Unfiltered Rah!

Some old favourites this week and I KNOW some of you won’t like so won’t listen. I really adore this song from Joni Mitchell, my husband hates it. But it is so beautiful - Both sides now. I love it so much - here are the words I love clouds.

Both Sides Now
by Joni Mitchell

Rows and flows of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
I’ve looked at clouds * that way

But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way
I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now

From up and down, and still somehow
It’s cloud illusions I recall
I really don’t know clouds at all

Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way you feel
As ev’ry fairy tale comes real
I’ve looked at love that way

But now it’s just another show
You leave ‘em laughing when you go
And if you care, don’t let them know
Don’t give yourself away

I’ve looked at love from both sides now
From give and take, and still somehow
It’s love’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know love at all

Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say “I love you” right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
I’ve looked at life that way

But now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, they say I’ve changed
Well something’s lost, but something’s gained
In living every day

I’ve looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life at all
I’ve looked at life from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life at all
© 1969; Siquomb Publishing Company

Next is a song I love to think I can sing, especially after a glass of something sparkly
Chains - Tina Arena

And simply for fun, Love Shack - The B52s

Dancing away here

Have a musical week peeps xxxx

I am a little pooped, mad busy time at school - observations, assessments and planning - not to mention teaching Already we are looking towards holiday time, thinking hot sunny weather, long white sandy beaches and crystal blue waters. Breathe in, exhale. Relax. Read, lounge, chat, swim, recline gracefully on a scrumptiously plush sun lounger with a cool glass of something decadent. I am there. We’re hoping to go somewhere new. Fingers crossed!

So where in the world are you hoping to go to next and when are you going? I have been to so many nice places and can’t wait to sample a few new ones this year!

Langkawi 2008 x

Greetings, I have been a busy one and am trying desperately to post here even if it’s only for Musical Monday! So here are my offerings :)

I like this one, loving Nell Bryden’s voice - Not Like Loving You.

Jason Derulo - Whatcha Say, a little different to the first but addictive and I find myself singing it. Plus he’s kinda cool.

And finally a song that has been in my head because I listened to the Bridget Jones soundtrack a couple of days ago. It is stunning, in my opinion, now listening to her stuff on youtube - god bless the internet. Rosey - Love.

Sing it loud and proud people!!!!

Okay so not drunk, just tipsy, Oh well! Manic working all day, am tired, tipsy, missing home and by home I mean husband. Hugs from dogs, now off to bed. Sleep well me. Sorry for disturbing your relative peace to everyone else. Love and hugs x

It’s that time again! Happy Monday!

First, Mr Leto, I just bought this album, tis ace
30 Seconds to Mars - Kings and Queens

A pick me up song, sing along and feel a bit glam!
Fergie - Glamorous

From my hometown, and my favourite song by them. Makes me happy!
Arctic Monkeys - Mardy Bum

Sing, sing a song people!

xxx

Okay I was always going to love this show. I have often wondered oh why can’t my life be like a musical?! If you have missed it, you are missing a fantastically happy, darkly funny show. Lights, costumes, high school and bitter sarcasm - excellent! Who doesn’t love to sing along!? Join me, “Don’t stop believin’….” Monday nights are a better place, happy, gush, dance and please someone start a glee club near me!

If you’ve missed out!

Sat here grooving!

I love reading but have done very little for pleasure in the last few months. Longer than that even, probably. I have done reading for work, reading of the news online, and the occasional blog surfing but not the curling up with a good book variety. So I am taking Alicia’s Book Club quite seriously indeed, found the book and now about to start it. I am hoping that this leads to me finishing my rereading of War and Peace and allows me to put together a phenomenal book list for my bucket list. So if you have any reading recommendations - just leave a comment!

The book we are reading this month is “Too Much Happiness” by Alice Munro. Not read any of her work but read lots about her, she won the Man Booker International prize in 2009 and is lauded as one of the gems in Canada’s literary scene. I like to know a bit about the writers of the books I’m reading, and so found a couple of interviews for you guys to peruse with me. Got me excited about reading. So if you want to join us, there’s still time to read the book quickly Just pop on over and put your name down - here.

Reading can help with depression, relaxation, and above all joy. So I shall endeavour to make time for it, to prepare for it - I must go get an eye test, busy eyes = tired eyes, and to enjoy it again.

Happy reading xxx

Apologies for my weekly absence, apparently though your heart will be fonder! I am almost getting there regarding settling into a routine with my new job so hopefully it will settle down some time so I can take a breath and catch up. So. Very. Tired.

Anyhow enough moaning (as I am loving it) and here’s my musical Monday post - cue trumpets!

First, Tim Hawkins’ Kids Rock. Hilarious renditions of popular childrens’ songs by rock stars. Fabness, very cool and quite funny made me and the hubby smile anway!

Second, Fran & Josh, saw these guys on the same line up at friend’s band’s gig last summer. They are amazing. Raw talent and yet polished.

Lastly, as I am pooped and falling to sleep.

Katie Melua, perfect. Thank you, stars. One of my favourites of hers.

G’night, God Bless! xxx

Am so gutted, firefox crashed and took away my lovely post about my adoration for music and my current playlist favourites. So here we go again!

Jamie Cullum, yummy delicious sultry voice, fab piano - I heart piano music, oh yeah!
Buy The Pursuit now I have been tweeting my love for that and The Fall by Norah Jones.
I chose this as I am a big Rihanna fan and like what Jamie has done it - Don’t Stop the Music.

Next as we’re talking about Rihanna (kinda) I really do like Russian Roulette.
Very sexy, moody. I am falling for that chorus

And finally, new love, infactuation and obsession - I’m obsessed with the mess… it’ll get in your head I swear! Marina and the Diamonds (superb band name!) with Hollywood. I want their album (out in February). Stunning video, and such a beautifully different voice. I heart them!

Always looking for new finds, recommend away in my comments section, be kind to your ears folks!

xxx

So I am not as the title of this post suggests, starting anew. Not totally anyway. Well, new years lend themselves to stretching, contemplating and guiding positive thought into some sort of positive action. I said to one of my students today, “come in tomorrow with a new head on". She was very giddy, disruptive and noisy today and I wanted her to realise that her choice was having an effect on the rest of the class. Changing your frame of mind, can be life altering. I have long believed that happiness is a choice, you can choose to see the positive or dwell on the negative in life. Realising that can radically alter how you live.

Attempting to change the way you see life can be the first step in changing your inner “landscape”. Marcel Proust, in one of my absolute favourite quotes, has it right on the money, “The voyage of true discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” I see a rich lush landscape of people and experiences awaiting me in 2010 and am happily setting about my journey. Perhaps this is a rosy clouded perspective but I have been down at heel emotionally speaking for far too long. In embracing a new set of eyes, I am able to take on the challenge of being away from home (it is indeed where the heart is!) for part of the week, starting my career and tackling things, instead of procrastinating.

It is a quasi-rebirth, a new breath and a nervous step in another direction. All the snow we’ve been having a lately felt strangely symbolic of this time in my life. It made me think about the last story in James Joyce’s “Dubliners” - The Dead. A story, I believe, which focuses on shifting perspectives.
“His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.”
This final line makes me envision a man who needs his life to be washed clean as his focus on things around him have sharpened and become more realistic. He feels a link to the falling snow as he needs to start again. I like its link to the old myths of Ancient Greece, particularly of Persephone and Demeter, daughter and mother. Demeter is said to share her daughter with Hades (who stole her from her mother’s side) and her grief at spending only half the year with her daughter is used as an explanation for the changing seasons. Her sorrow becomes the bleak landscape of winter after which comes the joy of sunny days and the return of her daughter. Essentially Persephone is reimagined and reborn every time she comes back. New eyes indeed!

Apologies for my wandering tonight I am just getting warmed up again

xxx