Lights

I used to be able to wake myself up at four in the morning. When I was very little, that was standard for much of December. At least, I remember it being frequent. Christmas trees: I love them. The smell, the greenery, the ornaments, but mostly... the lights. I would wake up and creep into the living room, turn on the tree, and curl up on the couch to watch the shadows on the wall.

The lights themselves are pretty, but the colored feathery shadows on the wall are the best.

When I was little we had a little box with a button to change the blinking pattern of the lights on the tree. It was mesmerizing. The shadows and lights were so beautiful.

One of my favorite toy stores had a selection of cardboard-framed glasses that would break tiny points of light up into prismatic shapes. Put them on and suddenly the tree is full of shining colored snowflakes.

When the bus drives over the river at night, I look off the side of the bridge, down at the dark water, to watch the patterns of rippling street lights moving rapidly across the surface as we pass. Yellow on navy blue.

My wedding ring makes the most darling little rainbows on sunny days.

Lights make me happy. I don't know how I would get through the dark winter days when I leave for work in the black and return in the black if I didn't have a slew of light-bedecked houses on my way home. They make me smile.

Small surprise, then, that I am completely in love with the song "Lights" by Ellie Goulding. I went to a masquerade ball a few months ago and there were strobe lights, fog machines, lights on the walls, lights everywhere; they played "Lights" and I think something finally clicked.

You know how people always say "dance like nobody is watching"? I've always wanted to feel that way. This song lets me do that. I danced; oh did I dance. I can't even explain why I love this song so much or why it gives me so much energy (other than my aforementioned love of light itself); if I stop and analyze the song, it's nowhere near as high-energy as some of my other favorite dancing songs. But it's the best.

And I've found something that is almost as good as dancing for expressing my feelings about this song: this. Click it! Click it!

The only thing that would make that better is if they added the ability for you to make the little traveling light do spinny twirly moves as it's speeding along. And I know many people's first reaction to that little interactive site is going to be "Drugs! Drugs! The creator was on drugs!" Which is the stupidest thing ever. It always upsets me when people give drugs all the credit for creativity. It's not fair, and it stains an otherwise interesting and beautiful piece of art.

Thoughts?