OK…let’s talk about two of the greatest hooks written in the last couple years. I can’t stop listening to these songs. Whenever I listen to these songs I feel like I did at the end of the movie, Garden State, when Frou Frou’s, Let Go, starts playing. What an amazing moment.

Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone

Eisley - Marvelous Things

Check out the video for Marvelous Things: Click Here
*I wish I was the brunette’s SM58…

Mike Williams, I know you can dig what I’m sayin. Poof.

I’m currently on an Amtrak train headed to NYC from Ithaca, NY. NYC got dumped on by 22 inches of snow last night and trains are the only thing currently willing to risk traveling into the city. My train left Ithaca at 3:50pm and is supposed to arrive at Penn Station at 9:50pm. However, after just stopping at the Albany station, an announcement came over the speakers that we are not leaving for 2 hours due to the snow in NY. So, alas, even trains can’t stand up to an element that small dogs can melt with a simple lift of their leg.

Last night was the last show of a week long tour with the Ike Sturm Ensemble. It was one of the more enjoyable tours I’ve had musically. I knew and felt from the first show that the music was going to be great…and it was. I wish we could have gone another week or two.

Because of the snow, we stayed at a Ramada last night where I was able to watch some Torino as well as weather updates every .000005 seconds from CNN and MSNBC. I rarely watch TV and it never ceases to amaze me how overly dramatic news stations are. You would think after watching the news last night that the entire earth was going to be covered in 50 feet of snow. Do newscasters have to take acting lessons? Because while watching the news last night I got the same feeling that I get after watching a really terrible horror film like Anaconda or Deep Blue. The feeling in which you are fully conscious of how horrible the acting and writing is, to the point that you say out loud during the movie “Wow, this acting and writing is horrible”…but for some reason you can’t stop watching.

I wonder if lobbyists for the milk and bread industry pay news agencies to hype the crap out of a few inches of snow to increase sales. The question is, “How deep does it go?” (no pun intended) Also, why are the staples milk and bread? Wouldn’t you think things like water and broccoli would be the staples? At least then you could prevent cancer while waiting for the snow to melt. If I think back to when I was in middle school I don’t remember news stations being so over the top. Maybe I was just unaware or maybe, because of ratings, news stations have realized that if they mimic the forced and scripted drama of reality TV that their ratings will sky rocket. I just asked Maddy Sturm that last question (she’s sitting next to me on this train) and she had an interesting response…”People who watch a lot of TV lose their take on reality. It’s as if the TV is supplying their reality rather than reality being reality.” How many people do you know put 100% of their trust in the weather person (Do you like my political correctness?) even after the weather person has gotten it wrong most of the time?

Back to the train…I’m still sitting here stopped at the Albany station with a little over an hour to wait until we leave. I just ate a personal sized train-microwaved cheese pizza which feels like it just took 10 years off my life. I’m hoping that a good sushi restaurant will be open in Brooklyn when I get back so that I can put some vegetables into my body.

Preface: I’m not a doctor in any way, shape or form so heed the following advice appropriately:

How to stay healthy:

1. Drink a gallon of water per day
2. Don’t eat meat
3. Take 3 satisfying deep breaths every time you walk outdoors…breathe out your stress and breathe in the sunlight or the smell of grass, etc.
4. Realize the ACTUAL significance of something you’re stressed about. When you are losing your mind about meeting a deadline or paying a bill on time, think about 2 things: (a.) The fact that in a short amount of time your current situation won’t even cross your mind (b.) It doesn’t matter in the slightest to gravity, the moon, or a dolphin as to whether or not you meet that deadline or pay that bill
5. Exercise for 30 minutes per day, 5 days a week - 15 minutes cardio, 15 minutes strength training
6. Sleep 6-7 hours per night
7. Approach every situation with a positive, open mind
8. Take a moment before you react to a situation negatively and put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Then ask yourself how you would like to be treated if you were.
9. Take a multi-vitamin everyday

Here are some other things I am working towards:

1. Stop drinking soda
2. Eat only natural, organic foods
3. Greatly limit sugar intake
4. Getting rid of past negative mental blocks

What to do if you feel a cold manifesting:

1. Keep drinking that water
2. Drink some green tea straight up…no sugar, honey, etc.
3. Take some Airborne
4. Take some Cold-Eeze
5. Tell yourself that you are not getting sick and that you will beat the cold