Two life lessons

Two items in the media really struck a chord with me recently and brought to mind some important life lessons.

Life Lesson #1:  If you jump into a den of hungry polar bears, you should prepare to be EATEN!

A woman inexplicably jumped into the moat of the Polar Bear habitat at the Berlin Zoo during feeding time.  Guess what happened? 

Someone actually got a picture of the attack and it is disturbing.  But you know what?  SHE was the one that jumped in there!  What did she think was going to happen?  (Although I wonder if there may not have been extenuating circumstances compelling her to jump.)  It made me think about all the times I have done silly, reckless things and then felt sorry for myself when I suffer the consequences. 

Life Lesson #2:  Different can be good!

Have you all seen this?  I have watched it countless times and still get emotional. 

I am officially a HUGE Susan Boyle fan now.  I hope she sees ALL her dreams come true. What a brave, talented woman!!! 

As a mother of a child with special needs, who sometimes does not match that perfect little model that the world would impose upon him, this clip spoke to me on a VERY deep level. We live in such a fickle, shallow society.  People are often automatically dismissed if they are deemed too different.  It broke my heart to see that crowd make fun of Susan, and I felt triumphant WITH her when she brought them to their feet.  She SHAMED them.  It made me weep because she doesn’t fit the image that society thinks is cool and yet she ROCKS!!! 

The internet is buzzing about Susan’s performance.  CNN even reported on it today, “Never-kissed woman wows Cowell, becomes YouTube sensation”.  You should read the comments people have made, they are wonderful!  The video also showed up on Give Me My Remote.  I love the comment by Catherine, “You have proven in a showstopping moment how we should not judge anyone on first appearances, nor should we ignore middle aged women and dismiss them as ‘invisible.’ You are magic.”

And as for the audience that made fun of her… well, maybe we should throw them to the Polar Bears!

LOST is back, baybee!!!

 

The LONG wait is over.  LOST returned to TV this past Wednesday.  It was gooooood.

I am talking about the Season 5 PREMIERE so if you have NOT seen it yet, STOP READING!!!! Here are some of my random thoughts (do I have any other kind?): 

I got dizzy from all the flash-backs, flashforwards, AND present time!  I actually don’t know now which time they are supposed to be in.  I think that was the point… a personification of what the island is experiencing as it jumps through time.

Who else thinks Sawyer & Juliet will hook up?  Sawyer… mmmm.

And anyone else think Daniel Farraday is starting to look kinda sexy as he mans up and is acting all tough & stuff?

I cracked myself up because a few times I actually guessed ahead of time what the next line was about to be.  Like when Charlotte & Daniel were talking about her bloody nose, and she said, “Daniel!?”  I said, “Do you know what is happening to me?”  SCORE!

(HEY!  Don’t stop reading now, or you will miss an AWESOME clip at the end!)

Happy Birthday, Thomas!!

Thomas, my firstborn, turns 4 this week.  FOUR.  Before my eyes my adorable preschooler is slipping away forever and he is turning into a BOY.  I am so excited to see him grow, and so proud of the boy he is becoming, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t also a little sad.  In honor of his birthday I post this video with the Thomas the Tank Engine theme song… AND a Happy Birthday serenade by 50 Cent.  I stumbled across it on YouTube and it cracked me up.  Some people have waaaay too much time on their hands!  I also would like to take this opportunity to share some of the latest “Thomas-isms”.  If I don’t write them down, I forget.  We think we won’t ever forget those precious memories, but believe me, we do. 

He has been really making me laugh lately with the way his little mind works.  For example, I was fixing his hair and commented on his cow-lick.  Confused, he asked, “What’s a cow-lick?”  And when I told him, he responded, “Ohhhh… why not a PIG-lick?”

“Charlie bit me!”

I showed this to my children on YouTube.  Now they want to watch it over.  And over.  And over…  they love it when Charlie laughs.  They cackle EVERY TIME.

“internet love song”

I found this clip on YouTube, it’s too cute and the guy is actually quite talented.  His lyrics are quite  tongue-in-cheek and crack me up, yet somehow seem to hold some truth.  Here’s an excerpt (you can read the rest at www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gSJpeZslqo)…

Please don’t block me,
Please don’t go offline.
I wanna be with you
all the time.

BRB, OMG, LOL.
ROFLMAO.
BRB, OMG, LOL
ROFLMAO.

Here’s his MySpace page.  Gotta love a guy with a ukulele.  Anybody else think he looks like Rupert Grint from Happy Potter?  Maybe that is why I like him so much…

Wheelchair Wheelies

This video made me weep and smile.  It is from a ballroom dancing competition in Europe in 2006… a wheelchair dance competition.  It is one of the most beautiful and wonderful things I have seen in a long time.  This is not what I intended to post about, seeing as how I just got back from a mini-vacation and wanted to talk about that, but when I found this clip at Wheelie Catholic it touched me too much not to share.  The competitors are so incredibly graceful and athletic and enthusiastic.  They inspire me.

One of the reasons that this video touched me so deeply is that I had a boyfriend in college, “Todd”, who was paralyzed from the waist down and used a wheelchair.  The lessons he taught me are a crucial element to who I am now as a person, and opened my eyes to a whole new reality.  Until that point I honestly had no idea about the number of challenges that a person in a wheelchair faces on a daily basis.     

By the way, Todd suffered spinal damage because he rode in a car one night in High School with someone who was drunk.  If I recall correctly- the driver was unharmed, Todd lost his ability to walk, and a third passenger was killed.  Tragic, and avoidable.  It is never okay to drive when you are under the influence of any mind-altering substance.

O Fortune…

Throw open the windows during a thunderstorm and let this music rage with the storm.  When I feel all angst-y that is one of my favorite things to do.  It seems as if I am the conductor, waving my baton, and directing the thunder and lightning to obey me, the storm and the music echoing my inner turmoil.

Platypus good, Monkeys bad, Lemurs just plain freaky…

    

And still I continue on, fighting valiantly in my crusade against the evil that is monkey.  I am not done fuming that it was MONKEYS that caused most of my blog hits yesterday.  Come on, Hitman Monkey got 60 views!  And today he already has 16!!!  GAAAHH!  What monkey business is this?  There are a LOT more interesting things on this site!  Try this lovely post about the platypus. 

Do de duck (rubber duck duck rubber duck rubber duck rubber duck duck)

Here is another of those “chocolate & peanut butter” moments, where two great things come together to form something even greater.  Two of my favorite things– Sesame Street & rubber ducks (AND music!). 

An Orchestra of Voices

 

While I was studying music in college I had the amazing opportunity to see a live performance by the all-male a capella group Chanticleer  http://www.chanticleer.org/ 

It was one of the most moving musical experiences of my life, and truly awe-inspiring.  This group of men weave their voices together seamlessly, and their countertenors can hit notes higher than most sopranos!  They have been dubbed “An Orchestra of Voices”.  My favorite piece was Ave Maria by Franz Biebl.   I have it on CD now and when I need peace and beauty I put it on and close my eyes and float over the flowing waves of music as they rise and fall. 

On a funny side note, when I was in graduate school I played this piece for my boyfriend at the time, saying, “This is one of my most favorite beautiful things.  I want to share it with you.”  We listened together and I waited excitedly for his response…which turned out to be- “But I didn’t understand anything they were saying!”  Well, yeah, it’s in LATIN.   He spent the whole time listening being distracted by trying to understand the words and missed out on the beauty and passion of the music.    It was different to him so he didn’t give it a chance.  So I say to YOU– even if you don’t like classical music, and don’t think you can listen to Ave Maria even one more time, you should click.  It is unlike anything I have ever heard, and is a truly unique arrangment.  Try something new today!  And give it a minute…it takes a bit to get to the best parts.  I would love to hear what you think!  Happy listening!