Imitation Of Life

My friend introduced this song to me a few months ago, and I fell in love with it. I love to listen to the words when I need a pick me up. It's very inspiring.

Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)

01 Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’97
Wear Sunscreen
If I could offer you only one tip for the future,
sunscreen would be it.
The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists,
whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience
I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth, oh nevermind,
you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself
and recall in a way you can’t grasp now, how much possibility lay before you
and how fabulous you really looked,
you are not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future, or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum.
The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you

Sing

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts,
don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss

Don’t waste your time on jealousy, sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind,
the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults,
if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life,
the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22
what they wanted to do with their lives,
some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t,
Maybe you’ll divorce at 40,
Maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary
What ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either
Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.
Enjoy your body, use it every way you can, don’t be afraid of it,
or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Brother and sister together we'll make it through
Someday a spirit will take you and guide you there
I know you've been hurtin, but I've been waitin' to be there for you
And I'll be there just helping you out whenever I can

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings, they are the best link to your past
and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on.
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get,
the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard,
Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander,
you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young
prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund,
Maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it.
Advice is a form of nostalgia,
dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off,
painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen

Brother and sister together we'll make it through
Someday a spirit will take you and guide you there
I know you've been hurtin, but I've been waitin' to be there for you
And I'll be there just helping you out whenever I can
Everybody's free oh yeah
Everybody's free oh yeah

Sanity

If sanity is contagious,
and sane is what we are,
 
      God help us all!

Easter

3 comments

What have you tried in life that you just weren't very good at?

I've tried on a few faces in my time (it makes me sound wise), and I realized that you can't change what is. I realized that I'm not good at forgiveness. That even though I want to be all fun and whimsical, it takes me a long time to let go, if I ever do. I realized that regardless of how passionate and determined I am about something, I will never succeed until I procrastinate first. And, I realized that I am quiet by nature. That, sometimes it would be great to be that girl who takes what she wants when she wants it, and says what she wants when she wants to, no matter what anyone says, but I am not that girl.

Either way, I like trying on different personas, and trying new things. If you don't try, you'll never know what you're great at. It's always nice to surprise yourself.

The Second Child: Poems

Deborah Garrison

This is yet another book of Poetry from me. I swear the other two books I’m currently reading are not of poetry. This is called, “The Second Child” by Deborah Garrison.

I found this book, basically by browsing the Poetry section at Chapters, and I immediately liked what I saw. Deborah is a contemporary free verse writer who writes about life, love and motherhood after her second child (hence the title of the book).

Her writing is clean and simple. She doesn’t express that overt darkness that I find a lot of contemporary poets do. Well, ones that I read anyway.

I did my best to find a short poem of hers, so that you can see what sort of thing to expect from her.

Song After Everyone’s Asleep

When I woke in the night with a mania
To please you and shifted so you’d shift and
Half-wake too, in the dark without my glasses, you
Without yours, I reached into your shorts; your lashes
Flicked up, and in the blur I caught the smoother face
Of the boy you were when you first grabbed my hand
On the path through the woods behind the school yard,
A stone’s throw from my mother’s house –
When I felt suddenly entire, that I was a whole body
Holding another whole body with my hand.

We can never go back there.
But with eyes still closed you smile
Permission for me, with my hand,
To keep you awake awhile.

That one is a bit sexual, but it’s as shocking as it gets. Besides, I still think the undertone is still very sweet.

Sims2

My Friend bought me The Sims 2 Deluxe for Christmas, and only today did I get around to installing it on my computer. I became interested in this game a few years ago, and then more recently when I read an article on it by a writer named Chuck Klosterman (check him out if you haven't heard). Since then, I heavily anticipated what my sim life would be like. Of course, I thought it was going to be amazing... I was so wrong about that.

I didn't bother to read the instructions before game play. I figured I would pick up tips along the way, I mean how hard can it be to simulate your own life? Apparently, difficult.

It started off positive. My Sim Jen was in love with her Sim husband. They couldn't keep their hands off of eachother all night, and they only wanted to make eachother happy. This sparked Sim Jen to want a baby (which I never figured out how to do, and so my Sim Jen was very disappointed). I didn't know how to find them jobs, so they acquired no life skills and became bored. They refused to sleep in the same bed, or in separate beds, no matter what kind of bed I bought them. Each one only wanted to sleep on the left hand side of the bed, so they would have to take turns sleeping. Sometimes Sim Jen would go sleep on the couch because she's not a complainer. When out on a date, they wouldn't sit together, so the date was never successful. My Sim husband was always flirting and dreaming about other girls which made my Sim Jen jealous. She never made any friends of her own.

I also found it difficult to navigate , so it would take me about 6-12 hours to do anything. My Sims were always hungry and tired, and would sleep at about 8am. Sometimes they would go out on a date at 9pm and only get back around 6am, in which I would randomly find my Sims sleeping in various places. My Sim husband was found once sleeping in the middle of the road, while Sim Jen by the mailbox in the yard. Sim Jen actually fell asleep standing up at one point. Neither of which is as bad as when my Sim husband wet himself though.

Eventually with lack of sleep, hunger and no career skills, my sims began to fall out of love. The chemistry was still there but the irritation built among them. One day, Sim Jen was making dinner (which she acquired no skills for) and caused a fire. The kitchen went up in flames. Both my Sim Jen (in her bra and underwear - she refused to get dressed) and Sim husband (in his boxers - I tried to get them to be attracted to eachother) tried to extinguish the fire, but it was just too much. My Sim husband became encircled in flames and caught on fire. The Grim Reaper showed up and took my Sim husband away. My Sim Jen pleaded for his life, but to no avail. My Sim Life was destroyed, and the flames continued to burn.

I decided at that point, not to save the game. I think next time, I will go through the tutorial process, and figure out all the complexities of the game. The ironic thing, was as I was trying to extinguish the Sim fire in the kitchen, I didn't hear the timer go off on my oven, and so I almost burned my REAL dinner. The chicken was a little over done, but edible.

Book of Longing

Leonard Cohen

I just recently joined the group 50 in 365, which is a challenge to read 50 books in 365 days. That would mean almost 1 a week. Considering that it’s March and I’ve only completed 1, I would say I am way behind. I am still going to give it a shot though. Why not? I love reading. I will be placing all the books I have in the books section of my blog.

The one book I have completed so far this year is “The Book Of Longing” by Leonard Cohen. It’s a collection of his poetry and drawings. And for anyone who is a fan of his music, or a fan of poetry in general, I strongly recommend this book.

His writing is introspective, personal and at times witty, while his drawings are both philosophical and erotic. He composes simplistic free verse poems alongside complex rhyming masterpieces that always leaves you wanting to read more.

I found this book inspiring, and I can’t wait to go out and buy his other works.

I am using my first post to just basically state that I am new here. My intent for this site is to post writings and ramblings. I also hope that along the way I can meet people with common interests, and maybe possibly become friends, if only virtually.

I discovered this site through a write up in my school newspaper on blogging. I thought it looked pretty cool, so here I am. I won't be writing every day as I am a student, but I will try for no less than once a week.

Question of the Day: If you could go back and change one thing you've done in your life, what would it be?

There is nothing that I would change in my life because I believe in fate. I believe everything happens for a reason, and so I trust that even though things didn't always work out in the past, I will always see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am who I am today because of all those things I did (and mainly didn't do), and I love this person, flaws and all.

So, I guess for now, I will say HELLO and GOODNIGHT!!!