We get distracted by the dreams of our own But nobody's happy while feeling alone

Artist- Nickel Creek
Song of the day- Reasons Why

As I was sitting in the park today this guy who looked like your average outdoors guy in shorts, a backpack and juice bottle, sat down next to me and asked me what there was to do in Chicago during the day. I answered with no brilliant ideas he hadn't heard before, though he didn't seem to even care about what I said as he dove into his recent life predicament of dying on a hospital table, suing the hospital, being at odds with his family, losing his job and looking for a place to live. I didn't really understand most of it but kept asking questions cuz he seemed like he wanted to talk about it. He had been traveling for the last month to Europe and Asia and various beaches. He told me how he wasted so much time on his career and after almost or I guess dying he just wanted to do what made him happy, what he did on the few days of vacation he had, travel and surf. As we talked I couldn't get over how lost and lonely he seemed. He didn't know what he'd do next, what would happen, but right now he just traveled, asked people of things to do. It was sad and kind of a respectable thing to hear. It reminded me of this song, of how so many of us are just roaming, stumbling through countless mistakes in search for something worth living for. I thought about telling him what I found, what I live for, and maybe I should have, but as I watched him walk down the lake alone passing people and families laughing and playing in the water I hoped what he was looking for would find him. My hope is the same for you today and everyday.


Nickel Creek - Reasons Why
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Where am I today, I wish that I knew
'Cause looking around there's no sign of you
I don't remember one jump or one leap
Just quiet steps away from your lead

I'm holding my heart out but clutching it too
Feeling this sort of a love that we once knew
I'm calling this home when it's not even close
Playing the role with nerves left exposed

Standing on a darkened stage
Stumbling through the lines
Others have excuses
But I have my reasons why

We get distracted by the dreams of our own
But nobody's happy while feeling alone
And knowing how hard it hurts when we fall
We lean another ladder against the wrong wall

And climb high to the highest rung
To shake fists at the sky
While others have excuses
I have my reasons why

With so much deception
It's hard not to wander away
It's hard not to wander away
It's hard not to wander away

Yes the answer lies within, so why not take a look now?

Artist- Cat Stevens
Song of the day- On the road to find out

I remember listening Cat Stevens or more accurately / recently Yusuf Islam riding in the car with my dad, which spurred most of my love for the 70-80s genre, but I truly fell in love with his music the same time I fell in love with one of my favorite movies "Harold and Maude" in which he wrote all the songs. And as I was watching the film again tonight this song in particular played louder to me. Earlier (after seeing "Eat, Pray, Love") my friend Sarah asked me if I thought people had to go on "journeys" to find themselves...she said it in a much more eloquent and less cliche way as I just did. My immediate answer was yes, cuz that's how I did. Something about leaving home and going to surroundings that are somewhat foreign to you, whether college or Bali with a guru and hot men. But we both wondered why that was? If it depended on the person? If you could learn the same things and never leave home? This song made me rethink a bit. How change and knowledge and who we are all comes from within us all along. Then I wonder why in the getting away do we find something so special? It's an interesting question. What do you think? Either way here's to all of us at home or miles away from it, all of us still on the road to find out.



Well I left my happy home to see what I could find out
I left my folk and friends with the aim to clear my mind out
Well I hit the rowdy road and many kinds I met there
Many stories told me of the way to get there

So on and on I go, the seconds tick the time out
There's so much left to know, and I'm on the road to find out

Well in the end I'll know, but on the way I wonder
Through descending snow, and through the frost and thunder

Well, I listen to the wind come howl, telling me I have to hurry
I listen to the robin's song saying not to worry

So on and on I go, the seconds tick the time out
There's so much left to know, and I'm on the road to findout

Then I found myself alone, hopin' someone would miss me
Thinking about my home, and the last woman to kiss me, kiss me

But sometimes you have to moan when nothing seems to suit yer
But nevertheless you know you're locked towards the future

So on and on you go, the seconds tick the time out
There's so much left to know, and I'm on the road to findout

Then I found my head one day when I wasn't even trying
And here I have to say, 'cause there is no use in lying, lying

Yes the answer lies within, so why not take a look now?
Kick out the devil's sin, pick up, pick up a good book now

Oh, what good is it to live with nothing left to give Forget but not forgive, not loving all you see

Artist- Coldplay
Song of the day- Swallowed in the Sea

I knew this guy a few years ago, the kind of guy you don't believe really exists till you meet him. And not just in the "good man is hard to find" kind of way but I remember being actually surprised by him. It was his passion for life and for God and for people that was so shocking. Unless you know him or his story it's hard to describe. To him each day, each moment was this amazing adventure that God was leading him on. Every person to cross his path he saw as a gift and would immediately cherish them, dive into their lives, genuinely curious about who they were. He lead a group of us through India and I would often see him on a crowded Kolkata bus laughing and talking with random strangers. He would come back with new friends all the time and so nonchalantly bring up God to anyone. I've toured mosques in Bangladesh with him as he sat with the most devout Muslim's joking and taking pictures, I've been detained at border crosses waiting for him for hours where I was certain we were about to be kicked out of a country or arrested only to see him leaving shaking hands and smiling with officials. He tours the world meeting people on his way just going on adventures with God and it's a kind of faith that inspires and scares me and leaves me with a desire to do the same. I remember trips on day long train rides he would borrow my ipod and tell me how he constantly listened to this one song and how beautiful it was in the way it painted love. And I have to say to this day I still don't fully understand this song, but can't stop thinking about it. I think it was the smile in his face I remember, it was the same smile he would get when talking about his future wife. He hadn't met her yet, but knew God had something amazing in store for Him like He always does. And I haven't really talked to my friend Benji in ages but I saw his wedding picture today after he married his wife just yesterday. And it was that same smile. That same excitement for life and love and God. So here's to my inspiring friend and everyone on making life an adventure I so often take for granted. Make it an exciting one today.



You cut me down a tree and brought it back to me
And that's what made me see where I was going wrong
You put me on a shelf and kept me for yourself
I can only blame myself, you can only blame me

And I could write a song a hundred miles long
Well that's where I belong and you belong with me
And I could write it down or spread it all around
Get lost and then get found or swallowed in the sea

You put me on a line and hung me out to dry
Darling, that's when I decide to go see you
You cut me down to size and opened up my eyes
Made me realize what I could not see

And I could write a book, the one they'll say that shook the world
And then it took, it took it back from me
And I could write it down or spread it all around
Get lost and then get found and you'll come back to me
Not swallowed in the sea

And I could write a song a hundred miles long
Well, that's where I belong and you belong with me
The streets you're walking on, a thousand houses long
Well, that's where I belong and you belong with me
Oh, what good is it to live with nothing left to give
Forget but not forgive, not loving all you see
Oh, the streets you're walking on a thousand houses long
Well, that's where I belong and you belong with me
Not swallowed in the sea

You belong with me, not swallowed in the sea
Yeah, you belong with me

I love it all so much I call I want you back

Artist- Local Natives
Song of the day- Airplanes

Today I bought tickets for this concert and am oh so excited. I find so many things about their sound interesting and have had a soft spot for drum taps since my junior high snare drum days, and for some reason boy harmonies make me extra giddy. But as I listen to today's song over and over, it also makes me miss my grandma a lot. The video reminds me of cleaning out their house after she passed (minus the weird picture vomit at the end), and so many of the lyrics make me remember how amazing her life was and how amazing she was to me. She was the first person to think my weirdness was something special and I don't think I knew the word "creative" till she told me. She encouraged everything I tried even when I did it badly. She had so much to do with my "artsy" side and indirectly down the line led me to nursing. Every time I sit with a patient I can't help but think of how I wish I sat with her in her hospital room more, how a part of me is still trying to make up for my fears and mistakes as a teenager. So here's to those we've lost, we want, and long to see again.



The desk where you sit inside of a
frame made of wood
I keep those chopsticks you had from when
you taught abroad in Japan

I love it all so much
I call
I want you back

I did not know you as well
as my father knew you
every question you took the
time to sit and look it up in the
encyclopedia

I love it all so much
I call I want you back

It sounds like we
would of had a great deal to say
to each other
I bet when I leave
my body for the sky the wait will
be worth it

Don't you know heartaches are heroes when their pockets are full

Artist- Rosanne Cash
Song of the day- Seven Year Ache

My dear Wisconsin roommate Holly who has a bigger passion for country music than this Texan could ever possibly have, likes to educate me that good country music does in fact exist as I like to find reasons it doesn't...*cough Matt Kennon cough*. Recently we've been staying up past 1 in the morning musically dueling and tonight discovered our equal love for this song. Before I knew of Rosanne Cash or even appreciated the entire Cash heritage, today's song was one of the first I ever learned on guitar thanks to my totally hip Old Town School of Folk music teacher. But it also reminded me of my kick ass missionary friend Becky who I was texting with. She's had a hella crazy year and keeps pushing through to do amazing things on a daily basis, while having to carry around alot of tough stuff. So this one's for you D.B. (minus the not being a man or bar hopper) and anyone else out there carrying around some worldly aches. Your kind of strength makes me awestruck!



You act like you were just born tonight
Face down in a memory but feeling all right
So who does your past belong to today?
Baby, you don't say nothing when you're feeling this way

The girls in the bars thinking, "who is this guy?"
But they don't think nothing when they're telling you lies
You look so careless when they're shooting that bull
Don't you know heartaches are heroes when their pockets are full

Tell me you're trying to cure a seven-year ache
See what else your old heart can take
The boys say, "when is he gonna give us some room"
The girls say, "god I hope he comes back soon"

Everybody's talking but you don't hear a thing
You're still uptown on your downhill swing
Boulevard's empty, why don't you come around?
Baby, what is so great about sleeping downtown?

Splitting your dice to be someone you're not
You say you're looking for something you might've forgot
Don't bother calling to say you're leaving alone
'Cause there's a fool on every corner when you're trying to get home

Just tell 'em you're trying to cure a seven-year ache
See what else your old heart can take
The boys say, "when is he gonna give us some room"
The girls say, "god I hope he comes back soon"

Tell me you're trying to cure a seven-year ache
See what else your old heart can take
The boys say, "when is he gonna give us some room"
The girls say, "god I hope he comes back soon"

But please come down from that cloud you're sitting on

Artist- Matt Costa
Song of the day- Mr. Pitiful

I'm thinking if nursing school doesn't work out I'd like to take up Costa's brilliant idea in this video...though carrying a base drum on my back could take it's toll. Plus I love the jollyness of this song amidst a bad situation. Like how sometimes even when you're mad at someone or fighting with someone, but just miss them so much and just need them in your life, you wanna look past and not care about whatever bad might be going on, just to get back to the good jolly times you share. So here's to those people that drive us mad sometimes but we're always driven to them.



Oh Mr. Pit, oh Mr. Pit, Mr. Pitiful
Who let you down?
Who let you down?
Who let you down?

You still don't believe, you don't believe
You don't believe, and your grievances show
When your soapbox unfolds

But please come down from that cloud you're sitting on
I don't expect you to admit that you were wrong

I just want to know how you've been
It don't make me feel bad that we're still friends
Mulling it all over in my head
I hope that you see through your picket
I hope that you see through your big yard and white picket fence
To make amends
And still be friends, still be my friend

So where did you go? Where did you go?
Where did you go while I was out?
While I was out? While I was out?
Well I don't believe, I don't believe
I don't believe everything I see
And if you don't like the movie then quit acting

But please come down from that cloud you're sitting on
I don't expect you to admit that you were wrong

I just want to know how you've been
It don't make me feel bad that we're still friends
Mulling it all over in my head
I hope that you see through your picket
I hope that you see through your big yard and white picket fence
To make amends
And still be friends, still be friends

Still be my friend

Lift you up, every time, everyone, ooo, pulls a way

Artist- The clash at demonhead / Metric
Song of the day- Black Sheep

Reason #127 why Metric is amazing I discovered today when seeing the film dear to my geeky heart, "Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe". I immediately loved this song the most, which my friend informed me later was in fact written by Metric. If you haven't seen the movie yet / read the comics, today's song might spoil some twists or just not make sense. But just go with it's fantastic-ness. This song and movie is a lot about your past catching up with you, your past shaping you, and how the people in the past shape you and your future. It's interesting to think about all the people in your life, some still in your life, some never to be heard from again but had so much input (whether good or bad) into who you are now. What we take from other people, why we pull away from people, why people pull away from us. I could perhaps dive into this black hole of thought for hours and receive lots of emotional punches in the face...or I can just enjoy the metaphorical action punches this delightful story gives. So here's to our pasts, other peoples pasts, and all the baggage we so love to fight through. Kick it's ass and move on to the next level of awesomeness!

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World - 'Black Sheep' Music Video from Louis S on Vimeo.

Hello again, friend of a friend, I knew you when
Our common goal was waiting for the world to end
Now that the truth is just a rule that you can bend
You crack the whip, shape-shift and trick the past again

Send you my love on a wire
Lift you up, every time, everyone, ooo, pulls away, ooo
From you oo oo oo

Got balls of steel, got an automobile, for a minimum wage
Got real estate, I'm buying it all up in outer space
Now that the truth is just a rule that you can bend
You crack the whip, shape-shift and trick the past again

Send you my love on a wire
Lift you up, every time, everyone, ooo, pulls a way, ooo
It's a mechanical bull, number one
You'll take a ride from anyone, everyone, wants a ride,
pulls away, ooo,from you oo oo oo oo oo oo oo