Bachelorettes in Blue

Today is a music day, just because so many things happened on June 10th that I can't help but share a lot of tunes. It's also helpful, because tonight was Aziza's bachelorette party and music featured heavily in our outing. Of course, I can't share anymore than the photo featured, as that would break the rules. However, I will explain all the blue; Aziza's favourite colour is turquoise so I forced everyone to wear as close to that as possible. Originally I had gotten it completely wrong and ordered yellow, until Aziza had to correct me. Good thing I let her in on the idea not too last-minute.

On a side note, though clearly not worthy of celebration I did find it interesting that both John Edwards and Elliot Spitzer share today's date as their birthdays. Perhaps there's something in the moon on this date that make them both horn-dogs.

I also learned tonight, courtesy of Amy, that on June 10th 1935 Alcoholics Anonymous was founded by Dr. Robert Smith (on the day of his last drink) and Bill Wilson in Akron, Ohio. Unfortunately, I learned too late to practice sobriety tonight, and though I often mention drinking in this blog the truth is that in the last three months I've cut down considerably. I max out at two or three drinks a night, because I realised that drinking a depressant wasn't exactly helping my depression! I've noticed a difference, especially as I don't spent the next day hating my life in bed.

On today's date in 2004, the world lost a musical legend, Ray Charles. But, in celebrating his life and contribution today I'm listening to "Hit the Road, Jack" on repeat just as Nadia and I did as children. We were obsessed with the song, and just thought it was the best thing ever. We rarely played anything else on the CD, but would dance around the living room to this particular one.



On June 10, 1922, Judy Garland was born Frances Gumm and here's her rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow from the Wizard of Oz. Childhood memories of music and magic abound.



And last, but certainly not least, today is Maxi Priest's birthday. When I was a child my mother was in love with Maxi Priest. She had a white Ford convertible and would play him continuously. I remember staring up at the stars at night as I was falling asleep in the back seat as my parents took me home from someplace or the other and hearing his beautiful music. More beautiful memories.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Street Fight Aftermath

Image
I have been in hiding. I spent years on this blog revealing my truth, but then I became trapped. I somehow began to believe that I couldn’t share my reality anymore and that belief imprisoned me. It imprisoned me at a time when my mind had become a madman and was living to torture me. Haunted by the continuous splatter of sounds that were crunched, smashed, thrown together and weaved with a poisonous thread; a ricochet of memories, feelings, thoughts and voices. A downright cacophony of crazy.  Photo: Nicola Muirhead So, I shared. Six weeks ago, I took to social media and finally expressed how the last 18 months of my life had truly been in a post called “The Street Fight”:  “It’s been several months since I’ve posted. In the mental health narrative, we love stories of rebirth, renewal and redemption. We watch the phoenix burn and we are inspired when we see that phoenix rise from the ashes, but we rarely bear witness to what happens in between. Brene Brown calls
Read more

The Alphabet Years: A is where the adventure begins

Image
It’s 24 days into 2018 and I’m only now sharing my new year’s resolutions. I am, however, giving myself a pass because mine aren’t just for one year, they’re for 26. Since university, I haven’t planned my life more than a few months ahead. I thought I was a free spirit, but I now believe it was indicative of the opposite – one caged by fear. One that’s scared to plan and be disappointed; terrified to make goals, in case I miss the goalposts. The letter A is for... x While I had an incredible past year of achievements, I experienced something akin to daily stress fractures on my brain, which created fissures and cracks in my mind triggering mania and depression in rapid cycles. Now, I have chosen to unlock the cage: I’m committing myself fully to my creative endeavours all while travelling wherever this wild spirit finds itself drawn to, because that spirit was slowly dying. I was not in a good way. Now, here I am with the vastness of life stretched out before me. These e
Read more

Kintsugi and the Beauty in Broken Things

Image
'Hidden Damage'  Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering  There is a crack, a crack in everything  That's how the light gets in. - Leonard Cohen Kintsugi ("golden joinery" or "golden repair") is the Japanese art form of repairing broken pottery with gold. It treats the breakage and repair of the item as part of its history, its journey, its existence. Rather than hiding the damage, it brightly illuminates the repair, inviting the world to see its improved beauty. Just like pottery, we humans can crack, splinter, break, shatter. These knocks remain part of our being and, whilst a brave face might create a temporary disguise, nobody can hide forever. At least I couldn't. To heal, I found I had to expose. Kintsugi treats the crack as merely an event in the life of the object, not a reason to end it. Kintsugi knows that something is more beautiful for having been broken. As someone who considers them
Read more