Saturday, December 31, 2011

Dear 2011, Thank You...



Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.

New Year's Eve is not my favorite holiday... We attach too much importance to the countdown, and who is with us, and where we are, and it just feels like a holiday saturated in superstition and anxiety. This measure of time is passing and another measure of time is to come, and I don't really feel the same emotions that other people do about December 31st.
It's another day for me.
I feel like it's taken too seriously. We take TIME too seriously. We take our numerical age too seriously. We become too structured by the hour on the clock. And although this structure is useful and necessary to maintain global regularity, I feel that it has come to govern too much of our mental space.

What are you going to change? What are you going to do differently, now that the seconds are ticking and we sense time slipping by? Meanwhile I think that changes and choices about our lives should be made all the time, not just at the end of the year.
Like, has anyone else experienced a kind of simmering panic at the New Year's countdown?
A sadness? A nostalgia? A wave of excitement stepping into a newborn January?
I used to, and now I don't care. I'd be cool sitting on a beach and letting that moment pass by without even realizing it.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1

That being said, I will recognize the end of the calendar year, and I will go out and party my face off and run around with incredible people under the open sky.
And using December 31st as a marking point I'll look back on 2011 and share what I know.

In contrast to 2010, this year has been an absolute storm.
Now, erase that dark image of thunder and destruction, and imagine the chaotic awe of an interstellar cloud of dust - many good things and many bad things and many neutral things occurring quickly and slowly and some not occurring at all.
My life was filled with a multitude of changes that led me to the other side of the globe.
Once uprooted, now grounded.

It was a year of great spiritual advances and retreats.
I had found myself, lost myself, and found myself once more.
I became younger and older and now feel ageless.
There were times when I was so happy I felt like I didn't know what to with myself.
Then there were times when I watched my spirit disappear until I could no longer recognize myself.
It was like my saying "Burn to be Reborn", but it was happening at such a fast pace that the burning and rebirth blurred into a dizzying and exhausting thrill ride. And with that momentum, like a comet, I've been catapulted and liberated. Through it all I collected knowledge and wisdom.

2011, thank you.

There are no "New Year's Resolutions".
For me, the resolutions that work are the small daily ones, the baby-steps that lead to habits and patterns and a lifestyle fueled by growth.

Things are always looking or going up even if they don't seem that way at the time. 
And I know this is what it will be like for you.
   
To infinity and beyond, Andy


.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

In the gloaming...





There was a lot of "Sweet Caroline" around the campfire the summer this commercial came out:


Top 10 Favorite Campfire Songs
  1.  Hasn’t Hit Me Yet – Blue Rodeo
  2. Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
  3. Bobcaygeon – The Tragically Hip
  4. Harvest Moon - Neil Young
  5. Country Roads - John Denver
  6. Looking Out My Backdoor - CCR
  7. Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns N Roses
  8. Layla - Eric Clapton
  9. Brian Wilson – The Barenaked Ladies
  10. Wonderwall - Oasis
  11.  Hotel California - The Eagles
  12. Tiny Dancer - Elton John
  13. Extreme - More Than Words
OK, I lied there are more than 10... I already thought of 3 more, but I have to stop!
The more I think about it the longer the list will become! 

My name is ANDY, and I AM CANADIAN!! WOO!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Pete is a cool CAT


Does a little bit of mess bother Pete the Cat?
GOODNESS, NO!
He just keeps walkin' along, singing his song...



I just found that vid, and I thought it was pretty cute.
Here are some more great kids songs/clips. You might recognize some of them!

(I love the animation in this one!)




I sing The Ugly Bug Ball regularly, since it's in my head a lot. And I like bugs.



image found here

Bugs with human faces. ooOOoo!!



I have this song in my head a lot too. Especially when it's raining. 
And I see a worm. 
And I run through the grass.



:P  Andy

Monday, December 26, 2011

Music Monday


It's Monday and already I'm looking forward to this weekend.
I close my eyes and see sunshine, shorelines, sunburns and sandburns...



This song...




Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and Happy Holidays!


I'd like to share some inspiration this holiday season.
If you're at home having a relaxing Sunday you might want to 
grab some mulled wine and watch the following online lectures. 
There are SO many that I'd like to post, but I'll keep it to 4: 

1. Creativity and Diversity
2. Feminism and Passion
3. Neuroanatomy and Spirituality
4. Valuable Life Lessons


How do you stage an international art show with work from 100 different artists? If you're Shea Hembrey, you invent all of the artists and artwork yourself -- from large-scale outdoor installations to tiny paintings drawn with a single-haired brush. Watch this funny, mind-bending talk to see the explosion of creativity and diversity of skills a single artist is capable of.



Author and activist Isabel Allende discusses women, creativity, the definition of feminism 
-- and, of course, passion -- in this talk.



Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions -- motion, speech, self-awareness -- shut down one by one. An astonishing story.



In 2007, Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch, who was dying of pancreatic cancer, delivered a one-of-a-kind last lecture that made the world stop and pay attention. This moving talk will teach you how to really achieve your childhood dreams. Unmissable.


Here's a great point form summation for reference, or if you don't have time to watch the entire video:
  • It is an easy time to dream when we are young (and happy) and we should never lose that spirit.
  • Experience is what you get if you don’t get what you wanted.
  • When people drive you hard, they care about you.  They want you to be better. 
  • Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things.
  • Good parents are instrumental for us to achieve our childhood dreams.
  • The importance of people versus things (people come first, always!).
  • Never ever underestimate the importance of having fun.  Choose to have fun today, tomorrow, and every day thereafter.
  • Work and play well with others: (1) tell the truth, (2) apologize (properly), (3) wait, and people will show their good sides.
  • Tell the truth – integrity.
  • A good apology has three parts.  (a) I am sorry, (b) it was my fault, (c) how do I make it right.  Most people neglect the third part and fail to demonstrate sincerity.
  • Be patient.  No one is pure evil.
  • Show gratitude.
  • Don’t complain, just work harder.
  • If you lead your life the right way, if you live properly, the dreams will come to you.
XOXO, Andy

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Fashion Fridays - Vintage Goodness


Brittany and I share a love of vintage things, and since I have so much of that on my computer I wanted to make that the theme of today's post.

Brittany is this glamorous fashion bug who LOVES cooking and singing and dancing and lives right next door to me! She has her own Youtube channel where she makes all kinds of amazing things to eat. Sometimes I come home and from the hallway I can hear or smell lovely kitchen goings-on, and I try and guess what it is that she's making.

Here's a link to Brittany making Enchiladas Suizas... like, I want to eat them right now.
Don't forget to subscribe to her!!!




"I cook with wine. Sometimes I even add it to the food"


"The trouble with living alone is that it's always your turn to do the dishes"


"I'm on a very tight schedule of not getting anything done!"




I love pencil skirts.




The vintage inspired outfits in the movie The Stepford Wives are some of my favorites.
It truly is the eroticism of "prim and proper" dressing and Martha Stewart-esque domestication.




Like, really, how sexy is it to be the cute little housewife who has dinner ready
for when the man comes home, tired from the days work and commute?

Some women may argue with me, but since the feminist pendulum has swung in one extreme and then the other, I feel that nowadays the movement's greatest triumph has been in
empowering women with choice.
And in empowerment itself.
And in the acceptance, inclusion, and the celebration of every type of femininity embodied by whomever - male or female.

There are amazing and inspiring things happening for gender equality all over the world,
but that's a discussion for another day, and I am digressing at an alarming rate.
IF you want to watch an amazing TED talk,
here's Tales of Passion from Isabel Allende, one of my favorites.

Back to pretty pictures, tee hee!


I love the colors and pattern in the navy and yellow dress below...




These are some images from Vogue magazine earlier this year...



The Baroness Elsa Von Schroeder from The Sound Of Music really has it going on:


Recently, I have heard it said, from friends and from bloggers online, that the older they get the more they appreciate the character of the Baroness. It's nice to hear since she's always been one of my favorite characters and in most discussions I've had to stand up for her. She is not an evil villain! 


Sure, she tries to dissuade Maria from being a part of the household, but really, she goes about everything with such refreshing poise. 




These days, in any crummy romantic comedy you'd see vulgar displays of anger and jealousy and all kinds of useless drama. In the Sound Of Music the Baroness just jumps in and takes control of the awkward conversation that the Captain is trying to make. What does she do? She interrupts him politely, thanks him for the time they've spent together, and tells him that it's really not working out. Then she whispers "Auf Weidersehen, darling", and leaves the Captain and Maria to be together. 

Thank you. 
I wish the rest of the world could see life as drama-free.


P.S. I realize it's Thursday, but in theory I have 4 Fridays this week... Tuesday was the last day before the break, and yesterday, today, and tomorrow are all wonderful leads up to the weekend.

I am going to explore some Taichung fabric stores right now, so adios and kisses and hugs and all that wonderful stuff...

XOXO Andy

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Monday, December 5, 2011

Time to think of decor!


So, it's happened!
I am moving into my new apartment this week!

Besides being super happy and relieved, my mind is turning with thoughts of interior decoration.
And really, it's mostly fantasy, because my paychecks will be eaten up by un-fantastical but necessary items like cleaning supplies and tupperware.

I've saved a lot of pictures of "home ideas" while traveling the interweb and 
the first aesthetic I look to is very bright and clean, natural fibers, and aged, painted wood, 
old books, vintage items, and colorful splashes (especially red and light blue).

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(image via iwishihadanocean)

(image via januarymidnight)

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(image via stylizimo)

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(image via sharptongue)

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And since the holidays are coming up soon I think of green boughs and gold twinkling lights...

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(image via charandthecity)

(image via charandthecity)

(image via peacefullydoesit)