Cure for What Ails You

I don't know about the rest of you, but this year has left me feeling more and more depressed. The state of the economy, the state of politics -- I can hardly stand it!

So, I've taken some advice to turn off the news and find pleasure in something that I can control.

I put together a playlist that I call "Guitar Heroes", things like "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple, "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin, "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd, "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, and "More than a Feelin'" by Boston. Songs that have some of the very best guitar riffs of all time. At lunch I pop on my iPod, crank up the tunes and head out on my mountain bike. I make for some of my favorite single tracks in the foothills of Provo Canyon and I ride until my heartrate maxes at 100%. I become, in essence, comfortably numb.

I find that after an hour of hard riding I'm pretty much too tired to care about what's going on in the world.

At night I'll sit down with the family and play a board game or watch the world series or go to a lacrosse match to watch Candice or Colin. Maybe it's irresponsible to disengage but I need my sanity.

Here's my full playlist:
"Smooth", Santana
"Comfortably Numb", Pink Floyd
"Hotel California", The Eagles
"Foreplay/Long Time", Boston
"Stairway to Heaven", Led Zeppelin
"For Whom the Bell Tolls", Metallica
"Iron Man", Ozzy Osbourne
"Freewill", Rush
"Rock You Like a Hurricane", Scorpions
"I Wanna Rock", Twisted Sister
"Hot Blooded", Foreigner
"Rocky Mountain Way", Joe Walsh
"More Than a Feeling", Boston
"Burnin' for You", Blue Oyster Cult
"Bohemian Rhapsody", Queen
"Renegade", Styx
"Smoke on the Water", Deep Purple
"Sweet Home Alabama", Lynyrd Skynyrd
"Crazy Train", Ozzy Osbourne
"Free Bird", Lynyrd Skynyrd
"Purple Haze", Jimi Hendrix
"Sultans of Swing", Dire Straits
"Final Countdown", Europe
"Aint Talkin' 'Bout Love", Van Halen