TV As of Late

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Every TV season, I hope that I’ll find something new to watch. Unfortunately, it rarely happens. I’m more of a get-into-a-show-way-after-everyone-else-has-discovered-it kind of girl. That’s what I did with How I Met Your Motherand Modern Family. Right now, I should probably try Parks and Recreation, which I’ve never seen because I didn’t have the good sense to jump on the bandwagon when it started.

But what have I been watching lately? Here’s a rundown on some highlights:

Nashville

This is a new show that I do like. I’m not jumping out of my chair about it, but there is a lot to like about it. Connie Britton plays forty-ish veteran country music star Rayna Jaymes, whose most recent album isn’t living up to expectations. Meanwhile, Rayna, the married mother of two young daughters, is dealing with her husband’s campaign for mayor of Nashville, funded largely by Rayna’s rich and corrupt father and plagued by a potentially disastrous scandal. In the first episode, Rayna’s manager suggests that she go on tour with Juliette Barnes, a young, autotuned country crossover artist played by Hayden Panetierre. Rayna refuses. Juliette, who’s kind of like a more sexed-up, wild child Taylor Swift, seems like an obnoxious brat at first—especially when she both hires and hits on Rayna’s bandleader and ex-boyfriend, Deacon— but she becomes more three-dimensional as we learn more about her terrible childhood with a junkie mother.

Rayna is a pretty great character, feisty but down-to-earth. Juliette is an interesting foil to her who, despite her flaws, is becoming more sympathetic by the week. However, I could do without the tertiary storyline entirely. This involves Deacon’s niece, Scarlett, an aspiring songwriter involved in a love triangle. Most of the Scarlett scenes bore me. And while this show is entertaining, let’s call a spade a spade—it’s a primetime soap.

But one thing that really sets it apart is the original music. It’s produced by T-Bone Burnett, who has been involved in most of the best country music of the 21st century. (I’m not a huge country music fan, but I do like it.) In one recent episode, Rayna and Juliette perform an original duet onstage together, and it’s a showstopper. In another, Rayna and Deacon sing a lovely, intimate love song in a small club together. I’ll be buying the soundtrack once it’s released.

Oh, yeah—and did I mention that the show was created by Callie Khouri, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Thelma and Louise? Few people are better at writing female-driven entertainment, so there’s another reason to watch if you needed one.

The Mindy Project

I adore Mindy Kaling. I loved her on The Office and I loved her book, Is Everybody Hanging Out Without Me? I really had high hopes for her new show, but although I liked the pilot a lot, I’m pretty underwhelmed with where the show went from there. And it actually has nothing to do with Mindy’s character, who is awesome—it’s more that I can’t get interested in anyone else on the show.

Dexter

I’ve enjoyed this show since I started watching (it’s another one I caught up with on DVD). I like the dark humor and, although it’s a violent show about a serial killer, I find some parts of it weirdly touching. In the first season, there’s a flashback to when Dexter’s a kid and his father realizes that his son is a sociopath. His father teaches him how to channel his violent impulses toward people who deserve them, and says, in one of the most moving sentences I’ve ever heard on TV, “Remember this forever: you are my son, you are not alone, and you are loved.” And as the show goes on, it’s been interesting to see how Dexter, who at first thought he was incapable of love, clearly is able to feel love for others.

Season 6 started off promising but then went waaaay downhill, with a much-too-obvious reveal in the middle of the season and Deb creepily developing romantic feelings for Dexter. But then it kind of redeemed itself with Deb discovering Dexter’s secret at the end of the season. As of this writing, Season 7 has two episodes left, and it’s been pretty good, if unfocused, so far. Aside from the Deb finding out thing, there’s also LaGuerta getting suspicious of Dexter, a Ukranian mobster (who becomes more interesting when we find out that Dexter killed the man he was secretly in a relationship with) trying to kill Dexter, Dexter beginning a relationship with a pretty blonde murderer named Hannah, Quinn being an idiot by getting involved with a stripper who works for the aforementioned Ukranian mob, and Batista deciding out of nowhere to buy a restaurant. So I’m not quite sure where the last couple of episodes are going, although I do think they’ll be doing more with the idea that, contrary to what he used to believe, Dexter doesn’t really need to kill and maybe isn’t a sociopath at all.

As uneven as this show can be, one consistently awesome thing about it is Deb. WHY THE HELL DOES JENNIFER CARPENTER NEVER GET EMMY NOMINATIONS?! Deb has always been the best character on the show, hands-down. She’s a great foil for Dexter—while he’s always hiding something, Deb is hilariously obvious, blurting out whatever’s on her mind and dropping f-bombs every two seconds. And even when she’s given a ridiculous storyline like (ick) falling in love with her brother, Jennifer Carpenter acts the hell out of the role. I really hope that when Dexter ends, she gets her own show so that she can get the recognition she deserves.

American Horror Story

This is a freaking weird show. I watched the first season in October, since I like watching scary things around Halloween. It’s incredibly campy, over-the-top, and derivative (I can see influences of Frankenstein, Rosemary’s Baby, The Sixth Sense, What Lies Beneath, Carrie, Fatal Attraction, The Shining, and about a zillion other horror movie tropes), but somehow I could not look away. The first season involved a married couple (Connie Britton and Dylan McDermott) and their teenage daughter (Taissa Farmiga, the much-younger sister of Vera Farmiga) moving into a haunted house following a stillbirth and an affair. As it turns out, a shitload of people have died in the house. Now their ghosts cause all kinds of trouble there, and Jessica Lange, chewing scenery as the next-door neighbor from hell, causes a lot of trouble of her own. Connie Britton is great, providing some realism to even the most over-the-top plotlines, and Taissa Farmiga is excellent as the moody teenager Violet.

The second season is still airing now. This is an anthology series, so each season is basically its own miniseries. Season 2 reused a lot of the same actors but with a completely new setting (a 1960s insane asylum) and different characters. Unfortunately, after two episodes I couldn’t get into season 2 at all, so I’m not watching it. But the first season is worth a watch for horror movie fans.

The Voice

I’m still watching this season but am not quite as into it, honestly. I thought a lot of the best people went home before the live shows and my favorite who did make it to the live shows, Amanda Brown, just went home. I’m kind of indifferent about the four remaining singers, so at this point I’m just watching it for the coaches. Adam Levine, in particular, is cracking me up—his going off on a random tangent about how he hates The Roxy was pure gold.

 

Friday Night Lights

Man, between Nashville, American Horror Story, and this show, which I’m slowly working my way through on DVD, there is a lot of Connie Britton in my life right now. She is wonderful—although, does she ever play characters who aren’t warm and likeable?

Actually, Friday Night Lights was a show that was mostly about warm, likeable characters. Which is probably why, despite low ratings, this show managed to hang on for five years, two of which were spent on DirecTV. I’ve only seen Season 1 so far, but I’m looking forward to the rest of it. I feel like, contrary to recent trends in TV shows, it managed to pack a narrative punch while being quiet and subtle rather than over-the-top, and it’s refreshing to watch.

And speaking of shows that moved to DirecTV,

Damages

I’ve not yet seen Season 5, so don’t say anything about it in the comments! So far, this show seems to follow one awesome season with another kind of dull one. Season 1 was freaking amazing, but Season 2 couldn’t live up to the previous season. Season 3 didn’t reach Season 1 levels of brilliance, but was impressive enough to restore the show to glory. Sadly, Season 4, its first on DirecTV, just didn’t have an interesting enough season-long arc to hold my interest. But if the pattern keeps up, Season 5 should be much better. I guess I’ll find out soon.

Song of the Moment: “Who Am I?”

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(Yeah, yeah, Les Mis again. For those of you reading this on Google Reader, pop over to my blog—I’ve actually started an “obsessing over Les Mis” tag.)

I think most popular musicals have one underrated song—the one that, when you first hear it, makes you wonder why you haven’t heard it before. For Wicked, it’s “The Wizard and I.” For Rent, it’s “Santa Fe.” And for Les Mis, it’s “Who Am I?”

This song comes at a point in the musical where Jean Valjean has learned that another man has been arrested and brought to court for his own crimes. In the song, he ponders what to do—should he say nothing, condemning an innocent man but also ensuring that the lives of the workers in the factory he oversees are not upset and that he will be able to care for Fantine’s daughter when she dies? Or should he go to court to set the man free, remembering the lesson he was taught years ago that set him on the path to reforming his life?

I love this song because it succinctly captures a moral dilemma without sacrificing the complexity of it. Valjean struggles with his identity—is he the mayor and factory owner responsible for the employment of many workers, or is he still the convict with the prison number 24601? Is he someone who can abandon those who depend on him? Is he someone who can let an innocent man suffer for his own crimes? Is he still the man he became after making the promise to the bishop years ago? Is he someone who can face the consequences of whatever decision he makes?

I wish I could find a good YouTube clip of the staging of this song. It starts out with Jean Valjean singing alone on a dark stage, and as it crecendos into the line, “Who am I? I’m Jean Valjean!” the courtroom where the innocent man is on trial appears behind him. When he gets to the last line, “Who am I? 2-4-6-0-1!”* he reveals his prison tattoo. But the brilliant Colm Wilkinson’s version here, at the 10th anniversary concert, is excellent.

IS IT CHRISTMAS DAY YET? AAAAAHHHH!!!!!

*Incidentally, these were the first words I ever wrote on this blog.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPIos2mXbUE]

Why I’m Not At My 10-Year High School Reunion

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Tonight is my ten year high school reunion.

I am not there.

I admit, originally I decided not to go after looking at the Facebook group for my high school class. Our class president (side note: apparently our class officers get stuck planning every reunion until they die, which I’m not sure they realized when they ran for an office that they probably only wanted because it looked good on a college application) asked us to post updates on our lives for our alumni magazine (which I didn’t even know we had), and the responses would put the Smug Marrieds from Bridget Jones’s Diary to shame. No one was married at the five year reunion, but apparently, people have gotten busy getting married and reproducing in the five years since then. While the five-year was hilariously awkward (seriously, the entire event consisted of people walking around with forced smiles saying, “Hi! How are you? Isn’t this awkward?”), I envision this one as full of people showing off engagement rings and pictures of their kids. And it embarrasses me that not much has changed since I couldn’t get a date in high school—I’d never had a boyfriend then, and now, at twenty-eight, I still haven’t.

That’s not the only reason, though. Another reason is that I just haven’t stayed in touch with many people from high school. Those I have I can keep up with through Facebook, and the rest…well, honestly, I never think about them and don’t particularly care what they’re doing now. And although I wrote an article for the school newspaper at the end of senior year about how high school is what you make of it and how it’s your own fault if you aren’t going to miss anything from high school (I found out from my younger cousin that the health teachers started passing that article out to the freshmen after I graduated), in truth, I haven’t missed high school once since I graduated.

High school was a weird time in my life. Not a bad time. Middle school was awful—I talked about it here, but in middle school, people were really mean to me on a daily basis. The pop culture stereotype is that high school is like that, but it wasn’t for me. The way I remember it, high school was probably the most self-centered times of our lives. We were all trying so hard to get into college that we didn’t have time to think about how weird that kid in our biology class was.

More than anything, when I look back at high school, I remember how busy I was all the time, and I don’t know how I ever got through it. I swam six days a week during the fall and, for a couple of years, several days a week in the winter. I always took multiple honors and AP classes. I sang in the chorus and, senior year, in the treble choir. In the spring, I ran track and was part of the musical cast. I was arts editor of the newspaper, fundraising director of Student Council, and sports editor of the yearbook. I studied for SATs, applied for summer jobs, took driver’s ed, and searched for a prom dress. Maybe you just have more energy when you’re a teenager, but I could never do all of that now. I’m exhausted just thinking about it.

And what was the result? Well, I didn’t have a lot of friends, but I didn’t have a lot of people who disliked me, either. I graduated in the top 5% of my class—18 out of a class of something like 367. I wasn’t a great swimmer (senior year, I missed the sectional cut in 100-yard butterfly by 0.17 seconds), but I was respectable—in fact, a friend of Jackie’s from grad school graduated from my high school two years ahead of me, and when I saw her at a party Jackie invited her to, I was surprised when the first thing she said to me was, “You were on the swim team!” I AP’d out of English and math in college (I passed the AP US history exam, too, but it didn’t get me out of anything). And while no one cares about your SATs after age eighteen, I kind of wish that wasn’t the case, because mine were actually good! (740 verbal, 710 math, and while the writing component didn’t exist back then, I got 790 on my SAT II for writing.)

The real result, though, was that I got into Boston College, and in a lot of ways, I feel like my life didn’t begin until then. For the first time, I started breaking out of the sheltered little bubble I’d grown up in. I met the people who became my best friends. I did activities like chorale because I liked them, not because they’d look good on a resume. I learned things that I still remember now, not things I forgot as soon as finals were over. And I had the time of my life, which I got to relive at my five-year reunion.

Middle school was the miserable kind of time that builds character. College was wonderful. But high school was just a time of my life when I was preparing for something better. Now I’m in the something better—and I see no reason to relive the part of my life when I was preparing for it.

I do have some great memories of high school, though, and one of my favorites is how at the end of our class banquet (an event that had dinner and dancing but was much more casual and less stressful than the prom) we all stayed to the end and formed a circle with our arms around each other as we sang along to our class song, Madonna’s “I’ll Remember.” Even though I’m not there, I wish all the best to the people of the class of 2002. I hope you’re having fun tonight.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0628NtGJAWQ]

Thanksgiving

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One last thing I have to write about if I’m writing about gratitude.

Both of my parents are from Massachusetts, where I grew up. Both of them also have multiple siblings- my mom is one of six and my dad is one of four- and they all live in New England, too. So I have a lot of aunts, uncles, and cousins (twelve first cousins- I’m the oldest on my mom’s side and the oldest girl on my dad’s) who I got to see a lot growing up and still get to see fairly often now. While my mother’s mother is my only grandparent still alive now, I saw my grandparents a lot growing up, too.

 

 

I hear so many people complaining about their relatives and talking about how family gatherings always lead to arguments. Or else their extended family lives far away and they either aren’t close to them or, if they are, they never see them and don’t do holidays together.

 

 

I’m really lucky that’s not the case for me. I actually like my relatives AND I get to see them pretty often. I think sometimes about how if I ever get married, I wouldn’t be able to have a small wedding because I’d have to invite all my aunts, uncles, and cousins- but I wouldn’t want it any other way.

 

 

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. And now it’s finally okay to break out the Christmas music!

But I Really Just Have Friends

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I’ve had this post in the back of my mind since I started contemplating gratitude at the beginning of the month, but I felt like if I wrote it, it would come out wrong. And maybe it will, but I’m still going to try and write it.

I was thinking lately about the moments of my life when I’ve been the happiest or when I’ve felt the most joy, and I realized that they have one thing in common: I was with my friends. 

Like this entire weekend, when everyone was happy. Or this summer when I saw some of my closest friends in California. Or when my BC girls and I united in DC, also this summer. Or pigging out on beer, pancakes, and cheese fries after the half-marathon a couple of weeks ago. Or last Friday, when I went outlet shopping with my friends, bought a great bag at an awesome discount, and actually had fun (seriously, that’s a huge deal- normally I hate shopping!). Or any number of moments just hanging out and laughing in college or in the six years since.

I haven’t told a lot of people about this, but I have a great group of friends I met online on a Gilmore Girls forum eight years ago or so. I’ve met a few of them in person. We’ve all seen each other through marriage, divorce, relationships beginning and ending, new babies, deaths of family members, graduations, new jobs, losing jobs, moving, and any other big life event you can think of. We’re all very different, but we’ve formed a little online family- two of them actually became roommates earlier this year. They are fun, amazing, funny, loving, forgiving people, and whenever I have something I want to talk about and don’t know who else to tell, I tell them.

I can be a difficult person to be around. I can be moody and angry and overly nervous, and sometimes I’m not successful at hiding those things about myself. But I have friends who have seen those parts of me and, for some reason, don’t judge and still want to be around me. Friends who have helped me through my worst times- my first year out of college, when Christina was one of the few things keeping me from completely losing it, and when my anxiety got really bad.

I am beyond thankful for all of this. What I need to do my best to make sure is that I am as good of a friend to these people as they have been to me.

(Post title comes from this song.)

Playlist of the Moment: Half-Marathon Playlist

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On Sunday, I completed my third half-marathon! My time wasn’t great, but frankly, I didn’t train as much for this one as I did for my previous ones due to being busy, being lazy, and a bout of what I think is plantar fasciitis in my left foot. But I finished, the course was beautiful (it was completely in Newton, MA, and part of it went by BC!), and the weather was awesome. And I didn’t get sick like I did for the last one! My friends Julie and Pam also ran it and did great, and the race was followed by a fun after-party. (At a bar in which they were out of a lot of the beers we asked for due to a large party of “zombie Santas” drinking them the night before.)

Music definitely helps long runs go by faster, and although I listen to all kinds of things while running and did my twelve-mile run listening to the Les Mis soundtrack (yeah, I know, you could probably start a SST-S drinking game with how many times I mention this musical), this is my favorite running mix. It’s purportedly a running pump-up mix, but it’s very me-specific and probably not the kind of thing everyone would listen to (did I mention there’s a Celine Dion song on it?) My taste in music remains questionable as always, but they’re all songs that are about running, winning, fighting on, persevering, or being a champion…or else they’re just upbeat and fun to run to. Anyway, here they are:

Half-Marathon Playlist

1. The Vengaboys, “We Like to Party”
2. Nelly, “#1”
3. Eminem, “Lose Yourself”
4. Village People, “YMCA”
5. Celine Dion, “The Power of the Dream”
6. Destiny’s Child, “Survivor”
7. Ricky Martin, “The Cup of Life”
8. Jimmy Eat World, “The Middle”
9. Katrina and the Waves, “Walking on Sunshine”
10. Trapt, “Headstrong”
11. Hoku, “Perfect Day”
12. Christina Aguilera, “Fighter”
13. Chumbawamba, “Tubthumping”
14. Gloria Estefan, “Reach”
15. Whitney Houston, “One Moment In Time”
16. R. Kelly, “The World’s Greatest”
17. Lady Gaga, “The Edge of Glory”
18. Army of Me, “Perfect”
19. Kate Voegele, “Lift Me Up”
20. Colbie Callait, “Somethin’ Special”
21. Clique Girlz, “Incredible”
22. Sheryl Crow, “So Glad We Made It”
23. Taylor Swift, “Change”
24. 3 Doors Down, “The Champion In Me”
25. Survivor, “Eye of The Tiger”
26. Kelly Clarkson, “Stronger”
27. Queen, “We Will Rock You”
28. Queen, “We Are the Champions”
29. Bruce Springsteen, “Born To Run”
30. Theme from Chariots of Fire
31. Journey, “Keep on Runnin’”
32. Gloria Gaynor, “I Will Survive”
33. Rascal Flatts, “When The Sand Runs Out”
34. U2, “Beautiful Day”
35. ABBA, “The Winner Takes It All”
36. Gym Class Heroes, “The Fighter”

 

And Now For Something Completely Different

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I love to sing. Love. To. Sing. It makes me happy like nothing else does. It relieves stress like nothing else does. Case in point: we had a shortened chorus rehearsal on Election Night, and the one-hour break in which I sang Vivaldi’s Gloria rather than watch election coverage was much needed and much welcome.

I love singing in the chorus that I’ve been with since 2008. I love singing karaoke with my friends. When I had a car, I loved singing along with the radio. Now, when I’m home alone, I love singing at the top of my lungs. When my roommate was away for the weekend, I spent the whole weekend singing “All That Jazz,” and “Defying Gravity” and the entirety of Les Mis for Juno’s entertainment.

Yes, this is how cool I am. I SING SHOW TUNES TO A DOG.* Although, I don’t think Juno minds- she’d probably sing herself if she could. My roommate and I are pretty sure that if Juno, who has very high self-esteem, could talk, she’d be singing a song that goes something like, “I’m the cutest! I’m the cutest! I’m the cutest!” (It’s not a very complicated song because she’s not a very complicated dog.)

In this period of gratitude, I felt like I should write about this because it really is something that has consistently brought me great joy. I’m not so sure if this will bring anyone else joy, but if you’ve ever wondered what my singing voice sounds like outside of KROD, here’s me singing “Back to Before” from Ragtime, a lovely song that I included on my “Sad Broadway” playlist. I am definitely not Marin Mazzie or Christiane Noll, and it’s a crappy recording that I did on my computer, but if you want to hear me, listen away. (And if you want to hear me and are reading this in Google Reader, open up my actual blog to hear it.)

*I also sing “The Juno Song,” which is to the tune of “Voicemail #5” from Rent and goes something like, “Juno/You are a puppy/Juno, I love you/You are so cute.” Oh, God, I’m going to regret revealing exactly how weird I am, am I not?

Cooking and Pinterest

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For a long time, I didn’t cook. I used to come home from work and heat up a Lean Cuisine or pick up something quick on the way home. It wasn’t that I didn’t like cooking, I just didn’t want to make time to do it.

For a long time, I didn’t get Pinterest, either. I even wrote a post where I said how I didn’t like it. Well, I stand corrected—Pinterest is awesome. And so is cooking. And cooking withPinterest is the best of all. (I still don’t like the other four things I mentioned in that previous post, though.)

So, time to share with you some of the Pinterest recipes I’ve tried and loved recently. And feel free to follow me on Pinterest here!

Avocado Toast

I love avocado and guacamole, but it had never occurred to me to spread it on toast. This was super-easy to make and tasted awesome—and the red pepper flakes are what give it that extra “oomph.”

Avocado Fries

THESE ARE FREAKING AMAZING. I never would have thought of this. Fried slices of avocado covered in breadcrumbs? It sounds so weird but they are really, REALLY good.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that this was a possibility. A crust made from cauliflower? Yep, believe it. And while you shouldn’t expect it to taste like normal crust, it is good. I am going to have to try it again, though—mine turned out a bit burned in some places, so I recommend making sure that the crust is spread evenly before baking it.

Crockpot Cashew Chicken

So. Freaking. Good. I need to utilize my crockpot more often. I like to try to make myself the kinds of dinners I have when I eat out, and I do love cashew chicken. This was delicious, and the recipe gave me enough food for dinner all week.

Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle

I’ve been making a lot of seasonal desserts—pumpkin, apple—lately, and this was one of my favorites. I made it when Julie came over to play a Downton Abbey drinking game with me—I figured we needed a British-esque dessert! It was super-easy to make and tasted great. (Although, once you spoon it into a dish, it looks kind of gross.)

Candy Corn Bark

You might not be able to make this again until next year, since candy corn has disappeared. But I made it for my chorus (we have a bake sale every week) and it was a big hit! I recommend using regular chocolate rather than white (because, seriously, real chocolate is always better than white chocolate).

I have a zillion more recipes I want to try. I might never be a great cook, but I enjoy it, I’ve made some tasty food, and it makes me happy!

On Celebrating Thanksgiving

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Halloween is over and Christmas is coming. But this year, I am on a mission not to forget that holiday that comes in between them.

Thanksgiving.

You know, the one with all the turkey and football. (And, speaking of “the one with,” a lot of good Friends episodes, too.) But it seems like every year, Thanksgiving gets shoved further and further out of the way as retail stores insist that the Christmas season starts right after Halloween. This year, Target even started running commercials that basically said, “Get ready to get ready for Christmas,” in October. And as much as I love Christmas, like Nordstrom, one of the few retail exceptions to that rule, I believe in celebrating one holiday at a time.

One of the nicest compliments I’ve ever gotten was from someone I had just met. About four years ago, I was on a business trip in Savannah and had dinner with a freelance editor I was working with and had only spoken to on the phone. I was a little nervous about having dinner alone with someone I didn’t know, but she turned out to be awesome and we had some great conversations. At the end of the night, she told me, “You seem like a very positive person.”

I loved being told that, and while it’s true of me often, it certainly isn’t always true. If you read this blog, you know that despite my best efforts, sometimes I can’t resist being emo or bitching and complaining. And while letting out negative emotions can be therapeutic, I think pushing them aside to focus on the positive can be equally so. While there are many things in my life I’m not happy with, there are many more things that bring me joy. And while I do think the phrase “first-world problems” is overused (taken to the extreme, it would pretty much mean that you only have the right to complain if you’re a sick, starving orphan in a developing country), it really does apply to most of the problems I do have.

This year, I am going to attempt to spend this time between Halloween and Thanksgiving being thankful for what I have. Unless some kind of major tragedy (we’re talking death, destruction, or serious injury or illness) happens between now and November 22, all my blog posts during that time will be on what I love and what makes me happy.

This will be especially challenging due to Election Day next week. All the negativity surrounding it, both in the presidential election and in a close senatorial race in Massachusetts, is wearying me. I feel a lot like this little girl:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjrthOPLAKM]

And after that, maybe I’ll get back to bitching and moaning. But I’ll do my best not to.

Song of the Moment: “Atlantic City”

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Hurricane Sandy has come and gone. Here in Boston, most of us are relatively unscathed- my office was closed for two days, but I didn’t lose power and there wasn’t any major damage to the area where I live.

Sadly, not everyone can say the same. I’ve been looking at photos from parts of New York and New Jersey and they are just heartbreaking. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone dealing with the damage the storm has left.

My friend Carr, who’s a New Jersey native, posted this song on Facebook today. Bruce Springsteen is one of the best things ever to come out of New Jersey, and this is one of my favorite songs by him. The line from the song that’s always haunted me seems appropriate for the events of this week:

Everything dies, baby, that’s a fact
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back

 
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-LIEr43_wk]