Welcome to Monday’s News on the March – The week that was in my digital world.
100 Best Songs of 2023
Blog article by Jeff at Eclectic Music Lover
As a music blogger, I’m exposed to a tremendous amount of new music over the course of a year, both from the literally thousands of artists and bands I follow, as well as all the music I learn about from my fellow bloggers. Despite this, I’m fully aware that I’ve heard only a fraction of all the music released in 2023 (I get enough proof of this just by reading other bloggers’ year-end best-of lists, where in some cases I’m not familiar with very many of their song or album picks.) Consequently, my list includes only songs I know, and I’m certain there are likely many great ones that should be included, except that I’ve never heard them. Among the thousands of songs I did hear in 2023, there were many outstanding ones, and it frustrates me to have to cull my favorites down to only 100, omitting quite a few that I really like. It’s also a challenge ranking them, because a song at No.40 isn’t necessarily any better than a song at No.70. Perhaps it’s a pointless exercise to even rank them at all, except for the fact that I love making lists!
– Read the rest of Jeff’s 100 Best Songs of 2023
I feel grateful to have been a ‘fly on the wall’ during Jeff’s 2023 musical journey. Below are the tracks I like most from his top 10 which I have added to my musical project during the course of the year:
1. Not Strong Enough – boygenius
2. One More Time – blink – 182
3. Tropic Morning News – The National, and
4. Essence – Refeci feat. Shimmer Johnson
I look forward to what 2024 brings us especially with Jeff’s brand of content.
One Thing at a Time – Planet Pailly
Blog article by J.S.Pailly
Extract rom the above article:
I resolve to get back to writing—to get back to writing like I used to write!
To do that, there are some old writing lessons that I need to relearn. The first problem I’ve encountered is the temptation of info-dumping. I’m sure we’ve all come across books like the book pictured below, especially those of us who read fantasy and science fiction.
As a Sci-Fi writer, I’ve developed a vast and complicated new universe for my fiction. This vast and complicated new universe includes new science, new technology, new political institutions, new economic systems, new environmental hazards, new cultural norms, new fashions of clothes, new styles of art and literature and music—and it really seems like I ought to explain all these new things to my readers before I can expect them to understand what’s going to happen in my story… right?
But I don’t. I have to keep reminding myself that I don’t have to explain everything up front. The Hobbit didn’t explain everything up front. Neither did Dune, and neither did the first Star Wars movie. Next time you watch Star Wars: A New Hope, take note of how long the movie waits to tell you about the Jedi and the Force.
A Woman’s Best Friend
Prose at A Girl Gone
Madness.
A beautiful word not used very often anymore
Professionals have now over-colored the page when it was perfect to begin with
Making sense of the scribbled lines with terms like “paranoid schizophrenic”
Madness is soft to the touch, not abrasive or callous like humans
It’s a loving stray dog that you feed from your hand
You never reprimand it
Just let it be what it is, the way nature intended it
How close can you get to madness?
Always thinking it’s going to bite you but it never does
It just wants to sleep at the foot of your bed
Doing the same thing over and over expecting different results
Madness is love in the purest form
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
Entertaining and interesting!
Wow, once again I’m honored that you’ve shared one of my posts Matt. Thank you so much, and also for your kind words.
You’re welcome Jeff.
Kudos to Jeff for introducing us to new music. Based on my own weekly new music feature, I think I have a good idea how much work it must be for him to put together his lists. As a ranking-challenged individual, I’m also impressed about his rankings!
Hi Christian. Yes, I have added a lot of music from Jeff to my music library project. The only problem has been is that apart from his posts there is scant information on most of the given songs and independent artists.
Yes, I couldn’t imagine how much work was involved with collating the lists he does.
Thanks Christian!
Thanks for sharing! I can appreciate the challenge of picking favorite songs when there is just so much music out there. And that poem about madness is wonderful. We’re all a little bit mad, I think. So long as we’re not hurting anyone, madness isn’t such a bad thing.
Your welcome and thanks for your feedback about the other posts. Cheers.