Reader's Block

We've all heard of writer's block. It's that (real or imaginary, depending on which writer you speak to) wall that writer's hit sometimes when they have been writing for some time and just can't seem to think of anything else to write. Maybe they get lost in their own composition. Maybe they're just burned out and have no more ideas. Or maybe (like me, at this present moment) they have a squirming infant in their lap who keeps kicking their arm, refuses to take her evening nap, won't consent to playing quietly (or even not-so-quietly) by herself beside the desk, and will not be happy unless she has successfully wiggled out of their lap and pressed every key on the keyboard at least twice.

In short, we've all heard of writers who just can't write anymore, due to any number of reasons. What (I am assuming) is a far less common phenomenon is that of readers block. Well, trust me: I can attest to its existece because I currently have it. There are just so many hundreds of pages you can read on spirituality and education before the eyes gloss over and you realize that you haven't retained a word of the last three pages. Having found myself in that predicament at least twice in the past hour (and subsequently re-reading roughly six to nine pages of one dissertation in the past hour), I have decided to do something a little mind-numbing to cleanse the palate. And what is more mind-numbing than an internet survey? Nothing comes to my mind (although my husband would argue that VH1's Best Week Ever comes close). So, without further ado (mainly because I really need to gt back to reading that dissertation so that I can finish it before Pushing Daisies comes on), I bring you what will probably be the first of many surveys to come in the following weeks:

1. Favorite Beatles song: tough call ... I've narrowed it down to "Hey Jude," "Let It Be" and "Revolution" ... I think we'll go with "Hey Jude" on this one since I want to get a dog and name it Jude and because John wrote it for Julian, which is what I also want to name our first son (you don't name a child and a household pet after a song unless it's favorite).

2. Favorite Rolling Stones song: either "Sympathy for the Devil" or "Can't Always Get What You Want"

3. Favorite Doors song: hmmm ... "Riders on the Storm" isn't necessarily favorite, but it is the first one that came to mind, so I'll roll with it.

4. Favorite Bob Dylan song: I'm just gonna go ahead and be stereotypical and say "Like a Rolling Stone" (I blame it on the montage set to this song in the TV-movie I saw in high school, The 60s, featuring Julia Stiles).

5. Favorite Led Zeppelin song: "All of My Love" ... or maybe "Misty Mountain Hop" ... or maybe "Kashmir" ... dangit

6. Favorite TV theme song: I'm going with the O.C. on this one (big shocker there, I know) - "California" by Phantom Planet, in all of its lyrically-challenged glory.

7. Favorite Prince song: "Raspberry Beret"

8. Favorite Madonna song: "Cherish"

9. Favorite Michael Jackson song: "Thriller" (Can anyone legitimately choose another?)

10. Favorite Queen song: "Killer Queen"

11. Favorite N*Sync song: "Bye, Bye, Bye" (thankfully, this is where they - and my affinity for them - went [though not in that order]).

12. Favorite Al Green song: "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You"

13. Favorite Bruce Springsteen song: "The River"

14. Favorite Cure song: I honestly don't know if I've ever listened to the Cure ... for someone who claims to be such a music afficianado, that seems terrible. I kind of feel a little bad about that.

15. Favorite song that most of your friends haven't heard yet: Considering most of my friends haven't heard of the majority of the music I listen to, I'm going to go with "Transatlanticism" by Death Cab for Cutie OR "Lover I Don't Have to Love" by Bright Eyes.

16. Favorite Beastie Boys song: "Intergalactic"

17. Favorite Clash song: "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"

18. Favorite Beach Boys song: "Wouldn't It Be Nice?"

19. Favorite Cyndi Lauper song: "Time After Time"

20. Favorite song from a movie: Air's "Playground Love" from The Virgin Suicides or Beck's "Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime" from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

21. Favcorite Jeff Buckley song: I know it's a cover, but I don't knwo any others, so "Hallelujah"

22. Favorite Johnny Cash song: I have to admit, that as much as I enjoy his voice, I'm not familiar enough with his repertoire that I could go very far beyond "Ring of Fire" (again, I hang my head in shame).

23. Favorite song from and 80s one-hit wonder: A-ha's "Take On Me" (at least, I don't think they had anything else that could be considered a "hit")

24.Favorite Pink Floyd song: "Comfortably Numb"

25. Last song you heard: Hank Green's "The Man Who Throws the Tetris Piece" (that party blower solo makes me laugh every. single. time.)


Okay ... back to Dissertationland.