How could I have ever passed you by?

Back again to the 30 Day Song Challenge.  I swear I'll finish before I turn 31 (I hope).

It's Day 28 - A Song that Makes You Feel Guilty.

This song hit me on the way to work last week.  I was innocently singing along, even though I had only heard it once before, when I started to cry.  I could not believe the heartache and anguish I felt while absorbing the lyrics.  I haven't been able to listen to it since without choking up, but I think it may be my favorite song from the album.

bulletproofAngel, The Goo Goo Dolls, Magnetic, 2013



This song is from the Goo Goo Dolls new CD, just released last week (thank you 2 day delivery Amazon Prime). The first time I listened to this song I really didn't like it.  I'm not quite sure why, but the first impression just didn't do it for me.  But when I actually listened to the lyrics, it completely changed my perspective.

This hits my emotions in so many places.  First, the message I pull is that there are so many people in our world--whether it's your neighborhood, workplace or community--that we don't notice or don't take the time to hear their stories.  There have been plenty of times that I have felt unfairly judged because people don't know me or know my situation.  I certainly know I'm guilty of the same.

The second primary message of this song for me revolves around mental health issues and under-served populations.  Here Johnny spins a woman in poverty (who is probably there because of untreated mental health problems) to an enlightened soul who sees the truth.  It's certainly a romantic view, but it also breaks my heart.  We are so unequipped as a nation to help the masses that struggle.  We don't value the general well-being of the working poor (or even middle class, but that's a blue post for later).  Years ago, when I started in the nonprofit industry, it was generally agreed upon by agencies in my town that most public agencies could not recognize a person afflicted with mental health issues (and no, it's not always as obvious as hearing an invisible choir).  Now, unfortunately due to the economic downturn and rise in gun violence, mental health issues have become a talking point, but little more.

This song makes me feel guilty because I'm happy and healthy and comfortable in my life.  I've worked hard to get where I am, but I know there are so many people around me struggling for so many reasons.

I will never be able to do enough to solve the world's--or even one person's---problems.  And sometimes I simply don't have the emotional energy to listen or try.

Day 29 is A Favorite Song from Your Childhood (no guarantees of when this post will come).

Check out Day 28 or start with Day 1 (A Goo Goo Doll Classic)

A television war between the cynics and the saints

Sometimes, I become disheartened with the world or the people around me.  There are so many things that challenge our morals and beliefs.  There's always those "hot button" issues that have extreme sides.  So few of us, in these issues, can come to the middle and say it's not that I'm right and you're wrong, but maybe we both have valid points.   We grow confident when we are the majority, but some shout even louder when very few stand with them.

Our interconnected always plugged in nature only emphasizes the issues, the arguments and sometimes, the hate.  I have to hold my tongue (or fingers) when it comes to reacting to the opinions of the people around me.

Of course, around election time is nearly unbearable.  At one point, I saw an App that claimed to filter your Facebook friends to Red vs. Blue to determine what posts made it to a news feed.  Let me tell you - I seriously considered signing up for it.  And to be honest, I have unfriended or "unsubscribed" from friends solely because of their opposing political view.  I'm not sorry I did it either.

In my 30 Day Music Challenge, I have been listening to older songs in my collection.  I came across "Affirmation" by Savage Garden, which I have already written about here.

And I'm saddened that so many of the issues set forward in 2000 are still unresolved today.  (But on a lighter note - I'm super glad that bleached hair look went out of style.)

The only thing I can hang on to, to get me through the trying times is positive affirmations ... like this song, inspiring quotes or the positive people around me.  And I hope that one day we can work together create a better place where equality and peace are more important than agendas and greed.

Take a chance and don't ever look back

The original 30 Day Song List Challenge lists Day 27 as a Song You Wish You Could Play, but of course for me, that's any song.  I'm cheating again.  I found a different list so here goes:

Day 27 (Amended): A Song that You Discovered After Everyone Else

So here's my dirty little secret: I don't listen to the radio.  I can't remember when the last time I listened to music on the radio.  When in the car I listen to ESPN Radio.  At work I listen to Pandora or podcasts.  At home I listen to Spotify, my music library or books on tape.  I just get bored with Top 40 radio (and the constant repeating) too quickly.  In other words, I have no idea what the top songs are right now.  The only way I hear these songs is through popular culture: television, commercials, links from friends on social media.

I learn about most of the Top 40 songs way past when they are first aired or even after they've become hits. For the most part I don't think I'm missing out on anything.  I do get into music ruts here and there, but that's not anything that the likes of Justin Bieber or Lady Gaga could fix anyway.

According to Wikipedia,  Katy Perry released "Teenage Dream" August 2010.  I listened to The Rescue's cover ... some time after that.

Teenage Dream, The Rescues, Single - Katy Perry Cover, 2010

I heard this cover before I heard Katy Perry's version   And I love this cover so much more than Katy Perry's.  I have this thing when I listen to music, I like to pick out the harmonies and zone in on the individual instruments.  Our local Ear Nose and Throat specialist told me it's because of my sonic hearing.  This song is great for that, they have beautiful harmonies and unique sound.  I dig the artsy black and white video, and every time I watch it, I notice something new.

I have never listened to The Rescues before this song, but after this single I tuned into their music.  This winter I saw one of the members, AG, live - she's a very awesome solo artist as well.

Tune in for Day 28: A Song that Makes You Feel Guilty

Eternity is so beautifully cold, I wonder if angels ever feel old

I'm going to cheat on Day 26 of the 30 Day Song Challenge.  My original list called for a song that I can play.  However, I am very musically inept   I'm more interested in the flow of the words or the cover art than how to actually play the music.  I even screwed up "Hot Cross Buns" on the recorder in grade school.

Originally when I had started this (eh-hem two years ago), I was able to find another list that had a different option for Day 26.

Amended Day 26 - A Great Song You Just Discovered

The song I keep coming back to in my collection that I most recently discovered is:

Until the End, Quietdrive, Self-titled, 2010

I saw this band about a month ago live.  To tell the truth, I really didn't want to go to the concert.  I was having a really busy week and just wanted a night at home.  I had added their music and the music of the other musician who was performing to my playlist to see if they were any good.  I thought they were like background music, I totally tuned out and really couldn't pick out anything I liked. (Turns out I don't think I actually listened to their music, I must have had it set to random).

Then the day before the show I read in a newspaper article that they were a punk group, so I decided to go. This was a nice change of pace.  I found myself sort of melting into the songs, listening to the lyrics, enjoying picking out the individual instruments, especially since they were playing acoustically.  The sound was a mix between The Killers, Panic at the Disco and Fall Out Boy. The lyrics are clever and fast-paced.  I vaguely remember "Until the End" at the concert and it was okay, the lyric "until the end, there and back" reminds me of "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings" (A Hobbit's Tale: There and Back Again).

I bought their Self-titled CD (even though I had just said I wasn't going to), and it has a lot of great songs, but I always have to skip to "Until the End" and listen to it at least twice whenever I listen to their music.


Next ... Day 27: A Song You Discovered After Everyone Else

Hear the voices in my head I swear to God it sounds like they're snoring

I was mulling around a couple of different options for Day 25: A Song that Makes You Laugh.

That's a pretty odd category for songs.  Songs that make me laugh don't really make it into my favorite rotation.  They are the weird songs that come around and are popular for two or three months but then you can't even remember them the next year.  And if you do, you're embarrassed you enjoyed it as much as you did.

This song is a little more significant to me than those fad songs.  Although, I would wager it was a fad song in it's time.  It has a special place in my music library because it was one of the first punk songs that caught my ear.  It has all the key elements of what makes a good song in my head:  distinct beat that sticks with you, clever lyrics, not all one tone - it's fast and slow, loud and quiet (I hate songs that sound the same all the way through), it's a little bit naughty.

Flagpole Sitta, Harvey Danger, Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?, 1998

1998?  I was a Freshman in high school, this may have been my first punk song, predating Blink 182.

This is another song I'd like to sing at the top of my lungs when all alone in the wee hours of the morning.  I know I have it on a mixed cd somewhere in my collection.

Day 26: A Song You Can Play on an Instrument

Check out Day 25 or start from the beginning with Day 1.

In fact, I am told that a lot

I had a hard week.  A couple of reasons that are unavoidable ... weather, the calendar, etc., etc.  I realized that I miss writing for fun.  I don't write as much anymore because it's what I do (in part) for a living.  My brain is so damn tired when I get home that the last thing I want to do is think (and things I don't want to do at night when I get home is a very long list!)

So, I thought I would pick up on the 30 day song challenge that I failed miserably at ... I stalled at Day 24 because life got in the way.  I got a new job and my grandfather died ... but with nearly two years past, I think it's okay that I pick it back up for a "mindless" writing session.

With out further ado:  30 Day Song Challenge - Day 24: A Song that You Want Played at Your Funeral

The song I'm choosing for Day 24 is a sweet, yet melancholy song.  

I don't know what it means that I had to wrack my brain for most of these songs, but I instantly knew the song I wanted played at my funeral.

The Luckiest,  Ben Folds, Rockin the Suburbs, 2001

I go back and forth with this song ... sometimes it feels like a love song, other times it feels like one last gasp from a deathbed.  I suppose, it can be both at the same time.

The rhythm is slow and contemplative   The piano is lonely and hopeful.  This song is a reflection on the good memories and missed opportunities that make up a life of moments that are meant to be.

This song is a lesson that it's the people around you that make a life special, not possessions  accomplishments or money.  Love, family and friends are the things that span all time and space.

Rockin the Suburbs (also a great song you should check out) was released on September 11, 2001.  Wow, way to not be relevant.  But I would contend it makes "The Luckiest" even more meaningful.

Catch up ... Day 23 is here or if you'd like to start from the beginning, try Day 1.

Watch that cinnamon swirl, it's devious

I decided to review this Pin next because I've seen at least three friends post it on Facebook.  Cinnamon Roll pancakes sound divine.  The picture is enticing but if you give it a closer look, you will see this recipe's fatal flaw.  You are topping these pancakes with sugar, which melts when it gets hot.  On a cake in the oven, there's not a problem, but on a griddle or frying pan ... You're up a creek.

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes - Repinned 16 weeks ago from Number-2-Pencil.

The swirl of cinnamon sugar, no matter how diligently you protect the non-stick coating, acts like glue when you flip the pancakes.  The blogger tells you to flip it quickly so that the sugar doesn't stick on your spatula.  This is good advice.  But unless you're a pancake flipping ninja, I don't know how it's going to work.  Even if your spatula makes it through without the cement of sugar on it's edge you will still have the griddle to deal with.

I thought I could outsmart the mess by placing more batter on top of the swirled sugar before I flipped it and it melted.  My theory was that if there were a layer of pancake between the molten sugar and my griddle i could ease it off the surface when the pancakes were cooked through.  While in theory this sounds like a solution, it really didn't help.  Somehow the sugar moved it's way out.  Not only does the sugar stay on the griddle, it leaves a void of where the sugar was.  Look again at that photo -- you can see that swirl is indented.

These pancakes are delicious. They truly taste like cinnamon rolls -- but the mess is just not worth it.  If I would make these again, I would put the cinnamon in the pancake and forgo the swirl -- even though it's what makes the pancake so visually appealing. Top these cinnamon pancakes with the frosting and I think the taste will be the same without all the frustration.

Tie a bow on it - this Pin is a keeper!

I love collecting things, in extreme cases this is called hoarding.  On the internet, it's become Pinterest.  For those who are unaware (and there are a few, you can tell by the "I'm not sure what that word was that you just used was ... but I'll nod my head anyway" looks people give when you refer to it), Pinterest is an online visual bulletin board where you can save, or pin, interesting web pages.

It's essentially your internet bookmark folder for the visual and social world.  Let's face it - Pinterest isn't just fun, it's addicting ... hence the hoarding similarities, I suppose.  The best of Pinterest is finding and collecting useful tips, recipes, pictures and everything else under the sun that you probably would have never found otherwise.  The worst of Pinterest is those same tips, recipes, pictures, etc. that either sit on your boards as a collage rather than a jumping off point or simply don't work.

I really make an effort to routinely look through my pins and try them out.  Now, there are many Pin Fail sites out there, and they are hilarious.  But beyond that you are really taking a stab in the dark if your pin is going to turn into something useful.  So, I decided to start reviewing my pins - and in an effort to be organized, remove them from their original board (as appropriate) and move them to my review board (also to save "offline" rather than forget and repin the same thing a couple of times).

My first review: 25 Ways to Tie a Scarf, pinned 49 weeks ago (this was my first non-repinned pin) from Jezebel.com.

This is a cute video that demonstrates how to artistically tie your decorative (not winter) scarf.  The model is super cute and the video is quirky and fun with great transitions.   The demonstrations are easy to follow and it has great methods.  It's also easy to scroll through the video to find a method you like or to rewind to see the technique again.

In the real world - I would love to know the dimensions of the scarfs she shows.  They seem to be much longer and lighter weight than any I own.  So when I tie my scarves they tend to be bulky around my neck or I simply can't pull it off because I run out of material to do the intricate folds and loops.  My favorite method is The Magic Trick, and I have used around five other ways as well.

I've often come back to this pin to try a new style. And re-watching I want to go out and buy even more scarves to try out the more intricate techniques.  This Pin is a keeper!
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It's the best day of the year

I am a bad Packer fan.  I'm disappointed but relieved when the Packers lose in the playoffs.  That means I can watch the Super Bowl without being nervous.  No matter who wins it will be a good day. You see, for the past 15 years the best day of the year is Super Bowl Sunday.

The Super Bowl is not as much fun overall when the Packers are in it.  It's a great day if they're in,  but horrible if they lose.  I hated John Elway and the Broncos for Years after the Super Bowl XXXII Loss.

Now I heart Aaron Rodgers.  He's great.  And Clay and the crew.  But the pack was just too inconsistent this year to go all the way.  They didn't deserve to be there. (That doesn't mean I'm routing for the 49ers. I have my pride after all).

I was sort of hoping for another Peyton Manning win.  I'm not sure if I should wish for an Harbargh bowl or Falcons and the Texans.  AT this point I'm cheering for the better story or better game.

As much as I'm sad the Packers season is over,  I love the NFL and can't wait until Super Bowl Sunday.