Sweatin' to the Summer

photo by Kelly KingmanI can't remember another summer that kept me this busy.  Between weddings, reunions, birthday parties and vacations I've been running around the country. Now, don't get me wrong I'm having a blast, but it's left precious little time to catch up on my own stuff.  My desk look like the aftermath of a craft store explosion; once voluminous with my writing, I can't fill a twitter post; sewing projects are piling up; other artistic ideas are earmarked by quick vague sketches passing as shorthand on notes I hope to someday decipher.  The basic needs are met, laundry gets done and groceries somehow fill my cabinets.  But I really am down to the basics. 

When time it at a minimum, the first item to fall off my to-do list is the gym.  I know people who get to the gym several times a week without thinking about it.  I have tried to be one of these people, but it just doesn't happen.  During the cold of the winter and the excitement of spring, I somehow managed to stick to a routine.  Saying I enjoyed it would be a stretch, but I went.  But as soon as the travel plans started and the temperature started to soar, my resolve left.  In this heat I'm sweating when I sit still, the idea of doing it on purpose seems ludicrous.

With all of the road trips and plane rides, one hobby hasn't fallen to the wayside: making compilations.  Playing DJ at parties, soundtracking road trips and making gifts has churned up some old favorites and provided new songs to bond with.  As the travel winds down, I need something to lure me back to the gym.  So I crafted something that ensures my body will get moving. If I don't make it to the gym, this is sure to inspire a few impromptu dance parties in my kitchen. 

As I celebrate the end of the summer, the events that fill it and even just the day-to-day (like going to the gym), here are the songs that make sweating fun.

1. We Want The Airwaves - Ramones
2. Gold Guns Girls - Metric
3. Common People - Pulp
4. Love Of The Common People - Paul Young
5. Iko Iko - Belle Stars
6. O.N.E. - Yeasayer
7. Cobrastyle - Robyn
8. Mauja Hi Mauja - Pritam
9. Acapella - Kelis
10. Now That We Found Love - Heavy D & The Boyz
11. Jungle Love  - The Time
12. Boops (Here To Go) - Sly & Robbie
13. I'm Free - The Soup Dragons
14. Step On - Happy Mondays
15. Clap Your Hands - Sia
16. Victim Of Love - Erasure
17. Remember (Walkin' In The Sand) - The Shangri-Las
18. D.J. - David Bowie
19. Fire with Fire - Scissor Sisters