The Blog Formerly Found On Vox

Haven't Got Time For The Pain

I've been having a few health issues lately. Nothing serious I suspect, but enough to seek medical attention. I had an appointment last week with some lab tests, another one today and another tomorrow. Three different doctors in the same (giant) medical group, a medical group with a good reputation. But as far as I can tell they don't deserve it. Tomorrow will tell with the third doctor, a specialist, but the first two doctors I've seen have seemed rushed, disengaged and generally on auto-pilot. Like the pilots who missed the airport at Minneapolis/St. Paul International.

Today's doc wrote me a prescription for an anti-inflammatory when I told her I was taking 2-4 Advil per day for joint pain. I asked her why it would be better to take the prescribed meds than what I was doing. Her answer was something about it being more convenient for me to just take one pill that lasted all day. Convenience wasn't an issue for me, but uh...okay.

Take This And Call Me...Wait, What Did you Say?

I filled the prescription at the pharmacy, but before taking anything, I do what I always do, read the warning label. Whoa, this was some powerful stuff! After reading what Walgreen's had to say about it, I went to the Internet for more. On WebMd there was a big warning at the top of the page, not in the fine print.

This drug may infrequently cause serious (rarely fatal) bleeding from the stomach or intestines. Also, related drugs rarely have caused blood clots to form, resulting in heart attacks and strokes. This medication might also rarely cause similar problems. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about the benefits and risks of treatment, as well as other possible medication choices.

If you notice any of the following rare but very serious side effects, stop taking and seek immediate medical attention: black stools, persistent stomach/abdominal pain, vomit that looks like coffee grounds, chest pain, weakness on one side of the body, sudden vision changes, slurred speech.

On other sites there were more reasons to suspect that this was probably not the drug for me. I'm not sure what she was thinking or if she was thinking actually.

I'll just stick with the morning dose of two Advil. And see what the doctor tomorrow has to say, assuming I can get more than 15 minutes of his time and undivided attention.  

  

I Don't Like Any Of These People, And Yet...

I don't, or didn't, watch "Jon and Kate Plus 8" and I don't care for Nancy Grace one little bit.

Yet, because I am addicted to celebrity gossip pop culture, I am familiar with the lives, dramas and personalities of all kinds of people who I have no business knowing about.

I know Kate had a tummy tuck, got a weird hair do and later changed it. I know that Jon thinks he's a celebrity and is really just a dumb ass man in Ed Hardy t-shirts going through some pathetic midlife crisis in public. I know that Nancy Grace is obnoxious, overly judgmental and incessantly ranting at the guests on her show. I think I've seen her a few times on TV for all of about 90 seconds before I have to flip the channel.

And yet, when I see this clip of her grilling Jon Gosselin and his stuttering deer-in-the-headlights look, I can't help but like her just a little bit.

Nancy Grace Rips Jon Gosselin A New One

 

The Way To Make Laurel & Hardy Funny

A Buddhist teacher I follow on Facebook posted this today and I watched it three times, tears of laughter streaming down my face each time.

There's just something about juxtaposing this old Laurel & Hardy clip with the Gap Band that cracks me up. But then again, I've been known to giggle at the silliest things.

Enjoy!

Laurel and Hardy Dance To The Gap Band

Buddha And The Chocolate Box

Intentional Chocolate.

Apparently it's the first chocolate the Dalai Lama ever tasted.

It is the founder's intention to "reintroduce the ancient wisdom of embedding conscious intention and love into food."

All Our Chocolate is Embedded With This Intention:

“Whoever consumes this chocolate will manifest optimal health and functioning at physical, emotional and mental levels, and in particular will enjoy an increased sense of energy, vigor and well-being for the benefit of all beings.”

My doctor-ish friend Mark probably won't like the "science" of this I'm sure, but I'm rather impressed with the marketing science. They added me on Twitter today and the next thing you know I'm reading their blog, watching videos like the one below and going to their website to order some chocolate.

Mindfully of course.

Intentional Chocolate

No, I am not working for this company, nor am I profiting in any way from writing this post. I just liked what I read and hope the chocolate is half as good as the stuff I'm getting from Trader Joe's. And if the good intentions inside ooze out while I'm savoring the taste, even better!

Wow. Just Wow.

Kseniya Simonova - Sand Animation (Україна має талант / Ukraine's Got Talent)

The historical references, the music, the theatrics and then the amazing artistic talent. With grains of sand.
This is like a moving mandala.

Too Big For Your Skin

Too Big for My Skin - The Campaign

The creator of this says that ""Too Big For My Skin" is not just a poem. It's a mind state." It's an international awareness campaign on YouTube created by some people in Minneapolis who invite you to leave your response in their comment section or to submit your very own video response. According to their site, "it's about positive body image, acceptance and strength. It's about finding your voice and speaking." I know one of the wonderful women featured here and, and as readers of this blog know, I am big on supporting acceptance of all the beautiful shapes and sizes that women come in. 

80's Dating Friday or Some Things Never Change

The 80s, the 90s, today; some things never change. Like how fun dating can be. Umm..yeah, right.

I'm just glad that mustaches went out of style with the mullet.

80s Video Dating Montage

Thanks to Dating LA for posting this. 

Guest House

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be cleaning you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
Because each has been sent
As a guide from beyond.

-Rumi

QotD: Favorite Beatles Song

Qustion of the Day: What's your favorite Beatles song? Bonus points if you share it with us.

I've never liked having to pick a "favorite" anything. What's your favorite color? What's you're favorite movie? But Beatles' songs are almost impossible to elevate to the top status. That's like asking what brand of potato chip is best. They're almost all delicious and irresistible, no?

So many Beatles songs are about LOVE, both the "I want to hold your hand" sweet and personal kind and the "all need it love" transcendent spiritual and universal kind. Those who know me, even just from this blog, know what that I'm drawn deeply toward both varieties. So how could I possibly pick a favorite? 

This one's might come closest to summing up several of the others, but there are so many good ones, don't make me pick; there's plenty of love to go around.

All You Need Is Love

Love, love, love.
Love, love, love.
Love, love, love.

There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game.
It's easy.

Nothing you can make that can't be made.
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time.
It's easy.

All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.

All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.

Nothing you can know that isn't known.
Nothing you can see that isn't shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.
It's easy.

All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.

All you need is love (all together, now!)
All you need is love. (everybody!)
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need (love is all you need).

Yee-hai!

These ones popped into my head rapidly as well.

• In My Life
• Nowhere Man
• Let it Be
• All My Loving
• Within You, Without You

We were talking-about the space between us all
And the people-who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion
Never glimpse the truth--then it's far too late--when they pass away.
We were talking-about the love we all could share-when we find it
To try our best to hold it there-with our love
With our love-we could save the world-if they only knew.
Try to realize it's all within yourself
No-one else can make you change
And to see you're really only very small,
And life flows ON within you and without you.
We were talking-about the love that's gone so cold and the people,
Who gain the world and lose their soul-
They don't know-they can't see-are you one of them?
When you've seen beyond yourself-then you may find, peace of mind,
Is waiting there-
And the time will come when you see
We're all one, and life flows on within you and without you.

• With A Little Help From My Friends
• Tomrorow Never Knows

Turn off your mind, relax and float down stream,
It is not dying, it is not dying

Lay down all thought, surrender to the void,
Is it shining? Is it shining?

That you may see the meaning of within
It is being, it is being

Love is all and love is everyone
Is it knowing? Is it knowing?

That ignorance and hate may mourn the dead
It is believing, it is believing

But listen to the colour of your dreams
Is it not living, is it not living

Or play the game "Existence" to the end
Of the beginning, of the beginning

• Paperback Writer
• Penny Lane
• Love Me Do
• Baby It's You
• Maybe I'm Amazed
  Maybe I'm amazed at the way you love me all the time.
  Maybe I'm afraid of the way I love you.
  Maybe I'm amazed at the way you pulled me out in time, and hung me on a line.
  Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you.
  
  Maybe I'm a man, maybe I'm a lonely man
  who's in the middle of something, that he doesn't really understand.
  
  Maybe I'm a man, maybe you're the only woman who could ever help me.
  Baby, won't you help me understand?
  
  Maybe I'm amazed at the way you're with me all the time.
  Maybe I'm afraid of the way I leave you.
  Maybe I'm amazed at the way you help me sing my song, right me when I'm wrong.
  Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you.
  
  

When Regular Composting Isn't Enough

When you're regular composting bin isn't quite earthy green enough, then like me, you can start worm composting.

Thanks to the marketing efforts of San Mateo county, we have one Wriggly Ranch. 

Now to get some food scrap eating worms.

Yee ha!

A Wriggly Wranch sound like it should be outside Las Vegas

The Universe Is Wise

Today's "Note From The Universe". (I wrote about getting them here)

Young souls get angry at others.
Old souls get angry at themselves.
But really wise souls, Patty, have already turned the page .

Synchronicity continues to dance in my life and I love dancing with it.

Feeling full of wisdom, both innate and given. 

Have a happy Labor Day everyone!

A Note From The Universe

A wonderful woman I know told me about this email she receives. I actually think I read about it on her Facebook status update, but anyway...

You sign up and "The Universe" sends you a little note sometimes. It's like picking an Angel card or Tarot cards, or reading a fortune cookie. A small moment containing a message that might or might not prove to be revelatory; perhaps just what you need or want to hear or perhaps just somehow otherwise appropriate at that particular time. 

I like these kind of voices from outside myself. Messages that come indirectly, however one defines the delivery medium: friends, intuition, hunches, insight, synchronicity, dreams, omens, god.

I signed up a couple of months ago and love getting my "Notes From The Universe". You never know when they'll arrive. The Universe is unpredictable that way.

I got this one today: a day when I was feeling really good about myself. I liked how I looked. I liked how I was feeling. I liked my interactions with (most) people. I was rather full of myself today and it showed. In a good way.

Last night, Patty, I was dreaming of you, again.

You were radiant, confident, and light beamed in every direction from the core of your being. Music followed you, angels serenaded you, and everyone was elevated by your presence. Wisdom shown from your eyes. Kindness emanated from your touch. And your power was simply awesome.

You looked, well... pretty much... exactly as you do right now.

 

Wow,
    The Universe

And there's always some kind of p,s. This was today's.

True, Patty, you were wearing a lot of sparkles, but I do know the difference between sparkles and angels.

Mike Dooley author of Notes From The Universe

 

 

 

Focusers vs Multi-taskers

My friend Susan Mernit, quoted in this story, disagrees with the Stanford study, that says media multi-taskers can't keep things separate in their minds and are at a "deficit" compared to people who singularly focus. But that woman gets more done in a day than I do in a week. And I have a history of getting A LOT done. All at once!

What do you think?

I'm tempted to look up the details of this study. Wonder if they accounted for gender differences? Probably not with just 100 subjects. Or if how they defined "deficits" were only deficits in the lab, not the real world.

I'm tempted to, but I can't seem to focus on it, because I'm off to do the 16 other things swirling around in my head.

Maybe I should make a to-do list for today. Naw...that would require me to focus on one thing at a time. Better (for me) to just keep doing things as they appear. My multi-tasking mind's always been an asset...except maybe when it's come to sleep.

 

Lizzie Miller. Real Women. Flesh Appeal.

Maybe you've already seen this, but "Glamour" Magazine ran a couple of small photos of 20 year-old Lizzie Miller without clothes in their September issue and it's caused some buzz.

Why?

Because this model weighs 180 lbs, is a size 12-14 and likes her body.

Gasp!

Venus Bootie

Minimal make-up. No sexy shoes or lingerie. No air-brushing. With the backside, thighs and belly most of the women (including those revered in art through the Ages) who most men are likely to see naked, Lizzie Miller has every reason to smile and be a spokesperson for confidence. Stretch marks and all! 

Remember the Dove "Real Beauty" ad campaign? Let's hope our standards for beauty when it comes to advertising and marketing continue to move in the direction of this kind of "modern realism".

What "Glamour" did, although admittedly not on their cover, is in stark contrast to what "Self" magazine did to Kelly Clarkson in their "True To Yourself" issue. Listen to the  nonsense coming out of the mouth of their editor.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

The Appeal of Vampires

Dracula

I've not dipped my toes into the "Twilight" phenomena, which seems perhaps too chaste, but all the way back to Nosferatu and Bela Lugosi through Anne Rice's Lestat, Frank Langella, Gary Oldman, Willem Defoe and now up through True Blood, I've always loved a good vampire story. I'm clearly not the only one. 

What's the appeal of the vampire?

Stephen Moyer, the actor who plays Bill on HBO's "True Blood" has a theory:

Trueblood

“The thing about vampirism is that it taps into a female point of view – you have an old-fashioned gentleman with manners who is a fucking killer… it’s an interesting duality, because in our present society it would be an odd thing for a woman to say, ‘I want my man to be physical with me.’ How, as a modern man, can you fucking work that?  It’s one thing to be polite and gentle… But when do you know it’s OK to crawl out of the mud and rape her [as Bill does in one scene]?... It’s difficult stuff for a bloke, but a vampire gets away with it…. I think that’s the attraction of the show – it’s looking back at a romantic time when men were men, but they were still charming.”

Rape isn't "charming" Stephen. But putting aside your unfortunate (and antiquated) choice of words, I believe what you're saying about some of the appeal of a show like "True Blood"" does actually come from a female desire (fantasy?) to be both adored and protected and "taken" by a force of pure animalistic passionate hunger.

There are plenty of similar themes of the civilized man with the hunger of a beast waiting to come out at night or with the proper provocation in art, mythology and in popular culture.

HBO knows what they're doing mixing power and sex appeal: remember "Rome"?

She Wants You To Go After Her. Duh!

 

 

Posting to (for?) Vox

Yes, I l know I haven't been posting here lately. Why?

Can't say I'm too busy really. I'm not.

Avoidance of something? Maybe. Likely?

A desire for more privacy? Yes, but that does not explain the lack of "friends (or me) only" posting.

Fear that Vox is has run it's course and the lack of support for the platform will make my three years here come to an end sooner than I'd like? There's some of that. Although I don't believe Vox is going to just disappear three years of posts, it's depressing to continue to try to use a platform that gets no attention from its creators and just gets buggier and harder to use by the day. I really wish there was an export tool. If there was I'd take these three years there in a heartbeat. Community or not.

A community on the wane? Yes, there's some of that. I'm not the only one that doesn't post or comment much anymore. While there are still lurkers reading, the vitality of the community has disappeared and there wasn't that much of it to begin with anyway. 

Twitter and Facebook? Those two platforms have certainly pulled me away from a richer format like Vox. I think that's sad actually. Twitter is like blogging with severe ADD and Facebook has more community features, but doesn't support anything much substantive and leaves no room for making it into something akin to a personal journal. Maybe I should just use my LiveJournal for what I'm is lacking here and in other places? Maybe. But who's over there anymore?

Vox debuts

Sigh.

It's sad Vox never amounted to anything we'd hoped it would become.  

Who Was Rumi? What Is This Thing He Calls Love?

I've quoted him a couple of times here in this blog.

I have a calendar in my closet with some beautiful illustrations and Rumi quotes for each month.

But tonight after seeing and "retweeting" a Rumi quote from Deepak Chopra's Twitter feed, I was provoked to look up who Rumi actually was.

As I thought, Rumi's definition of "love" is spiritual and not "romantic". He was a mystic, a spiritual seeker, not a phony or a hack. Although I know people, women mostly I suppose, have perhaps thought of his poetry and the often used pull quotes as high brow foreplay, there is a depth in the teaching of Rumi that transcends, like all real poetry, spirituality and heart/soul expressions.

Rumi talks of love, not like a Hallmark card or a Harlequin romance novel, but like Jesus, Buddha, Gandhi and Martin Luther King...

I love a good quote. A snippet of wisdom, a beautiful sentiment expressed well. Hung on my mirror. Posted on my blog. Send in a card. Tucked in my wallet. And if it's about love, and matters of the heart, all the better.  

The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart. - Buddha

Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned. - Song of Solomon 8:7

Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can do that. - Martin Luther King

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love - 1 John 4:18

Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire. - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave. - Gandhi

One word frees us from all the weight and pain of the world; that word is Love. - Sophocles

The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them. - Thomas Merton

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. - 1 John 4:8

We are all born for love. It is the principle of existence, and its only end. - Benjamin Disraeli

Where there is love there is life. - Gandhi

I know of only one duty, and that is to love. - Albert Camus

Training is needed in order to love properly; and to be able to give happiness and joy, you must practice DEEP LOOKING directed toward the other person you love. Because if you do not understand this person, you cannot love properly. Understanding is the essence of love. If you cannot understand, you cannot love. That is the message of the Buddha. -- Thich Nhat Hahn from "True Love. A Practice for Awakening the Heart'

The path to love isn't a choice, for all of us must find out who we are. This is our spiritual destiny. The path can be postponed; you can lose faith in it or even despair that love exists. None of that is permanent; only the path is. - Deepak Chopra

And I will end with a Rumi quote. One of my favorites:

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. - Rumi

Loneliness Turns To Murderous Rage

There's so much wrong and troubling with this that I don't even know where to start.

(CNN) -- The man who shot three women dead in a Pennsylvania gym before killing himself this week posted at least two videos on YouTube last year, apparently referring to a desire for a girlfriend in both.

George Sodini, 48, addresses the camera in his basement in one of his YouTube videos. He gave a tour of his house in one clip, his camera briefly panning across a book called "Date Young Women" in his living room.

"The couch and chairs, they match. The woman will really be impressed," he says just before showing the book.

In the bedroom, he says, "It looks pretty clean. I'm sure she'll be impressed." It is not clear whether he is speaking about a particular person.

He speaks directly to the camera in the second video, posted four months later. "It is easy for me to hide from my emotions for one more day," he says, speaking to a mirror in his basement.

"Take a long drive in a car, listen to some music, daydream or just do some mundane task around the house that really doesn't need to be done that's not too important. And there you go, one more day, and one more day turns into one more year."

And so on Tuesday he went into a gym and started shooting random women because he was "rejected" by women in general?

He wrote about his life and his plan in an online diary. Was he trying to connect to someone, anyone? He made videos on YouTube, hoping for what I wonder?

He had no one to talk to about his loneliness, about his desire to connect with someone? He had no one. Not one person he could talk to? Really? How is that possible? His isolation was so great that his descent into mental illness went unnoticed.  

He had neighbors. He had a job, co-workers and presumably insurance. He could have talked to a therapist if he had no friends...no girl friend. But he choose not to reach out to someone who might have been able to help. He didn't join a gym, take a cooking class, go back to school, join Match.com. (Apparently he joined a church but that didn't work out so well - see below. *) 

Instead he went further and further away from people. Disconnecting. Closing himself off and closing down. Would it have been so hard to call a therapist if you were in that much pain? Why was it so difficult for him, at 48 years old, to connect with someone, anyone? A woman would have.  

Instead, this man walked into an exercise class with his so-called "exit strategy" and four loaded guns and started shooting at women - in general. No ex-wife as the target of his rage. No high heeled former boss lady who laid him off or denied his promotion. No high school teenagers who had teased and taunted him. He just slow burned about being alone over four decades and decided to take some women with him on this ride -- the one where he let it all out, where he killed those feelings of loneliness by killing himself. And them.  

It's mind boggling.

In the note left at the scene in Sodini's gym bag,he complains that he had never spent a weekend with a woman, never vacationed with a woman and never lived with a woman, and that he had had limited sexual experiences. He makes similar complaints in his blog, which also documents his growing rage at women for their rejection of him and at the world he felt had abandoned him

* Police spoke to a pastor mentioned on Sodini's online diary. The man said that Sodini had attended his church but stopped in 2006 and that there was a minor incident involving a woman who felt "he was paying too much attention to her," Moffatt said. The pastor spoke to Sodini, and it stopped, he said.

Most of his writing bemoaned his lack of luck with women: "I actually look good. I dress good, am clean-shaven, bathe, touch of cologne yet 30 million women rejected me over an 18 or 25-year period. That is how I see it."

Sodini took pride in his appearance. On Saturday, he went to a tanning salon and purchased a $57 package for 10 more tanning sessions. "We all thought he was a little square, kind of the class nerd," said Roberta Kozel, co-owner of Salon IAOMO. "We would joke, but he would never be mean or upset. I never saw any streak of madness."

From his blog: "A man needs a woman for confidence. He gets a boost on the job, career, with other men, and everywhere else when he knows inside he has someone to spend the night with and who is also a friend. This type of life I see is a closed world with me specifically and totally excluded."

Neighbors described him as reclusive and said he had stopped talking to them in the past few years.

 

A "House Concert" with Terra Naomi last Saturday night

Have you ever seen an musical artist do a concert in someone's living room? It's a pretty cool experience. Last Saturday night, I went with a couple of friends to see a woman named Terra Naomi sing and play for a couple of hours at Paul's House in Potero Hill in San Francisco. There were probably only about 25 people there total. 

She was really quite good. Much better than I would have expected. There's something about seeing an artist live though, it's almost always better than hearing a recording or even seeing the video. Don't you think?

Her song's are pretty heavy on the smart-and-rather-angry-young-woman-done-wrong-or-otherwise-suffering side, which I have nothing against, I just preferred some of her more positive and poignant ones like the one below.
 

You For Me

You For Me

I wanna make enough money
To run my life
From the top of a mountain
In the dead of night
It’ll be you and me
And a couple of dogs
And the rest of the world
Can just move on
Cuz i got what i want
And i got what i need
And there’s nothing
In this world
But you
For me

And there’ll be fish in the lake
And there’ll be chickens on the lawn
And we’ll never go to sleep
And i’ll never even yawn
And you’ll tell me lots of stories
About when i was old
And i wasn’t too much fun then
From all the stories i been told
Now i got what i want
And i got what i need
And there’s nothing
In this world
But you
For me

And all the those little things we like to talk about
All those little things we like to say
Nothing even matters at all
‘cept for how we live today

And we can sit up on the mountain
I can hold your hand
And we’ll forget all that we learned
And we’ll forget our plans
And we can see things clearly
In the absence of the light
And we’ll realize there’s nothing
More than this tonight
And i got what i want
And i got what i need
And there’s nothing
In this world
But you
For me

Bob Dylan "Buckets Of Rain"

Bob Dylan - Buckets Of Rain

 

 

 

 

 

Buckets of Rain

Buckets of rain

Buckets of tears

Got all them buckets comin' out of my ears.

Buckets of moonbeams in my hand,

I got all the love, honey baby,

You can stand.

.

I been meek

And hard like an oak

I seen pretty people disappear like smoke.

Friends will arrive, friends will disappear,

If you want me, honey baby,

I'll be here.

.

Like your smile

And your fingertips

Like the way that you move your lips.

I like the cool way you look at me,

Everything about you is bringing me

Misery.

.

Little red wagon

Little red bike

I ain't no monkey but I know what I like.

I like the way you love me strong and slow,

I'm takin' you with me, honey baby,

When I go.

.

Life is sad

Life is a bust

All ya can do is do what you must.

You do what you must do and ya do it well,

I'll do it for you, honey baby,

Can't you tell?

.

Copyright © 1974 Ram's Horn Music

First release: Blood on the Tracks, 1975

Alice In Wonderland -- Tim Burton Style

I can't wait to see this movie. Tim Burton. Johnny Depp. The spectacular visuals combined with the trippy story of Alice in Wonderland. On the BIG screen! Oh yes!

Tim Burton's "Alice In Wonderland" 2010 Trailer

But sadly, we all will have to wait until March of next year for it's release.

Which reminds me, "Where the Wild Things Are" from Spike Jonze is coming out this fall. I hope that's still the plan. I blogged about it ages ago with it's wonderful trailer.

The Water Lily Bloomed This Weekend

I was concerned that the water lilies I put in the garden this year wouldn't make it. Instead one of them has bloomed.

Blooming Pink Water Lily. The First.

The rest of the yard is blooming too.

QotD: Dream Vacations

What vacations would you most like to take in the next five years?
Presented by Intel, Sponsors of Tomorrow.

Five years? Oh that's too long to wait! But here's my list of places, that I haven't been to, but still want to visit someday. 

• Thailand
• Bhutan
• Greece
• Ireland
• Bali
• New Zealand
  

Wonderful Trip to the Loire Valley...plus 3 momentos!

The three very special bottles of wine from a day trip to the Loire Valley yesterday made it home safe and sound. Now, after a wonderful trip to France and 29 or so hours of being awake, I really must get some sleep!

 

1976 Vouvray was a very good year. Only 5% or less can be aged. These are some of that year's 5%

Head Swap!

I don't really like Jimmy Fallon, but this is just too weird for me not to like. Besides, I can't sleep. But it's funny regardless of the hour. Don't you think? Okay, maybe not. Head Swap!

 

 

Precious Moments Each

 

sunshine on aging apples

"We inhabit ourselves without valuing ourselves, unable to see that here, now, this very moment is sacred; but once it's gone, its value is incontestable. "

Joyce Carol Oates

Bringing Back 80's Music Friday

I haven't done one of these 80's Music Flashback posts in a very long time, but this song came up today in the shuffle and it made me want to see the video.

I'm going to my 25th college reunion this summer and have volunteered to reprieve my former role as a DJ at KRLX campus radio. I had the most eclectic play list imaginable on my Friday night 10 pm to midnight show: Hall & Oates, Rick James, Gordon Lightfoot, the Replacements, Prince, Billy Idol, Cat Stevens, the Gap Band, Elvis Costello, Diana Ross & the Supreme's, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, the Time, Steve Miller, Patrice Rushun...

Oh my, the mix was a mess on paper, but I think it worked on the air. But who knows, that was 1980-81 and no one gave a shit about a "format". Ronald Reagan had been elected President my freshman year and we kids at the college where Paul Wellstone was a ramble-rousing political science professor, just wanted to listen to some good music on a Friday night out there in the corn fields of Northfield Minnesota. It didn't matter one bit that the songs or the artists didn't really fit together and that only a handful of people were listening.

I've not been to one of the reunions yet, but I imagine I'll find that some of us still hold on to that heart of glass.

Blondie: Heart of Glass Video (1979?)

Once I had a love and it was a gas
Soon turned out had a heart of glass
Seemed like the real thing, only to find
Mucho mistrust, love's gone behind
Once I had a love and it was divine
Soon found out I was losing my mind
It seemed like the real thing but I was so blind
Mucho mistrust, love's gone behind

In between
What I find is pleasing and I'm feeling fine
Love is so confusing there's no peace of mind
If I fear I'm losing you it's just no good
You teasing like you do

Lost inside
Adorable illusion and I cannot hide
I'm the one you're using, please don't push me aside
We could've made it cruising, yeah

Yeah, riding high on love's true bluish light

Once I had a love and it was a gas
Soon turned out I had a heart of glass
Soon turned out to be a pain in the ass
Seemed like the real thing only to find
Mucho mistrust, love's gone behind

.

QotD: It's My Party...

Question of the Day: Which of your birthday parties was your favorite one?
Submitted by Jack Yan.

The cake wasn't nearly as cool as the sundae that had to be carried out on a stretcher at Farrell's!

Me making a birthday wish, but who are these kids?

Given the unimaginable trauma surprise I got after my last birthday party this past January...I think this question of the day is better left unanswered. 

So They're Really Serious About This Paid Content Model

I can get it for free online, but if I "steal it" from their box without paying the seventy-five cents, apparently I'm going to jail.

I bought it because I have 15 minutes to kill before the Post Office opens, but...

Oh newspapers circulation managers, you're extinction is unavoidable.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T (Ever notice how this little message is a essentially a free ad for both Blackberry and AT&T and how hard it is to remove it from auto-sending? If only the newspapers were so ingenious in their understanding of the things people do and social marketing opportunities.)

Think About It Mr. Circ Manager?

Memories and To-Duties

Spent the past half hour looking for my high school senior yearbook photo so I could reply to this Question of the Day.

It's here somewhere I know it.

I guess that means one of my projects in the next few weeks of "reorg-ed out of workness" will be to finally organize the bookshelves and memorabilia boxes upstairs. And I probably should address all the other crap in the garage too. It's only been close to two years since I moved in here. Tsk tsk. What happened to my organizational prowess?

But first, I think I'll pour myself a glass of red wine and look at booking that trip to Iceland I've been threatening to take before my 25th (Yikes!) college reunion.

I did manage to find a photo from my college graduation, with my dad. 

PM and JFM at PM's college graduation