Naive melody

Something I love about being home: Happy hour at Sonic. For real. I get a ginormous drink or slush of my choosing for a mere 98 cents. Cherry/strawberry/mango limeade, orange cream slush, ocean water, the options are endless. Of course I almost always go the boring (but 100% satisfactory) route and get a Diet Coke (even though our fridge is always stocked with it...go fig.) My 2 favorite ways to drink DC: A.) in a can, almost frozen or B.) From Sonic, with that perfectly crushed ice. Call me boring. I just know what I like.

Happy hour at Sonic is also an excuse I use to drive aimlessly with good music going. This is one of my favorite activities/ways to clear my head that I rarely get to do at school during the craziness of semester life. (Driving aimlessly-reason #35789023 why I love my long Christmas break). i know it's both environmentally and financially irresponsible, but I figure there are worse indulgences I could have.

Today I had a particularly good mix going. The stuff I chose wasn't really what I typically think of as "driving music," but I love it anyway. I had some variety on there, but the playlist was pretty '80s-heavy. some might argue that the '80s were seriously the worst thing ever to happen to music, and in some ways I agree, but there's a lot from that decade that I just LOVE. (And much of it is the beyond-ridionkulous power ballads...paging Bonnie Tyler...) Today, though, I was more about showing off my taste to myself-I was in one of those moods. You know. Typical white-girl-proud-of-herself-for-knowing-some-music-other-than-Britney-and-GaGa (but who undoubtedly loves/obsesses over both Britney and Lady GaGa). This mix was gooood. I had The Cure, some early Pixies, The Jam, and, most notably, my favorite Talking Heads song, "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)." It's so perfect. And in 9th grade I totally thought "NaiveMelody" with some numbers added onto the end of it would make an almost-painfully hip screen name or something. Duh.

Anyway, I'm driving around going nowhere in particular, singing along and bopping my head away like an idiot. I suddenly remember my mom's request-that I stop at the grocery store to pick up some oranges and Diet Coke. I pull into the parking lot and continue humming as I stroll into the store, all the while super proud of myself for having such intelligent and musicy thoughts. Yes, Paul Weller, so underrated..."The Head on the Door" is the best Cure album...Should I watch Stop Making Sense when I get home?..."Here Comes Your Man"-a perfect pop song by a non-pop group? Totez. Gosh Mary, you have such great, cool opinions. I was probably subconsciously beaming with pride.

Then as I was innocently bagging some oranges in the produce section, enjoying marveling at my great taste and thoughts about my great taste, suddenly, out of nowhere and completely without warning, my iphone started playing nothing other than CELINE DION. Yes, I do love some Celine, but having her suddenly start belting out power ballads from your purse when you're in public is slightly embarrassing. Especially since I couldn't find my phone and had to dig for what seemed like hours but was probably all of 45 seconds. People were looking. Sure, it wasn't the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to me, but i definitely blushed. File this one under "Hey world!! Look at me, I'm white!!" moments. It also brought me back to reality. No matter how "eclectic" my music taste is, no matter how "hip" I pretend to be, no matter how "cool" my college is, no matter how "cultured" I might eventually become...I'm still, and forever will be, an average white girl from the South who makes trips to the grocery store in her mom's Volvo, wears J. Crew cardigans every other day, buys oranges and Diet Coke, and sometimes listens to Celine Dion.
But I like it.