Alright, stop. Collaborate and listen

Inspired by Leslie at Adventures in Randomness, I put my iPod on shuffle. Here are the first 10 songs that came up, with a little something about each song. (Some of my uber-loyal readers may recall that I did something similar around this time last year, sans the "a little something about each song" part.) We're not supposed to skip songs, but I have a bunch of Brent's music on here, mostly stuff like Talib Kweli and A Tribe Called Quest so I did skip a couple of his songs that came up. The song titles below link to YouTube videos, when available. 1. Wishing Well by Terence Trent D'Arby - This song reminds me of when I was in 5th grade and I was sporting a black eye that I had given myself during an accident in PE. Our school had a special assembly for the 6th graders. (I was in a 5th/6th mix, along with 10 other smart 5th graders, so I got to attend.) This is the song they were playing as we filed into the assembly, which turned out to be an anti-drug event hosted by Friday Night Live. They held a dance contest, where we all had to dance together so they could choose the best dancer. And they chose ME! At the time I thought I stood out because I was sporting a black eye, but thinking back, I may have had some good moves for a 5th grader. I won a t-shirt, which I wore very proudly. 2. Flow by Sade - I'm reminded of an old college boyfriend. And when I say "old," I mean he was 10 years older than me. He may or may not have been married. He didn't wear a wedding ring, and I would have never knowingly dated a married guy, but things with him got a little fishy toward the end so I wouldn't have been surprised if that turned out to be the case. Whatevs. When I asked him what kind of music he liked, the first thing he said was, "Sade." And I thought, "Dude, you're old." And now I'm old because I own some Sade. 3. Any Time Now by O.A.R. - My friend, Tori, introduced me to O.A.R.'s music. I have some of their songs and I like what I've heard, but I haven't really gotten into them yet. Their music is very laid back. 4. Why Georgia by John Mayer - This is one of his first songs that I really fell in love with. It falls under the "audible hug" category for me, too. I hear it and I like to imagine him in his early career, when he wrote this. And the lyrics resonate with me, including lines like, "I wonder sometimes about the outcome of a still verdictless life. Am I living it right?" This song also reminds me of my friend, South African Ballerina Jen, because she lived in Georgia when she first moved to the States. 5. High and Dry by Jamie Cullum - I like Radiohead's original version, but I love Jamie's take on it. This song made me a Jamie Cullum fan. 6. Doing the Unstuck by The Cure - One of my many jobs in college was working in a record store. It was there that I "discovered" The Cure and I bought all their CDs from our used CDs section. Then they came out with their "best of" CD, which had all the songs I was trying to collect. I'm also reminded of the time I stayed the night at a friend's house in high school and I woke up in the middle of the night wondering why she had a poster of Edward Scissorhands. Turns out it was Robert Smith, lead singer of The Cure. 7. Whatta Man by Salt-N-Pepa - I loved this song when it came out during my sophomore year of high school. I still know most of the lyrics of that and Salt-N-Pepa's Shoop. Have you seen the new reality show about Salt and Pepa's reunion on Vh1? Salt left the group abruptly years ago and reluctantly agrees to a potential reunion, although now Salt is a good Christian and doesn't want to sing some of Salt-N-Pepa's provocative lyrics. 8. Circles by Incubus - All things Incubus take me back to when I first moved to LA in 2000. I listened to their CDs when I got ready for work each morning. And I still think the lead singer Brandon Boyd is stunning. 9. So Long by Guster - Hilary introduced me to Guster. Like O.A.R., I enjoy their music a lot but I haven't gotten into them as much as I should. 10. God Only Knows by The Beach Boys - Many things run through my mind when this song comes on. Brent likes the Beach Boys a lot, and he particularly loves this song. It also makes me think about the HBO's Big Love as it's the show's opening song. I'm also reminded of our wedding day as this was one of the songs I had on our extensive list of stuff I wanted to hear during dinner. That was a fun way to share more stories. Ok, whose iPod is next? "Wish me love a wishing well to kiss and tell. A wishing well of butterfly tears. Wish me love a wishing well to kiss and tell. A wishing well of crocodile cheers." - Wishing Well, Terence Trent D'arby