Party Shuffle

Susan has a great post, inspired by Sister Christer.

Instructions: Go to your music player of choice and put it on shuffle. Say the following questions aloud, and press play. Use the song title as the answer to the question. NO CHEATING.

I fired up the nano, and here are the results.

How does the world see you?
Higher Ground (UB40)
"The less I know the more I want to look around."

Will I have a happy life?
Walk On (U2)
"You're packing your suitcase for a place none of us has been."

What do my friends really think of me?
Heart of Mine (Ricky Van Shelton)
"Shame ain't gonna let you walk back, and pride won't let you crawl."

What do people secretly think of me?
Piece of Work (Jimmy Buffett)
"I'm a sweatheart, genius, restless jerk. Lord have mercy, I'm a piece of work."

How can I make myself happy?
When it Rains (Gretchen Wilson)
"I turn out the light, I turn up Dwight, and I lock my door."

What should I do with my life?
Days Go By (Keith Urban)
"It's all we've been given so you better start livin' right now."

Will I ever have children?
Move It On Over (George Thorogood)
"I come in last night about half past ten. That baby of mine wouldn't let me in."

What is some good advice for me?
Run-Around (Blues Traveler)
"As we seek so shall we find."

How will I be remembered?
Beautiful Life (Ace of Base)
"You can do what you want, just seize the day."

What is my signature dancing song?
Three Little Birds (Bob Marley)
"Don't worry about a thing cuz every little thing is gonna be alright."

What do I think my current theme song is?
It's Getting Late (Buckwheat Zydeco)
It's an instrumental!

What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
Rock and Roll, Part 2 (Gary Glitter) Oh my, I have to admit this!
HEY!
(Isn't that inspiring?)

What song will play at my funeral?
No One Needs To Know (Shania Twain)
"I want bells to ring, choirs to sing, the white dress, the guests, the cake, the car, the whole darn thing."

What type of men/women do you like?
Learn to be Still (The Eagles)
"Learn to be still."
(Hey, I like the strong, quiet type!)

What is my day going to be like?
Simply Complicated (Jimmy Buffett)
"It's alright to be crazy, just don't let it drive you nuts."

My! That, was fun.

Now, I'm off to enjoy my simply complicated day.

Remember. No cheating!

Distracted

I know it's Lent and all. But, it's also March Madness.

I'll admit, when it comes to NCAA basketball, I'm addicted. So, it comes as no surprise I've been distracted by all the hoopla.

I received the worst news today, though.

My bracket sucks.

Through some freak of nature I'm near the midpoint of the pack. I won enough games early on, and still - amazingly - have 10 or so teams out of the Sweet 16.

But, here on out, folks, it isn't pretty!

The teams I had pegged for the championship are out. I have only 1 team in "my" final four remaining. And, my alma mater is long gone.

Face it. For me, March Madness has turned into March Sadness.

Just Like Mine

A few months back I was gifted a sleek 2GB white nano ipod. Today, it travels with me everywhere -- the gym, the car, airplanes and all points in between. I even have a nifty clock radio on my bedside where my friendly little nano can rest and recharge, then supply me with my favorite music to wake to in the morning.

Truth is, I love my nano.

Recently, our Holy Father received a similar gift from the good folks at Vatican Radio. According to this story from Catholic News Service, Pope Benedict received a nano just like mine to mark Vatican Radio's 75th anniversary.

The pope's new 2-gigabyte digital audio player already was loaded with a sampling of the radio's programming in English, Italian and German and musical compositions by Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Frederic Chopin, Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky and Igor Stravinsky. The stainless steel back was engraved with the words "To His Holiness, Benedict XVI" in Italian.

At last count, my non-engraved nano had 165 songs, including such artists as Black Eyed Peas, u2, Chris Isaak, Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson and a few podcasts.

Do you suppose the Holy Father would swap mixes with a Cafeteria Catholic?

No Fried Foods

This most reverent season of Lent began with a bit of a giggle for me yesterday as I received a call from a far away friend who is a cafeteria-style Muslim. Like me, she's proud of her religious heritage, but is -- also like me -- not the most practicing type.

In her call, she announced that she was giving up fried foods.

"Why?" I asked.

"Lent" was her reply.

I burst into laughter. The thought of my lovely Muslim friend giving up her favorite foods for forty days, while I -- the Cafeteria Catholic -- was doubtful that I could make it through Ash Wednesday without consuming meat, was too much to handle.

Apparently, my friend, who recently moved into a quite predominantly Catholic city, is inspired by those around her to observe this season of sacrifice.

"You know what this means, don't you?" I declared. "You're a Cafeteria Catholic, too!"

With that, we both got a big laugh.