"The age of a woman doesn't mean a thing."

"The greatest tunes are played on the oldest fiddles." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Oh that Emerson...he gets me every single time. Now that I officially turned thirty as of yesterday, I'm beginning to see just how true those words are. I've been itching to get out of my 20's for at least 4 years now and 30 was a welcome anniversary of my birth for sure. There's just something so tumultuous about your 20's. You're up, you're down...you're in, you're out. You're upside down and right side up and every position emotionally and mentally in between. It's the decade of growing pains without a doubt and for me, I've always felt that the 30's will be my decade of discovery.

While most of my friends are horrified at the thought of a third decade on the planet, I intend to embrace it with every fiber of my being. I intend to laugh more, love more and live more fully than I ever have before and view the world through wiser eyes and rosier hues. Thirty isn't an age to dread by any means...it is an age to adore. And so, with a confident spirit I've exorcised all the demons of my youth and can set about on the path of discovery and let it lead wherever it may.

So for anyone else who might be approaching a milestone year in the coming months, don't sweat it...just view it as a blessing. After all, it's a far greater gift than the alternative, no? I received a lot of gifts in the past week but I got a magnet from a dear friend that I absolutely love and it looks like this:



I can't think of a better way to sum up how I feel at this very moment so I'll just leave it at that. Well...that and some music! Here are some aptly titled (if not always necessarily appropriate in content) tunes to celebrate...

Loretta Lynn - "Happy Birthday"

Bright Eyes - "Happy Birthday To Me"

The Bird & The Bee - "Birthday"

Don McLean - "Birthday Song"

Expecting Rain - "Birthday Girl"

Flo Rida - "Birthday"

Steppenwolf - "Happy Birthday"

The Innocence Mission - "Happy Birthday"

The Roots ft. Patrick Stump - "Birthday Girl

Birthday Party - "Happy Birthday"

Caribou - "Every Time She Turns Round It's Her Birthday"





Some songs about the act of aging and all the angst and ecstasy that accompanies it and perhaps some gems about growing older gracefully:

John Mayer - "Stop This Train"

John recently made a rather spectacular blog post of his own that I recommend everyone read...spend five minutes with him here.

Blink 182 - "Dammit"

The Killers - "When You Were Young"

Soft Cell - "Youth"

Tracy Lawrence - "Time Marches On"

Neil Young - "Sugar Mountain"

Morissey - "That's How People Grow Up"

Fleetwood Mac - "Landslide"

Colbie Caillat - "Older"

The Alan Parsons Project - "Old & Wise"

Talking Heads - "Once in a Lifetime"

Dusty Springfield - "Goin' Back"

Mike + The Mechanics - "Living Years"

Jethro Tull - "Too Old To Rock & Roll Too Young To Die"

Bruce Springsteen - "Growing Up"

Dar Williams - "You're Aging Well"

Grateful Dead - "Touch of Grey"

John Cougar Mellencamp - "Cherry Bomb"

Julie Roberts - "Wake Up Older"

Paul Simon - "Still Crazy After All These Years"

The Who - "My Generation"

LCD Soundsystem - "Losing My Edge"

Ron Sexsmith - "Hands of Time"

The Beatles - "When I'm Sixty-Four"

Oasis - "Just Getting Older"





And just for fun and the sake of nostalgia, here are a smattering of songs that were big as singles in '78...and just like me so many of them have gotten better as the years have passed. Had I been more than just a wee tot in 1978, these are the songs I would have been blasting...


Bee Gees - "Stayin' Alive"

Bill Withers - "Lovely Day"

Dire Straits - "Sultans of Swing"

Joe Walsh - "Life's Been Good"

Exile - "Kiss You All Over"

Gerry Rafferty - "Right Down the Line"

Jackson Browne - "Stay"

The Ramones - "I Wanna Be Sedated"

Queen - "We Are the Champions"

The Police - "Roxanne"

Bonnie Tyler - "It's A Heartache"

Kansas - "Dust in the Wind"

Genesis - "Follow You, Follow Me"

Paul Simon - "Slip Slidin' Away"

Merle Haggard - "It's Been A Great Afternoon"

Player - "Baby Come Back"

Dolly Parton - "Here You Come Again"

Blondie - "Heart of Glass"

Foreigner - "Hot Blooded"

Nick Gilder - "Hot Child in the City"

Village People - "Y.M.C.A."

Billy Joel - "Just The Way You Are"

Rolling Stones - "Beast of Burden"

Van Halen - "Eruption"

Olivia Newton John & John Travolta - "You're the One That I Want"

John Conlee - "Rose Colored Glasses"

Bob Marley - "Is This Love"

Crystal Gayle - "Talking In Your Sleep"

Bob Seger - "Hollywood Nights"

Parliament - "Flash Light"

Eric Clapton - "Wonderful Tonight"

Kenny Rogers - "The Gambler"

"Everything I know I learned after I was thirty."
- Georges Clemenceau

"Time and tide wait for no man but time always stands still for a woman of thirty."
- Robert Frost

Tim McGraw - "My Next Thirty Years"

John Conlee - "Back Side of Thirty"

"After my picture fades and darkness has turned to gray..."

Time for a little history lesson, children. On this day in 1984, Cyndi Lauper released the second single from her solo debut She's So Unusual the classic tearjerker "Time After Time" and the world was smitten with the eccentric "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" singer. I adore this song...

Cyndi Lauper - "Time After Time"



Also on this day:

In 1981, AC/DC released Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap in America and the term "Big Balls" never sounded so good. My two favorites from the album...

AC/DC - "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap"

AC/DC - "Big Balls"

My Dad will be pleased that I'm mentioning this even though I've never been a huge Van Hagar fan. March 27th, 1986 saw Sammy Hagar playing his first show with Van Halen replacing the one and only Diamond Dave. Their albums featuring Hagar at the helm also spawned these tracks that I don't hate at all...

Van Halen - "Love Walks In"

Van Halen - "Finish What Ya Started"

Van Halen - "Right Now"

And the video for it which remains one of my favorite ever:

And long before Bono was a Nobel nominee, he and the boys in U2 filmed their video for the single "Where The Streets Have No Name" from their now classic album, Joshua Tree on the rooftop of LA's Republic Liquor Store on March 27, 1987 creating a frenzy on the streets below causing law enforcement to halt production on the shoot. In the end, the difficult song has become a live staple and is adored by fans worldwide.

U2 - "Where the Streets Have No Name"

Relive the event...

God Save the Queen(s)!

Two legendary queens are celebrating their birthdays today and I just can't NOT honor them. The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin and the Queen of Crazy Costumes & Bad Hairpieces, Elton John were born on this day in 1942 and 1947 respectively and collectively they have left an indelible mark on music history in a way that few others before or since have been able to. So in honor of their many contributions, here are a very few tunes from their vast catalogs to celebrate my fellow Aries babies...




Aretha Franklin - "I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You"

Aretha Franklin - "Bridge Over Troubled Water"

Aretha Franklin - "Respect"

Aretha Franklin - "Chain of Fools"

Aretha Franklin - "I Say A Little Prayer"

Aretha Franklin - "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"

Aretha Franklin - "Oh Happy Day"








Elton John - "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"

Elton John - "Levon"

Elton John - "Benny & the Jets"

Elton John - "My Father's Gun"

Elton John - "Philadelphia Freedom"

Elton John - "Sad Songs (Say So Much)"

Elton John - "Your Song"

Elton John - "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues"

Elton John - "The Bitch Is Back"

Elton John - "Tiny Dancer"

Elton John - "Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word"

Elton John - "Daniel"


And one from a collaborative effort by the two queens:



Aretha Franklin & Elton John - "Through the Storm"

"Come lay here beside me and I'll fear no death."

I'm not particularly religious but I am deeply spiritual. In other words, I have enough faith that I won’t be damned for eternity for not getting up and hitting the pew every Sunday morning. These songs really have nothing to do with this particular holiday but what other day could I possibly post them on?

Have a great weekend…no matter your religious affiliation.

The Black Crowes – “Good Friday”

Elvis Perkins – “Good Friday”

Spring has SPRUNG!

Spring has sprung in Oklahoma and I for one couldn’t be more thrilled. The storms that roll through here this time of year are among the most brutal and beautiful you’ll ever find anywhere. They’re awe inspiring and it’s my favorite time to be an Okie. Spring is hands down my absolute FAVORITE season of all and this morning as I look out the window at what’s left of the rain and the green buds that are starting to sprout under what’s left of all my trees, I’m reminded why it is that I truly love the season. Spring is the hopeful season…it’s the season of promise, growth and renewal. It’s the season of forgiveness and redemption and it seems that all good things come with the spring. It’s my favorite for those reasons but I have to give kudos to the winter as well for without its harsh, bitter ending each year the spring wouldn’t be nearly as welcome. It’s the perfect analogy for life…without the bitter; the sweet just isn’t as fantastic as it would be unaccompanied.

So in honor of this first day of spring, here’s a little mini playlist of songs that I’ll be singing along to on my way to work this morning. I’m pressed for time or there would be many more so feel free to add your suggestions for the perfect spring playlist in the comments. Enjoy!

U2 – “Beautiful Day”

Architecture in Helskinki – “Spring 2008”

The Cure – “Mint Car”

Nizlopi – “Start Beginning”

Blonde Redhead – “Spring and by Summer Fall”

The Cranberries – “Linger”

John Butler Trio – “Spring”

Elvis Presley – “Spring Fever”

Ane Brun – “Changing of the Seasons”

The Lovin’ Spoonful – “Daydream”

Tristan Prettyman – “In Bloom”