May the Song Move You

I really hate those Facebook quizzes that ask you what type of music you listen too, or what's on your playlist, or who's your favorite artist. I can never think of answers that a) my friends would not have me committed for; b) I should be ashamed to listen to (I went through a weird period where I had the Grease soundtrack on my MP3 player); or c) should never have made any playlist anywhere.

With all the buzz about the crazy awesome performance by Susan Boyle I started thinking about songs in general and how they have the power to move you completely out of yourself for different reasons. So here goes - promise not to laugh at my way eclectic music tastes - my list of songs that move me and why they move me:

Religious (nearly all the old hymns hit me in the gut and many bring tears to my eyes) these in particular get me every time:

• Rock of Ages - dude - "foul, I to the fountain fly. Wash me savior or I die." I defy you to be unmoved by that line alone
• Old Rugged Cross
• Softly and Tenderly
• The Doxology (thank God my church still sings this every once in a while)
• Great is thy Faithfulness
• How Great Thou Art
• Amazing Grace
  
• In the Garden
• I'm Going Home (Alabama Sacred Harp Singers version)

Ok, so here comes the eclectic part:

• Mandolin Rain - Bruce Hornsby - there's no more nostalgic song
• This Year's Love - David Gray - Dang!
• Mo Ghile Mear - (loved Sting's version on The Cheiftains Long Black Veil CD - that's a totally awesome CD by the way - check it out if you're a fan of Mick Jagger, Sting, Marianne Faithful or Tom Jones)
• Ragland Road - Roger Daltrey's version on The Chieftains An Irish Evening Live at the Grand Opera House, Belfast. BTW, this is another weird little gem of a CD - it's got Roger singing Behind Blue Eyes, which was redone by Limp Bizkit in 2003.
• Already Gone - Sugarland - the verse where she leaves her guy - gut punch
• Crazy Love & Into the Mystic - Van Morrison - self explanatory
• Crazy - Aerosmith - don't ask me why. Weirdly, I found that 1 of only two songs I know all the way through is Aerosmith's "What it Takes". What does that say about me?
  
• Tom Traubert's Blues & Have I Told you Lately - from Rod Stewart's Unplugged & Seated CD
• Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton
• Life in a Northern Town - both The Dream Academy and Sugarland versions
  
• With a Little Help from My Friends & You Are So Beautiful - Joe Cocker
  
• Georgia on My Mind - Ray Charles
• Roll me Away - Bob Segar
• Bobby Magee - Janis Joplin
  
• Amazed - Lonestar. I put this song here not so much because of the song, but because of where I heard it! I had to go to Buenos Aires for 2 weeks when this song was popular in America. I was completely out of my element and homesick. One day, I went out with the group and while they were talking (much as I like to think I speak a little Spanish, I really don't) this song came on the radio. I think I cried just for the love of hearing a little English!

You can listen to this playlist now. There are, of course, many, many more. What are your favorites and why?

Hide and go seek in the dark

My brother reminded me of a game we used to play when we were young. We named it Hide and Go Seek in the Dark. Oh, don't let the name fool you - it was much more complex than it sounds.

The three of us would hole up in a guest bedroom and plot and plan for hours on end. Hide and Go Seek in the Dark came about on a rainy Sunday sometime when we were still in grade school. If you were "it", your sole duty was to stare at the overhead light for approximately forever if Brett was the timekeeper. The other two would man the light and when "time was up", turn it off.

As you can imagine, if you've ever stared at a light for any length of time, the afterimage is permanently burned into your retina. One person would turn "it" around and around rendering you blind and vomitous (I really hope my dad doesn't read this) and completely without direction. The other two sibs would hide while the sick, dizzy, headblind one would stumble around in the darkened room searching for the next victim of this bizarre game.

Even more bizarre, we played it hours on end and for years! I'm sure we did permanent damage to our eyes (in fact, since I had to have LASIK in December, I'm certain of it). This was in the formative years after we stopped playing Star Wars in the back of Dad's car and before we started listening to Michael Jackson. Dude, that dates me if nothing else does.

Remembering this game was such a relief after a couple of really bad weeks that I find myself owing my brother - not a place you really want to be most times! We lost our beloved dog to cancer and had to put her down (which is the most barbaric thing you can do in the name of humanity). For a couple of days, I walked around with her afterimage burned into my retina. She was such a part of our lives that I saw her out of my peripheral vision for days after she was gone.

Sick, dizzy, and a little headblind, I stumbled through work and life missing that dog more than I can remember missing any human being. I think God gives us pets to show us real unconditional and unquestioning love and it should break our hearts when they are gone. Even now, sitting at my computer writing this, I think she should be laying at my feet waiting for me to get up and play or feed her or play.

Thank you God for simple gifts of furry friends, family, human friends and the joys of memories be they nostalgic, sad, or joyful. "This is My comandment that you love one another and your joy may be full!"

The magic word

We watch a lot of Dora the Explorer in our house. Strangely enough, there are quite a few TV viewing options for our two-year old. And most of them are quite cultural. Right now Gracie's watching a cute little Chinese-American girl called Kai-lan. Her catchphrase is "Ni Hao!", which Gracie has translated to the much easier Meow! Both Dora and Kai-lan subtly introduce their native languages to two-year olds all over the world.

My favorite Dora quote came from our good friend Jeremy: "Ah Dora, converting the world to Spanish one word at a time." Classic!

All this culture however, is not without its side effects. The other night while we were eating dinner, Gracie demanded to have more juice. Her daddy said, "what's the magic word?" because we're really trying for the manners thing... Gracie didn't even have to think about this one; she promptly and quite proudly announced: "abra!"

Abra? It took us a few minutes, but we finally figured it out... Dora has an episode where she has to ask a rock to open it's door. The storyline refers to abra as the magic word to open the doors. Mystery solved.; the magic word really is abra!

The more I think about it, abra really is a magic word. I often catch myself humming that Michael W. Smith standard Open the Eyes of my Heart. I think God would say that abra is a great word: just think back to VBS as a kid and the great Rev 3:20 verse "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."

I remember being quite young when I opened that door and my prayer today is that I always obey when God whispers "abra por favor."

I wanna be a race car driver

There it is - the veriest of truths! I like - no, wait - I love to drive fast. In fact, I love to drive fast so much that I don't even realize I'm doing it anymore. Case in point: I got to work in 19 minutes this morning. This is not a good thing as it is typically a 45 minute drive with no traffic. When I looked down at the clock and saw the time... Well, shocked was an understatement. I guess when my husband hums the Speed Racer theme beneath his breath as I drive merrily along I ought to get a clue, no?

I think I would be a great race car driver! Never mind that I know next to nothing about building or maintaining a car... Isn't it enough to know that I want to drive fast and am good at it? Hmm...there's a racing school out at Texas Motor Speedway that I need to check out.

Of course, I also wanted to be a secret agent (as in CIA or something like that). I even focused on diplomatic U.S. history in college. Or a rock star! But I gave both of those dreams up when I realized I was not that fond of traveling and that I could not sing (which, apparently, is a critical necessity for a rock star - see Milli Vanilli and Ashley Simpson).

It's interesting that closer to 50 than 20, I still have these dreams. I have a career - one that I'm mostly ecstatic about. I get to work with God's servants every day and help advance the Kingdom in some small measure. How many people can say that? Not too many would be my guess.

So, in the end, I'm very blessed that God made me a writer. I get to do what I'm best at on a regular basis and in my spare time I can create characters that drive fast, practice espionage and subterfuge, or sing as pretty as an angel. So my prayer is that Jeff Gordon never comes to ask me to race on his team - the temptation to change careers might be more than this writer could resist!

Naked neighbors have too many hands

Ok, before you go getting all excited, it's not what you think. I'm sick to death of trying to blog about work and am back to writing about my life. And the center of my life is my daughter. That hilarious, precious baby keeps me laughing and makes everything worth it.

Being two, she has found that she can talk and talk a lot! My favorite things that she says:

1. While running naked through the house "Daddy! I'm a naked neighbor!" or when she and I are getting ready for bed "Mommy, we're naked neighbors!". She's trying to say naked jaybird, but it just doesn't come out that way. :)
   
   
2. When she is holding something in each hand and you try to give her something else she says "Mommy, I have too many hands!"
   

These are perfect memories that I pray I will never forget - particularly when she turns into a teenager and I need some precious memories to bolster my parental self-image!