Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! Danger!

OK – this is too, too weird…

Maybe I should explain…

For starters, let me announce that I'm having a difficult time getting back on track. I'm a little out of sorts, and not really for any good reason. Yes, I was sick, sick, sick this weekend – but it seems like I should be bouncing back more quickly than I am.

I suspect that I am in a bit of a funk because school started yesterday. Without me. Those of you who have been reading since the Spring may recall that I was a Preschool teacher. "Was," as in past tense. As in, not going back for the 2006-07 school year. (Long story short – due to politics*, my job was eliminated. In the interest of full disclosure, I was offered a different job at the school, and I opted not to take it. The aforementioned politics of the place was just too much…)

So even though it was (kind of) my choice, I do feel let down, and a little aimless. I know that this feeling will pass in a day or so, but I'm having a difficult time shaking it off today.
(Which is crazy, because I guarantee you that if I had reported to school yesterday, I'd be bemoaning the fact that "summer was too short! Can I have one more week??" )

So, if any of you happen to have a spare "kick in the behind" lying around, I'll take it! I suspect I need it…
I spent all day yesterday aimlessly starting stuff and finishing nothing**. I don't get in funks like this often, and on the occasions when I do; I tend to get even on my own nerves.

However, in the interest of self-motivation (and just in case you all were all too nice to administer the swift kick in the pants) I had an idea. A wonderful, awful idea:

"First of all," I thought, "I'll get out iPod, and I'll listen to some music. That might just give me the motivation that I need to Do Somethin'. And I'll put it on shuffle, and see what the MusicGods*** have in store for me."

"And then, to kill two birds with one stone, maybe I'll write a blog entry about the list. I always love reading people's iPod shuffle lists. Hey, and maybe I'll give it a cute name - like "The iPods of August", and who knows, maybe I'll make it a regular feature on the 15th**** of every month, and… and… and…"

OK, Laura Lancaster, slow down, let's just get out iPod...

So I did. And I eagerly started it up and switched to shuffle mode to see what came up.

The results speak for themselves:

  • Sour Times - Portishead (1994's Dummy)
  • Oh Yeah - Yello (1985's Stella)
  • Black Dog - Led Zeppelin (1971's Led Zeppelin IV)
  • The Breaks - Kurtis Blow (1980's Kurtis Blow)
  • Devil In Disguise - Elvis Presley
  • Ordinary World - Duran Duran (1993's [TheWeddingAlbum])
  • Your Heart Is An Empty Room - Death Cab For Cutie (2005's Plans)
  • All I Want Is You - U2 (1988's Rattle & Hum)
  • Build Me Up, Buttercup - The Foundations (released 1968)
  • Surrender - Cheap Trick (1978's Heaven Tonight)

Am I kidding with this list? I wish I were. I mean, how depressing sounding are the majority of these titles? Do the MusicGods have a message for me today? I think so. I'm going to go back to bed now… with the covers pulled over my head!
I was going to throw some sort of random happy picture in with this post, since it's been so long since I posted a picture, and I much prefer picture posts... But now, I'm just going to try not to alienate the universe any further....

Ay yi yi….
(It's just the titles that I getting me. I really like all these songs....)




*Preschool politics! Have you ever heard of anything so ludicrous???

**There are so many of you to whom I owe email, and to whom I want to email! I'll get it together again, I promise!

***MusicGods = imaginary deities that live in my car radio and my iPod. They play music that I like when the universe is happy, and curse me with sucky music when things aren't as rosy. The MusicGods are frequently cruel, and often kick me when I'm down...

****Get it? IPods? Ides? I know. It's totally lame. Did I mention I'm struggling???

6 comments:

laura capello said...

You need to do s-unt-in?

I'm sure you feel rather lost. But, really, there's a whole world of possiblities out there.

Or, you know, you could always clean out the garage.

Anonymous said...

I can so sympathize with you sweetie. The universe seems to be against me also. Too early to drink huh?

Anonymous said...

i wish you weren't having such a slump. and i understand your frustration with work. though i'm not in a situation at all comparable to yours, i'm less than happy and can't seem to mount any enthusiams for work at all, despite it being in a library.


oh, where have the days of library paste gone to?

i hope you perk up soon. perhaps the cooler weather will bring something deightful your way?

Anonymous said...

Struggling but still funny. 8-)
You'll get rolling in some direction soon. I felt that way when I quite teaching and my husband kept at it. I was kinda roaming around without direction for a bit. Once the fuzzy head clears something will come to you. Hopefully, in the mean time, the Music Gods will decide to be a bit more uplifting.

Anonymous said...

Okay, my top ten that came from my iPod...(shuffled, of course)

Piano Man---Mr. Joel

Centerfold--J. Geils Band (yes, it's on my iPod....go ahead, laugh)

Love shack--B52's

Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For---U2

I Will Follow---U2 (talk about coincidence)

You Shook Me All Night Long--AC/DC

September--EW&F

She's a Beauty--The Tubes

Angel of Harlem (HUGE U2 fan)

Ramble On--Led Zeppelin

I still find it stange that out of 842 songs 3 of them were U2 songs. Do these gods you speak of have anything to say for me?

Hope you feel better soon.

LLA said...

perhaps the MusicGods want you to emulate Bono, and are hinting that you need to donate more money to help fight poverty in developing nations???

Although, now that I think about it, I don't know that I should presume to interpret the MusicGods for anyone else. Maybe only you can interpret what your MusicGods think... Heaven knows I don't want to risk alienating mine any further. They're still put out with me, judging by what they offered up in the car this morning...

I do think that it is significant that you got so many U2s, though. I've got 3,800+ songs stored, and every once in while iPod serves me up a big old clump of something. Usually, there seems to be a reason behind it...