Thesis: To consider what the chance intersection of ideal beauty and intellectual confusion would mean in determining the fate of Earth. Phase 1: While touring San Francisco, I stayed at the Sir Francis Drake. The bartenders were adequate. Phase 2: I began a blog. I learned romance might exist, but depends upon whether a man and a woman can tread the maze individually and reach its center at the exact same instant in time. Phase 3: The center comes and goes as if it were a mirage.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Music & what was & what shall be
In commemoration of divorce
I was not going to post today, but suddenly it struck me like a lightning bolt: This is my anniversary. It was two years ago today my divorce was finalized. We had not been together since 2004, so my "adjustment period" has been a bit longer. Like five years? Lightning just struck again. Oh, well. In recognition of this momentous event, here are two (maybe I will come up with a third) songs from different ends of the music (and life) spectrum.
Andrea Bocelli should need no introduction unless, as the proverbial cliché goes, you have been living on Mars for the past decade or so. I have no doubt he is the finest tenor on stage today; if you have doubts, that is your problem. This is an old song: "Can't Help Falling in Love." Some of you might recall versions of this piece by Elvis Presley, Keely Smith (I love her voice), Celine Dion and even Bob Dylan. All versions are good, I guess (hard to wreck a beautiful song), but nothing in comparison to this rendition. I had a step-father who I fought with famously as a teenager and who introduced me to the sound of classical and Broadway music, as well as to opera. At least the old man knew what he was talking about in regard to music.
Following next is our favorite southern rock band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, performing "Simple Man." This is not the Lynyrd Skynyrd I offered a few days back singing "Free Bird." Many of those band members are dead, but some of the originals are still here and the singer is Johnny Van Zant, brother of the original vocalist, Ronnie Van Zant. Many think the two sound remarkably alike. If you have never attended a "good ol' boy" performance, you have no idea what fun a concert can be when compared to straight rock or, probably, to any other concert venue. I am talking fun; which is not the same as enjoyment. Get your boots, your cowboy hat, a Confederate battle flag, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and remember, you were born to be wild -- but only with the one you can't help falling in love with ....
So, in respect to me, myself and I:
Song No. 1 Andrea Bocelli, "Can't Help Falling in Love," is goodbye to the past and with dreams toward the future.
Song No. 2 Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Simple Man," is with thoughts to the present, uncomplicated, simple life.
Happy anniversary, if I may say that, and great choice of songs, especially the second one. I'm also divorced, but I can't think of a song that would fit my mood.
Have heard so many different versions of 'Cant help falling in love with you" and I love each one of them. Some fond memories attached too. This was the song the ex and I would almost always dance to, in the college socials.. Like someone once said, "The old dreams were good dreams. They didnt work out. BUt I`m glad I had them."
Releasing the old dreams and making new ones makes for our best life. Living in the here and now. The past is gone, nothing we can do about it...but the future, that is ours to create, isn't it?
I think changing our perspective to seeing the future as being opened up for new experiences, adventure, love, all those good things...that's the trick...sometimes hard to do, but so worthwhile if we can get there.
Happy Anniversary to your New Life! Make it a Happy One, Fram! xox
By all means, congratulations are in order, Polly. At least, as far as I am concerned.
Possibly, the nature of selecting the "right" song relates to how much time and distance have passed since the event. I have a tendency to think I have been single for ages, while legally, it has only been for two years.
It is a terrific song, I agree, Piper, and Andrea Bocelli has the perfect voice to sing it.
Actually, I have no specific memories to attach to this song like you do; nothing there for me other than simply enjoying it and feeling its message. I guess I am lucky in that sense.
Possibly, part of this with me is just now, after a few years, beginning to dream again.
Maybe this should be done as a countdown to the new rather than a measurement from the past; just the opposite of a traditional anniversary, in other words.
In any case, for sure, Kelly, the future is there to be built and shaped and molded by the individual, and most certainly can be when there is purpose.
Most people have a tendency to "go with the flow" and allow life to drive them, rather than devise a "battle plan" and to charge toward the future as if it were a hill to be captured. In any case, I have my battle plan this time around.
Battle plans are good and extremely necessary. Flexibility in implementation is also extremely important and necessary, not only in battle, but in human relationships. As you know, there are many surprises that come up in battle and in life. Can we really predict our futures? I don't think so. Best laid plans is the best we can do and hope that the angels are on our shoulder.
Although happily married (and may that last!) I salute, sir, because your choice of songs is absolutely wonderful. Especially the second one. You have to love these ol' cats.
Oh, glorious days, back in uni, twenty years ago this next September! Many thanks, you have brought back memories.
In Poland we say, we have a goose's skin, when something touches us so deep, that we tremble, shiver inside. Your first song made me feel like this, thank you Fram the Wolf. And the second one is also very unique to me, because of the lyrics. Thank you again. I wish you as much beauty and happiness, as we can hear in your anniversary songs, for whole your new life :-) Have a good afternoon, evening and weekend. Bye, bye.
I think you are absolutely right (ignore my use of the word absolutely), Kelly, in the ordinary sense of events. I was writing in a mostly personal context. There have been a few times in my life when I have absolutely known (ignore it again) what the outcome of a given project or task or goal would be the moment I began it.
This is difficult to explain, but I have experienced moments of perfect clarity in which I have known that if I follow a certain set of steps, I will achieve the end result I want. I am speaking of major events or accomplishments, too, some of which took months to conclude. It sort of falls under the category of: "If you want something badly enough ...."
If those "good ol' boys" brought you a few minutes of youth relived, all the better CiL.
Speaking of marriage, you might appreciate this. Today is the anniversary of the marriage that ended on yesterday's anniversary of the divorce. How many people do you know whose marriage and divorce coincide with an exact, precise number of years? That requires precision planning, does it not?
Well, thank you, for the wish, Magdalena. I am absolutely (my favorite word today, it would seem) certain that my "whole new life" will be filled with beauty and happiness beyond my expectations, and that it will include concerts of magical voices, such as that of Andrea Bocelli, and concerts of just plain fun, such as that of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
It pleases me that you enjoyed this music, since you have provided so many songs at your page that have been exceedingly exquisite to my ears. Thank you, for them.
Can't Help Falling in love - both a wonderful song and wonderful thought. Some things are meant to be. Gives one comfort that without any effort it will happen (really the same message that the lyrics of the Lynyrd Skynyrd song conveys). And Boccelli, with his clear and melodious voice sings it wonderfully (I guess that is my word of the day)...
I also agree with you that melodious might be the best way to describe Andrea Bocelli's voice, and he has to be the best tenor in the business these days, from my point of view.
Bachelor of Arts with a double major in English (= literature) and history (= reality). Master of Arts in literature. Once upon a time, U.S. Marine Corps = Semper Fidelis. These things pretty much explain everything there is to know about me.
Other than that, ask, if you actually are curious .... I like to drift where the current takes me within this endless sea of blogs, read what others write in their blogs, observe, learn, question and, hopefully, understand, while offering a few comments of my own along the way .... by the way, the photo of me actually is me .... was me .... will be me .... hmmmm ....
Fotocursus voor compactcamera
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Als fotograaf en cursusleider krijg ik vaak de vraag of je echt een dure
spiegelreflex- of systeemcamera nodig hebt om goede foto’s te maken. Het
antwoor...
COLANTARE DUBA
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Colantare Auto Duba la Graphis Advertising: Transforma vehiculul într-un
adevărat instrument de marketing!
*Graphis Advertising* îți oferă soluț...
My First Adult Ruby-crowned Kinglet
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Driving around Antelope island on that cold, windy day and seeing only
bisons, I decided to pluck up the courage to drive to Frary Peak.
The road to ...
This or this? #9
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Normally when I do this feature I give you two photos from which to choose.
(once I gave you two pairs) This time I have four photos with the same
subject....
Halcón peregrino (Falco peregrinus)
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"A través de mi ventana" A la memoria de Richard Pegler, naturalista,
fotógrafo y buen amigo. Tu alma vuela libre junto a las aves de las Islas
Sorlingas.
¿Te vienes de biblioteca?
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Será el próximo jueves 17 de octubre a las 18:30 h. en la Biblioteca
Pública José Luis Sampedro.
C/ Felipe el Hermoso, 4 Chamberí (Madrid)
Metro Iglesia
...
update
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I think a little up date is good
Det er lenge siden jeg har vært her og blogget
Men her er noen søte svaner med baby
Jeg syns de er veldig fine og ...
Taituroiva orava
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Orava (Sciurus vulgaris) Nähtävissä on että talviturkki alkanut
muuttua jo ruskeammansävyiseksi. Useita oravia on pihapiirin
lähettyvillä. Vauhdikasta m...
The Portable Jack Kerouac
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I have lots of things to teach you now,
in case we ever meet, concerning the message
that was transmitted to me under a pine tree in North Carolina
...
A Carteira Perdida!
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*A Carteira Perdida é uma belíssima história de amor verídica, que recebi
já traduzida faz um bom tempo por via e-mail. Ao procurar quem escreveu uma
car...
Time to Press 'Pause'
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I'm not quitting, just taking a break
In my natural habitat (photo by Deborah Jaffe)
I started this blog in June 2007. After an uncertain beginning, it pr...
UNIWIGS
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Hello my beloved readers! I am glad that there are still so many of you
with me. Even though I'm not the best blogger, haha. Let's start with what
really ...
Blogini osoite ja nimi on muuttunut
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*Tervetuloa lukijaksi uuteen blogiini*
* te kaikki tämän vanhan blogin lukijat*
*sekä myös uudet lukijat.*
*Pääset tästä linkistä uuteen ➣ Kuvallista bl...
4 years ago
Romance, from Fram
I discovered Romance might yet exist, but it depends upon whether a man and a woman can tread the maze, individually, and reach its center at the same moment in time.
The Actual Instant of Love, from Fram
I am a jealous guy, of the sort John Lennon sang about. Any man who says he is not a jealous guy either has no genuine depth of feelings for the woman he is saying it about or is a liar. I can remember very distinctly, for example, when my feelings for my wife vanished. It happened in an instant. When love vanished, so did jealousy.
Actual love happens in an instant, I believe, although it does not always seem to be that way. I am not talking about "love at first sight," but, rather, "love at first instant." This means two people might have known each other for weeks, even for years, before the "instant" occurs. It comes with a single sentence spoken by one, or a single action taken by one, that strikes the other like lightning.
Affection grows; love is born. Love also disappears in an instant, I believe, although it does not always seem to happen that way. Incidental to my point, I do not believe in "love at first sight." That is no more than simple, physical or emotional attraction, which is the cause of countless and never-ending problems.
Happiness is momentary, from Fram
When I was age eighteen, a wise, old man of twenty-six told me that happiness is a momentary thing. It might last for minutes or days or weeks or, sometimes, even for a few years. But, like life itself, happiness is a transitory thing and, like fate, it is capricious. At some point along the road, I came to realize this wise, old man had been right.
The Three Sorts of Friends ....
Though friendships differ endless in degree, The sorts, methinks, may be reduced to three. Acquaintance many, and Conquaintance few; But for Inquaintance I know only two -- The friend I've mourned with, and the maid I woo!
Samuel Taylor Coleridge poet & philosopher Fragment 10: "The Three Sorts of Friends"
Time retains ....
Time retains its sacred right to meddle in each earthly affair. Still, time's unbounded power that makes a mountain crumble, moves seas, rotates a star, won't be enough to tear lovers apart: they are too naked, too embraced, too much like timid sparrows.
Old age is, in my book, the price that felons pay, so don't whine that it's steep: you'll stay young if you're good. Suffering doesn't insult the body. Death? It comes in your sleep, exactly as it should.
When it comes, you'll be dreaming that you don't need to breathe; that breathless silence is the music of the dark and it's part of the rhythm to vanish like a spark.
Wislawa Szymborska poet, essayist & translator Nobel Prize for Poetry 1996 "Entropy"
Yesterday is History ....
Yesterday is History, 'Tis so far away -- Yesterday is Poetry -- 'Tis Philosophy --
Yesterday is mystery -- Where it is Today While we shrewdly speculate Flutter both away.
Emily Dickinson poet "Yesterday is History"
Never the answers
The most interesting thing in the world is another human being who wonders, suffers and raises the questions that have bothered him to the last day of his life, knowing he will never get the answers.
Will Durant historian, philosopher, teacher
The equality of man
Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not.
Thomas Jefferson president, patriot, free thinker
The audience
Better to write for yourself and have no public than to write for the public and have no self.
Cyril Connolly writer, editor, literary critic
I am free
I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do. Robert Heinlein science fiction writer philosopher
Marine Corps Forever, from Fram
To all Marines, those among the dead, those who still live, those yet to be born: Semper Fidelis, to the end of time ....
Have gun .... will travel
Once upon a time: "She said, There is no reason ...."
Time & again ....
Time .... he's waiting in the wings .... he speaks of senseless things .... but, if you could heal a broken heart, wouldn't time be out to charm you?
Voluspo 28-29
Alone I sat when the Old One sought me .... The terror of gods, and gazed in mine eyes .... "What hast thou to ask? why comest thou hither? .... Othin, I know where thine eye is hidden" .... Deep in the wide-famed well of Mimir .... Mead from the pledge of Othin each morn .... Does Mimir drink: would you know yet more? ....
14 comments:
Happy anniversary, if I may say that, and great choice of songs, especially the second one. I'm also divorced, but I can't think of a song that would fit my mood.
Have heard so many different versions of 'Cant help falling in love with you" and I love each one of them.
Some fond memories attached too. This was the song the ex and I would almost always dance to, in the college socials..
Like someone once said, "The old dreams were good dreams. They didnt work out. BUt I`m glad I had them."
Releasing the old dreams and making new ones makes for our best life. Living in the here and now. The past is gone, nothing we can do about it...but the future, that is ours to create, isn't it?
I think changing our perspective to seeing the future as being opened up for new experiences, adventure, love, all those good things...that's the trick...sometimes hard to do, but so worthwhile if we can get there.
Happy Anniversary to your New Life!
Make it a Happy One, Fram!
xox
By all means, congratulations are in order, Polly. At least, as far as I am concerned.
Possibly, the nature of selecting the "right" song relates to how much time and distance have passed since the event. I have a tendency to think I have been single for ages, while legally, it has only been for two years.
It takes a while to pick an "anniversary" song.
It is a terrific song, I agree, Piper, and Andrea Bocelli has the perfect voice to sing it.
Actually, I have no specific memories to attach to this song like you do; nothing there for me other than simply enjoying it and feeling its message. I guess I am lucky in that sense.
Possibly, part of this with me is just now, after a few years, beginning to dream again.
Maybe this should be done as a countdown to the new rather than a measurement from the past; just the opposite of a traditional anniversary, in other words.
In any case, for sure, Kelly, the future is there to be built and shaped and molded by the individual, and most certainly can be when there is purpose.
Most people have a tendency to "go with the flow" and allow life to drive them, rather than devise a "battle plan" and to charge toward the future as if it were a hill to be captured. In any case, I have my battle plan this time around.
Battle plans are good and extremely necessary. Flexibility in implementation is also extremely important and necessary, not only in battle, but in human relationships. As you know, there are many surprises that come up in battle and in life.
Can we really predict our futures? I don't think so. Best laid plans is the best we can do and hope that the angels are on our shoulder.
Although happily married (and may that last!) I salute, sir, because your choice of songs is absolutely wonderful. Especially the second one. You have to love these ol' cats.
Oh, glorious days, back in uni, twenty years ago this next September! Many thanks, you have brought back memories.
Greetings from London.
In Poland we say, we have a goose's skin, when something touches us so deep, that we tremble, shiver inside. Your first song made me feel like this, thank you Fram the Wolf. And the second one is also very unique to me, because of the lyrics. Thank you again. I wish you as much beauty and happiness, as we can hear in your anniversary songs, for whole your new life :-) Have a good afternoon, evening and weekend. Bye, bye.
I think you are absolutely right (ignore my use of the word absolutely), Kelly, in the ordinary sense of events. I was writing in a mostly personal context. There have been a few times in my life when I have absolutely known (ignore it again) what the outcome of a given project or task or goal would be the moment I began it.
This is difficult to explain, but I have experienced moments of perfect clarity in which I have known that if I follow a certain set of steps, I will achieve the end result I want. I am speaking of major events or accomplishments, too, some of which took months to conclude. It sort of falls under the category of: "If you want something badly enough ...."
If those "good ol' boys" brought you a few minutes of youth relived, all the better CiL.
Speaking of marriage, you might appreciate this. Today is the anniversary of the marriage that ended on yesterday's anniversary of the divorce. How many people do you know whose marriage and divorce coincide with an exact, precise number of years? That requires precision planning, does it not?
Well, thank you, for the wish, Magdalena. I am absolutely (my favorite word today, it would seem) certain that my "whole new life" will be filled with beauty and happiness beyond my expectations, and that it will include concerts of magical voices, such as that of Andrea Bocelli, and concerts of just plain fun, such as that of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
It pleases me that you enjoyed this music, since you have provided so many songs at your page that have been exceedingly exquisite to my ears. Thank you, for them.
Can't Help Falling in love - both a wonderful song and wonderful thought. Some things are meant to be. Gives one comfort that without any effort it will happen (really the same message that the lyrics of the Lynyrd Skynyrd song conveys). And Boccelli, with his clear and melodious voice sings it wonderfully (I guess that is my word of the day)...
Lets raise a glass and toast Falling in Love!
I think you must be a true romantic, Peggy.
I also agree with you that melodious might be the best way to describe Andrea Bocelli's voice, and he has to be the best tenor in the business these days, from my point of view.
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