Apparently there are seven things that are Romantic.

 

That's to men. To women there's a whole lot more romance out there. Stuff like a stuffed animal with a bow around the neck, and candles that smell when you light them. Also cards that you give them when it's NOT their birthday, or Valentine's. Remembering your anniversary is romantic. Heck, remembering that you're married is pretty romantic. Walking on the beach, finding sea shells, and making restaurant reservations are all romantic. Also big bathtubs. I almost forgot those.

 

But to men? There are only seven romantic things. Don't worry. I'll tell you what they are. (I also have a link below in case you don't believe me. Because I don't just make this stuff up. It's out there, people, and I just pass it along.)

 

But I also thought I would tell you a few more things that are NOT romantic.

 

1. Little statues that you put on shelves in your house. Especially if they have wings, but they aren't birds. Like angels. And faiiries. And Tinkerbell. (Especially Tinkerbell.)

2. A car that needs to be washed.

3. Food that comes in little itty-bitty pieces. That you eat with wine. (The wine is OK though. Not as good as beer, but OK.)

4. Anything you bought because your girlfriends say it is cute.

5. Anything you bought because the salesperson said it is cute.

6. Anything you bought because you thought it is cute.

7. Cute stuff in general.

 

The seven Romantic things are:

1. Dressing up for him.

2. Initiating physical affection.

3. Giving him a night out with "the boys."

4. Telling him he's soooo strong.

5. Giving him tickets to the big game.

6. Showing interest in his outside life.

7. Telling him a secret.

 

Now I have to explain WHY these things are Romantic. Because without a full explanation people like me never get it. And then we start buying the little statues. Next time.

 

 

http://dating.personals.yahoo.com/singles/datingtips/87602/dating-advice-7-things-men-really-find-romantic;_ylc=X3oDMTNhcWN1ZGhrBF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEX3MDMjE0MjAyNTE4NARrA3JvbWFudGljIGZvciBtZW4Ec2VjA2ZwX3B1bHNlBHNsawNzaG91bGQteW91LXdvcnJ5LWFib3V0LXRoZS13b3JrLXNwb3VzZQR6egNhYmM-

 

OK. What I need to say is this: John Mayer, what were you thinking?

 

Now I admit my musical knowledge is minimal, my taste questionable (my fav recording artist is . . . oh, heck if you don't know by now . . .) and my talent nonexistent. But I think that IF I did try to actually write a song, and if it DID turn up in a movie sound track, and then get a considerable amount of radio play, I would be embarassed by repeating the song's main message 39 times in under four minutes.

 

This is a pop song. I know pop songs repeat their refrain until it grinds its way into first your ears, then your brain, and finally the bones and marrow of your skull. I know Bob Seger didn't really have to go Against the Wind, like 25 times in order to make his point.

 

But 39? 39 separate times?

 

OK. I've said what I needed to say.

 

Now, I like snow. I do like snow. it's white. It's fluffy. It brightens things up in February. But I have driven hundreds and hundreds of snow miles this winter, and I see some more of them coming my way this weekend.

 

Driving to DC in January we used five gallons of windshield squirty, along with a couple of gallons of plain water mixed in to stretch it. So I do not look forward to any more snow miles on the roads.

 

Tomorrow I am driving about three hours to a meeting. That shouldn't be too bad, but the return trip forecast on Saturday might be . . . snowy.

Valentine's Day.

 

I am actually fairly good at Valentine's Day. For instance, this year I am buying her an alarm clock.

 

You might say, "What's so romantic about waking her up?" But I would answer, "Right. I see your point. Except she is waking up next to me." So isn't it more romantic to be awake than asleep?

 

Anyway she needs the new alarm clock, because the old one only works if she gets up the same time every day. If you want to adjust the time to wake up a littler earlier, or a little later, no luck. No sleeping in on the weekends. And no getting an early start either.

 

I know it's not so romantic to get her something practical that she needs. It is much more romantic to get her something impractical that she doesn't need at all, but still desperately wants. Like sports tickets. No, wait, that would be me. Like . . . let's see, not jewelry because she has been disappointed in the last couple of things that I have bought her in the jewelry department. Not clothes, because unless she goes with me it is really hard to get anything nice that fits right. If she goes with me, there goes the surprise. Flowers are good, and she likes them, but we're going away for an overnight at a bed and breakfast, so it's hard to bring flowers for her to unwrap.

 

See my problem? The alarm clock is the best answer.

I am wishing  Happy 200th Birthday to Abraham Lincoln.

 

I already helped get him a present. (Hint: Who's living at the White House?)

 

In my opinion, he is the greatest American in our country's history.

 

 

No singing.

 

This is a clip describing the educational efforts of Fundacion Pies Descalzos in Colombia.  

 

 

The video is composed of three segments & Shakira's school is featured beginning at 17:00 mark:

 

 

Here is a news announcement (if you don't want to watch a video!):  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/05/shakira-gifts-6m-school-t_n_164158.html

Full moon.

 

Snow Moon. Pretty good name for February around where I live.

 

We are having a cold, cold winter here. But with plenty of snow, which I think makes it better. For me? The snow brightens things and makes winter MORE tolerable, but I know that some hate the snow for making it harder to get around. That doesn't bother me unless I have a long drive. Like to DC for the inauguration last month. That was a bit too much snow, 500 miles or so of snow. Still . . .  we made it.

 

Snow Moon will still be full on Monday night as well. I am hoping for a clear sky tonight.

We all know busy people. Sometimes we all ARE busy people. But a lot of us seem to miss just HOW to be busy. For instance, let's say you are busy with your work life: meetings, clients, commitments, etc. That is a terrible way to be busy. Work should be relaxing. If there are people waiting to see you, just imagine the nice break you can give them by letting them sit around a bit. Even your boss or CEO probably needs a break now and then. Why not provide it for them? They will appreciate the down time.

 

Quite a few people are busy with their families. Especially the kids part of the family. Kids are like busy-ness factories, making more and more busy-ness to pass out to everyone around them: teachers, parents, friends' parents, even random people at the mall sometimes. Again, this is not a good way to be busy. Kids need more downtime, too. Maybe even more than the CEOs do. Tell them to go play outside.

 

Maybe you are busy around the house, straightening up, preparing a meal now and then, redecorating. That is one of the WORST ways to be busy. Because it's all basically never ending. Straighten up today, you'll still have to straighten up tomorrow. Unless you have kids, of course. With kids around, you straighten up pretty much constantly. Same thing with meals. Make something nice, eat it all up. Guess what? Tomorrow you'll be hungry again. You just can't get ahead.

 

So, what is a good way to be busy? Here are some of my favorites. I like being busy walking around. It's been too cold here lately to just take an enjoyable walk. Every minute in the wind chill is a minute too much. But ordinarily being busy walking is a great way to be busy, especially if there is any kind of nature trail nearby. Which there is.

 

Being busy tickling is a good way to be busy. If you have someone to tickle, take full advantage. If it's someone small that giggles about it, even giggles before it starts, so much the better. But even a full size person to tickle is pretty good. Especially if you like each other.

 

Being busy lending a hand unexpectedly, to someone who could really use it, is a great way to be busy. A local food pantry, a blood donation, shoveling someone's snow. Those are just suggestions that come quickly to mind.

 

Being busy traveling is also good. Seeing new places, or even revisiting old ones, always creates a good busy. They don't have to be splendid, luxurious places either. I am remembering a particular campsite on the Canadian border (with Minnesota) that doesn't have so much as a rusted picnic table. Just trees and rocks on a small sand cove. Guess what? It's one of my favorite places in the entire world. Reachable only by canoe.

 

Pick out some good ways to keep yourself busy, and the happiness in your life will just kind if take care of itself.

 

 

During the last week of January my humble Space received its 75,000 visit.

 

To all my readerboat I am grateful for every visit, and each comment thoughtfully left for consideration. I hope your visits prove entertaining, educational, diverting, or maybe on that rare occasion, all three.

It is hard to pick an absolute favorite!

 

But I settled on this song. It is from a live performance in Vegas in 2007, and yes, there is a chandelier coming out of her head (due to odd personal camera angle), and the chandelier even changes color, (but hey, that's Vegas, I guess). Still, it is so beautiful and honest that the performance sticks in your mind.

 

Shaki wrote music for the film version of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's best-selling novel Love in the Time of Cholera, a Hollywood release of that year. Her song here is called Le Despedida, or "The Desperation" about loving someone without hope. The lyrics, in Spanish, are pretty simple: no you, no life; no you, no song; no you, no hope, and so forth.

 

In the film her music breathes honesty and a Colombian flavor that is captured in the visuals of the beautiful countryside. Even as a teen Shakira had won Garcia Marquez as her biggest Colombian fan, and he asked her to write for the film.

 

 

 

Video of Hay Amores also for the film

 

 

 

Here are the lyrics for both songs:

 

For today? A little love.

 

 "Un Poco de Amor"

 

You might like the second clip better, the actual music video.

 

But the first one? This is early Shakira, from her first hit album that made her a star throughout Spanish- speaking Latin America. (She even has her real hair color, black.) She is about 20 years old here, from the late 90s.

 

This song is a bit like an early Hips Don't Lie, except this is really her own song. (Hips is really a song by Wyclef Jean & she just added the lyrics about her honesty. And the dance moves. And the international Number One Pop Chart success).

 

I like Poco for the mix of English and Spanish and the Caribbean-ness of it. Barranquilla (her city) is on the Caribbean coast, but she uses so much pop and rock influence that the Caribbean heritage gets a little lost. (Although  performing Hips in live concert she will frequently wait until the Wyclef line that asks, "Let me see you dance like you come from Colombia" & then shout into her mic, "Barranquilla!")

 

First clip, from her very first tour, called Tour Pies Descalzos:

 

 Un Poco de Amor live in concert:

 

 

Here is also her MTV music video of the same song & you can actually hear the English lyrics much clearer than the live version. Also, note her use of children in her video. Even at this young age, Shakira had already set up her charitable Fundacion Pies Descalzos to benefit the children of Colombia displaced by violence and drug wars.

 

Un Poco de Amor music video:

 

Today we wish a very

 

Happy Birthday to Shakira Isabel Mebarak! 

 

This clip is in Spanish again, from her 1999 Grammy-winning performance on MTV Unplugged. She is in New York, on their soundstage, with long red hair. And leather pants.

 

The song is "No Creo" loosely translated as "I Don't Believe . . . " At the 1:45 mark she says she doesn't believe her mother, she doesn't believe Karl Marx, she doesn't believe Jean-Paul Sartre, or Brian Weiss (had to look him up: American psychologist investigating whether people can recover memories of past lives). So she only believes in love.

 

Incidentally the repetition at the beginning is not "boy, boy, boy" which it sounds like to English-speakers, but "Voy, voy, voy" as in "Go, go, go."

 

Be sure to stick around until the percussion interlude at 2:45.

 

Live performance of "No Creo"

 

 

 

 

 

This is one of the best songs to see Shakira's crowd appeal and her tremendous energy of live performance!

 

 She wrote this, with mariachi horns and everything, as a tribute to her Mexican fans. In English, it means Deaf, Dumb, Blind & Helpless, how it feels to be around the one you have fallen in love with.

 

In Spanish, "Ciego, Sorda, Muda" live in concert in Miami, Dec 2006:

 

 

 

Here is another version if you want to read the words in translation: 

 (this is from MTV Unplugged back in 1999, with long red hair)