Music Monday - "Nature Boy" by Nat King Cole

"Nature Boy" is one of my all time favorite songs.  It was recorded by Nat King Cole in 1948, and it has such a beautiful and haunting quality.  I love the lyrics, from the first lines:

"There was a boy
A very strange enchanted boy
They say he wandered very far
Very far, over land and sea ..."

I found a lovely video of Nat King Cole performing this jazz classic, below.  I hope you enjoy it too.

Friday Fave: Almost Summer!

Happy Friday!

My Friday Fave this week is not a book or website or food or tv show.  It is a season:  Summer.

While I know that Summer technically begins on the Summer Solstice, it still feels like Summer for me from Memorial Day to Labor Day.  That was how Summer was defined in my childhood:  the break from school, the long leisurely days and weeks.

That sense of leisure is what I hope to enjoy this Summer.  This season will not be about travel or adventure, but about working hard (as always!) on weekdays and then unplugging and enjoying some leisure time in the evenings and weekends:  a good book, a long walk, a lazy afternoon, the pleasure of unplanned time.

How about you?  What do you plan this Summer?   I would love to hear from you in the comments section, below.

Music Monday - "It Ain't Me, Babe" by Johnny Cash & June Carter (1965)

I love Johnny Cash.  I love Bob Dylan.  And I especially love this Johnny Cash and June Carter cover of Dylan's "It Ain't Me, Babe" (1965). 

Friday Fave: Overdrive - The Library Comes To You

Happy Friday!

If you love books, I have a great app for you today.  It is available for: iPhone, iPad, Android phone or tablet, Windows computer, Mac,  Kindle, or Nook.   

This free app lets you access the digital collection from your library to download books in eBook format (i.e. Kindle) or audiobook.   

I have used this on my computer, Kindle, and iPad, and I really love it.  I often listen to audiobooks via Overdrive when I am working here.

Here's how it works:  You go to the Overdrive link (just click here!).  On the right side of the page you can type in your zip code and see if Overdrive is available at your local library system.  If it is, you can download the app for your computer or device of choice.  Then you log into Overdrive with your library card and download audiobooks or eBooks to your heart's content!  The books have a lending period similar to what you will find at a traditional library (i.e. 2 - 3 weeks) and you check them out online and return them online as well.

I am a great fan of eBooks (Kindle) and also enjoy audiobooks when I am working.  I cannot recommend this app highly enough for book lovers.

Music Monday - "Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White" by Perez Prado & His Orchestra (1955)

"Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" by Perez Prado and His Orchestra always reminds me of Spring.  This mambo song was popular in 1955, and it is one of those songs that sounds so much like a different time and place.  (I can imagine this playing on a hi-fi player at party in the 1950's.)   I have a weakness for mid 1950's to mid 1960's instrumentals, and this is one of my favorites.