Gleeks Anonymous

Soooo.... I am getting a little goofy knowing that the new season of mind-numbing television is starting tomorrow.  I know I should be more creative with what little spare time I am allowed; however, Tuesday night I am going to be sitting like the biggest couch potato you have ever met waiting for Season Three of "Glee" to kick off.  Yes, last year I somehow got sucked in after catching a few episodes on some Oxygen marathon- I then became obsessed and watched the remainder of the second season after the Super Bowl- and the cherry on top of this whirl-wind slightly new-found appreciation came this summer with following "The Glee Project" where they competed to be cast in the show.  Oh... how I love that show (and I know I'm not the only one!)
In consideration of a whole new season starting, and in appreciation of the absolute musical talent that show has- I am creating a list of (some) of my favorite musical numbers thus far... I realized when I started looking at videos on youtube it was harder to choose from- they are all so good!

The songs I picked were either great covers, really touching, or the scene was incredibly funny or terribly sentimental.  The last song, although not sung, is just an incredible bit of choreography to "Bubbly Toes." Enjoy!

This final number I'm throwing in for my Wild Child- she is completely in love with Jesse, lol!

Rants & Raves

The past couple of weeks have kicked my behind from one end of the road and back again.  As with any other human being, I have had my ups and downs... and now I return to the blogosphere to simply throw out a few viewpoints that will enlighten, inspire, and simply relieve the stress that is building up like a volcano ready to explode out of my body.  Oh yeah, this should be a good one.

The Rants:

- I could write an entire blog on this subject: "Please Reply."  Seriously, when you write this in an email to certain individuals are you simply doing it because you have no better use for your time than to put those two words in the composition?!?  Or, more logically, are you typing it out because you honestly need that person or persons to respond to what you have asked and/or had to say in a timely manner.  If you have the time to read an email (and yes- I know when you do since I put a read receipt on every email I send out) then you have the time to click the reply button and type out words as simple as "yes" or "no"-  I don't want your full biography- simply a response.  Is that truly that difficult to comprehend?!?

- People who beg/plead to participate in something (a chance to earn money with no expense to participate) and then don't show without a single call or email... well, you are useless to me.  I promise you will not get the opportunity again as long as their is a breath left in my body to say "NO!"  Period.

... and Finally (I'm trying to keep it short since this is "Positive Thinking" day or some nonsense like that...)

- The fact that my daughter would wake up at the butt-crack of dawn every single morning during her summer vacation (even after staying up later than she should most of the nights during said vacation), and yet now that school has started I have to practically drag her out of bed by her ankles to get her up in the morning to get ready for school.  I. Just. Don't. Get. It.

Okay, so enough of the ranting.  I simply had to purge those few thoughts out of my system before completely blowing.  As I said this is some sort of day to be positive, sooo... I am mustering up the non-bitter thoughts in my head to think of the things that have happened over the past few days that I can absolutely rave about- those tiny nuggets that make me feel truly blessed while I sit seething over the fact that people aren't responding to my emails...

The Raves...

- My Wild Child lost her first tooth on Sunday!  This is such a huge milestone in my world... knowing that my little one is growing up so fast.  Now, the Tooth Fairy is feeling the pinch of the economy so she received exactly $1 for that precious little fang :)

- Silly, I know, but I finally found the PERFECT shade of blue nail polish! I'm a sucker for different colors (always have been since the wee elementary school years.)  I don't have a pic of it but think of that bold, deep blue that you see sometimes in the center of a peacock's feather.  Yep, I've got that on my nails right now :)

- The Second Saturday Fest that has been started in my "Better Hometown" is slowly but surely growing!  It's taking baby steps but I am so proud that we kicked it off and we will be going all out in October for Halloween!

- My sister may be moving back to our hometown! Okay, I know I'm getting ahead of myself because I don't believe she has been offered the job yet; however, deep down I would love for her and my brother-in-law to be closer for Wild Child's sake.  My crazy kid adores her "Auntie Cole" - probably the fact that she is a mini-clone of "Auntie Cole"- and for her to have more family around would be an absolute blessing since she only sees her father's side maybe a couple of times during the year.

and in my attempt to outweigh the bad with the good...

- I am drinking a kick-a$$ caramel cappuccino this morning... you know... it's the little things in life :)

Hoping everyone has a positively beautiful day today- and if you too need to get something off your chest... simply do it and feel the pressure dissolve into the ether of the blogosphere!

Restless

It has certainly been a while so I figured it was about time to check in.  I must admit that work is taking up every corner of my mind right now... between working on the acquisition of a historic train depot, the continued work on building up a monthly event in our downtown area, the recent completion of the installation of a bike rack downtown & the completion of a business facade grant, trying to find grant money for my own organization, and also having a major concert coming up- well, my brain is on overload.  I feel pulled in more directions than I ever thought possible- and yet, I couldn't be happier! 

I will be the first to say that I have no right to complain about my job after spending the better part of the last two years unemployed and seriously unsure of what the future may hold.  Actually, I'm still unsure of my future seeing as how this job I love I honestly can't afford to stay in... but that is just one of those irons in the ongoing fire that I am working through.  For now I can say I love what I do- I love the fact that I am able to make such a difference- and I will simply leave it at that.

So, the question of the day is- why do I feel so out of sorts?  When September rolled around I actually felt like I was coming out of some summer stupor; however, I am yet again feeling restless.  I realize that I refer to one too many movies yet, I had that feeling today when I was outside and the wind was blowing hard- well, do you remember in the movie "Chocolat" how the wind told the main character it was time to move on?  I was, oddly enough, getting that same message.

Okay, call me crazy... but I have known for ages now that I am indeed a restless spirit that does not want to settle in one spot too long (until, of course, I make my way to the coast of Maine!)  When I was married and living in another neighboring town, all I could think about was getting out of there- moving.  Well, when we separated I did move, here to the Wild Woods.  A sort of peace came over me yet now that restlessness has returned and every second not spent on work or taking care of my daughter is spent daydreaming about the two of us just setting out on some wild adventure to some new place we could call home.  It becomes this ache in my belly wanting to start over... constantly wanting to start fresh and create an entirely new life.

Oh how I wish I could just be content.  It is just not in my nature.  So, do I follow that old wind's advice- or do I wrestle with that discontent until I finally tame it into submission?  Much like all the madness in my life... only time will tell.

Smells Like Purple

A few days ago I asked my sister to give me a word- just one simple word that can kick-start the creative juices so I can hop back into the blogosphere (of course it was a rather long hop since I am just now writing several days later.) Anyhow, her word for me was "purple."  Hmmm...

What immediately popped into my mind, oddly enough, was the scene in "Under the Tuscan Sun" where Francis is describing her surroundings in a postcard.  Somewhere in there she uses the phrase "smells like purple"... or something like that (it's been a while since I've seen the movie.)  That has always stuck in my head.  This woman had let go of everything and in this one moment just gave in to all of her senses- literally soaking in every bit of her surroundings from the sights to the sounds (and even the smells!)  We all have such a tendency to be wrapped up in our own little worlds that a moment like that to let go almost seems impossible to fathom.

So, my goal right now is to take a day- sometime soon- to simply find a place where I too can be inspired by my surrounding, as Francis did, so much that I may sniff out- see- taste- touch all of the colors around me.  I am going to reach deep and pull out my inner Papa Hemmingway who was able to describe one view down a road in more words than I swear are in the Bible.  If I could take that one day to truly release all of the stressors and worries that consume me- I wonder if, or rather, my hopes are that I can finally break free this block when it comes to my own writing. I have a notebook full of story ideas; however, when it is time to actually sit and begin one of those stories- my words simply fail me. I cannot open up to my senses as I once did.  That is certainly a cry for needing one day to do nothing but explore the senses.

As E.L. Doctorow put it... "Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader—not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon."  I will make it my goal to feel the rain and smell the purple!  Thank you, Nicole, for that one word has inspired me!

  . 

*Image found at frontpagemag.com

We are the Music-Makers

One of my all-time favorite movies is "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" with Gene Wilder.  As a child and even now as an adult, I have always thought it was sheer brilliance.  A line that has stuck with me over the years was "We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams" --  it has been tucked away in my mind's file folder of inspirational quotes for as long as I can remember.  Just recently, I came across the actual poem that it came from (something I had never read before...)  in a book of Celtic Verse I purchased from Barnes & Noble... It goes a little something like this...

Ode

We are the music-makers,

And we are the dreamers of dreams,

Wandering by lone sea-breakers,

And sitting by desolate streams;

World-losers and world-forsakers,

On whome the pale moon gleams;

Yet we are the movers and shakers

Of the world for ever, it seems

With wonderful deathless ditties

We build up the world's great cities,

And out of a fabulous story

We fashion an empire's glory.

One man with a dream, at pleasure

Shall go forth and conquer a crown,

And three with a new song's measure

Can trample an empire down.

We, in the ages lying

In the buried past of the earth,

Built Nineveh with our sighing,

And Babel itself with our mirth;

And o'erthrew them with prophesying

To the old of the new world's worth;

For each age is a dream that is dying,

Or one that is coming to birth.

~Arthur O'Shaughnessy (1844-1881)

What struck me about this poem is the truth at the heart of it- the power of the written word (whether sung or simply put on a page for a reader's pleasure).  What one writes can build up or tear down the most powerful in this world.  Each person has a voice that needs to be let out... whether it is one person's tiny blog that reaches only a handful and perhaps touches them at some point or another, or maybe it is a world-renowned writer or musician that is capable of touching millions in one fell swoop.  Either way, it brings encouragement to grasp the fact that we can move mountains with our own words if we so choose to let it.   Arthur O'Shaughnessy knew that.  We are all indeed the music-makers- the question is, what song would you like to be remembered for?