Sunday Random 10 - Adult ADD Edition

These tunes come to you courtesy of blip.fm

1. Sunshine of Your Love - Cream
2. Semi Sweet Hawaii - Nirvana
3. Brazilian Girls - Don't Stop
4. Something in Your Mouth - Nickelback
5. Time Warp - Alvin and the Chipmunks

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Listen to the Music

Barbara at Bad-Tempered Zombie has handed me a good writing prompt to save me from another week of nothing-much-going-on:  The Friday Random Ten.

The MO is to list the first ten songs that come up on your iPod.  Lacking an iPod, I'm letting a Pandora Quick Mix fill the bill, and it gives me:

1. Detours - Sheryl Crow

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Catching Myself in a Classic Lie, Part 2

Continued from the previous post: Why did I write “He paints the sky with stars” on the Facebook page of a respected non-theist who died earlier this year?

First off, the line comes from the title of a song by Enya. I listen to a lot of Enya, on Rhapsody and Pandora, as well as in the car. There are days when a good dose of “Only If” is the one thing that can ward off creeping depression. Enya is the sort of music you either love or hate. It’s perfectly formulated, commercially viable Celtic/New Age. It does exactly what the genre is set up to do. It calms, it soothes, it puts your mind at ease.

During my days as a believing Christian, I heard plenty of ominous statements about New Age, mainly that it was a “gateway” to occult or satanic practices. People like Bob Larson said it was “trance-channeling” music; he linked New Age with Hinduism, Buddhism, transcendental meditation, mind control, brainwashing and subliminal programming, all of which – and much more – are believed by fundamentalists to be in direct opposition to scriptural Christian doctrine. The list goes on and on.
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Energized, Uplifted, Uninspired, Sad.

All of the above are the feelings I came away with this evening, after a friend invited me to a gospel singing show at her church. An absolute wall of sound - incredible harmonies, voices that soared to the 20-foot ceiling and beyond, joy, celebration, ecstasy, heartfelt entreaties to the audience, folks in their 80s cavorting like high schoolers ... it was great on one level, but when I thought of how much mental and emotional energy is channeled toward what I'm sure is a non-existent entity, it was all I could do not to shake my head.

One group, though impressively talented, was different from the snazzily dressed throng on the stage - they were younger, a mixed group in street clothes, and they gave the clear impression that they'd spent a LOT of time in rehab, or perhaps behind bars. I understand that this is a kind of self-hypnosis for people who are down and out -- they focus on God, on Jesus, and it crowds out the craving for drugs, or the despair that leads to self-destructive and criminal behavior. All well and good, but when that spell breaks, so many people just slip right back to where they were. The flaw, as I see it, is that they're encouraged to acknowledge that they are "completely helpless and powerless" against their addiction or weakness. Wouldn't it make more sense for them to be coached about how, as humans, they have more choices, more personal power, more brain power, than any other creature, and that their potential is virtually unlimited, if they don't let themselves settle for the dregs of existence? To me, that might have the same effect as encouraging delusional thinking -- except the results might be permanent and more practical.

As I said...I just don't get it.

That's why I'd rather go broke buying tickets to Dylan... Click Here to Read More..

A handful of random one-liners

Just not organized enough to stick to one topic today, so here's where I dump the lint-catcher that resides between my ears...

Didn't want to to go church today, but glad I did.
A lot of people there have suffered losses in just the last week or so.
The choir has some good new people in it.
I waited too long to see the doctor about my foot, but we're working on getting it taken care of now.
Life could be better.
Why does the mutt next door always stop making noise as soon as I put on music to drown it out?
If Wally loses much more weight, he will disappear.
Seriously thinking about changing the theme for this blog, but worried I'll make a hash of it.
The days go by too damn fast.
Talked to my bff last night; it was good to catch up.
She hates weddings as much as I do.
I'd rather go to a funeral than a wedding.
At least with a funeral you can leave early and people assume you're grief-stricken and not just bored silly.
Funerals are way cheaper, too -- no gifts expected.
I'm feeling glimmers of optimism for this presidential election.
I just hope no one I'm pulling for does anything monumentally stupid to screw it up before Nov. 4.
Interesting how the tide seems to have shifted just recently.
Took long enough.
Michael Clayton was such a boring, pointless movie, I sent it back to Netflix after sticking with it for 30 minutes.
I like listening to Chris Isaak and have no idea why.
Coffee's ready; be right back.
Coffee pot needs cleaning.
Bookcases need reorganizing.
We surely do need rain.
The kitchen counter is a mess.
We really need a new refrigerator.
Facebook is addictive.
The husband of a friend of mine has been diagnosed with squamous-cell carcinoma.
Christmas will be here before we know it.
Anticipation of a bad outcome often keeps me from taking decisive action.
There sure are a lot of people in the news media who get paid beaucoups bucks and still haven't a clue about spelling, grammar or usage.
Ahh -- Warren Zevon.
Die Hard is still a great movie.
The first one.
Samsung makes better cell phones than Nokia.
I need to call Pete and wish him a happy 61st.
Slim Fast is a better idea than a milkshake from Arby's today.
They're closing Coney Island's Astroland.
Putting up more yuppie condos, no doubt.
I just hate what they're doing to New York City.
I'm so, so glad that Thomas Kinkeade is out of Carl's price range.
It's amazing how things can change in ten years.
Another hopeful sign: Michael Dowd
I don't even want to think about a fall wardrobe.
Comedians annoy me when they toss out what made them famous in the first place and go out of their way to create a "serious" public image.
Chicken parmigiana sounds like a good plan for dinner tonight.
I haven't owned a swimsuit since 2005.
Being an only child isn't such a terrible thing.
With an older sibling I'd have been an insufferable brat.
With a younger sibling I'd have been an overbearing bully.
The guy next door finally emptied out the crap from the bed of his old pickup.
There was someone sleeping in there yesterday.
Why do all ice cream trucks use the same music?
And what does "Turkey in the Straw" have to do with ice cream?
If I had my way, all existing recordings from Evanescence would be destroyed, and the lead singer would be sentenced to sing nothing but polkas for the rest of her life.
Three vacation days left.
One is scheduled already.
Sitting here doing this is not the best use of my time. Click Here to Read More..