The Joy of Christmas - New Edition 13. Everyday is Christmas - The Chamber Strings 14. Close Your Mouth (It's Christmas) - The Free Design 15. Ice Race - The Pearlfishers 16. Merry, Merry Christmas - New Kids on the Block 17. Christmas Suite - Heidecker & Wood 18. Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End) - The Darkness 19. Joseph, Who Understood - The New Pornographers

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Tips for Taking the Praxis

I recently took one of the many Praxis tests available for state teaching licensure* and I learned a few things that I'm willing to share with the rest of you future teachers.  All I ask is that you don't share these tips with the rest of the internet, like on Facebook, Twitter or BlackPlanet.  If you found this through me posting it on my Facebook, Twitter or BlackPlanet page then please disregard and post it wherever you see fit.

1) DON'T BRING YOUR CELLPHONE

When I got to the test I saw what was basically the wallpaper for the halls of OSU saying that cellphones were not allowed, would forfeit your fees and score and could not be held for you by the proctor.  I got there RIGHT on time and so could not go back to my car.  Instead, I found a place upstairs where no one was watching and I hid my iPhone in a newspaper stuffed behind a large trashcan.  This created so much anxiety that, oddly enough, didn't cancel out the test anxiety I had been storing up all week.  So, now, in addition to worrying about the test for the next two hours, I also got to worry about someone stealing my phone or someone noticing my stash and calling in a bomb squad disrupting the test for my fellow test-takers.  If it's not pencil sharpening, it's bomb diffusion, or some other focus-breaking distraction.

2) WHEN CHECKING YOUR ANSWERS, DON'T MAKE A MENTAL NOTE OF EVERYTHING YOU GOT WRONG

As I was going over my answers, I decided to jot down how many I knew were definitely wrong and would count against me.  Of course, there were a few that I felt I probably got right due to the logic of the multiple choice but to be safe I included them anyways.  On top of those, I included a few more that I probably got right just to be safe.  Finally, I included a random few that I knew, for sure, were correct just to make sure I wasn't being too cocky.  This left me with about ten questions that I was sure I got right with a 110 question buffer zone.  I'm not sure this helped to soothe any of my after-test anxiety (or the still lingering bomb scare anxiety).

3) WHEN YOU'RE WAITING FOR THE PROCTOR TO END THE SESSION, DON'T SING "WHAT A FOOL BELIEVES" OVER AND OVER AGAIN TO YOURSELF

I have no idea where it came from but as I was waiting quietly for the time to finish I couldn't stop singing "What a Fool Believes" by The Doobie Brothers.  At first, it was a soothing end to a stressful experience; helping me to sail away on a boat of doobies.  After a few "hits" of the song, though, it started to dawn on me that maybe my subconscious was trying to tell me that the satisfaction I was feeling for a job well done was all a lie and that I was a "fool" for "believing" that I had actually done a "good job."  If you're going to sing a song in your head sing something with more confidence in the lyrics like maybe "Shakedown" by Bob Seger or "Hand on the Pump" by Cypress Hill - definitely no Elliott Smith or Dashboard Confessional (the latter mostly because it's impossible not to sing DC at the top of your lungs, OMG!!).

So, that should do it for now.  When I take my second Praxis I'll be sure to update this post with any new findings.  If you happen to come back here and see the updated tips, again, please remember that this is sensitive information and you shouldn't post it on any other site.**

*I think that's a correct way to say that - I don't know; I didn't take the English Praxis. **I mean, if you have to, then BlackPlanet is fine I guess.

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californiaracquetclub:

Impressive!

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For some reason, one of the first comedy things I ever wrote just popped into my head a couple of weeks ago.  I remembered in elementary school that we started a choir in the back of the bus where we would sing parodies of popular songs, all about riding the bus and how great we were as a choir.  I think it lasted probably all of a week until we were on to the next dumb thing but I took it seriously enough to write a parody during one of my classes.  New Kids on the Block were big at that time and their second album featuring the song "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" was huge.  So, I took that song and wrote the first verse for our choir and that is the earliest comedy thing I ever wrote (that I can think of).

Naturally, I immediately thought of the unjustness of my hard work being flushed down the drain and decided to fix the issue by finishing the rest of the parody and recording my very own version of the song.  So, sit back, relax, go to sleep, wake up in the middle of the night after a nightmare, wake up, eat some breakfast, check Facebook and then go on about the rest of your day.  You deserve it.

Oh, and I included the song in case anyone wanted to hear it.

The Bus Choir (Parody of "You Got It (The Right Stuff)")

The Bus Choir/ The Bus Choir/ Our first song was a great one/ Second song was the best/ Our third and our fourth ones, we haven’t written yet/ We can sing it in the dark/ Sing it while we walk/ We can sing it at every bus stop but MLK Boulevard/ We are the bus choir, baby/ The bus driver, she sings along/ We are the bus choir, baby/ She’s the reason why we sing this song/ All that we need is a tune/ Unfurled, but so tight/ And even with all the bus fumes/ We won’t fall (or sing the blues)/ Oh, oh, oh-oh-oh/ Oh, oh, oh-oh/ Oh, oh, oh-oh-oh/ The Bus Choir/ Oh, oh, oh-oh-oh/ Oh, oh, oh-oh/ Oh, oh, oh-oh-oh/ The Bus Choir/ Second hit didn’t miss/ Third and our fourth hits, we haven’t released yet/ We can sing it in the dark/ Sing it while we walk/ We can sing it in every nation too, even in Iraq/ We are the bus choir, baby/ The bus driver, she sings along We are the bus choir, baby/ She’s the reason why we sing this song/ All that we need is a tune/ Fist clenched tight, but no mic/ And even with all the bus fumes/ We won’t fall (we’ll never sing the frickin’ blues)/ Oh, oh, oh-oh-oh/ Oh, oh, oh-oh/ Oh, oh, oh-oh-oh/ The Bus Choir/ Oh, oh, oh-oh-oh/ Oh, oh, oh-oh/ Oh, oh, oh-oh-oh/ The Bus Choir/ Oh, oh, oh-oh-oh/ Oh, oh, oh-oh/ Oh, oh, oh-oh-oh/ The Bus Choir/

[californiaracquetclub]

Reciept Found From Obama's India Trip

[nathansmart]

californiaracquetclub: