bird by bird

Today I was thinking about nuns and hippies... because they are so much alike. Hippies wear old, used clothing, so do nuns (the Benedictine order, at least). Hippies love the environment and recycling and so do sisters. They were green before it was cool to go green. Hippies like sitting down in protest to make a statement for change. Nuns like sitting down in prayer often for change. Hippies love animals and are vegetarians. Nuns love animals and often are vegetarians. Hippies wear Birkenstocks. Nuns wear Birkenstocks! Hippies love the harmony and peace of nature. So do nuns!!! The similarities could go on for days!!... ok, ok so I suppose that not all hippies or all nuns fit these descriptions.. but for the sake of my argument, they do.

Drinking games really are a win/win situation. Either A) you win the game and feel happy or B) you lose the game but get drunk and yet, still feel happy. I wish there were more situations in life in which this happened.

I love this song and I need to listen.

So this weekend a funny thing happened. I was at a wedding dance with my mom and all her 50 year old friends (their daughters were there too but were reluctant to dance with me). The moms, on the other hand, were cutting a rug like you wouldn't believe. My mom was doing her typical "modernized" version of the mashed potato and Bonnie (my girl scout leader and softball coach as kid) was busting out moves that I think someone should have been taking note for the latest Beyonce video. The DJ was playing the stuff we liked and had an oh-so convenient TV screen with the video or lyrics of the song that was being played. The song "Taking Care of Business" by Bachman-Turner Overdrive came on (yeah, I had to look up who sang it)and it was a big hit with my dancing nancies (or you know, moms). We were all getting down with our bad selves when Julie (my taxi driver for 7th and 8th grade) nudged me to look at the screen. "It says taking care of bid-ness! It says takin...

I wish my life had more "you're welcome" and less "thank you". I want to be the helper already!

Ok.. nothing sad today, I promise. Instead, some insight from the Gilmore household. Could be true for the Lightfield household as well.

The other day I was looking through a stack of all the letters, cards, and notes I had written to my dad that he had saved. This note in particular stuck out to me; I had written it one of the times I went back to college after a break. He had left for work early so I wrote him a note and left it in his bathroom to read when he came home. Tomorrow is the anniversary of my dad's accident, and right now I can't think of anything other than that I wish I could have at least said goodbye.

Do not stand at my grave and weep; I am not there. I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning's hush I am the swift uplifting rush Of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry; I am not there. I did not die. By: Mary Elizabth Frye

I just found a website called mylifeisaverage.com!! I suddenly feel like a part of something so much bigger than me! I am not alone! Live on, average livers, live on!

A jewelry ad I like: Our left hand plans ahead. Your right hand plans for anything. Your left hand arrives on time. Your right hand knows just how late is fashionable. Your left hand gets it done. Your right hand shows the world how it's really done. Women of the world, raise your right hand. Your left hand dreams of love. Your right hand makes dreams come true. Your left hand lives happily ever after. Your right hand lives happily here and now. Women of the world, raise your right hand. Your left hand says you're taken. Your right hand says you can take over. Your left hand believes in destiny. Your right hand believes in the moment. Your left hand celebrates the day you were married. Your right hand celebrates the day you were born. Women of the world, raise your right hand.

Although I can no longer bear to watch The Office... (I quit while I was ahead) I can't seem to get this guy out of my head. If I came across a life-sized poster of this, I wouldn't hesitate to hang it on my bedroom wall.. even though I'm 22. Does that make me shallow and immature? You bet it does. :)

Music and Lyrics ... Is it a chick flick? yes. Is it ridiculously cheesy and unrealistic? yes. Does Drew Barrymore talk out of the side of her mouth for the whole movie? yes. But I still love it! I especially love this part.. because I'm more of a lyrics girl myself, looking for a music kind of man. Alex Fletcher : Lyrics are important. They're just not as important as melody. Sophie Fisher : I really don't think you get it. Alex Fletcher : Oh. You look angry. Click your pen. Sophie Fisher : A melody is like seeing someone for the first time. The physical attraction. Sex. Alex Fletcher : I so get that. Sophie Fisher : But then, as you get to know the person, that's the lyrics. Their story. Who they are underneath. It's the combination of the two that makes it magical. Ah.. magical indeed.

A dear, dear friend just referenced this little blurp from "The Holiday", and I think it is so true and well-constructed. I hope her heart feels better soon. "I understand feeling as small and as insignificant as humanly possible. And how it can actually ache in places you didn't know you had inside you. And it doesn't matter how many new haircuts you get, or gyms you join, or how many glasses of chardonnay you drink with your girlfriends... you still go to bed every night going over every detail and wonder what you did wrong or how you could have misunderstood. And how in the hell for that brief moment you could think that you were that happy. And sometimes you can even convince yourself that he'll see the light and show up at your door. And after all that, however long all that may be, you'll go somewhere new. And you'll meet people who make you feel worthwhile again. And little pieces of your soul will finally come back. And all that fuzzy stuff, t...

When Sister Ida finds a bug in the office, she puts it on a napkin and sets it free outside. When I find a bug in the office, I find a napkin and smoosh it until I hear it squish. I guess that's why she's a Sister and I'm just a Manda.

I had my ipod on shuffle this weekend driving back from Vermillion, and this little gem came on. It's by John Prine, and it's honest, true, and just right. :) [lyrics] I wish you love And happiness I guess I wish you All the best I wish you don't Do like I do And ever fall in love with Someone like you Cause if you fell Just like I did You'd probably walk around the block like a little kid. But kids don't know They can only guess How hard it is To wish you happiness I guess that love Is like a Christmas card You decorate a tree You throw it in the yard It decays and dies And the snowmen melt Well I once knew love I knew how love felt Yeah I knew love Love knew me And when I walked Love walked with me And I got no hate And I got no pride Well I got so much love That I cannot hide Say you drive a Chevy Say you drive a Ford You say you drive around the town till you just get bored Then you change your mind For something else to do And your heart gets bored with your mi...

Someone told me that my blog was a bit depressing so I decided to post something that makes me happy. really happy. Her name is Erin. :)

If life is a highway, then mine is under construction.