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Where in the world did this come from? This deep of a cut, it’s a shame I didn’t attribute reasoning and words to it.

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Letter to Hermione. I am not sure what prompted my emailing this song. Perhaps I read something about it. Or perhaps I found it as I looked for something to type in Bowie’s handwriting. I’m not even sure what I liked about it. But I did.

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He’s crazy talented, but let’s be honest. This is the SOM because one day, I will have a suit like that made, and I will prance around as the female Prince for Halloween.

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It’s no surprise that in the midst of studying for MCAT (content review at that point), I earmarked a song that I found “incredibly relaxing”.

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What am I missing or perhaps I should ask, what is she missing?

“The next track, “Moment’s Silence (Common Tongue)” is the most upbeat of the album; if you were ever going to dance to a Hozier song (but you probably weren’t) this would be the one”

Is she joking? Has she listened to his previous album? Are we so conditioned as a society to think that twerking and bump and grinding are dance, that we don’t understand the concept of what dancing actually is?

From Vocabulary.com

A dance is a series of movements — sometimes choreographed, but sometimes not — where the person moves in time to music. … If you move in a rhythmic manner — especially to music — you can use the verb dance to explain your actions.

Dancing is swaying to the beat. Dancing is being enveloped by a feeling so overwhelming that you have no other option but to let your body take precedence over your mind. Dancing is movement.

Anyone who has listened to Hozier’s body of work. Anyone who has actually felt his music undoubtedly understands what this woman clearly does not. For a moment, turn away from the lyrics. Turn away from what your brain is interpreting. Listen with your soul. Listen with the part of your brain that isn’t analyzing.

Obviously, I am clearly biased as far as this song goes, but how can you (unless you are petrified of or staunchly against dancing) not feel pressed to movement by Jackie and Wilson?

or by this song?

how about Someone New?

Even the slower songs. Is there not an urge to sway to Sedated?

Did not Sergei Polunin perform a famous dance to Take Me To Church?

And obviously I can’t use this argument as at the time of her article, the song wasn’t published, but it can’t escape my purview. Movement. If you don’t feel the dancing lifeblood coursing through this song… wow.

I recognize that we all have a right to our opinion, but it seems that some people are so intent on being cute and witty, so intellectual that they flagrantly miss the mark.

Written 4/8/2020, but, per my notes, I had the same reaction and held the same opinion 11/7/18

The other night I was invited to a fundraiser for WITS Chicago. It was a delightful event. Outside of the inspirational stories and good company, my favorite part was their centerpiece: 10 books per table, 1 for each person sitting there, with each table having a different array. It was unusual not only because it generated literary conversation amongst attendees, but because of the discussion it generated amongst the banquet servers. At the end of the night, the employees of the venue were free to take any leftover books. As I walked out, I noticed a server who’d chosen SE Hinton’s The Outsiders. I praised her choice, and she smiled. It’s her favorite. She’d read the book 10 times, and wanted the copy so that she could gift the joy, that she’d experienced, to someone else. Just hearing that made me happy for the rest of the weekend.

Later, my friend wanted to know what the book was about. All I could say was that I loved it, and though I’ve forgotten the details and the plot, I remember how beautiful the book was. That prompted me to jog my memory. In the process, I ran across this synopsis. I’ve never looked at analysis and been struck by its beauty, but I did that night.

And I can’t help but share it:

“We all know what an outsider is, and we’ve all seen groups of people who are outsiders. In fact, we’re all outside of something.

At some point, perhaps daily, many of us feel separate from and different from others, to some degree or another. We can be isolated by lots of different things, including the politics and economics in our area, our states of mind, our physical conditions, things we’ve done and things that have been done to us, just to name a few.

But, these things can also connect us.”

Schmoop is right, that’s precisely what the book is about.

I emailed myself the Wikipedia link for this song back October 27th. I was not entirely sure why I would email myself a link from Wikipedia as opposed to sending myself the Apple music link or the YouTube video. So I read through the article. I imagine I kept the article for the following tidbit:

“To me, the most autobiographical line was: ‘My make-up may be flaking but my smile still stays on.’ That was true. No matter how ill Freddie felt, he never grumbled to anyone or sought sympathy of any kind. It was his battle, no one else’s, and he always wore a brave face against the ever-increasing odds against him. — Jim Hutton – 1994

That really is such a beautiful line. Everything can be falling apart, but if you can keep your head up, keep perspective, you can keep going. And really that’s all we can do. We can’t change the hand we’ve been dealt, only how we play it.

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How do you pick a favorite?

I’ve always been bad at that.

You ask me for one favorite, and I give you a list of them.

Or you ask me for a favorite, and I give you one, only to amend it two months later.

I do this often with albums. I have a favorite song, and then one day I’m driving along, and something about a different song strikes me.

It doesn’t mean that I no longer have that favorite, just that I have a new one.

That’s the cool thing about music, it’s a constant state of discovery. Even when things are so ordinary, so familiar, I still find something new, something redemptive. Music’s ability to preserve our history will never cease to amaze me.

I love old German music, swing music from the 40s, music from eras like the 50s and 60s, even the 90s! Songs, like those I have posted below. Please make sure you give that Rock Hall of Fame song a listen, it features what likely is one of the best Prince guitar solos EVER!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCol1dhLmco

This article led me to this video.

He’s an artist I’ve always meant to seek out more of

“I’m a ghost of you, you’re a ghost of me”

Something about that line; it resonates with me. Perhaps because we forever carry pieces of other people and places with us no matter where we go.

I want to know what he meant by that line and found this interview. Fascinating website.

And later, down the YouTube rabbit hole…

What neat music videos!

I saw those pencils in an ad, and I had to know what they were.

I saw this kid bring a volcano alive with pencil

I suddenly had this pencil and no idea what to do.

Then I saw my coloring book collection, and it struck me, what if I take away the color?

And then an odd thing happened, “coloring” became more enjoyable.

I’ve had my coloring book collection long before it was cool. As in over a decade before, coloring became the “it,” “mindful” thing to do. The reason I emphasize that fact is because when coloring did explode on the scene, I couldn’t see how it contributed to “mindfulness” and calm. I colored because it reminded me of my grandmother, of the reason I can quickly recall my favorite color crayon in the Crayola box, of the moment my grandmother took me aside and taught me to keep the colors somewhat within the lines. But mindfulness? Absolutely not. It’s kind of stressful. Matching all the colors, taking a long time to match the colors only to find out that the colors you matched, don’t. Then two hours in, you’re flustered and annoyed, and you haven’t even finished a quarter of the page, and you look at it with just one question, so what was the point again?

And then I eliminated the color.

Suddenly, I paid attention to the subtleties: how hard I pressed on the graphite, which texture I wanted to apply to which section, how each part contributed to the whole, what my shading indicated.

And in an hour, I nearly finished. I had a sense of accomplishment. I created (or rather finished) something I deemed beautiful, AND I felt great.

Maybe there’s something more there, something about living. Eliminate the distractions and life itself is more enjoyable and meaningful. Or, perhaps I was just bored and wanted to justify the pencil purchase.

Will I ever break out the colored pencils again? Sure, the next time I have 6 hours to spare.

Not a song, a video. But, if we go with a song, “The Sky Is A Neighborhood”. That’s the first song they play in the background, and it’s silly but it drove me crazy until I could figure out which song was playing. It was on the tip of my tongue. Had to coax it out!

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Years ago, I stumbled across a video about how making your bed could change your life. The video snippet sort of had me convinced, but I’d always meant to go back and check out the full commencement speech from which the snippet had been pulled. When I finally made time to listen to the address, I absolutely LOVED what Admiral McRaven had to say, and I became a bed-making disciple. I started each day by making my bed, and the difference it made felt terrific. I highly recommend watching the video and conducting your own experiment. However, this post isn’t about how life-changing making your bed is, it is about the book spun-off from that speech.

Earlier this morning, I stopped to read his chapter about sugar cookies. I didn’t expect the turn that the story would take, and perhaps that is why it was so impactful. I believe that everyone should read this story. The perspective is well worth the 5 minutes it takes to get through it. Below I have scanned in the “sugar cookie” chapter. I hope it serves you well. I also hope publishers don’t find this blog.

Sugar Cookie Chapter

Short Version of Speech
Speech in Entirety
New CBS Sunday Morning Interview (post amended 5/19/19)

A few years ago, I read a biography about JFK. The book mentions Jackie Kennedy and her adoration for poetry. She had verses memorized, and on a dime would frequently recite bits for those around her, namely her children. Something about that passage struck me. I later realized that I appreciated her adoration of poetry because one of my greatest childhood memories of my mother stems from an assignment that I brought home in the 2nd grade. We had to memorize and perform “Bear in There” by Shel Silverstein.

For the entire month, my mother filled our hour-long drive to school with practice sessions. I can recall her gentle prompts, make sure you’re looking at the audience, make more eye contact, raise your voice just a bit at that part, speak a bit faster, a bit slower, emphasize this, de-emphasize that. Simple as they are, memories of those moments are some of the fondest that I have of my childhood. And all from a simple school assignment.

17 years later, I decided to re-memorize “Bear in There,” and then I decided to begin memorizing more poems. Perhaps due to my initial association with Silverstein, I enjoy going through his books. Childish though they may seem, he tackles difficult topics with ease. One of my recent discoveries is “She had blue skin, and so did he.” It’s a simple rhyme. I quickly memorized it, but the message is powerful. If you don’t live life to express your unique self, you will miss finding the person and the people to love that self. The message is especially prescient and pressing during this time of social media, the era of filters and photoshop and “influencers.” Often, we are made to feel as if we are insufficient or inferior, when really, we aren’t. We are all extraordinary human beings, and there are people to love our special if only we let our light shine.

I have been to many incredible concerts. I’ve long meant to sit down and write them all down, but it’s one of those mental lists, constantly made that seemingly never meets paper. With or without the list, I would undoubtedly tell you that my favorite performer is Anderson East & Co. There’s a singular electricity, a life, at his shows that few artists find. I’d been to the Anderson East show 5/8/18 at Thalia Hall. Once that year was not enough though. I knew he was headed to Bloomington 8 days after my birthday. And I was hell-bent on that being my 2018 birthday present to self.

I thought Anderson East couldn’t get better, but they did. Seeing them at the Castle Theatre was the most incredible experience. If Thalia Hall felt small and intimate, Castle showed me that I didn’t know the meaning of those words. I am beyond grateful for having been there. I made it down there in the largest part thanks to Sergio. We then made it back in an even larger part because of him, or should I say in spite of me? Thank God for the best of friends.

More Videos:

Because even stripped down there’s so much soul and passion:

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Roger Miller.

He’s the voice of my childhood.*

“The Robin Williams of country music”

And not like I needed another reason.

Miller was my grandma’s favorite.

Running across this article I found the following video, my “song” of the week.

*I could wax poetic about that movie’s soundtrack all day long.

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This article came to my attention and am I ever happy that it did.

The description for the album reads,

“This is what one of the most talented humans to ever live, at the cusp of his creative and commercial peak, sounds like when he’s barely even trying.”

Prince was not just a singer, not just a guitar player. He was a true musician. And that is what matters. He is one of those who you listen to and just hear the music coursing through their veins.

As I ambled around the internet, looking for song interpretations, I ran across an article in the Guardian. His fellow band member Lisa Coleman described Prince far more eloquently than I ever could.

“He was working day in, day out at being something great. If that meant recording himself at the piano and studying it later he would do it. … He wanted to make sure that when the time came – and he was going to make that time come – he would be something that would make the world go, ‘Wow.’”

The beat. His voice. How raw the recording is. His unfailing dedication. Wow.

If finding this gem was not enough, the next video auto-played and it too was fantastic. Gosh, listening to him play that guitar at 7:30 as I watch the thunder and lighting out my window. What a joy.

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Living in Vegas, I was very lonely. Call it culture shock, but the adjustment to Vegas from Chicago was tough. Back home, you freely talked to the person sitting next to you in a waiting room, or even a person sitting at the restaurant table right next to yours. In Vegas? You found blank stares. People wondering why a stranger wanted to talk to them, why a stranger would even dare to bother them. Much of the time, my work kept me sane, I made “40-minute friends”, learning about the many different regions, cultures, and cities of the US, and the world. I would come off tables, writing notes on places I had to visit: the Blue Ridge Parkway, Peter Lugers in New York, a West Point football game in the Hudson River Valley, Arches National Park,the Santa Cruz County Fair & Rodeo in Sonoita, AZ (where the other horse statue is). I would also leave the tables writing down stories I had heard: the outrageous, the funny, and the inspiring. I wanted to journal those stories and remember to share them with others.

That said, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that now and again, you had mean customers. Ones who belittled you smoked cigars in your face, ones who tried to cheat you. And it was on those days when I suddenly remembered that I was alone, 3600 miles from my family and my friends. I saw no other option but to cheer myself up, and frequently I did so by you-tubing 3 simple words, “ Robin Williams interviews” There is something about watching those interviews, which makes me so happy. It should be no surprise then that my ultimate comfort movie is Mrs. Doubtfire. It is beautiful how another person was able to utilize their gifts and make a positive impression on so many lives.

Which shows bring you comfort on the days you need it?

Some Snippets:

On Johnny Carson w/ Jonathan Winters
Just Robin w/ Johnny Carson “and you realize it was one of the doctors” ha!
Mork and Mindy
This article