WORKS FOR ME AND FITS MY BUDGET

I just pasted a new widget on the sidebar today ... a listing of recent purchases from ITunes. I thought some of you might be interested in what has replaced the "Holiday Soundtrack" for my studio. I love my Christmas music and start it running non-stop the day after Thanksgiving all the way through to New Year's Day. But now it's time for the January Soundtrack to be running.

One of the best additions with the purchase of my new computer last fall was my new sound bar. As you can see, it fits right under my monitor. It has an on/off volume control knob right on the face of the bar, as well as, responding to the controls on my monitor and great sound. I'm sure there are other sound bars on the market of various sound quality and price ranges. This one happens to be from a company called Altec Lansing. Wouldn't we all love surround-sound Bose throughout the house but, ... this works for me and my budget.

So, once you're wired for sound you want to check out one of my favorite new albums by just clicking on the cover on my ITunes widget. I happen to be a big fan of the acoustical guitar style and I've found a new artist ... I love his sound. Billy McLaughlin and the album is Guitar Meditations, Vol.2 ... Soulfood featuring Billy McLaughlin.

You'll also want to click on the link above to visit his website to read his amazing story. He suffers from a neuromuscular condition diagnosed in 2001 which prevents him from playing the guitar anymore. He has since relearned all of his music playing with his left hand rather than right and is back on stage sharing his beautiful music once more.

You'll see some other purchases in the line-up. I can't always hop on a plane to go hear Toby, my son who is the principal trombonist with the San Diego Symphony, in another concert. So the next best thing is to get together all of the selections for his upcoming performances and put together the playlist for my ITunes library. My favorites are Mussorgsky/Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition with San Diego and Prokofiev:Symphony No. 7 when he performs in New York City with the New York Phil. Not quite the same as live, but ... works for me and fits my budget.

What else am I listening to these days? For my nightly "reading" via IPod, I'm listening to The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani - a novel taking place in 17th century Persia about the struggles of a young girl and her mother trying to rebuild a life for themselves in a very male dominated culture after the tragic sudden death of her father. I usually prefer historical fiction from the Western World so this is very different for me. As I was exploring more about ancient Persia this evening I found a great traditional Persian recipe I'd like to try called Apple Stew. I also enjoyed looking at pictures in the gallery section of the author's website of Isfahan, the city where the story takes place. So, I'll eat the food, check out the pictures from the gallery, and read the story. Not quite the same as visiting Ancient Persia in person but ... works for me and fits my budget.