Suddenly I realize
That if I stepped out of my body I would break
Into blossom
"A Blessing" ~ by James Wright

Old Timey Bloopers

54 DAYS UNTIL GLEE

Quakers, REPRESENT!

Max Carter is a contributor for The Washington Post and Newsweek. There is an online forum that discusses topics of the day. The panel is made up of religious experts such as Karen Armstrong, Desmond Tutu, and Rick Warren.

Max was one of my professors at Guilford and despite only knowing him for a relatively short time, was a huge influence on me.

GO MAX!

Music Post

People have mixed feelings about Valentine's Day. For some it is a nice dependable day where you can spend time with a loved one. Others spend it in a car with a discount bag of chocolate and their therapist (i.e. Taylor Swift). Some people might hate Valentine's Day but everyone likes music.

Some of the lists iTunes had for Valentine's Day songs were lame-- so I compiled my own.

The guidelines for the list were
1) Only one song per artist (any doubles that should have made the list became "Runners Up")
2) Songs have to be about love in some way. No break-up songs.
3) All songs have to be awesome

*NOTE* The artist listed is not necissarily the original-- just the artist I prefer performing the song

A Case Of You ~ Joni Mitchell

Ain't No Mountain High Enough ~ Marvin Gaye

Ain't No Sunshine ~ Rockapella

A Kiss To Build A Dream On ~ Louis Armstrong

All You Need Is Love ~ The Beatles

And So It Goes ~ Billy Joel

As Is ~ Ani DiFranco

As Long As Your Mine ~ Wicked(musical)

At Last ~ Etta James

Be My Angel ~ Mozzy Star

Can't Get You Out Of My Head ~ Kylie Minogue

Christmas TV ~ Slow Club

Come To My Window ~ Melissa Etheridge

Come What May ~ Moulin Rouge

Dude (I totally Miss You) ~ Tenacious D

Easy Silence ~ Dixie Chicks

Elaborate Lives ~ Aida (musical)

Everything You Want ~ Vertical Horizon

Five O'Clock World ~ The Vogues

Fly Me To The Moon ~ Frank Sinatra

Giving Up ~ Ingrid Michaelson

Glad All Over ~ The Dave Clark Five

God Only Knows ~ The Beach Boys

Happy Together ~ The Turtles

Haven't Met You Yet ~ Michael Bublé

Heaven ~ Brandi Carlile

Here (In Your Arms) ~ Hellogoodbye

How Can I Tell You ~ Cat Stevens

I Believe In A Thing Called Love ~ The Darkness

I Can't Take My Eye's Off Of You ~ Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons

I Hear A Symphony ~ The Supremes

If You Need A Reason ~ Mason Jennings

I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You ~ Colin Hay

In Spite Of Ourselves ~ John Prine & Iris DeMent

I Only Want To Be With You ~ Dusty Springfield

Is It a Crime? ~ Russ Columbo

I Want You ~ Tom Waits

I Want You To Want Me ~ Cheap Trick

I Will Keep The Bad Things From You ~ The Damnwells

I Will Love You ~ Fisher

Love Today ~ Mika

Mail Order Annie ~ Harry Chapin

My Life Would Suck Without You ~ Kelly
Clarkson

Need You Know ~ Lady Antelbellum

Nine Million Bicycles ~ Katie Melua

No One ~ Alicia Keys

Ocean Stone ~ Chris O'Brien

One Big Love ~ Patty Griffin

Sea and the Rhythm ~ Iron & Wine

Shooting Stars and Satellites ~ Death Cab For
Cutie

Someone To Watch Over Me ~ George
Gershwin

Somewhere Only We Know ~ Keane

Songbird ~ Eva Cassidy

Taking Chances ~ Celine Dion / Glee Cast

The More You Ruv Someone ~ Avenue Q

The Promise ~ Tracy Chapman

This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) ~ Natalie Cole

This Years Love ~ David Gray

Time After Time ~ Cyndi Lauper (and Sarah McLachlan)

Tired Of Being Alone ~ Al Green

To Love Somebody ~ Nina Simone

Unchained Melody ~ Righteous
Brothers

Unforgettable ~ Nat King Cole

What I Wouldn't Do ~ A Fine Frenzy

Winter Song ~ Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson

Wonderful Tonight ~ Eric Clapton

5 Years Time ~ Noah and the Whale


RUNNER-UP: For Once In My Life ~ Michael Bublé
RUNNER-UP: Baby I Can Hold You ~ Tracy Chapman
RUNNER-UP: Hour Follows Hour ~ Ani DiFranco
RUNNER-UP: Be Careful ~ Patty Griffin
RUNNER-UP: Near To You ~ A Fine Frenzy

Clearly there are songs on here that are better than others on the list-- but this is, without a doubt, the most awesomest and complete list of love songs EVER. I mean-- there is everything from "Dude (I totally Miss You)"-- an ode to the awesomeness of friendship to "The More You Ruv Someone" --a cheerful song about how sometimes the people you love are the people who are in the greatest need of a bitchslap ("the more you ruv someone/ the more you want to kill them").

CONCLUSION: This list is awesome. That is non-negotiable-- but if there are songs that need to be added to the list, you should include that in the comments section.

A Few Quick Notes

--Brandi Carlile just did a cover of "Heaven." Her version is amazing. As far as I know, it is only on iTunes on her album entitled "XOBC." Download it immediately.

--Captain America takes on the Tea Party. No apology necessary, Marvel.

--Stephen Colbert unveiled his own Olympic poster for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. The poster is designed by Shepard Fairey (the guy who created the Obama "Hope" poster). It is awesome and available for free download.

Are you ready for some football?

I am still sick but certainly feeling better. Dad is recovering from his surgery so right now half of the house is sick/enfeebled. Television is pretty much the only thing we can do as a family right now. That and snack. So Super Bowl is pretty much the best thing ever right now.

It's hard to get into the game, though. There is ten seconds of actual play and then a lot of walking around. Though it some of the most manly walking I have ever seen-- it is not really compelling television. Apparently, according to The Wall Street Journal, there are an average of 11 minutes where the ball is actually in play. Boring.

Some commercials from 2009...



Dear advertising executives: just as a general rule-- anytime you have a person joyfully riding a dolphin through the ocean, you are going to have a good ad.

and one from the past...

No one knew who or what outpost.com was then and I am pretty sure they are out of business now but this commercial is amazing. It is inappropriate on so many levels. Despite being ineffective in raising awareness for the company it deserves a high five for hilarity. (PS: If you like this-- go see the other commercial where they unleash wolves on a marching band).

Heal Yourself!

Ugh! I feel like chilly death. This virus/plague has left me physically weakened.

Sudaffed is dead to me. If I have to wait in line like a criminal then I should be entitled to a product that works.

As far as job search stuff goes, I am applying to seven schools. The job that I really hope I get is teaching humanities and two of the quaker schools I am applying to need a humanities teacher (Charlottesville, VA and San Francisco, CA).

There are also a couple jobs dealing with study abroad programs that I am also applying to.

Right now I am just trying to get letters of recommendation in order. Blah.

Promise to be more creative as soon as I don't feel miserable.