Monthly Archives: January 2014

Oh Walter Mitty

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An NYC snow day yesterday meant my day was open for sleeping, reading, writing, and watching movies. My movie buddy Tina often reads my mind so I was excited when she and I decided to head out into the cold and sloppy mess to watch Ben Stiller’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

What can I say about Ben Stiller and the movies he directs, produces, and stars in: they are exactly what I want to see. His portrayal of how real people think, respond, and behave is perfect regardless the character portayed: Walter Mitty, Derek Zoolander, Larry Daley or Gaylord Focker. I always learn something about people through his portrayal of his crafted characters.

So here are my lessons learned from Walter Mitty:

  1. It’s okay to daydream
  2. Budgets are important
  3. Risks are hard, but necessary in order to grow as a person
  4. It feels great to do something nice for someone else, especially when they do not expect it
  5. We confuse disappointment in a person with not knowing all the information about a situation
  6. Doing something unexpected and spontaneous makes us frantic and uncomfortable at first
  7. Pushing our limits creates a new level of self-respect
  8. You have more of an impact on people’s lives than you think

Number 8 is particularly my favorite. This idea has copious amounts of potential to make us all ponder our purpose, as well as contemplate the words and actions we send into the world. So thank you Ben Stiller, for your ingenuity in character development and thoughtful representation of real people and their quirks. I look forward to your next piece of work.

Songs on Repeat

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Brett and I are those people who obsess over songs, sometimes listening to the same song all day long.

godlygirlz.blogspot.com

godlygirlz.blogspot.com

Here are some of our song obsessions (mostly mine). Some are new songs and others are long withstanding obsessive repeats:

  • Arms, Distance and Miles by Christina Perri
  • Bonfire Heart, Blue on Blue, Miss America by James Blunt (in the past I was obsessed with his 1973 album)
  • Say Something by A Great Big World
  • Make You Feel My Love by Garth Brooks then Adele
  • Volcano by Damien Rice
  • Life for Rent and Mary’s in India by Dido
  • Lights by Ellie Goulding
  • Tiny Dancer and Your Song by Elton John (also the Moulin Rouge version of Your Song sung by Ewen McGregor)
  • Float by Flogging Molly (this one is Brett’s – this song does drive me a bit bananas after a few listens)
  • You & I and Be OK by Ingrid Michaelson
  • Let Her Go by Jasmine Thompson
  • Wish You Well by Katie Herzig
  • Human, Space Man, and A Dustland Fairytale by The Killers
  • Sign No More and Little Lion Man by Mumford & Sons
  • Leave, Falling Slowly, Say it to Me Now, Sleeping, and Gold by Steve Kazee & Cristin Milioti (from Once on Broadway – best show I’ve seen btw)
  • Story of my Life by One Direction (Shhhh)
  • Stay by Rihanna (but we prefer the Barkhouse version 😉 )
  • Chasing Cars and You Could be Happy by Snow Patrol
  • I Want it That Way by the Backstreet Boys (Ha! Yes…)
  • Anything Bon Jovi from the albums Slippery When Wet, New Jersey, Cross Road

*This list of course not limited to these songs by any means.

I have a strong emotional memory to songs, as many people do; and the memories associated with many of these songs are ones from times in my life I wish I could capture in a bottle.

I’d love to hear the songs you put on repeat! I hope my list brought some fond memories to you. I’m sure many of your repeats will spark more memories of mine!

Throwback Thursday #1 – 2014 Edition “Grad ’93”

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Last week over the holiday break I was in hometown Alberta for Christmas Eve at mom and dad’s. Since my brother, sister in-law, nephew, niece and I took a drive past our high school (my brother’s and mine), I thought it was appropriate that my #tbt this week be a high school graduation day photo. That day was 20 (and a half) years ago…

Wait…

What?

Two decades? Seriously? Nooooo.

Sometimes high school doesn’t seem that long ago and other times it seems like a lifetime when I think about how our lives have all become so different.

Circa June 1993, my parents back yard

Circa June 1993, in my parents back yard (I’m in red)

The five of us were very close throughout high school and university however, our chosen paths eventually lead us all in our own directions. Although we parted physically, we are all from the same place – and have our cherished memories of each other.

Countless experiences and interactions with life in general have shaped our lives since then – careers, boyfriends, husbands, friends, kids, travel – but essentially I know inside we are still the same people. Although I am not as close to all of these wonderful ladies as I once was, I know that who we were then, is also who we are now: good old friends. Despite distance, time apart, or who our new friends are – my memories tell me that will remain.

(P.S. I did have a lunch date with Joc in green last week, and had a cocktail date with Alison in black but had to cancel due to feeling like crap! 😦 . Tanya in purple and I are in contact on FB, and Monica in blue and I email every once in a while to catch up).

Wordless Wednesday #1 – 2014 Edition

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