CLA's Celebrity Playlist

CLA's list really tells the story of her life so far, from teenage concerts in SF to the songs that remind her of her two kids. It's important that you now she is the most hard-core Huey Lewis fan on the planet. The American Lesbian Association threatened to revoke her membership if she didn't put either a Melissa Etheridge or Indigo Girls song on here (I believe she made the right choice). But, seriously, reading CLA's list you realize how popular music is one more way that gays are shut out of the mainstream because all the romantic songs are hetro. Working with CLA and seeing her trying to raise kids in a two-mom family has opened my eyes to a lot of the systemic discrimination against gay parents. They worry about things they shouldn't have to worry about, and it makes me angry just thining about it. Through it all, she keeps an open mind about everyone she meets, and is ready to see the best in them.

Pictured below are CLA and her partner Nurse K and their two kids, Miss Thang and When's Dinner? If they look familiar it's because their picture was splashed all over the national newsapers and the net when they were married in SF City Hall in February, 2003.


Lights
Journey
Captured
Since I grew up in the “Cit-tay by the bay-yay”, I consider this my official anthem. Plus, Journey was one of the first concerts I ever went to, and I remember literally being the stereotype concert goer - waving a lighter in the air, belting out the lyrics with hundreds of other adoring fans.

You Oughta Know
Alanis Morissette
Jagged Little Pill
This song just plain rocks. I love singing it in the car at the top of my lungs, while pretending I’m telling someone off. Free anger management therapy.

Bring Me Some Water
Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Etheridge
Reminds me of how my ex cheated on me…again…and again…and again…Sometimes you need to think about the hard times and this song always takes me right back to my non-happy place.

Smooth
Santana & Rob Thomas
Supernatural
I used to play this all of the time for my daughter in utero …don’t know why. The first time I heard this song after she was born, I cried so hard because I was listening to it “alone” (she was out of the womb), that I had to pull over to weep!

Power of Love
Huey Lewis and the News
Back to the Future Soundtrack
The best song from the best movie by the best group. Ever. Period.







Straight from the Heart
Bryan Adams
Cuts Like a Knife
I would play this entire album over & over after high school. This was my favorite song and I would move the needle across the record to hear this song again & again while doing my homework. (please look up “ancient music makers” in Wikipedia if you don’t understand the words “record” or “needle”)

Shadows on a Dime
Ferron
Shadows on a Dime
The combination of violin and vocals on this song are incredibly moving. This tune also contains my favorite lyrics of all time: I poured my soul in Santa Cruz. I ached all night; next day I lost my shoes. It's so optional what you may or may not lose in this pattern we call time.

Three Little Birds
Bob Marley
Exodus
When I was pregnant with my son, I was very, very worried about something going wrong. I used to sing this line to myself every day: Don't worry about a thing, 'cause every little thing gonna be all right!" It really worked to calm me down – it’s a perfect mantra.

I’ll Cover You
Jesse L. Martin & Wilson Jermaine Heredia
Rent – Original Broadway Cast
This is one of the most beautiful love songs ever. It makes me teary every time I hear it. The fact that two men sing it to each other just enhances the cry. It helps that Jesse L. Martin has a gorgeous voice – I could listen to him sing the phone book.

Crazy in Love
Beyoncé
Dangerously In Love
At the gym, I do cardio and then drag myself to do the thirty minute circuit. Once I get my sorry butt into the circuit room, I always pump this song on the stereo and listen to it several times. It gets me moving again and, most importantly, I’m proud to know the lyrics to a song recorded within the last 10 years!

CMW's Celebrity Playlist

CMW was my law school wife. Her home and her husband are in Sacramento, but in order to go to law school she lived Monday through Thursday down in the lovely Silicon Valley. We took classes together, shopped together, worked out together, and drank enough margaritas to support a mid-size Mexican tequila cooperative. We amicably separated in December of 2005 when I reluctantly agreed that she could move back to live, full-time, with her husband in Sac-town. And after all that time, I only just now learned she is a Sinatra fan! She's classy, this one. It just goes to show, you never really know someone until they send you their celebrity playlist.


Wired to the Moon
Chris Rea
Wired to the Moon
Someone once left a great mix CD in the Bose Soundwave radio in a hotel room I stayed in, and this was the first song on the CD. It's now one of my favorites (and also a great reminder of that vacation). There's no better way to wake up in the morning than to the instrumental at the beginning of this song.

Better Days
Goo Goo Dolls
Let Love In
A good reminder of what's truly important in life. Listening to this got me through the pile-o-stress that was November 2005 - February 2006.

Cindy C.
Prince
The Black Album
Hello, it's Prince! And he's singing my name! Well, kind of sort of my name. You just can't go wrong with a Prince song!

Runaway
The Corrs
Forgiven, Not Forgotten
My favorite day-dreaming song in undergrad. Great vocals and instrumentals.

Here It Goes Again
O.K. Go
Oh No
My current "I love it so much that I'm going to listen to it over & over again until I hate it" song

Short Skirt/Long Jacket
Cake
Comfort Eagle
This is the kind of girl I aspire to be, well, minus the white Chrysler LeBaron! I'm a sucker for songs with catchy lyrics, clearly.

So What
Miles Davis
Kind of Blue
A perfect evening: good food, good drink, good friends, and good jazz.

The Way You Look Tonight
Frank Sinatra
Greatest Love Songs
Like Prince, it's hard to pick one favorite Frank song. This was the first song at our wedding, and it also happened to be playing at the restaurant the night we celebrated our 5 year anniversary - a total coincidence. Hearing it brings back good memories and makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.


Freak Me
Silk
Lose Control
Whenever I hear this song, it takes me back - waaay back. The cute boy, the cool car, the butterflies in my stomach every time we went out. And it makes me happy to have been there once, but oh so glad that I've moved on.

Macarena
Los Del Rio
Fiesta Macarena
Admission to Balinese nightclub: free, Tasty drinks: a few rupiah, Teaching dozens of balinese clubgoers a cheesy american pop line dance: priceless! [hangs head in shame]

Hoov's Celebrity Playlist

Here's our first YaYa playlist. What I really like about Hoov's playlist is how much fun and happy music there is. Hoov's list reflects her personality - upbeat, living each moment to the fullest, but never losing sight of the big picture. Enjoy!

The Remedy (I Won't Worry)
Jason Mraz
Although I'll never cure myself of worrying, this song always helps : )

Speed of Sound
Coldplay
I sometimes play this song on my (short) drive to work in the morning. It totally pumps me up for the day!

September
Earth, Wind & Fire
I've danced to this song at almost every wedding I've been to, but I still can't get enough. Bust out the disco ball!




Must Get Out
Maroon 5
How do I pick just one favorite song from M5? I love them!!! I also love weekend trips and this song makes me think of getting away from it all.

Djobi, Djoba
Gipsy Kings
This song reminds me of my summer abroad in Granada, Spain during college. I picture a little sangria and some dancing under the stars on a hot summer night.

Hanging by a Moment
Lifehouse
I love the testosterone charge to this love song.

Meaning
Gavin DeGraw
Like Maroon 5, how do I pick just one favorite song by Gavin? I like the "meaning" of this song.




Gotta Get Thru This (Acoustic Version)
Daniel Bedingfield
This song reminds me of Jen and our crazy roadtrip to LA to see the filming of "So You Think You Can Dance" this past summer (my favorite contestant Travis danced to this song when we were there). I like how this song makes times when you've "gotta get thru this" seem a bit more bearable.

Wild Horses
Natasha Bedingfield
I love the words, the piano, the vocals...hmm, just about everything in this girlie song.

Watershed
Indigo Girls
These girls rock! I love their lyrics, especially in this song.

The Setting Sun
Switchfoot
This song helps me put it all in perspective.





Do You Hear What I Hear?
performed by Third Day
My favorite Christian band playing my favorite Christmas song. Yeah!

My iTunes Celebrity Playlist

In no particular order, and with one extra because I couldn't decide what to cut.

Hate It Or Love It
The Game and 50 Cent
The Documentary (2005)
The Game makes me feel so street when I'm rocking the bass in the Honda on my way to the office. And let's face it, 50 cent has the best abs in the business.

Closer
Nine Inch Nails
The Downward Spiral (1994)
Remember this anthem for teen angst? Now I use it for hill workouts. It’s got a great pounding beat and no matter how steep the climb, I always make it through the song.

Release
Pearl Jam
Ten (1991)
Another classic from the high school anthems collection. It was hard to just pick one song because I think I can still sing all of them by heart, but Release is my favorite. Somewhere waiting for YouTube is a video of me sitting in a chair, drunk, and belting out “Black.” At least I think it was Black. It's still a little hazy.

Just The Way You Are
Diana Krall
Live in Paris (2002)
Krall’s remake of the Billy Joel classic gets me in the gut. Don't we all want to be loved like this? The guy in the background kicking out some serious sax is Michael Brecker.

My Life
Mary J Blige My Life (1994)
I listen to a lot of MJB and this song has never been out of rotation.

Too Little Too Late
Jo Jo
The High Road (2006)
Nothing beats heartache like a cheesy pop song: “Go find someone else/I’m letting you go/I’m loving myself” I listened to this a lot this fall after having my still-beating heart ripped from my chest and fed to cobras. It helped.

Tunnel of Love
Bruce Springsteen
Tunnel of Love (1983)
No playlist of mine is complete without The Boss, and this song has special memories.

'Round Midnight
Thelonius Monk
'Round Midnight (1944)
Simply the finest jazz tune ever. Monk may have composed this when he was as young as 19. Miles Davis revived his career with his performance of this Monk composition at the 1955 Newport Jazz Festival.

Little Red Corvette
Prince
1999 (1993)
It’s Prince, baby, open the sunroof and belt it out.

Dakota
Stereophonics
Language. Sex. Violence. Other? (2005)
This song evokes a mixture of regret, passion and hope that I can't even begin to describe. The lyrics are pretty blue, yet it makes me feel hopeful. Parts are soft and plaintive and then it just picks up and rocks you.

Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Nina Simone
Broadway-Blues-Ballads, 1964
I always think of this as the song I would want played at my funeral, which is not as macabre as it sounds. I listened to it a lot after my dad died, and as I get older, and hopefully more mature, I identify with it myself. Simone is one of the most compelling women of the 20th century. Check out the Wikipedia entry for more info.

What's your celebrity iTunes list?

We've all heard that playlists are the new mix tapes. As part of their promotion of iTunes, Apple came up with the creative idea of having celebrities put together their own playlist with explanations for why each song was included. Thus was born the celebrity iTunes playlist. It's been kind of a hit and miss exercise. It seems like most movie or tv celebrities have their assistants or PR people put the list together because the results are too impersonal and top-40 to be insightful. Musicians, not surprisingly, tend to be more creative. Quite frankly, I don't really care what Mischa Barton or Beyonce are listening to. I'm more interested in what my friends are listening to, and why. So I've asked some of my nearest and dearest to put together their own playlist as the celebrities of my life. With their permission, I'll post the results here.

Instead of linking to the actual iTunes celebrity list page, I'm linking to a Slate article on the subject and also to Kevin Smith's blog post about his own playlist, which was never included because the explanations were deemed "too long."

The latest fun from McSweeny's

(Isn't it terrifying how much your day is just like this?)

THE 4-YEAR-OLD'S
WORKDAY.
BY ROSS MURRAY

8:55 a.m. Arrive at office. Hang jacket on sunshine-shaped hook with name on it. Put snack in cubbyhole. Sing "Good Morning" song with co-workers.

9:04 a.m. Forward hilarious e-mail to everyone in address book. Subject line: "Poo-poo."

9:10 a.m. Take spreadsheets out of Star Wars backpack. Stretch out on floor and begin making notations with crayon.

9:15 a.m. Drink juice box.

9:25 a.m. Spend hour lining up office supplies on desk in perfect straight line. Toy with idea of sorting them by color but get distracted by imaginary conversation between stapler and three-hole punch. Complicated scenario ensues involving a lion, a puppy, and the mommy Hi-Liter kissing the daddy Hi-Liter.

10:40 a.m. Randy from accounting drops by and "borrows" pen with the springy pink feather on top. Grab pen back. Scream in each other's faces until Randy takes a swing with copy of Needs-Assessment Analysis. Supervisor intervenes and sends Randy to the smoke room for a time-out.

11:05 a.m. Intend to begin debugging online program for cross-referencing customer demographics. Get caught up in Polly Pocket website instead.

12:00 p.m. Lunch. Trade PB&J for tuna with Jerry from human resources. Friendly banter about who could take who in a fight: the Poky Little Puppy or the Cat in the Hat. Notice Donna is wearing Finding Nemo T-shirt for fourth straight day.

1:00 p.m. Write up statistical profile of user satisfaction based on regional trends. Entitle report "I Like Flowers."

1:30 p.m. Naptime.

2:12 p.m. Staff meeting proves unproductive due to constant requests to go pee.

2:40 p.m. Telephone headquarters to discuss department budget for upcoming fiscal year. While talking, draw picture of house. Feel special pride in the way the smoke spirals out of chimney. Tape picture to wall next to trophy for company T-ball championship.

3:00 p.m. Attend mandatory Employees' Committee workshop entitled "Ear Infections Are EVERYBODY'S Business." Session comes to abrupt halt when VP of finance jams eraser up nose.

3:30 p.m. E-mail from director of marketing: "I'm not accusing anyone but my blanky was in the copy room and now it's not. I hope whoever 'accidentally' took it will please return it, no questions asked. Otherwise I'm telling."

4:05 p.m. Ask Marco in adjoining cubicle to stop making "vroom-vroom" noises when he moves the mouse.

4:45 p.m. Try to duck out early, thus avoiding mandatory singing of "Cleanup" song with co-workers. Busted by supervisor, who announces that no one is leaving until everyone is sitting quietly.

4:55 p.m. Retrieve jacket from hook. Supervisor helps with zipper. Wave bye-bye to Cheryl at the front desk. Step into elevator. Press all the buttons.

Need a gift for that special shallow someone?

In my continuing quest to catalog the cheesiest products on the planet, I present the Dolce & Gabbana RAZR, yours for only $500. This product should be subject to a 100% "dumbass" tax, with all the proceeds going to charities to benefit the 11 million African AIDS orphans. Yeah, I know... wacky liberals and their taxes...

Gobble Gobble

Thanksgiving began at 6:30am when Rhubarb's alarm went off and I thought to myself, "I wonder if I could convince her we should give the race a miss and just go out for dim sum instead?" I managed to keep my mouth shut and we made it out to Ocean Beach for the Turkey Trot. We had both been poo-pooing a 10k, figuring we'd been running enough half marathons to say, "I don't get out of bed for less than 10 miles." But I've always wanted to do a Turkey Trot, and when I heard there were costumes I was sold. A turkey started off the race, and the idea was to catch up to the turkey. As you can see, we eventually suceeded, albeit at the end of the race. I'm not sure who the little munchkins are in the picture, we just got tired of waiting for them to clear out and instead hustled in on their turkey for a photo op. Anyway, about the costumes. There were some folks dressed up as pilgrims, and then there were some folks dressed up as things that would be slaughtered by pilgrims (turkeys and Native Americans). There was even a cow with a sign that read, "Eat more turkee." I hope she saves the sign and does the run formerly-known-as The Run to the Far Side. Good Far Side themed costume, even if the run is no longer associated with the comic. So the measely 6 miles feels longer on sand. I forgot how much I feel like a toddler when I run on the beach. The instability is a little odd.

After the race, we proceeded to Boo's place where she had cooked up a fine breakfast indeed. I'm talking mimosas, pancakes, bacon (sweeeeet delicious bacon!), fruit and scrambled eggs. She even heated the gourmet maple syrup. I ate my weight in breakfast, way more calories than I burned during the run. But I figure, if you can't be fat and happy on Thanksgiving, when can you?

And finally, for those who have everything but taste...

Tell your host or hostess, "I think you're tacky." by presenting him or her with this carefully crafted limoges box, which can be yours for the low, low price of $169. WTF?

On a happier note, if you're not sure what wine to serve at Thanksgiving, check out this handy article from the Chronicle. And with that, Happy Thanksgiving! I'm off to go buy different wines!

UrbanCougar

Is it admirable or is it appalling? I haven't decided. But it is fascinating.

Have you ever googled yourself?

Sometimes you don't want to see what people with the same name are doing. They may be writing sex books.


I like the way to book title is the "Little Bit Naughty Book of Sex Positions" As opposed to the very uptight book of sex positions that is endorsed by the Southern Baptists? I guess that would be the Book of Sex Position.

Rummy, rummy, you're so fine! You're so fine you blow my mind!

Well, what shall I blog about today? Brit finally comes to her senses and dumps K-Fed? What I had for lunch?

Oh, that’s right. There was an ELECTION yesterday. It’s odd how now that I just vote absentee and don’t really get in on the ground floor, the election just kind of slips right by. I wasn’t even obsessively refreshing my browser all night to see what the stats were. Back when I was a political junkie last night would have been the highlight of two years of pounding the pavement in my local precincts, working phone banks and generally doing things that seem to elicit ill-will from otherwise upstanding members of society.

As I was driving home from the gym yesterday I was playing White House strategist in my head, which I recommend as a way to pass the time. I was thinking to myself that if I were Karl Rove... no, that thought is simply to hideous to contemplate. If I were a random GOP strategist, wouldn't I want to see Rumsfeld go? He's the least popular of any Republican political figure. There is widespread discontent in the amred forces about his failures as a leader. He's the Newt Gingrich of 2006. Someone give this man a sword to fall on! But no, they wait until AFTER the election hands Congress back to the Democrats to decide that maybe it's time for a change. So, let me get this right - you wait until things completely go to hell in a handbasket because you're unwilling to admit that a change may be necessary? Well, that's pretty much how everything alse has been handled, so I guess all I can say is at least they have a consistent strategy.

My favorite work event all year is held at the Claremont Resort, and in addition to the incredibly useful and rigorous substantive information it provides there's also a free spa treatment. And an open bar. Yes, it appeals to all my self-indulgent vices. I worked very hard for 48 hours to relax and it's taken that long to unclench.


Now I'm kicking it on JNC's couch and watching "Unleashed," one of the few Jet Li movies I haven't seen. There'a a promising fight scene, Jet Li just kicked the butts of about two dozen rough East Enders and now he's fighting some guy all in white. Ahhh... vacation!