Music's in My Soul

Greetings followers! (what's left of you).

It's been a minute. This is my first comeback post. 

“How is it that music can, without words, evoke our laughter, our fears, our highest aspirations?” ― Jane Swan

                           Print by Michael Tompsett

First, I would like to preface this by saying I am not a music critic. I am not well-trained. I don't know how to describe music artfully. I just know what I like and what shaped the person I am. 

Here I am, sitting on my couch, a loss for words about this thing that's made our lives. I just listened to the new Jonas album and saw Rocketman this week, so I felt the need to make a post about music. So what do I do? I turn on the Beatles. The genesis of modern music. My boyfriend is Beatles-crazy, but I'll admit I haven't connected to them much in recent years. Of course, the Paul McCartney Carpool Karaoke reignited Beatlemania when that came out, but other than that, I was content with seldom listening to the Beatles.

 by Ahmad Nusyirwan 

But then I was just watching a video Paul McCartney shot for GQ where he discussed the origin of his most influential songs, and I remembered why I was so taken with the Beatles at 13, 40 years after they were first famous.  My mom used to have the "Number 1's" album and she would play it in her car, much to my sister's and my chagrin initially, then delight. My independent performance "career" started when I choreographed my own routine to "Eight Days a Week" and dressed like an OG hippie.  When I took voice lessons, one of our recitals was ALL Beatles. I sang a solo to "Eleanor Rigby," which looking back is quite odd for a 15-year to sing a solo about a lonely spinster. I guess it appealed to my lonely spinster side (doesn't every woman have one?) 


My music obsession manifested when I was 2, around the same time I learned to read probably (I was an evolved toddler). I had a Playskool boombox and a pretty rad collection of tapes. I would lay on the floor at my aunt's house with my (now) uncle and listen to music on that thing. I took it with me at 3 years old on an 8-hour flight to London and listened to the original Cinderella soundtrack the entire time. (Sorry 1995 passengers).


I had a Walkman at around 9, and an iPod at 13. I would listen to everything from Shania Twain to "Accidentally in Love" (my teen angst song) to Disney to the Beatles. Music provided solace for my troubled, sad heart. 

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Okay, enough nostalgia. It's time for some reviews. 

It's been a week since the newest Jonas Brothers album came out. I just listened to most of it last night. It was quite a comeback. The different melodies and sounds are different but stayed true to their sound. I feel like I'm listening to a refined version of the pop-tastic band I fell in love with at 15.   I remember when they first released "Sucker" and did #LateLateJonas in March, I was concerned. I was like "They are men. Husbands. Fathers (well Kevin is). Is this really necessary? Do they have it in them?" Then I watched Jonas Carpool Karaoke and their performance of Sucker. (Spoiler alert: they're back.) If you watch the talk show interviews, Nick has totally become the leader. In their Disney days, Joe was the leader. Interesting paradigm shift. I'm quite excited for August 9th when my amazing friend is taking me to their concert. 
 P.S. Yes, the name of this post is taken from a Jonas Brothers song (Play My Music). 

It's been about a month since Rocketman came out. I just saw that on Wednesday. Again, from the opening scene, I remembered why I loved Elton John at 15. (Side note: the little kids at the beginning of the movie should win Junior Oscars.) They seamlessly incorporated Elton's most powerful songs in all the key events of his eventful life. Taron Egerton absolutely SLAYED, and I love the actor who played Bernie, Elton's writing partner. I just don't even know what else to say except that even my picky film critic boyfriend loved it. I will say the movie was VERY stark. Samoa banned it for gay sex, and I was slightly freaked out by the snorting. So there's those 2 caveats. 

"Music has healing power. It has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours." 
- Elton John 
Read more at  https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/music

                                                   
                                                      Design by furzzy15

* I find it interesting that all the artists I featured in this post have done Carpool Karaoke lol. It's prolific. 

What are your influences of music? What are your memories? Leave some thoughts in the comments. 

Stay tuned for my next post (I promise it will not take a year to come out! 🙈)

Fit and Fabulous pt. 2: New 'do, new you?

QUOP

Last Sunday, I got my hair cut and highlighted (highlit?).  It looks FABULOUS. And may I just say, Nicholas Ashmore in St. Pete, FL is very talented. He had me in an out in less than 2 hours! (Ladies, as you all well know, highlighting by itself usually takes that long, not including cut). I just felt like it was time for a change (especially when one has a Groupon 😉. 

Change, to me, is a rejuvenation. It's a reset re-centering on anyone's journey, specifically my own journey to be fit and fabulous. I've covered fit already a few times in previous posts, mostly because I've had a lifelong battle that I'm still fighting with fitness and being confident with my weight. It's a battle I should probably stop fighting and learn to embrace because fighting against my love of junk food and my body-shaming thoughts is EXHAUSTING.  However, looking beautiful on the outside makes you want the rest of your outside to catch up, and then the inside follows. 

Fit and Fabulous

PSA: I haven't posted in like a WEEK, so this is going to be a 2-parter. 

Happy Spring Break! For those teachers and students enjoying their week off, congratulations! You made it 75% through the year! For those teachers and students not on break yet, your week will come quicker than you realize. For those non-teachers and non-students, you still get paid vacation whenever you please, so take it and enjoy whenever you feel like it. 

This week has been a whirlwind for me! I finished up the 3rd quarter with my students (which is what I meant when I said we were 75% through the year).  I also got to see my cousin and her husband visiting from D.C., and we had a blast Friday night. According to my cousin's husband "politics is a sport in [our] family," so that was mostly the topic of conversation. (Not going to get into that for this post, but probably will at some point.) 

Then, last Saturday morning, my mom and I completed a 5K at a local park here in Tampa. It was a glorious morning and we both had a great time! For those of you who don't know, a 5K is 3.1 miles. My beastly mom ran 2.1 of those miles consecutive! (Whereas your girl here still can't run more than a quarter of a mile consecutive. But I'll get there.) HOWEVER, I was the best time for my age group, which gobsmacked me (I've been watching Australia's Next Top Model on Hulu, so that's where I got that word.) My ever cool, calm, collected reaction was "Are you serious?" 😄 

I never thought I could push myself to do as well as I did in a fitness event! But, well here comes the QUOP. 

"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." - President FDR 

The traditional first post

Once upon a time, there was a depressed teenage girl who created a blog, knowing thinking no one would care. She just knew she had to express her feelings somehow because she had a lot to say and it needed to come out. 

Now, 10 years(!), 2 medications, and 5(?) therapists later, I still have a voice. It's a little more tempered and refined, thank God, but it still wants to come out. I am DONE trying to make everything perfect. So I'm taking a leap. Starting with this blog. I have no idea who will read it, but I don't care. I just hope someone, somewhere in the universal Internet sees my story and feels hopeful because of it. 

Opening yourself up is scary. Especially to strangers (therapists, Internet readers, etc.). However, it's cathartic as hell and it's a way to regain a balance in life while expressing oneself creatively (if you're doing it in blog, journal, podcast form). I need a better balance in life and I hope this will help me achieve it. 

Comment, share or message me anything you'd like. Just nothing mean or derogatory, please. Just exercising my right to free speech and you can exercise your right to ignore me and my blog. 

Quote Of the Post (QUOP): "Listen cowboy[s and cowgirls], courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway."  - John Wayne