Monday, December 29, 2008

::Melinda sings:: “Billie Jean is not my lover….Its just a song that makes me move faster on the treadmill.”

As far as workouts go, the treadmill can be pretty boring--especially when you’re doing it in your basement. Walking at 3.5 miles an hour while starring straight into a wall of grey brick—all the while never getting any closer to it—doesn’t exactly constitute as mental stimulation. Lucky for me my iPod changes all of that.

Normally I like to listen to Taking Back Sunday while treading the mill (haha) because the songs tend to be upbeat and help me keep a good pace. Lately though I’ve become more and more inclined to shake my little yellow pod and shuffle it up a bit. Occasionally I’ll land on a slow song, which I’m quick to dismiss and move on to the next—slow songs aren’t good cardio motivators.
Tonight I was using the shuffle method and nearing my cool down pace when a sudden familiar beat came pulsing through my ears. (This might be a good time to warn you that the song selection on my iPod is somewhat odd & all over the place. Haha) My body reacted immediately and before I knew it I wasn’t cooling down—I was speeding up.

I’ll be the first to admit that Michael Jackson didn’t turn out to be the greatest guy, but let’s all be honest for just a second—that guy made some pretty rocking music! As soon as “Billie Jean” started playing through my headphones I was ready to move. Without even being told my feet fell into the rhythm of the beat and my hips (well the place on my body where hips should be…haha) started swinging in time too. With my head bopping, I moved my arms up and down in rhythm as well—I was dance-walking! (And I may have been lip-syncing rather loudly as well. I tend to do that on the ‘mill too because I figure people can’t hear me over the sound of it. I may be wrong on that…..haha)

There are few songs I think that when you hear them, no matter where you are or what you’re doing, you can feel your body react to them and cry out to move! Most of the time we hear these songs when we’re in a place where obeying that impulse would surely lead us to public humiliation—or a mortifying YouTube video that millions will see and mock. But none the less, it’s interesting isn’t it? I mean that most people (I’m just taking a hunch here, but I think I might be right) would have a similar reaction to mine when they hear “Billie Jean.” It’s one of those songs. A song we all know. A song we all like. A song that moves something deep inside of us—causes us to rock our head, snap our fingers, tap our feet, rock our shoulders, and sing along.

Oooo I just had a thought. Most of these songs tend to come out at wedding receptions. You know, where you see your cousin, your grandma, and all your other relatives who crawl out from under rocks for those functions “getting down” to “Baby Got Back.” (Bad mental image!!!)

So let’s hear it. Name me a song that when it comes on you just can’t help yourself and gotta move! A song you think most people tend to have the same reaction to. I’m interested to see if we all really do have some type of commonality when it comes to certain songs.

(Oh, and “Billie Jean” isn’t the only song that evokes this type of reaction from me…..haha)

Monday, December 22, 2008

Manholes: They eat people

While trying to rationalize why I hadn’t heard back from a guy who I thought was really interested in me my cousin mentioned this possibility:

“Maybe he fell down a manhole.”

And then I laughed. I so needed to laugh. “A manhole?” I said.

“Um, yeah. Those things are dangerous. And it helps to think of completely irrational things that could be preventing him from calling you other than the realization that he’s a total jerk.”

“Manhole it is,” I say.

This is the only explanation I can give for the said disappearance of said person. Surely he’s trapped under at least 10 feet of earth & tar, unable to communicate to the above ground world with a cellular device, and desperate to climb out so that his nimble fingers can once again communicate with the world via text. (Either that or he’s been kidnapped by the Daleks—points to me for the Dr. Who reference.) Let’s hope he can manage to claw his way out of the underground to contact me soon—or I’m reverting to her other suggestion that involved a waffleball bat.


**side note: I realize this blog is less than stellar to start off with so forgive me and be rest assured that future blogs will be more insightful, humorous, & thought-provoking. Apologies