[Mike's cell phone rings]
Mike: Hello?
Tiny Asian Lady Caller: Is Shar there?
Mike: Um... yeah. Hold on.
[Mike hands his cell phone to Shar]
Shar: Hello?
TALC: Is Shar there?
Shar: This is Shar.
TALC: Wrong number. [hangs up]
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Wedding Disc 2: Shar's Music
We got married yesterday! There will be much more on that later. Mike and I made (with the help, and more importantly, the laptops) of many of our friends, two mix CDs of music that's been important to us for all our guests to take home. The first disc was (mostly) songs he's given to me. He wrote about them over at his blarg. The second disc was (mostly) songs I've given to him. Here's the tracklist and the story behind each song.
1. Broken Things- Lucy Kaplansky
When Mike and I were first falling in love, this song played in my head and on my stereo a lot. The line "you walked right into my darkness, speaking words so sweet..." perfectly describes how wonderful it was to find someone who was brave enough to stand by me when things weren't just happy sunshiny picnics for me.
2. Homeward Bound- Simon & Garfunkel
Throughout the five years we've been together, there have been many times I've been away, whether for a family trip, a singing responsibility, or just school. This song speaks to the frustration of being gone when everything you want is back at home waiting for you. As soon as I turned the corner and started the return trip, this song would be on my mind.
3. At Last- Etta James
One of those lovely jazz standards that gets played at weddings so often that it would be cliché if everyone who'd ever fallen in love didn't still get teary-eyed when they heard it. Last year, I sang this at a wedding reception and caught Mike's eye across the room.
4. Please Be Kind- Jane Monheit
This was on the first mix I made for Mike. When we first started going out, neither of us had a clue what we were doing. We just had to be careful with all of the trust and love we were giving to each other, making sure not to take anything for granted. I think it turned out okay.
5. I Know Why (And So Do You)- The Manhattan Transfer
This was also on that first mix. I remember a couple years ago, I was really upset because it was raining on my birthday. Mike and I walked down to Westwood, had a great dinner, and walked back in the downpour dancing and singing at the top of our (my) lungs. "I can see the sun when it's raining, hiding every cloud from my view..."
6. Come Away With Me- Norah Jones
The first time we heard this song was during an otherwise uninteresting episode of Saturday Night Live. We'd propped up on pillows on my dorm-room floor and were talking about other things when we both noticed, at the same moment, the beautiful song coming through our tiny TV's speakers. If ever we were to run away together, to live in a tiny cabin with just room for the two of us, this is the song we'd run to.
7. Radio Sweethearts- Kate Rusby
My whole time at UCLA, I shared a room with my roomie (and maid of honor) Robyn, whom Mike and I both adore. But it was tough having four years of not very much time spent just the two of us. When we had evenings together, we sometimes liked to push the tables and couches out of the way and dance. A lot of the time, it was to this song. Listen to it, I'm sure it's obvious why.
8. When I'm Sixty-Four- The Beatles
One of the top things I love about Mike's family (it's a long list) is his lovely grandparents. Just a few months after we started going out, Mike took me up to visit them, and we've shared countless meals and a few theater outings with them since then. They recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Their love is an inspiration to us. I'm happy to have such a wonderful growing-old partner.
9. The Promise- Tracy Chapman
This song has gotten us through some hard times. No matter how far we seem to get away from each other, no matter how long or difficult the low times are, we're always going to be coming back to each other.
10. You're My Soul and Inspiration- The Righteous Brothers
This is just a great love song we love to sing along to. So much of our relationship has been built on times in the car, listening to oldies radio stations and singing along. This is one of our favorites.
11. If You Only Knew- Kara's Flowers
The first time I heard this song, by the L.A. band that would eventually become Maroon 5, I knew I had to play it for Mike. It's talking about all of the little things that become big deals when in a relationship with any geographical distance involved-- especially when that distance has to be traveled on the 405 freeway.
12. I Believe- Stevie Wonder
I couldn't tell you why Stevie Wonder has been such a crucial part of our relationship. Part of it's gotta be that he does great Christmas music, and Christmas is our favorite holiday together. Whatever the reason, this song has all the classic Stevie, and it gets us every time.
13. Don't Mind Me- Lucy Kaplansky
Another song off that first mix. The line "I'm just a bit maniacal about you, and derailed when I'm without you" pretty much perfectly describes the insanity of falling in love at the end of summer, when free time spent together is about to become a rare and precious luxury.
14. Wild Honey- U2
I've always found the idea of eternal love, reincarnating since the beginning of time, to be a little out there (think Hawkman and Hawkgirl). But I love the idea of Mike and me being monkeys too much to not love this song.
15. Heavenly Day- Patty Griffin
This is off Patty Griffin's newest album, which just happened to be on overhead play for the first month of my job at Borders. It was a rough transition for us to go from seeing each other all day every day to having to schedule our lives around work. But every time I heard this song (which was probably five times a day) I got the gentle reminder that we don't need anything other than to be together to make it a perfect day.
16. Just You Tonight- Lucy Kaplansky
One of the benefits to having a humble beginning to our relationship is that we don't easily get distracted by the trappings of romance. There were no clinking champagne glasses or fancy dinnerware to help us along the way. It was just the two of us, and that turned out to be more than enough to build on.
17. Our Love is Here to Stay- Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
I have always had a soft spot for vocal jazz, ever since my middle school choir teacher first told me I would love Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross. Ella & Louis have some of my favorite vocal duets ever. "The radio and the telephone and the movies that we know may just be passing fancies, and in time may go..." has been a fun line to think about as a whirlwind of technology swirls around us. Our relationship started with a dial-up modem and a landline phone. Right now, we're writing on our bed with our Apple laptops propped up in front of us. Who knows where we'll be in another five years? But we'll be next to each other, so it'll be great.
18. I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm- Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
Ella & Louis again. It's more or less literal-- I get cold really easily, and there's nothing like snuggling up to the man I love, under the arm that's molded itself to fit my shoulders, to make me feel all wrapped up and cozy.
19. Danny's Song- Anne Murray
One of my favorite songs to sing at the top of my lungs. Besides the beautiful chorus, I love the line "if you find he helps your mind, better take him home." Long, long conversations with Mike about everything we can think of have made me think about life in a hundred new ways. He's probably the smartest guy I know, and we're going to have hairy little genius babies.
20. Two of Us- Aimee Mann & Michael Penn
It's a Beatles song, but I think I might like it better the way it is on the I Am Sam soundtrack, as a duet between a man and his lady. I don't care where we're going-- life is better with a Mike in the seat beside you. We're lucky enough to have had a cross-country road trip and thousands of miscellaneous other miles of adventures together. And we have so much road still ahead of us.
21. The Luckiest- Ben Folds
This is our song. It's what was playing when Mike first said he loved me. It's what we clear the furniture away for on every anniversary, and it's what we danced our first dance to at our wedding reception. And it says for us so many things that we have spent the past five years showing to each other. I am so lucky to have Mike, and we are lucky to have each other. I'll never forget that. But it's not just luck. He is such my perfect match that I have to believe that, instead of as high school sophomores, if we met for the first time in sixty years as old, old people, we'd look at each other then in our wrinkly old eyes and we'd still know. Instead, we get to spend all that time together, and, because of that, I count myself the luckiest.
1. Broken Things- Lucy Kaplansky
When Mike and I were first falling in love, this song played in my head and on my stereo a lot. The line "you walked right into my darkness, speaking words so sweet..." perfectly describes how wonderful it was to find someone who was brave enough to stand by me when things weren't just happy sunshiny picnics for me.
2. Homeward Bound- Simon & Garfunkel
Throughout the five years we've been together, there have been many times I've been away, whether for a family trip, a singing responsibility, or just school. This song speaks to the frustration of being gone when everything you want is back at home waiting for you. As soon as I turned the corner and started the return trip, this song would be on my mind.
3. At Last- Etta James
One of those lovely jazz standards that gets played at weddings so often that it would be cliché if everyone who'd ever fallen in love didn't still get teary-eyed when they heard it. Last year, I sang this at a wedding reception and caught Mike's eye across the room.
4. Please Be Kind- Jane Monheit
This was on the first mix I made for Mike. When we first started going out, neither of us had a clue what we were doing. We just had to be careful with all of the trust and love we were giving to each other, making sure not to take anything for granted. I think it turned out okay.
5. I Know Why (And So Do You)- The Manhattan Transfer
This was also on that first mix. I remember a couple years ago, I was really upset because it was raining on my birthday. Mike and I walked down to Westwood, had a great dinner, and walked back in the downpour dancing and singing at the top of our (my) lungs. "I can see the sun when it's raining, hiding every cloud from my view..."
6. Come Away With Me- Norah Jones
The first time we heard this song was during an otherwise uninteresting episode of Saturday Night Live. We'd propped up on pillows on my dorm-room floor and were talking about other things when we both noticed, at the same moment, the beautiful song coming through our tiny TV's speakers. If ever we were to run away together, to live in a tiny cabin with just room for the two of us, this is the song we'd run to.
7. Radio Sweethearts- Kate Rusby
My whole time at UCLA, I shared a room with my roomie (and maid of honor) Robyn, whom Mike and I both adore. But it was tough having four years of not very much time spent just the two of us. When we had evenings together, we sometimes liked to push the tables and couches out of the way and dance. A lot of the time, it was to this song. Listen to it, I'm sure it's obvious why.
8. When I'm Sixty-Four- The Beatles
One of the top things I love about Mike's family (it's a long list) is his lovely grandparents. Just a few months after we started going out, Mike took me up to visit them, and we've shared countless meals and a few theater outings with them since then. They recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Their love is an inspiration to us. I'm happy to have such a wonderful growing-old partner.
9. The Promise- Tracy Chapman
This song has gotten us through some hard times. No matter how far we seem to get away from each other, no matter how long or difficult the low times are, we're always going to be coming back to each other.
10. You're My Soul and Inspiration- The Righteous Brothers
This is just a great love song we love to sing along to. So much of our relationship has been built on times in the car, listening to oldies radio stations and singing along. This is one of our favorites.
11. If You Only Knew- Kara's Flowers
The first time I heard this song, by the L.A. band that would eventually become Maroon 5, I knew I had to play it for Mike. It's talking about all of the little things that become big deals when in a relationship with any geographical distance involved-- especially when that distance has to be traveled on the 405 freeway.
12. I Believe- Stevie Wonder
I couldn't tell you why Stevie Wonder has been such a crucial part of our relationship. Part of it's gotta be that he does great Christmas music, and Christmas is our favorite holiday together. Whatever the reason, this song has all the classic Stevie, and it gets us every time.
13. Don't Mind Me- Lucy Kaplansky
Another song off that first mix. The line "I'm just a bit maniacal about you, and derailed when I'm without you" pretty much perfectly describes the insanity of falling in love at the end of summer, when free time spent together is about to become a rare and precious luxury.
14. Wild Honey- U2
I've always found the idea of eternal love, reincarnating since the beginning of time, to be a little out there (think Hawkman and Hawkgirl). But I love the idea of Mike and me being monkeys too much to not love this song.
15. Heavenly Day- Patty Griffin
This is off Patty Griffin's newest album, which just happened to be on overhead play for the first month of my job at Borders. It was a rough transition for us to go from seeing each other all day every day to having to schedule our lives around work. But every time I heard this song (which was probably five times a day) I got the gentle reminder that we don't need anything other than to be together to make it a perfect day.
16. Just You Tonight- Lucy Kaplansky
One of the benefits to having a humble beginning to our relationship is that we don't easily get distracted by the trappings of romance. There were no clinking champagne glasses or fancy dinnerware to help us along the way. It was just the two of us, and that turned out to be more than enough to build on.
17. Our Love is Here to Stay- Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
I have always had a soft spot for vocal jazz, ever since my middle school choir teacher first told me I would love Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross. Ella & Louis have some of my favorite vocal duets ever. "The radio and the telephone and the movies that we know may just be passing fancies, and in time may go..." has been a fun line to think about as a whirlwind of technology swirls around us. Our relationship started with a dial-up modem and a landline phone. Right now, we're writing on our bed with our Apple laptops propped up in front of us. Who knows where we'll be in another five years? But we'll be next to each other, so it'll be great.
18. I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm- Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
Ella & Louis again. It's more or less literal-- I get cold really easily, and there's nothing like snuggling up to the man I love, under the arm that's molded itself to fit my shoulders, to make me feel all wrapped up and cozy.
19. Danny's Song- Anne Murray
One of my favorite songs to sing at the top of my lungs. Besides the beautiful chorus, I love the line "if you find he helps your mind, better take him home." Long, long conversations with Mike about everything we can think of have made me think about life in a hundred new ways. He's probably the smartest guy I know, and we're going to have hairy little genius babies.
20. Two of Us- Aimee Mann & Michael Penn
It's a Beatles song, but I think I might like it better the way it is on the I Am Sam soundtrack, as a duet between a man and his lady. I don't care where we're going-- life is better with a Mike in the seat beside you. We're lucky enough to have had a cross-country road trip and thousands of miscellaneous other miles of adventures together. And we have so much road still ahead of us.
21. The Luckiest- Ben Folds
This is our song. It's what was playing when Mike first said he loved me. It's what we clear the furniture away for on every anniversary, and it's what we danced our first dance to at our wedding reception. And it says for us so many things that we have spent the past five years showing to each other. I am so lucky to have Mike, and we are lucky to have each other. I'll never forget that. But it's not just luck. He is such my perfect match that I have to believe that, instead of as high school sophomores, if we met for the first time in sixty years as old, old people, we'd look at each other then in our wrinkly old eyes and we'd still know. Instead, we get to spend all that time together, and, because of that, I count myself the luckiest.
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