The phone rings and you smile; somebody's thinking about you! You peek
at your caller ID to see who this special person is and your heart skips
a beat. You know what's coming and you begin to make excuses. I have to take my dog to the vet. You don't have a dog, that won't work. I'm not feeling well.
No, they'll know that's BS. The phone
starts its second ring and you are so startled it feels like you're
playing "hot potato." Then you get an idea, you actually consider
breaking your phone. No, that would be a really bad idea, you don't want
to pay for a new phone. Time is running out on the call and you're left
with two options: you can ignore the call and feel guilty all day
thinking about it or you can suck it up and answer and be a good human
being. You're a good human being so you answer, quietly, hoping maybe
they're not really on the other end of the line after all. Sure enough,
you hear that person's voice but really all you can hear coming out of
their mouth is "help, I need somebody, help, not just anybody, help, I
need someone, heeellppp." And the next thing you know, you have been
recruited to help them move into a new place!
Ok, so helping a friend or family move is not as daunting as it may
seem, but I honestly hate moving and last weekend my parents and I
helped my sister and her roommate move into a new apartment. After all
the shopping was done we went back to their apartment to start putting
the pieces together, and we have a system. (After moving into about 10
houses/apartments we should have a system by now!... and you wonder why I
have such disdain for moving) So, my mom helped the girls set up their
room while my dad and I worked on the kitchen/living room areas. We got
cracking and I bet if you were to have put us on "fastforward" to speed
up the unpacking process, the classic circus music would have been
pushing us along quite nicely.
Once my dad fixed the TV and hung up their pictures to put the
finishing touches on their new home, we collapsed on the couch. Moving
takes a lot out of you! I turned to my dad and I said, "you know how I'm
feeling right now? It's been a hard day's night" and he continued singing with me "and I've been workin' like a dog,"
all we wanted to do was nothing. But, moving day was not quite over
yet. When someone asks you to help move, what do they always promise you
in return? That's right, dinner and drinks! That's my favorite part.
Getting dinner all together as the moving team is the best way for the
new home owner/renter to say "thank you for being a friend." I remember
when I was little we were moving to a new home in New Jersey and our
family came to help us settle in. We didn't have any furniture yet so we
ate pizza off of upside down boxes at the end of the day. But I have to
say, I think dinner in DC surpassed the excitement of a 10 year old
getting to eat pizza on the floor (although that was pretty cool!).
The next day my sister and her roommate posted a picture to
Facebook, the first picture in their new place, and they were elated. I
could just see them sitting there humming to themselves "well we're
movin' on up..."
Help
Circus
Hard Day's Night
Golden Girls
Movin' On Up
Friday, January 20, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
Friday the 13th
Do do do do, do do do do, do do do do, do do do do...
You unlock this blog with the key of my imagination
Beyond it is another dimension
A dimension of sound
A dimension of lyrics
A dimension of tune
You're moving into a land of both music and real world
Of scenarios and ideas
You just crossed over into...
The Soundtrack Zone
Duh duh duhhhh!!!!
Happy Friday the 13th!
Okay, okay, the creepy theme song to The Twilight Zone is more a jingle of sorts than a song, but it has transcended pop culture and every time something strange happens I always revert to those classic "do do do's". In fact, I did it yesterday! I guess my brain was ready for Friday the 13th. I was helping set up video conferencing in one of the conference rooms in my office and I had to lower the shades in the room in order to lose the glare on the screen. As I began pulling the very noisy shades down on 5 ceiling-to-floor windows, a coworker of mine (having lunch in a nearby conference room) walked over to the room I was in a little slowly and cautiously. In contrast to the din of the shades, I must have snuck into that room as quiet as a mouse because he said he didn't hear anyone come by, that he thought there was a ghost or something in there. We laughed a little at how timid he was and I wiggled my fingers like a witch and chimed those "do do do do's," pretending like I was that ghost.
While The Twilight Zone may be more about eerie occurrences, less superstitious ones like Friday the 13th, I find that these two entities share a common characteristic: the unexplained. I'll admit, I totally believe in things I don't understand, like Stevie Wonder sings in "Superstition." (Clearly this is my number one choice for this rare date.) Everyone does. I remember when I was little there was a playground chant that said "don't step on the crack or you'll break your mother's back." Maybe I didn't totally believe that that would really happen if I stepped on a crack, but to this day I prefer avoiding them if I can.
"Superstition" touches on your classic wide-spread superstitions, i.e. walking under a ladder and breaking a mirror, thereby impressing 7 years of bad luck on yourself. Personally, these don't concern me. I avoid ladders in general because I'd prefer not to get crushed by accident if it falls; although I wonder if scaffolding counts as a ladder, I've been walking under a lot of that lately in the District. And really, when was the last time you broke a mirror? You have to try to break a mirror, that doesn't just happen. Plus, I thought 7 was supposed to be the lucky number, so I'm cool with doing my time if I jinx it tonight (yep, you caught me, I believe in jinxes). Besides, if I am going to be superstitious, I prefer to spread my neuroses across many days, not just limit myself to one. For example, on momentous occasions my grandma always tells me to enter and exit where I was going and coming from with my right foot. I don't know why, but I listen to her!
Everyone's got little things they do on a daily basis that may not even cross your mind as being superstitious. So I'm not afraid of Friday the 13th, in fact I'm already looking forward to the next one. Bring it on, April!
And if all else fails I recommend going out and getting a voodoo doll, singing a little incantation and protecting yourself from all harm: "Oo ee oo ah ah..."
The Twilight Zone
Superstition
The Witch Doctor
You unlock this blog with the key of my imagination
Beyond it is another dimension
A dimension of sound
A dimension of lyrics
A dimension of tune
You're moving into a land of both music and real world
Of scenarios and ideas
You just crossed over into...
The Soundtrack Zone
Duh duh duhhhh!!!!
Happy Friday the 13th!
Okay, okay, the creepy theme song to The Twilight Zone is more a jingle of sorts than a song, but it has transcended pop culture and every time something strange happens I always revert to those classic "do do do's". In fact, I did it yesterday! I guess my brain was ready for Friday the 13th. I was helping set up video conferencing in one of the conference rooms in my office and I had to lower the shades in the room in order to lose the glare on the screen. As I began pulling the very noisy shades down on 5 ceiling-to-floor windows, a coworker of mine (having lunch in a nearby conference room) walked over to the room I was in a little slowly and cautiously. In contrast to the din of the shades, I must have snuck into that room as quiet as a mouse because he said he didn't hear anyone come by, that he thought there was a ghost or something in there. We laughed a little at how timid he was and I wiggled my fingers like a witch and chimed those "do do do do's," pretending like I was that ghost.
While The Twilight Zone may be more about eerie occurrences, less superstitious ones like Friday the 13th, I find that these two entities share a common characteristic: the unexplained. I'll admit, I totally believe in things I don't understand, like Stevie Wonder sings in "Superstition." (Clearly this is my number one choice for this rare date.) Everyone does. I remember when I was little there was a playground chant that said "don't step on the crack or you'll break your mother's back." Maybe I didn't totally believe that that would really happen if I stepped on a crack, but to this day I prefer avoiding them if I can.
"Superstition" touches on your classic wide-spread superstitions, i.e. walking under a ladder and breaking a mirror, thereby impressing 7 years of bad luck on yourself. Personally, these don't concern me. I avoid ladders in general because I'd prefer not to get crushed by accident if it falls; although I wonder if scaffolding counts as a ladder, I've been walking under a lot of that lately in the District. And really, when was the last time you broke a mirror? You have to try to break a mirror, that doesn't just happen. Plus, I thought 7 was supposed to be the lucky number, so I'm cool with doing my time if I jinx it tonight (yep, you caught me, I believe in jinxes). Besides, if I am going to be superstitious, I prefer to spread my neuroses across many days, not just limit myself to one. For example, on momentous occasions my grandma always tells me to enter and exit where I was going and coming from with my right foot. I don't know why, but I listen to her!
Everyone's got little things they do on a daily basis that may not even cross your mind as being superstitious. So I'm not afraid of Friday the 13th, in fact I'm already looking forward to the next one. Bring it on, April!
And if all else fails I recommend going out and getting a voodoo doll, singing a little incantation and protecting yourself from all harm: "Oo ee oo ah ah..."
The Twilight Zone
Superstition
The Witch Doctor
Monday, January 9, 2012
Special Post
Surprise!
I decided to post two posts today for two reasons.
1: The second post came a little later than I planned
2: This post is time-sensitive
In case you live under a rock, Beyonce and Jay-Z welcomed a baby girl to the (music) world and her name is Blue Ivy Carter. When I first heard the news the impression was that her name was Ivy Blue. Silly me, of course a normal name could not be sufficient in the celebrity scene. When it was clarified on the news today (yes, MSNBC considered this newsworthy) that her name was Blue Ivy, I immediately thought of the lyric in Aerosmith's "Jaded": "my my baby blue." So, what do I do with this inspiration? Have some fun and change the lyrics of course! Here are my lyrics to welcome Baby Blue into the world, I encourage you to listen to the song and follow my lyrics along to get the idea. Enjoy!
Jaded
Hey...Jay-Z's baby
You got your mama's style
But you're Destiny's child to me
So baby
You think life is all that
Cause you are hip hop's royalty
Is 4 the meaning of Ivy,
Your middle name?
My my baby blue
Yeah I been thinkin' 'bout you
My my baby blue
Yeah you're so famous
The whole world's been waiting for you
Hey...Jay-Z's baby
In all your infancy
You don't even know how much you're loved...and praised
On the twittersphere and facebook
You're buzzing
More popular than Tebowing
Hey Beyonce
My my baby blue
Yeah I been thinkin' 'bout you
My my baby blue
Yeah you're so famous
The whole world's been waiting for you
You're life's so uncomplicated
You've got the world on a string
The Grammy's will be waiting
Love or hate it
Wouldn't trade it
Girl you've made it...yeah...yeah
Hey...Jay-Z's baby
There ain't no baby please
When they want to get a wink of sleep
When everything they see is a blur
And paparazzi wants your picture
My my baby blue
I'm a talkin' 'bout you
My my baby blue
Yeah I been thinkin' 'bout you
My my baby blue
Yeah you're so famous
(Baby)
Jay-Z
(Beyonce)
You're so famous
The whole world's been waiting for you
I decided to post two posts today for two reasons.
1: The second post came a little later than I planned
2: This post is time-sensitive
In case you live under a rock, Beyonce and Jay-Z welcomed a baby girl to the (music) world and her name is Blue Ivy Carter. When I first heard the news the impression was that her name was Ivy Blue. Silly me, of course a normal name could not be sufficient in the celebrity scene. When it was clarified on the news today (yes, MSNBC considered this newsworthy) that her name was Blue Ivy, I immediately thought of the lyric in Aerosmith's "Jaded": "my my baby blue." So, what do I do with this inspiration? Have some fun and change the lyrics of course! Here are my lyrics to welcome Baby Blue into the world, I encourage you to listen to the song and follow my lyrics along to get the idea. Enjoy!
Jaded
Hey...Jay-Z's baby
You got your mama's style
But you're Destiny's child to me
So baby
You think life is all that
Cause you are hip hop's royalty
Is 4 the meaning of Ivy,
Your middle name?
My my baby blue
Yeah I been thinkin' 'bout you
My my baby blue
Yeah you're so famous
The whole world's been waiting for you
Hey...Jay-Z's baby
In all your infancy
You don't even know how much you're loved...and praised
On the twittersphere and facebook
You're buzzing
More popular than Tebowing
Hey Beyonce
My my baby blue
Yeah I been thinkin' 'bout you
My my baby blue
Yeah you're so famous
The whole world's been waiting for you
You're life's so uncomplicated
You've got the world on a string
The Grammy's will be waiting
Love or hate it
Wouldn't trade it
Girl you've made it...yeah...yeah
Hey...Jay-Z's baby
There ain't no baby please
When they want to get a wink of sleep
When everything they see is a blur
And paparazzi wants your picture
My my baby blue
I'm a talkin' 'bout you
My my baby blue
Yeah I been thinkin' 'bout you
My my baby blue
Yeah you're so famous
(Baby)
Jay-Z
(Beyonce)
You're so famous
The whole world's been waiting for you
Haircuts
Last week I got my hair cut, and as I left the salon all I could think was “I whip my hair back and forth, I whip my hair back and forth.” (For those of you unfamiliar with this song, please see below). I couldn’t help it! There is a certain way that getting your hair cut makes you feel better about everything. I have to go grocery shopping? No problem, watch how my hair bounces up and down and I go up and down the aisles. I have to do the laundry? Easy. Watch my hair swish to the rhythm of the washing machine. It may sound silly, but don’t even try to lie, you know you feel like a rock star after getting that perfect blow-dry (and you won’t get it to look like that again until your next appointment no matter how hard you try).
But heaven help the hairdresser who messes your color up or snips just a bit past those dead ends. Our hair is our expression of our personalities, believe me, I’ve tried many colors and cuts in my day. In fact, when I was in college, I ran for the student government and there was one night leading up to election week where representatives from all the student organizations could come out and ask the candidates any question they wanted. One person wanted to lighten the mood and asked us “How does your hair reflect you and your leadership?” Thinking on my feet, I responded with “My hair is currently growing, as am I and as this school is. Each day I learn new things and each day there are ways we can improve the campus.” My brilliant quick-thinking did not necessarily help my slate win the elections, but that is not the point. Just through one simple aspect of yourself you can describe a variety of characteristics of your personality. Think about it, what does your hair say about you?
I mean, there’s a whole musical dedicated to our HAIR and the way it gives us individual freedom and power. And really, who can get the catchy title song out of their heads? “Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair…” well, you get the idea.
On top of that, you may or may not know that the Queen of Pop herself, yes, Lady Gaga, has a song called, you guessed it, “Hair.” It not only has a great beat in the recorded version, but she slows it down for a more poignant message live. The whole song is about feeling comfortable in your own skin and being proud to be who you are, expressing this sentiment through your hair.
Of course, there are times when you want to change your hair. We’ve all seen that movie or TV show where the girl gets her heart broken and she immediately needs to change her hair style or color in order to feel better. Brings a whole new meaning to “Gonna Wash that Man Right Outta my Hair,” doesn’t it?
Your hair makes you special and the salon experience makes you feel special. And if you’re like me, you get to pretend you’re in an “Herbal Essences” or “Pantene” commercial. You almost have to force yourself to eventually take a shower after a haircut because that means you are saying goodbye to that feeling.
But don’t worry, as soon as that water hits your hair you can continue the rock star fantasy and sing your heart out. After all, everyone sounds better in the shower. No matter what song your heart desires to sing in the shower (that’s another blog for another day) be sure to take care of that hair of yours and lather, rinse, repeat AND condition. Remember, to paraphrase Lady Gaga, you are your hair.
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