{"id":8604,"date":"2014-12-17T04:55:48","date_gmt":"2014-12-17T12:55:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michellejolin.com\/wordpress\/?p=8604"},"modified":"2014-12-17T04:55:40","modified_gmt":"2014-12-17T12:55:40","slug":"musical-obsession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=8604","title":{"rendered":"Music and emotion"},"content":{"rendered":"

What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?
\n–Rob\/High Fidelity<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

First of all, I have a question:
\nWhy is John Cusack not my boyfriend? He is age appropriate. He has just the kind of messy hair I like. Big brown eyes. A great voice. Based on his writing credit on High Fidelity, he’s probably not an idiot. I like guys who are not idiots. It seems like we’d be a good fit. (Call me!)<\/p>\n

Sorry. I was just wondering. <\/p>\n

Unlike Rob in High Fidelity, I am not a miserable person. Oh, I have my moody, angst-ridden moments. I can be intense sometimes. I ask uncomfortable questions, and actually expect answers. I don’t let things slide. For the most part, though, I am happy. In an intense and sometimes melancholy way. Hey, you be happy however you want. This is my way. <\/p>\n

One of my newer co-workers stopped me in the hall at work to say that it cheers him up to see me because I am always smiling. When I was in Italy, one of my friends suggested I stop smiling all the time because men would interpret it as an invitation. I am evidently a smilier person than I think I am.<\/p>\n

Which really has nothing to do with my point.<\/p>\n

Oh, you ask, do I have a point?<\/p>\n

Well. It’s a fair question. I do tend to digress, and my point is not a very pointy one.<\/p>\n

What comes first, the music or the mood?<\/p>\n

With me, it is definitely the mood. The music might intensify a mood I am already in, but typically won’t put me into a mood on its own. If I am sad, then sad songs might make me sadder. If I am happy, sad songs won’t change that. In fact, I love to sing sad songs when I am happy. I love to sing them when I am sad, too, but it is a whole different experience.<\/p>\n

This isn’t very interesting, is it? I mean, that one short paragraph pretty much said it all. I’d say I was really damn concise, but I appear to still be writing. <\/p>\n

Maybe we should talk some more about why John Cusack isn’t my boyfriend. Do you think it’s because I never call him? It makes me sad when people don’t call me. I am sure it’s the same for him, even though he has no idea I exist. <\/p>\n

And why isn’t he making more of an effort about that?<\/p>\n

Shouldn’t he be seeking me out? <\/p>\n

Being sought out is a pleasant feeling, if memory serves…<\/p>\n

Pretty sure this post has jumped the shark. <\/p>\n

Still. <\/p>\n

John Cusack?
\nCall me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because … Continue reading Music and emotion<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Music and emotion \r\n\r\n#ILoveYouJohnCusack\r\nhttp:\/\/wp.me\/p4FR8-2eM","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-words"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7lr3R-2eM","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6319,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=6319","url_meta":{"origin":8604,"position":0},"title":"Ordinary things","author":"Michelle","date":"June 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"They had an ordinary life, full of ordinary things-if love can ever be called that. --Leigh Bardugo\/Ruin and Rising This was the happy ending of a book in which two people with extraordinary abilities lost nearly everything except love. No, I am not going to talk about beginnings and endings\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/20140622-133748-49068136.jpg?fit=454%2C313&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3608,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=3608","url_meta":{"origin":8604,"position":1},"title":"This is how it goes","author":"Michelle","date":"January 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This is how it goes: One more failure to connect With so many how could I object? And you, what on earth did you expect? Well, I can't tell you, baby When this is how it goes --Aimee Mann\/This Is How It Goes Failure to connect is a recurring theme\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10634,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=10634","url_meta":{"origin":8604,"position":2},"title":"37 Pieces of kibble","author":"Michelle","date":"October 17, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Every day when I get up in the morning, or come home in the evening, Squeaky Cat explains to me that he is DYING OF STARVATION because he is very close to just about almost being able to see the bottom of his food dish. Practically. It's not actually empty,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Random thoughts"","block_context":{"text":"Random thoughts","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=20"},"img":{"alt_text":"Kitty has a very hard life.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/IMG_3243-e1445056118604.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8075,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=8075","url_meta":{"origin":8604,"position":3},"title":"There will be a brief decrease in my intelligence level..","author":"Michelle","date":"October 29, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"While I whine for a moment about being sick. Oh, I am not really, really sick. Too sick to be at work. Too sick to be on the couch. A little too well to want to be in bed. \"In between\" sick, and all dumbed down on cold medicine and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2744,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=2744","url_meta":{"origin":8604,"position":4},"title":"Thank you, thank you, thank you","author":"Michelle","date":"November 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I want to thank you falettinme be mice elf agin Thank you falettinme be mice elf agin --Sly and the Family Stone It's not the most creative thing to write about on Thanksgiving, but I've got an awful lot of things in this life that I am very thankful for.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9172,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=9172","url_meta":{"origin":8604,"position":5},"title":"A brief pause in the flow of words","author":"Michelle","date":"January 27, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Dear blog, Please excuse Michelle for not writing any words tonight. She was spinning. Bike spinning, not yarn spinning. Then she was cooking bacon and mushrooms. Then she was talking. And maybe drinking adult beverages. And then they had to eat the bacon and mushrooms. And the avocado. There was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/IMG_2470-0.jpg?fit=341%2C391&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8604\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}