What is it about certain songs? You know which ones I mean. The songs that stick with you, trigger certain feelings when combined with specific experiences. They get lodged in our brains, stored away to be released at exactly the right time.
I don’t know why, but the song Awful Sound by Arcade Fire gets me every time. I have listened to it probably a million times, but every once in a while, it knocks me right over. I’ve even already written a blog post about this before.
Read MoreIn my youth, I was a competitive figure skater. As an athlete, my training took on many forms. Sometimes I was ahead of the game, sometimes I was far behind. If I were to be honest, most of the time, I was just trying to keep up.
I got the odd injury, shoulders or back or in one case a broken nose, but I remained relatively healthy. The setbacks I experienced as a skater were more of my own doing. I could really be terrible to myself. My competitors really didn’t have to do much, I should have gotten a gold medal or two for defeating myself.
Read MoreA few weeks ago, I listened to the 1000th episode of the WTF Podcast with Marc Maron. It was a bit of a surreal experience listening to Maron and his producing partner Brendon McDonald talk about the history of the podcast. They went through it all - how they met, the events leading up to the creation of the podcast, and how it has evolved over the years. Maron even got all teary eyed at the end when he talked about the impact his partnership and friendship with McDonald has had on his life.
WTF was the very first podcast I ever listened to, and I can say with a certain amount of pride that I have listened to each episode since - all 1000 of them. You could say it has really stuck with me. I’ve gone in and out of devouring each episode as soon as it’s posted to taking breaks and binging those that had stockpiled.
Read MoreA few weeks ago, I woke up, made a cup of coffee, looked out the window to check the weather, and asked a question out loud to myself that I never thought I’d ask: “How did that red yoga mat get on top of that tree?” This is not a philosophical question or a fable I am imparting on you.
I live on the third floor of a condo building, and the tip of the tree outside was exactly parallel with my balcony. And at the top of the tree, a red yoga mat wrapped around some branches, gently rocking in the light wind. It must have been thrown from a floor above. I think it’s a fair assumption to say it was thrown out of anger. No one throws something off a roof with happiness in their hearts.
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