Love Songs for Bobby Long

NB: This post might come off as a bit scattered, but only because the song references make sense in my head, not necessarily the case in print. So please click the links and check out the songs, because otherwise...well...the post probably won't feel like much to you. And if it's not your kind of stuff, that's cool. I'm always open to new music suggestions, so pass on the good stuff!

"Breathe out, so I can breathe you in" [song]

Can you imagine someone whispering that to you? How about someone serenading you, edge of the bed, bedhead, acoustic guitar ....

I'm all for being "your everything", "your life, your love, forever and always" stuff (though I take issue with statements like that more often than not). I want to be someone's Delilah, Mary, Rani, Sonia. Hell, I'd settle to be someone's Jolene! But as much as I can appreciate the emotionally piercing lyrics of the conventional Celine Dion , Lionel Ritchie types, I swoon when I hear "Let's unwrite these pages and replace them with our own words" [song]. You've gotta love this song! It's just so carefree, bohemian contract work, all you need is love-esque.

Ask me to change your "D batteries"? [song] Now you've got me hooked! There are few love songs I would listen to over and over again and not hate. And I'm talking about the songs that make you feel all warm and fuzzy and embarrassingly cute if you've got someone, but by the same effect throw you to the ground and kick you in the groin if you've lost someone. But what I really love are these alternative love songs. Songs that use Words! They are rhythmic in a way that walks away, turns its head and sneers at the "love, dove, you surround me like a glove" or the "nose to nose, wrist to wrist" nonsense. How can you be wrist to wrist? That's an awkward position on a bed, isn't it? The only time wrists rub together are when you've just spritzed perfume on A wrist and need to get it on to the Other. Jeez louise, who writes this stuff?

The songs that I want to jump into and bask in their intelligent use of language are the ones that sound more real and gritty and yes, fluttery and happy and sure, maybe even a little hippie, too. "Jolene, Jolene" oh yes, Jolene you green-eyed beaut you. Can you please throw a man a bone? Or a man... whichever. [song]

Recently I discovered another great addition to my Love Songs for Bobby Long playlist (yes, that is a movie title, but it was a great movie and I love the title). The song is "Stereo Hearts" by Gym Class Heroes feat. none other than Adam Levine (yay!) [song, again]. Firstly, great name! Who doesn't love a  gym class hero? That could be anyone actually - the jock or even the principled kid in the back who stood up against the bully-jock or bully-teacher who picked on the scrawny kid during dodgeball practice.

Wander in the glory that is this beautiful song... oh lala!

"If I was an old-school, fifty pound boombox
Would you hold me on your shoulder, wherever you walk
Would you turn my volume up in front of the cops
And crank it higher everytime they told you to stop
And all I ask is that you don't get mad at me
When you have to purchase mad D batteries
Appreciate every mixtape your friends make
You never know we come and go like on the interstate"

Funky Colours

I went dress shopping with a friend of mine recently and actually really enjoyed myself. It was a very unconventional shopping trip. Firstly, I do not enjoy shopping – it was more or less a forced shopping trip. Forced because my sweet baby brother bought me a dress for my birthday and after having to return it twice he got fed up and left me with a bag and a receipt. Secondly, the friend I went with lives in a different country.

A few days ago I was talking to someone and he commented on not only how some of the people closest to me live outside Montreal, but that I actually stay in touch with the lot of them. I believe that once you’ve connected with someone, distance should have no bearing on that connection. This is why I tend to stay in touch with the people who matter, no matter where life decides to take the two of us. You know how it goes, some things in life are worth it -  so you invest.

This shopping trip was great! My plan was to take pictures and then via bbm (picture messaging) decide together which ones worked and which didn’t. So I walked into a clothing store, picked up a few prospects and headed to the changing rooms. At first I handed my phone to the clerk outside the changing room, hoping she could help me take the pictures. Let’s just say I was less than impressed with her photography skills. She was a great help when it came to zipping and tying strings though! Finally, I maneuvered my short arms at an angle and did an a-okay job if I don’t say so myself.

There were “yays”, there were “nays” and there was a “the top bit looks weird”. But it was by far one of the most entertaining shopping trips I’ve been on. I was anxiously awaiting responses as I bbm-ed the pictures to a faraway land. It was great!

In a time where we’re all equipped with technology on our laptops and smart phones. In the times of skype, facebook, various messaging services, twitter, facetime, bbm – how can you not stay connected? Granted, it only works if you enjoy the wondrous world of intricate, sometimes tricky, sometimes privacy-lax world of technology and social media.  I just happen to be one of those people. In a sociology class the hype word is “globalization”. The world is smaller, we are all interconnected through our economies. Really, we are all connected on such deep levels, connected in our experiences, in our plight, in our fights, our riots, our successes, our celebrations, our hunger. Today, we are even more so – let me introduce you to a whole new world *cue Aladdin singing to Jasmine on his magic carpet* a world where you can dress shop with someone who is physically miles away. Fashion-wise, maybe a little closer ;) Though there was a comment about my knack for picking similar colour schemes – I’ll leave the funky colours for my nails :p