Some Eighties Music to Enjoy

Despite what the picture may suggest, I'm not actually lugubrious.* That was an experiment with Instagram. I took one photo with the program, and that photo is seen in all it's slender splendor above. I'm not sporting the most extravagant coiffure, which, due to the faded pseudo-frame of the picture, you cannot tell. But that is what I look like these days, only generally with a more felicitous face forward.
That is not the purpose of this post. Instead, I want to discuss some of the music crossing through my ears recently. I have been on a classic rock and 80's kick ever since I discovered a good classic rock station in DC in addition to a great Pandora station of 80's music. I will list some of the songs I've been listening to on repeat this week; all of which you've likely heard before.
A Flock of Seagulls- 'I ran (So Far Away)'- Wait a second, their band name is 'A Flock of Seagulls?' Are they referring to the hairstyle atop many a British man immediately upon waking up, or perhaps they meant 'A Fleck of Bagels' which obviously makes more sense, but which got garbled on the phone with their manager? I'll assume the latter.
Eric Carmen- 'Hungry Eyes'- I started listening to this song not when I saw Dirty Dancing in 1987 at the age of uno, but when M&M's used the song in their commercial. What a fantastic melody with a beautiful harmony about the marriage of two major senses- that of seeing and tasting. I just can't get enough of it.
A-Ha- 'Take on Me'- I first fell for this song in the car as I heard the synthesized keyboard do it's thing. That solo is just amazing and moves me every time. Never was there a song more enjoyable to sing along to.
George Michael- 'Careless Whisper'- That is what a saxophone should sound like. Normally the saxophone reminds me of a duck eating a milkshake through a straw, but on 'Careless Whisper' I get no such image in my head.
Phil Collins- 'Against All Odds'- There are two artists I never interrupt: Phil Collins and The Killers. No matter when they come on, despite my surroundings or affiliates, I refuse to change the song. It makes listening to my collection of Killers and Phil Collins CDs dangerous because once I put it in, I know I'll be listening to it for a long time. I can only change CDs when a song is completely over and a new one hasn't begun yet. It's a split second that I have to change the music; but why would I want to? Phil is amazing. His music extracts emotions and feelings from my heart that no amount of talking or surgery could reproduce.
This list is merely a beginning of my current musical tastes. It's almost like I'm 30 years behind or something...
*When I looked up 'lugubrious' to confirm it meant 'sad and mournful' I found myself suddenly engulfed in ads for women seeking help after a painful breakup. Seems appropriate.

The Year of the Cabin

2012 is quickly becoming the year of the cabin. First, there was my winter retreat to the great Rockies of Salt Lake City, UT. I spent three days at a cabin up Big Cottonwood canyon skiing. The cabin was everything one could ask for in a winter getaway- a nice fireplace, snow completely covering the windows, no television, phone, or internet, and layers and layers of leopard skin blankets to keep you warm on a wooden bed. I skied hard for three days, then came home and promptly went to bed at 9:00pm each night, exhausted beyond belief. With nothing around, and nothing to do but read each night, I got plenty of sleep. It was a fantastic week of solitude (though I was sharing this solitude happily with my family). The skiing was fabulous too. Fabulous by East Coast standards, anyway. The snow was, shall we say, scrappy and stilted, but the mountains were still priggish to the ancient Appalachians of America. With my fancy phone I set up a GPS to track my speed and was quite pleased to find that on one particular run (Challenger at Solitude) I clocked in at 60.3 mph. I just really like to go fast. It's a really amazing feeling to be sliding on snow at 60 mph, flying over sedentary bumps and praying that no one is just over the ledge waiting to be destroyed by your flying self. On that particular run I was going so fast my goggles started to flap on my face and almost flew off. I wouldn't have stopped to pick them up.
The second cabin I will be a brief resident of is a Summer cabin in West Virginia. This one is 2.5 hours outside of DC and will be my spring break retreat. I will most likely be driving a motorcycle along the windy roads to the cabin, then giving free rides all weekend long along the 'lost river.' This cabin does have a television, but its most attractive trait is its hot tub and 360 degree views. I am thoroughly looking forward to relaxing out on the deck with the carmine sun in my face and natural woods to my rearward. Indeed, it appears hedonism has taken over the year of 2012.
Want to be a part of it?

Personal Hygiene Improvements

I know you have all been eagerly awaiting the news of my amour with a Sonicare. Rather than writing a harangue on the benefits of dental care, I shall be more disposed to just say, "I love it." The first time I used the toothbrush I felt like my face was going through a car wash. I was naif to how many swishes and bubbles this sibilant sounding Sonicare could make. The apotheosis came when I brushed the backside of my two front teeth; the surfeit amount of tenderness exposed to the whizzing brush was enough to make Cupid blush. I am now a few days into using the brush on a regular basis and I am extremely pleased. It causes me to brush for 2 straight minutes, tells me when 30 seconds is up so that I am reminded to switch mouth quadrants, and leaves me with a clean, 'Just from the Dentist' feeling.
Along with his bountiful benefits, there are some drawbacks. The toothbrush stands upright on its charger, which can get pretty hot if left alone for awhile. What I didn't realize is that if you accidentally leave a little bit of toothpaste on the charger it melts into the toothbrush and solidifies the charger to the brush in a sticky science experiment sort of way. It's not pretty to look at or to clean, but at least your toothbrush stays charged. Dental care has come a long way in the past decade. (This post is quickly becoming dedicated to Michelle Z.) First there were dental picks, which I use every night and love. No more wads of dental floss all over the bathroom floor; no more bloody fingers and bloody gums; no more hard to reach spots in the back of the mouth. With pickers I can access and beautify any chasm in my mouth with only one hand. And then comes the Sonicare. Enough has been limned by that in this post already. Mouthwash, too. Mouthwash has come a long way. It started as gurgling whiskey, grew to gurgling whiskey and water, and then culminated with Listerine. Every time I gargle I wonder if I am breaking the Word of Wisdom. Basically my mouth is as clean now as it ever was. If only the personal hygiene industry were as up to speed as the dental industry. I could really use some technological advancements in soap; pig lard is getting harder and harder to come by, and I'm sick of rubbing Chrysanthemums in my armpits every other day.


In other news, I played 'Sphinx' across a triple word score with the 'x' falling on a double letter tile yesterday, and still lost the Scrabble game. Senators and their wives make for difficult competition.