Day 05 — A song that reminds you of someone

With Mother’s Day fast approaching here in the UK, I thought today’s song choice — a song that reminds you of someone — would be in honour of my old ma.

Let it be known by all that my mum can be a real ham … even more than I can be … the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, right? Anyway, I have these great memories from when I was little of her entertaining me with her hilarious impressions of the great Shirley Bassey. Actually, she still does them with a little bit of absolutely no prompting whatsoever. I took her to see the diva in concert a couple of years ago … it wasn’t my taste, but it really was a fantastic performance and fab to see my mum grinning and grooving all night.

So, for Day 05 of this 30-Day Song Challenge, I’ve picked Shirley Bassey’s I Am What I Am because it reminds me of my mum … Happy Mother’s Day Mum. x

I am what I am
I am my own special creation
So come take a look
Give me the hook or the ovation
It’s my world that I want to have a little pride in
My world and it’s not a
place I have to hide in
Life’s not worth a damn till you can say
Hey world I am what I am
I am what I am

I don’t want praise
I don’t want pity
I bang my own drum
Some think it’s noise
I think it’s pretty
And so what if I love each
feather and each spangle
Why not try and see things
from a different angle
Your life is a sham till you can say
Hey world I am what I am

I am what I am
And what I am needs no excuses
I deal my own deck
Sometimes the ace
Sometimes the deuces
It’s my life and there’s no
return and no deposit
One life, so it’s time to
open up your closet
Life’s not worth a damn till you can say
Hey world I am what I am

The Gallery … Hair

Goodgodallmighty.

Did Tara come up with this week’s theme of hair just to mock me? Have a heart, lady. I mean, seriously … come on … did you not see the photo I used for last week’s theme? So much for being my long lost school pal. Pffft.

You see, I’m very sensitive about my hair.

Mwahahahahaha.

When I have the time and the patience, it can look *cough, cough* great, but most days I don’t and thus it tends to take on a life of its own and more often than not make me look like I’ve got permanent bed head.

So, what photo to use?

I could have used a photograph of what I think was the worst haircut I ever had … when I was persuaded to hack it all off not long after having my first son … but thankfully it’s back in Florida. The photo, that is … not the hair or my son.

Or maybe another one from the 80′s showcasing my big hair? Nah. There’s far too many of those on Facebook already.

After much deliberation I’ve decided to go with this one …

And, I can’t believe I am actually putting it on here.

It was taken back in 2007 not long after I’d had my youngest … I was out on a lasses night out with my friend W who was over visiting me at the time, sisters and friends.

I just think it’s a really awful, awful cut and style. Don’t you just love my wings? OMFG! What was I thinking? And, moreover, why the feck didn’t any of my dear friends and family tell me I looked like I was standing in the path of a hurricane?

Day 04 — A song that makes you sad

Here I am at day 4 of the 30-Day Song Challenge.

And, it happens to be just the task I need right now  *rolls eyes* … to name a song that makes me sad.  Craptastic or wot?  Dudes, there’s tonnes of sad songs out there, but I am avoiding them all like the plague.

Actually, I was pretty much ordered by my bestie to go guzzle a glass of wine and let it all out while finding a song that makes me sad.  She gives such great advice, doesn’t she?

It didn’t take me very long as this one came straight to mind.  It’s from my favourite band of my early teenage years … Wham!  Squeeeeeeee!  The song and the lyrics are really lovely, but sad *sniff, sniff* and I think it showcases George Michael’s voice at its best … all breathy and sweet.

*sigh*

It’s Nothing Looks the Same in the Light by Wham!

Click here to have a listen to it on YouTube.  Careful though as one their other songs Young Guns is on the same video and starts belting out immediately following this one.

He’s an imagination mover …

My four-year-old has the most amazing toy box filled to the brim with every plaything a little boy could heart.  Blocks, games, cars, trains, puzzles … just to name a few.

But, these toys aren’t his favourites.

No, my little man loves his colourful assortment of dress-up clothes that usually line the floor of his room and the rest of our house because his favourite thing to do is to dress-up.  I’ve never seen one of my children quite use their imagination like he does.  He recreates epic battles with his sword and shield, fights off Darth Vader with his light saber and Jedi costume, creeps around the house like a spider, barks when dressed in his puppy costume or kills the bad guys when he’s a cowboy.  He really gets in to the character of whomever he’s dressed up as …so much so that I have to call him by their name.  Who knows?  Maybe I have a future thespian on my hands.

Sadly, his toy box and dress-up clothes are stuck in limbo back in Florida so he’s been putting his fantastic imagination to use.

And, it amazes me how he does this.

How he sees the world … his world.  How he can look at your every day inanimate object, bring it to life and turn it in to something … incredible.  He can take any household item, piece of clothing, climbing frame, path, wall, chair, rock, pebble, stick … you name it … and use it as an opportunity for his imagination to soar and play.

I was just never like that as a kid … I think I was far too practical.  Of course, like every child I did play and dance and spend enough time in my own imaginary world … *ahem, no comments from the peanut gallery please* … but not quite in the same way that he does.

Take for example, the other night when my friend was over visiting.  He was wearing one of my scarves on his head, my kitchen sink rubber gloves and had a plastic clothes hanger in hand.  When she asked him what he was doing, he replied rather self-assured that he was a hunter.

Or, how he’s become a little obsessed with the movie Tangled, so much so that we had to make him his very own tower out of an assortment of cardboard boxes that my new bedroom furniture arrived in and now he’s pretending to be Flynn Rider whenever the moment strikes him …

Or, how when I left him alone with said boxes and polystyrene for a few minutes only to come back in to the front room and find piles of white stuff everywhere because he’d been cooking.

Or, how he came downstairs dressed like this morning …

When I asked him if he was a gangsta or a rapper or both, he told me no … doh, he was Justin Bieber and burst into song … baby, baby, baby, oooooh.

Yeah, my little man has role-playing down to a fine art.  I just hope that playful side of him never changes.

Day 03 — A song that makes you happy

Today’s choice of is supposed to be one that makes me happy. Aaaah, happiness in a song. More specifically, a song that according to dictionary.com and its many definitions may be characterised or indicative of pleasure, contentment or joy, delights or pleases, is favoured by fortune or is slightly intoxicated?

What the what?

Happiness = drunkenness?

Eh?

Never.

Hic.

Anyway, before I get all slap happy and start rambling, let me cut to the chase and tell y’all that I’ve decided to go with Sheryl Crowe’s All I Wanna Do.

I love, love, love this song and never tire of hearing it and yeah … it makes me happy. It’s got a great tune, interesting lyrics and so many hooks in it that just make me want to smile, sing along and get up and dance. It’s a song that takes me back to my *gulp* twenties when I was a bit more carefree and laid back. When all the chicks wanted to wear denim shorts and style their hair just like Sheryl. And you wouldn’t be seen dead at a disco or a country club.

I actually got to see her live before she hit the big time. She played at Janus Landing in St. Petersburg, Florida … which is a really great intimate courtyard venue by the by … where it was basically just her and her guitar singing to the crowd.

Ah-mazing.

Sing it now …

… all I wanna do is have a little fun before I die …

Day 02 — Your least favourite song

My least favourite song, huh?

Well, this was a pretty quick decision for me because this love song manages to still annoy the heck out of me just like it did when it topped the UK charts for weeks on end back in 1984.  I think it was the love ballad of the 80′s because it was everywhere … including in our house where my mum played it constantly.

Don’t get me wrong, I like nothing more than to listen to a good ballad, but this one has got to be the most annoying love songs of all time.  At the time, I found the video annoying … I found the singer annoying  … and the song just droned on, grating on my every teenage nerve.  Funnily enough, I found it still had the same effect on me when Celine Dion covered it in the 90′s.

It’s The Power of Love by Jennifer Rush.

Day 01 – Your favorite song

Really?

Are you kidding me?

How could this 30-Day Song Challenge start with having to pick your favourite song?  How hard is that?  I mean, is it your favourite song like ever?

Ugh.

I honestly have so many favourites and like most folk, it kinda changes depending on what mood I am in so I wasn’t really sure how I was going to narrow it down.  But, after much deliberation, digging and delving, I have managed the impossible.  Yes, *pats self on back* I am a champion.

Maybe I should have gone with some classic song from back in the day, but since this dude came in to my life, wormed his way in to my CD collection and turned my iPod upside down … this particular song of his has remained a favourite of mine.  It’s everything I love in a song … it’s beautifully written, catchy, moody, sweet, lovely, sexy, deep et al and it just gets me every time I listen to it.

And, the dude ain’t so bad to look at either.

*sighs contentedly*

The first time I heard this tune, I was actually here on holiday.  I was in the car on some day trip with the boys and my uncles when it came on the radio.  I fell in love with it right away, but my uncles started singing really loudly and annoyingly to it so, of course, I had to tell them to shurrup so I could hear it properly.  Families, eh.  Anyway, the rest is history … I quickly found my way to a record shop where I promptly bought it and haven’t really stopped playing it since.  Much.

Enjoy one of my favourite songs … Candy by Paolo Nutini

The 30-Day Song Challenge …

So, I’ve been seeing this 30-Day Song Challenge pop up in the blogosphere, on Facebook and here, there and everywhere on the ‘net and given my love of music, it got me interest piqued.

I found out the idea is to get a little introspective … ye know, dig and delve in to your *cough, cough* psyche … and share something about yourself by choosing one song a day, for 30 days.  Fecking awesome, no?  Anyway, like a lemming I’ve decided to follow all the greats that came before me and subscribe to this 30-Day Song Challenge.

Now, anybody who knows me will know this will most definitely be a challenge for me.  Decisions, decisions.  Some of the songs are going to be really easy to choose, while others are going to drive me nuts.  I think it’s all going to depend on my mood.

If you want to join in, the list is below.  Just let me know in the comments that you are participating and I’ll be sure to pop over and visit.

Time to start digging, my friends.

The 30 Day Song Challenge

Day 01 – Your favorite song
Day 02 – Your least favorite song
Day 03 – A song that makes you happy
Day 04 – A song that makes you sad
Day 05 – A song that reminds you of someone
Day 06 – A song that reminds of you of somewhere
Day 07 – A song that reminds you of a certain event
Day 08 – A song that you know all the words to
Day 09 – A song that you can dance to
Day 10 – A song that makes you fall asleep
Day 11 – A song from your favorite band
Day 12 – A song from a band you hate
Day 13 – A song that is a guilty pleasure
Day 14 – A song that no one would expect you to love
Day 15 – A song that describes you
Day 16 – A song that you used to love but now hate
Day 17 – A song that you hear often on the radio
Day 18 – A song that you wish you heard on the radio
Day 19 – A song from your favorite album
Day 20 – A song that you listen to when you’re angry
Day 21 – A song that you listen to when you’re happy
Day 22 – A song that you listen to when you’re sad
Day 23 – A song that you want to play at your wedding
Day 24 – A song that you want to play at your funeral
Day 25 – A song that makes you laugh
Day 26 – A song that you can play on an instrument
Day 27 – A song that you wish you could play
Day 28 – A song that makes you feel guilty
Day 29 – A song from your childhood
Day 30 – Your favorite song at this time last year

Silent Sunday …

The Gallery .. Education

This week’s theme for the Gallery is education.

And, quite frankly I can’t believe I am putting this photo on here … it’s one of me taken in the art room at the grammar school I went to.  I think I was in the 5th year at the time, but not entirely sure.  I ran in to my old art teacher the other day and sadly had to tell him that I had not become the next Picasso of the art world.  Art class was fun, but I was pretty crap at it.  No, it was my physics class where I really excelled.  Bahahahahaha.  Not.  I actually failed both of those o’ levels and I’m not really sure why.  I mean, I didn’t goof off or get distracted in either class.  Much.

Anyway.

I’d just had all my hair lopped off in to that rather stylish curly bob.  What was I thinking?  Scary or wot?  I’m sure it was a lot blonder than it looks in this photo.  I mean, it could almost be mistaken for ginger, couldn’t it?  Maybe it was strawberry blonde?

I loved that school jumper though … almost wish I still had it.  Maybe not.

That’s my #1 fan’s arm in the background … she’d just come back from a holiday in Corfu and was showing off her tan even though it was fecking freezing!

Yeah … it’s really great to see that I have managed to maintain that same goofy laugh.  FFS  *eyes rolling*

OMFG — again, I can’t believe I am putting this photo on here.