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 ...

Joshua Tree Getaway

I love L.A., and I’ll be sad to leave …
but sometimes living here, in this sprawling megalopolis,
I start to feel sick for the sight of open sky, mountains, for clean air and silence and stars.

“Let’s go to Joshua Tree. Tomorrow.”

So we threw our bags in the car and drove until the city, at last, began to recede.
It's true, you can never leave your troubles behind you
--wherever you go, there you are--
but somehow, in the desert--glorious, vast, and quiet--
all the anxieties constricting, and sorrows weighing on my heart
somehow ease themselves and I feel healed, restored, stilled, at peace.

And there they were--the Joshua Trees.

We'd found a decent place to stay--Sunnyvale Garden Suites--

to call it "quaint" wouldn't do it justice.

The front office was done up like a Disneyland facade ...

Outside our room--a horseshoe.

I know it's superstition, but somehow, charms like this make me feel ... lucky.

Perhaps they just remind of how fortunate I am already.

We really were lucky--that night there happened to be an astronomy program at the visitor center.

We looked through a telescope and gasped at images of Saturn, Mars, and galaxy clusters.

A second, deep space telescope was hooked up to a large screen, offering views we'll never forget ...

The Sombrero Galaxy

The Ring Nebula

The Lagoon

The Swan

The Dumbell

Apparently, they have these astronomy programs about once a month--they said the next would be July 13. I think at this point, you probably would have to call or email the visitor center for the schedule--they haven't got the info up on the website.

So, anyway ...

Dear L.A. friends:

When your spirit is stifled and troubles are weighing you down,

go to Joshua Tree.

Look at the stars.

Enjoy the quiet.

And let your soul be stilled.

A heart-shaped rock ...

An amazing view ...

Such a strange and beautiful tree ...

"Dame Un Tiempo Mas" - Lyrics / Letra

I recently traveled to another state where I was (am) being considered for a pastoral position. I did not anticipate how stressful and unsettling it was going to be merely to find myself in a strange locale—a place, in some ways, unlike any I'd ever visited.

It reminded me of how upsetting it was my first week at college, 1,200 miles from home. It was the beginning of a totally different life, in a place that seemed terrifyingly strange. It was probably the third day I'd been there or so—I just laid down on my bed and started sobbing, because everything was so not normal. Of course, I eventually got used to it, and in only a short time, it became a very comforting place.

But the funny thing is ... I went on a couple mission/exposure trips, as a teenager—to Tijuana, and to a place called Tonalá, outside of Guadalajara—and instead of having that feeling of culture shock, I felt exactly the opposite—as if I was coming home—as if I'd been so many long years in exile, I'd somehow forgotten, but that this was where I really belonged, and felt at peace.

I wonder if there might be something about the national character of Mexico that particularly resonates with me. The Enneagram Institute believes nations tend to have three dominant personality types (scroll to "In Cultural Studies")—and it seems not improbable to me that Four (the Artist—my basic type) would be one of Mexico's three.

Several months ago, I was in Zumba class, and we were doing this one song—"Dame Un Tiempo Mas"—and all of a sudden, I had this intense memory of being in Mexico—it was a deep feeling of peace, and relaxation, and of just being at home ... Beautiful ...

Anyway, it took me a long time to figure out what the song was, not least of all because the lyrics do not appear to be posted anywhere on the web, as of this writing. So, here is my best guess—may it, perhaps, benefit someone out there. Probably this is going to be laughable to anyone who speaks Spanish—please, comment if you can help me correct it. Some of this really just did not make sense to me, but I took a stab at it, anyway (I get points for trying, eh?).

Letra de
Dame Un Tiempo Mas

Dame un tiempo mas
y pon esa cinturita a bailar
llenando te de besos
que pronto la maniana llegara

Por eso, dame un tiempo mas
y tu corazoncito reconquistar
Nunca mas estare lejos
y solita no te vas a quedar

Fue muy dificil
mi vida sin tenerte
que no estes pegadita a mi
pasar noches en vela

Yo nunca te voy a herir  (no que voy a herir)
Yo no lo haria jamas (No lo haria jamas)
Yo quiero estar junto a ti (junto a ti)
Yo solo te voy amar (Te voy amar)
Es que sin ti yo que haria? (que haria)
Pero tengo la suerte
de sentir que vuelves ...