Quodlibets

Football Sunday

Today we're fleeing the big city for a day of football and home-cooked food.  My mom is going to cook me a meal I haven't had in so long I can't even remember how it tastes, except that I remember that I like it.  A lot.  Also, my mom has that whole NFL Sunday Ticket thing going on, so that's a huge plus.  I love being able to choose which early game to watch.  And then, even more fortuitously, my team and my mom's team are playing each other this week in the whole FF thing.  And even more interestingly, it's the battle of #1 (me) and #2 (her) in our division.  If she wins, that could really shake things up on the top.  I think she's 2 games out of the lead right now.

Needless to say, today will be fun.  We'll have to see how much trash talking my mom can put up with/dish out, especially considering that somewhere around mid-week, she said, "You're going to kill me."  That's quite a hard bit of trash talk, mom.  Anyway, we'll see.  I'm hoping that I can come back to fighting form after last week's sad, sad loss.

So that's all I've got for today, but it's definitely fulfilling the post a day requirement.  And tomorrow is progress report Monday (I'm working on it!) and then Tuesday is "The. Year. In. Books."  It's kind of nice to have the next two days' posts lined up.  It's a relief, in a way.  I don't have to worry about being original again until Weds!  Yay!

Audiobook list

So, in the name of filling another day, I thought I'd go back and look at my book list, and then make a list of my favorite audiobooks that I've listened to.  In no particular order (chronological, if anything):

1. The Plot Against America -- Philip Roth.  Read by Ron Silver.  Ron Silver is a spectacular reader.  Unfortunately, he doesn't read much that I would be interested in listening to.  Still, this book was the right combination of thrill and literary fiction, and the reading made it worth it.  I would listen to all the books Ron Silver read if only they were remotely interesting to me.  I did actually listen to American Pastoral, by the same author and read by him, and that wasn't good.  But not because of Ron Silver.
2. Secret Life of Bees -- Sue Monk Kidd.  Read by Jenna Lamia.  I was VERY skeptical of this book due to its incredible amount of hype (it came out when I was working in the bookstore), but the audiobook was good.  Very good.  I definitely enjoyed this book as an audiobook more than I might have as an actual hard copy.  Sometimes, that happens.
3. Elsewhere -- Gabrielle Zevin.  Read by Cassandra Morris.  This is a YA book.  I would have loved this in hard copy, and I loved it in audiobook form.  It's about death, but in a good way.  One of those audiobooks I didn't want to stop listening to when the commute was over.
4. Company -- Max Barry.  Read by William Dufris.  I've bought other audiobooks read by this reader, simply because I enjoyed this one so much.   A lot of it was the demented portrait of corporate life that it portrayed, and a lot of it was the reader.  I didn't love the end, but I can say that about 60% of the books I read these days, so that's pretty much par for the course.
5. Lost and Found -- Carolyn Parkhurst.  Read by Blair Brown.  Anything Blair Brown reads is good (see Anne Tyler), because she's also spectacular.  But this book especially was just delightful.  A quirky concept (reality TV!  mother and daughter!  life's problems!  international travel!), and just stellar characterization and narration of those characters.  I've never re-listened to an audiobook, but this is making me want to.  This could well be my favorite of all-time.
6. Ten Days in the Hills -- Jane Smiley.  Read by Suzanne Toren.  Another great listen.  The book is based (loosely) on Bocaccio's Decameron, and it's frankly just enjoyable.  It's not really about plot or structure, but it was amusing nonetheless.  Another stellar, prolific reader, whose voice I enjoy so much I've often considered purchasing her audiobooks regardless of author.  In fact, I do own another audiobook by this reader, though it was purchased and listened to before this one.  But I was going to listen to Jane Smiley regardless of reader, so it was just a nice bonus.
7. Nineteen Minutes -- Jodi Piccoult.  Read by Carol Monda.  Jodi Piccoult is like crack for me.  I adore her books in a rushed, can't wait til the end kind of a way.  Listening to them can be torture, because you. just. want. to. know. what. happens.  And audiobooks take away some of the ability to rush through.  But Carol Monda is a good, solid reader (I also have listened to The Tenth Circle, by Piccoult, though I find this book better in general.), and like I said, I can NEVER go wrong with Piccoult.  I'm not sure I'll ever read another of her books again.  I may just audio them all.
8. God of Animals -- Aryn Kyle.  Read by Lily Rabe.  This was a hard one; the story is harsh.  But in the end, I couldn't resist the horses, and the lost little girl.
9. Love Walked In -- Maria de los Santos.  Read by Jennifer Ikeda.  I can't find the name of another narrator, but I SWEAR there are two.  Anyway, this was the subject of my rave of a few days ago, and it lived up to the hype, mostly.  I didn't love the ending (par for the course, again), and it seemed a little fantastical in places, but mostly just awesome.  Mostly just awesome.

That's really only a small snapshot of what I've listened to since I started at my current job.  I'll have numbers for you on Tuesday.  And just fyi, I do get all of my audiobooks as downloads from audible, not as the CD or tape version sold in stores.

The My-iPod-Better-Behave Edition (of the Friday Random Ten, of course)

Yesterday, I put my iPod on shuffle, and only one out of about every 8 songs was acceptable.  Either my standards have gone WAAY up, or my iPod's behaving like a cheeky git and playing crap songs to annoy me.  I'm leaning towards cheeky git.  Hopefully it will behave more reasonably this morning, as I start my morning at work in the dark, and with the rare morning DC.  (I don't allow myself a DC in the morning very often, as I know it could easily become habit.)  Without any more fanfare:

1. My Party -- Kings of Leon.  Oh, hell.  It's not that I don't like this song, it's just that it's sort of loud to start off an early morning shuffle.  It's definitely NOT my favorite song on the album.
2. For You Blue -- The Beatles.  This is kind of a throwaway, isn't it?  I don't hate this song (is it loathe-able even?), but I definitely don't love it either.  This version, just to be accurate, is from "Let It Be...Naked" which everyone knows is infinitely better to the bestringed version of the album.
3. Fool to Think -- DMB.  I never listen to this song.  God, I never listen to much Dave Matthews anymore.  And even if I were, I wouldn't be listening to "Everyday" anyway, so this song doesn't register at all.
4. Baby -- Dave Matthews.  Ah, I can see the iPod is NOT behaving.  Even if this is Dave Matthews solo.  I never much got into this album, save for a few good songs, of which this is not one.  Again, currently I have very little use for this.
5. Knot Comes Loose -- My Morning Jacket.  I like this band, but only if the songs are chosen very, very carefully.  And I've come to the conclusion that there is nothing I like about seeing them live.  For some reason, this is a band that best exists in the studio for me, which is probably contrary to how most other people feel about them.  But then again, there's no way I could listen to one of their albums straight through.  Sam's made me a nice mix, and that's enough.
6. Superstition -- Stevie Wonder.  Awwww, yeah.  This song is good all the time, even in the early morning, when slow songs feel better.
7. Devil's Haircut -- Beck.  I think that among a certain crowd, it's very important to consider Beck a genius.  I don't belong to that crowd.  Thus I don't feel bad that I don't consider Beck a genius.  I like some of the older songs (and the one later album that's slow as Molasses and feels just right sometimes...Sea...something.  Having a brain fart.), the songs that remind me of being in high school and feeling allllllright.  This is definitely one of those songs.
8. Dusty -- Kings of Leon.  Stupid iPod.  Not listening to this one either.
9. Old Brown Shoe -- AWWWW CRAP, iPod.  This song is undigestible, and might get my vote for Worst.Beatles.Song.Ever.
10. Is It Any Wonder? -- Keane.  Save for the beginning of this song, which is just noisy, this is okay.  I actually quite like Keane, and even their sophomore effort is okay (which this song is from), which is more than can be said of many bands whose first album was incredible.  It's not the best song from the album, but close.

Blurgh

I'm running out of things to say.  I knew this would happen eventually, and I know in a few days something will come up that gives me new inspiration, but it's kind of sad that on day 8 of this little adventure, I've got nothing remotely interesting to say.  It's kind of a somber day for me; some things aren't going the way I'd like them to (a very petty thing, but yes, my FF team lost this week, ruining my nice clean unbeaten streak), and I feel pretty down.  Nothing serious, I assure you.  Just nothing...very exciting either.  I'm also reading an incredibly depressing book about bad people, called Parts per Million.  It's about the oil wells behind Beverly Hills High School, and I know it doesn't seem like it would be interesting, but it is.  In a morbidly sad, depressing, everyone-has-cancer kind of way.  I'm going to move on to the happiest place on Earth (literally!) next, a book called Realityland, which, come to think of it, could also be kind of a downer.  Who wants reality to intrude upon the bliss that is Disneyworld?  Well, apparently, I do.  I did take a peek inside the book, and the pictures alone are going to make it enjoyable to read, I know it.  If it's not enjoyable, I'm moving straight on to a bodice-ripper.  I need a happy ending right about now, and I'm starting to think that the audiobook that I can't put down might have a not-so-happy ending.  Boo hiss.

Here's some other not-so-great stuff:  Vietnamese food.  Well, the Vietnamese food I ate.  Maybe there is good Vietnamese food out there, but I don't think I tasted it last night.  With a few exceptions.  The fried rice was divine.  The lemongrass beef was yummy.  But the main dishes didn't wow me, and that's sad, because most of the Indian and Thai I ate while starting into those respective cuisines did wow me.  I remember my first taste of Indian was nearly orgasmic.  (Ah, the delightful Samosa.  Godddddammmmitttt, now I want Indian food like I want to read books and xstitch.  It's baaaad.)  And my first taste of real Thai was equally wonderful--rich spicy basil noodles and a gorgeous pad thai.  I don't remember my first taste of Chinese, but I'm sure it was delightful, considering I quite like Chinese food now.  (Chinese was the one Asian food we ate as children in suburban IL.)  Oh, and I remember with great fondness my first taste of Japanese.  A dear friend introduced me to that cuisine (tempura and miso and ginger oh my!), and that remains one of my dearest comfort foods.  Tempura and miso is the best cold (as in head) food there is.  Sometimes I've ordered an extra bowl of miso soup just for the wonderful health benefits.  (DAAAAMN, now I'm craving tempura.  I'm so suggestible.)  Anyway, it pains me that my first taste of Vietnamese wasn't nearly so euphoric, and it makes me want desperately to find euphoric Vietnamese food.  Anybody have any suggestions?

Unforseen Benefits

One of the things I've come to like most about my library is something I'd be unlikely to find at too many other jobs.  The college I work at has a new-ish (in its first three years new-ish) program for developmentally disabled that mimics the college experience.  The students don't live on campus, but their experience is akin to the experience of the myriad commuter students enrolled in undergraduate study.  They have classes (though I'm not 100% sure how much choice there is, though I suspect in the latter two years of the four year program, there is a little freedom.  Also, their classes aren't necessarily a college curriculum; one class is about maps, another is about learning to cook simple meals for yourself.), they can purchase meal plans, and they are full-fledged members of the campus community; they don't earn degrees, but some sort of life skills certificate.  There are only 15-20 of these students admitted to the program every year (so right now we're talking 45-60 of them enrolled currently), and some of them are enthusiastic users of the library.  When you're working the circulation desk, you happen to come into a lot of contact with these kids. 

I love them.  Some of them are rambunctious and scattered and overly excited at times, but they're nothing like their counterparts on campus.  They're usually not sullen, they don't act entitled, they don't get snotty when you're trying to help them, and they don't treat us like shit.  In other words, they're everything the typical college student is not.  (I'm generalizing, here; I work with and love many of our college student workers, and I know they're not all that way.)  They can get nosy, and they can be exhausting, peppering you with questions every two seconds.  But in general, I think they're just trying to understand what it is a certain person does at the library, which is why they can get overbearing.  Anyway, the point is, they're a joy to work with.

I have personally struck up a relationship with a student, Hart (not his real name), and he makes me smile almost every morning.  Hart ALWAYS comes in at 8:15 or so and wants a pair of headphones.  One morning, he noticed I was reading a football book (Sunday Rules) and asked me if I liked sports.  Thus, the crux of our relationship was formed.  Hart always has something to say about football or basketball (his two favorites), usually updating me on the Bulls or Bears record (mostly Bulls now that the season has started).  One morning he returned a book about Michael Jordan that I hadn't seen, and when I asked him if it was good, he asked me if liked Jordan.  I told him of course.  And then he told me that of course I would like the book.  Two of the books he's recently read and returned, I've then checked out.  The boy's got good taste.  And the few times I've seen him around campus (I rarely venture out and about), he's called to me and told me something sports-related.   He's seen me reading the aforementioned book, and Michael Strahan's book, and wanted to check those out (unfortunately, they were from the public).  But I can honestly say that Hart is one of the only students (besides our staff) that I know by name and have regular conversations with, and I love it.

At first, when I learned about this program, I really didn't think it would touch me in any way, because I work in back most of the time, and I work with non-circulating materials.  But now that I've come to know some of these kids, I've realized that it is one of the things I will miss the absolute most when I move on (and at some point, I will).  It's been such an added bonus to this job.

Booknotes

Incidentally, the name of this post is the name of my Excel spreadsheet of  books.  Speaking of which!  Next Monday is my year-end of the reading year, so next Tuesday should be a look at what a reading year is like for me.  But that's not what this post is about (obviously, as I still have a week to cram in some more reading).  This post is about the awesomest audiobook I've ever had the pleasure of listening to.  (I'll try to break down my year in audiobooks next week too.  I honestly have no idea how many I've listened to, and I'm interested to count them up.) 

Love Walked In is the title of the book, and I'm almost certain I almost bought it in softcover more than once at a bookstore.  I think it was on the bestseller list for at least a little while, and I remember that the cover was somewhat appealing.  In the end, though, I'm almost certain I didn't buy it because I didn't think it looked very appealing.  And maybe it's not appealing in book form, still.  But the readers of this book are so fantastic, and it makes for such a harmonious listen (I also just really like one of the two main characters), that I can't wait to get in my car and begin the drive home, so I can listen to this fantastic thing.  I even considered listening at my desk, because I want to know what happens, dammit.

Most of the audiobooks I've listened to haven't been read by two or more readers.  A couple, though in the last one like that, it was horribly distracting instead of an asset to the production.  These voices just work well together (the story is told by two characters, in a parallel chapter style, so one narrator does one chapter, and the other will do the next, thus staying in character), and they've done a really good job of becoming the narrator in a way some readers don't ever get.  They're weird things, first-person narrated books, because they demand that the reader become emotional and involved in the story, in a way that third-person narration definitely does not.  In that sort of story, it's as if someone is reading the book to you, as opposed to acting out the book.  And it's a HUGE leap to make, as a listener.  Maybe it doesn't seem like it, but the way this book must be written--well, I imagine it might be annoying on the page.  I'm not sure, because obviously I haven't read it, and I probably never will.  The audiobook is just too enjoyable.

It's hard to write intelligently about this, because I haven't done a lot of thinking about why I enjoy certain audiobooks over others, and honestly, I've never thought about this first-person/third-person divide before, so I don't have any formed thoughts about it.  But it occurs to me that part of the reason I'm loving this one so much is that I feel like Cornelia is reading the book.  The character is reading the book, and not the author or an actor.  That's NEVER happened before.  Not ever, and I've listened to what I consider are a lot of enjoyable audiobooks.  It's very, very odd.  And I know I've listened to first-person narrated audiobooks before this, too, so it isn't as if it's just a shift in narration. 

Still, though, if you're an audiobook fan, check this one out.  I'm going out on a limb and actually recommending it with a big stamp of approval.  So good.  (And keep in mind that I'm saying this while I'm less than half the way through the audiobook.  I can't WAIT to hear the ending.  I don't think there's any chance I'll finish before Friday, which saddens me.)

Progress Report Monday #1

So after doing some thinking about what I could make a regular feature during NaBloPoMo (and possibly after, if I feel comfortable with this after the fact), I came up with this idea.  Every Monday, I'm going to post a picture of my uncompleted cross-stitch.  I'm 100% certain that the people who it's a gift for (my grandparents) don't read this blog.  You know what?  They probably don't even know what a blog is.  So over four Mondays, you can see how little progress I make from one week to the next, even though a conservative estimate for sewing time over 7 days is 13 hours.  I probably sew closer to 20 hours a week, depending on how much after-curricular activity there is.  This coming week, for instance, will see less sewing on Wednesday because I have a dinner, but relatively high amounts of sewing over the weekend, when I've got little going on that will take me away from the sewing.  (Dinner at Mom's doesn't count, because the sewing will go with me to her house.)  Believe me when I say that these weekly totals of sewing haven't varied too much, and when you see this thing, you're going to not believe that what I've got sewn has taken me at least two months of this kind of non-stop sewing action.  Regretfully, I'm not sure you'll be able to see the amount of detail that's necessitating this sort of effort, though believe me when I say that the fir with Xmas lights?  At least four or five weekdays of 2 hours of sewing. 

At this point, I am about one-third of the way through.  Possibly slightly less than that.  When NBPM is over, I expect to still be about one-third of the way through.  The other thing you won't be able to see very clearly in this is the holes in the sections that look finished.  There are Xmas lights to add onto the house, and I have to tell you that they're the worst things ever to sew--one little x of each color, spaced far apart.  Those of you who cross-stitch will understand how maddening that is, and if you don't, well, take my word for it.  Maddening.  I'm avoiding it like the plague.  Pretending it doesn't exist--knowing that about 12 x's (which in the scheme of things is NOTHING) will take me possibly an hour or more, due to the running under of string, the sorting and making ready of thread, etc.  It's entirely possible, in fact, that one nights effort will be completely devoted to this string of Xmas lights, that in the finished product, will look like an afterthought.  But can I just say: not. an. afterthought.  I've spent days trying to figure out the best way to put those suckers in.  Maybe I'll suck it up and do it by next week, so you can see what I'm getting at.  Otherwise, I can promise that by the end of this, you will have seen those damn lights.  (Click on the pic to enlarge.)

There are 26 more days of this

I think I have a teeth clenching problem.  I think that might be contributing to the headaches I'm getting.  Sometimes when I wake up, my teeth feel tender.  That doesn't really make much sense, except that I wake up sometimes with the sense that my teeth have been clenched together, hard.  And sometimes I even find myself clenching hard during the day.  I'm not sure if it's a stress thing, or what, but it's not good.  You shouldn't have to consciously think about the position your teeth are in all day.  Yet some days I find myself trying to police my teeth.  It's an effort.  I also think the headaches on Sundays are sleep/lazy headaches.  Just doing nothing in the apartment all day seems to lead to headachy ennui.  And if there's one morning I allow myself to go over 8 hours of sleep, it's Sunday.  Which is incredibly harmful for me, honestly.  It might also be all the computer staring.  I tend to log many hours staring at the computer on Sundays, keeping up with my FF team.

Speaking of which, I'm 8-0.  I think today is the day, though, because my opponent has Tom Brady, and there's not much you can say to convince me that Tom Brady alone couldn't kill my team.  I've been winning lucky low-scoring games, and this one, with Tom Brady involved, will not be.  Plus, my TE is out, and while that doesn't seem that harmful, it's probably I'll get 0 points out of my replacement.  Which sucks.  Either way, this will be the loss week for me, maybe the first of 5.  Who knows?  Suffice it to say that I definitely didn't steamroll the majority of my opponents, and a couple games were squeakers which could have easily gone either way.  I'm 8-0, but not for long.  That's my conclusion.

I feel groggy and pained right now, so I'm stopping this and going to harass Sam into showering, so I can take his place on the couch.  I'm not above that.

Weekend Posting Resumes

I have nothing to blog about, which is why it's taken me this long to get around to it.  That, and I figured if nothing else came up, I could blog about dinner.  I was going to make this meal tomorrow night, but seeing as how Super Bowl whatever-and-a-half is the late game tomorrow (3 pm, for those of you non-football folks), I didn't think I'd be wanting to cook during the Thrilla in...Indianapolis.  So I got us to the grocery today (instead of our normal Sunday morning dealie) and decided to go ahead with the meal tonight.  It's from a recipe recommended by a co-worker; she said her family gobbled it up, and after hearing about it, I decided Sam would conceivably eat it, so why not try it?  Plus, it's casserole-y, which is right up my alley.

It's baked angel hair; sort of lasagna-like, but not exactly.  You cook a pound of angel hair, and layer it with a meat sauce made with bottled sauce, tomato sauce from a can, and ground beef.  Also in among the layers is cream of chicken soup mixed with sour cream, and mozzarella cheese.  (I did mod the recipe; I used cream of chicken instead of cream of mushroom, and I used mozzarella instead of colby-jack, and I'm glad I did both, though I suspect I would like cream of mushroom just fine.  It's Sam who won't abide anything mushroomy.)  And then you bake it.  For an hour. 

It was okay.  Certainly not bad, and definitely edible.  If you're thinking that the picture shows an uneatable amount of baked pasta, you're correct.  I'm experimentally freezing half of it to take out and eat later next week.  That's in addition to the two tupperwares I stored in the fridge for the rest of the week.  If Sam thinks I'm cooking anything else for the next week, he's out of luck.  I'm cooking this, and only this.  We'll be sick of it by next week.  So maybe I'll save that frozen bit for after our CA interlude.  If you're interested in a full recipe (with quantities and such), drop me a line.

The triumphant return of the Friday Random Ten

Remember when everyone who was anyone did a Friday Random Ten?  Yeah, that's pretty much died, but I need to fill 30 days with bloggy goodness, and if 5 of them can be Friday Random Tens, I'm in.  I'll annotate them, though, so they're more interesting.

1. The Distance -- Cake.  Do people still like Cake?  I have a few Cake songs on my iPod, and I think Sam really likes them.  I want to say that they were local to where he grew up, but I could be making that up.  Either way, I feel like I took in a good amount of Cake (ha!) during the late 90's, without actually owning any Cake.  (This is getting surreal.)  I think Sam has a few Cake albums, at least, and I think he actually has the greatest hits.  Who knew Cake had enough songs to have a greatest hits?  Anyway, this song is fine, but I think there are better Cake songs.
2. Helpless -- Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.  Sometimes Neil Young's voice makes you want to poke your eardrums out.  This song is mildly annoying in that way, though I really actually do like it.  I like most of what Neil did with CSN.  Frankly, I just like most of what CSN did, and if Y wants to tag along and sing some songs with them, that's fine with me.  Although, sometimes those beautiful harmonies sound a little...off with Neil's screechiness.
3. Thinking About Tomorrow -- Beth Orton.  Here is where the problem of annotated FRTs comes in.  I honestly have nothing to say about this song, which is, for me, a mediocre song on a mediocre album.  I usually skip it.  Which I am going to do right now.
4. Our Deliverance -- Indigo Girls.  I don't know what it is, but this is one of those bands I'm having a hard time listening to right now.  I can always listen to "Swamp Ophelia" (the album), but the rest of it leaves me cold.  I don't know if it's temporary or what, but it's kind of annoying, as I have five million of their songs on my iPod.  I didn't skip this song, mostly because I had a chance to walk away from my desk and get away from it.  If I hadn't, yeah....I'd've probably skipped it.
5. Band on the Run -- Paul McCartney and Wings.  I've mentioned this before, but boy, I love this song.  Macca might not be putting out the greatest albums ever in his dotage, but he did make some good post-Beatles music, and this is one of those masterpieces.  I bet there are people out there who would be happy to disparage Macca and probably this song, but is it really because the song sucks, or is it because they're evil Macca-haters?  I'm always going to think it's the latter.
6. Soak up the Sun -- Sheryl Crow.  Ugh.  Need I say more?
7. Dissolve -- Guster.  I don't listen to Guster very often.  I guess the truth is that I don't really enjoy their music.  I mean, I do.  But I don't, because I never think, "Yeah, I know, I'll listen to Guster!"  If Guster comes on, half the time I leave the song on, and half the time I turn it off.  I guess it's just kind of boring.
8. Man in the Mirror -- Crosby, Stills and Nash.  I finally got the whole CSNY box set (all four CDs) on my iPod, and this is the result of that.  I actually don't know most of the later stuff, so listening to this is a sort of musical exploration.
9. Philosophy -- Ben Folds Five.  The first time I saw Ben Folds, he played the song, and I didn't know what it was.  At that point, the only two Ben Folds albums I listened to were "Forever and Ever Amen" and "Rockin' the Suburbs".  It's kind of shameful, especially since I owned all of them.  Yeah, call it youthful optimism.  I'd bought everything that existed after I heard the song "Brick" and pretty much ignored the albums except for that song.  Of course, after I started working at the bookstore, with a crowd of music crazies who played "Rockin' the Suburbs" 50 million times between its release date and the day they told us no swearing on the overhead, I started really appreciating Ben Folds for the first time.  Though it did take seeing him live before I really pulled out the old stuff and getting into it.  And now my favorite Ben Folds album is "The Autobiography of Reinhold..."  which doesn't include this song.  But anyway, this song rocks.
10. We Will Become Silhouettes -- Postal Service.  I've never heard this song in my life.  Literally.  And I'm totally not starting now.  Now I'm switching to a more convivial mix that will only involve switching songs once or twice.