Saved by Shuffle

Let me be clear about this: today was a big pile of suck. I screwed up at work -- twice -- in a pretty big and public way. I faced up to it, did my best to fix it, and so hopefully it won't be one of those things that lingers (over me) for a long time.

I have trouble letting stuff like this go. While I was in a better mood by the time I got home and an even better mood after seeing my great wife and amazing daughter, the stuff still lingered in my head, a tape playing again and again.

Sarah went to babysit. Eleanor and I hung out for a bit before I put her to bed. I turned on iTunes to listen to a Blue Merle song that was stuck in my brain for some reason. I forgot it was on shuffle.

I started unloading the dishwasher. Blue Merle gave way to REM. I felt the loop inside my head giving way a bit. The REM gave way to The Shins ("New Slang", to be precise) and that loop stopped altogether. I felt better. To make sure it was all gone, Ryan Adams followed The Shins.

Sure, there were other songs that could have perhaps made me feel better. But there were more songs that probably would not have helped -- the Pink Floyd that is playing now, for example. But I can't have picked four better songs to lift my mood.

Thanks, shuffle.