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The Riley Sisters Mix

Posted on March 10, 2016 by funnygurl2

Aw, don’t the girls look so good all together?

I started writing The Wind Could Blow a Bug with only one song in my head. But as I continued the series, I found country songs, both new and old, helped with my inspiration. While I was raised on country and have always had a fondness for it, I hadn’t listened to it in probably a decade or more. I think when Garth retired, maybe I did too. I don’t know if my country-based stories lead me to the music, or the music fueled the books. Either way, it happened. (By the way, seeing Garth live in concert was part of my reconnecting to country as well.)

Here is my playlist for The Riley Sisters Mix with annotations (some minor spoilers included), followed by the YouTube playlist. Most of these songs give me the good music neck tingle.*

Kick the Dust Up – Luke Bryan: This just makes me think of the Tucker boys romping around the dirt roads of Oakley. It sets the vibe. Plus, Luke seems like a good old boy, which is why a minor character by the name of Luke may appear in Book 3, as well as a character named Blake…

Boys Round Here – Blake Shelton: Take a little ride to the river? Does that make anyone else think about Wade taking Miley down to the pond for a little skinny dipping?

Speakers– Sam Hunt: This song is damn sexy. So is Sam Hunt. This makes me think of Wade and Jane parking on the night of her high school graduation.

Play It Again – Luke Bryan: This is the first song that began my country music resurgence. While it doesn’t correlate exactly to a scene in the book, it seems like an experience that could totally happen between Wade and Jane.

Got Me Wrong – Alice in Chains: You might think this song doesn’t fit with the rest, and maybe it doesn’t, but it fits Jane’s story. When she is getting over her depression in college and hears a song on the radio that just speaks to her heart? That is based off of real events, and this was the real-life song for me.

John Deere Green – Joe Diffie: For the end of Book 1 and Wade’s wedding proposal to Jane; and of course Josh and Kiley and the water tower in Book 2. Oh God, I just teared up thinking about the water tower scene.

I Knew You Were Trouble – Taylor Swift: Josh’s song.

Ticks – Brad Paisley: This song is one long pick-up line that Josh would totally use on Kiley, if given the chance, and she would totally fall for it.

South Side of Heaven/What I Got – Mezcla featuring Michael Raymond-James: MRJ is the semi-inspiration for Josh Tucker. It only seemed right that since this was available on YouTube that his gravelly voice should be included in this collection.

Honey Bee – Blake Shelton: Sweet words I can picture Josh trying to woo Kiley with.

Love Me Like You Mean It – Kelsea Ballerini: I confess, this whole song is included just cuz I like where she says “Boy with your hat back, um I kinda like that.”

Red Dirt Road – Brooks & Dunn: Nothing specific, but provides an overall feel of growing up in the south that I hope my book captures some tiny 1/1000^th of.

Raised On It – Sam Hunt: This is the song that sort of bridges my growing up in a farm town in Michigan with the Rileys and Tuckers growing up in Oakley, Alabama. I totally know about “sticky quarters”; I used them as the basis of a whole paper on Rites of Passage in college.

Ride to California – Paper Tongues: Miley, making her way out to Hollywood at all costs where she believes are all her dreams are just waiting to come true.

Celebrity Skin – Hole: Miley’s walk of shame the day after she meets movie star Mark.

Party in the USA – Miley Cyrus: Fish out of water, or walking the Hollywood walk in the wrong shoes.

City of Angels – 30 Seconds to Mars: Oh God, I just love 30 Seconds to Mars and Jared Leto. This song is all about Hollywood being life-changing, for good and bad.

The River – Good Charlotte: Ya, I love Good Charlotte too; had to work them into here somehow. This song is all about how Los Angeles can eat you alive, as it does Miley.

Holy Toledo – Crystal Bowersox: This is Miley sitting on her couch back home depressed in her flannel cupcake pajamas and being a day overdue for a shower. A song about looking for redemption.

Blank Space – Taylor Swift: I actually think of this as being Mark’s point of view. What an a-hole 😉

Skr Boi – Avril Lavigne: Travis’s song. And I love Avril.

The Climb – Miley Cyrus: Miley Riley climbing back up out of the hole she found herself in upon returning to Oakley.

Follow the romantic entanglements of The Riley Sisters in my books:
Be Careful What You Wish For – AVAILABLE NOW!
When You Least Expect It – CLICK HERE TO WIN!
The Wind Could Blow a Bug – WHERE IT ALL BEGAN!

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Posted in A day in the life, Entertainment Worship & Review, Unusual Poetry & Writing and tagged Blake Shelton, book, contemporary, country, Jane Riley, Jennifer Friess, John Deere Green, Kiley Riley, Luke Bryan, Miley Riley, Music, New Adult, playlist, romance, song, The Riley Sisters. Bookmark the permalink.

What I Learned This Week – 3/6/16

Posted on March 6, 2016 by funnygurl2

This week I learned that you can go home again.

Especially if that home is the “painted lady” where the Tanner family resides in San Francisco.

I binge-watched Netflix’s Fuller House this week. I was a fan of the original: on my list of Top 10 shows, it probably comes in at 10.5. If you have hung around me or my blog for any amount of time, you know by now that I am a big fan of cheesy 80’s sitcoms, so I am the target audience for this resurrection. Was it lightning in a bottle? Well, no. There are rough edges and things that can be improved. But the many critics who spent their time panning it WASTED their time. I guess they got a paycheck out of it (which I won’t get for my review). They bashed it as “nostalgia culture”. Um, hello… I freakin’ LOVE nostalgia culture. It is so prevalent that Entertainment Weekly caters to it with at least one article every week. But before there was ever an announcement that Full House was coming back, the audience was already decided. It would be loyal fans of the old show who didn’t mind seeing that the characters had, in fact, aged, and a new younger audience brought up on cheesy Disney sitcoms, which were crafted from the mold of the original TGIF anyway.

Recently, I was at my sister-in-law’s 40th birthday party. I found myself in the same room with three other women from my same high school graduating class. It was familiar, but in a new weird way. I used to spend eight hours a day in school with these people. And while years and years had passed, essentially they were the same people I had passed everyday in the halls or sat next to in French (or Art) class.

The women of Fuller House. I think there is lots of TV magic happening here, with spanx and extensions, but they look fabulous.

That is exactly how it felt to watch D.J., Kimmy Gibbler, and Stephanie as adults and mothers on Fuller House. Sure, they were different. But it was like a weird high school reunion. Except now Stephanie, played by Jodi Sweetin, is set up to be the “cool, hip aunt”, filling in for the former cool, hip Uncle Jesse. And she is great in the part. Although I can’t help but remember that in real life she is a recovering meth addict. It makes me happy to be able to see that she is winning that battle.

If you loved the old show but aren’t interested in watching a reboot, then just watch the pilot. It is like a Tanner family reunion, and the one episode that contains the highest concentration of stars from the original run of the show. No, there is no Michelle. But even though she was a highlight of the original run, I really didn’t miss her here.

Future episodes rely heavily on guest stars and the aforementioned nostalgia. There is dancing and music from both New Kids on the Block and Dirty Dancing, unarguably two of the best things to come out of the late 1980s. Now that I mention it, there is A LOT of dancing on this new incarnation of the show. Here is what else I learned this week from Fuller House: As a woman, mother, and member of Gen X, I am apparently not dancing OR DRINKING enough. I will have to remedy that soon.

The men of Fuller House

While the children were a big draw in the original run, the new batch of children are only agreeable. The romantic leads for the women actually make the show. D.J.’s coworker Matt Harmon (John Brotherton) and Kimmy’s soon-to-be ex Fernando (Juan Pablo Di Pace) steal all the scenes they are in. By the end of the season, you see where D.J.’s competing suitors, good ol’ Steve and Matt could have the beginnings of a beautiful bromance.

You will see some things in this full house that only time has allowed to appear in this reboot, such as men dancing with (and kissing) men and women dancing with (and kissing) women. I fully believe D.J.’s middle child is already being written to be set up as the gay child.

I have heard that a season 2 of Fuller House has already been greenlit. Probably because it got a large audience, because Netflix subscribers have already watched the stale movies and first-run TV series that are already a full season behind what the networks are airing.

Welcome back Tanners, Fullers, and Gibblers.

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Posted in A day in the life, Childhood Reminiscing, Entertainment Worship & Review, What I Learned This Week and tagged 1980's, cheesy, D.J. Tanner, Dirty Dancing, entertainment, family, Full House, Fuller House, Jodi Sweetin, New Kids On The Block, reboot, review, sitcom, Tanner, television, TV. Bookmark the permalink.

Have You Been Stricken with a Case of DUH?

Posted on March 4, 2016 by funnygurl2

Note from the FunnyGurl2: This post begins a week-long series on important medical disorders you should be aware of. They could strike your family at any time. The only way to be prepared is to read all my posts this week and get informed.

You have probably not heard of DUH. But it strikes millions of Americans every day. You have felt its affects, but didn’t know how to describe it, what name to give it. It is responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost productivity every year.

It is DUH.

Dreaming Unattentive Head.*

Einstein has experienced it.

I first named this disorder while finding that myself and my coworker, my green-haired friend, were both suffering from it at 12:00PM on April 16, 2003. The attacks sometimes only last a few seconds, as a fleeting daydream enters your head, then glides out again. But this particular attack lasted throughout the afternoon, until we finally punched the time clock at the end of the work day.

DUH sounds harmless enough. But if you experience DUH while driving, you should pull over immediately. You could be a danger to yourself or other drivers.

If you are trying to engage with others, such as in a meeting or a party, and you feel the effects of DUH coming on, you should politely excuse yourself and leave the room until the episode subsides. You wouldn’t want to be in the middle of explaining a new computer system to your co-workers, only to lose your train of thought to how yummy tacos could be for dinner tonight. Everyone would be sitting there, hanging on your every word, then wonder if you’ve had a stroke or something as you begin to lick your lips as your salivation increases. (That’s Pavlov’s dogs. Look it up.)

I ❤ this dog!

The only known way to combat DUH is to be participating in an activity you actually enjoy and that holds your attention. If you keep experiencing DUH at work, you may need to look for a job that is more rewarding. If you experience DUH with your boyfriend, maybe you should look for one that is more challenging.

“DUH!” in Michelle Tanner’s voice in my head–too cute!

If you enjoy DUH and want to turn yourself over to it fully, you can turn on your television and the moving pixels displayed there will lead you on a guided DUH experience. When relaxing on a couch and eating junk food, this activity is known as Vegetation. (The only kind of vegetable I like!)

* I realize Unattentive isn’t a word, but Inattentive would spell DIH, and that is just a stupid acronym.

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Posted in A day in the life and tagged bored, brain, daydream, dog, Dreaming Unattentive Head, DUH, inattentive, lose, Pavlov, train of thought. Bookmark the permalink.

ADR

Posted on March 2, 2016 by funnygurl2

My husband actually coined this phrase. ADR stands for Adult Diaper Rash.

It is a highly (un)scientific term for the red, bumpy, painful rash that can develop when skin is exposed to too much moisture and chaffing and not enough fresh air. It is highly prevalent in the hot summer months, although it can strike at any time.

ADR commonly occurs in areas of the body such as the groin area for a man and in the breast/bra area for a women.

Its causes and appearance are very similar to that of diaper rash found in babies. In that instance, it is from too much moisture being trapped between the skin and the diaper. Hence, ADR can be remedied in much the same way. Recommended medications include over the counter diaper creams and medicated cornstarch powder.

Desitin Diaper Rash cream

The key to prevention is to keep the area which exhibits a potential for ADR clean and dry. It is best if lots of fresh air can reach the area as often as possible. When this is not possible due to local indecency laws, you can use medicated cornstarch powder to attempt to absorb the excess moisture which occurs.

Gold Bond Medicated Powder

I hope you have found this informative and humorous. If not, you need to see your doctor right away about your ADR AND your butt.

It is defective. It has a crack in it.

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Posted in A day in the life and tagged ADR, adult, Adult Diaper Rash, baby, bumpy, chaffing, cornstarch, diaper, heat, inflammation, moisture, rash, red, skin, sore, summer, sweat. Bookmark the permalink.

Dopey Sock Syndrome

Posted on February 29, 2016 by funnygurl2

Note from the FunnyGurl2: This post begins a week-long series on important medical disorders you should be aware of. They could strike your family at any time. The only way to be prepared is to read all my posts this week and get informed.

Dopey Sock Syndrome (DSS) is a real disease. DSS can affect anyone, of any age. DSS can strike when you least expect it. DSS knows no racial, gender, age, or sexual orientation. It is not known how DSS spreads. DSS can cause increased incidence of tripping and falling. There is no known cure for DSS. If you feel you are suffering from DSS, see your doctor as soon as possible.

*Always wear properly fitting socks with strong elastic.*

Only YOU can prevent Dopey Sock Syndrome.

Dopey from Snow White & the Seven Dwarves

Dopey from Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs

Dopey Sock Syndrome is what we call it in our house when your sock slides down so far that the toe of the sock starts to flop around. Mostly I am the only one who says it, because I find it very amusing. Hopefully someday my son will start saying it as well.

M’s Dopey Sock Syndrome

Then there will be two of us. Dopey, of course, refers to the dim-bulb dwarf from Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs who is the only one that does not have a beard and has very long shoes, that I think trip him often.

So, the next time someone in your house has terribly saggy socks, you can tell them they are suffering from DSS. They will start to freak out. Then you can tell them what it stands for, and they will look at you as if you are crazy 😉

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Posted in A day in the life and tagged disease, doctor, Dopey, Dopey Sock Syndrome, DSS, elastic, Health, healthcare, illness, saggy, Snow White, socks. Bookmark the permalink.

I'm not stalking you.

The Riley Sisters Mix

What I Learned This Week – 3/6/16

Have You Been Stricken with a Case of DUH?

ADR

Dopey Sock Syndrome

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