Wednesday, August 29, 2007

...Because you're oh so gone and I'm oh so sad.



*Starlee Kine, Joe McGinty and Julia Greenberg from TAL #339



Insomnia is a bitch. She comes over every night and keeps me company. She forces thoughts into my head about impending deadlines and the lack of groceries in my fridge. She taunts me with periods of pseudo drowsiness only to keep me awake and wired with random thoughts.

Lots of stuff going on. I've been travelling for work, considering changing jobs, and getting the kids ready to restart school. In the middle of this we've had heavy rains the past 2 weeks causing major damage to the Chicago area. For those of you who know Illinois, my parents live in Des Plaines aka THE FLOOD MAGNET. Yep. Basement completely flooded and no power for 3 days.

Flood 2
See the reflection? That's not a tile floor... that's 4 inches of water on carpet. You'll notice my dad's pride and joy (his big screen t.v.) in the background. I had to disconnect his cable connection in order to move the t.v. and all he could do was whine about his AsiaNet. Seriously. I'm about to go fishing in the basement and you're worried about missing your serials??

Ripple

I have a ton of pictures for the insurance claim if you'd like to see them. We can make popcorn and sit and watch the slideshow together.

Anyhoo. We went over to the house and pulled up the carpet and threw out years of memories intermingled with junk. D and my brother-in-law Ry were so awesome. No complaints. No questions asked. Hours upon hours of heavy lifting. In the midst of the chaos and annoyance I was so happy that I'm part of this kick-ass family.

*******

I'm an NPR (National Public Radio) junkie. My favorite show is This American Life with its uber-cool and unlikely sex symbol host, Ira Glass. I liken the show to being at a dinner party with a group of interesting people and overhearing snippets of conversations. It's totally theater of the mind and you can feel the warm fire crackling in the background as you're listening. The show is on every weekend but because we're usually out and about I listen to it online on Monday. This week was one of the best segments I've EVER heard and that's saying a lot considering I've been listening for years. The theme was Anatomy of a Break-up and in Act Two, Starlee Kine talks about writing a song to deal with being dumped by her boyfriend. I love what she says about break-up songs:


A break-up song won't ever suggest you start online dating or that you're better off without him. They tell you that you're worse without him which is exactly what you want to hear because it's how you feel. I didn't want to be cheered up. I didn't want to bounce back. I didn't want to meet someone new. I wanted to wallow. Big time. Deeply. And with the least amount of prospective possible.
I encourage everyone to listen to the entire episode online (it's free!). She actually gets advice about corny love songs from Phil Collins. How can you go wrong?

The segment triggered me to find random mix tapes I've kept over the years. I even have one with break-up songs on one side and "I'm-fine-now" songs on the other. Of course I have the cliche "I Will Survive" on there but other gems include:

  • Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
  • Pictures of You - The Cure
  • With or Without You - U2
  • 4 Men- Kitchens of Distinction
  • Where is My Mind- Pixies
  • Pink Moon- Nick Drake
  • Silent All These Years- Tori Amos

And yes before you ask, in high school I dressed in black with my bangs always over my eyes and had 5 piercings in my ears. My parents came into my room one day and asked me if I was on drugs because that's what "the punks" do. I laughed and told them the strongest drug I'd taken was the Midol and Tylenol used monthly when I celebrate my womanhood. Anyway, despite the look, I didn't smoke which made me too uncool to hang out with the punk kids.

I digress. I'm curious what your most memorable break-up and "I survived" songs are? Consider it a tag.

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15 Comments:

Blogger Meeta K. Wolff says...

Aren't parents funny. My mum too is a serial fanatic. Sorry to hear about all the flood and loss. Also read that you are looking to change jobs - I quit mine this month (without having a new one) working from home is good but sometimes too lonely! Now I am enjoying life and being a mum as SOeren started school at the International School here. So much to talk about! Maybe we should email and touch base again!

Wed Aug 29, 05:28:00 AM CDT  
Blogger Kochukandhari says...

I haven't heard Silent All These Years in forever! but I was much more corny - I loved The King of Wishful Thinking.

Wed Aug 29, 08:34:00 AM CDT  
Blogger Marcus Satellite says...

I like "With Or Without You", but I actually like "Bad" better as a breakup song. I covered both songs on my album The Marcus Satellite Tribute To U2. They're very faithful, super-emotional covers.

Sorry about the flood damage...that sucks. Out here in California it's 105 degrees. No floods for now.

I got laid off my old job in animation, and I'm training to be a web designer. With two kids, you could say the whole transition is stressful, but I know I'm doing the right thing because I was so bored of my old job. Good luck to you!

Enjoy,
Marcus

Thu Aug 30, 01:08:00 AM CDT  
Blogger Wandernut says...

This comment has been removed by the author.

Thu Aug 30, 02:53:00 AM CDT  
Blogger Wandernut says...

Sorry to hear about the flood babe.
Got worried for awhile cos you just dropped off the radar for over a month!

*hugs*

Thu Aug 30, 02:56:00 AM CDT  
Blogger That Girl says...

I loved all the songs from " Romy and Michelle's Highschool reunion"... dunno if theyd be breakupsongs.. but definately mopey ones.

Thu Aug 30, 07:34:00 AM CDT  
Blogger That Girl says...

OH MY GOODNESS the water!! see how zoned out i am!!

howd you get all of it out? and its not the plain floors we have in India too!! good grief!! do your parents need carpet changes quite frequently then?

Thu Aug 30, 07:35:00 AM CDT  
Blogger hillgrandmom says...

no wonder you commented on beks' blog that you could do with help in cleaning out your folks' basement! Does this happen often(i.e. annually or something)?

Thu Aug 30, 11:05:00 AM CDT  
Blogger Unknown says...

that's so funny. I was reading an article in the guardian about Joy Division. uhmm...

Thu Aug 30, 10:43:00 PM CDT  
Blogger Sunrayz says...

Mint! :) Hi there! Hope things have settled down at your parents place .
What is with Mallu men of a certain age and their Asianet?!! My FIL is also pretty hooked to it!

Right now onto the break up-
I had just finished my internship and was studying to get into MD. My then (spineless) BF didn't tell me he is going abroad just weeks before he was supposed to go - sigh...broke my heart so badly that I thought it was the end of my life...then he wanted to get back together after a year after I got into an MD progam...I asked him f*** o** :)
As painful as it was, songs were a BIG support. I would sing to myself and feel like I was some sorta Juliet who was 'killed' - gosh, how silly!!
One of favs-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naXCGpABh9I

Fri Aug 31, 09:43:00 AM CDT  
Blogger Tartrazina says...

heya Mint! i wanna see a picture of you in your rebel years :-) hehe!! will save your tag for a post sometime soon!

hope your folks managing to stay dry now. huggers!

Tue Sep 04, 05:49:00 AM CDT  
Blogger Mint Chutney says...

Meeta- It's so nice to hear from you. We definitely need to catch up!

Beks- The King of Wishful Thinking! What perfect lyrics.

M.S. - Welcome. Another favorite of mine is Hawkmoon 269.

Nutty- I haven't forgotten you or the watch! I promise.

Grrl- That soundtrack is perfect. Right up there with The Wedding Singer.

Hillgrandma- This is the first time since they moved there 4 years ago. They now have a back-up generator that will kick on if they lose power again.

Sheenack- Loved Joy Division but was an even bigger New Order fan.

Sun!! I've missed seeing you online. I hope all is well. Everytime I hear that Wilson Philip's song it sticks in my brain for days and days.

Tart- The pictures are pretty funny. : )

Tue Sep 04, 12:47:00 PM CDT  
Blogger the mad momma says...

wow - that basement looks like its beyond repair.

and my favourite breakup song would be 'I'll be okay' Amanda something. - My best friend's wedding, i think. well one of the many and that considering i didnt even break up all that much!

Wed Sep 05, 12:25:00 AM CDT  
Anonymous Anonymous says...

i LOVE this american life. discovered it for the first time only six months ago and have been listening to it everyday......Ira Glass rocks!

Thu Sep 06, 10:34:00 AM CDT  
Blogger Y? says...

I used to read your bloga lot some years back but then work happened to me and i lost track of blogs :)

But yeah Scientist by Coldplay is the best break up song ever

Tue Oct 20, 11:03:00 PM CDT  

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