Attempting to live and breathe for an audience of one
I’m constantly trying to figure out who I am. Should I go by my Twitter bio?
Jesus follower, wife, mother, daughter, Haitian-American, Presbyterian (PCA), Beatles fan, pop princess, non-mommy blogger, suicide survivor, and more…
My Twitter bio only allows 140 characters so I’ve always wondered what I would add as “more” if I had unlimited space. But I also want to define how I describe myself in my Twitter bio. So here goes nothing… Continue reading “Twitter bio and more…”
It’s a new year and my goal has been to get to the gym on the weekends. I’ve been trying to do 30 minutes or more on the elliptical. As such, there are 10 songs that I’ve selected that help me get through that crunch. In parentheses is the length of the song.
1. Free Bird: Lynyrd Skynyrd – Also on a list of songs I shouldn’t be listening to, this 10-minute power song is perfect for a warm-up that leads into an all-out energy charge. (10:08)
2. The New Workout Plan: Kanye West – This should also probably be on the list of guilty pleasures, but I really do push myself harder when he intones “double time.” (5:23)
3. King of the Dancehall: Beenie Man – The only song that I own by the Jamaican dancehall king, this is another song that’s actually crass. But the beat in the chorus helps keep me on track. (3:37)
4. Bionic: Christina Aguilera – A high-energy song from the get-go, this futuristic hi-tech sound makes for a heart-pumping few minutes. (3:21)
5. Less Talk More Rokk (Guitar Hero Version): Freezepop – Anything by Freezepop is pure techno heaven and perfect for exercising, but the slow beat at the beginning builds up like a roller coaster ride, taking you through musical twists and turns. I love this song to get my energy up then leveling it out. (4:59)
6. Bulletproof: La Roux – A dance hit during the summer of 2010, this song keeps me going nonstop for 3 straight minutes. (3:26)
7. Nothing in This World: Paris Hilton – I’ve listed Paris Hilton’s music as a guilty pleasure because, really, who should be listening to her? But thanks to some solid producers, this social heiress made a song that’s worthy of exercising to. The catchy beat revs me up on the elliptical. (3:11)
8. Oh Timbaland: Timbaland – A little known song off of Timbaland’s album Shock Value, Mr. Moseley encourages the listener to “bounce,” which is exactly what I do on the exercise machine. (3:32)
9. Come into My World: Kylie Minogue – How I could I not include a pop queen like Kylie on my list of workout songs? This song has a steady tempo that’s great for leveling energy out before cool down. (4:32)
10. Make It with You: Bread – It’s no secret that I’m a fan of soft rock, and this Bread song is perfect for slowing my heart rate down. (Or conversely, warming it up.) It’s a mellow song with great tempo. (3:14)
Almost everyone’s got songs that they listen to that they wouldn’t want to fess up to if you heard it in their car. But here I list 10 songs that I listen to that I really know I shouldn’t be.
1. Free Bird: Lynyrd Skynyrd – About a man who goes a-cheatin’ and isn’t repentant about it. There’s nothing redeeming in the song except perhaps that awesome guitar solo.
2. Turn It Up: Paris Hilton – I really shouldn’t be listening or paying attention to anything Paris Hilton does, but I love the beat in this song. Her voice is a tad annoying and breathy, but I can get past it.
3. Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey: Paul McCartney – This song is stupid and makes no sense. “Butter pie?” But I grew up with Paul McCartney as a solo artist and absolutely love the silliness of the song. The silliness and stupidity are what endear it to me.
4. Only Thing I Ever Get for Christmas: Justin Bieber – I always feel a bit like a teenage girl listening to the Biebs. I’m in my thirties. I really ought not to be listening to someone a full decade younger but gosh darn it, he’s so cute!
5. Hot Tottie: Usher featuring Jay-Z – Another song with no moral redeeming value. It’s about cheating too. But Usher’s singing is so sexy, the beat gets my body moving, and Jay-Z’s rap is clever (if not crass). It’s a song I really shouldn’t be listening to.
6. Circles: Christina Aguilera – On the same album in which she sings about loving, not hating, this song is totally about flipping the bird. “Spin around in circles on my middle, middle finger” is not really something I should be listening to but the playfulness of the song draws me in. Even if she ends it with a fine point like “motherf****r.”
7. Gangnam Style: Psy – This man could be talking about pooping on my mother for all I know since I don’t understand Korean. But I love doing that crazy horse dance. This will probably fall off my guilty pleasures list once Psy’s 15 minutes of fame are up, but I’m enjoying the song while it lasts.
8. Cheers (Drink to That): Rihanna – A song that celebrates drowning your misery in alcohol. I’m not an alcoholic (or much of an alcohol drinker) so I don’t know why I’m drawn to the song. (It may be the sample of Avril Lavigne’s “Yeah Yeah” from “I’m With You” that draws me in.) But I love to play it at the end of the long week and sing “Cheers to the freakin’ weekend.” Bonus points if I’ve got a beer in hand while listening to the song.
9. Hungry Like the Wolf / Rio: Glee Cast – Glee manages to do a bang-up job mashing up these two amazing Duran Duran songs. I don’t even watch Glee (I’ve seen a few episodes though) but I discovered this mix and haven’t looked back. I love singing along to this.
10. Reggae Strut: Neil Diamond – A Jewish boy from Brooklyn donning a bad Jamaican accent. Need I say more?
I’ve been a dedicated viewer of the new NBC series “The Voice” this season, and I’m thrilled to know that it’s doing so well that it’s been picked up for a second season. (I tend to kill brand-new shows simply by becoming a dedicated viewer as exemplified by the death of Martha Stewart’s “The Apprentice” and “Vanished.”) I was drawn to the show because of the star-studded coaches—one in particular really—and ended up loving the contestants.
I’m a huge Christina Aguilera fan. Haven’t always been that way (didn’t care for her “Genie in a Bottle” days), but after listening to the Stripped album (from her so-called skanky days), I became a dedicated fan. I don’t love all of her songs and it’s not that the girl can do no wrong in my eyes, but I’ve always seen her as a smart, strong female apart from her smart, strong vocals. Compared to Jessica Simpson and some of her other contemporaries, I know she’s not a dumb bottle blonde.
So when I heard Xtina was going to be one of the coaches on the new show, I was thrilled. After the debacle with bungling The Star-Spangled Banner lyrics, I couldn’t wait to see Xtina brush the dirt off her skirt, get back up, and woo us back to her by guiding other talented artists. For me, Xtina was the biggest draw into watching “The Voice” and I could have cared less about the other coaches, Cee Lo, Adam Levine (frontman for Maroon 5), and country singer Blake Shelton.
I’ve watched every single episode of “The Voice” this season, and while I can go into in-depth detail about why I love the show (maybe in another blog post), this post is really about how disappointed I am to see Christina living up to her diva/prima donna status (and I mean that in the bad sense of the word).
I know she’s been pretty self-absorbed and narcissistic all season long (her boobs always play a prominent role in each episode), but her height of conceit really came to a head for me at the show finale when all of my respect for her as a person came crashing down.
During the 2-hour long finale in which the remaining four contestants performed, Xtina looked dour and her comments for others were curt as if she seemed upset that one of the other contestants would beat her shining star, rocker Beverly McClellan.
Each of the coaches sung a duet with their final artist and Christina chose one of her favorite songs—“Beautiful,” her very own chart-topper! Of course, Beverly was simply honored to share such a fantastic song with the original singer and songwriter (Linda Perry), but Christina would expect nothing less because the song is so amazing. (Which it is but it’s totally another thing to shamelessly promote yourself like that.)
Then upon the conclusion of Beverly’s energetic performance of “Love Sick,” an original song written exclusively for the finale, Xtina had perked up significantly and gave her artist an enthusiastic standing ovation when she barely deigned to acknowledge the other singers (who, quite frankly, had much better original songs — iTunes sales back me up on this). (Disclaimer: Bev was one of my favorites this season so don’t think I’m slamming her.) A Twitterer I follow said it best about Xtina last night:
She’s been that way the entire season. EVERYTHING she says about everyone somehow comes back to her & her career.
And upon evaluating several performances over the course of the season, he couldn’t be more correct. Watch Beverly’s performance of “Love Sick” below or skip ahead to 6:45 to see how Xtina brings Beverly’s performance and singing all back to herself.
That really did me in. As much as I love Xtina’s singing ability and many of her songs, I lost respect for her by the end of the show. She proved herself to be a narcissist and to only care about things that revolve around her. I’m pretty sad to feel this way about her especially since she’s the only female on the show and the reason I even got interested in the show in the first place. I’ll still buy her albums and still consider her smart and strong but she’s too self-absorbed for me to like as a person any more.
So when I tune in to watch the second season of “The Voice” next February, I’ll instead be tuning in to watch Adam Levine and Blake Shelton, coaches whom I have grown to love, are clearly more fun, and don’t sit on too much of a high horse. (Cee Lo’s more down-to-earth as well, but his performances are weird and he’s creepy the way he hits on all the female contestants over 18.) Based on the coaches’ picks earlier in the season, I quickly jumped on the #TeamAdam bandwagon, but based on last night’s songs and performances, I’ve suddenly (and unexpectedly) found myself joining #TeamBlake and #TeamDia. And that’s the fun of the show for me: the person you end up voting for by the end of the season just might surprise you.
Fast-forward to 1:40 to hear Dia Frampton’s original song, “Inventing Shadows” that hit number one on iTunes.
If the above video doesn’t work, use the following link:
The Voice – Semi-finals: Maroon 5 Featuring Christina Aguilera Sings “Moves Like Jagger” – Video – NBC.com.
I’m trying to get back into the habit of exercising regularly at the gym. There are a few tunes that are the perfect tempo to get me warmed up, keep me at an energetic level, and help me to cool down. These are my tried and true (so far) that I keep going back to every time I fall away from the gym and come back… again.
*Power songs: Songs that either infuse high energy through a workout or last a long time, ie, “Free Bird” is a 10-minute song.
Feel free to let me know which song might be your fave for a workout session or suggest another one in the comments below!
This Journey Is My Own 