"Beautiful Day"

31 July 2017:

"It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
It's a beautiful day" --U2, "Beautiful Day"

I was just sitting here feeling anxious about silly things and this song came on Pandora. About half-way through, I stopped and thought about the song itself. And then I had a memory...

My friend Bonnie, sits in her apartment in Greensboro, hosting a bunch of us as we play some game (maybe Risk? it was Risk a lot!) after gathering for a grad-school potluck (translation: everybody brings something cheap, it probably isn't fancy, but it's still good).

Clear as day, I can see her in a kind of complete-image memory: she's shuffling cards and singing this chorus as it plays in the background. And we are all, in that moment, pretty happy. We are poor, always a bit (or a lot) stressed, but we have each other and we have our cheap potlucks and board games and laughter and music.

So much has changed since then, and Bonnie died at a cruelly early age, but that little memory reminds me to pause for a bit and stop stressing over little stuff. It's a beautiful day, after all.

"Where the Streets Have No Name"

28 March 2017:
"I wanna run, I want to hide
I wanna tear down the walls
That hold me inside.
I wanna reach out
And touch the flame
Where the streets have no name." --U2, "Where the Streets Have No Name"

Heard this song, which I've always loved, at just the right time today--at a moment when I was feeling incredibly overwhelmed. It's been a strange day, with emotions all over the place, but this song lifted me when I needed it to.

Rainy night music...

"If I could through myself set your spirit free
I'd lead your heart away
See you break, break away
Into the light and to the day..."

Just a bit ago, as I was working on some notes for a project, U2's "Bad" came up on the Pandora station. I realized I hadn't heard this song in some time and found even more appreciation for it (and I already loved it). The energy, the frustration, the sadness, the elation, the crescendo...amazing.

Achtung Baby

I'm listening to this album as I work on one of my SAMLA papers. What a touchstone album this is for me! It brings my high school years right back to me (which is good and bad). The music, though, is anything but bad. Lately I've really been digging "Ultraviolet." Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing this documentary, which should air on Showtime later this month.

Okay--back to work I go. I'm in a groove, so I shouldn't mess with it and risk a "Kubla Khan" moment. (No, I am not seriously comparing myself and this little paper to Coleridge and his poem. And there's no opium involved.)

Good music always helps...

We are having some unexpected snow here this morning. It shouldn't amount to much, but the very fact that A) no one saw it coming and B) it is sticking is enough to get people excited, nervous, or both. I don't like it, as you can imagine. But here's one (small) comfort--I am not the only one with some minor PTSD from last year's historic snowfalls. Of the four students I've talked to so far, three are also not happy campers. This isn't normal--college students LOVE snow, especially during finals. Thanks to the Snowpocalypse, we are a damaged population here.

But, as I mentioned in my subject heading, music helps. I've got a Christmas mix going on my iPod which includes my current favorite holiday (non-religious) tune, which you can find here. Other favorites include this one and this one. I am going to stop myself here, though, as no one like a big old list of links...

Anyway, back to work I go. Happy grading to my academia-living friends!