My "Celebrity" Itunes Playlist

I'm realistic enough to know that I am not talented and fame will never find me. Sure in high school I was quite delusional, but we all grow up and out of those phases. Now, I do think that my karaoke talents are most entertaining (I keep riding the "Sin Wagon") but I can't sing. I'm aware of it. I'm OK with it.

However, I won't lie...there are days I dream of what it would be like to be famous, to be loved by all these people and as easily forgotten about and go down that celebrity psycho spiral (you know, shave my head, beat a guy with an umbrella and go chasing people down the highway on a coke high). If I was famous, I would absolutely LOVE to do an artist playlist for Itunes. Maybe to get people to listen to fantastic music or maybe just to be a huge narcissist, either works. Since your reading this blog, I know you're interested and are just trembling at finding out what my playlist would be. So, pretend I'm a famous celebrity posed like a ho on itunes.

Manda's Celebrity Playlist:

1. Uprising, Muse- Muse is seriously my current obsession. I happened upon them by listening to a co worker obsess about how fantastic they were and I had to hear for myself. I'm in love!

2. It's not You, Halestorm- Really any Halestorm song could be here. I saw them at the Machine Shop in Flint and was just instantly a fan. It's hard to earn my love and this was love at first sound.

3. Don't Stop Believing, Journey- How many of you have NOT driven down the highway rocking out to this song????

4. Livin on A Prayer, Bon Jovi- See Journey

5. Bye, Bye, Bye, N'Sync- Yes, I Manda, was a fan of the late 90s boy bands. Backstreet Boys, N-Sync, 98 degrees. And I'm not ashamed. I love this whole Cd still. (don't be judging)

6. Paradise by the Dashboard Light, Meat Loaf- I frakking LOVE Meat Loaf. Bat out of Hell is in the top 10 list best albums ever. Paradise is especially fun to sing with your hetero life partner driving down the boring ass Pennsylvania turnpike. (and in case you're wondering, she rocks out the chick part and I'm all over the Meat parts :) )

7. Before He Cheats, Carrie Underwood- Cheat on me bitch, I'll bust the windows out your car.

8.Drunken Lullabys, Flogging Molly- Great Band. Love Celtic music. Love rocking out to it more.

9. Snuff, Slipknot- I still don't believe that this is Slipknot. But it comes up as their song. Love it.

10. Remember, Disturbed- I love this band. I know, I know, all of their stuff sounds the same, but I like it.

11. Brave, Idina Menzel- It is truly awesome to see the original Maureen in "Rent" becoming such a well known talent. Her voice is amazing and its different from a lot of the auto tone crap being produced (That's to you Ke$ha)

I could go on. My musical tastes are pretty eclectic (much like my mind) but I'm sure you;re at the point of boredom. But really check 'em out :)

Erykah Badu - Call Tyrone (live)

Favorite Song this week. Happy Weekend!

Automobiles are not ferocious.. it is man who is to be feared

Living in DC has it's perks. Great Nightlife, lots to do (if you aren't lazy) and pretty well situated on the Eastern Seaboard so New York and Boston aren't far off. But for all the great things, there is one thing that I will never miss on that day I return to my Midwestern roots: Traffic.

I-395= My personal hell after work


Now, I always believed that the worst drivers in the country resided in Michigan, but I really didn't have much to compare that thought to......until i moved here.

There are three types of drivers that reside in DC: The natives, the foreigners and the transplants. Each is identified by specific characteristics and driving habits.

The Natives are the break riders. They are used to traffic, grew up in it and therefore their immediate reflex is to stomp the brakes at any and all times. The next car on the highway can be half a mile in front of them, but said car hits the brakes, guess what, of course the native will hit theirs as well. Native drivers also tend to drive one of the following 3 cars: Toyota Prius, Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla. They do not believe in turn signals, looking before merging into traffic and are incapable of getting up to speed before exiting the on ramp to the highway.

The foreigners are terrified to drive. They will drive 25 miles an hour, even on the highway and they also seem to be unable to comprehend basic traffic laws. Cab drivers fall into this category as well, only they aren't afraid of driving, they will probably kill you in the crosswalk just to beat a light or make a turn. No foreign driver makes a person driving in DC shudder more than a diplomat plate.

Granted Diplomats do good work, but they are completely incapable of driving in this country. I assume they are used ot driving on the other side of the road, but anytime one sees this plate loose on the highway, we all know to back up and give them space on all four sides. Unpredictability can be fun but not in a car.

Then you have the transplants. We grew up in the country far from the city, corn fed and farm raised, driving riding mowers at age 5 and getting our first tractor at age 12. We take no prisoners on the highway. Transplants are quite agressive, but this anger is fed by the constant stupidity we have to deal with from the natives and foreigners. The problem basically is we know how to drive a car and know what the mirrors attached on all sides are for and we realize a car can go above 30 with no problems.

Even with the 3 categories, there is just some commonality among all of them. Something about getting on a highway into or out of DC makes people turn stupid. Being cut off in traffic is constant and may God help you, should you find yourself stuck on the highway when the sky turns gray, or these water droplet things start falling from the sky. NO ONE knows how to drive when it rains.

Or snows...they close schools on 1 inch of snow. Even the cops are not used to it. I remember the first winter I was here, I was driving at about 55 down 395 in snow flurries and I was pulled over. NOT for speeding, but for driving too fast for conditions. I would like to point my out Michigan license plate was still attached to my vehicle at this time and I laughed in this man's face with a simple "what conditions officer?"

Everyone's free to wear Sunscreen

The past weekend was fabulous. Only had one tour so I had a nice solid 3 day weekend. Yesterday we had Kelsey over and we laid pool side and alternated with jumping in the pool to cool off. As a background note, I am a pasty person. Tanning is not something that my body usually does. I'm very dilligent with the sunscreen. Well, my smart happy butt apparently decided that the tops of my legs were not in need of this critical cream and forgot to put it on.

Fast forward to last night. My legs could easy qualify for lobster red. My knees are crispy and they do not bend painlessly. I laid on the sofa for a bit with painkillers which seemed ot work but they went on strike about 2:00 this morning and so suffice it to say I did not sleep. Today my legs are still nicely red and painful, but the burn is cooling slightly.

I will not, however, be able to pull off running. I've been cruising on the couch to 5K and the second week (last week about killed me). I was planning on running this weekend but things kept jumping out to do so it didn't happen. So now I figure I'm just going to repeat week 2. I didn't feel ready to start week 3 on Friday. Running a minute and a half 8 times still makes me breathless...no way am I going to be able to do 3 minutes of running.But I will truck on. Maybe will try to run tonight but highly unlikely.

Current Favorite Song

Video full of Win!!

Enjoy!

Jesus Christ Superstar

Those who know me well are well aware of how I feel when it comes to my faith. I'm lucky to have an awesome assortment of friends with different beliefs who allow me to debate and grow in my own faith and they can in theirs. I love that openness.

However, apparently quite a few people seem to have other ideas about my faith and assume I have never been a Christian and are shocked and figure that oh that's why I changed...more about that later.

When it comes to my faith, I believe that my relationship with God is a personal one. I don't need others chiming in and I don't need to stand on a street corner shouting, "God, God, God" because our relationship is fine. I've had a very long personal relationship with God that has stretched over years.

I remember going to my Grandparent's house for two weeks every summer and Grandma and I would sing "The Blood Bought Church" at the top of our lungs as it played on the record player. My Gramnoo was the person who really established my early belief in Christianity and she is the example I strive to live as every day, but while she succeeds, I fail miserably.

Granmoo is liberal. She holds many Southern Baptist beliefs but the woman is faithful. She has been through hell and back in the last six years to the point many would have committed suicide. Not Granmoo. She opens one of the 80 or so bibles in her house and reads. She's devoted to prayer and carries worry for many in the world...even people she hasn't met yet. She believes everything is God's plan and the decisions we make are either influenced by him or Satan. She doesn't go to church much because she's found her happy balance in her personal relationship with God and has found other ways to serve him. I've never really figured out where Grandpa falls in his beliefs, other than John Wayne movies are the greatest ever. But there have been times when I see him silently away with head bowed down. I love my Grandparents.

My parents are also more of the non church going Christians.,..but they have reasons. We went to a very nice Baptist church in our town. It was huge, had a good youth Group and the pastor was devoted. However, he was not one that the older generation in the church liked so he was run off and when he left, the church died. Everyone left in disgust. My parents were ostracized because they both had to work to put food on the table. We were poor but my brother and I never knew it because we never lacked anything we needed. Now that I myself have all the financial obligations and see the financial mess my parents continue to deal with even after 30 years, it shocks me.

Dad is a truck driver. He has left to other jobs, but he always comes back to the truck. To him, that's God's plan for him. He accepted it and while his bosses are kind of jerks, he endures and continues down the road one mile at a time. I do remember how excited we were when he would be able to make it one of our school recitals. Up until I was in middle school and my brother in fourth grade, many people assumed my mom was single or divorced. Mom, was sad when she could no longer stay home with us, so when we entered school she became a CNA. She has worked hard for 22 years, going to school to work up to her LPN and she is a damn good nurse.

I'm lucky to have such awesome individiuals as role models who have shaped my faith. I myself have always been devoted to God. However, I have never made it public knowledge or stood in the church screaming "All hail God!" I'm not attacking anyone who does that because that's their way of showing their devotion but for me it doesn't work. To me as I stated above, my relationship with God is a quiet and reflective one. I don't usually go to church because none can feed me spiritually. The experiences of years past with preacher has made it hard for me to find one that speaks to me. However, thanks to my awesome friend Kelsey, I have finally found one. But I'm not going there to shout and praise. I enjoy church as it allows me an hour of quiet and uniterrupted time with God. I can sit and reflect with no distractions.

The best way to describe me is I'm a liberal non-judgmental Christian. What does that mean, exactly? Well, it means I try to not judge people for their beliefs or how they choose to live their life. I won't force feed you my beliefs, but I hope that you will also do the same for me with yours. Judging people takes way to much time and that is something that is hard to come by these days. Plus, frankly it's not my job. I think God, while he knows the details, also knows that we aren't perfect and is just happy for us to lead a good life, treat others with kindness and continue his work in small ways, be it spend a day at the homeless shelter serving food or going to a small gathering on easter Sunday. AS long as you keep the commandments, all the other stuff kind of falls into place. He is always forgiving. Sadly, his followers don't always practice what he preaches and those are usually the ones who make a big deal of their walk with God.

MY faith was truly shaped when I moved 3 years ago. I moveds to a large city from farm ville , away from everyone and everything I knew and that was familliar. The first six months here were the somne of the worst months of my life. I didn't know anyone so I did a lot of praying because it was the only relationship I had close. I had three awesome friends who kicked it into gear and did everything they could to support me, even if it was a simple phone call or a bitch slap to get over myself. I love you, Mon, Ape and Sar :)I think this trying time was when I really understood what I wanted my spiritual relationship and faith to be. I haven't looked back since and now my life, despite crushing student loan debt is awesome. I have a wonderful husband who is supportive, lovin and cracks me up with his wit daily ( I love you Hunbun!), two fur ball children (although I still remain convinced they are going to kill me in my sleep) and a job that is slowly killing me everyday, but I love it and love what I do.

I'm just keeping on , keeping on. Trying to be good and yet failing daily in his grace. But, I think that's how he likes it. I learn more. This is the last time you will hear me preach. Because I've revealed too much already. :)

Manda