10 Things That Rocked My 2007

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS ...



1. Palm Springs

2. Anjani Thomas - Blue Alert

3. Pomegranates/Antioxidants


4. Guitar Hero

5. Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends

6. Bath and Body Works Cucumber Melon products

7. Underground Club in Paris

8. Rufus Wainwright Does Judy Garland

9. Sheer Blonde Styling Spray Wax for rock star hair

and of course ...
10. Britney Spears - "Gimme More" at the VMAs


I actually had several great experiences this year and will probably end up having to create an addendum for this post. But as of this moment, these were the standouts. Can't wait to see what 2008 has in store!!!

Sobriety

Just spent 7 days without drinking any alcohol at all.
This is the first time that long has gone by without a drink since I moved to LA 4 and a half years ago. And perhaps its been even longer than that.
Not that I think I have a huge problem with alcohol, but with the history in my family, I decided to see where the control lied, with me or with the drink. And I won. I even went out to bars a couple times with my friends and drank diet Cokes and still had a good time.
I want to get to a place where I drink when I make the choice to drink to enhance my experience, not to escape from a dark place or to dull the stress of a long day at work, etc.
Plus I've noticed that my energy level has improved, and I have a sneaking suspicion that if I keep this up, my body will look better than ever and thats plenty of motivation to keep it going past the 7 days.
Anybody wanna get a cocktail to celebrate? :)

Unicorn

So, the other day at work, it dawned on me that I am the only one of the 6 managers in my store to not be married or living with a significant other. This is not a new situation for me. I continually find myself on the outside looking in. Sometimes, I romanticize it and liken myself to the lone unicorn watching all the other animals boarding the ark two by two fretting that if I don't cut the horn off of my head (and drown that bitch horse sniffing around Mr. Ed) that I'll not make it onboard the ark and instead will drown in the flood (of my sorrow). Alone.

And sometimes its not that serious. But it does bug me. And makes me wonder what is, to continue my metaphor, the horn that I need to remove that will make me compatible to a partner? Am I too tall, too blonde, too fat, too gay, too ugly, too smart, too insecure, too boring, too much of a smoker, too lonely? and the newest option: am i too old?

One of my closest friends found his first true love in a guy named Danny when he was 26. I started dating a Daniel when I was 26, and thought it was divine providence. After we broke up, I dated another Daniel when I was 27. No such luck. And even Willie who I really started to care for at 28 moved away to the other side of the country.

My mother turned down her first marriage proposal at 25, and accepted the next one at 27.

My 10 year high school reunion just came up, and none of the girls I was friends with were there because they were at home with their husbands and children.

And since this blog started as a riff on Miss Spears, consider the fact that at 24 she is pregnant with her third baby by the man who just might turn out to be her third husband. Is she that much more of a catch that dudes are beating down her door to stick it in her? And here I thought I was better off than Britney!!!

Celebrity Skin

So with the plethora of music references I've ended up incorporating into my blog thus far, it might seem at first that this post is going to be about the Hole album called "Celebrity Skin" (albeit, an album which is somewhat underrated). But no, this is about our fascination and obsession with "celebrity"
You see, this past week, I slept with my first "celebrity." (P.S. - this is not about the who and the where and the name-dropping details. Besides its not someone whose private life is splashed all over the cover of US Weekly) However, what this is about is that the experience kind of shattered a few preconceptions for me. I think that subconsciously, I have held the very idea of fame and celebrity on a pedestal and I think my expectations were that a celebrity innately is better off and has more to offer than us "layfolk". However, our encounter was driven by massive amounts of alcohol and ended up being just as clunky and awkward as one-night stands with any other non-celebrity. There were no curtains blowing in the background, no orchestral soundtrack building to a climax in time with the participants, and no well scripted dialogue the morning after.
Celebrities do have more money and more recognition which does indeed alter some aspects of their lives. Yet, day to day, they are just like the rest of us, and any of us could become one of them under the right circumstances. And thus the overarching theme of this blog takes on even more relevance to me. Britney is just another person at the end of the day. And I'm doing way better with my life than she is with hers!!!

Halloween

Halloween ...

Another music must-have!

I have been a fan of Annie Lennox for fifteen years now, yet nothing she has released in the last fifteen years managed to rekindle the same passion I felt for her debut album, DIVA. (One of my 5 vaorite songs of all time is from that album, "Cold") And yet, I respect her so much as an artist that I buy everything she puts out without listening to it first, and usually there are some songs that I do end up really liking.
Her newest album, Songs of Mass Destruction, came out earlier this month, and for the first time in fifteen years, I'm blown away and just can't stop listening to it. It is not a happy album, which usually would deter me from it, but there are such amazing soundscapes in it that I just get lost in its beauty. The standout tracks to me are the two most atmospheric songs that take me to another place for about 4 and a half minutes each. The first, "Colored Bedspread", is sexy yet not vulgar, mature yet not risque, exploration of the tmie spent in the bedroom. Its beat, initally reminiscent of her Eurythmics hit "Sweet Dreams" is actually much more primitive and sensual and the vocals change from understated rhythmic pulses to soaring surges of passion.
My other favorite is "Big Sky" which evokes the kind of thunderstorm that has always made me come alive, and compares it to a tumultuous relationship. The picture painted by this song may only exist in my head, but I would challenge anyone to listen to this song without being wrapped up in its big sweeps and beautiful vocals.
Some of the tracks, like "Ghosts In My Machine," "Love Is Blind," and "Womankind" are really fun upbeat songs (even if their lyrical content isn't always without despair); "Sing" is an anthem that features 22 other vocalists including Madonna, Melissa Etheridge, Celine Dion, Joss Stone, Dido, KT Tunstall, Anastacia, and more; "Lost" is haunting and gorgeous, and if you buy the album from Barnes and Noble online you can get two bonus tracks that are really worth it (an acoustic version of the first single "Dark Road" that is even more beautiful than the original, and a stomper that I really do enjoy called "Don't Take Me Down.")

here are some you-tube links to explore further:
COLOURED BEDSPREAD fan-made video
Snippets of 5 songs from the album
My favorite song ever, COLD, performed live in 1992 and in 2007
DARK ROAD performed acoustically (on the Martha Stewart show!!)

Trust

So it's come up at least once at some point in each of the last several days: Trust.
I keep finding myself engaged in conversation with others about what is seeming to be a rather lonely opinion, that people have my trust inherently until they do something to lose it. Whether it be a close friend, fellow manager, etc. I am confronted with the opposing view that trust is something to be earned and not given to just anyone. Perhaps its naive of me, but that seems like a very lonely view of the world. I believe that the only way to truly connect to another human being is through developing some measure of trust between the two of you. The vulnerability that comes along with the potential of betrayal is what makes trust such a beautiful, powerful thing.
Have I been hurt before through lies or betrayal? Sure. Will I again be hurt in my lifetime by adopting this outlook? Most likely. But have I developed deep and lasting relationships as well with people who I cherish? Absolutely. And I wouldn't trade that for a self-imposed barrier around my heart that could possibly save me from an occasional disappointment or heartache.

It's funny ... I set out writing this post questioning myself and this belief and wondering if I was wrong. But in just writing these past few sentences, I have found a reaffirmed commitment to this theory and believe more than ever that it will serve me right in the future. And I will continue to strive to always be that person who my friends and family and colleagues can trust implicitly without exception. Perhaps if we all set about to do the same, this wouldn't even be an issue...