Once more, with feeling

“Your Grandpa Olaf was a wise man..”

Watching The Office tonight made me appreciate How I Met Your Mother. Usually I love The Office and its this-is-so-awkward-I-can’t-help-but laugh tone but tonight, things fell flat for me. This week’s episode of HIMYM however was out of this world. Literally.

At one point in the episode (“Front Porch”), Jason Segel’s character Marshall defied gravity. Let me explain. During a truly hilarious sleepover party at Marshmellow and Lilypad’s abode, Marshall whips out his choice evening lounge wear: the night shirt. The idea of it would have been enough to satisfy me for a week but they took it to levels I couldn’t have even imagined. In order to explain Marshall’s fondness for the sleep time frock (I just realized that there is an infinite number of amazing ways to classify a night shirt), they showed him wearing his nightie whilst floating over the midnight sky in ecstasy to Bob Dylan.

Now, I’m not even a Bob Dylan fanatic but I love me some movie references and this one was a shoutout to the one of the only scenes I really loved in The Big Lebowski. And this happened not once, but twice in the episode! First, it was just Marshall but then later when Barney converted from Suit-jamas worship to night shirt devotion, both boys floated around on a free-wheelin’ PJ high.  It’s times like these I wonder if the peeps at HIMYM HQ are tapping into my mindhole.

The point is I love HIMYM and night shirts. Especially on Jason (Melissa says I’m “in love” him.  But that’s just her way of trying to explain why she doesn’t like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and I worship it. Plus, I’m in love with Emile Hirsch. Jason is my endearing 6-foot-4 side project. Also, she says she is fully prepared to rock a tracking device in case me and Jason get married so that we can make sure she and her ultimate nemesis - Paul Rudd - never get too close. It's too much of a risk otherwise). As he said himself, it’s just flat-out sexy. And it leaves no judgemental pink teeth marks around the Thanksgiving belly.

Oh these little rejections how they add up quickly
One small sideways look and I feel so ungood and
Somewhere along the way I think I gave you the power to make
Me feel the way I thought only my father could

Oh these little rejections how they seem so real to me
One forgotten birthday I'm all but cooked and
How these little abandonments seem to sting so easily
I'm 13 again am I 13 for good?

I can feel so unsexy for someone so beautiful
So unloved and for someone so fine
I can feel so boring for someone so interesting
So ignorant for someone of sound mind

Oh these little protections how they fail to serve me
One forgotten phone call and I'm deflated and
Oh these little defenses how they fail to comfort me
Your hand pulling away and I'm devastated

I can feel so unsexy for someone so beautiful
So unloved and for someone so fine
I can feel so boring for someone so interesting
So ignorant for someone of sound mind

When will I stop leaving baby?
When will I stop deserting baby?
When will I start staying with myself?

Oh these little projections how they keep springing from me
I jump my ship as I take it personally and
How these little rejections how they disappear quickly
The moment I decide not to abandon me

I can feel so unsexy for someone so beautiful
So unloved and for someone so fine
I can feel so boring for someone so interesting
So ignorant for someone of sound mind
So unsexy

- "So Unsexy" by (who else) Alanis

Is it just me or is this song so fucking accurate? I mean, how many times has the smallest thing someone does - or even worse, has forgotten to do - made you feel completely awful about yourself? I know I've felt that way on so many occasions but somehow, I don't think I'd ever be able to explain it like my girl Alanis does. Did I tell you I love her? Maybe I need to write an extremely long-winded post all about her amazingness. Oh wait, I already did that.

The point of this is, we all need to be less hard on ourselves. I know if I stopped sweating the small stuff and let myself breathe, life would be so much better. As Alanis says it so poignantly, let's decide not to abandon ourselves for the sake of letting other people make themselves feel better by bringing us down. Cause seriously, it's not worth a bit of your time. And sure, it’s great to help others but not when you’re sacrificing yourself in the process.

I might be sounding preachy but I don't give a damn. You have to cope with things in your own way and for me right now, that way is Alanis. And Cyndi. Lauper that is. "True Colors" just came on my iTunes shuffle and it just kicks 80s ass. It's not as good as "Time After Time" though. That my friends is one epic, epic song. But that's another nights post..

P.S. - All this Alanis talk is reminding me of the episode of HIMYM called "World's Greatest Couple" where Marshall and his totally hetrosexual buddy go to an Alanis Morissette concert. I just love how excited he gets when he returns from a night out with Miz Morissette complete with his own Alanis tee. Not to mention the hilarity and awkward couples lunches that follow. Man, what a great episode. But hey, I'm a sucker for anything and everything Jason Segel.

“I don't want no cream and sugar
'cause I've got you, now darling.."

I've been listening to Otis Redding's loverly track "Cigarettes and Coffee" on repeat for like an hour and I think it might be the musical equivalent to an orgasm. Or even the joy of eating the world’s best hamburger.  I'm serious. Sure, I don't have a nicotine craving and I don't need a daily caffeine fix but if I fall any more in love with this song, which at this point seems almost impossible, then I might have to start including both in my routine. It's that good. 

As soon as I heard this song a few weeks ago, I immediately thought of The Spring Standards' sweet little southern-comfort-sounding ditty, "Pin Cushion".  The song is quite loverly for many a reason (harmonica has quite the effect on me, in that it makes my mind melt) but one thing I've always loved about it is this line: "I'm a convict of comfort and vice". Not only is that a rather perfect combo of simple-yet-heartbreaking-when-combined-together words but I really think it describes me. I'm not one too be reckless in life but I do tend to indulge in some serious guilty pleasure activities in my spare time (Buffy marathon anyone?) I might not be smoking cigarettes or drinking coffee at about a quarter to three while talking to my baby, a la Otis, but I still have my little vices. They're just a little more innocent.

I think part of the reason I am so obsessed with this song is because it reminds me of HIMYM.  In the first episode, Ted reveals that his perfect girl just has to love Otis. And then, he meets Robin and she too feels the Otis love. In fact, they almost hook-up to this track at the end of the episode. Is that not a match made in heaven or what? Honestly, if those two don't end up together then I might have to stay up all night, smoke a pack of ciggies, inhale some liquid caffeine and just cry. Or maybe, I'd just do things up Rufus Wainwright style and substitute the coffee for some chocolate milk. Either way, I'd be stark raving mad (I've always wanted to say that) cause when it comes down to it, no one messes with me and my Otis love.

P.S - Upon searching for the lyrics to this fantasmo song, I stumbled upon a great article about a guy who tried to write a coming-of-age script using this song. It's so sweet and it refers to my other man main, Mr. Duckie Dale, so it's automatically got my vote.
 

Met you at the mall
Didn’t know how far I would fall
My friends said I was a fool (You’re a fool) (Shut up)
Cause you were older and got kicked out of school (You’re so rad)
Together we were gonna travel the globe
From Alberta to Ontario

But now I’m building
Sandcastles in the sand (sandcastles in the sand)
Thought I could fly when you held my hand (thought I could fly)
(Now) Eternity turns to black and white
It was the greatest week and a half
Of my life

We used to go to the beach
Back when happiness was in my reach (so close)
On our favorite bench
We’d sit and talk and you taught me to French
You’re good at pull-ups and have radical hair
I hate my dad, he’s so unfair (you don’t understand our love)

But now I’m building
Sandcastles in the sand
Thought I could fly when I held your hand (I was wrong)
Eternity turns to black and white
It was the greatest week and a half
Of my life

It’s crazy
No one gets me
Castles wash away
Come back please
I changed my mind
Let’s go all the way
I miss you

Sandcastles in the sand (I miss your hair)
Thought I could fly when I held your hand (I thought you were the one)
Sandcastles wash away (I’m ready, let’s do it)
And all that’s left is some sand the next day (sand the next day)
Sandcastles may be… (I’m on the pill now)
But now all they do is remind me of you (let’s go all the way, you said it’d be OK, I’m sorry)
Sandcastles wash away

BEST VIDEO EVER.

That is all.