I never would have considered

I love NPR. I love it. I come from an NPR family, my mom listens to it, Katie and Steph listen to it, we even discuss NPR articles at family dinners. I'm not exactly sure what it is about it. Maybe how classy it all seems, or rather how they are so connected with pop culture and what is current at the exact same time.

I used to just listen to NPR, I had it set as the LAST preset station in my car and when absolutely nothing else was on and it was five o'clock, hearing the theme song for All Things Considered would take me back to when I was growing up and mom would be cooking dinner and listening to Mara Liasson.

Well then I started looking at their website because I always enjoyed the things they reported on, and I felt it was often really fascinating things, not the same old boring bull shit from CNN and the (God awful) Columbia local news. Well then one day I noticed a link for some band I really really like (I don't remember now it has happened so many times) That took me to the music page of NPR. It started as a live show here or there, then I discovered their first listen for Regina Spektor's latest CD-the entire album on their website. love love love love love. Every week or two they have an unreleased album on their website to listen to for free.

Next, I started listening to All Songs Considered (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=37) shows here and there, looking at the jazz section instead of just the pop/rock/folk section. And now I've become a full blown NPR music junkie by subscribing to the All Songs Considered podcast and making it a Sunday ritual. It is my sabbath.

I. love. this. show. Some of the time its completely random people that I've never heard of in my life, and sometimes its people I've heard before but don't know well, and other times its people whose music I feel intimately connected to. But all the time, its wonderful, every time no matter what kind of new age music is on, I enjoy it. This week is was African something or other, and it was awesome. Thirteen minutes of me thinking damn this is so cool. I like this show because I appreciate a lot of music in the world, I would argue most of it. But I just don't know what to pick. I've heard wonderful jazz music, great classical rock, and some weird indie shit that just kinda works, But for the most part, I'm not familiar with the genres, so I need some guidance. This is what this program has done for me.

Sunday nights are my musical sabbath. Its blues night on BXR here in Columbia so I get to hear Dan Aykroyd talk about amazing blues and jazz musicians and here some awesome live shit where people cuss up a storm. Add that to an hour of NPR goodness and its quite a day for me. It all makes for really really great studying music.

If you have a taste in music anything similar to mine, you should check it out. Or really, if you don't. Just check it out.

this is why I love music

I don't feel like there is much point in me writing if Amos Lee can sum it up so well....

"Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight"

Well I walked over the bridge
Into the city where I live,
And I saw my old landlord.
Well we both said hello,
There was no where else to go,
'cuz his rent I couldn't afford.

Well relationships change,
Oh I think it's kinda strange,
How money makes a man grow.
Some people they claim,
If you get enough fame,
You live over the rainbow.
Over the rainbow..

But the people on the street,
Out on buses or on feet,
We all got the same blood flow.
Oh, in society,
Every dollar got a deed,
We all need a place so we can go,
And feel over the rainbow.

But sometimes,
We forget what we got,
Who we are.
Oh who are are not.
I think we gotta chance,
To make it right.
Keep it loose,
Keep it tight.
Keep it tight.

I'm in love with a girl,
Who's in love with the world,
Though I can't help but follow.
Though I know some day,
She is bound to go away,
And stay over the rainbow.
Gotta learn how to let her go.
Over the rainbow.

Sometimes we forget who we got,
Who they are.
Oh, who they are not.
There is so much more in love,
Than black and white.
Keep it loose child,
Gotta keep it tight.
Keep it loose child,
Keep it tight.

Extroverted Dilema

For the last couple of days I've been rather manic. I've had great mornings or afternoons only to lead to quiet, depressed, almost cranky evenings. I'm not sure what it is, but I feel like I'm in need of something, I'm looking for something and the people around me aren't quite satisfying it. At least not all the time. I'm not saying my life sucks, it doesn't. This afternoon I was reminded how much I love my job when a former regular came in and I'd realized I hadn't seen him for quite a while.

I asked where he had been and he started telling me about his move to Baton Rouge Louisiana. He was telling me about his job, working out the logistics with his girlfriend and how he misses our bagels and is coming back every time he is in town. He isn't one of my favorite customers by any means, but he was a familiar face and someone I didn't realized I'd gotten to know. I knew his girlfriend, I knew they weren't married but were serious enough that she will be moving to Louisiana. I felt honored to know him like that, to know such details of his life.

After that he started telling me about his job. He is at LSU researching people's postures, they are looking at how many calories someone burns while sitting vs. while standing. He was telling me you burn about 1 calorie a minute when sitting, but 1.5 when standing, and added up that makes a large difference. He told me that they found there is one muscle that makes this difference, and its in the calf. This one muscle is used for standing but not sitting and does enough work to make a large amount of difference. We started talking about how working on your feet (like I do) is incredibly good for you, and how being "active" is as important as exercising. This conversation was totally random, but incredibly pleasant. I was fascinated by what he studies, and I think he enjoyed that I found it interesting. I live for conversations like these. I'm not sure why but I really love them.

But I don't have them enough. And when I don't, I feel numb. I feel so numb right now. But its so short term. In an hour I could be talking with someone and get right back to feeling fine. I think this is when I'm at my most extroverted. I need people, to talk to and share with. I think these uber extraverted times align with the highs in my mania, when satisfied, and the lows when they aren't. So I guess I'm only manic when I'm extroverted, because much of the time I don't need constant interaction. I need an average amount.

Don't assume this blog sums up how I feel about life right now. I feel great, I really do. I just have these parts of me.