Bittersweet fruit for a bittersweet time

A brief moment of the Cranberries on the radio this afternoon made me desperately want to listen to them. So, now I'm finally at home sitting at my desk listening to Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? I know that I've said it time and again but there is a certain special quality to music. It can transport you through time and make you feel as though you're reliving moments of your life. The Cranberries take me back to being a teenager . . . all the bittersweet memories of teenage heartache and heartbreak. Somehow it's both exhilarating and heart-wrenching to recall those feelings. Oh, to be a teenager again . . . to have those cares and concerns. I suppose I can only say that though because I was a relatively happy adolescent. I know there are plenty people who were unhappy adolescents and would never wish to return to that time in their lives. It's a scarring time for all of us, though in vastly different ways.

Though I won't bore you with the memories associated with them, I'll tell you that my particular favorites on the disc include "Sunday", "Linger", and "How." They are attached to both immensely fun and happy memories and blisteringly painful ones.

Growing up, much like breaking up, is hard to do

When I was eight and people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up the question didn't seem quite as menacing as it does now. And even though I hate it when people ask me that question, I can't help asking other people. Does that make me a terrible person? Perhaps it's only terrible because I myself don't have an answer to that question. I grow more and more confused as to the answer as the years go by. Although one thing I have realized, it's not really what I want to be but who I want to be that's important. Jobs and careers may come and go but I will always be myself. I'm not too worried though (although perhaps I should be), I believe in serendipity, or if we want to be oh so practical we could say that I usually manage to iron things out.

When all else fails turn to music, and there's nothing like cheesy music from another decade to describe ones thoughts. I don't know why I thought of "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" perhaps because it was on a mixed CD of oldies that I had as a kid. I'd forgotten how truly cheesy the lyrics were until I looked them up online. It was perhaps an era when music was just . . . well, simpler, for lack of a better word. So I shall leave you at that . . .

Don't take your love away from me
Don't you leave my heart in misery
If you go then I'll be blue
'Cause breaking up his hard to do

And the last verse, just for kicks . . .

I beg of you, don't say goodbye
Can't we give our love another try
Come on baby, let's start anew
'Cause breaking up is hard to do