Prepare to Cringe

When I in the 2nd grade, my family watched a lot of Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. It's the kind of show my dad is into. I remember Dr. Quinn being mostly about medicine, as the title suggests. People got sick and she cured them, right? WRONG. This is a show about the hot, awkward love-making between Dr. Quinn and part Native-American (I think) macho man Sully. Recently when I was at my parents, Chase and I caught an episode of DQMW and I was totally floored by the amount of uncomfortable sex! There are few things I find less attractive than these two going at it, but I knew someone would have some Youtube montages. Duh. There are so, so, many Youtube montages.
Here's one of the worst/best, set to one of my absolute least favorite soft rock work songs.

Work Songs I Like

I'm starting a new blog series called "Work Songs I Like." As you probably know, I have to listen to soft rock at work. This is both a curse and a blessing. A curse because this station has a criminally small rotation, plays only the worst new music, and repeats, like, the same five commercials all day. A blessing because...okay, it is not actually a blessing! It's very rare that I actually hear a song I like. Sometimes I just have to take what I can get, and say to myself, "This John Waite song isn't so bad after all." I've grown to love this song, but it's sort of a prison love where I know I'm stuck with it so I have to learn to live with it. This video is super weird. Like, John Waite looks like he should be singing a different kind of music, and also what is with that girl?

Sad Christmas Songs

As I've mentioned many a time, I love a good Sad Christmas Song. Barely any of my favorite songs, Christmas or otherwise, are happy. I guess my inner pessimist expresses herself through SONG! (Cue jazz hands)
A couple of my favorite Sad Christmas Songs actually aren't Christmas-specific. They're more Sad Winter Songs. The first, Same Old Lang Syne by Dan Fogelberg, is clearly more of a Sad New Year's Song. This song kind of gives me the warm fuzzies, because one of the first things my best friend and I bonded over was our shared, age-inappropriate love of Dan Fogelberg. Seriously, what were 14 year olds doing listening to sappy 70s soft rock? Either way, this song has actually made me tear up on occasion. Just being real (need I remind you the first rule of Winfrey Fight Club is no frontin'?). I'm pretty sure this song is still aimed at people much older than I am, but it hits me in a much different way now. The last couple of lines have a simplistic poetry about them that I really enjoy.
Also, I know a lot of people that hate this song. You will probably be one of them!

While River by Joni Mitchell may mention Christmas, I wouldn't call it a Christmas song. It's more of a "I'm so screwed up that I drove away the man that loved me and now I feel like skating away even though everyone else is happy" song. I really love this song.

The sparse instrumentation and the plain sorrow in Joni's voice make this song extremely emotionally affecting. You know what would be great? If you added in a shit ton of instruments and had Barry Manilow do HIS spin on it! The song starts at about 1:30.

I don't think Barry Manilow had malicious intentions. I mean, I of all people understand the appeal of Manilow. This song, though, is truly terrible. Just hearing him sing lyrics like, "I'm gonna make a lot of money and I'm gonna quit this crazy scene," is like WHAT. What crazy scene? Look at all those middle aged ladies in the audience! That scene is the complete OPPOSITE of crazy. That scene is like a reasonably pleated pair of slacks.
Naturally, the radio station I have to listen to at work plays the Barry version and not the Joni original. I will never understand this world.

Pullman/Lynch

Sometimes it is just good to know that you aren't the only one.
Julie Klausner has a weird crush on Bill Pullman, too! I've been kind of wanting to rewatch Lost Highway, but Alex put a temporary moratorium on watching David Lynch films. The reason? He's taking an ENTIRE CLASS on David Lynch next quarter. Color me jealous.

Snow Day Tunes Part 2

I find myself thinking of Christmas music as a static thing. For the most part, I listen to the same songs year after year. This year, Papa Winfrey reminded me that it doesn't have to be that way. Why not buy, like, 10 new Christmas albums in some sort of Christmas music binge? He is particularly fond of Susan Boyle, in case you wondered.
This year I "discovered" some new Christmas music that isn't actually new at all. Lexie accidentally stumbled across a Beach Boys Christmas album that we'd never heard, and I immediately fell in love with this song, Child of Winter. Apparently it was a single that never really caught on. I can't imagine why. The goofy spoken word interlude is my favorite.


Another favorite that I just found out about: Hard Candy Christmas by Dolly Parton. Sad Christmas Music is my favorite Christmas music subgenre.

Snow Day Tunes Part 1

I don't know about you guys, but I really enjoyed a snow day today. It was Sunday, so it wasn't like I would've had to work anyway, but I pretended I was taking the day off. I ate leftover meatloaf, made myself some chamomile tea, did a little cleaning, did some sewing, read a book, and listened to Christmas music. Christmas music has to be the best part about Christmas, right? My favorite Christmas song, as you probably already know, is Last Christmas, but as far as traditional songs go, it's pretty hard to beat Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. And when it's performed by She & Him (& Conan)? Impossible to resist!

Something I Like.

There's a very specific type of dancing that always makes me laugh AND always makes me jealous. Sure, I can dance, but I can't dance like this. Well, it's a long break. I'll have some time to practice.