I’ve recently placed more effort in managing my mental health. In the past, I used to power through stress and accepted it as part of my daily life. Eventually, this led to an explosion when the water in the kettle built up too much steam and pressure. It’s not easy managing my sanity at times, … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: My Ever Changing Moods – The Style Council
Every year we go back to Hawaii to visit family. I love the aloha spirit, the beauty of the island, the people and the food. We are fortunate that we stay with my in-laws when we visit. Our time with them is precious as they get older and it’s important that we spend as much … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Somewhere Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World – Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
I watch the news every evening and, quite frankly, it can be pretty depressing sometimes. It seems like respect and civility have gone out the window. I’m fine with differing views, in fact, that’s what makes this country great. I wish that differing views led to open discussions rather than threats and violence. This prompt … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace Love and Understanding – Elvis Costello and the Attractions
I typically have Pandora playing in the background when I’m working. I like the variety and I get to listen to artists that I may not typically listen to. That’s how I was introduced to Brandi Carlile. I remember the first time hearing The Story – she blew me away. I think what first got … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: The Story – Brandi Carlile
Growing up, my mom would make her beef stew. It was chock full of beef, carrots, celery, onions, tomatoes and potatoes. The stew would slowly simmer and thicken over the stove. The flavors from the ingredients would take their time mingling and getting to know each other and the scents would permeate throughout the house. … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Landslide – Fleetwood Mac
I grew up in a relatively large family with two brothers and a sister. We are all close in age and when we were young, we often played together. The great thing about having many siblings is that there are more players for card games. I remember playing fun games such as go fish, war, … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Shape of My Heart – Sting
I love pastries with a fresh hot cup of coffee. Trader Joes used to have an EASY blueberry scone mix. When I say easy, this is not an exaggeration – just add water and bake for 15 minutes. Nothing fancy, but easy and delicious. I’d separate the dough into evenly sized portions and bake them … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Verdi Cries – 10,000 Maniacs
Daily writing prompt Dogs or cats? Growing up we had a golden retriever and chow chow mix. She was a medium sized dog, not too big and not too small. She was cute and fluffy – but the best thing was that she looked like a little lion. Without fail, little kids would run over … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Dog Eat Dog – Adam and the Ants
Daily writing prompt What activities make you lose track of time? Oh man… I know I won’t be alone on this one. It’s easy to get sucked in a show and binge away. Too many late nights watching “just one more”. Here are a few shows that deprived me of much needed sleep: I couldn’t … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Half a World Away – REM
Daily writing prompt What bothers you and why? It’s not fun, but I can admit my flaws. I can be an impatient person and like being efficient with time. Waiting unnecessarily tends to bother me. I think this stems from a career of juggling multiple projects and managing time. Always too many balls in the … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: August and Everything After – The Counting Crows
Here is my list: I discovered the Housemartins when I was in college. They were popular in the UK, but not sure if they really took off in the US. Happy Hour was the first song that caught my ear. It’s upbeat tempo was infectious and fun. If you haven’t heard of them, I encourage … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Happy Hour – The Housemartins
I used to be more adventurous back in my 20s. Less responsibility. More time. More youth. The perfect recipe for adventure. My first adventure came right after college. I saved enough money to backpack through Europe for a month on a shoe string budget. A friend and I jumped on a plane without an itinerary … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Hotel California – The Eagles
My friends and I were on our annual trip in the mountains, far away from the city. We took time off from hiking and decided to fish for the day. Our master plan was to relax by the lake and catch dinner to grill over the fire later in the evening. One of the great … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Father and Son – Cat Stevens
One day I noticed a coworker looking really sad. She was a single parent and her only son recently left for his first year at college. She missed him terribly. The night before, she called him and he sent her to voicemail. Yeah, that’s tough. Having been in his shoes, I explained to her this … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Ode to My Family – The Cranberries
It doesn’t matter what time I go to bed, I’m an early riser. I’m usually up around 6 am – this is now imprinted in my DNA. I do enjoy the quiet of the morning before starting my day. Better still, waking up before sunrise on a camping or backpacking trip. Unzipping my tent to … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Sunrise – Norah Jones
One college summer, I was going through my older brother’s CD collection and discovered Van Morrison. Wow. All I could think was, “How cool is this guy”. His music was a mix of folk, jazz, rock and soul. His voice had that feeling of a life that had certainly lived. When I returned to school … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Days Like This – Van Morrison
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’m currently on sabbatical, taking time off from career burnout. This temporary pause is a much needed break and taking time to decompress is definitely healing. I’ve had a lot of time to think about the future and have given a lot of thought about next steps. I … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Three Little Birds – Bob Marley
Fate, God or Karma have a funny way of throwing things down along my path. I read today’s prompt and thought, “Really?” I wondered if this really was a coincidence. Recently, I made the choice to leave my company. Burnout had been effecting both my mental and physical health and I needed time to separate … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Don’t Look Back in Anger – Oasis
I discovered KROQ in the early 80’s and I was literally blown away. Prior to that, I mainly listened to soul music’s cool sounds and funky beats. I remember turning the radio dial and hearing Only a Lad by Oingo Boingo and Boys Don’t Cry by the Cure for the first time and I was … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Discovering KROQ – My Early 80’s Pivot
I remember sitting in the back of our wood paneled station wagon in the 1970s as a young kid. The radio was set to “mom’s music” as we sat in Southern California traffic. It was my early years, I must have been about 5 or 6 years old at the time. At that age, we … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Wichita Lineman – REM
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