Bliss on Mile Marker 6

There are few things in life that bring me unadulterated joy. Such things include music and running. And maybe alcohol. And warm chocolate chip cookies (post on that later). Ok, so maybe more than a few things make me happy, but a good tune and a pair of sneakers is a fail-safe combination.

In any case, I was listening to "Love Turns 40"* by Vienna Teng while jogging on an idyllic Sunday morning. Teng, a Stanford software engineer-cum-musician, gave up a lucrative career in Silicon Valley to write and sing a few songs. In short, every Asian parent's nightmare. But thank goodness she did it, because she's damn talented. From the opening lines of "LT40", Vienna's soft, passion-barely-contained crooning touches something delicate and visceral about relationships; in this case, a marriage-on-the-rocks. I don't typically pay close attention to a song's lyrics, but Vienna has an uncanny ability to perfectly match poetry with ethereal piano melodies. Here's a sampling:

"She's holding a truth that she'll never reveal
She's holding a truth that she'll never reveal
Cause truth this time is an ugly child
And mother and daughter may reconcile
But their faces will never heal

Don't go, she says, but he's sleeping
She says it to herself
Don't go, she sees herself rising
Packing her suitcase with all of her shoes
But something keeps you faithful
When all else in you turns and runs
Love turns 40"

There's always the perpetual sense that at any minute, she's going to break out and belt out a good one, but her voice is always restrained, controlled, deliberate. It's like being on the verge of a waterfall--not quite going over, but peering dangerously over the edge. This is bliss, my friends, especially when combined with 6 miles of pure pavement.

It's times like these that make me infinitely grateful to be alive and kicking.

*feel free to ignore the visuals. I have no idea what the anime has to do with the song.