Dancing in the Moonlight

There are at least 159,234 things I like about living where I do. And one of them is that at 8:30 on a monday night when I am finally done with being burned out, light-headed, congested and tired and thus can get in a decent run, I can run across the sand, strip off most of my clothes and dive headfirst into the waves. My expert opinion as a beach dweller is that the ocean feels 100% more awesome by moonlight than it does at high noon. Totally worth running home in squishy shoes and sopping wet clothes.

And with that, here are some things that were on my playlist tonight. It's not particularly great running music but sometimes my thoughts need the workout more than I do.

big girls don't cry
Yes, I confess, I have a toe on the Fergie bandwagon. I only like two of her songs, and they happen to be the two that feel sort of sincere and real. "Myself and I, we got some straightening out to do." I discovered today that my friend Greg went to high school with Ms. Fergie and he informed me that she was very cute back then but wore too much makeup. Anyway. Fergie. It's time to be a big girl now I guess.

maggie
My friend Lance was playing this in his car last August when we were exploring the coast of San Francisco. That trip was really fun and this song is really sad so I'm not sure why it seems to be the stand out track from the week. There are alot of things about last summer that I miss and this makes them feel closer.

have a little faith in me
I love this song. It's been covered quite a bit but this version is still my favorite. I'm working on faith in a whole bunch of things right now.

this time of year
So when I lived in Boston there was a little group of us who were completely addicted to late night skinny dipping in Walden Pond. It was the perfect combination of sneaky, slightly naughty, and stunningly beautiful that felt exactly like a thing we should be doing on warm summer nights. Sometimes Andy would make us a soundtrack for the drive and once he put this song on it. I hadn't heard it since my sophomore year of college when I listened to Lisa's Better Than Ezra CD constantly for the two weeks before and the two weeks after I got my heart good and crushed for the first real time (by a boy from Boston oddly enough.) I was pleasantly surprised that I still really like this song.

good good end
My mother has recently been converted to the joys of blog stalking. She has found a girl who reminds her of me a little bit and so she's been forwarding me some of her posts. I've explored beyond what my mother sends and I have found her to be a complete delight. She posted the lyrics to this song by a Christian group called Waterdeep and I teared up immediately. "I'm amazed my life, it's amazed by me. We're a strange old pair me and eternity. It don't make good sense, it ain't easy to see". Amen.

bittersweet
This is just an old favorite. I don't know if it's a relief or a burden when you realize and accept that so many things in life come in a bittersweet package. "more sweet than bitter, bitter than sweet."

time after time
If Cindy Lauper didn't write one other good song in her entire career, she should get in the Hall of Fame for this one alone. It's been covered by dozens and dozens of artists and somehow manages to feel fresh and new every single time I hear it. This is a version my brother Sterling brought home years ago by a husband and wife jazz duo called Tuck and Patti. Sometimes I can't figure out if I think this song is incredibly romantic or incredibly depressing. Is she a sweet devoted lover being patient with someone who is struggling to catch up or is she just a huge sucker who is totally getting played by a guy who will never get there? Either way it's a great song. And a quick check of the internet confirms that Tuck and Patti are STILL MARRIED. And have been for 25 years. So I can love this version sweetly with no bitter.

I predict a good night's sleep tonight.