DAILY

Two things that I am excited about today:

1) Bethenny Frankel's advice column in the February issue of Glamour magazine.
Oh Bethenny! How I wrote you off as just another nut on The Real Housewives of New York City, when, in reality, you are quite a smart woman with relevant and honest advice. Your suggestion that every woman have a Mission Statement for her life is all too true! I recently started working on a Mission Statement of my own (it's never too late!) and my perspective on my own life has completely changed because of it!

It seems that women who maybe didn't get the best guidance or have the strongest sense of self worth growing up aren't armed with the skill of setting up a mission and tailoring their life to it; maybe it  doesn't occur to them that they are permitted to do such a self-empowering thing.

In my own experience, writing a Mission Statment is a bold yet simple action that anyone can do to change their life's course toward a direction that feels more natural- the power and self-posession that results from it is priceless.

Thanks Bethenny for reminding women about this simple idea, and for establishing yourself as not just another reality nut!

2) The French group Têtes Raides
I came across this band on Grooveshark (I was actually looking for the artist St. Vincent, but Grooveshark gave me a song named "St. Vincent" by Têtes Raides- the happenstance of web streaming!). Their bouncy melodies sound simple, but not simplistic, and it's obvious that while they fall into the folk category, their members are classically trained. This band has been around a long time: Their first album was released in 1989, and was apparently more punk-influenced. You can hear a subtle punk influence today- some of their tunes sound similar to the gypsy punk of Gogol Bordello, but less kitschy. Their instrumental sound and vocals are so well integrated that I suspect that even a non-francophone/francophile won't mind that all of their lyrics are in French. Have a listen to their 1998 album, Chamboultou!