I'm blogging away...

Set an open course for the blogosphere
For I just gotta say
Say what's on my mind and what's happening
...

Okay enough of that. Although it may be amusing to actually parody the whole song. I guess I'm just not that bored nor do I have the time.

I really need to be more current with these updates, don't I? It's been a been a little crazy, but what else is new? This quarter at school just seemed busier. However, I managed to get a 4.0 again... So yay! Work is finally returning to somewhat normality. As you may recall there were two rounds of "layoffs" the past few months. The first was Voluntary. Some of my friends and great business partners took a voluntary separation option and then the rest of us held on to find out our fates in the involuntary version. Unfortunately, some good people were swept up in the involuntary mess, yet I once again manage to survive. Somehow... I'm actually looking forward to the new world. Since the layoffs were so wide spread and not just a few areas paring down, it's finally giving my team the opportunity to do what we've been talking about for years. So there finally appears to be light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

So I guess that leaves the personal life. I'm back in the realm of the single and I'm totally good with it. It was my choice and I made the right one. Sometimes people just don't communicate the same way and it definitely an issue in that relationship. So here I am waiting for life to happen to me again and enjoying the ride.

It appears this app called LivingSocial is taking over Facebook these days. You rate your top 5 of random topics. I filled out the Top 5 Albums that shaped my life. I had a hard time with this because of the whole album thing. (You may recall a previous entry around songs for Life's Soundtrack.) I noticed some other people filling theirs out and a lot of their music seemed from the same time period. Not like there is anything wrong with that, especially for the younger crowd. I just looked at my life and there's just been so many aspects and phases that I reached for something for a variety. So here it is in no particular order:
1. Metallica - Metallica
2. Paul's Boutique - Beastie Boys
3. Ten - Pearl Jam
4. Les Miserables - The Original Broadway Cast
5. Avenged Sevenfold - Avenged Sevenfold

Paul's Boutique started it all. It was my first foray into "real" music. I was 10, living in NY and listening to stuff like NKOTB, Tiffany, the Bangles and Weird Al. Then, my brother's friend Jon introduced us to the Beastie Boys. I heard songs like Egg Man, The Sounds of Science and Looking down the Barrel of a Gun and I was hooked. The sound was so different and riveting compared to the mall pop and "crap" I normally listed to. Now, I still have a rather eclectic taste in music but it was Paul's Boutique that probably what saved me from being a mindless pop drone.
I don't even think I need to explain Ten. One of few albums I recall loving every moment of. Black, Even Flow and Once... Amazing.
Thanks to my brother for exposing me to Metallica. As much I loved the grunge and alternative stuff at the time, Metallica introduced me to the harder side of things and of course, more Metallica. Thus leading me to one of my favorite songs of all time - One.
Les Miserables definitely speaks to that eclectic musical taste point. I am continually moved by this story and the music created to tell it. I can see a bit of myself in each character and their struggle.
Avenged Sevenfold came to me at a very pivotal time in my life. The entire album was created in a very groove oriented style which just makes you want to move with the whole thing. My favorite songs off the album are Afterlife, Lost and A Little Piece of Heaven, but it's another one of those albums I can listen to the entire thing and it never gets old.

Anyhow, so I guess that's a discussion prompter... What is one or a few albums that shaped you?

That's all I got for now.

Cheers,
Franz