#BestSongIHeardToday • Volume 29 • Suffering WTF (With Trump Fatigue)

 Portrait by court sketch artist, Isabelle Brourman

I got tension. How many nights can you watch the news and see Trump somehow slither through the United States of America's legal justice system year in and year out. I don't know if there has been anyone who has had so many trial dates (91 Federal counts) kicked down the road more than slippery Donald. It has to be the ultimate example of "elitist" treatment ever given to anyone in American history. I've had it, I'm now taking a 30 day vacation from cable news. I'm worn out.

I got tension. I put my news watching on hold and switched to sports, specifically basketball. Trouble is I'm a San Diego State Aztec and Golden State Warrior fan. These two teams currently make me talk at the TV! I thought I was going to have a relaxing time here watching some basketball over Trump. Believe it or not, these two teams are driving me just as crazy with their ups and downs, hot and cold... the inconsistency is so hard to watch. I need a vacation from these two teams. I'm worn out.

I got tension. I recently finished watching, True Detective: Night Country (HBO), mr.&mrs.smith (Amazon Prime), and Masters of the Air (Apple +). All these shows (great by the way) have got me so stressed out. I somehow get sucked in, care way too much for all the leading characters, it's just too much. I'm worn out. What's next, something stress-free: a rock 'n' roll documentary, PBS's Nature, maybe Pee Wee's Playhouse?

I've got a feeling, a feeling deep inside, oh yeah. 

Then, I go to my happy place of looking and listening to music. Nothing like listening to old and new tunes, some just audio, some with video and then, making a playlist over time. 

The playlist this week has actually gone through several iterations of change that probably is only interesting to me. Now its' time to bring it out. Who's going to listen to it? Maybe find one song that makes them smile, maybe remember a moment in time. I got no tension, I'm energized. 

New Blog Feature - Notes

Starting this week, below the playlist, I'm going to have three sections that you may be interested in beyond, or a little deeper dive past my 30 second to 3 minute reads.

1. 🖇 Blog References 
2. 🖊 Blog Notes
3. ♬ Playlist Notes

Enjoy the playlist my friends.

🖇 Blog References

• Cohen, Luc. "Trump to Court Sketch Artist: ‘I Gotta Lose Some Weight." Yahoo News, 7 Dec. 2023, malaysia.news.yahoo.com

🖊 Blog Notes

1. My wife, Mary Kit walks into the kitchen this past week with the TV droning about another Trump court case delayed and says to me, "I got Trump fatigue." We started our vacation from cable news together that day. Don't tell her, but I did sneak a news peak after she went to bed, instantly regretted it, and flipped the channel.
2. This past Saturday, the San Diego State Aztecs basketball team lost in the Mountain West Tournament Finals to New Mexico 68-61. Expect more madness when they enter the NCAA Tournament. Last year, they had a spectacular over-achieving run all the way to a loss in the NCAA Finals. This year, nah (he's just so pessimistic).
3. This past Saturday, the Warriors beat the Lakers 128-121. The Lakers center, Anthony Davis caught an elbow to the eye in the first quarter and had to leave the game. Lucky break for the Warriors as Davis would have blocked the paint, prevented all the easy scores, and the Lakers probably would have beat the Warriors easily (he's just so so pessimistic). 
4. The paragraph about the TV shows is an embellishment. Nothing like watching great a series or movie in the Lazy Boy with the gas fireplace on. Last night I watched Nyad (Netflix). Tense, but wonderful! I highly recommend all the shows I've shared this week.

♬ Playlist Notes

1. I'm doing a run and Tension by Todd Snider comes on, and another blog post is born.
2. I wake up Saturday singing, I've Got a Feeling in my head and it's suddenly song two.
3. Seven Bridges Road was the natural lead-in song for the playlist and stayed there for a month until Todd's song came along and bumped it to number 3. Now Seven Bridges Road is probably saying to itself, "WTF man, I'm always the first song in any Eagles concert."