Christmas in America

I have been back in America for a year now, longer than I "lived" overseas. I once worked with a woman that said everyone should live in another country if they have the chance, because it will make them appreciate America that much more. That might be true of anyone leaving their home country. I don't know. It was certainly true for me. Seven short months living in a foreign land a year back home, and I still appreciate things like the first amendment more than ever. I hope I always keep the same appreciation I had while living in a place that did not have a free press (at least not a totally free one), or freedom from censorship.
And there are other, more selfish and every day things that I appreciate. I like going to the grocery store and finding a wide selection of inexpensive diet soda.
Yesterday I was walking through the grocery store, doing some pre Christmas shopping, and enjoying the wide selection of the foods that I grew up with and I made an unpleasnat discovery. I was looking through the frozen vegetable section for some chopped brocolli, and could not find any. I found a lot of frozen creamed spinach, and some frozen steam in bag whole leaf spinach, but no frozen chopped spinach. The discovery I made though, was that there are 7 cases of frozen vegetables in this particular semi upscale grocery store, and 20... TWENTY cases of ice cream products.
I love America, and I love freedom, and I love cheap diet sodas, but I think something has gone slightly wrong. Is ice cream really three times more important to us than frozen vegetables?

Richmond at its best

As I have said before, Easter is my favorite holiday, and this year proved no exception. For years, the family has done the very same thing: we have brunch, and we go to the Easter Parade on Monument Avenue. The weather this year was great, the dogs were well behaved, and the crowd, as always, was great. The Easter Parade is what Richmond does better than anything else. Last weekend I took a walking tour of Monument Avenue with the Valentine Richmond History Center, and we passed the home of the woman who really started the Easter Parade. To that local hero, I say Thank You.
One funny moment from the parade today: as we were walking back to the car, we were near a middle aged couple as we passed the Branch House. The woman says to the man, "is that a church?" and he quickly replies "yes." Funny because it looks nothing like a church, but rather a castle, and second, it is not, and has never been a church, as far as I know. Rubes. Luckily rubes are generally in the minority at the Easter Parade.

More rambling about music

I love music. I love to listen, and think about it. I love to talk and write about it, and as I have used this forum, I love to make lists of the best of this or that. And I love it all. The other night I was out with some friends, and a friend of a friend made some comment about the inherent sappiness of Elton John's music, and I was personally insulted. That music is how I frame my feelings in my own head. Not like I did when I was a teenager, when some artists music expressed exactly how I felt. I am not that chump anymore. But I hear a song, and it is a memory, or it expresses something like I felt one time, or it takes me out of a feeling that I don't want to have, or it gets me pumped up to run, or it just makes me think.
And the love and appreciation keep growing. Just this year I grew to "get" punk music. I mean, I always liked punk, and I don't like it any more now than I did before, but I get the anger, the class struggle, the rage, the fight. That wasn't my life when I was fifteen. The awareness of those things came later.
I wrote a post about how I reluctantly and secretly still love the song stylings of Jimmy Buffett, though I flatly reject the "parrot head" culture... Dismiss it as silly. For me it is the memory of solitary hours as a teenager wanting to be part of something, a party, to be somewhere else, a beach, I didn't give a shit. Anywhere but where I was. Now I listen and it makes me happy and sad, nostalgic for those sad days, and grateful for them, and grateful for the life I have now. Right now I think Paul Simon and CCR are the greatest things to happen to music since someone first banged one thing against another in tempo. Fifteen years from now I might look back and cringe, but still love the stuff, and all of sudden be into opera or jazz, or blues. 15 years ago I heard ska for the first time and it changed my life. 10 years ago I purchased music by people like George Strait (and I even still listen to some of it). 5 years ago i saw Nine Inch Nails in concert, and a guy named Saul Williams opened the show, and my mind was blown once again. Anything is possible. I hope that never changes.

Does the title still work

Am I still "the ugly American" now that I am no longer in a strange land. I say yes. And uglier than ever. Back in the states, I realize just how much I love it here. I have thought a lot about something my old boss Suzanne told me once about living abroad. She loved it, and said that it made her appreciate America that much more. How true I find that. I can' and won't rule out moving elsewhere again but this is my home. And I have been compiling a running list of things about America that I love, and here is just a taste: pork barbecue, the best cable television in the world, Apple, Creedence Clearwater Revival, National Public Radio, Richmond, VA... I could go on all day. And. I think that answers my question. Even though I am no longer the ugly American abroad, I am happy to be just that on my own shores.

It is official

Actually it is not official, but one step closer. We have put a contract on a house, and the contract was accepted. So we will be homeowners again, and I will no longer be homeless. I once heard someone say thatbif you are thirty years old and live with your parent(s), then you are homeless.
Now the excitement really begins. We have the inspections, the further negotiating and wrangling, the anticipation, the paperwork, the delays in closing... all of this and more to look forward to in the next four weeks. But it is only four weeks. And then the bigger excitement begins: the moving, the painting, the twice daily trips to Target and Lowes. And all of this before Erin even gets back.
Some people might think its strange that we picked out this house, and she has not even seen it in person. Maybe it's strange, but I offer to things as evidence to the contrary. When buying our first home, I did not want a house at all. I was perfectly happy witn apartment living. Something breaks, and I call someone to fix it. We heard through a friend of a friend about this house, and decided totale a look. Erin was not impressed, but I loved it. I think she was so happy that I was willing to entertain the idea of home ownership, that she thought she should strike while the iron was hot. And it turned out great.
Exhibit B is the light of my life, Benson. Erin had no interest in a dog, but said that if I thou grit was a good idea, that I should go ahead and get a dog. Apparently she actually meant that she did not want me to get a dog at all. I did not realize this until after I had already gotten Benson when Erin was out of the country. And now she adores him.
In reading over the above lines, two things are clear... Erin and I disagree, and sometimes do not compromise, but it usuallynworks out fine.
Anyway, super stoked about the new house.

It has been a while...

And as my friends know, I am back in the states, working and trying to contribute to society again. I succeed sometimes. I work, I run, I do my thing. I have been looking for a new home for my lovely wife and I to call our own when she returns to the states. This has been harder than it sounds. Apparently the people selling homes in the areas in which we are interested have not heard that it is a buyer's market. They seem to think their houses are worth the same as they were when they purchased them at the height of the bubble in 2006 and 2007. I have probably looked at least 30 houses (and I mean been inside that many), and two of them have been possibilities. And this is what is available in our price range. But I have faith that the right house will go on the market any day now.

Fierce Creatures

We have learned that not everyone here loves animals. Some people have religious reasons. That I appreciate, though I do not understand. Others are simply unreasonably, pants shittingly terrified. Here are a few examples from the last couple of hours:
The condo that we live in is being sold. This is not a big deal in general. There is a clause in our lease that states that we will continue to live hear at the same rental price for the duration of our lease, regardless of who the owner is. A while back we had a number of people come and see the place. Today, an appraiser from the bank came to look around. She rang the door bell, and I picked up Benson, anticipating that afraid or not, she might not want a strange dog jumping on her. So I open the door, Benson in my arms, and she comes in, looking a little nervous. Then she saw PJ laying on the floor, and attempted to climb the nearest wall to get away. To be clear, PJ was doing what she always is doing if she is not begging for food... lying around on the floor. In order for her to come in the house, I had to put the cats in the two separate bathrooms, and assure the appraiser that the cats could not open the doors. Then she needed to see that bathrooms, and she had to go back outside, while I moved the two cats to the guest room, which she had already surveyed.
Later this evening, after dinner, Erin took Benson to the second floor walking area for a little walk and bathroom time. From our apartment on the fourth floor, I could hear a child scream at the sight of Benson. As anyone who has met our pets knows, they are not exactly frightening creatures.

The Zoo

Yesterday we took a trip to the zoo. Erin and I had been once before, when we visited last year, but we thought it would be fun to go with Zach and his entourage. It is a holiday weekend here, so the place was pretty crowded, but we had a good time. Below are a couple of highlights and observations:

This is Zach at the Pygmy Hippo exhibit. They are incredible, adorable creatures, but Zach was intrigued by the turtles. To be fair, the turtles were cool as well, and more active than the Pygmy Hippos.

Cheetahs have pin heads. Really... I don't care how fast they run, they look dumb.

Malaysian Sun Bears are the smallest species of bear on earth. They also (a) have the coolest name, and (b) are ridiculously adorable. This one is sleeping in a tree, and nearly falling out.

This scene struck me as funny. There is a line of people trying to use a vending machine that is clearly identified as being out of order.

Frustration and Podcasts

I have a confession to make: I am having kind of a hard time adjusting to life here. For lots of reasons. I am bored. I want a job, and I feel frustrated that I am not getting more responses than I have received. I could complain, and wish for better, but there is an expression about wishing in one hand, and well... I know which hand will fill up faster. So despite the frustration I keep looking, and keep being nice to people, and keep taking advice, even if it makes me uncomfortable, like calling or emailing their friends who may or may not know someone who may or may not be willing to talk to me. Actual jobs are never even mentioned. And then there are the agencies, tons of them that post the same jobs, and I apply to them all, and do not hear anything from any of them. Yes, its frustrating, and sometimes I let it define me. I don't hear anything, so I must be a loser. Other times, I know that I am a pretty decent guy, who really wants to work and can do a really great job. And maybe people just can't see that from my CV.
And we miss home. The New York Marathon is this weekend, and right now I am torturing myself, thinking about how great it would be to be able to see my big brother and my good friend Matt run this race in the city at the center of the universe. And the following weekend is the Richmond Marathon, and that is like a high school reunion for me... better, actually, because I like the people that I ran with.
So that is the bad. I get a little bored, I get a little crazy without the structure of having a defined goal (i.e. a job to do with tasks to accomplish). Which is nonsense, of course. I have goals. I am supposed to be training for a marathon here, which I may or may not be running. I cook dinners, and take care of pets, but I wonder if I can be completely content doing only those things day after day. I know one thing that will help. I run a Bloomberg like ticker of airline ticket prices when I start missing home. That is probably not helping, and I need to stop. I find myself saying things like, "Erin, ANA is down to $1200 with fees included, I'm moving it from my hold list to my buy list, this thing is hot... HOT!" Its like living with that Mad Money dipshit.
So what do I do to feel good about being me today? I hang out with my friends, and we drink coffee, and laugh and joke. I go to the gym, and I read, and I do my favorite thing in the world right now: listen to podcasts. This time in my headphones makes me so happy. I learn things. I can be on a crowded train, and completely unaware of what is going on around me because I am so engrossed in what I am hearing.
Sidebar: I am surprised that more people here do not miss their train stops. Allow me to explain... People here work insanely long hours, and are therefore ridiculously tired when they get on the train in the morning. It looks like Mardi Gras, the morning after on the train at 6am, minus the vomit (usually). People slumped over, eyes closed, seemingly unconscious. I am surprised that these people do not have to be rousted when the train reaches the end of the line, but somehow, people get where they are going.
Okay, back to me. My favorite podcasts include the usual line up of This American Life and the Moth, along with Freakonomics Radio and Planet Money. Who knew that I guy with no interest in finance, and who is in fact quite bad with money, would find so much joy in listening to stories about economics, the financial industry, etc.
And even better, these Podcasts point me to other media, like books and television that I might enjoy. I was listening to another favorite podcast, WTF with Marc Maron, and he interviewed Patton Oswalt, who raved about Battlestar Gallactica in a way that made it appealing even to me (decidedly not a sci fi guy). We are currently making our way through the first season. On another occasion, Ira Glass highly recommended the book The Big Short, about the housing market disaster... I loved it.
And the best part of all is that this incredibly smart, hugely entertaining stuff is available FOR FREE. And the ones that are not free, like archive episodes of TAL, are available for next to nothing.
Any one have any other favorite podcasts to suggest to me or the halves of dozens of other readers of my blog.
Cheers

Busy Week... Sort Of

We have been pretty busy this last week, by my new standards of things anyway. Friday night we had dinner at Kudeta, on the 57th floor of the Marina Bay Sands. The view was amazing, even if there was a ton of smoke in the air from the fires in Indonesia. The restaurant has apparently only been open for a few weeks now. The food was great, and the company was as well. I ordinarily do not enjoy getting dishes for the whole table to share, but our de facto host suggested that we do this, and I was glad that we did. We got to try a lot of different dishes, things I might not necessarily have ordered, and enjoyed nearly all of them.

This is the view. Pretty amazing, right?

Here is a picture I took one afternoon this week:

Partners in crime, these two are.

Tuesday, Erin and I went to see Vampire Weekend at the the Esplanade Theater. They put on a great show, and played almost every song from both of their albums. Musically, they are as good as their studio stuff, which is impressive, and the vibe of the show was nice. There were a lot of well behaved teenagers their (for the most part), and it brought a really good energy to the show. Lots of kids from the international schools.
Other highlights from the last few days: Last night for dinner, I made a Boyce family favorite... Crunchy Meat. It probably goes by other names, but it involves boneless pork loin, pounded flat with a mallet, breaded, and cooked. I was pretty nervous making this, as I have never breaded anything in my life. I had to confirm with Skip three or four times the exact order of things, and some of the specifics. In the end, it turned out well. And it was delicious.
And finally, Benson got a bath today.
As I said, busy by my standards, but not all that exciting.

Sumatra is Burning

Since saturday, there has been a smokey haze over the city. This happened once before, just for a day or so, and we were told that it was due to fires in Indonesia. This time there was no question as to the cause. Not only does the air look hazy, it actually smells like smoke. And its only gotten worse. I have tried to take pictures, using my phone, but t never does the haze justice. Here is the best one that I have gotten, taken five stories above ground from the pool at my gym.

Its hard to even tell that those are buildings in the background. I saw a newspaper today that said this was the worst air quality the city has experienced in years. Its probably the worst air quality I have ever seen, with the exception of being in Florida once, very near some forest fires, and there was actually ash visibly floating in the air. Erin tells me that people at her office have been sick all this week. That can't be good for any one. 

I was thinking earlier today that this would not be good marathon weather. Hot, humid, and the air literally thick. 

Tomorrow we are having dinner at the top of the Marina Bay Sands, so we are hoping that there might be some improvement in the conditions between now and then. The big draw there, in addition to the food, is the view. 

Personal Training

I know that I am not in the very best shape of my life. I do, however, like to assume that I am in at least relatively good shape. I am not running as much as I would like. The heat is a bit stifling, and the humidity makes me feel as though I am running in soup. I do run though. I think that should count for something.
When Erin and I joined the gym recently, we also purchased three personal training sessions each. We thought, "we are paying for the gym, it would be good to know how to use all of the equipment, and do it right." The first session began with a fitness assessment. Think middle school gym class... One minute of sit ups, one minute of push ups, sit and reach, chin ups, running, balance, and my favorite, the body fat percentage. Mercifully, unlike middle school gum class, our gym does not use the fat calipers to take a pinch of the arm and leg to make the calculation. You simply stand on a scale and as though by magic, it spits out a number. All of these various components are added up. The total score for the entire assessment is out of a possible 24 points. Mine... Well, not so good.
And then the real work began. Legs, arms, chest, shoulders, abs, back...
I woke up the next day in pain. Terrrible, awful pain. That was Sunday. Friends helpfully reminded me that Monday the pain would likely be worse. It was. On Tuesday I returned for my second session. This morning the pain is only kind of bad. I think that is likely due to me spending as much time as I could in yesterday's session stalling. I took a little longer at the water fountain than was necessary. If that didn't work, then I just laid on the floor with my towel over my face in between sets and grunted at my trainer if he suggested we move on. I will surely be in perfect shape in no time.

I wish I was cooler than I am

When I was back in the States, I went through my CDs and imported a bunch of songs that I did not previously have on my computer. When we moved here, I had to leave the CDs, and I missed some of the music. So when I come back to Singapore, I am listening to some of the music on the computer, and playing some of it for Erin. A lot of it was stuff that I haven't listened to for a long time, and in many cases, music I thought I was simply too cool or too sophisticated for these days (not that I think that my current tastes are all that sophisticated). I want to believe that I am too cool to listen to Jimmy Buffett, but as I was playing it for Erin, and thinking about how I still know every word, I realize that I am not as cool as I think I am. When I was younger, I would listen to music for hours at a time, usually late at night while playing video games. I would listen to Jimmy Buffett's boxed set, or Peter Gabriel's greatest hits, or a handful of others... and I knew every word to every song. Twelve or fifteen years later, I still do. And I still love it. Its maybe not as much who I am anymore, but its still part of who I am. And thats okay. I would probably rather not admit that I have seen Jimmy Buffett in concert 5 times, but I have, and there was a reason. I loved that stuff. I do have to wonder, though, if I might not have done better in college or graduate school if my brain were not filled with song lyrics and other facts and information that I filled my head with in those days and still can recite today.

Benson and the red poodles

We took Benson for a walk this afternoon, and he met yet another red miniature poodle. I don't know what it is about them, but he attracts them, and he has the best time with them. We let him off his leash, and instantly this little guy charges towards us. It is such a great sight to watch B run around and have a great time with another dog.
The weekend has been uneventful otherwise. We had a nice dinner last night at Boomerang, the Australian restaurant on the river where we took Benson and ate kangaroo. Benson had other plans last night, so it was just Erin and me. When we visited there previously, there was a mother cat living in the bushes with two kittens. Three months later, we saw one of the kittens wandering around, significantly larger than the last time we saw it.
Erin had a slightly more eventful weekend, taking part in a walking relay that her company sponsored for charity. Her leg was from 3am to 6am Saturday morning. Erin did discover where the transgendered ladies of the night hang out at the that hour of the night. In case anyone wants to know, just ask my lovely wife.

Back in Singapore... Again

We arrived home from Hong Kong yesterday afternoon, and took it pretty easy last night. Well, Erin took it easy. My life is all about taking it easy right now, so it was mostly a normal evening for me. Benson was thrilled to see us and get bailed out of the kennel. He is becoming quite used to riding in taxis. The cats were starving when we got home, but they always act like that.
When I was back in town earlier this week for a couple of days, I went to a gym with a friend to check it out. Exercise was one of those things that I have been doing, but not to the extent that I really should considering the amount of time on my hands. So I met with a membership person on Monday, and Erin and I have 3 day trial passes starting today. This gym has 9 locations around town. So this morning, after my usual coffee with friends I went to another location to scope it out. I know that my simple observations are probably wearing thin, but its little differences that I find fascinating between my life in the states and my life here. So at the gym, they provide clothes in which to exercise (you can bring your own if you choose, thankfully). In context of the pace of life here, it makes since (I am still not wearing them). People take the MRT into the city in the morning from some corner of the island. Not far, but time consuming. They bring lots of stuff with them every day, and most people do not have a car in which to store all of this stuff. So they have to carry it all on their back in bags and briefcases. In that context, I doubt they want to carry clothes they sweated in at the gym for an hour in the morning around with them the rest of the day. Also, I will never make use of these loaner clothes for fear that an employee will see me exercising, and sweating gallons, and say that I am far too sweaty and stinky to be allowed to borrow clothes.
Another great benefit that they provide at the gym (albeit a strange one) is free sodas, coffee and tea. That alone is enough to sell me on the place. If they had wifi, I would probably never leave.

More Hong Kong

This morning I decided that I would go to a local attraction called "The Peak." I had no idea that HK is as hilly (or possibly mountainous) as it is. Before leaving Singapore, a friend had told me about this train that takes people to the top of one of these hills. Its very popular and offers spectacular views of the city. I have to say that the view was pretty spectacular, and my friend was right about another aspect of the experience as well. He told me that the tram ride up and down is VERY steep. I tried to take a picture from the tram to do the grade of the hill justice, but I just couldn't. So here are some pictures from the experience:

Keep in mind that these are GIGANTIC skyscrapers, and I am above all of them.



And the tram I rode in on...


And this is the building that tram drops visitors off at when they reach the top of the peak. This is also the building from the top of which I took the previous pictures...

Out of Sequence Photo

While I would prefer to keep my blog in time order (if not necessarily completely up to date), I took a picture yesterday in Singapore, that I will now post in the midst of my trip to Hong Kong. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I wake up early to take Benson out and feed all the pets. This process usually begins at 4:30 with P.J. beginning to beg for breakfast, followed by between a half hour and an hour or me trying to ignore her while she enlists the other animals to beg and make noise as well. Between 5 and 6, I get up, take the boy out, and slop the hogs. At this point I have two options... I can get back in bed, and sleep until who knows when (and feel not so good about myself) or I can start my day. So start my day I usually do. This involves taking the train to the Esplanade station, walking through the underground link to the City Hall Station, and having a cup of coffee at the 24 hour Starbucks there before walking to Raffles Place where I will have more coffee with friends at 7:30.
This past weekend was the F1 race in Singapore. The race is run at night on city streets. This is a huge undertaking, closing the streets, setting up seats and fences, and then taking it all down again. So yesterday morning I am making the walk from City Hall to Raffles place, and realize that the trip might be more complicated than usual, since all of the fences are still up. With some difficulty, I made it through the maze, and along the way, captured this scene, which struck me as kind of amazing for some reason.

Hong Kong

Erin and I left for Hong Kong this morning... at 6:50 a.m., meaning that we had to get up at 4 a.m. to get ready and get to the airport. On the upside, my jet lag from my return trip to the States was working in my favor. I went to sleep at 8 p.m. last night, and felt relatively refreshed when the alarm went off. The flight was uneventful, and we took an amazingly clean, modern train from the airport to city, and then a cab to the hotel. We have been here just a couple of hours, but I did discover a fun fact: Starbucks in Singapore have Equal but not Splenda, while Starbucks in Hong Kong have Splenda but not Equal. Amazing, right. Also, here they have actual cream for the coffee, unlike some small island nations, that shall remain nameless, that only have whole milk.
Not so fun fact: HK may be even more expensive than Singapore. We had noodles and dumplings at a local place today, and it was $86 HK. Not as expensive as it sounds if you don't know the exchange rate, but still pricey by my new standards of local cuisine.
Below is a picture from our hotel room window here. We are right on the harbor.

Back in Singapore

I arrived back in Singapore late Saturday night. Erin was waiting for me at the airport, which was lovely. Upon arriving home and greeting the pets, I collapsed into bed. I woke up early Sunday morning, and met some friends for coffee. I spent the rest of the day with Erin just relaxing at home, listening to music and catching up on Project Runway. We had a delicious dinner last night at Skip's (lasagna... my favorite thing he makes), and by 10 pm I was back home and unconscious.
I was up early again this morning, heading into the business district for coffee with friends, and it occurred to me that I had missed Singapore while I was in the States. Of course I missed Erin and the kids. That I knew. But I also missed my new friends, and parts of my life here. And then I went to Starbucks, got a coffee, dropped my stirrer in the cup, realized it was too short for the cup, had to stick my fingers into the steaming hot liquid to retrieve it, and silently cursed this city.
The trip to the States was enlightening (and bittersweet). I knew it would be strange to go "home," because I don't have a home there. I am a guest everywhere I go. And I have been having a hard time adjusting to life here, with no job yet, and lots of time on my hands. But something unexpected happened. I realized that I had forgotten what I came here for, the goals I had. I said if I didn't have a job, I would spend my days working out, reading and learning. I Have done very little of any of those things.
So once again, when I am faced with a difficult situation in my life, I remember my favorite scene in one of my favorite movies... and I remember that Raymond K. Hessel should start becoming a veterinarian now, and I should stop waiting for things beyond my control to happen to start living my life.

Things that go through my head when I run

I went for a long run yesterday at MacRitchie Reservoir, as I did last Monday. I was disappointed last week because there are signs everywhere advising visitors not to feed the monkeys but I saw not a single monkey. Only a giant lizard. Doubly disappointed.
This week I was pleased to see that monkeys really do live in the park. Some moron was feeding fish in the lake with bread or something, and got upset when a monkey showed up for a handout. I am no expert on the habits of Singapore's wildlife, but I learned very quickly that where there is food and a bunch of trees, monkeys will show up looking for a meal.
Running here on the equator is hot. And humid. And miserable. Until I am finished, and then I think, "I can't wait to do that again." Last week I tried out these trails for the first time, and I did not know that there were lockers and changing areas available. I had brought nothing other than some water, my keys and my iPod. This was not a problem for me, but it was for the other passengers on the train and the bus that I took home. Yesterday I decided to be considerate, and bring a change of clothes now that I new I had a place to store things while I ran. Last week my iPod had not been charged, and it lost what power it had almost immediately, but yesterday I planned ahead and made sure it was charged.
When I run, and listen to music, lots of things go through my head. If I am running a race its all numbers. I look at my watch constantly, and calculate how fast I have to run to make my goal time, etc. I ran a few races back in the spring where I made a conscious effort not to look at my watch. That combined with the shape I was in at the time proved to be a successful strategy for a PR in two back to back half marathons and a 10k. But I am back to staring at my watch. On yesterday's run, I was totally unconcerned about time, only about being on my feet for nine miles, regardless of how long it took me. So my mind was free to wander. The great and mysterious thing about running is that my mind almost always stays in a happy place. I listen to music, and I start making lists of top 5 songs of this or that category, a la one of my favorite movies, High Fidelity. Top five covers, top five true rock and roll songs, etc. So yesterday, I was thinking about songs that are perfect, just the way they are. Songs that could not be improved upon, in any way. These are not necessarily my favorite songs, but they are great, and I love them. Also, when I do this, I have a hard time rounding out 5, so this list only has 4. Also, this isn't necessarily a category that is limited, since its not truly a "top" 5, just a short list I came up with. Here goes:
"Then He Kissed Me" by The Crystals - this was the song that inspired the list. I was listening to it, and thought, this song is amazing. Its absolutely perfect.
"Tangled Up In Blue" by Bob Dylan - I have said before that I want to believe that Dylan is over rated, then I hear something like this, and I know I am wrong.
"Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley - Simply... Beautiful.
"Here it Goes Again" by OK Go - Silly pop can be perfect, too. I may be unduly influenced by the fact that this song has the greatest music video of all time, but I don't think there is anything that could make this song better or catchier.

What have I left out? Comment and share what songs would make your list.