And the Beat Goes On...

So (La Ti Do), this wouldn't be my blog if I didn't dedicate a post to music. And I figure 5 DAYS to the half marathon is the perfect time to do just that. Allow me to take you "behind the music" of my life...

It all started with two of my greatest musical influences - big shoutout to Raffi and Sharon, Lois, and Bram. I can't remember a birthday as a child when I didn't ask for a Disney soundtrack on cassette tape. I almost broke my first Casio boombox from overuse. I mean, didn't every prepubescent girl do that when the Spice Girls released "SPICE" in 1996? Or maybe I owe that to my first CD, Janet Jackson's "Design of a Decade". No, just me? Well, at twelve years old, my best friend brought me to my first concert - Beastie Boys. Before you jump to any conclusions, my friend's brother and mom were with us. It would be years before I would realize what that smell was...

When I wasn't stealing my sister's copy of No Doubt "Tragic Kingdom", I was rehearsing with my first band, COZMIC. We broke up later that year citing artistic differences, but these girls (or most of them) are still some of my closest friends today. How could we not be with such hard-hitting lyrics as, "We'll be together forever... best friends."

In middle school, I graduated to going to shows alone. Well, not really. I want to take a minute here to thank my friend's father who waited for us in the parking lot while we watched Reel Big Fish at Club Krome. These were my "awkward" years. I was just coming to terms with my identity. My Eminem poster hung proudly from the head of my bed, but I would choreograph dances with my sister and cousin to the latest and greatest Mandy Moore pop hit on the weekends.

Summers were for Summer Theater. Yes, I went to theater camp. And summers bled into fall which meant All (Jersey) Shore Chorus which bled into the Spring Musical... My life was a calculated rhythm of showtunes, and I loved every measure.

High school meant getting our driver's licenses. Which in turn meant driving with the windows down in the Nissan Sentra and the music blasting. Everyone remembers their summer car bands. Mine were Something Corporate and Dashboard Confessional. And it was these years when I learned the true meaning of "home is where the heart is" - whether it was pumping my hands to the beat in the passenger seat with the starshine of my life (22 DAYS until Ani DiFranco) or creating a secret cassette tape of Christmas cover songs that conveniently "vanished" from existence. I lived for Acoustic Nights, or really, any nights that involved music.

I met one of my best friends in college when we struck up a conversation all because she was wearing a Dredg t-shirt and I was wearing a Get Up Kids one. Little did I know at the time we would go on to create our own critically-acclaimed, Grammy Award-winning band - Arctic Music, an alternative/electronica/pop/death metal group under the management of the infamous Lenny... don't ask, don't tell. Hell yeah, I was in an a cappella group at college. I love my Girls Next Door. Muhlenberg was living Pitch Perfect before it was an infinitesimal germ of an idea in a writer's mind.

I may not have pursued acting after college, but I never lost that flair for a good sing-a-long. You might recognize me from Iggy's Karaoke Bar, closing up shop with such hits as Boyz II Men's "End of the Road".  And as I continue to have the absolute honor of performing at some of my friend's most special days of their lives, I've realized I already have half the playlist figured out for my own. Every girl dreams of their Father/Daughter dance on their wedding day, and mine will be our song, thanks to Frank Sinatra and Celine Dion. A great song for a great man.

And the musical quest doesn't end there. I now have the man of my dreams to share his/my favorite songs with as we create the playlist of our lives together. And I have the best friends and support group a girl could ever ask for, so this is where I want to enlist your help...

Your mission, should you choose to accept: To build the ultimate running playlist.

Shape magazine has some great suggestions, but this will be more personal. Simply comment, post, text, call, ping me with your favorite "track to get you amped up on the track" and I'll add it to my race day playlist. I couldn't think of anything more special than having a musical reminder of you when I need it most at Mile 10. Any help is greatly appreciated. And the beat goes on...