Valentine's Day

Oh, the number one is not my favorite number (why?)
'Cause one means only me and there's no you (aw, Ernie)
But one plus one you see
Makes two, that's you and me
And it's more fun when one and one make two

Oh, one and one make two
At least I'm pretty sure they do
Oh yes it's true
One and one make two

Now, everyone needs somebody to share with
A pal to help and care for through and through
And there's no one that I've known
Who can do those things alone
It's a lot nicer when one and one make two

Oh, one and one make two
At least I'm pretty sure they do
Oh yes it's true
One and one make two

-One and One Make Two, sung by Bert & Ernie

Fake Empire

On my playlist these days: Fake Empire by The National. It was used in Obama's Signs of Hope & Change video sans lyrics - but I'm thinking it might have been chosen because of the lyrics. Hmm... (Good work Obama campaign.)

Stay out super late tonight
picking apples, making pies
put a little something in our lemonade and take it with us
we’re half-awake in a fake empire
we’re half-awake in a fake empire

Tiptoe through our shiny city
with our diamond slippers on
do our gay ballet on ice
bluebirds on our shoulders
we’re half-awake in a fake empire
we’re half-awake in a fake empire

Turn the light out say goodnight
no thinking for a little while
let’s not try to figure out everything at once
It’s hard to keep track of you falling through the sky
we’re half-awake in a fake empire
we’re half-awake in a fake empire

Families, Love & Summertime

A weekend with my family in Minnesota's beautiful lake country helps to remind me what matters.

I don't need to - earn six figures/end global poverty/travel the world/be CEO - to be happy.

I'll be just fine with-

a yard and some flowers ... kids and then grandkids ... church every Sunday ... birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, baptisms ... friends to grow old with ... someone I am in love with forever ...

and a summer day up north at the lake.

______________________________
at a little wooden cabin
up in northern minnesota
we ran together down to the dock
and you jumped right off it
and from out in the water
you called me to join you
and i said baby i cannot swim
if i jump i’ll surely drown you
you said life has no limit
if you’re not afraid to get in it

and oh baby i jumped to you
since then there’s nothing i can’t do

i'm never gonna give you up
what do you got if you ain't got love

If You Ain't Got Love, Mason Jennings
______________________________

Thank God I'm a Country Girl

Okay, so I'm not really a country girl. In fact, I start to feel out of place as soon as I get anywhere north of, say, Shoreview. But I understand the appeal of the small-town, slower-pace lifestyle and would love to move to the country - if only I could find a town with a progressive, free-thinking, socially conscious population. It's not because I believe that's the only acceptable way to approach life - there's value in differing beliefs and opinions - but it's just that I prefer to be around people who don't make me want to throw rocks at them when they speak.

Anyway, I've been a country music fan almost as long as I've been a music fan. And I think it's too bad that so many of us (especially in the city) avoid it. I appreciate the wholesome themes of true love, family, simplicity and faith in God.

So I share with you some of my favorite country music lyrics. (There are so many, it's hard to choose.)

I have wondered this world far and wide
I've been all around to the other side
But there's nothin' like comin' home
I wanna sit on my front porch and drink my lemonade
Cut my grass after church every Sunday
And go out on Saturday night
Live the simple life
Wake up in the morning to these fields of gold
And take a long walk down a gravel road
Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Simple Life

My grandma was a wise old soul
Took me by the hand not long ago
Said, "Son, what's your hurry, boy slow it down
Taste the wild honey, listen to the sound
Of the wind that's blowin' through the trees
Rivers flowin' to the sea
Yeah they're all headin' home just like you and me
Life's for livin' child, can't you see?"
Keith Urban, These Are the Days

'Cause it's the first long kiss on a second date
Momma's all worried when you get home late
And droppin' the ring in the spaghetti plate
'cause your hands are shakin' so much
And it's the way that she looks with the rice in her hair
Eatin' burnt supper the whole first year
And askin' for seconds to keep her from tearin' up
Yeah man, that's the good stuff
Kenny Chesney, The Good Stuff

There are also country music lyrics I hate, of course - songs about the U.S. of A. putting a boot in your ass, 'cause it's the American way. But I won't get into those, at least not in this post.