OT: Do You Believe in Rock and Roll

My sophomore year of college, I took a writing class at NYU. I don't remember the name of the class or the teacher. All I recall is that the guy looked like Jay-Z and wore Nike high-tops, jeans and a 59Fifty hat to class every day. He would give us a ten minute writing assignment at the beginning of each class. Most memorable of all of them was the following: Pick a line from a song and write about it.

I chose the following:
"Do you believe in rock and roll; Can music save your mortal soul?"

This line, of course, is from American Pie and the answer to both questions was (and is), undoubtedly, yes.

I didn't chose this verse because I'm some huge Don McLean fan or even remotely because I'm a fan of 70's music. I chose it because of the honesty behind it.

Music is magical. The way it creeps into your soul and gives you goose bumps. It transports you to the past...or maybe to the future, if you can look at it that way. It makes your heart...not ache, but pulse. It is the co-conspirator of wanderlust. It is, in a way, serendipitous. Stumbling upon a genius song without having bothered to look for it is perfection. A good song can lift you out of the darkest of depths or push you to the highest of highs. It is an outlook modifier and a game changer. And best of all: music releases endorphins, you know.

Next time you're feeling sad. Or lonely. Or happy. Or excited/anxious/nostalgic/and so forth; pop on a song. NOT your favorite song. This is the key here. The song needs to not be overplayed or overly-popular. It needs to be a treasure; hidden and possibly forgotten about. This is where you dig through your iTunes library or, better yet, put it on shuffle (now that's dangerous). Keep clicking next until you hear that opening that makes your heart pulse and your goose bumps rise and your mind wander.

Found it? Enjoy the mortal soul saving.


(soundtrack: "to be alone with you" by sufjan stevens)

OT: Run, Forrest, Run

I have never been a runner. I have never even been anything close to a runner. I am still not a runner. Sure, I was active in high school: I played field hockey and tennis. I was actually pretty decent at both of them and was captain of my field hockey team until I quit during sophomore year because, well, I didn't like running.

That's when I started playing tennis, which involves so much focus that I didn't even have time to think about the exercise I was doing. I had a tennis trainer and he made me run a lot, but I loved the sport so much that I didn't really mind. Plus, I was like seventeen and who is out of shape when they are seventeen anyway.

Then, I went to college, discovered alcohol and other poor habits, gained 15lbs (and then lost it, and then gained it...), and gave up on exercising all together. Yeah, I went to the gym, but I never really went to the gym. I wasn't one of those people who was going to absolutely die if I didn't make it to the gym or to my pilates class. I just kind of went when I felt like it.

And...here we are.

I'm still not a runner, gym-goer, or fitness junkie. I am, however, a pretty excellent walker. I walk every day. Same route. 1.5 miles. This exercise habit was completely unintentional. When I became the most awesome woman alive single 3 months ago, I realized that someone was going to have to walk my dog, Henry, and that someone was most certainly going to be me. So, I started walking. At first, it was a chore. Another thing on my to-do list. But over time, it became something I very much looked forward to. Sitting at my desk at work, I would think about how nice it will be to get home and walk Henry and be outside and not be stuck in my mole-cave of a cubicle. It actually turned into one of my favorite parts of the day (next to lunch).

Not so long ago, I was walking Henry on our usual route and something dawned on me: I can do this faster. The thought kind of shocked me. Faster? Are you on something? What are these thoughts and what have you done with my brain? But I thought about it some more and realized I probably could do it faster. I had been walking the same distance for 3 months and it was time to up the ante a tad.

Which brings us to tonight.

I, the worst runner in the world, ran (at super-human snail speed) with my dog along our usual route. I didn't make it the whole distance (don't judge!) but I followed the advice of a good friend of mine (and fantastic runner) -- pick a point along your route and tell yourself, I can make it to that. So I did. And I made it. And Henry was absolutely fantastic! Which is a huge surprise because he is such a spaz and I was wondering if we were even going to make it to running at all, but we did! It was like he knew I was serious about this and that it was something I needed to do and he just trotted alongside and listened perfectly. I was very proud of him. And I am also very proud of me.

I was a little hesitant to write this because I didn't want it, under any circumstance, to sound like I was saying I am something I am not...or that I am good at something I am not. But I think that tonight might be the start of an excellent adventure, so I decided to document it. My philosophy is this: I have to walk my dog. If I can get it done a little faster, well, go me.

Until next time, kids.

(soundtrack: "schoolboy" by grouplove)