What's in a Song?

Back in October I was listening to one of my favorite Podcasts, The Happiness Project, with Gretchen Rubin. The discussion on this day was picking your “Happiness 911” song. As I sat in the 3 hour commute to work, I listened to Gretchen and her sister, and fans, talk about their go-to song when they need a pick-me-up. A Happiness 911 song is a song that gives a little boost - a jumpstart to a better mood, a swing on the pendulum from negative to positive, a ditty that always brings a smile to your face, no matter the difficulties of the day.

I (illegally) started going through my Spotify saves and creating my Happiness 911 playlist. (It’s a 3 hour commute to go 65 miles – give me a break! I think my speedometer read 3mph!) The discussion resonated with me. Because, while I drive a lot, I usually listen to NPR. Or a podcast. Or I’m on the phone with members. Even when I work from home I often sit in silence all day long. No music, no background noise. I don’t know why. The silence just doesn’t bother me. 

Frankly I’m usually too busy to think about turning some music on. And in the car, which is sometimes the only time in my day I get to enjoy any entertainment, I feel like I should be using my time wisely; I should be listening to something to increases my knowledge base, keeps me up to date with what is going on with the world, etc. But music is inspiring. And can absolutely alter a mood. So I pledged to myself that I would spend the following day listening to the songs I chose to be on my Happiness 911 playlist.

My Happy Songs

And then, the next day, work sucked and I was really upset. Really pissed. Really angry. Really incredulous. And I turned on my Happiness 911 playlist. Except I did NOT want to listen to that. No, I wanted to completely surround myself in that anger – just wallow in it. So I picked a different song. And I rocked the fuck out to it. And then I came across another. And then another.

Finally it occurred to me: while a Happiness 911 playlist is an awesome idea (and I listen to mine often. IT WORKS!) Sometimes, just sometimes, you need angry music. I had an innate NEED to lash out, yell a bit, and get some things off my chest (even if it was just to Siri). Sometimes you’ve got to get the aggression out. And music can do that for you too. So I created a new playlist: “Illegitimi non carborundum.”

This phrase came to me by my mentor, my Mr. Miagi, my Dumbledore. He sent it to me that day (after I was whining at him about my experience). Loosely translated it means, “Don’t let the bastards grind you down.” It was prophetic. And perfectly timed. And I love it so much it will be my next tattoo.

Don't Let the Bastards Grind You Down

The value of that podcast has been immeasurable for me. It reminds me to enjoy myself every now and then. It’s great to learn new things – and to listen to the news – but it is equally important to just emote sometimes. And music is the perfect vessel for that. 

A Reader Lives a Thousand Lives

When I was a little girl my Momma never went anywhere without a book. Some mass market paperback version of the new Stephen King, or Dean Koontz was always tucked in her purse. She bestowed a love of reading on to me at such an early age.

I poured through books as an elementary school kid. I even won a contest in 1^st grade for reading 100 books in one school year! As I became a teenager, when the phone and eventually “hanging out” took over my life, while I would pick up a book now and then, I rarely read past the requirements of my English classes. In college it was even worse. Who the hell has time to read for pleasure in college?!?! When you show up on the first day, listen to lecture, and in your first class are assigned 9 chapters……before TOMORROW? Yeah, no escaping into a love story tonight! (This implies that I always read the material for my class the next day. Sometimes I would – if something better didn’t come along. I mean when your neighbor is having a get-together, you can’t not show, can you?)

After college I would read books every now and then. But I got out of college and had a baby. Ya know, there should be a billboard in front of every high school about babies: Sleep too much? Too much time on your hands? Think about yourself too much? Desire financial responsibility for the rest of your life? Too much time NOT cleaning up bodily fluids? HAVE A BABY! As the kids got older, and would ACTUALLY go to bed at a decent hour, I did read progressively more, but I’ve always been a busybody and have always had too many irons in the fire. For me time has always been like alcohol to an alcoholic, as soon as I have a little bit, I promptly consume it.

When I started the work I’m doing now, all time for books went out the window. I found myself working increasingly more hours and, when I would have time for a book, I was reading contracts, or books on negotiation techniques. I obsess. And, when I find something to obsess over, I go all in. There’s no obsession I work at half ass. If I’ve decided it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing RIGHT.

Now, as I am older, and my kids prefer video games and smart phones to my presence, I find myself with a little more time. Or at least I am attempting to make a little more time in my life. It has become clear to me that the life of obsession, over only one thing, is unsustainable. And so I’m diversifying my obsessions.

Lucky for me, Mikey shares many of these traits. And our obsessions are very similar in so many ways. We recently sat down before the end of the year and brainstormed a list of things we’d like to do in the upcoming year. Over half or more of the things on my list and his matched. One of them was “Read more books.”

In the last six months or so, we find ourselves particularly enjoying spending hours at the thrift store searching through books. For us, owning books seems something akin to collecting antiques. Eventually we figure a book, written on paper, and bound in such an artistic way, will be a thing of the past. And we just aren’t ready to let go of that past. Whether they ever are worth anything? I don’t know, and frankly I don’t care. I love a good book collection – always have. And so we are building ours.

The thing is though, we love books so much, and are interested in so much, that there are times we walk out of there with 2 paper bags full of books. Since we’ve done this a few times now, we talked about limiting ourselves to a weekly trip, with a preset amount to spend: $13.05. That is the price of 5 books (if they are on the high end of the pricing scale). We decided that we will shop as usual and if the combination of the books in our hands at the end of our trip is greater than 5, we will have to start bargaining over which ones to put back. (Fortunate for me that I negotiate for a living – however he’s pretty. damn. good.)

Yesterday, after we hit the gym, we wandered over to see what we could find. Funny, when you’ve bought a hundred books in the last month you’d think there’s nothing left to want to buy. WRONG! We left a couple on the shelf (with no real bickering) and brought 5 home.

And I can’t wait to go back! It could be worse...at least this latest obsession is fairly inexpensive. And we're making reading time a priority - I've already read 3 books in the last 2 weeks!

The Holy Grail....I Think I Found It!

Me and my big ideas. I’m always searching. Always on the lookout for something awesome that could make a difference in my world. Sometimes because I’m just curious, and sometimes out of necessity.

My Crock Pot has been something of a monkey on my back since I got it. First, I wanted a programmable Crock Pot, and I got one. Except it isn’t programmable on the front end, only in its cook time (start in the morning when you leave and then it holds your food on warm until you turn it off). Second, it cooks FAR hotter than I believe a Crock Pot should cook on low heat. Third, the handle slowly started to crumble – not a huge functional issue, but a pain none the less. Fourth, I must’ve slammed it down on the counter a little too hard one time as one of the legs is dented in so that I must put a kitchen towel underneath so that she stays level during use. Mostly, I just needed a new one.

A shot of the handle on my ghetto Crock Pot with the gangsta lean

In spending some time searching for the Crock Pot of my dreams some other appliances passed through the Google indexes – some of which I had noticed before only briefly, and some that I had never heard of. I was looking for a number of things in a slow cooker:

1. A machine that would take whatever I dumped into it in the morning and make it into a delectable meal by the time I got home from work.
2. A machine that was programmable…ON THE FRONT END! I want to put my food in the pot, and if it only takes 4 hours to cook, and I’m leaving at 8am, and returning at 4pm, it will not start cooking until noon.
3. A machine big enough to cook a roast that is several pounds.

And then I noticed the Instant Pot. I quickly scrolled through article after article on Pinterest. I searched through recipes, through what to do if you’re a beginner, I Googled what it would cook, how it could be used, how big it was, what you could put in it, how easy it was to figure everything out. And when I was done with my research, I KNEW that the Instant Pot was what I wanted. I quickly added it to my Wish List (something I’ll write about another time).

The battle ensued between Mikey and my Momma as to who was going to present this culinary treasure to me on Christmas. My Momma emerged the victor – though Mikey will likely reap most of the spoils. My parents got me the Instant Pot, a lid, and a cookbook to help me start making delicious, healthy meals.

I pulled it out of the box on New Year’s Day and read the entire manual. (Yes, I’m THAT person.) After reading the manual, and a few articles from Pinterest on how to start out, I cooked myself some water – a first step in preparing the machine for other gastronomic magic.

In our house we try to eat healthy – as healthy as possible. And we love to snack on hard boiled eggs. Side note: Did you know hard boiled eggs provide good fats, are naturally high in protein, contain good amounts of vitamin A & D, and is only 80 calories? When I found a recipe to cook hard boiled eggs in 5 minutes – YES PLEASE! Incidentally, being a pressure cooker, the Instant Pot should help us keep out of restaurants so much. To demonstrate how much time it saves: It will cook dry beans in under an hour!

I followed the very simple instructions on how to cook the eggs: 1 cup of water in the pot, add steamer tray, place eggs in, close lid and set timer. That’s it. The recipe promised perfectly cooked eggs, with shells that peel off easily. And it did not disappoint! No more ugly deviled eggs!

I haven’t had a chance to cook anything else in my Instant Pot yet (spent the following day zoodling (more on that later) but I’m ready to roll. I seriously can’t wait to put my ol’ Crock Pot on the Buy Nothing site….and maybe my rice cooker too!

Take a Chance on Me

Yesterday my Mom scored free tickets to Mamma Mia! and asked if I wanted to go. Although I can't deny that I am a fan of many ABBA songs, I wasn't going to spend the dough to go see the musical. I did see the movie a few years ago and I liked it, but I'm not one to turn down an opportunity to see a musical in person - especially for free!

If you haven't seen it, or are debating, I'd highly recommend it. It's in Seattle at the The Paramount for a very short time. While the music was on the loud side, the musical was comical and the talent was profound. Even sitting up with the birds in the last row on the very end, we didn't miss a thing. With the exception of not being able to see the facial expressions of the talent on stage, it was a most enjoyable experience. I think Lilly would've loved it. Maybe I will take her next year.

Please, Please, Please... Don't Let Chase Win

Ok, I'll admit it....I'm a reality TV junkie. I've seen most seasons of American Idol, I love watching So You Think You Can Dance, I still watch The Real World, I'm a total sucker for Jersey Shore, I spend Sunday night watching The Amazing Race, and I have watched every season of Survivor!

And so tonight, as I watch yet another episode, the only thing I can think is PLEASE DON'T LET THE DUMBASS WIN! It happens. Year after year the least deserving person somehow pulls some voodoo magic over the jury and wins the game. It's disgusting and it makes me want to stop watching. Oh, who am I kidding? I won't stop watching.

But I will cast my useless, unheard vote in cyberspace for: anyone but Chase. Sorry, I just don't like him.

Nik