My brother's band

Check out my little brother's new band, A Well Built Gun.

Hickman/LeRoy Songbook

My very favorite Myspace site is the Hickman/LeRoy Songbook. Chris LeRoy and Johnny Hickman have been making music together since they were little kids. You know Johnny from the band, Cracker, and Chris from Death of Me.

The Songbook features new and old songs by the duo. I think it is really interesting to see how a song becomes a song--how a song can take on a life of its own and continue to grow and change.







The Songbook is truly an interactive site. Fans' reviews, artwork, and video picks are showcased every week. For instance, I write a book review for the Songbook called The Book I Read. The title is a reference to one of my favorite Talking Heads songs:





And speaking of the Talking Heads . . .

Here's a story about the day I met Chris Frantz.

Cracker books

I really love the band, Cracker. Back in the early nineties, a nice guy made me a great mix tape that included the hit single, Teen Angst. I've been hooked ever since.

Here are three books that have the same titles as some of my favorite Cracker songs.

Forever by Judy Blume
This detailed story about a young woman's first sexual relationship is one of the most controversial young adult novels of all time. Back in sixth grade, I begged my mother to let me check out the book, but she wouldn't allow it. I had to smuggle a borrowed copy into the house. I read the worn out paperback about twenty times in a row before passing it along to a classmate.


Mr. Wrong: Real-Life Stories About the Men We Used to Love edited by Harriet Brown
Since I really respect guys, I didn't like this book at all. It's just plain to rude to complain about exes.



Teen Angst? Naaah . . . A Quasi-autobiography by Ned Vizzini
This teenage memoir is extremely well-written, but it's a bit too wholesome for my taste. I like my memoirs good and gritty. If I want to read about a grade-obsessed, goody-goody teenager with excellent taste in music, I'll go back and reread my high school diaries.


ps. If you like reading, and you like Cracker, you will love the Hickman/LeRoy Songbook. It's the smartest site in all of Myspace.

MySpace profile

Even though I'm kind of old for it, I just love Myspace. I recently started a new profile. Please visit http://www.myspace.com/fortyforever.
I need friends!

Musical brothers

If you are interested in music history and theory, check out Dolmetsch Online. This award-winning site covers topics ranging from basic music notation to the principles of counterpoint (whatever that is). The site is too advanced for me, but I'll bet my brothers, David
and Joel, know this stuff inside-out and backwards. They are both musical geniuses.

Although we've only met each other a couple of times, we're learning more about each other via Myspace. David is in the Los Angeles based band, Parson Red Heads, and he works at The Boat Studio. Joel performs solo and writes LOTS of great songs. He's going to school and working, too.

Me? I'm just a humble librarian who mostly just sings during storytime.

Why I like Myspace

I like Myspace. Thanks to Myspace, I have reconnected with my half-brothers, Joel and David. Even though we grew up on opposite sides of the country, we have a lot in common. For instance, all three of us have played in bands. Check out David's band, the Parson Red Heads.

I wish I had inherited more of the Swensen music genes. (Our grandmother went to Julliard, and our great grandfather was a band leader.) My brothers can play a gazillion different instruments, but I'm limited to the cowbell and claves.

Thank goodness I can sing. Joel, the handsome guy in the hoodie, has the most soulful voice. I love to sing, but my voice isn't all that distinctive. I'm more of a blender. My good friend, Vanessa the Comedian, used to do a bit about me wailing away to Joni Mitchell's Court and Spark while she was trying to watch tv.

Miss Rebecca visits South Park

I'm embarrassed to admit just how long it took me to do this! I came across this South Park image generator on Myspace.com.

Thoughts about technology

Thanks to Myspace, I've reconnected with my half brothers Joel and David. They live out west, and we haven't seen each other since we were kids. Now Joel is 28, David is 24, and I'm 40. I used to be leery of Myspace because I'd heard so many horror stories about bullies and stalkers. I was afraid to even type in the URL. Now that I've learned how to disable comments and set my privacy levels, I think it's a fantastic way to stay in touch with family and friends. I wonder if people mistrusted the telephone when it was first invented, too?