TGIF

The hard thing these days is recalling what mystical hold John Denver's songs have over me; how they seemed to speak to the spirit in ways that few others do, and how they paint pictures of places (either physically, emotionally or spiritually) so many people yearned to be, states of mind as much as anything, the beauty of a sunrise, the lure of country roads.

John Denver's songs carried him to a pinnacle where few would ever attain. He became an individual recognized around the world, whole phrases of his songs implanted in people's memories, sunshine in my eyes makes me cry, take me home, country roads, you fill up my senses like a night in a forest.

But in reality, he was just like anyone, filled with pain, sadness and often conflicted. In his autobiography, he recounted of personal incidences on a tenth-floor balcony in London with the thought that he would jump to his death, use of marijuana, acid and cocaine as well as the numerous infidelities on the road.

Denver received the Albert Schweitzer Music Award in 1993 ``for a life's work dedicated to music and devoted to humanity," an award that received far less notice than his drunken-driving arrests. That is, to Denver's mind, one more expression of this cynical age, and also why his sun-tinted music no longer is so popular, at least in America.

It was said that Annie's song was dedicated to his wife, even after they split up and went their separate ways. This song will always hold a place in the deep recesses of my old sentimental (although slightly jaded) heart. It brings back beautiful albeit painful memories of the "one which got away". (There are certain things you do in your life with an element of risk and you have to be willing to pay the price.)



ANNIE'S SONG (John Denver)

You fill up me senses like a night in a forest
Like the mountains in springtime, like a walk in the rain
Like a storm in the desert, like a sleepy blue ocean
You fill up my senses come fill me again.

Come let me love you, let me give my life to you
Let me drown in your laughter, let me die in your arms
Let me lay down beside you, let me always be with you
Come let me love you, come love me again.

INSTRUMENTAL VERSE

...Let me give my life to you
Come let me love you, come love me again.

You fill up my senses like a night in a forest
Like the mountains in springtime, like a walk in the rain
Like a storm in the desert, like a sleepy blue ocean
You fill up my senses, come fill me again.

A is for ...

Apparently I am an underachiever.

According to MSN...

Firstborn:
Personality: Firstborns are ambitious, assertive, dominant and disciplined compared with their younger siblings. They're determined to succeed yet fearful of losing position and rank, and are defensive about errors and mistakes, Dattner says.

Compensation: A recent survey by CareerBuilder.com found that workers who were the firstborn child in their families were more likely to earn $100,000 or more annually compared with their siblings.

Professions: The oldest tend to pursue vocations that require higher education, like medicine, engineering or law. Firstborns from the CareerBuilder.com survey reported working in jobs in government, engineering, pharmacy and science. Ohio State University researchers found firstborn children were more likely to pursue "intellectual" jobs.

Job level: Workers who are firstborn are more likely to report holding a vice president or senior management position, according to the survey.

Famous firstborns: Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton, Winston Churchill, Sylvester Stallone and Bill Clinton.

Obama-rama Steps up with a Poem

The official Inaugural Poem. A poem commissioned for the inauguration and written and delivered by Elizabeth Alexander, a Yale professor and author of five collections of poetry, including the 2006 Pulitzer Prize finalist, "American Sublime."

Praise song for the day.

Each day we go about our business, walking past each other, catching each others' eyes or not, about to speak or speaking. All about us is noise. All about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din, each one of our ancestors on our tongues. Someone is stitching up a hem, darning a hole in a uniform, patching a tire, repairing the things in need of repair.

Someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.

A woman and her son wait for the bus.

A farmer considers the changing sky; A teacher says, "Take out your pencils. Begin."

We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; words to consider, reconsider.

We cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of someone and then others who said, "I need to see what's on the other side; I know there's something better down the road."

We need to find a place where we are safe; We walk into that which we cannot yet see.

Say it plain, that many have died for this day. Sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges, picked the cotton and the lettuce, built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of.

Praise song for struggle; praise song for the day. Praise song for every hand-lettered sign; The figuring it out at kitchen tables.

Some live by "Love thy neighbor as thy self."

Others by first do no harm, or take no more than you need.

What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance.

In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.

On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light.

Motivate Me.

Dear Self,

Own this place you are in now, the energy is powerful. Things can never be as they were, only as they are now. You have a renewed solidity in yourself. From now on, never be afraid to fall, live, or love.

Don’t waste yourself on someone who isn’t willing to put in the same amount of effort as you. Stop worrying about the men who don’t want to be with you but don’t want you to be with anyone else. Be done with those who confuse and complicate and play games. Life is sweet and simple, keep it that way.

Play and have fun. Let things flow. Life will fall into place as it should without you even trying. At some point, there will be a man (or several) who will not try to possess you, or make you into something you are not. He will appreciate you for how lovely you are and remind you of it all the time. He will support you and push you to be all that you can be. He will be his own person and love you because you are your own, but you’ve decided to be with him. He will give you space to grow and move because he’ll realize that the beauty of you is that you are transient. He may not understand everything about you, but he will be able to respect you and the things that are important to you.

Do what is right for you. It’s okay to be selfish sometimes. Speak your truth. Don’t feel that you need to be involved with someone or friends with someone just because they want to be with you.

Have peace with the path you have chosen, because throughout it all you’ve lived and loved and experienced! You’ve followed your heart. There are no “if only”s or “should have”s because you have been only as you could be at that moment and made the only decisions that you could have made while still being yourself.

You have let a select, special few see your soul, and not expected anything in return. You have given and received and remained true to yourself, not letting others drain or shape you.

Surround yourself with your true friends, who love and accept you as you are and make it as simple as “I love you and I want to spend as much time with you as possible”. These are the ones that you can see 40 years down the road still being your soul mates. The friendships that distance, or marriage, or experiences don’t change, they are always with you.

Don’t forget that you are unique, beautiful, compassionate. You glow, and people want to be around you because you figured out the secret to a life of happiness… being happy with yourself.

You never need to make excuses for how you feel or what you want to do. You do what you want, you always have.

Spend time with family and friends, the people you love. You don’t have much time to spend with the people you love, don’t waste time on the people you don’t, the “obligations”.

Savor all these beautiful experiences and always appreciate where you are, right now.

Sincerely,
Senorita

Back In Those Days...

Found this on another blog; it was interesting enought so I stole it, you know how it goes...


1.Did you date someone from your school? If you use the term ‘date’ loosely, then yes.

2. Did you marry someone from your high school? No

3. Did you car pool to school? No, my grandpa drove me to school. I was so cool.

4. What kind of car did you have? I didn’t. but my mom’s car was a silver Toyota
… at least I think it was a Toyota. I’m soooooo in to cars, can’t you tell?

5. What kind of car do you have now? Err, its some locally made Malaysian car, I have no idea..

6. Its Friday night...where are you now? Home… probably watching tv.

7. It is Friday night...where were you? Either driving around or in Brian’s basement complaining about how Hempfield sucks.

8. What kind of job did you have in high school? Gopher at my uncle's law firm.

9. What kind of job do you do now? I’m an office bitch. Ha!

10. Were you a party animal? Ha! The stories I could tell...

11. Were you considered a flirt? I had my moments.

12. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? All three but not necessarily in that order.

13. Were you a nerd? Not really, but I’m sure I wasn’t one of the cool kids either.

14. Did you get suspended or expelled? Never.

15. Can you sing the fight song? Huh? Did Hempfield have a fight song?? Duh-uh.

16. Who was/were your favorite teacher? I don’t know if I really had a favorite.

17. Where did you sit during lunch? Inside the cafeteria, away from the cheerleaders' table.

18. What was your school's full name? Hempfield Area High School.

19. When did you graduate? Did I graduate?

20. What was your school mascot? Spartans,go Spartans!

21. If you could go back and do it again, would you? I would if I could change it up. Go back, have some self-confidence. Maybe rock that 16 year old hottie body a little more.

22. Did you have fun at Prom? Yes, I did! But the after parties were better!

23. Do you still talk to the person you went to Prom with? Nope. He's somewhere in Pennsylvania, saving the environment.

24. Are you planning on going to your next reunion? No.

25. Do you still talk to people from school? Thanks to facebook I ‘talk’ to a couple of 'em.

26. What are/were your school's colors? Blue and White.

27. What grades did you make? 4.0 until I met Mrs Johnson in Physics. Sigh.

28. What was your favorite class/subject? Don’t know if it was really my favorite but I liked Calculus.

29. Did you belong to any clubs? Yearbook, Drama Society, Rotary Club, French Club, Spanish Club.

30. Were you popular? Not in the traditional sense but yes, people knew who I was. How could they not, I was the token minority! :)

Confession # 4

I waited for more than 3 months to see a particular eye doctor because he's really hot looking. He's my sexy Optician. I also have a sexy dentist for whom I will wait ridiculous amounts of time to see. Too bad I don't have a sexy Gynae.

RIP: Goodbye Mr. Roarke ( 1920- 2009 )

Ricardo Montalban rosed to fame as Mr. Roarke in Fantasy Island. He was one of the first Latino icons in Hollywood.

As a child, I would wait impatiently for the show to begin, pondering about the fate of the planeload of people who arrived at this remote island from all over the world where they would fufill their lifelong dreams at the expense of a difficult life lesson.

I vividly remember BEGGING my mom to let me stay up to watch the double feature of Love Boat & Fantasy Island every Saturday night as a kid. TV didn't get any better than that.

Another piece of my childhood gone...sigh... RIP Mr Roarke!

Trolley-watching

I always think what people put in their shopping trolleys (or baskets) can tell you quite a lot about them.

- The little old lady with a basket full of chocolate and fizzy soda probably has grandchildren coming to visit.

- A young man with a trolley full of frozen pizzas, tins of soup and microwave meals. Student?

- How about the woman pushing round a trolley that’s full to the brim - a whole bunch of apples, three cartons of milk and the largest bag of rice available I've ever seen. She’s clearly got a big family at home waiting to be fed.

So what does my shopping trolley tell people about me?
Well, most days I look like the classic, single girl on my road to being a career woman. There I am with my half loaf of bread (because I’ll never finish a normal sized one all by myself), two tomatoes, a couple of yoghurts and the a packet of meat I can find - the one that contains mince beef for exactly two servings of pasta bolognaise, which look totally lost on their huge polystyrene tray. Just about enough for a busy girl to feed herself on for a couple of days without it going mouldy while she’s occupied with something else.

Then there are the lonely and depressed days. Those are the ones where I’ve had a lousy day at work and can’t be bothered to do anything, so I fill my trolley with chips and chocolate bars and a couple of those canned stuff like Spam or Corned Beef that you just heat up in a pan. On days like these, anyone who was glancing into my trolley would either think I’d just been dumped or was depressed about not being able to get a boyfriend. Why? Well we all know chocolate and crisps are the ultimate "just been dumped" comfort foods…

And finally, roughly once a week, my trolley reveals me as one half of a happy couple. Those are the days that I know M is coming over, so I can actually buy enough food to feed two people without having to either leave half of it or stick it in a tupperware for the next day’s lunch. Those are the days when my trolley contains salmon or maybe even some juicy steaks. If I’m feeling really decadent I might even throw in a bottle of wine and some posh ice-cream.

So what does your shopping trolley say about you?

Starting 2009 with a light heart...

This song is useless and the lyrics so annoying to the point where it keeps repeating itself in some vicious loop, the melody pop-ish and "upbeat" compared to the songs I normally listen to, those who know me well have been saying that this song is simply not my style. The tune is so happy that its quite disgusting. And even as I tend to agree with them, I can't help but post this up. Unbelievable, I am such a sham!


MIKA - Lollipop
Uploaded by Mika-official

Shiver Me Timbers

My pirate name is:

Iron Ethel Flint

A pirate's life isn't easy; it takes a tough person. That's okay with you, though, since you a tough person. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

Just thinking

Never underestimate the value of shared domesticity to someone who hasn't had it.

Sometimes a person looks at the people in oncoming cars, especially when making a turn. Sometimes a person is interested by someone they'll never see again.

I think my family is anxious to see me settle down soon, with someone decent this time.

I like some of my moods better than others. I am embarassed by the state of my mind sometimes.

I feel better when I get some exercise. I re-realized this because, I've only been to the gym once in the past month, that trip being today.

I should already be asleep.

Path to Nowhere.

Life is similar to following a path, travelling down a road, or taking a journey. The experience has a variety of terrain. There are smooth patches that you glide over. There are bumpy stretches that are difficult to navigate. There are hills and valleys. Sometimes you get stuck in a rut or sucked into a pot hole. There are twists, turns, forks in the road and dead ends. Sometimes you move forward and others you take a few steps back or even sideways.

I pride myself on trying to move forward in all areas of my life. I admit that I have taken steps back or repeated legs of the trip but I am constantly trying to work my way forward. But then a few nights ago I was standing in the shower letting the water run down over my body and the steam swirl at my feet when it hit me. I ran straight into a brick wall. I have no idea where I am going. No idea of what I am doing with my life. No idea whether or not I like my job. No idea what the future holds for me. I feel like I am on the path to nowhere.

I am 36 years old and often feel like I am stuck in this make believe game of adulthood. There are days that I feel about as mature and pulled together as a 15 year old. I look around me and see friends buying houses, getting married, having babies, and settling into a career. And there I am still bumbling my way through my career, and with no relationship that is leading anywhere near the marriage and babies stage. (Although I could do without the babies' part right now)

I just feel a bit insignificant and lost. It's like I have found myself standing in the middle of a field with miles of empty space around me. Not sure where I am going or how I ended up there. In the middle of nowhere. I hope my direction becomes clearer this year.

Happy New Year ( ABBA )

I've decided to start the TGIF series again, thanks to a friend who shared this video with me. The words are simple; the melody,sweet; the moment, tender. A floodgate of nostagia burst open when I heard this song after what seemed like ages,
Shakespeare was right "If music be the food of love, play on.."

Happy New Year!

Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are past.

~ Henry Ward Beecher