"Sympathique" and "Hang on Little Tomato" by Pink Martini. "Hang on Little Tomato" still remains my favorite.

I have been on a French music kick.  I think it makes for the perfect summer party music but the touch of melancholy that all the songs seem to have would also make it work for the winter.

Here are my favorites.  If you don’t have any Pink Martini, it’s a must.  I listen to them all the time.  In fact, my intense love of Pink Martini is what sent me on my quest for more French genre music.  In a similar vein is the soundtrack from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and anything by Edith Piaf is quintessential French.  Simply delightful.  While I thought the movie odd (this will have to be a post for another day), I did love the music from “Amelie” and just had to order the CD which should be arriving soon.  I’m excited.

I hope this gives you some ideas for some music to add to your collection and should you have any favorites, I would love to hear about them.

Here it is!

And if you didn’t get enough!

And the Final!

I’m sure that half the world has already seen these guys but I was so enthralled with them.  After I heard that Susan Boyle lost to the dance group Diversity, I hopped on YouTube to check them out.  I was totally sold.  They have the most amazing talent.  So amazing in fact  that Eric and I spent the evening watching the same clips over and over again.  Forget ballet, if I ever did any kind of dancing this would be it.

This photo from Vanity Fair hangs on my cork board..... in my bedroom. Zac indulged me and let me keep it there for a week.

“I love Country music.”

If I say this out loud, people usually hide a grimace and say with a weak tone of hope in their voice,  ”You mean the good, old-fashioned, blue grass stuff like Hank Williams or Johnny Cash, right?”

“Ummmm, nope. I mean the new, poppy, totally brain-candy,  arguably hill billy country.”

Then they usually look at my husband like, “I’m really sorry, I’m sure you can get help for this kind of thing.”

It gets worse too. My biggest infatuation right now is with a country singer who puts me in a crowd of fans that probably still plays with barbie dolls.

This is my favorite song.

This one comes in second.

Sadly, I even like this one.  Kind of a lot. Now I am embarrassed.

A month ago I learned she was coming to Seattle. With my mouse poised over the ”buy tickets now” button on her website, I paused. I sat back and envisioned myself in the crowd of screaming, sobbing 12 to 14 year old girls…….  and I thought maybe a precious night of getting a baby sitter could be better spent.  Ok, I’ll be honest. There was also the fact that I couldn’t find anyone who would go with me.

Don’t get me wrong,  I’m not pround of my weakness for an almost universaly hated genre.    I never play country music with the car windows rolled down. I shut my apartment door when it’s on, even if we need the breeze coming in. I RUN across the house, tripping over furniture, to turn it off if the phone rings.

I’m not sure how I turned out this way. I certainly don’t blame my parents. They did everything they could to stifle my hick habit. My dad particularly discouraged it, and I remember more than once when he came to me with a grave tone  in his voice if he had found his car radio tuned to 92.9 FM after I drove it. His critiques of country artists went something like, “Whoever wrote this needs to be drawn, quartered and hung.”

So there you have it. I’m ready to own up to my poor taste. Maybe I’ll celebrate by getting a ticket to Taylor Swift after all. Any takers?