I’ve always loved Friday evenings. They always felt to me to be a gift of time, a little pocket of space where the regular rules governing the minutes and hours don’t apply. The weekend has yet to really start, you still have a full two days to spend in the manner of your choosing, and you are already free. Today, I’m starting my Friday evening a little early, sneaking out (okay, so I’m taking the afternoon off, but it makes me sound cooler to say I’m sneaking out. Like I’m a rebel or something) of work just past noon to spend a little more time with my sister (who, by the way, cooked an incredible lentil/veggie curry last night. She made the contents of my spice rack reveal themselves in ways they’ve never done for me).

Enough already, time for the Random Friday Ten. You know the rules, but here they are again, just for ‘scuz. Set your iPod or other digital music devise a’shuffling and report back the first ten songs that pop up. No ignoring, omitting, justifying, hedging or rationalizing allowed.

1. Eat for Two, 10,000 Maniacs (Blind Man’s Zoo)
2. Rustle in the Wind, The Gypsy Moths (The Gypsy Moths)
3. Was it Candlelight, Adrien Reju (Reju EP)
4. Never Letting Go, Phoebe Snow (The Best of Phoebe Snow)
5. Here it Comes Again, PLEASE (Empire Records Soundtrack)
6. Wait, Sarah McLachlan (Fumbling Towards Ecstacy)
7. Smackwater Jack, Carole King (Tapestry)
8. Paper Bag, Anna Nalick (Wreck of the Day)
9. Across the Universe, Rufus Wainwright (I Am Sam)
10. Love Will Come to You, Indigo Girls (Rites of Passage)

Favorite Song: It’s a tough one today, because that’s a damn good set. But I love the song Across the Universe above most others in life. I even wrote about it here just a couple of days ago. So it’s not the Beatles version, it’s still a terrific song.

Favorite Album: That award has to go to Carole King’s Tapestry. There is no album in my life that I’ve listen to more than Tapestry. I played it in my bedroom in middle and high schools. In my college dorm room. On airplanes. With my whole family, in the kitchen, everyone singing alone. In cars. In my current apartment, it lives in the kitchen, the cd in the player and the case tucked behind. It is a vital part of my life’s soundtrack.

Personal Connection: The Gypsy Moths was my sister’s first band. That album was recorded in my dad’s basement studio. He did all the editing too. Their harmonies were incredible and there was sadness all around when they broke up. But Raina wouldn’t be where she is now had they stayed together, and I like where she is now (in my apartment). Ah, the circle of life.

If you need more Random Friday sets than I can give you (and I’m pretty sure you do, as this one is rambly and non-sensical), check these folks out:
Howard
Luna
Sherri
Ben
Brian
Mark