10,009… And Rising

I checked my stats this evening and was thrilled to see that I have crossed the 10,000-visitor mark! 

I can remember when I hit 500 visitors, not that long ago. 

Who are you people? 

THANK YOU!

Five, Four, Three, Two…

Ah, there’s nothing like a good countdown to get the old blood pumping.   The ball dropping in Times Square on New Year’s Eve.  The calm voice of Mission Control before NASA launches another group of brave souls into space.  The chanting of fans at the end of a big football game upset.  The amount of hours, minutes, and seconds left before  ”iFight Shelby Marx” premieres on The Disney Channel.

Whoa, wait a minute, what was that last one again?

The countdown — once reserved for at least semi-special occasions — has become terribly overused and abused in our time-obsessed society.  Personally, I can’t stand it.  It adds to my already unhealthy obsession with time, or the lack thereof.  I often feel as though I am wasting time and/or that I am living on borrowed time.  (And yet he has time to blog?  Yes.  Yes, he does.)

The rise of the countdown also reflects our society’s desire to elevate everything to “event” status.  The finale of “American Idol” is an event.  The finale of “CSI: Des Moines” not so much, but it is billed that way anyway by marketers desperate to attract attention in our ADD world. 

(A brief aside… One of my pet peeves is how everyone these days declares themselves to be ADD.  If you have been diagnosed with ADD, fine.  If not, then shut the hell up.  Can you imagine people walking around saying, “Oh, my God, I am so cancer”?)

Nobody loves a good countdown more than the financial entertainment channel, CNBC.  During the depths of the financial crisis, they were running countdowns to things like Ben Bernanke’s testimony on Capitol Hill in hours, minutes, seconds, and hundreths of seconds.  Geez, I wonder why everyone got so fucking keyed up?

Please.  Save the counting down for things that actually matter.  Like when my humble blog will attract its 10,000th visitor.  I am currently at 9,933.  9,934.  9,935….

(Yes, I realize that it’s a count-up.  Deal with it.)

Desert Island Discs…Sarah McLachlan, “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy”

I listened to this CD from Sarah McLachlan the other night and it STILL kicked my ass, more than 15 years since it was first released.  I remember my initial encounter with this album because I saw it before I heard it. 

I was on an airplane and did not purchase the headphones (cheap even then!).  On the screen, I watched a video that I had never seen before.  Lots of candles and this very good-looking gal at the center of the action.  It was Sarah McLachlan’s “Possession,” the first single from “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy.”  I went out and bought the album and just LOVED it. 

The title of the album alone is brilliant enough.  Who among us has not been, is not, or at some point hopes to be fumbling towards ecstasy?  Hell, I’m two for three just sitting here!  (The only album title that rivals this one in recent memory is “Wincing the Night Away,” a wonderful disc by The Shins.  Been there, done that, too, I’m afraid.)

Beyond the title, there was something about “Possession” and its opening lyrics (and McLachlan’s imperfect, but beautiful voice) that struck me as both thoughtful and somehow very sexual:

Listen as the wind blows
From across the great divide
Voices trapped in yearning
Memories trapped in time
The night is my companion
And solitude my guide
Would I spend forever here
And not be satisfied 

“Possession” is my favorite song on the album, but “Good Enough” and “Hold On” are excellent as well. 

On “Good Enough,” McLachlan sings:

Don’t tell me I haven’t been good to you
Don’t tell me I have never been there for you
Don’t tell me why nothing is good enough

On “Hold On,” McLachlan sings (I think) about the looming death of her lover:

Oh God, if you’re out there won’t you hear me
I know that we’ve never talked before
Oh God, the man I love is leaving
Won’t you take him when he comes to your door

The last track is the title track and the chorus is as follows:

And if I shed a tear, I won’t cage it
I won’t fear love
And if I feel a rage, I won’t deny it
I won’t fear love

Me neither, Sarah.