tiny, wise, silver pod

Today I'm feeling tired of the stress of the whole baby thing, so I'm lifting something fun from A Somewhat Ordinary Life (which is password protected so I'm not linking to it, and plus I've got a lot to learn about the whole etiquette of linking to stuff, so sorry if I've committed a major gaffe here or anywhere else for that matter) which I spent hours today reading. It may be old hat to many of you, but it was super fun for me. It's the iPod shuffle game - a kind of infertile fortune telling! Take the following 10 questions in order, shuffle songs on your iPod, and let the wisdom of the Pod speak to you.

I laughed and cried doing this. The only ones I skipped were the ones in Spanish or Portuguese, neither of which I speak. Sorry for the two complete songs in here, but I thought they were both so perfect I couldn't whittle either of them down to a few lines.

1. The song for you that existed before you ever thought about your fertility:
He Can Only Hold Her – Amy Winehouse

Even if she's content in his warmth
She is plagued with urgency

2. Would you really want to go back and be that person again?
Time’s Arrow – The Weakerthans

So you watch the sunrise sinking
And she's talking in her sleep
A dream of how alone she was
Tomorrow when you keep
All those promises to someone
In a mirror you will find
At your parents' house in 1989.

Terrorized by the ruling party: calendars and commas.
Small request, could we please (Turn around and around and around) turn around?

Then you whisper your arrival walking backwards to the door.
Wonder briefly what it is you're hesitating for.
All the streets lie down, deserted in the darkest part of night,
To lead you through the evening to the light.

Pulled along in the tender grip of watches and ellipses.
Small request. Could we please (Turn around and around and around) turn around? (Turn around and around and around)
Turn around?

3. The song for when you first started fertility treatments:
Gone for Good – The Shins

You want to jump and dance
But you sat on your hands
And lost your only chance

4. What did infertility do to your sex life?
I Shall Be Free – Bob Dylan

She’s a-tryin to hide
Pretendin' she don’t know me

5. What about superstitions and fertility rituals?
La La La – The Bird and The Bee

Take yourself out
Hit the tambourine
We have loaded up your eyes
And fed you tangerines

6. How about "alternative" treatments (such as acupuncture, yoga...)?
With My Own Two Hands – Ben Harper

I can hold you with my own two hands
I can comfort you with my own two hands but
You got to use
Use your own two hands

7. How do you feel about coming out of the IF closet?
Jump Up – Elvis Costello

Jump up hold on tight
Can’t trust a promise or a guarantee
Cause the man 'round the curve
Says that he’s never heard of
You or me

8. Your song for other people's baby showers:
It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry – Bob Dylan

[I think the title pretty much sums it up.]

9. What about our scary friend hope?
Make Up – Lou Reed

You’re a slick little girl
Such a slick little girl

10. And lastly, the theme song of your fertility journey:

Love in Mind – Neil Young

Woke up this morning with love in mind
It was raining outside but my love still shined
It kept me warm ‘til my plane touched the sky

And I’ve seen love make a fool of a man
He tried to make a loser win
But I got nothing to lose I can’t get back again

Man made rules been holding back my love
Can’t hold it back no more
Church has long preached sex is wrong
Jesus, where has nature gone?
What am I doing here?
What am I doing here?

Woke up this morning with love in mind
It was raining outside but my love still shined
It kept me warm ‘til my plane touched the sky

And I’ve seen love make a fool of a man
He tried to make a loser win
But I’ve got nothing to lose I can’t get back again