Possibly America's new theme song, definitely mine

I have a lot to say about a lot of things but I'm waiting for some kind of outcome/resolution... so in the meantime, I've been breathing deeply, reflecting and trying to keep from banging my head against a brick wall. There was a breaking point this weekend and one of my all-time favorite jams came to mind.

My old friend Scooter (she of "half-n-falf" and "MY Alan Thicke?" fame) & I used to exchange mix tapes throughout high school & college. We both like a wide-range of music and on any one tape there would anyone from Lionel Richie to Pearl Jam to Bad Boy Bill (back when all his stuff was underground). One of the first tapes she sent me after we went away to separate state universities had Father MC/Jodeci's "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" on it, and I couldn't play that song enough. I have it on my iPod now and have been using it as my mantra.

It seems these days, what with the incessant reporting on the state of the economy, unemployment and all the other stress-factors, America needs a theme song. I would love for Obama to start playing this at the top of every press conference & public address. If NPR, CNN & Fox News would replace 6 minutes of their chatter about how things around us are falling apart with this song, I really feel like it would help instill some small seed of confidence that things will eventually turn around. Getting pegged in the noggin all day & night with negativity takes a toll.

So here it is, my gift to you. I hope if you have something eating away at you (be it the economy, your job or anything else causing you stress) that you can get Jodeci's voice--the hook of this 1992 gem-- in your head and let it play over & over when you feel your blood pressure rising. Sometimes you just need somebody to tell you that everything will be okay, and if they invite you to dance it out in the same conversation... even better!

Breathe. Everything's gonna be alright.



See ya moving baby, yeah
And you're lookin good, said you're lookin fine
Everything's gonna be alright, yeah
Let the music take control of your body tonight
Whoa, everything's gonna be alright, it's gonna be alright
Let the music take control of your body tonight

We don't have to fast forward or rewind cassettes anymore either!

I have a follow-up post for the Vaginatine's party but that will have to wait for the pictures! In the meantime, I love Louis CK and this video of his appearance on Conan is making the internet rounds. Thanks to my friend S for shooting it my way:



Related:
•Growing up, I LOVED a black rotary phone we had so much that as soon as my parents got our first cordless phone, I swiped it. I didn't even have a phone jack in my bedroom but it was mine! I put glittery lip stickers all over it and in our next house I actually put it to use on my desk. I had some kind of weird nervous system malfunction each time there was a zero in the phone number I was dialing. For some reason I would get the dial about halfway around and my finger would go rogue, come out of the zero position and I'd have to hang up and start dialing all over again. Always, always, always.


•I wrote out a check at the grocery store yesterday because I accidentally left my debit card in my jeans pocket at home. The last time I wrote a check out for anything besides my car payment was so long ago I can't even remember, and I felt so annoyed at myself on behalf of the people behind me in line. It only takes a minute longer for the cashier to deal with a check than it does a debit card, but WHOA, it seemed like forever. It was all I could do to not say to the guy behind me, "Sorry, I NEVER DO THIS. I am a good person with a working debit card and I will never leave it in my jeans again!" Awkward.


•When I was living out east, one of my friends was moving to California. I was looking over the map he'd marked up for his upcoming drive from NYC to San Diego. I gestured toward the yellow highlighted path, a long cut directly across the midsection of our entire country and in between laughs this is how our conversation went:

"How long will it take you to get there?"

"Three days."

"I call bullshit! It's only a 6-hour flight and you're saying it'll take you three days? Are you WALKING to California? "

"Jules, that yellow line represents 3,000 miles of road. It's going to take me three days because it's 43 hours of drive-time, and at some point, I will need to sleep."

"3,000 miles? Whoa. Talk to you in 3 days!" (Because neither of us had cell phones back then, and he couldn't call me until he got there)


•Every single time I get on a plane (going back as far as I can remember*), I look out the window about 1/2 way through the flight and think to myself, "What am I doing? I have NO business being this high up in the air. NO BUSINESS WHATSOEVER!"


*When I was about 9, I flew by myself to visit some family friends. While in the air, I wrote my sister a letter that said the plane was, "at 40,000 feet and above God." Nobody needs to be up that high! I figure she'll mention something about that in the comments!

Can I get an AMEN?!

Hooooo boy, tonight was CHOICE.

More details next week on what exactly went down, if I ever come up for air.

Which, frankly, I may not. Coming up for air is overrated.