music & a book

Iron & Wine: Around the Well (2-cd set) - I recently bought this cd, after not purchasing a cd in quite a while. With music's portability these days, I think the general attitude towards cd's is "ugh, they are so outdated and they take up so much space etc," but I still kind of love my cd's. There's something so satisfyingly tangible in looking at my music collection, being able to pick up a cd, flip through its booklet, see the artwork the artists selected to correspond to the music, and remember where and why I bought this particular album. I've amassed quite the mp3 collection over the years, and for many of those tracks, I couldn't tell you where I downloaded them or why. But each cd I have, I can tell you where I bought it, what other cd's I bought at the same time, and what song got me interested in the band and that particular album. In light of how well my memory works sometimes, that's an especially grand feat.
But on to the music at hand... This cd set has been in my player since I bought it. I listen to it almost every night as I fall asleep (I've always been a big fan of Iron & Wine for falling-asleep music). I actually try *not* to listen to it otherwise, as I don't want to become tired of it (no pun intended), and I so love it. I particularly enjoy "Waitin' For A Superman" (Flaming Lips cover), Sam Beam almost creates a heavier feeling in the song than the Flaming Lips did.

Outwitting Cats by Wendy Christensen - I felt like such a dork buying this book, but I picked it up because we were having a litter box non-usage problem with one of the cats. It has been so so SO useful in that problem (it seems to hopefully, cross your fingers, be solved already), but I've found myself using the information in preparing my cat for her move to the new house. Most cat 'problems' are cats creating their own solutions to problems their owners have created for them, unknowingly. Silly cat owners. Anyway, hopefully the transition will go smoothly, as I've tried to foresee problems (scratching on furniture, shedding everywhere etc), and hopefully eliminate them before they start.