The Swandive

you spin me right round baby

Need a playlist for today?
Here's part of mine.

rockin' my cube

So I have the Pandora kickin' as usual today and for some reason - it is just seriously rockin'.
I love Pandora, do you? Wanna listen to my station - All Chick Radio? Sooooooo good.
My Friday playlist:

• Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O'Connor
• Little Monsters - Charlotte Gainsbourgh
• The Prettiest Thing - Norah Jones
• The Valley - kd Lang
• Lovers Speak - Joan Armatrading
• Time and Tide - Basia
• Love Can Build A Bridge - The Judds
• Circle - Edie Brickell & New Bohemians
• You Could Make A Killing - Aimee Mann
• To Let You See Me - Melissa Ferrick

the cleaning mix

Groovin' to my random mix of tunes, vacuum in one hand, bounce in my bottom - swingin' to the tunes, a duster in my other hand.

Sting cries and so do I "I stiiiiilllllll loooove youuuuu, I stilllllll, want, you......A thousand times the mysteries unfold themselves like galaxies in my head."
*horn swings and cries*

Ants are marching, and I've been to the desert on a horse with no name. There is Muskrat Love in the air. Freddy, God rest his soul, and I sing together "we are the champions!" and it all feels so good.

Oh - how I love the smell of windex, murphys oil and the fresh March air.

a new practice

A few days ago, in my quest to make my work more bearable, I found an old boombox stuffed away in the depths of my office junk room. So I dragged it out, plugged it in, and set it right behind me. Wow - this new addition to my work-space is like... made such a huge difference. I have the dial set to 99.5 - KSJN - the MPR classical station.

Right now they are playing Peter Tchaikovsky : Swan Lake: Highlights, Charles Mackerras, conductor Royal Philharmonic. I know - I am so pop culture if I say this, but it reminds me of that final scene of Billy Elliot, every time I hear it.

It reminds me, I am blessed to have this name, Swan. So far my life has been like that of the swan   in the childrens fable the ugly duckling. Ugly, duck-ish, outcast in my youth. But time moves on, and God has blessed me so. All of the scars of the past, the pain and aloneness that being different can bring, are working themselves out. Who but God knows what lies ahead.

like baptism, sort of

*sigh*
ain't moving  a bitch? the packing, the unpacking, heavy lifting, sweat, aching muscles I forgot I had. oh, but what a feeling. and you will notice, i only bitch for just one half of a second. i am blessed indeed to even have a place to call home.

it all started last wednesday, the 17th. a friend of mine invited karen and i to the building dreams: beyond bricks and mortar event that CCHT sponsors every year. CCHT is this amazing organization here in the twin citites that responds to the call of Jesus to justice and care for your neighbor. i was reminded that i am blessed beyond measure, and that all of the pain is nothing compared to the pain it would and could be if i did not own a home.

so the move started on wednesday, and has continued at quite a pace. we are coming in for the home stretch, but are not done yet. so last night, before falling into bed, i looked into my dear partners eyes and asked if we could go out for a quick dip in the new hot tub. like two little kids getting permission to play after dark, we quickly donned our bathing suits and sprinted out the back door. the water was 102 degrees and lovely, the air cooled at about 60, and MPR's classical station was our background music.

we settled in, getting the jets just so, looked at our new home and said a prayer. the song by Randy Travis called baptism ran through my mind. there is a line in there that goes ...

Then it was down with the old man(woman?)
And up with the new
Raised to walk in
The way of life and truth

it is really hard for me to put words around how amazing this life feels. letting go, letting death be death and letting God do what God does best (if you only give it over and let it happen). God sure does love me, and i only hope that i can give away the love as much as i am receiving it.

Anyone up for a dip?

More Pink

From my friend Meagan.

Go onto Pink's site and watch the video for "Stupid Girl" (bottom left corner) I'm so thankful a pop artist has come out about how backwards women are moving in this country.  The media sure loves to "dumb" us down and so does pop music.
Go Pink!
http://www.pinkspage.com/

I could not agree more.

 

Dear Mr. President

YEA! My baby sister is BACK! Whoop whoop, boop boop (as she would say). So Monday we drove around, looked at the new home, and listened to her new iPod (a fabulous break up parting gift I think).

Now my family has always been music saavy. As a matter of fact, if you put all of our music together in one room, we would have our own little musicland store. So Cassie thow's this one on for me to listen to the other day, it's Pink featuring the Indigo Girls. Amazing. Go get it.

"Dear Mr. President"
(feat. Indigo Girls)

Dear Mr. President
Come take a walk with me
Let's pretend we're just two people and
You're not better than me
I'd like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly

What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep
What do you feel when you look in the mirror
Are you proud

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye
How do you walk with your head held high
Can you even look me in the eye
And tell me why

Dear Mr. President
Were you a lonely boy
Are you a lonely boy
Are you a lonely boy
How can you say
No child is left behind
We're not dumb and we're not blind
They're all sitting in your cells
While you pave the road to hell

What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You've come a long way from whiskey and cocaine

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye
How do you walk with your head held high
Can you even look me in the eye

Let me tell you bout hard work
Minimum wage with a baby on the way
Let me tell you bout hard work
Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away
Let me tell you bout hard work
Building a bed out of a cardboard box
Let me tell you bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
You don't know nothing bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
Oh

How do you sleep at night
How do you walk with your head held high
Dear Mr. President
You'd never take a walk with me
Would you

The nature of genius

Happy 250th birthday, Mozart, born this day, Jan. 27, 1756 in Salzburg, Austria. I'm a lover of his music, so I was pleased to find--with all the Mozart lauding out on the Web today--this quote from him with which I agree:

Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together make genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius.

Love your neighbor, friends. You just might tap into your genius!