An Eighties Song for Every Moment of Life

Work is intense and low-wage member do not equal glamour (which, I admittedly I got a taste of in Brussels - between crazy dinners with Azeri generals, to rating embassy cocktail parties with S, to well, travel on an international level and drinking in bars in the shadow of the EU parliament).

But, sometime there is a shiny little piece of gold in every trawl...in this particular case it is working with a really funny guy, a young progressive, straight, meat eating, alchohol drinking, South Asian male, with a cool masters, who is considered by many as a unicorn (ie., such a rarity, a creature only legend talks of). No sexual tension - don't worry - very, very sister/brother. It's just that I realize he is of a special breed...

He cracks me up on a daily basis and has an 80s song for every dull / painful / exhausting moment of the day. And we three other researchers (older white, vietnamese-american and south asian women) love him to bits, 'cos frankly, the 80s are our time, and we would sing its songs if we could (1) sing as well; and (2) remember the lyrics.

It has been a long, long time that someone has made me laugh this way... and it feels good to be in a work space where I feel comfortable and can be myself. It was what I really wanted from my LA job- knowing that of all the things I was leaving behind in Brussels, that is what I would miss the most.

So, thank you to the universe for making that happen. When I finish a long day at work in downtown LA, and head home to the white west-side for some good wine and an episode of LOST, or when I think about about our membership, whose life is truly shit in so many ways, and realise how different and lovely my immigrant story is, or when I wonder, how the F**K did I end up in LA of all places, I think "lets hear it for the boy":-) And I mean, my boy.

On a bloody daily basis I sing"she works hard for the money" and my actual theme song: Morning Train (9 to5) by Sheana Easton, which starts "I wake up every morning and stumble out of bed, a stretching and yawning.." you get the picture.

In essence, I'd like to thank the 80s for music, memories and well, so much more that shouldn't really be posted (I was 13 in 1988...)

As a child of that era, certain songs just trigger deep, deep memories. If forced to name a top 10 based on my feelings right now and my exhaustion (and old age), I'd go for:

1. Lady in Red (makes me cry for a particular moment- dancing with Clayton the best dancer I have ever had the pleasure of dancing with)

2. Hotel California (makes me wonder at the bravery of being young - Indian ocean breeze and bandra)

3. Chain Reaction (reminds me of my one and only crush - Stewart Gordon and at the same time my first and only pet Sooty, the black magical cat)

4.Billie Jean (sitting on the swings in Neptune, Gisy and I arguing over the meaning and quoting older sources - Cheryl etc.)

5. Wake me up before you go-go (pure convent school - sitting by the basket ball courts, discussing who was better - George or Andrew)

6. Back to Life (smoking my first cigarrette with Nilima behind a wall off Baker Street, my first summer in London)

7. I just died in your arms (watching music videos for the first time - New Delhi - knowing there was a whole world out there)

7. Let's Dance (pure youth and a time when I LOVED and dreamed of David Bowie)

8. Karma Chameleon (holidaying in London with my oh so cool older cousins and being told that Boy George was not a woman, and eating ice cream with a cadbury flake stuck in it)

9. The only way is up (that one weekend in the country, pretending I was english and indulging in some very wet snogging)

10. Girls Just Want to Have Fun (YOUTH and dreaming of life in the western world)

As with English food, I will defend 80s music to the end...I'll spare you my ode to steak and kidney pie and sticky toffee pudding...