I've heard this on the Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds: Live at Radio City recording. Beautiful song..
Passing time with you in mind
Its another quiet night
Feel the ground against my back
Counting stars agains the black
Thinking about another day
Wishing I was far away
Wherever I dreamed I was
You were there with me
Sister, I hear you laugh
My heart feels full up
Keep me please
Sister, and when you cry
I feel your tears running down my face
Sister, sister, keep me
I hope you always know it's true
That I would never make it through
Cause you could make the sun go dark
Just by walking away
Playing like we used to play
Like it would never go away
I feel you beating in my chest
I'd be dead without
Sister, I hear you laugh
My heart feels full up
Keep me please
Sister, and when you cry
I feel your tears running down my face
Sister, sister, keep me
I hope you always know it's true
That I will never make it through
You could make the heavens fall
Just by walkin' away
Sister, I hear you laugh
My heart feels full up
Keep me please
Sister, and when you cry
I feel your tears running down my face
Sister, sister, keep me
Saturday, January 19, 2008
don't bite the dust just yet
"Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well."
- Josh Billings
No idea who Josh Billings is, but it's a nice thought to have. Make the most of what you've got, and make more out of it.
- Josh Billings
No idea who Josh Billings is, but it's a nice thought to have. Make the most of what you've got, and make more out of it.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Sunday, December 23, 2007
respect the elements
Today I went golfing. I had a respectable round, only two over handicap, so all was well, and I then decided to head out to the beach in the afternoon. Lounged around on the beach, catching some rays, then finally got up to head into the water.
The water was FREEZING. My feet were going numb within a few minutes of wading in the shallows. I kept wading deeper and deeper until I'd been hit by enough waves to be wet from head to toe - it was too cold to go diving into the water, and I'm usually one to really enjoy the waves regardless, so it must have been pretty damn cold. In any case, the further I went, the more I realised that the waves were pretty dumpy - you didn't want to be caught unawares in any of the waves coming through.
But of course, after skipping a few big waves I decided to try and catch one back to shore.. and got dumped. Hard. My legs flipped up above me and I plummeted into the ground head first. I was scared that I was going to get knocked out, so I got up as quickly as I could and tried to find him. He helped me back to shore and we picked up an ice pack from the professional lifeguards, and rested awhile on our towels.
I'm still in a lot of pain, and worried that something else is going to happen to me as a side effect of the blow to the head (virtually instant lump - I've never had anything like it before!) and shoulder. I also managed to graze my face pretty well, but that's minor considering the neck and shoulder pain I am experiencing.
But to the real point of my post - the lesson I have learned from this event is just how dangerous the elements can be. Wind, Water and Fire are the ones that come to mind - I know Earth is another, but I can't remember off the top of my head the fifth element (Air?). Admittedly I already had a respect for water - it's so fluid and soothing, yet it can be very, very forceful - but this has really taught me how dangerous water can be. I'm glad I'm a relatively strong swimmer.
Love and respect go hand in hand, and my relationship with water is no different.
The water was FREEZING. My feet were going numb within a few minutes of wading in the shallows. I kept wading deeper and deeper until I'd been hit by enough waves to be wet from head to toe - it was too cold to go diving into the water, and I'm usually one to really enjoy the waves regardless, so it must have been pretty damn cold. In any case, the further I went, the more I realised that the waves were pretty dumpy - you didn't want to be caught unawares in any of the waves coming through.
But of course, after skipping a few big waves I decided to try and catch one back to shore.. and got dumped. Hard. My legs flipped up above me and I plummeted into the ground head first. I was scared that I was going to get knocked out, so I got up as quickly as I could and tried to find him. He helped me back to shore and we picked up an ice pack from the professional lifeguards, and rested awhile on our towels.
I'm still in a lot of pain, and worried that something else is going to happen to me as a side effect of the blow to the head (virtually instant lump - I've never had anything like it before!) and shoulder. I also managed to graze my face pretty well, but that's minor considering the neck and shoulder pain I am experiencing.
But to the real point of my post - the lesson I have learned from this event is just how dangerous the elements can be. Wind, Water and Fire are the ones that come to mind - I know Earth is another, but I can't remember off the top of my head the fifth element (Air?). Admittedly I already had a respect for water - it's so fluid and soothing, yet it can be very, very forceful - but this has really taught me how dangerous water can be. I'm glad I'm a relatively strong swimmer.
Love and respect go hand in hand, and my relationship with water is no different.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
upon a star
When he tries to cheer me up, I wish he would quote John Legend.
When I'm upset, I wish he knew that sometimes, all he needs to say is sorry.
I wish he wasn't such a defensive person.
I wish he would stop pointing out all the things I can't go to.
I wish he was more aware.
I wish I was a better person to him.
When I'm upset, I wish he knew that sometimes, all he needs to say is sorry.
I wish he wasn't such a defensive person.
I wish he would stop pointing out all the things I can't go to.
I wish he was more aware.
I wish I was a better person to him.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
work, flight, travel
So this is my third night of a total four nights and five days in the town of Albury. All in all, I'm excited to be working away from home, but at the same time, it IS work and not a holiday, so it's not a fully relaxing experience. It is certainly a new experience, and a very novel one at that. It's fun being in a hotel room on my own, but it's also a little lonely.
Not much time to say much else, I just want some sleep..
Not much time to say much else, I just want some sleep..
Sunday, November 25, 2007
jeff buckley.
A week ago I bought the Legacy Edition of Jeff Buckley's Live at Sin-e album. I've just released it from its shrink-wrap packaging, and am watching the the additional DVD that came with the album. Watching him perform live in this little cafe, I realise that I don't know if I would have appreciated him as much as I do, if I had been introduced to his music during a live performance.
Jeff Buckley's music is great. He's got so much talent that he has the ability to just muck around and crack jokes and still sound ridiculously good. But I only listened to his music for a long time before watching a DVD of him playing.
The first (and last, prior to this current viewing) DVD I watched was the Live in Chicago recording.. and I wasn't entirely comfortable watching him sing and play. I don't really know what I was expecting, but it was just crazy, a bit too crazy. At the same time, I feel like I need to watch him play, so that I can imagine him better in my mind as I listen to the music.
I like watching his interviews. He has a beautiful gaze, and a beautiful speaking voice, and he always seems so at peace, and when you listen to him speak, you realise that he has so much knowledge, so much depth.
I can't imagine what he would have been like if he had had the opportunity to grow old.
Jeff Buckley's music is great. He's got so much talent that he has the ability to just muck around and crack jokes and still sound ridiculously good. But I only listened to his music for a long time before watching a DVD of him playing.
The first (and last, prior to this current viewing) DVD I watched was the Live in Chicago recording.. and I wasn't entirely comfortable watching him sing and play. I don't really know what I was expecting, but it was just crazy, a bit too crazy. At the same time, I feel like I need to watch him play, so that I can imagine him better in my mind as I listen to the music.
I like watching his interviews. He has a beautiful gaze, and a beautiful speaking voice, and he always seems so at peace, and when you listen to him speak, you realise that he has so much knowledge, so much depth.
I can't imagine what he would have been like if he had had the opportunity to grow old.
las linguas
I don't actually know for certain what "la lingua" means, but it sounds nice, and I can only guess that it means something along the lines of "the language".
I have a fascination with languages. I think this stems from my fascination with cultures - I enjoy learning about different countries and their unique traits, although I think it's also safe to say that the more you learn about a different culture, the more you realise that there's a lot of similarity across the world.
I remember being taught Mandarin at school in Year 3, just basic words and what not. I don't recall being particularly good at it though.
Year 8 was the next time I had the opportunity to learn languages - at school we were taught Japanese and French. Unfortunately we had a poor French teacher (her pronunciation and spelling changed from class to class, it was annoying), so I didn't study the language much, but Japanese was great, and it was easy to pick up because there were numerous words that were similar to their Korean counterparts, which made it more exciting for me. I was never very good at the French pronunciation either.
During high school when I used to go swimming training, there was a period of time where we had a Russian swim coach. I loved listening to him speak, he had such a great accent to his English! That got me interested in the Russian language, and I taught myself the Russian alphabet and a few words/phrases ("shto eta?" = "What is this?" N.B. that's my phonetic spelling of Russian). I still have the sheets somewhere, and now that I'm writing this, I think I'll go hunt them down and run a refresher course - being able to read Russian would be the coolest party trick.
Also during high school I became fascinated with Africa, and Hawai'i to a lesser extent. I never really ended up learning much kiSwahili, but when I graduated from high school a good friend of mine gave me his "Instant Hawaiian" book, which is a short but sweet read. Another to-do to add to the list! It's been years since I read that book.
Since the end of high school I've been teaching myself Spanish, on and off, here and there. Last year when I started work, I also started learning a bit of Turkish, as I made friends with a colleague who was originally from Turkey. As I made more friends at work, I tried to learn a few Polish words from a friend, but unfortunately we don't really seem to speak anymore. And then earlier this year I made friends with some French colleagues who have come to work in Sydney for a few years, and my interest in the French language has been re-ignited.
So let's see.. I've tried my hand at Mandarin, Japanese, French, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, Hawaiian, Polish, kiSwahili.. Portuguese if you count the songs I've sung in Portguese.. and oh, Filipino. I only know a few words, like kumusta, kuya, salamat.. hardly what I'd call "learning", but at least they aren't offensive words. Funny how everybody wants to learn how to swear in another language!
That above paragraph was a bit of a cop-out. In terms of active self-learning, I've attempted Japanese (studied at school for 5 years but I've forgotten a lot), French, Spanish, Russian and Turkish. With the last two languages, I haven't learnt too much, but I know there's a few good sites on the internet that I can go to if I feel the need to study some more.
I also recently discovered the beauty of podcasts. I didn't realise they were free.. now I have access to numerous educational podcasts that teach me how to speak Japanese, Spanish, and French - and heck, there's even a taste of Russian news! It's great.
Oddly enough, sometimes it's nice to just listen to a language when you don't know what they're saying. Certain languages have more of a musicality/percussive feel to them than others, and they're fun to listen to.
I have a fascination with languages. I think this stems from my fascination with cultures - I enjoy learning about different countries and their unique traits, although I think it's also safe to say that the more you learn about a different culture, the more you realise that there's a lot of similarity across the world.
I remember being taught Mandarin at school in Year 3, just basic words and what not. I don't recall being particularly good at it though.
Year 8 was the next time I had the opportunity to learn languages - at school we were taught Japanese and French. Unfortunately we had a poor French teacher (her pronunciation and spelling changed from class to class, it was annoying), so I didn't study the language much, but Japanese was great, and it was easy to pick up because there were numerous words that were similar to their Korean counterparts, which made it more exciting for me. I was never very good at the French pronunciation either.
During high school when I used to go swimming training, there was a period of time where we had a Russian swim coach. I loved listening to him speak, he had such a great accent to his English! That got me interested in the Russian language, and I taught myself the Russian alphabet and a few words/phrases ("shto eta?" = "What is this?" N.B. that's my phonetic spelling of Russian). I still have the sheets somewhere, and now that I'm writing this, I think I'll go hunt them down and run a refresher course - being able to read Russian would be the coolest party trick.
Also during high school I became fascinated with Africa, and Hawai'i to a lesser extent. I never really ended up learning much kiSwahili, but when I graduated from high school a good friend of mine gave me his "Instant Hawaiian" book, which is a short but sweet read. Another to-do to add to the list! It's been years since I read that book.
Since the end of high school I've been teaching myself Spanish, on and off, here and there. Last year when I started work, I also started learning a bit of Turkish, as I made friends with a colleague who was originally from Turkey. As I made more friends at work, I tried to learn a few Polish words from a friend, but unfortunately we don't really seem to speak anymore. And then earlier this year I made friends with some French colleagues who have come to work in Sydney for a few years, and my interest in the French language has been re-ignited.
So let's see.. I've tried my hand at Mandarin, Japanese, French, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, Hawaiian, Polish, kiSwahili.. Portuguese if you count the songs I've sung in Portguese.. and oh, Filipino. I only know a few words, like kumusta, kuya, salamat.. hardly what I'd call "learning", but at least they aren't offensive words. Funny how everybody wants to learn how to swear in another language!
That above paragraph was a bit of a cop-out. In terms of active self-learning, I've attempted Japanese (studied at school for 5 years but I've forgotten a lot), French, Spanish, Russian and Turkish. With the last two languages, I haven't learnt too much, but I know there's a few good sites on the internet that I can go to if I feel the need to study some more.
I also recently discovered the beauty of podcasts. I didn't realise they were free.. now I have access to numerous educational podcasts that teach me how to speak Japanese, Spanish, and French - and heck, there's even a taste of Russian news! It's great.
Oddly enough, sometimes it's nice to just listen to a language when you don't know what they're saying. Certain languages have more of a musicality/percussive feel to them than others, and they're fun to listen to.
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