Book I ♥: The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan

I was picking up a book at the library the week before Valentine's Day when this book caught my attention on a display because of the heart on the front.

It is a story about a couple and the different stages and emotions of their relationship presented in short entries with a one word title in alphabetical order. The format of the book is refreshing with the word play as its focus, instead of concentrating on the chronological events. I also love the cover art with word titles from the book presented in the shape of a heart.

Some of my favourite entries include:

contiguous, adj.

I felt silly for even mentioning it, but once I did, I knew I had to explain.

"When I was a kid," I said, "I had this puzzle with all fifty states on it -- you know, the kind where you have to fit them all together. And one day I got it in my head that California and Nevada were in love. I told my mom, and she had no idea what I was talking about. I ran and got those two pieces and shoed it to her -- California and Nevada, completely in love. So a lot of the time when we're like this" -- my ankles against the backs of your ankles, my knees fitting into the backs of your knees, my thighs on the backs of your legs, my stomach against your back, my chin folding into your neck -- "I can't help but think about California and Nevada, and how we're a lot like them. If someone were drawing us from above as a map, that's what we'd look like, that's how we are."

For a moment, you were quiet. And then you nestled in and whispered,

"Contiguous"

And I knew you understood.

That was for the romantic in me. The scientist in me loved:

paleontology, n.

You couldn't believe the longest relationship I'd ever been in had only lasted for five months.

"Ever?" you asked, as if I might have overlooked a marriage.

I couldn't say, "I never found anyone who interested me all that much," because it was only our second date, and the jury was still hearing your case.

I sat there as you excavated your boyfriends, laid the bones out on the table for me to see. I shifted them around, tried to reassemble them, if only to see if they bore any resemblance to me.

The lover of lyrics and symbolism in me loved:

ubiquitous, adj.

When it's going well, the fact of it is everywhere. It's there in the song that shuffles into your ears. It's there in the book you're reading. It's there on the shelves of the store as you reach for a towel and forget about the towel. It's there as you open the door. As you stare off on the subway, it's what you're looking at. You wear it on the inside of your hat. It lines your pockets. It's the temperature.

The hitch, of course, is that when it's going badly, it's in all the same places.

Song I ♥: Another Life by NO

It was another great Grey's Anatomy episode for music on Thursday (February 9, 2012). It included artists I already love like Ingrid Michaelson, Katie Herzig and Snow Patrol. The song that caught my attention the most (because I didn't recognize the artist) was near the end of the episode when Cristina and Owen are in the hospital boiler room.

The song is Another Life by NO from their EP Don't Worry, You'll Be Here Forever which was released on 11/11/11.

The EP is on iTunes and available on the band's bandcamp website as a name your price download there. They also offer a free download on their website here.


Lyrics (official taken from here):

Daily I remember
life before the wall
No awkward invitations
we'd just invite them all
Innocence and laughter
we threw it all away
A game of slow disaster
we didn't need to play

I'll see you in another life
you don't walk this way anymore
I'll see you in another life
I'll pretend that i don't think of you at all

I hope they never sent you
the words they meant to say
Cause i'll be home december
to chase them all away
Then we'll get pretty after
I'll take us on a train
To innocence and laughter
we'll fill our hearts again

My Daily ♥ Ending

It's been over 5 months since I started posting a Daily ♥. I am officially abandoning the "Daily" part. Although I was choosing my topics daily, I was finding that I was no longer writing them daily. It is starting to become a chore to get them completed so before it becomes unpleasurable to blog, I am getting rid of the daily goal I had.

My Daily ♥ # 160: Chase Jarvis

A couple of years ago, I was at a book store looking for a photography book for my husband. A book entitled "The Best Camera is the one that's with you" caught my eye. I then realized it was an iPhone photography book which wasn't what I was looking for, for my camera gear loving husband.

I next heard of "Best Camera" when I downloaded the app for my iPhone and I was reminded of the book.

Over Christmas, there was a conversation where we were discussing the fields where technology has enabled the "regular folk" to pretend/attempt to be something they couldn't have been previously. Taking me for example, I could call myself a writer (I don't) but many bloggers have come out with books and are considered authors. Some may have studied writing or literature but others haven't. Who can call themselves a writer? Can anyone who writes call themselves a writer or do you have to have studied the craft and be good at it?

Can anyone who paints be called a painter or do you have to have studied and be great at it? Can anyone call themselves a designer? a photographer? You get the picture.

I was still thinking about this conversation when I saw a tweet from Chase Jarvis a week later that said:

"Are you the future of photography or the problem with it? http://bit.ly/tq1NA1 [old #fav}"

The link led to a blog post he wrote last summer that discussed the art of photography and whether it was being ruined by the majority of people taking photos, editing and sharing their photos. Feel free to go read the blog (and the comments) as this is not really the point of this blog post.

The point is that I then wondered...who is Chase Jarvis? From the Best Camera book and app, I thought he was a technology guy. The blog post made me wonder if he was a photographer as well. It turns out that he is. You can read his bio here.

So today, I started reading The Best Camera Is The One That's With You. I am fascinated not necessarily by the photos themselves (although they are great), but by the idea of iPhone photography.

I have over 600 photos on my iPhone but the most I have done with them is to post them to Facebook or Twitter (which eventually get deleted or forgotten). I hadn't thought of cherishing them like I do with the photos taken with traditional cameras.

A few quotes in the book spoke to me like:

"I don't want more settings or buttons. I want less.
Less is the new black."

"There are at least ten great pictures waiting to be taken within ten meters of where you are standing right now"

"Every photographer takes crappy pictures, every painter paints crappy paintings, and every actor blows their lines. What really matters is that you're out there, sending stuff into the world."

Perhaps I could add every blogger writes crappy posts ;-)

Chase Jarvis helped me have an aha moment today. My iPhone photos are just as valuable as my camera ones. They captured moments, perhaps not as beautifully as a D-SLR could, but the moment is still worth remembering.

I now want to go and review my photos, and perhaps make my own iPhone photo book (or slideshow) or at least add them to my photo library so that they are included in the photo albums, photo books and slideshows that I make.

My Daily ♥ #159: Young Empires at The Horseshoe Tavern

It's been a busy week for Young Empires.

Their debut album Wake All My Youth was released. They appeared on MTV Live, Edge 102.1, Entertainment Canada, Now Magazine and recorded a performance for George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight that will air on February 17th.

The week culminated with a sold out CD release party at the legendary Horseshoe Tavern last night (technically this morning since they took the stage past midnight).

I saw them perform on the Strombo show on Monday, but performing for television meant the sound was a lot quieter and the audience were seated and further back. It was still an amazing performance and they sounded great, just the atmosphere wasn't what it was at the Horseshoe.

I have been to a lot of concerts at the Horseshoe. Sometimes it is so loud that the sound is distorted, but this was not the case last night. The sound was perfect. It was loud enough that I couldn't hear myself sing ;-) but not too loud that it was deafening.

The crowd was great, singing and dancing. More importantly, the band were completely into the show. The vocals were amazing and the band sounded complete. The recent addition of the drummer probably adds a lot to their live performances. They also had great rapport between themselves and the audience.

Here are a few unedited shots that pjmixer took. You can see his edited photos here.

Matthew

Aaron

Matthew and Jacob

Unfortunately, we don't have photos of Taylor, the drummer because our view was partially obstructed and the lighting for the back of the stage is always poor at The Horseshoe.

Here are a few links of songs they performed on MTV Live if you're interested in seeing a video.

White Doves is their best known song which is getting radio air play. You can hear it here.

Let You Sleep Tonight is my favourite from the songs I didn't know before buying the album. (I already had White Doves, Rain of Gold and Empire of the Sun that are all amazing). You can hear Let You Sleep Tonight here.

Another great song, Beaches can be heard here.

If you missed them, they'll be playing a couple of events in March for Canadian Music Week. They are absolutely worth seeing live! You can see details here and here.

My Daily ♥ # 158: Goodbye Kiss by Kasabian

This is my favourite Kasabian song from their latest album and it made it onto my Favourite Songs of 2011.

I just saw that they released this video. When I got my tickets to see Kasabian in concert for the spring, I didn't think they'd perform this one. I was imagining a Kasabian show being a lot more energetic and rocking.

This video (taken from their New Year's Eve concert) gives me hope that I will get to hear it live.



Lyrics (as I hear them):
Doomed from the start
We met with a goodbye kiss,
I broke my wrist
It all kicked off,
I had no choice
You said that you didn't mind
'cause love's hard to find
Maybe the days we had are gone,
living in silence for too long
Open your eyes and what do you see?
No more laughs, no more photographs

Turning slowly, looking back, see
No words, can save this,
you're broken and I'm pissed
Run along like I'm supposed to,
be the man I ought to
Rock and Roll, sent us insane,
I hope someday that we will meet again

Running wild
Giving it everyone,
now that's all done
Maybe the days we had are gone,
living in silence for too long
Open you're eyes and what do you see?
The last stand, let go of my hand

Turning slowly, looking back, see
No words, can save this,
you're broken and I'm pissed
Run along like I'm supposed to,
be the man I ought to
Rock and Roll, sent us insane,
I hope someday that we will meet again

You go your way and I'll go my way
No words can save us,
this lifestyle made us
Run along like I'm supposed to,
be the man I ought to
Rock and Roll, sent us insane,
I hope someday that we will meet again

My Daily ♥ # 157: Flash Fans at Port Credit hockey game

This Bud commercial is set to air on Sunday for the Superbowl.

It starts with:

"We told two Port Credit, Ontario hockey teams we were shooting a documentary about rec league hockey.

We lied."

I couldn't help but think about all the rec hockey players I know and this happening to them. Tears in my eyes!

My Daily ♥ # 156: Chimes of Freedom - The Songs of Bob Dylan

I'm sorry that I missed the 50th anniversary of Amnesty International on December 10th but it has now come to my attention thanks to We Are Augustines, who are one of eighty artists who have re-recorded Bob Dylan's songs for the 4-disc album "Chimes of Freedom" in honour of 50 years of Amnesty International. The album was released last week.

You can purchase the songs here or on iTunes.

Here is We Are Augustines' performance of Mama, You Been On My Mind

My Daily ♥ # 155: A Boy I Once Knew by Elizabeth Stone

"To let the dead live,
you must let the dead die"
Elizabeth Stone

Last month, I wrote a blog post about my son on his birthday. In it I quoted Elizabeth Stone: [Motherhood is] "to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body”.

I looked up who Elizabeth Stone was because I loved the quote so much and found out she was an author. I ordered a couple of her books from the library hoping to find that quote. By the time they arrived, I didn't remember why I ordered them. This happens to me often when I read a newspaper, magazines or internet articles. I see a book that sounds interesting and I order it, often times it's months before the book comes so I forget where I saw it mentioned.

I finished the first book today entitled A Boy I Once Knew. I was telling a friend about it and decided to google Elizabeth Stone to see if it would remind me of the reason I had read the book. I found the quote.

The quote is not found in this book (I think I would have noticed it) but I still loved the book.

The premise is a student she once taught who sends his diaries to her upon his death. He hopes that she will write a biography about him. The story is quite sad. The student ended up in San Fransisco in the 80's and early 90's where he and many of his gay friends contracted and died of AIDS.

What I found interesting was the timing of this story with so much death in my circle of friends (and my blog) lately. The author learns from reading the diaries and soul searching how to better handle death.

The quote: "To let the dead live, you must let the dead die" was really eye-opening and mind-provoking for me. I will keep thinking about this quote because it says so much in so few words.

In an interview with the Algonkian, Elizabeth Stone summarizes what she learned:

"Vincent and I were not intimates, but it was from him that I understood that relationships aren't frozen at the moment of a loved one's death. Relationships can evolve even after death. Though they're between us and another person, their stage is inside each of us, and it's always lit. I had last seen Vincent when he was a fourteen-year-old boy, but through reading his diaries, I developed a relationship with the man Vincent became, a relationship far more substantial than my relationship to the boy had ever been. It makes me happy that I had that opportunity. From Vincent, I learned that there is a terrain beyond mourning."

My Daily ♥ # 154: George Strombo Tonight

I got the opportunity to go to the taping of George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight today.

One of the bands we like (Young Empires) was the musical guest and tweeted that they would be playing, so we emailed for tickets and got them. Tickets to the tapings are free which is a bonus! The musical performance will air on February 17th.

Photos are not allowed during taping so I took photos with my iPhone of the set beforehand.

It is so interesting to see how the show is taped. When there is a band, we arrive at 2:30pm. They escort us into the studio small groups at a time. The band performs their song two or three times in order for the cameras to get extra angles and shots. By 3:30pm they remove the musical set and bring in the red chairs. (I took this photo at the end as we were leaving)

This is when we would arrive on a regular recording day (without a band).

They start recording the show by 4pm and for the 40 minute episode, it takes less than two hours.

During the waiting periods, there is a very funny stand-up/improv guy who keeps us entertained.

The introductory clips are recorded. Then the camera angles are changed. The monologue segments are recorded. The camera angles are changed. The interviews are recorded. On this day, since one of the interviews was longer than it should be, George re-recorded one of the segments to make it shorter. The guests we saw included David Frum (which aired same day), the opening segment for Michael Morpurgo, the author of the book War Horse whose interview was pre-recorded and the interview with Brad Peyton, the director for Journey 2: The Mysterious Island which will air at a later date.

I would love to go back for another taping. What a wonderful way to spend an afternoon! I'll make sure to check the website on a regular basis to see who the guests are and try to go back sometime soon.

My Daily ♥ #153: Graeme McDowell

I first liked Graeme McDowell when I saw him with his painter's cap playing in the U.S. Open that he would eventually win in 2010. With Mike Weir (my favourite golfer) out with an injury, I have followed Graeme's incredible 2010 (winning the Ryder Cup with the final putt for his team) and uneventful 2011. He seems like such a down to earth guy that the more I know about him, the more I cheer for him.

He wasn't in the top 10 going into the last round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship this morning. I recorded it and was watching it in fast forward (the beginning at least), because I really didn't have 4 hours to spend watching golf this morning. There is no mention of McDowell but I can see on the leaderboard that he's at least 7 shots back of the lead.

Finally the telecast shows him (so I click play). The commentator says:

"haven't seen much of Graeme McDowell. He's 6 under par. Not a great day happening for McDowell...well not until now that is"

He gets a hole in one at the 12th. Not as special as seeing Mike Weir get a hole in one in person a few years ago, but I was still thankful to have seen it. You can see a video of it here.

He chipped in on the next hole. He birdied the 17th and more incredibly, from a fairway bunker on the 18th he completely overshot the green. His ball hit the grandstand and ricocheted back to within 10 feet of the hole for another birdie.



He finished tied for 3rd, 2 strokes back. He may not have won, but he added some excitement to the final round.

My Daily ♥ #152: Winter X Games

I spent quite a bit of time this weekend watching the Winter X Games. The 2012 Winter X Games are dedicated to the memory of Sarah Burke. They prepared a beautiful video which includes Thursday night's glowstick descent down the halfpipe by her fellow Winter X Games competitors.

My daughter is thinking of writing her school speech about her. Sarah's impact has reached even further than skiing.

My Daily ♥ #151: Maple Leaf Time Capsule

I love time capsules. When my kids were born, I prepared one for each of them that included fun facts about that year, some store receipts that showed the price of things, product packaging and Year End magazines and newspapers. I think I will have more fun opening them than my children will.

A time capsule was found last fall at Maple Leaf Gardens. It had been buried in 1931 by Conn Smythe.



You can read the full article here.

My Daily ♥ #150: Turn Out Best

Things are about to change for our family. Will the change be good? Only time will tell. This quote is appropriate as we start a new chapter.

Things turn out best
for the people
who make the best
out of the way things turn out