Welcome to 2012

What an odd start to the year. Christmas went by without much fuss and New Year's did the same. I think maybe one year I'd like to get dressed up, go out, and eat, drink, and be merry. And maybe, just maybe, stay up past midnight. Or even until midnight.

This year I was asleep by 10 p.m. I think I woke up briefly right before 12, but mostly I just slept. 

My grandparents used to send me gold ornaments every year. The last thing I received from them was this very gold (and slightly gaudy) angel. And there was a bare spot on the tree just below her. And I had this gorilla. And we decided that it would look a bit like King Kong rescuing Fay Wray if we put him in the empty spot. And there you have it. The 2011 Christmas tree topper.

And now we're a week into the new year. And in the past week I have applied for a job, received a job offer (somewhere else), and got a call from my good friends over at Skidmore College asking me to work for them for a bit. And the owner of the gym where I work-out would like me to become an instructor. (In slightly related news, I was berated by one the trainers at my gym for taking too many classes in a day. Apparently three hours of cardio and two hours of strength training between 6:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. is too much.) And, of course, in another couple weeks I'll have to start working on my master's thesis again. As much as I have loved studying anthropology for the past five years, I am looking forward to finishing this degree. And just working. And not being stressed about reading a thousand pages a week or writing three 20-page papers simultaneously. This is not to say that I won't choose to go back to my studies sometime down the road. Perhaps the time will come when I will miss academia again and I'll enter that world once more...but I think, for now, I'd like to have a normal life. 

Now, I promised in an earlier post to revisit my life in music. It seems that my dear brother Stewart was slightly offended when I boiled down his musical influence to NIN and Nirvana. While those groups and those particular songs do represent some of of his [teenage] musical offerings to me (and I don't think there's anything wrong with that), I suppose it would be unfair to limit him only to those gems of the early 90's. And, since he is one of the two or three readers of this blog, I will now right the horribly unjust wrong which was committed against him. 

The Musical Stylings of one Stewart Edward Forbes, I, Esq. 

The Early Years:

Remember when we thought this was the best classical music had to offer? Remember that episode of Frasier when he and Niles had that same discussion? Remember when we realized that, despite growing up in a farm town in the middle of nowhere, we can be pompous asses?

Stew the teenager (and keep in mind those previously mentioned tunes):

The Blue Album will always be their best album.

More Recent Stew:

 

Sure, there are countless other things I could add to any one of these sections of Stewart's influence, but that's all I have the patience for right now.

Here's a photo of some pretty flowers I just bought myself. I love daisies.

And because I decided to take a walk down memory lane earlier, here are a few from Ireland in 2009.

That's me hiding in a field on the way to a beach with a cemetery.

I decided that these guys are named Sean and Patrick. I don't know that they are, but it seemed likely. And this is probably my favorite photo from that trip.

This was by a castle that some dude built for his wife. A castle with a view...who wouldn't like that?

 

And to close things out, this is one of my new favorite songs.

Goodbye and thanks for all the fishes!

Post Script...

I woke up early on Christmas morning. Not because I was super-excited to open gifts. Not really because Gulliver was pacing around as though he was desperate to go out (which he was). But because I realized that I had forgotten a very important movie on my top ten movie list. And yes, I know that that will actually bring me up to 12 movies (I knew I wouldn't be able to keep it at ten), but I don't care.

What movie, you're wondering, could possibly be so important as to wake me up early on a day when I actually had the opportunity to sleep past 6 a.m.?

Well, here it is..........

.....wait for it.......

DIRTY DANC ING!!!

I don't even know where it goes in the list. Definitely closer to #1 than #10.

Because nobody puts Baby in a corner.

And a few more additions to the honorable mention category: A Few Good Men, Crimson Tide, Anna and the King, Whale Rider, The Matrix...this is getting ridiculous.

Enough about movies.

This is me with my fun new Christmas t-shirt.

Well, not "Christmas t-shirt," but t-shirt that was a Christmas gift.

Not that I really needed to clarify.

Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock.
I think Spock should always win, but apparently Lizard and Paper beat him.
I don't know why.

Gulliver is just a mess. And I look a little sleepy.




How about some music to get you through the morning?

I can't remember. I may have posted this video here before.
But it's a spectacular song and an interesting video. So enjoy.


And one more....

Merry Christmahanukwanzakkah

It's Christmas Eve.

There are a few more presents to be wrapped, a little tweaking to be done on the flower arrangements, and cards to be signed. But while I had a free moment, I thought I would say a few things to the great void that is the interwebs.

I love movies. Nearly as much as I love music. (And movies with great music? Pure magic.) So, I've often wondered if I could name my ten favorite movies. Can I even narrow it down that much? I'm going to give it a try. There's at least one Christmas movie on this list, so that makes it a seasonally appropriate post, right? Righto.

#10- Dead Poets Society

Carpe Diem.

#9.5- Labyrinth

David Bowie in spandex AND goblins. Pure entertainment.

#9- The Princess Bride

Mawiage. Mawiage is what bwings us toogevah today.

Classic.

#8- White Christmas

Oh, Bing. Nothing says Merry Christmas like this movie.

#7- You've Got Mail

I just love it. Can't help it.

#6- Juno

A movie about a couple of gawky teenagers, pregnancy, and adoption? Sure thing. And how cute is the ending?

#5- Waking Ned Devine

Ireland. Spectacular scenery, wonderful music, lots of laughter, and endless pints. What more could you ask for?

#4- Snatch

Jason Statham and Brad Pitt? Don't mind if I do.

#3- The Fifth Element

Can anyone explain why we love this movie? Don't know. Don't care. Doesn't matter.

#2- Last of the Mohicans

Beautiful soundtrack. And a great story. And set right here (even though the movie was filmed in North Carolina).

#1- Braveheart

Absolutely magnificent. And prior to Mel Gibson going entirely nutty.

Another wonderful soundtrack and a great story (even if it is largely shite).

So, that's what I'm going with for the top ten...fine. 10.5. Because I got to the end and realized I had forgotten The Princess Bride. But then I couldn't take out any of the others. So it's sharing a spot with Labyrinth. And there's nothing you can do about it. 

There are lots of others, of course. Monty Python and the Holy Grail, not to mention the Meaning of Life. Casablanca. It's a Wonderful Life. Just about any romantic comedy. Any number of Pixar movies. Most of the Harry Potter movies.

And of course, the Lord of the Rings. In fact...

Pippin has always been my favorite hobbit.

And he's Scottish. And he sings.All good things.

I suppose I'll leave it at that.

Please have a wonderful Christmas!

And tune in next time to revisit "My Life in Music."

(It seems that there were some complaints about a potential misrepresentation of my musical influences...)

A Quick Note

Hi.

Life has been crazy. Christmas is one week from today and thanks to the wonders of the internet, I am now just about finished with my shopping. It won't be a very expansive sort of gift-giving season. Which makes sense because as much as I love giving people things, I refuse to add greatly to my debt load in order to do so. And the extra cash available for--let's face it, often completely unnecessary--gifts is minimal. So many people will have to be okay with the knowledge that I love them. And perhaps some cookies and other treats.

I very nearly lost my mind over the course of the last couple of weeks as I attempted to complete papers for my three grad school classes. I was feeling a definite lack of focus which I suspect is quite apparent in the first two papers (I managed to buck up and write something decent for the last one).

This is what life looked like, at least in the beginning...later it turned into utter insanity with books being propped open with assorted fruit and printed articles strewn about the desk, plus thirty PDFs, a few Word documents, and a game of Mahjong Titans (ever played that game? I was obsessed while writing) all open on my laptop.

But it's done now. I'll find out in another week if I completely bombed. But at least I don't have to stress about this stuff now.

Until next month. When I have to deal with writing my thesis.

That's about all I have time for this morning. Now I should get ready for work.

Here are some enjoyable tunes to get you through the day.

Accordian solo, anyone?

An odd song (as one might expect from Bjork) and an even stranger video...and I can't help but love it.

My Life in Music

Before I get into the music aspect of today's post, let me tell you a little something about me and exercise: I have become obsessed. I realized it a while ago and it was confirmed earlier today. You see, a few weeks ago I started having this horrible pain in my left shin. I have no idea what happened. It didn't hurt all the time, but when it did I could barely put any weight on that leg. So, I took some naproxen (leftovers from that time a couple months ago when I fell down the stairs), rotated between applying ice and heat, and kept it elevated whenever possible.
And I took a day off from going to the gym.

That's right. One whole day.

For the last few months I have been at the gym every day of the week anywhere from one hour to three hours each day. If I couldn't make it on Sundays because of work, I would go for a run instead. And today was a Sunday that I had to work, so couldn't go to the gym. And I tried to go running. Except my shin started hurting about three minutes into it.
And I thought that maybe I shouldn't ignore that I was in severe pain.
So I slowed to a walk and begrudgingly turned around and headed home.
I hated doing that.

A few hours later while talking to a friend about my shin pain and the benefits of giving my body time to recuperate between workouts, I realized the reason for my obsession with exercise: fear.

I am terrified that if I go for just one day without working myself into an exhausted sweat, that everything I have worked so hard to change about myself will be undone. I am afraid that I will wake up the next morning, look in the mirror, and see the face and body of the obese 12-year-old girl that I remember being. And yes, I realize that I haven't been that girl for nearly two decades and a day without strenuous exercise is probably actually good for my body, but my mind remains terrified. And so I will continue my (nearly) daily excursions to the Fitness Firm. 
But I will do my best to remember that a day off is a good thing.

 This is my brother Joe and I in the Spring of 2009...

This is us on Thanksgiving. He also decided that being fat isn't as much fun as it's cracked up to be and so has been working out and trying not to eat crap. As of  Thanksgiving 2011 (and prior to eating a whole lot of food), he was down 36 lbs. and I was down 34. (We've both lost another pound or two since then.) Of course, I still weigh more than him.
But it's okay because I'm taller.



And now for something completely different:

I always thought my life would be better if set to music.
And I was thinking earlier today about how it has been in a way.

I think it began with my mom...

And her love of the Beach Boys.

 

Or my love of muppets and cartoons...

A little ditty from the Little Mermaid...

 

Later on, the music I listened to was heavily influenced by my brother, Stewart.

Really, Stew? This song has always freaked me out.

Meanwhile, I was listening to somewhat less angry songs in my bedroom.

 

The funny thing is, I still enjoy all of those songs.
And now there are wonderful (and often less angry/sad/ridiculous) additions.

Flogging Molly "Black Friday Rule"

 

Don't let the name (or the tombstones) fool you. It is a spectacular song.

Oh these guys. So talented. So fun.
And who doesn't love a man who can play the accordian?

I've also noticed that my current musical leanings are based heavily in the British Isles/Ireland...curious. Perhaps it's a sign that I should move that way...


And then there is the stuff that fills my hours at the gym.
Songs at which I would once have scoffed, but which are growing on me now.
Like a tumor.

So, that's my life in music. Aren't we all happy that I finally figured out how to put the videos right there in my post instead of including irritating links? Yeah. I thought so.

And now for some Christmas things.

This commercial makes me cry. Always has. Still does.
Of course, in my head I was combining it with a Folgers commercial involving another brother coming home for Christmas.

But that one didn't have O Holy Night.
And it is just about my favorite Christmas song ever.

These tears are brought to you by Hallmark.

Of course, my favorite horribly inappropriate quasi-Christmas song is this one:

Those crazy Irish.

And I suspect that you're all just about fed up with me now.

So, if I don't make it back here before the end of the year, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!
Have a magnificent Solstice, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, Bank Holiday, etc.!

Here's one for the road:

A multi-cultural sort of holiday tune...

I'm impressed if you actually made it to the end of this evening's ravings.

Congratulations!

I Don't Want To Be Skinny...

...and I don't think I ever will be. But I sure as hell can wear a pair of skinny jeans now. And I'm really hoping that by next summer there will be a photo of me in a bikini on here. And yes, I might do a little careful editing in PhotoShop to make things look a smidgen better...but they do the same to movie stars and supermodels, so why should I be bothered by it?

You can't tell, I suppose, but there are skinny jeans down there straining to cover my ginormous calf muscles.

What else is there to say today? I went for a short hike with some of my Fitness Firm friends (Sleeping Beauty in Lake George- less than 4 miles round trip because we were bums and drove in to the closer parking area). And you know what was awesome about the hike? I stayed right up front with Carol, a woman who has been known to run 5 miles after teaching an hour or two of intense aerobic classes and goes for 25 mile bike rides just for fun. I think she might be my hero.

Cynthia, Marie, Carol, and me. On my little camera screen, this looked like a good picture. It wasn't until the next day when I looked a little closer that I realized Marie's mouth was wide open and Carol's eyes were closed. Ah well.

 Oh yeah- and for Halloween I dressed up like a fairy. It was a great costume because it only cost me a few dollars in new makeup. (All right- maybe $15. But I don't buy makeup very often, so I'm okay with it. Of course, I wear it so rarely...whatever. I felt pretty.)

I took this picture myself...at the end of the night...after a lot of (delicious) sangria. I think it's fuzzy because that's how I felt. And my hair looked so much better five hours earlier...

Final thoughts for the interwebs this evening:

I like to put together flower arrangements. If I could do that and earn a respectable income (ie: be able to pay off my massive student loan debt and have a home, car, etc.), I would open a flower shop tomorrow. And if it was in Ireland? All the better! 
Gulliver would be an awesome shop dog.

 
For Mum's birthday (on Halloween) I put together an arrangement. She liked it.

 

Life is crazy and there is so much to do and so many things running through my head. But I will keep the bulk of that to myself for now. 
Here are some songs to enjoy. (And for those who would mock me for some of these choices- just don't. You know you like them too.)
Bon Iver "Skinny Love" 
Bryan Adams "(Everything I do) I do it for You" 
Sarah McLachlan "Possession" 
Carlos Santana & Dave Matthews "Love of My Life" 

Succeeding at Failure

I know that the only people reading these random posts of mine already know me quite well. But, on the off chance that some unknown visitor has stumbled upon my ramblings, let me explain a bit about myself: I don't like to fail at anything. I was a straight-A student through high school and through most of my first years in college (there is an exception to that in the Fall of 2001 which I don't have the time or inclination to explain right now). When I finally completed my bachelor's degree (10 years after I first entered the world of higher education) I had a 4.0 GPA. As a graduate student I have done equally well. The jobs that I have had over the years may not have always been amazing, 

but I have always done quite well at them.

I don't say these things with the intent of appearing arrogant. I don't really think that highly of myself. But they are all true statements. I have gone through life always doing well at everything. Perhaps it's because of that that I've never really understood how to respond to failure. And how to deal with it and maybe even learn from it. 

And with those thoughts in mind, 

let me tell you about my last hiking adventure. 

I decided that Dan and I should take a trip to New Hampshire a few weeks ago. I wanted to do some hiking in the Presidential Range. We'd done Mt. Washington long ago, but there are other mountains and I wanted a shot at one of the others. We knew that the weather forecast was less than ideal for that weekend, but it was the only time I had, so we went for it. 

And it rained. 

And we camped. 

With two very large, very wet, very dirty dogs. 

All together in one tent. 

I was probably not in the best of moods. 

On our second day in New Hampshire, the rain cleared for a while and we decided that it would be our best chance to get on a mountain. Our plan was to hike up Mt. Adams via the rather steep Airline Trail and descend via the easier Valley Way Trail. It's not a particularly long hike- only a bit over 4 miles each way, but the elevation gained is substantial in that distance. (The elevation of Mt. Adams is about 5774 ft. and if memory serves the elevation gained from the trails we would be hiking was something in the vicinity of 3500 ft. or perhaps somewhat over that.) 

Things started out well. It was a beautiful day. But I wasn't feeling quite my usual hiking self. Perhaps it was the rain and the wet dogs. Perhaps it was just my mind worrying about other things. But I plugged away and we made good progress up the mountain. The sky was clear and the sun was shining. For a while. And then it started getting cloudy and windy. And we found ourselves a mile from the summit with an exposed, rocky ridge between us and the end of our journey. And the wind picked up and I could see the rain ahead. And we had just passed the sign informing us that if the weather was bad, we should turn back because people die up there. And I realized that I was no longer having fun. I was scared and tired and although I knew that I was physically capable of reaching the top, I no longer had the desire to do so. So, at a side trail .8 mile from the summit, I told Dan that I was done. He could continue on without me if he wanted to, but I just didn't feel safe anymore. And he did. He and the dogs continued up the ridge toward the summit and I followed the side trail to the Madison Hut where I visited with a moose and had my lunch. 

In the end, Dan didn't make it to the top either. The boys refused to scramble up the last rocky stretch and he was forced to turn around with the summit in sight. 

So, I failed to make it to the top of Mt. Adams this time. And I'm okay with that. Because I do love hiking, but I love it because I love being outside and smelling the fresh air and feeling a cool breeze and seeing all of the beautiful things around me. And, don't get me wrong, I do adore the feeling of success when I'm standing on a summit and looking at the views all around, but it's not really about that for me. 

Just like most of life, the best part is not always the destination, but the journey.

I just have to keep remembering that.

And now for the photo/music portion of events!

Gulliver. Because he is magnificent.

I like to take pictures of mushrooms. This is on the way up Giant Mt.

The view from Giant Mt. A successful hike!

A lovely photo on the way in to...Phelps, perhaps? I can't even remember.

Our warning on the way up Mt. Adams.

The beginning of the ridge. The sun was still kind of shining, but it was windy!

The terrifying trail we didn't take. Thank goodness.

Layered up and heading back down.

The next day we visited a waterfall. It was raining, but I love waterfalls. Here I am, sweaty from the hike in, wet from the rain, and dirty from the knees down...but look at that waterfall!

Here is a random assortment of songs. Some old, some new. Enjoy.

Adele "One and Only"

The Cure "Just Like Heaven"

Lisa Hannigan "I Don't Know"

Frank Sinatra "The Way You Look Tonight"