Pump Up the Jam

Lemme say, oh-so-sorry for the lack'o'blogging lately. And, secondly, I've had a glass or two of wine so, don't get your hopes up for an epic post...

I was at the gym today, ya know, gettin' my swoll on, and I had noticed that every single other person there at the same time as myself had a set of headphones on, hooked up to their MP3 players, DiscMans, and WalkMans... Okay, that was a pathetic attempt at a joke, only one person there had a DiscMan... We all know how bad they skip when you're mid-minute-sesh of jump rope. ;) Anyway, as I was man-handling some iron, I couldn't help but wonder what was damaging the ears of those around me.

Was the 50-something year old, spandex wearin', ab-crunchin' man I saw in the reflection of the mirror listening to some VanHalen or was he jamming out to some Spice Girls?! I mean, I wouldn't judge him if "Wannabe" was his song of choice. And, you, lady with the overly-inflated-boob job and tight Nike "DryFit" gear on, are you the type to listen to some death metal or are you all "Katy Perry, Teenage Dream" up in there?! Actually, I don't need the answer to that... I already know.... Death metal, right?!.

I'm not one to judge, rather, just curious. For instance, as an Ohio native, I'm partial to The Ohio State University Buckeyes, and, more-so, Buckeyes football. Yesterday, as many of you know, was the one rivalry we look forward to all year: OSU v. M*ch*gan. I was put in a tough spot when I came to the realization that THE game was on at the same time that I had planned my workout to take place. No worries, I had a plan. At the gym, I listened to the radio broadcast of the game on my iTunes app, TuneIn Radio (no, I am not sponsored by them, nor are they paying me to mention them). In my head, I was thinking that many people assumed I was listening to a standard collection of music. I almost felt proud that I was listening to the game because, who'da'thunk'it?! And that's when I thought, "I wonder what THEY'RE listening to?!"

At any rate, in case any of you are curious what I'm getting jiggy wit at the gym (on an average day), here are my top workout tunes: Enjoy! (Also, download them... promise they'll getcha goin'![Ally!])

Bass Down Low- DEV (featuring The Cataracs) [For real, worth the iTunes purchase]
 <-- Tell me how cute she is?!
Callin' Baton Rouge- Garth Brooks
Dancin' with Myself- Billy Idol
The Distance- Cake
E.T.- Katy Perry (featuring Kanye West)
Feel Like Makin' Love- Bad Company
Fight the Power- Public Enemy
Fight for Your Right- Beastie Boys
Guitars, Cadillacs- Dwight Yoakam
I Wrote the Book- Beth Ditto (Get it now... thank me later!)

{Heart break, and then some... Tell me, where is a friend when you need one?

Before you take a second look, remember I wrote every trick in the book.}

Love You Madly- Cake
Machine Head- Bush
More than a Feeling- Boston
Never There- Cake
No Sleep 'til Brooklyn- Beastie Boys (I'm sensing a trend here...)
Nugget- Cake (VERY explicit) <-- I mean, "The F-word" is a main staple in the chorus!
On and On- Mac Miller (Don't judge me if I mouth/sing the entire song while I'm mid-workout.)
Promises- Nero (Another must-download)
Rocket Man- Elton John (Frolic-ers, you know why...)
Rodeo- Garth Brooks
Sabotage- You guessed it, Beastie Boys
Short Skirt, Long Jacket- Cake
Suite Judy Blue Eyes- Crosby, Stills and Nash (My warm-up-on-the-treadmill-to-keep-pace-tune!)
Top of the World- The Cataracs (featuring Dev... a must-have) So what if I have a girl-crush?!
Voodoo Chile- Jimi Hendrix (my 'if I was a pro baseball player, this intro would be my walk-up-to-the-plate' song)...

And there you have it, alphabetically listed for all y'alls. I understand that it's pretty random but, I am random, as well... So, go on, pump the jams, pump 'em up

November Rain

I'm pretty sure that if you're reading this, you know that I'm an RN. If you didn't know that, well, I'm an RN. I also live in southwest Ohio. Some years in Ohio, come mid-November, we've experienced plenty of snow storms... And other years, such as this one, we've been stuck in cold rain. I dunnah if ya feel me on this one or not, but I hate few things more than a ring of cold, slowly-creeping-up-my-leg, dirty water around my pant legs. What makes this worse, as a nurse, I wear clogs to work... Yes, I said it. I wear clogs... Backless, rubber shoes. But I PROMISE they're not Crocs or "Mocks" nor do they have holes in the tops. I'm not gonna say they are the prettiest accessory in my arsenal, but they're in my life because they're easy... like most of my friends (bah-duh-dom!) What makes them suck this time of year is that they allow said dirty, cold water to get on my pant legs and... *gasp*... all up in my socks! Pshh! As if going to work this morning for another stellar shift wasn't bad enough, I now had to deal with my scrubs AND socks slopping around my legs, makin' me look a fool. Whatevs... Life goes on... wait, I work at Hospice... but that's another blog (that I'll hopefully never get into detail about).

So, here I am, driving to work with sopping pants and cold toes when I drive through The University of Dayton's campus. Let me paint this picture for you: It's 0730, roughly 40 degrees (Fahrenheit), and pouring down huge pellets of wet misery...you'll never guess what I saw. There was a whole slew of students WALKING to what I can only assume was class... in the rain! As I sat at a red light, or what I thought was red which must have secretly turned to green, swiftly brought to my attention by the GFS delivery truck behind me, I found myself baffled by these students.

Once upon a time, I was, myself, a college student. First of all, I can assure you that after my first quarter of school, I scheduled NO classes prior to 10am. Uh, hello? Alarm? No.Thank.You. Naturally, I assume these are all freshmen... hah, losers. And secondly, why were they going to class in the rain?! And that was what I thought about the rest of my drive to work.

Were classes still held when it rained? Was I the only college student that didn't venture out if there was >40% chance of precipitation (of any kind)? And most importantly, why isn't that an option in the professional world? Remember college when you didn't HAVE to go to class? When your "bosses" were your professors who couldn't make you do anything because "I'm paying you!"? When you could make your own schedule and skipping out half-way through the class wasn't unacceptable? Or, my favorite (sorry, ma!) when St.Patrick's Day was the most popular holiday and showing up to class with an early-afternoon buzz was the norm?

And there's my answer to my "most important" question; Could you imagine if we all lived like the college student myself and most of my college pals were... set in our professional capacities? Hungover, mal-nourished, disheveled, poorly hygienic at times... Oh, that paints a beautiful picture. I guess what I'm saying is that my drive to work this morning, miserable as it seemed, made me realize that we need to grow up, to be a little mature and accept life and the responsibilities it brings... some just choose to do it earlier than others... maybe by scheduling (willingly) college courses (and most importantly, attending them) before breakfast is over in the Park's Tower dining room. But, watch out college kiddos, life'll creep up on ya... Sleep in while you can... Hit snooze (six times)... Day drink until you... well, until it's night!... Eat Fruit Loops and Taco Bell until your stomach can't take it anymore... Ya know, nothing lasts forever... Even cold November rain.

Feels Like the First Time

So, lemme just start this whole "adventure" by disclosing that I am, by no means, a creative, witty, or charming writer. However, I do have a bunch of random thoughts swirling around in my head that I think others might enjoy reading about... and, although Facebook and Twitter are out there to spill some of said thoughts out on, I feel like updating my status or tweets more than 2-3 times a day would be a bit much. I mean, come on, we all have friends that do that and, if you're anything like me, you may find it hard not to harshly judge them for their incessant life updates when you're face-to-face with them. And, don't even get me started on people who play games on the 'book and their "all time record setting" score for Bouncy Ball Central clutters up the schtuff that I really care about... like creeping on people's drunken pictures from the weekend or ever-changing relationship statuses. YaDig?

Another point of note, I have no plans for this blog. I have some blogs that I check in on every now and again that have specific themes: cooking, make-up or hair tricks, all about their pets... I would never be able to pick one thing to blog about. I think that's why I felt the urge to begin this in the first place. I have so stinkin' much random shizz just boiling in my head that I wanted to get out. If I felt obligated to the swarming fans (that are bound to be addicted to this blog) to post about only one thing, I feel like I would severely disappoint them... and myself. I mean, I think that's one of my favorite personality traits; I'm random. Damn it, I'm random and I'm proud! (In my head, when I pictured myself standing up in a room with an 'AA'-esque setting and proclaiming myself 'random' and the crowd cheering me on, that statement seemed much cooler.)

Any-hoos-it... Today is my first attempt of blogging. I just hope I can keep up with this better than I did feeding my Beta fish, Bella, in college...