7 Best Albums meme

I've been tagged by konagod

THE RULES:

1. Post your list of the seven best albums, the seven bloggers you will tag, a copy of these rules, and a link back to this page.
2. Each person tagged will put a URL to their Blogger Album Project post along with a list of the seven best albums in the comment section HERE at Hill's Country. Rules, rules, fucking rules!! Enough already!
3. Feel free to post the “I Contributed to the Blogger Album Project” Award Graphic on your sidebar (even though I couldn't find it), along with a link back to this page.
4. Post a link back to the blogger who tagged you.

As with all musical questions, this list is just the first best 7 I can think of today. On another day, it might be an entirely different list. Also, I use the word album very comfortably because I'm old, and that's what I always call CDs unless I think about it. And now, in no particular order:

Aretha Franklin - I Ain't Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You
The first time I heard this album, and that was probably when I was 7 or 8 years old, I decided that I wanted to be a black woman; at the very least, I wanted to sing like a black woman. My favorite cuts are Dr. Feelgood and Drown In My Own Tears

David Bowie - Hunky Dory
I would ordinarily give this slot to Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, but I've been in the mood for Hunky Dory for a month or so now. I think it was some sort of subliminal suggestion from Obama. Favorite cuts: Changes, Life On Mars

Nellie McKay - Get Away From Me
She looks like a 40's movie star, she sounds like the sweetest ingenue, but as my older sister said when she recommended this album to me, Nellie McKay is a head case. I love her sense of humor. Favorite cuts: Manhattan Avenue, Sari, Won't U Please B Nice, Suitcase Song

The Clash - London Calling
This is just a perfect album from the first bar. Favorite cuts: the whole thing.

Lou Reed - Transformer
Another perfect one.

The Duhks - Migrations
A great folk/roots/Celtic/Zydeco/Cajun fusion, with outstanding vocals by Jessee Harvey. Favorite cuts: Down To The River, Who Will Take My Place

Rufus Wainwright - Want One
This was the first Rufus Wainwright album I bought, after seeing him live with Ben Folds and Guster. I was so charmed by his personality, and wanted to get to know him better. He had me at the first cut, when a simple lyric and simple melody expanded into a full orchestra playing Bolero. Favorite cuts: O What A World, I Don't Know What It Is, Beautiful Child, 11:11.

I don't know if I know 7 people to tag, but here goes:
Leslie
Loki
Tree
Hazel
Andy
Liana
Terra

Vegetarian meals

Last night, while I was taking apart a cooked chicken, Loki, Monkey and I had a discussion about vegetarianism. Loki is very keen to move towards vegetarianism, mostly for health reasons, but also because the production of meat is so cruel to animals, and unhealthy for the planet as a whole.

So I am looking for your favorite vegetarian recipes. Please share in the comments!

I can control the temperature

It's weird how shortly after I put up my last post, it started to get unseasonably warm here in CT. It was in the 60's today. One time, Loki and I were going to Cape Cod, and it was supposed to rain all weekend, so the whole way there, we sang songs about sunshine, and we had a beautiful sunny weekend, so based on these two instances, I feel quite confident in saying that I have some sort of pull over the weather. Sometimes.

At any rate: my brother-in-law is here right now, fixing our problem. In exchange, I'm making him a nice dinner and we bought him a couple of fine cigars.

Cold

We still have no heat at my house. Maeve and I spent the evening huddled under blankets, watching Season 2 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD (episodes: What's My Line part 1, What's My Line part 2, Ted and Bad Eggs). We are no longer keeping the heat off just to keep our bill down, we are now waiting for my BIL to come over and fix our boiler/heater/whatevertheF that piece of equipment is called. We are not waiting patiently so much as we are too frozen to get out from under the blankets to call and complain.

This morning, I made beef stew in the crockpot, and I put my hands on the pot and laid my face down on the lid, so the feeling in my nose could be restored.

I am thinking of re-reading books like Little House On The Prairie and Little Women, to get tips on how to survive the cold when you don't have central heat.

It's not even really that cold - we haven't gotten near freezing yet, but 45 degrees inside the house feels much, much colder. I would shell out money for someone to come fix it if I had the money; I can pay my brother-in-law in cigars.

8:00 p.m.

I wish I had something fun to do tonight, but here I am, reading blogs. Soon, I'm going to get even more boring and go to bed. I'm slightly tempted to run out and get some alcohol, maybe some champagne to celebrate the momentous events of this week.

But the first thing I did when I got on the internet tonight was send a letter to Christopher Dodd, reminding him that the same Connecticut Democrats who put him in office DID NOT vote for Joe Lieberman, and we do not want Joe Lieberman to have a chair in the new senate.

Bipartisanship is all well and good, but both parties have to be working in good faith, and Joe Lieberman is only interested in working for Joe Lieberman. Let's give the chair to someone who will use the power appropriately, and let Joe figure out where he wants to spend the next 4 years, until Connecticut Democrats will finally be rid of him.

BEST.BIRTHDAY.EVER!!!!!

Congratulations to President-Elect Barack Obama! I am laughing and crying at the same time.

Voting

I woke up this morning, and it was a rare November morning - warm and sunny. I made some breakfast and coffee, showered, dressed, and headed out to vote. I didn't have to wait very long, and I cast my vote after about 6 minutes. I felt immediately elated, and then, as I got to my car and realized that later today, we could very well have our first African-American president, I got a little choked up. And I've been alternating between giddiness and weepiness all day. (Weepiness, in part, because I have the mother of all sinus headaches.)

Today is not just election day, it is also my 39th birthday, and I'm hoping it will be the best birthday ever, representing the beginning of a better America.