A to Z Theme 2016

For my 2016 A to Z theme I used a meme that I ran across on the blog of Bridget Straub who first saw it on the blog of Paula Acton. This meme is a natural for me to use on my memoir blog. It's an A to Z concept and it's about me. No research and nothing complicated. I'm given twenty six questions or topics to discuss that are about me.

In April I kept my posts short and uncomplicated. In the midst of it all you might learn a few things about me that you didn't previously know.

Friday, March 21, 2014

#atozchallenge Theme Reveal

        This is a special posting a day early from the normal Saturday schedule in order to be a part of the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge Theme Reveal.    For more about the A to Z Theme Reveal Blogfest see the links at the bottom of this post.  



          My last several posts on this blog have been about music.  This has been in conjunction with the Battle of the Bands posts that I do on the 1st and 15th on my blog Tossing It Out.  The Battle of the Bands posts have been a bit of an audience dwindler in some ways, but since I enjoy these posts so much I've been adamant in my continuation to participate in this particular blogging event.  And there is a small audience of those who have shown an interest in these posts.  My plans are to continue the Battle of the Bands on a monthly basis.  My music posts on Wrote By Rote have been my attempt to do some cross promotion for the Battle of the Bands posts.

          For those who might be unfamiliar with the Battle of the Bands blog event to which I refer--and I sure that includes the majority of those reading this--the twice monthly blog posting is a contest between two versions of the same song.  In each post I pit two or more different versions of one song against each other, then readers vote in the comments as to which version is their personal favorite and why.  The following week I reveal which song version won the vote and which is my own favorite.  On the appointed days I am joined by four or more other bloggers who post their own battles at their sites.  It's fun if you enjoy music and comparing cover versions of songs to each other.  If that's something that sounds like something you'd enjoy I hope you will join me on Tossing It Out each month on the 1st and 15th.

         Since Wrote By Rote is a blog devoted to memoir, my recent music posts have been about the songs that I've chosen as my Battle of the Bands selections and some of memories these songs have evoked.   For most people, music has a power to take us back to the times we associate with that music.  Music taps us into past memories of people, places, and events.   In each of  my April posts I will present a song which my visitors can listen to if they wish and I will accompany each song pick with a short vignette that expresses the thoughts, feelings, or memories that particular song draws from within me.  

        Some of the songs you may know while others might be new discoveries for you.  Most of them will be songs that I consider to be beautiful, wistful, and even sad.  Some will be light and even somewhat funny.  They will all be songs that are meaningful to my personal history.  They might even become favorites of yours if they aren't already.

         Please join me here at Wrote By Rote in April for a musical journey as I explore Musical Memories from A to Z.  

          Does music play an important role in your life?   Do you often feel stirred when you hear songs from certain parts of your past?    Have you ever used a song or piece of music as a writing prompt?

        To see what other A to Z bloggers are doing during the April Challenge visit the Blogging from A to Z Theme Reveal Blogfest for the list.


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23 comments:

  1. Sounds like my cup of tea Lee.
    Yvonne.

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  2. That's a great theme. I'll post mine Monday.

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  3. Music definitely plays a role in my life and I can often pinpoint specific memories to certain songs, esp. in the 70s and 80s. Also, music that I may have heard on a vacation or that was stuck in my head while traveling. Some of them make me cry with nostalgia, or in the case of 'wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald', the subject itself.

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  4. I just google + and tweeted this post because I think it's one of the best theme ideas I've come across. Two incentives to come back - the way you write your memoirs and sweet sweet music

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  5. I'll be visiting for sure, Lee, since the music we grew up with, and listened to over the years gets attached to events in our lives. It stirs the music memory cells, and that's something I enjoy.

    BOTB is a fave, how can one not like being the critic for once?

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  6. Dear Lee, music has always been an important part of my life. My mother used to sing when she cooked and played solitaire and drove the car. She sang all the Cole Porter songs and the songs from the Broadway musicals of the time--Oklahoma for instance--and also the song by Moss Hart and other composers of the '20s and '30s. I do the same. Peace.

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  7. Yvonne-- I think you might like this series.

    Teresa -- Lots of memories in music.

    JoJo -- That's why I think this is a good theme for my memoir blog.

    Ida -- Thank you for the promotion!

    DG -- I wish I could get more visitors to the BOTB posts. I guess listening to the songs takes more work than people want to do.

    JL -- I so agree.

    Dee -- My parents always had a wide variety of recordings and they both loved music. I think we pick up a lot from our parents.

    Shelly -- !!!

    Lee

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  8. This is one of my favorite themes so far! I absolutely love all different types of music. I'm not very auditory, but I'm extremely kinesthetic... so it's all about the feeling for me. I can't wait to see what you have to say about your song picks!

    Random Musings From the KristenHead A to Z Theme Reveal

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  9. Hi Lee - these will fun to listen to and to read what your connection is ... I wish I was more musical - love it .. but it doesn't stick.

    I shall be around .. and delighted to see your theme .. cheers HIlary

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  10. Looking forward to your April posts!! With a musician in the family, this will be a fun one to follow.

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  11. Unique theme, looking forward to your posts.

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  12. Kristen -- I always like to write and read about music. It's interesting to see what memories people have in relation to certain songs.

    Hilary -- I grew up listening to music so it sticks with me. I guess it's a matter of listening to music a lot and learning to appreciate it.

    Carrie-Ann -- Hope to get some feedback from those who know music.

    Ananya -- I've done musical themes for A to Z in the past, but not in this way.

    Lee


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  13. Great theme! Music does evoke certain memories and I think we all have our own attachments. Looking forward to your musical journey...

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  14. Love your theme! Music is a major part of my life. If I'm not listening to it, I'm playing it or composing it. I recently wrote a post about how music is good for our soul. It has the ability to conjure up images and memories and take us back to a time when that song was meaningful. And yes, I write to music.

    Looking forward to reading your posts in April! :)

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  15. My theme wanders a bit, but sticks to important Constitutional Amendments, people, life events, things people need to know, etc. Wandering.

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  16. Psych-- I can get so lost in music sometimes.

    Kristin -- I like to write to classical. Less distracting for me than songs with words.

    Susan Kane -- Wandering while learning something.

    Lee

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  17. I'm totally into music. I have more Pandora stations than the average person. My tastes range from classical to Scorpions and every genre in between, except not so much rap. I do like Gangsta's Paradise by Coolio, but probably because I love the movie Dangerous Minds so much.
    Music always takes me back. I hear a song and I'm instantly back at someplace that I heard it that was significant.
    Great theme choice. You should check out my minion, Andrea, who is doing 70s music and did 80s Angst last year. She even sent me a two CD set of all the songs from the Challenge.
    Looking forward to it!
    Tina @ Life is Good
    A to Z Team @ Blogging From A to Z April Challenge 2014

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  18. Ah, I do love the sound of this!
    It's amazing how different songs conjure different childhood memories, or they are linked to a certain phase or a particular event in one's life...

    On that note, you may be interested to know that my 26 flash fiction pieces from the 2012 A to Z Challenge were all inspired by music/sound/rhythm/movement... and the stories are with my creative editor at the moment. I hope to publish them later on this year...
    Writer In Transit

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  19. Well I have a similar theme for April. Will look forward to your music list and keep poping in everyday in April. Please drop by MY site too at http://jaibalarao.wordpress.com

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  20. Count me there for the A-Z, Arlee. Music in so many ways defines who we are. Will be interesting to hear your views and that of others. Thanks for the follow.
    http://shells-tales-sails.blogspot.com/

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  21. Tina -- You and I have very similar tastes in music.

    Michelle -- Let us know if you do publish them. You can do a guest post at the A to Z blog to promote it.

    Jai -- I enjoy the posts about music.

    Sharon-- Music has carried me through my life. I can't imagine my life without it.

    Lee

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  22. Oh that is a fascinating theme!

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Arlee Bird