And You Can Tell Everybody That This Is Your Song

I blame the new car.

On Saturday, my husband traded in his eight-year-old Toyota Corolla (with almost 200,000 miles on it, by the way) for a shiny brand new Honda Civic. Yesterday, we took our first more-than-a-few-minutes-away trip in the new car, using the time to tinker with the buttons and program the radio stations.

While we were scanning for stations he listens to, the radio landed on the local light listening station, which was, at that moment, playing Enrique Iglesias' "Hero." For half a second, I waited for him to turn to a new station. And then, horrified, I realized he was not only going to leave the song on but sing along.

Now, let me just say that this song has long been on my "do not like" list. First of all, the whispered "let me be your hero" sends shivers up my spine, and not the kind you get when your work crush brushes past you on the way to the water fountain. More like the kind you get when the guy who picks his nose and wipes it on his desk brushes past you on the way to the water fountain. And besides that, the whole song is just a little too sickening sweet for me.

It was such a weird moment. My husband and I have been together five years, and while that's not exactly forever, I figure it's long enough that I know most of his quirks. Still, every once in awhile, I learn some random factoid that just stuns me. I didn't even think he listened to that station. And I certainly didn't think he'd know the words to an Enrique Iglesias song.

"Well, what song would you rather hear?" my husband asked when I told him this. "That 'Bailamos' one?"

"Sure," I said. "I mean, it's not something I would purchase from the iTunes store, but unlike 'Hero,' I wouldn't list it as one of the songs I will leap over things to turn off."

Well, the gods must have been listening, because not two hours later as I stood at my grocery store's deli counter, I heard "Bailamos."

Side note: My grocery store has the most amazing music selection. Every time I go in there, it is guaranteed I will hear at least one song that reminds me of middle school dances. In fact, during this same shopping trip, I wheeled to the checkout to New Kids on the Block's "I'll Be Loving You Forever."

Strange as it was to hear two Enrique Iglesias songs in one day, I had a chuckle and forgot about the whole thing until a few minutes ago. My husband called to let me know he was on his way home from work and brought up the incident.

"You remember when you were in high school and a boy who was in love with you called you and held the phone to the speaker to play you some romantic song that was, like, your song?" he asked.

Actually, no. I never really dated anyone long enough in high school to have "a song." So if a boy ever played a song for me over the phone, it was more than likely not a romantic gesture but instead something that would make me laugh.

"Well, anyway," he went on, "I almost did that today because I turned on that light station and they were playing 'Hero' again."

"Oh my god, you don't think that's our song, do you?" I asked, panicked. "Please don't make that our song."

He insisted that he wouldn't, but just in case, I might try to have "Bailamos" playing next time we're in the car together.

She Likes Me! She Really Likes Me!

I feel like Meryl Streep has just handed me an Oscar. Or Cesar Millan has just given me a puppy. Or Rod Blagojevich has just appointed me to a Senate seat, no charge.

Because today, my dear friends, Grammar Girl has bestowed up on me a thesaurus.

If you don't know Grammar Girl, you should. Her real name is Mignon Fogarty, and she's written books like The Grammar Devotional. She also offers "quick and dirty tips" on her website and Twitter, and does podcasts about grammar questions. She's knowledgeable and interesting, and she makes grammar make sense. I consult her site quite often when I'm writing and really admire the way she's brought good grammar to the masses.

She's pretty much my hero.

So here's how the thesaurus thing happened. Last night, Grammar Girl announced that she would give away one book every hour today, in honor of National Grammar Day. All you had to do to enter is tweet about National Grammar Day. So I did.

I'm not sure which entry won me the book, because I posted two. The first one said: "I am glad our language is English, not Math, because I would not then be a fan of National Grammar Day." It's true. It actually occurred to me today that I am lucky the one subject I know a lot about is the one thing everybody uses every day -- language. If we spoke in mathematical calculations, or math was something people had to do in public every day, I would be constantly ridiculed for my lack of skills. (It is no coincidence that Count Von Count has always been my least favorite Sesame Street character.)

The other tweet occurred to me about a minute after I posted the first, so I went ahead and posted it, too. It said: "Tonight, Grammar Girl will rise out of the most sincere pumpkin patch and take books to good children." For some reason, posting my little tweets and hoping Grammar Girl picked me made me feel like Linus Van Pelt, awaiting the Great Pumpkin on Halloween night.

A few minutes later, I received a message from Grammar Girl that I had won.

I know it's just a small thing, and kind of silly. But in a world where disappointments are constant, and victories are rare, it feels pretty cool to win one.