Book covers!

There's this site that reviews books (in a kooky, fun way) and scans all sorts of book covers that I remember. Such as: Island of the Blue Dolphins, Jacob Have I Loved, Then Again, Maybe I Won't, My Darling, My Hamburger, and Little House In the Big Woods!!!!
(Well, I suppose that last one's not too rare of a book cover.)

Storytellers & The Healing Lodge

Just thought of a book that my mother bought me when I was 13 or so, and I read to the point of ruination (I read it in the shower) without understanding why. I felt compelled to reread it a while back. It was Tree By Leaf by Cynthia Voigt. NY Times Review of the book. Also, I've liked every film I've ever seen by this guy so I am interested in this documentary: Words of My Perfect Teacher. Also found out about this: The Healing Lodge.

Bicycles, bicycles...

Just imagine if these were all cars filling a parking garage.
Bicycles near Amsterdam's Centraal Station
I guess thats how they work off their french fries served with mayonnaise and Indonesian peanut sauce!
("Mayonnaise" is a word which is surprisingly difficult to remember how to spell.)

detalles, detalles

If only every phone call were filled with mostly good and joyful ones...

canseeohnays babble

A few: Plainfield Blues by Rev. Peyton et al, Brave New Baby by the now-retired Mary Prankster, Strange Lover and All My Tears by Julie Miller, and older songs: Dreams, Rhiannon, Edge of Seventeen.
The '80s and Stevie Nicks:
Some songs remind me of a Missy I knew. Famous for her red hair. Boys stole street signs for her. She smoked heavily, and used paper towels to show us how brown her breath was. "Don't you kids ever start!" Candidly discussed her boyfriends and passion for Van Halen while introducing us to eyeliner and eyelash curlers. Defiantly turned the stereo up as loud as possible; she declared that she wasn't afraid of neighbors calling the cops. She tested me, too--could I truly sing all the lyrics to Edge of Seventeen? When I could, she acted like I was the smartest child she'd ever encountered. Aside from her, several times, when I was perhaps eight or ten, I remember an older girl taking me aside and confiding in me about her problems and telling me I was very "mature for my age." I don't remember such exact details of the conversations, only that I enjoyed them. But then, there was also the tremendous and responsible Maria (pronounced MAHrea), who played games with me, laughed through her nose like she was going to sneeze, and lived in a big house with a swimming pool. Which was very fortunate for me, because, thanks to the Watervliet Arsenal swimming pool lessons--which included witnessing a simulated drowning that I was too young to understand was only simulated, and my father tossing me in the water unexpectedly (I recall myself sinking in a daze of bubbles and pale blueness, and thinking, wow, I'm going to die now...until he came in and dragged me out)--I wasn't the least bit interested in learning how to swim. But at Maria's parents' house, they let me hang out in the shallow end, and probably taught me some basics, until one day, she and her sisters convinced me to go under the ropes and touch the ladder in the deep end. And so I learned to swim. And later on I had a lot of fun, with my father and with my friends, at the arsenal swimming pool, too.

Boo slash yay

Boo for losing the cell phone today; I hope I find it. Maybe it's in the library bookdrop. Yay for last night when I met with AKOI. (Yes, there is meditation and now AKOI.) AKOI (which stood for Ass Kickers of Infinity-I can't remember who coined it, but I was not geek chic enough to come up with that name!) was a group of friends that got together when we were in our early 20s to discuss life goals. But then a bunch of us went off and did other things for a while. Now that pretty much everyone is back in this area again for some reason, we decided to reconvene. There is more to discuss and that's fun. We also get off track a lot but I like that! Actually, now I have a kind of fun side project to participate in b/c of one of the "off track" conversations. Yay for cold weather and stars in the sky when I'm driving home. But I hope I find the cell phone. Later-I also hope that the ability to watch DVDs will be restored to my computer! Hello, technology. I guess it's time for me to either take a break or pay up.

Cositas

I've decided to dedicate a portion of time to helping people with illnesses, a portion to writing, and a portion to having fun. Also, learn more about HMR. Also, learn more about interior design. (I noticed a bunch of different kinds of light fixtures today, due to a conversation with an interior design student.)

So snow....it's melted now

I was thinking: "tomorrow you will get to go to meditation class." This area has a special reaction to snow, but anyway, just because the building is dark and the parking lot is deserted, it doesn't mean everything is canceled! Right. Scraped more snow off the car and got slush in my shoes. Thats okay, just wait it out! Soon the other cars will show up. Then, a loud crash on the roof. Maybe a tree branch, or ice. Move the car to a different parking spot. Okay, why not get out and check and see if theres a sign saying whether or not the class is cancelled? Stepped into a bigger puddle, hesitated, and then also noticed my two gloves floating in it. Alright, that's it.

Up, up, up.

"I just wrap it up in a little package and let it just float up."
Vegetable Orchestra Live

And once again

ANOTHER TRIP TO THE HOSPITAL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT

Trois Couleurs

Blue
Blue finale
White
White ending
Red
Red
Red
Red

Billboard recently seen

What made Gandhi Gandhi?
Soul. Pass it on.

Elderberry wine

is incredibly good. After work last night I met up with some friends, including a few identical twins (there are four girls in the family--2 sets of identical twins--how often does that happen?) One arrived with a voice hoarse from attending a protest in DC. Her sister's husband supplied wine made from berries picked on the W & OD Trail. Four of us sipped it and watched Legend: The Director's Cut in a small apartment. We all fell asleep shortly after "the quintessential elderberry wine scene." After I woke up and accidentally got myself lost (which was sort of fun--only in the wee hours of the morning can Northern VA even look like it has "backroads") I listened to some poets reading on "apostrophe cast" until I noticed the sun was coming up and went to bed. Also, I looked at some pictures of these.

More colorful art

Mandalas!

Musing (not too deeply) on musical influence

I somehow managed to stumble across this story shortly after I attended a friend's Christmas party, and I decided to dredge deep back into "Important Musical Influences of Childhood." Don't Wait On Me,Elvira,He's A Tramp, and (even though I didn't watch it in German) the We Are Siamese song (German version). This one was loved: You're So Vain. However, Margaritaville was reviled (some guy down the hall apparently played it way too many times in Korea.) Everyone seemed to like to sing Wraggle Taggle Gypsies and Jingle Jangle Jingle in music class at an elementary school in Washington state. Take On Me was cool, especially when I first watched it on TV when I was about seven or eight and living in New York. I also feel like Pachelbel's Canon in D made an impression on me and was on television--maybe in a light bulb or lighting commercial.

Colorful/Peaceful

I think I will post something peaceful yet colorful at the same time. I saw her once: jai jai Mata Amma I do think its a bit difficult to always be like that...

Dactyls

My new calendar says that today is dedicated to "legendary Greek women who invented metal craft." However, when I tried to look them up, this is what I just found! Kind of confusing.

Songs heard in the public sphere

The songs heard in the public sphere are often by boys...
Satellite
Amsterdam
Tired of Being Sorry
FF7 Tired of Being Sorry AMV