Wednesday, November 30, 2011

That's a Wrap

Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November
all the rest have thirty one
except February blah blah blah I don't remember the end of this poem.


And so, it's day thirty of the month of November, and National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) is drawing to an end.  I wondered at the beginning of the month if I'd be able to gut this out.  Certainly there are many people who write far more than I do: National NOVEL writing month (NaNoWriMo) also takes place during the month of November, and I know someone who actually completed the task!  Mad props to those folks, but for me, a sixty hour work weeks combined with a senior in high school is not a successful recipe for penning a novel.  In fact, I think it's the precise recipe for Mince Pie face.  My writing tends to start after 10pm, and usually after 11pm, and I'm not exaggerating when I tell you if November was also National Nodding Off At Your Desk Month (NaNodOffAtYoDeskMo) I'd win a shiny banner for that one as well.

But I'm glad I did several more laps at the Tuna News.  Part of me truly missed it.  Part of me felt guilty every time I fired up my web browser, because The Tuna News is my homepage, and I've been staring at last winter's socks for the past 11 months.  Part of me worried that with so much national and social conversation going on right now (a very polite way of saying everybody is talking and nobody is listening), I was offering nothing new or substantive, and was, in fact, only adding to the problem.  Part of me was (and is) plain old boring vanilla tired.  It happens.

Today took an interesting turn down the rabbit hole of YouTube.  You never know when these days are going to happen, but one interesting thing after another seemed to pop up.  I took it as a sign.  And when music starts and ends your day, it's a good sign indeed.



Verdi - Requiem
A colleague of mine shared this video first thing this morning. I don't necessarily think you should watch the entire thing, but if you want to check out a couple of amazing moments, the Lacrymosa (40:24) is a great place to start.  Soloists include a 36-year young Leontyne Price who sings with such control, beauty and sensitivity, I don't know if I should swoon or take notes.  Really, both are appropriate.  I love the very beautiful, formal and simplistic concert attire of the women, and I'm amazed that half the soloists and the conductor are performing this 90-minute work from memory.  For those who are familiar with this work, the tell-all moment comes right at the end (1:15:46) for the Soprano.  Will she or won't she (1:17:27)?  You know she will.  And it's glorious.



Eric Whitacre - Paradise Lost
Eric Whitacre, 20th Century composer, social media fan, and seemingly all-around nice guy, not to mention smart and encouraging to musicians of every age and skill is working on a somewhat unconventional Broadway Show that he hopes to open in London soon.  Why didn't I know about this before today?  I don't know, but I'm glad I know now.  For an even tastier treat,you MUST listen to this.  Posting it on Facebook this morning, he wrote:  "A little a cappella interlude I wrote for the concert version of Paradise Lost. Thinking of expanding it into a full piece..."



Elbow - Live from Manchester Cathedral
I stumbled across Elbow this spring, and this is easily the most excited I've been about contemporary popular music in a long time. Well-sung, well-written, lyrics that are smart and thought-provoking.  You could choose any part (or all of it..it's that good) to listen to, but my first suggestion would be Lippy Kids (34:30) from their latest album Build a Rocket, Boys!  The lyrics are astounding on their own ("Lippy kids on the corner again.  Lippy kids on the corner begin settling like crows.  Though I never perfected the simian stroll, the cigarette senate was everything then.  Do they know those days are golden?  Build a rocket boys!" ) but when you hear it presented, it's not angry.  In fact, it's respectful of youth and encouraging at the same time.  A fine line to walk, I think.

My second suggestion would be One Day Like This (54:12) which is the most wonderfully unabashed love song you'd ever want to hear ('Cause holy cow I love your eyes! And only now I see the light, lying with you half-awake, stumbling over what to say, Well, anyway it's looking like a beautiful day.  So throw those curtains wide, one day like this a year would see me right.)




Bonjour, Girl!  - Disney's "Beauty and the Beast"
Oh, I love a good parody, and this one is fabulous. Please, please please warning -- language alert and definite Disney lampooning. If either of these are sacred cows, then you should move on.
As for me... IT'S MY FAVORITE!!




Faust - Metropolitan Opera
Directed by Des McAnuff
My buddy Des is EVERYWHERE these days. His musical "Jersey Boys" is still touring all over the United States.  He is the BCMOC (Big Canadian Man on Campus) at the Stratford Festival in Canada, writing all the original music for this past season's production of "Twelfth Night", he has a hit revival of "Jesus Christ Superstar" that will open on Broadway next March and now, because, maybe he's bored or something, he's directed AN OPERA AT THE MET.  Seriously.  All the clips are fun, and it's in a very different and usual setting from the original concept. 


So, there you have it.  If you asked me how my day went, these videos sum it up.  It was a very good day indeed.  Thanks November.  Bring it, December.  I think I'm on a roll.


That's a Wrap

Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November
all the rest have thirty one
except February blah blah blah I don't remember the end of this poem.


And so, it's day thirty of the month of November, and National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) is drawing to an end.  I wondered at the beginning of the month if I'd be able to gut this out.  Certainly there are many people who write far more than I do: National NOVEL writing month (NaNoWriMo) also takes place during the month of November, and I know someone who actually completed the task!  Mad props to those folks, but for me, a sixty hour work weeks combined with a senior in high school is not a successful recipe for penning a novel.  In fact, I think it's the precise recipe for Mince Pie face.  My writing tends to start after 10pm, and usually after 11pm, and I'm not exaggerating when I tell you if November was also National Nodding Off At Your Desk Month (NaNodOffAtYoDeskMo) I'd win a shiny banner for that one as well.

But I'm glad I did several more laps at the Tuna News.  Part of me truly missed it.  Part of me felt guilty every time I fired up my web browser, because The Tuna News is my homepage, and I've been staring at last winter's socks for the past 11 months.  Part of me worried that with so much national and social conversation going on right now (a very polite way of saying everybody is talking and nobody is listening), I was offering nothing new or substantive, and was, in fact, only adding to the problem.  Part of me was (and is) plain old boring vanilla tired.  It happens.

Today took an interesting turn down the rabbit hole of YouTube.  You never know when these days are going to happen, but one interesting thing after another seemed to pop up.  I took it as a sign.  And when music starts and ends your day, it's a good sign indeed.



Verdi - Requiem
A colleague of mine shared this video first thing this morning. I don't necessarily think you should watch the entire thing, but if you want to check out a couple of amazing moments, the Lacrymosa (40:24) is a great place to start.  Soloists include a 36-year young Leontyne Price who sings with such control, beauty and sensitivity, I don't know if I should swoon or take notes.  Really, both are appropriate.  I love the very beautiful, formal and simplistic concert attire of the women, and I'm amazed that half the soloists and the conductor are performing this 90-minute work from memory.  For those who are familiar with this work, the tell-all moment comes right at the end (1:15:46) for the Soprano.  Will she or won't she (1:17:27)?  You know she will.  And it's glorious.



Eric Whitacre - Paradise Lost
Eric Whitacre, 20th Century composer, social media fan, and seemingly all-around nice guy, not to mention smart and encouraging to musicians of every age and skill is working on a somewhat unconventional Broadway Show that he hopes to open in London soon.  Why didn't I know about this before today?  I don't know, but I'm glad I know now.  For an even tastier treat,you MUST listen to this.  Posting it on Facebook this morning, he wrote:  "A little a cappella interlude I wrote for the concert version of Paradise Lost. Thinking of expanding it into a full piece..."



Elbow - Live from Manchester Cathedral
I stumbled across Elbow this spring, and this is easily the most excited I've been about contemporary popular music in a long time. Well-sung, well-written, lyrics that are smart and thought-provoking.  You could choose any part (or all of it..it's that good) to listen to, but my first suggestion would be Lippy Kids (34:30) from their latest album Build a Rocket, Boys!  The lyrics are astounding on their own ("Lippy kids on the corner again.  Lippy kids on the corner begin settling like crows.  Though I never perfected the simian stroll, the cigarette senate was everything then.  Do they know those days are golden?  Build a rocket boys!" ) but when you hear it presented, it's not angry.  In fact, it's respectful of youth and encouraging at the same time.  A fine line to walk, I think.

My second suggestion would be One Day Like This (54:12) which is the most wonderfully unabashed love song you'd ever want to hear ('Cause holy cow I love your eyes! And only now I see the light, lying with you half-awake, stumbling over what to say, Well, anyway it's looking like a beautiful day.  So throw those curtains wide, one day like this a year would see me right.)




Bonjour, Girl!  - Disney's "Beauty and the Beast"
Oh, I love a good parody, and this one is fabulous. Please, please please warning -- language alert and definite Disney lampooning. If either of these are sacred cows, then you should move on.
As for me... IT'S MY FAVORITE!!




Faust - Metropolitan Opera
Directed by Des McAnuff
My buddy Des is EVERYWHERE these days. His musical "Jersey Boys" is still touring all over the United States.  He is the BCMOC (Big Canadian Man on Campus) at the Stratford Festival in Canada, writing all the original music for this past season's production of "Twelfth Night", he has a hit revival of "Jesus Christ Superstar" that will open on Broadway next March and now, because, maybe he's bored or something, he's directed AN OPERA AT THE MET.  Seriously.  All the clips are fun, and it's in a very different and usual setting from the original concept. 


So, there you have it.  If you asked me how my day went, these videos sum it up.  It was a very good day indeed.  Thanks November.  Bring it, December.  I think I'm on a roll.


Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Sometimes

 

Sometimes

After a 14 hour workday
After 12 singers
After 10 performances
After a 2 hour night commute that usually takes 50 minutes
After 8 inches of snow
After too many accidents to count

When you finally get home
With all four wheels on the ground
With a bumper unkissed by the guard rail or an impatient car
With dinner waiting
And with family relieved that you are home safe and sound

It's enough for one night.


Sometimes

 

Sometimes

After a 14 hour workday
After 12 singers
After 10 performances
After a 2 hour night commute that usually takes 50 minutes
After 8 inches of snow
After too many accidents to count

When you finally get home
With all four wheels on the ground
With a bumper unkissed by the guard rail or an impatient car
With dinner waiting
And with family relieved that you are home safe and sound

It's enough for one night.


Monday, November 28, 2011

Everybody Says Don't


It seems there should be a dos and don'ts subject list -- much like a fashion hits and misses --  when it comes to blogs.  Or maybe it should just be a huge don't list, and anything leftover is fair game.  To name just a few:



1.  Weather
A definite don't when the weather isn't unusual for the time of year and/or geographic location.  This includes summertime heat in Arizona and sleet, snow, arctic freeze, rain, floods, tornadoes, hail, heat and/or humidity in Michigan from January through December.  By the way, we are supposed to experience approximately 80% of all those options in the next 24 hours.  In Michigan. SIGH.

So you better make sure you have a pair of these
when you live in the state that looks like this.
















2.  Cats
 If you write about cats, well, don't say I didn't warn you.  Writing about cats makes you the cat lady.  Writing about two cats makes you the single cat lady.  Writing about 65 cats makes you the crazy single cat lady.  My friends Gabby and Mila inform me I am not crazy.
Gabby says "Not crazy!" 
Mila says "Not crazy, but I really don't care."













3.  Politics
Yes, it's all the craze at the moment.  And by craze I mean crazy.  And by crazy I mean WHAT ON EARTH ARE THOSE REPUBLICANS DOING NOW?  Now before all the Republicans get upset with me for going all Caps-Lock on their ass, the Democrats aren't flaunting their crazy at the moment because they've all agreed to let the guy at the top take the heat.  Thanks, Jesus.



4.  Food
Blogging about food is a double-edged sword.  It's sort of like watching it on TV.  It's great for awhile, and then you're hungry, and then you're angry because you're hungry, and then you're angry because you're hungry and you're torturing yourself watching the secrets to making the perfect Ho-Ho and you don't have any perfect Ho-Hos.  You don't even have any imperfect Ho-Hos.








5.  Twilight
The movie. Not the time of day.  Blogs, like vampires don't sparkle.












6.  Holiday peeves
Oh, what an enormous category THIS is.  This includes Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Dead people that stepped on in Target, shoppers that got pepper-sprayed in Walmart and anything that includes the phrase Tickle Me, Elmo.  This also includes real or perceived injustices for or against Christmas Trees, Nativities, Carols, Holiday greetings, the Happy Holidays vs. Merry Christmas Smackdown, too many Christmas lights, not enough Christmas lights, wasteful spending, not enough spending, drunken debauchery at the office
Christmas party, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph,
Frosty and Herbie, who doesn't want to make toys. 


If you can make it past this gauntlet without any infractions, you're well on your way to creating a real blog DO instead of a blog don't.  Next up... Collegiate sports!


Everybody Says Don't


It seems there should be a dos and don'ts subject list -- much like a fashion hits and misses --  when it comes to blogs.  Or maybe it should just be a huge don't list, and anything leftover is fair game.  To name just a few:



1.  Weather
A definite don't when the weather isn't unusual for the time of year and/or geographic location.  This includes summertime heat in Arizona and sleet, snow, arctic freeze, rain, floods, tornadoes, hail, heat and/or humidity in Michigan from January through December.  By the way, we are supposed to experience approximately 80% of all those options in the next 24 hours.  In Michigan. SIGH.

So you better make sure you have a pair of these
when you live in the state that looks like this.
















2.  Cats
 If you write about cats, well, don't say I didn't warn you.  Writing about cats makes you the cat lady.  Writing about two cats makes you the single cat lady.  Writing about 65 cats makes you the crazy single cat lady.  My friends Gabby and Mila inform me I am not crazy.
Gabby says "Not crazy!" 
Mila says "Not crazy, but I really don't care."













3.  Politics
Yes, it's all the craze at the moment.  And by craze I mean crazy.  And by crazy I mean WHAT ON EARTH ARE THOSE REPUBLICANS DOING NOW?  Now before all the Republicans get upset with me for going all Caps-Lock on their ass, the Democrats aren't flaunting their crazy at the moment because they've all agreed to let the guy at the top take the heat.  Thanks, Jesus.



4.  Food
Blogging about food is a double-edged sword.  It's sort of like watching it on TV.  It's great for awhile, and then you're hungry, and then you're angry because you're hungry, and then you're angry because you're hungry and you're torturing yourself watching the secrets to making the perfect Ho-Ho and you don't have any perfect Ho-Hos.  You don't even have any imperfect Ho-Hos.








5.  Twilight
The movie. Not the time of day.  Blogs, like vampires don't sparkle.












6.  Holiday peeves
Oh, what an enormous category THIS is.  This includes Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Dead people that stepped on in Target, shoppers that got pepper-sprayed in Walmart and anything that includes the phrase Tickle Me, Elmo.  This also includes real or perceived injustices for or against Christmas Trees, Nativities, Carols, Holiday greetings, the Happy Holidays vs. Merry Christmas Smackdown, too many Christmas lights, not enough Christmas lights, wasteful spending, not enough spending, drunken debauchery at the office
Christmas party, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph,
Frosty and Herbie, who doesn't want to make toys. 


If you can make it past this gauntlet without any infractions, you're well on your way to creating a real blog DO instead of a blog don't.  Next up... Collegiate sports!


Sunday, November 27, 2011

Twenty Questions




Me:  Hello. May I ask you a question?

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.  We welcome your asking.

Me:  OK, here is my question.  May I...

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question. We are so pleased you chose us when you wanted to ask a question.

Me:  So is that a yes?

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.  Please answer the following 10 pages of questions.

Me:  But I just wanted to ask one question, not ten pages.

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.  Asking to ask a question is a complex procedure. 

Me:  I'm confused.  I just want to ask...

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.  If you need to come back later to ask to ask your question later, be sure to click save.

Me:  WAIT

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.  Please remember there is a time limit to ask to ask your question.

Me : Time limit...?

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.

Me:  OK, fine.  I've filled out the pages of questions and I'm ready to...

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.  You need to send outside confirmation that you are fit to ask to ask a question.

Me:  Fit to ask to ask?

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.  Please write a thorough analysis in 250 words or less on the topic of diversity and its importance to your existence.  Include examples of how you handle group dynamics, and then tell two stories about profound life experiences that left you permanently changed which include a championship football game, a lost puppy and that unfortunate episode at the mall.  You know the one I mean.

Me:  But I...oh, alright.  This seems like a lot of work just to ask a question.

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.  Before we can answer this question, you need to pay the oracle.

Me:  Pay the oracle?

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.  There is a small processing fee to best serve you in asking to ask your question.

Me:  I have to pay you to ask a question?

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.  Payment is required to allow you to ask to ask a question.

Me:  Seriously?  OK, fine.  It's an important question, so I guess I have no choice but to pay you to ask a question.

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.  Payment has been received.  Please click continue.

Me:  OK, I'm all ready.  Are you ready?

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.  Please proceed.

Me:  OK.  Starting over.  May I ask you a question?

Oracle:  No.


Twenty Questions




Me:  Hello. May I ask you a question?

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.  We welcome your asking.

Me:  OK, here is my question.  May I...

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question. We are so pleased you chose us when you wanted to ask a question.

Me:  So is that a yes?

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.  Please answer the following 10 pages of questions.

Me:  But I just wanted to ask one question, not ten pages.

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.  Asking to ask a question is a complex procedure. 

Me:  I'm confused.  I just want to ask...

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.  If you need to come back later to ask to ask your question later, be sure to click save.

Me:  WAIT

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.  Please remember there is a time limit to ask to ask your question.

Me : Time limit...?

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.

Me:  OK, fine.  I've filled out the pages of questions and I'm ready to...

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.  You need to send outside confirmation that you are fit to ask to ask a question.

Me:  Fit to ask to ask?

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.  Please write a thorough analysis in 250 words or less on the topic of diversity and its importance to your existence.  Include examples of how you handle group dynamics, and then tell two stories about profound life experiences that left you permanently changed which include a championship football game, a lost puppy and that unfortunate episode at the mall.  You know the one I mean.

Me:  But I...oh, alright.  This seems like a lot of work just to ask a question.

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.  Before we can answer this question, you need to pay the oracle.

Me:  Pay the oracle?

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.  There is a small processing fee to best serve you in asking to ask your question.

Me:  I have to pay you to ask a question?

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.  Payment is required to allow you to ask to ask a question.

Me:  Seriously?  OK, fine.  It's an important question, so I guess I have no choice but to pay you to ask a question.

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.  Payment has been received.  Please click continue.

Me:  OK, I'm all ready.  Are you ready?

Oracle:  Thank you for asking if you may ask a question.  Please proceed.

Me:  OK.  Starting over.  May I ask you a question?

Oracle:  No.


Saturday, November 26, 2011

Take a Number




Three pies
One cheesecake
Two jello salads
Eight family members
Six bags of yard wasteThirty-two hours and counting (down)
One half of one front bed, and one entire backyard still to go.
Seven swans a-swimmingSix geese a-laying
Twenty-nine days until Christmas
Two applications finished
Three applications in process
Five hundred words or less.
First!


These days it seems all we do is quantify life.  How many more until....?  How many left until.... ?  How many completed?  Unfinished?  Standings.  Rankings.  Ratings.  Take a number, because you are one. And once you are a number, you are a measurable, comparative entity: higher than some, lower than others.  You've lost all traces of personality and your identity is now calculated and exact. 

Being a number ... it's not a very nice thought.  But not only do we allow ourselves to be defined and compared numerically, we do the same to everybody else.   After all, how can we know where we stand in the ranks if we don't know the scores of others as well.?  And, for better or worse, once we know, we are consumed with moving up and being better than the person ahead of us.

Now, there's  nothing wrong with self-improvement.  It's important to continually stretch and grow.  But moving up in the ranks merely for the sake of being ahead has nothing to do with self-improvement.  It's positioning and posturing for bragging rights and that feeling of superiority.

What if we could be content with ourselves and others, celebrating who and what we are and ignoring where we are in the greater hierarchy?  Would we be able to enjoy our individual gifts and those of other?  Would we be able to be content without comparison?  Are our own merits enough, or do we need to be better than others before we can feel good about ourselves?

I don't think it's possible to change the world. We are by nature a highly competitive, comparative society. But during this season of Advent -- this season of waiting for events far greater and grander than we could ever hope to be  -- it's the perfect time to set aside the numbers and rankings and examine who and what we are.  We all possess gifts as individual as we are, and these gifts of the spirit -- of our spirit -- are perfect on their own merits.  There is no comparison.


Take a Number




Three pies
One cheesecake
Two jello salads
Eight family members
Six bags of yard wasteThirty-two hours and counting (down)
One half of one front bed, and one entire backyard still to go.
Seven swans a-swimmingSix geese a-laying
Twenty-nine days until Christmas
Two applications finished
Three applications in process
Five hundred words or less.
First!


These days it seems all we do is quantify life.  How many more until....?  How many left until.... ?  How many completed?  Unfinished?  Standings.  Rankings.  Ratings.  Take a number, because you are one. And once you are a number, you are a measurable, comparative entity: higher than some, lower than others.  You've lost all traces of personality and your identity is now calculated and exact. 

Being a number ... it's not a very nice thought.  But not only do we allow ourselves to be defined and compared numerically, we do the same to everybody else.   After all, how can we know where we stand in the ranks if we don't know the scores of others as well.?  And, for better or worse, once we know, we are consumed with moving up and being better than the person ahead of us.

Now, there's  nothing wrong with self-improvement.  It's important to continually stretch and grow.  But moving up in the ranks merely for the sake of being ahead has nothing to do with self-improvement.  It's positioning and posturing for bragging rights and that feeling of superiority.

What if we could be content with ourselves and others, celebrating who and what we are and ignoring where we are in the greater hierarchy?  Would we be able to enjoy our individual gifts and those of other?  Would we be able to be content without comparison?  Are our own merits enough, or do we need to be better than others before we can feel good about ourselves?

I don't think it's possible to change the world. We are by nature a highly competitive, comparative society. But during this season of Advent -- this season of waiting for events far greater and grander than we could ever hope to be  -- it's the perfect time to set aside the numbers and rankings and examine who and what we are.  We all possess gifts as individual as we are, and these gifts of the spirit -- of our spirit -- are perfect on their own merits.  There is no comparison.


Friday, November 25, 2011

A Postcard




I'm sitting up, more than half-asleep, sometimes watching, always listening to a contemporary opera.  The opera, Il Postino, is based on the movie by the same name.  A movie that celebrates life, love, and the written and spoken word.  One of the characters in this story is the real-life poet, Pablo Neruda, and another equally important character is his poems that dip, swirl and conjure up wonderfully luscious, evocative images.

In a world where importance is measured by volume, originality is obscured by the outrageous, and truth is an antiquated notion best left for philosophers, the poems of Neruda are easily ignored for something flashier, something edgier, and something with clever, ear-tickling rhymes.  But to appreciate Neruda is to allow yourself to enjoy the simplest and most profound themes of life -- love, longing, nature, beauty. 

A small sampling of Neruda's poems.  Check out:


If You Forget Me

Sonnet XVII

Sonnet LXXXI

 No other words needed.






A Postcard




I'm sitting up, more than half-asleep, sometimes watching, always listening to a contemporary opera.  The opera, Il Postino, is based on the movie by the same name.  A movie that celebrates life, love, and the written and spoken word.  One of the characters in this story is the real-life poet, Pablo Neruda, and another equally important character is his poems that dip, swirl and conjure up wonderfully luscious, evocative images.

In a world where importance is measured by volume, originality is obscured by the outrageous, and truth is an antiquated notion best left for philosophers, the poems of Neruda are easily ignored for something flashier, something edgier, and something with clever, ear-tickling rhymes.  But to appreciate Neruda is to allow yourself to enjoy the simplest and most profound themes of life -- love, longing, nature, beauty. 

A small sampling of Neruda's poems.  Check out:


If You Forget Me

Sonnet XVII

Sonnet LXXXI

 No other words needed.






Thursday, November 24, 2011

About Face

 Tradition is what you make of it.

We started the day somewhat traditionally -- watching a bit of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Two thumbs way, way up for the Tim Burton balloon and its wonderful backstory.  Two thumbs down for corporate mascot balloons and some extremely poor attempts at lip-synching.


"B. was created, Frankenstein’s monster-style, from the leftover balloons used in children’s parties at the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. Forbidden from playing with other children because of his jagged teeth and crazy-quilt stitching, B. retreated to a basement lair, where he obsesses over Albert Lamorisse’s film The Red Balloon and dreams that he, too, will be able to fly someday."

Our day continued in a decidedly non-traditional manner.  We went in search of the face.  And we found it. Technically we found them.  And for the record, let me say that I'm so very happy that the face is on a billboard and not on a wanted poster.  Once we found them, pictures were in order.

  Face number one.



Face number two.


Then it was home and time for cooking, cleaning, practice, and homework.  The traditional portion of the afternoon was covered by the Detroit Lions losing in spectacular fashion to the Green Bay Packers.  Dinner was delivered first and eaten second, which seemed to be very appropriate.  When we got home it was anything but turkey and stuffing.  Instead it was leek soup, lamb shanks, spinach noodles, fresh green beans (CASSEROLE-FREE) and an apple-cranberry pie.  The teenager declared it was the best non-turkey meal EVER and frankly, I agreed.  We'll do the whole turkey-ma-gig on Saturday, but today it was a little bit of familiar mixed in with a whole lot of you did WHAT?  In other words, it was tradition.  Tuna-style.

And that's something to be thankful for.

About Face

 Tradition is what you make of it.

We started the day somewhat traditionally -- watching a bit of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Two thumbs way, way up for the Tim Burton balloon and its wonderful backstory.  Two thumbs down for corporate mascot balloons and some extremely poor attempts at lip-synching.


"B. was created, Frankenstein’s monster-style, from the leftover balloons used in children’s parties at the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. Forbidden from playing with other children because of his jagged teeth and crazy-quilt stitching, B. retreated to a basement lair, where he obsesses over Albert Lamorisse’s film The Red Balloon and dreams that he, too, will be able to fly someday."

Our day continued in a decidedly non-traditional manner.  We went in search of the face.  And we found it. Technically we found them.  And for the record, let me say that I'm so very happy that the face is on a billboard and not on a wanted poster.  Once we found them, pictures were in order.

  Face number one.



Face number two.


Then it was home and time for cooking, cleaning, practice, and homework.  The traditional portion of the afternoon was covered by the Detroit Lions losing in spectacular fashion to the Green Bay Packers.  Dinner was delivered first and eaten second, which seemed to be very appropriate.  When we got home it was anything but turkey and stuffing.  Instead it was leek soup, lamb shanks, spinach noodles, fresh green beans (CASSEROLE-FREE) and an apple-cranberry pie.  The teenager declared it was the best non-turkey meal EVER and frankly, I agreed.  We'll do the whole turkey-ma-gig on Saturday, but today it was a little bit of familiar mixed in with a whole lot of you did WHAT?  In other words, it was tradition.  Tuna-style.

And that's something to be thankful for.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Good Things

 'Tis the season to make a laundry list of grateful things.  Much like a what I did last summer essay, an annotated list of gratitude is only meaningful to the list maker, while everybody else wishes for a swift and painless ending.  Somehow it doesn't seem right to itemize all the things I have and apportion my gratitude accordingly.  Instead I'll leave you with a simple wish for Thanksgiving:  I wish you all good things.  And these things don't have to be things at all.  Good things are as universal as love, happiness, acceptance, humor.  Good things are as simple as a smile, a hug, a sympathetic ear and a helping hand.  Good things don't have an expiration date, and you don't have to replace them over time.  Good things are self-sustaining.


May your life be filled with good things. 
May you wake up each morning and recognize the opportunity it brings.
May you never tire of finding good things in your life and then sharing it with others.
May you appreciate its simplicity and marvel at its power.
May you be comforted and sustained by the good you are given and the good you give to others.
May you lay down each night, not beating yourself up for what you didn't do,
but rejoicing in the fact that tomorrow brings a fresh opportunity.

There are times where it seems nearly impossible to find the good.
But it's always there.

I strongly believe our lives should be filled with good things.
I believe our lives are filled with good things.
And for that I'm grateful,
always and always and always.