The New Driving Force

The other day I read something on MightyGirl, one of my favorite blogs, that really jumped out at me. Maggie was talking about a friend saying that she taught her "to ignore inconvenience in the face of potential."

I feel like lately (OK the past few years), I've passed a lot of things up because maybe I was too tired, or it was too expensive, or I didn't have anything to wear. But when I really think about it, I said no because I wasn't sure exactly how things would go. WTF Anna! That is the opposite of Positively! Sure maybe my feet will hurt, or maybe I won't have fun, but maybe I'll end up having a blast or meeting some amazing new friends. Who knows!

Earlier today Matt got some Local Native tickets for a show tonight. I was going to pass because I have been working a lot, I had planned on just staying in, and I don't know a lot of their songs. But then I remembered my new driving force: to ignore inconvenience in the face of potential! So I'm off to a concert for what has the POTENTIAL of being my new favorite band. And dang it, I'm excited!

Song of the Day
Here is one of the Local Native songs that I do know. Please enjoy Airplanes.

101 Things in 1001 Days: 70 and 71

My teeth!

Yesterday I pulled a little-two-birds-with-one-stone action. I completed #70: Get a mouth guard for sleeping, and #71: Improve my teeth through straightening or whitening. Double whammy on the 101 list!

I'm not one of those crazy people who claim they like going to the dentist (you know who you are). I hate it. I have a small mouth and a tongue that refuses to get out of the way. In short, I'm a dentist nightmare. And I'm not such a big fan of yours either Dentists! They stick needles into your gums, drill into your brain, and then make you feel bad about not flossing. Actually I finally found a dentist in New York that I like and trust. I've been going pretty frequently over the past two years and yesterday was the big day. I finally got retainers! Ya hoo! I know it sounds silly but I have been looking forward to this for some time.

It turns out that since I was a kid, I have had weak enamel, which makes me very susceptible to cavities. I need to continue to take better care of my teeth but my dentist said the retainers, which I have to fill with paste every night, should make my teeth stronger. It will also make them whiter and will help with the grinding. She said if my grinding breaks the retainer, she will give me a new one. I obviously want to avoid that but it does sound kind of bad ass. Teeth of steel!

Song of the Day

Today's song is Death Cab for Cutie's Crooked Teeth.

If Oprah Says It's Ok

#26 on my 101 List is No swearing for a week. I'll admit, I haven't even attempted this one yet. I do believe swearing is trashy and that 90% of the time it is inappropriate, but what can I say? I like a good F-bomb.

An article on Oprah.com say that swearing is not all bad. And hey! If Oprah says it's ok...

Using your favorite four-letter word at the right time can alleviate pain. A recent study published in NeuroReport found that participants who immersed their hands in icy water and were allowed to shout expletives experienced significantly less prickly, numbing pain than when they repeated neutral words. Researchers speculate that cursing activates the stress response, boosting the body's pain threshold to deal with crisis. By Melinda Wenner

Song of the Day

This song is way too catchy not to be on this blog. Heads up! This song is all F-bombs all the time. Please enjoy Cee Lo's Fuck You.

A Great Blogging Date

I'm still relatively new to blogging and I've only dipped my toe into this giant community. One thing that I have learned about bloggers is that while their content may live within the internet, they love to meet face to face. Back in January Amber, of The Amber Show, reached out to me offering to help on #81 on my 101 list: Visit the MET, the Guggenheim and the MoMa. Back then I still thought that people from the internet = stranger danger, but since meeting Katie I've think differently. So a few days ago I reached out to Amber, apologizing for never responding to her invitation, and asked if the offer still stood. Amber is an old school blogger and also very sweet so she agreed to meet me at the MET later that week.

On the day of my blog date, I arrived at the MET 20 minutes early because that is how I roll when I'm nervous. I realized immediately that the MET closes at 5:30. WTF MET! How the heck are we supposed to get freakin' cultured if you ain't open late. I immediately panicked because I was sure that Amber, once she realized the museum was closed, would think that I was a total creeper and that my blog was just an advanced plot to trick her into an unmarked van. However, Amber still met me, didn't mace me in the face, and agreed to get a bite to eat instead.

What a fun night! There is something so fascinating about sitting down with a perfect stranger and having them open up to you. This is of course much easier when it is a blog date and not a real date. Amber's life does not mirror mine at all. It is hard to find friends like this but it is really important. Also she is a very talented blogger, pod caster, and photographer. Hello inspiration!

Thanks so much for meeting me Amber and trusting that I wouldn't shove you into a van.

Song of the Day

Saturday was John Lennon's birthday so today's song is Imagine.

101 Things in 1001 Days: #50

When I was born in New Hampshire in 1982, there was no Red Sox nation. Just a bunch of sad Red Sox fans. And then after the Bill Buckner debacle of 1986 there were a lot of depressed fans. The only good thing about The Curse was that you could get tickets to Fenway. I went a bunch of games as a kid and loved it. But since the Red Sox started winning, and then finally won the World Series in 2004, Sox ticket have become hard/impossible to come by. As a lifetime fan, going back to Fenway was one of the first things I added to my 101 list.

I was so excited when my best friend Mandy invited Matt and me to a game. I was pumped to return to Fenway and also to show it to Matt for the first time. Because the only baseball fields I have been to in the past few years are the gargantuan City Field and Yankee Stadium, I forgot how classic and intimate Fenway is.

We had an absolute fabulous time at the game. We got rowdy with the rest of The Nation.

Drank Sam Adams and ate sausages from the Sausage Guy.
A perfect night at the perfect park. Thanks Mandy!

Song of the Day

When Papelbon runs on the field to close out the game, every speaker in the stadium blares Dropkick Murphy's Shipping Off to Boston. And even if you didn't know you were a Red Sox fan, you feel an energy run through you and you have to stand up and cheer with the rest of the crazies.

You Need To Be Here To See It

You have all heard of the increase of teenagers commiting suicide linked to bullying about their sexuality. The most recent trajedy of Tyler Clamenti has brought this issue into the spotlight. An old friend of mine killed himself a few months ago. I think about Ryan every day. And while he was man who was not haunted by the taunting of his peers, the result was the same: an absolute end of life.

In response to these trajedies, author Dan Savage started It Gets Better. It Gets Better is a YouTube channel where you can watch and upload videos from LGBT people who explain that while they were mercilessly teased and perhaps not accepted by their families when they were teens, things did get better. They share beautiful stories from their post-high school lives, letting the viewers know that things change and life can hold amazing adventures that you never expected. The main message of these videos is to hold on. Make your way through high school. That you can't take your life because you have so much to offer the world and the world has so much to offer you.

Here is Dan's video.

Song of the Day
Today's song is Pearl Jam's Just Breathe.