I love song lyrics. A good song with great lyrics that fit my mood or express a thought/emotion I have is really a way I would love to communicate. I can picture myself as someone in a musical, walking down the street, bursting into random fits of song. (sometimes I even do that) I found a song recently that really captures my state of being lately. It's Anything but Ordinary by Avril Lavigne.
Sometimes I get so weird
I even freak myself out
I laugh myself to sleep
It's my lullaby
Sometimes I drive so fast
Just to feel the danger
I wanna scream
It makes me feel alive
Is it enough to love?
Is it enough to breathe?
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
Is it enough to die?
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be anything but ordinary please
To walk within the lines
Would make my life so boring
I want to know that I
Have been to the extreme
So knock me off my feet
Come on now give it to me
Anything to make me feel alive
Is it enough to love?
Is it enough to breathe?
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
Is it enough to die?
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be anything but ordinary please
I'd rather be anything but ordinary please.
Let down your defenses
Use no common sense
If you look you will see
That this world is this beautiful
Accident turbulent succulent
Opulent permanent
No way I wanna taste it
Don't wanna waste it away
Sometimes I get so weird
I even freak myself out
I laugh my self to sleep
It's my lullaby
Is it enough?
(Is it enough?)
Is it enough to breathe?
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
Is it enough to die?
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be anything but ordinary please
Is it enough?
Is it enough to die?
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be anything but ordinary please
Oh
I'd rather be anything but ordinary please.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
The Flame
Last night, I went to a Greek Orthodox Easter service. One of the parts of the service is where the congregation all has a candle and we pass the flame to each person, and then we sing etc. Well, last night it was super windy, so there was a trick to keeping the flame lit. Now, I also have longish hair, which I toyed with putting up and decided to leave it down. Wind, long hair and a candle is never a good combo. As I bent to wish a happy Easter, my hair caught fire! I got the flame out pretty quick, and thankfully had not put in any hair spray. Burnt hair smells awful and I am glad it was just a little bit on the side of my hair, blends right in with my layers.
The funniest part of it all? I can now say I caught on fire at church!
The funniest part of it all? I can now say I caught on fire at church!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Gift of Love
First, my apologies for not blogging last week aside from my sketch war entry. Life got the better of me and took me out of the game for a bit. I'm back and putting life back in it's place.
I had a proud mommy experience last Friday. My oldest has been taking violin at school all year, he's in 1st grade and will be 7 this coming Friday. My son was also diagnosed with autism when he was 17 months old. He goes to a private school and is in a blended classroom of children in 1st-3rd grades. They had their end of the year concert last Friday at this new performing arts center.
So I'm in this auditorium, watching for my son. They call up his group and he's the first one on the stage. Right away he peers over the edge of the stage into the orchestra pit and the teacher is still on the microphone addressing the parents and he has to stop speaking to address my son and direct him back to the center of the stage. Then my son starts enthusiastically waving to try to locate me in the crowd. He didn't see me of course, because the house lights were down. So he tried again, this time putting his violin on the stage and putting his hands up to his eyes like binoculars. When that didn't work, he picked up his violin again and this time waved his bow in the air. I was rolling in my seat, shaking with laughter. Got to give the kid points for being persistent.
Right about then the teacher was calling for attention and he got his little violin in place and waited and started playing right in time with the other kids. They played this song called "Song of the Desert" I think it was just 6 notes that they repeated several times. And, it was deliciously awful. I was so proud. The squeaking, the chords that didn't appear in the written music, but were present in the space, it was all perfect.
As I watched my son, I just wanted to take a photo and place my middle finger in it and send it to every doctor who said my son wouldn't do anything. No talking, special ed all the way up, life of having to be cared for. HA. They said that to the wrong mom. I worked 5 1/2 years for that brief moment on Friday. Here's my son, in a private school with typical kids, doing 3rd grade work in the 1st grade, on stage with all the sensory input around him (the lights, the people, the noise) and he's playing his violin with all the other kids! What a moment. It literally made all the running around to therapies, the countless hours of one on one work, everything I did in that time, worth it. Totally worth it. Happy birthday my son, my gift to you is the opportunity to be whatever you want to be.
I had a proud mommy experience last Friday. My oldest has been taking violin at school all year, he's in 1st grade and will be 7 this coming Friday. My son was also diagnosed with autism when he was 17 months old. He goes to a private school and is in a blended classroom of children in 1st-3rd grades. They had their end of the year concert last Friday at this new performing arts center.
So I'm in this auditorium, watching for my son. They call up his group and he's the first one on the stage. Right away he peers over the edge of the stage into the orchestra pit and the teacher is still on the microphone addressing the parents and he has to stop speaking to address my son and direct him back to the center of the stage. Then my son starts enthusiastically waving to try to locate me in the crowd. He didn't see me of course, because the house lights were down. So he tried again, this time putting his violin on the stage and putting his hands up to his eyes like binoculars. When that didn't work, he picked up his violin again and this time waved his bow in the air. I was rolling in my seat, shaking with laughter. Got to give the kid points for being persistent.
Right about then the teacher was calling for attention and he got his little violin in place and waited and started playing right in time with the other kids. They played this song called "Song of the Desert" I think it was just 6 notes that they repeated several times. And, it was deliciously awful. I was so proud. The squeaking, the chords that didn't appear in the written music, but were present in the space, it was all perfect.
As I watched my son, I just wanted to take a photo and place my middle finger in it and send it to every doctor who said my son wouldn't do anything. No talking, special ed all the way up, life of having to be cared for. HA. They said that to the wrong mom. I worked 5 1/2 years for that brief moment on Friday. Here's my son, in a private school with typical kids, doing 3rd grade work in the 1st grade, on stage with all the sensory input around him (the lights, the people, the noise) and he's playing his violin with all the other kids! What a moment. It literally made all the running around to therapies, the countless hours of one on one work, everything I did in that time, worth it. Totally worth it. Happy birthday my son, my gift to you is the opportunity to be whatever you want to be.
Friday, April 18, 2008
FSW: Your Song
College dorm room. We see soda cans, beer cans and pizza boxes strewn around the room amid piles of clothes. Band posters and black light posters are on the wall. On a small plaid couch we see Jenna sitting with a guitar and sheets of paper wadded up all around her. She is wearing a dirty t-shirt, boxer shorts and her hair is very mussed.
JENNA: (muttering to self) maybe an alternate tuning would work...
Knock on the door of the dorm room startles Jenna.
JENNA: are you freaking kidding me? who would be knocking at this hour? Dammit now I gotta answer the door.
She goes to door, swings it open and sees her roommate standing there, with her keys in hand.
JENNA: Oh, hey Sara, what are you doing here? I thought you were out of town for the weekend.
SARA: I'm back. It's Monday afternoon. Haven't you left the room? Holy shit Jenna, what in the hell did you do here in our room?
JENNA: I'm working on a song. I'm just stuck at this one point and I can't seem to move forward.
SARA: Well finish it up because you need to clean up this shithole of our room so I can study and move around in here....man, what a mess.
Sara frowns and storms out, Jenna watches her go...
JENNA: Bitch. Doesn't she understand what it's like to be creative?
Goes back to work, we hear strumming, and babbling for a few minutes, then another knock on the door.
JENNA: Again? Dammit, I'm never going to get this done. (gets up and goes to door)
JENNA: (swings open door) Oh hey Cathy, what's up?
CATHY: Hey Jenna, I noticed you haven't been around the last few days, and I just wanted to check on you. That's what us Resident Advisors do. Is everything ok?
JENNA: Thanks for checking in Cathy, I'm fine. Just been trying to write a song, and I'd really like to get back to it if that's ok.
CATHY: Sure, just one more thing. We're having our annual spirit dinner tonight with the guys from Northbrook Hall. Every room has been paired up with a guy's room. Your guy is Alan and he should be here to pick you up a couple hours. Just wanted to give you a heads up, you know, if you wanted to shower or something...
JENNA: Whatever. Sounds lame. I'll think about it. Gotta go now Cath, the muse is waning.
Cathy walks off and Jenna shuts door. She goes back to work, strumming, babbling and loses track of time. A knock again on the door. Now, she gets angry.
JENNA: What the fuck do you want? People can't you just leave me alone and let me work on my fucking music!? (she goes to the door and swings it open)
Standing at the door is a drop dead gorgeous guy, peering at her and seems repelled by her appearance.
ALAN: Hi, um, I'm Alan and I was supposed to pick up Jenna?
JENNA: Yeah, I'm Jenna. I'm so sorry I wasn't ready for you to come get me, I'll take a minute to get ready to go. I just need to put this away...
ALAN: It's ok, It looks and sounds like you are super busy, so I'm gonna go ahead and go... if you can make it, I'll see you there, ok? (he turns and bolts)
JENNA: Sucks. Damn song. Getting in the way of everything. Guess it's back to work.
BLACKOUT.
JENNA: (muttering to self) maybe an alternate tuning would work...
Knock on the door of the dorm room startles Jenna.
JENNA: are you freaking kidding me? who would be knocking at this hour? Dammit now I gotta answer the door.
She goes to door, swings it open and sees her roommate standing there, with her keys in hand.
JENNA: Oh, hey Sara, what are you doing here? I thought you were out of town for the weekend.
SARA: I'm back. It's Monday afternoon. Haven't you left the room? Holy shit Jenna, what in the hell did you do here in our room?
JENNA: I'm working on a song. I'm just stuck at this one point and I can't seem to move forward.
SARA: Well finish it up because you need to clean up this shithole of our room so I can study and move around in here....man, what a mess.
Sara frowns and storms out, Jenna watches her go...
JENNA: Bitch. Doesn't she understand what it's like to be creative?
Goes back to work, we hear strumming, and babbling for a few minutes, then another knock on the door.
JENNA: Again? Dammit, I'm never going to get this done. (gets up and goes to door)
JENNA: (swings open door) Oh hey Cathy, what's up?
CATHY: Hey Jenna, I noticed you haven't been around the last few days, and I just wanted to check on you. That's what us Resident Advisors do. Is everything ok?
JENNA: Thanks for checking in Cathy, I'm fine. Just been trying to write a song, and I'd really like to get back to it if that's ok.
CATHY: Sure, just one more thing. We're having our annual spirit dinner tonight with the guys from Northbrook Hall. Every room has been paired up with a guy's room. Your guy is Alan and he should be here to pick you up a couple hours. Just wanted to give you a heads up, you know, if you wanted to shower or something...
JENNA: Whatever. Sounds lame. I'll think about it. Gotta go now Cath, the muse is waning.
Cathy walks off and Jenna shuts door. She goes back to work, strumming, babbling and loses track of time. A knock again on the door. Now, she gets angry.
JENNA: What the fuck do you want? People can't you just leave me alone and let me work on my fucking music!? (she goes to the door and swings it open)
Standing at the door is a drop dead gorgeous guy, peering at her and seems repelled by her appearance.
ALAN: Hi, um, I'm Alan and I was supposed to pick up Jenna?
JENNA: Yeah, I'm Jenna. I'm so sorry I wasn't ready for you to come get me, I'll take a minute to get ready to go. I just need to put this away...
ALAN: It's ok, It looks and sounds like you are super busy, so I'm gonna go ahead and go... if you can make it, I'll see you there, ok? (he turns and bolts)
JENNA: Sucks. Damn song. Getting in the way of everything. Guess it's back to work.
BLACKOUT.
Friday, April 11, 2008
FSW: Sunday Morning
Church, Sunday morning. We see an older teenage girl walking hand in hand with a small female child. The girl is alone and the child is calling her mommy. They pause at the door to a room with lots of other children inside.
MOM: I'll be back to pick you up after Sunday School! Have a good time and behave for your teacher!
DAUGHTER: OK, mommy, bye! (darts off to play with the kids)
(mom walks away, we see teacher start rounding up the kids for a lesson)
TEACHER: Boys and Girls, today we are going to talk about the Ten Commandments. I'll give you an explanation of each so you can understand them. (she opens up a Bible) You shall have no other gods before me, and you should not make yourself an idol and worship it. God, is the only God and we should worship just Him. (teacher looks at the kids to see if there are questions, seeing none she continues) You shall not misuse the name of the Lord, and remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Always speak using good language and never swear at God or use God's name in anger or with bad words. And, we rest on Sundays and keep the day free from work. It's a day to remember God. (she looks again, kids are still listening and goes on) Honor your father and mother. You shall not murder, commit adultery or steal. Don't give false testimony against your neighbor or covet what your neighbor has. Children, we want to make sure that we love our parents and show them respect. We don't kill people, lie or wish we had things that other people have. Are there any questions?
DAUGHTER: (raises hand, teacher nods) What's commit adultery?
TEACHER: (thinks for a moment, somewhat embarrassed in how to answer this question with a room full of children) Well, that one is for adults. So it doesn't matter what it is, you'll understand it when you get older.
DAUGHTER: (seems satisfied) OK, thank you! I get it!
(mom comes to pick up daughter, and they walk away together. Daughter starts telling her mom about the lesson.)
DAUGHTER: Mom! We learned about the Ten Commandments, and there is one that is just for adults. Don't commit adultery!
MOM:(surprised tone) Yes, that is for adults. Good job listening in class. I am very proud of you!
BLACKOUT
LIGHTS UP
Church again, now we see Mom sitting with daughter in church, with families all around her. The minister is beginning to read from the Bible.
MINISTER: You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol... (minister continues speaking)
DAUGHTER: ( Loud whispers) Mom, these are the ten commandments! We learned about them in Sunday School, remember? Remember what I told you?
MOM: Shhhh, people can hear you, just listen. And yes, it is the ten commandments.
MINISTER: You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God (minister continues speaking)
DAUGHTER: (normal voice, serious) Mom, this is where God says don't swear.
MOM: (looks around, sees others looking at her, some around her are trying to hold back laughter) Shhh, yes, we shouldn't swear.
MINISTER: Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God has provided for you. Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery-
DAUGHTER: (stands up on pew and yells out) MOM! THAT'S FOR YOU!!!!!
Mom looks around and sees most people around her now laughing.
MOM: I'll be back to pick you up after Sunday School! Have a good time and behave for your teacher!
DAUGHTER: OK, mommy, bye! (darts off to play with the kids)
(mom walks away, we see teacher start rounding up the kids for a lesson)
TEACHER: Boys and Girls, today we are going to talk about the Ten Commandments. I'll give you an explanation of each so you can understand them. (she opens up a Bible) You shall have no other gods before me, and you should not make yourself an idol and worship it. God, is the only God and we should worship just Him. (teacher looks at the kids to see if there are questions, seeing none she continues) You shall not misuse the name of the Lord, and remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Always speak using good language and never swear at God or use God's name in anger or with bad words. And, we rest on Sundays and keep the day free from work. It's a day to remember God. (she looks again, kids are still listening and goes on) Honor your father and mother. You shall not murder, commit adultery or steal. Don't give false testimony against your neighbor or covet what your neighbor has. Children, we want to make sure that we love our parents and show them respect. We don't kill people, lie or wish we had things that other people have. Are there any questions?
DAUGHTER: (raises hand, teacher nods) What's commit adultery?
TEACHER: (thinks for a moment, somewhat embarrassed in how to answer this question with a room full of children) Well, that one is for adults. So it doesn't matter what it is, you'll understand it when you get older.
DAUGHTER: (seems satisfied) OK, thank you! I get it!
(mom comes to pick up daughter, and they walk away together. Daughter starts telling her mom about the lesson.)
DAUGHTER: Mom! We learned about the Ten Commandments, and there is one that is just for adults. Don't commit adultery!
MOM:(surprised tone) Yes, that is for adults. Good job listening in class. I am very proud of you!
BLACKOUT
LIGHTS UP
Church again, now we see Mom sitting with daughter in church, with families all around her. The minister is beginning to read from the Bible.
MINISTER: You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol... (minister continues speaking)
DAUGHTER: ( Loud whispers) Mom, these are the ten commandments! We learned about them in Sunday School, remember? Remember what I told you?
MOM: Shhhh, people can hear you, just listen. And yes, it is the ten commandments.
MINISTER: You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God (minister continues speaking)
DAUGHTER: (normal voice, serious) Mom, this is where God says don't swear.
MOM: (looks around, sees others looking at her, some around her are trying to hold back laughter) Shhh, yes, we shouldn't swear.
MINISTER: Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God has provided for you. Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery-
DAUGHTER: (stands up on pew and yells out) MOM! THAT'S FOR YOU!!!!!
Mom looks around and sees most people around her now laughing.
MOM: (sighs) Yes. You are right, that's for adults.
BLACKOUT
Monday, April 7, 2008
Losing My Religion
Like many people in my age group, I have grown weary of organized religion. Being raised in a very traditional, very religious household, the absence of church-going has caused great concern for my family. I am barraged with questions about my faith, if I am a practicing Christian, do I read my Bible etc. No matter how many times I explain that I am very strong in my faith, that I am a Christian (my kids also go to a Christian school, etc) and it's just a disillusionment with the organized church as a whole, not an argument with my faith that keeps me from going to church, they still insist on pursuing these discussions and continue to not believe what I say!
My choice to divorce, and pursue my career in dealing poker hasn't helped the conversation either. But for me, I mostly struggle with the hypocritical attitudes of those who preach but don't live it, and I have a hard time finding a congregation where I feel like I'm getting what I need spiritually and where my children are accepted and taught to appropriately as well. What I'm having a hard time finding is a church with a traditional service that isn't at 8am on a Sunday morning, that doesn't have 5,000 (or more members) that hands out a bulletin, and has similar theology to what I believe. Good Luck with that one!
I think I have created a solution for myself. Since I have attended various franchises of church throughout my life and find bits and pieces of all to add to my faith, I could devise a schedule of attendance based on church history. It would look like this:
The first Friday of the cycle, I would attend a temple for a traditional Jewish service. Two days later, on Sunday I would attend a Greek Orthodox service symbolizing the early church. The next Sunday I would go to Mass at a Catholic church to represent the first split in Christianity. The third Sunday I would take a break, which would symbolize the Renaissance and a new way of thinking. The fourth Sunday I would go to a Lutheran church, which would represent the nailing of the 95 theses on the door of the cathedral in Wittenberg and the birth of protestantism. The next Sunday, be it the 5th of the month, or a new month, I would go to a church that was either Calvinist/Christian Reformed or Presbyterian, to symbolize the next split of thought, and give pause to the denomination in which I was raised. The Sunday after that I would go to a Methodist/Wesleyan church, again furthering a thought and split in the history of Christianity, and then end with a final Sunday of a service at a mega-church of my choosing, since I find them to be about the same. They all claim to be "different" and yet the style of each is very similar. Video broadcasts of services, lots of music, lights, singing the same song through over and over, no bulletin, and when the service over you wait the same amount of time you were in the service to leave because the parking lot is jammed with all the cars for the 5,000+ people you were just with! The last Sunday of the month would be another break to gear up for the repeat of the cycle above.
I think this way, I would be really living the history of my faith, or just getting really confused! But, it may just be the solution to my searching and the pestering from my family. (nah... it's family, they gotta nag about something!)
*note, I chose the above denominations as examples and expressions of the closest protestant faiths to what I was raised in. This post is not considered historically accurate, nor did I fully look into adding other world religions into my time line. This is my personal faith and reflects my theological background and is not meant to ignore or dispute any other faith.*
My choice to divorce, and pursue my career in dealing poker hasn't helped the conversation either. But for me, I mostly struggle with the hypocritical attitudes of those who preach but don't live it, and I have a hard time finding a congregation where I feel like I'm getting what I need spiritually and where my children are accepted and taught to appropriately as well. What I'm having a hard time finding is a church with a traditional service that isn't at 8am on a Sunday morning, that doesn't have 5,000 (or more members) that hands out a bulletin, and has similar theology to what I believe. Good Luck with that one!
I think I have created a solution for myself. Since I have attended various franchises of church throughout my life and find bits and pieces of all to add to my faith, I could devise a schedule of attendance based on church history. It would look like this:
The first Friday of the cycle, I would attend a temple for a traditional Jewish service. Two days later, on Sunday I would attend a Greek Orthodox service symbolizing the early church. The next Sunday I would go to Mass at a Catholic church to represent the first split in Christianity. The third Sunday I would take a break, which would symbolize the Renaissance and a new way of thinking. The fourth Sunday I would go to a Lutheran church, which would represent the nailing of the 95 theses on the door of the cathedral in Wittenberg and the birth of protestantism. The next Sunday, be it the 5th of the month, or a new month, I would go to a church that was either Calvinist/Christian Reformed or Presbyterian, to symbolize the next split of thought, and give pause to the denomination in which I was raised. The Sunday after that I would go to a Methodist/Wesleyan church, again furthering a thought and split in the history of Christianity, and then end with a final Sunday of a service at a mega-church of my choosing, since I find them to be about the same. They all claim to be "different" and yet the style of each is very similar. Video broadcasts of services, lots of music, lights, singing the same song through over and over, no bulletin, and when the service over you wait the same amount of time you were in the service to leave because the parking lot is jammed with all the cars for the 5,000+ people you were just with! The last Sunday of the month would be another break to gear up for the repeat of the cycle above.
I think this way, I would be really living the history of my faith, or just getting really confused! But, it may just be the solution to my searching and the pestering from my family. (nah... it's family, they gotta nag about something!)
*note, I chose the above denominations as examples and expressions of the closest protestant faiths to what I was raised in. This post is not considered historically accurate, nor did I fully look into adding other world religions into my time line. This is my personal faith and reflects my theological background and is not meant to ignore or dispute any other faith.*
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Walking in Memphis
With two minutes to play, the Memphis Tigers are leading the UCLA Bruins 67-54 in the semi-final game of the NCAA Basketball tournament! I picked Memphis to win the entire tournament in my bracket, and was mocked for it. "How you could pick against UCLA?" "Memphis? They had the weakest schedule of any of the #1 seeds!" And so on. Yet, here we are with Memphis on the brink of being in the championship game coming up Monday! And, sweet Victory is mine! Go Tigers!
I have been doing brackets for the tournament since I was 11. It's tradition for me. When my stepdad was still alive, and email wasn't a common household tool, I would call him and give him my picks over the phone and he would enter my bracket in his work pool. I would consider myself to have fairly decent bracketology and I stand by my picks, even when they lose! (like Kansas last year) That said, I just didn't see UCLA winning this year. (plus I am not a pac-ten fan...that will be another post for another day) I had UCLA losing to Drake in the sweet sixteen. Of course, Drake lost in a heartbreaking game in the first round.
Now to seal my victory, Kansas needs to pull off a win and beat UNC!
I have been doing brackets for the tournament since I was 11. It's tradition for me. When my stepdad was still alive, and email wasn't a common household tool, I would call him and give him my picks over the phone and he would enter my bracket in his work pool. I would consider myself to have fairly decent bracketology and I stand by my picks, even when they lose! (like Kansas last year) That said, I just didn't see UCLA winning this year. (plus I am not a pac-ten fan...that will be another post for another day) I had UCLA losing to Drake in the sweet sixteen. Of course, Drake lost in a heartbreaking game in the first round.
Now to seal my victory, Kansas needs to pull off a win and beat UNC!
Friday, April 4, 2008
My Heart Will Go On
This is a tribute blog to a brave group of guys who entertained our evening of poker at Native New Yorker in Phoenix. This foursome plays softball every Thursday, then comes in and does karaoke. I was playing poker with the regulars and we were commenting on the song choices of some of the singers. We heard 'The Greatest Love of All' followed by 'My Heart Will Go On' and so on....
After awhile, someone went out to check and see who was doing all these songs, ear-bleeding anthems was my term. When we found out it was a group of middle-aged drunk guys, we all started laughing. I got challenged to go sing my own ear-bleeding anthem, so I put in 'I Will Always Love You.' Of course, the tournament was over before I got up to sing (I took 6th) and everyone left so no one actually heard me sing the dare.
However, sing it I did. And, at first, the bar cleared out because of the song, and then slowly people started coming back in and then smiling and listening to me. I did get a nice round of applause, and I'm not sure if it was that I did a good job or that the song was finally over! I'll say both. The guys waved me over, so I went over to say hi, and found out that they do sort of an American Idol type theme for karaoke each week. This week it was opposite gender night, which explained the song choices. I then got to hear them sing, 'Heaven is a place on Earth, Stop in the name of Love, and Alone. I followed up with a rousing rendition of Tiffany's Could've Been.
While others were attempting to sing, I was coming up with a list of themes for the next time they sing karaoke. I listed out Movie Soundtracks, Elvis, Classic Rock, 80s/90s rap, and Angry Girl Music.
They closed the bar down with Bohemian Rhapsody, and the whole place was singing! All in all, it was if not anything else, a very entertaining night.
After awhile, someone went out to check and see who was doing all these songs, ear-bleeding anthems was my term. When we found out it was a group of middle-aged drunk guys, we all started laughing. I got challenged to go sing my own ear-bleeding anthem, so I put in 'I Will Always Love You.' Of course, the tournament was over before I got up to sing (I took 6th) and everyone left so no one actually heard me sing the dare.
However, sing it I did. And, at first, the bar cleared out because of the song, and then slowly people started coming back in and then smiling and listening to me. I did get a nice round of applause, and I'm not sure if it was that I did a good job or that the song was finally over! I'll say both. The guys waved me over, so I went over to say hi, and found out that they do sort of an American Idol type theme for karaoke each week. This week it was opposite gender night, which explained the song choices. I then got to hear them sing, 'Heaven is a place on Earth, Stop in the name of Love, and Alone. I followed up with a rousing rendition of Tiffany's Could've Been.
While others were attempting to sing, I was coming up with a list of themes for the next time they sing karaoke. I listed out Movie Soundtracks, Elvis, Classic Rock, 80s/90s rap, and Angry Girl Music.
They closed the bar down with Bohemian Rhapsody, and the whole place was singing! All in all, it was if not anything else, a very entertaining night.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Oh Happy Day
I'm in a great mood today. Yesterday was a fun, busy yet exciting day. I took on part one of a project that I am doing for a seminar that I am taking on Effectiveness. Projects for me have always occurred as "great, another thing I'm going to screw up" or "BORING." I would typically miss out on one key step in having my project be successful and then I'd just give up on it.
This project is for me to record a CD with some cover songs and one original composition. Yesterday, I took on step one, which was to record some of the cover songs. I was able to record 3 songs and have the tracks cleaned up and burned onto a CD. One of the tracks is pretty good, but not my best... and the other two are quite good. Surprisingly good! I shared those songs with several people last night when I went to go play poker and they really liked it.
It's exciting to take on this area of life and really put it out there. At first, I didn't want to share the songs, but then I got over it and am willing to share. It's not record label quality, and that's fine! For what it is, it's great, and I sound good and it's enjoyable.
I'm now looking forward to recording the next part! As for the poker tournament, the first game I got knocked out halfway through. The second game I took 3rd! I had a monster hand early, pocket aces vs pocket tens and I ended up with quad aces. He went all in over the top of my raise of his initial raise. It set me up very well for the rest of the tournament and I was just hitting cards. Hands I was folding would have won, just one of those nights. I love those nights! They keep you coming back to the game. :)
This project is for me to record a CD with some cover songs and one original composition. Yesterday, I took on step one, which was to record some of the cover songs. I was able to record 3 songs and have the tracks cleaned up and burned onto a CD. One of the tracks is pretty good, but not my best... and the other two are quite good. Surprisingly good! I shared those songs with several people last night when I went to go play poker and they really liked it.
It's exciting to take on this area of life and really put it out there. At first, I didn't want to share the songs, but then I got over it and am willing to share. It's not record label quality, and that's fine! For what it is, it's great, and I sound good and it's enjoyable.
I'm now looking forward to recording the next part! As for the poker tournament, the first game I got knocked out halfway through. The second game I took 3rd! I had a monster hand early, pocket aces vs pocket tens and I ended up with quad aces. He went all in over the top of my raise of his initial raise. It set me up very well for the rest of the tournament and I was just hitting cards. Hands I was folding would have won, just one of those nights. I love those nights! They keep you coming back to the game. :)
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Running with the Pack
I read a news article today that claims if you buy more than 3 pairs of sneakers a year, you are more likely to have the qualities of a modern leader.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080401/lf_nm_life/sneakers_leaders_dc
Wow, I guess I'm the minority. I would consider myself to be someone who has demonstrated leadership capacity and continued leadership potential and I rarely wear sneakers, let alone buy 3 pairs or more a year!
I bought a pair of sneakers last year when I started a new workout program and my old ones just weren't supporting my feet anymore. I got my old shoes probably 7 years prior, in 2000 I think, when I moved out to Arizona. The pair I wore before that I got in 1994 when I was going to Europe with a choir. I have worn those sneakers all over the world. I still wear those sneakers! Without question they are the most comfortable tennis shoes I have ever worn. 14 years old and they still do it for me, when I wear them.
Most women have this love affair with shoes. Now, I like shoes, and I wear sandals or heels pretty much year round. Black or brown, strappy at times. I try to have a sense of some style with them, but I don't get the whole shoe love affair. I definitely break from the pack when it comes to shoes. I would bet I've worn my sneakers out in public, other than going to the gym or working out, maybe 3 times in the last 2 years.
Based on that, according to this study, I am less likely to have ideas and vision. NOT! Who funds these things? Where can I get that job, make up crazy stories and theories, test them out on a small sample of the population and then make some sweeping statement about all of humanity which some people will buy into and then it further shapes their idea of who they are, or aren't and can limit what someone may say that they can do?! (I know, run-on sentence, but I am ranting here) What gives the media and these think tank organizations the impetus to even check out a theory like this? Oh, wait, MONEY. When they get something more important and that affects more of the population (like all the theories on what causes autism) I'll see if the thoughts have weight. But this, it's ridiculous in my world.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080401/lf_nm_life/sneakers_leaders_dc
Wow, I guess I'm the minority. I would consider myself to be someone who has demonstrated leadership capacity and continued leadership potential and I rarely wear sneakers, let alone buy 3 pairs or more a year!
I bought a pair of sneakers last year when I started a new workout program and my old ones just weren't supporting my feet anymore. I got my old shoes probably 7 years prior, in 2000 I think, when I moved out to Arizona. The pair I wore before that I got in 1994 when I was going to Europe with a choir. I have worn those sneakers all over the world. I still wear those sneakers! Without question they are the most comfortable tennis shoes I have ever worn. 14 years old and they still do it for me, when I wear them.
Most women have this love affair with shoes. Now, I like shoes, and I wear sandals or heels pretty much year round. Black or brown, strappy at times. I try to have a sense of some style with them, but I don't get the whole shoe love affair. I definitely break from the pack when it comes to shoes. I would bet I've worn my sneakers out in public, other than going to the gym or working out, maybe 3 times in the last 2 years.
Based on that, according to this study, I am less likely to have ideas and vision. NOT! Who funds these things? Where can I get that job, make up crazy stories and theories, test them out on a small sample of the population and then make some sweeping statement about all of humanity which some people will buy into and then it further shapes their idea of who they are, or aren't and can limit what someone may say that they can do?! (I know, run-on sentence, but I am ranting here) What gives the media and these think tank organizations the impetus to even check out a theory like this? Oh, wait, MONEY. When they get something more important and that affects more of the population (like all the theories on what causes autism) I'll see if the thoughts have weight. But this, it's ridiculous in my world.
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