Hey Girl...

I've been thinking about doing a post about this for a while.  

Have you seen these?  The Ryan Gosling "Hey Girl" series? They just crack me up.  I'm not sure that they are all on the up and up, but I'm pretty sure you can find them for any genre. I don't know what the origin is (and I probably don't want to).  I would say it's akin to "the 7 Degrees of Kevin Bacon". Something that is a little bit random, that was probably started by a fan just to have something to do and then just took off. I'm not sure why Ryan Gosling became the feature in these - but any knock-offs with other people just aren't as good, and I'm not saying that because I'm even a Ryan Gosling fan.  Not really.

My favorite ones are of the "crafting" genre. I think the reason they are so appealing and so outrageous is that, it's almost ludicrous that any guy would know about any of these things let alone be a party to them. But for sure, it's what every girl secretly wants... to be understood, to be validated, to have the guy she likes take an active interest in what she is interested in and to put her above his own feelings and desires. I guess it's what we all want, right? 

The following are some of my favorite, see what you think.

 This one is my all time favorite.  It must be because it hits so true to life.  Brad absolutely can't handle stepping on a pin, even if I'm sewing and the pin is only inches from the machine itself.  He thinks I knew he was going to step in that particular spot so I planted it there just to cause him pain.  He thinks I'm consciously trying to kill him. It's happened more than once.

(Did I ever tell you about the time that I didn't get all the Simple Green cleaned up off the counter and his food touched it, and then he ate it.  I think he was ready to file a "husband endangerment" suit against me. He had a big freak out. I know he thought I had it in for him.)

This one's got to come in handy for some Young Women lesson don't you think?  

But really, think how every girl would feel like a super hero (and how motivated she'd be) to have some guy tell her how great it is that she has her YW Medallion.

I don't know why I felt like blogging about this.  I guess it's one of those things that is kind of a puzzle. Something that is very quirky and too good to be true but somehow awesome if it was... well, maybe...

Should I Laugh or Cry?

 There's no doubt about it, raising teenagers is hard. There is always something going on, always something to be concerned about. I have mental anguish wondering if I'm teaching them everything they need to know to be a contributing member of society. Wondering what I have done that has permenantly damaged their chances of that forever.  And because they are now able to think for themselves, simply saying, "because I'm you're mom and I said so" isn't always a valid argument anymore. And because of this new found self-thinking, sometimes they say and do things that I feel is the "wrong" things. What's a poor mom to do? I spend a lot of time crying (maybe not literally but it's just an on going string of angst that could burst into tears at any point).

But then, I turn on my phone and see 25 photos that look like this...
I laugh and I laugh and I feel so privileged to be a mom to kids who have a sense of humor and bring wit and vivacity to my life.  Who live life to the fullest and have unfettered expectations of the world.  Kids who are romantics and happy and joyful and are "a light unto the world".  I laugh and laugh, and then I cry all over again (but this time for different reasons.)

RIP Wilhelmina Hoacox

It's not because I'm a huge fan of the big W.H. Ya, not really so much. And definitely much less after Bobbie Brown came on the scene.  So why am I doing a tribute here, you may ask? It's because of one of those funny, small moments in life that somehow sticks around in family lore, forever.

Many years ago I'd play a game with the kids in the car.  I would ask them if they knew who was singing the song on the radio, sometimes offering prizes if they got it right. Afton once earned $5 by randomly guessing Seal. (I had told them his name had one word and started with an S.  She didn't know at the time there was such a guy, but  she had seen seals at the beach.  I guess she thought it was a good "S" word, she was right).

One day a Whitney Huston song was playing and the kids couldn't guess who it was.  I finally hinted, "Her initials are W.H." There was silence for a moment and then Kelsi yells from the back seat, "Wilhelmina Hoacox!!" I burst out laughing and Whitney forever became Wilhelmina Hoacox in our books.

Today, after word of her death got out, I received a text from Kelsi that simply said, "RIP Wilhelmina Hoacox". It made my whole day.

Stefani's Top 10 - Running Songs

People ask me a lot what's on my running playlist.  I think I have a pretty darn good list and I'm always happy to share.  Here are my top 10 favorite right now (I tried to limit it to 5, I couldn't do it).

I was trying to figure out what these songs have in common.  They cover many genres (pop, disco, 80's, rock, English rock, indy, alternative,) and many time periods (Highway Star came out in 1972, Runaway Baby in 2010 - and everything in between)

But in the end they have to be upbeat and have interesting lyrics. Something a lot of my favorites have is a time to clap your hands or whistle, a distinct drum beat or make some sort of lyrical noise (Buddy Holly is the perfect example with "Ooo-ooo and you know I'm yours. Ooo-ooo and I know you're mine" - weirdly enough I like doing that while I'm running, people probably think I'm a nutcase, "but I don't care what they say about me anyway, I don't care 'bout that" - lyric humor from Buddy Holly;) Some others are Freeze (Frame by J. Geils Band, 15 Storey Halo by ABC, Wild Boys by Duran Duran

I'm also a fan of a mildly heavy guitar (is that an oxymoron?) but with some variety not just a steady stream of guitar.

Songs where the guitar makes a train-like sound are particularly good (Highway Star, Aerosmith's Train Kept a Rollin', Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train, Train in Vain by The Clash, Monkey Wrench by Foo Fighters - just to name a few)

Top 10 running songs (in no particular order)

Roam - B52's - video (I don't want the B52's to be favorites - I guess I want to be more current or something, but they consistently make me run well. Roam's gotta be in the top ten.)

Joker and the Thief - Wolfmother - video (I also love Woman by Wolfmother. This song was featured in last season of Chuck.  I'm glad others like it too.)

Runaway Baby - Bruno Mars - audio with lyrics (this is a fun song with clever lyrics - gotta love Bruno)

Highway Star - Deep Purple - audio (not my style of music - but this song is consistently one of my favorite running songs)

Backstage - The Donnas - audio (From the Freaky Friday Soundtrack - it's funny that one of my other favorite running songs - that didn't make the list, mostly because I'm embarrassed about it - is also from Freaky Friday called Ultimate by Lindsey Lohan. See? Embarrassing.)

Sorry Sorry - Rooney - audio with lyrics (again, I appreciate the clever lyrics)

Underdog - Spoon - video (this also fits in the category of my Top 5 favorite songs, the fact that it's a good running song is just gravy)

Buddy Holly - Weezer - video (This is a good example of something that started out as a good running song and then graduated into my everyday playlist.  I also learned, while doing this blog post, that the video for this song was filmed as if it were a part of the TV show Happy Days. It's totally corny and just makes me like it even more.)

Dead on Arrival - Fall Out Boy - video (so, if you're really watching all these videos, I'm apologizing in advance for the split second view of a guy in a thong, ick... sorry :/)

Good Day - The Click Five - audio with lyrics (so, many years ago I thought I had discovered a fun new band called The Click Five, and then come to find out Afton knew all about them because of Hannah Montana. Really?  I'm not sure what the connection was but it made me feel dumb for liking (pre) teenybopper music. But the fact is I do like it even still, and not just this group.  But I listened to some covers of this song and I really do like The Click Five's style - others don't do them justice.  Also this was my inspirational song in November when I ran the Santa Barbara Half Marathon. I tend to have inspirational song when I'm doing a long run.  A random song will come on and, surprise, I have a burst of energy. If for nothing else, I've gotta love it just for that reason.)

Bonus
Does Your Mother Know - ABBA - video (This is my very best warm up song!! I have my playlist set up so this song always plays first.  I don't know what to do with myself if I something goes wrong and another song comes on first.)

So for what it's worth, this is all you ever wanted to know, and more about my running music.  While making this post I was listening to some of the different songs from my list and, even though this day was slated for a different kind of workout I got all jazzed about running and decided I'd go out.  I've been trying to beat my time per minute (without much success) and today I killed it by 20 seconds per mile (that was even with going up the killer hill in our neighborhood).  Ya, I pretty much rock! See what a little good music will do for your motivation?)

Tell me what your favorite running/workout songs are...