O let the sun beat down upon thy face

Life is full of good quotes.
It was JFK that said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." FDR uttered the famous words, "a date which will live in infamy." Obama overused the saying "Yes, we can!" (Bob the builder anyone?)

But how many times do you stop to admire the great quotes that come out of the media that surrounds us. Song lyrics and film quotes are continually overlooked in favor of Presidential speeches, campaign slogans, and inspirational quotes.

So I have compiled a list of some of my favorite lines from films and songs, sharing the joy and perplexity they bring. (In no particular order, of course. It would be far too difficult to rate them.)

1) The song by Bruises by Chairlift is an upbeat, foot-tapping song, which is cute and sweet...pun intended.
"I grabbed some frozen strawberries so I could ice your bruising knees
But frozen things they all unfreeze and now I taste like....
All those frozen strawberries I used to chill your bruising knees,
Hot July ain't good to me
I'm pink and black and blue for you."

2) Those who have watched any of the Ocean's movies know that their thief-jargon is perhaps the greatest mystery of all-time in films. It's a quirk that makes those movies original and funny...and always keeps you wondering, "what does it really mean?" Although I could share far greater than a dozen of those lines, I will only include a few, since just having one wouldn't suffice.
In Ocean's 12, Tess, played by the lovely Julia Roberts, hints in code to her husband Danny (George Clooney)that her ex-lover and Danny's former victim has come for revenge.
The Line: "Oh no...Danny....There's water in the basement and the pilot light is out."

3) Ocean's eleven was a mastermind that still keeps me wondering how they pulled off all of their tricks. In the beginning, while trying to assemble a team, Rusty (Brad Pitt) lists off jargon names of people he thinks they'll need.
"You'll need a Boesky, a Jim Brown, a Miss Daisy, two Jethro's, a Leon Spinx, not to mention the biggest Ella Fitzgerald ever."

4) My all-time favorite conversation exchange takes place in the Ocean's 12. Matt Damon (the 'rookie' rolling for leadership), Brad Pitt (the #2-man) and George Clooney (the boss), meet a character named Matsui at a local bar to bargain a deal for a heist. The following three lines will boggle your mind until you can't think straight.
Rusty (Brad Pitt) says: "A doctor, who specializes in skin diseases, will dream he has fallen asleep in front of the television. Later, he will wake up in front of the television, but not remember his dream."
Danny Ocean (Clooney) follows by saying, "If all the animals along the equator were capable of flattery, then Thanksgiving and Halloween would fall on the same day."
Matsui then says, "When I was four years old, I watched my mother kill a spider... with a teacozy. Years later, I realized it was not a spider - it was my Uncle Harold."

The brilliance of those three lines was that it's meant as a coded conversation...a way for the thieves to talk business in a public setting. If you haven't seen the movies yet, watch them ASAP. Worth every moment of your time.

5)If Tina Fey could bottle and sell her comedy, it would come out in the best "stupid lines" in a conversation, greatly portrayed in the film, "Mean Girls," which her screenplay bore. "Mean Girls" has become the new and improved "Napolean Dynamite," as teenagers and adults alike quote the movie more than they quote themselves. With lines like "If you're from Africa, why are you white?", "I wanna lose three pounds," and "I have a fifth sense," teenagers across America have snatched up the hilarious comedy and plugged it into their own dialect.

6) Adam Young, creator and mastermind of his one-man-band entitled "Owl City" has inspired a new age of electric pop lyrics. His sweet-nothing type lyrics take us on a fantasy ride through many-a-different universe's. In his song entitled "On the wing," lyrics sing and tweet a quirky message.
"Breathe and I'll carry you away, into the velvet sky. And we'll stir the stars around, and watch them fall away into the Hudson Bay and plummet out of sight and sound."

7) A new favorite duo of mine is a couple, who entitled themselves "Luke and Drew." The name is lacking in luster, but their music is something like you've never heard before, and the back-story to this singing duo is quite cute. Both Luke and Drew have considered themselves "artists," and like to find different avenues of art (both physical and non) to express themselves. The story goes that after a fight the two had, Luke needed to express how much he loved Drew. He sat down with a guitar that night and whipped out the tune "Song About You." After he sang it to Drew, she fell in love with it, and more so-with Luke, as well, they started writing songs together. Not too long after, Luke proposed to Drew, and the two began their recording and touring debut as "Luke and Drew." (who are now officially "Luke and Drew Goddard". Congratulations!)
Their songs and lyrics more-so reflect the joy and love one finds in their soul-mate. Some of my favorite lyrics are from their song "Our Own Little World."
"I can't wait to wake up beside you and take you by the hand. And walk you into our cozy little bathroom and brush our teeth together. Or how about when we make our first grocery list. We'll hop in the car and ride to the market and buy what's on our list. It'll be our own little world, it'll be our own little world, it'll be our own little world...I can't wait. I can't wait!"
Those lyrics seem like they were ripped straight out of a love-letter, and embrace what true love really is. True love isn't always high-romance, a hundred thousand rose-pedals, champaigne and wine, type of love we often think it is. Most often, it's just being with the person you were meant to spend the rest of your life, and the lyrics of that song bring to life what I believe true love is supposed to be.

By the way, if you'd like to see their proposal video that Luke recorded, it's right below. It's more than worth your time to watch it. :-)


8)One of my favorite memories of high school was singing in our choir. Our songs ranged everything between pop and musicals to classical and new age pieces. But one of my all-time favorite songs we performed was by a fabulous composer named Eric Whitacre. (Follow him at @ericwhitacre, or his blog www.soaringleap.com) The song we sang was one of his first pieces, entitled "Sleep." The song is about just that...sleep. The lyrics that he wove were magical and brought me into a world where I felt calm. Here are some of my favorites from that song.
"The evening hangs beneath the moon. A silver thread on darkened doon. With closing eyes and resting, head I know that sleep is coming soon. Upon my pillow safe in bed, a thousand pictures fill my head. I cannot sleep, my mind's aflight, and yet my limbs seem made of lead."
And my all time favorite line: "Then I surrender unto sleep, where clouds of dream give second sight. What dreams may come both dark and dep, of flying wings and soaring leap. As I surrender unto sleep."

9) Emily Dickinson kept it short and sweet, but yet profound and beautiful in her poem "I Have No Life But This."
"I have no life but this,
To lead it here;
Nor any death, but lest
Dispelled from there;
Nor tie to earths to come,
Nor action new,
Except through this extent,
The Realm of You!"

10) Perhaps the greatest writers of all time weren't of this age. In a land now known as Israel, in a time far far away, a Psalmist named David wrote what is possibly the most widely known Psalm in the history of the world. The serene imagery and the peacefulness of this verse is arguably the best any human has ever written.

Psalm 23
"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil;
my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever."

So there is my ode to great lyrics and lines. I hope you enjoyed it. :)

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Ima Fan Now!

It was fifth grade. I had just gotten my first ever CD player, and was really into Leann Rhimes and Deanna Carter. And that's the last I ever considered myself a country fan.

Those of my friends who love country know that I don't, and usually make it a point to play other music while I'm chillin' in their car.
But lately, there's one artist that has recently made me cross over again. And that's the ever-so-popular Taylor Swift.

Taylor Swift was an artist I hated for two reasons.
1) She was a country singer. (Yes, I dislike country that much.)
2) She was everyone's favorite. And I hate copying people.

But somehow, this girl, whose second album which went quadruple platinum, has captured my listening attention as well as my heart.

Taylor's music is good country, meaning she's not too country, and just enough pop in it to make it cute and listening worthy. Not only that, her lyrics speak volumes about what it's like to be a teenager. "Fifteen" for example speaks about her and her best friend Abigail when they were 15, and the mistakes they hope others will avoid. "You belong with me," is a top favorite, which conveys a story about the not-so-popular girl and the boy who's dating the mean and preppy cheerleader.

Back in the day, there was a song by country-star Leann Rhimes that went "don't ever lose that light in your eyes." That light in Taylor's eyes is clearly evident every time she gets up to sing her music. Every time this beautiful girl performs, whether it's a small acoustic set or a crazy subway ride, she radiates from the stage and into her audience all across the nation.
Despite being rattled by Kanye Wests' recent display of rudeness, Taylor put on her "performance" face and had the best subway ride of her life. With hundreds of fans surrounding and singing along her, she rode the subway and sang her hit song "You Belong With Me," then exited to find herself in front of Radio City Music Hall on top of a taxi, again, surrounded by more fans. It was by far the craziest and most fun performance I've seen in a long time, because in those moments, you realized that singing that music gave her such joy. And sharing that joy with hundreds of her fans in the middle of New York City is something she will cherish for a long time.
Two days after the VMA awards, Taylor Swift performed again on The View. Those performances of "Fifteen" and "You Belong With Me" were just as impressive as the subway ride. When she sang "You Belong With Me," she beamed with joy, like singing that song was what she was made to do, and she was reminding herself of just how blessed she is. And she just loves to have fun with her music, just like the rest of us do when it comes on the radio: we blast it and sing (or screech) along with it.

Taylor is just a down-to-earth girl who acts just like all the rest of us "teenagers at heart." What attracted me at first to her music wasn't her music at all, actually; I had found a video blog she had posted on Youtube. The fact she video blogs, and shows just how much crazy-fun she has, makes her so much more relatable. It was those videoblogs that made me listen to her music...and I gradually came to love a singer who considers herself a country singer. If you haven't looked for any of her video blogs on youtube, you should immediately watch it below.


Lastly, Taylor is a humble, modest, and poised young lady who deserves appreciation. The whole "Kanye West" show during the VMA's would be enough to make me start bawling, or at least slap him silly. But she just stood there, and although rattled, didn't fight back and let Kanye be his rude and self-centered self. Later, on an interview on "The View," speaking about winning the VMA and Kanye, she quoted her process of thinking as "wow, I can't believe I won! This is awesome! Don't trip and fall. I'm gonna get to thank the fans this is so cool. Oh, Kanye West is here! Cool haircut. What are ya doing...ouch...I guess I'm not going to get to thank the fans."
Taylor loves her fans. On the first time ever a country music singer wins a VMA, it wasn't about how awesome she is or even how much she loves her family...it's "Thanks to the fans." Later on, Beyonce herself showed poise and self-sacrifice when she gave up her award speech time to Taylor Swift, so she could then, not dis Kanye West, but to say "I'd like to thank all the fans on twitter and myspace, and everyone who came out to my shows this summer." Showing complete grace and poise in the situation, she never once bashed Kanye West for his display of rudeness. Instead, she said, "I can't say I wasn't rattled, but if he wants to say hi, then sure." Obviously not wanting to say anything negative about West, she held her own and handled the whole ordeal with the upmost grace and poise - something most 19-year-olds don't know how to do....and even some celebrities.

So, after about 6 months, my thought process about Taylor Swift goes like this.
"I hate country music, including Taylor Swift. I will put up with Taylor Swift's music. She has the sweetest video blogs. Hey, her music's actually pretty good. Wow, she is talented. Nice hair. Hey, she's actually a stand-up-girl too! Guess I get to thank her for being an inspiration."

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to love or not to love, that is the question

Tennyson wrote, "It is better to have loved and lost than to have not loved at all." What a powerful statement; yet so difficult to embrace.
I love to love. I truly believe I am a loving and caring person, and that's something God has blessed me with. However, it's the times when we've lost that we feel Tennyson really wasn't so wise.

My dog is in his old age. I have had him for over a decade now. I got him when he was just a wee little pup. I (along with the help of my gracious and patient parents) potty trained him and taught him how to sit, stay, and shake. For years, he has been my comfort. When he was younger, he would jump up on my bed and lay by my side through the entire night, curled up along the inside of my legs or right by my face. Then in the mornings, he'd wake me with a kiss, whether I liked it or not. For years, I've curled up beside him and hugged him when I needed a quiet companion. He's laid on my lap during family trips, and went for walks with me when I needed protection...although he was never much of a protector, since he's one of the friendliest dogs I've ever known.
There was one time I can remember like it was yesterday. Our family had just moved out of the home I had known for the past 8 years. That was the house I grew up in. There were markings on the wall of my height. I knew the creeks and cricks of the stairway so I could slither down them in the middle of the night without waking anybody up. And when I entered, it was home. Then, towards the beginning of my ninth grade year, we had to move out, as it was the church parsonage, and the new pastor would be moving in shortly. It was winter, I think near November. The ground was white with sparkling snow, and I needed to go for a walk. I brought my dog with, since after dark my mother liked knowing there was something "protecting" me while I was out. In that walk, I meandered towards the parsonage, since it wasn't that far of a walk. Once I got there, I remember staring through the window. My heart sank as I began to understand that it wasn't my home anymore, and it would never be again. I peered inside the window, glancing around my old kitchen...where the table used to be, where the refrigerator sat. And my heart broke into pieces. Tears streamed down my face as my body sunk down onto the cold cement steps. And Sonny came crawling up to me, put his paws in my lap, and gave my cheeks some of his slobbery-wet kisses. I hugged him like he was the only thing left in my life, and we just sat there, in front of my old house together. Just like I used to do with him, when I first brought him home as a puppy. I would lay down with him in the middle of the night as he whimpered, scared of his new surroundings. This time, it was me that needed the comforting, and he was there. It's as if he sensed it, or knew it. He knew that I needed him there sitting with me at that moment.

Lately, in the past year or so, he's gotten too old to really run around like he used to. It's more difficult for him to climb the stairs, go for a run, or even a long walk. And more recently, he's been not up to par. My dad took him into the vet, and what she said is that he has a genetic disease, found in Cocker-spaniel's like my own, which eats away all the red blood cells. He's also has a heart murmur, which is common in older dogs.

He's currently medicated, and is "feeling better." The vet doesn't know how long he really has. She said if things go well, he still has a number of years left. But if not, if my Sonny baby runs too hard or gets stressed, the heart can go into a cardiac arrest.

I've known this has been coming. And I haven't taken his presence for granted. But sometimes, I just have to wonder....is it really worth it to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all - especially when considering pets?
My heart hurts. My sonny baby has been my companion. He greets me with great joy when I come home, and sits in great sorrow when I leave. He has been a part of my life since I was twelve. He has been there through every move my family has made, and has laid on my lap as I've cried tears into his fluffy, white fur. He's been there to make me laugh with his silly quirks, and makes me smile from ear to ear when I mention "Do you wanna go for a ride?" in which he goes nuts, almost yelping out "yes, of course! oh take me with you! take me with you! Can I go?! Please mama?"

Saying goodbye to your dog is like having to say goodbye to a close member of your family. Your heart aches the same; You grieve the same; You miss their presence the same.

And although I do believe Tennyson was right, there are times when your heart will tell you it's not.

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