10 Songs That Make Me Happy

It's been a hectic week--and even the weekend has already been so busy I've hardly had time to sit down and do something frivolous like this--but of course, at such times a little frivolity is most needed. I've been meaning to do this for a long time--ever since I was looking for lists of songs that make other people happy and came across this fun video (it was my introduction to Scatman John!).

So anyway, here are 10 songs that make me happy. Hope anyone who reads this has had a happy Saturday--and that your Sunday will be happy, too. Wishing you much happiness ... 

10. El Poeta, Chino y Nacho

"Muy feliz, feliz, feliz, feliz ..."

9. Te Amo Tanto Tanto (Version 2011), Grupo Extra

Drippingly sweet--but it's in Spanish, so that's okay. (-:

8. Arrasando, Thalia

English translation here--"arrasando" could also be translated "triumphing" or (my favorite) "sweeping to victory." Seems esp. fitting since the chorus reminds me of the theme for the star power up in Mario Bros. Great words in the chorus, too.

7. Ai, Se Eu Te Pego, Michel Telo

You can really hear in the recording the happiness and excitement of all those people at the concert. I also thought it was fun to read the words in Spanish and listen to the Portuguese. Fascinating ...

6.  Firework, Katy Perry

Kind of cheesy, I know, but ... I like it.

5. Unwritten, Natasha Bedingfield

4. Variations 1-4, Andrew Lloyd Webber/Julian Lloyd Webber/Paganini

3. Desiderata 

A friend from Mexico told me about this lovely song, having remembered hearing it on the radio many times in her childhood.

2. Nutbod (Houseboats of Kashmir Remix), from Baz Luhrmann's album, Something For Everybody

1. Time of Your Song, Matisyahu

I can't even tell you how much I love this song or how it makes me feel. Beautiful.

[These aren't actually my top ten--I'm saving some good ones for future lists of 10 ... (-: ]

Something Beautiful To Look At (Part II - Two Hearts)

A couple facebook friends posted these images yesterday--I don't know for sure if they'll go up on my wall in the future, but they are lovely.

Yellow and Blue

As I've mentioned before, I love calendars. I have seven wall calendars up right now, four of them in one corner of the dining room area (hereafter "Calendar Corner"). At the beginning of the year, three out of four calendars in Calendar Corner agreed on blue, red, and white as the colors of January. This is the first month that all four calendars in Calendar Corner agree: yellow and blue as the colors of July.

Perhaps it's because people associate July with going to the beach (yellow sand, blue ocean) or early summer in general (yellow for sunlight, blue for clear skies). Anyway, I thought that was interesting. And I wonder how what results I might get from a larger survey.

If only I had more calendar pages to look at ... (-;

Something Beautiful To Look At (Part I)

Everybody wants beautiful things to look at, me especially. I may have my very own office at some point in the somewhat near future, and I've been thinking of images I want to get printed at the Target photo lab and hang on the wall. There will be sloths, of course. I'll share those later, when I've found my favorites.

For now, I was thinking of these two amazing works of art:

St. Matthew the Evangelist from the Ebbo Gospels (9th century):

I first saw this in Gardner's Art Through The Ages ("the" art history textbook) and wished with all my heart that European art had remained beautiful, fun, warm, and cartoonish like this, instead of getting all icky, cold, and boring with the Renaissance. Oh well.

And I just love this image of St. John the Evangelist as an eagle from the Book of Kells:

reminded to pray ...

I was reminded recently of the suffering caused by wishing you could change something that you simply do not have any control over.

I thought maybe I had more to say about it, but really, I'm just reminded to pray:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference ...