MUSICAL HIGHWAYS.

Isn’t it crazy how music has the power to take us to different moments in our lives? Today, as I was waiting for the bus in the snow, I was listening to a song that took me to a different country and re-introduced me to a moment where I was lusting after a guy that eventually broke my heart (he was the only one who ever did that to my heart, other times, I think I did that to myself in breaking other peoples hearts).

And, then it took me on a run – the longest run of my life – where I played the song on repeat for nearly an hour and a half, because I was so high from the guy who broke my heart giving me the song and telling me that it reminded him of me.

The song never made me sad. The heart break past, and then I carried it with me to new moments and new travel and new adventure. So, when I listened to the song this morning it was like traveling through a series of moments in my past in a 2 minute and 25 second span.

And I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be amazing if songs could really take people on adventures through different space and time? What if we could use songs to lift people out of hard situations, so that if someone was suffering after an earth quake we could play them a song that would transport them into all the happy memories they ever had? And that way they could know that one day they could be whole again – that as long as they stayed hopeful they could feel joy again. 

(Image from: http://www.pennymindflower.com/)

On the Radio, Regina Spektor

THIS IS HOW IT WORKS:
You're young until you're not
you love until you don't,
you try until you can't.
You laugh until you cry,
you cry until you laugh
and everyone must breathe
until their dying breath.


No, this is how it works:
you peer inside yourself
you take the things you like
and try to love the things you took
and then you take that love you made
and stick it into some -
someone else's heart,
pumping someone else's blood.

And walking arm in arm,
you hope it don't get harmed,
but even if it does you'll just do it all again.

TAXI WISHES.

Last night I got into a taxi with an Ethiopian cab driver. His name was Desta – happiness.  Desta was forced to flee Ethiopia in 1983 nearly 10 years after his idle Haile Selassie's reign came to an end, when a Soviet-backed-Marxist-Communist military junta, the "Derg" led by Megistu Haile Mariam, disposed him, and established a one-party communist state called the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. He fled to Sudan for 2 years, where he worked for a human rights organization, that later sponsored his citizenship in the U.S.

30 years later, he was steering the wheel of the cab I entered randomly, to get me to a hotel in Los Angeles, California. His greatest wish for the new year: a chance to live in Ethiopia with the rest of his family again.

The People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia party failed. Desta’s gone back there four times since he originally left, but the insecurity of jobs there scares him, so he continues here, driving each day to pay the bills. 

Last week in New York I met Carlos, who was a full-time student at Queens College in New York, but drove a taxi to support his mom’s diabetes medicine. He was in a computer-engineering program, and his IQ clearly surpassed my own… I can’t even do basic addition without using my fingers.  He’s thinkin’ about getting engaged to his girlfriend soon, but wanted to have a stable job so he could provide anything she dreamed of.

A year and a half ago in Washington, D.C. I met a taxi drivin' musician named Willie who taught me more about Jazz than I had ever learned in my life. He played me John Coltrane and told me that anyone who tried to play his songs was bound to be disappointed, because his talent couldn’t be replicated, especially since he never followed the music anyway. And then he went off about Louis Armstrong, Freddie Hubbard, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and Herbie Hancock. And told me that he once played with saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr. He said all he wanted to do was play jazz, all day and all night.  

I’ve met many taxi drivers, who in my opinion, constitute the most brave and/or talented human beings I’ve encountered in my life. I wish there was a way to grant Taxi Driver Wishes, so that after a certain amount of driving or kindness all taxi drivers could get whatever they want.Then Desta could go back to Ethiopia, and Carlos could find a job that would allow him to give the woman he loves anything in the world, and Willie could play jazz all day. They deserve it.  

THIS IS HOME.

HOME IS WHEREVER I'M WITH YOU.

EMOTIONAL METAPHORS.

What if emotions appeared like metaphors?

I could be with my best friends in the universe and sunflowers could pop-up around me, because I would be thinking “being with you is like sitting in a bed of sunflowers all day”.

Or  I could sit with my dad in the kitchen and all of a sudden he would be in a super hero costume, because sometimes I think of my dad as a super hero, because he's really smart, and courageous, and selfless.

Or hearts would have popped out of my throat when I broke the heart of someone I really loved, but knew that a future wasn't possible with, because the entire time it felt like my heart was flying through my throat.

Or every time I stare at the stars I could shrink to the size of an ant realizing just how tiny and insignificant I am in comparison to the big-wide-universe.

Or  I could feel the clouds on my feet every time I accomplish something huge, because it always feels like walking on air.

Or the next time I'm walking happily down the street with someone I really like, I might think to myself,  "Wow I feel like we’re dancing in an empty hall with this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0Yh_tfyU8A playing in the background and then it would magically start playing and we'd be in the center of a dance floor dancing alone. 


It would be  really great if emotions showed up with their metaphors, because then we could show people how we really feel instead of just depending on words to express ourselves. Some people aren't really that great with words but they do feel a lot - those people should have the same ability to express themselves as anyone

But I guess it’s a good thing that emotions don’t appear as metaphors, because then people wouldn’t have to use their imaginations as much and metaphors would disappear, because nothing would be like anything, everything just would be.


(ohoto: http://www.realbollywood.com/news/2010/10/dance-india-dance-returns-time-couples.html)

Alices Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Caroll

If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see? 

POSITIVE PROFANITIES.

Sometimes when I’m walking down the streets and I hear people yelling profanities at each other, I get really sad. I wonder who decided that “F*** YOU!”, or “THAT DOESN’T MEAN SH**”, or “SHE’S SUCH A B****” were going to take shape in negative and insulting ways.

Wouldn’t it be awesome if there were positive profanities? That way instead of all those mean, loud, explosive, statements, people could express beautiful thoughts in the form of nice, loud, explosive statements.

Then if I thought someone was being ridiculously nice, I could be like “YOU KNOW WHAT, FLIZ YOU!” And in rap songs when a guy wanted to get romantic with a girl, he could be like, “DANG, YOU’RE SO CUTE, I JUST WANT TO FLIZ YOU.” Or if someone let you take their seat in the bus you could be like, “WOW, YONK YOU”. 

And, if positive profanities existed, I think that a lot more people would be smiling, because they could sound really hilarious.

(picture from: http://john.sixlives.sg/)