Exes and Songs

An "ex" took this pic.  An Ellie Goulding song reminds me of this night. 

Music typically plays a big role in relationships.  There are always songs that you listened to or were just simply on in the background of a relationship.  When Beau and I first started dating, he got me hooked on Spotify and we would constantly just send songs to each other that we thought the other would like, or just songs that made us think of each other.  I remember sending him "You've Really Got A Hold On Me" from She & Him and he sent be "Go" by Common.  So... super romantic.  (It's a pretty gross song.) 

A few years ago, I dated this guy who turned out to just be the worst.  I still cannot believe that I even wasted any time with him. However, the summer that we spent "flirting" and "courting each other" (nobody uses that term anymore and it's a damn shame) is still one of my favorite summers and it was full of great music. I remember staying up ALL NIGHT and chatting with him on Facebook messenger while he sent me albums to download and songs to play.  I remember listening to those songs while going for jogs on the waterfront and thinking about how sweet he was for sending them to me and thinking of me.  

Of course, like I said, he turned out to be the worst so moments like that are kind of laughable.  Our "relationship" quickly fizzled out... well, at least for me.  But the music he introduced me to has still stuck around! 

I've been listening to it a lot lately - all Ellie Goulding and Lyyke Li and Little Boots and it's been nice to travel down memory lane. Even if the memories aren't so great (but they're not horrible, just kind of funny) - it's a funny little thing how music can do that to us and totally transport us to another place and time.  

Every relationship has its own mixed CD (not literally, but I wish) and even when the men are gone from my life, listening to the old songs always makes me smile.  From the first guy I dated in junior high/high school with whom I listened to a lot of Shaggy to the guy who welcomed me into his apartment for the first time playing Otis Redding's Greatest Hits. 

Some songs bring good memories (Otis Redding pretty much constantly) and some songs bring bad memories (I cannot listen to Regina Spektor because her album reminds me of a very bad end of something.)  But either way, every now and then it's fun to listen to those old songs to give you a break from the soundtrack of your present.  Good memories and bad! 

What songs remind you of certain periods/relationships in your life?  I think it's such an interesting journey to go down.  Yes, I still listen to the song "It Wasn't Me" by Shaggy every now and then and somehow reflect HAPPILY on a past relationship with a guy who is probably somewhere dead in an Everett ditch right now.  

Oh, music.  You're great.  And horrible.  And great.  

Jerk Jams.

One of the coolest things about my day job was its Summer Friday program. It was the best! Every Friday, we'd get to leave work at 12:30pm. I would leave work and immediately go to the porch and hang out all day long. But, returning to full days in the fall was always the worst transition ever.

So... my friend Vince and I used to do a thing called 90's Fridays. My desk is sort of on my own little island in the middle of the office. But his department and desk was close to mine. So he'd play some 90's rap and R&B on Fridays at 5pm and I would too and we'd put it as loud as we could without it annoying everyone in the office. We played some good jams.  Real good jams.

Today, I'm listening to 90's rap and R&B (thanks Janet Jackson Pandora station!) because I've been on a bit of a kick lately. Here are some great songs you should remember and listen to:



"if i could wear your clothes, i'd pretend i was you and lose control."
(my favorite song lyric ever.)

Not A Snow Day Soundtrack

I'm at work today. When I woke up, it was annoying because I had a sleeping pill hangover and I was cold. And then the streets weren't plowed (nor the sidewalks shoveled) so it was annoying to walk in.  But, whatever, I'm here! And when you say things like, "At least walking in the snow is more of a work out than walking on flat ground" and "Hey, my birthday is in 4 months!" then it's a little bit better. Also, peanut butter works.

At work, we're all just trying to get by. So, Rachel {who I'm trying to get to host a lunchtime talk show in our work's kitchen with me, a la Troy and Abed} and I are doing that by listening to this song:



Yesterday it was this classic:

But there's also:

And, well, because I have to:

That spans a couple of decades and it's amazing how much video quality has changed over time.

I'm sort of partial to the older stuff.

Plus, it looks like MJ's dancing on top of desktop backgrounds!

By the way, HOW CUTE WAS HE THEN? So attractive!