July 13 - Willow Smith, "Whip My Hair"

I played this song so. many. times. in 2010. It was my jam. It was good to blast while getting ready to go riding during the 09/10 season in Whistler (even though my housemates weren't quite as stoked on hearing it 3 times in a row as me). It was fucking awesome to ride to - it made me brave for the moments when you know you're going to need extra speed even though a slight miscalculation will result in a fall that makes all the things hurt almost immediately. The film clip is also awesome, energy packed and defiant, sexless (apt for a girl of 10) but tough.

Now my snow days are over, I tend to blast it in my van on the way to work and feel badass for those 3mins 54 seconds. Sometimes that's all the badass you need.

I feel like this song captures a moment in time for me, a moment when I was a strong and fearless boarder, when I didn't care about anything more than when the next snow was coming, whether my board was waxed and my iPod charged, who was riding with me and where the freshest lines would be.

I wax lyrical about this because it was pure happiness. But it did teach me something: that there can be pure happiness just about anywhere.

So some mornings, on my way to work, with this song playing and a cup of coffee precariously balanced by my side, with things to look forward to both in the work day and outside of it, with awesome friends and warm toes, I am pretty damn pleased with myself.

And Willow Smith is right there with me, putting fire in my belly.

"Hop up out the bed, turn my swag on
Pay no attention to them haters
Because we whip 'em off
And we ain’t doin' nothin' wrong
So don’t tell me nothin'
I’m just trying to have fun
So keep the party jumping
So what's up?
And now they don't know what to do
We turn our back and whip our hair and just
Shake em off, shake em off
Shake em off, shake em off

Don’t let haters get me off my grind
Keep my head up, I know I’ll be fine
Keep fighting until I get there
When I’m down and I feel like giving up"