Ode to Soundtracks

Do people still purchase movie soundtracks? The latest soundtrack that I can think of with any widespread appeal was Titanic and before that The Bodyguard. I was quite the fan of the Magnolia soundtrack with all Aimee Mann, but I don't think that caught on quite like "My Heart Will Go On." I'm feeling a little karaoke coming on...

If your life was a movie, what would be the soundtrack?
Instructions:

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend your cool... & a lot of the songs fit with
the setting


Opening Credits:
The Feeling – I Want You Now

Waking Up:
Sheryl Crow – My Favorite Mistake

First Day At School:
Keane – Put It Behind You

Falling In Love:
Rent: Original Broadway Cast - Finale

Fight Song:
Scissor Sisters - Ooh

Breaking Up:
The Dixie Chicks – Am I the Only One (Who’s Ever Felt This Way)

Prom:
98 Degrees – Because of You

Life:
Brooks & Dunn – You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone

Mental Breakdown:
Kenny Chesney – She’s Got It All

Driving:
Real McCoy – Come and Get Your Love

Flashback:
Robin Thicke – Got 2 Be Down

Getting back together:
John Mayer – My Stupid Mouth

Wedding:
Coldplay – God Put a Smile Upon Your Face

Birth of Child:
Beck - Ramshackle

Final Battle:
Norah Jones – The Long Way Home

Death Scene:
‘NSync - Celebrity

Funeral:
Schumann – Fairy Tales

End Credits:
Schubert: Octet in F major

Now I'm not much for these types of internet surveys, but a couple of my friends did it and I was intrigued. A couple confessions. 1) The first song that came up was one that I was far too embarrassed to put on here. So yes, I lied a little bit but keeping that part of my dignity means more to me than "pretending to be cool." 2) A couple Korean songs came up and I just didn't think that would be appropriate for my English-speaking/writing/reading audience.

I'm quite pleased. Breaking Up, Mental Breakdown, and Getting Back Together are nice serendipitous touches. Death Scene? Not so much.

Ode to Boyhood

Completely and utterly shameless.

Three things to say:

1) You too can purchase my entire outfit for right around $100. (I think quite a departure from perhaps some of the other entries on there).

2) I was checking out an item to my left at the flea market that I hadn't quite gotten to yet.

3) Said item was purchased. Yes, it looks ridiculous, and yes, it may be a woman's shirt. But I'm going to find some place to wear it.

Ode to Chicago

2.5 days of driving, a short stay in Boston, and then a nice comfortable flight to Chicago, the windy city. Fortunately, there was not so much wind, a whole lot of sun, and best of all, a whole lot of Cheryl. On the other hand, jet lag continued to linger on by a string and I was often met by Mr. Sandman a few hours earlier than I would have liked. Or perhaps that was a result of the wonderful cuisine?

Needless to say, what seemed like a daily tryptophan overdose was totally worth it.

First stop: a bit of Viet and a touch of Thai. I have no photos to document this.

Next, a satisfactory pasta lunch followed by an exquisite lemon Italian ice. Still no photos.

Deep dish dinner, at last. My mom and I were robbed of a first NYC-pizza moment when we took a Korean bus tour of the city. I was not about to let that happen in the city where pizza is religion. No photos of the dinner, but left-overs to come.

And then there was the day where we simply ate:

Starting off with a true taste of Chicago...





Followed by a snack on the Navy Pier...



Dinner in Puerto Rico...




Topped off with Cheryl's favorite ice cream (she has a membership card)...





A final culinary farewell from the windy city: leftovers...




So perhaps this post should be retitled an "Ode to Cheryl," for whom I would not have been able to experience the sights, sounds, and tastes of Chicago.

And now I cleanse.