MUSIC:LIFE :: FLOWERS:SPRING

Driving home from Providence High School after picking up my sister at 5:15 pm is sometimes a pain. Even though I can stay in one lane all the way from Burbank to Glendale, there are times when the usual 8 to 10-minute drive turns into 15 or 20 in the midst of rush hour traffic. I know what you’re all thinking, “Gosh Anna, 20 minutes in the car, how sad for you…suck it up!” But when you’ve spent 8 hours calming down rude customers, typing until your wrists are throbbing and wondering every second if life could really get much better than THIS, all you can ask for at the end of the day is a quick drive home so you can forget the madness and revel in the serenity of your home. On most drives, my sister is knocked out in the backseat, my mom is half-asleep in front and I’m behind the wheel with roadrage waiting to curse the first idiot who tries to cut me off. I push the pre-set stations every 3 seconds hoping for ONE or 2 good songs to get me through my drive home. By the way, how can 12 stations be on commercial at the same time?

Monday night, however was a rare exception as the wonderful 93.5 KDAY showcased a mix I appreciated more than anything that day. Boyz II Men singin’ “Motownphilly,” followed by ABC’s “Iesha” and then MC BRAINS closin’ the mix with “Oochie Coochie?” I was ready to hop out of the car and start dancing in the middle of the 134 East! An East Coast Family remix, are you kidding me? We performed a routine to “Iesha” in the 7th grade! You wanna see it? IYA AND I WILL SHOW IT TO YOU! Randy may remember it too. hahaha…

Anyhow, music is a real blessing isn’t it? It can bring about some of our saddest or happiest memories, but can also remind us of seemingly obscure, random moments in our lives. 10 years from now, with my insanely good long-term memory (which makes up for my sorry ass excuse of a short-term memory), I know that when I hear those songs again, I’ll not only remember 7th grade antics, but that moment in the car when one of life’s little snags (i.e. traffic) became just a tiny bit bearable.