They're welcome to use ME.

What exactly is it about the Kings of Leon that makes me want to remove all my clothes?  The music?  The lyrics?  The style?  The hard-drinking?  Some delicious combination of the above?

In any case, I'm so pleased they picked up a few Grammys tonight.

Find Beauty

I labeled my last post “Find Beauty” and it occurred to me that I should probably explain that philosophy.

Years ago I used to ride the “L” to work. One of the buildings that backed onto the tracks had a homemade sign nailed to its rickety deck. Hand-drawn letters spelled out FIND BEAUTY in glittery paint. The juxtaposition of the rundown back porch with the aggressively upbeat sign always caught my attention. I was inspired by the friendly commandment and made a point to follow its instruction.

Finding Beauty is not always easy. Some things are obviously beautiful: sunsets that burn up the atmosphere, the soft blush of a new bloom, a heart-wrenching ballad. There is hidden beauty, however, in less obvious places: the rainbow in an oil splotch in the parking lot, the precision of flesh-eating beetles, the bare branches of a dead tree reaching in vain into the sky. Although Beauty is always present, sometimes we need to seek out its hiding place. My mission to Find Beauty became a daily exercise in seeing. And like any exercise, when I practiced it, it became easier to do.

I no longer consciously Find Beauty everyday. It's become a way of being over the years and I don't even notice I'm doing it now. On occasion, however, something will be so striking, so arresting that I realize I'm having a Find Beauty moment.

So, where did you Find Beauty today?

Diamonds on the soles of her shoes.

I took a walk this evening in a cloud of diamonds.  Because it's so cold, snow is coming down like glittery soap flakes.  It makes the air twinkle with reflected streetlight and the ground shimmer like the fairy tale landscapes of my childhood dreams.  It's whimsical and otherworldly.

I marvel at how a thin blanket of magic snow can transform the ugliest of alleys into a fantasy landscape.

I'll take Nerd Alert for $200, Alex

Last night I took the online qualifying test to be a Jeopardy! contestant. 50 questions, 15 seconds to read each clue and type in your answer. Having never taken the test before but being a loooooong time fan of the show, I was relatively pleased with how I did. Questions ranged from Science to American History, Geography to Pop Culture, Literature to Current Events. It was a full spectrum of trivia.

I spent the rest of the evening obsessing over the questions I know I missed. Most of the time in trivia, you either know the answer or you don't. I'm haunted by the ones I know I didn't know last night. But, in true nerd fashion, I spent time studying each of those topics after the test and I can promise you that I'll never forget that particular author's name or the atomic make-up of that particular element again. Because trivia shouldn't just be about the regurgitation of accumulated knowledge. It should be about learning. Well, learning and showing off what a smarty-pants you are.

Unfortunately, they don't tell you your score and there's no way of knowing whether or not you will be invited to an audition. In the coming weeks I'll be anxiously checking my e-mail, hoping to qualify for the next round!

Coincidence?

Is it just me or does Muse's "Uprising" sound like the Dr. Who theme song?

Muse:

Dr. Who:

What to Watch

Even though I'm technically old enough to be her mother, I can't get enough of My Life As Liz on MTV.

I'd like to think it's because I'm young at heart and still in touch with my inner teenager. But part of me fears that the adolescent dramedy speaks to my heart because none of us ever really grows out of high school.

Check it out. It's a million times better than all the other "high school" shows where teenagers hang out in bars, hook-up like sex-starved housewives, and wear thousand-dollar outfits. But watch it soon; MTV will probably pull it off the air soon to make room for more episodes of Teen Cribs.

You have more than you need.

It's not just Haitians who need help.

Please share what you can.