Day 47

#np - Wannabe by Spice Girls

What do you all "wannabe" for Halloween???

Day 46

#np - Heads Carolina, Tails California by Jo Dee Messina

The strongest urge I have right now is to flip a coin or roll some dice to figure out where I'll be next year.  

Day 45

#np - Free Your Mind by En Vogue

Ladies, stand up.

Day 44

#np - What's Up by Four Non Blondes

As a non-blonde, I love the name of this band.

Day 43

#np - Love Shack by the B-52's

Kaitlin and I have to get through this long Thursday somehow.  This is a GREAT start.

Would anyone else like to see them remake this song on Glee?

Day 42

#np - Macarena by Los del Rio

Flashback: 8th grade dance.

I killed it on the dance floor with these moves.  

Ah, delusion.

Day 41

#np - Time by Hootie and the Blowfish

The FIRST EVER concert I attended was a Hootie and the Blowfish concert in Nashville in their open area concert venue (clearly, I cannot remember the name).  It was a really cool experience.  Jon and I were with my parents and two other families and it poured down rain on us and we wore trash bags and sat next to people smoking pot.  Quite the learning curve.

Also, I also went to my first Hooter's restaurant that weekend.  Firsts, all around.

I've only been back to Hooter's once and it was completely against my will and I may have been a little drunk after a football bowl game (also in Nashville, randomly).

Day 40

#np - Stereo Hearts by Gym Class Heros (featuring Adam Levine)

This one gets in your head and won't leave.  Ah, Monday.

Day 39

#np - Barefoot Blue Jean Night by Jake Owen

Sundays are by far my most relaxing day.  So, I'm going to make Sunday my country day.  Great music that you can still dance to but maybe just a little more laid back.  Enjoy!

Day 38

#np - Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi

Today is UK's Homecoming.  I haven't followed football much this year but I'm pretty sure this song is appropriate.  ;)  The Martin School is having a tailgate today and then I'm actually going to the game. Since it's a noon game with tailgating, today was another early day.  I'm going to need to go to bed early tonight.

Day 37

#np - You Make Me Feel...by Cobra Starship (featuring Sabi)

It's so catchy.  La la la la la.

And I need catchy this morning.  I had to be up at 6:30am.  I know that's normal for lots of people but this is the first time in a LONG time that I've had to wake up that early.  I'm probably going to struggle today.  I am doing a quick trip to Louisville with Juanita to go to the mall and then we're going to the UK Step Show tonight.  Busy weekend ahead!

Day 36

#np - Rumour Has It by Adele

Everyone's obsessed with Adele now.  I agree, she has an amazing voice and I love her songs.  But what about when you aren't in a dark and twisty place mourning a relationship?  Well, then you need this song.  It's not the easiest song to dance to but dammit, I feel awesome after I listen to it.

Day 35

#np - Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People

On my facebook newsfeed the other day, Spotify informed me that Emily had listened to the entire Foster the People album.  So, because I miss her terribly and she sent me a card via regular snail mail last week, she gets a song dedicated to her.  :)  

But the song is kind of f-ed up (from the POV of a killer or something - I googled it) so she definitely shouldn't take it that way.  

Day 34

#np - Always Be My Baby by Mariah Carey

Special request from Kaitlin. :)  It is a great one!

Day 33

#np - Umbrella by Rihanna (featuring Jay-Z)

Good, upbeat song for a Monday morning.  :)  Happy week!

Day 32

#np - Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler

Long before The Dan Band sang "I [f-ing] need you more than ever" and before the Glee cast sang it in a ballet studio, my brother and I sang it into hairbrushes in my parents kitchen at the loudest volume of our cabinet-mounted FM radio.  I didn't know he was gay for about five years after that.  Missed that one good.  :)

Day 31

#np - No Scrubs by TLC

Day 30

#np - Number One by Nelly
(In honor of my favorite player/senior, Darius Miller who is #1!)

There is nothing quite like being a UK Basketball fan.  There are highs and lows.  For most in Kentucky, your allegiance starts at an early age.  And as much as you may end up "hating the establishment" or "disagreeing with college sports on principle" or whatever other principled stand you may take, rarely does true blue leave your blood.  Once a fan, always a fan.

I don't have tickets to tonight's FIRST PRACTICE of the season.  Oh that's right, I didn't tell you?  We even sell out our open practices.  And we're ranked #2 in the preseason.  Boom. Roasted.

I did get an email that my season tickets (which I'm not sure I can give up even when I move away next year) are in the mail.  Who's ready for some basketball dominance!?!?!?!

PS UK, this would be a great year for a championship.  I mean, yes, every year is but I have a date with Woodland and Euclid and it's my last year in Lexington.  Make this happen.

Perhaps it's blasphemy but I've been a fan since I was a kid and stood in line to meet Rick Pitino at the Paducah Chamber of Commerce (with a huge bag of stuff to sign).  He was incredibly nice and this signature/note was the only one I kept for myself (it's in my Full Court Pressure book he authored).

There's a picture somewhere of me with Rick at the Chamber of Commerce dinner and I'm wearing a blue/white dress with blue socks and white keds.  However, I searched my apartment for an hour and couldn't find it.  My mom might kill me.  Hopefully she has a copy.  Mom?

Day 29

#np - (You Drive Me) Crazy by Britney Spears

With the star of Clarissa Explains it All and that guy from Entourage.  Classic.  Wonderful way to start Marathon Thursday.

Day 28

#np - Like a Virgin by Madonna

Who can't dance to this song?  Plus, there's a lion in the video.

Day 27

#np - All I Wanna Do by Sheryl Crow

When my brother played baseball (in elementary/middle school) I used to sit in my parents' car during his games and listen to Tuesday Night Music Club on my walkman.  Probably as close to "disaffected youth" as I ever got.  Legit.

Day 26

#np - D.A.N.C.E. by Justice

I love you, bschoe!

Day 25

#np - Tearin' Up My Heart by *NSYNC

So I woke up in the AGD house this morning.  It's a little weird dancing in Mom Retha's apartment.  Subbing wasn't so bad.  :)  Today's song is dedicated to sophomore year when I lived in this house with Jenn and undoubtedly danced to this song frequently.  I was a bit of a fan.  

Day 24

#np - Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana

During my drive to Lexington a few weeks ago, GenX radio reminded me just how much I loved this song.  I don't know why.  I just reminds me of my youth or something.  I'll never forget the Kurt Cobain-themed door decoration Elizabeth Bass and I did in high school during some kind of suicide awareness week.  We thought we were so edgy.

Day 23

#Ain't No Mountain High Enough by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell

An ode to my friends...which you should all remember when I call you complaining about house sitting at alpha gam this weekend.  :)

Day 22

#np - Haven't Met You Yet by Michael Buble

Today is a significantly insignificant day for me.  Thank God. 

Day 21

#np - I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston

Pre-coke Whitney.  Sigh.

Day 20

#np - Mowtown Philly by Boyz II Men

An impromptu trip to Chipotle with Karyn yesterday has left me with a serious case of heartburn.  Apparently my 29 year old esophagus and stomach don't do medium salsa.  Wah wah.

Day 19

#np - Hold On by Wilson Phillips

Still awesome.

Day 18

#np - On the Floor, Jennifer Lopez (featuring Pitbull)

Day 17

"The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called 'truth.'"
-Dan Rather

#np - RESPECT by Aretha Franklin

At first, today's song was going to be Gangsta's Paradise by Coolio from the movie Dangerous Minds (because we were talking about it in the lab the other day and it's been in my head ever since).  You know the one.  Michelle Pfeiffer plays a kick ass ex-marine who becomes a high school teacher in an urban school.  She starts to care about her students when one, Emilio, is cruelly ripped from her (us) by a rival gang member.  She questions her ability to keep teaching until her students show her that they still need her.  As I thought about that movie though (at 13 years old, it was my first look into a world quite unlike where I was growing up), I thought about all the great teachers I had that made an impact on me.

See, I have this friend who is an amazing teacher. She and I had our Chili's dinner date the other night and we were talking about teaching.  She was talking about how she missed the kids from her previous school and how much she loved teaching at a school where the kids needed more help.  She really found her calling at the low income,  minority school she taught at before leaving to get her masters.  Now she's back but at another school in the district and it's not the same.  She wants to be the champion for children who have few, if any, champions.  She wants to show them all that they can work hard and succeed.  

So, today's song is for her and the many like her who become teachers to make a difference...not to get summers off.  They deserve our respect.  And to Mrs. Beckman, the teacher who acknowledged and fostered my love of math as well as showed me that women can do anything (including saving to be millionaires when they retire), THANK YOU.

Oh, and hey there October, you got here fast.