Vegas

Good Tunes, Like Sisters, Come in Groups of Three

/ Deb / Leave a comment

For anyone who has ever said that I am too structured, check out how I’m living on the edge these days:

Instead of listening to designated playlists, or “shuffle” on my ipod, lately I’ve been listening to songs in alphabetical order.

I love things in groups of three, and I love juxtaposition (both the word, and the actual effect). Imagine my delight when the following three songs played in this order:

1. Don’t Disturb This Groove (The Station);
2. Don’t Drink the Water (DMB); and
3. Don’t Stop Believing (Journey)

I laughed out loud at how different these three songs are, and how I love them all nearly equally, for very different reasons:

“Don’t Disturb This Groove” conjures visions of my middle sister, cruising her Honda with the sunroof open, the wind fluttering through her big hair. I don’t know if she ever actually listened to this song (as opposed to the Color Me Badd that I know for a fact was blared), but it’s all within the same genre….the 80’s/90’s slow groove….whatever happened to that?

“Don’t Drink the Water”…..both of my sisters, numerous DMB shows at The Gorge (“there’s plutonium in the water”?). Dave opened my favorite show ever, in Vegas, with this one. Good times all around.

“Don’t Stop Believing”…..again, my sisters, this time with a K-Tel tape and a boombox, and a family camping trip to Yellowstone, listening over and over until the batteries warbled it to a stop.

Three little tunes, different stages of my life, peacefully co-existing side by side in the digital age. Perfect.

Deondre the Life Coach

/ Deb / Leave a comment

The song that has been rocking in my head for the past few days is accompanied by a dancing guy in a red track suit, a Kenny G lookalike, and a wrestler with a snake on his shoulders. The SNL skit of the fake TV show “What Up With That?” is hilarious on its own, but doubly hilarious when talked about and improvised all weekend with friends.

We got back from Las Vegas late last night. I should be exhausted, but instead I feel like I have the freshest perspective that I have had in a long while. Was it the cocktails? The gambling? The In-n-Out burger? I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter.

I did a triathlon last summer. I had a mantra that I repeated in my head, throughout: “a clear head, and presence of purpose”. In the water with each stroke, trying not to panic: a clear head, and presence of purpose. As I pedaled my bike, making it closer to the finish, free of any mechanical issues: a clear head, and presence of purpose. It was not until the final mile of the run, when I knew that I was going to finish, that the mantra left my head. At that point, all I could do was grin.

For some reason, that popped into my head today – as a similar refrain, but with a “what up with that” edge. OK, so I need to figure out what I want to do. (What up with that?) And it hasn’t come to me yet on its own. (What up with that?) Or perhaps it has, and I am too scared to make any steps. (What UP with that?)

I love music, but I also love the written word. I think that’s probably why I liked being a lawyer, because lawyering is all about words. Lawyers love to argue over seemingly obvious things such as the meaning of the word “reasonable” (hence volumes of case law on the “reasonable person” standard..…and, even better, in the realm of sexual harassment, the “reasonable woman” standard).

When Bill Clinton (a former lawyer) dumbfounded the nation with his infamous “it depends on what the meaning of ‘is’ is” statement, I totally got it. Only lawyers love that kind of statement. Only lawyers hear that statement and say “you know, that’s a good point”.

And that’s the part of being a lawyer that I do miss: the words; the reasoning; getting from point “A” to point “B” via a well-structured argument.

The art of writing has been calling to me for a long time, and I’ve either ignored it, or dismissed it, believing that I had to choose either the law or writing, because my love for both was incompatible. But I now realize that they are, really, one in the same, and that is where I should be.

I am confident that it is possible distill it all down into the perfect career that nestles right into my life. I don’t know yet what that will look like, but I feel like I am on the right path. (What up with THAT?!)

I’m finally starting to feel like I’m out of the water. I’ve racked my bike. Now I just have to put on my running shoes, and get to the grin.