Liv Rancourt's Blog, page 25

#TeamSophia The Learning Curve

So I promised I’d do weekly posts updating you on the progress of Sophia’s The Princess Needs A New Spa campaign.  After last weekend’s huge Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser, Stacey is over 2/3 of the way to her goal of raising $25,000, which is totally amazing and cool.

It also means there’s some distance left to travel.

I called this week’s post The Learning Curve because I wanted to give Stacey an opportunity to talk just a little bit about what it’s like to have a child like Sophia. Like any other pregnant woman, Stacey started out expecting normal. Actually, she started out expecting twins, which was a bit of an eye-opener for a single parent. In about the 28th week of her pregnancy, things changed dramatically. Here’s how Stacey describes what happened:

“Sophia is a twin. Her brother died at 28 weeks of gestation. I was put on immediate bed-rest when this was discovered. It was at this time the doctors discovered there would be complications with the surviving twin but nobody knew what meant. ‘There would be neurological disorders,’ that’s all I knew.”

Newborn Sophia

Sophia was born at UWMC and was almost immediately transferred to Seattle Children’s Hospital,  where she could receive the specialized care she needed. That admission lasted 99 days, and in that time, Stacey got her first lessons in what it was like to be the parent of a special little girl. There’s no book, you know? No set of instructions for how to deal with this strange new world. Over the first twelve months of Sophia’s life, Stacey had a huge learning curve.

“It was a year of learning, a year of worry, a year of adjustments and doctors appointments,” Stacey said. “It took me a while to get past the fear of my baby dying.”

When I asked Stacey about her experience, here’s what she had to say…

Yep! The evolution of having a kiddo with special needs is weird.

1. BAM! your kid is different and you’re in chaos.

2. Phew…she survived and we make it home.

3. I am growing, and need you to grow and adapt to ME.

4. This is our life, and we live fully…so off we go, and hold on for the crazy ride…

And the ride has been tough, with some tremendous challenges along the way. When she was 13 months old, Sophia was hospitalized with an infection. That time, she was at SCH for 3 1/2 months. Then, two years ago on Thanksgiving, Stacey learned that Sophia had been diagnosed with a Wilms Tumor and would need surgery and chemotherapy. More hospital time. More doctors’ visits.

More challenges.

It hasn’t always been bad. Sophia’s taken swimming lessons and started preschool. She’s gone on two great Hawaiian vacations to see her grandparents – supported in part by donations from this blog. And now there’s The Princess Needs A New Spa, one of the coolest demonstrations in caring that I’ve ever been a part of.

Here’s what Stacey has to say about the first five years of Sophia’s life…

“… the miracle here is that we HAVE to build a bathroom…that means she is HERE!”

That kind of puts things in perspective, and is another example of how much we all have to be thankful for.  The Donate button in the right sidebar is still active, and almost 100% of any money you give will go to Sophia’s fund (minus a PayPal fee). You don’t need to give a lot – the cost of a latte or a movie will make a big difference – and if you don’t have the cash, share this post on your FB page or tweet the link or send one up to the deity of your choice. Just reading this post gets you an automatic membership in a community of caring.

Thank you so much, and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Liv

Happy Thanksgiving from Sophia!!

 Some quotes gratefully borrowed from the Perfect Strangers blog post. 

Inanimate Intellections

This week’s WANAFriday theme is: write from the perspective of an inanimate object.

Inanimate.

1. not animate; lifeless

2. spiritless; sluggish; dull

3. Linguistics….regarded as lacking perception and volition. (www.dictionary.com)

So, not to spin things too tightly, but how could something that is lacking perception and volition have a perspective? I mean, outside of Disneyland? It’s a logical fallacy. It’s fallacious, which is such an amusing word I had to use it, although it’s a bit redundant in context. You don’t mind, do you?

Sometimes I do the craziest things just for fun.

So what to make of this fallacious assignment? Go the Disney route and become a talking teacup for 500 words? I’m thinking that’s not really me. Instead, I’d like to borrow a couple images from Pinterest, pictures of solid and lifeless and spiritless things, then try and prove whether these ordinary objects fit the definition of inanimate.

But which inanimate object should I choose? Like, what about these books from www.dickensian-dandy/tumbler.com? Are they animate? Well, they can’t move on their own, but don’t you hear them calling? A stack of books begs to be sorted through, fondled, perused. Are they spiritless? Absolutely not. Every book captures at least a smidge of the essence of the writer, whether they mean to share it or not. You can parse the definition till the cows come home and I would still argue that books are some of the most animate inanimate objects around.

So much for that sophistical deliberation.

And doesn’t the phrase sophistical deliberation make you want to dance around the room? Or at least make a run for your thesaurus? How much fun is that!?!

Here’s another image for your consideration…

It’s a needle-felted Jack O’Lantern from an etsy.com shop belonging to a woman named Bella McBride. Now, acknowledging that we’re a bit past the Halloween season, I still chose this one because, seriously? Would you pick it up? I’m pretty sure it’d bite. There’s a visceral response – danger – to what is really just a bit of fabric and some thread. Look at it and tell me it’s lacking in perception and volition. That thing wants a hunk of your fingertip.

It is neither spiritless nor sluggish nor dull.

Therefore it cannot be inanimate.

Yeah, we could play in the ambiguities for as long as you like. It’s one of my favorite places – sorta gray, but then, I’m from Seattle. That’s how I roll.

I’m going to leave you with one final image, one I’m not going to describe in any way. It’ll be for you to decide what it is, and whether it fits the definition of inanimate. Leave me a comment…I’m looking forward to your perspicuous insights…which sounds a lot naughtier than it really is…

Peace,

Liv

 

Before you go, make sure you check out these other WANAFriday posts…

Cora Ramos – The Tragic End Of A Romance

Ellen Gregory – What Am I?

 

More WANAFriday posts will be added as they come on-line. Image credits are embedded in the images’ links.

 

 

#TeamSophia OMG YOU ROCKED IT

Last week was amazing. Every day – sometimes twice a day – I checked the PayPal account, and almost every time I checked, the total was higher. Since last week’s blog post, this community has donated $2500 to The Princess Needs A New Spa.

Damn.

That’s not a typo. That’s $2500. That’s $3000 in two weeks. Some of the donations came from people who know Stacey and her family, who looked for this blog because they intended to donate. A pretty amazing amount came from people who were just cruising by, who saw the link and read the story and clicked the ‘donate’ button.

And then something really astonishing happened.

St James Cathedral Parish Hall – Saturday 11/16/13 – The Princess Needs A New Spa fundraising Spaghetti Dinner

Saturday night was the Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser for The Princess Needs A New Spa, and I can flat-out honestly say I never expected the overwhelming display of emotional, spiritual, and financial support that occurred there. Over the course of four hours, people came, they ate, they hung out with friends, they bought tee shirts, they bid on auction items, they had their pictures taken in the photo booth, and they DONATED.  Here’s what Stacey had to say on Sunday morning:

Well, a truly beyond humbling and amazing night. Friends worked hours and hours all week preparing food, decorations, auction items, running errands, printing shirts, baking cookies, shopping, making meatballs, setting up photo booths. Teenagers volunteered their time on a Saturday night. Strangers sent in money, friends new and old sent in donations…And what for?? A very perfect little girl who only knows how to love. Most spend a lifetime trying to discern our path and purpose in life. Sophia is here to teach us that life is simple- Just love each other and be kind. Because of YOUR love and kindness, we have raised 2/3 of our goal in a little over 2 weeks time….now that’s love. And the Sunde girls are beyond grateful.

In Stacey’s most recent FB status update, she said they were on target to start the remodel in June, which is totally cool. While these last two weeks have brought Stacey and Sophia so much closer to their goal, there’s still some distance to travel. If you’re reading this and haven’t donated yet, there’s a PayPal donate button on the right sidebar. About 97% of the money you donate will go directly to Stacey & Sophia (minus the annoying PayPal fee). If you don’t have the cash to donate, spread the word by sharing this post on your Facebook page or tweeting the link or sending one up to the deity of your choice. Every little bit helps.

Thank you so, so much.

Liv

Now keep scrolling for some awesome pictures of Saturday’s dinner….more will be added as I get them…

The guest of honor and her mom!

 

The official tee shirt!

 

The amazingly yummy spaghetti sauce!

 

Cookies! All the food was donated, prepped and served by volunteers.

 

The parish hall’s ready to go, thanks to a bunch of teen volunteers!

 

Even Sophia’s current tubby got dressed up for the event!

 

The official fundraising thermostat!

 

Volunteers gotta eat too!

 

Sophia and Fr. Ryan.

 

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Three of Stacey’s “Jubilate” choristers helping raise the red!

 

Sophia and her friend Portia…

Here’s the photobooth donated by Dave & Christine…and Much Hilarity Ensued!!

 

Yeah baby!!

 Thanks to my photo contributors Ruth Preston, Ruby Caldwell, Dave Buckholz, Portia Maisano-Torres, Megan Charvet, Lisa Moor, Lori Higa, and Kristen Nichols.

How A Dish Of Eyeballs Changed My Life

Here’s the WANAFriday challenge for today: How did the last book you read change you, or not? What do you want from a good book?

I’ll be honest. I almost didn’t make this post, because most books I read don’t change me. They entertain me for a little while, distract me, sometimes piss me off, but rarely do they have a lasting impact.

There are, of course, exceptions. Last summer I read Kindred by Octavia Butler, one of the harshest, most realistic depictions of slavery in the US I’ve ever come across. Dana is a modern black woman – well, 1970′s modern, anyway – who gets pulled into the past, to a Maryland plantation in the antebellum South. She saves the son of the plantation owner from drowning, the first of many times she saves him. She is forced into the roll of slave, in fact becomes part of the fabric of plantation life, despite increasing uncertainty that she’ll be able to survive the dangerous environment she finds there. Like all of Ms Butler’s work, it’s beautiful and grim and honest, profoundly thought-provoking, and well worth the reading time.

And now for something completely different: The Siren by Tiffany Reisz. The one gets shelved in the erotic romance section, or maybe under erotica, and while the subject matter may not be to everyone’s taste – it has graphic descriptions of S&M, and even the “normal” sex is pretty twisted – the complicated, very much alive characters and the full-tilt dialogue make it totally worth reading. The ending, however, cut out my soul and handed it back to me without so much as a thanks, ma’am. I met the author at the ECWC book fair, and when I told her I was afraid to read the other books in the series because of the way The Siren ended, she giggled and said to keep reading because things weren’t as they seemed.

Hmm. Do I trust an author who would punk me like that? Maybe…

And finally, the third recent read that impacted me. This one’s actually a two-fer: Melusine and The Virtu, books 1 & 2 in a series by Sarah Monette. I love these books so much that I’ve owned the other books in the series for months and can’t bring myself to read them, because then I’ll be done and there won’t be anymore.

How crazy is that?

These are fantasy novels about half-brothers Felix and Mildmay. Felix is a powerful wizard, while Mildmay is a street savvy assassin. Their story is told from alternating first-person points of view, which could be technically challenging for both the writer and the reader, but Ms. Monette caries it off beautifully. It didn’t take long at all before I could pretty much ignore the character’s name that headed up each section, because by one or two lines in I recognized which voice was speaking.

That’s some good writing.

There’s one line in particular that stands out for me. it’s from early in The Virtu, and I remember exactly where I was when I read it – sitting in a lawn chair outside my parent’s motor home last June in a park on the edge of Lake Chelan. I read it, stopped, looked around, and said the line to myself three or four times, thinking, now THAT’S voice. Here’s the snippet – Felix speaks first, and we’re in Mildmay’s POV.

“Nothing. Something I read today. It doesn’t matter.”

“And that’s why you look like you been served up a dish of eyeballs?”

He actually laughed a little. “Thank you for that vivid piece of imagery…”

Yeah, Mildmay. Thank you. These lines aren’t from a big dramatic moment, but to me the ordinariness makes it that much better. In the flow of the chapter, the line “And that’s why you look like you been served up a dish of eyeballs?” was perfect, exactly what Mildmay should have/would have/ could have said. It has his rhythm, his syntax, his touch of snarky humor, and I fell in love.

My second thought after reading it was, “I want to DO that.” I want to write lines that so perfectly capture the character, no one else could have said them. It’s become sort of a litmus. I read a passage of my own writing and ask myself whether it’s as good as the dish of eyeballs.

Which, wow, now you all really think I’m a bit of a nutter, don’t you?

Maybe I am a little crazy, but I’ve had this reaction before. I read Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris and thought, “I want to DO that.” Heck, as a kid I read Little House in the Big Woods and thought, “I want to DO that.”  More seriously, I read The Cloister Walk by Kathleen Norris and though, “I want to BE that.” Good books inspire me to be a better writer, and the best books inspire me to be a better person.

What about you? What have you been reading lately? Anything that would pass the dish of eyeballs test?

Peace,

Liv

 

For more WANAFriday fun, check out these posts…

Ellen Gregory – Book Review: Slow River

Tami Clayton – Eleanor and Park

Janice Heck – NaBloPoMo: WANAFriday: What Would I Do?

Cora Ramos – Sizzling Slowly

(will be updated as they come on-line)

 

#TeamSophia Spa Days

You guys rock.

You really, really do.

Last week’s blog post raised $525 for #TeamSophia The Princess Needs A New Spa, which is a huge boost towards the ultimate goal of $25,000. As a whole, the project has raised over 10% of the goal, and I feel great about our contribution to it. We’ve got another six and a half months to get there, so let’s keep on keeping on!!

 

For today’s post, I wanted to show you why we’re doing this, in a little more detail. To do that, I’m going to borrow from an interview my friend Betsie did on her Perfect Strangers Project blog. Betsie’s an amazing woman who works down at the Pike Street Market. She’s also a photographer and all-around creative genius (and I’m not even exaggerating, though she’ll probably roll her eyes at my word choice). For her blog, she usually interviews people she meets down in the Market, homeless people, the ones you might not see and probably wouldn’t talk to. you can check out her blog HERE. Do it. Please.  :)

Here’s a young Sophia in her first little plastic tubby. You can see her tracheostomy and her beautiful blond hair.

Stacey and Betsie happened to go to high school together, and when Betsie learned about The Princess Needs A New Spa, she got on it and made this post. With her permission, I’m borrowing a couple paragraphs of her interview with Stacey so you can get a better understanding of Sophia’s needs:

Stacey and Sophia live in a basement house that has a toilet and sink (Stacey showers upstairs).  “The nurses and I bathe Sophia in a freestanding, troughlike bath tub that sits on a metal stand.  The water comes from a faucet, runs through a hose into the 40″ medical tub.  When the bath is over tub water is drained into buckets and poured down the sink.  Sophia will be outgrowing the trough and we need to have a proper tub to bathe her.”

 
Stacey, the single mother with a growing special needs child, says, ”The situation is dire.  If the nurses can’t lift Sophia safely, I have a HUGE problem.  I must install a ceiling track that runs from Sophia’s bed to the bathroom (something like a medical zipline with a sling attached to it).  Since Sophia requires to be lifted for everything, the safest place for us to prepare her for bath time is on her bed.  From the bed we would place her in the sling, move her along the track that runs from her bed into the bathroom.  Inside the bathroom we need a ceiling lift that would lower her into a full size bath tub.  It’s what I need to take Sophia into adulthood.”

Sophia’s current tubby.

Stacey and Sophia have spent most of the last five years facing down every negative thing that’s come their way, and I expect them to come through this challenge in the same gracious, loving style. But it’s a team effort. We’re not asking for a lot, If everyone who read this blog post donated the price of a latte or the cost of a movie ticket, it would add up to something pretty fabulous. The orange “Donate” button in the right sidebar will take you to a Paypal page set up specifically to benefit Sophia, and about 97% of your money will go directly to her (minus the annoying Paypal fee). And if you don’t have any extra cash right now, send up a quick prayer to the deity of your choice in support of our efforts.

Stacey says gratitude is central to her life with Sophia, and here’s her for the day: “…the miracle here is that we HAVE to build a bathroom…that means she is HERE!”

She IS here, and #TeamSophia is a pretty cool community. Thanks so much for all you do.

Liv

#TeamSophia The Princess Needs A New Spa

So it’s been just a little while since I’ve done a Team Sophia post, but this month marks the kick-off of a new fund-raising effort and I totally want to be part of it.

Sophia’s a special kid. She’s almost five years old, and while her accomplishments are different from other children her age, I could fill a bunch of blog posts telling you about them. Instead, I’m going to share something her mother said in the first Team Sophia post:

…I love the world knowing the miracle girl who teaches me daily to dig deeply, love unconditionally, and forgive before the sun sets. The world is better because of her.

Amen.

Since I first blogged about Sophia, she started preschool, fought off cancer, and visited her grandparents in Hawaii. Some of you helped raise the money for Sophia’s Hawaii vacation, which is amazing and humbling and cool.

And now I’m back with another fundraising request. You see, since she was a baby, Sophia and her mother Stacey have lived in a basement studio apartment. The house is owned by Stacey’s friends, who have been tremendously supportive and accommodating. Sophia can’t sit, stand, or walk independently, and so has a collection of specialized equipment that enables her to get through her day. She’s a growing kid, though, and as she grows, so does her equipment.

Which leads us to the reason for the current project. Sophia bathes in a freestanding medical tub, however soon she’ll be too big to use it. The only tub in the house is upstairs, and getting her there is difficult if not impossible. The homeowner is willing to remodel the basement bathroom so that it’s accessible for Sophia if Stacey can raise the money.

$25,000

Yep, you read that right. It’s a big project, with a big price tag. And I know without a doubt that Stacey can get it done. But she’s going to need help. They say it takes a village, and in this case it truly does. If everyone reading this kicks in just a little – the cost of a movie ticket or a latte & scone – it’ll add up to something pretty huge. There’s a DONATE button in the right sidebar that’ll take you to a PayPal account set up to benefit Sophia. Something like 97% of what you donate goes to them (minus an irritating PayPal fee that I’ll offset with a donation of my own). No donation is too small, and if you don’t have the cash, take a minute to send one up to the deity of your choice that Stacey and Sophia can meet their goal. Every little bit helps.

Why yes, they did dress as Honey Boo Boo & Mama June for Halloween last week!

If you’re in the Seattle area, there’ll be a spaghetti dinner in the Parish Hall at St. James Cathedral on Saturday 11/16/13, and you can RSVP for it by leaving a comment here. From now till the money is raised, I’m going to try for a #TeamSophia post every Monday, to share some of Sophia’s life and keep you updated on her progress.

Thank you so much.

Liv

#WANAFriday Witches

It’s that time of year. Overcast. Forty-five degrees. Fall colors muted by the gray.

Samhain.

All Souls.

Halloween.

And in honor of the season, this week’s WANAFriday prompt is, “What image does the word ‘witch’ conjure up for you?”

Now, a quick check with Uncle Google shows you as many different witches as there are women out there portraying them. They come in swirling gowns and bustiers and cone hats. They have warts on their noses and deep cleavage and gnarled fingers and perfect manicures. They share in the Wiccan or the Stregha or the Feri traditions.

And however you slice and dice it, any character with so much baggage has to be pretty powerful.

Regardless of their heritage, witches attempt to manipulate the power of the earth. Historically they were viewed as a threat; in fact, in his writing, Jung describes the archetype of The Witch as a woman with special connection to the earth who uses her power for evil. I wonder how much of a witch’s “evil” is really independence. Witches didn’t operate from a place of political power. They didn’t come from the mainstream. They still don’t, for that matter, and anything that can’t be understood and controlled is a threat.

What better way to minimize a threat than by making it look ridiculous?

Which is why I chose photos of Victorian-era witches, to illustrate some of the image’s heritage. These women look proud and strong…and a little unexpected. I want to hang out with these girls, you know?

What image does the term “witch” bring up for you? Is it positive or negative or something else entirely?

Peace,

Liv

Make sure you check out these other WANAFriday posts…

Kim Griffin – The Many Faces of Witches

Dianna Bell – On The Virtues of Buggering Hedgehogs

 

And no, Rhay, I didn’t manage to work wabi-sabi in. Maybe next week…

 

Music for Sleepy Hollow

I’m not obsessed or anything…well, maybe a little…but anywhoodle, yesterday I blogged about the new Fox series Sleepy Hollow for the Spellbound Scribes. The piece is mostly about Tom Mison, and how he’s doing a fantastic job playing Ichabod Crane, but that’s not so relevant here.

Really!

Nope, today I’m being serious. Sort of. The theme for the WANAFriday post is: What song is stuck in your head these days (or on permanent rotation in your music collection) and what draws you to it?

Which is like asking me, “which of your children do you prefer, and which would you send away hungry?”

I’m not so rational about my music, and since I don’t want to hurt any feelings, I’m going with a piece I’d never heard before. Since I’m in a Sleepy Hollow mood, I dug into the story’s roots. “The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow” was published in 1820 by Washington Irving, in a collection of essays and short stories he titled, “The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.” Now, if I’d asked, you’d likely have been able to come up with the author’s name, and maybe the year it was published, but I’d bet real money you wouldn’t have come up with the Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. part.

Antonio Salieri 1750 – 1825

Because the story was published in 1820 and today’s theme is music, I looked for a piece of music that Washington Irving might have listened to. I came up with this one, Spiritus Meus by Antonio Salieri, first performed on August 20, 1820 in Vienna. It’s appropriately spooky, which makes it even better.

Now for an added layer of fun: Salieri’s the guy who was Mozart’s big rival, and who might – or might not – have poisoned him.  Salieri was born in 1750 and was best known as a composer of opera. His students included Beethoven, Schubert, and Liszt, so from that perspective, his influence on music lasted well beyond his lifetime. While the records are pretty clear that he and Mozart weren’t best friends or anything, it’s unlikely he actually murdered his rival as implied in the Rimsky-Korsakov production “Mozart & Salieri”. His music had fallen out of regular circulation until the 1979 play, “Amadeus” by Peter Shaffer. The play was later made into a movie of the same name – and if you haven’t seen it, you really should. It’s pretty amazing.

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F. Murray Abraham playing Salieri in “Amadeus”.

I love the way history works sometimes. I think it’s easy to forget (or it’s easy for me to forget, anyway) that composers and writers and artists weren’t working in a vacuum. They all listened to and read and experienced the same things.  Irving was in England when he wrote Sleepy Hollow, and in my hour of google research I turned up absolutely no evidence that he ever heard any of Salieri’s work, but as an educated person, it would be surprising if he wasn’t at least familiar with the composer.

There you have it. My song for today is something Ichabod Crane might have loved. Hope you all have a fantastic weekend.

Peace,

Liv

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Here’s a handsome young man playing Salieri in the “Rock Opera Mozart”.

For more WANAFriday music, check out these posts…

(will be updated as they come on-line)

 

Gratuitous picture of Tom Mison as Ichabod Crane, just because…

Casting Call: The Soundtrack

Now, the theme for today’s WANAFriday post is: Your life as a movie. Name the starring roles, the cast, and why.

Hmm.

Because that’s not tricky at all.

As usual with these WANAFriday posts, I’m going to tweak the theme a little.  My life is a musical, you see, so I’m going to post a few songs that are part of the soundtrack.

The Sounds of My Life by Amy Caldwell on Grooveshark

#1 Ramblin’ Man (Allman Brothers Band). This song works because my father was in the Coast Guard, so we moved around a lot. And because the Allmans are (arguably) the kings of Southern Rock, and I was born in North Carolina.

#2 Ain’t No Stopping Us Now (McFadden & Whitehead). This is a disco classic! It doesn’t get played nearly enough anymore, you know? I’ve loved disco since high school, so this song represents that chunk of my life.

#3 Mental Hopscotch (Missing Persons). College was the era of punk and New Wave, and no song represents this better than Mental Hopscotch. Didn’t you play that game in college? (Oh, and while you’re listening to it, imagine trying to figure out what she’s saying. I was in a cover band that did this song, back in the days before you just typed “Mental Hopscotch lyrics” into Google.)

#4 Like A Prayer (Madonna). I could probably pick a Madonna song for just about every episode in my life, but I’ll spare you. This one came out right about the time I turned 30, and the whole album hit so many of the things I was dealing with, I felt like she’d written it for me.

#5 Jesu Redemptor Omnium (Gregorian Chant). Like A Prayer seems like  a good lead-in to this chant hymn. I spent many, many years doing church music, and there are few things I like better than singing chant with friends.

#6 You Wreck Me (Tom Petty). My dear husband gets a Tom Petty song, because his college band covered it. The Gestures are a great band, and still get together for gigs every so often. I would have posted a song from his new band, The Fentons, but they didn’t have any on Grooveshark. Here’s a link to their website so you can check them out.

#7 Poker Face (Lady GaGa). It was tricky to come up with a song for my 15 year old daughter. She was such a little baby, and now she’s almost 6 feet tall. That’s a lot of changing in a short amount of time. I chose Poker Face because when she was in, like, fourth grade, the school music teacher had the kids do a lip-synched number to their favorite song. She and two of her friends chose Poker Face, and I crack up every time I think about these ten year old girls in their Catholic school uniforms bopping around to Lady GaGa. What was the teacher thinking?

#8 Clint Eastwood (Gorillaz). My son’s song was hard to choose, too. His taste in music is pretty esoteric, and I don’t really keep track of what he listens to – mainly because Skrillex and most other dubstep hurts my brain. I chose this song because I know he loves Gorillaz, and because the whole family went to see them in concert a couple years ago. What an awesome show!

#9 We Are Family (Sister  Sledge). Okay, two of the most important themes in my life are family and sisters, so while this song is a little bit obvious, it kind of nails it. There’s my birth family (and sisters), the sisters I found as an adult, and the family my husband and I have created. I love and honor every one of them, and am so glad they’re part of my life.

So there you have the soundtrack of my life. To hear it, click on the Grooveshark link above. I hope you end up dancing, because I know I will be!

Peace,

Liv

You can check out the other WANAFriday posts here…

Dianna Bell – My Life As A Movie

 

 

#WANAFriday No One Can Pin Just One

So here’s today’s WANAFriday blog prompt: take a picture from your Pinterest board and write about it.

Sure.

That’s an easy one. I’ll just comb my thousands of pins and come up with a favorite.

(Nope that wasn’t a typo. I might have a problem.)

See, I LOVE me some Pinterest. I have the app on my phone, and whenever there’s downtime – I’m stuck waiting at the pharmacy or picking a kid up from whatever or, heck, waiting to take dinner out of the oven – I scroll through and pin a few.

My busiest board is Vindemia Vestimenta (Latin for Vintage Clothing). I have a thing for Victorian and Edwardian fashion, and there are some really lovely dresses on this board. The guiding principle is that I only pin things I’d want to wear.

Why? Because I want to dress like her when I grow up.

Then there’s The Common Denominator Is Magic, where, you guessed it, there’s something a little weird or off-beat about all the pins. The board used to be called Johnny Depp N’ Stuff, and while it’s not a celebrity board per se, there are a number of pins that would be of interest to your average JD fan.

Explain this one. I dare you.

And then there’s arguably my most revealing board. No, I don’t pin nekkid selfies. (Heh. You wish.) It’s called Cat In A Bag, and the pins either make me laugh or they make me think. I mean, why would you put a cat in a bag? Why do cats climb into bags in the first place? And is there anything that makes you laugh harder than a cat messing around with a paper bag?

See? It’s sort of like a bulletin board for my brain, a place for my Inner Geek Girl to play. And since cats run the internet, it’s entirely appropriate.

I’m not sure who to credit this one to, but, AWESOME.

So there. Now you’ve been on a brief trip through my Pinterest world. The pins here aren’t necessarily my favorites. I mean, choosing a favorite pin would be like choosing a favorite child.

Yeah.

I might have a problem.

Now, when you’re done laughing at me, leave a comment describing your Pinterest experience. Better yet, leave me your Pinterest name so I can follow you!

Hope you have a great weekend.

Peace,

Liv

 

And when you’re done here, check out these other WANAFriday posts…

Kim Griffin – Pick a PIN, Any PIN

Cora Ramos – The Dance is the Thing

(more will be added as they come on-line)