Internet Treasures

I have a social media problem, but I think that 95% of human beings who own smart phones would admit to having this problem as well.  Whenever I'm in bed at night trying to make myself sleepy, or when I have five minutes to spare with nothing to do, or when I'm waiting on someone, or when I'm on the couch and I need to leave for the gym but I can't quite make myself walk out the door, I scroll through Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest (or all three).  It's amazing the amount of time that can fly by when I get distracted by my newsfeed.  And usually the stuff I'm looking at is not at all worth my time (e.g. a random rant about how much one of my high school classmates hates Verizon's customer service, stupid memes that aren't even funny).  But this week I've stumbled upon a few internet treasures I've really enjoyed, and it's made me reconsider whether or not my social media scrolling is really a bad habit after all.

Album cover from MirandaLambert.com

This Rolling Stone article about Miranda Lambert's upcoming album makes me even more excited than I already was for her June 3rd release of "Platinum."  I can't believe she's been around long enough to have FIVE studio albums, totally makes me feel old, but I am so stoked for new music from one of my favorite artists.  There are too many things I love about this article, so I thought I would just make a list:

- Miranda says she would never buy a Gucci bag for herself.  Even though she could pretty much buy whatever she wanted at this point, she wouldn't splurge on an expensive brand name purse just because.  But then she admits to loving her Gucci bag she was given as a gift and "flashes a big wink."  She's so perfect.

- The song "Platinum," the title track for the album, is about "platinum records, but also the color of an Airstream" and the color of Miranda's hair.  She says the song is "campy and fun."  My favorite songs of Miranda's are her campiest!  And my all time favorite song (of Miranda's and probably in general) is "Airstream Song," a short tune about living in an Airstream that perfectly captures the restlessness of human nature.

Miranda doesn't have an official lyrics video for "Airstream Song," but here's one I found on YouTube made by a fan.

- This quote is awesome - "I'm not burning down houses anymore.  I have more to sing about."  Early in her career, Miranda was labeled as the crazy, gun-totin' girl, due to her hits "Kerosene" and "Gunpowder and Lead."  Not saying she didn't perpetuate that reputation, she had a whole album titled "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend."  But anyone who has listened to Miranda's albums knows there's so much more to her than the singles she's released.  In many of her songs, the lyrics are poignant and poetic and "hit the nail on the head" describing emotions and situations that are rarely sung about.  I truly believe her writing is genius.  She's a wonderful representative of authentic country music, and I'm so glad she's dedicating this album to showing a different side of herself.

- On the note of how great a representative of country music Miranda is to the world, I also love that she points out, "for a minute there it felt like girls ran the show.  We have to save this thing we've made - Carrie, Taylor, and me."  Firstly, I love how Miranda is encouraging instead of competitive with other female country singers.  Secondly, she is completely correct.  For a few years, it felt like every number one song was by one of these three ladies.  I especially love how Miranda calls what's on the radio right now "bro country."  And thank you to Josh Eels, the Rolling Stones writer of the article, who says, "Lambert's songs are a corrective to Nashville's proliferation of babe-and-truck jams."  We are so on the same page.

- She is hoping an Applebee's or Chili's will come to the town where her and Blake live.  Even better, she is excited they are building a Dollar General near her house.  The next place the Mister will be stationed is Oklahoma, and I have this wonderful fantasy where Miranda and I meet at a Petsmart or something (she's a dog freak too) and she invites Chris and I over to the Shelton residence for a bonfire and beer.  A girl can dream.  I always tell the Mister I'm totally okay with living in Oklahoma because any place where Miranda lives is good enough for me.  This girl crush is so real.

- Honestly, the only thing I didn't love about this article is that the writer thinks Miranda and Blake are the Beyonce and Jay-Z of country music.  Nah-nah-nah - correction - Beyonce and Jay-Z are the Miranda and Blake of hip-hop.  And that's a compliment to Beyonce and Jay-Z that I'm not sure they deserve.

Photo from Starbucks.com

Okay, I'll keep this one shorter.  But this Betches Love This article about "having like a lot of beverages" is the story of my life.  I only call drinks "beverages," and it really confuses my friends and family.  If I'm not actively drinking something, I whine to the Mister about how I'm "parched" (so much worse than being hungry).  I never leave for work without at least two beverages and a dollar for the vending machine.  Of course this article is satirical, but there are some very true points.  I told Chris while we were Skyping yesterday that I only like drinks flavored cherry, grape, or aspartame.  And coffee... lots and lots of coffee

Like the beverages article, I find this Open Letter from Introverts very reassuring.  There are other people in the world like me! - people who don't like talking on the phone, are completely awkward conversationalists, and depend on extroverts to have meaningful relationships (I even married one!).  I think the best thing for extroverts to gather from this letter is that most introverts are probably inwardly kind, we're just not the best at being friendly (but we do try).  Please try to assume the best about everyone! I've been attempting to do that lately and it really does change the way I see the world sometimes.

I came across this blog post on Pinterest a while back, and it came back on my radar this week.  Ever since reading this post, hardly a day passes by that I don't think about it.  I won't try to paraphrase it, as I think every woman needs to read it all the way through on her own.  The main issue it points out is that women and men are marketed two completely different types of fitness, when we are all human beings with the basically the same bodies.  Every women's health magazine cover is about eating less food and burning more calories, where as men's health magazines market building muscle and eating foods that are rich in what humans need instead of just eating less.  Women who eat 1200 calories a day and only do cardio may very well be putting their bodies into starvation mode.

After reading this post, Special K, Yoplait, and all other companies whose commercials advertise to women that their products have less calories and are therefore better for them disgust me.  For the four or five months directly before our wedding, I did a big-name calorie counting weight loss program (I won't name names, but you can probably guess which one I'm talking about) and I did lose about 15 pounds that had been plaguing me for quite some time.  But I did not feel well.  I had no energy and was pretty much always in a bad mood.  Chris has asked me to never cut calories again because of how terrible it made me feel and sometimes act.  This winter, I started going to lift with Chris.  And now I go to the gym almost every day to lift heavy, and I'm working on focusing on the weight I lift going up and not my body weight going down.  Body weight is just a number and how you feel about your body is so much more important.  Like I said, ladies, please, please read this post.  It's an eye opener.

Speaking of, it's gym time!  I've been waiting around to see if Chris would be able to message or Skype, but he was traveling today and must not be settled into his new location yet.  Working out helps me turn my worrier off (or at least turn down its volume), so the gym it is.  Talk to you soon!