A-Z blogging challenge "Z" - Zzzzzzzzz......!

I was going to say "Z is for HAAALLLELUUUUJAH!" but then I realised that word doesn't start with Z. So, yeah. Z is for what I will be doing now that the A-Z is at an end: ZZZZZZzzzzzing!

Okay, seriously, there are other Z words (including some names) I can mention. I may as well continue with the late-born tradition of throwing a bunch of words together and hoping for the best (i.e. no one good idea? Chuck many "all right" ideas together and hope for the best!).

Zachariah - the angel in Supernatural that I really can't stand! Guess I have something in common with the boys there. Hehe. In the words of Dean Winchester, "What a dick!"

Zerek - this is a character in one of my only-just-begun, perhaps-never-to-be-continued stories. I didn't come up with the name - I asked a bunch of friends for suggestions for a ruggedly handsome character's name. There were heaps of cool suggestions, but this one stood out. :D

zebras. I mean, come on! They're cute, stripey horses! And here is a photo of one at the Perth Zoo:

Now, some Z bands/artists:

• Zwan - Billy Corgan's short-lived "supergroup" band - they made some decent music, but in the end what ruined them was...themselves!
• Zebrahead - I guess they're classed as punk rock, and they tend to have a guy rapping in a lot of the songs, which I'm not a huge fan of. Despite how sometimes the vocals get on my nerves, I really love a LOT of their songs. I only heard them thanks to my brother's inherently punk rock music collection, which he left on my old computer (along with other stuff you don't want to hear about!).
• Zhané - to be honest, I only know one song of theirs - "Hey Mr. DJ". It was one of the popular songs when I was about 13 or 14. I used to compile my music from Rage video clips, and this was on one of them.

And unbelievably, that is all I have in my music collection. I'm going to have to scour Last.fm for free downloads of bands starting with Z. :D

Now some Z songs!

• "Zeitgeist" - the Smashing Pumpkins' album was titled Zeitgeist, but there is also a song by them with this title. It's just Billy and an acoustic guitar, but it's beautiful
• "Zeplin Song" - Courtney Love, from her solo album. This song is one of those I like most. It is a pretty rough album where she sounds like she's still struggling along in rehab, but it does have good songs
• "Zero" - how could I really go past mentioning this iconic Smashing Pumpkins track? Honestly, it's not one of my faves, maybe because it was overplayed so damn much. But it's still a bit of a classic!
• "Ziah" - there is a band called The Red Tree from Melbourne, AU, and I got a promo of some of their songs when I was working at RTR.fm - "Ziah" was one of the songs on there, and it's stunning!
• "Zion" - not a huge fan of the song, but it always reminds me of The Matrix. I guess 'cause it's on the soundtrack of Reloaded. Duh!
• "Zombie" - the Cranberries. Another classic song, but one I could never like that much because of Dolores's extremely irritating chorus vocals.

And that's it for my list of notable Z-songs! I could also mention albums, but...I want this to END already!! :P I will be around on Monday, May 2, to reflect on the AMAZING journey that has been the A-Z. Assuming it doesn't entirely slip my brain! But for now, I need a rest!! LOL.

I do however want to conclude with this:

Congrats to everyone who finished, commiserations to those who fell by the wayside (I was nearly there with you quite a few times :P), and THANK YOU to those who have accompanied me through my own A-Z. I already know what I'll do last year, if I participate in this - and it will be a lot less effort than this year was, both for me and for my readers! YAY!!

A-Z blogging challenge "Y" - Y is for...

yaks.



Oh, and there's a place called Yahk, not far from where my brother lives in Canada. I drove through it a few times in the last few years. ;)

yikes is a word I say quite often. "Yikes!" My characters occasionally say the word too.

"yech, that's groooosss!"

yippieeeeee!

yappy dogs - they grate on my nerves, make me wince, curl my hands into fists, and turn up the music really loud!

yammer on...something I've been known to do. Particularly in writing.

yelp...that's something I did once when I kicked a couch with my toe. I think I broke the thing (the toe, not the couch), 'cause it was never the same shape thereafter. ;)

yo! This really reminds me of the good ole '90s.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Youth Group - some bands.

And...because it's becoming a habit...

• "Y Control" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• "Yeah!" - Zwan
• "You" - Candlebox
• "You Ain't The Reason" - The 69 Eyes
• "You Are Here" - Star 69
• "You Create" - Lacuna Coil
• "You Say Yes, I Say Yes" - VETO
• "Young Upstart" - Strike the Colours
• "Your Voice" - Effigy

Holy crap! I know it looks like I'm all full of ideas here, but really this type of list is a result of having no good single idea to stick to. ;)

One letter to go!!

A-Z blogging challenge "X" - X-Files...and X-Static...and xylophones

Um, yeah...this is gonna be another of those "Argh, think of anything that starts with X!" blog posts. Because it's X, man!

Hey wait, that reminds me of X-men.

Okay, so here's a list:

• X-men - well, you know. Wolverine...I love that movie. I love...certain scenes...from that movie. Like the running-across-a-field-naked scene...yeah...
• xylophones - I do recall playing one of these, back in the days when I was getting piano lessons from my aunty (she's a music teacher, and has always taught piano on the side too).
• X-Files, the - I own the entire series on DVD, and it's definitely one of my all-time faves. I even liked the last two seasons which scarcely featured our hero and heroin at all.
• xenophobia - of this, I am not a fan!
• Xenophon - a Greek historian, soldier and mercenary who wrote in the 4th century B.C. Go Xen!!
• Also, here is a bunch of animals whose names start with the letter x.

Aaand for the heck of it...some songs beginning with X:

• "X-Static" - one of my favourite songs by the Foo Fighters, from their debut album.
• "X-Ray Eyes" - by Guster, a band whose albums I do not own but intend to in future.
• "Xanadu" - Olivia Newton John; this song always reminds me of my friend Jen. Hehe.
• "Xtal" - by Aphex Twin. I haven't heard many of this guy's songs yet, but this one is totally awesome! Far less disturbing than "Window Licker" was (mostly the video clip...lol).

I should also mention that there's a band called simply, X, who I discovered back in the days when I was determined to fill my Last.fm library with at least one artist from every letter of the alphabet (yes, I'm weird that way - it's similar to how I set myself a goal of writing at least one song whose title started with each letter of the alphabet). There is also a guy called Xavier Rudd, who I saw at a music festival once and who is amazing - he was playing several instruments at once, as well as singing! I'm not a huge fan of his style of music, but could truly appreciate his artistry.

And that's it - consider yourself Xd!

A-Z blogging challenge "W" - Whatever, Wiggles and Weezer

I was just going to stick to whatever, and admit that I have been approaching every day in the A-Z lately with a "OMG" and "WTF" sort of attitude. ;) In other words, OMG I have no ideas, and WTF am I going to do for this letter? But there are a few good Ws out there. Ooh, that reminds me...

This one time (not at band camp), I think I was talking about words that started with W (or maybe bands; knowing me that'd be likely) and I said, "There aren't many, but there are a few good Ws"... And then I was like, "Hey! Instead of A Few Good Men it's A Few Good Ws..." Anyway, now that I'm done with that tangent, let's get on with the post.

Whatever - it is a word I love to use, and I use it very often. It even starts out one of my own songs. I also make my characters say it a fair bit. Hehe. Depending on the novel, anyway.

Wiggles - all I can really say is...uuuugggggh, not a fan. ;)

Weezer - me loves this band! Especially songs like "The World Has Turned And Left Me Here" and "Say It Ain't So".

Woody's A Girl - this is my "one woman band" name, and it was inspired by a friend's kitten who everybody thought was a boy, but then turned out to be a girl. The kitten's name was Woody. She died pretty young, poor poppet!

Aaand...some of my favourite W songs:

• "Waiting" - The Smashing Pumpkins
  
• "Waitress" - Live
  
• "Wait and Bleed" - Slipknot
  
• "Waiting All Day" - Silverchair
  
• "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" - Michael Jackson
  
• "Walking Back To Me" - Sam Brown
  
• "Wave of Anguish" - Lacuna Coil
  
• "Waves" - Superette
• "Waves" - Holly Miranda
• "We Die Young" - Alice in Chains
• "Well Might Again" - Corvus
• "What Is Love" - Haddaway
• "What She Said" - Laura Imbruglia
• "Where Boys Fear To Tread" - The Smashing Pumpkins
• "Where The River Goes" - Stone Temple Pilots
• "White Slavery" - Type O Negative
• "Whitechocolatespaceegg" - Liz Phair
• "Wild Thing" - Liz Phair
• "Wilma's Rainbow" - Helmet
• "Winnebago" - Foo Fighters
• "Within You" - David Bowie
• "Without A Reason" - Lacuna Coil
• "Woman In Chains" - Tears for Fears
• "Wonderful Life" - Black
• "Wooden Jesus" - Temple of the Dog
• "Words" - Madonna
• "Work" - Jimmy Eat World
• "Worry" - Magic Dirt