Soundtrack Session #31

Found this. Love it. Today is full of good things. NOTHING LIKE YOU AND I -The Perishers

Soundtrack #30 - Why You Wanna?

This song is too cute. I luh-huv it. WHY YA WANNA - Jana Kramer

Midnight train. Almost.

Tonight I drove my sister-in-law and nephew to the train station in Salt Lake. They're on it now, riding through the night to Winnemucca, NV. We sat on a concrete planter and talked about making old wedding dresses into baby blankets and the weird ways that our families communicate.

Some guy kept making hacking noises and spitting his phlegm into the dirt. A beautiful woman with long hair and a service dog flicked ashes away from a too-short cigarette. A man in a purple button-up shirt stood, exhausted, while a woman, also in a purple shirt, swore at him and flicked her hands around like she was slapping a cartoon character.

I wished I was going somewhere, wished I was getting on a train and riding through the night to somewhere else and staying for a while.

A young couple kissed goodbye: she on the train with her hair at her shoulders, he on the platform in a canary-yellow shirt. His hands were on her face and when her train finally left and he had walked away, I wondered, "Does he miss her? Is he missing her right now?"

My nephew, Cash, was so, so tired. He was in his sleeper, his eyes closed, and his blonde hair fluffed up. What is it that makes sleepers so cute? Is it the footies?

After they got on the train, I drove home. I missed my exit by about 8 exits. What does it mean when you're thinking intently enough about someone that you miss the way home by a 15 minute drive? I better cut that out or I'll head to work tomorrow and hours later find myself in Reno instead.

Soundtrack #29

I heard a snippet of this song and had to find the whole thing. Country and bluegrass music have a way of making me feel grounded. This is my soundtrack today.

HALLELUJAH - Reeltime Travelers

Ghost Towns

I know I've posted this song too many times, but it's how I feel today. So here it is.

GHOST TOWN - First Aid Kit


Sometimes I just feel like I spend my days, my long moments, passing through ghost towns.

At Sea Soundtrack #28

Every time this song comes on the radio I've got to dance. And since I only listen to the radio when I'm in the car, this means executing some tricky shimmies while steering, signaling, and shifting gears. In fact, this song has probably improved my coordination.

LIGHTS - Ellie Goulding



And this song? Well, I just love it. That's all.

OURS - Taylor Swift

Let's just take a moment

and talk about how cute Blake Griffin is:



Don't you just want to make that kid a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and then take him bowling or something? I know I do.

Birthday cake for you! ...and me!

Just have a birthday so I can bake you a cake. We can eat it together and wear party hats and blow those idiotic horn blower things. Then I'll make you a friendship bracelet with leftover streamers. For there will be streamers.

Just choose a cake from here: OH HALLELUJAH

Conversation Starters

Charles Barkley has lost weight, hasn't he? No more Taco Bell commercials for that guy.

Midnight in Paris, Soundtrack #27

I watched this movie tonight and I could not stop smiling. This is my kind of cinema. It made me remember how I repeatedly fell in love with literature and art. With the nasal grind of the workday and the acidic taste of things like finances and time management and politics, it's easy to forget the romantic view.

The wealthy, disenchanted Americans, the yearning for another time to ease the cement-and-chain-link-fence-feel of the present, the humanness of it all. I liked very, very much.

The soundtrack!

Owen Wilson was pitch-perfect. Rachel McAdams was utterly believable.

And Marion Cotillard! So lovely. So beautiful!

This film made me want to learn French. Made me want to go back to Europe. Made me want to fall into the sentiment that convinced me English was the only major for me.

A little music from the film:

New Year's... lists... and Soundtrack #26

Every year I make New Year's Resolutions. And every year I break them.

One of my problems is that I make way too many. I remember one year in high school or middle school I wrote them all down on an 8 ½ by 11 and stuck the list to my bathroom mirror. Remember gel pens? Each line alternated between neon orange, lime green, and psychedelic purple. There were so many that I had to write in my smallest print. So many that I didn't notice for several days that my brother, Greg, had written at the very bottom of the list, "Give Greg $20." I think I felt violated. Because someone poking fun at your New Year's resolutions is the kind of thing that feels violating when you're fourteen.

This year I made 7 resolutions. Narrowing it down took some effort. In fact, the only way I could keep the list to a minimum was to then write an additional list titled, "themes for the year." I usually make yet another list with the title, "other things I want to do/change if I have time." You know, in case my 7 official resolutions and themes are total snaps.

This year I considered making super easy resolutions so I could just mark them off: tick tick tick. Instead of "learn Arabic," I could resolve to "eat blueberry pancakes for breakfast tomorrow." I'll keep my 7, but I'll add this one: tomorrow I resolve to go for a walk. Tick.

In another vein...

Let's just take a moment and soak in the sound of Ella Fitzgerald. When I came across this song it made me wish I sounded just like her and could sit on a baby grand in sequins and belt out something jazzy.

I don't drink coffee or smoke, but I love diet coke (almost the same, eh?), so I'll pretend I can relate to this song. But really it's about heartache, and we all know how that feels.

BLACK COFFEE - Ella Fitzgerald

*Also check out the cover by Peggy Lee. Sultry and smooth.