Scoring My Life

We’ve all been there.

I will be the first person to tell you that my mind is a bit warped. Not totally Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook warped, but rather my eyes are cameras and the inner workings of my mind is the production team at NBC. I’ve been told that I exaggerate stories more than what the actual reality of them was. What can I say? I love the drama and theatrics of life.

My first thought when I hear that a friend got a job at a hospital isn’t, “Oh yay! You’re going to be saving people’s lives!” It’s, “What type of indie music are they going to be playing throughout the hallways? How many Attendings are you going to sleep with? Will the hospital have a bomb scare every Tuesday, or every other Tuesday?”

My mind is so tuned into the radio station of my life that I want every moment scored and soundtracked.

If I had a genie granting me wishes left and right, one of them would be to have powerhouse music supervisor kingpin Alex Patsavas select songs to play in the background of my daily trials and tribulations. She would make it seem like me pouring that bowl of Frosted Flakes in the morning was the coolest thing ever. Alas, she is busy running a real career and scoring actual TV hits like Grey’s Anatomy and Mad Men. So since she’s busy, I’ve taken on the task myself.

While there are literally hundreds of songs that I already have planned for significant moments in my life, my favorite daydream one has to be Washed Out’s “You’ll See It.” This song is every 20-something-living-in-the-city-for-the-first-time jam. The beat is fun, the lyrics are almost incoherent and you know what, SO IS THE CITY!

Picture it: the shot opens up with me jumping out of bed, the camera starts slowly panning out of my bedroom and into the bathroom. OH, I’M IN THE SHOWER! OH LOOK, THE CAMERA HAS PANNED FROM THE BATHROOM TO THE KITCHEN AND I’M FULLY DRESSED, READY TO TAKE ON THE CITY! WHAT?! I JUST WALKED OUT OF THE DOORWAY OF MY APARTMENT AND I’M ALREADY IN THE OFFICE OF MY HIPSTER/FAST-PACED/IMPORTANT JOB! THIS IS JUST CRAZY!!

I’m walking through the offices West Wing style, drifting in and out of the hoards of people that surround me. The smile on my face only reflects the confidence and excitement in my heart. Oh, and my outfits keep changing because this is a montage of how exciting “Washed Out” is making my life feel – and what is a montage without different wardrobe changes, anyway?

I’m now kicking off my boots and answering the door because it’s the take-out dude with my Chinese food! I’m smiling at the thought of being on my own in the city; I’VE MADE IT. I barely plop down on the couch to eat before the camera has panned back to me in the office. I’m running around with a pile of mail in my arms, my face is starting to lose that confident smile it had at the beginning – uh oh, nerves. The camera is panning through the office as I begin to trip up and accidentally let the mail slip through my arms and fall to the ground. Oh jeez, I’m such a klutz. People are staring as I scramble around the floor grasping at loose paper – think Velma looking for her glasses on Scooby Doo.

I’m home again. The takeout dude is back with more Chinese! I hand him my money with an apprehensive smile. He knows as well as I do that this is my third time in a week and a half to order from Yum Yum Flaming Dragon. The camera begins to slip out of the montage and settle on a close up of my face. The lights and colors of the TV only enhance and highlight both the dark circles under my eyes and the question in my head: Is this city life what I really wanted?

I blink right as the song hits the 2:41 mark. The audience is only left with silence as the camera stays on my face. Jump to black and break for a commercial.

While none of this montage has come to pass, and hopefully the latter never will, music helps to enhance the crazy richness of my odd artistic side. I highly recommend this type of insanity for the insanely boring days.

Photo via Gizmodo