Friends forever

Haaaaave I mentioned I'm watching Project Runway? (Yes, yes I have.)

It's a nice distraction in the midst of ::gestures wildly:: But I guffawed recently when one of the designers -- who I happen to like quite a bit -- walked into the workroom humming a song from Saved by the Bell.

It's catchy, isn't it? You can't go wrong with Zack Attack.

(Also -- if you're looking for a wonderful novel depiction of the rockumentary, I can't say enough good things about Daisy Jones & The Six. Super refreshing read.)

Orchestra

One of my old co-workers tweeted out a link to a Cleveland radio station that's playing an hour of music from the Cleveland Orchestra over lunch each day. I was able to listen for about 30 minutes. And let me tell you -- it just made me exhale.

I don't think a lot about classical music (it's fine!) but I love the Cleveland Orchestra, one of the best in the country. It was so refreshing to listen to. And it reminded me that at least once when I was working in Cleveland (and maybe more than once?) I was able to sneak out of work with some coworkers to listen to one of their rehearsals. It was a great experience, watching them work toward perfection.

If you also want to listen at lunch, do so here.

Spellbound

I've been to the Scripps National Spelling Bee eight times, and I somehow had not seen the documentary Spellbound until tonight.

If you, too, haven't seen it, it's available on Tubi for free and documents the path of eight students to the 1999 Bee. It's, uh, more casually racist in the beginning than I would have expected. But then it's a delight. And knowing that I'm not going to the Bee next month (like many other things, it's not happening as originally scheduled, if at all) it was really spectacular to see it in action 21 years ago. The film cameras! The hair! The clothing choices!

There were a few things in particular that delighted me, having been a part of the program for the better part of a decade:

• The calming tones of Mary Brooks, the head judge, and glimpses of other judges.
• Dr. Bailly, then the associate pronouncer and now the head pronouncer, asking "What's a Corolla?" in response to a speller's question. (This is totally in character.)
• The eventual 2000 winner, George Thampy, as an 11-year-old who went by "Georgie." He's also a judge now.
• Seeing the childhood bedroom and rivals of Nupur Lala, the winner, who I became friendly with after meeting her as an adult.
• The amazing, incredible, brilliant kids trying so hard and with such verve.
• The words! Zwieback was in an alphabet book I made in fourth grade; I swear I heard xeropthalmia (which also has a fourth grade reference for me); and of course kookaburra, he of the old gum tree.

(Dr. Bailly more recently, gettin' jiggy with it.)

This was not my favorite day of the quarantine, so those smiles were more appreciated than they would even have been on other days.

I've also been listening to Fountains of Wayne after learning that Adam Schlesinger died today. You probably know Stacy's Mom, but there's so much more that he did -- including writing That Thing You Do! and many of the songs from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. It's a loss and I'm bummed about it, but glad that I'm able to listen to his music and that a little bit of him can live on.

Sing Street

Luckily, my friends have better memories than I do. Because one texted me tonight to tell me that a movie she'd told me about before was finally streaming and I should drop everything and watch it. (OK, she didn't quite say that, but it was definitely implied.)

The movie was Sing Street; it's Irish and about a boy who forms a band to impress a girl he thinks is cute and it made me smile so big. It takes place in the '80s and the characters try on all these '80s music personas, which is adorable. And the songs are good! Which is great.

Anyway, if you have some free time (and perhaps you do, what with not leaving the house), it's worth a watch.

Racing stripes

On the way in to work this morning, I heard a song that made me smile. It included the lines "my dog has racing stripes" and "I named my dog Springsteen, cuz it was born to run."

Of course, I tried to find the song when I got to the office. But the internet isn't cooperating, and it's nowhere to be found! Do you know this song? Can you find it for me? I'll be forever grateful.

Books, books, books (and a bonus)

A post in three parts (and a bonus):

Today -- for the fourth time in recent memory, which is indeed a dangerous thing -- I stumbled upon Bag Day at my local library. This means that you can fill a grocery bag full of for-sale books for super cheap. In today's case, I spent $12 on two paper bags full of books. Luckily (because my shelf space is severely limited), I intend to give some of them away. I also came out with the John Green book I went in for, which was the original purpose of the library visit.

In the free book bin, I found a book of poems by Billy Collins. I was lucky enough to see him converse with Paul Simon last year, and I really loved the poems he read then. But I haven't sought out any others, despite intent. When I picked up the book, the co-worker who put it there saw my face. "It's gone to the right place," she said.

I got in the mail a book I lent out maybe two years ago. I'd forgotten just how beautiful it is. You should definitely read it. And now I have my copy back to lend again.

And! What else should come in the mail but a blue canary! For putting in the outlet by the light switch! (It's already there.) It was totally unexpected and I am super stoked!

I hope they did this on purpose

Kansas and Toto are touring together.

You're welcome.

Stay (I Missed You)

I have fond memories of a concert in college where Lisa Loeb played with Dweezil Zappa, and I'm pretty sure I can still sing all the words to Stay (I Missed You). Today, I saw that Lisa Loeb is coming back to town, so I sent an e-mail to one of the friends I went to the show with to see if she might want to recreate our evening.

She replied enthusiastically, which is awesome. Even more awesome? The second person I emailed -- who was at the concert with us (even though I didn't remember that she was there) emailed another friend, who now lives in Texas. I haven't seen this friend in nearly three years -- since her wedding -- but she's going to fly in for a visit and the show. And I'm thrilled to get to spend some time with her, and with this group of people.

Lisa Loeb: bringing friends together.

Today so far

This morning, here's what made me smile:

On the radio: "It is Friday. That's when we bust out the Tom Jones."

From the corner of my eye, I saw what I thought was a zebra on my morning commute. Atlanta has a history of zebras, so while surprising, this wouldn't have been unusual -- well, less unusual than a mountain lion. Turns out it was a Hummer painted like a zebra. Which was still pretty great.

And then, a middle-aged man riding a bicycle with a basket, wearing a reflective crossing-guard vest.

(As an added bonus, there was also a man on the sidewalk in a bright pink leg cast. I felt a little bit bad for the cast itself, but love that he chose bright pink.)

Here are some things that are made of awesome

Right now, I am eating a Honeycrisp apple.

My father was quoted on the front page of the newspaper, above the fold.

My sister scored a White House press pass and took photos of the president.

I saw people juggling fire on a church lawn.

And Jens Lekman puts on a really good show. (I like this song a lot.)

Maybe?

This morning, the so-called song of summer (maybe) came on the radio on my way into work. Unless you've been under a rock, you've heard Call Me Maybe pretty much everywhere.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I kind of love this song. But the real reason I love it is this dramatic reading of the song, which I must have listened to at least a half-dozen times.

It still makes me grin so big.

Also! This exists! I haven't listened yet, but I'm way excited about the mix.

Playing the blues

On my flight back to Atlanta last weekend, the pilot played harmonica over the loudspeaker while telling us how long we'd be in the air, and how many miles we would traverse.

He was actually pretty good.

Coffee in Brazil

I have a Fancy New Car -- who has yet to be named -- after Webster valiantly protected me from a collision several months ago.

This new car has many cool things going for it, one of which is satellite radio. Another is BlueTooth. Now normally, I'm not someone who gets all excited about car radios or hands-free technology, or even technology at all, but this morning -- while I was calculating how long it would be until the free satellite radio ran out and I would once again be denied Big Band tunes and commercial-free commutes -- I had an epiphany.

At traffic lights, I fiddled with my phone and with my radio. And right as I got to work, I discovered this: I am able to stream my favorite radio station through my phone and listen to it through my speakers, despite the fact that I'm three states away.

I only got to hear two songs this morning, but they were coffee-themed and adorable. And so I went into work this morning grinning, and humming about coffee in Brazil.

Shuffle

Sometimes, it's the smallest, silliest things.

The weather was pleasant this morning, in the high 50s with sun and clouds. And I had my iPod on on the way to work when Elmo's Song followed Annie Lennox. Do you know Elmo's Song? It's sweet and catchy and fun. It's Sesame Street. It just makes you smile. Well, it makes me smile.

That's enough, in and of itself. But then? The coup de grace? A few songs later, what came up but the theme song to Transformers!

As my college roommate (hi!) can tell you, the Transformers theme song is the one that always managed to play (somehow, the randomizer on my music-playing program really, really liked the Transformers) and always managed to play at the most inappropriate times. So it took everything I had not to burst out laughing and/or sing along. (I was on public transportation at the time.)

The book I just finished referenced Optimus Prime toward the end. I wonder if through some kind of music-shuffle-magic the iPod knew and thought, finally, that it was an appropriate time for Transformers.

Regret the error

When journalists make mistakes in their work, they're supposed to acknowledge and fix those mistakes at the next possible opportunity -- in the next day's paper, by fixing it in an online story, by announcing the mistake on-air. I can really only speak for newspapers, but most, if not all, have a space for those corrections, often on page two.

There's a great Web site that tracks corrections, called Regret the Error. It gets the name from the last sentence of many corrections, which is often the publication saying that it does, in fact, regret having made the error.

They're often entertaining and interesting reads. But I want to call your attention to the 2009 best-of list.

The funny doesn't really start until four screens down (skip the fact-checking part unless you're inherently interested in that sort of thing and start with the Correction of the Year).

I'll let you read the correction itself, which is most unfortunate. And a number of the corrections contained in the list (or more appropriately, the mistakes that were made that led to the corrections being on that list) were hysterical. But the thing that made me laugh out loud while sitting at work was a Twitter meme referring to that correction of the year. Its hashtag is #washingtonpostcorrections and in case they're off the screen by the time you search it, it includes such gems as:

• PamPF99 Please note that The Monkees are in fact believers, and not heretics as reported. The Post regrets the error. #washingtonpostcorrections
• mistabaka: Mo money does not, as was reported, bring mo problems, we regret the error. #washingtonpostcorrections
• cobrown: Snoop Dogg did not, as we reported, contract the plague. It was his chronic that was bubonic. #washingtonpostcorrections
• jsmooth995: George Clinton has assured us his roof remains intact, and he takes fire safety quite seriously. #washingtonpostcorrections
• sethlipkin There is, in fact, a mountain high enough. The Post regrets the error. #washingtonpostcorrections
• nolamomma Dr. Dre is IN Public Enemy. He is not considered by law enforcement to be A public enemy. #washingtonpostcorrections

You get the picture.

And some real corrections (from the best-of) to whet your palate:

Toronto Sun: A headline on page one of the Toronto Sun yesterday was both inaccurate and misleading. In fact, as the story reported, the mother of a boy involved in a high school fight in Keswick said her son “said something stupid.” She did not say nor imply he was stupid. The Sun regrets the error and apologizes to the boy and his family.

Los Angeles Times: Bear sighting: An item in the National Briefing in Sunday’s Section A said a bear wandered into a grocery story in Hayward, Wis., on Friday and headed for the beer cooler. It was Thursday.

It's alarming how charming I feel

One of my (male) coworkers said to my (male) boss this morning, "Wow, you look nice today!"

My boss replied by saying -- then singing -- "I feel pretty." (It doesn't start til the 50-second mark.)

I tried not to guffaw.

What's up, Doc?

Last week, I went to Blossom to see a performance of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies music, complete with cartoons. This was super-adorable and fun.

But the thing thing that made me really grin? At the end of the show, instead of tossing flowers on the stage, someone brought a bunch of carrots to the conductor.

Bugs Bunny, indeed.

On a completely unrelated note, I have a dead computer. So I will once again be sporadic, at least until a new one is acquired. Anyone have suggestions for awesome new or horribly awful computers?

I hope a rhyming dictionary was involved

Because otherwise, why would the Black Eyed Peas rhyme "mazel tov" with "take it off" in the song "I Gotta Feeling"?

They did add a "l'chaim" in for good measure, though.

Tampico

This is why I love love love the Big Band station.

It played a version of this song, which I was merrily humming along to, when all of a sudden the (redundant) lyrics changed... to "we're getting sick of this song" and "it's repetitious and long." All in a very cheery, Big Band-y sort of way. I chuckled. And tried to find the same version at home, but couldn't.

Church bells

I managed to time the drive home to be outside a church at 6, when the bells began to toll. It's a lovely sound. Wind blowing through windows, music in the air. I like it.