“Things Every Southern Woman Should Know How to Make”

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Alice clicked on the headline, mildly curious about what yet another stranger thought should be in her kitchen repertoire. Pictures of China plates mounded with crispy fried chicken, greens, cobbler, and a pile of biscuits a mile high flooded the screen, all set off with a pitcher of sweet tea beaded with condensation. The table was set; an apron draped off to the side next to a box labeled “Gramma’s Recipes” in fine calligraphy. She closed the browser and put away her tablet. She was born a Georgia peach, but she couldn’t make a cobbler to save her life. Did that mean she wasn’t southern? Or maybe just not “Southern.” For Alice, there was no recipe box full of family traditions. Her younger years were filled with rental homes in different states and her father’s voice coaxing her toward a text book rather than a cookbook. Metalworking and fabrication held more interest than learning to flambé or sauté. Did it make her less of a woman that her cooking skills consisted of fresh salads...
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Everything’s Connected: Or the Roundabout Ways I Discover Things

I don’t listen to the radio much. Less than three hours a day, and the first hour is mostly a talk morning show. (I love the morning show, but not much music is played.) I pretty much listen to the one station, and every so often, I’ll hop on Pandora or I Heart Radio and listen.  So, how do I find new music?

In so many ways.

I have picked up lovely new tunes through many various avenues. For example, thanks to Jeri Smith-Ready’s SHINE, I am now a fan of Glasgow band, Frightened Rabbit. All it took was a mention, and I got curious enough to search iTunes. Now I’m in love, hehe!

I discovered the awesomeness of Within Temptation in a similar fashion. I was sitting in the car bored, waiting, and I pulled out my phone to look up anime music videos on YouTube. As an already confessed Final Fantasy fiend, I searched out FF videos. I came across a FF: Crisis Core vid set to Within Temptation’s Angels, and was blown away. I got chills watching that video, and I had to hear more songs after that. I own three of their albums now.

I’ve gotten other lovely music from bands such as Spence and Lovers and Liars through social media. MySpace actually was helpful in finding these two gems, or rather, they found me. (If a member of the band sends me a witty and somewhat silly message, I will no doubt investigate the tunes. Looking at you, Daniel!)

But music isn’t the only thing I discover in this fashion! As a fan of Lovers and Liars, of course I had to watch the fan-made video set to their song I’m Not Him. I watched it to hear the song, but the cuts from the anime Clannad made me watch the entire series.

I also find new books, music, and games through regular channels, but there’s just something magical to me about discovering a band through a book or because they sent me a clever message. It’s exciting to me to think that a fan video can introduce me to a show, game, or song that I might never have discovered otherwise.


So, have you ever discovered something you loved through a roundabout way?  Leave a comment!

Comments

  1. Francesca ZappiaMay 10, 2012 at 6:16 PM

    I was actually just thinking about this sort of thing the other day! I have a few Korean writer friends, and sometimes they post kpop songs or song stills on Tumblr. One of them made me curious enough to go look up a song, and voila--I am now in love with most forms of kpop. XD

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