I use to hear new things on the radio, but that doesn't seem to be a thing now.

Algorithm driven stations like Pandora are usually pretty good for this. You punch in your preferences and it finds similar things.

I used to find cool smaller bands and artists by going through CD Baby, and searching by types of music. Their filters are fairly extensive so if you want to find a woman with a celtic element to her music who likes Tom Waits you can look things up like that.

I still read lots of music blogs and that's where I find intriguing new music. One of the nice things now is that you can check out a song instantly by just going to listen to it on YouTube.

Stephanie, it sounds like the friend is an absolute twat. Defriending is a perfect option.

Happy sunday!

CD Baby sounds good. I tried Pandora a while back and their algorithm didn't seem to work for me. I should probably try it again, though, since that seems like the sort of thing that would be under development

Thanks!

I tried Pandora a while back and their algorithm didn't seem to work for me.

I don't really listen to Pandora for new music. It's best of for me to just listen to the Miles Davis Station and that brings up other jazz artists I like in a particular style and era.

I have a Decemberists station on Pandora that, if I had time to write everyone down when I'm listening at work, would be an utter gold mine of new music. Truly, we live in a golden age of earnest warblers with minimal instrumentation and hyperliterate lyrics, and I kind of love them all. The only ones I've taken the time to hunt down and aggressively adore are First Aid Kit, but I do adore them quite a lot.

In other news, what do they teach them at these schools? Matilda wore her kick-ass perfect Ozma costume, using this as a reference (didn't have time to do the crown and couldn't afford the fleur de lys, but got all the rest of it, including the big OZ scepter), and *every single kid* who talked to her wanted to know if she was Princess Leia. Plus at least two teachers.

Dude. I. What? First, I honestly had no idea she was an obscure character. She's not in the first book but she's in all the others, she's basically the President of Oz (also surely the first transgirl ruler of any nation, real or imaginary) and she's Dorothy's best and most loyal friend. There are, like, fifty books by now and she looms large in approximately 49 of them.

Second, I'm mildly insulted (NSM the kids, but very much the grown-ups) that anyone would think I'd be dumb enough to respond to a Read Across America book character costume challenge by dressing my kid up as someone from the movies. What the what, people? Whole different art form! What do they teach them at the schools nowadays?

Timelies all!

Discovering new music? Well, in the new-to-me sense, I didn't get into folk music until I moved to the DC-area.(Both modern singer-songwriter stuff and classic folk) Thank goodness for friends who decided I needed to hear the stuff...

The kids I can understand, JZ, but I'm surprised the teachers didn't recognize her. I thought it was a great costume. I do think the character is a bit obscure given that The Wizard of Oz has mostly loomed large in the cultural imagination by dint of the Judy Garland movie and Wicked, not the original series of books.

Yeah, I don't know anything about the series. That said, I could have guessed who she was, and would certainly have never guessed Princes Leia!

But, you know, I went as Harriet the Spy for Halloween one year, when everyone else had plastic character costumes.

I'm sorry, JZ! Was Matilda disappointed to not be recognized? I saw a picture of her in the costume and thought she was simply precious.

The kids use Pandora so I hear music from their selections. I don't purposely seek new music so much as often find myself around 'new to me' music by associating with a lot of people that have different musical tastes than mine. I enjoy a wide variety of music and welcome opportunities to be exposed to new things.

ION, I just realized that the CD I was about to roll over (Capital One 360, formerly ING Direct) had a lower interest rate than their regular savings. So I didn't roll it over.

Also, I started making a written budget for the first time ever, and realized I actually should up my regular transfer to savings. It's not like I can't transfer money back when I want to.